(On request of Minister Forgedheart, this is a re-print of a letter he sent to Minister Oliver Finnestera of the town of Elmerton in the South Farthings on the second day of Petalsong in this the 124th year of the Age of Fortune.)
Minister Oliver,
I wish to address the town of Elmerton regarding a situation that has recently caught my attention. A while ago, Elmerton created a shared Dream Space that was intended to protect your dreaming minds from the likes of the Harbinger (whom you know as “Mister Hi”) and Queen Amphelise. It has done its job and more, but now it is starting to deteriorate as it has come under an infestation of what are known as Gloam Grubs. These tiny creatures are generally seen during outbreaks of pestilence and in the area where Dreaming Minds are most potent. They feed on dream substance, and shadow when they can get it. As you can imagine, they are a constant nuisance in places like asylums, hospitals, and orphanages. Your shared Dream space, which apparently includes the Dreaming Minds of anyone who lives in the town, is rank with these Grubs. However, it is not entirely a bad thing.
The Good News: Gloam Grubs are extremely versatile in their uses. They produce a very strong type of silk made from Shadow and Dream that is primarily used for weaving magical netting, as well as for creating impassable boundaries and the like. However, due to the very Nature of their being, they are incredibly useful in a multitude of other applications as well. I would not be surprised if you had quite a few visitors in your town trying to collect them.
Devoter Warsson wishes me to inform you that one of the more remarkable uses of this little Grub is its ability, under the right circumstances, to create/become manifestations of various creatures of Nightmare on Magesta and that the banner he set up was expressly for the purpose of Fighting for Hyurog’s cause. As these creatures are generally hostile and will seek to fight as soon as they appear on Magesta, it seems appropriate to use them to empower War. For those who may be squeamish about killing creatures- it is important to note that these are temporary beings, manifested from pure energy and destined to die within ten minutes after they are created.
I have created the proper ritual site outside the Western boundaries of Elmerton (and therefore outside the “boundaries” of your shared Dream Space) in order to allow these instances of summoning to happen. If you wish to summon a creature or a group of creatures, here are the steps to follow
- You must first Gather as many Grubs (make sure that you are fully able to Gather such things, otherwise they will burst, which is one of their means of reproduction) as you would like creatures to summon. This can be one or an entire group.
- Next you will need to assign 1-3 Grubs to each person (the more Grubs per person, the more powerful the manifestation) and everyone who wishes to participate will need to head out of town to the ritual site I have prepared.
- Each person must remain at the ritual site in a state of intense concentration for the entire time he or she wishes his or her Grub to remain manifest. Generally each Grub allows a creature to manifest for 10 minutes at a time. If you wish to manifest a creature for longer than that, you may use more than one Grub per person, and the time will increase accordingly.
- The process of manifesting a creature is a taxing one and the Grub will therefore expire at the end of the process. You will not be able to use that Grub again.
A Gloam Grub. This creature is capable of creating exceptionally strong silk as well as manifesting itself as various forms of Nightmares under the right circumstances.
Now for a bit of Bad News. Gloam Grubs, while having many positive qualities, are generally looked upon as a dangerous nuisance. As I have said, they feed on dream energies and, if allowed to cocoon and mature, they will grow into nasty creatures of Nightmare, fed on your deepest, most intense fears, dreams, and passions. They build their cocoons in the physical minds of those whose energies they are feeding on and when they hatch, it is many times directly out of the skull of that person, killing them and oftentimes rendering their mind permanently destroyed. With a shared dream space such as yours, I imagine it means that they will have access to any of the minds that currently share that space.
Additionally, there are folks who are able to manipulate well-fed Grubs into allowing them access into a person’s dreaming mind. Again, with your shared dream space, this means that there is potential for someone to gain access to all of your Dreaming Minds via these Grubs.
The Grubs are in the process of disintegrating your shared Dream Space (which they are already doing on their own, and will continue to do until the Space is gone), which is a good thing in my opinion, but since they multiply so rapidly, I would say do everything in your power to find these Grubs and use them to manifest creatures into your town. Not only will you be able to help empower the Incarnation of War, but allowing these Grubs to manifest is one of the safest and most effective ways known to destroy them.
I wish you Fortune’s Best with this situation, and please do not hesitate to send me word if you experience complications.
Yours,
Tellah Forgedheart
Minister of Hatchport