Two Lower Depths Ideas I am working on

[Caedus]

So I am running a Changeling the Lost game and one of the plots is that the local hedgespace has been damaged to the point that the defenses of that world is being weakened, so I thought it could be interesting that two scars into the lower depths starts to develop in the Hedge.

Depth idea the first: A Lower Depth where there is no darkness, the schism to this place came about on a small island out in the oceanic part of the Hedge until it sucked out enough glamour to open up a fully opened Scar that still persists. The island is now called the Shadeless Isle as all darkness perishes there and there are no shadows..just varying degrees of light the further in on the island you go/the closer to the actual scar iris you get.

Depth idea the second: This scar develops in the area known as the dreaming roads, specficially the dreaming roads reflecting the small population center where the game is focused. To make an ironic twist on it the thing that this Depth is lacking is sleep. All life in it must be constantly awake...and going through all the suffering that comes with having no true respite.

I wondered if you guys had ideas for potential effects that these scars could have, what the denizens of these depths might be/might look like, and similar ideas to expand the concepts <3

[21C Hermit]

Hmm… IIRC, a Lower Depth is defined by its hunger, which I suspect means pure take and no give.

Maybe the Shadeless devours any sort of ‘perceptual filters’ that cloak the truth with ‘shadows.’ The Occultation Merit, the general functions of the Shadow Name grounding your Nimbus, Veiling spells in general, and the fae Mask comes to mind. A phenomenon/force/entity/rip-in-reality that eats a changeling’s Mask sounds interesting.

The Sleepless sounds relatively tame compared to that but still nasty. Maybe it weakens oneiromancy in general (both the fae power, and Awakened Mind magic), and eats the local portion of the Dreaming Roads. Permanently. Wonder what happens to a Huntsman’s heart still inside someone’s Bastion as it is eaten, and anyone else there…
(I’d rather not let it mess with the Astral. It’s only metaphorically a dream, I think)

[KaiserAfini]

What are the main themes of your game ? We could repurpose the effects as ways to reinforce them or confront the players with some of their inherent quandaries.

[Caedus]

The Changeling Game in question is what I have defined as a "frontier game", they are in a small town in northern-norway with a population of 24k people or so. Their every day lives outside of the Hedge is average for the most part, there aren't enough people for the usual shenanigans of most CofD games. This is contrasted by their Changeling lives as three of the Changelings forged Mantles and their own courts by making deals with rather monstrous entities in their own right. So on the one hand you have family bbqs and small-town living, on the other they have a newly formed freehold and political alliances and fighting gods.

One theme deals with the Quandry of Evil(what will you do when confronted with an Evil that you cannot defeat with good, will you remain moral and let evil prevail or will you use evil to defeat the greater danger). Either way evil remains and that has been reflected in what the characters made bargains with. Specifically a Fiend of Duat, A horror from the Chronicles of Darkness corebook, and The Death Wolf's Shadow(a greater ghost trapped in the Underworld). Almost every character whether they founded a court or not are struggling with becoming more and more monstrous in their quest to ensure their own safety.

The second notable theme deals with self vs service. Many of the characters have a tendency to pursue their own agenda without any thought given to the wider consequences, this is not necessarily consciously selfish but it still is selfish. The group calls this entering the Good Ideas Van and it has lead to so...so many arguments and very delicious drama. These selfish tendencies is contrasted by now having a Freehold full of fresh escapees that are relying on them for guidance, protection, and a way to try and reclaim their lives.

The first of the Depths was thought up more for the aesthetic of a realm that feasts on Darkness, a realm with all-consuming light that hungers for the dark. Because several characters have an angelic theme to them and one of them believes himself to be the primordial darkness from before creation and therefore hates the light. I was pondering how to expand the concept to make it more..interesting than that and there are already some cool concepts in play up in the thread.

The second Depth was just for the sheer irony of a Lower Depth that feasts on sleep and dreams opening a rift in the dreaming roads....<.<

[21C Hermit]

Oooh, just got an idea. Try looking up Sin Eaters and Lightwardens from Final Fantasy 14 for the all-consuming light thing.

https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Sin_eater

[thenate]

A realm that hungers for rest and respite could go a number of ways.

Those who encounter the dream gain none (or less) of the benefits of a restful sleep. There should probably be some sort of interaction that does the actual consumption. It could be entering some specific scene in the dream or some frightening nightmare creature attack. (See: Beasts for some ideas there) The representation could simply be a nagging thought that won't let go. The representation of a lower realm intrusion could be many different things.

Effects of the consumption can go different ways, too:

The characters sleep more or less as normal, even when they encounter the thing, but are not rested when they wake if they did. If they can stay away from the thing, they can recover like they missed a night of sleep.

The realm needs sleep. Those that encounter it sleep more and more, but now they are doing it for another. They aren't gaining the benefits, so they keep sleeping.

The realm consumes rest, rendering those in its clutches incapable of rest or sleep. Some sort of hooks get into a victim and then they simply can't sleep anymore until the hooks are somehow removed.