Dream-skewered

***“I won’t say it again. Infohazard protocols are in effect.”***

***WARNING: THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS.***

The **dream-skewered** are those who are thought to have been affected by the dream that skewers, which erases all their aerbian thoughts and memories and replaces them with those of a different life on the fictional Earth. Amaryllis mentions the common belief of around a thousand dream-skewered to date, all studied within the Athenaeum of Speculation and Scrutiny.

## The dream that skewers

As it turns out, Earth very much exists. The mechanism is unknown, but the thoughts and memories are real, transplanted from people on Earth. There were only ever six people that could be called dream-skewered before Juniper, including Uther Penndraig. The last five appeared within a handful of years, but were ultimately unremarkable.

The belief that dream-skewered live to this day was a trap maintained by Speculator Masters and designed by Uther to lead Juniper or his other friends into the Athenaeum of Speculation and Scrutiny, Masters' place of power. After a test to confirm their status they would then listen to Uther's mirror's recording and receive the entads intended for them.

The test for dream-skewered involves the Orb of Knowledge and a list of names from Earth assembled by Uther Penndraig.

## Affected

* Uther Penndraig
* Unnamed American Civil War era teenager
* Unnamed medieval french girl
* Three other unnamed people from disparate times and places
* Juniper Smith

## History

After hearing Juniper's origin story, Amaryllis though he was just one of the many dream-skewered. At his confusion, she decided to explain the concept. That unlocked the Quest Straddling Worlds, which called him to the Athenaeum of Speculation and Scrutiny.Solely Responsible

Juniper later theorized the aerbian Gods might be dream-skewered, but is not comfortable with what that would imply about him.Cold Comfort

After Fenn mentioned the reputation of Uther Penndraig as a playwright Juniper realized he too was dream-skewered, recognizing some of his plays as rip-offs of Earth movies.The Impish Inn

Following Juniper's accidental utterance of the Name of the Beast, concerns were raised about the dream-skewered, since any of them could say the name at any time, having come from a world where he's just an actor.Name of the Beast

The Party finally decided to attempt the Straddling Worlds quest to prevent that danger and traveled to the Cerebral College, where Speculator Masters screened Juniper's claim using the Orb of Knowledge. He passed, and Masters revealed the truth of the dream skewered to Juniper: there were none.The Dream that Skewers

Masters elaborated further, adding that there were only five known dream-skewered and none were in any way remarkable, all of them from before the Beast's time. The lie was created by Uther and it was Masters' mission to maintain it while he kept an eye on the illusion magic exclusion zone, as to attract Juniper or his other friends from Earth. Juniper then listened to the message Uther recorded on his mirror, the lie's ultimate purpose.The Veil of the World

## References

1. ↑ “That’s the dream that skewers,” she said. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “All thoughts and memories wiped away in an instant, replaced by the dream of Earth and a different life there. It’s a fate only slightly better than death.” She shook her head. “You can still help. We still need the soulcycle up and running so we can escape the Coterie. It’s just going to make things a little bit more difficult.”

I shook my head. “No, I’m sorry, I need to ... “ I paused and tried to gather my thoughts. “I need more. How many dream-skewered are there? Do they all have delusions of being the one to have thought up this place? Do they all see the game overlay? Do they level up like me?”

She bit her lip. There was something new behind her pale blue eyes, a softer emotion. “There have been perhaps a thousand of the dream-skewered,” she said. “They are cared for and studied at the Athenaeum of Speculation and Scrutiny. To my knowledge, their only delusions are of their lives lived on Earth. You think that you created Aerb?”
—*Worth the Candle* Chapter 3: "Solely Responsible"
2. ↑ “I hadn’t intended to,” said Masters. “There were dream-skewered, once upon a time. Five of them, all presenting within a handful of years, all collected together in a madhouse, in the city that would later become Boastre Vino. Uther took an interest. He was, in that time, a man known for doing impossible things, for solving unsolvable problems, erudite beyond anyone of that period, wise far beyond his years.” He was staring at the mirror as he spoke. “Uther tasked me with watching for more of the dream-skewered. He created a generous endowment for their care. I was to conduct interviews with them, find what they knew, compile a book or two. He wanted me to cast a wide net, and I did.” Masters sighed, still staring at the mirror. “Five unremarkable people, that was all we ever had. Of course, once the stories of the dream-skewered began to spread, there were others who came to see me and my small staff. We became something of an attractor for those with paranoid delusions and psychosis, in part because we were willing to take in such people with few questions asked. They all failed the tests that Uther had developed -- not the screening that I gave you, but a simpler set of questions.”
—*Worth the Candle* Chapter 109: "The Veil of the World"
3. ↑ “Uther returned,” said Masters. “He seemed unconcerned by the fact that there was no recurrence of the phenomenon. He brought entads with him, the Orb of Knowledge, the Mirror of Messages, the armor that I now wear, and a new command.” Masters looked to me. “He told me that I was to keep up the pretense of there being dream-skewered for the rest of my natural life. Two or three every year should be sufficient, he said, some of them pulled from the ranks of the insane, others invented from whole cloth. The endowment would last in perpetuity. He gave me instructions that I should follow. Lies I would need to tell.” He shook his head slightly. “I balked. The rest of my natural life, when I might live another few millennia? I agreed to twenty years, because he was Uther Penndraig, and he seemed to think it was incredibly important. After he disappeared, I decided to stay on longer.”
—*Worth the Candle* Chapter 109: "The Veil of the World"
4. ↑ Instead, Raven had declared that she would bring her father to us, along with the entads that seemed like they were intended for us.
—*Worth the Candle* Chapter 141: "Monty Haul"
5. ↑ “We’re done,” said Masters. He was looking at me calmly, as though nothing was strange about any of this. “You said that your own name was Juniper Smith.” The ball flashed green for a final time, and I gently set it down on the table.

We sat in silence for a bit. Maybe Masters was waiting for me to speak, but I had nothing to say.

“So,” I said slowly. “Where does that list come from?”

“Uther Penndraig, the Lost King,” said Masters.
—*Worth the Candle* Chapter 108: "The Dream That Skewers"
6. ↑ When I first heard of the dream-skewered, I thought that they would be all my old friends from -- from Kansas. I haven’t said that word in a long time.” His face had fallen. His eyes were unfocused. “But no, they were nobodies, a teenage girl from medieval France, an idiot teenager who had been in the middle of the Civil War, disparate times and places, nothing obviously relevant to me. It took me some time to see the narrative purpose of them. They were a temptation from the path of heroism, an invitation to indulge in the past, or maybe a call to remember who I was and what I was doing. I’ve done a fair job at resisting those temptations, or at least cloaking them in the guise of art or work. You’ve seen some of that, I’m sure.”
—*Worth the Candle* Chapter 109: "The Veil of the World"