Dreamscapes

Dreamscapes are places that partially exist parallel to Aum. As their name suggests, dreamscapes are often linked to sleep with the greatest one being the Realm of Dreams, which is a dimension created from the collective subconscious of all the creatures on Aum and beyond; most dreamscapes are not quite so grand in nature and are often linked only to the dreams of individual Ib or a group of kindred Ib who experience shared dreams. Some Ib, known as vivid dreamers, most of whom are Fey or those with some kind of connection to Fey Magic, can actively create vibrant dreamscapes from their conscious mind instead of their subconscious minds and often do so to more efficiently utilize their mental capacities.

In dreamscapes, the present environments are molded as physical manifestations of the thoughts, feelings, and other metaphysical essences of both those who created the dreamscape as well as those who find themselves wandering in them. This means that the terrain can be as fickle as the hearts of Ib; grandiose mountains of pride lit by a golden sun of good fortune can easily quake and crumble into the darkest valley of despair upon mortal reminders of the careless and entropic nature of the universe.

As dreamscapes do not fully exist, most Ib cannot traverse them in their physical forms and instead are projected into them as a Dream Avatar, a form which is an amalgamation of how the individual views themselves, how others view the individual, and the true nature of their soul. Any harm that befalls a Dream Avatar is partially paralleled to an Ib's original form, depending on the severity of the wound both in its physical damage and the context in which it was received. For instance, if a Dream Avatar is in a savage battle in which its arm is ripped off and swallowed by a ferocious beast, the Ib may awaken with complete loss in motor control of their arm; however, if a Dream Avatar has their entire nose swiped away in a game of "got your nose" with a mischievous fairy, the Ib may only awaken with a strange tingling sensation on the tip of their nose that goes away once they tap it with their finger a few times to confirm that their nose was not truly gotten. It is important to note that while a Dream Avatar is the embodiment of an individual Ib, the Ib does not have direct control over the actions of their Avatar and will often only be able to actively remember bits and pieces of their Avatar's experiences within the dreamscape while the rest of the memories are locked deep away in their subconscious mind. Many details of the most recent of these dream experiences can be recalled with great clarity immediately upon waking; however, conscious memories of adventures in dreamscapes are quick to fade, with pallid palimpsests of only the most wondrous of sights and deepest of emotions remaining once one has fully awakened and shaken off the daze of early morning drowsing. Similarly, while Dream Avatars typically have a similar set of knowledge and skills as the Ib that they embody, the specific details of their waking life are often only remembered in the same vague haze in which we remember our dreams. Furthermore, it is also worth noting that the vast majority of Dream Avatars are not aware of their existence as Avatars and truly believe themselves to be the genuine Ib and the dreamscape that they inhabit to be the real world; it is quite possible for them to become distressed upon discovering the truth of their situation, which can have a negative impact on their surrounding dreamscape environment. An individual Dream Avatar does not continue to exist once its Ib exits from the dreamscape in which it resides, though the experiences that they faced will impact the subconscious mind of their Ib, which will, in turn, influence the characteristics of subsequent Avatars.

Because dreamscapes are a product of those experiencing them, Ib who have a keen awareness of their own minds can utilize a strategy while traversing dreamscapes known as lucid dreaming. Lucid dreaming is achieved when one's Avatar becomes aware that they are existing in a world that does not truly exist and that they can forcefully command their own thoughts, feelings, and beliefs to manipulate their surrounding dreamscape to their advantage. In this way, lucid dreaming Avatars can override both logic and emotion to alter the entire reality of the dreamscape, though there are certain limits to what even the most genius or insane of minds can accept as possible, and these limits are even more severe when one finds themself in a dreamscape that was not of their own mind's creation.

## Realm of Dreams

The Realm of Dreams is a massive, potentially limitless, dreamscape created by the culmination of the subconscious thoughts of all creatures in existence. All creatures that are asleep or are otherwise in an unconscious state have Dream Avatars present in the Realm of Dreams, though unlike in other dreamscapes, most of the Dream Avatars are not fully aware of their surroundings and instead have their subconscious attention in their own individual dreamscape as they dream their own dreams. As such, most inhabitants of the Realm of Dreams are known as Sleepwalkers and they will wander the realm in a daze as they go about their nightly business. Anything that happens to a sleepwalker's Avatar in the Realm of Dreams will not directly impact the Ib, but it will greatly impact their own dream which may, in turn, have dire repercussions for the Ib. On the other hand, there are a number of Ib with the potential to have their Avatars act in ways that are almost fully conscious within the Realm of Dreams known as Waking Dreamers. Waking Dreamers are almost exclusively lucid dreamers who attempt to use their journeys into the Realm of Dreams in order to discover some greater truth about the universe or obtain hidden knowledge by scouring the darkest corners of the world's collective unconscious mind. The insights into these existential mysteries that many of these Waking Dreamer Avatars gain have the potential to drive their waking Ib selves completely mad on Aum, and yet most continue, unyielding in their pursuit until the day that their Avatar disappears from the Realm of Dreams entirely, leaving their Ib nothing but a vegetative husk. Most believe that such Avatars merely end up being destroyed by one of the numerous perils in the darkest reaches of the universe's minds, but some hold onto the wistful belief that these dreamers have transcended to a world beyond even our wildest of dreams.

## Other Notable Dreamscapes

### The Nightshone Manor

The Nightshone Manor is a Dreamscape of obscure origin that appears to have manifested from the Nightmares of an unknown Dream Avatar. The Dreamscape itself is partially predatory, and it will hunt Sleepwalking Avatars within the Realm of Dreams to take them within itself, often distorting them into a form more in line with its own image. While the inhabitants that the Manor houses vary throughout the ages, it appears to always attempt to maintain itself with at least one acting Mistress of the Manor and one acting Steward of the Manor.