The drums of War echoed, and the great Aegean army stirred. It was
Chronos, in the year 457, and the forces were on the move, winding
through the Siroccian Mountains to their destination: the Temple of
Sleep and Dreams. Led by Deimus and Phobus, two Demigod sons of Aegis,
the army gathered in the underground Mesmerium, where warmages summoned
an enormous portal infused with chaos, leading directly to the
Dreamrealm.

Through the portal the army marched, Dreamers looking on with a range of
emotions from horror and fear to scorn. The ethereal voice of Valnurana
whispered across the lands, warning that what Aegis sought could not be
found in this manner; nevertheless, the march continued. Confident as
they were, the army was ill prepared for what lay ahead. Maddened and
maimed by the Dreamrealm, the army fell one by one, their might overcome
by the unknown. Dreams slipped through the portal, followed by horrors
that preyed upon Dreamers and the Aegean guard as they emerged.

Soon, none remained to be seen by the onlookers but Deimus and Phobus,
who in their plight cried out for Aegis to aid them. The God of War
strode confidently through the portal, but soon abandoned the two,
distracted by a strange tree in the distance. Despairing, the snarling
cries of the sons grew dim, and they merged into a single being:
Noxuron, who called himself the Dreamscourge. Casting blame on both
Aegis and Valnurana for his tortured state, he emerged from the portal
at last, escaping from the Mesmerium in a bloody rampage.

Aegis soon reappeared in the Mesmerium, angered at not finding what He
was looking for: a means to waken the Divine Child, Pandemonium, who
slumbers within the Eileithyian Tree. Coolly reminding Him of Her
earlier warning, Valnurana appeared before the assemblage, lamenting the
intrusion and intimating that more had been released from the Dreamrealm
than could be seen by mortal eyes. Briefly joining Their powers,
Valnurana and Aegis closed the portal, Their followers eyeing one
another with unease.

Within the days that followed, those present at the portal began to
suffer from visions of madness, fleeting images that slowly intensified
over time. Seeking answers within the tumultuous Dreamrealm, Valnurana's
followers divined a means of calming the visions, a simple ritual to
return the dreams roaming the Mesmerium to their home.

The ritual could not be completed without the assistance of the Aegeans,
however, and months passed as the visions grew more and more
debilitating. Finally, in early Lupar of 458, the Order of War met once
more within the Mesmerium, this time lending their support to the Order
of Sleep and Dreams. Staving off the dream horrors that now plague the
former temple, the group was able to return seven escaped dreams to the
Dreamrealm.

The maddening visions ceased, to the relief of many, but soon the voice
of Noxuron resounded once more, claiming greater power than ever and
threatening vengeance upon Aegis and Valnurana. Dream horrors continue
to plague the Mesmerium, and what lies ahead, as a result of the
upheaval in the Dreamrealm, remains to be seen.

Penned by my hand on the 2nd of Phaestian, in the year 458 AF.