Slumber

Breed - Snapper
Gender - Male
Element - Ice
Talent – Completely undetectable via telepathy.
Faction - Medics
Role – Psychological Therapist
Dark Secret – Is capable of destroying minds through careless or deliberately malicious consumption, leaving the victim in a comatose and unresponsive state.
Traits – Attentive listener, professional mannerisms, soothing voice (speaks slowly and pauses often), incomprehensible organization methods, unreliable memory, sleeps twelve or more hours a day, advice is questionable but well-intentioned.
Appearance – His soft colors and markings are visually soothing, helping to alleviate distress and anxiety on a clinical level.
Sins – Gluttony, deception.
Likes – Seeing improvement in his patients, hand knitted blankets, abstract nightmares (challenging meals), warm milk with honey.
Dislikes – Light sleepers, standardized testing as an intelligence metric, even the mildest hunger pangs, suggestions that he should commit malpractice.
Theme Music – The State of Dreaming (Marina and the Diamonds)

Among the beastclans of Sornieth dwell the mysterious Baku - tapir-like quadrupeds with the ability to traverse the realm of dreams and consume the nightmares that they find there.

Slumber is the offspring of a Baku and a Snapper dragon. It was an unholy union that bore fruit when the beast seduced a female dragon in the realm of dreams - hence why their offspring possesses many abilities of the former, and the appearance of the latter.

His mother was an unmated female dragon, far too elderly to have hatchlings of her own. With her wisdom and experience, she served as the therapist of her civilized and highly-structured clan. When she discovered that Slumber preferred to consume nightmares in lieu of actual meals, she was largely unperturbed. Her office served as a hub for dragons suffering from insecurities, depression, and fears – all conditions which frequently manifested as nightmares. By virtue of her profession, she was able to ensure that her son was well fed.

As Slumber grew, his mother noticed a marked improvement in her patients. Many were calmer, and all reported fewer nightmares. It seemed that the Snapper’s eating habits were a beneficial but decidedly unorthodox form of psychotherapy.

Slumber himself was somewhat detached from reality, spending hours at a time in the realm of dreams. His mother taught him the basics of psychotherapy, hoping that her son would follow in her footsteps. Slumber proved to be an excellent listener, asking subtle guiding questions that would allow patients to comfortably express their innermost problems.

However, his advice was questionable at best. Many of his solutions and suggestions were highly idealized, demonstrating his detachment from the harsh realities of the waking realm.

Most of Slumber’s long-term effectiveness as a therapist came from his consumption of nightmares, and from nibbling at the edges of a patient’s consciousness to prune their insecurities and guilt – his feeding methods had become incredibly precise. His potential was considerable, albeit unorthodox.

Unfortunately, the Snapper failed their clan’s medical certification exams, and was therefore unable to officially join his mother’s practice. However, his mother was far from discouraged. She kept in frequent contact with her youngest sister, an ex-mercenary by the name of Torchlight. In her letters, Torchlight detailed the utter insanity of her life as a member of the Clan of Second Chances, admitting that the Unrepentant dragons could greatly benefit from a qualified therapist.

Slumber’s mother suggested that he should be the one to fill that role, particularly since it seemed that the Clan of Second Chances openly accepted occult practitioners. Torchlight agreed, and Slumber traveled the distance between their clans in a haze of detachment.

The Snapper was received with tolerance, but also considerable skepticism. His aunt vouched for his character, but his abilities were unproven. Ultimately, it was Gore who decided that he would be allowed to practice as a therapist for the Unrepentant Clan. While Slumber sought to heal the mind, Gore favored the domain of the body, and she was frankly tired of listening to the endless ramblings of patients whose minds she wasn’t permitted to destroy.

It was decided that those patients would be redirected to Slumber.

It was also decided that Slumber would assume responsibility of Lucid, a troublesome creature who is by nature a manifest dream. Though they are more than capable of caring for themselves, they appreciate the Snapper for his ability to feed on the overflowing threads of their imagination – a process that is beneficial to their stability and enjoyable for both parties.

Notable among Slumber’s patients are Jones, a butcher struggling with his desire to carve living flesh, and Kingdom, a knight grieving the loss of the clan that she had failed to defend. Virtue has also become a frequent patient, airing her grievances in an attempt to remain ladylike and composed despite the clan’s seeming determination to undermine her. Many assumed that Dreamweaver would take advantage of Slumber’s offer of stress counselling, but the Fairy diplomat favors herbal coping methods, claiming to be far too busy for conventional therapy.

The truly disturbed members of the Unrepentant Clan never visit Slumber. Many thrive on their insanity, many more are hostile towards the idea of treatment, and some believe that they are perfectly sane, claiming to have no need for a therapist. The Snapper’s therapy is completely voluntary, and it is considered poor etiquette to attempt to coerce or force a dragon to visit his office.

His patients are aware that their treatment includes allowing Slumber to enter their dreams and feed upon their nightmares – a procedure which has proven consistently effective. However, the Snapper has an alarmingly vast appetite, and his mere handful of patients has proven insufficient.

In a clan of Unrepentant monsters, nightmares are in ample supply – and to properly satiate his appetite, Slumber must dine on every last one of them. In the process of feeding, he has entered the darkest dreams of every living Unrepentant dragon (and tangentially improved their collective sanity).

With the knowledge he has found therein, the Snapper could easily topple the balance of power within the Clan of Second Chances. All it would take is a single word in the correct ear.

No matter how unorthodox his methods, however, Slumber is first and foremost a psychotherapist. He takes the principles of his profession very seriously, and among those principles is one that will ensure the continued stability of the Unrepentant Clan.

Doctor-patient confidentiality.