The Dream
The Dream of God
The Dream
The Dream is the place that is not a place; the thing that is not a thing. It is an unlimited unformed potential that underpins reality, providing a fertile creative chaos whose generative nature gives all the variable form to the universe. Some think it to be nothing but randomness, but those that have peered into the dream can see patterns within the chaos and so they deemed it the Dreams of God. To some, the idea of a creator God that empowered all of the known universe was distasteful, either because it was beyond their comprehension or because it bruised their ego, and so it simply became known as The Dream.
The Dream is not completely empty, formless, chaotic or random, and there are several features that truly shape the differences between the Dream and Reality. Perhaps the most important such feature is that mana is far more prevalent in the Dream than it is in material reality, and in particular free mana which is utterly unbound from information is much more readily available. It is in fact far more readily available than it is on Duende, which, when compared with normal reality, is mana rich beyond compare. A second feature that should be noted is that it is both a place of beginnings and endings, and these tend to be far more transient than they are in reality. Lastly, there is a veil that exists between the Dream and Reality that protects them both. Each of these is important enough to investigate further, and I shall make a humble attempt to do so.
In some respects it better described as a realm of incomplete beginnings; like a womb where all of creation gestates while it is being formed before being born into reality. Yet, it is also the ultimate place of endings where all mana eventually returns to be recycled back into reality. Neither good nor evil, it simply is, and all things within it have an ephemeral and transient quality.
The Dream and the Elemental Planes
The Dream is abundant in mana in a way that incomprehensible to most mortals. It is not that we lack imagination, but rather that we can not comprehend the scope. Yet, not all of the mana within the Dream is undifferentiated. It is mostly within the Dream that the elemental planes exist; places where raw mana is shaped into essential elements prior to being shifted into reality to do its work. Great currents of elemental energy flow through the dream, flowing through the underside of reality like rivers or perhaps arteries as they delivery their shaped mana to the world. The source for these forms of preprocessed mana are known collectively as the 'Elemental Planes', though the name is a bit misleading.
Their are six regions currently called elemental planes, and they correspond to the six 'suns' of Duende. The first four are the planes of Earth, Fire, Water, Air, and their natures are fairly straight-forward. The last two domains are Order and Chaos. The mana from the first four are very much what one would expect. Mana from the plane of Fire is easily manipulated into high temperatures that burn and consume while water tends to be more fluid and cooler. However, it is important to note that these are only tendencies.
Though some refer to the planes of Order and Chaos as light and dark, positive and negative, or some other misleading monikers, the problem with such thinking is that it attempts to imbue them with some imperative absolute morality. However, they are the embodiment of their nature and the mana that lies within these regions is best suited for tasks aligned with that nature. Nothing more, nothing less. Mana from the plane of order tends to organize easily and is extraordinarily useful for shaping, combining, repairing, and other tasks which add information, mass, or energy. The mana from the realm of chaos is better for decoupling information, mass, or energy, breaking the bonds holding them together. It resists being forced into organized form.
Another fact of the planes that escapes many novices attention is that they are in fact bidirectional. Not only are they an immense source of pre-differentiated energy, but they are also energy sinks. Energy of their associated type can be moved into them far easier than it could be moved into the Dream proper, requiring far less effort on the part of the wielder. If one were to, for example, siphon heat away from a fire, it could be then channeled to the plane of fire more easily than it could be channeled to the plane of air.
The elemental planes are not place which are separate from the Dream, but rather they are like regions of the dream. It is not entirely clear is undifferentiated mana is transformed into elemental mana in these regions, or if the mana was always differentiated and simply clumps together with its own kind. Regardless, within these regions of the Dream, mana of a particular type is incredibly dense. Some believe that if one were able to traverse these regions and journey to the heart of one of them you would reach a point where no other form of mana can exist, and within that place, you would cease to exist. Others believe that you would find a guardian spirit of some form that is a master of the domain, but no one truly knows.
What is known is that many wielders find the mana that come from the elemental planes to be far easier to work with. It is assumed that this is because the mana has already been somewhat differentiated into its elemental nature, relieving the wielder of the need to do so at the time of their wielding it. However, because the mana has already been differentiated, those that use mana from the elemental planes to power their spells find themselves limited to performing abilities with an affinity for that energy.
On Duende, this has produced a rather interesting phenomenon. While it is true that everyone on Duende has the capacity to wield mana, most lack the discipline, drive, or dedication needed to master it. Thus, the vast majority of wielders on the world use the ambient mana radiated through Duende's connection to the elemental planes instead of relying on pure undifferentiated mana. Further, most of those that rely on elemental energy have a innate affinity to on element over the others, and thus find themselves limited to that one element.
Chaos, Order, and the Veil
It was noted earlier that two of the elemental planes are those of Order and Chaos, and that these were states of being rather than moral declarations. It could be said that when something exists in the material world it is in its most orderly state, and that when it decomposes it is in its most disordered, or chaotic, state. The energies found in these two elemental planes seem to be best suited for making things more or less orderly, and as such, they are known as the planes of Order and Chaos. Unlike the other elemental planes, the planes of Order and Chaos are much more diffuse.
The plane of Order seems to have dominion of the material plane that most species call reality while the plane of Chaos holds dominion over the Dream. Yet, the balance between them is tenuous at best. If any domain were to become to completely orderly, it would become rigid and dead. If it died, it would then decay and lose its order, turning it eventually to chaos. If chaos did not retain at least a little order, it would cease to exist by virtue of an utter lack of definition. Chaos and Order constantly oppose each other, and yet neither could exist without the other. Between the two domains is a 'barrier' known as the veil. It does not stop one from crossing into the other, but instead acts as a limiter, keeping either from overwhelming the other and maintaining balance in all existence. What most space faring civilizations called 'Black Holes' are actually connection points that cross the veil between the planes of Order and Chaos.
Dream Seeds
Duende exists on the cusp of this veil. Because of this, there are some phenomena that are particular to Duende which do not appear anywhere else in the known universe. In particular, this has lead to the creatures collectively known as Dremen and a peculiar phenomenon known as the Fade. Dremen quite literally means 'dream men', creatures which are a result of the thoughts, dreams, and nightmares of living creatures being made manifest. The Fade is the same type of phenomenon, but as applied to inanimate objects.
While both subjects are too complex to get into here in any great detail, there is one important element that must be mentioned. When a Dremen or Fade appears, there is small piece that is solid and tangible. This is known as a 'dream seed'. If the dream seed is destroyed, they cease to exist entirely. The more real the Dremen or Fade become, the larger their seed becomes. In Dremen, the dream seed may transmute or evolve into a soul, at which point they become truly real. In either case, the seed begins as a small crystal that grows over time. It is believed that the seed serves as an anchor, holding Dremen and Fade alike in reality as they slowly grow more substantial.
These dream seeds may be harvested and used as an tool to augment some magics. As long as a Dremen's dream seed has not been destroyed, there is still a chance that they may be revived. Fades, on the other hand require their dream seed to remain in place. If it is moved from its original location before the Fade becomes fully manifested, it will disappear from reality. Additionally, the larger the dream seed is, the more larger the structures that tend to manifest around it. A dream seed the size of a human fist might manifest a small building, tower, or perhaps even a small dungeon. A dream seed the size of a human head might manifest a multi-level dungeon or even a small village.
Dream seeds of the Fade also seem to attract, or perhaps assist in generating, dream seeds of Dremen of all varieties, though it seems that producing Dragmar is far more common. It is not well understood why this is, but some scholars believe that it is because unconscious nightmares are far more prevalent and potent than sustained conscious beliefs, lending their mental power to the mana rich environments that typically surround the dream seeds of the Fade.
Fade Seeds
Fade seeds are one of Duende's greatest mysteries. The appear in places of high mana concentration, sometimes on the surface and sometimes far below. Fade Seeds are natural crystals of Tetrandite that, due to Duende's position between the prime material plane and the Dream and the overwhelming concentration of mana, begin to influence reality around them. They are formed by accretion of mana over time. Once a crystal begins to influence reality they cease being considered common tetrandite and become known as Fade Crystals.
Tetrandite has the capacity to store massive amounts of mana. As it is exposed to the psychic energies and magics of the area, it slowly begins to become attuned to the environment. Some academics think that the crystal resonates in harmony with its environment, others think it is shaped by psychic energies. Whatever the case, as it becomes more in tune, it also begins to amplify the attributes that it is attuned to, and exerts an influence on the world around it. This area within the influence of a Fade Crystal is known as a Fade.
As mentioned, Fade seeds grow through accretion, and the natural version of this process often begins near a ley line or node. However, whether the crystal started around a node or not, as it grows in size it slowly begins to draw them to its position. The more mana the crystal has access to, the faster and larger it grows. It is not unheard of for a person to try and grow Fade Crystal by placing a crystal fragment near a node and providing a link, however great caution should be taken. If the power flowing into the crystal is more than it can handle, destruction will soon follow.
If a fade crystal is broken or destroyed while fully charged, the results can range from mildly horrific to catastrophic as all of their energy is released at once. Fade Crystalss can be drained, however, using a simple incantation that is taught to all Adventurer Guild members. When a Fade Crystal is drained, its power is condensed into small fist sized orbs known as Fade Seeds, which can be used for a variety of tasks. Fade Seeds, like Dream Seeds, must be bound to the wielder before they can be used for most tasks.
A drained Fade Crystal can be harvested safely, and can produce a significant amount of tetrandite crystal that has been largely stripped of its excess mana. Destroying a Fade Crystal in such a way will cause the irrevocable collapse of the Fade surrounding it. In some cases, the Fade is supporting structures, such as dungeons, which may become unstable and start collapsing. Regardless, the Fade will dissappear in short order after the Fade Crystal has been destroyed, leaving behind only those objects and creatures which were not an innate part of that Fade. Fade Crystals harvested this way will slowly regain some measure of their power, but it will only be a fraction of its former strength unless it is, in essence, regrown.
Like Dream Seeds, Fade Crystals and Fade Seeds are highly sought after and form as a type of currency in their unbound form. Both the crystals and the seeds formed from them have a wide array of uses.
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