dreamcrystals | Entry 1. | Open Discussion: An Invitation to Find the Fact in the Fiction.

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Entry 1. | Open Discussion: An Invitation to Find the Fact in the Fiction.

Sender: Emet-Selch
To: All
Subject: The Story Eater and the Missing Moon

Greetings Friends and Fellow Dreamwalkers,

I am Emet-Selch, and I shall keep this message brief.

Numerous (and ofttimes contradictory) tales about an entity known as The Story Eater have been circulating around Reverein. From what I have been able to glean, the creature is responsible for the disappearance of this realm's moon and originally hails from another world entirely, much as we do. A domain known as the Index.

That being said, I would like to extend an invitation:
❶ To anyone who may possess further information and be willing to assist in verifying these tales,
❷ To anyone who was present when the moon made its exit from the sky or knows of an individual who was,
❸ To any firsthand witnesses of this being, The Story Eater, and its capabilities,

I would encourage you to share with the rest of us what you know. After all, nothing can be gained from ignorance. It is only by the sharing of knowledge that we all may be enlightened.

I've also been given to believe that there are no small number of dreamers who wish to have the moon returned to its rightful place, and similar cases are now being made by some of the fae folk who call Reverein home. One need look no further than the Dream Board to see that this is so.

If you yourself possess an inclination to see the moon restored, I would urge you to reach out to one of these parties and lend them your aid.

And with that, I open the floor to further debate and discussion.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The first week of the 'January' month was when it disappeared. It was there for Starlight, but then it simply stopped showing up in the sky not a fortnight later.

We were drawn into a dreamscape around then, helping the Saint defeat a curmudgeonly creature called "Grinch". I can't help but wonder if the moon was absorbed while we were in the dream upon its waning.

It would make for the perfect diversion.

Ah yes, the individual who reminded you of the Saint of Nymeia as I recall. So that was part of a dreamscape you entered.

And you're saying the moon simply vanished some four months ago whilst you and many others were away? Or has it been longer?

The new year was met with an unusually long new moon, or so we thought. It simply wasn't there anymore.

In other words, you don't have any way of knowing precisely when the moon disappeared. Only that it must have happened during its darkened phase - coincidentally a period in time when no one would have been able to notice the how of it.

Is this correct?

Or are we even certain that it entered the "new" part of its cycle in January at all?

[He realizes the moon is important to her culture, but someone must play devil's advocate here and assumptions will only take them so far.]

Edited 2022-05-03 16:24 (UTC)

There is a possibility of it going missing sooner, yes. I dreamed of a missing moon a bit before, and I presumed it meant something else.

But I figure a gobbled up moon would be far from subtle; I should hope someone had seen it at the point, but my search has come up short.

I suppose that would all depend upon whether or not said "gobbling" is literal, magickal, or entirely figurative - as well as whether or not the Story Eater is prone to making a mess at the dinner table, so to speak.

Although this may be a bit of a diversion from the main topic at hand, would you mind summarizing what you saw in your dream?

Not at all. Let's see...

I stood on a tower and noticed the sky was full of stars but no moon. Then lightning struck the tower and it crumbled under my feet. I fell but there was no ground, and something was hunting me- a familiar part of me I've not been terribly kind with, but it seemed more concerned with me than the sky.

I wagered the moon was gone because I had been corrected that the reason for my dreams and this strange power wasn't from Nhaama, but of Hydaelyn called the "Echo". When next the moon appeared, my wager seemed solid. But that would be the last time I'd see it, just before the singular day the other worlds celebrate their Starlight.

[Hydaelyn. Not a name he enjoys hearing, and perhaps there is some vindictiveness to be had in what he shares next.]

You think she granted you the "Echo"? Then perhaps you stand to be corrected again. Such power does not derive from Hydaelyn herself. Nay, there was a time before she was ever brought into being, a time when the gift was neither strange nor rare.

As for your dream, what's clear to me is that it would suggest a coming, uncontrollable change. A shifting, uncertain path. A future challenge.

But that you saw the moon vanished before it did so, I think perhaps that is not merely a coincidence.

Edited 2022-05-10 15:14 (UTC)

It didn't take too long for me to start digesting these messages rather than dismiss them as coincidences when I first started seeing them. It also didn't take long for my attempts to share such imagery to be ignored, though. But knowing it was a more common thing in your time is actually rather comforting.

Do you see things? I mean dreams are what practically everyone has, but do you receive visions as well?

If so, I would hear of them should they occur, if it were to grant us some insight on our present situation.

[The man's got many thousands of years of experience if so. But rather than potentially hone the craft, he seemed more likely to shoo her off his lawn than anything else.]

[Emet-Selch does take a long considering moment before replying. This is, after all, a public space.]

Not as such. The Echo, much like everything else, is but a fragment of the gift's true potential. In its unsundered and unbroken form, the potential exists to see into the memories of another, as well as to absorb the memories from a particular place - at will.

As for the future, if I were capable of seeing that with even the remotest level of clarity, I imagine things would have ended up quite differently.

Edited 2022-05-11 17:02 (UTC)

I've answered questions about the Story Eater before, and was present in the world it's from. Fought against it.

Got some time to answer questions and verify things if wanted.

Your account would be most appreciated if you'd be willing to speak on it again. I'm particularly curious to know more about The Story Eater's disposition as well as any physical or magickal abilities that it may possess.

As someone who fought against it, what is your impression of the creature?

This may get a little long but-

Disposition seemed to shift for whatever the hell it was mimicking at the time- it shifted appearances through various story characters, usually the villains of said stories. The one constant was it's want to take in more, grow more powerful. That being said- it's sneaky, and has taken on the appearance of a hero before to try trick others on to it's side within a story.

It's sent an entire town to sleep and trapped people within dreams once before in the world it came from. I'd say it's magical abilities pretty much are nearly limitless, depending on what stories it has taken in to itself- and here it seems to have the same dream magic allowed to us which gives it more packed in to it. It also took the moon to absorb it's power, and connect to other worlds with moons; stories about their moons, all that.

We've only seen slight glimpses of it here in the dreamscapes, and it's still able to create it's minions; those creatures known as Erasers.

[There was a lot he knew, and others were pretty much assumptions gathered through clues-]

What else? I figure I haven't touched on everything you wanted yet.

[Well now. You certainly have his attention, sir.]

An acute attention to detail is to be praised however long may be required to review it all.

Based on what you have shared, it stands to reason that its motivation is indeed to draw upon more power - but to what ultimate conclusion? I also find it interesting that it would obscure its true nature behind the facades of each of the roles it takes on within these stories.

[It's a tactic which Emet-Selch himself is not unfamiliar with. And he would perhaps be mildly impressed by the creature's villainy - were he not concerned with the potential repercussions of it still being at large and on the loose.]

How have you come to know of its plans for the moon? And - I would hazard to ask, in your opinion, what are the chances that The Story Eater would be able to make good on its goals to connect to other worlds?

Seeing as we have all been connected to Reverein, after a fashion, I must wonder if The Story Eater could employ similar or even altogether different magicks to that end.

I am also, at least personally speaking, unfamiliar with these Erasers.

Can sometimes be what stands between life and death.

[Attention to detail, that was. Learned that the hard way-]

From what could be gathered from it? To take over and destroy worlds outside of the story realm. The Index was the Story Eater's way to get to those other worlds through the stories there; with each story it destroyed and took in, it grew more powerful, to try and break in to those other worlds. Might just be a shape-shifter by nature, or it could be something far more than that.

Those are just my thoughts, of course, from what I've witnessed during my time in the Index.

[Doesn't stand that his words are the end all be all, of course. No. He still rather have it there in the open and on the table for what help it could provide.]

I know it would make good because the only reason I even answered the Storyteller's call for help was because I saw the Story Eater's influence on my own world. Very slight, but alarming enough to sideline my own mission to try and stop it.

As for how I've come to know- I spoke with someone trying to track it, the man that was hunting the Story Eater down when it mimicked the appearance and nature of 'The Grinch' in a dreamscape of a winter holiday. This man appeared in the town square here, due to the fact he was trying to find where it had been hiding. There are a lot of moon guardians in alarm over it, according to Claus.

I've a fear that the Story Eater is experimenting with Erasers, trying to combine them with Nightmare energy- if not Noctaere.

Erasers are creatures it can create, it's minions, made of ink and pieces of stories, that the Story Eater can mold to take whatever shape and purpose it needs. Some can be more dangerous than others, but upon destruction they turn in to torn strips of paper with writing on them which turn to ash. Usually they're also shaped to mimic something from a story, and other times they simply look like- imps? Shapeless things, almost.

Edited (woooords) 2022-05-05 00:51 (UTC)

I came here from the Index, so I can tell you about it, yeah. I didn't really see the Story Eater, just heard about it and tried to help the Index fight against him.

[...well, 'fight' is certainly embellished, she's not entirely a fighter!]

[One needn't necessarily be a fighter to meaningfully contribute to a fight, after all. He knows this well.]

So you too fought against the creature.

What, then, can you tell us of the Index? Is that world similar to Reverein, or would you consider the two to be more different than they are alike?

[He wonders if perhaps there is some correlation between people waking up here from the Index and this Story Eater likewise making its (his?) appearance here as well.]

Hm... kinda? It wasn't a dream so much as a whole other world. There's bits and pieces that feel the same, like the fact that the Story Eater decided to show up here, and now the library with the owls.

[But that's where the similarities end, at least to her.]

The Storyteller was who brought us to the Realm of Stories, or the 'Index' to fight against the Story Eater, and to do that we took on an 'essence' or a story character, or a fairy tale character. It gave us powers and cool stuff we could do that weren't really our own, if we had 'em. Here in Reverein, we can have our own, but we lost the essences we had if we came from the Index. I thought we got rid of him when he attacked the Index— oh! Wait, I think I still have the note I got when I showed up here!

[Give her a moment, she has to find it, it's shuffled somewhere!]

[Emet-Selch has his own suspicions about Reverein being less a "dream" than its own honest-to-goodness world as well, but that's neither here nor there, at least for the moment.]

Is this new library identical in appearance to the one located in the Index - in the Realm of Stories - or is it merely the fact a library has appeared with avian lifeforms that is similar?

Though from all this talk of "essences", the abilities granted you by The Storyteller do not seem so very different from the characters and powers presented within our own dreamscapes - particularly those entered through that Tree's storybooks during the recent festival.

But you mentioned a note. What does it say?

Yes and no? It's really similar in how it's run, though I doubt the Storyteller is there this time... and I haven't seen their security. If that changed, then it'll be a lot different.

[If Emet thought that the Elpis creations were something, armoured owls that would spear you would be right at home there!]

They were really different— I have uh... other abilities that I can use here, but I couldn't use them in the Index. Instead, if you take... 'The Little Mermaid' for example, you could maybe breathe underwater and swim quickly, but maybe you didn't do so great on land. Not everyone had that ability if they weren't holding that essence, so everyone was different. I'm not really a fighter, but I do help out with navigation and buffing, so my powers were more defensive when I was in the Index. A lot of people took on some minor appearances too. Dunno if you know 76, but he looked like a really cool skeleton wolf and not like he does now!

[PRIORITIES, because that was terrifying but also really cool.

—right, the note.]

Oh, lemme copy it down here for you. Just a sec.

"Dearest Aspects, we can only hope that you will receive this message unharmed. We felt the connection between your souls and the Realm cut, but we could follow your trace into this new world you've been thrown into.

It is one that has connected to the Realm before, a newly formed world made of dreams and emotions. We do not know much more than that and we cannot do much more to help you. However, rest assured. When your souls entered the rift, they were unharmed and portions of it returned to your original bodies if not completely. Your bodies should be unharmed, possibly even awake while a fragment remains in the dream world. We do not know the rules of the world, but we suspect you need to fulfill a condition to be able to leave it. Because the dream world occasionally links to the Realm, you may see fragments of it from time to time.

As for the Story Eater...we do not feel any trace of it in the Realm. We suspect it must have fled into the world or some other. But do not fret—thanks to your efforts we have gathered enough power to continue restoration on our own and be prepared should the Story Eater return.

We wish we could have given you a proper farewell...but perhaps one day we will meet again, be it through dreams or through a new story created on your own.

Take care, dearest Aspects.

— The Storyteller"

After we got dropped here, some paper birds floated in and dropped these in our hands. Everyone who was in the Index who are still here got one, though I dunno if they saved it like I did. Figured it'd come in handy if the Story Eater came back around.

I'm afraid I don't have anything meaningful to contribute to the topic at hand (and for that I apologize), but I do want to thank you for this initiative. Songerein seems to be home to plenty of stories from other realms - indeed, likely what draws this Story Eater here - but lacks any solid information regarding itself and its own circumstances. And that is unfortunate.

The information gathered here should be recorded and stored somewhere off-journal to make it easier for future arrivals and those who don't use the journals to find - a task I don't mind taking up myself, so long as I have your and the other contributors' permission.

No need to thank me, I'm simply doing my duty. And more than that, I am just as eager as anyone else to solve the mysteries of this realm and those beyond it.

And on that matter, you make a fair point. Why is it that this realm finds it necessary to pull its cast and stories from other sources? Could that, too, be the work of this Story Eater, or is the truth of it something far more complex?

As for the latter, you hardly need ask. If you wish to make record of anything discussed here, you are more than welcome to do so. I certainly have no qualms about it. If anything, I think it a splendid idea, and I can't imagine that you would be met with disagreement.

You may be right. It could very well be the work of the Story Eater. Instead of expending energy to venture among worlds to consume their stories, it would be much more efficient - smart, even - to create a nexus such as this on which to gouge itself. [ Not exactly the same as Mordremoth and the Dream, but frighteningly similar. The thought gives him a chill. ]

That, however, is just speculation based on what I know so far. It's just as likely it could be more complex, or something entirely different.

I know you've insisted you need no thanks, but I insist on giving you my thanks again, Emet-Selch. You are right that sharing knowledge is to all of our benefit, and I wouldn't want to leave anyone out.

"Convenient" I would say. From what we've learned, a nexus such as this would be a tempting place for it to escape to, at the very least. Perhaps it isn't directly involved at all and merely saw Reverein as a golden opportunity.

But that, too, is speculation and nothing more at this point.

And I assure you that thanking me once was more than enough. Perusing these publics records of yours will serve as ample compensation for what little effort I've expended. Who knows? Perhaps I'll even see fit to make my own contributions in time.

Have you given thought to how this encyclopedia of knowledge will be accessed?

Indeed, there are too many possibilities and too little information at this point for us to make any concrete conclusions. But it is good to think.

I am in the process of looking for a suitable building to house physical submissions and staff to mind the place. I understand it may be a bit old-fashioned to some dreamwalkers, but I think this may be our most reliable option given the circumstances. Originally, I thought about finding a spot in the library for a non-fiction section, but considering how abruptly the Tree of Stories appeared, I am wary that it may also disappear just as abruptly, taking all the information with it.

And if you do decide to end up submitting anything, Emet-Selch, I would be delighted to read it.

Greetings, Mr. Selch.

As someone who had come here from the Index of The Realm of Stories, I can share some of my notes on the fellow with you. However, due to my condition I fear I may accidentally forget a few details. I trust this is alright with you?

["Condition", hm? He may or may not find himself briefly reminded of a certain colleague of his who saw fit to awaken him from a much needed nap not long before his arrival in Reverein, a colleague whose memories continue to wane with each passing century, a colleague who is but a shell of his former self. To say he has experience in dealing with the unfortunate forgetfulness of others would then be an understatement.]

Emet-Selch, if you please. No surname. (Although I suppose I could see where some confusion might arise.)

And, yes, that would be acceptable. Every perspective shall be equally considered, and I would hear what you have to say about your own personal experiences in the Index.

You mentioned that you've records of your time there?

Edited 2022-05-04 15:02 (UTC)

Sorry. Mr. Emet-Selch, then.

Yes, I do have records. Long distance communication in the Index took the form of enchanted journals, much like it does in this world, and I had allotted an extra section for personal notes. The enchantments don't work here, of course, but I was able to take the journal with me.

[Close enough. He lets it slide.]

Yes, they do rather seem to be the preferred method of communication, don't they? And quite fortunate that you were able to cross the rift between worlds with your journal intact. Such things are not always possible.

So then, what are these notes that you wished to share with us?

[ Give him a second to locate his old journal here... Hm... ]

I have a detailed account of my experiences reconstructing a tale that seems to be a cross between "The Modern Prometheus" and "The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." A rather disturbing story, as you can imagine, but there was an incident where I believe the Story Eater may have attempted to interfere? It's hard to explain, but it was as if we had to resort to using our Essence powers to hold reality itself together. We managed to finish the tale despite this, but soon after the Story Eater launched a full on assault on the Index.

Care to know more of that incident?

Edited 2022-05-14 14:59 (UTC)

I have been to the Index prior to arriving in the Dream Realm. I see 76 and others have already filled you on a few details about the Story Eater, so if there's anything else that hasn't been covered you'd like to know, I'll try to explain.

Edited (man I love missing words) 2022-05-06 02:44 (UTC)

As I mentioned previously, all perspectives are welcome and will be equally taken into account. Judging from your message, I would assume much of your own experiences align with those shared by 76?

Is there aught you can tell us about your journey from the Index to the Dream Realm? Additionally, I am curious to know more about the Storyteller. Sometimes one must look at both sides of the coin, after all. So tell me, what manner of being is this Storyteller? Are they a mere mortal, a deity, a manifestation of the collective imagination?

For the most part. Although while most arrive to the Index by answering the call for help, in my case, I didn't arrive to the Index as willingly. It was nothing dramatic, I simply discovered a strange book out of place while working one day and was brought there.

As for my journey from the Index to the Dream Realm, I'm unfortunately a bit hazy on all the details. I can say that we were in the process of restoring another Story when it happened. The Story Eater had disguised itself as the protagonist as a means of escaping the Story Realm. Thus, the rest of us followed after it. Once we arrived here, the only thing we received was a message from the Storyteller, warning us that while the Story Eater is no more in the Realm of Stories, it is still somewhere in this new world we've arrived in.

To this day, none of us have actually met or seen the Storyteller. So they could be any of those things you've listed, or none at all. They have only ever spoken to us through journals when another story needed to be repaired.

I am also another Aspect who was in the Realm of Stories before coming to this world.

The Story Eater is quite capable of turning into other creatures when it goes into the dreamshifts and has caused all sorts of damages that would have turned every one of them into a nightmare like state much like how it tried to corrupt and destroy stories in the Realm of Stories.

The latter is why we Aspects were brought in to that world: to help in restoring the world’s energy by retelling stories with twists of our own and using our abilities to fight it and its Erasers. It is still out there trying to make its next move in an attempt to grow stronger.

And yet again, it would seem: we know The Story Eater's methods, yet what is its motive? Is it a creature of destruction and corruption who simply desires power, or is there something more to it?

While yes, even I might argue that there are beasts and blasphemies bent merely upon destroying aught which falls within their paths, in many cases - nay, in most cases, there is a reason. That, I think, will be the key to combatting it should it chose to appear again.

But, you said that you were "brought" to the Realm of Stories. Does the Storyteller claim responsibility for that? I should also be curious to know more about the abilities you were granted as an Aspect.

Yes, it is a creature of pure corruption and destruction seeking out power. It exists as an entity that came from a space known as the Void. There are many theories as how it came to be from being a creation of the Void to being born from the lost souls of lost stories seeking revenge to originally hailing from an unknown story wanting to rule the Realm of Stories.

The Storyteller acts as the keeper and maintainer of the Realm itself as they are often busy writing and rewriting whenever they are needed. But they also have their own limits: their powers lies in creation and defense, not on offense, and they were weakened by the actions of the Story Eater, so they had to bring in people from other worlds to help them out.

As for me, I was given the Essence of Vasilisa the Beautiful, a folk tale heroine from Slavic myths. When I was in there, I had some immunity to fire and offensive magic, spin fine flax threads, and had a small wooden doll who could do tasks I ask it to do.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Entry 1. | Open Discussion: An Invitation to Find the Fact in the Fiction.

Sender: Madhuri

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Sender: 76

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Sender: Futaba Sakura

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Sender: Trahearne

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Sender: Luca Balsa

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Sender: Kazuma Asogi

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Sender: Anya

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