There is something here in Sydney that was worth escaping for; something that gives you hope and strong enough to defying your Keeper. The Emerald City provides safe harbour for those Lost who have returned here. 

The Changelings of the Emerald City exist trapped between the mortal and the faerie world, and the vast melting pot that is Sydney also means that many have roots in various nationalities. The Lost of Sydney seek to establish their identity in a city prone to rebellion and incursions.

Changeling Reign

The Emerald City establishes the conceit that changelings hold a position as the dominant supernatural creature in Sydney. In an unusual twist of fate, changelings outnumber any other supernatural creature and have grown roots into mortal politics over the decades and even centuries.

The genre has been built primarily to put changelings front and centre into the chronicle, and other supernatural entities will be used sparingly and lightly. They may feature as rivals and antagonists but not playable characters.

• Changelings and vampires exist in a state of low-grade cold war.
• Changelings and werewolves enjoy an uneasy truce with each other, enforced by oath.
• Changelings and mages are caught in a magical security dilemma with each other.
• Changelings are aware of the existence of others denizens, but do not formally recognise their standing.

Coronets but Never Crowns

There are no kingdoms in Australia. Since the Mabo decision was handed down, every Australian changeling who claimed a monarchical title disappeared in short order. All evidence suggests they were taken by the Gentry. Something about the recognition of Native Title has made kings and queens vulnerable to Huntsmen.

Settler changelings now inhabit well defined and independent city-states: freeholds not kingdoms; marshals, duxes, ministers, doyens, and princes, but never kings nor queens. Such terms as these has great semantic weight.

Most such city-states at the centre of their authority some symbol of the former royal affect. The changeling communities still organise within a court system (sometimes called Kangaroo Courts by their American and European Counterparts).

A City of Four Seasons

One of the quirks of the Emerald City is the contrast between the European temperate seasons over a landscape not of that climate. These tensions reflect historical and modern conflicts between European settlers and local Indigenous cultures. 

Elements around settlement and cultural provide important historical context for this setting. However, the focus lies on the city-state that is the Emerald City Freehold. This is a story told primarily from the perspective of changelings of settler descent.

These ideas represent grand unfathomable mysteries that structure the setting, rather than central components of the game’s narrative. They may be touched upon and explored, but they will unlikely be resolved in the context of the game.

Due to the high population of changelings, other court dynamics may be found within the city, but they do not represent the central story. 

History

Over 600 distinct Indigenous cultures (before European settlement) shared a common ideology of the Dreaming, which has spanned 50,000 years. The Dreaming represents a heritage of memory, culture, and law.

Indigenous changelings exist but their ways are unlike the settler changelings of Oz. They do not organise according to any recognisable court systems and few settler changelings have been admitted into their Mobs. Those few Indigenous changelings encountered are mostly solitary or live independently, happily integrated into their local communities; something they seem to do with ease.

The settler changelings of Australia have learned over a long period that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander changelings have a profound connection with the Dreaming and the Songlines. There is a power there that these changelings use to remain hidden from the Others. Many a changeling has tried to discover the secrets of their magic, but the Indigenous changelings are slow to trust colonisers.

Sovereignty

There are no kingdoms in Australia. Since the Mabo decision was handed down, every European changeling who claimed the title of monarch disappeared in short order. All evidence suggests they were taken by the Others. Something about the recognition of Native Title has made kings and queens vulnerable.

Changelings now structure themselves as independent city-states: they are freeholds not kingdoms and these terms seem to have more than semantic weight. Most have at the centre of their authority some symbol of the former royal affect. The changeling communities still organise within a court system (sometimes called Kangaroo Courts by their American and European Counterparts). Its leaders are marcher lords and ladies, or sometimes even dukes and duchess, but never kings and queens.