Scarecrow Ministry

Scarecrow Ministers
(or just Scarecrows)

Changeling The Lost Sourcebook p. 313-316
Wyrd	●●●
Court	Autumn
Preqs	Manipulation ●●● Autumn Mantle ●●
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Urban legends are about fear, and more importantly, about keeping people in line with that fear. Implicit in every legend is a lesson: don’t talk to strangers, don’t court danger, don’t sneak away to have premarital sex and so on. The Autumn Court changelings of the Scarecrow Ministry seek to use these urban legends to convey their own lessons. They become the monsters in the tales, continuing the purportedly fictional work of the Hook-Hand Man or the Jersey Devil or whatever legend works in a given area. Many Ministers change their names to those of the mythic monsters, embodying fear in a way that most within the Autumn Court are afraid to do.

Why do they do it? Humans, and even other changelings, aren’t scared enough. The world is dangerous, what with the Gentry out there, snatching lost souls through the Hedge or setting traps for the unsuspecting. And it’s not just the Others, either. All kinds of terrors exist out there in the night ― bloodsucking fiends, Soulless changelings with hell on their minds, men who steal the skins of animals and become feral things hungry for raw meat. The Ministers work to scare people away from such evil.

The Scarecrow Ministers face two prominent dangers. The first is a physical danger: keeping people away from the other horrors sometimes puts the Ministers in direct confrontation with those horrors. The other danger is to their Clarity. They become fake monsters to keep people away from the real monsters ― but, in doing so, it’s very easy to lose perspective. Sometimes, to enforce the old legends and keep people properly afraid, real blood needs to be spilled and people get hurt. The Scarecrows walk a thin line that sometimes is hard to see ― at what point do they become exactly what they work against?

Mien

Many Ministers dress at least in part like the legends they hope to embody. A Scarecrow who wishes to become a sorrowful or vengeful ghost may wear gauzy gray wisps of clothing, even painting her face with kohl or ash. A changeling hoping to appear as the Hook-Hand Man might wear a long coat and a face-concealing hat, with a rusty gaff hook concealed on his person, of course. Some eschew such melodrama and prefer instead to wear the nondescript rags of the homeless or simple blue-collar garb; whatever it takes to remain hidden until the time is right to drive home the horror.

Generally, a Scarecrow of the Ministry appears in the guise of the Autumn Court, revealing the bloody reds and pumpkin oranges so common to the season. A Minister does find that his miens changes upon joining this noble order, with various elements possibly appearing (and often without the character’s choice) as part of her flesh. Most such changes are minor, and evocative of an actual scarecrow: black button eyes, flesh raised in some places with the texture of a burlap sack, various one or two limb joints marked by rope stitching, pits a few bristles of sharp hay and straw sticking out of sleeves and, pant legs. Upon joining, most only show one such element in their seeming. But as time goes on, with Wyrd increasing and Clarity dropping, other elements manifest into one’s being. Particularly old or potent Ministers appear as iconic scarecrows with mean jack-o’-lantern grins painted onto their sack-flesh faces, all shadowed beneath the ratty brims of farmer’s old hats. Most only have one such element added to their seeming, though these can increase with Wyrd gain. Higher-Wyrd changelings sometimes begin to adapt their seeming to whatever monstrosity they’ve chosen to mimic (imagine a changeling whose hand literally becomes a hook or whose eyes glow the flickering yellows and reds of the Mothman). Mortals tend to feel weak and frightened around any Minister with higher than normal Wyrd scores, often needing success on a Resolve + Composure roll to even remain in the character’s presence.

Bugbear's Mask ●●● (Privilege)

Upon joining this so-called noble order, one is allowed to pick out his own mask (either from a local store) or from another Minister’s potentially egregious collection. From there, the pledge to become a Minister and create fear infuses the mask with Glamour and forms from it the token found below

This token appears to be like any rubbery Halloween mask that one could buy for $10 down at the Wal-Mart or corner store. Whether the mask is the visage of a bandage-swaddled mummy or the angry face of a Frankenstein monster, the resultant supernatural effect is still the same. When the mask is worn, the changeling chooses a single target and meets the victim’s eyes. The victim gains the Phobia derangement (mild), with the mask-wearer as the focus of the derangement’s dread. The victim literally sees the mask as real flesh and actual bone, its grisly countenance appearing as wretched as the human’s imagination can make it (often manifesting as something the person was already afraid of, whether that be a face of crawling spiders or the countenance of a violent alcoholic father). The derangement lasts for the rest of the scene. This token can only be used once per day.

Action: Instant

Drawback: The changeling who uses this token suffers his own mild derangement for the rest of the day: Narcissism. (A character who already possesses the Narcissism derangement sees it become the severe version, Megalomania.) This derangement lasts until the changeling sleeps.

Catch: A mortal or any other character who uses the token without paying the proper cost (Wyrd roll or Glamour point) finds that the mask is particularly stubborn to remove. The rubbery fringe at the bottom of the mask seems to literally bond with the flesh of the neck. Removing the mask also removes a layer of skin, conferring one lethal point of damage.

Joining

A changeling doesn’t choose the Scarecrow Ministry, the Ministry chooses her. In fact, for the most part, the Ministry remains secret, known only to a select few within the Court of Fear. The Ministers, once a year (usually Halloween or the Day of the Dead), go through the ranks of the Autumn Court and see if any belong within their order. If they find a worthy candidate, they begin an odd campaign of fear and paranoia against that changeling, testing him at a distance to see how well he handles fear (for one cannot cause fright if one is easily frightened). Maybe they break open the lock on his front door and see how he reacts. Maybe they spread whispers about how that changeling’s Keeper has been seen in the skies above the freehold. Over time, they gauge the changeling’s reactions and try to break him down to see what he’s made of. If they find him capable enough, they extend an invitation to join the order. Refusing the invitation is fine the first time, and fine the second time, for the order always extends the invite three times. The third rejection, however, earns the ire of the Scarecrows. They may do nothing except deny that changeling’s friendship ― or they may continue their campaign of fear against him.

It’s not universally true that the Ministry chooses all of its Scarecrows. Certainly some have uncovered the existence of the order, which is impressive all on its own. Some who discover their presence have begged to be in the order, and have are been chosen for if their talents at manipulating fear and generating terror are up to par (or at least have the potential to be) ― but that is the exception to the rule, not the rule itself.