Royce

Royce, the god of Peaceful Dreams | Main Character in The Fear Itself | he/him

Once upon a time, the god of poetry, inspiration and beautiful nature, Anapest, created a son to help serve their poetic vision for the Dream World. "Poets need to have gripping, brilliant dreams," said Anapest to their son. "Night cannot be peace; it must be the agony of fleeting inspiration." But the son, Royce, had other ideas. He postured that a peaceful dream would allow a poet's energies to be better spent during the day. Anapest was dubious, but was willing to give Royce's idea a try. Thus, Royce became the opposite of his parent's wild energy: the creator of restful, peaceful dreams that prepare you for the day ahead with pleasant feelings.

Royce is a somewhat uptight, controlling person who enjoys order and quiet ambience. His area in the Dream World is known as the Meadow and is filled with his metotems, the poppy flower. Royce enjoys predictability and routine, and tends to present as a polite person, although his buttons are easy to push (as Cleo has discovered), and he's often unable to hide his irritation. Royce is also not very interesting to talk to, as nothing much happens in the dreams he gives to his dreamers, but he's a good listener and good at consoling.

Royce has the ability to create energy shields that are impervious in the Dream World. Like any god, Royce is functionally omnipotent in the Dream World, but unlike Cleo he tends to stick to his regular powers rather than keep making up new attacks and abilities. Also unlike Cleo, he retains his energy shielding powers in the Waking World. Royce is also the god of veterans and makes sure their sleep is free of the horrors or flashbacks of war that often come with the territory of being a soldier.