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In the beginning, as we have said, the One People lived upon the world
and in the upper air. And as they moved upon the world and in brightness their
lives were as a great sound or tumult in deep places.
The noise of life and living angered the shadow in the dreaming waters.
It said:
the dreaming waters rose. They drowned the cities and plains that were.
Everywhere they spread, excepting only the high places and the upper air, and
for forty days and forty nights the waters made themselves more deep.
They were not mortal waters but a gray and diffuse uncertainty of being.
They washed across the world in a spirit of desperation and forgetfulness and
the loneliness of the heart. They covered the places of the One People and the
People felt a great aching in their hearts.
Their limbs, which had been strong, knew trembling.
Their hearts, which had been certain, knew uncertainty.
Their eyes, which had seen clearly, faltered.
Some stayed behind to fight the waters. To save their cities, or from a
cruel attachment to what was being lost. Some stayed to help others, or to
fight for others, or simply because they could not accept that the world they
knew was drowning.
Immersed in dreams they forgot themselves. They became the people of
the water, the wingless ones, the dreamers and the warriors and the prey of
the shadow. Their noise became lost in the flow of waters, became a great and
dismal clamor that folded in on itself and around itself and was one with the
drowning of the earth.
They forgot how beautiful they were.
and in the upper air. And as they moved upon the world and in brightness their
lives were as a great sound or tumult in deep places.
The noise of life and living angered the shadow in the dreaming waters.
It said:
"These creatures born upon this world,
and living there,
are unpleasantness to me."
So it thrashed, and its thrashing cracked the sphere of the world, andand living there,
are unpleasantness to me."
the dreaming waters rose. They drowned the cities and plains that were.
Everywhere they spread, excepting only the high places and the upper air, and
for forty days and forty nights the waters made themselves more deep.
They were not mortal waters but a gray and diffuse uncertainty of being.
They washed across the world in a spirit of desperation and forgetfulness and
the loneliness of the heart. They covered the places of the One People and the
People felt a great aching in their hearts.
Their limbs, which had been strong, knew trembling.
Their hearts, which had been certain, knew uncertainty.
Their eyes, which had seen clearly, faltered.
Some stayed behind to fight the waters. To save their cities, or from a
cruel attachment to what was being lost. Some stayed to help others, or to
fight for others, or simply because they could not accept that the world they
knew was drowning.
Immersed in dreams they forgot themselves. They became the people of
the water, the wingless ones, the dreamers and the warriors and the prey of
the shadow. Their noise became lost in the flow of waters, became a great and
dismal clamor that folded in on itself and around itself and was one with the
drowning of the earth.
They forgot how beautiful they were.
Oh, wait, silly me. We're already there.
Above The Dreaming Waters [Environmental Tilt]
The drowning sense of smallness you've lived under your whole life is gone. The air is cleaner - the light is brighter. Things are more here - more than you've ever experienced them. Here, in this place?
You are beautiful.
...
You have no limit on your Willpower - you effectively have an infinite Willpower pool while you are here, though you still can only spend Willpower once per turn. Your Vice and Virtue also function differently; once per Scene, you may spend Willpower twice in one turn if the action aligns with your Virtue or Vice. Twice per story, you may take a Beat by being a shining beacon of your Virtue - here, this is not a world of darkness, but of good, clean air and virtuous, passionate people.
There are still villains - if your Vice and Virtue have somehow been inverted, these functions are inverted as well. Passions rule here; there has to be some shadows so that the light can shine the brighter.
Causing this Tilt: Rise above the waters. Let the scales fall from your eyes.
Removing this Tilt: The dreaming waters rise.
Seeker (•)
You have risen above the dreaming waters... and yet you came back. Maybe you wish to be the change you want to see in the world?
Prerequisites: Human only; Must have been Above The Dreaming Waters at least once in their life.
Benefits: You carry a bit of the freedom of the upper airs with you, even in the depths. You may always take Beats due to being an exemplar of your Virtue (or Vice, as it may be) as if you were Above The Dreaming Waters.
Oh Jenna Moran, why must you begin and never finish awesome projects?
(I might do write-ups of the example Lamias. Or, at least, I'll do Enterissa Andao - the Floating Mausoleum is probably more gameable than the Drowning Kingdom or the Lion Prison.)
...
Oh, right. The PDF isn't on her blog anymore, but:
Dreaming Waters