Day 28: Victorian Lost

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One of the things I love about working on books set in historical periods are playing with concepts that aren’t necessarily around in the modern day. For example, when I was developing Victorian Lost, I asked the writers to focus on components that were unique to the Victorian era — little historical relics that might show up in a modern day chronicle, but that were otherwise trapped in time, like a fly in amber. Here’s a great example — the Lurker and Inventor kiths from that book.

New Kiths

The following two kiths existed in the Victorian era, but eventually fell out of fashion among the Gentry over the course of the 20th century.

Darkling: Lurker

The thriving criminal underworld of the Victorian era was mirrored in Arcadia, where devious Gentry criminal masterminds employed gangs of changelings to steal from their rivals. Darting from one shadow to another and either slipping unnoticed into dwellings or snatching valuables from wealthy pockets, lurkers are used to taking what they want without regard for whom it belongs to. This kith was common until the mid-20th century, but eventually the more powerful Gentry hunted down these Gentry masterminds and their changeling thieves.

Their blessing is Larcenous Fingers: The lurker gains the benefit of the 9-again rule on all Larceny dice pools, and their nimble fingers mean they never suffer penalties for poor equipment on these rolls. They can also spend 1 Glamour to gain a +2 bonus to any Larceny roll. In addition, lurkers gain the benefit of the 8 again rule on all Stealth dice pools, instead of the 9 again rule other darklings possess.

Wizened: Inventor

This Wizened kith was common between the late 18th century and WWII. During this era, many amazing inventions were made by a single dedicated and often eccentric mortal, and Arcadia was filled with reflections of their dreams. As with all human imaginings and passions, the Gentry wished to have servants to create all manner of clockwork, steam-powered, or electrical wonders for them. However, eventually, mortal dreams moved on to labs and factories filled with faceless technicians, and the Gentry found other interests.

Blessed (or perhaps cursed) with long, many-jointed fingers and sometimes mechanisms incorporated into their own bodies, their blessing is Inventive Genius. The Inventor gains the benefit of the 8-again rule on all Crafts or Science rolls to design, build, modify, or repair any sort of device or mechanism. By spending 1 Glamour, the changeling can add dice equal to their Wyrd to any of these rolls.

The PDF of Victorian Lost is available TODAY ONLY for 50% off! And keep an eye out for the upcoming Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition!