Journal Entry

[steadypulse]

Sender: 76
To: Everyone
Subject: Information

[This finds its way across the journals a few days after the dreamshift ends-]

Going to attempt to keep this short.

If you remember the journal wide post warning about the Story Eater? Here's more of that.

Most of what was fought in that dreamshift, if we're going to keep calling it that, were created or caused by the Story Eater tampering in it much like it would in stories. More than enough proof points to that, including stuff found at Baba Yaga's hut, and it was a small taste of what it's capable of for those among us that didn't take a detour to the Realm of Stories before ending up here. Those red-eyed things were Eraser influence, and it looks like Story Eater may have it's own new tricks as well.

Thing is? There are Erasers here as well, not just in dreamshifts. They're not the Noctaere and it's safer not to mistake one for the other; they're entirely different beasts from each other and pose their own dangers.

Noctaere are best not come into physical contact with, as from experience that can hurt you as much as any of their attacks; seems like only this dreamotion stuff is the best way to deal with them. Erasers you can physically wail on to an extent and get somewhere, but using other means can keep them down longer or put them down faster. Some are a lot stronger than others, depends on how much the Story Eater put in to them.

If you recall the quest on the board about the witches that were dumping paint on people before we suddenly found ourselves neck-deep in that Halloween dreamshift? Those were Erasers, likely based off The Wicked Witch from Wizard of OZ; one reason throwing water on them seemed to destroy them with what info that notice provided for anyone who went after them. From what I can guess, they were a test of some sort and your guess as to why is as good as mine.

Look for red eyes, and ink coming out of it. Likely based off of something in a story, possibly twisted in some way. Easiest way to identify an Eraser.

I'm not going to respond to any private messages about this. You want to talk privately? Come find me. Otherwise? Anything you've got to ask or say here is better off public access for others' sake.

[Might not answer everything either, but there it was. Written out as much as he was willing, strange as most words felt to write.

Was as much information as 76 had to share with what knowledge and details he had.]

Comments

Sender: Kainé

[shithogs]

Nice of those fuckers to make themselves easy to spot, I guess.
Thanks for the info. Too bad slicing through them is only a temporary solution.
Are the more permanent methods usually hidden in stories?

[Might be a problem, for those who aren't familiar with the stories in question, but hey. People here seem to like to share.]

[steadypulse]

Real bitch when they blend in better, or at worse manage to influence someone. So far there've been little tells at least. I'm hoping that isn't as easy given we're in a world of dreams and not just stories.

It really depends on why they were made, which can make that better or worse if it's a story most couldn't know. What I've found? Beating the hell out of them and then going in with some magic bullshit usually does the trick- with an Eraser at least.

[shithogs]

They can influence people? Fucking great, just what we need.

[People possessed by asshole Erasers...]

Thanks for the tip. I like that. Straightforward. Kicking the shit out of them, I can do.

[steadypulse]

Pain in the ass, as if most of this already wasn't. At least you can tell since whoever sure isn't going to be acting like themselves; if you don't mind beating up a friend for their own good, can get it out for the most part.

What I tend to do, and how I found out Noctrae are a completely different issue.

[shithogs]

Wouldn't be the first time I've had to do something like that. Worth it, if it gets that thing out of them.

[She doesn't have a whole lot of people she considers friends, but that's not really the point. Nobody deserves to have their mind and body jacked like that.]

Any clues on how to deal with Noctrae too, while we're at it? If it's more shitkicking, I'm all over that.

[She is good at One Thing.]

[steadypulse]

Knocks some sense in to them, and the influence out.

[Always worth it, and at least that was rare. Even if possible given the whole... Wraith situation back in the dreamshift.]

Weapons, magic- dreamotion magic works best, so if you've figured it out? Learn to kick the shit out of things with it. Touching a Noctrae physically injects you with something, weakens you a bit and hurts like a bitch. Learned that the hard way.

So? Keep them at arm's length- or weapon's length. Whichever works best for you.

[shithogs]

Still working on it, but motivation to start buckling down, I guess.

[She's not sure she wants to see what comes out of her when she makes use of dreamotion energy, given what her dreams and emotions tend to be like, but if it can be effectively weaponized...

She'll have to grit her teeth and push through it.]

Alright. Weapons, magic, no touching. All good to keep in mind. I have a couple of swords I'm sure would fucking love to meet a few Noctrae if they get too close.

Gotta say, I like your style.

Text; Sender: Reaper

[b_a_n_g]

[He wasn't even going to bother to try to hide his identity. He knew that they were very much aware of each other and had enough experience to guess when one was coming around to make trouble to the other.]

Story Eater and Erasers? Sounds like you've had quite an adventure that involves a few more blows to the head.

Did you encounter these entities before you arrived to this place? Does that mean you did some chasing to get here, or did they follow you in? Stealth wasn't always your strong suit.

[steadypulse]

[Wasn't like he had chosen to hide his identity- or maybe it was telling that even his own dream journal referred to him as simply 76 rather than a name.

The handwriting was familiar enough to know just who this was either way.

Bastard.]

From that other world I mentioned to you briefly before.

[That little chat.]

More that it ripped a hole in reality and flung some of us here, or we followed it. Either way it and it's minions are here alongside whatever monstrosities were here before that.

[b_a_n_g]

I thought you were blowing that out of your corn field.

[They had definitely been sizing each other up on that first meeting, trying to determine what the other was about. Now that the shock of seeing and talking to 76 had worn off, he could return to the usual manner of interacting.]

So is the point of this warning to state that you're on the hunt for these rogue agents? Perhaps considering leading a Strike Team?

[steadypulse]

You're not worth even that bit of effort.

[Making shit up, that was. There were other efforts 76 would make, but nothing that stupidly petty- for the most part.]

People can do whatever they want with the info, it's their business. Asking because you want to try your hand at it again? Went so well last time, after all.

[Rising to the bait? More like flinging it right back. That, and a reminder that he knew who he was talkin to.]

[b_a_n_g]

It's about the same amount of effort as engaging me here now.

[He knew that if he pushed 76 that they would find a way to come to blows, verbal or physical. That was how they operated and currently how they felt most comfortable. Why let such a good thing go to waste?]

Disseminating information was a past talent of yours. This almost felt like a press conference just with more scowling behind the scenes and just as much snarling. At least me Strike team missions ended up the right people dead.

[steadypulse]

Same amount of effort you're putting up.

[Between this and relative silence, he didn't know which was actually preferable.]

Old habits. Difference between them being hand picked out for you, isn't it? Then again I had to convince half of them to work with you, so the points not really hitting how you'd like.

Sender: J. Mathis

[spryite]

Thank you for your time and all the information. Would you have more details about the sort of injuries and other harmful influences Noctaere and Erasers can have on us, along with effective known means of treating them? I've read your earlier mention of possession. There must be another way to treat the infected, other than physically incapacitating the patient.

[The handwriting is very neat and clean. In truth,he has very little idea what most of that meant, but context doesn't matter to where there's smoke, there's fire--or in this case, where there's danger, there's victims. So if people could get hurt, then...]

[steadypulse]

Erasers can hurt you like anything else, usually physical. Sometimes they have weapons, and sometimes they only have what comes 'natural' to whatever shape they've been formed in to. I suppose if you've got knowledge of dispelling anything possessing someone that can be given a try.

Straight forward weakening of the host works best otherwise, even if it comes down to physically fighting them.

I'm still learning about Noctaere myself since I haven't encountered them until coming to this world. They hit you more in your head; your fear empowers them, they feed off it and it might not hurt to say anything negative and could be a nightmare for someone feeds them, too. I can say that when I went to physically hit one, it burned even though it didn't come in to contact with skin. Like how a bite that's injected something in to you might. [Venomous? He didn't know if that word would work since he didn't get bitten.] Can weaken you, slow you down.

They can also physically attack, depending on the shape taken. It's best to keep them as far away as possible. Dreamotion works better for them than physical attacks, like I said.

[spryite]

I know healing artes that can dispel ailments back in my home world, but they remain untested here as I've just recently arrived. If Dreamotion can effectively fight the Noctaere, however, then it should be possible to harness it for dispelling and warding against possession and other negative effects they may cause, too. Maybe a physical form of treatment can also be created, if proper research and development was to be conducted.

Is Dreamotion more effective against the Erasers, too?

[steadypulse]

Wort a shot at testing it, because I don't doubt we may need every advantage we can manage. This world is apparently new enough that some of the inhabitants are learning right along with us.

[He definitely means the Tapirs, and whatever other beings were here outside of them in the same capacity. Even if there was some prior knowledge to help along.]

I don't know if I'd call it more effective, because you can physically beat down an Eraser just as easily as throwing some magic at it. Could hurry things along, since where the Erasers were originally encountered gave those of us who were there abilities tied to characters of stories and folklore.

[spryite]

I'll try looking into it, then. I wasn't employed as a medical doctor back in my world, but I did study for it and have healer experience. Developing countermeasures against the threats in this world usable by non-combatants and treatment methods for curing the harmful effects they can inflict should help everyone.

Would you happen to know where and/or how I can learn more about all this? Collecting more testimonies from people who have personally encountered Noctaere and Erasers would make for helpful research reference, too.

[steadypulse]

Go for it. Wouldn't be surprised if there's a number of folks here who would want to help out there as well. There are people here who aren't combatants, but could know a thing or two about more supportive roles.

I don't know exactly how many people from the place arrived here, but asking for anyone who knows about the Realm of Stories will get you enough stories about Erasers. They were a common issue whenever we had to go fix something. The Tapir seem to know more about Noctaere, however, since they explained it to some of us best they could at the time. What I know is from my own encounter with one in a dreamscape.

Sender: Eustace

[flamekthunder]

If what you said is true, then I may have encountered one in the dreamshift as well. We were able to destroy it with dreamotion energy, but its remains were shredded paper and black ink.

[steadypulse]

Pretty much the sign of an Eraser- one that had some care taken in to making it beefy, too.

[flamekthunder]

And from what your group had said before and now, this is a creature of some kind from the Story Eater and is inspired by stories.

Does the Story Eater require anything to create them or is it capable of doing so with its own power? And is it possible to trap one, perhaps try and use one to lead us back to the Story Eater?

[steadypulse]

Yeah.

Seems like it makes them with it's own power- but whenever you destroy one there's also those tattered pieces of what look like story pages, right? Might be some mix of things depending on what the Story Eater needs an Eraser to be.

I actually have one trapped in a jar with me. Somehow it came back with me from the dreamshift; I had found it in Baba Yaga's hut.

[flamekthunder]

...I'm actually impressed you managed to keep it with you, but that's also implies that the Erasers could travel in and out of dreams like us.

It begs the question if the Eraser was created within the dream before or entered it.

[steadypulse]

I'm honestly surprised myself. Didn't expect it despite keeping a hold of it.

I've honestly been thinking that the Story Eater, and by extension the Erasers, might have been given the same sort of abilities we have here which in and of itself isn't great. I'm hoping my thoughts are wrong.

The Witches may have been created here, but I can't tell you if the one I've got in my possession was or not.