From Changeling Venue

Seeming	Wizened No Kith
Court	Summer Court
Freehold	House of Cards, Orlando, FL
Player	Kristy Griffin

Contents 1 Overview 2 History 3 IC Connections 4 Character Inspirations 5 Soundtrack 6 Stories other people tell about her 7 Stories she tells about other people 8 Rumors 9 OOC Information

Overview

Alias(es): Hollyleaf Silvertongue, Jolly Holly, Holly O' Ninetails, Wreath O' Holly, Holly O' the Thorns, Holly Squirrel-Choker, to name a few
Real Name: Holly McDaniel
Location: House of Cards
Seeming: Wizened
Kith: none
Court: Summer
Virtue: Hope
Vice: Wrath
Concept: an entertainer - a broken, slightly insane entertainer, but an entertainer nonetheless
Description: "She is hardly a 'child' either. Her records list her as nearly thirty. That innocent expression you mistook for youth reflects her utter inability to relate to her environment." - "Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls"

Holly's age is somewhere between 20 and 35 - she's not really sure herself. Her eyes, through the veil of various fears and illusions, often project an air of confused naivete that makes her seem ageless, like a little girl in an adult's body. She is scrawny to the point of looking unhealthy, like a drug addict or AIDS patient, but she shows no other signs of ill-health, and her movements, often elaborate, show her to be spry and limber. Her face is covered in brightly colored but faded patterns, like a watercolor jester, which occasionally shift as though reflecting her lack of any fixed identity. Interestingly, for those who focus on the Mask rather than the Seeming, her "face" is also painted with similar markings, either mimicking, enhancing, or in some cases covering up the marks of her Seeming. To see Holly without this double mask is rare indeed. At all times, Holly displays a nervous twitch - something is always moving, be it a muscle jumping in her neck or a hand or arm fluttering slightly. This can become more obvious in times of distress or strong emotion, but it is always present.

The only time the twitch fades entirely - indeed, the only time Holly seems fully alive - is when she is performing. Whether she is reciting a story or poem, singing, tumbling, or simply engaging in a bit of theatrical patter, her movements become sure and graceful, her voice self-assured, and her whole being seems infused with an almost electric energy. When the performance ends, this dies, and she is left purposeless and a little absurd - like a toy left out by a careless child.

Relevant Mechanics: Clarity 5; Wyrd 5
Character Livejournal: http://thornsnbrambles.livejournal.com

History

Pre-Arcadia: Holly was a quiet child, shy and bookish, who worried her parents with talk of her "fairies" - invisible friends who, they feared, would take the place of real friends in their daughter's life. For her part, Holly didn't seem bothered by it - she was perfectly happy with her "fairies." She had long been fascinated with fairy tales and folktales, with fanciful poems and songs, and every night her mother and father watched her sit in the garden, telling stories to an audience they could neither see nor hear, and heard her thin voice drift to them, singing songs they had never taught her.

When Holly was about nine years old, to her parents' very great relief, she made a new friend. A girl at her school invited her to a sleepover, a night that her parents would later look on as a turning point in their daughter's social development. As this friendship grew, Holly grew more outgoing, put aside her obsessive interest in books and old stories, and no longer pretended to have invisible friends in the garden. Her parents congratulated themselves on weathering a troubling childhood phase and seeing their child grow gracefully out of it. Neither one suspected that this cheerful, outgoing girl was more a thing of fluff and fairydust than the quiet girl with her head in the clouds, nor that their real daughter had withdrawn further from them than they ever feared.

Arcadia: By spending a night away rather than coming home to tell stories, Holly had inadvertently broken a promise. She watched in growing confusion and fear as the playful sprites who inhabited her mother's flower garden, as bright and harmless as a Victorian painting, became shrill and unforgiving, finally lifting the frightened, pleading girl and carrying her bodily through the Hedge. She arrived in Arcadia a terrified, shattered thing, with her innocence, trust, and sense for beauty, not destroyed, but reduced to tattered shreds - like her soul.

In Arcadia, her Keepers, the Three, made it very clear to her that she had one task and one task only - to entertain them. However, what that entailed was anything but straightforward. Some days it meant more of what attracted them to her in the first place - her great store of folktales, poems and songs, and her joy and skill in reciting or singing them. Holly became a consummate performer, and every day her Keepers found new lore for her to memorize - sometimes in impossibly short amounts of time. Sometimes it meant playing games - almost always of their devising, and only sometimes when she knew all the rules. Sometimes they were in the mood for acrobatics, and they put her through her tumbling paces, eventually altering her limbs when it became clear that in their natural state she was not nearly flexible enough for their enjoyment. And they gave her gruesome examples of what would befall her if she did not continue to entertain them.

Sometimes their amusements took a darker turn. They excelled at psychological torment, sometimes devising the cruel games and scenarios themselves and sometimes contracting other Fae or even changelings who had a knack for such things, setting up elaborate pranks or realistic hallucinations for her to experience, while they watched. Physical torture was a little unsubtle for their tastes, but they didn't balk at it if it would please their hosts.

For she traveled; oh yes. Her Keepers brought her along, as entertainment, when they visited other of the True Fae, and trotted her out when they had guests of their own. And so she became acquainted with the kinds of entertainment favored by others of the Fae as well.

Her Keepers were capricious, even for the Fae. Holly had to grow skilled at guessing what would please them, as it was hardly ever the same thing from day to day. Often, for reasons she could not figure out, they were exceedingly fond of tales in which human trickery, or true love or even simple persistance bested Faerie magic - except for the times when they weren't. Sometimes they would beat her if she disobeyed, other times a show of rebellion amused them and was rewarded. When they acted strangely, which was often, she had to determine if it had naught to do with her, or if they were now playing a game - and if so, what the rules were, and if they wanted her to win or to lose. Once they asked her to tell them the same story every day for months, and punished her if there was the slightest variation; then, without a word of warning, they tired of that tale, and when she tried to tell it again the next night, they flayed her with whips and words alike, mocking her for a stupid, boring girl. Knowing her Keepers, and pleasing them, and the stories she told them, came to be the only reality for Holly. She grew to hate her Keepers, and to love them, and to fear them.

Post-Arcadia: Holly only escapes a few weeks prior to the start of chronicle. She seems odd, distracted, displaying neither the joy nor the fear that most changelings do upon realizing their freedom. Those with whom she interacts find her pleasant enough, and very tractable, but lacking in curiosity and even basic initiative.

Following the lead of others around her, Holly became part of the House of Cards freehold and Brambles Alchemy motley, taking a job at The Wonderland Wine Bar. She seemed to grow steadily more nervous and withdrawn, until an incident occurred at the Winter Masque in Gainesville. What sparked the breakthrough is unknown, but by the end of it, it became known that Holly had, until that point, still believed herself to be in Arcadia.

Since then, her behavior has been subtly changed. Although she is still nervous, still twitchy, Holly has started to have definite opinions on certain matters and has even, in her own roundabout way, begun to express them. Also, following an incident with a "gentleman" in the employ of the mysterious Cowboy, people have begun to notice a faint summery heat radiating off the formerly Courtless Lost.

IC Connections

• Member of the Brambles Alchemy motley with Cage Adams, Jakob Jaeger, James Cornoa, Lily Carters, Ryver, Sellena Dallon, Victor Smith, and Winters Night.
• Lives at the 52 Pickup, owned by Toi Breaker and The Bad Man.
• Spends a lot of time with Toi Breaker, Dzxoxian Brokehorn, and Danny Darling.

Character Inspirations

• Sarah from Brother To Dragons, Companion To Owls
• River Tam (although, to be fair, mostly just Firefly River. Hols isn't anywhere near badass enough to be Serenity River. Well, maybe in dreams.)

Soundtrack

Stories other people tell about her

• "I'll be the first one to admit that I'm a giant asshole who unapologetically screws with anyone around me. I'll bully the weak, mock the vain, and taunt the emotionally frail. I'll tell the anorexic prom queen she looks like she's gained weight, and I'm the first one to clap when the waitress drops the full tray of food. I'm a dick, and I'm proud of it. Now, all that being said...I just don't have the heart to fuck with Holly. She's this tiny, shivering little thing that looks like she came out second best in a brutal mugging by a rainbow. She jumps five miles in the air when someone taps her on the shoulder. I mean, I'm a monster and all, but I think anyone who gets their jollies by messing with Holly needs to be the next focus of my gentle attention, because clearly they're in dire need of a challenge." - Dzxoxian Brokehorn
• "Holly just keeps getting more and more awesome to me. First, she was this tiny, nervous, neurotic bundle of weird clown, and then I heard her tell a story. So, I start thinking she's an artistic genius with a severe personality disorder...like Bob Dylan, only festively colored, you know? Then she gets brutally tortured, and comes out mad as hell, spitting nails and hate, ready to start kicking ass in alphabetical order. I would have thought she would have had a psychotic break and hid in Hedge for the rest of EVER, but she surprised the shit out of me by joining the Summer Court. Now, I think she's one of the most interesting people I know, and watch her when I can...because who the hell knows what she does next." - Dzxoxian Brokehorn
• "The rage inside her is kind of like a baby bear - right now, it's tiny, cute as hell, and you just want to pick it up and make a whole bunch of cooing sounds while you scratch it behind the ears. But anyone with any sense knows that's it's going to grow up to be a huge kodiak bear that would as soon tear out your lungs as looks at you." - Dzxoxian Brokehorn

• "Be nice to her. She's fresh, so she's volatile. What she needs most right now is to settle down, ease her fractured mind a little and remember the wonders of this world first. Then, when she's quieted down a bit, she can return her focus to the allure of the Wyrd. I know torture... I can tell she went through quite a lot in her durance in Arcadia. If I hear of anyone causing any problems with her, I might have to reenact some of that which happened to her on the offender." - James Cornoa

• "They say that fear is terrible, that it can rule you. Holly knows fear. she may not label it such but it is in the tremor of her body and the dart of her eyes. for all of that, even if she knew no trace of it and held only courage, I would still stand in front of her. She is new from the thorns and thus still lost and so many have forgotten what that feels like. Someday I hope she lets herself be found and that we might talk with more than this terror between us" - Edria Meredith

• "Once she shook with terror. Now it's rage. In the darkness, heat grew and I found myself, who sometimes thought to protect her, protected by her instead. Together... together I'm not certain what we could unleash. But I'm certain that for that day in darkness, I will stand with her always." - Edria Meredith

• "She shakie like leaf, or squirrl...........OWIE!!!! I wasn't going to chase her...much" - Rapheal "Raph" Carddec

• "Lay one fell hand upon her, and I shall make certain you live just long enough to regret the mistake... and not one moment beyond that." - Gaius Arctorus

• "Everyone's always on fire. Always.. wait, oh, Holly? Holly is nice. She can't speak correctly though, that's a problem. No worries though, she'll get better.. Or not." - Durendal

• "They took her and then they found her. Had I known I would have been the first to simply walk in, loose my waters and slowly drown those who had hurt her. When I did find out, my blizzard howled. 'Never again' I told myself. Never again would someone hurt her and not know the true nature of my darkened mein..." - Ryver

• "Holly? She's a really nice and shiny person, I mean like sooooo shiny. She is helpful and does a great job working at the Wonderland Wine Bar, oh and she gets so excited about the Hedge, Hedge Diving, Goblin Fruit, and all sorts of interesting and really fun things! I'm glad to have her as a friend because that means we can go out to movies and shopping together. Oh and -trails off as the others drag her away to do homework-" - Lily Carters

• "Give her a puzzle and she will go the mile. I tilt my head because she might be the only one truly listening" - The Highwayman

• "Because we may not be as linked to our respective seasons, I think people think we are somehow not as brave, strong, or whatever ideal you mean to criticize us on. Holly. I think she will go the distance and prove to not only her court, but to herself as well, just how strong she really is. I don't necessarily want to be there for whatever event that would make this happen, but rather, I want to be there for the after effect. She deserves a good cheer." Falcon

• "Once, I would've said something about defending her. Now... now, she's made the choice to defend herself, and others. My role... my place in her life is no longer to protect, but to guide. To teach, and to train. The light is strong with her, and her heart is pure enough to drive back any darkness." - Gaius Arctorus

• "She grins. Her eyes are the color of Insanity. Blood drips. I used to cringe, shake, get frustrated before. I can no longer do so. Now...now I realize why she comes back grinning. Why she wants to do this. Because in the end...I succumbed to what I've been holding back for so long. She has shown me with those eyes. That Insanity...it isn't bad. It has shown me what I have been missing. I've been missing the feeling of being alive." - Ryver

Stories she tells about other people

Dzxoxian Brokehorn

• "Did you know he tells better stories than me? It's true. I bet he sings, too. He would."
• "You can be more than one thing. Ox showed me that. It's ok. You can be angry and still feel joy. You can want to fight and still want to make people happy. He went one way and I went the other. If anyone's surprised at who went which... I guess they weren't paying attention."

Toi Breaker

• *sings softly*

"There was a child named Bernadette
(I heard this story long ago)
She saw the Queen of Heaven once
And kept the vision in her soul
No one believed what she had seen
No one believed what she heard
That there were sorrows to be healed
And mercy, mercy in this world.
So many hearts I find, broke like yours and mine
Torn by what we've done and can't undo
I just want to hold you, come on let me hold you
Like Bernadette would do."

Edria Meredith

• "People assume I'm scared because I shake. People assume she's not, because she doesn't. People are silly sometimes."

Raggedy Emily

• "A Loyalist?! You thought she was a Loyalist? Just because she said she missed it there? I asked to go back at first too; does that make me a Loyalist? Maybe you should stop telling her what you think she needs to hear and actually listen to what she needs to say."

Victor Smith

• "Victor... he doesn't try to protect me. I mean... he would. If he had to. But he'll send me to do something dangerous, and trust that I can handle it, and that if I need help, I'll ask. That... I don't think he knows how much that means."

The Highwayman

• "Look for me by moonlight. Watch for me by moonlight. I'll come to thee by moonlight, though Hell should bar the way."

The Thorns

• "No relation."

Ryver

• "You're not my Keeper. Stop telling what to do."

• "See? Now you get it. Don't worry, next time we'll find you someone better than me to hit."

Jack

• "He looks like he needs a hug..."

Caleb

• "He's been kind to me. He's been kind to a lot of people. But... he thought I was the Cowboy once, because I couldn't remember something he'd said months before. And... and he's given permission for other Changelings to be killed. Even ones new out of the Hedge, who don't know any better. Just because they hadn't taken the Oath yet. I just... I don't think he's as good as everyone says. And I don't think he knows everything. And I don't think we should pretend he does."

Rumors

• Our dear Holly is actually a Loyalist. Oh my!

• Holly has been overheard popping bubblegum and calling some jester looking man 'Mr. J'.

• While she will happily agree with anyone else's opinion (on, really, just about anything), Holly, of her own accord, rarely if ever speaks badly of her captors, and will sometimes add disclaimers to her stories in which she nervously praises the True Fae. Lurid rumors aside (see above), this might lead some to question her ultimate loyalties.

• Holly's constant nervous twitch is all but eliminated when she enters the Hedge.
• Holly's increasing unhappiness in the House of Cards freehold has caused some to wonder if she is preparing to run - back through the Hedge, back to Arcadia.
• Holly had some kind of emotional or nervous breakdown in Gainesville during their Winter Masque. Ever since, her behavior has been subtly... changed.
• Holly is actually on fire. No one can see it except Durendal.
• Holly threw a rock down the throat of a giant zombie mutant Hedge squirrel-shark trying to eat her head, thereby earning herself the title of "Squirrel-Choker."
• Holly and Toi are having a secret affair. What else do you think they are doing spending all those hours alone together?
• Holly is actually desperately in love with Toi Breaker. Or is it Ox?

OOC Information

Player: Kristy Griffin
Cam #: US2005116902
Many thanks to Andy Buck for the use of his beautiful jester image!