Treasures of the Secret Craft of Dream Magic

Jherek's Sagacious Pillow of Sleepreading

Jherek Virayana I was the first Dream Master to achieve High Mastery in Dream Magic. He had a vast love of books and reading, but unlike other scholars and wizards who could spend sleepless nights and days to study and read, Jherek I had the disadvantage of needing to sleep more than even the average person, which took him away from his beloved books. Jherek thus used the Secret Craft of Dream Magic to create a magical item which allowed him to conserve the hours "wasted" on sleeping.

Jherek's Sagacious Pillow of Sleepreading is a plush square pillow, 2 feet by 2 feet, made of Krondaharan silk and stuffed with the softest down. Both sides are covered with ornate Ethengar designs, incorporating the Virayana family emblem, but the bottom face depicts a pair of staring bloodshot eyes.

To use the Pillow, a person must place a non-magical text under the pillow before going to sleep. The person effectively reads the text as he sleeps, and he wakes up with the knowledge of what was on the text. With the Pillow, the sleeper reads at the same rate as he does when awake. Thus, a sleeper who sleeps on a book that would take him 16 hours to read and only sleeps for 8 hours, will wake up with the book only half-read.

The magic of the Pillow prevents the sleeper from having any dreams while sleepreading. Otherwise, the Pillow has no other detrimental effects.

Nayan's Bedclothes of Sleepfighting

Nayan Virayana, the son of Prince Birkai Virayana and promising young battlemage, became one of first disciples of Jherek Viryana I in Dream Magic. Despite being less scholarly than the other apprentices of Jherek, he was a proficient Dream Master and was able to craft this wonderful item to protect him from attempts at his life during sleep.

Birkai's Bedclothes of Sleepfighting is an elegant yet comfortable set of a shirt and pants, made of the finest Krondaharan silk, emblazoned with traditional Ethengar designs as befitting the Golden Khan himself. It is enchanted such that it would always remain fresh, never get stained or soiled or need to be pressed, and Prince Birkai had the habit of wearing these clothes every night!

The true magic of the Bedclothes of Sleepfighting is only activated when their wearer is attacked during sleep. The Bedclothes animate themselves (and thus carry the body of the sleeping wearer) to protect their wearer, by moving the wearer to a safe area or using martial arts moves to dodge blows or to counterattack. The wearer remains asleep the whole time and appears like a puppet or a combatant who is fighting drunk—or more accurately—half asleep.

In sleepfighting mode, the Bedclothes grant the wearer an Armor Class of 0 and a Dexterity of 18. The sleepfighter can walk, run, jump, crawl, dodge and evade, but cannot actually initiate attacks. He does make hits (THAC0 10) to parry attacks or to disarm an attacker, but these do not cause damage.

If the sleepfighter is hit, he receives the damage and wakes up. Otherwise, the sleepfighter will continue sleeping peacefully, and only wake up with a dream of the attack during his sleep.

Jherek's Willful Sash of Sleepguarding

Kublai Virayana, the eldest son of Prince Toktai Virayana, was the greatest of the disciples of Jherek Virayana, and thus was later known as Jherek Virayana II or "Jherek, son of Jherek the Dream-Walker." His greatest rival in Dream Magic was his uncle, the battlemage Nayan Virayana, and although he agreed with the purpose of the Bedclothes of Sleepfighting to protect their sleeping wearer, Jherek II found the manner of accomplishing this end too ridiculous. Thus, he fashioned the Willful Sash of Sleepguarding.

This magical sash, made of Krondaharan silk and emblazoned with the design of a sleeping dragon, is meant to protect its wearer as he sleeps. The Sash radiates a magical aura of sleep, 30' in radius centered on the sleeping wearer. Any creatures within the aura must save vs. spell every round or fall asleep where they are. Moreover, anyone who looks at the sleeping wearer falls asleep automatically. This magic affects even those magically viewing the sleeper, such as through a crystal ball or clairvoyance spell.

The magic of the Sash is active only when the wearer goes to sleep, although if the wearer wakes up, creatures magically put to sleep are not necessarily awakened as well.

The Willful Sash of Sleepguarding protected Jherek II from many attempts at his life when asleep, save for the last—when his enemy sent a golem as the assassin.

Jherek's Eyemask of Sleepscrying

This magical item was crafted by Prince Jherek Virayana III. Made of fine Krondaharan silk, padded with velvet, and embossed with designs in gold thread, this thin mask comfortably fits over the eyes of the sleeper. A thin band of silk keeps the mask snuggly in place. Besides shielding the eyes from light and ensuring a peaceful sleep for the wearer, the Eyemask of Sleepscrying is also attuned to another magical treasure, Bethys' Diadem of Dreamsharing.

Prince Jherek once shared a romance with Lady Bethys Erewan, the Oracle of Clan Ellerovyn, famed for receiving dreams of the future. Wanting to exploit her talents for his own purposes, Prince Jherek crafted both the Eyemask and the Diadem; the former he kept, the latter he presented to Lady Bethys.

As Lady Bethys wears the Diadem of Dreamsharing in her sleep and receives her prophetic dreams, the Diadem transmits those images to the Eyemask of Sleepscrying. Prince Jherek may then don the Eyemask and go to sleep and view these prophetic dreams. The Eyemask can only hold the dreams of one night, after which the dreams will be replaced of those of the next night.

Prince Jherek also discovered that should he and Lady Bethys be sleeping and dreaming at the same time, he may communicate with her through a dream image projected by the Diadem. Lady Bethys never knew her lover was spying on her dreams—or if she did—she still continues to wear the Diadem.

Jherek's Wondrous Pillow of Sleepcasting

Prince Jherek Virayana IV of Krondahar inherited the treasures of the previous High Masters of Dream Magic before him, and improved on the designs of some items, particularly Jherek's Sagacious Pillow of Sleepreading. Prince Jherek crafted his own pillow which granted its user not just the ability to read books in his sleep, but to actually memorize wizardly spells in his sleep.

A wizard must choose the spells he wishes to memorize, place a spellbook containing such spells underneath the Wondrous Pillow of Sleepcasting and go to sleep. The wizard will then awaken with those spells in memory, ready for casting. For that night, the wizard does not receive any dreams (and is also thus protected from dream attacks, such as nightmare spells). If the wizard's sleep is interrupted, only a proportional number of spells and spell levels would be retained in his memory (random or DM's choice). The wizard cannot use the Pillow for more than three consecutive nights.

In appearance, Jherek's Wondrous Pillow of Sleepcasting is identical to the Sagacious Pillow of Sleepreading, except for subtle variation in the Virayana family emblem, depicting a fourth generation Jherek.

Ralindi's Silken Sheets of Dreampleasures

The newest Krondaharan Prince, Ralindi Virayana, son of Prince Jherek Virayana IV, has followed in his forefather's legacy of crafting magical treasures for the Secret Craft of Dream Magic. Prince Ralindi's particular creation comes from the necessity to maintain his love affair with Doña Ysabel de Fedorias from Belcadiz, secret from the public eye. For what seems like an eternity, Prince Ralindi has anguished over the all too long intervals apart, between the all too brief moments when he and his elven paramour can be together.

Prince Ralindi enchanted two exquisite matching sheets of the finest Krondaharan silk in the deepest scarlet color, such that the two people who sleep on the same night on these Sheets, they will be inextricably drawn to each other in their dreams and together experience a consummation of passions and pleasures most mortals can only fantasize about. The two dream lovers need not be together physically, only within the same plane of existence, but their experiences are so real, the dream lovers often wake with actual physical signs of the pleasurable acts.

Of course, Ralindi's Silken Sheets of Dreampleasures are unique and is in the possession only of Prince Ralindi Virayana himself and Doña Ysabel de Fedorias. Ralindi knows that their magic only works when they are used simultaneously, and when both users are asleep and dreaming. He suspects that the Sheets may act as a conduit for other forms of dream magic, but because of his singular purpose and use of the Sheets, Ralindi has not yet fully explored their full powers.

References: Ralindi's Ring of Dark Dominion

Author: Kit Navarro