The Dreaming is -- figments of imagination that are real only to those who believe in them. They can, and do, exist side-by-side with "normal" reality; it's just that for the most part, we adults can't see it.
Let us consider that great source of philosophical insight, the comic strip known as Calvin and Hobbes. Calvin is quite obviously a changeling; my guess is that he's a knocker. He has invented several amazing devices out of cardboard boxes and such (the Transmogrifier spring to mind), and he also has the semi-bitter outlook on life that is typical of knocker childlings. But Calvin isn't really the issue here; Hobbes is.
Hobbes, of course, is Calvin's chimera. Calvin is the only one that can see him in his "real" tiger form; whenever Calvin's parents walk by, all they see is a stuffed animal. This, to me, is how all mortals see chimera: as easily explainable parts of the environment. Who is to say which is the correct perception: Hobbes as stuffed animal, or Hobbes as anthropomorphic chimera? I say they both are, depending on your Glamour.
(Incidentally, Calvin's father must be a Dauntain. Calvin's fantasies immediately stop working the moment his father enters the room, and he's always getting Clavin to do drudge work to "build character", which we all know to be Dauntain-speak for "pushing the child headlong into Banality.")
Calvin's environment is wild and ever-changing, as would be expected for a childling with a hyperactive imagination. For a look at a more stable view of the Glamourous World, we turn to such sources as Don Quixote and The Maxx.
We all know how Don Quixote charged the windmill, thinking it to be a giant. Of course, we now know the truth: it really -was- a giant. The windmill "illusion" was merely a symbolic manifestation of it in a banal world. (Windmills and Giants are both tall, with large sweeping arms, and the ability to cruch things into powder with big stones.)
The Maxx -- a superhero who spends half of his time in the city, and the other half in a "dreamtime" version of Australia. Again, elements easily cross over. When the Maxx is crossing a grassy plain, he is in "reality" walking down a crowded city street. Mailboxes become boulders, buildings become faraway mountains, and a passing blimp become a fearsome Airwhale.
This is how I deal with chimera in my games. While the kithain may be battling a dragon the central park, Autumn People passers-by will see a group of people acting very oddly, miming a fight with a copse of trees that shifts and sways in the breeze as if in response to their movements, and perhaps --in the right light, for just a moment -- they can see how the trees form a silhouette reminiscent of a dragon. This they immediately dimiss as sheer foolishness, and go on about their business.
Now that chimera have been covered, it's time to deal with kithforms. As you may have already gathered, I have ruled that kithain are -always- in their kithforms, but that normal folk will see them as their seemings. Trolls may not be physically big, but they seem to radiate this aura of size and power. But the kithain always see themselves as being in their kithforms. Thus, a Troll -will- duck when going through a door that is too small for her Trollform, but is large enough for her human form. Easily enough explained -- tall people bump their heads on doorframes all the time. A habit that is very easy to get into, I've been told. (I'm only 5'3", m'self.)
All that is left, then, is "slipping into one's mortal seeming." Think back to when you were a child, playing a game of make-believe at an inopportune time -- perhaps at a fancy restaurant. Your parents tell you to behave, or else. You imagination slowly winds down, and all you're left with is the dreary, boring reality of having dinner with your parents. Your fantasy is forgotten, perhaps forever. That's taking a temporary point of banalty and slipping into your seeming.
I hope all of this made sense. It came to me at the spur of the moment, and I admit it's not very polished. I felt the topic needed to be addressed, though. To run a good changeling game, we must all remember the magic and wonder of our childhood.
Casca (bertishg@db.erau.edu)
