[Headhunter]

What exactly is a changeling I've their section in Run Faster and I'm still not sure what they are?

[MijRai]

During the last pass of Halley's Comet, a rather large spike in the mana-sphere occurred.  As this happened, it basically 'unlocked' a bunch of junk Awakened DNA in a small percentage of people, causing a lot of random mutations (both 'natural' and paranatural).  This is called SURGE.  A number of people died from their SURGE if it was too extreme, while others ended up being furry or avian or something along those lines.  Year of the Comet describes a lady who basically turned into a cat-girl (and then went straight to the porn industry), Baka Dabora, out of Street Legends, is pretty much a toned-down frog-man (who can't swim, by his own admittance).  SURGEs are classified into 3 categories;
SURGE I is the least extreme.  Oh look, they've got a tail, or funny eyes or something.  Generally somewhat concealable. 
SURGE II is moderate, difficult to conceal; a lot of SURGEs take 'themes', and this is where you get a lot of your literal furries, things like that.
SURGE III is extreme physiological changes, pretty much impossible to conceal.  You can get some crazy stuff with this. 

Back when the SURGE first occurred, a lot of people were freaking out, thought it might be a contagious disease, etc.  Riots and mobs occurred, people died on both sides, bad shit all around.  One of the big ork non-violent protesters, one who survived the Night of Rage, died protecting a SURGE victim. 
Additionally, the Nartaki human metavariant is technically a SURGE race, just one that was common enough to justify making it a new 'race', as it were.  All Nartaki (besides the ones being born) were people bathing in the Ganges River when a mana-surge went by, cleansing the waters and transforming humans. 

[Medicineman]

small add-on concerning Nartakis:
They're all 4 (some even 6) Armed  Humans (Homo Sapiens Sapiens)with  Blue, Red or Golden Skin
 There has been a second Manaspike recently in India and it transformed another 5000 Women into ( a kind of second Gen ) Nartaki too
So the Transformations continue

with a transformed Dance
Medicineman

[ProfGast]

SR5 really does a much poorer job explaining world background compared to 4...

Another thing to add is SURGE is sort of considered the follow up to the Awakening.  Awakening 'created' elves,  dwarves, goblinization created the orks and trolls as ambient mana levels rose sufficiently for the proper 'fantasy genes' to awaken and express themselves.

SURGE was the next big mana spike as the year of the Comet brought huge changes, causing a number of people to express even stranger transformations.  This creates some much more bestial-looking transformations and paves the way for beastman/other types of fantasy creatures.  Examples are one executive turned into a stone-man creature complete with an armored stone shell (reference to Earthdawn perhaps), and there are stories of people in India transforming to resemble the God Ganesha (elephant faced god) or the Shiva-styled Nartaki as previously mentioned.  Basically it's the return of the slightly less human fantasy races.

[firebug]

One of the big ork non-violent protesters, one who survived the Night of Rage, died protecting a SURGE victim.

Does this character have a name?  One of the people in the game I run has a character who would very, very much be interested in this information.

[MijRai]

One of the big ork non-violent protesters, one who survived the Night of Rage, died protecting a SURGE victim.

Does this character have a name?  One of the people in the game I run has a character who would very, very much be interested in this information.

Rohit Talwar, found on page 30 of Year of the Comet.  Here's Captain Chaos' excerpt about him before posting a journal entry that had been a part of his eulogy.

Many of you will remember the face and voice of Rohit Talwar from the trid. One of the more outspoken leaders of the Ork Rights Committee (ORC) in Seattle, Rohit was a controversial figure. As an avowed pacifist, many viewed Rohit as a calming influence upon the ORC, a gifted leader who was turning the group away from its violence-marked past into a new era of legitimacy. Others viewed Rohit as an ungrounded idealist, whose opposition to militancy was a sell-out bid to gain mainstream acceptance.
Rohit Talwar died on September 15th, 2061. He was struck down while protecting a changeling from a rampaging human street gang. He did not fight back, and both he and the changeling were killed. The murderers are still at large. The following excerpt from his personal journal was read aloud at his eulogy.
-Captain Chaos

[Ogrebear]

What exactly is a changeling I've their section in Run Faster and I'm still not sure what they are?

If you can get hold of the 4th Edition Runner Companion there is some good fluff in there regarding Changelings and the various Metatypes of the Std Shadowrun Races.

[Sendaz]

The pro tries to minimize the impact on themselves of their actions.  Both of the above are examples of such.  It doesn't mean he doesn't kill when killing is called for; only a fool doesn't bring AV rounds along to deal with those pesky drones.  But the pro thinks about the impact of his run, and allows that to inform the nature of his planning.  The amateur doesn't.

smartspambot copying from post 11 in Shadowrunner Ethics Thread.

[MijRai]

The pro tries to minimize the impact on themselves of their actions.  Both of the above are examples of such.  It doesn't mean he doesn't kill when killing is called for; only a fool doesn't bring AV rounds along to deal with those pesky drones.  But the pro thinks about the impact of his run, and allows that to inform the nature of his planning.  The amateur doesn't.

smartspambot copying from post 11 in Shadowrunner Ethics Thread.

I was wondering where the quote came from.