What happened to blogs :(

[Hellbent]

There's this mountain... dark and mysterious. Overhearing stories about it sends tingles up my spine. Strange tales; dark tales; legendary tales. Where is this ominous, yet mystical place? Was it even real? Could it be? Dark slopes, smooth like black lichen, clean swept of any dead branches or forest debris. Trees wind hewn and small, sparsely strewn across the vertical landscape. Incredible heights, but no snow. A semibald carapace of dark mystery. I wasn't even sure I wanted to go. But then, there I was, at the top of this mystical place, solitude exploding perfect silence; omens echoing through the silent nothingness. A dark playground, brooding, beckoning, and holding secrets beyond human imagination or comprehension. A place more mystical, spiritual? yet more alien, more foreign than I had ever dared dream of. What world was it from? Why was it here? What Earthly planet was I on? What far-flung cosmic corner of the universe had I mysteriously transported to... or had transported to me? None of these were questions I was asking myself when I was suddenly at the top of this mysterious and magical place; too much in awe for questions. I felt it could end me in an instant if it so cared to, and yet I felt I was entering into some strange relationship with a great mystical beast; some kind of understanding; unspoken, unthought even. And then I began to move slowly across its strange, barren landscape, and suddenly I was skiing down its vertical slope, somehow not falling away at impossible speed, completely in control as I glided across the dark, smooth surface, swishing between the trees, my feet in direct contact with the strange black surface, no skis or boots, only, perhaps, some magical slippers on my feet. 

 

What was the meaning of my sudden, seeming mastery of this magical, otherworldly place?

 

And then I suddenly realized my soldiers probably had deserted. I had fallen asleep and had not solved the issue of feeding them. I debated a few seconds and then wrested myself from the magical dream. Only a dream? I logged in to see that 5 seconds ago nearly all of my 1300+ elite, hard won Demon Horrors, Traveling Knights, Elite Warriors had deserted. 

[rehelekretep]

custom title is very fitting :D

[snapshot]

I was expecting complaints about Forum Blogs being removed.

[esselfortium]

FWIW, the Blogs forum has been replaced with Status Updates.

[Memfis]

Status Updates are like the opposite of Blogs. Instead of being hidden they are right in your face, and instead of covering deep personal topics they are about trivial everyday crap.

[tourniquet]

Sad but true. Like 95% of Status Updates are plain, trivial bollocks. I truly miss Blogs.

[Hellbent]

No, just me posting what I would otherwise have posted in blogs. Wicked cool dream, though. The mountain was basically a combination of Mount Washington, Mount Shasta, Uluru and the Badlands, all of which I been to, and climbed, except Mount Washington, oddly. Then it was as if a giant dragon scorched the entire mountain, leaving it a blackened, mostly barren wasteland. It was one of the most atmospheric dreams I've had. Its atmosphere was so unique, so distinct, so unlike anything I've ever experienced or dreamed of. I wish I could articulate what that atmosphere was, more than just saying it was brooding, ominous, barren, because there was a weird sentience or consciousness or reality to it. Like as if I had entered into the consciousness or reality of another sentient alien being, another spiritual realm. What was that cosmic, mystical reality I had entered into on the back of that crazy mountain? How had I been opened up to it? Why did it exist? Where did it come from? Has it always existed? Who else has visited? Had I entered some strange portal in my sleep? I don't do drugs. Is this the kind of experience authors like Michael Ende or Madeleine L'Engle have that lead them to write their fascinating and profound works? I sooo want to incorporate the dream experience into a fantasy novel. I started writing a fantasy novel 13 years ago and continued with fits and starts and got 4 chapters done in about a year or two but then never did any major progress on it ever since. I think the dream world can be so much more interesting than real life. 

 

I really want to dwell more on that peculiar, fascinating atmosphere of the mountain; its reality; its mysterious consciousness, the essence of its sentience, its most basic quality, which I seemed to only be able to perceive, the way a blind person who can only make out colors and light, but not shapes, may glean the qualities of a camp fire from its warmth and glow only, but know nothing of its licking flames or the quality of its ravenous carbon consuming ways, or its belching, noxious smoke.

Edited December 23, 2017 by Hellbent : ...and the Badlands and "Like as if I had entered into the consciousness or reality of another sentient alien being,"

[Hellbent]

A little bit more on the dream. It started with Mica, Tara's son talking about this mystical and ominous mountain that he heard tell of adventures, or maybe he had been to this mountain himself? By some odd turn of fortune I somehow was part of a group of people heading to the mountain. This was very exciting and a little scary. This was such a strange mountain, such an ominous, bad-ass place. Not in the same way Everest is, as this place wasn't as high and had no snow, but it was much much stranger, extremely mystical. As we were winding our way through and up the mountain, I began to feel how special the place was. We eventually reached the top and I was suddenly alone. The others had gone on their own, each following their own idea of the adventure they were seeking on the mountain. In my aloneness, all I could hear was the brooding reality of the mountain echo in my being: complete silence. I started to descend, and found that fear was not necessary. The mountain was alive in its own, alien way. The slope had started out gradual, and the trees were short but relatively thick, though very few leaves on them. Quickly the slope pitched, the tree thinned out and became sparse and suddenly I realized the slope was vertical, but instead of hurtling out of control into oblivion, I, like a tiny insect crawling down a wall, was easily navigating down the impossibly steep slope, in complete control; I was now part of the mountain's unique reality. I was skiing, slaloming between the trees with mastery and ease, though no skis were on my feet. There was no snow; quite the opposite, the surface was black, as if made up of very smooth, short, compact moss, charcoal gray instead of green, like the surface of the Badlands, or as if a giant dragon had scorched the entire mountain.

 

But it was the nature of the reality of the mountain that was so captivating. Where was this unique realm? Where did it come from? Had others in dream form or otherwise experienced anything like it? Was this an experience completely unique to myself and to my life-journey? Why had I had this experience?

[Coopersville]

I still keep up on mine. 

[Endless]

22 hours ago, Hellbent said:

There's this mountain... dark and mysterious. Overhearing stories about it sends tingles up my spine. Strange tales; dark tales; legendary tales. Where is this ominous, yet mystical place? Was it even real? Could it be? Dark slopes, smooth like black lichen, clean swept of any dead branches or forest debris. Trees wind hewn and small, sparsely strewn across the vertical landscape. Incredible heights, but no snow. A semibald carapace of dark mystery. I wasn't even sure I wanted to go. But then, there I was, at the top of this mystical place, solitude exploding perfect silence; omens echoing through the silent nothingness. A dark playground, brooding, beckoning, and holding secrets beyond human imagination or comprehension. A place more mystical, spiritual? yet more alien, more foreign than I had ever dared dream of. What world was it from? Why was it here? What Earthly planet was I on? What far-flung cosmic corner of the universe had I mysteriously transported to... or had transported to me? None of these were questions I was asking myself when I was suddenly at the top of this mysterious and magical place; too much in awe for questions. I felt it could end me in an instant if it so cared to, and yet I felt I was entering into some strange relationship with a great mystical beast; some kind of understanding; unspoken, unthought even. And then I began to move slowly across its strange, barren landscape, and suddenly I was skiing down its vertical slope, somehow not falling away at impossible speed, completely in control as I glided across the dark, smooth surface, swishing between the trees, my feet in direct contact with the strange black surface, no skis or boots, only, perhaps, some magical slippers on my feet. 

 

What was the meaning of my sudden, seeming mastery of this magical, otherworldly place?

 

And then I suddenly realized my soldiers probably had deserted. I had fallen asleep and had not solved the issue of feeding them. I debated a few seconds and then wrested myself from the magical dream. Only a dream? I logged in to see that 5 seconds ago nearly all of my 1300+ elite, hard won Demon Horrors, Traveling Knights, Elite Warriors had deserted. 

HP Hellbent. 

[Hellbent]

HP?

[Hellbent]

Don't know a better place to record my dreams so here goes another I just woke up from:

 

I was on a hiking trail, but it wasn't a normal hiking trail. It lead to a place of magic and wonder; or more accurately, it was a place of magic and wonder. Or slightly more specifically, it was a spiritual path (quite literally). Though it was a real, physical trail, it was actually some kind of portal to another place, a very good place, one so much richer and possibly even dimensionally deeper, that if I could reach it, there would be all sorts of amazing things there (physical things? spiritual?).

 

But in order to walk on the path safely, and not be washed away by storms, one had to be spiritually evolved (for lack of better term) (or maybe somehow committed) enough to take these sacred trails; yes, there was at least two trails I was aware of (and I would later learn there was a network of trails). There were many other people walking them, and I started to walk on one, excited by the wonder its destination was playing in my mind (I was somehow able to "see" [more like, perceive] the promising richnesses deep into the trails), but shortly after I begun I had a premonition that I wasn't ready. Similarly a "vision" came to me that the rain storms would take me, washing away the trail and/or me, not necessarily into oblivion (but maybe), but definitely the potential to be injured and/or lost (physically, spiritually). 

 

So only just having begun, I had to make the somewhat disappointing decision to turn around. I knew it wasn't the end all/be all, but, rather, just that I wasn't yet ready at this point in time to attempt the trail, though I wasn't sure what I needed to do to become ready. Sometime later, (maybe even just hours, or maybe a day) in my contemplation of the dangers and the wonders to be discovered along the way (the specifics of which were still murky to me) I saw an opening, or, more accurately, I hoped for an opening, that the storms had passed and I'd make safe passage. But this wasn't actually based on a premonition; I hadn't had anymore premonitions, but rather, I think it was just based purely on a desire and impatience to walk the trails; to discover their richnesses that somehow were playing on my mind. I remember sort of making up in my head that, yeah, the storms farther down the trail had probably now passed, and it was probably now safe to travel: thoughts that were conjured forth by an eagerness to walk the trails. 

 

As I walked again down the trail, this time a fair bit further (maybe an hour or two) feeling the richness of the trails as I progressed, so that I was beginning to get excited as I made my way further into uncharted territory in this new realm of wonder, I experienced another premonition that only doom and gloom awaited me (in the form of terrible rain storms that would wash me/the trail away, but only me, mind you, the others on their own personal spiritual paths would not be affected). So once again, I turned back.

 

I'm not sure how far I had traveled on the trail before turning back, but a fair way, certainly. I wasn't actually sure the way back. As I mentioned, it was a network of trails, but energetically I could sense which way lead deeper into the enchanted realm, and which way lead back to ordinariness. On my way back people were talking of storms that were kicking up, and, sure enough, soon the ground was falling way, I was falling through a debris field of dead and broken trees and tree branches (some of which were also falling, along with boulders). Other people seemed concerned or worried as they were falling, trying to navigate the odd storm, trying not to get crushed by falling debris. I wasn't really afraid, though. I found I was able to go with the flow and navigate the chaotic bedlam, and I somehow knew I just had to ride out the storm and I would eventually wind up back where I started. 

 

Eventually I navigated my falling way through the large, falling debris field and was back at the beginning of the trail, where I was presented with the choice to enter the trail again (probably not a good idea) or return back to the very mundane, ordinary world back at the parking lot. I remember asking some other people what my options were about where to go, (though I somehow knew, but I hoped maybe there was some other option I was maybe missing), but no, they answered in a sort of "I think..." kind of way, "you can take the trails, or you can walk a short way back down that way", passed the small, old, worn, wooden barricade, to the parking lot. I think the dream ended with me choosing the mundane, but probably correct choice at that very moment in time. A bit disappointing, but, there's always another day, and better than winding up lost and/or dead.

 

****

 

Some analysis of the dream: while I seemed to have been correct in having a premonition about a storm that would sweep me away if I attempted the trail before I was ready, I must have not actually had a real idea of what kind of storm would befall me, and probably just assumed rain since I didn't actually know and didn't actually have a premonition about specifically what kind of storm there might be.

 

It's hard for me to describe what richnesses lay deeper into the trails, but the trail I was on was clearly magical, it even shimmered with nuggets of different colors in places, denoting that it was actually a special trail. I was only concretely aware of one other trail that initially ran parallel to the one I was on. The other was wider, shimmered less with nuggets of colors promising wonderful things, but still, it was leading in the same general direction as the the other, it's just that the narrower one seemed to me to hold even greater promises than the wider one.

 

Like the other dream posted in this thread, there was a sense of awe and a sense of looking forward to something exciting, something novel, something otherworldly I hadn't actually ever seen or experienced before. Something almost supra-this-world. Not that I'm big on dogma, but I wonder what spiritual work or meditation is required to successfully traverse the trail(s)?

 

I remember at one point wanting to talk to others about how they were able to take the trail, but I knew it was a futile thing to ask, that for each person walking the trail was a personal thing, and that whatever answer they gave me would be meaningless to me since each individual had a unique, spiritual reason for being able or not able to walk the trail, or on which trail they were able to walk on or chose to walk on, or which way to go when the trail crossed another. I remember I had gone to the trail as a hiking trip with some other people (friends? certainly not close friends if they were in fact friends; it's only very fuzzy the people I was with; they were likely acquaintances or work colleagues). I'm not sure if any of them actually walked on the trails or not; I feel like the others didn't feel it was safe to attempt the trails due to the possibility of storms.

 

As I was typing this up, I kept mistyping 'trail' as 'trial'; is my subconscious trying to tell me something? 

Edited December 23, 2017 by Hellbent