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Dreams of Erthe
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<blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 9233138" data-attributes="member: 508"><p><strong>INTERLUDE: DREAM INQUIRIES</strong></p><p></p><p>PC Roster: </p><p style="margin-left: 20px">Alewyth Putterpye, dwarf priestess of Aerik 14</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Thurloe Pulver, human fighter 3/wizard 3/spellsword 8</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Wakuren, half-orc cleric of Cal 7/paladin 7</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Xandro Silverstrings, human bard 6/rogue 8</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Zander Quilson, elf sorcerer 14</p><p></p><p>Game Session Date: 1 January 2024</p><p></p><p> - - -</p><p></p><p>When the five dreamwalkers fell asleep and their dream-bodies formed in the Dreamlands, their individual moogle guides escorted them to a familiar door in the Corridor of Dreams: that of Chrysos Arkaurum's study.</p><p></p><p>"I am informed you have two avenues of research you seek to explore here in the Dreamlands," the gold dragon, currently in his alternate form of an elven scholar, said. "We have had the moogles perform some initial investigations and I think we have made some progress on both fronts."</p><p></p><p>"I can take you to the dreams of people who might have the information you seek, kupo!" replied Mogo. "Which question did you want answers to first, kupo?"</p><p></p><p>The five talked it out among themselves before Wakuren answered, "Let's see what we can find out about the 'deathborn.'"</p><p></p><p>"<strong>Biskabileon</strong> has been dreaming about what you've talked about, concerning gnomes bleeding from their faces, kupo," Mogo explained as he led the group to a specific door in the Corridor of Dreams. "He's a hermit who lives up in the mountains all alone, kupo," the moogle added.</p><p></p><p>Entering the hermit's dreams, the five dreamwalkers saw a gnome with a long, white beard standing among a group of about a dozen other gnomes. They stood in a forest clearing, and a squirrel came scrambling up to them, chattering nervously, "Strangers approach!"</p><p></p><p>Almost immediately, there was the sound of the pounding of hooves as a dozen mounted men arrived on warhorses. Ten of the men were human, wearing heavy plate mail armor and carrying lances, shields, and longswords. The other two were forest elves, dressed in hide armor and wielding longbows, and seemed to be serving as guides.</p><p></p><p>"Good gnomes," called out the leader, a man whose shield bore a familiar symbol: the royal crest of the Devlin family. "We have heard rumors of a dragon having been sighted in these parts. Do you know of the whereabouts of his lair?"</p><p></p><p>Before any of the gnomes could answer, they started to cough and choke. The white-bearded gnome looked about in puzzlement as his fellow gnomes start bleeding from their eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. Within half a minute, they had fallen lifelessly to the forest floor. The sole remaining gnome - apparently Biskabileon - looked up at the intruders with an expression of fear. They in turn looked down at the dead gnomes with looks of puzzlement and then at each other to make sure none of them were likewise bleeding from their faces. But when they looked back to Biskabileon, he was gone – having turned himself invisible and rapidly running off through the trees.</p><p></p><p>But Zander Quilson had seen the gnome disappear and had quickly activated his <em>scout goggles</em>, activating enough energy into the device to allow him to see invisible creatures. "This way!" he called, running away from the men on horses. Xandro and Wakuren followed, while Alewyth and Thurloe remained behind to question the men.</p><p></p><p>"Did you have anything to do with the deaths of these gnomes?" asked Alewyth. "I can't help but notice they all died upon your arrival."</p><p></p><p>"An arrival coinciding with your own," pointed out one of the knights.</p><p></p><p>"Why are you looking for a dragon?" interceded Thurloe, seeing this line of questioning would get them nowhere and hoping to redirect the conversation into more profitable areas.</p><p></p><p>"Dragons are a scourge about the land!" replied <strong>Garvethon Devlin</strong>, who if Thurloe's memories of his childhood history lessons were correct was the first in the line of the Devlin emperors of Armaturia. If that were indeed the case, that would put the events in this dream about a thousand years ago - about the same time the surface gnomes apparently died out on Armaturia.</p><p></p><p>Zander caught up to the fleeing Biskabileon - whose robes weren't particularly conducive to high-speed flight - and dropped a hand on the little gnome's shoulder. "We just wish to talk," he assured the gnome.</p><p></p><p>"And we know of your true form," Wakuren said. At that, Biskabileon's eyes grew wide and his eyebrows raised up behind the white hair hanging in his face, although the elf was the only one able to see them do so. "We seek to learn what caused the bleeding sickness that slew the gnomes you were with."</p><p></p><p>Biskabileon reverted to visibility and looked about him. "This...is just a dream," he surmised. He looked over at the three men standing before you. "I do not recall having seen any of you before," he accused.</p><p></p><p>"We are dreamwalkers," Xandro explained. "We have come to see what you can tell us about the 'deathborn.'"</p><p></p><p>"I am unfamiliar with the term," the little gnome - in reality, a silver dragon who had taken on a gnome form as his humanoid shape - admitted. "That was the only time I saw the disease occur in real time before me. But I went to other nearby gnome villages to warn them...and I was already too late. Everywhere I went, the gnomes had already perished."</p><p></p><p>"And it didn't affect you because you aren't really a gnome," Wakuren persisted.</p><p></p><p>"That has always been my assumption."</p><p></p><p>"But is it a disease? Or is it a curse?" asked Xandro. "Or both?"</p><p></p><p>"I cannot say. But the event has scarred me. Even now, these many years later, I always dream of the event, every time I begin to sleep...." He shook his head, as if trying to clear it of the image of his dying friends. "I live alone now, in the mountains, a simple hermit - spending my hours pondering the brief lives of the humanoid races."</p><p></p><p>"I didn't see any of the elves or humans making any spellcasting gestures," pointed out Zander. "And they seemed as surprised at the event as Biskabileon here."</p><p></p><p>"I must admit I was not looking at them," the gnome replied. "My attention was focused on my friends."</p><p></p><p>"Well, thank you, Biskabileon," said Wakuren. "You have been most helpful." The gnome simply nodded and turned away. Then, casting off his humanoid form, he resumed the form of a sleek, silver dragon and took to the skies.</p><p></p><p>"Was he, though? Helpful, I mean?" asked Xandro. "We don't really know anything more than we did before."</p><p></p><p>"We have another data point," Wakuren countered. "We've now seen three events with this 'deathborn' disease: the archaeological dig of the gnomish village; running into the svirfneblin girl in the Underdark; and now Biskabileon's encounter with the dragon hunters. In each case, there was one of more humans present: the 'round-eared elf' in the village; you and Thurloe" - and here the half-orc indicated Xandro - "and those ten men with the elven scouts."</p><p></p><p>"So you think humans are infected with some kind of gnome-killing disease?" asked Xandro.</p><p></p><p>"It's a possibility," Wakuren admitted. "Come on - let's go meet up with the others and check out that other dream. Maybe we'll have more luck learning about the Forbidden Lands."</p><p></p><p>But Mogo quickly deflated his hopes on that front. "We haven't found out a whole lot about the Forbidden Lands, kupo," admitted the moogle guide as he led his five students to the next door in the Corridor of Dreams. "But here's a dream from a drow woman on the continent of Talonia, kupo." He opened the door and stepped inside, indicating for his dreamwalking pupils to follow.</p><p></p><p>In the dreamscape, a drow woman knelt alone in the moonlight, wearing nothing but a flower in her white hair. Her arms were raised in supplication towards the moon and she seemed to be silently praying.</p><p></p><p>"Nice," observed Thurloe, checking out the nude woman. His comment earned him an elbow in the ribs from Alewyth. Fortunately, none of the dreamwalkers had taken any actions to allow the dreamer to see them yet - they were still just silent observers as her dream unfolded.</p><p></p><p>Suddenly, there came the sound of the flapping of leathery wings and a man stepped forward out of the darkness. He was a handsome male drow, dressed in clothing that wouldn't be out of the ordinary at a gathering of nobles in Armaturia.</p><p></p><p>"You have come!" the woman sighed in delight.</p><p></p><p>"I have come," agreed the man, smiling. "And you are here, waiting for me, as promised."</p><p></p><p>"I will always be here for you, My Lord," the woman replied. "For as long as you desire."</p><p></p><p>"Yes," the man agreed. "You have shown an admirable loyalty these many years. Perhaps one day, you too shall be chosen, and I can escort you into the Forbidden Lands, by my side." The woman's expression changed to one of incredulous desire, and the look did not change when the man pierced her neck with his gleaming fangs and drank his fill of her blood.</p><p></p><p>"Hey!" called Alewyth, her hand straying to her holy symbol. But Thurloe pushed it aside with his hand. "This is just a dream, remember," he advised. "Killing that vampire in her dream isn't going to do a thing to the real vampire out there in Talonia." Sighing in irritation - at her inability to save the drow woman and the fact that Thurloe was right - she sulked as the vampire sated his thirst and then stepped back into the shadows to fly away in bat form.</p><p></p><p>After his departure, Alewyth couldn't wait any longer. Stepping fully into the woman's dream, she approached her. The woman still had a dreamy look in her eyes, which only made the dwarf priestess scowl all the harder. "Does he come to you often?" she demanded.</p><p></p><p>"Weekly," the drow admitted. "My Lord knows not to take too much at once. He cares deeply for me." She sighed. "One day, I hope we will be wed."</p><p></p><p>"He mentioned the Forbidden Lands," Alewyth pushed. "Do you know where they are?"</p><p></p><p>"No," admitted the drow. "But they can be no farther than half a day from here, for My Lord to make it back to safety before the sun rises."</p><p></p><p>"Makes sense," admitted Thurloe. "So where exactly are we?"</p><p></p><p>The drow woman looked at him as if he were a simpleton. "In the city of Spiraclast, of course," she told him.</p><p></p><p>"And where is Spiraclast?" asked Xandro.</p><p></p><p>"Spiraclast is...the city. I have never been outside its confines."</p><p></p><p>"Well, you're just a bundle of information," scoffed Thurloe. He looked at the others. "This is pointless."</p><p></p><p>"Well, we do have a city name that's not too far from the Forbidden Lands," Zander pointed out. "We can ask about it when we get to Talonia."</p><p></p><p>"And we know the Forbidden Lands has at least one vampire lord in it," Wakuren added.</p><p></p><p>"Great," scoffed Thurloe. "My luck, the place is lousy with vampires and we'll have to kill Mistress Jandoval all over again before we lug her body back home."</p><p></p><p>Alewyth just shook her head. "You really are something, sometimes," she said.</p><p></p><p>"Baby, I'm something <em>all</em> the time!" the spellsword replied proudly.</p><p></p><p> - - -</p><p></p><p>T-shirt worn: My shark T-shirt, not because it had anything to do with these two dream sequences, but because the adventure that followed immediately took place underwater (and had a few sharks as random encounters).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Richards, post: 9233138, member: 508"] [B]INTERLUDE: DREAM INQUIRIES[/B] PC Roster: [INDENT]Alewyth Putterpye, dwarf priestess of Aerik 14[/INDENT] [INDENT] Thurloe Pulver, human fighter 3/wizard 3/spellsword 8[/INDENT] [INDENT] Wakuren, half-orc cleric of Cal 7/paladin 7[/INDENT] [INDENT] Xandro Silverstrings, human bard 6/rogue 8[/INDENT] [INDENT] Zander Quilson, elf sorcerer 14[/INDENT] Game Session Date: 1 January 2024 - - - When the five dreamwalkers fell asleep and their dream-bodies formed in the Dreamlands, their individual moogle guides escorted them to a familiar door in the Corridor of Dreams: that of Chrysos Arkaurum's study. "I am informed you have two avenues of research you seek to explore here in the Dreamlands," the gold dragon, currently in his alternate form of an elven scholar, said. "We have had the moogles perform some initial investigations and I think we have made some progress on both fronts." "I can take you to the dreams of people who might have the information you seek, kupo!" replied Mogo. "Which question did you want answers to first, kupo?" The five talked it out among themselves before Wakuren answered, "Let's see what we can find out about the 'deathborn.'" "[B]Biskabileon[/B] has been dreaming about what you've talked about, concerning gnomes bleeding from their faces, kupo," Mogo explained as he led the group to a specific door in the Corridor of Dreams. "He's a hermit who lives up in the mountains all alone, kupo," the moogle added. Entering the hermit's dreams, the five dreamwalkers saw a gnome with a long, white beard standing among a group of about a dozen other gnomes. They stood in a forest clearing, and a squirrel came scrambling up to them, chattering nervously, "Strangers approach!" Almost immediately, there was the sound of the pounding of hooves as a dozen mounted men arrived on warhorses. Ten of the men were human, wearing heavy plate mail armor and carrying lances, shields, and longswords. The other two were forest elves, dressed in hide armor and wielding longbows, and seemed to be serving as guides. "Good gnomes," called out the leader, a man whose shield bore a familiar symbol: the royal crest of the Devlin family. "We have heard rumors of a dragon having been sighted in these parts. Do you know of the whereabouts of his lair?" Before any of the gnomes could answer, they started to cough and choke. The white-bearded gnome looked about in puzzlement as his fellow gnomes start bleeding from their eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. Within half a minute, they had fallen lifelessly to the forest floor. The sole remaining gnome - apparently Biskabileon - looked up at the intruders with an expression of fear. They in turn looked down at the dead gnomes with looks of puzzlement and then at each other to make sure none of them were likewise bleeding from their faces. But when they looked back to Biskabileon, he was gone – having turned himself invisible and rapidly running off through the trees. But Zander Quilson had seen the gnome disappear and had quickly activated his [I]scout goggles[/I], activating enough energy into the device to allow him to see invisible creatures. "This way!" he called, running away from the men on horses. Xandro and Wakuren followed, while Alewyth and Thurloe remained behind to question the men. "Did you have anything to do with the deaths of these gnomes?" asked Alewyth. "I can't help but notice they all died upon your arrival." "An arrival coinciding with your own," pointed out one of the knights. "Why are you looking for a dragon?" interceded Thurloe, seeing this line of questioning would get them nowhere and hoping to redirect the conversation into more profitable areas. "Dragons are a scourge about the land!" replied [B]Garvethon Devlin[/B], who if Thurloe's memories of his childhood history lessons were correct was the first in the line of the Devlin emperors of Armaturia. If that were indeed the case, that would put the events in this dream about a thousand years ago - about the same time the surface gnomes apparently died out on Armaturia. Zander caught up to the fleeing Biskabileon - whose robes weren't particularly conducive to high-speed flight - and dropped a hand on the little gnome's shoulder. "We just wish to talk," he assured the gnome. "And we know of your true form," Wakuren said. At that, Biskabileon's eyes grew wide and his eyebrows raised up behind the white hair hanging in his face, although the elf was the only one able to see them do so. "We seek to learn what caused the bleeding sickness that slew the gnomes you were with." Biskabileon reverted to visibility and looked about him. "This...is just a dream," he surmised. He looked over at the three men standing before you. "I do not recall having seen any of you before," he accused. "We are dreamwalkers," Xandro explained. "We have come to see what you can tell us about the 'deathborn.'" "I am unfamiliar with the term," the little gnome - in reality, a silver dragon who had taken on a gnome form as his humanoid shape - admitted. "That was the only time I saw the disease occur in real time before me. But I went to other nearby gnome villages to warn them...and I was already too late. Everywhere I went, the gnomes had already perished." "And it didn't affect you because you aren't really a gnome," Wakuren persisted. "That has always been my assumption." "But is it a disease? Or is it a curse?" asked Xandro. "Or both?" "I cannot say. But the event has scarred me. Even now, these many years later, I always dream of the event, every time I begin to sleep...." He shook his head, as if trying to clear it of the image of his dying friends. "I live alone now, in the mountains, a simple hermit - spending my hours pondering the brief lives of the humanoid races." "I didn't see any of the elves or humans making any spellcasting gestures," pointed out Zander. "And they seemed as surprised at the event as Biskabileon here." "I must admit I was not looking at them," the gnome replied. "My attention was focused on my friends." "Well, thank you, Biskabileon," said Wakuren. "You have been most helpful." The gnome simply nodded and turned away. Then, casting off his humanoid form, he resumed the form of a sleek, silver dragon and took to the skies. "Was he, though? Helpful, I mean?" asked Xandro. "We don't really know anything more than we did before." "We have another data point," Wakuren countered. "We've now seen three events with this 'deathborn' disease: the archaeological dig of the gnomish village; running into the svirfneblin girl in the Underdark; and now Biskabileon's encounter with the dragon hunters. In each case, there was one of more humans present: the 'round-eared elf' in the village; you and Thurloe" - and here the half-orc indicated Xandro - "and those ten men with the elven scouts." "So you think humans are infected with some kind of gnome-killing disease?" asked Xandro. "It's a possibility," Wakuren admitted. "Come on - let's go meet up with the others and check out that other dream. Maybe we'll have more luck learning about the Forbidden Lands." But Mogo quickly deflated his hopes on that front. "We haven't found out a whole lot about the Forbidden Lands, kupo," admitted the moogle guide as he led his five students to the next door in the Corridor of Dreams. "But here's a dream from a drow woman on the continent of Talonia, kupo." He opened the door and stepped inside, indicating for his dreamwalking pupils to follow. In the dreamscape, a drow woman knelt alone in the moonlight, wearing nothing but a flower in her white hair. Her arms were raised in supplication towards the moon and she seemed to be silently praying. "Nice," observed Thurloe, checking out the nude woman. His comment earned him an elbow in the ribs from Alewyth. Fortunately, none of the dreamwalkers had taken any actions to allow the dreamer to see them yet - they were still just silent observers as her dream unfolded. Suddenly, there came the sound of the flapping of leathery wings and a man stepped forward out of the darkness. He was a handsome male drow, dressed in clothing that wouldn't be out of the ordinary at a gathering of nobles in Armaturia. "You have come!" the woman sighed in delight. "I have come," agreed the man, smiling. "And you are here, waiting for me, as promised." "I will always be here for you, My Lord," the woman replied. "For as long as you desire." "Yes," the man agreed. "You have shown an admirable loyalty these many years. Perhaps one day, you too shall be chosen, and I can escort you into the Forbidden Lands, by my side." The woman's expression changed to one of incredulous desire, and the look did not change when the man pierced her neck with his gleaming fangs and drank his fill of her blood. "Hey!" called Alewyth, her hand straying to her holy symbol. But Thurloe pushed it aside with his hand. "This is just a dream, remember," he advised. "Killing that vampire in her dream isn't going to do a thing to the real vampire out there in Talonia." Sighing in irritation - at her inability to save the drow woman and the fact that Thurloe was right - she sulked as the vampire sated his thirst and then stepped back into the shadows to fly away in bat form. After his departure, Alewyth couldn't wait any longer. Stepping fully into the woman's dream, she approached her. The woman still had a dreamy look in her eyes, which only made the dwarf priestess scowl all the harder. "Does he come to you often?" she demanded. "Weekly," the drow admitted. "My Lord knows not to take too much at once. He cares deeply for me." She sighed. "One day, I hope we will be wed." "He mentioned the Forbidden Lands," Alewyth pushed. "Do you know where they are?" "No," admitted the drow. "But they can be no farther than half a day from here, for My Lord to make it back to safety before the sun rises." "Makes sense," admitted Thurloe. "So where exactly are we?" The drow woman looked at him as if he were a simpleton. "In the city of Spiraclast, of course," she told him. "And where is Spiraclast?" asked Xandro. "Spiraclast is...the city. I have never been outside its confines." "Well, you're just a bundle of information," scoffed Thurloe. He looked at the others. "This is pointless." "Well, we do have a city name that's not too far from the Forbidden Lands," Zander pointed out. "We can ask about it when we get to Talonia." "And we know the Forbidden Lands has at least one vampire lord in it," Wakuren added. "Great," scoffed Thurloe. "My luck, the place is lousy with vampires and we'll have to kill Mistress Jandoval all over again before we lug her body back home." Alewyth just shook her head. "You really are something, sometimes," she said. "Baby, I'm something [I]all[/I] the time!" the spellsword replied proudly. - - - T-shirt worn: My shark T-shirt, not because it had anything to do with these two dream sequences, but because the adventure that followed immediately took place underwater (and had a few sharks as random encounters). [/QUOTE]
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