This is an IC lead-in to the implementation of Dreamform for both Vampires and Cahal so that this "Power" is unlocked through a Roleplay Progression instead of just being retconned into existence. This Power is added, because we want to encourage less terminal warlord RP on the server, and by hopefully giving Vampires and Cahal a method to exist outside of constant hunter/hunted RP, we're making one step in the direction of diversifying what the players can do instead of feeling stuck in a cycle of conflict. Events of recent in Regalia had felt much like an unrelenting battery of certain individuals, barely able to catch a breath from the constant raiding on Greygate Prison, and the counter-raiding of the Sewers and even the first formal large-scale breach of the Vampiric District. Many Vampires and Cahal were still reeling from the events of the Night of Remembrance, only for their senses to be assaulted once more, though this time by an entirely ethereal and mental force. All Cahal and Vampires in the city, regardless of variant, received a simultaneous vision of an event transpiring halfway across the world in a deep ocean trench. Deep underwater, in a deepsea trench where the sun barely lit the drifting sand and corals, a large triangular structure rose from the rocks, pyramid-like in shape, with a single large split in the middle that led into a large hole in the ground. Fish of all kinds and colors swam in directions, with shadows of much larger beings swirling in the distance beyond sight and concern, for the immediacy of this vision concerned the large hole in the ground. Two figures could be observed on either side of the hole, which must have been at least a hundred feet wide, drifting towards each other with a menacingly slow pace, until both of them raised their arms in a rather jerky motion, as if they expected it not to be the thing they had intended and choreographed, but instead a betrayal of the highest order. Yet, both did as they had agreed, with the lifting of their arms, air formed itself around the holes and themselves, Void and Exist essences used in cohesion to push away the crushing weight of the ocean water, and creating a bubble of air from which the two could communicate and hopefully work together for as short as they had to. As the water cleared, it left behind slippery and slick sea moss and vines, corals suddenly exposed and fish fluttering around gasping for water that was denied them. And two humanoids, one Elf with eyes of the Exist, blond fair hair and an arrogant stare that could melt steel, and one Ailor with eyes of the Void and golden features, a smugness that could practically be scraped from the floor he walked on. The two moved in exact opposite motions towards each other, stepping forward over the hole as if there was an invisible floor preventing them from falling into its depths. As they moved closer, magics coalesced around their arms, drawing from the soil and the air and the sea around them, as if they were acting as conduits for something greater, or perhaps more accurately as guides for their intentions. As they finally met face to face, the Void one retained his smug expression, perhaps allowing viewers to recognize that after all the effort he had expended, he would still win in this effort and plan coming to fruition. And her look one of disgust and disdain, for having to debase herself to work with him, he who had played a hand in destroying Estel, and yet it was a necessity that could not be denied or a benefit to her cause underplayed. A willing actor doing just because he could, and an unwilling actor doing because she should, they combined their magics and sent them down into the hole beneath them, which then caused the vision to violently yank back to a birdseye view of the ocean, and then the continents, showing the allegorical spread of their magic through what one clever with Dragon Ruins could have surmised was the Leylines, abused as a vehicle for their Magic. After this, each Cahal and Vampire had a dream of their Dreamform, a new power granted by these two beings to each and every one of these Afflicted, in which they saw their alternate form, and learned all there was to learn about its functions. A safe haven from prosecution, or perhaps a safe haven from which to extend their social credit and reduce the threat perceived from either Affliction. How the Vampires and Cahal intended on using this boon remained as of yet uncertain, or the exact motivations for the individuals involved, though their identities would no doubt soon be guessed with some certain sense of accuracy.
