A Year and A Day: Maenads

Changeling: the Dreaming

Homebrew Rules

Character Creation Guide Download: Maenads.pdf

Quoth the Maenad:

“Euon! Euon! Eu-Oi-oi-oi!”

Kith Excerpt:

The Maenad, also called the Bacchai, Bassarids, Thyasoi, Thyiades, or Potniades, have a long and torrid history in the annals of Greek Mythology. Followers of the Mad-God Dionysus (Bacchus to the Romans), it was this all-woman Kith that raped and murdered the poet demi-god Orpheus. This is something that the dreaming still hasn’t fully forgiven, and their curse of abandon (the Dípsa tou aímatos) will haunt them the whole of their existence.

While a distinctively Greek Fylí (Kith), the Kith boasts family from all nations. African wild-woman and Asian dragon ladies with a penchant for strong sake call each other sister alongside the Greco-centric Maenads that still call their Wild Islands home. While not necessarily a unified kith by any means, they still gather during certain nights (the Heliades [Seelie] during the new moon, and the Keres [Unseelie] during the full-moon) to sing, dance, drink, and perform their rite of Oreibasia. May the Gods help the mortal man that spies them during these rites.

Their penchant for divination has also enabled them to maintain a rather jet-set lifestyle. This wealth is important when considering some of their more unsavory practices may garner some unwanted attention. Yet despite their sordid history, their Dreaming laid curse and dark cravings, the Maenad get along surprisingly well. The modern world encourages strong expressions, and the Maenad are anything but weak. If anything, they are too strong. Their berserker rages and lack of restraint has gotten not a few of the numbers in dire straits over the years.

Flavor

“Bronze is the mirror of the form; wine, of the heart.”
— Aeschylus, 525-456 BC

“Black and white and red and blue, Things that look good on you
And if I scream don’t let me go, A purple stain I know.”
– Red Hot Chili Peppers, “Purple Stain”