Category:Changeling
Note: this article deals with the changeling constructs created by the Shadow Fey. For the changeling humanoids of [[doppelganger descent, see category:Changeling (doppelganger-blooded).
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This section contains canon info from officially published sources |
Also known as "kin,"[1][2] changelings are construct[2] servitors created by the Arak races from humanoid soul-shadows placed in new flesh bodies.[1][2] To create a changeling, a shadow fey must remove a mortal's shadow (which also holds the person's soul)[1][2]. The living body left behind becomes a mindless[2] husk, going through the motions of a person's old routines but otherwise having no personality or drive[1][2]. Such people are sometimes referred to as elfshot or shadowreft. Meanwhile, the new changeling construct becomes obsessively devoted to a certain trade or craft, ignoring all other things. Changelings are immortal but without emotion or personality. Most changelings will not even act in their own self-defense. The powriekin, muryankin, sithkin, and tegkin are notable exceptions.
The skillset of a changeling is determined by which of the Nine Breeds of the Arak the creator belongs to. Becoming a changeling is usually reserved for particularly adept individuals in their corresponding fields of question.
Changelings look like their living counterparts, save for a visual characteristic implying an association with their creator's breed.
Creating Changelings
Obtaining Consent
Removing the shadow first requires obtaining the mortal's consent as determined by the mortal's consumption of faerie food. This definition of "consent" is dubious by mortal standards, as the Arak usually speak of the transformation into a changeling as immortality coupled with an existence among the fey in order to perfect one's craft. Even beyond that, there have been examples where mortals have given consent by accident by consuming faerie food without understanding the consequences. Some of the Unseelie Fey have even obtained "consent" through the coercion of sword-point, as happened with many of the inhabitants of Briggdarrow. (This last example was admittedly recognized as abuse of the system by Queen Maeve.)
Removal of the Shadow and Delivery to the Shadow Rift
Once consent (such that it is) has been given, the creation of the changeling is a multistep process requiring the proper Tools of Transcendence.[3] Summarizing and abridging the ritual, the process requires the lighting of a Gloaming Candle to keep the mortal asleep, shearing off the shadow with a Silver Sickle, and delivering the shadow to the Shadow Rift in a Shadow Sack before the Candle runs its course or is snuffed out.
Encountering Changelings
Changelings dwell within the Shadow Rift. They can also be encountered in Tepest[4].
Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue
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The Shadow Rift - p151 | |
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The Shadow Rift - pp151-152 | |
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The Shadow Rift - p151-152 | |
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Kin |
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 The Shadow Rift p. 151
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Denizens of Dread p. 48
- ↑ For details on the ritual and proper order of steps, see The Shadow Rift module p. 159, Denizens of Darkness p. 35, or Denizens of Dread p. 48. For details on the magical tools, see Van Richten's Guide to the Shadow Fey p. 83
- ↑ Gazetteer V p.51
Subcategories
This category has the following 9 subcategories, out of 9 total.
Pages in category "Changeling"
The following 6 pages are in this category, out of 6 total.
