Part 3A - Die Söhne von Meyernick (Alex)

[SunlessNick]

"You'll only be here for one night as far as the real world is concerned," Jürgen says hastily. "But the time you experience while here may amount to minutes, hours, sometimes days. Konrad and I have rooms at a hostel near the dockside. It lacks a certain modernity that the club district has, but if you wish, we can share one while you two share the other. I am meeting Lorsas - that's his name - tonight, and can put your condition to him. I can show you the way to the hostel if you wish."

"Or you can tell us its name and we can make our own way or take one of the taxi carts," Elsie says.

Jürgen nods, "If you would perfer it that way. The place is called the Gnorri's Tail. Our rooms are under the name of Konrad Baum, his first name, my surname."

[Philulhu]

”If you don’t mind sharing?” said Alex, looking at Elsie. “No funny stuff. You take the bed and I’ll sleep on the floor, or on a chair, if they have one.”

“I think I want to see a bit more of the city. Try and get my bearings and try to understand a bit more about these people, so we’ll meet you there later, OK?” he said to Jürgen.

[SunlessNick]

Jürgen nods, and takes his leave.

"At least we know where to find him now," Elsie says. "I'm a bit wary of sleeping under his roof, though."

[Philulhu]

”Well, we’ll be sleeping in the same place, but he won’t be in our room,” replied Alex as he watched Jürgen depart.

He looked at Elsie. “He seems alright to me. Don’t you trust him?” he asked.

[SunlessNick]

"Just jumpy," she says. "I keep expecting someone else to grab me."

[Philulhu]

”Not surprising, really,” replied Alex. “Given what you went through, Elsie - it wasn’t the greatest introduction to... what do they call this place? Hlanith?” He shook his head. “I’ll keep an eye out for you, though.”

He smiled what he hoped was a reassuring smile and drained his drink. “Shall we go for a walk? See what this place has to offer?”

[SunlessNick]

"I'd like that," she says, looking happier.

Outside, the street outside seems a little less monochrone than it did on your way to the Three Magahs - the buildings are still mostly granite with iron fittings, but without the urgency of being chased, your eye catches more decorative touches - colourful deco panels on shutters, or vases holding bundles of strange, long-petalled flowers, flashes of colour from scarves and feathers worn by people coming and going from the various clubs on the Leenstraße.
Jürgen called Hlanith an expressionist film set - but as you walk, it becomes easier to focus on the people make them out as more than blurred shapes - and in turn it becomes easier to pick out signs of them living rather than just existing as set dressing. A couple kiss in a nearby alley, a few revellers greet you as they pass you by, someone barely able to walk in a straight line stops one of the taxi-carts.

Eventually you reach a turning. On your right, the street carries on, an interspersed mix of apartment blocks and what appear to be shops, though it's still the city's strange version of night, and most look closed - though some do have lights in their windows. Ahead of you is a lightly wooded stretch of park, the trees and grass having a slight bluish cast under the sky's streaked light - there is a line of iron railings between the street and the park, but it has frequent openings in it.

[Philulhu]

Alex studied the park and decided it would be better visited in daylight hours. ”Let’s have a wander down to the shops, see what they have to sell here.”

[SunlessNick]

The first open shop appears to be a perfumery - the interior is an open space with shelves on the left and right walls packed with bottles and jars - the far wall is a counter watched over by a fair-haired woman in a loose blue dress. In the doorway, the scents are a confusing riot, but Elsie seems quite delighted with them.

The shop next door is also open - from your current field of view, you can see shelves stacked with books and scrolls.

[Philulhu]

Alex smiled at Elsie. ”When you’ve finished here, I want to take a look next door.” Alex wasn’t much of a reader - he read Die Rote Fahne and a few Westerns - but he thought the bookstore might be an opportunity to find out a bit more about Hlanith.

It occurred to him that they might need money, so he wandered further into the perfumery, trying to see what the locals were using for money.

[SunlessNick]

The locals are using coins of some description, made of or at least plated with silver by the way the light catches them. Seeing where you're looking, Elsie opens her purse and says in a slightly startled tone, "I have some. Maybe you do too?"

Checking your pockets, you do indeed have a small leather bag filled with the coins. While Elsie checks the perfumes, you can examine them: on one face is a ring of tiny figures, heads to the centre and feet to the edge, while on the other are markings presumably representing denominations. As you focus on them, you find yourself able to interpret them as Marks and Pfennigs, a not too different amount from what you would expect to have on you in Berlin. Is this your manipulation of the Dreamlands environment, or a natural parallel?

Elsie finds something she likes and makes her purchase - when she comes back, she's obviously wearing some - the scent is unlike anything you're familiar with, but has a tropical air to it. "Thanks for waiting," she says. "Let's have a look next door."

The next shop does prove to be a bookstore - the interior extends quite a long way back from the frontage, and is packed with shelving and small tables full of books and scrolls. There is no counter, just an old man with a scrip over his shoulder, sometimes walking around, sometimes sitting on a stool. He has darker skin than anyone you've seen so far, fully African in appearance, though his white hair is straight rather than curled.

"Good night to you," he says, apparently meaning the phrase as a greeting instead of a farewell.

The books are arranged by subject matter - the lettering you can see on their covers is unfamiliar, but again you find yourself able to interpret them as if they were German. Much of it is geographical, covering regions in the Dreamlands - other sections talk about beasts, gods, and magic - as well as some more mundane subjects like food and crafts. There is also a section on Berlin, though it's not very extensive.

[Philulhu]

”Good night,” said Alex, nodding his head in welcome. He moved over to the shelves and started to browse. He wasn’t looking for War and Peace, he wanted something that he could read in a couple of hours.

He picked out three books, pamphlets almost, covering the geography of the Dreamlands, gods and Berlin. The latter to find out a bit more about how the people of Hlanith that about their nocturnal visitors. He approached the old man with a handful of coins. “How much are these?” he asked.

[SunlessNick]

"Two Pfennigs each for the first two, and three for the book about the waking city, bitte," the old man replies.

[Philulhu]

Alex held out the coins to the old man. ”The waking city?” he asked, with a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach.

“Why do they call it that?”

[SunlessNick]

"The wise know of the Waking World," the old man replies, "and that men come in their dreams from there to here. Dreamers like you help shape this world, and in return this world helps shape the spirits of men in the Waking World."

"Our friend said something like that," Elsie says slowly. "But he said you weren't real."

"Does your time here feel unreal to you?" he asks.

"... No."

[SunlessNick]

If there's nothing else you want to ask the old man, do you want to keep exploring the city or find somewhere to rest and examine the books you purchased?

[Philulhu]

”Where can I find out more about all of this?” asked Alex. The old man saying that this world shaped his own made him wonder about the changes going on back home, with the battles between the communists and the National Socialists becoming increasingly common, even as the rest of the country seemed to be on the up.

[SunlessNick]

"Most temples have libraries. I fear there are few other centres of learning, even in Hlanith."

"Do you know anything about the Sons of Meyernick?" Elsie asks.

"Only that that name is on the lips of troublemakers in the city."

[Philulhu]

Alex nodded grimly. He’d seen the trouble caused for himself.

”Thanks for these,” he said to the old bookseller. “I may come back if I need any more advanced reading material.” He turned to Elsie. “Is there anything else you want to see?” he asked. ”If not, shall we head back to the hostel so I can start reading?”

[SunlessNick]

Elsie thanks the old man too - he says "Good journeys" by way of farewell.

One of the taxi-carts can take you the neighbourhood of the hostel, where the two rooms are waiting just as Jürgen said. The landlord is surprised at more guests, but is happy enough to take a coin from each of you and admit you to Jürgen's room.
The room is larger than might be expected, boasting a bed, a table with two chairs, and a small chest. The landlord leaves you with pitchers of water and beer, with two glasses and asks if there is anything else you need.