Overview: Nightmares are incredibly dangerous manifestations of the worst parts of humanity. Ravenous, only existing to feed off of pain and fear, and incapable of reasoning. There are only a handful of peaceful nightmares in few, specific locations around the world called Havens, with site D3 being connected to one of these havens. From towering beasts to mini spitfires, although preferring to keep one uniform identity, nightmares can take many different forms, the surface of their bodies slick and shifting with a dark, oily sheen. They have three “forms” or phases. In the latter two phases nightmares have incredibly dangerous, highly venomous spines lining their body and/or head. If you are stung by a nightmare seek immediate medical attention at site A3. Phase One; Moonstruck: These are the traditional “nightmares” nearly everyone is familiar with, if not with added stakes. In this phase the nightmare has not entered the astral plane yet nor the real world, instead living in the minds of humans. It might not be fully formed, its identity changing from night to night, but it can still do damage. Some people have reported headaches and nausea while others have experienced dramatic and damaging symptoms after a violent nightmare such as physical injuries, hallucinations no more than 3 weeks after the encounter, among other symptoms. Though these cases are exceedingly rare. Moonstruck nightmares are more often than not docile, only feeding off of the fear of the dream it provokes before moving on. Phase Two; Astral: Nightmares take on a more constant form, adorned with the characteristic spines that jut from its body. These spines are HIGHLY venomous and, should you survive being stung, leave a deep blue or black, web-like scar. Here a nightmare enters the astral plane, a state between dreams and the real world, or Origin, where it both grows more powerful and is the most vulnerable. This is the only window of time hunters are able to do their job and hunt down nightmares without the added complication of keeping normal people safe or minimizing damages that hunting a nightmare down in Origin would entail. Astral Nightmares differ significantly from Moonstruck behaviour-wise. Astral nightmares are aggressive and violent both towards each other and anyone approaching them. The only exception to this is a large region in the bottom left quadrant of the Astral plane where nightmares start to “migrate” towards the bottom left most furthest point. More research is requred. Phase Three; Lucid: Lucidity in Nightmares is one of the most dangerous things to happen if it occurs in Parallax. People will die, property will be damaged, and many may get injured. Lucidity manifests when a nightmare has grown strong enough to break through the Rift and into Origin. Once reaching this stage the nightmare becomes erratic and overly aggressive, while typically bigger than their Astral counterparts. In some instances a nightmare’s venomous spines have fallen off, replaced by a highly acidic mucus coating its body. Two things might happen in response to a Lucidity event. The first and most likely response would be for the Council to delegate hunters to kill the nightmare. In the case that the nightmare is, for some reason or another, able to be captured, it’ll be taken to A1 for research. Lucidity is rare and has yet to be properly studied. Topics Researchers are able to Study from this project: -Nightmare Migration Region -Nightmare Lucidity The project for researching these topics is coming soon!
