Changelings are creatures of dream, trapped in mortal flesh. Born of two worlds, they live in the mundane, but truly exist in a world of fantasy and chimera.

This fantasy world is called chimerical because nonenchanted mortals cannot normally experience it. Although changelings occupy mortal flesh in order to stave off Banality, their true selves lie within their fragile, englamoured souls. Despite their mortal shells, the fae perceive the chimerical reality of the world. They do not shift viewpoints back and forth from banal to chimerical, seeing a street with broken pavement and sagging storefronts, and then a golden avenue lined with palaces. They normally see the true magic anima that exists within every object, place and person. Changelings recognize the inherent nature of people, places and things, weaving those perceptions into a greater whole.

Thus changelings do not see a tattered old book of fairy tales with a torn cover, but the warmth and pleasure that countless children have derived from reading the book. Each child has left some impression on the book, some tiny spark of imagination or inspiration that the book evoked for her. Changelings revel in that aura, which may cause the book to appear new and crisp, with freshly painted colors. Likewise, changelings may smell luscious strawberries on an “empty” plate, or may dance to a symphony played on crickets' legs.

Changelings experience the world as a magical, mystical place filled with amazing and exciting things. They see things from a fae perspective that colors everything. Trees are not merely wood and leaves, but glowing green-topped pillars shot through with golden, life-sustaining sap. Moreover, should a changeling use her faerie sight to look deeply into the essence of a tree in search of its faerie nature, she might find it to be a resting dream-being, arms thrust skyward, feet planted in the earth. Butter knives might be silver daggers. An old stuffed animal might be a prancing faerie steed. An old raincoat might be ornate armor. As most people cannot perceive such things, they dismiss changelings' reactions to the chimerical world as playacting, miming or just plain insanity.

There are those who argue that chimerical reality is actually a greater or more expanded reality than the one we know. Neither compartmentalized nor tightly tucked into a common consensus of what is “real,” this altered state of sensibility contains stories, tall tales, legends, myths, childhood playthings, imaginary companions, hopes and dreams. It also consists of fears, monstrous horrors and the darkest imaginings of humankind. All exist within chimerical reality, and all are as real as any objects found in the mundane world. This “reality” is all that remains of the age of legends — the fragment of Arcadia still on Earth. As a faerie king once said, “Anything is possible within the Dreaming.”

Interacting with the Real World

Changelings may live in a chimerical world, but they are aware of the banal world. Changelings respond to stimuli that mundane people cannot perceive, but this does not mean they are ignorant of real-world objects, people or dangers. Changelings don't ride their faerie steeds along airport runways, oblivious to the aircraft taking off and landing all around them. Nor can they ignore a mugger with a gun.

Changelings don’t have some sort of double vision that lets them see the mundane and magical at the same time. Rather, magical aspects are paramount, superseding the mundane reality of the objects and people with whom changelings interact. Yet magic does not eradicate the presence of the mundane. It is almost as if changelings' bodies “remember” worldly details, while their minds reach beyond. A car is still a vehicle, even if it appears to changelings that the car glows orange and that its hood is fitted with antlers.

Solid objects exist in the mundane world and must be accounted for. This often causes problems for changelings whose faerie bodies are larger than their mortal selves. This is especially true for massive kith such as trolls. A changeling who is imbued with Glamour always defers to his faerie mien and makes every effort to compensate for its mass. Respecting mortal seeming instead causes a break from the Dreaming. It is therefore possible for a seven-foot-tall troll to climb into the back of a Volkswagen Bug, but in doing so he denies his faerie existence, giving in to mundane reality. Such acts can be dangerous for any changeling, for falling back on the mundane invites Banality.