《Deviant's Masquerade: Setting Lore Compendium》Deviants: Wonderlanders
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Wonderlanders
-Initial Description-Those who have rejected reality so thoroughly as to create their own, have developed the ability to bring their thoughts into reality and overlay their ‘Wonderland’ with the world around them at the cost of slowly deteriorating their ability to tell reality and fiction apart as they slowly descend into Madness.
*Standard Madness Warning* Madness, unlike most other Deviant energies, is known to influence the mental states of all people who come into contact with it. The most common of these being a removal of inhibitions or an increase in obsessive and paranoid behavior. As such it is highly recommended that as little time as possible be spent around Active Madness users as possible, with a proportional detox period afterwards.
-Historical Note-Wonderlanders are arguably the least understood out of all Deviancies due to their intricate connection to the little understood Madness and the fact that their powers are derived from fantasies born of childhood wonder and later refined with maturity.
This confusion is then further exacerbated by the fact that most Wonderlanders are reclusive by nature, possessing limited interest in the world outside of their Wonderlands unless it somehow benefits the development of those Wonderlands or the interests they were born of.
--Rejection of Reality-Thanks to their ability to create their own reality entirely devoted to their interests it is not uncommon for Wonderlanders to slowly lose touch or interest with reality. This phenomenon occurs for a number of reasons that vary between Wonderlanders from the loss of emotional anchors, to a misunderstanding of how reality functions in ways they don’t quite comprehend in comparison to their Wonderlands where everything functions exactly how they expect it to.
(Note: There are a number of known Wonderlanders who have seemingly disappeared into their Wonderlands permanently, and it is highly recommended that Wonderlanders maintain emotional anchors in the real world so as to avoid this.)
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-Wonderlander Powers-The primary power of all Wonderlanders is the ability to create and modify a personal reality unique to themselves, that they are then capable of overlaying upon our world. Due to these personal realities the actual powers a Wonderlander can develop vary widely and are often limited only to the imagination and interests of the Wonderlander in question.
--Madness Filtration-One detail that has been determined as the primary reason for Wonderlanders maintaining activity in the world outside of their Wonderlands is the fact that they require resources to build their Wonderland. These resources seem to be a form of unrefined Madness they gather by being in the presence of people experiencing powerful thoughts or emotions.
(Note: Due to the fact that they only need to be near an emotional event it is not uncommon for Wonderlanders to be found on the outskirts of events observing everything without actually involving themselves without personal reason.)
-Psionic Immunity-Given how the mind of Wonderlander contain the entirety of their Wonderlands it should be noted that Wonderlanders have an even more powerful form of psionic protection than other Madness users. The reason for this being that whenever a psychic attempts to path or read a Wonderlander’s mind they are forced to path or read both the Wonderlander and the entirety of their Wonderland, all while being exposed to a steady amount of Madness.
-Dreams-Are the citizens that dwell within a Wonderlander’s Wonderland, and exist on spectrum of emotional and mental development ranging from simple animals to fully sentience and sapience.
(Note: Some Wonderlanders possess the ability to bring these Dreams into the real world for short periods of time. Due to the common emotional attachments Wonderlanders have to their Dreams it is recommended that they be treated similarly to important allies for their Wonderlanders in negotiations despite being considered Puppeteer constructs for combat purposes.)
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--Lesser/Worker Dreams- These are the most common of the dreams found within all Wonderlanders and represent a facsimile of life as they act out the roles they were created to fulfill.
--Greater/Boss Dreams-Most Worker Dreams possess a Boss Dream that they work for, with this Dream being far more complex than the common Worker Dreams and possessing the ability to manipulate their domain of the Wonderland with privileges that are only surpassed by the Wonderlander themselves.
(Note: Of the two kinds of Dreams these are the ones more likely to be considered Sapient, and should be considered as their own independent entities if separated from their Wonderlander rather than simple Puppets.)
-Corrupted-A common trend amongst Wonderlanders is for them to find a Companion of sorts whom they bond with and share a portion of their power. This companion then functions as a primary anchor for their Wonderland partner in both a sense of reality as well as for their sanity and emotional well being. The actual powers granted to this companion are often based around the Wonderlander and seem to function as enhancements or an outright overlay of the Wonderland, turning their companion into a pseudo-Dream.
(Note: While finding a companion is a common occurrence there are just as many Wonderlanders without a permanent companion and even a rare few with multiple companions. The handful of Wonderlanders to establish cults or gangs of Corrupted are extreme rarities, with their powers spread so thin that their Corrupted are nowhere near the scale of a true companion.)
--Reasons for Companions-When asked why these Wonderlanders sought out their companions, many would offer explanations about the [Redacted] and his suggestion that every Jack needs an Alice, even if the Wonderlander in question is not a Jack.*
*Validity of this statement is in question due to inherent Madness of all Wonderlanders.
-Wonderlander Interactions-Of all Deviants, Wonderlanders are the only ones who seem to possess an instinctive friendliness towards other Deviants. Often maintaining a friendly demeanor with them regardless of their actions so long as said actions do not violate that Wonderlander’s understanding of the world. It should be noted however that should someone violate the Wonderlander’s understanding of the world frequently or drastically enough then said Wonderlander will come to reject their very existence in the world.
(Note: Due to this odd friendliness almost all Wonderlanders are capable of instantly befriending each other, and as such should a Wonderlander need to be talked down it is best to use an allied Wonderlander.)
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