Family of Silent Nights

Brother or Sister

Dancers in the Dusk pps.145-148
Preqs	Wyrd ●●●● Contract of Dreams ●● Empathy ●●
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When freeholds struggle against the Fae, they often focus on the physical threats they face. Gateways to the Hedge are warded, Hollows are barricaded, and changelings set in, expecting a siege. But the first path that the Gentry often tread in their assaults are within the very minds of changelings and mortals, spreading nightmares and horrors, pulling out their memories and twisting their thoughts until nothing but confusion remains. Dreams are overlooked by many, and mortals fail to even recognize a threat from the mind, but if you can’t trust even your dreams, all that remains is madness.

The Family claims to recognize this threat, and to move forever to fight it. They are an ancient order, known throughout history by a hundred names. Everywhere they travel, they are known in legends as guardians against nightmares and protectors of sleep, but this is only part of the story. The Family holds the terrifying power to trap dreams, only to release them later against their enemies.

Joining

Candidates come to the attention of the Family in a variety of ways. The most common is for someone to accomplish some useful feat of oneiromancy, from facing off against a dangerous Incubus to swearing numerous public pledges to defend the dreams of their motley-mates. Prospective members can also reach the Family’s ears by being dedicated to the concept of dreams, learning the higher ranks of the Contract of Dreams, unearthing new clauses that help with their dream-walking, or simply spending much of their time researching arcane concepts to do with dreaming and the dangers therein.

Once a candidate has been considered worth approaching, the Family’s test for such things is to unleash the most horrifying dream imaginable upon a charge, who must withstand it (or, even better, best it) without assistance. The Family member chosen to test their prospective new member swears a pledge to unleash a dream worthy of the Family, and the newcomer vows that she will not seek aid in trying to outlast it. The nightmare takes the form of a dream woven by the changeling recruit, which the mentor reweaves into a dream attack against the new recruit. Mentors will often hold back, but not significantly; they want to ensure that the student is capable of handling themselves in dream combat. This method of introduction leaves many would-be initiates with severe mental scars. If the student can weather the dream without being driven into retreat or madness, she is accepted into the order.

Mien

The Family prefer to create an aura of mystery about themselves, the better to reinforce their natures. They tend towards several layers of clothing, designed to suggest the form rather than to reveal it. Even in the depths of summer, many of them will wear coats or heavy shawls, along with dark hats or hoods. Their ensemble is often coordinated to be just slightly off-setting — colors that almost match but are just a hair off, sleeves that are a quarter-inch longer on the left than on the right, or shoes that have slightly different patterns in their heels. The net effect is a collection of tricks of the eye that many can’t quite place, leaving people faintly uncomfortable without really understanding why.

The one sign that always tells of the Family, however, is the eyes. The eyes of those who would hold dreams are dark and shadowed, even in the brightest lights, as though the changeling were wearing a dark hood. Faint sparkles of light in a dozen colors can sometimes be seen, and as the Family member’s Wyrd rating increases, these sparkles come and go more quickly, and in shades that never exist outside of the strange mindscapes that the Family frequents.

Dream-Prison (Privilege)

Joining the Family gives access to a single trick, but it is one that many oneiromancers would give their souls to possess. The Family has the ability to craft empty vessels with Dreamweaving, creating a void that they can lurk inside. In doing so, they can trap dreams or even, with sufficient luck and effort, dream-creatures.

Dream-Prison: Crafting a dream-prison uses the normal rules for Dreamweaving, with the exception that the character does not craft a dream, but a hole into which a dream can fall. When crafting a dream-prison, a changeling specifies what sort of dream she wishes to trap: this could be as vague as “any nightmare,” or as specific as “any dream infested by an Incubus with a Wyrd rating of 3.”