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The Dreamlands is a vast, alternate Dimension that can be entered through Dreams , similar to Astral Projection . Experienced dreamers are among the most powerful inhabitants of the Dreamlands and may become its permanent residents after their physical deaths. COSMOLOGY To reach the Dreamlands, a sleeper must find an unusual stairway in a conventional dream and walk down the Seventy Steps of Light Slumber to face the judgment of powerful gatekeepers named Nasht and Kaman-Tha. If judged worthy (that is, able to survive the dangers of the Dreamlands), the dreamer is allowed to descend the Seven Hundred Steps of Deeper Slumber and emerges in the Enchanted Wood. When entering the Dreamlands this way, the person leaves his or her physical body safely in the waking world. If the dreamer is killed during his or her travels, the person's corporeal body will suffer only a shock. Sometimes, however, this can be fatal — ''dream death'' of this kind makes return to the Dreamlands impossible. Waking up causes a person's ''dream self'' to disappear; thus the individual may have difficulty recalling anything learned or experienced while asleep (similar to conventional dreaming). The Dreamlands can be entered in other ways, including physically. This usually requires passing through very dangerous areas of both the waking world and the Dreamlands. Consequently, ''real'' death becomes a risk. However, the visitor does receive the prolonged lifespan of a native of the Dreamlands, so the traveller's time there is no longer limited to the duration of a night's sleep on earth. Though the term ''Dreamlands'' typically refers to the dimension accessible by human dreamers, other inhabited planets may have their own dreamlands. Reaching these other realms from the terrestrial Dreamlands is possible but difficult. Time flows at a different rate in the Dreamlands — each hour on earth represents a week or more there. Consequently, a traveller can spend months in the Dreamlands during a single night's sleep on earth. Fortunately for dreamers, inhabitants of the Dreamlands are either long-lived or immortal, provided they avoid injury or disease. Despite its accelerated time, the Dreamlands rarely experiences change. Its geography, politics, and population remain fairly static. Dreamers, however, can exert great change over the topography, such as by creating entire cities with accompanying populations. The Dreamlands has its own Pantheon known as the Great Ones, but they resemble powerful immortals rather than true gods because ordinary humans can wound, deceive, and seduce them. They are evidently presided over by some aspect of Nyarlathotep , the avatar of the Outer God s. Otherwise, the rest of the deities of the mythos, who figure prominently in Lovecraft's other writings (such as the Great Old One s and the Outer Gods), have little interest in or influence over the Dreamlands. GEOGRAPHY The Dreamlands is divided into four continental regions, each named for its cardinal direction.
In addition to these regions, the Dreamlands has a few other locales that defy conventional description.
GREAT ONES The Great Ones are the "weak gods of earth" that reign in the Dreamlands. They are protected by Nyarlathotep . Table of Great Ones Overview This table is organized as follows:
Table Kadath Kadath or ''Unknown Kadath'' is the dwelling place of the Great Ones. It is a gigantic castle found atop an immense cosmic mountain in the Cold Waste. Kadath is mentioned in other stories by Lovecraft, including " The Dunwich Horror " ( 1929 ) — appearing in a quote from the '' Necronomicon '' — and "The Other Gods" ( 1933 ). In the latter story, Kadath is cited as the place where the gods dwell, but it is inaccessible to mortals because the gods do not want to be bothered. ;Other appearances
CREATURES Zoog Zoogs first appeared in the Novella '' The Dream-Quest Of Unknown Kadath '' by H. P. Lovecraft . They are small, brown, elfin, and rodent-like and live in the Enchanted Wood. Zoogs keep secrets well and have knowledge of many obscure and forgotten things. They sup on fungi but have a taste for human flesh; few who enter their forest ever leave. In their visits to earth, they have spawned many sub-races of creatures that vaguely resemble them but usually have much more benevolent habits. In ''The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath'', the zoogs went to war with the cats of Ulthar. The cats eventually defeated them and thereafter established a truce. REFERENCES Lovecraft literature The following Lovecraft stories either take place in or make reference to the Dreamlands:
Other references
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