Character Sheet
God
God Name: Haddock
Title: God of Sleep, Lord of the Poppy, Host to the Fae Courts, Master of the Dream World
Gender: Male
Alignment: Neutral
Personality: Capricious, moody, and often prone to shifting obsessions with the spinning of the stars overhead, Haddock is as volatile, mysterious, and all at once removed as any dream might be. Ever does he seem a man in the grip of poppy sleep, a vast imagination and vibrant mind clouded with dream-like euphoria.
Opinion of mortals: Mortals spend half their lives in slumber, and so they are His for all that time. They are his people just as much as any other god's, and is friend to the waking folk.
God’s Domain: The Realm of Dreams. When the will of creation gave rise to the first of the gods, and through them formed the cosmos, so too did the dreams of gods and their mortal races begin to coalesce with those of a vibrant and eager creation. Haddock, young and already too late to stake claim to the wonders his fellows had fashioned into being, instead turned to this sprawling, formless, and indefinite space of wonder and terror. Here he was free to shape and create to his heart's content, his moods and whims giving shape and form to the dreams of god and mortal.
It was here that Haddock chose to reside when war became inevitable between his kinsmen, not wishing to deprive mortal or god from their reprieve into the land of slumber in the midst of such chaos. But alas, so great and divine a conflict could not be contained to the waking world alone. It was here, that the nascent and primal nightmares of mortal races soon took new and terrible forms. The destruction and wanton slaughter which can only be in war of god and mortal brought with it inspiration to the dark and fearful minds of mortal beings. Soon, masses of monstrous and vile creatures began to spew from dense and writhing forests of primordial darkness. Lord though he was within the realm of dreams, even Haddock could not defend the dreamers alone. So he took hold of the flighty and fantastical thoughts and passions of the mortal races to form his own peoples: The Fae.
Beautiful and mysterious as himself, with the wild passions and dark mischief, the fae would be his bannermen and warriors in combat against the cantankerous and frumious whatsits and whytherefores of the ever growing sprawl of gnarled trees, massive mushrooms, and backwards being. To lead his newfound companions, Haddock forged from the very essence of dream and thought the Vorpal Blade. A sword of gleaming silver and mesmerizing beauty, which could cut through the newfound shape of nightmares, banishing those dark and terrible thoughts back where they should lie. For despite all his power, the Lord of Poppies new that such things could never be destroyed, merely returned to the shapeless muck from which they spawned. At last, with the war in the waking world come to close, and the gods once again (more or less) in harmony, his own realm returned to its peaceful and wonder-like beauty.
Yet, it would forever be changed. Ever a realm easy to enter though sleep and the waking dreams of sacred poppies and lotus (among various other substances), the newly established Fae Courts now resided upon the border to the waking world and its wild places, where mortals dreamt of strange and curious somethings. They were bulwark in defense of the Dream Cities of mortal and god, where those who slumbered would shed their earthly bodies to live anew in the land of Haddock the Dreamer. Past the vast cityscapes, great sorcerous towers, emerald rivers, and fields of poppies lied the dark and wild places of dream and thought: the Yonderland. Here were nightmares and wild fantasies ever bred and spread beyond the sight of most, save those who dared to walk its wondrous trails and backwoods. Never wholly vile, here could be found the untamed and boundless imagination of creation itself. Lastly, with the first death of a god, and the first queen of the underworld, came rise to the gloomy and mist-haunted plains of solace. It is here that those dreamers who die in the lull of sleep must walk, one last time through the fantastic world of dreams into their grim afterlife.
Avatar Name: The Prince of Cups, The Lotus Eater
Avatar Appearance: A swarthy satyr, adorned with a crown of lotus feathers and laden with bags and barrels full of intoxicants. He carries a silver chalice etched with poppies and owls.
Personality: Jovial, mischievous, and eager to share the bounty of Haddock with those who dare partake.
Magic Abilities: With him he carries the Cup of Dreams, a common motif in the mysteries of Haddock, filled to the brim with the milk of poppies and leaves of lotus. To sup from the cup shall bring visions fantastic and mind shattering, depending on the mind of the supplicant. Some have been known to die of fright or despair from the things they have witnessed. Its fumes brings the mind into a waking dream, where one might leave behind the body to enter the Realm of Dreams as their waking selves. There they might explore the beauties of Haddock's kingdom, and from there perhaps seek audience with the Lord of Sleep. A more daring mortal might seek to brave the Yonderland to find the very heart of creative will which spawns monsters and beauties alike, or the planes of Solace to enter the realm of Death as a living creature.
Hero(es): The Youth
Rank/Reason: Keeper of the Vorpal Blade, Bravest in the Yonderland, Bane of Nightmares
Personality: The youth is not a specific individual, rather a concept and dream figure which ever rises to meet the horrors of nightmare both dreaming and waking worlds. They are valorous, anxious, and live a life of hardship leading to the ultimate test of heroism and virtue. There and then shall the youth be granted the Vorpal Blade, and clad in armor the likes of which might only be dreamed. From there they shall go forth to do battle with the foul and night-haunted things of the realms. When they fall or their task completed, the blade once again returns to the side of Haddock, who will wait for another to wield it.
Terrain Preference: The vistas of the dream world are as divergent and wondrous as the creatures and peoples that inhabit it. From metropolitan splendor, to the deep and writhing gloom of darkened forests, those who live their sleeping life find themselves in a world both familiar and fantastic.
Name of Kingdom/Empire: None
Other: As one might expect, the God of Sleep does not have a nation dedicated to his mysteries within the waking world. He already has the land of dreams and thoughts to govern. Instead, small cults and solitary priests contemplate his mysteries in individual temples and shrines within communities across various nations. They partake of the poppy and the lotus flowers, their milks and dusts creating the euphoric and psychadelic hallucinations over which their chosen god alone holds domain. For sleep and the waking dreams of these plants and their kin are ever potent, and not to be undertaken lightly. It is said that in such states they might be gifted visions from Haddock the Dreamer, and may often act as oracles for those outside the faith.