Changeling - Players Guide.pdf

Saining
After a waiting period of watchful guardianship -
traditionally a year and a day — the fletch is Sained, or
named. Before the Saining, a fletch is fae and has all the
distinguishing characteristics of Kithain (physical features,
cantrips, etc.), but a True Name is necessary for the fae to
grow as a changeling. A Kithain without his True Name has
lost himself. Stuck in his level of growth and unable to
progress (i.e., no more experience), a fae who has lost his True
Name — due to a malefic namer, stupidity or a broken oath
— is a sad thing. At this point, the changeling could undertake
a quest to regain his True Name, or be "re-named" (Level
Five Naming, see Chapter Five) by a powerful seer.
Traditionally, a court seer performed the Saining ritual
after a year and a day (sidhe Saining rituals still follow this
custom). A few commoners are familiar with the Naming Art
and have undertaken this ritual themselves. However, since
their return, the sidhe have tried to keep this Art within their
hounds. Personally, I don't see why — the commoners have just
as much right to it as they. When the sidhe were forced off this
plane, most of the seers went with them. Someone had to Sain
the new arrivals. I don't see why so many nobles bellyache about
this.... Yes, Bodi, you can tell anyone you like that I said so!
And by the way, how would you like to spend the rest of your
life as a pig pooka? Oh, you don't think I can do that, hmm?
Keep riding me, boy, and they'll start calling you "Porky." The
Kithain who use the Naming Art refer to themselves as namers,
to delineate themselves from the noble's seers.
A noble sidhe's Saining, includes the Fior-Reigh — a
test of valor and bravery — to determine her worthiness
among the sidhe, and what House she belongs to. There are
many different tests, subject to the whim of the ruling nobles.
Many of these tests takes the form of a geas of some sort.
True Names
A namer or wielder of supernatural powers has a great
advantage it he knows the target's True Name. Aside from
any of the uses above, a person intuitively knows when his
name is in the hands of another. He will instinctively defer to
that person. This "shrinking" effect explains why the wizard
Merlin carried an "aura of power " about him — perhaps he
knew many of the True Names of the company he kept. The
greatest power of True Name lies in its withheld usage. There
is a widely held belief among the fae that the more times a
True Name is spoken, the lesser the potential ability of the
named. A True Name spoken aloud tends to diminish the
stature of the owner in some unexplained manner.
The greatest fae seers recorded are those who knew their
True Name at birth (it is said that these enlightened souls
were fully aware at birth and even retained fragmentary
memories of their experiences in Arcadia) and never underwent
a Saining. Thus, the name of the seer remained a
mystery to all but himself. There are certain rituals guarding
against the theft of a True Name, but the whether these
rituals work is anyone's guess.
True Names are also purported to summon the spirits of
the dead. If you know the wraith's True Name, you can force
her to manifest in a circle. Of course, this is mere speculation.