Lilim
From Changeling Venue
There are two ways of spreading light. To be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.
The Lilim is a faction being set up to facilitate people who wish to portray sinister or dark-natured changelings. Part of it is to deliberately foster these character types as viable within the changeling setting, but also to create a social network for these players for political support and for affiliation.
The concept will draw upon the myths of the Lilim who see the Fae as the children of this woman. She is the mother of all monsters, and the Changelings are her bastard brood. The Lilim are quick to point out that the Fae existed long before humanity and that humanity are interlopers in the world, which the Fae had claimed before humanity ever made their presence known. That they are once human themselves is irrelevant. Their durance in Faerie has made them something else, something other, it is a complete transformation leaving their mortal coil behind.
Depending on the structure of the book, it may be written up that the Lilim are a “heretical” group that undermines or is at the very least ostracized by the main commune of changelings. Parallels to the Shadow Court of old game are not overlooked.
Contents |
History
The history of the Lilim is a long and recounted oral tradition, said to go back to before the dawn of human history. Lilith was said to be the first Changeling, the first human stolen from the Garden of Eden by the Fae when she spurned Adam and God. None know what her Seeming is, but it is said that she is ages old, and eternally wise. Many of the Lost say they have felt her touch, her guiding presence and her whispering words as they escape from the Hedge. It is a mother’s touch, and she is considered by the Lilim to be their patron mother. Each and every changeling that escapes from the Hedge, does so because of her aid. In this, she becomes the metaphysical mother of the Lost, for the escape from the Hedge is as much as her pangs of childbirth.
What is remembered of Lilith has been carried through oral tradition of the Lilim. Like the shifting nature of their mother, the Lilim continually sought new aspects of Faerie nature. With emotions providing the deep font of glamour, the Lilim quickly adopted into their making an affinity for its indulgence. Emotions are to be savored, tasted and indulged. Thus the Lilim ensorcelled themselves into the skein of human affairs, using their canny adaptability to find their way within the world. They began a study of mortal emotions, learning how to break them down, beguile them, entrap them and draw them out from mortal minds. Through these lessons, they have become master emotional manipulators and harvesters of Glamour from mortals.
Agenda
The Lilim embrace a philosophy of equilibrium, mutability, adaptability and even paradox. The idea of paradox is central to Lilim philosophy; for it requires their members to be still while in a state of motion, to be calm while exasperated and to seek pain where there might lie pleasure. This outlook of paradox opines that the conflicting halves of mortal and Faerie cannot be brought into direct harmony; they are too opposed in nature. To achieve equilibrium, a Changeling must maintain a paradoxical state of balance, being immersed in the depth of emotions while having a detached stance from their surging effects. The goal is to seek out the vast repertoire of both human and Fae emotions. Emotions are key to understanding the Lilim mindset because through them the Lilim explore all of their existence, from the smallest to largest. Subsequently, the Lilim have some of the largest emotional ranges of any of the Lost.
Furthermore, the Mask becomes a metaphor that they extend to great lengths. The connection between emotions and identity run deep and thus the Lilim practice guising their emotions, portraying false personas and even things like mimicry, acting and con artistry. Like a mirrored lake surface, they absorb a captured emotion by reflecting it back. Lilim like to evoke emotions out of others as part of the range of experience. Certain emotions, they consider are interactive, not just expressive. The Lilim have few qualms about portraying falsehoods and deceptions, for such personas are tools to in the Mask that is their nature.
Yet, there is a fear that these observations and stressors impact upon the mortal psyche of the Changeling, making them far more like their captors than they would like. As the changelings fall further into the depths of madness, the Lilim become a little emotionally detached. Emotions become more like tools than like expressions of the self, taking on the attitude of treating mortals as human chattel themselves. Depravation leads to ennui and the Lilim look for more perverse and exciting pleasures to thrill them in ways they could not feel before.
Seemings
The Lilim is open to any and all Seemings. As a note, it should be said that Lilim tend to take on the characteristics of their Keeper, manifesting their Seeming curses just a little more blatantly and a little more extreme. More information on this will be released with the release of setting documents.
Courts
Courts are of great importance to the Lilim. Through them they find a niche of emotions to explore as well as a philosophical agenda. The type of court they participate in tends to define the nature of their degeneration. As a Lilim loses Clarity they begin to suffer a form on Ennui, a type of mind burn that makes it harder to draw glamour from their normal sources, forcing them to strive for greater acts.
Spring Court (Desire): Making the hearts and minds of mortals dance to your tune is a simple thing and the Lilim subsumed mortals to these wants. As the Spring Lilim lose Clarity they find the pleasures of life harder to satisfy their cravings turning to greater depravities to satisfy themselves.
Summer Court (Wrath): The Summer Lilim thrive on conflict, but not conflict they are part of themselves. As the Summer Lilim lose Clarity, the simple brawl of the heat of the moment is not enough, instead the Lilim must cultivate long standing feuds and conflicts that span families and territories.
Autumn Court (Fear): The simple brooding fear of anxiety is a well known trick of these Lilim. Yet it is limited, people adapt and cope to general stressors. The Autumn Lilim that lose Clarity find a desire to provide deep psychological trauma through fear and generate true pathos.
Winter Court (Sorrow): Everyone has experienced loss, pain and grief to some extent. People cope and move on, and learn to live with the memories. The Winter Lilim that lose Clarity seek to generate monuments of tragedy and loss, the grief of broken dreams and joys are their desire.
Courtless: The courtless are few amongst the Lilim, but there is a place for them. Though they tend to have a tacit second-class status among the Lilim, this very fact allows them to act as intermediaries, spies, assassins and perform other deeds of errantry.
Pledges
Reveal the art, hide the artist: An Lilim must never reveal everything about them. There must be some few simple secrets that they cannot let pass their lips or express through their mimicry.
Everything in its turn: The Lilim are of two natures, Faerie and mortal. Each half must be consigned to one half of the year. During the light half of the year, they must spend more time questing for their stolen mortal lives, during the dark half of the year, they must spend more time pursuing their own Faerie nature.
To hear is to understand: Lilim must be master manipulators, passive and receptive in its embrace of all around them. A Lilim may not use brute physical or social force to overcome such obstacles and must use subtle methods to harvest Glamour.
Induction
The Lilim demand one major thing from their supplicants; that is adaptability for a talent for performing. Such individuals are usually carefully solicited by the court and will approach them sometimes at events or parties or similar affairs and subtly test them by toying with their emotional states, either driving them to despair or into fury, or sometimes even euphoria. Those who are able to ride the wave of this emotion, while not be drowned by it are usually considered good enough to join. From that point on the Lilim take the person under their wing and teach them carefully and subtly, encouraging them to embrace these emotional repertoires without seeming to actually instruct them. In many situations the scenarios presented can seem contrived or overtly elaborate at first, but once the subject gets used to them they begin to see sophistication behind them that simply puts the scenario up as a ruse. An example might by the placement of a car on a train track, which it itself one single cog in a network of related actions that produce very little, though perhaps suggesting something of great importance, like derailing a train.
When the subject is able to see their way past these web of intricacies to manipulate the flow of these events to their desired result, then they are ready for Induction, which more often then not resembles a rebirthing in ocean or river water.
Registry of Interest
This is an OOC registrar of people who are interested in participating in this social faction once Chron begins and to give an idea of who to create character ties with. Otherwise send an e-mail to augstmage@gmail.com to help me keep a track of your details.
Angelus Michaels - Sydney, Australia - augstmage@gmail.com
Emma O'Dea - Adelaide, Australia
P. Saunders - Sydney, Australia: thefreneticist@gmail.com
