For all intents and purposes, an enchanted mortal can interact with the world of the faerie just like Kithain. Simply seeing a changeling's fae seeming can be quite an experience for the newly enchanted. Add in the chimerical natures of buildings and landscapes, any chimera the changeling is carrying, and a few curious chimerical critters, and it's no wonder that shock overwhelms many mortals. Depending on where and when the mortal is enchanted, the scene might appear as a fantasy version of the mundane world, or an even more nightmarish rendering of the already dark Gothic Punk reality. A mortal's first experience of being enchanted will colour her future opinions of enchantment and the Kithain, depending on how much she recalls of the whole experience when the enchantment ends.
..Enchanted mortals can be affected by cantrips without any need for the caster to overcome their inherent Banality, which has already been done by the enchantment itself. This can be a benefit in the case of cantrips like Heather-Balm or Oakenshield, or it can be quite dangerous if the changeling intends to ensnare the mortal's heart or transform her into something else. Unseelie (and even a few Seelie) changelings can use Haunted Heart and Captive Heart to make the enchanted their slaves, especially if they bring the mortal into a freehold where the duration of the enchantment is suspended. Such people simply disappear and return years later looking not a day older and with fuddled memories of what actually happened to them.
..The result of enchantment is unpredictable at best. It's impossible to tell how any given mortal will react to experiencing the world of the Kithain for the first time. Some see their dreams brought to vivid life, while others find only horrors or weird hallucinations that challenge their beliefs to mundane reality. Changelings are advised to "cultivate" carefully before planting their seeds of Spring, but in the end, even they can never really tell what's going to happen. It is enough to make some changelings at least a little cautious about enchanting their friends and loved ones for the first time.
..Enchantment can be a good trip or a bad trip, but it's always a trip. Some are inspired by their experience, and some are driven mad. Being exposed to the Dreaming is certainly never a dull ride. Only the most banal mortals can react to being enchanted with disregard, and even they may find themselves somewhat shaken by the experience.
The enchanted come in as many varieties as regular people. Changelings choose mortals as companions and friends, and almost any person can be enchanted, depending on their level of Banality. Even people in traditionally banal roles (lawyers, psychiatrists and such) can be enchanted if they have enough of an open mind.
..The enchanted also serve many different roles for changelings. They can be servants, helpers, contacts, lovers, protectors, guardians, inspiration or infatuation. Some changelings become very attached to mortals they have enchanted, while others may prefer to "enchant 'em and leave 'em." Some Kithain work, live and play with mortals, while others retreat from them into their freeholds. Mortals represent the dangers of Banality and forgetting, but also the chance to recover a lost one and put her in touch with the Dreaming once again.
The most common form of the enchanted are the retinues of the Kithain. Many Kithain, particularly the nobles, maintain enchanted mortal servants for themselves. Since the Accordance War, most commoner changelings have been unwilling to blindly serve the nobility, so Kithain nobles exiled on Earth make do with human servants to make up their courts and retinues. Commoner changelings have taken to imitating nobles on occasion by having retinues. Others simply desire to have the help of a few humans and reward them with the gift of enchantment, welcoming them into their homes as friends and family rather than servants.
..Sidhe nobles often have fairly large retinues, sometimes as many as several dozen enchanted mortals to maintain the great holdings and courts that the nobles demand as benefits of their stations. Many of these mortals are chosen from those that the sidhe encounters in her daily life, mortals who are sympathetic to the Kithain and will be loyal to their sidhe liege. Sometimes a sidhe (Seelie or Unseelie) is simply taken with a mortal she encounters, and she quickly enchants him and spellbinds him to serve in her retinue. Such people disappear without a trace, although wise sidhe make use of cantrips to fake the mortal's death and dissuade investigations by the authorities.
..Enchanting such a large group of mortals requires a great deal of Glamour, which is why most noble retinues live within the bounds of the noble's freehold or that of the noble's liege lord. In the freehold, the enchantment upon the retinue remains permanent and requires no further Glamour from the noble to maintain it. Unfortunately, this means that the members of the retinue leave the freehold rarely, if ever, since the enchantment might be broken and cause them to wander away, their memories of service shrouded by the mists. Nobles prefer to use kinain or changeling servants to perform errands outside of the Freehold for them, since they are less likely to fall victim to the Mists while they are away.
..Of course, keeping enchanted mortals in a freehold continuously is an invitation for them to become Dream-struck. Longtime servants may either be sent away for a time to recover their wits, or be ejected from the freehold if they can no longer be of use to their patrons. The Unseelie in particular are known for such cavalier treatment of their mortal servants; after all, there are always more mortals.
..Former mortal servants have recollections of going to a party, or taking a walk in a lonely place, falling asleep and having a marvelous dream of the faerie court and all of its doings. When they awaken, they discover that days, months, sometimes even years have passed by in what seems to have been only a few days for them. The rest of the world has gone on while the mortal seems not to have aged or changed at all since she disappeared. Human doctors and therapists are baffled by the appearance and memories of these "Rip van Winkle" cases, and the Dauntain keep a close eye on such mysterious reappearances as a possible sign of "alien" activity.
..Commoner changelings have different views on retinues. Most prefer to surround themselves with small circles of friends as opposed to servants. Seelie commoners might enchant a few mortal friends or alies from time to time to enlist their aid or to offer them help or insight. They may even have some enchanted mortals living with them in a freehold, but this is generally quite rare, since space in freeholds is limited and is usually taken up by the nobility and their retinues. Seelie commoners also tend to be more cautious about the dangers of members of their retinues becoming Dream-struck, and rarely keep them enchanted for very long.
..Unseelie commoners consider mortals to be nothing more than toys or nuisances. They might enchant a mortal for a night or fun or torment, but they rarely bother with mortal servants. An Unseelie might take an interest in a particular mortal and decide to enslave her for a time before dumping her back on the street, but most can't be bothered with mortals as anything other than "prey."
Life in a freehold can allow an enchanted mortal to remain that way effectively forever, although most mortals rarely last so long in the fae world. Mortals brought to dwell in a freehold with their changeling patron are especially favoured, for they do not age while within the confines of the freehold.
..Some mortals have lived in freeholds for a very long time, and would hardly recognize the outside world. Others are eventually returned to the world many years later with little or no memory of what happened to them courtesy of the Mists, a mystery that baffles many health professionals treating these former enchanted and fuels the fire for faerie-hunters who believe that the Kithain prey on humankind.
..Because space in many freeholds is limited, mortal residents of a freehold are not too common. Usually they are the servants and retinues of the important sidhe nobles of the freehold along with a handful of well-liked mortal advisors, allies or champions.
..Fortunately, enchanted humans do not draw any Glamour from the wellspring of the freehold, so they represent a minimal drain on the freehold's resources. This allows more mortals to dwell in the freehold than would ever be allowed for Kithain. The larger and more important the freehold, the larger the pool of enchanted servants and helpers in residence. The sidhe insist on maintaining a certain standard of living for themselves if at all possible.
..An enchanted mortal who has dwelt in a freehold for any length of time learns a fair amount about Kithain society, the customs of court and even some of the intricacies of court politics and gossip. According to the sluagh, there is no better source of court gossip than the wagging tongues of the court's humn servants (unless they have been spellbound not to speak of what they hear).
..Most humans living in a freehold are happy with their lot. Many were rescued from unpleasant or banal lives in their own world, and brought into the world of the fae by their changeling patrons. Some still long for the world they left behind, but most consider themselves better off than their fellow humans by being closer to the Dreaming.
..Officially, the royal courts of Concordia do not allow enslavement of mortals by edict of High King David. However, the practce continues in the shadows, and is overlooked by the sidhe nobles of both Courts so long as it remains discreet and does not threaten the safety of the freehold.
Most people are only enchanted for a short time before the Glamour wears off and Banality exerts its hold on them once again. The Mists cause most such mortals to forget the details of their experience and recall their enchantments as a dream.
Children's Banality is low enough to completely recall their interactions with the fae. Many children with changeling friends continue to have adventures that their parents beieve are only stories or games. Some even have chimerical "imaginary friends" that no adults can see or interact with. As children grow older, they believe less in such thigs and their Banality increases, causing childhood memories of a world of magic and fantasy to become blurred until even they believe that what they recall is nothing more than make-believe.
The more Banality a mortal posesses [human average is about 7], the less she recalls about the experience of being enchanted. The most banal people recall nothing of their experiences with the fae, leaving great gaps in their memory or vague dreams at best. Some mortals may seek some kind of therapy or treatment for these dreams, and usually find them pushed aside and forgotten altogether eventually.
This can cause complications is a mortal knows a changeling in both her fae and mortal seemings. A human friend of a changeling can have seen her fae mien, but recall nothing of the experience. It will most likely be chalked up as some weird dream that his friend was actually a faerie. He may even mention it to his changeling friend in passing (unaware, of course, of the truth of his words).
This saddens some changelings who have enjoyed the company of an enchanted mortal to know that she cannot recall the wonder of the fae realm. It also means that revealing the truth of the Dreaming to a mortal is usually a temporary matter unless that mortal is brought into a freehold, where she can remain enchanted.
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Shakespeare once said: Life is pretty stupid, with lots of hubbub to keep you busy, but not really amounting to much... I'm paraphrasing, of course.
- Steve Martin, L.A. Story
In the Mythic Age, faeries and humans mingled freely with many of the other creatures of legend -- werewolves, mages and fantastic beasts of all kinds. Many fae took mortal paramours or even wedded mortals for love, and from these couplings came the first kinain, folk of both human and Faerie Blood, mortals with Glamour flowing in their veins. Most of these first kinain became great heroes: warriors, wizards, sages and poets.
Many of the great figures of legend were born kinain. The Irish warrior CuChulain was born of a sidhe and a mortal woman, while the wizard Merlin has been claimed to be the offspring of a mortal woman and a spirit that Christian scribes claimed was the Devil or an incubus, but which the fae believe was a sidhe or satyr. Their fae heritage gave these people abilities beyond those of other mortals. Sometimes their fae kin aided and advised them [....]
When the time of the Sundering came, a gulf grew between the fae and mortals. In many lands, those with Faerie Blood came to be looked upon as tainted rather than blessed, and the fae were mistrusted and feared. Humanity began to shut the Dreaming from their hearts, and couplings between fae and mortal became fewer. The fruits of such unions were either spirited away by their fae parents from the jealousy of humanity, or left with their human families and raised ignorant of their heritage.
The Shattering signaled the end of contact between Arcadia and Earth, as the gates between realms slammed shut in the face of Banality. Commoner fae took refuge in human bodies (and human lifespans) to conceal themselves from the icy scourge of disbelief and a hostile world in the throes of plague, war and witch hysteria. Without the support of Arcadia, the Kithain's struggle to survive those early years was desperate indeed.
As a result, the exile of the Kithain from Arcadia caused the number of kinain born into the world to increase for the first time since the beginning of the Sundering. The Glamour concealed within Kithain mortal seemings was passed on to their children and their children's children. Although few of those born to Kithain and mortal parents were themselves Kithain, many evinced signs of their fae heritage in gifts of imagination, Glamour and magic.
The Kithain believe that many of the great artists and wondermakers who brought humanity out of the Dark Ages were kinain or human Dreamers inspired by fae muses, who sought to fan the fires of Glamour from the embers preserved in kinain souls. The darkness gave way to light eventually, but the age of wonder and myth that the faerie folk had once known seemed forever lost.
Faerie Blood spread through families and clans who were friends of the fae. Sometimes the blood would not make itself known for several generations, then suddenly appear in a child who was clearly faerie-touched. Humans made pacts and honoured long traditions of trust with the fae, but the clans and families to do so became fewer as time went on. Always the Kithain were forced to withdraw to protect themselves from the ravages of humanity's growing Banality.
As areas grew more cosmopolitain and cities sprang up like weeds, the rural folk became the only ones to honour their ties with the fae. The people of Ireland and the Scottish Highlands, Gypsies, farmers and those who lived with the land recalled the charms and traditions to seek the goodwill of the faeries, and honoured them still. The rest of humanity forgot the embodiments of their dreams in their quest for science, enlightenment and progress.
The Kithain's ties with their mortal kin helped to sustain them through these times, and intermarriages resulted in several clans and families with some degree of Faerie Blood in them. Many wandering bands of changelings included kinain, who were some of the only mortals who could understand the strange nature of their fae cousins and help them to survive in the mortal world.
The Resurgence and the Accordance War put kinain in an awkward position. For the most part, kinain who still held ties with their commoner faerie kin sided againts the nobility and were often great allies. Few kinain sided with the nobility, who preferred not to involve those they saw as little better than humans. When the commoners won their rights from the nobility, they also won them for some of their mortal kinfolk, or so they thought.
In the aftermath of the Accordance War, Kithain society became a labyrinth of feudal loyalty and intrigue. In such a society, kinain were at a distinct disadvantage. Those who had the protection of fae mentors were able to secure places for themselves as servants and vassals, while other kinain were exploited and treated as little better than slaves. No kinain attained noble status, although there were some nobles who were sympathetic to mortal and kinain causes.
Today, most of the kinain in the world are ignorant of their heritage. They may have an occasional flash of insight or a hint of the True Dreaming, but most are too mired in Banality to notice any longer. Some kinain become Dreamers, following the drives of their faerie blood, but not even all of them learn the truth about who and what they are.
To be kinain, a person needs some degree of Faerie Blood. Any trace of the blood, no matter how small, is enough to qualify. But like most things of Glamour and the Dreaming, fae heritage is a tricky and sometimes capricious thing. It can skip generations, or only appear in certain members of a family; an investigation of someone's family tree can turn up signs of Faerie Blood in the line, usually in the form of eccentric relatives and "black sheep."
Kinain do not have the ability to perceive and collect Glamour like changelings, but their common heritage is the Dreaming, nd a spark of Glamour, no matter how small, is at the heart of all kinain just as it is at the heart of all changelings. This sets the kinain apart from their mortal kin and sometimes gives them what changelings refer to as "Fae Gifts."
Gifts are a part of a kinain's heritage of Glamour, and some Fae Gifts can be quite powerful. Generally the more Faerie Blood a kinain has, the more likely he has a powerful Fae Gift, but this is not always the case. Some strong Fae Gifts have been known to turn up in kinain with only a trace of a fae heritage. This blood usually comes to them from a fae ancestor or ancestors. It may be as recent as a parent or grandparent, or as long ago as a family founder in the distant past. The blood can be hidden in a family for generations before appearing again, and many mortal families of fae descent had kinain and changeling children following the flood of Glamour released by the Resurgence in 1969.
Most of the time, a kinain's blood calls strongly to one particular kith from which the kinain is descended. The kinain takes on some of the physical aspects of that kith just like a changeling's seeming does. A kinain's heritage may also affect the Fae Gifts and Faerie Marks that appear. Certain heritages are more prone to partcular gifts and marks than others. Satyr kinain, for example, often manifest the Bardic Gift.
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