Fearless Dreaming
Unmisted Beauty
Arguably the jewel in the crown of the Kingdom of Pacific, San Francisco and the Bay Area is home to a tremendous amount of Glamour and Dreamers alike. While Queen Aeron languishes in Caer Angeles and lets her realm spiral into chaos, strong Duchies and lesser nobles pick up the slack, all in a desperate bid to keep the Shadow Court from taking power.
And while the nobles play their games of intrigue, the bulk of the fae in the Bay Area relax. With open minds and open hearts, these fae stay open to good and bad. They have rich culture and history in which to bask, and lots of talented dreams to inspire…or steal.
Unwritten Ways
Of course, not all of the local changelings give a damn about the schemes of the Sidhe. Some do not even care about the dreams of mortal artists. Some cling to the depths of sea or hug the shores of beauty and wonder. Others embody the spirits of their people’s cultures, considered alien to the Western minds of San Francisco. There are many unusual changelings in this region, too, and they vie to keep their own lands and ways. They resist all intrusion into their unique lifestyles, though some are open to honest friendship and beneficial negotiations. To the Kithain, these are the Gallain. To the Gallain, they are the Selkies, Merfolk, Nunnehi, and Shinma. They are their own mighty peoples.
Laws
The Seelie tend to obey the Escheat closely in the area. As per normal, the Unseelie tend to thumb their nose at it. But certain rules are kept sacrosanct by both groups. The Right of Ignorance is generally one of them. Gallain keep their own rules, but all of them at least acknowledge a rule akin to the Right of Ignorance. It’s for their own safety against the masses of mortals out there.
The Dreaming
In the Bay Area, the Dreaming is a both a beautiful and hazardous place. As Queen Aeron descends into decadence, so does her Kingdom break down into chaos. Around San Francisco, the Near Dreaming is now cloaked in a perpetual fog and mist, always swirling and making navigation of all sorts (whether sailing across the strait or walking down the block) difficult. Chimerical beasts, benign and wicked, are appearing more frequently and more brazenly attacking travelers or even guarded Trods. There certainly is much ado about nothing in the Bay Area Near Dreaming!
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.
Imbolc Lighting
Imbolc is a vital festival for the Kithain. It is the renewal of the balefire. All the way from the East Coast must travel the runners to California. As part of the ceremony, the Seelie (with unusual Unseelie support) oversee a short lighting ceremony of their own. An old lighthouse overlooking the bay is lit, regardless of where the runner comes from. This ceremony occurs on the first two days of February.
Acorn Festival
Imbolc is a vital festival for the Kithain. It is the renewal of the balefire. All the way from the East Coast must travel the runners to California. As part of the ceremony, the Seelie (with unusual Unseelie support) oversee a short lighting ceremony of their own. An old lighthouse overlooking the bay is lit, regardless of where the runner comes from. This ceremony occurs on the first two days of February.
Delights of the Far East
The “Delights of the Far East” is not so much an event as it is a campaign. The event it mirrors is Chinese New Year (which takes place over two weeks, starting on the new moon that falls in January or February), when the greatest advertising and marketing drive takes place, but the campaign carries on all year. Started in 2008 by enterprising immigrant shen of San Francisco’s traditional Chinatown district, the “Delights” effort hooks Americans by appealing to their ethnocentric expectations, and then bombards the tourists with cultural honesty. Nothing is watered down, not even the spicy food. Every country and culture of East Asia is represented, especially China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philipines, and India, and many more. Representation has been effected through a general clean-up of Chinatown’s appearance, modernizing some of the more rundown sections, as well as a clamping down of tong and other rougher elements of organized crime. (It’s still there, just more urbane now.) Advanced tourism hubs play up East Asia’s burgeoning technology revolution with even more talented tour guides. The purpose, of course, is to broaden acceptance of genuine East Asian immigrants and culture in America. For the hsien, this helps spread East Asian culture (and, incidentally, potential Fortunes) beyond Chinatown while improving overall prosperity to their “home away from home”, which now is simply home.
“The charm of the Bay Area cannot be understated, and neither can the momentous difficulty of managing such a chaotic land. Never assume life here is easy.”
-- Duchess Aoibhell Braith ni Liam, ruler of Caer Llanwedd in the Duchy of Finvarr
