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Grab your gun, the Clouds are waiting.
When the body is asleep, the mind is awake and adventurous, sating its wanderlust in the Dream Clouds. But the Clouds aren’t a pleasant dream, as evident by brass-littered streets and the blood of devious Nightmares soaking floorboards. They are the remnants of a fantasy, one dusted with trauma and strife. It’s the job of Somnians, Nightmare bounty hunters, to protect the wandering dreamer—for the right price.
Reverbs
Sleeping in the Waking World—adventuring in the Dream Clouds. Reverbs are the metaphysical representation of the human mind and are prone to attacks from Nightmares while traveling the Clouds. Spectors, youthful dagger-wielding Cloudfolk, are appointed to protect them from basic Nightmares known as Fallowmares. Reverbs unable to enter the Clouds are called "Grounded".
Somnians
Tethered to their Reverbs, Somnians are able to travel whole-bodied to the Dream Clouds by way of the Dream Train. Ever moving, Somnians don't need sleep and are constantly looking for new bounties to chase. They are stronger, more hardy, and are slower to age than normal humans. They're also naturals with weapons and harbor fierce competitive natures, seeking to best other Somnian groups with higher filled bounties.
Nightmares
The manifestation of detestable human emotion, Nightmares can take four different forms:
1. Fallowmare: Child-sized basic Nightmare from which all Nightmares grow.
2. Chagrin: Mindless, frenzied, and bloodthirsty, Chagrin hordes destroy everything in their path. Roughly human sized, most Chagrin sport bone-bladed arms, are very rarely seen alone, and are directed solely by their more developed brethren.
3. Baku: Nearly fully developed, Baku are intelligent, unlike their lower piers, and earn their developed status by killing a grounded Reverb.
4. Developed Nightmare: Cunning, scheming, developed Nightmares are the generals of the Nightmare world and therefore command the largest bounties. These Nightmares shed the shadow-cloaked features of their predecessors for ones nearly human.
About DC9
Books
About R. I. McLaughlin
Graphic designer by day, author by night. I've loved creating creatures, characters and worlds from a young age. With my Jurassic Park and Star Wars toys I would make elaborate dioramas, design my own Pokemon-esque card game and creatures, and craft stick-based weaponry and rules for wacky games to play in the woods.
DC9 has its origins in those middle school years and was an idea my friends and I had for a video game about killing nightmares in a dream world.
Today you can find me exercising creativity with photography, art, graphic design and, of course, writing.
Bio
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