2009: The Night the Armor Sang

“It was the only time I’ve heard Glamour hum in perfect unison with steel.”
— Fillion, scribe to Baron Veylon ap Liam

On the night of September 26, 2009, the Cleveland Museum of Art held a private gala to celebrate the near completion of its extensive renovation project. Unbeknownst to the mortal curators, the Armor Court's chimerical twin — a once-dormant battlefield of legend — awakened fully for the first time in nearly a century.

The cause? A confluence of factors:

• A cluster of exceptionally potent Dreamers in attendance, including a sculptor, a string quartet, and a child obsessed with medieval history, all unknowingly emanating intense Glamour.
• The presence of Sir Astavon ap Beaumayn, Duke Gerrard’s prophetic emissary, who had insisted on attending,
• A rare astronomical alignment — one rumored to thin the veil between Cleveland and a long-sealed trod beneath the Museum’s foundation.

At the stroke of midnight, the suits of armor on display began to resonate with distinct, harmonic tones — a musical composition no fae had ever heard before, and none have managed to replicate since.

Fae Reactions and Aftermath

• Baron Veylon ap Liam declared it a sign that Doan’s Corners would become Concordia’s sanctuary of Enlightened Beauty — a court where mortal and fae artistry could intertwine in peace.
• For several weeks afterward, Kithain reported spontaneous flashes of memory, including Remembrances tied to past incarnations in the Shining Host or ancient fae wars — a phenomenon that has yet to recur.
• Lady Angelica Fleming, the Baron’s knight and enforcer, spent days afterward guarding the suits of armor, wary of “what else might come back through.”
• Some whisper that a new chimera — a glowing, voiceless warden made of articulated brass — now wanders the hidden Dreaming passages beneath the museum, protecting the Armor Court trod.

Courtly Intrigue

• The Verdant Gala of 2010 (held at Severance Hall) was the most lavish in recent memory and featured a dramatic interpretive piece titled Iron Remembers the Soul — believed to be inspired by the event.
• Miss Jessa Slipknot is known to have called the affair “one long Seelie snooze with shiny pants,” but was later seen sketching the chimera’s form on a cocktail napkin.

This night remains one of the great Seelie victories in the modern history of Forest City County — a reminder that Glamour does not only bloom in rebellion or revels, but sometimes in stillness, elegance, and the quiet majesty of history reawakened.