Banality and Things of the Dreaming

The child next door has a wreath on her hat; her afternoon frock sticks out like that, All soft and frilly; She doesn't believe in fairies at all (She told me over the garden wall) — She thinks they're silly. — Rose Fyleman, "The Child Next Door"

Banality is disbelief, pure and simple — disbelief in what people cannot see and hear, disbelief in magic, monsters and  faeries. Disbelief in the extraordinary. It deliberately cuts off the mind from anything that might challenge preconceived notions. It is the stamping-out of individuality and childish whim,  which kills creativity and denies that anything exists beyond what is evident and explainable.

Intended to insulate mortals from the terrors of the World of Darkness, Banality erases beauty and vibrancy and dulls fears.Just as humanity's beliefs and dreams created the Dreaming, its disbelief shattered the magic, ripping the Dreaming apart from the mundane world. That same deadening force continues to plague changelings. It can erode a changeling's sense of her fae soul, and harm those objects and creatures made from Glamour, sometimes destroying them altogether.

Inanimate chimera possessed by a changeling (such as her clothing or weaponry) may be a little better protected. Those not actually among a changeling's accouterments, however, may be disrupted when exposed to too much Banality. Because so many people carry  the seeds of Banality within them, animate chimera avoid humans whenever possible. Most fade from sight whenever any humans are about, hoping to preserve themselves.

These chimera can also be dispelled by the touch of Banality, which wounds them, ripping away the Glamour of which they are made. Some mortals have no creativity at all. These deprived beings, known as Autumn People, actually suck the Glamour out of whatever they touch, leaving grayness and Banality in their wake. Autumn People are greatly feared by changelings (and intelligent chimera), for they are the antithesis of everything the Kithain hold dear.

Persons with very high Banality, such as Autumn People or Dauntain (changelings who have rejected their faerie natures), can sometimes destroy chimera merely by being nearby. Chimera are fragile and ephemeral in the face of Banality, as they usually have only a small bit of Glamour to sustain them. This is another reason why sentient chimera often desert the mundane world in favor of the Dreaming.

The Mists and Enchantment

Banality has other effects as well. One of these is known as the Mists. When disbelief banished most of the fae from this world and destroyed much of the Glamour that sustained them, it also erected a "curtain" between the magical and the mundane. This nebulous, invisible shield keeps changelings from remembering Arcadia, causing their former lives as true fae to fade from recollection. The Mists also veil the activities of Glamour from mortals, destroying their memories of any supernatural occurrences they may have witnessed.

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