(Author?s Note: Everything that follows the prelude will be open to other players only if their characters have the ability to walk through dreams. It could be an unknown ability, or, if you really wish to participate, they could simply ?dream? everything that happens without the knowledge that they were actually lost in Viki?s psyche while she slept. The gem that Kain embeds into her palm in the prelude provides him with the power to walk through her dreams, but it could always backfire and suck other people into it as well. So maybe your character doesn?t have any abilities, and because of the gem, they get sucked into the dream world. Viki carries her own sort of powers which could interfere with the gem. Anyway, chaos reigns supreme here, and I want to create as much chaos in this thread as possible. I will set up a basic setting in a day or so and everyone else is welcome to bring in whatever insanity they want. But remember! Everyone?s respective characters are supposed to be physically asleep!

Let me repeat that everyone and anyone is welcome, whether your character is friend, foe, or stranger to Viki. If they are a stranger, how cool would that type of meeting be?

The whole point of this is Kain Gray?s quest to restore himself. He wants memories, and not only his memories, but her memories of him and those he was involved with. This includes Tara, Brutin, Essa, the SA.. everyone! But to do that, he must brave the dream labyrinth of memory and find all the pieces of himself that he left behind. The past thread, ?Some things just never die? explain this. Kain left pieces of his spirit inside of Viki when they were lovers. He is split wraith, and doubles of himself run rampant, and you might see one or two of them around Rhy?Din. ::wink::

This whole thing will probably tie into Viki?s ?Death to Travanix? obsession, depending whether Kain comes out of this good, evil, or just as crazy as she is.

Warning: If your characters do wander into her dream, they might wake the next day with a sort of temporary insanity.

Okay. See you in the labyrinth. Just give me another day or two to set up the first scene.)

"Never trust a demon. He has a hundred motives for anything he does... Ninety-nine of them, at least, are malevolent."
-Dream, in SANDMAN #4: "A Hope in Hell," by Neil Gaiman.

Prelude (Continued):

He took a drag of his cigarette. The smoke curled through the cracks of the armor he wore. Wraiths are always leaking. She would not hear the whispers. She would not see the trails of smoke.

?You will have to show me what has been going on. It is important.. There are things I need to see that I did not when I worked as an arm of the SA.?

?So much has happened.? She extended a hand to him from across the booth. ?But I cannot ensure that you will not lose yourself too. Gaer zhah nau dajakkin uns'aa nindol draeval. Usstan inbal ssinssrigg, Kain.?

He cracked his neck and slowly squinted and smoked his cigarette. Then: ?There is.. But now is not the time.?

She frowned, considering this. ?I hear.. everything. I see.. everything. And things that aren't there and things that will be and perhaps you will too. There will be a great war. People will die and be shattered on the earth and the earth will shriek and tremble and the darkness will creep up into the sky.?

?Looks like the time frame has been cut if there is going to be a war..? He deciphered her words easily. Then, turning his hand, he opened a panel on his armor to his arm. There was no arm in the armor. It was as if he was just a suit of armor with a head on it. Wraith! He pulled out a crystal and peered at it for a moment.

She hadn't even noticed his hollow state. What would've been odd or terrible or even the slightest bit fascinating seemed to have no effect. He was as she remembered him and would not see the change. For the moment, the seer was blind. ?The hearts here are heavy and full and it is a different time and they will stand against such things, like I did when I was small.?

Kain took her hand and opened it, pressing the crystal into her palm. ?Do not give this to anyone. Keep it near you..?

Viki blinked, as if out of a daze, her eyes pouring over the artifact in her palm. ?What does it do? It sings. What does it say??

He raised a brow at that. ?It just may be everyones salvation..? Then, he closed her hand over the gem, squeezing hard. It seemed to embed itself into her flesh.

She glanced up, enough to catch his eyes, which were steady on the strange object in her hand. Confusion crossed her delicate features. She did not notice any pain from the pressure.

?Ajak Victoria, udos ph' uss lu' l' toha. Dos xal telanth dos shlu'ta'naut tlu dajakkus.. Usstan tlun l' uss nindel shlu'ta dajakk dos 'sohna.? As he regarded her, he put his palm to hers and he whispered softly to her skin. It rose over the gem and there it was hidden in her hand.

Words in any language could drift into her mind then, and she would understand, because all were one in the same at that moment. Emotion had shaped language, and she swam in emotion - upstream. The sensation sent shivers down her spine, but half her heart would not believe. It was the blue side, surely. ?Plynn kyon, olath uss. Dos orn noa nindol xonathull ka dos ph' naut kyone.?

?Lu' nindel zhah ele Usstan ssrig'luin dosst xxizz. Ussta ehmtu xonathull uriu quin ulu kre'j.? He said simply, and then, ?I have to figure out what happened to my life.?

?Life happens to life.? Simplicity at its best. Her eyes rolled heavenward again, because all the answers broke their fast with the stars. ?Souls.. Mm. Souls are forever things. We mixed ours like paints. Perhaps it is why I am so angry when the colours are wrong.?

?You are talking about my full spectrum, no?? He would know her riddles.

She blinked, as if in surprise, as if he wasn't supposed to interpret that. The Seer Hath Spoken, and this one understood. ?Yes.?

?Don't worry.. My other half will be around...? He turned his gaze to peer out the window into the night, despite the rain. ?Soon enough.?

?I hardly worry.? Liar! She sat back, wearing a strange little look on her face as she stared into the palm of her right hand. ?You've upset the lifeline. Perhaps tomorrow, I die.? She squinted at her own flesh, unable to see what lay beneath.

This brought a snort from the wraith. He turned his gaze to her and grinned slowly, rising from his seat and whispering into her mind, ?I have seen the part of the past leading to now.. As for your lifeline.. You only will die when you choose to die.. Not the palm of your hand.?

Well that was encouraging, wasn't it? In truth, she had always known this, even living with a chaotic stream of consciousness, she would live, whereas Kat, Kat had chosen to die. Off-blue eyes flickered up at him. The Knowledge was apparent.

He smirked once more. He wore it even as his body faded and flickered in and out of existence. Viki squinted as if she caught this, but then, it was only him, as he had always been: flesh and blood and memory, all wrapped up in her mind.

Kain Gray The Wraith cursed softly then. He peered at his hand for a moment, watching the spectral flesh flicker in and out of this reality. Surely, something was wrong. Then, turning his gaze down to Viki, he waved to her a goodbye, like he had lost his ability to speak. His body shifted, and he stepped through a nearby wall, vanishing like he was a ghost indeed.

"We have seen stranger things in dreams; and fictions are merely frozen dreams, linked images with some semblance of structure. They are not to be trusted, no more than the people who create them."
-From the introduction to the SANDMAN "The Doll's House," by Neil Gaiman

Dreamscape

This was unlike any other dream. Power spilled from the gem and into her psyche, sending thousands of electric arms spiraling into the atmosphere. These intangible limbs caught the consciousness of friend, foe, and stranger, and pulled them into her world. And when they arrived, their senses were overwhelmed.

This was unlike any other dream.

Sight

The landscape seemed to appear from no where. All around, there was darkness, but in the center ? earth. It was a near-barren plane, brown and rocky, and strange vegetation fought for survival between cracks in the ground. These plants were topaz, vermillion, or white. Their flowers were strange, spiked, and rather menacing.

The sky above this earth was in no way bound by time. The sun and the moon stood side by side, though the sun seemed to be nothing more than a soft glow ? candlelight? The moon, in contrast, was much much larger. Clouds swirled around the two celestial bodies ? blue and gray and violet. Stars twinkled in the distance, blinking in an almost rhythmic pattern.

To the north stood a structure distinct from all others. It seemed to be a joining of several buildings, each with its own separate architectural design. Upon closer inspection, one might recognize several pieces of it.

The Forsaken Blades Clubhouse stood at the base. Longden Castle seemed to grow out of it and rise several stories above. On the left was a curious estate ? curious only to the extent at which it leaned to its side. The pillars were crisscrossed at the doorway, as if barring anyone entrance. There was an engraving at the top: LeFay Hall. The engraving itself was actually painted over in bright pink: Rhy?Din Historical Society. Then, a parchment was viewable, tacked to the leaning doorway: No this is actually Valir Hall. A swarm of butterflies hovered above. On the right was another structure which was attached to the entire thing, yet this one stood upright, unlike the estate on the other end. Clearly, it was Lanrette Palace, yet few would know what it looked like save for close relatives or associates of Tara. If one was to go around this strangely assembled building, one would smack right into the headquarters of the Slaver?s Association. It was an unrealistic version of the original. It was darker, larger, and seemed much scarier. A dilapidated garden curled at its side. At its edge was something that looked more or less like a moat, and yet, it was not. A rectangular trench was dug into the earth, some ten by twenty feet, and a sign post jetted out from the ground just in front of it. An arrow pointed down. It read: The Slaver?s Bane and the Liberation Corporation?s Super Secret Tunnels.

If one were to venture to the darkness which encircled this place, one might see visions of things that were, secret things that were now, and things that might become. Strange figures danced in this blanket of shadow. They wore familiar faces, but the familiarity seemed wrong.

Sound

This world was electric. It seemed to hum. Strange whispers could be heard from the ground, the vegetation, the stars above? The language was a mix of Drow and English. These voices would latch onto their subject and spill their secrets or secrets of those who they were involved with.

Smell

A scent lingered in the air. It was sweet and musky ? strawberries and sex. Yet some other smell lay beneath. Burning wood.

Touch

This world was tangible enough. When touched, the structure appeared solid, the ground firm, and the vegetation plant-like. The temperature was comfortable. But reach into the darkness at your peril. Winds blew cold around this universe.

Taste

Anything ingested in this realm would most certainly taste of chocolate and cappuccinos, no matter what it was.

The Sixth

All powers belonging to respective visitors would be useless here, as they are not within their own minds. However, being that this is Victoria?s dream, if one wished to fly, all one had to do was ask the earth to rise to the occasion, or ask the butterflies to borrow their wings.

Rules can be bent, but not broken.