Bronze Beylik

Bey

Winter Masques pp. 146-148
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Pride drives the Beys. They accept that they are kingmakers as easily as they accept the wetness of water or the heat of the sun. Yet, curiously, none of their own may ever ascend to become a ruler. The story goes that this has to do with a pledge from thousands of years ago, a pledge made with a powerful djinn trapped in one of Constantinople’s towers. The Beys reportedly broke that pledge and have been paying for it since. Any attempt for a Bey — or even a one time member of the Beylik — to ascend to the topmost spot in a given Court always fails, often spectacularly. So instead, they take comfort in being the ones who raise a changeling to rule.

The Beys are not secret about what they do. They make their efforts clear, which often puts them into opposition with the local changelings (especially those who support an existing ruler, one who has little interest in being forcibly deposed). But the Lost of the Beylik take it all in stride, having full faith in their abilities to raise a king, queen, sultan or caliph to the throne.

Mien

Those of the Beylik find that their bodies begin to reflect bits of bronze — a Woodblood might show an occasional sheen or chip of golden metal (as if embedded in wood) while a Swimmerskin or Venombite might have some of her scales supplanted by bronze scales, flakes or rings. A single strand of hair might turn bronze, as might teeth or fingernails or even a whole ear.

Unrelated to the mien are the long beards and long hair of the Beys; the women may forgo the beards. It’s tradition among their kind that marks them in their mask and mien and represents strength and authority.

Bronze Spearhead (Privilege)

The legend among the Beylik is that the Hedge was once the staging ground of an invasion by an army of the Others. The Beylik did not exist at the time, but some say it was this mad conflict that birthed them: a select few banded together and helped a military leader ascend to the topmost position of the local freehold. Under this leader, the Beylik helped form an army of Lost and the True Fae were routed. The war was terrible, and the Fae’s own weapons were turned against them. Even now, the tips of these spears lay hidden within the Thorns — some are lodged in trees, others tangled in barbed loops.

When activated (it must be held in the palm of one’s hand for this to work), the spearhead transfers some of the maddening gloom of the True Fae to the Bey. For the remainder of the scene, the Bey may add his Wyrd score to any Intimidation rolls he makes: he appears threatening not in a mundane way, but in an eerie, otherworldly manner.

Action: Instant

Mien: Each spearhead appears the same when laying inactive: dirty, tarnished bronze, its edge nicked, its once glorious metal dinged and scratched. Activating the spearhead, though, creates a whole different spearhead, each unique to the Keeper who once used it: some might glow, others might give off a strange fragrance. One spearhead maybe features an iridescent engraving of a butterfly, while another consistently drips with fresh blood.

Drawback: The eerie madness of the True Fae can be useful in some situations, but it’s certainly not useful in others. For the scene in which the token is active and in the following scene, the Bey suffers a –2 penalty to Social rolls requiring Animal Ken, Expression or Socialize.

Catch: A character can use the spearhead by scratching himself with it, causing one point of lethal damage.

Joining

It’s said that the Beys are all predetermined — fate chooses them as soon as they emerge from the Thorns upon escaping their Keepers for that first time. The curse that keeps the Beys from rule runs thick in the blood and dreams of some changelings, and these Lost clearly belong to the Bronze Beylik.

Whether this is true or not remains a mystery. As with many supposedly predestined orders or religions, one can petition the Beylik for entrance into the order. In doing so, one opens himself up for whatever testing the Beys believe will indicate a fated member of the order. Such tests are often difficult and seemingly random (tests of skill in impossible games, athletic feats that tear muscle and break bone, political situations on par with frenzying sharks). Only rarely does a member “pass” such a test and gain entrance into the Beylik.

One surefire way in, however, is to find one of the bronze spearhead tokens that every Bey carries with him at all times. It’s said that finding one of these spearheads in the Hedge is a truly propitious event, and in doing so one automatically declares himself a Bey. Of course, not every changeling who finds such a spearhead (described below under “privileges”) wants to join the Beylik, but he’ll find that he has little choice in that matter. Discovering such a spearhead is rare and convinces the Beys uniformly of a changeling’s fate among them.