~:.:"Aah, yes, Oneiros. A land of great wonder, permeated by magic and altered by its dimensional closeness to the Primal Realm. But alas, even as the Dreamers of Piqe bring prosperity and hope back to The Realm we've already seen the wretched horrors the Cult of Nightmares have brought to life. The doom they intend to bring back to the land. I'll have you know the Nightmares which ravaged Oneiros for so long were terrible indeed, I would know, I travelled through there for a short time and after I left without a look back. If possible, we should move against any efforts to return The Realm to that state. I vote in action against The Cult":.:~ Bayuk The Traveller, speaking at a Society meeting circa 584 AEN
The Realm of Oneiros[]
(( Deputies Log starting 20 Clearskies,585AEN ))
(( Omak Adventure Log starting, 586AEN ))
Oneiros is a temperate region of Acrea in the northern hemisphere, connected to The City States of Noth by the land bridge to the north and the "Gate to the Inner Sea" so to speak; the capital of Oneiros, Throne, is situated near the Inner Seas only access to the Great ocean. **Baltese across the gap to the south maintains the other half of "control" over the Inner Sea. Together Oneiros and Baltese ensure its free use to all.
For many years, spanning from ~209 AEN and ~436AEN The Land of Oneiros struggled under the turmoil of Nightmare. After 200 years of glorious, astounding progress the country was struck low. A number of catastrophes put The Realm reeling onto it's back foot, a pox began spreading near the Deep Wood and lochs around Omak. The "savage" tribes and the dwarves of both the Bowl Ridge mountains to the south and the Breaking Mountains to the north west were assaulted by beasts driven from underground and the DeepWoods surounding them in a mad terror as they raged away from their homes. But before The Knights of The Realm could deal with these catastrophes a horror struck the country low; The Royal family was slain, assassinated in the night. But to call it an assassination gives the event far too much grace, it was a massacre, a culling.
One of the only times disaster struck within The Soaring Walls, the heart and soul of The Realm was torn from within and cast into the dark.
Some entity infiltrated the grounds of The Royal Palace and without alerting the greater city, killed every living thing within its walls.
By all evidence this was a prolonged and extremely devastating battle, the Palace sustained incredible structure damage and many of the scenes left behind were of battle. A terribly onesided and cruel battle, but a battle none the less.
There were burns and magical residue all across the grounds marking the path of destruction as the Royal Mages worked their power to no avail.
Over three thousand souls were passed on to Carroth from our Material Realm that night.
Yet not a soul of the city witnessed a thing.
The Knights of The Realm put their most experienced Inquisitors to the task, even attempting the most experimental processes to divine what occurred that night. Scenes of horrible slaughter and the maddening cries of their tortured and dying brethren were their only reward, not a sign of the perpetrator.
Of the civilian population nearly all were afflicted with terrible nightmares that night, an inquiry was made by the College of Signs into the dreams which occurred, cataloguing the nightmares and looking for patterns or clues to the butchery that had occurred.
As the tide of the realm turned from Dream to Nightmare the weather turned against them, the days were darker and shorter, the lands grew more fallow and the beasts became more vicious and hungry.
Then the Nightmares returned, bursting forth from fears of The Realms people to do terrible harm and wreak bloody havoc on the land.
Thus, the death of the Royal Line of Folix marked the beginning of The Realms fall back to Nightmare.
For years Oneiros was a blighted land, home to nothing but the hardest coldest fighters and survivors. Generation after generation had been brutaly hunted by The Nightmares, savagely tearing away all but the strongest from this life to fuel their own eldritch souls.
Then in 435 AEN the Piqe line of Royal Dreamers ascended to the Throne of The Realm making a grand turning point in the history of The Realm. King Richard Piqe, along with his Queen Alessia and his brother Eobard Piqe formed The Knights of The Realm and began the first crusade against The Nightmares which had plagued The Realm for so long.
Over his reign they hunted down the most brutal, slow and witless Nightmares allowing the people of The Realm to flourish once more across the open plains and lightly forested regions of The Realm.
For two generations Richard Piqe held the throne, ruling justly and with great wisdom. His hope and ambition for The Realm filled his dreams and elevated The Realm into a new age of prosperity. Blessed with longevity and health Richard Piqe had but one child, Amos Piqe, and with his birth the benefits of the Dreamers were extended and renewed.
But those bitter with loss and fear stewed, forever touched by the Nightmares they were forced to endure. And their psychic stain festered in the dark and forgotten corners of The Realm. And as time passed their twisted recollections of their past tainted further generations. Rumors that ridding The Realm of Nightmares was in fact drawing the conquering eyes of foreign powers began to spread. The Realm of Oneiros was now a land of the weak and frail hearted, how The Realm had fallen into complacency and now bred nothing but livestock for the slaughter as they saw it.
The Cult of Nightmares began to grow, like a mold it spread in the dark and neglected places.
It was first recognized by The Realm in 499:AEN as they launched small simultaneous attacks across the entire country, marking the birth of their Cult.
Since then the powers of The Realm have fought them back with vigor and heart, each day they go to war with The Cult over the soul of The Realm.
And each day they lose a small fraction more of it.
Today, 585:AEN our Prince William Piqe is The Realms last Royal Dreamer and with The Cult of Nightmares as strong as they've ever been the forces of The Realm are on their back foot. Having killed King Amos Piqe and taken Prince Williams bride-to-be the Cult of Nightmares threatens the very fabric of The Realm as Prince William The Dreamer is pushed closer and closer to Nightmare.