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The Boston Chronicle

The Boston Chronicle got its start as a small underground rag first published in 1963, after Norus Kerly finished tinkering with the bizarre Press that he'd claimed from one of the Gentry. Once used to publish bizarre sanity-stripping tracts which had tormented much of Back Bay, Norus put the Press to a different purpose - publishing an underground eight page newspaper that was a mixture of a penny dreadful, an underground newspaper, and an information pamphlet for the cities Lost. While hardly widely received, the paper attracted a bit of a following and Norus decided to continue publication. "Norus Neveria's Boston Chronicler" was published once a week, gaining a few extra pages some weeks and losing them others, always containing a bizarre mix of the truth and fiction, scary stories and informative articles. Gradually its publication grew, attracting readers in both the Freehold and the actual city (where its nature as a source of news was mostly overlooked, it being viewed as entertainment). The paper truly began to grow after Blind Thomas, the King of Endless Winter, outlawed it in may of 1966. For most of that year it served as the unofficial newszine of the resistance (it was, in fact, Norus who coined the turn of phrases "Year of Endless Winter", "Year With No Spring", "King of Endless Winter", and so forth while rallying even more support to the resistance) and Norus gained more than a few helpers interested in assisting him with the publication of his Chronicler.

After the Year With No Spring, Norus Neveria fancied himself a proper Newspaper Man and took the title Editor-in-Chief, upping production of the Chronicler to meet with demand throughout both the city and the freehold. Those in his motley were mostly a few Reporters who happily worked under his guidance, and "the Archivist" who kept the Chroniclers back-library and assorted periodicals (including stories that don't see general publication). Gradually the focus of the paper shifted more and more from being a entertaining & frightening read that was a newspaper to being a newspaper that was an entertaining & frightening read. Citing "Freedom of the Press", the reporters working for Norus ranged all over Boston, looking for stories of the strange and unusual. Even as circulation continued to increase, The Press was always able to keep pace, and Norus grew more and more bombastic and self-assured. In 1973, Norus quietly changed the name of the paper to its current form - the Boston Chronicle - and acquired a large building in the South End to serve as the official headquarters for the paper.

In addition to being the "official paper of the Trimountain Society Freehold", the Boston Chronicle (particularly its Archive) serves as an information repository and one of the foremost sources of Gossip. Most every new member of the Freehold receives a visit from one of the papers reporters, seeking a quick interview to help fill the Archives with any information they might contain about the Gentry, Arcadia and the events of their abduction. Most of this never sees print (particularly if the source requests such), but the Basement Archives of the paper are a very well indexed collection of information on most of the cities Changelings since 1967 or so (even those who arrived earlier than that, and deigned to give an interview). Similarly, the Paper tries to keep track of all the little events of the city and circulate information for those who listen. The readership is quite broad, in fact! The largest of them, of course are the normal people who buy the rag at their supermarket and read it for laughs. Some of them, of course, believe in what they read in the Chronicle a bit more than others. Pretty much all the Changelings native to Boston read the paper religiously, as do most of the cities Mages. The Mysterium has a complete collection (and has given up trying to control the paper)! Creepy has even informed Norus that he has an active readership among the undead...

Related Links- The Press, The Chronicle - The Archive

Members of the Motley

• Norus Neveria (Ogre, Gristlegrinder - Autumn Court) is the reclusive master of the Boston Chronicle, and the only living Changeling that can operate its faerie printing press, a secret he's vowed to keep until he's on his deathbed. Since becoming the papers Editor-in-Chief, Norus tends to let his reporters do most of the writing, only getting out his typewriter to work on the little tales that inspire him most. These tend to be tales of horror and tragedy, the type that unsettle the stomach and fire the imagination. When a story like that comes around Norus grabs it up greedily, and the end result is always spine-tingling. Since taking his paper so seriously, though, most of Norus' writing ends up instead directed to other forms including a few small books he's published under a pseudonym.
• The Archivist (Darkling, Antiquarian - Autumn Court) is sometimes known as James Dorian Bookbinder, but mostly just as his Title. He all but lives in the Basement under the main building of the Boston Chronicle these days, managing both the mundane archives of the newspaper and the Archives that fill the Hollow itself. While the entire affair is immaculately indexed the actual system can be a bit arcane for anyone besides James - who tends to prefer to do such things himself, anyway, rather than trust to another not messing up his painstaking work by putting something back in the wrong place. While he seldom leaves his nesting hole, the Archivist always sends reporters out to collect any given point of interest and knows just about everything that happens in the Freehold. He works with Norus to determine the headlines for each weeks paper.
• Salvatore Vichy (Fairest, Muse - Winter Court) has worked with the paper since 1967, longer than just about anyone else except the Archivist, always out in the field digging up the latest story of the weird and unusual. He's not the best writer on staff, admittedly, but all the other writers appreciate having him there. Sal is also the reporter most likely to be sent out on interviews or to handle the really sensitive stuff with a real human angle, both because he's generally good with people and simply because he tends to do his best work with that kind of stuff. Despite a bit of professional rivalry, him and Elizabeth get along very well.
• Elizabeth Winnig (Elemental, Woodbood - Autumn Court) has been working for the paper since 1984, and is one of its premiere reporters, as well as Norus' favorite - having all the qualities he treasures. She's endlessly curious, good at cutting through layers of deception, and has a masterful command of the English language. While her writing lends itself more to straightforward reporting, she's learned a number of tricks from "the Boss" and has gotten very good at putting that perfect spin on a story to change it from kind of cheesy to seriously creepy or even a bit disturbing. Most suspect that when the time comes, its Elizabeth who will take over the paper.
• Corey Winnig (Wizened, Artist - Autumn Court) added onto the paper back in November of 1979, soon after his escape from the Hedge, putting his artistic talents to work and dabbling in a bit of writing now and again. In addition to Cartoons, Corey works with Norus on layout, typesetting and selecting stories for publication, and since he came to work the paper has gotten a much more crisp professional appearance to it. In fact, Corey has gotten a number of requests to go work with other larger publishing firms, but has mostly turned them down. The single exception was to agree to have his cartoons published in the Boston Globe - which sadly keeps them out of the Chronicle. Ever since that 'betrayal', Corey has lost favor with the old man, but they still work together quite well.
• Natalie Lannier (Beast, Swimmerskin - Spring Court) has been with the paper since 1991, having moved to Boston to go to College from Florida and decided to stay after she graduated and look for work. A english major with a communication minor, Natalie could have looked for a job at most of the newspapers in Boston, but she only made one application. Ever since she moved to Boston she'd fallen in love with the Chronicle, and that was where she wanted to work. She's made a pretty good reporter, and has recently managed to get the rest of the employees to stop appending "Rookie" to her title. She's the member of the motley most likely to range around New England looking for news, a mixture of convincing Norus that it was a good idea and being willing to make the trips.

Other than the Changelings that make up its employees, the Chronicle only has a relatively small staff. Most of the work to actually print the paper has to be done by Norus, and between him, James and Corey the layout and typesetting isn't too big of a deal. Those few employees that do get hired are mostly reporters, additional editors, a few writers to do fluff pieces, some photographers and the normal office types who work in any building. Almost every single employee is ensorcelled, and bound in pledges. Norus doesn't really hire anyone he doesn't trust at least that much, and the pledges look after the rest.