01 - A Warning

[detectiveforhierophant]

Sender: Ryotaro Dojima
To: Everyone
Subject: WARNING TO ALL RESIDENTS:

An enemy from a world several of us came from is possibly here in the Dream World with us. It can shapeshift, potentially enter dreams and corrupt individuals, as well as control creatures known as Erasers. Caution is absolutely necessary. More details below.

My name is Ryotaro Dojima. Before arriving here, several other residents and I were in a world known as the Realm of Stories, where fairy tales, folklore, and mythological stories all reside. We were brought there- for the most part willingly, to help the Storyteller repair stories that had been destroyed by an Entity known as the Story Eater.

The Story Eater can be likened to an eldritch monster, almost a force of nature, that desires to destroy all stories in all worlds. If it has any ulterior motives, it's unknown at this time. It's sort of this weird, black molten skeleton…thing. It's hard to describe even after seeing it since it shifts very easily. It is sentient, very cunning, able to shapeshift into different forms as it sees fit, and controls creatures known as 'Erasers' who are able to enter stories and tear them apart from the inside out. And more concerningly, it's shown it has the ability to slip into people's dreams and manipulate them.

Because the Realm of Stories is connected to all worlds in some capacity, damages to the initial stories would cause Erasers and the Story Eater's influence to leak into and possibly destroy our own universes. That's why the Storyteller reached out to us in the first place. We'd "repair" the stories by acting them out—basically putting on a play with a story or several stories as a basis, taking up the roles of the characters while also helping to repair the world itself by doing small quests. Doing so would give them energy to restore themselves, and their energy would weaken the Story Eater and help fight it off. Sometimes the Story Eater would outright attack, and we'd need to fight it and its minions off.

Unfortunately, the Story Eater is extremely strong and at best we could only keep it busy until the Storyteller could repel it back. During our last battle against it, although there were signs that it had grown weaker it still had enough strength to rip through the story's dimensions and fling us all into the rift which led us to this world.

We recently received messages from the Storyteller informing us that while the Realm of Stories is safe, they're fairly certain the Story Eater is in the world we're in now, licking its wounds and trying to regain strength.

Due to its ability to enter and manipulate dreams, we all need to be extremely careful and keep an eye out for any outside influence—beyond the baby tapirs—that could sneak into our heads while we're still learning our powers here, or control the noctaere like it did the Erasers. We need to be especially mindful of any negative or destructive impulses that seem out of line of our usual mindsets.

I realise that dreams are personal and we're all being pushed into…bizarre circumstances with some of our dreams being shown to others

[Dojima hesitated a moment before…deciding to be candid.]

Believe me, there are some nightmares I have I don't want anyone to have to deal with—

But if you're experiencing something you know is out of the ordinary or you don't feel right, please say something. Last thing we all need is one of us to be used by this bastard.

If you have any further questions, feel free to ask. I'm sure the others who were with me could add more.


[NOTE: This is an announcement regarding the Story Eater, the main "antagonist" of the game forgottentales that is directly related to Songerein. Since it's confirmed to appear again, here's an IC notice for everyone so that whenever the mods start incorporating it into the game, the characters won't be completely blindsided! Other characters from FT will be around to respond to this post.]

Comments

private to Dojima

[allegedprisoner]

Dear Mr. Dojima,

Thank you for putting the more detailed explaination out there. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to adequately explain the matter myself.

- L. Balsa

[detectiveforhierophant]

No problem. If I missed anything, feel free to add that in.

Thinking about it, I may be one of only people who was at the Index the longest who still remembers it-- I know Roxas and Rokurou were there before I was, but they don't have those memories. Kazuma was there before me and still... obviously remembers things.

[ Judging by the nightmare he had... ]

Sender: Anya

[grandduchess_anya]

(Even though she has explained to a few individuals about the Story Eater and the Realm before, she is at least grateful that someone has released a post regarding this for everyone to read upon.)

I gratefully appreciate your explanation. As a fellow Aspect, I’m hoping that everyone who haven’t encountered the Story Eater beforehand will get a good idea of what it is capable of.

So if anyone here has questions, I am more than happy to answer them, even though I was only in the Realm for a few months.

Sender: Tenn

[perfectenn]

Could you elaborate on this mention of putting on plays?

sender: nier

[silentends]

This sounds like really bad news. I'll try to be careful so thank you for the warning. Is the Story Eater really a black molten skeleton thing?

[ Huh. Nier has seen different monsters before so he's curious to know what it might look like in person. He has other questions he'd like to ask and many concerns weigh on his mind now that this topic has been put into light.]

Everybody dreams and has nightmares...even me. I don't think it's right that they're being shown without permission!

I'd like to ask you more questions if you have time.

[detectiveforhierophant]

It likes to take that form, anyway. If I was better at drawing I'd try to show you, but, well. It's something I'm not talented in.

[ Please don't ask him to draw. ]

Yeah, I'm not exactly pleased with that myself. Hopefully we'll get more control over it as we get used to this world, but for now I guess we'll just need to be forgiving of one another's minds.

And sure, shoot.

sender: Milla Maxwell

[spiritform]

That does sound like a rather problematic creature. And not one we can leave untended.

You said that you were able to fight it directly on certain occasions, yes? Is there anything you can tell us about what we can do to fight it, should the opportunity arise?

[detectiveforhierophant]

First time it showed up. I was stuck in a nightmare so I wasn't much help there. That is one of the major problems; if he pulls us into dreams, he takes advantages of our weaknesses... either locking us in nightmares or in sweet dreams we don't want to wake up from.

The second time it was loose, it's more like a force of nature. We're talking large Kaiju-type monster, wrecking the entire town.

It could be using elements of stories works against the Story Eater... since those of us who got infused with the essence of fictional characters and the Storyteller were the only ones able to deal with him.

But in the last fight, we had him cornered. We had to make special weapons to fight him in the first place, and he took the form of Peter Pan... so it will play the hero if it'll get the Story Eater what it wants.

I don't know how useful that all is, mind you.

Sender: 76

[steadypulse]

Too many places for the damned thing to hide, and who knows the hell it'd wreck if it managed to figure out how the Noctrae work.

(ooc: open for questions being asked by others that respond)

Re: Sender: 76

[detectiveforhierophant]

I'm guessing you already did some recon?

Sender: T'Challa

[galactichero]

I've spoken to someone who had talked about something like this. If the Story Eater has the ability to enter our dreams, is there any way to protect ourselves from it?

[detectiveforhierophant]

Hard to say, other than I suppose being a lucid dreamer.

The dream it had for me was...

Not great, to say the least. Sucked me right in, played on all my worst fears and brought me to my weakest point.

But we were able to slip into one another's dreams and help each other pull us out of our own heads, so practicing that may help some.

Private: Dojima.

[whitefeather]

The short version is that this creature you encountered in another world is here, right? And while you and your crew came in, it hitched a ride.

So it's your fault.

[detectiveforhierophant]

[ Ah, a smartass. Of course. There was bound to be at least one-- ]

Not quite. We were in the process of fighting it, and in a last ditch effort, it... seems like it ripped a hole in space time to escape us, and we got dragged in with it and fell here.

So more the reverse of what you said.

Still, you'd probably argue it's our fault for not finishing it off before it did that, which, I can't really argue with.

Sender: Tenn

[perfectenn]

[ This is sounding more complicated than the standard 'fae play games and mess with humans again' scenario he was expecting. There's a lot here to think about, but Tenn starts simply: ]

Who is this Storyteller? Are they here, now?

[detectiveforhierophant]

They's not here, according to the letter those of us who remember the Index received. They had to spend energy to find us and get us those letters.

As for who they were... We never actually saw them. All their communication was via letters or writing of some sort. Seems like they were something of a guardian/custodian for the Realm of Stories; they could find the 'torn up' pieces of the stories and write out a basic script for us to follow, and by doing that we could restore the world by giving it power.

Telling stories gives them power, is my best bet. But I don't know the mechanics of it.

Sender: Balthus

[grappleking]

Alright, so bad news all around. Got it.
So, how do we kill this thing?

[He's a simple creature who asks simple questions.]

It's gotta have a weakness we can exploit! Maybe not in that other world, but this place is different, right? Dream energy and everything? Maybe that'll put us on more equal footing.

Sender: Kazuma

[chippedsoul]

The Story Eater never stayed around long enough for us to find a weakness. Though, as obvious as this may sound, working together against it has proven effective. So it would be ideal for us to better understand this world's powers sooner than later.

Ideally somehow locating it before it strikes might be our best option. All of our past attempts have been to repair the damage it's already done instead of preventing it.

Sender: Zelda

[multidisciplinary]

[ Zelda has already heard mention of the Realm of Dreams and the Story Eater from a few other people, but Dojima's explanation provides a lot of new information. She carefully takes notes in the private section of her journal, on the pages headed "Realm of Dreams." But there is still at least one critical question (to her, at least) that no one has been able to answer for Zelda. ]

Thank you for this detailed explanation, Mr. Dojima. It is deeply concerning that a threat from a different world was able to travel here of its own free will.

I hope you can answer a question that I've had for some time: why does the integrity of folk tales impact the stability of an entire world? I certainly won't deny the importance of maintaining cultural heritage, but I fail to understand the physical impact of a metaphysical threat.

[ She just doesn't understand how losing folklore can destroy a world. ]

Sender: Alice Liddell

[madventure]

From what I re-call, if you don't mind answer from another who was there, it is because with each story destroyed it gained power. Power with which it could enter the worlds that those folktales tied to. The more power, the more likely it was to invade other realities to do the same to them as it would those stories.

The stories were not the only thing in danger. Think of them like pathways, connecting many worlds together.

Sender: Steve Rogers

[thatskinnykid]

Sounds like a real nasty fella.

Would those 'Erasers' be here too? Or are they only involved with the previous world you were in?

Sender: Alvin

[opportunitycosts]

They didn't say for sure, but if the Story Eater still has its powers, it's probably capable of creating them. The unfortunate thing is we don't really know what it can do here yet, but better to be prepared for the worst case scenario.

Sender: Eustace

[flamekthunder]

You mentioned this Story Eater was capable of attacking our own worlds... As far as I'm aware nothing appeared in mine, however I recall you said I had once appeared in this story world. If this is true, then I can only assume that they must have threatened my own at some point even if I have no recollection of it.

I'm going to assume there must be some time differences, or there could be some kind of alternate dimension. But do you know the current state of the threat?

And how certain can you trust the message you received? Are you capable of reaching out to this Storyteller for more information?

[Okay he's kind of grilling Dojima, but anyone can hop in to answer the questions/give opinions.]

Sender: Goro Akechi

[skews]

[ Well, now...this is new and interesting. He'd heard that there were other worlds like Empatheias out there that others had been to before this one, but he hadn't gotten any concrete details yet. This tells him a lot about at least one of them - and also confirms that Empatheias isn't the only one with a strong influence here.

He has plenty of questions. It's just a matter of deciding where to start. An entity that can destroy stories and enter dreams...a formidable foe, to be certain. ]

You claim the Storyteller from the Realm of Stories was able to contact you in this one. In what manner?

[ How does one communicate across worlds? ]

Sender: Kazuma

[chippedsoul]

We received a bird made from paper. It appeared a few hours after arrival, at least for me. Haven't gotten anything else from them.

Sender: Noel Vermillion

[bulletic]

[ That... is a lot of information to process all at once. Of course, it couldn't be so simple; they wouldn't just happen to find themselves in a dreamworld without any catch. Noel is more than willing to protect both this and other worlds, but it would be a lie to say she managed to wrap her head around all of that. Regardless, she figures she should voice her support. ]

Thank you for the warning, Mr. Dojima. That sounds horrible... I will do my best to assist in the fight against this Story Eater.

Is there anything we can do to prevent its aggression, or are we forced to wait until it makes its move first?