dramatispersonae | ♫ amethyst ♫

♫ amethyst ♫

You're in a sumptuous room, with rich brocade in your team colors and fine appointments in copper and marble that should look bright and beautiful -- but everything is dusty and grey, with a furtive, abandoned air. This is a place that's been locked away for a long time. It feels as if it would be sad to linger here for long.

Fortunately (perhaps), after one good look at the room, you catch a brief, pained snatch of melody. Your vision goes dark, and you immediately find your mind somewhere else-- ♫

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For the first round, your character will be locked into a vivid waking nightmare (with which they can hopefully identify) for three comments! Your character will know to some extent that it's a dream, as one does sometimes in lucid dreams -- however, this shouldn't prevent the character from being affected by and reacting to the scenario. Our goal is a deeply unpleasant experience rather than outright trauma, so please use your judgment on how much immersion versus a sense of unreality from being in a dream you need to play with to get that outcome!

You can play with characters reacting to the scenario any way you want - have them interact with each other as if they're all going through what's being described together as a group, or have each person interact with it separately, or whatever - as you and your team prefer. (If you’re coming in late, you can just react individually to the scenario comments and then jump in wherever your team is playing! The rest of the game won’t make much sense otherwise.) After your team has finished reacting to each comment, let your gamerunner know that you're done so the next one (and then the next round, when the dream is over) can be unscreened.

Once the nightmare is over, teams will be free to discuss and answer a series of questions.

Teams will be running at their own pace without inter-team interactions, so please pace yourselves accordingly as a group to make sure you don’t run overtime! We’ll be cutting off all teams at the 5-hour mark (9:30 PM PST/12:30 AM EST).

You wake up sitting securely in one of the luxurious abandoned chairs. You're feeling sore and ill, pained from the affereffects of whatever happened -- but it's all the ghost of a reaction, fading slowly.

Firebird's voice floats through the air on another brief melody. She sounds exhausted, as tired and sick as you are.

"So what would you do, if such a thing came to pass? After all of your fears came true?"

Firebird's voice filters to your ears again.

"I thank you for your thought on this matter so far... what do you think bravery is? How is it different from foolhardiness? When is it the right decision to be brave?"

Firebird sighs. Her voice is almost inaudible this time.

"And how do you face your fears while they are happening? If you could... how would you change the dream of fear so that a different future came true?"

You're flying through the forest, elemental and free, untouched by anything human. Your song is the guide that all birds follow to the sky when the cage door is opened, and your light is the light that all wild things see by at night. You feed on golden apples when you hunger and close your eyes without coming to earth when it's time to sleep. What could be better? Nothing can touch you like this, but part of you wants something more.

In one life, you get it: you're caught and released, and the bond of affection and the favor you give in exchange is enough to give you a tie to earth that nurtures you instead of binds you. You can feel the shape of that life around you, warm as an embrace, waiting for you to step into it --

But this is not that life. The arms around you now aren't comforting. You've been caught, and whatever has caught you is not letting you go quite fast enough to satisfy you. You shriek and shriek, burning their flesh and clawing free, but you can still feel the bruising imprint of those arms across your feathers.

Time passes. They who caught you, who you broke away from, follow you. You loved them once and love them now, but there's no way you can take what's being offered. Your wings are heavy. Your song comes seldom. Somewhere, the things that travel in the dark raise their heads for a light to no avail, for your feathers are dying embers now. They don't understand you. They've never understood you. You've lost any hope for them to understand, ever again.

You've come to earth now, too weary and torn to go further, and you can hear them speaking to you; telling you what you've left, things you already know. Loneliness and fear choke you, and you cry out for them to go -- they obey at last, slowly. They might die now, or be lost, far from you. It's not what you wanted. You let one last shriek of despair escape you before you limp back into the air, flying blind and alone and not caring where it leads you.

[h-holding herself]

Hide. I should hide.

[jerks, startled, struggling for a moment before going still again]

[ Part of him knows something about this isn't right, especially with his newest acquired power. But it's hard to reason through that with such a crushing hold. ]

Hey, let go!

[ Trying to punch whatever's holding him. ]

. . .

[well I've immediately just stopped reacting or trying to get away from anything . . .]

No, they're there— I have someone who understands.

[ Shakes head adamantly ]

No. No, I said I'd try from now on. Even if I don't think they'll ever understand... I have to give them a chance!

. . . no—I don't . . .

[shoulders sagging]

[you know what, fuck it; going to start crying, slow and steadily]

Wait! I didn't—I didn't mean it!

[I'M NOT FINISHED!!! slowing down on crying, but still overcome]

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Page 1 of 5

♫ amethyst ♫

♪ instructions ♪

round 1 ♩

round 2 ♩

round 3 ♩

round 4 ♩

result ♮

discussion

decision

discussion

decision

discussion

decision

first

second

third

Re: first

Re: first

Re: first

Re: second

Re: second

Re: second

Re: third

Re: third

Re: third

Re: discussion