2. The Dividing Line: A Flower Field

15th of Saun 720

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Woe
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Race: Mortal Born
Profession: Éminence grise
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2. The Dividing Line: A Flower Field

15th of Saun, 720 Mid-Morning.

There were chrysanthemums as far as Woe could see, beyond even that crystal tower at the center of it all. They were, all of them, red to his eyes at first glance. He didn't see any of a different color, anyway. As he strode through the field that was this part of the Untold, Woe marveled at the mystery of the outer realm. Here, things weren't as they seemed. There was probably no soil, not as he understood soil to be, to support the nourishment of such flowers, nor was there proper weather or rain that could sustain them. Idly, the torturer wondered if he was even breathing at the moment. He supposed it didn't matter. He would see how time passed in this place, and forge his own way ahead, without a teacher or master.

He heard voices on the breeze, whispering through the petals of each flower around him. As he got closer to each blossom, he saw their petals change in real-time. Well, not as he looked at them. But he would look away one moment, and then look again and swear that the very same flower that had been red a moment ago, was now blue, orange, or green.

All through his walk, he could hear Breen's whining voice just ahead, and he used this as his compass, his navigational beacon as he strode through the wild growth of Emea.

At times, he chanced to look into the flowers, stopping for a moment. Breen seemed to get no further ahead as he made these pauses. His voice was just as distant then as it was when he was walking. Or such was his estimation, judging by the way the sound carried.

Anyway, he looked into some of these flowers and was surprised to see a surreal landscape within each one, as if each one was a container for a dreamscape. As he got along further into the field, he realized he was traveling by dreamers and their dreamscapes. The idea that within each of those small flowers was a world unto itself was a... sobering realization. He couldn't grapple with the scale of it all, and thus lied to himself, telling his mind to ignore the enormity of it all, lest he lost his composure. He forged ahead, as if through an actual flower field, further along, to meet that tower in the distance.



17th of Saun720 Mid-Afternoon

Yet the tower never got any closer, however far Woe walked, it was always in the distance. Yet the chrysanthemums remained in its orbit, a perfect circular row of them all around in the field. Woe was tempted to try and run, but held off. Idly, he wondered how much time passed since he entered the Untold. He tried not to dwell on the sense that he might've been lost, remembering where that'd led him the last time. He'd been cast into the realm of U'frek, the endless ocean, with a group of navigants waiting for those who were lost in Emea, to escort them exactly where they needed to be.

While it wasn't entirely an unpleasant feeling, being among the Immortal Planes, he didn't wish to relive that experience alone.

As if in answer to his loneliness, Breen suddenly began trotting out from beneath the Chrysanthemums all around. His tongue lolled out as he walked along, as if he hadn't a care in the world. As he got to Woe, he whined, "Master!"

"Yes Breen." Woe sighed. He was losing patience with this little walk they were having. Even for as little time as he'd spent in the actual diri's company during the last oh... was it bits? Breaks? Days? Weeks? He couldn't tell.

The way that one moment simply bled into one and the other, and then the moment before it, was disorientating. He didn't know if he'd spent an hour in this landscape or if he'd return to Quacia and find Soraia an old woman, and Fleaface long dead. Then he remembered, he'd left Fleaface with Soraia, perhaps long enough. While he didn't detect treachery from Fleaface, with his Grifter's Eye nor his master's ring, he didn't wish to extend her punishment to such a great length of time. He turned to Breen, and sighed again, "Breen, do you suppose we should head back for Soraia? She's likely wondering when we'll end her detention."

Breen tilted his head, and whined, then leapt into a trot in the other direction, away from the crystal spire at the center of the field.

Woe followed after him, wincing as flowers whipped at his arms, chest, face, and legs. It seemed that while the flower field was willing to let him perpetually chase the Crystal Spire, it would not so easily allow him to turn away, and walk the other way.



19th of Saun720, Dusk


A change of color came over the flowers, as he began making his paces in the other direction, after Breen, to wherever the diri was going. From red, they shifted to white, and then blue. Every one of them changed color. Woe felt uneasy as he passed them by, hearing the wailing of nightmares issuing from the buds of the flowers. Something in the atmosphere had changed suddenly, and he didn't know what to make of it.


Breen whined as he leapt along the flower beds, brushing past them as they seemed to club his thick coat. Woe for his part was now covered in the damned blue petals, many of them decorating the gray feathers of his mantle. He adjusted the cloak on his shoulders, but forged on as he did so, tempted to tear one of the flowers out of its moorings and whip the field into submission.

The sky above seemed to shift as he went through the field, from night, to dawn, to midday to dusk again. The celestial calendar, or however it appeared, was shifting as he went the opposite direction of the geological spire.

He began running almost to follow Breen, now heedless of the flowers entirely, though they battered him all along the way like a row of softened cudgels. Finally, he was met by a large flower, which flew directly into his face, and then his mouth. He stopped in his tracks.

The flower began vining its way down his throat, until it found the bottom of his stomach. Then Woe felt himself falling, falling into the dreamscape held within the blue flower. As he ran forward, Breen of course was pulled back by their bond, joining Woe wherever he was going. They fell for what seemed a half a break. Until they landed, in a forest that to Woe seemed eerily familiar.




23rd of Saun720, Midnight.




It was chilly in the atmosphere of the Dreamscape. Outside that cabin, a light dusting fell from the sky, coating the solid ground with an inhospitable chill. Woe walked forward, making for the cabin. He was wary of everything he saw, knowing how the Dreamscapes of mortals could shift and flux on a dime. He feared that one wrong step could see him dumped into the more perilous corners of the Untold, or even into a hell unimagined. Or worse, he could stay locked in the dreamer's head! For all Woe knew, all of these were distinct possibilities.

As he got closer to the window, he thought he spotted movement from within. There was a lantern, brightly lit. But there was nobody inside, from what he could tell. He shivered in the cold, and approached the doorway. Once there, he found the latch unhindered by any barrier. He swung the door outward, and entered, shutting the door behind him.

Inside, he saw something quite strange. A trio of individuals. One older man, one adolescent girl, and another, a child, a toddler with curly hair and a familiar face. Woe looked at him, and narrowed his eyes in disbelief. "Toutouye?" He whispered.

But the young wild child didn't seem to hear him, but only pointed their right index finger at the girl. Then, it was the girl's turn to point to the elder male. And the elder male pointed to Toutouye. And so the three, squared against each other, stood off in a pointing contest.

As he watched them point, they began pivoting into a circular pattern around on the floor. They sped up, faster and faster. For a few bits they proceeded in this way, until they all turned simultaneously, and pointed to Woe. Then, he felt himself drawn toward Toutouye, floating off of his feet and thrown. He flew bodily toward the three, and was wrapped in an embrace by all of them, until he awoke, gasping for air, and reaching for space.

Breen was there when he awoke, nearby, sniffing the ground as if searching for something. Woe could see his brilliant eyes reflected in the night.

When the torturer arose from the leafy ground, he saw nobody else, just a dark forest, with only the creek amphibians' song to welcome him back to Idalos.
word count: 1545
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Doran
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Re: 2. The Dividing Line: A Flower Field

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Woe:

Knowledge:
Detection x 2 The Dividing Line: A Flower Field
Endurance x 4 The Dividing Line: A Flower Field

Loot: -
Wealth: -
Injuries: -
Renown: -
Magic XP: -
Skill Review: Appropriate to level.
Points: 10
- - -
Comments: The part of the Untold that Woe and Breen are travelling through sounds beautiful in my opinion (and fascinating - I liked how each of the small flowers is apparently a world unto itself). You described the fantastical nature of this place very well.

I found Woe’s thoughts about his environment interesting to read. Is he even breathing at the moment? And how much time exactly has he already spent in this landscape?

Woe covered in blue petals must have been quite a sight!

I also liked the last part. The “pointing contest” was a bit strange, but that’s what dreams are like sometimes. I think you did a good job when it comes to conveying that.

Enjoy your rewards!
word count: 155

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