4317/In Dreams

In Dreams
Date of Scene:	06 December 2020
Location:	In Dreams
Synopsis:	A phantasm encounters something extremely wrong with a child's dream and it gives chase to Strange's territory
Cast of Characters:	Stephen Strange, Michael Hannigan

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Stephen Strange has posed:
    It's early in the morning, so early that most people would consider it late at night. Near enough at two in the morning, that exactness doesn't much matter, and yet, there's a Sorcerer within his hidden house, hidden in plain sight, that sits in his upper most room with a view southwards towards the financial district and the towering sky scrapers in that direction, and yet, the window filters in the world of the warlocks and witches. Demonds, and curses, manifestations of magic cast by long dead mystics, and the ramifications, the beings that control and feed into and off of the greed of this world, and the sins and plights. Out there, the mystics can only see this world, and at this time, the Sorcerer Supreme, the man charged with countering the worst and saving the lowest and all, sits in his highest study, meditating and observing the world, worlds, and realms beyond the here and now.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Ok. So it startd out reasonably normal for Mike. Had a nice meal, did some work and now that its evening, time to get some practice in. And practice he did, hopping through dreams. They were mostly peaceful, regular dreams. Some of family, some of fame, science fiction, and a whole slew of themes in between.

But, there was the one dream. Sure, it looked like the others from the surface. A generic one off child's nightmare but, there was something about the creature in the dream that made the whole dream seem off. Forced. The monster within was not of the child's own making.

If asked, the phantasm couldn't really say what exactly transpired. What was done or said but suffice to say the monster is no longer in that child's dream. So Yay! However, as with most dream based creatures that seem to prefer triggering fear in the dreams of the innocent, this creature does not take to kindly to the existence of the Phantasms and fully intends to show protest by removing one from the ranks.

So thus we have a raven flying through dreams with a monster giving chase. That is until the last dream they hop into ends up being of the fitful collapsing variety. There's a howl from the monster as the dream world collapses on it while the raven ends up getting ejected.

There is a tumble of bird across the floor of the room Strange meditates in. But it is at least a silent tumble.

Stephen Strange has posed:
    Stephen's eyebrow cocks up and his eyebeneath it snaps open. "Peculiar bird." Stephen says, his hands moving up from his knees and a pair of orange disks form around each fist, large spells that glow with a mystical energy that creates their form.

    His legs drop down below him and his feet find the floor as he stands guard, ready to combat the bird that somehow entered his house and Stephen pauses, squinting towards it, "I know you, how did you end up here?"

Michael Hannigan has posed:
The raven, does not jump into combat position and instead staggers on his talons for a few moments before turning around to look to the on guard Sorceror. "Oh hey Strange. Sorry about that. Dream collapsed, ejected here. Perils of dream travel. You know how that goes." He pauses. "Probably better than I do..." He adds in, beating Strange to that observation ahead of time.

He looks to the discs, "...Didn't mean to startle you."

Stephen Strange has posed:
    "Startling me happens, I want to know what startled you." Stephen asks, squinting down at the bird, when he lowers his hands and understands that the bird is in fact someone he's met before. "What is it that spooked you so?" Stephen asks, looking from the bird to where it came into the room from and with a motion, the ripple in dream-space-time is made more visible, though it appears like heat vapors, clear but obviously there. Stephen strokes at his facial hair and frowns at it. "What... had you in such a hurry." Stephen asks as he brings his scared finger up to touch the wound in reality.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
The bird turns his head to look to the ripple being made. "I came across a child's nightmare that had an element that wasn't of their making. Confirmed it when it started giving chase across dream barriers." The raven summarizes. "Last one I led it to was on the verge of collapse so its likely stuck there til the next dream."

Stephen Strange has posed:
    "Not likely." Stephen says towards the bird and then nods slowly, "Prepare yourself." And with that, Stephen's fingers begin to glow green as a sort of mystic glove builds itself around the wizards hands and he reaches into the scar from the dream travel and he begins to open it with his teeth gritting against the force of opening a reality with his bare hands. "I need you to enter, I will follow you shortly." Stephen says with a snarl of his clenched teeth.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
The raven's beak parts open as Strange goes against the dream traveler's assessment, watching as Strange forms an opening to a bleak darkness to the other side. The instruction causes for the bird to blink to Strange. Enter into the void a dream once stood? What?

But then again... "Ok." With a shrug, the bird hops into the air, gliding through the opening. Purplish black of the feathers blending into the depths of nothing.

Stephen Strange has posed:
    The creature is completely caught off guard, as the light of the corporeal world seeps into his own and the 'demon' it had been facing returns in the form of that bright black bird.

    "DIE!" The thing shrieks with abstract three fingered hand reaches out with claws instead of fingers to slash at the bird. As the blades nearly reach Mike's fowl form, the hand stops, with a rope of pure magic wrapped around the things wrist and a sorcerer in red and blue stands behind and above it, and shakes his head. "No. That wont be happening today."

Michael Hannigan has posed:
With the advance warning of the scream, the raven's flight adjusts, already making evasive actions to dodge the incoming claws. Oh lovely, He's acting as bait.

The bird gets an up close look to the claws as Strange stops them but that does not remove the desire to move a little further away from the claws. Just in case.

Stephen Strange has posed:
    The creature struggles against the binding, reaching out at Mike with the second arm as he tries to get away and draws another spell from the sorcerer, this too an orange glowing rope taught against the creature's second wrist. "Mystical creatures have been growing much more daring as of late. Why? What's going on?" Stephen requests as he brings his foot up and then against the back of the creature with his own kind of a snarl on his face. "Do you have a way to gleam information off of him?" Stephen asks, looking towards the bird.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
As the creature pulls against the bindings once more to try and get to the smaller sized raven, the bird flips back, form elongating as the raven's form becomes more like a Grey Wolf. The face scrunches up in a warning snarl to the clawed creature. Not approaching but promising a response if this continues.

Pale eyes look over to Strange at his question. "I doubt he wants to talk to me." Mike responds back before looking to the restrained critter. "Hey you! What's your problem?!"

Stephen Strange has posed:
    Stephen, looking like some sort of weird, magic cowboy without the clothes, or really anything that makes a cowboy a cowboy other than the ropes, blinks a few times at Mike while he tries to contain this craeture of the other-worlds. "You could have said 'no'." Stephen says before he pulls a bit harder on the ropes while pushing his foot into the back of the creature and with a spin, he twists his body, the ropes curling on his left shoulder as he spins backwards and then doubles over. The creature goes flying over Stephen's back as it screams wildly in pain or fear, or hunger, it's impossible to tell as Stephen drops it through a hole in dream-time and then closes the new portal before looking back to Mike and frowns. "Hoped you had a way of reading it's mind, or dreams or something..." Stephen frowns and then motions back towards the hole they originally came in from and ... there he is still holding the hole open with the mystic glove hands. "I'm getting tired..."

Michael Hannigan has posed:
"I have to be IN it's dream to see it." the wolf replies back, watching as Strange just chucks the creature that had been chasing him into another area. "There's really not that much information in the library on what I've become." As Strange beckons him out, Mike complies, leaping out of the hole to land silently on the floor.

Stephen Strange has posed:
    The wizard outside the dreamscape slowly allows the tear to seal up and then with a bit of extra care, Stephen makes sure there isn't a wound as he sutures the hole. "Hmm... maybe a more oral history, maybe you should seek out the one who gave you the powers, or possible seek out where the powers themselves originated from?" Stephen ponders as he shakes his hands softly and the green protection spell fades away from his fingers. "Figure out who or what and if worse comes to worse, we'll both look into it." The wizard notes with a frown.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
"That asshole left town the moment he dumped the powers on me." The wolf replies, turning to look back towards Strange. His form shifts as he drops his phantasm form, becoming the ever tired looking Mike. "Haven't seen Leo since. Best I got is how to Dream Travel, and how to do Dream form. No warning on the spells... shit thing to do to a musician..."

He shakes his head, "Yeah, maybe I can try looking into it again. Use your library at a more reasonable hour?"

Stephen Strange has posed:
    "No such thing. Have at it." Stephen says with a lift of his hand as he returns to his meditation by moving back to the center of the room, and sitting back down on the ground and closing his eyes. Seems the man is done with the day, or at least this conversation. There's work to be done.