Batirine

Batirines (pronounced /ˈbætɪriːn/) are artificial creatures made of pure dreamstuff as servants and agents of the onirarchs. Batirines are not mindless automata; while some are more intelligent than others, they are all self-willed and capable of acting on their own initiative. For the most part, however, batirines are loyal and reliable servitors, though it does occasionally happen that one may go rogue and betray its master.

There is no limit to the forms that batirines can take, and there are many types of batirines that are unique to a particular nation, or even to the household of a particular onirarch. Still, below is a list of some of the most common and widespread varieties.

• Enforcer - These stocky, roughly cylindrical batirines serve as the primary agents of law enforcement in many onirarchies.
• Eye - The small, winged eye batirines act as spies for the onirarchs.
• Gargoyle - Gargoyle batirines both watch for trouble and dive in to handle it if they see it.
• Guardian - Resembling larger, stouter versions of enforcers, guardian batirines generally guard specific objects or locations.
• Healer - These conical, tentacled batirines tend to the ill and the injured (that is, the ill and the injured among the onirarchs and their agents).
• Master - Though their primary duty is to coordinate the actions of other batirines, master batirines are fairly formidable on their own.
• Pleasure - The only common batirine to have a fully human form, the pleasure batirine can fulfill its nominal duty in various ways.
• Possessor - Small and innocuous on their own, possessor batirines can take over the bodies of humans and other living creatures.
• Sea - Not as common as the xastrine batirines that crawl over the oceans' floors, the graceful sea batirines flit over the surface of the water on the onirarchs' business, often carrying human or batirine passengers on their broad backs.
• Seeker - Amorphous and chameleonic, seeker batirines are sent by the onirarchs to infiltrate rebel headquarters and other important but inaccessible locations.
• Tabulator - Frequently (but not always) immobile, the tabulator batirine primarily serves to perform complex calculations and simulations that would be too involved for a human mind to easily handle.
• Tower - The size of a building, a tower batirine is an immobile but powerful sentry with magical powers to enforce the onirarchs' will.
• Warden - The warden batirine controls the building or vehicle it's built into, effectively making it into a living structure.
• Xastrine - Named after the spiderlike xastres they resemble, xastrine batirines are the onirarchs' primary aquatic agents.

See also

List of batirines