There was some discussion on how Fae are reborn and as what. Well, I just thought that I'd give you my take on the subject and let you deal with it or tear it apart as you would.
Commoners are reborn, provided they didn't die by Cold Iron. Everyone knows that because that's what's in the book and it is mentioned that the Sidhe are an exception. Well, there's an exception to the exception, the Scathach Sidhe are reborn as the commoners are, as are any Sidhe who stayed on Earth during the Interregnum and managed to learn the trick.
No one knows what happens to the Sidhe when they die, just that they don't come back as the commoners do, in the same Kith as their former life, and it is rumored that they come back as commoner, a fate thought by many to be worse than death. Many claim to know the truth, but no one's talking. There's a very good reason for this, so the Storytellers can decide for themselves what the deal is, and this is the Truth according to me. I love having Storyteller authority. ::smile::
In my world view, when the Sidhe die, they hover, stuck, in between worlds, unable to return to Earth because they are dead and unable to go to Arcadia because the doors are shut. Some few, through the gift of a wake, are able to choose to return to Earth, as the commoners do, and as Commoner. Very few accept this opportunity, for the Sidhe arrogance and pride is unmatched in the Dreaming. Only those with tremendous reason, or some other mitigating circumstance, are able to make the journey back and accept the fundamental change that a Kith change entails, though they will always be touched by a native nobility.
The first incarnation after such a change is one of the most difficult, especially if the former sidhe is able to remember much of anything of who he or she used to be. They often have powerful Gremayre and there is a bit of confusion at the time of the Chrysalis. for the Fae, the Kith is obvious at Chrysalis, the marks are upon the Fledge and any can see them. For the first incarnation of a reborn Sidhe, often the Kithform is indistinct, often cloaked by a cloud of Glamour or something else, until the Saining, where it is cleared up.
The kith that a reborn Sidhe becomes depends largely on the nature of the individual Fae, with certain Houses leaning towards certain Kiths. For the Eiluned it is the Sluagh or the Eshu, for the Liam it is Eshu as well, for Fiona it is the Satyr or perhaps the Pooka, for mighty Gwydion it is the Troll, and for Dougal it is the Boggan or the Knocker. Any Sidhe could become any commoner Kith though, depending on the individual's characteristics. There is a Dougal Sidhe in one of the suppliments, I think it's the Toybox, who should have been Pooka, and would be one, if she died and was able to make the journey back.
It is possible, under other circumstances, for a Fae to change Kith, though this is such a fundamental shift in the nature of the Fae that it is not usually done voluntarily. A tremendously powerful Geasa combined with an equally powerful Renaming could manage it, and indeed, it is rumored that a Sidhe lady before the Shattering, very shortly before actually, turned a human child into a Sidhe, though the rumors usually include the comment that the Sidhe lady in question took upon herself a terrible price in order to accomplish such magic. It is also possible for a Mage using Life and Spirit to change a Fae's Kith, though this would be easiest upon an unborn Fae, perhaps one making the transition from Sidhe to commoner, or upon a Fae in the first incarnation after Sidhe. It is rumored that the Garou may have a very powerful gift which could accomplish the same thing, but I don't know the truth of that.
Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, Kith is considered one of the more immutable aspects of a Fae's existance. The idea of changing Kith is almost alien, which is why those rumors about Sidhe coming back as commoner are thought of as being worse than death.
Return to Interpretations of Changeling