Changeling Lexicon

The fae have a distinct patois that draws on many different tongues and gives many new shades of meaning to mortal words. One can often identify a changeling's age or station by listening to the parlance he uses.

Common Parlance

Following are the most common general terms in use among changelings.

• Arcadia — The land of the fae; the home of all faeries within the Dreaming.
• Arts — The ways of shaping Glamour.
• Autumn — The modern age.
• Balefire — The fire that is the focus of Glamour in a freehold.
• Bedlam — A kind of madness that falls upon changelings who stray too far from the mortal world.
• Banality — Mortal disbelief, as it affects changelings and their Glamour.
• Cantrip — A spell created through Glamour by using a combination of Arts and Realms
• Champion — A warrior chosen by one of higher rank to fight in his stead. A champion always wears the token of his patron, which he keeps if he wins the duel.
• Changelings — Fae who have taken on mortal form in order to survive on Earth.
• Childling — A child who has come fully into his changeling nature; this lasts until he becomes a wilder, around 13 years of age. Childlings are known for their innocence and affinity with Glamour, and are well-protected by other changelings.
• Chimera — A bit of dream made real; unseen by mortals, chimera are part of the enchanted world. Chimera may be objects or entities.
• Commoner — Any of the changeling kith who are not sidhe.
• Dauntain — Faerie-hunters, deeply twisted by Banality.
• Deep Dreaming, The — The furthest reaches of the Dreaming. The most powerful Dream Realms, such as Arcadia, exist here.
• Dreaming, the — The collective dreams of humanity. Changelings often travel in these realms both to seek adventure and to gather the raw dreamstuff that can be used in Grafting chimera.
• Dreamrealms — The lands comprising Arcadia and the other realms of the Dreaming.
• Enchant — To imbue a mortal with the power to see the faerie realm.
• Escheat — The highest faerie laws.
• Fae, Faerie — A being indigenous to the Dreaming (though not always a current resident thereof).
• Fae Mien — A changeling's faerie visage, visible only to other changelings and enchanted beings.
• Far Dreaming, The—The Far Dreaming is only attainable through the Near Dreaming. Many Dreamrealms exist here.
• Fathom — A deep-seeking, protracted use of the Art of Soothsay. Also called the Taghairm.
• Fior — A contest, the point of which is to determine justice.
• Fledge — A newly awakened changeling of any age.
• Freehold — A place that is infused with Glamour. Important to all changelings, freeholds are proof against Banality — for a time.
• Gallain — 1) "The Outsiders," those who may be Kithain but whose origins, customs and magical ways are not understood. 2) Any inscrutable creature of the Dreaming.
• Glamour — The living force of the Dreaming; changeling magic.
• Grump — A changeling of elder years, usually beginning at about the age of 25. Very few changelings reach this age — most succumb to Banality long before.
• Hue and Cry —
  1. A hunt called out against a criminal.
  2. The call of all changelings to come and defend a freehold.
• Kin — Human relatives of a changeling who do not possess faerie blood.
• Kinain — Human kinfolk of a changeling who possess faerie blood and frequently have strange magical "gifts" because of it.
• Kith — All the changelings of a kind, or race. One's kith determines the nature of one's faerie guise and soul.
• Kithain — Changelings' self-referential term.
• Liege — One's sworn noble sovereign, whether baron, count, duke or king.
• Long Winter, the — The prophesied eradication of all Glamour.
• Mists, the — A metaphysical curtain of humanity's collective disbelief. The Mists are responsible for the following: 1) The tendency of mortals to forget the effects of Glamour and the presence of changelings after a very short time; 2) The tendency of Banality-tainted changelings to forget their faerie lives.
• Mortal Mask — The mortal appearance of a changeling. This is how mortals perceive a changeling.
• Motley — A family or gang of commoners.
• Near Dreaming, The — The realm of the Dreaming most easily assessable from Earth, usually by a trod.
• Noble — Any changeling raised to noble title; although nobles are traditionally sidhe, lately commoners have begun receiving noble positions.
• Oathbond — The mystical bond created by the swearing of an oath.
• Realms — The five aspects of the world with which changelings have affinity.
• Resurgence, The — The time when the sidhe returned in 1969.
• Retainers — Any servants of a liege.
• Saining — "The Naming"; a ritual performed on a newly awakened changeling to determine his kith, his True Name and his place in the Dreaming.
• Shattering, The — The time when the last sidhe departed and the last trods to Arcadia closed.
• Sundering, The — The time when humanity first began to turn away from their dreams; the Iron Age.
• Tara-Nar — The great freehold castle of High King David. Beneath it is the Well of Fire, from which all balefire comes.
• Time of Legends — The age when magical powers ran free in the world.
• Trods — Magical gateways, faerie roads; some lead to other freeholds, some to the Dreaming itself.
• Tuatha De Danann — The mysterious progenitors of the fae.
• Vassal — The sworn servant of a liege.
• Vellum — A specially preserved chimerical hide on which changeling scribes write.
• Wilder — A changeling of adolescent years, usually from age 13 to age 25. Known for their wild undertakings and loose tempers, wilders are the most common changelings.
• Yearning — Also called "the Gloomies," the Yearning is the utter longing for Arcadia that overcomes grumps as Banality encroaches upon them.

Vulgar Argot

These are the words most frequently used by commoners, and have been picked up the wilder exiles (even those of the noble houses). They tend to be somewhat crude and abrupt, and carry with them a certain disregard for tradition and rank. Many of these terms are very ancient, others are quite new, but all of them are quite in vogue among wilder nobles. During the Interregnum many commoners formed or joined circuses in order to escape the stupefying Banality of mortal society, and much vulgar argot originates from that culture.

• Churl — A vassal; insulting if used to describe a noble.
• Codger — A word for grump.
• Callowfae — Self-absorbed faeries with no purpose higher than that of play; often said in reference to childlings, insulting if used to describe any other changelings.
• Chiven — Craven, cowardly or wimpy.
• Chummery — A particularly hospitable freehold.
• Cozen — To cheat someone or steal something.
• Fancypants — A nickname for sidhe or any self-absorbed noble.
• Foredoom — When a use of Soothsay prophesies very bad news.
• Jimp — To create a faerie token or charm.
• Mew — A commoner freehold, typically controlled by a motley.
• Mux —To really screw up something; to add chaos and disorganization to things. "You really muxed things up this time!"
• Sots — Mundane people; "sothead" and "sot-brain" are popular epithets.

Old Form

These are the terms used by nobility (especially sidhe) and more sophisticated grumps. These words are seldom used by younger exiles, but are still fashionable vernacular among the older members.

• Burgess — A mortal; sometimes used to refer to commoners.
• Crepusc — The period at the end of any faerie festival when activities have begun to die down, but the night is not yet over. It is said to be a particularly mystical time, when the perceptive will discover many secrets.
• Clarion — A call to war made by a noble to his vassals.
• Covey — A group of changelings united by an oathbond.
• Chrysalis — The dawn of fae consciousness, the great awakening into one's changeling nature.
• Dan — Fate; one's destiny and karma.
• Draocht — Cantrips and other changeling magic.
• Driabhar — A treasure, usually one of great power.
• Entrant — A worthy rival, one assumed to merit prolonged struggle and respect.
• Gosling — A childling changeling or very young faerie.
• Fychell — 1) A chesslike game played by nobles. 2) A stylized dance popular among grump nobles.
• Fuidir — The vassals to whom one owes fealty.
• Gloam, the — 1) The blackest part of the night. 2) Midwinter's Night, also called "the Gloaming."
• Greybeard — A grump; a term of respect.
• Grandame — A powerful female sidhe, often used when speaking of a queen.
• Knarl — A special magical knot that serves as a type of ward.
• Laud — To receive the glory of courtly acclaim. Often some sort of token is bestowed as well.
• Mot — An adage, maxim or saying.
• Privy Council — The inner council of a liege and his highranking vassals.
• Retrorse — To revert to one's mortal seeming.
• Reune — A noble rendezvous, often a secret negotiation.
• Trollop — A promiscuous fae.
• Voile — Chimerical clothing, garb and/or jewelry.