Recent DJ Posts

INT. CHILDHOOD HOUSE - DAY

Orcs are coming. [Day residue from watching LOTR.] I pretend to fire a German WWII machine gun out the window to drill for the orc invasion. My sister and brother and I hide in the hallway [where we used to duck and cover during tornados in reality]. Suddenly I feel the house shifting underneath us. I look out the window: the house is moving south. Lucidity. I attempt stabilization but fail and wake immediately.

Due to stress and not being able to sleep.

Too confident

Was in a hallway with a bunch of orcs. I managed to threaten a bunch until some ran away. the remaining ones were leaning against a wall.

WTF?

A dream about drywalling with my dad. I had a can of pop on this high ledge but I entered the room later to find the ledge gone. I asked some guy if he saw my drink. He pulled it down from somewhere but the can was messed up... the tin was ripping like paper.

Frag

floating outside my inner world house at a window. the house had changed to look like a mansion.

Yay

Finally a good dream with Asuka. We were wasting no time getting to doing what we do.

2017, 04-07

Enter Lothlorien

I am in a place I don’t recognize. I look around, trying to figure out where I am. I see I am very close to the foot of some tall mountains, I am in a rocky area at the foothills of the mountains. Not sure where to go, I follow the sound of a flowing river or stream. I go a little way before I find the source of the sound. The river is little more than a creek here, bubbling out of the rocks and flowing and cascading away down the foothills. I start following the stream to see where it leads. I make note of how nice a day it is for taking a walk outside. I kick myself for not bringing my phone alone, I could be getting distance on my Pokemon Go app even if there aren’t any pokemon in such a remote area.

I have not gone far before there is a flash of white light in front of me. I stop and do a double take because there are now two men standing where there was no one just seconds before. I recognize both of them right away. One of them is MoSh, and the other one is Q from Star Trek. I am surprised to see either of them here, since MoSh lives in a different country than I do and Q doesn’t exist in our world at all. When I think about that I realize this area doesn’t look like any place around my home, which is in the middle of a desert. Q smiles and even chuckles a bit. He says it’s amazing how slow the mind tends to conclude that it is dreaming. He tells me to do a reality check. I hesitate, my mind really is working rather slowly though I’m not sure why that might be. Finally I pinch my nose to do a reality check and I find I can breathe just fine even with my nose pinched. So I become lucid and then I announce to Q that I am dreaming. Q says he knows that, he’s the one who told me to do a reality check. He says the rest of the fellowship should arrive momentarily, and he was going to disappear. He then tells both MoSh and me to make sure and remember that we’re dreaming. MoSh gets down on the ground and is looking at his hand strangely. I ask what he’s doing and he says time dilation. I’m really not sure what he is talking about. I am thinking about asking Q about time dilation but when I look back I see Q has vanished.

I look over at MoSh and see he is still focused on his hand. I wait for a bit and soon a group of people come along. I recognize them from the Lord of the Rings books / movies. Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Boromir, Merry, Pippin, Sam, Frodo. It appears Aragorn is leading them. He does a double take when he sees me and says he thought I’d disappeared again. He says we have to hurry on our way because there will be orcs swarming from that mountain after us once it gets dark. He asks who my friend is, pointing at MoSh. I give him a name that must satisfy him, but I can’t remember what name I gave. Aragorn hurries past and tells us we had better keep up. MoSh gets up and watches Aragorn and the others pass by. I notice Frodo is hanging back a bit. I ask if he is ok. He looks like he is in pain. He says he is ok, just got the wind knocked out of him by an orc spear back there. I tell him I can help, and I focus some healing energy through him. He seems to feel better and continues at a quicker pace.

We have continued quite a while when we come to a river. Legolas is saying the river is the Nimrodel and can wash away weariness when one bathes their feet in the water. He says we will have to wade across it because there are no bridges, but it is shallow. So everyone wades across the river. It is starting to get dark out, even now dusk is settling into night. Legolas is singing a song about the Nimrodel now, but I don’t pay much attention to the words, the melody is nice. Legolas says we’d best sleep in the trees and jumps for a branch. Someone is in the tree, however, and gives him a command in a different language. I somehow understand the language, the tree dweller commanded Legolas to drop back to the ground and wait there… Legolas tells everyone else to stay still and not move. I wait for a bit and finally some elves drop from the trees. They do not seem hostile, however, just cautious.

Even as Legolas and the other elves are discussing whether or not our group can pass into Lothlorien there is a lot of noise around us and we are under attack. Aragorn expresses surprise that the orcs could have caught up so quickly, and draws his sword to fight. Legolas fires arrows and drops a few orcs before they even reach us. It suddenly occurs to me that I was going to make sure MoSh has a Witchblade. I don’t see one on his wrist so I reach into an inner pocket of my Assassin’s robes and I find a Witchblade there. I take it out and toss it to MoSh after getting his attention. He catches it and puts it on. It forms into armor and a sword as the attacking orcs get closer. The orcs are now close enough to engage in melee combat. I form my right arm into an Alex Mercer blade and then I engage the orcs in battle. My Alex Mercer blade carves through attacking orcs as fast as they can come on and attack. I’m being attacked from all directions so I use a spin attack like Link from Legend of Zelda, slicing several orcs open across the middle. I look around just in time to see MoSh remove the head of an attacking orc. Before long all of the attacking orcs have been destroyed.

After the battle is over I see some of the elves set about disposing of the orc bodies. One of the elves is over talking to Legolas, from what I can tell they are discussing whether we will be allowed to enter into Lothlorien. They finally decide that we can enter, but will have to be blindfolded. I look over and I see MoSh looking up at the trees and wandering around a bit. He says this place is beautiful and then takes off flying, much to the amazement of the fellowship and the elves. One of the elves asks me where MoSh is going. I tell the elf not to worry about where MoSh is going, he won’t cause any harm. The elf says that’s not for me to decide. I tell him that if fighting by their side to defeat the orcs isn’t proof of friendship, what is? He looks like he will say something else but then he doesn’t. I realize I still have my blade arm active and I shift it back to my normal arm. The elf says we’d best get into the trees to rest for the night, they have platforms prepared for just such use. The people in the fellowship start climbing up rope ladders that are hanging down from the trees. The elf asks if MoSh will be returning. I tell him I don’t know for sure, but I rather doubt it. And I don’t think I’ll be around for much longer, either. He asks where I would go when there are surely more orcs out there on the hunt. I tell him I can only be there in a dream, so I might be waking up at any time. He says no, that while Lothlorien may look like a place only to be found in dreams, it is most definitely real. Before I can clarify what I mean, however, everything fades to black and I wake up.

2017, 04-06

Escape From Moria

I am in a dark place. A very dark place. It is so dark that I literally can’t see my hand in front of my face. The night vision feature of my Penticon computer chip implant activates and now I can see around me, though everything has a strange greenish tint from the night vision. I am in a long underground passage that looks like it was built rather than a natural cave. It looks like a mine shaft. I follow it for a while and soon find it opens into a huge hall that is supported by many huge pillars. I am able to see the main hall with my night vision, but I see there is a dim light coming through a passage off to my left. I head down that passage to see if I can find out where I am and why I’m there. The source of the light is from a door on the right.

I go through the door and stop short when I see an elf pointing an arrow at me. It’s Legolas, and he lowers his bow when he sees me. He says I have a bad habit of sneaking up on people. I tell him I wasn’t trying to sneak. Boromir looks puzzled and says he thought I got trapped outside Moria after the lake monster destroyed the doors. Sam looks upset and says he thought I was going to see Bill safely to Rivendell. Gandalf has been focusing his attention on an old book, but he looks up and sees me. He is standing beside a large slab of stone that looks like it might be a tomb, the book is lying open. He closes up the book and gives it to a dwarf, Gimli. He also wants to know how I got past the destroyed western gate. He then says I can tell them later, for now he has a feeling we had better all get moving out of there. He says to go back to the main hall and then exit through the eastern passage.

But before anyone can move towards the western exit there is the sound of drums from all around. Legolas, who has gone back to watching the passage, calls to the others that they are coming. I reflexively ask who. Gimili says we cannot get out. Aragorn says to close and bar both doors. Boromir is beside the western door and he says it’s no good, the door is broken and wouldn’t budge if we had our own troll to push. Gandalf fires an energy blast down the hall outside and illuminates many orcs in the light as the orc in front gets a hole blasted through it. Gandalf tells everyone to run through the other door, there’s too many to fight. I don’t figure I have to listen to Gandalf, so I go out into the halls to stall the orcs and give the fellowship a better chance to get away. I form my right arm into an Alex Mercer blade, charged with light energy so it is giving off a light that I can see the enemies by. The orcs fire arrows at me, but I knock them aside with my Alex Mercer blade. That doesn’t deter them, however, they are advancing down the hallway. The group of orcs parts and makes way for a troll coming through their ranks. The troll is practically filling up the entire passageway all by itself. I’m not sure how easy it will be to take on a troll in such a closed area, but remember talking to MoSh about the Ranma ½ anime series. I think of a technique used by Ryoga Hibiki called Bakusai Tenketsu, which shatters inanimate objects such as stones… so I use it on the supports of the passage to each side, causing the aging structure to collapse around and on top of the orcs and troll.

I go back through the door into the room with the tomb and I see no one is left there. The far door has also collapsed even though I didn’t do my Bakusai Tenketsu anywhere near it. I assume I must have accidently caused the collapse, however. There were apparently some orcs on the near side of the collapse in the outer passage because now they come into the room and attack me without seeming to realize there is nowhere to go in here. I use my Alex Mercer blade arm to fight back. Only a few orcs got through so it doesn’t take long to cut them down. My next thought is that I have no idea how I’m supposed to get myself out of here with the outside passage blocked and the other door also blocked. Maybe I could find a way through the collapse? I start looking around the collapsed door to see if I can find a way. There aren’t any openings large enough for anything bigger than an ant to go through. As I pointlessly try to fit into a small opening, however, I find I am getting smaller and smaller… until I fit through! I hurry along the dark passage and stairs beyond by using night vision once again, and I seem to be my normal size again. Somehow I seem to have changed size without being consciously aware of how I did it. I wonder if I will be able to do it again if I choose to…

I finally enter a huge hall at the end of a passage. The hall is lit by a red light coming from a giant crack halfway through the room. Fire is coming from that crack. In the other direction I see a long and narrow bridge. On top of the bridge I see something ugly like a demon of some kind and Gandalf. I can hear Gandalf speaking loud and clear, "I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. You cannot pass. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn. Go back to the Shadow! You cannot pass." I see Aragorn and Boromir coming up behind Gandalf as he strikes the bridge, causing a wall of white flame to erupt and the bridge to break under the demon’s feet. I know what is about to happen and I take off at a sprint to reach the bridge in time. The bridge collapses underneath the demon, and it plunges into the depths. I am reaching the edge of the bridge as the demon sends its whip up to snare Gandalf, he is hanging on the edge as I jump the gap and dive to grab his arm… I barely get hold of his hand. He gives me a strangely calm look and says to me to just let go, this is not the end. I can’t hold on with only having his hand and the weight of the demon pulling down, and he slips away, yelling louder to everyone to, “Fly, you fools!”

I’m about to jump right off the bridge and go after Gandalf and the demon, but the next thing I know strong arms are pulling me away from the edge, a man says not to be foolish, Gandalf is beyond our aid now. I look and Aragorn is pulling me away from the edge. The bridge is crumbling, if I hold Aragorn up he might fall, too… not acceptable. So I follow him the rest of the way over the bridge and we get off just in time. Aragorn calls to the others that he will lead them now, and we must start by following Gandalf’s final command, we must get out of here! So there really isn’t any option now but to follow the others down a passage and then into the final chamber. I see the door to the outside on the far side of the room, the light shining brightly through. There are more orcs barring our way to get there. Aragorn and Boromir charge right in and kill several orcs, Legolas hits a few more with well aimed arrows. I reform my Alex Mercer blade (it had changed back to a normal arm) and use it to cut down a couple more orcs. The rest run away in fear. We all pass through the door and onto a rocky landscape under the bright sun.

We move quickly away from the entrance, making sure to get beyond the range of bows and arrows before taking a pause. I look around, everyone is sad, some are openly crying. I just kept thinking I should have saved Gandalf, I should have saved him. Apparently I said that aloud, because Aragorn says I did everything I could, we all did. He said this was what he feared from the start, alas but he spoke true. Gimili blames one of the mountains, shaking his fist at it, saying only if Caradhras had been less cruel. I look around again and I see Sam has a cut on his head. I don’t know where he got that, but I can heal it… I go over to Sam and focus healing energy on the injury and it closes up quickly. I’m not sure if he even notices, he is currently lost in his grief. I look around, but no one else looks injured. Aragorn says if I’m willing to stay around, they could use the extra help now. I tell him I can’t stay constantly, but I’ll be back if I’m needed. Everything around me fades to black and I wake up.

2017, 04-03

Entrance to Khazad-Dûm

I am in a strange place I do not recognize. I look around to try to get some idea of where I am. There are tall mountains off to my left and I am in what appear to be the foothills. The foothills are rocky and there is a somewhat broken path winding through the rocks and hills. I follow that path for a short while, not making any attempt to stay quiet since I don’t notice anyone in the area. I do a double take when I reach the top of a ridge and find myself face to face with a man aiming a bow and arrow at me… or rather an elf. I stop where I am and look, recognizing the elf as Legolas from the Lord of the Rings. I wonder if the rest of the fellowship is somewhere in the area, and think they’re probably sleeping and it was Legolas’ turn to be on watch. He doesn’t fire his arrow, he says I don’t look like a servant of the enemy, although some of the most foul creatures can make themselves appear fair if need be. I spread my hands out to indicate I’m not armed and I don’t want to fight. I say my name is Raven Knight, and I was just wandering out here. I would only seek to help him and his companions if I can. He seems unconvinced, and asks how he is to know I’m telling the truth. I’m not really sure what proof I can offer, so I figure I will depart and just watch from afar in case they need help.

I notice the sun is setting and it is now dusk. The wind starts blowing, blowing and howling. Then I realize the howling isn’t the wind. Legolas goes over to a sheltered spot and wakes someone, telling that person that the wolves are on the hunt again. Aragorn gets up and does a double take at seeing me. He asks who I am. Legolas tells him I have claimed to be a wanderer, but there’s no time to check, the enemy is nearly upon us. I figure that’s why I was brought here. Aragorn wakes the others and everyone gets together in a circle facing outward for easier defense. Someone in the middle is trying to strike a fire. The wolves, or rather wargs, arrive… and they have orcs on their backs! The orcs and wargs surround the group on the hill, though they’re clearly ready to put up quite a fight. Now is the time I can prove I am here to help, by fighting off some orcs. So I form my right arm into an Alex Mercer blade and start picking orcs and wargs off from the outside of the circle. My blade slices right through their orc hide. The fight doesn’t last for long, soon the orcs want to retreat, but the company doesn’t want to allow that if it is possible to prevent it because they may alert other enemies as to where they are. I take down one fleeing orc with an Alex Mercer tendril, Legolas fires an arrow and takes out another fleeing orc… and that is all of them.

Since I have been fighting on their side, Gandalf indicates I should follow them to a safer place. He says there will be more enemies very soon, unless by chance that was all that they sent. I follow them down a dark path, following the light of the moon, and soon we reach a pool near the mountain. We go around it and Gandalf says the entrance to Moria has to be around here somewhere. After a brief pause, he does something to the stone wall and glowing writing appears in the light of the moon. He says that while he’s figuring out how to open the door everyone should leave behind what baggage they don’t need and each take a portion of the pony’s baggage and turn the pony loose. Sam is very upset about that, saying that is no different than killing the pony, who he calls Bill. Gandalf says he’s sorry, but there’s no choice. He says there are places in Moria that Bill won’t be able to pass, and that’s assuming Sam could even drag the pony into the dark underground place. Sam is crying. I go over to Sam as the others are removing the pony’s burden, and suggest my solution. I tell him I will escort the pony back to Rivendell, make sure Bill makes it safely. And there Bill will await Sam’s return. Sam looks at me and asks how I intend to make it back with the wargs and orcs on the hunt. I tell him that is my problem, but I don’t think it will be a problem. However Bill will be waiting for him, so Sam will have to be sure to make it back, too.

Gandalf laughs and says this riddle was too easy, he was making it harder than it should’ve been. The writing on the wall tells what the password is, it’s just “friend” in the Elvish language. He speaks the word and then the doors swing open. And at that moment tentacles reach from the dark pool and grab at Frodo. Bill gets scared and runs away, heading around the pool and for open ground. Sam seems undecided on what to do, I tell him I will make sure Bill is safe. Sam cuts the tentacle holding Frodo’s leg with his knife, which is a good size sword for him. Gandalf calls to everyone to get inside, and they all crowd through the door before the tentacled monster slams the doors shut and then starts ripping the place down. The others are safe for now, so I follow after Bill. The lake monster doesn’t seem to have any interest in either Bill or me, it seems it was after only Frodo. I walk a ways with Bill, but I realize it will take far too long to return him to Rivendell the normal way. So the Metallica song “Through the Never” comes to mind, and I use it to open a portal. I lead a hesitant Bill through the portal and on the other side I see Elrond’s house in the distance, lights glimmering in the moonlit night. Bill will be fine now. Everything around me fades to black and I wake up.

25-03 Dream

I was in my house, it was an evening. Sister was watching tv. I was sitting near a table with a laptop. I turned around and saw an old man in black jacket and a young, blonde woman with glasses - probably an assistant of the old man. I asked him "Are you Sapkowski?" (writer of The Witcher) - he confirmed, looked at the laptop and said "You've gotten quite far!" I looked on the screen and saw that there was a witcher game turned on. Then he said "We'll see how you'll do this!" and turned on a strange mini-game. I had to click as quick as I can, and the witcher was dancing and singing about monsters. I did quite good job. The old man asked about one of his books, I replied "I've never readen any of these, but my pal did. He's quite big fan of your writings". He said that he must leave now and went away. I caught up with him and asked if I can make a photo with him, to which he replied - "No."

26-03

First dream

I escaped from the prison with others. We took over an important restaurant, where only important people ate. We waited for a judge that sentenced all of us to prison to appear. We took many guests, cooking like true masters and getting more and more cash. Other prisoners wanted to keep the restaurant and forget about the judge - I tried to persuade them to keep our current goal, but they didn't listened. With their leader I went to a freezer to fight with him.

Second dream

I was in some school, in the toilet. I was standing close to a mirror. I heard a voice "First they humiliated me, and then they killed me. I turn you into a monster, so you could fight these monsters back!". I looked into the mirror and saw that I have changed - my skin was gray and rotten, my teeth were rectangular and irregularly placed, my eyes were plain white and bulging out of eyesockets, I had a mushroom cap on top of my head. I knew where to look for them - a school trip that just went out.

I ran through school, nobody minded a mushroom-zombie man running around. I went out - it was a rainy, cold afternoon. I saw them walking on the sidewalk, but there was a priest with them. I decided to go another way and catch them later, but I only met the priest who lost his way. It was close to sewer canals. There was a way to the rest of the group through a flat, but priest didn't wanted to enter it. We tried to go through canals, but there were rumors of horrible, terrifying monster living in there. I tore planks of the platform over a maintenance tunnel of sewers and entered it.

Third dream.

I was on a strange island. With other leaders we were sitting close to a round table, dividing our loot between us. I wanted to take my share in diamonds, but one of the leaders told that he's not going to share his loot. We started arguing, I looked at the island and saw that it's mostly devoid of resources, except for one cliff where I could see mineral veins. I said "Either we divide and plunder or start a war, and we both know that this island is devoid of hematite!"

After we ended arguing, we started building our fortresses. I wanted to build my base in the mineral cliff, but just as I started, orcs build their base close to mine, claiming that we need to cooperate. All they did was disturb me in building my base.

First dream

I was in school, sitting on a chair in a classroom. There were other students sitting there too. Teacher was talking about something I cannot recall, as I haven't focused on the lesson. I looked through the window at grim, gray sky. Suddenly I said aloud "It's going to be fun." And then sky became dark, and storm luds gathered. It started to rain.

[DILD] Resurrection - recurring dream, this time ending with LD

It was many years after portals were invented, and people had access to other dimensions. Many fantastical creatures came to earth. Some of them were hostile and started war, and some of them were just trying to survive. To stop banditry and fight against invaders, humans made a Confederation of Dimensions. Their mission was to capture criminalists, and fight off invaders.

I was walking with two business partners in a river, swamp valley between high mountains. We were taking remains from a battle that went on there, and cleaning tracks of bandits. I looked atop one of the mountains, and saw an orc encampent. We took some more stuff and went along the river side.

Suddenly I appeared in entrance hall of prison, chained with my two business partners. We were probably captured for helping bandits somewhere in the past, and now we were guided to portal, leading to a prison. The security officer told us to keep our hands in the air as we walked through crowded corridors of confederations outpost.

There were many people, and other weird creatures, whispering about us. I felt that my whole left hand is sweaty, I tried to put it down, but an invisible force tried to keep it in the air. Finally I managed to put it down, and the chain slept off my hand.

Security officer looked at me, and I looked at my hand. He ran for help, while I used this situation to run away. I took a path through old sports hall of the outpost, and ran away towards swamps. I jumped into lake, then went out of the water and hidden in bushes. Guards couldn't find me, so I went out of my hideout and swam to nearest buildings.

There was an industrial area supported by orcs. They built war machines there, to win wat with humans. I jumped out of the water and climbed up a fence. I looked at the square, and saw a woman with a child. She was a blonde woman in her fifties. Shea had blood soaked eyes and was wearing casual clothes - pale brown t-shirt and jeans trousers. She held a hatchet in her hand.

The child was a boy. He had dark hair and blood soaked eyes, and he was wearing casual clothes - a brown jacket and jeans trousers. There was a man walking on the square. Suddenly the woman charged towards him and hit him with the hatchet, killing him.

She dropped the hatchet down, and was preparing to eat the man, but I jummped down the fence, grabbed the hatchet with my left hand, and striked her in the back of her head. The boy escaped to the swamps. The strike was enough to knock her to the ground, and she couldn't stand up.

She tried to kick me, and I said "Try again, and I'll chop your legs off!" Then I turned around and ran away. Suddenly I realised this is a dream. I made a nose RC, and ran. But then I stopped, dropped down the hatchet and turned back. I walked back to the woman, and gestured with my left hand saying "Resurrect!"

My voice was changed a little, and echoed all around. I looked at my hand, and then looked at the woman. She changed, her hair turned white, eyes were green and no more blood soaked, and she was much younger, like she was 20 again. The resurrection must've had a rejuvenating effect. She told me to come closer, and gave me a kiss.

After we stopped kissing, I thought about going on an adventure, but suddenly everythin turned black and I woke up.

Type: Paranoia/Evasion
Perspective: Mixed (initially Self, transforming to Character, male hobbit)

NLD: The dream began with a long complicated plot set in a futuristic world. The antagonist was trying to find me and some other people; I had the codes to some device of his that would frustrate his plans. At this point my dream character was still me, I know this because enemy agents were using my name and even showing around a picture of me. (The prevalence of this "paranoia/conspiracy" theme in dreams is one of the reasons I suspect—pure speculation—that schizophrenia in waking life is a condition related to dreaming.)

Enemy forces had located us, were closing in, we knew we had to run. We decided to split into two groups that would flee separately. I was with a group that was going to go on a very long journey. There was no perceptible shift in the dream or narrative, but by the end of the dream this was all entirely a group of male hobbits, and I, going with them, was also a male hobbit. There was no precise "moment" when the shift took place though, the dream narrative was continuous, and the transformation imperceptible: I was still "me' before the start of the journey then woke up remembering that I was one of the hobbits.

I had anticipated that we would need to flee and already packed a backpack, so while the two group leaders were waiting for the rest of us to prep and join them, I went and grabbed it. I checked inside first to make sure I had the right bag. I saw lots of warm clothes—that was good, I'm always inclined to get cold. I grabbed a few more things from my pile: a fleece jacket, a wide-brimmed hat. I was already wearing a leather pouch around my neck with my ring in it. When I had noticed this earlier I had wondered why my ring was in the bag instead of on my finger; I assumed I had to hide it for some reason. (Source: the dream played out with an increasing LOTR theme, so this could be a nod to the way Frodo carries the One Ring; it could also be day residue, as the other day I had taken off my ring for a long time for some task.)

On the table with the gear I was choosing from was a sort of talisman made of a round disk of leather, as well as a few masks which I grabbed at the last minute—they weighed almost nothing and might come in handy. I considered the options: should I put on a mask before we left? If I needed to conceal my identity from those who would recognize me it could be useful, but if we were trying to pass incognito among people who wouldn't already recognize me, wearing a mask might draw too much attention and be a disadvantage. But better to have the option than not.

I was the third one to gather around the group leader, a male hobbit, and we were waiting on about three others. While we were waiting I went through the masks I had grabbed at the last minute to make a more careful selection, trying them on in a mirror. A couple were cheap plastic full-face masks, and I wasn't sure if they would stand up to the rigors of travel, so I set them aside. I kept one, though, because it gave me a scary monster face and I thought it might be handy if we needed to play a trick and scare someone. I kept a plain black eye mask and another one that was just a single sheet of light brown translucent plastic—it weighed nothing and could serve as sunglasses, I figured. For now, I decided to wear the simple black eye mask. When I put it on, I noticed that I was strapping it over the glasses I was wearing: they had huge round lenses. I didn't remember owning glasses like this, but that was just one of many, many clues that should have alerted me to the fact that I was dreaming—I had not an inkling of it.

When our full group had assembled, the leader then instructed us to get rid of a lot of stuff that he figured we had probably packed. He had a list of very specific things we were supposed to give up, unnecessary objects that he said were a result of "emotional packing." Already on the table were a lot of little boxed games, like dice and tile games (source: Scrabble on Colbert last night). I worried that our long journey would get dull and depressing if we didn't even have a few games with us, but I understood his reasoning—we needed our packs to be as light as possible if we were to outrun our pursuers—so I reluctantly gave up some things as well.

There was one item that I wasn't sure about, so I went to consult the leader. It was a boxed set (I hadn't opened it yet) containing a special kind of saw blade that could function as a lathe, cutting wood into round or shaped dowels. The leader and I opened the box and inspected it. I felt a tool like this might be useful at some point, though I couldn't think of a precise situation in which I would need to lathe a dowel to survive. The only problem was that the tool was made out of solid metal, a complex shaped piece about eight by eight inches, and it was extremely heavy. "It's about as heavy as a two-liter bottle of water," I estimated aloud. This decided it: the leader reasoned that water was more essential, so if the tool cut down on the amount we could carry, it would have to go. I reluctantly left it behind. Later as we began our journey, I thought back and regretted this: I realized that dowel-shaped wood might be very useful in making traps, and moreover that even if we had only brought the tool with us to sell, we could probably get up to 50,000gp for it, because it was an object from our futuristic world that would be completely unique in the fantasy world where we were going.

I realized that we were pushing the limits of the time we had left and needed to leave right away. But as the leader and I stepped out from the room where we'd consulted about the saw blade, something caught my eye. It was a tiny fluffy grey kitten sleeping cozily on its back, lying in the hallway against to the wall on our right. "Wait—just two seconds," I said to the leader, "Look!" And we knelt down and tousled the kitten's belly. I explained, "It reminds me of something Sam said: this is what we're fighting for." I was remembering the line late in LOTR where Frodo is losing heart and Sam reminds him "That there's some good in this world... and it's worth fighting for." Naturally my version involved kittens.

We then rejoin the rest of our group—which was more diverse in the beginning but by this point consisted of the full set of LOTR hobbits plus me as a random male one—and started down a lane. No sooner had we set out then I look behind us and see a group of fierce orcs, at least eight of them, less than fifty yards behind us and moving faster than we are, already closing in. Did we waste too much time with our preparations, losing our head start? I needed to act now, or our journey would be cut off before it began. Fortunately I recalled that I knew Ars Magica magic (all that practice in LDs paying off!)

Twisting to look back while still running at full tilt, I held out my hand and blasted a frost effect at the group of orcs: it created a slippery ice slick on the ground where they were running and also iced their bodies directly, covering them with a pale layer of frost and slowing them considerably. I knew it wouldn't last forever so I was already trying to decide what my next trick should be. A grease trap on the ground might be useful: the lane was narrow and walled on both sides, so they wouldn't be able to bypass it. Then I was trying to remember the mechanics of Ars Magica spells: were they limited by a specific pre-set quantity (like in D&D) or could they be chosen freely but the rate was restricted by a mana pool, or could they cast at will but it was just really hard to succeed at the roll? Around this time the dream must have despaired of my ability to transform even a thrilling adventure chase scene into tedious decision-making and option-weighing, and I woke up.

The Underground

I was with my sister and we were on a road trip. We were somewhere out west, but the landscape was very strange and barren. It was mountainous, yet deserted. The tall cylindrical mountains were red and orange, but a green mist hung overhead. Above the mist giant creatures made out of rock were roaming.

We drove up to the end of the road. Two canoes were waiting for us. It was the middle of the night, but my sister said that it was safe, because the giant rock creatures wouldn't eat us. I put a leg in the water, and realized that it was an immediate drop off.

We canoed out into the blue midnight water, with the red mountains looming above us and the green mist hanging in the air. Once we were out in the middle of the lake, we dived from our canoes into the water.

We kept swimming downwards until we saw a city. The city was forged out of the red mountain rock and the people looked very strange. The city was based inside of a circular trench, and in the middle stood a platform were people were gathered. The people were wearing skull masks and looked like reapers and orcs.

It became immediately apparent that the city was in a war. The halls of the city flooded with battle cries. My sister and I were ignored by the passer-by fighters as if we didn't exist. During that time, I was able to get a glimpse of the human inhabitants. They had blue holes in their skin, like in the Matrix, as if they could be 'plugged in' to something.

I was separated from my sister when it was discovered that we were in the city. I was climbing around in the vents, when I met a homeless man. He was very strange, and offered me some even stranger advice about the city.

Dream 1:
I am a member of some sort of death camp or something. This starts out as a run of the mill nightmare - I'm terrified of being executed. The people running the camp use some sort of liquid, rather than a gas, to execute prisoners - it soaks right through clothing, rubber boots, etc. (it doesn't matter) and kills you pretty much instantly. The chambers they keep/use this stuff in look like 1960s era technology. One of these chambers malfunctions, spilling the liquid all over the place - it kills a bunch of little kids who are walking single file through the hallway, but it also kills a lot of the officers who are leading/marching them along, as well as the ones operating the thing... as soon as they realize what's happening, they start trying to get away from the liquid creeping along the floor. I overcome my horror at the situation and decide to escape, but not before locking the heavy metal door behind me. Because f*** those guys.

I escape and it's some sort of heavily forested environment. I am half-dead when I encounter a band of orcs. They decide not to kill me. Eventually, I join their ranks, after a few rites of passage (I'm a dude in this dream). During all of this, there are some skirmishes over territory. One of their older (and more respected) members is old and ailing. Their way of dealing with situations like this is to hasten the warrior's death, rather than letting it drag out. With a great deal of ceremony, they build a pyre, and set him atop it wrapped in ceremonial robes. He's doused with some sort of flammable liquid and they set the whole thing on fire.
I get mortally wounded in one of the border skirmishes. It's a gut wound, which means I'm going to die slowly and horribly anyway. They wouldn't normally allow the honor to an outsider, but I've proven myself to the group over and over again, so I've earned the same honorable death. The dream ends with me climbing atop my own pyre and being set alight.

Dream 2:
I dreamed that I was walking by a bus stop with my brother. The landscape was flat, more like the Midwest than where we currently live. A coworker of mine (T) was there waiting for the bus. My brother and I were going to a bar on a local riverboat (it was John's or Jack's or something). We invited her to come along, but she only had 11 minutes until the bus arrived, so she didn't have time to hang out at the bar with us. She'd been standing at the bus 76 stop, but realized that she needed the bus 71 stop around the corner, so she said she had to go.

My brother and I continued onto the boat. We saw that there was somehow an amusement park on it, and there was a spinning ride that was called The Eagle. We went up the steps to the park (the bar was below) and debated getting on the ride. While we were discussing it, the boat departed from the shore. I pointed out that none of the various rides had safety measures (like railings to prevent you from getting too close to the ride while it was in operation). M and I agreed that it was too unsafe, and decided to head down to the bar.

As we make the decision, the riverboat starts to tilt. Something's wrong, and the boat is starting to sink in the water. It hasn't fully sunk, and the staff is trying to calm everybody down, saying the situation is under control, even though it pretty clearly isn't. The bar starts evacuating their patrons to the upper deck, since the lower deck is getting perilously close to completely flooding.

The boat tilts even more, and water rushes across the deck. Somehow the whole thing turns completely upside down. My brother and I have moved close enough to the edge that as it gets submerged, we're able to avoid getting trapped underneath the boat. We hang on the edge of the capsized boat while I try to figure out if we can make it to shore by swimming, or if we should stick close to the submerged boat and hope that enough of it stays afloat that we can hang onto it. I decide that it's too far to shore, and any rescue operation is going to be looking for us here. I suggest to M that we stay with the boat.

Dream 3:
I am at a museum. There is a huge (like 50 feet tall) tank of water. It's set up so that when you touch it or it comes in contact with a conductive object, lights and patterns flash through it. They drop a metal ladder into it and I'm worried that it's going to break the glass as it scrapes against the side. They're demonstrating the effects that it produces, but the effect right now is underwhelming - all of the lights and colors are inside a little box that a scuba diver in the tank is holding. I was expecting the whole tank to light up. I decide the whole thing is a waste.

Dream 4:
For some reason, I have a collection of Barbie dolls and My Little Ponies. Some of the Barbies are themed (like one has tiny Sailor Moon costumes and there is a Darien doll). Another has a white dress, and I have a package of clothes with long white gloves and high heels, and am thinking about opening her and putting the gloves and heels on her.
I am organizing these toys. They are on what looks like a store rack, but they're mine. I want to play with them, but I realize I'm far too old for that, and that if I open them it might ruin any value they have to collectors.
I am going to play with one, but then my mother starts a fight with me, and when I come back to my Barbies, the mood is ruined. I get some ponies out, but they are only made of colorful stiff cardboard, so I'm disappointed. I toss them up into the air, and they rise higher and higher, and are picked up by a gust of wind, and disappear into the sky.

Dream 5:
I am flying a kite. It's a very large kite. I am with a blonde girl with chin-length wavy hair, and she is watching me fly it. Rather than a string, the kite is attached to a bolt of fabric. It's difficult to hold onto the spool because the wind is so strong and the kite is so large.
The girl asks if she can fly the kite. I hand her the spool and she tosses it into the air. I get angry and say,"Why did you do that? Now I'll never get my kite back!". The spool bounces through the air across the field. I run after it and manage to grab it. The girl asks to fly it again, and promises she won't throw the spool again. I'm an idiot in this dream, so I tell her fine, she can fly the kite as long as she doesn't throw the spool. I hand her the spool, and she throws it again. I yell at her again.
I look in the direction of the kite, and there is a huge rainbow in the sky. It is so brilliant and intense that it looks solid. I want to take a photo of it, so I dig through the car (which is a subaru SUV) for a camera. I find what I think is my camera and turn it on, but when the shutter extends from the body of the camera, I realize it is not mine, but belongs to my friend. I frantically begin digging for my cheap little point-and-click. I find it, but it won't take a photo no matter what I do. I'm getting very frustrated because the rainbow is fading. I start trying to take a photo with my camera, but it doesn't work, and when I finally get a photo, the rainbow has faded to traces of red. I'm really disappointed, but a faceless friend (the one who owned the other camera) reassures me that he got a good photo of it, and he will share it with me once he gets it off his camera. I feel somewhat better.

Dream 6:
I am in a rundown sort of house. There's a great-room that leads to two bedrooms and a bathroom, and above it is a closet, bathroom, and bedroom. I am staying here with my aunt, and have just arrived, but apparently my aunt is She-Ra.
I'm trying to find somewhere to put my coat away. There is a coat closet at the top of some rickety stairs. I shut myself in the closet because I want to be alone. After I eventually put my coat away, I begin to look for a bathroom. There is a bathroom in the downstairs bedroom, but it's IN the bedroom, and I'm really uncomfortable about this because there's no way to lock the door even though there are 50 different controls for the lights. I head upstairs where I know there's a bathroom. I wander through some bedrooms, but I can't seem to find the bathroom, even though I know it's there. For some reason I end up in the coat closet again. I hear some yelling and crashing, like someone is having a tantrum in one of the bedrooms next to the closet. Suddenly the wall collapses. I guess the Hulk is living there too, because he's peering through the crumbling wall and looks as confused as I am.
"What are you doing in there?"
"I just want to find the bathroom "

04/18/13

Ambush I
I am in a green field, I am completely surrounded by Templars. I don't really want to take a lot of time on these Templars. I tell the nearest Templar that I am about to drop an Immortal Fire in case they would prefer to leave before that happens. No one responds by leaving, instead it looks like they are about to attack me. A strange energy seems to be radiating off of them. I use the Immortal Fire spell and create an explosion of fire that expands out from me… Before the fire has even faded I open a portal to the moon, heading for the balancing pools. I go through the portal and into the pool. Nomad is already there with Winter, and he seems to be trying to heal her. I focus healing energy through Winter and also through Nomad, I figure to get rid of the remaining sores on his foot. I am still focused on the healing when a dark shadow passes over the healing springs. I look up and see there are huge winged creatures in the sky over us. They look like giant bats or wraith horses, and each one has a Templar riding it.

They are in the biodome? They dive down and are attacking everything in sight. They are dropping energy bombs. The bombs are exploding and spreading dark energy all over the place. I use another Immortal Fire that creates only light energy, I don't want to cause any more destruction than the Templars are already causing. A blast of light energy extends out from me and incinerates the Templars, along with the dark energy bombs they are dropping. I get on Stardust, a winged unicorn with flaming mane and tail.

I ride into the sky and survey the area around the biodome. There are Templars attacking everywhere. There are Templars attacking over a city down below. The city is around a large temple. Nomad has followed me into the air and immediately attacks the Templars. I use the song Battery and strike a number of Templars with lightning. I fly down over the city and see there are all different races living in the city, all of them being attacked by Templars. I wonder what it is the Templars are after… I activate another Immortal Fire, and create another explosion of light energy. The light energy is destroying all of the wraith Templars it hits. I land in the city down below, feeling a little drained now, maybe too many Immortal Fires at once? I see Nomad blowing on what looks like the Horn of Eld from the Dark Tower series. Shortly after that I notice there are many others in the fight now, many of whom I don't even recognize, but they seem to be fighting against the Templars. The fight is still going on when I am unable to avoid waking up.
 
Undercover
I am with some other people just outside a town. I see some people sneaking into the town. The people disappearing into the town are Templars. The Templars are disguised as civilians. I am there with Nomad and Altaïr, I notice they are disguised as the Templars are. I am in the same disguise. We enter into the town. Q appears and says the Templars are aiming to plant dark energy bombs in various parts of the city, he isn't sure if the goal is to gain control or just to destroy everything, but it has to be stopped. So we split up and head into the city, looking for the Templars or the bombs they have left. Nomad and I are near the castle in the center of the town when we spot a couple of Templars leaving a bomb. We each take out a Templar with our hidden blades. Another Templar says something about a traitor, but doesn't get a chance to sound the alarm before Altaïr silences him. I hear someone calling for help from inside the castle. We all go in and follow some stairways down into a dungeon where there are several Templar wraiths torturing an orc.

We still look like Templars, so they take no notice of us. We easily get close enough to covertly cut the bonds holding the orc back. The orc grabs an axe from a surprised Templar and cuts him down with it. I take out a Templar right beside me using my hidden blade. At first they seem to think there are traitors among them, but it doesn't take them long to realize they have been infiltrated by Assassins. Nomad is throwing Templars through portals, he says something about them respawning if they are killed. I use Through the Never to open a vortex portal to somewhere around Pluto, and it pulls a pair of Templars through it. It will take them a bit of time to get back from Pluto, I figure. I then wonder if they won't just open a portal and come right back… The orc we freed has no ideas of sending Templars anywhere except the grave. He is about to attack me when I transform back to my Assassin form and he stops quickly, realizing I am not an enemy. I return to the surface and scan the area using Eagle Vision to see if I can find the remaining Templar infiltrators. I see the trails they have left, though it is not that easy to follow. I am not sure which way they went in! I follow a path to a bomb, which I send through a portal to a void between worlds where it won't hurt anyone. I get attacked by what looks like a random civilian, but is actually a Templar. I see him coming since he is glowing red, I see him in time to dodge his attack and counter with one of my own, forming Witchblade into a sword which he practically impales himself on. I see other people who look like Assassins searching the area for any more bombs. I wonder how many Templars got into the town. I never have a chance to find out before I wake. 

Ambush II
I am in a hotel room, it looks weird there, sort of like a dream. Maybe it is a dream. I pinch my nose and find I can still breathe, so I know I am dreaming. I hear a lot of cursing from nowhere at all. I recognize the voice of the person cursing as Susanna Dean from the Dark Tower books. I am not sure how I recognize her voice, but there is no doubt in my mind that is who it is. She is getting angry at her alter, Mia, for setting Eddie and Roland up to be killed. I remember the scene in the book that this is referring to. I talk to Susanna telepathically. I tell her that no matter how many hired goons have been set on Eddie and Roland, it won't be enough. Mia asks who the fuck I am, she says she didn't know before and wants to know now. I tell her to be glad I don't want to alter the story enough to kick her sorry ass right out of there, and send her chap along with her. She says I couldn't do it, but she doesn't sound too certain of that. I have to get to Eddie and Roland. I focus on opening a portal to find them, and it opens, so I go through. I am near what looks like a truck stop called the Dixie Pig. As soon as I appear there someone starts shooting at me, so I hit the dirt. As I am there on the ground I see I am not alone. Eddie and Roland are both there, Roland is looking at me strangely and Eddie looks a bit disoriented.

We are being shot at. It is the small army sent by Enrico Balazar to intercept Roland and Eddie. Roland asks where my friend is. I focus on a portal to find MoSh. The portal opens and MoSh comes through, hitting the dirt as he is also being shot at. Eddie seems to be coming around, and we all start returning fire. I shoot a couple hired goons that are closing in on us from beyond several parked cars, behind which the remaining people take cover. Not all of them make it, however, Roland shoots three, Eddie shoots two, and MoSh shoots two. There are at least five more hidden behind the vehicles. I see someone else coming onto the scene. Nomad is riding what looks like a saber tooth tiger and shooting with a couple revolvers. He flushes the five goons behind the car into the open and shoots a couple of them, the others are left open to being shot by Roland, Eddie, MoSh. We make our way to the gas station area of the truck stop as more hired goons close in on us. An 18 wheeler comes barreling out of control and crashes between us and what looks like a couple dozen more hired goons. Roland wants to go out the back, there are three customers in the place that are staring wide eyed at us. Roland tells them all to get down, but only one of them does it. A couple older women get shot and collapse to the ground. Eddie recognizes one of the enemies and refers to him as old double ugly. Double ugly seems to recognize Eddie, and hesitates much long and gets blown away by Eddie. I notice for the first time Eddie has been shot in the leg. Some hired goons are coming around each side of the truck stop, and some are coming through as we get out the back. None of them get very far before we cut them down. John, the customer that is still alive, says he has a way to make an exit but we need a distraction. Roland shoots one of the fuel tanks and starts a leak. John throws a lighter to it and it bursts into flames. We all head down a path behind the truck stop as the gas pumps burst into flames. We haven't gotten far out of the way before there is a huge explosion behind us.

It looks like it must have taken out quite a few of the goons with it, I wonder if any of them managed to get away. We all pile on a boat and head out across a lake to put distance between us and any remaining goons. Roland, Eddie, and John talk a bit but I don't pay a lot of attention. We get to the other side of the lake and enter a boat house. I tell them I can do some healing. Eddie looks a bit confused, Roland looks at his right hand, flexing all five of the fingers there. He tells Eddie I can do it, but hurry. I find the bullet wound in Eddie's leg and focus healing energy through it. The wound begins healing and quickly closes up. I also heal a bullet wound in Eddie's arm and a bump on his head. I look over at Roland, but he says he is fine. I grab his arm anyway and focus healing energy through him, I remember he was having some trouble with arthritis… which I am sure I can't cure, but I think it should help some anyway. And I have even less time than they do, I feel I am about to wake up. As I focus healing energy through Roland everything around me fades and I wake up.

I had pretty cool dreams last night, but unfortunately they don't seem like they could've been shared.

Cay's Dreams
Dream 1
This one was non-lucid. It was like I was playing a video game, with a heads-up display, but with a physical body. There was a compass in the lower left-hand corner, with "12/25" in the center, and on each point a different gruesome orc face with a red progress bar under it, like I had to kill so many of each type. I don't know how I could ever have managed to kill twelve of those things, because it took what felt like a half hour to slay one. It didn't even have a weapon, but every time one of its punches made contact it sent me flying. I managed to block and even parry a few times, learning to predict the orc's movements. I feel like, even though I wasn't lucid, I learned a bit about wielding my warhammer.

Dream 2
The earliest thing I remember is being next to my friend B.C. next to a shelf covered with hanging breastplates, kneepads, goggles, red jumpsuits and various other bits of armor/skating/skiing equipment. "So...I'm gonna need some armor," he said. "Uh, here, take this..." I pulled off one of the breastplates and a pair of kneepads, then found one of the red jumpsuits in his approximate size, and handed it to him. D.M. showed up beside me, followed by S.G. and a string of other people from school. I handed out a set of protective equipment to every one of them. Most of the goggles were red-tinted so dark that you could hardly see out of them, so I avoided handing them out. I noticed that they were all carrying what looked like a hybrid between a handgun and a Star Trek phaser. I eventually gathered from the chatter that it was some sort of dream game- they were going to pass through a portal into the course, and it was a sort of last-man-standing sort of thing, everybody against each other. This did not make me lucid. Even though I had the sense that I was one of the organizers and not eligible for play, I picked out my own equipment just the same and followed them to what seemed like a grocery, with a glowing blue light (the portal) in the center. The course was supposedly vast, and one had to choose one's supplies wisely, because your game-dream body would become injured, exhausted or depleted the same as your physical one. You got one standard backpack full for the game, which would last one week. I picked out my supplies- I still didn't know if I was eligible for play, but I thought I might go along as a sort of guide if that was allowed. I was wary of the whole thing, my friends being pitted against each other in good fun. I woke up as I was making a silly intercom announcement that seemed all too necessary- a can opener is required to open canned food.

Dream 3
I was in the car with my sister, who was driving. Someone pulled up behind us in a blue sports car. They honked and hooted, but I realized the driver was someone I hate, so I instructed my sister to ignore them. She became nervous when they stayed behind us after a turn and slammed on the gas- in the dream, I was under the impression that she'd gotten her license and I hadn't, but in reality neither of us have- and we were speeding along a potholed country road. "Whoa, whoa, slow down, it's not like they'll follow us all the way to Aunt J's!" I was beginning to get a little nervous myself though, and when they shadowed us on the last turnoff before her driveway, I told my sister to try to lose them. They were disgusting, creepy people, and though I wasn't aware of any situation where they'd attacked defenseless teenage girls before, I wouldn't put it past them. When we pulled into the driveway, my heart sank when I realized no one was home. I ran to the front door and she to the back. It would be my dream luck that my door wouldn't lock. I grabbed my sister by the wrist and pulled her into my cousin's closet. The closet doors wouldn't close all the way, and we huddled staring at the crack between them.
"What do you think you're doing?"
The voice belonged to neither of the people from earlier. Two male hands pulled the closet doors apart. I can best describe the person behind them as looking like the guy in this video wearing the shirt that says "FRACK ME", only in Ray-Bans, a beanie and a checkered scarf. Old 97's - Dance With Me - YouTube At this point I got lucid. He offered me his hand and I gave him the one I wasn't doing a reality check with. "Who are you?" "Just someone sent here to help you with your little dry-spell problem." I was halfway between telling him off for that scary situation before that I somehow sensed was his doing, and hugging him. He bent and put a DVD into the player. A list of what looked like coordinates came up. He touched the screen over one set, and a window popped up. "This program'll teach you how to enter your holographic forms." I started to ask him what 'holographic forms' meant, when I got sidetracked by the fact that he'd used the plural 'forms' even though I was now the only other person in the room. I came up with another question, "Can you help me with my dream control?" "No, that's not my field of expertise. You've got a guy coming for that. What's going on with this..?!" he banged his fist on the television screen, which had gone white. I studied him. At length, I asked what seemed like the most important question. "What can you tell me about...shared dreaming?" His expression was one of, well, horror.
"Oh, no. No no no no no. You will NOT. No-" "YES!" I interjected, getting annoyed. "Tell me what you know!" He responded by opening the door, doing a little bow, and stomping out. I woke up.