This is a rendering of Dreamsphere Base 2, from a fantasy world I am working on called Dreamspheres. The explanation for what you're looking at in the rendering is quite long, but I'll try to explain anyway. Those that would rather not read the whole explanation, or get headaches from alternate world theories, you may skip down to the *** below.

First of all, the world this is located in is the Dreamworld. It's about 6 times the size of earth(but it has slightly less gravity then earth despite it's size, the reason for this is unknown at the moment.). Only two other bodies exist around it in space, it's own sun, and it's single jungle covered moon. I'm sure everyone visits it at some point or another, as it's the world in which all our dreams take place. Visitors become 'Dream Masters' while they are in this world, and are granted the ability to change literally everything around them, the ground, the physics, whatever the case may be. This allows for the endless possibilities of dreams.

The Dreamworld, in it's core nature, is a very dark and deadly place. To protect the Dream Masters, the Master Dreamer has set a few rules in place, rules which none of the Dream Masters can break. The first and main key rule is that every Dream Master gets a Dreamsphere.

A Dreamsphere is a semitransparent energy sphere that is always centered on it's master. The outside of the sphere pulses with random colors, while the inside becomes the Dream Master's horizon. This is why the horizon of our dreams is almost always fuzzy and hard to remember, because it isn't solid like the close up things in our dreams.

Dreamspheres are helpful in two ways. First, they act as an "area of influence", the Dream Master can only use his transforming or alteration powers inside the dreamsphere. Second, and more importantly, if anything fatal happens to the Dream Master, or if he wishes it, he is instantly transported back out of the Dreamworld and into reality again. This also results in the shattering of the sphere, it falls apart like glass shards as everything in the dream dissapears from existance, restoring the true nature of the world. One important note is that everything that isn't part of the dream is transported away out of the sphere to somewhere safe from the shattering. It's still unknown if this is by design or simply part of the reconstruction process. It's quite useful regardless as a quick, reliable way for a Dreamwalker to be sure they are safe, at least for a while, by simply using this rule and being inside soemone elses sphere when it shatters.

One more thing of note on Dreamspheres, if something fatal happens to a creature from the Dreamworld in one, the creature is transported outside of the sphere as if it is destroyed. It is speculated that this function is the only reason why things not of the dream transport outside when the sphere shatters, since being inside the sphere when it is shattering probably is fatal.

On to Dreamwalkers. A Dreamwalker is someone who has been killed or otherwise cannot return to their own world when they die in their dream(like if their body was destroyed before their spirit could return). The dreamsphere shatters at the end of their dream, but there isn't anywhere for the Master to return to. They are abandoned in the dreamworld, and become a Dreamwalker, constantly lost in the world of dreams. While normally when one is killed in reality their spirit would instantly transport to the afterlife, a Dreamwalker's spirit remains trapped in the dreamworld. On top of that, they have lost their Dreamsphere permanantly, losing the protection and the power that came with it.

Ok, now on to Artificial Dreamspheres. An Artificial Dreamsphere is one that is created through a magical and rather dark process of taking a Dreamwalker and literally freezing them permanantly into a state of dreaming. The magic is needed because normally nothing can dream in the Dreamworld. Through the use and delicate balance of mana, the Dreamwalker is turned back into a Dream Master, complete with a Dreamsphere. On top of that, the effect of their feelings is multplied and manipulated. In this case, it creates the sphere and the fortress(the tusk objects and the mana energy core glowy thing in the middle). Since the Dreamwalker is now constantly dreaming, the objects might as well be reality, and are safe to live in so long as the Dreamwalker isn't disturbed.

These forts are a welcome place for the other Dreamwalkers. Since dying in the Dreamsphere will teleport them somewhere safe(most likely another fortress), and they don't have to worry about it breaking and dissapearing on them, it's essentially a place of invincibility. It may be strange looking and downright creepy, but it's nothing compared to the nightmares that await for those who would dare to go outside.

***end long edited down fantasy and theory explanation***

This was done entirely in Truespace 3.2, over the course of two weeks. I built it all by hand, starting with a raw 2d polygon for every object so I could control every point and get exactly what I wanted for each shape.

The final render this desktop image is made from is a whopping 300dpi 14" by 11" rendering(5600,4400 pixels). It took literally a whole day to get that image out of truespace, mostly because my amount of ram sucked at the time(I have since inserted another gig into my machine, and it's much faster now).

The hardest object was by far the core. I had a distinct picture in my mind of what it should look like and how the lightning should shoot around, and getting that into Truspace took many attempts and practice sketches. The most poly heavy object is the terrain, of course.

Anyway, enjoy. And please leave a comment or two, I could use the encouragement.