Fairy Tales and the Matchstick District

[lettdown]

MATCHSTICK DISTRICT

The District where London's Fairy Tales live. Is it the largest in Europe and is home to King Alice's Chessboard. Every Fairy Tale within Matchstick follows three Golden Rules: 1) Humans are not to know about the existence of Fairy Tales 2) One Fairy Tale is never to write in another's Story 3) Fairy Tales must not interfere with the human world at large A Fairy tale is the physical embodiment of that tale brought to life by the belief people have and hold in it. In order for a Fairy Tale to be born their story must be created, told, and passed along until it's spread far and wide enough that it's believed in. Once this happens the Fairy Tale is born in a form which best represents who they were before they were a Fairy Tale, i.e. the person their story is about. Puss in Boots may or may not still be a cat, The Fish Footman from Alice may or may not be a giant talking fish in Victorian clothing! It varies from Tale to Tale. Not just any story can become a Fairy Tale though. For example Gods, Goddesses, and divine beings will never become Tales because anything ethereal can't be made into a physical form. Thor, Zeus, God, etc are no-goes. In general fact cannot become fiction--historical figures cannot become a Fairy Tale unless their story is rewritten into fiction like Shakespeare's King Henry IV Part I; although Hal is based off of the real Henry IV details of his story have been changed so that it is no longer entirely a historical account. What changes a person's story from a story to a Fairy Tale is the misconstrued facts and the presence of the impossible. Usually magic.

Conditional Immortality	All Fairy Tales, from the moment they're created, have conditional immortality. When they're first brought to life it is generally the result of a story told orally for years on end. At this time the Tale is completely immortal: they cannot be killed through any means and can survive indefinitely. Unfortunately because they're told through oral tradition these Tales can also be Forgotten, which erases their existence entirely. So they exist with the constant knowledge that they can disappear at any time. Being Forgotten was once a real threat for most Tales because every Fairy Tale passively causes anyone who looks at them to forget them. It's not instantaneous but the moment a Tale leaves a human's presence that person begins to forget the specifics of who they are: face, features, the sound of their voice, etc. Even if one happens to be neighbours with a Tale and sees them daily, should they move away those people would completely forget them in a matter of weeks. When a Fairy Tale's adventure is written out it creates a Story. A Story is a pure-white book with the Tale's name written at at top, and contained within it is everything that makes them up. Thoughts, feelings, memories, you name it. Having a Story means that a Tale can never be Forgotten and thus can live forever...but there is a trade off. Having a Story guarantees that they can never cease to exist, but it takes away their inability to be killed. If their Story is destroyed the Fairy Tale will die (but not be Forgotten. i.e. if Alice from Wonderland had her Story destroyed she would die, but the various books published of her would still remain and ordinary humans would still know the story). Stories can also be tampered with. If a Story is opened and new information put in it overwrites what was kept in there previously and "rewrites" who the Tale is. If someone wrote "Beast no longer has a temper" in his Story then his personality would change to fit the new description in his book. It is considered taboo to write in a Tales' book and completely out of the ordinary for a Tale to change anything in their own. This is because changing anything in a book changes who the Tale is fundamentally; it is very rare and very, very strange for a Tale to make any sort of changes.
Fairy Tale Society & The Chessboard	Because they can't forget one another and are all generally immortal, most Fairy Tales form tight-knit communities within the cities they live in. They do this both for safety and for comfort's sake, since who better to be friends with than someone who's going to live as long as you are?? Plus since most Tales are well over two hundred years old most of their differences have been settled so there's little conflict among them. Some people still rub shoulders and it's not completely picturesque, but that's why most Fairy Tale communities have a council to watch over things called a "Chessboard." Each member of the Chessboard has a designated position, and each position has a duty or area of expertise. And the ranks of the Chessboard are named after, you guessed it! Chess pieces. King, Queen, Bishop, Knight, Rook, Pawn. The King and Queen deal with the administrative aspect, the Bishop with PR and human-Tale relations, Knights are basically like the Fairy Tale police (but not really), Rooks do all the bookkeeping, and Pawns are the go-betweens for Fairy Tales and business with the Chessboard. The largest Fairy Tale community, Matchstick District, is located in England and is looked after by the King, Alice of Wonderland. It is also the location of Scheherazade and Aesop's library, the one place on earth were the Story of a Fairy Tale can supposedly be made safe and secure. Basically no one gets past them. Ever. Except once possibly. It's under investigation.
Fairy Tales
	King Alice The Chessboard The first and only Fairy Tale to hold the position of King in Matchstick District, Alice maintains an iron hold on the District which has existed in almost perpetual peace thanks to her ability, the Golden Rule. This ability forces anyone who agrees to terms she sets to be bound by them: with absolute adherence. Once a Rule has been established, it can never be broken. No matter what.
Scheherazade The Library The creator of the world's safest repository for Fairy Tales' Stories. Her ability, Märchen, allows her to spin fiction into fact and bring to life any story she reads. The Library is entirely composed of this power and thanks to that, she can never leave its confines. Scheherazade has lived within The Library for hundreds of years. She hates arrogant men and naturally, dislikes Gilgamesh. They frequently butt heads with one another.	Aesop The Library Together with Scheherazade, Aseop helps maintain The Library. His main duties include research and organization, as well as the protecting of Stories. Often times he fails to get what he wants done thanks to frequent interruptions. His ability is called Tomorrow Never Comes and allows him to suspend both magic and the abilities of other Fairy Tales.	Princess Pea The Library A sweet, generally happy Fairy Tale Princess who suffers from chronic OCD thanks to her ability to tell when something is amiss. Unfortunately, Nit-Pick doesn't tell what what exactly is amiss so she frequently calls both the Chessboard and The Jack of All Trades, much to their chagrin. She works at The Library because of her extreme need to organize absolutely everything. It drives Aesop nuts.
Jack Beanstalk The Jack of All Trades The founder of The Jack of All Trades. (He's very proud of himself.) Together with Rapunzel he runs errands for the Chessboard and generally just tries to bring a relaxed and carefree attitude to whatever he does. Most days he winds up serving as a babysitter to both Rapunzel and Princess Pea. His ability Cat Burglar allows him to escape without fail.	Rapunzel The Jack of All Trades The "baby bird" of Matchstick District, Rapunzel is one of the youngest and newest Tales to settle there in decades. He works at the Jack of All Trades with Jack and spends most days running around trying to help Princess Pea. He often trains with Gilgamesh and Enkidu, hoping to become a better Hero. His one goal in life is to find his True Love. Rapunzel's ability is called Headstrong and makes his hair impervious to everything but scissors. To date he is one of the only Tales to rewrite his Story.	Bardoc The Jack of All Trades One of the Bremen Town Musicians, she was old before Rapunzel even came to work at The Jack of All Trades. Now she spends most of her time sleeping in the window and basking in the sunlight. Her ability Stopwatch prevents things from becoming older. The Jack of All Trades store is held together using this power, and prevents the antiques sold there from getting older.
Gilgamesh Matchstick District One of the oldest Fairy Tales still alive. Gilgamesh lives with Enkidu and generally they keep to themselves, when he isn't picking fights with Scheherazade or bashing Rapunzel in the face with his sword. He is a little insane. His ability Godhand makes him the strongest of all the Tales in Europe, allowing him to instantly master any weapon he touches.	Enkidu Matchstick District Gilgamesh's lover and partner. He is much more down-to-earth and relaxed, often keeping his counterpart in check. He frequently offers Rapunzel advice and guidance where he can, and enjoys dressing him up. His ability, Walks Among Men, allows him to mimic the abilities and traits of any animal.	Beowulf Matchstick District An ancient Fairy Tale who once heard the story of a maiden trapped in her tower. He went to her aid and climbed the tower, but arrogance led to him slipping and falling. It left his sword Hrunting embedded in Rapunzel's tower and he played dead out of embarrassment. Beowulf fled as soon as he was able. Several years later he sought the maiden out again, only to find Rapunzel had rewritten himself into a Hero. Beowulf decided to confess both his love and his identity, only to find that he had done so while Rapunzel was passed out at the bar. Beowulf conceded defeat and asked Jack to look after him. Once every few centuries he visits Gilgamesh and Enkidu to reminisce about the long-gone age of men and beasts and legendary feats. He realizes he is obsolete in the modern age but continues to search endlessly for great beasts to fight. His ability Hero allows him to defeat any monster he encounters. Unfortunately, they are all long-gone.
"Toad" The Happy End Pub The owner of the Happy End pub. He is constantly berating Else for her clumsiness and day-dreaming, but has a keen eye for finery and dreams of living the high life. His ability Piety allows him to take on a human form so long as someone is in love with him, but because he only cares for lavish lifestyles he has remained a frog for most of his life. No one remembers what his real name used to be.	Chauntecleer The Happy End Pub A proud rooster who remains a bachelor despite his constant attempts to woo any fowl he meets. Even regular ones. He co-owns the Happy End pub with Toad. His ability, Pig's Head, keeps him perpetually confident even when he has absolutely no reason to be.	Clever Else The Happy End Pub A dim-witted girl who works as a waitress at the Happy End pub. She is kindhearted but often clumsy and out-to-lunch when it comes to most things. Clever, her ability, prevents her from ever being misled by magical or ability-based deception. She is the only person immune to Scheherazade's Märchen.
"Hal" Vagabond A Fairy Tale gifted with Intuit, which allows him to tell when something will beneficial to him. For this reason he has never settled down in one place and has opted instead to team up with Harry Bailey to become a con-artist duo. He dislikes rules. Hal was one of the first Fairy Tales to run into Rapunzel after he escaped his tower, and taught him how to read and write Middle English because Intuit told him that befriending Rapunzel would benefit him somehow, someday.	Harry Bailey Vagabond The second half of the con-artist duo. His ability Watch Dog lets him know when something will not be beneficial to him, and for this reason he has avoided Matchstick District since it was founded. He met Rapunzel at the same time as Hal and only spoke the truth around him; Watch Dog told him that lying to Rapunzel would be catastrophic.	Gothel Vagabond A Fairy Tale who was born at the same time as Rapunzel. Because Gothel knows Fairy Tales cannot have children of their own, she considers Rapunzel her child and will do whatever it takes to keep him all to herself. She believes Rapunzel belongs to her and desires nothing more than for the two of them to live out a happy family life until the end of time. When Rapunzel escaped her head was chopped off, and since then she wears a collar woven of his hair to prevent it ever happening again. Gothel's ability is called Two-Face and allows her to convince anyone of anything unless she tells the truth.
	The Pied Piper ??? An urban legend among Fairy Tales. It is said he is the only Fairy Tale to truly be immortal, because he possess no Story and exists even though he is constantly forgotten. Even by Fairy Tales. The Pied Piper is said to appear heralding great tragedy. Shortly after Scheherazade and Aesop's Library is broken into, he appears in Matchstick District to give a love pep-talk to Rapunzel. His ability Captivate allows him to inspire anyone he chooses, in whatever way he pleases. Most Fairy Tales associate him with the abduction and death of small children, as in one version of his story.
The End: Rapunzel's Story
This story begins in the Matchstick District, at the Jack of All Trades.

code by cawaii