Traits & Behavior

Dreamwalkers are a diverse species, but they tend to be social creatures. Common personalities are playful, creative, curious, and affectionate, but this is merely the majority and not the rule, as personalities vary greatly from one dreamwalker to the next. They make up a nurturing community, where the common ideal is: "We're all in this together."

Life

Dreamwalkers make their lives off of nature, gathering resources within their regions, hunting and foraging for their own food, and otherwise collecting unique/foreign resources (known as treasures) from travelling merchants. Treasures could be precious stones, such as gems, or they could be something as simple as a non-native food. They will also refer to hand-crafted items as treasures, among other things.

Dreamwalker lifespan is ~about 200 years.

While the majority of dreamwalkers collect food by hunting, gathering, or foraging, some may practice limited agriculture, which is usually by way of small in-home gardens for vegetables, herbs, and spices. They do not raise livestock.

When hunting or foraging, dreamwalkers may set out independently or in collection groups. Travelling in groups allows them to collect more in less time. They usually target weak prey and kill it as swiftly as possible (which is not necessarily hard when you're an 8+ foot tall dragon-type equipped with sharp teeth and strong jaws). They eat their food whole as long as they can help it, so they'll tear prey into smaller pieces if necessary. Fishing, however, is preferred over hunting.

They will use their claws to uncover burrowing prey, vegetation, roots, and more. Dreamwalkers gather more food for the winter seasons, but do not hibernate.

Dreamwalkers build and customize their homes to their own personal standards using materials from nature and/or the market. They may live wherever they please, including but not limited to: caves, cliffs, treetops, underground, abandoned buildings, etc. Lower class dreamwalkers tend to have to relocate often so their homes are usually not very impressive since they are temporary. Middle and upper class dreamwalkers may have more permanent settlements if they desire and if the environment allows.

They exist all over the globe and are adaptable to all sorts of climates and environments, but they tend to live near human settlements, though maintaining a comfortable distance. Fur types, markings, colors, and physical build may be affected by their environment (a dreamwalker whose family has been in the desert for generations, for example, will likely have a shorter, thinner coat with colors and markings reminiscent of the desert, and may be built differently in order to handle the climate).

Food

Home

Food

Family

Dreamwalkers live in family-herds for much of their youthful life, and ancient dreamwalkers would remain in these herds forever (in an ideal situation). Modern dreamwalkers are more independent and see themselves leaving the comfort of their family-herd by the time they reach adulthood. They will then make their own lives, whether that be starting their own families or pursuing another passion. Some, however, may choose to stay with their family-herd, or may return to it after leaving.

All herds are expected to follow dreamwalker law, but may have individual expectations and traditions as well. Every herd is different.

It is worth noting that early methods of impressing potential mates are still widely practiced across regions. Males will expand the muscles along their jaws and display their inner wing membranes. Generally, those with more impressive wings (design, colors, etc.) are more likely to attract a mate. Males may also fluff their fur and manes to make themselves look bigger than possible competitors.

While these methods are still practiced, dreamwalkers have developed to a point where traditional courting techniques may not work on every potential mate. In fact, it's most like a 50/50 chance. Personality plays an important role in courting as well.

Some dreamwalkers may choose to keep pets, which they tend to have a synonymous relationship with.

Language

Dreamwalkers are capable of communicating in a wide variety of languages, including their own, human tongue, and animal communication (for some). They commonly resort to speaking human language, but they are all expected to know their native tongue as it prevents language barriers between regions/herds.

When dreamwalkers speak, they do not use their mouths to do so. It is unclear how this is possible, but they form words without ever opening their mouths, which are reserved for scent, expression, consumption, and making "natural" noises (ie. growling, chirping, etc.)

Dreamwalkers are like many parrot species in that they can mimic any noise (and seem quite happy to), but their natural calls are very frog/toad-like. This is not limited to any specific frog/toad species, however.

Religion

Dreamwalkers have always credited their existence to the "Mother Star" that gave her life for theirs. However, they do not necessarily pray to or worship her. They do celebrate her during their annual congregation, and they do speak fondly of her if she ever comes up in conversation, but it is not something that think about often or dedicate their lives to. You could call them "loosely faithful."

Otherwise, they do believe in souls, respecting nature, karma, and life after death. Their dead go to a world they call "Dawa," a planet formed by the largest piece of the Mother Star after her death. They see Dawa as a dreamwalker's paradise, where food and land is plentiful, dream sand flows like rivers, illness it but life's memory, and all threats are nonexistent.

Bodies of loved ones are buried whole and deep to ensure they arrive in Dawa in one piece, in tact, and preserved. These pits are generally dug by their mates or parents (if neither of these, then whomever was closest to the dreamwalker that died). An imprinting ritual is done over the graves in order to assign the body's soul to a memento, which can be anything, though usually of significance to the deceased dreamwalker. Once the memento has been imprinted, the grave is often covered in a bed of flowers or planted with a tree or garden in order to mark the body's return to nature while their soul is passed to Dawa through the promise of new life. It is thought that if new life is not brought over the grave, then the soul will be trapped within the corpse until life comes to free it. While plants are the most common tools to allow for the passage of a soul, birth is also an option (and can be done by any creature as long as it is done over the grave).

The imprinting of the memento is significant as it is believed to be the only way to contact the souls of the departed if ever necessary. In order for the connection to work, they must bring the item either to the grave, or to the annual congregation (where honoring the dead is just one of many events). They will focus all of their energy into the object and bless it with a dust bath of dream sand before inviting the soul to hear them. Once they feel their presence, they will say whatever they like and spend as much time as they need before bidding them farewell, wishing them safe travels back to Dawa, and blowing away the leftover sand on the memento.

Dreamwalkers also believe that the stars (including the Sun) are responsible for dream sand. Both the stars and dream sand are regarded as the sources of all energy and life. This is why some people are still tired when they wake up, even after a good night's sleep; a dreamwalker might have taken their dream sand that night, but it would recover throughout the day from being in the sun. Likewise, when a person is well-rested, they were not visited by a dreamwalker and still have yesterday's dream sand within them, giving them energy. Sometimes dreamwalkers will collect extra dream sand from a restless person in the hopes that the decreased energy will allow them to get some appropriate sleep (even if it means feeling tired when they wake). Dreamwalkers, however, do not naturally produce dream sand and therefore must collect it from others.

Dream Sand & Dreamstepping

Dream sand is a golden, glittering, sandy and light material that is extracted from other creatures while they are dreaming. This material is what allows them to use all "magic" and it is also their form of currency, measured in ounces or pounds in large amounts. It can be compacted into coins or traded in bags or through direct trade. Direct trade is when one dreamwalker harvests sand from another, but this is usually considered an intimate experience and is generally reserved for closer relationships than merchants or strangers, for example. Sand is seemingly stored within a dreamwalker's body, but it doesn't impact size or weight. They don't even know for certain where it goes, but they believe that it is temporarily stored in a personal reserve in Dawa until it is needed, passed from their soul directly to Dawa.

The old belief that dreamwalkers were bringers of blessings or curses (noted in "lore") was well-founded, as all dreamwalkers are born with an ability called "dreamstepping" which allows them to influence the dream-state of other living creatures, whether they are awake or asleep. This is also the only way they can naturally harvest dream sand. Dreamstepping itself requires a small amount of dream sand to perform, and will cost more if a dreamwalker chooses to "lull" their target (that is, using a minor side-ability of dreamstepping to ensure they stay asleep). Dreamstepping is associated with the concept of "dream karma," where unpleasant people (those whose actions / words often have negative effects) are given nightmares, while good people (those whose actions / words tend to have positive effects) are granted sweet dreams.

Dreamwalkers are born with a small amount of dream sand passed on from their parents which is eventually used during the dreamstep learning process once they reach puberty (when their "magic" abilities begin to emerge).

Abilities

Dreamwalkers are born with up to three "magic" or "sand abilities" excluding dreamstepping. These abilities are virtually unknown until a dreamwalker begins puberty, but they are likely to share common abilities with their biological parents. However, the only way to know for certain what abilities one has is to experiment and determine them through trial and error. Some dreamwalkers may find that they only have one, while others can have the maximum three. Some abilities may not be discovered until later on in life; sometimes they may never be discovered. This varies from one dreamwalker to the next.

Different abilities may be more taxing on dream sand than others, so exploring abilities can be an "expensive" procedure, especially if a dreamwalker has the ability to shapeshift, for example (an incredibly taxing power). Similarly, middle and lower class dreamwalkers may be less tempted to use their abilities, or limit themselves to whichever one is the least taxing on their sand reserves. Upper class dreamwalkers might use their abilities as they please.

Every ability has its strengths and weaknesses. See the chart here.

Human Interaction

It is generally accepted that dreamwalkers avoid being discovered by humans, and have means of wiping memories (hypnosis) or keeping humans asleep when dreamstepping (lull) in order to preserve their secrecy. However, the rules aren;t as strict about children and animals as they are about adult humans. Animals don't serve as any real threat the way humans do, and many children look to a commonly visiting dreamwalker as an imaginary friend. Most dreamwalkers welcome this title. In fact, dreamwalkers enjoy human company, so they make the most of it.

Some dreamwalkers have dared to form bonds with adult humans as well, but it is important that they always practice caution. Unfortunately, it is becoming harder to safely interact with any human -- adult or child -- since technology is more readily accessible than ever, and they run the risk of being photographed or recorded.

Still, a large number of dreamwalkers continue to propose that perhaps with changing times, humans might be more open-minded about them again. Others remind them what humans do to things they don't understand (ie. aliens).