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

[rae_of_sun]

Sunshine's only been outside for a few minutes when she spots someone else who doesn't appear to be entirely on board the talking animal train (to say nothing of the your soul is a talking animal train). The guy looks familiar, though she doesn't think she knows anyone named Peter.

Well, whoever he is, he probably doesn't deserve what's coming to him if he goes striding off while his goat is stuck behind that wall (which is another odd thing - aren't goats supposed to be spry? Why hasn't his jumped up on that wall already?).

"We should warn them," Modomnoc says from his perch on her shoulder, and Sunshine indulges in a brief eye-roll before heading across the lawn.

"Hey," she calls, waving a hand to get the guy's attention. "You really don't want to do that," she adds with a pointed gesture toward the wall he's put between himself and the goat.

[fucking_ebay]

The goat in question puts her front hooves up on the wall, apparently not ready to commit herself to anything as strenuous as climbing or jumping it. She spares only an aggravated sigh and a head waggle in lieu of an eye roll for the stranger who's decided to interject herself into private matters.

"Is that thing yours?" Peter calls back to the young woman, ignoring what she's said in favor of hoping he's found the owner of the freaky talking goat and it can stop being his problem.

"The answer's no, obviously, but go ahead and fucking leave if you're going to be a dick about it," says the goat, attention back on Peter despite not being able to see any more of him than the top of his head thanks to the wall. "See if I even care."

[rae_of_sun]

"She's yours," Sunshine says, giving the goat plenty of space as she approaches the wall. "I know it sounds completely insane, but… yeah." She shrugs, then settles herself on the wall, ready to either dodge the goat (who seems characteristically cantankerous, and also new enough to not know the whole Avoid Touching Other People rule), or help pick up this Peter guy if he decides to storm off. "And it hurts like hell if you get too far apart."

Modomnoc leaves her shoulder and hovers a foot or so above the goat. "Seriously," he adds.

[fucking_ebay]

"I've got this," the goat tells the bee, eying him warily lest he try to land on her face, because ew.

Peter gives the woman a disbelieving look. "Sorry, but I don't remember putting in an order for a possessed goat," he says dryly. There's an element of doubt there, though. "Hurts like hell how? It's just a goat. A weird talking goat, but it's a goat."

[rae_of_sun]

No worries there, goat. Modomnoc doesn't even know you. "Do you?" he asks, his tone distinctly dubious. She was the one urging her person to leave, after all.

"Everyone has a talking animal, now," Sunshine says with another shrug. "It's a Thing." As Modomnoc bumbles back over and lands on top of her head, she adds, "Hurts like someone's tearing your heart out." That might be a bit of an overstatement, but if it stops him keeling over and needing her to haul him back to his goat... "Someone told me they're supposed to be our souls, but they were pretty well lit, so."

they kicked us off the plane but we're about to board a new one and now I TAG LIKE THE WIND

[fucking_ebay]

The goat snorts derisively. "Tearing his heart out? He'll be fine, then. He hasn't got one."

"No one asked you," Peter snipes back. The news that the goat is supposed to be his soul induces an expression on his face halfway between a sneer and a look of visceral disgust. "If my soul was going to be an animal, it wouldn't be a goat," he informs her, still not touching (or testing) the pain-of-separation theory. "A tiger, maybe, if it had to be something."

Jeez! Hope you make it home sans anymore hitches!

[rae_of_sun]

And here she was, thinking she and Modomnoc had a somewhat prickly relationship. Compared to these two, they're the very best of pals.

"I don't know," she says, glancing back and forth between Peter and the goat. "I can kind of see the resemblance." There's a quiet snort from Modomnoc that might be amusement or might be discouragement, but it's too late for the latter.

wooo five hours sleep

[fucking_ebay]

"Yeah? And what's that say about someone who has a giant bug?" asks Peter pointedly. Modomnoc, he's looking at you.

"And what mythos is that supposed to come from, anyway?" asks the goat, finally coming round enough to show a hint of curiosity -- and to suddenly spring up onto the wall and perch there. "It sounds like bullshit to me."

welcome home!

[rae_of_sun]

"That I'm essential to a healthy ecosystem," Sunshine deadpans, refusing to let someone with a goat-shaped soul make her feel stupid for having a bee. Bees are useful, and goats are mostly known for being assholes and eating things they shouldn't.

When the goat manages to get up onto the wall, after all, Sunshine carefully scoots back a bit, then rethinks things and gets off the wall entirely. The threat of Peter ending up on the ground seems to have passed, so there's no reason for her to settle in (or prolong this conversation at all, for that matter).

"This mythos," Modomnoc says, taking off once again to buzz in lazy little circles around Sunshine's head. "Everyone here has one."

[fucking_ebay]

"Everyone at Oxford?" asks the goat with a derisive snort. "That's news to me. That's probably news to Oxford, too."

She seems to take Sunshine's departure from the wall as a sort of small victory -- or perhaps a challenge. She stays on top of the wall, but picks her way to the point closest to Sunshine as if to ward her off if she tries to sit back down. Peter's expression goes distant and uncomfortable as the goat moves as far away from him as she's been yet, and the goat lifts her head to look over her shoulder at him as Peter takes a reluctant step forward to relieve the cold aloneness that had begun to snake its way through his chest.

"Or that you're a mindless drone," Peter quips back at Sunshine.

[rae_of_sun]

"Everyone at this Oxford," Modomnoc says, moving to hover purposefully between Sunshine and the approaching goat. He's pretty sure a good sting or five wouldn't be fatal for him, should the goat decide to push her luck.

Sunshine snorts in response to Peter's joke. "As opposed to an asshole who makes questionable dietary choices?"

[fucking_ebay]

Ugh, bee. The goat takes the last step she can and stay on the wall, tugging Peter forward again like he's on an invisible string, but her attention turns to warily watching the insect. Peter tries to make it look like he just happens to be strolling in that direction, without much luck.

"Do I look like a fat-arse?" asks Peter, gesturing to himself. He eats perfectly well, thank you. Sugar and alcohol are among the basic food groups, are they not? "Anyway, I only have you to say my soul even has anything to do with --" he gestures at the goat "--that."

[rae_of_sun]

Sunshine shrugs irritably. She only has so much patience for this ('this' meaning 'obnoxious strangers'). Not that she's been a model of civility, herself, but at least she tried to be nice - even did him a favor by stopping him from keeling over in sudden agony.

"Whatever." Technically, he only has two drunk socialites to say for it, but she doesn't foresee any good coming out of her sharing that tidbit, so she keeps it to herself. And she starts stepping back, a prelude to an exit. "Talk to her. You might be surprised." And that's about all the goodwill she has to spare, so she turns to leave, Modomnoc buzzing after her.

[fucking_ebay]

"Or I might not," Peter replies. He's not particularly interested in her staying, either. "Hey, goat," he says to the goat. "Get down here, we're going."

"My name is Cascia," the goat says with acid in her voice. "And you can come here."

Both of them seem more interested in each other at this point, really, so it won't be any trouble for Sunshine to make her exit.