New Dream Adventures of Raven Knight

2018, 05-15

The Dark Tower – Blaine is a Pain

I am in a green meadow near a stream. There is a deer here, she is drinking from the stream. I see there is a monorail track not far away. Then I know what is about to happen. I see the light from Blaine the Mono speeding along the track so I teleport over to the deer and form a shield around us. Blaine speeds past in a blur, stirring up a lot of debris in his wake. The sonic boom that comes after he passes is almost deafening. The deer I am protecting is scared but unharmed so I release her and she runs off. But I’m supposed to be on Blaine! I run parallel to the track and then jump up and fly. I focus energy into it and fly like the characters on Dragonball Z, speeding along the track to catch up with Blaine. I fly right next to Blaine for a bit, matching his speed but unsure of how to get in. I finally figure I should just phase through the wall of Blaine, so I try to focus on that… I manage to phase through the wall and then I make a spectacularly unimpressive crash into what looks like a piano, coming to a stop with a loud BRANG noise.

My sudden arrival has surprised everyone on the train except for MoSh, who is just looking over at me. Everyone else is wanting to know how I was flying, how was I flying as fast as Blaine, how did I get inside from out there. Blaine says I am rude for coming in uninvited. He also says I am rude for collecting all the toxic gas back in Ludd. I tell him I wasn’t being rude, I was simply solving his riddle… figuring a way to stop the toxic gas and still get on board to be with my friends. I never meant it to be rude. Good riddle, by the way. I was barely able to solve it. Blaine seems to accept my treating the situation as a riddle and is more than happy to take credit and praise for setting the riddle up. So having appeased Blaine for my unexpected arrival the riddling continues.

Roland is telling riddles one after another, and Blaine is answering each of them instantly, with no hesitation. Susanna and Jake seem to find that very disheartening, but Eddie looks like he has zoned off into another dimension. This appears to have annoyed Susanna, who looks like she’s about to bring Eddie back with an elbow to the ribs but thinks better of it when Roland shakes his head slightly while looking at her. MoSh says he has some riddles he could contribute. I know some, too. I can’t remember specific riddles, just that Roland, MoSh, and I took turns giving out riddles for a while but we weren’t having any luck in stumping Blaine. I am thinking Blaine is cheating with his vast databanks, maybe I should hack in and break the connection and see how many riddles he can solve then… Blaine says we are almost out of time, we are almost to the end of the line.

But now Eddie seems to be coming back to us and it looks like he is about to crack up laughing. He starts telling his silly joke / riddles, and that is clearly pissing Blaine off. He tells a dead baby joke, I’m not even sure if that really qualifies as a riddle since logic gets nowhere with it… but Blaine takes it as a riddle and refuses to answer. Roland says if Blaine is going to cry off then we win and he has to keep his promise. He gets mad and sounds like he’s having a tantrum more appropriate to a spoiled 3 year old. MoSh adds in a couple nonsensical riddles, and Eddie adds another… and now the only response from Blaine is a bunch of nonsensical sounds, quote fragments, and random words that make no sense at all. My next response is, “Cool… you broke his brain!” The entire system crashes, the lights go out, the engines shut down. But we might still crash. I tell everyone to gather around me and I’ll make a shield to protect us all. I form a force field around us, Roland is apologizing to Eddie, and then we crash. Once we’re stopped an emergency escape hatch in the ceiling pops open. Roland is asking if everyone is ok. I lower the force field but then I wake up.

2018, 05-02

The Dark Tower – City of Ludd

I am on a bridge that is high over a river. The bridge is falling apart, there is a large gap where only cables are holding the bridge together. Roland, Susanna, Eddie, and Jake are all there. Jake is holding his billy bumbler Oy and carefully making his way across the gap. Eddie seems to be having more difficulty, he’s afraid of heights. I go over to help him get across. Susanna is doing fine on her Witchblade legs. I tell Eddie his Witchblade will save him if he falls so there is really no need to be afraid. While we are trying to help Eddie a man has arrived at the far end of the bridge. He looks like a leper. The leper calls himself Gasher and says he will use a grenade and take the whole bridge down if Jake doesn’t go with him. There is some arguing but then Jake says he will go with Gasher willingly, Roland says he will come to rescue Jake.

There is a break here, then I am back in the dream, but this time I actually AM Jake. I am following Gasher down a long narrow alley and he is going a bit too fast for Jake. My arrival caused a bit of a slowdown, and that pisses Gasher off. He stops and moves to strike me right in the face. I catch his arm as he swings and twist it around to pin it behind his back. I growl at him that I am coming with him because I gave my word, but that does not mean I will put up with any of his abusive shit. I twist the arm a bit harder before saying he should try to hit me again if he wants to experience his last days of existence with only one arm. I finally let go and we continue. We reach a sewer access cover and he tells me to move it. I lift the metal disk easily and throw it aside, again displaying that I have more than enough strength to handle Gasher if he gets any ideas. I can see he is having trouble hiding the fear from his eyes.

Another break, and now I am in a train station and there is a monorail engine on the other side of a locked gate. Roland, Eddie, Susanna, and Jake are all here now. They are punching in a code on the number pad beside the gate and it slides open. The train is talking and says we’d better hurry or the gas will get us. Eddie asks why do that, Susanna says so many will die, but the train just laughs. I tell them I will take care of the gas and maybe restore some semblance of stability to the people remaining here. Everyone does a double take when they see I have appeared from nowhere. Susanna says she never sees me coming, I’m just there. I tell her that happens a lot. They all get into the train, which is Blaine the Mono and Charlie the Choochoo all in one, and the door closes. Blaine tells me I was too slow. I say I didn’t want to get on now, I’ll catch up later. Blaine didn’t seem to know what to say to that.

As the train leaves the station I take to flight over the city of Ludd. I look down into the streets where a lot of people are in full panic over the noises that came from the speakers earlier. I see a purple gas coming from the sewers running under the city. I focus on the song Blitzkrieg by Metallica and use it to create a vortex that pulls all of the toxic gas into itself, condensing it all into a small ball about the size of a tennis ball. I then focus on the song Full Moonlight from the Devil Hunter Yohko soundtrack and that creates an orb that looks like the moon which hovers over the city and bathes all of Ludd in its silvery light. I see people are no longer panicking, and that is a plus. I won’t get to see if it brings those psychos to their senses and makes them stop killing each other, they never knew that was all for Blaine’s entertainment. Sick Blaine. Now I need to get MoSh and get back onto the train but instead I wake up.

2017, 12-14

The Dark Tower – River Crossing

I am with Roland, Susanna, Eddie, Jake, MoSh. We are all making our way along a very old road. In the distance up ahead I can see what looks like a city. It looks like the type of city I would see in my own world, but it is clear that is not where we are. Eddie seems to think it looks like New York. I am not sure what city it could be, but I get a bad feeling about it. Part of me thinks we should go around it, but another part says there we have a train to catch there. We cannot go around. Before we get there however, we approach a small town. The town looks to be abandoned with many buildings that are falling down. Roland however says that he has a feeling there are people there. Eddie asked if they’re friendly? Roland asks if a strange dog may bite? In other words, he doesn’t know. We start making our way through the town at a rather slow pace. The purpose is so that they don’t feel threatened by a quick approach, but also we don’t look like we’re scared and easy targets. We come to an intersection. It crosses at right angles to the one we’re on. Roland picks up a rock and throws it at a metal box that’s hanging over the street. There is a loud clang, a bell rings, and a flag pops out of the box. It is a green flag that says go. Eddie thinks it is an old version of a street light, Susanna thinks that Roland just did something stupid, MoSh seems occupied with something that he sees off to the left. He is looking at what appears to be a large courthouse or church.

As MoSh is watching the building, a couple of people emerge. One of them is an old man, and he is leading an old woman. The old woman seems hesitant and nervous, but the old man seems quite excited to see us. The old woman keeps asking if we are harriers? The old man says no, he’s never seen a harrier with a weapon like that. He is indicating the guns sticking out of Roland’s holsters. The ones with the sandal wood grips, clearly they are distinct weapons of a gunslinger. We approach the two, and the man looks at the guns in awe. He says that we are no harriers, but there is a gunslinger with us. Roland speaks to them in a very respectful manner. I think he is using what they call the high speech, but I can’t be sure since my translator translates everything pretty much equally. As he speaks to them, the old woman’s face lights up. She says that he is a gunslinger. I take a closer look at her and see that she has no eyes. That is how come she did not know for sure he was a gunslinger until she heard him speak. Roland lets the blind woman feel one of the guns. We follow the old people back through the courthouse. Behind it there is a hidden oasis. They have a beautiful garden back there, and I can see they also have areas where they grow their own crops. They keep it all well hidden from the main streets so that roving harriers do not become aware of it.

There is some more old people there. Two of them are twins, and the first thing that pops into my mind are Fred and George Weasley when they tried to cross Dumbledore‘s age line and became old. There is an elderly woman there who seems to be their leader. She is no doubt the village elder. She asked us if we will come break bread with them, and then palaver. She says she can see we are on a quest, though she knows not what we are seeking. Roland says that we are seeking the Dark Tower. She makes the sign of an evil eye, and says that is an accursed place. She says no one who has gone seeking the Dark Tower has ever returned. I feel like telling her that we are going to change that, but I don’t see the point. I noticed that MoSh is talking to a couple of the people. I can’t hear what he saying though. At this point the elder and one of the some of the others lead us through into a beautiful garden. It is here that we sit down and prepare to have our meal. There are no seats or tables, but it is very nice setting. The woman who is the leader announces our presence to everyone who is gathered. She announces Roland’s arrival as the return of the light. It is clear they hold gunslingers and very high esteem.

The meal, which proves to be a wonderful thing, starts off with a drink that is some kind of a spiced cider. Roland warrens Jake not to drink much or will be carrying him out. I don’t generally like alcohol, but the stuffs pretty good. I noticed for the first time that there is a Billy Bumbler following Jake around. I hadn’t noticed Oy was with us. The people bring us food, and I feel rather bad about eating any of it since I don’t really need to eat in the dream state. But that seems like a rather lengthy thing to try to explain to them, and if I don’t explain and just refused to eat I’ll appear rude. So I decided at some point after this I will restore some of their food supply in exchange. I guess it’s a good thing that I came to an acceptance of eating some of their food because the desert is some kind of amazing cake that I don’t think I could’ve said no to. Soon in the meal is done, as if to announce its completion Eddie let out a loud burp that is acepted as a complement to the chef. The chef deserve lots of compliments. Then most everyone else leaves, because they say it’s time to palaver. The elder is asking if we won’t stay the night, but Roland seems to think we need to move on quickly. They’re also suggesting that we should go around the city, which they have named blood, but Jake seems convinced that we have to go through it. I remember from the books that we have a train to catch.

The rest of the time is spent exchanging stories and getting as much information about Ludd as possible. There is a single bridge leading in, and once inside there are two groups, the Greys and the Pubes that are always fighting and will no doubt both want to take Jake. There is also talk of Blaine the Monorail. Stories of this train indicate it can go faster than the speed of sound. These people tell of seeing it go by on the railway in the distance and then hearing a huge explosion shortly after it passed, which sounds like a sonic boom to me. They say the train hasn’t traveled for many years, though they can’t seem to agree on how many years. The blind woman insists she has heard a train leaving Ludd and heading in the opposite direction. While the other people in the town don’t seem to believe her, I am thinking she is right… being blind would enhance her hearing and if the wind was blowing right she might have heard even the distant sounds of the train leaving. My mind has wandered somewhat while listening, and I notice MoSh is nowhere to be seen… I wonder if he wandered off or woke up. I don’t have much time to wonder before I wake up.

2017, 10-24

The Dark Tower – Bearzilla Attacks

I am in a forest in a clearing with a couple of other people. I see Roland, Susanna, and MoSh. Susanna is seated in her wheelchair and has a gun. She is aiming at a row of targets set up on a fallen tree not far away. There are six targets there, and Roland is giving each of them and identity for Susanna’s benefit. He is describing various assholes from Susanna’s past. People that Susanna would be very glad shoot. I am looking at Susanna’s missing legs. I am looking at the stumps where they come to an end rather. I am wondering if we have some prosthetics that could make her able to walk. From what I’ve seen, she’s learned to get around very well without legs. So I’m not even sure if she would want the prosthetics. I hear some birds disturbed, and what might’ve been a tree falling, but I don’t pay much attention. Roland and Susanna are too focused on their current lesson. MoSh says that the bear guardian is coming. Susanna fires off six quick shots. She annihilates all but one target.

After another disturbance MoSh repeats that the bear is coming. I look over at him, at first I’m not sure what he means, but then I remember. Susanna is getting annoyed at Roland for describing the targets as assholes from her past. Apparently that brought up some memories she didn’t want to think about. More birds are disturbed, and another tree crashed at the ground. All I can say is, oh shit! MoSh finally gets Roland’s attention and he repeats that something big is coming. He says it’s the giant bear guardian. Susanna looks at him doubtfully, but Roland gets a look of understanding on his face. He says he didn’t even think that was real. He thought it was just a story. But no one can deny the fact that something big is headed for the campsite where we had been earlier. And that’s where we left Eddie. Susanna, of course, is immediately panicked for Eddie. Roland scoops Susanna out of her wheelchair and start carrying her piggyback, running back towards the camp as fast as he can. MoSh says it will take too long to run, so he flies. As I see him fly, I think I can do the same thing. I fly after him over the green forest below.

There is a bear up ahead that we see. This bear is massive. The bear is violently shaking a tall tree. I see Eddie near the top of the tree, holding on for dear life. MoSh already knows what to do. He pulls out a gun that looks like a replica of one of the Roland’s, and he fires at the strange looking radar dish on the bear’s head. The bullet hits a barrier of some kind. Marsh says crap, that’s not supposed to be there. There’s a dark energy shield around the bear. The bear is back to shaking Eddie’s tree as if it hasn’t even noticed us. I tell MoSh that I’ll break the shield with a bolt of lightning and then he can take out the dish. I use the song Battery by Metallica to create a bolt of lightning of light energy. The lightning cuts through the shield around the bear. MoSh fires his gun again, and this time it hits home. The strange dish on the bear’s head explodes in a rain of blue sparks and disgusting grey-ish black worms. I’m sitting there looking at that, thinking that’s nasty. The bear starts turning around in circles as if it is disoriented.

Roland arrives with Susanna, and she shoots the bear as it is trying to grab hold of Eddie’s tree again. I’m not sure if it’s trying to shake him off still, or if it’s trying to use the tree to hold itself up. The bear clumsily turns around and starts headed towards Susanna and Roland. Susanna shoots it again right in the dish, although it was pretty mangled from the first shot. Since this version of the bear doesn’t to want die, I add a bolt of lightning to the mix. And MoSh shoots it three more times in the base of it skull. That creates a large hole in the base of it skull, from which many more disgusting gray-ish black worms News. The bear flails around a bit more, splattering disgusting worms and blood everywhere. Then it collapses. It is still making some noises, but these noises now sound like a malfunctioning dishwasher. Roland says it’s OK now, that bear is all but dead. I keep watching, since it was that hard to kill I don’t want to assume anything.

Roland goes over closer to the bear, as does MoSh. Eddie and Susanna are embracing each other, and smooching. That’s rather gross, since Eddie got a soaking of the blood/parasites/disgusting stuff from the bear earlier. Roland is gouging out one big eyeball from the bear. Yuck. He seems to think we should all take a look. I don’t really see the need to. But everyone goes over to look. Susanna seems to move pretty well on her own. That leads me to question even more if she would even want artificial legs. What we find in the bear seems to be pretty much proof that it is a cyborg. Eddie says it looks like an iPod. Susanna just gives them a puzzle look. MoSh says it’s a cyborg. Partly metal, partly organic. Finally we determined that we should go back to the shooting site. This does not appear to be a good spot to camp anymore. But I don’t get far before I wake up.

09/25/13

Dark Tower: Vampire
I am in a dark place, on a long road. I look around to see where I am. I am not alone there. Roland, Susanna, and Eddie are standing in front of me several paces. Where's Jake? I have the idea I have missed some of the story… Jake should be here. Did I somehow lose Jake? It is sort of cold. Not really a physical cold. More of a cold that extends into the heart and freezes it there. Roland is pulling a cart of some kind with all their stuff on it. Oy trots over beside Roland and snuggles up a bit as if to try to keep Roland warm. Roland picks up the bumbler and pets his soft fur. Eddie and Susanna are snuggled together for warmth, Eddie is carrying Susanna on his hip. I pull my white Assassin robes closer around me for warmth, but it does little good. I wish I had someone there for warmth… no one is there. I catch up with Roland and the others. Roland finally notices I have arrived. He says he had started to think I wasn't coming back. I say I have been having problems with dreaming lately, I haven't been able to do much. He looks at me strangely but says nothing more. Eddie and Susanna seem oblivious to my presence. I ask where Jake has gone. Roland looks sad and says Jake didn't make it. Now I want to kill someone. I find I am quite angry. How did I miss the time when I needed to be there to save Jake? This is absurd. There is snow on the ground, but I don't think that is the source of the cold. The cold is deep inside. It seems Roland has noticed my anger. He says he felt the same thing, too, wanted to kill the very writer he had gone to save… but it would have done no good. There are houses up ahead. One of them has lights on. We approach and see there is a man standing outside. He seems friendly. He greets us all in a cheerful manner. Something seems off about him. I feel like I want to punch him in the face. The man invites us all inside. I think it is a bad idea. I want to keep going. I don't want to stop here… unless it's to punch the jerk in the face. Not sure what is wrong with me. Is he being TOO nice somehow? He has a hideous skeletal horse type animal with him. I'm not sure if the animal is neglected and abused or if it might be somehow demonic. Everyone wants to go inside with the man. No one else seems to dislike him like I do. His house is a wreck but everyone acts as if it was delightful. Wtf? He tries to feed us crap. I turn it down, which surprises everyone some and seems to piss him off somehow. Everyone else eats it like it was fine dining.

Then the guy starts telling jokes. Dumb jokes. Jokes that even Eddie doesn't seem to find very funny. Though I think Roland is about to bust a gut. Susanna does bust something… a large pimple on her lip. It goes SPLAT and is apparently quite painful as she laughs so hard and for some reason smacks herself in the face like most people would smack themselves on the knee. Yuck. It bleeds all over the place as Eddie tries to stop the bleeding with a napkin… a dirty napkin. Double yuck! But everything in the house is dirty, so there's really nothing to be done for it. Roland finally stops laughing enough to notice. I go over to her and tell her I can heal that sore. She says I can't and heads off to the bathroom. Now I find I'm mad at her. I am just so pissed. I glare over at the man who is still trying to crack jokes but is being ignored for the time being. He looks different than a couple minutes ago. Younger? More healthy? It hits me… he's sucking energy like a fucking vampire. He is a fucking energy vampire. I go over to him and ask him if he is hungry. He says no, he had enough to eat at dinner. I say he looks like he needs dessert. He wants energy? Here… have some. I start pumping energy into the guy on purpose. He tries to block it out, tries to act confused… but he is transforming without seeming to be able to control it. Transforming into a strange demonic form.

Roland apparently is the fastest to react. He probably thinks I am being attacked, he pulls his revolver and blasts several shots right into the vampire's head, killing it instantly. I find I am pissed at Roland. I look over at him, glaring at him, but he just backs off a couple steps, asking if I am still me. I force myself to relax a bit and say I am fine. I hear a sound from what might be the basement. Susanna comes back out of the bathroom after hearing the gunfire. She looks at the dead vampire, who is now decaying into a zombie. We all go outside so we can find the entrance to the basement. Down underground we find a cage with a boy locked inside it. The boy cowers in the far corner, afraid. Has that vampire been feeding on this kid repeatedly? Probably. I think maybe I should heal him. But I don't get a chance to before I wake.

07/25/13

Dark Tower: Save the Beam
I am in a strange place. I look around and see that I am not alone there. I recognize the people there with me. I see Roland of Gilead, Susanna Dean, Jake Chambers, and his little pet Oy all there. It seems to me someone is missing. Oh, yeah! I usually share the Dark Tower dreams with MoSh. So that would make this a dream? Maybe… I do a reality check by pinching my nose and I find I can still breathe. So I focus on opening a portal to find MoSh wherever he may be. The portal opens and I look through to see MoSh is in some kind of a strange mall with seemingly endless numbers of shops on three levels. MoSh is looking intently at one of the shops though I can't tell what the shop is selling. He is about 50 feet away. I call to him, but he doesn't respond. I call to him again and I go to reach through the portal, my thought is to wave to him, to motion him to come closer. Instead my arm turns into a strange tendril that reaches out and wraps around MoSh, pulling him over through the portal and to me.

MoSh looks at the tendril wrapped around him and then at me. The tendril disappears and becomes my arm again as the portal closes. Now everyone is here. I look over at the group, but someone still seems to be missing. Eddie! I go over and ask Roland where Eddie is. He says he's glad MoSh and I have come. He says Eddie got taken by some can-toi into the Devar-Toi. Someone let slip to them that he and the others were planning an ambush. Now they say that Eddie will be killed unless we all surrender. I ask where Eddie is being held. Roland says he doesn't know, they have him hidden to prevent the possibility of a rescue. I tell Roland that I can take Eddie's gun down with me and find him, then signal that he is ok and then they can carry on with their plan. Roland asks how I expect to find Eddie. I tell him I have my ways. I hear a voice from down below. There is a single man out in the middle of an open area speaking with a bullhorn of some kind. He says time is running out. Come out now or our friend will meet a very unpleasant end. MoSh has come over and is looking down at the man talking below. I sneak out of our little hiding place and head down towards one of the few gates that lead into the Devar-Toi. There are two guards outside the gate; both of them are can-toi, who are people who appear to be part rat.

I manage to sneak up behind one of them, as they don't seem to be paying a whole lot of attention. A foul odor wafts from the two people who have the heads of rats. So I try to do a telepathic scan of him, but there doesn't seem to be anything to read. Either there is a telepathic block in place or this guy is the stupidest individual I have ever seen. So I need another way to get this guy's information. I have been playing the game Prototype lately, so my next thought is to do a stealth consume on the can-toi directly in front of me. I am a bit disoriented as I get some new memories, selecting through them to find what I need and not be bothered by the rest of it, some of which I glimpse and find rather disturbing. The other can-toi… Harold is his name… asks me if I'm doing ok. I tell him I'm not feeling well and I have to go inside for a bit. He tells me he wouldn't risk leaving my post if he was me. I ignore him and go through the gate. A couple more can-toi see me as I pass but they don't say anything. Pimli Prentiss is the one in the open area threatening to have Eddie killed. I head straight for him. I hear him talking on the bullhorn before I reach him. He asks them if their friend means nothing to them, because time is… he then sees me approaching me and gets a look on his face like he just spotted something foul under his shoe. Putting the bullhorn aside, he asks me what I mean by coming out here and abandoning my post. He says I will be punished for… but that is all he gets out. He clearly doesn't see me as a threat of any kind, so he doesn't pose any resistance to me walking right up to him and consuming him. I get more memories and now I look like Pimli Prentiss… yuck! I drop the bullhorn on the ground… now I know right where Eddie is. I look up to where I know Roland and the others are hiding and I wave to them, momentarily forgetting that I look like Pimli Prentiss and waving to them makes no sense. I head down the street to a small building and open the door. Inside it looks like nothing more than a store room, and I see Eddie tied up in the back of the room being watched over by a couple more can-toi. Markus, one of the can-toi, asks if it's time to kill the smart mouthed asshole. I tell him the one he should kill is himself. He doesn't seem pleased by that, but he also isn't too surprised since Pimli Prentiss tends to look down on the can-toi. Markus says he just wants to bit Eddie's nose off. Eddie is gagged now, but he looks pissed. I tell the two can-toi to come here, I got something to show them. They look at each other for a bit and then they come closer. I tell them, look what I can do… and transform my right arm into a sharp blade like Alex Mercer does on Prototype.

They stare at that, but they don't seem particularly alarmed since I still look like their ally. One of them asks how I did that… the other one is about to say something when I use the blade to cut them both in half at the waist. They fall down in a spray of blood. I turn the blade back to my arm and change back to my normal form so Eddie will recognize me. Eddie is staring at me in what looks like a state of shock. I go over and untie him and give him his gun with some extra bullets. Eddie asks what the fuck I just did. I tell him there's no time to explain now, Roland is waiting for my signal that he is ok and that it is clear to attack the Devar-toi. Eddie follows me out of the store room and out to the street. Eddie takes cover, I go back to the center of the clear area and grab the bullhorn. I use it to say tell Roland all is clear. I have, of course, been spotted by the guards of the Devar-Toi. I recognize many of them as people Pimli Prentiss or that can-toi I consumed had worked with. But that doesn't matter. There is shooting going on all around, explosions, and soon the place is in total chaos. I have formed my arm back into a blade and am killing enemies with it. I notice I get shot a couple times and it doesn't seem to do anything, which clearly surprises the enemies. I see MoSh shooting several enemies that are approaching behind Eddie. I wonder who would have killed Eddie now that Pimli Prentiss is dead… MoSh is over near me now, shooting enemies. I tell him I'm losing the dream but I think they can handle the rest of these assholes. Everything fades to black as I wake.

03/24/13

Healing Springs
I am in the biodome on the moon. I am near the koi pond, though I don't immediately realize this since it has been quite a while since I have remembered being here. I see Nomad not far away. I don't have any recall of seeing him in a dream for quite a while, either. I go over and give him a big hug, telling him it's good to see him again. He says he has been seeing me in his dreams, have I not remembered? I tell him no, I haven't. I have had my goals to meet up with him, but my recall has been lacking. We walk over to the healing springs, the hot springs. The balancing pools. A place to go to stabilize all that unstable energy that is created by constant Templar attacks.

I dive into a pool, transforming into a mermaid as I hit the water. Nomad slips into the water. I go under and look for that spot on his left foot that has infected sores on it in the waking world. There are sores there, though they don't look as bad as the pictures of jungle rot I found on Google. I focus healing energy into the sores, gently rubbing the foot, willing the injuries to go away quickly. I swim around for a bit and then back to the surface. Nomad looks quite relaxed. I tell him I am really glad we have been talking online lately… it really helps me not feel so alone. He says I have never been alone. I tell him it is easy to feel alone when there is no one in the waking world I can talk to, at least not about the issues I have been having with the Templars… some people don't seem to want to hear about it, others would want to help and I don't want them to become targets… then there are times I have doubts that any of it is even real. He says that's what they want, is for me to doubt, to stop using my dream skills… don't let them win. I tell him having someone to talk to makes any doubt much less. I tell him I want to find a way to make them stop their attacks, or overcome the attacks… it is really fucking up my life. But I don't feel fucked up right now, I just feel relaxed. I sink back below the water and fall asleep in the dream.

Intruders
I am in my own room, lying in bed. I wake up and see I am not alone in my room. There are people there, several of them. What are those people doing in my room?! I sit up and look at them, they are Templars. There is strange energy radiating off of them, makes them hard to look at, hard to see. I tell them to get the fuck out of my room and leave me alone. One of them looks at me strangely as if he is surprised I can see him at all. The truth is it is hard to see him, hard to focus on him, but I don't let that on. I tell him yeah, I mean him, calling him double stupid since double ugly doesn't really apply… he's actually kind of hot. The energy coming off of the Templars gets briefly stronger, making them almost completely disappear from sight. I focus on the song spell Whiplash by Metallica, sending the energy waves right back at their sources. A pulse of energy radiates out from me like an explosion, knocking all of the Templars into perfect visibility as it knocks them into the walls of my room.

They all look a bit surprised, maybe even a bit dazed. There are more of them than I had thought. I had previously seen four, but there are six of them there, the room is quite crowded. For a bit I can see them all clearly, but the strange energy starts pulsing out from them again as if they were never interrupted. The force of the energy seems to be holding me down in my bed. I can barely breathe. Too much pressure. The Templars are disappearing again, so I use the song spell Whiplash again, sending out another pulse of energy. This time, before they could resume their attacks, I formed Witchblade into a sword and cut five of them down before they had a chance to recover. The sixth one didn't try to get away, he just said killing them would do me no good… return what I stole and the attacks would stop. Things could be a lot easier. I was pissed off, however, not in the mood to listen, and I cut the last Templar down before collapsing back into bed. I felt drained. Like they had been stealing all my energy. I fall asleep in the dream.

Wolf Wraiths
I am with some other people in a vast dead area, there is nothing but dead trees and barren ground for as far as the eye can see. The sky looks a dead gray color. I look at the other people there with me. It is Nomad, MoSh, Roland, Eddie, Susanna, and Jake. Nomad is riding on a large animal that I am not sure if it is canine or feline. I look in the direction they are looking and I see a bunch of cloaked figures on gray horses. My first thought is an army of ring wraiths from Lord of the Rings.

That can't be good. It is clear that the plan is to go down and attack them, I wonder how many of them there are. It looks like way too many. Nomad is aiming what looks like a sniper rifle at the group. He takes out a few on the edge of the group without making a sound. That luck doesn't continue, however, after the fifth one they take notice. Nomad shoots a few more before they realize where the attack is coming from. Now everyone in the group is attacking. I use the spell song Divide by Disturbed to multiply myself into many, I figure that will even up the odds a bit… though we are still seriously outnumbered. A fight ensues. I form Witchblade into a sword as I head into the fray, though guns are being fired and I wonder how I am not getting hit. I am probably moving too fast. I am on a white horse with fiery mane and tail, and the horse is as swift as the wind. I charge into the group, each instance of me on an identical horse, and cut down an enemy who is taking aim to shoot me. I see the enemy has a face… it is the face of a wolf. When he hits the ground, the wolf mask comes off. I don't see anything beneath it. I remember the Dark Tower series… these are the wolves of the Calla. I hear the others around me as I move through the group… each of me has a Witchblade sword and each of me takes down enemies as I go. I get a little disoriented during the fight, but finally I look around and see there are very few of the enemies left, I wonder if they retreated or if they are all dead. Nomad takes out a remaining enemy with what looks like a shotgun. MoSh quickly shoots two of them who are going for Eddie from behind. I see no more enemies approaching. I am about to go join the others but I wake.

Stalkers
I am in a restaurant of some kind, I am looking around for something to eat. I am thinking I should get something healthy so I don't gain a bunch of weight. I notice there are some people that seem to be following me around. I watch them for a while. Templars. I have no doubt in my mind that they are Templars. There is a strange energy radiating off of them, an energy that seems to drain me when it hits me. It also makes them hard to focus on. I wonder if anyone else in the room is noticing the effect. No one seems to be. Either they don't know what is causing the effect or maybe they aren't being affected by it at all. I turn to leave, and it is clear the Templars are going to follow me. I think I shouldn't even be seeing Templars… and I do a reality check. I pinch my nose and I can still breathe. One of the Templars is standing right beside me now. He says he told me killing them would do no good. My mind has wandered away from Templars, however. I am hungry. I look in the display case and I see the best looking chocolate cake I have ever seen.

Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and frosting flowers all over it. I tell the person behind the counter that I want that cake, the whole thing. He hands me the cake and I throw some money at him, not sure how much, but it must have been enough. I proceed to make a pig of myself, grabbing a knife and fork and digging in. The Templar doesn't seem to know what to say or do… he is staring at me like I'm crazy. So is everyone else in the room. Finally, my face full of chocolate, I think maybe I have gone a bit too far even for a dream. I hand what is left of the cake to the Templar beside me, telling him it is the best cake ever. I want to get away from the Templars… to get away from that strange energy they have been radiating. I notice I am feeling a bit ill. Is it the energy, or too much cake? I head for the door and go outside. The energy hitting me seems to be getting stronger. The Templar is behind me telling me to return what I stole. I tell him to go fuck himself before I wake.

03/18/13

Line of Eld
I am in front of a lot of people, but at least I am not alone there. There are other people there with me, and I recognize them right away, or I recognize most of them. MoSh, Roland, Jake, Eddie, Susanna… all the people from the Dark Tower group. I am not fully lucid, so I don't realize what is going on right away. Roland steps forward and introduces himself. Eddie goes next, stating he is from the line of Eld and the ka-tet of 19. I am not sure what it means, but it seems that is what everyone wants to hear. They want to hear that we are all from the line of Eld so they know we are all gunslingers. I wonder if I should say it, too, even though I don't believe I have any connection to the line of Eld… Susan introduces herself with a curtsy instead of a bow, but also states she is from the line of Eld. Roland indicates MoSh should go next, so MoSh follows suit with the others and follows the pattern by saying he is from the line of Eld. I wonder if he has reason to think he really is or if he is lying just as I am about to lie… Roland is talking to Jake, but he indicates I should go next, I am not sure entirely what to say… so keep it simple. I give my name and say I am from the line of Eld, I say that with a straight face and no one calls me out on it so I guess it doesn't sound as fake to them as it does to me… and with the ka-tet of 19, I drop a curtsy using my Assassin robes since I am not actually wearing a skirt. People are still responding positively, and my introduction goes off unquestioned. Jake introduces himself, then he puts Oy down… and the billy bumbler steps forward, gives a bow, introduces himself… "Oy… Eld… Thankee…" which everyone finds to be absolutely amazing. I think it is one of the cutest things I have seen Oy do, he returns to Jake seeming quite pleased with his performance of the trick. Now Roland says he isn't very good with speaking and says Eddie will take care of that. If looks could kill Roland would drop dead from the look Eddie gives him. Everyone is cheering and calling for Eddie to speak. Eddie finally starts talking, and he isn't doing too bad. Everyone in the crowd seems satisfied with it. I don't remember a lot of what Eddie says, though I think he says something about not facing the wolves on our own, they will have to fight for what they want to protect. That doesn't seem to deter anyone. After that there is a lot of interacting. People are wandering around, I see Eddie get annoyed at one particular man. Roland is talking to some guy with a long white beard. I'm not sure where Susan is, but MoSh seems to be talking to someone about music as he has a guitar out. I think I might be giving off signals that say I don't want to be talked to, as no one seems particularly interested in talking to me. Finally someone does speak to me, and he wants to know if I really think we can stop the wolves from taking their children. I have no doubt that we can send the wolves home yelping, but I know that is not meant to be conveyed yet… so I tell him I cannot answer that with certainty until we have seen more of the town and what we have to work with. He seems unsatisfied with the answer. He says he has two sets of twins and stands to lose four children, please save them… I hesitate, then I tell him not to quote me, but if I have to speculate, he will still have all of his children after this is over. He says he doesn't want to see them ruint. I wonder what it is the wolves do to the kids, and if there might be some way to heal the ruint ones… even partially heal them. I think I will determine that after I know more about what the wolves do. I move off to the side, I get offered food, and then I manage to step around a corner before I wake.

03/12/13

I Got a Job
I am in a computer data center. I have a job here. It is time to run the nightly backups. There is one of the backups that I don't know how to run yet. One of my coworkers leads me back to the data center to the appropriate server. There is a tape drive there and my coworker has the appropriate tape for the backup. She shows me where a series of the tapes needs to be inserted. She inserts the first sequence and I insert the second sequence. I look around the place to see where the rest of the servers are. I ask my coworker about them. She says we keep servers secure for many other companies. I see servers with names on them I don't recognize. I see a server marked Abstergo. I do a double take at that. I ask my coworker if that is for real. She says they all are real. I decide that is too weird. I do a reality check by pinching my nose and I can still breathe. This is a dream. I find this annoying since I'd thought I had a job finally. I think about what I want to do. I think about the task if the month to break stuff. I could trash the Abstergo server. I pull the tower of CPUs over with a crash. My coworker asks what I am doing. I tell her I'm giving Abstergo a headache... damn Templars... She asks if I'm crazy and picks up one of the fallen CPUs. She seems relieved that it is still plugged in and working. I pick up one of the other CPUs and slam it to the ground. My coworker says she is going home. When pissed off Abstergo people arrive she will be somewhere else. Oh, and I am sooooo fired. And I'll have a bunch of pissed off Abstergo people after me... what am I working for, the Assassins? Pissed off Templars after me... I tell her that's nothing new. Great, she says... a fucking Assassin in the data center. She says smash away, she quits. I smash a second Abstergo server before I wake.

The Horn of Eld
I am with a small group of people, we are all gathered together and talking. I recognize some of the people. I recognize MoSh, Roland, Eddie, Susanna, Jake, and Oy… but there are other people I don't recognize. Everyone is talking. After listening to the talk for a bit I realize the other people are from the calla in Wolves of the Calla from the Dark Tower series. They are talking about the so-called wolves that come to take their children, then they tell how the children are sent back ruint. These ruint children are severely mentally disabled, and they only live until they are about 30 years old when they die a rather nasty death. It is clear that some of the calla people would like us to help them, though one of them seems reluctant to accept help. He seems to think that resisting the wolves will just result in more people being killed. He insists they just take one of each set of twins, so they should be thankful for the children who are left whole. There is more talk going on, but my mind ends up wandering, I have a tendency to lose interest in long periods of talk. I look around at the people and I do notice that Roland has the Horn of Eld hanging from his belt. Apparently when I told him to hang onto it in a previous dream he did so. I have a feeling the Horn of Eld will play a key role in setting right whatever is wrong with the Dark Tower. The talk goes on for a while longer, and I find myself wanting to get up and leave, but I just stay there until I wake.

03/04/13

On the Road: Campfire
I am sitting on the side of a road with some other people. I recognize them all. I see MoSh, Roland, Jake, Eddie, Susanna, and Oy all gathered around a campfire. Everyone is watching Roland very closely. Roland is finishing his story about what happened in Hambre with Susan Delgado. He says he didn't meet her where he had said they would meet. He said he knew if he was to meet her he wouldn't have the strength to do what needed to be done. He said he would have liked nothing more than to make a life with Susan, but the tower… He talks for a bit more about why he has to find the tower and fix what is wrong within it. He finally stops and looks around. He looks like something just occurred to him. He says there were parts of the story he himself hadn't remembered until he told it… like the fact MoSh and I were both there. But while he has aged, we were both the same then as we are now. We were part of his ka-tet back then and we are again… ka is a wheel… but how is it that we aren't changed? I tell him MoSh and I travel through both time and space to arrive where and when we need to be, those events in Majis are like yesterday to MoSh and me… I literally rescued Susan yesterday. So what happened to Susan anyway? Roland said he saw in the glass when she was almost burned alive… had been sure she would be… he had already accepted that they would not be together, but wasn't ready to accept that. He says part of him would swear he saw here actually burn…

On the Road: The Emerald City
I am on the road traveling with MoSh, Roland, Jake, Eddie, Susanna, and Oy. There is a palace ahead spanning across the road. The palace is a green crystalline color. There are shoes in the street. It looks like someone left out a pair of bright red shoes for each person in the group. We all pick up the pair of shoes that is intended for us, mine looks like the ruby slippers Dorothy wore in the Wizard of Oz.

We continue to the entrance to what I can only think of as the Emerald City. There is a large gate in the front of the palace, it looks more like a palace than a city. The road leads through the gate and I can see the road extending into the palace. After figuring things out for a short while it is determined that we all have to tape the red shoes together at the same time, three times, to open the door. So everyone puts on the shoes and taps them together. There is a reverberating sound that makes everything vibrate, but nothing happens. Oops… everyone forgot about Oy. The billy-bumbler hadn't clicked his shoes together. So we do the test again, this time with Jake and Roland taking care of clicking Oy's shoes together… and the sound is even louder. The entire structure of the emerald palace seems to vibrate.

The gate doesn't open… it shatters into a billion tiny shards. Fortunately none of them seem to be sharp enough to cut anyone. We go into the palace, following a long hallway to a door at the end. The whole thing looks like the Wizard of Oz. The door at the end has a sign that states the bell is out of order… please knock. The door is unlocked, however, so we go through. There is a loud voice coming from everywhere, asking how dare we enter the presence of the great and powerful Oz. Eddie says not to worry… it's just a bumhug… I think he means a humbug. I think the voice considers itself to sound threatening and scary, but it really just sounds a bit ridiculous to me. Oy is also unaffected by this, he is over near a curtain pulling at it. He pulls it aside to reveal a man there. The man doesn't look good, it looks like a piece of his skull is missing… ouch! He is throwing threats around until Eddie puts bullets in his head. There is another man there, however. He is standing in the middle of the main room where there had been a blazing fire special effect, he is holding the wizard's glass orb. He says he will give us one final chance to cry off and forget about the tower. Everyone says no, they will not do that, including MoSh and me… I tell him, "You wish… not gonna happen." Roland tries to shoot him with his gun, but it doesn't fire. The man laughs at that and says Roland will get only misfires with him. Maybe the bullets are all bad. Roland responds by drawing a gun from Eddie, Susan, and Jake's home world… He draws it lightning fast and fires at the man, who disappears in an explosion of smoke. He does not get away unscathed, however, I hear a cry of surprise and pain before he manages to dematerialize. Now we are alone in the huge room, Roland says he thinks he will have to tell the rest of his tale before we can continue… no… he will have to show us. He points to where the man dropped the wizard's glass as he disappeared. We go over to the orb and Roland indicates we should look into the orb. I don't see anything in it, I wonder why that is. Roland and the others seem to see something in there… and I notice Roland has a shocked look on his face. He says that's not how it happened… but now he remembers differently… which one is true? The first thing I think to say is nothing is true… and everything is permitted, even changing events that have already happened… I look back into the orb and this time I can see an image. Roland is walking down a hallway and into a room. There are shoes underneath the curtains but he doesn't see them. He is looking for his mother. The others are all gathered around as well, all except for Roland. The younger version of Roland turns around when someone is behind him. At first it looks like the witch Rhea, come back for revenge, holding out a dead snake towards Roland. She looks like a corpse. But then that image looks transparent, and it is really Roland's mother.

She is holding out a belt that looks handmade. Roland is drawing his guns, apparently he still sees Rhea. Everyone is yelling at Roland not to do it, it is a trick. I say nothing out loud, but I focus on sending a telepathic signal through time and space… I send a message to MoSh to do the same… maybe it can get through, even just enough to make him hesitate… a second is all it would take… and he does hesitate. Due to my telepathic message? He hesitates just long enough to see the illusion waver… and then he sees her for who she really is. I hear Rhea's voice of rage, yelling curses, saying she will still have her revenge… I am thinking I should have killed the witch in Hambre. Roland's mother interprets Roland having his guns out to mean he knows she had planned on betraying his father. She quickly tries to explain that she didn't know what she was doing, Marten had gotten into her head somehow... he'd been using her the whole time. Roland has no interest in just shooting his mother, he looks around to see if the witch is still present in the room. He looks straight at me for what seems like a long time before turning back to his mother, who says she wants a chance to make up for what she has done. The images around us fade to pink. I feel a bit disoriented and then find I am sitting on the road, it looks like we are far past the Emerald Palace. The others are all there, too, they also look disoriented. From the look of our shoes we have been walking the whole time. I notice the road isn't what it used to be… not really a road at all. And the path of the beam can be easily seen in the clouds in the sky. We are back on track. Roland is looking at me strangely. He says he doesn't know how it can be. He still remembers shooting his mother, but it is like it was a dream… and what we just saw is much clearer. It is here that I wake up.

02/19/13

Blaine is a Pain
I am in the back yard of my house. It is nighttime. I am holding a burning match. There is a small pile of kindling in front of me, and on top of that pile of kindling is a toy that looks like Altaïr. For some reason I want to watch it burn. I pour a bit of alcohol on the toy to make sure it burns good, I'm not sure if the plastic will burn or melt. I toss the match into the pile and watch the fire blaze up, brighter than I had thought it would be. The toy melts and distorts as it burns, stretching the face into an expression that looks like pain. But no… it's a toy… toys don't feel pain. I don't want to watch it burn after all. I want to put the fire out and restore the toy to its previous condition. But it's too late for that. The face has now melted beyond recognition. The toy is a smoldering pile of plastic. I can't believe I just burned my toy Altaïr. Why did I do that? I pinch my nose to block the smell of burning plastic. I can still breathe. This is a dream! My concern with a toy Altaïr has faded, and now I focus on opening a portal to a Dark Tower dream. I want to pick up MoSh first. The portal seems to shift. I reach through and grab MoSh's hand without really looking at the surrounding area. I pull him through a second portal. On the other side of the portal we are in what looks like the interior of a very fancy train.

The walls have no windows, and I see we are not alone. Roland, Susanna, Eddie, Jake, and Oy are all in the train staring at us. The portal closes behind us. Blaine is the first to speak, giving a formal greeting to (MoSh's real name) of (MoSh's place of birth) and Raven Knight of (my place of birth). I say hello to Blaine. Blaine says they were just getting started on some riddles. He says our interruption is quite rude, but also interesting… so he would refrain from killing us, and we could join in the riddling. Susanna asks a riddle, an easy one. What has four wheels and flies? Blain pauses, then irritatedly says it's the town garbage wagon. He says dumb riddles like that won't keep us alive. MoSh blurts out a riddle… why don't zombies eat clowns? Blaine is annoyed again, but pauses before he says they taste funny… now tell a real one. A little voice says not to make Blaine angry… please… what can run but never walks, has a mouth but never talks, has a bed but never sleeps, has a face but never weeps. Blaine answers quickly this time… a river. Roland asks what has four legs in the morning, two at noon, three at night. Blaine answers a human. Eddie told the next riddle. No sooner spoken than broken. Blaine answers silence. He asks me for a riddle. I think for a bit… then tell a riddle from The Hobbit. It cannot be seen, cannot be felt, cannot be heard, cannot be smelt. It lies behind stars and under hills, and empty holes it fills. It comes first and follows after, ends life, kills laughter. Blaine answers immediately. Darkness. The riddles continue, Roland telling them all, Blaine answering instantly. Susanna asks me quietly if I can't open one of those doors to get us all off of Blaine. I know I can, but that would disrupt the story… so I tell her I can't always control where they go, so that would be a last resort. Blaine says skipping out on our agreement would be very rude. Eddie looks like he is zoned off into some other world. I am trying to think of some riddles, just to pass more time until we get closer to our destination. Then is the time for the riddles that will drive Blaine insane. But I wake up.
 
Riddles in the Train
I am inside Blaine the Mono as if no time has passed. It seems even Blaine hasn't noticed I disappeared, or at least hasn't said anything about it. Roland is still telling riddles. Eddie still seems zoned into another world. I sit down on one of the seats, not even sure why I am here. Blaine sounds amused, but doesn't seem close to being stumped. I figure since he's a computer, if he hears a riddle, either the answer will be in his memory or it won't… so he'll either answer instantly or not at all. So far he is answering instantly. Blaine comes to a point where he charges his batteries near some large waterfalls. The outside of the train has become transparent to show a massive waterfall pouring past two large dog statues.

Then there is sound… the sound of the waterfall, which is so loud I am sure it will wake me up. Soon the sound passes, however, without waking me up. I look over to be sure MoSh is still there. Blaine charges his battery through blinding lightning from the eyes of the dog statues. After a brief pause the train becomes opaque again and then we start moving. And the riddling continues. Roland says he is running out of riddles. Everyone seems surprised and a bit dismayed at that. Roland asks if Jake will be ready with his riddles, Jake says yes. He asks MoSh and me if we have any riddles from our world. MoSh says he knows a few. Eddie looks zoned completely. Roland says to leave Eddie alone. More riddles from Roland. More instant answers from Blaine. Blaine says there is just 25 minutes left, Roland tells Jake to tell his riddles. Jake tells some riddles from the back of his book. Blaine answers instantly to all of them. Blaine asks if anyone else has a riddle, he even asks Oy. Eddie finally says he has a few, just to kill the time.

He asks what has four wheels and flies. Blaine is clearly annoyed, says this one has already been asked and was dumb the first time. He is calling Eddie a fool and an idiot when MoSh asks what you get when you breed a shitzu and a pitt bull. Blaine pauses, says the riddle is dumb… then finally says the answer is a bullshit. Eddie asks when a door is not a door. Blaine pauses, makes a clicking noise, and says when it is ajar then starts insulting Eddie again. MoSh asks a riddle. A big moron and a little moron are on a bridge, the big moron falls off, why doesn't the little moron fall off? Blaine gets pissed again, says the riddle isn't worthy of the contest and he will not answer. Roland says that means Blaine loses. Answer or Blaine loses. Blaine is whining now. Would you like a little cheese with your whine? After another pause and a louder click, finally Blaine says because the little moron was a little more on. He says he feels soiled. Eddie makes a hand gesture which he says is the world's smallest violin playing "My Heart Pumps Purple Piss For You." Next riddle. Why do cops wear belts? The lights are flickering, the walls look semi-transparent. With each riddle this effect seems to get worse. The smaller voice says to stop, it's killing Blaine… Eddie says we'll all stop if Blain stops the mono, to which he refuses. What does an evil chicken lay? Deviled eggs. The answer was very slow to come. Strange noises are coming from the walls. Why did the dead baby cross the road? Blaine is not answering, he says there is no time limit. Roland says he has to answer before we crash. Blaine starts spouting nonsense. Because it was stapled to the chicken. Things are exploding, and it feels like the train is no longer being propelled forward. Roland says everyone needs to gather in the back of the compartment, we are still going to crash. Everyone is gathering at the far end of the compartment. I notice I don't see MoSh… but I really don't have a chance to think much about it before I wake.

02/16/13

Going Hunting
I am in my room looking through Facebook articles on my computer. I see photos of cute cats and I click 'like' for all of them, adding a brief comment on a couple. I come across a photo that has already pissed me off in my waking life. A photo that shows a dog shot by an arrow with a caption saying that happens to all Pitt Bulls that come around the home of someone I don't know but immediately hate.
Note: I found the image disturbing, so I put it in a spoiler in case anyone would rather not see it...

Spoiler for Disturbing Image:

I think I would like to have a dream where I go hunt people like that. Just on the off chance I do a RC by pinching my nose and I find out that I am dreaming. It's time to go hunting. I remember that MoSh has recently gotten a Pitt Bull mix puppy and I wonder if he wants to go hunting with me. So I focus on opening a portal to find MoSh. A portal opens and I go through. On the other side I find MoSh in what looks like the biggest Walmart I have ever seen. It would be sooooo easy to get lost somewhere in that Walmart. But I see MoSh right away. I go over to him and tell him I don't have a Dark Tower dream planned for tonight… there are other things to be done. I tell him about the photo I saw on Facebook. He doesn't seem to like it any more than I do. I focus on a portal to get somewhere that dogs need us. On the other side we are in a forest area. I see two people down below, and realize I am in a tree. MoSh is down below on the ground. There are two men making their way through the trees, they have bows and arrows. One of them is taking aim at a Pitt Bull dog. MoSh steps between the two of them as the man is firing and grabs the arrow right out of the air. He quickly flips the arrow over and throws it back at the man, the arrow sticks in the man's left shoulder. The man curses loudly. MoSh begins kicking the shit out of the guy using martial arts. The other guy is aiming an arrow at the dog, he doesn't seem too concerned about his friend getting beat up. Before he can fire the arrow at the dog I jump out of the tree and land on top of him… hidden blade first, stabbing him as I land. MoSh has beaten the shit out of the other guy. I am not sure if the guy is dead, but he's not moving. MoSh is petting the dog now. A very friendly Pitt Bull dog, a cute one, too.

This is a dog I wouldn't mind taking home. I am really pissed off that these two assholes were going to kill the dog. I realize I am still stabbing the dead guy I landed on and make myself stop. MoSh is staring at me now, still petting the dog. He makes a comment that he has to remember not to piss me off. I tell him the only way to get that reaction is to abuse animals. As if to prove MoSh is no animal abuser, the dog licks him on the face. I go over and pet the dog with MoSh. We are both petting the dog when a woman comes along and seems relieved to find the dog. Damn… the dog already has a loving home. She looks at the two dead people on the ground and seems a bit nervous. I tell her they were going to shoot her dog… but they won't be bothering her or her dog again. She takes the dog and disappears down a path quickly. MoSh seems sorry to see the dog go. I tell him if he wants a dog to keep I'm sure we can find one that needs a home. But we won't be finding it in this dream because it is here that I wake up.

The Dogs of Ludd
I am in a city that looks like it is far past its prime. The buildings are collapsing and everything is in a state of disrepair. The first thing I think of is the city of Ludd from the Dark Tower series. Realizing that I am in a Dark Tower dream I think I should try to get MoSh involved in this one. I focus on a portal to find MoSh. A portal opens and I see MoSh is on the other side in what looks like a dog kennel. He is petting a dog that looks like a Pitt Bull mix.

I want to go pet the dog, too, but someone comes into the room and takes the dog away. I tell MoSh that there's a Dark Tower dream waiting. MoSh comes through the portal. We explore Ludd for a short time. There are dead bodies hanging from the light posts. Definitely a grizzly scene. We finally spot someone who is alive. It's Eddie pushing Susanna in her wheelchair.

We go over to them, I figure that they are probably looking for the train station where Blaine is parked and waiting. I hear something going on around a corner, sounds like a lot of excitement. I am planning on ignoring it until I hear dogs snarling and yelping. I head over towards the sound. I find there are a number of mobile kennels standing around a group of people. The people are gathered around a makeshift ring with two dogs fighting viciously. A dog fighting ring! People are cheering, dogs are snarling and yelping. I sneak over to the kennels to release the trapped dogs. I wonder if they just want to get away or if they will want a little payback against the people. I am trying to open a kennel when a large guy asks me what I am doing. I tell the truth… I am letting these dogs go. He points a knife at my neck and says no I am not. I bury a hidden blade in his chest and tell him yes I am. I hear a gunshot. Everyone is looking at Susanna, who has fired her gun to get everyone's attention. It doesn't have the intended effect, however. Instead of being afraid, everyone charges at Susanna and Eddie who start shooting at the attackers. MoSh separates the two fighting dogs as soon as the people are distracted. I get the kennel open and move to the next one. I let dogs out of numerous kennels. The dogs are mostly just glad to get away. The dogs run away from the sound of the gunshots. Finally the gunshots stop, there are numerous dead people on the ground and the others have dropped their weapons. Eddie is saying they need someone to show the way to Blaine's Cradle. They think the idea of going to Blaine's Cradle is insane. Two of them finally agree to take them. MoSh is trying to coax a scared dog out of the shadows. The dog is a Rottweiler.

Eddie and Susanna tell the people to disperse except for the two who will take them to the Cradle. They quickly do so. I hear the sound of snarling dogs just out of sight. The sound of hunting dogs. Now to find Blaine's Cradle. I head to follow Eddie, Susanna, and the two people who are showing them the way. But before I can get anywhere I wake up.

02/11/13

I am flying over the Nile River in Egypt. I see movement down on the ground, but I already know what I want to do with this dream so I don't pay any attention to that. I focus on opening a portal to find MoSh. A portal opens and I go through it, ignoring some voices calling to me from behind. The portal closes and leaves me in an open field. I look around to see if MoSh is around. I don't see anyone there with me at all. I wonder why I have been brought here if MoSh isn't here. There is a Templar there, a woman with long red hair. She is watching me closely. I ask her if she has seen MoSh. She says no, she was looking for me. I really have no interest in talking with a Templar, so I look around for MoSh a bit more. The Templar says she knows someone with the cure for depression. She asks if it is not yet obvious to me that the Assassins have no intention of helping me. She has something in her hand. It is a pill of some kind.

She hands it to me, but I don't take it. I tell her I am just looking for MoSh, not doing a drug deal. I wander away from the Templar, looking into the distance across the green field. I see someone else is there. I head over to that person and I find it is MoSh. I call to him and ask if he is ready for a Dark Tower dream. The Templar has followed me and asks if the Assassins have come through with any single promise they have made. I tell her I am heading for a Dark Tower dream… takes place in the Land of No Templars. No Assassins, either, for that matter. Just Gunslingers. I open a portal, focused on a Dark Tower dream. A portal opens, and I lead MoSh through it. We are on a bridge that crosses very high over a river. The bridge is in terrible condition, looks like it could fall down at any moment. There are already some parts that have collapsed, the center portion is connected only by the support cables.

It looks passable, but only for someone with no fear of heights and good balance. MoSh doesn't seem to notice that we are high up. At the place where crossing looks possible I see there are some people. Roland, Eddie, Susanna, and Jake are all there. Jake has a small animal hanging off of his hand, and is holding onto the support cable with the other hand. I hurry over towards them. An ugly man is approaching from the other side of the bridge. I see that Roland and them have things in hand, so I fly over the gap and land in front of the ugly man that looks diseased.

I remember the ugly man is there to kidnap Jake. He has a grenade in his one hand. He says to stay back or he will make it go boom. I tell him if he does, he will be going to hell alone, it won't hurt me any. He says it will bring the bridge down. I look back and I see MoSh is helping get the others onto the semi-solid ground of the bridge. I tell the ugly man to go ahead and throw the grenade if he is in such a hurry to die. He says if I thought he wouldn't do it I am wrong. He throws the grenade. I use telekinesis to grab it from the air and hold the pin. He doesn't seem to know how to respond to my impossible catch. I throw the grenade off of the bridge, throwing it hard and it blows up in mid air at a safe distance from the bridge. The ugly man pauses and then runs away. I look to see where MoSh is, but then I wake up.

01/25/13

Note: I have shifted my nighttime hypnosis program from one to help with my depression to one that is supposed to develop ESP abilities in the hope that it will allow for some passive defense against constant psychic / astral attacks I have been getting lately. This has a different opening image, but it should still lead to easy WILD's as I fall asleep.

Suicide by Gunslinger
I am in the sky and flying over the Nile River. I look around to see the area, the area right around the river is lush and green, though the area a bit farther away is desert. This isn't where I want to be, I know I want to have a Dark Tower dream. So I open a portal and fly right through it into a different forest… where I promptly crash into a tree. Ow… I now find I am up a tree that is standing over a clearing. Down below I can see some small robotic machines wandering aimlessly around. I remember that scene from the Dark Tower books. I know Eddie is about to show up and start shooting them. An arrow flies by my left ear. Someone is shooting at me! I wonder what that could be, and I turn around to see a couple of Templar archers on the ground taking aim at me with more arrows. I see Eddie emerge from the bushes down below and take aim at the first of the machines. The Templars apparently see him as well, one of them aims at Eddie. I don't want to let them interfere with the Dark Tower progression, so I form Witchblade into a hidden blade on each arm and do an air double assassinate before they can shoot at Eddie. As I land on the pair of Templars I hear Eddie's gun roaring as he shoots the radar dishes off of each of the robots. I see movement in the trees as I am crouched over two dead Templars. Is there more chance of Eddie being attacked? I wonder why Templars would want to attack Eddie. There is a pause, then there is another explosive gunshot. Now I hear Eddie yelling at Roland, telling him he would shoot him if he had one more shot left in the gun. This is followed by Roland yelling for Eddie to get down, and another gunshot. Then there is silence. I see there has been more movement in the trees. I am surrounded by Templars. I tell them to butt out of my Dark Tower dream. One of them asks if I really think they would mind turning this place into one big paradox. Three archers are aiming arrows at Roland. That was a mistake. It seems some light has reflected off of their arrows, or maybe it was just Roland's keen instinct… but in a blur Roland has his gun out and shoots all three of them right out of the trees. I tell them that committing suicide by gunslinger won't create any paradoxes. Someone else is trying to shoot Roland in the back. I manage to jump on top of that Templar, hidden blade first, just in time to cause his arrow to go wild. And now Roland is under cover, as are Eddie and Susanna. Four more archers have arrows pointed at me now. But now they have Roland, Eddie, and Susanna hunting them. The four of them are taken out in several quick shots. One of the last Templars standing says they will have their treasure back, and there's nothing I can do to stop them. The last two disappear. Roland emerges into the area, holstering his gun. He asks who my friends were. I say they weren't friends… they were Templars… and then I wake up.

New Confidence
I wake up in bed. The first thing I notice is that I am not wearing my dream mask… which triggers me to do a reality check. Before I can do the reality check, however, I see something standing over me. Two somethings, actually. One on each side of my bed. Both of them are cloaked figures, so I can't see any details of them. One of them is draining positive energy out, the other is putting negative energy in. I can feel the energy drain as they are doing it, my mind being filled with negative thoughts. I also have the clear thought that if I return the treasure I stole from the Templars that they will leave me alone. I don't believe that one. The thought adjusts itself to if I return the treasure and stop interfering with their business then they will leave me alone. I try to get myself out of bed, but I can't find the strength to move much. Then a big black cat enters the room. A black cat the size of a panther. The cat pounces on one of the two creatures. It is Shadow! She pounces on the one draining my positive energy and tears into it with teeth and claws. With one of them off of me I am able to form Witchblade into a hidden blade and drive it into the face of the remaining figure. The thing lets out a scream of rage and then both of them have disappeared. I feel a bit drained, but ok. I know I need to do something to create protection around here. I lie down in bed to rest for a bit. Shadow has transformed back to a kitty cat, and she is now curled up beside me. I don't feel like sleeping, though I have completely forgotten the idea I might be dreaming. I get out of bed and load up my computer. I feel particularly motivated to work on making a game right now. I think I will make a game from scratch instead of using an existing engine. I feel amazingly confidence regarding making the game, and I can't wait to get started. When I wake up I still have this feeling lingering.

01/21/13

The Three Guardians
I am in my Fire Valkyrie heading for the moon. I land and get out, looking around to see if there's anything unusual going on. I see nothing out of the ordinary. I open a portal with the intent to have a Dark Tower dream. I go through the portal. I see movement as I go through it, but the portal closes before I get to see what the movement was. On the other side I am in a forest clearing. I look around and see Eddie not too far off. He is carving at a piece of wood. When he sees me he puts the carving behind his back. I ask what he was doing, he says just carving something… then adds that he's not very good. I comment that carving stuff sounds cool, and with practice I'm sure he'll get better. I want to get MoSh in on the dream. I open a portal with the goal of finding MoSh. A portal opens and I see MoSh in a house on the other side. It looks like he is playing video games. I tell him he is dreaming and come on for a Dark Tower dream. MoSh comes through. Eddie has gone back to carving, apparently deciding he doesn't care if I see him. I hear something approaching. Something big. I hear a tree fall not far off. I realize where in the Dark Tower series we are. The guardian is on its way! I am about to try to warn MoSh and Eddie when the thing enters the clearing, a bear that looks like it is about 50 feet tall, a bear that looks insane and pissed.

Eddie scrambles up a tree, which seems like a good plan. The bear goes after Eddie, who is the one who moved quickest. It doesn't seem to have noticed MoSh and me. As the bear is trying to shake Eddie out of the tree I see Roland appear with Susanna on his shoulders. I hear her saying Roland should take the shot… she'll miss… but she finally takes the shot. Her shot takes out a radar dish that was sticking out of the bear's head. I see movement in the trees, but no one shows themselves. I wonder if whoever it is might be scared of the bear. I see weird parasites oozing out of the bear's mouth. I think it is over, but something else is coming. So now MoSh and I head up a tree, and Eddie, who had started climbing down, returns to the top of his tree. I see trees falling down in an approaching line. I see there are two locations where this is happening. Two more of the things are coming! They both enter the clearing at the same time, I see Roland and Susanna take cover behind a fallen tree. Not a very safe place, but all they had time to get to. I can clearly see the radar dishes on the heads of the second and third bears. One of them is heading straight for Roland and Susanna. I don't know where MoSh gets the gun, but he suddenly has a gun in his hand. At first his hand seems to be shaking and the first shot goes wild, I have no clue where it went. But then he seems to calm down and takes careful aim, blasting the dish right off of the top of the bear's head. The other one is heading for the tree MoSh and I are in. I wonder if we are high enough to be out of reach. I decide it is now or never, so I form Witchblade into a sword and jump out of the tree right onto the bear's head, slicing the radar dish off as I land.

As the bear is going insane I jump off of it and land hard on the ground, rolling to absorb most of the impact so I am unharmed. I take cover behind the same tree Roland and Susanna are behind. Now the guardian bears are going mad. They are all spitting parasites and they are attacking each other, tearing each other apart. The violent engagement doesn't last very long before all three of them collapse and appear to be dead. Eddie is a bit slower to get out of the tree this time. I see he is covered with bear snot and dead parasites… yuck. Susanna comments that MoSh and I sure seem to know the right time to show up. I tell her I show up when I am needed. We go over to take a closer look at the dead bears, which Roland calls guardians. They smell awful. They smell like they have been dead much longer than they actually have been. They smell like sickness. It looks like Roland has a headache. I ask if he is ok, he says something about a boy that never existed. I remember that there is a paradox that will have to be worked through before he'll really be ok. He says he doesn't know which one is true. I say the first thing that comes to mind… nothing is true. Roland looks at me strangely. He says neither is true and yet both are true at the same time. Everything is permitted. I didn't mean to say that out loud… but apparently I did because Roland says in the search for the tower everything is permitted... even… but then he trails off and is silent for a bit. He then repeats the two lines as if considering them, I do notice his headache seems to have passed for now at least. Eddie is looking at one of the bears and says it's a robot. But they are bleeding where they have injured each other, bleeding blood infested with parasites. It looks like they're part robotic and part biological. Cyborgs? I look at one of them closer and see a silver tag inside one of the ears that reads something to do with positronics. I have no idea what it means. I look closer to try to read it but I wake before I get a closer look.

Another Dreamer?
I am in my own room, I look around to see where Midna is lying. I am not lucid. I don't see the cat so I get up and leave the room. In the living room I have an art area set up, I have been painting a seascape, though not a very good one. I wish I could learn to paint better. As if I made the wish aloud Q appears and answers.

Q says I have played Assassin's Creed II and Brotherhood… so I know exactly where to find a version of Leonardo Da Vince… so why don't I… I interrupt and tell him I am not going to waste the time of someone like Leonardo Da Vinci considering I have absolutely no talent. Q pulls a Leroy Jethro Gibbs on me, he smacks me lightly on the back of the head. I tell him not to do that. He says to stop being dense. I tell him I have to get to class. For some reason seeing Q has not triggered a reality check. He says I am dreaming. But I am not listening to him any more since he has been talking about Leonardo Da Vinci. I look at my painting and think if there is any way I can salvage it. I am thinking no, but maybe… I go to get paint out. Q gets in my way and tells me if I won't listen, then how about this? He snaps his fingers and the scene around me changes. I am in a bedroom that is foreign to me. There is a woman huddled in the corner in a fetal position with several men standing over her and yelling things at her. They are telling her she is useless and will never amount to anything, that she has no value, no talent, if she killed herself no one would even notice let alone care. I notice they are also producing a field of negative energy around her. I ask them what the fuck they are doing. I tell them to quit that. One of them looks over at me. I realize they are Templars. I wonder why they are psychologically attacking this woman. The Templar that looked at me tells me this is none of my concern, I should just leave. I say I'll leave after they do. Quit attacking that woman. The Templar says I don't even know her… just go. I say I don't care if I know her, I want them to quit it. The others have continued their attacking. I decide they have done enough. I focus on a healing song, Touch My Heart, to surround the woman with positive energy. The positive energy forces the Templars back, and now they are all glaring at me. I tell them they have until the count of 5 if they all want to leave in one piece. I count by seconds… 1… 2… 3… 4… one of them says I can't hurt them and I know it. I say I can still make things pretty nasty… 5. I form Witchblade into a sword and run one Templar through, the others apparently decide here isn't where they want to be. One Templar dies, the others all disappear. I go over to the woman and ask if she is ok. She says it doesn't matter. I tell her this is a dream, as I am getting the feeling she is a dreamer. She says it's a nightmare… just like her life. And those people will be back soon enough… so I have not done her any good. I ask if she is a dreamer, and tell her if she is to join up with DV or MM and post dreams so I can find her in waking life. She scoffs at that and crawls into bed, ignoring me now. I am wondering what to do. I can't think of anything to help. Q appears. He says I didn't go where he had intended, but maybe I was needed here. I tell him I don't know how to help the woman, she seems to be depressed and the Templars are making it worse. He says first I need to help myself. He snaps his fingers and the scene changes again. I am now standing right in front of Leonardo Da Vinci as he appeared in Assassin's Creed II. He looks at me strangely, I mutter that Q is in big trouble for this as I focus to wake myself up.