EtchedSteel
*mumble mumble*
- Location
- Lima. Peru
[x] Go to sleep.
To the dream realm we go!
To the dream realm we go!
Glory of the Emerald Empire (Legend of the 5 Rings Quest)
- Thread starter Winged Knight
- Start date
- Fantasy
If they perceive the threat as much lower than it actually is it is possible that they might want to sabotage our mission in a way that it weakens the crab while strengthening the scorpion. After all, the Crab always think the Shadowlands are going to attack.
But honestly, our particular mission? Unlikely to be really targeted. Jade is not of particularly use against the Scorpion. If the Shadowlands are truly to attack, us getting it is of great importance for all the clans. If it's just Crab single-tracked obsession, it just help keep the taint at bay while the Crab loses face for have cried wolf. If anything they are likely to help us in a way that it cost the clan a lot in things that don't take away from the defense of the wall.
The Sandman
So Zetta Slowpoke
- Location
- Wherever I am, which isn't where I'm not
[x] In the immortal words of that well-known samurai Samuel L. Jackson, go the fuck to sleep.
Cannongerbil
I came here to nep at you
- Location
- Soviet Lunar Base
[x] Go to bed.
Winged Knight
Still just a crazy man with a wolf on his head
- Location
- Texas
Well, Mr. Jackson did indeed voice a particularly famous Ronin…
EtchedSteel
*mumble mumble*
- Location
- Lima. Peru
And then Sosuke dreamed about defeating JUSTICE, and started to find stuffed bears... unsettling.
All while a Scorpion samurai with some strange musical box started to follow his group and to talk to him, and only him.
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Winged Knight
Still just a crazy man with a wolf on his head
- Location
- Texas
I apologize for the lack of an update today. I've been having ISP and Cloudflare issues for the last several hours, which has prevented me from connecting to SV. Thanks to the kind folks over on the Rolz chat I found I way to connect, but it's late over here and I've been futzing with this for so long I didn't get the chance to write the update. Again, I'm sorry for that. I'll have the update written up for you all tomorrow as soon as I finish work.
Thank you all for your patience. I really appreciate both it and your continued participation in this Quest of mine. I'm glad people have been enjoying it enough to keep coming back with votes and commentary. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
Thank you all for your patience. I really appreciate both it and your continued participation in this Quest of mine. I'm glad people have been enjoying it enough to keep coming back with votes and commentary. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
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Don't worry, shit happens. Relax and take your time.
2.33
Winged Knight
Still just a crazy man with a wolf on his head
- Location
- Texas
[x] Go to bed.
Your eyelids are drooping, and your movements have noticeably slowed down compared to even just an hour ago. You nod your head an accept facts. You're tired, and you've really got no reason left to stay awake. Now is the time to go to sleep.
You make your way back to your room, noting that the hallway is much darker now as the few candles that are set into the walls have been snuffed out. This is likely to better preserve them, as candles can become quite costly. But in any event, you make your way back to your room without issue.
Yawning, you slip out of your clothes and move under the covers. The bed is not particularly soft, but you wouldn't say it is uncomfortable either. It is… austere. Yes, that is the best word. It is like many things you've seen in Shinden Osano-wo. It is built for base function rather than luxury.
The thought makes you smile. In its own way, that makes the bed and the temple itself surprisingly honest. It is something you can appreciate.
And on that pleasant note, you close your eyes and swiftly fall asleep.
Before you is a man in fine, crimson robes weeping over the bodies of a young boy and a young girl. The children barely seem to be old enough to have completed their Gempukku, and are clad in armor. But that armor is rent open, and their blood has pooled across the ground. Grey has filled their open eyes, and it is obvious they are dead.
"Michiko," the man wails. "Taru! Please… You can't… It can't end like this!"
From a glance you can see a resemblance between the man and the children. He is their father, and he is mourning their loss. You turn to look away, but before you do you see a little girl walk up to the man. She is smiling, but there is something… off about it. Your unease only grows when a little boy and another girl walk up on different sides of the man, all sharing that same smile.
"You can bring them back, you know?" the children all speak at once. "You can be with them again."
"How?" the man asks. He looks up, and you can see in better times his face is likely stern and regal. Now, though, grief and tears have marred his expression. The man is a shell of what he once was. "Please, tell me! I will do anything!"
"Just do as you have been, Kohsa-sama," the children all said in unison. Their smiles widened. "You must get more blood."
The man and children fade away, revealing an image that would have made you recoil if you had a body. Kyosuke, the madman behind all the Crab's recent troubles, is grappling with a short, petite woman who barely even came up to his chest. Their hands are locked on each other's shoulders, the ground around them torn up in their struggle. But despite this, the dark lord barely found any purchase as he fights against her.
She is a pretty woman, if getting on in years. Her black hair is tied tightly into a bun, and there were streaks of gray in its expanse. She is a small thing, but in her eyes you see strength so great it could topple mountains. This is a woman with a will stronger than steel, and she pits that will against the dark power of the Shadowlands warlord as their struggle continues.
But that is secondary to the most extraordinary thing you see about her. The air shimmers in her presence, a heat haze whipped up by a tornado. Within those winds there is clumps of earth and streams of water, all coming together as one. You feel shock reverberate through your formless body as realization strikes you.
This woman is surrounded by so many kami they can be seen with the naked eye, you think in bewilderment. Is such a thing even possible?
"I am the true Lord of the Shadowlands now!" Kyosuke roars. "You will ruin us, holding on to the past!"
"What once was shall be again," the woman says, the air roiling around her and the earth trembling. "I have foreseen it."
"Your visions are lies, Narako!" Kyosuke howls, leveraging more of his weight upon her. Narako's knees buckle, and she bends back. "I make my own truth, and with it my own world!" He leans his masked face in closer. "And if you are not with me, you are against me! There is no place for you in my world any more!"
The struggling figures vanish, and you find yourself surrounded by darkness. No… This is something deeper than darkness. The blackness that encompasses this new space is more than just shadow. It is absence. But it isn't absence like the Void, for that is all elements in unity while at the same time being nothing at all. This space… It is not space. It is simply… nothing.
You are drawn out of your musings as two giant balls of flame come into being before you. But no… That is not right. In the red light of those fires you see something connected to those raging infernos, stretching beyond them. You recoil despite your formlessness when you discover exactly what it is.
These are two huge, glowing eyes. Eyes connected to a vast, terrible face that blended in with the absolute emptiness that surrounds you. In that faint illumination you hear an immense, terrible breathing, and see something that looks like teeth as black as pitch.
The voice is incomprehensively vast, and goes so deep it hits you more like a physical blow rather than mere sound. The force of it reverberates through your very being, somehow holding substance while at the same time being its opposite. The power of this creature's speech, and the paradox it represents, sends spasms of pain coursing through your ethereal body. You scream soundlessly as the pressure of this… this… horror begins to eat away at you, begins to break down all that you are and everything that you will ever be.
You push against it, but it is no use. Everything that makes you who you are is being drowned out by the enormous, terrible will of the being before you. You are like a grain of sand being swept away in the tide. No… You are even less than that. You are nothing.
And nothing is all that will remain.
You rush over to the weapons rack and pull out your tetsubo, brandishing it against the darkness. But there is nothing there. All you see is the room prepared for you, and the first rays of dawn through the small windows set in the walls. No enemies exist for you to fight, no face to give your fear.
"I am Hiruma Sosuke," you mutter to yourself like a mantra. "Of the Crab Clan. I am Hiruma Sosuke, of the Crab clan.
You speak the words again and again, solidifying your identity in your mind. Slowly, ever so slowly, you feel your panic fade away and rational thought begin to take hold again. You have just been sleeping, tucked away in a guest room of Shinden Osano-wo. You are not in danger. You are safe.
But even as you calm down, you cannot help a niggling thought as it worms its way through your mind.
Am I truly?
[] Write in.
Your eyelids are drooping, and your movements have noticeably slowed down compared to even just an hour ago. You nod your head an accept facts. You're tired, and you've really got no reason left to stay awake. Now is the time to go to sleep.
You make your way back to your room, noting that the hallway is much darker now as the few candles that are set into the walls have been snuffed out. This is likely to better preserve them, as candles can become quite costly. But in any event, you make your way back to your room without issue.
Yawning, you slip out of your clothes and move under the covers. The bed is not particularly soft, but you wouldn't say it is uncomfortable either. It is… austere. Yes, that is the best word. It is like many things you've seen in Shinden Osano-wo. It is built for base function rather than luxury.
The thought makes you smile. In its own way, that makes the bed and the temple itself surprisingly honest. It is something you can appreciate.
And on that pleasant note, you close your eyes and swiftly fall asleep.
o\O/o
You are formless and shapeless, floating in the ether without any way to interact with the world. It is a disconcerting feeling, to feel nothing. You are like the air itself, flowing this way and that without impediment. But even still you have eyes to see and ears to hear, and as you float images come into focus.
Before you is a man in fine, crimson robes weeping over the bodies of a young boy and a young girl. The children barely seem to be old enough to have completed their Gempukku, and are clad in armor. But that armor is rent open, and their blood has pooled across the ground. Grey has filled their open eyes, and it is obvious they are dead.
"Michiko," the man wails. "Taru! Please… You can't… It can't end like this!"
From a glance you can see a resemblance between the man and the children. He is their father, and he is mourning their loss. You turn to look away, but before you do you see a little girl walk up to the man. She is smiling, but there is something… off about it. Your unease only grows when a little boy and another girl walk up on different sides of the man, all sharing that same smile.
"You can bring them back, you know?" the children all speak at once. "You can be with them again."
"How?" the man asks. He looks up, and you can see in better times his face is likely stern and regal. Now, though, grief and tears have marred his expression. The man is a shell of what he once was. "Please, tell me! I will do anything!"
"Just do as you have been, Kohsa-sama," the children all said in unison. Their smiles widened. "You must get more blood."
The man and children fade away, revealing an image that would have made you recoil if you had a body. Kyosuke, the madman behind all the Crab's recent troubles, is grappling with a short, petite woman who barely even came up to his chest. Their hands are locked on each other's shoulders, the ground around them torn up in their struggle. But despite this, the dark lord barely found any purchase as he fights against her.
She is a pretty woman, if getting on in years. Her black hair is tied tightly into a bun, and there were streaks of gray in its expanse. She is a small thing, but in her eyes you see strength so great it could topple mountains. This is a woman with a will stronger than steel, and she pits that will against the dark power of the Shadowlands warlord as their struggle continues.
But that is secondary to the most extraordinary thing you see about her. The air shimmers in her presence, a heat haze whipped up by a tornado. Within those winds there is clumps of earth and streams of water, all coming together as one. You feel shock reverberate through your formless body as realization strikes you.
This woman is surrounded by so many kami they can be seen with the naked eye, you think in bewilderment. Is such a thing even possible?
"I am the true Lord of the Shadowlands now!" Kyosuke roars. "You will ruin us, holding on to the past!"
"What once was shall be again," the woman says, the air roiling around her and the earth trembling. "I have foreseen it."
"Your visions are lies, Narako!" Kyosuke howls, leveraging more of his weight upon her. Narako's knees buckle, and she bends back. "I make my own truth, and with it my own world!" He leans his masked face in closer. "And if you are not with me, you are against me! There is no place for you in my world any more!"
The struggling figures vanish, and you find yourself surrounded by darkness. No… This is something deeper than darkness. The blackness that encompasses this new space is more than just shadow. It is absence. But it isn't absence like the Void, for that is all elements in unity while at the same time being nothing at all. This space… It is not space. It is simply… nothing.
You are drawn out of your musings as two giant balls of flame come into being before you. But no… That is not right. In the red light of those fires you see something connected to those raging infernos, stretching beyond them. You recoil despite your formlessness when you discover exactly what it is.
These are two huge, glowing eyes. Eyes connected to a vast, terrible face that blended in with the absolute emptiness that surrounds you. In that faint illumination you hear an immense, terrible breathing, and see something that looks like teeth as black as pitch.
I. SEE. YOU.
The voice is incomprehensively vast, and goes so deep it hits you more like a physical blow rather than mere sound. The force of it reverberates through your very being, somehow holding substance while at the same time being its opposite. The power of this creature's speech, and the paradox it represents, sends spasms of pain coursing through your ethereal body. You scream soundlessly as the pressure of this… this… horror begins to eat away at you, begins to break down all that you are and everything that you will ever be.
You push against it, but it is no use. Everything that makes you who you are is being drowned out by the enormous, terrible will of the being before you. You are like a grain of sand being swept away in the tide. No… You are even less than that. You are nothing.
And nothing is all that will remain.
o\O/o
You barely hold back a scream as you awake, clutching at your face with one hand and reached for your weapons with your other. But they are on the other side of the room, so you only grasp futilely as the terror rushes through you. You are breathing hard, and as you pull you hand away from your head you realize you are absolutely coated in sweat.
You rush over to the weapons rack and pull out your tetsubo, brandishing it against the darkness. But there is nothing there. All you see is the room prepared for you, and the first rays of dawn through the small windows set in the walls. No enemies exist for you to fight, no face to give your fear.
"I am Hiruma Sosuke," you mutter to yourself like a mantra. "Of the Crab Clan. I am Hiruma Sosuke, of the Crab clan.
You speak the words again and again, solidifying your identity in your mind. Slowly, ever so slowly, you feel your panic fade away and rational thought begin to take hold again. You have just been sleeping, tucked away in a guest room of Shinden Osano-wo. You are not in danger. You are safe.
But even as you calm down, you cannot help a niggling thought as it worms its way through your mind.
Am I truly?
[] Write in.
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The Sandman
So Zetta Slowpoke
- Location
- Wherever I am, which isn't where I'm not
[X] Write down the content of our dreams now, before they fade. Then do our standard morning routine in peaceful environs such as this: practice, bathe, eat, in that order. The familiarity will help calm us.
Okay, so the fucking Shadow Dragon has taken notice of us. That's totally not terrifying beyond all capacity for rational thought.
Okay, so the fucking Shadow Dragon has taken notice of us. That's totally not terrifying beyond all capacity for rational thought.
Dirtnap
Kanmusu Affecionado
We apparently have garnered the attention of things infinitely our better. This can only end in sunshine and rainbows.
[X] Write down the content of our dreams now, before they fade. Then do our standard morning routine in peaceful environs such as this: practice, bathe, eat, in that order. The familiarity will help calm us.
[X] Write down the content of our dreams now, before they fade. Then do our standard morning routine in peaceful environs such as this: practice, bathe, eat, in that order. The familiarity will help calm us.
[X] Write down the content of our dreams now, before they fade. Then do our standard morning routine in peaceful environs such as this: practice, bathe, eat, in that order. The familiarity will help calm us.
hey can we give the giant misunderstood shadow dragon of death a inspirational speech and turn him to the side of light.
hey can we give the giant misunderstood shadow dragon of death a inspirational speech and turn him to the side of light.
EtchedSteel
*mumble mumble*
- Location
- Lima. Peru
Oh yes. Dream sequences. Dark lords and stuff.
Fun times.
[] Write down the content of our dreams now, before they fade. Then do our standard morning routine in peaceful environs such as this: practice, bathe, eat, in that order. The familiarity will help calm us.
Should we tell to someone about this dream?
Fun times.
Should we tell to someone about this dream?
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[x] Write in:
I am...I am Hiruma Sosuke son of Hiruma Shinobou and Hiruma (nee Kaiu) Kana, servant of the Crab, student of the Hida Bushi.
I have served honourably and loyally. I have gone into the Shadowlands and slain it's servants, I have travelled with the Nezumi, and shared their hardships, and given the scream on the Wall that was needed.
I was given the chance to go to the Dragon lands by Hida Tanaka-sama himself.
I have met and helped a kitsune in need and received friendship in turn.
I have prayed to Osano-wo in the thunder and storm
I have vowed to face the future with his precepts in mind. Courage, Strength, Duty, Honour.
I know that no matter what that....Thing was, this is all true.
I am Hiruma Sosuke.
This is the truth of my pledge and as my family says:
A single flame against the darkness always burns brighter.
So I will burn brightly indeed.
---[x] Go about about my morning rituals, taking care to practice with my tetsubo.
This much is true.
I am...I am Hiruma Sosuke son of Hiruma Shinobou and Hiruma (nee Kaiu) Kana, servant of the Crab, student of the Hida Bushi.
I have served honourably and loyally. I have gone into the Shadowlands and slain it's servants, I have travelled with the Nezumi, and shared their hardships, and given the scream on the Wall that was needed.
I was given the chance to go to the Dragon lands by Hida Tanaka-sama himself.
I have met and helped a kitsune in need and received friendship in turn.
I have prayed to Osano-wo in the thunder and storm
I have vowed to face the future with his precepts in mind. Courage, Strength, Duty, Honour.
I know that no matter what that....Thing was, this is all true.
I am Hiruma Sosuke.
This is the truth of my pledge and as my family says:
A single flame against the darkness always burns brighter.
So I will burn brightly indeed.
---[x] Go about about my morning rituals, taking care to practice with my tetsubo.
This much is true.
CrossyCross
A+ RIDING
Interesting.
...also, all these dream sequences worrying the posters makes me regret the fact that the protags of my main quests are so powerful that shit like that doesn't work on them.
It looks fun to write, dammit.
[X] Write down the content of our dreams now, before they fade. Then do our standard morning routine in peaceful environs such as this: practice, bathe, eat, in that order. The familiarity will help calm us.
...also, all these dream sequences worrying the posters makes me regret the fact that the protags of my main quests are so powerful that shit like that doesn't work on them.
It looks fun to write, dammit.
[X] Write down the content of our dreams now, before they fade. Then do our standard morning routine in peaceful environs such as this: practice, bathe, eat, in that order. The familiarity will help calm us.
Cannongerbil
I came here to nep at you
- Location
- Soviet Lunar Base
[X] Write down the content of our dreams now, before they fade. Then do our standard morning routine in peaceful environs such as this: practice, bathe, eat, in that order. The familiarity will help calm us.
This is bad, right? Is there like something we can do about these dreams? One of the monks , or maybe a shugenja or something?
This is bad, right? Is there like something we can do about these dreams? One of the monks , or maybe a shugenja or something?
Winged Knight
Still just a crazy man with a wolf on his head
- Location
- Texas
Well, in the Shadowlands nightmares are expected. It's a part of the world where the literal Realm of Evil bleeds through and corrupts the landscape. Weird, frankly disturbing things like recurring nightmares are only to be expected.
That dream just now, though? Sosuke's got no clue what that was about. For all he knows it was a legit nightmare and he's freaking out for no reason.
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