Alicia

Goddess of Sleep & Dreams

Overview

Alicia is the Goddess of Sleep and Dreams of the people of Hulwar. She is one of the more modest gods because...well, she sleeps. She never shows up because she is asleep the whole time. She does respond but in vision-like dreams. Those can be normal dreams, arousing dreams, calming dreams or right-out nightmares.

Origins

Alicia was dreamt into existence (no pun intended) by the people of Hulwar round about a decade after they had established a ruling system in the new-found nation. The reason for dreaming Alicia into the pantheon is - as the scholars believe - that they had nightmares from what had happened in the capital and around the land. The war, the splendour, the ghosts, the demons.
The goddess is awake in the dreams of mortals and speaks to them with open eyes and a clear voice. And in opposite to her fellow gods she tends to speak in clear words as well, so everyone can understand what she means.

Alicia, Goddess of Sleep by CrazyEddie

Workings

Alicia is asleep most of the time. Not even the horrible wars or the Spiral Incident could wake her from her slumber. Not even the screams of dying people, not even the horrendous nightmares the incident and the following masssacres.
What Alicia does is to sleep and bringing her followers/worshippers the dreams they deserve. No one know how she does that but some assume she gets the information she needs from past dreams of the person. Which is horrifying enough, to be honest.
Besides pleasant dreams of any kind - or no dreams at all - she also brings nightmares which can be a punishment or not so clear warning. In some cases she sends visions which feels like dreams but have a specific feeling to it and sometimes Alicia appears in them.
As one of the few gods who grants blessings she grants her small priesthood the Boon of Deep Slumber. This is a specific perfume-like liquid with a secret recipe which is administered with a stick. It looks slightly purple-ish, but can also look blue in the right light.

Rituals

Since the Goddess of Sleep & Dreams doesn't appear in person and is constantly in a dark, long slumber, she doesn't need constant rituals. The only ritual she approves of - and doesn't really care about more than dreams - is the daily ritual.

Of Poppies & Dreams

Every follower/worshipper of Alicia attends in a ritual in the evening before they go to sleep. They pray to her - some harmless, others naughty, others lovingly - and eat a small piece of poppy cake they have prepared...whenever. Could be right before going to bed, at the start of the week or in the early morning of every day. Some buy them off a bakery or join a group-baking activity.

Dreams & Nightmares

"O Alicia, dear Mother of Dreams, harken my words, my wishes, my hopes. Please send me sweet dreams or no dreams at all. Pray send no nightmares; visions if you wish. I hope" nom munch "that your sleep is as deep as ever and we may see each other again."

— Someone praying to Alicia before going to bed

As the sleeper remained silent, his hand was active as he was writing. But as the hours progressed, the "writing" stopped and the screams came back like the weeks before. But this time it was different. The horror in the screams was real and his voice broke multiple times before he went back to an exhausted sleep we couldn't break.
After three weeks and the reports coming in, the sleeper awoke; thin, thirsty, with red eyes and the gaze of a haunted man. His only words before he dropped dead were "We warned you of the Spiral."

"The Goddess of Slepp and Dreams could also be the Mother of the Blinking Bees. Why? Because of her wholesome way. She only sleeps and gives dreams, but she also gives hope, heartbreak, horror, sweet memories and relaxing thoughts. How can someone hate her that much?"

— The Traveling Merchant Guide to Koria Vol. IV