One evening a woman went to bed, and she dreamt of herself as someone else. We will call this woman Alyssa; the name she is known as by the Dreamed. In this dream, she posessed three things unfamiliar to her, the claws in her hands being the foremost of these. Rapidly discovered afterward was her speed. Most subtly, there was a sense of purpose where none was before.
All dreams have an adversary, even pleasant dreams. Whether the terror of a nightmare or the fear that one might awaken, an opposition always exists. In her dream, this place was taken by the Harpies; dark manifestations of the worst of human nature. They were invisible to the people they preyed on, but not to her. They were intangible to all things, excepting her claws. Their grip was firm and, once gained, nearly impossible to lose. She quickly learned to dodge them, to know their patterns and weave her own that left them defeated.
The world of the Dreamed was filled with abilities beyond simply hers. Magic was a real force, and technology would gladly fill in what the shamans of the world could or would not. Once she realized her third gift, that of purpose, others came to realize it as well. She gathered to herself a number of like-minded Dreamed who sought to free their people from the Harpies and their unknown masters. Together, they were formidable.
All dreams have a balance. Pushed too far one way, the dreamer awakes. Most dreamers only know this push, the one that compels them to wake, either through the rude pull of external force or the gentle slide into conciousness. Pushed too far the other way, however, and the dreamer sleeps eternally. All dreamers know this push, but only once. The balance of this dream had been upset by Alyssa's purpose. She was to free the Dreamed, to rise up against the unknown and unknowable ones who held themselves to be the true masters of this world. She had far more power than she had thus far known: She was the Dreamer, and thus the rightful master. She would realize this too soon.
The unknown and unknowable commanded forces far more heinous than the Harpies. These forces they kept in reserve, knowing that their rule was a false one but holding on to one hope. Their power, that they kept to themselves and gave to no being on their behalf, was greater and more terrible than anything imagined. If they were to capture the Dreamer before she realized her true place and mastered her true power, she would not be able to withstand them. With her as their puppet, they would become more than mere rulers - they would become Gods.
A darkness covered this world. The Harpies gave way to horrors which petrified Dreamed in fear and agony. Alyssa and those still faithful to her fought, and well, but to little avail. It was one who she had saved from the onrushing darkness who gave them the knowledge that would both save and destroy them all. So as the unknown and unknowable were aware that their rule was false, so were the Dreamed, and the one who Alyssa rescued from burial in shadows knew this. Only the Dreamer could fight back the horrors as she had, the rescued had said.
Alyssa knew now, but she knew too late.
She was not the only Dreamer. There had been another, long ago, who had fought a dark war against the false gods of this world, and that dreamer as well had realized the truth too late to save the Dreamed. That Dreamer created a book which detailed a method which would stop all of this, which would push the Dreamer harder than any impetus known down one of the paths of imbalance. Should this cause the Dreamer to wake, this would would end, living on in only memory. Should the Dreamer decide not to take the book's way, and instead remain in the dream, the dark powers would subvert her and rule truly. None was written of the result should the dreamer forever sleep.
It was a war that had been fought and was being fought and would forever be fought, against the Dreamer who was and who had been and who would be. Alyssa had the book this Dreamer had created, as it was hers as much as it was any who dreamt of this world, and she saw no other way. The darkness was closing and subverting her world already, and she was too new to her knowledge to be able to stop it.
She read from the book silently, absorbing everythng every dreamer had done or was doing or would do, knowing their ways and their power, and fully realizing the unescabable fact of the technique which would either save her or kill her, but doom this world beyond a shadow of a doubt: It was impossible to know which path of imbalance that she would be pushed upon, even after the fact. She might wake and think herself asleep, or sleep and never know she was not awake.
As she read this warning her voice began to become audible, for it was too late to turn back and the darkness whirled all around, striving to put an end to all thought and coherence. She focused on the text before her, willing herself to unbalance the dream, to end the dark world that it had become, to slide down a path of reality or fantasy. Her voice became louder until finally it pierced the howl of the unknown and unknowable, as she read the final word of the book:
Awaken.
--
Alyssa D'Eldess
30 Claws/SR Scrapper, Justice
Posted
((Terribly sorry to bump my own origin story, but I was hoping to get some feedback. I personally think it's one of the stranger ones i've ever seen, possibly to the point of being complete gibberish, so I'm naturally looking for some input))
One evening a woman went to bed, and she dreamt of herself as someone else. We will call this woman Alyssa; the name she is known as by the Dreamed. In this dream, she posessed three things unfamiliar to her, the claws in her hands being the foremost of these. Rapidly discovered afterward was her speed. Most subtly, there was a sense of purpose where none was before.
All dreams have an adversary, even pleasant dreams. Whether the terror of a nightmare or the fear that one might awaken, an opposition always exists. In her dream, this place was taken by the Harpies; dark manifestations of the worst of human nature. They were invisible to the people they preyed on, but not to her. They were intangible to all things, excepting her claws. Their grip was firm and, once gained, nearly impossible to lose. She quickly learned to dodge them, to know their patterns and weave her own that left them defeated.
The world of the Dreamed was filled with abilities beyond simply hers. Magic was a real force, and technology would gladly fill in what the shamans of the world could or would not. Once she realized her third gift, that of purpose, others came to realize it as well. She gathered to herself a number of like-minded Dreamed who sought to free their people from the Harpies and their unknown masters. Together, they were formidable.
All dreams have a balance. Pushed too far one way, the dreamer awakes. Most dreamers only know this push, the one that compels them to wake, either through the rude pull of external force or the gentle slide into conciousness. Pushed too far the other way, however, and the dreamer sleeps eternally. All dreamers know this push, but only once. The balance of this dream had been upset by Alyssa's purpose. She was to free the Dreamed, to rise up against the unknown and unknowable ones who held themselves to be the true masters of this world. She had far more power than she had thus far known: She was the Dreamer, and thus the rightful master. She would realize this too soon.
The unknown and unknowable commanded forces far more heinous than the Harpies. These forces they kept in reserve, knowing that their rule was a false one but holding on to one hope. Their power, that they kept to themselves and gave to no being on their behalf, was greater and more terrible than anything imagined. If they were to capture the Dreamer before she realized her true place and mastered her true power, she would not be able to withstand them. With her as their puppet, they would become more than mere rulers - they would become Gods.
A darkness covered this world. The Harpies gave way to horrors which petrified Dreamed in fear and agony. Alyssa and those still faithful to her fought, and well, but to little avail. It was one who she had saved from the onrushing darkness who gave them the knowledge that would both save and destroy them all. So as the unknown and unknowable were aware that their rule was false, so were the Dreamed, and the one who Alyssa rescued from burial in shadows knew this. Only the Dreamer could fight back the horrors as she had, the rescued had said.
Alyssa knew now, but she knew too late.
She was not the only Dreamer. There had been another, long ago, who had fought a dark war against the false gods of this world, and that dreamer as well had realized the truth too late to save the Dreamed. That Dreamer created a book which detailed a method which would stop all of this, which would push the Dreamer harder than any impetus known down one of the paths of imbalance. Should this cause the Dreamer to wake, this would would end, living on in only memory. Should the Dreamer decide not to take the book's way, and instead remain in the dream, the dark powers would subvert her and rule truly. None was written of the result should the dreamer forever sleep.
It was a war that had been fought and was being fought and would forever be fought, against the Dreamer who was and who had been and who would be. Alyssa had the book this Dreamer had created, as it was hers as much as it was any who dreamt of this world, and she saw no other way. The darkness was closing and subverting her world already, and she was too new to her knowledge to be able to stop it.
She read from the book silently, absorbing everythng every dreamer had done or was doing or would do, knowing their ways and their power, and fully realizing the unescabable fact of the technique which would either save her or kill her, but doom this world beyond a shadow of a doubt: It was impossible to know which path of imbalance that she would be pushed upon, even after the fact. She might wake and think herself asleep, or sleep and never know she was not awake.
As she read this warning her voice began to become audible, for it was too late to turn back and the darkness whirled all around, striving to put an end to all thought and coherence. She focused on the text before her, willing herself to unbalance the dream, to end the dark world that it had become, to slide down a path of reality or fantasy. Her voice became louder until finally it pierced the howl of the unknown and unknowable, as she read the final word of the book:
Awaken.
--
Alyssa D'Eldess
30 Claws/SR Scrapper, Justice