The dreams have been getting worse lately. Even during your waking hours, you've felt a tightness in your chest, and a sense of impending doom, but despite your best efforts, you've been unable to determine what they mean.
You (all) have had these recurring nightmares for years in which you were running from some unknown and unseen force. In the dreams, you were always racing against "the clock", and knew that if you weren't successful at whatever you were trying to do (which was never clear in any of the dreams...), that there would be dire (but vague/unknown) consequences.
In many of the dreams, you've had to fight bizarre creatures with unexplainable powers. Secrecy is another constant theme in the dreams, because it seemed that even speaking about certain things could make them happen, as could drawing a lot of attention to yourselves, for some reason. It was as if the dream itself was your enemy, but that it was only vaguely aware of you... unless you did something to get its attention. So you learned to be quiet. To watch. To wait. To only act when you knew it would count. To be patient. And often to dread sleep...
You've always had the same group of allies in the dreams. Oddly, even though they seem as real now as people you see every day, you've never actually met any of them, as far as you can remember, and you're unsure if they actually exist. These allies have strange powers of their own, and as the years have worn on, their powers (and appearances) have actually changed, but you know that they are still the same "people"... at least in the dreams. Their names have always seemed to slip away when you wake up, though... until tonight...
You're woken up by an odd, tentacle-armed demon pouring a bucket of water on you, screaming
"Wake up Bitches! OK, this shit is about to get real! Training is over, and the Time of the Reaping is coming, for us, or them!
Tonight, the Veil will be lifted. When you wake up, you'll remember every detail of what I'm about to tell you, and of all of these special dreams you've been having over the years. Yeah, that's right Motherfuckers, I know all about them. You know why? Because I made them! I couldn't risk my own ass coming to fill you motherfuckers in on what happened... so I had to sneak into your minds while you slept! And I couldn't just give it to you all at once, or let you keep all of it, either. Else you might have went off asking the wrong questions and gotten your fool selves killed, and I couldn't have that. Because I need you, Bitches. You're my soldiers, and it's Time to go to War!"As you look around, you see your allies from all the earlier dreams, and although you'd expect them to be soaking wet, none are... and neither are you, now that you think about it... Maybe it was just a metaphorical bucket of water... And if you woke up, why does this still feel like a dream?
"Now, before you Motherfuckers start asking all kinds of stupid questions, first open up these motherfucking books and take a look at them."You all realize that you're holding a small black book. They all look identical.
"Go ahead. Take your time. As deep as we are, we can afford a little more."As you open the book and start to skim the pages, it all seems familiar to you. You realize you've seen bits and pieces of all of this in the dreams you've had over the years. Before long, you feel like you don't even need to read anymore. You know it all, already. And you remember the names of your companions, although they don't look exactly like they were described in the book.
The foul-mouthed demon says
"Now... we come down to it. This P-P Motherfucker is going to Ascend soon, and you motherfuckers need to be getting the fuck out of here before that happens... especially after you wake up from this dream... as even having all of this stuff in your head might be enough to draw his attention, even if you don't ever speak a word of it. Luckily... I've got your asses a ticket back to the past. It's not any of that shit in that book, either. That's way too damned dangerous. Even though he doesn't know exactly what happened the first time around, or who is responsible, he is definitely more wise and paranoid about shit this time... and I'm sure he'll be watching the Myth Drannor Portal, and... well, you know... that damned green globe that about fucked us up last time we did this shit...
And don't even think about saying you're not going, because you know you're gonna be fucked if you don't. If you listen to me, you just might survive. I've learned a thing or two since we tried this shit last time, and I'm gonna put that to work helping you motherfuckers out... although I won't be coming along for the ride personally. We'll keep in contact though, same way we always have... when you sleep."The grin on his face is
unspeakably wicked.
"So... any questions? Or are you ready to hear how you're getting the fuck out of this soon about to be fucked up time?"You all know the contents of Marlowe's Black Book. Also, Lucid Dreaming is a class skill for everyone, always (feel free to rearrange skill points to reflect this, if you want). You all know each other's names, and have a basic understanding of everyone's capabilities, since you've fought together many times in your nightmares.
