"Dreams and Nightmares"

Here's a snippet from Dreams and Nightmares by yours truly, which continues the story of Darin and gives us a look at the noble Nai'Oigher.


“May I present to you Mistress Obata, the Lady Dream, ruler and conduit of fantasy and desire.”

Dream stormed haughtily into her brother’s throne room. His terse summons the day before had infuriated her and sent her attendants diving for cover. Just who did he think he was, demanding her attendance like that? Sometimes his lack of gratitude for all she’d done for him was absolutely disgusting.

And why did he choose to live in such a dreary pit of a palace? Dream’s bare feet prickled against the hard stone floor, and she fought the urge to shiver. Her sheer gown, woven from the strands of joyous visions and carefree daydreams, wasn’t much help against the chill, and its lustrous shimmer was lost without a light source to reflect, but she refused to give her brother the satisfaction of causing her to change her wardrobe. She supposed it was better that she couldn’t see much of anything, if only because the darkness hid whatever vile, twisted things lurked in the corners of her brother’s lair.

Like Dream, her brother was Nai’Oigher, the elite of the Braegheayn nobles. Anything he’d asked for could’ve been his: the richest clothing, the finest foods, the most luxurious home. And yet he chose to live in a hole, far from the Dreaming Lands’ sole city, Maeda Criacao, indulging in whatever despicable desire struck his fancy. He could’ve been someone worth her time, rather than being a no one she barely tolerated.

Then again, she supposed such abhorrent behavior was likely just part of a day’s work for anyone named Nightmare.

Dream waited impatiently for a response to her herald’s announcement. Just as she was about to clear her throat in annoyance, a quick scale from a violin wafted through the dank air and sent a tingle through her bones. She shook off the feeling before it could take hold of her.

“It is typically considered good form to return a guest’s greeting with respect and courtesy,” she snarled to the surrounding darkness. “It is also common practice to light a torch or two when one knows company is on its way.”

Another quick scale screeched across the violin, and the sconces lining the walls exploded to life. Dream held her composure and didn’t so much as blink.

Nightmare’s throne room was a massive space, larger even than her own, Dream noticed with dismay. The walls were all sharp, abrupt angles. In the flickering firelight, they seemed alive and in motion – and slightly frightening.

Far across the throne room, a young man sat sprawled in a dilapidated chair perched across a crooked dais. His hair was long and unkempt, his clothing little more than tattered rags hanging loosely from his spare frame. He was dirty and exceptionally pale, as if he hadn’t seen the world beyond Nightmare’s catacombs in quite a while.

His violin, on the other hand, looked good as new. Oiled to a lustrous shine, it glistened softly in the strange shadows cast across the room.

Dream clicked her tongue and put her hands on her hips. “My idiot brother had best have a good reason to leave a mortal to greet me.”

“That he does,” the young man crooned as he swung himself down to the floor and strode toward her. She could tell by the slight twitch in his leg that he was doing well to hide his dread. It was shameful how her brother always felt the need to frighten people into doing his bidding. Dream herself was above such tactics, as well as such persuasions. “He knew it would make your blood boil.”

She just smiled and sauntered forward. “My brother has always known how to get a rise out of me. A singular talent, that.”

The man sneered arrogantly and played a sharp set of chords on his violin. In spite of herself, Dream shivered a bit. His parlor tricks were becoming annoying.

“Perhaps not so much,” he said tauntingly. He stopped ten paces away, trying to leave a careful separation between them.

But Dream kept on walking. “If it’s talent you want...”

Sarcillian Tree Art

Height: 12’-15’
Width: 30’ canopy

The sarcillian tree is a disgusting example of carnivorous flora. Its leaves are dark green with mottled black spots. They are long and thin and hang over the tree like the branches of a weeping willow, making it hard to spot as a sarcillian. It has black, flaking bark covered with four to six inch holes that look and ooze like lesions. The interior is a soft, slug-like flesh that can extend out of these holes like eyeless worms to eat. An oily coating on this flesh and in the tree’s bark makes it immune to fire.

The sarcillian is found mostly in stagnant waters, swamps, and river deltas, as the tree has the capacity to pull itself through muddy or soft soil. It travels slowly in dirt, about three feet per minute. This increases in thin mud or water to about 30 feet per minute. Due to its slow movement it is almost completely silent and most dangerous at night as it sneaks up on its prey.

The tree propagates by planting seeds in its victims. The process is often slow, taking a day or more. The victim is then released to stagger away. The seeds cause the body’s temperature to spike after 12 hours and the victim begins to seek out water to cool itself. As the victim enters or drinks water, the seeds erupt and kill the man or animal. It generally falls in or near the water where the sarcillian saplings then take root and consume the rest of the flesh.

Its weakness is salt, which dries up the oil and flesh much like a slug’s. Those that live in sarcillian territories often sow salt into the soil around their homes and villages to keep the trees from coming near. The seeds can be removed with salt and the victim saved, but it often leaves lasting scars.



Art by Scott Godlewski.

BT RPG

Work continues on the Baeg Tobar pencil-and-paper RPG. We've decided to frame it as a secret document developed by a Riddari that the Fae courts can use as a means of predicting mortal behavior.

Here's a sneak peek at the current draft's Introduction:

It has not escaped the Courts’ notice (nor that of this humble author) that the Duine of the Dying Lands, despite their mortality, could one day pose a threat to those of us in the Dreaming Lands. The following document, created at the behest of the Courts, describes a simulation of the Duine of the Pilean Continent to be used as an assessment of the Duine threat and to prepare future defenses against mortal incursion. To most properly defeat one’s enemy, one must be able to think like one’s enemy.

Simulation participants will utilize a combination of precise traits and carefully balanced ratios to assume the identities of Duine characters. Said characters can then be placed in any number of unique situations as a means of exposing their workings, both individually and as a group. Completion of this simulation will reveal much about the chosen characters, providing a new, deeper understanding of the strange mortals that inhabit our sister realm. Aids including miniatures, maps, and costumes can make the simulation easier to visualize, though the only necessary tools are parchment, a quill, and a set of dice.

Participants must be mindful at all times of their characters’ impending demises. Regardless of the party’s success or failure at their given tasks, its members will all eventually die. Mortality is not an easy concept for those of us in the Dreaming Lands to grasp, yet it is the single most important motivator in Duine life.

Every simulation requires the designation of one participant as the simulation master (SM) responsible for the creation and administration of the planned experiment. The SM imparts all details relevant to the simulation’s setting to his fellow participants and determines the effects of all participants’ actions upon the simulation as dictated by the rules and probabilities within this document and, when necessary, his own best judgment. The SM must also be able to produce, as quickly as possible, any necessary information required to properly describe any people, animals, or phenomena the participants may encounter. Preparation is an important part of being a successful SM.

Characters controlled by the participants are called participant characters (PCs). Characters controlled by the SM are called non-participant characters (NPCs) because the SM is not considered a character. NPCs include all characters the PCs meet during the simulation, including any characters that may join their party. NPCs are not defined as completely as the PCs – the SM rarely needs to know in advance the complete character history of each shopkeeper, for instance.

SMs are encouraged to create situations that will challenge the minds of their participants. Forcing participants to adopt mortal thought processes to solve complex problems will provide a more complete understanding of Duine tactics and priorities. Participants should do their best not to break character while completing such tasks.

It would be most beneficial to the Courts of Twilight to see the same characters utilized in the same setting for several sessions as they attempt to achieve a difficult goal. These campaigns often revolve around a story of some sort in which the participants fill the lead roles. The SM plays the role of the storyteller, much like an author writing a novel wherein the characters have minds of their own and the story often deviates in useful and interesting ways.

Please note that this document is bound to the Courts of Twilight through a magic most sensitive and destructive. Use this simulation against the will of the Courts at your own risk.

- Secrecio, Most Knowledgeable Riddari of Admi