V. Of the Structure of Our World
The gods are now unpopular with the sentient and so there are no gods – we are ruled by the emotions and whims of the sentient.
And so there is structure now.
There must be.
We use the cardinal directions like they do in the land of the sentient.
In the South we have contained the Wandering Dead
those lost souls that are unable to take on tasks because of their continued attachment to the land of the living.
They are allowed to wander there for the years or millenia it takes for them to be forgotten
wiped from existence.
In the Northeast are the Wildlands
It is our attempt to confine any and every occurrence of an aberrant creature in these lands so as not to disturb the existence of those other ideas that are of importance to the sentient.
The sentient do not care about order in this way
Though, perhaps, they should.
Those Unfiltered that are new to the world of dreams
The fresh and the reimagined
Appear at the edge of the Wildlands
To rise, fall, or move in the way that they are destined.
In the Northwest is Fear.
Every dream and emotion associated.
They stay and propagate together
bounded by the sentient dead
It is a tribal part of our world because of the old places those feelings reside in the minds of the sentient.
Fear is an old and somber ruler who takes his duties seriously and is never swayed from the task at hand.
In the West is Imagination
Dreams bound by nothing and no one except unpredictability and exploring the far reaches of what is possible in this place.
Imagination rules capriciously in a manner similar to chaos.
She is a trickster and has often grown her kingdom by duping others.
In the Southwest is Daydream and Lucid Dreaming
As far as possible from the Wildlands.
This is the place considered by most in the land of the living to be happy.
Two-headed ruler, endless fun and connection
They are known for their openness with those who are lucid and their accommodation of those only here for a short time.
In the West is Joy and all of the positive dreams of the sentient.
Joy has no form and is more accurately described as an infection of the mind.
Everywhere and in all things at once but often silent.
Joy is cautious and often curious about those that appear long term
Very few do
Nightmare roils at magnetic center.
A storm that attacks the other realms on whim.
No one has seen Nightmare.
Above is Light and below is Darkness.
Twins
And the only among us who have been since the beginning
They have not been seen for a time
But remain
We know not what they do or how they do it.
There are duties and roles and jobs for those of the sentient dead that are waiting to be forgotten.
There is a system made by those here who have become the gatekeepers of this place.
Not the gods or the dreams but the ideas that have been ever present in the minds of the sentient for a time.
There is leadership from Joy and from Fear and from Light and from Darkness and from and from Dream and from Imagination and from Logic
And from Nightmare
That rolling black cloud that is at the center of this world.
There is balance.
In the space between Joy and the Wildlands
in a small spot in the strip of the Unfiltered and bounded on all sides are the records of all of us.
It is managed by a being created for the primary purpose of conserving it.
It is not to be read by any other.
It is not to be destroyed.
It is this story and all others in existence from the beginning until our end.
It is the Book of Dreams.