2WayParadox
Sage
Some explanation is needed to clarify this thread's title.
PS: The question is at the bottom, so you can scroll down if you like, but it won't make a lot of sense to you.
I have a world called the Sphere. The Sphere is a dreamworld that has just one city, called Naimar. The Sphere exists within the mind of the Dreamer, and its inhabitants are called Somnolents. The Somnolents are aware that if the Dreamer were to wake up, they would cease to exist. In order to prevent that, they consistently make it impossible for the Dreamer to go to sleep within the Spere. They lock him up within some kind of torment that keeps him awake so they're safe for another while. The Somnolents can also affect the Sphere through a dream-magic system (that I haven't worked out yet).
The Dreamer is still the creator of the Sphere, so he has power over it. To mark the end of every year, there is an event called the Telling. A female voice sounds throughout the Sphere and tells a story, a bedtime story. It is believed within the Sphere that the Teller is the Dreamer's mother. Each Telling has significant consequences for the Sphere.
The area around Naimar never changes and is believed to reflect the nature around the Dreamer's home. The rest of the Sphere, the Outer Sphere, changes after each Telling. After the last Telling, the 399th, the Outer Sphere turned into desert riddled with caves and robbers (this is not a definitive choice yet).
After every Telling, the Dreamer is disturbed and breaks free from the bonds that the Somnolents have put on him. He roams the Sphere, trying to escape, not knowing that he can only go to sleep in the small cottage where he first woke up within the Sphere. In later years, after the horrors the Somnolents forced him to go through, the Dreamer appears to have lost reason. He starts attacking the Somnolents and using whatever the last Telling conjured against them.
This turn of events changed the Sleepers, one of two religious cults in Naimar. The main cult is called the Wake and is focused on subdueing the Dreamer. The Sleepers originated from within Naimar itself. The Somnolents don't need to worry about food, enough grows around Naimar to support them. They need just harvest it. They have a lot of free time consequently. Some have picked up a trade, but most live a life that could be compared to that of an addict.
Dreams are the life blood of Naimar's social life. A Seed is a dream that one person plants in another's sleeping mind. Passionate couples never sleep at the same time, instead they take turns in giving each other a Seed. To come back to the origin of the Sleepers, some people have succeeded in what is called a Root. It is a Seed so strong that the victim can no longer escape his sleep. It is considered to be death within Naimar. The sleeping bodies are stored below ground by the Sleepers. They don't decay, they just sleep forever. The Sleepers investigate each case through the application of Blooms, which are dreams projected on the cornea of anyone nearby. An investigator will skillfully manipulate the Bloom to reveal information stored in the suspect's unconscious.
After the Dreamer became aggressive, the Sleepers began advocating letting the Dreamer sleep. They expressed scepticism that the Dreamer's Waking would mean their destruction. The cruelty has to stop in their eyes.
This brings me to the present. The 400th Telling has come, and the Dreamer is loose again. The Wake will send out parties to track down and subdue the Dreamer. The Sleepers however will try to smuggle the Dreamer inside Naimar, so he can sleep and escape the Sphere.
My story's plot will revolve around this struggle between the Sleepers and the Wake.
What I'm having trouble with though is coming up with bedtime stories which can be twisted into creepy stuff (the desert and robbers come from Ali Baba's story, but this is in no way a fixed choice). I only need two. One less important one for the start of the story, and another more important one for the remainder of the story.
So here's my question: After reading the setting, what bedtime stories do your brain juices suggest and why? I'm toying with the idea of something set in modern times, since anything to do with modern times and modern technologies will be foreign to the Somnolents. It would also add to the weirdness of the story.
PS: The question is at the bottom, so you can scroll down if you like, but it won't make a lot of sense to you.
I have a world called the Sphere. The Sphere is a dreamworld that has just one city, called Naimar. The Sphere exists within the mind of the Dreamer, and its inhabitants are called Somnolents. The Somnolents are aware that if the Dreamer were to wake up, they would cease to exist. In order to prevent that, they consistently make it impossible for the Dreamer to go to sleep within the Spere. They lock him up within some kind of torment that keeps him awake so they're safe for another while. The Somnolents can also affect the Sphere through a dream-magic system (that I haven't worked out yet).
The Dreamer is still the creator of the Sphere, so he has power over it. To mark the end of every year, there is an event called the Telling. A female voice sounds throughout the Sphere and tells a story, a bedtime story. It is believed within the Sphere that the Teller is the Dreamer's mother. Each Telling has significant consequences for the Sphere.
The area around Naimar never changes and is believed to reflect the nature around the Dreamer's home. The rest of the Sphere, the Outer Sphere, changes after each Telling. After the last Telling, the 399th, the Outer Sphere turned into desert riddled with caves and robbers (this is not a definitive choice yet).
After every Telling, the Dreamer is disturbed and breaks free from the bonds that the Somnolents have put on him. He roams the Sphere, trying to escape, not knowing that he can only go to sleep in the small cottage where he first woke up within the Sphere. In later years, after the horrors the Somnolents forced him to go through, the Dreamer appears to have lost reason. He starts attacking the Somnolents and using whatever the last Telling conjured against them.
This turn of events changed the Sleepers, one of two religious cults in Naimar. The main cult is called the Wake and is focused on subdueing the Dreamer. The Sleepers originated from within Naimar itself. The Somnolents don't need to worry about food, enough grows around Naimar to support them. They need just harvest it. They have a lot of free time consequently. Some have picked up a trade, but most live a life that could be compared to that of an addict.
Dreams are the life blood of Naimar's social life. A Seed is a dream that one person plants in another's sleeping mind. Passionate couples never sleep at the same time, instead they take turns in giving each other a Seed. To come back to the origin of the Sleepers, some people have succeeded in what is called a Root. It is a Seed so strong that the victim can no longer escape his sleep. It is considered to be death within Naimar. The sleeping bodies are stored below ground by the Sleepers. They don't decay, they just sleep forever. The Sleepers investigate each case through the application of Blooms, which are dreams projected on the cornea of anyone nearby. An investigator will skillfully manipulate the Bloom to reveal information stored in the suspect's unconscious.
After the Dreamer became aggressive, the Sleepers began advocating letting the Dreamer sleep. They expressed scepticism that the Dreamer's Waking would mean their destruction. The cruelty has to stop in their eyes.
This brings me to the present. The 400th Telling has come, and the Dreamer is loose again. The Wake will send out parties to track down and subdue the Dreamer. The Sleepers however will try to smuggle the Dreamer inside Naimar, so he can sleep and escape the Sphere.
My story's plot will revolve around this struggle between the Sleepers and the Wake.
What I'm having trouble with though is coming up with bedtime stories which can be twisted into creepy stuff (the desert and robbers come from Ali Baba's story, but this is in no way a fixed choice). I only need two. One less important one for the start of the story, and another more important one for the remainder of the story.
So here's my question: After reading the setting, what bedtime stories do your brain juices suggest and why? I'm toying with the idea of something set in modern times, since anything to do with modern times and modern technologies will be foreign to the Somnolents. It would also add to the weirdness of the story.