Driftwood
From Changeling Venue
Note: Seattle does not have a VSS or VST at this time, and Driftwood has not been approved. This writeup is subject to change when those factors have been established, but we are hopeful it will be a permanent part of our local setting!
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The Driftwood House, established 1876
Shoreline (Seattle), Washington
The Driftwood House
The Driftwood House is a non-profit, community based agency which provides emergency services to runaway, homeless, and otherwise at-risk individuals. Driftwood's Basic Center Program services are free of charge and include: crisis intervention, emergency shelter, short-term individual counseling, adolescent support groups and assistance with locating runaway youth and reuniting them with their parent/legal guardians. Driftwood's crisis counseling and youth shelter services are available twenty-four hours a day, seven days per week.
Or so the pamphlet says.
In reality, the Driftwood Runaway Program is a cover for locating, assisting, and integrating newly returned Changlings to the world on this side of the Hedge. Further, they attempt to discern children who are at risk of being stolen away by the fae, and protect them. They track down changelings who have just crossed, or help to put into contact changelings who have been here with their loved ones, or if that's not possible, with their friends from the far side of the Hedge who have returned before them. The Driftwood Program has been a staple of the Seattle landscape dating from before her tenure; since the 60's, it has been a meeting-ground for changelings, a home for those who need assistance finding a new path in the waking world.
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Lost and Found
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The Driftwood Program was created by some of the first changelings to make their home in Seattle, over a century ago, in 1876 as an orphanage. Since then, it has changed hands, changed names, grown and altered as the world evolved. Each Keeper of the House knows that one day it will be time for the property, and the program, to change hands once more for safety - even as the city of Seattle passes through a constant evolution of the seasons, so, too does the Driftwood House.
Many changelings have come through the house, and it is very much a passage from the Dreaming into the Waking, a site that lives almost halfway in between, helping to cushion the blow of the newly returned changeling when they first look upon the bustle and rush of the modern world.
Driftwood House is a logical place for a network of Lost working together, reporting news of someone who has just come through the hedge; news of children who are in danger; news of a child who has been taken and must be found before they become truly Lost...
It should be noted that Driftwood is not a haven for 'childer' concepts; the aspect of the house that is a runaway shelter takes in teens and young adults, rarely children. The children here are those at risk of being stolen by the Fae; NPCs to be protected and guarded, rather than PCs to be played. PC concepts that fit well into Driftwood include guardians, protectors, child therapists, educators, craftsmen, runaways, 'strays', and other mature figures.
Plot Suggestions
Someone has come through the hedge: let's go investigate, help them integrate, make sure they aren't a Fae spy.
A child is in danger: find the kid, bring to safehouse if possible, or scare the child back into safer behavior patterns if has a family.
A fetch has been found: Discover its identity, when it was switched, try to discover what Gentry may have the person who is missing.
A child has been taken: Quickly, stop the Gentry before they return across the Hedge with the child!
Refuge
Driftwood also helps changelings whose Fae are actively endangering them, providing a safehouse (one of many across the nation) for temporary stay, safe haven, and a stop on the 'underground railway' of changeling movement across the world. Many individuals who remain around Driftwood are already integrated into the world, but remain to help others - or to protect the House against any danger.
Lost who arrive at Driftwood needing a place to stay and a site to keep themselves safe from the Fae, are usually too old to be mistaken for runaways. These Lost are given positions as "staff" - security guards, detectives to find 'lost children (really, fetches or at-risk kids); "visiting relatives"; or if young enough (or shapeshifters), hidden among the children. The added subterfuge of the site, as a children's home, helps to keep the location out of Fae eyes - the Fae are less likely to search there for Lost, as they know Lost don't tend to be children when they escape.
History
Driftwood House was founded in 1876 by some of the first non-native changelings on the West Coast. Originally a refuge against the wilds, it quickly became a staple of the freehold, providing safe haven, comfort, and a new life for those who came through the hedge.
Driftwood was established near Ivar's Lighthouse, a Seattle monument that has remained unchanged since time immemorial. In the days before the colonists, it was a watchfire on a stone jetty looking out to the sea; since then, it's visage has changed as the world around it enforced expectations; some say that the lighthouse is, in fact, a Bright One transformed into stone shape in order to fulfill some ancient purpose. Whatever the truth, the light of the Lighthouse shines into the Hedge - and beyond. A beacon for Lost beyond the hedge to follow and find safety, the Light house must be carefully monitored, lest its light bring less welcome guests.
Since 1953, Driftwood has been in the care of Dame Belladonna, known as 'Mama Bella' to many of the Lost of Seattle. She has maintained the house, offered care and comfort, and protected all those who stepped within her doorstep. Mama Bella's strength and courage belied her small, squat physique. Yet the twinkle in her kind eyes and the businesslike step of her orthopedic shoes always spoke the best of the Mother of Driftwood.
In late 2004, Mama Bella announced that she would no longer be the proprietor of Driftwood. Times had changed, she had grown weary, and at last, someone had come to the house that she trusted to carry on in her stead - as before, Driftwood always seems to find a successor exactly when one is needed. Althea Sexton became Mama Bella's heir apparent, and after a year of training, Althea took over the main operations of Driftwood. When, in January 2007, Mama Bella passed away, the entirety of Seattle's Lost gathered for her funeral and wake.
A proud member of the guild of The Innkeepers.
