Changelings

Sundered Race

Created by the chaotic energies of the Sundering, this race has no patron deity that claims them.

No one remembers the first Changeling’s face. Perhaps that is the point. Born from the Sundering’s chaos, their bodies are pale canvases waiting for a story, their features fleeting impressions of what they might become. A Changeling in its true form is a sight to stir both wonder and unease: smooth, translucent skin shimmering faintly as though kissed by starlight, and hair like whispers of silver mist, always shifting in an unseen breeze. Their faces are undefined, mere hints of eyes and a mouth, like an artist’s unfinished sketch. But this is not their true nature—only the echo of their beginning.

Changelings are the children of transformation, and they carry this truth in every step and every choice. They can wear any face, any shape, slipping between forms as fluidly as a river courses through stone. And yet, for all their adaptability, a shadow of longing clings to them, a quiet ache to be more than what they seem. They are seekers, always searching for a purpose, always yearning for a place to call their own.

Culture

Culture and cultural heritage

Changeling society is as fluid as their forms, with no centralized homeland or traditional governance. They are nomadic by nature, blending into the communities they encounter, adopting and sometimes even improving upon the customs of others. Despite this adaptability, they share an unspoken bond and a tradition of storytelling, often recounting tales of the Sundering and their scattered kin. Changelings value individuality yet celebrate collective memory through oral history and shared art forms, such as abstract sculpture and dances that mimic the transformations of their bodies.

They are often drawn to roles that require diplomacy, espionage, or performance, excelling as mediators, actors, and spies. While they can thrive anywhere, Changelings rarely remain in one place for long, their wanderlust driven by the hope of discovering their purpose or encountering others of their kind.

Shared customary codes and values

To meet a Changeling is to see a soul in motion. They are curious and empathetic, with a knack for understanding others that runs deeper than words. Their shapeshifting is not just a gift of survival—it is an expression of their desire to connect. But this same gift is a double-edged blade. To some, they are deceivers, tricksters who wear too many faces to be trusted. To others, they are mirrors, reflecting what the heart most longs to see.

Changelings move between these perceptions with grace, though within, they often wrestle with uncertainty. What is identity, they wonder, when you can be anyone? What is belonging, when you can stand among all but feel rooted in none? For many, these questions become their life’s purpose, shaping their actions as surely as they shape their forms.

Common Myths and Legends

In Changeling lore, their origin is not told as a tale of transformation, but as a tale of purpose. When the Sundering tore Aethria apart, splitting kingdoms and kindreds, the world itself cried out for harmony. It begged for a being who could walk among all, bridge the chasms of strife, and become a thread to stitch the world together. The chaos answered. It drew upon the essence of every race, weaving it into the first Changelings—shapeshifters born to understand all and belong to none.
Changelings hold this myth close, not as a certainty but as a compass. They revere the Sundering itself, not as a deity but as a force of transformation, a call to heal what was broken. Unlike other races, no god has claimed them, but they see this not as abandonment but as freedom. They are not bound by divine will; their destiny is their own to shape.
They carry the chaos of their creation like a flame, both burden and blessing, and with it, they walk the world. In every face they wear, in every story they tell, Changelings are reminders of what the Sundering left behind—not just ruin, but the possibility of rebirth. They are the unclaimed, the shapeless, the seekers of Aethria, and their journey is far from over.

Parent ethnicities

• The Sentient Races