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First Dreams

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Perram Riptide
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Posts: 31
Joined: Sun Feb 06, 2022 7:41 pm
Character Name(s): Perram

First Dreams

Post by Perram Riptide »

I was at my first party at the Order of the Sable Moon. Heaven Alexis prepared several "drinks" for the guests. The concept of consuming something in this way is new to me. A "drink" is a food that is like water that you swallow without chewing. I don't remember much of what happened during the drinking, but I felt oddly pleasant, and got a headache that Almodozo relieved with an art called purify.

That's when I remembered; before I made it to the party, I met a new dreamer named Dreamr in the library. I invited him to walk with me to the party I heard about, and I thought he was following me through trinity fields. When I realized he was not close behind me, I backtracked to find him being chased by an emphant. This first-time dreamer was not skilled in either fighting or walking past the mares in peace.

I, being fairly new myself, wasn't experienced with my mace and chakram to come to his defense. I tried aiming my dreamseer chakram, but could not get a precice shot of a moving target. I failed at urging him to escape the emphant, and Dreamr collapsed into a soulsphere. I lingered, trying to get him to sanctuary or threshold, but the sphere wakened and left the plane. Not knowing what to do, I walked to the party by myself.

After Almodozo's purification, I sensed that Dreamr reentered the dreamstate, and I told the hosts and their guests that someone should go help him. Almodozo volunteered to return to threshold to assist the newlie in getting his bearings to navigate the dream safely.

We played a party game of hitting targets with the chakrams. This gave me good practice with throwing them... after accidentally hitting Kain square in the back with my first try. I hid behind heaven alexis until it was my turn again. Silfia's shots with her chaks were perfect.

After the game was over, we started telling stories. The guests told stories of their first dreamings, and this gave me an opportunity to record their testimonies to preserve Underlight's history.
~A box jellyfish has no brain, but it has feelings and it has a soul~

~A merman who is in love with the ocean only thinks about water~
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Perram Riptide
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Posts: 31
Joined: Sun Feb 06, 2022 7:41 pm
Character Name(s): Perram

Re: First Dreams

Post by Perram Riptide »

The first dreamer to speak was Uthanatos, that burly, bespectacled dreamer of drunken wisdom:

My first dream, I was searching for answers. My brother had ranted about the dream for years when I was young. He gave up on everything, and we had to put him in care, where someone could look after him. He wrote fantastical things in these journals. It was the only thing he'd do. Just write and sleep.

One day he didn't wake up. Years later, my mother passed and I found his journals amongst her things. I read them, perplexed at his unique madness. And then I found myself in the courtyard. In that instant I wasn't sure if he was sane or I had contracted his madness. When I entered the city, I had barely figured out how to walk when Flower arrived, introducing herself as Queen of the Realm.
I've never been good with authority, so I... denied her soveriegnty, she remarked that I had, "spunk."

I spent those early dreams searching for the oldest dreamers, asking them about the past to measure against my brother's journals, still not certain of my sanity.

Then I was at the Alliance, getting a task from Dina, and I met Arnaya, my third night dreaming and within an hour, I knew that it didn't matter if it was madness or reality. This is where I wanted to be.
~A box jellyfish has no brain, but it has feelings and it has a soul~

~A merman who is in love with the ocean only thinks about water~
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Perram Riptide
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Posts: 31
Joined: Sun Feb 06, 2022 7:41 pm
Character Name(s): Perram

Re: First Dreams

Post by Perram Riptide »

The second dreamer to speak was Kain, new Ruler of the Dreamers of Light:

My first ever dream took a turn that defined my all other past experiences. Upon entry I've met MOLL and Turbo-Speed. They were a couple and they took me in to travel around the city and showed me what this City is about. I spent some time with them and they brought me to Dreamers of Light, as MOLL was a DoL and I met Wraith. I found him so repulsive that it uleed me off from Dreamers of Light and soon after I found myself at the doors of PoR.

Lonewolf, Folko, Hikari X, Hrrum and Pura Rage accepted me in their warrior pack, and I turn out to become a warrior.

Then great loss happened, houses closed and I got lost between worlds perhaps, it is vague still. In current times I joined DoL and my devotion to the cause and lack of help to Athena, I was promoted Ruler out of Initiate and now bear this mark. I think she was a SoulMaster in the Allience and Gathering. She was too peaceful for my kind.

Oh and another person who really defined me was HiroGlifiq. The rest is a kaleidoscope of dreams that inspires me to continue.
~A box jellyfish has no brain, but it has feelings and it has a soul~

~A merman who is in love with the ocean only thinks about water~
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Perram Riptide
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Posts: 31
Joined: Sun Feb 06, 2022 7:41 pm
Character Name(s): Perram

Re: First Dreams

Post by Perram Riptide »

The third dreamer to speak was hostess Heaven Alexis, that dreamer transfigured to a half-mare shape on a lateral axis dividing her humanoid and marish aspects:

"I am afraid my story is not as awe-inspiring as yours, but..." Heaven alexis cleared her throat and continued.

"When i first attained my ability to dream, I had no clue what had happened or anything. I had never heard of the City. I had actually never been around anyone to have even a chance of hearing. Upon my shard I was hid away at a very young age so that I was not killed due to my ability to know things and what not. The ruler is very worried about being overthrown."

"So when I got here, I was scared, lost, and no directions at all. But who should I come about ...none other than our very own Em'et. He was young and very much still the fatesender. I have a hard time seeing him as strong as he is now. He was much as he is now actually."

"Perhaps not as experienced, but still the same basic personality. He didn't have much time left before waking, but he taught me enough to be able to go and explore on my own until I could find other dreamers. And since that day he has always been one of my closest friends and sworn protector. He was the last dreamer I saw before dying in our realm* and the first I went looking for when I arrived back in the City after the collision. He is truly family to me."

"We put them down pretty hard," said Uthanatos, "they joined the Bastion of the Covenant, which, was a front for guilds who wanted to do nefarious things without accountability. Then we put them down too."

"Yes," said Heaven Alexis, "that sounds about right for our realm. There was so much backstabbing in our realm."

"In every iteration of the city it seems."

"Indeed, but I have not seen it here as much as it was in our realm. Perhaps I have just not opened my eyes enough yet. I think that is why I chose my current home here. I was tired of all the wars and fighting with weapons. I would rather see a peaceful end to arguments," Heaven Alexis shrugged, "and many more nights like these that we are having tonight." She smiled as she looked at each of us present on the facade."

"I sadly have noticed that much of our history is missing."

"...and unfortunately, since my return my memories are not organized enough for me to inscribe them. Tales of Nijyman, Dynroth. I remember Dynroth... I was there when he was put on trial."

*As a side note... no, I did not look like this when I first entered the City all those years ago. That probably would have been the days of Bashir, which was before my time; but I have never known Em'et to belong to a house, other than when he claimed the old PoR stronghold as his own for some time. Apparently a lot of folks fell into the Cult of Bashir in Idoaclesia, they tried to revive it in my time.
As I said it was before my time, and that must have been after I had already passed when they tried to revive it, but I must say I am glad they did not.
~A box jellyfish has no brain, but it has feelings and it has a soul~

~A merman who is in love with the ocean only thinks about water~
User avatar
Perram Riptide
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Posts: 31
Joined: Sun Feb 06, 2022 7:41 pm
Character Name(s): Perram

Re: First Dreams

Post by Perram Riptide »

The last dreamer to speak was Silfia:

"My first dreams are a source of embarrassment to me."

"I awakened in the Lyran city during what I believe was the height of its population. Like all newlies, I couldn't tell which wasy was up. I was completely lost; however, that alone is not enough for this to be embarrassing. I was curious like I am now, but also rude and impatient. I lacked the basic understanding for interacting with others."

"I tell ya," said Uthanatos, "the first time you shoot a teacher while they're tasking, that's embarrassing."

Heaven alexis stiffled a giggle and nodded in agreement.

Kain smirked suggestively, "unless they are into that stuff."

Heaven alexis about spit her water as she heard Kain's comment.

"Naturally," Silfia continued, "this extended to the teachers I would seek tasks from. At the time, teachers often turned off their halo to signify they weren't teaching at the time. I didn't care if the halo was on or off. The teacher could be talking or tasking and I'd just barge right in. It was about this time that I met Purple Lace, of all dreamers."

"I remember this event quite well as it is one of the highlights of how bad I used to be. She had tasked me for Push. I had completed the task as she instructed and returned to her. I was promptly informed that she did not grant arts on the same day the task was issued. I angrily pressed her for an answer. Unsurprisingly, she all but bit my head off, I threw the quest codex back in her face which made things even worse. I distinctly recall flipping her off for added measure."

I got excited and jumped. "Push! I know that one!" I went across the bridge and gave Kain two small pushes for a laugh. Then Kain kneaded some mental energy between his fingers and muttered something under his breath, and I was suddenly shaking and lost control of myself in a panicked state. This must be the art of "fear" that I've been warned to be wary of from greater mares.

"Needless to say," she continued, "I didn't seek a task from her again. I do recall meeting another teacher a bit later and finishing their task for Push. To my surprise, the teacher taught me Push, which only magnified my anger towards Purple Lace."

"Funny," said Kain, "I had the same experiences with her. For some reason I always ended up on another side fense from Purple Lace. Black-Lotus and..." he rubbed his temples.

"Time went on and I slowly started to learn things about how to interact with others. The big shift in my attitude came from my mentor. I can not recall his name to save my life, but he worked to set me straight on a number of issues with my behavior. We had met by chance and formed a hunting party as unsphered dreamers or so I thought. He was actually a 1st Sphere and capable of hunting them on his own. My newlie self thought using chaks were a good idea and I ended up shooting him one too many times. We fought and I lost. Cue the usual bad responses between two people with differing opinions."

Uthanatos said, "someone called someone a twatwaffle eh?" He took another swig from his bottle.

Silfia chuckled.

Heaven Alexis laughed. "I have not heard that one in a long time."

Silfia said, "It was something like that, Uthanatos."

"Yet, unlike most dreamers I met, he didn't drop all contact with me on the spot. He worked to get me to understand the rules and expectations others have regarding behavior. I wasn't exactly open to being taught either. He was stubborn enough that I eventually did start learning from him and fixing my behavior. Unlike me, he thought about his path in the dream and what he wanted to accomplish. I just wanted a higher sphere and orbit with shiny new arts to practice and use."

"You mean you aren't that way now?" Heaven Alexis winked teasingly. "Huh I would have never guessed."

Silfia and Uthanatos chuckled. Kain grinned.

"My desire to grow stronger stems from my purpose that my mentor put me on the path of discovering with his stubborness. But, the last time I saw him was when I stopped dreaming for a long time. It was about the time a NightStalker started making Wishbringer into its toy. From there, I drifted through multiple eras but those are stories for another time. My mentor is the reason I'm no longer an insufferable ass."


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I wonder if Dreamr will look back on his first dream tonight and remember it fondly.
~A box jellyfish has no brain, but it has feelings and it has a soul~

~A merman who is in love with the ocean only thinks about water~
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