Marches Egregore

Jack-of-the-Marches

Stories of Jack have been told since before the Marchers seceded from Dawn. Jack was said to appear when words or actions were needed to help common folk with the daily challenges of a life born of hardship and graft. Jack was the farm hand that appeared to help with a difficult harvest, the beater that arrived to assist with local disputes, the Landskeeper that came to lend their wisdom, or the musician who lightened a burden with shared song. A solitary but friendly figure who kept tender watch, revelled in games and lent their voice to a chorus.

With the Brass Coast ritual 300 years back, Jack stepped out of folklore.

Winter 379 - date
Jack as walks now is Kit the Mummer. Kit travels place to place, bringing news and gossip, plays (invariably magical in nature) and songs and always plenty of tunes to tap your foot to! She is most at home in the thick of a crowd, whether in taverns, round the maypole on the village green or a town square. The more people that are creatively involved in the spectacle, the better. If you want to find her, look for the horns bedecked in ribbons or seasonal leaves and flowers! She’ll be encouraging everyone to join in with a song or tune, invariably playing her accordion, fiddle or whatever instrument happens to be lying around. She might say she’s a Jack of all trades – you need many to be a mummer - whether improvising, harmonising, writing new plays and songs, working with people to turn their poetry into song or getting a good foot-tapping dance tune going.

Winter 376 - Autumn 379
Jack as he walked until Autumn 379 claimed to have performed his duties for several generations, 75 years by his last count, although he's unsure when that started. Seldom drawn on his life before he took up the mantle, he appeared as a Beater and performed the role of one. Convinced that “Nothing gets done sat down” he was fiercely stubborn once his mind was made up, but he never masw a decision before drawing counsel from those he believed knowledgeable. Once his shoulders were set to a task no-one could tell him no. This Jack had little time for the politics of the senate or the guiding of the synod, but often sought the advice of senators and priests, believing a quiet conversation by a fire side or bar table achieved just as much, and in considerably less time.