Overview
The Dreaming is an enigmatic, metaphysical realm, existing beyond the bounds of time, space, and physical matter. Very little is known about it to any being, celestial or otherwise, that exists within the physical realm. It is the primordial source of potential from which all creation stems, the origin of the Celestial Creators, including the Tinkerer, who forged the universe of Alathor, the
Mother, and all of
The Harbingers - though even they are largely unaware of and unfamiliar with it, as it is lost to them once they are “awakened” (and it is unknown what causes a Celestial Being to become awakened).
The Dreaming represents the collective unconscious of existence across all realms and universes, a place where form and formlessness coexist, and where the raw power of thought, creativity, and possibility flourishes without constraint. The fact, then, that the mortal races - first
The Prime and then their descendents - are able to tap into it, even if only minimally and briefly, is still a point of fear and a gift/curse that even the
Stewards do not comprehend.
Origin Of The Dreaming
Before the Tinkerer (known to most simply as “the Father”) awoke and began to shape the universe of Alathor, he existed within the Dreaming, as did all other awakened Celestial Creators. It is the ethereal cradle of the Celestial Creators. It is not a physical realm, but rather a vast sea of infinite potential, where every possibility exists in nascent, unshaped forms. There are also many un-awakened Celestial Creators that exist in the Dreaming and still hold dominion there.
The Celestial Creators, such as the Tinkerer, do not remember their time in the Dreaming once they are "awakened." Much like mortals who forget their dreams upon waking, the Celestial Creators lost all memory of their origin in this realm. However, their very nature—their creativity, power, and instinct to shape the universe—remained deeply tied to the Dreaming, even though they no longer had conscious access to it.
The Nature Of The Dreaming
The Dreaming is a place where possibility and creation have no limits. There are no physical laws, no linear time, and no definitive shapes. Instead, it is a place where thought itself becomes form, where emotions, ideas, and raw potential swirl together in a chaotic, ever-shifting tapestry. To mortals or even gods, the Dreaming is incomprehensible—an infinite ocean of potential futures, unrealized ideas, and fragments of creation that have not yet taken form in any tangible universe.
It is said that all souls originate from the Dreaming, imbued with its infinite potential before they are born into the physical realm. When a being in the physical world dreams, they momentarily reconnect to this vast expanse, glimpsing pieces of the Dreaming through their subconscious minds. Most mortals cannot comprehend or retain what they see, but a few gifted individuals, such as seers, mystics, and those attuned to
Soulforce, may glean powerful insights or even harness its creative power.
The Role of the Dreaming - Soulforce
Soulforce is the term given to the metaphysical bridge that connects sentient beings to the Dreaming, accidentally created by a Harbinger’s attempt to corrupt the newly formed planet of Alathor with an experimental weapon. Unlike the Giver’s Life Force, which animates all living matter, Soulforce somehow became tied specifically to consciousness and sentience of living matter. It granted the budding species that would become the Prime the ability to dream, to imagine, and to create - but this also made them dangerously destructive to other life around them.
As with the
Lifeforce, there were some Prime that were able to tap into the Soulforce and wield it as magic. The magic that stems from the Dreaming allows for the manipulation of abstract, metaphysical forces—such as the soul, creativity, and spirit, making it far more dangerous and unpredictable than even the elemental or physical magics that draw from the Giver’s Life Force.
