The last of the Changelings in our Oathcircle that is safeguarding the Uncovered Vale is Alexandra Phaedra, a Satyr with a history in this area who is louder and louder in her declamations of protecting the Commoners and taking Glamour for that purpose. Similar to some of the other characters, I am working off of a lesser used concept for the Satyr which plays to some of the Greek heritage where she started as an Athlete, but became more of a rounded philosopher-queen of Greek tradition. The scholar or well rounded person obsessed with miasma or blood pollution.
After this project, I am just going to admit that some other OWOD books have been coming off the shelf. Expect another installment of Card Catalog to flash back to the 90s – can you guess which one?
I found the form fillable two page Sheets, and linked to them below, but I won’t repeat too much on the sheet that is going into the words below in the Character Notes.
Design Notes
Satyr’s, like Trolls, have a bonus rank of a Physical Attribute, Stamina for the Satyr, which makes it easier to create a rounded character. Her primary Attributes will be Mental, Physical Secondary, and Social as Tertiary. She is not a charming Satyr and focuses far more on other ways to produce her results. Accordingly, she has a Strength of 2, Dexterity of 3, and Stamina of 4 compared to a Perception of 3, Intelligence of 4, and Wits of 3. Finally, her Appearance is a 3, Manipulation a 2, and Charisma a 1.
As a Moonlight Satyr, Alexandra’s Unseelie Legacy will be the dominant one. I went with a Legacy found in the Player’s Guide – Sophist. Alexandra is hard to design because she is such a precarious balance of physical and mental with what I see as an almost crusading component. The Sophist Legacy means that she will be sharing what she knows and maybe even pushing people in that direction but for her own gain. Conversely, her Seelie Legacy that was left behind when she switched Courts was Comrade. You can see how her first instinct to be friends and be part of something greater could also be the same instinct that sees relationships in a transactional way. As a Wilder, the dynamic and driven of us, Alex starts with 4 Glamour, 2 WIllpower, and 3 Banality.
The Satyr Birthrights revolve on their two historical abilities – Physical Prowess which means an Extra Dot of Stamina, never botching Athletics checks, and the ability to run at an inhuman speeds when the Glamour is all that stands in their way; and Pan’s Gift which is a revelry and performance that can inspire a bacchanalia like attitude in other Kithain and Fae! Satyrs are known for their frolicking and their different romantic interests. Conversely, Passion’s Curse means
Originally, Alexandra was going to be a Physical Primary Athlete, but two things changed. First, the idea of the character came more into focus and gave me pause as I wanted to go with more Mental aspects and I looked at both Denys and Paul as Primary Physical Characters and then Maggie Pie and Niklaus as Primary Social Characters and confirmed by move to Mental Primary (7) for Alexandra. She starts with Perception 3, Intelligence 4, and Wits 4. Her Physical Attributes become Secondary (5) while she became an unusual Satyr with Tertiary Social Attributes. Physically, her Attributes are Strength 2, Dexterity 3, and Stamina 4 because she got an extra dot in Stamina as a Satyr. For some reason, people don’t trust Alex and that means a low Charisma of 1 with an Average Manipulation of 2 and an Appearance of 3 because Satyrs always have some sort of draw about them. In her story, we will see why Alex can’t inspire trust of warmth in others these days, but I like this idea.
Okay. Now hear me out – I am going to make Knowledges the Tertiary Ability area. I know I said I am making a smarter Mental primary Character, but I have a plan! Talents will be Primary (13) with Skills Secondary (9), and Knowledges Tertiary (5). I am going to start with three ranks in Athletics and Dodge. It is better not to get hit after all. I will start with two ranks each in Alertness, Brawl, and Kenning to provide a rounded person and background with a single rank of Streetwise. For her Skills, I will go ahead and put three ranks in Performance so she can dance well even if her Charisma isn’t quite up to par and a pair of ranks for Firearms, Melee, and Security. Finally, I will provide 3 Ranks of Lore and 2 Ranks of Linguistics – Greek and Latin, of course.
With a spread of backgrounds, I start with the Rank of Holding that goes to the underlying Oathcircle concept here. Then one Rank of Remembrance to have some connection to the Dreaming, a Rank of Resources for her mortal escapades, and a Rank each of Dreamers and Contacts. Her Resources are likely a form of grants and scholarships while the Dreamers and Contacts could be from a fan club of her exploits.
For Arts, or the basis for what a Fae may do with the Cantrip Magic, I will do a Rank of Soothsay to further the idea of the Satyr as a future Greek oracle, a Rank of Wayfare to jump and eventually move towards the Quicksilver running, and a rank of Sovereign. This one could be great fun and is also a huge story point since the Sidhe are protective of it and tend to react poorly to any Commoner who has learned it – though it won’t effect them because the Dreaming prohibts its impact of fae of a higher Title than the caster. For Realms, of what the fae may effect with the Cantrip magic, I need to get two Ranks of Actor and One of Fae at least to begin with and another 2 Ranks of Scene to potentially Soothsay an entire room. Or Protocol an entire room of Commoners.
Finally, we get to Freebie Points, Merits, and Flaws. Freebie Points let you customize your character beyond what we’ve done already. Merits are other bonuses or traits that don’t fit elsewhere and cost Freebie points while Flaws are the inverse providing a handful more Freebie points to spend. Here is where the Mental Primary Satyr plan comes to Fruition – the five point Merit Jack of All Trades! This means that Alexandra is treated as having a Rank of every single Skill and Knowledge! She would still have to spend the XP to buy the first rank if she ever formally bought it, but this lets her cover that role easily to start! Before I go further, since I already took 5 points of the Freebies away, I’ll focus on the Flaws – I am starting with a 3 Point Enemy – her Father. Three points means he will be pretty significant and her story idea I came up with will bear that out. An associated 1 Point Dark Secret is that she is beginning to agree with her Father, who is known to the other Fae and that her Father counts as an Infamous Mentor for another point balancing out the Jack of All Trades Merit. I will add Concentration for 1 Point and Eidetic Memory for 2 Points to continue to play up the mental focus for Alexandra. I will add one more rank of Athletics to her Abilities and then add a Rank to both Soothsay and Actor in the Arts and Realms respectively.
Character Notes
Alexandra Phaedra’s life was something of a rarity and certainly quite idyllic amongst the fae even before her Chrysalis. You see, Alexandra’s parents were both well known and well loved fae! Her Father, Phaedrus in his fae mien, happened to be a Satyr who had charmed his way into a life with Brid, a Sidhe who excelled on the battlefield. They were an odd pair, for sure, the stoic and statuesque Brid with the rakish and raucous Phaedrus but it seemed to work for them. Moreoever, the rare honour befell them when even as Grumps they saw their Daughter go through a Chrysalis. A fae reincarnated into the child of fae. A blessing it would seem.
Alex’s life was a whirlwind when she began to see the world as her parents did. It made so much more sense to see what her parents fought and drew on. Her eyes opened during a race as she ran faster than ever before. In those brief seconds she saw possibility and wonder. In those briefest of moments, she was able to imagine the Dreaming. Her father would take her on trips and fill her head with stories of lore and lives gone past. She would understand how her father’s time on stage, playing the trumpet brought him Glamour and raised the spirits of those who listened. When her mother was left in charge, she learned martial ways and the etiquette of the Sidhe. She even learned the shapings on the Sovereign Art from her her mother – a hint and whiff of the authority of the Sidhe so rarely shared with Commoners even today.
Perhaps the most intriguing thing about Alexandra was the way she set her own tasks before her. As much as her parents dove deeper into the Dreaming and availed themselves of Freeholds to stave off the Undoing, she saw a form of magic and wonder still available in the Autumn land. She learned how to program BASIC on a computer and became as good a shot with a rifle as with bow and arrow. At school, the handful of other fae seemed to gather together – the odd Redcap Niklaus with his love of bow ties and delicate movements that chilled the heart of those who thought they were solely owed a seat at the table and Paul, the indefatiguable Boggan who could dance with her over and over … who made her laugh like no other. She was a charmed and blessed youth – bright, fast, attractive, happy, and full of potential.
Two years ago, the summer before her senior year of high school, that all changed. Brid had a duty to fulfill and Baron Gottfried was not shy of calling on her for it. The Barony needed protection from a Chimerical monster – a rare Giant from the far Dreaming riding a Wurm, but one bent on conquest rather than communion. Brid, A Noble Sidhe and warrior born, sallied forth to fight the good fight ….. But it was a pyrrhic victory. Alexandra was there with her father, Denys and his Knight, and others when the Lady Brid felled the beast only to be felled by it. Her Dreaming left … given over to Banality. It was her Undoing.
Whispering Wind helped Alexandra make an escape even as her father could scarcely handle what he had seen. Even as her Father swore an Oath … even as her life changed for good. She saw the UnSeelie side of the world – how Ravaging is what was left for the fae when the Dreaming was dying. She took a turn for the darker side of the dreams but even that was not as chilling as what unfolded over the next year with her father. Brid was still around, a normal human mother, a housewife and an office drone now answering only to Bridgette. She worked away and kept a house showing no sign of the proud, strong warrior who led the charge; showing no sign of the spark of creativity and joy that had defined her mother.
Her father took this the wrong way. The way that frightens every fae – Phaedrus did not succumb to banality but dove deep to embrace it as an Autumn Person – one of the Dauntain called an Apostate. It was subtle at first as he looked into the lore of the fae and the Dreaming. It wasn’t immediate … but Alexandra felt it at home. The slow clawing and increasing banality. She thought it was her mother causing it. She had never lived with a human before … but no, it was her Father giving into the belief that the Undoing sends the glamour back to Arcadia. It was her Father who came to see banality as a way for fae to live forever …. And a way for him to rejoin Brid with enough of it around him. His eyes have grown wild and his attempts to push other fae into Undoing to tip the balance has taken on a dangerous time. It is only luck that keeps Alexandra away from home but soon that will all come to a head.
The excuse of a college scholarship got Alexandra out of the house and the Oathcircle that coincides with that move provides some protection against a frightful foe who sees her as one of the last links that tethers his love. She has pulled back away from Paul. He doesn’t seem hurt; Boggans rarely do. While she has her dalliances and dates, she is terrified of dragging Paul into this life she found – this curse. Miasma, the blood pollution, would consume him as much as her family so clearly cursed. Her joyful partying and lust for life has taken on a slightly darker tone as she seeks out escapes after facing down the Dreaming’s erosions. She thought she volunteered for this Oathcircle, but a careful application of Sovereign by Baron Gottfried led to her decision. The Baron needed the constant reminder of his fallen Knight gone and her own rabble rousing out of his hair. If she whips up enough problems in the Vale, he can claim it back. And besides, why believe a girl who claims the sky is falling?
Outspoken and too smart for her own good. Beautiful but cold. Alexandra’s name has come to haunt her as in mythology you might also have called her by the name Cassandra.
Alexandra Phaedra – Wilder UnSeelie Satyr Sage Character Sheet
Changeling: The Dreaming & The Uncovered Vale Overview Here.
Character Sheet from Mr. Gone’s Character Sheets.
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