Poro dreams do seem to be very simple! Poros think of the world very simply! Give many snuggles to her! Are very curious what she means by that! What does she need to do? Can poros help? Even dream poros?
Simple is not always terrible, it can just be a sign of not needing to create more thoughts for no very good reason!
She holds the poros close, wishing each and everyone- the dream poros, and real poros, the very best.
No one except Lillia can help the dreams come back home, not unless they can fix the grief and nightmares and shadows that haunt the dreamscape.
But they help just enough- because they are poros, and they are lovely, and they are happy
Strange deer human would find herself in a place which looked like a crayon drawing. With tiny sheep puffs that look drawn in crayon! and everything has a smiley face drawn on it. Somehow, the crayon drawing sheep puffs are very snuggly! This must be a poro dream...
Within the dream, the little sheep puffs and drawn realm- that was not so very uncommon, but it was chaotic in a most wonderful, whimsical way! The little sheep puffs, they hold so much joy in their heart!
She can't help but find herself dancing around in the song, eager to sing with them, to chirp and to laugh alongside them.
So very rarely were dreams this free, this blissful.
If only the rest of the world could learn this bliss, and be this free, then... perhaps she would not be needed at all, and that would be perfect.
âI see many dreams, about a beast as wide as he is tall. A large maw, and a curious tongue, which hungers more, and more, and more.
âThe hunger is not just for food, how a mouse craves fruit, or birds crave seeds. It is for everything, and food is only a small drop in the ocean of hunger. For a shiny coin, for a lingering memory that sticks within a mind... For the amusement of agony, of loss, or of the thrill when he manages to win something, despite the odds against... For a feast that will not fill his belly.Â
âThis beast- I do not see his dreams. But many dreams and nightmares surround him- he is the eye of the storm, creating havoc around him. Sometimes, I see him looking back at me, like he can see that I am watching these dreams. He has spoken my name, and he tells me that when the tide falls, to wander beneath the wooden docks, and to ask for the River King.
âSome of the oldest dreams are not accepted by the Mother Tree... I donât know why, but she holds them how a bird holds a jewel. She cannot use it, but she is fascinated, and so am I...
âOne of the dreams, there is a snout, hiding everything beneath. It is large, and scaled, and green. I hear the sounds of sand in a timepiece, each piece falling and scraping against the rest, before it hits the ground. But before the timepiece stops, and the sound stop, it is turned around. Time keeps passing.
âThe person who keeps flipping the timepiece looks at the beast who dreams, taunting. For some reason, they do not cry when a large blade pierces through their body. Are they amused? Are they bored? I donât know.
âBut this is a dream of torment.
âPerhaps she does not consume it, is because she cannot endure the nightmare.âÂ
A nasty punch, right into a jaw that Sett could hear, even from as far away as he was, a snap. A broken bone.
He groaned lightly, knowing that was another fighter that was going to be out of commission for, if sheâs lucky, 6 weeks. If not, 6 months.
Compensation, of course, but it was still a bit of pain in the ass when one of his more famed fighter suddenly are unable to work. From the balcony he watched from, he leapt down to the ground, the two fighters noticing and immediately parting ways as he hit the ground with force that was enough to completely knock a normal person out cold.
Grabbing the wrist of the one who threw the punch hard enough to rattle teeth, he raised their arm into the air,
âWe have a champion!â He shouted to the crowd, hearing them go wild. He shot a glance down at the young warrior-
They looked stunned, almost. Freljordians like them likely never saw this many people in one place, much less...
âThatâs all for you,â Sett mentioned, âFeels nice, eh?â He said, seeing them look at him in shock for a moment, before a small, tight nod. âReady to give anything a shot?â
âWhat?â They asked, as Sett dropped their arm, and stepped forward,
âNow, any challengers from the crowd willing to try and steal the title for the grand prize?â He asked, walking along the edges of the Arena, seeing countless people shouting, staring right at him, crying out his name.
Funny, this used to give him such a rush.
As he saw a man trying to climb up onto the arena, he grabbed his hand and helped pull him up,
âWhatâs your name, boy?â Sett asked to the man,
âSota,â He said, suddenly in awe, âMy name is Sota.â
â... Just donât kill my fighters, eh?â He asked, âGo get âem!â
He shoved the man towards his fighter, watching as the other who was injured was already off the stage and was being carried off,
Sett turned back to the crowd, cracking his knuckles,
âNow...
âTime for the interesting part to begin! The newcomer Sota has decided to challenge the illustrious Snowboar, straight from the Freljord!â
The crowd roared.
Sett knew better than to get far from the stage, now.
Random challengers were always the most dangerous. Willing to do anything to win.
Ionia's forests were beautiful. Unique, and sometimes deadly, he drew much inspiration from them and often walked through them when time and energy afforded.
Silver fingers grazed over the rough bark of an ancient tree, and he stepped over its coiling roots carefully so as not to trip while he followed its circumference. It was an old specimen, and he gazes up at the pink leaves that filter the afternoon sun in a sort of contemplation.
Then he hears a voice ring out, and that dual colored gaze snaps to its source. Though the owner of that gaze looks unassuming and simple, there is a predatory glint within for the briefest of seconds before it disappears with a softening. An actor playing a part.
"My dreams?" He purrs softly, voice warm, rich and deep as he regards the spirit before him with interest. "What of my dreams, dear spirit? I'm afraid I do not often remember them, and so I haven't any idea what it is you speak of."
The man's tone is sweet as he prods her for more information. Saccharine poison to drip over her worries and melt them away like spun sugar in water- or so he hopes.
Lillia is no fool. Not unlike the young deer that would run in fear from humans, where she learned to take her first steps, only to be seen as the enemy of them, she knew, she knew well what the eyes of a predator looked like.
This was not just them-
This was something worse.
âYou donât need to remember your dreams- Your dreams show you exactly what youâve done... Your dreams remember your own memories, and showed them to me.â She held onto her branch tight, and pointed it at him, âI-Iâd say you should be... you should be horrified at them, but I know youâre not! Iâve seen what youâve done!
âVines of intestines and flower petals of flayed flesh, buds of still beating hearts and branches of mangled limbs...
âI know what you are. I know what you do in the name of your art...â
She freezes,Â
âYet yours are the only dreams that return to the Mother Tree... so I canât hurt you. I canât hurt her.â
âWhy do you do these things?â She asks, âEven if you donât remember your dreams, theyâre the most horrific Iâve seen, only second to whatâs left of your... masterpieces.â
It had been days since Nith had had a chance to sleep soundly. Even when it wasnât about vivid nightmares, the woman always ended up waking up abruptly in the middle of the night, and that day was no exception.
She sat up for a moment and decided to simply breathe and contemplate the night. Something⊠what was bothering her? It was then that a sound in the bushes caught her attention and she had no choice but to leave her thoughts for the moment and concentrate on the intruder.
âUh⊠thank you. I guess.â -she replied with some bewilderment. Wasnât she⊠supposed to look human?
Well, the creature didnât look as one either. Maybe she could sense its essence. In that case it would make sense that she would seek to meet something more terrifying, although, she seemed to be a bit nervous.
Nith blinked a couple of times and rubbed her hands against her tired face.
âA little. Sounds like youâre a stalkerâŠâ -she said before smiling softly at the deer- âBut itâs not the worst thing Iâve heard. What can I help you with? Itâs a little weird meeting someone in the middle of the night, let alone having a conversation.â
Lillia practically trembled, but she also knew- non-humans were nice! Or at least nicer! But still, she knew she needed to be afraid. Just- just until they proved themselves, just how Yone did...
âUhm... I-Iâm very sorry, Iâm not... Not how people, uhm, originally dream them to be!â She insists, âI-I donât think, at least. Iâm very sorry to scare you into thinking Iâm like them,â She apologizes, as earnestly as she could when every nerve in her body wanted to leap around and run, or throw a burst of dream dust...
But she had done nothing wrong, so she had no idea why she was this way!
âI... Iâm a spirit, or at least, close enough to one,â She explained, âA dream spirit. I want to help people dream again, and help dreams get back to the dreaming tree, so she can help everyone... and they can help her.â She explained,
âYour name is Nith... correct? I heard them call you that... in your dreams. Iâm Lillia. Iâm... Iâm sorry if Iâm saying upsetting things. I-I really mean well! I could even show you whatâs left of your dreams, if you need proof!â
Being a former member of the Yanlei, Suzuki has tattoos on their body made of Shadow Ichor- A limitless but slow generating substance that can be tattoo'd onto those in the order to assist them in using shadow magic.
As the case with most, it's hard for most students to use shadow magic in large amounts, or effectively, but they do have a number of tattoos.
They have thick, black lines that go around their thighs, and on the inside of their thighs it leads to a spiral-like design. They also have similar black lines that remain solid and patternless on their upper arms, near their shoulders. Finally, they have a single black teardrop shaped mark on the center of their chest, flush between their pectorals.
Xerath listened on as the spirit spoke of her mission. A Dreaming Tree that connected to the spirit realm? Interesting⊠Though the Magus wasnât sure if it would be of any use to him. Besides, given how far she had evidently traveled, it wasnât like he could go and seek it out at the moment even if he wanted to.
âHmph. If you have traveled this far, then the answer to your question should be obvious.â Xerath drifted closer and made a grand sweeping gesture. âI know not of the rest of the world, but Shurima has been embroiled in conflict for as long as any mortal can remember. In this land, gods fight to decide the fate of the world itself. This is a land trapped in time, unable to move forward until one finally claims victory⊠Tell me: do you think the dreams you seek can exist in such a place?â
Lillia looked at him, a little lost. âI... No, I donât know what you mean.â And she didnât- she knew of some stress, of some terrible thing, but...
Details were blurred- that was the thing about dreams, they were not coherent stories, just pieces of imagination and desires and memories put together into an odd little bundle. They were utterly confusing, even to a Dream Fawn. Only the Dreaming Tree could make true use of them, when no one else could.
âI know little of this world. The... the dreams that do make their way to me are not tainted by such things. I... I truly donât enjoy going out by myself.â She admitted, âBut- I saw dreams, even from here, years and years ago, when words now only spoken by scholars were common. Only in the last decade, or even years, have they waned. Dreams can exist here- dreams can exist in the most terrible, darkest reaches of the world...
âBut thereâs something new... consuming them. Do you... truly have no idea, your, uhm, Majesty? Has nothing... new, changed in your land of yours, that couldâve done such a thing?â
âI once saw a manâs dream, where he had made art of corpses, roses of blood, thorns of nails, vines of limbs... Many, so very many dream of war and battle, but the beauty fades when the dream becomes a memory.
âI originally believed that it was only a dream- But when I looked deeper, I remember the tales told in whispers, of those who perished in a horrific sight, but he looked upon the sight so fondly...
âOnly then did I realize it was not a dream; but a memory. While many have dreamt of such horrific glory, few have committed to it... Few hold that love for death, decay, and the passing of all...
Braum is much, much older than he appears. Heâs seen the Rune Wars, he saw the days when humans first made contact with the Gods of the Freljord. He was there, when the Watchers were sealed away, when Ornn built the Howling Abyss.
However, he would never speak of this unless directly prompted. He has heard a million praises and twice as many stories about himself; He is much more interested in hearing about others experiences. He has experienced much, and he can only experience things from his own mind, but he is incredibly intrigued by the experiences of those so different from himself.
After all, he was one of the first Iceborn.
Itâs natural he already knew everything there was to know about the Freljord well before becoming one.