Using Quori, Inspired, and Kalashtar in a non-Eberron setting

[ksbsnowowl]

So my players and I are going to be using Dawn of Worlds to create a new game setting for our next campaign.  We're going to give it a test drive over the next two weeks.  Maybe we'll like the results and use this world; maybe it'll just be a learning curve for the next time we start from scratch.

In another thread someone suggested including Kalashtar as a psionic race.  This led me to re-familiarize myself with Kalashtar and the Quori.

I'd like to make use of the Quori for this world, but I want to alter their motivations a bit.  I can make use of the Plane of Dreams from the Manual of the Planes, and just place the Quori there.  However, I am not planning to use the "every few millenia, the Quori and their realm is rebirthed as something different" idea, which leads to the base motivations of the Quori in Eberron.  They enjoy their evil selves, and want to stop the next implosion/rebirth of their realm.

Here is what I've worked up thus far:

The Quori live in the Realm of Dreams, feeding off the psychic energy of the dreams and nightmares.
 - There were Lawful Good Quori, who fed mostly on dreams.
 - There are Lawful Evil Quori, who feed mostly on nightmares.
 - There was a war between the two factions, started by the meddling of the LG side (alterable - just my first impression).
 - The Good side lost, and the few remaining refugees fled to the Material Plane, ala the birth of the Kalashtar from Eberron.
 - The Evil side, now having experience with domination of others, soon grows bored, and starts figuring out where the Kalashtar went, so they can meddle with the Kalashtar, and humanity.  (Possible side motives are increasing the number of nightmares that they feed off of, etc).  Thus they direct the creation of the Inspired (or they just mess with peoples' dreams enough to get them willing to accept a Quori; ignore the absolute need for Inspired that existed in Eberron until recently, though Inspired would come later, as they have advantages).
 - The Kalashtar, seeing that their war isn't finished, continue to fight.  Most are Good and benevolent (Path of Light, blah, blah), but a faction of them have realized the only way to truly win against the Evil Quori is to "starve" them... by removing all those who can dream.  They are probably Lawful Neutral.  Races such as Elves, which don't actually sleep (and presumably don't dream?), and the Kalashtar themselves (who do not dream) would not be the focus of their ire, but Humans and any other dreaming race... well, their eventual goal is to either transform them (somehow?) into creatures that cannot dream, or to exterminate enough of them that the Quori starve to death.


Any critiques or ideas about the above?

[SolEiji]

I like this, I like this a lot.

The LN faction has loads of material for grey villiany.

[ksbsnowowl]

I like this, I like this a lot.

The LN faction has loads of material for grey villiany.

That was my thinking.

They will overtly fight evil, but also work behind the scenes to bring about the eventual demise of humankind.

Now I just need to brainstorm some of the types of things they would do, which aren't exactly evil, but would lead to them definitely being "not good."

Or maybe they would do occasional evil, for a greater good...  Hmm....  there could be two factions within the LN faction.  Some that have "greater conviction," as it were.

[SolEiji]

I like this, I like this a lot.

The LN faction has loads of material for grey villiany.

That was my thinking.

They will overtly fight evil, but also work behind the scenes to bring about the eventual demise of humankind.

Now I just need to brainstorm some of the types of things they would do, which aren't exactly evil, but would lead to them definitely being "not good."

Or maybe they would do occasional evil, for a greater good...  Hmm....  there could be two factions within the LN faction.  Some that have "greater conviction," as it were.

The obvious one is effective lobotomizing, rendering them unable to have nightmares, perhaps even unable to perform, or even comprehend evil.  The lack of free will and the dangers of sensory deprivation can be massive.

Alternatively they're making a massive psychic weapon out of people's brains which is harmful to the people, but will be a nuclear weapon in dreamworld.

They can give people brain worms which negate evil quori influence, but the brain worms have their own sinister agenda.  Even more fun, the failed brain worms provoked a strange mutation, leaving these victims with squid heads.  Suddenly, illithids!

A strictly regulated city with a strong curfew and synchronized everything.  At 8am, you wake.  At 10am, you eat.  At 12 am you work.  At 4pm you rest.  At 8 pm you sleep.  Failure to comply results in strictest punishment.  The horrible 1984 society has a purpose... the synchronized living provides a huge mental shielding against evil quori.

Most people live fine but a few specially bred people are under constant nightmares and torment, effectively magnets for nightmares and thus sparing the rest of the world.  But is tormenting 1 to save many worth it?

They've developed a nightmare trap, which absorbs quori spirits from the infected.  To get it, you often have to kill the infected.  Great inquisitorial purges go about, killing the infected and storing all the nightmares in one spot, resulting in a double whammy of heartless inquisitors plus the opportunity for the mother of all nightmare collective to break free.