There are two kinds of dreams. There are dreams that we have while asleep and dreams that we have while we are awake. What is the connection between the two types? Both kinds of dreams are about the yearnings that are held deep inside us. Some of these desires are so secret that we dare not share them even with our closest friends. Those of us that dare to put our dreams down on paper are showing the courage and faith that they will come true.
You stand in a white room. There are four walls, a floor and a ceiling. The only other object in the room is a small potted bonsai tree resting on a white wood table.
.
Aebin wakes with a start, checking his equipment as he glances around the room. "Hey, can anybody hear me?" He goes over to the bonsai tree, examining it closely.
The bonsai seems ancient, with old growths gnarled into tight circles. You spy a small metal cage hanging from one of the branches.
Soft bells can be heard as you inspect the tree.
Aebin tries to find the source of the bells, then examines the cage.
The bells simply ring throughout the chamber and seem to be coming from all around you, but very faintly.
The cage seems unremarkable except for a small figure, indistinct, within the cage.
Aebin looks at the cage with curiosity, using his detect evil to scan it and the area. If nothing arises the gently takes hold of the cage to examine it further.
Detect Evil detects nothing and as you gently take hold of the cage, you feel it getting warmer and larger in your palm... and soon, you find yourself standing within it, on a metal platform (the base of the cage).
In front of you, you see the Dreamer...
And the Dreamer awakens.
Terrence slowly blinks himself awake. I just had the strangest dream. Trapped in a birdcage, and then a giant picked me up... Woah! That's the guy from my dream!
"Hey there, stranger! Would you mind pinching me?" Terrence's voice is calm and playful.
Startled at the magic, Aebin's hand floats over to his weapon for a moment. "You don't seem very disturbed by any of this. Do you know what's going on?" He gives the odd man another glance before searching around the cage.
Terrence chuckles. "Well, if you won't do it, I guess I will." He pinches his arm and waits for himself to wake up. When nothing happens, he tries again, harder this time. Then he slaps himself in the face.
Terrence's demeanor has completely changed, and he appears borderline panicked now. "You mean this is reality? Gods, what happened? I was dreaming I was in some kind of birdcage, then a giant appeared and shrank down to my size. Did that actually happen, or have I gone crazy?"
"Saw the same thing you did, but as the giant." Aebin rattles the bars of the cages, trying to break them. "I think somebody is playing some sick game with us."
"Well that's just lovely. I'd had plans for today, but I guess that's won't be happening now. I'm called Parker, by the way. Terrence Parker." He extends a hand.
Seeing this man is his ally, Aebin gives him a strong handshake and a war smile. "Aebin. Just Aebin. I got a feeling this is going to get dangerous, you any good in a fight?" Aebin makes a motion at his own armor, shield and weapon.
Parker picks up his spear and grins slightly. "I can hold my own, but it's my 'other talents' that have proven more useful."
"Ah, magic is it? Always handy to have somebody who can cast along." Aebin runs a hand along all of the bars, seeing if any of them are weak.
The cage is around twenty feet high and you could easily slip through the bars and fall... to the ground some fifty feet below.
Looking around the cage you notice the metal chain rising from its top to the ceiling.
This would entail quite a climb however using slick metal bars as your climbing surface... hardly a safe ascent.
Beside this, the cage floor is simply a sheet of polished metal.
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"Okay, let me try something..."
Parker concentrates for a minute, and a winged monkey beast with unnaturally-long forearms materializes into being. "Hey there, buddy! Would you mind doing a little exploring for me? See if you can find a way for us to get out of here."
The beast flies through the cage bars and begins to look around.
The Reverie floats above and out of the cage bars. He doesn't go too far for now and instead investigates the cage exterior for the moment. Nothing catches his eye at this level so he follows the chain above. At the top he notices a crack in the ceiling.
He doesn't enter for the moment, instead seeking your approval.
"See if there's anything at ground level. Point out anything of possible interest - especially doors, windows, rope, or ladders."
Aebin silently observes Terrance and how he's handling the situation, making mental notes.
The Reverie inspects the ground level but as Aebin had seen, the room is bare except for the table which holds the now enormous bonsai and the cage within its branches.
Aebin takes another look up, then looks at the closest branch. "Don't have any tricks with fire do you?"
"Nothing with fire, but my friend should be able to carry us up to that crack up top. How much do you weigh?"
As he speaks, Parker signals the Reverie to fly to the crack and take a quick look around for potential threats. After all, they'll have to travel one-at-a-time and will be quite vulnerable.
"A fair bit, could take off my armor if that'll make the difference."
The Reverie returns from inspecting the crack beyond and informs you that there is another room, normal sized from what he can tell, with a simple wooden.
However, he notes that there is a carving of a large clawed monster upon said door.
"Well, it looks like the only way out is up. My buddy here can carry us up, but you'll have to lose the armor first. I'll ride up while you get yourself ready, unless you have a better idea."
Aebin grunts as he begins to take off his armor.
You all safely make it up to the next room.
Once everyone's up, Parker and the Reverie carefully examine the door.
The door seems unremarkable to say the least. What you do notice however is that right beneath the door there are three small metal spokes poking out of the floor. You notice that you are able to press them down and by repressing them they rise up again.
The leftmost one is white, the middle one is gray and the right one black.
There doesn't seem to be any traps on the door.
Aebin looks at each spoke, then pushes the white one down. After that he tries the grey one, then the black, and if nothing happens he tries pushing multiple of them down at once.
The pegs slot in and out but nothing in particular happens.
Currently, all the pegs are pressed.
Aebin tries pulling them all up in a similar pattern.
Parker detects magic over the area. Then, he'll give the pegs a closer look.
The pegs are now all up, and they do not detect magic.
You do think they seem to be connected to the door however.
"This is definitely the door mechanism. Let's go through the possible patterns...."
1. white, grey, black
2. white, black, grey
3. grey, white, black
4. grey, black, white
5. black, grey, white
6. black, white, grey
After trying every possible combination, including pairs and all three at once in every different order, Aebin raises his sword. "Think I'm just gonna break one of 'em."
The door is a rudimentary wooden door. I had not mentioned anything about it since no one had tried opening it yet.
Aebin will attempt to open the door.
The monster is simply a melange of beast and other fiends. It's name can't be fathomed.
Aebin opens the door and before you lies a large meadow. If you were to peek your head out, you'd see that the door seems to be built into a small wooden house.
The meadow seems to carry on for at least a couple hundred feet before a forest takes its place.
"Well, I suppose this is better than a cage." Aebin takes point, sword in hand, casting about left and right as he begins to explore the area.
The meadow is circular in perimeter and the wooden house seems to be at its center. The forest seems strangely dark and foreboding compared to the sunlit meadow.
Tall grass composes the vegetation and no trees grow within the circle.
Up above, a cloudless blue sky stretches out.
Parker looks around at the strange place. "Well, we have shelter here but no long-term supplies. I don't know about you, but those woods look pretty intimidating."
It seems to be just before noon. The place is definitely unrecognizable to you and the area seems pristine.
The doorway still seems to lead back into the area you just came through.
Parker turns to Aebin. "What do you think about exploring for a couple hours? We can use this place as a base for the time being, as it appears relatively safe. We can poke around the area for a bit and get back before darkness falls. Maybe we can find a town or something."