Summer Court (CTL)

Summer Court
Nicknames	The Iron Spear, the Crimson Court, the Court of Wrath
Emotion	Wrath
Colors	Green, red, orange, yellow

The Summer Court is one of the four main courts of changelings found in Changeling: The Lost. The members of the Summer Court are renowned as seekers of strength and power, ready to protect the changelings from any foe, but especially those from Faerie. Summer changelings are just as likely to be politicians or intellectuals as they are warriors, so long as they can beat back a foe in some manner.

First Edition

Organization

The founder of the court is Sam Noblood, who is said to have hunted down Summer himself to secure a promise to endorse Sam's court.

The changelings of the Summer Court are those most willing to fight; some toy with foes before going in for the kill, while others favor a more direct and brutal approach. A few among the Summer Court are specialized in fighting other supernatural creatures to protect changeling interests. Potential members are tested through a series of arduous physical tasks that must be passed before they are allowed to enter.

The most common and frequent rituals of the Summer Court are simple contests of physical skill between two or more changelings, mostly to burn off energy and anger, but also to create an unofficial court pecking order when it comes to certain talents. The Summer Court has also taken to creating similar skill competitions for other courts to compete in during their appropriate seasons; these may not always involve physical skill, but intellectual pursuits, magic, and so on, so long as the element of competition is involved.

Associated Powers

Contracts

• The contract of Fleeting Summer allows the changeling to alter the violent and angry feelings of others.
• The contract of Eternal Summer grants the user the ability to control the heat and sun of the season.
• The contract of Punishing Summer allows the caster to manipulate the tools of wrath: war and combat. 

Mantle

The Mantle of a Summer courtier reflects the heat of summer. As it rises, heat distortions in the air and the sensation of a dry wind are common. At higher levels, those nearby may begin to feel dried out themselves.

Court Variants

Dry Season

Also known as Foresummer or Dry Summer, this variant of the Summer Court represents the emotion of rage, a twist on wrath that takes after the sparking of dry vegetation into a conflagration. The Mantle of such changelings bears features such as skin fractured like desiccated earth; a Mantle of clay, sandstone, desert sands, and brittle brush.

Monsoon Season

Also known as Hurricane Season, the Wet Season, or Wet Summer, this variant represents a more personal wrath: the wrath of vengeance. Much as the rains of this season run long, so too does this anger fester. The changelings of Monsoon Season are stormy, featuring sodden Mantles — hair wet and tangled, eyes sobbing tears that will not cease, voices like the dull roar of rain or the booming break of thunder.

Second Edition

Overview

“

Fuck compromise. You know who wants you complacent and afraid? They do. They want you thinking you don’t want to fight back. No. Fuck that. You need to be angry. They earned your wrath.

”

Composed of those willing to fight back against their oppressors far more directly, the Summer Court weaponizes its wrath. Unlike the other Courts, Summer has no interest in misdirection or avoidance. Rather, they are brutally straightforward — a trait that is as much an enigma to the Others as the Court system itself.

Interestingly, to some extent, many changelings feel greater fear for Summer than Autumn; not all courtiers are capable of maintaining that iron discipline and focus, and unfocused wrath is liable to spill over to the innocent.

Turning of the Seasons

High Summer: Typically, the other seasons’ monarchs do not focus overmuch on martial strength, which Summer sovereigns view as the height of complacence. When Summer is ascendant, its courtiers dust off the freehold’s blades. Summer is full of testing, sparring, and arguing tactics. The freehold gathers combat-oriented tokens, establishing a watch on trods, and hunting dangerous enemies.

Low Summer: When another Court rules, Summer advisors offer military counsel, suggesting small offensives against potential threats. They also often maintain a bounty system year-round, keeping up-to-date descriptions and information on the freehold’s enemies.

Bargain

In return for blood sacrifice of various kinds (tournaments to first blood, hunts against the freehold’s enemies, and the like), Summer denies its adherents’ enemies the ability to flee from battle. When entangled in combat, the True Fae and their servants must fight to the last.

Associated Powers

Contracts

Summer Contracts, both Arcadian and Common, are imbued with power relating to the Summer season (the summer heat, the sun, and the like) and the emotion of wrath.

Mantle

The Summer Mantle is, more than anything, heat. It may be a pulsing warmth, like a heartbeat, or a dry, level heat. More potent Mantles let off heat shimmers from the skin.

References

• CTL: Changeling: The Lost Rulebook, p. 50-53
• CTL: Lords of Summer, p. 59-62
• CTL: Winter Masques, p. 120
• CTL: Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition, p. 39-42