To Sleep, Perchance to Dream.

[Shadovarn]

...zzzt...

Take a Doll, any one will do.

Carve out the eyes, it sees no sin.

Give it a smile, and you too.

Mark it with blood, drawn from a pin.

...zzzt...

In the dark of night, youths play a game. Something they heard from another, spoken to another. The rules change every time, but the game remains the same. In the gloom of the night, when the world sleeps, they try to see if it's true. To call forth the smile, to banish the frown. A game they play where the rules change every time, but the promise remains the same.

A voice in the dream, a wish granted. Some tell of an Uncle, that came into a great fortune. Another say of how a cousin become far stronger than before, outpacing his peers. It mattered not if the stories were true, they all told of similar things. Those down on their luck, or just seeking more, being granted something marvelous. Of course, what are bed time tales and games without a darker side? What is such a story without tragedy?

An Uncle, crushed by the weight of his gold. A Cousin, bold in action, killed by a heart giving out. The details change every time, but the message is the same. Something lurks in the dreams, visiting in the stillness of night. It can be called forth, whispered to a doll in a silken suit.

...zzzt...

Give it a name, whisper it out.
Close your eyes, be sure not to pout.
Shout out your wish and count to five.
If you've been good, it might arrive.

...zzzt...

Shadovarn#0001

[Shadovarn]

Quiet.

The serene silence.

The sound of the tomb. Of the world long ended. Of the civilization forgotten.

The sound of silence, broken only by one thing. One thing amid the desolate ruins. One thing amid the steel skeletons that once stood as marvels of the mortal will. Amid the falling ash, the dial turns. Rotated, letting forth the sound of static. The radio is out of tune, seeking the signal. It crackles, it mutters, it aches and it cries. But in the end, the sound finally comes through. The signal is recieved. 

And it speaks.

It does not last long until the static returns and the dial is turned back.

Silence falls over the world again.

It is quiet.