Fantasy Dreamweavers- Lore

[Agent23]

The Universe (Creation Era)

The material realm came first, Space and time gave way to Matter And energy, which eventually brought life. Forms of That life would eventually gain intelligence and From that self awareness. The first sentient thoughts brought about a new thing for which there was no place in the material plane, Psychic energy. Over time this energy born of intelligence would give birth to its own intelligences.


Nyx the goddess of Positive Psychic Energy. Would gather up the Abundant psychic energy and weave it into a world, one that was a mirror image of our own, that connected to the minds of all sentients. In this world their wills could shape things to a limited degree and thus the world grew to be whimsical and adventurous. Soon she would begin to gift mortals with imagination and positive emotions and with that they would dream up the most wonderful places, things, and peoples. Over time enough reoccurring dreams amongst the mortals would persist and she would make it a Place for them to call home.
​

The gilded city of Dreams where the ideas of mortals could rest until they were forgotten and cycled back into the Astral tides. It sprawled on encompassing the size of a small galaxy and would make up the heart of the dreamworld. Gorgeous and Massive as it was, this city and this world was not the only one made.


When Nyx was born so too was her Twin brother Phobos. He found Beautiful Truth in the darkness within the minds of mortals and Shaped their psychic energies into an entire Realm of Horror. A vast wasteland filled with every imaginable danger. Yet it was not enough for him, seeing his sister gift mortals with Emotions And dreams gave him a similar idea. She gave them love, so he would give them hate. She gave them Joy, so he gave them Sorrow. She gave them hope, so he gave them Fear. Soon he would birth the first nightmare and upon seeing it devour a dream, the Battle began. But what war would be complete without a fortress?

Thus he built the Tower of madness. A structure which dwarves a planet in scale, naturally collects Negative psychic energy, and births Nightmares as if it were an extension of Phobos’s Own twisted mind. Then to make his battle preparations he began the arduous task of recreating a mirror of the material world with his Tower in its center.

 

[Agent23]

The Universe (Expansion age)

As the Ages went on The Siblings would struggle over the minds of the mortals, many civilizations would burn in the fires of their own hatred and bloodlust cultivated by Phobos, While others would take to the stars and spread. Life would begin to truly spread out reaching the furthest edges of the cosmos. Many civilizations rose, expanded, fell, and were forgotten. It was a sad cycle to be sure but not one without its beauty. The dreams and memories of those civilizations would forever persist within the Dreamworld, but so to would their fears forever exist in the Realm of Horrors. Soon the nightmares created by Phobos would grow threatening enough that no dream save for Nyx herself could fend them off. Fearing the precious dreams of lost civilizations would be forever gone if she did not act Nyx Took action and brought in help from the Mortals.

Morpheus, a member of the dominant civilization during that era, The Priscians, Fell into a coma after trying to communicate with the dead using a device of his own creation. His consciousness fell into the City of Dreams, where he Journeyed for a long time to find its leader. He stumbled upon Nyx as she contemplated the nightmare dilemma and his fierce countenance would give her an idea. Granting him her blessing and mark, His souls would be snapped back to his consciousness when his people inevitably failed to resuscitate him, and he became the first dream weaver. Pioneering and naming many of the first techniques and abilities of the dreamweaver species be would come to be known as a champion of the dreamworld.

In response to Morpheus, Phobos would begin experimenting on creating more and more powerful Nightmares, Some of which were even able to fell entire worlds alone. Yet each new abomination, each new diabolical plan was unraveled by the Goddess and her Champion. Slowly it seemed Phobos was Losing, So he began to target the mortals. Concocting terrible things like Space madness, Sleep paralysis Nightmares, Even Insomnia. Soon mortals began to lose their desire to explore the stars, Agoraphobic tendencies began to win out and the spread slowed down. Thus Morpheus and Nyx needed to reassess their options and come up with a mew solution.

The dream-stone was that Solution, A manifestation of the very concept of lost hope, upon its existence the Universal constants were changed and the cosmic law of separation between the realms, a law that could only be bent by the gods alone, was broken by the combination of God and Mortal mind. Given his venerable status, Morpheus was allowed to take command of this stone and he would use it to great effect, not only eliminating the nightmares Schemes at their source but inspiring people to once again seek adventure. This would have him growing closer and closer with Nyx and Eventually the two would have a Child.

Princess Bubbles, born Half Dream, Half Mortal and All Dreamweaver she showed Morpheus that he could actually recruit more dream-weavers to his cause and he would go on to forge the Dreamweaver Force, protecting the minds and psyches of the mortal world. Slowly but surely Morpheus’s love for mortals would grow, eventually eclipsing even his love For Nyx. Realizing this the two would end their relationship on decent terms and for several aeons, the dream-weavers force would purge the galaxy of nightmares leading to a golden age.​

 

[Agent23]

The Universe (Logos War Era)

The long Golden Age of the universe would come to an end 12,000 years ago when humanities psychic energy reached a level that made their cosmic Backwater region noticeable. Phobos would find humanity to possess a strange anomaly, their Psychic energy had similar properties to that of the Dream-stone. Acting quickly he gathered a mass of it together and fed it to one of his Instinctual Fear Nightmares, this Birthed the First Phobia…Primal. This Powerful nightmare was able to Match Morpheus on multiple occasions, time and time again it was able to escape its destruction, the creature even managed to bag some of the first dreamweaver kills in the cosmos. Unfortunately as the millennia passed it became apparent that Primal was not the only one.
The battle kicked off in New York. A massive gathering of negative energy flooded the city and minutes later a Phobos Stepped through the Dimensions arriving in the city. Morpheus responded bringing some of his most trusted allies. While victorious, as soon as the first Phobia fell three more stepped through the dimension to take its place. The master class helped him with this round but it was for not, as soon as the final of the three fell Six stepped in to take the three’s place. One by one the master class fell, and Morpheus found himself alone. So he triggered his ace in the hole, an army of dream-weavers he had sent to the Realm of horrors to position themselves in the mirror New York. Using the dream stone he merged the realms only to find Phobos and Primal surrounded by his broken reinforcements. Powerful as he was, morpheus could not fend off six Phobia’s…Primal alone was a high difficulty challenge, and he couldn’t beat Phobos on his best day, not without a-lot of help. He was a dead man, but before he died he managed to shatter the Dream-stone preventing Phobos from gaining access to it.

The eruption of the dreamstone had a litany of effects. Firstly it separated the parts of the dimensions Morpheus had merged, the shockwave Launching the Phobias, Primal, And Phobos back into the Realm of Horrors…along with the entire city of New York and a good couple of miles of surrounding land. The shards were scattered across the planet and at each point that they landed the dimensional boundary was shattered. In hundreds of locations around the globe the Material world finds itself tangled with either the dreamworld or the realm of horrors. The dreamweavers have responded by calling in all reserves, fast tracking students from the academy and beginning a mass recruiting and training process. All after Nyx engaged her reincarnation cycle early in an effort to force Phobos into the same predicament.

The nightmares are likewise making moves, the phobia’s of who there are apparently Ten. Have begun distributing their hordes across the planet. Wherever a Realm of Horrors shard rift is they amass in large number to take whatever territory they can, where Rifts to Dreamworld are found they attempt to invade or destroy the rifts. It has been an arduous six months, with several factions of humanity fracturing to pick either the nightmares or Dreams side in the conflict. Yet now the conflict is about to ramp up, The twin god’s reincarnation time has reached its lower limit, they could awaken any day now and ready their respective worlds for battle.​

 

[Agent23]

World Mechanics (Dreamweaver’s)


Dream weavers

Created by Nyx the queen of dreams as a response to the development of Nightmares by Phobos. The process of creating one is a bit niche. One must first be put in a deep coma, one that puts their consciousness in the Subconscious realm. Then they must be marked by nyx, And finally their body on the material plane must die with them still in the coma, adding their soul to the consciousness. As a result an immortal is born who possesses to a limited degree the ability to consciously shape and control the unconscious realm. Morpheus was the first of their kind.

~Powers~
The Dreamweaver possess a unique kind of Reality warping that allows them to manifest the power of their hopes and dreams into Powerful psychic abilities. These abilities are usually tied to a theme and while the abilities, Themes, and Appearances may vary to a massive degree, the powers can be best explained with the “Six Paths” all dream-weavers must walk to be able to harness their Potential.

Domain- The domain is a bubble of psychic energy generated by the dreamweaver. Within that bubble dream physics apply, meaning dream-weavers can jump further, fly in certain cases, be knocked through a building or slammed into the ground at terminal velocity without dying. Furthermore a Domain will often take the form of a Venue sort of giving a Dreamweaver a home-field advantage. Within a domain a Dreamweaver clash with nightmares, drown out their presence’s, and even exterminate them without possibility of them reforming. Without a domain a Dreamweaver can do nothing more than a normal specimen of their species.

Focal Effigy- The focal effigy of a dreamweaver is a mass of psychic energy woven into a tangible object. This object can be anything from a hat to a sword, even a pen. Its primary focus is to act as a epicenter for the dream-weavers domain. Allowing the domain to move with the dreamweaver, or rather with the effigy. Its existence within the domain strengthens said domain. More advanced dream-weavers are known to have multiple effigies, a scary thought considering each effigy affords the dreamweaver that spawned it a “spell” type of ability, a signature move if you will. The destruction of a Focal effigy will Take about 40% of a dream-weavers psychic energy. Always remember however the effigy cannot exist without a domain, a domain however can exist without an effigy.

Introversion- The process of Refining and strengthening ones Focal effigy is called introversion. This can add very useful traits to your effigy, like making them harder to break, allowing them to heal, or strengthening the spell it grants you. One can also use this to understand the “Psychic Flow” of their effigy, which can actually help them to interpret the psychic flow of Others Effigies allowing those with enough prowess in Introversion to actually use the spells of others effigies. This understanding can also help identify the subtle markers for when a nightmare is about to trigger a Presence manifestation.

Extroversion- Opposite of Introversion is Extroversion, the process of refining and strengthening ones Domain. This can result in a increase of the overall psychic energy of the Dreamweaver but more importantly can help to increase the potency, radius, and integrity of their Domain, a crucial set of traits for surviving encounters with higher end Nightmares. Yet the true strength of Extroversion comes from a dream-weavers ability to understand their domains “Frequency” which can result in them learning how to shift said frequency to better resist the deterioration of a Phobias advanced presence. But the most potent boon of this technique is its ability to allow experienced enough dream-weavers to overlap their domains and share each others powers and abilities.

Duality- An advanced Dreamweaver technique invented to allow for the conservation of psychic energy and the ability to ramp up a dream-weavers power to allow them to punch above their weight classes. By gathering energy in their focal effigy they can unleash a psychic pulse that radiates through their domain before bouncing off the edges and returning to the focal effigy. This pulse gathers ambient psychic energy and delivers it back to the user, while simultaneously granting them extrasensory perception, each pulse adds more and more power however it is not without risk. If a dreamweaver isn’t careful and doesn’t remain sharp this pulse can actually pop their own domain, or crush their focal effigy. If done properly however a dreamweaver can operate at up to 500% capacity given enough time to build up.

Multiplicity- The final phase to master ones dreamweaver powers. Taking a deep internal look the Dreamweaver through meditation, therapy, and practice can begin to Abstract their own theme, creating new Focal Effigies which represent the new Facet of their theme. For example, Master Class DW Reuben the Pirate, started out with just a hat, now he has the full pirate getup, a few flintlocks, a boarding axe, and a Cutlass. All of which are Focal effigies for his domain and each one has its own Spell like ability. The true power of multiplicity comes with its ability to stack with other techniques and powers. Having multiple effigies can both accelerate the Duality pulse rate, and Increase the percentage boost cap. It is the hardest Path to master however as one could inadvertently reduce their power by granting themselves effigies with contradictory abilities or requirements.

~Ranks~
Among the dream-weavers there are multiple ranks starting from the top and working their way down.

Master class- made of of Six veteran Dreamweavers this category is further divided into two categories. The Two Ancients, who are so old neither comes from the human race, and the Four Masters Who are all humans ranging from the 6th to 19th centuries. They are powerful enough to face phobia’s in one on one combat, with each of the ancients managing to Fight against Phobos alongside Morpheus.

Journeymen- The Idea that comes to mind when most think of a Dreamweaver. This category has well over a hundred members and can range to just scraping the heels of master class, to having just made it out of apprenticeship. The middle class if you will. More often than not they will have an apprentice or a squad of them training with them.

Apprentice- those who graduated dreamworks academy and have just made it to the field. Around 200 apprentices exist and sadly they have the highest turnover rate. With casualties, resignations, and people being turned away after reaching their limits. The casualty rates are not expected to go down, quite the contrary, many were hastened through the academy due to the Logos war kicking off and thus the level of preparedness is low.

Student- After the logos war first began the number of human dream-weavers has skyrocketed, a trickle becoming a raging river. The Dreamworks academy now holds upwards of 500 students, inspiring hope that if they are able to make it to graduation the dream-weavers could see their greatest surge in power in history.​

 

[Agent23]

World mechanics (Nightmares)


~Nightmares~
The Horrors within the Realm of Horrors, nightmares are masses of negative psychic energy that use fear, stress, and negativity to breed, feed, and hunt. Within the Realm of horrors they are nebulous blobs of energy, but in the material plane they gain material bodies which are vulnerable to damage, but likewise are able to grow and evolve. The first one was created by Phobos eons ago. They are the enemies of Dreams and the prey of Dream-weavers.

Life cycle- The start of a Nightmares life’s cycle is called a Worry. A worry is a little seed-like mass of psychic energy that can absorb energy of the same emotional wavelength and concept as itself. Once enough has been gathered it can become a horror. Horrors are attracted to one another and will seek to consume other horrors in an effort to amass enough condensed psychic energy to evolve into a Nightmare. Nightmares are usually the last cycle reached by a Negative psychic entity. They can Spread and reproduce via Mitosis shedding off more worries. They prey upon sentient beings by feeding upon the psychic energy they produce via haunting their dreams. With the Shard veins blending the worlds they can now hunt in their material bodies and thus are able to grow much faster.

Presence- The presence of a nightmare is the psychic aura generated by them, it inspires fear of the nightmares source type, so a Pyro Nightmare would produce a fear of flames in those affected by its presence. The more fear, the more energy the nightmare can feed on, thus the more their presence can spread and increase in potency. Because of this nightmares can quickly grow into bigger and bigger threats.

Manifestation- All nightmares have the power to manifest its source. So that same pyro nightmare from the previous example, can spawn flames anywhere within its presence. The intensity and quantity of these flames will depend on the nightmares psychic energy levels. Some manifestations are notably more deadly than others, this is the primary threat of the Nightmares.

Reserve- As nightmares consume energy a large stockpile is built up within the creature, that which isn’t used for evolution and sustenance is stored in a Reserve. This reserve of energy translates almost directly to the stamina of a nightmare. They can replenish energy lost to maintain full power for longer, use it to regenerate damage to itself, and more often than not will use it to strengthen their manifestation.

~Phobia’s~
The Godlike final evolution of the nightmares. Only a few ever reach this level, to date history has produced a mere 14 of them. They bear a humaniod shape and All of them to date have been VL5’s. With mysterious powers that seem tailored to hunting and preying upon dream-weavers they are fortunately a relatively new threat, with the first of their kind, Primal, having only come into existence 12,000 years ago. Ten of them Currently make up the Lords of Terror and lead the nightmare hordes during their masters Rest.

Advanced Presence- A more concentrated and potent Presence than a normal nightmare these have a litany of special abilities usually associated with the Phobia’s source, for example pyrophobia has lots of fire related abilities. The most dangerous traits of the advanced presence is its ability to kill weak willed mortals outright, and the ability to deteriorate the domains of Dreamweavers

Plane shift- Phobia’s possess the ability to shift between the material and Subconscious realms. This planeshift takes time and focus and is only achieved through welling up enough psychic energy to create a kind of Astral singularity. As a result the phobias Plane shifts can take many minutes to complete and will be very obvious to the dream-weavers when it is occurring. They often will use their advanced presence to dominate the wills of lesser nightmares.

Permanent Manifestation- The manifestations of a Phobia within its presence do not fade when its presence leaves. Thus Pyrophobia would start fires that could burn long after it leaves. Yet that is not why the Manifestations of Phobias are a problem. They can actually manifest worry’s with no effort. Meaning the appearance of a Phobia, will always be followed by several lingering nightmares.

Induced Evolution- A phobia alone is a problem, they are powerful and can go toe to toe with the best of dream-weavers. However a phobia with a horde is terrifying. They can at will pump massive surges of psychic energy into a nightmare, turning even harmless VL0’s into dreaded VL5’s in only a few minutes.
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Voracity Level- The rate at which a Nightmare consumes psychic energy and thus grows. Ranges from the Harmless VL0 to the Calamitous VL5. Regardless of level a Nightmare will remain hungry. Phobia’s are not hungered and do not qualify for a VL rating…but all agree they are comparable to if not worse than a VL5.

VL0- Virtually harmless these Nightmares consume less psychic energy than a normal sentient generates, resulting in them being harmless in small numbers. A large enough number of them can pose a risk to a persons health.

VL1- These nightmares can be deadly over a long period, they consume a bit more than the normal generation rate of a sentient life form and thus can very slowly sap a sentient of its life. Their manifestations and physical attributes are often pitiful.

VL2- A slightly scarier nightmare, they can kill in under a months time as they consume well beyond double the amount psychic energy that is generated by a sentient. Their Manifestation can cause injury and if set up properly death to standard humans.

VL3- A nightmare that begins to step into the territory of being threatening to a Dreamweaver. Their consumption rate can kill a human in 24 hours. While their Manifestations can kill a person outright and even damage low class Dream-weavers. One of these is often used as a graduation exam for teams of student Dream-weavers.

VL4- nightmares that can clear a room in minutes via consumption or blow up an apartment building with its manifestation. Even experienced dream weavers would be wise to be cautious around these nightmares as they can often be complex enough to have two or more manifestations and a few even have intelligence.

VL5- Terrifying nightmares that can Drop an entire stadiums worth of people in an instant just by draining all of their psychic energy. This is a beast for the master classes or teams of experienced Dream-weavers. A VL5 can clear entire Cities with their manifestations, And Phobia’s are believed to be beyond this as they can command these monsters and have even been witnessed one Shoting an unruly one.​

 

[Agent23]

World mechanics (Psychic Energy) ​

Psychic energy is a phenomena generated by the Emotions, Thoughts, and General “Vibes” of people. To most material creatures such energy is useless, though some species can access telepathic and telekinetic abilities using it. By and far the most proficient users of this extra dimensional energy are the denizens of the Subconscious Realms, Dreamworld and The realm of Horrors respectively.

Emotional energy is the most powerful but is also the quickest to decay, While the energy from thought is less potent but vastly more stable and lasts longer. The energy from a Death is the most powerful and lingers for the shortest period. Unlike material energy Psychic energy is Created, and can be destroyed.

Nightmares And Phobias convert this energy into their presence, manifestations, and can charge their bodies with it to amplify whatever physical attributes they have on the physical realms.

Dreamweavers can convert the energy into their domains, effigies, and Likewise can charge their physical attributes within their domains.

Nightmares, Dreams, Phobias, Dream weavers, The Dreamworld, The realm of nightmares, and the Twin deities Are all made of Psychic energy woven in different ways in differing concentrations and with varying amounts sewn in.​