Oneiromancers
Oneiromancers are a branch of mages, deriving their powers from the eldritch landscape known as the Astral Realm - a subsidiary realms of Chaos ruled by Omei, the Imago. Though they find no home in any particular guild, they hold an association with the Council of Duiran and by extension, align with the forces of Spirit.
Through the skill of Oneiromancy, practitioners gain power over fate and dreams. Hyalincuru is the ancient art of paper folding, elevated to an eldritch magic through ambient spirit. Their tertiary skill, that of Contracts, involves negotiating with the Fae Nobles of the Astral Realm and forming bargains in exchange for power over the entities that dwell therein.
Adventurers seeking to learn the arts of the Oneiromancer should seek out Beau Greva in the Seer's Wood. For a fee of 40 credits, they will share knowledge of the Astral. (LEARN ONEIROMANCER FROM BEAU at v62953)
While adventurers may practice these skills within their guilds, new Oneiromancers who begin through the introduction cannot join a guild until they have met the relevant multiclassing prerequisites. Namely, they will require Virtuoso level of skill in Oneiromancy, Hyalincuru, and Contracts, or Transcendent level in two of the three.
Oneiromancer Skills
Subterfuge is a diverse skill, encompassing abilities ranging from the secret sign language that only those of serpentine ambitions may use to communicate with each other, the conjuring of illusions, dimensional wormholes, and various stealth abilities.
Abilities in Subterfuge
Signs | Knowledge of the secret hand language. |
Hide | Conceal yourself from view. |
Illusion | Create an illusion of your choosing. |
Lipread | The ability to understood what is said while deaf. |
Shadow | Shadowing a target in order to track them. |
Concealment | Conceal an item from view. |
Evade | Misleading your pursuer. |
Forge | Seal a letter with a fake sigil. |
Secret | Give someone an item without their knowledge. |
Lightwall | Create a palpable wall of light. |
Palming | The use of sleight of hand to conceal. |
Shadowsight | Focus your vision on those hiding within the shadows. |
Ghost | Give yourself a ghostly appearance. |
Listen | Detect conversation and action nearby. |
Dispel | Rid your environment of illusions. |
Waiting | Awaiting a target to be shadowed. |
Cloak | Hide your actions from others. |
Eavesdrop | Listen even through closed doors. |
Subtext | A hidden message in every action. |
Banish | Banish the denizens of the Shadow Plane. |
Appraise | Quickly measure your foes offensive capability. |
Bedazzle | Distract your opponent into losing his thought. |
Phase | Alter your status in space-time itself. |
Darkflood | Flood your location with magical darkness. |
Phasesense | Find a phased target. |
Shadowslip | Slip into the shadows as your victim falls. |
Abduct | Abduct a victim into phase-time. |
Phaseveil | Hide yourself when phased. |
You can utilize the following wormhole abilities:
Seek | Sense for dimensional wormholes. |
Channel | Hurl an object through a dimensional wormhole. |
Echo | Detect presences through wormholes. |
Warp | Open and enter a dimensional wormhole. |
Resonance | Allow sounds to resonate through a distant wormhole. |
Cancel | Destroy a wormhole. |
Vortex | Suck an unwilling target into a wormhole. |
Sources | Sense out all dimensional wormholes. |
Splice | Create a dimensional wormhole. |
Roleplaying an Oneiromancer
Oneiromancers are not trained - these astral mages began to awaken to their potential after 498 MA, practicing their first fumbling arts by instinct. They are aligned with the cause of Spirit, seeking to preserve memory, meaning, and color against Shadow's relentless advance, and the ways in which they choose to confront it are as many and varied as the colors they command.
What is the Astral Realm?
The Astral Realm is a subplane of Chaos, that which winds through and around existence like an amorphous shell. This realm is ruled by Omei, the Imago, having been conquered by Her order, the Chromatic Court, in Midsummer of the year 498 MA. The Realm is composed of seven spheres of differing hues, with Yellow standing at the center and Red, Orange, Green, Blue, Violet, and Silver orbiting it at increasing distance.
All seven spheres hang suspended within the Astral void, a ceaseless midnight sky full of stars of different colors. Oneiromancers draw from the Astral's colorful variety, forming channels from its heart to summon the potential and power of Chaos across the multiverse.
What is the Dreamworld?
The Dreamworld is a subplane of the Prime Material Plane, and has existed for nearly as long as the Prime itself - beginning small, but multiplying in size and dimension as mortal awareness of its Goddess, Omei, came to light in the Midnight Age.
Now the Dreamworld is a sprawling, mutable plane, host to a thousand secrets and places. It serves as the seat of the Imago's power, as well as a bridge between the Prime and the Astral Realm.
The sources of the Oneiromancer's arts include:
- Opening direct channels to the Astral Realm and its seven spheres.
- Manipulating ambient spirit to empower shapes folded from paper.
- Trading with the Nobles, Fae denizens of the Astral Realm.
Oneiromancers are defined by their broad, versatile command of magic, drawing upon potent, transformative extraplanar force to enact their will throughout the multiverse. Whether it's manipulating ambient spirit to bring paper to life, opening channels to draw upon Chaos, or negotiating with Nobles, cleverness, caution, and strength of will are paramount.
Visual style of the class:
Oneiromancers move as though dancing, opening their channels by way of expressive physical motion. The precise details of these gestures might vary between mages, since individual expression lies at the core of the arts, but are essentially imitative, seeking to evoke the power they summon by mimicking or embodying its force.
Side effects of the class:
The Hyalincuru practiced by the Oneiromancers serves to ground them in the present, tying their power to specific, tactile actions. This is important, given the wide variety of elements they draw upon. Drawing upon ambient spirit may, over time, render even a calm personality more excitable, erratic, or volatile.
Moreover, employing Oneiromancy and Contracts too extensively can lead to an Oneiromancer losing distinction between dreams and reality, unsure whether they're awake or not - because both consciousness and sleep can feel like a lucid dream.
Roleplaying the class:
Oneiromancers may comprise a range of archetypes, ranging through warlocks, witches, and planar travelers, and the arts they've learnt may be a result of studying with another Oneiromancer, or independent experimentation. The closest thing to a central tradition consists in the Oneiromancy practiced by Omei, the Imago's order, but many Oneiromancers wander outside Her purview, realizing mortal dreams upon their own terms.
Entity lore:
The Astral entities summoned by Oneiromancers are comprised of a myriad number of 'individuals' - chaotic creatures which have united into a single whole. Most have been influenced by the Goddess' conquest as well as Dendara, taking on a Fae aesthetic, but they are ultimately beholden to the same countermeasures as an Indorani's entities, since they share an identical material basis.