Daring to Dream

[Rhodes]

Rhodes spreads his arms, book in hand. "Welcome to the Dreaming! Or, well, one of my dreams, anyway. Thank you all for manifesting fully, it will make this so much easier. The first thing to remember is you do not have to - and that is how we observe and shape dreams in secret, to harvest emotion, learn about the dreamer."

The Dread Lord glides elegantly back down the staircase. In the Dream, his Wyrd seems larger, the leaves more expansive, the flowers more bold.He smiles broadly at the guests.

"Now. All dreams have a strength - how indistinct or vivid they are - that we call Intensity. I created this dream, before you got here, but when you find a sleeping mind that has not yet begun to dream - we call it a fallow mind, like an unplanted field - it is very easy to scult a dream for them." Rhodes shows them the book, in which a tiny figure dressed like himself is in a huge bank of fog and cloud. then, in the picture, trees and plants begin to emerge out of the fog. "This is an inherent ability of ours, bound to the Wyrd, so it requires Glamour to build dreams for another." He begins to flick through the pages, addressing the group.

"To shape a dream, you need to connect with the mind. The more empathetic you can be, the more aware of it's subtleties, and the strength of your Wyrd all contribute to how easy it is to work with the Dream. A lot of these techniques requires full nights night's work, altering the dream slightly in different ways, but most use those same core skills, with a hint of Wyrd."

The Dread Lord continues to outline the dreamriding methods, in the manner of an academic lecture, often demonstrating with moving artwork in the book he holds. When he finishes, he looks around. "So, those are the basics of moving through the dreams. Yes, a lot of it sounds like spying, but we are essentially voyeurs in the dreams. The Gentry can do as well, which is why the searching for their influence is important. The best way is to find a place in the hedge, and practice yourselves. Any questions so far?"

Consider Rhodes to have gone through the Dreamriding section in the Oneiromancy Primer on the wiki - I don't want to just write the whole thing out

[Titania]

"To sleep – perchance to dream", she comments cheerfully, as the King's explanations unfold against her ears. Then he mentions the Gentry, their enemies, and the tone gets more moody, "Ay, there’s the rub…”, she adds, taking a step back.

[Sonnie Wu]

Sonnie listened to Rhodes' oneiromantic lecture, though her curious eyes were often just gazing around the enormous library tableau around them. She also occasionally did handstands or back flips. Even in the dream world, the Beast was full of energy. It was a salute to her restraint that she wasn't climbing the bookshelves. Yet.

"Okay, so, two questions... one, is there a way to recognize the Others' influence in a dream? Like a warning sign to get out of Dodge?"

"And two, we can harvest Glamour from the dreams of mortals. So, is there some benefit to doing it this way? Seems like more work than just grabbing some emotions off some dude on the street."

[Seraphina]

She could listen to him talk about Dreams all day. His passion really came through. And she found herself standing still, watching and listening. While Sonnie moved around, the Treasured did what she had done more many years, stood still. Her eyes filled with wonder a smile on her face.

"I had a question as well." comes the angelic voice, "You mentioned observing and sculpting dreams in secret. Is there no indication of our presence? Would we not be able to detect another Lost in our Dreams?" if so, that was more than a little terrifying.

[Rhodes]

Rhodes nods in agreement with Titania, just for a moment wondering what she sees in the world as one so flighty.

As the questions flood through thick and fast, Rhodes smiles with a steely glint in his eyes, like a man ready to take on a challenge. He looks to Sonnie. "If the Oneiropomp is subtle, usually not. But someone trying to change behavior through dreams needs to come back again, and again. By vigilance you will learn to pick up what to look for." He sets the book down on the table and wanders off to another shelf. "Completely right, Sonnie. We can Harvest from dreams. Now. How easy is it to get to someone in the throws of deep desire? Utter terror? Is is easier to snag a touch of passion from a couple in the street, of harvest the rampant desire of, say, a sixteen-year-old's wet dream? A victim in throws of real life terror, or someone locked in a vivid nightmare? Dreams are sometimes easier and richer harvests. Plus we are not seen, which can help."

He turns to Abraham. "Analysing a dream is reasonably easy - it can be recurring, a nightmare, a memory, or wish fulfillment. These are fairly easy to tell. as for what to change - that depends on the dreamer. Let's say Titania here is in a dream where she and her orbs are playing with many kittens. If you introduce flowers, and the change is nice and easy, it is likely this is a dream of wish fulfillment. The changes you make are all about reading the person in the dream. Establishing connection to them, seeing how they think and using it. Learning things about a person is harder - again, this is why oneiromancers often work in groups to cover more ground, be more effective at restructuring the dream, and so on."

Lastly he looks upon Sera, the smile growing a little wider. "I'm afraid not. However, remember that getting to a specific dreamer is very hard. The Oneiromancer must be in the Hedge, they must be able to reach your dream, either by pledge, by being in the same place, like we are now, or by crossing the Skein." Another book, another illustrated page, this time of glittering red and purple branches intermeshing everywhere on the page with a robes mage moving across in. "The skein the part of the Hedge where all dreams become one, all sleeping minds connecting to the Wyrd. It links them together, all the dreams of all people, and this is how we reach them. It can be dangerous. You can get a guide, like certain hobs, but their prices are high. There are some rare ways of improving the odds you reach who you intend."

"Good!" Rhodes grins. "Perhaps something a little more practical now, hm?" He looks at Sonnie. "Oneiromachy - Dream Combat!" He sweeps his arms and the staircases move off to the sides. "As I said, closest think to True magic," he adds with a wink. "So. Who knows anything about Dream-fighting?"

[Titania]

At the mention of kittens, she shook her head slowly from side to side and smiled. As she spoke, she gingerly swung her left arm toward one of the well stocked bookshelves. "Does that imply that with enough proficiency we could even alter other people's dreamscapes?", she motions to the staircases the King had just waved off, "Just like you did".

[Sonnie Wu]

The Spring Beast nodded as she mulled over the information, "Yummier Glamour in dreams? I like it! I just might try doing it sometime soon."

Sonnie marveled as the Autumn King adjusted the space of the library, then looked back to him with interest, "I dunno much, but it's more... creative than fighting in the mortal world, right? Because anything is possible here! Are we gonna try it?" A student of the martial arts, the monkey girl was clearly curious about oneiromachy.

[Seraphina]

She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. The ability for someone to be in her dreams without her knowing about it? That was creepy and not ok. Kind of like an invasion of privacy. But it’s not like she would know, so, it was whatever. She’d just try and be more mindful of her dreams if possible.

Practical?

Oh, combat! She remembers this, she’d done this. Well, once.

The Treasured had to admit, she was enjoying seeing him in his element. There was so much she could learn from him, and wanted to.

“I don’t know the specifics of it, but I’ve been involved in Oneiromachy before. It was when I first arrived in the Freehold and the Monarch of Autumn at the time needed help defending a boarder’s dreams. I know I enjoyed it, there was so much freedom!” A shrug, it was true. It was a blast and there was so much she could do.

And it sounded like she was currently the only one who had done it. Unless Rhodes had as well, but she had a feeling he had.

She was stronger now than years ago, and looked forward to showing off what she could do. The ideas already forming in her mind.