Dreamland

"Alright, some of you look a little confused as to where you are. Let me clear a few things up - firstly, you're safe asleep at home. Second, you're very much here and awake. Welcome to Dreamland"

## Dreamland As A Whole

### 1.1 Dreamland

So the last thing you remember is falling asleep at home, or perhaps at an inn, maybe even in the arms of a lover. Now, suddenly, you're lucidly standing on a bridge of stairs spanning a great ocean, and there's a half mansion, half castle at the top.

What the heck happened? Well, if you're lucky enough to have an experienced member on hand, they might explain it like this. You're both awake here, yet still sleeping at home. This is Dreamland, a place where exists many different kinds of people - who, it could be added, are very much alive and would prefer to keep living. It isn't a pretend world of no consequence, banished on waking up, but current theories place it as a specialized plane either moving around the Dimension of Dreams, or perhaps even beyond.

In any case, though the risks may be lessened for you, that doesn't make it inconsequential. There is still a chance of death when you die, due to the shock to your system from the trauma of death, though most would merely wake up in a cold sweat.

Still yet, many items can mysteriously cross the threshold when you awake, and you'd notice potions consumed still empty, and satchels still perhaps full of treasure upon waking. This is the primary evidence that Dreamland is no shared hallucination. Which means that all the factions you might meet, are all full of people just as real as you or me. Lets get down to some of the brass and tacks about that one now.

### 2.1 Heartstones

In the heart of every native to the plane, (the largest portion of which are outsiders, as their life force is so tied to that of Dreamland itself) is a rock called a 'Heartstone' or sometimes referred to as a 'Starstone'. No relation to the Godstone of Divinity, these small rocks can range from translucent to pink or purple, to a few other colours or dripping with corruption and shadow.

In all cases, they function as the heart, mind, and soul of every native. So long as it is not destroyed (or in the case of natives being killed by a nightmare, consumed), a dreamlander will awaken on dying and appear safe at home in their bed after coalescing. They call this returning to bed.

Beyond that, Starstones have a great amount of power inside of them, raw energy from the plane, though its energies fade if taken from the plane that supplies it. Because of the nature of every creature having a stone, the locals can often act hostile or erratically if they ever come across a someone without one, its quite simply for the majority-unheard of. And in a world of relative black and white, most jump to the conclusion that it means you side with the nightmares in their struggle, though nightmares have their own dark Heartstones as well.

### 2.2 Dreamstones

Dreamstones are in some ways similar to the Starstones above, but vastly less powerful. They do contain still enough energy however to fuel local magics or machines, and as such is the primary form of currency. Gold is just shiny useless metal with no redeeming quality, but dreamstones have a tangible effect, even if they are renewable.

Currently, one major theory to their creation is that its excess energy from either the plane or a Native, that forms itself spontaneously and sometimes in response to specific actions. Those trapped inside the plane should value having one of these stones however, as there exists a shrine near the Orphan's lands that can send regular otherworlders home.

### 3.1 Factions

There exist many different groups in Dreamland, all for many different reasons. First, is Dreamlanders. They're the basic citizenry of the world, and all appear at various stages of youth. Like all sapient life here or anywhere, they can be as varied in temperament and appearance as fish in the sea. Sometimes they herd Dreamanimals about, sometimes they live to fish a local stream, sometimes they desire to travel the continent, slaying nightmares or else craft music and tales for the enjoyment of others. They often settle in towns, though nomadic and rural Dreamlanders aren't unheard of. Just, don't mention you don't have a starstone of your own unless there is an absolute bond of trust in place already, and make sure you've got a dreamstone toll on hand if entering a town, so that you can obtain a temporary ID for 3 cycles (a cycle is a half a day, as there is no natural night or darkness in dreamland).

Past that, there are Nightmares, dark beasts of fear who seek to consume the world and its population. Using mind effects or fear effects is strongly ill advised, though the population has shown interesting interactions with effects like 'Remove Fear'.

Orphans exist as well to counter nightmares, as a sort of specialized strike team capable of culling the herds much faster, and much more efficiently than ordinary Dreamlanders. That's Orphans with a capital O mind you, as no one within Dreamland has parents as far as it can be told for now, and how exactly new life is made is yet unknown.

Humanoid Nightmares play the Yang to an Orphan's Yin, as they seek to slay Orphans and Dreamlanders. However their reasons seems to stem not from malice or hate, but under the belief that Dreamlanders are hoarding life energy that must be returned to the plane. Who is right and what is truth... well... there's still a long ways down that equation, and it's hard to tell just yet.

From there, there is one last primary Faction known, Hosts Tet and Rika. If you're here, its likely that one of them summoned you, though they don't ever appear at the same time and seem to have vastly different goals, ideals and methods of operation. Tet, primarily desires living energy in near any form to fuel his secret objectives, while Rika usually calls for aid against hordes of nightmares that grow too powerful, large in number, or otherwise dangerous. Both reward their summons handsomely for services rendered however.