'The Veil':
As the world's collide, the space between these parallel worlds, the void holding them apart, could be thought of as a veil, or a membrane, or skin: Normally it's thick, pliable, impassable: but as the two worlds press closer and closer upon one another, that veil is stretched, and grows thin, but not uniformly: Some areas's wear thin faster than others. What was once opaque becomes translucent in patches, allowing shadows and echoes and footprints of the respective worlds to be seen by the others. Further pressure eventually causes tears to form in the fabric of the veil, opening small, random, (and often only temporary) windows and doorways between worlds; Windows allow the worlds to be seen with much greater clarity than before, but still remains impassible. Doorways, on the other hand, are bridges between the worlds, and both people and objects can move freely from either side.



The 'Real' World - The human world, Earth 2010.
It's technically the future, but only by a year or so. Tech-wise, everything is very similar; phones and computers are slightly smaller, slightly faster, but no flying cars or cyborgs (yet).
However, Solace Corporation is a kind of bridge into that future world; many of their projects in 'Research and Development' are highly advanced, a superscience bordering on magic. "Sufficiently advanced technology is indistinquishable from magic."


The Ghost World - The other world that is merging with the 'Real' World: The creatures within are witnessed by humans as shadowy, humanoid forms, and thus dubbed by the media as ghosts. The truth of the matter remains unclear: While many people report clear experiences of talking/enteracting with deceased relatives and loved ones, others have witnessed 'Ghosts' from the Ghost World that looked or moved or acted unsettingly inhuman.

The Dream World - The limitless expanse of the human collective unconscious: A world linked to the minds of every human being on earth, so vast that most residents remain isolated within their own imagined worlds. But with the united fear and interest in the encroaching ghosts, dreamers are beginning to find one another and share thier dreams.

"Convergent Dream" - A dream in which two separate dreamers meet and interact while asleep; they are able to explore one another's respective dream worlds, hold conversations and share information, which may or may not be remembered upon waking (depending on the dreamer - not everyone recalls their dreams)



Residents: Human characters in the RPG: Residents of Earth, residents of this particular city.


Ghosts: The echo of a human, a creature composed of the memories and past experiences and appearance of a human now deceased. The human mind is a wonderful, terrible thing, and the feelings of creation and yearning can be extremely powerful. It is unclear if the ghosts are actual, supernatural spirits of the departed, or disquises of the Others, fueled by the wishes and emotions of the residents.

Figments: Creatures that for all intents and purposes should not exist, but somehow do. This definition will expand to emcompass the bevy of dream-creatures concocted by the minds of men, that find their way through a doorway and into the Real World



Doorway: A portal or bridge between worlds: The Physical forms of residents and figments/ghosts can pass through from one side to the other. The size, shape, and duration of Doorways is random.

Window: A sensory connection between worlds: Can be a visual viewport, akin to an actual window, or it could be an audio portal, a link where one can hear the sounds of the other world, over his radio or cell phone, for instance.



Ironically, the dream world may be the true ghost world; after death people live on in the memories of others, and their own subconscious is free, unshackled by the body and essentially trapped in the dreamworld for the rest of eternity.