logsinthenight | EVENT LOG: ENTER MR. SANDMAN (DREAMERS)

Entry tags:

EVENT LOG: ENTER MR. SANDMAN (DREAMERS)

characters: all characters that signed up as a dreamer for the event.
location: dreamland feat. beacon of the past.
date/time: november 16-29.
content: the dreamers investigate beacon as it once was.
warnings: psychological/existential horror. further cws will arise depending on the location; mods will cw tags appropriately, and you will too!

say your prayers, little one.

Hello, dreamers. Welcome to Beacon.

Below, each group has a toplevel ready and waiting for the investigation to begin. Feel free to tag in however to establish a tag order, and mod responses will begin once each character has tagged in. If you need a refresher on how the event will work, give the OOC info another read!

As for those of you in the ~~sin bin~~ opt out area...

The Beacon of the past isn't all too different from the Beacon of the present, frankly, except for a few notable exceptions. For one, it's far better lit: daylight leaves everything feels a lot brighter and more sensible than eternal night does. Several advertisements for community theater in the Invincible are hung up (Tryouts for the Ice Man Cometh! Cometh try your luck!) and minor lost and found posters are tacked to a community bulletin board nearby. Oh, and a merry little tune is playing on loop from a record player set up outside the Invincible.

It's cheerful, if not a little off-putting. But the signs of life are clear, even if the forest still looks darkly oppressive over yonder.

Additionally, since investigation threads 1) rely on mod responses, and 2) will likely move on the slow side given the nature of the event/size of the groups, if you would like to have your characters "mingle" in their assigned location, please feel free to write your own toplevels! We ask that you post them as separate toplevels not in response to the mod toplevels (so our inboxes don't get super flooded/we don't accidentally miss stuff). Remember that groups may only interact with each other during the event, but you're welcome to assume timey-wimey shenanigans to excuse why your characters are mingling instead of searching for clues—they do have two weeks in this dream, technically, and dreams are not always linear. If your investigation thread has not yet progressed to a point in which you've got enough of a handle on the setting to write a separate mingle starter, ask the mod you're working with! We'll fill you in on some OOC details so you can mingle accordingly while still allowing for characters to discover those details ICly in the investigation thread.

If you're still jonesing for more threading action during the event, we encourage you to check out the TDM!

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[Stone doesn't question the comment. He doesn't ignore it either, though. He considers the boat, dipping his bloody hand into the water to rinse it off, then shrugs and follows the other two. He doesn't know how to steer a boat, but maybe they do, and after all, he can still swim or fly and get everyone back to shore if need be.]

Smells like more metal, to me. Maybe a slightly different kind. Do we care about metal in dream-Beacon? I'd think we should look for people. If there's fish, there might be people.

[ it's a little easier when someone else suggests it, something mutual to follow so he can better fight his way out of the strange draw he feels toward pushing the boat out and dipping the oars into the waters. ]

Yeah, maybe-- I mean, I don't know that finding people matters that much. In a dream? Usually dreams are more about learning things. Or remembering things. Even if, say, we are trapped here somehow, having more people would only cause more confusion.

[ he looks to his companions again briefly before stepping over to check under the metal. while he doesn't want to seem outright doubtful, he did arrive here from the year 2019, and fact checking seems to be a necessary part of daily life on Earth now. there is indeed something under the sheet metal.

eliot will remember that. ]

There's construction materials. [ mines aren't usually about those. mines are usually about bare minimum structures to prevent disturbing the earth too much, even while digging ridiculously large tunnels to acquire raw material. eliot can't imagine what they'd be used for directly. or why they would be on the boat.

he tries to see if there's any hint on the boat as to where it came from or why it has what it has. then he wants to hop off the boat and continue with that exploring the shore plan, assuming the boat doesn't lure his attention back somehow. ]

Edited 2019-11-21 04:15 (UTC)

[After assessing that the boat doesn't have any apparent markings or indication as to where it belongs, the three contemplate the shoreline. Certainly, it might be a less risky place to explore.

...except, all three of them find themselves inside the boat, needing to brace themselves or take a seat as it begins to drift away from where it had itself stranded in the sand.

Wait, when did that happen? When did they all get in the boat?]

I'd like to know why it's here, where it was supposedly going. If this really is the past, it might be something we can find when we get back.

( as for people, Matt would never say no to a gentle interrogation (it's a dream, maybe he wouldn't even have to feel guilty about mildly torturing someone), he just doesn't know it should be a priority. more of a "take advantage if it happens" sort of situation. in the end, they don't get much of a chance either way, as a blink later and they're all in the boat, headed away from shore.

well, that was unexpected.

there seemed to be plenty yet to explore on shore, though the choice is more or less made for them. the sudden jolt of a start is enough to make Matt stumble into a seat, whether he likes it or not. )

Great. Just... ( he stifles his annoyance at a dream yanking his chain around. ) I guess whoever is orchestrating this wants us to go this way. Now to decide whether we trust whoever that is.

( they could jump for the water and head for shore, though the being in the boat thing sort of indicates that's not where they're supposed to go. whoever and whatever was responsible for this, wanted them in the boat... it's just a complete tossup whether why it wanted them there was a good or a bad thing. )

[Stone rides out the jolt like he would a sudden burst of wind: arms out a little for balance, gripping at the wood with his bare toes, and scowling.]

If we feel like being contrary, I'm still pretty sure I could get us all back to shore. Unless this dream-magic keeps me from shapeshifting, I suppose.

[For now, he peers out over the water, looking for what they might be heading towards.]

Though if we're already on a ride, might as well see what's on the other side of Beacon's lake. Maybe find out if it's close enough for me to fly across it, in waking-Beacon.

[ damnit. dream magic, and powerful stuff at that. there wasn't even a chance for thought.

sighing, eliot settles into a seat easily enough, thankfully not really losing his faux physical bearings with the jump. he takes up the oars. just another row around brakebills. that's all, right? ]

If they can pull off what they just did, we may as well cooperate. We don't have to trust it, but fighting against this kind of thing where I'm from is usually the quickest way to getting your brain fried if you're not a psychic.

[ which is good enough reason for the stigma psychics faced at brakebills, but. anyway.

eliot presses the oars into the water, letting whatever is guiding them to also guide his direction. ]

Just try to remember as much as possible. In case we don't come back here. Any detail could be useful.

[ his gaze wanders back to the ore dock, trying to pick out anything he can manage that could prove useful. ]

[Ya'll just got picked up by a dreamboat.

Haha, get it? But it's like, literally a boat in a dream.

Anyway, nothing seems to stop Stone from doing whatever he thinks he needs to do. Now that the boat is in the water, that whole compulsion thing seems to chill. Like, the boat itself has totally chilled out.

But even better, is as they sail out farther on that calm, clear water, they get closer to other floating ferries. They all seem to be full of metallic construction supplies.]

( they did get picked up by a dreamboat. if only they could be excited about it, instead of mildly uncomfortable.

Matt ended up by one of the oars, and once they decide they might as well go with the flow (more boating puns!! yay!!!) and does what he can to help Eliot row. he's not exactly experienced with it, though he'll pick up fast.

as they near the other boats, his eyes narrow. they seem to be filled with similar supplies to their own. )

What could they have been hoping to build with all this? ( the scope of the project seems utterly massive. )

Don't ask me. My people live in giant trees, we don't build anything.

[Stone lets the two young people row, instead prowling carefully around the little boat to take in the scents, and then hopping up onto the prow to peer as far into the distance as his gaze will let him.]

Though I guess there's that portal thing that the Lighthouse Keeper said all our supplies come through. Don't suppose that's made out of metal, is it?

Maybe they're thinking about founding the Principality of Sealand.

[ haha. get it? because sealand's in the middle of the ocean? and it's mostly made of metal? ah. he needs a better audience. ]

Whatever it is, it makes the least sense that there's nobody here. [ a pause as realization strikes. ] Well, other than us.

[ another pause because what the hell. ]

You. Uh. You guys don't think this is what the dream wants us to do, right? Because that would be crazy. [ insert nervous laughter here. ]

[Stone won't be able to see anything. Looking forward, it's all just cool, sparkling water. Each and every boat holding its multitude of construction materials makes its way resolutely forward, just as they are.

But then, the boat begins to tip forward. Almost imperceptibly at first, but then faster, more abruptly, its path steep as it plunges into the water.

...or to what should be the water. But the water itself opens up, as if the lake itself was holding a secret doorway, a secret watery tunnel.]

( the boat ride is almost nice, skiffing between all too many boats floating with the same sort of materials. up until they start slowly floating toward a mysterious sinkhole in the middle of the lake. well that's fine. )

Do we have an endgame for getting out of this situation if it literally falls out from under us?

( he's curious what is down there but he's also not excited to die in a dream. )

[Stone clings to the prow of the boat tightly. He's actually seen something like this before, and so is only surprised rather than particularly afraid. At least it's not a whirlpool version of the underwater passageway the groundlings' boat took, last time.]

I think it's a tunnel that will take us somewhere else. Not drown us. But if there's a problem, I shift big and carry you both back to the surface.

[He does wish he had claws right now, though. And the strength he's used to. Clinging with old-man fingers is actually kind of hurting said fingers.]

Might want to hold your breath just in case, though.

[ eliot is meanwhile too busy reacting to say much else than: ] WHAT THE F--

[ 'what the fuck' indeed. it's a dream, so sure, no holds barred, whatever. but, come on. ]

[There really isn't anything much that they can do as the boat slides down into the depths of the lake. Ever been on Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland? Imagine that first sudden drop in the dark. It's kinda like that, but less dark, so they can see everything around them.

They can see how there's no real tunnel, but they're moving through the water, anyway. It moves and flows around an invisible barrier--but if any of them were to reach out, they'd find nothing but wet spray between them and the walls of the lake. Fish and plant life can be spotted, moving about in the water without seeming to notice them.

Until something notices them.

It doesn't move.

Or is it moving, keeping perfect time with them.

The boat is going faster, faster, faster, those glowing eyes growing growing growing and the tunnel stretches on and on, far and fast and deep, deep as an ocean and not a lake at all.

And it goes deeper

And darker

And colder.]

( Matt has not been on any amusement park ride, besides the ones at Coney Island. and that was a good 20ish years ago. he doesn't find this particularly similar since there's no safety precautions, no meticulously engineered systems to get them there and back again in one piece.

his knuckles are a little white at the places he's holding secure to the boat. )

Is this some kind of magic? Can you tell?

( it's asked with gritted teeth, trying not to let his reaction contain too much uncertainty, or fear, or panic, when a lovely myriad of all of them are threatening.

as for the eyes, Matt actually closes his. it's hard to focus his senses outward when he's freaked out, but he'll try anyway. see if he can get a sense of what might be in the dark, or even just how much farther they can go before they hit the bottom. )

[Stone hasn't been on any amusement park rides, either. He just flies. And this is kind of like diving. He clings to the boat with hands and feet now, shoulders hunched like if he had wings right now he'd be mantling them, and too-sharp teeth bared.

The eyes pacing them earn a growl, low and deep enough to make the wood under his feet vibrate. He will fight you, creepy eyed things. Or he will if and when they stop going down, and shifting bigger won't possibly break the spell protecting the boat.]

[ being as into musicals as he is, the prince of egypt is the first thing he likens it to because he can't think of anything as terrifying and awe inspiring as the scene of the israelites crossing the parted red sea and seeing all the aquatic animals swimming past, none the wiser.

the second thing he thinks of is some weird gene wilder wonka bullshit, especially with the whatever-the-hell following them down into the depths. ]

It's a dream. [ he manages after he finds his voice again, swallowing thickly to try and keep himself from being swept up by it all. ] It doesn't have to be magic. All it takes is the right thought, and with enough strength behind it, even we could likely affect the rules of this place.

[ but it's always easiest for the caster. after all, they've been brought into someone--or something?--else's dreamscape. only psychics are really taught to master manipulating a maze they've been forced into. none of them being that, their best bet is to use the skills they know they have, using the reality their minds know as well as their bodies to fight a fiction imposed on them. ]

[All at once, the eyes disappear. They don't flicker out or vanish, no. They leave, as if veering off course from where they are, suddenly. And the thing, the creature, whatever it is, is gone.

It's gone, at least, until there's a sound of roaring, ripping water, and a claw bursts through the water and into their tunnel behind them. It reaches, stretching, coming closer. It's big enough to blot out the sun. To engulf life itself. Their little boat is nothing.

Their little boat is a splinter.]

( great. this dream is taking a unique and terrible turn. and not one that makes much sense, none of this seems like an applicable vision from a well-meaning spirit. it just seems like... well, Beacon is fucking with them, basically. he's honestly a bit tired of it, or he would be, if he weren't at least a little worried about what it would mean if they died in their dream. )

We need to fall faster or start trying to go the other direction.

( he manages to keep panic from his tone, but the fact he's speaking at almost a normal human volume indicates he's rattled. it won't help them to panic, and Matt is determined not to... but he'd also not like to die, on the off chance it means something whenever they manage to wake up form all this. )

[Welp. Stone could fight that. Probably. If this being a dream means he has the strength, speed, and endurance he remembers, instead of the fragile near-death body he arrived with. Does he want to take the risk, with two groundlings right there likely to get tossed to splinters themselves if he tried?

Nope, not really. Stone is a dramatic old geezer, but he's got some streak of realism in him. So he yells at the two humans:]

Grab onto my legs and tail!

[And before they can (well, currently, he doesn't have a tail...), he disappears, into a cloud of dark mist. That cloud expands, reforms, and solidifies into... well, dragon is probably an apt enough word. Four limbs, wings covered in feather-like scales, a long spaded tail, and a mane of spines all down his head and back. The last is currently flared tall, like an cockateil, a shield of deadly sharp protection along his spine. Also, he's easily as tall as the Invincible standing on two legs, with something like a seventy-foot wingspan.

He lets out a shriek that sounds somewhere between an angry cat, a diving hawk, and a challenging elephant, then rears up off the boat to swat at the approaching claw, while his hind feet start cracking and tearing at the boat simply by being very big and very sharp-clawed.

Now's the time to grab on, boys. He's getting them some breathing room (hopefully), and then he's gonna dive.]

What th--

[ he doesn't really have time to say it this time. because that's the problem: time. he understands transformation, and even he's shapeshifted himself before, but holy shit.

eliot has to shake his head to break out of being caught off guard by the sudden immediate need to make a decision. he leaps, and as his luck tends to work, manages a good grasp onto one of the dragon's legs before looking to make sure the other man made it over too. (hopefully not on the tail? talk about whiplash waiting to happen.)

if this was already like a rollercoaster, this suddenly turned into a straight vertical drop. eliot has to gasp as gravity does its usual work and is almost grateful that the feeling of his stomach turning upside down keeps him from shrieking. ]

[Whatever they do, they better do it fast. When Stone transforms and Eliot leaps, the little ferry loses its balance and begins to tumble. It'll only be seconds before it veers off course and is lost in the depths of the lake. This impossible lake.]

( Matt is both lucky, and unlucky, to have his eyes closed at the moment. the transformation would be nearly as jarring for his mind to process as the freefall they're in, and he doesn't have time to worry about anything but getting out of the boat, especially as it tilts precariously with Eliot's jump.

it's good he has the excuse of seeing in the dream, otherwise explaining how he could get from where he is to the huge-dragon creature would be really hard to explain. as it is, he gets up, skitters along the rim of the boat, and does manage to snag a foot with a surprisingly graceful leap. actually, maybe how easily he does it is a little suspect...

the fact he does it with his eyes closed still certainly is, though who has time to notice that when they're falling towards potential doom? )

Let's go!

[Stone doesn't care how anyone gets to him, he just cares that they do. He launches off the boat, curling his hind claws around his little burdens as best as he can, and rather than flying up towards the advancing claws, he folds his wings and dives, spines flattening down against his neck and back again and tail whipping behind them.

He keeps ready to unfurl at a moment's notice, so they don't crash into anything, but right now the plan is "get someplace a giant predator isn't", and that place is unfortunately down, following the path of the water.]

EVENT LOG: ENTER MR. SANDMAN (DREAMERS)

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short but sweet sorry yall

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just a comment to keep us moving, not really anything matt can do i don't think!

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I'll continue to tag this until it's wrapped up, and aimed to have that done by the 7th!

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sorry life's been a bit crazy

wrap up!