red thread

《In hushed embrace of night’s sweet song,
Where souls of lovers linger long,
The tides turn red and lives are taken,
Those not of this time do waken.》
It sounds like the murders were done in order to awaken slumbering entities of the past.
A rapid search through some mythology books gives me these suggestions as to what those entities may be:

Draugrs
Zombies
Ghosts
Shades
Vampires
Demons
Jinn
Cryptids of some kind

Well.. the first lead me to this board, and the second gave me the riddle, so I'm not entirely sure it was given just to me. I feel like we're close to deciphering it. Maybe ghosts aren't the key?

It does fit, doesn't it. That news story potentially fits the second verse, though it seems possibly linked to gang activity. That being said, in my experience of trying to get information from the police, that's a fairly standard response that often translates as "we have no bloody clue".

If you're anywhere near New Orleans, be careful Fly. I won't pretend to understand why this dream came to you, but I can only imagine there are those who would rather you weren't privy to whatever knowledge on these events you now possess. It would seem our dreams are not as private as we, or at least I had once thought.

No way, New Orleans fits the riddle! Even more strange, Get a load of this news story from New Orleans a week before my dream:
Story from 10/13/95 (Please let me know if there's a better way/place to post this audio)

That gives me a bad gut feeling, Fly. It reminds me of a nightmare I had about two months or so ago, after I came back from a trip to new orleans with the wife and kids. I drank a whole lot before it went away, wife wasn't happy.

plenty could yes, but within the context of the dream, if anything the line before suggests perhaps whatever these beings hypotheticaly are were awoken by lives being taken. Perhaps they were invoked through a ritual, perhaps they seek vengeance of some kind due to the act.

Plenty could. Being exposed to situations that are reminiscent of what they went through, being contacted/invoked/let in through an open "window", something of theirs being taken or broken or found. Think about anything that gets you riled up and imagine it's the same for them. They're all just people, after all. People hidden between motes of dust.

Could be. Though what would cause a spirit to awaken?

I've been mulling it over for a few days. Could those dwelling in the past awakening mean ghosts? Ive heard ghost stories saying they're tied to their time/lives.

Sorry Niks, not sure how I missed that rule. I'll keep it in mind going forward. However, I think so long as we don't delve into the symbology of the dream, we should be able to decipher the riddle.

Wow PenOfDamocles, I've never heard of that emperor, Great find!