dreams...in...SPAAAAAACE!

[applesaucemod]

It's Wednesday night, and the rift has once again pushed and pulled the dreamers of Manhattan and beyond, gathering them together for its own mysterious purposes.

Why, for instance, have the dreamers been placed in an office building? And why, for that matter, is everyone weightless? Everything is weightless, for that matter, which might make maneuvering a little difficult with all those floating tables, chairs, and office supplies floating about. There's nothing stopping anyone from leaving the building and exploring the parking lot and green spaces nearby, but is a wide open space really where one wants to be right now?

[Mod note: Usual dream party rules apply. All players and characters are welcome, current members or no. Characters will remember or forget all dream events at players' discretion.]

Comments

[wildmage_daine]

We're downstairs, but just stay put, Daine advises. We're coming to find you.

To Asmodia, she says, "Yes. But it--" and then Asmodia's off, in… not exactly the right direction. Daine sighs, then reverts to leopard shape so she can keep up.

As she rebounds off of a wall and down a hallway, she says, We'll have to take a left up ahead. Oh, and the doors to the stairwell shut automatically, so getting through can be tricky.

[biscuit_powered]

Asmodia at least aimed herself to be able to rebound off a wall. She bounces between walls, floor, and ceiling, only just seeing the indicated turn in time to take it. She leaps for the fork in the hallway, hits the corner, scrabbles for a hold, misses, and drifts into the open air. "Automatically?" she asks as she twists in midair, frustrated, not understanding the word.

[wildmage_daine]

Well, first things, first. Hang on, Daine says, pushing off of the carpet and plowing into Asmodia, both of them heading up to the ceiling and rebounding back toward the floor. Once there, she snags the carpet with her claws again. And 'automatically' means it shuts on its own unless someone holds it open… and it's hard to hold it open when everything's floating around.

[biscuit_powered]

"Wh--!" For all that she knows it's a friendly druid, there's something about a leopard launching itself at her that sets Asmodia's nerves jangling. She misses her chance to control the first bounce, but gets turned around in midair to push off the floor with her feet and resume more controlled movements toward the stairs. "We'll find a way," she says firmly. There's no other option. She can definitely feel Biscuit in her mind now, and he's frightened and alone. The situation is, in short, unacceptable.

[wildmage_daine]

There might have been a less jarring way for Daine to get Asmodia out of midair, but to be honest, Biscuit's anxiety is starting to get to her a bit. When she reaches the door, she hits the handle with her forepaws and shoves it open. Then, she plants her back paws against the door frame, propping the door open. Go on, quickly, Daine says. Up three stories.

[biscuit_powered]

Asmodia doesn't need telling twice. For all that she is thankful to the druid and should probably hang around long enough to help her with the door, Asmodia just dives through the opening and bounces her way up the staircase without so much as a backward glance, counting off the floors as she passes them. When she gets to the correct door, though, her forward progress is halted by the unrelenting awkwardness of trying to turn the knob and pull the door open. After a few failed attempts -- she has to brace a foot against the wall, and as soon as she gets the door open and tries to go through, the damned thing shuts again and/or she drifts off in the wrong direction -- the tiefling lets out a frustrated noise followed by an arcane word and irritable gesture. Flame shoots from her fingers, setting the door on fire.

[wildmage_daine]

Daine doesn't really begrudge Asmodia's hurry; it isn't difficult for her to give the door an extra shove, bounce back against the door frame, and shove herself up the stairwell before the door can shut back on her. Unfortunately, this still give Asmodia enough of a head start that Daine isn't there to object until after the door is on fire.

It's lucky for both of them that she sees the blaze in time to grab ahold of the railing and stop herself from either floating inexorably into the flames or plowing into Asmodia and getting them both burned. What are you doing?! Daine snaps, ears pinned back in surprise - and no small amount of fear. This might only be a dream, but that doesn't mean she wants to have to spend it choking on dream-smoke or trying to evacuate all the dreamers from a burning building. Put it out!

[biscuit_powered]

Asmodia really did not think this through. She's still drifting backwards from the door, but suddenly that's a good thing as sparks and burning particles begin floating away from the main fire, filling the air with glowing spheres of flame. "Goddess!" she yelps, thrashing in midair and having no luck hastening away from it. Thinking quickly, she digs into a bag on her belt, small trinkets going flying until she comes up grasping a small packet between her fingers. Ripping open the flask she carried, she flings dust from the packet and water together in the air as she calls out another evil-sounding word.

And then, sleet. For twenty feet in any direction, the inside of the building goes pitch black with cold, driving wet. The fire hisses and goes out immediately, but the sleet remains, pelting both of them. "Grab my hand!" Asmodia calls, reaching out into the void, feeling for the druid.

[wildmage_daine]

Odds bobs! Not that she isn't glad to see the fire go out, but she could've done with a less dramatic - and uncomfortable, and dark - resolution. Granted, snow leopards handle sleet better than two-leggers, but she still can't help but feel a bit sorry for herself as she continues to cling to the railing and shuts her eyes against the deluge.


Mages, Daine grumbles in disgust as she reaches out a paw and gropes blindly for Asmodia.

[biscuit_powered]

What she's going to do when she's got hold of the druid, she doesn't know. She never did get that teleportation spell learned, plus it would probably light more things on fire if she used it. Asmodia feels a wave of vertigo as the sleet, unable to decide which way it is driving, keeps switching directions. She's lost all sense of up and down by the time she runs into the railing and clings to it, giving up on finding the leopard. Better to dispel it now that she's got something to hold onto and ground herself. A few seconds later the micro-storm eases and fades, leaving the stairwell and surrounding areas covered in ice and slush. Asmodia shudders with the cold, her clothing and hair drenched and her hands and tail aching from holding onto frozen metal. "S-sorry," she says, trying to peel her hands off the railing.

[wildmage_daine]

Daine's beginning to wonder if she should keep holding onto the railing - which at least gives her a point of reference - or if she should try to reach the door when the sleet storm finally lifts, leaving her feeling in desperate need for a good, full-bodied shake. That will have to wait until she can properly brace herself, though, so she settles for just her head, ice flying off of her ears.

Next time, wait for me, she says sternly. None of this was needful. When she looks back and sees the state Asmodia's in, though, she softens a little. She must still be new to magecraft, and either way, the sleet storm was harder on her than it was on Daine. But it could've been worse, she allows. At least you got the fire out.

It takes her a few moments to get her back paws properly braced against the slick handrail, but then she shoves herself toward the door. Between the fire and the sleet, it's not in very good shape. It opens easily when she bumps against it, and the mechanism that would have shut it appears to be broken, so it stays open as Daine ricochets off into an office. She can feel that Biscuit's close by, but first things, first: she digs all four paws firmly into the carpeting and gives herself a good shake, ridding her fur of any remaining ice and water.

[biscuit_powered]

For all her spells, Asmodia doesn't have anything that would get her warm and dry right now. She wrings out her hair with shivering hands, practiced at working around the horns that frame her face, and whips her tail before she lets go of the railing to send ice particles flying. "I can't leave him alone," she says, as if that explains all her hastiness. When all's said and done, though, she just wasted two combat spells and got both of them drenched in slush. Everything within the radius of the spell is covered in ice, but that doesn't matter too much when they're flying through the air anyhow.

She follows, landing on the nearest solid-looking partial wall and trying to wring out her cloak. "Biscuit?" she calls.

"Asma!" comes the return call, making Asmodia lift her head.