The Auln-Cypher
Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2017 2:01 am
Inspired by the Dreamwalking article. Open to changes or suggestions. Was fun to think about. So I present it to you guys.
Name: Auln-Cypher (Nightmare Beast)
Rarity: Legendary?
Threat Level: Very High
Lifespan: Ageless
Habitat: Emea
Physical Description: Within the Emea the Auln appearance differs from deamwalker to dreamwalker, from encounter to encounter. The Auln are first and foremost associated with fear, and so will take on unnerving and intimidating appearances influenced by the dreamwalkers own imagination.
In Physical Reality, the Auln takes on an appearance resembling the dreamwalker it has devoured.
Behavior: The Auln-Cypher, more commonly known as the Nightmare Beast, is a creature that most will never have the misfortune to run into. They are to common folk, fairy tales. This is because the Auln exist in a whole other reality other than the physical one most people inhabit. It is indeed a creature of the Emea. Those that the Auln do pose a threat do are the Dreamwalkers. Not just any dreamwalker will do.The Auln are known for hunting those who physically enter Emea though Crossing.
You see a physical body is not something that Auln possess. They are energetic beings crafted from thought and fear. Something physical interests them, especially if it enables them to go to the physical world. Which is their ultimate goal. That way they are able to collect more and more bodies and ultimately grow in power and prestige within Emea. To do this, however, they need a physical body. So, they hunt dreamwalkers foolish enough to enter with something that they want. They hunt and devour them whole.
Once eaten the Auln can take the physical flesh that it has consumed and form it into a body through which it can travel to Physical Reality. Its appearance is usually something reminding of the dreamwalker that it devoured, but being a non-mortal being something is always off. Hair color and eye color are off. Its movements are strange, fidgeting and impatient, almost nervous. Its personality changes to something between the vital hunter an Auln is and the personality of the person that it consumed. It possesses the dreamwalkers memories, and most disturbing their abilities.
Within Physical Reality is where it becomes even more of a nuisance. It will visit peoples bedsides while they sleep and ‘infect’ their dreams, turning them into nightmares where the beast can feed from the fear that it is inducing. This usually happens the first cycle of its physical existence.It stores power and the fear energy that it feeds off of…
Reaching a certain level of power, and now with a town or even city plagued with nightmares, the dreambeast if not stopped will spread its influence even more. Those the beast regularly infects the dreams of, as by this time it has chosen ‘favorites’ based on how easily scared and how much ether it can drain from the sleeping person, are in the most trouble. The ‘infection’ will grow and spread throughout the persons mind. Shadows of their fears, hallucinations, will be visible for them even during waking hours. Eventually, without escape from their fears, mortals usually crumple to them, giving into madness, which is what the Auln wants. Once the person is sufficiently broken in mind and spirit, the Auln will come to them and offer salvation: a way to escape this nightmarish reality that they find themselves in.
Once accepted, and only when the invitation is agreed upon can the Alun make its next move. The person falls into an ‘immortal sleep’ devoid of dreams and the physical waking reality. Their consciousness is stored somewhere within the beast itself. The physical body now a resting and empty shell. The Auln slowly absorbs the trapped persons ether, memories, and skills over the course of a cycle.
Slowly the Auln, as it gathers more and more victims, will become more and more mortal-like. Its gestures and speech will become more common and less suspicious. Its appearance will change to be more ‘average’ or even shockingly and otherworldly ‘beautiful’ depending on the Auln. It will become more cunning, hiding the bodies of those that accepted the ‘immortal sleep’. For as long as those bodies are ok, the Auln can keep feeding from them, squeezing every last shred of what made that person a ‘person’ from them until they are naught but an empty shell.
The Auln usually acts covertly, and will deny to the end that it is what it is. If cornered though, like all beasts, it will strike back with some of its more devastating abilities, depending on the amount of people that it has invited into the ‘immortal sleep’.
Abilities: Devouring- An ability it uses within Emea. The beast is able to devour a dreamwalker and their physical substance to craft a body of their own.
Feeding- The Auln feeds off of ether. However, it can only ingest ether from those in a state of fear, dreaming or not. Feeding requires physical contact with the victim.
Dream Infection- The Auln is sensitive to those dreaming and will be drawn those people. It has the ability to taint the dream, twisting it suddenly into a nightmare. If visited enough the infection starts to affect the mentality of the victim, eventually the nightmarish images never leaving them, even while awake.
Immortal Sleep- A deal made with the Auln and its victim(s). The monster ‘takes away’ the nightmareish reality in return for an endless sleep devoid of anything really. The immortal sleep allows the Auln to feed off of the bodies even while not in physical contact with them. The Immortal Sleep can be broken, the victims awoken, through the death of the Auln or intervention of a Dreamwalker, who can travel to the ‘sleep’ the Auln has put the victim in and pull the consciousness from it. That however, is very dangerous, as it will be traveling inside the Auln itself, the dream beast fighting tooth and nail to keep what it has collected. The dreamwalker will be traveling into a living, breathing nightmare influenced by the victim that the dreamwalker is trying to save, and further twisted by the Auln. NOTE- Only Dreamwalkers able to save a person from the immortal sleep are those who have unlocked the ability to Escort.
Hallucination- Once the Auln has collected five or more victims with ‘Immortal Sleep’ they can start to affect the psyche of those not touched by its infection. Hallucinations can influence all five senses. Being a beast of fear and nightmares these hallucinations will usually be on the creepy side, aimed to unnerve or distract those who directly challenge the Auln.
Shadow Rend- Once the Auln has ten victims or more it gains the ability to manipulate the surrounding shadows, dimming light and moving them unnaturally. As the Auln puts more and more people into the ‘immortal sleep’ this ability grows exponentially, eventually the Auln able to give shadow physicality once it hits fifty victims.
Hive Mind- Once the Auln fifteen victims it gains the ability to turn those within the ‘immortal sleep’ into thralls under its direct control. The Auln becomes more than its original body, able to see and experience the world through the bodies of its ‘thralls’. However it cannot, yet, use its abilities or powers through the bodies of the thralls.
Encroachment- Once the Auln has twenty victims or more the creature is now unaffected by sunlight, and can enter holy or blessed ground. Not only that, but when cornered it can transform itself into a terrifying beast or monster characteristic of the Auln.
Assistance- Once the Auln has twenty five victims or more the creature can use its abilities and powers through the bodies of the thralls.
Nightmare Scape- Once the Auln has fifty victims it gains the power to further bridge reality and dreams. It can give hallucinations physical form and consequences, bringing fear to physicality.
Nevermore- Once the Auln has one hundred victims, it transcends the boundaries of the physical body. The thralls are no longer ‘thralls’ instead they are the beast itself. It is one and many at the same time. Those under the immortal sleep are no longer savable by the dreamwalkers. Once it has put its one hundredth victim to the immortal sleep it will begin to devour all the victims; collecting itself up into one being -the true form of the nightmare beast (the one it took within Emea) brought to flesh. All its abilities and powers are now on a level all its own. An Auln of this level has only been seen once, and reference to it has been recorded in legend.
Weaknesses: Sunlight- Light from the sun burns the physical vessel of the Auln. It being a creature of shadows, fear, and nightmare has no place in within light.
Holy Ground- The Auln cannot enter holy or blessed spaces.
Silver- Silver is deadly to Auln. Wounds from silver weapons cannot be healed by the Auln itself. Being a creature of myth and idea, it is similarly affected by banes of myth.
The Marked- The Auln cannot mentally affect those touched by the gods (two or more marks from one god grants this status). Their presence agitates the Auln. Note- The Auln can still physically injure those with its abilities if it is strong enough.
Auln while in physical form can be killed like almost any living creature. It 'bleeds' a black substance when cut. It can heal wounds and will retreat or run if it feels like it cannot win a fight. It regenerates about the same pace as humans do. Unhealable wounds from silver greatly weaken the beast, as it can bleed out. However a powerful enough Auln might employ tactics to prolong its life, such as using first aid techniques if any of its victims were healers, or even using shadows to bind wounds and prevent it from bleeding.
Name: Auln-Cypher (Nightmare Beast)
Rarity: Legendary?
Threat Level: Very High
Lifespan: Ageless
Habitat: Emea
Physical Description: Within the Emea the Auln appearance differs from deamwalker to dreamwalker, from encounter to encounter. The Auln are first and foremost associated with fear, and so will take on unnerving and intimidating appearances influenced by the dreamwalkers own imagination.
In Physical Reality, the Auln takes on an appearance resembling the dreamwalker it has devoured.
Behavior: The Auln-Cypher, more commonly known as the Nightmare Beast, is a creature that most will never have the misfortune to run into. They are to common folk, fairy tales. This is because the Auln exist in a whole other reality other than the physical one most people inhabit. It is indeed a creature of the Emea. Those that the Auln do pose a threat do are the Dreamwalkers. Not just any dreamwalker will do.The Auln are known for hunting those who physically enter Emea though Crossing.
You see a physical body is not something that Auln possess. They are energetic beings crafted from thought and fear. Something physical interests them, especially if it enables them to go to the physical world. Which is their ultimate goal. That way they are able to collect more and more bodies and ultimately grow in power and prestige within Emea. To do this, however, they need a physical body. So, they hunt dreamwalkers foolish enough to enter with something that they want. They hunt and devour them whole.
Once eaten the Auln can take the physical flesh that it has consumed and form it into a body through which it can travel to Physical Reality. Its appearance is usually something reminding of the dreamwalker that it devoured, but being a non-mortal being something is always off. Hair color and eye color are off. Its movements are strange, fidgeting and impatient, almost nervous. Its personality changes to something between the vital hunter an Auln is and the personality of the person that it consumed. It possesses the dreamwalkers memories, and most disturbing their abilities.
Within Physical Reality is where it becomes even more of a nuisance. It will visit peoples bedsides while they sleep and ‘infect’ their dreams, turning them into nightmares where the beast can feed from the fear that it is inducing. This usually happens the first cycle of its physical existence.It stores power and the fear energy that it feeds off of…
Reaching a certain level of power, and now with a town or even city plagued with nightmares, the dreambeast if not stopped will spread its influence even more. Those the beast regularly infects the dreams of, as by this time it has chosen ‘favorites’ based on how easily scared and how much ether it can drain from the sleeping person, are in the most trouble. The ‘infection’ will grow and spread throughout the persons mind. Shadows of their fears, hallucinations, will be visible for them even during waking hours. Eventually, without escape from their fears, mortals usually crumple to them, giving into madness, which is what the Auln wants. Once the person is sufficiently broken in mind and spirit, the Auln will come to them and offer salvation: a way to escape this nightmarish reality that they find themselves in.
Once accepted, and only when the invitation is agreed upon can the Alun make its next move. The person falls into an ‘immortal sleep’ devoid of dreams and the physical waking reality. Their consciousness is stored somewhere within the beast itself. The physical body now a resting and empty shell. The Auln slowly absorbs the trapped persons ether, memories, and skills over the course of a cycle.
Slowly the Auln, as it gathers more and more victims, will become more and more mortal-like. Its gestures and speech will become more common and less suspicious. Its appearance will change to be more ‘average’ or even shockingly and otherworldly ‘beautiful’ depending on the Auln. It will become more cunning, hiding the bodies of those that accepted the ‘immortal sleep’. For as long as those bodies are ok, the Auln can keep feeding from them, squeezing every last shred of what made that person a ‘person’ from them until they are naught but an empty shell.
The Auln usually acts covertly, and will deny to the end that it is what it is. If cornered though, like all beasts, it will strike back with some of its more devastating abilities, depending on the amount of people that it has invited into the ‘immortal sleep’.
Abilities: Devouring- An ability it uses within Emea. The beast is able to devour a dreamwalker and their physical substance to craft a body of their own.
Feeding- The Auln feeds off of ether. However, it can only ingest ether from those in a state of fear, dreaming or not. Feeding requires physical contact with the victim.
Dream Infection- The Auln is sensitive to those dreaming and will be drawn those people. It has the ability to taint the dream, twisting it suddenly into a nightmare. If visited enough the infection starts to affect the mentality of the victim, eventually the nightmarish images never leaving them, even while awake.
Immortal Sleep- A deal made with the Auln and its victim(s). The monster ‘takes away’ the nightmareish reality in return for an endless sleep devoid of anything really. The immortal sleep allows the Auln to feed off of the bodies even while not in physical contact with them. The Immortal Sleep can be broken, the victims awoken, through the death of the Auln or intervention of a Dreamwalker, who can travel to the ‘sleep’ the Auln has put the victim in and pull the consciousness from it. That however, is very dangerous, as it will be traveling inside the Auln itself, the dream beast fighting tooth and nail to keep what it has collected. The dreamwalker will be traveling into a living, breathing nightmare influenced by the victim that the dreamwalker is trying to save, and further twisted by the Auln. NOTE- Only Dreamwalkers able to save a person from the immortal sleep are those who have unlocked the ability to Escort.
Hallucination- Once the Auln has collected five or more victims with ‘Immortal Sleep’ they can start to affect the psyche of those not touched by its infection. Hallucinations can influence all five senses. Being a beast of fear and nightmares these hallucinations will usually be on the creepy side, aimed to unnerve or distract those who directly challenge the Auln.
Shadow Rend- Once the Auln has ten victims or more it gains the ability to manipulate the surrounding shadows, dimming light and moving them unnaturally. As the Auln puts more and more people into the ‘immortal sleep’ this ability grows exponentially, eventually the Auln able to give shadow physicality once it hits fifty victims.
Hive Mind- Once the Auln fifteen victims it gains the ability to turn those within the ‘immortal sleep’ into thralls under its direct control. The Auln becomes more than its original body, able to see and experience the world through the bodies of its ‘thralls’. However it cannot, yet, use its abilities or powers through the bodies of the thralls.
Encroachment- Once the Auln has twenty victims or more the creature is now unaffected by sunlight, and can enter holy or blessed ground. Not only that, but when cornered it can transform itself into a terrifying beast or monster characteristic of the Auln.
Assistance- Once the Auln has twenty five victims or more the creature can use its abilities and powers through the bodies of the thralls.
Nightmare Scape- Once the Auln has fifty victims it gains the power to further bridge reality and dreams. It can give hallucinations physical form and consequences, bringing fear to physicality.
Nevermore- Once the Auln has one hundred victims, it transcends the boundaries of the physical body. The thralls are no longer ‘thralls’ instead they are the beast itself. It is one and many at the same time. Those under the immortal sleep are no longer savable by the dreamwalkers. Once it has put its one hundredth victim to the immortal sleep it will begin to devour all the victims; collecting itself up into one being -the true form of the nightmare beast (the one it took within Emea) brought to flesh. All its abilities and powers are now on a level all its own. An Auln of this level has only been seen once, and reference to it has been recorded in legend.
Weaknesses: Sunlight- Light from the sun burns the physical vessel of the Auln. It being a creature of shadows, fear, and nightmare has no place in within light.
Holy Ground- The Auln cannot enter holy or blessed spaces.
Silver- Silver is deadly to Auln. Wounds from silver weapons cannot be healed by the Auln itself. Being a creature of myth and idea, it is similarly affected by banes of myth.
The Marked- The Auln cannot mentally affect those touched by the gods (two or more marks from one god grants this status). Their presence agitates the Auln. Note- The Auln can still physically injure those with its abilities if it is strong enough.
Auln while in physical form can be killed like almost any living creature. It 'bleeds' a black substance when cut. It can heal wounds and will retreat or run if it feels like it cannot win a fight. It regenerates about the same pace as humans do. Unhealable wounds from silver greatly weaken the beast, as it can bleed out. However a powerful enough Auln might employ tactics to prolong its life, such as using first aid techniques if any of its victims were healers, or even using shadows to bind wounds and prevent it from bleeding.