"I had a most interesting dream last night. I think I will make it come true today."
-Kilian Sheridan, 23 FR
What is the Weave?
The Weave is the pure potential of the minds of all of humanity. Every person has dreams and contributes to the Weave. If one could see the Weave it would look like a massive, chaotic, and complex net of gossamer strands covering everything, Anywhere that strands intersect, one would find a person. Some people, depending on how creative they are, and how much they dream, have dozens of these strands leading to them. A Dreamweaver, by comparison, would have hundreds, perhaps thousands of strands connecting them to the rest of the weave.
Dreamweavers
For the most part, the strands of the Weave do, well, nothing. They sit there and the dreams of humanity slide back and forth along them. Every now and again some one has a dream vivid enough to pull strands together to create something in the real world, but beyond that the strands just sit there pulsing away.
Dreamweavers take those strands and bend them to their will. A Dreamweaver learns to shape the Weave into pretty much anything she wants. Working with the Weave is tricky and time consuming, but an experienced Dreamweaver can, with time, learn to make anything short of a sentient creature. (Creating a creature that is sentient, self-aware, has a soul, and can dream - is the "Holy Grail" of Dreamweaving.) With that exception, if it's within her heart's desire, the Dreamweaver can create it. So the question is "Why are there so few of them?" The answer is two-fold. First, Dreamweaving is hard. It takes years of training to learn to create the simplest items. Few people are creative enough to gain any skill in it, and those who try often suffer horrible consequences (see the Weave rules section on nightmare backlash.) Second, teachers are hard to come by. The few Dreamweavers who figured it out at the beginning of the Age of Faith were of the megalomaniac variety, and were hesitant to share their secrets with anyone. They began a tradition of secretive elitism that continues to present day. Those who learn now are either one of the lucky few to find a teacher, or even luckier handful that manage to survive figuring it out for themselves. It's not like many people want to be Dreamweavers. Cathair Trolmhie, the City of Nightmares, was created in a massive Dreamweaving experiment gone wrong. Parents use stories about the place to frighten their children, not to mention the masses of nightmare creatures that can be laid at the feet of foolish Dreamweavers.
The Dreamweavers of Ages Past
During the Age of Heroes Dreamweavers were more common, but less precise in their work. Dreamweavers in the Age of Faith know exactly what they are doing and how. Dreamweavers of old were as much religious as skilled, and they had rituals, prayers, and a lot of utter nonsense accompanying the actual creation of a given Weave. Furthermore, while there are some impressive ancient Dreamwoven artifacts out there, augments (see the Weave rules again) appear to be a modern invention. What is known about Dreamweavers of old is that they often used special items to focus their powers. These foci were Edge-forged and made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, and even tin. The the single line of Edge-smiths that exists in the Age of Faith refuses to make these foci, but has never denied having the knowledge of how to make them. The existence of these foci have led several scholars to suspect that there may be a way to combine the powers of Edgemasters and Dreamweavers, but if it's possible, no one has found a way…yet.
When Rinn Dunver killed all of the Edgemasters at the end of the Age of Heroes, he severed almost all of humanity's connection to the Edge. But the Edge is the true source of the human soul and dreams spring forth from the soul. The Weave went from being strong and vibrant to faded and undetectable. Dreamweavers discovered there wasn't enough of the Weave left to create a simple knife, let alone unicorns or dragons. At the end of the Age of Heroes, the Dreamweavers lost everything, but most held on to their, now mundane, lives.
Dreamweavers Today
Rowan broke his sword and the Weave sprung to life as the Edge came rushing back. A few people with some natural talent, determination, and a lot of luck re-discovered Dreamweaving. But instead of it being mystical and religious, this time it was technical, almost scientific, as Dreamweavers took great care in testing the limits of their powers. In fact, most modern Dreamweavers are rather well-educated and knowledgeable on a variety of topics. They have suffered periods of stigma, and been the subject of inquisitions and discrimination, but they tend to persevere. Celestials, who are vulnerable to certain powers the Dreamweavers possess, continue to oppose them at every turn. They often try to capture and execute Dreamweavers for crimes, real or invented, against the people or the church. Most of these capture attempts fail. How do you capture some one who can create a giant eagle and fly away? How do cage some one who can create the key to her own cell with but a thought? How do you ambush some one that can always sense your presence and can look into your mind? Even killing a Dreamweaver on site can be difficult. She can throw devastating nightmares, summon creatures to her side to protect her, and can wear augments to make herself and her equipment deadly in battle.
Creations
Before and after everything else, Dreamweavers love to create things. They are always experimenting, creating new creatures and items, often just to see what will happen. Dreamwoven creations can be seen everywhere in Deomeidh. Swift cats carry messages from city to city, strider lizards share the plains with the specially bred horses of Farran Shenn, drakes are a common pet amongst nobles throughout the north, and Aigeann actually has a species of dragon as part of its armed forces. While most would never admit to it, Dreamwoven items are often owned by the elite who can afford them. Edgemasters are known to covet items woven of dreams. Many a Dreamweaver has earned the favour of an Edgemaster with the gift of a Dreamwoven suit of armour, or shield, or useful augment. In fact, many Dreamweavers have become rich and powerful by making things worth, in a literal sense, more than their weight in gold and selling them to interested buyers.
Motivations for those with Everything
Dreamweavers can have it all. They can make enough money off their creations to live like royalty. Strange as it sounds, few follow such an enticing and comfortable path. Most Dreamweavers are driven towards specific goals. Below are some possible motivators for a Dreamweaver beyond the simple desire to get rich quick:
-Political Power. Dreamweavers can create things, and even control those creations, but they have no true control over the people around them. Some are driven to take power and become rulers in their own right. As Dreamweavers are unhindered by the rules and oaths that govern Edgemasters and most Chosen, power is a very viable path. There has been more than one Dreamweaving king in the last thousand years, there will probably be more.
-Dreamweaving Power. Some Dreamweavers are artists that seek to perfect their art above all. They spend months and years working to improve their skills. They also go searching for information on Dreamwoven items of ages past, in hopes of studying them, duplicating them, and then improving upon the original design.
-Patriotism. There is no rule out there saying Dreamweavers have to be free-thinking individualists. There are some who are faithful servants of the crown, and they use their powers in its service.
-The Holy Grail. As far as anyone knows, it is impossible to create sentient life, except for the mysterious process of conception and birth. There are a few Dreamweavers that obsess over this limitation and work to overcome it. They want talking dogs and thinking dragons! They are certain that it's possible, but no one has figured it out yet. A Dreamweaver questing after sentience will go to any length to find a piece of knowledge that could help her.
These are just a few ideas. Use them or come up with your own.
