【EVENT】 New Year's Wishful Dreaming

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Wishful Dreaming Event

On the Eve of the New Year, the city of Starsand is surprisingly quiet. For a place so eager to throw parties, you might think that the streets would be full of life. But instead, Starsand’s streets are quiet and it’s citizens shutting down shops early. In this city, the last night of the year is contemplative and quiet. Citizens might make their last shrine visits, but it’s uncommon to see them out past 11.

They say that it’s important to fall asleep before the New Year, because you want to treasure your first dream of the New Year. Supposedly it’s lucky and prophetic. If you write it down and remember it, that dream can even guide you to your greatest desire. And rumors are always good ideas in Starsand.

Sleep comes easy on this night. Characters will find themselves getting drowsy by 4am at the latest. When they do fall asleep, they fall into a deep and elaborate dream.

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OOC NOTES

The first dream of the New Year will show characters their wishes come true. They will get to enjoy the life they long for. But strangely, they may find other Fallen Stars wandering into their dreams. These encounters may shake them out of their dreamlike state and make them aware that the dream is just that: A dream. If the dreamer denies their dream or has doubts, then the dreamscape will fall apart into a nightmare before both dreamer and visitor wake up.

It is possible to have multiple dreams: Characters must wake between dreams, even if just briefly, then fall back asleep in order to change their dream. There can be multiple visitors before the dream ends for good.

On the morning of January 1st, all characters who had a dream will find a prismatic crystal clenched in the palm of their hands. The crystal will reflect the contents of their dream, so long as they hold the same wish. If they change wishes or lose faith, then the crystal will turn black and melt into Rumor goo.

NPC characters may reply to dreams with clues. Please indicate which characters you want to receive clues by putting a “*” in their toplevel title. You may request clues for up to 3 characters. Thank you for your help!

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Comments

[tapformana]

[... Ah. That gets a soft smile.]

You mean yourself, don't you?

[fallenwishingstar]

Not in the slightest. I made my wish knowing that I was being used. That’s how it always is.

Humans do not care for us until we are useful to them.

Unfortunately, not everyone has woken up to that reality. They still believe that they can earn a place in the world by having hope and trying their best. And in a few weeks time, that hope will be what finally destroys them.

[tapformana]

But you don't want that to happen.

[fallenwishingstar]

Not necessarily. It annoys me that their stupidity is fueling the desires of the selfish.

That is why I am offering to trade information with you.

[tapformana]

That's fine.

... Do you want to move to a better place to have that talk?

[fallenwishingstar]

[She shakes her head.]

It is best not to waste time. Soon, I will disappear. I’d like to leave as many knives in the backs of those who wronged me before then.

So you get one freebie. Ask away.

[tapformana]

One freebie, then...

... How can we stop the Wishmaker?

[fallenwishingstar]

Grant their wish and they will stop using others to grant it.

[tapformana]

What's their wish, then?

[fallenwishingstar]

I now charge secrets for secrets.

But I believe some of the other Fallen Stars have learned the answer to that question. They do not charge like I do.

[tapformana]

Haaa... You're sweet, Natasha. You really do want to help, huh?

[fallenwishingstar]

I don’t want to waste my effort.

Is that all you wish to know?

[tapformana]

... You said if I tell you my weakness, you'll tell me weaknesses of the Wishmaker, right?

[fallenwishingstar]

As best that I can, yes. If not them, then I do know many of the others’ weaknesses.

[tapformana]

Wait, there's others?! It's not just the one?!

[fallenwishingstar]

Yes. It was not only the Fallen Stars whose dreams I have seen. I saw the dreams of the thing’s employers as well.

[tapformana]

That's awful... Why do so many different people want to ruin this place?

[fallenwishingstar]

They don't think of it as 'ruining' but as 'improving.'

... That one was for free.

[tapformana]

You're sweet.

[She sighs.]

It's... hard to talk about this, you know?

[fallenwishingstar]

If you call people like me such things, then they will lose meaning.

And of course it’s hard. If it wasn’t, you would know much more.

[tapformana]

It's true, though.

Do you know much about other worlds?

[fallenwishingstar]

Of course not.

Spirits cannot speak. We cannot ask questions. We cannot even turn the pages of books to enjoy fiction or learning.

I don’t know much of anything.

[tapformana]

I guess... that would make sense.

Do you know what guns are, at least?

[The dreamscape around them flickers, going dark...]

[fallenwishingstar]

… Yes. Humans use them in the place of magic.

cw: gun violence

[tapformana]

... I wonder about that. Magic always seemed like something wonderful...

[The dream fades, and returns. No longer is it a fantastic world, but it's a crowded building... A bank?]

When I was really little, I was out with my family. I don't remember it well... where we were going, or why we had stopped there... but, at the bank...

[Sounds of gunshots, and shouting. A man in a mask holds a small child at gunpoint- Voice distorted, to the point where it sounds more like the roaring of a monster. Demands for money. A car. Threatening that child to stop crying.

The dream's perspective is difficult to understand if one isn't familiar with dreams. It's simultaneously something watched from outside... and from inside, from the perspective of the child. At least, it's obvious who the child is.]