[PbP] The Sandman's Binding Game Thread

[Storminator]

I shrug. "Can't say what brings Reaver in," (but I can guess I say to myself), "but Ilmater needs those that spend their lives in service to others. I go where I'm needed. Right now that looks like here."

I pour myself a glass of wine and water it down liberally. I hold the wine pitcher and use my eyes to ask others if they want some. "That it's a dwarf that needs help calls me all the more. Dwarves and I go way back. And what of you, Jonas? You seem to have brought an army to bear."

Dorn Hardwood

 

[GoldenEagle]

I am here because it is the next step for me. 5 Winters ago my family asked me to gain wisdom through patience by searching for a question and then its answer. When I asked what question my father only said, "you will know when you have found it". With that I left Waterdeep and have focused on helping people to find their path and in so looking I can only hope to find my own.

My army (chuckles, a bit embarassed), if you are referring to Clai, Nazgrel and Razor Claw, they are all friends, old and new. If you are talking about the camp, well these are just people in search of their path and they seem to think that we run parallel for the time being. I consider all of them family, but they are free to do as they wish. They support me as I do them.

It sounds like you are from the North as well is I am not mistaken; am I placing your accent correctly?

 

[Paragon Badger]

OOC: I thought of something unusual so I'll post Ichtor's trip to the temple.

Ichtor:
After you recieve the letter you head to toward the temple. However, things don't pass uneventfully for you...

As you walk from the market a bent figure hobbles toward you. The figure appears human-sized however it is bent over as if crippled by age. The figure is cloaked from head to toe in a long brown cloak and nothing of the figure can be seen. He/she lurches up to you and extends an arm. Milgra "purrs" slighty on your shoulder.

A gloved hand appears from the robes with a letter. After you take the letter the figure sprints off with surprising speed.

The letter is sealed with black wax but no sign is impressed in the wax. When you open the letter, you see the writing style shifts as if there were multiple authors that switched midword.

I all see. I all know. In dream, in life, in death. Worship the Great One will all. In dream you find, in dream you see. Entropy feeds where dreams are made. Entropy grows where dreams die. Entropy blossoms on the skeleton of frozen dreams. Fight or Worship, All Will Choose. The Feeder you will see. The Great Entropic One Cometh. The Sandman Brethen Will Not Suceed In Driving Us Out. The One Overcomes All! Hear him speak, "I HUNGER!!!!!"

That is all the letter says. No signature is found.

Once you arrive at the temple a older man named Darton will see you arrive. "You must be Sir Ichtor! Several of the others have arrived. Follow me, the meeting wil be starting in a bit."

If you follow him, he will guide you to the sitting room where the others are talking. He'll mention that Shere can get something to eat, for you and your companion.

 

[GoldenEagle]

Well...more new friends...Hello, I am Jonas, This is Clairborne, Nagrel, Dorn, and Sean. And you are? (checks to see how Razor reacts to Milgra)

What fancy brings you to this important endeavor?

What an interesting travelling companion you have (total sincerety!) (to Milgra) and you might you be?

 

[drs]

Sean takes his cloak, pack, and weapons off then finds a comfy spot to sit down. Once comfortable he says "I'm here 'cause I can help, and that's all the reason I need." He ends it with a small feigned smile towards Dorn.
As Ichtor enters Sean says to himself *Holy sh*t, now we have four righteous buffoons, a lion, and one freaky looking mage plus familiar. This is gonna be fun...*

 

[Paragon Badger]

OOC: Fair warning there is a lot of reading here to try and explain the guidelines of how the dreams work. I’ll post a summary at the bottom.

As you stand around Shere will excuse herself. She’ll return in a few minutes and stand at front of the room as if she has something to say. As your conversations die out she’ll address you.

“I just went to check and see what has been delaying Lady Lurialar and Lady Oestre. They are just finishing the rituals to create several magic items that will be required for your mission. Lady Oestre should be here soon, but the High Moonmistress may be detained for awhile. They told me I can tell you what I know about what is going on. I’ve been caring for the victim, Donvena , but Fam Oestre is the one who is really running things. She has studied the magic of dreams and has been able to do many wondrous things. She’ll be able to answer any questions you have.

What I know is this, we have a cleric of Moradin named Donvena Swifthammer, in a private room. She appears to be in a deep sleep and we can not wake here through any means, mundane or magical. Fam has told us that some sort of binding spell had been laid upon her. She will sleep until she dies. We have placed a magic ring on her so she won’t starve, and yet she seems to be losing weight and becoming quite pallid. Fam’s only guess is whatever is forcing her to stay in the dream is also feeding off her very life force. The only option we have is to send adventurers, namely you, into her dreams.

The magic items that Lady Oestre and Lady Lurialar are creating are called, Dream Conduits. They are a group of platinum plates about 4 inches across etched with magic spells. One is a “Sender” and the others are “Receivers”. When placed upon creatures that are asleep, those with a “Receiver” are drawn into the dreams of the one with the “Sender”.

They created one Sender and One Receiver first so they could be tested. I volunteered to test the Receiver so I can tell you a little about what it is like. You are given a potion to help you sleep and then after you fall asleep you find yourself in a totally white square room with a light in the center of the ceiling and one door. You are wearing whatever you actually had on when you went to sleep. Fam said that these items are linked to you by the Receiver and are actually drawn into the dream with you. Any items you use like a potion or wand are actually drained both in the dream and here. Anything you pick up in the dream should only be real there. A potion there works like a real potion only as long as you are in the dream. When you wake you have nothing, you gained in the dream. That probably a good thing since it would be far too easy for foul things to be duplicated by an evil dreamer. Fam did mention something about “Solidified Dream Structures” that can “come across” but I didn’t understand what she meant.

Also the dream is real for you since your are drawn their physically. If you are hurt, you are really hurt. If you die, you really die.

Anyway back to the dream, you find yourself in an all white room with a light above you and a door. You open the door and walk down a perfectly white hall to another door. When you open this door you see a mirror filling the whole thing. You step through this mirror and find yourself in the person’s dream. All these structures are things created by the spells to ease your minds and bodies into this different reality. Fam can tell you more but she said that it’s a transitive demiplane bridge to a transitive demiplane of the dream. Whatever.

Mostly the dreams seem like real life. They feel and taste real! Even the people you might meet are total beings. They speak an act exactly like the real things. The only difference is you can find things that could never really exist. A mushroom that size of a mountain giant, a house made of candy, a waterfall that runs backwards, all sorts of weird things.

Finally, Fam actually managed to bind the volunteer into a dream like poor Donvena. What happens is in the dream one creature or object is the focus of the bind. It appears as if hazily and unreal and made of a rainbow of colors. If this focus is destroyed the dreamer will wake up and you return to this plane. But strangely enough since the spell caster who created the bind had to focus so much effort into the binding you actually see flashes of their life before you return here. Fam said we should be able to track the person that did this if we see enough of his life.

The reason we need you is that the dream that Donvena is trapped in is a nightmare. We fear there may be obstacles that you will need a great deal of force to overcome. Monsters, traps, or who knows what else.

Furthermore, Fam told me that she and Lady Lurialar did some divinations before they tried anything and they could actually see you! You are all someone important to breaking this curse. And she saw something else too. She saw more victims. She thinks that Donvena might only be the first of many!”

Shere will be visibly upset at this thought. She seems like she will continue to say more when the door opens. In walks an elf. She is incredibly attractive and seems to have an aura of command about her. She has long black hair and a light elven complexion. She is dressed in a black dress embroidered in silver thread with symbols of Selune and Sehaine Moonbow. Before she says anything she glances around the room at each of you. She begins in an almost musical voice, “I believe young Shere has filled you in about the rules of the dream world. Well let me tell you those rules may well change.” She pauses and looks at Shere, “Why don’t you step outside, you look overworked.” Shere will take the hint and excuse her self with a bow.

The elf begins again, “I am Fam Oestre. I have studied the magic of dreams all my life. What we are dealing with is quite unexpected. This mage rivals my knowledge of dreams and he doesn’t seem to be afraid to use it for his gain. He is attacking like a dream vampire on these poor victims. And I say victims because, unknown to Shere, there is another patient in our temple. We have a special patient who is also trapped. I hope you understand but I won’t speak more until you’ve proven yourself with Donvena troubles. Now I’m sure young Shere had a lot to say so let me, let you ask any questions you have before I go on.” Fam stops speaking and looks to see if there are any questions she can answer.

OOC: Dream Rules Summary Items are drained as if used on the material Damage is real, death is real. One creature or object appears as a rainbow colored figure and must be destroyed. No items from there can come back to reality with you, but they still can be used in the dream. Some special things are an exception to the above.

 

[GoldenEagle]

Jonas sits back pensively and looks around the room to take in the entire groups reaction. He has several questions but only asks after everyone else has had a chance to ask. (ooc: if these questions are already answered by the time he starts in on his question then he will not repeat a question./ooc)

" How very interseting. You mentioned that the culprit was a mage. How do you know it is a mage and not priest? What else do you know of this person?

"You mentioned seeing us in the dream. What specific obstacles did you see?

"How does divine magic work in this demiplane? Will I be able to contact Nobanion for his daily blessing and his council (spell aquisition and divination)?

Is the time continuim the same? How often must we eat/rest?

What is the environment like - Hot/cold; do we need transportation? can Silver Lance and Claiborne accompany me (war horse/ cohort)?

How do we get back?

When do we leave?

Is the rainbow person dovena or the mage? or someone/thing else entirely.

You mentioned a vampire like effect...was this an analogy or is there truly undead involved?

Is there a way for us to avoid being bound in this nightmare?

 

[Krug]

Ichtor wonders about the strange message and rereads the scroll. He says to the servant, "Yes something to eat would be nice.."

Apologies for the short posts. Still overseas at the moment and rushing around. Things should be back to normal on Wed.

 

[Paragon Badger]

Jonas's Questions

Fam will consider Jonas's questions for a minute and then begin to answer them one at a time.

"We know very little about the person behind this. For all we truly know there could be more than one. However, we do know that it is a mage because the spell used to bind the girl is an arcane spell with only one source, the Book of Bound Dreams. This is a arcane tome that I saw once, long ago. It was created by an unknown author who was a great dream mage. Very few copies of this tome are thought to exist.

We never actually saw you in the dreams. Our divinations merely indicated to us that you may be important to breaking this spell.

Time flows slightly different in the dream. A day in the dream is about 8 hours in our world. Since you will be quite physically in the dream you will need to eat and sleep on a regular cycle there. For every day in the dream you'll need a regular 3 meals and 8 hours of sleep. Sleeping their will be just as normal as sleeping here.

The enviroment is completely dictated by the dreamer though it will always be something the dreamer could survive in. It could be a summer day to an artic wildland. Most dreams are not so large that you would need much transportation in it. You enter the dream with magic items we provide. We should have enough that anyone you want may accompany you. Though you have to get them to fall asleep.

You return from the dream by destroying the binding item or creature. The dreamer will awaken after that thing is destroyed and the dream you are in will dissolve. You will find yourselves awaking where you went to sleep to enter the dream.

You can leave whenever you wish. But I suggest as much speed as possible Donvena is drained for every day she remains in dream.

The rainbow thing is an item or creature that would normaly be part of the dream. For example if you dream of battling orcs, one of the orcs may be the rainbow creature. What it is, is the focal point of the binding spell. By destroying that creature or item you will release the sleeper from the binding spell.

The vampire is merely an analogy. But for all we know there could be an undead mage behind this. We know little other than some type of mage must be doing this.

We know of no way to save someone from being bound by the spell other than a strong will. When you are in the nightmare you would be safe from the binding spell since you are in the dreams of another."

 

[GoldenEagle]

After everyone has had a chance to ask questions, Jonas suggests leaving immediately."Donvena is in trouble and I know that if it were me, I would want help sent immediately. If Donvena were a friend or family we would going now.....and although she is not my friend or family, she is to some. Nazgrel, I know you must be eager to put an end to your chief's troubles. Dorn, I know you want to help the dwarf. I won't speak for the group, but my vote is to go as soon as possible...what say all of you?"

If the group can and does decide to go now, "If you (Shere) could send someone to my camp and tell them I won't be back for a few days, I would greatly appreciate it."

Jonas, Claiborne and Silver Lance prepare for entry into Donvena's dream.