Dreams (Guide)

Early MYN Content and Onwards

To sleep — perchance to dream. Ay, there’s the rub!

Fallen London has a number of minor dream storylines which progress via sequences of opportunity cards. This is a guide to them.

Dreaming Strange Dreams

The first set of dreams you'll encounter are available as soon as you get out of the tutorial prison. There are five in all, each named for one of the sections of T. S. Eliot's The Wasteland and obscurely symbolic of various bits of lore.

What the Thunder Said

Having Recurring Dreams: What the Thunder Said begins with A dream about the mist, continuing through a series of cards (see below), ending with Who is the third that walks always beside you? which resets the dream quality and gives you Stormy-Eyed 7. You can then progress through the storyline again, with pairs of new options unlocked on some cards; one which increases Stormy-Eyed - this one will have the icon - and one which decreases it.

There's also an alternative late-game option of unlocking Stormy-Eyed: Watch the storm break on the Thunder in the Air card in Adulterine Castle. It does not reset the dream quality, allowing to reach the final location (see below) much faster, at the cost of skipping some of the related storyline on earlier WtTS cards.

Increasing Stormy-Eyed

In addition to the actions on dream cards that raise it, Stormy-Eyed can also be increased (if you have it) with I bid the wind speak as part of the Mutton Island carousel. See Time Passing on Mutton Island (Guide) for full details, but it amounts to 14 CP over 23 actions (0.61 CP/Action) when completing the carousel, or 13 CP over 16 actions (0.81 CP/Action) when resetting it via Zailing. When raising Stormy-Eyed from 7 to 19, this comes to 261 and 198 actions, respectively.

Once Stormy-Eyed reaches 19 and WtTS reaches 15 again The Thunder Takes Me Away becomes available, allowing you to travel to The Mind of a Long-Dead God. Actions there decrease Stormy-Eyed, and you will be unable to leave it until the quality reaches 0. See The Mind of a Long-Dead God (Guide) for details.

Other Dreams

Having WtTS 10 unlocks options on other dreams cards, namely

• Turn back to the sea (from A dream about a garden of tombs)
• Make the sacrifice (from A dream about a sacrifice (A Game of Chess))
• Listen (from A dream about a clouded place)
• Listen (from A dream about an earthquake (The Fire Sermon))

Overcapping

There are several means of increasing WtTS past its softcap of 21.

• Dream, from A Weakness in the Air in The Cave of the Nadir gives +1 CP
• Drinking a Flask of Wellspring Water gives +0.25 CP on average
• A dream about the mist gives +1 CP
• Although the WtTS options on other dream cards aren't locked by high levels of WtTS, they are locked by high levels of their own dreams, rendering them quite impractical as overcapping methods.

The Burial of the Dead

Having Recurring Dreams: The Burial of the Dead begins with A dream about wine and dead men and then continues through a sequence of cards (see below) up to A dream of a mouldering library at level 18, which resets the storyline and gives you 5 CP of Haunted by Stairs. You can then play through the storyline again, with pairs of new options on various cards that increase or decrease Haunted by Stairs. Upon reaching TBotD 15, the increase option on A dream about a garden of tombs will set Haunted by Stairs to 19.

Once TBotD reaches 18 again and Haunted by Stairs reaches 19, you can draw Haunted by Stairs (card), which has four 0-action options that increase Haunted by Stairs and set Transformed by Stairs to 10 and one option which decreases Haunted by Stairs. Going to the Tomb-Colonies will allow you to play new options on various cards that give tidbits of lore and lower Haunted by Stairs. Once Haunted falls below 15, you can play Burial of the Dead: the Choice of Kings, which takes you through a series of storylets and concludes the storyline, resetting Having Recurring Dreams: The Burial of the Dead and Haunted by Stairs.

Once you've finished the storyline, you can wipe your Transformed by Stairs to play through it again from the A dream of a mouldering library card.

Other Dreams

Having TBotD 10 unlocks options on other dream cards, namely

• Pick up the lights (from A dream about castle battlements)
• Light a candle to explore with (from A dream about a cave)
• Collect a handful of sparks (from A dream about a bright fountain)
• Tap on the window(from A dream about looking in through a window)

Overcapping

There is no known method of increasing TBotD; this is intentional, to prevent people from locking themselves out of the storyline.

The Fire Sermon

Having Recurring Dreams: The Fire Sermon begins with A dream about something expensive happening, then proceeds through a series of cards (see below) up to level 16, at which point you can play A dream of a dark, dark room to reset the dream quality and gain Seeing in Apocyan 4. You can then progress through the storyline again, with pairs of new options unlocked on some cards; one which increases Seeing in Apocyan and one which decreases it. Once you reach Seeing in Apocyan 15, you can play A dream about a crowded city, which allows you to reset both the dream quality and Seeing in Apocyan in exchange for Memories in Apocyan.

You may replay the latter part of the storyline by using A dream of a dark, dark room to remove your Memories in Apocyan.

Other Dreams

Having TFS 10 unlocks some options on other dream cards:

• Encourage the moths (from A dream about moths)
• Look at your aura (from A dream about a different place)
• Walk the paths (from A dream about a storm in a garden)
• Set fire to your books to distract attention (from A dream about a cloister)

Overcapping

As both A dream about ice and fire and A dream about an angry mountain continue to be available no matter how high your level of TFS, there isn't really a meaningful cap to surpass for this dream. Apart from these, the only method of increasing TFS to arbitrary heights is Dream from A Weakness in the Air in The Cave of the Nadir.

A Game of Chess

Having Recurring Dreams: A Game of Chess begins with A dream about a clock and proceeds through a series of cards (see below) up to level 22.

Other Dreams

Having AGoC 10 unlocks some options on other dream cards:

• Arm yourself (from A dream about the end of a corridor)
• Look again (from A dream about a field of candle flames)
• Rescue the girl (from A dream about a storm-tossed clifftop)
• Charge into the breach! (from A dream about a burning city)

Overcapping

There are a few methods of increasing AGoC beyond its softcap of 22:

• Dream, from A Weakness in the Air in The Cave of the Nadir gives +1 CP
• Drinking a Flask of Wellspring Water gives +0.25 CP on average
• Although the AGoC options on other dream cards aren't locked by high levels of AGoC, they are locked by high levels of their own dreams, rendering them quite impractical as overcapping methods.

Death by Water

Having Recurring Dreams: Death by Water begins with A dream about whispers and continues through a series of cards (see below), which finish at level 10.

Other Dreams

Having DbW 6 unlocks options on other dream cards:

• Get into a boat (from A dream about a lake)
• Open the window (from A dream about a window at night)
• Copy what your reflection is doing. (from A dream about standing between bright mirrors)

Having DbW 10 unlocks more:

• Play in the water (from A dream about geometry)
• Search the horizon (from A dream about a violent gale)

Overcapping

There are various means of increasing DbW past its softcap of 10.

• Dream, from A Weakness in the Air in The Cave of the Nadir gives +1 CP
• Drinking a Flask of Wellspring Water gives +0.25 CP on average
• Look into the glassy water from Becalmed in The Pillared Sea gives +1 CP
• Setting a Counterfeit Head of John the Baptist next to your bed gives +5 CP
• Although the DbW options on other dream cards aren't locked by high levels of DbW, they are locked by high levels of their own dreams, rendering them quite impractical as overcapping methods.
• Drink Waswood Wellspring Water (one of the four outcomes)

The Odd One Out

There is one other dream available from the beginning of the game, but which doesn't fit into the same thematic set as the other five and is sometimes treated in a different way mechanically. This is Having Recurring Dreams: Is Someone There?.

IST? begins with either An inquisitive spider or A dream about a window at night 1. It then continues through a series of cards until it reaches 16, at which point only A dream about a window at night 1 will remain available.

Other Dreams

Having IST? 10 unlocks options on other dream cards, namely

• Fight (from A dream about capture)
• Peer outside (from A dream about a candle flame)
• Fight to stay awake (from A dream about a hearth)
• Take shelter in the Pale Horse (from A dream about shelter)

Overcapping

There are a couple of ways of increasing this past its softcap of 16:

• Dream, from the A Weakness in the Air card in The Cave of the Nadir (+1 CP)
• A dream about a window at night 1 (+2 CP)

Zee Dreams

The other set of dreams appear once you have access to a ship of your own. Whilst zailing, options on some cards will increase Wind qualities, and so long as the relevant wind quality is at least 2 you'll draw the associated dream cards in London.

There are three zee-wind dreams, each named after a line from w:The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. They each have the same overall structure; at level 7, you will draw a card that resets the dream quality, gives you an Oneiric Pearl and grants a special quality that allows you to avoid replaying the dream if you don't want to by unlocking options on all of that dream's cards to wipe the associated Wind quality.

A non-wind zee dream is Rosy Colours Leaping on the Wall, named after a line from The Holy Grail (chapter from w:Idylls of the King) by Tennyson. Associated cards are unlocked with Delighted and Nightmares while you are zailing the Unterzee. The resetting option at level 7 gives you 11 Whirring Contraptions the first time, and 4 thereafter.

Upon a Painted Sea

Having Recurring Dreams: Upon a Painted Sea is associated with the Eastern Wind quality. The special quality for completing this dream is Gazing at the Peak.

Eastern Wind

If you don't currently have any Eastern Wind, it may be gained from the following options:

• Fix a looking-glass on the horizon from A Distant Gleam in The Salt Steppes (+4 CP if you don't have any, +1 if you do)
• Release your Uttermost Eel into the waters from A Distant Gleam in The Salt Steppes (+2 CP)

If you do have some Eastern Wind, then some more options will give you more:

• Listen to the Voices/Listen closely to the Voices from Listen to the Wind in The Sea of Voices (+1 CP)
• Measure the measureless from A Distant Gleam in The Salt Steppes (+1 CP)
• Shut off every light aboard; full steam ahead! from Becalmed in The Pillared Sea (+1 CP)
• You will look towards her shores from Of the Pillars in The Pillared Sea (+1 CP)

I Shot the Albatross

Having Recurring Dreams: I Shot the Albatross is associated with the Southern Wind quality. The special quality for completing this dream is Impaled Upon the Peak.

Southern Wind

If you don't currently have any Southern Wind, it may be gained from Fix a looking-glass on the Mountain (from The Light of the Mountain in Shepherd's Wash), which gives +4 CP if you don't have any and +1 CP if you do.

If you already have some Southern Wind, these options will give more:

• Listen to the Voices/Listen closely to the Voices from Listen to the Wind in The Sea of Voices (+1 CP)
• Zail into the wind/Zail into the eye of the storm/Dive! from The Wax-Wind in Shepherd's Wash (+1 CP)

Betwixt Us and the Sun

Having Recurring Dreams: Betwixt Us and the Sun is associated with the Northern Wind quality. The special quality for completing this dream is Hiding in the Cellars.

Northern Wind

If you don't currently have any Northern Wind, it may be gained from Listen to the wind (from A Wind from the North in Stormbones), which gives +3 CP if you don't have any and +1 CP if you do.

If you already have some Northern Wind, these options will give more:

• Help them/Keep your crew on course from A Wind from the North in Stormbones
• Listen to the Voices/Listen closely to the Voices from Listen to the Wind in The Sea of Voices (+1 CP)
• You will look towards her shores from Of the Pillars in The Pillared Sea (+1 CP)
• Keep your distance; make observations/Ram the lifeberg and claim a piece of it! from Sighting a Lifeberg in Stormbones.

Rosy Colours Leaping on the Wall

Having Recurring Dreams: Rosy Colours Leaping on the Wall is associated with the Delighted quality. The special quality for completing this dream is Still Waiting on the Host.

Delighted

Shattered Mask will give Delighted +1 when equipped in the Hat slot. If you don't currently possess the Shattered Mask, it may be gained from Lend yet another hand to the fight (from Duelling the Masked Corsair (On Godfall) in Godfall). Consult Evolution (Guide) for more details.

General effects of Dreams

Dr. Schlomo

As A Person of Some Importance with Nightmares 3 and Renown: Bohemians 10, you can draw the card The Interpreter of Dreams, which lets you exchange some of your Dream qualities for various rewards.

Christmas

On Day 5, you can give some of your Dreams to Mr. Sacks.

A State of Some Confusion

When leaving the state, you will lose 5 CP of some of your dreams each, unless you happen to have purchased Honeyed Laudanum.

Cave of the Nadir

Entering the Nadir with Nightmares in tow can have peculiar effects.

In particular, certain cards will drain 10 CP of the respective dream.

Heart's Desire

Spoiler warning! This page may contain spoilers for Ambitions or other major storylines.

Your Dreams can be given away as one of the options on Heart's Desire – the Price of Desire.

A significant amount of one dream will need to be exchanged for an army.