9:30 PM June 6, 2011 Just outside of Ignacio Colorado

Danial threw another file on the stack next to the couch an rubbed his eyes. Up until a few months ago his job for the Ute tribal government had been pretty easy. Distributing the tribes profits from gambling and oil rights to people in need was a pretty good use of his social work degree. Now his boss had saddled him with all the UGE cases that had shown up on the reservation. Now Dan was up all hours talking on his cell phone. When he wasn't dealing with some health department flak or CDC statistician he was counseling parents concerned their babies looked like extras from Lord of the Rings.
Dealing with the feds day and night helped Dan appreciate why his father had been at Wounded Knee back in 71'. Still it wasn't like any off them could explain these changeling births any better then anyone else so maybe he should cut them some slack. They where dealing with a global phenominon while Dan was just trying to help his friends and neighbors.
…
Dan's eyes cracked open he was still on the couch but the light from his fireplace was waning so he must have been asleep for awhile. Unable to shake the feeling he was being watched Dan's gaze settled on two glowing dots hovering over his coffee table. As he gathered his faculties Dan started picking out more details. Tawny fur a sharp canine face and thick animal musk blended together and formed an image Danial that just didn't make sense. It took him a while but Dan finally realized that there was a coyote in the middle of the living room.

“Hello Danial” the voice came from nowhere but was unmistakably the coyote's. Dan didn't know what to say.

“It's good to finally meet you. You have many questions but don't worry I'm here to help. I've come to prepare” The words where calm and full of wisdom.

“Prepare me for what?” Danial asked.

If possible the coyote seemed to smile without moving a muscle. The voice now tinged with a noticeable mirth responded. “Why Danial the end of the world as you know it of course.”

....
So magic functions just like from the game. All the hallmarks are there. Shamans, Hermetics, even Adepts. Though it will take time for people to suss out how it all works. Shamans will have a leg up at first but hermetic theory will be quickly synthesized from observation and experimentation as well as ancient magical texts seen in a new light.

A rough outline of the rest of 2011 and begining of 2012

Unexplained Genetic Expression UGE Babies bearing a resemblance to mythological Elves and Dwarves are born to parents all over the world.

Experiments into esp, telepathy, astral projection, and various forms of telekinesis start to produce repeatable and verifiable results.

A few people world wide are contacted in there dreams by spirit guides or totems who start to teach them "magic" in preparation for a coming awakening. Though many dismiss these dreams and visions some embrace them and begin preparing for the return of magic.

On December 24th 2011 the awakening occurs.

A Dragon is sited flying over Mt. Fuji in japan the image is captured on literally millions of cell phone cameras as well as some professional journalists.

At the same time millions of psychics feel a surge of power along with the spirit trained "shamans" all over the world. Magic now "works" again.

Standing stones and ley lines pop up all over the British Isles. Similar mystic sites burst to life all over the world.

Over the next several weeks more dragons are sighted worldwide. Creatures of great power and cunning none are slain or captured. However by the end of January one appears in America and manages to negotiate an interview on live TV and explains to the world about magics reappearance.

....
How will people deal with the changeling children and magic. Goblinization won't happen for a decade. Do other para-animals appear immediately or do they trickle in slowly as magic levels rise. Considering current world events and technology what will happen in the next ten years.

Actually I think we should have already started seeing some "spike babies" I think the first one was a type of chipmunk wasn't it. Creatures that are adapted to using a lower level of magic.

Of course if they aren't making news we could already be seeing them. Although I would think that finding large amounts of "new" creatures in relatively already explored areas like North America would be news.

BAT BOY FOUND IN CAVE!

The Men in Black understand the truth of tabloids far better than us common folk do.

The same way they deal with everything else - rationalization. Until you have a single, massive, immediate change like goblinization, we are excellent at incorporating small changes without changing our world view.

Distraction by news about celebrities, probably.

Now if Charlie Sheen turned into an elf, that would be something...

(Probably all the awakened tiger blood.)

Mel Gibson's breakdown is just a slow transformation into a Troll?