Harmonic Resonance: Info Post

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Questing Country: Harmonic Resonance
the final Jaunt of lucky round 16 of Synodiporia
September 1st - October 10th

In Questing Country, for thousands of years - but not forever - the collective unconsciousnesses of more than half a dozen species have been meeting as friends and allies. Under the guidance of Spirit Companions, young Dreamers are empowered to take up Roles and Archetypes in the long fight against nightmares, keeping the Waking World safe from their worst fears and desires. Of course, the sophisticated adults of all species almost never believe there’s such a thing as a world of dreams - in a universe with space travel, who believes in magic?

For the Chosen Dreamers of Questing Country, it’s been three months since the end of the cross-time meeting called the Ouroboros Retrograde. In the Starquake Era, the quakes have nearly stopped creating dangerous Transformed Lands, and the Transformed Lands have nearly stopped turning Dreamers into Harbingers. One gate, the Opaline Bore, has been left mysteriously open to permit Timewalkers from the past to visit.

The Oracles have been concerned with two problems, these last three months. The first issue: Human and Gorgon nightmares have both been getting stronger. Human nightmares were expected to grow worse; as humans spread out across the cosmos and discover its size, they discover new unknowns to fear. It’s happened to every starfaring race. But the increase is sudden, and stronger than expected - and no one has the least notion why Gorgons are experiencing the same thing.

The other problem is the Arcana. Spirit Companions have been warning that, while the damage the Arcana did on their last visit has been healed, they are afraid what might happen if the Arcana return. And anything a Spirit Companion fears is almost a nightmare in its own right…

But the Oracles have hope to share. Questing Country is always changing, and there are three new changes that promise assistance.

First, the Hecatites have perfected INVLEP, also called “Envelope,” a program which, when installed in Synthetics, allows them to emulate dreaming. New Synthetic Dreamers have already begun entering Questing Country and being Chosen.

Second, there are now Diabolin dreamers. In fact, there have now been Diabolin dreamers for centuries - a tiny minority of Diabolin have both a genetic mutation and a neurological syndrome which lets them fall unconscious. These periods of unconsciousness are more like comas than restful sleep, but they allow these rare few Diabolin to dream. This is a change in the timeline. While Champions may protest that they’ve had Diabolin friends for years, Oracles and Spirit Companions insist that this is a change in the timeline since the Ouroboros - and a good one. Diabolin understand nightmares - they experience waking hallucinations constantly - and so they’re very unfazed by things which terrify other species.

Third, for two months now, some Dreamers, through means unknown, have become Conductors. This is a new Role - possibly what Harbingers were always meant to be, Dreamers empowered by the unknowable Starmovers. Conductors are almost immune to negative emotion, and each possesses a bident, a weapon that can pin nightmares in place before they flee. All of them have healing powers among their magic. What’s more, they form one single Bond group, and within that Bond group, they can send telepathic messages. Their arrival - though so far very few Adversaries, Champions, or Oracles have become Conductors - is maybe the most hopeful change.

They have the calm of the Synthetics, the fearlessness of Diabolin, the telepathy of the Travelers, and the power to defeat the new Human and Gorgon nightmares. As always, Questing Country draws from the dreams and desires of its Dreamers to give the Waking World a fighting chance.

All that could go wrong now, the Oracles say, is if the Arcana returned before they were ready to face that trouble as well...

Content Notice | The Known Worlds | Species | Dream Forms | Roles | Changing Roles | Timelines & Summaries | Questing Country Locations | Bonds & Bonded Groups | Casting Call/Plot Role Announcements | Glossary | Skills | Calendar | Who’s the What of Which | Player Resources | Questions/FAQ | Plotting

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QUESTING COUNTRY LOCATIONS

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In Questing Country, as in Liminal Space, almost everything moves and changes. What follows are a few significant locations that remain recognizable despite their changes. The floating islands In The Sky of Questing Country are where almost all Chosen Dreamers spend almost all their time - locations On The Ground tend to be more primal, only visited in moments of deep significance to the dreamer. It is now known that the “Backstage” structures where the rules of Questing Country are shaped are Under The Ground, but Backstage is not meant to be accessed and there are presently no known paths leading there.

IN THE SKY:
The Road of Trials: The chains of floating islands in the sky of Questing Country that knit far-flung portions of dream together are known as the Road of Trials. Every single island contains at least two links to other islands, and every single island contains some kind of obstacle to travel. While they rarely house nightmares, they’re easy to get lost upon, and they contain many challenging, mysterious, or hostile dream-creatures and scenarios which seem to be meant to help Champions practice, or to teach lessons about looking past appearances and using power carefully.

The Gauntlet of Hearts: A section of the Road of Trials that only appears when a Valence Quest is underway, the Gauntlet cannot presently be found.

Hushabye Meadow: Adjoining the Road of Trials, hovering above the Forest Pools, Hushabye Meadow is a place of sweet dreams, for Dreamers to rest, relax, and heal. It is always mild and pleasant and pastel, though the specific details change. Hushabye Meadow is also a favorite spot for the oldest and wisest Oracles to exchange information.

Unbreakable Island: An island of squashy, flexible spheres of colorful plastic-like material, one bridge away from Hushabye Meadow. The spheres can be reshaped, and are always soft, but cannot be broken by any known force. When, on rare occasions, Adversaries or Dark Oracles have been so out of control that they need to be restrained, Unbreakable Island is where the restraints are made.

The Psychano: A flying mountain where raw dreamstuff erupts from deeper in dreams, and can be easily harvested and shaped into tools, buildings, portals, pocket dimensions, or a hundred impossible things. Unfocused minds may produce nightmares and curses from even small thoughts and emotions in the presence of this much amorphous dream energy.

Transformed Lands: Places where Starmover dreams have rendered the landscape either invisible or burning with turquoise flame. These landscapes do not alter as often as the rest of Questing Country, and even when they change, they keep the “glitched” features of burning or invisible terrain. There are Transformed Lands on the Ground as well, but they’re much less common.

ON THE GROUND:
The Forest Pools: A thick, magical forest containing many small fountains, springs, geysers, pools, ponds, and lakes, the Pools are the natural home of unbonded Spirit Companions, and where Chosen Dreamers are drawn to find their Companion before they become Champions. The Pools give off less raw dreamstuff than the Psychano, but more than any other location - dreamcatchers can be filled very quickly here. Nightmares tend to avoid this region, and it is very easy to travel away from, but difficult to travel to. The Opaline Bore sits in a dry lakebed in the Pools, within sight of Hushabye Meadow from above.

Opaline Bore: The site of the Backstage confrontation between Dreamers and the Arcana has become a gateway blocking the way Backstage - a half-buried opal, its top eight feet off the ground, with a hole drilled through it, making it into an arch. The dreaming island it is on changes appearance, but the Opaline Bore itself never does, and serves as a link for Dreamers travelling from the Rise of the Adversaries or Double Valence auras. Visitors from or to past eras are rare but not unheard of over the last three months since the Ouroboros Retrograde jaunt, and they report what Oracles are calling “quasimnesia” - they can remember time spent with Dreamers in the era they visit, but no knowledge of their home or their trip which would constitute “spoilers.” They also report that the amount of time which has passed since the Ouroboros Retrograde is constant - i.e., if two months after the end of the Jaunt, a Dreamer left the Rise of the Adversaries Era, picked up a friend in the Valence Era, and they both went to the Starquake Era, it would be two months post-Ouroboros in both the Valence and Starquake Eras. If they spent a month in the Starquake Era and went home, they’d return to a point three months post-Ouroboros in their home era.

Lastly, all attempts to enter Backstage through the Opaline Bore result in time travel, instead.

The Spirit Oasis: One of the Forest Pools, but one unlike the others. Here, around the mist-breathing mirrored pool in a thick and trackless wood, Spirit Companions and Familiars grow, drawing in power and knowledge alike, but also grow wilder and more willful, more demanding. Dopplegangers are a serious threat. Unbonded Companions may outright attack Adversaries, Pillars, or even Oracles and Champions whose goals they do not approve of. None of the dreamstuff here seems usable for any other purpose, but wildness and animal cunning can still be used to a clever Champion’s gain, to be sure...

The Cave of Idols: The Cave is full of illusions and restraints, and seems to serve much the same purpose to Oracles that the Road of Trials serves to Champions - a practice zone where greater discipline and self-knowledge can be acquired.

Kingfisher Castle: An elegant castle of white, pink, and silver with bird-embroidered banners and an ever-shifting interior lavished with art. Magic, Bonds, Psychic and Liminal Skills do not function as intended here, or only at a small fraction of their power. The Castle is always a stop on the way to the Valence when there is a Valence Quest, but unlike the Gauntlet of Hearts, it can be found at other times as well. The Castle is one of the rare locations that moves between the floating islands and the “ground level” as it pleases.

The Young Sea: A boundary between Questing Country and other dreams, the Sea is mobile and changeable, and contains all the secrets we don’t know we know: things forgotten, repressed, or misunderstood. But in these deeps swim all manner of unknown nightmares as well.

The Lighthouse: Built on a spit of land projecting into the Young Sea, those directing the beam of the Lighthouse can search the sea for their own memories and insights, for forgotten secrets, and even glimpses of the Waking World. But using the Lighthouse quickly draws shadowy monsters out of the waves, and it’s hard to see only what you want - you may also glimpse truths about yourself that you find uncomfortable, or rumors and gossip told about you.