Sleeping Giants Game 28

Intro

Lyla's Doorknob Dream

It’s been one week since you finished your most recent mission. You finish up writing in your diary, sign the bottom of the page with the usual “Lyla Hellebore”, put the little lock on it, then drift off to sleep.

And that’s when you have another dream. You find yourself walking through a thick forest that gets progressively marshier. You have all of your gear with you, but you are alone, and it is either midnight or very close to it. The trees get denser and denser as the ground gets wetter and wetter. You hear the low croaks of frogs far off in the distance, and as you progress they seem to multiply. You’re not sure at the moment where you are going, but you know you have to get there. You feel drawn to… something, but you’re not sure what.

Finally, after what must have been an hour of walking, the trees clear and a rickety old wooden bridge rises up from the ground in front of you. A few lanterns light the way. The bridge leads directly to a small, run down hut in the center of the clearing. You can’t see much of it from here, as it must be a hundred feet away. You see a few windows and a single door, and it seems as though a bright light is on inside of the structure.

As you approach, you notice that the hut itself is small and rectangular. The roof is maybe only 7 feet high. It is made of wood with moss growing in patches all over it. You attempt to open the door, only to realize that there is no doorknob, only an indentation where a doorknob might go.

You reach into your bag, down past all of your other belongings, and pull from it the crystal doorknob that you received so long ago. You then push it into the door’s indentation, and it fits perfectly. The door creaks open slowly, revealing the inside of the hut. It is surprisingly clean inside, despite the circumstances. There is a wooden floor with a few tables along the wall. Sitting atop the tables are a mortar and pestle, a few beakers and empty potion bottles, and countless herbs of different varieties.

Extending from the ceiling are at least a dozen vines, reaching almost all the way to the ground. Sprouting from the vines are numerous flowers, though they are each the same. They have magenta petals with five sepals jutting out from the center of the flower. You recognize it immediately – it’s a hellebore flower.

You continue glancing about the room, taking everything in. On the walls are several paintings, though each is blurred out in a strange, dream-like way. There is one that you can make out quite clearly, however.

The painting shows a scene that’s familiar to you. It is a cozy, lush grove with sun beams peeking in through the trees. A little girl, about your own age, sits in the grove reading a book contentedly. Over her shoulder, sneaking down from a treetop, is a majestic leopard that leaves a trail of sparkles in its wake. To your surprise, they are actual sparkles, and though the painting is static they are actually moving. As you lean in to look closer, the leopard’s face begins to move as well! It turns to look directly at you, and a smile comes across its face.

And then the sun poking through the window wakes you up, back in your apartment in Skyhammer.