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

[simulatio]

It's the smell Loki notices, more than anything. The smell of flowers, some humans had ascribed to him, centuries ago. Mistletoe and mullein, among others, drawing him closer out of curiosity. And he senses something, a presence not unlike his own, a presence somehow familiar.

Ah, and then he's being summoned. He steps around the corner of a flesh-covered corridor on gold-hooved feet, a wide smile revealing long, pointed teeth and a longer tongue.

"You called?" he purrs, and while he might have kept Akechi's face, his tone is deeper and lower than any teenager's has any right to be. He bows expansively, red-clawed hands extended at either side. His sword is nowhere to be seen, for the moment.

[obscurus_phantasma]

"Hello, gorgeous," the Goddess coos, unabashedly raking the oily depths of her gaze over every curve and point of him, drawing ever nearer with her ghoul in tow. The spirit itself hovers contently, staring with polite curiosity.

"Please, do tell me why I have yet had the pleasure of knowing you?" The manner in which Melinoë says knowing clearly indicates it to be a layered usage.

[simulatio]

Her tone draws another laugh from between his lips as he rises from his bow, rests one hand on a jagged hip and flicks the other in the air in a movement that's entirely the Goro Akechi who presents himself on the public stage, the fake celebrity charming the ignorant public.

"You flatter me with your attention." His gaze flicks to the ghoul with the same kind of curiosity, but hungrier, as if wondering how powerful it is and what it could be capable of. The hand he'd flicked into the air twists slightly, clawed fingers curling into a loose fist as he contemplates giving it a taste of his power. If he could rip the chains of its soul free, what kind of havoc could it wreak?

But as interesting as he finds the ghoul, the woman across from him is far more intriguing. He steps closer, intending to circle around her, his own eyes raking over her in a manner just as appraising.

"I can smell your power," he hisses delightedly, pointed tongue flicking out between pointed teeth as if scenting the air like a snake. "Greek? Roman?" He stops before her once again, bringing his thumb and forefinger to his chin in another one of Akechi's stage gestures, one meant to show contemplation and deduction.

[obscurus_phantasma]

She notices the lingering look and feels it necessary to address, given the severe outcome of any attack on the discorporate one.

"I would kindly ask you to leave Tiki alone, as any damage done to them will result in my own self feeling the repercussions." Though sternly delivered, the warning is still coupled with a sweet smile, as Mel does not feel entirely threatened as of yet. Just cautious.

And it amuses her that he circles, given the Goddess would have done the same had the dress's train not been so extended, and she gives a shiver of delight while remaining in place, proudly displayed like the tail of peacock or turkey. "Greek," she answers. "I am Melinoë, daughter of Hades and Persephone, Goddess of ghosts, nightmares, and insanity, and a queen of the Underworld."

Does she focus on that tongue of his? Absolutely, but before the fantasies can carry away her attention too far, Mel asks for the same information. "Which God's presence do I have the honor of basking in?"

i'm so sorry this is so old!! feel free to ignore

[simulatio]

"Well, we certainly wouldn't want that."

It isn't even a lie, even as his eyes gleam with renewed interest. At the moment, the urge to destroy, to rend and rip and tear the world apart isn't overwhelming. But if he could boost both of their powers at the same time, then perhaps instead of the ghoul turning on Melinoë, the two of them could instead destroy this disgusting realm they've been trapped in.

Well. A future possibility, fun to contemplate but nothing more. He sweeps his hands to either side in a dramatic bow.

"Quite the resume, lovely queen. I've filled many roles, assumed many titles, but in my present form, perhaps it's best to say that I am currently the incarnation of chaos and destruction. Humans have called me the god of mischief and trickery, but my charge has far greater ambitions than such words would imply."

He bows again with a throaty laugh. A Persona is both a part of the human collective unconscious, yet shaped by the wills of its user, and calling Goro Akechi a mischief-maker is like calling a tsunami a lapping wave.

"You may call me Loki, the betrayer, the bringer of Ragnarok."