Review - In Dreaming Avalon

A dream of knights and faeries and what mischief and feelings might arise between them.

At the weekend I played a lovely game of In Dreaming Avalon, and we decided that we are not quite ready to wake up from those characters yet! It is written by D. Vincent Baker and Meguey Baker and the game is available on itch here https://lumpley.itch.io/under-hollow-hills-presents-in-dreaming-avalon

The Basics

The game is for 4-6 players, and should have at least 2 knights and at least 2 faeries. There are nice prompts for both knights and faeries to help you think about what your character is like.

You then play through a series of mini-games. A mini-game might involve all the players, two players, or even just one player. You go round the circle, taking it in terms to introduce an event which is taking place in this dream world.

Some of the mini-games involve using a limited deck of cards (which is face cards and aces only), but most of them consist of lists of evocative prompts that help set up situations, and allow the players to discover things about their own character, and the potential for romance with other characters too.

This is all a dream - and unlike the movies you can die in a dream and then just appear in the next scene and keep on going!

Playing the Game

The object of the game is to fall in love. We play the games to find out who falls in love with whom and what we do about it.

The first round of the game people take it in turns to introduce one of the mini-games from this list:

• A Chance Meeting
• The Fairy Court
• A Feast
• A Hunt
• A Joust
• The Kissing Game
• A Masked Ball
• Meeting Sword to Sword
• Mischief
• The Ogre; or, a Perilous Quest
• Solitaire
• Stealing Time Together

After you have been round once, you continue playing but anyone can introduce this final game which draws the game of In Dreaming Avalon to a close:

• Waking: the End-Game

The prompts are often questions, or fill-in-the-blank sentences. As the game progresses we learn more about each other.

Why I like this game

The prompts and questions as written are very evocative. When you are in a masked ball, there are opportunities to find out something about someone’s feelings by asking a question such as “My hair has fallen in front of my ear. Do you touch my face?” Or “This moment in the dance allows me to step close to you and linger very near. Am I welcome?”.

However, if you are Meeting Sword to Sword you might ask questions like “You thrust perilously close to my face. Do you cut me? Where? “ or “I catch your wrist in my hand and draw you close to me. Do you let your sword drop, or do you shove me away and fight on?”. Even a sword fight might speak to romance!

Some of the mini-games last for just a few questions and responses, some of them are much longer (the Ogre is a multi-part adventure, with much death and dismemberment. But see the earlier note about death being more of an inconvenience)

A little note at the start of each game typically gives people permission to ask about the setting, the situation, or to notice details about things. We really enjoyed this opportunity to bring in fanciful dream-like settings and character details that showed how we were all changing in this dreaming world.

Would you like to see a game?

We had about 2.5 hours to play, we wish we had allowed longer!

Dramatis Personae

• Sir Rowan (he/him), a knight played by Camilla. Slender and tall, copper skin, bright green eyes, dark hair, young. He is cheerful, good-hearted, and impulsive. He wears burgundy armour, simple in form but richly decorated with leaf motifs.
• Sir Roland (he/him), a knight played by Alex. Tall, red hair, green eyes, and fair skin, probably with Celtic blood. He is past the first flush of youth, and has learned how to be both courteous and passionate. he has a shiny breastplate and a fine mail shirt, over which is a green tabard.
• Jason (he/him), a faerie played by Tristan. A dog-headed man with the body of a young man, like a Titian painting. He has very fair skin, and white cloth is draped over his shoulder. Centuries ago he was a Trojan shepherd who travelled as an old man with Brutus of Troy and fell asleep on landing in Britain. He was wed to a long-dead mortal woman, whom he has forgotten about. He is a mischief-maker but fundamentally easy-hearted, even though he has grown a little bitter about love.
• Milk Cap (she/her), a faerie played by Betsy. An ample young woman with mushroom horns and mycelial hair. She has flocked skin and a mottled, shimmering brown dress. She was originally a mushroom who had been in love with a chef. For her, time is slow and renewal is inevitable.

Scene 1: A Fairy Court (chosen by Alex)

The Fairy Court involves all the characters.

Some of the things that we notice as we gather at the court of Morgan Le Fay

• There is a little ladybird living on Milk Cap’s mushroom horns. He doffs his little top hat at anyone who notices him.
• As the court proceeds, Rolands hair becomes more and more red rather than its customary ginger colour.
• The branches and leaves on Rowan’s armour seem to represent real greenery more and more.
• Jason’s puppy ears really look like they are inviting little scritches.

Morgan Le Fay welcomes the knights, acknowledging Sir Roland as the captain of the knights. She issues a ruling that knights and faeries may marry, but it shall only be for a night, a day, and a night.

While the Queen of the Faeries is speaking, Sir Rowan asks Milk Cap what she would do with spices, and Sir Roland whispers to Sir Rowan about what bird she would have as a companion (A raven, as it happens).

Morgan calls out Sir Rowan on his whispering and demands that he speak it aloud to the whole court, which he hesitantly does.

Milk cap brings a petition to the court, for a festival to celebrate the ripening of berries. Morgan asks Sir Roland whether it should be granted. Sir Roland thinks it is a good idea; Morgan disagrees, but lets it stand and grants the petition.

Scene 2: A Feast  (chosen by Camilla) 

The feast involves all the characters.

Some of the things that we notice as we gather for a feast:

• It is a lovely summer sunset with bright golden light flooding through the trees and creating long shadows.
• We are in a garden, with a long table and chairs made of different types of wood and vines surrounding the table.
• There is a hillock to the side with a door in it. From there the foods of our feast will come forth.
• Sir Roland’s hair is now bright crimson, and is starting to stand up in peaks as if it were a crown.
• Milk Cap’s ladybird (who we now know is called Horace) is conspicuously absent.
• Sir Rowan’s leaf armour is an exact match for the leaves of this woodland.
• The transition between Jason’s dog head which was abrupt is becoming more smoothly blended. His white garment is becoming slightly translucent.  

We had a series of dishes:

1. Braised lamb with figs. It tastes insipid to those who have never experienced fear. Both knights and Jason declare it marvellous, but Milk Cap turns her nose up at its blandness.
2. Midsummers ripe berries pie with cinnamon. A faerie dish whose spice is overpowering to those whose heart might be won by boldness, tenderness or patience. Roland, Rowan, and Milk Cap can only bear one slice, but Jason declares it delicious and finishes off the pie dish himself.
3. Ripe golden poppy pods scented with amber and myrrh. A faerie dish which is intoxicating if one is wed to one not present. Jason quickly passes out drunk, and Roland laughs a little too loudly, as though he is slightly intoxicated.
4. Roasted wild turnips done over the coals. It tastes bright and fresh to those who have never prepared breakfast for a lover on a cold spring morning. Roland complains that it is just bland vegetables and wonders where the meat is.

At the conclusion of the feast they toast the chef of the hillock, with drinks which taste different for each of them. Milk Cap tastes berries and moss. Jason tastes forgotten memories. Sir Rowan tastes longing for something he has never had. Sir Roland tastes regret and hope mixed together.

Scene 3: A Joust (chosen by Tristan)

The joust is between Jason and Milk Caps, as part of mischief which Jason is engineering.

We notice

• Jason rides a giraffe
• Milk cap rides a ridiculously large badger
• The leaves on Rowan’s breastplate are real and growing all over his chest.
• Sir Roland’s green eyes are piercing like emeralds.
• Horace is back on Milk Cap’s horns, and is wearing a little suit of knights armour.

The joust is resolved by “The Quest Preposterous” where the challengers alternate with briskly providing a sentence about ridiculous quests. Among the boasts we heard

• I am on a quest to Burgundy, where I will boldly bludgeon the biggest badger!
• I am on a quest to England, where I will easily eat an electric eel! 
• I am on a quest to Queensland, where I will quickly quip a questionable quote.  

….and the X unseats poor Jason! He gets as far as questing to Xhosaland, then falls off his giraffe.

Scene 4: Mischief (chosen by Betsy)

Milk Cap visits Rowan in his dreams. 

MIlk cap asks whether Rowan would find it endearing or annoying if she rubbed cake crumbs into his armour. Rowan would remove the armour and laugh. 

Milk cap asks what acts would impress Rowan if she showed her feelings in a knightly fashion, by performing chivalrous acts. 

Milk Cap asks Rowan whether, in this dream of dream, they have any questions for her? Rowan says that she seems so self-assured and clever, what makes her blush?

Rowan wakes up the next morning sputtering with cinnamon in his mouth.  

Scene 5: A Masked Ball (chosen by Alex)

Everybody attends the ball, masked or fully transformed. 

The ball is held in a ruined temple at night - candlelit, with the open starry sky above us. 

• Jason has a sinister mask, sitting atop the snout and wraps around the side. It is black, with scales and spikes, and red glass panels over his eyes. 
• Rowan’s armour has become a full bush, with leaves everywhere. His face is covered by an elegant mask in the form of a flower with closed petals. 
• Roland’s mask is a fairy glamour, making him look less human: his eyes are brighter, his ears are deer-like and drooping down. He looks more like fairy than man. 
• Milk Cap’s mask is like a tree where different kinds of colorful mushrooms have grown on and over, some bold, some colourful, and some rather suggestive (like the common stinkhorn!) 

During the dance

• Jason loses his place in the dance and nearly stumbles, but Milk Cap helps him regain his proper place.
• Sir Rowan isn’t recognised by Jason, but they continue to dance.
• Milk Cap wonders why Sir Roland is laughing, and Roland points to Horace the ladybird who is mirroring Milk Cap’s dance moves on her horns.
• Roland has a lock of hair fall in front of his face. Milk Cap gently touches his face, tucking the hair away, and he rests his hand lightly on hers.
• Jason wonders why Rowan is laughing, and he says it is because of the beauty and magic of this ball.
• Rowan is nearly overwhelmed by everything that is going on, but he feels Roland’s hand reassuringly on his back.
• In the dance, Milk Cap finds Rolands mouth close to her ear, and wonders whether he will whisper anything. He says that he loves her bravery in the joust, her spirit in life, and asks her whether she will marry him for a night and a day and a night. She says yes. As the dance continues, Milk Cap places her hand on his waist and they clasp each other closely and whirl away to the break of dawn.

To be continued… 

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