*scrambles to write this down before she forgets*
So the dream started off, or at least I became aware of it, and it was a sort of standard D&D-style dream. I appeared to be a shy little mage who was pretty good at explosions, and had a particular talent at manipulating rain and mist. I think my name was also Mist, so there we go. My group had a big, tough guy - the Fighter-type, I guess? - and a little fast guy, the Rogue-type, as well as a pair of twin kids who we'd managed to rescue who appeared to have a sort of joint talent with magic.
We were being hunted by/trying to find and destroy an enemy, this really powerful guy who was...some sort of Dark Lord? I don't remember exactly. We'd been trying to find him for a while. He had control over Basilisks, which were apparently ridiculously powerful there or something. Especially his trio of person guard-creatures, who were even more over-powered.
We'd been trying to hunt him down. We got two out of three maps necessary, or something like that, and went to this Court to try to talk the Queen and her people there into helping us out/giving us the third map. It was a beautiful place - sort of Indian-styled, I guess? And Indian like India, not like Native America. So we talked to her, and I think the boys (not the kids) had to prove themselves in a combat ring, but they did just fine. I was a mage, and so wasn't expected to fight, and the kids were kids. Finally she agreed to help, but before she let us go, she finally turned to me and made some trivial comment about there being a problem with my hair.
Since I'd apparently managed to hold on to my RL hair in there, the hair that I'm ridiculously proud of and pamper at every available opportunity, I immediately grabbed it and snarled that there was no way in hell that they were going to cut it. Then she laughed and said, "No, it's simply covered by (something? it sounded like gum, but I not bubble gum. meant dirt, and grease, so maybe grime)." Oh. Well, that's a lot more reasonable, since while we'd been able to wash our bodies, I hadn't really been able to do anything about my hair for a good long while. So I asked if there was anywhere I could go to freshen up. She pointed off to a series of four differently-colored curtains against the wall, and off I went. Well, not really curtains, more like four long sheets of fabric that might cover a door or window. They went down to the floor. I figured them for door-coverings or something.
Now, here's where the dream started to get weird. I got behind the cutains, and...it just looked like a series of four tall windows, each with a thin little seat, and the outside was dark so I could sort of see my reflection, which was odd, since there wasn't much light getting past the fabric. But still, how was I supposed to freshen up in there?
Then there was a flash of red light over in the far right alcove, so I headed over there, and each of the alcoves was color-coded to the fabric. On the far right was red, then orange, yellow, and green on the left. When I was there, I saw a woman waiting. She was...I don't really remember if she was an actual apparition, or maybe I only saw her in my reflection, or something. She was beautiful. Made up and covered in dangling strings of beads and gems, she was ruby-red and onyx, and not cruel but something that sent a shiver up my spine. And then she started questioning me about my time as an adventurer, and I guess I was so distracted by her being there rather than the wash-room I'd expected that I answered.
Her questions started getting odder, and she asked about my emotional reactions toward what we'd been doing, hunting monsters and evil minions down and taking them out, and wasn't that enjoyable? So rightous. But really, even knowing that they were evil wasn't necessary, was it? Wasn't the thrill of the hunt, of the death, worth it of its own? She kept on like that, I don't think I can write it out perfectly. She was good, very seductive and I could close my eyes, and I knew that thrill, that darkness. Then I think she started hinting about harming my companions, and that was what finally snapped me out of it.
I glared at her, and told her something like, "No. I destroy that which is evil, yes. But I don't do it for pleasure. I do it because it has to be done." She kept arguing that there was still a pleasure behind it, an enjoyment that kept me coming back, things like that. Argued for my dark side, in other words. I got angry, and I was chasing her back and forth between the four alcoves. She wasn't running, she was just...always ahead of me, or behind me. At one point I remember worrying that people on the other side would think I'd gone mad if they could hear me, and that's when I realized that the language I was speaking changed from alcove to alcove, so at least they wouldn't understand me. Later I was told that it was muffled, and sounded like it was coming from far away anyway.
But finally I slowed and said, "...you're right. Yes, I enjoy it. I like bringing them down, and I revel in their deaths. It isn't even just because they're evil that lets me enjoy it. I...like killing, and the hunt." Then, before she could cry victory, I added, "But that's not all that I am!"
And that was when the second woman appeared, from the far-left alcove. Like the first, she was absolutely beautiful, and covered with beads and silk and jewelry. But she was green-gold when the first was red-black, and she was far more serene, and she was smiling at me as if she was so proud. And she asked me to elaborate, and I told both of them about my friends, and all that I had done that made me happy, made me hopeful, about how yes, I enjoy the kills, but I will only do it when I have reason to be killing, not just for the wild ride of euphoria and joy. I acknowledged the darkness within me, but also said that it wasn't the only thing in my soul.
As I talked to the women, I felt something growing, something...opening up, not filling me. Something that had already been there, but that I'd simply talked about. Then they lifted their hands together and covered me in water that turned to silk and beads like their own, but of all colors of life and death. There was a headdress that draped over my face, and I remember the feel of cool stone against my skin as I finally walked out of the alcoves, my arms full of something.
The guys from my party were rather nonplussed, sort of, "I thought she was just gonna get washed off, maybe get a simple change of clothes. Not...this. This is a little over-board." But they were quiet and I knew I could explain it to them later.
I went straight for the Queen and she said, "Do you remember now?" It was obvious that she'd sent me to the alcoves with the expectation that they would manifest that part of me, and wake it up. Maybe I'd even set it up myself before I'd forgotten it all.
"I do." And apparently I was some sort of goddess. A rather minor goddess, of nature I think, that happened to be fairly powerful. I'd been capture by the Basilisk Lord (calling him that for lack of a better name) and he'd been trying to either convert/corrupt me, or steal all of my power and leave me for dead. Instead of allowing my power to be taken I'd, "exploded it into rains of tears and mist" as I explained in my dream. And thus the name I used. This had taken place before I'd ever met up with the guys of my adventuring party. The two women in the alcove were aspects of me, of life and death, and I'd had to acknowledge them to return to myself, or something.
Finally the Queen pointed out what was in my arms, and I sifted through, and there were more beads, a few random items that I think were highly magical - yay loot - and a book. And suddenly the part of me that knew I was dreaming realized that the world was all part of a book. There was the one we were in now, and a sort of side one. And now this one, which was obviously a part of the series, even if I'd never seen it before, and I knew that it was my story about how I'd been fighting the Basilisk Lord before. The Queen smiled and said, "There must always be a prequel, something that has happened before it all began." At first I was a little confused because I thought that the side-book was the prequel, but after a little thought I realized it was, as I said, just the side. And I'd already known there would be one final book now that we had everything that we needed to face off against the Lord. But now I had the prequel as well.
After all of it, I went with the guys of my party and sat down and explained it all. Despite the jewelry and memories and everything, I wasn't really all that different. I'd pretty much destroyed most of my Goddess-like powers before in order to escape the Lord with my life, so I was still their mage, Mist. I just had a few extras in terms of memory. And really, I was planning to go back to the mage-robes after we'd left, because pretty as this outfit might be, it was just a little impractical. In lots of ways.
Eventually we got back on the road again, and they gave me a few nervous looks, but having a pair of kids travelling with you tends to dissipate a lot of that nervousness, because they were all questions and didn't treat me any differently than they had when I was just the party's mage. So the guys relaxed and finally started doing the same. Like I said, despite all appearances, I hadn't exactly gotten much of a boost of power.
What I had gotten were memories, including the fact that one of the reasons the Basilisk Lord had wanted me was that I was apparently the patron/lady of a type of creature that was sort of a relative to the basilisk. They were white-scaled, for the most part, but more cat/fox-based rather than serpentine. I don't think they had the kill/stone look, either. So not as powerful, but what they did have - a stun, or damage, or something? - was also under concious control, so you could look them in the eyes and be fine. I'm not sure what they were called, but my brain kept insisting on Crackatiels, so I guess I'll call them that. Anyway, he'd wanted control over all the basilisk-types in the world, which was part of why he'd wanted my powers. The way I'd destroyed/diffused my magic out made it so that he couldn't really control them, so I guess he'd turned all of my crackatiels into basilisks.
I wanted my crackatiels back. (And I keep snickering whenever I type that.) Apparently I could tell the difference between a true basilisk and one that used to be one of mine. In a particular battle, we were surrounded by basilisks that were just waking up from the stupor they'd been in to conserve energy, and I set up a chain spell. Every true basilisk it touched got its head exploded. Every changed basilisk got changed back. At the end there were nine dead basilisks, and I had three crackatiels curling up against me and purring joyfully. *pauses and frowns* And now that I remember, they also sort of resembled the muloc-cousins in Northrend from WoW. *coughs*
Unfortunately, that was when I woke up, so I have no clue where it went from there. But if I'm lucky, I think I might try to write this down properly as a story. I certainly have parts of it waiting here. The bit about being in books might have to go away if I want to write it down, but it made an interesting inclusion in my dream. *so bemused by it all.*
We were being hunted by/trying to find and destroy an enemy, this really powerful guy who was...some sort of Dark Lord? I don't remember exactly. We'd been trying to find him for a while. He had control over Basilisks, which were apparently ridiculously powerful there or something. Especially his trio of person guard-creatures, who were even more over-powered.
We'd been trying to hunt him down. We got two out of three maps necessary, or something like that, and went to this Court to try to talk the Queen and her people there into helping us out/giving us the third map. It was a beautiful place - sort of Indian-styled, I guess? And Indian like India, not like Native America. So we talked to her, and I think the boys (not the kids) had to prove themselves in a combat ring, but they did just fine. I was a mage, and so wasn't expected to fight, and the kids were kids. Finally she agreed to help, but before she let us go, she finally turned to me and made some trivial comment about there being a problem with my hair.
Since I'd apparently managed to hold on to my RL hair in there, the hair that I'm ridiculously proud of and pamper at every available opportunity, I immediately grabbed it and snarled that there was no way in hell that they were going to cut it. Then she laughed and said, "No, it's simply covered by (something? it sounded like gum, but I not bubble gum. meant dirt, and grease, so maybe grime)." Oh. Well, that's a lot more reasonable, since while we'd been able to wash our bodies, I hadn't really been able to do anything about my hair for a good long while. So I asked if there was anywhere I could go to freshen up. She pointed off to a series of four differently-colored curtains against the wall, and off I went. Well, not really curtains, more like four long sheets of fabric that might cover a door or window. They went down to the floor. I figured them for door-coverings or something.
Now, here's where the dream started to get weird. I got behind the cutains, and...it just looked like a series of four tall windows, each with a thin little seat, and the outside was dark so I could sort of see my reflection, which was odd, since there wasn't much light getting past the fabric. But still, how was I supposed to freshen up in there?
Then there was a flash of red light over in the far right alcove, so I headed over there, and each of the alcoves was color-coded to the fabric. On the far right was red, then orange, yellow, and green on the left. When I was there, I saw a woman waiting. She was...I don't really remember if she was an actual apparition, or maybe I only saw her in my reflection, or something. She was beautiful. Made up and covered in dangling strings of beads and gems, she was ruby-red and onyx, and not cruel but something that sent a shiver up my spine. And then she started questioning me about my time as an adventurer, and I guess I was so distracted by her being there rather than the wash-room I'd expected that I answered.
Her questions started getting odder, and she asked about my emotional reactions toward what we'd been doing, hunting monsters and evil minions down and taking them out, and wasn't that enjoyable? So rightous. But really, even knowing that they were evil wasn't necessary, was it? Wasn't the thrill of the hunt, of the death, worth it of its own? She kept on like that, I don't think I can write it out perfectly. She was good, very seductive and I could close my eyes, and I knew that thrill, that darkness. Then I think she started hinting about harming my companions, and that was what finally snapped me out of it.
I glared at her, and told her something like, "No. I destroy that which is evil, yes. But I don't do it for pleasure. I do it because it has to be done." She kept arguing that there was still a pleasure behind it, an enjoyment that kept me coming back, things like that. Argued for my dark side, in other words. I got angry, and I was chasing her back and forth between the four alcoves. She wasn't running, she was just...always ahead of me, or behind me. At one point I remember worrying that people on the other side would think I'd gone mad if they could hear me, and that's when I realized that the language I was speaking changed from alcove to alcove, so at least they wouldn't understand me. Later I was told that it was muffled, and sounded like it was coming from far away anyway.
But finally I slowed and said, "...you're right. Yes, I enjoy it. I like bringing them down, and I revel in their deaths. It isn't even just because they're evil that lets me enjoy it. I...like killing, and the hunt." Then, before she could cry victory, I added, "But that's not all that I am!"
And that was when the second woman appeared, from the far-left alcove. Like the first, she was absolutely beautiful, and covered with beads and silk and jewelry. But she was green-gold when the first was red-black, and she was far more serene, and she was smiling at me as if she was so proud. And she asked me to elaborate, and I told both of them about my friends, and all that I had done that made me happy, made me hopeful, about how yes, I enjoy the kills, but I will only do it when I have reason to be killing, not just for the wild ride of euphoria and joy. I acknowledged the darkness within me, but also said that it wasn't the only thing in my soul.
As I talked to the women, I felt something growing, something...opening up, not filling me. Something that had already been there, but that I'd simply talked about. Then they lifted their hands together and covered me in water that turned to silk and beads like their own, but of all colors of life and death. There was a headdress that draped over my face, and I remember the feel of cool stone against my skin as I finally walked out of the alcoves, my arms full of something.
The guys from my party were rather nonplussed, sort of, "I thought she was just gonna get washed off, maybe get a simple change of clothes. Not...this. This is a little over-board." But they were quiet and I knew I could explain it to them later.
I went straight for the Queen and she said, "Do you remember now?" It was obvious that she'd sent me to the alcoves with the expectation that they would manifest that part of me, and wake it up. Maybe I'd even set it up myself before I'd forgotten it all.
"I do." And apparently I was some sort of goddess. A rather minor goddess, of nature I think, that happened to be fairly powerful. I'd been capture by the Basilisk Lord (calling him that for lack of a better name) and he'd been trying to either convert/corrupt me, or steal all of my power and leave me for dead. Instead of allowing my power to be taken I'd, "exploded it into rains of tears and mist" as I explained in my dream. And thus the name I used. This had taken place before I'd ever met up with the guys of my adventuring party. The two women in the alcove were aspects of me, of life and death, and I'd had to acknowledge them to return to myself, or something.
Finally the Queen pointed out what was in my arms, and I sifted through, and there were more beads, a few random items that I think were highly magical - yay loot - and a book. And suddenly the part of me that knew I was dreaming realized that the world was all part of a book. There was the one we were in now, and a sort of side one. And now this one, which was obviously a part of the series, even if I'd never seen it before, and I knew that it was my story about how I'd been fighting the Basilisk Lord before. The Queen smiled and said, "There must always be a prequel, something that has happened before it all began." At first I was a little confused because I thought that the side-book was the prequel, but after a little thought I realized it was, as I said, just the side. And I'd already known there would be one final book now that we had everything that we needed to face off against the Lord. But now I had the prequel as well.
After all of it, I went with the guys of my party and sat down and explained it all. Despite the jewelry and memories and everything, I wasn't really all that different. I'd pretty much destroyed most of my Goddess-like powers before in order to escape the Lord with my life, so I was still their mage, Mist. I just had a few extras in terms of memory. And really, I was planning to go back to the mage-robes after we'd left, because pretty as this outfit might be, it was just a little impractical. In lots of ways.
Eventually we got back on the road again, and they gave me a few nervous looks, but having a pair of kids travelling with you tends to dissipate a lot of that nervousness, because they were all questions and didn't treat me any differently than they had when I was just the party's mage. So the guys relaxed and finally started doing the same. Like I said, despite all appearances, I hadn't exactly gotten much of a boost of power.
What I had gotten were memories, including the fact that one of the reasons the Basilisk Lord had wanted me was that I was apparently the patron/lady of a type of creature that was sort of a relative to the basilisk. They were white-scaled, for the most part, but more cat/fox-based rather than serpentine. I don't think they had the kill/stone look, either. So not as powerful, but what they did have - a stun, or damage, or something? - was also under concious control, so you could look them in the eyes and be fine. I'm not sure what they were called, but my brain kept insisting on Crackatiels, so I guess I'll call them that. Anyway, he'd wanted control over all the basilisk-types in the world, which was part of why he'd wanted my powers. The way I'd destroyed/diffused my magic out made it so that he couldn't really control them, so I guess he'd turned all of my crackatiels into basilisks.
I wanted my crackatiels back. (And I keep snickering whenever I type that.) Apparently I could tell the difference between a true basilisk and one that used to be one of mine. In a particular battle, we were surrounded by basilisks that were just waking up from the stupor they'd been in to conserve energy, and I set up a chain spell. Every true basilisk it touched got its head exploded. Every changed basilisk got changed back. At the end there were nine dead basilisks, and I had three crackatiels curling up against me and purring joyfully. *pauses and frowns* And now that I remember, they also sort of resembled the muloc-cousins in Northrend from WoW. *coughs*
Unfortunately, that was when I woke up, so I have no clue where it went from there. But if I'm lucky, I think I might try to write this down properly as a story. I certainly have parts of it waiting here. The bit about being in books might have to go away if I want to write it down, but it made an interesting inclusion in my dream. *so bemused by it all.*