N'importe qui, n'importe où, caché à la vue de tous

Les changelins sont une race d'humanoïde qui descendent de loin des Doppelganger et qui partagent leurs capacités de métamorphose. Ces métamorphes subtils sont capables de dissimuler leur apparence, faisant d'eux des espions et des criminels accomplis, ce qui a, à son tour, conduit à la méfiance des habitants de Khorvaire.

CHANGELING Changelins originated from unions between doppelgangers and Humanoïdes in the distant past. Eventually, their descendants became the changelin race. Like Férals, they are a unique race that breeds true. Unlike Férals, they have no distinct community and culture as a species. For most of their history, they have lived in Humainoid settlements, often mistrusted and rarely at ease. This scattering and dispersion of populations with no central cultural focus has led to a variety of coping techniques, expressed differently by each of the three major changelin philosophies.

Members of most other races have a clear answer to the question “Who am I?” Nains are clever with stone, stable, and skillful against Gobelins and Géants. Elves are graceful and observant. Half-orcs are strong and gruff. Each of the civilized races has a sense of belonging and the comfort of the society of others like them. They are accepted by and accepting of others of their kind. Not so with changelins. The mutability of changelins means that they have no one clear place in the world. Most changelins live scattered among communities dominated by other races. These other races view them with suspicion. While a minority group with a stronger sense of self might react to this prejudice by banding together and forming a strong community of their own, changelins are anything but unified. Many changelins view each other with suspicion, too, and are often prejudiced against their own kind. Roleplaying Application: Changelins have no preset place in society. They feel driven to adopt another race’s persona, create multiples of their own, or find out what roles fate and destiny intend for them. Almost all changelins hold to one of three philosophical viewpoints and see themselves as passers, becomers, or reality seekers. You should choose one of these philosophies during character creation. It can provide guidance in handling many situations. When considering others of their kind, changelins tend to have more stereotypes and prejudices than even the most opinionated of species. They tend to be very dismissive of changelins who have different mindsets from their own. Changelins judge each other harshly and with little tolerance.

Changelins are Communly harmless, passive people and are uninterested in politics and social affairs. Due to their capricious ways of life, many people have come to distrust changelins which has led to them becoming social recluses or more Communly has pushed them to create fake identities to escape persecution.

Having no culture of their own, changelins slip into other's societies and blend in. Rather than creating their own art and achievements, changelins are happy with claiming other societies' as their own. This nomadic lifestyle has led changelins to become exceptionally adaptable people. Changelins will not simply shapeshift into a new person but rather create a new whole one. Most changelins will set up a handful of personas so if one is compromised they can disappear and switch to one of their others. Their personas are incredibly realistic and have their own personality traits, backgrounds, and a network of friends. Changelins can be evasive and will often try to avoid confrontation or anything that will draw attention to themselves.

Changelins can look like anyone at any given time though they do have a true form. Their natural look can be scary to some due to their lack of detail and distinctive features. Their skin tone is always pale, the darkest tone some have is a light grey. They have large colorless eyes and are circled by thick black rings. Their noses are small and subtle with no detail.

The changelin's body structures are slender, even more so than Elfes and border on being frail. Their hair color is most Communly a light shade of silver followed by platinum and blonde. In rarer cases, their hair can be pale shades of green, pink, and blue. Also similar to Elfes, changelins lack body and facial hair.

MASKS AND PERSONAS In their true form, changelins are pale, with colorless eyes and silver-white hair. It is rare to see a changelin in that form, for a typical changelin changels their shape the way others might changel clothes. A casual shapeone created on the spur of the moment, with no depth or history-is called a mask. A mask can be used to express a mood or to serve a specific purpose and then might never be used again. However, many changelins develop identities that have more depth. They build an identity over time, crafting a persona with a history and beliefs. This focused identity helps a changelin pinpoint a particular skill or emotion. A changelin adventurer might have personas for many situations, including negotiation, investigation, and combat.

Personas can be shared by multiple changelins; there might be three healers in a community, but whoever is on duty will adopt the persona of Tek, the kindly old medic. Personas can even be passed down through a family, allowing a younger changelin to take advantage of contacts established by the persona's previous users.

Changelins reach maturity at 15 and live as long as Humains do. Age. Changelins mature slightly faster than Humains but share a similar lifespan-typically a century or less. While a changelin can transform to conceal their age, the effects of aging affect them similarly to Humains. Alignment. Changelins tend toward pragmatic neu­ trality, and few changelins embrace evil.

Most changelins are Neutre. They prefer to keep a low profile and often do not take passionate stances that would draw attention. However, changelins can be any alignment, and often readily adapt to the culture they are raised in.

Changelins have long been persecuted by other Races, seen at best as tricksters and con-artists, at worst as thieves and assassins. Many people find it hard to trust changelins, and while their talents make them natural spies and criminals, in reality, a changelin is just as likely as any creature to turn to good or evil. Some changelins work hard to remove this stigma, but each time a changelin is caught robbing from a wealthy merchant or sneaking about where they are not welcome, it only perpetuates the stereotype.

In general, changelins are prudent and cautious, preferring to take risks only when they feel that their chances are good or the payoff is worth it. They appreciate the finer things in life and take great pleasure in the comforts of a wealthy lifestyle when they can obtain it. They avoid direct confrontation, preferring stealthy strikes and hasty retreats whenever possible. In conversation, they are soft-spoken but have a gift for drawing out more information than the other party usually plans to reveal.

Without a longstanding history or home of their own, changelins have a natural curiosity about the cultures of other races. Many strike out as adventurers to learn (and adopt) as much as they can.

A changelin might use a different name for each mask and persona and adopt new names as easily as they change faces. The true name of a changelin tends to be simple and monosyllabic; however, there are often accents to a changelin's name that are expressed through shapeshifting, something single-skins will likely miss. So, two changelins might have the name Jin, but one is]in-with-vivid-blue-eyes and one is]in­ with-golden-nails . Changelins have a fluid relationship with gender, see­ ing it as one characteristic to change among many.

Changelins have a fluid relationship with gender, seeing it as one characteristic to changel among many.

Changelin Names: Aunn, Bin, Cas, Dox, Fie, Hars, Jin, Lam, Mas, Nix, Ot, Paik, Ruz, Sim, Toox, Vil, Yug

Changelins' inborn abilities leave them uniquely suited to professions that rely on subterfuge or disguise.

:Assassins Changelin assassins, thieves, and spies avoid detection by adopting the form of an unassuming Communer or trusted ally to get close to a target. :Performers Due to the persecution and mistrust of their race, many famous changelin performers (such as actors and acrobats) keep their true form hidden from their audience at all times. :Diplomats Changelins have a gift for languages and are quick to pick up the social cues and manners of other cultures.

Virtually all changelins take up one of Trois philosophical beliefs when it comes to their mutable forms and these philosophies guide many aspects of a changelin's day-to-day life.

:Passers are changelins who wish to fit in with conventional society and live life in only one form or at the least suppress their shape-changing abilities to better fit in with those around them. Other changelins will often view passers with contempt and use slang words such as “pretender” or “actor” to mock them. :Becomers believe that to be a changelin is to possess many different shapes and often different identities and lives altogether. A becomer takes the concept of a dual life to a whole new degree and some will successfully live as several “different people” for many years. :Seekers or “reality seekers” are convinced that a great truth exists which only the changelins can discover; they suppress their shapechanging abilities even more than passers and prefer to live or socialize with other changelins.

Changelins do not manifest Dracomarques.

Changelins are born to one of three paths. A few are raised in stable communities where changelins are true to their nature and deal openly with the people around them. Some are orphans, raised by other races, who find their way in the world without ever knowing another like themselves. Others are part of nomadic changelin clans spread across the Cinq Nations, families who keep their true nature hidden from the single-skins. Some clans maintain safe havens in major cities and communities, but most prefer to wander the unpredictable path of the god known as Le Voyageur.

The changelins of Riedra experience far more respect than those that inhabit Khorvaire due to them being embraced by the Inspiré. Any hopeful changelin can make their way to Riedra in search of acceptance - however, it comes at the price of losing ones' individuality as Riedran changelins are specifically tutored on how to relinquish all sense of individuality so that they may further serve the Inspiré.

Riedran changelins are invariably drawn into the service of either the Thousand Eyes or Iron Gate and most are deeply loyal. Due to their devoted service to the Inspiré, changelins are feared and distrusted in the other lands of Sarlona. This devotion is often exploited by the changelins who serve the Inspiré's enemies. The Dragons of Argonnessen, for example, use changelins to infiltrate the ranks of the Inspiré and other nations often find changelin agents are better suited for operations in Riedra.

Changelins do not build cities of their own, but live among Humains, Gobelinoïdes, or other races, blending in among them and living in their Ombre. They are most Communly found in large cities, where they form the backbone of the criminal underworld, though many find more respectable work as entertainers, government agents, and sometimes adventurers. Even in large cities, they do not cluster into extremely large groups. A changelin “clan” is actually a voluntary association of changelins grouped together for mutual protection rather than a group of blood relatives. Clan heads govern by the consent of the clan, and this position tends to changel hands frequently. Bosses maintain order and help organize the clan for Commun purposes.

Due to their nature, changelins do not have much recorded history however what is known is their creation was a result of many years of interbreeding between Humains and Dopplegangelrs, leading to the birth of the first changelins.

During the Dernière Guerre, changelins were often employed as spies and assassins, only reinforcing the stigma still observed in the present day.

LONG AGO THERE WAS A WOMAN NAMED JES, AND SHE had one hundred children. Her rivals conspired against her and swore to kill her children. ]es begged the Sovereigns for help, but their only answer was the wind and rain. In the depths of her despair, a lonely traveler took her hand. “I will protect your children if they follow my path. Let them wander the world. They may be shunned and feared, but they will never be destroyed.”]es agreed, and Le Voyageur gave her his cloak. When she draped it over her children, their old faces melted away and they could be whoever they wanted to be. And so it remains. Though the children are shunned by all, the gift of Le Voyageur protects them still. -Chance, changelin priest

Many changelin revere channel_divinity_the_traveler of the Sombres Six whilst others seek out their own philosophies. However, there are many changelins who follow a religion simply to make their disguise more realistic.

• Te'oma

ROYAL EYE OF AUNDAIR The Spy Master of Les Yeux Royaux d'Aundair employs several changelins as agents. She often assigns specific personas to her changelin spies. Frequently, even when working as a team, they don’t know the real identities of their allies.

DUSK STEELGLEAM, OWNER OF THE CHAMPION détective AGENCY Ot is a very enterprising changelin who uses many disguises to pursue her chosen career of a professional détective.

CHANGELING PSYCHOLOGY

PASSERS “Trouble has keen eyes. Why wave?” —Passer adage Passers are the most Humainlike of changelins in their thoughts and perspectives. They are ordinary people. They just want to be part of a community and live their lives. A passer endeavors to repress or deny his mutable nature. Since living as a changelin brings suspicion and distrust, passers use their minor change shape ability to fit into society more easily, to “pass” in their chosen communities. Each most likely has one form he chooses and keeps. Most often, it’s Humain, but in a community not dominated by Humains it matches the majority race. Some so thoroughly adopt the new identities that they closely identify with the races portrayed. They rarely travel or adopt other identities. Becomers, reality seekers, and many changelins who have chosen more adventurous lives view passers with contempt, calling them “actors” or “pretenders” who have denied their true selves. Roleplaying Application: Of the three changelin philosophies, the passer is the least adventure-oriented. A passer works hard to be perceived as a member of a more accepted race. If you’re playing a passer, you have a single cover identity to which you cleave, and you take pains to maintain that persona. Good feats include Persona Immersion and Racial Emulation (described in Chapter 6 of this book), both of which help you with your masquerade. As an adventurer, you put yourself in stressful situations and constantly risk discovery. In attitude, you’re apt to be suspicious and more than a bit paranoid. No one is entirely trustworthy. How can you be sure someone is the person she represents herself to be?

Passers act to hide their changelin nature. They do not want the conflict and challenges associated with Passers the species. Passers always choose one gender and feel very odd or A passer adopts a single identity, including race uncomfortable at the thought of not being that gender. and gender, and endeavors to live his life in this way, They follow the sexual norms of their portrayed races without change. The passer lives in constant fear of but often live celibate lives. discovery. Most communities that discover they’ve They find the gender-flexible becomers disgusting been harboring a passer react harshly, occasionally perversions, and the often genderless reality seekers even violently, against the changelin. even more disquieting.

BECOMERS “Life is short, but I’m not limited to just one.” —Becomer adage For becomers, living is being not just one person, but many people. These changelins actively use their minor change shape ability and live life in many different forms. They disguise, deceive, and lie as needed to further their individual goals. At the core of a becomer’s identity is the belief that the central aspect of a changelin is his mutability. To fully be a changelin, one must change, convincingly and frequently. For many, however, there is a purpose and integrity to these changes. A becomer considers himself simultaneously to be both a mutable changelin and the individual he portrays. Those most adept at grasping this duality of nature and devoted to the Truth of the Now often pursue the chameleon prestige class (described in Races of Destiny). Roleplaying Application: Becomers like challenges. Taking risks is part and parcel of the nature of your multiple impersonations. The risk is limited by your willingness to drop an identity and create a new one. Many becomers at least dabble in the rogue or bard class because of those classes’ long lists of social interaction and deception class skills. Good feat options include Master Linguist, Persona Immersion, and Quick Change. Some also take Racial Emulation to enhance their different personas. (These feats are described in Chapter 6 of this book.) As a becomer, it’s hard for you to admit that something might be beyond your abilities or to say “I can’t.” When a becomer rogue feels firmly immersed in the role of a wizard, it’s possible for him to forget, for a moment, that he can’t really cast spells.

Becomers A becomer knows that he has multiple identities inside him. He brims with the potential to become a young male elf, an old female half-orc, a middle-aged male gnome, and many, many other personas. Becomers usually feel comfortable switching between genders. A becomer tends to adopt whatever gender most suits his role of the moment. A becomer wants to explore and stretch these multiple identities. He likes to sample the grand variety of Humainoid life as if eating from a grand banquet table, adopting one role after another. Some of these assumed identities become favorites, to be returned to many times; other personas are discarded after only short trials.

Becomers so thoroughly adopt the multiplicity of personas they represent that it can cause incredible confusion in relationships. Take, for example, the tale of Bin the Legendary Lover. Bin was a becomer who held many different identities and was extremely true to them all. The changelin was Fitron Trueheart, a male Nain merchant devoted to his Nain wife and staunchly adhering to their vows of monogamy. Fitron was away from home quite a bit for reasons of “business.” Alternatively, Bin was Loopmottin “Stumbleduck” Nackle, a female gnome who occasionally worked at a brothel in Sharn. At other times, Bin visited Rainhaven to meet with her mate as a Féral named Carson. Identity after identity unfolds, and tale after tale is told of this changelin hero and his many loves and escapades. Most show Bin on the edge of being discovered and tell of how he cleverly manages to conceal his identity. The longest version of the popular tale links Bin to more than fifty different long-term relationships and hundreds of other more casual liaisons.

REALITY SEEKERS “Every question has an answer.” —Reality seeker adage A few changelins reject the passers’ notion of conformity at the cost of identity and spurn the becomers’ philosophies of transience and impermanence. These introspectives believe that there is an ultimate Truth, a Perfect Form, and a Way of Being. Reality is out there, and it can be sought and understood. Their quest is to discover what’s real. The reality seekers, also known as perfecters, prefer their natural form and the society of their own kind. These changelins hold strong convictions and tend toward lawful alignment. Most do not engage in deception, but the definition of deception varies among them. Some reality seekers find any thing remotely deceptive to be disgusting, while most hold this high standard only in reference to their own kind and feel that absolute truth and integrity are only due other changelins. Since the La Dernière Guerre ended, many reality seekers have looked with envy or admiration at the struggles of the newly free Guerrier de Fer and some of their attempts to develop communities. Building on this idea, several utopian changelin communities led by reality seekers have formed in various parts of Khorvaire. Roleplaying Applications: The quest for Truth and the Perfect Form can manifest in a wide variety of ways. Any of the feats suited for changelins (see Chapter 6) make a good choice for a reality seeker. Decide how you view deception and deceptive acts. The minor shape change ability is a natural part of the changelin nature and one that all reality seekers acknowledge. This ability gives the changelin a great deal of power to deceive. When is doing this acceptable? Do you act without guile in dealings with everyone? Only with other changelins? With changelins and your fellow party members? Just with your closest friends and associates?

A reality seeker may adopt other forms but is first and foremost a changelin with his own true form. The concept of ideal form and ultimate truth occupies a treasured place in a reality seeker’s identity. Each reality seeker adopts a personal code of conduct that defines these concepts and then strongly adheres to it. GENDER AND SEXUALITY An important aspect of a changelin’s identity is the issue of gender. Unlike doppelgangers, which are entirely genderless, a changelin does have a default gender and often responds to change this restriction by changing form more often (while retaining her gender).

Reality seekers prefer other reality seekers as their romantic companions or mates. For them, the most important aspects of a relationship with another changelin are truth, honesty, and trust. Their worldaccepted by its parents whether or not it’s a changelin.

CHANGELING LIFE

No one guiding principle is Commun to all changelins. The most significant factor determining how a changelin leads his life is that of his guiding philosophy. As a changelin, every aspect of one’s upbringing and aspirations varies based on one’s worldview.

Central to how a changelin behaves is his self-concept. Does he think of himself as a female half-elf, many different people of either gender, or as a thin, gray, genderless creature?

Changelin Reproduction Two changelin parents breed a changelin child. A changelin and a Humainoid can mate to produce an offspring with the child having a 50% chance to be of either race. If a changelin in a female form conceives a child, she loses the ability to change her gender until after the child is born.

gender that manifests in adolescence, but each changelin can adapt his or her form to be of either gender, hermaphroditic (both genders simultaneously), or entirely genderless. A changelin can alter his or her gender (and reproductive abilities) as part of using the race’s minor shapechange ability.

CHANGELING HOLIDAYS The Feast of Le Voyageur is celebrated by changelins and nonchangelins alike. It is a day to honor the most mysterious member of the Sombres Six. The focus of the event is offering kindness to strangers, for Le Voyageur can walk the land in any one of a thousand guises. This is the day to celebrate and share. In most communities, this holiday becomes a grand street festival with everyone bringing food and drink to be distributed and enjoyed. No business is conducted and nothing is given with expectation of gain. This is a day when people relax and give gifts. The recipient of a present receives it, laughingly quoting the proverb “Beware the gifts of Le Voyageur,” and raises a glass to toast the Sombres Six.

For some, it is the day they mastered some aspect of their minds or bodies (generally when one acquires a new feat tailored to changelins). For others not raised with the philosophy, it is the day they decided to become reality seekers.

HISTORY AND FOLKLORE Long ago, a changelin legend says, Le Voyageur decided to create a new race. Why he did, no one knows, and even powerful divination magic produces ambiguous answers to the question. Was it a passing whim? A retaliation for some conflict among the Sombres Six? The first move in an ingenious, far-reaching plan? What is known is that Le Voyageur channeled his will and desires through doppelgangers, granting them additional powers for a time while he sent them out to create his new progeny by interbreeding with Humains and other Humanoïdes. The offspring became the first changelins. In addition to this origination story, changelins have a wide variety of inventive, unverifiable tales and heroes. Some make wild claims, such as that Roi Galifar I was a changelin, a story researched and refuted by sages but persistent as a changelin urban legend. In truth, most of the changelins who have contributed most dramatically or profoundly to the events of history did so in the guise of other Humanoïdes, and only a few notable personalities, such as Bin the Legendary Lover, feature openly as changelins in historic folk tales. A fair number of legends and tales about changelins have surfaced in the folklore and superstitions of other Humainoid races.

Passers Passers A passer faithfully observes all the holidays that Some parents tease their children by declaring that are celebrated by those belonging to the race of his they are not their offspring, but instead are changelins adopted identity. who were substituted for their own flesh and blood. Occasionally, an irked parent threatens to trade a misBecomers behaving child to the changelins. These tales contain Becomers celebrate all sorts of holidays. They often some grains of truth. think nothing of disguising themselves and joining other people’s parties and festivities. They have little Becomers in the way of unique changelin holidays, but in any When tales of changelins are told, they are usually about Becomers. A large number of stories are urban given week, they have usually been part of some festival legends focusing on changelins. They all feature a or organized merriment. member of the race in disguise, duping someone who later finds out that what happened couldn’t have been Reality Seekers true. Most are couched in very dubious frameworks, The experimental communities recently formed such as “the cousin of a friend of my sister knows a by reality seekers usually commemorate the date of man who swears that . . .” Perhaps the most popular their founding. The individuals are also important to tale after Bin the Legendary Lover is that of Madam the larger group, and as such every person has at least Mas and the Bard.

CHANGELINGS AND OTHER RACES

As a race, changelins have no bonds with members of other races, who are viewed with suspicion and distrust. That said, certain groups of hobbits and changelins have recently displayed attitudes of cooperation with, or at least tolerance for, members of the other group (see below). Changelins often view each other with the same prejudice they feel for other races. Most live as a minority among other races and go about in disguise. Those who choose to reveal themselves as changelins are rare and have only recently been forming their own all-changelin communities removed from other settlements. Hobbits: Hobbits are truly the most accepting and tolerant of races. The hobbit values of independence and individuality make them good potential allies for changelins. They tend to see changelins as curiosities and challenges. In urban settings, they often share interests and partnerships in illegal or underworld activities. The reality seeker changelins who have recently founded their own communities have often chosen to erect their settlements in hobbit-controlled areas because they expect little if any objection or resistance from the hobbits.

Changelins can shift their forms with a thought. Many changelins use this gift as a form of artistic and emo­ tional expression. It's also an invaluable tool for grifters, spies, and others who wish to deceive. This leads many people to treat changelins with suspicion.

A HIDDEN PEOPLE Wherever Humains live, changelins reside also; the question is whether their presence is known. Changelins are born to one of three paths. A few are raised in stable communities where changelins are true to their nature and deal openly with the people around them. Some are orphans, raised by other races, who find their way in the world without ever knowing another like themselves. Others are part of nomadic changelin clans spread across the Cinq Nations, fam­ ilies who keep their true nature hidden from the sin­ gle-skins. Some clans maintain safe havens in major cities and communities, but most prefer to wander the unpredictable path of the god known as Le Voyageur.