Dream

Morpheus (Dream) was one of the Endless. He was the first and former ruler of the Dreaming and was both lord and personification of all dreams and stories.

Early History
Dream came into existence once sentient lifeforms capable of dreaming appeared in Creation. Dream was one of the Endless, personifications of ideas and concepts that were tied to life, and was fated to fulfill their functions until the Creation ended and all life disappeared from the cosmos. The Endless are the children of Time, and Night is the mother of at least Dream. The parents, who predate all other existence, have grown estranged and care little for the mortal world Dream concerns himself with. Dream took Abel, the first murder victim, away from his sister Death and offered him a place in the Dreaming. He made Abel a storyteller and gave him the House of Secrets to living in. When Abel got lonely, Dream commissioned his brother Cain to join him next door as a storyteller in the House of Mystery.

After Despair was murdered Dream and the Endless went to the necropolis to put her body to rest. The necropolitans had long lost their passion for their job and didn't know about the necropolis arrangement with the Endless, so they laughed at them when they asked for Despair's cerements and the book of rituals. The Endless revoked the necropolis charter, causing it to be destroyed. The village of Litharge was granted a charter by the Endless and became the new necropolis. Dream, as Kai'ckul, appeared to Nada, the queen of a wondrous African city. She fell in love with him and went to the Dreaming to see him again. They both knew there would be terrible consequences if a mortal fell in love with one of the Endless, but they gave in to their desires. The next morning Nada's kingdom was destroyed, and she killed herself because she felt she was responsible. Kai'ckul appeared to her soul and told her he would make her queen of the Dreaming. She refused, and out of pride, Kai'ckul condemned Nada to Hell.

As a favor to the Roman god Terminus, Dream came to emperor Augustus in a dream. Augustus saw two futures for Rome, one in which the whole world would be under Rome's banner and last thousands of years, and another in which the Roman empire would die after a few hundred years. He wanted the latter but was afraid of the Roman gods learning of his plans. Dream advised him to give up being emperor for one day and disguise himself as a beggar in the streets. Augustus took his advice, and while the gods weren't watching over him he formulated his plan to stop Roman expansion. Baghdad, Haroun al Raschid summoned Dream to the waking world by threatening to unleash the djinns of the Globe of Suleiman. Dream disliked being called in such a manner and took away the Globe. Raschid told Dream that Baghdad had become a city of magic and wonders, but he sensed that it would not last, so he asked Dream to take Baghdad into the Dreaming. Dream agreed and put the dream of Baghdad city of wonders in a bottle. In the waking world, Baghdad transformed from a magic city into a prosperous yet ordinary one, with Raschid and all of the residents unaware of what it once had been, except in legend.

Death convinced Dream to visit a tavern to see humanity on their own terms. In the tavern they overheard Hob Gadling say that death was a fool's game and that he had no intention of dying. Dream and Death agreed to make him immortal, and Dream told Hob he'd meet him in the same tavern one hundred years hence. Dream met with Hob Gadling, who asked if he'd made a deal with the devil to live so long. Dream told him he had not, and that he was simply interested in Hob. Death would not touch Hob unless he desired it. They agreed to meet again in another hundred years. Dream met with Hob Gadling at their tavern, and Hob told Dream, life was great now that he'd acquired a fortune. Dream saw Will Shaxberd at the tavern and promised him unlimited inspiration in writing his plays if Will created new dreams to spur on the minds of men.

.As part of William Shakespeare's contract with Dream he wrote the first of two plays specifically for the Dream King, A Midsummer's Night Dream. Dream and the emissaries of Faerie were the audience for Will's first performance of the play. Dream told the court of Faerie that this was his payment for all the diversion they'd offered him in the past. Although their time on Earth was over humanity would remember them through Will's play. Dream noted Lucien sneaking Vassily of the People through the Dreaming. Lucien admitted that he had lost one of his books from the library of dreams, and Vassily was the current owner. Vassily promised Lucien his book back if he was taken to the bedroom of a duke's daughter, the object of his desire. Dream took over, showing Vassily to the young lady's room. Once Vassily saw her, it was enough for him, some wishes are best left unfulfilled. Dream invited Vassily to join him and Lucien for dinner in the Dreaming.

Dream met with Hob Gadling at their tavern, and Hob had fallen into poverty and despair. Dream asked if he wished for death, but Hob replied that he still had so much to live for.

Dream and the Corinthian met Destruction. Destruction showed him the Invisible College and hinted that he was planning on splitting away from the rest of the Endless. Destruction called a family meeting of the Endless and announced to Dream and the rest of his family that he was abandoning his duties as one of the Endless and taking his leave of them for good.

Dream met with Hob Gadling at their tavern, where Lady Constantine and her thugs ambushed them. Rumors of their centennial meetings had spread, and she believed they were the Devil and the Wandering Jew. She intended to kidnap them and learn what she could from them, but Dream put her thugs to sleep and put Constantine in a dreamlike state where she was haunted by those whose lives she'd sacrificed to advance her own agendas. Dream came to Lady Constantine and offered her a reward in exchange for help in an affair he couldn't directly involve himself in since it involved his estranged son. He sent Constantine to retrieve Orpheus' head, which had been stolen from a temple in Naxos and fallen into the possession of the French government. Dream needed to send her advice in dreams when Maximilian Robespierre captured her, but she eventually succeeded.

Despair presented Joshua Norton to Dream. Despair had driven him towards ruin and suicide, and speaking for herself, Delirium and Despair, challenged Dream to save him through dreams. Dream found that Norton craved success and respect, so he gave him the dream of being Emperor of the United States. Norton followed his dream, running a bulletin in the newspaper proclaiming himself Norton I. Death met with Dream and told him she had her doubts about what he was doing.

Dream checked on the progress of Norton I. Delirium met Dream, and told him she thought Norton should belong to her, but despite believing himself Emperor of the United States he was totally sane. Dream pointed out that it was madness that kept him sane. Dream met with Desire to look in on Emperor Norton I. Desire, through his/her agent the King of Pain, offered Norton the world, but he refused. Dream proved his hold on Norton could not be assailed by Desire. Dream told Desire s/he wasn't very subtle in her tactics, and s/he was outraged and promised to get even with Dream for the insult. Norton I died, and Dream won his challenge against Despair. He never entered her realm once between the time Dream gave him his dream of being emperor and the time he died.

Dream met with Hob Gadling at their tavern, and Hob noted that he'd met other immortals in the past like Jason Blood and Mad Hettie. Hob used to think Dream was just curious as to what an immortal man would do with himself, but after seeing how many other immortals were out there he'd decided that Dream was looking for a friend. Dream told him that he had no need for mortal friends, and stormed out of the tavern. Hob said that if Dream met him again in a hundred years' time it would be because they were friends, and for no other reason.

Time on Earth
On the night of June 10th, 1916, British occultist Roderick Burgess and his Order of Ancient Mysteries accidentally summoned Dream while trying to summon and imprison Death. Drained from a recent odyssey, Dream was no match for Burgess, who stole his ruby, helm, and pouch and held him captive in a crystal prison in the basement of his house in Wych Cross. Burgess hoped Dream could be coerced into setting up a trap for his sister, but Dream refused to speak to him. Dream's imprisonment led to worldwide problems. Some people slept all day, while others couldn't sleep or experienced waking dreams. Among those affected was Wesley Dodds whose nightmares only stopped when he became the mystery-man Sandman and fought crime.

Meanwhile, in November of 1930, the items Burgess had stolen from Dream were in turn stolen by his second-in-command, Ruthven Sykes, and mistress, Ethel Cripps. Sykes traded the helm to Choronzon for an amulet to protect himself from Burgess' wrath, only to lose it, and the pouch and ruby, when Cripps walked out on him in 1936. Roderick died in 1947 and Alex Burgess took over as Dream's captor. Over the next 40 years, he too attempted to negotiate with Dream, to no avail. Meanwhile, the Order fell apart. On September 14th, 1988, after another failed attempt to get Dream to talk to him, Alex, now confined to a wheelchair, was taken back to his room, but not before one of the wheels on his chair scuffed the binding circle, breaking the enchantment that prevented Dream from entering the minds of mortals. One of his guards fell asleep on duty, allowing him to tap into the power of dreams and make his escape from his crystal prison. He confronted Alex Burgess in dreams and demanded his helm, pouch, and ruby back. Alex told him they were stolen long ago by Sykes and begged for mercy, but Dream cursed him with a never-ending nightmare.

On his way back to the Dreaming, Dream met Marco Polo in one of the Soft Places, where time and space shift like sand. Marco gave Dream water, and in gratitude, Dream helped Marco leave the Soft Place, back to the year 1273 and the Desert of Lop, his point of entry.

Dream returned to the Dreaming, but escaping his prison took a lot out of him, and he collapsed on the way to his castle. He was taken to the House of Mystery and cared for by Cain and Abel. Once he was strong enough he went to his castle and found it in shambles. Lucien, his only servant loyal enough to have stayed at the castle during Dream's imprisonment told him the Dreaming had suffered because of his absence. He summoned the Three Witches, and they gave him clues as to where he could find his helm, pouch, and ruby

Journey to Hell
Destiny called a gathering of the Endless, telling them a meeting with the Fates made him aware that he had to call the family gathering to set in motion a chain of events that would cause change and upheaval. During the course of a conversation, Desire got under Dream's skin by reminding him of Nada. Dream was indignant, but Death said she agreed with Desire, sending his lover to Hell for spurning him was an awful thing to do. Dream vowed to make amends by journeying to Hell and saving Nada's soul. Dream made preparations for his journey to Hell. He gathered the dreams of the Dreaming and gave them instructions on maintaining the Dreaming should he fail to return. He didn't want to Dream to fall into ruin like when Burgess captured him. He sent Cain to Hell to announce his upcoming visit, and visited Lyta Hall's son. She screamed for him to keep away, but Dream told her she had no reason to fear him at the present, and he named her son Daniel. Lastly, Dream visited Hob Gadling in dreams and shared a bottle of wine with him. Dream then entered Hell to find Lucifer Morningstar, tired of his role of the adversary, resigned as ruler of Hell. He had cast out every last demon, never-born and damned soul from his realm, including Nada. At Lucifer's request Dream cut off his wings. alongside Mazikeen Lucifer fulfilled his promise to destroy Dream by handing him the key to Hell, thus making Dream its rightful ruler.

Dream returned to the Dreaming and asked for Death's advice on what he should do with Hell. She was confident he'd figure things out, and she was very busy containing all the soul's Lucifer freed from Hell. An envoy of representatives from Heaven, Hell, Asgard, Faerie, and numerous other realms and pantheons all arrived at Dreams' castle. They all sought the key to Hell, and all wanted an audience with Dream. Dream served a banquet for the emissaries seeking control of Hell, then met with them privately. Odin offered him a glass ball containing a notional Ragnarok, and inside the ball was the Sandman (Wesley Dodds), who contained a piece of Dream's soul. The Lords of Chaos threatened him, the Lords of Order tried to reason with Dream. Susano-o-no-Mikoto offered anything, and Bast claimed to have information that could lead Dream to his prodigal brother Destruction. Azazel of Hell revealed he had Nada as his captive and threatened to devour her if Hell wasn't returned to the demons. Dream couldn't decide who to give Hell to, but the decision was taken out of his hands when the angel's Duma and Remiel informed him that the Creator chose them to resume control of Hell. Dream handed over the key to them and announced the news to the emissaries. Azazel was upset and threatened to devour Nada's soul then and there. He renounced Dream's hospitality, enabling Dream to save Nada and imprison Azazel in a glass bottle.

Dream discovered Loki had switched places with Susano-o-no-Mikato while the rest of the emissaries were watching Dream and Azazel fight. Dream freed Susano from the torment Odin reserved for Loki, but instead of returning to Loki to his punishment, he put a dream image in his place. Dream told Loki he was now in Dream's debt. The last emissary to leave was Cluracan of Faerie who gave Dream his sister Nuala as a servant, a gift from the Faerie Queen Titania. Dream apologized to Nada, although it wasn't an easy thing for him to do, and offered her a chance to be reborn. She accepted the gift, and her soul was reborn into a newborn in Hong Kong.

Sandman observed the Land, one of the distant skerries of the Dreaming. He noted that it was dying and kept his eye on it, as he originally created it for his old lover Alianora. The Cuckoo destroyed the porpentine and hierogram of the Land, and because of the terms of the compact Dream made when he created the Land, he was bound to unmake the Land and its inhabitants. The second part of compact was a boon for Barbie, the last ruler of the Land. Barbies friends had entered the Dreaming to save her from the Cuckoo, but had no way to return home, so she asked Dream to send her, Thessaly, Hazel, and Foxglove back to the waking world safe and sound. Dream and Thessaly fell in love and Dream made a room for her in his castle in the Dreaming. They spent all their time in the castle or walking in Fiddler's Green. Thessaly left Dream, and he tried his best to forget her, forbidding his palace staff from mentioning her. He went into deep brooding, causing awful weather throughout the Dreaming.

However, he was soon summoned back to his family, to inform Lucifer about the escape of Weldrok and the threat he faced to the survival of Creation, before returning back to Hell, as a way of preventing Weldrok from raising the legions of Hell against Creation.

Death of the Dream
Dream considered what to do about the Kindly Ones as they murdered his loyal dreams and began wrecking the Dreaming. Nuala chose that moment to call in her boon, calling Dream away from the Dreaming to Faerie in hopes of saving him. She didn't know that the only way the Kindly Ones could destroy him as if he left the Dreaming. Dream and Nuala spoke, and when she asked him if he wanted to be punished for Orpheus's death he thought about it and realized how much he'd changed since he was released from Roderick Burgess prison. Dream returned to the Dreaming to find the Corinthian had saved Daniel. Once Lyta realized Daniel was all right she told the Kindly Ones not to hurt Dream, but once they were set in motion the Kindly Ones couldn't be stopped. Dream had words with Daniel, giving him the eagle dream stone and letting him know that when Dream died Daniel would become the new Dream of the Endless. Matthew insisted on accompanying him to the borders of nightmare where Dream would make his stand against the Kindly Ones, but when they arrived Dream made Matthew leave. Death met Dream and correctly guessed that he'd let things go so far because he wanted to leave his role as Dream of the Endless, but couldn't abandon his post like Destruction did. The Kindly Ones arrived but Dream would not fight them, he allowed them to destroy him in order to save the Dreaming, and Death took Dream. Dream's role in the Endless was assumed by Daniel.

Dream's death caused a reality storm that rippled across time and Creation. The Endless collected the book of ritual and Dream's cerements from Litharge, then held a massive wake in the Dreaming. Dream's body was laid out and each member of the Endless and selected friends of Dream made speeches. His body was then put on a barge that sailed off and out of the Dreaming.

Powers
Personification of Dreams: As one of the seven Endless, inconceivably powerful beings, Dream is both the lord and personification of all dreams and stories and all that is not in reality (which, in turn, Dream may define by his existence). He possesses absolute control oversleep, dreams, nightmares, and even insomnia.
 * Cosmic Awareness: As guardian and ruler of the Dreaming, Morpheus has access to all stories ever told. Dream effectively knows almost everything, including how the Omniverse was created and the stories yet to be told.
 * Dimensional Travel: Dream can open portals to other dimensions at will. He can travel instantly to the Dreaming, and anywhere in the mortal realm that people dream. He can easily enter and transit the most magical realms as well, such as Hell.
 * Dream Conjuring: He is capable of summoning dreams, stories, and ideas and send them into the minds of others. He was able to curse a man with "eternal waking", causing him to become trapped in an endless loop of awaking from a nightmare.
 * Fear Projection
 * Dreaming Reality Warping: Dream's power is directly connected to the Dreaming. Inside the Dreaming, he can effortlessly alter reality on a universal scale. He can create objects and entities to follow his every command. The Dreams landscape and weather can also change simply but his current mood, and he also controls all the dreams within it. His 70-year absence from the Dreaming had caused the realm to decay. As Dream grew weak while he was imprisoned, the Dreaming did the same.
 * Energy Absorption: Dream literally obtain nutrition from dreams.
 * Healing: Morpheus can heal wounds with the touch of his hand.
 * Illusion Casting: Dream can conjure illusions at will. His illusions are real enough to the point where they can be physically interacted with by other beings, as dreams and reality are far closer to one another than most realize. This also includes nightmares sent as a punishment.
 * Immortality: As the personification of all dreams in the universe, Dream was both ageless and immortal. He will continue to exist so long as one sentient being is capable of dreaming. Being an Endless, Dream can only be hurt by means that he allows. Besides, if an Endless is destroyed, its personality and powers are instantly transmitted to another person, who must become the new embodiment of that aspect.
 * Magic: Dream is a powerful magic-user; in the Dreaming, his magic has Nigh-Omnipotent levels.
 * Metamorphosis: Morpheus could completely alter his physical appearance in order to appear to lesser beings in a guise that they could comprehend. He could also create clothing from "dream-space".
 * Photokinesis: Dream is capable of creating light at will.
 * Power Distribution: Dream was capable of imbuing some of his power into his equipment, including his Sand Pouch and his Dreamstone.
 * Telekinesis: Dream can manipulate the movement of objects through his own will. He was able to telekinetically unlock and open a door with the snap of his fingers.
 * Size Alteration
 * Superhuman Reflexes
 * Superhuman Stamina: Dream was able to go 70 years without food, and only became slightly weak.
 * Superhuman Strength: Dream is much stronger than any ordinary human. He was able to effortlessly hurl a demon guard a great distance, with one arm.
 * Teleportation

Abilities

 * Artistry: Supreme talent to make creative dreams (and nightmares).
 * Insightful: Dream has a particular talent for introducing different ideas and new concepts into people's minds and lives (and also removes them).
 * Occultism

Weakness

 * Ancient Rules: Despite his great powers, Dream, like the rest of the Endless, is bound to a complex set of rules and customs that limit his abilities. One which requires her not to spill the blood of family or he is no longer protected as the personification of Dream from other Personifications. Another is that he cannot fall in love with a mortal or the mortal's downfall is assured.

Equipment

 * Sand of Sleep: His sands can put others to sleep. It is capable of releasing dreams into the real world.
 * Dreamstone: He possessed a ruby that focused his powers.
 * Helm of Dreams: A helm made from the bones of a dead god that offered him protection.

Trivia

 * Ambush Bug once applied to be Dream's assistant, asserting that he had no sense of humor and needed a wacky sidekick.


 * Even though Dream is the third oldest of the Endless, he appears to have some of the most influence over mortals, similarly to his elder sister Death. As quoted by Mervyn Pumpkinhead at the end of one of Dream's relationships: "He's gotta be the tragic figure standing out in the rain, mournin' the loss of his beloved. So down comes the rain, right on cue. In the meantime, everybody gets dreams fulla of existential angst and wakes up feeling like hell. And we all get wet."
 * This implies that depending on Dreams mood, he is able to affect people's dreams and implant his feelings in them, effectively manipulating mortals behavior when they are awake.