Silly Plots 3: With government backing we can make it very silly

[Gullara]

[Dreamlands - The Weald]

Cassie shakes her head. A confused look crosses her face. No goblins. All the goblins she knows are nice friends. "A monster grabbed me. But I ran away."

Perhaps contrary to the scenario the other girl has imagined, Cassie is wearing rumpled looking pajamas. They're a matching set of blue polka dot shorts and tee shirt. Likewise she has a serious case of bed head.

[Morty]

[An Epic Journey]

Thariza scratches the back of her prodigious neck.

"I've been trying my hand at making jewellery. It's also working with metal, but a lot more delicate. Carpentry, though... it's a lot different from metalworking, which might just be what I need. Or something with cloth and leather."

[Rebonack]

[The Dreamlands- Yellow Brick Road]

"Depends on the Court, but usually," Bats replies. "I'm a bugbear, and bugbears are boogies. The king of the boogies is the Boogie Man. Usually a Court just has a queen or a king, not both."

"Some do," Aoife adds. "Titania and Oberon are the queen and king of the elfs."

"The Goblin King is just whoever's meanest, strongest, and cleverest of all the goblins," Kneecapper says, whomping his hideous cudgel in his gnarled hands.

"And I 'spose the King of the Pookas is the old Hedley Kow," Otis pipes up from in front. "He's a wily one, he is."

See?

Her knowledge of peerage will come in handy after all!

As they walk something very queer resolves along the side of the road. It looks like a tea party! A wide tables with a garishly colored cloth draped across it sits just off the road, covered in a panoply of teapots all steaming and whistling in musical turn. A great big black rabbit with golden eyes, a gnome with a silly disproportionate head and hat, and a strange bird that looks like a cross between a pigeon, a hawk, and an ostrich.

"Oh, why hello there!" calls out the gnome, waving exuberantly. "Would you care to join us for some tea, little girl?"


[Dreamlands - The Weald]

The girl is still climbing down those steps. There sure are a lot of them!

"Oh yeah, you're wearing PJs. Did you get grabbed out of your bed?" the girl asks. "I'm Melissa. I got grabbed by a monster, too. But it was at my school. I've been trying to figure out how to get home. Maybe we can both look for a way back together?"

Together sounds way better than being alone in this creepy forest.

[Earl of Purple]

Dreamlands- The Yellow Brick Road

Arsay's about to ask a question when she's addressed by a weird big-headed gnome. "No, tha- No. No, I would not like to have any tea. Matron Jellybubbles says tea makes you fart, and farting is unbecoming in a lady." Arsay nearly slipped up, there. Saying thank you is polite, and that was something drummed into her very hard by Matron Jellybubbles.

That bird is really weird, though. Arsay might be staring at it a little. Or a lot.

[Gullara]

[Dreamlands - The Weald]

Cassie nods⁠—that answers both questions⁠—and steps closer as well. Hopefully this is actually another girl and not a secret monster! She's too scared of being by herself in the woods. "My name's-" She cuts off and looks utterly dismayed. "The other kids said not to say my name." Tears start to well in her eyes.

[Rebonack]

[The Dreamlands- The Weald]

Melissa is most of the way down the stairs when she just bails over the side, landing in the grass and wildflowers that blanket the forest floor. Her landing is pretty deft!

Cat-like, even.

She's definitely not a secret monster though. Cassie already saw that she's a giant black kitty. Not very secret at all!

She frowns when the little deer girl starts to cry. What a lame kid. She totally wasn't crying herself a few minutes ago.

"Oh yeah, since fae can steal your name. That only happens if they ask for your name and you give it to them," Melissa says as she walks closer.

Every now and again the girl freezes, staring off into the twilight at a distant sound.

"But if you feel better about it you can use a pretend name. It's like a game! You just have to make believe that you're someone else."


[Dreamlands- The Yellow Brick Road]

The collection of dreamlanders having a party look a bit put off that Arsay has refused to join them.

"Well be that way then!" snorts the hare. "That just means more scones for me!"

Once they're out of sight Bats comments, "You did good. Caught yourself. It'll be second nature eventually once you're canny to Dreamland etiquette."

[Earl of Purple]

Dreamlands- Yellow Brick Road

"It was tricky. Matron Jellybubbles always tried to ensure we were polite, and... those words were part of that." Arsay's not sure if just saying the words in conversation has any effect, so she avoids it. "Did... Did you put those people there, to test me deliberately?" They probably don't count as people, but Arsay's feeling generous and she's not sure how to tell a fae from a faery, yet. Maybe she'll learn someday.

[Gullara]

[The Dreamlands - The Weald]

Cassie sniffles and rubs her eye. "Okay." She's quiet for a moment while she thinks. "Call me Blue." She decides, thinking of more cheery things.

[Rebonack]

[Dreamlands- Yellow Brick Road]

"Bein' polite is for ninnies!" Kneecapper insists. He's not even a LITTLE bit polite. But that's to be expected of goblins.

Bats gives a laugh at the question. "Hah! If I had that kind of control over other dreamlanders I would be a duchess instead of a fine entrepreneur. No, I didn't put 'em there. You find things like that along the King's Road. Dreamlanders having a picnic or a party. Or maybe a battle. Some are even crazy enough to go venturing out of sight of the road. So long as you can still sea the road you're pretty safe. But for a human child like you it's better to just say on it."

Soon enough they come upon another interesting sight.

A flight of stone, marble stairs leading up to grand looking polish oak door. There are so many stairs! Seventy of them, if Arsay bothered to count. The same number that she came down when she entered the Dreamlands.

Bats bangs on the wagon's back door.

"Look alive in there, Tim! You're coming with me on this one," Bats hollers.

Shortly after a boy who looks around eight hops out of the back of the wagon. The child appears to be well on his way to becoming a bugbear. One of his hands is more pawlike. His eyes smoulder like live coals. His teeth don't look human at all. And he sports a bull's tail and hooves. "Oh boy this is going to be brilliant thanks for letting me come, mum!" he says as he starts heading toward the stairs.

And pauses at Arsay.

The lad looks her up and down.

"You must be the new girl mum was talking about. Arsay, right? Grand to meet you! I'm Bats' apprentice Tim. You'll really like living with us until you get sold, it's hard work but lots of fun," the boy rambles, stopping when Bats gives a whistle as she begins ascending the steps. "Oh right, I'll talk to you later, okay? Mum wants me to practice convincing a kid to come live with us. Bye!"

Then up the stairs he hops.


[Dreamlands - The Weald]

"Okay Blue," Melissa replies with a nod, her tail swishing back and forth. "Tell me about yourself, Blue. For this to work you REALLY have to make-believe. You've gotta make someone up to be, otherwise a dreamlander might get mad that you gave them an empty name. So long as Blue is someone, even if they're a pretend someone, then it's okay. Like... ummm..."

She glances around, quickly spying a stick. She picks it up and brandishes it like a bow!

"I'm Guinevere the brave princess! I'm good at riding horses and shooting my bow! Pew pew! And I live in a kingdom called... umm... Bowland! Where they harvest jello from trees!"

There's a slight shimmer around Melissa. 'Blue' might get the impression that maybe Melissa really COULD be a princess if she imagined it hard enough.

[Earl of Purple]

Dreamlands- Yellow Brick Road

Arsay did count the steps down, but will wait at the bottom rather curiously. "Um, yes, that's right. You're Tim, right?" She's a little surprised he seems so nice, too. Most of the apprentices she's known weren't picked for being nice. In fact, being nice was usually near the bottom of the requirements list, right after 'cruelty', 'ruthlessness' and 'skills related to the apprenticeship'. Bats has other requirements, it seems.

Arsay admires the steps; they're very fancy ones. Much fancier than the plain concrete she descended on her arrival. Bats only takes unloved and neglected children, she said, and that had the ring of truth. What kind of child would have stairs like those and fit that bill? Certainly not an orphan or street urchin.

[Rebonack]

[Dreamlands- Yellow Brick Road]

They're probably going to be up there for a little while at least. Arsay will have a decent view of Bats stepping aside to allow Tim up to the door. He knocks three times and says something, but from the distance (seventy steps is a lot!) she might not be able to make it out. Depending on how good her hearing is, she might be able to make out, "May I come in?"

The door opens to them and they step inside.

In retrospect, maybe it makes sense that Tim isn't mean and nasty. If he's being trained to do what Bats does, then he needs to know how to convince lonely children that they would be better off coming with him.

Being mean, nasty, and cruel probably wouldn't help much there.

It'll be a few minutes before Bats and Tim get back, to be sure.

In the mean time?

A chestnut falls off one of the trees and hits the ground next to Arsay's feet with a nutty crunch. The impact has broken its shell, revealing a garishly colored nut inside. Strange, soothing aromas waft up from it.

[Earl of Purple]

Dreamlands- Yellow Brick Road

A nut! It looks tasty, and Arsay is hungry. But... She was told not to eat anything that was offered to her. And it smells so good... But she'd better be careful. She doesn't want to do something wrong and have Bats angry at her. She'll look up, and see if she can spot anyone in the tree above her first. If it was dropped at her feet, that could be construed as an offering. The fact the tree has a face and might count as a fae doesn't immediately occur to the girl, so if she can't see a dryad or a gnome or a goblin or whatever else in the tree, she'll pick the nut up and eat it.

This does mean she's no longer paying attention to the goings-on at the marble staircase, though if any of Bats' workers have been asked to keep an eye on her she's not being too subtle with what she's doing.

[Gullara]

[Dreamlands - The Weald]

"Okay, um um..." Cassie nods and thinks hard. Playing make believe is something she can do! "I'm a... detective! And I solve mysteries in... Townsville with my puppy Steve!" She bounces on her heels, smiling for the first time tonight.

[Rebonack]

[Dreamlands- Yellow Brick Road]

Arsay bites into the nut.

It tastes, strangely enough, exactly like she would expect it to. Whatever she might imagine a colorful, fragrant nut to taste like. It's a bit hard, but only hard like one might expect a chestnut or hazelnut to be.

For a child who has been stuck in an orphanage for a while this is likely quite the treat. And considering that she doesn't start sprouting branches and leaves it likely doesn't count as offered food, either. As with asking for names, the words actually have to be spoken. Would you like an apple? Would you care for some tea and cake? Would you give me your name? There are some wily, underhanded ways around such things, but a nut fallen from a tree isn't really one of them.

Besides.

Aoife and Kneecapper are both keeping an eye on the girl.

Bats would be pretty cross with them if they let her start getting into trouble as soon as the bugbear isn't watching.

Hmm... there area few more nuts scattered around the road. They aren't THAT big, either. Maybe Arsay could collect some for later?

The back of the wagon is open, too. She could probably peek inside if she wanted.


[Dreamlands - Weald]

"Great! Nice to meet you, Blue. Maybe we can find Steve the Puppy later," 'Guenevere' says with a firm nod. "And it's super that you're a detective, because we've got a mystery. The mystery of how to get home!"

Oh yeah!

That's a really huge mystery isn't it?

"How would a detective start looking for clues?"

She isn't sure, of course. Since she's a magical princess cat and not a detective.

Hmm...

There's that really tall flight of stairs.

And the broken door at the top covered in rose brambles.

There's a fallen log over there, hollowed out and covered in mushrooms.

A funny looking mossy rock with equally funny squiggly lines cut into it.

A little ring of fire flies (or are they fire fly pixies?) dancing around and having a good time near that pond. In the middle of the pond is a great big toad with antlers.

And last of all there's a marble column just sticking out of the forest floor at a funny angle. Sitting on top of it is a little grasshopper pixie playing a sad tune on his tiny fiddle.

[Earl of Purple]

Dreamlands- Yellow Brick Road

Coconut's about the only nut Arsay's had before. Specifically, desiccated coconut in cheap chocolates given to the children as a reward for doing well, good behaviour, as a birthday treat (if the Matron remembers and likes the child enough), or occasionally randomly to popular children to make their friends paranoid about whether or not said child is a tattletale. Arsay usually got them for doing well in dancing and flute. Tattletales themselves also get a chocolate.

She'll gather a few more nuts, but only those that have fallen on the road, but she won't keep them for later. Her dress doesn't have pockets. She'll also peek into the wagon, considering if she'll ride it with Tim and whoever the new child Bats gathers from the fancy stairs is.

[5a Violista]

[Mindscapes]

When Rachel the catgirl shakes the sword, the bell in it jingles a little. From what she can see, nothing changes.
Makuro, who has the rucksack, might notice the flint-and-steel glow for the duration of the jingling of the bell. As soon as she touches that, the world will fade away and they'll go back to the white-area along with anything they're holding and anything they brought into this mindscape.

The teenager complains and cries some more until Makuro brings up the bouquet. Between sniffing, and crying, and wiping the rain out of her eyes, the teenager manages to answer Makuro's questions (sniffing and so on has been edited out of what she says, for clarity of reading): "No, he - those were my favorite flowers,"" she answers, "We were gonna run off together but that idiot knew this would happen and didn't say anything."

[Reinholdt]

[Mindscapes]

Rachel nods at Makuro's choice with a slight smile and tries to take the flowers from her. "Well you know what's better than selfish, backstabbing ******** you don't need? Flowers." If allowed, she'll offer the bouquet to the girl. "You're strong. You'll find your family, I'm certain of it. They used the fire to buy themselves time and ran away. There were footprints in the mud after all. They're probably worried about you."

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Felix’s Tower]

Unfortunately, Krayger’s mercenary lifestyle has robbed him of his ability to sleep in. He manages to go back to sleep after waking up at dawn but still can’t stay in bed for very long.
He seems...apprehensive at taking clothes from his host to wear, but if they’re being offered they’re probably considered socially acceptable. He didn’t bring any nice clothes with him, and he’d rather not meet this mage he’s indebted to in his work pants and his weatherproof hoodie. So white robe it is. He hopes it does fit. And he does wash his hands, though not much else. He’d look rather silly, his coat making it obvious when he’s been washing his face.
And then he goes to clomp down the stairs in search of breakfast.

[Felix's Tower]

Morning comes with a sort of changing of the guard amongst the many animal denizens of the tower. As Krayger exits, he sees an owl swooping up past him to roost somewhere, while several floors below a particulary punctual rooster rings in the morning. Daytime illuminates a lot more of the tower - literally, as looking up reveals a glass dome at the very top, with an open central section, bathing the tower in natural light.

Now naturally the sun isn't actually high enough to be doing that just yet, so there's probably some magical shenaniganery afoot.

Aside from a little animal-related congestion on the way down, the search for breakfast isn't particularly demanding. A couple of floors down a ledge sticks out from the walkway with a couple of tables and chairs set up. Lucas is sitting on one seat idly observing the activities below, while at one of the tables an old-looking man with a long, wispy grey beard is currently buttering a slice of toast. The wrinkles, the weariness, the general wear-and-tear of old age are all there, but there's still something of a spryness about him. Say, looking more like someone in their 70s who's had a very tiring life, rather than the utterly ancient mage he may have been expecting.

[Deathkeeper]

Felix’s Tower

To be fair, Krayger wasn’t really sure what he had been expecting. Other than a man, since Lucas had indicated that much about the mage. Young men don’t seclude themselves in the woods, but old ones don’t usually make a career involving cleaning up after so much livestock. So really, he had no expectations to surprise him.
Krayger makes sure his provided robe is in order before entering the room. He inclines his head toward his hosts.
”Good morning, gentlemen. I must thank you again for your warm hospitality.” he says formally before trying to take a seat. Krayger knows his image. It’s not always a good one. So he does try his best to make good impressions on people who are genuinely nice to him and aren’t fishing to get him to do something for them. Especially ones with magic powers he doesn’t understand.

[Earl of Purple]

Mindscapes

Makuro spots the glow, but doesn't touch just yet- she's going to look at Rachel, make sure she's ready to go. Makuro's also very curious about what exactly happened, with the monsters and the abandonment of all the houses. But she can't easily go out and ask, in case it startles the girl enough that she wakes up or something.

She's also a little curious about what happens when they leave, this close to the dreamer. Will they remember them? Could this catgirl recognise Makuro, if they meet in person?

[Gullara]

[Dreamlands - Weald]

"Great! Nice to meet you, Blue. Maybe we can find Steve the Puppy later," 'Guenevere' says with a firm nod. "And it's super that you're a detective, because we've got a mystery. The mystery of how to get home!"

Oh yeah!

That's a really huge mystery isn't it?

"How would a detective start looking for clues?"

She isn't sure, of course. Since she's a magical princess cat and not a detective.

Hmm...

There's that really tall flight of stairs.

And the broken door at the top covered in rose brambles.

There's a fallen log over there, hollowed out and covered in mushrooms.

A funny looking mossy rock with equally funny squiggly lines cut into it.

A little ring of fire flies (or are they fire fly pixies?) dancing around and having a good time near that pond. In the middle of the pond is a great big toad with antlers.

And last of all there's a marble column just sticking out of the forest floor at a funny angle. Sitting on top of it is a little grasshopper pixie playing a sad tune on his tiny fiddle.

[Dreamlands - Weald]

"I got my magnifying glass!" 'Blue' holds up her hand as if she's holding something. She looks around, taking in all the strange sights.

"I saw other stairs like this." The girl says gravely, reminded of how she got here. She goes over to them and starts to go up the first few steps. She turns back to Guenevere. "What's up there?" The other girl came down from here, right?

[5a Violista]

[Mindscapes]

The mostly-human teenager laughs at what the catgirl Rachel says. Or, rather, more of the way she says what she says. "Yeah, I guess so," she says, wiping away a tear. "They're strong. I'm sure they'll be fine."

She grabs the bouquet and holds it in her hands alongside the doll. "Flowers are much better than boys, anyway."

Regarding Makuro's unasked question? About the monsters and houses? It's probably a metaphor or something. The first girl they met had different times and places blend together, suggesting she probably didn't see a difference between the two situations. The second had the relatively peaceful flower field out-of-focus while the places that were in-focus tied together conflict, neglect, and imprisonment, among other things, with home. That probably suggested something, too. And, this one...judging by the cinders on the torches, the people vanished shortly after the house started burning and both the town's houses and the shadowy monsters started to surround the house; not to mention how the shadows acted, whispering things but only able to do minor damage to Makuro, who confidently believed in her ability to withstand them...if we follow the idea that a person's mindscape matches the person's state of mind, this one doesn't speak highly of how the person views others.

[Rebonack]

[Dreamlands- Yellow Brick Road]

The dream fruits are all really tasty! And pretty filling, too.

Peeking into the wagon reveals a number of rather interesting things.

First? Looking at the inside makes it clear that this wagon is designed to fold open and serve as a sort of mobile storefront. Like a taco truck or a kabob cart. But bigger! And full of all sorts of strange curios from all over the dreamlands! Strange stones, fruits, dried plants, a bottle full of golden sand, teeth from Wild Wings, a strange little black box, a locked glass case that contains several... not things?

How to even describe those?

They aren't something. But they COULD be anything. They could be EVERYTHING! As if someone had distilled hopes and dreams down into their purest form and set them on a little velvet cushion. They are indescribably beautiful and a little bit scary.

Also?

There's a kid sleeping on a little bunk in the wagon. He looks a little younger than Arsay and is clothed in rather ratty attire. If she had ever seen any of the filthy street children around Skyside she would likely be reminded of this boy. He must be someone else Bats had collected on this trip. Judging from the empty plate of food sitting on the floor next to the bunk he stuffed himself them fell asleep.


[Dreamlands - Weald]

Do things look...

Just a little bigger and clearer when peering through Cassie's imaginary magnifying lens?

They just might.

"Those stairs used to lead to a bathroom at my school," 'Guinevere' replies. "But after I ran away the door must have gotten broken. I think you need something shaped kind of like a door to get out. But it doesn't have to be a door? It can be a bed or a table or maybe even a hole in some bushes. Anything you can go under."

She frowns up at the ruined door.

"I tried a bunch of times to get it to open. I even said please! But nothing worked."

[Gullara]

[Dreamlands - Weald]

"Oh. It's broken." Blue sits down on the step she's on and looks around. She can see just a bit better from here. She'll have to follow another lead.

The girl stands again and heads down the steps. She runs over to the mossy rock. "Look, someone carved it." She calls back to Guinevere. Then she leans over to look at it through her magnifying glass.

[Earl of Purple]

Dreamlands- Yellow Brick Road

Arsay has, in fact, seen street-children before. Usually not for long, as they're brought up the fancy stairs, into Matron Jellybubble's office, then she pays whoever brought them in a small bounty and takes them through the orphanage's communal areas to get washed, given a check-up, get a hair cut and finally are given new clothes. Then they stop being street-children and start being orphans. From what she's heard, the orphanage is a step up, and most of the street-children don't try to escape. She'll look at the boy, smiles a little, admires the beauty of the not-things, and will soon get a little bored so she goes to watch the staircase again. If he wakes up, she might talk to him, but until then there's not much to do.

[Rebonack]

[Dreamlands - Weald]

"There was a mean guy with a folding chair, I think he broken it," Guinevere confirms.

Obviously he must have been a villain of some kind.

Peering through her magnifying glass, Blue will be able to tell that this is OBVIOUSLY a whispering stone.

If she whispers a secret to the stone, it'll share it with someone else in their dreams.

Hmm...

Could something like that be useful?

Who would Blue want to share a message with?

"What did you find?" Guinevere asks.


[The Dreamlands - Yellow Brick Road]

Shortly after Arsay peeks out of the wagon, she'll see Bats and Tim descending the stairs.

"Did I do something wrong, mum?" Tim asks, a bit sullen.

Bats shakes her head. "No. Sometimes they just don't want to come. You can say all the right things and still not convince them. Sometimes even when a child is neglected the fear of what's new is more frightening than the fear of what's familiar."

Sounds like the child refused the deal.

[Earl of Purple]

Dreamlands- Yellow Brick Road

When she sees Bats and Tim returning empty-handed, Arsay waves and goes to pick up another nut from the road. They're really tasty; maybe it'll cheer Tim up, since he looks upset. And if not, she'll eat it instead. "Bats was really scary when she came to ask me to go with her. Maybe just because I couldn't see her from the box, since I'm less scared now than I've been since... probably yesterday. Maybe the day before." She lost track of time in the box, and this strange forest isn't helping her figure out how long it's been. Bats is far less scary, now she's gotten to know her, than Matron Jellybubbles has ever been.

[Gullara]

[Dreamlands - Weald]

Blue squints at the rock. Weird. "A whisper rock." She deduces, tapping her chin with her magnifying glass. "It's like a dream phone." She explains helpfully. "Oh! I can call daddy so he can come get me!"

[Nova_Eclipse]

[An Epic Journey]

"I can teach you in all of those, if you have the inclination," Corvus says. "Though I'm not sure here is the best location."

[Rebonack]

[Dreamlands- Yellow Brick Road]

Tim takes the nut a little sullenly and eats it. The chestnuts ARE pretty good after all.

Shame to just let them rot on the road.

"Maybe..." Tim replies. "This was my first try. Mum said her first few kids didn't want to go with her either. Figuring out the right stuff to say is hard and sometimes nothing you can say helps any."

That's just how things go.

"Alright, let's get moving Otis," Bats calls out. "That's our last stop for the night, we're heading back home."

"Sure thing Bats," the pooka replies with a slow nod, his hooves clopping and the wagon wheels rattling as he begins his plodding pace.


[Dreamlands - Weald]

Guinevere shows no sign of having any idea what a whisper rock is.

Of course she wouldn't know. She's not a detective with a magnifying glass.

That much should be obvious.

Though when Blue explains what it's for she gives a little gasp!

"Oh, that's a great idea!" she says. Then she looks thoughtful. "How will he know that it's really you talking to him and not just a normal dream, though?"