Invasive Narratives
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philoso - wait, what am I saying?" - overheard shortly before the massacre of the royal family of Helsinore
Unlike the physical realm, The Dream spans realities, connecting them with threads of narrative association. In the realm of the Million Islands, where the Egregoric Force is particularly strong, this can cause the effect known as Invasive Narratives.
An Invasive Narrative is when a story from another reality or set of realities imposes itself on our own. In order for this to occur, the local conditions need to echo the narrative enough that it can be drawn into place by the bonds of association, evoking the idea of the alien story. Once the connection is established, the invasive narrative will begin to infect the minds of all beings present, pushing them towards the paths laid out by the narrative. Depending on the strength of the invading story, the phenomenon can sweep up huge swaths of territory, even encompassing entire islands and nations. Individual resistance to the story can vary, and is largely dependent on how closely an individual fits the role the story is driving them towards. Stories with many variants across The Dream are more flexible in this regard, causing a person to pivot from one variation of the role to another as different aspects suit them better. These old, complex stories are the most difficult to escape from.
Strange things can happen in a region infected by an invasive narrative. Animals may suddenly cease their normal activity to participate in choreographed dances, while people burst into song. Sudden and inexplicable attraction is a common effect, as is violent arguments and murder. Music tends to amplify the effect, and even if there is no music that can be heard, those captured in a narrative later report that there was a series of strange melodies playing in the back of their mind while they carried out the story's directives.
Transmission & Vectors
An invasive narrative is transmitted when the conditions in one reality echo another reality's story closely enough to form an association across The Dream. In one historical example, a man drew a sword from a stone he found in the woods of Dumnonia. He became convinced that he was the true king of the land, and managed to raise an army before being murdered by his own son. Another example is the Papagálos Tavern on Tortuka, which has a persistent invasive narrative that compels visitors to sing, dance, and debauch.
Places and people infected with an invasive narrative are contagious, and the story will attempt to pull in any thinking being nearby to cast them into the role they best fit. If the individual and the role are a poor match, they will have a decent chance of escaping the narrative's clutches and retaining their free will. Close matches cause less dissonance for the infected, and they are less likely to even try to escape the story.
Multiple & Mutating Narratives
No story exists in isolation, and they carry associations and bonds of their own. When an invasive narrative expands to cover a large region, it frequently catalyzes multiple secondary infections that attempt to carry out their own stories in the hospitible environment created by the primary infection. The most heavily impacted location of this sort is the city of Aerendel, capital of Liria. It is the center of a long-term and massive infestation that was deliberately cultivated by the Clarati sorceress Celestina. People visiting Aerendel are frequently caught up in invasive narratives, and must be careful to monitor their own minds for alien thoughts and impulses.
Also, stories are not static; they are constantly growing and changing on their own. This can happen in the course of an invasive narrative - the actions of the infected can alter the story itself in a number of ways. They can splice in alternate narratives, or attempt to change the story they are living. If they do so in narratively satisfying ways, they can create alternate versions of the story that play out instead. This has the side effect of strengthening the narrative itself and giving it more complexity, but can improve the outcome for the infected dramatically. The masters of handling invasive narratives are the Talespinners, a group of storytellers and bards based out of the Three-Headed Tavern in Aerendel.
Treatment
The most effective treatment for an invasive narrative is to break the story's plotline and scatter the infected. In the case of small and simple stories, this can be done with a dissonant word or an object that cannot be incorporated into the narrative. For older and more complex stories, it may be nearly impossible to escape the story, as it can pivot and diverge through many variations of itself on the way to its conclusion. In these cases, the best course of action is often to seek the best possible conclusion to the narrative from among the options available. In some cases, quickly killing the main character will be sufficient to derail the narrative and break the invasion; in other cases a shift to absurdity and parody can adjust the narrative down comedic lines and prevent a tragic conclusion. When attempting to shift into comedy, puns are particularly helpful - invasive narratives frequently incorporate concepts and objects that do not translate well, and can be interpreted as similar sounding but inappropriate alternatives. When attempting to escape a narrative, choosing the most absurd and surrealistic options can be a benefit.
Prevention
Preventing an invasive story is done by attempting to prevent the formation of a narrative link across The Dream. This is a difficult thing to do, as few are versed in the corpus of multiverse literature. Still, there are some measures that can be taken to make it less likely.
Among actors and theater professionals, there is a type of Folk Magic that is employed to prevent invasive stories. Most troupes will include a 'spoiler' in their performance, that is intended to contaminate the link with the alien narrative and remind the players and the audience that they are not living the story. Spoilers can include a bit of costuming or set dressing, or actors may employ gestures or expressions intended to highlight the illusory nature of the performance, such as directly addressing the audience, or comedically revealing a prop is false. These serve to halt the immersion into the story before it can manifest as an invasive narrative.
History
Invasive Narratives have occurred throughout history, with effects ranging from the comedic to the disastrous. In the town of Helsinore on Eotland, an invasive narrative precipitated the massacre of the entire royal family at the hands of a deranged prince. Some people believe that the Kar of Vlast has become infected with multiple narratives, and may be playing out a story that could prove disastrous to all nearby islands.
Wherever a major narrative invasion occurs, it creates havoc. People and animals suddenly behave out of character (or in-character, depending on the perspective). When there is no good fit for a role, the story will sieze on the best alternative, creating highly unnatural situations (like mice sewing garments, or gods who suddenly appear and resolve conflicts). In the aftermath, the infected are usually confused and upset, and frequently a large number of them are killed in the course of enacting the story.
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