|
"It's hard to pin down anything definite regarding
Firnost and its origins, so my account, pieced
together from many sources, can hardly be called
definitive. But from what I've managed to find out,
this seems to be more or less how things happened.
Every source I've seen or spoken to who knew anything
about it assures me that Firnost is named for its
founder, an eshu named Grigori Ivanovich Firnost,
around the middle of the 19th century. A year is
harder to pin down, but Kansas City, Missouri was here
as early as 1828, and no doubt Firnost was drawn to
the area by the opening of the west.
The nunnehi here were long gone. There were still
tribal settlements on the far side of the river in
Kansas, but the period of Firnost's founding falls
well within the time when the first nations were
already in decline.
When the trods to the nunnehi "Higher Hunting Grounds"
were severed in the Reverse Sycamore Walk, Grigori
Firnost is said to have captured some of the Glamour
torn free. This is what he used to found the freehold
which he established as a waystation for kithain drawn
by the western expansion, the Freehold which bears his
name, as well as the curse of the nunnehi fae whose
betrayal were its cornerstone.
Firnost Freehold has always been a tavern of sorts. At
the turn of the century, it was a hotel, the Freehold
confined to the top two floors. The great Depression
saw it decline to a boarding-house favored by students
at the fledgeling Art Institute.
I have little data from the war years or their
aftermath, but the sixties saw another change of face
for Firnost, with the balefire returned to the ground
floor. The gradual rise in kithain population brought
about a restoration of the place, this time into a
crash-pad for fae eager to taste the new freedoms of
the time.
This was Firnost as it was when its troll Thane,
Gretta Sigmundsdattir, volunteered to represent it at
the Beltane Night parley. Those carefree days ended
when she and her colleagues died by cold iron.
Firnost's role in the Accordance war is complex, and I
am still preparing my monograph on the subject, so I
will pass over it here. Suffice it to say that Firnost
remained in commoner hands, and was one of those
Freeholds entrusted to commoner rule following the
Treaty of Concordia. Our charter of self rule dates
from this time, and was granted by High King David.
Firnost's proximity to a great many trods has assured
it of a prominent place amongst commoner freeholds. It
is reputed to be the largest such, and certainly if
this is untrue, it's not much of an overstatement.
The role Firnost will play in the future is uncertain,
although as a meeting place for noble and commoner,
seelie and unseelie, it is my hope it can remain
neutral territory amongst increasing tensions, perhaps
fostering the unity we need to face and surmount the
coming Winter.
Almond Ondomorno
Ollamh of the Bardic Collegium |
