Wren Fields

Warren "Wren" Fields

Beast Riddleseeker/Antiquarian

Mantle (Autumn) •• 

Owens Valley
Wren Fields was born March 12th, 1915, but not under that name. Before he was Lost, he was named Lawrence King. He grew up on a small farm on the outskirts of Bishop, California. Bishop is an arid stretch of land located in Owens Valley, north of Los Angeles. It is now known mostly for its mule festival and as the filming location of various Spaghetti Westerns, but its proximity to Bishop Creek had once made it an ideal location for farmers looking to profit off the mining operations in the valley. That changed shortly before Lawrence's birth.

Frederick Eaton was elected Mayor of Los Angeles in 1898. He was an ambitious man with a background in civil engineering. He knew that key to Los Angeles continued growth was its water supply. He wrestled control of Los Angeles River back from the privately owned Los Angeles City Water Company (LACW) and formed what is now called the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP). His colleague, William Mulholland, was appointed as its superintendent, and, in the years following, they set their sights on acquiring more water for the city.

Owens Valley was a natural choice for the pair. While the area was in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada, Owens River was fed by several tributaries from the mountains, Bishop Creek being the largest. Eaton used his connections in both the water department and the US Reclamation Service to survey and purchase key land in the valley, both on behalf of the city and as a private investor. In some cases, he posed as a rancher or led the farmers to believe the land was for use in the Reclamation Services irrigation project for the valley. In the mean time, Mulholland incited public outcry about the city's growing water needs. By 1905, the US Reclamation Service abandoned their irrigation project, and the reclaimation land was turned into the Inyo National Forest. By 1908, Mulholland began construction on the Los Angeles Aqueduct. Construction finished November 5th, 1913.

Lawrence grew up on a dusty farm in a dying community. By the time he was nine, fifty miles of the Owens River were dry. Tensions between the Owens Valley farmers and Mulholland reached a boiling point. On May 10th, 1924, Mulholland filed a lawsuit against the residents for "wrongfully diverting" water into their irrigation systems. Ten days later a group of farmers and ranchers blew up part of the spillway near Lone Pine. Six months later, between 60 to 100 men occupied the Alabama Gates, diverting water back to Owens Lake for four days before dispersing. Raised in such an environment, Wren grew to hate Eaton and Mulholland in the simple, irrational way of a child. He had no concept of exactly what Owens Valley had been like before, but he knew that they were the ones that ruined it. Everyone would be better off without them.

Things continued to escalate over the next three years, until the sudden collapse of the Inyo County Bank in August of 1927. The owners, Wilfred and Mark Watterson, had been key members of the community efforts to resist Mulholland's efforts. They had been the ones that helped organize an irrigation cooperative, and the bank itself was the heart of the local economy. Inspections led to the Watterson brothers being indicted on embezzelement charges and since this was before FDR's New Deal, the money was not insured. Life savings were lost, local businesses went bankrupt, and the last chance of resistance died. By the end of the decade, Los Angeles would own 95% of the farm land in the valley.

Wren Day
On December 26th, 1927, Lawrence was startled by the sound of a window breaking. When he looked out the shattered window, he saw an old man chucking stones at a bird flying past. The man was gaunt, with a hooked nose beneath a slanted hat. He waved a crooked cane at the bird while shouting curses that the boy could not understand. When Lawrence cried out the man looked up, the sight of the broken window only seemed to anger him further. The man called to the boy, asked to be let in so that he could make amends for the window. "It was bad luck to break windows," he said, "and he could not leave a debt unpaid." Lawrence had been told not to let strangers in, but the man insisted he was the owner of the farm across the way. They were neighbors.

Lawrence had seen the farm but never been there. It was rundown and he could never spot anyone working there, but the crops grew all the same. They continued on, defiant of the drought that plagued the rest of the farms. If he could learn the man’s secret, then maybe his father wouldn’t have to take a job working for the aqueduct or soda plant.

Lawrence let the man inside. The man in turn, hung his hat and cane, acting with all the civility of someone who treated etiquette as ritual. That isn’t to say he enjoyed the ritual. He acted irate and kept shooting glances in the direction the bird had flown. He was a man unwilling to leave, but unhappy to stay. He only became more dissatisfied when Lawrence told him they didn’t have tea. His father considered tea a sin, but he offerered to give the man something else.

The man smiled coldly, but said it could wait. He asked Lawrence what he wanted for the window. Lawrence asked the man how he kept his fields growing. Did he have a secret well? Could he share his water? The man’s smile turned into a smirk. He said it didn’t matter how the fields grew. The problem was Eaton and Mulholland. They would steal whatever the man gave Lawrence. Wouldn’t it be better if they were stopped?

Lawrence had grown up hearing stories of how Eaton and Mulholland had swindled the valley, so he agreed, but didn’t see how it mattered. The man said not to worry. It had already begun, and their fate would be sealed within a year and a day. He chuckled softly, saying that since Lawrence had been such a good host he would even share his water.

As the man got up to leave, Lawrence asked why he had been throwing stones at the bird. The man said it was a wren and that it was Wren Day, although he may know it as St. Stephen’s Day. It was the time to hunt down and punish wren. When Lawrence showed no recognition, the man sighed. grabbed his cane and said not to worry about it. He was ready to take Lawrence up on his hospitality. The man’s drink had completely slipped the boy's mind. Lawrence said to wait there and turned to enter the kitchen. The man said there was no need. He would take what was offered, “something else”. Lawrence was struck by a stone before he could turn again. The last thing he heard was the man apologizing as he hooked the boy's collar on the crook of his cane. It was terrible luck to come back empty handed, what he really needed was a wren.

True to the man's word, Fred Eaton’s fortunes turned. Unknown to Lawrence, Eaton lost much of his wealth in the Inyo County Bank collapse, and lost what was left in the Great Depression. He was also plagued by poor health in the last decade of his life, suffering multiple strokes before dying in 1934. Mulholland fared little better. On March 12th, 1928, two and a half minutes before midnight, the St. Francis Dam burst. The resulting flood killed 500. Mulholland had inspected the dam only twelve hours prior and written off the cracks in the foundation as insignificant. The political fallout effectively ruined his career and legacy. Eaton's land eventually foreclosed and was bought by Los Angeles, which used the site to create Crowley Lake, in part to replace the St. Francis Dam.

First Durance
Even now, the methods and motives of his Keeper elude Wren. Many changelings are eager to dismiss the Fae as mad gods. They are unknowable and their actions are little more than malicious whim. That wasn't Wren's experience. His Keeper was cruel, but he seemed calculating. His Keeper's realm was a dark library without candle or sun to damage the tomes within. The only light was pale reflection cast off his Keeper. Wren never did learn the source. His Keeper delighted in torturing Lawrence, but it was clear he had purpose in mind.

His Keeper changed Lawrence into a bird and kept him in a cage forged of words. Everything in the Keeper's realm was made of words, even Lawrence. He was tortured for indeterminate lengths of time. The most popular method was to send short, jolts of electricity through the cage so that Lawrence would need to keep in the air, something he never managed for long. Between sessions the Keeper would bring Lawrence to his study and use a quill from Lawrence to record a new tome.

Every year, Lawrence was given a chance at freedom. He was released on Wren Day. If he could stay hidden, he was free. Every year, he lost. Every year he remembered fewer words and the bird was a larger part of him. Finally, Wren gave into despair. He tore at the cage, but the lock held fast. He was shocked and fell to the floor. He didn't have the strength to get up, but then he saw it. Amidst the plethora of words entangled in the cage floor was his name, Lawrence King. He pulled at it like a loose thread, but it was caught on something. It wasn't his alone anymore. He shared it with his fetch. He didn't care though and kept pulling until a piece of it ripped free in a torrent of sparks, 'wren'. The sparks caught on the cover of the cage and soon the words burned around him. What happened after is a blur of smoke, flame, and screams--possibly his own.

Second Life
Wren returned to California on December 6th, 2006, during the ceremony redirecting some water back down Owens River. Everyone he knew was gone, and he was frankly frightened to remain in Owens Valley, so he wandered as far as a vagrant without any applicable street smarts could given the circumstances. By some small miracle he made it to Los Angeles. He roamed the streets for weeks. Whatever focus and determination his attempts at escape had given him were gone now, and there was now telling how long he would have remain in his despondent state if he hadn't met Leanne Stout.

Leanne was a brash, outgoing Wizened that resembled nothing so much as a glass manikin whose organs were pickled in dark beer. She spent her days looking for people guilty of some crime or another and tormenting them into confessing. She had a particular partiality to domestic abuse cases, though Wren never had the courage to pry into her reasons. The two ran into each other while she was tormenting a drunk driver, and it was the first time Wren met another changeling. They never quite got along. She always pushed Wren past what he was comfortable in doing to help her, but helping her gave him a sense of purpose in a dark time. Before long, he joined her court. He suspected he may have ended up there regardless. There were few emotions stronger in him at the time than fear.

Wren couldn't say his old name anymore. It had been damaged too badly in his escape. So when the time came to put together a new life he was more than willing to adopt a new name. Leanne sent Wren to a man that could help setup a new identity, and after Wren introduced himself, the man seemed to think Warren Fields was the perfect name for him. He seemed to find it downright hilarious. It wasn't until much later that Wren realized the in joke 'Wren Fields' must have been to a man who created fake identities in Los Angeles. How many vampires had the man dealt with in his years in the city?

Over the next few years, Wren slowly pieced together a life. He studied exhaustively to catch up on both his general education and the events of the world. Lucid dreaming was a great help there, and it turned out Wren had a knack for dreams. Eventually his pursuit of education led him to UCLA where he worked toward a degree in social welfare. It was something that let him help others while still affording himself ample opportunity to harvest glamour. His master's work also provided Leanne numerous references to cases that could use her special attention.

Second Durance
Every St. Stephen's Day Wren would hide. He'd seen no sign of his Keeper since his escape, but some fears are ingrained deeper than bone. Normally this wasn't a problem. People rarely had an expectation that Wren would be available the day after Christmas. However, there are some things that just cannot wait. Wren had run across a new case of Jen & Keith Merrins. Jen was being beaten by her husband. Leanne wanted to get the woman to safety right away, but Wren didn't think there was any immediate danger. At least, that's what he told himself. The two argued, and in the end Wren refused to help.

Shortly thereafter, Wren's window was smashed and he was chased out of the building by a band of Wrenboys. He cut himself in the escape and a thorned plant started pursuing him wherever he went. The chase led him to Jen's house where he was confronted by the aftermath of his decision. Leanne & Keith were dead, blood leaking on the floor, and Jen was clutching a frying pan and raving to herself. The plant was still chasing Wren and was growing to enormous proportions outside. Not knowing what else to do, Wren hid Jen in the closet moments before the thorns yanked him outside.

The rest is surreal even by Arcadia's standards. Suffice it to say, it involved being hung  by the neck while gravity took a wrong turn, falling through clouds, and being trapped in the vast nothingness between stars until Wren was rescued by Coyote. The journey back was harsh, and Wren nearly got the knight killed in the journey, but the two managed to make it home somehow. Wren is now doing everything he can to help Coyote, both to repay the debt and out of guilt at what his action and inaction have wrought.

The Mask
Warren "Wren" Fields stands 5' 9" though he carries himself taller. He doesn't look like he has done a proper day's work in his life. From his styled, dark-brown hair to non-prescription glasses it is easy to dismiss him as a fop. Still, he has a genuine smile and striking blue eyes.

The Mien
"Warren Fields" is still recognizable without the mask, but only just. His nose thins and juts out prominently, suggesting a beak. His hair has been replaced by brown feathers of myriad hues with black barred tips. His eyes remain the same striking blue, though the skin around each eye is discolored, forming faint rings. Rope burns form scars around his neck.

The rest of his body has remained largely human, save two tattered wings on his back. They start much like one would expect, covered in the feathers of the same browns and blacks as his "hair". As they reach the tip however, they begin to unravel, replaced by singed paper replicas with illegible writing on each quill.

A careful observer would note that his tendency towards collared shirts, ties, and unnecessary glasses probably stems from a desire to cover his more unsightly features.

PCs

 * Brenn - She is headstrong and would rather face her problems directly, but she never loses sight of the mission. She does what is necessary, even if it means swallowing her pride and running. She suffered a lot of personal losses recently and has become more withdrawn from the human world as a result. Wren realizes he has done much the same, but worries about her nonetheless. It's dangerous to become too immersed in one's Fae nature.
 * Jessica - She doesn't ignore reality so much as preferring her own version of it. Like most members of the Spring Court, she hides the scars of Arcadia well, but they do show through occasionally. Fairest are prone to being a little touched, and in Jessica's case her quirks seem to revolve around a sincere belief in the things she has learned from movies and TV. She expects events to play out like the shows she's watched and seems surprised if they don't. Who knows, with Wyrd involved, maybe things usually do work out like they do on TV for her.
 * Eli - Wren has only met Eli three times so far. The ex-werewolf / ex-vampire has managed to be naked for two of those times. That aside, Eli comes across as determined, self sacrificing, and more specifically determined to sacrifice himself. On the one hand, the man clearly cares for his friends and family. On the other hand, his plan always seem to have unintended consequences. It may be time to adopt a new strategy.
 * Aru - Wren has no idea what to make of the the Fera. He never read the Chronicles of Narnia or watched the movies, but he has gathered that Aslan is basically like a Lion Jesus. He supposes that means Aru is probably a nice enough guy. Further speculation will have to wait until they can talk directly.
 * Josh - He carried himself with an ease that Wren found enviable. He was also very knowledgeable. He picked up on a lot more of the details of Wren's backstory than the changeling had expected in their brief discussion. When Wren has time, he plans to pickup an album by the man. He hears Josh is pretty good, although Wren is admittedly out of touch when it comes to music.
 * Fuller - He is a braver man than Wren could ever hope of being. When they met, Fuller was no longer an Uratha. Despite this, he continued serving the pack, ready to face any threat. In spite of Wren's own powers, he relied on Fuller's protection and help when they went in search of Noah. From what Wren could see, he wasn't the only one that relied on the Uragarum. Whether he is an Uratha or a man, he will always be the pack's Beta.

NPCs

 * Noah Shepherd - Noah's natural talents surpass the ludicrously high expectations that have been placed on him. The King's son has adapted to this new life remarkably well, but Wren can't help feeling that they took something from him by revealing the truth.
 * Steve Little - Wren owes the Winter more than can be repaid. He suspects that a fair bit of the knight's bravado is staged, but it's strangely comforting nonetheless.

Equipment

 * Knife
 * Hedgespun Bow & Quiver
 * Hedgespun Horn

Trivia

 * Bishop, California and Bishop Creek were named after pioneer Samuel Addison Bishop.
 * "Inyo" means "dwelling place of the great spirit".in Mono.
 * Samuel A. Bishop brought around 500-600 cattle and 50 horses with him when he settled in Inyo County. He left Bishop after only 18 months, but he did found the San Francis Ranch which was the site of the peace talks between the settlers and the natives trying the avert the Owen Valley Indian War.
 * Frederick Eaton claimed to have turned over his water rights to the city for free in 1905, but he retained the cattle he had purchased in his ruse as well as land for grazing. The land was located in an ideal location for a reservoir, but there was a disagreement over price. The rumor was that Eaton's asking price was around a million. The arguments strained the relation between Eaton and Mulholland and eventually led to Mulholland's construction of the St. Francis Dam as an alternative.
 * The St. Francis Dam disaster occurred on what would have been Lawrence's 13th birthday.
 * In European Folklore, The wren is sometimes called the King of the Birds. The fable is attributed to Aesop by Plutarch; the wren won the title in a contest to see which bird could fly the highest. It won by resting on the head of an eagle and jumping off once the stronger birds had grown exhausted.
 * A wren's feather is considered by some to be a charm against disaster or drowning.
 * Wren's fetch goes/went by Alec King. 'Alec' was derived by rearranging the letters in Lawrence once the letters for 'wren' were removed. Alec is short for Alexander. The etymology of both Alexander and Warren allude to a guardian role, but the connotations are different. A warren is a piece of land designated for small game hunting, but the name can also be applied to the person who watches over the warren. Alexander means 'defender of the people' or 'protector of men'.
 * Wrenboys are the crowd that dresses up and parades the wren around on Wren Day. Their costumes often involve straw, calico, and/or painted masks.