Thread: SD-1 Samael's Satanic Speculations

09/22/10

LUCID

#153. Thai Food

One gigantic funeral/conspiracy dream I don't remember. Moving on.



I think I'd been dreaming about dolls. There was, of course, something entirely creepy about them. Also, dog trainers, road trips, and friends of Zoe.

I'm walking down a short flight of carpeted steps, into the entrance hallway of a house somewhere. My foot hits the bottom step, and Oh, I think. I'm dreaming.

Reality check. I need to get back into the habit. Finger count: six.

I'mlucidI'mlucidI'mlucid, I repeat to myself, concentrating. What did I want to do, again?

Oh yeah. "Do nothing."

I sit down on the light grey carpet and place my hands palms up over my knees. I take a deep breath, and close my eyes briefly.

Everything turns a swirly grey. Alarmed, thinking I'm going to lose the dream, I open my eyes and begin touching all the surfaces in the room. Carpet, wooden bench, painted walls.

I feel that the dream is secured, and walk out through a screen door. The screen door pulls around me, warping, and I push through it.

I find myself at the entrance to a meeting place. A gym, or something. Apparently, it's for members of Nomad's shared dreaming class.

I introduce myself as "Sam", and chat with some of the other students. One girl's avatar or userpic was very pink. We ended up making out on a couch.

I'm losing lucidity, and I don't notice. One of the students is an old friend of mine, who died a couple years ago. Elaine sits beside me and whispers something in my ear.

I'm hungry. We're sitting in a cafeteria, and I have to get back to class soon. I want some vegetarian food, but the Thai place is closed, and the sushi place doesn't have anything without fish in it. Someone brings a Saskatoon Berry Pie from the restaurant next door.

Didn't sleep well. Getting sick again. Surprised I didn't remember the task (Rescue the Demon Boy).

09/23/10

There might have been something about a ladder. Other than that, no idea.

Went to bed at around 11PM. WBTB at 6:30, woke up for real at 7:30. No recall. Probably has something to do with being sick. Goddamnit, I am tired of being sick.

09/24/10

Slept really well last night. I woke up feeling quite happy.

#154. More Carpet

Staring at a grey carpet floor, I am fully aware that I'm in a dream. I don't bother with a reality check, but I do take a moment to stabilize my surroundings (do nothing). I'm concentrating on the carpet, for some reason. Next time, I should probably focus on the rest of the room.

Nomad's RPG task is to rescue the demon boy. I imagine myself in a forest, an aura of fear tinging the air. I wait for the faint pull that will take me from one dream to the other, and

End recall.

09/25/10

Almost didn't remember any dreams from last night. I thought I had a fairly exciting one earlier in the night, but I didn't write it down.

#155. Shopping

I need some new clothes for job hunting. In this frame of mind, I find myself in a moderately high-end clothing store in a mall. I'm looking along the racks on the wall, and I've found what appears to be a genuinely horrifying purple-striped dress shirt. It seems fine within the dream, though. I pick up a pair of pants or two, even though they're brown and probably won't fit properly. I've decided that this store has shirts that fit really well, but I usually buy my pants at another store. I pick up another pair of jeans and head over to the changing rooms.

"Doors are unlocked, right?" I ask the salesperson behind the counter.

"What?" She looks up. She's blonde, early twenties, and has her hair pulled up into a ponytail. She looks me up and down, seemingly confused about something. I've probably switched genders in the last five seconds or something.

Time skip. I've finished trying things on. Now I'm looking at shoes.

Somebody get me out of here.

09/26/10

LUCID

#156. The Demon Boy



Fragment about going to my (late) grandma's church for a Halloween party. There were some really cool decorations. A distinct lack of alcohol, however.

I'm in the front entrance to our house. Everything seems normal, and I do a routine reality check just because. I count my fingers. Onetwothreefour... new ones start sprouting. Well, that's weird. It's almost like I'm dreaming or something.

I try again, and I get to seven before I give up. Obviously I am dreaming. So... Nomad's task. I need to get to a forest. I jump out the nearest window into the front yard. My brother is there, hanging out with a DC from the Halloween party. Definitely dreaming, then, and whoa...

The dream is destabilizing. The entire world tilts on its axis, and white lines start running parallel to every object in the scene, as they do in Assassin's Creed. I stop to take a breath, keeping my eyes open, and I start touching the objects around me. I kneel down and touch the grass, the concrete driveway, a metal railing, and I'm back.

I decide that the best way to get there is to run in a straight line. There's a forest directly to the south, I convince myself. I cross the street at a run, hit the wall with one foot, and leap onto the brown-shingled roof.

I don't stop. From the first house, I jump onto the roof of the next. Keep moving. I land on some kind of antennae, and the structure sways dangerously as I make the jump to the next structure.

I'm on a scaffold. The next building - a warehouse - is an impossible distance away, several feet higher than the platform I'm jumping from, and twenty feet away. I jump the gap, and I'm suspended in the air.

I pull at my momentum, bending the dream to allow me a few more meters in height - and I grasp the edge of the roof. I pull myself up near the chimney. On the other side of the warehouse is a big camping tent set up in someone's backyard. I jump. I land on the tent, and it cushions my fall, billowing out around me. My vision is filled with yellow and red, and I think hard, imagining the demon boy I'm supposed to rescue, and the dark thing that's after him...

The forest is oppressively quiet. I can smell the pine, feel the hot mugginess created by a recent rain. Fully immersed in my character, I stand in the center of a huge clearing, waiting.

A flash of red goes zooming by. I've found Nomad's demon boy. I'm slightly disappointed. I was hoping I could use this opportunity to discover Amon's origin (a DC I've apparently mentored throughout his life). Instead, it's just a regular demon.

He's being chased by a wolf. I recognize the creature as an entity from my childhood nightmares. It's back, and I'll have to deal with that eventually. For now, I allow the demon child to distract it.

I spot a piece of paper on the ground near a pond. Picking it up, I skim the text. Instructions from Nomad on what to do next.

Did you save the demon boy? Y/N

I look up across the clearing. The demon is running as fast as he can, frantically trying to get away from my nightmare creature. The wolf is gleefully giving chase. I'm not sure whether he's actually any danger, or if he's just toying with the demon. Either way, I have no interest in rescuing the child.

Did you propose to the barmaid? Y/N

I look at the paper, and blink. And blink again. No, WakingNomad, I did not propose to the barmaid. Although, I should pay a visit to Denn sometime in the near future.

I almost didn't remember this dream.

09/27/10

#157. Keys to the Kingdom

...or "Taking Over a Country in Five Easy Steps".



"Your son, your majesty, is a psychotic despot who's been running your country into the ground."

"And you have a solution?"

"Your youngest child went missing several years ago. You should inform your court that I have returned."

Johanna swings the sword furiously at her attacker. Her blonde hair, braided into a plait, sweeps through the air as she ducks his return attack. She's on the defensive, frantically blocking his sword, barely avoiding being cut. The man's face is expressionless as he forces her into a corner.

A slow clapping starts up from across the room. The attacker stills, and Johanna steps away, keeping her sword ready.

"Bravo," says the man on the other side of the room. "You've done extraordinarily well, getting this far."

"I'll kill you," she hisses back, not taking her eyes from the bodyguard, "For destroying my family."

"With that sword?" asks the prince, "I think not."

"I've fought my way through your legions," she pronounces, "Decimated them."

"Yes," says the prince, "But then, you had someone to protect, which is the purpose of your enchanted sword. Tell me, where is your brother?"

"He's dead," says Johanna, "Murdered by your men!" On the last word, a knife materializes in her other hand. She rushes the bodyguard, swipes down, slicing at his face.

Blood splatters against the wall, and Johanna clutches at her throat in surprise. She falls to the ground, aware that she's bleeding out. From the corner of her eye, she can see another man emerge from the shadows. Stupid, she thinks, should have realized he would have backup...

She's standing on a stone bridge, which spans the entirety of a mountainous valley. At the end of the bridge is a city. Blue spires reach up into the sky, and Johanna is dimly aware that she's looking at the Capitol City. This was her home, before everything. It's still peaceful. The sky is blue, and sunlight shines down, lighting up the valley and the mist with an ethereal glow. The valley is lush, full of greens and grains and enough food keep most of the kingdom from growing hungry. It's almost unbelievable, that such an awe-inspiring sight could hide such a great evil.

"I brought you back." I tell her.

Johanna turns to look at me. "Why?" Her face is blank, but I can hear the anguish in her voice.

"I don't think you understand," I say slowly, "I brought you back. Nothing you've endured has happened yet. Your family is still alive."

She's quiet for a moment, looking out over the blue lustre of the city in the distance. "What's the catch?"

I have to smile at that. "You can prevent all of this from happening," I say, "If you do exactly as I say."

plots to pacify the population with the latest crop of sweet potato, wading through water fields under the bridge

I'm standing in a stone building (opulence, splendor) at the centre of the city. I know the precise moment that it happens, because it feels like a string is being cut. And just like that, destiny has been rewritten. The prince is dead, long live the prince.

A cell phone chimes in my pocket. I answer on the third ring.

"Hello, 'Father'," I say, irony in my tone. "So, when is my coronation?"

I also had a dream where my dad was shouting, "Hurry up and get me the air stapler!"

Then my alarm woke me up and I had to go to work. I really hate those dreams.

09/28/10

I had to sift through a few fragments (about moving) before I remembered this.

#158. Soul Eater



Killing from the shadows.

I get tied up a lot. I would wonder at the Freudian implications of that, but I'm a little busy right now. What with being tied to a chair, and all. I'm at the center of an empty conference room, surrounded on all sides by bare floor space. It's almost like the huge room, with its fluorescent lights and grey carpet, is supposed to be intimidating or something. The syndicate's second in command swaggers into the room. He's an older man with greying hair, and wearing a business suit. He's confident, and self-assured, and my gods do I want to beat the smirk off of his face. He's walking towards me, and stops three feet away.

Get closer, I dare you.

"How is it," says the man, leaning in, "That you got in here? Our defenses should be impenetrable."

I tilt my head to the side, deliberately widening my eyes. "Should they, really?"

The man scowls. "You should tell us what we want to know. Things might get... unpleasant for you, otherwise."

This is going to be the most cliched interrogation ever.

"Hm," I pretend to think about it. "No."

The man growls. His arm swings back, and suddenly I'm released from my bonds. I surge forward, catching him off balance, and use his arm to throw him to the floor. I'm on top of him in an instant, grabbing him by the sides of the head. I lift up, and I smash his head into the floor. The back of his skull impacts with a dull thud, and the man struggles, feebly. I lift again, smash his skull into the floor until the back of his head is a pulpy, bloody mess.

Well, I feel better.

I exit the room, closing the door behind me. No guards. I sense someone approaching, and I duck into a hallway running across a glass wall. Outside, I can see the city, sparkling in the night. This building is mostly office space, but that's a front for something larger. Hell, the ground floor is actually a mall, teeming with people during the day.

The footsteps are getting closer. The guard rounds the corner next to me. I duck behind him and lock an arm behind his back, and use his momentum to push him into the window. He grunts with the impact, and cracks spiderweb across the glass. Before he can pull himself together, I'm pulling him back, away from the window. With a blast of telekinetic energy, he goes flying. The window breaks, and the man goes tumbling out into the street, several stories below.

I run up a staircase, trying to avoid the patrolling guards. The longer I can hold off the alert, the more time my partner has to find -

The dream is destabilizing. My surroundings are a blur of light blue and white. I feel blinded, fully aware that I won't be able to see the guards before they find me. I'm trying to hold onto the dream, and I sense it. It's a shadow, human-shaped and in the room next to me. One of the guards - his aura is completely black, and I can feel him getting closer. He solidifies as a human shadow -

I strike out at him, hitting him in the temple. Before he has a chance to react, I have him in a full nelson, choking him. He's losing oxygen, starting to pass out.

He doesn't have to die, I could just knock him out. Maybe I should stop killing them. This is their job, they probably have families. No. I'm just too close, physically. I'm feeling his fear. A memory washes across the surface of his mind. He's on a job, on a team with three others. Capturing a girl. They rape her.

I freeze. I almost recoil, but the man's waking up, starting to struggle.

A snarl of rage is coming from me, and I throw him to the ground. I disable his vocal cords with a wave of my hand, and he's inching away, trying to scream for help. I weave a wordless spell in blue, lay it over him.

He's frozen for a moment, as he begins to lift up into the air, gravity losing its effect on him. I'm standing back now, as he starts to tug against invisible bonds. I summon another wave of energy.

Glass shatters into thousands of pieces, and this man, too, goes flying. He's falling up, though, up and up and up, screaming soundlessly, clearing the outcropping near the top of the skyscraper, falling into the sky.

Even if the spell fails before he hits the stratosphere, well. It's a long way down.

Killing in the open.

I'm surrounded. Six mooks in blue, four fighters in red, and the leader, a Djinn. Bald and muscular, covered in shifting blue tattoos, he's easily the most threatening presence in the room.

I wave my hand, sending a wave of kinetic energy at them. Four out of six mooks have their necks snapped, dead before they hit the ground. The remaining combatants have too strong of a will to be taken out of the game so easily.

I need a stronger spell. I call up blue-tinted soul energy, holding it in my right hand, and I rush one of the mooks and force it into his chest. I can feel his heartbeat, one, two, and the energy pulses, entwining with his soul and pulling it out of him.

I'm counting numbers in my head: 20, 24. The numbers seem arbitrary, but they help me keep track of the soul energy. If I hit zero, I'll be powerless.

The Djinn hits me from behind, and I can feel my numbers sink to 17. Snarling, I pull free of his grip and hit him with a pulse of the energy. He's flying backwards and I'm down to 16.

The red-shirts are in my way, and I down two, one with each hand. Their souls pulse out and back into their bodies, frying them. I absorb the excess. 27.

I'm ready this time. I block the Djinn, meeting his attack with a soul shield. The energy sparks dangerously with the impact, and we're both forced back, sliding several feet. 23.

Where are the other guys? The floor is conspicuously empty. Jim Gordon is standing on the sidelines, surrounded by the remaining mooks. They've got his gun.

Cursing, I put up an energy shield as I fry the mooks with soul energy. 7. "Run!" I shout at him, "Get the fuck out of here!"

He's hesitating. Why is he hesitating?

My shield is draining me. I'm blocking an attack by the Djinn. 4. "You have all the evidence we need to shut them down! You need to get out!"

Something in my tone convinces him. He's turning on his heel and running, and I'm turning around to face the Djinn.

"I can take care of things on this end," I say, and I let the shield drop.

Happy endings.

I'm walking through the building at the mall level, a skip in my step. It's daylight, and there are people around. A feeling of contentment is going through me, and I ignore the graves being built near the side entrances of the mall.

I'm a child, and I construct a mother DC out of nothing.

Something is coming to an end, some mystery was solved. It feels like closure.

On second thought, think I may have lost that fight. Djinn in the Supernatural universe "grant wishes" by trapping their victims in a dream world and sucking out their life energy. Happy ending? I don't think so.

I think this deserves another play-through.

09/29/10

#159. More Aliens



Jesse is my third cousin once removed. Or something. We don't really get along. In this universe, however, we apparently travel together like the brothers from Supernatural.

Jesse and I have been abducted by aliens. I'm looking around the room, which appears to be a workshop. There are sturdy wooden tables are laid out at right angles throughout the room, and they're covered in various projects, models and mock-ups. The concrete walls are wallpapered with sketches and equations. Also, we're in a space station orbiting Earth.

"Welcome!" says one of the aliens, as it moves towards us. He has his skinny arms raised in welcome. His skin is blue on the top, and fades to peach underneath. He has a dome-shaped head, and a wide smile. "Welcome to our benevolent kingdom, humans! Our benevolent ruler sends his greetings."

"They're kind of friendly, aren't they?" says Jesse, under his breath.

"So... what do you want?" I ask him.

The alien smiles wider. "I'm glad you asked. We have many questions about your civilization."

Jesse puffs himself up, and I make a gesture with my hand. "Go on."

"We need to know, specifically, about the Catholic church." he says. He brings us over to a model of my hometown's cathedral. "Our benevolent ruler came to know of this society through the storyteller called 'Dan Brown'. You see, our society is an advanced, rational civilization. Our benevolent ruler believes that we should 'add some chaos to the mix', and has decided to use your Church as a model."

"I'm Protestant." says Jesse.

"I'm not." I mutter.

"Nevertheless, you have been chosen to grace us with this information. It is a great honour," he says, meeting my eyes.

I read his intentions there. Once he has his information, he'll have no more use for us. We'll be disposed of, lethally.

I smile brightly. "Jesse, why don't you tap into humanity's collective consciousness and bring up the data our host is asking for? I'll help clean up, and answer any questions he has in the meantime." Ignoring Jesse's flabbergasted expression, I turn back to the alien scientist. "Would that be satisfactory?"

"Humanity has a collective consciousness?" asks the alien, looking interested.

"Humanity. Has a collective consciousness." says Jesse flatly. "What the flying fuck -"

I grab him by the arm and whisper in his ear. "Meditate. Gather the energy we need to teleport the hell out of here."

"So!" I say to the alien as I pick up a rag. "What do you want to know?"

skip

I throw down the rag next to Jesse. He opens his eyes and blinks up at me.

"Not that I'm upset you're trying to save our lives," I say, "But if this takes any longer, you'll be paying in chores for a month."

He glares. "I could just leave you here."

"You can't kill kin." I tell him.

Scare Factor: 2/10

09/30/10

#160. Caramel Macchiato



I'm sitting at a table in a fancy cafe. The fancy cafe is next to the walkway of a mall. There's a lot of orange in the colour scheme.

My mom is sitting across from me, trying to order drinks from the waiter. He's looking at her skeptically.

"...the water and flour, please." she finishes.

The waiter doesn't write anything down. He's giving me a look, Is she serious?

I put my elbows on the table and rub my temples with two fingers. "We'll get a caramel macchiato and a chai latte."

The waiter nods and flees before my mom can say anything else.

"Why did you do that?" She demands. "Everyone knows the flour is a code for getting all the components of the drink separately. I want to mix it myself."

"Do you want the latte or the macchiato?" I say flatly.

Scare Factor: 1/10

Other fragments:

- Tim Hortons, yogurt. Forgot my red jacket & fleece undercoat where a family is sitting now. Fast-food kiddies table, shaped like a train.
- Back to town, a dutch family rents out a house and uses it as a bakery. They don't have a business license. Staff is overly helpful, annoying.
- Shadow boxing, flipping over an invisible partner. Later, sparring with Jen.