Changeling - Players Guide.pdf

purified herself, the Nunnehi then places herself in the presence
of a physical representation of her totem. A tribal elder or mentor
(usually one with the same totem or whose totem is also physically
manifested in the chosen location) then crosses into the
spirit world, taking the aspirant with her. Once there, the
Nunnehi seeking contact must sing to the totem to draw it to her.
Totem alliance is "purchased" through the Background
Trait: Totem. Nunnehi gain the following advantages from a
totem alliance:
•A Nunnehi's alliance with a totem is necessary for her
to be able to enter the spirit world; without it, she cannot
enter the Upper World, no matter her Arts or Realms.
•A Nunnehi gains certain adj ustments to her Advantages
and/or Abilities, depending on the totem she allies with (see
the write-up for the particular totem in the Spirits section).
• The totem is a relationship with a higher spirit,
practiced through stewardship of the totem's material children
(fir trees for the Fir totem, granite outcrops and rocks for
the Granite totem, etc.). By forming a relationship with a
totem, the Nunnehi has opened a line of communication
with that spirit. The totem may tell the Nunnehi important
information, suggest courses of action to her, guide her on a
vision quest, and on occasion, may even imbue its Nunnehi
ally with Medicine (see the section on Blessing, above).
Entering the
Spirit World
All living things are tied together with a common navel cord.
—Sioux saying
According to native belief, there is not one world, hut
three. Surrounding, penetrating and overlaying the physical
world are two spirit realms. Native Americans refer to these
as the Upper, Middle and Lower Worlds. The Middle World
is the world of Mankind where all people dwell. It is the world
the Creator made for the enjoyment of all, humans and
animals alike. Apart from, but still a part of the Middle World
are the Upper and Lower Worlds.
The Upper World is the realm of spirits, where totems,
guardians and messengers have their homes. Each rock, plant,
tree and animal has a spirit associated with it, and these spirits
reside in the Upper World watching over and guiding those in
the Middle World. The Upper World is a place similar to the
Middle World, but far more natural and imbued with potent
energies. Most things in the Upper World take their shape from
those on the physical plane, but appear more pure than their
physical counterparts. The Upper World is like a spiritual
reflection of the Earth, where everything is revealed for its true
nature. In the Upper World, the living spirit of a tree can be seen
and spoken with in a way that is usually not possible in the
Middle or physical World. Movement through the Upper
World is accomplished in the same manner as the Middle
World: by foot, swimming or riding. The difference is that
thought is the key to movement. Walking, running or swimming
occurs at the speed of thought, with the Nunnehi moving
from one area to another as fast as she can envision herself
actually traversing the distance. Riding requires that the
Nunnehi contact a willing spirit and persuade it to carry her.
The Lower World is the world of the dead. Things there are
said to be similar to their physical counterparts, but gray and
faded. The earth is ash, there are no colors, sounds are muted, and
smells and tastes nonexistent. Among the native tribes, death is
not viewed as unnatural or the end, but as part of life's cycle, a
necessary change that allows those who have lived out their
allotted span to move on and gives others the room to live. Native
Americans honor the dead, but they fear the retribution of angry
ghosts should they not be properly honored and laid to rest.
Travel to the
Upper World
Though they are cut off from the Higher Hunting Grounds,
the Nunnehi are much valued as messengers and go-betweens
because they are able to enter or interact with these spirit
realms. Nunnehi may enter the Upper World in the presence
of their totem material. Thus, some places are off-limits for
Nunnehi due to the lack of availability of their totem's material
form. The level of spirituality of the chosen spot has a great
effect on the success or failure of the Nunnehi's attempt to enter
the spirit world. The spirituality of a place changes according to
the relative purity of the chosen source. For example, Nunnehi
who have located a city park and who wish to enter the spirit
world in that relatively "wild" spot, may find that the local
examples of their totem spirit contain too many impurities from
city pollutants to enable them to enter the Upper World.
System: Nunnehi must have at least one dot in both the
Wayfare Art and the Nature Realm, since those forms of fae
magic govern the powers of movement and natural settings.
While it is possible for the Nunnehi to enter the spirit world with
only one dot each of Wayfare and Nature, doing so increases the
difficulty level by two. Those Nunnehi who are proficient at
"crossing over" have Wayfare 3 or higher (Portal Passage) and
Nature 2 (Verdant Forest). The Nunnehi simply "walks into" her
totem material — by stepping in a river, plunging into a thicket
of mountain laurel, or disappearing into a giant oak, for example.
A Bunk must be performed, but the number of successes is
not automatic; the player must roll dice to see if his character
succeeds or not. Thus, the Nunnehi rolls Wits (for Wayfare) +
Mythlore (for Nature). The difficulty for this passage is determined
by the spirituality of the area. The spirituality of a place
is expressed by the amount of Banality present in that area. A
very spiritual place, such as a pristine forest, would have a low
Banality rating. The surrounding Banality must be overcome for
the Nunnehi to successfully enter the spirit world at that place.