Recurring set-pieces.

So last night I dreamed about Norse deities riding flying iceberg, my maternal grandfather hanging out with JRR Tolkien, and parts of The Hellion Prince taking place in Hobbiton.  There was a plot in which a magically caused drought was ruining the land, and in searching for the magic item that was causing it, I passed through set pieces from previous dreams (which have been recurring before):  the gloaming forest of the fey (which is even rather setting-appropriate), and a mountainous, mazy set of plateaus and ridges that I think has been a feature in dreams I forgot to record (or at least, dreams in which I forgot to record that feature).  Those plateaus always show up representing the same sort of thing -- a distant land outside the bounds of civilization.  They are Foreign Country, writ large in dream letters.  I'll try to make a note of it if they show up again. 

I've discussed before how various set pieces recur in my dreams (actually I think I've discussed it in a different post, too, but I cannot find that one), and it always fascinates me how much re-purposing my subconscious does.  Am I on a limited shooting budget or something?

Stuck on a scene...

... in The Hellion Prince.  Damarhis needs to have a conversation with a priest about practical theology, and I'm torn between using an existing character (who the audience did not know was a priest) and introducing someone new.  If I introduce someone new, they never get used again.  If I use an existing character, the scene does double duty as foreshadowing and building character interaction... but it also feels awfully damned convenient to have him stumble across a familiar face.  And he *might* be less forthcoming talking to someone he knew, who could assemble the context of the conversation he's trying to obscure.

Thoughts?

Also, rebroadcasting:

If you're interested in online role-playing, the works of Steven Brust, or cool experimental collaborative storytelling, check this out. 

I am really excited about all three of the above, plus immortals, secret histories, unusual psychic powers, and the capabilities of the human mind, so um.  Yeah.  I spent all morning working on that instead of writing.  Time wasted, you say?  Not if when I finally bump into one of my favorite authors at a Con one of these years and offer to buy him a drink, he actually knows who I am!  That's a side bonus, though.  I am really fascinated by the world being built over there.

Go check it out!  And if you sign up, drop me a note here and let me know so we can scheme at one another.