Summer

The Summer Court is tied to the emotion of Wrath. Some use Wrath covertly and with a subtle hand. Others, most some would argue, bring their Wrath to the open.

• Affinity Contracts: Eternal Summer, Fleeting Summer, Punishing Summer
• Current Sovereign:

Crimson Court

(●●●)

Circe

(●)

Ram

• Dots indicate Mantle

Ideals of Sun and Song

What face does the Summer Court put forth? What ideals does it hold to — or, at least, claim to hold to — when canvassing potential recruits?

• Brotherhood: It’s a bit like a fraternity or sorority.
• Combat: Want to learn how to fight? The Summer Court will show a changeling how.
• Defense: Not every changeling in Faerie was the victim of abuse: some were drugged with beauty or formed into callous knights with only the barest memory of once being a good person.
• Competition: Competition is healthy, so says the Summer courtiers; it’s not a thing to be feared.
• Greater Good: The Iron Spear knows that its actions are not always easy or, well, moral.
• Revenge: This one’s simple: the Summer Court offers a chance at revenge.

Whispers Kept Quiet

It isn’t all honor and nobility and good soldier boys in the Summer Court. Not everything smells of roses, and they like to keep the stink down when it comes to bringing neophyte recruits on board.

• Brutality: Violence is a living thing. Some liken it to a worm that burrows in your heart or a wolf that lives in your ribcage.
• Sacrifice: This is related to the “hard choices for the greater good” idea, but it’s easier to think of the greater good than the personal sacrifice.
• Struggle: They don’t like to make this clear up front, but the struggle for prominence and status within the Court is a toothy bitch.

Titles

The Summer Court wears many faces, all of them angry. Some focus their anger and wrath, funneling it into actions of justice and defense. They protect the freehold, taking up arms against Keeper incursions, loyalist pigs, slavering hobgoblins, and whatever other threats wait in nightmare and shadow. They protect humans, too; the aimless and ignorant masses sometimes need a hand to walk them through tough times or a fist to knock the teeth out of bullies and abusers.

They don’t punish needlessly. Justice is fair, given some semblance of balance. Everybody gets a shot, even the vilest loyalist or lunatic (though they are, of course, shackled to the strictest pledges if they want to keep their heads). In such places, wrath has been leashed. It has been made to serve, like a loyal hound.

Estival/Summer Sovereign (Mantle •••••)

The King/Queen of Wrath. The Summer Sovereigns embodies the Summer Court in its fullest.

Iron Adjutant (Mantle ••••)

This role is actually a rather estimable one within the ranks of the Crimson. The Iron Adjutant’s job is to function as the right-hand-man to the Court’s royal ruler. While this sounds like a subservient position, it also means that a lot of the day-today administration of Court business is handled by the Adjutant. The Adjutant is the Sovereign’s proxy; this ultimately grants the Adjutant a pretty hefty measure of power.

Wroth General Coalesce (Mantle •••••)

The changeling who fills this role is some times equal to the ruler himself. He is, for all intents and purposes, the military leader of the Crimson Court. The General may have potent prowess with hands, a blade, a rifle, but he’s no longer expected to be out there cracking heads and hacking limbs. He’s a strategist, prized for mind over body. And some are just that thing: a one-man council of military wisdom, plotting attacks on local Loyalist hollows or arranging the freehold’s proper defenses. Others, though, find themselves hungry for a greater slice of power. They see opportunity to move against the other Courts. Such Generals are no longer a proud bull, but the worm inside that bull’s heart: a tiny mote of the monstrous amorality gifted by their Keepers. Regardless of corruption, the Wroth General Calescent is always a figure both feared and respected.

Constable of Calefaction (Mantle ••)

The Constable acts as the name suggests: a sheriff, an investigator, a keeper of the peace. In most freeholds, the Constable acts as such only among the changelings within the Summer Court. Recognizing that Crimson Courtiers often suffer from volatile moods and can give in to vengeful or rowdy urges, the Constable is there largely to police is own. That said, in cities where the season lasts longer than expected, the Calfecator may well police the changelings of all Courts. A good Constable must be prepared not only to enforce the peace, but to investigate crimes whenever necessary.

Red Victor (Mantle •••••)

Sometimes, a champion emerges. She’s wreathed in a potent Mantle: her eyes like lens flares, her skin sloughing off wave after wave of heat, steam rising from whatever blade or revolver she holds in her hand. Her accolades are on a list whose end cannot be easily found: a collection of Keeper hands in Mason jars, a chest of mighty Hedge tokens, a herd of changelings rescued from Arcadia, and so on. The Red Victor had better be ready for the role. The Vikings believed that glory and heroism put one into the written and spoken myths and invoked a kind of immortality, and that’s exactly what the Red Victor gets. She’s loved in this life and remembered long after. She cannot remain quiet or hidden as the champion of the Crimson Court. The King drags her out for every show of strength, to every salon and tournament, to every ceremony and goblin market. She becomes the emblem for the local Summer Court, like it or not. The role does suffer a peculiar downside, although it’s not a downside the Victor herself will ever deal with. If the Red Victor dies, all within the local Court possessing one or more dots in Summer Mantle suffer a loss to morale. This loss is real and supernatural, manifesting as a –1 to all rolls for a number of weeks equal to the years the Red Victor held the title of champion.

Hunter of Longest Days (Mantle ••••)

The Hunter of the Longest Day is something of an esteemed bounty hunter, a proud knight who isn’t valued so much for his prowess in a large fight but is used more as an “elite” tracker and hunter. The Hunter is the one who handles such individual threats. He might be required to track down and capture a rogue courtier. He might need to make that Winter Court dissenter “disappear”. Maybe he goes into the Hedge and tracks down that spider-faced hobgoblin that’s been stealing ensorcelled and laying dream-eggs in their sternums. Two things of note about Longest Day Hunters: first, they’re given a token as appreciation, something in the range of one or two dots. Second, they take trophies whether they want to or not. While some suffer a frailty that demands it, it’s actually more something of a social convention; those who fail to showcase trophies can’t be trusted to have truly fulfilled the mandate at hand.

Arrayer of Distant Thunder (Mantle •••)

An Arrayer is said to have a “commission of array,” meaning that he can canvass the freehold’s inhabitants — anybody from the loftiest Spring Court socialite to the lowliest ensorcelled — to drum them up for war. As the storm approaches, the Arrayer’s job is to draft those outside the Summer Court to fight. But when the threats threaten to overwhelm the Crimson Court, the Arrayer is the one who must convince, threaten or cajole others to leap headlong into the fray.

Suns Tongue (Mantle •••)

The Sun’s Tongue is a diplomat and plenipotentiary within the Crimson Court. It’s a far from glorious position, often dismissed by those more physical members of the Court as being nothing more than an excuse to attend “social hour” with the other Courts. As the only truly social role within the Iron Spear, though, acting as diplomat can be quite valuable and pretty damn dangerous. Negotiating terms with the other Courts is dangerous; at least those marching onto the battlefield can see their opponents. The Sun’s Tongue is left walking over a well-hidden minefield of social foibles and faux pas, where one who seems a friend is actually trying to sell your beating heart to a cat-faced goblin at the Mackerel Market just beyond the Hedge door. It’s a thankless position in most freeholds, though a wise ruler knows to reward his diplomat well.

Crimson Knights (Mantle ••)

The Men-At-Arms of the Summer Court are better trained and better equipped than their Grunt brothers and sisters. They do not have to supply their own equipment (mundane stuff, at least), and are not first on the line in a fight. They’re the ones that hold back. It’s not a Knight’s job to pick off the lesser soldiers; they’re the ones who go in against enemies with skill, foes with better weapons and bad tricks. The Grunts go in and soften up the adversary. Then the Knights wade into the fray, gritting their teeth and stepping over the (hopefully not lifeless) bodies of their fallen comrades.

Dust/Mud Grunt

The role of Dust Grunt is that of a foot soldier for the Summer Court. Some martial ability is necessary, as is a willingness to step to the front of the line and suffer the slings and arrows of whatever hobgoblin, Loyalist or Keeper waits behind that ring of Thorns. The one thing that clearly separates a Grunt from the Men-At-Arms is that a Grunt must supply his own weaponry and armor. The Court does not provide. This means that some Grunts enter the streets and trods of battle armed with nice pistols and extra clips, while others barrel forward holding little more than shovels and baseball bats.

Mule Squire

It comes down to this: carry this pack, push this broom, park this car, bury this body. The Mule Squire gets all the shit work. Mules are essentially non-people, treated like valets at best, three-legged dogs at worst. Unlike with the role of Sentry, nobody expects a Mule Squire to ascend the ranks. It’s a role that falls to what the higher-ups believe to be those who have already reached their peak: some dumb-fuck Gristlegrinder or crazy Swimmerskin. It might very well be a false assumption, and a Mule who proves himself is notable, indeed, but the assumption exists regardless.

Sentry of Summers Vigil

Also known as a “Yard Bull,” the Summer Court often includes several Sentries within its ranks. Sentries are little more than guards, bouncers, and bodyguards. Prized for physical ability over anything mental, the only requirements for the role is to either be able to hit something or to appear as if one can hit something. Seen largely as disposable and lacking anything resembling wits (regardless of the reality), Sentries rarely find themselves treated well. That said, it is a viable stepping stone to other, greater roles within the Iron Spear. Performing some heroic measure while on duty is a way to stand out. Making casual “suggestions” to the royal a Sentry is supposed to be guarding is most certainly not.

Sun's Shadow (Court Goodwill ••••)

This role is reserved for those outside the Court who have truly earned the respect of the local Crimson Courtiers. The Sun’s Shadow is a brother to the courtiers, invited to all the Summer Court events, allowed to use the Mule Squires for his own purposes, able to call upon Iron Spear resources for his own need. In some freeholds, the Sun’s Shadow role actually marks a partnership between his Court and the Summer Court.