~ HC ! Wizeman & the Origin of the Nightmaren ~
In the beginning, Nightmaren were made from the darkness left in the Night dimension by the natural nightmares of Visitors. These nightmare fragments drifted about like a dark mist, taking on the form of whatever the Visitor’s fear might be. By doing this, they were able to collect their Ideya which allowed them to retain their forms, and the more Ideya they gathered, the stronger they became! However, if they didn’t gather any Ideya or if they lost the Ideya they had caught, the Nightmaren would revert back to the dark mist from whence they came.
Only the strongest of Nightmaren survived, that was until Wizeman came to the Night Dimension.
It was rumored he used to be a Dreamer but that he fell and succumbed to the tides of the Dark Ocean, the natural divider between the lands of Nightopia and Nightmare. There, the ocean pulled the Ideya from his heart, an event that would have awoken any other visitor, but somehow Wizeman remained. Refusing to be conquered, he used the rare ability of Visitors to change their dreams and, with the waters and darkness around him, transformed himself into a powerful Nightmaren.
Now a Nightmaren and no longer able to leave as a Visitor, Wizeman quickly discovered his ability to change his dreams had transformed into a far more unique ability - the ability to create other Nightmaren. By gathering the darkness of others nightmares, Wizeman was able to create his own Nightmaren legion. The best part; they didn’t need Ideya to maintain their forms so long as he, their Master, survived.
With this knowledge, Wizeman began to gather Ideya for himself, increasing his power and Nightmaren legions as he went on to conquer the lands of Nightmare. All of Nightmare was in disarray as Wizeman’s nightmaren supplanted those that had formed themselves, taking the Ideya they’d gathered and leaving them to vanish. In the end, even the strongest of Nightmarens couldn’t withstand him. Only those who came, swore allegiance to Wizeman and submitted themselves to be “re-purposed” survived the purge while the others were crushed into dust.
Eventually he became the sole creator of Nightmarens, a god amongst the darkness, the very ruler of Nightmare! However, as the saying goes - absolute power corrupts absolutely and the wickedness of Wizemant’s heart eventually revealed itself.
Being empty and hollow of the bright feelings embodied in his absent Ideya, Wizeman felt nothing but contempt and impatience towards his creations. As a former Visitor, he did not see them as anything more than fanciful visions, glinting automatons, and the like. In his eyes, they were like everything else in the Night Dimension - empty vessels who appeared to have will and emotions, but not anything substantial. They were dolls, toys, tools to be used and nothing more.
He could do what he wanted with them and often did, resulting in the destruction or (if he favored the Nightmaren) the “re-purposing” of many Nightmaren “failures”. Despite their mistreatment and the iron fist he rules with, Wizeman’s forces remain loyal to him either out of fear of being destroyed or out of the knowledge that without him, they would cease to exist.
However, there have been some who were brave and confident enough to break away from his tyrannical rule, though only 1 has ever lived long enough to tell of it. Their name is NiGHTS.
