Ghostees Writer’s Log: Background

Otherwhere

The Otherwhere is a world that coexists with the normal human world, intersecting it at certain places and times but otherwise only perceivable through its influence. In the Otherwhere the dreams, fantasies, and beliefs of the human world are given form and life. As to whether they are given their existence from our dreams, or our dreams are caused by their existence…no one knows.

The Seasonal Realms

For some unknown reason, the cycle of existence of the human world and the Otherwhere are linked. Our seasons are linked to specific regions in the Otherwhere, and as our world goes through its changes the Otherwhere comes into and out of alignment with us. The alignments are closest at certain times, and these times have been traditionally called “holidays” by the humans barely aware of their origins. In the modern era we have forgotten their meaning, but the Seasonal Realms of the Otherwhere are still there, affecting us.

The Aisling

The Aisling, or “Dreams”, are the natives of the Otherwhere. They each express a theme or archetype called an Essence that defines the way they look, the personalities they have, and their abilities.

Essences

These are the living manifestations of our fascinations and stereotypes that have arisen over the course of human existence. We birth them from our minds, and they change as we change, but it is not a one-way street. Our worlds are interwoven, and if their nature changes, so too do our dreams, hopes, and fears. As they live or die, succeed or fail, so too does that realm of our imaginations.

The Autumn Realm

In the 21st Century world, human understanding of the Otherwhere and its seasonal influence has faded, only to be replaced by more “rational” explanations for the holidays. Where once the night of October 31 was a festival that acknowledge the power of death and the coming winter, it came to be a night of monsters, ghouls, pranks, and ghosts. The Autumn Realm followed suit and came to manifest as Halloween, with Aisling as old as dreaming itself remade as vampires, mummies, and witches.

Next Time:

Next time I will give you a sneak peak into the realm-spanning war between the Technocrat’s Great Plan and Grim Jack’s misfit crew of monsters, the Terata. Stay tuned!

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