Changelings
The True First People
The Children of ♪♣•☺☻○¶♥◘ and the first race to be created, the Changelings are a secretive and enigmatic species. They were created by ♪♣•☺☻○¶♥◘ during the formation of the world and hidden in her cloak from the other gods until she could discretely place them among the other races, where they were bidden to watch over their kin and report strange or concerning activities to ♪♣•☺☻○¶♥◘ herself. After spending so much time in the presence of the divine, they have adapted unusual or unique views of the world that sometimes subtly bleed out of their personas and into the world. Changelings that are born are always addressed by the goddess herself upon a certain age. They excel at espionage and creative pursuits.
Basic Information
Anatomy
With skin naturally ranging from pale white to an ashy grey and an anthropoid body structure, Changelings are unique in that they can change their appearence to fit any physical description that is also anthropoid in nature and not one foot shorter, taller, broader, or slimmer than they are.
In their natural form, their eyes are stark white with no discernable pupils or sclera. Some have also been observed to have black eyes. Most have a distinct darkening of skin tone around the eye sockets. They tend towards slimmer builds with a more trimmed down muscle structure.
Biological Traits
Life expectancy for Changelings is incredibly high do to their odd biology. Pigments are very scantly produced in the race and as such they are usually very pale with pigmentation concentrated in very specific areas of the body such as the eyes, hair, lips, nails, and focused areas in the skin.
Genetics and Reproduction
Changelings are a scattered race, and as such they are found few and far between. They often have to travel long distances to find one of their own to start a family with. Their reproductive cycles are more drawn-out than other races, usually occurring once every 2 years beyond reaching sexual maturity. This cycle will only complete itself and result in fertility when within the near vicinity of another changeling. Females experience shorter, albeit more difficult gestation periods at only 5 months, however some difficulties may be alleviated if the male is present. Reproduction is also limited in females, as their reproductive system is typically no longer supported by the body after around 5 pregnancies. They cannot reproduce with any species other than their own unless it occurs through divine intervention.
Growth Rate & Stages
Changelings do not experience a long childhood. Their growth is incredibly accelerated in earlier years - at 1 year they will have attained the development of a child 4 years of age. They reach physical maturity by age 14-16, however they do not become sexually mature until age 40-44 to prevent energy from being consumed in excess. At this time, they reach a state of suspension in which their biological decay slows to rates so infinitesimally small it cannot be considered aging. They do not resume physically aging until age 490-510, at which time they will begin to weaken like any other race. After this point, sexual maturity is usually lost by age 495-515 if it has not already been spent. Should a Changeling live to age 545 and beyond, their natural shapeshifiting abilities will also weaken and will be lost when the body can no longer support them.
Ecology and Habitats
Supernaturally adaptable by nature, Changelings can live most anywhere.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Omnivores, Changelings are not picky eaters and will often change their tastes to blend in with whatever culture they find themselves in. That said, they do require a higher protein and vitamin intake than most other races to compensate for their shapeshifting abilities.
Additional Information
Social Structure
Even though they are spread very thinly across the world, they heavily identify themselves as one community under ♪♣•☺☻○¶♥◘. They do not consider one to be better than the other, and as childhood is so short they often view their young more closely to greenhorns in a new job rather than the traditional child role. Changelings who live longer are typically more revered than others.
Facial characteristics
Small
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Equally distributed across the map.
Average Intelligence
High intelligence.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Standard touch, sight, taste, and smell. Exceptional hearing. It is common for members of this race to experience synesthesia in one form or another, most commonly seeing sounds. They often receive messages based on this trait. Possible hivemind brb
Symbiotic and Parasitic organisms
Symbiotic towards all sentient races.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
Changelings typically only ever have one name outside the name of their persona, and it is very common to hide it or write it in code. They may give themselves a hyphenated name if they take a name that is known to have been previously used by another changeling. Since Changeling names are usually encoded, the same name often looks very different.
Female names -
Male names -
Non-Binary names -
Beauty Ideals
Changelings do not have much of a concept of physical beauty themselves, although they strive to understand the ideals of the races they attempt to emulate. There is a general understanding that their true body is their core and was created beautiful, allowing them to do the amazing things that they are capable of.
Gender Ideals
Changelings rarely feel tied to a specific gender as they view it as merely a role to play. They only really truly conceive differences in sex if they make an active effort to copulate, females feeling this more profoundly than males.
Courtship Ideals
There are many type of relationships that changelings can experience with each other, but communication is a constant must-have for the relationship to be successful. Generally speaking, changelings enjoy interpreting each other's perceptions of the world. For some, the easier it is for them to understand the coded messages of another changeling, the closer they feel to that individual as they feel they can relate more easily to that individual. Others enjoy more of a challenge and gravitate towards those with codes which are harder to crack. Changelings value long amounts of time spent in contact with one another, even if physical contact is scant or nonexistent. Prompt/active contact is generally considered good courtship.
Relationship Ideals
Changelings typically uphold that a long relationship is most exciting and are usually monogamous, although their monogamy is relavtive. Given the nature of their perception of relationship, they may experience many relationships and may be involved with more than one changeling at a time in different ways. When changelings share multiple types of relationship with one other changeling and no one else, they are often considered soulmates. This is a separate ideal all its own and does not represent the ideal changeling relationship - changelings idealize and relationship or network of relationships that are effective and benefit the well-being of the individuals involved.
Average Technological Level
Usually constrained by where they are living, but high on average.
Major Language Groups and Dialects
They do not have a spoken language of their own, but they have many written and gestural languages based on codes the develop.
They may adopt any language that best suits their needs.
History
Changelings were created in secret by ♪♣•☺☻○¶♥◘ during the first spark of creation in the world, only being spotted by Death. They were housed in her cloak and given education on who the goddess was, what was happening, and what she intended them to help her with. This information is carefully preserved and passed down through the generations, often accompanied by personal visits from the goddess representing that first forum she held with the first of the species. They were at first created to be celestial sentinels existing alongside the other races on the material plane with specific identities and ceaseless lifespans, only different from ♪♣•☺☻○¶♥◘'s angels in that they were material beings. However, with the advent of material mortality brought about by the god Death came an end to the Changeling's immortality. ♪♣•☺☻○¶♥◘ held one last forum discussing with the Changelings discussing this - deciding that they would remain mortal in order to fulfill their role in the world - and after a few final tweaks ♪♣•☺☻○¶♥◘ scattered them among the rest of the races.
Changelings are still very close in communication with their goddess and can speak with her directly if they wish to. They are also invited to visit her celestial plane personally, and every now and again they will all convene there to partake in forums as they did in the primordial era.
Historical Figures
- ♪↓♠§♫☺♣ (Myfunae)
- ○¶‼§♂☺○○☺ (Itsukaiia)
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
On the Beastfolk -
On Catfolk -
On Humans -
On the birbs -
On Skilpies -
On Draenai -
On Melodians -
On Elves -
On Lizardfolk -
On Dragonborn -
Scientific Name
Changeling
Lifespan
500-550 Years
Average Height
5' 6"- 6'
Average Weight
130lbs- 165lbs
Average Physique
Slim, ectomorphic.
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
Pigments outside of grey and black are rare, although light color pigments may manifest in the hair and eyes. Pigments are typically expressed heavily around the eyes, so eye rings and/or dark eyes are common. Pigmentation may shift somewhat for comfort purposes in different environments.
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