Dreaming

The **Dreaming**, known by the Sylvan and some humans, as the **Beyond**, and by the Cleve and Welserine as **Twilight**, is a metaphysical realm that is tied to Morgaea and separated by the Veil.

## Ministry teachings

According to the Ministry, the Dreaming is a realm of primeval matter from which the Watcher formed the physical world and all living beings. It is sometimes compared to a well of souls, with lucenium being its "violet waters." It was the first realm created by the Watcher, populated with spirits, the first of the Watcher's "children". Growing unsatisfied with them, as what they created was "fleeting, ever-changing", he then created Morgaea, separated from the Dreaming by the Veil and populated by mortal creatures. Many spirits grew jealous of these new children, and became what mortals call demons, craving and/or emulating their basest desires and sins.

The Holy Tome states that the Tainted City was originally the Golden City, seat of the Watcher. An attempt by the Seven Apostles to physically enter the city tainted it with their prideful ambition, and their punishment was to be cast down as the first of the fiends, commencing the First Scourge. When the teachings of the Holy Tome spreads to all corners of the world, the Watcher will forgive mankind and return, restoring the Golden City.

## Landscape and Denizens

The substance of the Dreaming is sometimes referred to as the "aether".

In its raw form, the Dreaming is a twisted, frightening world of dark rock and raw lucenium veins where it is always night and gravity affects nothing equally. Nothing but void fills the places between dreams.

An island with the Tainted City, a shadowy metropolis with twisted spires, seems to be the only constant feature of the Dreaming, always on the horizon. No one has managed to reach it since over-ambitious mages physically invaded the Dreaming in **-395D**. Even the most powerful demons keep their distance.

The Dreaming may appear as something else entirely when shaped by dreams. Much of the Dreaming is split up into fiefs or demesnes belonging to the spirits or demons that live there, and they change the landscape of the Dreaming to emulate what they see in the minds of mortal dreamers. They copy locations, objects, people, and concepts of the real world, often in a cruel or confusing way. These copies are nowhere near consistent, and fluctuate according to the movement of the dreamers. Spirits whose realms are flocked with visitors rise to rule great portions of the Dreaming, while memories and concepts forgotten in the real world slowly drift away back into the aether, the spirits who ruled them losing all potency.

## Entering and Leaving

People of Morgaea visit the Dreaming mentally when they dream, even though they do not remember the time spent there. A notable exception of this are the dwarves, who do not dream. Mages tap into the Dreaming when they cast spells and are able to remain conscious while traveling there. Members of the Institute frequently visit the Dreaming with the aid of lucenium, in particular during the rite of Ascension. Mages are also able to bring other individuals into the Dreaming, including dwarves.

'Killing' a mortal's dream form while in the Dreaming, thus ending that individual's dream, and waking them up, is a shock to the living body, but not normally lethal.

## In the Dreaming

Belief and willpower are paramount in the Dreaming. Everything that exists there exists by expression of thought and reflects expectations of the dreamer. People dream of their loved ones in the Dreaming because the spirits there recognize the bond between souls, and that bond has power in dreams. An individual expecting to see a demon rather than a spirit will see one if they allow preconceptions to cloud their view of the dream world. A doorway in the Dreaming is simply a transition; it could be used to reach almost anywhere one desired.

Magic use is possible in the Dreaming, though spells work unpredictably there as magic does not follow natural rules. Even though a mage cannot change every aspect of the Dreaming, they can draw unprecedented power from it while sleeping. Similarly, even non-mages may instinctively shape the Dreaming in small ways: armoring and arming themselves with weapons able to cut even in dreams.

Dreaming visitors often speak of its shifting "paths" that can not be charted or secured but can be traversed with a guide, be it a wisp, spirits, a ghost, or even the two legendary ravens called Fear and Deceit.

## Dreaming and the Dead

Every living being in Morgaea enters the Dreaming when their spirit leaves their body after death.

The Sylvan elves believe that in the time of Hathalas their ancestors did not die, but rather entered a dream-like stated called elamera, in which their souls wandered the Dreaming, accompanied by Morthil and Shandalar. They would learn the secrets of dreams, and some would return to the People with newfound knowledge.

The Ministry holds that when a person dies, their soul passes through the Dreaming to the afterlife and the Watcher's side. Those who have turned away from the Watcher enter the Dreaming and are lost, returning to the aether from which they were formed ("to the Void"). They are stuck in the Dreaming and doomed to wander endlessly.