Foundling Glade
Foundling Glade is a location that, while believed to be a physical location, is a place that exists outside of the normal understanding of the scope of reality as mortals know it. The location along the banks of Golden Tarn are entirely inaccessible and the very air there, toxic and deadly to all forms of life due to the thick, golden clouds of toxic spores that fill the location in and around the Goldspire Range. The location is obscured from above and below leading to all assumptions about the location being mere speculation.
Geography
The location is said to be a pocket or bubble of dreamspace located physically within the boundaries of Cairne. As such, the location is entirely mutable and exists in a sensory manny in accordance to the dictates of the Orphan, and is viewed in accordance with the believed perceptions of the viewer. The location shifts and changes constantly, but the common visualization associated with it, a matter of long standing tradition, is that of a large verdant oak tree by the waters edge, surrounded by soft lights, fireflies, and a clear sky open to the stars above. While this can shift at a moments notice in accordance to the whims of the Orphan or the manner of the dream in play that brought a traveler to this location, there are several things that seem to remain constant. The Orphan herself seems to change very little, and there is always a treehouse of some sort, though the structure and tree itself alters in a wide variety of imagery.
Ecosystem
Within the realm of dreams lies a world and system of balances all its own, and these balances are far more drastic than anything within the realms of reality. The scope of dreams and nightmares vying for control of regions within the obfuscated fantasy realm of dreams stretches far beyond the containment of Cairne itself, but remains closed to all over aspects of Dreamspace since the Divine Exodus, suggesting that the Orphan too is trapped within the confines of the outer borders of the realm as well, though how this translates into terms of her realm is a matter beyond mortal understanding.
Ecosystem Cycles
Surprisingly the glade does endure seasons, but these cycles are reflections of the minds, hopes, and despairs of the people of Cairne, and can shift rapidly as the world changes over time, and seasons can be as short as mere moments, or last for decades.
Localized Phenomena
The Glade is a dream realm, and as such occurrences and phenomena are without any real limit as the lines between self and the world, time and space blur and blend. While in this location, thought and desire are the controlling factors that shape events rather than action and intention. It is said that no one may lie within the realm of dreams, because within the heart of chaos lies the purest truth, and the domain will always reflect what is actually in the heart of those that travel there. It is also no uncommon for random dreamers to accidentally find their way to the Glade, often in the midst of their own dreams or sometimes at the whim of the Orphan herself. To each visitor she is personable and greets them each by name with a loving sense of familiarity, tempting them to stay with friendly coaxing and endearing words of gentle warmth. On very rare occasions, people agree. Those people never wake up, their bodies failing not long after. No one is sure what becomes of them when this occurs, but no one that remembers visiting the Glade has ever seen one of the lost dreamers that chose to stay.
Climate
No matter the season the Glade is always temperate and comfortable, likely the whims of the Orphan.
Fauna & Flora
Any creature or plant that can exist in the scope of a dream can be found here from the fantastic and mythological, the every creature founded in reality throughout all time and existence. The only limitations are the experiences of the people that exist in the Dreamlands while the slumber adn the reach of their imaginations while there.
History
It is believed that the Glade came into existence not long after the creation of the world, though no one can pinpoint in any existing records when exactly or which god created it, if any. It has always been as long as creatures have existed to sojourn to that realm, and there is a possibility that the Dreamlands are vast beyond imagining and that the Orphan was a ruler there or even just a powerful dream herself who was trapped when the Blight fell, trapping her there and granting her dominion over the domain in the absence of any other force with the power and ability to govern it. These speculations generally tend to only add to the confusion however, and the actual nature of it is so wrapped in the flux of mutable chaos that the reality of the history of the place itself may well shift as well, as time seems to hold little power in that place. This means that even its history is subject to change, and perceptions may shift between one day to the next with the ripples of effect reaching out into the real world when they do and altering existing record as it happens creating a global mandela effect where people will sometimes have faint memories of how a things was understood to be, but the physical evidence shows otherwise. There is no way of knowing how many times this has occurred, obviously or if the records of that place listed here will be the same the next time they are read.
Tourism
Many dreamers visit the Glade during their nightly travels into the Dreamlands, though every experience is unique to the individual dreamer. Event the Ougham, with their unified consciousness will experience the location with a unique perspective on the off chance one of them somehow makes it there through experience or otherwise, though this is rare and tends to cause quite and upsetting ripple of confusion in their understanding of reality much to the amusement of the Orphan herself.
Alternative Name(s)
The Dreamgate
Type
Grove
Location under
Owner/Ruler
Characters in Location
Comments