Origins of the Nightmare Court

[Germaine]

A matter of simple curiosity: having always been a bit of a fan of the Nightmare Lands/Court and having also come up with a background for the Court's members awhile ago, I've recently begun to wonder about others' ideas on the subject. So, has anyone else here ever come up with info of their own on the identities, natures, or origins of the Nightmare Court and its members? I'm well aware of there being an BoS article that presents a theoretical origin for the Nightmare Man, but I'm more interested in other takes on the subject if anyone's willing to share.

[brothersale]

I believe there was some ideas bandy around the Ravenloft mailinglist and there is a re-write of the domain in the Nebula Obscura netbook

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

I haven't fleshed this out fully, but some time ago I had one of those ideas that seems so perfect you feel it almost _must_ be so. In my campaign, the Nightmare Court are simply the dream-selves run wild of 6 evil people living elsewhere in Ravenloft (and 1 in Gothic Earth) who are all cursed to be forever asleep. The only way to defeat the Nightmare Court is to wake them up in the real world and keep them from dreaming again (killing them would be one way).

There's also the theory that all the other members of the Court are fragments of the Nightmare Man's psyche, in which case, my idea would mean there'd be just one sleeping person responsible for dreaming all of it.

Not sure what anyone else thinks about it, but personally, I'm sold on the idea. Just need to flesh out who they are and what they did to merit their dream-selves becoming darklords.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

Personally, I've considered taking the opposite approach with the Nightmare Man IMC: that he doesn't have a published backstory because he actually has no backstory. He's not a man at all, but a constructed entity created by the Dark Powers, possibly as an experimental attempt to build a darklord rather than kidnap one. He doesn't remember this, or indeed anything before he appeared in the Nightmare Lands; his efforts to capture real emotion or hints of his own past, through painting and exploring the dreams of his victims, are doomed to failure.

The other Court members are dream-presences which he encountered in peoples' dreams, and found interesting or evocative enough to endow them with a fraction of his own power. He keeps hoping they'll scout out a dreamer whose visions will remind him of his lost "past", never suspecting he's just perpetuating the cycle by creating more constructs with no memory or awareness of their own artificial nature.

[Germaine]

That's certainly an intriguing concept and one that had never occurred to me. In this case, however, what reason do you see for the Dark Powers apparently making the Nightmare Man's "chosen companions" his co-darklords?

[Ryan Naylor]

I really think the Court are just aspects of the Nightmare Man. Whether his history is real or imagined by a construct, they're just fragments of his psyche.

[vipera aspis]

If you found a way to wake up the dreamers and dissolved the nightmare court? What would happen to the land? Would it become stable or begin to fade?

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

If you found a way to wake up the dreamers and dissolved the nightmare court? What would happen to the land? Would it become stable or begin to fade?

Like I said, I haven't worked out the details yet. I would guess standard "kill the darklord" rules apply. Either the Nightmare Lands fade away and dreamers throughout Ravenloft go back to regular, safe nightmares (Implications for the Abbers and other wanderers in the Nightmare Lands are unclear in this case.) or another strong-willed, evil dreamer takes the place over.

[Germaine]

it's nice to see, Ryan, that someone had at least partially the same idea as me. and here I thought had come up with an original idea...

[Jimsolo]

In my game they're definitely separate people rather than fragments of the Nightmare Man, but that is more because I like the idea of a domain with a Darklord oligarchy than because I have any dislike for the 'fragmented personality' theory. I like your idea, Gonzoron, and think it makes the most sense. Since it isn't a place I've ever really dealt with, I may look into this more and come up with some answers to apply to my own campaign. I like seeing everyone's different take on it.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

That's certainly an intriguing concept and one that had never occurred to me. In this case, however, what reason do you see for the Dark Powers apparently making the Nightmare Man's "chosen companions" his co-darklords?

It's not so much that the DPs endowed the Court members individually with power, IMC; it's more like they poured a bunch of power into an empty vessel, equipped it with a few basic drives and urges, and sent it out to haunt the dreams of mortals. In this interpretation, the Nightmare Man didn't even have a shape of his own until this presence invaded its first victim's dream; it could potentially have become anything, humanoid or otherwise, depending on what it encountered there. By sheer chance, that first dreamer had once been quite frightened by the sight of an extremely aged, stooped, gray-robed monk, who'd been dusting for cobwebs in a cathedral the victim visited as a toddler. Having taken his own form from that first, long-forgotten dreamer's 'scape, the NM then divvied up fragments of his own power into other dream-found shapes, to create more of his kind and populate his Court.

In this scenario, the Nightmare Court aren't necessarily full-fledged darklords in the same sense as the others, but more of a side-project of the DPs that was set aside because it hadn't worked as well as they'd planned. The Nightmare Man turned out to be less interesting than "found" villains -- he doesn't have the depth of personality or angst that the Dark Powers seem to prefer -- although he's useful enough that they didn't just discard him entirely. In effect, he's a surveillance system for the DPs: he and the lesser Court members provide a convenient means of keeping tabs on the collective unconscious, anxieties, and psyches of the Land's inhabitants.

As for the Nightmare Lands, they're more of a giant oubliette than a conventional domain, IMO. The Court aren't sufficiently-complex personalities to anchor a permanent realm -- they're more archetypes than individuals -- which is why their territory is so very unstable, even moreso than Easan's in some ways. Ironically, if one of the Abber ever turned evil enough to qualify for darklord status, he or she would probably steal the whole Island right out from under the Court ... except that (like Soth in his mirrors) no Abber would ever believe in his or her own domain strongly enough to anchor one, either!

[Nemesio]

Perhaps the original nightmare man was an obsessed dreamwalking Abber Nomad shaman whose endless peering into the dreams and nightmares of others resulted in him actually perceiving the true nature of the Dark Powers (or some other equally terrifying force). He could have subsequently went mad and been imprisoned within his distorted dreams for all eternity...keeping his knowledge safe from discovery...at least in the waking world....Curiosity killed the Abber Nomad.

And good luck trying to piece together his fragmented psyche which is represented by The rest of the Nightmare Court.
I agree with Ryan that they were intended to be mere aspects of the Nightmare man.

[High Priest Mikhal]

I have got to pay more attention. The Nightmare Court is my specialty.

IMC, where the Region of Dreams plays a bigger role than most suspect, the Nightmare Court is a part of a larger group of the same name tied to what lies at the Dreamheart: the Web of Dreams that connects all beings who dream. It's a source of unimaginable knowledge and power, but to be connected to it is to sacrifice everything for it. Worse still is that constant sustenance in the form of dream energy must be cultivated. Cultivating nightmares is actually the easiest way but is corrupting in the extreme. Cultivating the personal demons of others makes one a demon as well. Figuratively speaking. It would take too long to go into each member here, but I will write up new entries for them in Van Richten's Guide to Psionics since dreams and the powers of the mind are so closely linked.

[Nemesio]

I have got to pay more attention. The Nightmare Court is my specialty.

IMC, where the Region of Dreams plays a bigger role than most suspect, the Nightmare Court is a part of a larger group of the same name tied to what lies at the Dreamheart: the Web of Dreams that connects all beings who dream. It's a source of unimaginable knowledge and power, but to be connected to it is to sacrifice everything for it. Worse still is that constant sustenance in the form of dream energy must be cultivated. Cultivating nightmares is actually the easiest way but is corrupting in the extreme. Cultivating the personal demons of others makes one a demon as well. Figuratively speaking. It would take too long to go into each member here, but I will write up new entries for them in Van Richten's Guide to Psionics since dreams and the powers of the mind are so closely linked.

Sounds like we are on just about the same page then. I can't wait to read your stuff.

[A G Thing]

I always thought that the Nightmare Man was kind of like Freddy Kruger in that he appears and is attracted to dreamers in a sense, and that the original person or thing that became the Nightmare Man was some artist that wanted to create something lasting and expressive but his dreams were too great and dark for his mortal means. He was brilliant and beyond many but also never satisfied with mediocre results or slow methods and was often spontaneous but believed himself smarter and more enlightened than other people. He used them for his art and fun simply to prove his superiority and also with visions of a world where his expression would not be hindered by closed minds. He removed obstacles with wondrously horrible magics and methods that seemed plucked straight from the impossible landscapes of his mind but the results were never as he desired. Eventually in desperation to see his dreams realized and also finally prove he could make his dreams reality he tried to express himself in reality by using the raw stuff of dreams. It was terrible enough that when he was slain by the outraged folk his memory lived on in nightmares and stories that made more nightmares.

The Nightmare Man now trapped in dreams longs to affect the world again in a meaningful way but can only do so in dreams and through others. He enters these peoples minds and tries to make them manifest his dreams once again in reality. However most people were only good enough for a few strokes of each masterpiece and for all his new power and prowess he was stifled by their waking minds inability to grasp his true vision. He soon began to wonder why he could not mold these simple creatures minds to what he needed them to be and found that new methods would be required. He needed assistance to handle so many minds at once and so he searched for those he could bring into the project that would compliment his own vision and help him create his dream in reality. Those he could bend into tools and even disciples that could be what he needed them to be. Minds like his that would simply be able to move pieces how he needed so that he could finally bring his grand tapestry that had now expanded to the whole world to reality.

So he found warped individuals that not only aided his works but also inspired dreams of dread that he could use to slowly move the dreamers of reality into seeing his dark masterpiece achieved. Each member of the court brings another set of hands and some needed vision to the project and each one can be used like a brush to paint a dark mosaic that slowly becomes more and more close to what he desires.

His masterpiece however is outside of his grasp because he cannot be inspired as easily by his immortal and non human state than he was by his once mortal life. He finds moments of brilliance and inspiration fleeting and must act on them all the while keeping his court in check. He is never satisfied with minor successes and longs to see the finished work and anything short of that gives simply a fading amount of satisfaction.

The members of the court while also glad for their powers have similar hang ups and drawbacks and their focuses and areas of interest also lend to make their curses tied to their wants to affect the world outside of dreams. They as things of dream now stay alive by placing themselves in the dreams of others. Still they also have their own ambitions and yet they must strike a fine balance between their desires and the desires of the Nightmare Man. For all their genius in their own areas they plan by specialty and yet the Nightmare Man while not inspired can outmaneuver their singular methods easily due to still being more diverse in his knowledge of the dreamworlds and also raw power. On their paths their five steps ahead but the Nightmare Man has planned even for that as he sees their dark dreams and uses them for his own ends. It may be rare that the court works together willingly but often they serve the Nightmare Man without knowing it, even when they try not to.

Just a bit of what I had been spit-balling in my mind on how I handled their backgrounds a bit. Still I do like to leave them vague enough as well to keep players guessing!