Dream Catchers ( Slow updates )

ii. Prologue

The histories of Arda are shrouded in mystery, mysticism, and often great shadow. From its earliest memories it has been shaped and reshaped by a clash of both tender love and intense hatred.

Forged from the simple thought of the All. The unseen creator...the Father of Men and Elves. From his thoughts were weaved a song into the hearts of his ambassadors - his Ainur. Their imaginations sprung alive, and from these dreams embedded in their hearts, the great lands of Arda came fourth and waited for the gift of the Children of Eru.

Dreams...

From tiny seeds of thought and song came marvellous dreams. Dreams that made mountains, lakes, and valleys. Dreams that bore life in all forms and species. Dreams that built cities and marvellous creations beyond the wildest of imaginations. You see, my dear ones, dreams are whispered from one being to the other. The greatest hope and power can come from a thought, but alas, from it can also come the greatest strife and disruption.

In the treachery of Melkor much was tainted, lost, and thrown into discord. Dreams became wicked and hosted themselves in weaker minds. Terror was unleashed by the children against each other, all because of a gift that was twisted into a curse.

I tell you this now in hope that you can believe that darkness and shadow was never meant to come from dreams. It was my life's work to uphold and protect, no harm or ill will was to come of my meddling, for at the time I did not see it thus.

Dreams and the desires of the heart and mind are my domain. Long have I been faithful to the belief that from the seeds of dreams greatness can be achieved. It was my skill to teach and teach it I did...almost too well.

My pupils - elves at first - excelled in the arts of 'dream-walking'. A particularly dangerous and highly skilled talent that was only possessed by those that showed a natural gift for it. It was the ability to walk in spirit in the unseen, in the heart and mind of another, or traverse other planes than the physical.

A DreamWalker, at their most accomplished, could simply twist and change the threads of another's fate simply by altering a dream. At their infancy they could walk through the unseen, often listening and discovering the wonders of Eru. They walked in the echoes of our music, in the crevices of creation, and in their pure hearts they strived to do much good.

They were my greatest triumph, my helpers, and co-facilitators in my works. For of the Vala lords I was one of the least. I was not a leader like Manwë, not wise like Námo, nor was I a champion like Tulkas. My strengths were not in my hands or in my brains, but in my heart. I strived for the fulfilment of dreams, for I found the children took great comfort and strength from dreams. My DreamWalkers' believed this also, and never was it intended that they should be deceived...but they were. All of us fell folly to the deception of Melkor - one of us, my kin! Even to this day his depth of evil against my own fills me with a burning emotion that should be foreign to one of my standing.

In the flight of the children from our lands, I lost my DreamWalkers. Many followed kin into Arda, and those that stayed fell away from the skill, though their abilities remained. Their hearts had been broken, and if a heart is weak how can it have belief in the wonders beyond its reality?

What became of my gifted race is a sad tale. A tale fraught with deceit, betrayal, and much pain. My heart still bleeds for the horror I caused by simply fulfilling their potential. I never foresaw the day that they would use their gifts against one another - against us.

Mairon - you may know him as Sauron - rose greater than his master Morgoth. I believe, in part, that it was due to his cunning. For all Melkor's strengths he lacked something...creative imagination. Any dreamer will tell you that the imagination of the soul creates the key to dreams. Sauron had this skill, or at least he knew of my DreamWalkers. It took him many years to track down those gifted, and I dare not think of the masterfully devices he used to turn them into the destructive creatures they became.

Under the leadership of the WitchKing, these new terrors went fourth and destroyed the hearts and minds of all whom they could reach. They burned the heart of elves, and sowed fear and selfishness into men. They toyed with the fabric of our world, and in truth they reached too far.

Elves rose up and searched their ranks for these gifted individuals. It was their desire to prevent any further corruption and attempt to heal those who had succumbed to the darkness, but time ran short. Men grew fearful, and even some elves believed it impossible to cure the danger produced by such a race. In the aftermath of the first fall of Sauron, the remnants of the race were hunted down and put to death for their crimes, but fear is a terrible thing. The carnage did not stop there and many innocent lives were lost in an attempt to purge the evil that ran deep in their history. The children feared to see the power of the DreamWalkers restore the fallen darkness, and this was wise - for the other side also wished to find and corrupt more of the innocent.

The innocent...

It was the frantic prayers of the innocent that I fretted over. They called to me to take away their gifts, to save their offspring, to do something that would rectify the injustice. I wish I could have done these things, and in those days there was many things I wished I could have overturned but I had failed. For their abilities were their own, it was as part of them as the blood in their veins.

It was the mercy of Eru - whose mind and thought can weave in tune with all. He heard their pleas, and He felt my utter desolation. In his forgiveness he put fourth a thought....a dream...a miracle.

Innocent ones traversed the planes of realms and found another. A world less vibrant as our own, were magic was unheard of, and mortal lives were short. A universe only the Creator knows of, and in his wisdom he granted the innocent ones the knowledge of it.

Encasing themselves in mortal bodies, dulling their senses, and slowly forgetting their histories, the DreamWalkers ceased to exist. Hidden in a barren world were dreams were unfulfilled and power was a sign of madness. It was heartbreaking but it was for the best.

In my pain and sorrow, my Creator promised me that one day I would see them again. That one day they would be restored to their former glory, to what they were meant to be and not an affront to my order.

In my dreams I could find them, watch over them as each generation slipped into another. It felt like watching through smoked glass as hundreds of these gifted creatures fell away, their blood becoming to entangled with weaker strands. I feared I had lost them all, but Eru never breaks a vow...not even to me....Irmo...the least of his champions.