Resistance to the onirarchs

Though most of the populace in the oneiriarchies of Dadauar submit to the rule of the dreamlords without serious complaint, there are those who oppose the oneiriarchs' rule. These rebels tend to gather into organized resistance cells, the better to aid each other and pool their resources to be able to fight more effectively the overwhelming power of the oneiriarchs. There may be, of course, those who come upon their opposition to the oneiriarchs independently, and who choose to fight the oneiriarchs on their own, but such lone rebels usually end up either recruited by the resistance or neutralized by the forces of the dreamlords, depending on which finds out about them first. (Those who know about the resistance but choose not to join with them usually meet with the latter fate, unless they're extremely capable and/or lucky.)

There may also be many who resent the rule of the dreamlords but choose not to rebel against them because they see no possibility of successfully bringing them down. There is certainly cause for seeing the rebels' cause as hopeless; the oneiriarchs have vast power and resources at their disposal that the rebels cannot hope to match. But while perhaps some members of the resistance have unrealistic optimism, there are also some who understand what they're up against and have little expectation of overthrowing the oneiriarchs overnight, but hope they can at least whittle down their power and build the strength of the rebellion to lay the groundwork so that someday, perhaps far in the future, the might of the oneiriarchs can be overcome.

Joining the resistance

Generally, a would-be rebel does not seek out the resistance and volunteer to join. For one thing, the oneiriarchies generally try to either paint the rebellion as a destructive and sinister force, or keep its very existence a secret from the general populace, and while it is certainly not entirely successful in this endeavor, still most citizens either are unaware or only vaguely aware of the resistance movement, or if they are aware of it do not see it as something they would want to be associated with. Even if a malcontent does learn of the existence of the rebellion and sees through the oneiriarchs' propaganda (though, to be fair, the oneiriarchs' claims aren't entirely false; as mentioned above, some of the rebel cells are very destructive and anarchic in nature), he won't have an easy time finding a resistance member to approach. After all, the resistance has to stay hidden to keep safe from the oneiriarchies; they don't advertise their membership or the locations of their headquarters. Furthermore, even if someone does somehow find a member of the resistance, or even find out where a cell meets, and asks them to join, he's not likely to be immediately welcomed into their ranks; the resistance is likely to be very suspicious of the newcomer, and apprehensive that he might be a spy, and they won't let him in unless he finds some way to prove his intentions. If he doesn't figure out some way to demonstrate his sincerity, he's not likely to be allowed to leave the meeting alive—the rebels won't want to risk his giving away the location. If, however, such a person does manage to convince the rebels of his earnestness, he may rise to become an important force within the resistance; the ingenuity and determination he has to have had to find the rebels and to persuade them of his trustworthiness will serve him well in the ongoing struggle.

Given the difficulties, therefore, in a person's setting out to join the resistance and finding them of his own accord, most resistance members are recruited into their ranks. If a resistance member learns of someone he has compelling reason to believe might be sympathetic to their cause and capable enough to contribute to it, he may approach that individual himself with an offer. The individuals approached may be friends and acquaintances of resistance members who have shown signs of dissatisfaction with the current system, people who have engaged in minor acts of rebellion on their own, or even people who have witnessed some terrible deed committed by agents of the oneiriarchs, the reasoning being that having seen firsthand what the dreamlords are capable of might be enough to wake in the person the desire to oppose them. Of course, there is the danger that such people are plants by the oneiriarchs feigning their discontent to lure the rebels into a trap, so the approach is usually done only after a period of observation and investigation to ensure they are genuine. However, this must be balanced against the danger that the oneiriarchs will get to the potential recruits first; certainly the dreamlords are savvy enough to recognize potential resistance members, and ruthless enough to find ways to remove them before they live up to that potential, and the longer the resistance tarries in verifying the candidate's bona fides, the greater the danger that the oneiriarchs will notice them and deal with them. A balance must be struck, and exactly how long an investigation should be carried out before approaching a potential member is a frequent subject of arguments among the rebel ranks.

Many resistance cells choose to approach possible recruits in disguise, through means magical, physical, or both. That way if the individual approached turns down the offer, he has learned nothing about the resistance that may endanger them if it gets back to the oneiriarchs. However, other cells don't bother with such subterfuge; their members make the offer to the candidates openly and in their own identities. In those cases, the members who make the approach are protected in other ways; people who turn down their offers usually end up disappearing. Sometimes they are kidnapped and forcibly inducted into the rebellion by brainwashing or by magical mind control—though those who are conscripted in in such a manner will never be respected, or rise high in the ranks—but in other cases, or if the attempts at compulsion fail, they may be disposed of in other manners. However, those who anticipate such a possibility and accept the offer only to avoid that result may not be in much better shape; if they don't really believe in the goals of the resistance, sooner or later the other rebels will realize that, and decide the faithless member can't be trusted, and he may meet the fate he sought to avoid anyway.

Aside from those who have openly shown discontent with the oneiriarchy, the rebellion also tends to target people who seem to be independent thinkers, who are open to new ideas and less susceptible to propaganda and rumor. Even if these people may not be strongly opposed to the oneiriarchs, they may be sufficiently free of the dreamlords' indoctrination to be persuaded to join the cause. However, this same independence of thought is a property valuable to the oneiriarchs as well, so if they find such a person, rather than remove him because of the danger of his joining the rebellion they might also try to recruit him as one of their agents.

Resistance cells

There are a number of different resistance cells, all working more or less independently. Occasionally two or more separate cells may work together, but this is relatively rare, in large part because different cells tend not to trust one another. Different resistance cells tend to use different methods in their fight against the dreamlords. While some resistance cells are solicitous of the safety of the oneiriarchs' inculpable citizens, many of them are set only on defeating the oneiriarchs at an cost, and have little care for whatever collateral damage may be incurred. Some of these cells perhaps do more direct harm to the people in their area of operation than do the oneiriarchs themselves.

There are rumors that some resistance cells are plants by the oneiriarchs, who use them to contact and infiltrate the genuine cells. It's even posited that the oneiriarchs may even grant these fake cells some apparent minor victories to add to their credibility. While it has yet to be definitively established that such government-run false resistance cells truly exist, the possibility of their existence adds yet more to the distrust resistance cells tend to feel toward each other. (In fact, it has been proposed that even if the oneiriarchs didn't really start fake resistance cells, they may have intentionally started the rumors that they did, expressly in order to foment this distrust...)

Life in the resistance

Resistance members use different tactics, depending on the cells they belong to and on the purpose they've chosen to fill within those cells. A few rebels pursue their cause openly, trying to serve as an example for others and a hero to rally round. Such obvious targets draw the fire of the oneiriarchs, however, and rarely last long—though there are those who go into this knowing the danger and expecting to become martyrs. Most of the rebels aren't so overt. Some pose as ordinary citizens, going through the motions and working for the oneiriarchs, while covertly working against them in what little spare time they can arrange. Others hide themselves completely, living in secret refuges and only coming out when necessary, the better to work their plans away from the eyes of the dreamlords.

Those who try to live outwardly ordinary lives are sometimes said to be "integrated", as in integrated into the greater oneiriarchical society. Integrated resistance fighters have less time to devote to the resistance than do those who live their lives in hiding, generally able to spare a few hours only by cutting back on sleep—most citizens in an oneiriarchy sleep significantly more than they physically need to anyway. They make up for their limited time commitment by being in a better position to see the day-by-day operation of the oneiriarchy, and to be in a position to meet other citizens and possibly find potential recruits. Some integrated rebels try to make more time for the rebellion by working fewer hours, as well; most oneiriarchies do not require their citizens to work, so the consequences of choosing to work less are simply having less money, and the rebels may be content to settle for an even humbler dwelling or fewer possessions than most citizens, in order to have more time to devote to the cause. However, this is risky; the oneiriarchies are suspicious of anyone who seems to be arranging free time for themselves. Most people, after all, care little for their time in the waking world and live only to dream, and someone who is interested in doing other things in the waking world, if he's not already a resistance member, is the kind of independent thinker who may be in danger of becoming one (but who may also be a valuable asset to the oneiriarchs...)

Some resistance cells place a high value on education, and have even set up secret schools underground or otherwise away from the oneiriarchs' eyes, to give people the learning that they can't get from official channels. Some of these schools have become popular even among those who have no interest in fighting the oneiriarchies but who still want more education than the dreamlords will give, and are more or less open to the public, while taking careful means to keep their locations secret from the oneiriarchs and their agents.

Magic

While the practice of magic by anyone other than the dreamlords and their designated agents is outlawed in most oneiriarchies, the rebels, by their very nature, do not feel bound to the oneiriarchs' laws. Magic is practiced by the resistance fairly widely, if not well—obviously they do not possess the vast stores of dream energy accumulated by the oneiriarchs, and furthermore resistance s have to find ways to prevent the dreamlords from siphoning off their dream energy as they do everyone else's. Some resistance cells have managed to arrange for mages among their number to be able to draw on the dream energy of the rebels who do not practice magic themselves, giving them more dream energy than they would be able to summon alone, but still not approaching the energy the oneiriarchs get from their entire populaces.

Still, even with their relatively limited resources, resistance mages do make some valuable contributions to their cause. Aside from sometimes serving as magical artillery in raids, they produce various talismans that the resistance finds very useful, including ghost suits, monkey bags, rebel's masks, and reclaimers.

Some rebels use magic in other ways than spellcasting, taking upon themselves various geasa, or pursuing some particular métier. Some cells mandate that all their members take upon themselves the same geis or follow the same métier, making it a condition of membership, but even among other cells such magical associations are fairly common. They provide a way to thumb a nose at the oneiriarchs by using magic without dealing with the problems of spellcasting, they serve as badges of honor and marks of distinction demonstrating the rebels' devotion to the cause; and of course they give the rebels a bit of extra magical power to use in the fight. Rebels have created a few geasa specifically themed around the fight against the oneiriarchs, which have become very popular among the resistance, such as the Geis of Pure Touch, the Geis of Pure Speech, and the Vandals' Geis. Other geasa popular among the resistance but not created by them include the Geis of Remembrance and the Nightmare Geis.

Law

The resistance rebels against the laws of the oneiriarchs, but resistance cells do have codes of their own. The details vary widely between cells, but some components recur: betraying resistance members to the oneiriarchs, naturally, is a severe infraction of the code, and for most resistance cells refusal to obey an order from a superior is also a violation. For some resistance cells, these are the only significant crimes, but others add such crimes as speaking to or abetting agents of the oneiriarchs or using talismans produced by them, and some particularly careful cells may also outlaw the harming of innocents.

Punishment among the resistance is more likely to be physical than that meted out by the dreamlords. The resistance may levy fines to their offending members, but have little means of enforcing them, and often beatings and lashings and similar corporal sanctions, up to and including maiming, are the disciplinary measures of sorts. For repeat offenders and for those guilty of betraying the resistance and of other severe crimes—as well as for captured agents of the oneiriarchs—the punishment of choice frequently extends to execution. Some rebel cells design elaborate means of disposing of troublemakers, such as weighing them down and tossing them into the ocean to be absorbed by the Bathybius. Resistance cells with access to spellcasters may use magical methods to deal with their worst criminals include mental enslavement and the conversion into imprisoned dreamthralls of their few mages.