A Year & A Day: Ettercaps
Changeling: the Dreaming
Homebrew Rules
Character Creation Guide Download: Ettercaps.pdf
Quoth the Ettercap:
“Yes, yes. I saw that accident in the Newspapers. It was very terribly sad, wasn’t it? Yes… terribly sad.”
Kith Excerpt:
The Ettercaps are a very old-world Fae. Their name derives from Old English, Atter-Kops, meaning poison heads. This term also became synonymous with a cold or impersonal mortal in long-forgotten old Scottish Parlance. This callousness on behalf of the Ettercap, however, does not stem from just their detached demeanor, but from an alien mindset. The Ettercaps do not see themselves as tied to just the Fae, nor do they claim kinship to any of the Old-Gods so popular with the Celts. Ettercaps claim lineage to an ancient and forgotten race of the Dreaming that has no need for mortals, or Gods. Who or what their ancestors were remains a mystery to all but them, but it can be inferred that the Ettercap’s spidery nature is a clue.
Ettercaps will never forget where they came from and because of this show great respect and deference to spiders in the modern world. While it doesn’t manifest as a strong enough to warrant their birthright, they can communicate with any and all spiders (as the Friend to Spiders merit as found in Kith Book Sluagh). While the communication manifests only as images or impressions, a great amount of information can be gained with spiders by these means.
The Ettercaps today maintain relations with other Kith, they join motleys, and go on quests. They feign smiling when it is time to smile, and force salt-tears when they realize something sad is happening. Yet for all of this, an Ettercap does not enjoy the smile, nor does he suffer the pain which brings forth the tears. The true mastery of the Ettercaps is that so very few of the Kithain know that the Ettercaps exist. And those that do may not even realize that the sharp-eyed Sidhe in their motley, the one with the dapper clothing, and the cold alluring smile isn’t a Sidhe at all. This is what the Ettercaps do. They infiltrate with their camouflage of beauty, they make “friends,” and they exist side-by-side with their Motley, secretly carrying out Machiavellian machinations that only they and their ancestors can comprehend. These plans are inscrutable to all but other Ettercaps: Gathering Tass, having spiders drive a nice family out of a flat, or even saving an orphanage. While these undertakings may seem evil, good, or obsessive to others – to the Ettercaps, they just are.
Flavor
“Ettercap, Ettercap Spinnin your threid, Midges for denner, an Flees for your breid; Sic a mishanter Befell a bluebottle, silk roond his feet- Your haund at his throttle!” – Traditional Scots Verse
