Dreamscape basics
Here are some of the basics that may be helpful to know in order to understand the world a bit, especially when it comes to character profiles! This info can also hopefully help with any confusing bits.
Feel free to look through the rest of the world if you're interested! Since I am constantly working out details, things quickly become out of date, inaccurate, or contradictory, but hopefully you'd get the gist haha.
⭐ Also important to note: most of my characters here don't really overlap in story - most of them are not in the main story, and many of them live so far apart/in different nations that they would never meet. Usually they are organized into folders, in which the characters interact the most. This doesn't mean they stuck to the folder, but everyone is mostly organized by location & relevance!
BASIC INFORMATION
Simplified explanations for the most important concepts.
NIGHTMARES
Nightmares are essentially demons of the Dreamscape, and they represent negative emotions. They are all black/dark colored, and a cluster of have bright eyes somewhere on their body (usually red but can be other colors). Nightmares can be parasitic, either in a stagnant state of feeding off of the host or in more acute cases killing the host faster. They use both physical and psychological attacks, and many can shapeshift.
Nightmares feed off of souls, and especially crave human ones. However, they can also survive off of animal and even plant souls. The intense and complex emotions inside a human soul grants them more power than other living beings.
Not all Nightmares are purely evil, however, as would be discovered in the story (spoiler alert lmao). Some hosts are able to use their Nightmare's powers to their advantage, or be friends with Nightmares.
SPIRITS
Spirits are magical beings that embody and protect various aspects of the world, such as items, locations, and concepts. They are (usually) mainly white in color scheme, but may have other colors included as well. They vary greatly in size and influence, with some very small ones that are essentially little whisps to large ones that protect an entire ecosystem.
They are NOT the opposite of Nightmares (there is no such thing), and thus can be benevolent or malicious.
The four Great Guardians that created and protect the four nations are the most powerful Spirits in the Dreamscape.
SOULS
Every soul is made up of Light and Dark energy. These forces can be used to influence the outside world, creating magic. It is important to note that Light and Dark is not equivalent to Good and Evil. Every living being has a soul, down to plants and fungi.
SHADOWS
Shadows are people who merged with Nightmares, and wield Nightmare powers (they can be any other race previously). This means giving up their humanity to the Nightmare, and their soul is completely enveloped in darkness and essentially consumed by the Nightmare, but without killing the host. This does grant them immense power, but this is mainly to the Nightmare's advantage, as they have most of the control of the host's body.
DARK & LIGHT MAGIC
All magic is fueled by either Dark or Light magic as a base (this magic is drawn from the Light and Dark energy in souls). These can also be used by themselves, although a lot less frequently. Almost all magic uses Light as a base, and it is usually the assumption. Using Dark magic is a lot more risky, as it creates a much more violent attack that can get out of control easily.
Light and Dark magic can be used to create elemental magic, illusionary magic, healing magic, etc. Again, Light is almost always the base.
Nightmare magic is similar to Dark Magic, but is specifically tied to Nightmares, thus usually is the form of magic used by an infected host. If an individual is infected with a parasitic Nightmare, it becomes extremely difficult for them to access the Light energy in their souls, making it much harder for them to use Light Magic.
CLARIFICATION/SPECIFICS
Please let me know if anything else is confusing and I can add it here!
KEMENOS VS SHAPESHIFTING
Kemenos are part human/part animal, and are mainly human with some animal characteristics. This is genetic and cannot be changed, and the individual cannot turn into their creature counterpart by default.
Shapeshifting is a type of magic that can be learned by anyone (as any magic can be learned by anyone - except elemental magic, which is usually genetic). You do not have to be a Kemeno to learn shapeshifting. A Kemeno can learn shapeshifting magic, thus giving them access to a fully animal form. Shapeshifting is not genetic and must be learned and mastered.
** If you see any art of an animal form for a Kemeno that doesn't also have shapeshifting magic, it probably means I just wanted to doodle them as an animal and having a full animal form isn't canon for them!
SIRENS
Sirens are literally just mermaids, but using a gender-neutral and simplified term. This does not mean that they seduce sailors to kill them necessarily (although some may still do that lmao). Sirens have a full mer-person form, as well as a land form that has a fish tail in addition to legs.
STORING GEMS
Gems/jewels can store things like items, creatures, or weapons. They are most frequently used for weapons, and the gem would be seen on both the jewelry and weapon. This is also how Dragon Stones work on Drakebloods, their dragon forms are stored in the gems growing on their chests.
(however, I often would forget about this detail when designing LMAOOO so just pretend there is always a corresponding piece of jewelry and gem on weapons akldsjal)
LANGUAGE
Everything is written in a language called Mogue (which currently is just random symbols haha, no rosetta stone or anything). This language comes across as English (or any other language that an individual from the Reality Realm speaks), however the symbols stay cryptic; this is meant to be reminiscent of how you can't read in dreams, but you can talk and understand words. (Also an easy way to get over the language barrier loophole LOL). In some art I wrote things out in English, however canonically anything from the Dreamscape would be written in Mogue.
THE REALITY REALM
The Reality Realm, or the Human Realm, is not actually identical to the world we live in. Locations like cities and countries are made up, and usually not even specified. The year is also not specified, but meant to be reminiscent of the early 2000's.
Also, some magic leaks into it from the Dreamscape, so there's that.
RULERS
The term "ruler" is usually used for simplicity (gender neutral, vague) but in reality, there is a hierarchy of rulers as there usually is in any society. All labels are still gender neutral. Please refer to the "terms" tab here.
