How many years can this man exist, before he's allowed to be free?
How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, 'n' how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they're forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind
Yes, 'n' how many years can a mountain exist
Before it's washed to the sea?
Yes, 'n' how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
Yes, 'n' how many times can a man turn his head
And pretend that he just doesn't see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind
Yes, 'n' how many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.
Before you call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, 'n' how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they're forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind
Yes, 'n' how many years can a mountain exist
Before it's washed to the sea?
Yes, 'n' how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
Yes, 'n' how many times can a man turn his head
And pretend that he just doesn't see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind
Yes, 'n' how many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.
"Anthropos apteros, perplexed
To know which turning to take next,
Looked up and wished he were a bird
To whom such doubts must seem absurd.”
To know which turning to take next,
Looked up and wished he were a bird
To whom such doubts must seem absurd.”
Anthropos Apteros' was no more.
Because now, he was awake. Awake and being battered, it seemed, on either side. On one side dreams, the other side nightmares.
Hart, Rey'na, Sephira.
"It's the only name I know for him," Karshe replied to Hart, when he asked why that name.
The two shadowy forms looked at Hart and, as the features grew sharper, more clear, Hart saw the Mortalborn he was expecting. He spoke to them and whilst the male simply seemed to grow stronger, darker, the woman however, shook her head, motioning to the dark form of her brother.
"I.. I don't know" Anthropos Apteros said, his words grinding out. "They've been at war so long, I don't remember before. I can't make any more choices. .... " He lifted his hand to his temple and frowned, deeply. As he did, the shadow of the man behind him grew stronger. More solid.
"I might be wrong," Karshe said softly. "But I think they're fighting over him." She glanced at Hart as she said that, obviously not entirely sure.
As for the man at the centre of all this, he looked then, to Sephira, as she asked her questions. Frowning, Anthropos Apteros considered it, but ultimately the battle raging for his sleeping mind, and his waking one, twisted his mind and damaged his soul. His answer was ground out through gritted teeth, but he was trying to answer... to remain lucid. "The maze... the people. All in my dreams," he said, looking at her. "I dreamed of people and animals, and I asked them to help. Need help." She got no more of an answer, yet Sephira made her choice.
Wyn spoke to Sephira softly. "He's dreaming us?"
There was very limited time to answer, however, as Rey'na appeared there, with them. She, in Devin's body, also spoke and her choices were the same as Harts. Almost entirely unanimous, the three of them, there was just one bone of contention.. desire or duty?
"I'll make sure, but you've got to get out," Karshe said.
Eliza & Patrick
Hand in hand they went, the pair of them and they arrived at the centre of the maze. Eliza, for such her name was, spoke to Anthropos Apteros and he nodded his head. To Patrick, also, he nodded, looking at them and seeming to want to speak; to try to communicate. It wasn't that he couldn't hear them, or them hear him in return, but the winged man seemed to be locked in a sort of soundless conversation with the two shadowy beings. Those two beings seemed to be locked in some sort of a tussle and yet, as Eliza and Patrick watched, there seemed to be a shift in the power dynamic.
The woman pushed back against the man who, from their angle, seemed to be winning in the battle for Anthropos Apteros'... soul? But then, the whole world changed, in a blink.
All Five Of You
And so, the mortals made their choices. When they did, their voices echoed in the clearing, reverberating around and they might each notice that there were more voices than there were people here. Other voices, unknown, unrecognised also bounced around the clearing. As that happened, they blinked and there they were. The five of them. Those they knew, those they had seen in mirrors. Yet others who were completely unknown. Five out of all of them had made it here and here? They had choices to make.
Their choices made, a decision had been put before them and, almost unanimously, made. It would have long term implications, that decision. It would shape the Dreamscape for seasons to come, would impact the life of the man Anthropos Apteros once was, and would be again.
Or, more precisely, it would have had implications. But then, one Mortalborn touched another, prompting a series of events, a chain reaction which rippled out throughout the Maze, across Scalvoris.
And, all over Idalos, dreamers trembled and cried out in their sleep.
Anthropos Apteros screamed.
Jesine gasped in amazement as the dreamer, the one whose body had been kept alive and who had been tortured with vision after vision by those who performed their experiments on him, not only screamed but also burst into a ball of blinding white light. Both Jesine and Kielik burst into the same light. As Hart touched the children of Vri, the five mortals and their assorted animals, were knocked clean off their feet as bright light exploded out. The force of it was a physical one, like the shockwave of an explosion.
Which, of course, it was.
And it was an explosion which made Emea tremble.
As the blast rippled out through the Maze, those within it were affected in ways both seen and, as yet, unseen. Emea tore as the twins who walked it fell into dreamless sleep. A thousand Nighmares roared and the five there heard their cries echoing in their very souls. Yet the hopeful dreams of a thousand children also fell through the fissure newly created and those tinkling sounds were heard too.
Then, the light dimmed and all was silent. The five of them were scattered around a clearing. With them were their animal companions, equally disoriented and confused. Yet, still able to speak; though mind to mind with their partner. Hart, who had seen and experienced much more, was unconscious at first, although he woke soon, after a few moments.
And there, in the middle of the patch of green was the naked form of an elderly human man. He was quite dead.
Epilogue
He had been a child when they'd taken him.
A young boy. A twin, he and his sister. They'd taken them because they were both born able to walk in dreams. Powerfully so. And so, they had experimented, questioned, probed. At first, that was all they'd done, but then they started to cut, to force ingestion of different poisons, chemicals... as their abductors grew more desperate, so too did the treatment the children received grow more extreme. Should any of the five, and their assorted companions, move forward to examine him, the corpse on the floor, the extent of his mistreatment at anonymous hands was obvious in the scars on his skin.
Above them, the clouds broke and the sun shone on Scalvoris once more. Stray debris blew in the gentle breeze.
But, of course, everything had changed.
Ok, so, that is ENTIRELY not the ending I had planned. Well done, Hart, on surprising the beejeebus out of me! This thread has now become a Global Impact thread and those pc's who are in it will have a number of ramifications.
You may all post ONE more time, then I will review. Please note the following:
1. Any and all "weird swapping" has stopped. When she sits up, Rey'na is herself again, for example. Monkeys and lions are back to the right size, etc.
2. Every pc in this group now has the Dreamwalking Skill. I am awarding you each 10XP in it (that's the equivalent of 10 dream threads).
3. Hart. You have just unlocked a new Mortalborn Power. Lets discuss that, shall we?
4. There will be other things. These will become apparent in the review. I will review on the 23rd January. Please post before then.
5. This thread will lead on to an emea-based plot next season. You are all Golden Ticket Holders.
May I just say that, the thing that I love the MOST about modding and storytelling is moments like this. Thanks! Congratulations, you five. You just changed the world.......
Because now, he was awake. Awake and being battered, it seemed, on either side. On one side dreams, the other side nightmares.
Hart, Rey'na, Sephira.
"It's the only name I know for him," Karshe replied to Hart, when he asked why that name.
The two shadowy forms looked at Hart and, as the features grew sharper, more clear, Hart saw the Mortalborn he was expecting. He spoke to them and whilst the male simply seemed to grow stronger, darker, the woman however, shook her head, motioning to the dark form of her brother.
"I.. I don't know" Anthropos Apteros said, his words grinding out. "They've been at war so long, I don't remember before. I can't make any more choices. .... " He lifted his hand to his temple and frowned, deeply. As he did, the shadow of the man behind him grew stronger. More solid.
"I might be wrong," Karshe said softly. "But I think they're fighting over him." She glanced at Hart as she said that, obviously not entirely sure.
As for the man at the centre of all this, he looked then, to Sephira, as she asked her questions. Frowning, Anthropos Apteros considered it, but ultimately the battle raging for his sleeping mind, and his waking one, twisted his mind and damaged his soul. His answer was ground out through gritted teeth, but he was trying to answer... to remain lucid. "The maze... the people. All in my dreams," he said, looking at her. "I dreamed of people and animals, and I asked them to help. Need help." She got no more of an answer, yet Sephira made her choice.
Wyn spoke to Sephira softly. "He's dreaming us?"
There was very limited time to answer, however, as Rey'na appeared there, with them. She, in Devin's body, also spoke and her choices were the same as Harts. Almost entirely unanimous, the three of them, there was just one bone of contention.. desire or duty?
"I'll make sure, but you've got to get out," Karshe said.
Eliza & Patrick
Hand in hand they went, the pair of them and they arrived at the centre of the maze. Eliza, for such her name was, spoke to Anthropos Apteros and he nodded his head. To Patrick, also, he nodded, looking at them and seeming to want to speak; to try to communicate. It wasn't that he couldn't hear them, or them hear him in return, but the winged man seemed to be locked in a sort of soundless conversation with the two shadowy beings. Those two beings seemed to be locked in some sort of a tussle and yet, as Eliza and Patrick watched, there seemed to be a shift in the power dynamic.
The woman pushed back against the man who, from their angle, seemed to be winning in the battle for Anthropos Apteros'... soul? But then, the whole world changed, in a blink.
All Five Of You
Their choices made, a decision had been put before them and, almost unanimously, made. It would have long term implications, that decision. It would shape the Dreamscape for seasons to come, would impact the life of the man Anthropos Apteros once was, and would be again.
Or, more precisely, it would have had implications. But then, one Mortalborn touched another, prompting a series of events, a chain reaction which rippled out throughout the Maze, across Scalvoris.
And, all over Idalos, dreamers trembled and cried out in their sleep.
Anthropos Apteros screamed.
Jesine gasped in amazement as the dreamer, the one whose body had been kept alive and who had been tortured with vision after vision by those who performed their experiments on him, not only screamed but also burst into a ball of blinding white light. Both Jesine and Kielik burst into the same light. As Hart touched the children of Vri, the five mortals and their assorted animals, were knocked clean off their feet as bright light exploded out. The force of it was a physical one, like the shockwave of an explosion.
Which, of course, it was.
And it was an explosion which made Emea tremble.
As the blast rippled out through the Maze, those within it were affected in ways both seen and, as yet, unseen. Emea tore as the twins who walked it fell into dreamless sleep. A thousand Nighmares roared and the five there heard their cries echoing in their very souls. Yet the hopeful dreams of a thousand children also fell through the fissure newly created and those tinkling sounds were heard too.
Then, the light dimmed and all was silent. The five of them were scattered around a clearing. With them were their animal companions, equally disoriented and confused. Yet, still able to speak; though mind to mind with their partner. Hart, who had seen and experienced much more, was unconscious at first, although he woke soon, after a few moments.
And there, in the middle of the patch of green was the naked form of an elderly human man. He was quite dead.
Epilogue
He had been a child when they'd taken him.
A young boy. A twin, he and his sister. They'd taken them because they were both born able to walk in dreams. Powerfully so. And so, they had experimented, questioned, probed. At first, that was all they'd done, but then they started to cut, to force ingestion of different poisons, chemicals... as their abductors grew more desperate, so too did the treatment the children received grow more extreme. Should any of the five, and their assorted companions, move forward to examine him, the corpse on the floor, the extent of his mistreatment at anonymous hands was obvious in the scars on his skin.
Above them, the clouds broke and the sun shone on Scalvoris once more. Stray debris blew in the gentle breeze.
But, of course, everything had changed.
If we spirits have offended, think but this and all is mended.....
Ok, so, that is ENTIRELY not the ending I had planned. Well done, Hart, on surprising the beejeebus out of me! This thread has now become a Global Impact thread and those pc's who are in it will have a number of ramifications.
You may all post ONE more time, then I will review. Please note the following:
1. Any and all "weird swapping" has stopped. When she sits up, Rey'na is herself again, for example. Monkeys and lions are back to the right size, etc.
2. Every pc in this group now has the Dreamwalking Skill. I am awarding you each 10XP in it (that's the equivalent of 10 dream threads).
3. Hart. You have just unlocked a new Mortalborn Power. Lets discuss that, shall we?
4. There will be other things. These will become apparent in the review. I will review on the 23rd January. Please post before then.
5. This thread will lead on to an emea-based plot next season. You are all Golden Ticket Holders.
May I just say that, the thing that I love the MOST about modding and storytelling is moments like this. Thanks! Congratulations, you five. You just changed the world.......