Heart's Refrain

Enchanted Mirror Theaters

 * Level: 3
 * Type: Hearth
 * Caretaker: Chancellor: Hannah Grierson (Half-Hanged Mary), Nocker Wilder
 * Location: Portland Maine (Duchy of Stonecoast, Kingdom of Apples)

History:

 * Freehold of Heart Refrain

The theater is a small but old one formed by a small traveling thespian motley: Maggie Galvan (Morgana) a Seelie Boggan; Vincent St. Croix (Asden), a Seelie Satyr; Eliza Holloway (Theodosia), a Seelie sluagh. The theater was formed in the early 1900s, when American theatre was beginning to take off and traveling theatre companies often roved the smaller circuits outside the major cities. Worn out from the touring circuit, despite their success, the group decided to take the money they had earned, buy a bit of land and make a home for themselves. The area they found was what looked like a small Romanesque amphitheater, where they also found a font of Glamour. Though it was small, the motley knew it could be nurtured. Not wanting to disturb the amphitheater itself, they also bought the land around it in the area that would one day come to be known as the Old Port district.

Things were not easy at first, the group struggled to bring in shows, but bit by bit they managed, and in the fall of 1920 the Balefire was lit. Also in that year Morgana and Asden swore the oath of true hearts as well as the Oath of guardianship to protect the freehold itself; they further bound the hold to themselves so that it would pass down through the family lines of those three who together brought the balefire to life, and so it remains today. This held over the centuries, and Tristan St. Croix, a descendent of Morgana and Asden, was summoned by the last caretaker of the hold before her undoing.

Those commoners that are part of the freehold do not have a good relationship with the Sidhe. Just after the resurgence in 1969, many Sidhe nobles were looking for places to call their own. The commoners who had guarded these places without the help of the sidhe found their freeholds being stolen out from under them. Heart’s Refrain was no exception: Thaddeus Lafayette, or Illilorn Harenthal ap Gwydion arrived with a pennon treasure and attempted to take the freehold by force. The residents demanded to have the matter settled by Fior, and a Troll warrior from the hold defended the commoners’ claim. While she was wounded in the battle, the Gwydion noble was nearly killed, and yielded to her; this cemented the freehold’s strong suspicion against the sidhe in general, and their particular hostility to traditionalists who firmly believe in the right of the sidhe alone to rule the fae.

Times have continued to be turbulent; in April 2016, the hold was attacked by what appeared to be Adhene forces from the Dreaming, possibly led by a member of the White Fomorians. They took heavy losses, and the Chancellor, Tristan St. Croix, was badly wounded. Shaken by the attack, he elected to step down in order to spend more time with his family, once he had found a suitable replacement: Hannah Grierson, also called Half-Hanged Mary, a nocker and a cousin of founding member Eliza Holloway, who had maintained relations with the members of the hold since its founding, visitng frequently through the years. Mary, a veteran of the Accordance War, is seen as an experienced and reliable hand to steer the ship for at least a while, and as a war veteran, able to face the possible physical dangers that may be ahead.

Physical description
The Enchanted Mirror Theater is a local institution in Portland, despite the coming and going of other companies and the rise of cinemas. The theater space is intimate, holding approximately 120 people in the audience. The outdoor amphitheater has the capacity for twice as many, and the summer season, running from May to September, provides much of the organization’s revenue, since then they can make use of both stage spaces.

The theater company stages a number of original productions by local New England writers during the low season in particular, catering to the audience of locals. In the summer, they run a more expanded program: the outdoor amphitheatre runs a summer Shakespeare series as well as staging classic repertory plays. The indoor stage, meanwhile, runs a series of more challenging content, such as works by up-and-coming playwrights, or works that are more politically or aesthetically radical in nature, as well as material that is more risqué or titillating.

The theater also offers child and young adult dance classes, and well as acting classes throughout the year.

Freehold description
Rath: The rath is located within the theater proper. To pass into the Dreaming, Changelings must first enter a circular room within the theater, a small space located backstage. This room is surrounded on all sides by twelve mirrors, and the trick is opening the correct one at the correct time of day to let yourself across. The necessary door is always four “hours” ahead of your current time of day: for instance, at noon, you would knock the correct time at the four o’clock position; at ten, you would knock at two.

Once past the rath the Freehold looks much like a turn of the century music hall, with a stage at one end and a bar at the other, with tables and benches in the space between. An array of banners from past shows—some faded and old, some new—hang from the ceiling and flutter in the breezes that blow in from the Near Dreaming. Even on nights when there is no one performing on stage, a ghostly chimerical band may take the floor, or the player piano in the corner may bash out medleys of popular standards and dance-hall tunes.

A stairway behind the bar leads up onto another floor where there are private rooms. Other doors on the lower level open into the offices of those who hold positions within the freehold. There is always a least one of the freehold guards in the common room.

Holding positions
(Positions without a name attached are unclaimed).


 * Caretaker/Chancellor: Half-Hanged Mary (Hannah Grierson) | Seelie Nocker Wilder (Beth)
 * Captain of the Guard: Rilith of the Ash | Erika Lang| Seelie Wilder Troll (Jayne)
 * Reeve:
 * Herald:
 * Seer/Scribe


 * Bard:


 * Jester:


 * Troubadour:


 * Thanes:

Relations with others
The kithain of Heart's Refrain are aware of the Merfolk, Nunnehi and Inaninmae, but do not have much contact with them, they are not forbidden from the Freehold, but they are not offered an open invitation either. if they do come to the freehold they are treated on a case by case basis, which more often then not usually starts off on a friendly foot. Sidhe of any houses but Liam and Scathach will find their stay a cold one. While they will not be turned away from the bale they will not be invited to stay long.

Some of the changelings of the Hold are aware of the Werewolves and other prodigal types; they have limited formal diplomatic relations with the Garou sept of Steel Tree.