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?))]


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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

[ubuntu_programmer]

If games were going to be frustrating, this... would not be less so.

"It was far too tame. Given the cast we had, Rent was clearly the superior choice. We had someone perfect for Maureen. And Mimi. I wanted to be either Joanne or Mark, frankly. But no, apparently we were going to do Romeo And Juliet. As if it wasn't the most over played, excuse the word choice there...." They shook their head. "Look. If we were going Shakespeare, why not Midsummer? Or Tempest? But we had a group with perfect pitch and strong voices. Rent would have been perfect. I mean, I get the school was never going to green light Rocky Horror or Something Rotten, which is a shame. But Rent... We should have done Rent."

[mist_the_point]

Unsurprisingly, he'd never heard of any of those plays. But the sentiment Ian expressed he very much understood, and nodded. "In my experience, an overabundance of caution rarely profits anyone," he said. "And I expect that that's as true on the stage as it is on the battlefield. Fortune tends to favor the bold; you were right to object."

"Though one wonders how you you would find the latest production I've heard tell of, Zodiac Brave Story. I've not seen it myself, but from what I've heard both the story and those performing it are quite good. It tells the story of the mythical kingdom of Ivalice, and the rise of its king, Delita, to the throne."

[ubuntu_programmer]

"I haven't heard of it, but I'd give it a chance. I know it is a bit of a stereotype, being a theater geek, but there we are."

[mist_the_point]

Foulques gave an amused smirk for a moment before it shifted to a more thoughtful expression. "Tis strange to think that I shall never get the chance to see it for myself now," he said. "Or that I shall never again truly stand beneath the boughs of a sky pillar, enjoy a cup of mead at Buscarron's Druthers, or any of a thousand-thousand other things that can only be done in Eorzea. But there is less sorrow in the thought than there perhaps should be. My home it may have been, but it gave me little reason to love it."

[ubuntu_programmer]

"You.... you think we're fully trapped here then?" they asked, paling a bit.

[mist_the_point]

"In this world of shades? No," he said. "The world I have been brought to is far too fond of such illusions for my liking, but they have always faded in time. But even should all others who have been transported to this new star be returned from whence they came, I cannot. Naught but death awaits me should I return to Hydelyn and Eorzea."

[ubuntu_programmer]

"Naught but.... you're... on death row or something?"

[mist_the_point]

"Nay," he said. "But I had just fallen from a cliff. Had I not been plucked out of the air by this place's magic, I would now be lying dead and unmourned at its base, my body food for wild beasts. Though my current state of affairs is hardly pleasant, the mere fact that I live to experience it makes it preferable to the alternative."

[ubuntu_programmer]

"Well... that's bleak..." Wow, and they thought Ben had it rough. Or... were they finding this out so that Ben could... ow. Who knew you could have a headache in a dream. Still, something to watch for when they got home.

[mist_the_point]

"Indeed," he said dryly. "Though I had more than earned such an ignominious fate." He frowned thoughtfully. "I wonder what it was that moved the gods to spare me, if indeed it was their doing. Tis a strange turn of the Spinner's wheel, that much is certain."

[ubuntu_programmer]

"Well.. sometimes Karma gives you a second chance to fix things. Or maybe this is how you repay the world for whatever you think you did to earn that fate... by doing good for others now?"

[mist_the_point]

"Perhaps," he said. "Though that would still leave the question of why I was chosen. I'm hardly the only fallen soul in need of redemption, nor the one most likely to achieve it. I cannot even say that I'm especially sorry for what I did, for all I know them now to be the actions of a mad fool. Surely there would have been many a better candidate."

[ubuntu_programmer]

"Sometimes we don't get to choose. Sometimes we didn't do anything special to earn our second chances. Having Ben as a best friend has shown me that. Especially watching him help other people. People who also wondered why they suddenly were getting help they thought other people deserved more. Karma, fate, the program, the worlds, whatever you want to call it... sometimes it isn't fair. For us or against us. The best we can do... is to do our best. And if you want a better speech than that, I's sorry, but you're really going to need Ben."