The Shadow Carnevale (OOC)

The snake is a symbolic manifestation of how Ezme views the staff with suspicion.

Being a follower of Raynor, I doubt Roald views the staff in the same light as Ezme. For this reason, I'd be personally less likely to make it turn back into a snake while it's in his hands/control. But maybe someone else thinks differently!

Indeed! We really don't want to know many details about a character's childhood... until we do. Keeping the character backstory flexible and undefined allows us to make this stuff up when it comes up in the story. :)

So probably no snakes for Roald.

You are welcome to do what you like with the staff, you know it is a powerful artifact of a god you believe in, so it might provide strength and succor in your time of need... or have no effect here, completely up to you guys.

So far I don't believe any of you have made contact with any of the denizens of this place. But this posts sees a player character deliberately attempting to do so, which might change the rules.

You are welcome to decide if this works and you can make contact at all, or if your attack passes through the shadow-creature. You are also welcome to roll the dice to decide, or to see how it goes in either case. Or you can roll an attack and leave it to me to decide if there is any physicality involved.

A lot of people play this way, and it works really well for them! I do it frequently, too. My story about Ezme's childhood encounter with the winter coldness was definitely not something I had planned ahead. Just felt right in the moment.

That said, I do find that having some defined key backstory points regularly helps inspire me and set up "guiding principles" for my character as I RP. An example would be Ezme's whole issue with Raynor and the staff. Or that scene with the guys picking on Ezme at the carnival! That scene came directly from some premeditated backstory that led up to a big turning point in her life. I would never have thought to include it in the dream if I hadn't already had that in my head. (And I never expected to get to share it in such detail, so finding the opportunity to do so brought me great joy! Thanks for the convenient setup, @vagueGM!)

Anyway, a mix of spontaneity and flexible structure works great for me personally in my quest to create a character with depth, but everyone is different and every approach is valid as long as it does not interrupt the flow of the game, brings you inspiration, and ignites a spark of joy for you. :)

Moving on... (Apologies for my verbosity...)

@vagueGM, I was hoping you could dictate what happens when Ezme touches Daryl's neck....? Maybe nothing exciting happens, but I'd like to leave it to you. :)

I didn’t see the post about Albeart roaring before I posted. Maybe we can just imagine that the posts happened in the other order? Then Lille can respond to his roar.

Yes, that happens all the time. And yes, just imagine the ordering the way it works best. Possibly add a description in your followup post showing that you are reacting to events and how they link up.

Just as clarification. Albert is no longer held by the cage, but there is an invisible wall still that he can't get through?
Is the invisible wall the size of the cage, or is it more like a wall stopping him from waking up?

The metal bars of the cage have been replaced by glass. You described yourself not being able to break them with your paws, but anyone outside would be able to hit it with something hard and let you out.
I don't think it has anything to do with your waking up. Once you are out you will still need to work out how to wake up, and also how to get your body back if that is important to you.

Got it.

I love how everyone has adopted "Albeart". Hehe :D

It is up to you guys. Outside the dream only Lille can understand bears, but you can change that inside the dream if you don't want to deal with Lille needing to convince the rest that 'this really is Albeart ... um Albert' or need her to serve as a go-between when you talk.

You describe yourself as roaring, so would this be them understanding the roar, or would your words also be in there? Do the other people at the carnival also understand what the bear is saying? It raises lots of questions.

I didn't specify, but this was a question to karabooo most of all.
In my view, Albert can't tell the difference (if there is any) to his speech because he understands himself and the others. To him, it's like he's just speaking normally. But that might be different to the other PCs. Lille can understand him either way through her wildspeak. And I think Roald also understood, if I remember correctly. (I haven't looked it up yet)

So, I am curious to find what Ezme hears :)

I wanted to let Roald understand albeart's intentions more than really hearing every word.

I'm gonna follow suit.

FYI travel day coming up tomorrow. I’ll post eventually, or sooner as able.

Ok, I exist now, but where’s our Albeart? No worries if Gen has life and such going on, just checking that all is well. I can post in response once he’s back.

Sorry for the delay. Things got unexpectedly busy. I'm back and will post soon!
Nice to know I'm being missed ;)

Can the witch turn out to be Asha? I think that would be nice for the plot.

No. Asha is trapped in a crystal prison under the temple that you are going to a far off land to find information about. Your subconscious turned your cage into a similar one to get the message through to you that you had to deal with that problem as well as anything else you thought was a problem with the temple.

There is no other connection between this and that, just what you bring here.

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Up to you if the witch is real (and not a victim of face paint/dress up:) and whether she really swapped your bodies —and why— and what the bear is doing now that it has hands and a mouth to talk with. Let me know if I need to drive the witch and her conversation (if you catch her), or if I need provide answers to any of these or other questions.