Dreameater (Champion)
Dreameater | |
Origin: | |
Archetype: | |
Level: |
50 |
Super Group: |
Winds of Bale |
Personal Data | |
Real Name: |
Enid (last name unknown) |
Known Aliases: |
Soulstealer, The Winsford Ghost, The Queen of Dreams |
Species: |
Human |
Date of Birth: |
1913 |
Height: |
5'10" |
Weight: |
10 lbs |
Eye Color: |
Blue |
Hair Color: |
Black |
Biographical Data | |
Nationality: |
Caucasian / unknown |
Occupation: |
Ethereal Wanderer |
Place of Birth: |
Mercy Island |
Base of Operations: |
Mercy Island |
Marital Status: |
Single |
Known Relatives: |
Orphaned, none living. |
Additional Data | |
Known Powers: | |
Known Abilities: | |
Footnotes: |
Born with incredible psychic abilities, 'Dreameater' had no psychic training, and only discovered her power when she used them instinctively to defend herself. She is capable of leeching the psychic/mental energy of her foes' dreams, using it to bolster her own abilities and nourish herself. Living on stolen dreams, the dreameater is more a figment than a human anymore. |
[ Source ] |
Biography
There was once an orphan girl, who lived in a very bad city. Poverty-stricken and overrun with crime, the streets on which the girl lived only offered her nightmares. The bad men surrounded her, torturing her... things happened to the girl that should never happen to anyone. She told herself they were but dreams, and soon would end. Then something changed: as her tormentors assailed her, she tried to sleep, to dream them away.
Her enemies fell into a deep slumber; she looked in her sleep, and saw their souls released as they dreampt. Free, and so tantalizing, the girl tasted the spirits, and found them to be good. She drank deeply of every last soul, leaving only husks behind.They gave her power, and clarified her dreams. Soon, she no longer woke. She lived in her dream, and the world about her became her fantasy to form and control.
That little girl is gone. All that is left is the one called The Dreameater, and she is now the nightmare.
Extended Origin Story
Born "Enid" in 1913, she was orphaned before memory, and given over to a girl's home on Mercy Island. The children of Enos plagued the isles at the time, but near the home all seemed safe. The nearby parish seemed to keep the area clear of their infractions, so Enid’s early childhood was a pleasant one, despite the poverty. But this was not to last, the girls' home rector died, his son took his place. The children started disappearing. Fear plagued her; Enid often fled to the dusty attics of the orphanage. There she dreamt of a world where her friends would return, along with her family, to a life of joy and games.
Then came the night when the rector's steps came to their room, just before dawn. Enid's best friend woke her, hid her away...she was taken is Enid’s stead. Frightened, Enid escaped the home, fleeing to the streets. The town lowlifes accosted her, and she barely escaped. Hiding in alleys, boathouses, and abandoned storehouses, she made due for several weeks. But a young , unprotected girl like her could not flee for ever. They got to her, hurt her. Her rage and pain burnt against them, she wished to escape this life. When they left she fled, hid, and dreamt again. Her dreams healed and shielded her. There she could be happy, safe and strong. When they came again, she escaped to her dreams..
But this time it was different.She saw herself, and them, but more than just their disgusting, grimy bodies- their souls flowed forth from them. She didn't know why, but her hunger pains drew them to her. She drank their dreams, and was refreshed, strengthened. She saw their desires, felt their passions, their memories. She took it all and saw the world anew. The world seemed to release its grip on her, she drifted to the sky for a moment. A glimmer of hope bloomed within her. She awoke with a start, to see the men's soulless bodies about her. They breathed, but did not blink- she heard shouts as more men approached, and hid herself. Voices, confusion, fear...the assailants' comrades found the men, tried to rouse them. The men groaned, but did not respond. More came, and Enid crept away. Her stomach growled again, but she did not think of snitching food, or rooting through the garbage again. She just remember the sweet, invigorating taste of the dreams.
She felt stronger, more confident. Her friend had sacrificed herself for her, and out of cowardice, she had fled. Now with her new strength and courage, she would go back. She would rescue all the girls that had been taken, she would demand answers from the rector. She found him but there was no fear when the young waif confronted him, only annoyance and rage. He dragged her back, down the halls, through the cellar, finally to a back room. Across the walls they were chained, strange runes on the floor, and instruments in trays. Enid remembered her fear. But something else nagged at her. She began to lose consciousness, but still saw. Saw herself, being chained to the wall, the barbed wire wound about to constrain her, but no pain, even as it pierced. The the girls were held the same, tubes collecting scarlet fluids in little dishes, the vials strewn about. He measured, mixed, chanted as she watched, her fear numbed. There. Her friend Mary, across the room, the body now lifeless.
Anger.
It was then that she felt it, almost saw it. The merging of all those dreams, passions, into a great power behind her mind's eye. It spoke clearly, voice full of fury. The rector turned, plainly confused as the sleeping, tortured girl spoke in a voice like the wind. Enid felt the power enshrouding her, and pulled the world about her into a dream. Light and storms wreathed around a myriad of souls, their energy pouring out like trails of pale fire. She took them all, and there, in the center, was the rector. No flame, but a murky cloud. When she tasted it, it was bitter, and wretched. She saw then, his dreams of life, as he took the lives and the blood, desperate to be freed from mortality. He saw her too, and something happened. Wisps of darkness came from him, and he tried to take her power. She felt his thoughts- he would take the life the dreams had given her, use her. A weapon, a tool, a pawn that would finally give him his elusive prize: true and lasting immortality.
"No."
That greater voice spoke, a calm, roaring whisper. The world clarified. She was in the dark dungeon again, but wisps of dreams flitted all around bathing the dank walls in pure light. There the rector's body stood, immobile, the runes sending dark smoke to enshroud him. The voice and power took her mind's eye, her body, and stepped from the wall. The chains broke, the barbed wire fell harmlessly as her cuts sealed. All that light, the power, it slipped past the dark smoke and dispelled it. The light of the dreams turned to brilliant flames, and burnt around the man's body. Deeper and deeper, until all that was left was that dark spirit. The voice banished him.
In her mind, Enid saw her then, a ghost or a dream, a reflection, It spoke- all the dreams she had taken, the life, it was there to protect her. It was her, but not as she had known herself; the queen of her dream world. She would never be endangered again. But as it spoke, Enid began to awake.
She was aware again of the bodies about the room, her friends, now lost. Some had passed on from the rector's dark experiments, but others stared lifelessly away, just like them men that assailed her. The pouring energy she had devoured in her dream, it was THEIR dreams. She had taken all the energy from her friend's souls, left their flesh and minds barren. They slumped in their shackles, living bodies without a spark. Enid fled. Ashamed, angry, in complete despair, she ran away once more. Through the dark passages, through the halls filled with yet more of her victims: lifeless beings, existing without a soul. Through the front doors. The square, the clock tower, the people lay strewn about, staring blankly. She cursed that voice, but it burned in her mind. "YOU needed them. You hungered. All will pass, child. You need not fear, or weep."
Refuting it, trying to flee, she ran to the church. The Father would know what to do. He had kept the area safe from the snake people. Surely he was strong enough to help her. As she grew near, a power tried to repel her. She cried out for help, and the sanctuary door opened. The priest came out, energy wreathing out of his mind, trying to for her back. "Please!" she cried, but he would not heed her. His power saw past her, to the dream queen. She felt his fear and anger at it, "You are tainted, little one! Go! Before I break your stained, cursed mind!"
Anger.
The dreaming mind lashed out, pure psychic energy across the lifeless square, and its power met his. At first she felt the impact, but then it changed. It no longer pushed, but pulled, draining him. He moaned, and fell, the last glimmer of life fading into his dull flesh. Enid collapsed, and cried quietly, but the dreamer would have none of it. Held aloft from the ground, the square faded away. ...And came into view again. Bathed in pure light, she saw it all as it should have been. It was now her own, the minds of those passed on still lingered, and played. "Do not despair, child. The memories remain." the dreaming queen assured her, "They will live on, longer than they could have dreamed. They're yours. But they will never, NEVER hurt you."
She awoke from her dream, a still breeze blew over the husks of bodies. A small voice cried in the distance, then another. Voices of pain and sorrow carried on the wind. "I want to go." Enid told the dreamer. "Then we will go." It replied. "Let us see the world, there are many adventures for you. Come now, it will be fun!" She felt bitter, and numb. But within herself, a spark of hope was ignited. The wind called to her, and she closed her eyes, surrendering herself to her dreams. Up she flew, away. Away from the pain. Perhaps the dreamer was right. Surely a better life could be found, better adventures. As she flew, the memories of souls surrounded her, comforted her. She didn't need to be afraid anymore. Or alone.