New Dream Adventures of Raven Knight

05/16/13

Escape From Jerusalem
I am lying on a blanket in the middle of a green field. I look up at the clouds passing through the blue sky, I see that one of them looks like a cat. I sit up and look around. I am by myself. I remember my dream plans. Healing. I have been making it a habit to do some healing on Nomad's girlfriend Winter to try to get her fibromyalgia under control. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be helping. But I guess I'm not ready to give up trying. So I open a portal to the healing springs on the moon. Nomad and Winter are already there, so I go through the usual process of healing with the song Voices. It makes me want to fall asleep in the dream, but I remember that there is another plan. To share an Assassin's Creed dream with SJ. As if he already knew what I wanted to do, Q appears and says he will send me to the proper instance of Jerusalem. He snaps his fingers and the scene around me changes. I am now standing in a back road of a city that looks like Jerusalem from Assassin's Creed. I am just missing SJ. I use the song Dream On by Aerosmith to initiate a shared dream. I focus on SJ, and after a bit a woman appears. She is dressed in dark Assassin robes and is looking around at the city but doesn't seem to notice me. I ask if she is SJ, she says yes. Now to find Altaïr. Of course that could be difficult in a place the size of Jerusalem, especially if he doesn't want to be found. I figure Q probably sent me to a place fairly close to Altaïr. SJ and I walk out into what looks like a busy market place.

There are vendors all around selling their wares, people buying, it is very crowded. I see what appears to be the main gate out of the city not far away. There are Templars blocking the way, which is getting quite a few people more than a little pissed off. I look around the area and I spot one of the game hiding places. Five robed scholars approaching the gate. But the middle one isn't quite right. The differences aren't nearly as visible as in the game, his weapons are mostly concealed beneath his robes. I can see the tip of the sword hanging down below the robes, but that is it. If I didn't know what I was looking for… The group of scholars approaches the gate and tries to pass through but the Templars block the way. After briefly arguing about it and then getting threatened with execution the group turns back into the market place. I see a bench nearby, so SJ sits on one end and I sit on the other. As I expected, Altaïr sits right between us and looks over at the gate, watching the Templars closely.

SJ is staring at Altaïr. Maybe he sees her from the corner of his eye or maybe he just senses her watching him, but Altaïr turns and looks at SJ. SJ hesitates briefly, then holds up her left hand with the ring finger bent over to indicate she is an Assassin. I can't see his face, and it is too loud to hear if he is speaking, so I don't know how he responds. But after a short time he turns and looks over at me. I copy SJ's hand gesture to indicate I am also an Assassin. He looks at me closely for a bit, perhaps checking my identity with his eagle vision. He seems satisfied that SJ and I are both Assassins. He says it is important that he get out of Jerusalem as quickly as possible before Robert de Sable meets with Richard. SJ indicates the gate. He asks if we know how many Templars are out there. I say it's not enough. Altaïr says he'd been hoping to avoid a direct confrontation with the Templars but there is no more time to wait. So all three of us go over to the gate. Templars get in the way and say no one enters or leaves. The Templar who spoke eyes us suspiciously. Two more Templars join him when we seem unwilling to leave. There are three of them, three of us… three stabs with three hidden blades, three dead Templars. The others don't seem to immediately realize what has just happened. We are halfway through the gate before some Templar sounds the alarm, pointing at us and yelling that the Assassins are here, don't let them through. So now a fight begins. I look over at SJ and see she has produced a sword from somewhere and knows how to use it. She kills a Templar as I watch. The next thing I know Altaïr yells to look out. I turn just in time to see Altaïr's throwing knife embedded in the neck of a Templar who had been coming at me. I need to pay less attention to SJ and more attention to the Templars! I dodge an incoming attack from a Templar and counter strike with my Witchblade sword, taking out another Templar. We are fighting our way towards the stables. Altaïr is after a horse. So we fight our way to the stables, leaving a trail of dead Templars in our wake. Then Altaïr is on a horse, tearing out of the stable at full speed and running down a couple Templars who had been blocking the gate. SJ and I kill some Templars trying to get to the horses to give chase. I see Altaïr disappear into the distance. There's no way they'll catch him now. I have just killed another Templar when I wake.