Wechselbalg

Wechselbalg

A Wechselbalg (VEKH-sel-balkh; Germ. "changeling") is a Wesen that appeared in The Killing Time.

Folklore

Wechselbälge were the supposed explanation in the middle ages for birth defects and mental developmental disorders. Early Germans believed a demon had exchanged their real child for a Wechselbalg, which was the child of the Devil and any of the female spirits in the wilderness. Even in the late 1800s, many Europeans still assumed any disfigured child with a severe mental disorder was a Wechselbalg. It was said that Wechselbälge had fat heads, fat bodies, and skinny legs, and did nothing except eat and sleep. They were considered ill-mannered and aggressive. The real human children were assumed to have been kidnapped and raised by dwarves in the mountains. Exorcists were said to have been able to make the original child reappear in a Wechselbalg's place by either making it laugh or by being especially cruel to it.

Appearances

Wechselbälge are rare enough that even if a kill is carelessly left for discovery by Kehrseiten, the odd mass of dissolved tissue does not even give investigators a clue of the suspect.

Characteristics

Wechselbälge have 3-inch black retractable nails which they use for killing their human victims. When the nails are pressed into the skin, the prey begins dissolving into a shapeless mass of tissue. During the kill, the Wechselbalg absorbs its prey's entire identity, taking on its shape, voice, donned clothing, gender, and even knowledge. This makes a skilled Wechselbalg an effective identity thief.

In their true form, they have the appearance of a disfigured child. It is not yet known why the true form appears significantly younger than the actual age; perhaps they are related to the ever-young Sorglosgör.