Event Log: Dreamwalker the Second

[hadrielmods]

Who: All characters participating in the event
What: The event log for the Dreamwalker part 2 event
Where: In your dreams
When: October 14th-20th (the second log will go up on Oct 23rd, please keep the two weeks of the event separate!)
Warnings: All different kinds of dreams falling under the umbrella of Delight, Rage, Sorrow, and Hope.

This time, the weird stuff doesn't happen when you're awake- as a matter of fact, your waking hours are the normal ones. That's because you're forced to sleep by some unknown entity, getting more and more exhausted by the moment as night falls. Better make sure you're always around a soft pillow.

Once asleep, it doesn't get any less weird- your dreams will be influenced by one of the four gods that make up the first week. Something to make you smile, something to make you angry- or something that reminds you of your deepest regret or most vulnerable hope, they're all things that you're dreaming about now for some reason, no matter how hard you may try to pull away from them.

To make matters more complicated, there are others intruding on your dreams who definitely don't belong there, and while they may seem like manifestations at first, it becomes clear that these others are actually the consciousness of other members of Hadriel, getting some top quality exposure to your angriest, happiest, most sorrowful moments. Hope it doesn't get awkward when you see them tomorrow...

► This log covers October 14th-20th.
► Feel free to make your own logs as well
► Please tag headers of threads with content warnings where they apply
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!
► If you die in dreams you don't die in real life, but if you somehow die in real life anyway, please let us know here.

Comments

[hardwearing]

She's not big on talking.

[ He glances at Kyna, approaching this as gently as he knows how. ]

Neither are you, today.

[evocation]

[She ducks her head a little, stirring her soup absently.]

I'm not good at this stuff.

[hardwearing]

You don't have to tell me, then. I just need to know if it was real?

[evocation]

I think so. I have a lot of dreams about my dad, but... No one else is ever in them. And then I had a dream about you, too.

magnus burnsides ( ota )

[armcollector]

SORROW

[It's a gloomy day. The sun is blotted out by heavy clouds, filtering its light through a veneer of grey-blue. Meanwhile, what might first be mistaken for heavy pollen in the air seems to actually be fungus spores, as mushroom clusters line the roads, yellow-green spores swelling out into the air around. Raven's Roost, once proudly standing atop its natural rock formations, propped up with once-sturdy yet incredibly detailed pillars of stone, now lies defeated, in ruins.

The roads are heavily cracked, whatever happened to the city clearly starting from below, in the pillars, which have been the most heavily damaged, blackened by some sort of gigantic blast and now in shambles. The explosion traveled upwards, pushing up earth and cobblestone, and a portion of the city is now hanging off the side of the rock formations, almost threatening to fall. There were fires, once -- now, they are mostly embers, small fires here and there, but no fierce blaze, not anymore. Many of the houses and buildings and other structures have been heavily burnt, but most have simply been torn to pieces by the collapse of the ground below. A good 2/3 of the city hasn't been that heavily damaged, but the scare may have been enough to send everyone in town packing; the place is completely devoid of people. Through all this, the mushrooms emit more spores, slowly replacing the population of people, the largest being almost halfling-sized.

Magnus can be found, if you care to look through the city to find the craftsman's corridor. The first inclination that someone is inside the Hammer and Tongs is the wrapped up prize-winning chair lying outside the front door, but the whole wall has collapsed inward, this portion of the city the most heavily hit. Through the gaping open wall, there seems to be some movement, if you're one to notice such a thing: pieces of the structure being moved around, slowly but steadily, as Magnus digs through the ruins of his former home.

He has a bandanna up over his nose and mouth, to protect himself from the spores, but the mushrooms have even started to spread within the broken down house.]

HOPE

[Somewhere, where long, green fields of grass meet the edge of a forest, lies a decently-sized three-bedroom home, nicely constructed of rich dark walnut with white maple accents. Two large, fluffy dogs are running around in the fields outside, and a tortoiseshell cat can be seen stealing catnip out of the garden by the front door, which is wide open.

Within, Magnus is hard at work in the kitchen, cooking up huge portions of a rice pilaf dish and homemade mashed sweet potatoes, as something sweet-smelling bakes in the oven. Out in the backyard, the sound of fat sausages sizzling on a grill can be heard -- and smelled, as they are brushed with a family recipe sauce that gives off a strong savory scent, with a hint of pineapple and brown sugar. Should you knock or just barge in, a sturdy-looking older man with dark skin and a slight limp will take the time out of setting the table with silverware he's fashioned himself to come greet you.]

Hey there, great to see you! Come in, come in! Boy, you're a little early, everyone's still cooking. Well, everyone except you-know-who; I can barely be trusted to eat the food, let alone make it! Haha!

[A giant jellyfish-like creature with galaxies stretching out across its dark flesh floats past, setting a pile of cloth napkins on the long dining room table for Steven to start placing. He sets to work right away.]

Thank you, Fisher. If you want to go taste test Magnus' cooking, I won't tell on you -- the boy barely notices anything that goes on around him when he's in the kitchen. Trying to remember everything he's learned from the twins, I'll bet. Come on, go say hi!

[He then waves you off, and you are free to explore the house as you wish, as he returns to setting the table and the other final preparations.]

( plotting comment can be found here, or my plurk can be found at erlking. or we can just wing it. either way! )

[hardwearing]

...I know. Out of all the dreams of mine you could have seen, you got a good one, at least. Which... isn't normal for me.

[ It must be something to do with this place. ]

You should know, it was a lie. Maine's gone.

I've seen other things, too, the past couple nights. Something strange is happening.

[hot_mes]

["Ahh, you could say that." Corazon's voice is deeper than expected, calm but with an undercurrent of laughter, as he smooshes a hand down on Law's fuzzy hat. "I knew him when he was shorter than you!"

Law, in turn, puts on a magnificent pout.]

Don't tell him that! Are you trying to embarrass me?

Curufin | Hope | OTA

[so_dark_a_road]

The months and years of uncertainty are over. Events at Hadriel, astonishingly, have evolved in the direction of the best of all possible outcomes. The Null are defeated, the gods' former hosts are resurrected, and the citizens of Hadriel are now free to leave unless they really want to stay. The experts of all species have convened to analyze the Door and have worked out how to send people back to their own worlds -- or to somebody else's world, if they don't like their own and want to go exploring the universe. If they want to return to their own, they have the choice of going back to the point in time from which they were taken, or returning to an earlier or later point. Thus, for the returnees, it is possible to change the outcome of whatever events were transpiring in their lives at the time they were kidnapped by the Hadriel gods -- or to avoid those events altogether. It is also possible to visit someone else's world, help them in their endeavors there, and then come back to Hadriel. The Door now makes possible travel on a revolving-door basis!

Curufin knows, without a single doubt, exactly what he has to do. He returns to Middle-earth, but not back to the First Age, his own era. He goes back to the Second Age, which is his son Celebrimbor's time. But he chooses the exact year very carefully, since his son is coming too. They and whoever is coming with them must defeat Sauron the Deceiver, the mass murderer of the Second Age (and Celebrimbor's killer). It turns out that a feature of Door travel is that there is no danger of meeting yourself by accident when you get where you are going. Instead, the universe accommodates you, lets you enter it and change whatever you please without danger of the history you remember interfering with the history you are now creating. The multiverse is a malleable place.

In the months after you and Curufin arrive, new alliances are formed between the free peoples of Middle-earth, and mighty armies march to the meeting place, the great plain in the old kingdom of Cardolan, southeast of the Shire and northwest of Eregion. Since the end of the Second Age is not yet arrived, and this enterprise pre-dates the War of the Last Alliance, the Host and its leaders give themselves a name of hope: they call themselves the New Alliance. Sauron becomes alarmed when he hears of this gathering and walks right into the trap, marching his army of Orcs, Balrogs, dragons, and Ringwraiths west from the Misty Mountains.

If you are with the New Alliance, you are probably armed to the teeth and tired from organizing for months and traveling for days or weeks, but the Host is full of jubilation as well as ferocious determination. It is a stunningly beautiful April morning. The fields around you are bright green, fresh and sweet-smelling, the hills covered with purple heather and yellow broom-flowers. Bright streams lace the hills and dales, and the over-arching sky is a brilliant blue with flecks of lovely white cloud. Around you are thousands of other warriors, spear-carriers and archers and cavalry. Bright blue and white banners flow in the wind, but also, flags of every other color of the rainbow, for the many tribes and clans that fight here today to liberate themselves from the Dark Lord's claim to their land and lives.

And before you, just topping a line of hills, the Army of Darkness stands waiting. Sauron himself leads his troops, his flame-colored hair spilling out of his helmet, fiery eyes gleaming from his visor. The soldiers of his Orc army are as many as the grains of sand on the shores of the endless sea.

For a little time, there is silence while the two sides look each other over, across the quarter-mile that separates them, and last-minute orders are given. There is no exchange of threats or offers of parley or any other kind of theatrical games played. Nobody's interested in doing anything but getting right down the the bloody business of war.

Suddenly, the trumpets blow. Sauron's army pours down the slopes and boils into the valley. The Army of the New Alliance waits until the Orcs are in the worst possible position -- at the bottom of the valley, crossing a wide meandering stream that runs from north to south. And then the New Alliance leaders give a mighty shout and spring down their own hillsides, followed by the troops, and smash into Sauron's people.

Curufin in his darkly shining armor cries out to his contingent and nudges his horse with his heels. The great black steed snorts and springs forward. Curufin whips out his great sword of black steel, and a blue fire crackles and flares along its blade. He takes off the head of the first of the great Uruks of Mordor that dares to strike at him. The thunder of horses' hooves and the clash of steel weapons and the battles cries and shrieks of the wounded on both sides rise up to the heavens.

[ OOC: There's a plotting comment with brief summary of Curufin's dreams here. You can also plurk me at tangyminx, or PM me at Curufin's journal. Or just post into this dream! ]

[evocation]

Oh.

[There's definitely something weird happening, but that revelation catches her off guard enough to distract her from it, and she reaches for his arm.]

I'm sorry, Wash.

Oscar | Will Match Format

[onlyanautomaton]

[ooc: Starters will be in the comments! For questions or plot ideas, his plotting comment is here or you can shoot me a message at onthelam/PM this journal. ♥]

[hardwearing]

[ He lets her reach out, slowly adjusting to being touched. As long as he can see it coming, it's okay. ]

I did use the EMP, back home. Killed Sigma. He just wasn't in there anymore.

[ Just one more thing Wash loved that Freelancer destroyed. He doesn't mention that he missed it happening, that he might have been able to save Maine if he'd caught on faster. Questioned the Project more, like York and North had. Wash had just gone along with everything, he'd been so naive... he'll never make that mistake again. ]

I think I wound up in Sharkface's head the other night, too.

[evocation]

[She almost probes further about what that means, but she's not sure if that's crossing a line, so she bites back the question. Then he brings up Sharkface, and she sighs.]

Ugh. Me too. It's totally the gods fucking with us again.

[hardwearing]

...you saw Chica?

That's not how it happened, either.

[evocation]

[Ah. They're discovering a theme here, aren't they?]

Did she die, too?

[hardwearing]

Yeah, she's dead. Maine's fault, actually. Back when he was still Maine.

[puzzlingly]

「Ah, he wants to see a monster? Atem smirks.」

Seto, show him a real monster.

「The bossy priest hurries to raise the rod he's holding (it has that same eye design showing in it as in most of the golden items they are all carrying). He recites some words and in a lightning of blinding light the creature arrives under Seto's command.

Atem doesn't say a word, expecting Law to do so first.」

[evocation]

[He's bringing it up of his own volition again, which means she thinks it might be safe to ask.]

What was that thing? In your dream, I mean.

[puzzlingly]

Really? That's very small.

「He's not about to get offended about that, this is who he is. Oh, but look at that fabulous pout! Why doesn't he have a camera with him!? Atem just, smirks at that. Hopefully he'll remember this, because this Law is not as the one he had imagined and judged so harshly (when they met, actually).」

Are you a pirate too?

「Very important question there.」

[hardwearing]

[ Oh. This... might be a complicated explanation. At least it's something that Wash is comfortable talking about, these days, after they destroyed what was left of Freelancer.

It would always follow them, it seemed. Always haunt them. But he got some closure, can discuss it now at least in broad strokes, so he considers how to tell Kyna. Whether or not he'll be comfortable talking about his role, what they did to him, remains to be seen. ]

The program we were a part of, it put fragments of an artificial intelligence inside our heads to help us run our equipment. Maine wound up with Sigma, and it... took over. It thought it could collect everyone else's AI fragments, and become a whole person again.

[evocation]

[He doesn't seem too upset, so Kyna relaxes.]

So it was like... alive or something? Sort of?

[Guess who doesn't know anything about artificial intelligence?]

[hardwearing]

It was sentient.

Every fragment was a trait of the original AI it was taken from. Delta was logic, Theta was trust... things that the Alpha lost as it was tortured and broken into pieces. Sigma was ambition. It wanted things. It wanted to be whole again.

[evocation]

God. That sounds so shitty.

[She frowns at herself a little.]

Sorry, I don't mean... You know. That must have really sucked.

[kidpocalypse]

[Fortunately, that's exactly what brave, strong superheroes are for. Genesis zips toward the car, getting hold of the chassis, and he's about to toss it away when he hears the screaming inside. Whoever sent this sedan flying through the air hadn't bothered to make sure it was empty first. Setting the vehicle and its passengers down gently isn't quite as impressive, but this way, everyone lives.

As soon as his hands are free, he hurries over to the woman who nearly ended up smashed by a Chevy. Someplace beyond the buildings around them, there's a crashing sound]

Are you all right, ma'am?

[hardwearing]

It still kind of does. Freelancer as an organization is dead but it's... always still around, somehow. The things we did, the tech it created, the people whose lives it ruined... that'll never die.

[evocation]

[She doesn't know how to respond to that, either. She tries to think of something comforting and fails.]

Is that what you got drafted into?