(Guilty of Dreaming) Bloodsport

**Saber Sloth** · Jul 19th, 2018 12:48 PM

Weakened the Dream may be, but it is still solid enough to resist a transformation against it's purpose.

Beyond the gate that halted the Aspirant Queen's flight, lays an expanse of dark ruddy sand. Clumping and wet. Rising up towards an eerie, impossible sky. Blood moon, surrounded by pregnant red rain clouds weeping tears as red as the moon, is an amphitheatre, seats filled with shadowy, indistinct shapes. Each shouting, cheering and jeering in equal measure.

Their focus it seemed was upon a small cage, suspended by shadow and chain. A huddled figure squats inside, crying and clawing ineffectively at the bars.

The gate rattles, groaning as it's pulled open...

**Ingrid** · Jul 20th, 2018 07:35 AM

"Shit!" Ingrid curses in a voice only several degrees from a sob.

"Well I can't get us out of here! So... Where did the illustrious Queen of Fear run off to?" A certain contempt oozed from the Vernal Sovereign as she turned to Penance.

"We're in a recurring Nightmare, you and I. I think the dreamer is one of us. You know, Lost. Makes it a bit more complicated. Can't see any way out other than to follow this dream to its end. So lets hop to it. Be ready, I guess."

Squaring her shoulders, Ingrid makes her way to the gate and the amphitheatre.

Ingrid has already tried to Scour the Dream. I'm not sure she can do it again for the same instance of a dream. Otherwise she would do so.

**Lucifer** · Jul 20th, 2018 05:32 PM

Lucifer reached for the power within her, for the coil of the Wyrd that had bound itself inside her soul, and yet, it drifted from her grasp like smoke.

Trembling, Lucifer strode forward, a cruel nail pointing up at the figure huddled in the cage.

"It must be that Wretch! We must confront them! Free them from this twisted fantasy!"

failure

Jul 24th, 2018 08:15 AM

Penance sucks air in between her teeth at the revelation that it's a Lost one dreaming on repeat.

"I feel like that's bad news. Dreams get crazy enough when you're normal, the touch of Them can't do any better for it. You better keep your magic fingers close, you seem the best suited for manipulating this place."

The Corpsegrinder walks into arena, eyes at first drawn to the blood red moon and the clouds around it. It's enough to make a girl's mouth water. Her eyes are eventually drawn from the striking dream horizon to the cage suspended above them.

"I don't know about that. What if it ain't? If our dreamer has some issues they want to work out, could be meant to give to them." Admittedly, it was more likely that Luci was correct and this was who they were looking for. But this place had her on edge and she couldn't stop thinking about how it would be in her situation. "Just saying if this was my bad dream, that cage wouldn't be there to keep me in."

Wanting to get a closer look at the cage's occupant, Penance closes her eyes and tries to create a pair of wings sprouting from her shoulderblades. Large, leathery things straight out of a horror film to befit their surroundings.

failure

She has a few choice words for when it doesn't work. "Guess we'll have to do things the old fashioned way," she grumbles to herself.

"Hey! Down here! What are you in that cage for?"

**Saber Sloth** · Jul 24th, 2018 01:10 PM

The bloodthirsty cheers and jeers both roar out with an impossible decimal, rattling the very ground as the Lost draw closer to the suspended figure in the bloody cage.

The gate behind them slams shut. The metal searing into the bloody sand, melting into an impassible barrier.

Wings do not form and bring the Ogress to the wretched creature in the cage, but she pulls herself to the bars and stares down upon the Lost. Wet sloppy tears fall down pudgy cheeks. Eyes as impossibly large as the crowd is loud stare down at Penance, head shaking. Disbelief etched upon every wretched line of her face.

The wretched creature opens her mouth, to shout, to scream -- but all that escapes is a klaxon call. The ground beneath them quakes rhythmically as before when the shadowy behemoth chased them, the crowd around them grows louder, and the klaxon quieter, and quieter, and quieter still. Until all that leaves blood split lips is that of a tinkling bell.

Which rings, three, three, three.

According to the Wiki, Scouring can only be attempted once, which I'am interpreting as each person may attempt to Scour once to lower the Intensity.

**Lucifer** · Jul 24th, 2018 10:28 PM

"Perhaps--perhaps if we kill it, this Nightmare will end!" Lucifer gasped, her eyes as wild and frightened as a wild goat with its leg torn and snared in a bear trap. Gone was the proud and mighty ruler, gone was the wise and dread Queen. Powerless here, Lucifer felt like nothing more than one of the Gentrys' slaves...

**Ingrid** · Jul 25th, 2018 04:17 AM

Ingrid strode forth as the tunnel slammed shut behind her. She strode forth even as her hands finally stopped smoking from the primal energies she had wielded.

The Darkling looked around: another confined space; another omnipotent threat closing in on them.

She saw the figure, wretched and broken, keening its klaxon call. Penance was ready to fight. The Ashen Queen was... proving exactly what Ingrid thought of her right now*.

So Ingrid made a guess with her gut that the screaming figure represented the dreamer, trapped like an insect in amber, forever hemmed in and assaulted by one physical horror after another. Alone at the heart of this hideous maze.

Alone...

Ingrid strode forward and gave the howling wretch a heartfelt hug. Hopefully, the physical contact and support would be enough to shake the dreamer free.

*Reflecting what has happened "before" in the Summer Coronation.

Jul 25th, 2018 03:17 PM

Clambering up to see what's in the cage, she's met with a sobbing wreck with eyes as big as the moon hanging above them. She makes for a pitiful sight and her eyes soften at the tear-streaked creature before her.

It doesn't last. As soon as the creature launches into her siren call, Penance eyes harden and she struggles not to clamp her hands over her helmet. Her eyes dart about for any other giants heading their way for those tremors were surely the warning signs of another foe. She's very tempted to do as Lucifer suggests, to reach out and claw this woman's throat out, open up her jugular and dance as her hot, sticky blood rains down on them. It's both the prudent thing to do and the most immediately satisfying.

The only thing that stops her is Ingrid reaching forward to hug the thing, an unfathomable action for her. She tries to take Ingrid by the waist and pry her away from the Lost in the cage.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?! Didn't you just hear that awful noise she just made? That THING is a trap and she just summoned who knows what to smear us across the walls. Lucifer is right, we should kill it before it kills us."

**Saber Sloth** · Jul 25th, 2018 04:20 PM

Huddled, shaking in the cage, wide-wide eyes stare at Fairest and Ogre both, "Thought it was three! Thought it was three!" the same ringing voice trills, "I called! I called! I called for three!" wet tears fall and fall and fall, "Needed help. Wanted help. Can't. Can't. Can't!" even as she shakes-shakes-shakes, "You're just like her! Just like her! Just like HER!" she yells out, klaxon calling out once more.

The roar of the cloud intensify, hooting and hollering. Calmoring for more!

Ingrid's approach cuts the sound to nothing, save the occational cheer as the the women flinches, quills spike out from dirty hair. Nose twitching and sniffing. Metal bends, but doesn't break as the Darkling leans in for that heartfelt embrace, which the quilled women gratefully leans into. Shoving her face between the metal bars to lean all the closer.

"Just one! Just one! Just one!" she trills out, eyes misty, "Don't be a lie. Please don't be a lie."

The shadowy crowd jeers at the scene, calling out for 'Goaty' and 'Claws' to rend the flesh from the 'Quill', though there is another faction of the crowd who gives voice for 'Them' to bring out the Lions.

The quaking hasn't stopped.

Hey, just a reminder, you can roll wits+wyrd+empathy-intensity to find out more about the Dreamer, or to find something like Dream poison, or a few other things, with the same roll!
http://nwod.org/wiki/index.php/Oneiromancy_Primer

**Lucifer** · Jul 25th, 2018 06:01 PM

Them...

THEM!

Whimpering, Lucifer sank down onto her knees, her fingers sinking into the soil of the arena, hunting, desperately hunting for the assurance that the Poison of the Gentry had not seeped into this dream, that THEY were truly not here...

1 success

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-07-20 17:31:02		Lucifer rolls 2 to Scour the Dream! (wits3+wyrd2-emp1-dream2) (10 Again)		3, 6		failure

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-07-24 08:07:30		Penance rolls 2 to Make Some Wings (Man - untrained Emp + Wyrd - dream intensity) (10 Again)		7, 6		failure

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-07-25 04:14:23		Ingrid to give out hugs! rolls 9 to Manipulation + Empathy (10 Again, WillPower)		6, 9, 1, 9, 8, 9, 1, 3, 8		5 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-07-25 17:58:54		Lucifer rolls 2 to Dream Poison? (wits3+wyrd2-emp1-dream2) (10 Again)		7, 10, 3		1 success

(Guilty of Dreaming) Bloodsport

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