Goblin Town

Goblin Town is an Unseelie Nocker Freehold Barony in Manhattan, New York.

Overview
Buried deep in the bowels of Manhattan, Goblin Town is one of two major freeholds on the Island. It's claimed territory stretches under sixteen blocks of the eastern midtown area of the city and includes tunnels directly beneath the Ford Foundation Building. The west side of its boundaries touches the Grand Central Terminal, and to the east it reaches the United Nations Building, the East River, and the Queenstown Tunnel. The freehold's center is right beneath the Chrysler building. A combination of Glamour and clever architectural contraptions hides the territory from the outside world. Subway workers, homeless sewer dwellers, and even supernatural entities nearly pass through the center of the freehold all completely unaware of its existence.

The freehold itself is like a Chinese puzzle; a constantly shifting paradox, and a matter of great concern for most Seelie Kithain in the New York area. The inhabitants are mostly nockers and unashamedly Unseelie. While their close proximity to the winter court of King David curbs the worst of their excesses, many changelings whisper rumors of unspeakable crimes committed by the residents. Theories about the inner workings of the freehold are rampant, though few outsiders have seen anything but the marketplace. For all its dark reputation, though, Goblin Town has carved itself a unique niche in changeling society. The resident artisans are extraordinary, even by nocker standards, and their inventions are in high demand throughout Concordia. Even fae who look down on their "nocker villainy" will pay whatever it takes to obtain their goods. Their goods are commissioned by the elite of kithain society, even within King David's palace. This makes them almost respectable despite their reputation. It also makes them one of the wealthiest freeholds in Concordia.

Opulent by even the most jaded standards, the decor is a combination of Baroque and Victorian excess: polished wood and brass, muted amber lighting from ingenious oil lamps, glittering gold, mirrors, and great works of art, both human and Kithain. Even the secret passages, of which their are hundreds, are luxurious with dark mahogany paneling and minor art treasures. The floors are mostly fine wood parquet adorned with oriental rugs. A wide array of stained glass is backlit by oil lamps. Clever nocker inventions decorate the freehold and hundred of artificial creatures wander the halls; clockwork masterpieces animated by Glamour. They come in every breed and variety: brass storks, jade alligators, silver dragonflies, gold leopards with onyx spots, etc..., and outnumber the changeling inhabitants 10 to 1. Most have a rudimentary intelligence and they are a formidable force if needed for defense. It's all so dazzling that most visitors fail to see the fiendish (and occasionally sadistic) intelligence that underlies each detail. The architecture is a mechanical marvel and, in a sense, is itself alive.

The inhabitants thrive on paradox, riddles, and outright deception. Nothing in the freehold is as it first seems. (Actually some things are but that's just to keep 'em guessing.) It is an M.C. Escher drawing come to life. Stairs that seem to go up are built at such an angle that they actually go down. Doors open onto brick walls or sheer hundred foot drops. Hallways, stairs, rooms, even entire floors are built on a hidden (an completely silent) system of rollers, tracks, pulleys, and switching stations and the hall that went to the library yesterday goes to the kitchen today and a subway tunnel tomorrow. Some parts even have thick plat-glass windows and floors that allow you to see the machinery behind the scenes. It's all powered, in part, by the tidal energy of the East River. As the rooms shift, the stained glass windows reflect a kaleidoscopic wash of colors across the walls. Some of these form arcane patterns that may give insight into the workings of the freehold. The entire complex changes its outside configuration completely, cycling from a roughly crab-shaped design to a series of interconnected rings and back over the course of a year, beginning and ending at Beltaine. And all this happens unnoticed and unconstrained by New York's own densely packed construction. Most of the cycle was pre-ordained by its Master Builder. It does, however, have a random element to it. Wether the founder, Doctor Tapp, planned it or it's caused by the chimerical nature of the grotto is unknown. Some nockers think it may be caused by a more sinister agent and point out that the random factor only came into being lately. Because of it, though, even longtime residents occasionally get lost. Of course, this shifting nature has proved to be a great defense as well, as the locations of its entrances also change.

Few of the inhabitants know all the freehold's complexities. The secret passages move as well. It's every nocker childling's dream to find an undiscovered secret passage; rumors of hidden treasures in such locations are common. The freehold's growth has paralleled the city's over the years. Each new element is painstakingly built in according to the master plans left by Doctor Tapp, which have been carefully preserved by the freehold's successive Master Builders as the work to integrate that growth with the city's construction. The freehold has purchased much of the surrounding property to allow this.

Much of the heavier construction in the freehold is done by humans. The nockers conduct occasionally raids to the surface to abduct hapless citizens who are enchanted and set to work in the black caverns beneath the city. Usually the abductees are homeless vagrants (who won't be missed) but occasionally they need a skilled artisan. Such people beautify the interior and provide Glamour, especially as the inhabitants have no qualms about Ravaging, but these sort are more readily missed and the nockers have gained some potent enemies as a result.

On top of all this, the freehold's bizarre construction has begun to foster a degree of paranoia and schizophrenia in its inhabitants. In this vertiginous world, few things are constant and few of the dwellers have their feet firmly on the ground. Political alliances are mercurial and social conventions change at lightening speed. Despite this, the freehold's leader, Baroness Cadmium Redd, has managed to stay on top for over 25 years. The freehold's mood has grown increasingly frenetic recently and it is doubtful her reign will last much longer.

History
Goblin Town is one of the oldest Kithain freeholds in Concordia. In 1664, Doctory Zachery Tapp, the mad nocker architect, mathematician, and mystic, fled London (for what he later called "health reasons"). His quick departure coincided with the English seizure of New Amsterdam (now New York) from the Dutch. The earliest population in Manhattan consisted mostly of Pooka and the wily Dr. Tapp quickly gained deed to the Pooka's property for little more than the 24 dollars originally paid to the indigenous peoples for the island, thus reinforcing the nocker stereotype of the Naars being gullible. What the pooka didn't share was that they had only just stolen the land from the Nunnehi who were waging an active campaign to reclaim it. They were thus almost indecently eager to be rid of it and the nockers were more than willing to comply, reinforcing the Pooka stereotype of the nockers being gullible. The nockers spent the next 20 years in combat with the nunnehi.

Tapp quickly learned the reason for the Nunnehi's fanatical desire to regain the area. Deep beneath the island was a natural Grotto of great potency: The Black Crystal Caverns which was a far more potent source of Glamour than he had hoped to find. Word spread quickly through the nocker community and Tapp saw an ideal situation to realize his life-long dream of creating a living, moving piece of architectural sculpture. Every aspect of the freehold's earliest subterranean structure was designed to coincide with the growing city and the integration is almost seamless. While Tapp disappeared in 1750, his plans still exist and kithain scholars divine a mystical significance to them, though they cannot comprehend what it is. Construction continues and the excitement is high because the Master Builder is predicting completion in five years.

The nockers have been good, and lucky, at keeping themselves here by not appearing too expansionist to the other sewer dwellers. Their policy is entrenchment and defensively, they are in a better position than most of the sewer dwellers and have managed to avoid involving themselves in other supernatural affairs. It was only during the Accordance War that the freehold was thrust briefly into the limelight. Interestingly enough, the freehold had strong Royalist sympathies and allied with Lord Dafyll ap Gwydion and still somehow managed to be in good standing when High King David came to power. No one is quite sure how they managed this. Rumors abound that the nockers betrayed Dafyll and that one of their own, a member of the sidhe lord's coterie, was the one who betrayed and murdered him. Nothing is proven, though, and the freehold has thrived under David's benevolent eye. Shortly after the War, the current leader, Cadmium Redd, came to power.

Recently the freehold has been experiencing increased chimerical activity and the appearance of monsters has disrupted its operations. This obviously causes some anxiety among the residents. They are currently investigating the cause, though they have discovered nothing.

Tricks, Traps, Treachery
Goblin Town is not an easy place to navigate, even for long-time inhabitants. Its shifting nature plus the nocker love of traps, puzzles, and conundrums has helped and hurt security. Dr. Tapp's design leaves room for a good deal of individual expression and any nocker worth their hammer takes some of that room. Of course, several centuries of individuals putting their own "personal touches" has led to confusion. No one in the freehold, except Isaac Glass, is familiar with all the idiosyncrasies. While most residents can get where they need to go, the random element is always a potential problem and at least once in its history, a defending troop had to stop and decipher a mind-bending puzzle before proceeding on their way. Some of these "embellishments" are set to go off at a given time or on certain occasions and may not trigger until decades or even centuries after their creator's death.

Most of the traps in the freehold require a person to solve some sort of intellectual puzzle (often a riddle) in order not to trigger them. The puzzles may be asked by a chimerical creature or written on an engraved panel that pops out of a wall when the trap is activated. Any attempt to evade the trap without answering the puzzle will trigger it. The difficulties range from childish to Byzantine. Every riddle must have an answer and every addition must be approved by the Master Builder. Awards are given for particularly devious ones but there is little in the way of public adulation.

There is a wilder clique that has made a full-time occupation of deciphering everyone's tricks. Generally 90% of all new riddles are known by everyone in the freehold within a week of their creation. The types of conundrums are many and varied. They may be word or logic puzzles, musical phrases, or any other number of systems but none are based on highly specialized knowledges. Most puzzles don't even involve traps but hide surprises to challenge and delight. Inventions, toys, and dross are hidden in secret places waiting to be discovered.

Most of the lethal traps that are likely to go off under normal circumstances are common knowledge to everyone in the freehold. There are a few, however, that are not generally known and nasty ones at that. They tend to be in higher security areas, like Cadmium Redd's chambers, Dr. Coma's library, the Master Builder's Sanctuary, etc... Only certain kithain are allowed in these areas and snooping is frowned upon. The puzzles in these rooms do tend to need specialized knowledge and are almost impenetrable to outsiders. Penalties for failure are swift and horrible: whirling cold iron blades, monstrous chimera, and showers of molten iron are but a small sampling. One unique trap is the antechamber to the Master Builder's quarters. Unwelcome guests are subjected to rapid fire riddles posed by a sinister jester. One wrong answer and the entire steel shuttered room, and everyone in it, is shunted at lightning speed by the world's largest catapult out of the complex and into the East River. The jester goes along for the ride, mocking the victims as they plunge toward their doom. The trajectory is calculated to be hidden from casual observers. Of course their are rumors of traps designed by Dr. Tapp that have yet to be discovered.