Editing Dream (character) (section)

==The Dreaming==
Dream lives in a castle at the heart of his realm called '''"The Dreaming"'''. Both the castle and the rest of his realm are mutable and change often, often at his will, although his resistance to change (and difficulty changing) is a theme throughout the series. Dream maintains both the castle and the realm, as with all aspects of his appearance, in a half-accommodating, half-terrifying state, simultaneously acknowledging both the courtesy due to others and the attention due him as the realm's master, and indeed the pleasantness and terror of dreams themselves. On top of his castle are the [[List of The Sandman characters#Gate Keepers|Gate Keepers]] consisting of a [[wyvern]], a [[griffin]], and a [[hippogriff]] who intercept any dreamers that want to enter Dream's castle.

Dream is the only one of the Endless known to populate his realm with speaking characters: a multitude of dreams and nightmares he has created, as well as entities from other realms. These include the narrators from older [[DC Comics|DC]] horror comics, including [[List of The Sandman characters#Cain and Abel|Cain and Abel]], and [[List of The Sandman characters#Fiddler's Green|Fiddler's Green]], who emulates [[G. K. Chesterton]] in human form. Dream recruits or creates (or re-creates) servants to perform roles he could easily carry out himself, including the reorganization of the castle and the guarding of its entrance. Although this is not stated in the series, Gaiman has said that he "always assumed" Dream had once been alone in the Dreaming and that he populated it for want of company.<ref>{{Cite book | first=Hy | last=Bender | author-link=Hy Bender | title=The Sandman Companion | location=New York | publisher=[[Vertigo Comics|Vertigo]] ([[DC Comics]]) | year=1999 | isbn=1-56389-644-3 | page=52}}</ref>

Other than Dream himself, the most important inhabitant of the Dreaming is Lucien, the first of Dream's ravens and now the Librarian of the Dreaming. Dream gives Lucien authority over the Dreaming on several occasions. The character originally appeared in the 1970s [[DC Comics|DC]] comic ''[[Tales of Ghost Castle]]'', which lasted for only three issues (and was apparently killed off in ''[[Secrets of Haunted House]]'' #44).<ref>Bender, p. 244.</ref> Lucien and Cain have a similar appearance as both were originally created by the same artist.<ref name="Bender pg246">Bender, p. 246.</ref>

Other notable inhabitants include:
* A [[pumpkin]]-headed [[scarecrow]] named [[Merv Pumpkinhead|Mervyn]] who assists with the physical maintenance of the Dreaming.
* A Faery named Nuala who has unrequited affections for Dream and who plays an unwitting part in his downfall.
* A raven named Matthew who travels through the waking world on errands for Dream, usually as a scout or spy. Matthew was formerly a mortal man ([[Matthew Cable]]) and a character in DC Comics' ''[[Swamp Thing]]'', who died in the Dreaming. Gaiman used Matthew as a way to explain some background information to the readers.<ref name="Bender pg246"/>

The Dreaming is at any moment also full of all creatures dreaming at that moment, although these seldom appear in the comics panel. Several comics in DC's ''Vertigo'' line have been set in the Dreaming, most notably [[The Dreaming (comics)|a series of the same name]] (chief author [[Alisa Kwitney]]).