Located in Cedar Rapids, IA, the City of Five Seasons, the freehold of the Grove, formerly the two rival freeholds of the Red Ferry and Shepherd’s Claim, is home to an unusually large number of changelings — 214 in total, though only 195 are permanent members.
Overview[]
Run by a mixture of four Court systems, the Grove is a bizarre freehold. The set of Courts in power switches by year, ending with each Spring Equinox, with the Winter Sovereign passing power not to Spring, but to the Directional Courts. At the end of the Directional Courts’ year, power passes to the Diurnal and Transitional, which jointly rule, after which it returns to Spring. Meanwhile, the edges of the freehold are under the control of the Margravate of the Brim, which believes, just as it did when the freehold had been two, that the endless Courtly politicking inhibits the Courts’ ability to protect the freehold’s citizens.
The Grove is located within Cedar Rapids, Iowa in the United States, a city the local Lost have divided into four quadrants, upon which the Directional Courts are based; the Cedar River runs NW to SE and 1st Avenue runs SW to NE, dividing the city into north, south, east, and west. Meanwhile, Marion takes the northeastern direction, from which a frightful number of terrors have emerged through the years. May’s Island serves as a central area of the city, and was the location of the city hall up until the 2008 flood ruined it. After this event and the subsequent merger of the Kingston and Cedar Rapids freeholds, the Courts’ seat of power was set to the derelict hall.
The city has a prominent Czech presence just south of the intersection of the Cedar River and 1st; as such, the city bears relatively strong diurnal Courts as compared to other freeholds.
Politics[]
The seasonal and diurnal Courts, having a great deal more history in the area, are the strongest Courts in the freehold, with the directional and transitional Courts being much smaller in membership, to the extent that small fiefdoms of Seasonal Courts have begun cropping up even during other Courts’ ruling time.
The size of the freehold and the friction that naturally builds up between the court systems have led to agitators seeking to split the freehold once more along Court lines — a split expected to occur at some point by 2030, according to politically canny changelings within the freehold.
The only staying forces for the Courts’ continued association at this point are the bonds between cross-Court motley-mates, the desperate diplomacy of the local Solstice courtiers, and the strength of the rival Margravate of the Brim, which has made a point of snatching up spare Courtless lying about. Leadership among the Courts fear whatever plans the entitlement may make.
Current and Last Court Leadership[]
Names are noted only when a sovereign has been replaced in his or her position within the Court.
2020: Directional
2019: Seasonal
- Autumn: Shane Cerise (replacing Susan Sparrow, who peacefully abdicated)
2018: Diurnal/Transitional
2017: Directional
2016 (Flood): Seasonal
2015: Diurnal/Transitional
2014: Directional
2013: Seasonal
2012: Diurnal/Transitional
2011: Directional
2010: Seasonal
- Spring: Lenka Navrátil (replacing Caden Pearson)
- Summer: Rosalinda Romero
- Autumn: Susan Sparrow
- Winter: Ioan Joseph
2009: Diurnal/Transitional
- Sun: Ismail Griffiths
- Moon: Agáta Vlček
- Dawn: Mert Markham
- Dusk: Elisha Ramirez
2008 (Post-Flood): Directional
- North: Xia Ling
- South: Lillian Liao
- East: Logan Acosta (Replacing Michael Duan who died when the Old Man’s minions struck)
- West: Jungi Hong
2008 (Pre-Flood): Spring
- Spring: Caden Pearson
History[]
The city itself was founded by George Greene, Nicholas Brown, and a few others on the eastern side of the Cedar River (Red Cedar) in 1841, while on the west lay Kingston, founded by David King. The town, then with a population of 400, was formally incorporated by the Iowa State Legislature eight years later, in January of ’49. During the next decade, due to cheap land, Czech refugees from the Austrian Revolutions of 1848 flooded in, establishing a bustling immigrant population in what would become Coe College. Not long after, railroad development began, permitting access to distant markets. In 1870, Kingston was annexed, though tensions between east- and west-siders in Cedar Rapids would remain; May’s Island, in 1909 came to serve as neutral territory to ease this tension. During the same period as the annexation, in 1871, the foundation of a major meatpacking company spurred on the city’s economic growth. Little of note occurred beyond this until the Great Depression, when one Arthur Collins began an electronics firm, which helped the city grow into a telecommunications powerhouse.
On the side of the Lost, a number of trods run along the area, including what are now Indian Creek Park and the Linwood Cemetery. Of particular note, however, is the trod in Palisades-Kepler State Park. Since much older times, when the land was under the Meshkwahkihaki and Othâkîwa peoples, this trod had, decade after decade, spat out upward of a dozen people within a short time span.
When Cedar Rapids began to form, the formerly itinerant Lost began to converge on the place, finding work and shelter as they could. Regardless, they remained largely leaderless until the influx of migrants in the 1850s brought knowledge of a myriad of Courts in Europe and Asia with them. Inspired, the changelings of Cedar Rapids formed a diurnal Court that ruled their freehold of Shepherd’s Claim, while Kingston’s Red Ferry freehold took to the seasonal — a state of affairs that remained even after Cedar Rapids annexed Kingston in 1870. Those who followed the directional and transitional were, until recent years, pushed into political irrelevance, which the former found infuriating and the latter found unimportant.
Though Iowa (as a location) was largely untouched by the Civil War, its citizenry were firmly pro-Union, a stance universally agreed-upon among the local Lost, due to less-than fond memories of their own servitude. It was not uncommon for members of the Courts to leave to join the Union’s army, just as the mundane men did.
The currently-untenable political situation began with the Flood of 2008, which destroyed vast swathes of property — several billion dollars’ worth in damages, much of which was property central to the Kingston and Cedar Rapids freeholds. Worse, the Old Man, a True Fae whose realm is connected to Arcadian wells and is associated with rains and floods, took the opportunity to strike at the freehold, stealing away the reigning Vernal King of Kingston, one Caden Pearson, before power could transfer on the solstice.
The bereaved changeling population of both freeholds gathered together to salvage what they could of the situation. Meanwhile, a surging population of Dusk courtiers in the wake of tragedy and an opportunistic Serpent Court drew their fellows into a position of power through consistent funding and volunteer work. As the reigning Courts accrued a sizeable debt, the newcomers forced a political coup, ensuring some manner of political power for themselves and their allies.
The agreement made was the current yearly rotation of Courts, which began with the directional Courts, so as to ensure neither of the previous ruling Court systems would start in power.
Though Cedar Rapids faced another flood in 2016, it and the Grove were better prepared. Of note, however, is that Pearson has managed to escape from Arcadia once again. He currently is one of the agitators against the current state of affairs.