![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
therealbrianna) wrote2014-01-29 10:47 pm
Changeling: Homework Notes (more to come)
“Changeling deals with struggles and dreams of people who are no longer what they are, their mortal flesh interwoven with fae magic. An illusion called the Mask obscures their remade physical bodies, allowing them to pass for humans - a word that doesn’t apply to them anymore.
[ Whaaaaat? ]
…as the Lost move among the mortal world, trying to recover their old lives or draw enough Glamour to sustain themselves, they become aware of the beautiful things that mortals often take for granted. To a changeling, there is beauty in the grief hanging over the funeral of a good man, or in the awkward way a young girl twists her hands at a school dance. They see things nobody else does - not simply because they can, but because they try.
[ So that's why things look trippier than usual. ]
The madness inherent to a changeling’s existence is also twofold. Part is external. Changelings too often cross paths with things of Faerie and the Hedge - strange, creeping things that should not be, that defy human rationality. The Others themselves can only be described as “mad”, for surely they subscribe to no mortal definition of sanity. But an equally great threat comes from within. The threshold between dream and reality, between Faerie and mortality, is easily crossed…and a changeling doesn’t always know which side of the threshold she stands on.
[ Brianna assumes a straight face. What. ]
LEXICON
Arcadia: The domain of the True Fae and once-prison to all changelings. Also called Faerie.
Changeling: A human who has been gradually changed by her durance in Arcadia, becoming partly Fae herself.
Contract: A mystical pact struck between the fae and a living embodiment of natural force, allowing the fae to call on supernatural powers.
Ensorcelled: Those humans who have entered into pledges with the fae; specifically those who are by means of a pledge able to see through the Mask.
Fae, True Fae: The immortal, mighty and remorseless inhabitants of Faerie, the creatures that abduct humans and gradually transform them into changelings.
Fetch: A Fae-constructed replica of a human behind, left behind to take an abductee’s place.
Glamour: The raw supernatural energy that fees the fae. It is tied to the strong emotions of the human heart.
Goblin fruit: The many types of fae consumables harvested from the Hedge that have some supernatural effect on the user.
The Hedge: The thorny otherworld that lies between the mortal realm and Faerie.
Kith: A sub-category of seeming, representing more specific affinities such as the various elements or animals.
Lost: A euphemism for “changeling” or “changelings.” Often used by changelings who refuse to think of themselves as no longer human.
Mask: The illusion that conceals the presence of the fae from mortal eyes.
Mien, fae mien: A changeling or other fae’s true form, concealed by the Mask.
Seeming: A changeling’s physical aspect, which reflects the role he played in Faerie.
Wyrd: The power of Faerie.
…the True Fae are beyond understanding. Though a Fae might be by turns warm or cold, bright or dark, even kind or cruel, each one is marred by the same flaw - they have no sense of compassion or empathy, no ability to comprehend or relate to a human being’s pain. Even their “kindess” can draw blood, and their favor is like an elegant and chill prison.
Many of the classic human legends speak of children stolen from their beds, or even from their cradles, by their Fae abductors. And, in truth, this legend is rooted in fact. Many Fae do prefer to kidnap their new “wards” at a very early age…
…however, in rare circumstances, those stolen from their human kin at a very early age can be rescued by other changelings and brought back into the mortal world.