[center][h1]ᦓ꠸᥅ꪀꪖ[/h1][/center]

[color=#e1ceff]Sirna was not fond of the Nighthares. They were impulsive, and self-indulgent, and did as they pleased. Typically, this was a combination of traits that would appeal to Sirna – if they were mortal. Being creations made by Sirna’s own metaphorical hand and twisted by the Patron of Nightmares’ certainly nonexistent hands, these Nighthares were decidedly [i]not[/i] appealing.

Perhaps if Sirna so wished, they could admit that pulling the veil between the Dreamscape and the waking world was a slight blunder. [i]Slight.[/i] For enabling the natural residents of the Dreamscape to wander the lands of Ashuru included the Nighthares themselves. The dream guides were free to pass through the veil, but they were pure and they knew better than to detract from the jobs Sirna had given them. The Nighthares did as they pleased; there was an irregular rash of nightmares blooming across spots of Ashuru, doubtless incited by the critters. Sirna would have to reign them in at some point.

For now, they were in the little temple of clouds that the mortals had dreamed up for them, with its walls of violet midnight and floor of glimmering stars. Sand gathered in a corner, grains trickling melancholy as it tried to crawl into the abyss the walls offered. As they were walls, it didn’t get very far.

Sirna had assumed their usual form, their waterfall pouring straight down through the infinite starscape. Today, they were curious. Today, they would look into that which had lurked in the back of their Dreamscape without so much as a hello.

Today, they scried for the identity of the planet that had woken from its slumber.[/color]

[hr]
In the space around the Veiled Moon, a serpent the colour of gold cut through pitch darkness, gliding without care for its lack of wings. A second glance would reveal that it was not a true serpent – it had legs, eight of them, but they were all tucked beneath it as it glided round the planet, hidden against its furred belly. It closed in on the moon, until the fuzz of its chin kissed the moon’s powdery surface. Its body shrunk, a little uncertainly before it steadied, into a size that would be accommodated by the moon. It became no larger than a great whales wandering the depths of Ashuru’s remaining oceans. In its journey across the moon’s surface, it passed by a lone mortal, but she did not possess the magic that had lured the serpent and so she was ignored.

The serpent dived through fine powder without disturbing a single grain. 

Beneath the surface of the Veiled Moon lay a latticework of silver webs. Thick, sticky structures that stretched end to end, criss-crossing without ever touching one another. As it turned out, the surface of the Veiled Moon was a compact shell of indeterminate powdery substance, with the occasional sinkhole crumbling through the spots where the lattice wasn’t present to support it. Somewhere among the lattice wandered a mortal who seemed to have grown bold in the absence of a god who would intervene.

He would have to settle for a god’s creation instead.

The serpent curled around a horizontal web column, above the human that had so insisted on trespassing on divine property.

[b][i]What business have you here, mortal?[/i][/b] It did not have a true voice. The words impressed themselves against the mortal’s mind, leaving behind the sensation of a great rumble. The serpent blinked slits of sky blue. The claws of its eight legs dug further into sticky webs. [b][i]This place was not built to be a playground for you little things.[/i][/b]
[center][h2]~[/h2][/center]
[hider=ACTION LOG]
• [b]NIGHTHARES:[/b] The Nighthares have taken advantage of the loosened barriers between the Dreamscape and the waking world, and are now essentially unchecked pests. They share the same qualities as a Phantasm, so they cannot physically harm mortals, but they [i]can[/i] infect their dreams to turn them into horrible, sleep paralysis nightmares. They were already doing that sporadically, infrequently in the Dreamscape (no more than the usual nightmare with every other mortal), but access to the waking world means they can infect a whole village's dreams at once, just for example.

[indent]• In short, the Nighthares learn geographical convenience.[/indent]
• [b]SIRNA:[/b] Sirna is aware of the Nighthare problem, but is more interested in pursuing other matters instead. Like Ashuru being a sleeping being this whole time? What's that all about?

• [b]HAZY (Out-of-Domain):[/b] Interest piqued by the sudden pause in the dreams of a previously unnoticed entity, Sirna scries to observe the awakened world and what form and/or identity it might have taken on. (In other words, they're trying to scry the Woman-Who-is-Not-a-Woman... I think. Or maybe not.)

[indent] • -2 Conviction[/indent]
• [b]THE VEILED MOON:[/b] A Phantasm - a gold, furry, eight-legged serpent - takes it upon itself to confront the mortal hiding within the core of the Veiled Moon.

[right]Conviction Balance: 8[/right][/hider]
[right]Interactions: [@JFK][/right]