Of Dreamstrike and Nightmares

Of Dreamstrike and Nightmares...

Time moved ever forward. Dreamer continued to battle with dreamer, reducing enemies to dissolution on sight. Although there was no death in the dream, power could be eroded with every collapse. The carnage became so widespread that those of us who had been content to retire became alarmed. Our creation, the city itself, was being abused for the purpose of warfare.

A group of us determined to put an end to the conflict once and for all. They used their skills as Dreamwrights to new and deadly purpose. They would be forever remembered for their terrible creation as the Dreamstrike Masters. Dreamstrike was to be the ultimate punishment.

With their new power at the ready, they entered threshold and moved through it, defeating and Dream-striking dreamer after dreamer. This surprise assault became known as the Dreamstrike Offensive.

Through this I believe they changed the city forever. The anger and righteousness that had fueled the warring clans became fear. The greatest of the awakened retreated to the outer reaches of the lands. There they gathered in dingy caves and cast off temples. Some of us, had been so moved by loss and grief that we sought to soothe our own spirits by joining them. We left our own retreats and aided them in constructing great fortresses.

The open warring had been put down with the unleashing of Dreamstrike, but it would be only a brief calm before a new tempest.

Many of us were angered by the coming of this accursed gift. Some may have desired the power of it for themselves, but others truly empathized with those who had lost too much.

Some of those angered by the Dreamstrike Offensive looked outside the city for a new source of power to wield against those those masters they believed deserved punishment. They sought to focus and channel the raw energy of chaos from outside the city walls, thinking to use it to power their vengeance.

It seems that invoking this chaotic energy weakened the walls which formed a fragile barrier between the ordered city and the raw chaos outside. Small rips formed in this delicate fabric and suddenly new creatures pushed through these tears and into the city.

The dreamers could do nothing against the horror and carnage that swept over the city on what became known as the Day of the Savaging. A great multitude of horrors streamed over the face of our home, our world, and no dreamer was spared in their onslaught.

For the first time in a very long time, the eldest of us set aside our own opinions and worked together to protect what we could. We used our skills to create the first sanctuaries, structures of serenity and order which tore at the dark ones in ways most profound. Using all of our skill and craft we evaded the horde and set about fortifying the city with the new sanctuaries. These gave a foothold from which dreamers could stand against the destructive tide washing over the city.

We could aid them, but it fell to the various factions of the city to join together and deal with the threat of the nightmare invasion. They strengthened the fortresses as never before, and we worked to equip them with sanctuaries, armories, vaults and libraries, hoping that our efforts would allow them to outlast the seige.

- Aaronyes