Thought-crafter

The Thought-crafters are a Family of the Nunnehi, a type of Changeling native to North America.

Overview

Common to most of the Algonquin people of the East, these native faeries are thought to be the children born of tales about the mythical hero Manabus, credited with bestowing upon humans the secret of fire and other skills necessary to their survival. Like Manabus, thought-crafters delight in making things and creating something new. They see the process of invention as a way of bringing the Middle World into harmony with the Upper World of the spirits.

Most of the human tribes who revered the thought-crafters have dwindled to a few remnants along the Atlantic coast. In the Southeast, these native faeries tend to congregate along the Chesapeake and in the Tidewater region of Virginia. These persistent Nunnehi continue to keep alive the hope that one day their dreams will reopen the gates to the Higher Hunting Grounds and reawaken the hopes of their mortal Dreamers. To this end, thought-crafters all dedicate themselves to finding new ways to bridge the gap between the mortal world and the Dreaming. They do this through perfecting some kind of handicraft and by creating stories and poems meant to inspire creativity in those who hear them.

In addition to their inventiveness and artisanship, thought-crafters have also inherited the trickster streak attributed to Manabus, often identified with the Great Hare or Trickster Spirit. Youngling thought-crafters display a prankishness that lasts well into their transition to braves, while elders often use puzzles and tricks as teaching aids.

Thought-crafter encampments lie concealed within the boundaries of national parks, forests and other areas designated as wilderness preserves. Here they maintain their old customs and work to repair the broken ties that once connected the Middle World with the Higher Hunting Grounds. In some areas, thought-crafters maintain showcase villages in the mortal world; historic reconstructions that double not only as freeholds but as living-history museums. Here mortals can experience life as it was before the arrival of European colonists. Those Nunnehi who act as caretakers-in-residence in these villages see themselves as ambassadors from the Dreaming.

Today, thought-crafters support many of the restitution movements among the remnants of the Algonquin tribes from Maine to Virginia. In the tradition of the Powhatans, who first sought peace between their people and the pale-skinned settlers from across the sea, the thought-crafters seek to forge new relations between themselves and the sons and daughters of those who displaced their ancestors. This time, however, they will not settle for the short end of the bargain.

Appearance

Thought-crafters resemble idealized versions of the various Algonquin tribes who serve as their Dreamers and whose human forms host their faerie natures. Both males and females wear their dark hair long and sometimes style it elaborately. Though they usually favor traditional dress from their host tribe, many thought-crafters adopt modem dress when they leave their faerie holdings and interact with the mortal world.

Lifestyles

The thought-crafters tend to live in secluded wilderness encampments as near to the original tribal lands of their human tribes as possible. Some prefer to dwell in cities along the Chesapeake and in Tidewater Virginia, near the remnants of their mortal kin, making periodic visits to wild places to refresh their supply of Medicine.

Seemings

• Younglings demonstrate an incorrigible curiosity and a fearless nature. Their large, dark eyes sparkle with barely contained impishness. Fond of games and pranks, most younglings also enjoy making things (although their initial attempts at inventions often have unusual and surprising results).

• Braves frequently decorate their bodies with ceremonial tattoos and body paint to signify important changes in their lives. Handsome, like their mortal kin, they take great pride in their appearance. Thought-crafter braves attend powwows and craft fairs throughout the country, demonstrating their creative talents and serving as emissaries to other Nunnehi tribes.

• Elders tend to spend most of their time close to home, gathering Medicine and focusing their energies on attempts to reopen the doors to the Higher Hunting Grounds. They dress more conservatively than braves or younglings; though elders age more slowly than mortals, their faces begin to show the weight of years and mortality.

Birthrights & Frailty

Birthrights

• Affinity: Prop
• Nimble Fingers, Clever Minds: Thought-crafters gain one extra dot in Dexterity and Wits, even if it raises those Attributes to 6. In addition, when involved in physically manipulating objects or solving puzzles or riddles, they may lower their difficulty for such rolls by one. This bonus to Wits affect both the character's mortal seeming and fae mien, while Dexterity only affects the character's fae mien and cannot be used in the presence of mortals.
• Inspiration: Their dedication to healing the rift between the Middle World and the Higher Hunting Grounds makes it possible for thought-crafters to restore Medicine to those who have lost it. Successful attempts to harvest Medicine gain the thought-crafter one additional point. They can also bestow this ability on other Nunnehi who accompany them in their quest for Medicine. Being in the presence of a thought-crafter for a day and a night enables Ravaged mortals and hopelessly banal changelings to regain some of their stolen creativity (changelings gain a point of Glamour, while mortals regain their creative spark). Whether a changeling who has become Undone can be restored in this manner is the Storyteller's discretion.

Frailty

• Call of the New — Thought-crafters find it almost impossible to resist the lure of new experiences. Whenever one of these Nunnehi faces something they have never done before, they must make a Willpower roll (difficulty 8) in order to resist attempting it. Obviously suicidal actions such as leaping off cliff faces or jumping into a vat of toxic waste do not require rolls to resist; they aren't crazy, just curious.

View of Others

• May-may-gway-shi: How long will they survive when their beloved rivers and seas fall prey to the wastes of thoughtless mortals? It is our duty to hasten the return of the way to the Higher Hunting Grounds so that we can once again cleanse the world. The rock fishers' survival depends on it.
• Nanehi: Our Southern cousins understand the importance of preserving traditions, but they are too afraid to make new traditions. If they could look forward instead of backward, they would be worthy of their high opinions of themselves.
• Yunwi Amai'hine'hi: The water people, like the rock fishers, suffer from the carelessness of mortals, yet they don't spend much time bemoaning their fate. They share with us the spirit of the trickster. This gives us much in common.
• Yunwi Tsundsi: Like us, these little people enjoy making things of beauty and usefulness. If they would show themselves more often, we might become fast friends.
• Non-Nunnehi Kithain: With the exception of the eshu, who did not come to this land with dreams of conquest, we deal most carefully with the changelings who have invaded our ancestral lands. Some are worthy of trust, but others do not understand that they are usurpers. We actively seek alliances with the eshu; they, too, respect tradition and know the value that stories have in preserving our connection with the Dreaming.

Known Thought-crafters

• Aiyana Flower-That-Blooms

References

1. CTD. Kingdom of Willows, p. 168-169.