go to sleep, everything is alright.
The Hours is an original verse built on the back of an original mythos. Mostly, it's about an eldritch-y monster-ish group of Gods (or God-like beings) known as Hours, who exist somewhere behind this plane in a place called The Sprawl. There are 28 of them; 24 representing one hour of each day, and four "lost" Hours. Each Hour has a Hand, who acts in some way like their High Priest, or General of their army, and connects them to the modern world. These Hands are given powers, called "aspects"; they relate in some way to their Hour's domain or area of rule.
Each Hour was a human being once. They aren't anymore. The rules of magical ascension are easy: A human being, if somehow they can glimpse behind the veil and not be driven into insanity, can become an apprentice to a Hand. Only by killing that Hand can they leave their apprenticeship behind. Likewise, only through great struggle, research, and magic can a Hand become an Hour. Basically: to promote yourself up a power-level, magical murder is afoot.
This is made harder by the fact Hours have no strong weaknesses, seeing as they are basically Gods, and as the name suggests, are unkillable. Hands, however, can be killed, but with great effort.
In this universe — aka, the modern world as we know it — there exist small sects of worship of each of the Hours. (Think Atlantis, lost history, Greco-Roman mysteries, etc.) Most of it is just academic, but some of it is very, very real, and through study or worship, the greatest of all miracles can occur: magic.
There also exists a secret order named "The Arcani". They are Hourkillers. Over the years, they have managed to injure Hours, but not kill them.
—
A few days remain before Wendy will become the new apprentice to the Hand to the Door That Opens. She knows it because she has seen it — in sleep, she experiences premonitions of what is to come, though events are rarely entirely fixed given the nature of human will.
In her waking hours, Wendy's magical power is nearly nonexistent, limited to bending spoons and other minor acts of telekinesis, and she is accordingly usually meek, aware of her powerlessness in the larger world. However, as mentioned, she experiences visions while asleep, though the power isn't one that comes without a catch. A second entity shares Wendy's body, and is the cause of her somnambulism. It appears when the visions don't, and is possessed of considerable (destructive) magical power; it is also completely separate from Wendy, sharing none of her personality nor kindness. It also has aspirations to power where Wendy does not.
Each Hour was a human being once. They aren't anymore. The rules of magical ascension are easy: A human being, if somehow they can glimpse behind the veil and not be driven into insanity, can become an apprentice to a Hand. Only by killing that Hand can they leave their apprenticeship behind. Likewise, only through great struggle, research, and magic can a Hand become an Hour. Basically: to promote yourself up a power-level, magical murder is afoot.
This is made harder by the fact Hours have no strong weaknesses, seeing as they are basically Gods, and as the name suggests, are unkillable. Hands, however, can be killed, but with great effort.
In this universe — aka, the modern world as we know it — there exist small sects of worship of each of the Hours. (Think Atlantis, lost history, Greco-Roman mysteries, etc.) Most of it is just academic, but some of it is very, very real, and through study or worship, the greatest of all miracles can occur: magic.
There also exists a secret order named "The Arcani". They are Hourkillers. Over the years, they have managed to injure Hours, but not kill them.
A few days remain before Wendy will become the new apprentice to the Hand to the Door That Opens. She knows it because she has seen it — in sleep, she experiences premonitions of what is to come, though events are rarely entirely fixed given the nature of human will.
In her waking hours, Wendy's magical power is nearly nonexistent, limited to bending spoons and other minor acts of telekinesis, and she is accordingly usually meek, aware of her powerlessness in the larger world. However, as mentioned, she experiences visions while asleep, though the power isn't one that comes without a catch. A second entity shares Wendy's body, and is the cause of her somnambulism. It appears when the visions don't, and is possessed of considerable (destructive) magical power; it is also completely separate from Wendy, sharing none of her personality nor kindness. It also has aspirations to power where Wendy does not.