New Approaches to Post-Plague Intervention I I. Background & Issues


Recently, cases of Illusory Plague calamities have surged on the Bahamar Highlands, all traced back to an evil crystalline entity known as Illusory Bloom. Researchers from all fields have rushed to the highlands to study it, hoping to resolve the calamities at their source. However, while many scholars focus solely on how to destroy the Illusory Bloom, they have overlooked the survivors of the Illusory Plague.

Though these survivors escaped with their lives, the aftereffects have been devastating: some are tormented by nightmares and cannot sleep for days; some lose all joy, haunted constantly by terrifying visions; still others withdraw completely, unable to step outside the safety of their homes ever again.

Therefore, I intend to explore a completely different approach—one that shifts attention toward the survivors themselves. Instead of focusing only on the Illusory Bloom, we must find ways to heal the wounds left on the survivors' hearts.

Note: This is only an experiment—a guiding approach intended to provide a possible direction forward. --- New Approaches to Post-Plague Intervention II II. The Similarities Between Illusions and Dreams


First of all, we all know that the Illusory Bloom induces absolute illusions—visions woven entirely by the victim themselves. Those ensnared by their effects often cannot escape, sinking deeper into nightmares of their own making.

Yet frightening as they are, illusions are ultimately born from the projections of one's own mind. In this sense, they are strikingly similar to another intangible phenomenon that also exerts influence over the mind: dreams.
To ordinary people, dreams are private and immutable. Some may bring up lucid dreaming—indeed, it is a common form of intervention, but its effectiveness is limited and its success rate, low. What I am referring to, however, is something far more concrete: the ability to enter another person's dream, and to intervene within it as naturally as one would in daily life.

This is not fantasy; it is something I have witnessed with my own eyes. In Asterleeds—despite its pride in technological advancement—such a feat has not yet been achieved. But a tribe that neither relies on ancient legacy nor worships gears has done exactly that—the Kanamia Tribe. Through techniques passed down through generations, they can not only influence others' dreams, but connect multiple dreamers together, forming a shared, tangible dreamspace.

Yes, this is not lucid dreaming, but co-dreaming. Or rather, experiencing the dream as vividly as reality itself. --- New Approaches to Post-Plague Intervention II III. The Kanamia Tribe's Shared Dream


The Kanamians have conducted extensive research on dreams. As far as I know, they can use a dream-entering medium called Ancestral Spores to enter another person's dream—and even expel the impurities that dwell within it. For this reason, the Kanamians believe that dreams are more real than reality itself... Though these accounts may be intertwined with elements of their ancestral spirit beliefs, the key point is that they have truly discovered a method to intervene in another's mind. Observations show that those who share a dream can reproduce its events with unfailing precision. This indicates that they do indeed enter the dreams of others and influence their thoughts.

The Kanamians have endured the trauma of war and suffered the ravages of the Void Corruption. For a people who place exceptional importance on the spiritual world, such inner wounds are no less devastating than the Illusory Plague. Yet through the use of Ancestral Spores, they have genuinely achieved shared dreaming, and with their own methods of banishing nightmares healed those wounds.

I was fortunate enough to experience a shared dream once, a ritual the Kanamians call the "Weaving of Dreams." The things that appeared within the dream all had clear counterparts in reality, yet in the dream they were grotesque, twisted into all manner of mutations... It was as if the dream were plainly telling us: this is the truest reflection of the trauma within. --- New Approaches to Post-Plague Intervention IV IV. The Possibility of Shared-Dreaming Therapy


So what, then, is the method for healing such trauma? The answer seems obvious: within the shared dream, you must defeat these monsters—much like adventurers do in the real world. And astonishingly, after slaying these nightmare creatures, the people truly feel healed. Their eyes clear, their spirits brighten, as though their hearts have genuinely been purified.

Moreover, the Kanamians use this method not to heal one or two individuals, but entire groups—nearly every member of the tribe has undergone this shared-dreaming ritual.

This leads me to a bold idea: If we were to introduce this shared-dreaming therapy to highland residents suffering from the Illusory Plague's aftereffects, could it truly work? Or perhaps... what exactly would appear in the victims' dreams?
I believe it's worth attempting. The difficulty may not lie in guiding the victims into dreaming, but in obtaining the tools for shared dreaming. The Kanamians possess a rare type of buds used specifically for shared dreaming, but its quantity is extremely limited, and they employ it only during major ceremonies.

In the end, as I've said before, this is merely an attempt—a suggestion meant to point toward a possible direction. For lives on the highlands, still tormented by the lingering effects of the Illusory Plague, even the faintest hope is worth pursuing.