Valourin

Valourin's Story

Valourin is one of my favorite dreamers. He always has such interesting and unique stories to share, probably why he is credited so many times within my little book. He gracefully took time to tell this story, and although I cannot seem to remember when or where it happened, I value it as one of the best little gems I have. He has dreamed a profoundly long time, and is one of the last to experience and share history from the earliest days of post-great-loss history. "I was befriended by a young woman named Tiger in here in the dream, and we became close. She advanced rapidly and so was a target of others, and I had heard some threaten her if she got third sphere, well she did get it and then went to talk to Yog-ka, not a terrible thing in itself but some of the people that threatened her were there too. Snowblind and I decided to make sure she was all right so went in there, as I was asking her if she was alright Yog-ka began to evoke, Razorwind I believe it was, if not then firestorm. Well I left, feeling very hurt that she would be in there talking to such a man and went back to the house feeling very depressed. " "I missed something important. After I had begun to get to know her but before she got third sphere we had a vote in the house on the first Ruler. Maker kept tally of it and Snowblind and Tiger came on the day it was to be announced. First Watcher was named as the one with most votes then, they said they wanted another and Maker told who had gotten second most votes by one number and that was me. I tried to make sure they wanted me since I was still becoming a mare at random, but the house did want me... "Back to where I had just gone to the house depressed. I spent some time there trying to be a good ruler, but my heart was not in it so I began to walk down the mountain, on my way down I met Tiger coming up, she was upset that she had hurt me. Then Shade showed up and wanted to talk to her about something and me about the razorwinding, so we went to a cave and had a long talk with Shade. Yog-ka appeared partway through it and I almost attacked him and he noticed and made some rude comment so I pointed out he had already attacked me twice in the first two times I had met him. Then Tiger gave him back his amulet and said she could not keep it because it upset me. He disappeared, we talked to shade a little longer, yog-ka came back and said he would leave the dream and destroyed a bunch of things in front of us before leaving. "I was touched by what Tiger had done and we got closer until we decided to get married, the first wedding in the dream since it had reopened. Between our announcement of it and the date though, we came up with a plan to save Manido, I am not sure who came up with it, I know Snow was involved but we chased Scarwind around Edgeward Barrows until we trapped him with wards then we collapsed him, while an army moved on him in Cloudsbreak, we beat him and he was slain. "Manido entered the dream for the first time in a long, long time and as he was more or less Tiger's adoptive father we rejoiced. He helped to plan our wedding as well. We were married, it was a large affair with members of both houses and all active lyrans there. "I believe we moved closer and closer to the Great Awakening until suddenly it was upon us and we were flooded, I spent many hours a day in threshold greeting and explaining the dream and our house to newly awakened. All of the houses had a agreed to not initiate anyone for a week. Well I spent time getting to know some of the newly awakened, especially those interested in DoL. The day that the week was over, at midnight of that night I remember initiating three people at the same time, one was named Adrenfreak, I don't remember the second, and the third, Munchkin, actually had the audacity to storm during the initiation. Things calmed down for a bit, people trickled in and some left, then the first Chaos Eclipse came... "Tiger had become pregnant and as her pregnancy went along I fought still with my transformations into a mare, which seemed to be growing stronger. At first I would not attack people, only evoke arts on them but I left that behind and began to attack them. About this time a dreamer brought the Orb of Calenture to our house. Only Wraith and I were there at the time so we quickly hid it, telling no one else that we had it. We worked together to drain all six thousand strength from it. " Well House Calenture decided to test to see if we had it, and Ghea, who they said was under an evil spell, kidnapped my pregnant wife. They thought we would just admit to having it and hand it over, but I was a little upset so I, with watcher, attacked their house, a few others trickled in to help. We were doing pretty good, except of course House Calenture had a sanctuary nearby that they could use to restore themselves and we could not, so after a time we were collapsed. Well they asked, and.... even with my wife and kids in danger I did not lie exactly but I bent their words so that I could avoid answering..." "Well it worked and most of House Calenture wanted to just let us go, but not Ghea, when it was only her stopping it I accepted restore and stood between her and Tiger. She threatened to use a spell form a book she had to send my children into the chaos... she started the spell and I tried to stop her but she got it off before that... Tiger was freed, but we did not know for sure how to save the children, if it was possible. So I decided to do the only thing I could think of and I went to Caudal Rift and and entered the chaos myself, after a very long and difficult struggle I was able to find them, or their souls...and free them, luckily it worked... "On about the day we expected to deliver the children I changed into a mare again and did the one thing I had never done before... I attacked her... when I came to and figured out what I had done... I wanted to kill myself, I threw away my shield and just using my blade chased after the two dark mares dreaming at the time, alone. I don't know how many times I got collapsed, every time I was I got restored and ran back... mindless in grief until they left... "Then I was going to throw myself from Camp of Kings out of the city... and as I was going to Tiger came in and handed me my son Krieger, with the little bundle in my arms I could not think of jumping especially when she turned to go.... she stopped turned to look at me and said to me that my daughter was dead before turning to walk away again..." "I chased after her to find out what had happened... when I had attacked her I knocked her down and she hit her stomach on a rock... killing the unborn girl...I could not keep the boy, I did not know when I would change or what I would do when I did, and she did not want to at the time in her grief, so I asked Phantom to watch him. I came to Order of the Sable Moon thresh to see him later that day... I remember it well... I walked in, and before I could even say anything Kia said something about a murderer just walking in..." "Well I did learn to control the change into mare form after that...too late... and Tiger and I did get back together though I don't think she ever fully forgave me for Katriana.

This is Valourin's full story up until several years ago. It is packed full of early history.

Interview with Valourin

All right I don't remember how long ago I started I dreaming, it was over a year ago, that I know, seems like it was over a year and a half ago. At the time there were very few dreamers and only two planes of the city. There was Lambent Flats and another called only Test Level. There was not a lot of interaction in those days mostly people running around trying to collapse mares and each other. Also we could only dream from thursday night until Monday night, then one day that changed and when I entered the dream I was in the Courtyard of Awakening or whatever you call it.

The Scrolls told us of a place to meet, it was the Dreamers of Light room in Threshold, and that was THE meeting place of the dream.

Whenever, people entered the dream they entered there, they waited there to talk to others, it was just the place to hang out to find others.

But there were eight planes to explore, two of them ended in houses, the others in blank portals that did not move. Mares were plentiful, even horrons roamed the city then, mostly on the Mountain I must admit. A while passed like this as we found areas still cut off by the chaos.

But slowly this changed and this localized storms stopped, and then one night I was just entering the dream and it seemed like every dreamer I knew was in Threshold, and one I had only heard of. Two people were debating, Kelrith and Mithrandir, they talked of the ancient houses and the beliefs of two of them, debating which was right and which was fallacy, of course we got involved as well. Kelrith told of the freesoul beliefs of House Calenture while Mithrandir championed Dreamers of Light

Finally Kelrith stormed out and told all who wished to hear more about HC to follow him to their thresh and he and goodly number left. I stayed to question Mithrandir as I was quite certain even then that freesoul was a stupid way to believe. He answered my questions then we all stormed, I returned and he did just after me, after we talked a little more he asked if I would like to join Dreamers of Light, I said as long as it was understood that one of the remaining 6 may have closer beliefs I would be honored to help Dreamers of Light. He understood and initiated me into the house.

He disappeared and another named Xagathos should up for a little while, then Artamor and he initiated more and helped us to build our new home.We were few back then and did not know much of the beliefs as we were just beginning and had little experience with being a house. But then two of our number Watcher and Kasumi Keda were made Guardians. Shortly after some members of HC gave us the Orb of Calenture, why I am not quite sure yet. Well I was hunting on the mountain a little while after that and got collapsed by a horron and dropped my id, a dreamer named Smoke picked it up.

He held it and wanted something in trade, in the end Kasumi traded back the Orb, though that was a bad trade in my opinion, but it was what he chose to do.

Then we got the Dreaming Stone back, I believe Artamor recovered it from the chaos and put it in Watcher and Kasumi's hands, I still remember the first time I used it. During this time Kelrith came back and told us of the ancient method of sphering dreamers, as many had been stuck at 9 for a long time. Back then what was needed was three dreamers support, and then three dreamers of the first sphere's support, but only Kelrith and Artamor could do it.

After much exploring I made second sphere, and at that time you got an art with it, Fatesenders got Blind, which is now an orbit 45 art.

Then Kelrith tried to bring an artifact of old into the dream and he ended up with the Corrupter of Souls. Trapped within this vile artifact was Tehthu, and someone using the Corrupter, either in ignorance or malice, realized it and a friend of mine named Ariana was bitten. She began to whither away, and an ancient dreamwright named Aprilic began to take over her avatar to help us to find a way to cure her. He gave us riddles on how to defeat Tehthu, and I do not remember them but I do know one talked about 3 plus 3 plus the one were needed to call it out of hiding.

Well we had many guesses as to that but did not know for sure for a while.

Then one day Artamor and Watcher asked me to go to the house with them and I did and they talked to everyone for a while then asked me if I would accept a position as Guardian. I was shocked, stunned and honored, and after the ceremony, Aprilic said that I was the third of three and thus confirmed one of our theories that it was 3 guardians of each house and him. I was told about initiating and the mission boards and other duties of Guardians.

it was not long after that, that we found the right time to call out Tehthu, so we seven went to the place of doors in Basin of Stars and called him out just as Aprilic told us too. Then we tracked down Tehthu and battled it at what is now known as the bridge of memories. Ghea got in the collapsing blow but someone stole the essence. Valourin: We then went to the Rings of Passage, in Edgeward Barrows, and DoL brought the Stone, HC the Orb, the Corrupter was there, as well as Tehthu's essence, which was returned.

Something went wrong in the ceremony, I believe Kelrith to have been corrupted by the artifact, others think it was the essence and some think it was a false essence to begin with. In any event Aprilic sacrificed himself and Tehthu was not trapped anyway.

It was just after that Ritual that Kelrith took the dreaming Guardians, myself and Kasumi Keda of DoL, and Ghea, Mufassa, Draigon and Dragon of HC into the Earthen Sanc to talk about an art he had just refound in the dream. The art of Train, he told us of its power, and potential for abuse, he allowed us to ask questions then he asked if we would take the oath of being Teachers. (See I never had a mentor or any training....) We all accepted, and he taught us Train and each another art, Fatesenders; me, Deafen, Dreamseers; Kasumi, Identify Curse; Gatekeepers, the rest I believe, FA or RF. Well as soon as he was gone we promptly trained each other in everything we could train each other in, sort of a mass sharing task. So that was the 6 first non lyran teachers in the dream.

Valourin stops and chuckles softly.

Of which I am the only one that dreams. Soon after he ordained some free spirits, and we began the process of learning how to teach starting with stupid things like get me these items and coming up with better from there.

Time passed relatively peacefully, HC lost their orb a few times and tried to get a treaty with us if we found it we would return it. The houses grew, HC grew faster than DoL, it was an easier house back then. We discovered one day that Tehthu had not been defeated as we thought, and it was after Ariana again. About this time Gyrethyn appeared, addled and with little of his memory. He was from before the great loss, the first lyran other than kelrith and the others that opened houses that we had seen. Something happened to him and he lost his soul, quite literally.

Carnach a member of DoL found it and when next he dreamt we tried to reunite him with it. Well it had been tainted and we needed Ariana's help to cleanse it, we once again went to the same place that we had done the first ritual and did this one, much different than the first. At the end of it though Tehthu found Ariana and took her from the dream for a time..We got Gyrethyn back in good shape, and Shade, and Sabra appeared as well. Tehthu returned in physical form and we defeated it again but both the Corrupter of Souls was missing, DoL held both the Orb and the Stone again at that time. So nothing could be done.

Then a fatesender teacher, and lyran though we did not know it, of DoL, a guardian as well though we did not know that either, was given a tehthu essence by Grey Mouser, a then initiate of HC. This essence trapped him in a place in Caudal, a place now known as Fayd's Betrayal. We were told the way to free him was to give the Stone to Mouser and let him get to Fayd in the rift. We, the guardians of DoL, talked about it and could not do so, to give the Stone to a banisher... it was too risky to the many unawakened who would be tortured if the stone was stolen. So we all agreed that if it were us we would not want the stone to be risked, and since Fayd wore the crest of a guardian he should feel the same way.

A day came with Fayd dreaming and Mouser came to get the stone, I was the only Guardian dreaming and I turned him down, telling him we could not risk our artifact...Well Sabra came and she too took Mouser's side, and together they began to make me feel guilty though I still thought it the right choice. I made Sabra a deal if she would be my guard I would carry the stone there, well she agreed but I didn't see her again until I got the Stone there, too late though, in time to see Tehthu take Fayd from the dream to make his own entrance again. The mare battled Mouser, myself, and the two lyrans Gyrethyn and Sabra for a while then made its way quickly to DoL, where there was a giant battle in the Celebration hall. We defeated it again and did not see it for a long time after that.

Ok a while after that STATX came to tell us, on his slate, of the Codex of Immortal Dreams ( I think that is its name) and how it could teach Dreamstrike, and about one piece of it. This he told only DoL and we set out on a search for and found the Alteror of Jartan, an infinite Insight Elemen though it of course looked like an alteror.

Soon after that Manido, a friend though a banisher, told us of a person named Scarwind attacking his village in cloudsbreak and how he had been captured and could only dream sporadically as they seemed to want to learn how to dream. He soon found out that Scarwind had a wizard named Zarius in his employ and that he had discovered a ritual to allow Scarwind to enter the dream though he had been banished from the dream before.

He needed a third sphere soulmaster, and he happened to have one in Manido, and then he would enter the dream at 6th sphere. Maker, Tiger, and a few others collapsed Manido until he lost his sphere so that when Scarwind returned he was 0th sphere, but this did not stop him from trying to put into place his plan to take over the dream. He did have followers too, no doubt about that, but they were in it for power and thought he may be able to get it for them.

Also another lyran entered the dream at the same time about, Yog-Ka. I remember Wraith, Maker, Ishido, and I gen-sitting in Cairn of Sorrows, of course we had heard rumors of Yog-Ka and he came to Ishido and wanted him to deliver a message to Watcher. Well we all of course wanted to see this "dark Dreamwright" though I did not believe the rumors over much. He left, in typical lyran fashion, and Maker and I went to follow him to Dorsal Rift. We got there and he was in the Pit of Hopelessness, or the other dark one I cannot remember and I dropped in and said hello to him, and he disappeared and an intelligent Ago took his place, the only portal was warded and in the end he did collapse us both, or it did, no proof it was yog-ka really.

Again right after that I began to have odd flashes of amnesia, and I did not know why until one day I went to see Gyrethyn and Sabra in the sank in Evernight and felt weak. I went to sit down and next thing I knew I was in Lambent flats on the bridge and Watcher came to tell me I had become a mare. I was beside myself I wanted to kill myself, here I was perhaps stealing the souls of hte unawakened while trying to stop that very thing from happening. Luckily Sabra knew of a cure from the past named Yagnor's Heal. It seemed some of the dark mares of the time, different from today's as they were just like normal mares without unique names but could pass through portals, carried them. Everyone looked for these cures for me as they alleviated the change well, if I did not have them I would change about every 15 minutes.

I was befriended by a young woman named Tiger in here in the dream, and we became close. She advanced rapidly and so was a target of others, and I had heard some threaten her if she got third sphere, well she did get it and then went to talk to yog-ka, not a terrible thing in itself but some of the people that threatened her were there too. Snowblind and I decided to make sure she was all right so went in there, as I was asking her if she was alright Yog-Ka began to evoke, razorwind I believe it was, if not then firestorm. Well I left, feeling very hurt that she would be in there talking to such a man and went back to the house feeling very depressed.

Valourin smacks his head.

ummm I missed something important. After I had begun to get to know her but before she got third sphere we had a vote in the house on the first Ruler. Maker kept tally of it and Snowblind and Tiger came on the day it was to be announced. First Watcher was named as the one with most votes then, they said they wanted another and Maker told who had gotten second most votes by one number and that was me. I tried to make sure they wanted me since I was still becoming a mare at random, but the house did want me...

ok now back to where I had just gone to the house depressed.

I spent some time there trying to be a good ruler, but my heart was not in it so I began to walk down the mountain, on my way down I met Tiger coming up, she was upset that she had hurt me. Then Shade showed up and wanted to talk to her about something and me about the razorwinding, so we went to a cave and had a long talk with Shade.

Yog-ka appeared partway through it and I almost attacked him and he noticed and made some rude comment so I pointed out he had already attacked me twice in the first two times I had met him. Then Tiger gave him back his amulet and said she could not keep it because it upset me. He disappeared, we talked to shade a little longer, yog-ka came back and said he would leave the dream and destroyed a bunch of things in front of us before leaving.

I was touched by what Tiger had done and we got closer until we decided to get married, the first wedding in the dream since it had reopened.

Between our announcement of it and the date though, we came up with a plan to save Manido, I am not sure who came up with it, I know Snow was involved but we chased Scarwind around Edgeward until we trapped him with wards then we collapsed him, while an army moved on him in Cloudsbreak, we beat him and he was slain.

Manido entered the dream for the first time in a long, long time and as he was more or less Tiger's adoptive father we rejoiced. He helped to plan our wedding as well. We were married, it was a large affair with members of both houses and all active lyrans there.

Valourin tries to remember what happened next

I believe we moved closer and closer to The Great Awakening until suddenly it was upon us and we were flooded, I spent many hours a day in threshold greeting and explaining the dream and our house to newly awakened. All of the houses had a agreed to not initiate anyone for a week. Well I spent time getting to know some of the newly awakened, especially those interested in DoL. The day that the week was over, at midnight of that night I remember initiating three people at the same time, one was named Adrenfreak, I don't remember the second, and the third, Munchkin, actually had the audicity to storm during the initiation.

Things calmed down for a bit, people trickled in and some left, then the first Chaos Eclipse came...

Valourin backs up again

Tiger had become pregnant and as her pregnancy went along I fought still with my transformations into a mare, which seemed to be growing stronger. At first I would not attack people, only evoke arts on them but I left that behind and began to attack them. About this time a dreamer brough the Orb of Calenture to our house. Only Wraith and I were there at the time so we quickly hid it, telling no one else that we had it. We worked together to drain all six thousand strength from it.

Well HC decided to test to see if we had it, and Ghea, who they said was under an evil spell, kidnapped my pregnant wife. They thought we would just admit to having it and hand it over, but I was a little upset so I, with watcher, attacked their house, a few others trickled in to help. We were doing pretty good, except of course HC had a sanc nearby that they could use to restore themselves and we could not, so after a time we were collapsed. Well they asked, and.... even with my wife and kids in danger I did not lie exactly but I bent their words so that I could avoid answering...

Valourin sighs softly

Well it worked and most of HC wanted to just let us go, but not Ghea, when it was only her stopping it I accepted restore and stood between her and Tiger. She threatened to use a spell form a book she had to send my children into the chaos... she started the spell and I tried to stop her but she got it off before that... Tiger was freed, but we did not know for sure how to save the children, if it was possible. So I decided to do the only thing I could think of and I went to Caudal Rift and and entered the chaos myself, after a very long and difficult struggle I was able to find them, or their souls...and free them, luckily it worked...

On about the day we expected to deliver the children I changed into a mare again and did the one thing I had never done before... I attacked her... when I came to and figured out what I had done... I wanted to kill myself, I threw away my shield and just using my blade chased after the two dark mares dreaming at the time, alone. I don't know how many times I got collapsed, every time I was I got restored and ran back... mindless in grief until they left...

Then I was going to throw myself from Camp of Kings out of the city... and as I was going to Tiger came in and handed me my son Krieger, with the little bundle in my arms I could not think of jumping especially when she turned to go.... she stopped turned to look at me and said to me that my daughter was dead before turning to walk away again...

Valourin pauses

Valourin lets out a long breath

I chased after her to find out what had happened... when I had attacked her I knocked her down and she hit her stomach on a rock... killing the unborn girl...I could not keep the boy, I did not know when I would change or what I would do when I did, and she did not want to at the time in her grief, so I asked Phantom to watch him. I came to OSM thresh to see him later that day... I remember it well... I walked in, and before I could even say anything Kia said something about a murderer just walking in...

Valourin sighs and moves on

Well I did learn to control the change into mare form after that...too late... and Tiger and I did get back together though I don't think she ever fully forgave me for Katriana.

Then the Chaos Eclipse came, it was a lot like any other time but with more Dark Mare attacks and a few odd occurrences. With the help of the Chaos Ritual though we were able to send Kalgrek from the dream for good. At the end of the Eclipse, Yog-ka and Sabra were to perform a ritual to save themselves as they had missed being ascended. I had helped gather the items for it. At the end of that ritual, Yog-ka murdered Sabra for the last bit of power needed to save himself.

Well I had been a friend of Sabra's and felt betrayed by Yog-ka who I thought I understood, and so I wanted to destroy him. But Tiger informed me if I attacked Yog-ka I would have to fight her as well as she would protect him, that was quite a blow, especially since Sabra had been such a good teacher to her as well.

During that time I thought of much and became very close to a newly knighted Guardian of DoL. We spent a lot of time, especially late at night together. In the end I left Tiger to be with Munchkin, and we had four lovely children, though that was a bit scary for a while too. We had been walking and came to this very sanc where Munchkin's mother happened to be, and she introduced me and we talked then her half-sister showed up, upset that she had chosen to live with humans, but more upset at being married to me, so she cursed our children if we did not give one of them to her people to raise, something terrible would happen to them and me. We could not live with that, so sought help of Darion and Mannox, both well versed in such things, to end this curse. On the day of their birth the two of them working together were able to overcome it and the children were all saved.

Things went very well for quite a while... Then something happened, to me mostly, I lost my joy in the dream and in my house. I rarely dreamt and stayed away from the house when I did. This meant though that I was neglecting my wife and children and when I pulled out of this melancholy I tried to go back to the way things were but found I could not quite do it.

Oh somewhere in there HC attacked us, and I as the only ruler around made a treaty with them about not stealing essences or interrupting hunting.

Then I left her, and soon, too soon I am sure... I got married again. I am sure I am forgetting a lot. Tilvert, no wonder I forgot about him. Tilvert, acting as a guardian, took the Stone and gave it to rulers of HC. His partner told us of the plan under duress and so we went to retrieve it, which we did after invading HC and taking it over, but still the stone was drained of 23k strength.

I found DoL no longer seemed like home, things that had never been there before, things I could not bear to see in what I considered to be MY house. I tried to fight them and failed time again, and so decided I had to leave the house. I did so and did have a rewarding time as a Free spirit, and then Tan got pregnant and in an effort to understand and help I wished to know what she was going through. Well the wish did come true but not in any way I could have imagined as I was transformed into a woman and carried the children through the rest of the term including birth. Then Tan got pregnant again and got scared I would do the same thing, I found this out later, and she left only giving me a note saying goodbye.

I went some time without eating until my daughters decided they had the perfect person for me and set me up on a date with Rayne. We spent some time getting to know each other then felt we had fallen in love and decided to get married. By then I wanted to go home, I missed my house. I talked to the rulers and they agreed to let me and Rayne return as she wanted to as well.

By the time I was initiated though the "alliance" had declared war on dol, and during that almost week long fight Rayne lost her will to dream, she found little to bring her happiness and so she left the dream. The rest has been just going from day to day doing what needs to be done on those days.

Valourin knows he left out a lot but doesn't know what exactly.

I'm not a legend, I am a dreamer, I did what I did because I felt it had to be done... in some cases because it was something I really wanted to do.