Beachwalkers

**Beachwalkers** are humans born with the ability to perceive and interact with the Beach when they sleep while possessing no other magical talent, knowledge or training. Such individuals are extraordinarily rare, with only a handful recorded in every age, and they typically only appear during times of great strife. Beachwalkers are known for their ability to endlessly repatriate, making them immortal; many famous beachwalkers are thus known by the epithet "the Undying".

## Overview

The Beach is an otherworldly dimension between the lands of the living and the dead. It is a manifestation of the consciousness of all living things and their personal conception of death, and as such the Beach is a phenomenon common and unique to all. Each person has an instance of the Beach that is personal to them, given form by a person's thoughts and set of beliefs.

During the Conjunction, the Beach became intrinsically linked to Draconis; because of this link, the souls of all living beings - especially humans and elves - enter the Beach when they sleep. Most are unaware of this process as they are unable to perceive the Beach, causing their minds to replace the experience with dreams. However, those with magic in their blood - either from birth or by design - are able to perceive the Beach's true nature and even interact with it. Some, known as oneiromancers, have the ability to enter the Beaches of others; rarer still are "dreamwalkers" that can enter the dreams of non-mages.

Beachwalkers are those with the talent of entering, perceiving and interacting with the Beach, both their own and those of others, while possessing no other magical talent, knowledge or training. The exact circumstances that allow this are unknown; more superstitious folk believe beachwalkers to be blessed by the gods, or by whatever entities lie within the Beach, to serve as heroes during times where their mere existence is essential for the world itself to continue. Their intrinsic connection to the Beach also makes all beachwalkers repatriates, blessed - or cursed - with the ability to return to life following death. Although this prevents them from falling in battle, their wounds transform into deep black scars, forcing them to live in near-constant agony. While they do not die of old age, they do not remain eternally youthful, wasting away over thousands of years until there is only dust, and even then remaining aware of their fate.

## Abilities

As the Beach serves as a buffer between the worlds of the living and the dead, beachwalkers possess an intrisic connection to both worlds, allowing them to exist in both simultaneously. The same is true for mages; however, unlike mages, beachwalkers possess no innate Power, which is required to draw yet more Power and thus wield magic. Instead, beachwalkers "carry" a piece of the Beach within them, allowing them to move between the Beach and the living world at will.

The most notable attribute that arises from this is repatriation, the ability to return to life after death by physically "swimming" through the Beach back to their bodies. While repatriation is possible for mages it requires immense amounts of Power, which can usually be enough to accelerate hallowing; for beachwalkers, repatriation is second nature and can occur endlessly, effectively making them immortal. However, this immortality does not make them eternally young; they are doomed to simply "carry on", their bodies ageing and degenerating until they are nothing but a husk. Any fatal wounds that a beachwalker sustains also remain after repatriation in the form of hideous black scars.

Another side effect of their intrinsic connection to the Beach is death whispering, which allows beachwalkers to see and hear the souls of the dead and dying. This ability leads directly into another called oneiromancy that allows a beachwalker to enter, explore and manipulate the Beaches of others, even when they are wide awake; they can also enter the Beaches of non-mages, a talent called "dreamwalking". Again, this comes as second nature to beachwalkers while only a few mages can perform this talent. When inside another Beach, little to no time passes for the beachwalker or their target due to the Beach not experiencing the flow of time. Beachwalkers can also perform oneiric teleportation, meaning they can instantly teleport from one place to another by entering someone's Beach.

## Known Beachwalkers

* Godwyn the Undying - beachwalker of the second age
* Molvord the Assembled - beachwalker of the fifth age
* Minerva an Kett - beachwalker of the eighth and ninth ages
* Wren of Hoth - beachwalker of the seventh age