The Religion of the Astsantse began with what they call the "Dark Inside" - the Dreamland. During their long slumbers, some of the Ice Elves happened to Dream, and those that did found that their minds over and over turned to Dreams of locked Doors and Gateways. One by one they've found their way into the Dreamworld.

 Many of the first Travellers were lost forever in sleep, but others learned to make the crosssing safely. After a time, they made contact with the Shades that inhabit the Dark Inside. These creatures were modeled on the distorted dreams of the Higher Worlds and were either Hideous or Beautiful. Together the Races learned the secrets of Dreams and made contact with the Mother of Nightmare, an Alien God-Mind whose thoughts and existance contend with the Worlds. It is called Lakizha'ak, the Source of All Contamination, when spoken of at all.

 The Source looks like a lake of softly glowing blue protoplasm. The Dreams of mortals ripple through its body, appearing as incomplete shapes and forms. Eyes, limbs and other organs rise and are reabsorbed. The mouths that grow from him whisper and moan, by means of which it communicates. The appearance of the Source in the dreamland is maddening and indescribable.

Astsantse do not really worship the Source, but they do commune with it. There is no oral or written cannon outside the carvings on the the walls of the sacred spire, which depict the Source and its descent from the Night Sky (along with the building of the city). The Source itself is a taboo topic and is never spoken of.

The ultimate unspoken goal of communion with the Source is to become a Dream alive in its Alien Mind, being absorbed into It in the process.