Changeling - Players Guide.pdf

Dreaming) became changelings. The European faeries underwent
a changing ritual that shielded them from Banality; the
native faeries found highly spiritual people who agreed to act as
hosts for the Nunnehi's spirits. The first Nunnehi-human
hybrids shared the bodies, with the Nunnehi spirit remaining
quiescent within until the host either fathered or became the
mother of a child. The Nunnehi spirit then entered the child
before birth, fusing its faerie spirit to the child's flesh. Those
who had hosted Nunnehi spirits within themselves often
became counselors, medicine men and wise women in their
tribes due to the insights granted them by their faerie brethren.
Nunnehi have most often chosen to re-manifest within the
descendants of those they originally inhabited, though any
member of the Nunnehi's chosen tribe might be so honored.
This has proven to be both a blessing and a curse, keeping the
Nunnehi strong and allied with their tribes, while creating
grave problems for those whose tribes have become extinct.
The major difference between Nunnehi and other
changelings lies in their relationship to the Dreaming. Unlike
other changelings, who are merely exiled from Arcadia
and who can still occasionally touch the Dreaming, Nunnehi
have lost their connection to their homeland (called the
Higher Hunting Grounds) in the Dreaming. There is speculation
that this may stem from the actual destruction of the
Higher Hunting Grounds due to the loss of so many native
tribes and the erosion of their beliefs. To compensate, Nunnehi
have gained the ability to draw Glamour (which they call
Medicine) directly from the natural world, and are also able
to enter the spirit world under certain conditions.
The Nunnehi still mourn their loss of the Dreaming and
commemorate it through their love for and skill in song,
dance, story and artistic endeavors. Ironically, most Nunnehi
tend to be extremely creative in at least one of these areas,
thus making them sources of Glamour for other changelings.
Relations
The story of the Nunnehi is one of coping with a series
of invasions. In each region, certain areas were set aside as
homelands or territories for the Nunnehi. These were usually
thought to be places of power and great natural beauty such
as waterfalls, strange rock formations, stands of woods, particular
coves along the shoreline, caves, great trees or islands
found in mid-river or emerging from a dismal swamp. In some
cases, this brought them into competition with Garou, who
claimed caerns in many of the same regions. For the most part,
though, the two groups cooperated rather than competing,
and the Croatan, Uktena and Wendigo found natural allies
among the Nunnehi. To this day, it is far more likely to find
the Native American Garou and the Nunnehi allied than at
odds with one another. This is not true with regard to those
Garou who are called "the latecomers" — the Fianna, Get of
Fenris, Silver Fangs and others.
The First Wave
More intrusive and more dangerous to the native faeries
were those of their own kind. Many Nunnehi were originally
friendly to those who fled to North America to escape
Banality. Those noble sidhe and their households often came
as supplicants searching for new lands to shelter them. The
Nunnehi frequently welcomed their foreign cousins and
taught them how to live in the new environment. Treaties
were signed and friendship gifts exchanged.
Soon, however, greater numbers came across the sea,
and these settled wherever they pleased with little regard for
the native faeries' feelings. Like their human counterparts
who would later arrive in the New World, the European
faeries arrogantly assumed that their culture and ways were
superior and more civilized. Without understanding that the
traditions and customs of the Nunnehi were at least as old, if
not older, than their own, the immigrants dismissed the rich
culture and society of the "backward savages." Some even
took Nunnehi as captives and thralls to "teach" them European
values and how to be "civilized." Relations between the
Kithain and the Nunnehi Nations deteriorated wherever the
newcomers took no thought for the feelings and rights of the
native faeries. The Nunnehi fought back against the usurpers
who took their lands, banding together into war parties to
attack European freeholds and travelers. Though most of the
older settlements where the Kithain were friendly to the
Nunnehi were safe from such attack, some hotheads among
the Nations made war upon any non-natives.
The European Settlement
With the coming of human European settlers, many of the
commoners also arrived. These too encroached upon the
Nunnehi just as the humans did. Though the alien faeries
appreciated the beauty of their new surroundings, they could
not glean Glamour from it as could the Nunnehi. Unwittingly,
the settlers felled stands of ancient trees and plowed over fields
where Nunnehi had once danced and harvested Medicine.
Warfare also took its toll among the Nunnehi. Tribe fought
tribe as they were pushed into one another's territories and
forced into competition for resources. Many natives supported
European powers rather than the American settlers in the War
for Independence, hoping that the powers would give back
their lands in return for their help. When the war was lost, these
were stripped of their remaining territories, and many were
forced into slavery or sent far away. The Nunnehi fought
alongside their flesh brothers and shared their fate.
Over time, the Europeans uprooted the native tribes,
either decimating them with diseases they had no protection
against or displacing them from their hunting grounds and
homelands. Many Nunnehi who had formerly been peaceful
responded with anger and enmity, waging war against the
European changelings and their human kin. Others withdrew
deeper into the forests, or disappeared from the knowledge of