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Reflecting
our distinctive character traits and subconscious aspects, almost
no two dreamkeepers look exactly alike. They can sport fur, scales,
skin, and color patterns spanning the rainbow. Some of the more common
accessories include tails and ears, but dreamkeepers with horns, wings,
antlers, and other garnishments abound.
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Regardless
of their differing personas, all dreamkeepers are loathed with unwavering
intensity by their ancient adversaries... The nightmares. Existing
in the Dreamworld solely to eradicate every last dreamkeeper prior
to their fated death, the nightmares pursue genocidal bloodshed
with malevolent tenacity and brutal abilities.
That
is why, for the protection of themselves and their loved ones, every
dreamkeeper has a personal supernatural gift... their power.
Typically manifesting during adolescence, the range of individual
types of powers defies categorization. From destructive, violent
capabilities to benign and creative talents, from the incredibly
potent to the gracefully refined, the array of known abilities is
matched only by the differing ways dreamkeepers learn to use them.
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With
the myriad powers in varying degrees of subtlety, it would sometimes
be problematic determining what constituted a 'power' versus a dreamkeeper's
natural physical ability. However, a visual signature clearly marks
any dreamkeeper tapping into their power: an ethereal, unmistakable
halo. The more focused control and intensity a dreamkeeper applies
to their power, the brighter and more distinctively their halo will
emanate.
The ever-present problem with these powers is that they can be misused.
Although intended as a balancing protection against nightmares,
there is nothing to prevent one dreamkeeper from wielding their
ability against another. Their history is littered with instances
of individuals and nations unleashing ruin upon one another; sometimes
of necessity, and sometimes vindictively.
But
far worse than being aligned against one another is when a dreamkeeper
chooses to do the unthinkable... And align themselves with the nightmares.
The
rare, feared 'dark dreamkeeper' can make this choice for any number
of twisted reasons or convoluted rationales, but the result is always
the same. Nightmares are all too eager to use any tool at their
disposal in their ceaseless campaign against life, and a traitor
is a prized weapon. There is no way to detect which dreamkeeper
may be a conspiring malefactor, no telltale signature... Until it
is too late.
In
contemporary Anduruna, however, conflict with the nightmares is
a mere memory - and the idea of a dark dreamkeeper fiction from
bygone times.
This
makes it easier for the chosen few to accomplish their tasks and
slowly, surely prepare the city for the nightmare's long savored
return to bloodshed.
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