Together Then
GAME: Auranar rolls Will: (20)+5: 25 (CRITICAL SUCCESS) GAME: Verna rolls will: (9)+24: 33
The dream begins in darkness, and this more than anything else tells those in the dream that it is such. There is nothing all the way around. Just darkness. Above, below, and on every side. It's a deep dark void in every direction as far as the eye can see.
Nothingness. Emptiness. While it makes it plainly clear to Verna that this is a dream, there is also a prickle of unease within her recalling her prior stint within this very same setting. A sensation that she pushes down and attempts to dissipate with a slow inhale and exhale. That time it was then, now is different. This time, she will not be alone.
Indeed, she already is not alone. Her fiancée is at hand, taking hers and offering her a wide smile. "Don't worry. I'm right here." Auranar says gently, squeezing the hand she holds. "Is it always so... dark?"
Even as she speaks she frowns, and holds up her hand a little. "I wonder..." She focuses on the thought of light. A light hovering above her hand.
The thought is enough, and a light forms in Auranar's hand, hovering just above it, but it does nothing to illuminate the darkness. There's simply nothing to illuminate.
"Not always," Verna looks to Auranar, returning the squeeze and even offering a slight smile. One that grows as the light appears. "Certainly not now. You are my light." A pleasant appellation now made literally manifest. She looks about lightly at the lacking surroundings. "It is, or shall be, what we make of it, it seems. We may only need learn how to best make use of it?"
She is not as certain of this, or at least of her own results in manipulating The Dreaming. Which makes her hesitant. So she begins with something simple and benign, thinking of the trees and gardens of the city still magically in bloom. If they have the choice of scenery, why not make it pleasant?
Auranar flushes in embarrassment. Ever finding herself so when Verna complements her so. The light in her hand flickers with her lack of concentration, and she finds herself wondering silently what else this darkness might hold. She thinks fondly of the family garden, and the longing she feels to see it again. Her parents sacred trees growing up and and together. "True as that might be, what's the point of it?"
The darkness shivers in a way, shifting to become the gardens of Alexandria. Warm, lovely, but... Different. There is a pair of trees in the center of the garden that have never been there before. Twisting and twining together. They are massive trees, easily a hundred years old, and still growing together.
Thoughts not so different, though perhaps an unsurprising situation given the circumstances. The trees promptly gain Verna's focus and she looks up to take in their entirety. "They are lovely and strong," she notes with admiration; tone felt more than heard, considering. She also has a strong sense, if not certainty, of what they represent. This makes her words all the more appropriate, though she leaves a second complement for Auranar only implied.
Then comes her answer, or lack thereof. "I do not know..." An admission that carries frustration. "Before, there were visions. I thought they were guidance, but maybe they were only what I brought with me, as you said before... but they are the keys to halting The Nightmare, and we must keep it contained."
Auranar seems surprised by the vision that they are given, of her parents trees amid the Alexandrian gardens. They do not belong here, but the sight of them still brings a smile to her face. "They are my parents trees. Grown up together over all the years they were married, and every year since I was born." She squeezes Verna's hand. "Perhaps the darkness is a vision of some kind? An answer in a way that we don't yet understand?"
Nothing changes about the surroundings. It remains a peaceful representation of gardens mixed and comingled.
"I long to witness them first-hand, love," Verna admits with a growing smile, "with you." She pauses to relax in that thought before considering the rest. "Yes, there is much we do not understand, and will need to. It is ...trying." Foreboding. Overwhelming, even.
There are much more pleasant aspects of the future to consider, however. She looks to a spot of ground not too far from the pair of trees, yet still very much central to the setting. There she considers a new pair of trees: younger, with much room and time to grow; perhaps not as densely intertwined, yet still one firmly beside the other.
More pleasant than foreboding darkness? Yes. Of great importance and weight in Verna's mind? Certainly. A distraction from halting chaotic deities from emerging into their realm? Possibly.
Auranar smiles and leans against Verna. "You will soon enough. Nothing is going to stop us from that." She can't help thinking of her grandmother. The one thing that stood in the way of them and the planting that she wanted so much. She tries to keep the thought of the woman from boiling over into this semi-reality by shaking her head free of thoughts of the woman. "What do we need to know most of all?"
GAME: Verna rolls will: (5)+24: 29
No new trees join the pair standing there proudly wound together in spite of Verna's efforts. Instead, where Verna had envisioned trees, a woman appears. She's not one that Verna has ever seen before, but she bears a striking resemblance to Auranar. Their features are almost identical. The main difference between them is that this woman's skin is more bark-brown and her hair is a similar color rather than black and pink. The woman turns her eyes on them and even across the distance the disapproval in them is clear.
Verna blinks when her hopeful thoughts bring something rather unexpected. No change would be lack of success, whereas this is... "Grandmother?" she tentatively inquires aside softly. She has never met the woman, and her true intent and motives remain unclear... yet the overtone of disapproval has ever been present from what Verna knows through Auranar.
"It can't really be her can it?" The wild elf asks, staring a the image of her grandmother standing before them. "It looks just like her. I swear I just thought of her for a second Verna!" Auranar frowns, and focuses her attention fully on dismissing this vision of her grandmother.
GAME: Auranar rolls Will: (15)+5: 20
The woman lingers for a moment, but Auranar's efforts seem to be effective, and she disappears. Leaving only the garden which itself seems... less real than it had been a moment ago.
Verna gives Auranar's hand a reassuring squeeze. "It is alright. You did nothing wrong. Of all the things that might be conjured here, a disapproving sylvanori is of little concern." A pause. "No offense to your grandmother."
She is quite a long moment as she considers. "I will seek what might be shown of the totems and their use." Her attention moves far away from the pair of trees, now, as she attempts to envision the totems. Facing one another, extrapolated from her experiences with only two. Fed by the lifeblood of several. Locking the Nightmare away or keeping it there. A ritual of some manner, surely? It is not so easy to find answers when articulating the question is also difficult.
"Better her than something else." Agrees Auranar, moving with Verna away from the trees. Catching what Verna is up to from her mind, the wild elf focuses on the totems as well. Remembering every detail of the ones that she's seen.
Thirteen shadows form in the darkness, chains running from them to the fearsome shape of the Nightmare. Their blood slipping down to the chains which resolve into the totems. It does bear resemblance to a ritual of some kind.
Verna keeps hold of Auranar's hand; in fact, her grip firms as shadowy forms begin to appear. She observes for the moment, focusing upon the chains, blood, and totems than the being in the center. "Is it merely a matter of intent and will?" she muses. "What do you infer of it?" Verna would very much prefer the totems came with a complete set of instructional tomes, not that she would expect them to. She values her beloved's wisdom among her many attributes. As well, in matters of magic more intrinsic and ... felt rather than rehearsed and rote, Auranar is more knowledgeable and intuitive than she.
"Perhaps?" Auranar sounds uncertain. "I have the feeling that it's not all intent and will." She motions to the chains dripping with blood. "If they require blood, there's a physical component." She grins, feeling proud of herself for remembering something that Telamon had taught her. "Like with a spell!"
The vision; the dream remains the same.
It may be little surprise that Verna cannot help but grin in return as she nods with Aura's assessment. Her lips soon purse. "Yes, the totems can be somewhat ... thirsty, as I discovered. Best that their feeding be distributed and the details of ritual uncovered before it is needed. Perhaps The Harpist might share Her wisdom with me."
Not now, of course; she does not need to do so within dream. Having confirmed or gained some inkling of what they might to at the proper time, Verna now seeks to dismiss the image. Having even a representation of The Red Maw present in The Dreaming is unpleasant, and probably unwise.
Once again Auranar catches from Verna's thoughts what her intent is, and focuses on dismissing the image of the thirteen shadows and the thing they bind. "There's so many questions about them, but this was... interesting. Should we wake up?"
Quickly the vision resolves back to darkness. It seems almost easy. Leaving them once again amid the empty shadows.
It does seem far, far easier to Verna than her previous. Admittedly, she a very strong reason to explain that. To whom she now turns her full attention. "There are many unknowns, and many questions, but I am confident that we shall learn the answers." An unprompted smile forms and she nods. "I have no further need, here. I already hold what I require to make my dreams a reality. Let us wake."
-End