a little dream of her | part i

[groundrules]

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

Comments

Clotilde

[yeahmagnets]

[ ooc note: i know that it says npc threads needed to be finished yesterday, but i only just received a clue for jesse, so i'm hoping i can skirt by with this? if it would be easier for me to just ask ooc questions, let me know and i'll switch to that instead. i'm fine either way! totally do what is best for the game/easiest for the plot etc. no pressure :) ]

Jesse's sitting in one of the dining cars, relaxing as he digests. He's mostly finished his food, though some scraps remain on his plate. He picks up his drink to take a sip when, suddenly, a couple of staff members appear beside him. Normally, he'd ignore them entirely, but the tone of their conversation sounds more like an argument than not, causing him to listen more carefully as he tries to appear as though he's none-the-wiser.

When the tray is set down on his table, Jesse shoots Arlo and Clotilde a look. This the kind of service to expect around here? But neither of them seems to notice him at all. Yet, at least. It's then that he takes the opportunity to survey the tray before him and, listening to their conversation yields him information about Firo and her sister Lita. The names are familiar--isn't Firo one-half of the couple to be married the following day? He's heard talk about them--how Firo's bride seemed less than eager for the celebration to be had. Jesse hears a lot. He's used to being a wallflower and observing the goings on around him without being noticed himself. It's a useful skill.

But he freezes up a bit when he notices a particularly familiar off-white powder coating the rim of the glass, some haphazardly spilled onto the tray itself. This isn't Earth--at least he doesn't think so, but that doesn't mean they might not have some of the same substances available to them. Tentatively, he licks a finger and presses it to the powder, giving it a hesitant sniff and then an even more hesitant taste. Bingo. Jesse immediately spits out what he can and rudely wipes his hand on the fabric of the seat he's sitting on. Heroin? Seriously? Now he's paying more attention than ever and, as if on cue, Arlo and Clotilde start to apologize profusely for interrupting his meal. It's fine. He doesn't have much of an appetite anymore, that brief run-in with a substance that almost ruined his life and killed his ex-girlfriend. Well. It brought up some bad memories, to say the least.

Jesse watches as Arlo storms off and Clotilde starts to clean up the tables around him. He takes a good long look at her before getting up and starting to stack his dishes onto his own tray.

"Some people don't get it, am I right? Everybody deserves, like, a break. I mean--guy seems like a total hardass. I, uh, used to work with someone like that back home." Jesse begins, not asking before he starts to help her clear up some of the other tables. If he wants to know more about what's going on, he's going to have to give her a reason to spill the beans to him.

[aprescoup]

( She is a small thing, young, tongue vituperative. Once good Arlo has gone, she is a rattling snake, ready to plunge at the nearest man, and containing herself as she offloads the tables. She does not need this employment, no, not she, not she at all. Yes, it pays premium, but she has dignity, she's a good worker, she has references —

The man. The customer. No, on this cursed train, they are honoured passengers. Of course. He's still here, like all the sunning-lizard no-goods who purchase overpriced tickets worth her week's wage, and for what? The soup was off yesterday's broth swill, she saw what the cook did. And he talks like a — like a — some part of her spine melts, thaws, unwinds. )

What did master passenger do? With his employment? With the — hardass employer?

[yeahmagnets]

"I'm no master passenger. I'm Jesse. Just Jesse. And when it came to him?" Jesse raises his brows, trying to use his expressions to sink his words home. "Put him in his place when he needed it. Listened when it suited me." Jesse explains, stacking some plates together and moving them to the cart meant for cleaning up.

"Sometimes you gotta roll with the punches--let 'em think they got you under their thumb when they really don't. You have to pick your battles when somebody's got something to hold over your head, y'know? Play the game." Jesse says, eyes settling on her. He'd heard her name in the exchange with Arlo.

"Clotilde, right? Listen, Clotilde. How you live here's up to you. Listen to what you're told, sure, but there's always the cracks between the rules, y'know? Do what's right. Follow that voice inside you." Maybe it's lost on a young girl thinking she's above her job. He's just trying to be that voice of reason--maybe trying to keep her out of the same troubles he's found himself caught up in.

[aprescoup]

You are master passenger. ( Crisp, fresh. Cutting. These people who do not think there is a difference between the ranks, while they drink down their clarified consomme — a joke.

But she listens out for the rest of it, half curious, half lacking alternative as she clears out tables. Well, she asked. She did ask. )

You cannot play the same game, when someone has a better hand.

[yeahmagnets]

Nah...I'm not even technically a passenger. Don't go ratting me out but, um, I kinda hopped on at the last stop when there was a little chaos goin' on outside the train."

[ Yeah...he's admitting he's a stowaway, but it's a tactic, too. He's giving her a piece of incriminating information in the hopes that she might in turn trust him with something, too. ]

The thing is...when it comes down to it? You gotta make a choice. If somebody's always got the advantage--always got the better hand, maybe you need to cheat a little. Bend the rules. Even out the odds.

[ He stacks some plates onto the cart used to take away the dirty dishes, looking back at his table, where his tray still sits, beside the one that had been placed there during the argument--the one with the opiate powder on it. He's just trying to find the sweet spot in this conversation; the best time to bring it up. ]

What is it you're off doing when, uh, when they go lookin' for you? When you're s'posed to be workin'? Visiting somebody or...?

[aprescoup]

( And then... he is a stowaway. Or one of the fancy rich people who likes to visit the skin of his lessers and see how the poor people live, for a few minutes at a time. Then they go back to their sparkling, pretty lives.

Well, she isn't playing that game. He's a commoner, the gent says. Won't be minding if she's rough when she starting removing plates he's done with from his table, then. )

I'm working. ( What she's told Arlo, what she tells everyone. Practised, almost. ) The passengers have all sorts of needs. Bring their water, lay their bed, set up the hair curls for the missus. All sorts. I'm not lazying about. I'm handling them.

( And by the grit of her teeth, some need more care than others. )

[yeahmagnets]

[ Jesse raises his brows at Clotilde's sudden change in demeanor. Was it something he said? he's none-the-wiser, but he tries to smooth things over as best as possible without having a clue as to what soured the interaction. Notably, there's a fading bruise over his left cheekbone, some persisting swelling, and a couple of scars scattered on his face that are still fading. It's been a few weeks since Hank Schrader, a DEA agent, beat him to within an inch of his life, and the wounds are still healing.]

Listen--I get it. People are needy...and it seems like, uh, the more somebody's got to spend, the needier they get, right? They should have, like, less to complain about. I mean, life's gotta be easier when you got cash to burn. But somehow? Nah. They just...find more things to need or want. More things to complain about. Greedy bastards.

[ Jesse speaks as if he knows from experience and, maybe he does--in a way. Mr. White's always had his nice house and picture-perfect family while Jesse's usually left o fend for himself; alone. With nothing; with nobody. And yet it seems it's always Mr. White who's got a list of things to complain about. ]

Does, uh, handling include that?

[ Jesse asks, tipping his head in the direction of the tray that's been left in his now-abandoned booth--the one with the opiate residue all over it. ]

I mean...was that somethin' they ordered or, uh, was it 'on the house'?

[ He questions, wondering the intent behind the powder. Was it someone trying to calm their nerves or was it ordered to sedate someone else with and who ordered it in that case? Jesse watches Clotilde carefully now. Having become proficient at reading body language, she may give him answers without needing to utter many words, if any. ]

[aprescoup]

( For a moment, she's staggering, mouth agape, the cleaning cloth trembling in her hand. Ill at ease. But then, the man perseveres, the question lingers long between them, and she mutters, resuming her wiping: )

That's none of our business. ( But then, one cannot simple pretend the powders aren't there, or what they seem. ) What the... passengers do. They know not to make it our business, either. We just... have to look away.

( And a shrug, lackadaisical. ) Hurts no one, does it? If some folks just sleep.

[yeahmagnets]

Of course it's nobody's business. I mean, I'm well-versed in bein' told to 'look the other way'. But looking the other way doesn't mean you don't know what's goin' on...

[ There's a pause as Jesse decides how to word his question. It's something that might close Clotilde up tight; keep her from answering anything else, but if he words it right and maybe lays on the charm a little extra? Maybe he can get some useful information out of this interaction. ]

D'you know who, uh, might've ordered this tray? Like, um...who's room it went to or who mighta' drank this?

[ Jesse asks, looking up and down the aisle between the tables to assure nobody else is listening in before he grabs the cup that still bears the opiate powder around the rim, tipping it gently from side to side as he looks at Clotilde before setting the glass back down. ]

I'm just--I'm concerned is all. I know it's not either of our business but...I lost somebody close to me because of that stuff. My ex-girlfriend.

[ If camaraderie doesn't get her to spill, maybe his sad (and true) story will tug at her heart strings. He utilizes his big, sad, blue eyes to lubricate the situation. Think Puss in Boots from Shrek. It's practically a superpower. ]

[aprescoup]

( Look the other way, and she's shrugging, as if — yes, that's reasonable. It happens. Happens here, happens everywhere, and all she's the wiser for is the better tipping that's born of it.

But then he asks about the occupant of the table, and she's drawing her lower lip between his teeth, worrying it. )

...this? What do you think? It's always the prim and proper ones. That one? She's a... ( Whispered. ) Countess. She takes sleeping powders like sugar lumps. Puts them in her sister's drink too.

( This round, she's shrugging. ) Wouldn't know, to look at them, right? They don't seem the kind to be troubled.