Dream of A'kin (Death)

Adepts of the Dream of Death, are born under the Crow of Summer, located in the northern hemisphere during the months of June to August. It is thus one of the more common Dreams  to be born with and used by humans.

Effect

A'kin is generally used by practitioners in order to contact the Dead, being able to bridge the gap between the mortal plain and the afterlife. Depending on the culture in question this could be a blessing, as in the United Nerall Empire where A'kin Mages have been honoured since prehistory and ancestor worship is an integral part of the society with many holidays dedicated to the honoured dead, or a curse in the case of some locations, where such powers will brand the user as a heretic and necromancer, inciting harsh punishments.
Its uses do not stop as simple communion however. Death mages also hold the power to cause death, stealing the soul of their enemies and leaving naught but a flesh and blood husk. The knowledge to preform such spells however are thankfully withheld from most.

Side/Secondary Effects

Practitioners of A'kin are more morose and distant than any other magic user. Their entire being is consumed by the knowledge that all things will end eventually. They can even see death claiming a person in a measurable way once they stop growing up and start growing old. Second by second, hour by hour, they witness the slow demise of all as death chips away at them in tiny increments.

Manifestation

A'kin mages who have absorbed power are able to see and communicate with spirits and souls in the short three day window they remain between the mortal world and the afterlife, asking or answering questions, passing on messages or offering last rites.
Particularly powerful and well trained adepts can actually contact souls within the afterlife itself, using the Dream of A'kin as a sort of instrument to pass words through the 'Wall', separating this world from the next. Such a dialogue is said to be less a conversation of words and more like the feeling of vibrations in the back of the head that are simply, understood, by the mage.
Such conversations seems to create some kind of link between the adept and the spirit, as after each communion, it becomes easier and easier for the mage to find and talk to that particular spirit.
That being said, it is still impossible for someone who has passed on to return, and Death mages have no better chance of pulling a soul back into the world of the living. The Wall, in a sense, is solid. Though during the three days, if the soul lingers near their body and wants to return, there have been cases where the mage can work miracles.

False Practices

The Dream of A'kin unfortunately is also the most widely faked Dreams to be used by none adepts and charlatans. This is generally done by an aide speaking through a wall or under a table, crystal balls, or even in some more comedic cases: an accomplice in a darkened room covered in a white sheet. This has only been witnessed in the most depopulated and backward hamlets however, where it is none the less fully believed by the inhabitants.

The Spells of Death

A'kin can manifest in more ways than contacting spirits, though for most, that is where their education stops. Such spells revolve around the taking of life, speeding up the tide of death that bears down on all. Death mages need simply point at an enemy, or enemies, and in a great black wind sent from the mages outstretched hand see them wither away in seconds, growing old and lame or simply dropping dead. Use of such power leaves a mark on the wielder not seen with other Dreams however. A blackening of the hands. Much like how the feet of adepts blacken the more they age and walk within the Dream, so to do the hands of Death mages who use such spells.

Source

A'kin is described as having a turquoise to light blue sky, with geography resembling that of a desert, occasionally dotted with strange menhirs, themselves dotted with holes of varying sizes. Such constructions can be found around the world of Urash. Likely as replicas created by those that have visited the Dream during the early years of human development.

A'kin

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Constellation

The Crow of Summer

Dates in Ascendance

June 1 - August 1

Element

Death

Main Stars

7