tabularasa_rp | 004 - Lucid Dreaming

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I think... that originally this world was all oneness. It was all the void, without form, seemless and untouched. It was a place of potential without anything that distinguished one piece from another. And then we appeared.

So, I'd lean towards saying it appeared. Because we're here. It's probably tied to someone.

[She was getting more and more certain about these things.]

Oh, I remember that part. Didn't you wake up there, too?

[ A vast expanse... It'd be almost scary. Fortunately, she'd run into a few people while exploring it. ]

Tied to someone, huh? I feel sorry for anyone who has all this back home... [ Of course, her world has its own share of horrors, but none that have appeared yet.

Except Sephiroth. ]

Yeah, that was exactly how I showed up. I ... think a couple of the newer folks don't always see it that way. Lucky them, though they're missing out on the learning experience of everything being white.

[She considered for a moment, tapping her lips.]

Well, it's all kinda mish-mashed. You said your church wasn't quite right... and the bar's sort of a mix of two places? So... some of the stuff's obviously better. I mean, all I brought was a bridge to nowhere?

I always wondered what it was about our group that had us arrive first. Do you think it was random?

[ It's good to have this to focus on, considering the rest of their current situation is...fraught, to say the least. For now, Aerith hums thoughtfully, thinking back to when she'd first arrived in that void. ]

It's more like it brings in bits and pieces of our memories, but not all of them. Is that on purpose, or does it not have enough power to recreate the real deal?

... three of your groups sort of tied together. You and Tifa and Cloud, for example... Ren seems to have people who know him, and there's that group of people with the strange monsters. You feel less random, but people like me?

There's nothing from Gensokyo here that isn't tied to me somehow. Why me? The whole of Gensokyo has powerful, unusual people. Why the bridge tender of hell?

[Part of her suspected it was because she was the bridge minder. The entry keeper. This place had needed that concept when it began. It was the only thing that made sense.]

But that does seem to be the case. I think it may be accidental, like it's sifting for things that help it make sense of itself?

Maybe... [ Why some groups, and not others? As Parsee's said, though, Aerith is also considering the idea that the void may have just brought in the people that could help it, in whatever way it was needed. It's a pretty complex idea, and she can't quite guess yet at what the void needs, but...it's a start. ]

Maybe the others from Gensokyo are too powerful for it to contain more than one? [ She ventures lightly, smiling. ] So...you have to be the sole representative for now. Until it can handle more of you?

There's more than a few that are way too dumb and powerless to qualify. Even I have people beneath me on the ladder... but there's definitely a few who are really powerful. I bet it'd be hard to keep them in place. Yukari would go nuts.

Not sure that's the real reason, but it makes sense.

Well, sure. None of us know what "the real reason" is. All we can do is theorize!

[ It's a way to pass the time, of course, but it's never been especially productive. They aren't really able to get answers out of this world, after all. ]

It could surprise you. What if they all show up?

[She shuddered visibly and shook her head hard.]

I really hope not. One or two would be fine, but you've got no idea how much those people can be when you get them all together. They're nuts.

[ There's an amused little chuckle, and she quirks a brow. ]

"Nuts" in a...fun way, like family and friends? Or not so much?

One or two are fun about it...

[There was a sort of resigned grunt to the way that she said it.]

But most of it's more irritating or dangerous. Powerful, bored, lonely creatures getting up in your face to get your attention.

I'm sorry to hear that... [ Here's hoping it's a bit of hyperbole, though, and that Parsee's...associates aren't as bad as they seem. ] But...maybe they could help with this situation? If they were here...

[ As it is, she's just facing more and more of these awful tunnels as they go. Aerith sighs, glancing around for any more signs of the shadows or lava, and isn't comforted when she doesn't see them. ]

Any sign of a way out yet?

Shadow Yuugi wouldn't be much help, but Yuugi herself? She's... pretty good at keeping me calm most days.

[It was a lot less hyperbole than anyone ever wanted to deal with. Parsee could be a rotten creature herself, but she was tame compared to the likes of Yuuka. As she moved along, she paused and hopped up, grabbing the lip of one of the passing train stations.]

I... think I see light from up the steps. Maybe that'll wake us up?

(OOC: We can go with wakeup through it or a new trial, whichever you prefer.)

Hope so... [ Aerith peers in the direction mentioned, brows knit. ] I definitely want to get out of this place as soon as we can...

[ But, this seems promising, so she won't give up hope just yet...! ]

004 - Lucid Dreaming

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let's trail off here for now! /o