All vessels are connected by a low, persistent psychic resonance known as the Murmur: a background thrum that links every vessel, Host, and living fragment touched by Sleep. You don't hear it, see it, but you do feel it. It is a soft pull at the edge of thought, that even serves as a gamewide network that characters can communicate through using their masks.
Every Vessel arrives with a mask, blindfold, or veil— a symbolic object bound to their transformation. When worn, it grants greater access to this shared psychic space. All masks are very flexible in terms of display, and may easily change appearance to fit the vessel's personality, form, and so on.
Through the Network, Vessels can communicate over distance, like whispering across a void or leaving behind a memory for someone to find.
The Network allows characters to send:
🪢Telepathic messaging, brief and intimate that may feellike messaging. There are no spoken words,but "felt" ones.
🪢Illusory voice communication, where a vessel hears another's voice in their mind, much like a phone call.
🪢Projected apparitions, resembling the speaker's form in a dreamlike facsimile, like a waking hallucination or VR.
This communication feels deeply personal. It is not bound by distance, but proximity can intensify its clarity. The more emotionally charged the message, the more vivid (or distorted) the image.
The Murmur is neutral by nature, but transformative by effect. On its own, The Murmur does not have intent. It doesn't speak, doesn't plot, but it remembers each and every one that was once a part of it. It stores emotion, sensation and memory, like a dreaming network without agency. Interaction with The Murmur always has a cost: It amplifies connection, but dulls individuality. It rewires them over time. Not maliciously, but irrevocably. Like falling asleep in a warm bath that's slowly flooding. There is one way to combat its pull, and that's by Tethering.
Tethers are personal, powerful bonds with anything connected to the Murmur. They are not submission to it, but rather an intentional use of it, so when you Tether, you're drawing on the Murmur's connection, but grounding it in chosen intimacy. This focuses the use of the Murmur rather than being drowned in it. If the Murmur is the river, the current— Tethers are the wires, giving that raw power means to be tamed and used. There are types of Tethers your characters may have, starting with:
TETHERS: VESSEL TO VESSEL SYNCHRONY Vessels may form deeper connections with one another with Tethers. A Vessel-Vessel Tether is the formation of a psychic and/or emotional link between two vessels. It may start subtly, as a shift in dreams, a shared sensation, or a deepening awareness of the other's presence, and then gradually grows— or can form immediately through intimate acts between vessels. It doesn't require spoken consent in-character, but it always requires agreement OOC. Your character may have multiple Tethers, or even a shared Tether of up to three individuals at a time (rare, but possible). Some may form instantly, others over time.
They can manifest emotionally, psychically or physically. Some examples include:
🪢Feeling the other's emotional state or pain.
🪢Dream-sharing or subconscious bleedover.
🪢Slight combat buffs.
🪢Reflexively reacting to each other's presence.
Tethers are mutual by default, but asymmetrical or toxic connections are allowed with clear OOC consent from both player parties. They can grow stronger, fade, break, or warp. It's also worth noting that Tethers between Token and Offering are stronger than Token-Token or Offering-Offering combinations. Remember that Tethers are the beginning of a bond— they are significant, but still forming. Think of them as open threads, not yet tied. A strong and consistent Tether that has been tied can evolve into Convergence: a deeply entangled bond that leaves lasting impact on both Vessels. More on Convergences can be found further below.
AMBIENT TETHERS: FLORA AND FAUNA SYNCHRONY Vessels may also attempt to bond with local flora and fauna, called Ambient Tethers, with mixed results. A successful Tether can grant emotional and physical resonance, insight into the environment, or practical aid (like a steed or animal companion). However, repeated or intense use of non-vessel Tethers may lead to Succumbence, the gradual loss of self to the Murmur's (Sleep's) influence.
This mechanic is optional and highly customizable. Minor aesthetic changes are welcome even without full Succumbence (a vessel who chooses to frequently Tether with flora may have small plants or flowers growing on them, a greener tone to skin, etc).
CONVERGENCEA Convergence occurs when a Tether becomes fully entangled— when both Vessels' Murmurs sync in a way that permanently alters their relationship and possibly themselves. It is not always positive, and it is not always planned. What sets a Convergence apart from a Tether is:
🪢Stability: The Tether becomes harder to sever or ignore. Even if the characters part ways, the resonance lingers. Vessels that have converged share an incredibly strong gravitational pull towards each other. They are constantly drawn back together if apart.
🪢Mutual Effect: Physical mutations, memory shares, power sharing, mental changes, empathy, echoed thoughts or emotional influence becomes stronger and more immediate, near or apart (A Token in Convergence with an Offering who has horns may begin to grow smaller horns; a pair may share the same eye color; An Offering in convergence with a necromancing Token may adopt a more goulish appearance, etc).
Just as a Tether, Convergences that are between Token and Offering are much more intense than Token-Token or Offering-Offering combinations. If a threeway Convergence is being attempted, at least one of each Vessel type will work as the bond's stabilizer.
SEVERINGNot all Tethers are meant to last. Some fray on their own; others must be cut. And sometimes, even a Convergence must be undone— though rarely without a cost.
Severing a Tether:
🪢Requires intent.
🪢Can happen organically (characters grow distant) or violently (betrayal, trauma, forced separation).
🪢May leave behind emotional or psychic residue— phantom sensations, dreams, or physical after effects.
🪢Can trigger a moment of vulnerability where the Murmur tries to replace the lost connection, which may make a vessel more susceptible to Succumbence.
Severing a Convergence:
🪢Rare and difficult. Convergences are not meant to be casual.
🪢Requires a traumatic split, external force, or deliberate ritual.
🪢Leaves scars, literal or metaphorical. One or both vessels might lose abilities gained through the bond, retain memories or habits not their own, or become more susceptible to Succumbence.
Sometimes, the Murmur refuses to let go and the Convergence decays rather than ends, becoming something twisted.
DECAY: WHEN CONVERGENCE TURNS
A decayed Convergence is what remains when a deep bond festers instead of healing or severing cleanly. The vessels stay connected, but the connection has soured, bent under pressure, neglect, betrayal, obsession, or despair. It hurts. It makes you unwelland unlike yourself.
Symptoms of Decay may include:
🪢Disruption in the Murmur: Static, distortion, invasive thoughts, dream intrusions— like feedback from a broken circuit.
🪢Unreliable Resonance: Emotions misfire; one vessel may feel things that aren't theirs, or nothing at all.
🪢Physical or Psychic Rot: Glitches in memory, phantom limbs, spreading mutations, or "wrong" flora/fauna traits creeping in uninvited.
Decay is not always mutual. One Vessel may pull away or change while the other clings, corrupting the Convergence further. Sometimes, both simply . . . Drift, likely into Succumbence.
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