Encountering The Magical Sage In The Forest (Sleep Story)

This is part 5 of you continuing your journey as the wanderer, exploring Taramysia. You are walking through the forest as it rains. You encounter a talking squirrel before heading to a cabin in the forest where you meet a wise sage. You find a book that shares about a civilization that used to exist in Taramysia. The sage guides you through a deeply relaxing process to learn about ancient civilization. Later that evening you drift into a dream that shares some knowledge about the location where the civilization lived, before drifting comfortably asleep.

Transcript

Hey dreamers,

Imagine relaxing in bed as it rains outside,

As you prepare to embrace the transformative power of sleep,

And you take a moment to allow yourself to get comfortable and close your eyes,

And as you drift deeply and soundly asleep,

I don't know whether you'll drift deeper asleep to the sound of my voice or to the spaces between my words,

But each time you listen to these stories,

People say they become like an old friend,

You just find yourself drifting asleep quicker and easier than sleeping comfortably through the night,

And with your eyes closed you don't have to pay any attention to the way your body is preparing for sleep,

The way you're beginning to relax as a mind and body,

The way you seem to almost be breathing in peace and calm,

And breathing out any stress and tension,

You can just focus on absorbing yourself into the story,

Like tuning in to an area of stillness in your mind,

And you can always keep in mind that when you hear me telling these stories,

You can let go of wakefulness and drift into the most pleasant sleep,

And you can imagine a calming light flowing through you as you begin to enter the first stage of sleep,

Allowing that stillness to set in and the muscles to relax,

Like enjoying the ever-present comfort of your bed,

Lulling you gently asleep,

So as you listen to me and drift asleep,

You may find yourself falling asleep before you realise,

Or realising you're falling asleep and trying to stay awake for a moment,

And that's ok,

You can let go,

Relax and just enjoy the process of drifting asleep into slumberland,

And as you continue to drift asleep,

You find yourself continuing your journey as the wanderer,

Exploring the forest in Terramacea,

Where you'll encounter a talking squirrel before discovering a secluded cabin and delving into the mysteries of an ancient civilization,

Leading to a profound reverie and deeper understanding,

Before finding yourself settling down for the night,

Reading about an ancient temple and drifting into a dream,

Exploring the heart of that civilization's city,

As you fall asleep to the soothing sounds of rain,

And as you relax,

Walking gently through the enchanting rain-kissed forest in Terramacea,

You discover that the rain takes on the role as a soft symphony,

Playing upon the lush canopy above,

Its melody harmonising with the earthy scent of damp soil and shimmering leaves,

Each droplet creates a tiny ripple as it meets the small puddles on the forest floor,

Weaving a web of serene sound and movement around you,

The cool damp air tickles your skin,

Bringing a refreshing contrast to the warmth of your body,

As you continue to wander deeper into the heart of the forest,

Around you the forest breathes life,

The leaves of ancient trees hang gracefully forming natural archways under which you pass,

The gentle rustling of leaves,

Stirred by a soft breeze,

Whisper secrets of the forest,

Inviting you to listen closely,

As you continue to explore and become deeper absorbed in your surroundings,

And as you walk,

The distinct and almost muffled sounds of each footstep blends with the sounds of the rain-soaked forest,

You wonder what you'll discover and learn on this leg of your journey,

You can hear the occasional sound of birds in the distance,

And other animals and the rustling of the damp leaves,

As the wind blows softly across the treetops,

And as you continue walking,

So you begin to notice the occasional distant roll of thunder,

With its deep resonating bass,

Adding to the forest's symphony,

Creating a sense of awe and wonder,

And as you tread lightly on the soft mossy path,

Enjoying the vibrant greenery that thrives in this rain-drenched environment,

Ferns unfurl their delicate fronds beside the path,

And small colourful wildflowers peak through the undergrowth,

Shy yet bold in their solitude,

The forest seems to be alive with the nourishing touch of the rain,

It seems to welcome you into its embrace,

Sharing its tranquil beauty,

While continuing to walk and observe your surroundings,

A movement catches your eye,

A small bushy-tailed squirrel,

With fur as rich and brown as the tree bark,

Scampering across your path,

The squirrel pauses,

Turns towards you,

And begins to speak,

Its voice is soft yet clear,

Almost as if it contains the wisdom of the forest,

The squirrel speaks of the secrets of Taramacere,

Of hidden paths and ancient trees,

They guide you to a hollow in the base of a tree,

Where,

Together,

You tuck yourselves just out of the rain,

Although surprised that the squirrel is talking with you,

And that you can understand them perfectly fine,

Something about the experience feels natural,

And you take the experience in your stride,

The squirrel shares that many beings in the forest can be understood,

They tell you that they aren't really speaking the same language as you,

But for those who have an open mind and an open heart,

Who are willing to connect with nature,

Connect with the world around them,

Nature reciprocates here,

And the connection is a two-way process,

So by connecting with nature,

And displaying that deep sense of curiosity for the world around you,

You can understand nature and the forest acts almost like a psychic translator,

Allowing you to understand the languages of the forest,

The squirrel tells you about how they live in a community,

High up in the canopy of the trees,

And in hollows within the trees,

They talk about some of the other creatures of this forest,

And tell you that to the east,

Back on the shore of the river,

Is the town of Wheatstone,

And if you continue to journey forward many miles north,

There's a vast meadow which is a land of unicorns and giants,

Overlooked by towering cliffs,

And perched on the cliffs is the elven town of Ravenloft,

They inform you that there's a cabin,

A short journey ahead in your direction of travel,

Where a friendly,

Wise,

And elderly sage lives,

They don't have too many guests visit,

But they do have a lot of wisdom to share,

After talking with the squirrel for a while,

The rain continuing,

You say goodbye and set off on your own again,

Journeying with purpose,

Enjoying the exploration and discovery of mysteries,

As you wander in search of the cabin,

Some of these mysteries bring a deeper sense of wonder and understanding of Tarimisia and its inhabitants,

While others encourage introspection and personal growth,

Guided by curiosity,

You find that you're so absorbed in the journey,

You can barely track how long you've been walking for,

The sights and sounds of the forest become more vivid,

The gentle patter of raindrops,

The distant rumble of thunder,

And the rich earthy aromas create an atmosphere of deep relaxation and introspection,

As you walk,

Your mind begins to clear,

Your thoughts flowing as freely as the rain around you,

You feel yourself becoming more absorbed in the experience,

Your senses heightened and your imagination awakened,

You're so absorbed in your experience that you almost don't notice evening is setting in and the already dim forest is darkening further,

While it darkens,

So somehow it seems to be increasing in beauty and wonder,

Although the journey is pleasant,

You begin to feel a sense that you'd like to find the cabin soon,

Then perhaps you can stop somewhere dry for a rest,

Eventually you notice the gentle glow of lights through the trees in the distance,

You walk towards those lights,

Noticing the soft outline of a wooden cabin,

Once you reach the cabin,

You approach the door,

Looking briefly at the way the light is glowing gently from those windows,

After a moment you softly knock on that door and you wait and you wait and you can hear some movement inside the cabin and after a moment a friendly wise-looking elderly man comes to the door,

Opens that door and invites you in out of the rain,

You glance over the shoulder of that wise-looking elderly man,

Taking a look inside the cabin before deciding to enter and then wiping some of the rain off and shaking your coat slightly and taking your backpack off your back,

You walk through the door into the cabin,

The sage closes the door behind you and inside the cabin you notice the sound of the rain on the window,

Almost lulling you deeper and deeper into a deep sense of peace and the gentle sound of the rain and distant rumbling thunder beyond the forest,

The wide sage welcomes you into this cabin and shows you round and the cabin is only small,

There are a couple of bedrooms,

A bathroom and an open plan kitchen,

Diner and living area,

Illuminated candles are placed on the mantelpiece above the fireplace and on the windowsills and other shelves,

Offering the most gentle flickering orange-yellow glow within the cabin,

They say that if you would like you can stay for the night,

They have a spare room,

They show you through to the room and tell you that you can change out of your wet clothes and they can get them dry for the morning,

You have some clothes to change into,

So you take the wise sage up on their kind offer,

They ask if you're hungry and would like something to eat,

You say that you'd be pleased to share a meal with them,

They go to the kitchen area to prepare some food,

While you take some time to change out of your wet clothes and after changing into dry and comfortable clothing,

You head through to the living area,

You can see the sage at the fireplace preparing the fire and can smell the delicious scent of the food the sage has cooked,

You give a little gulp and can feel your stomach gurgle in anticipation,

The sage places your clothes beside the fire before serving up the food,

The two of you sit at a table and enjoy the food,

You feel that it's a privilege to be able to eat a homemade cooked meal like this,

Rather than just cooking something basic over a campfire and after eating,

You think the sage,

They take the plates away,

You stand and look around the cabin,

Noticing the bookshelves of old and arcane books,

You find yourself exploring the titles and one title piques your interest,

An ancient looking book with an embossed cover about an ancient civilization,

The sage notices you looking at the book and suggests that you can sit down and take a look at it if you would like,

You remove the weighty book from the shelf and carried over to the seats by the fire,

Sitting beside the fireplace,

You can feel the warmth of the fire on your cheeks and notice the gentle flickering and popping as you begin to read through the book and you read through that book to the backdrop of the dancing,

Lights on the wall,

The fading smell of the food from the meal you've just eaten and just the sound of the popping of the fire,

This being such a peaceful place to sit and read,

The sage tells you that if you're interested in the civilization,

They can help you to gain a deeper understanding,

They can guide you through a process which will deepen your connection and can guide you into a reverie where you can learn more about that civilization,

They ask you if you would be interested in this,

In them guiding you into this deep and profound state,

You take a moment to think before accepting the sage's offer,

The sage asks you to close the book,

Relax back in the chair,

Close your eyes and focus on the sound of the crackling of the fire,

They suggest that as you begin to drift into this pleasant reverie,

You can begin to have a sense of relaxing your mind and body and my voice will go with you in this experience,

And I don't know whether it'll take the form of the wind,

The rain outside or the crackling fire or perhaps some other form in your mind as you become deeper absorbed in the experience,

And as you drift into that reverie,

You can have a sense of relaxing your mind and body,

You focus on the top of your head,

Noticing what your head is resting on,

How it's supported gently in place,

The comfort in and around your head resting there,

Having a sense of the muscles around your scalp and the back of your head,

Softening and relaxing,

Drawing in peace and comfort with each breath that you take,

Before moving your awareness around your face,

Focusing on what it's like for that relaxation to spread around your face,

Your ears and your cheeks,

Having the muscles in these areas soften and relax,

Relaxing the muscles around your eyes and across your forehead,

While the muscles around the side of your head and over the top of your head begin to relax,

Deeper and deeper,

Noticing how you can pay attention to fading tension or perhaps find that tension dissolves without paying it any attention at all,

And you continue to allow that relaxation to spread,

Down around your mouth,

Relaxing your lips and your jaw,

Relaxing the muscles around the side of your neck,

Around to the back of your neck and around your throat,

And as your jaw relaxes and hangs slightly loose,

Limp and comfortable,

That relaxation can continue to move down to your shoulders and upper back,

And I don't know whether that relaxation happens fastest around your shoulders or in the upper back or perhaps down the tops or the front of your shoulders,

And as that relaxation progresses around your back and your chest,

Softening and relaxing those muscles fully,

Deeply and comfortably,

Those muscles soften and relax while you rest there,

And that relaxation can begin to spread down the arms to the hands,

All the way down to the tips of your fingers,

And I don't know which arm will relax fully fastest,

Whether it'll be the left arm or the right arm,

Or whether the arms will relax at the same rate and speed as each other,

And as that relaxation continues through those arms,

It can flow down gently through your stomach,

Sides and lower back,

All the way down to your bottom,

Before extending deeply down through your legs to the tips of your toes,

And as your body becomes deeper and deeper relaxed,

While you drift into the most pleasant sleep,

So your mind begins to relax,

You begin to have a sense of a healing light touching your forehead,

Enveloping your face and head with healing deep relaxation,

Absorbing comfortably and gently into you with each in-breath that you take,

Filling you with healing peace and calm,

Spreading that healing restorative,

Recuperative light down through your body,

Breathing in healing,

Calm relaxation,

And breathing out any stress or tension,

Aware of that healing light passing down your neck,

Softening and relaxing those muscles,

Spreading that healing light throughout the neck as it spreads down with the next breath to your shoulders,

Around the back of your neck and down into your arms,

Gradually continuing that flow of healing light all the way down to your fingertips,

And with another in-breath,

The healing light can spread down through the body,

Softening and relaxing muscles,

Healing deep within the body,

Filling the body with pleasure and deep relaxation,

As the light journeys down around your stomach,

Your lower back and sides,

Into your buttocks and all the way down your legs,

To the soles of your feet,

Filling your whole body with that healing,

Restorative light,

And as you allow that light to flow with each breath,

You can find your mind drifting deeper and deeper into a reverie,

As you descend into a world shaped by wisdom and wonder,

As if the pages of that book are coming alive around you,

And you can begin to notice the sights,

Sounds and scents of the civilization forming,

As if you've stepped into this world,

With the civilization ready to reveal its secrets,

And as you explore this reverie,

This reverie,

You can notice how the people of this civilization carved out a huge area within the forest,

A vast open landscape,

With the most beautiful white buildings,

Almost glowing in the sunlight,

Fresh water flowing in clear streams and occasional fountains,

Bustling town squares and plenty of smiling people,

And in the center was an ancient temple,

And you begin to approach that ancient temple,

Curious what's contained within the temple,

You enter the temple,

And find a chamber behind a hidden door,

And this chamber contains a plinth with a scroll in a holder,

You walk to that scroll,

Unfurl the scroll and discover that it contains the secrets to finding purpose and happiness in life,

It talks about two monks,

One of whom wanted to find happiness,

They lived their whole life in the pursuit of happiness,

The other wanted to savor every moment,

They lived their whole life finding meaning in every moment,

On their deathbeds,

One found happiness,

The other learned that purpose and happiness isn't a destination,

But something you find in the moments along the way,

After gaining insight and deeper understanding of this civilization,

What was important to them,

Why they were all smiling,

And the meaning of the scroll,

You find yourself drifting back,

To sitting beside the fire with the sage talking to you,

The sage and yourself talk for a while longer,

Discussing your reverie and its meaning,

They listen with curiosity,

As you explain what you experienced,

Discussing the look of the civilization,

The smiling people,

The scroll in the temple and what you think it means,

After a while,

The fire begins to burn gently down to embers,

It's still giving off some heat and the clothes are now almost dry,

The once flickering orange yellow glow from the fire,

Is now just a faint glowing light,

Barely brighter than the candles,

You excuse yourself asking if you can take the book through to the bedroom with you,

Sage says that this is fine,

In the bedroom you settle down under the soft warm comfortable blankets,

On the most soothing mattress,

You prop yourself up with a couple of pillows and continue to look through the book,

The sound of the rain is continuing outside,

Deepening your sense of relaxation,

Peace and calm,

You find yourself becoming increasingly absorbed in the tales of that lost civilization,

You learn that it existed for thousands of years,

You can't see what ended the civilization,

Only that the records you're reading demonstrate how long it was around for,

You read something interesting,

You read that the chamber in the temple contained a secret passageway hidden behind a secret door,

You're surprised at how similar what you're reading is to what you experienced during the reverie,

You hadn't seen all of this information when you engaged in the reverie,

Yet it seems to have been accurate,

At the time of the reverie,

A part of you wondered whether it was just a dream,

Just something made up in your mind,

But now it seems like it was something more,

You read about how this civilization connected with other civilizations throughout tiramisea,

It seems like there was a time when tiramisea was a bustling thriving continent,

You read some more about the structures,

The people,

The history of this place,

You're curious whether any of this civilization's buildings or records survive,

And if so,

Could you find them,

You find in the center of the book,

A delicate fold-out map of the civilization's city and surrounding area,

You can see that it's in an area of land surrounded by large lakes,

You trace the map,

Curious to see whether you can find this location,

As you continue to wander and explore tiramisea,

You continue to look through the book as you become more sleepy,

Becoming sleepier and sleepier with each page turn,

You start to wonder whether it would be possible to guide yourself into that state of mind the sage guided you into earlier,

Perhaps if you can,

You could explore the temple further,

See if you can find that secret door and passageway,

And what may be revealed through the passage,

You don't know if you're going to be able to,

But you decide that you want to try,

You begin to think about the process,

What the sage did and what they guided you through,

And your experience of being in the temple,

You recall what it was like to be in the temple,

Thinking about what you could see,

What you could hear,

And what it felt like in that temple,

You focus on what the inside of the temple smelled like,

And as you do this,

So you find that your mind begins to wander inward,

You close the book,

Place that beside you,

Blow out the candle beside your bed,

Rest down and close your eyes,

And with your eyes closed,

You continue to allow yourself to be absorbed once again in the forming inner experience of being in that temple,

Paying attention to individual sounds and to what you can see,

And the temple readily begins to form back in your mind,

You're aware of yourself walking towards that plinth,

And once you become fully conscious in this experience,

You begin to direct yourself around the plinth,

Head over to one of the walls on the left,

And you start to run your hand gently around the wall,

First down that left hand wall,

And then along the back wall,

And while running your hand over the back wall,

Your hand triggers a switch opening a doorway,

And behind the doorway,

You can see a short passageway,

And you grab a torch from the wall,

You begin to walk along that passageway,

Until you discover a staircase leading deep under the temple,

You take a look down those steps before descending,

And then as you begin to descend,

You start to count yourself down,

Having a sense that this will help to absorb you deeper into the experience,

Counting down from 20,

To 19,

18,

17,

Finding yourself becoming deeper and deeper absorbed in the experience with each count,

Your eyelids becoming heavier and heavier,

16,

15,

14,

Counting slowly,

Carefully and softly,

As you drift deeper and deeper into the experience,

13,

12,

11,

All the way,

Deeper and deeper,

Noticing the way you feel deeper absorbed and more relaxed with each number,

10,

9,

8,

Slowly,

Deeper and deeper absorbed in the experience,

7,

6,

5,

Relaxing,

So peacefully and comfortably,

4,

3,

2,

1,

Finding a deep sense of comfort,

Relaxation and stillness develop through your mind and body,

As you find yourself at the bottom of the steps and walk into this hidden chamber under the temple,

And in this chamber,

You notice that the walls glisten with the sparkle of a million diamonds,

The floor shines with an unusual iridescence and there seems to be an ornate,

Dark wooden chest with golden trim and precious stones,

You head over to the chest,

Carefully and curiously open the chest and discover that it contains a large golden egg resting on deeply padded red silk,

With the whole chest lined with the padded silk,

You carefully lift the heavy egg from the chest,

You hold it up to the light and notice that when backlit,

You can see the shadowy silhouette of the inside of the egg,

And you're surprised to discover that when you see inside the egg,

It looks like a small,

Slightly moving dragon,

And that this seems to be the egg of a dragon,

You place the egg back where you found it,

Close the chest and decide to explore this civilization further,

Maybe someone here can explain more and reveal more about this egg,

And as you head out of the temple,

To explore and question different people,

You find yourself beginning to drift deeper and further away from the reverie,

As your body informs your mind that it needs to transition to deep recuperative sleep,

So you give yourself a mental note that you'll explore further next time you visit that civilization in your mind,

And perhaps you can learn more from the book,

The sage,

Or from your continued exploration of Taramacea,

As you drift and float so deeply,

So comfortably relaxed into slumberland.