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Post by Keeper of Darkness on Aug 26, 2017 22:27:56 GMT
"Of course I can, can't you?" Alicia sips from the wine glass in her hands, "I've been on my way to Bethmoora for months, I just keep waking up before I can finish the trip. I feel luckier this time, much more uninterrupted sleep."
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2017 22:31:10 GMT
"Why are you going to Bethmoora? And no most of us just woke up here having no idea how it happened."
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Post by Keeper of Darkness on Aug 26, 2017 22:41:28 GMT
"I don't know, from what I have heard all dreamers are drawn to Bethmoora; she calls to us. I just feel like I really need to get there."
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2017 22:42:22 GMT
As soon as Alicia says that she works at Miskatonic University that is when it makes sense to Matilda and where she knows her name. The Alicia Bourdain wing at the university for a start, as well as a lot of books and relics named after her. Matilda looks at Mattie before saying quietly to her.
"Alicia Bourdain worked at the same place as I do now"
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2017 23:19:45 GMT
Mattie looks from the woman to Harrow. Her mind reeling. Worked? As in past tense? Then would the same Alicia be alive?
Was there such a thing as time rolling all into a ball or something and people from not just any place but any time meet here? Oh boy her head was starting to hurt as she looked wide eyed at Harrow and back to Alicia.
She stepped back and went to the other side of Harrow and whispered in her ear. "How long ago?"
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2017 23:51:40 GMT
Realizing that Jeremy is quite lost in his book, Terra goes back to his corner, leaving the ladies to talk among themselves.
After getting comfortably set up again, Terra wonders if he can try to manifest a copy of Jeremy's book, so that he can start looking through the pages for clues.
When the book fails to appear, Terra sighs in defeat. Frustrated that he was unable to make it work.
"This is for the birds!" He mutters, as he stands again and walks over to the ladies, basically dropping the notebook into Mattie's hands.
"Here. You're turn. I haven't been able to make anything manifest since that stupid notebook showed up. Without Jeremy's book, I can't crack whatever it is we're looking for. I'm done."
Angry at himself and feeling useless he turns and walks off the top deck, down to the bottom. He needed to go clear his head, and take a break maybe later he would have better luck with cracking those riddles.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2017 23:59:29 GMT
Mattie's head was hurting and she couldn't seem to think straight. It seemed as though she was turned upside down for several long moments before Ki..Terra came over and placed the notepad in her hands and stormed off in a haze.
It did give Mattie the grounding she needed from the brain trip she just took and she held the notes and looked at them. All written out several times. She looks from Jeremy to Terra and back to the notepad. Guess it couldn't hurt for her to try and duplicate the book.
Mattie focuses like she did with her wand and tried to think about the book in Jeremy's hand but it didn't pay off. She sighed and went and sat back down next to Jillian. "Okay so. That's a no go on the book from either Terra or myself. Also my brain hurts a little bit. Wnt to try the riddles?"
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Post by Keeper of Darkness on Aug 27, 2017 0:10:19 GMT
A few hours pass by as the boat drifts down the river and the crew starts setting up hammocks to sleep for the night. One of the sailors starts to sing a prayer, it is very beautiful and the song seems to vibrate the air around the vessel. Enchanting animals in the water shimmer and fly up into the air heading for nearby land in an array of colours.
"To whatever god may hear. Wherever there be sailors whether of river or sea: whether their way be dark or whether through storm: whether their peril be of beast or of rock: or from enemy lurking on land or pursuing on sea: wherever the tiller is cold or the helmsman stiff: wherever sailors sleep or helmsman watch: guard, guide and return us to the old land, that has known us: to the far homes that we know. To all the guards that are. To whatever god may hear."
The sailors bow for the song and prayer and most of them crawl into the hanging hammocks to rest under low hanging sails.
All through the night and day sailors pray 5-6 at a time, never the same sailor of the same faith. When one finished they are replaced by someone of their own faith. The helmsman continues to sing to himself in prayer all night to keep himself cheerful. The captain settles under a a pavilion of golden tassels upon the deck.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2017 0:16:11 GMT
Lili had been quiet most of this journey. She was trying to take it all in. She wasn't sure exactly what was going on, and what it was they were doing. The girl seemed lost in thought as they manuvered through the path and finally to a Dock.
Her body shivered. A boat. Just freaking fantastic. She followed the others onto the boat but stayed towards the middle, and away from the rails. Her hand fiddled with leather pouch that Jillian had given her. She had been so lost in everything she had forgotten she had it. SHe pulls it up and unties it looking inside. Dust? Powder? That was weird. What the hell was this stuff?
Lili scanned the boat as the others walked around, taking this all in and listening to all of the conversations.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2017 0:33:02 GMT
"I'll give it a go," Jillian replied, taking the notepad and giving Mattie free reign with the maps for awhile. Time passes without her even realising it, typical of a dream she supposed, the landscape was quite different when she eventually looked up. "I think I have an idea.." she muttered hesitantly. "I don't know if it helps, but some were certainly connected."
On a separate sheet of the notepad she had made a few attempts to rewrite the words in differing order.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2017 11:20:59 GMT
Matilda turns to Mattie and says "yes worked there. I believe around 1920s to 1950. Of course she has died since then".
She looks in her pocket to see if there is anything there. She pulls out something and she opens it up to see what it is. "Everyone I have something of interest to share" she starts to read it.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2017 15:08:08 GMT
Jillian looked up as the Harrow read out the words, the fell into her usual school expression as she tried to puzzle the situation though no doubt it looked very different on her current face. She was still getting used to that and had used the waters reflection to get an idea what she looked like. Truly gorgeous. She could not help but be amused imagining what it would be like to look like this for real. She was sure a certain knight might have been more drawn, who knows what could have been different.
In an attempt to cover up the deep blush that was no doubt spreading across her new features she spoke up, "Her.. Throughout that whole piece you referred to Bethmoora as her. What if the city is the 'she' from the riddles? She grew from a wound in the desert. She yearns for company. I think that actually ties the two parts of the riddle I'd built together! What do you all think?"
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2017 15:14:37 GMT
Lili walks to the rest of the group, though careful to not be near the boats edge.
"I think your on to something Jillian. I mean, you see it in other writings too. Like the statue of Liberty in the US they refer to it as a her, a lady. They sometimes doing it other cities too. That i dont understand why, but in this case, maybe your right about this Bathmoora being as the she in all of the riddles and writings. But what does it all mean? How does it all connect?"
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Post by Keeper of Darkness on Aug 27, 2017 16:21:41 GMT
Alicia motions to the leather bags they all have, "What are in those pouches, did you find them in this world?"
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2017 16:41:36 GMT
"If we go with that story then who are the brother and sister? The emperor is the desert and Bethmoora seems to be who we need to save. What if the emperor is not just this desert but what if he is the one that Hypnos warmed us about? What if he sent this message to the people and the people were terrified. So maybe the city we were in yesterday is a brother or sister to Bethmoora?" so many thoughts running through her mind.
"If that holds true we might pass other cities in similar states. But it seems to me that we have to bring dreamers back into Bethmoora to wake her and maybe fight this Emperor?" she turns to look at Alicia.
"They each hold something different. I've stacks of broken coins." she shrugged. She knew what Harrow had but she also wasn't sure she should share all their knowledge either.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2017 16:50:49 GMT
"The Emperor is a real person I think, we have a name and Jeremy mentioned that his mother was a priestess who worshipped the desert." Jillian replied, still puzzling through the discussion. "If Hypnos did give such a warning, then it is likely him. The riddle says to beware him too."
She paced a little, tapping her lip as she moved, "Alicia says that Bethmoora calls out to dreamers, that fits the riddle too. It does make sense that the dreamers like Alicia and ourselves are Bethmoora's brothers and sisters if she is described as asleep too. I don't know how we could bring a sister city anywhere, so it cannot be that. I think Mattie is right. It has to be dreamers."
Jillian stopped then, frowning. "But what is the heart of the city that we need to break?"
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Post by Keeper of Darkness on Aug 27, 2017 19:01:31 GMT
Alicia looks to the group, "Well, what sorts of things inside a city would be considered a heart?" She looks to the bags and back to the girl, "Also, what do the things in the pouches do? Maybe that will give you some clues?"
"I've heard of the Emperor, I was hoping to speak to others dreamers who have met him, but I've not seen them since the last couple of trips."
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2017 19:57:33 GMT
Harrow listens to everything that has been said after she read out what was on the paper. She's still at a loss. She hated riddles and puzzles and this was most definitely it.
"But what would seven necklaces do. Are they a gift for the werid love?" Was the only thing that she could manage to say.
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Post by Keeper of Darkness on Aug 27, 2017 20:44:56 GMT
Alicia shrugs, "Just like you, I wouldn't know until I tried to use them. Things in the dreamlands do not work the same way things do in the waking world. Anything could happen that the maker intended for them to do."
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2017 21:58:30 GMT
"The heart of a city is where people gather. Like the heart of New York City is Manhattan. At least that is my opinion. London's heart is Buckingham's Palace. It may all depend on the city itself but they are examples. London's heart is whete the Queen lives." she shrugs and chews her inner lip for a moment thinking.
"So we put on the necklaces and see what happens? Should I try to dream the broken coins together as well? Currency maybe?" she looks at the group.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2017 22:22:18 GMT
Jillian smiles and nods at Mattie, agreeing with the girls ideas. For all they had all changed, she could not help but see the others as they had been originally. Even Kiami/Terra and Harrow who she had now spent more time with their new look than their original and had gone through a dramatic change. "You could try and piece them together by hand too, we have plenty of time. I'd be happy to help." she smiled. She was unsure about the necklaces but felt the number of them could not be a coincidence.
She catches sight of something as Jeremy turns another page, clearly engrossed in the book. She takes a couple of steps, putting her foot down on the sheet of paper to stop it blowing off the boat. "I think Hypnos or this place itself is sort of listening to us.." she bites her lip, a gesture far more appreciable in her new appearance than her usual.
Walking back to where Mattie sat with the maps, she sits beside her and shows her what she had found. "Bethmoora.. A market square, palace, city hall. Even a couple of temples."
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2017 22:38:10 GMT
Mattie looks at Jillian and sees the paper she picks up. When she comes back over and shows the paper Mattie lifts an eyebrow. "Anyone of those could be the heart of the city. Market, palace, city hall. If we knew more about the history we could try and figure out where the heart lies maybe. If it is like London the heart would be the palace but if it is like New York it vould be the market place or even city hall."
She sighs and rubs the back of her neck a moment and then looks up at the group opening her bag of coins and laying them out for Jillian. "So ancient civilizations are most of the markings if not all. I mean like Babylon, Athens, Carthage, Troy. A few I don't know off the top of my head."
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Post by Keeper of Darkness on Aug 27, 2017 23:06:07 GMT
Alicia leans in to see the paper, "Could be the vineyards or somewhere religious. Ancient civilizations centered around worship of deities or meaningful places."
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2017 23:13:24 GMT
Below the top deck, Terra had stood, staring out at the river. Not really lost in thought, but more listening to the conversation taking place above him. It carried clearly on an open vessel such as this one. A few things nagged at his mind as he mauled over each part of the conversation, putting voices to faces as he played them over and over again in his mind.
An idea struck him, he wondered. Maybe, but he wasn't sure. He'd have to make his way back to the group and see what they thought.
With that, he took the stairs, two at a time back to the top deck. And then blurted out his thoughts. His first one directed to the woman Alicia.
"Alicia, when is your birthday? I know it is an odd question, but I am curious about something."
Then, he turns to Mattie, and Jillian as they puzzle over the broken coins and the maps.
"I'd say piece them back together by hand, and not by dreaming. If Hypnos had wanted them easily made whole, then they wouldn't have been broken to begin with. Piecing them by hand, holds an important clue I am sure."
He takes a deep breathe, trying to collect his thoughts before finishing them. Hoping the group would understand his thoughts.
"If the riddles truly point to the heart of the city, based on the words, if Bathmoora is in the desert lands, and the broken coins are from an ancient civilization, and the emperor is to be feared. The heart of the city won't be the palace. If the emperor is in the palace, the people would more than likely stay far away. To find the heart of a city, you follow the people. Think about the first city we came to. All of those people are "asleep" not, in the palace but in the market place. In ancient civilizations people always met at the market place. Stories, goods, and bargains were always formed, sold, and struck at the market place. So, I'll bet anything that the heart of Bathmoora lays within the market place."
Finished he walks over to Mattie, and Jillian sitting Indian style beside them as he begins to examine the broken coins.
"Mattie, I bet if you sort the coins by the civilizations you recognize you will find it easier to match them. Think of the pieces like a jigsaw puzzle, and I'll bet you'll match them quickly."
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Post by Keeper of Darkness on Aug 27, 2017 23:29:17 GMT
st: if anyone attempts to put coins together let me know. There will be rolls associated etc.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2017 1:05:58 GMT
Mattie nods to Terra and the others and separates the coins she knew from the ones she didn't. She looked at the ones she knew examined them and started to separate ones that she thought might fit together from memory.
She leans back and looks at all the coins and rubs the back of her neck. "Alright I think these two halves might work." she takes a deep breathe and picks the two halves up turning them over in her hands several times before she finally held them. "Okay here goes."
Another deep breathe and she moves the coins together. They feel almost magnetic and they pull towards each other. She lets out a gasping breath as they cling together. For some reason she feels suddenly drained and she seems tired and drained and she gasps out exhaust appearent on her face.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2017 1:33:46 GMT
All those involved feel a faint pull, leaving you drained as the two pieces of the coin come together and are sudden one or were they always one? It seems a little funny now as if your memory of the coins halves was not real. For a moment there is stillness as if nothing happened and then the whole boat shakes, the water around it churning. Then it splits apart entirely causing the boat to shake violently as a figure appears, a woman as tall as a skyscaper with an otherworldly appearance. All around you the crew are in a panic, falling to their knees and praying loudly. They almost drown out the captain as he yells for everyone to hold on and maintain order.
Whoever she is she seems to be surrounded by light, a myriad of colours. The pattern to her gown reminds you of brickwork and the bangles around her wrist could emcompass several of you easily. Gazing upwards you see her face. Her vast features would make any model blush, her cheekbones perfect and her hair styled like something out of an ancient history book with what seems like cathedral spires rising from it. Slowly she looks down at the boat, her eyes glittering like brightly coloured stained glass as she searches the occupants and finds Mattie.
The crew fall deadly silent as she turns slightly, causing more waves in the water. Her head tilts to the side slightly, her expression perplexed and then she speaks in a voice which echoes as if a choir of people were all talking together, "Why have you brought me here?"
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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2017 1:49:13 GMT
As the coins come together Mattie blinks were they already together? Did she do that? No they had to be right? She blinks again as the boat begins to rock and she slides from one end to the other. Before her, she looks up and sees....what is that? She tried to stand and falls over again. She suddenly busts out laughing. "You're pretty!!!" she screams out and then falls and slides down the boat again and hits the stairs.
Why is she on a boat? Where did the boat come from? "Oh look people." she falls again and then drags herself up the stairs she laughs and picks up a piece of paper, the note pad and she starts to chew on it and then is flung yet again. Suddenly she is tried "purple, yellow shoes with giant green heads and pink arms" she mumbles out as she is flung back and hits Jillian's legs and then she flings into Terra. "Trunkb grey, play." she laughs out again as she looks up and sees something glowing.
"Sky building" she points and falls back on her back hitting her head and laughing again.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2017 2:09:24 GMT
Terra stares, blinking. Feeling suddenly tired, and slightly afraid. The boat erupts with commotion, so loud his ears ring with the sounds.
Then, just as fast as the commotion started, it stops. Everything including the river, was silent. Dead, and eerily silent. A cold shiver runs down Terra's spine.
Then, the boat rocks with the furry of a god. He reaches out, grabbing the rail of the boat, to keep his balance. As he stares up into the face of a very tall, and very bright woman. The glow around her is almost blinding, he throws his hand up to shield his eyes, as the woman speaks with the voice of a thousand choirs mixed into one. Her voice is booming, melodic, and terrifying all at once.
His knuckles turn white at how tightly he is holding the rails, as if the magnitude of this woman threatened to pull him to his knees, unwilling to let him up again for an eternity.
He looks around the boat, at the silent scared faces of the crew, at the jostling of the bodies around the deck, and is unable to find an answer to the woman's question. He couldn't remember how they had brought her here to begin with, after all, the coin had always been whole, hadn't it?
He jerks in surprise as his body is slammed into. He looks down, only to see Mattie pointing and laughing, he fails at hiding the Scarlett red of his cheeks when he realizes what she is referencing.
"Mattie! What the hell is wrong with you!?" He snaps at the girl, before realizing the dazed look that glazed her eyes. With a shock, he realizes the girl seems to have gone crazy, he looks around once again, no one else showed the same signs as Mattie, and the giant woman seemed to be staring down at Mattie with eyes that could hold the galaxy.
"Mattie, Mattie! What is wrong with you?!" He almost growls out as he reaches down and picks the girl up, steadying her body against his, her uncontrollable laughter making both of their bodies shake. He looks at the others, his eyes huge with alarm.
"Anyone have any ideas? I've got the loony one, someone else find an answer for the tower standing in front of us!"
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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2017 2:31:02 GMT
Jillian had fallen to the deck grabbing at the maps when the boat shook heavily, she felt tired and a little fuzzy headed from helping Mattie. From her position on the floor she gazes up at the visage before them in shock. Other than the womans size and a certain surreal strangeness about her, she did not seem scary or at least Jillian didn't feel scared. Slowly she rises to her feet, still looking at the giant woman.
She is pulled away from gazing upwards as Mattie grabs up the pad and starts biting at it. She grabs it back, utterly baffled by her friends reaction and was just trying to wipe it off when the girl barrels back into her, almost knocking her over. Relief floods over her as Kiami/Terra catches hold of Mattie, she only hoped that whatever had overwhelmed the girl wasn't permanent.
When the call comes out for ideas she just shakes her head. She wasn't an Adamson. As far as she could see it, if Hypnos really had their reasons for calling them here then she had been selected to help figure things out for the others. She was certainly not the one to play spokesperson to a.. whatever she was.
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