Bourbon Street Blues
Undying Autumn
The fae of the Big Easy remain some of the most tenacious changelings in Concordia. The magic and wonder of New Orleans, the artistic vision and inspirational beauty of this southern city, made this place a very attractive town for Kithain of all stripes. Even the poorer lower class found hope and dreams through the expression of music and their celebration of life, even during funerals.
Sadly, Hurricane Katrina washed so much of the resilient hope away, leaving in its place much despair. As if the loss of so many Dreamers wasn’t frightening enough, the deadly storms brought chimerical reflections with them. A sharp, wintry Gale swept over the entire land, extinguishing several freeholds’ balefires outright, and sending many a faerie careening down the path of Undoing.
But the fae also held on, they clung to their dreams and supported the artistic recuperations of their mortal charges. Freeholds survived that storm, and so did a healthy number of changelings. Today the Kithain are more desperate than ever to keep the Dreaming alive in New Orleans, and in that aspect the courts are united. Now the Glamour of the city hangs on the thread of its weavers’ passion, lurching towards the terrible Long Winter that the fae dread. Yet with their tenacity, it manages to hang on in perpetual autumn, a joyful sorrow that echoes across all of Concordia. Bourbon Street may be the home of the blues, but it is the street these fae cross everyday of their fanciful lives.
Gallain
Few Gallain linger in New Orleans today. A few Nunnehi are in the area, mostly Nanehi, Yunwi Amai’yine’hi, Yunwi Tsundsi, and a few unusual Tunghats. They lack any organization, however, and seem to have only passing interest for the New Orleans area, where few Native Americans now dwell. However, in the Gulf of Mexico not too far from the shores of the New Orleans area, a well-camouflaged city of Merfolk exists. These Merfolk have had increasing trouble with all sorts of enemies, from humans to the demons of the deep, and are beginning to make more diplomatic approaches to the Kithain.
Laws
The Escheat in New Orleans is obeyed in rather lackadaisical terms. Even the Seelie are too laidback to enforce it whole-heartedly. Of course, the Right of Ignorance is still paramount. Some “common” folk in the Big Easy might be willing to accept the presence of, and co-exist with, the Kithain. But these faeries don’t want to find out wrong. Besides they’re better off hiding their existence from so many dead things in New Orleans.
The Dreaming
“Here there be dragons”. The Dreaming of the New Orleans area was always host to quite a menagerie of chimerical critters running about through the vibrant bayou wilderness, and many were frequently adopted by their changeling counterparts. But the Gale changed all of that. Ancient dragons of terrible wrath, once bound with powerful faerie sorceries, were freed when the Gale erased those magical fixtures. Beyond the keeps of freeholds and the inner city, only danger awaits save for on the most secure Trods (of which there are but a few).
Special Events
Special events are annual (or more frequent) holidays or special ritual days that the main group or groups observe as a whole community. Attendance and participation is often expected of all members, and sometimes required.
Carnival
Carnival is the term for the pre-Lentian celebration, of which Mardi Gras is part. Mardi Gras, aka Fat Tuesday, may be the biggest day of the festival, but Carnival actually spans three days. And while the fae of New Orleans honor all the traditional holidays, Carnival and Mardi Gras itself are fountains of Glamour and sheer debauchery and joy. It is by far the most important event to the Kithain of New Orleans. Carnival falls six weeks before Easter.
“Ah, New Orleans: a ripe berry to plucked and savored…while it lasts.”
-- Baron Benedict Bradaigh ap Ailil, ruler of Cat Levia in the Barony of Bluewater
