Death's Other Kingdom

11.03.2013

Facing the Goblin Hoard (Non-lucid)

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

My faithful companions and I enter the palace of the light goblins, seeking the Goblin Princess named Whisper. She had sent word to my Knight that she has some important information for us. The light goblins may be less savage than their kin, but we still must be careful. Humans in the palace are subject to intense scrutiny: one wrong move and we'll all be killed.

A young female goblin servant slips my knight a letter from the Princess. It reads: "I'm in the subconscious right now. You must meet me in the Requiem." We all exchange anxious glances. The Requiem--- home of the dark goblins--- is exactly where we did NOT want to go.

We begrudgingly make our way to the Market and buy as much fruit as we can, as tribute to the dark goblins. You won't get very far in the Requiem without a substantial food offering to pacify the greedy little beasts.

Then the time comes to enter the massive cave system known as the Requiem. We decide to go in groups of two to ease suspicion. The Dark Goblins tend to find humans amusing, even going as far as inviting large groups of them to attend events in the Requiem's inner chambers. However, getting to these inner chambers is easier said than done. The goblins along the way will find any excuse to snatch a human away before they reach their destination.

Because the goblins are confident in their vast numbers (and rightly so) we are allowed to bring in our weapons under the condition that they are sheathed at all times. I decide to bring my faithful scimitar, though I hope I won't be needing it.

I enter the caves with my friend Alma, a healer who is actually quite knowledgable about Goblin culture. After giving the doorman his part of the tribute, we make our way inside. An older she-goblin stops me a few minutes into our slow, wary journey. She wants to play a game with me. Apparently this game involves slapping me in the face with a mostly deflated balloon. I stand there and take it, hoping that she'll grow weary of the "game" and let me go. She tells me I'm not doing it right, that I'm supposed to cry out in pain. I realize she is kind of like a child who hits an adult and finds it funny when the adult pretends that the weak attack has injured them. The next time the she-goblin hits me, I cry out and pretend to be in pain. Unfortunately, an older male goblin watching nearby lets out an annoyed "shhhhh!"

"Ah, a shush from him means an execution. Too bad!" the old she-goblin cackles. I sigh in frustration and weigh my options. Resisting their attacks wouldn't do much good--- there are far too many of them to fight. Even if I could, it would put Alma in the middle of the danger. I have no choice but to run.

So run I do. I barrel into the annoying she-gob, sending her sprawling to the floor. I bolt through the door before me, cringing at the sheer number of goblins who begin chasing after me.

I run for a very long time, deftly taking unexpected turns and even throwing myself through a large stained glass window, but they always keep right on my heels. Maybe it's time to make a stand.

I climb up a pillar in a large cathedral like room, all the way up to the rafters. I figure that the goblins could only move single file along the narrow beams, thus allowing me to chop them down one at a time. But more by luck than anything, I somehow fall through a nearby window into a large courtyard where a lot of other humans are gathered for an event (including my comrades). Goblins are notoriously bad at recognizing individual humans in a crowd, so I blend right in and successfully escape. As long as I can hide my limp from the fall, they shouldn't recognize me...

03.31.2013

Spiders and Chainsaws and Fairies, oh MY! (Non-lucid)

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

In my back yard at night, two of the giant spider people who live in the forest come to pay me a visit. They tell me that I am "invited" to play a game with them tonight. I must survive in the forest until sunrise to win the game. If I decide not to play, there will be serious consequences. They show me a vision of an innocent looking butterfly-girl being tied up in webs. I intuitively know that this vision represents a person I care about being taken by the spider people if I refuse to participate.

I go out and by the brightest flashlight that I can find, because the spider people are weak against light. This will be my only protection against a race of beings who can blend perfectly into the shadows and see in the dark like it's nothing. "I'm totally screwed," I mutter to myself as I head back to my house.

I would really like to find someone to come with me to play the "game," but everyone is too busy. (There is some kind of adventuring Guild at my house that I am a part of.) I come across Cheyenne in one of the back rooms and briefly consider asking her to join me, but I realize that I'd only be putting her in danger and that she is likely the person the Spiders will take from me. I've got to do this alone.

As I head out, a Werewolf who is part of the guild (and possibly an old character of mine from high school) asks me to go on a really important quest for him. I say that I will, but I have to play the Spider's game first.

When I get out in the forest, I hide myself under a tree and wait. After a few minutes of nothing happening, I get bored and decide to leave. ((So apparently it wasn't that important after all...?))

I take up my werewolf friend's quest and head out with my brother and my dad down the back road. It is a two part quest: part of it involves something deep in the forest, and part of it involves killing the daughter of a very important man in a village not far from here. We decide to deal with the girl first.

The gravel road should lead directly to the village, but there is a big red truck parked in a nearby field with two sentries. Our first plan is to sneak by unnoticed. We begin crawling low to the ground, but are spotted anyway. We stand up quickly as the truck approaches us. Time for plan B.

Before the two men in the truck can ask questions, I put on a stupid expression and point down the road. "We were wondering where this road leads to," I say amiably. I can see that the driver believes us not to be a threat.

"Oh, just follow us," he says and drives slowly down the gravel road. We follow for a short distance, until he stops just before the village and gets out. "I'll show you around, he says."

His passenger gets out as well. He is a GIGANTIC man with a chainsaw, which he revs threateningly. I am concerned about this one, but I play my part of the oblivious traveler.

The two men take us through the village, showing us different shops and various important people here. The man with a chainsaw follows at a distance, ready to cut us to bits at any moment.

At one point, my companions and I step just outside of the village to have a brief talk. There, we find a Fairy Ring. We stand in the middle of the ring. One of the people with me ((no longer my dad and brother, my companions kept changing throughout the dream)) says that this is a good sign and that we must ask the Goddess for her blessing in order to complete our quest. Suddenly fairies begins swirling around us, emitting a beautiful light. They swirl up to the very heavens, where we can see a vision of the Goddess smiling down at us. She sends the light back, even more beautifully than before, and tells us that we have her blessing.

We return to the village and have audience with the leader. We are hoping to gain knowledge of where his daughter is. I am sent looking for the leader's missing shoe, which I accidentally step on. An evil skeleton wraith lunges up from the shoe and starts attacking me. I shatter it to pieces, dispelling the spirit. Apparently we had needed this spirit for something, and the leader tells me he can not bring it back.

I wake up shortly afterward.