New Dream Adventures of Raven Knight

2017, 08-07

Game of Dreams - A Fall and A Healing Touch

Bran: I am playing a virtual reality game of Assassin’s Creed. I am in a medieval setting and I know my goal is to make it to the top of a broken tower. I climb a tree to reach the roof. I make my way across the rooftops, jumping and climbing with ease. I reach a stretch with a row of stone gargoyles just perfectly placed to swing from one to the next like on a child’s jungle gym. I swing from one to the next and then I hear voices from what I’d thought was an empty part of the castle. I get closer and hear a man and a woman talking about getting rid of the hand of the king, I immediately think they’re talking about my father! I swing to the gargoyle over the window and hang upside down to see who the culprits are, I’ll need to know who they are when I tell my father. When I peek in the two of them are making out. I remember hearing the man call the woman “sweet sister” so that means brother and sister are making out… I make an involuntary sound of disgust. The man looks over and I recognize the queen! The man comes towards me, I try to climb back up but the gargoyle breaks and I fall, grabbing the ledge by the window. The man reaches for me and says to take his hand. Not a chance! I’m sure they don’t want this secret getting out! I try to move away from the window but I’m too slow… the man grabs me and pushes me out into open air, I fall into my bed and wake.

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Tyrion: I am in a library. It is an old fashioned looking library with old leather bound books. I get up and leave the library. There’s a stairway going down outside. I hear people below talking about a boy who got hurt. A man calls the other as a prince, the prince sounds like a boy. The man says he wishes the injured kid would hurry up and die. The prince says it’s the wolf he can’t stand, the howling kept him up all night. The man says he could put the wolf down. The prince says there’s so many that the Starks would never notice. What a couple of assholes! I go the rest of the way over to them and respond to the boy’s comment that no one would notice the missing wolf. I say I’m quite sure the Starks can count to six, unlike some princes I could mention. It then occurs to me that the boy should go give his sympathies to the parents of the hurt boy. He calls me his uncle and says he doesn’t care about that boy! What an asshole! Someone should slap him in his ugly mug… so I do. He looks stunned then whines that he’s going to tell his mom! So I slap him again, making his cheeks a matching red. I tell him he can tell his mom all he wants, but first go tell the boy’s parents how sorry he is that their boy is hurt and emphasize if they need anything at all, the boy is glad to help. He runs off, I’m feeling quite satisfied as everything fades.

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John: I am in a stairway that seems to be leading up a medieval castle tower. I am going up to say goodbye to my brother, he has been hurt. I also know that he is actually my half-brother, and his mother doesn’t want me there. But I want to see my brother before I have to leave. I climb up the stairs more quickly and when I get to a door at the top I open it slowly. The woman is sitting in a chair beside a bed where my brother lies, unresponsive. The woman asks what I’m doing here, I say I’m going to say goodbye to Bran. She says I should leave. She gives me a dirty look that could curdle milk. I ignore her look and walk over beside the bed, on the other side from the woman. She says she’ll call the guards. I tell her to go ahead, I have every right to say goodbye to my brother. I go over and take Bran’s hand. He is so very skinny, almost skeletal. I see under the covers that his legs look like they’re bent wrong… didn’t anyone even bother to set the bones? I know it’s a medieval setting without a lot of medical knowledge, but really? I wish I could do something, something to heal him. I am focusing on healing him as I hold his hand. There’s movement under the covers. The woman gets excited and looks, but the movement stops. The legs look better now. The woman is talking. She says she prayed for this… she prayed to the seven that Bran could stay with her, that Ned would change his mind… she’s crying. I don’t know what else to do, so I say this isn’t her fault, she didn’t want him to stay with her like this… She gets mad at me and says she doesn’t need my absolution. I say of course she doesn’t… but she needs her own absolution, don’t blame yourself. Before she can respond I leave the room and everything fades.

2017, 08-05

Game of Dreams

John: I am in a large room full of tables and a lot of people. There is a procession of what look like VIPs going down the center aisle towards a raised table at the front of the room. First a stressed looking man with a distracted looking woman, then another woman with a really fat man, followed by a little kid on his own then two more pairs of kids, two boys and two girls. Next comes a nice looking man standing alongside a short guy that looks more like a dwarf than a human. But I don’t see any other races around so I assume he is a short human. And then a feast begins. I am eating various meats and breads and drinking a sweet wine when something brushes my leg. There is a wolf pup down there so I give the pup some of the meats. A man comes over and we start chatting about various details we have noticed. The name Uncle Ben comes to mind. He says they can use observational skills like mine in the Knight’s Watch. This idea immediately appeals to me, but in spite of the fact Ben is the one who brought it up, he keeps saying I can’t do it because I am just a boy. If I am too young then why did he suggest it in the first place? I get mad and then realize I’m making a scene and that gets me even more upset so I run outside. I see the short man from the procession earlier and he says he drank too much wine and it’s considered rude to vomit on your brother. I don’t want to talk to anyone right now so I keep going and then everything fades.

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Catelyn: I am in a bedroom of what looks like it might be a medieval period. I am a woman, and I spot that immediately because I am naked. I am lying in bed naked while a man in the room is standing by an open window and apparently enjoying a cool breeze that is blowing in. He says he doesn’t want to leave Winterfell. I tell him if he doesn’t want to go just say so. A man knocks on the door with an urgent message, or so he says. The message is for me. I open it and at first it looks like gibberish, but when I look at it in a slightly different way I can see what it means. Ned’s (my husband) friend is dead, but he was murdered by the Lannisters. I tell Ned that is another reason not to go. He says this letter changes everything, now he has to go south with Robert to find out the truth of what happened to his friend. He says Robert may even be in danger. There is a bit more talk about where the kids will stay, he is expecting I will stay behind to run Winterfell while he’s away. I’m not feeling good about the conclusions we reach, but then everything fades to black.

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Arya: I am in a classroom working on arts and crafts. I look at my work I am not pleased. For some reason I have been sewing a very crooked line of stitches. I hear a group of girls not far from me whispering… about me? They say they were talking about a Prince who is so handsome and gallant. There is another group of girls with the teacher. I am sitting by myself as happened throughout my actual school years. The teacher comes over and looks at my stitching. She says it will never do. She says I have the hands of a blacksmith. The other girls are all staring, some are laughing… even my sister looks amused. I am embarrassed. I want to leave. I get up and head for the door. The teacher asks where I think I’m going. I’m mad about the blacksmith comment and I tell her I have to shoe a horse. I leave the room and slam the door behind me. I go down some stairs and find my wolf pup at the bottom of the stairs tied up. I untie her and decide to look around. I walk for a while and find a covered bridge with a boy gazing through a window into the combat training yard. I look there and see some kids practicing with wooden swords. One boy is saying he wants to use live steel, and another boy is saying to bring it on, but the instructor won’t allow it. I am still watching when everything fades.

Plans: Challenge one of the tournament tonight at the Hogwarts where I am a student with MoSh. It looks like I'll be working with Draco, though, since we're in the same house. MoSh will be working with Harry and Hermione since they're all in Gryffindor. This sucks.

Tour of the Castle
I am in a bedroom at Hogwarts and I'm not lucid. I really need to RC every time I'm in a bedroom that isn't my own... So I leave the bedroom and enter an office of some kind, there is a big ornate wooden desk, there isn't much in the room, it looks like it isn't in use right now. I look around for a bit, not sure what I'm supposed to be doing in there. I was still pondering that when there was a knock at the door, I open the door to reveal Professor McGonagall waiting at the door. I let her inside, she says she has come to help me get acquainted with the castle. So now I follow McGonagall down the hall. I notice there are two exits from the living area / office, one of them leads to the main hallway while the other leads directly to a classroom, it's the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. I follow McGonagall to the main hallway and then we go around the school, meeting an assortment of people. Filched greeted me with a grunt and a glare until I say he has an adorable kitty, after which I pick up a surprised Mrs. Norris and then give her cause to purr, and she purrs very loud indeed! I comment to Filch that I love anything feline, I am a hopeless cat lover. Mrs. Norris clearly likes me, so Filch soon calms down. He had been a bit upset when I had first scooped Mrs. Norris into my arms. McGonagall says we need to keep going, so I set Mrs. Norris down and follow McGonagall. We are seeing where all of the classrooms are, meeting all of the teachers and others that work there, for the most part I get a friendly welcome.

There are a couple people there who seem less than thrilled to see me. And those are actually people I have already met, I am sure of that. Somewhere along this tour I have become lucid, so I am now aware I am dreaming. Snape greets me with a grunt and a dirty look, I know he wanted to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts class. I am figuring he voted me in only because, when choosing between Umbridge and me, I am the obvious choice. Lucius is in the halls, I wonder how much time Lucius is at Hogwarts. As McGonagall is introducing me to people, she is saying the role they play at Hogwarts. It turns out the heads of the houses aren't the same as in the book. In fact, McGonagall introduces Arthur Weasley as the head of Gryffindor, I say I thought that was McGonagall. McGonagall says no, seems surprised, then says there would be far too much room for bias if the heads of the houses were also teachers. She says Snape would never flunk anyone in his house. She says Arthur Weasley is head of Gryffindor, Xenophilius Lovegood is head of Ravenclaw, I have never heard the name of the person who is head of Hufflepuff, and Lucius Malfoy is the head of Slytherin.

Speaking of Lucius Malfoy, McGonagall meet up with him in one of the halls. He doesn't seem too happy to see me, but at least he is making an effort to hide that. He McGonagall has something she needs to attend to, and she needs me to wait. Right there with Lucius? Don't take too long... So there I am in the hallway with Lucius, and it seems a bit awkward, so I just wait there silently while Lucius is giving me a strange look. While I am standing there thinking the situation rather sucks, someone even worse comes along. Dolores Umbridge comes along down the hall. She is still not pleased to see me, but it seems she is currently more angry a Lucius for some reason. She walks right over to Lucius and says she should curse him into next week for that trick. She says it took her hours to find the proper counter-curse to get rid of that obscenity from her forehead. I remember the word BITCH being tattooed on her face, I look to see if it is really gone. Lucius is also looking, he says it's good she cleared up that label... the word BITCH didn't properly describe Umbridge. I look and now the words UGLY BITCH are displayed on her forehead, glowing and changing color constantly. I say Lucius is right on this one, Umbridge's forehead looks much better now, then I turn away quickly because I think I might start laughing. McGonagall comes out of the room where she had gone, she looks at Umbridge and gasps. She is staring, all she can say is, "Dolores! Your face! It's..." I interrupt McGonagall and say her face sure does look a lot better. McGonagall is about to say something else when Umbridge takes a look at me, gives a huff, then says I shouldn't get too comfortable since I won't be at the school for long. She leaves in a huff. McGonagall makes no further attempt to stop her, but she does want to know who put it there. I say I didn't do it, but I think it was Q. Q has a sense of humor and would no doubt find that amusing. From the closed door of a women's restroom a bit farther up the hall comes, "Lucius Malfoy!!!" There are a few other sounds, then Umbridge comes out of the bathroom and storms over to Lucius. I notice that, unfortunately, her forehead is now clear of writing. Damn. She got rid of it. She points at her forehead and tells Lucius that she has countered how curse. As I am watching, however, the words DUMB UGLY BITCH appear on her forehead in neon pink. I snort a bit of laughter, turning it into a cough, though it still gets Umbridge's attention. She heads off in a huff again.

I follow McGonagall through the rest of the tour of the castle, though nothing more worth noting takes place. I am thinking it would be sooooo easy to get lost in there that it isn't even funny. I wonder how the students manage to find their classes at all. I guess it is something they get used to, but it seems the setup would lead to a lot of tardy first years, at least for a while. The tour ends back where we started, back in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. McGonagall says again that everyone, or most everyone, is glad to have me aboard. So don't pay any attention to Umbridge, she is all talk and there really is nothing she can do now that I have been voted in by a majority of the board members at Hogwarts. Speaking of Umbridge, she storms into the room and demands to know where Lucius Malfoy is, I see her forehead now sports only one word, and that is FUCKTARD. Q must have heard Tigress use that word. McGonagall says that is really immature, but she seems to be snickering a bit, too. I wonder what it will say next... I was fortunately able to wait until McGonagall left the room before I woke up.

Concert Shirt Swap
I am in a large room, it is an auditorium, and there are people coming into the room and taking seats, it looks like there is going to be a concert going on soon. I am thinking I somehow got in without a ticket, and I am hoping I don't get caught... because the ticket price is outrageously expensive, there's no way I could afford one. I am trying to remember who is playing, is it even worth that kind of money? Well, no matter, I got in free, so I'm happy. It turns out that they are even giving out free t-shirts, one of the employees gives me one, so I look at the shirt, and it displays the names of the bands to be playing. There are a couple opening acts I don't recognize, but the headlining groups are Metallica and Disturbed, awesome! I take my shirt off right there in front of everyone, not really being concerned about the people who are around me to see. I put on my shirt but then I realize I have a big hole in it! That really pissed me off, so I switched back to my own shirt. I look around and I see that some people have laid their shirts around, I figure I will make a swap. Bit when I try, someone calls me on it, I say I thought it was mine... Sorry. The music starts, it's Metallica playing, I am hoping I haven't missed Disturbed. Of course now the place is darker, so I am able to swap my shirt with another. Then I make my way towards the front of the crowd to get closer to the band. It's Metallica, but I don't recognize the songs.

A River Runs Through It
There is a river running through our yard, across the driveway, blocks the driveway. The water is rancid. Oil in it. Can't get out, worried about dogs... what if they drink this crap??? They can't reach. Not an issue. What if it erodes and grows wider? We need a bridge. Mom talking to my brother, John about the bridge. I follow the river to see where it comes from, can it be diverted? Somehow I become lucid... that's John! I don't want to lose him again... I hug him, I don't want to let him go, he wants to know what brought that on...

I am in my own bedroom, I get up off the bed and go out into the living room. I haven't been sleeping, I have been lying in there relaxing, but now I think it is time to get doing something. I go outside to get a bit of fresh air, but there is something weird about the yard. It takes me a bit to recognize what is wrong with the yard, but I finally see that there is a river running through it! I see my mother out there talking to someone, I go over to see what is going on, because I know there isn't supposed to be a river in the yard. The river flows across the driveway, so it is impossible to get our cars out of the driveway. I find it is my brother John that my mom is talking to, I also get a closer look at the water. The water is disgusting. There is a lot of oil and crap in the water, and it also smells bad. My mother is talking to John about leaving the river there and building a bridge... but why would she want to keep the river stench going through the yard?! I follow the river to the west to see if I can find out where the river is coming from and maybe it can be diverted. Somewhere as I'm following the river I become lucid, though I can't identify exactly where.

Now that I'm lucid I head back to where my mom is talking to John still, but now I realize it's a dream and that as soon as I wake up John will be gone again. This realization makes me sad, I miss my brother. I decide to take advantage of the time I have with him. I run over to John and I throw my arms around him in a great big bear hug. He seems a bit surprised, but he returns the hug. I keep hugging him, I really don't want to let go. It seems almost as if, by holding on to him tightly enough, I can pull him from the dream into waking life. Of course that isn't possible, but I hold on to him tightly just the same. I am still holding him when I wake up, and of course he isn't there.

Note: This was a three level dream… I was having a dream in a dream in a dream… these can get a bit confusing, but I will do my best to keep things straight.

I am lying in my bed, I am not sure how I got there, just that I am really tired. I feel a soft furry animal curled up beside me, so I reach down to pet the animal I assume to be a cat. Instead, the animal pikas when I touch it. Pika? I sit up and turn on my iPod Touch for the light from the screen, and there is a real live pikachu sitting beside me, looking at me. He is looking at me, and he pikas again, then he curls up right by my chest, where it is really easy to scratch his ears. For some reason, even though I know that means I am dreaming, I am still sleepy and I lie down, soon falling asleep with the pikachu beside me… I slip into a dream.

I am in the Hogwarts castle, I am lucid, and I am playing games with Bellatrix Lestrange. The kind of games that end up with her shitting her pants either with fear or with frustration or anger or something… I am having a hard time remembering the details, but I do remember a couple of fragments… I am in one of the classrooms at Hogwarts, facing Bellatrix Lestrange across several desks, she is acting in her usual insane manner, brandishing her wand around like a complete madwoman and yelling incomprehensible things in between her insane cackling. I telekinetically take her wand right out of her hand, pulling it straight to me. I tell her she needs to stop waving that thing around before she puts out an eye or something. She actually pauses, looking at her empty hand and then at me holding her wand. She demands I give it back to her immediately, I tell her to take it back if she wants it so badly. She does nothing, so I ask her if that's a problem, can't she do a simple summoning charm to take her wand back? Or can she not do magic without a wand? Because if she can't do magic without the aid of a stupid little stick, then she is way more pathetic than I had ever thought possible. She demands her wand back now, I ask her if I really look dumb enough to give it back to her, then I leave the room, yelling at her to come get it if she dares…

I am in the dungeons of Hogwarts, the passages down there are like an endless maze, and I am lucid. I am teleporting all over the place, I am playing games with someone, and I soon find the person I am playing with, it is Bellatrix Lestrange. She is apparently pissed off at me about something, because she fires a curse at me, but I teleport before it can hit me. Instead it makes a hole in the wall. I teleport to a spot right behind Bellatrix and whisper quickly into her left ear, "You missed! Tag, you're dead!" and then I teleport away as she is turning around. She spins around and fires another curse, but I am gone before she even fires the curse this time. I am a disembodied voice before I re-materialize somewhere else, and I let out a hollow sounding laugh that echos through the dungeons, all around Bellatrix, making her look frantically around for the source. She is yelling at me to come out, she is calling me a coward, calling me a whole slew of names I don't recognize but I am sure they are nasty and insulting names. I teleport to a position right in front of her and give her a shove backwards, she fires several quick curses at me, I teleport and reveal the mirror behind me, her curses bounce back and almost hit her except she ducks out of the way quickly. Some more hollow laughter for her benefit. She is yelling again, apparently loud enough that it got Snape's attention. Snape comes down the hall, clearly pissed off, and barely avoids Bellatrix's franticly thrown curse. "Watch what you're doing, woman!" Snape snarls as he comes over closer to Bellatrix and plucks her wand from her hand as she is looking frantically around. I appear behind Snape, in front of Bellatrix, and she starts pointing and yelling, "There she is! There she is!" at Snape. As Snape turns around, I teleport away so there is no one for Snape to see. Snape looks back at Bellatrix with a strange look that is somewhere between disgust and pity.

I wake up from the Bellatrix dream and now I am in my living room with Tigress, it seems I fell asleep while I had been hanging out with Tigress. So now I am not lucid. Now that I am awake, I tell Tigress about the dream I just had, about the fact it seemed so vivid at the time, I tell her I could feel every sensation, every bit of energy, I really need to write down some notes to be sure I don't forget this. I pull out some paper and start writing down some notes, writing them as quickly as I can, trying like crazy not to forget about it. While I am doing this I wake from this dream.

Now I wake up in bed, I roll over and think I had better jot down notes from the dream, the Bellatrix dream and the dream where I was telling Tigress about it, but I hear something out in the other room that makes me stop and listen. My mother is talking to a man, the man's voice sounds sooooo familiar right now… I can't really believe what I am hearing. It's my brother, John, but it can't be… he's been dead for four years now… there is no way he could be back, is there? I listen to them out there, my mom is clearly thrilled that John is back, I hear John ask if mom thinks it is ok for him to wake me up to say 'hi' to me. My mother says that she is certain I won't mind considering the situation. I decide to pretend to be asleep, to not let them know I had been spying on them, so I close my eyes as I hear my bedroom door open. I peek out through one squinted eye, an eye barely open enough to see, certainly not enough for someone else to notice, and I see my brother come into the room. He is speaking to me, he says good morning, it's time to wake up. And I wake up, but unfortunately I wake to my waking life.