[x] 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
[x] Hit the local bar
[x] Hunt for Gossamer: 5
whoops I saw it on the options list at the end and thought it must have lost the vote. my bad, given that was my only we must do this now action. I guess I will simply wait until I run into someone else's plan that I like better or maybe.
I like dream of wonder but the reason why we can nap is because we have good relations with Harold let's not lose those. I also think that we've grown enough that we can start hitting the higher targets.
[X] Watch the Monitors (Talk with Harold)
[X] Hit the local cafe
[X] Hunt for Gossamer 6
[X] Watch the Monitors (Talk with Harold)
[X] Hit the local cafe
[X] Hunt for Gossamer 6
It's probably for the best if we try and interact with real people a bit more. That might keep the whole "withering away" at bay, at least for a while longer.
"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.
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.
I was trying to go for [All] - [Cost to graft dream].
Giving consistently high amounts each month raises his overall opinion of us, rather than surprising him with a large amount intermittently.
Think the difference between somebody who serves you your meals and the person who occasionally invites you to feasts. Which are you more likely to leave in your will?
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
What is the use of dream-catcher's high opinion? The rules are laid out. The winner gets the benefits, the loser gets the penalty, the rest get nothing.
If the last winner fails to win today, what would a high opinion net him?
It's what we spent on the item last time, which means I think that it's a good amount. Speaking of our health recover action really saved us this time.
What is the use of dream-catcher's high opinion? The rules are laid out. The winner gets the benefits, the loser gets the penalty, the rest get nothing.
If the last winner fails to win today, what would a high opinion net him?
You can have an incredibly good chance of winning every month, or you can guarantee it every other month. We could have beaten the guy last month if we hadn't bought the dream, implying that our total then would have been enough to swamp him.
The dragon had always wondered a bit at the dream-catcher's choices of gathering points. It was always something different, and typically vaguely disturbing. Not that the thing was typically reassuring in the first place. The spider legs didn't really lend themselves to very friendly interactions. The dragon had built up a tolerance for it at least. It was probably a good thing in the end. Some nightmares could get quite terrifying and the dream-catcher's form was a bit of a introduction to that.
This time the gathering point was a series of stone pillars impossibly high. Each one of the candidates were perched atop one. Below them was a massive hurricane, and a light was inside it. The dream-catcher hadn't deigned to show it's legs this time. Just the light that shined brightly and pulsed. The effect ended up being like standing above a massive maw that stared back. The dragon was quite glad he wasn't afraid of heights.
"Once again. Your tribute." The light pulsed as the dream-catcher spoke over the howling wind.
The dragon opened his mouth and breathed out loudly. The gossamer flowed out in a torrent of glittering silver and gold. It wound out like pixie dust and fell down and down. His offering was the largest by a fair margin. He couldn't tell who had the least for once.
"One has given much. The rest... Acceptable." The dream-catcher paused a long moment. "There will be no punishment this time. Do not consider this mercy. I expect you to do more. Especially the ones who have chosen to gather more minions."
The dragon blinked and looked at his rivals. None of them betrayed anything, but that was very interesting. And potentially dangerous for all of them.
Before the dragon could think more, a bolt of lightning hit him. Thunder echoed across the dream and the dream-catcher's power surged through him.
The old times were times of magic. Times of incense and sacrifice. Times where blood and lives were cheap.
She remembered those times fondly. The smells and tastes. When the world was simple and the realm of dreams was gently touched by the realms of reality.
Ah, but those times were gone now. No prayers at midnight. No oracles to speak with. No more blood spilled at the altar. The once placid dream was growing filled and turbulent. The humans growing and cramming themselves together in cities.
It interacted... Oddly with the dream. For one as old as her, the cities were nothing special at first. That was changing. The pain and agony and misery in the cities were starting to cause ripples beyond normal.
The first time was really noticeable was when the industrial revolution started. Humans in cities had always had a mix of misery and pleasure in cities. Their dreams were often nightmarish frankly. The only places worse were the mines, and those were hell on earth and the dream. The lack of numbers kept it relatively normal typically.
Not so with cities.
The hopes and dreams echoed and built on themselves in the cities. Until it mashed together into this strange amalgam of hopes and dreams. Misery too. Especially misery. Children and adults slaving and dying in droves. A child's nightmare was sweet in it's impossibilities, and oh so vivid.
That aberration was something that had almost rivaled her when she discovered it. She had devoured it though. And become greater and more vigilant.
The next one had been strangled in the crib, and she feasted on it's succulent flesh like an animal. Unfortunately she could see patterns and know what was to come. More and more cities would start to occur. She was becoming heavy as well. The feasts were causing her to drop far faster than planned. She had no fear of what lied deep in the dream. The lord of all would welcome her as he did all things. She just didn't want it to happen so soon.
So she wove like she had done once long ago. She took a spider's web and had it catch the human's dreams. The dreams of terror and wonder stuck to the web and she built them up.
A dream city to handle a city of dreamers. Once she had the base, it built itself. Dreams stuck to it. Dreamers were influenced by it. Things started to live in it.
They were weak. Mokeries of humans and their heroes and villians. But they were amusing. She let them live thanks to that.
The humans in the world grew and population soared. The misery started to drop some and contentment started to flow into the dream. The city changed and become even greater. Something beyond what she had intended, but still pleasing to the eye. Especially the snacks involved.
Oh the snacks and the drama! The fear and delicious emotions! It was a grand piece of artwork and something she was quiet pleased with.
She wanted to destroy it, and wanted to save it. She wanted to eat it up, and make it last forever.
In the end, she looked upon a persistant work in the dream and pondered. What would the future hold after she left? Would she be forgotten like a dream, or remembered as a nightmare. Would she become something that inspiried, or become a terror that was whispered.
She spread her limbs and decided to weave something else again. The world was grand and vast. She could reach to every corner of the world. It was time to see what her legacy really would be. Would it be pleasing ruin, or horrific kindness?
"What do you think little dragon?" The dream-catcher laughed as the dragon snapped out of it, and John woke up.
-----
You have won this month's tribute.
You have 48 Gossamer
You have 28 days until tribute
You need to use graft dream to add the following:
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.
You have a partial dream:
Dragons Scales (1/3): Take -1 damage each time you take damage until at half health or below
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 ____
Write in actions are acceptable.
Dream-catcher Reward. Pick one.
[] Ability that effects the real world. (Sleeping Sanctuary: Sleepers in a particular 'warded' area are safe from harm. While there is a sleeper there, the area is extremely durable as well.)
[] Grafting session and a new draconic ability. (Will complete dragon scales for free)
[] +1 Wonder.
