Dream History
The Dreamer Wars
The Dreamer Wars began as nothing more than a series of
skirmishes among the new breed of Dreamers. These
Dreamers had no part in the construction of the City but
were eager to learn the ways of the Dream and had more
time on their hands than those who'd come before them.
As the FreeSoul-Illuminate debate grew, these Dreamers
began to form groups around the most popular beliefs.
There was no such thing as death in the Dream, and so
many of these Dreamers practiced little restraint in
evoking their Arts upon each other. The problem grew so
profound that Mohteq the Elder formed the Order Patrol
to suppress the open fighting between the FreeSoul
Knights and the Illuminated Front, but it was too late.
Soon there were grudges and arguments everywhere, and
the city of Underlight was no longer the place of peace
it had been designed for. As the feuding Dreamers grew
strong in their abilities, the chaos only spread.
Threshold was a hub of constant combat as one faction or
the other fought to hold or gain ground. And then one of
the greatest achievements of the Dream came at the worst
possible time: the construction of Talismans.
A group of DreamWrights had become specialized,
advancing their power to manipulate essence into matter.
As they developed this to a fine Art, they found a
process that allowed them to create Talismans of Power.
The first was created by Poantes of Vorsage, and was
called an "Elemen"... a talisman forged of one element
of the Dreamstate in its purest form. Then Aybol the
Determinus perfected a means of instilling in a talisman
the energies of an evoked art, forging the first
alterors. It wasn't long before talismans of many
different types and abilities were being produced. The
specialized DreamWrights who developed this process
became known as DreamSmiths.
The impact on the Dream of talismans cannot be
overstated. Suddenly many powers that used to take
months to master became available in talisman form to
any Dreamer. Many of the DreamSmiths supplied talismans
only to their own clans within the Dream. The demand
grew so great that Markosh the DreamSmith eventually
perfected a process called "spawn-shaping". By specially
treating areas in the City which possessed specific
energies, Markosh created "essence fonts" which
regularly spawn-shaped talismans of power. These
spawn-shapers automated the process of talisman
creation, producing an endless number of talismans, and
making the rival factions in the Dream powerful.
However, Markosh jealously guarded the spawn-shaping
process, using it for his own gain, and the secret of
how to do it died with him.
It was perhaps predictable that the first faction of
Dreamers to build a significant surplus of talismans was
the now-extinct Srechethan Kabal, which had always
coveted complete rulership of the Dream. But their
rivals were also large in number and well armed, and
with the Battle of Sunroof Cavern open warfare ensued.
No one was safe in Threshold or anywhere else in the
City of Underlight. The Dreamers warred with abandon,
reducing their enemies to soulsphere on sight. There was
no death in the Dream, but a Dreamer's power could be
eroded with every battle that ended in his dissolution.
With this in mind, the warring Dreamers attacked one
another endlessly in a bid for dominance in the Dream.
The carnage became so widespread and so prevailing that
the Master DreamWrights became alarmed. Their creation,
the City itself, was being abused for the purpose of
warfare. One group of Master DreamWrights, led by
Hartisan the Red and Turgin Lambent, became determined
to put an end to the conflict once and for all. Their
group would later become known as the DreamStrike
Masters.
DreamStrike is the ultimate punishment any person can
suffer, for it causes not only death of the body in the
Waking World, but also the soul of the Dreamer. It is
true death, final and complete. With this Art perfected,
the DreamStrike Masters entered the war-torn Threshold
and moved through it as a group, collapsing and then
Dreamstriking Dreamer after Dreamer. This infamous
surprise assault, the DreamStrike Offensive, changed the
Dream forever. The boldness that fueled so many of the
warring clans became fear as they were forced out of
Threshold. They retreated to the far ends of the lands
and began constructing great fortresses to guard
themselves. So reigned another shaky peace, as the
DreamStrike Masters occupied Threshold and the organized
factions of Dreamers squatted in the lands beyond.
Skirmishing still continued in the open lands, but open
warring had been put down by the coming of DreamStrike.
But this was only the calm before the storm.