Character Base

• Character Name: Albtraum
• Age: Approx 2600
• Canon (Date/Year Released)/Canon Point: Original
• Items Coming Along: None
• Content Warnings for Character: Albtraum's history deals with current history within Germany and Germanic countries; needless to say there's plenty themes of war, terrorism, racism, violence, death and particularly child death in its history. Due to its love for Death and what it is now, child death is a frequent topic. Along with other common themes typically found in old Germanic mythology and fairytales: cannibalism, various themes of gore, and enslavement.

Character Background

• History:
So very long ago when the world was still young and its people still nomadic, a handful of tribes travelled south to new lands where they eventually settled. This area would later become known as Germania.

These tribes built homes, hunted food, crafted their own language both spoken and written, grew and prospered. Eventually, they created stories. About how the world was made, about gods and goddesses of the lands, and as their children grew ill, they created songs to appease Death into not taking their young. And in making songs and stories they created Der Sandmann. The Sandman.

Originally Albtraum was simply known as Der Sandmann, the first and only of its kind. It came to the young and eased them into a sleep through either song, story, or sand. It was a gentle creature, even with those who were stubborn. It hushed the young ones into a gentle sleep; some of these dreams were pleasant, some of them were strange, but never were they frightening. Such was the work of Mares. It grew to loath Mares and creatures like it quite early on, but violence wasn't in its nature. Often times when I child woke from these dreams, Der Sandmann would be there to gently rock them back to sleep. This became a larger role in its life when during the hardest times, the wars, the terrors that the waking world went through.

Death and Der Sandmann met very early on as humankind was young and the young fell ill often; passed away. At first, they resented her. She took away those who were dearest to it. Slowly, though, through curiosity, it got to know Death. It came to learn that she was not malicious, she simply was. She was not responsible for how people died she was responsible for helping them accept that they have and ushering them into the next place. She was responsible for the movement of time; the natural way of things.

It came to see the beauty in Death. Her honesty, her relentlessness, but how kind she was in it. Gentle, like they were. and one day Der Sandmann asked if, just before she took someone, could it sing them a lullaby. To ensure they stayed in a comfortable sleep. She accepted.

They worked well together. One weaved a pleasant dream and the other gently whisked them away. Eventually, they worked together even in times where death was unnatural. During the last few moments of a violent end, during war, and unspeakable acts. One brought a peaceful dream and the other whisked them away. And over time they fell in love, finding reason after reason to see one another. And the world aged. And the population grew. And wars came and went, times of peace came and went, but as the medical world advanced Death came to the children less and less. Death came to Der Sandmann less and less.

And time passed. And they aged. And they grew lonely. Its dreams became somber, it began to cling to the children under its keep, it mourned the days where they stopped believing in them. Slowly, even when Death did visit the young ones, she became distant. Their conversations became painful. Arguments erupted. She came less and less. It didn't know why, she wouldn't say, but the truth was that she heard their ticking clock. She knew, soon, she's have to come for them.

And that day came, the worst fight they'd had ended in violence. Where she took its heart right out from its chest and left. Der Sandmann didn't start the way that it looked now but being a creature that walked the line between alive and dead it could no longer live in the Land of Dreams; it fell into The Nameless Place. It gathered the sorrow, the fear, and pain that lived there and took these things into itself. It began to decay, and eventually it abandoned its name entirely. They became Albtraum.



• Core Relationships:
➤ "The Young Ones"
Long ago when Albtraum was known simply as Der Sandmann, it's most important relationships were the children they visited, and it frequently built a kinship with many of them. This especially became true when its domain -- the countries of Germania -- fell on hard times. It places a great deal of importance on weaving dreams to help soothe those whose lives were frought. While it cannot support children in the same way as it once did, it does still place a great deal of importance on those whom it visits each night.

➤ Death/Time
Its second, or honestly tied for first most important relationship is with Death. In Albtraum's universe Death is also Time; for a long while the night was filled with various creatures but it was Der Sandmann and Death who were most consistent and non-malicious. Over time, they fell in love. In fact, it is due to Death that Albtraum is the way they are now. She heard the ticking clock and chose, against her nature and duty, to lock Albtraum's heart away instead of put them to rest. Which resulted in them becoming more of a spirit; a manifestation of many things dark and sorrowful.

➤ The Mare
Albtraum also has an ongoing rivalry of sorts with a particularly malicious and aggressive Mare, one that has actually managed to kill at least two of Albtraum's kind but, because Albtraum has no heart to take, cannot kill them. This relationship is important because its one of the few relationships that can invoke a violence in Albtraum.

Character Personality Through Key Moments

(2+) Positive Experiences:
➤ Albtraum is a typically a friendly, polite, and formal creature, seen in the way it speaks and carries itself. It holds a very precise diction and tends not to use too much if any slang or even contractions in speech. It frequently addresses people as Frau or Herr, even if they're young. Whether one considers it polite or friendly it will also typically call most people "young one", dear friend, my friend, and things like this.

➤ Albtraum is also quite wise, and it's been known to offer advice and guidance when prompted (and occasionally unprompted). This is especially true for those who are -- perhaps ironically -- most affected by its presence. Taking the fear and nightmares that come along with it when it visits the young at night, it will frequently choose to help aid them through unpacking the terrors they hold rather than violently inflict said terrors upon them.

➤ Other positive personality traits include: (Usually) Non-Violent, (Usually) Non-Confrontational, Gentle, Calm, Cultured, Curious, Devoted, Affectionate, Passionate

(2+) Negative Experiences:
➤ Albtraum -- while a creature that feels deeply -- is incredibly repressed; this can be seen in the way that it restrains itself from the larger waves of emotion it often feels; these emotions quite clear on its face. When it speaks of love, when it speaks of grief its voice, often a low baritone and almost songlike quality, thins. There's so many subtle signs of holding back. It has confided in someone once that if it was ever to scream, it wouldn't stop until everyone was deaf. If it were ever to cry, it would drown the world. This emotional repression is very clear, incredibly clear, the longer you get to know Albtraum. It also, however, gives it a great capacity for violence once that bottle cracks.

➤ Albtraum is lonely, incredibly lonely. This is. Well, its obvious. It shows itself in everything it does. The way it hums and sings to itself while it meanders the shadows of the waking world or the dreaming one; the way it cradles children to its breast while they panic in fright--the very fright it's causing them; the way it pines for a love that is far too complicated and how it speaks of love, and of death. It attaches itself to the sad, the broken, the fearful and the lonely as well.

➤ Other negative personality traits include: Macabre, Non-Confrontational, Morose, Stubborn, Emotional, Introverted, Obsessive, Possessive, Lovesick, Masochistic

Deer Country Attributes

• Canon Powers: Found here under "Abilities"
• Blood Type: Paleblood
• Omen: Raven with eyes on its feathers
• Blessed Day: August 14 - I have 0 reason other than wanting Mariana as a Pateon so, lmao. lmk if thats not a good reason
• Patron Pthumerian: Mariana
• Blood Power Manifestation: Generally speaking, the powers that come with Paleblood complement the powers that Albtraum already has. I suppose, the difference is the reach that their powers have and slowly expanding beyond just children, humans, etc. In this, I'd be interested in furthering its dream walking and expanding into causing illusions/hallucinations, I'm also interested in expanding its empathy.

Writing Samples

One: https://bakerstreet.dreamwidth.org/8041309.html?thread=3492780381#cmt3492780381
Two: https://bakerstreet.dreamwidth.org/8020295.html?thread=3483682631#cmt3483682631

The Player

• Player Name: Kitchen
• Player Age: 35
• Player Contact: KITCHEN🍳#7348
• Permissions: Here. Please make sure this includes our permissions requirements.

The Place With No Name is a part of the Dreamworld where all the deepest pieces of the heart and the subconscious within a dreamer lives; it is where the mares, nachtkrapp, and other such creatures of dark dreams reside. This, of course, includes Albtraum.

This place is not only made of fears, but of things that a dreamer feels a longing for, ashamed of, wrathful toward, grief over, lusting for, and other such more "hidden" and "dark" emotions. The Place With No Name or sometimes called The Nameless Place changes depending on the Zeitgeist of the places it hides under the veil of (Germanic countries) and depending on how far you travel as it correlates to places within the waking world. Therefore, it also changes based on who is sleeping nearby in correlation within the Waking World. This place, because a Sandman lives within it, also holds pieces of Albtraum. For example, there is typically the faint sound of a song and a heartbeat riding the air.

Someone who has fallen deep into their subconscious can drop into this place. Normally these are people who aren't dreaming but are in a deep unconscious state, sometimes a coma but not always something so severe. It can also be someone who lucid dreams and simply walked too far or got lost. This is less likely, though, as those within the main Dreamworld will often stop these dreamers from crossing into The Nameless Place.


The general appearance of The Place With No Name is dreary and obscured. The sky is an overcast of swirling and shadowy grey. There is a thick fog that rolls along the ground and occasionally manifests in all sorts of ways such as forming a person, weighing down a person, or any other sort of action that lays deep in someone's subconscious. Say if someone fears sinking, the fog may work to pull them down and imitate this feeling. The shadows move and often have eyes. Waiting. Watching.

There is a long road that runs through it. How it looks and how one travels through the Nameless Place all depends on who and what is around. It may be a dirt road, it might be steaming hot pavement, it might be cracked and fragmented. It could be a straight line or a road with twists and turns. Someone can break away from the road but it's inadvisable. While there is plenty to be distressed over from the road itself, its safer than anywhere else within The Nameless Land.



COMING SOON:
The Lake of Sorrows

The Black Forest
This is where the Mares, Nachtkrapp live. It's dangerous, with its ashen trees that often attack intruders and its pitch black atmosphere.

The Mirror of Reflection
A massive mirror far into The Land With No Name. It takes some work getting to and the path to it is different for each person. Eventually one will find a more slender road shooting off from the main one. The more your heart burns for this object the more difficult it is to get to. Once someone reaches the mirror they will find it's framed in beautiful ornamental silver and the reflection is a swirling shadowy gray. If they step forward and stand right before the mirror, those shadows will shift and part to show them their heart's greatest desire. There is no real formula to understanding who can and cannot obtain what they see. The mirror just chooses as it wants.

If this is a person, then whoever is observing the mirror will be able to watch them. If they are lucky they'll be able to get their attention and speak with them. If they are even luckier, the mirror will turn into a portal where either party can join the other. This is the same for objects. Either the viewer will just be able to see the object, or they'll be able to reach out and enter the area where the object is or bring the object back into The Nameless Place with them.

The Endless Fall
At the furthest reaches of The Nameless Place is a fall. The sound of water is deafening although there seems to be none. The closer you get, the more it shifts into screams. While often you will not see from whom those screams come, they are neverending. Anyone who steps off this cliff is doomed to an eternity of endless falling; suspended in freefall forever.