Changelings

In the distant past, changelings were mortals who were stolen away from their families by the Fae. The Fae did strange things to these infants, altered their bodies in bizarre and magical ways, gave to these humans a certain measure of faerie, all to make them better servants. The Fae are mysterious creatures, with powers that far exceed anything that humans can imagine and minds that are completely alien. None, not even the changelings themselves, know why the Fae wanted servants among humanity. Many changelings do believe, though, the the Fae are like gods and are wise beyond human comprehension, and that they selected the changelings as the best among humanity so as to have perfect mortal servants and agents. With the coming of the Veil and even centuries before, the Fae were increasingly inactive in the mortal world, giving only a few cryptic commands to elder changelings once in a while and seldom creating new changelings.

Most changelings of today are descended from the true changelings, sometimes called the ancients, by modern changelings. They have arranged themselves into families, inbreeding within an extended family group so as to preserve the mystic blood of the ancients. These families have remained relatively insular over the centuries, raising and teaching their own children, living in huge mansions or estates in isolated areas away from prying eyes of mortals, using their supernatural powers to retain their wealth and privilege as the mortal world changes around them. As one might expect, changeling culture is extremely conservative and traditional, with a high focus being placed on family and seniority, with social orders much like that of ancient days.

The true changelings, the ancients, are said to be truly immortal and unaging, though the have withdrawn so far from mortal and even changeling society that they are seldom seen, even by relatively elder changelings. Other changelings have mystic power based on the purity of their blood, how many generations they are removed from the ancients, and their actual age. More powerful changelings age more slowly, with some weak blooded changelings living only twice as long as humans, while some are thousands of years old and show little sign of age. Unfortunately, the more powerful a changeling is, the farther detached they are from the world of mortals, living more within the faerie realm that that of humanity. Some old changelings can barely even hear or see mundane mortals, and likewise cannot be heard or seen by them.

The powers that changelings wield vary tremendously from individual to individual, though certain types of powers tend to run in families. Fae magic tends to have strange reality warping effects, usually based around certain themes are concepts. Ultimately, the Fae are cruel and terrifying creatures and their powers tend to act like nightmare that have come to life, reality becomes surreal and dreamlike as changelings use their magic, a victim's worse fears may come to life or time and space may not behave in normal ways. Though just as with dreams, these powers don't always function logically or consistently, even for the changelings using them - though with age the changelings can better master their powers. All changelings have enhanced physical prowess, strength and toughness far exceeding that of humans, amazing agility and vitality, as well as regenerative abilities. Once again, the purer the blood, the more powerful the changeling.

Changelings also have strange weaknesses as well, inexplicable limitations to their powers or vulnerabilities. The most common is that changelings are stronger in the night and weaker in the day. For most, this is merely and reduction of powers during the day, though some cannot stand the light of day at all and must hide away from it. Another common weakness is to cold iron, the presence of it can help a person to resist changeling magic or can cause more severe damage to changeling flesh. Others weaknesses could include, but aren't limited to, a vulnerability to salt, having to ask permission to enter a home, never being able to lie, powers not working against children, and so on. As with power, the weaknesses are more potent for those who are older and purer of blood. Another weakness that changelings have is that they are bound to obey any oath that they may make, whether it is with a mortal, changeling, or other creature. This strange weakness, combined with their conservative and honor bound culture, makes them a group which places huge importance on honor, oaths, and loyalty. For many changelings, making an oath with them not only forces them to follow through, but forces the other party to do so as well.

Weil they are bound by familial loyalty and ancient codes of honor, changelings are not kind or moral by any stretch of the imagination. The Fae are cruel sadistic creatures and their twisted mortal servants carry on those traits in their blood and in their traditions. Changelings also see themselves as a higher life form than mortals, a master race of sorts chosen by the gods to be a cut above humanity. This belief combined with their ancient traditions of rule by nobility and the callousness of the Fae makes the behavior of the changelings horrifying. Some changelings image in torture for their own sick pleasure, experiment on human subjects using magic or science, hunt people as though their were game, delight in causing fear and terror, or keep mind altered slaves. Many changelings are also hedonistic and decadent, having lavish parties or engaging in orgies or frivolously spending money.

Each changeling family is ruled by the elder or elders, in some cases even ancients rule. Then beneath them, regional elders rule over a domain. It is all quite feudal. The locations which changelings have dwelled for centuries are stronger in faerie magic than other places and allow the changelings to use their powers even on the most resistant mortal. Sometimes these locations are forests, other times they are ancient manses or castles, sometimes caves or an ancient ruin. In any case, changelings are powerful here and any mortal, even one completely oblivious to magic, will have an eerie sense of forbidding and dread when entering such a place. In the domain of changelings, the laws of reality break down, some dwellings contain altered gravity where there are rooms filled with stairs leading in different directions, like an MC Escher painting, others are far larger inside than out. Should an unwise mortal enter a changeling's domain, they will likely find that they can never leave.

The changelings have been declining in temporal power in the modern age, with the advancement of technology, their conservatism and isolation does not serve them well. A few families, those with weaker blood but more progressive and flexible attitudes, have become more wealthy than strong blooded families who demanded on magical might instead of social connections. With the decline of the Veil, most changelings are overjoyed, believing that it could mean that their masters might once again return, perhaps to take the earth as their own. Some of the most young and liberal changelings fear this, as the Fae are just old legends to them, beings of great evil and power who would enslave changelings and humanity alike - not something a fate to be desired.    

There are a number of great changeling families, here are but a few.

Sklavi
This family is a very earthy and naturalistic group of changelings. They live in remote compounds in ancient forests, only periodically interacting with the outside world, and usually only young members of the family then. They tend to have powers related to animals and the earth, controlling animals, shape changing into them, enhanced senses, controlling the elements or plants. The trees in their forest seem twisted and menacing, unnatural and yet very natural at once. The Sklavi are said to have strange monsters guarding their homes, animals that have been altered or enhanced by them. As they grow older, Sklavi become more bestial in appearance, taking on traits of a certain animal or animals they have an affinity with. The ancients are truly horrific, with horns, tooth filled maws, talons upon their hands, and furry or feather covered skin.

Ascania
The Ascania are an old and conservative family, even for the changelings. They are ruled by their ancients, called the Patriarchs. These elder males make the young women of the family their harems, killing males who are born and draining their magical essence for themselves. This makes the Ascania family very magically powerful, but also inbred, small, and removed from humanity. All of the young members are female, all members of the family have pale white skin, hair, and even even luminescent white eyes. They are often called the family of the moon, in fact their power waxes and wanes with the moon. They have power over dreams, illusions, time, emotions, cold, weather, storms, even some ancient sorcery practiced by their elders. They also tend towards insanity by mortal standards, their blood being too potent to interact with the mortal world, they only maintain a tenuous connection, existing more within their own domains and magical space than in the real world. They tend to only interact with other changelings or mystical creatures, as they can seldom even see or be seen by mortals even when they do leave their domains. Most can only leave their domains at night. The other families, and even more so other magical beings, fear the power that the Ascania might command should the Veil ever fall completely.

Mordua
The Mordua are a family known for their sadistic cruelty and love of causing terror, even legendary among the changelings. They have powers over shadow and darkness, fear, spiders and insects, and space. They can also change their shape to a limited degree, temporarily becoming more terrifying and monstrous. In their natural shape, Mordua are completely hairless with pale skin, pure black eyes, and claw-like fingernails. Their forms seem somewhat twisted, as though their bones bend or shift, though the exact nature of the deformities change over time and become more pronounced with age. Mordua are sensitive to sunlight, it is painful to their pale skin and sensitive eyes, so most rarely go out in the daylight unless they are clad in protective clothing or even sunglasses. Many Mordua can use illusions to conceal their unusual appearances, but just as often they rely upon the same clothing that protects them from the sun to conceal their strange features.

Muiredaigh
This is a relatively large and weak blooded family, one that has accepted human blood into the family more often than most and as a result has diminished magical powers. On the plus side, they retain a largely human appearance and are able to interact well with the mortal world. Many members of this family are sent to expensive private schools where they can interact with humans and make contacts among the upper crust of society. As a result, they have a large amount of wealth and power which is increasingly instead of declining as with other changeling families. They powers are few compared to their cousins, though they have the ability to read minds, create small or minor illusions, influence emotions, or exert a small amount of telekinesis. They tend to have less physical prowess than other changelings, though they may develop the ability to channel mystic power into their bodies to temporarily become stronger or faster.

Bendith
The Bendith are one of the more humane families of changelings. They have an attitude that they should either leave humanity alone or help then along with their powers. Aside from their relative kindness, the Bendith are also known for their power over luck and chance. All family members are unusually lucky and with concerted effort, practice, and the power that comes with age, they can manipulate random events in their favor or against their enemies. Additionally, the Bendith tend to have the ability to glimpse the future, sense danger, speak with and befriend animals, or to magically conceal themselves. The Bendith tend to be smaller than normal humans, about a head shorter and slightly built. They also tend to be weaker and more fragile than other changelings.  

Ivorix
The Ivorix family are masters of magic and sorcery. This is the magic of the Fae and not magic commonly wielded by mortals, it is drawn from ancient rituals and symbols learned from the Fae long ago and, for the most part, only useful for those with changeling blood. The spells and rituals that the Ivorix master are quite diverse in their range of effects, though often not as powerful or easily used as the powers of other changelings. Common spells include those which allow scrying upon far off places, inscribing magical runes which have certain effects, casting curses on those to whom they have a personal item of, and creating charms which provide luck, good health, or protection. Members of the Ivorix family tend to be tall and thin, a feature which grows more pronounced with age as the Ivorix becomes inhumanly gaunt.