Oculus
Have you seen it, dear dreamer? Those black spires spanning into minds obscured, with all their needles of illusion and truth binding themselves together into strange and unknowable shapes? Ah yes, I remember now, the light and shadows of this realm molding and forming endlessly. The feelings of joy and sorrow prickling every inch of my skin, scraping the innermost secrets of my mind. Perhaps your mind envisions Oculus differently from my own, yet I wonder how similar our experiences have been? Oh yes, you have been there before, many, many times, but you do not remember. How strange that we forget our dreams so quickly when we awaken into whatever reality we may call home. I remember the faces, yes so many faces speaking and screaming into the silence of eternal night. Beings weeping tears of mara and hope down their haunting, blank faces. This realm, this wave, whatever you wish to call it are these beings, well at least I think they are, who can say really. Living bridges and towers made of dreams and nightmares alike that are full of sentience and desires of their own. We cross the bridges of Oculus every day, whether we realize it or not. When we daydream of better and worse possibilities or remember fond and painful memories, we are crossing the bridges of Oculus without even knowing it. Whenever you plan for the best, and scheme for the worst, you visit Oculus. Most of the time we cross these black bridges without so much as a second thought of these links to our desires and thoughts, yet I wonder... Have you ever, even accidentally crossed one of these bridges and suddenly stopped your journey halfway across them? Straddling between the conscious world you call reality and the mysterious inner worlds of desire and want have you ever remained in between, even for a moment? Some have claimed that they have experienced these strange occurrences, and I must confess so have I. I remember my most vivid visitations to this realm, well some of them at least. For those of us that sleep, there is a possibility that how I remained on one of Oculus's many bridges can happen to you as well, or maybe it already has, time and time again.
They call into the soul, ever so eager to express themselves to imaginations that are willing to listen, and perhaps respond in kind. A strange ringing in the ears, ever so dull at first as the sound catches your attention as you lay in the comfort of your resting place. As you try to adjust yourself to hear the dull humming more closely you find your form completely immobilized under some invisible pressure or presence holding you down. As you try to move the sound grows louder and louder until deafening frequencies of unknown worlds barrage your ears, sending chills into your very soul. The pressure builds as you try to scream only your voice is silenced by some unknown force acting upon you. At this point you close your eyes, sensing the presence of something else in the room with you, though you cannot tell where, or what is there. Feelings of profound fear overwhelm your mind as to try to process what is happening to you. Still, you hope that this will end, whatever this experience is you hope that you're just in some vivid nightmare that will soon pass from memory. Then... then you see them.
Your eyes closed or not give way to strange beings of shadow and form starting with blank faces directly into your spirit. Unknowable words are uttered in hushed whispers, languages of unspeakable tongues penetrate your ears, pouring forbidden secrets into your now fear shattered psyche. Alien forms and sensations overwhelm the half wakened mind that remains trapped between our awakened state and unconscious journey to another world. Sometimes they remain for only moments at the time, while other visits can seemingly last for countless spans of time or lack thereof. Just when you think you will never escape the reality you find yourself stuck in between, you suddenly awaken. The shadows and figures dissipate into the darkness as you gather yourself, trying to grasp what just happened to you.
As I have said before, there are many ways to visit this secret realm, and the crossroads of our dream state can lead us there from time to time. Have you ever endured a dream visit to Oculus? If you have then I'm sure my experience is all too familiar to your own. If not, then don't worry, for Oculus is and has always been an ever-present reality just beneath the veil of imagination and reality.
Geography
A truly alien landscape connecting itself to all waves and none. Though Oculus can appear vastly different to each psyche that finds its way here, the landscape itself can appear to some as a living hybrid of dreams and nightmares coursing into itself endlessly. Boundless living shadows of light and mystery that remain in between reality and nonexistence confront and ensnare all who come here. The landscape itself is a living organism of primal, unconscious energy stretching its tendrils into the minds and desires of countless souls. At the same time, Oculus is composed of many beings of unknown origin, writhing, and moving throughout Oculus into the hearts of many other worlds and planes of existence. Light and shadow morph themselves into darkly enchanting structures that quite often inspire emotions of wonder and terror. Pockets of dark energy accumulate into what some might perceive at first as cities or castles of some kind. In some ways, their eyes would be correct, though upon closer examination they would soon see that these so-called "living cities" to be far more and less than what their eyes may try to identify as such. From these pockets of darkness and mare great bridges of energy pierce the veils of other worlds, creating strange bridges that form gateways throughout Oculus and sometimes other unknown planes of existence. These bridges are just as lucid and strange as the structures that birth them, appearing and disappearing according to the wills that act upon them. Even the smallest of waves appear within the dreamscape of Oculus, for some hearts only desire the simplest of things as they dream into the night. Leicht calls out to any dreamer that will listen to the little things that scurry about among the forgotten cracks and spaces within every heart and mind that would dare to dream.
Fauna & Flora
When fauna chooses to appear within Oculus its almost always a twisted version of whatever said fauna was in its previous reality. But one has to wonder why would there be plants in Oculus in the first place? This dimensional dreamscape is just that, a land of dreams. Though a being could perceive various forms of plant life depending on what their minds chose to manifest, I wonder if the flora and fauna of other worlds dream too? Surely some do, on some level of consciousness that we can barely comprehend or imagine.
Natural Resources
The structures and beings of Oculus are made entirely of psychic energy and are thus capable of manifesting any material they wish. Because of this unusual ability, the physical and spiritual laws of nature for other realms are often twisted into unique and sometimes perverse forms of what they once were while other laws and limitations are eliminated entirely. Even the wildest and most chaotic beings from the darkest of places can be aw struck at the sheer majesty and mystery that is Oculus.
Maps
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Oculus
A single dream, just one of many. A path of mare, heart unsteady. Abounding light, The Roosters call. Let us follow his way, less we stumble and fall.
Type
Dimensional plane
Characters in Location
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