Editing Alpeana (section)

==Abilities==
Her approach can mess with electronics.<ref name=":6" /> Animals fall silent when she's within twenty paces.<ref>Here and there, animals made noises, at least until Alpeana scurried one way or another.  Animals seemed to fall silent when she was within twenty paces of them.  - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/10/06 Excerpt] from [[Back Away 5.2]]</ref> 

She can crawl rapidly on ceilings and walls like a spider.<ref>Alpeana lunged, crawling across the ceiling with rapid movements. Thumpthumpthumpthumpthump- Crawling across the ceiling to a point directly over Lucy’s bed in about a third of the time it would take Lucy to walk from her doorway to her bedside table.<br><br>She hung there, suspended, fingers straining, curved backwards as fingertips seemed to dig into the ceiling itself.  Her head twisted, rotating, like she was trying to get a better view. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/05/26 Excerpt] from [[Lost for Words 1.6]]</ref><ref name=":7">Alpeana leaned forward, darkness pressing in close to Lucy’s head. <br><br>Then she scampered up the wall, then to the ceiling.  As she pulled away, the rags and dark strands of her hair pulled up the stains and dark gloop that she had left behind her, leaving the bed and everything pristine.<br><br>“Alpeana,” Lucy called up.<br><br>The girl, already at the door to the bedroom, turned around, then sat down, positioned upside-down, bare legs and dirty toenails visible. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/05/26 Excerpt] from [[Lost for Words 1.6]]</ref> She can leap and climb through the treetops with superhuman speed.<ref>Alpeana scurried through the branches overhead, so fast she was almost twitching in her every movement. [...] Just like that, Alpeana was off, scampering through trees faster than Verona could run, and Verona ran forward. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/10/06 Excerpt] from [[Back Away 5.2]]</ref>

She can generate streams of black filth from her mouth and from her hair<ref name=":2" /> which she can seemingly move through or transform into a copy of her.<ref name=":4" /> This matter seems to be a part of her and can be reabsorbed, without leaving a mark on her surroundings.<ref name=":7" /> Alpeana is capable of turning into a sludgy mess of what looks like black hair in order to sneak under doorways. She appears to be able to turn into this form and back at will.<ref>Alpeana slipped beneath the door, the entirety of her body squishing down into the stuff like tangles of pubes and hair pulled from the drains, dyed black instead of red and brown. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/06/23 Excerpt] from [[Stolen Away 2.5]]</ref> She can rotate her head at any angle.<ref name=":6" /> More dramatically, she can manifest multiple copies of her limbs from the sludge in different places, although any injuries to them also seem to be mirrored as they happen.<ref>Alpeana hung on a branch, hair drooping down in a way that obscured much of her body.  Her pale arms stuck out of the black tide that flowed down from that point, piling on the forest floor, some bracing against the ground, others with nails digging into the arms of an old man.<br><br>Verona slowed.<br><br>The old man bucked and thrashed.  For a moment, it looked like he was going to be strong enough to rise up, sitting up and maybe pushing his way out, fighting the hands.<br>[...]<br>Alpeana grabbed him with multiple arms, the tide of darkness vomiting out wide and thick, making him bend.<br>[...]<br>One finger found purchase, dragging against one of Alpeana’s ten pale arms until the arm was pulled just a bit down, then seizing it in the firmest sort of grip.<br><br>One wrench, a sharp movement, and Alpeana’s forearm snapped.  Half of the arms that were reaching out of the morass snapped with it, in a cacophony of dull cracks that shook the area.  Small branches rained down around them.<br>[...]<br>Multiple of Alpeana’s limbs twisted, broken end of bone audibly grinding against broken end of bone, as the old man used the sole bit of leverage he had, while being swamped with oily darkness.<br>[...]<br>Alpeana, not a human but a morass with limbs sticking out here and there, trying to press down a man who refused to bow, reached out one broken arm. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/10/06 Excerpt] from [[Back Away 5.2]]</ref>

Her species are apparently responsible for delivering nightmares to people, although she notes that even if she chooses to let someone be, they may still have a lesser bad dream - it just won't be as "fancy".<ref name=":4" /> The nightmares she brings can ultimately help or harm, depending on the target.<ref>“Not just yet,” Verona said.  “What happens when you hold off?  You did for my dad, and… for us?”<br><br>“For yer Lucy, aye.  After tha gun was put to ‘er bonny head.  It don’t do nothin’, haudin’ back.”<br><br>“Okay,” Verona said.  “Does it help, if you do get into it?  Give them a shake?”<br><br>“Can do, aye.  Can do a wee number on them too.  Tha pure tough ones, they dae better, ordinar’.” - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/10/06 Excerpt] from [[Back Away 5.2]]</ref> She is instinctively guided to targets by the higher powers of the universe. For example, the [[Spirits]] might send her to carry out a [[curse]] by implanting certain ideas in people.<ref>“…There’s a chance the curse I set might get lifted pretty soon.  She’s going to reach out to Paul.  I think he might actually pick up and answer her, after yesterday.  I nailed the coward curse in three times, if he can overcome that and overcome his natural instincts, he’s free and clear.”<br><br>“Oh, aye?”<br><br>The three of them turned.<br><br>In the shadows by conifer trees with long needles, Alpeana crouched.<br><br>“Hey.  We came to see you,” Avery said.<br><br>“Telling me my night’s hard work is all for nothin’?” Alpeana asked.<br><br>“Night’s hard work?” Lucy asked.<br><br>“Aye, it’s like subcontractin’, innit?  Spirits and whosits haf got a bunch of minds to put to gradual change, dreams are a way to go about doin’ it.  Spent the better half of last night plantin’ subtle ideas in people’s heads, this guy he cannae be trusted, he’ll turn tail and run. Ain’t it so weird he spent so long livin’ at home with his ma?  What’s goin’ on there?” - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/06/23 Excerpt] from [[Stolen Away 2.5]]</ref><ref>“Sometimes Fate or Time or Economy have a wee wrinkle and they need to nudge someone or somethin’, or tha cosmological balance sheets don’ add up and they need somethin’ like me ta take a peek or pull some things apart to sort out why and how. [...] No boss, not so far as I’ve ever met.  I work with instinct and nobody’s ever said I should do elsewise.  Give a small child a dream of her da dying before ‘is time, stretch it so it feels like tha dream goes for weeks?  Leaves her changed, after, even if she dinnae remember half of it. [...] Might be tha she hugs her da a little tighter, after.  More likely tha wee bit sleeps uneasy, has some bad days, but the invisible wheels of tha world turn a bit righter, a bit straighter.  If I didn’t, the snarls might become doors and the wrongs in the cosmology might become right problems. [...] Sometimes I take what’s there an’ I move it around, or change a wee detail, sometimes there be a need, an’ I need to use what’s out there to build or fill in, an’ sometimes there’s a wrinkle or a snarl and I fix it an’ go on my nightly way.  Lately, this past month and a bit, wha’s there is bloodier, messier.  Wha’s missing is raw at the edges, an’ when I go to get materials, most of wha I have to work with is blood and chaos.  Wrinkles and snarls?  Same idea.  Means I need to go further afield to find what I need.” - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/06/16 Excerpt] from [[Stolen Away 2.3]]</ref> It costs her energy to envelop a person and enter their dreams, energy which is then repaid - and more - by the universe on completion.<ref>Alpeana barfed blackness and drainstuff.  Her hair extended, reaching down, like it was liquid.<br><br>It buried Mr. Hayward’s face, extended into his open mouth.<br>
Smothered him.<br><br>Verona shifted her footing, arms folded.<br><br>He twitched, turning his head, as if to escape it, then moved his hand, reaching up lazily, with no sense of what he was fighting against.<br><br>An arm, thin, feminine, and strong, reached out of the tide of black stuff and grabbed him by the wrist, pinning his arm down to the bed.<br><br>“Stop!”<br>[...]<br>“Costs me a wee bit of somethin’, reachin’ in.  If I’m not finishin’ the job I’m not getting me pay from the cosmic tide and bellow, aye?  I cannae be stoppin’ and startin’ all night.” - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/06/23 Excerpt] from [[Stolen Away 2.5]]</ref> She can pull a person entirely out of reality and into her body, into the depths of nightmare.<ref>Alpeana’s hand gripped Verona’s ankle, and hauled her, between his legs and into oily darkness.<br><br>Into nightmare.<br>[...]<br>“I wanted ta get ye as far from him as I could.  I pulled ye in too deep.  I’m sorry, lass.” - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/10/06 Excerpt] from [[Back Away 5.2]]</ref> She seems to be unable to create 'good' dreams focused solely on nightmares.

She can teleport across town, and bring people with her by touch.<ref name=":9" /> She has the ability to travel to other realms, such as [[the Ruins]], where she gathers materials to make more impactful dreams<ref>“How many places are adjacent to Kennet?” Lucy asked.  “Or types of places?”<br><br>Maricica smiled.  “A good number.  Some are adjacent in a way that would put them outside Kennet, such as the Abyss or the Courts, and some are far, far away, like the Paths.  That said, the spirit world, the ruins, the basest parts of the warrens are adjacent in…”<br>[...]<br>“If you want to know more,” Maricica said.  “Alpeana could be an escort.  She knows ways and routes.”<br>[...]<br>“That is possible.  The goblins could have stowed it in the shallow parts of the Warrens, for example, Edith could have taken it to the spirit world, or Alpeana could have taken it to the ruins.” - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/06/16 Excerpt] from [[Stolen Away 2.3]]</ref><ref name=":10">“I haf a purpose, lassie, I don’t go hungry, I haf friends and I go interestin’ places.  It’s nae so bad.”<br><br>“Interesting places?” Avery asked.<br><br>“Yeah,” Verona butted in, from Lucy’s arms.  She craned her sinuous neck around a bit.  “Going back to that, where do you go to go further afield, for resources or materials?” Verona asked, again.  “I’ve been wondering about power sources, or resources, and how it’s all put together.”<br><br>''Now I know how Lucy feels when Verona derails conversations'', Avery thought.<br><br>“I dinnae have names for where I go.  I just go,” Alpeana said.  “Maricica comes, now and then.”<br><br>“I need materials sometimes,” Maricica said.  “Glamour is strongest when you build on a solid backbone.  There are places you can go that are more Other than human.  Many are hazardous.  The ruins, the abyss, the warrens- detestable.” - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/06/16 Excerpt] from [[Stolen Away 2.3]]</ref> such as [[echo]]es.<ref>“Interference,” Alpeana said.  “Someone got here first.”<br><br>“Another Mare?” Avery asked.<br><br>“Och, no,” Alpeana said.  She looked agitated, crouching down.  “The echo I should’ve used to answer his dream.  Someone tore it apart for pieces, aye?  Took tha eyes.  They’re lookin’ in.”<br>[...]<br>The girls entered the bedroom.  A man, face covered in blackness, was lying on a bed, shirtless and sweaty<br><br>Beside him, flickering, was the ghost of the woman that had to be his wife.  Her eyes were missing, with only a slash of darkness in their place. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/06/23 Excerpt] from [[Stolen Away 2.5]]</ref>

She can smell [[glamour]].<ref name="2.3e1" />

Alpena's manipulation of dreams is heavily dependent on what's in the dream to begin with, she has to specifically manipulate things to access the memories she wants.<ref>[[One After Another 10.d]]</ref> She can bring materials into various dreams as she goes, these or useually the materials she mentioned to work with Marcia with.

All this in mind she was described as "a Mare of middling rank and power" by [[Alexander Belanger]], so apparently she's pretty average for her species.<ref>You deprived this area of needed resources by clawing apart our ghosts to spy on us.  We witnessed how a force that works to help smooth over snarls and restore balances the universe was found deprived of what they needed to do their work, because of your greed-”<br><br>“A Mare of middling rank and power?” Alexander asked, with a laugh. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/07/18 Excerpt] from [[Out on a Limb 3.2]]</ref>

Avery brought her a Dark Lantern that allows her to absorb [[Omen|Omens]] and then project them out.<ref>Verona was doing their gift to Matthew, but Avery had something for Alpeana- a ‘dark lantern’ that was supposed to be an omen collector.  Nicolette had helped with that one.  It would absorb omens, sort them out, and project them.  The idea was that if Alpeana had a mess of a job to do, cleaning up the universe’s wrinkles, this could be a big ‘bam, let’s skip that one, blast the wrinkle to smithereens’. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2022/08/23/let-slip-20-6/ Excerpt] from [[Let Slip 20.6]]</ref>

=== Weaknesses ===
Alpeana is seemingly weak to sunlight, and it hurts her if she is exposed to it. Because of this, she only likes to go out at night, and sleeps in the Fae's cave during the day. This is most likely due to her nature as a Mare.<ref name="2.3e1">Alpeana rubbed at one eye.  “I dinnae do nothin’, I was only sleepin’, and she comes runnin’ up smellin’ like sunlight an’ glam.  Glam’s hard for me ta ignore, but sunlight?  I might as well be allergic.”<br><br>“It burns you?” Avery asked.<br><br>“Makes tha eyes water.  Every bit of ye recoils and wants to put up a fight, but you can’t be fightin’ the sun, lassie.  Not many sorts can.  Leaves ye hurtin’ in little ways all over.  Like allergies.” - 
[https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/06/16 Excerpt] from [[Stolen Away 2.3]]</ref> she can operate during the day of course, an overcast sky really helps.

Under the gaze of a [[Skeptic]] she felt weaker and her appearance became more completely human.<ref name=":11" />