[Video] All that we See or Seem is but a Dream within a Dream

[kingkingcxiii]

[When the video starts, those who know Regis might notice that his face is a little redder than it usually is. He's also wrapped in what looks his own cloak and a heavy riding cloak, one that a person would expect to see out in the frozen wastes, not in a city like Havenwell. Honestly, he looks a little silly all curled into the cloaks as he is, but since waking up out in the backyard under Peter's silver apple tree, he has yet to shake off the cold. It might be a long process considering he has no idea how long he was out there.

Actually, considering he usually puts off heat like a furnace and still feels this cold, he has an idea and it's one he doesn't like. Cor would have his head if he was still here.]

Those who have been here for a while know that we have been communicated with through dreams before.

[Who could forget the strange warning that came before the break in last October?]

I think it may be happening again. How many people are having dreams with the ghosts who visited us in them? And how many of them are talking to you? Mine had quite a lot to say and in regard to something I have investigated before.

[He takes a moment to fight back a shiver and then quotes what he remembers from the dream, once again grateful for how good his memory is. His hands had been shaking too hard for him to write anything down when he first returned to the house.]

"The world began as thus: it was a rock. He came upon it first, and loved it immediately, this empty rock where nothing lived. He burrowed deep inside and devoured it inch by inch, teeth breaking upon the surface and growing anew. Through Him, over time, the stone became soil. The soil grew fertile through His work, yet all was still naught but rock and soil.

Then the Winged Lord appeared, uncertain of the path He was to walk. He was hungry, so He clawed at the stone to find where His prey crawled."

The natives have just remembered the Winged Lord for some reason, but we still don't know who the first "He" is. Could "He" be trying to contact us in some way in order to keep things in some kind of balance? I am very curious to hear what everyone thinks.

[The video ends here, but once he is done with that Regis sends out two quick texts.]


[Locked to Ardyn:]

Remember when I told you I would inform you if anything weird happened after touching the ghosts? I think I just hit "weird."


[Locked to Honerva:]

By the time you get this, I am certain you will have seen my video post. Would you be willing to work with me on a new investigation if I started one? We have talked before of how strange it is the natives are now remembering the Winged Lord. How far behind do you think his fellow is?

Comments

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[kingkingcxiii]

Yes, and I am beginning to wonder if the lack of balance on this planet may be tied to these two. Correct me if I am wrong, but hasn't there also been mention that the Winged Lord died leaving the Crawling One alone? Everything outside the barrier seems poisoned and decaying. It is almost as if his realm has expanded out of all control without the Winged Lord to bring balance.

[iustaegis]

From the priests and temples, we know that the gods are sustained by some sort of power generated by touch. This power waned when the locals began replacing their physical bodies with mechanical ones. We also know that the barrier is powered by some sort of divine energy, too, one that's made up of four unique types that converge together.

I'm not sure if these recent messages about maintaining a "balance" has to do so much with how this world first started to decay when the locals turned their bodies robotic, or how there may be an imbalance with the different energy-tributes each deity receives from us.

Each deity has a temple in this city. Maybe there used to be one for the Crawling One and the Winged One long ago somewhere.

[kingkingcxiii]

How long has Rawna had power?

[Were they speaking face-to-face, that comment would be muttered as if Regis was thinking out loud. He had been so caught up in getting new information about the Crawling One and the Winged Lord that he hadn't stopped to consider things from that angle. All of the deities here have seasons they seem to rule over, but even those who were brought here at the beginning have only been here a short time and they just saw how quickly the natives can change course when they get new information. How routine is the year they just lived through?]

The missing temples might be just outside the wall for all we know. Laying in ruins like the Arena and Factory were.

[There is a sudden pause in his messages as something strikes him, the insight caused by the new view Pyra has given him. It takes a few minutes for him to sort out his thinking and then he responds again.]

For all that I have learned of different worlds by being here, one thing remains the same. Each would has the eternal balance of life and death. When we first learned of the missing gods, I remember thinking it strange that all of the gods we help here represent good aspects and are strengthened by positive feelings. Many would say these are the best aspects of life itself.

One of the old lore fragments mentions the Winged Lord falling to the Crawling Ones' poison, but there cannot be death without life. Do you think it is possible the gods we help now were born to fill the gap left by the death of the Winged Lord? But they are weaker, and they came into this facing a world already ravaged by death...

[He trails off there uncertain how to continue to meld his thoughts into a whole or if it is even worth it. Sometimes his leaps of knowledge push him in the right direction and sometimes they do not.]

[iustaegis]

We slacked a bit on the data over two summer months, but one band of energy has had more levels, consistently. Since it's Rawna's temple and familiars that seem to have had the most growth, we've typically associated this particular wavelength with Rawna.

Perhaps the Crawling One's temple is below ground, and the Flying One's in the sky somewhere. Or maybe on a mountain. I know this is all speculation, however. We'll simply have to make another excursion outside again.

[ As being a part of the trio of creator-deities in her own world... "there cannot be death without life" is a bit of an assumption. The gods and creators will make whatever world with whatever rules there are, separate from what how some god makes their world elsewhere. What one world's "balance" and such doesn't necessarily apply to the other.

But his point is worth discussing, so. ] Sort of like a generation of gods? That could be the case.

I'm not sure if the four deities came in while this planet was already consumed, though. I had been assuming that the four deities were alive and well when the population still retained their flesh-and-blood bodies.

And speaking of, eventually, they're going to need flesh bodies again, if they wish to maintain whatever restoration we happen to help with. That, or maybe all of their original bodies are stored in a cryogenic state somewhere.

[kingkingcxiii]

Indeed. There is just so much we don't know.

[This has been their issue since the very beginning. Every new piece of information they get just highlights how much they still need to learn.]

We have had breaches from above and below now. The damaged shield from above, and the mist in the tunnels and factory from below. You could very well be right. I wonder if there are places within the shield we could begin to look for something underground.

[Though she can't see him, Regis tilts his head curiously as he finishes reading her message.]

A cryogenic state?

["Cryogenic" is a word he doesn't recognize.]