Changeling - Players Guide.pdf

Greetings, you smarmy, overpaid excuse for a piece of
camel-vomit. Well, as long as you're here stinking up the
place, 1 might as well show you the new piece I'm working on,
but don't touch it! I don't want you to !@#$% it up. Okay,
the match drops and lights against the sandpaper, which burns
the fuse and lights the candle, which bums through the rope...
huh? Oh, it's a toaster. Anyway, the candle bums through the
rope....
— Theedle Silversqwak, nocker inventor
Nockers are born half from the incandescent joy of
creation and half from the dark depths of frustration. They
personify the wonder of beginning a new work of art, and the
angst and desperation that comes over someone when a
creative endeavor reaches an insurmountable obstacle. They
are the result of those inner demons that torment crafters to
make certain every detail is correct in their work. Unfortunately
they could not avoid being tainted by the
disappointment inherent when the final piece would not fit
into place or when the eyes didn't look exactly right.
The dreams of these artists, builders and craftspeople
brought forth a hardy race of Kithain, rough and ready to tackle
the world and shape it to their needs. Living within these fae
were the dreams of construction, creation and innovation.
History
For thousands of years, nockers have been either present
at or inspired by great artistic and engineering feats. Nockers
have walked in the shadow of the Great Pyramid, and helped
to build the cathedrals of medieval Europe. There was a
nocker present when the first electric lights were lit in Menlo
Park, and there was a nocker watching as Sputnik launched
towards the heavens.
In ancient Greece, the nockers were architects and
builders, designing and building glorious columned temples
and buildings. After the Shattering, nockers retreated into
more introspective crafts, but occasionally the itch to build
something grander became too great. Out of this came magnificent
royal residences or new architectural styles. Many fae
flocked to nocker weaponsmiths for their finely crafted blades,
or became patrons of nocker craftspeople for beautiful works
of fine art, jewelry or raiment.
When the Industrial Revolution arrived with the hiss
and roar of the steam engine, the nockers despaired. They
couldn't resist the siren song of chugging boilers and gears,
but everything seemed to be made of iron. Some nockers
could overcome their inherent loathing of the dread metal,
but most could not. They began to convince mortals to
experiment with new alloys and metal-building out of steel or
aluminum. Nockers began to experiment fervently with
smelting and mixing techniques, and came up with many new
alloys that are in use today, freeing them to tinker to their
hearts' delight.
Nockers took to mechanical engineering with the same
verve they took to smithing thousands of years back. Soon
nockers began to produce exquisite chimerical clocks, and in
a large freehold near Halifax, a nocker machinist created a
chimerical railroad.
As mundane humanity progressed more rapidly, changing
their artistic views and technology, the nockers moved
with them. In the '30s, nockers reached a new height as
modernism blended the worlds of engineering and art. In the
'50s, nockers took the space race to their bosoms. The new
technology of science fiction began to filter into the discussions
of the Dreamers and then into the consciousness of the
nockers. It was at this time that a tentative alliance with the
cabal of mages known as the Sons of Ether was formed. When
the space missions of the '60s discovered the airless void of the
final frontier, the relationship became strained due to differing
opinions, and has largely deteriorated at this point.
It is said that nockers still hold the secret to chimera
creation. It is well-known that with the aid of forge and tools,
a nocker can create simple non-living chimera. This ability
puts the nockers in a position of great esteem, as it is they, and