The Dreamsleeve as a Means of Communication

The Dreamsleeve as we currently understand it has two seemingly unrelated functions. Mainly it serves as a mechanism for recycling the mortal souls of Nirn, but certain magically inclined individuals have found an unknown way of using the Dreamsleeve to relay undetectable messages. The purpose of this writing is to explore the link between these two aspects of the Dreamsleeve, the advantages of using it to communicate, and finally how the mages could be accessing it.

For the Dreamsleeve to serve its purpose of reincarnation, it must be able to both take in and let out souls anywhere in Mundus. It would need to be accessible under nearly all circumstances, unblocked by magical interference. It is easy to see why this would be appealing for those who wish to discretely send information across vast distances. Instead of having the message pass through possible magical and physical protections the mage sends the message out of Mundus, for it to travel undetectably through this other realm, reentering the world at the exact intended destination.

So the benefits of Dreamsleeve messaging are clear, more opaque is the specific process used to gain these abilities. It seems highly unlikely it is accomplished by the opening of portals into the Dreamsleeve, not only would that be very difficult but if a Dreamsleeve portal was opened it would reasonably be used for much larger purposes than communication, considering the amount of power (soul energy) and knowledge (purged memories) that consistently pass through there. For a mage to use the Dreamsleeve it would be logical to assume they would mimic the natural conditions of something passing into it, specifically with death.

Now as with most magical processes, it may not be necessary for this to be literal. Perhaps combined with ritualized intent and magical energy the symbolic destruction of a written letter would imitate death closely enough to send the the message through the Dreamsleeve. It could be even simpler, only requiring a mental composition to be pushed out of ones consciousness with appropriate preparation and direction, the death symbolism coming from the loss of the unique composition from one’s mind, for it to appear reincarnated in another’s. Obviously, it is not know if these rituals would be enough to penetrate into the Dreamsleeve system, more direct approaches may be necessary with unpleasant implications.

The most plausible way to access the Dreamsleeve for communication is to bind the missive directly to an unremarkable mortal’s soul, then to extinguish the mortal’s life. Some additional protection would need to be afforded to the information to survive the natural purging manner of the Dreamsleeve, but the largest hurdle of Dreamsleeve use would of been overcome with the soul ferrying the communique passed whatever barriers the Dreamsleeve possesses. This scenario certainly raises ethical issues of Dreamsleeve communication, but there are surely situations where the cost of a life is worth the ability to send information that is guaranteed to be unimpeded. Additionally this introduces the inherent danger of combining necromantic magicks with one of the main life sustaining phenomena in Mundus. Whatever their methodology may be let us all hope those who are using the Dreamsleeve for correspondence are doing so inhabitually and with great caution.