The Changeling's "Nightmare" (Interest Check)

[AidaLily]

Welcome to my nightmares.
All of you were chosen for a very special reason.  You all possess something that I want. 
Perhaps what I want is your beauty or your brains, but whatever it is... I desire it.
You can't escape my dreams.
Who am I?
I am you and you are me. I am everything that you want.  If you didn't want it, then you wouldn't be here.
However, I am not complete.
I want my own body once more. 
I want your sexual energies to give that to me. 
This is now your life.  This world that I am providing for you. 
Run as fast as you can, but you can not escape.
At least not until I am fully awake.

~

A mist rolled through the small town keeping it separate from the outside world.  It shouldn't have caused an issue except everyone fell asleep.  Think of a fairy tale like sleeping beauty when the entire castle fell asleep with "her" for that is what this is like.  However, while most people had beautifully pleasant dreams and felt they were living through them; others were trapped inside "her" nightmare.

"She" was a changeling that happened to die and in folklore "she" was the cause of many different feelings.  These feelings usually were called lust, desire, and need.  As a spirit, "she" longed to have "her" body back and bring the world to it's knees in sexual depravity. 

The humans needed a queen and a queen needs a body.

That is why you are chosen to live in this nightmare.  The mannequins that you see can send you into a realm where your deepest and sometimes darkest desires are recognized, but beware not only humans lurk within this dream.  "She" swears there is no escape, but is what "she" is saying true?

Can you find a way to escape before "she" awakens or will you help "her" to enslave the rest of the world in their desires? The choice is yours.

----

**The word "she" is in quotations because the changeling is neither male nor female.**
All characters are welcomed depending on how you wish to make a character.
This is an interest check.

Yes, some people will be able to be mannequins if they so desire, but they must play another character as well.
All species welcomed though humanoids may be preferred. I have yet to decide.
Anything goes as far as sexuality of characters.

Let me know if you guys are interested. Feel free to make a suggestion. I can't say all suggestions will be added, but I can promise to consider all of them. :)

[persephone325]

I don't think I've ever been so confused, yet intrigued, in all my life.

Interested. :)

[AidaLily]

Ask any question you wish and I am glad you are interested.

I will admit that sometimes the way I think is a little confusing and so I will clarify any and all questions you have.

[persephone325]

Ask any question you wish and I am glad you are interested.

I will admit that sometimes the way I think is a little confusing and so I will clarify any and all questions you have.

So I can safely say your mind works in mysterious ways. Haha.

The questions I can think of so far:
Will you be playing the "changeling"?
What will be the setting?
Are the characters continually trapped in their nightmares? Or are they allowed "waking periods"?
Is the plot revolving around the characters, or the "changeling's" quest to find a body? Or a mix of both?
Are characters going to be killed?

Sorry if any of my questions don't make sense. It's like 2:15am and I wanted to ask them before I forgot. :)

[CyanideKandiKisses]

Are you talking Changeling, as in...the Changeling like, the white wolf Changeling? Because if you are...I'm super excited lol, I have a character all prepared and everything lol

[AidaLily]

It's fine. I was just heading to bed when I saw this. :) My mind is very mysterious. Therefore, if my explanations aren't clear please ask any more questions or if you think of more just ask.

1. Will I be playing the "changeling"?  Most likely.  I may be willing to give it to someone else based on their ideas for it. I do have an idea in mind for how the changeling could be.

2. The setting will be the town they live in.  It is a small area probably with a low population around 1,000 to 1,500 people. Of course this can change depending on the number of people who sign up for it. 

3. The characters aren't trapped in their nightmares, they were pulled into the nightmare of the "changeling".  Everyone else in the town is in their own dreams.  I have thought of them having a waking period within the nightmare of the "changeling" (the point at which they realize they aren't in their own dream/mind) and needing to find a way to fully wake up into their conscious body.  The mist covering the town keeps everyone overall asleep.

The changeling's nightmare might be like a waking nightmare for them once they wake up in it, if you wish to look at it that way.

4. The plot revolves more heavily around the characters.  As it stands now, the changeling would be watching them in a sense.  After all, these select characters were pulled into it's nightmare for one reason or another.  As it gets stronger, the changeling may start to go after the characters in order to complete it's goal of a body faster. Overall, it is the "changeling's" quest but it revolves around the characters who would make it's quest a reality.

5. No characters will be killed unless the person controlling the characters wants them to be killed.  For example, if you make two characters and wish for one to die then you would state that in the OOC thread of the rp.

Are you talking Changeling, as in...the Changeling like, the white wolf Changeling? Because if you are...I'm super excited lol, I have a character all prepared and everything lol

I don't think so. I am talking more of the folklore version of the creatures that would take the place of children or what they could with the exception that this one is dead and wishes to have it's own existence rather than taking that of others.

[persephone325]

Ahh. I gotcha.

I'm very interested. ;) I hope more people decide to join!

[AndyZ]

Fascinating concept.  I won't be on much until tomorrow night but I'm bookmarking this.

I'm guessing the small town is a fantasy setting and people are free to play elves, mages, etc.?

[TheHangedOne]

Color me interested as well.

I do have some ideas for characters, though. I'll ask about them because they could be seen as unbalancing.

Could a character be a lucid dreamer? I.e. someone skilled in being 'conscious' during dreams, and actively aware of their state of dreaming? Such a person might have more influence over the nightmare, or at least more knowledge.

Secondly, if Changeling's are real, then what about the other Faeries of folklore? 

[Caela]

Very interesting concept! Color me interested. 

[AidaLily]

Fascinating concept.  I won't be on much until tomorrow night but I'm bookmarking this.

I'm guessing the small town is a fantasy setting and people are free to play elves, mages, etc.?

Yes, people are free to play elves, mages, etc.  As to whether or not they would be able to find a point of escape would depend on whether they could resist their desires and such in the changeling's nightmare.

Color me interested as well.

I do have some ideas for characters, though. I'll ask about them because they could be seen as unbalancing.

Could a character be a lucid dreamer? I.e. someone skilled in being 'conscious' during dreams, and actively aware of their state of dreaming? Such a person might have more influence over the nightmare, or at least more knowledge.

Secondly, if Changeling's are real, then what about the other Faeries of folklore? 

For the first question...

I am unsure of how to answer it.  What I mean is that you can wake up in the nightmare, but you aren't in your own mind as far as the nightmare is concerned.  If the person is sleeping within the nightmare (meaning they haven't realized they aren't in their own head) and consciously aware they can wake up in the changeling's nightmare because that would be where they are in a supernatural sense.  While they are sleeping within the changeling's nightmare they would have some control over themselves in a state of lucid dreaming.  However, if they wake up in the changeling's nightmare then they can fully realize they are not asleep anymore in their mind, but their physical body would be asleep still because of the mist.

They couldn't alter the changeling's nightmare mainly because they are not in their own head but in the mind and nightmare of something else. However, smaller things can be altered like looks, dream-like powers, and other such things if they are awake in the changeling's nightmare.

Please feel free to ask any questions to help clarify that if it is confusing.

Second Question...

Changelings are real and thus other folklore creatures with the exception of dream eaters and the like.

I am not sure if it would be easier for everyone to be human and become a different creature in their dreams, but it is a possibility.

Very interesting concept! Color me interested. 

Thank you. :) 

Do you have any questions?

[Prince Truhan]

I'm interested.

My question is, what would make the changeling interested in the characters?

[TheHangedOne]

Prince asks a good question. And thank you, Aida, that answer was quite clear. I also have an idea that I shall PM to you.

[AidaLily]

I'm interested.

My question is, what would make the changeling interested in the characters?

This is a good question.  The changeling would be interested based on the differences of the characters within the nightmare. It wants to create it's own body and thus would pick and choose based on that. Considering it takes place within the changeling's nightmare which will scarily look like the town they live in, it would be committing them to memory. I should have stated that everyone needs a different type of character whether it would be a model like character or a character may be a half breed between human and wolf doesn't matter. For some people the changeling wants their mind, the way they think and can in a way study their actions, for others the changeling may want their looks. 

They are chosen because the changeling believes they possess more than enough energy to reawaken it into it's own body. The mist that rolls through the town and puts people to sleep helped it pull certain people into the nightmare. In the first few lines of the poem-ish verse, the changeling does say that everyone has something it wants. If your character has a special ability of some sort the changeling could want that. However, the changeling will not start appearing until later because it doesn't have the energy to do so before hand.

[AndyZ]

What do you think of the idea of a half-elf slave who falls into the dream as wanting to be a princess, and that regal desire with servants and a palace falls into place in vivid detail?  The thing to take from her would be all those desires, molding them into a reality which the changeling could use as a home, and leaving my character as a husk if everything succeeds (which I'm guessing the point is that it shouldn't). 

I'm not sure my char would be able to fight back on her own, though; I see her as deeply wanting to be this royalty and using her creative juices to dream up such a place, and other players would probably have to talk her into stopping somehow, if they even can.

[AidaLily]

What do you think of the idea of a half-elf slave who falls into the dream as wanting to be a princess, and that regal desire with servants and a palace falls into place in vivid detail?  The thing to take from her would be all those desires, molding them into a reality which the changeling could use as a home, and leaving my character as a husk if everything succeeds (which I'm guessing the point is that it shouldn't). 

I'm not sure my char would be able to fight back on her own, though; I see her as deeply wanting to be this royalty and using her creative juices to dream up such a place, and other players would probably have to talk her into stopping somehow, if they even can.

Hmmm...

After thinking about it, the changeling does want to rule over many people and thus it would be your character's brain that it would want.  It would want the knowledge of how to act like a royal before molding its own ideal of a royal into it's thoughts.  The changeling wont necessarily kill them if she succeeds.  I have stated in an earlier post that there is no character death, but I am debating whether or not people get forever trapped in it's nightmare if they do.

From your description, your character would remain asleep within the changeling's nightmare and unlike some of the others feel as though she is dreaming.  Should she wake up however, she would realize that she was in the other's nightmare and not her own mind.  Someone would have to wake her up into the changeling's nightmare to stop her.

No one can enter each other's sleep states, however everyone is within the sleep state of the changeling. 

Their physical body in the town is asleep and will stay asleep for the rp.  Unless they are woken up or able to sense something amiss, they won't know they are not in their own mind. In other words, your character would think she is dreaming inside of her own mind if she isn't woken up, which is perfectly fine for the changeling.  It seems like your character would be the first to run into a mannequin by mistake since the mannequins have that power (see original post where it mentions the mannequins).

[AndyZ]

My idea was basically that my char would wake up in a palace with servants and everything she's ever wanted, dreaming it up as she goes and creating this vast regal area.  She's heard enough bardic tales to be able to reconstruct a lot of it fairly well, and doubling that with her imagination, has little trouble in building up this whole thing.

If there's no character death, then my character would live as a princess in the palace and her energy would constantly be used to maintain the palace and servants, keeping her asleep.  She might even exist in the palace once the changeling gets her body, either as an apparition or sleepwalking through the halls.  Of course, that's assuming that the changeling wins and gets everything else she wants.

I think we're on the same page about things, although I definitely don't object to further discussion to make sure everything matches up.

As far as knowing she's asleep, since being a princess would be everything she's ever wanted, I don't think she'd be able to consciously give that up and accept that she's dreaming without some diligent effort from someone else to convince her that this isn't real.  It seems more likely to me that she'd just accept it and pour her energy into maintaining it and making it real.

So, if everyone's in the sleep state of the changeling, other players would find this massive castle with servants and everything, with my character inside.  If they wanted to get rid of the castle, they'd have to convince my character that she is dreaming so that she stops maintaining it.

Am I on the same kind of track with what you're thinking or very off?

[AidaLily]

You are a little off with what I am thinking.

I meant that they can't change the setting of the changeling's nightmare which would mean if anyone found your character, she may be roaming the halls of a mansion in the town speaking to servants and such because she is asleep in the changeling's dream state.

So she would be happy and princess like while she was in essence sleep-sleep walking. They might try to wake up her into a sleepwalking state since she would be essentially talking to people who aren't there in the changeling's sleep state while imagining a beautiful castle within her own sleep state if that makes any sense.

1st level:  There is the physical level of sleep, which is the resting bodies of everyone in the town.
2nd level: There is the changeling's level of sleep where all the character's minds are in.
3rd level: Then there is the character's level of sleep which has them essentially sleep walking in the changeling's nightmare.

Everyone is in the 2nd level but your character would see things on the 3rd level. While other characters on the 2nd may ask who she is talking to and try to wake up her up off the 3rd level. Your character could even see them as other nobles who have come to visit her.

[AndyZ]

I'm sorry, but I'm seriously confused.  The various levels will definitely help clear things up, though.  Could I ask you to clarify what's going on at each one and what all is happening there?

[AidaLily]

Don't feel bad. I am a confusing person. I will explain each and ask if you have seen the movie Inception. That might help clear it up a bit more.

There is a mist that rolls into the small town and puts everyone to sleep.  This is Level 1.  No one can wake up physically like in the real world because of the mist in their town. Should they actually manage it, the mist will put them back to sleep.

Level 2 is the changeling's nightmare.  The place looks like the town because that is all the changeling knows at the moment. It doesn't know anymore than that.  In the dream, it is both watching, studying and taking things from each character committing them to memory. Almost like it is trying to build the perfect person based on the actions of everyone else. The only way for it to start to form a body is for people have some form of sexual release.

This can be done one of three ways...
1. People walking around the town and unable to resist the calls of their body to another person.
2. Running into strange mannequins that are placed everywhere that suck the dreamer into a fantasy realm to give them what they want as long as the changeling gets what it wants.

And the last way is Level 3.

Level 3 is a dream within a dream, in a matter of speaking.  In Level 3, the person is "sleep-walking" because they don't realize they aren't in their own dream or mind.  They think they are.  They react to people from what they see in their dream because they haven't "woken up" in Level 2. 

An example of someone in level 3:

Mary was walking through a lush garden smiling at the bright sunlight that shone down upon her.  This was her favorite dream.  Just ahead she saw a house and ran over to it.  It looked like one of those old style houses and she couldn't wait to enter it.  She walked in the house smiling at how the people welcomed her.

In the "reality", Mary had just walked through a dead garden in the changeling's nightmare.  The dead garden was reminiscent of the old community garden in her town.  As an elf, she wished to restore the garden, but it had been closed down for years with no one allowed to go to it.  The house was an old abandoned one that was restored only in the nightmare of the creature that had them trapped.  Mary was currently sitting in an old chair with cobwebs and such on it smiling at nothing.

In her mind she was still waiting for one of the nice people to bring her lemonade.  She was surprised at how beautifully sunny it was outside and wished there could be more days like this.  They handed her a drink and she smiled. "Thank you.", she said holding the drink to her lips and sipping it.

In the "reality", Mary just held her hands up as if she were holding a glass and sipping the liquid. Thanking nothing more than the air.  Should she leave this room and go upstairs, a mannequin was in the corner one that would turn her innocent dream into a nightmare or make it that much better for her.

~~~An Example of Level 2~~~~

Jack didn't see anyone around.  Where did everyone go?  It was late night and so he supposed people were in their homes. He had just woken up a bit ago to find everyone gone.  Not everyone, but the people he did see seemed to ignore him.  He was a retired general from a war and thus he thought of this and being stuck in enemy territory.  He not only had to deal with the strange nearly empty seeming town, but he also didn't know where all those creepy dolls were coming from.

He had seen one and had wanted to inspect it closer, but his gut feeling told him not to.  He had different things to think about like wondering where he was and if he was truly still asleep.  If he was asleep, then how couldn't he wake up.  There were many questions to be answered and yet he was unsure if he would like them when he found them.

I hope the examples help you out some. I will be more than happy to explain as much as you'd like since I shall be starting the game this week.

[TheHangedOne]

I must admit the initial explanation baffled me, but the bigger explanation makes it clear to me.

I am so very, very much looking forward to this.  :o And thinking that my character idea will most likely be giving the Changeling quite a bit of mojo... potentially.

Question, though. When we encounter a mannequin, will you, Aida, be playing the scene out with us, or is it more... we solo it?

[persephone325]

Question, though. When we encounter a mannequin, will you, Aida, be playing the scene out with us, or is it more... we solo it?

You beat me to it! I'd also like to know about that.

[AidaLily]

Those beautifully creepy mannequins....

1. I will play out the scenes with people if you want. Should you want a specific scene when you touch/get close to a mannequin just send me a pm with what you want.  An example would be if you wanted to mannequin to transport you to an alien world in which you wanted your character to be strung up with ropes and used by an alien or whatever your imagination can come up with minus bathroom stuff.

2. Other players can be mannequins as well, but anyone that wants to be a mannequin needs to have a main character first.

You would be allowed to:
-Have your mannequin appear in different places
-Play out the mannequin scenes but don't forget to post for your actual character unless they are in the mannequin scene

3. The mannequins look like any mannequin you see modeling clothing in a store and thus "creepy dolls".

4. The mannequin scenes can also be done solo if you wish.  Some people find it easier.

Recap:

You can do them with or without another person.
I will control the mannequins for your run in, if you have one.
You can control a mannequin if you wish.

[AndyZ]

A quick rundown to make sure that I understand everything:

The game starts at level 2 and we're almost certainly never going to enter level 1.

Mannequins put us into level 3.

People in level 2 and level 3 will still see each other but through the respective overlays and probably won't understand each other.

My palace idea would probably kick in when she gets to level 3, but level 2 might transform into an amalgam of what the changeling wants as time goes on.  It'll start out just as the town though.


I suggest that italics be used for things in level 3 in order to help people know what is and isn't within their perceptions.

[TheHangedOne]

I suggest that italics be used for things in level 3 in order to help people know what is and isn't within their perceptions.

I like this idea.