Pooka (CTD)

Pranksters and comedians, Pooka are well-loved by kithain and mortal alike, but few who know them will ever trust them completely: they are incapable of telling the whole truth. Each is able to take on the form of a specific animal, most often one with a tie to human stories of mischief.

Evolution
Pooka face the Winter of their existence. As Banality sends chills to their hearts and stiffens their creativity, they struggle to survive. Some frantically hoard the Glamour that feeds them and which will carry them through the Long Winter. Others prepare their burrows for hibernation, in the hopes that when Spring returns, they will awaken and rise again to continue the cycle.

Some will die. Will any endure? The Pleistocene Ice Age destroyed innumerable fantastic creatures. Many mortal historians blame this cold, dark time for the extinction of some of the most glorious species to ever walk the earth. This time, the advancing glaciers threaten more insidiously and malevolently. Will anyone survive?

Origins
It is important to remember that the history of the pooka we know comes from them and their tales. One should take everything you read in this section with a grain of salt... if not the whole saltcellar.

Pooka02.pngnt History
As early as the Paleolithic Age humans passed down lore to their young and reasoned out explanations for the world’s mysteries. They also produced the first art and the first dreams. Deep in caves, hidden and protected, they painted animals, hoping to gain some magical control over the beasts they hunted. Their hopes and dreams produced the pooka.

In the foothills of the Pyrénées, in a cavern called Les Trois Frères, a cave painting shows a controversial figure. This figure, a man dressed in the skin of a horse or a wolf with the antlers of a deer, is said to be a prehistoric shaman. Changeling scholars, on the other hand, say this is the first record of a pooka among human society. They state that the painting, called “The Sorcerer,” is in actuality a representation of a pooka, shown as half-man and half-stag.

By the Neolithic Age, people developed agriculture and domesticated certain animals. Agricultural surplus, using ox-drawn plows, allowed humans the leisure time to dream and to aspire to more. It also freed members of the community to become artists and craftsmen instead of hunters and farmers. Many of these early civilizations, like their ancestors, developed myths and stories of magic. Most of these myths featured animals. The pooka claim to have sprung from those myths, though they were not like the pooka we know today. Vibrant, primitive creatures, they instilled fear and awe in humans. Their elusive nature makes it very difficult today to know their actual characteristics. No pooka known has ever retained remembrance of those days and pooka are notoriously bad about keeping records or journals. Sumerian mythology, however, depicts animals as demons and monsters to be conquered; Pooka had not yet evolved to a place of reverence among these ancient peoples. Their predatory natures made them humankind’s enemy. It wasn’t until much later that their dreams began to shift into something more positive and less primitive.

Egypt
One of the most famous pooka ever to walk among humankind was Horus. A falcon pooka, Horus lived among the ancient Egyptians serving as advisor to their greatest king, Osiris. Prior to Horus’ emergence, pooka had maintained a combative relationship with mortals. Horus introduced a revolutionary concept to pooka: that of working with humans to train them to nurture their dreams and respect all the creatures of the world. Other pooka joined Horus, forming a movement that not only supported him in his attempt to mold human civilization, but took his philosophy a bit farther. They guided Egyptian religion; instilling a reverence of animals, teaching of an afterlife in which animal-gods judged the dead and reminding people of the careful balance of nature. Making public appearances, like ancient televangelists, they preached a morality of dreams and respect to the people living along the Nile. They staged rituals and had artists depict them as judging souls. Even at that time, pooka were skilled manipulators.

One of those recruited to the cause was a jackal pooka named Anubis. Although Egyptians originally killed jackals for disturbing graves, they eventually named him the protector of the dead. Because the Egyptians feared and revered Anubis, they treated all jackals with greater respect and ceased killing them for fear of angering him. He, along with Horus and Thoth (an ibis pooka called the god of wisdom and learning), publicly weighed the hearts of the deceased. Natural showmen, they dressed in godly attire and made a dramatic spectacle of the ritual. Others pooka-gods include Apis the bull-god, Khnum the ram god, Hathor the cow goddess and Sebek the crocodile god.

Their religion was tested when a pharaoh named Akhenaten came to power. Akhenaten neither liked nor trusted the pooka-gods who had guided prior pharaohs with a dominating hand. He and his queen, Nefertiti, rebelled against the pooka, spreading a monotheistic philosophy that proclaimed all other Egyptian gods and goddesses to be frauds and forbade their worship. Fortunately, Akhenaten made mistakes. His reigned only 17 years, but during that time, he had himself portrayed by artists as a mortal man rather than a god. This hurt, rather than helped, his reputation, bringing him down off the royal pedestal to the level of the people. His doctrine of monotheism never quite impressed the Egyptians either, who saw his religion as a threat to their own chances for immortality. When he died, his religion died with him.

Akhenaten’s failure showed Horus and the other pooka-gods that their work in Egypt was complete. Their doctrines had withstood direct challenge and the people had rallied behind the old beliefs rather than rushing to embrace the new religion. Hearing reports of other areas in crisis, they decided to travel and spread their philosophies to more of the ancient world. They left Egypt and split apart, taking their preaching to any they could find. More pooka joined them and soon animal cults developed strong followings throughout the world.

Of Names & Shapes
The word “pooka” is a Gaelic corruption of the word for “changing fae” that originated in Arcadia. Originally, pooka were creatures in Arcadia, much like the unicorns and the pegasi. They inhabited the wilder areas, the forests, rivers and seas. During the Paleolithic Age, pooka underwent an evolution; as mortal dreamers began to assign them reasoning capabilities as well as the ability to dream for themselves, they acquired the ability to shapechange. Many humans depicted their gods as half-human, half-animal. Whole religions developed around animal-gods. The Celts perceived them as dangerous tricksters whom it was best to propitiate and avoid.

Australia
The native people of Australia have a creation myth which claims that, at one time, the earth was a bare plane without features. During the “Eternal Dreamtime,” many supernatural beings awoke and rose from their slumber beneath the surface of this plane. These beings had animal forms, but could also change into humans at will. From them came all life; each animal and plant, each human descended from one of these godlike shapechangers. Pooka? Perhaps. They certainly claim they were the dream-progenitors of the aboriginal natives.

The Sundering
Pooka, it would seem, traveled nearly as much as the eshu, spreading their own particular brand of dream-philosophy. Hints appear in the mythologies of India, China, Africa and North America, though whether these were pooka manifestations or other sorts of animal companion spirits remains a mystery (at least to everyone but the pooka). No culture went untouched by their presence, just as no culture could avoid the influence of animals upon their development. Pooka have always worked at odds against the advancement of human civilization, viewing the cities and farmlands as an encroachment upon their territory. Throughout the ages, pooka have responded to this in a variety of ways, evolving in a one-step-forward, two-step-back process from enemy to advisor to guide and finally to a complicated combination of all previous stages.

For millennia (or so they say), the pooka were gods. Then monotheistic religion and rational thought began to supersede their influence. Science replaced myth in explaining the world’s mysteries. Organized religion swallowed up the animal cults and replaced ancient beliefs with more humanocentric dogma. As early Christianity spread its doctrines that spoke of a god that resembled man and denounced the worship of idols, they changed the pooka image from that of a benevolent and natural deity into that of a demon whose only goal was the temptation and undermining of mortals. Pooka had to go underground.

Christianity crusaded north and east, gradually pushing out the pooka and sending them fleeing with their tails between their legs. Pooka continued to protest the crush of civilization’s footprint upon nature’s domain, but more quietly and while looking over their shoulders. Some battled in Europe and the East, too stubborn to retreat even when defeat seemed inevitable. Others fled to the wilder parts of the world, away from the stone cages, both physical and mental, that humankind was building.

The Americas
Like many other fae, the pooka fled from the Banality released by the Sundering. Long before the Europeans discovered the land to the west, pooka traveled to Tir-na-N'og and came into contact with the native people there. Nearly every one of these ancient cultures, especially those that rose to importance, had gods that they painted or carved as a mix of human and animal. Many of these gods could transform into either purely animal or purely human form.

In the ruins of Teotihuacán, the spiritual metropolis of Mexico at its peak in the 5th century C. E., a temple bears the image of Quetzalcóatl, the Feathered Serpent. Changeling historians believe that he was a pooka. In his human form, he was tall, fair-skinned and bearded. Myths about him actually indicate that he was a prince among the people of Teotihuacán, one who kept aloof from his subjects, refused to have mirrors in his palace, and disliked human sacrifice. The myths claim he took to the sea again, traveling toward the East from which he had come, and promised he would return. Thus he birthed the myth of the tall, pale god from the eastern seas that opened the door to the Americas for the Spanish invasion a millennium later.

Both the Aztecs and Mayans believed that every human had an animal counterpart. The animal and the person were linked so strongly that whatever happened to the counterpart happened to the person as well. Thus, harming or healing the animal counterpart gave the same result to the individual. Thus the pooka were protected for a little while, but they could not hide from the rising wave of Banality that threatened to sweep across the ocean.

Disbelief and loss of respect for things of the spirit created more and more Banality in the world. Though some fae worked to keep dreams alive, they could not hold back the tide of despair caused by the Black Death. The Shattering had begun and even the far lands of the west buckled under its crushing weight.

The Shattering
The gateways to Arcadia began to snap shut and the mortal world grew more and more entrenched in reason. Pooka began to realize the futility of facing the enemy head-on. Downhearted and defeated, many pooka abandoned the fight, albeit temporarily, when Silver’s Gate, the last trod to Arcadia, closed. They acceded to the Changeling Way taken on by the fae who remained in the world.

Many others fled, burrowing deep into pockets of the Near Dreaming. Not all of them left, but a large number did. The sudden departure of a majority of pooka caused many to believe they had been lost forever. This sent ripples of worry through the changeling community and saw the birth of the first pooka conspiracy theories. During the year following the loss of Silver’s Gate, pooka offered sanctuary to their fellows. Their pack mentality kicked in and, as more and more pooka disappeared, others hurried to follow. (See Dream-Burrow)

Invasion & the Advance of "Civilization"
In the 16th century, the white man came to the Americas with his stomping boots, his enslaved horses, his superior attitude, and his religion. Some pooka arrived with them, moving from the cesspools of Europe to a new land with as many hopes and dreams as their human counterparts. Other pooka fought alongside the natives and Nunnehi, trying to slow the thundering advance of the white man. Over the next centuries, they watched in horror as native peoples were driven from their lands and imprisoned; treated like domesticated animals. They fought viciously as the invaders broke the spirits of these proud peoples.

The Years of Suffering
The Industrial Revolution began in the British Isles in the mid-18th century and had far-reaching influence on human dreams. By the mid-19th century, industry’s greedy fingers had spread as far as the Americas. For another century it escalated; technology developing faster than human morality and understanding of the monsters they were creating. Like careless children at Christmas, mortals tossed their wrapping paper wherever it landed, dug up their own backyards in order to build their Lego-log houses, and wielded their cap-guns without considering who might get hurt.

Pooka look back on this time and call it the Years of Suffering; two whole centuries during which humans raped their environment for personal gain. Shortsighted and ignorant, they took from the earth without mercy and gave very little back. Humans had tasted the intoxicating cocktail of technology and wealth. Their dreams reflected this and they created expressions like, “The American Dream.”

Groundhog Day
The winds of change blew across the world in the 1960s and through the next two decades. People woke up, looked around and began to see with their own eyes what they had done to their world. They poked their heads up out of their ignorance and saw their own shadows, yes, but not all ducked back inside. They climbed up and out, raising their voices in protest. Up to that point, people had rallied with rabid nationalism behind the wars propagated by their governments.

Vietnam was the first notable exception to that rule. The freethinkers of the time, the ground hogs that dared to speak up, can easily claim credit for the fact that only two million people died in Vietnam. People learned, via the Vietnam War, that their voices could count. To some extent, this newfound power went to people’s heads, but this was not necessarily a bad thing. Everyone wanted a cause to champion. In the 1960s, environmental groups became a fad and this laid the foundation for those that would survive to actually have a very positive effect on the world.

The Resurgence Begins
Glamour surged. Dreams turned to freedom and equality. African Americans and women made great strides toward loosening the suffocating bonds of prejudice and tradition. A century earlier, land had been free and success had meant financial and political power. In the 1960s, love was free and success meant you’d found yourself. Even science became productive and added to the world’s Glamour. With the moon landing, people’s dreams expanded and they began to imagine things they had never before thought possible.

Glamour also filled the pooka Dream-burrows. This sparked Bedlam among those pooka hidden there — too much Glamour, too quickly — which in turn caused inter-changeling wars and many pooka deaths in the Dream-burrows. The pooka that died reincarnated back into the mortal realm. An influx of pooka returned to the world. The first to come were those less capable of protecting themselves from the predators living in the Near Dreaming: the mouse, cat, dog, bird, and rabbit pooka. Over the course of the next several decades, the others filtered slowly back as well, reborn into the mortal realm. Few returned with any memory of their time spent burrowed away.

Reintroduction
As pooka re-emerged into the mortal realm, this gradual process fed imaginations and added fuel to the conspiracy theories first developed when the pooka ran away during the Shattering. Where had the pooka gone? Why were they returning now and in such large numbers? Imagine the disgruntlement of those changeling scholars who thought they might finally discover the truth, only to realize that the pooka had no memory of past lives — or said they didn’t.

The Accordance War
Pooka played a large role in the Accordance War. Pooka outrage at the slaughter on the Night of Iron Knives exploded. Humans had hunted and killed pooka, but never before had a changeling enemy done so with such premeditated brutality. It hit pooka hard and they banded together to rise up against their oppressors. Clever and intelligent, pooka worked together and their pack mentality lent them strength and cohesion. Those who could actively fight did so with no holds barred. Teeth and claws, sword and mace drew blood without mercy. Those too weak or small to fight, scouted and spied.

Many pooka became legendary for their bravery and contributions to the war effort. Their ability to shapeshift into small animals made them invaluable. Mice pooka crept into the freeholds of the enemy and reported back what they heard. Cat pooka sat unnoticed on rooftops and in trees, watching and listening. Dog pooka barked the alarm and bird pooka surveyed troop movements from overhead. For the first time, the other kith realized what these animalistic faeries could accomplish. It instilled a new respect for them among the Kithain. It seems a pity that so few of them remember this today.

Peace
The end of the war brought no pleasure to the pooka in and of itself. For many, the war had served as a catharsis, a chance to prove their worth and to exorcise some of the rage they had carried with them from the beginning of time. At first, pooka couldn’t find it in their hearts to trust David. When he called for peace talks, they almost refused to go. But one particular pooka stood up and offered himself as a sacrifice. Martin Long-Claw, a bear pooka, will forever be revered among his kith. It was Martin who went and heard High King David and believed his words of peace and then convinced the others of his kith to follow the king.

Stomping Stereotypes
Pooka have had to evolve in order to survive in the modern world. Primal instincts hinder them more than help in most situations. The wilderness continues to shrink with urbanization. Yet pooka continue the fight: supporting conservation and awareness. Their methods have had to change; molding to the media, the financial institutions, and the governments of today. As the other kith learn about the true motivations and speculate on the past of the pooka, their respect for these enigmatic changelings has grown. Whereas before, lies and pranks forged pooka reputations, more recently the efforts toward environmental reconstruction and human education have earned them a place of distinction among the Kithain—to an extent.

The return of more exotic pooka from the Dream-burrows to the mortal realm has caused quite a stir. Some claim that these faeries are entirely new species and that this portends well for the world. Often, changeling courts welcome these strange beings with open arms, their curiosity and increased optimism inspiring congeniality. Over the years since the Resurgence, this wide-eyed wonder has dropped off some, though not entirely. If nothing else, the other kith are very happy to see that not all pooka are bouncy, prank loving, annoying ne’er-do-wells. Not all pooka, it would seem, are so easily categorized. The sense of wonder and awe which results from the mere existence of these strange and fantastic changelings adds to the strength of the Dreaming.

The Animal in Us All
What some people call chaos, others call variety or diversity. Pooka come in all shapes and sizes. Half-human and half-animal, they live in mortal bodies like the other kith, but can also shift into the forms of their particular animals.

One could argue that pooka are the oldest of the faerie kith. Some even claim that pooka predate the sidhe — though this is extremely difficult to prove, considering the timeless nature of Arcadia. They certainly claim to have the longest history in the mortal realm.

Pooka have an ability no other kith has: they can shape-change even in their mortal guise. When a pooka shifts into his animal form, they do it so completely that they becomes that animal to mortal eyes as well as to faerie eyes. The power implied in this ability befuddles many changelings who prefer to think of pooka as useless, impotent troublemakers. Pooka take it in stride.

The grand majority of pooka have affinities with common animals– cats, dogs, squirrels, rabbits, or mice– that tend to reproduce in large quantities. In recent years, however, pooka with rare affinities have rejoined changeling society. Many of these faeries contradict the stereotype of silly, prankster pooka created by the more common affinities. Some display a calm beauty unusual in their kith. Others could scare the pants off a troll. It’s important to keep in mind when trying to figure out pooka, that no two are exactly alike. Their personalities tend to mirror those of their animal affinities, though this is less of a rule than a guideline. Being the enigmatic changelings that they are, pooka have almost managed to avoid classification entirely. Diversity plus mistruth plus scarcity equals “What the hell is that?!”

Pooka16.pngn Household Pooka
So what about those cat, dog, squirrel, rabbit, or mice pooka? Are they all sweet, cuddly, fuzzy, funny, silly ne’er-do-wells? Ever heard the story of the child mauled by the neighbor’s dog? Ever have to help a mailman who had a squirrel bite him? Many false stereotypes develop regarding pooka. As more information about this enigmatic kith becomes known, their reputation has shifted to the darker, more frightening aspect it had during the Mythic Age or even earlier times.

Why is it that the first pooka to emerge from their hiding places were those of the cute and fuzzy variety? Maybe all those playful little monsters had a hard time staying away from mortals. Maybe they got lonely. Maybe with their happy-go-lucky attitudes, they didn’t consider the dangers of returning. Or maybe they were simply the first to get killed in the Dream-burrows. Considering the way the faeries living in these burrows courted Bedlam, the favorite pastime for the more irritable, deadly pooka could easily have become bopping little bunny Fu-Fu on the head and poof, Fu-Fu finds himself reincarnated back into the mortal realm where he can happily annoy those changelings living there.

Other theories exist as well. One faction among the changeling conspiracy theorists believes pooka have instigated a complex and malevolent plot. Did the pooka send out the cute, annoying members of their kith as cannon fodder, testing the waters to see if it’s safe for all to return? Were these adorable little fuzzballs scouts sent to deceive the other changelings into a false sense of security in advance of a pooka invasion and overthrow of the nobility? What’s the truth? The pooka, as usual, aren’t saying.

Most other changelings fail to realize there is far more to the pooka than is apparent at first. Much of this knowledge has been lost in the Mists and forgotten even by the pooka themselves, but it still affects their behavior and runs in their blood like the primal rivers that flow deep beneath the surface of the land.

Pooka17.pngmon Pooka
Among uncommon pooka affinities, forest animals comprise a relatively large percentage of the population. The so-called “unassertive” animals, as expected, tend to be the most common, including beavers, skunks, squirrels, deer, and chipmunks. These animals sit low on the food chain; more prey than predator. Most are herbivores or insectivores. Certain dangerous species also belong on this list: bears, moose, wolves, wild dogs, and mountain lions.

Exotic Pooka
Over the past ten years, some very odd pooka have begun to surface. Every country in the world has its own myths regarding the role of animals. Not all pooka come from the Americas or Europe. Scholars have documented pooka with affinities that range from camels to jaguars, cobras to zebras, and yaks to penguins. Though these types of pooka are extremely rare and very surprising, they do exist.

This type of pooka tends to be more dangerous than those who have citified affinities. The wild runs more freely in their blood. Most don’t fit well in cities, though some have learned to adapt. If for no other reason, most of these pooka avoid cities because they put themselves in extreme danger when they shift into their animal affinity. Imagine the reaction of the mortal populace if a crocodile or lion were spotted in its apartment or roaming the streets. Although it doesn’t hurt pooka to remain in their humanoid form indefinitely, they grow stir-crazy and irritable if they don’t indulge their affinity from time to time. Many regular trips into the countryside for weekends of slithering, ranging, animalistic relaxation.

Pooka whose animals risk extinction walk a very fine line. Once an animal disappears from the world, the pooka related to it gradually disappear as well. Though some pooka have affinities with animals already extinct, they fear that next time around they won’t reincarnate and will disappear as well. These changelings feel the loss of the species like a never-healing wound and mourn that loss throughout their limited existence. No one knows if they can reincarnate as a more common type of pooka or if these faerie souls will be lost forever upon the death of their mortal bodies.

Insect Pooka
Alien creatures, these strange changelings have only recently begun to appear. Creepy and foreign, insect pooka have stepped from the Dreaming to put a giant, red-hot monkey-wrench in the stereotypes about their kith. Many courts welcome the more graceful of these faeries — the butterfly and moth pooka — with open arms. Others openly reject those that inspire disgust or fear.

Like other pooka, the insect pooka reincarnate into mortal bodies and grow up in human society. They have a Chrysalis just like all other commoner kith. The only difference is that when they shift into their affinity, they become creepy-crawlies. In their faerie guise, insect pooka have features that reflect their affinity. Butterfly pooka may have multi-colored hair, tattoo-like skin coloration, or even antennae. Spider pooka may have extremely odd eyes, course skin, or disturbing voiles. Whatever the case, it becomes immediately apparent that these beings differ from the standard pooka.

Nature's Call: A Pooka Primer
The odd nature of pooka raises many questions. Their diversity makes it difficult to classify them. Each pooka is an individual and each has its own quirks, strengths and weaknesses. Certain aspects of their personalities thread through them all, but even these differ in their manifestation and expression. As more and more pooka emerge from the Dream-Burrows, the other changelings are discovering that, contrary to popular belief, pooka are the most difficult of the kith to stereotype.

Rebirth
Despite what some changelings propose, all pooka reincarnate in human bodies, not animal. They spend the first part of their lives as human children, their faerie souls sleeping deep in the child’s subconscious. In this respect, they resemble all other commoner kith.

From birth to death, pooka never escape the influence of their animal affinities. Even as mortal children, pre-Chrysalis, they show personality quirks which resemble the natures of their animals. Many even end up with nicknames such as Kitty, Bear, Mouse, Animal, or Wolf. The sleeping faerie soul works its magic upon the growing mortal vessel. The human body begins to acquire features that relate directly to the appropriate animal. None are obviously inhuman. For example, a deer pooka’s mortal body may have large, brown eyes. A snake pooka may end up with an extremely thin and tall frame. The elephant pooka may grow into a big-boned, even portly, human. Hair, eyes, body-type and personality can directly reflect a pooka’s animal affinity.

Chrysalis
Most changelings experience their Chrysalis either in late childhood or somewhere in their early teens, near the onset of puberty. Others may not emerge from their mortal cocoon until adulthood. Often, a traumatic experience will trigger it, though sometimes a purely joyful event will. Every Chrysalis is unique in both the changeling’s reaction to it and in the circumstance of it.

Pooka face a particularly interesting Chrysalis, because they usually learn immediately that they can shift into the form of an animal. Sometimes a Chrysalis will result when the child instinctually retreats into their animal guise in order to escape physical danger or emotional trauma. Though this doesn’t automatically trigger the Chrysalis, it often does. Some pre-Chrysalis Kithain shift to avoid life’s hurts and black out during it, so that they don’t remember it happening. This is rare, and usually only happens once or twice before the faerie soul asserts itself and the real Chrysalis happens. This type of event puts the child at great risk. Although their subconscious won’t allow them to shift in front of onlookers, once they begins to roam in their animal guise, they do so without the caution that their mentor can teach them once they enter fosterage. Running purely on instinct at these times, they may roam far from home and wake up lost and confused. Childling pooka are extremely vulnerable.

Not all pooka experience a traumatic Chrysalis. Some get lucky and a mentor finds them before the dramatic moment. All changelings prefer this method. Some go out of their way to force a childling to Chrysalis before her time to make sure it occurs in a controlled environment. They do this by enchanting the child with an influx of Glamour. Unfortunately, this method does not always work, and pre-Chrysalis faeries often evade detection.

Shapeshifting
Pooka don’t need to learn how to shapeshift. The knowledge comes instinctively with the Chrysalis. However, there are certain aspects of shapeshifting that the changeling may have to learn the hard way. One of the most embarrassing is the fact that while the pooka’s voile and chimerical items shift with them, no other items or clothing will. This means that the pooka’s human clothing and any non-chimerical items — even treasures not specifically created to do so — are left lying on the ground beside the pooka. This explains, perhaps, the pooka’s unwillingness to burden themselves with things.

Animal Statistics
Every pooka has an animal mien with which they will eventually get into trouble. For this reason, it’s important to establish, in advance, what that animal’s statistics look like. In their animal mien, the pooka has either greater or lesser Attributes than they does in their fae mien. You can record these numbers on the pooka’s character sheet, following their regular statistics.

Because every animal has its own unique qualities, strengths and weaknesses, and because there are so very many different animals in the world, an attempt to catalog them would be pointless. When you are creating your pooka, you should work closely with your Storyteller to write statistics for your character’s animal form consistent with the game balance your Storyteller has established.
 * Physical Attributes - An animal’s size often determines its Physical Attributes but you’ll find exceptions to every rule. For example, while a boa constrictor has immense Strength, it would not necessarily be considered a large animal. Stamina should never drop below the pooka’s own score. Although one would think that a bird would have less Stamina than a faerie, it has supernatural qualities because it is a faerie in a different guise. In some instances, however, the animal mien will have a higher Stamina than the faerie mien. A pooka’s Dexterity could vary greatly between forms, however, either adding dots or removing them, based on the affinity.
 * Social Attributes - An animal’s Manipulation score mirrors that of the pooka, however their Charisma and Appearance totals may differ between forms. A particularly frightening animal Appearance will affect any Charisma rolls and vice-versa. Whereas a pooka may have only two dots in Charisma when they are in their faerie mien, they may have four dots in it if their animal affinity is an adorable puppy. By the same token, even if the pooka has four dots in Appearance when in their faerie mien, it’s ridiculous to imagine a spider with that many. The animal mien’s score reflects the change in appearance via lower scores.
 * Mental Attributes - When in their animal mien, a pooka’s Mental Attributes do not change from what they are in their faerie mien. Any special benefits such as enhanced hearing or sight, which could affect Perception, should be purchased as Merits and these then extend to the pooka in their human guise. Pooka have access to their full brain capacity and memories in their animal miens, so neither their Intelligence nor their Wits change.
 * Abilities - Many of a pooka’s Abilities become practically useless when the faerie changes shape. For example, Firearms rarely does the pooka any good in their animal mien. However, many Abilities remain constant and useful. Still others might become enhanced with the shift into animal form. For the most part, a pooka’s Knowledges don’t change. Neither do their Skills, with the possible exception of Stealth, which could increase or decrease, dependent upon the nature of the affinity. Tiny animals may have as many as ten dots in Stealth, whereas an elephant would have none. A pooka’s Talents will more than likely change in animal form, with the exception of Empathy, Kenning, Persuasion, and Streetwise. These four remain constant (although the pooka may have a difficult time persuading someone she can’t talk to).
 * Backgrounds - Background scores do not change in animal mien, though access to them may be hampered. If the pooka's contact is the same animal they are, communication is normal. A human will not understand any requests. Remembrance is just as useful in either form. As stated above, Chimerical objects change with the pooka. Treasures, unless specifically made to do so, do not. Storyteller discretion is advised.
 * Tempers - Willpower, Glamour, and Banality scores do not change in animal form.
 * Cantrips - Pooka may cast cantrips as usual when in the mien of their animal affinity; their bunks, however, obviously have a completely different flavor. Rather than recite poetry, the pooka may chase their own tail around and around ten times, or they may sit up and do an odd sort of dance. In addition, pooka spend Glamour as normal, and acquire Banality just as easily.
 * Animal Attacks - Animals have any number of ways they can do damage to another creature. To list just a few, they bite, claw, sting, butt, trample, kick, squeeze, and crush. All of these attacks cause standard, non-chimerical damage. Their success is determined by a roll of Dexterity + Brawl (difficulty 6). Determine the damage resulting from the attack by rolling the animal mien’s Strength (difficulty 6) and subtract any successes the victim gets on a Stamina roll (difficulty 6). This is done exactly as per the standard hand-to-hand combat rules.
 * Venom - Some animals have the ability to introduce venom to their victims. Not all venomous creatures actually kill with their bites or stings. Some, like bees and certain spiders, cause only a single wound level unless the victim has an allergy to that poison. Others may cause serious illness and possibly death. For the sake of simplicity, the following rule is suggested when dealing with a potentially fatal venom. A pooka with a venom attack has 4 venom damage dice. When the player rolls a successful attack, they not only roll their standard Strength damage dice, but they also begins to roll their venom damage dice. Over time, they rols a total of four times, each time reducing the number of dice they rolls by one. One roll is made every half hour of in-game time that passes. The victim reduces the damage each time with a Stamina soak roll, like any other type of damage. Unless the victim receives aid, the damage accumulates over this two-hour period, with the potential for death ever present. This applies only to venom that is potentially fatal, such as that of the rattlesnake, the black widow spider, or the scorpion. It is highly recommended that the Storyteller require the player to take the Venomous Attack Merit in order to use a venom attack during play. Few pooka should have venom this strong.

Guide to Pooka Affinities
The Pooka Kithbook offers a way of thinking of the rarity of the pooka on a scale of 0 to 5. The book suggests the Storyteller assign freebie point costs based on that value. The current editor finds that problematic as the rarity of the breed doesn't give any benefits aside from rarity. What follows is not an exhaustive list of possible pooka breeds.

Common Level 0

 * House Cats of all kinds
 * House Dogs of all kinds
 * Small Mammals: mouse, rat, squirrel, chipmunk, skunk, raccoon, hamster, gerbil

Common Level 1

 * Birds: sparrow, crow, pigeon, duck, robin, turkey, chicken, seagull, canary
 * Burrowers: mole, shrew, hedgehog, ground hog, badger
 * Farm Animals: pig, sheep, goat, cow, horse
 * Fish: catfish, perch, goldfish, lionfish, clownfish, bass, salmon, tuna, bluegill, tetra, anchovy
 * Other: crab, crayfish, lobster, king crab

Uncommon Level 2

 * Birds: penguin, peacock, cardinal, blue jay, splendid fairy wren, geese, pelican, kingfisher, warbler
 * Fish: pantherfish, blue tang, filefish, sea bass, angelfish, rock beauty, Spanish hogfish, lookdown, moonfish, short big-eye, yellowbelly hamlet, scrawled cowfish, rainbow parrotfish, queen triggerfish, silver king tarpon, puffer fish, African pompano, red hind, piranha, mudskipper
 * Large Mammals: moose, deer, mountain goat, bear, musk ox, chamois, ibex
 * Reptiles: turtle, tortoise, lizard, toad, common frog, salamander, newt, mudpuppy, iguana
 * Small Mammals: chimpanzee, slender loris, koala, fox, otter, beaver, hedgehog, porcupine, spider monkey, tapir, lemming, vole, meercat, muskrat, armadillo, bat
 * Snakes: copperhead, rattler, coral, garden, grass snake

Exotic Level 3

 * Birds: golden eagle, owl, scarlet macaw, great argus pheasant, green- backed heron, Andean condor, harlequin duck, green woodpecker, wandering albatross, sparrowhawk, ostrich, vulture, toucan, parrot, falcon
 * Fish: hammerhead shark, bonnethead shark, Atlantic sturgeon, electric eel, barracuda, lemon shark, swordfish
 * Reptiles: chameleon, thorny devil, frilled lizard, gecko

Exotic Level 4

 * Large Mammals: giraffe, elephant, zebra, okapi, kangaroo, humpback whale, dolphin, manatee, sea lion, gorilla, orangutan, wolf, bighorn sheep, camel, elk, polar bear, reindeer, caribou, cougar, jaguar, panther, mountain lion, lion, tiger, leopard
 * Small Mammals: rhesus monkey, wombat, wart hog, flying squirrel, platypus, baboon, steenbok, dik-dik, anteater, spotted cus-cus
 * Snakes: cobra, boa constrictor, asp, viper, adder

Endangered Level 5

 * Birds: king bird of paradise, Atlantic puffin, secretary bird, kea, superb lyrebird, whale-headed stork, whooping crane, flamingo, bald eagle, hoatzin, yellow-bellied sapsucker, quetzal, great crested grebe, dodo, moas, passenger pigeon, tragopan pheasant, kiwi, ibis, cassowary, emu, booby, bluebird, hummingbird
 * Fish: sea horse, octopus, snaggle tooth fish, viper fish, great white shark
 * Large Mammals: panda, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, narwhal, killer whale, blue whale, sperm whale, walrus, vicuña, springbok antelope, pronghorn antelope
 * Reptiles: crocodile, alligator
 * Small Mammals: Tasmanian devil, uakari monkey, lemur, bandicoot, aye-aye

Insects Level 5

 * Butterflies and Moths of all varieties
 * Spiders of all varieties
 * Other: wasp, common house fly, horse fly, termite, stag beetle, bumble bee, dragonfly, mantis, mosquito, flea, ladybug, ant, earthworm

Love, Lies, & Losses
So often changelings discount pooka as shallow but this is far from the truth. Pooka emotions run deep and dark. Scratching the surface of the pooka psyche reveals the face they show to the world is a lie. In order to truly understand them, one must peel away the layers, the masks, and burrow through it all to where their heart beats with rabbity flutterings.

Breaking Hearts
The clown stands in the center ring, eyes drawn wide and bright with kohl. They have masked their flush with white-face and smeared their mouth into an upward tilt with scarlet paint. Yet, as the saying goes, inside they cry. Not all pooka are clowns, but all pooka hurt and hide it; behind bravado and bullying, flowery poetry, or with overabundant optimism and proclamations of joy.

War in Concordia
It remains to be seen which side (if any) the pooka choose to support now that High King David has disappeared. Some already advocate joining the Shadow Court since they fear what the nobles may do in a war to claim the throne. Others say that the Seelie are the only real friends the pooka have. Many whisper that the pooka have no friends beyond themselves and urge a return to the Dream-burrows before it’s too late. Almost all of them agree, however, that in any conflict, the ones most likely to be overlooked and to suffer are the pooka. This time the more common may band together against such treatment with the assurance that their more exotic kin will kick butt right alongside them.

Nobodies

 * Frederick the Brave
 * Martin Long-Claw