From Changeling Venue

"You have my word. This is what I seek. My glory for the freehold, and my name in all the tales."

For as long as they’ve been around, the fae of the Sacred Band of the Golden Standard have been warrior-poets and glory-hounds, hungry for recognition by their own kind and all the changelings of the freehold. To have stories told about them makes them timeless — it enters their name into the invisible annals of history.

On the surface, what they do is protect the freehold. They serve whatever Court is currently in power, regardless of whatever Mantle or Court Goodwill its members have earned over the years. The changelings of this order are noble warriors serving the military needs of the reigning powers and the personal safety of every individual changeling within the freehold. It all sounds very dignified and righteous.

What these warriors do is noble, yes, but they don’t do it for the sake of nobility. They do it for the fame and praise, for the vainglorious pleasure brought on by being the focus of tales and myths. The feats they perform are expected to be truly epic or legendary, and each Gilded Aspirant strives to outperform his last deed. Some rely on clever tricks: being a crack shot with two pistols, having a demeanor charming enough to convince some mirror-eyed monstrosity from the Hedge to turn tail and flee or making boastful gambles (“I can cut that child’s shoelaces with a sweep of this fire ax”) and attempting to make good on them. Others engage on massive quests to earn their favor: liberating a horror house of underage sex slaves from a neighborhood pedophile, hunting a famous serial killer (who happens also to be a Soulless changeling) or gathering together an army of his own warriors to hunt down the True Fae that’s said to haunt that old stretch of swamp south of the city. But again, they don’t do these things because they’re right — while surely that’s a consideration, what they’re more interested in is being praised for their deeds. It’s for this reason that some changelings see the members of this order as mighty champions and proud conquerors... while others believe Gilded Aspirants to be pompous braggarts and swollen-headed egomaniacs.

It’s ultimately all about the legends, and being in them. The changelings of the Sacred Band love to hear their own names and stories recounted back to them. What’s fascinating and perhaps contrary is how the order works to support its own word-of-mouth. While certainly the warriors are in some ways in a constant competition with one another, they also recognize that they are the first line of offense when it comes to giving good press. Rarely does one Aspirant slander the name of a fellow Aspirant in the order. Most do their best to champion their fellow warriors’ exploits (at least until it begins to steal their own thunder, at which point any such advocacy ends rather suddenly).

An Aspirant is not immune to corruption, either. While many wouldn’t dare besmirch their own honor, others would do it gladly — as long as they don’t get caught. Some lie, inventing evidence to support false claims of heroism. Others have been caught orchestrating their own feats, such as cutting a dark deal with a Fae, thus allowing the warrior to “defeat” the Other and earn the praise, even though the defeat was little more than a well-played sham. A rare few turn to outright barbarism, realizing that if they can’t earn a place in the stories as heroes, then perhaps they can earn it as monsters, instead. Certainly their desperation for glory is sometimes all-consuming; those who go too long without a “win” may find that they miss the fawning stares and whispered awe, and will do anything to reclaim it.

Members

• Adrian Layne - 50% Draconic, 50% Flamesiren, 101% Amazing (Played by Jeff Pyritz)
• Sir Alexandre du Y'sera - Fairest Draconic of the Summer Court (Played by Ramon Carrasco)
• Dame Solan - Fairest Draconic of the Summer Court (Played by Khris Phillips)
• Sir Stephen Daedalus - Fairest Bright One of the Summer Court (Played by Brad Heichelbech)
• Sir Augustus Cawthorne - Fairest Draconic of the Summer Court (Played by Michael Banti)
• Sir GB - Ogre Gargantuan of the Summer Court (Played by KT Faulkner)
• Sir Athos - Wizened Soldier of the Summer Court (Played by David Blackwell)
• Brawlin' Bram - Beast of the Summer Court (Played by Gregg Workman)
• Dancing Jack - Fairest Dancer of the Spring Court
• Shui Long - Fairest Draconic The most Beneficial Gongzi of the Palace of Supreme Elements (Played by Shafik Chernovsky)
• Pierce Priestly - Ogre Gargantuan of the Summer Court (Played by Dave Romako)
• Jack in the Smoke - Smoke Elemental at large. (played by Jez P)

P.S.: For those who aren't already on it but you're on here, here's our Google Group Page!
http://groups.google.com/group/the-sacred-band-of-the-golden-standard?hl=en

Rumors

These are rumors that characters may hear about the Changelings of the Golden Standard:

• It’s all one big conspiracy. Everybody knows it. The Aspirants have orchestrated a grand deception that places them as the heroes of the freehold, when in reality it’s just another illusion fueled by the lies that are so common to the fae. But if you dig too deep in uncovering this conspiracy, they’ll put you six feet under.

• They really do earn a kind of immortality from living inside legends. Truly old and renowned warriors develop a counterpart in the Hedge that looks just like them, built from the raw stuff of Glamour and the Thorns of that strange place. What’s created is kind of an anti-fetch, a twin born of that world, not this one, and meant to live as a mad legend in the tangled weave of the Hedge. (Of course, what happens when that anti-fetch decides it wants to come into this world?)

• Every time a changeling of the Sacred Band hears his name, it’s like a prayer to him, venerating the changeling as an idol. What the Aspirant doesn’t know is, supposedly every time this happens, his fetch feels it, too. Some even say that the fetch gains just a little bit of power whenever its Aspirant counterpart is talked about in such a way.

• Have you heard about the Aspirants in the UK? they work together as a team more then any other Aspirant i've ever seen... wait a minute, Summer, Spring, Autumn... thats almost a full set of the courts. Maybe they're up to something less then Savoury..."