Hollow • to •••••

Effect: While Safe Place (pg. XX) represents a mundane-but-secure lair outside the Hedge,

Hollow is your character’s secret, private bit of real estate inside the Hedge. It may be something

as simple a closet door that opens into a quiet, hollowed-out tree, or as elaborate a knock that

opens any unlocked door into a lavish, gothic mansion. These locations can be as varied as the

Hedge itself.

These pockets of personal or inherited reality have been trimmed of any thorns that might cause

their owners trouble. With few exceptions (see below), these faerie safe houses are tied to a

single, consistent physical entrance into the Hedge, but being part of the Hedge means they don’t

need to conform to available space. In any case, the Hollow belongs to your character or her

motley and has some innate protection from intrusion.

While a changeling is inside her Hollow, the Merit’s rating is subtracted from any attempts to

learn her personal information, as if she had the Anonymity merit at an equal rating. Attempts to

pursue or track her, both supernatural and mundane, are hindered by the same penalty. Should

she be discovered, the entrance to the Hollow can only be forced open by an entity whose Wyrd

exceeds the Merit’s rating. Even then, one of the Hollow’s owners (even if no one is present) can

resist intrusion with Resolve + Hollow versus the intruder’s Wyrd. A day and a night must pass

before the intruder can try again.

Each dot in Hollow can be used to buy one of the following enhancements:

• Luxury Goods: The Hollow is filled with a variety of mundane supplies and Hedgespun treats

that allow a changeling to hold out for the long haul. Few modern conveniences work in the

Hedge, but it’s not uncommon to find crystalline televisions that play unaired, unrecorded

episodes of cancelled TV shows, or jukeboxes that play music only a Cleareyes can hear, or

iceboxes overfull with coke off-brands that never saw the light of day. Whatever the case, a

changeling can spend twice as much time in her Hollow before suffering a breaking point.

• Shadow Garden: The Hollow has a patch of trembling soil, a deceased nightmare’s fertile

belly, or a Lewis Carroll rose garden of painted flowers. Any goblin fruit consumed in the

Hollow will appear in the garden an hour after the fruit is consumed. The resulting fruit provides

none of the benefits of a goblin fruit, but resembles the goblin fruit to all senses. Any hunger

sated by these shadow fruits returns in full force an hour after consumed. A week of staving off

hunger in this manner results in a breaking point.

• Phantom Phone Booth: The Hollow has an ancient PacBell phone booth, mounted boar head,

or singing pool that allows the owner to make calls outside the Hedge. Any phone with a public

listing can be called without knowing the exact digits of the number, and attempts to trace the

call or read phone records show the call as coming from the recipient’s line. The phantom phone

booth has no number for incoming calls, though it will occasionally receive calls meant for lost,

or out of service numbers.

• Route Zero: A length of road bisects the Hollow. It juts awkwardly from a wall, plunges down

a tunnel of impenetrable darkness, or disappears over a foggy bridge. Its beginning and end are

troublesome to determine. Traversing the lonely road in its entirety takes one hour, during which

a changeling cannot be contacted, seen, or interact with anyone who didn’t begin the journey

with her. At the end, anyone who makes the journey ends where they began, and gains a point of

Willpower. This journey can only be taken once a day.

If purchased in two or more different Hollows, Route Zero begins in one and ends in another. All

owners must agree to this at the time of purchase, but once done it cannot be undone without

serious alterations to a Hollow.

•-•• Size Matters: Without purchasing this enhancement, the Hollow is only big enough for two

changelings to sleep comfortably. With one purchase, a motley of five to six changelings has

enough room to exist without immediate cabin fever. The second purchase turns the Hollow into

a vast estate or small town, and members of a motley might not even see each other for the

duration of a stay.

•-•• Escape Route: While there may be a single entrance into the Hollow, with this enhancement

there’s a second, emergency egress out of it. Whether a Hollow is invaded, or a clever Huntsman

waits for a Lost at the entrance to her den, sometimes it’s important to be able to bug out. The

one-way exit is a secure place (determined ahead of time) the Merit’s rating in miles from the

entrance, and may only be used by the owner and her motley. At two dots, the Escape Route is

access reflexively from anywhere in the Hollow.

•• Hidden Entry: When all members of a motley are inside a Hollow, the entrance evaporates.

The difficult to be found increases by 2. As does the Wyrd requirement of forced entry. The

entrance reappears when one or more members of the motley depart. While the entrance is

visible, these bonuses do not apply.

••• Easy Access: The Hollow has no permanent entrance, and can be accessed by spending a

single Glamour. This usually takes the form of a particular whistle or knock, but it works on any

unlocked door. When a changeling exits her Hollow, it happens at the same location she entered.

••• Home Turf: Either the changeling has spent long enough in her Hollow that she knows its

every secret, or she simply resonates well with it. The changeling gains the Merit’s rating to

Initiative and Defense against any intruders that manage to make it into her Hollow.

Unlike most Merits, multiple characters can contribute dots to a single Hollow, combining their

points into something greater. An individual can purchase as many points in Hollow as she can

afford, but the Merit’s rating is never considered higher than five for the purpose of determining

effects.