Aoufie measurable relaxes and shares what he saw in the dream. "It had this terrible splendor where everything was idyllic, but rings false at the same time."
Ming lets the strangers decide on what to do, hoping that they all manage to make it through the night regardless of whether or not they risk entering the dream. They are going to have to take the risk eventually, and multiple times at that if they choose to stick around in this realm... which she hopes they do if they are planning on fighting Tsien Chiang. She nods to Anthony when he asks about the water, answering simply with, "Should be."Before filling up her own waterskin. She stays up for a while, interested in the fact that the mistwalkers with pointy ears can apparently sleep without sleeping. Elves, she'd heard of them of course, but never met one before.
After a while, she pulls out the bag of rations, taking a few nibbles to stave off her ever-present hunger. She barely eats any of it though, as she intends to get her hands on some vegetables in the morning. Once she's done with that, she'll pace a bit, looking to Anthony before saying hesitantly, "I... I'm just going to walk a short distance. I think the Jiangshi have already done what they wanted to this area, but I'm going to do a quick check of the area anyways." Assuming he doesn't object, she moves to investigate each nearby stall, and the alleyways around them, keeping an eye out for any sleepers who may have food with them or even any other people who've avoided the dream like her.
Finding the area clear, she'll eventually wander back to the group to once more settle down on the grass. She glances at Kora and Aoufie, who apparently decided to risk the dream, then back at Anthony who has yet to do so. Biting her lip, she finally puts away her weapons before saying, "Well, we seem to be safe here. I'm going to get some sleep too while I can. Unless you would rather me take watch for the rest of the night, if you wish to attempt sleeping."
Fool, a voice inside her says. If you sleep, they might steal your weapons and food or kill you, or both! Yet she pushes those thoughts away, If they wanted to kill me they could have done that a million times. Besides, right now I'm more useful alive than dead... especially if they have some method of getting out of here... Unless they don't?How did they get here anyways, they didn't really give a straight answer to that. Perhaps they don't understand themselves, in which case, they might be as trapped here as she is now. If not... is there a chance that they could help her escape I'Cath? Her and her family? Perhaps she'll ask tomorrow. For now, she might as well get some rest.
Assuming Anthony chooses to still stay up, Ming-Yue will wander a short distance away from the group before flopping down on her back atop whatever other grass is nearby. She'll stay asleep for just long enough to stave off exhaustion, then will promptly wake up and rejoin the group, hoping that the non-elves will be able to wake up too.
“Do what you need to do. I’ll watch your back” Anthony keeps an eye on the skittish woman. He’s not particularly concerned about her doing anything to them. She didn’t seem to have an agenda beyond survival and trying to mess with a large, heavily armed group isn’t the best strategy for that. He’s really just concerned for her safety. She could be ambushed or attract the attention of more of those zombies or whatever they were. Really, she should be more worried about them, and she was obviously traumatized and justifiably nervous around them. She was either good hearted or desperate enough to risk trusting them and be helpful. Maybe be a little of both.
“You are safe with us.” trying to reassure her “I know, it’s not like we would tell you if we had some horrible plans for you. On the other hand, if we were going to do something, we would have. I’m probably the sketchiest one out of the bunch,” He sneaks in a smile with full dimples, but adds on a serious note. “And you have my word, without your permission, I’ll keep my hands and my magic to myself save for emergencies.”
Once Akyan and Zathon are awake, he risks washing up and collecting some water. He even makes an effort at a rough shave. For now, he’ll only nap if the group is sticking around past dawn and, like Ming-yue, only enough to keep himself afloat. He’s currently in good shape otherwise.
Aware of the strange world lingering just beyond his consciousness as he meditates, Akyan is able to conclude that his theories concerning both an elf's meditation and his ring were correct. While this makes him feel like he has a good edge over the Dream, it doesn't do much to calm his nerves.
Once fully awake, he watches as his siblings who wish to rest do so. None of them seemed to want to sleep for long, so he decides to wait on lending anyone his ring. He doesn't particularly want to give Ming any more information about him or his siblings. Not to mention he has no idea how she'd react to his having a talisman that could protect the wearer from the dream. Until he feels like he can trust her, he thinks it's best to not give her a reason to try to steal from them.
He eyes Anthony, noting that he seems to be getting the least amount of rest out of everyone. Whenever the group does decide to take a longer rest, he'll lend Anthony the ring. Perhaps they could start a rotation with it or something.
When Aoufie wakes, Akyan nods to Anthony's words. "You are awake, but you say you saw the dream world or whatever it is? If that's the case that means it's possible to leave it. At least after a while."
"Yes, I was able to leave it, but I can feel its dreadful pull. I was able to muster some inner gumption to awaken. Though now I too fear sleep" says Aoufie. He keep watch as the others slumber.
Coming out of his trance he catches Aoufie's words.
"We can only hope the rest have the same gumption... but we can't let ourselves be weakened by this place. If you can get out of the dream once, you can do it again. Do not let the fear control you."
Kora takes in the dream and smiles. She can see how this is a hard dream to wake up from. She is so happy to hear the birds chirping.. seems like it has been ages since she has heard their song. She sits and enjoys the ambiance for a bit before getting up and heading over to some people near the merchants. Not wanting to disturb purchases, she approaches anyone that seems to be off to the side a bit.
Not having a clue as to how to start a conversation she does the best she can think of, "Excuse me.. where are we? I am new here and am completely confused as to what I'm seeing."
She also makes note of the large tower, wondering if that is only in the dream or not.
As Kora approaches some of the merchants, she passes some folks she didn't see before crouched down on the gleaming cobblestone path that wound through the park. As she nears them, she notices that one seems to be scrubbing all the dirt out between the individual cobblestones while the other is polishing the scrubbed cobblestones with a cloth and some wax. They don't look up at your passing, intent on cleaning the path.
When Kora asks her question, one of the merchants near her breaks off from his conversation and turns to looks her up and down, seeming a bit confused by her clothing. He has similar features and the same bronzish skin tone as Ming, though this fellow is much older. "If you haven't been assigned a task yet, you need to go to the palace gate and talk to Xiǎo Dān. He's giving out assignments this week."
"Assignments? You all have assignments? I assume they change every week then.. how interesting. How long have you been in the dream?" Kora asks the merchant. Then pointing to the tower, she asks, "Is that where the palace gate is?"
"Uh... thanks," Ming replies to Anthony giving a timid smile before finding her resting place.
After she wakes up, she moves back to the main group to find at least Aoufie awake along with the elves, "Oh good... you didn't get stuck." She fidgets, eyes straying to where Kora is still sleeping. "H...how long has she been asleep?" She'll leave it up to the mistwalkers to decide on whether or not to try and wake up their companion, but she can't help but worry. Hopefully since this is their first night here, they won't have too much trouble getting out of the dream.
She glances at Zathon when he speaks up, but just averts her eyes rather than responding, a troubled expression washing across her face for a moment. Then she moves toward one of the stalls, eyes turning towards the sky to gauge the time. She wants to be the first one to get to those vegetables, especially now that she has this whole group to worry about. ...maybe with these strangers here the rest of the I'Cath populace will think twice before trying to fight their way to the food. ...maybe. Some might be desperate enough to risk fighting these people.
Aoufie takes comfort from Zathon's words and sits down on the ground. He strums a few notes on his cittern as a way to past the time as he waits for his siblings to awaken. For now he watches over them in case some creature comes by.
He was getting nervous with how long it was taking Kora and Ireena and Ismark to wake, but so long as they were taking the risk, he’d watch over them and do his best to make sure they got enough rest to recover.
While Ming-Yue had stepped away for a little while to scope out the veggie stand, he took the opportunity to talk to Zathon, Akyan, and Aoufie. It would be better if Kora were with them, but this was the first chance they’d had to talk sort of privately and they needed to have a plan. “Feels bad to suggest it, but this might be the safest place for those two for now.” nodding toward Ireena and Ismark, “If the dead won’t mess with them while they sleep, better maybe than dragging them with us everywhere we go. Other hand, I don’t feel great about leaving them behind. Lots of things could happen before/if we get back to them.”
He’d give time to get their thoughts before moving on to the next topic.
“And this bell she mentioned, we could check it out while we are here maybe, but we don’t have much reason to stay long, especially if we can sleep or find food here. Looks like that’s pretty much Ming’s life, trying to catch a nap here and there and scrounge enough food to survive. If that bell isn’t what we’re looking for, and something tells me it’s probably not if it’s been around for a hundred years or more, then this might be a place for us to revisit when we have a better idea what these device pieces look like or do. This is definitely a get in, do what we need to do, get out kind of place. Which means… maybe we need to make finding VanRichten a priority after we handle our current situation.”
“Any of you have any ideas for what to do about this bell if we can even get to it? It would be great if we could destroy it. If not, maybe we could take it to another domain if worse came to worse. Stash it and the bother-sister duo somewhere a little more remote to at least eff with people’s plans. Might buy us a little time. Course it would help if we had any idea how much time we had.”
“Also been thinking, wouldn’t killing Strahd, if we could, still hand his domain over to Azalin? Or are we supposed to assume another darklord would rise in his place or he’d just … respawn later?” The big man looked thoroughly confused by his own train of thought and scrubbed his once again rough-shaved chin. Must be nice to be an elf. No sleep, no body hair. See in the dark. Really makes you wonder if anyone would choose to be human if they were given a choice.
Like the others, Akyan becomes more and more on edge the longer Kora stays asleep. He doesn't realize he had started spacing off until Anthony breaks the silence.
He glances at Ireena and Ismark. "I don't like it either, but I have to agree with you. Though if they'd rather accompany us to another realm then they might as well come. When...If they wake up, we can ask them what they think. Though I have a feeling that as long as they can find each other in the dream, they may just want to stay."
He falls silent as Anthony continues, then nods. "I think that's a sound plan, and as long as Ireena and Ismark are fine staying here, then heading back to Barovia to find Van Richten should be our priority." He thumbs his ring. "For now though, I may have a partial solution to the sleep issue." He glances off in Ming's direction, then back to Anthony. "I believe my talisman can protect those of us who require sleep from the dream. Perhaps we can start a rotation for those who need rest."
"As for the bell... I say we try to get to it in the morning, with those things around and the dreadlord ringing it at night, morning is our best option."He rubs the back of his neck as he says this. Doing this kind of thing in daylight doesn't sit well with him, but it's the logical thing to do given the circumstances. "I doubt we could destroy it, so taking it to another domain may be the only real option. Though if we must, i'd say it would be best not to take it back to Barovia. Even if it's not one of the artifacts we are looking for, Strahd seems to be the biggest threat to us next to Azalin, and I don't want to risk him getting his hands on it."
Akyan shrugs at Anthony's next question as he'd asked Madame Eva a similar question. "Based on what the seer said, I don't think Azalin can take the domain unless the Dreadlord gets whatever their hearts desire is. In other words, the dreadlords must be freed from their prison in order for Azalin to take over. Killing the current dreadlord would only make them reincarnate and rise again...at least that's what I got from it. That woman's explanation of someone potentially becoming a new dreadlord wasn't very clear to me."He leans back and continues, "If any random person can become a dreadlord after the dreadlord is killed, it wouldn't make sense for that dreadlord to be reincarnated. Unless the new dreadlord is just acting as a stand in until the old one returns." He frowns, this whole concept of dreadlords is difficult to wrap one's head around.
He rubs a thumb along the side of his nose in thought as Akyan gives his perspective. It seems like they are finally coming together with some kind of default plan... whether any of it is possible is another matter altogether. But they can't just sit around waiting for an obvious path to open up for them. Especially not here where sleep and food are going to be hard to come by.
"I have enough food for myself for a few days, but with this large a group, we could maybe make it last two. I'm hoping Kora might have a solution with her," He waggles his fingers, "nature magic. Maybe summon some leaves and twigs for us to chew on." He was trying to make a light joke out of it, but having to burn magic for food when rest was hard to come by could be a death spiral if they stayed here too long.
"Course all of this hinges on how easy it is to get out of here." He avoided looking at it, but his talisman tucked under his armor had no obvious triggers, and they'd lost Jared's back in Barovia. Hopefully, the beast-man was strong enough to hold onto it.
-Kora, with Ismark and Ireena trailing behind her, manages to find Xiǎo Dān at the gates that barred the path to an impressive tower. He assigns the trio to be street sweepers.
-You discover that while most of the citizens all seemed to be a particular ethic group of humans, there are a few outsiders in the city, so you won't stand out too much. You learn that he is actually a jiangshi.
-You learn that most of the tasks assigned are tedious, unnecessary, and repetitive. For example, you could be assigned to count the seconds that pass, polish the stones of the streets, record the number of leaves that fall in the park, walk around the city and constantly smile to cheer others up, or even stacking and restacking. the coins in the city bank. Tsien Chang accepts nothing less than perfection in her city, and anyone that doesn't perform their task adequately is executed by one of the jiangshi that police the dream city. In the dream, the jiangshi look like they're alive and well. Being killed in the dream forces that person to wake up, and sometimes the shock of it will actually kill the unfortunate person.
-The dream is sort of a rough draft version of the city Tsien Chang wants in the real world.
-If you consistently do your tasks well, you might earn the favor of the jiangshi and Tsieng Chang. If you do, you can earn the most desired tasks, such as listening to one of Tsien Change's daughters recite poetry, participate in a feast, or tend to one of the jiangshi overseers.
-As Ming said earlier, the people of the city seem a bit surprised with the progress the city has made in the real word. Tsieng Chang has been very pleased with the efforts to renovate the city, and it's finally slowly approaching the ideal of a perfect city that Tsieng Chang is obsessed with
As dawn begins to light upon the horizon, those awake soon see furtive forms slinking amongst the shadows of the park. They all seem to be heading towards the market stalls, probably in an attempt to get to the stall that summons vegetables even though there were jiangshi roaming the streets of the city as the reworked it. Ming wasn't kidding when she said that people here were desperate to get food, even going as far as risking their lives to move when the jiangshi were active. At around this time, Kora, Ismark, and Ireeena all wake from the dream. Even though they're bodies were rested, their mind didn't receive the solitude and rejuvenation that sleep usually offered.
"Hey, if you all want some you might want to come over here before we get swarmed," Ming-Yue shouts to the mistwalkers. "We aren't the only ones who wanted to get here early."She takes up a defensive position near the stall, feeling a little guilty for guarding the food while there are other hungry people. But that doesn't matter, right now, her own survival comes first. The rest of these people could find rest or relief from their hunger in the dream if they needed, she doesn't have that option.
She starts harvesting vegetables as soon as they appear in the stall, stuffing her pockets as full as possible whilst looking over her shoulder to gauge the position of oncoming I'Cath citizens. She seems completely unaware of whatever conversation the mistwalkers were having during her absence--likely because she's making an effort not to be nosey.
Kora starts awake and looks around wide-eyed. "Whoa. That is quite the dream. Messed up, I tell you." She rises up from the ground and stretches, rotating her neck around as it cracks. She sees Ming over taking up a defensive position by the stalls.
"C'mon, let's go help her out and get some of these veggies. I'll tell you what I gathered in the Dream." Assuming the group moves with her, she continues, "So it's like Ming said, similar to this but better, sort of? Like it is trying to be like the world we came from almost? At least I'd rather be there than the place this is trying to be." Realizing she is talking in circles, she tries to start over. "Everyone in the Dream is assigned a job, a task for the week. Ireena, Ismark and I were assigned to be streetsweepers. That's not that big a deal, but the real cooky thing is are some of the other jobs that are assigned, like counting the seconds that pass, polishing the stones of the streets, recording the number of leaves that fall in the park, actually walking around the city and constantly smiling to cheer others up, or even stacking and restacking the coins in the city bank. Wild I tell ya. Oh, and if you don't perform these tasks adequately, yo'ure actually executed! Now if you actually die or just wake up... it's a bit unclear to me. Oh! and if you do your task exceptionally you get to do better things like enjoy a feast. Can you imagine? your weekly task is to enjoy a feast.
"Oh yeah, apparently Tsieng Chang is very pleased with the progress of the city. Sounds like it is getting close to what she wants? This is bad right? We don't want these bad guys to achieve what they desire?" She turns to Ming and asks, "Have you heard of the name Xiǎo Dān before?"
"So there is some influence here." He didn't like the idea of beating up a bunch of desperate people over food. If he were already starving, he'd do what he had to do, but he wasn't that far gone. He wasn't going to let Ming-Yue get overrun. He moved into position to defend her, doing his best to look big and bad.
"You got anything to prevent us having to beat up bunch of innocent people over food" Directing his question at Kora.
He wasn't going to announce how much food he had.
"Depending, I might be able to .. diffuse a bad situation without violence if people get aggressive." he adds to everyone.
((to avoid a back and forth, he's talking about being able to cast sleep, how effective it is depends on how many/how tough))
As the first to arrive at the vegetable stand, you all have a fairly good position to get first pick of the wilted vegetables when they appear. As dawn approaches, citizens start to swarm around the vegetable stall, though none of them dare approach it with you standing guard. Many of the city folk look scrawny and malnourished, and you're fairly sure that they would stand not chance against you in a fight. Regardless of their physical state, they eye you with a mixture of hostility and hunger.
As soon as the sun peaks over the horizon, a massive pile of vegetables materialize out swirling mist atop the cart, and several of the vegetables topple to the ground. Several of the citizens almost dart forward to grab the fallen vegetables, but they manage to restrain themselves. After you all take your fill and begin to leave, the city folk all rush forward to grab the food, practically climbing over each other in their hungered state. More than one punch and kick is thrown as some begin to fight over the food. Truly, it is a sad sight to behold all of these poor, starving people.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
DM- Azalin's Doom
DM- Surviving the Unsurvivable
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A little confused, "Uh, I think you're awake? Hopefully."
Aoufie measurable relaxes and shares what he saw in the dream. "It had this terrible splendor where everything was idyllic, but rings false at the same time."
Ming lets the strangers decide on what to do, hoping that they all manage to make it through the night regardless of whether or not they risk entering the dream. They are going to have to take the risk eventually, and multiple times at that if they choose to stick around in this realm... which she hopes they do if they are planning on fighting Tsien Chiang. She nods to Anthony when he asks about the water, answering simply with, "Should be." Before filling up her own waterskin. She stays up for a while, interested in the fact that the mistwalkers with pointy ears can apparently sleep without sleeping. Elves, she'd heard of them of course, but never met one before.
After a while, she pulls out the bag of rations, taking a few nibbles to stave off her ever-present hunger. She barely eats any of it though, as she intends to get her hands on some vegetables in the morning. Once she's done with that, she'll pace a bit, looking to Anthony before saying hesitantly, "I... I'm just going to walk a short distance. I think the Jiangshi have already done what they wanted to this area, but I'm going to do a quick check of the area anyways." Assuming he doesn't object, she moves to investigate each nearby stall, and the alleyways around them, keeping an eye out for any sleepers who may have food with them or even any other people who've avoided the dream like her.
Finding the area clear, she'll eventually wander back to the group to once more settle down on the grass. She glances at Kora and Aoufie, who apparently decided to risk the dream, then back at Anthony who has yet to do so. Biting her lip, she finally puts away her weapons before saying, "Well, we seem to be safe here. I'm going to get some sleep too while I can. Unless you would rather me take watch for the rest of the night, if you wish to attempt sleeping."
Fool, a voice inside her says. If you sleep, they might steal your weapons and food or kill you, or both! Yet she pushes those thoughts away, If they wanted to kill me they could have done that a million times. Besides, right now I'm more useful alive than dead... especially if they have some method of getting out of here... Unless they don't? How did they get here anyways, they didn't really give a straight answer to that. Perhaps they don't understand themselves, in which case, they might be as trapped here as she is now. If not... is there a chance that they could help her escape I'Cath? Her and her family? Perhaps she'll ask tomorrow. For now, she might as well get some rest.
Assuming Anthony chooses to still stay up, Ming-Yue will wander a short distance away from the group before flopping down on her back atop whatever other grass is nearby. She'll stay asleep for just long enough to stave off exhaustion, then will promptly wake up and rejoin the group, hoping that the non-elves will be able to wake up too.
“Do what you need to do. I’ll watch your back” Anthony keeps an eye on the skittish woman. He’s not particularly concerned about her doing anything to them. She didn’t seem to have an agenda beyond survival and trying to mess with a large, heavily armed group isn’t the best strategy for that. He’s really just concerned for her safety. She could be ambushed or attract the attention of more of those zombies or whatever they were. Really, she should be more worried about them, and she was obviously traumatized and justifiably nervous around them. She was either good hearted or desperate enough to risk trusting them and be helpful. Maybe be a little of both.
“You are safe with us.” trying to reassure her “I know, it’s not like we would tell you if we had some horrible plans for you. On the other hand, if we were going to do something, we would have. I’m probably the sketchiest one out of the bunch,” He sneaks in a smile with full dimples, but adds on a serious note. “And you have my word, without your permission, I’ll keep my hands and my magic to myself save for emergencies.”
Once Akyan and Zathon are awake, he risks washing up and collecting some water. He even makes an effort at a rough shave. For now, he’ll only nap if the group is sticking around past dawn and, like Ming-yue, only enough to keep himself afloat. He’s currently in good shape otherwise.
Aware of the strange world lingering just beyond his consciousness as he meditates, Akyan is able to conclude that his theories concerning both an elf's meditation and his ring were correct. While this makes him feel like he has a good edge over the Dream, it doesn't do much to calm his nerves.
Once fully awake, he watches as his siblings who wish to rest do so. None of them seemed to want to sleep for long, so he decides to wait on lending anyone his ring. He doesn't particularly want to give Ming any more information about him or his siblings. Not to mention he has no idea how she'd react to his having a talisman that could protect the wearer from the dream. Until he feels like he can trust her, he thinks it's best to not give her a reason to try to steal from them.
He eyes Anthony, noting that he seems to be getting the least amount of rest out of everyone. Whenever the group does decide to take a longer rest, he'll lend Anthony the ring. Perhaps they could start a rotation with it or something.
When Aoufie wakes, Akyan nods to Anthony's words. "You are awake, but you say you saw the dream world or whatever it is? If that's the case that means it's possible to leave it. At least after a while."
"Yes, I was able to leave it, but I can feel its dreadful pull. I was able to muster some inner gumption to awaken. Though now I too fear sleep" says Aoufie. He keep watch as the others slumber.
Coming out of his trance he catches Aoufie's words.
"We can only hope the rest have the same gumption... but we can't let ourselves be weakened by this place. If you can get out of the dream once, you can do it again. Do not let the fear control you."
Kora takes in the dream and smiles. She can see how this is a hard dream to wake up from. She is so happy to hear the birds chirping.. seems like it has been ages since she has heard their song. She sits and enjoys the ambiance for a bit before getting up and heading over to some people near the merchants. Not wanting to disturb purchases, she approaches anyone that seems to be off to the side a bit.
Not having a clue as to how to start a conversation she does the best she can think of, "Excuse me.. where are we? I am new here and am completely confused as to what I'm seeing."
She also makes note of the large tower, wondering if that is only in the dream or not.
As Kora approaches some of the merchants, she passes some folks she didn't see before crouched down on the gleaming cobblestone path that wound through the park. As she nears them, she notices that one seems to be scrubbing all the dirt out between the individual cobblestones while the other is polishing the scrubbed cobblestones with a cloth and some wax. They don't look up at your passing, intent on cleaning the path.
When Kora asks her question, one of the merchants near her breaks off from his conversation and turns to looks her up and down, seeming a bit confused by her clothing. He has similar features and the same bronzish skin tone as Ming, though this fellow is much older. "If you haven't been assigned a task yet, you need to go to the palace gate and talk to Xiǎo Dān. He's giving out assignments this week."
DM- Azalin's Doom
DM- Surviving the Unsurvivable
"Assignments? You all have assignments? I assume they change every week then.. how interesting. How long have you been in the dream?" Kora asks the merchant. Then pointing to the tower, she asks, "Is that where the palace gate is?"
"Uh... thanks," Ming replies to Anthony giving a timid smile before finding her resting place.
After she wakes up, she moves back to the main group to find at least Aoufie awake along with the elves, "Oh good... you didn't get stuck." She fidgets, eyes straying to where Kora is still sleeping. "H...how long has she been asleep?" She'll leave it up to the mistwalkers to decide on whether or not to try and wake up their companion, but she can't help but worry. Hopefully since this is their first night here, they won't have too much trouble getting out of the dream.
She glances at Zathon when he speaks up, but just averts her eyes rather than responding, a troubled expression washing across her face for a moment. Then she moves toward one of the stalls, eyes turning towards the sky to gauge the time. She wants to be the first one to get to those vegetables, especially now that she has this whole group to worry about. ...maybe with these strangers here the rest of the I'Cath populace will think twice before trying to fight their way to the food. ...maybe. Some might be desperate enough to risk fighting these people.
Aoufie takes comfort from Zathon's words and sits down on the ground. He strums a few notes on his cittern as a way to past the time as he waits for his siblings to awaken. For now he watches over them in case some creature comes by.
He was getting nervous with how long it was taking Kora and Ireena and Ismark to wake, but so long as they were taking the risk, he’d watch over them and do his best to make sure they got enough rest to recover.
While Ming-Yue had stepped away for a little while to scope out the veggie stand, he took the opportunity to talk to Zathon, Akyan, and Aoufie. It would be better if Kora were with them, but this was the first chance they’d had to talk sort of privately and they needed to have a plan. “Feels bad to suggest it, but this might be the safest place for those two for now.” nodding toward Ireena and Ismark, “If the dead won’t mess with them while they sleep, better maybe than dragging them with us everywhere we go. Other hand, I don’t feel great about leaving them behind. Lots of things could happen before/if we get back to them.”
He’d give time to get their thoughts before moving on to the next topic.
“And this bell she mentioned, we could check it out while we are here maybe, but we don’t have much reason to stay long, especially if we can sleep or find food here. Looks like that’s pretty much Ming’s life, trying to catch a nap here and there and scrounge enough food to survive. If that bell isn’t what we’re looking for, and something tells me it’s probably not if it’s been around for a hundred years or more, then this might be a place for us to revisit when we have a better idea what these device pieces look like or do. This is definitely a get in, do what we need to do, get out kind of place. Which means… maybe we need to make finding VanRichten a priority after we handle our current situation.”
“Any of you have any ideas for what to do about this bell if we can even get to it? It would be great if we could destroy it. If not, maybe we could take it to another domain if worse came to worse. Stash it and the bother-sister duo somewhere a little more remote to at least eff with people’s plans. Might buy us a little time. Course it would help if we had any idea how much time we had.”
“Also been thinking, wouldn’t killing Strahd, if we could, still hand his domain over to Azalin? Or are we supposed to assume another darklord would rise in his place or he’d just … respawn later?” The big man looked thoroughly confused by his own train of thought and scrubbed his once again rough-shaved chin. Must be nice to be an elf. No sleep, no body hair. See in the dark. Really makes you wonder if anyone would choose to be human if they were given a choice.
Like the others, Akyan becomes more and more on edge the longer Kora stays asleep. He doesn't realize he had started spacing off until Anthony breaks the silence.
He glances at Ireena and Ismark. "I don't like it either, but I have to agree with you. Though if they'd rather accompany us to another realm then they might as well come. When...If they wake up, we can ask them what they think. Though I have a feeling that as long as they can find each other in the dream, they may just want to stay."
He falls silent as Anthony continues, then nods. "I think that's a sound plan, and as long as Ireena and Ismark are fine staying here, then heading back to Barovia to find Van Richten should be our priority." He thumbs his ring. "For now though, I may have a partial solution to the sleep issue." He glances off in Ming's direction, then back to Anthony. "I believe my talisman can protect those of us who require sleep from the dream. Perhaps we can start a rotation for those who need rest."
"As for the bell... I say we try to get to it in the morning, with those things around and the dreadlord ringing it at night, morning is our best option." He rubs the back of his neck as he says this. Doing this kind of thing in daylight doesn't sit well with him, but it's the logical thing to do given the circumstances. "I doubt we could destroy it, so taking it to another domain may be the only real option. Though if we must, i'd say it would be best not to take it back to Barovia. Even if it's not one of the artifacts we are looking for, Strahd seems to be the biggest threat to us next to Azalin, and I don't want to risk him getting his hands on it."
Akyan shrugs at Anthony's next question as he'd asked Madame Eva a similar question. "Based on what the seer said, I don't think Azalin can take the domain unless the Dreadlord gets whatever their hearts desire is. In other words, the dreadlords must be freed from their prison in order for Azalin to take over. Killing the current dreadlord would only make them reincarnate and rise again...at least that's what I got from it. That woman's explanation of someone potentially becoming a new dreadlord wasn't very clear to me." He leans back and continues, "If any random person can become a dreadlord after the dreadlord is killed, it wouldn't make sense for that dreadlord to be reincarnated. Unless the new dreadlord is just acting as a stand in until the old one returns." He frowns, this whole concept of dreadlords is difficult to wrap one's head around.
He rubs a thumb along the side of his nose in thought as Akyan gives his perspective. It seems like they are finally coming together with some kind of default plan... whether any of it is possible is another matter altogether. But they can't just sit around waiting for an obvious path to open up for them. Especially not here where sleep and food are going to be hard to come by.
"I have enough food for myself for a few days, but with this large a group, we could maybe make it last two. I'm hoping Kora might have a solution with her," He waggles his fingers, "nature magic. Maybe summon some leaves and twigs for us to chew on." He was trying to make a light joke out of it, but having to burn magic for food when rest was hard to come by could be a death spiral if they stayed here too long.
"Course all of this hinges on how easy it is to get out of here." He avoided looking at it, but his talisman tucked under his armor had no obvious triggers, and they'd lost Jared's back in Barovia. Hopefully, the beast-man was strong enough to hold onto it.
A Brief Overview of What Happens as Kora Dreams:
-Kora, with Ismark and Ireena trailing behind her, manages to find Xiǎo Dān at the gates that barred the path to an impressive tower. He assigns the trio to be street sweepers.
-You discover that while most of the citizens all seemed to be a particular ethic group of humans, there are a few outsiders in the city, so you won't stand out too much. You learn that he is actually a jiangshi.
-You learn that most of the tasks assigned are tedious, unnecessary, and repetitive. For example, you could be assigned to count the seconds that pass, polish the stones of the streets, record the number of leaves that fall in the park, walk around the city and constantly smile to cheer others up, or even stacking and restacking. the coins in the city bank. Tsien Chang accepts nothing less than perfection in her city, and anyone that doesn't perform their task adequately is executed by one of the jiangshi that police the dream city. In the dream, the jiangshi look like they're alive and well. Being killed in the dream forces that person to wake up, and sometimes the shock of it will actually kill the unfortunate person.
-The dream is sort of a rough draft version of the city Tsien Chang wants in the real world.
-If you consistently do your tasks well, you might earn the favor of the jiangshi and Tsieng Chang. If you do, you can earn the most desired tasks, such as listening to one of Tsien Change's daughters recite poetry, participate in a feast, or tend to one of the jiangshi overseers.
-As Ming said earlier, the people of the city seem a bit surprised with the progress the city has made in the real word. Tsieng Chang has been very pleased with the efforts to renovate the city, and it's finally slowly approaching the ideal of a perfect city that Tsieng Chang is obsessed with
As dawn begins to light upon the horizon, those awake soon see furtive forms slinking amongst the shadows of the park. They all seem to be heading towards the market stalls, probably in an attempt to get to the stall that summons vegetables even though there were jiangshi roaming the streets of the city as the reworked it. Ming wasn't kidding when she said that people here were desperate to get food, even going as far as risking their lives to move when the jiangshi were active. At around this time, Kora, Ismark, and Ireeena all wake from the dream. Even though they're bodies were rested, their mind didn't receive the solitude and rejuvenation that sleep usually offered.
DM- Azalin's Doom
DM- Surviving the Unsurvivable
"Hey, if you all want some you might want to come over here before we get swarmed," Ming-Yue shouts to the mistwalkers. "We aren't the only ones who wanted to get here early." She takes up a defensive position near the stall, feeling a little guilty for guarding the food while there are other hungry people. But that doesn't matter, right now, her own survival comes first. The rest of these people could find rest or relief from their hunger in the dream if they needed, she doesn't have that option.
She starts harvesting vegetables as soon as they appear in the stall, stuffing her pockets as full as possible whilst looking over her shoulder to gauge the position of oncoming I'Cath citizens. She seems completely unaware of whatever conversation the mistwalkers were having during her absence--likely because she's making an effort not to be nosey.
Kora starts awake and looks around wide-eyed. "Whoa. That is quite the dream. Messed up, I tell you." She rises up from the ground and stretches, rotating her neck around as it cracks. She sees Ming over taking up a defensive position by the stalls.
"C'mon, let's go help her out and get some of these veggies. I'll tell you what I gathered in the Dream." Assuming the group moves with her, she continues, "So it's like Ming said, similar to this but better, sort of? Like it is trying to be like the world we came from almost? At least I'd rather be there than the place this is trying to be." Realizing she is talking in circles, she tries to start over. "Everyone in the Dream is assigned a job, a task for the week. Ireena, Ismark and I were assigned to be streetsweepers. That's not that big a deal, but the real cooky thing is are some of the other jobs that are assigned, like counting the seconds that pass, polishing the stones of the streets, recording the number of leaves that fall in the park, actually walking around the city and constantly smiling to cheer others up, or even stacking and restacking the coins in the city bank. Wild I tell ya. Oh, and if you don't perform these tasks adequately, yo'ure actually executed! Now if you actually die or just wake up... it's a bit unclear to me. Oh! and if you do your task exceptionally you get to do better things like enjoy a feast. Can you imagine? your weekly task is to enjoy a feast.
"Oh yeah, apparently Tsieng Chang is very pleased with the progress of the city. Sounds like it is getting close to what she wants? This is bad right? We don't want these bad guys to achieve what they desire?" She turns to Ming and asks, "Have you heard of the name Xiǎo Dān before?"
"So there is some influence here." He didn't like the idea of beating up a bunch of desperate people over food. If he were already starving, he'd do what he had to do, but he wasn't that far gone. He wasn't going to let Ming-Yue get overrun. He moved into position to defend her, doing his best to look big and bad.
"You got anything to prevent us having to beat up bunch of innocent people over food" Directing his question at Kora.
He wasn't going to announce how much food he had.
"Depending, I might be able to .. diffuse a bad situation without violence if people get aggressive." he adds to everyone.
((to avoid a back and forth, he's talking about being able to cast sleep, how effective it is depends on how many/how tough))
As the first to arrive at the vegetable stand, you all have a fairly good position to get first pick of the wilted vegetables when they appear. As dawn approaches, citizens start to swarm around the vegetable stall, though none of them dare approach it with you standing guard. Many of the city folk look scrawny and malnourished, and you're fairly sure that they would stand not chance against you in a fight. Regardless of their physical state, they eye you with a mixture of hostility and hunger.
As soon as the sun peaks over the horizon, a massive pile of vegetables materialize out swirling mist atop the cart, and several of the vegetables topple to the ground. Several of the citizens almost dart forward to grab the fallen vegetables, but they manage to restrain themselves. After you all take your fill and begin to leave, the city folk all rush forward to grab the food, practically climbing over each other in their hungered state. More than one punch and kick is thrown as some begin to fight over the food. Truly, it is a sad sight to behold all of these poor, starving people.
DM- Azalin's Doom
DM- Surviving the Unsurvivable