Myth: A New Age CYOA

[Fangshi]

Alright, finally done typing out the answers. If I missed a question then just let me know, any follow up questions, same deal.

Bvi METAL

Added.

Bvi METAL (but without committing to the deal, maybe? - just agree that if our side doesn't renegotiate, or if his side doesn't agree with possible new terms, that's what we will get)

This will have to be different than Bvi unless Baltika9 is willing to switch to a 'maybe' rather than acceptance of the deal up front.

As for our relationship with Thais, I consider our bonds with her to be greater and deeper than that of a friend, a sibling, or a lover. Friends can become enemies, siblings may drift apart, and love may pass. I consider our relationship as that of soulmates in its original meaning - a single soul shared by two bodies and two minds. Our dreams, hopes and futures are intertwined and tied together, so we will never willingly choose to go separate ways in life. I think it catches the nuances of our interactions with her better than the others. Call it E.

Right, added.

This is an outrage!

We still have Tyrvard's still, so lets make proper ale. Thais should know the recipe (she was presumably helping Tyrvard & Serpent when they were making the brew), Derryth has herbal skill like Serpent, and Lyssa has outdoorsman skill to scavenge ingredients like Tyrvard.

Yeah it is a travesty. I will have Derryth send a few people out for ingredients, a few more days and you will have something a bit stronger than watery ale.

About this I have a proposal, ask Morpheus to teach us a spell that can entrap a powerful mage into the Dreaming, this is not a bargain or a prize, it's just him providing us with the tools to procure him the TWM.

As per Kz3r0's suggestion, what instruments does he have to bring people inside the Dreaming? Retrieve Item is not terribly reliable. Also, is there a way for him or his messengers to possess bodies in a way that is safer for the caster?

He does not have a spell that can easily trap a powerful mage though he could show you how to build an anchor like the Oneiroi had and that might be strong enough to pull the TWM in if you can get him to leave his body. He could also teach you how to create a physical gate, then you could throw TWM into the Dreaming bodily (though you would also be creating a gate into the Dreaming and you can not be certain of what side effects that might have).

That is about all he can do I am afraid, if he had the means to pull powerful souls into the Dreaming he would not need you after all.

Eh, I just noticed that B has us flying to Myrgard in a balloon. So no guards are actually needed or warranted. Just take us, the girls, the wounded, Berty, Astrid, Ori and Hamundr, 12 people in total. It's 12 people per a balloon, right?

Yes, twelve people per balloon.

It appears he can control dreams and even make them shared. I suppose that also means he can minimize our downtime in situations that call for it (say, we would be able to make research or share spells in our sleep as well as when we are awake) and 'connect' us even when we aren't physically present in one location if all of us are asleep at the same time.

Meaning there can, in fact, be telepathy or instant messaging simply through the use of the Dreaming. Am I correct?

Yes he can act as a sort of 'operator' to connect your minds while you dream. So yes you probably could work while you sleep though it will likely impact how much rest you actually get from sleeping.

It is also difficult to do so to pull it off you require Morpheus (or one of his brothers) to directly connect you. Meaning that if you want to do it often you will have to convince him that it is worth his time, he has other things he could be doing after all.

Can he infiltrate anyone's dream and connect any people, or are there limitations? What are those?

In theory he can infiltrate any mind and connect anyone but in practice there are limitations.

The physical distance between the bodies of the people he is trying to connect plays a role for example. When the three of you are sleeping in the same bed it is trivial to connect your minds, if you were spread out throughout the continent then it would be much more difficult.

Some people can also shield their minds through spells or discipline. For example he can not invade Mazzarin's mind or Nine's, they are simply too strong for him to slip in. Some minds are slippery as well, he has not been able to locate TWM's mind, either the mage does not sleep, does not dream, or has some way of hiding his presence from the prince.

One obvious limitation is that he can not interact with people that simply do not dream, there is nothing there for him to sneak into.

And that is about all he is willing to tell you for the moment.

What does he know about musical spells? It seems TWM employs a lot of those, and it might be relevant to our mission. Also, ask him in a hushed and reverent tone what was that spell he killed the creatures with and what are the principles behind it. If we are aiming for the Power of Metal eventually, I'd like to know what it can do in a bit more detail.

His normally jovial expression disappears, he tells you that musical magic is dangerous and not for humans. He also reminds you that you were told to run and that you were not supposed to see or hear that, it is not for mortal hands or ears. If your enemy knows it then you should try to catch him by surprise as it does take time to prepare, other than that you should try to restrict his movements and remove his ability to speak. Another thing you could try is to catch him by himself, musical magic usually requires more than one person to cast and when it does not it still requires a team to help prepare it.

If TWM really does know musical magic then it is all the more important for you to capture the mage and send him to the Dreaming, Morpheus is adamant about that last point.

You press him for more details about the spell he used but he does not waver, it is not something you need to know he insists.

The three of you do not give up however, you press on and though it seems to take an age he does finally cave.

He won't tell you much but the spell he cast was called Don't Talk to Strangers. The school of magic it belongs to is very rare in your world and for very good reasons given how obviously powerful it is. He refuses to teach you, citing ancient demon law. You remind him that he was willing to trade anything for the Thin White Mage and he grunts.

If you bring him the mage, he will teach you but until then he will say nothing more about his magic.

Basically, I am asking for a description of the Musical Spell School, similar to the others we have listed on the Resources page.

Bring him the mage and you will learn enough about the school to warrant an entry, till then, Derryth knows nothing.

Is there a way for us to contact him without sending him a living being, just by going to sleep? He just made it clear that he can contact us whenever he wants to, but can we do the same? The spell we are currently using to contact him is a bit dangerous, and there are situations when summoning a demon with a lot of witnesses around is not the wisest of choices. Something more discreet might be more interesting.

Yes, if you want to find him while you are dreaming then he is willing to show you how. It would require you to be asleep though, and aware that you are asleep, for it to work. It also would not immediately summon him, it would simply let him know that you want to talk to him at which point he would come to you. He does not believe that it would be safe for you to try to come to him, though you are not sure what he means by that.

If you want to make contact with him in the physical world you could probably modify the Retrieve Item spell so that it does not deposit the object in question into your hands. That would make it quite a bit safer and should be within your power if you want to spend the time working out the theory.

He does not know many spells really that can help you summon him in the physical world, a demonic summoning circle could probably do it and he could provide you with the necessary specific components to create one if you want.

In general most of the spells he knows are geared to life in the Dreaming and they will not function the same way in the physical world, he says he just does not have that much that you would find interesting though you are not cetain that you believe him.

What happens if we try to use Retrieve Item on a living being when he is out there in the physical world? Will something else try to catch a ride?

Yes, there is also the slight chance that the being you cast the spell on will make it through unharmed if nothing grabs it. Essentially he has his people on hand, waiting to grab anything living that will come through, but there is always a chance that something else might beat him to it if he does not know in advance that you are going to send something through.

Is there a chance for someone else to hijack the beings we send to him? Can we be sure that he will always be the one answering our calls? There are other beings in the Dreaming, after all. He tried to warn us before:

Certainly someone could try to hijack the beings you send him.

You can not be sure that he will be the one to answer every time.

What did he mean?

All he means is that there is an element of luck to it. If you just randomly throw creatures into the void you could get anything and it could be friendly, neutral or hostile. For example you could get Morpheus or you could get one of the Spider Goddess' minions.

For how long can he maintain his form and/or connection in the physical world? As long as the body he inhabits lives? Can he even 'dies' in the physical world? Would not want to lose an 'ally' like that due to a misunderstanding.

As long as the body he is projecting through lives he can remain. Of course his very presence does quite a bit of damage to the body he is in as well.

As he is not actually in the physical world he can not really die there. He will simply be banished back to the Dreaming if he 'dies'. Now if he stepped into the physical world in the flesh, so to speak, then he could die for real which is why he does not come over himself when you send a creature through. It is too big of a risk.

What precautions are there to ensure that one can not escape from his 'collection'? Essentially, can we be certain we won't meet TWM in a new body, Faceless-style, if we send him to Morpheus? The mage is quite powerful, after all. What if TWM promises to him an even greater supply of 'interesting' souls in exchange for freedom?

Well first off one would need a body to escape to and those are not terribly common. There are also guards and the like (for the protection of his guests you understand) but the biggest safe guard is that after a while no one tries to escape. In the Dreaming all things are possible (though they are admittedly not 'real') so most people that wind up there simply stay, they can have everything they could ever dream of and all they have to do is keep Morpheus company when he is bored. It is as close to 'heaven' as anyone in the setting is likely to get.

What if we need to get someone from his 'collection' back? Can we exchange them for a new person?

Sure, he would be fine with a trade provided you could give him a suitably interesting mind.

It happens all the time between the dukes and princes of the dreaming anyway. They treat people a bit like sports cards, everyone wants the most unique collection.

Does he know what happened to Melete? After all, she is sleeping, even though the sleep is magically induced. Can he return her consciousness back to her body? What would happen then, if the spell is not broken? Is there anything he can do to help her (and no, he can't have her to himself)?

He says he will check. He pops out of existence and leaves the three of you standing in the field for what seems like an hour.

When he returns he informs you that she is safe from what he can tell. She is simply dreaming. She was in a large workshop building some sort of machine, he asked her about it and she called it the 'Mecha-Ursus', some sort of twenty foot tall iron bear that breathes fire, it was quite impressive but he does not if it would actually work, even in a dream.

She seemed happy enough but she did begin to get annoyed with him when he asked her a few too many questions.

He can not wake her up though, that is not really within his power.

He does not know anything about the spell used to knock her out so he has no idea what would happen if it is not broken but he suspects she will simply continue to dream until her body dies, for whatever reason, and then she will cease to be.

He has set one of his goblins to guarding the door to her workshop, that way no other demons or spirits will try to enter without his knowledge. Beyond that he can do nothing more.

If you want he could take you to her but since she is dreaming she will not realize the importance of your presence. She is not in a lucid dream like the three of you are.

Can he keep people asleep (from their consent?) or wake them up at will, or is that sort of thing guided by the reactions of the body in the physical world?

Completely determined by functions of the body in the physical world. He has no control over that.

Is there a reason we can't cast our spells in the Dreaming when we are asleep?

He says you should be able to. You just believed you were too tired to and so you could not. To prove his point he asks you to try again and sure enough now that you are aware of your assumption you can cast, you create a tiny light in your right hand. He then asks you to hit him with a spell, you protest, he insists, so you launch a firebolt at him. He lets it hit him in the center of his chest and it does nothing to him.

He explains that your abilities while you dream are completely tied to belief, you can do anything you want while dreaming but you also can not hurt him at all. He says that if you were there with your waking mind (like at the white brick fort) then you would be able to hurt him but you also would be limited to your actual level of ability.

You ask him what would happen if you 'died'.

He says that if you die while you waking mind is in the Dreaming then you will likely die for real as the shock will probably be too much for your body.

However if you die while in this dreaming state you will simply wake up. You are almost completely safe in a regular dream.

You ask him what he means by almost.

He answers that people can still die in there sleep from all sorts of natural causes and there are things in the Dreaming that... don't like to play by the rules...

An interesting idea. Fangshi, can a human body become a temporary container for another's soul/mind/whatever it is that contains a person's identity? Kind of like the bracelets we have.

What would be involved in it?

An empty body?

Yes, as long as it has not begun to decompose. If it has then you might lose or damage part of the mind/soul you are trying to store.

A body with someone already in it?

Probably not, one body is generally built to house one 'person', if you try to put extra in then they are likely to fuse together or destroy each other. Ravanna and Culwyeh destroyed each other when they were trapped in the same body and the result was Nine.

Even in cases where the two 'people' are likely to get along the pressure to merge will still be there and it would be a hard balance to strike between attraction and repulsion. The two minds in question would have to weave around one another without getting tangled together so that they could properly separate again. That would take complete trust and masterful skill to maintain for more than an instant.

And if you try to put more than two minds together then just forget it, they will instantly collapse into one another almost every time, there are just too many variables to juggle in real time.

It might be possible to build or grow some sort of 'big mind' though, a body that has the storage space necessary to house more than one 'person' without pressing them together. It would require a fair bit of space though.

vii. Dream from the Dreaming. You want access to a Dream.

I can add that but it will have to be a Nightmare, not a Dream, as demons they do not know Wyrd's magic, only the magic of the Dark Gods/Golden Ones.

Fangshi, is there a way for us to analyze, reproduce and contain the sap from the creatures we just fought? It still seals the wounds of some of our companios, and the mercs must be covered in it. Seems like a natural mage disabler to me.

The Royal Academy might be able to if you gave them a sample. IT might take time to come up with something though.

Ask the demon how many spells without a somatic component are there in the setting. We know mental often don't have one. Is there anything else?

What can prevent a mage, especially an undead mage, from casting?

From what he has seen in the dreams of mages there are a fair number of spells in many of the schools of magic that do not require somatic components. Most mental and illusion spells, some physical spells, some animal spells, some elemental spells, really the list goes on and on. The more powerful spells in many of the fields do seem to require either somatic components or ingredients though.

As far as he knows an undead mage is just the same as a regular mage when it comes to actually casting, it is just a little harder to kill is all.

So pain would work, casting is largely a function of will and intellect so if you hit them so hard they can not think, then they will not be able to cast. Alcohol can also do it, drugs, the wrong types of strong emotions (in many cases the right emotion can fuel a spell but the mage needs to be in control of the emotion not the other way around, for some fields though all emotions are bad and for others it does not matter as long as the mage has sufficient will to direct their efforts), a sufficient distraction could also stop a mage from casting.

He can not really think of anything else at the moment, there are simply too many different schools and sub-fields and too many different 'traditions' of magic for him to have any real clue as to how to fight an abstracted 'mage'. Each is different, a unique, murderous, little snowflake and each must be dealt with differently.

While we are asking all that I would like to know more about the creatures we fought and why he disliked them so much.

It is an old story and a long one. He knows their mother and it is one of his few regrets that he did not kill that beast when he had the chance. He does not really know you well enough yet to say more.[/Quote]

 

[Baltika9]

Sure, I'm willing. The support for METAL is weak as is, no need to divide ourselves further. We need to stand together to defeat the anti-METAL heretics.

 

[Nevill]

Fangshi, since a lot of people are voting for Bi, I want to clarify some things described in this post.

1) Will we be meeting lords Hesse and Welf on the road to Myrgard? They are moving from Myrgard to the fort, we are moving from the fort to Myrgard, it is likely that our paths will cross.
2) Who will come with us? Is there a list for Bi, or do we come up with our own?

Basically, do I stick to Bi choice if I want it to happen my way (which, to me, seems the most logical - obviously ), or do I have to make a freeform one?

 

[Nevill]

That is about all he can do I am afraid, if he had the means to pull powerful souls into the Dreaming he would not need you after all.

Can he pull a willing soul into the Dreaming?

Say, if one of our soldiers was captured in that cave, and he asked Morpheus (suppose he knew what he was dealing with) to take him to the Dreaming instead of being eaten alive, would the demon be able to do it?

Also, would we be able to pull our soldiers through the void between the worlds (with Morpheus' permission, of course)? Did we make research on maximum range or weight or other limitations of the spell?

If yes, would a visual contact be required for that?

 

[Fangshi]

1) Will we be meeting lords Hesse and Welf on the road to Myrgard? They are moving from Myrgard to the fort, we are moving from the fort to Myrgard, it is likely that our paths will cross.

Well the original intention of Bi was to simply have you fly over with no stops. If you want to stop that would be a separate choice.

2) Who will come with us? Is there a list for Bi, or do we come up with our own?

The base choice would be your core group, the wounded and Astrid and Ori. Hámundr would remain behind with his men.

If you want a different split then you can of course come up with your own.

Basically, do I stick to Bi choice if I want it to happen my way (which, to me, seems the most logical - obviously ), or do I have to make a freeform one?

It would be a freeform one.

Can he pull a willing soul into the Dreaming?

Not usually. Normally the soul has to cross over into the Dreaming on its own. Once there he can do whatever he is allowed to with it.

Say, if one of our soldiers was captured in that cave, and he asked Morpheus (suppose he knew what he was dealing with) to take him to the Dreaming instead of being eaten alive, would the demon be able to do it?

No directly but he could let the soldier travel through that gate of flesh and bone that he built if he wanted to. The soldier would essentially pass physically into the Dreaming, body and soul/mind/what-have-you.

Also, would we be able to pull our soldiers through the void between the worlds (with Morpheus' permission, of course)? Did we make research on maximum range or weight or other limitations of the spell?

You could try but no one rules the void. If you send a troop of soldiers in without the protections of a proper gate spell I would not expect many of them to come out the other side sane or un-mutated/possessed. Morpheus does not have the sort of power necessary to guarantee you safe passage outside of the Dreaming even if he was inclined to do so (and being a demon that is no guarantee).

The amount you can pull is determined by your overall strength as a spellcaster. At the moment you could likely pull a single unprotected and willing or unconscious adult human through. Anything bigger than that and you would need help.

 

[archaen]

I can add that but it will have to be a Nightmare, not a Dream, as demons they do not know Wyrd's magic, only the magic of the Dark Gods/Golden Ones.

I take it a Nightmare isn't as powerful as a Dream and comes with Sanity checks to use?

 

[Fangshi]

I take it a Nightmare isn't as powerful as a Dream and comes with Sanity checks to use?

The short answer is that it depends on the spell.

Some are less powerful in certain ways but more powerful in others same as the Dreams (for example how do you compare a chain explosion spell like Dispersal Dream with the Dream of Shifting Form which is essentially a true shapeshifting spell, both are powerful but in completely different ways). So the Nightmares are just like that, the big difference is the source, Dreams are pieces of the dead god Wyrd and learning them is believed to bring the mage closer to divinity themselves. The Nightmares are taught by the Dark Gods to their followers, the Purple Sun spell that Nanshe knows the first three steps to is a Nightmare for example, so they are likely to be on the same level all things considered.

If you ask for a Nightmare you are asking for a spell on the level of a Dream though if you use it around other mages they will suspect something is off about you and they will want to know where you learnt the spell. It is important to note however that dealing with Dark Gods is not that uncommon among magic circles so it is not like they will attack you on sight (government officials might though). Dealing with dark gods is technically different than serving the Dark, it is a subtle but important distinction.

A few Nightmares might drain your sanity, it depends on which one you get. A lot of Nightmares actually get stronger as you lose sanity as well and a few only work if you are already insane (those tend to be quite powerful).

A lot of Nightmares though carry no sanity penalty, many of the Dark Gods want their followers to succeed (well the sane Dark Gods at least) and they are not going to purposely undermine them.

 

[archaen]

I guess he would have to describe the nightmares he can get us access to for me to decide if it is better than metal.

 

[Fangshi]

I guess he would have to describe the nightmares he can get us access to for me to decide if it is better than metal.

Well, his has to do with sleep and dreaming and it will primarily be of use while in the Dreaming.

It is an old spell and it is what lets him do what he does within the Dreaming (why he would need a spell to control his own 'realm' is a completely different story he refuses to tell you). It would not make you as powerful as he is, as he is a stronger spell-caster than you are but it would let you do many of the things he can do; find people in dreams, move between dreams, build things from the base substances of the plane, and so on. He is willing to teach you at least some of it in exchange for your help though how much he will teach you will likely depend on how much he trusts you.

 

[Nevill]

Alright, gentlemen who are voting B to meet the king - Azira, Kz3r0, archaen - can we please meet the allied commanders on our way to Myrgard?

We have summoned them to reinforce the fort, and we - at the very least - have to establish a chain of command there, lest the peasants (Kaf and Skife), mercenaries, nobles and soldiers tear the fort apart. I do not want to strain relationships with the few Lords who do not want us dead.

Let it be Biv - as per Bi, but meet Welf and Hesse on the way to Myrgard and establish the chain of command with the help of Argus and your mercenaries before leaving the fort.

Myself, I think we need to wait for the allied commanders to arrive, as it may turn out to be a delicate task. The nobles despise the mercenaries (just reread Welf's letter - he calls us mercenaries as opposed to the Loyal servants of the Crown), and I am sure the mercenaries return the feelings. We'll have to sort this out before we can leave the fort.

It is only going to be 12 hours.

I'll vote A>Biv.

 

[Azira]

There's a risk though, that a loyal servant of the crown can appropriate the balloon we're flying in, seeing as we're simply mercenaries. The balloons were sent without consent from the gathered lords. They were sent to collect ice. We should return with ice, if we're being seen by dwarves outside the pathfinders.

No. I will not amend my vote. Your choice implies more risk. We might as well go by horseback, if we want to speak with Welf and Hesse.

 

[Nevill]

They are not a part of those Lords who opposed sending help, whether by army, or by a balloon. They are the ones who have taken their people and put them at risk to aid us despite not liking us very much. If they wanted to, they could have left us to 'die', like all the others did. They are the ones that have lost their families when those tried to protect the King instead of saving their hides.

The King says he wants us back ASAP, but you think they would expropriate the balloon and sabotage his will, even though their voluntary acceptance of his will is the only reason they are here in the first place?

You know, that kind of attitude, among other things, is what makes the other Lords want us dead or out of the country.

We might as well go by horseback, if we want to speak with Welf and Hesse.

Might as well, yes. That way we can also take Hamundr with us, but we also run a risk of being intercepted by whatever forces that plagued our reinforcements.

 

[Grimgravy]

C
Bv
C

 

[Nevill]

Following up the previous list of questions.

It is also difficult to do so to pull it off you require Morpheus (or one of his brothers) to directly connect you.

Who are his brothers, and what are top 3 reasons we probably should never attempt to meet them? Do they command different aspects of the Dreaming - say, one brother gets to rule the dreams about wild lands and travel, the other rules the nightmares, etc?

Throw in the names of Phobetor and Phantasos (which aren't their real names, but he should be familiar with how mortals call them), see what he can tell you about them. Apparently, they rule the same part of the Dreaming he does, which would make them... rivals?

How many parts of the Dreaming are there? Are there factions? politics? intrigue?

Also, 'brothers'? Are they a family? Who are, uh, the parents? If they are 'princes', is there a 'king'?

Actually, what is considered a demon in the setting? What meaning does that word even have? A creation of a Dark God? A powerful being? Something else?

In theory he can infiltrate any mind and connect anyone but in practice there are limitations.

But something like finding a specific person and passing them a message they would remember upon waking up should be trivial for him, right?

Meaning that, theoretically, we can send anyone - well, anyone without sufficient defences - a message of our choosing they will receive next time they'll go to sleep. Is that correct? No linking needed, and he can find most people if they are dreaming.

As a proof of concept, ask him to bring us before the Great Lord of the Ancient House Seinsheim - if he is asleep, that is (which he should be, given that we've slept for a day). I want to tell him that he is an ass and that each time he is making a long speech in the Assembly of Lords, his wife is sleeping with a stableboy. A different stableboy each time, at that. And when they aren't available, she goes for the butler.

Come to think of it, how far can Morpheus alter the dreams of others? Just for fun, have the Lord grow fabulously large donkey ears. And sufficiently splendid horns with separate branches for each speech he ever made. Pull at them to see how 'real' they are. If that's not too much work, of course. We wouldn't want to tire out the almighty Prince of the Dreaming with insignificant things, now would we?

Let's see if he remembers any of it afterwards.

How are the Dreaming and the dreams of people relate to each other? Does the Dreaming consist of dreams, or is it the other way around, the dreams are just fragments of the Dreaming? Do people need to dream about something specific for them to enter the Dreaming? What if they are sleeping without dreams? Or is it those demons who send people their dreams?

His normally jovial expression disappears, he tells you that musical magic is dangerous and not for humans. He also reminds you that you were told to run and that you were not supposed to see or hear that, it is not for mortal hands or ears.

We will become Prometheus of Myth, won't we? It's a good thing we started poisoning our liver early.

Yes, if you want to find him while you are dreaming then he is willing to show you how. It would require you to be asleep though, and aware that you are asleep, for it to work.

And, uh, how does one do that? Is there a way to induce lucid sleep? Is there a way to manipulate the sleeping mind into self-awareness, say, with Thais' help?

Essentially he has his people on hand, waiting to grab anything living that will come through, but there is always a chance that something else might beat him to it if he does not know in advance that you are going to send something through.

'He has his people on hand'? Or everyone else does, too?

See, this is why I want to establish a way to contact him in our sleep to let him know we might be sending him something of importance. It would be a shame to lose TWM to this unfortunate chance, now, would it?

How 'far' in advance should we give our warnings? Time does not pass in the Dreaming the same way it does in the physical world. How much time may pass in the real world after our contact before he stops waiting? Or can he simply verify if we are still on the task in our sleep?

Does sending a small creature as an advance scout reduce chances of such a misunderstanding? For example, if we send an animal ahead, can he verify that he have received it and awaiting the next shipment? Can the animal survive the process unharmed?

For that matter, does sending a small creature make it safer for us if something undesireable comes through?

Speaking of which, is there anything we should specifically be wary of and how do we prepare ourselves for such eventualities? (and now I am digging my own grave, asking the DM to come up with a list of spectacular failures we can have )

In the Dreaming all things are possible (though they are admittedly not 'real') so most people that wind up there simply stay, they can have everything they could ever dream of and all they have to do is keep Morpheus company when he is bored. It is as close to 'heaven' as anyone in the setting is likely to get.

Heh. We are not most people. People can get personal happiness there, but is Derryth content with just personal happiness? She and Thais are team moms - they want to make sure their friends and family are safe and happy, too. They will worry about them, and no imaginary world can fix it.

Now, an egoistical being like TWM might like it there. Or he might not. We probably should discuss the terms of his confinement if it ever comes to it.

Sure, he would be fine with a trade provided you could give him a suitably interesting mind.

And where this returned person will be deposited to? To the body of the person we send as their replacement?

What happens if you try and place a person's mind into a body that is radically different? Say, deposit a human's mind to a body of a rabbit? Will it degrade and lose some of its functions? Will it go insane? Or will we get an intelligent rabbit?

Can people's minds or bodies (depens how you look at it, I guess) be swapped through the Dreaming? Was it ever attempted? If it was, what were the consequences?

 

[Nevill]

Interviewing a demon is fun!

He explains that your abilities while you dream are completely tied to belief, you can do anything you want while dreaming but you also can not hurt him at all. He says that if you were there with your waking mind (like at the white brick fort) then you would be able to hurt him but you also would be limited to your actual level of ability.

What about spells that are not harmful? Can we reach into the dreaming minds of people for information, and how reliable would such an information be?

Can there be a Mythception?

No directly but he could let the soldier travel through that gate of flesh and bone that he built if he wanted to. The soldier would essentially pass physically into the Dreaming, body and soul/mind/what-have-you.

Who would have to build the gate and what would prevent Morpheus from pushing the soldier through it by force?

You could try but no one rules the void. If you send a troop of soldiers in without the protections of a proper gate spell I would not expect many of them to come out the other side sane or un-mutated/possessed.

Then what kind of protection did Morpheus promise to our messengers?

If you are willing to work with me, willing to supply me with interesting minds from your world then I will help you in turn. I will send through my goblins, elves and fairies when you use that spell on a living being. I will give you information, I will give you power, and I may even be able to shield the odd messenger should you keep me happy.

Does it mean that we can't count on him to keep our messengers safe, and we should never risk, say, sending Martin in if we wanted him to live?

Why am I interested in this? Well, the original plan I had in mind when I asked for an interjection was to try and pull our soldiers stuck in the caves through the Dreaming. We would connect the mages and everyone who remembered the soldiers well (to get the retrieving spell to work), and then we would try to pull all of them back - one half goes to us, and the other half goes to Morpheus' care (it's better than being eaten alive), waiting for us to catch someone for an exchange program.

Of course, by the time we reached the exit, we were out of energon cubes, our soldiers were dead, and the rocks were rolling, leaving no one alive and the whole idea pointless. Still, would it be possible in theory?

The base choice would be your core group, the wounded and Astrid and Ori. Hámundr would remain behind with his men.

So my understanding is that he is leaving Stigr in our care. Am I right?

What happens to our wounded now? Are we keeping them sedated? It would probably be better for them not to wake up for a while until we figure out a way to heal them.

What about their psyche? Is there a way to check if they are even sane? We are mentalists, after all.

Do they dream? Is it possible to reach them, if we so wanted?

 

[Fangshi]

Let it be Biv - as per Bi, but meet Welf and Hesse on the way to Myrgard and establish the chain of command with the help of Argus and your mercenaries before leaving the fort.

Sure, added.

Who are his brothers, and what are top 3 reasons we probably should never attempt to meet them? Do they command different aspects of the Dreaming - say, one brother gets to rule the dreams about wild lands and travel, the other rules the nightmares, etc?

Throw in the names of Phobetor and Phantasos (which aren't their real names, but he should be familiar with how mortals call them), see what he can tell you about them. Apparently, they rule the same part of the Dreaming he does, which would make them... rivals?

His brothers are not beings you really want to meet and he can not stress that enough. When the three of them took charge of the Dreaming each of them chose an aspect to investigate that flowed naturally from their inclinations and desires. Morpheus was always fascinated by mortals and so he chose to represent mortals in the Dreaming. As a result, over time, he has become more 'human', he has a far greater grasp on how you think and what you expect than any of his fellows and that is why he is the demon that most mortals are aware of.

Phobetor, or Icelus as he is known among the other demons, represents beasts in the dreaming and he is wild as a result. He is the master of nightmares and night terrors and when he catches the scent of a mortal he will stalk them and hunt them through their dreams until they wake. If you annoy him sufficiently then you will never have a good night sleep again in your life and Morpheus can not even begin to count the number of people he has driven mad over the centuries. He is predatory and protective of the 'natural' inhabitants of the Dreaming. When you assaulted the fort Morpheus actually believed that it was Icelus come to liberate him at first. If you had remained at the fort it is likely you would have met him as well.

Phantasos is a creature of rock and root, he chose to align himself with the inanimate and over time he grew into the very plane itself. He is easily the least 'human' but also the brother you are most likely to encounter and least likely to recognize. He spends the untold millennia in deep contemplation and rarely interferes in the dreams of mortals. Any tree that you pass, any rock that you sit on, any of them could be a part of him and perhaps they all are. If you do draw his attention, even for a second then be prepared for the surreal for that is his domain. His thoughts have a logic all of their own but it is like nothing that most mortals are aware of (even Morpheus has trouble following it at times) and if you intrude upon those thoughts your dreams will take a turn toward the truly bizarre.

They do not rule separate 'lands' in the sense that mortals would think of it, their domains overlap one another though each has a 'centre' for themselves. Morpheus assures you though that you are safe in his presence, his brothers by now are aware that you are his guests and they will not meddle if you do not go looking for them.

How many parts of the Dreaming are there? Are there factions? politics? intrigue?

Also, 'brothers'? Are they a family? Who are, uh, the parents? If they are 'princes', is there a 'king'?

Actually, what is considered a demon in the setting? What meaning does that word even have? A creation of a Dark God? A powerful being? Something else?

There are an infinite number of parts to the Dreaming, he knows them all though they change constantly. There are also an infinite number of factions within the Dreaming, weaving an infinite number of webs. There is politics, war, intrigue, all mirrored on what the demon lords have seen in mortal minds. They like it this way as it keeps things interesting and he allows them to continue to play at such games as long as they do no permanent damage to the realm. They are not a threat to him (they simply lack the power) though he will often pretend to be far weaker than he is, just to add a sense of drama to the whole affair.

Again, these are immortal creatures whose main enemy is boredom. Derryth imagines that a lot of what they do is done just to keep themselves and each other amused.

Actually, what is considered a demon in the setting? What meaning does that word even have? A creation of a Dark God? A powerful being? Something else?

It is used as a general 'catch all' term for a certain type of extra-planar creature which is difficult to express otherwise. They have to be intimidating, powerful, forceful, masterful and vaguely humaniod. They are both incredibly attractive and immensely repulsive at the same moment though the attraction usually wins out. Essentially anyone in the setting will know a demon when they see it but they will struggle to define what exactly it is. The little elves and goblins that infest the Dreaming might be considered 'demons' in the broadest sense of the word but for the most part no one would consistently refer to them as such. Morpheus though is clearly a 'demon'.

Some scholars believe that it is the demons themselves that invented the word and they influence just who mortals would consider a proper demon, why they would do such things though remains a mystery.

But something like finding a specific person and passing them a message they would remember upon waking up should be trivial for him, right?

Meaning that, theoretically, we can send anyone - well, anyone without sufficient defences - a message of our choosing they will receive next time they'll go to sleep. Is that correct? No linking needed, and he can find most people if they are dreaming.

As a proof of concept, ask him to bring us before the Great Lord of the Ancient House Seinsheim - if he is asleep, that is (which he should be, given that we've slept for a day). I want to tell him that he is an ass and that each time he is making a long speech in the Assembly of Lords, his wife is sleeping with a stableboy. A different stableboy each time, at that. And when they aren't available, she goes for the butler.

Come to think of it, how far can Morpheus alter the dreams of others? Just for fun, have the Lord grow fabulously large donkey ears. And sufficiently splendid horns with separate branches for each speech he ever made. Pull at them to see how 'real' they are. If that's not too much work, of course. We wouldn't want to tire out the almighty Prince of the Dreaming with insignificant things, now would we?

Let's see if he remembers any of it afterwards.

Morpheus grins, that is just the sort of petty 'dickery' that gets him out of bed in the morning.

With a nod it is done.

You find him in an opulent bedroom with twelve dwarven lasses, and one maul girl much to your surprise, all are at least half his age. He seems quite pleased to see three women and a demon pop into his room as for a moment he seems to think you are going to join him. When you refuse to disrobe and instead proceed to give him a truly inspired dressing down, in front of his imaginary harem, his mood changes from joy to fury.

They giggle and laugh and he rises from the bed and reaches for his sword. Morpheus winks at you and Seinsheim's sword turns into a snake with two dwarven heads in his hand. He yells and drops the serpent, blood draining from his face, as he grows a pair of donkey ears and a set of ram's horns.

He screams and collapses to the floor holding his chest as his dream pops out of existence.

Twenty minutes later you return to the meadow having left Lord Seinsheim a quivering mess.

How are the Dreaming and the dreams of people relate to each other? Does the Dreaming consist of dreams, or is it the other way around, the dreams are just fragments of the Dreaming? Do people need to dream about something specific for them to enter the Dreaming? What if they are sleeping without dreams? Or is it those demons who send people their dreams?

The Dreaming exists because people dream. All dreams lead to the Dreaming. If they do not dream then they do not enter the Dreaming. Demons can alter the dreams of weak minds easily and if they really try they can attempt to alter the dreams of strong minds as well but they do not create dreams, they work with what the person brings with them (that is usually more than enough as everyone has hopes, desires and fears).

And, uh, how does one do that? Is there a way to induce lucid sleep? Is there a way to manipulate the sleeping mind into self-awareness, say, with Thais' help?

It is a sort of meditation, you can do it alone or in a group. There is a normal version and a 'special' version for those with a more carnal inclination. He will teach you the normal version you can do by yourself unless you want to learn the other method...

'He has people on hand'? Or everyone else does, too?

See, this is why I want to establish a way to contact him in our sleep to let him know we might be sending him something of importance. It would be a shame to lose TWM to this unfortunate chance, now, would it?

How 'far' in advance should we give our warnings? Time does not pass in the Dreaming the same way it does in the physical world. How much time may pass in the real world after our contact before he stops waiting? Or can he simply verify if we are still on the task in our sleep?

Does sending a small creature as an advance scout reduce chances of such a misunderstanding? For example, if we send an animal ahead, can he verify that he have received it and awaiting the next shipment? Can the animal survive the process unharmed?

For that matter, does sending a small creature make it safer for us if something undesireable comes through?

Everyone of note keeps a few servants on hand watching the void to see if anything falls in but he is the only one that knew for a certainty that you might send something through soon so he had an advantage. If it happens often enough though the other denizens of the planes may start to pay closer attention.

A few minutes would be more than enough. Time, such as it is, in the planes is not a fixed thing. The fact that you send him a warning will matter far more than exactly when you send it.

Yes, sending a small animal could serve as just such a warning.

No the creature would not make it through unharmed. Even if he could keep his goblins and elves from jumping into the empty body he would not be able to stop the larger creatures out there, there are simply too many and too few of them would listen to him. The only way the creature would make it is if no one grabbed it, it would pop in and then instantly pop out again, Morphieus could try to protect such a messenger for the duration of its trip but if you need to get a message to him and have him reply then the odds of it making it out again drop to damn near zero. And of course the more often you try to send messages that way the more likely something big is to come buy and simply snap up your messenger. There are things swimming in the void that he simply refuses to fight.

Well the smaller the creature your send through the less material the possessing spirit has to work with but the danger the creature would present is largely dependent on what creature you get.

Speaking of which, is there anything we should specifically be wary of and how do we prepare ourselves for such eventualities? (and now I am digging my own grave, asking the DM to come up with a list of spectacular failures we can have )

Soul-salmon, horrible stuff really.

Honestly though he does not have the time to list even a fraction of the horrors out there that you would not want to meet and they come in such a dizzing variety of shapes and sizes with such a wide variety of abilities that it would be best not to worry about it. It something does get through and you can not kill it he advises you to flee and contact him when you are safe, he will try to help if he can.

Heh. We are not most people. People can get personal happiness there, but is Derryth content with just personal happiness? She and Thais are team moms - they want to make sure their friends and family are safe and happy, too. They will worry about them, and no imaginary world can fix it.

The Dreaming will give you what you need. If you like fixing people or things then it will give you things to fix. If you let it, it will fulfill whatever purpose you might have and it will draw on your own mind to supply it with the needed details. A high wisdom will certainly help you avoid being fooled as easily but if you spend long enough there your mind will begin to forget. It is quite an insidious prison in that regard as it needs neither walls nor gates, it lets you build your own cage and in doing so ensures a perfect fit.

We probably should discuss the terms of his confinement if it ever comes to it.

He will be treated the same as Morpheus' other guest unless extra precautions are deemed necessary.

And where this returned person will be deposited to? To the body of the person we send as their replacement?

Yes, it will go into the only available body though you will need Morpheus to be ready with the person before you send your offering given the strict time limit you will be working with.

What happens if you try and place a person's mind into a body that is radically different? Say, deposit a human's mind to a body of a rabbit? Will it degrade and lose some of its functions? Will it go insane? Or will we get an intelligent rabbit?

He does not know. He has never seen it tried as no one has tried to bargain for a person with a rabbit before. He does note that it would have to be one unique rabbit for him to accept such a deal.

Can people's minds or bodies (depends how you look at it, I guess) be swapped through the Dreaming? Was it ever attempted? If it was, what were the consequences?

Certainly possible though it has never been tried. As long as both bodies are capable of holding each new mind it is not a problem really. He suspects it is quite distressing for those involved though. To pull off such a switch the anchors they naturally have to their bodies have to be broken and then they have to be cast into each other's bodies and fixed there.

The odds of the process being one hundred percent clean are low, they will probably exchange a little of themselves in the process and he is not sure what that would do to a person. To lose some of yourself and gain the memories of another. As far as he knows that has never happened and he has no clue what such entangled minds would look like.

What about spells that are not harmful? Can we reach into the dreaming minds of people, and how reliable would such an information be?

He can, you can't. The information will be only as reliable as the source and the dream.

Who would have to build the gate and what would prevent Morpheus from pushing the soldier through it by force?

The gate was already built, Morpheus used it to bring his followers through.

Nothing would stop him from pushing the soldier through but he would not do it. Think of it as a test, Morpheus wants interesting people, he has no time for those without curiosity and courage, if the soldier would not step through then he would have no time for the soldier.

Then what kind of protection did Morpheus promise to our messengers?

He promised to try and shield the occasion messenger.

Does it mean that we can't count on him to keep our messengers safe, and we should never risk, say, sending Martin in if we want him to live?

This essentially. Don't send anything you might want back because there is no guarantee you will get it back.

Why am I interested in this? Well, the original idea I had when I asked for an interjection was to try and pull our soldiers in the cave through the Dreaming. We would connect the mages and everyone who remembered them well, and try to pull all of them back - one half goes to us, and the other half goes to Morpheus' care (it's better than being eaten alive), waiting for us to catch someone for an exchange program.

Of course, by the time we reached the exit, we were out of energon cubes, our soldiers were dead, and the rocks were rolling, leaving no one alive and the whole idea pointless. Still, would it be possible in theory?

He would love for you to try some time and if you build a proper gate your whole group could simply step through and into the Dreaming.

He would make a very gracious host he assures you.

The smile he gives you sends a chill down your spine.

So my understanding is that he is leaving Stygr in our care. Am I right?

Yes, if you leave by balloon he will want to stay with his men. You will be safely back in the capital so his oath will be discharged and once that is the case his first concern has to be getting his surviving men home. They have a lot of dead to mourn and he has a lot of very hard letters to write / visits to make.

What happens to our wounded now? Are we keeping them sedated? It would probably be better for them not to wake up for a while until we figure a way to heal them.

You are keeping them sedated, it would be best if they did not wake up while in transit and you imagine they will be in a lot of pain and shock when they do finally wake up. You don't want them to hurt themselves (for example rip their vocal cords from screaming for eight hours straight...).

What about their psyche? Is there a way to check if they are even sane? We are mentalists, after all.

Infiltration if you really want to know where their minds are at. Or since you are talking to the Prince of Dreams you could ask him to check on them.

Do they dream? Is it possible to reach them, if we so wanted?

Should be doable but if they are dreaming it would be difficult for them to grasp anything you could tell them.

 

[Nevill]

It is a sort of meditation, you can do it alone or in a group. There is a normal version and a 'special' version for those with a more carnal inclination. He will teach you the normal version you can do by yourself unless you want to learn the other method...

I think we'll need a vote for that one.

How long does it take and what's involved? I am asking about both, of course.

Yes, if you leave by balloon he will want to stay with his men. You will be safely back in the capital so his oath will be discharged and once that is the case his first concern has to be getting his surviving men home. They have a lot of dead to mourn and he has a lot of very hard letters to write / visits to make.

Anything we can help the families of the deceased with?

By the way, we never asked about the youth that saved us in that ambush. I guess we had to worry about the living, first and foremost. Who was he?

Actually, is there a full list of our losses since our visit to the fort?

You don't want them to hurt themselves (for example rip their vocal cords from screaming for eight hours straight...).

Well, we can do what we did back in the caves with Astrid and Ori. We may force them to calm down. After all, stress is a state of mind, and we have a degree of control over minds.

Should be doable but if they are dreaming it would be difficult for them to grasp anything you could tell them.

Why would it be difficult to grasp?

I know they would not believe we are real, but, if our experiment with Lord Seinsheim was a success (Good job! Can't wait to see how it will bite us in the ass ), they should remember what we say nonetheless. Even if it would not make much sense to them in the dream, it might when they finally wake up.

Or am I making a mistake somewhere?

He would love for you to try some time and if you build a proper gate your whole group could simply step through and into the Dreaming.

He would make a very gracious host he assures you.

I did not mean a proper gate. I meant reaching to our missing soldiers with our 'Retrieve Item' spell.

But I guess I am a bit glad we didn't have to. It could have ended worse for them.

Infiltration if you really want to know where their minds are at.

The usual risks, right?

Or since you are talking to the Prince of Dreams you could ask him to check on them.

All right. What's the caaaatch?

 

[Fangshi]

How long does it take and what's involved? I am asking about both, of course.

They take as long as they need to and as long as the practitioner wants them to. Their aim is to elevate the mind of the practitioner, allowing for the individual to pass into a trance and then further into a waking dream. Both are achieved through contemplation of the world and your place in it, the first emphasizes your existence as a body at rest while the second emphasizes motion.

If you want a vote then I am sure that could be arranged provided there is interest.

Anything we can help the families of the deceased with?

By the way, we never asked about the youth that saved us in that ambush. I guess we had to worry about the living, first and foremost. Who was he?

Actually, is there a full list of our losses since our visit to the fort?

Not really, the state will look after the funeral and will pay the families. I suppose you could see to paying each of them a visit if you wish, they might appreciate that, or they might yell at you for getting their children and spouses killed.

The youth in the chariot? His name was Trygve, good lad, loyal, knew where his duty lay, he was promoted to the guard maybe three weeks ago, naturally this was his first field assignment. Had a wife, no kids.

Sure, if you want (Edit: Updated the numbers with the messangers I had completely forgotten about, also you did lose a maul, I just failed to notice it):

Casualties of the Battle of Blackrock and related skirmishes, long may they be remembered...

The Lost:

Spoiler

Nothing really except time, money and allies. You protected your core group quite well all things considered. In fact if you count Martin and the spell-casting mice you gained members...

Blackrock Securities:

Spoiler

Named Personnel:

Jawbone - Chief of Myrgard Branch - Dead

Tind - Chief of Stoneheim Branch - Living

Rand - Head of Intellegence - Deserter?

Myora - Commander of Fort Blackrock - Living

Kaf - Infantry Commander - Living

Skite - Infantry Commander - Living

Thrend Atop the Piled Dead - Scout Commander - Living

Neel - Expert Tracker - Wounded

Unnammed Personnel:

Dwarves: 31/63 dead (49.2%)

Warriors:
24/31 dead
7/31 living: Four at the fort and three in Stoneheim

Grenadiers:
7/32 dead
25/32 living: Thirteen at the fort and twelve in Stoneheim

Humans: 10/22 dead (45.5%)

Sell-swords/Warriors:
6/13 dead
7/13 living: All at the fort (Four of which have crossbows)

Trackers/Archers:
4/9 dead
5/9 living: All at the fort

Mauls: 1/10 dead (10%)

Warriors:
1/10 dead
9/10 living: Four at the fort and five in Stoneheim

In total you have lost forty four out of your one hundred and three mercenaries (42.7%), mostly infantry.

Black Arrows:

Spoiler

The Black Arrows counted about eighty members (excluding officers) prior to the siege. Ceannard and Otto arrived at the fort with sixty five archers.

Named Personnel:

Ceannard - Leader of the Arrows; The Black Arrow - Living

Otto - First Captain of the Arrows - Living

Unnamed Personnel:

Black Arrows: 4/30 dead (13.3%)
4/30 dead
26/30 living, Twenty one at the fort and five at the compound in Myrgard

Archers: 15/50 dead (30%)
15/50 dead
35/50 living, Twenty four at the fort and ten at the compound in Myrgard, one dispatched as a messanger

In total they lost nineteen out of eighty four mercenaries (22.6%), all archers.

The Royal Guards (Your Escort):

Spoiler

The Guards escorted you out with forty soldiers and twenty chariots under Hámundr before Argus joined you. You do not know how many Royal Guards there are in total so all estimates will only be made for your escort.

Named Personnel:

Argus - Royal Champion, Commander of the Guards - Living

Hámundr - Guard Captain - Living

Stygr - Charioteer - Wounded

Unnamed Personnel:

Royal Guards: 22/38 dead (57.9%)
23/38 dead
16/38 living, Thirteen at the fort, three were dispatched as messengers

Lost Equipment:
13/20 chariots (65%)
7/20 chariots, Five at the fort, Two were dispatched as messengers

In total they lost twenty two out of forty one guards (53.7%) and thirteen out of twenty chariots (65%).

The Pathfinders:

Spoiler

Bari, Asrid, Ori, Stori and Alvis arrived with a wagon full of weaponry while a further twenty Pathfinders arrived with Argus.

Named Personnel:

Bari - Veteran Pathfinder - Wounded

Astrid - Pathfinder Inventor - Living

Ori - Pathfinder - Living

Stori - Veteran Pathfinder - Dead

Alvis - Expert Pathfinder - Dead

Unnamed Personnel:

Pathfinder Officers: 0/20 dead (0%)
0/20 dead
20/20 living, all at the fort

Equipment:
Mortars: 1/2 destroyed (50%)
1/2 Mortars ruined
1/2 Mortar survived, currently at the fort

Expended Ammunition:
Five Cases Improved Dwarven Cocktails
Three Cases Dwarven Fire Grenades
Two Cases Fragmentation Grenades
One case Concussion Grenades
Half a Case Flash Grenades - Half a case remaining
Half a Case Smoke Grenades - Half a case remaining
One Case Incendiary Grenades
Twenty Six Mortar Shells - Four Shells remaining
Seven Incendiary Shells - Three Shells remaining
Three Smoke Shells - Two Shells remaining
Three Illumination Shells - Twelve Shells remaining

They only lost Stori and Alvis or two out of twenty five (8%), fairly good all things considered.

Eighty seven six brave souls (Rand doesn't count ).

Why would it be difficult to grasp?

They are dreaming, most people do not remember everything that happens in their dreams when they wake up. Particularly when they wake up with no limbs. So I am merely saying that it might not do much good in the long run, they may have trouble retaining the information you have given them when they do wake up.

I did not mean a proper gate. I meant reaching to our missing soldiers with our 'Retrieve Item' spell.

But I guess I am a bit glad we didn't have to. It could have ended worse for them.

That would have been fun to write at least.

The usual risks, right?

Oh definitely but at least you would not be entering the mind of a Fallen Lord. Things would likely be less suicidally dangerous.

All right. What's the caaaatch?

He is a demon prince not a nurse and checking in on them sounds a lot like work so if you want him to do it then come up with a reason why it would be fun to do so or entertain him somehow or give him something. There is a trade to be made there but he is not really decided on what he actually want (I mean he has just about everything he could ever want except novelty).

Current Tally:

Spoiler

Baltika9: 1.C, 2.Bvi (METAL), 3.A>D

Nevill: 1.A>Biv, 2.Bvi (METAL), 3.E

Absinthe: 1.x, 2.Bv, 3.x

Jester: 1.D, 2.Bv, 3.E

Azira: 1.Bi, 2.Bv>Bx, 3.C>E

Kz3r0: 1.Biv, 2.Bv, 3.E

archaen: 1.D>A>Biv, 2.Bvii (Diadem of Dreams - Morpheus' Nightmare), 3.E

Grimgravy: 1.C, 2.Bv, 3.C

1. 1 abstain
A) 1 vote
B) 2 votes
i. 1 vote
ii.
iii.
iv. 1 vote
C) 2 votes
D) 2 votes

2.
A)
B) 8 votes
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v. 5 votes
vi. 2 votes
vii. 1 vote

3. 1 abstain
A) 1 vote
B)
C) 2 votes
D)
E) 4 votes

Post Flop:

1. 1 abstain
A)
B) 4 votes
i. 1 vote
ii.
iii.
iv. 3 votes
C) 2 votes
D) 1 vote

2.
A)
B)
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v. 5 votes
vi. 2 votes
vii. 1 vote

3. 1 abstain
A) 1 vote
B)
C) 1 vote
D)
E) 5 votes

 

[Jester]

Hmm taking into consideration that one of affected people is trigger happy spy, other had guts to attempt to tackle shade with chariot and best tracker east of the Cloudspine he might be interested? Hell if he can he might even try some imaginary campaigns with them in lead roles.

 

[Nevill]

He is a demon prince not a nurse and checking in on them sounds a lot like work so if you want him to do it then come up with a reason why it would be fun to do so or entertain him somehow or give him something.

A reason why it might be fun?

I feign being confused and a bit hurt, and Thais mirrors the face.

I am not sure what he means. Does he imply that our friends we went into the lair of the rhyming beasts for are not interesting?

Does he mean that people who've seen and fought Shades up close - and those things are likely to be unknown to Morpheus, as is everything that does not dream - are not worth his time?

Does he mean that a person who have dispatched his beloved White Mage's most powerful minions with but a knife would not be fun?

Does he think that a person who can undo both the White Mage and a Shade with a single arrow happens to be trapped in his realm every other day?

I don't think there are many other Lords who can boast such acquaintances.

But hey, if he has something more entertaining to do than to deal with us and our entourage, we would completely understand. After all, we are not as conceited as to think we are anything special. We'll see what we can do to keep our crew sedated and out of harm's way. It would probably require something that would shut down their troubled consciousness for a while, so that the nightmares of the strange beasts didn't torture them. But if they aren't all that interesting, he wouldn't miss talking to them, right?

 

[Fangshi]

You give your speech and he does not seem impressed.

He says that he has seen things you can not even dream of... but... he left the kettle on in the other room and he should really see to that...

He disappears and is gone for what seems like several hours.

Eventually he returns drifting down out of the sky.

As he does so you notice him plucking arrows and knives out of his body.

He lands without comment but as he turns you notice a particularly lucky blade sticking out of the middle of his back.

You offer to pull it out for him and he graciously accepts your help.

"It was a very tricky kettle," he says, he will not elaborate.

 

[Nevill]

Well, originally I thought about having him gather us together, the kids included, in a shared lucid dream, and having us tell stories from our lives, one per night, Shaherezada-style. We may not be several hundreds years old mages, but we've been told to be remarkable storytellers nonetheless ... uh, by a rat ... which is still more than most people can say about themselves!

But I guess we might keep this offer on hand for the next time we'll need something from him.

Actually...

Can we use such an offer to integrate our memories with Thais better? What is a better place to do so than in our dreams, where we can even relive the experience if we so desire and maybe exaggerate it a bit if necessary - for narrative purposes, you understand? The memories were said to assault us each time we close our eyes - well, let them! For all intents and purposes, the Dreaming is the ideal place to handle such things and get the most out of them.

But Morpheus would have to give us an oath, first. He will have to swear on everything he holds dear that he will not harm (or kidnap) the kids, willingly or unwillingly, purposefully or unpurposefully - he will accept that they will never be his and will do everything in his power to protect them why they are in his realm. We will not even require such promises for ourselves, but if he wants us to maintain contact with the Dreaming, that he will have to promise us. We just can't risk it otherwise.

...does it have to be a vote?

 

[Fangshi]

Well, originally I thought about having him gather us together, the kids included, in a shared lucid dream, and having us tell stories from our lives, one per night, Shaherezada-style. We may not be several hundreds years old mages, but we've been told to be remarkable storytellers nonetheless ... uh, by a rat ... which is still more than most people can say about themselves!

But I guess we might keep this offer on hand for the next time we'll need something from him.

That is something he would be interested in.

Can we use such an offer to integrate our memories with Thais better? What is a better place to do so than in our dreams, where we can even relive the experience if we so desire and maybe exaggerate it a bit if necessary - for narrative purposes, you understand? The memories were said to assault us each time we close our eyes - well, let them! For all intents and purposes, the Dreaming is the ideal place to handle such things and get the most out of them.

Yes, that should help. The important part is that the two of you work together when integrating them as you often need context for some of the more difficult memories. So far you have kept mostly to the easy ones and only occasionally tackled a larger one when you both had time.

But Morpheus would have to give us an oath, first. He will have to swear on everything he holds dear that he will not harm (or kidnap) the kids, willingly or unwillingly, purposefully or unpurposefully - he will accept that they will never be his and will do everything in his power to protect them why they are in his realm. We will not even require such promises for ourselves, but if he wants us to maintain contact with the Dreaming, that he will have to promise us. We just can't risk it otherwise.

Ah, see now you are talking about an actual demonic contract. That will require a vote but I am not sure what you want the terms to be.

Are you essentially offering to trade him stories for his word that he will not harm or abduct the girls? Or is there something more you wanted? How many stories are you going to offer him, how long is the contract to last for? These are the things he will want to know to even consider such a bargain.

 

[Nevill]

Well, I want the girls to be present during our sessions, and I think it will be a lot of fun, and do wonders for our bonding with them and Lyssa, but I don't want to worry about them thinking about Morpheus as of their 'friend'. They are a bit naive, and seeing the treacherous nature of the Dreaming and that there are things that do not play by the rules, I want our host to offer us some warranties... without an ulterior motive, that is.

It is a matter pertaining to our cooperation with him, actually.

If he wants to deal with us, he'll have to forget about the girls. It is not all that much we are asking for. After all, we aren't marching them through the gates between the worlds and asking him for a protection. All we want is a courtesy, really. If we have to be on guard around him all the time - and this is not an issue we can budge on, ever - it just makes our partnership harder, does it?

And they are just kids with barely a decade of experience behind their shoulders, who just left their homes a month ago. What interest they may be to him?

If he doesn't want to deal with us, he won't have them anyway.

So... is there even a need for a vote? I think we - and the things we can potentially bring with us - interest him far more than they do. The only reason he might be willing to argue is his 'catch-them-all' mentality.

 

[Nevill]

Or is there something more you wanted?

I want Lys to start spilling the beans about her past and get that wonderfully green hue on her character sheet, goddammit!

I just don't know what better suits the purpose - a carnal threesome meditation, or these storytelling sessions.

I guess if one fails, I can always try out the other.