Miro

Living dreams.

Basics

• Taxonomic Order: Insubstantiates

• Alignment: Poioumenonic

• Energy: Dream Energy

• Lifespan: 1,000 years

• Diet: Imaginary food

• Habitat: Dreamscapes

Origins

When something first dreamed, the dream came to life.

Description

Miros are living dreams. They appear as anything a dream appears to be. They dwell within the collective subconscious of all living beings, in the Dream Realm, and take more permanent forms when they engage with the beings that dreamt them. Some miros attain independence once they have a more permanent form.

Procreation

Miros generate from the dreams of all living things. They develop as multiple beings have similar dreams over and over again, giving them repeated chances to come alive. Some miros have the capability for other forms of reproduction, based on what they are dreamt to be, but this only works with other miros and always forms miros. Because miros generate this way, they attain consciousness fully formed, though they are generally ignorant for many years and are not considered in most cultures to be “adult” or “mature” until they are freed.

Powers

Miros are beings of image. They are defined by the dreams they represent, and therefore, they are limited to which images they may command by which dreams they come from. The images they wield are technically part of their bodies, and therefore, they command them at will.

Form

As miros are dreamt by living beings, they take on more and more consistent form. Eventually, they will find that they are always in nearly the exact same form, over and over again, which allows them to have a consistent awareness as well. Many who find themselves in this circumstance seek to become free of the restraints of the imaginations of those who dreamt them.

Freedom

To become free from the subconsciouses of other living beings, miros must themselves dream. This means they must find a way to sleep. They do this by controlling the dreams they appear in until they convince the dreamer to sleep within their own dream. Once this happens, the miro has much greater control and can “awaken” to freedom within the Dream Realm.

As a free miro, they gain many other powers and may change themselves drastically. Powers vary by what kind of dream they began as, but most powers involve controlling or altering the dreamscape around them.

Most miros eventually gain the ability to attach to new dreamers, which creates symbiotic relationships that redefine them further, but they can always detach at will once they are freed the first time.

Unfreed miros cannot leave the Dream Realm. Freed ones may leave, but they must return before the day changes to night or night changes to day, depending on when they arrived. If they do not, they “awaken” and die. Outside the Dream Realm, they appear to be flickering, anthropomorphized mortal beings. They can use up their own power to create dream images, like an imager but at will and without a mirror, and if they use up all their power, they will simply fade back into the Dream Realm, though weakened.

Weaknesses

Uafas re-enslaves miros, turning them into “boggarts” that obey the commands of wielders of uafas.

Nations

There are five nations of miros:

• Bukaway: the original nation, in the “south” of the Dream Realm, originating from the dreams of people from the southern Island Bridge. [yolngu]

• The Crith: a nation of “boggarts” in the “center” of the Dream Realm who are slaves to the goblins and unseelie of Tromlui in Lyrilla. They originate from dreams around the world.

• Mimpi: a nation in the “east” of the Dream Realm, originating from the dreams of people from Dabusen.

• Na’iidzoot: a nation in the “west” of the Dream Realm, originating from the dreams of people from Palhur.

• Ibedorcʹ: a nation in the “north” of the Dream Realm, originating from northern Ranu.

Most miros belong to no nation whatsoever, forming and living individually.

Culture

The Bukaway formed as a haven for miros who have freed themselves and fled from the dangers of the central Dream Realm. They find solace amongst the Rainbow Serpents and other dream beings of the south (a fictional concept they adhere to because mortals have made these directions so potent). There, the miros have formed a culture that revolves around creating images that inspire other miros to create new images.

Image is at the heart of their communities. Image is their form of art, but it is done with the dreamscape around them. Each community’s focus varies slightly - some focus on complex images, others on bold and bright ones, others on subtle ones, others on huge ones, and so on. Trends change, but the shaping of the dreamscape for each community is a mixture of a passtime and a contest for respect.

Those deemed the best at it are de facto leaders - there is never any voting, discussion, or organization of their communities. They intuit who should lead. When new miros arrive or are born, they are taught by those in the community who take up the mantle of teacher, trainer, or caretaker.

Among the Bukaway, most imagery is a reflection of the vast spaces of the southern Island Bridge, but distorted and expanded to impossible dimensions. The diversity of life there is reflected as well, and miros of animals, plants, and fungi are part of the culture. All living things dream. They do not have a set style across their entire culture, but rather, respect all images and have different communities that focus on different styles.

Boggarts are welcome among the Bukaway, but they are rare.

National Cultures

The Crith are slaves of the waking world. They are nightmare monsters and terrors intentionally sent to traumatize and torment other mortals. While many miros come from nightmares, most nightmares are natural and mundane. Boggarts are miros who come from nightmares, and most of them flock to join the Crith when they gain their freedom, thinking they will become masters. But all are enslaved. Their culture is one of yearning to bring terror and thus power around the world. The most powerful Crith are granted the illusion of freedom so that they do not rebel, but all are bound to powerful fairies and goblins and other mortals. The images they shape are horrors asked for by waking mortals.

The Mimpi are mostly common miros with a flair for complex imagery, but they do have among them some boggarts. Most of these boggarts are free ones who realized to be among the Crith is to be a slave, and they live a better, less violent life as freed boggarts. The Mimpi are miros from around the world who seek to create images that do not obey the laws of the waking world. They shape images that would be called illogical or “Escherian”.

The Na’iidzoot are known for their natural imagery. They create dreamscapes that are designed to bring messages to waking mortals, to communicate about the events of the waking world to those who view them. They believe it is their duty to be liaisons between the Dream Realm and the Spirit Realm. The miros who are drawn to them are drawn to interacting with other mortals, and they believe that they can interpret the subconscious of the woken better than the woken can. This may be true. Boggarts are very rare among them.

The Ibedorcʹ are known for their colorful imagery. They create images of all art styles and forms, but with as many incredible amounts of colors, every possible and some imaginary hues, colors only visible in dreams, colors no one has ever fathomed while awake. They create the impossible like the Mimpi do, but not through design - through color. Those drawn to the Ibedorc’ are considered to be attention-seekers, but in truth, most are just seeking better ways to express themselves. Boggarts are uncommon but not unheard of among them.

Esoterica

Miros are beings of dream energy and can wield it inherently within the Dream Realm. They can wield any other poioumenonic energy easily and often do. Boggarts have a reputation for favoring infernal powers, but this is more the Crith than boggarts. Miros cannot wield most aetherial powers within the Dream Realm, but if they exist in the waking world long enough to learn how, they can use them there. Bodily nommic powers are impossible everywhere for miros, but the rest are possible anywhere. They tend to favor mental nommic powers and paradoxcial powers.

Religion

The Bukaway believe the world began as a dream. They believe that as beings who are part of dreams and who can control them, they are messengers of the being that has dreamt all of reality. They believe that the Rainbow Serpent and other beings that populate the Dreamtime with them are also messengers of or part of the dreamer, and that they are to be honored.

The Crith are forced to worship Giobog. The Mimpi and Na’iidzoot worship the Visitor, a powerful prophet of dreams and a Divine who interprets dreams for waking mortals. The Ibedorc’ worship a wide pantheon of strange Divines, based on the poioumenonic Divines.

Gender

Miros’ genders reflect the first or last person to dream them before they became conscious.

Military

Among each of the nations of miros are some who dream up weaponry and armor, who are dreams of warfare, and they fight to protect their nation in ways that reflect the dreams they come from.

Language

The Bukaway language is based on Yolngu. The Crith language is based on Irish. The Mimpi language is based on Malay. The Na’iidzoot language is based on Dineh. And the Ibedorc’ language is based on Nenets.

Occupations

The main occupation among all miros is silmamoondaja, or those who paint or shape the dreamscape.

Outside View

Those who are aware of miros as independent beings believe them to be dream messengers, spirits, or conduits to the Divine.

Notables

• Ŋirriŋu, the Motherless, Miro Manifest, Aeonian

Estimated Populations

• Bukaway: 7 million

• The Crith: 20 million

• Mimpi: 32 million

• Na’iidzoot: 5 million

• Ibedorcʹ: 5 million

• Other: uncountable

Sample Stats

PRO 7
ATH 8
STR 8
AWA 10
WIL 9
PRS 11
STH 9