Somnium

Somnium, the Realm of Dreams, is the home of Alucinora, the goddess of dreams, and is the place where living creatures go when they dream.
Whenever a living creature has a dream, a piece of their soul travels to Somnium, remaining connected to the rest of the soul. It goes to a part of the realm which is sectioned off specifically for that creature's dreams. Because only a piece of the soul travels to Somnium, they cannot typically be killed in a dream, and they don't remember much of the dream afterwards.
Mirrors, especially those made with silver, can serve as a sort of "window" to Somnium in addition to reflecting their surroundings. Most of the time, a mirror will simply be reflective. However, occasionally, strange things can be seen in a mirror, especially if one stares at the mirror for a long time. These things are fragments of Somnium. With the right magic, a mirror can be used to create a portal to Somnium, which a soul can travel through.
Anyone can technically travel to Somnium at any time, but doing so is quite difficult and dangerous. First of all, opening a portal to Somnium requires a very powerful and skilled mage. The portal must be made using a mirror. Mirrors made with silver work best. After the portal is opened, a person's soul must be separated from their body entirely, with another spell anchoring the soul to the body. If the anchor is severed, or the body is killed, the traveller will be stuck in Somnium forever. Because the entire soul must be sent, it is vulnerable to attack in Somnium, and the traveller remembers the events of their trip in their entirety, assuming they can make it back. One who travels to Somnium in this way typically begins in their own dream, but can, with some effort, leave and enter other dreams.
Some creatures, typically known as dreamwalkers, can enter Somnium on their own, much more safely and easily than the methods described above. Dreamwalkers can do this at any time, but must still leave their bodies vulnerable for the duration. However, they only send a piece of their soul to Somnium, albeit a much larger piece than those that go there normally. Because of this, they cannot easily be killed outright in a dream. Dreamwalkers can enter the dreams of others with relative ease. This is typically easier with the dreams of people who are also close to them in the physical world. In addition to doing this intentionally, dreamwalkers also enter Somnium in this way whenever they sleep, making their regular dreams easier to manipulate and to remember, but also a bit more dangerous.
There are some creatures that live in Somnium, such as Soul Leeches, that can easily invade a person's dreams, for a variety of purposes. These invaders are the cause of dreams that seem more real and memorable after waking. Many of them aim to attack a person to feed off their soul. In these cases, the victim will typically wake up feeling weaker than normal. They will generally recover with no permanent damage unless these attacks persist over a long period of time, or something else is negatively affecting their soul at the same time.
Somnium is, by its nature, malleable. A person's dream is mostly a result of their own subconscious and whatever is created by Alucinora. However, if their dream is entered by another being, that being can exert their will on the dream, albeit not as easily as in their own dream. The places in between dreams are in constant flux, and require a constant exertion of will to be able to even move anywhere, much less actually navigate. Navigation is less a matter of finding the right path, and more creating the right path and having the willpower to stay on it.

Alternative Name(s)

The Realm of Dreams, The Dream

Owner/Ruler

Alucinora

Inhabiting Species

• Beluaso
• Ephialte
• Noctero
• Soul Leech
• Tulpa