Changelings

"You ask for my 'real' name? My Dear, I have been a Duke for ten years, a milkmaid for five, and a goblin scout for a week. They were all real. They all loved, they all bled, and they all paid their taxes. To be one thing is to be a stone. To be many things... that is to be water. And water always finds a way."

— Odo, Priest of the Traveler

Origins: The Gift of the Traveler

• The First Face: The myth speaks of a woman - sometimes a fleeing princess, sometimes a battered wife - who was cornered by her enemies. She prayed to The Traveler for a way out. The Traveler did not save her; he gave her the power to save herself by becoming someone else.
  
• The Divine Blessing: Changelings view their shapeshifting not as a curse or a biological quirk, but as a Sacrament. To change one's shape is to honor the Traveler's gift. It is a holy act of adaptability.
  
• The Diaspora: Because they can look like anyone, they have no "homeland." Their homeland is the crowd. They are everywhere and nowhere, living within other cultures like threads woven into a tapestry.

Cultural Values: The Fluid Truth

• The Great Imitation: They do not have their own holidays; they celebrate yours. If a Changeling is living as a Dwarf, they will fast on the Day of Stone with genuine reverence. They are the ultimate empaths, fully immersing themselves in the lives they adopt.

 
• Stagnation is Sin: To a devout Changeling, staying in one form for an entire lifetime is wasteful. It is like being given a library and only reading one page. They are encouraged to live "Many Lives."

 
• The Persona: Changelings are masters of the art of the Persona. A Persona is a fully realised identity - with habits, allergies, and a favourite colour. Some Changelings maintain 3 or 4 Personas at once, switching between them as needed.