The Sad History of Man, pt 1

Here's an alternate history for Changeling. I think it explains a few things, and sets up some stuff I'll discuss later...


So, the beginning of the world….yeah, I wasn’t there either. Of course, no one was—there was nothing made, right? So all we have to go on for that is the Tuatha de Danann’s word. That means “children of Danu”, by the by—so if you can’t tell, they weren’t there either, only the Great Mother, Danu was. Let’s just assume the world got made and keep going, allright? Good.
So anyways, in the beginning everything was the Dreaming. The world was crystal towers, mighty seas, forests that would streatch to the stars, and everything was bigger and better. We, the Fair Folk, were but one of the races there. As I said, we came from Tuatha de Danann, or the Gray Lords—the heroes of battle that drove off the Formori into the deepest nightmares, and brought the Fir Bolg to hide deep in the earth.
These was another race, one that it seemed no one really watched after. Funny old chaps—they were simply known as Man. They were allright, but a bit primitive; most of their sorcery was crude and simple compared to our cantrips, and he had to labor. But he did things that no one else did. He made tools out of rock and wood and bone, and he reigned in the plants he needed. He taught us a great many things, and they got along allright, even if no one really thought about them that much.
The other kingdoms and realms and whatnot didn’t pay that much attention to Man—they weren’t as long-lived as the Trees, or bright as the stars, or as altogether nifty like we—but one black day they made sure that from then on, all would remember the name of Man.
From what we’ve heard there were two brothers. One was a farmer, one was a rancher, and like that old Oklahoma song, they should have gotten along. But they didn’t. We can’t remember why it was done, or who did it, but one brother got so angry, so enraged with his twin, that he picked up a crude tool in his hands, and whith one blow struck down his own brother. His own kin’s blood dripping off the iron ore…The First Murder.
Hold on! No, you’ve got to understand this. There was death back then—it’s not like a lion’s going to eat parsley, right? But that’s for eating, that’s for purpose. There was dying and aging, even if she was a bit more lenient. There was even War, because even with golden ages of magic and power, people will still argue with one another and throw rocks. But a murder…that was killing that didn’t make sense. That was worse than stealing, worse than anything. The Pooka say that one of their kind saw it happen, and he was so shook up by it that it made them all start lying. Because if they lived in such a world where that could happen, what was the point of talking straight?
So the brother tried to hide it, but failed. He couldn’t, because the iron screamed at what he had been forced to do. It echoed out over the world…and then Iron fell silent. Everyone was terrified of what happened. Just taking a life for no reason didn’t sit well with anyone—even the Dreaming. After the Murder, it began to rain in the Dreaming, for days at a time, as the sky and the earth wept for what terrible thing had happened. After thirteen days of bad weather we fair folk, the Nunehi, the Jade Kingdoms, the Rich Lords…everybody went deep into the Tree of Worlds, where the Three Rulers of the World sat. We told them of what happened, and even the greatest of us all was shocked.
What to do? Some said that it was one bad apple…but others said if one could do that, they all could. Some said it was an issue in Man’s court, but everyone was scared by a creature that could do that to their own. Some said we should kill them all, but then wouldn’t we be just as bad? It’s not like they ALL did that…
Finally, the three gods decided on their punishments. The Fairest Lady decided that mankind would be cursed, and that his sorcery would bring little more than strife and suffering. The Green Lord declared that mankind would no longer be a neighbor to any, and sealed him off from the Dreaming with a wave of his hand. The Silent Knight declared that man would have no memory of death, and would fear what was coming.
After the sun set that day, it grew dark. The moon didn’t rise and neither did the sun again. For a year and a day it was dark and quiet, and we all waited…then it was done.
When the sun rose again, finally, we could all feel it. Mankind had been given a tiny sliver of the world all their own. It was cold, it was hard, and they were kept from us by a veil. Some folks went through to see what happened, and they couldn’t get back. The three gods had made two worlds—the Dreaming, and the Cold World. Mankind forgot all the secrets we taught him, mostly. He had to work hard, die, and struggle without hardly any magic at all. As things kept moving we saw the two worlds slip away from each other, with the Far shores moving farther away from the world, and the world becoming more different. He had been cursed to live in a world of darkness and pain, where there would be no magic or sorcery ever again…

Nature Sucks (NoCtD)

Well, the Realm at least. I mean, outside’s pretty cool…except for bugs…and hurricanes…and…

Anyway—The Realm Nature. One of the first things I decided needed a fix. Let’s look at why.
First, it counts paper and rope as nature one. This…seems weird to me. Those are props, by definition. Secondly, it’s focused on organic and inorganic, which is a bit “science-y” for my tastes when it comes to fae magic. This is only level one, by the by. Also, it’s got this habit of stating that I can affect a volcano or earthquake before I can affect “natural carbon-based elements, or the traditional four”.

Say again? My problem with this is—first, that’s weird. Second, there’s that science thing again. Third—isn’t a volcano a bit big to just be affected? It seems that without Scene, me affecting a volcano it going to take a while.

So, anyway—here’s my changes.

REALM: NATURE
O: Verdant Forest: Living Plants or Wood that has not been carved or crafted into a tool.
OO: The Kingdom of Beasts: Living, non-sentient animals.
OOO: Atlas’s Shoulders: Earth, stone, and formerly living plants and animals.
OOOO: Neptune’s Realm: Water and liquids not “attached” to a living source (e.g. not blood).
OOOOO: The Intangible: Fire, air, gas, and other non-material groups.

Why do it this way? First, I think it makes more sense, albeit you still need to be a master of the realm before you can just start a campfire. Second, it creates a better level of distinction, without just granting abilities to control earthquakes. It’s up to you if you want level 5 to handle viruses, radiation, and other “non-classic” elements. I think it’s a bit more “changeling” than the previous realm, and notes the differences between prop and nature—one’s been changed by mortal hands, the other hasn’t.

Of course, now this definately has ramifications for Primal 2: Create Element, aka "we need a mid-level power...oh! about about Create element?!" We'll deal with that one tomorrow...

The New Old World of Darkness

Pardon my Geekery,

However, I've been thinking a lot about the ol' college days where I learned more about the world o' darkness than the real world. Demon hordes, end of the worlds, golden zepplins cruising through deep space....good times, man. Good times.

I don't disrespect the new WoD. It's ok, and from everything I've seen it does decent at doing what it sets out to do--a game of horror and degrading humanity. This was one large pillar of WoD, and I understand why they chose it. But I liked the other pillars better-the crazy conspiracies, supernatural things cruising through the night, all the "bad-wrong" fun that was in a world of monsters and magic with skyscrapers and streetlights.

The biggest change of them all from old to new is Changeling. Vamp, Werewolf, and Mage have gone through changes, but they're all the same thing. Changeling though went from "dreams walking through the real world" to "abused children with superpowers being hunted by some terrible bastard with magic and a wife-beater". Again--I see the point of the game, but that was never what I really wanted to play.

So, after chatting WAAAAAY too long on RPG.net about this, I've decided to fiddle with Changeling: the Dreaming. I'll be posting some of the work I do on here, so if you're interested, lemme know. If you have any ideas or comments, that's cool too. Because, I'm sure I've already had like eight million people check out this blog, as I am the first one to come up with the idea of "Writing things on the Internet". In fact, I'm gonna get a patent--I want a quarter everytime someone writes something down online!

More later.

Da First Blog

Reasons to make this Blog

1. I like doing stuff online.

2. I like kavetching about politics and real-life stuff.

3. I like talking about game stuff--roleplaying games, board games, stuff...you know.

So, this is the point of the blog. For me to write some stuff, show off some of my work, yadda yadda.

More later...