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Dreams of the Sleeping Child
Xenthos
Shadow Lord
Note that I may have missed the first set of dreams-- @Rancoura ended up dropping the last tendril at the beginning, and it seems like only the person who completed each step got to see the text. As such, I'm posting it here for your enjoyment, and also so those who helped can see what happened. 
Admins. 
A broad smile lights up the tae'dae's face as his reflection floods into being above the fireplace. Clapping his hands together merrily before him, he nods his head in acknowledgement.
The world around you swirls as a vision - no, a memory - takes hold of your senses.
She is running, running, and the dream of her heart beats loudly in her missing ears. The ground is hard beneath her, and the sharp stones slip and slide as she stumbles to keep going. She has to keep going. She must never look behind her.
But she does, sometimes, because she cannot help herself. She cannot stop herself from looking behind her, but he is there, looming, and the air is bitter on her tongue and the ground is covered in blood as he devours his path towards her.
She has done this. She has done this to all of them. But she must keep running.
There is a gap in the rocks up ahead; she pushes on towards it, though everything is burning and she just wants to lie down and cry. Using what feels like the last of her strength, she pushes on, round the corner to find a place she can hide. She runs and runs and -
Thump.
She crashes into a wall of light that should not catch her, but does. The hazy being is cool to the touch, an oasis of sensation in a world that is nothing but fire and flames. The child looks up into the face of her saviour, and her dreaming heart skips a beat. Vestera.
It's alright, dear one. Everything is going to be alright. The child believes him. Even in the shadows about her, the small flame of hope sparks within her, and she clings to the cool serenity of the Dreamer. This is not real. He is not here. You are safe.
Bit by bit, the burning ground returns to green - the falling ash pales to cool snow, and the air becomes clear and fresh. Even still the Dreamer's shimmering form holds the child in an insubstantial embrace, until she not only believes but sees that underneath the illusion of darkness, everything is truly light.
The worst is over, dear one. Soon the darkness will be banished for good.
With a toothy grin, the tae'dae blows onto the mirror, frosting it with his breath so that he can write the message: Thank you. Engineer needs help now too, near battery.
-------------------------
Triumphantly, the panel glows an even brighter hue, filling with words in bold yellow streaks: Enough essence! Many thanks.
The world around you swirls as a vision - no, a memory - takes hold of your senses.
It is the early afternoon, and the child is sitting down to play with a new toy that her mother has bought her. The sun is blazing down on the lawn, and a sense of excitement runs through the child as she picks up the first wooden block.
Each of them is bright coloured, and large enough that when the child stands three of them in a pile, they stand slightly above her head. She builds a great wall with them, never seeming to run out of blocks in her pursuit to construct her own wooden igloo.
As she begins to curve the wall around, the child spots something odd. She peers through a crack between two of the blocks, looking out into the distance, to the far horizon on the edge of her vision.
Her dream legs begin to shake as she sees it; the trickling encroachment of shadows on the horizon, moving ever closer. But as soon as she has spotted it, something else moves, closer than the darkness and far brighter.
Dismantling her half-built igloo, the child places the blocks on top of one another to form a huge staircase, which she totters up unsteadily but boldly. Triumphant, she stands atop her tower and beholds the scene on the horizon with new clarity.
There are several people moving in the distance, all of them carrying blocks like her own. They are too far away for her to make out in detail, but the wall they have built is so huge that it cannot be mistaken. It rises several Rebos tall, and the child can see the little people having to fly up into the air to place the tallest blocks.
But from her new vantage point, the child sees something terrible: the darkness is just the other side of their wall, closing in on them with terrifying pace. "No!" she cries out, nearly tumbling from her blocks. "Run! Run away! It'll catch you!"
They do not hear her. They are too far away, and they cannot see the darkness like she can. The child can do nothing but watch as it crawls ever closer, until it brushes up against the multicoloured wall and -
The darkness pushes and pushes against the wall, but it cannot get through. It tries to go around, but the busy little figures build too quickly for it, outpacing its every move as if anticipating it. They build and build and build, and soon the wall goes all the way around the horizon like a giant bubble. And when they have built the giant dome, the figures paint it like the sky, beautiful blues and serene yellows, perfect pinks and wispy white clouds.
When they are finally done, the child hears her mother calling her in for her bedtime story. She hopes it will be about castles.
As the last of the joyous yellow washes away, the emerald gemstones light up with one last request: Archivist will require help also. Possible to assist him? In storage chamber.
-------------------------
A rush of elation suffuses you, drawn into your senses by the warmly-glowing dreamcatcher. The sussurant tickle of a barely audible voice in your ears tells you that all of the dreams have been gathered.
As the dreamcatcher lands upon the ground, it dissolves in a flurry of dream motes, appearing in the hands of the elfen in the viewing panel. He turns it over intently, then nods once. It would seem you are not as useless as you appear, he scribes idly with skilled flicks of his brush.
The world around you swirls as a vision - no, a memory - takes hold of your senses.
Shining Vestera comes to her again, when she is sitting on the bridge over the stream with twigs in her hands. "Hello, dear one," the bright cloud sighs gently, hovering just above the water. "Are you enjoying your game?"
The child nods, dropping another twig into the stream to demonstrate. She leans over the edge, watching it disappear underneath the bridge, and scrabbles quickly across to wait for it to emerge the other side. When it does, she lets out a peal of youthful laughter.
"I have come to show you something," Vestera says, drawing the child's attention back. "You remember that I told you that soon the darkness would be banished for good?"
She shivers, looking out to the horizon, where the darkness is kept at bay by the towering wall of blocks that her new friends built. "You said you would make it go away," she says, brightening a little. "Is it gone yet?"
From within the intangible cloud of his form, Vestera offers her a glowing hand, and as the child takes it they are transported to a whole new world. This world swirls with a kaleidoscope of colour, and the child gasps in elation, feeling the cool touch of the mist that covers the ground and smelling the fresh scent of herbs.
"This is your shield," shining Vestera says, radiating even brighter in the iridescent landscape. "A place which keeps you safe. But I need your help to finish it."
"Close your eyes," Vestera instructs, and she does. "Think about all of the things that are bright, and good. Think about your mother, and Rebo and Reva, and your new friends. Think of streams with sticks and colourful blocks and stories just before bedtime. Think of everything that makes you happy; feel it welling up in you like a spring. Can you feel it, dear one?"
The sensation makes the child giggle; it is like being filled with bubbles. She nods, and feels the cool touch of shining Vestera on her palms. "Now let that brightness leap out of you," he says, cupping their hands together as if to catch something. Furrowing her brow, the child does as he says, and feels the brightness jump from her heart into their hands. Her eyes fly open, beholding a quivering sphere of rainbow-hued light that shining Vestera takes and cradles in his hands.
"Perfect, dear one," he says, and the world turns to brilliant light as the child finally holds in her missing heart the knowledge that the darkness is gone forever.
Just for a moment, there is almost a look of approval on the elfen's face. Dispelling his previous message, he replaces it with a new one: If you wish to further prove yourself, our leader requires assistance at the Aegis.
-------------------------
You drop the core of the Sleeping Child's dreams.
The dream motes within the blown glass egg swirl into being, and the trill reappeares within their embrace. A brilliant smile lights up her dainty features, and she looks down at the dreaming core with maternal fondness.
You scoop up the core of the Sleeping Child's dreams.
With a wave of her hand, the trill gestures towards the dreaming core. It lifts gently into the air, flowing into your hands.
In the Aegis, an elegant trill appears and holds up an identical dreaming core. She touches it gently, and it springs to life. Gentle pushes and turns on its surface create trailing streams of dream motes that drift towards the image of the maddening vortex which appears beside her. Sparkling dream motes begin to knit it together as she plays with the dreaming core.
As you behold the nightmarish vortex, the dreaming core pulses in your hands, drawing you to touch it.
-------------------------
Apologetically, the trill gestures for the Aegis to be touched once more.
You reach out and touch the Aegis of Vestera.
A great wash of power pulses through you as the Aegis waxes in luminescence, the dream motes within it coagulating into an image of a lone canvas resting on an easel, entirely blank.
Within the giant blown glass of the Aegis, iridescent fireworks begin to bloom and spark in joyous celebration. At their heart, a glittering reflection of yourself appears, and disembodied hands place a circlet of light upon your head.
You have completed the Empowering the Aegis of Vestera quest!
You have gained a new honour!
You have received knowledge essence curio piece of the Vernal Bracers Curio Set as a quest reward!
A gentle presence brushes against you, filling your heart with light as the blessings of the Sleeping Child fall upon you.
The world around you swirls as a vision - no, a memory - takes hold of your senses.
She opens her eyes to see a vast nothingness, made not of darkness but of swirling grey mist. It should, perhaps, scare her - but she finds nothing to be afraid of in this vast expanse of possibility. Instead it comforts her, soothes her, for in this great expanse she feels finally content. But she is not alone.
There are six of them. Tall and short, thin and round, fleshy and feathered and crystalline, they gather together in the land of imagination and link hands in a circle around her. They seem familiar, somehow. Each of them closes their eyes in a soft flutter, like the gentle beckoning of sleep. None of them seem to know that she is there, so she steps closer to one of them. His face is round and warm, even in concentration, and the soft fur of his face reminds her of warm fires in the tundra.
His paw is linked with the slender, crystal hand of a tall man whose body thrums with a pale light like the hopeful dawn. He holds hands in turn with a green-skinned man whose bushy brows make her giggle with their intensity. She reaches up as if to brush them, but stops at the sound of a voice. The leonine woman to her right has begun to hum, not a melody but a gentle droning sound like the rocking of waves.
It is then that she notices the last two women in the circle, standing hand-in-hand with expressions of hope lighting up their faces. Their majestic wings cast great silhouettes behind them even folded, and it makes the heart that she does not have soar with joy. She raises one hand behind her, and brushes her fingertips along the wings she had forgotten she owned. A brilliant laugh bubbles out of her throat, and the eyes of the shorter trill flutter open in surprise.
Y-your royal highness! she exclaims, and the child blinks in confusion.
Soon all six of them have their eyes open, staring at her, finally able to see her. As they splutter greetings that she does not understand, the child feels a gentle touch upon her shoulder. Turning, she lights up with joy as the insubstantial form of Vestera shimmers into being beside her - and suddenly, she understands.
Friends! she says, and turns excitedly around, gazing once more at each of them in turn. You are here to keep away the darkness.
And though she does not understand the way their cheeks grow wet with tears, or why they drop to their knees before her, the child feels their love like her mother's embrace, like Rebo and Reva wrapping their arms around her, and she knows that now, everything will be light again.
A great wash of power surges through the Emerald Enclave as the Aegis of Vestera is restored to full power.
The dream motes within the Aegis seem to leap into action out of rapturous joy, coming together to form the image of a hazy, cloud-like being, who holds out a glowing ball of dream essence in His undefined limbs.
-------------------------
He has been named an honourary Keeper of Dreams by the guardians of the Sleeping Child.
Admins. A broad smile lights up the tae'dae's face as his reflection floods into being above the fireplace. Clapping his hands together merrily before him, he nods his head in acknowledgement.
The world around you swirls as a vision - no, a memory - takes hold of your senses.
She is running, running, and the dream of her heart beats loudly in her missing ears. The ground is hard beneath her, and the sharp stones slip and slide as she stumbles to keep going. She has to keep going. She must never look behind her.
But she does, sometimes, because she cannot help herself. She cannot stop herself from looking behind her, but he is there, looming, and the air is bitter on her tongue and the ground is covered in blood as he devours his path towards her.
She has done this. She has done this to all of them. But she must keep running.
There is a gap in the rocks up ahead; she pushes on towards it, though everything is burning and she just wants to lie down and cry. Using what feels like the last of her strength, she pushes on, round the corner to find a place she can hide. She runs and runs and -
Thump.
She crashes into a wall of light that should not catch her, but does. The hazy being is cool to the touch, an oasis of sensation in a world that is nothing but fire and flames. The child looks up into the face of her saviour, and her dreaming heart skips a beat. Vestera.
It's alright, dear one. Everything is going to be alright. The child believes him. Even in the shadows about her, the small flame of hope sparks within her, and she clings to the cool serenity of the Dreamer. This is not real. He is not here. You are safe.
Bit by bit, the burning ground returns to green - the falling ash pales to cool snow, and the air becomes clear and fresh. Even still the Dreamer's shimmering form holds the child in an insubstantial embrace, until she not only believes but sees that underneath the illusion of darkness, everything is truly light.
The worst is over, dear one. Soon the darkness will be banished for good.
With a toothy grin, the tae'dae blows onto the mirror, frosting it with his breath so that he can write the message: Thank you. Engineer needs help now too, near battery.
-------------------------
Triumphantly, the panel glows an even brighter hue, filling with words in bold yellow streaks: Enough essence! Many thanks.
The world around you swirls as a vision - no, a memory - takes hold of your senses.
It is the early afternoon, and the child is sitting down to play with a new toy that her mother has bought her. The sun is blazing down on the lawn, and a sense of excitement runs through the child as she picks up the first wooden block.
Each of them is bright coloured, and large enough that when the child stands three of them in a pile, they stand slightly above her head. She builds a great wall with them, never seeming to run out of blocks in her pursuit to construct her own wooden igloo.
As she begins to curve the wall around, the child spots something odd. She peers through a crack between two of the blocks, looking out into the distance, to the far horizon on the edge of her vision.
Her dream legs begin to shake as she sees it; the trickling encroachment of shadows on the horizon, moving ever closer. But as soon as she has spotted it, something else moves, closer than the darkness and far brighter.
Dismantling her half-built igloo, the child places the blocks on top of one another to form a huge staircase, which she totters up unsteadily but boldly. Triumphant, she stands atop her tower and beholds the scene on the horizon with new clarity.
There are several people moving in the distance, all of them carrying blocks like her own. They are too far away for her to make out in detail, but the wall they have built is so huge that it cannot be mistaken. It rises several Rebos tall, and the child can see the little people having to fly up into the air to place the tallest blocks.
But from her new vantage point, the child sees something terrible: the darkness is just the other side of their wall, closing in on them with terrifying pace. "No!" she cries out, nearly tumbling from her blocks. "Run! Run away! It'll catch you!"
They do not hear her. They are too far away, and they cannot see the darkness like she can. The child can do nothing but watch as it crawls ever closer, until it brushes up against the multicoloured wall and -
The darkness pushes and pushes against the wall, but it cannot get through. It tries to go around, but the busy little figures build too quickly for it, outpacing its every move as if anticipating it. They build and build and build, and soon the wall goes all the way around the horizon like a giant bubble. And when they have built the giant dome, the figures paint it like the sky, beautiful blues and serene yellows, perfect pinks and wispy white clouds.
When they are finally done, the child hears her mother calling her in for her bedtime story. She hopes it will be about castles.
As the last of the joyous yellow washes away, the emerald gemstones light up with one last request: Archivist will require help also. Possible to assist him? In storage chamber.
-------------------------
A rush of elation suffuses you, drawn into your senses by the warmly-glowing dreamcatcher. The sussurant tickle of a barely audible voice in your ears tells you that all of the dreams have been gathered.
As the dreamcatcher lands upon the ground, it dissolves in a flurry of dream motes, appearing in the hands of the elfen in the viewing panel. He turns it over intently, then nods once. It would seem you are not as useless as you appear, he scribes idly with skilled flicks of his brush.
The world around you swirls as a vision - no, a memory - takes hold of your senses.
Shining Vestera comes to her again, when she is sitting on the bridge over the stream with twigs in her hands. "Hello, dear one," the bright cloud sighs gently, hovering just above the water. "Are you enjoying your game?"
The child nods, dropping another twig into the stream to demonstrate. She leans over the edge, watching it disappear underneath the bridge, and scrabbles quickly across to wait for it to emerge the other side. When it does, she lets out a peal of youthful laughter.
"I have come to show you something," Vestera says, drawing the child's attention back. "You remember that I told you that soon the darkness would be banished for good?"
She shivers, looking out to the horizon, where the darkness is kept at bay by the towering wall of blocks that her new friends built. "You said you would make it go away," she says, brightening a little. "Is it gone yet?"
From within the intangible cloud of his form, Vestera offers her a glowing hand, and as the child takes it they are transported to a whole new world. This world swirls with a kaleidoscope of colour, and the child gasps in elation, feeling the cool touch of the mist that covers the ground and smelling the fresh scent of herbs.
"This is your shield," shining Vestera says, radiating even brighter in the iridescent landscape. "A place which keeps you safe. But I need your help to finish it."
"Close your eyes," Vestera instructs, and she does. "Think about all of the things that are bright, and good. Think about your mother, and Rebo and Reva, and your new friends. Think of streams with sticks and colourful blocks and stories just before bedtime. Think of everything that makes you happy; feel it welling up in you like a spring. Can you feel it, dear one?"
The sensation makes the child giggle; it is like being filled with bubbles. She nods, and feels the cool touch of shining Vestera on her palms. "Now let that brightness leap out of you," he says, cupping their hands together as if to catch something. Furrowing her brow, the child does as he says, and feels the brightness jump from her heart into their hands. Her eyes fly open, beholding a quivering sphere of rainbow-hued light that shining Vestera takes and cradles in his hands.
"Perfect, dear one," he says, and the world turns to brilliant light as the child finally holds in her missing heart the knowledge that the darkness is gone forever.
Just for a moment, there is almost a look of approval on the elfen's face. Dispelling his previous message, he replaces it with a new one: If you wish to further prove yourself, our leader requires assistance at the Aegis.
-------------------------
You drop the core of the Sleeping Child's dreams.
The dream motes within the blown glass egg swirl into being, and the trill reappeares within their embrace. A brilliant smile lights up her dainty features, and she looks down at the dreaming core with maternal fondness.
You scoop up the core of the Sleeping Child's dreams.
With a wave of her hand, the trill gestures towards the dreaming core. It lifts gently into the air, flowing into your hands.
In the Aegis, an elegant trill appears and holds up an identical dreaming core. She touches it gently, and it springs to life. Gentle pushes and turns on its surface create trailing streams of dream motes that drift towards the image of the maddening vortex which appears beside her. Sparkling dream motes begin to knit it together as she plays with the dreaming core.
As you behold the nightmarish vortex, the dreaming core pulses in your hands, drawing you to touch it.
-------------------------
Apologetically, the trill gestures for the Aegis to be touched once more.
You reach out and touch the Aegis of Vestera.
A great wash of power pulses through you as the Aegis waxes in luminescence, the dream motes within it coagulating into an image of a lone canvas resting on an easel, entirely blank.
Within the giant blown glass of the Aegis, iridescent fireworks begin to bloom and spark in joyous celebration. At their heart, a glittering reflection of yourself appears, and disembodied hands place a circlet of light upon your head.
You have completed the Empowering the Aegis of Vestera quest!
You have gained a new honour!
You have received knowledge essence curio piece of the Vernal Bracers Curio Set as a quest reward!
A gentle presence brushes against you, filling your heart with light as the blessings of the Sleeping Child fall upon you.
The world around you swirls as a vision - no, a memory - takes hold of your senses.
She opens her eyes to see a vast nothingness, made not of darkness but of swirling grey mist. It should, perhaps, scare her - but she finds nothing to be afraid of in this vast expanse of possibility. Instead it comforts her, soothes her, for in this great expanse she feels finally content. But she is not alone.
There are six of them. Tall and short, thin and round, fleshy and feathered and crystalline, they gather together in the land of imagination and link hands in a circle around her. They seem familiar, somehow. Each of them closes their eyes in a soft flutter, like the gentle beckoning of sleep. None of them seem to know that she is there, so she steps closer to one of them. His face is round and warm, even in concentration, and the soft fur of his face reminds her of warm fires in the tundra.
His paw is linked with the slender, crystal hand of a tall man whose body thrums with a pale light like the hopeful dawn. He holds hands in turn with a green-skinned man whose bushy brows make her giggle with their intensity. She reaches up as if to brush them, but stops at the sound of a voice. The leonine woman to her right has begun to hum, not a melody but a gentle droning sound like the rocking of waves.
It is then that she notices the last two women in the circle, standing hand-in-hand with expressions of hope lighting up their faces. Their majestic wings cast great silhouettes behind them even folded, and it makes the heart that she does not have soar with joy. She raises one hand behind her, and brushes her fingertips along the wings she had forgotten she owned. A brilliant laugh bubbles out of her throat, and the eyes of the shorter trill flutter open in surprise.
Y-your royal highness! she exclaims, and the child blinks in confusion.
Soon all six of them have their eyes open, staring at her, finally able to see her. As they splutter greetings that she does not understand, the child feels a gentle touch upon her shoulder. Turning, she lights up with joy as the insubstantial form of Vestera shimmers into being beside her - and suddenly, she understands.
Friends! she says, and turns excitedly around, gazing once more at each of them in turn. You are here to keep away the darkness.
And though she does not understand the way their cheeks grow wet with tears, or why they drop to their knees before her, the child feels their love like her mother's embrace, like Rebo and Reva wrapping their arms around her, and she knows that now, everything will be light again.
A great wash of power surges through the Emerald Enclave as the Aegis of Vestera is restored to full power.
The dream motes within the Aegis seem to leap into action out of rapturous joy, coming together to form the image of a hazy, cloud-like being, who holds out a glowing ball of dream essence in His undefined limbs.
-------------------------
He has been named an honourary Keeper of Dreams by the guardians of the Sleeping Child.
6
(c) Iron Realms Entertainment 2012.
Comments
Tonight amidst the mountaintops
And endless starless night
Singing how the wind was lost
Before an earthly flight
The world around you swirls as a vision - no, a memory - takes hold of your senses.
Shining Vestera comes to her, little more than a cloud of brightness. The presence calms the child, sooths her where things had begun to make her afraid again - where the pulse she does not really have in this world races, and the breath she does not really need in her dreams is shallow and insufficient. With Vestera there, the sense of panic abates, returning the child to the bliss of safety like a warm blanket on a winter's day.
Greetings, dear one.
The child smiles to hear his voice, even as she comes to realise - slowly, gently, as all things are now - that he is not really there. The voice comes not from inside him but from all around her.
I have come to see that you are well, he continues, light pulsing through his form.
She smiles. I have been playing with Reva and Rebo. Mother says if I am good I can go and play with them again before it gets dark.
I see. The cloud that is Vestera orbits the child as if in thought. Does it get dark often, lately?
The child considers this. When the darkness comes, that is when her fears come again. That is when her throat feels tight, and her head becomes thick with thoughts that rush like rodents in a wheeled cage.
I don't like it when it's dark, she says. When it is dark, all my friends go away, and the world tastes bitter.
A filmy tendril reaches out and brushes the child's hair back from her forehead. It is cool and smooth, like a flannel brushed on the skin to ease a fever. It makes the last of the darkness inside her flee, and she laughs in a peal of youthful melody as everything becomes just a little bit lighter.
[possibly lost parts of the dream]
Bitter like ash, Vestera says, sighing softly. You remember that it was dark before I came to you. I will not let that happen again. You are safe here, dear one, and I will do whatever is necessary to ensure it.
The child can feel that he is leaving her, but she is not afraid. The world is still light and sweet and pure.
I will return with some new friends, dear one. They will keep the darkness from you.
Tonight amidst the mountaintops
And endless starless night
Singing how the wind was lost
Before an earthly flight