The Court of Nightmares

Six or more beings form the court of nightmares, each ruling a piece of the nightmare realm. The Dream Tormentor appears mightiest and perhaps leads them, though whether he rules alone or shares power is unknown; some think the others are just fragments of him, made real by the curse that binds him there.

Pressed against the veil of sleep, the court can touch sleepers anywhere in the multiverse, not only those within the misty dread realm. Its members cannot cross the veil to escape, but they can pull dreamers through.

From the nightmare realm the court spins a mystic web whose strands pass the veil into the dream plane, where every sleeper's dream-self wanders. The strands brush each sleeper's passions and sorrows, and the vibrations they send home carry pictures and feelings for the court to read.

Only dreams with a dark core interest them, and the web snares those. A caught nightmare replays over and over for one night or as many as 1d6 nights before the sleeper breaks loose. Meanwhile the court feeds on the dreamer's essence, draining 1 Intelligence per night; the points come back at a rate of one daily after release.

A court member may examine a snared sleeper, hunting for terrors that will grow well in its realm. Madness-edged fantasies, recent severe trauma and overwhelming grief all qualify. A dreamer judged worthy is dragged down the web and sealed in a dreamscape, his visions planted as seeds for new dream scenes.

Each member has a hidden, guarded relic tying it to the web. The tie is fragile; cutting it weakens the member until it is repaired, and may be the first step toward destroying it.

Terrain change: A member reshapes land instantly. In a dreamscape this is almost unlimited, drawing images straight from the dreamer's mind. In the dream borderlands it can only alter the look of its own domain, and even then the trapped dreamers' visions shape the result.

Inspire madness: Once a day per character, a member can stir up buried fears and force an immediate madness check.

Dreamwalking: In a deep trance, a member sends its dream-self along the web to spy on the waking world's dreams.

Teleport without error: Unlimited inside its own territory, three uses daily elsewhere in the realm. Destinations include the dream city, the ever-shifting forest, specific dreamscapes and the far shores of the night-dark sea, but never another member's lair or its personal zone, a circle 30 feet across centered on that member.

Regeneration: While its web link holds, a member heals 1d4+1 hit points every round without effort, fueled by trapped dreams.