The Rules of Arts
Dreamers have learned to manipulate the Dreamstate, altering it to their desires. These manipulations are known as arts, and the act of using an art is called evoking. With few exceptions, each art is tied to one of the five elements. Though some arts are so easy to evoke that any dreamer may learn them, most arts can only be learned by those with the same focus element as the art.
Manipulating the Dreamstate with arts is difficult, and almost always causes fatigue - temporarily draining points from a given element. Fatigued elements recover over time or through the use of other arts or talismans. If a dreamer has not mastered the art, the evocation may fail, or require long amounts of concentration.
Evoking an art requires intense concentration - dreamers must stand still while evoking. If a dreamer moves, is successfully attacked or pushed during evocation, concentration is broken - the evocation must be tried again.
Many arts require a line-of-sight to work, meaning dreamers must see their target to successfully evoke. If an attempt to evoke is made when a target cannot be seen, the evocation will fail, though fatigue will occur.
The greater a dreamer's level in an art, the faster, longer, and more powerful the evocation.
Levels
Levels are the measure of a dreamer's skill in a given Art. Whenever a dreamer evokes an art, they have a chance to increase in Level. The greater the Level, the more difficult the chance of progressing.
Every tenth Level is known as a Plateau. As with Orbits and Spheres, this special Level requires that the dreamer seek out a teacher to progress. Training is a privilege, not a right; dreamers do not automatically 'deserve' to be trained simply because they are at the right Level. The dreamer will be required to undertake a task or perform a series of missions in order to qualify for training. In all cases it is up to the teacher to decide when the dreamer deserves to be trained, if at all. Only teachers more powerful than the dreamer may advance a dreamer to a higher Plateau.
Newly awakened dreamers begin with skill in several arts. Teachers can grant dreamers new arts, provided the dreamer's Orbit is high enough. The learning of new arts is a privilege, not a right. As with Plateaus and Spheres, the dreamer will be required to perform a series of missions or tasks before the teacher decides a dreamer has earned the right to learn the art. Some of the most powerful arts such as Dreamstrike are jealously guarded, and might require a long period of apprenticeship.
The highest known Plateau of Artistry is the Ninth Plateau. Once the Ninth Level of the Ninth Plateau is reached in a given plateau, the dreamer is regarded as Master of the Art.
