Anju

The Anju
Anju have been around for quite some time, not that they really notice- anju don’t have much sense at all for passing time. They do remember things, but they are more or less a collection of memories, even sequential order is a foreign concept for most of them. Though the more advanced, “intellectual” ones (who represent a more intellectual or universal fear) do have a better-organized brain/memory, and are capable of sophisticated planning and manipulation. In fact, better than most people because to them, time is no concern. Anju are all very individualistic, though they are fully capable of communicating with each other (with their own whispery-spidery language.) Their language is very complex, and not only contains a vocal aspect, but when they speak, it seems to trigger appropriate emotions and ideas along with it... needless to say, there are thousands of single words for various kinds of fear (the names of anju) and concepts that are easily expressed in human language (like nice, or cute or some such) would be very difficult to do so with that one- they would have to be talked around and explained using various synonyms or descriptions. It would be virtually impossible for a human to learn to speak the language- not only is it completely different from any other language on a conceptual basis, but a human would not be able to “speak” it correctly with the morphology of their speech apparatuses. More “sophisticated” anju are also capable of learning human languages (to better drive fear into their victims if they tell them various things) though it would always be spoken in that same voice, that is like a crawling whisper in the back of your mind (they do not form words with their mouths, they project the words.)

Anju are pretty much very basic creatures. All of them live for the purpose of feeding off of fear from mortal victims. They gain pleasure from this feeding- and they gain more pleasure and more energy if the fear is specifically their specialty (every anju is the embodiment of a different fear.) The simpler ones merely travel from dream-bubble to dream-bubble, their presence shaping the dream of the host into a nightmare- causing fear, which they feed from. The host wakes up, the bubble disappears, and the pleasure is over. From there, they travel to another dream, and so on. They are either in a state of gaining pleasure, or they are seeking it out. Aside from that, they gain pleasure (though less so – and no actual energy or sustenance) from actual eating of flesh- though this is generally not quite the same- they can eat the dream-echoes that manifest in raw dream (or someone’s specific dream.) To them, they are comprised of the same dream-reality that they are, and seem “real." More powerful Anju go beyond this, but still have the basic desires that motivate them of seeking out pleasure, though they will go to further efforts of gaining better pleasure.  They will mentally torture a victim in order to produce their specific type of fear, seek out people who are more susceptible to their fear, or find ways to extend that sensation.

Each Anju has abilities that reflect their own specialty. They are magical creatures, and the more powerful the Anju, the wider range of abilities they have. In addition to the Anju-specific abilities, there are a set of general abilities they all have access to (though some are only held by the most powerful ones- such as Dream Trap.) These generic abilities include:  Shadow manipulation (varying degrees thereof), Generic dream travel and shaping it around them (again, varying degrees thereof.) Generic Fear spells (the more powerful the Anju, the more powerful the fear- and more powerful Anju can effect lesser ones with this spell, but not the other way around.) While Anju can have varying levels of intelligence, they are still very specialized creatures, and their emotions are not very far developed. They are limited to the simple emotions of pleasure, fear, anger, pain, and the like(they do NOT feel things such as guilt, remorse, love, camaraderie, etc.) They do, on the other hand, have distinct personalities.

Behind the scenes
The creature Anju is © 2000 - present by Jenny Biggs, aka Arania