Zoey's Dream

Although I refer to my character Zoey as a Barbarian, she also has one level in Fighter (for the bonus feat) and a prestige class. This prestige class, called the Mounted Fury, is based off of the Windrider prestige class from Masters of the Wild. I took it because she and her girlfriend, a Centaur Alchemist, decided to combine their efforts in battle (meaning she's going to ride her into combat). Our DM didn't insist on us doing too much roleplay to develop how the "prestige class" comes into being, but it didn't make sense to me that these shiny new abilities that empathically link her to her girlfriend would just pop into existence, so I came up with this. She has this dream the night before the final day of a very important fighting tournament, which out-of-game was when she had just leveled and I took her first level of the prestige class. Oh, and another note - Zoey isn't a typical Barbarian. She was born to normal Gnome people and raised in a normal Gnome community. However, because her father was a Chaos Gnome, that triggered something weird with her genetics (or something, I really dunno how it works) and she has the ability to Rage, thus, she is a Barbarian. That comes up in the dream. Enjoy!

~ Zoey’s dream ~

The night before the final day of the fighting tournament, as she slept, Zoey fell into fitful visions.

She found herself transported to a strange village in the wilderness. Standing in the center beside a pit of fire, the life of it swirled around her. Members of many races in primitive-looking garb worked together at everyday tasks, doing the base things needed for survival, switching often to train at battle with many different kinds of weapons. As she watched them she realized that she felt a kindred with them, and in an instant she realized exactly who they were: Barbarians, real Barbarians, who earned their skill through birthright and culture rather than the odd circumstances of their birth, like she had.

“Wait,” she called as a young woman passed, but she did not respond. She was laughing, walking quickly past with both hands wrapped around the hilt of a sword.
Frustrated, Zoey reached out to grab at a pelt the woman had slung over her shoulder, but her hand passed right through it. A harsh gasp escaped her lips, and she began to chase after her, now even more confused and wanting desperately to speak with these strangers she felt connected to.

However, as soon as she took one step, she found herself in another place. Before her stretched an open field of yellow grasses, ending in a forest some miles away. She stared forward, trying desperately to realize what was going on, when sudden movement whooshed by her side. An armed centaur had run past her, and before she could even begin to process his presence or call out to him, more centaurs raced past, all armed, both male and female. She found she could not turn around, so as they passed she looked for Tharf, but did not see her form among the large group. Within seconds they were gone, vanished into the forest. None of them had noticed her.

She was about to take another step, to see if she would be transported again, when suddenly another form whizzed past. This final centaur brushed her side as it ran, and the force of its movement sent her spinning. She landed flat on her back, unable to watch or try to recognize it as it, too, disappeared.

“Ugh,” she groaned, and fixed her eyes on the sky. They widened, changing from a confused brownish grey to pale but bright blue as she realized what she was looking at. Above her, giant birds of many species swirled in formation. It took her but a moment to realize that each bird had a rider, and the riders were calling to each other with enthusiasm. She thought suddenly that they might be calling to her, and for some reason, this thought filled her with happiness.

Zoey began to sit up, and as she did, she felt her eyes fly open. She was back in her bed on Eyagod. She blinked a few times to get her bearings, then rolled over, feeling for Tharf’s Bag of Holding behind her own backpack. It was still there, and she breathed a sigh of relief. She rolled over again to look at Tharf, who was also just waking. As she sat up, continuing to watch her girlfriend get ready for the day, she felt something strange between them. It was different than the love they shared, for that was still in its place in her heart, but now there was something else. She couldn’t describe it or really even grasp it at all; all she could do was know that it sat within her, waiting to be understood.

She shook her head, shoving the feeling to the farthest corners of her mind. There were other things to focus on, like doing her best that day. Breathing deeply, she got out of bed, prepared for whatever would happen to her.