Story Background
“Death” in a Sweet Dream
Penacony promises its guests a safe and pleasant dream.
You arrived with the Astral Express as an honored festival guest. Instead, you have encountered a series of inexplicable “deaths” in the Dreamscape. The Family's explanations leave questions unanswered; the hotel's welcoming smiles offer little reassurance. You need to discover what happened—and whom the Express crew can trust.
Aventurine approaches you again.
The senior IPC manager is looking for a way to restore his company's influence in Penacony. You want the truth; he needs to loosen the Family's grip on the dream. Your aims differ, but both lead to the same question: if no one can die here, what do these “deaths” mean?
He offers a partnership, along with clues you have been missing.
A Way Out for Himself
Aventurine does not ask you to trust him at once.
You can question his sources or call out his attempts to test you. He always has a reply, keeping the conversation going with a smile. He seems more willing to spend time on your doubts than on someone who agrees too easily.
Yet when the conversation turns to risk, his attitude is harder to understand.
He carefully weighs what the IPC stands to gain and how the Family will respond, but rarely mentions what it might cost him. As though, for the right result, nothing of his own is too much to stake.
“Whatever you want to know, my friend, just ask.”
He is still waiting for your answer. There are plenty of terms left to discuss. Or you could begin with a question that has nothing to do with profit:
“Does your plan leave a way out for you, too?”