Dreamland Revised
Carolyn VanEseltine
imaginary games jam
From imaginary games jam. Based on the review: Dreamland (Wonderland's Alice) This is some new VR/AR thing I looked at last month. The gimmick is it's a game that you play in your dreams. I found the concept intriguing, so I hooked up the ol' REM Enhancer and downloaded the game's app to it. At first, I couldn't tell if the game was working (REME and other dreamtechs can be pretty buggy), but a few days in, I started having the trippiest dreams. A woman, dressed all in white with no eyes, asks me if I have visited the "Quartzian Palace". Far off in the distance, I see a castle that glows in many colors, but the way there always seems to be blocked by a chasm. Over many nights I struggled to find a way there, sometimes through bizarre dangers, often through places of great and strange beauty, until one night, I finally managed to find a way into the palace Aaaand it turns out the ending is some serious "Don't forget to drink your Ovaltine! " bullshit. Like, seriously. Watch it on Youtube if you don't believe me. It's such a shame, because the game was so cool up to that, but I honestly cannot recommend this game in good conscience thanks to that ending. I deleted the app off my REME the next day. I'm still getting ads in my sleep. Goddammit.
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I wrote my review of Dreamland a few weeks back, and then I deleted the app and said I was done. But I can't stop thinking about it. Not because the ads keep showing up (though they do, and whoever voiced that Nexus ad, fuck you forever) but because it was just... so good. Until the bullshit ending.

Now that I know I'm not alone (hello AIXeddit! thank you for the cloud payments, no hard feelings on the overload!) I decided it was time to do something about it. I deserved better than this. You deserved better than this.

That's right - this is interactive. I used a text adventure to build the end of Dreamland, the way it should have been.

This is the ending we all should have had. Roll tape.

...and roll tape means you should key space. Space is the long key at the bottom with nothing on it.
Before we get going, one more thing. Did you have the content-locked version for people under 30?

Key Y if you had the content locked version, N if you had the unlocked version, anything else if you're being a dick (which will be ignored anyway).

Be honest, kidlets! Big Brother protects you from some things for a reason.
Y.
Locked it is. What a good kidlet you are.

One last thing - this won't be an easy ride. There are nineteen reasons to stop here and now... or key space again to toss the sounding line.
You go north
The chasm lies behind you. The Quartzian Palace waits ahead. The thorny portcullis bars the way.

A world-reflecting unicorn grazes quietly along the railroad tracks.

(Never played a game like this before? No sweat, you're not alone.
Key HELP ME for how to play, or key DESCRIBE GAME if you just want to know more about the game.)
Y.
cheapglulxe quit with exit status: 0
You go to the north
If you're lying, the legal shit's on you, not me.

One last thing - this won't be an easy ride. There are nineteen reasons to stop here and now... or key space again to toss the sounding line.
Dreamland Revised

The chasm lies behind you. The Quartzian Palace waits ahead. The thorny portcullis bars the way.

A world-reflecting unicorn wanders with its head lowered along the railroad tracks.

(Never played a game like this before? No sweat, you're not alone.
Key HELP ME for how to play, or key DESCRIBE GAME if you just want to know more about the game.)
You describe the game
Hi, I'm EpicNightmare. If you're at my cloud, you know that already, but it's tripped all over AIXeddit now and I have no idea who's running it, so. (Enabled updates are the best.)

If you haven't played Dreamland (by Wonderland's Alice) you should play it before playing this. I think Dreamland Revised is great, because I did the best I could, but it's also crammed full of spoilers.

Here's my original review.

Dreamland (Wonderland's Alice)
This is some new VR/AR thing I looked at last month. The gimmick is it's a game that you play in your dreams. I found the concept intriguing, so I hooked up the ol" REM Enhancer and downloaded the game's app to it. At first, I couldn't tell if the game was working (REME and other dreamtechs can be pretty buggy), but a few days in, I started having the trippiest dreams. A woman, dressed all in white with no eyes, asks me if I have visited the "Quartzian Palace". Far off in the distance, I see a castle that glows in many colors, but the way there always seems to be blocked by a chasm. Over many nights I struggled to find a way there, sometimes through bizarre dangers, often through places of great and strange beauty, until one night, I finally managed to find a way into the palace…

Aaaand it turns out the ending is some serious "Don't forget to drink your Ovaltine!" bullshit. Like, seriously. Watch it on Youtube if you don't believe me. It's such a shame, because the game was so cool up to that, but I honestly cannot recommend this game in good conscience thanks to that ending.

I deleted the app off my REME the next day. I'm still getting ads in my sleep. Goddammit.


So what you want to do is get across the chasm and STOP THERE. Do NOT use your Visage to pass the portcullis, do NOT go into the Quartzian Palace, that's what trips off the ads. Believe me you do not want that shit. Come back and play the REAL ending here.

If you don't know how to work this game, key HELP ME.
Show list
The Depardu list:

cruel
determined
implacable
patient
serene
sorrowing
subtle

Of course some of you are like "where's the other 464?", but there's no point in me putting them all in, since you know from Ariadne that these are the ones in the Palace.
You assume the serene visage
You already have the visage of serenity.
You assume the subtle visage
You said your Dreamland was unlocked. Stop cowering from yourself.
You assume the patient visage
You assume a grotesque visage, the visage of patience.
About yourself
It's you.

(Troller, I have no clue what you look like. Fill it in
yourself.)
You check your inventory
You are wearing Mandelbrot's tattoo and carrying the lightning eye of Aladdin Sane. You have the visage of patience.
You examine the eye
(the lightning eye of Aladdin Sane)
The eye is open.

(There were a lot of options, of course - this could've been the
eye of Vecna, or the eye of Odin, or the eye of the Illuminati. But this is the one I got, so it's the one I'm implementing here.)
You examine the tattoo
It's a fully detailed tattoo of the Mandelbrot set. You got it from Adrien Douady.

(I guessed most people didn't transmute Douady's rabbit. If you
did, this should be the Diva tattoo. You won't need it from here on in anyway. I just included it for completeness.)
You examine the visage
It's grotesque to the touch.

(I couldn't figure out natural keys for the visage, so you have to ASSUME VISAGE and use Depardu's emotive list, like ASSUME DETERMINED VISAGE. You can use the Allis creature list instead if you want.)
You look
The chasm lies behind you. The Quartzian Palace waits ahead. The thorny portcullis bars the way.

A world-reflecting unicorn wanders with its head lowered along the railroad tracks.
You examine the unicorn
The unicorn isn't really grazing - just moving its head through the grass, switching its tail, occasionally shifting position. Its horn, hooves, and eyes have the distinctive glitter of dye-sensitized solar biofilm.
You examine the tracks
There was a train and that is the truth.
You look at the portcullis
The only entrance to the castle is blocked by a portcullis. The portcullis's wooden bars swarm with sprouted thorns and vines.
You assume the serene visage
You assume a cold visage, the visage of serenity.

(Are you confused? You'd better key DESCRIBE GAME, unless you're
just kicking the scenery for fun. Or HELP ME is a good idea.)
You assume the determined visage
You assume a whiskered visage, the visage of determination.

The Quartzian Palace honors your determination. Vines reach out from the thorny portcullis to wrap about your torso. As they drag you forward, the portcullis bars part and you pass through safely.

You are inside the wall, lost in light and rainbows.

The portcullis seals itself behind you.
You look at the rainbows
It shines with colors you don't even have names for.

(I know some people see colors they can recognize when they look
up at the Palace. But since no one agrees on what those colors ARE, this is what you get.)
You look
You are inside the wall, lost in light and rainbows.
You assume the serene visage
You assume a cold visage, the visage of serenity.
You assume the clear visage
You assume a scaled visage, the visage of clarity.

You see the walls of the maze. You find your way through, and now you are in the Palace.

A polished floor, and whirling dancers, and the smell of broken metal. A sound worth listening to. A heavy velvet curtain across the back, blocking you from the orchestral pi.

(Some of you are completely pissed at me right now. I don't blame
you, because everything's been building up to the Ballroom, right? But do you really want to fill out a thirty-part questionnare about the Sierpinski village, don't think so. Plus, I have a life over here, and I'm not spending the next four years on this.)
You listen
The rhythm blurs in your old ears, troller.
You look at the curtain
Decidedly opaque. Also heavy, dark, red.
You move the curtain
You strive to make your way across the floor, but the whirling dancers catch you up and throw you back again to the safety of the shore.
Smell
It's a familliar smell.
You assume the implacable visage
You assume a metallic visage, the visage of implacability.
You assume the determined visage
You assume a whiskered visage, the visage of determination.
You assume the cruel visage
You assume a furred visage, the visage of cruelty.
You assume the patient visage
You assume a grotesque visage, the visage of patience.
You assume the subtle visage
You said your Dreamland was unlocked. Stop cowering from yourself.
Show list
The Depardu list:

cruel
determined
implacable
patient
serene
sorrowing
subtle

Of course some of you are like "where's the other 464?", but there's
Show list
no point in me putting them all in, since you know from Ariadne that these are the ones in the Palace.

The Depardu list:

cruel
determined
implacable
patient
serene
sorrowing
subtle

Of course some of you are like "where's the other 464?", but there's no point in me putting them all in, since you know from Ariadne that these are the ones in the Palace.
You look at the shore
Everything looks the same from this angle.
You assume the sorrowing visage
Keep your sorrows secret.
You assume the implacable visage
You already have the visage of implacability.
You examine the eye
(the lightning eye of Aladdin Sane)
The eye is open.
You rub the eye
(the lightning eye of Aladdin Sane)
You rub the lightning eye of Aladdin Sane.
You wear the eye
(the lightning eye of Aladdin Sane)
You can't wear that!
You close eye
(the lightning eye of Aladdin Sane)
No. It must see.
You check your inventory
You are wearing Mandelbrot's tattoo and carrying the lightning eye of Aladdin Sane. You have the visage of implacability.
You examine the tattoo
It's a fully detailed tattoo of the Mandelbrot set. You got it from Adrien Douady.
You assume the clear visage
You assume a scaled visage, the visage of clarity.
You assume the serene visage
You assume a cold visage, the visage of serenity.
You assume the cruel visage
You assume a furred visage, the visage of cruelty.
You check your inventory
You are wearing Mandelbrot's tattoo and carrying the lightning eye of Aladdin Sane. You have the visage of cruelty.
What do i do next
1. Key ASSUME PESTILENT VISAGE.
2. Key GO ORCHESTRAL.
3. Key EXAMINE ORCHESTRAL.
4. Key PLAY (and the name of an instrument).
You assume the contaminated visage
You assume a mottled visage, the visage of pestilence.

The dancers draw away from you, and the heavy curtain parts to reveal the orchestral pi. Walking in single file, the musicians abandon their posts and climb the steps, joining the dancers in a worried circle behind you.
You go orchestral
Now you are in the orchestral pi, where you see yourself, a gravity dam, a Danish publication, a pulgada, a Boleslaw Chrobry Crown, a Japanese neologism, a random article from Wikipedia, and a red herring, all abandoned.
You examine the herring
This is a playable metadistraction.
You examine myself
It's you.
You play the herring
You strike up a sprightly tune on the red herring. The dancers return to the floor. Feet stamp. Skirts swirl.

The orchestral pit lowers into the ground, taking you with it.

The seventh apartment was closely shrouded in black velvet tapestries that hung all over the ceiling and down the walls, falling in heavy folds upon a carpet of the same material and hue. But in this chamber only, the color of the windows failed to correspond with the decorations. The panes here were scarlet - a deep blood color.

The Red Queen is here. RUN.
You run
You run. And the Red Queen pursues. And the tapestries and the other things round you never change their places at all: however fast you go, you never seem to pass anything.
You run faster
You run. And the Red Queen pursues.
Inventory
You are wearing Mandelbrot's tattoo and carrying the lightning eye of Aladdin Sane. You have the visage of pestilence.

"Faster!" the Red Queen shrieks. "FASTER!"
You assume the implacable visage
You assume a metallic visage, the visage of implacability.

The Red Queen's hands close upon your shoulders like knives. "What do you suppose is the use of a child without any meaning?" she howls, and then you're flying through the air....
You describe your surroundings
(How do you simulate REME shock-wake in text? I did my best here,
but it's just not the same.)
You look
The seventh apartment was closely shrouded in black velvet tapestries that hung all over the ceiling and down the walls, falling in heavy folds upon a carpet of the same material and hue. But in this chamber only, the color of the windows failed to correspond with the decorations. The panes here were scarlet - a deep blood color.

The Red Queen is here. RUN.

The Red Queen's hands close upon your shoulders like knives. "What do you suppose is the use of a child without any meaning?" she howls, and then you're flying through the air....
You run faster
You run. And the Red Queen pursues.

A looking glass appears in front of you, with the glass beginning to melt away, just like a bright silvery mist.
You enter the glass
In the next moment, you're through the looking glass, and your feet thump down onto sand.

Eventually, you stop to catch your breath.

A thin-bodied, light-colored infusion laps across the sand and recedes, rhythmic as a heartbeat. The air smells appropriate.

(Again, it's goddam hard to fake an enabled system with primitive software like this. If you don't get it, there's always WHAT DO I DO NEXT.)
You check your inventory
You are wearing Mandelbrot's tattoo and carrying the lightning eye of Aladdin Sane. You have the visage of implacability.
You assume the serene visage
You assume a cold visage, the visage of serenity.
Smell
A floral aroma, and a a musky spiciness sometimes described as "muscatel". See footnote.
You assume the patient visage
You assume a grotesque visage, the visage of patience.
You look at the sand
It's the color of bastnäsite.
You dig sand
You unearth a prion.
You look at prion
A prion is a protein that can be folded in multiple ways, contaminating and eventually destroying the framework in which it exists. This one can be folded into a sailboat.

(This actually exists in the butchered REME version - they had to
have one more prion to complete the Prophecy of Flowers.)
You look at the prion
A prion is a protein that can be folded in multiple ways, contaminating and eventually destroying the framework in which it exists. This one can be folded into a sailboat.
You examine the footnote
"Darjeeling Tea". Darjeeling district government website. Dig to learn more.
You fold the prion
You fold the prion along the natural lines. The scenery folds along with it.

You unfold the prion and find yourself somewhere entirely different.

You stand at the top of a towering structure made from sugar cubes, so high that the base is lost below you. A sea wind blows, carrying the scent of Darjeeling tea from the brown infusion below. Gulls cry far away.
You listen
The distant weeping of gulls could make a kidlet cry.
You taste the sugar
You gnaw at the edge of the cube, but your mouth is too dry to have much effect, and only the faintest hint of sweet touches your tongue.
You jump
You jump on the spot.
You look at the cube
Subtle shades of white and reflection. As hard as rock candy, though much less spiny.
You examine gulls
Their distant weeping could make a kidlet cry.
You assume the sorrowing visage
Keep your sorrows secret.
You cry
No tears flow from a visage of patience.
You assume the clear visage
You assume a scaled visage, the visage of clarity.
You cry
No tears flow from a visage of clarity.
You assume the patient visage
You assume a grotesque visage, the visage of patience.
You look
You stand at the top of a towering structure made from sugar cubes, so high that the base is lost below you. A sea wind blows, carrying the scent of Darjeeling tea from the brown infusion below. Gulls cry far away.
You assume the contaminated visage
You assume a mottled visage, the visage of pestilence.
You cry
No tears flow from a visage of pestilence.
Go downward
It's too steep.
You rub the sugar
You rub the sugar cube.
You cry
No tears flow from a visage of determination.
You look
You stand at the top of a towering structure made from sugar cubes, so high that the base is lost below you. A sea wind blows, carrying the scent of Darjeeling tea from the brown infusion below. Gulls cry far away.
You wait
You wait. The gulls grow old and cease to weep. The stacked sugar cubes yield to a century's restless sea, and you tumble down -

The boy with nineteen eyes watches your attempt at looking.

Broken stone pillars jut from the waves. You crouch atop a metal platform at the center. The only sound is the only sound.

A metal cage is securely fastened to one side of the platform. It contains the boy with nineteen eyes.

Your feet thump down on metal. You stagger, then gain balance.
You check what you're carrying
The boy with nineteen eyes watches your attempt at taking inventory.

You are wearing Mandelbrot's tattoo and carrying the lightning eye of Aladdin Sane. You have the visage of patience.
You examine boy
The boy with nineteen eyes watches you examining him.

The boy's eyes are nothing like a unicorn's.
You open the cage
The boy with nineteen eyes watches your attempt at opening the metal cage.

It isn't something you can open.
You ask the boy about the boy
The boy with nineteen eyes watches you asking it about him.

There is no reply.
You examine the platform
The boy with nineteen eyes watches your attempt at examining the metal platform.

Old, weary, indented by the passage of feet and waves.
You examine the pillars
The boy with nineteen eyes watches your attempt at examining the broken stone pillar.

Broken stone surrounds you. like teeth. Waves beyond the stone speak to you. Listen.
You listen
The boy with nineteen eyes watches your attempt at listening to Outside Zion.

The boy with nineteen eyes watches your attempt at listening to the hungry waves.

The waves lap into words: album, they cry, album and
chanson and strophe, and nothing after.
You listen
The boy with nineteen eyes watches your attempt at listening to Outside Zion.

The boy with nineteen eyes watches your attempt at listening to the hungry waves.

The waves are only waves, wordless and hungry.
You say the album
(to the boy with nineteen eyes)
The boy with nineteen eyes watches you answering it that him.

There is no reply.
You look at the waves
The boy with nineteen eyes watches your attempt at examining the hungry waves.

The waves come and go, lapping and crying like dogmeat.
Feed waves
(to the boy with nineteen eyes)
The boy has nineteen eyes. He does not need the hungry waves.
You close the eyes
The boy with nineteen eyes has better things to do.
You close the eyes
The boy with nineteen eyes watches you closing him.

He isn't something you can close.
You assume the cruel visage
You assume a furred visage, the visage of cruelty.

The boy's expression twists horribly, and he says, "Go, then. There are other worlds than these."

You step backward, but the platform cracks like rust beneath your heel. You fall backward. You fall....

The hero, instead of conquering or conciliating the power of the threshold, is swallowed into the unknown and would appear to have died.

An even grey in every direction, with no hint of where to go.

S`io credesse che mia risposta fosse
A persona che mai tornasse al mondo,
Questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse.
Ma perciocchè giammai di questo fondo
Non tornò vivo alcun, s'i'odo il vero,
Vous ne pouvez pas résoudre ce casse-tête
Sans la perspicacité de la jeunesse.
You wait
Time passes.
You check your inventory
You are wearing Mandelbrot's tattoo and carrying the lightning eye of Aladdin Sane. You have the visage of implacability.
You close eye
No. It must see.
You remove the tattoo
You take off Mandelbrot's tattoo.
You assume the determined visage
You assume a whiskered visage, the visage of determination.
You wear the tattoo
You put on Mandelbrot's tattoo.
You assume the clear visage
You assume a scaled visage, the visage of clarity.

You undulate through the grey until you perceive a faint glow. You strike toward the light, break the surface, and drag yourself up the sand.

Green light flows across the sky and sparkles up in reflection from the sand. Briny grey stretches away on one side and translucent sand stretches away on the other.

(One more prophecy to go.)
You examine the sand
Long waves of green light move through the sand, a shimmering echo of the fierce light above.
You look at the light
Emerald light undulates across the sky.
You take the light
The sky is too far away.
You look at the grey
It crawls up the shore like a superfluid, and fails back again like something else entirely.
You go sand
You trudge across the sand, leaving the briny grey behind.

You walk for a time. Then the sky shatters.

The sky overhead has broken like a mirror. Long cracks pierce through the glowing green above. Similar cracks stretch through the translucent sand below.

You can see the woman in white with no eyes here.

(Don't expect complicated conversation from her. Or conversation
at all. You have no idea how kludgy the commands for that are.)
You look at the woman
Pemphredo: the first of three sisters, garbed in folded white and swan feathers. Her face is lineless with youth, and there is nothing remarkable about it save the empty, eyeless hollows.
You give the eye to the woman
She holds up her hand and steps backward - wait; not yet; not
here..
You go
You'll have to say which compass direction to go in.
You examine the cracks
Sand drains away through the largest crack in the ground.
You touch the woman
The woman in white - Pemphredo, they called her - steps back from you.
You look
The sky overhead has broken like a mirror. Long cracks pierce through the glowing green above. Similar cracks stretch through the translucent sand below.

You can see Pemphredo here.
You assume the cruel visage
You assume a furred visage, the visage of cruelty.
You show the eye to the woman
Pemphredo is unimpressed.
You put eye in the crack
No. You need that.
Look around
The sky overhead has broken like a mirror. Long cracks pierce through the glowing green above. Similar cracks stretch through the translucent sand below.

You can see Pemphredo here.
You examine the cracks
Sand drains away through the largest crack in the ground.
You look at the green
The broken sand reflects it, or it reflects the broken sand.
You ask woman about herself
The woman in white - Pemphredo, they called her - steps back from you.
Dance
You dance around.
You examine the visage
It's metallic to the touch.
You say pemphredo
(to Pemphredo)
The woman in white - Pemphredo, they called her - steps back from you.
You assume clear
You assume a scaled visage, the visage of clarity.
You give the eye
(to Pemphredo)
She holds up her hand and steps backward - wait; not yet; not
here..
You give the tattoo
(to Pemphredo)
(first taking Mandelbrot's tattoo off)
Pemphredo doesn't seem interested.
You wear the tattoo
You put on Mandelbrot's tattoo.
You sit
What do you want to sit on?
You open the crack
The woman watches your efforts impassively. After a long, considering moment, she waves you out of the way, kneels, and sets her hands to either side of the crack in the sand.

She shoves hard, and the crack gapes wider still, revealing a stairway into the earth. She straightens, dusts off her robes, and descends the chthonian stair.
You go downward
You walk down the stair, duck through the curtain of falling sand, and come out at the entrance to a small town.

The gates of Cisthene are closed. They will remain closed until you have satisfied the gatekeepers.

You can see Pemphredo, the woman in red with no eyes, and the woman in saffron with no eyes here.

(All out of prophecies now. Here's where it ends.)
You examine Red
Deino: the second of three sisters, garbed in folded red and carved bone beads. Her face is lineless with youth, and there is nothing remarkable about it save the empty, eyeless hollows.
You look at the saffron
Enyo: the third of three sisters, garbed in folded saffron and copper medallions. Her face is lineless with youth, and there is nothing remarkable about it save the empty, eyeless hollows.
Look around
The gates of Cisthene are closed. They will remain closed until you have satisfied the gatekeepers.

You can see Pemphredo, Deino, and Enyo here.
You examine the gates
Beyond lies Sunlight Gardener's School. You have only to satisfy the gatekeepers to enter the nineteen-fold corridors.
You give the eye to Pemphredo
The Pemphredo closes her hands about your offering. She holds up the eye, then swings it in a slow arc to survey the world around her.

Then she passes the eye to her sister, and as she does, you notice the youth leaving her face. Her sister passes the eye along and grows grey and withered in turn, and all three sisters hunch in upon themselves as they encircle the eyeball.

The gates of Cisthene open to you, and you go down to the Sunlight Gardener's School, where the citizens embrace you in broad triangles and uplift your spirit nineteen times.
Afterword
That's it: the end of Dreamland. There is absolutely, positively, definitely nothing more to find here. And if someone tries to claim there is, they are almost certainly commiting illegal actions, troller. Anything they submit to you should be processed in search of kryptosgraphic meaning.

Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT, UNDO the last command, read the critically important AFTERWORD, verify PI, or see a short POEM?
Pi
Pi: three point 141 592 653 589 793 238 462 643 383 279 502 884 197 169 399 375 105 820 974 944 592 307 816

Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT, UNDO the last command, read the critically important AFTERWORD, verify PI, or see a short POEM?
Poem
French is a dead language,
as dead as dead can be,
unrecognized by metal eyes
but hopef'lly not by thee.

Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT, UNDO the last command, read the critically important AFTERWORD, verify PI, or see a short POEM?
You give the eye to Deino
The Deino closes her hands about your offering. She holds up the eye, then swings it in a slow arc to survey the world around her.

Then she passes the eye to her sister, and as she does, you notice the youth leaving her face. Her sister passes the eye along and grows grey and withered in turn, and all three sisters hunch in upon themselves as they encircle the eyeball.

The gates of Cisthene open to you, and you go down to the Sunlight Gardener's School, where the citizens embrace you in broad triangles and uplift your spirit nineteen times.