A traveller's welcome

This ritual born during the first era of dream, the age of nightmares, was created to prevent any living shadows from forming or from breaking of and nesting somewhere else. A simple gesture of safety and an act of kindness during otherwise rough times.

It allowed the people to welcome in a traveller when the night approached with it's spindling fingers. It allowed to lend a hand to those lost in the dark and grant shelter from the storm, even if only for a night.

How it is done

The ritual starts simple. The shelter seeking person is allowed inside, the door closed shut behind them, to prevent more of the night and silence to enter. The first room of most houses was arranged in a circular shape and beside several lanterns sparsely if at all furnished and decorated.

After all less corners also mean less shades from gathering, where light cannot reach.

On the floor a symbol is draw. If already embedded into the floor it's contours are traced. The medium of choice can vary but if possible should be of living or magic origin. Such as freshly cut herbs, roots, plants, blood, seeds or fire. The more mana potential the better.

The traveller is asked to step inside the circle and materials of equally mana dense potential are carefully placed inside the strangers shadow. There they wait, sometimes for up to an hour and just observe the shadow, slightly altering the position of the candles to perceive any unusual movement.

If the shadows are found to be normal, the stranger is led inside the rest of the house and shown their room to stay.

Two bright lanterns are placed in front of their door, to once again lock any potential shadows trying to escape inside the room.
A traveller may only ask for a single night before having to move on to either a new location or find a new bed for the night. This is done to reduce the risk taken by the host.

How it changed

While the ritual has changed and developed throughout each era of dream, in between them, light is abundant and nature less aggressive. The appearance of living shadows, remains little more than a fairy tale, to prevent kids from playing in a forest at night and so does the ritual. It is still used by people throughout the eras no matter which one, but if not needed it tends to be seen as superstitious and rude in some nations and a sign of good manners in others.

It is tradition and understood as a way to judge the travellers, not their shadows, character, to see if they came with good or evil intentions.