A Recurring Dream

The Time of Night

The Dream began at sundown, when the first pillow received the first head, and plunged its sleeper into the common Dream. Tomorrow, at daybreak, the Dream will end and be forgotten.

Some say the end comes soon. Everyone is worried, vaguely worried at the very least. Yet time is a slippery thing. People live and die in the Dream, they birth children, real children (or so they hope). Time passes and details are lost.

Where were you last week? Or last year? Polite society does not tolerate such inquiries. Better to sweep the whole "time" thing under the rug. 

Perimeter Check by Travis Anderson

The Dreamers

The dreamers made the Dream. The city, the apparitions, the tarnished illusion of waking life. 

The Apparitions

Runaway fragments of a dreamer's fervid psyche. They take ghastly shapes but are hidden by the Veil of Hours. Paranoia runs rampant in a world where your strange-smelling neighbor could be a five-headed cockroach, plotting your demise. 

by Maxim Veherin

The Veil and The Eyes

There are layers to the illusion. Theory and experiment would indicate there are at least twelve. One may see into the higher layers by cultivating Insight. 

And what is the Veil? The lie of reason, of cause-and-effect, of law. There are no boundaries in the Dream only pure, pan-psychic chaos. Those who embrace the truth may exact their will on the Dream. In the process, inevitably, they lose their minds. 

The Gods

The dreamers do not sleep alone. Perhaps the Gods are avatars of their collective hope, their dread and anguish; creations of the dreamers, just like everything else. Perhaps the Gods come from outside. Of course they conform to anthropocentric archetypes, how else could they be known?

Either way, it isn't strictly true that the dreamers made the Dream. The Gods too leave their mark. Perhaps they are dreamers as well.

Impression of the Void by Piotr Jablonski

The Investigators

Law and order are hot commodities in a world without rules. Of course, sufficient investigation often results in unsavory aftereffects. That is, for the investigators. 

As a result, the dreamers heap their troubles on freelancers, sourced from society's lowest rungs. They are destined for death, madness, or early retirement. 

It is here, of course, that we find our Players. 

What is All This?

I had Pulp Apocalyptic on my mind, then I read Folligato by Alexios Tjoyas and Nicolas de Crecy. Made me think about the old Common Dream campaign. After about an hour of shower-storming and some seasoning borrowed from Bloodborne, here we are.

Let me know if you've got any recommendations for surrealist or dream-oriented media. I have acquired an unusual taste. 

Foligatto, its a wild ride