And thus we come once again to a moment of pause in our madcap readings, as winter's chill settles over the land (in this bit of the world, anyway). We may have an episode or three up our sleeves in the coming weeks, but assume that things will be fairly quiet until about mid-February—so we hope this report on the state of the podcast will tide you over until then. The usual episode data, some reflections on accomplishments from 2025, and fervent plans for Season Five(!) make up the core of our discussion, but as with all things of the Dreaming, you never quite know where the discussion will lead you...

In the meantime, if you want to keep in touch with us, the doors of the digital freehold are always open:

• Discord: https://discord.me/ctp
• Email: podcast@changelingthepodcast.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082973960699
• Mastodon: https://dice.camp/@ChangelingPod
• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/changelingthepodcast
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChangelingThePodcast

your hosts

Josh Hillerup (any pronoun) will be building an army of snow people to defend the Kingdom from syrup-smuggling ne'er-do-wells. Pooka G (any pronoun/they) plans to brew some eggnog from whichever oviparous chimera are available. Sphinx nog? Fenghuang nog? Amelia Fetch (she/her) has the aurora borealis localized entirely to her kitchen (but no, you may not see it).

There’s a certain Slant of light, Winter Afternoons – That oppresses, like the Heft Of Cathedral Tunes – —Emily Dickinson

Ahoy ahoy! We've moved forward to step back (in time) as we reach, at long last, the final supplement for Changeling: the Lost's first edition, Victorian Lost. This short-ish volume nevertheless packs in the information as the one historical book for the line, although we will get some shorter bits in the Dark Eras sequence coming up soon. Victorian Lost is also one of the earliest books in the Onyx Path canon, as the success of Vampire's 20th Anniversary Edition showed there was still enough of an appetite for World of Darkness material to keep the books coming. It seems fitting to wrap up one era and begin another, transitioning between editions, as we come to the end of the year and Season Four. This will be the last full-length episode before Interregnum, so we hope it is much to your anarchic and anachronistic tastes.

Naturally, the book is available for purchase through the usual channel at https://www.storytellersvault.com/en/product/102468?affiliate_id=3063731. And supernaturally, we are available for discourse through all the others:

• Discord: https://discord.me/ctp
• Email: podcast@changelingthepodcast.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082973960699
• Mastodon: https://dice.camp/@ChangelingPod
• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/changelingthepodcast
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChangelingThePodcast

your hosts

Pooka G (any pronoun/they) speaks the language of flowers and has a marked propensity for singlestick, as any foppish dandy should. Amelia Fetch (she/her) is down by the wharf with goblin fruit for sale! Goblin fruit for sale! Two for a ha'penny, ten for a groat!

History is merely gossip. But scandal is gossip made tedious by morality. —Oscar Wilde

Changelings aren't the only ones who step outside the fleshly realm from time to time. Human magi have also been known to wander the farther spaces, and it's not unreasonable that a fae might encounter one of these upstart travelers. Mage: the Ascension's 2nd edition supplement Book of Worlds provides an in-depth treatment of how these willworkers perceive and navigate the Otherworlds. The text mainly deals with the Umbrae, but also contains the first detailed description of the Dreaming—or "Maya", to use their term. (It was early 1996, so very little had even been written for Changeling: the Dreaming at that point.) In this episode, Josh and Pooka pull some highlights from the book that are most relevant to CtD players, from the dreamscapes of Hollywood to mysterious spirit-muses, a smattering of those corners of the Dreaming mages have thus far explored, a space that is indeed vast... but what percentage of infinity is that?

If you'd like to flip through the Otherworldly gazetteer yourself, check out https://www.storytellersvault.com/en/product/62217?affiliate_id=3063731 for options. Other links you might wish to click include our socials, such as:

• Discord: https://discord.me/ctp
• Email: podcast@changelingthepodcast.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082973960699
• Mastodon: https://dice.camp/@ChangelingPod
• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/changelingthepodcast
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChangelingThePodcast

your hosts

Josh Hillerup (any pronoun) is only two planets away from a free gift on the Magrathea punch-card! Pooka G (any pronoun/they) grudgingly accepts Leibniz's principle that this is the best of possible worlds, but only because baklava exists.

As for me, I am tormented with an everlasting itch for things remote. I love to sail forbidden seas, and land on barbarous coasts. —Herman Melville, Moby-Dick

Once in a while, you actually want to play the game you're into. But if you can't think of a good complex plot for your players or don't have the time, what to do? Why, the pre-packaged story, of course! The first edition of Changeling: the Lost had two of these released in the "Storyteller Adventure System" or SAS format: ENnie Award-winner "The Fear-Maker's Promise" and "The Rose-Bride's Plight". And here nearing the end of the run, The Fear-Maker's Promise Compilation collects them in print, along with a pre-generated "Personae" motley. Fetch took the extra step of running both modules for extra Storytelling insights, so tune in as we talk structures and characters while desperately maintaining our pledge of no spoilers.

NOTE: these two modules, the first one in particular, both feature some heavy themes. We don't go into deep detail about those topics in each during our discussion, but we do list some content warnings for your information, especially if you're going to pick up this book.

And speaking of picking up the book, you can do so here: https://www.storytellersvault.com/en/product/92561?affiliate_id=3063731. (For reasons unclear, it's listed as the Compendium on the Vault, despite the cover title...) The individual modules are also available at:

• The Fear-Maker's Promise: https://www.storytellersvault.com/en/product/50110?affiliate_id=3063731
• The Rose-Bride's Plight: https://www.storytellersvault.com/en/product/58429?affiliate_id=3063731
• Personae: https://www.storytellersvault.com/en/product/63120?affiliate_id=3063731

And as for us...!

• Discord: https://discord.me/ctp
• Email: podcast@changelingthepodcast.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082973960699
• Mastodon: https://dice.camp/@ChangelingPod
• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/changelingthepodcast
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChangelingThePodcast

your hosts

Pooka G (any pronoun/they) is more of a cheer-baker than a fear-maker. Stuffing waffles for everyone! Amelia Fetch (she/her) knows there's no pledge so entangling that it can't be resolved by a dance-off.

True, I talk of dreams; Which are the children of an idle brain, Begot of nothing but vain fantasy... —Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, I.iv.97–99

Whatever you need, chances are you can find it—along with a few things you absolutely don't—in the goblin markets of the Hedge and similarly liminal spaces. The market is a dumping ground for any and all story hooks, an opportunity to dole out all kinds of boons, and a space to explore the more ordinary side of fae socialization. While markets are regularly featured in Changeling: the Lost books, the eponymous book Goblin Markets goes into brisk yet exquisite detail about their mechanics and possibilities. It's a short one, clocking in at less than 50 pages, but the density of crunch gives us plenty to talk about the wonders and dangers lurking behind every tent flap. Get your fistful of trinkets for trade at the ready as we delve into the winding passages of changeling commerce. Who knows what deals you might find today?

If you're in the mood to explore a more digital market for things fae, you can pick up this volume at https://www.storytellersvault.com/en/product/64285?affiliate_id=3063731. And while you wander the online Hedge, maybe you'll stumble through one of these gateways and therein find us:

• Discord: https://discord.me/ctp
• Email: podcast@changelingthepodcast.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082973960699
• Mastodon: https://dice.camp/@ChangelingPod
• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/changelingthepodcast
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChangelingThePodcast

your hosts

Pooka G (any pronoun/they) prefers night markets where nobody can see how many goblin fruit you've quietly pilfered. Amelia Fetch (she/her) is ranked #17 in the Professional Hagglers' league due to judicious deployment of the table-flipping gambit.

Commerce! beneath whose poison-breathing shade No solitary virtue dares to spring. —Percy Bysshe Shelley, Queen Mab, IV.45–46

Once more unto the breach, dear listeners, once more... Pooka is doing the PAX Unplugged thing this weekend, and spent their Friday accosting various TTRPG creators in the expo hall for short on the spot interviews. Herewith the fruits of those labors! As always for these convention minisodes, shouting through a mask over thousands of people in a cavernous space doesn't make for the best acoustics, but hopefully everything is still audible enough for you to get a sense of these games and their creators. If you also happen to be in attendance, do check out their booths (indicated below); if not, well, that's why the gods created the internet.

The interviewees and their presences:

• Absurdist Productions (#4305), https://www.absurdistproductions.com/: Transformation and Seven Murders til Midnight
• The Bodhana Group (#4246), https://www.thebodhanagroup.org/: Branch Riders and assorted therapeutic initiatives
• The Storyteller Squad (#3934), https://www.thestorytellersquad.com/: monster of the week actual play podcast
• Bully Pulpit Games (#4349), https://bullypulpitgames.com/: Zhenya's Wonder Tales (available for pre-order on Backerkit at https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/bully-pulpit-games/zhenya-s-wonder-tales) and Durance
• Plus One Exp (#4143), https://plusoneexp.com/ and Gossamer Coast, https://www.gossamercoast.com/: Hinterlight (available on Kickstarter at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/glasscutter/hinterlight) + Robbi's Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/robbiaburns/

And then our usuals:

• Discord: https://discord.me/ctp
• Email: podcast@changelingthepodcast.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082973960699
• Mastodon: https://dice.camp/@ChangelingPod
• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/changelingthepodcast
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChangelingThePodcast

your host

Pooka G (any pronoun/they) will carry on with the ritual of acquiring remaindered 90s TTRPG books until time reverses and THAC0 lives again.

It is a happy talent to know how to play. —Ralph Waldo Emerson

The start of each day is the beginning of a new world, or so they say. As we open up the other half of our pair of liminal books, Swords at Dawn, we are reminded that this is a time of change and transition, new opportunities and new directions... in theory, at least. Whether or not the book itself bears out that theme is something we discuss at length in this week's episode. This is the "player-aspected" book of the dusk/dawn pairing for Changeling: the Lost's first edition, and the last of the full-on hardcovers to be produced for that line. Information about wars and duels, new talecrafting systems, a passel of tokens and treasures, and the optimistic Dawn Court round out this volume, each of which we consider in turn. Join us for the readthrough and see what light through yonder podcast breaks...!

The book can be purchased at https://www.storytellersvault.com/en/product/63362?affiliate_id=3063731, to which we herewith add our usual smattering of links for chitchat and whatnot:

• Discord: https://discord.me/ctp
• Email: podcast@changelingthepodcast.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082973960699
• Mastodon: https://dice.camp/@ChangelingPod
• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/changelingthepodcast
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChangelingThePodcast

your hosts

Pooka G (any pronoun/they) has perfected the art of hitting Snooze on the alarm and diving back in for the last dream's post-credits scene. Amelia Fetch (she/her) suspects that there is a secret conspiracy of early birds bent on cornering the worm market.

Mole stood still a moment, held in thought. As one wakened suddenly from a beautiful dream, who struggles to recall it, and can re-capture nothing but a dim sense of the beauty of it, the beauty! Till that, too, fades away in its turn, and the dreamer bitterly accepts the hard, cold waking and all its penalties... —Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn"

Back to the Dreaming bookshelf this week...! Pooka once again attempted to flex some language skills (with a little bit of help from WordReference) to read through Sueños en Guerra, a supplement produced as part of the Kickstarter to translate Changeling's 20th Anniversary Edition into Spanish. This short adventure has never been released in English, but the folks at Nosolorol, the official Spanish publisher for White Wolf content, were kind enough to provide a copy for review so that Pooka could skim and summarize. This minisode will cover some basics about what's in the module and a bit of discussion around the game's localized versions; mostly, this is an intermezzo until the next full-length installment.

Although the module itself is not available online for purchase, we can point you towards the Spanish–English Glosarios produced by Biblioteca Oscura (the official Spanish writers for White Wolf content) at https://www.bibliotecaoscura.com/recursosydescargas/glosarios/. The basic one for C20 that was created for the Kickstarter is in PDF form, and an extended version with terms from the rest of the line is available in GDoc form. The other X20 lines are also represented there, if you're interested! And then, depending on your Spanish or your determination to translate the auto-generated transcript, you can watch a short interview on the module with its author, Concepción Perea, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvbAY8a7pWA.

Meanwhile, the rest of the links are all about us, sorry:

• Discord: https://discord.me/ctp
• Email: podcast@changelingthepodcast.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082973960699
• Mastodon: https://dice.camp/@ChangelingPod
• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/changelingthepodcast
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChangelingThePodcast

your hosts

Pooka G (any pronoun/they) has drunk many times from the Font de Canaletes and will get back to Barcelona one day for good...

Por la calleja vienen extraños unicornios. ¿De qué campo, de qué bosque mitológico? [Through the lanes come strange unicorns. From what fields, from what mythological forest?] —Federico García Lorca, "Procesion [Procession]", tr. Lysander Kemp