Elsa's Nightmares

Elsa's Nightmares (EN) is a visual short story set in the Elsaverse. Divided into six chapters, the first one came out as a surprise on December 8, 2019, and represented a milestone in Tora Productions' work, as it is their first title ever released in the Ren'Py game engine, and it also meant Tlaero's return to writing after her unexpected retirement earlier that year. With a better balanced private life, the official reason for her comeback was to offer some financial support to the team's artist, Mortze, by releasing an episodic story as a monthly perk for patrons while he was working on his solo project, SWe1: The Warrior's Heart (2020), totally unrelated to the Elsaverse. Elsa's Nightmares was designed to tell an important story for the most iconic character in the saga, Elsa, by using a sequence of sex scenes that would pique the interest of Tora Productions' followers and maybe even attract some broader audiences: as those sex scenes are actually dreaming scenes, the team was able to explore some kinks and fetishes unseen in other Elsaverse's titles. But, even though EN is way more sex-focused than other titles in the saga, with one sex scene per chapter, the underlying conflict still takes precedence and sets the first stone of Elsaverse's second story arc.

Technically, Elsa's Nightmares is the first title in the Elsaverse originally created with the Ren'Py game engine. Until then, games and visual short stories were made with Tlaero's software, called "Adventure Creator", and released in HTML format. By the end of 2019, however, Ren'Py was broadly accepted by the main public as a standard in the indie gaming scene, and Mortze had already released The Science of Lust beta using this new engine and was also developing his side project in Ren'Py, so the engine change was a logical choice. Although the first 4 monthly installments were initially released as a Patreon perk for $10 donors, the developers decided to release both the fifth and sixth chapters for free, during the 2020 pandemic crisis. Every release included the previous chapters too, and readers can select which chapter they want to start with. The sixth and last chapter, and, therefore, the full story, was publicly released on June 17, 2020.

Plot
As a Dream Master, dreamland is Elsa's domain... until she can't control what happens in there anymore. A series of weird, erotic, and frightening dreams, especially for her loving partner, Jason, will reveal a part of herself that none of them knew she had in her. With a little help from her friends, Elsa will try to find out what's actually going on in her dreams, and then she'll have to make a crucial decision: what she's going to do with her life?

Ep1: "Things That Go Bump In The Night"
The story starts with Elsa and Jason making love on a bed, showing that their relationship is as romantic and passionate as ever. However, Elsa suddenly stops when she hears a weird sound, as if there's someone downstairs. Calmly, Jason asks her to not scare him, as they are actually in one of their shared dreams, where Elsa has total control of all of its elements. This time, though, Elsa isn't aware of being dreaming, and she swears she's not creating that dream, nor the stepping sound, which can be heard closer and closer. Now scared, she waves her hand, and both disappear, waking up. Then, the door of the bedroom where they were just a second before starts to open, and a mysterious figure comes in: it's like an evil version of Elsa, dressed in a sexy, black leather outfit, and with glowing red eyes.

Ep2: "Bound By Dreams"
In the morning, Elsa wakes up alone in her room, because Jason is away on a business trip. Strangely for her, she barely remembers the weird dream from last night. When Jason arrives from his trip, they make love in the real world and then go to sleep. But, the next morning, Jason seems uneasy and asks her to talk about what happened after they fell asleep. Much to Elsa's surprise, Jason tells her that she showed up in his dreams, dressed as a dominatrix, and ordered him to be her sex slave. He obeyed, as he thought it was just Elsa wanting to try some light BDSM in the safe space of their dreams, but things went out of hand: she almost suffocated him while forcing him to perform oral sex on her and then broke his finger as a punishment for him reaching orgasm sooner than expected; now that they are awake, Jason still feels the pain in his finger. In the scene Jason is narrating, Elsa is depicted with glowing red eyes. Stunned as she swears she didn't do any of that, Elsa tries to comfort her boyfriend, and then he makes her remember the scary dream from two nights ago, which she had almost forgotten. Elsa finally realizes that there must be something going on that she can't control in what was supposed to be her domain.

Ep3: "Chain Gang"
Angry, Elsa walks into "El Rey Casino" ready to accuse Chloe Reyes of being manipulating her dreams again, as she already did back in Dreaming with Elsa (2015). Back then, Elsa forbade Chloe to use her knowledge of dream spells ever again; even though they became friends later on, that prohibition still stands. Chloe, who now runs the casino in a more relaxed way than her father, Morland, did, is the only person Elsa knows that could be invading her dreams, but, after a brief talk, she quickly dismisses the idea of Chloe being the culprit she's looking for. Elsa tells her about her problem, and Chloe suggests that the only person capable of causing her those nightmares is Elsa herself. That night, Elsa is visited in her dreams by her friends' boyfriends, Marc, Lucas, and Paul, and Jason implies they are there to make true one of Elsa's darkest fantasies: performing a gang-bang with them. Even though that's an actual fantasy of hers, she's not aware of having ever told Jason about it and tries to wake up; however, she just can't and, eventually, Elsa takes the chance to experience that fantasy, which she enjoys immensely. While she's making love just with Jason after the group session, the evil figure of Elsa is depicted watching them from a corner, clearly frustrated, and it's hinted that she is the one controlling that dream.

Ep4: "Between a Rock and a Hard Place"
The morning after the dream orgy, Elsa wakes up early and goes out feeling guilty about what happened, even though she didn't consciously bring her male friends to her dream. Aimlessly walking around Sangrive, she arrives at Jessica Springfield's apartment and decides to confess to her friend, because she thinks she has just had dream sex with Jessica's boyfriend, Marc. However, Jessica reassures her, as last night Marc was actually awake when Elsa's dream happened: the whole Mayhem band, their respective partners, and a couple of groupies were enjoying a real orgy at Jessica's apartment. This means that the Marc Elsa was having sex with in her dream was just a facsimile she created, and not the actual Marc, who is not aware of having starred in that dream.

Ep5: "The Raven"
Elsa spends the rest of the day out, trying to put some order in her thoughts. Near dinner time, Jason phones her a bit worried; after telling her he doesn't remember any dream from last night, he suggests that Elsa should visit Miranda, as their friend has the power to find solutions to problems. Elsa goes to Miranda's and, after confirming that the real Lucas wasn't actually in her dream either, she tells her about her nightmares. Miranda, who can't sleep properly, tells Elsa that she appreciates her enormously for being there as a protective raven when Miranda took the sedative that allowed her to sleep at last, in the Saving Chloe (2016) post-credits scene; however, Elsa is not aware of having helped her. After confessing that the sedative is losing its effects and she is experiencing some sleep deprivation issues again, Miranda teaches Elsa some meditation techniques to let her mind wander freely and rest without actually sleeping, at least for one night. During that meditation session, Miranda tells Elsa that she had red eyes and wore black leather clothes when she protected her, and Elsa is depicted as being transformed into her evil figure, who is called Raven by Miranda. But then Elsa starts to fantasize about having sex with Miranda, and her mysterious doppelganger just goes away, apparently furious due to the distraction. Elsa gives in to the temptation and experiences a lengthy love session with Miranda, who at a certain moment even grows a penis to keep fulfilling Elsa's fantasies.

Ep6: "Battlefield Dream Land"
When the meditation is over, the real Miranda states that she was having an entirely different experience and that Elsa looked like her usual self when she was protecting her as a raven in her sleep; she then says that Elsa should go to dreamland again and face whatever is doing that to her. With Jason awake to protect her as he did during the final battle in Saving Chloe when she fell asleep to wake Xara up, Elsa goes to sleep and enters dreamland, coincidentally showing up at that same battle. This time, however, she's watching the fight between Xara and Crow that took place inside Morland's mansion after she woke Xara up, a scene that nobody could see back then. But, when the blind woman defeats her opponent, Elsa's dream twists the actual story and makes Chloe appear again in that room, even though she was actually chasing Morland through the dungeons. In the dream, Chloe and Xara make love passionately as a goodbye; at a certain point, though, Elsa senses another presence in the room and finds her doppelganger, Raven, who asks her to stop squandering her power. At first, Elsa thinks Raven is an enemy working for Morland's side, but she finally realizes Raven is actually a part of her inner self that is trying to make her change and use her power for a greater good, instead of using it just to explore her sexuality. Raven apologizes for abusing Jason in her attempt of drawing Elsa's attention, and Elsa eventually accepts she is right and agrees to start doing greater things: her first mission will be to link the dreams of the most prominent neurologists to help Miranda with her sleep deprivations issues.

Sex Scenes
Each episode of Elsa's Nightmares contains one sex scene. All of them are either dreaming sequences or fantasies.

The above-mentioned scenes are not repeatable, since the official build doesn't have a gallery section.

Main Characters

 * Elsa is the main protagonist of the story. After having helped Xara to defeat Morland, she seems to be living a perfect life along with her boyfriend, Jason, who has moved into her apartment. However, both of them start to have some strange dreams she doesn't seem to control, which is odd for a Dream Master like her. In one of those dreams, a doppelganger of Elsa abuses Jason, breaking one of his fingers after almost suffocating him, without Elsa being aware of what's going on; in another dream, Elsa finds herself in a gang-bang she hasn't created and without even knowing the safe word she should use to stop the orgy, which doesn't prevent her from exploring that darkest fantasy of hers anyway. That particular dream and its aftermath show how she is still the same kind and respectful girl from previous titles, who feels ashamed of herself when she thinks she has used her male friends without their approval and without asking for permission from their girlfriends first, but she also seems unable or unwilling to acknowledge that she is basically using her powers only for her sexual relief, which is the actual reason for the conflict she's experiencing. After dismissing her first idea of Chloe being the one behind these dreams, she goes to Miranda looking for help. But even when her brain is not sleeping, Elsa's sexual curiosity takes the best of her and she also uses the meditation session with Miranda to fantasize about making love to her friend. Finally, in yet another sexually charged dream, she faces the truth: a part of herself has been fighting to make her realize she should be doing something else with her dream control powers, but she has been neglecting those thoughts for too long. Elsa eventually makes up her mind and accepts to put her skills to better use, showing that she's finally ready to mature and take a step forward in her life.


 * Jason is Elsa's boyfriend. He's now living with Elsa at her apartment, but their relationship suffers a severe blow when, in one of those weird dreams, Elsa almost suffocates him and then breaks one of his fingers. Only when Elsa swears she wasn't controlling that dream does he seem to accept her apologies, although a bit reluctantly. Later on, however, Jason supports her girlfriend when she finally decides to look for help and face her issues.


 * Raven is a part of Elsa's inner self who is trying to make her realize that she should put her powers to better use. Raven is depicted as an evil doppelganger of Elsa, with glowing red eyes and a sexy leather outfit, who is taking control of Elsa's reign in dreamland. Elsa's mind seems to have chosen this way to protest against her complacent attitude that makes her use her awesome powers just to spice up her sex life, instead of trying to achieve greater things with them. When Elsa finally realizes what's going on, this rebel part of her mind apologizes for hurting Jason, and Elsa promises to listen to this part of her in the future.

Also Starring
All of the main characters of Elsaverse's previous games make an appearance in Elsa's Nightmares; however, their involvement in the plot is especially relevant in the case of Chloe and Miranda.


 * Chloe Reyes is Elsa's first suspect of being messing with her dreams. In Chapter 3, Elsa goes to see her immediately after Jason tells her about the dream in which Elsa's doppelganger abused him, a dream that Elsa doesn't remember. But Chloe's positive and sincere attitude convinces Elsa that she's not the culprit she was looking for, and they talk a bit about Elsa's issues, with Chloe eventually saying that the only one who could invade Elsa's dreams in such a way is Elsa herself. Chloe also informs her friend about the recent changes in her life after the events depicted in Saving Chloe: she is now the manager of her father's main business, El Rey Casino, and has given all employees a raise; she is also planning to re-open the abandoned hotel to make it a shelter for abused women and has already hired Jan van Bruyn and Atlas to protect these women. Chloe also says that the interdimensional portal in her family mansion's dungeon was closed a week after Xara went through it, bringing Morland and Crow back to their world's justice; and that his brother, Charles Reyes, is still missing but is also too stupid to find another copy of the "Morpheus", the magical book of dreams that could allow someone to enter Elsa's dreams. Regarding that book, she also confirms that Morland tried to get a copy of it, but all he could manage to obtain was the single page Chloe used in Dreaming with Elsa (2015), and that Elsa destroyed. In Chapter 6, Elsa's lewd mind brings Chloe's facsimile to the dream in which Raven was recreating the final clash between Xara and Crow, and she is depicted having sex with Xara.


 * Miranda welcomes Elsa in Chapter 5, after the Dream Master decides to ask her powerful friend for a solution to her problem. Miranda uses her skill and suggests spending a night letting Elsa's brain rest without sleeping so that Elsa could understand what's actually going on in her mind. During this meditation session, Elsa starts to realize there's a part of herself who's doing good, non-sexual related things for her friends without her being aware of it, but her sexual side takes control and transforms this experience into a lewd scene in which Elsa has some kinky, fantasy sex with Miranda. Miranda, however, is enjoying a completely different fantasy in which she is having some roleplaying sex with her boyfriend, Lucas. Afterward, Miranda tells Elsa to face the issue and enter dreamland to finally overcome the situation. In other pieces of their conversation, Miranda lets her know Lucas is currently in Switzerland, so he couldn't be dragged to Elsa's gang-bang dream as Elsa didn't know his whereabouts; but, most importantly, Miranda confesses that she's experiencing sleep deprivation issues again and that she estimates that she has about a year before going definitely insane, as the sedative she created following Crow' recipe is losing its effects.

Other minor characters
These are the rest of the characters featured in Elsa's Nightmares, listed in alphabetical order:


 * Crow is Morland Reyes' bodyguard, right hand, and assassin, as well as her sexdoll. Elsa dreams of her in Chapter 6, when she finally decides to face whatever is causing her nightmares. In that dream, Elsa shows up back at Morland's mansion during the final battle depicted in Saving Chloe (2018) and pictures the clash between Crow and Xara: in Elsa's recreation, Crow stands no chance against an extremely skilled opponent who can't be tricked by her visual illusions, and Xara easily subdues her, as she most likely did in real life too.


 * Fred is Mayhem's guitarist, and his stage name is Sven. He's depicted in the orgy described by Jessica in Chapter 4. He's said to have brought a couple of groupies to the party; then, Elsa also pictures him getting oral sex from Jessica, although the singer never explicitly says she actually did that.


 * Jane and Susan are the two receptionists at El Rey Casino that greet Elsa when she comes to visit Chloe. They seem quite happier and relaxed than in their previous cameos in the saga, showing how things have changed without Morland. They inform Elsa that their old boss is now said to be retired and living in the south, although no one has actually told them the details of his sudden disappearance.


 * Jessica Springfield receives Elsa's visit in Chapter 4, the next morning after Elsa dreams of having sex with Marc, Lucas, and Paul. Elsa fears she might have dragged the three guys to her dream without being aware of it, and wants to apologize to their girlfriends. But Jessica, who has just woken up, quickly calms her friend by saying Marc wasn't asleep at the time Elsa dreamed of him. She then describes the steamy orgy that took place at her apartment last night after a concert, in which all of Mayhem's band members, and their respective partners, as well as a couple of groupies, took part. Jessica says she had sex with Marc, but Elsa's vivid imagination also pictures her having sex with Sarah's girlfriend, Sylvia, while performing oral sex to Mayhem's guitarist, Sven.


 * Keiko is introduced in the story as the new girlfriend of Mayhem's bassist, Tommy O-Kumo, who took part in the orgy at Jessica's apartment in Chapter 4. Even though Jessica doesn't describe her features, Elsa imagines her as an Asian-looking petite girl with blue hair and several piercings; she is also pictured having sex with Marc.


 * Lucas is Miranda's boyfriend. He shows up in the gang-bang dreaming scene in Chapter 3. Later on, in Chapter 5, Miranda states that he's in Switzerland on a business trip, which Elsa didn't know: for this reason, it would have been impossible for her to link her dreams with him, which means she just created a facsimile of him and Lucas is not aware of what happened in Elsa's dream.


 * Marc is Jessica Springfield's boyfriend. He takes part in the gang-bang dreaming scene in Chapter 3, in which Elsa gets to experience firsthand all that she has heard from Jessica about his size. However, in the next chapter is explained that Elsa only created a facsimile of him, as he wasn't even asleep when the dream took place: he was actually taking part in the big orgy at Jessica's, in which he had sex with her girlfriend and also with O'Kumo's girlfriend, Keiko.


 * Paul is Chloe's boyfriend. His facsimile is depicted in the gang-bang dream scene in Chapter 3.


 * Sarah is Jessica's roommate and best friend, and she is also Mayhem's drummer. Elsa pictures her taking part in the orgy Jessica describes in Chapter 4.


 * Sylvia is Sarah's girlfriend. She's depicted in the orgy scene from Chapter 4, having sex with Sarah but also with Jessica.


 * Tommy O-Kumo is Mayhem's bassist. With his new girlfriend, Keiko, he took part in the orgy depicted in Chapter 4.


 * Unnamed Groupies are two female groupies Jessica says her friend Fred brought to the orgy at her apartment. She doesn't describe them, and Elsa pictures them as a blonde and a brunette.


 * Xara appears in Elsa's dream in Chapter 6, fighting against Crow during the final battle in Saving Chloe (2018). Being a far more skilled warrior, she easily beats her opponent without even touching her with the sword. However, Elsa's lewd imagination makes Chloe show up after the clash to make love to Xara as a goodbye.

Related Stories
As Elsa's Nightmares keeps building on the characters and events from the Elsaverse first story arc, most of the titles released before this one are somehow related to it. However, these are the most prominent to better understand what's going on in the story, plus a later one to see some consequences of the events depicted in EN.

Dreaming with Elsa
Dreaming with Elsa (2015) is the foundational game of the Elsaverse saga, in which Elsa, Jason, and Chloe are introduced. Jason is a delivery man who has been dreaming of an unknown girl for some time; one day, he finds Elsa, a shy bookstore owner who happens to be the girl in his dreams. Strangely, she's having those same dreams, and they eventually discover that they can communicate with each other in them. And just when Elsa starts a relationship with Jason and goes out of her apartment for the first time in years, someone tries to break into it looking for the only valuable object she has in there: a copy of a magical book of dreams titled "Morpheus", which she had always been admonished not to read. However, she decides it's time to look for answers in the book and learns that her employee, Chloe, has been using a spell to manipulate Elsa's and Jason's dreams in order to get the "Morpheus". Furious, Elsa fires Chloe and forbids her to use the spells she has learned ever again, as Elsa is now a much more skilled Dream Master and she would notice.

DwE: Multiplicity
DwE: Multiplicity (2017) is a short story that takes place some undetermined time after the events in Dreaming with Elsa. The story tells how Elsa is slowly learning more and more dream spells, and how she uses one of them in a critical moment of her relationship with Jason, when he's wondering whether he is good enough for her. This particular spell introduced in DwE: Multiplicity allows Elsa to create several facsimiles of an existing person in her dreams, and she uses it to perform a dream gang-bang with Jason, and four copies of Jason, to show how much she loves him. Even though his boyfriend almost dies because of the overwhelming experience, he gets the message Elsa wanted to send and their relationship grows stronger after that.

Saving Chloe
Saving Chloe (2018) is the fourth game set in the Elsaverse and represents the end of its first story arc, focused on Chloe. After her first appearance in the saga, playing a villain role in Dreaming with Elsa, Chloe is revealed in other games as a victim of her father's evil schemes and then becomes the main hero. Saving Chloe shows that Chloe is actually a kind and sweet girl trapped in a vile environment she's secretly fighting against, in the hopes of setting herself free. Supported by her boyfriend, Paul, she finally manages to accomplish this mission, helping Xara to bring Morland to their world's justice and fixing her friendship with Elsa in the process.

Elsaverse: Transitions
Elsaverse: Transitions (2020-2021) is an episodic visual short story that takes place after the events in Elsa's Nightmares. Elsa is abroad, trying to help Miranda with her sleep deprivation issues, and Jason is left in charge of the bookstore. Their relationship is suffering after Elsa's inner self, Raven, broke one of his fingers, and Jason tries to assert himself by taking in a new employee, Trisha, without asking for Elsa's opinion. Trisha turns out to be an exceptional listener and Jason opens his heart to her, confessing all of his doubts about this new Elsa. Eventually, Jason and Trisha make love in Elsa's apartment, but Trisha is then revealed as a Charles Reyes' minion who was ordered to steal the "Morpheus" Elsa kept in her safe, and she succeeds in her mission.

Other related titles
These are other titles that can add a little bit of context to Elsa's Nightmares:


 * DwE: Dreaming with the Dead (2016) is a visual short story in which Elsa creates a sexy and scary dream for Jason as a way to celebrate Halloween. Jason mentions it in the first episode of Elsa's Nightmares.


 * Redemption for Jessika (2016) is the second game set in the Elsaverse. It tells the story of how Jessica and Marc become a couple and introduces most of the people that took part in the orgy depicted in Episode 4 of EN.


 * Finding Miranda (2016) is the third game set in the Elsaverse. It tells the story of Miranda and how her new boyfriend, Lucas, helps her to deal with her strange medical condition; FM also reveals that Chloe is actually a victim, abused by her father.

Miscellaneous

 * Tora Productions' artist, Mortze, made small touches on some characters, like changing some skin textures. However, the most significant and controversial change was Elsa's pubic hair: although she had always shown a dense bush, in Elsa's Nightmares this feature was heavily emphasized for artistic reasons, which led to some criticism.