A Year & A Day: Tikbalang

Changeling: the Dreaming

Homebrew Rules

Character Creation Guide Download: Tikbalang.pdf

Quoth the Tikbalang:

“Mommy? Is that you Mommy? I’m scared, and I hurt my leg… please hurry and save me…”

Kith Excerpt:

Of all the Aswang (Supernatural society of the Phillipines), none have deserved their ill reputation more-so than the Tikbalang. Also called Bentohangin, this horse-headed Kapatiran (Kith) is notorious for its dark passions and depraved waylaying of mortals. While it is all too easy to paint them as Lewenri (Unseelie), to do so would be a grave injustice to the Unseelie.

The Aswang have a special role among the Kapatiran. While the Nuno protect and Tamawo look pretty, the Tikbalang challenge. Their abilities of misdirection and subterfuge ensure that the right people are in the right places at the right time. Sure some of the more unsavory of Tikbalang led a choice few to their mortal demise, but the Tikbalang reason that this is a sure way of weeding out those who can’t make the cut.

It should also be noted that while the Tikbalang may be a rough gang of upstarts, they do play by the rules to an extent. They’re not sociopathic monsters, (well not by much) and aren’t cold-blooded murderers (all of the time). The Tikbalang are no different than any other Aswang, they just enjoy their role as ne’er-do-wells more than most do.

Flavor

“It is not unusual for the eye or ear to play tricks with one, but when such illusions and delusions are taken for the Spirit forms of the departed and voices of the dead instead of being recognized as some subjective phenomena brought about by a physical cause, the situation takes on a grave aspect.” – Harry Houdini