Kard's Abduction
Carnach was the first dreamer to be given the titular rights of a Dreamsmith, though he could not in fact control all the powers associated with the station until later that year. Soulthief was first to learn the art of Forge Talisman, yet without the honored station of Dreamsmith. When Kard joined the ranks of the select few who had learned the art of Forge since the Great Loss, and adopted the title of "Junior Dreamsmith," it was cause for great celebration. The Basin filled with friends, young and old, who had been invited to the ceremony. To their surprise, Kelrith appeared in the dream after a very long absence to perform the ceremony. Some say it was senility, or possibly his work with the Corrupter of Souls, that caused him to grant Kard sixth sphere instead of Forge Talisman. Shortly after a light flashed over Kard's avatar, a dreamer named Catherine ran out from the crowd holding a small needle, and poking Kard's neck said: "Oh, Kelrith, dear. I'm borrowing your apprentice." Kard disappeared from the dream in a flash, and Catherine followed quickly afterwards.
Kard was spotted a week or two later, appearing in threshold weak and sickly, only to be quickly retrieved by Catherine. He managed to mutter before she stole him away again: "Catherine, I will not bend… I will not give in… I will endure… I do not want to… it cannot possess me… I do not love…" Catherine arrived later to explain to Cygne and Zardac that Kelrith was an evil to the Dream City, and Catherine rescued Kard from Kelrith's mad experiment to transform Kard into a nightmare. The effects of this, she claimed, where making Kard ill, and on her forest shard she tended to Kard's wounds. She revealed a book supposedly written by Kelrith that documented his Maren experimentation.
However, Catherine wore the colors of Lucidity and played the tricks of a Fatesender. She often fingered the locket she wore around her neck, one bearing the inscription "Held for my Love." She delighted in confusing her audiences with riddles and games. Kard finally managed another escape, during which he managed to stumble into a Guardians of Soul meeting to grant Cygne a message which read: "To someone who can help… Get that locket… It's the key to the forest…" It was finally apparent that Katherine was weaving lies and holding Kard against his will.
Many of Kard's friends organized different ways to find Kard. There were numerous schemes and plots for rescuing him from the forest, and stealing the locket away from its wearer. Finally, confronted in the Chasm of Souls one day after a Dreamer's Cup event, Catherine turned to several of the conspirators. "I will make sure that Kard returns to the dream if you will leave my locket alone… Enchantra, Zardac, Calysto, do I have your promise to leave my locket alone?" After some distrustful hesitation, all dreamers agreed. Catherine kept her last promise, freeing Kard. Catherine was rarely seen again.
