Building My Dungeons and Dragons World Part 8: Changelings and Dopplegangers
Introduction
Every society has a group of people forced underground by the distrust associated with them. In the real world, these groups are usually humans who fall under certain beliefs or races. But in fantasy, these possibilities can be endless.
For this week's article, Dungeon and Dragons have given me the Changelings. After reading the lore, this group proved to be the perfect group for introducing a number of firsts to my D&D world.
Doppelgangers
To talk about Changelings in my world, I first need to discuss my first non-playable race of creatures. With that in mind, let me introduce the Doppelgangers. The best way to describe them is that they are like the traditional gray, big-headed aliens from almost every early science fiction series ever. But unlike those creatures, the doppelgangers can transform their shape into that of other humanoid creatures.
This ability, along with their races' generally neutral alignment, has made them practically a myth in my world. A myth that spreads fear into the heart of normal polite society, or at least those who believe that the Doppelgangers are real.
The reason it was important to cover this race of monsters first was that it is a common belief that Changelings are born from the union of Doppelgangers and humans. Now it should be stated that it is unclear if these beliefs are accurate, as it is obviously difficult to track down a Doppelganger by the time the Changeling is born and its nature is revealed. Additionally, since Changelings are more common in society, many people reason that the Doppelgangers are probably a myth created by a lack of understanding.
Changelings
While the monstrous origins of their race cannot be confirmed, Changelings still face heavy suspicion and prejudice in everyday society. Their ability to transform means that they could be hiding anywhere. This has led to them being ostracized from society in areas where there is a confirmed Changeling community. This has also led to many Changelings adopting a permanent human form in public to avoid persecution.
The Changelings have built a self-reliant community that can thrive without the help of outsiders. Putting aside those who live in permanent hiding, those who live in communities will often hide these communities away on the edges of polite society or in countryside communities away from others. This attitude and behavior have created what could be defined as one of their greatest tools in this world.
The Network
The Network is, broadly speaking, a global underground network that works with sympathetic communities and criminal organizations to ensure the safety and employment of changelings. It has representation in many fields and across many kingdoms and countries.
Its goal is the betterment of the changeling's welfare. To this end, they invest in a variety of activities. In sympathetic communities, the changelings will work with government officials and community members to write laws that will help protect their communities. In other communities, changelings will hire mercenaries and criminals to protect their communities from harm. They will also work with local smugglers and sympathizers to ensure the safe passage of changelings out of more dangerous areas, even changelings facing some form of criminal punishment. Finally, the Network provides a steady flow of employment to changelings in any community, knowing that many "normal" people will be hesitant to hire them. These employment opportunities usually fall under one of two categories.
The Players
The ability to transform is useful in the world of the arts. Acting, modeling, and singing can all benefit from the ability to transform your body. Theater troupes especially love to hire changelings as it helps to reduce costs overall. So many changelings looking for respectable employment opportunities will become bards on behalf of the Network. The world of the arts truly believes that the loss of the Network would be one of the greatest detriments to society as a whole ever.
The Agents
Every organization has its shadows. The Network could not do its job without the support of the criminal underworld in its many forms. As such, the Network also ensures that there is a deep talent pool for local rogues as well. Changelings' abilities to transform can make them a powerful weapon to both the Network and other criminal organizations. Thieves, spies, assassins, and even information brokers are all forms of employment in the Network.
While the Network will usually hire agents out to other criminal groups, they have not been above deploying agents to their own ends. But they must be cautious in doing so. If they are too obvious, they risk losing the trust of their allies. With that in mind, the Network's preferred tactic is to use blackmail to coerce key government officials and organizations into helping them. Sometimes even going so far as to create false information with their ability to transform to use as blackmail when they cannot find good blackmail on their own.
The College of Whispers
It is of little surprise to most people that the Network secretly founded the College of Whispers. On the surface, it is a simple bardic college, like any of the others. But the other bardic colleges despise it and for good reason. While most colleges aspire to use bardic skills for some glorious purpose, the College of Whispers seeks to utilize these skills to its own advantage. Its students are rarely looking for upstanding work, generally preferring to use their skills in service to an organization or for their own ends.
The school teaches its students how to use the skills of a bard to gather information and secrets. Their magical songs utilize dark magic to tap into the fears of their opponents and to launch attacks on their opponent's minds. But even in the world of darkness, there are rules. Students must surrender their darkest secrets to attend. Regardless if they pass or fail, the students are not allowed to reveal the secrets of the school to outsiders. If they do, the secret they surrendered will be used to ruin them. It is even an unspoken rule that students must never reveal that they attended this college, though the college does trust students will not do so without sufficient reason.
It is clear in the halls of the college that originated in the Network and is tailored to Changelings. It is one of few places in the world where changelings are the majority. They openly walk around without disguises. Many of these changeling students, and staff, carry grudges against the outside world. Therefore it is not uncommon for changeling students to bully who they can and for the staff to turn a blind eye or harshly punish outsider students who attempt to openly fight back.
Conclusion
No world is without its shadows. Likewise, no shadow is without its good intentions. I hope to reflect this in my work. I don't simply want evil races that are blindly evil for no reason. I hope that as I move through this world, you can gain an understanding of every evil group, even if you don't agree with their methods.
With that covered, I have completed this week's article and I look forward to seeing you all in two weeks. I will not be uploading an article next weekend as I have chosen to take it off to celebrate my birthday.
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