[freehold] The Seven

The Seven
With such an unassuming physical appearance, most would overlook this tiny shack in the middle of nowhere close to the Catskill Mountains.  However, if one were to step inside, one would discover six curtained walls with each curtain concealing a massive mirror.

The Seven is the freehold once owned by the Crystal Circle.  Each mirrored wall is a trod, a doorway to another place.  At least one of the doors leads deep into the depths of the Dreaming.

The freehold is currently under the watchful eye of Sir Felix, after Master Seamus handed to him ownership of the freehold.

(Holding: 1)
(Trod: 4)

[freehold] The Orphanage Activity Room

The Orphanage Activity Room
Although the rest of the freehold's physical manifestation has been burned away, the glamour within the site continues to shine.  Currently under the watch of Flynn Wordweaver, this freehold is a small, but reliable source of Glamour.

One has to wonder how such a place, deep in the heart of banality, exists.  Was it forged by the presence of the two Dreamers who used to live here?  Or was it instead the very source that transformed Sam and Aldwin into the dreamers they are now?

Holding (1)

[freehold] The Patrician

The Patrician
Currently under the ownership of Lady Songbird, the Patrician was a simple freehold that the Sidhe baroness was looking into transforming into a working theater.

Much to her surprise, Countess Vena and quite possibly certain characters in the Kingdom of Willows may have a different agenda in mind.  The freehold, as it turns out, has a powerful secret.  It houses a Trod deep in the dressing room (and that in itself would have been a powerful secret already), but more than just an ordinary trod, the doorway leads to numerous locations, with one of them actually being a place in the Near Dreaming where the Huntsman hunts and the other, beneath the shadows of Tara Nar itself.

Holding (1)
Trod (4)

[freehold] Coffee Biscuit Tea

Coffee Biscuit Tea
This simple freehold is located near Grand Central Station in the Kingdom of Apples.   The cafe is large enough to accommodate around ten customers (plus six more who would be seated at chairs outside the cafe) with a spacious display for all the offered pastries and sandwiches.  Behind the counter, the door leads to the hearth of the freehold, which appears as a beautiful oven that is always somewhat warm.  (Seamus had the oven built at the same place where the Hearth is, so the Hearth burns where the oven bakes.)

There is a magical shelf in the freehold as well which is able to conjure up any required ingredients for the unique pastries that Seamus makes.  The shelf is tied to the Freehold, however, and cannot be used by those who are not the "owner" of the place.

Holding rating: 2
Shelf (treasure): Legerdemain 3

[map] The Kingdom of Apples

The Kingdom of Apples is a vast domain, and its hierarchy of power complex in its practice.  For unlike other Kingdoms in Concordia, the Kingdom of Apples also houses the castle of the High King himself.   For purposes of the game, I have simplified the structure of relevant power as follows:

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Tara Nar
Catskill Mountains
The High King resides in Tara Nar, a splendid fortress set amid the Catskill Mountains.  High King David Ardry maintains Tara Nar as both his official residential palace and as a showcase for the aspirations and dreams he held for the kingdom he was to rule.  The chimerical aspect of the grand lodge is a facade reminiscent of the high turreted, delicately spired fairy tale castles of France.  Its pale, almost translucent-looking walls reflect the changing colors of lake, sky and mountain, as clouds and sun, rain and snow create a succession of patterns in them.  Placed atop a rise in the center of a small mountain lake (referred to by Changelings as Kingslake), the fortress is protected by moat and reachable only via a stone causeway.

It is thus a shock to the Red Branch Knights that a trod from the Dreaming leads to an area close to Tara Nar.    The passageway represents both a useful advantage and a frighteningly weakness to the security of the High King's castle.

Homefires
Manhattan
During the winter, however, High King David holds court at Homefires, a freehold maintained for him which can be found inside a tenant-owned Manhattan browstone that serves as an artists' colony.

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Caer Palisades
Cliffside Park, New Jersey
The royal thronehold of Queen Mab can be found where once stood a vast center of Glamour and entertainment.   Caer Palisades appears as a modern castle, whose chimerical aspect merely adds a touch of color to the already imposing image.  Once, the hold's greater splendor was portrayed by the amusement park that once stood near its grounds.  Now, this shadow of a grander castle remains.

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Wyntersnow
Buffalo, New York
Duke Kelodin holds court close to Niagara Falls at his freehold known as Wyntersnow.  There, the ennobled troll grump watches over the Duchy of the Golden Sigil and frequently travels to his secondary freehold called Coldfort in Manhattan.