[Cimon Morpheus]:
To be a Primordial Spawn was rare enough, but to be the son of Hypnos, primordial lord of slumber, and a descendent of Morpheus, the god of dreams, as well? That should be a feat in some record book somewhere, if you asked Cimon.
House Morpheus are said to be descended from Hypnos, and, while in a way, that is true, the full truth was they were descended from his son, Morpheus, the god of dreams himself. No matter how you argue it, Morpheus was their family progenitor. It was why their family name was 'Morpheus.'
House Morpheus, like many noble houses, has their own secrets in which they guard, especially when it comes to cultivation. For their lucky few, this secret is called the 'Sleeping Realm,' where their Progenitor dwells.
Not all those of House Morpheus are able to achieve this feat in their lifetimes — Most who do only achieve it to varying degrees of enlightenment. Even during the time before the Sealing of the Shadow Realm, the numbers that could achieve such enlightenment were drastically smaller percentage-wise than those that could —- Most could not even hope to achieve enlightenment into the Sleeping Realm. And now, with the Sealing of the Shadow Realm, so, too, sealed are many secret techniques and knowledge passed down from the millennia — This only caused the number of Enlightened individuals to plummet so drastically that they've essentially become non-existant. Enlightenment to enter the Sleeping Realm has been drastically reduced within the Morpheus bloodline.
It's believed that once one gains this enlightenment to access the Sleeping Realm, their cultivation gets a massive boost and they are welcomed by the three kings of the Sleeping Realm themselves — the godly sons of the Primordial god of Slumber, Hypnos. They are Phobeter, the lord of Nightmares; Phantasos, lord of mysterious dreams, strange dreams and prophetic dreams; and Morpheus, the strongest and most powerful of the three kings and the lord of all dreams himself.
Of course, those outside House Morpheus don't know any of this, not even about the realm of Dream and even if they did, they wouldn't be able to access it freely like those of House Morpheus could. In fact, when one sleeps, they are only accessing the very surface of the realm of Dreams — the surface of a water far deeper than they could possibly comprehend. It was why most forget what they dream when they wake. Meanwhile, those with Oneiroi blood coursing through their veins, like those from House Morpheus, can often go deeper into the Dream Realm — They can't access it fully unless enlightened, but they can catch clearer glimpses of it during sleep or special specific circumstances.
Cimon, on the other hand, was a specific special circumstance.
Not only is he born into a house descended from the Oneiroi, but he is also the son of the Primordial father of the Oneiroi. This means that his blood is perhaps more purer Oneiroi than even his Oneiroi forefathers, perhaps even Morpheus himself! At least, this was his theory, anyway.
Perhaps that's why he has had access to the Sleeping Realm of Lemnos[i.e, the true name of the Sleeping Realm] since before he was even able to walk.
He would often escape to the sleeping when he was stressed or to cultivate as a child — It gave significant boasts to his cultivation speeds — And it was the reason why Cimon had so many accomplishments growing up in cultivation — He'd cultivate in the Sleeping inside Morpheus' kingdom, unaware that his destiny was one that would require the greatest of wills…
[15 Years Ago, in the Sleeping Realm of Lemnos…]:
In the Divine realm of Lemnos, fourteen long years ago, the three kingdoms of Lemnos basked in the rich power of mana and rest.
In one kingdom made of jagged stones and twisted unnatural trees bent in horrific angles, the air was heavy with the thick scent of fear and terror. It was clogged with the scent of madness and terror. A black castle of thorns and fear pierced the ever-storming black sky and, in their throne room, sat a being who carried a great aura of fear, terror and madness thicker than even the air he breathed.
He was a hooded figure in a black cloak and possessed glowing yellow eyes on an unnatural face of black and yellow skin. His tall figure, unnatural and horror-strickening, stood from its throne of thorns, displaying featherless wings on his back seemingly made of thorns and and was as desecrated meatless as his frame. He stood a frightening 3 stories tall, his head merely reaching the roof of the throne room.
He made his way over to the side window, looking out and observing his kingdom of nightmares where his subjects inspired fear in both the lives of mortals and immortals. Nightmare Demons were rampant in this lands, chasing the dreaming parts of souls and giving them one hell of a chase. This was the lands in which phobias are born and nightmares dwell victoriously.
If you haven't guessed who he is yet, his name is Phobetor, one of the three kings of Lemnos and the god of nightmares.
As he is observing his subjects, nodding if only to himself at the screams and horrors of the mortal souls below as if music to his ears, Phobetor suddenly felt a shift in the air and a power rumbling to the west of his position, just a few hundred thousand kilometers outside his territory, causing his head to snap in its direction.
"A new brother has been born…," Phobetor's voice was like screeches of nails on a chalkboard to anyone who could listen. He suddenly smiled like a madman. "It has been eons since that guy has had a child. Perhaps I'll toy with him as he grows up — I need entertainment and what better way than torturing my new sibling? Afterall, I can't allow them to know what I did… No, its best to give him trauma before he becomes too curious."
Phobetor began cackling, before he started his plotting…
"Phobos, my pupil, we'll be having guests soon! Make the proper preparations!" Phobetor's voice sounded through the Lands of Nightmares.
Just south of the Land of Nightmares was the Lands of Mysteries, where the lord of Prophetic and strange dreams dwelled.
In the Land of Mysteries, though vast, the place is full of ruins and empty spaces of civilizations long forgotten, its people nonexistent. No one dwelled here, no one at all — At least, no one that can be seen breathing.
The winds howl with whispers to sources that no one can identify in this land. Prophecies are spoken to events that have yet to come to pass and the unknown in this land reign supreme. The Strange and bizarre rule this domain and the unexpected is what should always be suspected pulling the strings. In this domain where mystery and uncanny wisdom meet, one can expect… the unexpected.
There were many rocks and stones and giant stone tables littered everywhere in this land, some glowing a variety of colors between green and blue and white, in the form of runes and etchings inscribed onto them somehow. At the heart of this land, there is a massive rock many, many, many times bigger than everest. This rock produced an overwhelming presence of power, glowing a combination of blues, greens and whites in the form of etchings carved into it as if a tattoo in a language was forgotten… Or one that was never truly made. These tattoos etchings seemed to glow in their colors, sometimes separately, sometimes all at once.
As the rumbling of power to its northwest reached it, the rock began glowing the the brightest of whites — So blinding, in fact was it that it was brighter than any sun in any sky that has ever existed in that brief moment.
It was almost as if it were happy and rejoicing for what was to come…
At the farthest north of Lemnos, lies the Lands of Dreams, the Realm of Morpheus himself.
Unlike the Lands of Nightmares where the nightmare demons dwelled or the mysterious Lands of Mysteries, where the ghostly winds breeze by with whispers, the Lands of Dreams, or 'the Dreaming' as it is often called, was a buzz of pleasant activity.
The realm of the Dreaming was many, many, many times larger than any planet could hope to achieve in volume. It was made up of amalgamations of castles, mansions and skyscrapers, futuristic cities and more, with diverse creatures that could not truly exist in the real world, walking, flying, swimming and skipping around in the Dreaming. Weird gadgets that seemed to possess lives themselves waddled around and soared through the air like drones and cities, some explain, others everchanging, rose and fell and rose up again. This was the Dreaming, where idea and inspiration meets possibility and are made real. Beings from across all of existence find comfort in dreams.
Inside the biggest castle, multiple times bigger than even a small planet, sat atop a throne of silver and going over a tablet of papers and scrolls was the king of dreams himself, Morpheus.
Morpheus had an ever changing form, mostly humanoid, with light grey, noiseless wings that seem to shift into a cacophony of misty colors, from soft grey to baby blue to blue misty grey. He wore grey and blue robes that seemed to shift between the two colors like a haze and grey sandals that seemed to do the same. If one were to try to focus too hard on him, they would feel the sudden desire to doze off.
He was just signing some paperwork and going through this century's worth of dreams when he felt the presence from across the vast river Lethe that separated each of the 3 territories of Lemnos, this presence coming from the West.
"Would you look at that — Another realm has risen from the rivers of Forgetfulness… A new Oneiroi has been born!" Morpheus chuckled, his grey-blue eyes twinkling with glee. "I wonder what he will personify or what he'll be like…
"What's this?" Morpheus tickled his head westward, towards the direction of the new domain that was currently forming. "An almighty's touch, I'm sensing… Interesting. So, one of the almighties has had an influence in his existence…
"Things are about to get interesting around here, but I do wonder… How will this new sibling of mine fare in his trials? He'll have to tame his domain when he becomes an immortal and, with an almighty's touch, his won't be easy. Still though, I suppose I could help him out a bit…".
Unbeknownst to the 3 kings, this new power that has been born — Cimon Morpheus — would one day become a deity unlike any his siblings had known.