I thought the dreams were really well composed! Anyone want to share the dreams if they have them recorded? I only got the very last one, which was quite heart-warming:

- missing first part after the Bell was rung -

"There is something I can do," says Vestera. "Let me at least give her a small
mercy. Let me send her to sleep and let her enter the realm of the dreaming."

"If you do this, you'll merge her essence the dreaming," says Urlach. "If she
awakes, Muud will be freed."

"Then she shall sleep forever," says Vestera confidently.

"Do it!" commands Juliana. "It is more than a mercy you offer her. It is her
salvation."

"And ours," murmurs Tzaraziko.

None oppose Vestera as she descends down towards the globe that holds the child.
Muud has sunk down deep into the swamp yet his tendrils still rise up wrapping
around the globe which floats in the air a mere few feet above the surface. The
child is frantically trying to escape the globe, pounding her fists against
those areas of the surface that are clear of Muud's tendrils. She quiets down as
she sees Vestera above her.

Vestera places one slim hand against the bubble's surface, and a soft misty
cloud fills the bubble. The girl slumps down, her eyelids suddenly heavy. She
stares up at Vestera who smiles back at her. The child is inexplicably reminded
of her mother, and as the child closes her eyes that is who she thinks of.

When the child opens her eyes, she is surprised to see that she is being rocked
in her mother's arms. Next to her mother is the nanny, smiling beatifically at
the child. And on the other side of her mother stands Riva who sings the gentle
lullaby that she always did. And behind Riva is Rebo, who beams down at the
child.

The child knows happiness for the first time in a very long time. She is no
longer scared, no longer afraid. She is finally able to feel safe. The memory of
the nightmare fades away, becoming a distant memory.


And, thus, the child is cursed no more.

- missing very last part where the tear is shed -

We ring the Crystal Bell of Hope, and its crystal tones sound brilliantly
through the chamber. The sleeping girl stirs, a tremulous smile breaking across
her lips.

"Wait!" says a shining being, suddenly manifesting just over the bubble that
traps the child. "Before you sink them forever into this swamp, hear me."

The shining ones stop circling around the child and Muud, waiting as this new
one floats down towards the child. They call her Vestera.

"How long will the child live trapped with Muud deep within the earth?" asks
Vestera. "Who doubts she will give way to despair and terror and stop her own
heart? You know other vernal gods have done such a thing, ended their existence
when they felt all hope was lost."

"Even so," says Urlach, "this will hold her for a time, perhaps long enough for
us to figure out another way to seal Muud within his prison. Surely, there's
nothing more we can do."

"There is something I can do," says Vestera. "Let me at least give her a small
mercy. Let me send her to sleep and let her enter the realm of the dreaming."

"If you do this, you'll merge her essence the dreaming," says Urlach. "If she
awakes, Muud will be freed."

"Then she shall sleep forever," says Vestera confidently.

"Do it!" commands Juliana. "It is more than a mercy you offer her. It is her
salvation."

"And ours," murmurs Tzaraziko.

None oppose Vestera as she descends down towards the globe that holds the child.
Muud has sunk down deep into the swamp yet his tendrils still rise up wrapping
around the globe which floats in the air a mere few feet above the surface. The
child is frantically trying to escape the globe, pounding her fists against
those areas of the surface that are clear of Muud's tendrils. She quiets down as
she sees Vestera above her.

Vestera places one slim hand against the bubble's surface, and a soft misty
cloud fills the bubble. The girl slumps down, her eyelids suddenly heavy. She
stares up at Vestera who smiles back at her. The child is inexplicably reminded
of her mother, and as the child closes her eyes that is who she thinks of.

When the child opens her eyes, she is surprised to see that she is being rocked
in her mother's arms. Next to her mother is the nanny, smiling beatifically at
the child. And on the other side of her mother stands Riva who sings the gentle
lullaby that she always did. And behind Riva is Rebo, who beams down at the
child.

The child knows happiness for the first time in a very long time. She is no
longer scared, no longer afraid. She is finally able to feel safe. The memory of
the nightmare fades away, becoming a distant memory.

And, thus, the child is cursed no more.

The girl smiles as she drifts deeper into a comfortable sleep. A tear of pure
joy trickles out of the girl's eye. The tear crystallizes and falls to the
ground.


Upon inspection, the diamond in the shape of a teardrop:
Sparkling in the ambient light, the teardrop-shaped crystal is diamond in
composition. As rays of light shine through the teardrop, they become bent into
shimmering rainbows that surround the crystal in a radiant halo. Small images of
nearby objects can be seen inside the crystal, transformed in shape to appear
somehow more pleasant.

The Nightmares:

"Wake up! Wake up!" yells the nanny, shaking the child awake. "Princess,
you must wake up!"

The child's eyes open wide, as she stares at her nanny in confusion. Her
nanny is plump and elderly, her once black feathered wings are gray and
drooping. Picking up the child, the nanny holds her tightly and begins
to run through the castle.

Screams sound throughout the castle, as the floor shakes and dust fills
the corridors. Several guards escort the nanny at a brisk trot as they
wend their way through the castle. The child's heart is thumping hard,
tears in her eyes.

They enter the throne room, and her mother's advisor, the High Gayine,
is standing before the Emerald Egg and gestures at nanny to come towards
him. Around the crystalline construct are the Priests and Priestesses of
the Nest, chanting fiercely as the entire castle rocks and sways. The

Emerald Egg glitters with internal fire, slowly turning in the air.

The nanny brings the child to the High Gayine, who picks her up briskly
and settles her into the throne. Guards rush into the throne room
carrying long iron pikes, and then exit down the main corridor.

"Where's the Queen?" asks the Nanny, her voice quivering.

"The Queen is dead!" shouts the High Gayine. "The princess is the last
of the royal line! She must ascend now!"

"She's just a child," cries the Nanny, wringing her hands.

"We have no time to wait for her to grow. Muud is here, woman!" the High
Gayine weaves a spell through the air, locking the child into the
throne. "Hurry! Hurry!"

The throne rises up into the air as the Priests and Priestesses of the
Nest continue to chant, then floats slowly into the Emerald Egg. The
child screams as green flames course around her and through her. She is

in terrible pain, yet she cannot escape from the bonds around the
throne. As the emerald fire burns through her, she watches in horror as
a hideous ooze seeps into the throne room. The child watches the flesh
of the nanny dissolve into the putrid ooze, which surges forward to
devour guards, nobles and others whom the child knows well. Though their
screams are silenced, the child's screams continues on and on.

Finally, the burning fires through her stop and the child is released by
the Emerald Egg. The child flies into the air, but a column of the
churning ooze shoots up from below and wraps around her. She screams in
terror and agony, as the ooze seeps into her leg and sucks away at her
essence.

The High Gayine shoots blasts of elemental magic at the tendril of ooze
that is wrapped around the child, burning it away. A mental blast of
frustration screams out from the ooze, which surges towards the child.
The High Gayine throws himself in its path.

"Flee, princess!" the High Gayine yells at her, even as he dies. "Flee!
Flee! Flee!"

The great windows of the throne room have been flung open, and the child
flies out and up into the night sky. Below, the castle, her home, is
crumbling, being devoured by the hideous ooze which covers almost the
entire mountain.

Beyond crying, filled with terror, the child flies away as her people
are destroyed.

=====

Flight, endless flight. How long has the child been flying? She cannot
even remember. The ooze chases her, always chases her. She flies north,
towards the cold, into the snowy wastes. She knows the ooze doesn't like
the cold, for the cold makes it slow. Exhausted, the child descends and
lands in a deep bank of snow. She closes her eyes.

At some point, she wakes as strong arms surround her, lifting her up as
though she weighs nothing. The arms are warm and furry, gentle and kind.
The child is carried into a warm cave, and bundled in thick fur
blankets. She drifts to sleep. When she wakes up, she looks up and sees
two faces staring down at her, each with sky blue eyes. The faces are
covered in thick, white fur. The couple steps back to regard the child,
and she sees they are huge, three times as tall as she is and five times
as wide.

"Who are you, child" asks the female. "How could you have survived in
the cold? Surely your kind wasn't built for it! Have you seen any like
her before, Rebo?"

"Never seen any of her kind in the snow wastes, Riva," says the male
named Rebo, blue tongue flickering out momentarily from behind black
lips.

The female named Riva feeds the child some hot fish stew. Watching the
couple timidly, the child eats politely and quickly. When they pick her
up to put her back to bed, she whimpers softly. They hug her gently,
nuzzling her with their noses, before tucking her back into bed. Riva
sings a lullaby to the child who finally falls asleep.

"Don't think she can talk," says Rebo later. "Think she may be simple?"

"Maybe she just don't know our language, eh," says Riva, though she
doesn't sound convinced. "The Snow Witch will know what to do with her,
maybe send her back to her people. Let's send for her when the frost
bridge clears."

Months passed before they are able to send for the Snow Witch. During
that time, Riva makes the child a tunic and trousers from seal skin,
decorated with beads. Rebo carves an ivory necklace from a narwhal tusk,
which the child loves and
wears constantly.

Finally, when the frost bridge clears, the Snow Witch comes to visit.
She is another of the large furry people like Riva and Rebo except much
older, an ancient. She arrives on a sled pulled by reindeer. She carries
a thick wooden staff tipped with pine cones.

The Snow Witch shuffles toward the cave home of Riva and Rebo, but
pauses to stare at the child whom she sees peeking through the door. A
frown furrows the Snow Witch's face and she enters the cave carefully.

"Can't understand me, birdie?" the Snow Witch asks, crouching down
before the child. The child doesn't answer but holds Riva's hand
tightly.

"She don't know our language, I don't think," says Riva, putting a
furred hand on the child's shoulder.

"Maybe she can, maybe she can't," says the Snow Witch. "How long has she
been here?"

"Just through the winter," says Rebo. "Maybe four months or so."

"Has the child grown any?" asks the Snow Witch.

"Nae. Not that I can tell anyways," says Riva.

"Riva and Rebo, it pains me to tell ye this," says the Snow Witch. "But
this is the Cursed Child. You must send her away."

"What!" shouts Riva, protectively circling an arm around the child.

"The Cursed Child," says the Snow Witch, looking older than when she
entered, "travels the entire world, and behind her is destruction and
grief. Keep her here, and she'll bring doom to us all. You must send her
away!"

"How do you know this is her?" demands Rebo.

"The Cursed Child appears as a small girl with wings," says the Snow
Witch. "All stories agree with that. And look at her, so skinny and
frail looking. Her kind wouldn't survive a week in the winter snows! And
yet you find her in a drift deep within the snow wilds as hale as a
thick furred cub?"

The Snow Witch suddenly darts forward, grabbing the child from Riva's
hands, then throws her to the ground. The wooden staff swings towards
the child. The pinecones at the end of the staff suddenly pop into balls
of flame and shoot into the child. The child cries out, covering her
face as the balls of fire and burning sap explode.

"Snow Witch, are you mad!" screams Riva, pushing the old woman away from
the child.

The child is crying as Riva picks her up and cradles the child in her
arms. Rebo protectively moves in front of the Snow Witch and growls.

"Look at her," says the Snow Witch softly. "That blast was enough to
kill a snow cat. Is the child harmed?"

Riva pulls the sobbing child's hands away from her face and inspects
her. The child sniffles softly, and Riva strokes her trembling wings.

"Aye, she's the Cursed Child," says the Snow Witch. "Whoever harbors her
brings doom upon themselves and all who are near. I'm sorry Riva and
Rebo, but in the name of the Tribes of the Snow Waste, I must command
you to get rid of the child."

Riva and Rebo say they would obey, but they never do. They hide the
child in their cave when visitors came around. The child is happy,
knowing laughter for the first time in an age. As the years passed, the
child never grows older and never does speak. But Riva and Rebo love her
all the same.

One night, the nightmare catches up with the child. The air fills with
the sound of a terrible hiss, echoing throughout the valley, as the ooze
bubbles through the snow. The ooze creeps forward towards the child, and
the child once again feels the mind of the terrible ooze hammering
against her, hungry for her, filled with the desire to consume her. Riva
and Rebo scream at her to flee, to escape, even as the ooze dissolves
their fur and flesh.

And, once again, the Cursed Child flees.

=====

How often do families take in the Cursed Child? She doesn't remember.
She tries not to stay around other people for long, for she knows they
would be doomed. She knows she is cursed to kill all those that she
loves. So the Cursed Child always is always running.

But sometimes she tires, sometimes she feels so lonely that her heart
weighs her down. She settles down on some rocks, high up on a mountain
trail. Vaguely, it reminds her of her home so long ago, the castle in
the mountains. She doesn't feel the nightmare near so she allows her
soft to sleep.

The child is awakened by rough hands. She sits up and stares at the
strange people who surround her. They are not much taller than she is,
though three times as wide, with long bristling beards.

"Who are ye, child?" asks one of the small people. "We are clangoru, eh.
What race are you? Can ye understand me?"

The child doesn't answer. It is the same old dance whenever the she
meets others. She knows she should run away, but she is tired and
lonely. She allows the clangoru to take her to their home. It is a
kingdom within the mountains that they call Grimkeep.

The clangoru put the child in a room of her own. She is near other
children, who are delighted when she flies in the high roofed ceiling.
She finds it easy to be lulled in the easy life of these people.

But soon enough, as always, the child feels the nightmare approach, its
hunger for her beyond reason. When the nightmare is near, the clangoru
don't let her leave Grimkeep. They say it is for her own protection. She
cannot make them understand, so she withdraws to her room, sitting on in
a corner with her knees drawn up to her chest.

Something different occurs this time. She is visited by two strange
people. One is tall, dressed in black armour, his skin ebony and glowing
with power, two iron tipped tusks jutting up from either side of his
mouth. At his side is a clangorim, but the clangorim has gleaming gold
skin and a bristling red beard falling down his chest like a river of
burnished bronze.

"So this is the runt," says the clangorim, hands on his hips. "Grimkeep
kept her here so I could see her for myself. I think the old legends are
true, Urlach!"

"The legend of the Cursed Child," says Urlach. "And we're the ones to
have found her, Klangratch. She certainly is fast. I bet she could give
Shanth a run."

"Listen, lass," says Klangratch to the girl, "You know what you are? You
know you're a Vernal God?"

"I'm not sure she understands us," says Urlach. "She seems to be
simple."

"What in blazes were her people thinking!" growled Klangratch. "Raising
a simple minded child as a Vernal God! What a colossal waste of power!"

Urlach doesn't answer, but just wraps a band of dark power around the
child's waist. The child tries to run away but cannot escape the band
that holds her. She doesn't understand why the glowing pair hold her.

There is a battle in mountains around Grimkeep as the nightmare finally
comes. The child is frantic to escape but the band holds her. She waits
for the inevitable. For the nightmare to finally claim her.

But the glowing people have powers that the child does not know exist.
Before the nightmare reaches Grimkeep itself, the one called Urlach
opens up magical passages that allow Klangratch to lead the clangoru to
safety. Urlach himself picks up the child and takes into the strange
catacombs, that twist and turn and confuse the child.

The child is eventually taken to a secluded cavern far away, and there
are only Klangratch and Urlach for company. The clangoru have been taken
somewhere else. Unable to move far from the cavern because of the band
around her waist, the child sits miserably on a rock with her head
against her knees. Sometimes she hums a lullaby that Riva had sung to
her, but most often she just stays silent.

Others like Klangratch and Urlach begin arriving to visit the child. The
child tries to hide from them, but Urlach always pulls her forward and
let the others inspect her and try to speak to her.

"Well you were wise not to take her to any of our enclaves or near any
population," says the one called D'varsha after inspecting her for some
time. "Muud has part of her essence and can track her anywhere. He's
probably on his way here now."

"This is disgusting!" rants the one called Dionamus. "You are treating
her like an animal! And you are holding her against her will!"

"She's like a magnet for Muud," says Urlach. "Surely we can use that to
our advantage."

"She's an innocent," says Dionamus. "She's only a child!"

"Innocent!" laughs Klangratch. "She's a bloody herald of Muud. How many
peoples have died because of her, Dionamus? You want us to let her free?
To wreck havoc on how many more civilizations?"

"And she is certainly not a child," says D'varsha softly. "Look at that
necklace she wears. Those runes are from a tae'dae tribe of the northern
wastes that have been extinct for 300 years."

"Look at her. She doesn't understand any of this," says Dionamus, but he
leaves shortly later.

Indeed, the child doesn't understand. She trembles and looks
beseechingly at these powerful people who prod her and poke her with
magical instruments. All she wants to do is to run away, to flee, as she
always does. Before the nightmare finds her.

The child is more miserable than she has ever been. Trapped by
Klangratch and Urlach, they do not let her flee as she always has done
before. Instead, they experiment with the child, devising magical
constructs to surround the child, allowing the nightmare to get closer
and closer to her before jerking her into the catacombs that Urlach
opens. Each time, the nightmare becomes angrier and angrier, if that is
even possible, inflaming his terrible desire for the child, which bats
at her relentlessly.

Always on the move, Klangratch and Urlach continuously use child to lure
the nightmare hither and thither, just before escaping through the
catacombs. Surrounding her with ever changing globes of magical energy,
they eventually allow the nightmare to get close enough to touch her
magical prisons. Finally, one day, they clap each other on the
shoulders, congratulating themselves, finally having produced the
perfect magical globe after so many years of work. They take no notice
of the miserable child within.

Klangratch and Urlach place the globe with the child inside to hover in
the air over a swamp. Soon enough, Muud comes after the child. She is
frantic with terror but she cannot leave the globe. Muud bubbles below
her, sending up tendrils of ooze towards the globe. But the tendrils
that cling against the globe's surface cannot pull her down, nor can
they release her. Muud sends more tendrils up at the child, only
becoming more severely stuck.

Klangratch and Urlach finally approach to see how well their trap has
worked. They are extremely happy to see that Muud can do nothing but try
to engulf the child.

"This is it," says Urlach. "Muud is ensnared. He cannot release himself
until he devours the child, and he cannot reach the child so long as she
lives. Both their energies feed the trap, making it stronger than the
sum of themselves."

"Pity we can't save the child," comments Klangratch.

Other shining beings come to observe the child. They monitor Muud and
the child, circling around them until they are sure the trap will hold.

"Won't the other Soulless just free Muud?" asks the shining one known as
Tzaraziko.

"Not if we sink her here," says D'Varsha. "This basin has always had a
destabilizing aura that somehow stifled psychic communications. I don't
think they'll be able to be found if we sink her into the swamp."

"I cannot countenance this!" says Dionamus for the hundredth time.

"What choice do we have now?" asks Tzaraziko. "Surely, we cannot free
Muud?"

"She was raised as a vernal god," says Juliana to Dionamus. "And as
vernals, it is our duty to battle the Soulless in any way we can.
Obviously, she should never have been raised but since she has, does
this negate her duty? Wouldn't any of us make this sacrifice if we

"But this isn't her choice!" says Dionamus.

"It is still her duty," says Juliana. "And her sacrifice will save the
lives of millions of mortals, and it will be a step towards winning our
endless war. Could you in good conscience walk away from that to save
her?"

Dionamus doesn't answer but shakes his head, and departs. There is no
triumphant joy as the shining ones surround the child.

"This is a terrible thing we do," whispers Tzaraziko. "It will be
remembered as our greatest crime."

"There's no other choice," says Urlach and none are left to argue.

Summoning their magics, the shining ones circle around the child and
Muud. The child screams as Muud begins sinking into the swamp, pulling
the child with him. Steam rises up around them, thick and putrid,
billowing in air like cancerous clouds. Slowly, they sink deeper and
deeper into the ground and away from the world above.

Where it will be forever silent and dark.

Interesting, too bad we can't find anymore traces of the Tae'dae tribe she visited, plus also about Grimkeep, wonder if we'd find it as well, ruins or not.

While we're on it, has anyone managed to get the Lord of the Contagion's description? If you have, please post it for all us mortals to drool at his sight once more?

Very well written dreams/story.

I read it to my wife as a bedtime story last night. She loved it! (she doesn't play muds or computer games in general)

Foul drips of putrescent flesh peel and dribble from the blackened bones of this
gargantuan, inhuman monstrosity. A sickening miasma of foul energy wreathes
tightly around his immense form, bespeaking of unthinkable plagues and dread
ills. Glowing crimson sockets have been sunk deep into his skull, twitching with
an eerie disinterest. Bony protrusions spear out from along his arms and legs,
row after row of yellowed, sharp daggers with needle-points. The pure malignance
exuded by this entity is overwhelming and entirely oppressive.
It has 75 months of usefulness left.
It weighs about 31 pounds.

*snuggle figurine*