Oh! I got plenty of time
Oh! You got light in your eyes
And you’re standing here beside me
I love the passing of time
Never for money, always for love
Cover up and say goodnight, say goodnight
Home, is where I want to be
But I guess I’m already there
I come home, she lifted up her wings
I guess that this must be the place
– Talking Heads, “This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)”
As changeling blood relatives, the Kinain occupy a position of frailty and importance to changelings, fated with continuing their bloodlines and experiencing all the glory and danger associated with the Dreaming. Mortals blessed with a touch of the Dreaming have always existed alongside their more explicitly fae cousins. Sometimes these beings act as the Kithain’s stewards through unforgiving times when dreams are crushed and imagination is a luxury. Sometimes the court whipping boy is Kinain, mocked for being merely a human with a few tricks. Some changelings view the Kinain as equals. No matter their position in changeling society, the Kinain have always been there.
The children of changelings lucky enough to inherit a bit of their parents’ magic are the Kinain. With magic suffusing her very soul, a Kinain need never fear the Mists taking away her scrap of Glamour or the memories of friends and family in the Dreaming. It’s all the easier to lose oneself in the Dreaming when the world of the mundane is home. The upside of this is slight proficiency in a particular Art, and minor traits of a changeling parent’s kith making themselves known. The daughter of a sidhe might not be have her father’s supernatural beauty, but may carry herself with a sense of regal grandeur. A satyr’s son, meanwhile, might be as hairy as you’d expect, but prefer to spend his nights playing video games alone over partying and excess. Like most aspects of the Dreaming, the nature of fae blood is capricious and unpredictable.
The Kinain tend to act as a bridge between human and changeling society. A decent-sized freehold has two or three Kinain “on call” for situations too Banal for changelings to handle. They are, as a rule, expected to put their changeling “betters” above all else, and come to the aid of the freehold at the drop of a hat. Unless she’s lucky enough to have a noble for a parent, the Kinain doesn’t get a say in things. In emergencies, concessions can be made, and commoners are likely to understand if they can’t get assistance right away, but woe be unto the fae-blooded that can’t come when her Queen calls because she has a double shift at work that night. (Of course, in the modern era, even nobles understand enough about mundane life that they sympathize with a Kinain’s situation. Some sidhe feel that even acknowledging non-fae concerns like employment and school is acquiescence to Banality, and refuse to do it lest they undermine their own authority. Kinain — and even Kithain — stuck in such a freehold have some difficult choices to make.)
Traditionalist Kithain often see Kinain as inherently lesser. Such thoughts lead to terrible things happening. A noble with strong views on the use of cantrips might forbid the education of Kinain in even the small amount of magic she can use, for reasons ranging from the political (a strong sense of who is and isn’t fae) to arbitrary (personal distaste for the Kinain). Once again, the children of nobility are often exempt from these laws. Even the most hardline traditionalist in the nobility is forced to admit that having a Kinain in her freehold is a wise choice.
Dealing with the Autumn world means dealing with Banality, and it’s much safer to have someone for whom that isn’t an issue rather than risk the lives of one’s dearest allies. Perks aside, most fae-blooded adventure with changelings for the same reason anyone involved in the Dreaming does so: for fun, excitement, and to keep imagination alive in a world that wants to crush it. When one’s options are sitting at home and watching TV, or slaying a dragon with a troll for the elf queen, it’s not a difficult choice. Beyond any singularly selfish reasons, a motley offers friendship, companions, and family.