Changeling Night

I'm not crazy. You think I don't know my own baby? I know my baby, and I know that isn't her.

Tell them, Poul. Tell them how she cried in the night, and she always did that double hitch. But she hasn't done it since Changeling Night. The ragdoll she loved, she hasn't touched it since that night. It may look like our little girl, but you have to know that this isn't her. I need to do this - get out of the way.

— Alaina Millstone
Last words

Summary

On the final day of Festiva, when the veil between Terrene and Empyrean is at its thinnest, the Unseelie Court of Fae strikes at the innocent. Babes in their first year are a precious commodity among the Unseelie, for what wicked rites we do not know. But on the last night of the year, they can take your children, and leave you with a changeling.

On Changeling Night, these vile creatures, who can mimic the look of anyone, are placed in the cradle, and the babe is spirited away into the Fae, never to be seen again. Most refuse to see the change has taken place, but a mother will know. A mother will see the differences - the way a laugh has turned grating, their screams have become more piercing. And that changeling will always be a tool of the Unseelie, and will grow to be a blight on all.

If a changeling is left in your village, you must be sure to destroy it. They are still vulnerable when young, and can be killed like any other child.

Historical Basis

There have been children stolen by Fae in the past, although no evidence exists that they swapped out anything - they appear to have just taken the children. In addition, changelings have been shown to exist. However, they have been encountered as adults and have some ability to change their form throughout life, not permanently replace one being. They are also not inherently evil.

While the possibility exists that this could happen, it seems to be much more likely that some mothers reach a breaking point from the stress of motherhood, and lose their grip on reality. Things that were once endearing become stressful, and the mother thinks that the baby has changed. The mothers so afflicted should be pitied, but they should also be stopped.

Spread

The myth is fairly widespread on Helion, especially in the Kingdom of Correllum. There are reports every few years in the Kingdom that a babe has been swapped out, and that is only what is called to the attention of the nobility.