The raw essence of the Dreaming sometimes gets trapped in physical form, usually through natural or magical means. This type of Glamour is known as dross.
Dross can manifest in many natural variations — forest mushrooms, geodes, fern seeds, well-worn river stones. Dross is often contained in the possessions and relics of great people: John Lennon's diary, Picasso's paintbrush or palette, Abraham Lincoln's top hat, or a letter written by either Lewis Carroll or Dr. Seuss. The Glamour unleashed from dross cannot replenish a changeling's own store. An object usually contains anywhere from one to five Glamour points, although some magnificent vessels hold 10 points or more.
In order for the Glamour trapped in dross to be released, part of the item (and in many cases all of it) must be destroyed. A changeling must tear, crush, burn, devour, rip or otherwise ruin the item permanently, unless only part of its Glamour can be released, in which case only part of the object is destroyed. Once all the dross has been released from an item, there can be no chance to repair it. Many Kithain use dross as a form of currency.
Types of Dross
Dross can take the form of many different things, in varying sizes and shapes. The following is a list of sample items:
- Dream Stones
- Mementos
- Treasures
- Chimera
- Founts
Using Dross
Each time a changeling uses dross in any way, her player must roll a single die to see what affect the fickle nature of the Glamour contained within the dross has on the changeling. A 'one' indicates that the Glamour has some negative side effect (anything from a momentary lapse in the surrounding Mists to nightmares to gaining a temporary point of Banality). A '10' might mean that some permanent or long-term benefit is incurred (such as gaining a permanent point of Glamour to losing a permanent point of Banality).