Changeling head-canon

Changeling HeadCanon:

>General Info

Changelings live in hives, similar to IRL bees or ants, commanded by a single matured female (aka. Queen). The population of the hive is dominated by the undeveloped female drones (~80% of total population) who are further divided into gatherers (working outside the hive, ~50% of total population) and workers (working inside the hive, ~30% to total population). Princesses (~18%) are immature females who act as handlers to the gatherers as well as military commanders during the all-too-common hive-on-hive conflicts. The final ~2% consists of the Queen herself and the male Princes.

 

They are inherently magical beings and capable of limited telepathy. Drones can't speak in their base form and uses this to connect to the Hivemind. The Queen uses it to command the hivemind as well as keep in contact with her princesses and conduct diplomacy with other Queens.

 

All changelings are capable of both flight and limited magic, specializing in illusions. While they can survive on meat for limited periods of time, they primarily feed on magic, or 'love' as it is commonly called due to an old belief that sprung from their use of loved ones to absorb ambient magic, but are incapable of producing it on their own. As such, they are locked in a parasitical symbiosis with other sapients.

[Friendship is Magic -> Philios is Magic -> Love is Magic]

 

The carapace of a changeling is coloured to match their Queen. Drones without a queen are known as Feral and can be identified by their greyed out colours. They are most often encountered following a hive being wiped out due to inter-hive warfare or gatherers that get separated from their princess and are generally killed on sight but some weaker hives have been known to capture and assimilate them to boost their own numbers.

 

A changeling can intuitively read a target's mind based on abstract 'spheres'. Mannerisms can be read on sight, even by drones, while more detailed knowledge must be extracted by a princess or a queen. Things that the target is open about, behaviour patterns, friends and family, cultural knowledge (favourite bands, sport teams, art works, etc.) can be read on limited contact if target is held subdued. In depth knowledge such as the exact nature of a social connection (even things that the target may be trying to hide from itself, ie feelings), vocational knowledge and schooling, things that the target is trying to keep others from finding out but aren't really secrets, and such can be read if kept for a prolonged period. Guarded secrets and things that the target is adamant about the changelings not finding out about are impossible to read and must be brought out via interrogation which is most usually performed through mindgames, mimicking loved ones or close relations, emotional starvation and isolation, and other torture techniques.

 

>Drones

A Drone is the quintessential changeling, as they are the most common. They are all technically female but are biologically incapable of sexual development due to not having been exposed to Royal Goo during infancy. They share a telepathic hivemind and are barely more than insects, intelligence wise, when isolated. The magnitude of the hivemind depends on the number of drones in range but can be 'boosted' by a princess or queen who are capable of committing part of their own intelligence to the hivemind. Despite limited intelligence, drones are instinctively very capable mimics which they use to infiltrate and gather the love of communities. Drones are only capable of passively absorbing ambient magic while their greater sisters are capable of actively draining it from a sapient.

 

Each drone considers itself part of the hive and lacks individuality [similar to the way that the Borg or the Geth function]. Studies have shown that each drone has its own personality, however, as the personality of the hivemind can be altered by exchanging drones in and out of it. The current theory is that the personality of a hivemind is an amalgamation of the personalities of the drones that share it.

 

As a drone infiltrates a community and feeds, it can develop an individuality, similar to how deep undercover can blur the lines between the cover and the actual agent, IRL. This is seen as a necessary evil by the Queens who do their best to rotate drones between gatherer and worker duties.

 

>Princesses

A princess is a female that was hatched in royal goo, producing a larger, smarter, fully sapient, changeling. They are capable of sexual development but do not do so while they are part of a Hive with an active Queen. Due to the uncooperative nature of changelings, it is unclear whether this is an active choice on behalf of the princess or due to hormonal suppression controlled by the Queen. They are primarily deployed as commanders and handlers during operations outside of the hivemind's range of influence where a central command is needed but the queen can not, or will not, go for whatever reason.

 

Should the queen die, the princesses compete in a game of cunning with the most cunning princess outmanoeuvring her sisters and finally mature to a fully fledged Queen. During such civil wars, the hive will be very vulnerable to invaders as no solid defence structure can be maintained. After the new Queen has established control, she will mate with one of the princes the harem or seek out a new male from an allied hive. A princess needs only mate once in her life after which she can lay millions of eggs.

 

>Princes

Changeling males are very dissimilar to their sisters. While female changelings are subtle and cunning, males are extravagant and prideful. Their one use within changeling society is to be offered to other hives as gifts to solidify alliances or to fertilize a virgin princess, after which they die. Being non-working, their life in the hive is pampered and slothful, as such they are a great strain on the hive's resources and are kept as a display of power. They are also the first to be pruned should a hive's prosperity start to suffer and are exiled if they grow too old to fertilize a princess.

 

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Possible Loot from a changeling encounter:

Goo is sterile, antimicrobial, staunches bleeding and encourages regeneration. Not fast acting enough for use in combat, but good for long-term healing of open wounds. Needs direct contact with the wounded area to help healing, external injuries only. Goes dry when exposed to air for long periods of time, needs to be used fresh or kept in a sealed container. Non-magical.

 

Stasis-pods provide full life-support for anyone inside, but is in a completely vegetative state during immersion. Fantastical but technically non-magical

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