When the Dreamsleeve Runs Dry

The Dreamsleeve is a difficult subject of speculation, even though it is likely that all those speculating on it have at least once been through it before. It is rare to find reference to the Dreamsleeve and its function, as many mages use it merely has a conduit for coded communication and wipe their hands of any further investigation. Despite this lack of formal documentation, certain fringe groups have contributed information on the Dreamsleeve topic, such as in the Mythic Dawn Commentaries.The opening of those commentaries states:

We mortals leave the dreaming-sleeve of birth the same, unmantled save for the symbiosis with our mothers, thus to practice and thus to rapprochement, until finally we might through new eyes leave our hearths without need or fear that she remains behind.

This excerpt has been interpreted to mean that this dreaming-sleeve (or Dreamsleeve as it is more commonly phrased) is the place that all mortal souls must pass through when first entering Mundus. Scholars have expanded this further, coming to near consensus that the Dreamsleeve is also returned to upon death. Here, it is theorized, that the souls of the dead are purged of their memories and attachments, and re-enter Mundus unburdened by their former life. So this process assures the continuation of mortal life, while simultaneously giving the souls of men and mer chances to transcend the limitations they built up through past mistakes. Though this function is enormously valuable to mortals, the Dreamsleeve could be involved in something even bigger, with its continuous use being tied to the eventual fate of the Kalpa.

It is clear that not all souls go through this process of recycling and rebirth in the Dreamsleeve, there are many documented examples of mortal souls reaching alternative realms for a continuous afterlife. The realms of Oblivion are filled with the souls of those who make deals with the Daedric Lords, eternally in service one way or another. The Nightingales of Nocturnal becoming one in the Evergloam. The lycanthropes and other bestial hybrids, endlessly switching between predator and prey on Hircine’s Hunting Grounds. The other Daedric Lords are known to engage in similar agreements, sheltering mortals in their respective realms (or at least harvesting their souls in some way), over time these souls removed from the rebirth cycle will begin to add up. It is not just the Daedra that are involved with this removal from the Dreamsleeve cycle, the Nordic Sovngarde is an eternal drinking hall for the Nordic heroes if their death earns them a place there, and the Redguard’s Far Shores could function in a similar way. The fact that souls are being recycled implies a finite overall supply, a supply that is being siphoned out into the daedric realms and other afterlifes, eventually halting the flow of souls through the Dreamsleeve and back into Mundus. With the Dreamsleeve dry, Mundus would become an empty plane of existence, and the souls of mortals would be static in their various eternal resting places. What would be the point of Akatosh protecting a world that can no longer progress? The desertion of Mundus would remove any attachment the Time-God might have with the current Kalpa, likely convincing him to allow Alduin to begin his World Eating.

If we accept these postulations on the connection of the Dreamsleeve and the continuation of the current iteration of reality, the question becomes twofold, “Is removing oneself from the Dreamsleeve cycle to be desired?” and “Why are certain forces pushing towards the reduction of the Dreamsleeve’s soul supply?” Let us first examine the issue of escaping the Dreamsleeve’s cycle. It would appear from a casual look that the Dreamsleeve exists as additional chances to live ones life, giving mortals endless opportunities to find immortality. So on the surface, attaining immortality through the power of the Aedra and Daedra appears to be the point of the cycle, giving individuals time to find which realm will hold their soul until all souls are sorted and time comes to a close. Unfortunately this view is short sighted, as this definition of immortality does not consider what transpires when the current Kalpa comes to a close. For it is clear that when the world is devoured, the mortal souls that make their home in other realms are not exempt from Alduin’s hunger. As he showed when traveling to Sovngarde and feasting upon the Nord dead there within, at the end of the Kalpa all mortals will be consumed, regardless of if they are in Shor’s realm, Mundus, or the numerous pits of Oblivion. Alduin’s world eating could be seen as an extension of the Dreamsleeve, gathering up all of the souls and destroying the world to restart the process again in the next Kalpa. Taking this into account, the Daedric realms and mythic worlds for the dead do not offer the preservation of the self, but a postponing of cycle of rebirth. As stated in the sermons of Vivec “The enlightened are those uneaten by the world”, meaning to truly escape the cycle, an individual must fully reach enlightenment, achieving true divinity themselves and not relying on the powers of other gods. Anything less than true transcendence unto Godhood is a failure of the purpose of the Dreamsleeve.

Now if it true that the collection of souls into other realms is what depletes the Dreamsleeve, spurring the end of time, it is important to examine the agents behind this movement of souls. This could give insight into the unexplainable, glimpsing at the motivation of the Daedra and their reasons for hoarding mortal souls in their realms of Oblivion. It has been speculated that the Daedra could move past the ending of a Kalpa, since if the spheres they represent are eternal (betrayal, ambition, revolution, madness, and ect.) then the Daedra themselves are necessary to embody them forever as well. In addition to this, many of the Daedra champion change, they could yearn for the changing in reality that comes with the end of a Kalpa. There is a distinct possibility, keeping all these factors in mind, that the Daedra take steps to hasten the end of each Kalpa, robbing the Dreamsleeve of its waters, ferreting away as many souls as they can.

Though the Dreamsleeve continues to be frustratingly opaque, yielding few of its many secrets, clearly it is worth further research. Providing opportunities for mortals to reach divinity, maintaining the amount of souls present throughout a Kalpa, and its drying serves as the catalyst of the world’s end, it would appear that the Dreamsleeve is one of the most important forces in existence. Is it the responsibility of mortals to keep the Dreamsleeve flowing, to ignore the temptations of the Daedra and other promises of eternal happiness, and focus on repeating the life/death cycle until enlightenment can be reached? Or is the drying of the Dreamsleeve a natural phenomena, and mortals should embrace whatever afterlife they wish until the Kalpa comes to a close?