Changeling Metaplot and Headcanon Discussion

[Eldagusto]

So C20 is a bit weird, has the token gesture of some saying it is not really a new edition, but we never had a revised and this very much is a new edition, both in the rules and the recontextualizing and retconning of Metaplot. So I would like to discuss what Headcanon some people have for their Changeling games. As well as discussions on how they plan or if given the chance would take the Metaplot, either if they were going to run a game that proceeds past the present day, or even if they were going to develop their own future for the line.

Like what would you do for an Apocalyptic scenario? I still need to read my copy of Time of Judgement, I didn't read it yet because I got it and Ascension a while after I got Gehenna and Apocalypse, and I didn't read Hunter the Reckoning when I got it so I put it off.

For one I am not retconning the Week of Nightmares. Its weird that C20 retconned that, yet kind of didn't because they mention Anthelios(the Eye of Balor) and they mention the 2nd wave of the Shining Host without mentioning which Houses were in which wave. And it doesn't mention much about the Arcadian Nonsidhe, presumably they all became Autumn Kithain.

So take this Thread as a place to post em, as well as ideas you would like to experiment with for the Metaplot.



So Eldagusto's Headcanon:

I have it that the Kith creation was catalyzed by the Shattering. Before that they were much broader and open ended like in Dark Age Fae. After taking up the Changeling Way ritual Fae started separating into Kiths, as the Satyrs books points out many of the beast kiths became satyrs because of the chimerical disbelief from say having half your body as a chimerical horse that has to take up autumn each time they fit into a bed or wear pants. The Hsien are different from the Kithain in that they had hierarchy under the Celestial Bureacracy and they took up their variant of the Changeling Way thousands of years Earlier before the Dreaming stabilized as the location for Bygones and Fae. Thus they were tied to the already established Umbral spirit realms. These Fae extended throughout Asia, but mostly centered on China, with half territories in nearby countries. Noticeable minority were never banished from the spirit world and were thus free until the Shattering expanded into their territory, they became the Yokai when they took up the Changeling Way ritual, and have mirror kiths with the Hsien as well as extra kiths. Nunnehi like the Hsien were part of a greater spiritual hierarchy since they were perhaps more tied to the animistic world then the Kithain since they didn't have monotheism push them farther into the Dreaming. The Kithain became the default body of Europe and parts of Asia and Africa that were connect through Monotheism. Hence the Satyr and the Eshu joined the children of the Tuatha as part of the Kithain, and eventually the mists faded a lot of their memories solidifying and unifying the perceived history of the Fae, simplifying a lot of their history to skew towards the British Isle's Fae Gods.

Part of the forming of the Kiths included things like Trolls taking greater control of their destiny, they took up the stories of honor and strength and unbreakable Oaths, while some of their monstrous kin, who may have been Trolls in the Mythic Age, did not wish to abandon their monstrous appetites and habits. This explains the disparity between myths and history and the beliefs of the Kithain. Those monstrous trolls either became Ogres, or joined with other monsters of hunger and became Redcaps. Many of the greatest Fae were descended from the Firstborn, like Sidhe, Merfolk, and even Trolls though they seceded their titles to the Sidhe. Many commoner kiths came from the fae who came from the Changelings who Fae children raised by humans or human children raised by the Fae. And the Inanimae were the Inanimae. They may have taught early mortals the art of Weaving.



I'm thinking I may have it the Changeling Way Ritual involves multiple Changelings Unleashing ritualistically at once. Maybe Rituals are a form of unleashing where multiple changelings may form a sentence with their combined Unleashes. Like maybe a changeling uses a Spring Unleashing to say "Be Born Anew" and another with a Naming Unleashing says right after "in Mortal Shell" and a Chicanery Fae says "the mists shall hide" then a Winter fae unleashes "till death shall free" then a Chronos fae and a Spring fae unleashes the same words "the soul to be reborn anew".


The Inanimae can weave, as they taught it to the Early Humans. This either is represented with them using Fae Arts but unique Inanimae Realms, or the Splinters have individual powers like Arts. I feel their either exists Arch levels of Arts, like a 6 and or 7th dot, or Arch Arts that require learning multiple other arts to begin learning the first dot in.

The Tuatha may have come from beyond the Universe through the Mists/Dreaming/Wyld or they could be some of the Fallen Angels or the creations of Fallen Angels that escaped the War, like how some of the Angels escaped banishment in the Abyss by becoming Neverborn. Or perhaps even they were Angels that deserted the Ranks of Heaven after the Initial Fall. Either way I think they are closely wed to the Umbrood, and like MythAdvocate I espoused the idea that some beings at Incarna or greater levels may also be Tuatha. Like I like his idea that the Aetherial Realm is a realm of the Umbra but also the Dreaming. I feel the Deep Dreaming and the Deep Umbra may be the say thing but perceived differently depending on the method one travels there.

Next up more stuff changeling history by the time of the Resurgence, as well as my ideas for Time of Judgementy stuff and where to take the Metaplot or how to incorporate Adhene and Inanimae.

[TheVarulfen]

The Tuatha may have come from beyond the Universe through the Mists/Dreaming/Wyld or they could be some of the Fallen Angels or the creations of Fallen Angels that escaped the War, like how some of the Angels escaped banishment in the Abyss by becoming Neverborn. Or perhaps even they were Angels that deserted the Ranks of Heaven after the Initial Fall. Either way I think they are closely wed to the Umbrood, and like MythAdvocate I espoused the idea that some beings at Incarna or greater levels may also be Tuatha. Like I like his idea that the Aetherial Realm is a realm of the Umbra but also the Dreaming. I feel the Deep Dreaming and the Deep Umbra may be the say thing but perceived differently depending on the method one travels there.

In my game there never was an Arcadia, no Tuatha and no Fomorians. Changelings, like the other supernaturals, are subject to the war of the Triad. They were born from the Mist of Creation (Wylds breath of which the world was formed) and were forced into more strict forms when Weaver began to influence Gaia more and more (the Shattering was a major event symbolizing this, when humanity finally took control). But the fall of the True Fae would not have been possible without the influence of Wyrm, corrupting Fae society and thus creating the massive wars against another (like the Battle of Stone).
The legends about Fomorians, Arcadia and the Tuatha are nothing more than misconceptions in my game. They never were real, only legends used to manipulate mortals, Garou and others. The Fae, their knowledge now lost to the Mists, did have nothing and these explanations, the lies they told, are now everything that was remembered.

I really like your discussion on the creation of the kiths and even more the Hsien.
As for Arch-Arts, I really don't like the idea. The true Fae magic is Dominions and the Arts are all just splinters of this. Even the Slivers, although still closer to dominions, are not complete (as their name might suggest). While this would make "Rituals" possible (as in combining multiple Arts in a ritualistic stile, think of Demon Rituals), these fragments of knowledge only have limited power.
In my game a Sidhe-Sage used a ritual composed of Naming, Oneiromancy, Chronos and a few other Arts to determine the exact nature and parts of the history of a mysterious Treasure. While he could have unleashed a few Arts on it, he instead decided to use a meticulous ritual to gain as much insight as possible but in a controlled and save manner.

Ideas on Adhene:
While the Thallain are Wyrm-corrupted Kith in my game, I have a differend approach for the Adhene. To me the Thallain are Urge-Fae, born from craving dreams and touched by the dark power of the Wyrm. The Adhene instead are true Nightmares. Not evil, not judging. Nightmares can be useful. They are the fears in the dark, the things we don't fully understand. Maybe not even pure dreams of humans, but of animals as well, gaining a humanoid existence through the dominance of human thought in the Dreaming.
As for Inanimae, I haven't decided yet.

[valismedsen]

[...]

The Tuatha may have come from beyond the Universe through the Mists/Dreaming/Wyld or they could be some of the Fallen Angels or the creations of Fallen Angels that escaped the War, like how some of the Angels escaped banishment in the Abyss by becoming Neverborn. Or perhaps even they were Angels that deserted the Ranks of Heaven after the Initial Fall. Either way I think they are closely wed to the Umbrood, and like MythAdvocate I espoused the idea that some beings at Incarna or greater levels may also be Tuatha. Like I like his idea that the Aetherial Realm is a realm of the Umbra but also the Dreaming. I feel the Deep Dreaming and the Deep Umbra may be the say thing but perceived differently depending on the method one travels there.

I really like this Headcanon! Any more ideas about crossovers with Demon The Fallen?

[Dataweaver]

TheVarulfen: do what works for you. But personally, I prefer to keep the Triat restricted to Werewolf. Even in Mage, where the Stasis/Dynamism/Entropy trichotomy is often a big deal, I tend to view them as the metaphysical principles of which the Triat are spiritual representatives, rather than them being the Weaver, Wyld, and Wyrm, respectively.

Likewise, while parallels can be drawn between the Weaver and Banality and between the Wyld (or in some ways the Wyrm) and Nightmares, I tend to emphasize that correlation is not causation.

My thoughts concerning Eldagusto's ideas will follow.

[Dataweaver]

Eldagusto: here's my take.

For me, Changeling is a setting full of myths and misunderstandings. The truth of the matter is that the world used to be far more diverse and magical, as depicted in Dark Ages: Fae.

There used to be four Seasonal Courts, plus the Solstice; now, only the Summer and Winter Courts survive in the guise of the Seelie and Unseelie Courts.

There were Tuatha and Fomorians in the past; but their significance has been vastly overblown: in truth, they were “merely” Firstborn fae of the British Isles, no different from Firstborn from other parts of the world save for the dominance of the Summer and Winter Courts in that theater of the War of the Seasons (the Tuatha being of the Summer Court and the Fomorians being of the Winter Court).

All three of the DA:F Origins (Firstborn, Inanimae, and Changeling) have counterparts in CtD, albeit with changes: modern changelings are almost entirely faerie entities who grew up along humanity rather than humans abducted by the fae (DA:F allowed for both, as well as children of human/fae matings); and the Firstborn have only recently returned: they're now known as the Denizens of the Dreaming, or the Dark-Kin.

Likewise, I also view the modern Arts and Realms as fragments of the now-lost Dominions — though I wonder if the Dominions are permanently lost, or if it's just a matter of time before they're rediscovered.

I do find it interesting that a common thread between the Nunnehi, Menehune, and Hsien is their ties to the spirit world. I'll have to consider the implications of this further.

[Lian]

Since this is headcanon land I steal liberally from Scion in my formorian/Tuatha break. That's just terminology because for some inexplicable reason Celtic terms have come to dominate at least in Concordia(I even go so far as to have the Houses renamed in various less Celtic inclined areas, for example the Empire of Greece the Noble Houses are tied to the 12 Olympians, Gwydeon is the House of Zeus, Dougal is the House of Hephaestus etc.... yes there are more than 12 houses normally I drop a couple and swap in ones to work things out how I want).

So back on subject Kithain are from cultures where the Titanomachy happened. This also matches up REALLY well with the Indo-European invasion so whatever war happened it only happened in those areas thus why those cultures have a sort of connected Kithain presence.(Eshu are weird but there's enough cutural overlap with a titanomachy with northern Africa they can jump in).

This is what makes the Kithain, Thallain and Adhere weird.

Tribal Fae and Inanimae are the "Natural" state for Changeling.

Hsien and Elohim are the same base supernatural type but broken by their falling.

[Eldagusto]

The Resurgence

The Resurgence that came about from man reaching the Lunar surface means a great silver gate exists there reaching Arcadia. Though this may not have existed before the resurgence. Not only Sidhe returned with the resurgence, a number of commoner retinue also returned, as well as Kithain,
Gallain, and Thallain of all stripes. Some of the Arcadian commoners remain Arcadian Commoners having not undertaken the Changeling Way.

The Inanimae started awakening in numbers during the Resurgence, but I have it they were awakening sporadically all over the world even before the resurgence. Those like the Inanimae of the Americas had a briefer period of somnolence, only slumbering with the coming of the Europeans after Columbus and awakening in numbers during the Storm Umbra and fully during the resurgence. The Kami, the Inanimae of Japan and much of Asia were much more active and awake then most areas of the world due to most of their Fae becoming Hsien rather then Changelings, that means the Inanimae and the handful of Yokai were stewarding the Dreaming of Asia, that often was underpopulated. As much of what would normally be apart of the Dreaming in other parts of the World actually became connected to the Umbra in this part of the World. With the Dreaming essentially becoming the Dreaming with the Shattering.

The Dreaming is where a number of the places that neverwhere according to modern history and science were shunted off too when the world was mapped.


The Week of Nightmares happened, meaning the Dark Glamour of Zapathsura's violent death and the rush of Nihilistic winds from the Underworld caused the Evanescence, and the Eye of Balor stayed in the Chimerical Sky. 9/11 only exacerbated it. The cracking of the seal of the Abyss and the return of the Fallen was actually the same event that cracked the seal of the Thallain's prison. To the Fae Fallen actually, are perceived as a type of Gallain. There are another type of Gallain called the Elohim/Lillin that are changelings that come from angels (the Grigori) demons (Imps, and Devils), and the brood of Lilith (Nephilim, Lillitu/Succubus, and Night Hags). Some Fallen are implied to have somehow undergone the Changeling Way joining the Elohim/Lillin or in the case of the Last House joining the Yokai as the Shinigami.

The Ghost Danse of the First Nation Tribes took a century to take hold and with the Eye of Balor in the Sky and the turning of the European Millenium their centennial caused a return of surviving refugees from the Higher Hunting Grounds, these Nunnehi and Thallain have returned often suffering from a lack of Remembrance and Amnesia but always taking up their equivalent of the Changeling Way rather than becoming Arcadian counterparts.

Some of the Kithain and Gallain groups have switched allegiances with their rebirths due to a combination of intermarrying between relatives and Saining by other groups. So often Nunnehi are born and sained as part of the Kithain and vice versa. Some Kiths are born into multiple groups, like Pooka Subkiths emulating Trickster spirits in the vein of Anansi or Raven. Tribal Fae have existed all over the world, with other notable groups existing in Australia, and often in Island nations such as the Philippines. Some have been adopted into wider Gallain families or joining the Kithain like the Eshu did long ago.


More Houses exist, including Thallain Houses like House Angraboda and Dagon.

I was not a fan of King David as the lines Mary Sue King. The 90's gamelines tended to do this with Him, Charon, and King Albrecht, folks only special because of plot Armor. I like the Idea of say either King David being Returned as a Corpse or Undone, or as a broken Grump whom Caliburn abandoned. I believe its time for Concordia to take up a new Ard Ri. So Caliburn has fully awakened and taken secret council with a group known as the Panoply of the Gods, composed of the Treasures of the Gods and Heroes of the World lead by Caliburn but with equals including Mjolnir and the Spear of Lugh, and the Noi Bo of Sun Wukong. These Treasures of the Dreamings Heart have decided to seek new champions and have spirited themselves away into the Autumn World into the hands of worthy Mortals who they make into a new Kith of Changelings known as the Chosen. They exist much like Selkies in that their Treasures are their Faery Souls. They are a Noble Kith. The Thallain equivalent are the Cursed, these are more often considered commoner equivalents having come from the origins of various infamous murderers and Urban Legends. Everything from the infamous Hookedhand of a teen slaying slasher, to the blade of Saucy Jack, but they also have a handful of their own Nobility such as the Eye of Balor, not the Red Star but the physical Eye of Balor that House Balor has been guarding, it awoke and rejected their current house King and disappeared to find a more worthy successor of Balor among the Mortals.

With the return of the Denizens many Denizens have chosen to join the courts of the Kithain or Gallain. Particularly the Moraie, the Aonidae, and some of the Keramet and and Fuath. There are even more Adhene then the 7 we were given. The Inanimae also have often started to join courts. I am even considering allowing these beings to be able to take up House Oaths and even Titles.

The Gallain have also been adapting. Noticeably some of the Menehune have chosen to leave their hidden village along with a handful that returned with the resurgence to join the Menehune that have been born outside of Hawaii. These mostly have joined the Kithain due to mixed heritage and cultures. The Nunnehi have created an ambassadorial embassy in Hawaii to seek if they can strengthen their ties, possibly expanding their alliance, as the Nunnehi already include the South American Changelings, though this may change as the south of the border Nunnehi may form their own group. The Menehune have also strengthened contact with cousins among the other Polynesian Fae.


Newly discovered Inanimae and Adhene are constantly being discovered and news of them spread across the world, such as Inanimae from beyond the Earth, and Alien Dreams, including some taking up the Changeling Way resulting in Kiths such as the Greys and Starchildren. As well as a new type of Gallain, the Gargoyles. Clans of Fae that seem to be the result of Inanimae who undertook the Changeling Way being reborn as a fleshy beings. A mix of Changeling and Mannequin.

The Merfolk have made headway into adopting more and more nonmerfolk, becoming more a League of Oceanic Fae. They now include Inanimae, Selkies, and Pooka as well as Nunnehi, Menehune, and Kithain who have tossed their lot in with the Ocean Courts. They are now more recognized as a major powerblock of the Dreaming World, and perhaps the single biggest rival to the Kithain.

Next up the Divergence of Fimbul Winter!

[Eldagusto]

So the big shift is how I would handle the next step in game? I considered a lot of cool scenarios for the apocalypse.

Like what if Arcadia actually has drizzled out, the Tuatha and Fomorians mostly died or left the known Tellurian for other vistas. If this is the case the Earthly changelings and new sidhe and what not are now responsible for shepherding the glamour of Earth, do they only concentrate on Earth leaving the Deep Dreaming to Fimbul Winter or do you try to martial the Empires and Kingdoms to make concentrated efforts to remap the trods to the Deep Dreaming, summon miracles to fight back enough of Fimbul Winter to get a foothold ang spring back anew and create a New Arcadia/Higher Hunting Ground? OR do the Dauntain and the Autumn People end Magic?

Do I trickle in the Fomorian Threat? First the Shadow Court gets more and more campaigns mastered by the Black Court Thallain, the Thallain start establishing Independent Freeholds and star taking them from Kithain, and then a handful of full blown Fomorian's start becoming Active. This can be interesting because it adds a layer of tangible structure to Fimbul Winter and can be interesting to have actual Fomorians as enemies. I liked the idea from the Old Lords of Nightmare fanproject, that their are 4 Fomorian Courts that fought the Tuatha, as well as outsider tribes of Fomorians like the Greek Titans and the Jotun of the Norse.

Or are the Tuatha and Fomorians more closely related and essentially the same thing. In this case they are both more like the Raksha of Exalted. Fomorians being more primordial dreams and Tuatha more going Native. The Hsien being the first among the Raksha to fall inline with the Hierarchy of the Gods of Creation (now the spirits of the Tellurian). In this case the Exiled Shining hosts are actually refugees. The Tuatha are making footholds on Earth and expect the Kithain to fall in line or suffer the consequences of angering the Gods of Old. And the Fomorians and Tuatha eventually rousing to full activity.

In this Scenario they could have fully been roused by the discovery of the supernatural by the mankind. I'm thinking anything from Sabbat being livestreamed tossing a care to a Taftani turning Seattle into brightly colored Glass. But I'm fond of the idea of including a Trumanshow type situation were a reality show revolving around a child raised by a studio not knowing he is the center of a vast media empire awakening through the Dream Dance becoming a Changeling, or hell his body could have been snatched by a Sidhe who views it as the perfect vessel of Adoration. Either way the world at Large discovers that the Supernatural exist, and a domino effect happens when more and more supernatural activities come to light. This makes the evanescence look like a rowdy Halloween because the Gates of Arcadia literally break open and Gods and Nightmares walk the Earth oncemore. Even Antediluvians arise but they have their own problems combined with the Divine might of the Gods smiting them for past sacrilege. Basically now various Tuatha and Fomorians carve the World entire into territory. There magic is literally godlike, but they also suffer more then anyone else to the Banes and Echos of mortal superstition and especially Iron. But that is were their Changelings and Enchanted come in. If it was just the Gods and Fomorians they would suffer no better, or even worse then the war with the Milesians, but now a lot of their forces are made up of Changelings and Thallain who are considerably more resistant to Banalty then True Fae, and with the backing of the Gods they break the Worlds Government and a New Mythic Age erupts.

If the Supernatural is revealed I see Banality irrevocably changing and Weakening, loosing its grip on the Fae. It returns to how it was in the Sundering were faith and belief is a defense against the Fae, but it no longer the ultimate threat to the Fae. Its now a Bulwark against them rather then an apocalyptic deluge.

The Wheel Turns

Or maybe Fimbul Winter gradually happens but its stalls enough were technology provides a solution. House Danaan reveals themsevles and opens a worldwide project to create multiple colony Arcs and prepare to take the Fae who don't want to die with Gaia off to the cold Trods of the Aether and bring Spring anew to new worlds. Bringing along their Kinain and enchanted they will become the next Generation of Tuatha and eventually even birth new Fae souls and restablish Arcadia. Hell what if Arcadia/Higher Hunting Grounds/Heaven if you go there you actually discover the Tuatha have access to Trods across the Multiverse?


I have a lot of similar ideas for possible apocalypse scenarios with other Supernatural beings taking over the World. Like what if the Shroud is brought down, Coughdamngiovannicough, and the Dark Kingdoms flat out take over the lands of the Living, and the Giovanni aren't as easily able to to rule as they hoped and instead sell out humanity and the other Kindred and become Lapdogs to the Deathlords.

Or the Millions of Fallen fully Break out of the Abyss and each take bodies, and claim the Earth in the open daring to wage war with the Angels and using human Faith to create their own Universe.

Or the Antedilvians rise and take over.

Or the Wyrm materializes and tries to eat the Universe.

[Nyrufa]

This probably isn't as constructively built as the rest of yours. I kind of rushed putting this together.



My version of the End Times for World of Darkness is an event which returns the world back square one, before the various supernatural creatures began to lose their power and humans became the dominant force of the planet.


The Masquerade is pretty much fucked as nearly all the splats are running around in full view of the public either trying their damnedest to contain the chaos, or deciding to participate in it. Werewolves and other shifters are engaged in open war with Pentex, the Antediluvians are slaughtering their way across the country without a care in the world, Lucifer is leading an army of demons to assault the gates of heaven and the Technocracy is tearing their hair out trying to provide the masses with a calm and rational explanation while all of this shit is going down.


And, of course, you've got the Fomorians who make their grand return with a vengeance. Giving absolutely zero fucks about law, order and civilization, they unleash their full power to destroy the Mists and remind everybody about the existence of the old powers and why they needed to be feared.


While the Kithain initially try to fight back against the Thallain and their masters, it becomes increasingly apparent that maybe the Fomorians have the right idea. It was the Tuatha who showed humanity how to dream of higher aspirations, and it was because of those aspirations that everything became so messed up for the Fey in the first place. The Fomorians may not have been the ideal masters, but at least they had an effective method of preserving the Dreaming. Realizing this, a gradual number of Changelings begin to turn their backs on their humanity in favor of embracing their Fey heritage more strongly.


I also go with the scenario in which House Danaan conducts a mass evacuation, purifying the Fey of Banality as they abandon the Autumn World to return to Arcadia. No longer subject to the Changeling Way ritual, they become True Fey once again.


The whole time this is going on, humans are dying off in droves, which rocks the consensus to its core. Humans start to believe in magic and the supernatural once again as evidence of its existence is waved about in their face like a child's key ring. This allows both Fey and Mages to wield powers they hadn't access to for centuries as there is less and less resistance from non believers.

-----------------------------------

Eventually the dust settles and what we are left with is a dramatically reduced human population. Not everybody died, but the death toll is large enough that it would take thousands of years for mortals to recover from the catastrophe. That is, of course, if they were left alone to do so. Needless to say, the other creatures who inhabit this world aren't having any of it. They've seen what happens when mortals are left unattended, and they have no intention of repeating their mistake.

Monsters roam the earth and magic has once again returned to popular consensus. God is dead and the old powers are restored to prominence. Human civilization lies in ruins, The sixth age has begun!

[21C Hermit]

Since in my headcanon the WoD world is what the CofD world looked like before getting an in-universe cosmic retcon: the Dark Mother from Beast The Primordial is a Fomorian from Changeling The Dreaming, the last survivor of Fimbulwinter, who learned something about “helping humanity via dreams” from Her enemies, and changed Her modus operandi accordingly.

[Eldagusto]

That's interesting I still need to read the Beast Core.


Baba Yaga did not die like she did in Canon. Vasilissa did indeed track her down, duping a foolish coterie of foreign Neonates. But Baba Yaga coded her domain with layers of rituals and Wards, and Vasilissa is so old and potent, a creature of nightmare and myth she too was more vulnerable to certain wards then the weaker generation. Vasilissa triggered numerous traps which gave Baba Yaga the edge she needed to slay Vasilissa in their battle. Vasilissa struggled against the wards and curses fought Baba Yaga, and entered her body as a slurry of woe and blood, but instead of simply killing Baba Yaga from the inside out, Baba Yaga's Chicken Hut allowed her Diablerize Vasilissa, and with her last breath she also triggered a contingency plan that she established along with the Shadow Curtain. Upon the fall of the Shadow curtain and the crumbling of Baba Yaga's Form she cast forth her spirit into a form of the Changeling Way Ritual. Baba Yaga's spirit will reborn as a mighty changeling. Absimiliard understood that Vasilissa would likely not survive her assassination of the Little Grandmother and it was understood to be potentially a kamikaze mission for Vasilissa.

The Zmei are not just simple Bygone Dragons. Use there stats as a jumping off point, but they are Creatures of the Primordial Mists, the Dreaming, the Wyld itself. So I would treat them with their given stats but also give them ample amounts of Fae Arts, each especially knowing Dragon's Ire. Baba Yaga's Godlike magic enabled them to travel across Russia in their Flesh and Blood Forms, just as her magic permits the Blood Angel to Walk the Earth without being bound to a mortal or object. This more greatly reflects their status as monsters that took literally hundreds of Werewolves to corner and slay. And why Absimiliard found it more convenient to fool them rather than fight all of them. The same would work with Koschei using high traits, a Wyrmish Fomorian incarnate.

Baba Yaga's real Chicken Hut, the one that inspired the Dreaming Echo Freehold in the Freehold Book, exists and is a potent Freehold that will call to the reincarnation of the Bogatyri of this current age. The Reincarnation of Baba Yaga is possibly now a mix of Her Ogress Form, her original priestess form, and Vasilissa, and her reborn form could be a number of things to reflect this.

[White Oak Dragon]

We change things up a lot from game to game. There is one element that frequently comes up, though. In our games, we usually rule that all kiths once had their nobility. There were troll kingdoms, satyr kingdoms, pooka kingdoms, redcap kingdoms... You name it, they were there. The sidhe had been the dreams of beauty, rather than nobility, but they decided that as the prettiest, they should also be the ones in charge of everyone. That war is largely forgotten, now, but some evidence remains for changelings to find at the right moment.

[[Insert Original Name]]

A few years ago I was reading Book of Lost Houses. The Beaumayn section of the book gave me the impression that the Fomorians were trying to steer the world toward Winter. I was initially confused by this. Why would they want a world where Glamour is even harder to come by? The Fomorians are fae right? so why bring about a scenario that would render them just as powerless as the rest of the fae? Did they have some kind of resistance to banality similar to House Balor's resistance to iron? That thought in particular, mixed with Beaumayn's insistence that the events leading up to the final nights was all part of the formorians sinister scheme, gave me this theory.



The Fomorians dont have a resistance to Banality. There completely immune to it.

The Fomorians are trapped in the dreaming by the Oaths they swore to the Tuatha. The Oaths are enforced by the dreaming itself. Thus to weaken the oaths that keep them imprisoned they would have to weaken the dreaming itself. The Fomorians were probably aware of the effect human belief had on reality and the dreaming this is why they kept them alive as vassals rather than just ignoring and going about their business.

If the magic keeping them imprisoned weakens not only will they free themselves, but the Kithain will be too weak from the scarce glamour to do anything.


Though I dont really have an explanation for why they would be immune to banality. Maybe the dreaming used to function completely differently before humanity existed and the Fomorians are a by product of that forgotten age. Maybe there not fae at all and are horribly powerful eldritch monstrosities that happened to dabble with human dreams. Regardless, they lack the connection and dependence that the dreaming and fae have on humanity.

[Luka C]

We change things up a lot from game to game. There is one element that frequently comes up, though. In our games, we usually rule that all kiths once had their nobility. There were troll kingdoms, satyr kingdoms, pooka kingdoms, redcap kingdoms... You name it, they were there. The sidhe had been the dreams of beauty, rather than nobility, but they decided that as the prettiest, they should also be the ones in charge of everyone. That war is largely forgotten, now, but some evidence remains for changelings to find at the right moment.

I really like this interpretation.

[Eldagusto]

It makes a lot of sense and goes with the Troll Kings of Old stories already part of canon. And it explains how we can have a God Pan Ruler of Arcadia but no Satyr House. It also explains Sidhe houses, if they overthrew the other Kithain and erased their houses then that explains why their culture is dominant.