TDM #1 - What Dreams May Come

[perchancetodreammods]

What Dreams May Come

Dream On

Welcome to the Dreamscape. A beautiful, endless dream where you and a bunch of other unique and interesting minds from across the multiverse have been gathered to connect, commiserate, and make the impossible... possible! There are many fantastical realms to explore and even more to come, and you are given your very own Nimbus Cloud to serve as your home. This puffy pink cloud will host a pocket dimension just for you where the only limit to what you can create is your own imagination. Missing personal items or locations from the waking world? No problem--- the only thing you have to do in order to earn feathers, the local currency, is make meaningful connections with others. In fact, making these meaningful connections seems to be the only task assigned to you by your mysterious host, the Outsider.

The only catch? You can't wake up until the Outsider wakes you. And it's not clear when that will be--- if ever.

Make your way in this ever-changing dream realm, find friends and allies to earn Feathers, and navigate strange and fantastical Dreamscape-wide events as you and your new neighbors try to unravel the mystery of what exactly the Outsider wants, and what it will take to escape the never-ending dream. The Outsider isn't just an NPC, either--- they're joining you on your adventures!

WHAT

The grand opening of Perchance to Dream!

WHEN

9/13/2022

QUICK NAV

Locations

Feather Info

The Outsider

I'm Only Sleeping

♫♪♩♬

When you go to sleep that night, it is like any other night. After a long day of living your life in the waking world, you dress down for the night, lie your weary head down, close your eyes, and begin to drift off, as you normally do. However, just as you are about to fall asleep, there is a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach that something has changed.

But you drift off nonetheless.

When you rise, you find yourself still in the same bed you went to sleep in, but that bed has been… transported, somehow, to a broad and otherwise empty room. Your feet hit the black marble floor, but even if they are bare, they don’t feel cold. Around you are tall arches, beyond which is a rich, pink, sunset sky, and fluffy clouds drifting lazily by, sometimes close enough that parts of them intrude on the room.

On one side of the room, there is a door. Tall and austere, it looms overhead, bearing a carving of a strange blue eye. You feel awake, yet you know you are dreaming. Never in your life have you had a dream like this, so breathtakingly lucid. You feel foreign here, but welcome, like a guest. It’s an odd feeling, but perhaps it is familiar.

At the foot of your bed, there is a note on a small black slip of paper, written in lavender ink. It’s addressed to you by name.

“If you want answers, come find me at the Torn Oak. Otherwise, make yourself at home. Welcome to the Dreamscape.

-The Outsider”

The only way out is through the door. When you exit it, it slams behind you, and is gone if you turn around. You begin to get the sense that you’re going to be here for a while.

The Dreaming Tree

♫♪♩♬

The first area that you come into contact with is a sprawling field of stark white vegetation under a deep purple sky. At the base of the hill upon which you stand, you can see a tree that is particularly large, that seems to be standing perfectly upright despite being torn completely in half just above the stump. A blue wooden door with a silver handle stands in the gap between the body of the three and the stump below. It seems this place has an interesting penchant for disembodied doors. Still, this is probably the “Torn Oak” referenced in the note from the room before.

Should you go in, you’ll find before you a fantastical structure that looks almost like a shrine--- four shimmering crystal pillars, a glass chandelier, and a pedestal with a glowing sphere swirling with light. And beside that, there stands a strange figure. A person with periwinkle skin and a long, slender body, draped in a cloak with golden eyes that moved and blinked. On their head, a pair of horns and a golden halo, and a pointed tail flicked around their ankles. They had three eyes, one seated up on their brow, all of which were that strange, eerie blue that the one carved into that large black door had been.

“Hello there!” They greet you cheerfully. “I’ve been expecting you. I’m sure you have questions!”

Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)

♫♪♩♬

The Outsider, your host, is more than happy to explain the purpose of this place. You are in the Dreamscape, a special pocket of the collective unconscious of the entire omniverse, and they’ve plucked the dreaming minds of a hand-picked selection of people out of their own dreams, to be here in this mystical place. They cannot tell you why, exactly, but they want you to make meaningful emotional, mental, and physical connections with other dreamers, particularly those who you do not know, and they’re willing to reward you for doing so.

Perhaps you want to get started on collecting right away. The Outsider has kindly informed you that the best way to do this is to go and make some new friends. The likelihood that you’ll find another dreamer or two walking around the grassy knoll outside the Torn Oak or heading up or down the colossal escalator leading up into the sky itself is pretty high. Perhaps you’ll even find someone who wants to walk with you over to the Glass Lake, where the water’s surface can be walked on to get a better view of the Rainbow Koi. For some reason, no matter how many people go there or how inviting it seems, no one else besides you and the person or people you went with ever seems to be anywhere around, making it surprisingly private.

Sleepwalking

♫♪♩♬

If the immediate area doesn’t strike your fancy and you’re looking for some other options, you might consider heading to the Barren Freeway. The long stretch of paved road is oppressively isolating and terribly eerie, but it can lead to so many other places, be they strange, temporary locations from the corners of your mind that disappear when you leave, or the Twisted City itself.

Bustling and full of life, there is always something to do or see in the Twisted City. Restaurants, shops, night life, libraries, parks--- and it almost looks like a normal town, if you can ignore the bubbles in the sky, uncanny structures in the street, and the fact that nothing ever seems to stay in the same spot. Though if you get lost and need to get back to the Freeway, the Submarineway has a stop right by there. Maybe in the process of finding your way, you can find a friend.

Comments

[sanguinehunger]

Astarion playfully gasped and clutched at his chest as though wounded, grinning easily as he puttered about in the kitchen with her for teacups and saucers and, hopefully, some biscuits, assuming their little cookie stash hadn't been tampered with in the transference of realms. "Now really! I rarely drink wine before breakfast, darling," he teased, canting his head at her wistful sigh as he arranged cups and saucers and biscuit tin on the table. "Something wrong, love?"

[invigorates]

There was a joke there somewhere about him having his breakfast in bed, but Lioriley would be the last person to make it. Instead she shook her head with a laugh and resumed waiting for the water to boil, arms folded over her chest while she stared down at the kettle, glancing over to Astarion only when the question was asked. "Hm? Oh. I was just thinking that it was quiet here." Too quiet her words seemed to imply. "I grew so used to Scratch greeting us when we came home that it feels a bit more... empty than it should." But maybe she was being dramatic. Or ungrateful? Both, maybe. "Something to get used to, I suppose."

[sanguinehunger]

And a further joke about the breakfast of champions, but alas, Astarion lacked the knowledge of 20th century Earth pop culture to make it. "Aaaaah," he replied quietly, arranging some thin almond cookies on a plate, then meandered over to drop a kiss against the top of her head, winding his arms around her waist from behind her. "Think of it this way, love: we've our house already, and therefore we can ask for our companions back all the sooner."

[invigorates]

She regretted her obvious lamenting the moment she spoke, knowing well enough that it was not the end of the world, and that there would likely be chances go retrieve their pets (and other less important things) once they settled in and understood the place. Although she would not complain when she felt his arms around her, and happily leaned into him, hands dropping to rest over his forearms. "I know." She admitted with another soft sigh. "At least we have each other. I am sure together we can have them back in no time, hm?"

[sanguinehunger]

"Nothing's lost that can't be regained, love," he reassured her, leaning down to rest his forehead in the curve of her neck and gently swaying with her, slow and soothing. "That doesn't help for now, of course, but. Plenty to work towards."

[invigorates]

She smiled and tilted her head, nosing into his hair with a hum, eyes shut. "I suppose I had best get to forming friendships then, hm? Or, do things as we have always done..." by having wild sex. Apparently that still counted.

[sanguinehunger]

"I imagine we will do quite a bit of both, darling," Astarion teased, chuckling against her skin. "Well. You will do both. I make friends rather slowly, alas."

[invigorates]

She patted his arm reassuringly. "It seems like it is finally my turn to teach you, love. We will have you making plenty of friends yet."

[sanguinehunger]

Astarion merely made a quietly grumpy sound and heaved a resigned sigh against the side of her neck, staying nuzzled in there until the kettle began to whistle. Instinctively he reached around her, curled his fingers around the kettle and lifted it from the stove, letting her switch off the flame and while he carried the boiling water to the table. "Either our tea collection and tin of biscuits made it through the transfer of realms as well, or everything is here because we wish for it to be," he remarked as he set the kettle down on a trivet. "An interesting thought. I wonder if I were to wish up a plate of Beef Sharburg for supper, if it would just appear."

[invigorates]

Poor grouchy baby. Lioriley couldn't help but be quietly amused by the reply, knowing full well she had been on the other end of things when the demand was sex instead of friendship. Although she would still argue one was far easier to accomplish than the other — much like he would argue the reverse.

She turned the flame off and gathered the cups, setting one down at each seat and glancing over to him with a slight cock of her head. "So why not try?"

[sanguinehunger]

"Hmm..." He'd made the comment offhandedly, but now that she mentioned it, it would be nice to have a taste of home. If it was possible. "You know, I think I shall. Later, of course. After we've enjoyed our tea...and worked up a bit more of an appetite." He winked at Lioriley as he plated the biscuits and let her prepare the tea. "And you must think of something from your own home, if it works, for dessert."

[invigorates]

Even fully used to his flirting, Lioriley still felt her cheeks flush and her mouth curl up in a bashful smile. "Those glowing mushrooms that grew in my homeland of Moon's Refuge? The majority of our meals consisted of them, given how bountiful and versatile they were. It is oft an acquired taste, though now I will have to see if honey-crusted mushrooms are anything you care to try."

[sanguinehunger]

"Honey crusted mushrooms?" Astarion--not being from a Zelda game that makes such a thing, as well as hot mashes of mushrooms and fruit--raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Well! I can say with absolutely certainty that I've never even thought to try something like that, darling. Two such strong unique flavors one would not normally consider complimentary. So I shall most assuredly have to now."

[invigorates]

"It is very good! Although I may be a tad bias, given that particular variety of mushroom was our primary food source." And building source. Amongst other things. Listen. "Just be honest if you do not enjoy them, should I be able to wish them here, hm? I promise I will not be offended."

[sanguinehunger]

"Aaah, yes, the taste of home," Astarion replied with a nod of understanding. He couldn't really remember what he'd eaten and drank in the home he'd been born to, but he had fond memories of the cuisine of Baldur's Gate before he'd been turned. Lots of fish, of course, to be expected from a coastal city, but the beef dishes from the fresh meat bought from the cattle farms outside of the city had been delicious as well. "I imagine your people were quite proficient in making a variety of things from the plentiful resources available to you."

[invigorates]

"We are." She said, "Nearly everything was made from those mushrooms with other ingredients added, and I never did grow sick of them." She took a sip of her tea and chuckled. "I will admit though - having explored the lands and tasted a variety of cuisine along the way, there are much more... interesting dishes."

[sanguinehunger]

Astarion wrapped his fingers around the warm mug, letting some of the steam subside and the heat sink into his cold fingers before he'd take a sip, helping himself to a biscuit while he waited. "I did wonder where you picked up the fondness for floral flavors," he remarked, sweeping crumbs from his upper lip with a quick lash of his tongue. "If you were of Faerun, I'd assume you'd met a great deal of sun elves. Much like your own people make everything from mushrooms, elves have an abundance of flowers and trees with which to craft their cuisine."

[invigorates]

Don't mind her watching the skillful flick of his tongue catching every crumb from his lips, her eyes drifting down to her teacup a moment later like it would assuage the way her mind wandered.

"Oh? That is very interesting. Such things are so easy to come by that it is a wonder more do not take advantage of their abundance. Then again, the chance of finding one that might be poisonous may be too high if one lacks the appropriate knowledge."

[sanguinehunger]

"Mm, well, to be fair, the cuisine of most peoples are crafted from abundance," he mused, briefly dunking a corner of his biscuit into his tea before taking another nibble. "Baldur's Gate, being a port city, serves an abundance of fresh fish. Not to my taste, of course. Not even before my, mm, condition changed my diet so drastically. But I'm told by those who do enjoy it that noble and pauper alike can enjoy fresh fish of fine quality, but a garden? Quite a luxury in the city, to have the space or land to coax so much as a few tomatoes to life."

[invigorates]

"I suppose that is true." She hummed, finally taking a biscuit of her own. "The more you speak of your home world, the more I wish that we could visit. Oh... I wonder if you could replicate a piece of it? Here in our cloud maybe. There is not rush, of course, simply a consideration once we are more used to such an ability."

[sanguinehunger]

Astarion considered it for a moment, wondering what part of the city he would most enjoy seeing again. Definitely not the rancid crypts he'd been forced to live in for two centuries. The Elfsong tavern, perhaps? "I don't see why I couldn't dearest," he remarked, taking a careful sip of his tea. "If, of course, you will do the same. Somewhere from Moons Refuge, perhaps?"

[invigorates]

She beamed at the thought, like it somehow hadn't even crossed her mind to do that while she was fixated on seeing something from Faerun. "I could! You could see the tower where myself and the other Lunari live while we train with the magisters. I always did love it there."

[sanguinehunger]

"I would like to see it," Astarion replied, propping his chin in his hand and smiling gently at her gush of enthusiasm. Fucking adorable. "I'm curious if it looks anything at all like the image I've conjured up in my mind."

[invigorates]

"I spent many years there. I am sure I could recreate every detail from memory. But tell me what you think - how do you believe our tower to be crafted?" She leaned in too, chin folded atop her hands; excited to hear his vision.

[sanguinehunger]

Astarion chuckled softly, leaning back a bit and holding his teacup in both hands, eyes closed as he conjured his image of what he believed her home must look like. "Hm. I imagine a tall structure that flows with the natural stonework, and not against it, perhaps even carved from it. All of those luminescent mushrooms growing outside of it. Many levels, as all magic towers seem to have. Books covering the walls, writing desks. Magical contraptions...I'm not a wizard, but their towers always seem to be full of magical contraptions. An alchemy lab, perhaps?"