Oneiromancers

It has long been said that the shamans were the first group to establish links across the worlds, it has even been suggested that they united the first mortals in their struggle to reach the gods. While these many and varied individuals have been around for a long time, their presence as a united force in the city has been a recent phenomenon.

Reaching out across the planes to tribal civilizations far from the city, the Oneiromancers have developed a network which rivals that of the Dionysians, the only difference being that they don’t need the portals of the city to reach their far off companions. Initially, as far as the Oneiromancers were concerned, the city of Ukiyo was simply a tool which makes their travel a little easier. A useful meeting point for shamans of all types to talk and learn from one another. But in recent years this has changed, the shamans have encountered new spirits in the city, beings unique in all the planes. As they have learnt more about these spirits they have uncovered secrets about the city which are better left alone. In some circles it has been rumoured that the city itself is in fact a huge life-form, thriving off the energies of those who live there. The Oneiromancers have uncovered the dreaming mind of the great city spirit and it is from this dream that they have taken their new name.

The Oneiromancers have a democratic structure in the city, with all members voting on a council of elders every ten years. They are quite unified as a group and this has confounded many of the other factions who consider them an antiquated group of shamans and their eccentric friends among the city’s psychology students and parapsychologists. The Oneiromancers seem to have two very distinct agendas, the first of which is to learn from each other and maintain the tribal traditions across the planes. Most are content to let them go with that. What less people know are the rumours that the shamans are using their dream magick to implant thoughts into the minds of others, and some even suggest that they are trying to subtly alter the city to conform to their own wishes.

While this group has been stereotyped by the shamans and medicine men who founded it, there is a great deal more to them. The Oneiromancers are a diverse group who attract members from widely different parts of the spectrum. While there are the low technology tribal types, there are also members of high tech societies who view the supernatural as a form of dimensional science, these include psychics and parapsychologists. There are also those members who view the physics of the mind in a more clinical manner, such as psychologists and psychiatrists.

The majority of people attracted to the Oneiromancers are the tribe members from the far off lands where spirits are still active. Among the people of the city who follow them are those tribal members who have come to Ukiyo, and those new age types who seek to reclaim their tribal roots. But in addition to these there are also some more unusual followers, inlcuding students of the mental sciences, martial artists who seek to perfect both body and soul, and idealists with strong ties to their own dreams and the dreams of others. The strangest of all Oneiromancer followers though are the astral souls of coma patients, without movement in their physical bodies, they often jump at the chance to join Oneiromancers and make an influence on the world once again.

Dionysians - They are perhaps the only worthwhile people in this entire city, they understand the values of travelling and exploring the mind, but they limit themselves by focusing their exploration through drugs and vice.
Gatekeepers - They manipulate the city in ways we cannot comprehend, we only understand the damage they do to it. The city is their crutch, it will probably be their downfall as well.
Patriarchs - Some of the beings they deal with are just wrong. There is something distinctly alien about them. Do they know? Do they care?
Silver Oracles - The spirits know that fate should be left alone, one day these oracles will learn that, but it will take our guidance. The Junta - There’s not a lot of difference between dreams and shadows. We share a lot, but one day we may share much more.
Xenophobe’s Fist - There is a darkness deep within them. They hide it well, but obviously not well enough.