The Ruinous Prince, known by such names as Father-Slayer, End of Empires, the Impure Gatekeeper, and Mordred, is known to changelings as a Morphean who represents power and the price of taking it; and to Mages as an Aeon representing the Arcanum of Fate.
Overview[]
“ | I see greatness and sorrow, flood and blood, bone and stone reconfigured to your will. I see myself. | ” |

Winter tales tell of a son of a mortal king and an Old God, before the Thorns were so thick; when mortals were still capable of demanding favors of Faerie. This son despised his human heart and turned against his father, killing the king when he stormed Arcadia. The Prince usually corroborates the tale, though he mixes in suitable human legends; as such, he answers to Set and Loki just as he answers to Mordred.
The Ruinous Prince often focuses on two supernatural peoples: Mages and changelings. The former, he sees as sharing his spirit, particularly those of the Fate Arcanum, which he rules as an Aeon. The latter, he sees as beings akin to himself, being of faerie origins and mortal passions. He believes that both of these groups share a higher destiny than to succumb to this age's entropy.
Appearance[]
The Prince tends to prefer tall, handsome human forms. Some are children, but they move and talk with eerily mature confidence. His old forms are bent and scarred, almost as if they have not so much aged as rotted from the inside. Many manifestations have red hair; most are male. In front of changelings he dresses like a monarch or politician from any age that pleases him. For mortals, he goes in the form of role models who've paid the price for success.
The Vow of All-Consuming Fire[]
The Ruinous Prince demands no quest that its client would not desire, so its influence takes the form of a unique pledge that no other being can make. The Vow of All-Consuming Fire invokes powers beyond the system described in Changeling: The Lost. Therefore, no values are listed.
Type: Vow
Tasks: The endeavor has three requirements. First, it must be among the most difficult things anyone has ever attempted (e.g. conquering every freehold in Great Britain and Ireland). Second, it must have a definite success point; the task cannot be ongoing. Finally, it must have identifiable milestones, whether it's getting a job in City Hall or challenging three freehold lords to Hedge duels. The Ruinous Prince vows to ease the way to success, focusing the changeling's destiny on his chosen endeavor. He also communicates the nature of each milestone through dreams and omens. The changeling has two obligations. First, he must perform the endeavor. Second, he must accept a doom of the Ruinous Prince's choosing. It will strike at some point after he succeeds. Events also transpire to undo the lasting effects of every accomplishment.
Boons: The changeling can swear to the Wyrd that he must succeed in a particular scene related to his endeavor if he is to meet his goal. This forces an immediate Clarity check; he's chosen the Wyrd over self-preservation by affirming his doomed Fate. That earns the character a pool of automatic successes equal to his Resolve + Wyrd. The player can spend up to as many successes from this pool as the lower of the character's Resolve or Wyrd on a single roll. This benefit lasts until the scene ends or the pool runs out.
Sanction: No sanction applies for the Ruinous Prince because he can't fail — his task is always attainable. The changeling doesn't irreversibly fail at the endeavor until he fails to complete three milestones in a row. The sanction is death. Furthermore, if the character dies or falls to 0 Clarity, the Wyrd systematically destroys any lasting sign or casual memory of his achievements. Nobody remembers the would-be High King of Britain except for his former motley.
Duration: The Vow of All-Consuming Fire lasts until the changeling fails or attains his goal.
References[]
- CTL: Dancers in the Dusk, p. 46-48
- MTAw: Signs of Sorcery, p. 118