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Traits

The Somnial share a number of traits with their Abyssal kin, including:

• Eternal Life: Somnials and Abyssals share their immortality from death
• Eternal Death: Somnials have the same ultimate fate as the Abyssals
• Damned: Somnials are creatures of unholy power
• Rejected By Creation: Somnials, as creatures that are made with the power of the Labyrinth, and by extension the Void, are repelled by the essence of life
• Recovering Essence: Somnials have the same respiration rules as the Abyssal exalted when in Creation or the Underworld, but instead of all drinking blood, they must ingest the substance their caste is based on.
• Backgrounds: Somnials have the same list of backgrounds as the Abyssals
• Dark Fate: Somnial no longer have Clarity, instead taking Resonance like the Abyssals.
• Monstrances: Somnials do not, in fact, have the Monstrances held by Abyssals, per se. Instead, they have Monstrances of Necrotic Purpose, which double as their equivalent to Alchemical Vats.

Note: This list based on the one from FrivYeti's Nihilic Exalted , due to simplicity of the list being there.

Bodies of Fallen Men

The Somnials have many differences from their Alchemical cousins. To start, they do not of bodies made from Magical Materials. Rather, their current bodies are Necrotech constructs, with a gem of soulsteel made from a single, qualified soul to substitute the soul gem. This means they can not use the charms the Alchemicals can, with the exception of Voidtech charms, much to the confusion of both parties. Instead, their native charms are very much Necrotech influenced, if not outright necrotech. The Somnials are masters of all things to do with Necrotech, and can animate it with either certain charms, or with Delusions(described below).

This is not to say that having a Necrotech body is always a good thing. This trait is quite obvious, so without proper charms, it's impossible to hide. It also needs constant maintenance, as these bodies are subject to constant use. Their "steelgems" are also subject to problems, being made with more Labyrinth stuff than souls, unlike most soulsteel. This amounts to Somnials having a unique relationship with the sleeping Neverborn- namely, that they can hear their whispers more easily than even Abyssals. This also causes Somnials to(usually) be quite loyal to the Deathlords' cause, only furthering their usefulness- not that a Somnial cannot rebel.

Control of the Labyrinth

The Alchemicals have the power to manipulate the very threads of Fate. Because the Somnials are outside fate, they are not permitted to use these powers. Instead, they have the power to manipulate the Labyrinth itself to perform acts reminiscent of Necromancy, among other things. These Delusions, as they are called, are quite potent, despite only having two circles- Lucid and Nightmare, respectively. While these powers aren't required, most Somnials tend to grab a few Lucid circle Delusions, if only to aid in Necrotech creation or battle potency.

While Delusions can be helpful, using them and rising within their power causes a Somnial to connect even closer to the Neverborn. Certain Delusions also cause the Neverborn to become displeased, causing the user in question to gain resonance. It's not certain exactly whether or not Delusions actually force the Neverborn to dream things up, or rather take things that have already been dreamt, or even if they are unrelated to the actual nightmares.

Qualities of a Nightmare

Every exaltation has certain qualifications, and Somnials are no different. However, exactly how a Somnial comes to their current body is less based on Alchemical exaltation. While to become an Alchemical one must accumulate heroism over many lifetimes, to become a Somnial is much simpler. To put it simply, one is only required to have dreamt up a facade of heroism... and died while attempting to preserve this dream. It is during this death of both body and dream that their soul may be taken by a Death Lord, or perhaps one of their servants, into a steelgem. Then, the soul is placed in it's new body, with only a vague memory of it's previous life- but it always remembers that dream that died, and usually(but not always) realizes that if their dream had to die, who else's deserves to live? Thus begins the cycle...

Comments

• Umm, I'm still not sure if the term "Delusion" is a good name for their powers. But I can't think of something better to use instead. Help? - Kuiper

• Delusions seem like a perfectly reasonable name based on the fluff you've provided, their powers being based on the dreams of the Neverborn and the manipulation of the Labyrinth. If what you're going for is saying that these zombie-robots are using the dreams of dead gods to destroy reality and make me foam at the mouth like I've just seen an elder god, Delusions sound pretty cool. - EwindaleMoss
  • ... you managed to make this idea sound much cooler than I originally thought it was. XD I'm keeping Delusions then. And that foaming at the mouth thing will be put on the list of things I need to add when I get into making Delusions... - Kuiper

• Okay, I have a problem with that section where I mention Somnials alternate essence-regaining method. Mainly... I have no clue what it should be. I have four ideas, but I wanted to run them through the comments first before adding them.

1) I could have them eat flesh. Seems a bit odd to me, though, and maybe un-thematic.

2) I could have something to do with them attaching the flesh of fallen enemies to themselves or something to that effect. Seems a bit messy, though.

3) I could do some bone-eating thing... maybe? I dunno, haven't thought this one through.

4) My least favorite idea, I could have them drink blood like Abyssals. I don't like it that much, seems a bit boring, but it might have to work... - Kuiper

• • Okay, figured it out. They now drink/take the fluid that they're caste is of to regain essence. Figured it made the Castes slightly more important. ^^; But if you people have better ideas, please come out and say them! I won't bite! ^^ - Kuiper