Dreamwalking

overview

Applications

Risks

Learning Dreamwalking

Performing Dreamwalking

Fields of Expertise

Dream Sharing: Simply put, this expertise consists of entering another's dream as an observer. Dream Sharing can be useful in therapy applications, in understanding the experiences and fears that shaped and haunt a person and determining how best to address them; it also has application towards information gathering, either for gaining familiarity with a target person or mining their daily experiences as reflected in their dreams. A Professional with this expertise may also draw others into their own dream, provided they are asleep at the same time. Note that this expertise solely pertains to observation; it is most effective when used in tandem with Dream Shaping. Practitioners are also able to induce sleep in another; the ease with which they do so depends on overall skill level.

Dream Shaping: This is the expertise of lucid dreaming: knowing a dream for what it is, and having control over its substance. A shaman who does not also have the Dream Sharing expertise can only affect their own dreamscape.

Dream Viewing: A practitioner with this expertise is able to merge their personal dreamscape with the physical world, thus passing through reality as if it were a dream. The viewer perceives the real world as washed-out and veiled in a light mist, with sounds, smells, and tastes being similarly muted and subdued. They cannot interact with any real object and are undetectable to ordinary senses — they cannot be seen, heard, felt, etc. — but may be sensed by Ghostbinders with appropriate expertise, although the viewer cannot be affected by Ghostbinding themselves. Similarly, the viewer is not affected by physical laws, and may pass through things, fly, and even 'teleport' to places they are able to envision into their dreamscape, though at not inconsiderable risk to themselves. The effective range and duration of Dream Viewing depends upon the practitioner's overall skill level. Dream Viewing can be combined with Dream Sharing, allowing the shaman to bring another — even a non-shaman — into the viewing, but doing so is extremely dangerous to the guest. As an observer in another's dreamscape, the guest cannot wander but goes where the viewer does, and is much more likely to have their soul come untethered during the dream, resulting in coma and brain-death.

Soul Sharing: The ability to pass from dream into soulscape, be it their own or that of another being, and observe its form and state.

Soul Shaping: The ability to materially affect the soulscape, reshaping symbols and changing their meanings, and in so doing affecting the very being of a person. A shaman who does not also have the Soul Sharing expertise can only affect their own soulscape.

Soul Tracing: This expertise allows the practitioner to identify the person behind a soulscape symbol and even pass directly into their soulscape from that of the first person. A practitioner can also sink into the palimpsest layers of the soulscape to perceive the residue of past lives and how they shaped a person's current incarnation. Tracing allows a very deep understanding of a person, their relationships, and the growth of their soul through generations. It most often sees use in the shaman's own pursuit of self-awareness. It also has therapeutic applications in situations where one's idiosyncrasies arise not from an experience in this life, but as a carryover from some prior incarnation. Others use tracing to identify people who are closely connected to one another, and through the symbolism of their soulscapes glean a sense of their relationships.

Skill Progression

Trainee

Professional

Exceptional

Master

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