Awakenings
Introduction to
At the heart of this story and world are the Awakened.
This web page will give you a holistic, introductory overview of Awakenings, and link you to other places to learn more. If you want to view the Awakening Type lore drop packets, you can navigate to them with the menu at the left, or by scrolling to the bottom of this page.
What is an Awakening?
Fifty years ago, the Great Sleep befell one third of the population. It was not a peaceful sleep, for an indiscriminate curse called the Torpor began to strike: enveloping every Dreamer with their own, unique Nightmare. Now, in present time, the Torpor still continues to take Dreamers: but some have awoken, forever changed by their experience.
The Awakened are those individuals that were able to overcome the trials from their Nightmare. In their success, they awoke, physically transformed in a variety of ways: their Awakening.
Your Awakening type determines your costuming for your character's physical appearance such as pointed ears, translucent wings, or pointed horns. You can read more about costuming requirements down below in "Costuming Requirements."
You'll notice that there are two names for an Awakening: the first is their "official" name, and the second ("aka") is their common name.
What do I need to know?
Your character is an Awakened.
Becoming an Awakened doesn’t change a person’s values, morals, or personality. However, an Awakened individual might experience new preferences or advantages relating to their Awakening’s physical and/or biological manifestations. It is important to note that a person’s personality, culture, or upbringing does not predict what Awakening type they become: a bitter, battleborn warrior can end up with airy, light wings and glittery skin as a Sunborn Celestrian; someone who has never swam or seen the ocean can end up as a Nautilisk; someone that has only ever lived in a bustling city can end up with flowers sprouting from them as a Quanoxi.
So how exactly did I become an Awakened?
The Torpor struck you sometime in the past fifty years, enveloping you into a horrible and unrousable experience called a Nightmare. In the world your body remains alive in an enchanted stasis, while your consciousness roams your unique Nightmare. You overcame the trials of your Nightmare, and awoke irrevocably transformed to your Awakening. You could have been taken by the Torpor the day the Great Sleep occurred, or you may have just entered your Nightmare recently.
What are the Costuming Requirements?
All costuming must meet our dress code standards. Although we often describe LoE as "medieval," we are more varied than a specific time period in human history. In general, we base our standards on a non-modern (pre-1700ish) aesthetic.
In the Awakening packets you will see that there are three different types of costuming requirements available. Instead of dividing the Awakening costume requirements into levels, we label costuming traits in the following categories:
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Required:
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The bare minimum.
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Basic, achievable costuming like simple prosthetics (ears), easy make-up, etc.
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Optional:
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Additional flavor or a selection of options for you to choose from, but does not require pre-approval.
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Includes costuming like contacts, detailed make-up, wigs, etc.
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Advanced:
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Optional traits that must be pre-approved. These are complex or specialty costuming that requires pre-approval from a costuming marshal. Occasionally an ENTIRE Awakening qualifies as "Advanced," and is clearly stated in the packet if applicable.
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How do I get approval for my Advanced Costuming or Advanced Awakening?
If you wish to do any of the following, visit the Advanced Costuming/Advanced Awakening Form!
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Want to run a concept/idea/purchase by a Costume Marshal before proceeding.
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Need pre-approval from a Costume Marshal for Advanced Costuming.
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Need pre-approval from a Costume Marshal for an Advanced Awakening.
If you are interested in playing an Anamnesis, you can read the expectations and submit your application here.
Where can I ask questions?
If you have a question for staff, you can ask in the LoE2 Questions channel in our Discord, with a transparent expectation that answers won't be in a timely fashion, or even at all if they're something coming in a later release. Our crew is tirelessly working and many questions will be answered by future releases. However, if you have a question relevant to a recent lore drop - please feel free to drop it our way!
If you have a specific question about a concept or want to submit for approval for an Advanced Costuming or Advanced Awakening, you can do so on the Advanced Costuming/Awakening Form.
Is there a glossary for all of these terms?
There sure is! You can read the glossary here that summarizes and explains all of the Awakening relevant terminology. Note that the this glossary was made for the Awakening lore drop and is not complete: we'll continue to add to it in future releases.
I'm ready to read the Awakening Packets!
Many people worked hard to make these packets happen - check out the credits at the end of each packet to see some familiar names of Writers, Additional Contributors, Copy Editors, Photographers, Models, Make-up, and more!
Special thank you to Jordan Mullaney for bringing the packets to their full potential with her boundless efforts dedicated to their organization, layout, design, and wrangling of writing cats.
Special thank you to Jennifer Pan for drawing every piece of beautiful, bespoke art you'll find within these pages.