Mare
A mare is a type of Other associated with dreams and especially nightmares.
Description[edit]
A Mare makes dark dreams or nightmares.<ref>Now the cabin was set off-center, so the door was right at the edge. There was a figure crouching just inside the door, now. Black from top to bottom.
[...]
“What was that black thing?”
“A mare. Bringer of nightmares." - Excerpt from Stolen Away 2.z</ref> It is unknown to what extent other Mares resemble Alpeana, the only Mare that has been encountered to date.
Abilities[edit]
Alpeana 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">A white shape pressed into the curtain of black stuff that draped down from the pillow’s edges. It took Lucy a second to realize it was a face, poking through, with eyes as dark as anything.
“Ye’re due a nightmare, lassie,” the Mare said, her voice young, but thick with a Scottish burr.
“No thanks,” Lucy answered. The stream from above had eased up. The curtain of dark liquid had pooled around her, soaking into her sheets and pillow, but now that what was coming from above wasn’t so thick, she could see that what had piled up on her stomach and chest was the rough silhouette of a person. Alpeana’s face lifted up to find a home roughly where the head should be.
“Yeh,” Alpeana said. “Tha’s wha’ I thought. I’ll spare ye that.”
“Okay.”
“Can’t go and say ye won’ have a bad dream now, but it won’ be a fancy Mare dream like ye might be havin’ if ye were’n protected. I’m suppose ta pass on a message.”
“Pass it,” Lucy said. In her efforts to keep from freaking out, she was holding her head so rigid that her chin was rising by fractions. Her breath came in small intervals, with the weight on her chest.
“Miss wants ta talk. Get an update on yer findin’s and all tha’.” - Excerpt from Lost for Words 1.6</ref> 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?”
“For yer Lucy, aye. After tha gun was put to ‘er bonny head. It don’t do nothin’, haudin’ back.”
“Okay,” Verona said. “Does it help, if you do get into it? Give them a shake?”
“Can do, aye. Can do a wee number on them too. Tha pure tough ones, they dae better, ordinar’.” - Excerpt from Back Away 5.2</ref>
As a Mare, Alpeana 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.”
“Oh, aye?”
The three of them turned.
In the shadows by conifer trees with long needles, Alpeana crouched.
“Hey. We came to see you,” Avery said.
“Telling me my night’s hard work is all for nothin’?” Alpeana asked.
“Night’s hard work?” Lucy asked.
“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?” - 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.” - 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.
It buried Mr. Hayward’s face, extended into his open mouth.
Smothered him.
Verona shifted her footing, arms folded.
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.
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.
“Stop!”
[...]
“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.” - 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.
Into nightmare.
[...]
“I wanted ta get ye as far from him as I could. I pulled ye in too deep. I’m sorry, lass.” - 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">“Aye. Can do. One of ye take another by tha hand. I can only tug ye along with usin’ my hands, unless ye want to take hold of this hair of mine.”
“Uhh,” Avery said. The hair was very greasy and had a lot of stuff in it. Alpeana was cute in her own weird way, but not so cute Avery wanted to hold her hair. She took Lucy’s hand.
Alpeana’s hand was cool to the touch, and slippery without being wet, in a way that made Avery’s hairs stand on end. Alpeana took Verona with the other hand, and then tugged.
Avery’s stomach was left by the shore, as they made the quick trip back to Verona’s house.
They were dropped onto the stairs. - Excerpt from Stolen Away 2.5</ref> 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?”
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…”
[...]
“If you want to know more,” Maricica said. “Alpeana could be an escort. She knows ways and routes.”
[...]
“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.” - 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.”
“Interesting places?” Avery asked.
“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.”
Now I know how Lucy feels when Verona derails conversations, Avery thought.
“I dinnae have names for where I go. I just go,” Alpeana said. “Maricica comes, now and then.”
“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.” - Excerpt from Stolen Away 2.3</ref> such as echoes.<ref>“Interference,” Alpeana said. “Someone got here first.”
“Another Mare?” Avery asked.
“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.”
[...]
The girls entered the bedroom. A man, face covered in blackness, was lying on a bed, shirtless and sweaty
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. - Excerpt from Stolen Away 2.5</ref>
She can smell glamour.<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.”
“It burns you?” Avery asked.
“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.” - Excerpt from Stolen Away 2.3</ref>
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-”
“A Mare of middling rank and power?” Alexander asked, with a laugh. - Excerpt from Out on a Limb 3.2</ref>
Weaknesses[edit]
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" /> She is able to operate during the day, but an overcast sky really helps.
Under the gaze of a Skeptic she felt weaker and her appearance became more completely human.<ref name=":11">“Ah’m nae feelin’ so strong,” Alpeana said.
Verona looked.
Alpeana was… she looked less like she had hair that had been pulled from a tub drain, and more like she had really filthy, regular hair. Features had softened, there were freckles on her skin, and her dress wasn’t as tattered.
“The skeptic. She’s watching,” Verona said. - Excerpt from Back Away 5.2</ref>
Agents and Pillars of Dream[edit]
Mares operate by manipulating the ideas and memories that occur within the dream. These items include Agents of Dream, which create the form of the dream out of the chaos of the unconscious, and Pillars of Dream, which hold the dream together.<ref name="agents-pillars">It was a piecemeal mosaic of half-remembered images of the day, each image lacking details, waiting to be filled in. The girl was standing outside the gift shop with a Wink and a Nod. Agents of Dream, immaterial and capable of connecting to the half-remembered to find order in the great unconscious.
[...]
Alpeana slithered through the scene, identifying and working with the pillars that held the dream intact, reinforcing them. There were Rems, who extended from dream to body. She could touch them and spread darkness into them as she passed by. If these objects and agents were weak or fleeting then the dream could collapse easily.
There were Mnemes, as other lesser entities, recurring memories, carrying forward information from day to night and from dream to dream. - Excerpt from One After Another 10.d</ref>
Known Agents of Dream include:
- Winks
- Nods
Known Pillars of Dream include:
- Rems (entities that connect the dream to the body)
- Mnemes (lesser entities that connect information between dreams)<ref name="agents-pillars" />
Variants[edit]
- Night Hag
- Erotic dreamweaver<ref>“You gave me that freaking nightmare about my dad before dropping me in here. Do you have any shame at all?”
“‘Twas easiest! Ah’m busy! I’m workin’ thae meetings intae my schedule for ye, th’ least ye can dae is put up with a wee bit o’ trauma!”
“I think you owe me a hot guy dream,” Verona told Alpeana.
“That’s th’ province o’ some ither bloke. We barely talk any.”
“That’s a thing?” Avery asked.
“‘E’s not in Kennet, but he’ll come by ‘ere and thar.” - Excerpt from False Moves 12.4</ref>
Tromos (possibly)
Trivia[edit]
In Germanic and Slavic folklore, the mare is a mythical creature said to sit on people's chests and give them nightmares. This creature is the origin of the word "nightmare". In real life they're thought to be inspired by sleep paralysis hallucinations.
References[edit]
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