Akumu Yume

Name: Akumu Yume 
Gender: Gender Neutral 
Age: 25, Real Age Unknown
Year in school: College
Mastery:  Scholar 
Dorm: Sage
Height: 5'1"

Appearance:


Personality: An unusual nightmare that doesn’t seem to want to harm despite its need to feed off of negative emotions. It is curious and ever in search of knowledge and things that can inspire its art. It believes in existing peacefully with reality and the surreal. It is not afraid to use its power to entertain others or defend itself. This creature is typically harmless unless provoked and typically the chaos it causes is due to its high curiosity to poke into things that perhaps shouldn’t be poked into. The creature’s behavior is odd and unpredictable, making it a challenge to say exactly what goes on its mind. It doesn’t follow social norms and seems to have its own rules and expectations that it follows.

History: Akumu Yume is a strange nightmare that seems to have lived many lives and died many times only to be reborn. The creature’s exact date of birth is unknown as is the number of lives it has lived. The creature is known to be a hunter in a fashion always looking for information, inspiration for arts, treasures, and also spots where it can feed off of negative energy. It is unknown what its true purpose is in the world, but some believe it is a spirit that appears to guide lost souls to the afterlife since it has the tendency to appear around scenes of death and graveyards a lot. 

When trying to trace the history of Akumu Yume one often finds themselves lost and confused as the Dreamweaver itself will only tell about its life in Dreamland only; however, this creature did not start off as a resident there.

It is unknown the exact year or time, but at one point Akumu Yume was human and more or less normal. Back then the creature was a female that went by the name of Kadjatu Snow. She grew up in a small village that she left around the age of 15 to begin her travels around the land. Her goal was to become one of the best researchers in the land with the most extensive catalog of data she could manage in her life time. She set off confident enough and for 10 years she worked towards her goal and was successful in what she wanted to achieve.

She became well known for being a researcher that worked in the field, going to place most others wouldn’t dare, and bringing back information that only helped expand the knowledge that others had already gathered. She was living the dream life she always wanted and couldn’t have asked for more. 

When she was 25 when she stumbled across the strange being known as Yang. Appearing as a human like creature with a deer skull for head this strange being intrigued the woman with its ability to bend reality in strange ways seeming to disappear and reappear at will. She had never encountered such a creature before and as a result wanted to learn more about it. At first the research started from a distance. Kadjatu would mark spots where she saw the strange creature appear, visiting them daily just to see if she could catch a glimpse of the odd being.

Some days the creature would not appear, but on days when it did she would follow it from a distance observing the way it interacted with the world around it in a child like manner; however, as soon as it noticed she was around, it would disappear leaving her to have to start her research another day.

She repeated the process for weeks finding the research fascinating to say the least; however, she knew that in order to get more she would have to get closer to the creature, but how when it disappeared every time she noticed it? She tried various methods of hiding and masking her scent and presence to try to get close the creature, but each time she was found out and the creature would vanish.

After two months of trying to get close to the creature with no success, Kadjatu gave up on ever completing her study of the creature. Feeling depressed and disappointed, she prepared to pack up her camp site she had been using for the research and go back to hand in her partial research. However, as she turned to leave, she would find the strange being standing a few feet away from her watching her with those strange black eyes it had.

A bit surprised, Kadjatu attempted to approach the creature, but just like all other times it disappeared…but then immediately reappeared in another spot watching her. Curious, Kadjatu began following the creature about. Wherever it reappeared she would go to until she found herself before a strange crack in reality. Looking over at the creature that led her here, she would take notice of the creature pointing at the crack like it wanted her to go in and against her better judgement, she did just that.

On the other side of this crack was a world unlike any other. It was a world where reality was out the window and time itself had no home here. She wandered the ever changing landscape wondering why the creature had pointed her there in the first place, but never found an answer. A bit uncertain, she tried to go back to her world, but couldn’t find exit. She became lost in the place and over time became part of the place.

It started with her body shifting into a creature that better suited the strangeness of the place. Then her mind slowly went as she turned fear into curiosity and curiosity into obsession as she study the place around her learning the in and outs of the place. She stayed so long that she forgot she was human or that she was searching for a reason for Yang choosing her to come into this world in the first place. She became a resident of the world, her mind slipping into what some would call insanity as she began to take a liking towards experiments not really caring about the consequences as she worked towards results.

Kadjatu lost who she was in her long years within the Dreamland and became the creature known as Akumu Yume. The being might’ve stayed in the Dreamland, if it hadn’t stumbled upon a lost soul within the land that reminded her of the creature that sent them into this world to begin with.

Ying, a gentle spirit in the form of a strange human with a fox like skull for a head, was trapped in the Dream World against her will. She had been pulled from the world of Reality by an Nightmare that wanted her for her healing powers and also wanted her to be his bride. She did not wish to serve or marry the Nightmare and only sought to escape and be with the one she loved, but she had no way of doing such a thing.

The Nightmare that had her was powerful and would not let the gentle spirit go. However, power did not matter to Akumu who had a strong desire to see the creature free. So using the powerful Nightmare’s greed against him, Akumu created a lavish dinner for the Nightmare under the pretense that she just wanted to talk to him about a trade. However within the food were ingredients that put the Nightmare to sleep and in turn allowed Akumu to take Ying for itself.

Working with Ying, Akumu managed to get to a crack where they could cross over into Reality. Back in Reality, Akumu found itself feeling excited and scared of the place that tugged at memories buried deepwithin. The emotions confused the creature and in turn burnt in it a desire to stay in Reality and figure out what it all meant. This desire was only solidified when Ying asked the creature to help her find her loved one Yang within this world and unite them.

In turn for helping her, the spirit would allow Akumu to use her powers in whatever way it wanted. Finding the hunt and the deal of using another intriguing, Akumu agreed to the task seeing the deal as an even better excuse to not return to the Dream Realm and instead begin their research and experiments anew in a place that was both familiar and unfamiliar to them.




Name of Species: Beings of Surreality
Kingdom: Concept
Phylum: Sentient
Class: Being
Order: Surreality
Families: Nightmare
Species: Dreamweaver

Baseline Dimension: A Surreal Being may take on any size and change it at will.

Baseline Appearance: A Surreal Being may take on any form and change it at will.

Culture/Origin of Species:
DEFINITION OF SURREALITY ▲ having the disorienting, hallucinatory quality of a dream; unreal; fantastic: | See Plato's Allegory of the Cave

POSITION AND POINT ▲ Ever flowing and ever changing exists a world where the only constant is inconsistency. It is the first world and in a way, the two-dimensional real world. Surreality and Reality coincide as different shadows cast by two different lights but share the same target object that even casts the silhouettes. However, the two remain very distant and cannot even be considered parallel worlds by logical standards. The glimpses that those of Reality receive of Surreality are often referred to as “Imagination”. Of the many means of seeing Surreality, one of the most common ‘areas’ to peer into is Dreamland, during REM.

DREAMLAND ▲ Dreamland is the specific point in Surreality where one from Reality sees while asleep. It is narrow and small compared to the rest of the massive unworld. Unlike most other points and states of Surreality, Dreamland is slightly more structured and can be somewhat logically fathomed. It maintains a shifting civilization under powerful rulership to keep it partially organized. The point of this kingdom is to keep too much Surreality from slipping into the minds of Reality, which could be devastating to both the unworld and the world. As such, agents of Dreamland regulate what can and cannot be seen. The agents filter what passes through the gray area often referred to as the “Wall” or the “Fire”.

BEINGS OF SURREALITY ▲ Figures, shapes, ideas, and concepts within Surreality sometimes begin to take on a solid mind, becoming sentient and self aware. The beings specifically pointed in Dreamland often evolve to assume the duties of a general agent or being under rulership of the Dream King-- the biggest and most powerful force of energy with purpose to protect what passes through the Fire. The top tier dreams do not have spirits, souls, bodies, or any true 'forms' to be perceived by others. They exist barely as an "un-essence", and some may choose to take more specific forms than others.

REVERIES ▲ Most sentient surrealism falls directly under the Dream King’s will upon entering the point of Dreamland. The state of existence becomes best known as a “Dream” and is given authority over regulating what glimpses Reality may inevitably see of the unworld. The Dreams that fall directly under the will of the Dream King are often referred to as “Reveries”.

NIGHTMARES ▲ On rare occasions a sentient being of surreality or dream may fall outside the will of the Dream King. When this happens, they tend to grow more destructive in nature and are referred to as “Nightmares”. Without the energy the Dream King gives to Reveries for them to survive, Nightmares must seek out alternative sources. Most often, this comes in the form of negative energy which they may receive by revealing the “forbidden” aspects of Surreality to the eyes and minds of Reality. They are actively chased and hunted down by Reveries.

TYPES OF REVERIES ▲

Agents ▲ True Reveries. Fully connected to the will of the Dream King, these dreams are the bulk of the force that regulates the thin Fire between the world and the unworld. The Agents of Dreamland hold almost infinite power over their piece of Surreality.

Daydreams ▲ Weaker dreams that are well connected to the will of the Dream King, Daydreams are often seen outside of REM. They are spotted as fleeting glimpses at any hour.

Phantasies ▲ Shreds of surreality that are loosely connected to the Dream King seldom appear, often only as flavoring to Agents during REM and Daydream spottings. Because of their loose connection to the will of the Dream King, they can be cut off or corrupted rather easily.

TYPES OF NIGHTMARES ▲

Dreamweavers ▲ Sentient Dreams of Dreamland that have lost all their connection to the will of the Dream King. They have sovereign power over much of Surreality. Any strong beings in Surreality that exist outside Dreamland but find their way in are often labeled Dreamweavers by default.

Terrors ▲ Weaker nightmares that only hold power within REM, Terrors exist as the common bulk of those that rebel against the will of the Dream King.

Nachtmyrr ▲ Phantasies that have fully detached from the will of the Dream King or become corrupted become Nachtmyrr, a weak variety of Nightmare. They have a difficult time fueling themselves to stay alive and possess little capacity to control or hold power in Dreamland.

THE CRACK IN THE FIREWALL ▲ With the constant mussing of the fabrics and boundaries of Dreamland and Surreality, a tear in the place that separates the world from the unworld has been discovered. Because of the crack, the imaginative realm has been easily slipping into the physical realm, converting Surreality to Reality as it moves. Not anyone can fit through the crack nor is it so easily discovered. Thus far, the Reveries and Dream King work to repair it while the Nightmares attempt to exploit it, wishing to fade their unworld into the new world to be discovered.

SURREALISM MEETS REALITY ▲ When the Nightmares interact with Reality, they are met with a great new source of power and fuel. With negative energy being fairly hard to come by in Dreamland without provoking it, the physical realm is appealing to any Nightmare with its overabundance of 'food'. A key means to further hunting down their prey is dragging what they can of Surreality into Reality, solidifying its existence and catering to the emotions of others, almost always for the worse. Reveries attempt to vanquish all Nightmares that enter the physical realm by hunting them down.

Traits:
• Dream Beings may access, enter, and control dreams of anything that is capable of dreaming. They may also make any sentient being fall asleep at will. For this to be done on player characters, OOC permission is needed.

• A Surreal Being has the ability to read, directly speak to, and sometimes control the memories and minds of others. Speaking to is possible with telepathy, in any voice they wish. Controlling and reading must have player character OOC permission.

• Surreal Concepts are essentially immortal, unable to die of old age or via traditional means. This also gives them +3 Resilience. They may be destroyed, however, with the proper practices made against surreality. Upon a basic demise, they go back to Surreality and can return after regaining their energy, if their conceptual essence remains intact

• Surreal Beings may traverse space and sometimes time at will. Time is tricky and can get them stuck in between the fabrics easily, thus they avoid doing so. They may move between reality and surreality whenever they like.

• A dream has no soul or mind to be manipulated, destroyed, peered into, or not. Should one try to use a soul or mind based power, they will be met with dizzying confusion and disorder where the dream's soul or mind should be.

• Imagination gains power from words spoken to it. Dream Beings may bring anything spoken aloud to reality. With the endlessness of the unworld, Surreality, Dream Beings may channel concepts or objects from Surreality to Reality, manifesting whatever they like in the real world, be it everyday objects, places, or perhaps attacks in battle. Doing this wears down the wall, however. Reveries will avoid it due to it making more rips and cracks in the fabric between worlds. Nightmares may do it maliciously (often materializing someone's fears), but run a high risk of alerting the Dream King and Agents of their whereabouts.

• Surreal Beings may take on whatever form they wish, in whichever dimension or plane they choose. Many prefer ambiguous forms, such as inanimate shapes, lines, planes, etc. Others may take a solid visible form that may interact well with reality.

Flaws:
• Reveries and Nightmares both get their power and life energy from a source. Reveries get it from the Dream King, Nightmares get it from negative emotions. A lack of contact with the Dream King or the world of Surreality for a prolonged period of time can weaken a Reverie or kill it off after too long. Lack of sufficient negative energy for a Nightmare can weaken or kill it. As such, Reveries take plenty of downtime in their home to regain their energy, while Nightmares must go out of their way to provoke or stir up negativity to feed on. Their feeding does not remove negative emotions from the air, simply takes the energy and power they have to offer.

• Beings of Surreality cannot truly associate with Reality on a fundamental level. While they can create a form that can touch it, they are unable to take the life of those who are from Reality. They can, however, take the lives of spirits or other dimensional beings.

• Upon manifesting the Surreal in the physical world, Dreams spend a lot of energy and can grow weary quickly. Reveries risk breaking up the wall and losing energy, as well as the possibility that they may be forcibly returned to Surreality by the Dream King. Nightmares risk losing energy and also alerting Agents and the Dream King of where they are and what they are doing, thus allowing their enemies to potentially hunt them down and vanquish them.