When you have a dream, you temporarily enter a realm known as the dream world. Slumberkin are once-human supernatural beings who became aware of this and found a way to cross over into the dream world and live there permanently. Upon their transformation, slumberkin are granted animal-like features, body parts made of a strange substance called Dream Dust, and supernatural abilities. They also become immortal! Yay! Slumberkin are not secretive and will regularly reveal themselves to wakeworlders. Most don’t believe that they actually exist though.
Slumberkin first enter the dream world through an “origin dream” which becomes their home. While slumberkin live in their own dream, they can go anywhere in the dream world, and even visit the dreams of people from the waking world. But unless they are the lucid subtype, they cannot leave the dream world.
A slumberkin’s main power is the ability to influence dreams, and how they influence them depends on their subtype. There are three subtypes: dreamy, lucid, and nightmare.
✧ Dreamy slumberkin are absorbed in their dream and often don’t notice anything else. They appear to be sleepy and out of it. They generally live in pleasant dreams, and can influence a dream to be more pleasant. Dreamy slumberkin can leave their origin dream to do other things, but it’s hard to arrange any events or such with them because they would much rather be at home.
★ Lucid slumberkin are fully aware of their place in the dream world, and with that, gain extra abilities. They can shape what their dream looks like, and even alter their own anatomy, resulting in special traits that dreamies can’t have. Lucid slumberkin can temporarily grant lucidity to others within in a dream. They can even gain a physical form and travel to the waking world. Lucid slumberkin often have jobs outside their origin dream and are commonly hired to be messengers or dream warriors that fight off hostile nightmares.
✶ Nightmare slumberkin have a less fortunate origin. They were humans who became trapped in a nightmare, and then transformed into a nightmare creature. Most nightmare slumberkin did not choose to be this way. Their demeanor often changes to be more erratic and aggressive, but they’re not necessarily evil, and some aren’t aggressive at all. A nightmare slumberkin entering a dream will corrupt it into a nightmare, whether they want to or not. This may be reversible if a powerful dreamy or lucid slumberkin is around.
Nightmare slumberkin are enigmatic in nature, and may show signs of lucidity, but often don’t. Even if they are aware, they can’t leave the dream world. Because their nightmares are contagious, they are often not trusted by other slumberkin, but there are certain enchanted objects they can wear that make them safer to be around.
It is possible for a slumberkin’s subtype to change in their lifetime. A dreamy slumberkin might enter a nightmare and then be corrupted into the nightmare subtype. A nightmare slumberkin may be “cured” with magical items and become a lucid slumberkin. A dreamy slumberkin may become “awakened” and gain lucidity. These are all rather rare occurrences however!
There are also some rumors of a fourth subtype… but nobody really believes those tales.