the book of dreams

[tesla_ff]

setting: a withered path in north osteth, a lone old grey well muscled sho warrior trods northward between two mountains in a deep forest.

"fate. is it a word, or a notion. a reality, or an insubstantial belief? to ponder such a notion of fate is to have lost faith in my deities. whom, by my reflection, have only shown either thier lack of existance, or lack of any desire to be a part of my life. "

rounding a tree brought the old warrioir face to face with a large montrosity. many horns proceded from the head and back of the roughly 20 foot tall beast. surpentine in form, the creature had 4 eyes; 2 above and 2 below its head. from its hands sparked lightning and from its mouth spat acid. the beast attaked as soon as the man had rounded the tree ina lightning flurry of smoke and horn.

"nsrrrak!!!" the creatures call..nay..not its call..its death cry proceeded like a great eagle that started the voice of the world. a small sturdy old man was slowly wipeing blood off his hands and feet.

"fate. perhapts. could anything be greater? the rush of battle. for years since a young man have i charged headlong without regard for any concern of such a word. for what is life? but to die? and what in death? on the one hand, the teachers say it is everlasing glory for the good, or everlasting pain for the evil. on the other, if their is no fate, then death is nought but sleep. and what sleep without dream has done any man ill? a good man, will not fear death. but greet it. as i have time and time again"

the man sighed as he looked over the strange creature. the power to slay it was not his, but a power granted by a creature from under the world. the ability was gone form him for a full cycle of the moon now.

"what manner of creature.....?" the body decayed before a close inspection could be made. the man continued along the small path lost in thought of this new found foe and his burning conscios. a wound on his arm bled freely, and a voice called to him from the path:

"hahaha! there goes tesla mighty amongst the sho! for his Gods have forsaken him! hahahahaha!"

the old warrior stumbled along the path, and a dizziness spun at him as he tried to focus on the constant moveing voice.

"hahahahahaha! where am i tesla? where are you? did you kill the beast? was it good? hahahahaha!"

" who calls me!?" cried the now running vet, crashing through brush and blinding trees, the path disapeared from view and he caught a glimpse of his acuser crashing just beyond the brush

" hahahahaha! mighty amongst the sho! what God do you call on o mighty tesla? hahahaha! can ..haha! .you.hahahahaha!...see...ha! ..me?"

at last, the old warrior was beyond the trees into a clearing. there was a swirling blackness spouting from the gruond with a grinding noise. his accuser stood just below it with a great smile and blew glowing eyes. it was himself.

"fate? or god? or lack of god? what persues each of us, or what is it each of us persue in our quest for power? is it enough to die to yourself, blind and deaf to the world accept your own voice in your ears?"

tesla mused to himself as he felt the strength running from his limbs, and tasted the blood on his lips from the assualt of the creature that was himself. i

" inaction, is the crime of the masses, that lead to a lesser quality of life for many"

under the blows of his self image, and the weapons and fierce attaks that he had used so many times against others being used on himself the old warrior sprang into action. with a roll he came behind himself , simultaneosly eating a mushroom he had placed in his belt for quik access to heal his wounds. bash after bash landed from self to self blood flying from both bodies. no sound existed in the ears of the fighter but the sound of the mountian wind.

reflecting back the old warrioir if he would tell, wouldnt remeber being in the fight. but only watching it. as if removed from the pain of it. and the sounds. and the smell. no, he observed, as his body fell before himself, and the ground coming to life and swallowing him whole.

setting: a livley bar in ayan baqar. the sun has begun to set.

among the patrons are some well accomplished fighters showing their varios trophies from the days hunt. the approach of a tall withered looking old man (indeed taller than even the youngest and strongest of the patrons, yet not tall enough to be an empyrean) silenced most of the bars canter.

" you know that man there? thats tesla. they say ulgrim found him"
" you dont say? whats wrong with him"
"wrong? or whats right? i hear no one can kill him in battle"
"he dont look that dangerous, accept those strange glowing eyes!"
" yeah i heard he was curled up like a baby near the ayan well thats what hoggy said. said he ner' would speak or move but layed their crying like a baby"


" fate, if such a thing exists, is in your hands. for if we defeat ourselves, then their is nowhere you cannot go. no one you cannot be. for once you are gone, everything becomes you."

[Renegade Knight]

The tone of your writing is clearly leaning toward the darker side, and to be honest it reminds me much of my own. Although, your English suffers, yet it may not be your first language, and thus I'm willing to dismiss it. The philosophical tone is one that lingers, and seems to blend existentialism with a slight political and social flare, such as in the line: "inaction, is the crime of the masses, that leads to a lesser quality of life for many."

Tesla, as in Nikola Tesla? He was quite the intellectual, and I regard him as a sort of personal hero. It'll be interesting to see what elements you tie in between character and history, if the Tesla of the story shall advance magic as Tesla did technology. It would be an interesting contrast.

Nonetheless, I enjoyed the tone of your writing, encore.

[tesla_ff]

the scientist and the publican (exerpt from the book of dreams)

setting: a grassy knoll on the outskirts of a booming city

scientist: hmm. if energy and matter cannot be created nor destroyed, then all we view is a part of the very body of God.

publican: how do you say? all the sins, the evils, even death and pain and suffering, and adultries and filth that exists in the world, do you really think that God would want that a part of his body?

scientist: i do not claim to know why God does what he does, i am simply makeing an observation

book title: book of dreams. author unknown
introduction:

to be or not to be. that is the question. compiled here will be things unseen, things forseen. things hoped. things hoped not. these words you read may be, may be not. as you may be , or may be not, by your faith in existance. but before we continue in the dreams and revealed souls in this book, we must first question this very being. and decide, it is.

setting: a library, with shelves that stretch from ceiling to floor. not one speck of dust is to be found. with only the smell of oils, ink, and wax from the tables that sit center of the massive circular room. two old men, well dressed and spoken sit at one of the 5 tables. the tables are arranged in such a way that the tiles of the floor almost give them a look of depth, in that they are in perfect order, a pyramid. the only difference that can rightly be said about the two men is one has a longer beard. the other dressed in similar colors and form, has a shorter darker beard, still grey, yet with a more telling of some youth left.

the vibrant voice of the younger man can be heard booming through the room;

younger elder: what do you mean by this? that you say, all is and is not? there can be no writing in such a fashion! for when such a topic is discussed you say nothing at all!

older elder : i mean to say, that we are only what we beleive we are, that by changeing the way you look at things, the things we look at change.

ye: the reason we exist is so old a question , that any answere can only bring about the topic of either God or chance to be its author, and wether or not there is life beyond this one. it is a futile argument.

eo: futile only if that is how you view things. but look there medwyn, and see the clock constructed by meaphus. can you say, that if given time, such an item would have made itself? from rock and iron, and wood?

medwyn: i daresay it could not. for to argue it could would to give chance a greater power than it has in the natural order.

oe: this clock then, is proof that it could only have been built by something intelligent? that no wolf, or beast of field, could manufacture such a thing?

medwyn: of course not, but if such a beast exists let me buy it!

oe: then by these observations, and i bid you patience to hear my words, are the basis that do explain existance being faith alone, and that it only exists when you have answered the question all either is, or is not.

medwyn nods with curtesy towards his patron.

oe: examine yourself the earth and the sky. examine also the human body, for many have said these come from chance, yet by examining a clock you have conceded that neither can it come from chance, nor anything that lacks intelligence. such an observation of something so definitivly simple means that that which is much more complicated can be addressed to the same rule.

medwyn: but to do so then means you to say it comes from "gods" and can you tell me one god that has answered your call?

oe: i cannot say one has. but i cannot say they could not. neither will i say there is more than one, nor can i say it cares, nor can i say what is when this life is not. i am only addressing existance as it is only, and not to interprete why, but only as an observation of what is.

medwyn: very well, please continue.

oe: if we ask, what was before the earth we can say sky? and before that? heavens? and before that a sun, and before that a galaxy or a greater ball of nothing, yet not nohting, for to be nothing, nothing can be, for only from something can something be. to continue in this method inevitably leads to one thing. this one thing that is. but only it is.

medwyn: lets say then it is.

oe: how does it know it is?

medwyn: what do you mean?

oe: to say there is only one thing, and nothing else, yet for anything to come of itself that has order or intelligence, by the first rules we have explored certainly say it must, then how does it know it is, when their is nothing but itself to base itself on?

medwyn: i beleive i see what you mean. that is a problem. for we have senses. hearing, sight, feeling of limbs, taste and smell. by these things we know what is.

eo: excellent! as it is so, yet if what was first only was of itself, and by traceing for whence came what only leads to one thing, then without nothing but itself to be, and yet from it comeing all things that are, then it was because it beleived it was. that is to say: it had faith it was. so then do we also have to have faith it is, or else nothing is.

medwyn: so you are then to explain that from this body or energy , made all that is placeing it together as much as the clock was put together. but what then were we made to have such thoughts as these, and if this then be the truth what has happened to this energy? i daresay that by creating, itself was destroyed, for if it was existance, could not be. because it would not be, and without it nothing is. a marvelous problem, so what then should i beleive? how then can i know i exist?

oe: and whom should i say is asking?

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[tesla_ff]

no sight. no sound. no taste. no smell. no feeling of limb, but feeling of heart, and existance of thought. when you tesla, have reached these things, will you find the goodness in yourself. -medwyn

tesla indeed would have smiled, if he could, at the rememberance of his teachers words. his early days in dereth with the old mage had tought him more than he could have hoped to understand in those days.

"where am i?" thought. no spoken words could come. shadowy feelings surround him and thoughts and feelings accosted him, and he was aware of other things around him, even laughter without sound. "who's there? are you dead?" echoing in his mind he heard the reply of the nothings "dead? whos dead? your the one whos dead, because your so unaware" tesla's thoughts cleared and from the pool of black came vision, or ..is it a memory?

setting: a small pond on a farm in shograka a little boy and a fish appear to be haveing a battle. the season is warm and birds and insects chirp happily about the endless greens surrounding the area, fairly close by is a small sho house.

the little fish splashed back into the water with a panic, the small boys hands not a sure enough grip to wrestle it from its environment. " awww!" cried the boy " im coming back tommorrow!" he exclaimed to the rippeling water. as he retreated towards the edge o the pond he landed a well aimed swat at a dragon fly as it fly by, leaving it a broken form on the waters surface " i will swat you like i did that fly tommorrow fish!" he exclaimed.

moveing to the edge of the pond the little boy peered into the water. the light of the sun glistened off the waters surface, and as the water stilled, the boy peered at the form of his face. roundish face it was with dark black hair falling almost into his eyes. the suns glare made the boy squint. peering deeper the boy became aware of a large form behind him. " eyah!" startled the boy went headfirst into the water and came up quickly to stand, pitifully wet, before his father.
"you startled me!" the laughter of the big man could have echoed off the hills. "did i now? and the way you move i couldnt have caught you! just like you could not catch that fish!" wearing the armor of the sho elites the man seemed to be a tower to the boy. he was proud of his father. his name was well known , and afforded the boy his own measure of respect from others for it. reaching down and plucking his son from the waters he set him near the edge and pointed to the broken dragon fly along the surface. "but what happened to this fellow?" the boy popped out his chest and moved his arm in a quik proud flurry. " i smashed it in mid flight!" he boasted. the father set his son back and was smileing still , but the boy sensed his fathers displeasure.

" why do i fight tesla?"
"you fight because there is alot of bad people out there and viamonts!"
"yes, and everyone must be protected of them, so why did you kill the dragonfly?"
"because..it..because.."
" because you could?"
the boy shrugged his shoulders and looked at the ground.
" son, the men i am fighting kill others because they can. when you get older, and learn the ways of fighting, take care that you respect the life of all that is good. and remeber all is good." the boy looked up quizically at his father. " all is good? what about the viamont? their not good."
"all life is good. but not all life does good things. we kill by the order of life and respect it. fish we kill for food. and we kill the men who wish evil to our people. but not all viamont wish evil." the man paused and reviewed his son, such a young age and to young to understand. " son, when you kill something or someone who is not a threat to you, you commit the same evil that we are fighting to protect you from."

.................................................. ..................................................

[tesla_ff]

"tesla!"
" heya hogs" tesla grinned and smacked his friend on the back " man am i glad to see you here, i just heard word of the artifact! you think we can do it with so few?" hoggy seemed to snort at the question. " i am god" hoggy replied with a grin "and so are you" both veteran warriors laughed.

tesla took a look around. there was a peice of falatocot structure barely visable from the earth stone and foilage. the smell of the swamp and dead things permeated the area. a crack was visable in the faceing of the structure where it had been forced open by obviosly very determined individuals or creatures. hoggy was engrosed in his spells as his magics brought him to great strength for the delve into the unknown. tesla began his own preperations.

"so what do we know so far?" tesla asked. "well..all i lknow is what the excited scholar in zaihkal was saying, that nummy dropped by and left a note with the coords to here and left a peice of an eye of somehting" hoggy had finished his preperations and was peering into the fisure. hoggy wrinkeled his nose and backed away " ug! it smells worse than tusker pewp"

tesla laughed and readied his shield. with a plunge tesla rushed into the crevice with hoggy at his heels.

the cavern opened up into a room with a drop hole. without pause tesla plunged into this hole and into a group of creatures " snakes" laughed hoggy. the two quickly dispatched the small group and paused to review the beautiful murals on the walls. a great eye was nestled on an alter in one of the paintings. " pretty" said a singsong from above the two " tahonie!" they both exclaimed "yeah gonna take off without me huh?" she stabbed with a smile " i see how ya are" tesla laughed and glanced toward hoggy who suddenly seemed to be looking for something in his pack "just wanted to make sure nothing in here could hurt you is all" tesla grinned "yeah right!" she laughed.

hoggy had headed off down one of two corriders in the room and tesla and tahonie both sped off to get in front of the eager mage. twisting around and down they slew many more "snakes" and backtracking and funneling through many massive decorated halls eventually found themselves at an alter heavily guarded by both scalvus and falatocot consorts. the dispatch took a greater drain than the three would have liked , but in the end they stood before the blood stained alter without anything to harrass them
"ewww!" tahonie exclaimed " whats THAT?" tesla and hoggy reviewed what had gotten the attention of the girl warrior, a blobby stinking dark grey eye sat upon the alter. "thats it?" tesla fumed. "if i knew that i would have left you back in that maze just to keep you from being bored!" hoggy laughed and reached towards the disgusting mass. as his hand made contact he dissapeared "uh.." tahonie glanced over at tesla. tesla sighed , readied some mushrooms on his belt, and reached for the eye.

coming to in the midst of an all out battle tesla was vaguly aware of hoggy's curses. the blobby eye things surrounded him and his life was fast fleeting from him. to his side he heard tahonie curse as she shoved a mushroom in her teeth and brought her sword with lightning flurries against the hardy and overquik blobs. tesla brought his cestus to bear and dropped 2 of the quik flying blobs before the three were once again united in a corner. hoggies spells breathed life into the pair as they hacked for what seemed an enternity until the room was finally clear. " jeebus!" exclaimed hoggy, "lets get out of here before more of those things return!" tesla and tahonie could barely keep up with the mage as he cantered off down the one hall leading from the large mishapen room. "this cavern is natural, it doesnt look like anyhting the falatocot would make" mused tesla as they rounded one of the uncut halls. stepping silently the three were unaccosted as they came to another cavern much larger than the one they left. the three stopped at the spectacle before them. two high matriarchs seemed to be in a state of death or undeath as black and red waves of magic trailed around their suspended bodies. throughout the room were many many more of the blob eyes that they had met in the first cavern. much more then the three could survive. the room was uncut as the other cavern was, and seem to hold no real shape at all, but was so untterly in lack of shape no shape could describe it. the ceiling was amass with stalagtites and stalagmites and a flow of water rushed from one spout to the right of them and entwined into a body at the left in a lake of large dark water. "look!" tahonie hissed. following her eyes they noticed the somehting large stirred in the dark waters. hoggy didnt even bother looking. his gaze was fixed at a point behind the two matrons where a natural crack allowed entrance to a small barely visable alcove. somehting shined in its depths. "um..tesla?" hoggy whispered "yeah?" tesla wispered back. "you remeber that day on the sing caul?" hoggy turned his eyes back toward the sturdy unarmed fighter. tesla just stared back with that knowing look. the look hoggy always saw when tesla was about to do something extremly stupid. or brave, however you want to look at it. tahonie watching the exchange between them knew exactly to what hoggy was refering and wispered harshly " well if thats the way its gonna be the less we think about it the better!"

tesla and tahonie charged into the room with loud yells and clanging of arms. indeed, such a spectacle was almost laughable, but the noise alone you would have believed 100 soldiers had just charged into the room. tesla circled the entire of the room coming to rest near the dark waters, furiosly he consumed the mushrooms in his belt as the whole world seem to collapse on him. he was vaguly aware of the slim form of his mage friend diveing into the crevice on the far side of the room as the waters exploded behind him. at the explosion he seen tahonie rush towards the large mass of tentacles that proceeded from the waters. with her sword before her she did a verticle dive into the monsterous form. tesla's flesh exploded as if it was never a part of him and he felt the pull of portal space.

.................................................. ....................................

tesla greeted ulgrim with a stout as he walked into the bar in ayan. at the bar was a grinning hoggy. his wounds suggested he had not yet had time to heal from the adventure. tahonie also still bloody was excitely telling the tale to burkholt who seemed to be enjoying every detail the pretty dark eyed adventure was willing to expell. reaching into a pack hoggy brought out a shining crystaline and gold statue that resembled the blobs they had fought. "so thats it?" tesla remarked as he looked over the bauble. " yep" hoggy stated with pride. "now hold it like this, see that mark there..yes hold it no..like this..ok now put it on..no..its a necklace see? this ..yes there. now, open my pack" tesla wearing the weird bauble opened hoggies pack. "wow!" all the items in the pack without digging were known to him. the strengths weakness and make of the items splashed into his head without even glancing in the pack. he became aware also of creatures nearby ayan but too far to actually see with any gift of foresight. hoggy stripped the item off from tesla and slid him a beer.

[tesla_ff]

medwyn observed the sho warrior from a distance as the man landed well practiced blows to a drudge prowler. the man was obviosly a well practiced fighter. but medwyn knew that the most well practiced fighters of ispar were no match for the creatures of dereth. he was still young compared to medwyn tho.

"die you comfounded creature! what manner of place could produce so ugly a form?!" "reyah! reyah! reyaaaaaaah! the last drudge fell much easier than the first ones he had adventured on. he was learning thier fighting methods, and soon they would pose him no threat. digging through the foul creatures sacks he pulled an apple and sat down under a tree and began munching.

looking around tesla noticed a farm was not too far from where he was now, he had been wandering and living off the drudge's for his first few weeks in dereth and was glad that at least something intelligent lived here. he was learned enough to be cautios tho. and simply observed the house while he ate.
the movements around the farm were eratic, if they were the farmers, they were unlike any farmer he had ever seen. they had 4 legs and just semed to be running aimlessly, like they had forgotton where they were going. curios, tesla approched the farm quietly for a better view.

shreth he would later learn, were not very good farmers. the farmhouse was under siege, and there were too many of the beast for him to help the surrounded farmer, luckily, the shreth didnt appear powerful enough to break down the sturdy structure. a voice spoke up suddenly next to the well practiced fighter " in trouble it would seem" tesla was so stunned that he had forgot to move and now looking at the old man before him with friendly smile, all he could do was stutter "h-how..how did you...?" "there are many things in this land that you will learn over time. i can tell you are new here, i have been here for many years. that farmer appears to be in trouble, i am but an old man, will you not help him?" the old man nodded to tesla's shield and kater strung to his side. tesla shook his head and stared at the man with disbelief " i am one man, old fellow, surly i recognize his plight, but i cannot help him.

" cannot, or will not?"
tesla looked the man over. he had snuck up on him so effectivly that tesla knew there was more to him than he apeared. he was not sure he could fight one of the very aggressive large creatures attaking the farm, he had never fought one. " tell me old man, why should i adventure myself to attack such a group of monsters?" the old man smiled at the comment "because inaction is the crime of the masses that leads to the lower quality of life for many. wouldnt you agree sho warrior?" tesla just stared at the old man with his jaw down. he had heard the saying before, he thought it was a family saying and not a known saying beyond his household. anytime a warrior of his family was to go to a almost certain death battle, it was included in thier prayers. tesla was convinced that the old man must be one of the gods.

readying his weapons he charged the now surprised group of shreth. he aimed for the closest, which happened to be one of the smaller of the group, with but three well placed blows and some footwork the beast buckled to the ground. its death cry alerted the rest of the beasts and tesla was soon overtaken. loosing his balance at the flood of teeth and clubbed feet tesla's last yell echoed off the mountains as he slipped into portal space.

sitting at the lifestone tesla was confused. he had tampered with the curios crystal a few days earlier and it had sapped his strength. weak from the battle and still full of wounds tesla eyed himself and his surroundings. the farm house was not too far away and he could hear the cry of the beasts who had slain him. " am i spirit?" one step awoke him to the realization that he certainly felt alive. approaching the farm the old man was talking to the farmer who had come out of his house. the bodies of the large creatures lay sprawled about burned into husks. as tesla approached the old man smiled at him " why did you lead me too my death, and why am i still alive if i am dead, or if im not dead or if you could have slain those things...what is going on here? are you a god?" the old man and farmer exchanged glances and laughed. " no i am not a god. my name is medwyn, and the reason why i had you attak them is so that you would understand death here. youll feel weak, but ill help you regain your strength. swear your allegiance to me and i will help you in this strange yet marvelous land you have become a part of." tesla's face if he could have seen it would have been humerous, but he wasnt laughing. how did you know the prayer then? you told me.." "now now, dinner, dinner young man swear your allegiance to me, and in time ill will teach you many things" tesla levied the old mans words and eyed the mass of burned husks around him. " if you are a good man, then my allegiance you have already. i will allign myself to you then, teacher, if that is what you will be" "excellent! come now then and eat! i have another student that i wish for you to meet soon, come now"

tesla went into the small farm house and sat down to meal. before too long came a knock at the door, and the farmer answered it politely and offered the guest in. the sing song voice of a woman could be heard makeing the normal customary greetings and the woman entered.

she was but a girl, she was a fair skinned aluvian, her eyes were dark with both blueish and green hints giveing them almost a grey apearance. she was slim yet of a fullness that was quite alluring. she was beautiful and tesla almost forgot to speak as she introduced herself. " hi im tahonie, medwyn told me about you, hes my patron too" tesla looked over to the old man curiosly " he..told you about me?" the girl laughed and sat down to eat. the next few hours were a great meal and enlightment to tesla as he learned about sending your voice and many other wonders about the land from lifestones to vitae and even discussed gear. hours later and the sun just beginning to wax to the evening medwyn challenged the hardy sho warrior to battle. " you are experianced fighter as you have said tesla, and i do not doubt your prowess, but do you think you could stand in battle to tahonie?" tesla eyed the wideyed slip of a girl with her beautiful smile and apparent unconcern for any dread thing in the world at all. he examined her gear, a sword and sheild lay next to her pack that was about the same craft as his own. " i do not doubt she is a fine fighter, but she is only a girl. i have fought many men, although i have nothing against a bout if you wish" the girl snorted at the retort, and medwyn just smiled his usual friendly smile. tahonie wasted no time readying her weapons and heading for the door. tesla grabbing his own weapons headed out after. she wasnt smileing now as she stood in a small clearing. tesla was afraid he had offended her. "i will not beat her so quickly as i could" he thought to himself " just so she does not feel to offended."

sitting under a shade tree the mage patron and the farmer sat down to watch and the two fighters readied their battle stances before each other.

her eyes were like fire tesla noted, they were darker now without so much of the blue he had seen in her at the table. he understood how wemon fought tho, lower dips of their hips because of their lower center of gravity. tesla feinted a kick and slipped a left punch to her shield. it clanged with a dull thud and he slipped his kater and smacked her blade . she defended the attacks smoothly and tesla backed up quit impressed. " i have seen men that have not moved with such ease, you should be pr-" the girls sheild slamed into his face and with her sword she carved neat little cuts into his leather armor. rolling tesla came up behind the girl to land a kick in her back, but she was too quik for him and he felt her sword tip pushed against his abdomen. tesla looked up increduosly into the fiery eyes of the girl. dropping her sheild she grabbed her sword with both hands so that the pressure of the blade was almost to the point of peirceing his skin. " i would suggest you try fighting instead of playing sho warrior" medwyn stated casually. tesla was stunned. the girl released him and he jumped to his feet.

12 battles later he met his lifestone. he had barely even scratched her.

setting: nowhere, everywhere, not being and yet being:

"memories or thoughts or dreams..what review of my life can be accurate enough to sate myself in death? am ..i...dead?" tesla fought to feel something but he could feel nothing. he tried to think back to the events that led him here to the path and the beast and..something ..he couldnt remember, the harder he fought the louder and more vivid the unseen and unheard things seem to grow. the vision in the nothing seem to dispear and the world grew black, but still stareing at him were the fiery eyes of the young aluvian woman. the memory slowly fades until its gone.

[tesla_ff]

"light...it returns. guilt floods my soul, o sleep, if only ..i could..sleep.."

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ulgrim farted.
tesla steps back with a laugh and gave his drunken friend another stout.
" alright ulgy, come on now..the path to the voice of the world" ulgrim was slugging the stout top to bottom with his head tilted back. slamming it til done he threw the mug to the ground in delight. " choice of the worm?" ulgrim laughed " give me a stout tesma, and i'll trell you the secret of great spower!" tesla laughed and handed his friend another stout. "egads! did you know that ignoramous harlune was my vasrel? i released him tho. he was too cheap to bring his patron a stout! and i showed him where the path was through the deep" ulgrim downed the stout in one long draw. " i like you tesma. you remind me of those kids i used to throw rocks at when i was a boy" ulgrim belched and went into one of his laughing fits. tesla handed him another stout. " thats 300 stouts in almost an hour. you should be dead ulgrim" tesla laughed. ulgrim stared at the brew for a moment " 300 thats nothin..i...300...here, give this to harlune" ulgrim brought a rusted key from somewhere and tossed it carlessly towards tesla. well, in the general direction of tesla . for tesla had to pick it up off the ground. ulgrim had finished his 300th stout before tesla had placed it in his pack. tesla paused to tell ulgrim a goodbye, but his drunken friend was already playing pattycake with some other bar patron who had stumbled into his path. tesla shook his head and smiled.

the key didnt look like much. regular ol key , just rusted as if it had been on the bottom of the ocean for a centry or more. smacking a mite as he picked the lock to harluns "office" tesla tossed the key to the obnoxios empyrean. "ulgrim says hi" harlune rolled the key in his fingers. "does he now? hmm." harlune seemed to be in deep thought as if ...as if he was torn for the moment on what he should say or do. a small glow from the empyreans hand and the key disapeared. from the folds of his robe the empyrean tossed tesla a gem. " you only get one chance" harlune warned. "make sure you have some strong friends before you go. stupid isparians. you'd lick a tuskers butt if you thought you'd get one once of power out of it" tesla walked off on down the hall and concentrated his force to his mansion. down the hall he could still hear the grunting complaints of the empyrean mage.

"so wheres it go? "tahonie asked. " no clue. but ulgrim was very drunk before he gave me that key, and harlune almost wasnt gonna give me this gem for it" " is ophar comeing?" " i hope so" replied tesla cooly. " i know we got hoggy, danzigg, mandax, creep da crazy and you so far " absolution and tectonic rifts might come."

it took awhile to form a crew but eventually one was managed and the gem crushed. so pwerful was the crew that tesla only remembers a river of blood and grey blue walls of a structure. roses and many plants perfumed the area as they ran. there was no name of the creatures they were killing tho. they reminded tesla of fiun, but..something was different about them. passing through a door they were on tha balcony of what appeared to be a large audience hall. water fountianed off of 4 walls, its spray meeting in the center and cascading into a beutiful fountain pool that shone with its own light.

many of the others had already jumped off of the balcony, they all were standing on, and into the waters. tesla was about to jump when he realized no one was comeing back up from the water. eveyrone else was already gone. even tahonie. giving the room further scrutiny he spied a gold and crystal statue that was lit with the same light as the pool but half covered in vines of the many plants thet decoreated the ground floor. small creatures with fluffy tails and squeaky little shrieks seemed to be the only occupants of the room. there didnt seem to be any path down either. tesla hopped off the left of the balcony and landed with a thud on the richly carved floor. he could hear the water speaking once he was closer to the pool. " power..glory...strength..wisdom...intelligence greet me if you will tesla"
"tesla i know why you are here come drink of us tesla....tesla the water is sweet "
" power and glory strength and wisdom tesla" " youth forever more..drink of us tesla"

tesla shook his head the perfume of the roses had an apparantly intoxicating affect tesla laughed dispite his fears for his friends and himslef " ulgrim..what..was i...thinking. lightly floating over to the statue the strong well muscled vetran warrior standing tall with a stupid grin on his face pulled the vines away from the statue. a plate was inscribed on it :
" if you have all you need of soul, the souls of the water will only afford you disatisfaction, if you lack a soul, the waters shall grant you one. only drink if you understand the price you pay."

"price?" tesla laughed even tho he was quite bothered by the inscription. "power tesla! you need us tesla...tesla..drink us, we are sweet tesla..." tesla walked up to the fountain's cool waters. it smelled wonderful. clear and crisp. leaning over he glanced into the deeps of the water. there seemed to be something in there..it was...him! tesla stumbled backwards in surprise. "it dont feel right" tesla wispered. but no one was their to listen. he tried to send his voice accross the fellowship , but their was no answere. he attempted all ways of communication and no voice could be heard. just the voice of the waters. " power we are so sweet tesla, arnt you thirsty?" tesla sighed. bad or no, his wife and friends dove into that pool. and he was going with them to hell if that was to be. with a dive tesla entered the waters. it did taste sweet....

.................................................. .................................................. ...............

"watch this tesla" tahonie chorteled with delight. tesla was shakeing his foggy head. looking around he noticed he was at the deep on vissadel. tahonie was walking toward a pack of remorans, and she was wearing nothing but her skivvies! " tahonie!" tesla cried in alarm. the monsters plunged upon her and a lighting quik blade spilt them all assunder within one eye blink and tahonie stood their unharmed giggling " you see that? i was saveing it to show you. i can only do that once a cycle of the moons. look on your wrist" tahonie was throwing her armor on as she told him the tale of thier confusion until tectonic rifts discovered the bizare markes on his wrist. and they all had them. each syallable ingrained on the skin was unique per individual and pronouncing it brings about the power of the deep.

tesla was pleased. thats a fine power. but something still bothered him as he comtemplated the sylables burned into his skin. tesla wondered what price they all had paid.
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[tesla_ff]

a note from the author

the book of dreams, i feel, should have some explanation.

dreams, they are what one hopes for or wishes for, and almost never realize it. thats the basis for what the book of dreams is. but also within the pages i took the oppertunity to outline what i feel is the most imposrtant thing to understand in life.

happiness, if you were to read plato, would be discovered in being good that happiness is found. because the peace of mind of your morality makes all the shakes of life just bumps in the road. however you define happiness tho, youll find in tesla the morality that is desired by many and acheived by few. but even then, you see not all is ever as it seems.

the dreams are also content suggestions

(the guilt of my soul)
in the begging you read of tesla's demise. and a glimps of his soul, as he looks back over his life in the emptiness and you see the stories of his "dreams". the passage that is truly the heading that comes after, is a discussion between medwyn and his mentor, the older elder. i would like to explore a little on this topic in case anyone was truly paying attention to it, to understand that it is a law. i am not surprised the greatest minds of the ages beleived in afterlifes and God. the reason is, any intellectual who truly asks the question "from whence does existance come?" will find the inevitable problem that existance by all accounts, simply should not be, because somthing had to be first, and nothing comes from nothing. so where did the somthing come?

albert einstein beleived in an afer life because "energy cannot be created or destroyed". on the chaos theory for sub atomic particles einstein simply replied " God does not take chances". but alot of what many accept today as fact, have no way to prove it wrong or right, and so remain theory. but they are porbrobly alot of wrong ones.

the "law" that should be recognized by science, (so they do not further limit their posabilities for discoveries) is that in the begining somthing was, and that somthing was a hell of alot smarter than any human being.

thats definition of the greater intelligent energy that was first. religeon's are : explanation. well. at least an attempt to. i feel that exploration of the deity does not come from explanation, but simply, a person's personal quest for it. and that aligning your heart with good, and finding a peace of mind concerning death and reason for existance, you become better ppl. as did tesla in his transformation, that he survived death, because he eventually realized, death was not. but to become greater, he first had to accept who he was. those stories are in later chapters, but i wont have the time to write them.

many could call ethics a political argument. but i prefer not too. i feel that any action that brings about the pain or suffering of another is evil. not that you should walk on pins and needles, but be yourself and intentionally wish no ill to others.

a person who looks for reason to punish others has never truly examined themselves. because if you understand all the pain you have caused others, you will not wish to continue it. at least, i hope you would not...

i pray i am forgiven for my constant mispelling and typos. feel free to ask any questions about the stories, or any comments, i encourage any review and opinion.

thank you sincerly for reading

-unknown
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" maybe you will learn to love another, while i am sleeping in my grave."
-man of constant sorrow

[tesla_ff]

setting: a large circular room filled with tapers scarabs and components. a couple target drudges and arcane devices decorate the surrounding and in the center is a large decorative carpet with no apparent origin. the candles and lit tapers cast earie shadows on the walls. a lone mage sits in the center of the room arrangeing components. an unknown person watches the mage from the shadows

"malar quoshez!" pfffzzzt! the mage sat back in frustration and veiwed his arrangement. he had been working on the spell for quite some time with no luck. from behind him he hears the voice of his elder. " it seems you leave to much to chance"

medwyn: it is all chance. think of the chaos theory of subatomic particles. they behave irrationally. the only way to get a desired effect form them is a repeated trial and a little bit of luck.

older elder: hmm. chaos theory is a theory for a reason.

medwyn: then you have a better theory?

older elder: when existance created all things, it created an established order. this order "appears" to break down when you get to the smallest particles of mass, beyond atoms and into the subatomic particles, but in reality, they all have a behavior that have a decided outcome if all the variables are taken into account. existance left nothin to chance. chance itself has decidable variables. when the laws of all things were written, existance wrote different laws for each element he created. and all of them have decidable values for the conditions that they exist.

medwyn: im afraid i dont quite follow.

OE: lets take for example, elements. all elements would appear to behave the same way to heat. that in heat they expand, and in cold retract. to warm, an elements becomes liquid, then gas, and too cold they become solids.

medwyn: how does this help the rational and irrational values?

OE: because when an element is in a solid form it is heavier than in its liquid state , and so devides with the liquid on the top and its solid form on the bottom. so when doing research with any element can you say that it will always be this way?

medwyn: it does apear to be so..but ice floats. a very important factor with water since if it sunk all life in the waters would die.

oe: quite so! and so you can understand that laws exist based on conditions, and that each was individually created or a specific purpose, and has left nothing to chance.

medwyn: i fail to see how you have proven anything. take for example the gambling houses. they arrange the games so that the chances are in the favor of the house and lead to profit. if no chance existed then an individual would be able to discern the odds, the gambling house would lose, and could not exist.

OE: because the odds are beyond your ability to be able to discern, does not mean that if you examined all conditions you would know the outcome. lets take your example in gambling. lets say the game is a sack, and in the sack is a number of marbles of different colors. if all the variables of gravity, mass, sound, and planetal gravitationals were discerned, the movement could be discerned. and if the man holding and shakeing the sack was to be broken down by his strength, his subconscios method of shakeing the sack, and his conscios efforts to mix all put into equation, the movement of every marble would be known, and imposable to conceal.

medwyn: no one could know these things.

OE: existance does. you could not because you do not have that much awareness. but knowing that and takeing into account what you are aware of you can change the probabilities in your favor with a little observation and math. the reason the alchemist have so much trouble with sub atomic particles is because they have decided is chaos and chance, and have quit searching for the other variables that are causeing the apparent chaos, when in fact their is an order to the bahavior, it is just not easily discerned.

medwyn: how can you say that so absolutly?

OE: existance does not take chances. order cannot be based on chaos and exist. what is only apparent to us to be chance, existance knows the variables.

medwyn: if it is beyond my ability to see, then how does knowing that help me?

OE: the same way that it would help the alchemists. they have stopped looking for the variables because they decided to embrace the theory of chaos. and for it, their research is now many years prolonged. like your spell.

after 30 minutes of math and some little pointers from his elder, medwyn alignes the final taper.

malar nephon!

a large flash ensues and standing before the two is a large shreth. its eyes dart around , looking for anything aggressive that might attack its summoner.