And amnesiac dreams!
Here is the gameplay thread for Strange Aeons.
Darkness... what happened? Where am I? Can I even move?
All around is a wall of sickly yellow fog, tumbling through the alley’s canyon of crumbling, gray brick walls like some jaundiced flash flood. Ahead, the unfamiliar alley splits, curving to the left and right. Behind, from the silent swell of mist, emanates the sound of footsteps—slow, but somehow keeping pace with the careening, hungry wave.
________________________________________________________________________
Everyone, make a Will save vs. DC 20.
[dice=Will]1d20+4
Okay, Laere, your the one that realizes that you are dream sharing, like in Inception.
It's a shared dream. You are able to see each other and interact within the dream. The will saves were to see if your character realizes this. If he/she does, then he can possibly take control. The shared dream sequence allows you to take a little control, but it won't stop whats coming!
Bobbi stared around at the yellow, swirling fog. There was something wrong, something sickly about it. It was moving towards her, and with it, footsteps.
She looked around at the others. Strangers, mostly human, some definitely not. They seemed to be as confused as she was.
"I...I think we should run," she said, her voice high with fear. She turned and chose the left alleyway, and began to run away from the fog.
Laere touches her face. She's pale... Like a vampire... But she's very much alive. She knows. There's more to the eyes than it seems. She takes a deep breath and air fills her lungs; and yet, the feeling of not knowing what was going on was intoxicating. She feels the pounding on her years, yet she's surprised that, despite the horrors around her, it's probably not worth worrying too much. She has to keep her cool.
It's dark, she reckons, and she sees the others around her; fear seems to be the dominant feeling. The unfamiliar alley walls look to be condensing, trying to absorb them. Despite everything around, though, the worst was simply not knowing what was going on. Or even who she was, or what she was doing there. This entire situation is like something trying to push her to her limits, push her off a cliff. But amidst it all, one thing she knows.
This isn't real.
This is some sort of elaborate illusion... A false reality. A dream, perhaps, one of those conscious dreams. She reckons it, and it brings her strength. She shakes her head. She looks around, seeing the others, and hears the steps coming towards them. And she speaks.
This isn't real. This just a dream. - her voice almost too low to be understood, then she repeats louder, so the others can hear - This isn't real. We are not here. This is an illusion, this is a dream!
Gabrie isn't sure what to make of this. There are a lot of things that he doesn't know or understand here, like what the hell actually happened, for instance. Besides him, there are also others, though he knows none of them. He feels like he should've at least known at least one of them, but for now, everything feels blank, as if there are empty spots in his memories.
Shaking his head, he looks at the child who suggested that they should run. Then, he looks at another one, a pale lass, who told them that this is a dream. Gabrie is now even more confused than ever. Still, he doesn't allow himself to succumb in fear, he knows that he has faced things much more horrifying than this, even if he cannot remember it.
"What makes you think that, lass?" Gabrie inquires, directing his question to the pale woman who suggested that they are in a dream. He decides that keeping his cool is the right way to go, despite him not understanding whatever is happening to him and the others around him.
She cocks her head to the side. Yellow fog wasn't natural She feels like she heard once that not all poisonous gas is colored, but all colored gas is poisonous. Who had told her that? Oh well. Better to err on the side of caution. "Hold your breath, whoever you are." she said to the odd figures around her, before taking in a big gulp of air and holding it.
Where where they? It felt dangerous. The footsteps coming this way... part of her wanted to see who made them. But the child had run away. She had a soft spot for kids. Better to make sure she was okay. Lungs beginning to burn a bit from holding her breath, she followed after the girl, to the left.
Oh, I'm supposed to get an initiative count. Just a second:
* Serrahlia
* Gabrie
* Laere
* Bobbi
* Nawra
* Dr. Gareau
Our eyes, our minds, they're fooling us. - says Laere towards Gabrie - I understand it's hard to believe, but hear me and challenge your perception. While we might still be in danger, the real danger is not the one we're being led to believe.
"I'm sorry, but if this is a dream, then you are only a figment of my imagination. Surely, I will wake soon... or this isn't a dream at all, and then what are you playing at?"
Still, if the yellow cloud gets too close, holding his breath seems like a perfectly good instruction to follow.
The alley walls sag, battered brick slumping over the path, nearly blotting out the bruised twilight sky. Again the grimy cobblestone path splits. This time one route curves uphill, while the other recklessly descends. Behind, the yellow fog and the relentless sound of pursuit grow closer.
---------------------------------------------
Okay, in the initiative order above, state your actions. I'll be doing Bobbie last.
Laere stops, stoically looking directly at the fog towards where the steps sounds are coming from.
Stay together! We need to find what's truly real. Don't believe your eyes. - she says; despite the fear, she decides to challenge her beliefs and face the danger head up.
Laere checks herself; she wanted to find if there were any weapons or shield she could use, but just out of pure reflex - she has no clue what's going on, where she is, or even who she is or is capable of.
”This is my dream, so if you want to stay together, then follow me!”
Dr. Gareau starts running up the hill.
Gabrie is inclined to believe that they should stay together, even though it is very hard to accept that this is a dream. He nods at the pale woman, agreeing with her, though when the other man in the group decides that they should follow him and run up the hill, Gabrie tries to stop him but he already starts running.
"Wait-" He stops himself and sighs. Then he looks at others. "I suppose we should follow him." To be dismissed as a figment of someone else's dream is a little irksome, but considering that they need to get moving, he thinks they've got no other choices. So, he starts running, following the other man, beckoning the rest to follow as well.
Up seemed prudent. The gas following them was at ground level, maybe it was denser than air, and wouldn't be able to rise to meet the higher path? Seemed everyone else was going that was. She'd follow, and she too would be running up that hill.
Bobbie has run off, separating herself from the group. Finding her will be a task, that is for sure.
The alley walls sag, battered brick slumping over the path, nearly blotting out the bruised twilight sky. Again the grimy cobblestone path splits. This time one route curves uphill, while the other recklessly descends. Behind, the yellow fog and the relentless sound of pursuit grow closer.
Sorry. I must have got mixed up.
_--------------------------------------------------The mist parts, now mere steps behind. A mask of gray rags emerges, strips of something fleshier than fabric worming and constricting across a body that’s almost humanlike—but too lean, and far too flexible. Gauzy gray ribbons reach out like tendrils, each grasping for less doubtful flesh to claim.
----------------------------------------------------------
He cuts off the head of Laere, in a bloody fashion.
”Keep running!”
And so the good doctor does so.
Gabrie isn't sure what happened to the pale woman anymore because she chose to stick around instead of following them. So, Gabrie will keep running, urging the rest to follow.
The yellow tattered man comes out of the mist, and stalks each one of you.
Terrified, Bobbi runs pell-mell through the alleys, choosing her directions more-or-less at random. The fog seems ever inches from closing in around her, and she still hears footsteps. Sometimes she thinks she can hear one of the others shouting, and she tries to angle her way back to the group. Running off had been stupid, there was safety in numbers.
”Keep running!”
And so the good doctor does so.
A chained blade thrusts itself through your stomach, and you slowly die. Doctor.
The rest of you make perception checks, dc 20.
"Nooo!" The man looks at the hole now in his stomach and scrambles to hold in the blood now pouring out.
Cough, couch, gurgle... "Why?!?"
With that, he crumples to the ground, still trying to pull out the blade.
Suddenly the dead man lurches forward, one last gasp..."Arrrgh!" And then he is quiet again.
Nawra stops, and looks around for the gurgling voice. "Hello? Where are you?"
She tries to follow the sound.
Nawra turns the corner and sees the Tattered Man looking straight at her. He just simply grabs her by the neck, and violently turns it, breaking her neck.
Laere's body starts to cold and harden.
There are terrible noises coming from the mist. Bobbi grasps for power, trying to call up a mist of her own, a mist pure and white, one that would shelter her and hide her. She made the motions, spoke the words, and hoped that her magic would save her from whatever was stalking her in the yellow fog.
IT does not!
The tattered man uses a sword to cut off Bobbi's hand, making her bleed to death.
Bobbi fell to her knees, watching the life-blood spurt from her hand. As she lost consciousness, she thought, At least I won't have to be afraid any more....
Gabrie has no idea what is happening anymore. He keeps running and running. Something is chasing him, and he isn't even sure what it is.
Gabrie has no idea what is happening anymore. He keeps running and running. Something is chasing him, and he isn't even sure what it is.
It's okay.
Roll a will save vs. DC 20.