Preface
NosyCat, 13 July 2021 (created 10 July 2021)
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Some fictional settings are carefully planned in advance, over years and years. The dream sort of happened. It took shape along with a story called Riders of the Dream, written during a long, sad winter. But it wasn't written in a vacuum.

InkJerkers is a virtual writing circle whose members aren't afraid to self-insert into their own stories. One day, all their characters came together in the same one, and that sparked something special.

These are the legends of the dream-rider SpiritWalk and its valiant crew as they sail the aether, having adventures and often saving the world. No two of these legends are alike; that's how legends work. As it turns out, we need some sort of common ground anyway, so here I am trying to provide.

While the setting is generally steampunk-flavored, many elements tend to be modern.
The dream
NosyCat, 28 July 2024 (created 10 July 2021)
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The dream (styled in lowercase throughout the original story) is a mysterious reality with strange laws. For one thing it's pervaded by aether. It has a central moon instead of a sun, and has a definite down (though Adrift in the Dream shows that larger landmasses have their own atmosphere and gravity). People travel between phases of the dream in ships, through a combination of transference and regular navigation; the distance thus crossed is measured in octaves.

The dream is populated by humans, anthros and the native Aethereals, but also aliens and even stranger creatures. In Riders of the Dream it's heavily implied that humans came from a world not unlike our own, and that some were changed by the process. Shadowing the Dream makes it explicit that at least KantuckNadie and SandWolf are refugees from a cyberpunk dystopia centuries into the future.

The first story only depicted artificial habitats, but various islands feature after that.
SpiritWalk
NosyCat, 28 July 2024 (created 11 July 2021)
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Spirit Walk is a dream-rider, a small ship crewed by the main characters in the setting. It's inspired by Jules Verne's famous fictional submarine, and an equally famous ship from the real world. Unlike either, the Spirit Walk is part aircraft and/or spacecraft.

The exact size of the Spirit Walk isn't stated in the stories, but artistic depictions agree on a length of about 35 metres. The ship has three decks, and is sized for a crew of seven, but only three are featured in Riders of the Dream; three more join along the way in later stories, for various lengths of time.

The bridge of the Spirit Walk resembles that of a steamboat in the first story, and becomes more like an aircraft's in the sequels; The engineering console is joined by a few others.

The ship has powerful engines, though some others are faster. It's stated to be very sturdy, and proves it on several occasions. It's usually unarmed with the exception of serrated ridges along the hull that can cut nets and cables. Otherwise it's equipped with an array of sensors on top of floodlights and a rangefinder. It also has short-range voice communications via wireless. A small crane is mentioned from the first story, but only used later.

Prelude to a Dream establishes that the Spirit Walk was acquired at Bellawood Station. The ship's port of call was finally named as Ishimaki Island in Hippodrome of the Dream.