NOTE: A FEW LAST SECOND CHANGES WERE MADE!
DAO Wiki has some lore errors on the Fade topic, contradicting The World of Thedas and the DAO Codex; characters never 'wake up in a dream' unless they have been magically dragged into the dream, or have had lyrium (& are mages).
Foreword:The fade has been an ever so popular quest location during TMM's run. The option of doing just about anything has helped with lots of character development and drama, and wanting not to hamper that, we won't be laying down too strict rules for how things work there. Still, it's important to have the group agree on a few key points of lore, both of Bioware canon