Dream

Dream is the essence of empathy. It provides intuition and insight. It is emotion.

Light and Darkness are not the only forces at play in the world. There are other Worlds in which Light and Darkness are not the overriding factors in their existence. These worlds, the Data World and the Dreaming World, offer great vistas and serve their own purpose in the grand cosmology.

Commonalities

Data and Dream are not tied to the moral components that make up Light and Darkness, but they are universal constants in their own right. Data and Dream both help make up parts of what make a person whole (Data is Body, Dream is Heart, while both have a part in the Mind)

This means that one can have an ‘alignment’ on both the ‘DD’ Axis (Data-Dream) as well as the ‘LD’ Axis (Light-Darkness). This is also displayed in canon materials in both Data (Virals, Security Programs) as well as Dream (Nightmares, Dream Eaters). Additionally, unlike Light and Darkness, it is a simple thing to not have any particular relationship to Data or Dream. Most brings don't really particularly have an affinity one way or the other. The main exception, of course, are entities who come from those realms...

Relationships

Data and Dream do not have an antagonistic relationship like Darkness and Light. They do not seek to destroy each other. They are, however, resistant to intrusion by the opposite force. This is why you do not see Programs in the Dream in general, nor Dream Eaters on the Grid. One could certainly dream of Programs or the Grid itself, or create a Program that mimics a Nightmare, but these are facsimiles and not true representations of those entities. There are occasions where Data may leak upon the Dream and vice versa, but such instances are extremely rare, usually only occurring in places that one or the other has taken total sway of the physical realm.

The Dream

The Dream in general consists of a collective unconsciousness. The dreams of all who sleep contribute to the locations (and sometimes people!) found in the Dream World. Particularly powerful impressions or dreamers can create more stable areas within the dream world. Some worlds can be quite pleasant, while others, horrifying. Anything that one can dream of can exist in the Dreaming World, for good or for ill.

Physical objects generally do not exist within the Dream World. Exceptions occur when Data leaks into the Dream World, or when a form of Sorcery forces physical forms into said world. the vast majority of the time, however, one is forced to use what is at hand unless one can use their Mind or Heart to affect the world around them (see Interaction). This means that objects encountered in the Dream Worlds often follow their own rules, ones not necessarily matching up with what one might expect in the Waking Worlds.

A typical dreamer both contributes to the collective Dreaming Worlds in their own way, but often creates their own personal dreamworld. They float through the Dreaming Worlds, keeping generally to areas related to their personal dream in fragile-seeming bubbles, called Dreamscapes. Someone on the outside of a bubble can look in and watch to see what the dream is about. Those with the skill to do so can interact with the personal dreamscape in many ways, whether moving it to another location (and thus influencing the general content of the dreamscape), or entering it and beginning to affect the dream directly. This can be dangerous, as a Dreamer is always most powerful within their own Dreamscape, as long as their Heart is strong.

The greater Dreaming Worlds are within Dreamscape bubbles of their own, macrocosms within the greater Dream. One often travels between one to the next by travelling through ‘tunnels’ that connect them. It often looks and feels like one is dropping between them, racing past gleaming stars, pieces of Dreamscapes, and the occasional Nightmare.

The area between Dreaming Worlds is unshaped and vast. Errant thoughts can create anything outside in the misty realm. Those skilled in doing so can escape the bounds of the Dreaming Worlds and look within, observing the greater Dreamscapes in detail. This, too, is often used by the Shadow Lords to investigate worlds still behind their Barriers of Light to seek out those of their number within… Or possibly seek out a way to manipulate events in a way to give them access in a more direct manner.

The destruction of someone’s dreamscape will generally have no effect on the dreamer, simply waking them up rudely. Exceptions may occur in particular situations, however...

Interaction

Someone who travels through the Dream World and is both conscious of the fact that they are in a dream (to wit, a lucid dreamer) and possesses a disciplined enough Mind can influence the area around them. The degree of effect this can have is an aggregate of both their general control over Dream itself and the strength of their Mind. Most people at their utmost can do little more than manage to escape their Dreamscape and travel freely. Those who know the true secrets of the Dream can exert control over their surrounding area and even alter the Dreamscapes of others. Dreams can also be altered if one introduces a great deal of Light or Darkness into a Dream and establishes control through that, a favored tactic of Shadow Lords.

Accessing the Dreaming World is generally simple: Fall asleep! However, other methods to access the Dreaming World exist, most of which involve various forms of Sorcery or Technology. It is extremely rare, but the potential exists for one to simply enter the Dreaming World entirely through the use of forces that would alter the physical realm, but such places would be extremely powerful and extremely rare.

Items do not have a true physical form in the Dreaming World unless they were physically brought there in the first place. If one does not have a way to give that item a physical Body of some kind, one cannot remove items from the Dream.

Denizens

The natural denizens of the Dream are Nightmares and Dream Eaters. The Nightmares invade Dreamscapes and feed off of the negative emotions created from such dreams, while Dream Eaters feed upon the Nightmares themselves. As Nobodies and Heartless do not exist in the Dream World, they are the primary entities that a traveler will encounter.

Dream Eaters and Nightmares look astonishingly similar, a dizzying array of creatures and entity forms being possible. Dream Eaters are usually colored in bright colors, while Nightmares are dark, and bear similar alignments to those sensitive to Light or Dark.

Dream Eaters are generally friendly and might accompany a dream traveler for a time, especially if they are planning to face Nightmares for them to consume. Nightmares attack anyone they see without care or pause. Those who know the secrets of Dreams or have control over the forces of Light or Darkness can influence these creatures in various ways. However, they are limited in that they cannot leave the Dreaming World, as they have no Body.

Progression Path: Dream Control