Silly Plots 3: With government backing we can make it very silly

[Morty]

[An Epic Journey]

Thariza's tail swishes as she nods.

"We should do it somewhere else, yes. Maybe we'll find a place once you've got this wood that you came here for."

[Earl of Purple]

Dreamlands- Yellow Brick Road

"Well, there's always next time, isn't there? You'll do better then, I'm sure of it." Arsay nods and smiles. "Oh, I'm Arsay, but... You may have known that already." Since Bats knew her name before they met, so maybe Tim knows, too.

She'll walk along with the wagon, Tim and all the others.

[Gullara]

[Dreamlands - Weald]

"Oh... Um..." Cassie bites her lip. She never thought of that. "I can say it's not a dream?" She suggests, not looking too confident herself.

[Reinholdt]

Spoiler

Show

Mindscapes

Makuro spots the glow, but doesn't touch just yet- she's going to look at Rachel, make sure she's ready to go. Makuro's also very curious about what exactly happened, with the monsters and the abandonment of all the houses. But she can't easily go out and ask, in case it startles the girl enough that she wakes up or something.

She's also a little curious about what happens when they leave, this close to the dreamer. Will they remember them? Could this catgirl recognise Makuro, if they meet in person?

[Mindscapes]

The mostly-human teenager laughs at what the catgirl Rachel says. Or, rather, more of the way she says what she says. "Yeah, I guess so," she says, wiping away a tear. "They're strong. I'm sure they'll be fine."

She grabs the bouquet and holds it in her hands alongside the doll. "Flowers are much better than boys, anyway."

Regarding Makuro's unasked question? About the monsters and houses? It's probably a metaphor or something. The first girl they met had different times and places blend together, suggesting she probably didn't see a difference between the two situations. The second had the relatively peaceful flower field out-of-focus while the places that were in-focus tied together conflict, neglect, and imprisonment, among other things, with home. That probably suggested something, too. And, this one...judging by the cinders on the torches, the people vanished shortly after the house started burning and both the town's houses and the shadowy monsters started to surround the house; not to mention how the shadows acted, whispering things but only able to do minor damage to Makuro, who confidently believed in her ability to withstand them...if we follow the idea that a person's mindscape matches the person's state of mind, this one doesn't speak highly of how the person views others.

[Mindscapes]

"You're strong too. Don't forget that," Rachel reminds the teenager, before standing up. "We have to go now. Will you be all right?"

[Earl of Purple]

Mindscapes

As Rachel stands up, Makuro does too, taking the flint and steel from the backpack as she does. "Good luck." She bows, hopefully before she leaves.

[Rebonack]

[Dreamlands- Bats' Dream Glade]

Eventually the wagon will reach a rather sizable door to nowhere. Nothing terribly eye catching. Just a very large pair of oak double doors sticking out of the ground at the edge of the road. Large enough, easily, to accommodate the wagon after Bats' extracts a large ornate bronze key and unlocks it. And then off into the door they go.

The inside of the glade is a sharp contrast to the outside.

Before they were trekking through a forest seemingly without end, locked in eternal twilight. Now? They walk through a renaissance fair full of colorful pavilions set up around a squat stone tower in the middle. There's something subtly disquieting about the whole place. Something just off enough to make it vaguely uncomfortable. Maybe it's the feeling that a place like this should be absolutely bustling with activity and instead it appears empty?

As they enter a young boy spots them before scampering off among the tents.

"That was Tristan," the bugbear says. "He's probably off to rouse the others to look busy so I don't think they've been slacking off while I'm gone."

Sounds about right.

"Tim? Go rouse Chase for me. It's time to introduce he and Arsay to their new home."


[Dreamlands - Weald]

"That should work shouldn't it?" Guinevere reasons. "You just have to tell him a whole lot that you're really talking to him and that he's not dreaming. And... umm... maybe there's something else you can do that isn't a thing dreams normally have? Oh! Like tell him to write a note to himself as soon as he wakes up so he doesn't forget!"

Hey, there are some ideas.

[Earl of Purple]

Dreamlands- Bats' Glade

Arsay looks around wide-eyed at her surroundings, though she shivers at how uncanny and unreal it looks.

She'll smile at Chase when he disembarks from the wagon, and wave. "This place looks amazing, Bats. Are you the princess of that tower?" Arsay knows castles are more than just a tower, and knights have castles. Princesses, however, don't get castles, just towers. So do wizards, but Bats probably doesn't count as a wizard. But anyone could be a princess.

[5a Violista]

[Mindscapes]

The teenager nods. She should be alright now. "Yeah, I sh-"
Everything fades to white.

The two dreamers, Rachel and Makuro, will find themselves back in the featureless white plane. This time, however, even the doors aren't here anymore.

They'll still be holding the same things they had before: the scarf, the poison, the blurry flowers, and now the backpack and everything that was in it - except the flint and steel, and the bouquet. As an aside, that small closed box that was in the backpack? It has a small handful jewelry of various quality. Most is pretty cheap and just looks pretty, but two or three could be actually worth something.

And, of course, the sword which has now combined with the flint-and-steel. The third addition to this dreamstone artifact alters its effect less than the previous ones did...because that's apparently how it works. It works exactly the same as before, except now it burns and catches things on fire rather than just cuts.

...not that that matters much, since they're probably finished, judging by the lack of more doors.

If they look around, the two will notice a pedestal, with instructions on it: to put the Dreamstone Artifact onto the pedestal. And it says once they do that, they'll have a choice: either leave the Dreamstone behind - they'll wake up with all the other things they've collected, just not the Dreamstone - or to have a battle against another Dreamer. The winner will get to keep all the spoils gathered and both Dreamstone Artifacts - presumably, Rachel will get one and Makuro will get the other. Of course, it's implied that if they lose, they are returned home without any of the things they've gathered, like it never happened.

So...
It's up to them.
But, remember, if they take too long deciding, there's a good chance they'll just wake up with nothing to show for it.

[Reinholdt]

[Mindscapes]

It takes a moment for Rachel to reorient herself as everything becomes almost blinding. Her eyes adjust and she sees the pedestal with detailed instructions. She looks to Makuro, somewhat surprised that any of this could escape the dreamworld at all. Does that mean if they get injured here, they would also wake up with those injuries?

"Uhh, I can fight if I need to. My parents made me learn. I don't like it much though. What do you think we should do?"

[Earl of Purple]

Mindscapes

On the subject of injuries, Makuro's are mostly healed. They've stopped bleeding and scabbed over.

"It depends on if you want to keep the sword or not. I don't have much use for one, I prefer to use my fists and feet when I must fight." Given she has enhanced strength and reinforced bones, she hits hard enough not to need much else. "Personally, I am happy with what we have. This backpack has some jewellery in it. I'm at VIGIL; come find me and I'll split them with you." They're probably the most valuable things they've got, minus the potential sword, so it's only fair.

[Gnrlshrimp]

Felix’s Tower

To be fair, Krayger wasn’t really sure what he had been expecting. Other than a man, since Lucas had indicated that much about the mage. Young men don’t seclude themselves in the woods, but old ones don’t usually make a career involving cleaning up after so much livestock. So really, he had no expectations to surprise him.
Krayger makes sure his provided robe is in order before entering the room. He inclines his head toward his hosts.
”Good morning, gentlemen. I must thank you again for your warm hospitality.” he says formally before trying to take a seat. Krayger knows his image. It’s not always a good one. So he does try his best to make good impressions on people who are genuinely nice to him and aren’t fishing to get him to do something for them. Especially ones with magic powers he doesn’t understand.

[Felix's Tower]

"Hmm?" Felix pauses midway to a bite of toast.

"Our guest, Felix."

"Oh. Oh yes. Pardon me, young man, I can take a little while to get going in the morning." Felix stands up, a faint glimmering glow briefly flickering beneath his black robes, and walks over to shake Krayger's hand. "Although I don't think Lucas mentioned you were a minotaur. He was a bit busy trying to extricate a pair of ferrets from playing in his ribcage at the time though, so I can understand why it slipped his mind. Yes, well, have a seat, have something to eat, and tell me what on the Nexus brought you into the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night!" Felix has quite a jovial tone to his voice. He must be in a good mood.

[Deathkeeper]

[Felix's Tower]

Well, on the plus side, Felix is more cheery than most who remark on his race in surprise. This man of anyone seems unlikely to be upset to learn that his guest is someone who might shed a bit on the chairs. Krayger settles for finding himself a scone from the spread.
"Well, I was in the neighborhood doing a job for a young man in town. It was pocket change pay but he reminded me of my nephew, so I did the job myself instead of leaving it to the licensees. He only wanted some books purchased from the big city and smuggled past his parents." he waves nonchalantly as he takes a seat. "After that I found myself in need of your local pond. I have to deal with a minor but aggravating fey curse, which requires moonlit water for me to treat. Took me longer than I expected to find it." he explains.

[5a Violista]

[Mindscapes]

There's nothing that indicates whether or not they'll keep their injuries or not...but, factually speaking, if they die in one of the mindscapes, they'd have just woken up but would have felt really awful like they were sick or something. Similarly, physical injuries won't carry over, but spiritual or mental injuries might.

But if they need to continue discussing, they can: nothing will interrupt them here.

[Reinholdt]

[Mindscapes]

"The sword is really cool," Rachel admits, channeling her treasure grabbing mother for a second. "But I'm not really a fire type. So it's fine." She's a water bender! And she really doesn't want her fire type sister to have the sword either because she's irresponsible.

"Being a magical dream girl is reward enough. It was nice to meet you." Unless Makuro has a change of heart and decides the fight is worth doing after all, Rachel will step up and put the dreamstone sword upon the pedestal.

[Gullara]

[Dreamlands - Weald]

"That should work shouldn't it?" Guinevere reasons. "You just have to tell him a whole lot that you're really talking to him and that he's not dreaming. And... umm... maybe there's something else you can do that isn't a thing dreams normally have? Oh! Like tell him to write a note to himself as soon as he wakes up so he doesn't forget!"

Hey, there are some ideas.

[Dreamlands - Weald]

"Yeah! I'll tell him." Blue looks back at the whisper rock. But how does she use it? She kneels in front of it and puts her hand on top of it. Maybe she just thinks of her daddy? She's not sure.

[Earl of Purple]

Mindscapes

Makuro doesn't change her mind, and watches as the sword is placed upon the stone. "It was nice to meet you, as well." Makuro smiles. "I'll keep an eye out for you at VIGIL; I'm hard to miss, so ask around." 'I'm looking for the tall lady with orange skin'. Should find the right person that way.

[Rebonack]

[Dreamlands- Bats' Glade]

Bats gives a snort. "Maybe I am. It's like the old tower I lived in with my master before I ran away, back before I knew the first thing about the Dreamlands."

She heads deeper into the glade, waving for Arsay to follow.

"C'mon. We'll get you introduced to the others and then it'll be time to start your schooling."

With that, Arsay's fate is very likely sealed.

What will become of her?

That is likely a story for another time.


[Dreamlands - Weald]

Guinevere watches curiously as Blue lays her hands on the stone. She had seen more than a few of these strangely carved rocks littered about, but she hadn't been sure what they were for. The few times she had batted at them they hadn't done anything interesting.

But for Blue?

As soon as she thinks about her daddy she can feel his dream as if it were somewhere nearby, just within reach. She could whisper a secret into it for him so easily.

There's more, though. The spirit of the stone speaks without words. It could whisk her away to her father's dream. It would be as easy as taking a step. But to do that, Blue would have to pay the toll. The stone wants a secret all for itself to keep. A memory of Blue's that it can make its own. A dream. A hope. Something to give itself a little more self with. That wouldn't be too big of a price to pay, would it? Then Blue would be that much closer to home.

[5a Violista]

[Mindscapes - End]

In that case, the two will transition back to dreaming - or waking up if they're really close to waking. They'll wake up back where they were when they last went to sleep, and the whole experience will feel like it was just another dream: A really vivid dream.

But, of course, they'll be able to find the things they brought with them, even in the cases that it's something that shouldn't exist in real life, like the out-of-focus flowers. I'd recommend finding a way to preserve them, just for the novelty of it.
Although they all originated from a dreamworld, they'll all feel nearly as real as most anything else.
Makuro will probably wake up with a wet pillow, however, because that boy's backpack she has was out in the rain. So...let's hope she's okay with that.

the end

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Felix's Tower]

Well, on the plus side, Felix is more cheery than most who remark on his race in surprise. This man of anyone seems unlikely to be upset to learn that his guest is someone who might shed a bit on the chairs. Krayger settles for finding himself a scone from the spread.
"Well, I was in the neighborhood doing a job for a young man in town. It was pocket change pay but he reminded me of my nephew, so I did the job myself instead of leaving it to the licensees. He only wanted some books purchased from the big city and smuggled past his parents." he waves nonchalantly as he takes a seat. "After that I found myself in need of your local pond. I have to deal with a minor but aggravating fey curse, which requires moonlit water for me to treat. Took me longer than I expected to find it." he explains.

[Felix's Tower]

"Hmm. Fey curse you say?" Felix raises an eyebrow and sets his toast aside to stroke his beard thoughtfully for a moment. "I wonder if I might have something to help with that." He takse another bite of toast and munches on it ponderingly.

"The library? I think I might know the book-"

"Oh, no no, don't trouble yourself with it, Lucas. You do more than enough already."

The skeleton nods, seemingly quite content to just sit here and presumably enjoy the aromas of breakfast, since skellies don't do much eating.

"Yes, well, anyway, I assume the fact that you didn't run away screaming at the sight of my good friend here means you have no particularly strong objections to how we, ah, do things here?" Felix asks, peeringly intently at Krayger.

[Deathkeeper]

[Felix’s Tower]

Krayger shakes his head.
”No sir, I don’t really. I have had to go after a few grave-robbing Necromancers in my day, but none of your residents seem like they have been ah, brought here against their wishes.”
He shakes his head.
”Does your library take donations? I had been collecting some magic-looking books from my last few jobs but I, erm, did not end up acquiring the skills to check if they were safe, as I’d been hoping.”

[Nova_Eclipse]

[An Epic Journey]

Corvus glances at Willa and quirks an eyebrow at her before looking back to Thariza.

"It is sounding like that may be more difficult than we had thought. We were hoping to trade for it, but it's starting to sound like we may need to raid the Alvar for it."

[Gullara]

[Dreamlands - Weald]

Guinevere watches curiously as Blue lays her hands on the stone. She had seen more than a few of these strangely carved rocks littered about, but she hadn't been sure what they were for. The few times she had batted at them they hadn't done anything interesting.

But for Blue?

As soon as she thinks about her daddy she can feel his dream as if it were somewhere nearby, just within reach. She could whisper a secret into it for him so easily.

There's more, though. The spirit of the stone speaks without words. It could whisk her away to her father's dream. It would be as easy as taking a step. But to do that, Blue would have to pay the toll. The stone wants a secret all for itself to keep. A memory of Blue's that it can make its own. A dream. A hope. Something to give itself a little more self with. That wouldn't be too big of a price to pay, would it? Then Blue would be that much closer to home.

[Dreamlands - Weald]

Blue is stumped for a moment. Seeing her daddy sounds lots better than sending him dream mail. But she has to give something? That's tough. Guinevere watches Blue sit there frowning for a moment before she gets an idea. The rock can have her fort. It's a little hollow under a tree that not even Laurana knows about. Whenever she finds an super round rock she takes it and puts it in the fort. The whisper rock is pretty round, so it'll fit in.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Felix's Tower]

Lucas visibly winces at the mention of necromancers.

Might be a bit of a touchy subject around Felix.

There's a moment of awkward silence as Felix raises an eyebrow.

...

And then gets distracted by the mention of books.

"Magic-looking books, you say? Well my library is quite extensive so, meaning no offense, I doubt I'd have much use for them myself. But I'd be happy to flick through them to see if there's anything interesting. And I can make sure they're safe, and hand them back to you."

[Deathkeeper]

[Felix’s Tower]

Krayger smiles, mentally kicking himself for phrasing things so poorly. He’ll have to watch that going forward.
”For some reason I keep being assigned to places where the books are lying around. I kept them for a while as I had been hoping to learn something from them.” he sighs.
”As it turns out, I didn’t find anyone willing to teach basics of magic to someone three times normal apprentice age and taller than them.” He truly does not understand how his size came up not once, but three times.
”Anyway, with that option gone I just want to make sure they’re safe to sell. The last job I had before yesterday involved this...well I’m afraid we got into a fight before I could ask him what he considered himself. But it involved spreading plague, raising minions from robbed graves, all the usual horrible things. That’s why I’m nervous about looking at anything he had on him, but couldn’t just leave them lying around for anyone to find. Of course I know that magic is specialized so I know that you don’t necessarily know anything about those sorts of schools, being of a different field. Like people asking me to do their plumbing. I just need to know if I should be sinking it all in the ocean.” He hopes that wasn’t laying it on too thick.

[Morty]

[An Epic Journey]

"I really hope it doesn't come to that, but I'll pull my weight if it does," Thariza says. "Even if I wouldn't expect another lightshow like the one I just made."

[Murkus]

[Adir's Dream]

Tonight is a night for bad dreams, oh yes, and Adir's is no exception. He has his share. Far worse ones than this, in fact, ones with demons and burning cherry blossoms. Those ones he's lucky to forget about. He doesn't think he has anything like PTSD... but maybe he could stand to talk to somebody instead of just 'handling it' like he always does when it comes back.

This time he's in a camouflaged bunker, and he's back to being himself. About five nine, brown hair, tan skin, scared brown eyes. No superpowers to protect him here. There's a dark doorway on either end of the little chow room where he's sitting, waiting, but there aren't any other mercenaries around to keep spirits from falling. Not this time. The ground shakes with almost rhythmic regularity. Any second, a bolt of orange light from the gunships above could smash through the ceiling, setting fire to the air itself, and that would be that. No beautiful dryad. No pack of damn good kiddies. Was that the dream? Is this the real of it?

He sits there sweating with his hands steepled over a useless gun and a plate of brown stuff that doesn't really rate as food. In his waking life, he can never remember being more scared. Sometimes, when he's alone, he even comes here in his mind to think. There was a purity to it. But this is just pure anxiety... like the fear he'll be killed at any moment, but somehow even worse. What could be worse? What is this coming from?

[Rebonack]

[Dreamlands - Weald]

The memory is greedily gobbled up by the stone.

Along with the memory of giving a memory to it.

Then it just sits there, demanding its payment.

Normally this sort of bad-faith dealing can be disastrous. A spirit would just keep stripping a poor mortal of themselves until there's nothing left. Thankfully there's a pretty easy way to prevent it.

Not being in the Weald alone.

"HEY!" Melissa yells, stomping over toward the rock. "She already paid you, you BUTT! No cheating! You offered to take her for ONE memory and you took TWO!"

She pokes the whisper stone accusingly with a finger. "So do it! Take her to the-"

[Adir's Dream]

"-dream?"

What the heck is this place? Cramped. Dirty. The air smells weird. Smells like-

The floor trembles, a shell bursting near the bunker, the awful roar of war reverberating off the walls. Melissa shrieks in fear. Everything smells like fear here. The air, the stone, that guy over there. Fear. It's all fear. She flickers, briefly, a foreign fae in mortal's dream. It's trying to force her into a part to play. What would she be? Another merc, battle-hardened and waiting for death? No, that isn't what she is. She's a little girl. She's lost in the woods. She's trying to get home. She has to... she has to get out of here QUICK. The dream is trying to pull her apart and put her back together again. That stupid rock probably KNEW this would happen! What a butt.

"Blue! Hey Blue! Is that your dad?" she yells over the din, one hand clamped over her ear and the other pointing at Adir. He's the only one here, so that has to be him, right?

[Gullara]

[Adir's Dream]

Cassie flinched at the sudden change of scenery. Where is she? This isn't a nice place. She covers the base of her ears with her hands and her shoulders hunch. It takes Melissa's words to get her to really register who else was there.

"Daddy!" That voice is certainly out of place here. Adir will find his pajama clad daughter rushing toward him. She practically throws herself into him, wrapping her arms around his legs. Tears come to her eyes immediately.

[Murkus]

[Adir's Dream]

"Huh... what?" Adir raises his head like a drunk being shaken into coherency. She can see his eyes still look a little misty, but there's compassion in them just the same. He bends to the side and extends his hand down to her. "Hey, kid, who... who are you? You can't be here. Like, really can't be here. Unless we're enlisting em' mighty young."

[Rebonack]

[Adir's Dream]

Melissa has taken an opportunity to press her hands tight over her ears, her eyes screwed shut, doing her best to drown out the world around her.

She has to hold onto herself.

She can't let the dream shape her or she'll forget all about home.

And that can't happens. It can't.

"He's your dad but this is a dream! Sometimes people don't remember in dreams!" Melissa yells. "You have to remind him of who you are and what's really real!"

Her shape is still jittering.

Is she a little girl with a cat tail or another hardened merc?

She knows which she is but the dream disagrees.