Deep Dream State

Team Alchemy trusts the map. Team Alchemy should not trust the map. Meg reads the signs; Leandra reads the room, and the room has been waiting for both of them. The library at the end of Deep Ward isn't a reward, it's a job interview with no correct answer, and the price goes up every single night.

We see you scrying.

The Deep Dream State‘s built for some fast lane changes. Whatever it’s got for handling is on display here; each scene’s drastically different.

It’s all unified by the game. An augmented reality game for commercial deployment’s being used to hunt down the game designers. That’s dark. Every scene blends that darkness with high fantasy elements, but the mixes come out much different. That – and some love for live play podcasts – is why there’s a die roll in each scene transition.

It opens comic. The Muppettes, observers who always watch the action, put on their sorceress robes and get to incanting. Even though it’s funny, there are some real secrets uncovered here, including the real origin of the name Meridian A.

It gets dark. When Z sees the Muppettes scrying, he puts his hunting team of wolfgirls through the paces. Prior subjects Gia (played by Valentina Vallay), Celeste, and Clara have found a new place at Vale Four. The writer isn’t barely disguising anything here. The Muppettes are horrified; Z clearly delights in freaking out the audience – listeners included. (The Deep Dream State is NSFW thinkykinky material. This scene should be flagged as high spice level.)

It shifts to unsettling. Team Flowers and Team Alchemy navigate their way through Hespa’s map. They find their way through raging floodwaters, their own unspoken desires, and the medieval origins of the worst sports podcast of any epoch.

They arrive soaked and breathless to a secret they were told didn’t exist.

Cast & Crew

Cast

Astoria : Dakota Dream

Leads the Muppettes’ ritual, uncovers the force behind Meridian A, discovers that the thing she is watching can watch back.

Hilton : Tickled Panda

The nervous novice whose questions keep the ritual grounded until one word opens Team Leash.

Tessa : Ring of Kees

The queen of Team Thorns,  discipline dressed in finery.

Laura : Lux Peralta

Returns as part of the hunting party Astoria watches moving through Snarecraft.

Z : Neural Nets and Pretty Patterns

Catches the Muppettes scrying, turns the gaze back on them, and trains his wolfgirls to hunt by scent.

June : Bliss Blank

Part of the  hunt Astoria observes as the teams move through Hespa’s map.

Porsche : Princess Ella

Trusts Elle’s route, accidentally summons Midstream, and reaches the marker for a library that shouldn’t exist.

Elle : Echo Doll

Follows what she believes is Hespa’s pattern, gets stranded in the river, and accepts a deeply dubious rescue.

Meg : Bun Li

Reads traps as systems and Leandra as badly, then confronts a map that refuses to stay legible.

Leandra : Talithara

Knows the route behind the waterfall, remembers the Puzzlers, and reveals that the hidden library leads back through Deep Ward.

Clara : Vixen Clouds

The newest member of Team Leash. Hides under a blanket, remembers FaceTrace, and learns that pretending not to be seen is not the same as hiding.

Gia : Valentina Vallay

Breaks treatstick protocol, accepts correction, and is recruited to hunt by scent.

Celeste : Panda Moanium

Performs tricks for Clara without permission, loses Trixie time, and joins Team Leash’s hunt.

Cael : Jericho Caine

Returns as Caellum, a medieval Midstream merchant selling ball lore, guild membership, and suspicious raft transport.

Mudrick : Violently Passionate

Caellum’s eager shield-mate, fascinated by every kind of ball and fully committed to the worst sports podcast of any epoch.

Hespa : Syndi Rella

The absent architect whose recycled maps, hidden routes, and secret library guide every team toward something they were told did not exist.

Naia : Dizzy Dollie

Part of the wider hunting party Astoria’s ritual observes across Snarecraft.

Quintessence is the twelfth episode of Season 4 of Deep Dream State, a desire horror audio drama by Neural Nets and Pretty Patterns. It is part of Season 4: Vale Four, Snarecraft Cycle.

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Neural Nets and Pretty Patterns – Official Site

Deep Dream State – Official Site

Vale Four – Season 4

Deep Dream State Cast

Deep Dream State Glossary

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Producer ISNI: 0000 0005 2877 6254

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Human Made Art

The poster image for this arc is from Sunrise Forever on Pixabay, under the Pixabay license. Layer art overlays are used to vary each iteration of the image. Deep Dream State uses human art at every stage of the creative supply chain.

Consent Declaration

Deep Dream State is a desire horror audio drama written and produced by Neural Nets and Pretty Patterns. It explores psychological fiction at the boundaries of control, identity, and complicity. The elements depicted are fictional and intentional. All performances are works of fiction and take place within a consensual creative context. ISNI 0000 0005 2877 6254

Source

Hespa and Blake have fled the island to testify, and Vale Four is sending an army of gamers after them through Snarecraft. Three teams take three different paths through the hunt: Team Thorns chooses brutality; Team Alchemy relies on calculation; Team Flowers leaves it all to chance. The maze itself was built by Hespa, so the hunters are counting on it to give her away. Listeners will find out which pack hunts best, in a game with the highest stakes yet.

Blake is out of Kamas, out of options, and out of runway. Hespa tells her the truth about what Vale Four is, what it costs to leave, and what it costs to stay. Naia Anderson has been waiting for someone exactly like Blake to walk through that door. The arrow was always aimed at her.

Piper, Blake, and Gia keep going deeper into the game. They're wearing Prismatix and spending Kama tokens. At this point, they're not just playing the games. They're getting played by all the factions.

Neuroplex bmanagement wants their data and their selves harvested. The Holdfasts want to push them to the point of rebellion. Cael and Hespa may be playing their own game.

All the subjects can tell is that they've taken all the free offers, and they're the product now.