Spring Court (CTL)

Spring Court
Nicknames	The Antler Crown, the Emerald Court, the Court of Desire
Emotion	Desire
Colors	Bright blue and green

The Spring Court is one of the four main courts found in Changeling: The Lost. The changelings of the Spring Court seek to forget the horrors they once endured in the realm of Faerie by immersing themselves in humanity and the pleasures therein. Of the four main courts, they can be considered the most optimistic, but are far from the flighty would-be humans many other changelings assume them to be; most of their number are still wracked by the guilt and shame their time among the Fae caused them.

First Edition

Organization

The founder of the Spring Court is said to be Mother Susan, a changeling who desired to have a child more than anything else. Rendered infertile by her time in Faerie, she made a number of deals with other entities that, in the end, allowed her to bear one. However, she felt she could not keep it and gave it away, some say to Spring herself, to forge the pact that created a court in Spring's honor.

The members of the Spring Court seek to not only forget their past, but to also add grace and beauty to everything they do. To become a full-fledged member of the court means one must live a literally beautiful life, and members that cannot do so are made to feel outcast. Members are not only allowed to fulfill their own desires, but must help other Spring Court members in their pursuit of desire.

One of the most famous rituals the Spring Court holds is the Spring Revel, performed when winter officially passes into spring. The ritual is famous not only among members of the Antler Crown, but among all changeling courts; all secretly desire an invitation because they also know that the members of the Spring Court will attempt, in the course of the Revel, to make one of their desires come true. Another popular gathering is the Homecoming, a hedonistic festival celebrating the anniversary of the current Monarch of Spring's escape from Faerie; occasionally, other Spring Court members can be honored as well.

Associated Powers

Contracts

• The Contract of Fleeting Spring allows the user to manipulate desire in a target or targets.
• The Contract of Eternal Spring holds the powers of growth and rejuvenation.
• The Contract of Verdant Spring permits the caster to channel passion into action.

Mantle

The Mantle of Spring courtiers often manifests as some shade of revitalization, be it a lovely breeze or the images of slowly growing plants around the changeling. As Mantle rises, the surroundings begin to be affected by this growth.

Court Variants

Growing Season

Also known as Short Spring, this variant on the Spring Court represents a particular shade of desire: lust. The fickle and indecisive changelings of this Court follow the animal instincts that precipitate the rapid growth. These courtiers' Mantles are wild and untamed; bright, different-colored eyes are common, as is the growth of greenery or fur from the body and the spreading of pheromones from the pores.

Tornado Season

Also known as Whirlwind Spring, this Court focuses on the darker side of desire. The courtiers, little different than the tornado that leaves a swathe of destruction in its wake, eagerly use others and themselves without a thought to the consequences. Often denied a place in freeholds' seasonal cycle, these Lost rarely have a firm grip on Clarity. The Mantles of such changelings are tense and unpredictable — at times eerily still, placid, and other times bearing flesh that ripples and whips away from them in gale-torn ribbons, with eyes gunmetal gray like the sky before a tornado strikes.

Second Edition

Overview

“

Anything that’s flawless is false. We are beautiful, my dears, not because we have no scars. We are beautiful because we refuse to be defined by them.

”

This Court understands well the power of passion — that which fuels ambition and art; that which turns survival into living. Courtiers of the Antler Crown are particularly aware of changelings' reliance on human emotion, and on the temptations that can come with it. Spring courtiers often see through the honeyed words of the Gentry and their ilk easily. Unfortunately, the Court is vulnerable to brute force, leaving them to rely on their fellows.

Other Courts, at times, hold them in contempt for what they see as denial of the true state of things, the danger in which the Lost constantly find themselves. This is not entirely inaccurate: drawing power from your desires ensures that focusing on what you do not want weakens you.

Turning of the Seasons

High Spring: When Spring is ascendant, its courtiers live lavishly and attempt to draw their fellows into their revels. To some extent, this is a necessity: celebrations are often the means by which they keep their Bargain with their patron; what's more, these activities can help boost the morale of the freehold, in the hopes that happy changelings will be more likely to aid one another in times of need.

Low Spring: When other Courts lead, Spring often takes the role of a support group, keeping the freeholders happy and healthy; similarly, it maintains the freehold's quality of life, producing goblin fruits and establishing gardens. An effective Emerald Court also utilizes their diplomatic skills to grease the wheels of freehold politics.

Bargain

In exchange for its innumerable rituals and festivities, the Spring's Bargain places a geas on would-be True Fae attackers. They and their minions can only commit violence if it is their true heart's desire. Any lesser urge cannot negate this geas.

Associated Powers

Contracts

Spring Contracts, both Arcadian and Common, are imbued with powers relating to the Spring season (soft rains, growth, and the like) and the emotion of desire.

Mantle

The Spring Mantle is warm, breathing life into the surrounding area. Colors become richer and more vibrant, the air moves around the courtier, and images of flowers are left in her wake.

Gallery

Spring Revel

References

• CTL: Changeling: The Lost Rulebook, p. 46-49
• CTL: Lords of Summer, p. 39-43
• CTL: Winter Masques, p. 120
• CTL: Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition, p. 35-38