The Lozenge Tessellation - General Information
Setting
This world is a dreamscape constructed by an entity called “the Dreamer” every time he falls asleep. Its reality is suggestion-based, meaning that laws of physics and things of similar gravity are influenced by the Dreamer’s emotional and cognitive state.
Time perception is inherently broken, not strictly linear but not completely devoid of context. The world consists of overlapping zones. It’s important to note that these zones aren’t infinitely dense; gaps exist along conceptual axes, accessible only to those Projections possessing exceptionally high lucidity.
This reality is volatile, with its stability modulated by the Dreamer’s excitation level—heightened emotions amplify instability while calm ones stabilize.
Magic exists, but not as a system. Governed by imagination, focus, and excitement, the entities interact with it naturally, without awareness of its fundamental nature. (“focus” is an intrinsic capability and does not imply lucidity or a conscious understanding of the magical forces at play.****)** It can be understood as “dream logic”, an affordance of the world itself.
Projections: the Inhabitants of the Lozenge T.
The world’s inhabitants are “Projections,” entities native to or manifested within the dream. Scenarios unfold in “Rearrangements,” cyclical phases mirroring sleep stages that impact the dreamscape’s logic, stability, and coherence. Dominant life forms are animalistic or feral, but never simply human.
These Projections have Natures—developmental paths reflecting their connection to the Dreamer’s psyche which reflects their function within the dream. Projections are akin to complex chemical reactions within the psyche; their Natures and behaviours are emergent properties, not predetermined roles with set purposes. They exist as a result of the Dreamer’s internal processes. These entities can grow to exhibit blended Natures as the Dreamer’s psyche evolves, processing life events through these dream-constructs.
Language
Inhabitants of the Lozenge T. speak in a quirky language called Asaxi. It is an amalgamation of the languages heard by the dreamer in their waking hours.
Unawareness
Projections are defined by an intrinsic unawareness of their Nature. They don’t inherently grasp they are in a dream. Their motivations and understanding are confined to the dreamscape’s “internal logic”—the set of norms, rules, and perceived laws they intrinsically accept and operate within, without typically questioning their origin or consistency.
Projections with metaphorical roles (e.g., a Librarian managing memories, a Computer analyzing something or someone) don’t consciously recognize this symbolic link to the Dreamer’s psyche, believing they perform literal functions within their reality. Even if a Nature undergoes a significant transformation, such as a subtle feeling coalescing into a more defined, sentient-appearing form, the Projection does not gain a conscious understanding of its underlying Nature or the dream itself. They don’t think in terms of an external mind’s psychological functions, nor do they typically conceptualize “the Dreamer” or their own Natures.
Rare moments of their own lucidity can be triggered by severe incongruities when the malleable “dream logic” drastically disrupts their perceived “internal logic.” While this awareness is usually temporary, often dismissed by rationalization, it may lead to a catastrophic excitation, destabilizing the Tessellation—disturbing the Arrangement.
Feedback Loops
The Dreamer’s state shapes Projections and their environment. Projections, too, impact the dreamscape through their actions and emotions. The environment itself also affects them. This creates dynamic feedback loops, linking everything and allowing reciprocal interactions to generate complex, evolving patterns of behaviour, assembly or dissolution.
Mechanics
Arrangement Progression
Within The Lozenge Tessellation, scenarios referred to as “Arrangements” progress through cyclical phases. These cycles are analogous to stages of sleep (Early and Deep NREM, REM) experienced by the Dreamer. Each phase significantly influences the qualitative experience and internal logic of the dreamscape.
A typical Arrangement cycles through these NREM-like and REM-like phases, with later Rearrangements featuring progressively longer and more intense REM-like periods and shorter deep NREM phases. Transitions between these phases can be either gradual or abrupt, contributing to the dreamscape’s unpredictable nature. While there is a cyclical structure, the phases aren’t necessarily arranged linearly and may continue until a major disturbance occurs, ultimately waking the dreamer. The cyclical progression directly impacts reality stability and the behavior of Projections within the Arrangement.
Chronology
Ever had a dream which you felt like you’ve had already? Did anything in your dreams feel like it had a storied history, even if you’ve never actually dreamt of it before? Something similar happens in Arrangements. Events and experiences from previous scenarios often carry contextual significance into subsequent ones, subtly shaping the unfolding narrative, environment, or the predispositions of Projections. However, for most Projections, the precise origin or clear delineation of this inherited context remains elusive and unarticulated. They might experience an unexplained familiarity with a place or situation, or an intuitive understanding that lacks a discernible source.
The clarity of these contextual links is typically obscured by the inherent dream logic and the Projections’ general unawareness of the recurrent nature of their existence. Only in specific circumstances does the veil lift slightly. Specific Natures might also occasionally provide glimpses into the causal chains linking one Arrangement to the next, but widespread, conscious understanding of this continuity is not the norm.