Dream Dragon

[Lost Star]

[X] The Conqueror's Dream.
[X] 39 Gossamer.
-----

"I see the eight of you. Like limbs on a spider, you've traveled across the world to bring me prey." Dream-catcher began with a slow and deliberate cadence in it's voice. For once the voice was almost smooth. "Let us see your triumphs and failures."

All eight of the students of the Dream-catcher had shown up of course. This time the terrain was a grassy field around a crystal clear pool. The sky was overcast in this dream, and their mentor shimmered in the reflection of the pool. Countless legs coming out of a shining point. The effect was vaguely horrifying. It would probably have been absolutely horrifying in reality. As it was, the disciples were almost used to the way the Dream-catcher presented itself. It had never been a 'pretty' spirit. Just one willing and able to gift power.

One by each of the students began to drop their tribute into the pool. Gossamer shards, remnants of dreams. Shining things that were everything and nothing. Each dropped into the pool with a soft splash, and it flowed further into the light that was the Dream-catcher's central body.

The dragon wasn't able to count exactly how much everyone had, but he could identify who had the most and the least. The most was given by the black thing that was not a man. It's maw opened and a veritable flood of gossamer poured from it's mouth. The least was given by the man with the gun. He was unable to give much, and even gave less than the dragon.

On estimate the dragon figured he was just a bit below average with this tribute. Considering that they had all started at the same spot, this was almost distressing. His purchase from the Fat Man had set him back a fair amount. Matching the black thing would have been possible with that.

"One has my favor." The Dream-catcher's voice shifted into a gravely shrieking. "One has my disfavor."

The man with the gun shuddered as something flexed around him. His form rippled as if he was the reflection in the pool and someone had thrown a rock into the water.

"Your first... Failure is noted. Do better or the punishment will be more severe." The Dream-catcher's limbs reached out of the pool and stretched impossibly high into the sky.

They limbs then slammed down into the ground next to the black thing. One behind, one in front, more to both sides. Boxing him in. To his credit he just shifted a bit uneasily at the movement. None of his rivals blamed him really. This next part was just creepy.

Webbing spun around the black thing as the Dream-catcher started to weave something around him. Almost like a spider wrapping a victim. However instead of the webbing lingering, it sunk into the thing's body. An empowerment.

"A spec of my power. Potential." The Dream-catcher's voice turned smooth. "I give fear and pain to those that displease me, but please me and you shall further sup on my power. In time, perhaps one of you will sit in a place like me and demand." The spirit laughed and the world shook. "Until then struggle, fight, kill. Prove your value still further."

"Now. Wake Up."

John woke up with a start and a gasp, and nearly tumbled out of bed. He was panting as if he had run a mile. Every time it happened, and it never got any easier. Fortunately he usually felt rested at the end, but it was just a reminder of Dream-catcher's power. John was fully convinced that if the spirit wanted to, he would be dead and no one would notice.

Fortunately the spirit didn't seem to care much for people's lives. It's needs were gossamer. That was it.

Some part of John couldn't help but want to put a crown atop his dragon's head. To rule in the dream realm as the Dream-catcher seemed to. Each dream form had clues as to the personality of the person really. John's was pride and ambition.

----
You have 0 Gossamer
You have 28 days until tribute
You have a dream of the conqueror. You need to use graft dream to add it, and it will add the following power:
Internal Flames - When reduced to 1/4 HP or less, regain 1/2 HP as a free action. May only happen once per day.
Note, grafting dream can be used to adjust stats as well as adding abilities in the same action.

Daytime Action
[] Patrol the campus. (You're a security guard for the local college. Your contract doesn't really need you to patrol, but it gets you out of the place.0
[] Nap and use Dream of Wonder
[] Watch the Monitors (Talk with Harold)
[] Play Ball with Scott

Evening Action
[] Hit the local library
[] Hit the local cafe
[] Hit the local bar
[] Go home (Use night action twice)
[] Socialize with someone

Night Action
[] Hunt for Gossamer (Specify a number from 1-7. 1 easy, 7 hardest)
[] Hunt for your rivals
[] Look for something new

-You may use graft dream form on any slot you'd sleep.
-You may repair as an additional, free action.
-Write ins are acceptable.

 

[Lost Star]

[X] Nap and use Dream of Wonder
----

Dreams had meaning to some people. To some people they were visions of the future. To others it was a message. To John, dreams were tools in what he could consider his real trade. A dream of something grand or terrible was a way of adding to his power. It was natural then to use himself as a source.

Admittedly this was harder than one would think. John couldn't use some random dream. He had to use a vivid and emotionally powerful one. He also couldn't really control it either. Ever since he had started being taught by Dream-catcher, he had been able to control his dreams at will. That was sort of counter to what he needed.

So to make a dream usable by himself, John had to got at it sideways. What he had to do was setup the framework beforehand in a series of controlled reams, and then jump directly into dreaming and surrender all his control when he was ready.

To do this John basically did a few dozen power naps over the week. Not long really. Only about ten minutes every few hours. Harold barely even noticed, and didn't care when he did notice. He likely thought John was getting less sleep than normal or was bored.

Near the end of the week, John's preparation was complete, and he finally blocked off a good hour to fall deeply asleep.

He dreamed of dragons in flight and in battle. The beat of wings and the feeling of wind. The way they clawed into their enemies. Notions of power. Dragons had a very real position in myth and legend. They caught the imagination and gave people a little thrill. All of it accumulated into a specific focus that told a tale to John.

[] A dream of dragon scales. (1/3 completed for Dragon Scales: -1 Damage every round until at half health or below)
[] A dream of dragon fire. (Breath upgrade: Disables abilities until the start of your next turn.)
[] A dream of gold. (Dragon's Horde: For every 10 gossamer you have, gain +1 Cohesion, to a max of your wonder. )


[X] Go home (Use night action twice)
[X] Hunt for Gossamer (Specify a number from 1-7. 1 easy, 7 hardest) 5

The dragon was very busy this week. He had specifically set aside a lot of time to hunt and regain his spent resources. He also was quite concerned with not giving his mentor any tribute too. Dream-catcher was actually surprisingly reasonable on it's demands, but offering nothing would likely lead to a very unpleasent result. There was a very big difference between offering a paltry amount and not offering anything at all.

So the dragon flew over the dream cities and through skies made of cotton candy. He soared over zebras of nothing but stripes, and birds the size of people. He chuckled a bit when he saw dinosaurs in suits having a tea party. Then he located some prey.

In this case a little heart carrying an arrow. A cupid.

The dragon dove and let lose immediately. His breath washed over the cupid and the thing 'beat' faster. Then immediately ran.

This was why the dragon had actually empowered his wings just a bit. Some denizens would flee when they could. And when they did having nimble wings was incredibly important. If he hadn't had them he would have had to track the blasted thing again.

Instead the dragon pounced on the fleeing denizen and feasted. Fake red blood spurted from the heart shaped thing, and then it disappated in a flurry of dream-stuff.

Quite proud of his quick and successful hunt, the dragon continued to hunt.

His flight had him traveling through darker areas in the dream realm. Places where rain clouds and nighttime had fallen. Nightmares were natural parts of the dream realm and they swept across the place much like a storm would. Sometimes they grew and become more, but most of the time they were just storms.

Less savory things liked to hide in them though. In this case it was a Boogeyman.

Unlike the other denizens, boogymen didn't have a set shape aside from being shadowy. In this case it was a figure with long claw like fingers and jagged lines.

It erupted out of the cloud with a horrid screech and practically gutted the dragon on it's first attack. Shrieking in surprise and a small amount of fear, the dragon blasted it's face with stars and dreams. Then it tore into the dragon's belly still further.

In reply the dragon bit it's head off. Quick and bloody was what these fights were like. Almost fitting for a creature that liked nightmares.

Huffing and puffing the dragon retired for the night there, but was out the next night. He still had things to hunt and gather.

Towards the end of the week the dragon had his third encounter. This time overflying one of his rivals. The thing was slow, but it looked strong.

An atom floated through the dream without a care in the world. The question on the dragon's mind was 'Do I want to fight?' He had the terms of engagement here. He could decline fighting and continue to gather. Well, he could also strike up a conversation. This guy was so exceptionally slow that the dragon only needed to worry when he got close.

"Greetings!" The dragon called out.

The Atom paused and seemed to tilt. The electrons around it's main body rotated faster as it replied. "Oh, the dragon one. How do you do? I didn't see you up there." It's voice was slightly higher and almost maniac as it spoke.

The dragon snorted. "Liar. You wouldn't be this deep if you weren't aware of your surroundings. You'd be popped in an hour."

"I applaud your methods of deduction." The atom replied sarcastically with a bobbing motion. "So, shall we fight? I daresay I would love a little scrap! Haven't had the best luck with hunting and all. You know how it goes."

"You're too slow to pin down things aren't you?" The dragon huffed with amusement.

"I make do, but in my own way." The atom huffed and bounced. "Usually by smashing arrogant flying wretches who think they're the be all end all."

"Ohh, I'm so scared." The dragon taunted back and did a barrel roll in midair. "Look at how scared I am." He ended with a lazy back-flip.

"Come down here and say that why don't you." The atom muttered loudly and started to move away. "I'll get myself a nice dragon-skin rug."

"Typically you make armor out of dragon scale." The dragon pointed out innocently.

"We have a funny lizard now. Lovely." The atom grumbled.

The dragon chuckled loudly.

[] Action towards rival?
[] Did you repair beforehand? (You had taken 17 damage from the boogyman.)

Spoiler: Fights and results

Cupid lv 5
Phantasm: 0
Speed: 5
Cohesion: 10
I'm a Lover not a fighter!: The Cupid recovers ¼ it's HP after it flees.

Boogyman lv 5
Phantasm: 7
Speed: 7
Cohesion: 10
Jumpscare - The Boogyman deals +½ damage on it's first attack. (Rounded down)

Took 17 damage

Gossamer = 7 (Wonder) + 11+11 (Gather) + 25 Cupid + 25 Boogyman = 79 Rounded to 80)

 

[Lost Star]

[X] A dream of gold. (Dragon's Horde: For every 10 gossamer you have, gain +1 Cohesion, to a max of your wonder. )
[X] Ask him how things are going and if he's interested in cooperation.
[X] Repair
-----

"I don't suppose you'd be willing to cooperate on further hunting?" The dragon asked as he followed the atom.

"With only one possible winner each month, I'm not inclined to no." The responded quickly and without hesitation.

The dragon shrugged and found a place to perch along the atom's path. The other being stopped moving away and looked almost peeved. "An exchange of information then?"

The electrons starrted to speed up and the atom was silent for a moment. Then it bobbed in midair. "I suppose that would agreeable. So long as the topics are limited."

"Haha." The dragon laughed slightly and his tail started to twitch as he continued. "I suppose the first question is how do you hunt? As slow as you are, most prey would flee."

"You are familiar with the behavior of denizens right? I simply find particularly turbulent areas and wait. More than that I will not say." The atom sounded annoyed now. "I assume you swoop around on those anatomically impossible wings of yours?"

"Of course!" The dragon flapped the wings in question. "There's nothing better than flying through the air on these. What is a dragon without flight?"

"And ugly lizard." The atom responded and got a huff from the dragon. "You have flown in reality with those?"

"Once, at night actually." The dragon nodded in reply and winced. "I nearly clipped a power-line and ate a bird by reflex."

"Fascinating. I wonder how you got lift. Do you know?" The atom's electrons spun up as it seemed to think.

"I want to say I was lighter than you'd think, but a strong wind would have blown me away then. So I have no idea." The dragon admitted.

"Philistine." The atom sniffed audibly.

"We're in a realm inconceivable by modern science. I think conventional knowledge wouldn't apply to us." The dragon stated dryly and shifted so his neck elongated and his head was hanging down. "You encounter anyone else from our little group?"

"The one with the gun. And the one with fire. The one with fire only briefly before it fled, as it seemed to be a bad matchup. The one with the gun made vague threats and kept away." The atom snorted and reversed the orbit of his electrons. "Of the two, the one with the gun struck me as more dangerous. He probed more than you."

"That sounds pleasant." The dragon muttered and pulled his head up. "I encounter the taffy one. It talked strangely and shapeshifted."

"Strangely how?" The atom asked curiously.

"Changed pitch routinely and made it's voice like half a dozen other ones mashed together. It gave me a bit of headache to be honest." The dragon huffed out a small bit of dreamstuff.

"Interesting. No others?" The atom asked.

"None. I've been ranging a bit below the surface of the dream realm though, so I might be missing them." The dragon admitted.

"It's a large world, and I'm not under the impression that we're in the same area anyway." The atom speculated out loud. "Based off how hunting patterns are, you should likely have encountered more. I wonder if that means they're closer to me in the physically world."

"You know how funny the dream realm is with reality." The dream realm was outright bizarre to be honest. The deeper you went the worse it got too.

"There's a bit of a pattern there I believe. I have yet to find it, but there is one. I have noticed something like tides that seem to correspond with nighttime, but it's not exact." The atom's electrons sped up. "I believe more sleepers cause more 'pressure' so to speak. If you could map it, you could get some fascinating data on how people sleep."

"If you say so." The dragon stated uncertainly.

"Imagine, being able to tell when events were happening in reality just based on how the tides of the dream realm are? You could follow good and bad. Figure out the very mood of a city! Even better, you could determine patterns. It'd be an entirely new field of study!" The atom started to vibrate in place. "More, the mental health aspects? In time we could find entirely new ways of treatment!"

The dragon backed up a bit on his perch. "Uh-huh..."

"Oh yes, I could become famous! More, our patron wouldn't care if I bring in more people! I'd have to vet them completely of course, but the possibilities! Oh I the things I could do! Even the simplest ability of allowing people to sleep would be a multimillion dollar thing!" The atom vibrated faster, and the stilled. "Oh, ahehe. That would be in the future of course. After we have determined a victor in this little contest."

Calming down a bit, the dragon cocked his head. "You think there's going to be a victor?"

"You know as well as I that our patron is sinking deeper and deeper into the dream. Over time it will be unable to even touch reality. My guess is one of us will become it's successor and the rest will be stripped of their power." The atom stated grimly. "The successor will then feed it and gather more subordinates."

"That's a lot of guessing." It made a certain amount of sense though.

"Speculation mostly. At the very least our patron will start ramping up the punishments and forcing us to compete still further." The atom bobbed in midair. "This competition won't be endless though. I can almost guarentee that."

"Something to think about I suppose." The dragon spread his wings. "You've given me a lot to think on."

"I try. Now get going you flying lizard. I'm still hunting, and your talking is scaring things away." The atom huffed.

With that the dragon laughed and started to fly off.

----

You have 63 Gossamer
You have 21 days until tribute
You have a dream of the conqueror. You need to use graft dream to add it, and it will add the following power:
Internal Flames - When reduced to 1/4 HP or less, regain 1/2 HP as a free action. May only happen once per day.
You also have: A dream of gold.
Dragon's Horde: For every 10 gossamer you have, gain +1 Cohesion, to a max of your wonder.
Note, grafting dream can be used to adjust stats as well as adding abilities in the same action.

Daytime Action
[] Patrol the campus. (You're a security guard for the local college. Your contract doesn't really need you to patrol, but it gets you out of the place.0
[] Nap and use Dream of Wonder
[] Watch the Monitors (Talk with Harold)
[] Play Ball with Scott

Evening Action
[] Hit the local library
[] Hit the local cafe
[] Hit the local bar
[] Go home (Use night action twice)
[] Socialize with someone

Night Action
[] Hunt for Gossamer (Specify a number from 1-7. 1 easy, 7 hardest)
[] Hunt for your rivals
[] Look for something new

-You may use graft dream form on any slot you'd sleep.
-You may repair as an additional, free action.
-Write ins are acceptable.

 

[Lost Star]

[X] Play Ball with Scott

The football wobbled as it flew across the field and John winced just a bit at the movement. Scott laughed as he intercepted it though, and sent it back in a smooth throwing motion that sent it practically soaring through the air. John had to run to catch it, but that was really part of the fun.

"Gotta keep up the hand-eye coordination dude!" Scott called out. "My security is in your hands!"

John laughed. "If you need me to be intercepting people, we've got more problems than how I throw a ball!" He pitched it back, and this time made sure to throw it hard. Not that it did much to be honest.

"Dude! My mother can throw better than that!" Scott taunted as he chased the ball. His next throw was easier this time though.

"Well, I'm not the one on the football team, so I'm allowed to be bad." John caught the ball and flexed his hands around it. "How's that going by the way?"

"Doing good so far! Won the last game and got another one lined up." Scott clapped his hands together as he spoke and John threw the football at them. "Pretty good for me. Trying to decide if I want to get into the pros or not, and more wins make it a better decision."

"You're going pro?" John asked curiously. The college didn't have the best reputation for sports really.

"Likely not. I'm on a scholarship, but going pro takes a lot more than just that." Scott shrugged and threw the ball high into the air after he finished speaking. "What about you? How are things?"

John took a few steps back and took his time to catch the ball before replying. "I'm a security guard." He stated with a snort. "This is probably the most exciting thing I've done this week." In reality that is.

"Not going to school? They should be giving you some sorta discount right?" Scot took a few steps closer and John threw an easy catch to him.

"I do get something like that if I'm there for enough. I'm not interested to be honest." John had other things to deal with really. He was lucky in one respect. His job was pretty stable for the foreseeable future.

"You're choice man. I think you should. If only because a high school degree's not really good for work." Scott shrugged and then looked at a few other people. "Hey dudes, want to join in?"

With a few more people on the field the conversation changed to the local sports. John didn't have much to input on that.

[X] Hit the local library

The library was always interesting to go to. There was just something about all the books that made it a place that John liked really. He couldn't explain it even if prompted. Something about the sense of wonder he got from it. The dream realm around it was always so serene. Like this was a place of contemplation.

Reality had a way of making things different sometimes though. This week, John noticed that someone had claimed one of the tables almost every day. A Hispanic woman with brown hair had apparently taken out a good half dozen books on anatomy and was studying every day John visited the library. The sight was interesting enough that John chanced a meeting.

"Cramming for a test?" John led.

"Like you wouldn't believe." The woman replied back and flipped the page of one of the books. Then looked up with a cheery smile. "Hi! Saw you around a few times. You a student too?"

"More someone who works on campus. Doctor? I'm John by the way." John looked over the anatomy pictures and winced at one of them.

"Nurse actually. Lola. Pleasure to meet you!" The girl bounced in her seat a bit as she spoke and John had to suppress a laugh.

"Awesome." John nodded at the girl. "We always need more nurses."

"Haha. Thinking about all the tests I got I can see why. Already got a headache, but I'm going to get it done right!" Lola flexed an arm. "Now if You don't mind I'm gonna need to get back to this before I get my perky little but thrown out."

"Haha, I'll leave you to that." John nodded at the other girl.

Pleasant woman and her dreams felt like they were sugar and puppies. Or something of that nature.

[X] Look for something new

There were things in the dream realm. Grand wonders. Horrible nightmares. Glorious stars in the sky, and deep black holes so horrible and clawing that nothing existed in 'miles.' This was the nature of the dream realm. Things didn't have have to make sense. You could see a mountain balanced on a pin, or a pin the size of a mountain.

The dragon had seen all that and more. Those were the fun sights. Static dreams that were almost landmarks deeper in the dream. He used the mountain sized pin as a guide routinely actually. It was one of the nicer landmarks even if it was bizarre to see.

Now he was looking for something more unusual though. Those were best to find deep in the dream. The deeper the better.

In this case the dragon went down as far as possible. Here things were dangerous and anything resembling reality didn't exist. Shadows and lights of all sorts glimmered across the sky. This was a risky place even if he was knowledgeable enough to avoid most dangerous things.

And the new thing he found was worth the risk.

A city. A literal city inside the dream. The dragon could see it sprawling across the horizon. Massive beyond belief. With tall soaring skyscrapers more massive than anything in reality. He could see things swinging off some of them, and could even spot a massive ape like creature hanging off one of the larger ones.

As the dragon flew closer he could even spot people down on the streets. Well, almost people. Swooping down had him realize that all of them didn't quite look like people. There was always something off.

Oh, and they were running away and screaming. Whoops?

Honestly the dragon was a bit baffled. Normal behavior was things either attacking or talking with him. Not... That.

Then the police cars drove up, and the dragon was more confused. They officers that came out of the car were as large as streetlamps and shouldn't have been able to fit inside the car.

One of them moved up to the lamp the dragon was using as a perch and cleared his throat. He had a large square chin and his eyes were covered by his hat.

"Excuse me, sir? I'm going to need to see some identification and your permit for street scaring. We weren't sceduled for a monster attack on this street."

What?

[]?

 

[Lost Star]

[X] Ask about the license thing, you're new here and wasn't scaring people on purpose.

"I'm sorry, licence? I'm new to the city." The dragon eventually replied politely.

"Ignorance of the laws is no excuse. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to come with me." The dream-policeman stated firmly. He pulled out a massive and very solid looking pair of handcuffs.

The dragon reared back at them, but after a moment huffed and hopped down from his perch. His tail thrashed as he landed. After a moment the 'handcuffs' where on him. Though it would probably be more accurate to call them body cuffs. They were so large they wrapped around his body instead of his limbs. It was profoundly uncomfortable, and the way they gripped was obviously unreal.

Somehow the dragon was stuffed into the back of the car and then driven to the police station. Frankly by this time the dragon was getting annoyed. Especially thanks to how cramped the back of the car was. He couldn't even see out of it!

Finally though he was pulled out of the car and in a blur found himself sitting down in front of a massive desk. Twice the size of him, the dragon had to crane his head up to see the officer on the other side. The man was as massive as the others, with a fancier hat that still covered his eyes. He had his hands folded in front of him as he seemed to glare down at the dragon. Really, the dragon felt like he was in kindergarten and in front of the school principle. Fortunately being experienced in dreams kept him from being too intimidated.

"So, no identification and no permit. I should lock you up for life. We don't appreciate shenangins like that in our city." The officer loomed as he spoke.

The dragon huffed and wiggled as much as he could in the 'handcuffs.' "You have my apologies." He narrowed his eyes. "But I'm not going to allow myself to imprisoned like that."

"You'll be doing what I say you'll be doing boy!" The officer stood up from his seat and the dragon felt himself in shadow.

A lick of dreamstuff came out of the dragons mouth and he flashed his teeth. "You wish to try me?"

"Don't make me get a muzzle boy." The officer stated flatly. By this point the dragon was actually impressed with how high and looming the dream denizen could be.

In reply the dragon turned his head and blew on his body. The stars and dreamstuff splashed against his hide and caused the handcuffs to degrade. With a chomp they then snapped with a cling. The officer had already backed up from the display, but he fell back into the chair as the dragon flew up.

"I am the disciple of the dream-catcher." The dragon hissed out. "By it's teaching I am the master of dreams. Not you." His eyes glowed in the light. "No dream can hold me. Not even this one."

"Dream-catcher you say?" The officer shrank down in his chair some. "Ah, then you do have identification, and authorization!" He spoke quickly and pulled out several reams of sheets in his desk. All of it went flying on the floor and then the man handed the dragon a card that looked absurdly tiny in his hand.

Blinking the dragon took it with one paw. It had his picture on it, and there was another card that said 'scaring permit.'

"You're serious?" The dragon asked.

"Well..." The officer cleared his throat. "The dream-catcher could likely eat this city in one gulp if it was inclined. Fortunately it doesn't seem to care much aside from making sure we don't inconvenience it. We regularly lose our larger monsters when they think they can challenge it. I believe it finds the process amusing."

Looking over the cards, the dragon shrugged his wings and landed. After a moment of thinking he had them disappear. He could recall them when he needed. "So what exactly does scaring permits mean?"

"Some citizens like to scare others. Some like to be scared. It keeps things orderly, and feeds the nightmares when they need it." The officer shrugged. "Feel free to schedule one if you want. The desk is out the door and to the right. Not sure if you'd get anything out of it being a disciple of the dream-catcher and all."

"I don't eat emotional dreams." The dragon stated dryly. "I'm more inclined to hunt gossamer." And things that ate it.

"You'd want to buy the food then." The officer waved a hand casually.

"With what money? For that matter what do you use for currency?" This was actually rather interesting.

"We use dollars of course!" The officer chuckled and took out a green bill. It had a very large $ on the center of it, and was bright green. "And you'd have to get a job of course."

"Of course." The dragon raised an eyeridge and spread his wings.

"Well, I suppose a desk job wouldn't be appropriate." The officer admitted. "You hunt right? We can have a few criminals you can bring in. Or perhaps bring in a live emotional manipulator. Those are useful for us. Something about using them for seasoning or some other strange thing."

"This is.. Agreeable." The dragon nodded.

The officer snapped his fingers. "Oh, one more thing. You can try your hand at entertaining, or go scaring with a veteran. There's always need for higher emotions. The theater closer to the center of the city is always looking for more people."

"Interesting." The dragon drawled out.

[] Take a job?

 

[Lost Star]

[X] Hunt criminals/ emotional manipulators

------

Hunting bounties was rather simple to start really. There was a corkboard near the entrance of the station. Pinned to the board were a good few hundred little posters. Only some of them were bounties. The dragon picked one that was relatively interesting and looked relatively easy, and then brought it to the bounty officer. Who was a cowboy. Of course.

Mildly bemused at the whole thing, the dragon was 'deputized' and then got a little bright yellow sheriff's star which stuck to the side of his scales. It had deputy sheriff on it and everything.

This dream realm city was interesting. If you thought some about it, it made sense, but you had to look sideways at everything. Police officers were large because people had 'big' impressions on them. Dreams didn't follow logic so much as streams of thought and impression. That was important to note.

Leaving the police station had the dragon even further bemused. The people weren't afraid of him now. He was a sheriff dragon! Hah.

Dismissing the amusing thoughts, the dragon leaped into the air and spread his wings. Then ascended in one great and flap. Normally hunting something in an unfamiliar city would be impossible. That was normally. The dragon had picked his prey well though. This was a flashy and obvious denizen that he could pick out with his normal skills.

In this case the dragon was going to use something he called shadowing. Basically it involved shifting deeper and shallower into the dream. The exact mechanics were hard to explain, but with proficiency you could see things that were normally obscured by various things in dreams. You could also use it to bypass walls and obstacles very easily when you were very proficient in it.

The dragon faded from sight in above the city. Then he faded into sight a few beats later, and in a different area. Then he did it again, and again. All it really took was time honestly.

He didn't find his target right off the bat either unfortunately. That took several days of rather intensive exploration and looking. The city was interesting honestly. A lot of strange things. Almost like a cross between a carnival, a convention, and a movie set. There was always something happening.

The dragon even managed to find out what the scaring licences was for. A mechanical spider roamed across the city once during his hunt. The thing had been larger than a house and had laser beams to cause fires. The thing had roamed across the city for about an hour incinerating things, and then politely left when it's time was up. There was just something honestly bizarre about the entire process. Entertaining though, and even the denizens that got set on fire didn't seem off put by the process.

Finally catching the target was almost anti-climactic by accident. The denizen in question had been in the shape of a man in striped prison clothing, and he carried a large sack with dollar signs on the back of it. Called the 'Burglar' he wasn't particularly interesting in any shape or fashion. In fact, he was one of several dozen of similar bent. They were apparently just hard to imprison or something. The dragon didn't even get scratched in taking him down. He just swooped down from above and pinned the man down with teeth and claws.

He had to work on that later if he was honest with himself. The dragon had gotten a bit less of a reward because he had nearly killed the man with just that. He had been squishy and had bled everywhere on the flight back. And the screaming, oh god the screaming.

Once done, the dragon had taken his money and spent it on the best food he could find. Which honestly wasn't the best the city had to offer, but was interesting nevertheless.

A massive bowl of ramen soup. The good stuff that steamed. It was filled with noodles and vegetables. The steam was enough to fog his scales, and the bowl was literally almost as large as him.

It tasted like a child's first meal. The wonder of something delicious and tasty. An indescribable taste that lit up the tastebuds and provoked a sense of nostalgia. For a moment the dragon wasn't dreaming of an impossible city. He was dreaming of being a child and comforted by a good meal.

The experience was enough to make him want more. Consuming the entire bowl had turned him into a dragon ball though. He almost had to roll out of the restaurant he had eaten in, and there was more than one joke.

More than two really.

For meal that good, the dragon would tolerate the affront to his pride. Even if the restaurant had a new meal of 'happy dragon rolls' that almost looked like him. They even had a little bulge in the middle.

-----

Spoiler: Bounties

Gained 15 Gossamer from bounty. Gained 1 Wonder from doing something new and fantastic. Bounties are going to be small story choice events that can range from easy to impossible. They're high risk/reward. You got an easy one to dip your feet into it.

You have 78 Gossamer
You have 14 days until tribute
You have a dream of the conqueror. You need to use graft dream to add it, and it will add the following power:
Internal Flames - When reduced to 1/4 HP or less, regain 1/2 HP as a free action. May only happen once per day.
You also have: A dream of gold.
Dragon's Horde: For every 10 gossamer you have, gain +1 Cohesion, to a max of your wonder.
Note, grafting dream can be used to adjust stats as well as adding abilities in the same action.

Daytime Action
[] Patrol the campus. (You're a security guard for the local college. Your contract doesn't really need you to patrol, but it gets you out of the place.0
[] Nap and use Dream of Wonder
[] Watch the Monitors (Talk with Harold)
[] Play Ball with Scott

Evening Action
[] Hit the local library
[] Hit the local cafe
[] Hit the local bar
[] Go home (Use night action twice)
[] Socialize with someone

Night Action
[] Hunt for Gossamer (Specify a number from 1-7. 1 easy, 7 hardest)
[] Hunt for your rivals
[] Look for something new
[] Visit the dream city and do ____

-You may use graft dream form on any slot you'd sleep.
-You may repair as an additional, free action.
-Write ins are acceptable.

 

[Lost Star]

[X] Nap and use Dream of Wonder
[X] Go home (Use night action twice)
-[X] Graft dream of the conqueror.
[X] Hunt for Gossamer
-[X] 6

--------

Stitch, stitch, stitch. The dragon dreams of the clacking of needles and humming sewing machines. He dreams and is changed as he is remade. John's dreams become twisted and conflicted together from his constant sleep. The dreams of soaring transform into dreams of needles and dreams of heroes and villains.

For once all his control of his dreams conflicts with itself. The need to create wonders conflicts with creation of a new dream, and his hunting. Not enough to stop his jobs, but enough to make things unusual.

The dreams are full of colors and of changes. John's life is boring and nothing from day to day. His nights are where his life is being lived now, and the brief losses of control are enough to make him almost wary.

He didn't allow it to stop him though. If anything the difficulty and changes force him to double down on his skills and focus. It's a strange sort of discipline he forces himself into. There's no other art like it in the world. On the outside he sleeps something like three quarters of the day. On the dream realm he stitches himself together and remakes himself again and again.

In time the turbulence smooths out and a dream of wonder and accomplishment blitzes through his mind, and another significant dream was created. His dragon's form is reborn with a powerful new ability, and his hunt finds something.

Oh and it is something. A figure in armor that gleams with golden light. Six glorious wings, and a spear the size of him. A denizen that he has never seen before. It's helmeted gaze looks at the dragon and he detects some sort of intelligence behind it.

It's guarding a vault. A big one that's solid enough that the dragon's quite certain that he can't get into it. Around the vault is nothingness. A tranquil wash of shadow that the dream falls into when there's nothing to grant it shape or purpose. This is a vault in the middle of one of oblivion.

Unsure of how strong or intelligent the vault guardian is, the dragon forms a small perch out of nothing but dream-stuff and settles himself on it. He watches the guardian for a moment, and a silence drifts across the dream realm for a very long time. The guardian says nothing.

Finally the dragon decides that he's the one that needs to talk. "Greetings and salutations!" He calls out.

"Greetings." The guardian responds back instantly, but doesn't even twitch. It's voice is like a church bell clanging.

"Might I ask what you're guarding?" The dragon leads off.

"I would not answer." The guardian states.

The dragon snorts and flicks his tail. "How about a name then?"

"I am Hadraniel." A simple answer, but it gave the dragon no real clues right of the bat. Still the guardian didn't move either.

"Might I go into the vault?" The dragon asks curiously.

"Should you challenge and defeat me, you may." The guardian states immediately.

It's like talking to a scripted robot. The dragon huffs to himself. "No other way?"

"No." The bell like voice was deeper there.

"Has anyone else tried?" The dragon continued.

"I have slain nightmares and demons of greed." The winged guardian replied quietly.

"Oh, nightmares? What type?" That was relevant. Demons of greed could mean many things. The most likely one was tiny things that died to almost everything. They weren't worth the hassle of him eating them either.

For the first time the guardian moved. Not much, just a tilt of the head. "There is only one type of nightmare. The black and twisted remnants of mortal's at the verge of death. Not the kind night horrors. The true nightmares that kill."

The dragon stilled. "Ah. Those ones. That's how they form?" The dragon muttered the last part quietly.

He hadn't seen them, but he had been warned of them. Living Nightmares were one of the few things that were dangerous to fight. They were shadow like things far darker than the boogeymen. Boogeymen were scary, but they only got bad when they were big. Living Nightmares were vindictive and intelligent. Even if the dragon was stronger than one he had to be careful because they would find ways to cause damage.

"Wait, they kill?" The dragon asks after the rest of the statement register. "As in kill in reality?"

"They cannot move into the waking world." The guardian stated with iron certainty. "They can still kill. Your patron, despite it's heresy, has suppressed them for now."

Something about that statement worried the dragon. "But the dream-catcher is falling deeper into the dream."

"The living nightmares are never numerous. It takes much to form one. Torment and fear, and death in terror at night." The guardian states flatly. "The dream will endure without the dream-catcher's heresy. Or yours."

"Heresy?" The dragon asked with amusement. He hadn't been called that before.

"The waking world should not intrude on the sleeping world. That you and the dream-catcher have is against the laws of reality." The guardian's wings extended slightly.

It was a denizen in the shape of angel. The dragon was certain now. How interesting. "So, I'm a heretic?" It was an amusing thought.

"Yes." The statement had the most emotion the angel had in the entire conversation.

"I'm sensing some anger here." The dragon muttered. "I don't suppose I could earn forgiveness or something?"

"You would exploit the sleeping realm for your own enrichment. How could you earn forgiveness?" The guardian of the vault actually scoffed. "Set aside the teachings and dream normally."

"I'm one of eight. Even if I did do that, it wouldn't help." The dragon pointed out casually. "And all I've been doing is mostly hunting and feeding the dream-catcher. Everything hunts in here."

"I know those who sleep and wake." The angel replies back lowly. "You will."

The dragon snorted.

----

[] Any more questions?
[] Attempt to attack the vault?

Please pick one below:

[] A dream of dragon scales. (1/3 completed for Dragon Scales: -1 Damage every round until at half health or below)
[] A dream of dragon fire. (Breath upgrade: Disables abilities until the start of your next turn.)
[] A dream of a sheriff's star (Specialty form upgrade. Adds a sheriff's star to the dragon's form. When an enemy is reduced to 0, the dragon can cause chains to form around them instead of slay them. At which point they're restored to half HP.)
[] A dream of gemstones (Upgrade to Dragon's Horde: For every 20 gossamer you have stored, gain +1 Phantasm, to a max of your wonder.)

 

[Lost Star]

[X] Any more questions?
-[X] Why are you guarding the vault, not just an army of you, or a really complicated lock in your place, but you alone?
--[X] How did you come to be the guard?
--[X] How did this vault come to exist?
-[X] Are you bound to the vault, or could you stop guarding the vault to be replaced by someone else?
-[X] You imply the dream-walker is a part of the waking world. I was taught the dream-walker is a part of the sleeping world whom intrudes on the waking world. What leads you to believe your telling the truth?
--[X] What do you know of what the dream-walker once was, and how it became what it is now?
-[X] Why should the waking world not intrude on the sleeping world? I am unaware of any harm that is brought. Some birds can fly and swim that doesn't mean they should only fly. It is now in my nature to be a part of two realms. Why should I restrict myself?
-[X] Given how this place functions is their any reason I shouldn't attack you?
[X] A dream of dragon scales. (1/3 completed for Dragon Scales: -1 Damage every round until at half health or below)
AN: Not sure about the dream-walker part. I assume you mean dream-catcher and am going on that.
---
"So I have to ask. Why are you guarding the vault?" The dragon asked after a moment of thought. "More specifically, you alone. No one else."

"That would give a hint to what I guard. I will not answer that." The angel replied back almost placidly.

"Let me guess, how the vault was made would have the same answer." The dragon continued. The only sign of his irritation was his tail thrashing.

"Correct." The guardian's answer was rote.

"Fine, are you bound to guard the vault?" The dragon tried a different track.

"I have a sacred duty to guard the vault. No bindings hold me." The guardian intoned. "I will maintain my vigil until I am defeated."

"Ah, and just you alone." The dragon's tail flicked. He didn't expect an answer to that part. "You implied that the dream-catcher was committing heresy?"

"Reaching into the waking world and revealing the sleeping world is a heresy, yes." The angel stated quietly enough that the dragon had to lean in. "Nothing virtuous can come from it's offense."

"Hah. Would you happen to know it's history?" The dream-catcher typically ignored questions about it's past aside from a general overview.

"It's an old spirit of created by faith and fate. It grew fat upon dreams and prayer and then grew mightier still as it discovered how to feast on others. It catches the dreams around the world and has become something akin to a god in this world." The angel focused on the dragon and a pair of glowing eyes flared beneath it's visor. "Akin to a god. Not one. It is mortal, and it's time is ending. Another will take it's place. Whether it's rule will be good or ill is something that time will tell."

"Interesting." And not as informative as he would have liked. "I don't suppose you could clarify? How'd it eat prayer?" So far as you could tell that wasn't something that influenced the dream realm.

"In the past there were appropriate rituals for it. They are rare now." The angel's eyes dimmed and it looked away. "In the waking world I believe it fell out of favor when the one true god was found."

"You mean Christianity?" The dragon blinked at the guardian.

"I do not follow the waking world's history." The angel stated flatly.

The guardian seemed almost embarrassed, the dragon mused. "So, explain why it's so bad the waking world knows about the sleeping one?"

"Heresy is an unmistakable sin." The guardian turned back to the dragon and almost seemed to glare. "But since you are a heretic and one who lived in the waking world, I will explain the depths of your sin. You will wither away as you become more and more obsessed with the dream. You will devour the gossamer of the realm and become ever more hungry. You will perhaps believe that dreams are tools and resources to be taken instead of gifts and blessings. You will squander all the beauty of the dreams and then cause only nightmares. You will inflict your madness on the waking world and travel to it with your false form. There you will destroy and damage without consequence. And in the end, you will die and drag down the sleeping world out of spite."

The dragon blinked at the rant. Then blinked again. "So you think I could destroy the dream realm?" The idea boggled the mind.

"If the idea spreads and the people attempt to control the dreams, then it may. The process is almost guaranteed if you spread the knowledge the dream-catcher gave you. " The angel's body sagged and it looked off into the distance. "Such is the price of your heresy."

The dragon huffed. He wanted to refute that, but he found himself thinking on it some. Theoretically if everyone had his abilities, the dream realm would become interesting. Would that really destroy the realm though? Admittedly he wasn't able to gather gossamer from himself when he was flying around in dragon form, but that seemed too simple.

"Changing the subject. What would happen if I attempted to get past you? What's stopping me from simply attacking you and winning." The dragon asked curiously.

"I am here to guard the vault. If you win, then you have the right to enter." The angel stated solemnly.

"Ah." The dragon let out a sigh.

----

[] ?

 

[Lost Star]

[X] More Questions

"So I think I have to ask. Do you want to be defeated?" The dragon asked after a moment.

"Want, or do not want is irrelevant. It simply is a fact." The angel replied flatly. "If one is mighty enough to get past me, then I simply cannot stop them. Until that time I will maintain my vigil."

"Hah. I suppose a question like that is obviously answered." The dragon gave a nod.

"No more questions." The angel stated before the dragon could continue. "I have indulged you in conversation enough."

"Seriously?" The dragon asked. After a moment he snorted when the guardian of the vault refused to answer.

A bit of poking and prodding had the dragon convinced that the angel wouldn't respond unless he attacked. So, lacking a better idea, the dragon decided to move off and continue his hunting. There wasn't much to get unfortunately, and by the end of the week he hadn't managed to get more than bits of gossamer.

Well, on the plus side he could actually managed to get back to the vault whenever he wanted. The angel looked pretty formidable, but not unbeatable. Nothing like the dream-catcher.

At the end of the week John decided to take the time to organize what he knew about the ecosystem of the dream realm. Or the sleeping world, like the angel had talked about. The information he had gotten had filled in a few interesting holes in his education that he was wondering about.

So, people went to sleep, and their minds moved into the dream realm. They dipped up and down through the realm and shifted around things inside it. This churn created gossamer. This gossamer sometimes swirled into beings. These beings liked to eat more gossamer, and got larger as they went.

The deeper you went into the dream realm, the less 'space' mattered. You could travel across the world in minutes if you went deep enough. Hence the larger things dipped deeper into it. There was apparently a 'weight' involved too, since the dream-catcher was slowly going deeper and deeper. The dream-catcher likely ate things around the entire world, but had only empowered eight people to feed it for some reason.

Thinking about it, the dream-catcher likely wasn't the first 'god' of the dream realm. However, it was likely the first one that was in charge when people were so dominant. This was important for a very specific reason.

The dream-catcher ate Living Nightmares. Living Nightmares were capable of killing sleeping people. If the dream-catcher ever stopped, then the Living Nightmares would be able to propagate more. Fear was far easier to create than anything else aside from possibly prayer. And the angel had stated that things that effected the sleeping world had died out.

Putting it all together, the dream-catcher was a bit of an ass, but it was a pretty good top predator of the dream realm. Once it stopped effecting it though, it was very, very likely that a Living Nightmare would live long enough to learn how to make more of itself effectively. It would also rapidly become one of the top predators in the dream realm.

John didn't want to think of how the dream realm would look if a Living Nightmare took over. His best guess was that it would start to gather power and cascade. Humans would create a nightmare and it would grow until each dream was a thing of fear and terror.

If John didn't have control of his dreams he was pretty sure he'd be having bad ones at that realization.
---
+8 Gossamer from dreams, +14 from hunting. - 10 from grafting.

You have 90 Gossamer
You have 7 days until tribute
.
You also have: A dream of gold.
Dragon's Horde: For every 10 gossamer you have, gain +1 Cohesion, to a max of your wonder.
Note, grafting dream can be used to adjust stats as well as adding abilities in the same action.

Daytime Action
[] Patrol the campus. (You're a security guard for the local college. Your contract doesn't really need you to patrol, but it gets you out of the place.0
[] Nap and use Dream of Wonder
[] Watch the Monitors (Talk with Harold)
[] Play Ball with Scott

Evening Action
[] Hit the local library
[] Hit the local cafe
[] Hit the local bar
[] Go home (Use night action twice)
[] Socialize with someone

Night Action
[] Hunt for Gossamer (Specify a number from 1-7. 1 easy, 7 hardest)
[] Hunt for your rivals
[] Look for something new
[] Visit the dream city and do ____

-You may use graft dream form on any slot you'd sleep.
-You may repair as an additional, free action.
-Write ins are acceptable.

 

[Lost Star]

[X] Watch the Monitors (Talk with Harold)

"What do you want out of life?" The question was honestly a bit uncharacteristic of Harold and it made John blink.

John glanced around the office quickly. It looked the same as it normally did. Donut boxes all over, papers stacked haphazardly where there weren't boxes, and the monitors showed nothing important. Mostly students moving around.

"What's bringing this on?" John finally replied.

"Just thinking kid. You're doing decently at this job, but everyone wants to be someone better. So what do you want?" Harold continued with a shrug.

"Honestly, I'm pretty happy here." The younger man shrugged.

"Hah! That's somethin' at least." Harold nodded and the chair he was in creaked at his movement. "Got a girlfriend lined up?"

John snorted. "Nah, not interested."

"You probably should!" Harold declared with certainty. "Just don't marry em until you're sure. Don't wanna be like me at the end."

John paused. Admittedly Harold wasn't someone people would want to emulate. Overweight, in a dead end job, and divorced three times, the man was someone most people would call a loser. There were less fortunate people in the world though.

"Seriously, what brought this on?" John muttered.

"Meh, just got back from the doctor. Told me that I need to lose a few pounds." Harold laughed grimly. "Am too old for shit like that."

That caused the other man to pause. "How bad were they talking about there?"

"Nothing life threatening. You'd see me sweating like a pig if so." Harold chuckled again. "Nah, I'll figure something out. Ain't going to diet or some other shit like that, but I'll figure something out." He patted his prodigious belly. "Maybe do some running or something like. Was a bit athlete back in the day you know."

"Sure you were." John chuckled and then sobered. "Take care of yourself man."

"Don't plan on dying anytime soon. Still got plenty of things to do and all that." Harold nodded. "These things sneak up on you, you know?"

"I'll probably have to keep that in mind." John noted.

Surprisingly to John at least, Harold seemed to be trying to do something over the week. There were less donuts and the man took a few walks every now and again. Nothing prodigious, but it seemed that Harold was at least trying. Hopefully for the man's health, this would continue.

[X] Hit the local cafe

The trouble with depression was that it wasn't an easy thing to 'get over.' You couldn't just one day decide to address it. It was a long and hard slog to move through it. You couldn't just reach out and expect to get better either. Depression lingered horribly.

John was reminded of this fact thanks to seeing Meria at her job again. The woman was sliding down again. It was patently obvious, and John's tentative attempts to reach out were mostly missed or ignored. The most he could do was keep trying without causing offense.

That wasn't the only thing that happened when John hit the cafe of course. Scott and Jean apparently frequented the cafe too, and one day he encountered them both at the same booth.

"Hey dude!" Scott waved as John came in and the man paused.

"Hi." John nodded at them both. "School stuff?"

Jean grinned just a bit smugly. "No, we're on a date." She brushed her hair back and wiggled slightly to show off her outfit. It was enough to be slightly distracting.

"Ah." John wondered if he should feel jealous.

"Yeah, Jean was just telling me about what she's been up to." Scot waved a hand at the girl.

"I'm glad for you both." John grinned.

"That's sweet." Jean grinned back and then looked at Scott. "How'd you meet him?"

"We play ball a bit." Scott gave a shrug as he spoke. "John's cool."

"I think I'll leave you to your date." John nodded at the couple.

"Later dude!" Scott waved.

[X] Hunt for Gossamer 6

This week, the dragon was lucky and unlucky. The deeper you went, the more dangerous things were, but the bounties were often better. Two days into the week, the dragon encountered his target. A massive guppy that was quite eager to eat everything around it. Guppies were quite a bounty if you managed to find them, but once they got larger they got nastier to fight.

In this case the guppy was about as large as they'd get. Deeper they tended to get 'denser' and smarter rather than larger. Those, the dragon would lose against. This one was just on the edge of what he could likely take based on his skills.

Here was where the unlucky part was. This guppy was large enough to actually swallow the dragon. That was spectacularly unpleasant.

The dragon dove down anyway and began with his breath weapon. Glittering stars and dream-stuff ripped off the scales the the beast, and then the guppy opened it's mouth and the dragon was sucked in.

Being swallowed was indescribably horrific. Something nightmarish that was not helped at all by it being in the dream. The dragon endured though and ripped his way out before the constriction crushed him.

Fires raged inside his body, and the dragon clawed at the beast as his body burned brightly and mended slightly. It wasn't enough to really 'win' though, so with a flap of his wings the dragon disengaged from the guppy and moved back to repair.

The next day he returned in good health though, and followed the guppies trail again. Wounded as the creature was, it couldn't make it far. The thing had recovered some, but thanks to the dragon's claws the thing was still severely scarred.

That was enough for the dragon to basically swoop in and finish the job. The guppy still was monstrously strong of course. At this point though it's form was starting to lose cohesion and the dragon was able to finally overwhelm it.

Spoiler: Fight

Guppy lv 6
Guppy
Phantasm: 8
Speed: 4
Cohesion: 30
Ability: Gulp - Swallows enemy and prevents escape if their max cohesion is less the guppies current cohesion

You- Cohesion: 20, deal 8 first, then 6
Enemy - Cohesion: 30. Deal 8 after you.

e-22
u-12
e-16, Gulp no longer in effect.
u-4, ability triggers, 14
e-10
u-6
(You flee at this point.)
Recover, -14 gossamer
Find the next day. Enemy recovers 10/2 thanks to claws, 5. At 15

e- 7
u- 12
e-1
u-4, triggers, 14
Enemy dies.

Rewards 12-14+60=58

You have 148 Gossamer
You have 0 days until tribute
.
You also have:
A dream of gold.
Dragon's Horde: For every 10 gossamer you have, gain +1 Cohesion, to a max of your wonder.
Note, grafting dream can be used to adjust stats as well as adding abilities in the same action.

Tribute! How much are you giving?
[]