Even more than usual, when possessing a human body you are bound to your host’s psyche and must work toward any goals that she pursued before you possessed her. This is not absolute — you can also pursue your own agenda — but unless you do something to substantively further her welfare or desires (Storyteller’s decision), you lose a point of Willpower per day no matter what method of possession you use. You cannot regain any Willpower until you have been out of the body for 24 hours.
Jack o’ Will (3 point Flaw)
The heady rush of taking Glamour directly from a human vessel can be too much for some Denizens to resist. You instantly became addicted to Ravaging, making you quite unpopular with the local Kithain. Even your fellow Denizens soon realized that you are sucking up more Glamour than your fair share. Further, no individual epiphany matches your memories of your earliest Ravaging experiences; you require more and more sensation to sate your desires, destroying more lives in your wake. Whenever confronted with a human Dreamer of any strength, you must make a Willpower roll (diffi culty 9) or spend all your energies toward being able to Ravage him. You do not even care if this leads to a net increase in your Glamour; it’s the experience you crave. Led to greater and greater perversions, you take absurd risks to feed your addiction. Your Dioniae Ariá gains +2 Willpower in all contests to assume dominance of your psyche and you may not buy the Merit: Change
Denizens of the Dreaming
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Ariá. This is a pitiful state for a Denizen. If you work at it you may eventually free yourself of this addiction. Alternatively, local changelings may hunt you down like the mad dog you are.
Outcast (2 point Flaw)
Unlike the banished, you are still nominally a part of your adhene’s culture, but occupy its very lowest rung. You may be a bottom-feeder at the fringes of a fi r-bholg army, a Pariah among the naraka or the worst sort of kitsch artist among the muses. Those above you think little of insulting or demeaning you and your legal status among your own kind is debatable, though they rarely attack you outright. Other Dark-kin may take pity on you, but are likely to see you as inconsequential.
Paranoia (2 point Flaw)
Coming through the Mists wasn’t easy for you. You are suspicious of everything and everybody. These hu- mans are everywhere and possess strange and provocative powers. No wonder they’re destroying the Dreaming so easily — it’s a plot! The changelings are in on it too, turning themselves into some sort of demi-humans to further the cause of Banality. You’d call your friends for help, but what if they’re in on it too? Characters with this Flaw are at +1 diffi culty to all Social rolls.
Backgrounds
Denizens may take any Backgrounds changelings have, though the Storyteller should limit the Dreamers and Autumn World Resources Backgrounds to one point unless the player buys the Merit: Evanescent. This section presents one new Background (Destiny) and details the Denizen version of the Title Background.
Destiny
Dán is the guiding force in the tapestry of life. Neither predestination nor free will, it paradoxically combines the two. This Background refl ects your character’s rela- tive importance in the tapestry. He may be slated for greatness or a horrible demise, but his is certain to be a tale that goes down into legend. One should keep in mind that those who are greatest are not always found in court or with a title. Sometimes the little things that your character does can have long lasting infl uence on what he encounters later down the road.
This Background doesn’t necessarily grant special privileges; it must be roleplayed. You and your Storyteller should decide some of the things your Dán will entail
before you begin your chronicle. Your character might be a servant of the Norns or someone prophesied to prevent a grave disaster. You are only guaranteed that you won’t die before achieving some form of greatness, but your death itself may fulfi ll this Dán. Typically, those with this Trait attract soothsayers and moiræ. Their lives roller- coaster through glorious successes and crushing defeats. The kiss of Fate is both a blessing and a curse, but always a terrible burden.
• Basic: You will achieve at least one important quest.
•• Minor: Moiræ make mild obeisance to you in the streets.
••• Useful: You are in some way attached to one or more legendary Treasures.
•••• Signifi cant: Soothsayers and prophets begin to rave whenever you enter the room.
••••• Incredible: You have met the Norns personally, and you could probably get them to do some of the things that you ask… for a price.
Title
Unless this Background is purchased, the Denizen is assumed to be of the lowest rank in whatever form of hierarchy her adhene observes. Of course some adhenes more strictly enforce these distinctions than others and some hardly observe such distinctions at all. Most Deni- zens have little cause to obey the strictures of another adhene’s noble class. The advantages of this Background among foreign adhene is, then, more one of respect than obedience. Of course noble rank may make the character a target for assassination or kidnapping for ransom. Rank and title mean little to the individualistic acheri and the keremet. The aonides may appreciate the trappings of power, but theirs is a loose-knit meritocracy based on arts inspired.
Rank is most important among the fi r-bholg and fuaths (a rough tribal ranking), the moiræ (a hierarchy of priests and priestesses) and the naraka who follow a caste system similar to that found in India (the naraka Vedic aesthetic has moved some of the castes around). If a member of these adhenes does not buy this Background, he is assumed to be of the lowest rank or caste possible without being an outcast. The ranks given here represent the most commonly acknowledged hierarchies, but are not consistent throughout the Dreaming.
• Novice: A veteran warrior or cardace (fi r-bholg or fuath), a novitiate among the moiræ, a Vaishya of the naraka.