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Quests are adventures undertaken by a changeling, usually a wilder.

Overview[]

A favorite occupation for wilder changelings is to take on quests. Wilders hunger for adventure, and they often go out looking for it rather than letting it come to them. Many a wilder swears an oath to pursue some kind of goal as a quest, whether that be the discovery of a legendary treasure or chimera or simply performing a task for their liege. Quests undertaken in the name of a lover are especially popular and considered the most noble or the most foolish (sometimes both).

Other quests may come from a noble to their wilder vassal, and wilders take these quests just as readily. Many sidhe nobles work to keep the restive wilders of their courts busy with such matters to prevent idleness from turning into scheming and court intrigue. Better to send the ambitious young bravos of the court out to slay dragons (and perhaps be slain by them) rather than having them at home plotting intrigues to while away the time.

Errantry[]

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Most of the “quests” undertaken by wilders and other Kithain fall under the category of errantry. This is the practice of simply leaving the home court and going out looking for adventure. It may be a long journey that takes the changeling across all of Concordia or even the world (especially common for eshu), or it might be an afternoon’s romp seeking something to do. Many wilders are struck with wanderlust to travel and see new and interesting places, and take up lives as errant knights, traveling hither and yon seeking adventure.

For Seelie errants, such a journey might consist of the classical feats of the knight errant: righting wrongs, fighting chimerical beasts, and aiding the weak and helpless. Sidhe and troll wilders often become such errant knights, charging in to fight their battles, while other commoners take a more low-key approach. Usually the changeling appears as a simple wanderer or runaway taking whatever opportunities that come along to do some good.

The Unseelie, when they can be torn away from court intrigues to go on quests, usually view errantry as more of a means of having fun (their kind of fun) than any kind of duty. These changelings are troublemakers, gadflies, and a definite danger to any hapless mortal or even changeling they happen to encounter. Sometimes Unseelie errants make a habit of challenging and fighting any Seelie errant they meet in their travels. This is especially common among trolls, who take any opportunity to fight, and the sidhe, who enjoy such noble affairs of honor.

Traditionally, a Kithain on an errant journey considers themselves in the hands of Dán, or Fate. The road that the changeling follows is considered a metaphor for the road of life, and the changeling accepts whatever challenges are put in front of them as the dictates of fate. A changeling traveling out on an errant journey may have a seemingly chance encounter with a situation that they are especially well-suited to deal with, as if it were intentionally put in the errant’s path. Many changelings consider this to be the work of Glamour or Dán.

Errants often become attached to the first cause or problem that they encounter in their travels and devote themselves to solving it. Some are notoriously single-minded about it, while other errants tend to address the symptoms of a problem without dealing with the cause. A gift of enchantment may help lift the spirits of a mortal in dire straits, but once the gift and the changeling who gave it depart, the problem may simply return as bad as before. Many errants are only concerned with the adventure and aren’t interested in hanging around for the “clean up” afterward.

The Long Road[]

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The other, and far more serious, quest that a changeling can undertake is the Oath of the Long Road, an oath sworn to complete a task which has very real effects on the changeling who makes it. Swearing the Oath of the Long Road commits the changeling to undertake the quest that is named to the exclusion of all else, and exacts a serious penalty if they fail.

The type of quest may vary greatly, but it is always a serious commitment on the part of the Kithain swearing the oath. Sometimes a whole motley or oathcircle may swear to follow the same quest.

Sometimes a time limit is placed on a quest, by the questor taking the oath, or by the giver of the oath or geas. A year and a day is the traditional length of most major quests. If the questor is unable to complete their task in the time allotted, they fail. Other quests have no time limit, or a near-endless time limit such as “until the stars cease their journey across the sky.” Such quests might take a changeling their entire life (or even several lifetimes) to complete.

The Right of Hospitality[]

A changeling (commoner or noble) who is on a quest receives special consideration from the Escheat. Such a changeling is due a certain amount of respect and hospitality from the fiefs and freeholds encountered along the way. Nobles are expected to guest a changeling questor and offer them what aid is within their means. A questing changeling (or group of them) can reasonably ask for shelter in a freehold and expect to receive it in order to renew Glamour and to rest before continuing on their journey.

This hospitality does not protect the questor from the effects of bad behavior, and a host is perfectly within their rights to eject a rude or greedy questor.

Types of Quests[]

There are plenty of different kinds of quests that changelings can undertake in search of adventure and Glamour.

  • Rescue: The questor must save someone from a villain or danger. This could be a noble kidnapped by a dragon or evil sorcerer, or it might be a changeling in the hands of mortal authorities, Autumn People, or the Dauntain. In any case, the questor must make their way past the challenges to reach the subject and bring them back safely.
  • Get Imprisoned: It might not sound like much of a quest, but many questors are entrapped because of their quest. The changeling’s jailor might be a Kithain or chimera looking to interfere with the quest, the forces of Banality, or something as simple as the mortal authorities. Changelings can also become entrapped in enchanted places or freeholds that prevent them from leaving, requiring some friends to help them get out.
  • Champion: The changeling swears to champion a person or cause. This could be championing someone in a formal duel between Kithain (trolls are particularly appropriate), or it might mean helping someone, fae or mortal, who needs the changeling’s aid. Some Kithain apply this quest to a larger goal like championing the cause of a noble, house, or family.
  • Battle A Beast: The quest that stories and songs are made of, the changeling seeks to do battle with some enemy, usually a monster (dangerous chimera, nervosa, or nocnitsa) that threatens others, but the foe might also be another changeling (such as an evil sorcerer or noble), a Prodigal, or even a mortal enemy. The highest form of this type of quest is seeking out and battling a dragon. Sometimes the beast that a changeling pursues may not even exist except in their own imagination (perhaps like the Questing Beast), but for the Kithain, imagination is a powerful thing and Glamour can sometimes make such “make believe” quests a reality.
  • Do A Favor: The questor might perform an errand or quest at someone else’s request. This might be to win the favor of a noble or the object of the changeling’s affections, or it might be a price exacted by a chimera or Kithain who has something the changeling wants in exchange for performing the deed. Oftentimes, these errands are either nonsensical (chimera and sorcerers have their own obscure motives for things, or very difficult, such as the noble who sets an impossible task for the suitor seeking to win their ward’s heart and hand.
  • Find a Treasure: The object of the quest might be to find a legendary treasure that has important magical powers, such as the Cup of Dreams, the only known cure for the third stage of Bedlam. The treasure may have been lost for a very long time, and other Kithain and/or Prodigals might also be seeking it. Finding the treasure and overcoming its guardian(s) can make for a long and difficult, but rewarding quest. There also comes the question of what the changeling will do with the treasure one they have it.
  • Seek Knowledge/Wisdom: Many changelings embark on quests in search of some arcane secret or piece of lore. This might take the form of an ancient book, scroll, or some other treasure, or it might be a person or chimera whose advice the changeling seeks. The Síochaín are often the object of quests to find them and ask their advice, as are many secretive sorcerers and ancient chimera who may recall things about the Dreaming and Arcadia that the Kithain exiled on Earth have forgotten.
  • Seek the Dreaming: The ultimate quest for a changeling is to find Arcadia. The trods and gates to the faerie realm are long closed, but many changelings still search for a way to make contact again with their lost homeland and the heart of the Dreaming.

References[]

  1. CTD. The Enchanted, pp. 53-56.
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