Changeling: the Earthbound Mark 2

Here are my revised notes for Changeling.

I would like people to comment and criticise it if they can.


Faeries; The Shining Ones; The Fair Folk; The Lords and Ladies. The Faery are creatures of chaos dreams and fantasy. They are inspiriting and terrifying in their ways. They are like us, but inherently other and alien to us.

Changelings are creatures who were once born mortal and have transformed into a creature of Faery nature. They must deal with the conflict of both halves of their nature, mortal and immortal; their societies, mundane and enchanted; and their very identity as a creature caught between these worlds.

The Twilight World
The Faery history predates all known human records. The Changelings consider the Fae to be the Firstborn; created or arriving upon Earth at a time before the first human showed sentience.
While some believe they arose as creatures of the pure primordial chaos before creation, others attest that they are descendents of the Lilith, Adam’s first wife.
They are, perhaps, the oldest prodigal race upon the earth, a fact they wear with pride; a pride that has been wounded with the ascendancy of humanity. This childer race has usurped the rightful rule of the elder Fae and this long struggle in the night has shattered the Fae society, casting them down from a place of dominion to a lost race that shelters in the shadows and hidden places in the minds of humanity.
A miasma has befallen the Fae and they grow weak and listless within this world. Due to their binding to Fate, they were able to change, and direct, but never create something new. The Changelings were originally created from an ancient pact with a Mortal Queen and the Fae in order to combat this and so that the Fae may learn of something of their ways. This is the twilight world.

Faery Folklore and Tradition
The game of Changeling draws upon a number of literary sources, including Madam de Villeneuve’s “Beauty and the Beast”, Shakespear’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, Lord Dunsany’s “The King of Elfland’s Daughter”, Sir Richard Burton’s “The Arabian Nights”, Lewis Carol’s “Alice Adventures in Wonderland”, M. Barrie’s “Peter Pan”, John Keat’s “La Belle Dame sans Merci” and even more modern works like L: Frank. Baum’s “The Wizard of Oz” C. S. Lewis’ “Narnia Chronicles” and J.R.R. Tolkein’s “Lord of the Rings”.
Changeling is a modern Faery Tale. It draws upon the literary sources of ancient and modern fairy tales. Faery Tales are not merely stories for children. They are tales of personal transition achieved by journeying from the ordinary world into the realm of the fantastic, into lands beyond that which we know.

The Changeling Concord
A Changeling is a duality. Are they mortal beings clothed in the gossamer of faery glamour, or are they faery beings clothed in the flesh of a mortal? Faery creatures, bound to the Wyrd are not capable of innovation in the way that mortals are. A Faery can no more create new things than a Mortal can alter destiny and fate in the way that Fae can. However, Fae creatures can make use of and alter or modify existing ideas.
The practice of the Changeling Way seems lost in the history of early history of the Fae. The Fae desired to tap into this source of innovation, and Mortals desired the protection of their powers. While the first accords were originally an exchange of firstborn children. Yet Faery memory is much longer than Mortal, and this accord quickly faded from the minds of humanity. People began to forget the old ways and the pacts they had forged. Fae powers were diminishing as Mortals began to banish them from their minds and hearts.
So a new oath was born that would meld Mortal and Faery. It was to be a new way for Faeries that would see their survival into the modern day. The truly powerful Fae found themselves being drawn into a deep slumber shutting themselves from the world. Seven of the last truly powerful Archons formed one of the most powerful concord in history, binding the Wyrd to Humanity, they placed their destiny in the fate of Humanity. So although the Archons of Fae eventually slept, certain humans would call upon this fantastical heritage and manifest through the Chrysalis.

Kiths
The Kiths were formed as a mythical heritage of the Seven Archons. During the Chrysalis the emerging Changeling draws into themselves the dreams of one of the slumbering Archons. This Kith is an immutable part of the Changeling and their new identity and establishes the basis of their of their power. Of the seven who originally formed the Changeling Concord, five honour their Oaths to Humanity, one has forsworn them and one is irreparably insane.

Concordats
That Changelings are rare unique individuals living a balancing act between their natures, it is often comforting to seek out others of their kind with whom they can seek some measure of understanding about their existence. Each Court holds a different philosophy and mythology of heritage to explain their origins and interactions with Humanity.

Myths and Facts

Changelings are mortal children replaced with Fae children: Myth. Changelings are born mortal. They become Changelings through a metamorphosis known as the Chrysalis. This Myth probably propagated in the way that wild and free-spirited children who were thought of being fae-born are those who will draw about themselves the gossamer of a Chrysalis and eventually metamorphose into a Changeling.

Changelings are immortal: Part fact, part myth. Changelings are humans that have undergone a metamorphosis. Changelings are no longer human and leave behind their mortality. Their Faery nature is unbound by time and is in essence, immortal. A mortal once metamorphosed will not age and die in the same way that human’s do. However, they are sustained by the power of Glamour and Wyrd. Should they loose their connection to this they will diminish. Old Changelings never die, but they slowly fade away.

Changelings are creatures of Fate: Truth. The Fae nature of a Changeling is bound to a different measure of time. Their measure of time is counted in terms of narratives, destiny and fortune, not minutes and seconds. Their flow of time is called Wyrd.

Changelings have magical powers: Truth. Their magical effects are called Enchantments. Changelings can draw upon their connection to the Wyrd to forge unique laws through which they can affect change to reality. These Laws work both ways as they extract a ban in exchange for their powers.

Changelings are affects by Church Bells, Cold Iron etc…: Part Truth. Wyrd levies powerful bans upon those who draw upon its power. Not all bans apply to all fae, though the most common have made their way into folklore. Of the most commonly found bans are; the sound of church bells or the touch of cold iron being physically painful.

Changelings are immoral: Myth. Changelings have a different mindset to that of mortals. They have a fascination for mortal society. Changelings draw from both their mortal memories and their Fae identity. While the former ties them to the mortal world, the fae have always had a deep fascination for humanity. This dual perspective binds Changeling to human society on a number of levels. Their familiarity with human society and their emotional disconnection from it mean that they often interact with it in a way that may seem deviant to mortal perceptions.

Changelings are Shapeshifters: Truth and Myth. Changelings themselves do not physically change shape, but they are masters of illusion and Glamour. Glamour allows them to take upon themselves a faery mien, an otherworldly visage with unique and often inhuman characteristics.

Changelings are ties to forces of Nature: Truth and Myth. Some are, most particularly the Daimon have a powerful connection to Natural forces. However Changelings can replicate close connections to many other things including constructs and man-made artefacts.

The Chrysalis
Both the Fae and mortals have a connection to the Dreaming. Fae are intrinsically bound to the Dreamscape, while mortals have only a tenuous connection to it through their dreams and inspiration. Throughout a mortal’s life certain individuals show a certain Genius or Talent that draws them closer to the Dreaming. These individuals are unique and different in a way that stands out. They will be the adults that never truly grow up, or celebrities of outstanding charisma. This very nature causes the Dreaming to leave its mark on the Mortal, tiny veils of glamour about the person known as gossamer.
Gossamer is suspended upon a person’s aura like ethereal spider webs or translucent silk. While for most people, this eventually fades away, truly unique individuals build it up faster than it dissipates. As this builds up, these people begins to take a trip down the rabbit hole, their experience of the world become more and more surreal, detaching them from their ordinary every day experience. Most people who experience this detachment are often driven insane, but a rare few find a peace with this and are transformed entirely by the process.
As they garner more Gossamer they become more unique, more individual, more different, and more fey. Eventually the person accumulates enough Gossamer that it reaches a critical mass. Their entire aura is simply covered with layers of Gossamer. This is the Chrysalis. It is a literal metamorphosis that changes them from a mortal into a Changeling. The experience of this metamorphosis is a surreal experience, like going down the rabbit hole. This metamorphosis is the very basis of empowerment for a Fae. It is very literally a descent into madness where the individual rejects the conventional norms for their own and empowers their own identity. In this transcendental experience, the entire being of that person’s soul is rent by the very fabric driving them to uniqueness. It sublimates their soul and fills the shell created by the Gossamer with the Glamour of the dreaming. While the basic identity of this creature is the same as before, it is a fundamentally different creature.

The Kith
During the Chrysalis, the mortal’s sense of identity will draw towards them one of these legacies. They become entranced in one of the Archon’s dreams who lies slumbering in Arcadia. It is through this dreamworld that they learn of some of their heritage, their new nature and identity. Mortals construct their identity from cultural narratives. These are stories and memes who create the dominant culture. Such narratives normally define mortals. They either conform to it, or delineate away from it into subcultures. Changelings, whose identity is formed in this dream, are deeply affected by narratives, both Fae and Mortal.
Changelings find their manner, demeanour and to some extent their mien affected by which heritage claims them.
This is their Kith, the immutable aspect of their Faery heritage. The seven Archons draw their power from dominant literary myths that were propagated across cultures and have found some way of adapting in the modern world.

Daimoni
The Daimoni’s Archon draws his dreams from the fables of the Hellenic era of Nymphs, Faunae, Dryads and other nature spirits. The Hedonistic qualities of the Daimoni continue to this day. Their very close connection to the flow of life and revelling in it is one of their most primal marks. This connection frequently manifests itself as some inherent link to nature and natural forces.
All Daimoni seem to be deeply influenced by revelry and celebration of life, this can manifest in full blown Bacchanalia, to environmental conservatism and in some cases human rights activism. Whatever the case may be there is a primal drive to protect and preserve or even uplift this natural connection.

Erlen
“Up the airy mountain and down the rushing glen, we dare not go a-hunting, for fear of little men.”
From the haunting stories of the Grimm Brothers and the popularisation of Folk Lore by Hans Christian Anderson,, the Erlen’s Archon takes power from the Germanic-Danish centre of Europe in the Gothic period of Europe. Their archetypes evolved at a time of high paranoia where the “little people” were seen as malefic and horrific. The Changelings of this heritage are often cold and sometimes bitter to humanity.
They can take a perverse delight and fascination in horror. This malevolence can range from impish practical jokes, to downright sadism and torment. As the Erlen are touched by fables of gothic horror, and predation, they often evoke a sense of foreboding upon those they torment.

Jinni
The Archon Scheherazade is remembered through the very myths which she draws power from. Her 1001 tales of Arabian Nights has generated into the cultural identity a sense of exotic flavours of Arabia and the Orient. The Jinni (often simply called Genies). The Jinni are both storytellers, and fascinated with human culture and society. The Jinni have a strong affinity for the abstract concepts such as philosophy, mathematics and language.
However, their fascination for human trappings and culture is also their greatest weakness. Their sense of sophistry ties them inherently to man-made artefacts and locations. The Jenni’s unique relationship with humanity manifests in the ability of wishcraft, a strange twist of Wyrd empowered by the desires of human beings.

Jotun
Forged in the mountains, and made with hearts of Stone, the Jotun’s Archon dreams owe its heritage to that of Scandinavian folklore. In which they are remembered in modern times as trolls, dwarves and giants. The Jotun have a massive repertoire of strength and often stature and show a true affinity for shaped, sculpted, forged or crafted artefacts.
The Jotun’s proficiency for forged and crafted items is legendary. Most of the artefacts of ancient times has survived largely due to the knowledge and skill of the earlier Jotun. Their nature however is often seen as cold and distant, as they frequently misunderstand the subtle nuances of human society. The Jotun are also largely nocturnal, with a preference for dark and enclosed spaces.

Sidhe
Perhaps the most inspiring and terrifying of all the Kith are the Sidhe. They hold an aura of nobility and grace that speaks of times long before humanity ever showed intelligence. Their Archon’s dreams are from the Celtic mythology.
The Sidhe see themselves as the Firstborn amongst all the Fae society. The Fair Folk or the Gentry as they’re often remembered all carry with them a certain majesty that can either manifest as some form of otherworldly beauty, grace of movement or sheer presence. Bound by a sense of noblesse obligé towards society they find themselves answering calls for heroism and bravado. They stand out from most ordinary mortals as something untouchable, yet this is their own folly for they stand apart, if not above, mortal society and have difficulty in comprehending the mundane aspects of ordinary human society.

The Concordats
Mortals are highly social creatures. The Fae are also bound to common purposes.

Scions of Lilith
Before Humanity, there were the Fae. The Lilin remember nights before humanity was ascended. The Lilin were creatures of the night and the nightime was their dominion. The Lilin remember the nights before the Kindred, when they were the supreme predator. Indeed they claim the Daeva clan were descended from Lilith’s consort Aeshma-deava, and the two have shared many affinities in their roles as succubi and tempters of mankind.
The Lilim are best remembered for the Wild Hunt. A tradition they have dedicated to their mother of the night (who is also remembered under the names of Diana, Morigan and Ishatar among other). Considering themselves infinitely superior than the other sentient races, the Lilim claim this as their privilege of being the firstborn, before mortal, Kindred or even Uratha, all of whom they have hunted at one point or other. While not as predatory as the Kindred, or as savage as the Uratha, the Lilim uphold their tradition of the hunt, from which they draw their power. This hunt has manifested either as a physical hunt, or even the act of seduction. The Hunt is about the claim of pride, and superiority.

The Pendragon Society
The Pendragon Society, in an ironic twist of fate, owes much of their origins to the mortal Queen known as Maeve. Maeve historically was a mortal who created the Pendragon Concordat, a pact that bound her, as a mortal, to the Wyrd.
Her control over the Wyrd allowed her to entreat with the Faery in an unprecedented level. She formed many pacts between mortal and faery. From these agreements a society was formed in which the legendary Arthurian society arose. Many modern faeries still honour those accords and agreements. Of all the Changelings they retain the closest ties to their Mortal cousins, sometimes even involving them completely into their immortal lives.
Maeve’s legacy forged a form of symbiotic relationship that typified the changeling existence. This allowed the Changelings in the Concordat to explore their dichotomous nature in a better environ. Maeve’s legacy has left the Pendragon society with a mystical heritage of dreams and magic, which draws closely upon their ties to humanity.

The Xaosium
The Xaosium attribute the state of Xaos to be the primal void from which they sprang. These Changelings consider their Faery nature to be a thing of formlessness from before time and space, giving Faeries their unique relationship to both these things. The Xoasium consider themselves to be the primal ones, and seek to exist in a dynamic state of change. They hold that the Fae are creatures of Dynamism, and that they must reject the stasis of mortal society lest they fall into banality.
Yet in the modern era, the Xaosium has itself changed, true to its own nature. As the most dynamic society they have also been able to adapt the best to it, despite their rejections of its static foundations. They were quick to assimilate ideas of Alester Crowley, Peter Caroll and Discordianism or Chaos Magic only to later to adapt it syncretically into Chaos Theory.
The Xaosium now functions to break down conventional attitudes, sometimes simply for the sake of being contrary. They consider that nothing can exist in stasis, and to be still, or to not change is to fail and die away.

The Oubliette
They call themselves the Lost, for they see their place not in society, but in the places between and under society. These Changeling deny that their duality is a boon. They consider it instead traps them in the metaphysical cracks in between society. Some of the more biblically minded view themselves as stuck in limbo, or hold to the idea that the Fae were once banned from sight by god himself. They are neither truly part of human or faery society and lie stuck in between seeking to make an existence of their own.
Before the industrial revolution, they would live in a self-imposed exile beyond the borders of human civilisation. Yet with the spread of urbanisation, they discovered the Underground. Places left forgotten by human beings, spaces in between the living space of mortals. From these forgotten places they forged a dystopia and collected the remnants and cast off from human and faery society, building palaces among slums and forts within sewers.
Often called fades by their fellow Changelings, for they seem to be ignored, forgotten and otherwise occluded to mortal society.

The Nephilim
The Nephilim hold that the Fae are in fact creatures from the stars, known in various cultures as the Shining Ones, Devas, Grigori, Elohim and Celestial Beings. Described often as creatures manifested directly from the Sephira, or celestial and heavenly bodies, and some contemporise would even describe them as Angels or perhaps Gods. Their narrative suggests that the Changelings came about as described in genesis through a union between these Shining Ones and mortal women.
The Nephilim are somewhat contentious as to their role in society, and why the Shining Ones even descended to earth. The most popular theory is that they manifested in order to experience the universe in a unique manner and the role of their progeny is to watch and observe humanity, and the universe from which they descended. Those who reach a certain level of enlightenment or attain a mastery will transcend from their mortal coil back to the Sephira.
In their role as observers, they are often asked to serve as arbitrators, assuming some form of impartiality and worldliness. Yet this belies the particularly protective urges they develop for the things they choose to observe. For this reason, the Nephilim often assume a guardian role over their wards.