004 - Lucid Dreaming

[tabularasa_mods]

Lucid Dreaming Event Info Pt.1 ▲ Event Info Pt.2 ▼ Comments Please see the two info posts linked above for details on the nature of the event, the nightmares within, and the setting it takes place in. You may ask any unanswered questions in either post. If your character dies at any point during the dream event, please leave a comment in the death report thread to notify the mods.

As a final reminder, all characters will fall asleep for the full duration of this event whether you decide to take part or not. You may continue tagging threads that take place before the event, but everyone will fall asleep simultaneously.

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Falling Asleep, Waking Up
The shift happens without warning, much like the first time people appeared in the world. Perhaps you remember what you were doing in the last moments before a strange feeling of exhaustion overwhelmed you - or perhaps you remember nothing at all. Whatever it may be, you've appeared somewhere new. A seemingly ordinary train station, if not for the bizarre walls of flesh blocking the only exits. The only path forward is down into the pulsating depths, a humid breeze pushing at your back.

There may be others here with you, or you may be alone. Could there be more people trapped in this strange place? You won't find them just by standing around.

Nightmares
The screeching of a distant train will echo through the tunnels on occasion, shadows flicking through the translucent flesh of the walls. Sometimes, however, instead of fading away the noise will only grow louder, closer, until it sounds like the train should be upon you. It never appears, but something else always will.

The train is a siren call for nightmares, and you're unfortunate enough to be their victim. The shadows turn alive, twisting and growing as they rise up from the ground and begin to transform. What form they take varies, but the shadows of the mind know the true fears of those who walk among them. Are you prepared to face the darkness?

Volcanic Panic

The shadows congeal at the edges of the floor, and soon after a hot orange glow begins to fill the room - molten lava is pooling in from the other end of the tunnel. It rolls slowly forward, devouring everything it touches with an unquenchable searing hunger, leaving behind only the charred bones of its victims... although, strangely, the tunnels themselves appear to be completely unharmed.

Outrunning the flow of lava shouldn't be a problem, but there seems to be no end to it. How long can you run from something that never stops? Or worse, what happens if you find yourself surrounded? You'll need to find a way to higher ground before that happens.

A Radiant Plague

The shadows rise up into familiar shapes, and at first glance it'd be easy to mistake them for people. They may even share the faces and voices of people you know, stumbling towards you with wide, open arms... and empty, glowing eyes filled with an orange light. Something smells sickly sweet, and it's only once they're close enough to grab you that they begin to attack.

These are not your friends, and they'll do whatever it takes to make you one of them instead. Unfortunately, it's not an experience you'll be able to survive. Your only hope is to fight back before the plague can take hold, lest you become another mindless husk that knows only to further spread the infection.

Trust No One, Not Even Yourself

The shadows stretch and fill the air, choking everything in a thick blanket of darkness... before dispersing just as quickly as they'd appeared. A few moments pass and nothing else seems to be happening. You must've gotten lucky this time!

... Or did you?

Surely it can't be that simple. Nothing else here has been, so something must have happened just now. It's only you and the person you're currently traveling with... but are you sure that's really them right now? How do you know they haven't been possessed by another nightmare, waiting until you let your guard down to stab you in the back? Should you interrogate them to be sure, or start with restraining them and ask questions later? Wouldn't it be better to just kill them before things get out of hand? The sooner you strike, the safer you'll be when their true form emerges.

Yes, that must be the real explanation. It has to be them that's been possessed by a nightmare. What else could it be?

Joker’s Wild

There’s no limit to what form the shadows can take. The world may have its own perception of fear, but your nightmares are something only you could understand. What darkness lurks in the depths of your heart?

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code bases by tricklet

Comments

A.

[king_in_dreams]

[Noct is drawn to the sound of gunfire, still looking for Prompto. When he gets there, it's not his best friend, though, but the little girl/goddess - and then he notices there are two of her.]

[When the one dives for him, he doesn't need to think before he phases out of her way. He brings the engine blade up in a guard.]

Who is that?!

[forceofnature]

That's the Chaos Kin!

[Any note of flippancy, cynicism or sarcasm has vanished from her voice. Whatever is happening here, this goddess isn't fooling around.]

Don't let it near you! It eats souls! The souls of gods. I don't even want to think about what it would do to yours.

[The copy expressionlessly glances between its two enemies before deciding that it's not willing to do a two-on-one fight at the moment. The girl dives into the ground and digs into the floor of the flesh tunnel, momentarily revealing itself as the odd abomination it truly is before vanishing into the ground.

...The floor begins to rumble.]

...Also it can create a near endless amount of monsters. Brace yourself!

[king_in_dreams]

[Noct notes that difference, and he prepares for the fight - only to have the copy disappear. Noct plants his feet against the rumbling of the floor, intent on keeping his balance - and prepares to warp or phase out of the way of whatever's on its way here.]

[forceofnature]

Here they come!

[The little goddess flits upwards into the air as all manner of strange things begin to crawl out of the walls, claw their way up from the ground, or simply materialize out of thin air.

There are swarms of small flying blobs with a single giant eye, crawling skulls, tentacled things, giant insects, creatures that look like stereotypical grim reapers...]

Underworld forces! These are small fry. Don't let the Reapettes... you know, reap you.

How squishy are you? Can you take care of this? I need to draw out the Chaos Kin or this will go on forever!

[king_in_dreams]

[Noct immediately swings for the first of the blobs, scattering a few of them. It shouldn't take long for her to realize that he can, in fact, handle this shit as he and his sword both keep moving.]

Uh, yeah, I can handle it! Just, you know... Hurry!

[He's not squishy, but he also has no interest in keeping this up all night.]

[forceofnature]

Huh. Since when did humans learn magic-ky things?

[She really has no idea what he's doing with his little teleportation bits, but she won't complain. As the masses of creatures fall before his sword, Viridi floats up into the air and holds her staff out horizontally in front of her as the earth begins to shake once more.]

...It's gathering its power. But you can't hide in the earth from an earth goddess!

[With a groan, something splits the surface and erupts out of the ground - a great, gleaming skull surrounded in a violent purple aura.]

Ahhhhhhhhhhh... You... can go back in the earth.

Um -- Hey, Flash Step. That's an Orne. ...If you touch it, you'll die. Like, instantly.

Don't touch it.

[king_in_dreams]

It's been in my fam--!

[He cuts off as another handful of creatures rush him, darting through them with his sword. He backs off as the skull pops free - and then takes another step back.]

Oh, uh, good to know!

[Yeah, he'll just stay away from that one. You don't have to tell him twice.]

[forceofnature]

Hold on for one more wave. Think of all the combo points you're racking up!

[Viridi digs deeper. And as the earth sunders, her power crackles almost tangibly around her form as she searches for her adversary.]

Almost...

[On the ground, the Orne naturally begins to drift in Noctis's direction (of course), preceded by a swarm of Reapettes that make an attempt to hold him in place.]

Almost...

[And from below, there is another tremor.]

[king_in_dreams]

[Noct flits around the room in flashes of blue light, swords and dagger flashing in and out of visibility as he changes weapons on the fly. The quantity and proximity is a little concerning, and he swings his sword in another wide arc to drive them back as he looks to her.]

Anytime now!

[forceofnature]

Got it.

[With a jerk, the fissure opens up and this time, Viridi's pulled out what appears to be some sort of horrifying one eyed six-limbed bug spider thing. It hangs in midair for a moment before there is an audible snapping sound.]

I've linked it to this plane so it can't escape. Take it down!

[king_in_dreams]

[Noct does take a step back when it appears - but he shifts his stance a moment later and throws his sword, warping after it. There's a flash of blue light as he reappears, and he pulls his sword back - and then hits the monster again. He never quite stops moving, trying to dodge any retaliatory attacks while getting in his own blows.]

[forceofnature]

[The monster is clearly not up for being impaled, and it skitters along the ground with incredible speed, almost matching Noctis's teleportation abilities. It lashes out - with claw and tail, lasers, and bullets of light.

Above, Viridi sweats as she exerts some kind of force to keep it from escaping.]

Aim for the eye!

...I mean, obviously.

[king_in_dreams]

Got it!

[Noct stops, sliding back a few feet under his own momentum as he calls up his dagger again, throwing it toward the monster's eye. He warps after it whether or not it hits, calling his sword up again as he aims to strike down at it from above.]

[forceofnature]

[The Chaos Kin shrieks! The knife embedded in its eye, it is momentarily blinded and unable to react as Noctis teleports into place and slices down!

With a thundering blow, the Chaos Kin explodes into black goo - and so, too, does the army it has summoned.

From above, Viridi gasps.]

Wow! That was much faster than last time. I ought to hire you.

Be careful of the gunk! It can still get into you.

[king_in_dreams]

[Noct backpedals a little at her warning on the goo, stepping gingerly around some of it until he can find somewhere to stand where he's not in danger of touching it - and once he is, he quips...]

I don't know if you can afford me.

[forceofnature]

[It eventually seeps into the fleshy floor. ...And after a moment, it's like the atmosphere of the room dramatically changes. The cavern reverts to... just being another flesh cavern.]

Eh.

Human swordsmen are a dime a dozen, anyway.

Teleporting human swordsmen are maybe a silver dollar. Where'd you learn those fancy moves?

[king_in_dreams]

[Noct half-watches it disappear - and then looks dimly amused as Viridi goes on.]

It runs in my family. The magic part, I mean. The sword stuff, I learned from a friend.

[forceofnature]

Humans with inherent magical capabilities?

[Viridi eyes him as if analyzing a particularly rare subspecies of horned iguana.]

Hm.

Impossible! Under normal circumstances. What did you all do, make a deal with some other entity?

[king_in_dreams]

[Noct takes a step back under that gaze, feeling very much like he's under a microscope.]

Sort of? The line of Lucis is connected to a Crystal that gives us our magic and there's stuff about bloodline and...

[He trails off with a shrug. He doubts she really cares about all that.]

[forceofnature]

No, keep going.

[Viridi is very interested.]

You're connected to a magical Crystal through your blood - sounds like standard fare for pacts with deities or spirits. I've just not ever tried it myself.

Humans are just so squishy.

[king_in_dreams]

[He lets out an amused breath.]

Yeah, we kinda are. But I don't actually know where the Crystal came from since my entire family line's been connected to it, but. We also have a connection to the Six, who are basically the gods where I'm from?

It would make sense that we're all connected through that, though.

[forceofnature]

Where I come from, gods can choose heroes or -- intermediaries to act on their behalf. Often these are children of gods. Demigods or other supernatural warriors. Rarely these are just plain old regular humans whom the god fancied.

[A faint pause.]

I will say, it often doesn't end up the way you want it to.

[king_in_dreams]

Yeah, it's nothing like that. I mean, we're supposed to be Chosen or whatever [Or, rather, he's supposed to be Chosen, but he is really not getting into that right now.] but as far as I know none of us are actually related to any of the Six.

[forceofnature]

Hm... Well, looks like you got lucky without the extra baggage, then.

[Viridi gives a shrug.]

Looks like we're all done here, though. I'm keen on getting out of this whole flesh maze situation that's happening.