[center][h2][color=f6989d]Aethel[/color][/h2][/center]

As they lazily drifted and observed the Sea of Dreams, Aethel couldn't help but notice something...[i]interesting[/i]. Something that they hadn't intended when they developed the Sea. From their observations of the phenomena this wasn't caused by the introduction of the Fey to the Realm either, since they seemed fairly content flickering around doing their duties and enjoying themselves. In fact, it was because of one of the Fey that this phenomena had been brought to their attention, since one of the dream children had noticed this and requested they investigate since this was beyond the abilities of the Fey to do anything about if something needed to be done at all. 

Aethel's intentions when they had designed how Dreams would work was that the bubbles containing the dreamers would be completely self contained; The Dreamer would be influenced by their own mind and nothing more, with nothing slipping into the dream from the outside and the dream staying within the bubble, vanishing once the dreamer awoke. 

The reality proved... somewhat different. For the most part it worked as intended... but as Aethel floated there they noticed what the Fey had informed them about. In the event of a strong enough dream or nightmare, the core emotional energy behind it would leak out and influence the Sea around it, tainting the dreams of local dreamers and creating their own currents in the Sea as it spread and influenced other dreams, strengthening it and allowing it to continue on its journey.

Observing it, there wasn't any intelligence behind this. It was simply akin to dropping some ink into a river and it being strengthened by encountering something that could generate more 'ink', but all and all it did seem harmless enough to be ignored since in time it would simply fade away. What couldn't be ignored through was what happened if such a current was pulled towards one of the gateways that now connected the Sea of Dreams to Galbar through. 

Once loose upon the mortal world, raw emotional energy tended to cause... [i]issues[/i]. The mortal world wasn't really designed to handle raw emotional dream energy floating around and influencing it in such a direct manner and currently there wasn't really a manner to deal with it. That would need to change... but the question of how arose. Aethel didn't want to do it themself and while they could expand the duties of the Fey to enter the mortal realm in order to locate this escaped dream energy, they could already see how that would become... [i]problematic[/i]. 

What they needed was something attuned to both the mortal and dream worlds, but didn't have enough will of their own to run off and abandon their duties. Something so used to the extremes of emotion that not only would they be suited to tracking it down, but also not be overwhelmed by it as they gathered it up to bring it back. 

...Now that they thought about it, there was a place that such things could be found. 

Aethel disappeared in a flash. 

[hr]

The place that Aethel reappeared was a place... in-between. Where the darkest, most depraved depths of the Sea of Dreams overlapped with the infernal Ashen Planes; Where the final resting place of damned souls met the dark place in the back of the mortal collective consciousness that whispered that when they died, they would pay dearly for what they had done in life. It was in this place in-between that Aethel would craft the solution to their problem... and possibly answer another problem that the Deity of Souls was going to have to address at some point. 

Crafted from the darkest of dreams and filled with some flame borrowed from the Ashen Plane, Aethel crafted a [url=https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/hollowknight/images/3/33/Nightmare_Heart.png/revision/latest?cb=20180831181218]Heart[/url]. A dark red glow shone out as it started to beat at a slow, heavy pace. A beat that crossed dimensions into the afterlife, the realm of dreams... and even the mortal world, if one is in the right place and of the right mindset to listen carefully enough. But this was just the first step. The forge and puppeteer behind the curtain to guide the actions of the true performers. 

This was why the location was important... because the Ashen Planes would easily provide the raw materials needed. Some souls would come under their own power... others would by pulled by the presence of the Heart itself, while others would be carried and dumped by the denizens of the Ashen Planes themselves in a manner akin to that of an offering of sorts, but all of them shared an aspect; All of them had been broken by the Ashen Planes. Their original personalities had been stripped away, ground into dust by the torments and punishments that the Ashen Planes provided. Inflecting further suffering was pointless for many of them had been on the anvil and struck so many times that even the idea of pleading for release or even just screaming had been snapped off, leaving little more then an empty husk to be cast aside.   

It was these husks of broken souls that would be consumed by the Heart made of nightmares, reforged in the dark flames within and given form anew, their wills bound to that of their new master. They would go into the Heart as prisoners of the Ashen Planes, but they would leave it as a brand new kind of Fey of the Sea of Dreams. Ones that could operate on the mortal plane without causing undue harm. 

The first of this new breed to leave the Heart and take form would be met by a warm grin from Aethel... as well as a couple of gifts. Not only would they refuse some vigor to empower them beyond their future kin, but over their shoulders and wrapped around their body would be draped a cloak woven from divine will and the essence of the dream world itself. There was a quite moment as this new champion of the Heart looked over [url=https://i.etsystatic.com/20267346/r/il/40b208/2808559505/il_794xN.2808559505_g6fq.jpg]themselves[/url]... before they offered Aethel a respectful bow that was returned in kind. 

No words needed to be exchanged between deity and champion as Aethel left. The avatar of the Heart, it's caretaker and servant understood his role in the grand scheme of things perfectly fine. It was his job to lead his fellows out of the dream and into the mortal world to gather the dream energies that found their way there. His duty to ensure that the energy was returned to the Heart so it could be properly dealt with. The keeper of rituals, the one who directed the performances of others and served as the mouth piece of his master. 

He was Grimm... and he had a troupe to form.  


[hider=Summery]
Having been informed of a strange quirk in the nature of the Sea of Dreams, Aethel investigates it for themselves. For the most part the quirk is harmless and Aethel [s]is lazy/doesn't care[/s] feels that it can be left alone to its own devices. However, when this emotional energy manages to slip out of the Sea of Dreams and into the real world, Aethel is willing to confess that it is a problem that needs a solution to. 

To that end, they travel to the place where the darkest depths of the Sea of Dreams borders the Ashen Planes, effectively creating an overlap dimension between them that is occupied by what they refer to as the Heart (also known as the Heart of Nightmares or the Nightmare Heart). The Heart serves a couple of functions, but the ones relevant to this post is that it sends out something of a siren song into the Ashen Planes, calling for those broken souls that have been ground into personality lacking husks and shattered by the torments of the Ashen Planes, be it under their own power or being dumped off at the Heart by the denizens of the Ashen Planes. 

The Heart then consumes these souls, reforging them within itself as a kind of Fey that understands how to exist on the mortal plane, but who's will to complete subservient to the Heart and its mission to go out into the world and gather dream energy that leaks out into the mortal world to return it to the Heart. 

The first of these new Fey was greeted by Aethel, who provided them with the gift of being a Champion, as well as a cloak made from vigor and dreams, marking them as the leader of this new breed of Fey. Their purpose embraced and understood, Aethel leaves the newly named Grimm to form his Troupe and get to work.  
[/hider]


[hider=Vigor]
Start: 6

3 Vigor to create the 'Nightmare Heart', a monument located within the Sea of Dreams and overlaps into the Ashen Planes. 

1 Vigor to create the Champion Grimm.

2 Vigor (plus 1 Free for Mana) to create the Cloak of Dreams, an artifact. 

End=0
[/hider]


[hider=Spirit]
Start: 0

+1 Grimm is in a paragraph.

End: 1
[/hider]


[hider=The Nightmare Heart]
The Nightmare Heart is a Vigor 3 Monument that is located where the darkest depths of the Sea of Dreams overlaps with the Ashen Planes. It appears as a giant, stitched together heart that glows with dark flames inside of it. The Heart is alive and has a will of its own, but not in the traditional mortal manner of the words. 

The purpose of the Nightmare Heart is, at the core, to absorb emotionally charged dream energy that slips out of the Sea of Dreams and into Reality proper, consuming the imperfections and 'corruption' that the energy has picked up from its time in reality and returning pure dream stuff back into the Sea of Dreams. In order to do this task, the Heart creates a special kind of Fey as agents suited for the role and subservient to its will. 

In order to create these servants, the Heart calls out into the Ashen Planes for a special kind of soul; Namely, those that have been so broken down by the Ashen Planes that they no longer have a sense of self or any will anymore. If by their own power or the denizens of the Ashen Plane carrying them to the Heart to dump these shattered souls there doesn't matter. Either way, the Heart consumes them and reforges them in the dark flame of its being into a new, Fey form that is bound to the will of the Heart and serves its purpose unquestioningly. 

While the children of the Heart are shackled to it and its will, they are not mindless. Over time they will develop minds and personalities of their own, albeit with a deep sense of duty and loyalty to the Heart. If a child of the Heart serves long enough, they will be given a choice that they can cash in at any time; They may decide to leave the Heart's service or instead to become one with it, abandoning their state of existence completely. If they do the former, the Heart will consume them again, taking the dream energy that is infused inside of them from their natural duties, before allowing the soul of that Child to go and face the Trials of the afterlife again. If they do the latter, the Heart will absorb them into its being, effectively making them apart of it. Both of these are choices through, as Children of the Heart may continue to operate as its agents for as long as they desire to do so.      
[/hider]


[hider=The Cloak of Dreams]
A 3 vigor Artifact, the Cloak of Dreams is a cloak that changes its appearance to suit the fashion tastes and style of its wearer. By wearing the Cloak, it's wielder automatically gains a deep seated understanding of how to channel and make use of Mana, as well as empowers the wearer to be physically stronger. However, the greatest feature of the Cloak of Dreams is its aura: The area around the wearer of the Cloak will, for as long as the Cloak wearer is present, overlap with the Sea of Dreams and become somewhere that isn't quite reality but isn't quite a dream either. If the Cloak wearer leaves the area, it will revert back to normal with any changes made due to 'dream magic' or anything of the sort disappearing with it.  

[/hider]