The Day of Thunder

[Wu Dai Lu]

"They might know something. Worth an ask, at least. I gather these people were quite secretive, though. They weren't the first group to live here temporarily, either," she mused.

She nodded. "I can see how one could get the impression it was only the visitors. We're mostly used to it at this point. These nightmares are better than some of the ones many here experience before coming here, and they last less than a week, so it's a decent trade."

[Saru Shang]

"Used to it..." Shang said with a bemused blink as the mirth drained from her face slightly. "I find it a little hard to believe that I'd ever get used to something like that happening, much less a week. It would be enough to make me think twice about settling here at the very least, no doubt that has some pervasive small effect on the morale of the residents, even if they aren't saying much. What of the Kami Empire? There are enough growing settlements around the land that would be more than happy to receive your population. Well, once this shadow on the land is lifted and I am confident it will be soon."

[Reiko Ohta]

"Hai. Not to mention the other dangers around here like the water and the unsettled spirits. Though I suppose people can get used to anything and how to handle it... I know people have asked before why one would choose to live in the mountains when one can live somewhere without the risk of avalanches or passes being blocked."

Ohta mused on all this, looking at Chouri curiously.

[Wu Dai Lu]

"Most of the village is skilled at lucid dreaming, so it impacts most of us less, as well. It's as you said, Reiko-sama - people develop skills to deal with environmental complications," she acknowledged. "But the people here... For many of them, this is the only place they could seek refuge, or find help for what they needed. It may be worth asking their stories if you need inspiration, though most of them wouldn't be happy tales."

[Saru Shang]

Shang narrowed her gaze on Ohta and nodded. "I understand the comparisons made here. The human spirit is very admirable and we've endured through the ages prior to the fall of the Kami with our strength alone, at least with matters we can deal with our own two hands. When it comes to the mountains, catastrophic avalanches aren't so commonplace. Dealing with snow is much more easier than dealing with intangibles such as dreams and strange spiritual oddities of the land. There are tribes that refuse to settle somewhere where common occurrences of things that happen in fours or if certain types of dotted mushrooms are found on trees."

She turned to look at Chouri. "I suppose I'm saying, you and those under your protectorate must be made of really stern stuff. Or they must come from worse places, it would be interesting to hear their tales. And yours."

(OOC: Is there anything decipherable or tidbits of information when reading the scroll in front of them?)

[Reiko Ohta]

"And I am curious what kind of refuge would drive someone here, rather than elsewhere in the Empire. What about here would make such a place any safer a refuge than the lands of any of the Clans, or the Imperial lands."

She blushed very slightly as she looked at Shang, "I did not mean to imply anything about Dragon lands, by the way, Saru-sama. I live next to the mountains in Spider lands myself. It is just things I have heard asked about such places before."

[Wu Dai Lu]

"By and large, it's the latter," Chouri admitted. "In some cases, I don't know, Reiko-sama. People don't usually come here deliberately. They tend to be drawn, I suppose. I was."

"Mine isn't terribly interesting, and not the worst here. Nobody died, as far as I know. I didn't kill anyone. A childhood illness, but no horrible maiming."

(OOC: There is. Lore: History/Intelligence TN 25 to try and make sense of it.)

[Reiko Ohta]

(OOC: There is. Lore: History/Intelligence TN 25 to try and make sense of it.)

Ohta could just make sense of it, though it was tough. It was quite different than what she was used to, in addition to how the damage effected its readability.
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(roll of 25 since Seekers tech for Void should mean +2k2 rather than +2k1)

[Saru Shang]

"My apologies for the misunderstanding, Reiko-san," she said with a dip of her head in her direction. "I suppose the evening has put me on edge slightly. I'm sure we could all use some clarity under the rainy clouds today. Maybe answers or inspiration can brighten the day, or at least provide some light at the end of the cavern tunnel! The only way is forward now! Yesterday is unfortunately out of reach."

Shang would try her darndest when it comes to reading these broken and faded semblance of words on the scroll. While she was used to deciphering shorthand and scribbles on parchment, these words really tested her. She fancied herself a painter but even this was too abstract for interpretation! Thankfully, Ohta was here. Right?

Day 4 - Mid Morning, Lore: History/Intelligence: Void Spent (1/4) for +1k1 | 4k3 ⇒ 17 (TN: 25)

She nodded soundly at Chouri, accepting the details as they were. "Of course, Chouri-san. I must say at least, there are really no 'worst' when it comes to backstories. Wounds are dealt and emotions are real regardless of the actual toll left by bodies."

[Canary]

Ohta could just make sense of it, though it was tough. It was quite different than what she was used to, in addition to how the damage effected its readability.
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(roll of 25 since Seekers tech for Void should mean +2k2 rather than +2k1)

The scrolls describe a group of people who met someone described a a "dream-speaker" at one point, with most of the rest of the description of who this person was vague, missing, or blurred. The head of their tribe didn't think the person they met's knowledge was useful for some reason, so they got together and went out in search of a place where the realm of Dreams was close. They found themselves drawn to this place.

Like this village, they found the considerably more broken down remnants of the previous people and began looking into their theories about dreams. They discuss how the only knowledge left from the previous tribe was a pictogram-based language that they were doing their best to decipher. Aside from that are intermittent discussions about surviving in the area, some of its natural features, and other aspects of their lives.

The end doesn't say why left left, but there's some discussion about something being fruitless.

[Reiko Ohta]

Ohta leans in and squints, looking over the legible parts without picking it up, moving the paper gently with fingertips if something is unclear.

"They... weren't the first people here, interestingly enough. This Isawa tribe of ours was drawn here and was looking into the people that were here before THEM. Some sort of more primitive tribe with a pictographic language. After they were drawn to this place in their search for a way to the realm of dreams."

She sat up more properly, hands folded in her lap, "It seems this place has drawn in its fair share over the years then. For reasons more than individual ones. And the only clue as to why they left was their thought that there was something fruitless about being here, whether in their search for the Realm of Dreams, looking into the people here before them, or something else. It certainly paints a picture of this place more thoroughly."

[Saru Shang]

Shang feigned a bit of understanding at the material before her and merely nodded in agreement with Ohta. Ohta managed to do the reading for the both of them, at the very least! "That really deepens the story further, to say the least. I would have thought that the mystically inclined Isawa tribe would have been at least partially responsible for the oddities of the land. In a way, it seems there is an innate allure to this place, constantly bringing others here like a cycle of sorts."

She tapped her chin a few times with her fan. "If you will, suppose they were looking for some sort of metaphorical door to the realm itself and found themselves barred from entry. It seemed strange they would just give up everything and move on when they were so close. Then again, circumstances were far different then, I'm sure whatever spiritual ailment wasn't plaguing the land. I don't know if this changes anything of their findings or intent."

[Wu Dai Lu]

Chouri shrugged. "It's a good question. It's possible they were intended to research the magic of the person they met and were stymied."

[Saru Shang]

She looked to Chouri curiously. "Have you ever tried to follow up on the research that they were seeking, or someone else? Surely, someone among you was at least a little curious in following their footsteps in the last few years. Just a muse, it would seem rather interesting if the circumstances that were changed did or undid whatever they were looking to do. I could scarcely conjure as to what. Don't we already enter the world of dreaming in our sleep already? Why seek another way?"

[Reiko Ohta]

"There are all sorts of possibilities as to what they couldn't get. I won't even speculate too much. Not from these papers."

Ohta waves at the papers with one hand.

"Not to mention precisely what they were seeking. A way into Yumedo, no doubt, but the WHY and what they hoped to do once they were there is just as important I think. Something beyond what could be done in sleep though, no doubt."

[Wu Dai Lu]

She nodded. "A reasonable hypothesis."

[Saru Shang]

"I'm sure you've heard of a few theories already, Chouri-san," she said with an apologetic smile at the headwoman. "I don't mean to overstep my presence here, and I know that I am, but I also hope to not retread on parts that might have been already explored. I imagine that you already had people in the village explore this old research already, probably? Seeing as you seem to have normalized the strange dreams here, you might have already caught up to the same experiences as the previous residents, maybe. To be a capable lucid dreamer is not a common feat, at least by my understanding. Only a few wisepeople across settlements here and there, and only by their word.""

[Wu Dai Lu]

She nodded. "Indeed. Even people who can do it can't always do it every time. I've been exploring the research myself."

[Saru Shang]

Shang gave another look at the documents before giving up and straightening in her seat. "I might be out of my element here but I might at least know some people who can help. Surely, such as people like Reiko-san here and she might know others too. Is there anywhere we could help?"

[Wu Dai Lu]

"Hmm... Do you know a Nezumi?" she asked with a chuckle.