Now, I know this isn't IG, but, I'd been thinking. What do people think the background of Changelings are?

Terentia defined them as different than shards as mortals know them

It's stated that Changelings aren't a race in the first place.


So, what do you all think they are? Where does the Cameo come from. (and don't say credit whores, I want this to be serious)

Perhaps they escaped from the Void when Estarra brought humans out with Her?

I see changelings as sort of superhuman. Humans have the potential to develop to be anything.Changelings, well, can obviously be ANY race.

That's actually something I hadn't thought of before.

Hmm...

Reiha has her theories, but I'm not sure to be honest. :S

The cameo is a magical define which holds the soul of the person who obtains it.

The soul is then able to reform any sort of body it likes around it, through the magics of the cameo.

Also, since the soul is fatetouched, its given a new definition outside of the splintered gods


Just some thoughts.

Hmm, My own Phylactory.

Still, the Taint question is still in play, but, Daganev, very smart. Me and you should write some theories for spontaneous taint generation.

Edit: Also, hmm, we should start a changeling clan.

omg, <3 for Doman. Sorry been thinking about the same thing for some time.

One thing that has always stuck with me is the mention of the changeling heritage when you change. An elder god that splintered but had less focus than Bollikin?

One thought is that the cameo is a catalyst for the change. Which is supported by the fact that we can't change if it's not in our inventory.


Back to work!

Perhaps the catalyst, but, The Cameo doesn't make the Changeling, yet every cameo is unique to the changeling. If It was just a generic catalyst, people could trade cameos, as long as they were changelings.

Edit: And Like I said, Terentia said we weren't shards as defined by the mortals.

Aye... maybe bob is more than we give him credit for

Hmm, what changelings would actually want to do a clan?

Probably any of the ones that wear their cameo constantly

Hmm, Ok, I think I'll do that.

The Changeling (Word for group of us)

I may write a book to, giving my official stance.

So is what you're saying that changelings are either:
a) a splintered race from an elder god, who hide amongst other races until their secret heritage as changlings is revealed by the cameo
b ) changelings are a product of the cameo, they are embers of a splintered race until they buy a cameo, afterwhich they are transformed into a changeling and no longer have a race.


If a) is the case, the only candidate I can think of (out of the gods who have been named so far) is Vrandrac who was shapeless. In either case we need an origins of the cameo story, why it does what it does.

EDIT: Darn cigarette smoking smiley, messing up my point b.

OMG Next area. A secret refuge where bobs source of cameos is revealed!!!!pwn

This is how I see changelings, well in the case of Ildaudid.

He was raised by his mommy Athana who is a changeling and Ixion who is a human. (Meaning they can interbreed)
As a child he noticed he could distort aspects of his features, for very short periods of time, but not his entire body. It was something that made him different. And at that age different was not always better. So he didn't show off in front of people.

Later when he was old enough a caemo was givin to him by his mother, which she said would assist in the changes that, by this time he could completely do but never for long periods of time. The assistance of the cameo was to make the change permanent instead of the normal 2mins - 3 hour time frame he had noticed before switching back.

Athana told him that the cameo only need be worn on initial change, and that something in the cameo bonded the cells and kept them in place on the initial shift to the new "race". After that you could tuck the cameo away if you chose to.

--------------------------------------------


As for Changelings in general:

I would guess they are another lifeform which has no true God that is known. As far as Estarra, Roark, and the rest of the gods be them soulless or not, the changeling origins could be as much a mystery to them. But they would know about how the cameo keeps the cells from not shifting back into another form. The cameo could possibly be a piece of technology designed by the gods to further study the changeling race itself. Since it is hard to find a changeling without a cameo, they maybe in the past managed to capture a few or do tests on a few to see that the race shift was always partial or temporary and created a cameo that gave the changelings more control over their shapeshifting nature. That way they could try to trace their true origins.

-shrug-

So here is what I was thinking.

Back in the day, some people were tinkering with soul related magics at the portal of fate. (like resurgem, ressurection etc.)

They tried to use the portal of fate, which they saw had an interesting affect on the people who passed through it, to create a device which could hold the soul of a person, allowing the device itself to bring the soul back to life. And they failed, but found an interesting side affect.

They discoverd that because of the powers of the portal of fate, the person who's soul was bound with the device was actually "purified" and so was able to take on the body of anything that itself came through the portal. Being that this was a discovery of the Celestian empire, and being that the Merians did not like the idea of just anybody becoming a Merian or anybody decideing not to be a Merian, they sent off the device through a dimensional portal, and it wandered in Aetherspace, until a gnome found it. And then they relearned how to create them, and sold them to Bob.

Meaning, once you bought a cameo, your soul became purified of any shard and became pure soul essence, and bound to the device, which has the power to rebuild a body around your soul without the negative consequences of death.

p.s. When you actually wear the cameo on your person, the purified essence of your soul deforms your body just enough that people can tell that you aren't a REAL whatever because something just isn't quite right about you. But when you remove it, that bit is diluted and nobody can tell.


But I like the Vandrac idea as well

Actually, an area full of changelings would be amazing.

Like I said though, i HIGHLY doubt we're a shard per se, since Terentia said we were different.

Also, the cameo doesn't make the changeling. It might be similar to Ildaudid, they have small characteristics until they acquire their cameo (spirit quest anyone?) and then can control it.

I dun want us to be the shard of a soulless or anything. I'd have to hide my cameo >_>

Edit: the area would probably be an aetherbubble.

What do you mean the cameo doesn't make the changeling?

That they are changelings independent of the cameo, because if they give the cameo to somene else they don't gain changeling powers, and if the cameo is lost they don't revert back to their previous race or whatever, they're merely unable to change again.

If you don't wear the cameo, you arn't a changeling...