Once upon a dream... (4th Wall Event/TDM Combo platter)

[missrecalled_mods]

[((OOC note: This fourth wall is open to any character who would be game legal. If a character who posted here reserves or apps in September, these threads can be considered game canon as long as all involved agree. If a character doesn't app, for those in game already... wow that was a weird dream. Wait, what did you dream about again?))]


*****************************************************

For Jordan, still comatose after the magical mishap that had resulted in the first Misrecalled being summoned, it began with a dream. A dream so strong, that it had her stirring fitfully even in her current state; and eventually caused her to release an uncontrolled burst of magic.

For everyone else, unaware of what was coming, it began with falling asleep. Whether or not someone was tired before hand, whether they even could sleep, they simply fell asleep - or a reasonable facsimile - wherever they happened to be. Maybe they remembered falling asleep, maybe they didn't. But either way they suddenly found themselves in... a very strange place.

First all there was that they could see was a vast featureless plain in shining gold and silken draperies. But that was only a glimpse, for just by existing in this space, each dreamer warps it. Changes it. Not all at once, but bits, constantly changing between them and whomever they encounter. Each person brings with them bits of three places... where they had been last, a familiar place from memory, and whatever place they call home. But this is constantly changing and shifting, more so the more dreamers are present in any space. Before long, Bits of different landscapes, different environments, even different weather conditions will cover the landscape like some crazy patchwork quilt. Here a bit of a sunny, idyllic garden, there a section of shadowy, graffiti covered slum. To one side, a chunk of charming cobblestone streets under sunset tinged skies, to the other, a forest of towering trees, some of which seem to be moving. And glimpsed through the gaps between some of the odd terrain sections, some remainder of the poorly defined golden space, hung with colorful draperies could still be seen.

And the ground itself was not immune to the changes. While the ground on which they stood might seem stable enough, if someone walked more than a few paces in any direction, that could change. Solid ground could become shifting sand. Or water. Or a wall might suddenly appear to block their path. Doors might lead to places they definitely shouldn't or open to the edge of a sheer cliff. And if the complete lack of logic to the landscape wasn't enough of an indication that this was some sort of dream, then the unreadable signs would clinch it. Because any signs - or indeed, anything with writing on it that they didn't have on their person when they arrived - was covered with nothing but unreadable gibberish.

And it got even more surreal when a dreamer spotted anyone else in the dreamspace, or even looked at their own reflection - for each person appears in the dream in whatever way they see themselves. So someone with low self confidence might be short, someone with a huge ego might tower. If someone sees themselves as a horrible criminal who needs to repent, they might be in prison togs. If the change is dramatic enough people who know each other well might still fail to recognize each other within the dreaming.

Now normally such a bizarre dream might have been put down to stress, a meal that disagreed with them, or maybe indulging in some sort of illicit substance, but this clearly was no ordinary dream, if for no other reason than that in this dream, they weren't alone. The other people they encounter are not just figments of their imagination, and they too change the shared dream space.

Those already either on the Isle or in the kingdom of Auradon proper would find themselves all thrown together in the bizarre dreamworld. And that would have been strange enough. But more than the current populations of Auradon and the Isle could be found in this place. Maybe the faces where familiar. Maybe they weren't. But they definitely hadn't turned up in the physical world that was home to Ben and Mal. Yet anyway.

Given the extremely variable geography, exploring the area might be dangerous. At least as dangerous as anything in a dream could be. But investigating might help them find a way back to the physical world faster, for those who realize they are dreaming. Or they could just stand around and talk or complain about the latest bit of magical weirdness to happen to them and hope they woke up soon. Or they could go with it and enjoy the weird. It was their dream, after all. They could pretty much do what they liked. Or at least try to. Either way, they seemed stuck there for the present, for better or worse.

Comments

[not_42]

'Get into trouble with whom?', Hermes wondered, but didn't say aloud as he'd already pointed out that there was no one around. Perhaps the young woman was unaware that they were in a dreamspace? "Thank you," he said instead.

He'd seen nowhere to sit down when he looked around, so considered this an opportunity to test whether or not creation magic functioned in the dreamspace. A gesture off to his side and a chair appeared next to him, seat at the perfect height to allow him to sit at the counter. He sat down and watched as she went about making the tea. "May I have your name, at the least?", he said pleasantly, giving a polite nod as he introduced himself. "I am Hermes, Chief Overseer of Elpis."

[not_42]

Hermes would have asked about the ship's engine- devices weren't his field of expertise at all, but it would likely still be interesting-, but the being flickering like that was... mildly alarming. "Are you alright, Rren?", he asked. "Your form seems a bit... unstable, even by the standards of a dreamspace."

[logic_in_unity]

Skisan considered this a while. That the stranger had customized his appearance did not seem to surprise him at all. "That does not change the fact that we are both unfamiliar with each other. I have seen any number of life forms, but not one that can achieve customizations of the sort you have. It also seems to me that you have no familiarity with my own species, Vulcans."

He didn't focus overmuch on watching what the stranger was doing, but on how he reacted to those words. It had not escaped his attention that he had been initially wary and then calmed down after taking in something about Skisan. He had become increasingly convinced this had to do with appearance more than demeanor. Though he did keep his calm and still.

[jedi_scrapper]

Cal looked up the clock tower, and then to the stranger. "Huh. How good are you at controlling dreams? If you can do that, I think you could get up there just by wanting to." If he wasn't or got distracted, who knew where they'd end up, but Cal was too busy enabling the choice to throw in anything like caution. "And besides, this is a dream, so hey, why not try it?"

[phoenixwiz]

“Oh gee thanks, I’m pretty glad that I was able to avoid what Auradon initially looked like. I would have honestly hated how eerily perfect everything within the kingdom is, it would have reminded me of an office of somebody I didn’t like back home.”

Harry hates to imagine what pre-Misrecalled Auradon is like in his head: too squeaky clean for anyone’s taste.

[cheep_soongbird_knockoff]

"Huh?" Oh. They hadn't considered it yet, but yeah, this being a dream made a lot of sense.

"I am fine. It is, ah, hmm for most of my life, my body was a projection?" They shifted to light and code and then reappeared sitting on a console and resting a hand on it. "I suppose you could say this was my actual form and it still is very much part of me." They shrugged then, a grin coming to their face naturally that they felt no need to hide for once.

[motherofresistance]

She guessed they didn't mean her Ben, or he wouldn't have been nearly this excited. "That depends on what the bet was about," Leia said, "but if it's something I can settle, I'm willing to. What did you want to know?"

[motherofresistance]

"This is closer to the traditional sort of dream, not how Nautilus used the term," Leia explained. "Or rather, it's a number of people's dreams that have been linked together somehow. How, I'm not entirely certain, though I whatever force is behind it doesn't feel malicious at least."

[motherofresistance]

"Well it does help if those hands are reasonably well coordinated," Leia said. "Though that doesn't make for quite as memorable of a saying. And you're quite welcome."

"Anyway, now that you're out of there, we should probably introduce ourselves. My name is Leia Organa." She gave a polite nod of greeting. "How about you three?"

[motherofresistance]

"By which you mean it hasn't happened to you before now," Leia said. "Just because something is outside your experience doesn't mean it's impossible. And I believe there were some vids depicting a fictionalized account of parts of my life called Star Wars. While I've never seen them personally and thus can't vouch for their accuracy, I'm reasonably certain they at least got my name right. It's Leia Organa; I'm a human, not an herb."

[motherofresistance]

Leia smiled at the man, amused. Yes, she'd heard all of that, and seen the shift in appearance to boot. "Yes she is," she said. "I've become quite fond of her over the years; she's saved my life more than once."

[goldfishmind]

"You're not from the Isle?" The small boy asked, his face a look of surprised shock. "I'm sorry you had to stumble onto my personal nightmare then. I'd offer you a beignet, but even assuming we could get to it, I'm sure it would taste of rubbish at best if my experience here is any indication."

[mist_the_point]

He waved off the notion of an explanation. "There's no need to make the attempt," he said. "It would likely be naught but an exercise in frustration for us both, and anything I did grasp would likely be of as little use to me as would knowledge of the Twleveswood to you. Interesting, perhaps, but irrelevant."

Instead, he changed the subject. "What was it that you found objectionable about the director's choice of production?", he asked. While he was hardly someone who frequented plays and similar productions. it was at least a subject that he would likely understand.

[mist_the_point]

Said 'bird thing' screeched in pain as the lightsaber sliced into it, leaving a long gash in its side and an unpleasant scent of charred flesh and feathers behind. But the Ziz wasn't dead, and its throat pouch expanded, as it spewed a cloud of toxic-looking purple mist in her direction. The other Ziz, meanwhile, came at her from the side, attempting to bite her non-lightaber holding arm, and the two injured but still very much alive treants closed in behind her, branch arms raised to strike.

[mist_the_point]

He considered a moment. "I've never attempted the latter, though I wouldn't be averse to doing so," he said. "As to the former, I do not play an instrument, though I've been told that I can sing reasonably well. The difficulty would be in finding a song that the both of us were at least somewhat familiar with."

[elvendryad]

"Is that the name?" He shook his head, making his right arm close again around that shiny shape, and looked back up to Skisan again. "We're the same. We're kin. I changed. I'm... like them now. I remember that much." A gesture toward the trees close behind him, and then a slight pause, and he looked more confused, turning to look at them more directly. "...Aren't I? I'm...."

He was still trying to figure this out, but he seemed pretty certain that, somehow, the two of them were somehow alike. The idea that they weren't looked like one he was simply not entertaining seriously; whatever his understanding of this all was, it seemed quite different from the Vulcan's.

"I know I look different. But I'm not." He looked to him again, back to trying to explain, as though Skisan were the one who was confused here, of the two of them. "We're...." A pause again, struggling to figure out how to articulate whatever idea it was he had... but he still wasn't getting anywhere with it.

And then he seemed to think of something else, expression changing a little as it dawned on him. "...Trees can share...." Another brief glance back at the trees and then back to him, and then Skisan would be able to detect what this tree-person was trying to do: share the thought through what seemed to be his own less-developed telepathy. It was very inexpertly done, but it was an attempt anyway, and if the Vulcan wanted to try focusing on it to take it from him, he might be able to make it out....

[gregorydeegan]

Well then... He moved to another song to lure out whoever his audience was. Sword of Centuries! A loud song that he always ended up flying by the end of. Look it was in the lyrics, so he did it.

[kaylinneya]

"Oh happinesses, they're kids aren't they?" she grumbled, but her tone softened. She glanced at the small glass dragon. "Think those are safe to eat?"

His squawk didn't need words to convey you are a moron.

The Hawk glared but inched forward and very carefully took one berry. Look, this was apparently a child and at the moment she lacked the hands and arms needed to lift him - she was going with him until she had reason to think otherwise because a child was never an it to Kaylin - and throw him in the air till he tired of the game. But ocean wall it, she wished she...

Nope. No more wishing. For all she knew that was how the actually happinesses she had gotten into this mess.

The small dragon batted her upside the hawky head with a wing.

"HOPE!" she snapped. "Quit it!"

[mal_contented]

Oh she was absolutely going to try to circle in front of the fleeing figure. Usually people running from her had good reason, and usually that reason was exactly why she needed to find and stop them.

She wouldn't allow anything to hurt Auradon, and whatever was going on here could still be a threat.

[mal_contented]

"Probably some of the magic that's been messing us up this whole time. Guessing you're on the Isle then? You don't look like any of the villains I know, but the chains are kind of a dead give away." She dangled the cuffs she'd lifted.

[gregorydeegan]

"I'm a white mage. Last I checked my powers don't extend to setting people who have been arrested free. I can fly, I can heal. I could make you laugh and want to adopt puppies, if you want." He shrugged. Then grinned. "But if you're not a good enough musician to sing without accompaniment..." An edge of teasing. Clearly someone has siblings, given his tone.

[nobodys_puppet]

Oh if only he could see her expression rather than the glassy broken mirror. She was so confused by him. She did try to take a step back though, as a test.

[professorsong]

"Most of the time one. Two on one of my brithdays though."

[nobodys_puppet]

"Is... is it because I'm broken?" she whispered. "Did I break something to make this happen?" she hunched in on herself as the area around her became a swirl of dark corridors and blue-grey floors and walls.

[professorsong]

"Now I think I want to suggest chatting with a black hole to see my husband's reaction." A moment. "Strike that, I'd be teasing, he'd actually try. Then I might have to shoot something he'd regret just to stop him..." You could almost hear the grin at the end of that.

And then teasingly. "What would your guess be?"