Bram
From Changeling Venue
| Seeming | Beast Hunterheart |
|---|---|
| Court | Summer Court ••• |
| Freehold | The Freehold of the Moonstones |
| Player | Gregg Workman |
Contents |
Overview
Alias(es): Brawlin' Bram, B.B. Stoneham, Honest Abe, Bloody Bram, Daddy Hufflepuff, Johnny Abrahams
Real Name: Abraham Stoneham
Age: Appears to be in his early 30s
Concept: Modern day warrior-poet
Seeming: Beast
Court: Summer Court
Virtue: Hope
Vice: Wrath
Entitlement: The Sacred Band of the Golden Standard
Physical description:
- Mask: A rather short, stocky guy with a cheerful smile and a mess of dark curls. Invariably to be found wearing his black cowboy hat, platform shoes and chewing on a cocktail stick. Looks like he wants to be a 70's style Marlboro Man.
- Mien: Behind his Mask, Bram has the facial markings of a badger and is covered in short, coarse hair. He's still grinning, but now perhaps looks more fearsome than cheerful. When viewed from a distance, or whilst he is intentionally posing, a corona-like halo of crimson coloured light flares up around him, broadcasting his membership of The Sacred Band of the Golden Standard.
- Mantle: More than anything, Bram's mantle takes the form of a smell: the smell of sun baked leather, the smell of fresh sweat, the aroma that accompanies a body after physical exertion under the heat of a midday sun. And also the fading heat that radiates from the body following such activity – the heat coming from someone that has just stepped in from the blazing sun, except the ‘fading’ heat simply fails to fade.
Character Information
Basic Timeline:
1961: Born in South London to Jonathan and Louise Stoneham
1978: Taken from a South London pub by his Master
1988: Returned through the hedge
1989: Moved to Birmingham, following a lead on the location of his fetch
1990: Settled into the Summer Court
1991: Signed by Hit Records of Birmingham - Johnny Abrahams' ceaseless tour of the country begins
1996: Recruited into The Sacred Band of the Golden Standard by 'Simple' Simon MacDonald, the People's Hero
Before
Bram Stoneham was really only a kid. Seventeen years old , he had a whole life ahead of him, a life for him, his guitar and his girl. It was a toss up which he loved more really. Music was his first love and he had the voice of an angel - a proper, old school angel - a deep, passionate, melodic voice that seemed to inspire wonders but threaten vengeance at the same time. Growing up through the 70s had made it's mark on the young man and he played his guitar with his heroes in mind. Rock, soul, punk, disco... He loved them all.
Christine, however, was the love of his life. She was beautiful, far too good for the short and stocky Bram. Yet she wouldn't hear that she was out of his league - she seemed to love him as much as he adored her.
So in 1970s London, south of the river, Abraham pursued his dream of music stardom. A solo act, just him and his guitar, harmonica and, occasionally if you were lucky, a piano, Stoneham was slowly building a reputation and a fan-base - definitely someone to watch.
Yeah, he was happy. He was going places. Even the punks admitted he had talent. Bram and Christine had a future planned out - a future that held so much promise.
Then
It was a big night for Abe. He had the ring in his pocket - he was finally gonna ask her. He sat "back-stage" in a South London dive pub, sitting on a crate, drinking from a bottle of lager, idly dreaming - him and her, kids, a nice house somewhere, anywhere, outside of the City. He smiled to himself and took another swig from his drink. He was on soon.
He always managed to lose himself in the music. He had just started to introduce his own tunes, his own lyrics, into his performances and they were going down well. Glancing around at the small audience, he spotted Christine at the back of the room. He smiled at her and began his next number. Then he saw Him.
This man in the audience, this boy, was beautiful. Literally taking his breath away, Bram stumbled over his lyrics, the boy smiled and Bram’s stomach took a swoop. Shaking his head, completely unused to these sorts of thoughts, he continued his set, desperately trying not to stare at this intriguing man.
He finished up, took his little bow and wandered off the tiny stage. He saw Christine, blew her a kiss and rushed towards the gents. He stopped at the mirrors in the toilet and stared at himself. He needed to calm down after his performance so he splashed cold water on his face before heading to the urinals to pee.
Hearing a noise behind him, he glanced back to see the beautiful boy come out of a toilet stall. Momentarily recoiling in disgust – he’d seen the state of these loos before – his hesitance and reasoning melted away with one smile from this guy… A beckoning finger, a doorway and a painful soul-flaying journey through the thorns later and Bram learnt to call the beautiful boy Master.
Hazy Remembrance
He performed. The memory's vague, but it's there. The parties, balls, dancing, beautiful guests, fantastic banquets - he was the centre of attention, the entertainment, the performer. Man, how he played. It passed as if a blur. Was it one show, one party? Ten? One hundred maybe? However many, it was over far too quickly. Nice one Bram, but your music is yesterday's news.
The gardens...well here the memory is fresher. He's forced to fend for himself now. The gardens are huge, but they're still a gaol. There are other things out here, maybe even things like him. There are certainly fights. Contests of dominance and territory. At one point he's expected to lead the pack, alpha - they declare him - leader. Uninterested he leaves them and he is left alone in turn. He survives.
He is no longer allowed in his Master's great house but sometimes he hears strange, melodic sounds calling from inside. He weeps, he doesn't know why, but it is as if he has lost something.
One day, the strange sounds are not coming from the house but from the other side of the overgrown hedgerow that mark the boundary of his cell. His decision to escape is sudden, unexpected. He claws at the hedge forcing himself through - ignoring the pain. The thorn's are everywhere, tearing flesh, tearing the tattered remains of his clothing, tearing his hairy body, tearing at his tender soul.
Christine! He remembers her - he must get to her - how could he have forgotten.
Further and further, he burrows through the growth - bearing low, trying to avoid the branches and the thorns. But, they're everywhere. He follows the noise - the...music?
It's America... It's Horse With No Name... Tears well up in his eyes, the beauty of the music is incredible to him. He feels his heart swell at the sound.
He no longer feels the pain. This obstacle is nothing compared to his desire, his need for an escape, his need to hear these sounds from another world, from his world.
He has a name... he's Bram. Abraham Stoneham. He almost lost that too - but it's back. His head is clearing. He wasn't just the creature from the garden - he used to be so much more.
Panicking now - was he being followed? His progress through he thorns quickens as more of his previous life returns to him...
Suddenly, he bursts out, falling through a doorway and into a small restaurant. The radio is blasting out as a young man sweeps around the floor, dancing along to America. Apparently noticing the guy on his knees by the door - he turns to Bram. "We ain't open yet mate," he says apologetically, embarrassed to be seen dancing with his broom.
But Abraham doesn't see him. His head is in his hands as he crys loudly and uncontrollably. He's come home.
After
As the 1980s drew to a close, Abraham realised just how lost he had become. His first instinct was to track down Christine...so he did. She had aged. The stunning teenager he remembered was now approaching her thirties, husband and kids in tow, in a small, well maintained town house. It never occurred to Bram what a visit from an old lover wearing a face ten years out of date would do to the poor woman. He caught her alone, professed his love and watched amazed as she broke down, refusing to believe her own eyes and ears. He left the confrontation in tears of frustration. Stubbornly, he never returned.
He tried to go home. Right home. To the town he had grown up in. Eventually he found his parents, lying side by side in the local cemetery. A car crash he eventually discovered... Where did he belong now?
He did alright for himself as a busker. He could bring home enough cash each day to eat and keep himself a room at the YMCA. He rediscovered his musical talent and the love of performing that attracted the Gentry to him in the first place.
And, of course, there were all these other Changelings around now. Some easier for Bram to comprehend than others. He heard tales of kidnap and horror far exceeding his own experiences and met folk scarred in much worse ways. He heard of the great Courts and their philosophies. His response was simple; following your ordeal, you had a simple choice to make - You get mad or you get sad, Summer or Winter appealed to him and he found he got on well with the Courtiers of these Courts. Then he discovered the possibility of a fetch...
The idea that some creature had taken his place and lived his life appalled him. He became obsessed with it. It was with the help of his new Changeling friends that he got into contact with old friends to discover what his fetch had been up to. All in all, it was fairly unexciting. He'd failed to make it big as a musician, much to everyone surprise and had eventually stopped trying. Christine had left the Bram imposter for reasons that couldn't be pieced back together and it seemed that Abraham Stoneham had settled into an uninteresting living as a bank worker. In 1984, it had relocated, by then no longer seeing the same friends that Bram had known, and the trail got cold.
It wasn’t long after his escape that Bram got a tip that his fetch had moved on to Birmingham. Following the lead, he found himself again in a place he was unfamiliar with and, to be honest, still in a state he was unfamiliar with. Eventually tracking down the Freehold of the Moonstones, Bram began the process of establishing trust once more with a new group of Changelings. Eventually, it became apparent that he needed to settle into a Court before he would be fully trusted. Now, as much as he loved the old, sad songs and felt an attraction to being hidden away with the Silent Arrow, it was eventually with the Court of Wrath that he threw in his lot. His time spent as the Beast in the Garden had left its mark and, on an instinctive level, Bram was a fighter. He had the strength, the talent, the ability to be an asset to the Summer Court. And with the increasingly regular bar-fights he found himself in, his talent was developing and growing.
His big break came busking on the streets of Birmingham. As unlikely as it sounds, he was approached, auditioned and signed based on his street performance. The Birmingham based Hit Records Company took the young man off the street and gave him the opportunity to record his own music. Many of Bram’s immediate problems were solved with the ‘birth’ of Johnny Abrahams – an identity provided by the Company, an identity that Bram treasures. Suddenly desperate again for the fame he was once destined for, Bram left the City and began to tour – a tour that continues endlessly. Abraham travelled the country, from one end of the UK to the other, for years. He saw so much, met so many people, so many of the Lost and slowly, he got the fame he desired. As Changelings grew to recognise and trust Bram, he found himself with travelling companions, with work as a bodyguard and a courier. He became a link between Freeholds, a messenger and a gossip. And, in many ways, he was welcomed. Bram was always happy to be useful and helpful, He was never known to turn down a person in need, and with his ability to protect people, well, a hero was born.
People had already begun to call him ‘Brawling Bram’ when the Golden Standard became interested in him. It was The People’s Hero himself, the mighty Simple Simon that brought Bram into the Sacred Band. As a Gilded Aspirant, Bram continued his endless tour of the country. He views himself, rather romantically, as a knight-errant, constantly questing, first experiencing perilous events and then living to tell the tale. He has had lots of adventures during his years on the road…you’ve probably heard some of them yourself.
Now
These days, Brawlin’ Bram Stoneham is a well known name at pretty much all of the freeholds of the UK and one can never be sure where they might bump into him. He has friends and allies in the strangest places and among the strangest of the Lost. He likes it that way – he loves to be introduced to new people and is, of course, happiest when he can sit in the middle of a room and be assured that everyone else in the room is talking about him. Still, he can usually back up and perform the exploits described in his legends and tales. And he’s a perfect gentleman, always willing to help a soul in distress or need.
Johnny Abrahams still has a bit of a following and usually fills a fairly small venue in each and every town he stops into on his travels. He has a unique style, mixing genres and decades to produce soulful and haunting music. He is known as much for his drinking binges and brawls as for his gorgeous vocals and his ability as a talented musician.
Motley
Although he has occasionally been pledged to other Changelings, Bram currently travels without a Motley.
Friends, Allies and Fans
This section's far from finished - I'm interested in links with UK characters of all sorts especially other musicians and Summer Courtiers. Drop me an e-mail here if you're interested
- Witte Wieven - Bram's all time favourite damsel in distress and his little Winter Princess.
- Ophellion - a crafter of intricate hedge-spun trinkets. Bram has a marketing arrangement with this old Winter Courtier.
- Satrap Sam - there's got to be something going on there. Everyone knows that Sam wouldn't be singing Bram's praises unless he was getting something in return...
- Dancing Jack - Bram's friend and protégé, the Hero of Fort Sod and Gilded Aspirant.
Bram: the Man, the Legend
Many great tales are told of Bloody Bram and his adventures. A few are summarised below:
- the Quest for the Heart of the Hunter: Most folk know that Bram returned after his durance as a Kithless Beast. Well back in 2002 he decided it was time to prove himself. The tale goes that he fought his way to become, like, the alpha of some pack of briarwolves deep in the Hedge. Anyway, the Hunterhearts say he's one of them now. And I ain't arguing with any of those dudes!
- the Heroic Rescue of Witte Wieven: She tells it so much better than I could here.
- the Ordeal
- the Hunt of the Briarboar of Edinburgh: Did ya hear? At the party after they crowned Graceful Aline the Winter Queen of Edinburgh, Bram headed out with a whole bunch of folk chasing after this massive Briarboar. Anyway, I heard he gave it a kick in the stones before he rode on its back, rodeo style, and then slit its throat with his knife. It's like the guy can't go anywhere without having to kill something!
Character Inspirations
Many, many great songs from the 1970's particularly Bread's 'The Guitar Man' (see Soundtrack below for more...)
Other inspirations include:
The Indiana Jones films
Arthurian legend
The gun-slingers from Stephen King's 'The Dark Tower' series of novels
Badger - from both The Animals of Farthing Wood series of books by Colin Dann and The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
and, of course, this wonderful story.
Soundtrack
Quotes
- 'Sweetheart, I'm a lover and a fighter...'
- 'Every one of the Gold has a bit of the showman in them, but he's a hero first, showman second..." - Cormac the Poet
- 'You're not Daddy Cool... you're more... Hmmm Daddy Hufflepuff.' - Witte Wieven
- 'Bram's my big damn hero... I'm his second biggest fan, second only to himself you understand?' - Witte Wieven
- 'Oh my...the sort of guy a girl could really swoon over. If a girl went in for that sort of swooning thing. Definitely one to keep your eyes on.' - Aria
- 'He's very... enthusiastic, perhaps a bit louder than I am used to dealing with but certainly has an uplifting presence.' - Graceful Aline
- 'Bram? He's a big damn hero. Wandering the country, saving the innocent, righting wrongs... He is what every Aspirant should aspire to be. You can call in him in times of trouble and, like an avenging angel, he appears to save the day. What a guy.... No. I am not just saying that because he has paid me, why do you ask?" - Sam
- 'A good man, a strong warrior. He's got a little too much of the showman in him for my liking, but I've never let that bother me yet when it comes to a good fighter.' - Aleksander Sokol
- 'Ah, young Abraham, such a talented youngster in more ways than one, he has a strong arm, and a firm voice. He is very useful in a fix' - Ophellion
- 'He-He said I didn't have to call him M-M-Mister Bram, but m-ma'am Wieven said it was okay.' - Sallow
- 'He's a great dancer and he looked mega-cool in my hat.. he's all full of life and great and really really friendly! He's done loads AND been everywhere.. and I'm totally joining his fan club!! I don't know anyone else with a Fanclub!" - Reeva
- "Oh my, the things I could tell you about Brawling Bram Stoneham! Did you know that there was this one time when me and Bram stood back to back, a veritable horde of goblins surrounding us on all sides and baying for our blood. Bram, he took off his hat and pulled on his gloves and said to me 'Ok, Jack. You take the hundred on your side, I'll take the hundred on mine'... Well, a hundred was an exaggeration for comedic value you understand, but then..." - Dancing Jack, Telling a tale of Deeds of Daring Do
- "Bram? Fucking brilliant bloke. Proper London lad back from my time who lets his fists do the talking. Believe you me, he is tasty!" - Steampunk, Waxing cockney lyrical.
- "His business cards really would look better with the word Gelded on them." - Orpheus Bane
- "I'm sure he's a decent fighter, but I'm not sure how practical his choice of footwear is. His platforms seem a little unsteady, judging by the way he was standing ..." - Deyanira
- "I'm not entirely sure what to make of him, though he does make me smile." - Graceful Aline
- "So then he kicked me in the nuts, but he lifted his chin up, which you shouldn't do, and I punched him in the Adam's apple, and I was goin' in for the kidneys but he headbutted me. I still got in the kidney shot, but he kicked me under the kneecap, and that really hurt so I elbowed him in the teeth, and I was goin' in to poke 'im in the eye when I realized my damn leg had given out from that knee shot, and then he kicked me in the balls again, and I did get him in the eye, but at that range I guess he didn't really need to see me to punch me right there in the whaddyacallit, solar plexus, and I fell clean out of the ring. So, yeah, he seems like an OK guy!" - Switchyard Sullivan
- "So we were in the Hedge. Illegally. Sneakin' up on the watchers. I hear this tromping. Whistling! And there's Bram with those fucking shoes and a grin the size of China. For fuck's sake! He'd've been there though 'f I'd been attacked by an icicle or something." shakes head Rea
Rumours
- Underneath those flares, Abraham has bird legs. He's a Beast after all. Anyway, that's why he walks so funny.
- Of course, that could also be the platform shoes.
- Or it could be a bet he lost at an after party he really can't remember
- Though he takes a keen interest in the younger Beasts fresh from the Hedge, it was actually Witte who first called him Daddy Hufflepuff. She says it suits him better than Daddy Cool!
- Bram once lost a Brawlin' Bram look-alike contest. He came third...out of three.
- Bram and Steampunk used to be best mates back before they were taken.
- Bram is canvassing the Lost of the UK - apparently he's decided it's time he had a sidekick...
- Abe didn't return home as a Hunterheart, it's something that he quested for and earned.
- Brawling Bram does not sleep, he waits.
- Brawling Bram can kill two stones with one bird.
- Brawling Bram doesn't wear a watch, HE decides what time it is.
- Brawling Bram can TASTE lies.
- Brawling Bram can sneeze with his eyes open
- If Bram ever turned evil, the resulting backlash of Wyrd would kill a continent full of kittens.
- Bram was indeed gelded in a freak accident restringing a guitar.
- As the other members of his entitlement are called 'Jack', Bram will soon change his name to Brawlin' Jack Stoneham.
OOC
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Gregg Workman
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