The Dreamwalkers
The Dreamwalkers
Excerpts
From the eponymous lost work by Sage Miriel of Visimontium.
Excerpt, Prologue
The Hierophant's account begins
with one Orc maiden, free from sin
Alarmed by voices from beyond
Yet all too eager to respond
Her hands betrayed her heart of gold
Cursed vial emptied, as foretold:
A sip would bring forth from the past
what Time itself had turned to rust
Do mark her name and good intent
For she won't only represent
the first to tip the fated scales
The Hierophant will spin the tale
away from her and wakeful land;
Yet she'll be with us in the end
This pure soul the record joins
As Yen·efer, the Queen of Coins
Excerpt, The Three Sisters
One blood drop heralded a stream
Awakened from a timeless dream
A river now, it flowed in three
Each sought her own way to be free
Born Trouble, Hatred and Deceit
Resolved their destiny to meet
as Storm, Wrath, Plague, to take their course
Yet, joined by bad blood at their source,
Their tether to the mortal coil
By one misstep would quickly foil
For Time is held back at a cost
A dark pact forged in epoch lost
Blood bound to serve one fallen soul,
the Three must answer to her call:
Go where they may, they share this fate
If She should fall, their death won't wait
Beyond the shattered prison glass
More malice yet shall come to pass
Excerpt, Zelia's Story
Seduced by beauty in her prime
What started as an innocent crime
Through desperation's door flung wide
Allowed for something Dark to glide
on flightless wings unto broken heart:
A Princess comes to play this part
To be the Nightmare herself
Soft whispers pushed her off the shelf
Her madness swept her ever down
Her hand, her kin in blood to drown
Wilsash's Great Dream devour'd her whole
Blind vengeance drove her, above all
A final trade to feed her spite:
Dark Lady offered Lady White
Three children beautiful and vile
to do her bidding and beguile
Three sisters bonded, mind and soul
To be the mistress of them all
the Princess paid a bitter price:
Her wings, her true faith, and her eyes
Soon folly followed reckless plan
Blood marred the palace of Toostán
While in the forests far away
Three children from their task did stray
All trapped in glass; Their mother's wrath
consumed Cloud City in her path
The fell Princéss she cursed to sleep
Forever in a Nightmare's Keep
A drop of blood she sealed behind
Until an innocent soul would find
the vial accursed, and drink their fill
her prison's door won't be revealed
And even then, there'd be a cost:
The Princess of Toostan was lost
The Nightmare Lord her soul had claimed
Not much was left—not even her name
Excerpt, Zelia's Return
Uncounted times the stars had spun
Till vial's prison come undone
The Dreamcall comet split the sky
Fate faltered, as directed by
the Puppeteer of the Blind
Time's clockwork staggered to unwind
Our days grew short and rest was brief
The nighttime did not bring relief
The grinning Moon was no one's friend
The Dream had spilled from end to end
Event horizon didn't look right
The stakes rose higher every night:
Behind closed eyes a darkness loomed
To drift and dream meant certain doom
Unknowing of herself at first
Lost Princess on world's stage was thrust
Blind Puppet's stride, Dark Prophet's tongue
Nightmare's litanies she sung
In wakeful lands she walked again
Until she chanced one mortal man
Her path to cross, her chant to hear:
Eudaimon faced her with no fear
His manner frank and unrehearsed
Alas, the Princess' touch was cursed
Blind as she was, her gaze he sensed
and pledged his all in her defense
Through many nights Eudaimon stirred
His mind in darkness blazed and burned
Lost Princess' freedom to regain
he plotted; Time and time again
his best designs would come to nil
In restless dreams he roamed until
the Luminous Tower rose ahead:
He found himself awake, instead
Last chance for him to turn about
Surrender to a creeping doubt
For he has everything to lose—
Belay that! Still the same he'd choose!
Unspoken deadline drawing close,
He throws the gauntlet of his cause
"Our common sense this Fool offends!"
The Council of the Mind all stand
against him; they are in accord:
Such madness they could ill afford
This dubious lot still met Fool's goal:
They stood united, after all
As for the Fool, if too far gone
He knows he won't succeed alone
To see this madness through the end
Allies he'd need—and more so, friends
Excerpt, The Ship of Fools
Not one to care for the rules,
Eudaimon leads the Ship of Fools
His hands the wheel, his heels the stern
Many-as-one each take their turn
In one-as-many voice he sings
When starry night a quiet brings,
He glances at the Sage again
(No riddle this; he's just a man)
A smile his lips begins to crack:
One day, perhaps, she will look back
A furrow on the Sage's brow:
The Hierophant of Here and Now
A Child before, a Mother then,
It's hard to tell which one was when
She reaches out to intervene
and play her magic on the scene
Still not the one to deal the cards
Elemmiire of the Stars
A shadow grows, alarming fast
the Sailor, Straccio, at the mast
Too late, the party would perceive
More cards inside one traveler's sleeve
For this one walks the Path of Dust:
"We all are Fools for him to trust!"
Dust never rose to stir a feud:
A Storm into his teacup brewed
This Storm's dark shadow hid, Owl said,
Another Dreamer, this one Dead
A wicked snicker split Dust's face
Blink and he's gone!—without a trace
Excerpt, The Willow Island
The Storm engulfed the ship with ease
The tall waves offered no release
and left them clutching at the ropes
A gasp for air, a glint of hope?
For in the storm's eye overhead
Appeared familiar silhouette
Her wings outstretched, her shadow bound
Beyond the storm, on higher ground
A pause beneath the willow tree
She borrows time, to be set free
Bone white tea cup in Zelia's hand
She bargains more than they can spend
Split seconds spill, small hours slip
Nary a moment for a sip
A-tick-tock beats her heart's refrain
She smiles and pours a cup again
A final riddle joins the rhyme
The cards are shuffled one last time
Excerpt, The Forest River
A glimmer on the watershed
Reflected Moon and Stars ahead
A river flows inside this dream
A lonesome Otter braves the stream
Beyond the reach of Fools and Seers
A forest fire's drawing near
A She-Wolf flees on quiet paw
Along the stream, she spies an Owl
This Owl is a veracious guide
The She-Wolf's primal fear abides
The White Rose held in beastly teeth
Declares the ardent heart beneath
Excerpt, The Graveyard
Nightmares. They show what we carry within.
—Eudaimon Dawnblade
Excerpt, The Temple of Time
Time is nothing. Timing is everything.
—Eudaimon Dawnblade
Excerpt, Zelia's Release
A dawn of victory unfurled
Our world was saved, but in this world
There was no cure for Zelia's grief
The Princess chose her last reprieve:
She faced unto Dagáth's domain
Yen cried and begged her to remain
As Zelia's body turned to dust
Her own Yen offered, as she must
Such deal the Sands of Time ignored
Yet there was something else in store
for our willing sacrifice:
Gift of Winged Mother's own device
While Yen stood tall, her frame grew slight
Hair flaming red, now framed by white
wings feathered; an unwitting host
Reflecting Zelia's beauty lost
Excerpt, Epilogue
From Dream to Dust, the story flew
Recounted now but by a few
Time takes Fate for another spin
A skull alone remains to grin
Atop a magic staff aglow,
He laughs onto the Sage below
The witness to a wicked joke
of one who Dreamed and then awoke
A onetime child, bereft of youth
In vain she searches for the truth
The open book becomes a cage
Alas, the hand that scribed the page
May hold the quill but not the key
No trace of recognition; She
who lives to tell the story now
Remembers nothing anyhow
Excerpt, Epigraph
Lord of Nightmares spells disaster
Weaving shadows from his throne
Are you lonely, dungeon master,
Now that all the players are gone?
Dramatis Personae
Fool, Soldier, Swordsman, Many-as-One - Eudaimon Dawnblade
Dragon, Playground Keeper - Hebrin Maul
Owl - Elladin Ashtar
Sailor - Straccio
White Rose, Wolf - Auryna Ak'hanrye
Weeping Willow, Mother/Child, Arcanist/Seer - Sage Miriel of Visimontium
Hanged Man, Storm - Dust the Philosopher
Otter - Ji'mas Esyle
Queen of Coins - Yen·efer Urgash
Tarot Illustrations
Based on the deck popularized by Kaz'shardra Aske.
Illustration, The World
The first illustration in the series is an unsettling representation of the tarot card "The World". In the four corners are female faces with fiendish features. The center figure stands to tradition: an Avariel maiden swept in a joyous dance above the clouds. She would be lovely, if not for her gouged eyes and wing stumps. Rather than a pair of royal batons, she holds a stake in each hand. Her eye sockets and the stakes are dripping with blood. A dark ouroboros twists behind her, the theme repeated by the circlet in her hair: a rope of snakes. Perhaps the most disturbing detail is the Avariel's elated smile.
Illustration, The Queen of Coins
This card is split in three horizontal panels equal in size. The top and bottom are those of an Orc-blood woman of brutish beauty, attired in a wizardly robe. The robe's chest front, sash and skirt are each embroidered with a large circle, three in total, resemblant of sun disk coins. She holds a pristine white mask a small distance away from her tattooed face. In the middle section of the card, the woman's figure is proportionally smaller, with the flight feather tips of Avariel wings in the background. The card is titled "The Queen of Coins".
Illustration, The Fool, The Soldier
This card is divided vertically, splitting the image of a young Human man in two halves. The figure's left side affects a torn, motley hermit's robe, adorned with bells. His long hair is tangled with twigs and straws, his eye bulging mad. His left hand is placed upon his heart. The figure's right side is clad in chainmail, face and hair concealed behind a helmet. The helmet reaches over his cheekbone, leaving uncovered his ear and a closed eye. His right hand rests upon a long sword's pommel. The card is titled "The Fool / The Soldier".
Illustration, The World Tree, The Tower
This illustration follows the same style as the tarot cards. However, it departs from the known humanoid characters and into the animalistic. In the background is a dragon, aloof in the sky, wings spread to brace the scene. Below him, a barren willow tree fills most of the space. A large owl is perched, watchful, amidst the swooping branches. Outlined against the tree roots and the river bank is a wolf on the run, carrying a white rose in her teeth. In the background is a forest fire. In the river swims an otter, his shape defined and at the same time, concealed by the current. The card is titled "The World Tree / The Tower".
Illustration, The Mother, The Child
This card is divided diagonally, joining the image of an elven woman in two mirrored halves. Where the female shape on top is gaunt, scarred and pale, her hair cut close to the skull, the one below has a child-like softness to her face and frame, with long tresses that have never known scissors. Each half reaches a hand to the other, their willowy fingers never quite touching. What truly unites the halves are their haunted eyes. The card is titled "The Mother / The Child".
Illustration, The Sailor, The Hanged Man
This landscape follows the same style as the tarot cards. Protective, if distant dragon wings span the horizon, offset against dark storm clouds. In a turbulent sea is a ship, tilted precariously over a monstrous wave, nose diving in the void below. A middle-aged Human stands at the ship's stern, the perspective exaggerating his face. He grasps the railing for dear life, eyes wide with what could be wonder, fear, or both. He is not alone; others hold fast behind him. Above them is a crooked humanoid figure hanging upside down off a spreader mast, sporting a maniac's grin. The card is titled "The Sailor / The Hanged Man".
Illustration, The Hierophant, Temperance, Justice
One of the most complex illustrations in "The Dreamwalkers" is a single frame piece, centered around a crowned Elf woman on a throne. The omnipresent dragon is curled at the throne base, one eye tracking the onlooker. The woman's dainty feet rest onto the dragon's back. The elven woman's face is the one seen across the tarot series, notably in "The Mother / The Child". In her right hand she holds a short sword, the blade inscribed "Justice" and pointed toward her bared breast. In her left hand she holds a set of tipped scales, joined with a ribbon labeled "Temperance". The top measuring bowl is overflowing with water, spilling onto the bottom one. In this final depiction, the Elf's eyes are closed but for a third one, painted on her forehead. She looks terrifying—and terrified. The card is titled "The Hierophant / Justice / Temperance".
See Also
By Thienna Thel:
Three Sisters
The Threat of the Great Dream Has Ended
By various:
The Lost Princess
The White Lady