he Interregnum, was a fragmented age for the fae, even in the days when the Confederacy of the Turtle was forming in the lands which would become Concordia, so
my account, pieced together from many sources, can hardly be called
definitive. But from what I've managed to find out, this seems to be more or
less how things happened.
Every source I've seen or spoken to who knew anything about it assures me
that Firnost is named for its founder, an eshu named Grigori Ivanovich
Firnost, around the middle of the 19th century. A year is harder to pin down,
but Kansas City, Missouri was here as early as 1828, and no doubt Firnost
was drawn to the area by the opening of the west.
The nunnehi here were long gone. There were still tribal settlements on the far
side of the river in Kansas, but the period of Firnost's founding falls well
within the time when the first nations were already in decline.
When the trods to the nunnehi "Higher Hunting Grounds" were severed in the
Reverse Sycamore Walk, Grigori Firnost is said to have captured some of
the Glamour torn free. This is what he used to found the freehold which he
established as a waystation for kithain drawn by the western expansion, the
Freehold which bears his name, as well as the curse of the nunnehi fae whose
betrayal were its cornerstone.
Firnost Freehold has always been a tavern of sorts. At the turn of the
century, it was a hotel, the Freehold confined to the top two floors. The great
Depression saw it decline to a boarding-house favored by students at the
fledgeling Art Institute.
I have little data from the war years or their aftermath, but the sixties saw
another change of face for Firnost, with the balefire returned to the ground
floor. The gradual rise in kithain population brought about a restoration of the
place, this time into a crash-pad for fae eager to taste the new freedoms of
the time.
This was Firnost as it was when its troll Thane, Gretta Sigmundsdattir,
volunteered to represent it at the Beltane Night parley. Those carefree days
ended when she and her colleagues died by cold iron.
Firnost's role in the Accordance war is complex, and I am still preparing my
monograph on the subject, so I will pass over it here. Suffice it to say that
Firnost remained in commoner hands, and was one of those Freeholds
entrusted to commoner rule following the Treaty of Concordia. Our charter
of self rule dates from this time, and was granted by High King David.
Firnost's proximity to a great many trods has assured it of a prominent place
amongst commoner freeholds. It is reputed to be the largest such, and
certainly if this is untrue, it's not much of an overstatement.
The role Firnost will play in the future is uncertain, although as a meeting
place for noble and commoner, seelie and unseelie, it is my hope it can
remain neutral territory amongst increasing tensions, perhaps fostering the
unity we need to face and surmount the coming Winter.
The following is a rewiew of the study from which the above history is excerpted:
Geomantic Survey of Necropolis and Environs, with some historical notes
by Almond Ondomorno ap Fiona, Esq. submitted in dissertatio to the High Table of the Bardic Collegium, 96 pages, manuscript.
Reviewed for Transits of the Evenstar by Sir Vincit Morraine ap Eiluned, K.E.S., Lord of Superstition Eyrie.
Geomantic Survey of Necropolis is expertly handled for an initial foray into scholarship, and Squire Almond may be commended for avoiding those errors of ommission, speculation and simple wishful-thinking which too often mark early essays in the field even by novice investigators belonging to our own Order. That he does not flinch from unearthing some of the more shameful facts of commoner affairs in exile during the Twilight Times is greatly to his credit. That he lays the steady deterioration of his subject of study since the Accordance firmly at the feet of the presiding Seelie aristocracy may be of some concern to us, as it is a gauntlet we are ill-equipped at this late date to take up. This undeniable political slant to an ostensibly objective survey is a flaw which we feel may best be explained by the youth of the author, his unfamiliarity with the standards of acadmic discourse and also upon the temper of our times.
Drawing from sources as diverse as the aptly named Tapestry of Slumber to more recent faerie publications such as Quinwhither's Guide, as well as the esoteric theories of such mortal minds as Rupert Sheldrake and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Squire Almond lays the foundation for the edifice of his own studies of the mythic topography under investigation. That he refers to his work as a survey of Necropolis, rather than of the Duchy of Forgotten Tears is telling, inasmuch as he has extended his survey to include those vagaries of the mythlines accounted for by the presence and activities of the Prodigal races in exploring the unique features of the region's Near Dreaming. Such inclusiveness is praiseworthy, as the subject at hand is much affected by these influences. Worthy of even greater laud is Squire Almond's handling of this broader scope without drawing the notice, much less the ire, of our Prodigal cousins.
The survey covers the entirety of the Duchy of Forgotten Tears, including its subject cantrevs, the County of Twin Spires and the Barony of Shadows, as well as its most controversial domain, the Freehold of Firnost, which operates as it always has outside the usual hierarchy of noble rule by virtue of a charter of self-rule from High King David granted to Firnost' leaders at the Treaty of Concord. Squire Almond describes thirteen trods, five of them leading beyond the Kingdom of Grass. He also notes the mythlines or leys which align between such landmarks as Lake Smithville and the Old Seville Mansion, or connecting the Sacred Heart Cathedral, the castellated mansion whimsically named Infinity where the Prodigal wizards are known to congregate, and Necropolis City Hall. He relates with each such observation a handfull of accounts descriptive of each locale's unique ambience, gathered from primary sources in writing or confided to him personally, or from tales recounted in secondary sources, for which he provides a thoughfully annotated bibliography.
In all, this reviewer highly recommends Geomantic Survey of Necropolis to any who find an interest in sacred geographies, regional histories, or this enigmatic city which Squire Almond compellingly argues may be the mystical center of Concordia.
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