Dream Eaters

"Every individual snowflake is unique, but every snow flake falls from the sky the same way, piles the same way, and melts the same way.   Dream Eaters are creatures of pure thought without physical bodies, but when they manifest in the material plane or a mage looks at them with Astral Sight, they appear to have bodies. They are literal embodiments of fear itself, so they all have horrifying forms, but like malevolent snowflakes, no two Dream Eaters have the same appearance.  

by me with Midjourney

Based on research conducted on Dream Eaters, my colleagues believe that Dream Eaters have protean forms. The expression 'you are what you eat' seems to apply to Dream Eaters. If a Dream Eater repeatedly preys on a person who is deathly afraid of spiders, the Dream Eater will gradually take on spider-like traits. If a Dream Eater repeatedly preys on someone afraid of dragons, a Dream Eater will gradually start to look like a dragon.

  It's worth keeping in mind that Dream Eaters look more terrifying than they are. Their fangs, claws, mandibles and the like are purely for show. Many of them can change their size to look more intimidation. Like a predatory beast, they will often withdraw if their prey unexpectedly stands it's ground."

"Scholars and adventurers don't know where Dream Eaters come from or why. Theories abound but none of them are backed by more than circumstantial evidence.   My personal belief is that Dream Eaters are cosmic accidents. Astral creatures of all stripes keep changing form and function as they drift through the Astral Plane. Most astral creatures do not need to eat. They seem to passively draw sustenance from the Astral Plane the way a plant passively draws sustenance from the sun and local soil. To me it seems likely that an astral creature that loses access to their normal means of sustenace might turn to predation to meet the short coming. Like a predatory plant.   No credible records of Dream Eaters exist survive from the the Second Age, so many believe that Dream Eaters didn't exist until the current age, or at the very least were much rarer in past eras.  

Because the first clearly recorded account of a Dream Eater comes shortly after the Second Unmaking, many believe that their origins stem from Second Unmaking somehow. Perhaps they are a subspecies of Void demon, a deliberately created minion of the Demon Lords, or an accidental byproduct of the demon's reality breaking actions.

  When it comes to Void demons, it's difficult to separate monsters they deliberatley engineered from monsters they actually spawned, and ultimately the distinction isn't important.   The theory that Dream Eaters are a product of the Unmaking does not directly contradict my theory that Dream Eaters are the accidental mutation of a benign astral creature. The Void Demons could have engineered the circumstances that trigger accidental mutations.   Those are the two most credible theories as to where Dream Eaters come from. Some say they are the degenerate remnants of poltergeists trapped in the Astral Plane. Some say they are an incoporeal variant of the fae, and other thinks they are the creations of a vengeful deity."

"Dream Eaters blur the line between predator and parasite. Like a predators, they hunt, but like a parasite, they usually don't kill the subject they feed on, at least not right away.   Dream Eaters psychically feed on the minds of mortals. Dream Eaters are so named because because they nearly always feed on people mind's while they sleep though there are isolated incidents where Dream Eaters have prayed on conscious people who are highly intoxicated by alcohol or other drugs.   A victim of Dream Eater will experience horrifying nightmares but usually forget the details upon waking. Then they are going to have a horrible day upon waking, They are listless, depressed or nervous and agitated. But if the Dream Eater doesn't come back, the victim will usually make a full recovery.   Dream Eaters usually flit from one victim to another, but once in a while they will give a single person their full attention. This is always very bad.   If a Dream Eater feeds from the same victim night after night, it can easily cause permanent damage. Repeated poor sleeps will sap a person's health and resistance to disease and the psychic damage and mental trauma can lead to depression, madness, or even brain damage. More than a few repeated victims of Dream Eaters commit suicide.   Astral Scholars can only guess as to why a Dream Eater might choose to fixate on one person like this. It seems that every person 'tastes' differently and once a Dream Eater finds a pyschic flavor they like, they are unlikely to give up on their food source. LIke a parasite, a Dream Eater either does not seem to know or does not care that it is killing its host.   Prey scarcity seems to be a factor. Dream Eaters are a lot more likely to fixate on one person in an isolated hamlet than in a large city.   Unfortunately, Dream Eaters are disproportionately like to prey on children. Babies are mercifully immune but human children as young as four are susceptible to attractiving the attentions of a Dream Eater. The equivalent for a gnome or dwarf is around age seven and an elf around eleven or twelve.   Dream Eaters can and do become occasionally fixated on adults. Musicians, painters, actors and the like seem disproportionately likely to attract Dream Eaters. In other words they seem to like the minds of artists.   This pattern has led to me and others to theorize that Dream Eaters don't actually feed on happiness like old wive's tales say. I think Dream Eaters could be accurately called 'Creativity Eaters' since I would say creativity is the one thing that links children and artists together.   Dream Eaters can only feed on sleeping or inebriated mortals, but they can still psychically strike at living people, which they can and will do if threatened."

"Unscrupulous Conjurers have developed spells to weaponize Dream Eaters. These types of spells are usually consideredmaleficium...and rightfully so. Beyond being morally repugnant, they are also recklessly dangerous.   Dream Eaters cannot be bound or commanded, but they can be summoned or lured. The best known spell is one that psychically marks an area to make it smell delicious to Dream Eaters...metaphorically speaking since Dream Eaters don't have olfactory senses.

by me with Midjourney

  To use a metaphor from my mentor's mentor who was from way down south by the sea, he said it's like chumming the water near your enemies to entice sharks to attack them. But for a brief window before you withdraw, you're standing in the water you just chummed.   Some nefarious conjurers are researching more refined ways to 'control' Dream Eaters, but this research illegal in most places, even the Kingdom of Swynfaredia banned this type of magical research (not making a branch of magic illegal has every truly stopped Swynfaredians)."

"Dream Eaters seem to hover in the nebulous middle ground between 'clever beast' and 'stupid mortal'. I think they are clever beasts because they seem to be driven by instinct more than reason."