We're Off To Never-Neverland Plotting Post

[opheliaafterdeath]

It's time for some dream exploration!

Come mid-September, Daybreak will be visited by a powerful Fey known as the Sandman. The Sandman is responsible for helping people get a good night's sleep by casting spells to ease them into it. However, due to strange sleeping schedules, people who don't need to sleep and those who think sleep is for the weak, Daybreak has been a black dot on the Fey's radar.

Until now.

What will happen

When the Sandman appears on Daybreak's grounds he will cast a spell powerful enough to render even those who do not need to sleep unconscious. The closer a character is to the Sandman's location, the faster the spell will work on them but eventually it will result in everyone in the school and parts of Soleil falling asleep. As the Sandman means no true malicious intent behind the spell, he will go out of his way to move characters around so they are not in any danger of being hurt while unconscious and no one will have to worry about starving to death as this spell is only meant to last one day. It is the Sandman's hope that everyone having a good night's sleep will motivate them to continue to actually sleep properly!

But he cannot say he intended for a weird side-effect to kick in.

A world of dreams

While characters will be in a deep sleep in reality, unconsciously they will be drawn into a world of dreams. These dreams are of the characters' own making and they will be able to explore their own dream world or the dream worlds of others as they see fit. Much like Yume Nikki, these dream worlds can have a number of layers to them that characters can dive into as they explore. What shape these dream take and how large they are will be left up to players' choice.

There are nightmare sequences. These nightmare sequences may be triggered by touching certain objects or entering certain areas, which will be left up to player decision. While activating a nightmare sequence will not automatically boot a character out of another's dream world, it will cause them to suffer headaches, dizziness and sickness that will grow more intense the more that are activated. Otherwise characters are immune to physical damage that they may 'suffer' in these worlds. It's all just a dream, after all.

Waking up

This spell will last for a full day and once it disappears, characters will all wake up at the same time and probably not in the same spot where they fell asleep. There will also be a message from the Sandman himself on the network, noting the good that sleep does for people hint, hint.

Whether or not the residents of Daybreak take him up on that is up for debate. But hey, isn't it nice to have a good night's sleep?

Comments

Questions

[opheliaafterdeath]

Re: Questions

[anoceanofatma]

Question the first: About what time of day will the sleep spell start?
Question the second: Is it assumed that everyone is fully lucid in the dreamworld or will some people be kind of borderline incoherent because they're asleep and can't think properly?

[opheliaafterdeath]

The spell will start some time early morning and last until six o'clock the next day. As for your second question, while in the beginning characters may feel a little out of it because the dream world visit was not planned on the Sandman's part, everyone should be fully lucid in the dream world after a few minutes or so.

[anoceanofatma]

Thanks!

[fistsofchange]

-Lin-

Deeply embarrassing dreams of being a revered queen in a fabulously luxurious palace who is waited on by attractive servants in skimpy outfits. Nightmare sequence options aren't particularly DANGEROUS so much as depressing. Prepare for images of angry monks banishing you/Lin, or to be chased by hordes of people that you/Lin failed to save from various horrible fates.

Once she goes exploring other dreams, she will probably arrive in your dreamworld in a battered V8 Interceptor


-Kohaku-

Kohaku's dream will be nigh incomprehensible nonsense. It's not a deep insight on who Kohaku is as a person. Sometimes you just have weird dreams. The only thread that even feels remotely coherent is the feeling of being stalked by a dangerous predator.

The predator is, of course, the daemon that attacked Kohaku's middle school. It will never actually appear fully in view, as she never saw it clearly and doesn't know what it looks like, but it will be there in her dream, and it will follow her into other dreams.


-Jun-

Dreams are a window into your memories, often bring up things you have long forgotten. Jun's dreams will be entirely of Daybreak Academy, because he doesn't HAVE any forgotten or repressed memories to bring up. His history is a blank slate. There is not much to learn from Jun's dreams. The only thing that might seem oddly out of place is an old CRT TV, though if turned on it only shows a test pattern. The TV is the "face" of Efu's favorite disguise. Efu is the fae lord that Jun made a deal with that ended in his memories getting erased.

[nor_iron_bars]

Would there by any chance be dream-counterparts of real people Lin is attracted to in the palace dream? Like, for example, a certain thief...

[fistsofchange]

I imagined them as just randos but like there might be someone in there who Jailbreak might find hauntingly familiar.......................

[opheliaafterdeath]

Grimm's dream will go very deep and frequently feature attractions from the Grimm Troupe itself for characters to enjoy, be it death-defying stunts or something mundane like tarot card readings. Every character running these attractions use the name "Grimm" as they are the Troupe Masters that came before Alderic did and curiously they all seem to be aware everything is just a dream and will encourage others to just relax while it lasts. A Nightmare sequence can be activated by entering a broken down tent that contains a copy of Grimm that is missing his heart. Touching the copy or opening the box in his hands will trigger a vision of the character carving out their own heart and putting it into the box.

Entering other parts of Grimm's dream world is simply a matter of entering other tents. There will be attendants in masks that will vaguely point out which one is which if characters ask.

Back Alleyway Maze - This part of the dream is a large, sprawling maze of back alleyways and shops. There will be shadow people wandering around that will ignore characters if spoken to and will actively avert their gaze. Characters will also feel perpetually hungry while exploring this area. The center of the maze is a small theater and once characters enter, the feeling of being hungry will go away. Grimm's direct predecessor can be found here and he will ask if characters want to watch a show with him if spoken too, although he will also warn characters to be careful in the later layers.

Home - This layer is the inside of a grand house. Grimm as a child can be found here along with his family, who are a polite bunch. Want tea and cookies? They'll be happy to give it to you. A Nightmare sequence can be activated by going outside the house and finding a crying Grimm alongside his adult self. Touching either of them will cause the house to catch on fire and permanently alter it while the character is on this layer, even if they go back inside.

The Nightmare Heart - Taking place in a distorted version of the broken tent from the 'main' area, characters can encounter the Nightmare King here, the vampire God who lives in Grimm's mind and heart. He will actively hound characters throughout this area and being touched by or touching him will automatically trigger a number of Nightmare sequences at once until the character can get away again. If a character can convince him to back off or find it on their own, they'll be taken to a well-kept graveyard for all of the vessels in the past.


The main area for Nekane is their apartment in Soleil. Outside it is loudly raining, although if someone sticks their hand out the window they will find out the hard way it is raining broken glass. Various case files can be found here along with a notebook that contains information on the various characters Nekane has met in Daybreak. A copy of Nekane can be found asleep at their desk and they will talk in their sleep if approached, offering hints on how to find different areas from the main one.

Snow field - Accessible by simply walking out the front door. This will take characters to a large, snow covered field. Strangely all noise is blocked here - characters won't even be able to hear themselves talk although it is still possible to speak. A copy of Adomaitis can be found wandering around, his form and speech heavily distorted due to the fact Nekane never knew him. A Nightmare sequence can be triggered if someone finds the dying Adriel. Touching them will bring characters to Adriel's final moments and fill them with a nearly unfathomable rage. Waking up from this nightmare will have permanently altered the area to be covered with the eyes from Nekane's shadow abilities.

Past home - Found by picking up a very old case file. This will take a character to someone else's house. John Doe, Nekane's former boss, can be found and spoken to here. The case file that brought a character here can be found and it contains information on Nekane, although they are not addressed by name throughout it. Curiously there are no nightmare sequences and the copy of Nekane that can also be found here seems rather at peace with everything in contrast to how they are now. They can be spoken to, although they will be notably wary around humans or those who appear to be human.

Prison block - This area is accessible by touching Nekane's wings, which will wake them up. This area is a seemingly endless hallway of locked doors. While they cannot be opened it is possible to see what is inside if characters look through a slot in the doors. Only one is unlocked and inside it is a key. If a character exits the room with the key all other rooms will unlock and corpses wearing robes will begin to chase them, shouting that the character is their needed sacrifice. If a character is captured it will trigger a Nightmare sequence where they will be pulled apart by a extremely powerful Daemon made of shadow. This sequence will "reset" the character to just before they grabbed the key, meaning they'll have to try again to escape if caught.

If the character manages to escape the corpses and unlock the door the key goes to, they will find themselves in a large room filled with destroyed mirrors. Touching any of the mirrors will trigger a Nightmare sequence of Nekane killing Adriel over and over, even if doing so destroys their own body in the process. Waking up will reveal the mirrors have all been fixed, although they will reflect other people in the character's lives rather then the character themself.

Sherlock's, will tag with others when I come up with them.

[improbablenotimpossible]

Hope you don't mind blood. Sherlock's default entry to his dream world is the foggy streets of Victorian London, with handsome carriages rattling nearby and phantom figures in all kinds of fashion from the Victorian era to modern day passing by, there's a scent of blood in the air. Warm lights flood into the street from windows next to open doors, inviting the curious in. They'll find curious little stick figures all around doing things such as replacing lights in lamp-posts or picking up debris from the streets. They'll scattered if disturbed, but if harassed, dogs will appear to chase people away from the little dancing men.

-The Bloody Masquerade: A Formal masked ball is being held, everyone laughing and chattering, but before anyone can join, some small flag-waving stick figures will stop the group and they'll have blood dumped on them, transforming into suitable formal wear and masks (that represent the character). They'll find Sherlock in a raven's mask dancing with another man in a dog's mask. Nobody notices the blood raining outside.

-A Smoky club: glasses of suspiciously red fluid, the haze of cigars, smell of old books and the crackle of a fire, books, on all kinds of subjects is laid out along with blue prints, drafts, open laptops rendering things, and other sundries, Sherlock can also be found here, deep in unraveling some great mystery, or playing chess against replicas of people he know at Daybreak. Little stick figures with flags can be seen scurrying around to organize things.

-NIGHTMARES: All throughout the dreamscape, there's ulysses butterflies around, and touching one will send the person into a nightmare of fighting a faceless man on a water-slicked cliff overlooking a waterfall, ending with the both of them plummeting into the abyss that turns into a fanged maw.

-There is also a large gray wolf stalking the street, if it touches someone, they'll find themselves waking up in a blood-filled coffin that they'll have an inexplicable urge to lick off. Either way, once they push open the lid, they'll find themselves in a deep, Eastern European forest and feeling a compelling urge to hunt.

Once he starts exploring other places, he'll be dressed in a black inverness coat and deerstalker - 'playing detective', he'll claim. The wolf will be following him at a distance

[stavros]

Most of Kokoro's dreams will be along the lines of going to class only to realize that you forgot about the test worth 30 percent of your grade. Some, though, will get darker ones. For instance, walking down a well-lit and peaceful path only for the ground to fall out from under you, where you land in a dark, narrow hallway infested with monsters.

uh this got maybe just a little long

[unlogic]

There won't be anything that will make it 100% recognizable as hers—she's still new here so people don't know enough about her to really attribute any particular things to her—but Desidera's dream will take place in her home. It will start in her bedroom, but most of the building will be accessible. It's a rather small house; single floor, two bedrooms, one bathroom, et cetera. Desidera herself might or might not be present (possibly wandering in someone else's dream); if she is present, she will be awfully insistent on staying in her room.

The bedroom will seem normal enough at first glance; bed at one corner of the room, desk and chair sitting along one wall, and a couple shelves of books nearby.
• They can be taken from their shelves and opened, but none of the books on the shelf are readable; the text will all look like a jumbled mess.
• The desk's drawers will be stuck closed, and attempting to open them will simply drag the desk itself, as though it's all a single solid object.
• The bed cannot be moved. The pillow and sheets on it can be interacted with, but cannot actually be removed from the bed.
• The chair can be moved, but it will be unable to pass through the bedroom door, despite the character being able to exit the room themself.

Other things in the house will look pretty mostly normal as well, at least until the character starts actively investigating things.
• All walls and closed doors cannot be damaged or destroyed by any means. The house's windows can, though.
• All clocks in the house will be stuck at the same random time. If the character goes through any nightmare sequences, that random time is changed to another random time.
• Other electronics in the house will not work, except for Desi's bedroom light, which doesn't even work right; it'll darken the room further rather than light it up.
• There is no running water. The sinks in the kitchen and bathroom blow air instead, for whatever reason, as does the faucet on the bathtub. The faucet handles still work, changing the temperature of the air that gets blown out. You're in a dream. Don't question this.
• One particular room—her mother's bedroom—will be closed with no way to get in. The knob won't turn. The door looks like it should open inward, but trying to ram it open will feel like slamming into a solid brick wall.

Where exactly home even is will be unclear as it will be impossible to actually see outside; the windows look completely normal and the door leading out of the house does work, but what's on the other side is nothing but television static and silence. Actually leaving the house is possible, but doing so will cause the aforementioned static to quickly flood the character's vision, rendering it impossible to see anything even if they try to turn back, with the actual sound of the static finally becoming heard, becoming louder and louder until it's absolutely deafening, at which point the noise will stop and the character will very abruptly be catapulted directly into one of three nightmare sequences. Even if she was present in the house itself, Desidera will not appear in these sequences, and aside from the details given below, the specifics are up to the character's player; be as awful as you want, or not.
• Pursued by a large, unidentifiable creature whose appearance seems to shift constantly; the only consistent thing is it's bipedal/humanoid. It moves slightly faster than the character no matter how quickly they move, and is impossible to slow down by any means. When it catches up, it lifts the character by their neck using one hand, then thrusts its other hand other directly into their chest, at which point the sequence ends.
• Surrounded by a number of unidentifiable corpses, people who were clearly very recently killed. The wounds that were inflicted upon these bodies are consistent with the character's own capabilities, implying that whatever had happened in the scene was their own doing; characters whose skillsets include unarmed combat will also find that there is blood on their hands. Among the bodies is one that can be identified, and it is one of character's closest friends, or a family member, or otherwise someone important to them, and the wounds that had been inflicted upon them are among the worst. The sequence ends shortly after identifying the body.
• Walking into an unfamiliar temple in an unidentifable location, unarmed and dragged along on a chain that is too strong to break, with their magic and any other powers somehow inaccessible—sealed in some way, perhaps. The person leading the character along, as well as other individuals within the temple, all share the same marking on their right arm, a symbol identifying them all as members of a single group. The symbol itself, much like the text in the books back in Desidera's room, will appear completely incomprehensible, and will not be consistent from one person to the next, though the character will somehow understand that these different-looking symbols are all actually the same one. After the character is brought before the apparent leader of this group, they are shouted at, though what's being said doesn't sound like any particular language or even words at all, and the character's own attempts at speech will be the same way. The character is then dragged toward a stone table, forced to lie upon it and is quickly bound to it after doing so, and then blindfolded. Moments later, there is a very brief but also very excruciating pain, and the sequence ends.

The headache/dizziness/sickness triggered by nightmare sequences will not occur during the first sequence to have been triggered, but will set in immediately after that sequence has completely played out. Additionally, after the sequence ends, the character will once again be in the bedroom, with everything back how they had originally found it except for all of the house's clocks, which will now be stuck on a different time. Attempting to exit the house again will trigger the aforementioned static visual and the noise again, followed another sequence. The sequences will replay after all three have been seen at least once, if the character continually attempts to leave the house, but various details will change each time a particular sequence occurs—what exactly those changes are is up to the character's player.

Since going out the door won't work, trying to sleep in the bed will allow the character to be transported out of this dream world and into another.

[heromedal]

Rex doesn't dream often, what with sleeping every 4-5 days, but his problem with sleep is associating the process of falling asleep with death. So when he actually sleeps, they're often pretty normal. For dreams that is. In all his dreams, everyone brings their own soundtrack.

-They're Dogs...-

And they're playing poker!?

It's just a big fancy manor with grounds and everyone who enters it is an animal now. Rex spends most of his time there playing poker with other dogs. Every now and then one of the animal residents stops acting like a civilised animal and suddenly goes feral, or even rabid, sometimes for brief stints at random.

-Easy Peasy Cheesy Weezy-

Some of the dog manor doors take you straight into chow town. There is a huge amount of food, everything is food, maybe you're food, but most of all there is endless amounts of cheese. This one can become a nightmare- in which the food wants to eat you or... if you turn around too fast, all the food will rot and suddenly you're starving to death. This place used to be just food, but these days there may be cute, not quite Adelaide but a vaguely Adelaide people around who insist you eat.

-Spaaaaaaace-
Rex’s recent fun designing craft and accidentally putting stuff into space has it on his mind. Various environments, as realistic as his science brain can make them based on available data are all a cool star ship flight away! Weird space opera super battles are possible too.

-It’s life-

It’s basically the same as an ordinary day at Daybreak (though between classes it seems to be random streets from across the world, most often poverty stricken neighbourhoods) except there’s the constant feeling of being watched. Those half seen shadows and shapes from the corner of your eye are sometimes just that. Other times they’re things out to kill you. Sometimes those things are monstrous, other times they’re the people you trust, sometimes it’s just an abstract concept of danger. While here, everyone experiences the sorts of short audio and visual hallucinations Rex does when awake.

Probably more and junk. I’ll think about it.

[spelleton]

Ekkehardt

Ekkehardt's dream world will be of an endless, rushing river that flows towards an unknown destination. The river's banks are pitch black, and the trees and vines that grow over the river are similarly dark; the only points of light are the river itself and the flowers that bloom and drop into the water from the riverbank.

The water isn't cold (or hot, or much of anything) but the river is wide; even a strong swimmer won't be able to cross without eventually sinking.

Standing by the river and watching your reflection can be the start of a nightmare sequence here; the longer you watch, the more the reflection distorts and begins to bleed, and it will eventually lunge out of the river as a veiled specter. If it succeeds in catching a character and pulling them into the water, they'll have a brief flash of excruciating pain racking their body before being healed. This will 'loop' a few more times before they're let go.

Access into other parts of the world can be gained by either sinking to the bottom or picking up the flowers that float on the river.

Sinking will grant access to a dark, subterranean place lit only by magical runes and sigils lining the walls and patterning the floor. The inhabitants of this strange place are disassembled skeletons, who are quite amiable and will offer to send the character into another dream entirely or talk about the owner of this dream world, if reassembled (though they won't name him explicitly, because even in his head Ekkehardt is closemouthed). Close CR may get different reactions.

Flowers will grant access to an ordinary-looking house (for those few people who have seen House Gehring's home base, this looks very little like it). It's a pleasant place that feels hazy and dreamlike; if Ekkehardt isn't wandering in someone else's dream, he'll be here, though it's unlikely he'll explain why.

A nightmare sequence can be triggered by opening a certain closet inside the house, which feels colder and more solid than the rest of the dream area (and will actively resist attempts to open its doors fully). A character triggering the nightmare will be flung inside the closet and plunged into darkness, and relive a younger Ekkehardt's memory of hiding from the people who killed his family.

The eight year old version of him that appeared during Wist's plot exists here, and can be encountered and talked to.

Vivi

Vivi's dream world is a hazy, patchwork place; it consists mostly of what seem to be islands drifting through the sky, due to his first and most persistent dream being falling from the airship that was carrying him. The islands seem to represent his understanding of emotional states and are populated by what look like other Vivis (though they have far less personality). The locations - a vast tree, an upside-down castle, a misty factory of some kind, and other surreal places - are specific and unchanging no matter what. Whether they're symbolic or representative of real places that Vivi might have seen - Vivi himself doesn't know.

The islands are bridged by pathways that, despite their seeming instability, will move to catch someone using them if they stumble. Falling from the islands deliberately will take you out of Vivi's dream.

[hatesdeerstalkers]

HOOO BOY STRAP IN

So for the surface levels, there'll be a lot of fog - but oddly, the scenery keeps changing and shifting to multiple places around the world; from london to new york to delphi, major cities and rural towns all over. The smell of smoke and gunpowder lingers everywhere - along with the harsh smell of blood, faintly around everywhere.

All the buildings have doors that can be opened, and even though the buildings shift, the doors stay constant. There are different colors to the doors, and each color will lead them to a different part of the dream.

BROWN: opening this door leads you to what looks like a study with shadowy, dangerous feeling figures all around - but if you get close, they respectfully nod towards you. There is an open, blank book on a desk, and sitting down and grabbing the pen nearby will cause you to begin to write in it - though it's all incomprehensible, shifting from different language to different language, and the ink is...red. You're writing in your own blood, and you'll begin to feel dizzy, cold, and weak...but fully complete the book, at which point the shadowy figures will suddenly grow angry and disapproving, grabbing you and flinging you out of the building.

BLUE: Opening this door will suddenly place you in the middle of a great, rushing stream - the water is cold, and the sky above is gray and cloudy. However, there are no banks - and you can only follow the stream. You'll get colder and colder as you go on...but when it feels like you can't stand it anymore, you'll suddenly stumble into a room. In the room, there are countless masks - faces - on the wall, and a shadowy figure in the center of the room, hopelessly rifling through a selection of masks in front of it. It will ask those who enter a question, and if they answer, it will transform into one of Moriarty's butterflies and flutter out - just as the room itself begins to flood with water until you're drowning...at which point you will suddenly wake right back up on the streets of the original city, with a tattered, filthy cloak falling off of you and a dim pain in your back.

BLACK: Opening this door will send you falling straight down into a deep, empty darkness - cold, yet comforting. Sensation seems to leave, and a deep, deep sense of sleep hangs over, even if you don't naturally sleep. Eventually, you'll close your eyes - And wake up in a sunny meadow, warm and peaceful, with countless butterflies flittering around. In this meadow is where Moriarty himself is, sleeping in an area surrounded by many different kinds of flowers. It's possible to leave his dreams from the meadow, as well - just keep walking away from where he sleeps, and you'll go to another world.

It's possible to wake him up from where he's sleeping, but...do you really want to?

[nevernoaction]

Ren will have dreams campsites with Hunters and he himself will be a child. This is pretty much how he grew up and it's all he can really remember.

Because he is a child, he will have to stay behind and if monsters attack, they will be frightening and all you can do is hide and pray you don't get found.

On the other hand, Ren will be a lot more talkative as a child.

[subconmodo]

Avery's dream hub is, essentially, Subcon Forest, albeit closer to the game version than Daybreak's. The forest is cloaked in perpetual night, with a large crescent moon that seems almost drawn onto the sky. A large, ice-covered tower stands in the distance. You can try to run towards it and explore, but you'll never reach it.

What you CAN explore includes:

Bouncy Mushrooms: They're nice and bright and glowy and a blast to play on.

Nooses: These fellows just love to hang around. They'll give you a lift up to the tops of those spooky trees all around you, but you'd be wise not to listen to them. They certainly seem to want you to put them around your neck.

Cursed Paintings: Wow, that's an interesting effect on those paintings, isn't it? It's almost like they're 3-D, but when you look at them from the side, they're completely flat.

Most of the paintings contain faceless individuals in royal regalia, but touching any of the empty paintings will trigger a nightmare sequence, in which you are sucked in and trapped in the painting until some faceless stranger picks you up and tosses you into a fire.

Cherry Bombs: The cherries here grow to be as big as a man's head. They also explode after awhile. Keep an eye on that.

Toilet of Doom: Wandering too deep into the forest and you'll encounter... an outhouse. A possessed outhouse, filled with the collective rage of all the outhouses Avery has tipped in his long, long lifetime. Beware: it WILL attack. And falling to it may just be one of the most embarrassing nightmare sequences you'll face.

Tower and Ballroom: At the center of the forest, you'll find a large, firey tower choked with dark, thorny vines. Upon entering the tower, you are greeted with the sight of a grand, fancy, cheery ballroom in which a masquerade is being held. Before you can go any further, an attendant will hand you a mask, which you are expected to wear as long as you are inside the tower.

Taking the mask off while you are still on the dance floor will trigger a nightmare sequence, in which the guests will fall upon you and attempt to tear you to pieces.

Avery can be found here, though he will only be present until he learns he can go explore everyone else's dream worlds.

A Flighty Guest: What's that odd, puppet-like, corpsey thing hanging out in the sky? Why, the Moon Jumper of course! You're free to sit down and have a chat with him, but it might prove to be more than a little... off-putting. If MJ ends up taking a liking to your character (and you give permission), he may attempt to puppet them about, talk them into joining him in the horizon, or forcefully drag them up himself. Failing to escape ends in a nightmare sequence.

[bejustorbedead]

Ky's dream hub is essentially going to be a late medieval version of Paris - bustling but a mere echo compare to it's modern version, rendered in the style of a tapestry - soft colors, fabric/stitch-like textures, and the appropriately wonky proportions for inanimate objects. The only things not tapestry-like is the sky which is in a perpetual state of 'just about to rain', with rumbling thunder and clouds lighting up with lightning but never striking anyone, and a large medieval cathedral-slash-fortress with flying buttresses and stained glass windows that project their lurid colors onto the land like a spotlight.

-Manor House: Looking to be better suited in the country, it's an imposing structure that made it clear it was made on the back of serfs, inside there's a cold, and imposing atmosphere, and everyone who enters it will become a child. The only warm spot is the rooms of a little girl, a young boy's room with wooden swords, etc. and a small chapel. If one makes too much noise, a large and imposing man chases them out.

-Stables: Any of the stables one would find, the inn, the fortress, would be filled with chrome horses - mixture of barding and motorcycle, with hooves forming axles for wheels, ears handlebars, etc. They can be taken for a ride, but fearful or inexperienced riders would get bucked off.

-The Cathedral: Stone pews, and altar, with a running carpet - the cathedral is quiet save for the murmurs of ghostly parishoners and distant, almost angelic singing, there are beautiful, illuminated and illustrated bibles that also function as shortcuts to parts of Paris, but like all dreams, any attempts to read them is actually futile. Past the confession booth is a bunkhouse and armory, where knights can be see doing everyday things such as getting dressed, exercising, or eating a mess fall, despite there being no glass insides in the fortress side, it still shadows it's colorful lights over everything.

There's a secret passage hidden being a mural of Salome holding John the Baptist's head accessible by pressing a depression hidden on John's tongue - doing so triggers a nightmare.

NIGHTMARE: Grabbing any one of the torches in the village, or opening the secret passage in the cathedral would send one to a smoke-filled nightmare of being dragged away by guards, and then tied to a stake as familiar faces jeered, spit and cursed at you for crimes you did not commit. Then at the signal of two very important people you regarded and respected highly - the fire is lit at your feet.

Ky himself would appear as he was when he first woke up: full plate of armor, with wild, unruly hair down to his ankles, wearing the Knights' Templar tabard and shield, and he can materialize a massive draft horse with a champagne-colored coat and white barding to mount if he so wishes.

[unpocoloco]

An Aztec temple settles upon the water, the first place of entry from whatever dream you've come from. In the water's reflection is that of a towering, shining city, buildings stacked upon buildings and going up so high into the sky the tops can't be seen, a plethora of lights and rainbow of colors seen there, with the shapes of skulls peeking through the gaps. More temples down at the base and the buildings get more and more modern the higher one looks, trolleys moving between on suspended wires.

But that's all in the distance. Before you is a bridge. The vibrant orange cempasuchil petals that make it up glow gold once stepped on, but they hold, somehow.

Following the bridge leads into a little town in Mexico, one that's been decorated head to toe. Papel picado in all colors hangs over the busy streets. Marigold petals line the paths and candles light every window and archway where small altars have been set. Indistinguishable strangers walk the town, ages young and old, some dressed normally and some with face painted into skulls. In the plaza sits a gazebo where music plays perpetually with mariachi bands and solo musicians. People dance there, both professional and otherwise. The owner of the swirling purple skirt is always just out of the corner of the eye, a light and possibly familiar laugh come from her.

The path from there the plaza cuts in several directions.

To one side, the marigold path leads down a row of houses to one home in particular. It's a modest dwelling with a little garden and boarded up well. The door is unlocked so one can step right inside. It's within here that you can find the single place where daylight shines. The sun shines through every window in soft golden hues. It illuminates the kitchen where a wide table sits and shines down the hall to each bedroom. From one is the muffled sound of someone play guitar, two voices singing softly in unison. Opening the door ends the music, but reveals a little girl, sat upon the bed and kicking her feet. She looks surprised to see you. She'll chatter with you as you please and even dance circles around you and through the house. But she comes back every time. She seems to be waiting for someone.

The second path winds further into town, to bars where people laugh and sing, some more out of tune than others. Then comes the sound of laughing children. An older lady shouts after two boys who go scrambling out, one older than the other, and the younger one very familiar. "Neto, wait!" Teto calls. They're both painted up with sugar skulls. Only Teto will stop to talk. The woman, with her hands on her hips, will spill much more about the pair as she huffs and rolls her eyes and walks back into the bar. She speaks of them as they were young, while other patrons will tell tales of him at other ages, none of them noticing the inconsistency.

The third path from the plaza leads to an old cemetery, filled to the brim with visitors tending graves and leaving offerings to their dear departed. There are some tears but for the most part, the celebration is a joyous affair. At the top of the low hill, a large tree stands sentinel to at all, just before the lower treeline begins in place of what could have been a large mausoleum. To the side of the cemetery is an open field, presumably meant as a space for future plots but it doesn't take much squinting to see the shimmering gold barrier there. Through the barrier, a second marigold bridge awaits, the shining city on the water that much closer than before, as well as something even more curious. Upon passing through the barrier, visitors will find themselves changed. Their bones will be clean of flesh, and yet still entirely mobile. Newly "dead" with clean white bones and colorful markings upon your face, you'll now be able to see the other residents of this dream, skeletal figures from the modern age to centuries past, walking together out to the land of the living. The living don't seem to see them (or you), but the dead and you can see each other. This is how it will remain as you travel back through the dream.

You can choose to explore the city and all it's colorful setups. It doesn't entirely make sense in how it connects, born only of a dream, but for that same reason, there's no limit to what can be found and explored there. Old souls who've passed, people you may have seen or known but not intimately enough to ask after, smile and greet you. However, traveling down the Aztec temples, where the mist rises up in a fog, will trigger a nightmare sequence in which you walk out to find the Outlands instead. Skeletal versions of people you love will be urging you on to run, but regardless of whether you do, the group is soon overtaken by monsters of some kind, eager to show you that you can feel pain when you're dead.

On the other hand, turning back into town will change everything seen before. Besides seeing the dead mingling with the living, walking into the Rivera house you will find it dark. The sound of someone crying, and even yelling at times, makes its way down the hall every now and again, only to quiet. Pushing through to the little girl's room will reveal her to be older than before. She'll speak to you still, but not for long before the sense of being dragged from the house hits, unseen figures grasping and yanking back, and the door slams in your face.

Lingering in the cemetery will mostly be the joyous affair it was before, but be careful-- there's an open grave to the back and falling in will trigger a nightmare sequence of waking up buried deep beneath the earth and the ensuing panic in trying to climb out.

Walking through town, some of the buildings will have become curiously European in design. People sit at the sides of buildings with signs asking for change. Sometimes these people can see you and around one burning trash can where it gets disproportionately cold, they sing and greet warmly. Upon reaching the plaza, one will find the lights have gone out and that it's nearly empty. Except, of course, for one boy, Teto, who sits there in ragged clothes with a beat-up guitar. He's too young to be out alone but it's clear no one's coming to get him. There's a bittersweet smile on his face as he plucks out tune after tune, occasionally breaking into quiet song as though playing a lullaby for all the town. He too will speak to you, though how he chooses to do so will depend on who you are.

Entering the bar while skeletal will show it to be an entirely different building; a dark hotel room where two shot glasses sit. Drink one and find that through the next door is the bar again, where behind the crowd, Héctor's voice and music rings out with another man's. Drink the other glass and through the next door is nothing at all. All will go dark as a nightmare sequence takes hold and you wake on cold steel with a white sheet and a cut going down through your chest. A shadow of a person looms overhead with no intention to stop working despite the fact you're awake. That person may end up looking a significant deal like Rex Arany.

There's a fourth path that leads from the plaza heads out of town, triggering a nightmare sequence no matter the case. There's an old run down train track, now out of use and only kept for historical purposes. Going here normally summons a monster, one which will chase you down, catch you, rip you apart, and then eat you. Going here as a skeleton will take you into Outland mists where, on the other side, will be an encampment, something so bare bones that tearing it down would take seconds. Skeletons not wholly unalike the glowing ghosts back in town will be here, not glowing or transparent, but solid, tired, and worn down, bones cracked and dusty and sometimes even completely missing or broken. They dress in rags, looking like post-apocalyptic survivors who fell out of every recent era. You're greeted with sad looks. If you don't see the apparition of a skeletal loved one collapsing with weakness and succumbing to their second death, you may just feel the tremors rock through you instead, before you dissolve.

Héctor (the one who isn't Teto) can be found anywhere in the dream, in all forms, sometimes young and dressed in full charro, face healthy and lit with a bright smile. Sometimes he'll appear more as people have seen him, the run down corpse or skeleton. In this case, he'll be wearing old torn rags and a straw hat. In every case he seems disoriented and confused, following through with the actions he would've in the memories the dreams spin-off of. He doesn't seem to know it's a dream, let alone that there are other dreams. He won't be found unless one specifically looks for him, but do so and he'll be there (even with Teto already there, oddly enough).

[bolderfell]

I'll save the details for the actual log write-up, but Therion's dream will have two levels. For the most part, Therion will assume any visitors are just part of his normal dreaming, but if your character touches him, he'll become aware of their actual presence and their stay will shortly end.

I. The first level takes place in dream logic Istanbul, where visiting characters will be child-sized and there'll be all sorts of food and baubles for the stealing. Kid Therion will also be there, of course, and presents a great opportunity to get to know the real Therion and/or pick up some of his history. Nightmare sequences are triggered by borking a theft or otherwise alerting the police or Therion's targets, who will chase you through the streets. If you're caught, you'll be thrown in a holding cell, but li'l Therion will break you out pretty quickly. He's used to it. You can leave this first level of the dream at any time just by walking away long enough.

II. You can only get to the second level by meeting three of the four following criteria:

1. You've already met Therion in person before the dream event.
2. You successfully steal something in the dream.
3. You escape your pursuers or escape from prison.
4. You make Therion laugh or smile.

This level is set in some high cliffs in Greece. You start out alone, and no matter which direction you turn, you can only climb up. A persistent sense of dread or even terror pervades these heights. There are voices above you, but the wind whips most of their words away. Characters who make it to the top will trigger another nightmare sequence where they're yelled at and shoved off, so be aware of that. But on the, uhhh, b...right side (???), they won't fall alone, as a suddenly-there Therion will be tossed off, too. Unfortunately, since we're all trapped asleep, falling won't wake either of you up, and it seems like you're just going to fall forever. If you can't do anything to stop your fall, eventually the dream will just melt back to the first level and you'll be able to leave Therion's dreamscape from there.

[transfusionem]

Adelaide's dream world seems...completely mundane, on the surface. Most of it takes place in a building that seems to be a hodge podge of different buildings. Part English manor, part American house, part dormitory and apartment. The building is free to explore, and seems to be completely endless. Parts of the building are cozy and warm, and other parts are cold and stuffy. Most of the doors in the building are opened, but a few are closed. Opening a closed door leads to a nightmare sequence where the room starts to freeze over, trapping you in place until you, too, are frozen solid.

There's also the constant feeling of being watched and followed in the dream. Staying in one place for too long will trigger another nightmare sequence, this time being attacked by someone you can't see.

Hieke's dream is much more fantastical. For the most part it seems to take place in an impossibly huge set of caverns filled with the Outlands mist - and some other, odd mist that seems to be emitting it's own light. The caverns are anything but empty, though. There are towering fungal trees, clusters of glowing gems, and tiny, skittering creatures all throughout. There are also a lot of options to explore.

Taking the passage to the right will lead you to a large city. The denizens of the city are faceless, but they all have more demonic features than your average faceless shape. They don't seem to pay you any mind, and you're free to wander about the city at your leisure. Interacting with any of the faceless will lead to a nightmare sequence with countless bodies piled up, and the feeling of knowing you are responsible for it.

Taking the passage to the left will lead you to...well. More mushrooms. You find yourself in what looks to be a city made of mushrooms, with a tall, fungal tower in the distance. No matter how much you walk, the tower doesn't get any closer. There are also more faceless people, except they're a bit more fungal than those in the city. Overall the place seems very peaceful, but if you pick any of the mushrooms it will trigger a nightmare sequence. The city will be razed to the ground, and the cavern will start to fill with smoke.

Taking the passage in the center will take you to an underground lake. There's not much there but a boat - and taking the boat triggers a third nightmare sequence, though that won't be readily apparent until you're out on the water. Going out onto the water results in the boat being tipped, and something clawing and biting at you as it drags you down into the depths.