Do you truly think you can stop the changing of the seasons? I stopped that folishness to bring forth what cannot be avoided. I serve the winter willingly, and so it serves me.
The Harbingers have forsaken the idea of rescuing the Dreaming as a lost cause. Instead, they plan to be on the winning team and usher winter in. It is a common hope among them that in so doing they may be spared the death that the other Kithain will surely meet.
It is believed that the Harbingers originally evolved from either the Black Magicians or the Apostates. It seems unlikely, however, that there is a strong connection with the Apopstates as the Apopstates do not believe they actively serve winter, but that it, in a way, serves them. At any rate, their origin is lost now. Their recent past, however, has certainly been blossoming.
After the Shattering, the Harbingers first began to appear. In such a desperate time, the Kithain searched for something to cling to, and without their leaders of old many fumbled at first. As the commoners learned to govern themselves, this doom began to decrease again. Until the return of the sidhe.
In 1969 the trods reopened and the sidhe returned. Chaos ensued. It was during this time that a great number of sidhe became Harbingers. They would go through their Chrysalis, but instead of seeing a world of beauty they saw one of war. The end seemed inevitable. Thus they saught refuge in banality, and decided to stop the war by stopping the glamour.
The Harbingers do use glamour, quite possibly more than many other dooms.They greatly enjoy using their enemies' own magics to destroy them, and have Undone many rash Kithain with this nasty surprise. The also enjoy showing the Kithain the power of winter, which they tap par excellence. They have created their own Agenda simply called The Chill, and most have at least one stigma.
Kithain have found that for most of the Harbingers, salvation is out of reach. It lies in showing the Harbinger that all is not lost, that the winter can be stopped. Unfortunately, there is the added task of getting the Harbinger to break his oath.
The touch of winter shows on these Dauntain. Their lips slowly take a bluish tinge, as well as their fingertips and toes. Their eye colour pales, eventually turning an ice blue. Also their hair whitens quickly, both in mortal and Fae seeming.
Harbingers are manipulaters. Causing a Kithain to convert works just as well as Undoing them, and provides a greater force for the winter. Therefore, they prefer showing the Kithain the hopelessness of their battle as opposed to killing them outright. Social abilities are Primary. They concentrate on any Abilities that may aid them in their conniving; seduction and subterfuge are obvious, but also consider empathy and expression. Many also have high Kenning ratings and several dots in different lore. They use this knowledge to point out how the present is always in decline from the past.
Kithain: They fight against us like spoiled children. Their vain attempts to stop the winter will soon freeze and die.
The Lost: Often they serve us without even knowing. They are to us a light footman.
The Cursed: Foolishly they think they are still Kithain. They do not realize they have taken one step towards winter.
Black Magicians: So close to the truth, and yet so far away. . .
Apostates: Delusioned fools, but very useful. If you do not fight their beliefs, they will serve you as a king.
Typhoids: Against their will they are ours. Now we must show them the glories of our path.
I, (name of oathmaker), pledge servitude to the Great Winter. I pledge to seek the destruction of Glamour in all forms. I pledge to commit myself, body and soul, to the extinction of all Kithain. With the letting of my lifeblood, I let the cold into me.
This oath is taken by all Harbingers as an initiation. Once it is taken, the way home is very difficult. They immediately gain one Stigma and one permament point of Banality. If it is ever broken the Harbinger loses a permanent point in Willpower and receives a noticable scar, often related to his Stigma in some way. He also loses the ability to use any Stigma, Agenda or other banal power, except those normal to fey.
