Enter the Nightmare

"It aches, it whispers and it tempts. The Nightmare is monstrous, to deal such pain and temptations upon all. To treat its inhabitants like cattle, and prey. We must free them of it." – Radiant observer of the Nightmare

Written by Yerran

Eternally twilight, Nightmare space possesses only dying or dead suns. Its worlds, basking in their radiation, are often overgrown, cracked or irradiated. These conditions bring horrors to life, those that stalk the darkest corner of one's thoughts. And through it all swims the Darkness, the Shadow, The Dreadnight. It whispers, twisting thoughts and minds, propagating the most brutal and cunning of instincts. Testing and torturing. Seeking those worthy of its gift and bestowing upon them its dark mark.

The Nightmare

A fundamental force brought about as a balance to the Radiant upon the creation of the cosmos. This entity was Nightmare Space, its essence a materium for the planets, suns and life to exist in, but as sentient life struggled to the fore, they muttered words, prayers and curses of an all-powerful being that dogged their lives with misfortune and strife. These words, whatever name they were given, brought a simple sentience to this force, the force that would become known as the Nightmare. And as it became aware it took on the personality of its slander and curses, becoming that which people called it, until the force slid through the cosmos, influencing, marking and elevating those that best served and represented it. It created a brutal cosmos, one full of conflict and hardships.

Reality

Within the Nightmare all things are felt stronger; thoughts, emotions and senses. Everything hurts more, with even minor cuts and bruises feeling like red hot irons. Despair, loss, and loneliness all tear at the tattered souls of the Nightmare's inhabitants, testing them with each turn of their lives. Joy comes from your triumphs and others' failures. Whatever vice plagues a species' heart is nurtured within the Nightmare, driven to the fore and sought by all as the greatest of virtues to obtain. And every idea you have crashes around your head like an airship in a storm mashing ideas, memories and sensations together in a kaleidoscope of potential brilliance and madness, should you have the skills to navigate it. For those that don't, it often tears the sense from them leaving partially feral creatures in their place. Truly a torturous place. One that creates tortured beings in turn.

Life

Despite such conditions, life developed as it always seems to. Though it had to be strong or clever to survive for long. Some gained sentience and banded together for strength. Others warred amongst themselves tearing their societies and species apart in many cases. Some retained their animal instincts, becoming horrors that hunted alone, their bodies adapted for such challenges. It matters not what creatures initially evolved, for many did and failed. What matters, is those who lived. These species became the chosen of the Nightmare, and as they mastered the materium of the Nightmare, they learnt of its magic. With it they began to consume life for power. They tore open portals to other planets, warring on other civilizations and consuming them to fuel their magic. Interplanetary societies arose, often with slave castes used for little more than fuel for more deadly magic. Horrifying empires collided across planets as each fought to consume and master the others as if conquering them all would grant them the Nightmare's favour. While interplanetary empires collided, others struggled on unaware, fighting their own wars on isolated planets. These Empires cycled, rising and falling, each use of magic feeding the Nightmare.

The Shattering

In an explosion of unrivalled energy, the barrier between planes was shattered and The Light's Crusade began. It altered the cosmos and began a millennia-long war. A struggle between the Radiant and the Nightmare. One that continues to this day. This created 'Grey Space' a blur of Nightmare and Radiant properties without the extremes of either. This new space filled almost the entire cosmos, with a small pocket of uncorrupted Radiant and Nightmare space upon opposite ends of the cosmos. What became known as their 'Strongholds', during this great war.

The Eternal War

The invasion of the Radiant brought a malevolence to the Nightmare's sentience that could not be contained. It railed against the Light's incursions and the infringements upon its power. Though it revelled in the deliciousness of tragedy experienced by those who had never before felt pain, fear, terror, loss or despair. Its whispers told its denizens of those to come, to resist, to fight their ways, and so the struggles of The Light's Crusade and the eternal war began.

Power

The Nightmare's power waned early in the war as planets and species fell, either through their destruction or absorption into the Light's Crusade. No other choices existed for the denizens of Nightmare, for The Light's Crusade gave no quarter. Though as the war continued, and the Radiant spread across the cosmos, centuries of struggles and battles passed. Many within the Light's Crusade failed to see an end. Their hearts and minds became numb, and some fell to the Nightmare's whispers. The split in the Light's Crusade caused a devastating schism in the ranks. One that set friend against friend, family against family and titan against titan. The power truly shifted and for the first time in the war as fallen titans fought for darkness, their ideals bent and twisted to serve another. Technology and powers melded and the strength of each became balanced for the first time ever. The war became a grind. They fought for each planet, each step of land and the soul of each creature in creation.