Orpheus' nightmare reflects his dreamer's life. The stygian took his first steps as just an existence with no particular direction. He was always searching for his proper place, a space to carve himself into, to feel welcome and loved and like he belonged. It wasn't the worst fate, but it was empty, and it could have stretched on forever. It may have, until it came to a screeching halt. With a scream in the night, blood splattering, a directionless but young life was cut far too short and far more violently than he deserved.

The nightmare is the fear of losing all that you are, even if you never knew what it was in the first place. Though you never found your purpose in life you didn't want it to end. The fear, the desperation, the longing, the bitterness, it mounts as you realize your miserable life was cut down before it even had the chance to begin, and you want to scream, want to fight, want nothing but to live, live, live. You become a ghost and you are driven by the ceaseless call in your heart. You continue to exist even in the wretched form of the nightmare because you want to. Maybe even here there is still purpose. Perhaps creating nightmares was the niche for you that you could never find, and if it wasn't, it would keep you going until you found it. You are Orpheus: you crawled into hell to find something you loved, and you would travel for eternity for it, devote yourself to it in mind, body, and soul, until you could emerge one day on the other side.

For a lost soul, Orpheus does his best to maintain his optimism. Curiosity and an eternal drive to find himself lead him to learn as much as possible about the world around him. Reading his one of his favorite hobbies, as well as tinkering with machinery. He loves to figure out how things work and can be disassembled and put back together. Orpheus prefers sweet flavors, loves drinking tea, and is particularly drawn to piano music. He takes no joy in being born from a nightmare or by propagating nightmares himself. However, circumstances being what they are, Orpheus takes this chance at life as an opportunity, hoping to grow his power to find his true calling within the Nightmare World. Someday, he hopes to find answers for himself and his purpose here within the boughs of the Nightmare Tree.

Orpheus is a Stygian with desaturated moss-colored fur, with secondary cream color markings that span his underside and stripe over his abdomen like ribs. His fur is soft and fluffy, falling in a fringe over bright blue eyes. He is always wearing a black bandana trimmed with a purple stripe. It covers a gash across his neck that has a tendency to bleed through. Perhaps this reflects his nightmare, or what became of the one who dreamed him, but Orpheus will never know.

His kingdom is not so frightening from the outside, but feels unnerving from the moment you step in. The port city should be beautiful, almost picturesque in its idyllic location by a quiet bay, but it's too quiet. Fog encroaches on the horizon of the bay and grows thicker the longer you linger. Not a soul roams the streets, and the lights in all the apartment buildings are permanently dark. Only one brownstone stands out among the rest, a light coming from the window, and the front door is unlocked. If you walk inside, one modest apartment on the third floor welcomes you. It's sparse, moderately comfortable for two people (a nightmare for a family of four, but they got by while it lasted), but someone has tried to make it a home. The obvious treasure is a well-worn upright piano right in the center, and sometimes a phantom melody can be heard floating through the brownstone's halls and through the streets of the silent town. However, take heed, traveler. Stay in the apartment or wander the streets for too long, and the fog engulfs you. Your existence ends as quickly as it was brought here, with a snap, a scream, a flash of searing, unbearable pain. Any curiosity, wonder, mystery, or unease, is suddenly and all-encompassed by overwhelming fear. Did you want to continue exploring this place? Did you want to live to see the sun rise over the bay horizon? I'm so sorry. So did he. So is he.