• Graded • CitW: The Waiting Place

[Pegasus]

A Quick Mod-Bomb!

You all hear the twelve words spoken by Alistair - here. You see what he sees (the twins, him flaying Kielik etc)

[Tio Silver]

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

With a scream that sounded just a little bit too high pitched to belong to a fully grown man Tio, his pink nightgown drenched head-to-toe in his own blood, popped into existence in the middle of the waiting room, with Kitty appearing next to him not a moment later.

"OHBYTHEBLOODYSPIRITSWHATTHEHELLJUSTHAPPENED!" Tio shrieked, hugging his body as if to check that he still had all his parts.

"SHE TORE YOU TO PIECES! YOUR SKIN WAS SPREAD OUT ON THE FLOOR LIKE A CARPET! WHY DID SHE DO THAT?!" Kitty screamed back, breathing as if she was on the verge of hyperventilating. Her eyes darted quickly around the other occupants of the room, but when they landed on the unmoving body of Joelle she stopped breathing altogether, and for a few trills her eyes went as wide as saucers. But it was only the calm before the storm. With redoubled effort Kitty screamed again at ear-shattering volume.

"THAT'S JOELLE! THAT'S MY SISTER! THEY KILLED MY SISTER! AAAAAAHHHHHH!

"AND THAT CRAZY MAGE IS FLAYING KIELIK!" Tio yelled, finally spotting the footage playing on the sphere. "AND MY DEAD BODY IS LYING THERE! I'M DEAD!"

"I'VE BEEN DEAD FOR ARCS!"

"THIS ROOM IS COLLAPSING!"

"THE WORLD IS GOING TO BE DESTORYED!"

"AAAAAAHHHHHH! They both screamed, very loudly and very distractingly and they hugged each other and cowered in complete and utter panic at the whole situation. They were not being helpful. They were being the exact opposite of helpful in fact. Go them.

Blind fear had taken complete control of Tio at this point. He needed to get out of here! Through the sphere he could see Alistair trying to flay Kielik, and despite the fact that he could see his own dead body shredded to pieces across the ground he recognized that it was a heck of a lot safer over there than it was here. Acting on instinct he focused on The One, the being that had shredded him to pieces with a thought, and subconsciously wished that he could be where she was.

That he could trade places with her.

Off Topic

Sorry for the edit. After a quick, entirely logical discussion I have decide to try doing something more useful than just screaming and use Tio's action to try and swap places with The One. Or any NPC really.

[Pegasus]

The End.

"But Mama, I don't want to go to bed!"

Silf's mother gently stroked her daughter's hair from her face. Since it happened, things had been so very difficult. Silf had always been a sensitive child, there was no doubting it. Ever with the vivid imagination, seeing things awake which many would be amazed at dreaming. "It's alright, darling. Sleep."

"If I do, Mama, they'll come. I'll see them."

Taryc smiled at her daughter. "No one is seeing anything, darling. No one dreams any more." She didn't know why ~ that was for better brains than hers, but everyone knew it. Yet, her daughter looked up at her with nothing except honesty in her eyes. "I do, Mama."

Taryc shook her head, but Silf reached up and caught her mother's chin, gently, between her tiny fingers. "I dream, Mama. I dream of dragons."


At some points, it had seemed complicated no doubt. But the Choice had always been simple. Forward or back. Onward, or not. What else was there? Because once upon a time, in the middle of a maze, those who held Dominion over Dreams had been placed into a dreamless sleep. It was that which was key ~ a sleep without dreams.

What happened when those with Dominion over Dreams and Nightmares slumbered dreamless? This did. Mortals were drawn in - asked to strip themselves of those things which held them to the waking world so that those who slumbered might be awoken. So that they might once again be who, and what, they were. So that the world might have a chance.

Ari'sora and Hart spoke, they made their choices. Hart had questions, but The One did not answer him. It was almost as though The One did not see him. Or saw his twin, too. Whatever it was, it was.

Then Alistair asked a question about fate. This whole thing, of course, had been about fate ~ destiny. Or just sheer luck. But, whatever it had been, he asked and The One answered. Which caused him to act. Actions which would send ripples throughout all of Emea, and the waking world.

He made his Choice.

Rakvald too, made a choice, and that choice was to leave. So he did. Eliza made her choice, emotion threatening to overwhelm her. Yet, until that moment things were only tipped slightly. There was still Hope.

And then, Tio arrived.

Now, choosing four elements made The One annoyed, and Tio was ripped apart for his impertinence. But then, as Alistair reached in to suck the very soul from the Mortalborn of Nightmares, so too did Tio attempt - from the Waiting Place - to swap places with the One.



"He couldn't know!" She looked at her twin and rolled her eyes as said twin shook her head.

"That is not an excuse!" The second twin was determined. "He knows what is at stake here! He understood and still! Still he tore the still-coalescing form from where it should be!"

"That is easy to say, my sister!" She was in full attack mode, now. "How could he possibly know that The One was the slowly emerging form of the Twins?"

"He was there with Auya Trueheart! He knows - on some level he knows!!"

A slight sigh. "So you would have us take him? Bring him to judgement?"

"No, my sister. I have another idea for Tio Silver. And for Alistair Venora, come to that. Let's go and discuss it with those who will be most interested, shall we?"

It had started as an Idea.

The realisation that the Twins were sleeping and that Emea was dying. The scraps of notions and memories, pulled together and formed. But, the longer the Twins slept, the stronger The One became. Snippets of remembered dreams of her - of him. Snatches of nightmares and Nightmares. Powered by dreams of children and the screaming terror of the same.

It grew stronger.

Because it was holding together this place. This Cathedral of Dreams and Nightmares, Oblivion and Imagination. It was holding it together and, slowly, it was becoming it. Every sacrifice they made which meant they were closer to their true, dreaming selves brought them closer to the twins. To it. To them. Each sacrifice, It discovered, pulled Them closer, the Waking Dreamers, and in doing that, it made It stronger. As Jesine and Kielik merged into one.. into The One, it seemed like things were moving the way they were. The Waking Dreamers would come, they would choose an element and thus, so long as all four were present, with the fifth represented, then the Twins would wake.

But that was not what happened.

One of Them reached and began to rip out Kielik's soul. The One turned all it's attention to this, to stop it, for without Kielik, there would be no Jesine and thus, It would cease to be. The exchange of power was a delicate one and, as The One began to fight against Alistair's attack, the Cathedral began to collapse. Rubble started to fall, revealing the endless chasms of nothingness which awaited them in The Untold. Alistair began to rend Kliek's soul and Emea began to crumble.

The very fabric of the Realm was unravelling, but The One was there to balance it. Unable to stop it, The One could.. at the very least, pull back what It could - save what could be saved. Save Emea.

But then, Tio turned to the Sphere, the Heart of Emea, and he swapped places. For just the briefest trill, Alistair got to drink the full taste of Kielik's soul and the others suddenly all saw. They all saw what Alistair was doing, what Tio did and what The One did, also. For a brief moment they all had absolute, picture-perfect clarity.

And then, Emea ended.

There was no explosion, no fanfare. Fireworks didn't go off, it simply was, and then it was not. The One lifted It's face to the sky, apparently seeking something.

"Father?!"

And it was gone.

And then with a flicker from a shield none of them knew they had, so were they.

And, as the Waiting Place crumbled away, as the Prison fell to nothing, there was nothing else to be done. Not that they could.

It was over. The had come within a hair's breadth of waking the Twins, of saving the world.

But saving the world was a binary thing and, as oblivion enveloped them they knew, each one, what had happened here - what train of event had tipped the scaled and what they did with that in the waking world?

Well... that was a different choice.

Mission Failed......

Off Topic

The events above are, hopefully, clear. Due to PC actions and choices, Emea has been destroyed. This will have global and long term implications. From the beginning of the new season, there will be significant fall out from this event.
No PC involved in this event may post after the date of the event. Please don't assume whether you've lived or died. I'll let you know when I review.
From that date:
Jesine and Kielik are no more
Emea is inaccessible.
Further information, and the consequences of actions here, will follow in the review. Any questions, drop me a pm

[Pegasus]

The Moment

Potential futures, possible pasts and every conceivable instance of 'right now' coalesced in those brief ticks of the timepiece. Immortals watched and, as Emea crumbled, the fabric of the world itself shook. In the waiting place they saw it as Alistair moved and began the process of flaying - of murdering - a sleeping being. A being of Emea, in Emea - part of a pair which, when awake and whole, brought about balance. The son of the Immortal that they knew was here.

Which, some might say, was not the best idea.

Then, after a brief visit where he screamed like a seven arc old girl in a slumber party, Tio Silver attempted to rip the heart of Emea - The One - from the one place It could be. Thus, the two mortals impacted the world and ~literally~ every soul in it. No one was safe, no one was saved. In fact, just the opposite happened. Those two actions combined and a ripple went out across the world ~ in the Waiting Place, they saw it as clearly as anyone could ~ they were witness to the Fall. There was no where to hide because everyone sleeps. The Sphere seemed to almost project the unfolding events, and they all knew, in that moment, that every soul in the world saw them.

Every one.

But for those gathered in The Heart Of The Cathedral, and those in The Waiting Place, it wasn't so much what they saw. No, for them it was a different sense which would haunt them for the rest of their lives. For those gathered heard the Domains of the Immortals crumble and they, alone, were witness to the sound of Immortals... all of the Immortals... crying out in pain as Avatar and Truth merged, as Domains crumbled and the world changed in a completely unexpected way.

The sound was beautiful and awful; no matter who they were, it made their very souls reverberate with pain, with hopes shattered and, of course, dreams lost. It was a sound so beautiful that there was no choice but to sob.

Yet, they didn't really have a chance.

Because as the Domains crumbled, as the Immortals cried in pain, as Emea died, it ejected them. Forcibly. As it did, they all saw the tendril of Kielik's soul whip out and wrap around Alistair. And then, they saw only blackness.

Yet the Song continued.

That was what it was, by this point. A song ~ Emea's Requiem.

As they were exited from Emea... they all shared a vision. The mortals of Idalos saw all that happened here, they knew who had stopped them from dreaming and how - they knew who each and every one of them was. Those gathered here knew it, without doubt. But they all shared a sight no other did, only them.

A desolate landscape, devoid of life or hope ~ a place where none could live, none could be. The tiniest flicker of Emea's breathing. Vast expanse of emptiness and nothingness. And in the middle of it a figure.

Alone.

He lifted one hand and pointed ~ in a direction which did not matter ~ and where he pointed was to them - to their story. Yet, as they looked at the hand which pointed, they all knew who he was.

Or who he once had been.

If Tio Silver had eyes, no doubt he would have cried. But he did not. They had offended him, and thus he plucked them out.

The Review

!	Message from: PLEASE NOTE!
	There are other rewards which will happen - some of these will be.... major. These will come in the 4 x Endgame threads. Please do not assume anything!

Everyone In This Thread

XP: 25
Renown: 20
Dreamwalking XP: 5 (this counts as an Initiation if you need it!)
1 x set of nightclothes
1 x headband.
These are alongside / as well as rewards in tabs.
Please note: Your Dreamscape is what you will need to "solve" in order to pass Stage 1 (see this post and the one below it). However, how you solve it, what the solution is etc, is up to you. It will need to be signed off by me and, I want to see it be a real challenge to your pc psychologically and emotionally. When you have completed (might be one, or multiple threads - multiple is more likely to meet the standard!) - please post here. NO MATTER WHAT - you always hear Emea's Requiem when you sleep. It literally haunts you.What aspects of what I write about your dreamscape are important - and which aren't - are entirely up to you. Thanks for flying Pegasus airlines, we hope you've enjoyed your thread!

Nightshade

Individual Rewards:
None additional.

Cirrina

Despite having died in the earlier round (you went somewhere very pink and fluffy...) - the wish of a certain Kes brought you back into just the right moment to see what happened in the Cathedral. Lucky you!!
Additional Rewards:
+1 invitation to the modded thread I've offered Rakvald. Vri would like a word.

!	Message from: Your Dreamscape
	Cirrina's dreams are of colours and sounds; they are loud and confusing, almost like she's in a kaleidoscope, one of the little pieces of coloured glass herself. The sounds are loud, discordant the images are all flashes of broken things - from cups to bones, all broken. Yet, throughout, she can smell the ocean.

Auya

Additional Rewards:

!	Message from: Your Dreamscape
	Auya dreams of death. Specifically of the Dead Lands and she feels herself turn to dust. Each time she dreams, she's in the same place, crumbling to dust. So, too, is her landscape, but there is always a door. It's plain, wooden, unremarkable. It's always locked and she can always hear the creaking of the hinges. It smells of woodsmoke.

Praetorum

Additional Rewards:
+5 XP
+1 book. This book has 1 x minor enchantment on it. You may PSF it (think of it as a Renown Reward sort of thing?)

!

Message from: Your Dreamscape

Praetorum finds himself sitting the ruins of the Cathedral. He's sitting, cleaning and sharpening his sword. Or, he's trying to but it's crumbling - both the blade and everything he touches to it. Yet, he knows - he's got to make sure that it's sharp and clean because something very important is happening and he has to be ready. There's the sound of a cat mewling somewhere, and the distinctive aroma of coffee.

Tio

Additional Rewards:
+5 XP
No Dreamscape for you!

Eliza

Additional Rewards:
+ 1 moderated thread with one other PC of your choice.
Dreamscape Already Given.

Hart

Additional Rewards:
Dreamscape Already Given.

Nir'wei

Additional Rewards:
+ 1 moderated thread with one other PC from this event of your choice.

!

Message from: Your Dreamscape

Nir'wei is walking through the wreckage of a city - it has been completely decimated, buildings in disarray, rubble all around him. There is dust falling from the sky and Nir'wei knows that the mountain is exploding. The volcano has already claimed so many lives and it's going to go again, you're sure. There are no people, but in the distance you can hear what sounds like muffled cries for help; the problem is they're all around and everywhere. In stark contrast to this, you smell the morning grass.

Dosan

Additional Rewards:
+25 XP
+ 1 moderated thread with one other PC from this event of your choice.
+1 Tarot Card from Joelle.
+ 1 weapon with a moderate enchantment on it (PSF it)
+ 1 ring with 1 x moderate enchantment on it. You may PSF it (as per renown rewards)
+1 teacup which always has a nice, perfect-for-you cup of tea in it.
+1 book. This book has 1 x minor enchantment on it. You may PSF it (think of it as a Renown Reward sort of thing?)

!	Message from: Your Dreamscape
	Dosan is on the roof of a ruined building in a nameless town - the place is a wreck and looks to have been in ruins for a long time at this point. There are tendrils of smoke coming from the remnants of another building and the sound of a dog barking in the distance. The scent of musk is heavy in the air.

Patrick

Additional Rewards:
+ 1 moderated thread with one other PC of your choice.

!	Message from: Your Dreamscape
	Patrick is under water in his dream, in a sunken city. He can breathe fine. The city is desolate, in ruins, yet there's something glittering in the rubble and debris. Every now and then, he sees it. There's the sound of a piano playing and he can smell sulphur.

Rabu

Additional Rewards:
+5 XP
+1 book. This book has 1 x minor enchantment on it. You may PSF it (think of it as a Renown Reward sort of thing?)

!	Message from: Your Dreamscape
	Rabu's dreamscape is a cacophony of sound and colour. It's random, like he's in a storm of jigsaw pieces - there is a picture there, or maybe a hundred - but the pieces are all swirling around you.

Alistair

Additional Rewards:

!	Message from: Your Dreamscape
	Already done

Kesindir

Additional Rewards:

!	Message from: Your Dreamscape
	The wind whips around you, knocking you almost off your feet. Dust flies into your eyes, obscuring your vision. You're on a porch of a wrecked wooden house - broken windows bang, the place is ancient and more or less destroyed. Yet, it smells like toffee.

Rakvald

Additional Rewards:
Modded thread, as identified in "The Choice"

!	Message from: Your Dreamscape
	Already done

Ari'sora

Additional Rewards:

!	Message from: Your Dreamscape
	Already done

Nox

Additional Rewards:

!	Message from: Your Dreamscape
	None, as you did not complete the event.

Sephira

Additional Rewards:
+20 XP
+5 Dreamwalking XP for your work with the Nightmare Beasts.
+1 Tarot Card from Joelle.
+1 book. This book has 1 x minor enchantment on it. You may PSF it (think of it as a Renown Reward sort of thing?)
+ 1 ring with 1 x moderate enchantment on it. You may PSF it (as per renown rewards)
+ 1 bladed weapon with a moderate enchantment on it (PSF it)

!	Message from: Your Dreamscape
	You're in a cave. It's pitch dark except some flickering light - there's the sound of dripping water and you look down and there is blood on the floor. Then, you realise that it isn't blood, it's strawberry jam. Over in the far side of the cave, there's a shelf - it's filled with jams

Kura

Additional Rewards:
+45 XP
+5 Dreamwalking XP

Please Click

When you wake up, Ornery is there. (I couldn't do it!)

+1 Tarot Card from Joelle.
1 x pipe - which always has just the tobacco you want in that moment.
+ 1 bow with a moderate enchantment on it (PSF it)
+ 1 ribbon which allows you to call Vri for a chat.
+ 1 ring with 1 x moderate enchantment on it. You may PSF it (as per renown rewards)
+1 teacup which always has a nice, perfect-for-you cup of tea in it.
+1 book. This book has 1 x minor enchantment on it. You may PSF it (think of it as a Renown Reward sort of thing?)
The Most Important Question: Kura has a small gem which, once a season (not cycle, season) if you are holding it then you know, without doubt, if you are being lied to - it lasts for 1 break.

!	Message from: Your Dreamscape
	Kura is in a forest - the trees are dead, ruined husks. THere are wolves howling in the background and you can smell tobacco.

Amaris

Additional Rewards:

!	Message from: Your Dreamscape
	Amaris is at the top of a mountain - it's burned out and desolate, there are the corpses of many animals around you. It's very windy and there's a path to your left, a cliff face to your right. There is the smell of cooking.

Oluwanje

Additional Rewards:
+5 XP
+1 book. This book has 1 x minor enchantment on it. You may PSF it (think of it as a Renown Reward sort of thing?)

!	Message from: Your Dreamscape
	Already done

Max

Additional Rewards:
+5 XP
+ 1 ring with 1 x minor enchantment on it. You may PSF it. Think of it as a Renown Reward sort of thing.

!	Message from: Your Dreamscape
	Max finds herself in a ruined hospital - an eerie place filled with the remnants of people's lives and deaths. Broken windows let in the warm air and there is the smell of chocolate.

Mute

Additional Rewards:

!	Message from: Your Dreamscape
	None, since you didn't complete the event.

Toraj

Additional Rewards:
+1 moderated thread with a companion PC of your choice from this event.

!	Message from: Your Dreamscape
	The dreamscape which Toraj finds himself in is an abandoned, haunted, spooky old house - a manor-type which looks to have been derelict for decades. There is thick dust everywhere, creaky floorboards, that kind of thing. The house is filled with the smell of lavender.

Gem

Additional Rewards:
+20 XP
+ 1 ribbon which gives you a single communication with Vri, should you wish it. Use it carefully.
+ 1 ring with 1 x moderate enchantment on it. You may PSF it (as per renown rewards)
+1 teacup which always has a nice, perfect-for-you cup of tea in it.
+1 book. This book has 1 x minor enchantment on it. You may PSF it (think of it as a Renown Reward sort of thing?)

!	Message from: Your Dreamscape
	You are sitting on a wooden chair, looking out to sea. The sea is unnaturally still, the sand is dust and there are no birds in the molten dark sky. The sand spans out for, apparently, miles and the unmoving water is hypnotic. You hear a sweet female voice, singing in the distance and you are aware of the scent of roasting chestnuts.

!	Message from: Peg
	FYI: Some people have a lot of XP here - that's done because some people (Kura, for example) posted here a lot more times - each post they posted here, they won't be posting in another thread, where they will be getting rewards etc. Therefore, for every post after the 1st round I gave 5 xp. Please let me know if I've got yours wrong. Any questions - let me know.