((Long post is long, sorry! Got a bit carried away lol! Feel free to disregard, it’s just loads of flavor text!))
While the others mingle:
Though her grandmother is not there, Mei can still feel the sharp thwack of her fan, correcting any missteps in the dance. But it’s a distant thought as the quiet night pulls her into a rare and alert focus.
Now surrounded by the Dryad, she bows deeply then seats herself in the center of the circle, the branch laid reverently in front. From the occult box, Mei retrieves a white candle and incense, lighting both before setting them either side of herself.
The heavy scent of incense quickly fills the air—an intoxicating mixture of spice and wood—and Mei begins to quietly chant as she draws symbols into the dirt.
”Thee I invoke, bless’d dreams divine, Guide of destiny, swift wings are thine: Thy visions manifest of fate disclose, What bears good tidings and worst of woes; Come, blessed pow’r, the signatures reveal Which past and future mysteriously conceal, Signs made known to the worthy mind, Divulge ill omens of monst’rous kind.”
Her heartbeat quickens as the chant comes to a close, all steps completed except one. But she hesitates, suddenly stricken with fear. She was about to open herself up to the universe. To look into the abyss. And her grandmother always warned of what might look back should you gaze in the wrong direction.
Mei glances over at her friends, wishing they were all there, but reminding herself of Mae’s warmth and comfort from earlier. Taking courage from it, she takes a deep breath and fills her lungs with the heady smoke until they burn, then… closes her eyes.
With a breathy exhale, she slumps forward, hair tumbling from its twisted tie and pooling around her face like a curtain. The girl is eerily still, serene like the dead. And it’s a long moment before she stirs and straightens, hair falling back from her face to reveal eyes a clouded white as she stares off into unseen Dreams.
"No, I thought she would just go to sleep over her books and notes as she usually does." The purple-skinned Tiefling says with a small smile and a wink to Guardok. His attention is then drawn to the next steps of the dreamer's ritual, trying to make out the words of her quiet chanting, giving Mei a reassuring smile as she glances over. He is only mildly surpried as the girl slumps over, having seen this in almost all classes they had. He is all the more fascintaed as she stirs and straightens, watching and listening attentively to what would happen next.
Knap sits crosslegged and enthralled as though watching an epic opera. He has to keep stopping himself from clapping knowing it'd likely disrupt the vibe. He also looks side to side, eyebrows raised and a face that says 'how about that!".
Guardok is no less enthralled than his companions, watching and listening to Mei. He has his flute in one hand and a pastry in the other, but neither touch his lips as he sits enraptured.
When Mei casts a glance their way, he speaks quietly so as not to break the ambience but so she can just hear him, "You got this Mei".
"I am not sure how else we can", he replies in a whisper to Knapp.
(OOC - Winging this just a bit... Mei, if you could make an Arcana Check at Advantage and WIS Check I'll use them as guidelines for the results of the ritual.)
((Yaass, wingin' it! And now I'm laughing SO HARD because... she had advantage... and this little dummy rolled A ONE AND A TWO! It do be like that sometimes hahaha. Arcana: 2+6+5 (bardic, THANK YOU GUARDOK) 13 WIS check: 17+2 19))
As Mei'seyes turn the strange clouded white, little else seems to change in your surroundings. It is still very quiet though with only the faint rustle of the cold breeze through the grass creating any sounds.
For Mei:
Your sight flies dizzyingly backwards in time with a swift reversal of the paths of the stars overhead and the sunset retreating back to the evening, mid-day, then morning light. It takes but a blink of an eye. The scene you are left with seems pale, a little translucent, and maybe a tiny bit out of focus. But you recognize the pond and the grassy area nearby. And it's empty!
You focus a bit more, trying to will the fuzzier parts to clarity and the clouds to reveal what is hidden. Any change is slight. It takes you a bit to realize that there are four frogs there. Four ordinary frogs, although it's hard to pin down and specific details. Suddenly though you look again and there's just four colors - orange, blue, red, and violet. And in another blink they have disappeared.
The vision jumps a bit - as a dream might - and you are again looking at the same area. And it remains empty. Except, you notice a footprint from nowhere - one the group had noticed before. The scene now starts to turn. The colors shift red and everything starts to become a bit darker. You sense something is there. Something a bit foreboding. And you feel yourself falling.
To the others, Mei just is sitting placidly in place. She's not sleeping, but also isn't quite present either. This continues for some time; well over 10 minutes slowly crawl by in the quiet night. At that point, any who might be observing the dreamer notice a furrowing of her brow. A look of concern comes over her face.
The threads tying her to the Dream fray and unravel into darkness and Mei gasps as the world falls out from beneath her. She reaches blindly forward, searching for something--anything--to anchor herself to.
Suddenly, Mei gasps, her hands shooting out to grasp at something but finding only air. Feeling blindly around, she eventually finds the dirt and digs her hands in. She shivers in a cold sweat as she waits for her vision to return to Here and Now.
The purple-skinned Tiefling watches with reverence the dreaming ritual unfold, his hand unconsciously reaching out to hold that of the raven-haired performer at his side. As the oracle seems to awake, noticing the shiver and the cold sweat, Malvyn quickly moves over to her, kneeling by her side. "Are you okay Mei? Did you see anything disturbing?" He asks quietly, hoping to not interfere with anything that might still be ongoing.
Mei startles at Malvyn's voice, turning to blink blindly at the tiefling. "I'm okay," she whispers, as though it's been days since she spoke rather than minutes. When she says the words again, it's with surprised realization. "I'm... okay?"
Her vision gradually returns, blurry at first, but the silhouette of Malvyn's face comes into view, she reaches to cradle his cheeks in her hand. A smile grows wide across her face. "I did it," she says, quietly first before the words burst forth again like caged birds sprung free, "I did it!" Her laughter rings out, the melodious sound filling the quiet night, and she surges forward to wrap her arms around Malvyn's neck in a hug that likely threatens to send him tumbling backwards.
The purple-skinned Tiefling does indeed fall backwards on the ground, his fiery red eyes wide with surprise, looking up at the awakened dreamer, his purple cheeks flushed, not sure how to respond or react at first but relieved that the oracle seemed okay. "That is good Mei, really good." He says with a warm smile after a moment. "So, what was it that you...did? Did you see anything in your dream?" He continues, turning more curious now, eager to know more about the mystical divination the oracle just had performed.
Mei's laughter only increases as they tumble backwards. Her words come out in an equally tumbling rush as she looks down at Malvyn, her silky, plum-colored hair a halo around his face.
"Dreamweaving!” she starts, perhaps taking his first question too seriously. “Or, well, a simplified, ritual version. It uses narrative fractals to induce extrasensory perception through the subconscious mind to pick up patterns of convergence and divergence, while using transdimensional--" the words stutter as her vision swims. With a wince, she sits up on Malvyn's abdomen and rubs at her eyes in the hopes it might relieve the headache blooming at her temples.
When the pain abates, she smiles down at the tiefling then at the others, caught up once more in the (semi)triumphant feat. "Basically, all living creatures sleep--in some way. Even those who only meditate. There's a subconscious state of rest we all share. Hibernation. Brumation. Torpor. Winter dormancy in plants." She pushes her loose hair behind her ears and sucks her bottom lip between her teeth, in search of a less pretentious explanation. "That state connects all of us. Weaves us together with these--these unseen threads in a hidden dimension. Except its not actually hidden. It's just within our dreams."
"Does that... make sense so far?" she asks, then looks back down at Malvyn beneath her, still wholly oblivious to their situation.
Chin dropped in gentle awe, “whoa…” knap says cross-legged like a student amongst the grass. “I think I get it.” The wind tickles his ears. “I wonder what it’s like to dream like a frog, or a rock or a pong for that matter.”
if not already made, Knap prepares the gentlest of camp fires. A lower flicker with radiating coals.
Malvyn is still equal parts uncomfortable with his position and eager to hear more about what Mei has to say. The petite oracle was certainly not heavy but the purple-skinned Tiefling had so far never had anyone sit on him like this, not even the bullies from his childhood, and he hoped Aurora would not be uncomfortable with the situation, although so far there had only really been one thing the raven-haired performer had been uneasy with. "Um...yes, it makes perfect sense so far, go on, what did you dream about?"He asks excitedly, too polite to point out how it could be seen as improper to have someone sitting on you, at least in public.
Guardok is also a little taken aback by it all, much like Knapp. But more than that, he is a little freaked out by it, especially Mei's reaction at the end, before she recovered.
As he notices Mei's excitement, he calms down a little, and tries to follow what she is saying as she relays what the ritual is all about. He nods as she asks if they are following, even though he is not sure a rock can dream, despite what Knap says.
"Did you find out anything? You know, about the frogs and the mimic?", he asks tentatively, finally taking a bite out of his pastry without even realising.
Mei’s smile at Knap’s wondering cracks like a piece of glass as she finally notices how uncomfortable Malvyn is. She untangles the many flowing pieces and adornments of her outfit from the Tiefling with an uncharacteristic dexterity and quickness, muttering apologies all the while. While she might not think twice about this with her siblings—and as sibling-like as her floormates feel to her sometimes—she certainly needed to think twice about this.
Still discombobulated (and now blushing), Mei offers a hand to help Malvyn up and replies to Guardok, “I--well. I saw the frogs’ colors! And the footprint we found became a really salient part of the Dream…” Her eyes widen as she remembers the red and darkness that overtook her vision, sending her into a cold shiver again. “When it came into focus, it all went.. red. And then black. And then…then I was falling.”
She takes a seat between Knap and Guardok and rubs at her bare shoulders. "It's all connected. I'm sure of it now. But I still don't... um... I didn't get as much as we hoped for. Sorry."
Aurora watched as Meibowled Malvynover with a bemused smile. She says little as Meiexplains both the dreaming and what she had seen. As Meisettles in between Guardokand Knap, Aurora steps over to the Tiefling, nudging him gently. "Good you were here to really help out Mei," she says with a joking tone.
After a few moments you hear a slight clicking sound coming from the nearest paved pathway. "Alert! Fire detected! Please evacuate the area!" The sound comes from a silver and gold automaton - most of you recognize it as what is called a Campus Guide. It is waving towards all of you, urging you to come over to where it is standing about 20 feet away. "Do not be concerned. Help is on the way."
(All characters must make a WIS Save DC 11 or be charmed by the guide for 1 hour and must move on its turn toward the guide, trying to get within 5 feet of it.)
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
The purple-skinned Tiefling lies perfectly still as the petite oracle untangles herself from him, then allowing her to help him up. He tries his best to act casual and calm but is slightly worried over Aurora's reaction to what just happened. He feels relief as the raven-haired performer simply jokes about it, not that he is particularly surprised. "Well apparently she needed someone to sit on at the end of that dream weaving, I'm just happy to be of service." He jokes back with a playful smile, taking Aurora's hand to give it an affectionate squeeze.
Malvyn is about to lead the raven-haired performer back to their blankets as the Campus Guide appears out of the darkness. He lets out a sigh as he glances over at the fire Knap started. He should have realized Strixhaven would have security like this, hopefully it would not mean a report with the university board.
Guardok ponders what the dream Mei described meant but draws a blank.
"Well, it is more than we knew before you dreamt, so well done. I wonder what it means too. I guess interpreting dreams is a skill in its own right", he says thoughtfully.
It is then that the automaton appears complaining about Knapp's fire.
He simply stands and starts to move across to the campus guide.
Wisdom Save: 6+3=9
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((Long post is long, sorry! Got a bit carried away lol! Feel free to disregard, it’s just loads of flavor text!))
While the others mingle:
Though her grandmother is not there, Mei can still feel the sharp thwack of her fan, correcting any missteps in the dance. But it’s a distant thought as the quiet night pulls her into a rare and alert focus.
Now surrounded by the Dryad, she bows deeply then seats herself in the center of the circle, the branch laid reverently in front. From the occult box, Mei retrieves a white candle and incense, lighting both before setting them either side of herself.
The heavy scent of incense quickly fills the air—an intoxicating mixture of spice and wood—and Mei begins to quietly chant as she draws symbols into the dirt.
”Thee I invoke, bless’d dreams divine,
Guide of destiny, swift wings are thine:
Thy visions manifest of fate disclose,
What bears good tidings and worst of woes;
Come, blessed pow’r, the signatures reveal
Which past and future mysteriously conceal,
Signs made known to the worthy mind,
Divulge ill omens of monst’rous kind.”
Her heartbeat quickens as the chant comes to a close, all steps completed except one. But she hesitates, suddenly stricken with fear. She was about to open herself up to the universe. To look into the abyss. And her grandmother always warned of what might look back should you gaze in the wrong direction.
Mei glances over at her friends, wishing they were all there, but reminding herself of Mae’s warmth and comfort from earlier. Taking courage from it, she takes a deep breath and fills her lungs with the heady smoke until they burn, then… closes her eyes.
With a breathy exhale, she slumps forward, hair tumbling from its twisted tie and pooling around her face like a curtain. The girl is eerily still, serene like the dead. And it’s a long moment before she stirs and straightens, hair falling back from her face to reveal eyes a clouded white as she stares off into unseen Dreams.
"No, I thought she would just go to sleep over her books and notes as she usually does." The purple-skinned Tiefling says with a small smile and a wink to Guardok. His attention is then drawn to the next steps of the dreamer's ritual, trying to make out the words of her quiet chanting, giving Mei a reassuring smile as she glances over. He is only mildly surpried as the girl slumps over, having seen this in almost all classes they had. He is all the more fascintaed as she stirs and straightens, watching and listening attentively to what would happen next.
Knap sits crosslegged and enthralled as though watching an epic opera. He has to keep stopping himself from clapping knowing it'd likely disrupt the vibe. He also looks side to side, eyebrows raised and a face that says 'how about that!".
Knap whispers "should we do anything to help?"
Guardok is no less enthralled than his companions, watching and listening to Mei. He has his flute in one hand and a pastry in the other, but neither touch his lips as he sits enraptured.
When Mei casts a glance their way, he speaks quietly so as not to break the ambience but so she can just hear him, "You got this Mei".
"I am not sure how else we can", he replies in a whisper to Knapp.
Bonus Action: Bardic Inspiration for Mei (1d6)
(OOC - Winging this just a bit... Mei, if you could make an Arcana Check at Advantage and WIS Check I'll use them as guidelines for the results of the ritual.)
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Liivi Orav, Barbarian || Vanizi, Warlock || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi || Neital Rhessil, Wizard
Iromae Quinaea, Cleric || Roxana Raincrest, Rogue || Meira Dheran, Rogue || Qirynna Thadri, Wizard || Crisaryn Melkial, Sorcerer
((Yaass, wingin' it! And now I'm laughing SO HARD because... she had advantage... and this little dummy rolled A ONE AND A TWO! It do be like that sometimes hahaha.
Arcana: 2+6+5 (bardic, THANK YOU GUARDOK) 13
WIS check: 17+2 19))
As Mei's eyes turn the strange clouded white, little else seems to change in your surroundings. It is still very quiet though with only the faint rustle of the cold breeze through the grass creating any sounds.
For Mei:
Your sight flies dizzyingly backwards in time with a swift reversal of the paths of the stars overhead and the sunset retreating back to the evening, mid-day, then morning light. It takes but a blink of an eye. The scene you are left with seems pale, a little translucent, and maybe a tiny bit out of focus. But you recognize the pond and the grassy area nearby. And it's empty!
You focus a bit more, trying to will the fuzzier parts to clarity and the clouds to reveal what is hidden. Any change is slight. It takes you a bit to realize that there are four frogs there. Four ordinary frogs, although it's hard to pin down and specific details. Suddenly though you look again and there's just four colors - orange, blue, red, and violet. And in another blink they have disappeared.
The vision jumps a bit - as a dream might - and you are again looking at the same area. And it remains empty. Except, you notice a footprint from nowhere - one the group had noticed before. The scene now starts to turn. The colors shift red and everything starts to become a bit darker. You sense something is there. Something a bit foreboding. And you feel yourself falling.
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Liivi Orav, Barbarian || Vanizi, Warlock || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi || Neital Rhessil, Wizard
Iromae Quinaea, Cleric || Roxana Raincrest, Rogue || Meira Dheran, Rogue || Qirynna Thadri, Wizard || Crisaryn Melkial, Sorcerer
To the others, Mei just is sitting placidly in place. She's not sleeping, but also isn't quite present either. This continues for some time; well over 10 minutes slowly crawl by in the quiet night. At that point, any who might be observing the dreamer notice a furrowing of her brow. A look of concern comes over her face.
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Liivi Orav, Barbarian || Vanizi, Warlock || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi || Neital Rhessil, Wizard
Iromae Quinaea, Cleric || Roxana Raincrest, Rogue || Meira Dheran, Rogue || Qirynna Thadri, Wizard || Crisaryn Melkial, Sorcerer
The threads tying her to the Dream fray and unravel into darkness and Mei gasps as the world falls out from beneath her. She reaches blindly forward, searching for something--anything--to anchor herself to.
Suddenly, Mei gasps, her hands shooting out to grasp at something but finding only air. Feeling blindly around, she eventually finds the dirt and digs her hands in. She shivers in a cold sweat as she waits for her vision to return to Here and Now.
The purple-skinned Tiefling watches with reverence the dreaming ritual unfold, his hand unconsciously reaching out to hold that of the raven-haired performer at his side. As the oracle seems to awake, noticing the shiver and the cold sweat, Malvyn quickly moves over to her, kneeling by her side. "Are you okay Mei? Did you see anything disturbing?" He asks quietly, hoping to not interfere with anything that might still be ongoing.
Mei startles at Malvyn's voice, turning to blink blindly at the tiefling. "I'm okay," she whispers, as though it's been days since she spoke rather than minutes. When she says the words again, it's with surprised realization. "I'm... okay?"
Her vision gradually returns, blurry at first, but the silhouette of Malvyn's face comes into view, she reaches to cradle his cheeks in her hand. A smile grows wide across her face. "I did it," she says, quietly first before the words burst forth again like caged birds sprung free, "I did it!" Her laughter rings out, the melodious sound filling the quiet night, and she surges forward to wrap her arms around Malvyn's neck in a hug that likely threatens to send him tumbling backwards.
The purple-skinned Tiefling does indeed fall backwards on the ground, his fiery red eyes wide with surprise, looking up at the awakened dreamer, his purple cheeks flushed, not sure how to respond or react at first but relieved that the oracle seemed okay. "That is good Mei, really good." He says with a warm smile after a moment. "So, what was it that you...did? Did you see anything in your dream?" He continues, turning more curious now, eager to know more about the mystical divination the oracle just had performed.
Mei's laughter only increases as they tumble backwards. Her words come out in an equally tumbling rush as she looks down at Malvyn, her silky, plum-colored hair a halo around his face.
"Dreamweaving!” she starts, perhaps taking his first question too seriously. “Or, well, a simplified, ritual version. It uses narrative fractals to induce extrasensory perception through the subconscious mind to pick up patterns of convergence and divergence, while using transdimensional--" the words stutter as her vision swims. With a wince, she sits up on Malvyn's abdomen and rubs at her eyes in the hopes it might relieve the headache blooming at her temples.
When the pain abates, she smiles down at the tiefling then at the others, caught up once more in the (semi)triumphant feat. "Basically, all living creatures sleep--in some way. Even those who only meditate. There's a subconscious state of rest we all share. Hibernation. Brumation. Torpor. Winter dormancy in plants." She pushes her loose hair behind her ears and sucks her bottom lip between her teeth, in search of a less pretentious explanation. "That state connects all of us. Weaves us together with these--these unseen threads in a hidden dimension. Except its not actually hidden. It's just within our dreams."
"Does that... make sense so far?" she asks, then looks back down at Malvyn beneath her, still wholly oblivious to their situation.
Chin dropped in gentle awe, “whoa…” knap says cross-legged like a student amongst the grass. “I think I get it.” The wind tickles his ears. “I wonder what it’s like to dream like a frog, or a rock or a pong for that matter.”
if not already made, Knap prepares the gentlest of camp fires. A lower flicker with radiating coals.
Malvyn is still equal parts uncomfortable with his position and eager to hear more about what Mei has to say. The petite oracle was certainly not heavy but the purple-skinned Tiefling had so far never had anyone sit on him like this, not even the bullies from his childhood, and he hoped Aurora would not be uncomfortable with the situation, although so far there had only really been one thing the raven-haired performer had been uneasy with. "Um...yes, it makes perfect sense so far, go on, what did you dream about?" He asks excitedly, too polite to point out how it could be seen as improper to have someone sitting on you, at least in public.
Guardok is also a little taken aback by it all, much like Knapp. But more than that, he is a little freaked out by it, especially Mei's reaction at the end, before she recovered.
As he notices Mei's excitement, he calms down a little, and tries to follow what she is saying as she relays what the ritual is all about. He nods as she asks if they are following, even though he is not sure a rock can dream, despite what Knap says.
"Did you find out anything? You know, about the frogs and the mimic?", he asks tentatively, finally taking a bite out of his pastry without even realising.
Mei’s smile at Knap’s wondering cracks like a piece of glass as she finally notices how uncomfortable Malvyn is. She untangles the many flowing pieces and adornments of her outfit from the Tiefling with an uncharacteristic dexterity and quickness, muttering apologies all the while. While she might not think twice about this with her siblings—and as sibling-like as her floormates feel to her sometimes—she certainly needed to think twice about this.
Still discombobulated (and now blushing), Mei offers a hand to help Malvyn up and replies to Guardok, “I--well. I saw the frogs’ colors! And the footprint we found became a really salient part of the Dream…” Her eyes widen as she remembers the red and darkness that overtook her vision, sending her into a cold shiver again. “When it came into focus, it all went.. red. And then black. And then…then I was falling.”
She takes a seat between Knap and Guardok and rubs at her bare shoulders. "It's all connected. I'm sure of it now. But I still don't... um... I didn't get as much as we hoped for. Sorry."
Aurora watched as Mei bowled Malvyn over with a bemused smile. She says little as Mei explains both the dreaming and what she had seen. As Mei settles in between Guardok and Knap, Aurora steps over to the Tiefling, nudging him gently. "Good you were here to really help out Mei," she says with a joking tone.
After a few moments you hear a slight clicking sound coming from the nearest paved pathway. "Alert! Fire detected! Please evacuate the area!" The sound comes from a silver and gold automaton - most of you recognize it as what is called a Campus Guide. It is waving towards all of you, urging you to come over to where it is standing about 20 feet away. "Do not be concerned. Help is on the way."
(All characters must make a WIS Save DC 11 or be charmed by the guide for 1 hour and must move on its turn toward the guide, trying to get within 5 feet of it.)
Campus Guide:
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Liivi Orav, Barbarian || Vanizi, Warlock || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi || Neital Rhessil, Wizard
Iromae Quinaea, Cleric || Roxana Raincrest, Rogue || Meira Dheran, Rogue || Qirynna Thadri, Wizard || Crisaryn Melkial, Sorcerer
The purple-skinned Tiefling lies perfectly still as the petite oracle untangles herself from him, then allowing her to help him up. He tries his best to act casual and calm but is slightly worried over Aurora's reaction to what just happened. He feels relief as the raven-haired performer simply jokes about it, not that he is particularly surprised. "Well apparently she needed someone to sit on at the end of that dream weaving, I'm just happy to be of service." He jokes back with a playful smile, taking Aurora's hand to give it an affectionate squeeze.
Malvyn is about to lead the raven-haired performer back to their blankets as the Campus Guide appears out of the darkness. He lets out a sigh as he glances over at the fire Knap started. He should have realized Strixhaven would have security like this, hopefully it would not mean a report with the university board.
Wisdom save: 13
Guardok ponders what the dream Mei described meant but draws a blank.
"Well, it is more than we knew before you dreamt, so well done. I wonder what it means too. I guess interpreting dreams is a skill in its own right", he says thoughtfully.
It is then that the automaton appears complaining about Knapp's fire.
He simply stands and starts to move across to the campus guide.
Wisdom Save: 6+3=9