Do you really think you understood what Dreams are?
/// A GLIMPSE ON FERIA
Reality.
It’s an extreme, uncanny, treacherous and frantic world. It’s connected to the human world by a number of fantastic, grotesque elements that attract or kill those who notice them. Beyond the breaches, the gates to this world, food is the most delicious anyone has ever tasted, damsels are the most beautiful anyone has ever seen, melodies could drive people crazy with their sweetness. The creatures living here are born out of all kinds of fantasies. They belong to the genesis of the world, to the myths of every culture, to fairytales, to the wildest and most disturbing desires and fears.
The Town.
Its architecture is redundant, excessive, baroque, full of statues, fountains, mosaics. It’s a labyrinth of beauty, hiding traps and secret passages. Small doors lead to unknown dens, underground paths end in mysterious caves and black rivers. It’s also easy to run across wrought iron gates, flowery gardens and fortified buildings.
Blood of Dreams.
A Fairy is a Dream, a Nightmare or an unforgettable Emotion coming into being. We cannot know if fairies are born from humans (since humans are not the only dreaming or feeling beings), yet we are sure they are fed with their Fantasies, Desires, Fears, with their Ravings… with their Mortality. They are an ancestral presence, colourful memories of forgotten stories, mythical or popular characters running one after the other in endless odysseys of games and adventures. The so-called “Blood of dreams” – a lymph full of the Essence of Dream – runs in their veins. A serum dripped from the most mysterious and primordial Fantasy. That is exactly why they lose strength and power if somebody doesn’t believe in their existence. The same reason why the Fairies are slowly losing the forces nourishing them, at the same time isolating themselves from humans, fearing their Reason which is slowly killing every kind of Magic.
The Children of Dreams.
The Fairy Boys are something else. They come in two kinds:
The Hybrids are born from a human and a creature from Feria; they have human looks. A rite of passage indicates the transition to adulthood: that’s when they usually reveal their Blood of Dreams. They go through the trial alone, with the only help of the three gifts given by their Family. The rule of the three gifts came into force only a few centuries ago, mainly for security reasons: it was very common that the young children were not ready for the trial, which, for them, resulted in death or madness. This rule has not been applied many times, since Hybrids are very rare.
The Swaps are of a completely different type. They are common children born from humans, kidnapped by Fairies to be their Children, Knights or Servants. These children live a life of lies, subverted by the continuous spells cast to give them an enchanted identity and past, thus hiding their real human origin. They have so many masks that they completely forget their original identity.
(( graphic project by Steve ))