Ancient and Accepted Order of Bridgemasons

Master Builders

200px Lords Of Summer p. 109-112
Court	Autumn
Preqs	Wyrd ●●● Crafts ●●● Crafts Specialty in Construction Autumn Mantle ● Seemings Elemental or Ogre
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Swords and strong words pull freeholds from deadly crises, but the Ancient and Accepted Order of Bridgemasons devotes itself to a quieter occupation, less glorious but stone-strong, enduring through the ages. Time is hard put to wear away its work, but the modern, urban age attacks the entitlement itself. In a world filled with construction, a Master Builder's skills aren't as valuable as they used to be. The Bridgemasons' Order is an old one, dating back at least as far as the Dark Ages. Its doctrine says it was born during a distant mythic era, when the Gentry slipped between worlds with ease. The ancient True Fae took artisans as slaves. They taught them how to build bridges across the Hedge so that the Gentry could ride down safe and fast. They made some slaves into huge, strong laborers. They bound others into elemental forms, and then melded them into living rock and dream-stuff: The substance of each bridge.

Now free, the survivors safeguarded the secrets of their labor. So many died in the journey that they couldn't retain all the secrets, but the remaining fragments were still potent. They became the art of Wyrdbuilding. Practitioners founded the Order of Bridgemasons and made themselves a great guild among the Lost. They built mighty walls, tunnel-ridden mounds and high temples for their freeholds. Wyrdbuilding became a powerful asset for anyone able to learn it. Frauds pretended to know the trade. Some of them struck powerful pledges that made it look like they had the art, but long after they fled their obligations would come due, go unpaid, and reap a penalty in fallen towers. Lost lords died in the accidents and the Order's reputation suffered for it. To safeguard the true craft of Wyrdbuilding, the Order instituted a strict regimen of training. It drew secret signs and mysteries from its legendary origin. If a Master Builder didn't know the signs, he would be exposed as a faker. Over time, the rites and signs became important in and of themselves.

Mien

Bridgemasons are big. Even if they used to be small, slight people or (in the case of some Elementals) had a slender mien, this changes. Huge muscles sprout from their shoulders, backs and chests. Thick, knotted quadriceps and calves envelop the bones of their legs. But the truly striking characteristic they develop are huge, thick-fingered hands of rough stone. These are easily three times the size they should be on a human of the same size, even after accounting for the unusual builds of certain changelings. Despite the transformation, the changeling doesn't turn clumsy; his new hands are as sensitive as the old ones. Members wear rough-beaten bronze rings on their left hands. This is a sign of the entitlement. They don't discuss its significance with outsiders, but plenty of rumors circulate among the Lost: It honors the memory of the order's founder, it is an emblem of their pact with stone and metal, it is part of a secret initiation rite, and so on.

Most Bridgemasons like to dress like construction workers, in reinforced denim, tool belts and steel-toed boots. They don't actually need the tools but sometimes use them to fine-tuning projects. A small number of Bridgemasons buck the trend, reveling in their eldritch ability to build with will and Wyrd magic. They wear tailored suits, tasteful safety shoes and carry tough briefcases or rugged laptops full sketches and blueprints.

Wyrdbuilding (Privilege)

Bridgemasons use Wyrdbuilding to create beautiful yet functional homes, monuments and fortresses for the Lost. They also alter existing constructions for changeling owners, adding secret passages, labyrinths and ornate decorations. The Winter Court hires them to build secure hideouts, but demands a pledge of secrecy. The Order even fashions lairs inside old bridges and bleak mountains for the most antisocial elements of Lost society so that they can indulge their monstrous whims in complete privacy.

Each Bridgemason discovers her own form of Wyrdbuilding. Some of them sing their work together; each note slams rivets into steel and bricks into mortar. Others yank the pieces into place by hand, displaying the superhuman strength to move tons of concrete, and benefit from strange luck as nails, planks and plumbing bounce into place. None of these benefits transfer to other feats of strength or twists of fate. The weakest Elemental can build a two story house by hand but still can't out-wrestle bears.

Wyrdbuilding: Bridgemasons work alone or in groups. Every hour, one Bridgemason can complete 20 Size points of construction at the cost of 1 point of Glamour. The building (or other construction) must touch bare earth or natural rock. He has to have all the required materials on hand, though exact sizes and shapes aren't necessary. His power can bend and cut sections with precision. He doesn't need any tools, but he needs to know how to build his project. For complex constructions, this requires an extended Intelligence + Crafts roll based on the difficulty of the project, just as if he was a normal foreman. An engineer or architect can assist with detailed plans, providing up to half of the necessary successes. Bridgemasons can take breaks in the midst of construction, but must always work continuously for at least an hour at a time.

Bridgemasons can also use Wyrdbuilding to alter or destroy existing constructions at the same rate as they can build them, though faster demolitions (still taking no less than an hour) might work if the character targets a vulnerable point.

No mortal can witness the construction process, even via photographs or video, or else it fails. Once a witness sees the process, the project erodes at the rate of 20 Size points per hour (or one Size point every three minutes), regardless of Structure or Durability. This nullifies work in progress. If a mortal sees how a Wyrdbuilt construction was put together after the fact the whole thing gradually falls apart; examination reveals perfectly normal (though at times, unlikely) flaws in construction.

Wyrdbuilding can't be used to construct anything out of cold iron.

Joining

First you must be a member of the Autumn Court, and be either an Ogre or Elemental. The Bridgemasons accept no other Seemings.

Part guild, part mystery cult, the Order evolved from being the Lost's builders to an occult society, filled with secret traditions. The Order never asks anyone to join, but never discourages anyone from asking, either. There are two traditional paths to membership. In the first, an unskilled changeling spends four years learning the requisite craft skills from a Bridge Master, who intersperses lessons with tests of character. Apprentices are not members of the entitlement. They pay for their education with constant service, so this path isn't a particularly popular one. Nowadays, it's more common for an established builder to petition for membership. He can join in a matter of months, provided the local Bridge Masters like him. The Order looks for creative, hardworking Lost who have an instinctive feel for metal, stone and concrete.

In a secret ceremony, the initiate learns a secret phrase and grip (handshake), vows never to reveal it to anyone else, and is thereupon known as a Bridge Walker: A member of the lowest degree. Bridge Master is the next title, gained after at least two years of membership, provided the Bridgemason has Crafts ●●●● and Autumn Mantle ●●●●. In many places, these are the highest-ranking members of the Order around; they rule by council from the Causeway Temple: A special building filled with ceremonial chambers and the long, thin stone beam (the "Primordial Causeway") used in Bridgemason ceremonies. Some of a Causeway Temple's rooms are segregated by rank because they contain special writings and ceremonial implements that must not be profaned by unworthy eyes.

After a decade and the fifth dot in Crafts and the Autumn Mantle, the Master becomes a Worshipful Pillar who's usually the undisputed leader of all local Bridgemasons. At every rank, members learn new grips, secret words and rituals. The hierarchy is quite formal, but that doesn't keep members from using "brother" and "sister" as the customary forms of address.

There are rumors of higher, secret initiations, whose benefactors rule all the Bridgemasons from a secret temple in the Hedge, or a tunnel-filled mountain in the wild. Members scoff at this publicly, but most of them believe that there are some secrets kept from the Worshipful Pillars, for even they are at a loss to explain some of the stranger parts of their secret rites.