westwhere | a little dream of her

a little dream of her | part i

A LITTLE DREAM OF HER

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This is the first of two logs covering the Dream county travel Arc — it stretches until 23 April OOCly and covers roughly one IC week. There is an entirely optional wedding mystery plot, which will depend heavily on information gathering, sharing and deduction, rather than on supernatural powers.

Boarding scenarios for existing and new characters are covered under the Old Timers and New Arrivals header, respectively. Click on the tabs for details!

OLD TIMERS

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Absorbing Wrath, Licyn and Yelena’s feedback, King Deimar of Alem decides against joining his brother Haiva in ‘noble sacrifice’ to hell. Good news for the party, who depends on royal savvy to reach Alem’s otherworld transport beacon, buried in the labyrinthine tunnels beneath crumbling Alem.

■ Deimar and his paladins guide small groups back to the beacon — but the keypoint’s war-drained energies only let a handful of party members out. Characters who have dropped or been swept by AC during Arc VI go home. You can also canon update your character now.

The party must heads onwards east, boarding a dreamy train at a station near Hassir. Here, find exotic stalls with wares once intended for Alem — from the latest travel fashions, to unlucky artefacts, heavy alcohol and narcotics. You can even purchase a domestic ghost.

Whether the Merchant supplies a ticket or false staff uniforms for you to proactively sneak aboard, don’t dally — this train runs like clockwork.

NEW ARRIVALS

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You wake up to claustrophobia, ash and gravel in your mouth — and a sense of urgency: run. Midway through a slovenly, rattling underground corridor, you meet an irritable woman, who leads you out, at the foot of a serene, smoke-topped mountain.

The woman passes you a pendant that allows you to understand her and to communicate with others like you. You are one of many otherworlders brought into Akhuras by undead lords who seek to weaponise you, as they battle humans and each other for dominion. Don’t believe her? Look up. The holy citadel Alem yet burns before the dead armies of Rahakku.

The woman is Karsa, an associate of the elusive Merchant, who collects and leads otherworlders east, where ancient beacons can transport them home.

Regrettably, you’re late — you arrived with the unexpected last gasps of Alem’s dying beacon and must now catch up with the others, who’ve departed on the Sandman train express.

WHY THE LONG FACE?

Karsa barters for a carriage led by two nightmare horses, along with several such steeds for confident riders. These are mercurial mounts and dizzyingly fast — your only shot to reach a train travelling through Dream county.

■ Karsa warns you must not fall asleep during travel. The horses will invade your nightmares, consuming your vital energy while you suffer asleep.

■ Talk at all times or sound the shrill silver bells Karsa provides to wake up any sleepers.

You reach the seaside village of Kyari, where you must board the incoming Sandman express. Regrettably, the horses have left Karsa with just enough coin for one ticket for the wounded Dean Winchester. Everyone else: make do.

You must also help Karsa sneak in fist-sized, forbidden dream boxes. Try to avoid the Sandman’s guards and their canine sentries, who scent newly boarding passengers for such contraband. Return the boxes to Karsa once on the train.

You’ve got 45 minutes to board, once the Sandman reaches its rustic station. Some options?

■ Play stowaway and break the rustier locks of the economy class cars.

■ Sweet talk the depressed Conductor. You bought, but just… forgot your ticket.

■ Distract the guards while your group boards, so they can sneak you on after.

■ Plant dream contraband on another would-be passenger, when the dogs draw close.

■ Ride one of those god-forsaken horses and jump on top of the train once it starts moving, then make your way in through ceiling hatches. God help.

A fully veiled young woman might lend you a hand.

THE SANDMAN

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All aboard… the Sandman, a majestic 100-car train that gallops on an emaciated railway across Dream county. Ghosts and dream residents wave as it passes by.

The Sandman stops once after leaving Alem, at seaside village Kyari, before crossing the abyss of the Cradle — the turbulent, storm-prone birthplace of dreams, where it is constantly night-time.

Some say the Cradle is only a cauldron for those who steal dreams or make them into living things. Others say the Cradle has its own mind.

To avoid igniting dream storms, passengers are strictly prohibited from carrying dream tokens and performing dream magic. Characters find their powers are significantly reduced while travelling on the Sandman.

New arrivals join the Sandman at Kyari with group caretaker Karsa, who introduces them to the old party.

■ The Sandman offers exquisite single-person compartments with en-suite bathrooms for First Class passengers, while Second Class travellers share generous cabins in pairs, and up to four voyagers can bunk up in… cozy Third Class cabins. Shared bathrooms and a small sauna cabin are also available.

■ You can hide in the staff, luggage or coal stock rooms.

■ You can decide your character’s First/Second/Third Class, staff or stowaway status. (Pick a job for staff!)

■ The LOST & FOUND booth contains an assortment of clothes and items forgotten by passengers, which you can raid (within reason). Latest findings: cigarettes, medical-grade opiate powders, a a beautiful green dress and pink striped men’s suit, all brought in after the Sandman leaves Kyari.

■ Amenities range from dining & bar carts to game, exercise and cinema halls where the (PG-13!) pleasant dreams you’ve gambled away can be viewed freely, or passengers can hold recitals or seminars.

■ You can gamble in regular currency or pleasant dreams (not memories).

■ Travellers are polite and social. You learn early on that you share a voyage with renown heroine and First Class passenger Firo, who, alongside her friends and sister party, picks up her bride Prassenze from Kyari.

■ Within two hours of leaving Kyari, the sky begins to darken, becoming pitch black and occasionally loudly stormed. It stays a starless night time throughout your journey over the Cradle.

■ For communal safety, windows and doors are locked and magically enforced shut after the train departs Kyari. The nightmare storms within the Cradle region crackle with highly chaotic energy that can (re)shape reality, endangering passengers. Deputy conductor Michel Bauc holds the window and door keys. An irritating, tinny, train-wide alarm sounds if anyone tries to force a window open.

■ You might sometimes find fellow passengers trying to exit the train or open the windows to join the storms, while they nap. Do wake up them up.

■ Whether you’re an insomniac or don’t typically need sleep, you find you fall instantly asleep at midnight and awaken refreshed by 8 a.m.

■ A skeletal crew serves the Sandman at night. The most authoritative figure is gloomy Conductor Rossakoff, who slinks silently across the train.

THE MENU

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Trot down to the dining carts for an unforgettable meal included with your ticket. Formal evening attire is expected during dinner. Some courses are lightly sparkled with stimulants that deepen certain aspects of diner’s emotions during the meal — this is not disclosed ICly, but visible to you OOCly in the menu. (ex: the Ham and Laughter Eggs triggers roaring laughter and a good disposition ).

BREAKFAST

SUPPER & DINNER

SNACKS & BEVERAGES

DREAM SMUGGLERS

The new arrivals helped Karsa bring contraband aboard, but they’ve steps to go to their final destination. The sorceress doles out fist-sized boxes containing precious dream fragments of happiness, sadness, fear, surprise, anger, guilt or disgust — explicitly prohibited cargo that regains its magical properties once aboard the Sandman.

Each box comes with instructions for drop off under a dining hall table at midday, under a roulette table by 6 p.m. or in the coal room by 8 p.m. Karsa says the deliveries are an explicit favour from the Merchant to an old (dream thief) friend aboard the Sandman.

■ Pair up for your run! Those who hold dream boxes feel their emotions to a player-chosen degree of intensity, throughout their adventure.

■ Beware the vigilant guards of the Sandman, who run frequent searches for illicit dream artefacts. Some bring dream-catching dogs who catch the scent of the dreamed things.

■ You may feel unusually sleepy while holding dream boxes. Doze, and you wake up to find your dreams have summoned a wo/man, child or animal whose temperament embodies the box’s emotion. They can’t help drawing attention, but slowly disappear within 30-60 minutes — wait, are those the guards?

■ Caught smugglers are locked into ‘jail’ cabins, while their contraband is placed in the office of Conductor Rossakoff. First-time captives can be bailed out at ludicrous expense or in exchange for maid service, but repeat offenders are jailed
for the rest of the voyage. Liberate your dream box back from the Conductor’s strangely barren, otherwise untouched compartment.

■ Successfully delivered boxes feed into the mystery of the missing bride. You mysteriously fall asleep to a sweet dream if you wait to meet the collector — and wake up to a feeling of wrongness, as if reality is mute and diffuse around you, before your hearing and vision resettle.

THE GROUNDHOG WEDDING: A MYSTERY

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Firo’s bride Prassenze boards the Sandman from Kyari. She comes alone, veiled head to toe, and only brings a modest case. She is short, thin, pale and shy, prone to silence and retiring to her cabin at the earliest opportunity — a far cry from boisterous Firo.

…so much so that Firo’s sister Lita and friends Dulcinea, Maiza and Attru tell anyone who’ll listen that Firo is marrying this girl after courting her for six months through correspondence. Even bashful Hugo admits the pair is… perhaps a little mismatched. This is their first in-person encounter.

■ The wedding party members plead or offer coin for you to coerce the loving pair to delay their marriage — or to sabotage the wedding, due to take place in two days.

■ An enthusiastic Firo meanwhile asks if you can help with celebratory clothing or wedding ornaments.

■ Shortly after, Lita appears lost in her thoughts and altogether not there, clutching a letter in hand, the day after the Sandman departs Kyari.

HERE COMES THE BRIDE... AGAIN

1.0

No one forgets their wedding night — least of all brave Firo, who, vows performed, makes merry with her group and timid bride over a magnificent feast in the dining halls. Everyone is invited.

The blushing bride is visibly infatuated with Firo, but overwhelmed by the loud, relentless social activity. She hardly speaks to anyone, other than Firo, whose friends complain increasingly loudly that Prassenze is aloof, a cold fish, and thinks herself above them.

Prassenze excuses herself to freshen up in her cabin. Nearly an hour’s absence later, a worried Firo checks up on her — finding the bride’s compartment locked from the inside. Once the door is forced open, the partygoers — and you? — discover the inside stormed, bridal veils discarded on the floors, and windows widely open as the Cradle’s nightmare tempests rage.

The bride has vanished.

Terrified, Firo questions everyone in earnest, accepting your assistance to find Prassenze.

2.0.

You wake up next morning to find everyone reliving the same wedding day, which only fellow otherworlders recall. Squinting outside, you see new landscape — suggesting the Sandman has covered a day’s journey.

The bride Prassenze is present again, but sharply different in appearance and manner. Now, she is closer to Firo in size, her build athletic. Her manner is brusque, assertive, commanding. Some in Firo’s group are put off, others frightened. Firo appears a little taken aback by her bride’s domineering nature.

During the second wedding, a drunk Maiza and Dulcinea quarrel with Prassenze, who doesn’t back down. A frustrated Firo tries to break the fight, verbally lashing out at her friends for drinking and at Prassenze for stooping to their intoxicated level.

Prassenze storms to her cabin. She is once more found missing, when searched. As before, her compartment was locked from the inside, the window is wide open, and her veils have been abandoned.

3.0.

You wake up to a third wedding day, with only party otherworlders recalling the past two days. Prassenze looks and acts differently from the first and second wedding day — now she is of average build and height, with an especially jovial, overly friendly manner, prone to laughter and pranks. This time, she drinks with Firo’s friends, plays (and wins!) at many of their card and dice games, humours their stories and even flirts — but is so devoted to Firo’s group that she accidentally neglects Firo herself throughout the day. Firo repeatedly tries to coax her to spend time together, but fails, and abandons her during the wedding feast — perhaps meeting you for a drink instead?

Realising she has driven Fire away, a distressed Prassenze once more withdraws into her compartment at the end of the (third) wedding night — and disappears, leaving the same clues behind as on the first and second wedding day.

There are no further repetitions and time passes regularly after the third wedding day. The morning after, apothecary passenger Rigolante mentions asks Conductor Rossakoff to conduct a search, as some of his herbs and measuring tools have gone missing.

■ Player characters can change events and investigate during the second and third ~~groundhog~~ wedding days. Regrettably, Prassenze still disappears.

■ Non-PC characters and the Sandman’s crew only recall the third wedding day.

■ Conductor Rossakoff says the number of dreamers whose dreams help propel the Sandman during the obligatory midnight-8 a.m. nap — what do you know, you were helping all along! — has stayed the same since leaving Kyari, meaning the bride is alive on board. No one seems able to find her… help a distraught Firo find her missing wife!

CAST & CREW

	FIRO Good-humoured, sincere and just heroine, renown for her many feats of bravery — from rescuing villages to outwitting sphinxes and challenging immortals. Loud and prone to laughter. Quick to tell everyone about her beloved Prassenze.
	CONTESSA LITA Doting older sister of Firo, married to a Count who prefers a quiet life at his countryside estate. Preposterously wealthy and fashionable. Life of every party.
	MAIZA Once a gifted mathematician, Maiza quickly realized there is more money for the modern man to make from his brawns than his brains. After retraining as a barbarian, he served as muscle (and accountant) during many of Firo’s adventures..
	ATTRU The prince of a distant land, some say descended from wolves. Walks among men to learn their ways. Looks young, but will mention at least three wives and five children in the first five minutes of conversation. Smooth.
	DULCINEA Redeemed mercenary, who once used to sell her sword to anyone with the coin to spare — some say, even the dead! Turned an honest leaf after meeting Firo, of whom she is very protective. At times still sinister at her edges.
	HUGO A pilot turned priest, or a priest turned pilot. Met Firo during his many travels. Soft-spoken, mild-mannered, but jittery, with the kind of thin nerves that suggest he has survived numerous fraught circumstances.
	RIGOLANTE An apothecary of exotic drugs and herbs. He had hoped to make his fortune in Alem, but arrived just as the fortress crumbled, before he could sell enough of his wares. Prays he will find better fortune east.
	CONDUCTOR ROSSAKOFF The gloom and doom of the Sandman, eerily tall, slinking and silent. Passengers prefer to deal with deputy conductor Michael Bauc because of Rossakoff’s intimidating and discouraging presence. Takes a hard stand on smuggling or passenger misbehaviour and all but worships the Sandman.
	PRASSENZE The all-veiled bride of Firo, boarding at Kyari. Not once, not twice, but thrice disappeared.

IC TIMELINE

Day 01: Boarding at Hassir/Alem (morning)

Day 03: Boarding at Kyari (midday); within two hours of departing, the Sandman starts journeying on the railway above the abyssal Cradle — the sky is pitch black at all hours, nightmare storms rattle the train.

Day 04: Lita begins to behave airily, as if she’s not quite present.

Day 05: First wedding (16:00) and wedding feast (19:00)

Day 06: Second wedding (16:00) and wedding feast (19:00)

Day 07: Third wedding (16:00) and wedding feast (19:00).

Day 08: Rigolante asks Conductor Rossakoff to enforce a search for his missing herbs and recipients.

QUESTIONS

NPC THREADS

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[ Around, she says, with all the impenetrable obscurity he'd been expecting. So-called husband, beloved Count, a lovely story, a pleasant...dream.

Some point. Somewhere. Yes, precisely.

And then the dog, just perfectly there right on cue. Excellent. ]

It does frighten, though, particularly the chance of nightmares, but when you say not to worry, I do believe you, Contessa. [ Yes, absolutely. Complete faith. Oh, he's so terribly frightened, too. ]

How do you mean, though, or your husband, that dreams use you? [ Husband, yes, the one who exists some wave of the hand away in a distant hazy realm. ]

Is that why I caught a poor chap earlier trying to leave while he was dead asleep?

[ And Prassenze...seemingly out in it, the storms raging through the opened windows... ]

Well, I don't know that much about it, dear. It's not for a silly little woman to say. Might give me nightmares. ( But she's still talking, and there's something to be said for that. ) All I remember people saying is, there used to be dream thieves, they'd pick and prod and make their dream things come alive in the Cradle, and that got it all angry.

( She holds out her emptied cup, pointedly, as if calling on the Doctor to be a pet and head on to the bar, and have it replenished. More of the same. )

Like a child, really. A proper baby, throwing a tantrum. Imagine that.

[ Dutifully, of course, the Doctor is more than willing to top off her drink, and when he returns, it's set down again for her with his patented warm smile; overly warm, overly bright, so enraptured. Keep her talking.

Cradle. Baby. Child. Tantrum. ]

All children need rules, of course. Guidance. Direction. Do react a bit poorly at times, they're young, can you blame them?

[ Cradle. Baby. Child. Tantrum. Thieves poking and prodding. The Cradle lashing out, like a child. His mind works faster than usual, trying to connect it all. ]

What's out there, those storms, the Cradle itself—mad thought, that's me, but I do wonder if anyone's ever tried talking to it. I've talked to all sorts of things before, you know. And listened. I'll listen to anything at all, I love a good story. Particularly yours, Contessa.

( She takes her drink, then a first sip of it, a pleased moan pronouncing the gentleman's job well done. A fine thing, sparing her the trouble to lift herself from the seat. She can almost feign gratitude. )

I haven't spoken to any Cradle. Certainly don't think I'd ever want it talking back. I've told you, I really don't know much about it. It's all very... smart and whimsy, for people with certain tastes and abilities, and that was never me. No, I'm the plainer sister.

Plain? Hardly. Delightful company, you are! I'll be hard pressed to leave your side this evening, honestly.

[ He reaches for his untouched drink, tips it back and forth, feigning interest, before setting it down again. ]

Since it's all a bit of whimsy, as you said, perhaps you know of anyone else who understands the Cradle a bit, who might have seen the dream things come alive in it?

( Laughter, thin. )

It's awfully caught your attention, hasn't it? I find it all a little scary, myself, but what do I know?

( Much, and well weaponized, by the looks of it. ) I suppose Hugo and Firo might know a thing or too, they're well travelled enough. Or Maiza — he looks the fool, but he's actually quite the scholar. And sweet.

Suppose I'll have a chat with them soon. Tomorrow, though, not tonight! No, tonight is all about Contessa Lita and her fascinating story. Bit coy, though, bit modest, thinking your life isn't nearly so interesting as your sister's. You have my undivided attention.

[ He—amazingly—resists the urge to get up and wander over to the Cradle again to look out. Later, he'll study it more. ]

It scares you, does it? Well, not to worry, I'm familiar with dangerous things, scary things, things that go bump in the night. And look at me here, eh, come through it all! Just stick with me, we'll stay inside safe and protected, and you'll get back to your husband. A learned man, you said—meant to ask, what does he do? I'm a learned man myself. Oh, I didn't properly introduce myself, I do forget. I'm the Doctor!

...pardon me, you're the Doctor... who? ( Surely, she's misheard. One of those names, all vowels. A foreigner. )

My husband is... a private gentleman. Of old roots. But a modern perspective. It won't shock you that Firo and I weren't born to all of life's luxuries. But he saw beyond that, and we have been married despite the original differences in our status.

Exactly, yes. Just Doctor. Of many things. A learned man, like I mentioned. Here to help! [ It never gets old. Doctor who, yes, exactly. Delights him every time, and his smile is all the brighter for it. ]

Differences in status, though, bit like your sister and her bride.

[ Leaning in closer now, resting his forearms on his knees. ]

How long have you been on this train, Contessa? You know so much, I only wondered. How long do you still have to go on your journey?

...right. Right, you're here to help. ( Something about him, the breezy way in which he transitions from one subject to the next seems to rattle, to sting. She hesitates, suddenly retreating within herself. )

We were supposed to go til the end of the line together, then leave the lovebirds to their honeymoon. Now, I don't think there's a need for it. We'll get off at the first stop. I'm sure there's great evil to fight somewhere, and Firo could do with a distraction.

[ Admittedly, he misses things, gets things wrong, misinterprets, or simply doesn't recognize social cues the way humans would. But there seems to be a shift in her tone now, compared to the easy smile she'd given him earlier. He has, perhaps, misstepped. How many times has he been scolded about that by Clara, by Amy, by countless friends?

Were you being you? He can almost hear them. Too much, too loud, perhaps. ]

I was on a train like this once, a long time ago, far from here. Outside there was...something dark and terrible. Only, it got inside through a crack and it was a long day, getting it back out safely, where it couldn't hurt anyone.

[ Glossing over the finer, more terrible details. ]

Suppose it's rattled me a bit, the memory of it, you were right. But I trust you, that we're safe inside. I only worry, when you all get off, will you be safe, too? What's out there, it won't follow anyone so long as you've stayed inside this whole time and the windows and doors stay closed?

Oh, goodness, no. ( All at once, the tension that had subtly climbed her shoulders seems to disperse, and she amuses herself with a short sip of her drink, waving away the Doctor's concerns. )

No, dear, sweet thing, we're all good and safe, once we've passed through the Cradle. It's like a... uhhhh... oh, I'm no good, no good at all, I barely make any sense, but look. It's like going all the way in the ocean, where the winds're strong. You're just fine when you're out of the area, and there's nothing following you home. It's, uhhhh... geography? Yeah. Sure.

( ...sounds about right. )

The worst thing that can happen to us are dream thieves or the Cradle. That's all there is to this journey.

You've explained it perfectly! [ She's thought less of herself more than once, and seemed altogether not quite...here. Which would trouble him regardless, but there's obviously more to her story. ] It's a spot on the map, so to speak, I understand.

[ Yes. Sure. Absolutely. He wants to know more about both the Cradle and these dream thieves, but she's either unwilling to share or truly as unaware as she says. ]

Dream thieves—worrisome lot. You mentioned hearing others speak of them. You were lucky not to encounter any yourself, I hope?

( Here, she shudders subtly, drawing her drink up, lips to the glass rim, but failing to gulp down any of the alcohol. )

Dreadful people. Of course, my husband doesn't want us liaising with those sort, but you can't help crossing all kinds in life. You ask me, they're just... evil. Oh, they say all magic's alike, but this one isn't. ( More heatedly: ) It isn't.

It's taking what's in someone's dream, and just plucking it out, like... like pinching your brows. And putting it back in here, with us and all the other wakers, and no one knows better. Not one soul. It's like it was always there. You're just... rewriting everyone's lives. It's horrifying, is what it is. Makes you wonder, what's real, and what isn't?

( She does drink, now. ) Worse is, thieves look just like us. Golly me, but you could be one, and I wouldn't know any different.

[ Incredibly troubling, to say the least, though something he's also familiar with, unfortunately so. The Dream Lord had fed on him, after all, and made him question his reality.

He's loath to think of anyone here being dealt that same hand, even if the circumstances are different. And here, he frowns in genuine concern. ]

That is dreadful, Contessa, absolutely terrible. I'm sorry you ever had to worry over it. Lucky for all of us there are rules, keeping it from happening like it did once.

And there was never a way to know, not a single indication, what was real or what wasn't? How was it stopped, how were they...caught and how were you protected from them? Well, as protected as can be, if they're still out there in some fashion.

That I'm not as sure of. All this... magic talk's got nothing to do with me. All I know is what I'm grateful for, that these awful hooligans have been hunted down, and we're all safe minding our own business.

( Which, in her case, appears to be knowing the business of everyone else. A fine distraction.

She settles back in her chair, one leg crossed over its brother, dangling. Then, she starts fishing through her purse, chasing down her letters and a pen. )

Well, I've kept you long enough. ( This, in the kindly voice of a woman dismissing. ) I'm afraid I've got to take care of my correspondence.

( Privately. ) It was so lovely meeting you, Doctor. I'll remember you, next time my awful migraines come about.

[ And the layers of their dear Contessa continue to unfold. More with the letters, mail, and he recalls catching brief sight of her seemingly...not pleased about a letter she held in her hand, after they'd left Kyari. Too focused on the Cradle, he should have asked more, though he then would have risked her shutting down completely too soon.

He's been restraining himself quite well all told, leaning into all that he's learned from his dearest human friends about etiquette and boundaries. Trying not to be him and agitate someone by expecting answers before he's earned trust. Even though he should be given answers, obviously, because he's here to help, why shouldn't he be given answers. Yet, amazingly, the Doctor simply gives her a polite nod and warm smile, reaching for his still-full drink. ]

Do call on me if they give you trouble, I have a tincture that'll work a treat. And if you need anyone to confide in, I won't be far. I saw you after we left Kyari, that letter in your hand, and you looked troubled to say the least.

[ Since she's dismissed him anyway, he risks nothing by pushing more on that, the one thing he was impatiently trying to work up to.

With his free hand, he crosses his hearts, his voice barely above a whisper. ]

Your secrets are always safe with me.

Edited 2023-04-11 16:41 (UTC)

( Her smile chills, wanes, depletes itself. She hardly remembers to look up now. )

I hope you have a good rest, Doctor.

( And, squarely, she lets him be, intent on ignoring him until he exits her line of vision. )

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a little dream of her | part i

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