Goblin Miners

At first, the effect is subtle — a fae or ensorcelled mortal suffers from strange, disjointed dreams that do not seem to provide adequate rest. As time goes on, and the dreamer becomes increasingly tired no matter how often she sleeps, the sense of their being something wrong grows. The dreamscape seems unaltered to fae or lucid dreamers at first glance, but if the dream is examined closely, an entrance may be found. There it sits, a gateway into a mine complex that bores through strata of the dreamer’s previous New Derangement: Unguarded Dreams The dreamer no longer cares about negative consequences of actions, having lost the part of their psyche that urges him to improve himself. He must roll Resolve + Composure to avoid acting on his first impulse. Effect: On a failed roll, the dreamer follows his first impulse, even if self-destructive. The derangement also inflicts a –3 penalty on any roll used to plan anything out. 29 dreams, rusting mine-carts carrying away elements of their subconscious and props from previous dreams to deposit them on towering spoil-heaps. Hunched, twisted creatures drill and hack at the dreamscape, searching for faintly glowing gems that they carry off back up the rickety elevators to a thorned gate — an entrance to the Hedge, opened right into the dreamscape. Goblin Miners are one of the few forms of Incubi with a definite origin: they’re hobgoblins. Knowing what she’s facing is cold comfort to the fae whose dreamscape has become an industrial site presided over by a clan of Hedge-born delvers, though. The Miners are consumed by their quest for their “dreamstones” and wreck the dreamscape in their efforts, which can leave the dreamer suffering ill effects long after the Miners have moved on to untapped veins in other dreamers. The worst danger of the parasites’ presence, though, is the tunnel to the Hedge they create in the dreamscape; it is not barred in any way, and other hobgoblins, wanderers in the Hedge and even the Gentry can use it if they find it. And then there’s the dreamstones the Goblins are taking away. What are they? And what does their absence do to the dreamer? Description: Individually weak, the Goblin Miners move in large groups. Dozens of the creatures make up a social group that acts as a cross between a family and a blue-collar union. Both genders have been witnessed, though all members of the group work equally at the mine face. The group is often lead by a Miner of larger proportions, which the others refer to as “Boss” in their half-language. Goblin Miners are hunched to the point of knuckle-walking like chimpanzees, dressed in clothes that seem half-remembered parodies of real miner’s clothes: thick, leathery fabrics and tin helmets that bear a single dim ball of wisp-light rather than an electric lamp. Their eyes are large, their mouths pinched with grim concentration and their frames powerful and wiry. They communicate in rasped single words and among themselves by percussion, clanging their iron tools against walls to produce dull metallic sounds that echo through the dream-mine. Storytelling Hints: The Goblin Miners are technically parasites. They enter the dreamscape and take its resources for themselves while providing no benefit back to the host, but they do so out of lack of understanding rather than malice. All that matters to the Miners are the dreamstones, which some fae have found for sale in Goblin Markets months, even years after they were first taken. The Miners are difficult to detect at first because their gate from the Hedge opens (or rather is mined by Goblins hacking their way through from the Hedge using their strange iron tools) far from the dreamer’s point of view; after establishing a mine head, the Goblins quickly go “underground”, burrowing and sinking their shafts into the dreamer’s subconscious. They can be found with an attempt to analyze the dreamscape for the presence of intruders. At the end of a dream, the Miners down tools and take their prizes back into the Hedge, but return the next time the dreamer sleeps. The mining disrupts the dreamscape, throwing odd bits of old dreams up onto the spoil-heaps and into the dreamscape, and disturbing deep-seated parts of the dreamer’s mind. While the Goblin Miners continue to mine a dreamscape, the dreamer does not regain Willpower from rest and suffers a –2 penalty to mental dice pools. The dreamstones the Goblins take, though, are precious. Each batch of removed dreamstones, representing a week’s mining, reduces the dreamer’s permanent Willpower by one. The Miners sell their wares at Goblin Markets, and those suffering from having been mined may buy replacements at Market. If someone who has been mined touches a dreamstone, either from their own dreamscape or another’s, The Tools of Goblin Men Goblin Miners wield wicked-looking pickaxes, drills and shovels of dark, pitted metal. While not strictly iron (the Goblin Miners themselves call it “mine-ral”, or “mineral”), the metal is close enough to count as iron in combat. As a result, the defenses of fae attempting to fight a group of Miners off shatter under the assault of Goblin tools, and alternative strategies such as environmental attacks should be employed. 30 Chapter One: Dusk Dreams the gem crumbles and the lost Willpower dot returns. Alternatively, they can be restored with experience points as normal. Dream Combat: Power Attributes: Strength 4, Intelligence 2, Presence 3 Finesse Attributes: Wits 3, Dexterity 3, Manipulation 2 Resistance Attributes: Resolve 4, Stamina 3, Composure 3 Oneiromancy Skill: Crafts 3

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