The Dreaming Dark

Portfolio: Ambition, Fear, Nightmares, Terror

Domains: Charm, Darkness, Dream, Evil

Favored Weapon: Dagger

Holy Symbol: The All-Seeing Eye

Appearance: The Quori are all unique in appearance. All of them draw their forms from the dreams of humans that they cultivate. Many are titanically beautiful while others are bizarrely alien. Others are figures of nightmare such as a clawed man with slightly melted skin. The Inspired have the appearance of fantastically beautiful elves that much more reflect the god-like fairy ideal that people have of them than the actual Aerenal or Valenar.

History: Just as Angels and Demons are conceptions of morality, the Quori are Aeons. They are the embodiments of thoughts and ideas. With the rise of sapience, intelligence came to the Quori as they drew their own intelligence from the appearance of mortals in the physical plane. The turning of the Ages have resulted in several transformations of the Quori with many past iterations giving rise to legends of gods or mythical figures.

The Daelkyr War was when the current age began as Dal Quor was flooded with the nightmares of the horrible experiences thereof. The experience warped vast numbers of Quori beyond recognition as they became insane, murderous, or sadistic. While conflict with the giants was devastating, it primarilly an attempt by the former to bring order to the world that frequently was warped by all-powerful godlike beings (or at least that could appear so thanks to their capacity to warp perception). The Quori were not necessarilly the villains in the war nor the heroes.

Eventually, the Devourer of Dreams (NE Inspired Male Psionicist 18) lead the rest of the Quori to interpret the heart of Dal Quor had drifted to darkness. The Quori Tarai had been damaged by mortals foolishness and it was decided they should, instead, be instructed along a way that regulated them not as Dreamers but providers of dreams. This is all interpretation as the mindlessness of Azathoth is beyond the comprehension of his priests to comprehend. Nevertheless, it worked for the Devourer of Dreams.

The vast majority of Quori are little more than psychic parasites that travel through mortal dreams in order to terrify those they encounter, to death if possible. These creatures are not part of the Dreaming Dark per say and can be engaged by Astral Projection or Kalashtar psionics. The rare 'Mindless' quori with a body, though many are quite intelligent in their sadism, is one that often behaves in the manner of a serial killer.

The 'Living' quori are, arguably, even more dangerous. Deciding that humanity cannot be trusted with its mental environment, they seek to sanitize it. The humans of Sarlona live elaborate decadent fantasies and mental constructs that are harvested for the Quori's feasting. The eating of dreams has resulted in the majority of Riedrans becoming unambitious and unimaginative sorts that rely on the Inspired for almost everything. They never fail to come up with new ways to sap human choice and free will.

Despite their best efforts, the enforced unity of the Dreaming Dark is slowly collapsing. While every Quori is a King, they theoretically answer to the Emperor. The Emperor's host body, Zhengyi, has grown bored with maintaining the pretense of creating a paradise for mortals in his ever greater desires for indulgent dreams to feed upon (preferrably painful ones). Worse, many Quori are starting to show their own signs of ambition that they fear might be the signs of becoming Mindless Quori. The Kalashtar are pointed to as particularly painful examples, though most humans would argue they are an improvement.

The current solution, keeping the lesser Quori Kings focused on conquering new vistas, is unlikely to last forever.

Dogma: The Quori doctrine of the Mindless is nothing more than to feast upon the most depraved, nightmarish, sickest, and weirdest fantasies that can be invoked in a human being. The Kalashtar have manufactured Silver Swords with the help of the Githyanki victims of Xoriat to hunt down and destroy these monsters. Unfortunately, they can only imprison them since they are as immortal as Dal Quor itself. The vast majority of them are Chaotic Evil with only a few Neutral Evil amongst them. Many lead Cults of the Dragon Below or associate with the Daelkyr whose actions (inadvertently) spawned them.

The Living Quori are almost uniformly Lawful Evil. Recently, Lawful Neutral Quori have begun appearing in greater numbers. Those Quori who manifest good or chaotic alignments are destroyed as deviants. They plot and scheme for ever greater power in a surprising pantomine of mortal politics while standing united against the Kalashtar and their opponents below them. Theoretically, all answer to the Devourer of Dreams. In truth, almost all are independent in their own way. Lady Shudahara (LE Female Inspired Psionicist 12) is the 'daughter' of Zhengyi and disgusted with his loathsome actions. She is ruthless and power hungry but lacks the essential sickness in her father. Indeed, she is starting to struggle with unusual feelings of nobless obligation and compassion.

Gamemaster's Note: This version of the Dreaming Dark is slightly modified from existing canon Dreaming Dark material to make the Quori fit better with this campaign's themes. If one needs a canon explanation for the shift, it is most likely due to the rituals of the Kalashtar starting to have an effect on their consciousness. This has resulted in a breakdown of unity amongst the Quori and the changing of alignments. This has also resulted in radical changes to their physical forms as the turning of the age slowly begins.

Shadows over Cyre