A changelings is a faerie spirit born (or trapped) in a mortal body. They live in two worlds at once, one mundane, and one fantastic; they must walk the knife's edge between these worlds lest they fall into the traps that each lays for them: forgetting their faerie nature, by becoming too entrenched in the Banality of the mundane world; or falling into Bedlam by delving too far into the insane realms of the fantastic world.

Changelings live as mortals until a certain point when they become awakened to their fae nature. This "Chrysalis" can occur at any point in their lives, although the older and more banal one becomes, the less likely it is to occur. Tragically, some changelings never realize their true nature, their faerie souls lying dormant until their next incarnation. Perhaps even more tragically, some deny the insane visions that their Chrysalis shows them, and never obtain an understanding of what they are. Many of these become "Dauntain", and are among the deadliest enemies of changelings.

Changelings interact with things that are invisible and intangible to the unenchanted individuals that only see the mundane world. These things are called "chimera", and may take practically any imaginable form. All changelings also have a fae mien that cannot be perceived by the unenchanted, other changelings and chimerical creatures will automatically see it and recoginize the changeling as a member of their kith by it.

All changelings belong to a Court, either Seelie or Unseelie. A changeling's court determines much of their behavior (or vice versa, it could be said). The Seelie are those that respect tradition, and form. Honor, love of beauty, and abiding by the laws of the fae (the "Escheat") are basic Seelie philosophies. The Unseelie mock tradition. Freedom, and doing whatever you have to to get ahead are basic Unseelie philosophies.

All changelings are born into "kiths". A kith is the type of changeling that they are. See character creation for more information about the different possible kiths.