I Walk in Dreams -- An Esoteric Journey Quest

This time, when you open your eyes in the dreaming-realm, you have difficulty believing them. You're not in the lowlands anymore, of course, but neither are you in the foothills you have become used to. No, you're on one of the great mountains of the dream. On its lower reaches, to be sure, below the cloud level, where the way is still relatively gentle going, but... you're there. You're climbing towards the summit directly, not just wandering around in a vaguely mountainwards direction.

There's no guarantee that what you seek will be at the top of this mountain, of course, insofar as "this mountain" is at all a meaningful concept in a realm where geography is more of an art than a science. But you're closer. Bit by bit, you're getting closer.

On the subject of getting closer, the world around you looks the same as it did when you were last in the dreaming-realm, or at least you aren't noticing any differences. Now that you have the opportunity to pay attention for the sake of contrast, you'd definitely say that the vibrancy of the colors you've been seeing in the waking-world is not as intense as the true palette of dreams. But it definitely feels like your perception of the waking-world is altering to become more in line with the one you have in the dream.

(Which, of course, suggests the uncomfortable question: is this a change wherein you see things that are not there because you expect to see them, or is this a change wherein you have begun seeing things that were there all along but which you have been heretofore unable to perceive?)

Questions, questions. Ever the questions. You wish the books you had read as a beginner had had more to say, to give you a better idea of what you were getting into. For that matter, you wish the books you were consulting these days had more to say, because you're stumbling your way through tribulations and changes without a real guide to the Ascent. You play with the notion of writing one yourself when you reach the top; while the idea is extremely intriguing, not least because you are not sure how to translate some of the insights you have had into mere words that will make sense outside your own head, you set it aside for now. You're still driven to understand this place for its own sake: as a child you loved understanding the whys and wherefores of things, and that's no less true as you approach thirty.

So you set your face toward the mountain-top, and you start hiking.

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XIX THE SUN

An insight into the nature of the dreaming-realm: hiking up mountains is actually really hard.

You stop to rest a few times. The slope is relatively gentle, but that just means "a constant walkable incline" instead of "sheer faces of rock you will have to find some way up or else go around." It's hell on your calves, and the wind gusts up every now and then and makes the whole affair rather frightening. You've never been particularly scared of heights, but you think you could be convinced. You eye the rock shelf above you with grim determination: it looks like a fairly broad flat place where you can stop for a longer rest and get your bearings, if you can just make it the few dozen feet there without your legs giving out.

After a heroic effort that has you resolving to amend your nascent workout routine to include a StairMaster, you reach the shelf and collapse, letting out a relieved sigh. You screw your eyes shut to savor the feeling of relief in your leg muscles, and as such it takes you a little while to hear the scraping and shuffling against rocks, associate that with purposeful movement, and realize you are not alone.

When you open your eyes, you can see that at the far end of the rock shelf is what looks like... a little kid playing by themself? Did an actual child get into the dreaming-realm somehow? There's a campfire near them: maybe they came with an adult who is off doing something and built them a fire in the meantime? But up here? What?

You stagger to your bitterly-complaining feet and start walking over to the kid. As you get closer, you call out. "Hey there! Is everything all right?" The child looks up, then looks at you, and that's when you realize your mistake.

In your defense, he's such an archetypal looking child. You could easily imagine that this kid was the protagonist of a children's book: a perfect little tousle-haired boy. Maybe that should have been a clue: no actual kids look that much like the Idea Of Kid. But, no, you didn't put it together until you got close enough to see his face. His eyes are luminous orbs of molten gold: no sclera, iris, or pupil, just the sheen of metal. Nevertheless, you can somehow tell where he's looking, and specifically when his gaze settles on you.

The weight of his regard is like a yoke on your shoulders, and it's all you can do to not physically stagger. He is regal, and dignified, and perfectly self-possessed, not despite his childishness but somehow because of it. Then he smiles, and the sheer joy is like the physical impact of a blast front, and you do stagger this time. It seems impossible, when he smiles, that anything really bad could ever happen to him, or that anything might possibly wish him harm. You understand, beholding him, that you must be in the presence of the entity the books referred to only as the Golden Prince.

(Standing before him, you feel leaden and ashamed about how small and sad you are. You feel as though, if you were better, you would be like him.)

But he does not turn away from you, or look upon you with pity. He is very earnest and solemn as he speaks.

"Will you go on an adventure with me? I could go by myself, of course, but -- it's always better to adventure with a friend. Especially a new friend. And so many dreamers like you don't have time for adventures. They're so busy with their important dreaming-work, their Ascent. I suppose the Ascent must be frightfully important indeed. I can't blame them. But I think it's a little bit sad.

"We could go in any direction you like. There's always something to find, whichever way you go."

How do you respond?

[] Spend 1 Willpower, taking a little time here with the Golden Prince before moving on: Add this card to your Pneuma.
[] Spend 1 Willpower, going on a small adventure with the Golden Prince: Gain the winner of the [ADVENTURE] vote. Add this card to your Pneuma.

[][ADVENTURE] Supernal Force
[][ADVENTURE] Supernal Insight
[][ADVENTURE] Supernal Experience
[][ADVENTURE] Supernal Connection

[][ASCENT] Keep exploring.
[][ASCENT] Wake up, ending the Night.

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Decks and Resources: Character Sheet
Night-specific information: 1/max 6 Explorations