It's more that we want to graft and gather gossamer, and thus the morning slot is the only one open to do anything in the real world. Playing ball with Scott would be good too.
See here is my problem with this, why is that we must spend time in the real world this week when we know one week whitout real time is perfectly manageable and speding the morning with dream of wonder would alow us to graft another dream, wich would be way better or our action economy and thus free more time to do anything else ? Basicaly the way I see it we are spending time awake ust to spend time awake even tough it will worsen our ability to do things, inluding spenign time awake.
See here is my problem with this, why is that we must spend time in the real world this week when we know one week whitout real time is perfectly manageable and speding the morning with dream of wonder would alow us to graft another dream, wich would be way better or our action economy and thus free more time to do anything else ? Basicaly the way I see it we are spending time awake ust to spend time awake even tough it will worsen our ability to do things, inluding spenign time awake.
Three things; (1) the nebulous threat of health penalties from atrophy if we take too many sleeping actions, (2) the fact that waking world actions are a source of special events and information, and (3) there are at least a couple people who like the writing for those actions too.
The particular special event (or events) from Harold actions that would interest me involve testing out how he feels about our powers, using audacity as shield and cushion, then giving him a little evidence based on his reaction to that, and then if he reacts well to the little evidence telling/showing him all he cares to know about John's night job. Ideally, we would get an ally and spotter, instead of just someone who doesn't mind us sleeping. Maybe even someone who will look out for people who are having trouble sleeping, and tell us as a free action.
[X]Yes? (Will get her number and have the option to work together in evenings.)
[X]Sheriff's Star
[X]Watch the Monitors(Talk with Harold)
[X] Go Home
-[X] Graft dream
[X] Visit the dream city and bounty hunt
[X]Repair
What does the "Keep Teeth" vote mean? Why would we be losing or discarding any teeth?
Lost Star made a mistake, Devouring Teeth is a free action during battle that allows an instant kill of any opponent whose current cohesion, not phantasm is less than our wonder.
It became from incredibly overpowered to merely good.
So, we're allowed to replace it with a different dream if we want.
[][Teeth] Keep Teeth
is a vote to keep it, using the task system to separate it from the rest of the other votes. No one appears to want to replace it anyway, though, so it's likely to not be replaced.
I did not realize he had put it up to vote; only realized he asked an informal question, got an informal answer from a couple users, and then that was the end of it. Anyway, since you're here:
A dream of dragon fire: Mild damage reduction for some enemy types, might have let us flee last time. Any significant enemies are likely to have abilities of note, so a decent all-round pick. Also unlocks a shiny mystery box. A dream of a sheriff's star: Lets us collect bounties properly. Bounties seem to be the best for gossamer, so this is a good thing. A nightmare of glowing eyes: Damage reduction is good, but I'm worried about the social effects. A nightmare of cruel spite: Too slow for us to use most of the time. Stardust Wings: Malus effects haven't really come into play before, so I hesitate to call it useful. However, it does unlock an automatic ability to flee, which can save nice amounts of gossamer if we find something we're outmatched by. Devouring Teeth: Effectively doubles the alpha strike damage of Breath. Any enemies with cohesion equal to or less than double our wonder instantly die. Also, unlocks healing ability, which could give us a good return on gossamer. Mighty Tail: Crowd control based on Phantasm, as opposed to CC based on wonder. Dark Scales Real world capability. Also unlocks the sweet Scales upgrades that can lead to attacks of 5 or more being reduced by 3, and most attacks are 5 or more.
A dream of dragon fire: Remember this is only on the first turn; it would not have let us flee, although it might have prevented the rival from controlling his minions for the first turn. A dream of a sheriff's star: This is fine, but it will also have a couple side effects; if we enter someone's dream and solidify it like we did with Meria, it'll seem weird and out-of-place, and dream denizens are probably going to react to it sometimes. A nightmare of glowing eyes: Lost Star clarified this back when I did my analysis; we can choose whether to apply it or not, and the social effects are in our favor if used correctly. Stardust Wings: This isn't just for numeric maluses; it would have let us escape the fire battle by canceling the entrapment negative effect for a single turn of our choice. It also says "all possible malevolent effects", not just all possible malevolent battle effects; this could let us break curses or undo draining effects so long as we can start a battle with something. -Elder's Scales / -Impenetrable Scales: These are bad for the same reason "A nightmare of cruel spite" is bad; they're too slow. They would have the redeeming feature of being helpful against armies, but we already have 10 Wonder breath for that, and if we're up against armies of creatures strong enough to survive the breath, we'd be better off fleeing, getting Mighty Tail instead, or upgrading our breath instead.
A dream of dragon fire: Remember this is only on the first turn; it would not have let us flee, although it might have prevented the rival from controlling his minions for the first turn. A dream of a sheriff's star: This is fine, but it will also have a couple side effects; if we enter someone's dream and solidify it like we did with Meria, it'll seem weird and out-of-place, and dream denizens are probably going to react to it sometimes. A nightmare of glowing eyes: Lost Star clarified this back when I did my analysis; we can choose whether to apply it or not, and the social effects are in our favor if used correctly. Stardust Wings: This isn't just for numeric maluses; it would have let us escape the fire battle by canceling the entrapment negative effect for a single turn of our choice. It also says "all possible malevolent effects", not just all possible malevolent battle effects; this could let us break curses or undo draining effects so long as we can start a battle with something. -Elder's Scales / -Impenetrable Scales: These are bad for the same reason "A nightmare of cruel spite" is bad; they're too slow. They would have the redeeming feature of being helpful against armies, but we already have 10 Wonder breath for that, and if we're up against armies of creatures strong enough to survive the breath, we'd be better off fleeing, getting Mighty Tail instead, or upgrading our breath instead.
A dream of a sheriff's star:Wait, it has side effects? Citation please? I can't find this searching all posts by Lost Star. Nevermind, it's not something explicit. Though frankly, dream denizens are really weird, so I'm not sure they would really care too much. A nightmare of glowing eyes: I withdraw my objections then. Stardust Wings: I didn't realize it could disable non-numeric maluses, that makes it significantly better. The escape option will also be good for hunting down rivals, because some of those might have speed higher than 9. -Elder's Scales / -Impenetrable Scales: If we don't hoard properly, our statline is greatly reduced. Unless we consistently get large bounties like the Thin Ape, we aren't going to be able to hoard properly and win the Dream-catcher contest each month.
Or, actually, we could spend on phantasm. I forget we can spend on stats a lot of the time, honestly.
Currently, I think that we should probably do a lot of dreams of wonder and bounty hunting, using Meria collaboration as our grounding action most of the time, and get the first breath and wings upgrades, and glowing eyes, as well as hoarding and using the overflow of our hoard to raise Phantasm. Then go hunt down a rival, probably the fire one because he pissed us off. After that, Dark Scales might be a good pick as it is real world capability that doesn't waste a dream-catcher reward, and possibly the second wings upgrade if we want to continue rival hunting, because some of them might be faster than us. We know that fire and the atom are definitely slower, though. If we start to see a significant amount of swarms, Nightmares of Eaten might be useful. For dream-catcher rewards, I think wonder is best, because Dark Scales should be all the capability we need for the real world. Wonder is a limited resource as well, and it boosts our hoarding bonii and AOE.
Currently, I think that we should probably do a lot of dreams of wonder and bounty hunting, using Meria collaboration as our grounding action most of the time, and get the first breath and wings upgrades, and glowing eyes, as well as hoarding and using the overflow of our hoard to raise Phantasm. Then go hunt down a rival, probably the fire one because he pissed us off. After that, Dark Scales might be a good pick as it is real world capability that doesn't waste a dream-catcher reward, and possibly the second wings upgrade if we want to continue rival hunting, because some of them might be faster than us. We know that fire and the atom are definitely slower, though. If we start to see a significant amount of swarms, Nightmares of Eaten might be useful. For dream-catcher rewards, I think wonder is best, because Dark Scales should be all the capability we need for the real world. Wonder is a limited resource as well, and it boosts our hoarding bonii and AOE.
I would prefer we not get too distracted with upgrades; they're nice, but we shouldn't forget that they are tools, rather than ends. I would much prefer it if we could start exploring regularly; we raised Wonder ourselves by finding and exploring the city, learned a lot about the setting by finding the Angel's Vault, and both the Dream Catcher and our Mirror implied there are far greater things to be found deeper in the dream realm.
[X] Yes? (Will get her number and have the option to work together in evenings.)
[X] Mighty Tail
[X] Watch the Monitors(Talk with Harold)
[X] Go Home
-[X] Graft dream
[X] Visit the dream city and bounty hunt
[X] Repair
[X] [Teeth] Keep Teeth
[X]Yes? (Will get her number and have the option to work together in evenings.)
[X]Sheriff's Star
[X]Watch the Monitors(Talk with Harold)
[X] Go Home
-[X] Graft dream
[X] Visit the dream city and bounty hunt
[X]Repair
[X][Teeth] Keep Teeth
[X]Yes? (Will get her number and have the option to work together in evenings.)
[X]Sheriff's Star
[X]Watch the Monitors(Talk with Harold)
[X] Go Home
-[X] Graft dream
[X] Visit the dream city and bounty hunt
[X]Repair
[X][Teeth] Keep Teeth
[X]Yes? (Will get her number and have the option to work together in evenings.)
[X]Sheriff's Star
[X]Watch the Monitors(Talk with Harold)
"Merry Christmas John." Harold muttered as John entered.
"Not Christmas yet." The man answered with a grin. "Thanks fro the thought."
"Close enough. We got next two weeks off." Harold laughed a bit. "Got some holiday doughnuts for you." He pointed towards the box to the side.
"You sure you didn't get it for yourself there?" John shot back with a laugh of his own and found a seat.
"I'm cutting back!" Harold stated and crossed his heart.
"Sure you are." John leaned back in his seat with a teasing smile.
"I might grab a few." Harold admitted casually and then changed the subject. "What are you doing for the holiday."
"Not much. Don't got family aside from mom, and she's..." John made a face. "I grew up with just her you know? She did a lot for me, but now that I'm out, well she's doing her own thing. I think she booked a vacation to Florida for this holiday."
"Oh that sucks." Harold commiserated. "I know how spending the holidays can get. If you want, let me know and I can get you a seat at my table."
"Doing what?" John raised an eyebrow.
"Make a feast of course! Might be a divorced man, but I still throw a mean party when I want to." Harold chuckled. "Always have a few friends show up, so you're welcome to as well."
"That sounds like something." John didn't know if he wanted to do it honestly. Christmas dreams could get really interesting.
"No pressure man. Do what you like." Harold nodded. "Now, grab a doughnut and get your earplugs. We're doing caroling now." He pulled out a small bell and hefted himself out of his seat.
"You're joking." John looked at the man with wide eyes.
"Not a chance!" Harold chortled. "This is the one time being fat works for me!" He pulled a robe out from under the desk. A bright red one. "Oh, and you're the elf." He pulled out a small green vest.
John's look of horror had to be seen to be believed.
[X] Go Home
-[X] Graft dream
[X] Visit the dream city and bounty hunt
[X] Repair
[X][Teeth] Keep Teeth.
This particular bounty was a group of five multicolored penguins. Yes, the dragon had given the bounty a double take when he saw it. Five penguins in different colors. Red, yellow, blue, green, and pink Called the Five Penguin Menace, they were wanted for massive amounts of property damage, disruption of licensed scares, grand theft auto, and jaywalking.
The dragon hadn't had any trouble actually finding them fortunately. They were loud, obnoxious, and particularly obvious in their bright colors. He'd actually been lucky enough to locate them in the middle of driving down the street in a stolen convertible. At least he assumed it was stolen. The radio was blaring so loud that his ears rang as he dropped in on them. Then the car was dissolved as he breathed on the entire mob of them. The penguins tumbled through the air in a skidding tumbling, and honestly comical tumble.
For a moment, the dragon thought that was it as they lay twitching on the ground. Then in flash of cheesy colors and techno music they all stood up in poses that made the dragon blink.
"Prism Penguins unite!" The poses shifted into a team pose straight out of old power ranger tv shows.
"You've gotta be kidding me." This was the first time the dragon had ever done the equivalent of a face-palm.
"There are no jokes here evildoer!" The red penguin. "Only righteous vengeance!"
"Yeah, no." The dragon lashed out with a claw at the leading penguin.
"Noooo!" The pink penguin intercepted the strike in a slow lunge that somehow got there in time. The dragon had watched her do it in slow motion, and yet he couldn't avoid her.
"Pink! No!" The red penguin shouted out in despair.
"I'm ok!" The pink penguin gasped out.
"Ok, we're not doing this." The dragon stated flatly and bit at the pink penguin. Chains appeared around her.
"No, we cannot allow this! Prism Penguins, call forth the Pengdons!"
"Wait, what? Oh no, no. You don't get that." The dragon hissed out, and then winced as he was forced to actually watch a cinematic sequence of a series of robot penguins coming from the wilderness. "You have no idea how tempted I am to have penguin for dinner." He muttered as an honest to god transformation sequence involving penguin robots.
"And I'll form the head!" The red penguin finished the cinema sequence and the dragon finally found himself back in control.
That ranked up there with weird sequences. The dragon bared his teeth, and then paused and looked up, and up. Ok, someone was playing with perspectives. The robot was three times his height.
"Form Blazing Gun!" The red penguin continued and the massive robot formed a very large glowing gun.
"That's... Not the same thing as the shows you're copying." The dragon pointed out quite reasonably.
"Reason, in dream city?!" The red penguin laughed loudly. "Where do you think you are?!" The robot donned pointed sunglasses. "This! Is! Dream! CITY!" He fired the gun.
The dragon did attempt to dodge, but he instead found himself flying clear across the city for a far longer time than he expected, and landing in front of a TV shop. Irritation turned to rage when he realized that his fight was being broadcast on it. With cheesy dubs and a clearly fake voice overlay.
"Curse you Prism Penguins!" The ridiculous and overly villainous voice called out loudly as he was blasted away.
The dragon gave a full body twitch of rage.
---
AN: You've encountered your first 'difficult' bounty. These guys are worth a lot, but they have 'special' mechanics. In this case they use a narrative defense. Break that and you can actually initiate combat and defeat them. Also, once a month you'll now have the evening taken working with Meria. It will be done at the end of the month unless you state otherwise.
Idea to break defense? If you don't have something, you can simply pass on this bounty.
[]
[X] Genre Shift
-[X] Spaghetti Western
-[X] Suggested Costume: White Cowboy Hat; Jodhpurs; Crocodile Cowboy Boots w/ our clawed toes sticking out; two handguns with dragon heads on the muzzles; Sheriff Star.
-[X] Rough Dialogue Suggestion: *grizzled smoking westerner voice* Now ye varmints have bin harassin' the innocents of this here town fer too long. Horse thievin', robbery, carousin' in the middle of the night, ruinin' people's carousin' in the middle of the night, and recklessly walking in front of carriages. Y'all 'r' just one step away from murder. Now, are ya gonna come in quietly, or will I have ta chain ye up?
[X] Genre Shift
-[X] Spaghetti Western
-[X] Suggested Costume: White Cowboy Hat; Jodhpurs; Crocodile Cowboy Boots w/ our clawed toes sticking out; two handguns with dragon heads on the muzzles; Sheriff Star.
-[X] Rough Dialogue Suggestion: *grizzled smoking westerner voice* Now ye varmints have bin harassin' the innocents of this here town fer too long. Horse thievin', robbery, carousin' in the middle of the night, ruinin' people's carousin' in the middle of the night, and recklessly walking in front of carriages. Y'all 'r' just one step away from murder. Now, are ya gonna come in quietly, or will I have ta chain ye up?
[X] Character Shift
-[X] Mysterious rival
-[X] Suggested Costume: Sunglasses, flowing navy scarf, useless but impressive looking armor plates of the legs.
-[X] Suggested Dialog: *Bored emo voice* Ugh, I don't have time for this. I'm on a mission and if you idiots are going to get in my way then I guess I'll have to take you down first.
The idea here is that the mysterious anti-hero always heats up the happy-go-lucky protagonists in their first meeting to establish what a badass he is.
It's probably a better idea to find some more gradual means of changing the narrative.
[X] Plan Aesop Offense
-[X] A common theme of the types of shows that do this are teaching lessons about Friendship and Doing the Right Thing, or sometimes even Very Special Episodes where the normal theme of the show is shattered to talk about something else; take advantage of this.
-[X] You are an ideal candidate for a lesson about "Not Judging People For Their Looks" and they are ideal candidates for "Careless Action Can Hurt People".
--[X] Get into a position nearby where the Prism Penguins are making a mess, then the moment the "camera" focuses on you, start a narration/soliloquy.
---[X] Draw attention to the scenery or denizens damaged by the Prism Penguins carelessness, then go into how you were only trying to help those poor people who [have to clean up after / get hurt by (depending on what's happening in the example)] the Penguins; show regret or even sorrow over how the penguins are only weakening themselves by misunderstanding you.
--[X] At this point, the narrative should have noticeably shifted in response, if not, go back to a vote, but if so;
---[X] Approach the Prism Penguins, pleading with them, trying to show them what they're doing and the lives they hurt.
----[X] If they ignore you, laugh at you, or otherwise dismiss the lesson you're trying to teach, begrudgingly tell them that you're going to have to bring them in, and you wish you didn't have to do this. This should be enough to enter battle properly, dramatic timing and all.
----[X] If they start playing into the narrative, this might actually be worse for you, because they might retake control of the narrative or "reform their ways" and escape. You'll need to make sure their "contrition" actually leads back to the Sheriff; probably by making them apologize to each of those they've wronged...including the Sheriff, in his office.
I would very much like critique or cutting down for this vote; it's too long and I'm not sure I understand the idea quite well enough. I do not actually watch these shows.
[X] Plan Dramatic Reveal
-[X] Inform the Penguins that they are not the heroes of this story.
-[X] Inform the Penguins they are in fact villains. Minor ones at that.
- [X] Provide proof of the above, including their bounties and the list of their crimes, and the damage they've done to the city and citizens they claim to protect.
-[X] Actions afterward will depend on how they react.
-------[X] If denial, we take on the role of the heroic dragon defending the realm and standing against the evil penguins.
-------[X] If penguins accept / cannot deny the truth and become villains, still become heroic dragon and play it up to the conventions of the genre.
-------[X] If penguins accept the truth and wish to atone, find ways to help them do so. Find out rules of the city regarding criminals and what can be done as 'community service.'
[X] Plan Aesop Offense
This is probably going to be ridiculously silly, but I doubt they have more than 20 cohesion apiece.
Wait, @Lost Star, is our graft action considered before or after the bounty hunting?
Did we carry it out, if we did, what did we do, and how much gossamer do we have left?
I'm guessing we grafted both abilities only, and have 57 gossamer at full health?
69 last week + 10 Dream -20 Two ability graft -2 repair
Technically the graft takes all week. Practically I have it done at the beginning of the week. Mostly because I'm nice like that and it's a bit easier. You're down 20 gossamer, so you're at 47 gossamer.
[X] Genre Shift
-[X] Spaghetti Western
-[X] Suggested Costume: White Cowboy Hat; Jodhpurs; Crocodile Cowboy Boots w/ our clawed toes sticking out; two handguns with dragon heads on the muzzles; Sheriff Star.
-[X] Rough Dialogue Suggestion: *grizzled smoking westerner voice* Now ye varmints have bin harassin' the innocents of this here town fer too long. Horse thievin', robbery, carousin' in the middle of the night, ruinin' people's carousin' in the middle of the night, and recklessly walking in front of carriages. Y'all 'r' just one step away from murder. Now, are ya gonna come in quietly, or will I have ta chain ye up?
Dreams do not work through logic. But we got pretty good with twisting the dream scenery when we were performing at the theater.
[X] Genre Shift
-[X] Spaghetti Western
-[X] Suggested Costume: White Cowboy Hat; Jodhpurs; Crocodile Cowboy Boots w/ our clawed toes sticking out; two handguns with dragon heads on the muzzles; Sheriff Star.
-[X] Rough Dialogue Suggestion: *grizzled smoking westerner voice* Now ye varmints have bin harassin' the innocents of this here town fer too long. Horse thievin', robbery, carousin' in the middle of the night, ruinin' people's carousin' in the middle of the night, and recklessly walking in front of carriages. Y'all 'r' just one step away from murder. Now, are ya gonna come in quietly, or will I have ta chain ye up?
Adhoc vote count started by Lost Star on Jul 26, 2017 at 7:32 PM, finished with 13 posts and 11 votes.
[X] Genre Shift
-[X] Spaghetti Western
-[X] Suggested Costume: White Cowboy Hat; Jodhpurs; Crocodile Cowboy Boots w/ our clawed toes sticking out; two handguns with dragon heads on the muzzles; Sheriff Star.
-[X] Rough Dialogue Suggestion: *grizzled smoking westerner voice* Now ye varmints have bin harassin' the innocents of this here town fer too long. Horse thievin', robbery, carousin' in the middle of the night, ruinin' people's carousin' in the middle of the night, and recklessly walking in front of carriages. Y'all 'r' just one step away from murder. Now, are ya gonna come in quietly, or will I have ta chain ye up?
[X] Plan Aesop Offense
-[X] A common theme of the types of shows that do this are teaching lessons about Friendship and Doing the Right Thing, or sometimes even Very Special Episodes where the normal theme of the show is shattered to talk about something else; take advantage of this.
-[X] You are an ideal candidate for a lesson about "Not Judging People For Their Looks" and they are ideal candidates for "Careless Action Can Hurt People".
--[X] Get into a position nearby where the Prism Penguins are making a mess, then the moment the "camera" focuses on you, start a narration/soliloquy.
---[X] Draw attention to the scenery or denizens damaged by the Prism Penguins carelessness, then go into how you were only trying to help those poor people who [have to clean up after / get hurt by (depending on what's happening in the example)] the Penguins; show regret or even sorrow over how the penguins are only weakening themselves by misunderstanding you.
--[X] At this point, the narrative should have noticeably shifted in response, if not, go back to a vote, but if so;
---[X] Approach the Prism Penguins, pleading with them, trying to show them what they're doing and the lives they hurt.
----[X] If they ignore you, laugh at you, or otherwise dismiss the lesson you're trying to teach, begrudgingly tell them that you're going to have to bring them in, and you wish you didn't have to do this. This should be enough to enter battle properly, dramatic timing and all.
----[X] If they start playing into the narrative, this might actually be worse for you, because they might retake control of the narrative or "reform their ways" and escape. You'll need to make sure their "contrition" actually leads back to the Sheriff; probably by making them apologize to each of those they've wronged...including the Sheriff, in his office.
[X] Character Shift
-[X] Mysterious rival
-[X] Suggested Costume: Sunglasses, flowing navy scarf, useless but impressive looking armor plates of the legs.
-[X] Suggested Dialog: *Bored emo voice* Ugh, I don't have time for this. I'm on a mission and if you idiots are going to get in my way then I guess I'll have to take you down first.
[X] Plan Dramatic Reveal
-[X] Inform the Penguins that they are not the heroes of this story.
-[X] Inform the Penguins they are in fact villains. Minor ones at that.
- [X] Provide proof of the above, including their bounties and the list of their crimes, and the damage they've done to the city and citizens they claim to protect.
-[X] Actions afterward will depend on how they react.
-------[X] If denial, we take on the role of the heroic dragon defending the realm and standing against the evil penguins.
-------[X] If penguins accept / cannot deny the truth and become villains, still become heroic dragon and play it up to the conventions of the genre.
-------[X] If penguins accept the truth and wish to atone, find ways to help them do so. Find out rules of the city regarding criminals and what can be done as 'community service.'
[X] Plan Aesop Offense
-[X] A common theme of the types of shows that do this are teaching lessons about Friendship and Doing the Right Thing, or sometimes even Very Special Episodes where the normal theme of the show is shattered to talk about something else; take advantage of this.
-[X] You are an ideal candidate for a lesson about "Not Judging People For Their Looks" and they are ideal candidates for "Careless Action Can Hurt People".
--[X] Get into a position nearby where the Prism Penguins are making a mess, then the moment the "camera" focuses on you, start a narration/soliloquy.
---[X] Draw attention to the scenery or denizens damaged by the Prism Penguins carelessness, then go into how you were only trying to help those poor people who [have to clean up after / get hurt by (depending on what's happening in the example)] the Penguins; show regret or even sorrow over how the penguins are only weakening themselves by misunderstanding you.
--[X] At this point, the narrative should have noticeably shifted in response, if not, go back to a vote, but if so;
---[X] Approach the Prism Penguins, pleading with them, trying to show them what they're doing and the lives they hurt.
----[X] If they ignore you, laugh at you, or otherwise dismiss the lesson you're trying to teach, begrudgingly tell them that you're going to have to bring them in, and you wish you didn't have to do this. This should be enough to enter battle properly, dramatic timing and all.
----[X] If they start playing into the narrative, this might actually be worse for you, because they might retake control of the narrative or "reform their ways" and escape. You'll need to make sure their "contrition" actually leads back to the Sheriff; probably by making them apologize to each of those they've wronged...including the Sheriff, in his office.
The next time the Dragon approached, he did so after observing the penguins for a time. There was a method to their madness annoyingly enough. This was how the dream was really. You had to remember that, or you would be lost. The dream realm wasn't a world where physics applied. In fact, physics and reason were actively spat at. To expect this reality to function the same as that reality was where the true madness lie.
So, to defeat the penguins, he had to defeat them at their own game. They were heroes who had a narrative that they always 'won.' Like the old shows that had the cheesy transformation poses and the fake monsters.
Fortunately there was a weakness in that. They had to be 'good guys.' The casual property damage was typically ignored in scenarios like this, but he could push them to acknowledge it. He also had to basically push them towards the sheriff's office. Which would be a bit harder. Unless he stacked the odds a bit.
On one of their joyrides he swooped down right in front of them. The car stopped suddenly, and the red penguin immediately jumped atop the hood of the car. Which was actually rather impressive jump wise since he had been driving.
"I see you have not learned your lesson evildoer!" The penguin began.
"Me? The evildoer!?" The dragon gasped. "All I was doing was enjoying my day! Look at the destruction you caused you sorry excuse for heroes!" The dragon pointed behind them.
Admittedly half of the damage was their doing. The car crashes were definitely. The pole had been 'nudged' a bit by the dragon. The girl with the spilled ice-cream was definitely their fault.
"Gasp! Red, how could you?!" The yellow penguin literally said gasp by the way.
"Hey, wait a minute! I didn't hit the pole!" Red protested.
"So you admit to the rest?" The dragon asked with pitying expression. "Shame shame shame."
"He's got a point Red." The blue penguin commented. "You have been a bit bad with the driving."
"No Blue, not you too!" The red penguin gasped out in shock. "We were having fun guys, right Pink?" The pink penguin gave a sniff and turned away. "NoooooOooooOooooo!!!" The red penguin fell to his knees. "I am sorry my friends, I can fix this!"
The red penguin blurred from sight and the cars that had crashed were suddenly fixed in a cloud of smoke. The pole was pushed into the proper position and then duck taped. The red penguin then brought the crying girl a new ice-cream cone.
"But, but, this isn't what I had." The girl sobbed out.
"What?!" The red penguin squawked. "You little!" He paused as the dragon grinned widely and looked from him to the girl.
There had been a chance that something like this would have happened. They could have changed it to the merit of hard work or something like that. But here, here was the full trap. And they had fallen into it.
"What sort of icecream did you have?" The red penguin he asked.
"I had a super-double-mega-deluxe sunday with ten scoops of of flavor, whipped cream, hot chocolate, crushed nuts, sprinkles, and a cherry on top." The girl cried out and her tears dripped to the ground.
The penguin looked at the double scoops of icecream on the ground. Then trembled. "I suppose I can get it..." He muttered and pulled out a wallet from nowhere. A buzzing moth flew out of it as he opened it. "Uh, guys, could I get a few bucks?"
"Out." "Broke!" "You already owe me ten!" "Sorry Red."
"Ahaha. I don't suppose you'd want something else? I can give you a ride?" Red gestured to the car, which suddenly began to leak smoke.
The dragon whistled innocently. He hadn't done anything, no sir. He had been watched the entire time after all.
"I want my icecream!" The girl began to cry. "You're not a hero at all!"
Red fell over clutching his chest. "No! Please no!"
"I hate you!" The girl stomped her foot.
"Ahhh!" The red penguin cried out in fake agony.
"I do believe you're bothering the girl now young man." The dragon stated ominously as he loomed over the penguin. "I'm afraid you and your friends will have to come down to the station for some questions."
For a moment, the dragon was afraid they were going to protest, but a fresh round of crying from the girl and the growing crowd made them give in. Their narrative had been shifted, and as dependent as they were on something like is, this potent a turnaround made it impossible for them to resist.
The dragon brought them to the station with quite a bit of pride. Then shared an icecream with the girl he had bribed to cry at the scene. The girl ate like a pig by they way. Half of his prize was gone just like that, and the icecream treat they had bought was not a cheap one.
Ah well. He had managed the entire thing without fighting at least. It was something interesting, and did give him some interesting ideas.
----
+150 Gossamer
-New ability: Dream Sequence - Takes 'control' of a sleeping person's dream. You can make them play a memory or a scenario and observe what happens. Has it's uses, but it's still a dream, and the dreamer has as much control as they would have in normal dreams. Free to cast. When used on someone with Lucid Dreams, it initiates a narrative battle. Victory gives you temporary control of their thoughts.
21 days till tribute.
You have 200 Gossamer.
You have not helped Meria this month yet.
Vacation time will free up your daytime action at the end of this week for two weeks.
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.)
[] Nap and use Dream of Wonder (Which upgrade?)
[] 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 ____
