Monnerihl
God of Dreams
Lesser God

Epithets:	The Dreamweaver, Guide of Night's Journeys
Alignment:	Neutral
Symbol:	Censer
Colors:	Gray and black
Primary followers:	No followers as such, just those rare individuals who directly serve the God
Special mark:	"Clerics" are seen only at night, wrapped in a swirling gray smoke

     The true form of Monnerihl the Dreamweaver is as intangible as the realm the True God has claimed. The god appears as a short, frail being, shrouded in dark gray robes that conceal anything that might hint at the Power’s true appearance. The voice of the True God rarely rises above a whisper, and is so muted in tone that no trace of gender can be discerned. This mysterious form wears around its neck a small silver censer that envelops the True God in a shroud of thick gray smoke. The censer burns without fuel and without cease, forever encircling its master in its smoky embrace.

     The Dreamweaver’s motives are as veiled as its gender; indeed, as many Minarran cultures think of Monnerihl as female as they do male. The Astarith, however, makes it quite clear that Monnerihl has no qualms about serving the other Powers of the pantheon. Whatever drives the inner spirit of the Dreamweaver is anyone’s guess.

     Monnerihl’s attitude towards mortal kind is something of a mystery. The Guide of Night’s Journeys has led its "patrons" down paths of sublime inspiration, suffocating horror, and indescribable bliss, all without even the faintest trace of empathy from the True God. Perhaps that is just as well, for the meaning of the dreams that Monnerihl brings are for mortals themselves to explore.

     There is one intriguing facet of Monnerihl’s domain that defies easy explanation. Through its will, the True God can bridge the worlds of the living and the dead, allowing both to see and hear the other in visions and otherworldly encounters. It is an ability the rest of the pantheon cannot seem to influence, let alone stop.

Avatars: Manifestations of the Dreamweaver can only come to those slumbering souls that drift within its realm. Even so, it’s sometimes hard to distinguish between a vision of Monnerihl’s, an omen from another Power, or a run-of-the-mill dream. On occasion, the True God will allow itself to be seen by its "audience", apparently to clue the mortal in on the divine origin of the dream world around him. The incredible versimilitude of Monnerihl’s visions can also alert a discerning mortal to their true nature.

Mortal Servants: Monnerihl couldn’t care less about temples, church hierarchies, or any other trappings of mortal worship. The Dreamweaver’s needs on the Material Plane are modest…a mere handful of part-time "clerics" do quite nicely.

     Unlike most Powers of the pantheon, Monnerihl chooses its own servants from among mortal kind, not the other way around. Most of these individuals are either discounted as impractical dreamers or eccentrics who spend far too much time "pondering the mysteries of life and death". Though they are free to retire at any time, most of Monnerihl’s chosen are more than happy to serve the Dreamweaver all their lives.

     The servants of Monnerihl are—at least during daylight hours—ordinary folk who lead ordinary lives. But from dusk to dawn, the will of the True God transforms these souls into mortal reflections of its own true form, right down to the "genderless" voice and the burning silver censer. The transformation gives the Dreamweaver’s "clerics" a great deal of anonymity, with only their closest friends and family ever being aware of their secret lives. Aware of the frail nature of mortal kind, the True God sees to it that its servants suffer no ill effects from their sleep deprivation.

     Like the True God, Monnerihl’s servants also have the ability to communicate with the realms of the dead. On occasion, the Dreamweaver’s "priests" will contact the dead at the behest of the living—but rarely without a formal request from another servant of the True Gods, and never without Monnerihl’s consent. In the case of the latter, permission is sometimes withheld or granted for the most trivial or pointless of reasons...at least on the surface.

Philosophy/Tenets of Faith: As we have seen, these abstractions are of little use to the Dreamweaver and his servants. Perhaps the most that can be said is the "the medium is the message", and that each individual soul must give meaning to their own "night’s journeys".

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