Master Meta Information Post

[sodder]

REFRESHER INFORMATION

This post was compiled to help people orient their NPC choices for End Chapter 1 voting. You can read about our plans for the future here.

We have compiled a list of the information and links we think will be most valuable to our players towards the end of this game. We understand that there has been an abundance of story-driven elements and not everyone has been able to interact with everything they have wanted to. You are more than welcome to handwave characters engaging with these important interactions / learning about this information so they can fully engage with the end chapter events.

We will update this list as necessary.

If any players have characters who have been keeping thorough public notes, please feel free to link them below and we can add them to this list!

SODDER INFORMATION:

Julia Sodder is the core reason why most Sleepers have been brought into town. She is the child of Roderick and Cynthia Sodder and half-human, half-Pthumerian. This has gifted the extraordinary abilities that allow her to manipulate reality at her whim. The primary source of Sodder's powers have been largely dream-centric and appear to come from the same part of her brain where dreams are made. The majority of her powers seemed to function on a subconscious level rather than Sodder ever learning how to properly "control" her abilities. This made her sensitive and vulnerable to her self-identity and how the world saw her as it directly influenced her powers.

Julia was born to Deerington, Maine and did not live an ordinary life. The circumstances of her birth were a shock to her father who did not anticipate his wife to birth a literal monster. Initially, her father wished to reject this monstrosity but with time he began to see her as a daughter- a child. And through this perception, Sodder had learned to manifest in a way that appeased her father. She began to "look" like what she thought he wanted her to look like: a little girl. This wasn't a perfect plan as Sodder didn't ever understand what being a human was supposed to mean and the appearance left her wrapped in bandages to hide what she couldn't change about herself.

It wasn't just her father who had felt frightened of her. The people of Deerington didn't know how to deal with her true appearance either and this drove Julia to isolation. She didn't seem to have many connections beyond her mother and spent most of her time making fantasies up in her head of her favorite stories coming to life. She believed that if anyone would be her friend it would be the characters from the books she so deeply loved.

Unfortunately, she also had a deep fear of the monsters and creatures of the stories she read. While the protagonists felt real, the monsters felt, even more, real, and spooky shadows in the night played with Julia's mind the way they would any normal child's...Except Julia was never a normal child. Her belief that a real monster was lurking in the shadows meant that a real monster was lurking in the shadows. She began to pull monsters in from other worlds without ever meaning to.

But then she eventually began to pull in heroes from other worlds too without meaning to - the first of which being Ramona Derwin.

As things escalated, the town grew more fearful as violent deaths started to occur throughout the town. Mother Superior was present during these events and wished to protect the citizens of Deerington and eventually began to believe that if Sodder was put under a medically induced coma, it might curb the amount of monsters she brought in. This was a theory born out of ignorance as to the true scope of Sodder's abilities.

Sodder was taken into custody by Mother Superior via permission from her father and was brought to the Lab on Mount Rheum that had been built by Sleepers she had been bringing in. Ramona suspected the dangers of this decision and had preemptively made plans with Sodder as to what she should do when she was put under.

The moment Sodder was put into a coma, the entire world was enveloped in her dreamscape. She began to reconstruct the town of Deerington as she remembered it in her dream world, and out of fear of Mother Superior, she began to layer other versions of Deerington over hers so as to make it harder for Mother Superior to navigate the dreamscape. The original plan was for Sodder to buy enough time for Ramona to see if she could somehow fix the real Deerington and convince Mother Superior that Julia needed to just learn how to control her dreams.

Unfortunately, they all underestimated the severity of Julia's powers. And for decades since have been facing the consequences of Julia's dreamworld.

Julia herself has not been awake in decades and has become slowly eroded by the dream. She does not seem to consciously contribute to the dream anymore and has grown extremely weak over the years. Mother Superior managed to shatter a hole through the layers which have progressively deteriorated both the dream and Sodder. It is impossible to tell whether Julia has any control left over her own abilities or if they have fully consumed her and transformed her into a mere vessel through which universes converge.

- Sodder's Birth
- A Sodder-centric Mini-event. This was part of our plan to have "heart valves" be a concept explored through the game but unfortunately, this mechanic could not be maintained. This mini-event can be accessed by any players interested whose characters might have powered drachma.
- October 2018 Secondary Event: this showed details about Sodder's life and some of the circumstances around her existence.
- Sodder's only official network post.

MOTHER SUPERIOR INFORMATION:

Mother Superior is the primary antagonist of Deerington. She is a massive woman who disguises herself as a Nun to appeal to the faith of humanity. She is of the Pthumerian race and thus has incredible powers. She was revealed to be Sodder's grandmother through Mother Superior's own mini-event. Mother Superior had been a wife/lover figure to the Pthumerian Queen and originally agreed to the magical conception of Cynthia Sodder; her daughter and Sodder's mother.

Although she had a close and respected relationship with the Pthumerian Queen, Mother Superior ultimately disagreed with the Pthumerian Queen's desires to combine the Pthumerian race with the human race as she felt it was cruel and unpredictable for humanity. Mother Superior seems to be aware of the potential consequences of inflicting a powerless race with an overpowered race from beyond their world. This can be seen through the Pthumerian Queen's mini event.

Mother Superior put Sodder into a medically induced coma with the hopes of containing her abilities and figuring out how to stop her from summoning more Sleepers and monsters (of which are the same in Mother Superior's eyes.) Mother Superior sincerely believed that sedating Sodder would leverage some control to her. This, of course, failed to be true, and Mother Superior has spent decades trying to understand the logic and mechanics of Sodder's dreams and mind. She has come to understand that there is a direct connection between Sodder's moods and state of being and the way the dream functions, and she has eventually come to understand that the mood and state of being of the Sleepers are every bit as important. Mother Superior began to understand that the Sleepers generated a unique kind of energy and presence within the dream that she could use to her advantage.

She relied on this unique ability by centering the energy beneath a glass dome that she generated through her own reality-warping abilities. She focused on the energy of negative emotions washing off the Sleepers as they were put on trial for various crimes and let the emotions build up under the dome. Essentially, she made one giant power bomb out of Sleeper energy beneath her dome and when she broke the dome, all that power had to go somewhere and it wound up tearing straight through the layers. Her plan had worked!

Kind of. The layers have since begun crumbling and peeling back. As each layer is stripped away, Deerington has been brought closer and closer to the "real" Sodder and the "real" Deerington. The various NPCs who have been trapped in the dream have also been able to get closer to the "real" them - whatever that may mean anymore.

Mother Superior has continually been present, shifting between the layers and observing the Sleepers, watching, waiting. She herself has no doubt been hurt by the events and weakened, but if she has, she's not showing it. But don't count her out just yet: she's planning something and she's been figuring out how this game works for far longer than Sleepers have been around. Do not trust Mother Superior.

- Pthumerian Queen's Mini Event
- Mother Superior's Mini Event
- Mother Superior's First Appearance
- Mother Superior's Second Appearance

THE MAYOR INFORMATION:

Roderick Sodder was the Mayor of Deerington and a plain, ordinary human who got caught up in something far bigger than he could have ever imagined. Roderick Sodder was born in Deerington and while he was used to some of its strangeness, he could have never imagined that the girl he fell in love with during high school would wind up being some eldritch god. She just seemed pretty and he felt charmed by her ability to get along with animals without even trying. Roderick had dreams of becoming the town's mayor and adopted a politically frigid personality early on.

He tried his best to keep his emotions in tact and preserve a sophisticated, composed aura wherever he went. Although he is largely innocent of the circumstances of the town, his small-mindedness did largely contribute to Julia's insecurities about how she existed in the world. The Mayor does claim to love his daughter, but he also admits to his very real fear of her and her abilities. He never did expect that his daughter would be a god that ripped apart time and space itself. He never handled his fear well either; instead of relying on trying to cover up Sodder and try and encourage both her and his wife to stay away from society. Some part of Roderick might have thought this was "protecting" them, but ultimately it damaged his relationship with both and made him untrustworthy in Cynthia and Julia's eyes.

When Mother Superior approached him she suggested that she could help his daughter. She believed that Julia could contain her powers but first Mother Superior had to test a few theories. Although Roderick wasn't exactly thrilled at the idea of sedating his daughter, he also could not deny that Julia had become responsible for dozens of death in the town. He wanted to protect his daughter, naturally, but he also had a duty to his town and he didn't want innocent people to continue to die. What other choices were there? He certainly had no powers to influence the situation, and so he agreed to sedate his daughter.

The situation quickly went out of control. It has been revealed, however, that the Mayor had waited outside of Sodder's room when she was originally sedated. He had wanted to be near his daughter when she was put to sleep and had been prepared to be present while Mother Superior worked on her abilities. Now, he is left outside of Sodder's room to wait the eternity out until she awakens...But can a human really survive that long? Is all that's left of him just an impression of his soul like Cynthia?

- The Mayor's Mini Event
- The Mayor's First Appearance

CYNTHIA INFORMATION:

Cynthia Sodder is the daughter of Mother Superior and The Pthumerian Queen. She was the first Pthumerian born in "our" world (for lack of a better phrasing). She was raised with the intention of having her create a union with a human being and making a child out of that union. Cynthia met Roderick and wound up pregnant with Julia Sodder. Although Cynthia was a good mother, she had dreams that went beyond the scope of motherhood and the traditional housewife. She, like many Pthumerians, was interested in the world of humans and wanted to see more of it than just the town she was born in.

She developed a passionate interest in music and had an exceptional talent for singing and picking up songs after hearing them only a few times. She enjoyed performing for people. Cynthia also had a natural knack for using her Pthumerian abilities in relation to nature and animals. She was talented at calling animals to her, often considered a "whisperer" of sorts. It seemed like there wasn't an animal that didn't love her. She was a skilled botanist who was capable of growing any plant no matter how difficult.

Cynthia loved her daughter sincerely. She felt protective over Sodder and felt as though she was unfairly judged on her half-human half-Pthumerian lineage. Cynthia had the privilege of being a natural at her own abilities, but Sodder had the complication of human emotions that Pthumerians were unfamiliar with that made Sodder gaining control far more difficult. All the same, Cynthia tried to keep her daughter safe and tried hard to try and teach her about herself, her culture, and the powers she had. Cynthia tried to make Julia feel more comfortable and less like a monster.

Due to her mother being her only real advocate for most of her life, Julia began to idolize her mother and put her upon a pedestal of sorts. This would inevitably "trap" Cynthia to Julia's new world. Cynthia technically died at some point when Julia was forced into her coma and yet Cynthia's Pthumeric soul was trapped in the dream. She is, arguably, the most "real" of the NPCs since she has been capable of navigating the layers without the same physical restraints as the other characters as she technically navigates this world as a "ghost." Cynthia seeks freedom from the eternal nightmare she has been forced into. Although she still loves her daughter, she wishes to be freed from the restraints of motherhood.

Cynthia's "true form" or, more appropriately, her Pthumerian form comes in the shape of a creature known as the Moon Presence. The Moon Presence is a calm creature that can at times be enticed to violence if approached incorrectly. Moon Presence was named after the union between Pthumerians and their connection to the magic of the moon. "Moon Presence" is every bit Cynthia's real name as "Cynthia" is. Moon Presence is merely refer to her in her Pthumerian state whereas Cynthia is to refer to her in her humanaoid shape.

Moon Presence is responsible for the alchemic property known as "Moon Essence" which has helped alleviate extreme biological curses in the game such as being turned into monsters or other such curses. One might suggest that the Moon Essence was made with the love of a mother who wanted to protect a child subjected to a cruel world.

- Moon Essence
- Moon Presence's First Sighting
- Cynthia's Mini-Event

THE DOG KEEPER (DOUG) INFORMATION:

The Dog Keeper has been the true neutral party the entirety of the game. The Dog Keeper was an unknown figure for the majority of Deerington and attempted to provide routine help to the Sleepers through the use of his Delivery Dogs. The Dog Keeper's personality at times seemed disjointed which one can now assume might have been from the Dog Keeper having to survive and exist between the layers of the dreams and having lived the dream for decades of his life. The Dog Keeper was always friendly towards Sleepers and seemed to understand Sodder a bit better than the other NPCs appeared to. The Dog Keeper never feared Julia although at times he did caution Sleepers about her power.

There have been times where the Dog Keeper's dogs delivered questionable items that plagued characters with unusual curses that tempted them to go to certain festivities or events in town. Despite this, it is largely understood that the Dog Keeper has no real ability to influence items most of the time, and if he has influenced items, it has usually been for the benefit of Sleepers.

It was recently discovered that the Dog Keeper was an ordinary man from Alaska who had come to Deerington, Maine to help out as a firefighter. The Dog Keeper's dogs were the sled team that he used to rely on to transport items up in Alaska. He has a natural sense of understanding complicated terrain. Although he understands that Sodder is a powerful being, he always seemed as willing to defend and help her as he did any other child he came across.

The Dog Keeper is ultimately regarded as a "Good" person and has been nicknamed as "Doug" by Sleepers as a way to make him more personable and reawaken his sense of self. The Dog Keeper attempts to caution Sleepers about upcoming events through our game's preludes - though the Dog Keeper isn't always capable of doing so. Sometimes, the state his dogs are in also reflects upcoming changes in the game such as when dogs have been frantic and unusual acting.

- December Prelude - The Dog Keeper's hint for his mini-event.
- Dog Keeper's Mini Event
- Story so Far - Operating as an amateur journalist, the Dog Keeper has been documenting what's going on in the town and created a large reference post for new Sleepers.

RAMONA INFORMATION:

Ramona Derwin is known as the First Sleeper. While Julia had brought in numerous monsters to Deerington throughout her youth, Ramona was the first complex sentient being she brought in who had a traditional character story arc. Ramona was a favorite character from one of Julia's stories and someone that Julia had always looked up to as a "real hero." When Ramona arrived in town, she was naturally terrified of the situation, but quickly came to understand her unique connection to Sodder and began to try and think of a plan as to how to deal with the circumstances.

It's true enough that Ramona was a hero type. She came from an unnamed blended science-fiction-fantasy world that had a powerful magic system based on deer. Ramona was the hero and protagonist of her own story, saving worlds and people from monsters, and so coming to Deerington, in some way, felt like the newest chapter to her life. She began to help defend townies from the monsters Sodder drudged up but began to understand that there were worse monsters in the town such as Mother Superior.

Ramona decided at the beginning that she would focus on saving Julia Sodder. Julia, she felt, was the true victim in this story. A child who was never asked to be brought into this world with the powers she had and a child who never stood a chance at understanding them. Ramona is a compassionate individual who believes in the true innocence of Julia and seems willing to go to any extent to defend the child, even more than her own mother. Ramona generally is on good terms with the Dog Keeper and Cynthia, but she is to the extreme side of defending Julia. Despite being confronted by the Mayor about Julia's consequential violence, Ramona repeatedly falls back on Sodder's innocence in the matter and believes that Julia should not be held responsible.

Yet Ramona doesn't lack compassion for others. As more Sleepers began to filter into the town, Ramona began to devise plans to help everyone adapt. She worked on inventing a "Blessings Basket" with Sodder, the two combining their magic to create this antler basket filled with helpful items to ease Sleepers in. Ramona started to create and build F.E.A.R as a sanctuary for Sleepers and townies alike in case of monster invasions. She started to deal with the situation the only way she knew how to.

And because of Ramona's innate connection to deer and the magic within them, Sodder began to sincerely believe and perceive deer as mystical beings. Sodder began to idolize the creatures and this started to empower deer around town. It literally altered the reality of deer; turning them from skittish creatures into heroic stags who would burst through a window to save a screaming child. Their antlers became the most effective weapon against Sodder's nightmares simply because Sodder believed they were the most effective weapons.

Ramona did everything she could to try and help Sodder understand her abilities but there was only so much Ramona could understand. When Mother Superior decided that Sodder should be put into a medically induced coma, Ramona conspired with Sodder a plan to keep Sodder and the world safe from whatever consequences may occur. Ramona had tried to protest that the idea was terrible to Mother Superior to no avail. They invented a plan of Sodder dreaming up of a version of Deerington and then several more versions so that Mother Superior would find it more difficult to detect the real Sodder or hurt the real citizens or Sleepers. It was a theory at best and a theory that wound up mostly accurate.

Ramona also sacrificed herself by using her body as a vessel to connect the layers, but also to give Sleepers a fighting chance against being trapped in such a violent dreamscape. This fighting chance was the ability for Sleepers to come back from the dead. As Ramona believed everyone's spirits take the form of a deer, this resulted in "deer statues" being erected in the place of some character's first deaths, as well as Sleepers being able to become deer. Unfortunately, Ramona's power isn't endless, and she was only capable of giving Sleepers so many lives. Each death wears down the Sleeper's soul, making it harder and harder for the Sleeper to come back to themselves, thus resulting in the extreme symptoms of dying in Deerington. It quite literally is a Sleeper's soul struggling to put itself back together. After all, immortality is hardly natural.

Ramona herself has taken the shape of a giant black deer that has been known to occasionally help Sleepers.

- Ramona's first "sighting" as the Black Deer
- Ramona's mini-event will occur in March.

WHAT EXACTLY IS A PTHUMERIAN?:

A Pthumerian is a unique race that existed in some realm beyond our own. This race was introduced vaguely during the March 2019 event where Sleepers got to interact with the original race of seemingly giant, kind-hearted women. These women came to be further explored through both the Pthumerian Queen's mini-event and Mother Superior's mini event. The race seems to be capable of maintaining two distinct appearances: one that looks like that of a giant female humanoid and one that looks like...Well! Anything, honestly! Of the Pthumerians, we have met none of them have appeared the same way in their "other form" (Pthumerian Queen, Mother Superior, Cynthia, Sodder). Despite their feminine appearance, it does not seem they are restricted to the human concepts of sex or gender in regards to repopulation and relationships.

The Pthumerians were greatly devoted to their Queen and believed that she would bring them to great things. It is generally understood that the majority of Pthumerians were more like Cynthia in disposition in that they seemed kind, curious, and interested in engaging with the world in thoughtful ways. Despite Mother Superior's penchant for cruelty, some of this inherent kindness can actually be seen in the way that she deeply and passionately believes in the protection of humanity. The Pthumerians followed their Queen not out of a desire for violence or colonization but instead followed the whims of a ruler that they trusted and were excited to explore the universe and its possibilities. It is likely that not every Pthumerian even truly knew the Pthumerian Queen, like most people do not tend to directly know their rulers, and some might not have had many options except to follow her.

The Pthumerians are still mostly unknown but they are of great power. It was the Pthumerian Queen's dreams to combine the race with humanity because she believed that humanity had creativity that Pthumerians lacked, and thought that the creativity could greatly enhance their capacity for power. After all, what's the point of a god who can create a world if they can't even think of anything to put on the world?

Julia was the first known hybrid between Pthumerian and Human, but she is not the only one. Other Pthumerian-hybrids with lesser power have been born into Deerington as Pthumerians other than Cynthia began to find and mate with humans. Cynthia was merely the first and she was the direct lineage of the Pthumerian Queen. Some Pthumerian-Human hybrids that have appeared in-game include The Moss King, The Last Guardian and The Sword Woman. As a general rule of thumb, one might be able to identify a Pthumerian hyrbid when a creature seems to have great sentience despite a monstrous/unusual appearance.

OTHER QUICK META FACTS

The Great Sleep is essentially the "gateway" between Sodder's mind and every universe that has ever existed. This is an immeasurable subspace in which every scene, every memory of every existence can be accessed through streams of white light. It is assumed that this has been the primary source for Sodder's abilities.

The Layers: The Layers of Deerington have been difficult to navigate and understand as they have mostly existed as an attempt to deceive and confuse. There are technically seven layers with the final one being considered the "real" Deerington.

The Waking World is a relatively new concept that has been introduced and is suggested to be the actual world that Sodder and the other NPCs have come from. It is assumed that the Waking World has greatly changed because of Sodder's abilities.

The Doors of the Sinkholes represent the three different possible outcomes of Sodder's dream. This outcome will determine the world, setting, and magic-system and various other details of our Second Game/second chapter - of which can be read about here.

CHARACTER CREATED INFORMATION GUIDES

A major part of our game has been the cooperation between Sleepers to compile whatever information they have maintained over the years. Many characters have routinely updated posts and journals that are accessible for other Sleepers to rely on in order to better understand this strange world they have been thrown into.

We wanted to compile a formal post of what characters have put together over the years! Please use these amazing and creative posts our players have made for characters to engage with. Thank you to all players who came forward with their information posts and contributed to the worldbuilding and story-drive of the game! We hope that other players can gain insight and have fun with these posts and dig into a bit more Sleeper-to-Sleeper learning!

It is not required that you post your information to this page, but we would definitely appreciate it! If your character makes more IC-documentation you may update this page by leaving a comment below with a link to whatever information they have updated.

If the update is to a link that already exists on this page then you do not need to do any more.

LOGAN'S FIELD GUIDE: A comprehensive field guide for the unique flora and fauna that has come in and out of Deerington through the years.

SHIRO'S INFORMATIONAL POSTS: Shiro has created two helpful posts in regards to common themes present in Deerington and serve as cautionary recommendations about various violence expected in the setting.

WESKER'S REPORTS: Diligent recordings made by Wesker that serve as observational reports about what Wesker has seen and experienced in the town.

TECHNICAL BOY'S FORMS: Run similarly to chat forms online, Technical Boy developed an archival site that allowed Sleepers to update information about various odd occurrences throughout the town.

FORD'S MONSTER MANUAL: This manual was created by Ford to provide a comprehensive guide to the monsters of Deerington. This was to report on the observed strengths/weaknesses/violence of the creatures in the hope to aid Sleepers.

FERN'S POST: Fern recollecting information about a bonus reward he encountered and providing deeper meta information about the game.

Ariadne's Rooftop Garden: This unique garden is maintained by Ariadne and is filled with trees that can sustain whatever the game throws its way. As such, this makes the garden a vital resource in times of need.

MAJIMA GORO'S NOTES: Intricate copies that serve as various recordings of situations in-game, various experiences, and monsters, as compiled through personal notes.

VL'S MEMORY VESSELS: Memory vessels kept to maintain the actual image of a single memory that has been experienced in-game. Such visions can be seen repeatedly. These memory vessels have the recording of several key scenes throughout events/mini-events/unique story clues.

VIRA-LORR'S INFORMATIONAL POSTS: September, October, November, December, January, and February all serve as extensive information posts about current events and details regarding them. She also made a post in regards to her experience with The Mayor and the Sixth Death as well as a post about a bonus item she experienced.

VARIAN'S EXPERIENCES: Varian experienced a minor NPC known as the Moss King and made an informative post about his experience here. The Moss King gave a huge indication that Sleepers would eventually have to make a choice/a sacrifice of some sort.

PETER PARKER'S POSTS: Peter maintains a helpful informational pamphlet about the experiences of the setting and its various oddities. This shows an account of information Peter and others have picked up during the game and compiles that information ICly. He has made various meta-discussion posts in DeerFeed: One, Two (About Mount Rheum), Three (Ramona & Deer), Four (Rubik's Cube), Five (The Dog Keeper/Doug).

DIARMUID'S POSTS: Diarmuid has compiled a few posts of his own experiences. One was about using a magical bowl to see the various NPCs here, one about meeting Sodder on a swing, and one about using the bowl a second time with somewhat different results.

MAKO'S NOTES: Mako has been keeping extensive journal notes about his theories and observations of the town since his arrival.

EDDIE'S GOODBYE HOME: A safehouse Eddie created with Chloe in order to provide Sleepers a possible safe space during difficult times. The house is well stocked with provisions and medical equipment as well as protected by numerous wards/technology. Many Sleepers contribute to the house.