While mortals scoff at Japanese monster movies, tales of clawed and fanged beasties, or the bogeyman, changelings do not have that luxury. Chimerical monsters not only exist, but can seriously harm Kithain. Chimera can interact with the real world, opening doors and using objects from the mundane environment so long as mortals are not present. This means that changelings cannot escape inimical chimera simply by slipping through the nearest door and shutting it behind them unless the room they enter is full of mortal humans. Of course, fleeing into a room of highly creative mortals (such as might be found at an FX studio or in an artists' colony) may not prove to be as effective. Chimera thrive on Glamour just as changelings do, and can sometimes project themselves into the -mundane world in the presence of creative mortals. Like chimerical weapons, a chimerical monster's claws and teeth can rip away a changeling's memory of her true self while rending her faerie mien.
Though this may seem a small penalty compared to a hero's "death" within the jaws of a dragon, the changeling still feels the pain as if it were real and loses her faerie identity. She might recover it given time and an infusion of Glamour, but it is also possible that she may never remember who she really is. Creatures of fantasy monsters may be, but they pose serious threats to changelings. Possibly the least controllable and most dangerous of foes are the chimerical monsters known as nervosa. Born from madness, these frightening beings may look „,, like normal humans, animals or strange lien creatures — or they may have no bodies at all. By the nature of their very creation, these chimera are insane. Their actions make no sense, their powers may well be unfathomable, and the rules under which govern their existence often change from moment to moment. Like the madness that brought them forth, nervosa rarely fit any recognizable patterns or shapes. They cannot be classified according to what sort of madness formed them or how they might react to different stimuli.
Some have been known : to develop intelligence beyond that granted to them by madness. Such rare creatures may become even more dangerous, or fearful of having their existences ended. Many disappear into the Dreaming soon after becoming self-aware. Among of the most feared chimera are the noctnitsa, which take their forms from a changeling's nightmares. They usually assume shapes that directly or symbolically echoes a changeling's greatest and most debilitating phobia (such as becoming a gigantic poison-dripping spider to those who are pathologically terrified of arachnids). Endowed with obsessive malice, noctnitsa are mostly mindless, but driven to torment their creators.
Some believe noctnitsa are a form of nervosa, though both the sane and the mad can birth them. Many monsters take the form of mythical or legendary creatures, such as dragons or griffins. Other possible shapes are goblinoids, feral animals or things that never existed beyond the realm of human imagination. Whether these were created by changelings or from the collective subconscious of humanity, they are not usually under anyone's control. Many are truly fearsome, gigantic and terribly old. Some chimera claim that they are the remnants of fantastic creatures that existed before the Shattering. Others claim they were created by the sidhe to test their knights, and keep the peasants in line and begging for protection.
Seen and UnseenWhich is worse, the monster you can see or the one you can't? Some changelings fear nervosa who have physical bodies, because they can cause deadly injuries. Many changelings, however, believe that nervosa that have no bodies are the most dangerous and potentially the most unnerving. Imagine a creature that you know to be insane is following just behind you wherever you go. You can hear its footsteps, feel its breath upon your neck, smell its reek and sense its malevolent intent, but you can neither see nor touch it. Of course, it can't touch you either—unless the rules that govern its behavior abruptly change, and it decides to rip your head off when you aren't looking.