Thallain

Thallain are the Unseelie cousins of the Kithain, servants of the Fomorians created from primal, savage dreams.

Overview

The Thallain have been forgotten for many centuries, and few of them have been seen on Earth since the Mythic Age. Most of their ancestors have been spawning in Arcadia for centuries, but when the Shining Host fled, an army of darkness harried the sidhe from the world they lost. As Endless Winter approaches, stories of boggarts, ogres, Ganconer and bean sidhe are on the rise.

Some loremasters claim that the five races listed below are actually Lesser Thallain. They claim that these kith are allegedly working as Earthly shock troops for their Arcadian masters. Although they work well as spies, infiltrators, or grunts, they rarely do well in positions of authority, and supposedly play a secondary role in the Shadow Court. Unseelie conspirators proclaim, behind closed doors, that this system of organization is merely paving the way for a further invasion by Arcadia. Other loremasters consider their colleagues to be shifty and deceptive pseudointellectuals who pretend to know more than they actually do, and they are not terribly surprised when one of their academic rivals is said to have been eaten.

This is much is known, though: Thallain do not have Seelie Legacies, and they can never become Seelie. In fact, each one has two Unseelie Legacies. Their only real moral dilemma is deciding which type of feckless exploitative bastard to become. The Thallain character must choose which of the Legacies is dominant at a given time.

They do not owe fealty to the nobles, although some of them impersonate Unseelie kith for the sake of their own survival. The Lesser Thallain races on Earth have been hiding or passing themselves off as other kith largely because they are not protected by the Escheat. That system of law is reserved for the European-based Kithain, who have forsaken their heritage to masquerade as humans. Thallain make no pretense of being human. They are vile, wicked creatures, ready and willing to serve the twisted agenda of the Shadow Court. Whether Arcadia is watching or not, the Lesser Thallain are listening and waiting.

Edition Differences

The major difference between the two depends on edition; in Changeling: The Dreaming Second Edition, while Kithain each have a Seelie and Unseelie Legacy, the Thallain possess two Unseelie Legacies – a Thallain can never possess any Seelie legacy nor can they be part of the Seelie Court. In 20th Edition, Thallain instead have a normal Legacy (usually Unseelie, but not always), and a Nightmare Legacy that implores them to acts of selfishness and cruelty.

Kiths

The various Thallain kith and their related Kithain kith are as follows:

• Aithu (Eshu)
• Beasties (Pooka)
• Boggarts (Boggans)
• Bogies (Sluagh)
• Goblins (Nockers)
• Murdhuacha (Merfolk)
• Ogres (Trolls)
• Spriggans (Piskies)

The following Thallain kiths were only introduced in C20 and were not present in prior editions:

• Bodachs (Clurichauns)
• Ghasts (Redcaps)
• Huaka’i po (Menehune)
• Kelpies (Selkies)
• Lurks
• Mandragoras (Ghille Dhu)
• Nasties (Satyrs)
• Night Hags
• Sevartal (Sidhe)
• Skinwalkers (Nunnehi)
• Weeping Wights

See also: gallain, adhene

References

• CTD: The Shadow Court
• WOD: World of Darkness: Blood-Dimmed Tides
• CTD: The Fool's Luck: The Way of the Commoner
• CTD: Kithbook: Eshu