Dreamlands
The Dreamlands,1 also known as the Dimension of Dreams,2 is a dimension which overlays the Ethereal Plane, created and maintained directly by the dreams of sleepers in the Universe. It consists of a finite, relatively stable core, surrounded by countless ephemeral dreamscapes.34
Geography
The Dreamlands' semi-permanent core is formed from slumbering desires, and the dreams of especially powerful individuals, like the Outer Gods and Great Old Ones.3 It can be entered via the obscure occult ritual known as the Dreamlands excursion, and is less accessible than the Outer Planes but easier to travel to than individual dreamscapes.5 A dreamer that enters the Dreamlands' core for the first time descends a spiral staircase that emerges from the side of a great tree into the Enchanted Forest.6
Dreamscapes
Surrounding the Dreamlands' stable core is a foam of transient dreamscapes, each the dream of an individual sleeping mortal, constantly forming and evaporating when someone goes to sleep or awakens.37 These can be viewed from the Ethereal Plane, but can only be entered by those who possess the appropriate kind of esoteric magic.8 This sort of magic is unreliable, aiding access instead of guaranteeing it. However, certain dreamers have learned how to lucidly dream, consistently gaining access to the Dreamlands in their sleep or even abandoning their waking life for it. Artifacts like the Key of Celephais, Mnemoka's Flask, and the Golden Liao Censer also assist access.8
When one physically enters a dreamscape, it first appears as a prosaic dreamscape of the visitor's native culture. However, those who travel deeper into the realm discover that it molds itself to dreamers' wishes, slowly becoming whatever they would imagine.8
Leng
The Plateau of Leng is a distant, ill-understood demiplane of nightmares that exists beyond the Dreamlands, where nightmares overlap into a strange reality spawned by the dreams of primordial gods of the Dark Tapestry.910
Harrowed Realm
Sonnorae Imlios sheared off a section of the Dreamlands to create her own demiplane known as the Harrowed Realm.11
Inhabitants
The Dreamlands' core is inhabited by both humans and beings of the Elder Mythos like Ib shades and the Great Old One Bokrug. Entire nations exist within the Dreamlands.612
Aside from mortal dreamers and those who've abandoned mortality, the Dreamlands is also haunted by night hags, the most powerful of which stride through the land of dreams like demigods. These are countered only by the azata sorceress Fiorindria the Longing.8
Figments from the dreams sometimes escape the Dreamlands, usually when a particularly imaginative dreamer awakens. These animate dreams stalk the Ethereal Plane, feeding off minds and searching for new dreamscapes to torture other sleepers.7
References
For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.
- ↑ Wikipedia article on the Dream Cycle, original source of the Dreamlands.
- ↑ In First Edition, the term Dreamlands referred exclusively to the dimension's stable core, while Dimension of Dreams collectively refers to said inner core and the ephemeral dreamscapes surrounding it. In Second Edition, the two terms are synonyms and have the latter meaning.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 . “2: Tools” in Gamemastery Guide, 145. Paizo Inc., 2020
- ↑ . “The Great Beyond” in The Inner Sea World Guide, 245. Paizo Inc., 2011
- ↑ . “Dreams of the Yellow King” in Dreams of the Yellow King, 15–16. Paizo Inc., 2016
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 . “Chapter 3: The Great Beyond” in Planar Adventures, 213. Paizo Inc., 2018
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 . “Chapter 6: Running an Occult Game” in Occult Adventures, 242. Paizo Inc., 2015
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 . “Other Dimensions” in The Great Beyond, A Guide to the Multiverse, 50. Paizo Inc., 2009
- ↑ . “Other Dimensions” in The Great Beyond, A Guide to the Multiverse, 52. Paizo Inc., 2009
- ↑ . “Leng: The Terror Beyond Dreams” in Into the Nightmare Rift, 65. Paizo Inc., 2012
- ↑ . The Harrowing, 3. Paizo Inc., 2011
- ↑ . “Bestiary” in Dreams of the Yellow King, 87. Paizo Inc., 2016
