New Dream Adventures of Raven Knight

2017, 11-28

Castle in the Mist

I am with my mother. We are standing on a ridge overlooking a valley. My brother lives somewhere out there. I find this distressing, because when I look out over the valley all I can see is smoke. I’m not sure if there was a fire or if it is pollution. I am thinking my brother John is in danger. We need to get to John. I am looking for a way down into the valley. It seems everything is closed due to current conditions. No one wants to listen when I say my brother is down there. Then I find a way to get closer. I’m not sure if the situation changes or if the dream changes, but now I find myself on a crowded trail headed towards a castle on a hill. My brother did not ever live in a castle. It appears to be a tourist attraction. There still seems to be a large amount of pollution around it. The castle is shrouded in smog and it is hard to see from a distance. I still take pictures with my phone, even though it is little more than a silhouette. I am with some people. I’m not sure who, maybe my mother, maybe MoSh, I’m not sure. Maybe other tourists. The procession approaching the castle is quite slow. That is to be expected with a tourist attraction. There are also people talking along the way, giving information about the castle. There is a lot of talk about it being haunted. It is announced that there are four guest rooms or dormitories in the castle, and anyone who has the nerve to stay in them can do so. I don’t think anyone wants to admit there are scared, but no one steps up to find out about renting the rooms.

As we approach the pollution seems a lot more malevolent. I am wearing my usual Assassin’s robes, and that is something I turn out to be glad of as we get closer to the castle. I see swarms of bugs in the sky. But when we get closer to them, it turns out they’re not just flies. It is a swarm of flying bugs of some kind. They look like small flying slugs or something. Slimy and fat and they look malignant. They look like they shouldn’t be able to fly because they are too big. They are swarming around everyone, and trying to get close to them. I see some people are having problems with the things trying to get into their clothes, mouths, noses, and ears. I’m not squeamish about bugs, but that is grossing me out. So I pull my hood all the way forward and then pull the edges of it together over my face. I can barely see where I’m going, but the bugs don’t seem to be able to find any access. We pass through the bugs in a relatively short amount of time and then I am able to open up my hood again. Now we are closer to the castle and can see it better. I take some more pictures of it. I have heard someone say that we shouldn’t take pictures, but that is one of the main reasons I came… I seem to have forgotten about John. I am wondering if this means it is fake, and they’re afraid people will be able to identify their tricks. But the feeling of malevolence I sense pretty much dismisses the idea. I take more pictures, ignoring the people saying that we are not supposed to. I know that photographs sometimes reveal things that the human I cannot see.

As we head away from the castle, I find a pile of silver coins. They aren’t worth much, but they seem like a good souvenir. I am thinking I might be able to identify some aura or energy around them once they are separated from the malevolent source. I pick up a couple of silver coins about the size of silver dollars and slip them into my pocket when no one is looking. I’m sure I am not supposed to do that. We return through a visitor center, but now the museum displays are twisted and strange. There are now images of torture and death instead of articles of ghost sightings. The people are weird her. Almost everyone is having sex. They’re doing it everywhere. Everyone is in various stages of undress, and they are in various groupings having vigorous sex. I have no idea why they all decided to fornicate in the halls and on the streets. I think it has something to do with the haunted castle. I am feeling no urge to take off my robes, however. A couple people approach me as if they are interested in doing so, but in spite of what I think might be a demonic cause, they are not interested in doing it by force. When I turn them down, they just move onto the next willing participant and go at it. I hurry through this area along with several other people that seem unaffected. We soon make it past those areas. I look back at the castle in the distance, it appears much further away than it should be now. It is once again shrouded in smog. I wake up here.