1944: The Forge and the Fold: The Nocker Uprising of Collinwood

During World War II, Cleveland became a powerhouse of production. With a huge boom in manufacturing and steel, it was considered one of the “Arsenals of Democracy.” The Collinwood neighborhood was home to numerous foundries and assembly plants supporting the war effort.

In 1944, as Cleveland’s mortal factories blazed day and night to arm the war, a quiet revolt unfolded among the city’s Nocker artisans. Bound by aging pacts with local Sidhe nobles—vestiges of ancient oaths made before the Shattering—they were being coerced into producing enchanted armaments and constructs for use in battles within the Near Dreaming.

But war had taught them something: their brilliance was being used as coin for causes they didn’t believe in.

So in secret, a collective of Nockers, Kinain machinists, and mortal Dreamers occupied an abandoned rail car assembly plant in Collinwood and forged a manifesto. Known now as the Iron Fold, they swore an oath never again to allow noble courts to direct their creations without mutual consent.

Instead of weapons, they began crafting resonant sculptures and animated devices infused with emotions from their Dreamers—machines that wept, laughed, told stories. One such chimera, a mechanical crow named Sketter, became the symbol of the Fold and is still said to perch at the Rock Hall freehold when innovation is in the air.

Some oathbound Kithain, assisted by Sidhe-fostered chimera, attempted to quell the Fold’s rebellion but found themselves outwitted, trapped in illusion, and publicly embarrassed in the eyes of their mortal anchors. The Nocker leaders' cleverness and refusal to spill blood became a quiet legend.

Legacy

• The Iron Fold’s ideals would inspire motleys across the Midwest to begin asserting creative autonomy.
• Many secrecy techniques and encryption systems used in Freeholds today originated in the Fold’s coded “blueprints of rebellion.”
• Rumors claim the original plant still stands hidden in the Dreaming, guarded by sentient tools and echoing with the hammer-song of memory.