Changeling (Cerilia)

Changelings come in two types: human and faerie. Human changelings are Cerilian infants stolen by Shadow World faeries and raised in the Seelie Court. Faerie changelings are ancient faeries left in the stolen child’s place.

Human changelings look exactly like what they are: ordinary humans. They may be scions or commoners of any human race. When encountered, they may still be children or they may have grown to adulthood in the years since their kidnapping.

Faerie changelings are very old seelie faeries (see separate entry) who look enough like humans to pass as one. Though as small as human children, they bear an ancient aura, and their eyes frequently betray the millennia of wisdom hidden behind them. When first substituted for a human child, they typically appear from mere days to two years old. If the changeling’s nature is not discovered, it uses its limited Seeming powers to alter its appearance as it “grows up”.

Changelings – or those suspected of being changelings – can be worked into an adventure plot or continuing campaign in a number of ways. The discovery of a faerie changeling substituted for a Cerilian child could be a catalyst for adventure, particularly if the stolen child is of noble birth or heir to a domain. An unusual child (perhaps one that has grown to adulthood, or even a player character) might be suspected of being a changeling.

Or a party adventuring in the Shadow World could encounter humans stolen from Cerilia by the faeries. The characters might try to return the kidnapping victims to Cerilia. In the case of adult changelings, the victims might have no wish to leave the only home they have ever known, but could serve as valuable sources of information about the Shadow World.

Combat: The statistics have been divided into three columns to accommodate the different changeling races and ages. Human changelings aged 15 years and older are considered adults. Some combat statistics are given for human children ages 8 to 14, on the assumption that given their unusual upbringing they could attempt to defend themselves if circumstances force them to.

Faerie changelings retain the spellcasting abilities they had in the Shadow World, and prefer to use these in combat instead of their daggers. They also retain their know alignmentability and remain immune to illusions/phantasms and charms, though upon entering Cerilia they lose the ability to turn invisible. As in the Shadow World, they are especially vulnerable to iron weapons (+3 damage bonus).

Adult human changelings fight as 2nd-level rogues. They generally are equipped with a short sword and/or dagger, a parting gift from the faeries. There is a 75% chance that it is a magical (+ 1) weapon. There is an additional 45% chance that they also carry another magical item (DM’s choice; as it’s a gift from the faeries, the more outrageous, the better).

Child human changelings, valued and protected by the seelie faeries, rarely have occasion to enter combat. When they do, it is only in self-defense. Travelers are unlikely to encounter child human changelings unless they actually find their way to the Seelie Court. Even there, the children will be well cloaked in the Seeming.

Adult human changelings retain their memories of time among the faeries, but cannot find their way back to the Seelie Court. (Upon leaving, the faeries cast seelie spell of forgetting on them; see the “Faerie, Seelie, Cerilia” entry.) Their surreal upbringing forever alters them – even if returned to their own kind, they will never seem “quite right.”

Faerie changelings do their best to masquerade as Cerilian children for as long as possible. Once discovered, however, they flee the premises as soon as possible, often using the infamous, confusing faerietalk to create an opportunity for escape.

Faerie changelings retain the extraordinary perception they enjoy in the Shadow World, but the only Seeming they can manipulate is that which they carry out of the Shadow World, surrounding them like an aura. Human changelings learn how to manipulate and penetrate the Seeming from their faerie guardians.(Bloodline: Faerie – None, Human Adult – Varies or none, Human Child: Varies or none; Blood Abilities: Faerie – None, Human Adult – Varies or none, Human Child – Varies or none; Perception/Seeming: Faerie – Extraordinary/Lesser, Human Adult – Middling/Slight, Human Child – Slight/None)

Habitat/Society: The seelie faeries prize beauty in all its forms. This admiration extends, unfortunately, to human children. To the faeries, these children are like dolls: a passing amusement. The human lifespan – let alone childhood – is so short compared to the seelie existence, that the faeries don’t think of humans as equal beings, but as novelties. They see nothing wrong with plucking a child from its parents’ care for their own pleasure. To them, it is like taking a puppy home from the kennel.

The faeries take relatively good care of their “pets.” The human changelings live among the Seelie Court until they reach that gawky adolescent stage when they aren’t so cute anymore. When they reach age 12 or 13, the faeries outfit them with arms and equipment and send them out into the world. Because of all they have learned among the faeries, most make it to adulthood, either somehow finding their way back to Cerilia or living in the Shadow World. Their time among the faeries generally teaches them enough about stealth and craftiness—or leaves them with enough tales to tell – to function as 2nd-level rogues.

Meanwhile, back in Cerilia, an ancient faerie switches places with the stolen child. Sometimes the changeling is discovered immediately, in which case the faerie leaves (if it can) and returns to the Shadow World. If the parents don’t notice the switch, or observe oddities in their “child” but do not know how to account for them, the changeling remains as long as possible. Innately curious, the faerie takes the opportunity to learn as much as possible about humans during the masquerade.

After (at most) six or seven years, however, the faerie changeling grows bored. One night it simply disappears, never to be seen by its “parents” again, and returns to the Seelie Court.

Ecology: Like other members of the Seelie Court, faerie changelings eat nearly any food, but have an aversion to milk. Their refusal to drink milk – a staple of most human children’s diets – leads to their discovery more often than any other clue. Sometimes, a perfectly ordinary human child is suspected of being a changeling simply because she or he doesn’t happen to like milk.

Elven Changelings

In the very rarest of cases, the faeries may steal an elven child. Such kidnappings are highly unusual, as elves are more similar to faeries than humans are, and the differences are what holds attraction for the seelie folk.