Awakening and Paths

More often than not, attempts to Awaken a mortal fail. 
Humans can only be Awakened when their bodies are on the edge of life and death, a quirk of the process that means bringing new Awakened into the fold was once a matter of trial and error. If they ingest the blood of an Awakened while lingering in between living and dying, they will begin to experience the Dream. The Dream is different for every Awakened and represents both past and future - a reflection of a life lived, and a portent of things to come. Still, each Dream typically falls into one of five types, an indicator of the Powers that the blood will grant them and the Path that lies before them.

• The Path of Revelation - Those who see worlds within the world, and truths beyond the truth, are typically those who already sought answers diligently in life before. They awaken to powers of prophecy and perception, allowing them sight far beyond human ken.
• The Path of Retaliation - Those who envision battlefields lined with the bloody corpses of the damned or the oppressive grimness of war are typically those who, one way or another, found themselves on the road to violence. They awaken to powers that call upon unnatural strength and stamina, granting them fearsome battle prowess.
• The Path of Obfuscation - Those whose dreams are clouded in mists and fog, or spun from falsehoods in abundance, are those who previously dealt in willing or unwilling deception. They awaken to powers that allow them to hide themselves or their thoughts from the unsuspecting.
• The Path of Creation - Those whose dreams see them forming spiralling towers, mythical beasts, or impossible shapes are those whose lives were steeped in creativity and imagination. They awaken to powers that allow them to conjure up objects, creatures, and idle dreams made real.
• The Path of Infiltration - Those who dream of manipulating and maneuvering the laws of reality, who tear apart the fabric of the vision and see the twisted veins that run behind it, are those who lived their lives dismantling the rules of the world. They gain the power to rearrange certain laws that govern that which can and cannot be.

It is important to note that Awakening can only occur when the human body and spirit exist on the knife’s edge. Too soon and the human becomes a Sleepwalker, a being devoted to the Awakened that created them so long as they continue to be fed blood. Too far and they are gone to the great unknown, to be judged in the afterlife.