Far Side of the Aurora Borealis

[applesaucemod]

Congratulations, dreamers of Manhattan - you get to go to Oxford! It's probably not the Oxford with which any of the dreamers are familiar, though. This one is a bit… different.



The dreamers will find themselves in Jordan College, the oldest and grandest of all the colleges in this version of Oxford, a rambling structure that includes dining halls, libraries, classrooms, chapels, courtyards, a botanical garden, and an extensive network of cellars and tunnels beneath the ground. There are plenty of places to explore!

Sharp-eyed dreamers might notice some subtle architectural quirks. Doors look larger than they'd need to be for solely human use, and every staircase has a little ramp built in - not large enough for a wheelchair, but large enough for, say, a small, scampering animal.

And speaking of - the dreamers are a bit different here, too. Upon arrival, they will realize that they now possess dæmons: physical manifestations of their souls. Be gentle with them; they're undoubtedly confused by being suddenly made manifest. They come with all the side effects and complications inherent with dæmons. They can't travel more than a few yards from their person without it being painful for both parties… and it probably won't take the dreamers long to realize they shouldn't be touching one another's dæmons, what with the shared sensations and all. Still, it's a rare opportunity for the dreamers to chat with their own souls - and the souls of others.

What could possibly go wrong?



[Mod note: you know the drill. All players and characters are welcome, regardless of whether they're current members or not. Characters will remember or forget any and all dream events at players' discretion.]

Comments

[frank_doyle]

"I shall sniff it out!!" declares Gertrude and immediately begins dutifully snuffling around the room in ever broadening circles. Frank follows her closely, peering around as though the liquor might be hiding behind any object or sitting atop any surface in the room. Gertrude comes to a sudden halt at a door tucked away in the corner of the hall and begins to wag her tail.

"Aha!" Gertrude turns in an excited circle. "This way!"

"Why, it's a mysterious spiral staircase!" announces Frank upon inspection of the door and what lies beyond it. "It probably leads down to a cellar and that is surely the perfect place to store booze in an establishment like this! Well done, Trudy!" He gives her an encouraging scratch behind the ears and she wags emphatically.

[sadie_doyle]

"Brava, Gertie!" Sadie declares as the staircase is revealed. Augustine twines around the dog's legs and beneath her stomach, and it's only their collective fluffiness that keeps Gertrude from clearing the fox easily.

As they begin their descent, Sadie muses, "An entire cellar of booze! Frank, do you think there will just be barrels of it?" She's always wanted a nice barrel full of booze in their penthouse apartment, but it probably wouldn't have fit through the door, and it would have been cruel to ask the boy from the liquor store to manage something so large and heavy.

[frank_doyle]

"There'd better be!" Frank nods decisively. "Or else, what's the point?"

"Onward!" cries Gertrude, and embarks excitedly down the stairs. Frank is quick to follow, holding a hand out for Sadie behind him.

[sadie_doyle]

Sadie takes the offered hand with a smile as Augustine says, "The real question is whether we ought to just park ourselves down there, or bring the booze back up with us." Glancing between Sadie, Gertrude, and Frank, he adds, "I think we could just about manage a barrel between us, so long as we found a ramp or an elevator or something."

[frank_doyle]

"Capital idea!" says Frank. "We'll do that! Perhaps we could have a liquor picnic out on the lawn! A place like this has to have a lawn. It's been far too long since we had a liquor picnic, my loves!"

[sadie_doyle]

"A liquor picnic sounds lovely," Sadie agrees. "Ooh! And we'll need some glasses. Once we've obtained our barrel, we shall have to locate a kitchen!"

"First things first," Augustine says as the winding staircase ends in an arched doorway. And beyond that… "Barrels!" the fox declares triumphantly.

[frank_doyle]

"Well done everyone!" says Frank, stepping into the lush cellar.

"Let's see, now, what have we here..." He stoops to inspect the first set of barrels. A little drop hangs from the spigot of one, and he catches it delicately on his finger and pops it in his mouth.

He reels back with a horrified gasp, and Gertrude immediately begins growling at the treacherous barrels. "WINE!" he cries.

[sadie_doyle]

"Not again!" Sadie edges away from the wine barrel as if she expects it to start spewing its revolting contents into her eyes like some sort of pudgy, wooden cobra. Her legs soon collide with Augustine, who has crouched behind her, fur bristling and muzzle wrinkled in a snarl of distaste. "Oh, Frank, what if that's all there is?" she cries, still haunted by that horrible incident with Bacchus.

[frank_doyle]

"Fret not, Sadie, my love!" Frank cries, reaching out to steady her. "These cellars are massive! There's got to be more options. Trudy?"

"On it!" woofs Gertrude, immediately turning to explore the dark passages further.

"Hmm," says Frank, peering about at the dusty stone walls. "We could do with a torch."

[sadie_doyle]

She takes a deep, steadying breath, then nods. Frank's right, of course. If this was their cellar, it would be mercifully wine-free, but there's no accounting for the shamefully horrid tastes of others.

Still, though. Wine. Disgusting.

Augustine had moved away once Sadie had regained her equilibrium, and now he pipes up, "I think I've found a lantern." His pale fur stands out in the shadows on the other side of the doorway, and beside him, Sadie can just make out a little table with what appears to be an charmingly quaint oil lamp sitting on top of it.

"Well spotted, Augustine!" Sadie crosses to the little table and manages to light the lamp with only a minimal amount of fumbling. Hmm. It appears her previous buzz is beginning to wear off a little. Still, it's with a little smile of triumph that she offers the lamp to Frank. "Here we are, darling."

[frank_doyle]

"Well done!" Frank takes the lantern with a satisfied cluck of the tongue and follows Gertrude into the looming shadows. She's stopped alongside a different rack of barrels and is sniffing them all studiously.

"Well, dear Gertrude?" asks Frank cautiously, afraid of another disappointment.

Gertrude hesitates for a breathless instant, then turns, gives them a big dog smile, and says, "GIN!"

[sadie_doyle]

"GIN!" echoes Sadie, her face splitting into a grin. Augustine dances up to Gertrude, tail waving like a fluffy banner, and darts up to lick her chin.

"Well," Sadie continues, "shall we try and roll one of these barrels out of here?"

[frank_doyle]

"Let's!" agrees Frank, and steps over to the pile, trying to determine how to extricate one barrel without causing a gin avalanche.

"Hmmm," he says.

"We're not sure how to extricate one barrel without causing a gin avalanche," Gertrude confesses to Sadie and Augustine.

[sadie_doyle]

Sadie pauses for a moment, lost in the mental images conjured by the words 'gin avalanche.'

"That sounds like the best kind of avalanche," Augustine says, sounding a little wistful.

"Yes," Sadie agrees. "It's the barrels that complicate things." She eyes the pile, then says, "Do you suppose we ought to go for the top one?"

[frank_doyle]

"Hmmmm," says Frank again, eyeing the top barrel.

"Frank Linda Ronstadt Regan Doyle, don't even think about it," says Gertrude out loud, apparently in response to some internal debate. "I am not that strong."

"No, of course not, Trudy, you're right," admits Frank. "I don't suppose rolling it down would be a very good idea." He gives it a good think for a moment more, scanning the room with truly distressing sobriety, then snaps his fingers. "I know what let's do!! Trudy, be a dear and bring us one of those empty barrels, would you?"

Gertrude rushes to the task, rolling an empty barrel over with ease. Frank pries off the lid and places it beneath the top barrel. "I call this Frank Doyle's Theory of the Transitive Power of Gin!" he declares, and opens the spigot.

Beautiful, clear gin rushes from one barrel into the other. Frank watches delightedly, and Gertrude can't help but lap at the stream just a little.

[sadie_doyle]

"Oh, Frank!" Sadie claps her hands together in undisguised glee as the gin is neatly transferred from one barrel to the other. "That was brilliant!" As the previously empty barrel continues to fill, she throws her arms around her husband's shoulders in an enthusiastic embrace.

Noting Gertrude's behavior, Augustine attempts to get at the stream as well. Unfortunately, he doesn't have the dog's height advantage. He tries to jump up to it, succeeds only in getting some gin up his nose, and has to turn away to let out a mighty sneeze. "Bother," he mutters, licking his muzzle. "We'll have to get some bowls, too, when we find that kitchen."

[frank_doyle]

"Naturally!" says Frank. "Allow me, little fellow." He bends down, brimming with chivalry, and lifts Augustine up to give him a better liquor-tasting vantage point.

[sadie_doyle]

Sadie could scarcely being to describe the feeling that wells up within her as Frank so courteously lifts up Augustine, allowing him to lap at the gin. It almost brings tears to her eyes. Her fox, sensing the swell of emotion and in a better position to act on it, leaves off gin sampling so he can turn toward Frank, tuck his muzzle beneath the man's chin, and inform him, "We love you, you know."

[frank_doyle]

"Oh!" Frank feels himself blush. He pulls Augustine closer for a nice hug, and Gertrude immediately shuffles over and presses her head against Sadie's leg, nuzzling happily.

"We love you too," she says.

[sadie_doyle]

Sadie drops into a crouch beside Gertrude, the better to wrap her arms around the broad warmth of her and press a kiss upon the crown of her head. She can't help thinking that it's a pity their souls haven't always been on the outside like this. She could just snuggle up to Gertrude all day, and Augustine feels equally content to cuddle in Frank's arms.

And then the last of the gin makes its way into the second barrel, and Sadie reluctantly straightens with a sniff. She has a head cold. "It ought to be light enough now that we could tip it forward," she says, because there's no sense in leaving any behind.

[frank_doyle]

"Right you are!" says Frank, equally reluctant to set Augustine back on the floor. He reaches up to the barrel and tilts it carefully, and they are treated to a few more lovely spurts of gin before it eventually resolves into a slower and slower series of drops.

"That should do it!" says Frank, and he sets about closing the barrel back up.

"It's so beautiful," sighs Gertrude happily. "Augustine! Let's find a dumbwaiter! A place like this has to have a dumbwaiter."

[sadie_doyle]

At Gertrude's suggestion, Augustine stops twining around Sadie's legs and gives a little hop of excitement. "Bet I find one, first!" he declares before bounding off into the gloom, tail windmilling ridiculously.

Sadie watches him go with a fond smile, but as the distance between them grows, her smile fades and her brow furrows. Something isn't right. She opens her mouth to call Augustine back to her, and then a terrible pain seizes her heart, and she starts to crumple to the floor.

[frank_doyle]

"Sadie-?" Frank cries in alarm, and stoops quickly to catch her before she falls. "Sadie, darling? What's-"

As Gertrude rushes to Augustine, Frank starts to feel the pain too. He gasps and lurches, struggling to pull himself and his wife up.

"Quickly!" he shouts to no one in particular - or everyone in particular. He staggers toward their strayng souls, helping Sadie along, just as Gertrude turns tail and runs back as fast as she can.

[sadie_doyle]

Augustine lets out a yelp, claws skittering against the stone floor as he turns around and comes bolting back toward Sadie. The pain eases as he returns, and by the time he's close enough to leap for her, she's recovered enough to open her arms and catch him. "I'm sorry!" he gasps as Sadie hugs him close to her chest. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry…"

"You didn't know," Sadie replies, managing to sound reassuring despite the fact that they're both still shaking. "We didn't know that would happen, but it's all right, now. We just won't do it again." Still hugging Augustine tightly, she turns to see how Frank and Gertrude are recovering. "Frank? Gertrude? Everyone all right?"

[frank_doyle]

"We're all right," says Frank between heavy breaths. Gertrude licks his face somewhat frantically and he gives her a consoling scratch behind her ears. "Goodness. Having your soul outside your body has quite the impractical caveat! I can see why this isn't more common!" He straightens up, brushing himself off, touching Sadie's shoulder. "But if everyone's back up to par, what's say we all look for a dumbwaiter together? And let's get the barrel rolling, as it were."