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<blockquote data-quote="Iron Chef BBQ" data-source="post: 2973129" data-attributes="member: 1844"><p><strong>Nightdreams or Nightmares (05-26-04)</strong></p><p></p><p>Marja’s Dream</p><p></p><p>The night after the visit from the three ladies, Marja has a hard time dropping off to sleep. Perhaps it was her near brush with death, or perhaps she senses that something waits for her in sleep, but she tosses and turns for hours, hearing voices on the edge of her consciousness.</p><p></p><p>Finally, she falls into a fitful daze...</p><p></p><p>And wakes to find she’s in the same cave of her dreams. She stands in the center of a great stone cavern, spotlighted in a shaft of light. She are suspended in mid-air, unable to move, slowly rotating counterclockwise.</p><p></p><p>All around her are eyes, scrutinizing, prying, curious and staring. They weigh her. They seem to find her wanting.</p><p></p><p>"We nearly lost it" hisses a voice.</p><p>"It is foolish. Too valuable to be lost" creaks another.</p><p>"Does it know yet what the One who Lays the Threads intends?" scrapes another, in a voice like rust.</p><p>"It has been shown. We brought the vision."</p><p></p><p>There is a long silence. The voices continue to whisper, but she cannot make out the words. They seem to be arguing.</p><p></p><p>"They were flawed. They did not learn what we had to teach. They deserved to be sundered." One voice breaks out of the pack.</p><p>"They could not work together in life. What makes you think It will have any more luck joining them after death?" drones a third, like a hive of angry bees.</p><p>"Still," hisses the first voice, "There is a danger. And we cannot act directly, lest the Children of the Sky discover us. This one is our instrument. See if it can learn better than the Children of Earth."</p><p></p><p>"Very well." says the rusty voice. From out of the darkness comes a man, or maybe a woman. The face is strangely androgynous and featureless. As if the person wearing it wasn't quite sure what a face should be and played it safe. But his shadow is that of a great winged beast. And his eyes are solid black.</p><p></p><p>"You will remember this Marja, Child of the Void, or you will never claim your heritage, and your world will die."</p><p></p><p>Remember that It seeks to join them together.</p><p></p><p>Burner, Bleeder, Mother of Snakes</p><p>Shaper, Eater, Father of Quakes</p><p>Disrupted One, and Untamed,</p><p>all feared and all unnamed,</p><p></p><p>Make eight legs for the Spider.</p><p>Its will is bent to find,</p><p>the Tear of the Lady, and</p><p>the Titans to bind.</p><p></p><p>She wakes up. Lucre is snoring. Some of the archers are standing watch. The air smells like ozone, and through her fingers crackles the faint blue ghost fire of electricity.</p><p></p><p>Marja sits up and starts to cry. She tries to remember the carefree, happy little girl she used to be a mere 30 odd years ago. A troubled adolescence filled with nightmares, drugs and poor choices should have been washed away with the quiet serenity of young adulthood. Instead death and destruction both helplessly witnessed by her own eyes and ruthlessly caused by her own hands have left her feeling old and weary.</p><p></p><p>Now, every night the dreams flood her sleep. Most nights in vague shadows, but some nights, like tonight, clearly. She was so tired, she was sure that she had really traveled to that cave and back again. They seemed so disappointed in her. Didn’t they realize that she no longer fought her visions, her destiny? Whatever her heritage she would embrace it. </p><p></p><p>Every day she could feel its power coursing through her veins. When she bled, she felt she could see it in her bright red blood. She meditated every morning talking with the tiny statue Borin had bought her. Whatever came, she would not say no.</p><p></p><p>But they seemed impatient. What did they want her to do, grow wings right out of her back? Every day she found more coppery strands replacing her shiny black tresses. Her skin, still soft and supple to the touch, was thicker, and tiny veins ran through it creating a faint scaling pattern. Soon she would be a marked woman. Like Lucre, she would be shunned as Titan spawn and feared by good people. People with Caerwyn’s religious fervor would hunt her for sport. She knew that was the fate of many of her kin. Still she was not afraid. Yet still they seemed impatient.</p><p></p><p>Marja gains control of her sobbing and nudges Borin. His beautiful elven face, soft in repose, takes on an oddly dwarfish scowl as he wakes. “I need to talk to you,” she whispers, and draws him away from the group. At the edge of the camp they find Kalina, sleeping near enough to the others to maintain safety, but far enough away to feel engulfed in the forest around her. She has a sad, pained look on her face that Marja knows is her soul mourning Fang. Marja and Borin slip past her into the woods. “I’ve had another dream,” she begins, “and I want to tell you before it disappears…”</p><p></p><p>“Marja, I too have had visions, and that is what I think these are. Not dreams, but visions. The night before I left on my vision quest, I had a dream…</p><p></p><p>Borin’s Dream</p><p></p><p>Morgaine is there, in my dream. She's sitting across a table in a bar. She's drinking a blood read drink, with a spider shaped swizzle stick. The spider keeps trying to crawl off the swizzle and bite her hand, but she's successfully keeping it at bay.</p><p></p><p>"Borin, I thought I could reach your mind. You've got very low defenses against this kind of thing." She looks concerned. She takes a sip of her drink and makes a face. </p><p></p><p>"I need to warn you about your mind. Form controls function. Always has. What you're shaped like shapes who you are."</p><p></p><p>I look at her in confusion, and find that it's Gemma sitting across from me. "I can't spend too much time in my mind, or I'll find myself. I'm a bit crazy, you know." She shrugs "I'll borrow some familiar minds, just so we can keep talking."</p><p></p><p>"You can't stay an elf," Kalina says urgently, her hawk beak dipping down to peck at the spider. She eats it whole, and a new spider grows from the top of the swizzle stick. Kel stirs the drink, and takes a gulp.</p><p></p><p>"If you stay an elf, your mind will become that of an elf." says Lucre.</p><p></p><p>Borin takes a long pause before continuing his dream</p><p></p><p>"You must seek the tear, Madriel's Tear, The tear of anger. She shed it for Goran, and only it can save the dwarves, and you." Morgaine is back again, but now she is wearing a stained white shift. Her hair is wild, and her face is covered with scratches. Her eyes are sunken and she looks utterly drained.</p><p></p><p>"...is looking for it." she whispers, but I do not hear the name.</p><p></p><p>The next day I left on my vision quest. While I was meditating in that cave, I had another dream.</p><p></p><p>In my dream, I’m in an endless set of tunnels, and they smell of death. As I walk, I begin to see the bodies of dead dwarves. They are piled everywhere. And fallen with them are the bodies of dark skinned elves. Their faces are all pulled into masks of hate and fear. Some have died with their hands around each others necks, like a lovers embrace gone terribly wrong.</p><p></p><p>I walk in the tunnels for hours, days maybe, I’m not sure. And everywhere there's death. Nothing moves but rats, maggots, and flies.</p><p></p><p>And then I come around a corner, and there is an enormous cavern. And in the center of the cavern is a large, pulsing red gem. The gem is cradled in the hairy forelegs of a giant spider. The spider croons to me in a scratchy, sibilant voice. </p><p></p><p>"Thank you. They are all dead, and you've helped"</p><p></p><p>Borin finishes: “Your dream seems to fit in with my vision. We must find the Lady's Tear that the dragon spoke of in your dream. My vision said it was needed to save the dwarves and myself. However, I think it goes beyond that. I think it may be needed to save our world. </p><p></p><p>“We should talk to Lucre about this. In fact, if we are to go after the Tear, we will need to share these visions with everyone. We will need their help. Caerwyn showed us trust in revealing a secret of the Church of Corean, we should show him trust and share our dreams.</p><p></p><p>“And Marja, remember that these outsiders in your dreams are just that: outsiders. They try to use you as a pawn. Don't let them. You are the master of your own life. Go along for the ride as it suits you. Where your purposes and theirs meet, only then should you allow their purposes to be fulfilled. Go at your own pace. Ignore their impatience.</p><p></p><p>“As for the others, the ones who would hunt you down, they will find that hunt much more deadly than they expect.”</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Iron Chef BBQ, post: 2973129, member: 1844"] [b]Nightdreams or Nightmares (05-26-04)[/b] Marja’s Dream The night after the visit from the three ladies, Marja has a hard time dropping off to sleep. Perhaps it was her near brush with death, or perhaps she senses that something waits for her in sleep, but she tosses and turns for hours, hearing voices on the edge of her consciousness. Finally, she falls into a fitful daze... And wakes to find she’s in the same cave of her dreams. She stands in the center of a great stone cavern, spotlighted in a shaft of light. She are suspended in mid-air, unable to move, slowly rotating counterclockwise. All around her are eyes, scrutinizing, prying, curious and staring. They weigh her. They seem to find her wanting. "We nearly lost it" hisses a voice. "It is foolish. Too valuable to be lost" creaks another. "Does it know yet what the One who Lays the Threads intends?" scrapes another, in a voice like rust. "It has been shown. We brought the vision." There is a long silence. The voices continue to whisper, but she cannot make out the words. They seem to be arguing. "They were flawed. They did not learn what we had to teach. They deserved to be sundered." One voice breaks out of the pack. "They could not work together in life. What makes you think It will have any more luck joining them after death?" drones a third, like a hive of angry bees. "Still," hisses the first voice, "There is a danger. And we cannot act directly, lest the Children of the Sky discover us. This one is our instrument. See if it can learn better than the Children of Earth." "Very well." says the rusty voice. From out of the darkness comes a man, or maybe a woman. The face is strangely androgynous and featureless. As if the person wearing it wasn't quite sure what a face should be and played it safe. But his shadow is that of a great winged beast. And his eyes are solid black. "You will remember this Marja, Child of the Void, or you will never claim your heritage, and your world will die." Remember that It seeks to join them together. Burner, Bleeder, Mother of Snakes Shaper, Eater, Father of Quakes Disrupted One, and Untamed, all feared and all unnamed, Make eight legs for the Spider. Its will is bent to find, the Tear of the Lady, and the Titans to bind. She wakes up. Lucre is snoring. Some of the archers are standing watch. The air smells like ozone, and through her fingers crackles the faint blue ghost fire of electricity. Marja sits up and starts to cry. She tries to remember the carefree, happy little girl she used to be a mere 30 odd years ago. A troubled adolescence filled with nightmares, drugs and poor choices should have been washed away with the quiet serenity of young adulthood. Instead death and destruction both helplessly witnessed by her own eyes and ruthlessly caused by her own hands have left her feeling old and weary. Now, every night the dreams flood her sleep. Most nights in vague shadows, but some nights, like tonight, clearly. She was so tired, she was sure that she had really traveled to that cave and back again. They seemed so disappointed in her. Didn’t they realize that she no longer fought her visions, her destiny? Whatever her heritage she would embrace it. Every day she could feel its power coursing through her veins. When she bled, she felt she could see it in her bright red blood. She meditated every morning talking with the tiny statue Borin had bought her. Whatever came, she would not say no. But they seemed impatient. What did they want her to do, grow wings right out of her back? Every day she found more coppery strands replacing her shiny black tresses. Her skin, still soft and supple to the touch, was thicker, and tiny veins ran through it creating a faint scaling pattern. Soon she would be a marked woman. Like Lucre, she would be shunned as Titan spawn and feared by good people. People with Caerwyn’s religious fervor would hunt her for sport. She knew that was the fate of many of her kin. Still she was not afraid. Yet still they seemed impatient. Marja gains control of her sobbing and nudges Borin. His beautiful elven face, soft in repose, takes on an oddly dwarfish scowl as he wakes. “I need to talk to you,” she whispers, and draws him away from the group. At the edge of the camp they find Kalina, sleeping near enough to the others to maintain safety, but far enough away to feel engulfed in the forest around her. She has a sad, pained look on her face that Marja knows is her soul mourning Fang. Marja and Borin slip past her into the woods. “I’ve had another dream,” she begins, “and I want to tell you before it disappears…” “Marja, I too have had visions, and that is what I think these are. Not dreams, but visions. The night before I left on my vision quest, I had a dream… Borin’s Dream Morgaine is there, in my dream. She's sitting across a table in a bar. She's drinking a blood read drink, with a spider shaped swizzle stick. The spider keeps trying to crawl off the swizzle and bite her hand, but she's successfully keeping it at bay. "Borin, I thought I could reach your mind. You've got very low defenses against this kind of thing." She looks concerned. She takes a sip of her drink and makes a face. "I need to warn you about your mind. Form controls function. Always has. What you're shaped like shapes who you are." I look at her in confusion, and find that it's Gemma sitting across from me. "I can't spend too much time in my mind, or I'll find myself. I'm a bit crazy, you know." She shrugs "I'll borrow some familiar minds, just so we can keep talking." "You can't stay an elf," Kalina says urgently, her hawk beak dipping down to peck at the spider. She eats it whole, and a new spider grows from the top of the swizzle stick. Kel stirs the drink, and takes a gulp. "If you stay an elf, your mind will become that of an elf." says Lucre. Borin takes a long pause before continuing his dream "You must seek the tear, Madriel's Tear, The tear of anger. She shed it for Goran, and only it can save the dwarves, and you." Morgaine is back again, but now she is wearing a stained white shift. Her hair is wild, and her face is covered with scratches. Her eyes are sunken and she looks utterly drained. "...is looking for it." she whispers, but I do not hear the name. The next day I left on my vision quest. While I was meditating in that cave, I had another dream. In my dream, I’m in an endless set of tunnels, and they smell of death. As I walk, I begin to see the bodies of dead dwarves. They are piled everywhere. And fallen with them are the bodies of dark skinned elves. Their faces are all pulled into masks of hate and fear. Some have died with their hands around each others necks, like a lovers embrace gone terribly wrong. I walk in the tunnels for hours, days maybe, I’m not sure. And everywhere there's death. Nothing moves but rats, maggots, and flies. And then I come around a corner, and there is an enormous cavern. And in the center of the cavern is a large, pulsing red gem. The gem is cradled in the hairy forelegs of a giant spider. The spider croons to me in a scratchy, sibilant voice. "Thank you. They are all dead, and you've helped" Borin finishes: “Your dream seems to fit in with my vision. We must find the Lady's Tear that the dragon spoke of in your dream. My vision said it was needed to save the dwarves and myself. However, I think it goes beyond that. I think it may be needed to save our world. “We should talk to Lucre about this. In fact, if we are to go after the Tear, we will need to share these visions with everyone. We will need their help. Caerwyn showed us trust in revealing a secret of the Church of Corean, we should show him trust and share our dreams. “And Marja, remember that these outsiders in your dreams are just that: outsiders. They try to use you as a pawn. Don't let them. You are the master of your own life. Go along for the ride as it suits you. Where your purposes and theirs meet, only then should you allow their purposes to be fulfilled. Go at your own pace. Ignore their impatience. “As for the others, the ones who would hunt you down, they will find that hunt much more deadly than they expect.” [/QUOTE]
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