Outer Changeling Lore
The few scholars with the knowledge to consider such things have speculated at length about the nature of influence. It is a term often used by those of the Beyond, yet their attempts to explain it are loose metaphors when they explain at all.
It is known that an entity’s influence within reality determines its power. However, the ways influence is gained seem varied and often inconsistent. The influence of That Which Watches aids mortal creatures in finding knowledge, the influence of the Blade Of Minds seems to act differently in every instance and the influence of the Unknown Enigma does… something. It definitely does something.
The only commonality that can be said is that influence seems to fulfill some innate need of those who carry it, even if not one they would choose. In the case of Outer Changelings, the influence within them fulfills the innate need of life to multiply.
Being the result of a mortal creature becoming infused with the influence of the Black Goat, they gain an unnatural affinity for propagating that defies material limitations. While natural creatures are limited by the strain reproduction puts on their biology, the influence within Outer Changelings lets them ignore such constraints and distorts their instincts accordingly.
Society: Outer Changelings may be the most widely spread of clans on Thear, being a percentage of the population on all three continents and ever accessible realm. However, that have no true nations of their own, instead blending into the cultures of others.
This behavior may be rooted in their abilities to blend in with other species, their offspring being born with the appearance of their father’s species. This lets them visually integrate with a society by breeding with its population, resulting in a new strain if Outer Changeling that seems to be part of the majority species, but breeds with far more ease.
Even as parts of other cultures, they retain a cultural identity based around the worship of the Black Goat. Although not all Outer Changelings worship the Black Goat, the innate link between them and their creator leads many to become Chosen Ones or learn the faith from those who have.
Ecology: At first glance, many assume that Outer Changelings should out breed all other species, quickly becoming the majority clan. However, the influence that gives them the capacity to do so also gives them the ability to manage their population.
Lacking physical consequences for carrying offspring, they feel a strange instinctual need to contain as many as they can within themselves, driving them to breed whenever possible. However, since they can carry offspring indefinitely, they need not grow their population.
Outer Changelings will only bare offspring if there are available resources to support them. If they were to arrive in a new environment, such as a frontier town, they will often birth however many offspring are needed to help them establish a population. Similarly, in a nation without an Outer Changeling population, they will usually mate with locals and birth some if the resulting offspring, literally creating a support group within the new home.
Since any given Outer Changeling may potential have thousands of offspring that could be used to repopulate overnight, it is almost impossible to reduce their population. Historical attempts to exterminate them have proven both the logistical impossibility and danger in directly conflicting a group capable of such explosive growth.
Of course, reproduction is not the only way Outer Changelings can increase their numbers. They have two innate methods for assimilating other creatures. The least know my outsiders and most commonly used is metabolizing the souls of the dead. When they are evenly spread in a population, many of those who die in the population will have their souls absorb by a nearby Outer Changeling.
After absorbing a soul, they can birth the creature as an Outer Changeling with no memory of its previous life. They appear to feel an instinctual need to do this that is absent for other offspring, which increases over time. As a result, most creatures that die near an Outer Changeling will be reborn as one shortly afterwards.
The second method is used most often for deliberate indoctrination. The wounds left by an Outer Changelings claws are generated more from the Black Goat influence than the physical injury, causing more damage to the body than should be possible. This influence remains within the subject’s body for a time, eventually fading without consequence.
However, if the biologically dies before the influence dissipates, it takes root within the body and soul. Using the innate desire for life, the influence bounds and grows. It will present cell death, subverting the resources of the would be dying body to restore it to an altered form of life.
In this process, the creature’s body rapidly withers as it’s new body grows within its abdomen. Once all resources have been consumed, it breaks out of its depleted corpse chrysalis as an adolescent Outer Changeling. Creatures converted in such a way retain their memories and are usually reborn as a child, rather than infant. This has little effect, since they can quickly grow to adulthood if provided sufficient nutrition.
It is also possible for a creature to become an Outer Changeling from consuming All-Mother’s Milk for that purpose or exposure to the Black Goat’s influence, but both are less common. No matter how a creature becomes an Outer Changeling, the influence within them alters and enhances their reproductive instincts.
All Outer Changelings are attracted to any creature they can produce offspring with, which roughly equates to any sentient creatures that can reproduce sexually. They also instinctually view the offspring resulting from a union as a vital part of the sexual experience, deriving satisfaction from being fertilized. This does not compel them to birth the offspring.
Appearance: Although the minor shapeshifting the influence in their flesh provides makes Outer Changelings functionally hermaphroditic, their natural form appears to be a female of the species they mimic.
They will always exhibit traits that would make them a favorite mate for that species, but do not otherwise have features to distinguish them as other. Even their nails or equivalent natural weapons to not appear out of place, only becoming extended during the process of attacking.
Game Play: Like all content related to the Black Goat, Outer Changelings are not child friendly. This is rather intentional, since Thear is intended to contain mature themes. However, it is possible for a Game Master to adapt these themes to match both their comfort level and those of their players.
This is easy to do if no one is playing an Outer Changeling. Plot interactions with Outer Changelings can easily be adapted to everyone’s comfort level. Despite being creatures of the Black Goat, they are still sapient individuals, meaning the more mature parts of their nature should require more investigation into their private life and culture to become apparent.
The simplest solution for a party that may not be entirely comfortable with Outer Changelings is to not allow players to play one unless everyone involved is comfortable with what that entails. Alternatively, it is an option to simply ignore the mature aspects of the clan.
The mechanically meaningful Feature of the clan have little to do with mature themes, and those that are present can be simply assumed to accurate outside of any formal acknowledgment in game play. Much like any other topics that are present in life, but not something the Game Master wishes to mention, the functioning of Features can be left unmentioned.
For example, a player may want to use the Goat’s Rebirth Feature as a way to resurrect slain party members, since it is one of the cheapest ways to do so. If they absorbed the soul, it can be assumed that they birthed the party member as an Outer Changeling and fed them enough food to return them to adulthood.
No details need to be discussed, the fact that it can be done being apparent if they were within range of the death and have had sufficient time since. The Feature still has the usual drawbacks, being that they must be within range and the reborn creature must invest FP in the Outer Changeling clan, making it mechanically the same without focusing on the lore aspect.
Of course, none of this is necessary in many parties. If all players have no issue with mature themes, which is what Thear content assumes, the less child appropriate aspects of Outer Changelings can be given however much attention seems warranted.
Many players will inevitably play promiscuous characters, the Black Goat’s content giving option to provide such things mechanical legitimacy. While the more explicit parts are not likely to be played out, unless you are doing that kind of role playing, including mature themes may help to flesh out a world and make the game more real.
The Outer Changeling clan itself provides several useful abilities, but is especially useful for a player wishing to fit into the lore because many Outer Changelings also have other clan, due to being converted or having a parent from another species. This lets a player easily explain having some or all Features of another clan.