New Dream Adventures of Raven Knight

2017, 03-29
Healing in the House of Elrond

I am in a strange place that I do not recognize. I am in a forest, it is a very nice day out. I see dappled sunshine on the ground around me and I hear birds singing in the trees. A gentle breeze was ruffling the leaves and blowing on my face, feeling very nice. I follow what amounts to a dear trail through the trees until I find a woman in the forest with me. She looks like a Japanese woman wearing a kimono, and she also looks a little bit annoyed at me. I don’t even recognize her let alone know why she might be annoyed at me. She looks around and motions to the forest around us. She asks what makes me think this place is a beach? I laugh and I say it’s clearly not a beach. She tells me she is Asuka and then tells me to do a reality check because this is a dream. She then looks around and calls out. She says MoSh has wandered off again… so we’d better find him.

I haven’t actually done the reality check, but I start looking around for MoSh. We soon find MoSh standing and staring at a beautiful place. A series of buildings among the green trees, all connected by a series of paths. MoSh is staring at the scene, and now I join him in staring at the scene that is before us. Asuka goes over and talks to MoSh for a bit, asking him if he is keeping in mind that this is a dream. Before he can respond, however, some people approach us and one of them demands to know who we are. I turn and see there is an elf there who looks like he stepped right out of a Lord of the Rings story. He has his gaze fixed upon the three of us, but before he can repeat his question another man speaks up. He says he knows me, and tells them I am Raven Knight. He says I fought valiantly to defend against the Nine and I also seem to have some skill in healing. He says there’s no time to delay, Frodo has to get to Elrond.

Everyone seems to be assuming that if MoSh and Asuka are with me then they must be ok, and we all go into the closest building. We go directly to a bedroom where they place Frodo into a bed. Another elf comes along, he says he is Elrond, but we’ll have to forgive him for not welcoming us personally to his house, he has a patient to attend to. The door to the bedroom closes between us, Elrond, and old man with a long white beard I am assuming is Gandalf, and Frodo on the other side. I turn to another elf on this side of the door and he says he is Glorfindel. He pauses and looks at the three of us, Aragorn is also still here with us. After Glorfindel looks at MoSh and Askuka and me, he suggests that maybe we would like to refresh ourselves in the halls of healing. I ask what that is. He says it is a series of natural pools that are fed from the springs that feed the Imladris. He said the pools purify all darkness from those who bathe in their waters, and it is something he would recommend for any weary traveler, especially those who have come face to face with the evil things we have fought today. Aragorn is more concerned with how Frodo is doing, he is clearly anxious about the hobbit’s condition. Glorfindel says Elrond is very skilled as a healer and will do everything he can to return Frodo to full health. He says from the look he got, Frodo’s would is grave but not yet beyond all hope. He adds that Aragorn being stressed about it will do nothing to help Frodo, all it will do is rob Aragorn of his peace of mind. Frodo is getting the best help that is to be found in the west, though Elrond would be slow to accept such praise. He says that for now there is nothing we can do for Frodo, but the wait may seem less if we wait in the pools of healing.

So I follow Glorfindel along with Asuka, MoSh, Aragorn, Marry, and Pippen, but Sam refuses to budge. He pounds on the door until finally Gandalf lets him in and says he can stay as long as he promises to stay out of the way and let Elrond do his job. It looks like Marry and Pippen might try the same, but Aragorn tells them that Glorfindel is right, too many people in the room might just get in the way. After following Glorfindel for a ways we emerge in an area with waterfalls cascading into crystal pools of water. Glorfindel says the water is healing, whether you swim in it or just wet your feet. Asuka, who now somehow had a bathing suit on, jumped right into the water and splashed MoSh in the progress, soaking him. He didn’t seem too pleased with that, though Asuka was laughing. I was thinking this was a good chance to use a healing song. I focused on the song Voices from the Macross Plus soundtrack, and it created golden energy all around the pools. The golden energy flowed around and into everyone present, including MoSh and Asuka.

There is a period I don’t remember very clearly, the next part I remember really well is inside what they call the Hall of Fire. It is a long hall with tables and comfortable chairs, illuminated primarily by a large fire that always burns at one end of the room. MoSh is sitting in one of the chairs around the outside of the room looking at a stringed instrument that partly resembled a guitar but not quite, I get the idea it is one of the elvish instruments that are commonly used in Rivendell. MoSh starts playing the guitar. I don’t recognize the tune, but I like it, so I sit down close by and listen. Asuka is also listening intently and seems to be enjoying the music. As MoSh continues playing, some more people gather around, migrating from other parts of the room apparently to get a better listen to MoSh’s music. Soon there is a small crowd of people silently standing or sitting around us to listen to MoSh play. He finishes one song and then moves on to another, then seems aware of the crowd for the first time. He sets the instrument aside and says it’s not enough like a guitar for him to play well. I say it seemed to me he was playing very well, and some of the people around us agree, Asuka most of all. He says no, it’s not his best playing… and then fades from existence, much to everyone’s surprise. Asuka tells them that’s what happens when he wakes up. I’m next to follow, for everything around me fades to black and I wake up.