2019.08.21 Dreams and Nightmares
| Dreams and Nightmares | |
|---|---|
| Following revelations in Theurging 101, Micah visits Iris to discuss his haunting nightmares. | |
| IC Date | 2019.08.21 |
| IC Time | Evening |
| Players | Sten, Aaryn, Micah, Iris |
| Location | Lucky Strike Falls - Secluded Cavern |
| Prp/Tp | Micah BG |
| Spheres | Garou Gaian |
| Theme Song | Monster by Shinedown |
Following the trail from the pack lodge, up over rocks, and behind the waterfall, is this secluded cavern. In the middle is a pool of clear blue waters. It bubbles up at times, as it is filled by the natural underground hot springs, and even in winter when the lake is freezing cold, this pool is warm and inviting. The rocks around it are mostly smooth, worn away by water over the centuries. Within the pool is a natural bench just waiting for whomever decides to take a dip. The waters are soothing to sore muscles and relaxes tension. Over time, a few things have been added here, including some inter-tubes, a small bar, a bear box presumably for snacks, as well as some assorted towels, blankets and pillows.
The DO pack lands are a BIT out of the way, but everyone loves a day trip to the lake, so it's probably not the worst thing ever to visit. Iris has given some directions, and a friendly kinfolk or two can point everyone in the right direction. Behind the pack house and down a trail there's this nice little cavern. Rather than putting it to its expected use as a spa room or whatever, Iris is instead using it as a temporary shop. The bigass Mars rock is in here, carefully set on a tripod of solid stone, and she's chipping away some of its larger irregularities and getting it into a more round shape and a size that's slightly more easy to transport. Yes, she has an actual shop she can take this to, no she doesn't care to rush. I mean, lookit this ambiance, it's so soothing! Too many lamps set up for good lighting on her rock, but still. Soothing, y'all.
Micah comes in ahead of Sten and Aaryn, chasing down a loping war spirit in the form of a pit bull. A empty, broken leash is in his hand - a futile effort really. I mean, who tries to put a leash on a spirit? And why would you? But it had to be tried at least - or so he tells himself. The pit bull on the other hand bounds up towards the large Mars rock and runs in circles around it, barking excitedly. ~Home! Home! This is the rock I carried. It's so big! It grew!~
Ryn follows along behind Micah, shaking her head a bit and chuckling. She smiles at Iris and hold up a paper bag full of something that smells like yum "I brought tacos!" she calls with a grin.
Sten follows behind Micah and Aaryn with a smile, he did not understand the dog but he still could figure it out somewhat not the rock part but the excitement then again... tank seemed always excited so. He looks around curiously at the rocks. Also there was tacos so how could he be grumpy.
Iris gasps exaggeratedly when Tank trots in, eyes all wide and SUPER HAPPY to see the fellow. Stepping off a little step ladder, she sets her tools down next to a tray of beverage stuff she put out for her pending guests. "Look at YOU! Did you get bigger also? I think you might very well be the biggest canine-tank in the whole state, and definitely the fiercest. Give momma some sugar!" She genuinely is happy to see Tank, it's just that whole Thing Theurges have with spirits, they're like family, and THIS family needs to be squoze and snorfled. THEN she can give a shit about the meat-people. "Hi friends! Hell yes to tacos! I have iced tea, which... Kinda goes with tacos, right? Oh hey, I was gonna tell you lot, lemme do it right now before I completely forget, make sure you take home a sack of these rock chips. Good stuff for crafting and also Tank might like to have some."
Tank happily barrels into Iris. He isn't sure what this thing called 'sugar' is but he translates squozes and snorfles as some form of wrestling move so he gladly knocks the frequent faller over and proceeds to demand her surrender.
Micah sighs and rubs his face. He dare not look behind him at Aaryn and Sten. The last thing he needs is another lecture, or this getting back to Aldric. Frustration evident in his voice he barks out, ~Tank! We talked about this. You cannot attack someone as a greeting. If you want to fight, you issue an honorable challenge and wait for them to accept. Not get off the Elder.~
Ryn winces a bit as Micah barks at the dog instead of the other way around. She settles the paper sack down and begins to dig tacos out for everyone. "I also brought a little something for Pink," she says to Iris who is currently being snorfled.
Sten gets himself a taco while the dog is busy shaking his head and finding a place to sit. Letting the theurges be theurges feeling like the Fouth Skaldic wheel... who knows how theurges and spirit works there are probably three wheels for something. He shakes his head and merely watches and listens.
Iris gets a final shot off, a last ditch effort to safe herself from the doom that is Tank. She grabs his muzzle and zerberts that little lip split between nose and mouth. Pppt. Course, this isn't going to save her, not THIS time, so she puts her hands up and says, "I yield to the spirit of War!" She gets up whenever she's able to but seems not at all put out. "No harm done, I'm made of like... 58 percent elastic." But then to Tank with a fond pat, "You listen to Micah, War Rules are important."
She grins at Aaryn and says, "Aww! That's very nice of you. I have absolutely no idea where he is, but I think... Probably the crawl space under the lodge. Or maybe Oz..." She takes a taco as well and says, "Make yourselves at home, have a dip or don't, lounge, whatever makes you happy. I figured this'd be a nice private and relaxing place to talk about weird and sensitive stuff."
Tank removes himself from Iris. Now, whether this is because she surrendered or because Micah called him down or a combination of both is anyone's guess. He certainly has quite the butt wiggle going on though, so he's more proud than ashamed. ~I am undefeated in the Gaia realm. My legend grows.~ He run over to Ryn, gives her a bump and then swings back around towards Micah. Sitting down at Micah's feet you would never know that he is anything but a good boy.
Micah pinches the bridge of his nose. "Good boy...?" He sighs and looks to Iris. "What was it you wanted to talk about?"
Ryn grabs a taco and, after being love-bumped by The Tank, she simply heads over to lay a medium-sized box down by the door as a reminder to stop and say "hi" to Pink before they leave. Then she turns to go and sit next to her skald. "Devices OK here?" Ryn asks Iris before business starts.
Sten luckily did not understand spirit speech cause if he had doggo would be down for the count and regret his words but luckily the Galliard had tacos and no clue what the damn doggo was on about.
Iris inhales taco! And I dunno if you guys are aware, but Black Furies are legendary taco eaters. Just sayin. "You, pretty much." she tells Micah, expression shifting to something much more concerned. "I didn't realize you were carrying quite so much baggage until the other evening at the lesson, and I was hoping you'd tell me all about it. What's got you thinking you're a failure, man?" She gives Aaryn a nod and settles herself down where she can lean against something solid. "Yep, tech's fine here. There's spots with crappy phone signal though, but that's just cause of trees and hills and all.
Micah lets out a long sigh. "I was kinda hoping people would forget about that night. I was... not myself." He picks up a taco and shoves it in his mouth. He's a messy taco eater, attacking it the way Get of Fenris do just about everything. The fact that his mouth is full of taco is a valid excuse as to why he doesn't respond further - at least not immediately. Needs some time to think. Meanwhile, Tank follows after him, wuffling curiously at taco droppings as they hit the ground. They seem to be doing something curious to his nose and before he realizes what is going on, his tongue sneaks out to scoop up some sour cream with cheese and meat mixed. ~What is this sensation? It feel like battle madness! I can't stop my tongue. Help!~
Micah takes a long drought of tea and is momentarily distracted by the dog. He isn't really sure if he should be letting a spirit eat taco droppings but he also can't think of a reason it would hurt. Running out of things to occupy his mouth he finally says, "Where do I start?"
Aaryn looks up, curiously, but only for a moment before she settles in next to Sten. From time to time, she giggles at a meme and shoves her phone in Sten's face.
Sten unlike the Theurges the large man was a very neat eater, one does not spill taco or food upon the floor, it is a waste and nothing should go to waste. Thusly the large swede devoured the taco in a very neat way and destroying it with utter precision and deliciousness. Not a piece spilled or lost, unlike the barbaric Americans. Now a good steak now that you can rip into... tacos not so much. Looks to this Me-Me she was showing him with a raised brow
"Just let it run its course, babydog!" Iris advises, "Give in to the flappy tongueness!" She's fine with giving Micah time, there's no attempt from her to try and rush him through anything at all. That'd be super counter productive! "Well... I dunno. Start with what you said at the ritual clearing. You've been plagued by nightmares and such, and no one's believed what you've said, so tell me about that." For her part, she keeps things pretty short and sweet, sharing her attention with everyone but putting the bulk of it on Micah.
With Tank occupied by this new found meat-form sensation, Micah is left with nothing to occupy his attention. He blow hair from his face, trying to find the place, and the words, to begin. He's no Skald, no storyteller. A haunted look comes over his eyes and he says softly, "I've been having nightmares since I was little, I guess you could call them night terrors. They're... strange and alien but feel so real. I would have them almost every night. The den mother brought in fetishes to protect the kids from bad dreams, and they helped I guess, but sometimes they would still get through."
Ryn quiets her meme game, idly flipping through her phone, but really honestly listening more to what Micah and iris are talking about.
Sten smiles looking to the pictures that Ryn would show trying to figure them out, giving a chuckle when they were funny. Though he to would listen in of course cause well, why else would he be here, apart from being emotional support.
Iris nods her head with an understanding sympathy, "Yeah, I'm pretty close friends with nightmares myself. Tell me about them, if you wouldn't mind. And did you ever have any trauma that you know of or that anyone's ever told you that might make these probably most definitely *just* dreams? Like... Just subconcious memories or anything?"
Micah clenches his jaw, looking down at the ground. He grinds his the sole of his boot down into the ground. "Sure. Yeah. Some of them are probably trauma. I mean, my mom died when I was just a baby and my dad..." He shakes his head. "Growing up I just thought they were regular nightmares. ANd they even went away for awhile after..." he bites his lip and shakes his head again. "But they came back around the time of the first change and they were... worse? different? I don't know. It was like...like there was something else in there with me. Sometimes it would talk to me. Sometimes it would... chase me. The first time I... changed... well." He considers, trying to explain. Again, good with words he is not. "My first change happened *IN* the dream. At least I think it did. I mean I didn't change change here," he pinches his forearm to indicate his body, then waves his arm around the area around them. "But I changed here." He points a finger to his head like a gun and pulls the trigger.
Ryn has stopped faking the meme search entirely. She openly looks to Micah and Iris now, furrowing her brow as Micah relates his situation. She winces a bit at the gun motion and swallows down her reaction.
Sten remains silent, not saying anything merely listening. It was not his place to speak now. But he was taking it all in learning about his packmate
"Huh, that's interesting..." Iris says, leaning forward with interest and idly fiddling with a dreadlock in thought. "I'm sorry about your mom, and possibly your dad depending on what happened there... We're all orphans around here, brother. Did you know that dreams and nightmares are living creatures, spirits just like the rest, who exist within their own realm? When a person is sleeping, they have the ability to access that realm through their minds, and that's what feeds and sustains that whole ecosystem. That link is also the spirit's route to speaking with you and influencing your life, such as your first change. Changing because of a bad dream isn't unheard of, it takes intensity to make it happen after all, but this sounds like it's not a random moment of whoops-teenager. Also, fun fact, the Dream realm neighbors the Nightmare realm, which in turn neighbors Malfeas. Fun stuff, it's a super messed up neighborhood. What is the theme of your nightmares, the thing that lets you know is the same thing that it's always been and separates it from 'normal' bad dreams?"
Micah considers the question, letting his mind chew on the problem. The instructor's tone of Iris' comments seeming to at least distract him from the pain for the moment. "I think it's the REALness. I mean, maybe it has something to do like you said with the Dream Realm or Nightmare Realm or whatever. But I mean, when it's a regular dream I kinda have a feeling that it's just a dream. Especially now, after the work you have to do as a Theurge. The dreams feel almost like when you go into the Umbra. It might be filtered through what you take in there with you, but it's a REAL place. In the dreams it feels real too. I FEEL things. I feel like I could wake up and I wouldn't be surprised to find that I'm bleeding. I never am but...",he shrugs. "At the time everything is distorted. Everything around me seems HUGE sometimes and far away. I have a hard time moving." He would pinch the inside of his hand between the thumb and forefinger, right in the beak of his tattoo. "There have been times I've woken up and found shadows in the room with me. Banes." He shakes his head. "I thought they were banes. The elders always told me I didn't know what I was talking about because banes wouldn't be able to get to me near the Caern. And then there was the looks. The looks that said that if I was attracting banes, maybe there was something wrong with me. Maybe they should do something about me. Maybe I was... of the Wyrm."
A frown now heavily creases Ryn's features and that jaw of hers works. She looks between Iris and Micah, trusting that the Elder Theurge might finally be able to get to whatever's been haunting Micah.
Sten listens yupp them theurges getting deep in that metaphysical stuff... thats a thing... sure is... yupp...
Iris nods and digests what she's been told, before saying, "So, my boy Pink, he'd just recently been dropped off here because the sept I left him uh.. He's got a real reputation as a trouble maker and he gets quite a lot of Looks like that too. Getting him here though, kinda shined a light on things. One of his list of crimes was having beaten up a squirrel with a large wooden spoon because the cyclops needed help and they were going to take over the world. Total madness. But, over here, Skully's a very nice, very large guy with only one eye, and he was in fact shot by a squirrel, who was from a group of squirrels that really honest to Gaia were planning a hostile takeover.
Things... *happen*, Micah, strange and bizarre things with puzzle pieces that can make everything make sense, except they're two thousand miles and three planes away. I believe you when you say what you say, because the only alternative is to believe that everything we do is for not, and I'm not down with that. WHAT is going on, I don't fuckin know, but we're gonna figure it out. So I have two questions for you. One, can I tag along on your dreams sometimes, and D, caaaaan I ask what happened to your parents? I mean, I dunno if that's relevant and you don't HAVE to tell me, but if it IS relevant then..."
Micah listens to the cyclops story very intently, expecting it to go somewhere wise and profound but then he's just confused. This general confusion is one reason that when Iris drops the bomb about wanting to walk around in his dreams and wanting to know what happened to his parents he is a little caught off guard. He starts to answer and then is again distracted by the bark that comes out of Tank. ~Squirrels are troublemakers. It is known.~
Micah looks at the dog and then slooowly back at Iris. "Do you have anything stronger than this tea? Because if I'm going to talk about my parents then I'm going to need a drink. You know what, never mind, I got it.” Micah pulls the flask from his hip, unscrews the top and pours the contents into his tea.
Ryn frowns as Micah pulls out that flask of his, and looks to Sten just a moment. She's not sure if the Swede shares the same concerns as her, but there's something about what Micah pours in his tea that sets her rather obviously ill at ease.
Sten does not share her concern of what Micah put in his tea, though there was concern on his face. Not about the drinking but he knew that familial relationship and complications Micah and Ryn had, details he had gathered were few but enough to now it was a sore subject.
Iris grins at Micah and pats his arm. "My point is that something unreasonable was happening in the woods in California and a young kid clear over in Maine knew about it. He tried to help and tried to say something, but who's going to believe that? Never mind that it was entirely true, Pink just couldn't comprehend where in space and time it was happening. Much like waking up and seeing banes that can't possibly be there because you're in a caern that's protected. Who in their right mind would believe that? Now, with Pinkie, he's um. Not always in the here and now, and it's a bit different from your situation, but he does make a good baseline for me to work with on this."
At the question of something stronger to drink, she doesn't mention that this is Fianna land or anything, and instead goes for another pat, with skin contact this time. "Take a deep breath." she suggests, while reaching out with her spirit to stir the Wyld in the air just a tiny bit, lending to a clearer head and a tiny bit of Rage suppression.
Micah takes a deep breath, as instructed. For good measure, he follows that with a long drought from his now spiked tea. He wipes and then pinches his bottom lip, considering. "I don't guess I know all the details, only what I was told by the elders and eventually the Den mother. My father was a Theurge too. Apparently even was even respected at some point, before he became the Sept drunk." Micah seems to see no irony in this statement, so he continues, "My mom though, was a human. Not even a kinfolk. So there's that... I don't know how he ever managed to knock her up. Probably don't want to know. Anyway, she couldn't live near the caern, near so many Garou so they lived separately. When I was born I lived with my mom, until one winter there came a bad snow, and we got snowed in. And she died."
Micah goes quiet for a moment, just sitting there holding his tea cup down bside him. Finally he says, "A few years later my dad went into Harano and wondered out into a blizzard and never came back." He goes to take another swig of his tea and find Tank with his head tilted sideways trying to lap out of the glass. ~Mmm... thirsty. Taco boobytrapped with napalm. Spicy.~
Finally, Aaryn moves to go tub Tank away from the glass. Last thing they need is a /drunk/ war spirit. ~Here, Tank~ She crouches low and tilts her glass for him. Not that the caffeine in the tea is much better, but it's at least not judgement-impairing. Much. Otherwise, she's still quiet. Listening.
"That fucking sucks." Iris says, falling silent a moment and giving that whole thing a minute to sink in. "I'm pretty sure my dad was killed around the same time I got picked up. I have no idea what happened to my mom, and I've never tried to find out." She doesn't say that as though she'd had a falling out with her mom, more like it's just one of those things you don't really know how to deal with, so you just don't deal with it at all. Simpler that way.
Iris has a deep breath, "Okay. we'll give you a couple days to get your head right and make sure I've got space near where you sleep and everything, make sure it's cool with your pack and all, and I'll come do some background watching on your dreams. I wont mess with anything, and you know, Theurge-patient confidentiality and all that holds. We'll give that a little bit of time and see what we see. I'll do a little research and try to find our best route for a more direct approach, okay?" She looks at all three Frostbites, "Everything's gonna be alright."
Tank perks up when he hears Aaryn's voice. He ducks around behind Micah and heads straight for her, full run, like he does everything. Everything seems to sloooow doooown for a moment as fate decides whether that outheld tea glass is going to end up all over Aaryn's soon to be prone body. Then, like some kind of Christmas miracle, Tank stops on a dime and starts lapping out of her tea glass. ~You're the best Aaryn.~
Meanwhile, while it should make Micah feel a little better that 'everything is gonna be alright', the expression on his face makes his look a little nauseous. "Well, we do have this wedding we're going to, so it might have to wait until we get back." He drinks his tea to settle his stomach. He doesn't seem to mind war-spirit backwash in his alcohol.
Ryn actually friggin trembled. The liquid in the glass shook a little bit. She saw her life flash in front of her eyes. She may have even peed a little bit. But Tank managed to stop short of anything catastrophic. ~Good Dog~, she breathed. Then she settles beside Tank and starts using her magical healy hands to rub all the good war spirit spots while she continues to listen.
"Sure, whatever works best for you. I know this is super unpleasant and I don't wanna make it worse than it already is for you by trying to help. But on the other hand, don't put it off too long, you know it's stuff you gotta deal with. My hope is, if I can see what's going on from a third party perspective, maybe I can identify the what, and that'll help supply the why and the where. I've got ideas buuuuut..." Iris waggles her head side to side, "I dunno, they're not solid enough to go on. Dealing with whatever is going on is probably not gonna be pleasant, but you won't be alone."
She claps her hands together and says, "Right, let's crawl out of the funk pit for the day, I think we could use a break. You wanna see the orrery?"
Micah stands eagerly. Eager to see the Orrery? Eager to stop talking about his dead parents? Who knows?! But he's eager, "Yes, please. Wait, is this someplace safe for a war spirit or should I send Tank back into the umbra?"
Ryn has Tank tossed on his back, belly up and tongue lolling to one side of his mouth. She's scratching and rubbing his belly with all the goodness she can muster. When she's offered to see the Orrery, she smiles and nods and, for good measure, leans over to zerbert the War Spirit on the tum tum.
"Oh yeah, he's fine, don't worry about it." Iris says, standing up and dusting herself off, finishing off her iced tea and leaving the glass. A moon bridge opens up out of the way and she stands at the entrance, "After you." she says, and makes sure everyone's in before she is so no one's accidentally left behind.
After a short little jaunt in the less-than-a-minute range, the bridge lets out into a dark cavern. There is nothing at all to see until Iris (or whoever) gets a phone's flashlight out so she can light up some lamps. The cavern is like a smooth bubble caught in stone with layers and swirls of minerals that make a sparkling display against the black. Diamonds of different sizes, though all of them large, are half embedded in the stone. If you're big on star gazing, they are in fact set correctly as stars and constellations. There's an almost imperceptible movement, as if they were slowly flowing through extremely slow water rather than just set in stone.
Dominating the center of the room is a massive device made of shaped woods and metals, made of gears and arches with dozens of empty things meant to hold spheres. There is only one stone present in the whole lot, a massive round stone whose patterns look exactly like earth as seen from space, again with an almost imperceptible movement happening in the 'clouds' and 'oceans' of the stone.
Tank is like putty in Aaryn's hand. She really seems to be the only person he has encountered that he doesn't immediately try and engage in combat and the only person, Micah included, that he seems to submit to naturally. As they head off to the Orrery he hops up and follows at her side, sometimes lifting his head up to bop his head on her hand.
Micah follows along as well, quietly. Apparently all that talking has taken it out of him. He downs his tea before they cross the moon bridge. WHen he gets to the Orrery he can't help but murmur a soft "wooooooow"
Ryn's hand trails over Tank's head as they walk. Maybe his head used to be the steering mechanism? Once in the orrery room, she just... Tilts her head back and looks all around her. A small laugh eases out, despite the evening's heavy subject and she tugs Tank over to point out anything - Not much, likely - That she knows.
It is LARGE. Very large. The arms from the spheres took a few crinos garou to move all on their own. It towers majestically, yet emptily, and the Earth is very lovely. "Soon it will spin and the spheres will mirror the celestial dances of their donors. That's why I cant just pick up any old rock, it has to be *of* the Celestine, *of* the Realm, or wherever it comes from. The sun is going to be awfully tricky, but I have Branton and Giselle working on a glass sphere large enough to serve and strong enough to withstand the heat of the sun itself. So's I can pour some in there. Then we won't need lamps in here! The stars do shine, if you just stand here in the dark for a while, but it's hard to see. Whaddya think?"
Micah wonders around ducking in and around arms and examining how everything is made. "It's... amazing." He runs a finger across it, "Hrafn may be able to help with ideas about the Sun. He has a thing for Helios and he has a fetish that emits sunlight. Maybe he'd let you examine it for ideas on how to make something on a larger scale. Or maaaaybe... nah that would probably be dangerous."
"Oh, Iris," Ryn says quietly, still spinning under the massive work of art. Her fingertips are extended, but not /quite touching/ the globes. She learned her lesson! Touchy no Touchy! "This is... Amazing. The stuff of legends, indeed..."
"Were you gonna suggest just going to the sun? Cause that's totally my plan." Iris says with a grin, "Like I'm gonna pass up the chance to visit Apollo himself. He touched my forehead once, it was an amazing experience, and I figure I should go to him this time." She touches the sun shaped burn scar on her forehead. "Everyone's gotta be literally fireproof though. I mean... It's the fuckin sun. This'll really help you guys when you're studying Umbral cosmology, you'll be able to see the orbit, ebb and flow of the realms on earth and how they work!" Iris is so in love with this thing. "The Mars stone will go right over there, just as soon as it's shaped and polished."
Micah nods, "No, I mean, yes go to the sun, but I was thinking... I don't know, maybe something like a mirror or... a porthole? An opening here that would open to a little piece of the sun, instead of having to bring a piece of the sun back here and try and contain it."
"I dunnooooo, going to the sun sounds *way* more fun!" Iris says. I mean sure, might burn to a crisp, but man is it gonna be awesome! "Your bird buddy should go. I mean, how often does anyone get a chance, right? Or the rest of you, for that matter. Fireproof is a requirement though, however you manage it. Alright, let's get you back up top, there's not actually any fresh air coming in here and I don't want anyone to suffocate." she says before whipping open a bridge again.
Micah says, “There are gifts the Fenrir know to protect against fire. Although, you might want to be careful inviting a bunch of Fenrir to the sun. We might swallow it.”
It totally never occurred to Aaryn she might suffocate down here, so she's glad to get that moon bridge back up. She nods along with Iris and, as the cogs in her head begin to turn, she starts to contemplate ways of making them fireproof.
