August Pre-Hurricane Post | Open Mingle

[imsorey]

[It's the calm before the storm—or at least the not-quite-so-bad-weather before the storm. The winds are starting to pick up, the ocean is rolling, and all manner of sea creature is heading for cover to ride things out.

But at the base, there's still lots to do as usual. Whether it's getting ready to hunker down, goofing off, or making friends, there's never a dull moment under the sea! Have at it, and remember to check out the OOC planning/mission signups to see what's going on!]

Comments

[smileyfaced]

[Now that they're talking to someone, they're able to focus on something. It allows them to keep their fear at bay. This person's talking about dreams. Could it be--?]

Dreams... were they of exploring the ocean? [Thankfully, with telepathy, they can make their voice sound as calm as they like.] How are they related to these creatures?

[oneandmikleonly]

...yeah. They're...if you're talking about dreams where you could speak more directly to the animals in the ocean, where there wasn't anything made by people around, where it felt real, where there's some kind of singing in the background all the time...that's because it was. There's another layer to this world.

That...whatever ate the Reaper...tried to trap some people in that layer, several weeks ago. It almost killed them. We wanted to find out why, but...

[spreads his hands in a shrug, a physical gesture rather than a mental one]

As you can see, it turned out to be a lot bigger than expected.

[smileyfaced]

[Chara ponders on this for a moment. What Mikleo is describing reflects their experience rather well.]

It's fortunate we don't drift off into that layer when we sleep, then.

[They glance at the screen.]

But I have a feeling such a massive creature wouldn't be happy staying where it is.

[oneandmikleonly]

We did for a few weeks, but it seems like something's shut that off temporarily, at least. Perhaps the second creature's doing; there are two with power over the dreams and dreamers. One seems to like us.

[the screen's being rewound right now, the Reaper uneaten, the boiling mass of them receding into the blackness as the drone's camera backs up.]

...I hope it keeps to the Void, at least for now. With the storms picking up so much, I would hope even it would have a hard time heading over here if that's what it wants to do.

[smileyfaced]

I guess we're lucky we can avoid a confrontation for now.

[Feeling somewhat calmer now, Chara stands up. Their eyes are fixed on the footage.]

Maybe we should be asking for the first creature's help in dealing with this.

[oneandmikleonly]

That's an idea. It's too bad the drone didn't get further. One of the reasons we sent it down there was to check the locations of both creatures, not just the one.

[smileyfaced]

URSULA's been on this planet for a while, hasn't she? She must have something on this "dream layer" and the creatures. It'd be great if we could use the first as a tool.

[oneandmikleonly]

She doesn't have access, so whatever data she has on it is what we gathered when we did, actually.

Uh...if we're going to get the other one involved, it's probably better to try and stay friendly with it, though? It's been pretty nice so far, so I don't know about using it as a...tool.

[smileyfaced]

It wants to help us, doesn't it? Besides, it'll be good for it, too. Nobody's safe with that thing down there.

[oneandmikleonly]

I suppose. I'd just like to keep the relationship mutually beneficial. Since it's also some kind of weird powerful lord of the abyss, or...whatever these are. Wish we could confirm they were dragons and be done with it.

[he sounds like he has a mild headache]

There should be some way to access the dreaming again sooner or later, and that's likely a safer bet for a second in-depth check of things we're not sure of while we figure more out about Void navigation in the waking world. Immortal dream bodies are at least handy that way.

[smileyfaced]

Monsters are monsters. As long as we treat the good one with respect, we shouldn't have any issues.

[The 'pure of heart' theme may not apply to monsters in this realm, but Chara hasn't really thought about it yet.]

How do you know we're immortal while we're dreaming?

[oneandmikleonly]

I suppose that's fair. I would like to know what's going on with them both, there's jut a lot of teeth in the way.

[he sighs -- and then looks a little uneasy when they ask that question. there's really nothing for it but to answer frankly, though.]

I...may have gotten in a fight while trying to negotiate with a Reaper.

[smileyfaced]

[The Reapers? Chara can't help voicing their surprise.]

Did it actually listen to you? They don't seem to like us very much.

[Chara could communicate with the wildlife in their dreams but the fish they talked to were benign. Friendly, even. They were open to human contact. Reapers on the other hand...]

[oneandmikleonly]

It didn't. They like fighting, as far as I can tell, or they make some kind of point of honor out of it. It gave us more of a conversation than I was expecting, but, um, it was mostly interested in a rematch. It attacked when we kept saying no.