New Dream Adventures of Raven Knight

2017, 08-29

Game of Dreams – Night Ambush

I am in what used to be a whore house. There are whores all around me trying to get my attention. I ignore them, I was there to meet someone and now I’m leaving. There is a man near the door. He greets me when I get there. I'm thinking it's time to get back to the castle. The man, who I seem to think is called Little Finger, but I'd rather call him Little Dick, is saying goodbye to some whores. We leave and it is raining outside. Jory Cassel is with me as are two other of my guards. We mount our horses and ride towards the castle, chatting about Robert’s bastards. It seems that the previous hand was murdered after looking into Robert’s bastards. But why? Everyone already knows the king has more bastards than true born children… I have a bad feeling as we are riding through deserted streets in Kings Landing.

One of our guards calls a warning, and the next thing I know we are surrounded by soldiers. All them with the Lannister lion displayed. I recognize, Jamie Lannister, is on a horse. His foot soldiers close in around us. There must be at least 20 of them. This is not good for us, there are only four of us. Jamie is asking if I remember his brother, and then describes Tyrian Lannister. Of course I remember him. Jamie says that he seems to have run into some miss fortune on the road. I told him that's too bad. He asked if I would know anything about this. I say no, how would I know anything about this I've, been here. Little Dick sighs, apparently happy with that response. It's just the truth. Jamie doesn't believe me. He says he knows I gave the order to capture his brother. I am clueless. I ask who captured his brother. He says my wife has of course. He says he sure I knew that. Jamie then turns his attention to Little Dick. He says if Little Dick doesn't want to get blood on his clothes he had better leave now. Little Dick rides his horse pass the soldiers, and they let him pass. Little Dick calls back that he will get the city watch. He disappears around the corner moving at a quick pace.

Jamie Lannister seems to be out for blood. He pulls out his sword and tells me to show him my steel. He says he will gladly do me like he did Ares, but he'd rather if I had a blade in my hand. I tell him he can't kill me. He thinks about it, and then says I'm right. He says that would run the risk of my wife killing his brother out of spite. He rides his horse out past his soldiers. He calls back to them to make sure no harm comes to me. And then he chuckles evilly. He tells them to kill my companions. I tell him that's not going to happen. He laughs and says there’s nothing I can do to stop them unless I plan on fighting all of his soldiers myself. I look up at the sky, and I see that it’s still cloudy and raining. This means no one will notice an errand bolt of lightning or two... Jamie Lannister rides away like a coward, but his soldiers are closing in around us. We have no choice but to fight.

I call a bolt of lightning with the song Battery by Metallica. One of the soldiers get struck by lightning and falls over. His metal armor was a perfect conductor. That all hell breaks loose. Some of the soldiers are confused by the random bolt of lightning, but most of them seem to think that was a fluke. The fighting begins. I strike a bolt of lightning down on one of the soldiers who is going after one of my guards. I turn and look at someone is almost grabbed a hold of Jory, but he removes the person's head with his sword. I have to be careful when I call a bolt of lightning to make sure that none of my people are touching the target or they will get electrocuted. I strike another bolt of lightning on an enemy not touching anyone else. There's another one down. My companions are fighting like mad. They are doing a good job, but there are just too many enemies. One of my guys is being pulled off of his horse. He manages to get loose just enough that I am clear to hit the enemy. I hit three enemies around him with lightning. The lightning broke into three and hit all of them at once. Some enemies are saying the gods have turned against them. I call a bolt of lightning on another one. The rest of them run now.

I turn my horse around to make sure that Jory and my two guards are safe, but I do it too fast for the wet muddy ground. My horse slips and falls over, with my leg trapped under it. That is extremely painful. Jory yells at them not to come back. My horse man just to get up off of me, but I know that my leg must be badly broken. My guards come to me and one of them says my leg looks really bad. I am a little delirious right now. I am laughing crazily as I say I couldn’t avoid my injury, but at least you three are ok. One of my guards gets on each side of me to hold me up. My leg is a flare of pain. They start helping me down the street, I see people walking out of buildings but none of them want to get involved. My two guys are talking about how strange it was that lightning struck, only struck the Lannisters. Finally we meet up with the city watch that Little Dick promised to send. They have a cart so I am able to ride back to the castle. I am in and out of consciousness. The next thing I know there is a guy there with a cup telling to drink. I would swear he said it was milk of the puppy. I tell him I don't want to drink dog milk. But he's insistent, and I end up drinking it. It tastes weird. And as soon as I drink it I pass out.

2017, 08-29

Game of Dreams – Mountain Fortress

I am riding on a horse. I am Catelyn. I am riding with a small group of people into the mountains. Right now we are hiding. One of our people spotted horse riders heading our way. There are roving bands of bandits around here. We have already lost a couple people to them. We don't want to meet another attack. I can see Tyrion Lannister nearby. He is sharpening an axe. We are waiting with trepidation for the riders to arrive. I am hoping they pass us by, but I don't know how much chance there is of that. Then one of our people calls out. He has cited a banner being flown by the riders. It is the sigil of my sister’s house. These are not enemies. I am relieved. One of the visitors is my uncle. He has the symbol of the black fish on his cloak. He says we should've let them know we were coming so they could meet us with an escort. He says it's very dangerous on the roads. I say yeah we found out the hard way. He is here to escort us the rest of the way. He has about 12 people with him.

We proceed into the valley. We passed through gate that is guarded, but the guard lets us right through. We continue down into the valley, and I look back to see Tyrion riding right next to Braun, one of those sell swords, and feel suspicious. I know he didn't try to kill my son, but he might still be up to something. Now I have to clean up the mess that Catelyn has made while I was away. I know that tear Tyrion is innocent, but she wasn't convinced. I talk to my uncle about what happened. I tell him about my son’s fall, about the attempted murder that I interrupted, and about how someone is trying to set Tyrian up. I tell him that we made like we were taking him prisoner so that maybe the actual perpetrator would feel complacent and get careless. He thinks my tale is rather strange. He says that's not what my letter said. I tell him that I did not want anyone to possibly intercept that letter. So we have had to behave as if Tyrion was our prisoner.

Soon we reach a gate house at the base of a mountain. Most of our group stays down below. However, my sister has requested that I come up immediately. It is night time now, and that is a dangerous climb at night. A girl says that she has made the trip up the mountain many times in the dark. We will ride mules. We take the mules most of the way. We make our way up the mountain at a slow but steady pace. The girl and I have some small talk, but nothing really important. We finally get to the farthest point where the mules can go no farther. Now there is a steep climb that is more like a stone ladder instead of a stair. The last part has to be done on foot, or to ride up in a basket that is used to raise goods and supplies. I remember earlier Tyrion said he has his pride and therefore would not ride up with the turnips. That seems silly to me. I say I have more sense than Tyrion, and since I’m tired I will ride up in a basket.

I am lifted up to the top where there is a castle. They take me to see my sister. At first she seems happy to see me, and give me a big hug. She's a bit chubbier than I remember. But as soon as we are alone, she starts yelling at me for bringing Tyrion to her castle. She says she didn't want to get involved with the Lannister's. I told her she's not going to be able to avoid them. She says no one can get in the Eyrie. As she was yelling she woke a child in the next room. A little boy comes out asking what's going on. This is the new ward of the Eyrie? He's only six years old. I try to talk sense to my sister about preparing for a possible war. The kid gets scared. My sister is coddling him. To my surprise, my sister pulls her nightclothes down over one breast, and the six-year-old boy begins to nurse. What the fuck? My three-year-old no longer nurses! It is all I can do not to say something. But I don't want to make things with my Lysa even worse. The boy asks if Tyrion is a bad person. My sister says he is. I say someone is setting him up, he didn’t do anything. Lysa ignores me. The boy asks if we can make TTTLY. She says that might be just what we do. I am feeling a bit annoyed at her now.

2017, 08-28

Game of Dreams – Cats and Monsters

Arya: I am playing a game of virtual reality Assassins Creed, or that's what I think of it as. The current mission is to catch cats. There are a lot of stray cat some various kinds around, and I'm supposed to catch them. The place that I’m at looks kind of like a Medieval castle. There are a lot of outside courtyards, towers, buildings, and it's almost like a maze. I am chasing the final cat. I have taken all of the other cats to see my teacher, and now I am chasing the final cat. A mean looking Tom cat. I have him cornered. I get hissed at. He tries to dart past me, but I am faster. I catch the cat, pick him up in my arms as he struggling and yowling and hissing. I gave him a kiss right on his fuzzy face. He does not appreciate it. There are some people that have found me. There are two guards, a stern looking woman, a little boy, and a young girl who asks what I am doing to the cat. Maybe I have wandered into an area where I shouldn’t be. I tell the truth, or part of it. I say I am cuddling the cat. I let the cat go and he takes off, pausing to give me one more hiss as he goes.

From how they speak to me, these people think I am just a random beggar child. I take advantage of that, and make a break for it. With some tricky moves, I get past the guards and knock the boy down as I am trying to get away. I jump over him and run down the pathway. I hear the guards closing in behind me, so I jump up and grab a windowsill and pull myself in through the window. They cannot follow. I think there may be another way they can follow, so I keep going. I run through courtyards, upstairs, downstairs, and in through a window into a really dark cellar. I am completely lost by now. There are skulls here in the cellar, I see them as my eyes adjust the dark. The skulls are huge and menacing. I have a brief flash of fear when I first see them, but then I remind myself they're already dead. They can't hurt me. But I do need to get out of here.

I go out the door in the far side of the room, and it's even darker in the hall. I make feel my way down the hall until I hear voices. I see a light coming out of a hole in the ground. There's a stairway there that leads deep beneath the castle. Two men come out of the hole, and I make sure I'm flat against the wall so they won't see me. They are talking. One of them is a really fat guy and I think I know who he is. I don’t recognize the other. The fat guy wants to stall for time before there is a war. The other tells him to just speed things up, he should be able to, he is a wizard. They start talking about a murder. I hear them talk about the Kings Hand dying... that’s my father! They want to kill my father. They head off down the hall, missing me completely, now talking about what sounds like slave children. I need to find a way out, so I follow them. I stay too far back to hear their voices. Eventually I lose them completely. I keep following the tunnel, and it turns into a sewer. I'm wading in sewage when I finally find my way to the outside. I stink worse than anything I can think of. So I take off my clothes and try to wash up in the river near the exit. I don't want to alert everyone 10 miles away that I'm coming. I am swimming when I wake.

2017, 08-24

Game of Dreams – Shadow Attack

Tyrion: I am riding on a horse. There is a wet bag over my head and my hands are tied in front of me. We finally come to a stop. When they remove the bag I look around to see where I am. None of it looks familiar, but somehow I know it's not where I'm supposed to be. I see some people around me that I recognize. There is a woman here with us, Catelyn Stark. I am angry at her because when I was playing this game as her I set a plan in motion. She has totally screwed it up. When I was playing as her I had clearly put into her mind that Tyrian Lannister (who I am playing as right now) did not try to kill her son. But she threw that out. When we start moving again they leave the bag off of my head. And then they untie my hands. Am I supposed to be grateful? A couple times when I have a chance to talk I try to tell Catelyn I'm not the one that tried to kill her son. I even try logic. If I was the one that tried to kill her son, why would I use my own blade? That would be stupid. I tell her I just left Winterfell after having given them a plan for making a saddle so that her crippled son could ride a horse. Why would I want to kill him and then make him a nice saddle? And then there was the story of how I supposedly got the dagger in question. I'm interrupted at this point, however, because we are under attack.

We are hugely outnumbered. We need every single fighter we can get. I am there, with two of men loyal to Tyrion. But none of us are armed. I tell Catelyn that we should all be able to flight. She doesn't want to trust me. I tell her that if some of us lose here then we all lose. These bandits will kill everyone regardless of family, we are in this together. Finally she gives us weapons. She gives my companions a sword at a bow, and she gives me a big ass axe. A big old battle axe. Now I feel more like a dwarf out of Lord of the rings. The enemies are approaching, and our archers attack first. I see that there was a minstrel with us who is hiding behind a rock. I looked out into the line of fire and I see that the arrows aren’t actually doing anything to the enemies. They are just bouncing harmlessly off some strange energy field around them. It looks like dark energy. But what would they be doing with dark energy? I know if someone doesn't charge our weapons with light energy then we're screwed.

I don't know how I will explain it, but I have to do something. I focus on the song Battery by Metallica to charge everyone's weapons on our side would light energy. There is some lightning and sparks pass to all of our side’s weapons. Everyone pauses, but there isn’t time to question now. They have to go back to fighting. The next arrows that our archers loose cut right through the dark energy field. I have also charged my own axe with light energy. That means we are able to hit the enemies, but it doesn't mean we can't be hurt by them. I am doing my best. It seems a bit awkward handling such a big weapon when I'm so small. I jump up on top of a horse’s head, not realizing I could even jump that high, and bury my axe in an enemy’s head. I take out another enemy that was right next to the first from the back of the first enemy’s horse. I jump down to the ground and the two horses run off to get out of the violence.

I am about to go after some more enemies when I hear a woman scream. I turn around and look and see that Catelyn is surrounded by enemies. It only vaguely crosses my mind to not do anything. Instead I go over there and bury my axe in the back of one of the enemies. A second enemy turns away from Catelyn and starts coming at me. That leaves him wide open. Catelyn has a dagger and it is charged with light energy. She slits his throat with it. The other enemy that was attacking her, and all of the others that are still alive, have decided not to stick around. They were probably figuring they were completely protected. But they weren't. At least not protected from me. I look around for a bit, several people have died. I wasn’t able to save everyone. Tyrion’s own people are among the dead. They weren’t really warriors, Tyrion hadn’t expected to have to fight.

One of Catelyn’s people is injured, Sir Rodrik Cassel. I am thinking I can heal him, but I don't want to make it too obvious. I look around and then pick up some dry leaves. They are harmless. I tell the Sir Rodrik and Catelyn that I have something that can help his wound. At first they don't want me anywhere near him. I finally convinced them when I tell say that if we get attacked again, we need every single fighter we can get. So they finally let me try. I put the harmless but useless leaves on the wound and tell him it’s a special herb that will help with healing. I also focus healing energy. The man says that he can feel the difference right away. This is the pain is going away. After I am done with that, one of the other people thinks that I should give up my weapons, but Catelyn says I am to keep them, we may be attacked again with little notice. I finish my previous thought. I couldn’t have won the dagger when my brother lost the joust because I never bet against my family. I lost considerable coin on that match. It is here I wake up.

2017, 08-22
Game of Dreams – A Mountain That Jousts

Eddard: I am at a jousting tournament with my daughter. She is sitting beside me and watching very intently. The first two contestants come on the field. One of them I know is named Jamie Lannister, and the other one is called The Hound. I am thinking they are both assholes and wishing they could both lose. On the first attempt Jamie almost knocks The Hound off of his horse. On the second encounter, The Hound gets a good hit and Jamie falls off his horse. The Hound has taken him down. Jamie's horse runs off and Jamie is left rolling in the dirt with dented armor. This is made even more comical by the fact that Jamie’s helmet has been dented and turn backwards. He can't see or get it off. He ends up being led off the field since he can't see where he’s going. They are probably going to a blacksmith to get it removed. There is much laughter, and I hear the king laughing louder than anyone.

Next match is between someone who looks like Legolas from Lord of the Rings and a really big guy that I am thinking is a mountainous asshole. I am thinking he could be called Hugh. With the last name of Jass. Hugh Jass would be perfect. The asshole’s is riding a large stallion which is being very uncooperative. Legolas’ horse is a mare, and I'm wondering if she's in heat. She might be making the stallion want to mate. They ride at each other, and the asshole is having such a problem controlling his horse that he doesn't even get a strike it. Legolas knocks him from his horse with ease. The asshole is so big that when he falls he takes his horse with him. The Hound is laughing his ass off. He disentangles himself and gets to his feet in a fury. He calls for his sword, which his squire brings quickly, probably fearing for his life. He moves to kill his own horse. I focus on a telepathic signal to warn the horse, and the stallion moves quickly and bolts for safety. The mountainous asshole is a bigger asshole than I thought.

More enraged with his horse escaping, the asshole goes towards Legolas, sword in hand. He knocks Legolas off his horse in one blow. He clearly wants to kill Legolas. Definitely a sore loser. The Hound, who is the asshole's brother, comes onto the field and tells him to leave the boy alone. This Legolas is actually just a boy. The Hound and the asshole duel with swords as Legolas is taken to safety. They fight until finally the king decides to put a stop to it. He bellows at the top of his lungs, “Stop this madness, in the name of your king!” The two knights are now surrounded by guards. When the king speaks, The Hound immediately falls to one knee. This causes the assholes’ next stroke to miss wildly. The asshole finally drops his sword and just glares at the king in fury. He storms off the field in a rage. I am thinking someone should stop him, he might hurt someone in his rage. But no one dares to get in his way and the king says to let him go.

My daughter clearly favored Legolas, and she is relieved that he is OK. Legolas soon comes back to the field. This time he is not his armor. He forfeits the last match of the joust to The Hound, saying he owes The Hound his life. The crowd is cheering wildly, cheering Legolas because they like him, and cheering for The Hound because he is the winner and he saved Legolas’ life. I hear some people nearby talking. One of them says Legolas had to know his mare was in heat, and since Sir Gregor (the mountainous asshole) always chooses a large stallion with more spirit than sense, it was surely planned. He sounds like he finds the tactic amusing. Another man says there’s no honor in trickery. I comment that it’s all part of knowing your opponent, which is something you should always try to do. An unknown foe is much more dangerous. The next event is about to start, but I wake up.

2017, 08-22

Golf, Balloons, Packages, and Phones

I was playing golf. Not miniature golf, but real golf. I was out on a golf course and I have a bag with one golf club slung over my shoulder. I found that discarded. I also find a few golf balls lying around, and I decide to take a shot at golf. I set up a golf ball, and smack it with my single club. I am surprised at how accurate my shot is considering I've never played golf before. I do this for a while, walking between different areas, then I'm thinking I should pay admission. I go to the entrance of the park to see how much it costs. When I look at the price, I decided I'm not going to pay after all. It's way too expensive. I go out into the course again, and play a few more holes. Now I am a little nervous about getting caught, so I am careful to play the holes that are farther away from the entrance. Soon some people come out there, and I think I better quit before I get caught. I quit by waking up.

I see a party at a park. I go over to see what's going on, and I find Alicia is there. There are a lot of colorful balloons. The balloons all look like Pusheen. The party breaks up, and the people at the party take all of the balloons when they leave. I am a little disappointed, I wanted one. Then I see there's a deflated one on the ground. I'll pick it up and blow it back up. I realize it has holes in it. I find some tape and start taping the holes. An employee sees me doing that and says if I wanted that badly he will fix it. He takes the balloon into the back room. I have the feeling that he's not going to bring it back. Alicia says she wants a pink balloon. I was wrong. The employee brings the Pusheen balloon back, and it is completely inflated now. But I have barely put my hands on it when it immediately pops and I wake up.

I am in my own house. My mother is there with me. We are sitting there when I hear a truck outside. So we go to the window and look. There is a UPS truck outside. My mom opens the gate and lets him in. The UPS delivery person gets out with a large package. I go out and bring the package in. My mother is asking if it is surely for me. She asks what I have ordered that would be that big. I told her I don't know what I have ordered that would be that big, but of course it's for me. And look at the address label, and I see it has the name Little on it. Why would James’ packages to be delivered to my house? In spite of the name not being mine, I open the package. I find a lot of stuff in there. I find some unopened boxes of brand new Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokémon cards. I am thinking I'm going to keep those. I also find some comics. I really don't have any interest in those. Then I find some really cool stuff. I find video games for the PC, some really good joystick controller's, and a VR set up. I am thinking I have just scored. I am looking at the virtual reality helmet when I wake up. I am disappointed.

I am with my mother at an electronics store. We are looking at new phones. I am looking at a new iPhone and thinking I might get it. I see my mom is looking at a smartphone. I go over and see it’s a really nice one. The salesperson is explaining its features to my mom. He says it’s as powerful as any desktop computer, and the amazing thing is it can run either iOS apps or Android apps. I am surprised when my mom says she wants one without knowing the price. The man then asks how about me. I try the phone out and want it. But I say I need to know the cost first. He says the phone is free. I do a double take… free? I don’t believe that. He says it really is. He hands me the phone I tried out and says to keep it and get it set up on the service of my choice. I am still thinking there’s no way this phone could possibly be free when I wake up.

2017, 08-21

Meeting at the Café

I am outside on a very nice day. I am in what looks like a small town. I don’t recognize anything about it, however. I walk down the street, I am going to meet someone. I just know that I am meeting them at a corner café. I soon find my way to a nice little café with some outside tables and a few people sitting there enjoying drinks and snacks.

I look around the place and someone catches my attention. It’s MoSh! I head over to the table where he is sitting. I say hello to him and he says hello back. I sit down with him, though I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do now. Whenever I spot MoSh I’m supposed to tell him he’s dreaming, so I tell MoSh he’s dreaming. I think he is going to do a reality check when a woman comes and joins us. It’s Asuka. She is carrying a tray with three little cakes and three cups of tea.
She gives one to MoSh, one to me, and keeps one. She asks if anyone is lucid. I said I just told MoSh he’s dreaming. Asuka sets down a jar she was carrying. I see some small metal objects in it. I ask what those are. Asuka says she has been collecting them, so if I see any, let her know. They look like trash.

I tell MoSh again that he’s dreaming. He says no, he’s not. I say I can prove it, I can fly. He doesn’t believe me, so I get up. There isn’t much room so I am having problems getting off the ground. I lift myself up on a chair and push myself up as if I was in a pool swimming. I drift upward instead of falling back down. MoSh stares at me as I’m floating. I reach down and pick up the cake Asuka brought and take a bite. It’s delicious. I hover there and eat the cake, not really thinking about what I could be doing with this dream. MoSh is watching me float with some interest but he hasn’t tried to do anything himself. Asuka is looking through some of her metal objects which are little things that have strange markings on them. I ask her what they are, but I don’t get a chance for an answer before I wake up.

2017, 08-21

Darkness Rising

I am in a pretty normal looking small town, but there is definitely something wrong here. It only looks normal at first glance. The more I look the more off things seem to be. There are people around but they all seem scared of something, and there is a negative feel to the place. No one talks to me, but I am able to overhear what is going on. The town is getting corrupted by evil energies. People are being murdered and left in obscene positions throughout town. No one can move the bodies, anyone who tries suffers a horrible sickness and then death. A young girl was hung from the ceiling and her parents grieved to leave even her body like that. A young blonde girl looking and acting like Diana from Grimm managed to use telekinetic powers get the girl's body down without becoming ill. The family is having a funeral today with a public viewing after.

I follow a procession through town and no one notices me. I follow them to the funeral behind a church. I stay out of the way as family members say their goodbyes. Everything is peaceful. Soon they tell the people outside they can come in as long as they’re respectful. No one has been disrespectful, but as soon as the people come things seem to change. I get a feeling of dread it both looks and feels wrong. Diana looks over at an antique dagger hanging on a wall. She takes it down. She cuts some fruit left for the people with the dagger and it instantly turns rotten. She touches some people gently on the face with the flat of the blade and they look like zombies. She says they can be saved, however. She finally reaches a little girl who acts scared. Diana says not to be scared, the dagger reveals corruption, it doesn’t cause it. She touches the girl, gets a shocked look on her face, then runs the dagger through the girl’s neck. The mother is hysterical, but the reason is revealed… the girl turns into a monster as she dies.

Diana says she’s sorry, but that wasn’t the woman’s daughter, that was a demon. The mother wants to know where her daughter is, Diana doesn’t know. The monster body dissolves into the ground. The ground shakes and cracks open, a demon much larger comes out, laughing menacingly. The demon says he has won, they killed an innocent! Diana says no one is foolish enough to think killing a demon counts as killing an innocent just because it was disguised as a child. She steps towards the demon, but then stops. She says he’s stronger than she thought. The demon says now she will belong to him. Diana looks at me and says she needs my help. She knows I can wield light energy, and we can send the demon back to hell. I don’t know how she knew that, but I go to help her. She creates a whirlwind of light energy pulling the demon back into the crack, but he resists. I use the song Battery by Metallica to hit the demon with a bolt of lightning. With a roar of anger the demon loses his focus and is sucked down into the ground. The cracks close themselves. Diana says it’s ok if I have to go, she knows how to remove the corruption from the people. I wake up.

2017, 08-18

Game of Dreams - Oceans of Green

Daenerys: I am outside on a beautiful sunny day, and I am riding a beautiful horse. There is a vast valley stretched out for me. It is completely filled with green grass. The grass is waving, making it look like an ocean. There are some people with me. One of them is a knight. He is talking about the grassy valley. He says right now it’s all green, but there are times of the year when it is in bloom. He says this grass blooms with a bright red flowers. I am thinking about how beautiful that must be, when the knight goes and ruins it by comparing it to a field of blood. I give him a sideways glance, wondering why he had to make that comparison. He goes on to say there are other kinds of grass mixed in with the blood grass, and those grasses bloom in so many different colors it looks like a rainbow. He says there's a kind called ghost grass that is semitransparent, and it murderers all other grasses. I don't really care to hear about homicidal grass.

I kind of want to go off on my own for a while. I tell the knight that I would like to have a few moments alone. I tell him to have the others to stay behind for now. He says he will tell them. I ride my horse out in the grassy fields. The grass is much taller than I realized. It's almost up to my horse’s belly. I get the urge to go down into the grass. I see some color down there, some pretty flowers I want to see closer. So I climb off my horse and get down in the grass to look at the flowers. They are very pretty little blue flowers that smell very sweet. I hear birds singing in the surrounding grass. I wonder what other animals might live out there.

The peace is disturbed when I hear some loud argument from back on the top of the ridge. After the yelling which I can't quite tell what was said, I hear hoof beats. Apparently someone didn't feel like staying put. The rider appears and pulls up on the reins a bit too quickly and as for rears up and throws him off. I laugh as he lands on his ass. It is amusing. I see that the writer is my asshole brother. He's being an asshole again. He is pissed. He asks how I dare give him a command. I think he is taking this much too seriously. I just wanted to be alone for a bit. He comes over closer to me and starts being a pervert. He put his hand up under my vest, and pinches my breast. That is annoying. I push him away for me and tell him to cut that out. He falls back on his ass. He glares at me. He gets up looking angrier than ever. He says he thought we had that cleared up, that if I ever dared to oppose him again he would seriously hurt me. I tell him if he wants to try, go head and bring it on. He gets back up and starts to come at me.

I am about to give him a kick to his family jewels when he gets suddenly pulled back. I look and I see that he now has a whip wrapped around his neck. He is pulling at the whip with his hands, and having trouble breathing. There is one of the people that had been with me on the top of the ridge, he is on a horse and has his whip around my asshole brother's neck. He asked a question in a foreign language. The knight has caught up to us now, and he translates. The man with the whip is asking if he should kill my brother. I told him no, don't kill him. The knight translates. The man askes another question. The knight again translates. This time the man has asked if he should remove one of my brother’s ears to make him remember his error. I say no, don't hurt him. The knight translates. The man removes the whip from around my brother’s neck. My brother chokes and gags as he tries to catch his breath.

I look around and see that my brother's horse has wandered off. I figure that doesn't matter. He can walk back, I don’t feel like finding his horse. The other people on horses find that amusing. My brother acts like a child. He sits down on the ground and refuses to move. I tell the others that if he wants to sit there and sulk like a child, let him. I get back up on my horse, and all of us start heading back up to the top of the ridge where the rest of our huge group is. So far my asshole brother is not moving. I lose sight of him. I wonder out loud if he could get lost out there. The knight says that there's no way you can get lost. He says our group is leaving a path like a highway. I find the idea that our groups passing is causing that much distraction to be sad. I rejoin my husband on the top of the ridge and we start moving out. And then I wake up.

2017, 08-17

Game of Dreams – Tears Falling

I am having dinner with my family. My dad and sister are there. It is a large table and there's a lot of food on it. My teacher is here. I remember her trying to teach me needlework. It was not very effective. So I'm sitting there and looking at mine, but I'm not really feeling very hungry. My sister is sitting several seats from me and she isn’t paying any attention to me. She is with her friend. I have the feeling that her friend is an asshole. My father says there's going to be a big tournament in his honor. He says he really doesn't want to have anything to do with it. It's just a big expense that the kingdom can't afford. My sister and her friend find the idea of the tournament exciting. She asks father if she will be able to go. Father considers and then says he will get both my sister and me good seats. I think it sounds stupid. I say I don't want to go. My sister says the tournament will be an amazing event, I'm not welcome there. Father is annoyed. He says he is getting sick of my sister and me fighting. He says we are sisters, and we should start acting like it. I'm angry at my sister. But for now I don't show it.

Father announces that he has no appetite, and then gets up and leaves. I look at my food, and it does not look tasty. I decide I have no appetite either. I get up. My teacher asks me where am I going. I realize that maybe I should be polite, so I politely ask if I may be excused. She says no. She tells me to clean my plate. I tell her to clean it herself. I get up to leave. As I go passed my sister, I pause to tell her off. I tell her that we both lost our wolves, but at least she knows hers back home and safe in Winterfell. My wolf is somewhere out in the wilderness and I don't know if she is dead or alive. Talking about that makes me feel like crying. I hurry from the room before my tears fall. I don't want anyone in there to see me cry. I hear my teacher behind me yelling at me to come back. I ignore her. I go running upstairs to my room. I go through the door and slam it behind me. It’s a heavy wooden door with a very satisfying to slam. There is no lock but there is a bar that I can slide down to keep the door from being opened. So I do.

Once I am safe in my room I feel safe to cry. And I do. While I am crying, someone comes up and knocks at my door. It is a hard and angry knock. And it is a not very friendly voice is speaking out there. A woman, my teacher, tells me to come out there in mediately. She says if I don’t come out immediately my lord father will hear about this. I don't care. I tell her to go ahead and tell him whatever she wants. She goes away. I open my clothing chest, and dig through it until I find a sward buried on the bottom. I think the sword out, I remember it is named Needle, and I start practicing with it. I am shit. I am in the middle of practicing with it but I am thinking about other things. I briefly considered going out the window and running away. Maybe I can find my wolf in the wild. I am thinking about that when there is a knock at the door. This time it is a gentler knock. And it is also a gentle voice that speaks. It is my father. He does not sound angry, he just sounds sad. That makes me feel kind of bad about my behavior. Anger I can handle, but disappointment not so much. He says he wants to come in. I raise the bar blocking the door, and open it. He comes in.

My father sees the sword in my hand. I had even thought to try to hide it before he came in. Yes it's me who's short is that, and I just see at night. He asked where I got it, but I don't want to rack out my brother so I say nothing. He says it doesn't really matter. He takes it and is looking at it. I have the feeling I'll never get it back. He wants to talk about things that of been happening lately. He says he doesn't like it when my sister and I are fighting. I tell him I don't really want to fight with her, but then I trail off. We talk about different things and I am close to tears again. And then it just all comes out, I don't even know what I'm about say untill I say it. I am crying as I tell my father that I had to throw rocks at my wolf to make her leave because I knew if she came back with me, they would have killed. The queen and the king. And I couldn't stand the idea of seeing that. I told her to leave and when she wouldn't leave I threw rocks at her. There be plenty of wild game out there for her to eat, and I do even heard other wolves out there, so she might even find a pack. My father seems to agree with my theory that she'll be OK out there. He says she was born to be in the wild, and she will surely adapt to it quickly. And she will certainly be the leader of any pack she joins. I am in my father’s arms still crying but it's stopping. My father asks me about the sword again. He asked if I really want to learn. He says I've got a wild streak, like a lot of others in our family. He says he will ask around and see about someone to train me. And then he hands the sword back to me. That comes as a surprise. He hugs me before leaving the room. And then I wake up.

2017, 08-17

Game of Dreams – A Knife in the Dark

Catelyn: I am in a room that looks like a bedroom in a castle. I am sitting in a chair beside a bed. There is a boy lying unconscious in the bed, I know he is my son, Bran. I am carefully feeding him a mixture of honey and water in a desperate attempt to get some hydration and nutrients into his body in a time long before intravenous drips have been invented. But this is too little I know, and if he doesn't wake up soon he'll... but I don't let myself think the word. I stop the feeding and hold his hand, little more than a skeletal hand now but still warm to the touch, focusing on healing him. I don't know if it's doing anything. A man comes into the room and starts talking finances. I don't care about money. He is also talking about positions that need to be filled because of people who have left town. I don't care about that, either. All I care about is Bran... I tell him to leave.

A boy comes in... this is my older son, Rob. He tells the man he will discuss the finances and positions to be filled tomorrow. After handing my son a piece of paper, the other man leaves. Rob is now talking to me about other responsibilities I'm ignoring. My younger son is crying for me, he's only 3 and he needs me, especially with dad away. He pauses and then says he needs me, too. He says he can’t handle everything all on his own. I want to turn to him and be there for him, but I have the persistent thought that if I let go of Bran's hand he will die. There is a commotion outside. Rob says the library tower is on fire, he will take care of it. He rushes out and takes a guard by the door with him.

Shortly later a man enters the room. I don't recognize him, but he is holding a dagger. He starts towards Bran and then sees me. He says I wasn't supposed to be here. I say that's too bad, because I am. Just what was he intending to do with that dagger? He looks at Bran and says he would be doing the boy a mercy, really. I tell him there's no way he is killing my son! He comes at me with the dagger. I change my right arm into an Alex Mercer blade and block his blow... but then I realize my arm didn't transform! Of course not... Catelyn Stark is not infected with the Mercer Virus! The blade cuts painfully into my arm. I grab his wrist with my left hand and twist it until he lets go and then I push him away, he falls onto his back. I am about to move in when there is a blur and then there's a wolf on top of the man ripping his throat out. Rob comes back and asks what happened. I tell him that the dead man tried to murder Bran with the dagger. Rob sees my arm and says someone should take care of that. I agree to that, starting to notice the pain more with the incident being over. I leave the room with Rob and then I wake.

2017, 08-10

Game of Dreams – Innocence Saved, Innocence Lost

Eddard: I am in what looks like a living area in a castle. I am pacing, worried. My daughter is missing. A man tells me my daughter has been found. I ask where she is then. The man says she is in the throne room seeing the king and queen. This pisses me off. She’s been missing for four days and that’s the first place they take her?! I go out the door, heading for the throne room. I know where to go and I get there to find my daughter surrounded by a bunch of hostile faces, I see them as assholes. The king and the queen are there with the prince. I go over and put my arms around my little girl, asking if she is ok. She says she’s hungry and tired, but not hurt. I am pissed, I demand to know why my daughter wasn’t brought straight to me and been given a chance to rest and have something to eat before being dragged in here. The king, a fat man I know to be named Robert, says he thought it was best to get this business over with.

I am still annoyed, but I let things go on. The Queen claims Arya and her friend attacked Prince Joffrey and then her wolf bit him. Arya and Joffrey both tell different accounts of the event. I ask how serious Joffrey’s injury was. They seem hesitant to discuss the injury. A man comes into the room with Sansa, she claims she doesn’t remember what happened. Arya calls Sansa a liar and attacks her. I hold Arya back and tell her that is not productive. The Queen wants Arya punished, but Robert says sometimes children will fight. He says I should take care of disciplining Arya and he will take care of Joffrey. He gets up to leave, he has clearly had enough of this whole affair.

The Queen isn’t done yet. She says there is still the matter of the wolf. I say I have yet to see any evidence that Nymeria has done anything. The Queen holds up a shirt with a shredded and bloody sleeve. Nymeria chewed Joffrey’s shirt? She said Joffrey’s arm was in it. Joffrey says his arm was almost chewed off but there’s no injury because Sansa is a sorceress and healed it. I ask if I’m seriously expected to entertain that notion. If Sansa has healing powers then we’d better get her back to Winterfell to heal her injured brother! The Queen says she will not have a vicious beast in her castle. I tell her it wouldn’t be right to throw Joffrey out, he’s only 12. She gets red with anger and says she meant the wolf! Robert reminds her that the wolf got away. She said she wants both wolves put down. I tell her no one is going to hurt those wolves. I am thinking to keep protesting until the wolves can stay with Sansa and Arya but then I am thinking the Queen might arrange something to happen to them just out of spite… so I think better of it and say fine, I’ll have Lady, and Nymeria if we can find her, taken back to Winterfell. The Queen says she wants them dead. I tell her that’s not going to happen. I’ll send them back to Winterfell… for their protection, not hers.

I take my daughters from the room before the Queen can protest any further. Once outside Sansa is saying it isn’t fair to have to send Lady away, she didn’t do anything. I tell her I agree, but the only way to keep Lady safe from the Queen is to send her away. If Lady stays, then the Queen could fabricate another attack or just order her guards to get rid of Lady and I might not be in a position to stop her. Sansa looks sad about it but finally agrees. I tell her that Lady will be waiting for her at Winterfell when she comes to visit or if circumstances in Kings Landing changes enough that we can safely bring her back. Arya asks what about Nymeria. I tell her I’ll get some people to look for the wolf, and if we can find her, she will go north with Lady to be safe, too. I tell Sansa we should go say our farewells to Lady and get the wolf beyond the reach of the Queen as soon as we can. Lady is tied up outside and I leave Sansa to have time to say goodbye to her wolf before she is escorted back home.

Some soldiers on horses ride into the area. They have a bloody sack on one of the horses. A man, the name Sandor Clegane, The Hound, comes to mind, comes over and looks pleased with himself. He says they haven’t found Arya but they got her little pet. I think they already killed Nymeria and I am pissed. The Hound dumps the bloody sack on the ground and laughs. He opens the bag and I react quickly, turning Arya away from the horror. It’s not Nymeria, it’s a boy, no doubt Arya’s friend, practically cut in two. I want to kick The Hound’s ass. I ask if he really had to cut down a child?! He smiles and says the kid ran. I ask if he’s trying to tell me he’s so incompetent that he can’t capture an unarmed fleeing child without cutting him in two?! We’d better hope Joffrey never gets distraught and runs away! You’ll come back to the King and Queen saying, “I have good news and bad news, your Graces. The good news is we brought the Prince back. The bad news is he’s in two pieces.” Sandor says no one dares say that to him! I ask him then which is it? Is he too incompetent to capture an unarmed child without cutting him in half, or is he a sick and pathetic fuck who takes pleasure in murdering defenseless children?! I notice Arya is holding on to me and crying. I immediately feel bad about making that scene in front of her, making a painful moment even worse. I put my arms around her and tell her how sorry I am about what happened to her friend. Sansa comes back with Lady, she is also crying. I want someone to pay for making my daughters cry. Sansa wants Lady in her bed with her just one more night. I am walking with them back to our quarters when I wake.

2017, 08-08

Game of Dreams – Of Weddings and Bullies

Daenerys: I am at a wedding, a big outdoor wedding. I realize I am getting married, but that can’t be right… I don’t see Altaïr anywhere. I want to marry Altaïr. The man beside me is a large and strong looking man with black hair down his back in a braid as long as Sephiroth’s hair with small bells hung in it. He is speaking a language I don’t understand, not paying attention to me. And I’m supposed to marry this guy? My brother is sitting below me on a hill and glaring up at my periodically. There is food and drink constantly brought to me and I eat nervously. Some men fight over a woman and one of them dies, everyone accepts this as normal. Then there are lots of gifts. Some slaves (I don’t want slaves!), some cool looking books, three egg shaped stones they say are dragon eggs, and the man I married gives me a beautiful silver horse. He lifts me easily onto the horse and I ride her around a bit. I immediately love that horse. Now it is time to go? My asshole brother grabs my leg too roughly and says I had better please my new husband or I will wake the dragon like never before… I see no dragon! I kick my leg to shake my brother off and tell him he had better stop being an asshole or I’ll shove his face up a dragon’s ass! He looks surprised and asks what has gotten in to me.

I ride my horse after my new husband. We find a spot and I know he wants to have sex… but I don’t even know this guy! I don’t want to have sex with him! I expect he will just start violently having his way with me, but instead he starts caressing me, being gentler than I’d expected from the way he acted at the wedding. But I still don’t want to have sex with him! I’m crying and he pauses to brush the tears from my face and say the word no. No as in don’t cry? No as in don’t be scared? I’m not sure… And I don’t have to do any more because the dream ends.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sansa: I am riding a horse outside under bright blue skies. The skies look bluer than I ever remember seeing them. I am not alone, there is a boy, Prince Joffrey, riding beside me. My first impression is that he is an asshole… but I think better of calling him that. My next thought is he is a prince I am supposed to marry… but I don’t even know him, though I guess I should give him a chance. We ride through a forest, exploring here and there. Joffrey seems like a decent guy, I’m not sure why my first impression was that he’s an asshole. We keep going and soon find a couple of children playing with sticks as if they were swords. This is where Joffrey shows his true colors.

Joffrey gets off his horse and shows me why I thought he was an asshole. Joffrey starts making fun of the boy for beating on a girl. The girl is my sister, Arya. The boy drops his stick and kneels before the prince, but that does no good. Joffrey pokes at him with his sword and tells the boy to pick up his stick and fight like a knight. I tell Joffrey we should just leave these two alone. Joffrey says this boy was beating my sister, we can’t just leave. He pokes the boy’s cheek and draws blood, saying he won’t hurt the boy… much. That’s when chaos breaks loose.

Arya attacks Joffrey with her stick to keep him from hurting the boy. Joffrey turns on her and attacks viciously, breaking her stick with his real sword. The boy runs into the trees with no thought for Arya’s safety. A wolf comes flying from the trees and clamps down on Joffrey’s arm, making him drop his sword. Joffrey cries out and says to call the wolf off, which Arya does. She looks at his mangled arm and says the wolf didn’t hurt Joffrey… much. Arya picks up Joffrey’s dropped sword and throws it unceremoniously into the river nearby before chasing after the boy with her wolf going after her. I go to check on Joffrey’s arm and he gets pissed at me. I tell him it’s his own fault for being a bully. He says he’s going to tell his mother, I resist an urge to slap him. I tell him not to be such a baby, I can fix his arm. I grab his arm and focus healing energy through it. The bite heals completely, much to Joffrey’s amazement. But he doesn’t thank me, he scoots away from me and says I’m a sorceress and then runs off into the trees. What a loser… Everything fades.

2017, 08-07

Game of Dreams - A Fall and A Healing Touch

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

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

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

2017, 08-05

Game of Dreams

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

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

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