Changeling - Players Guide.pdf

The surems are small of stature, but have
great strength. Despite this blessing, which
might have made them violent, they are
lovers of peace and quiet. Surems dislike
noise so much that they have chosen to
build their dwellings underground so
that they will not be so often disturbed.
Since they live in a hot, desert environment,
this also serves to keep
their dwellings cool.
Surems listen quite attentively.
Their acute hearing may in
fact be responsible for their shunning
of loud sounds. A typical
surem admonition for more quiet
is to "not think yourself as great
as the Thunderbird, whose
wings shake the skies."
Nor is noise their only
dislike. A supremely calm
and sedate folk, surems
are very much opposed
to any kind of violence.
Whenever there is a solution
to a problem that
can be reached without
resorting to violence, the
surems are the first to
find it. They are the
peacemakers among
the Nunnehi. Some
Nunnehi see their
actions as traitorous,
since they do not actively
oppose the
European changelings
and instead
counsel peace talks
with them. Many mistake
this reticence as
weakness, but it comes
(Yaqui Little People)
from their assurance of their spiritual health and the rightness
of their vision. Surems are overwhelmingly Summer people.
Those who fall into a Winter Camp are considered
to be insane by their Family.
This is not to say that they have never
fought in the past. Their history claims that
they were the people who warned their
tribes of the coming of the whites.
Because they were helpers of the
spirits, the surems were given the
choice of leaving or staying in the
world. Some departed, presumably
into the Higher Hunting Grounds,
but others stayed and helped fight
against the invaders. This was their
last fight, however, and cost both
them and their tribes dearly. The
surems would have to be pushed
pretty far to again rise in war.
Appearance:
The surems are small,
about five feet in height, and
solidly built. They dress like
and follow the customs of
the Yaqui. They have broad,
pleasant faces, and most
seem aloof and serene.
Seemings:
• Younglings look like
any other Yaqui child.
Surems do not take their
younglings out of the community,
preferring instead to teach
them what they need to know of
their changeling heritage alongside
that of their human kin. They
believe that this socialization
makes younglings more sympa-