[IC] Lost in Dreams (Dr. Alan Parker)

[ericthered]

Alan Parker dreamed of WWI that night. Another might have thought it was world war II, but he could tell exactly what war it was. In fact, he could tell he was dreaming about Austrian troops. They were defending against what appeared to be Italian forces. An odd portion of the war to dream about. Much less iconic. Then he dreamed of enemy forces who were hit by bullets and kept on coming. They bore not bayonets but heavy spears with wide bayonet-like heads. There was no way they were alive. They stared forward silently. It became obvious they'd already been shot before: crudely carved limbs were all over them. They were running through a mine field. The ones who triggered explosions fell, missing feet, but didn't cry out, and struggled forward on their hands and knees.

And yet it wasn't a nightmare, any more so than any dream about the trenches of the first world war. It just happened.

His dream shifted to a scene out of a cheap pulp paper-back novel, though he couldn't say which. A circle of figures in black cloaks, chanting in some language Dr. Parker didn't understand, stood on a floor with etched lines on it. He couldn't understand the language, but his linguistics training pegged it as something out of ancient europe. Before the roman empire. Or perhaps just something thrown together and made up: you never knew with this sort of thing. And yet in some way it sounded authentic. At least authentic enough to leave him unsure. He couldn't see any faces of the chanters, only hear the voices. They sent shivers down his spine, though he couldn't say that they were entirely unpleasant.

Dr. Parker woke up to the sound of wind rushing through grass. It was dark. It was quiet. and he was on the ground. naked. It wasn't grass he was in, but long, tall wheat. He could see the stars clearly -- he must not be near a large town.

OCC: you are playing a guy with a deep knowledge of history. How is your own grasp of it? I ask because it changes what I need to add by way of explaination and what's best to just plain leave out.

The setting should be home turf for this character. Total coincidence. Though the language let me drop him somewhere that may not be ideal...

[kwwhit5531]

As he woke he was rather surprised by his nakedness, in his earlier college days he had woke up in some strange places after a long night, but this with the strange dream seemed different.

He decided that he would try to find the north star, which he remembered learning about in some old college class.

OOC: I suppose that would be an untrained Astronomy roll?

As for my grasp of history, I'm a history major in college and have been fascinated with it since elementary school. My specialty you could say is the late republican/early imperial era of the Roman Empire. However I love all eras of history and WW1 is certainly a fascinating era.

[ericthered]

Finding north isn't too hard. Dr. Parker quickly finds the big dipper pointing at the star.

OCC:
Then you probably know more than me. Its just a hobby for me. But its good to know I can go all out and that exploring historical quirks is on the table.

There are several skills which would apply. He doesn't have any of them. I'm calling it IQ-1 in the absence of an appropriate skill. also, I forgot to make you specify his college and home city. He would get IQ or IQ+1 if he grew up with skies that lack light pollution. I rolled for you. If you want us to have more explicit rolls so you can learn Gurps better, we've done that before, but I often don't notify people that I'm rolling in this game.

Also, feel free to write conditional statements, like "He tries to find the north star. If he does so, He'll walk due east until he finds some trace of civilization."

[kwwhit5531]

Now having at least a general idea of where he's going Parker heads north.

OOC: Yeah I'd prefer explicit rolls to help me learn when possible, though I don't want it to get in your way of telling the story.

[ericthered]

How long does he head north for? what is he looking for? will he stop for fences? roads? houses? lights in the distance?

[kwwhit5531]

Parker heads north looking for any signs of people, hoping to find his way home.

[ericthered]

His first sign of habitation is a twinkling light off in the distance. If he moves towards it, he will find an old dirt road, and after following that for a while, a wooden sign. Its too dark to read the sign properly, but its obviously hand made.

[kwwhit5531]

Parker attempts to move closer to the sign in order to read it and if he can't he begins calling out into the surrounding area.

[ericthered]

He doesn't have enough light to read it, but he can tell that the letters are etched into the wood. Running his fingers over it, he gets a name. 'Backhauss'. Or at least that's what he thinks it is.

[kwwhit5531]

Parker begins calling out if anybody is there and also begins exploring the area around the sign hoping to find someone.