The Dreamlands

The Dreamlands is a land like no other. They can only be entered by the act of dreaming, and usually by lucid dreaming in particular. When doing so, the dreamer must enter the Cavern of Flame. From there they must brave the flames that burn there and descend the Steps of Deeper Slumber. This brings the dreamer out usually in the Enchanted Woods. A few skilled, blessed, or focussed can appear at other points.

Geography

Despite being an alternate dimension, the Dreamlands share many features similar to the waking world, though these never change or age extremely slowly. Forests, deserts, mountains, lakes... all are found somewhere and more. Some of the more well-known parts are:

• The Enchanted Woods. This area is where most dreamers first enter the Dreamlands. Highly magical in nature it is as if a part of the Feywild has been transported here. Many Fey are found here, and most of the flora & fauna take on a bright shimmering quality filled with life & otherworldly abandon.
• Dylath-Leen, one of the largest cities and a major port.
• Ulthar, a town where no man is allowed to kill a cat, and some would say are the real inhabitants & rulers here.
• Hlanith, a coastal jungle city.
• Illarnek, a desert trading city.
• Land of Mnar, that Illarnek is a part of, and a fabled land which houses gray stones etch with strange signs. The ruins of Sarnath is rumoured to be here in these lands.

All of these lie to the west while following are in the south:

• The Isle of Onab lies here along with the region, the Fantastic Realms. Many a strange ship passes through this realm, including the fabled White Ship.

The east has the following two regions:

• Celephaïs, the city dreamt into being by the greatest dreamer and present monarch, Kuranes.
• The Forbidden Lands. Cursed areas that some believe is touched by & inhabited by many strange otherworldly creatures that are hostile to outsiders.

Finally the north:

• Plateau of Leng, where the man eating spiders & the satyr like Men of Leng live.

Other points of interest are:

• The Underworld, known for it's Ghouls and Nightgaunts, and other horrific monsters.
• The Moon. Inhabited by the frog-like Moon Beasts, and only accessible by ship.
• Kadath, a castle on a mountaintop where the gods of Earth play and dream.

Localized Phenomena

Everybody perceives the Dreamlands slightly differently, though this is minor in nearly every case.

History

When the Dreamlands came into existence is unknown. Many would say is when the gods of old dreamed for the first time before the present age. It is indeed ancient and seems to have gradually grown over time, though time here follows it's own patterns.
Since it's inception, many changes have occurred and the the mortal races have all influenced it. Cold Wars of sorts are also fought here by the gods using dreams to subtly influence the mortals in return.
Many mortals have passed through and some have took root in the Dreamlands. Humans are the most recent addition, and nearly every other has a presence here. Over it's time, the Dreamlands have seen empires come & go, and a few of the mortal races that have had a presence here has been wiped out. A few that are found here, are the remaining of their kind, and are now throwbacks to more stranger times.
A worrying trend is the rise of the Great Old Ones having a presence here, though not as strong as in the Material Plane. They seem to have the greatest effect besides the mortal races, and the reasons are not fully understood. They seem to use it to influence the dreams of mortals in the Material Plane somehow.

"I visited there once in my life. Yes, it is kind of dreamlike, and beautiful, but had that current of something wrong underneath it all. Like a veneer over a heart of darkness. I hope you do see it some time, for a visit of course. To stay there permanently? No, by the Gods no."
The Seeress, speaking to a council of Hofgothi at Uppsala.

Type

Dimensional plane

Included Locations

• Unknown Kadath