From IoD Lost

The home of the Stalwart Guardians

Welcome to the freehold of Stalwart Guard, based in the town of Hatfield.

After the events at Hatfield House and the dissolution of the original House on the Hill "freehold", it became apparent that Hatfield had now come to the attention of The Lord of the Endless City, an acquisitive True Fae who rules over a vast Empire in Arcadia.

The Wolfshead sent a vanguard of his Eight Legion to secure a foothold in the local hedge; a vanguard which was repelled by a band of Free Lost, during what came to be known as the Hatfield Hedge Massacre.

Some of those who fought banded together with some of those who were not part of the fight (as well as Lorica, who was rescued during it) but found the cause to be one worth supporting, vowing to ensure the Lord's designs are quashed.

Now, seven brave warriors stand against the countless Legions as the Freehold of the Stalwart Guard, gathering more to their cause as time moves inevitably on towards an uncertain victory and possible terrible defeat.

The Seasonal Courts of Hatfield

Winter

Neve - Silent Legate, Queen for Winter, and the sassiest of them all

Winter - Freehold lunatic & liability

Kildare - Winter beauty and Siren

Spring

Rhys - Emerald Legate, King for Spring, and resident freehold hedonist

Sagan - Not so sure Rhys can cut the hedonist mustard.

Felix Wilson - The latest Spring hell raiser here to work hard and play hard.

Daniel

Bryg

Summer

Lorica - Summer King; Long-suffering voice of reason.

Rosie - Freehold jinx, perhaps? Everyone is quietly amazed that she survived Snaggle's reign as monarch.

Donovan - Bringing the crime-solving expertise of yesteryear in service to the freehold.

Hjärta - Ikea doesn't do summer courtiers. But if it did....

George - Practical. Furious. Highly overworked.

Jack - A skilled soldier, always eager to take the fight to the enemy.

Mortar - Joined the freehold due to his forbidden love for a giant bird.

Autumn

Snaggle - Ashen Legate, King for Autumn, and freehold sociopath

Otto Mattik - No one knows exactly how many people in the freehold are hoping this newcomer becomes Ashen King this year.

Diurnal Courtiers - Dawn Court

Bill

Others

The Singer - this mysterious figure appears in the hedge around Hatfield to Lost who seek him out. Claiming to be an immortal former Lost, the Singer dispenses enigmatic hints and erratic guidance. The Hobbs flee from his presence, and even Mark Dourif was heard to comment on how dangerous he thought the Singer was.

The Envoy - a member of the Legate of the Black Apple, Legate Tristan was retained by the Lord of the Endless City to negotiate with the Stalwart Guardians in an attempt to apparently bring about peaceful cohabitation in the hedge. He has something of a split personality, and relatively dark past. Currently the Stalwart Guardians are exploring the virtues of the word "stall", but what will happen to him once the negotiations are over is anyone's guess..

Carmen - an enslaved ogre that was given to Tristan in payment for his continued service by the Lord of the Endless City. According to Tristan, he is prevented by the terms of the agreement from simply releasing her, so he looks after her until she can fairly earn her emancipation. The Legate did, however, offer dark warnings about her loyalty to the Wolfshead; as such, none of the Guardians are yet willing to take her under their wing.

The Baron of the Lesser Ones - little is known about this Lost, other than the fact that he has been seen recently travelling around the hob tribes of Hatfield, attempting to sway them to the cause of the Lord of the Endless City. Rumour has it that Summer King Lorica has put a substantial bounty on his head.

Frequent Visitors and interested parties

• Jack in the Smoke was instrumental in getting the Lost of Hatfield to sort out what they actually wanted from their freehold.

• Aidan is a frequent visitor, and actually lives in Hatfield. As yet he has not sworn to the freehold, due to Snaggle his duties to Riven Smoke.

• The Narrator Often seen at the Freehold, a man seemingly lost in his own insight.

• Penny Dreadful visits quite often and has been doing a lot of work for the war effort. She is not sworn to the freehold, due to Rhys the fact that she lives in Cambridge.

Fallen Guardians

• Switchyard Sullivan - the then Warleader of Hatfield fell to the blades of enemies in the Dominion of Cambridge as part of an effort to prevent a Gentry being freed from a prison there. The Hunterheart's last act as Warleader was to forbid Lorica and Snaggle from accompanying him, as he feared it might be a suicide mission and had no wish to weaken the Guardians any further than necessary.

• Mort stood with the forces of Free Lost Society when they attacked the Lord of the Endless City's soldiery, and died at the Warleader's side in Cambridge. He was due to swear his allegiance to Lorica at the following court meeting.

News and Rumors

• The founding of the freehold was marred slightly by reports of Winter's activities involving slaughtered policemen. He very nearly fell foul of the new King's laws

• and speaking of laws, Rosie proved her status as the first firebrand of the group, by beginning to agitate against the new King of Autumn even before the freehold was completely founded. Of course, the fact that the new King was Snaggle may have had something to do with this...

• On a brighter note: it seems that the future of the Freehold became slightly more secure. Rhys (the Emerald Legate) used his Court's flare for deception to convince a general to order an entire army of Loyalists disbanded. This despite the general in question falling dead from a pledge sanction shortly after...

• Stalwart Guard's King of Autumn apparently took to holding Court in McDonalds. Or was that a date he was having with Rosie?

• Friction exists between the Ashen & Onyx Court of the Freehold, with accusations of witchcraft flying freely, if only in one direction.

• Likewise Summer and Autumn's Legates have clashed over the fate of the prisoners taken during the first Battle of the Fort. Most unusually, Autumn is arguing for summary execution and Summer is arguing vehemently for a peacable resolution.

• The presence in the hedge of a Legate of the Black Apple acting on behalf of the Lord of the Endless City has caused controversy in the freehold, with some of the Stalwart Guardians apparently favouring negotiating with the representative of the Keeper. Rhys and Lorica were seen to leave the gathering in January several times with the stated intention of speaking with the Legate. They are just lucky that other matters required Snaggle's absence from that freehold meeting...

• Strange, gutteral howls have been heard eminating from the Fort in the dead of night...

• The reigning monarch, Winter Queen Neve, was overheard at February's gathering specifically forbidding the Ashen Legate from murdering the Wolfshead's Envoy Tristan. The Ashen Legate kept finding loopholes in the royal commands, but fortunately kept pointing them out before she left.

• The Valentine's day gathering resulted in the Iron Legate getting four distinct anonymous valentines cards. His look of bafflement was apparently a joy to behold.

• Captain Sullivan, meanwhile, was given a strange valentine's day gift - an ensorcelled human, bound to serve his every whim. Oh, and a teaspoon.

• The collapse of part of the Hatfield train station ticket office has caused commuter chaos. Fortunately, none of those commuters are in danger any longer of accidentally ending up in the hedge, thanks to the destructive efforts of Mortar.

• Rumours are flying that the soon-to-be Spring monarch King Rhys appears to have forgotten to include an apostrophe in his title.

• King Rhys has declared vengeance against the Dominion of Cambridge for allowing the death of his Warleader.

Noteworthy Locations

Hatfield House

The exact state of Hatfield House is presently being investigated by Snaggle & Rosie. Exactly what information will come out of this, however, is anyone's guess..

The Hedge

The Hedge in Hatfield is a dangerous place. A number of different types of hedge beast inhabit it, along with several different tribes of Hobs who may or may not be hostile at any given moment.

The Fort

The Fort was constructed by the vanguard of the Eight Legion, dispatched to obtain a foothold in the local hedge. After their defeat by the future Stalwart Guardians, however, the Fort was abandoned, and currently stands empty. What, if anything, the Stalwart Guardian Monarchs or their Warleader plan for the fort has yet to be revealed.

The Enclave

The Enclave is where the Legate of the Black Apple and his staff reside, safe behind a wooden pallisade. Recently the Legate's entourage has been swelled by the addition of new forces from the Endless City; it was promptly reduced back down again by the actions of an unknown javelin-wielding force. Finally, the inhabitants quit the enclave just ahead of a massive assault by the Stalwart Guardians and their allies amongst the hob tribes.

The Sanctuary

The nerve center of the Stalwart Guardians' defence of Hatfield, the real world aspect of the command centre is a seven bedroom former coaching inn, just south of the old town and surrounded by a substantial garden. The hollow proper is a massive fortified bunker, designed to withstand significant assault.

See: The Sanctuary for further details.

OOC details

The Hatfield Lost game usually runs on the second Saturday of each month. However, the next game will be Saturday 18 September and details of the game can be found here

Contact details

To contact the Hatfield Changeling ST, please email the ST Hatfield Changeling VST.

To contact the Hatfield Changeling VC, please email Hatfield Changeling VC

Please do include "Hatfield Lost" or "Hatfield Changeling" in the title, to help your messages be filtered out from spam and other contacts.