And her hypnotherapist nods attentively, if with a rather fixed smile.

"...So right now my highest priority for that kind of thing is something that would let me find two of a set of three magical objects called the Silmarils."

"Okay. It would need to be magic itself, is that right?"

"Right. It would be nice if it could find other things, too, but that's not necessary."

"How do the dreams work, do they mostly carry through visual properties, do they mostly carry through properties you use in the dreams, if you have a dream about a backpack that lets you fly and you retrieve the backpack in the morning can you fly with it..."

"They always carry through visual properties, even weird ones--I can show you, if you like--magical properties that do mundane things, like a telescope that really shouldn't work but does, those always carry through. Magical qua magical properties can optionally be omitted; doing so is easier. One might be strong enough only to pull through a backpack the morning after but be able to retrieve a backpack of flight a year later when you're stronger."

"So you need to have a dream about an object that points you towards Silmarils and then you need to figure out how to retrieve it in the morning."

"Once I've had the dream, I can retrieve it later if need be, so I'm working on that part first, but yeah."

"Have you tried lucid dreaming?"

"...No? Is that a learnable skill?"

"Most people can learn it, yes." And she launches into an explanation of how.

Imliss listens attentively and takes notes! Not in English, or for that matter any alphabet the therapist has ever seen, if she happens to look.

She does. She misses a beat and then keeps going.

"Thank you," Imliss says when the therapist has finished. "You have no idea how much good this will do, if it works."

"I certainly hope that it does."

"Yeah.

So, uh--how soon should I expect this to start working, if it does?"

"Within a month, but probably not stably, at first..."

"Okay. Um, should I keep coming back to talk about my progress, or...?"

"It's not really my area of expertise, actually, just seems potentially useful to you..."

"Yeah, okay."

"Good luck."

I'd rather be wished good skill, she does not say. "Thanks. I hope I don't need it."

"Most people can get it working if they're careful enough with their sleep patterns and journaling and practice."

"I'm glad."

"Um. We have half an hour more, if there's anything you want to discuss..."