Part 1 - In Zwei Städten

[SunlessNick]

Louis and Helmut also feel a degree of responsibility, since their altercation began the serious of distractions that took everyone's eyes off of Elsie. They are willing to accompany you in the search if you wish it, though both are reluctant to involve Friede. She however would rather come than be left alone.

Outside the bar cum cafe, the sky has brightened to near daylight - though it is a cold daylight, as there is no Sun, and most of the party can still only percive the sky in white streaks on black. Karl can still resolve them into stars, and it turns out Helmut can too - between them they are able to determine that they are the stars that would be visible above Berlin during the day, were they not obscured by the blue of the sky. The street seems wider, or perhaps the shadows less deep, it's hard to be certain.
You can now make out that most of the stone buildings are granite, with a predominantly Moorish architecture, though most of the fittings you would expect to wood are instead metal. The average height is four or five storeys, though there are occasional towers reaching up that much again.
There are more people about than during the "night," and you can see them more clearly. Most are sitting in the many cafes that line streets, or moving from one to another. Others are moving more purposefully, although it's hard to tell their business immediately. The bustle is punctuated by a few horses and carts. Everyone looks and dresses like people you would expect to find in Berlin.

[HoneyDog]

OOC,Unless the docks are nearby, we will have to acquire transport.

[Mr. Handy]

"They must all be dreaming, like us," says Max.

[SunlessNick]

OOC,Unless the docks are nearby, we will have to acquire transport.

OOC,About four and a half kilometers, if Hlanith's layout is the same as Berlin's.

[HoneyDog]

"Let us hail a taxi" suggests Karl.

[Philulhu]

”Dreaming? What do you mean, dreaming?” asked Alex, who had missed their earlier conversation while he was threatening to punch out the guy who had danced with Elsie.

He looked around, trying to spot a taxi.

[SunlessNick]

There aren't any motor vehicles on the streets, but some of the horse drawn carts have seats in them, and might be public vehicles. Hailing one confirms this, and the driver asks where the party wishes to go.

OOC:   Are you taking Helmut, Louis and/or Friede with you? Helmut and Louis are both willing to come, but don't want to bring Friede - Friede would rather come than be left alone.

[Philulhu]

OOC,Alex has no preference either way. They are friends of Karl & Max, so it’s their call.

[Mr. Handy]

"We are all in a dream," explains Max. "Somehow, we're sharing it. And now that we know we're dreaming, we can reshape the world through force of will. I made a lager appear. Then I made it disappear down my throat."

OOC,That's awkward. I think the best solution is to bring everyone. We don't want to leave anyone alone. Leaving [b]Helmut[/b] and [b]Louis[/b] behind, with or without [b]Friede[/b], could turn out badly.

[HoneyDog]

"Come along you three" Karl says to Helmut, Louis and Friede. "I'm sure that you don't want to leave the Fraulein alone in this place. We're better off together."

[SunlessNick]

There is room enough for everyone in the cart. On hearing you wish to go to the docks, the driver turns and heads back the way he came, before heading east at a turning. It quickly becomes clear that if the street you appeared in corresponds at all to Alexanderplatz or Friedrichstadt, then he is not going in the direction that would correpond to the route to Westhafen - it appears that whatever equivalence there is between this city and Berlin does not extend to geography.

The city's architecture remains more or less consistent, but the areas you're passing through take on a more industial character - there are still cafes to be found on every block, all boasting a lot of custom - but the rest of the buildings seem to be workshops, warehouses, and offices. As you pass through, you see a blacksmith shoeing horses, a wheelwright fixing a cart, and crates being brought into and out of storage - the metal shutters and other decorations adorning the buildings go from steel to iron, while the predominant clothing becomes both more working class and more archaic. Finally a salty scent advises you that you're nearing a seafront.

Sure enough, you emerge into a long, wide street - on one side adjacent a row of granite quays and wharves - on the other, to more warehouses and workshops. The quays are bustling with people, now looking almost Mediaval in their clothing. The docked ships look Mediaeval too - you can see what appear to be fishing vessels getting ready to set out to sea, and cargo vessels unloading goods.

The driver takes you a short way along the street, before saying "The Dotherites make their camps just up there, past the Great Mountains's compound. Those are the only ones willing to sell to them, you see? Charity."

[Mr. Handy]

"What else can you tell us about the Dotherites?" asks Max. "I don't know too much about them."

[SunlessNick]

Alex,During the ride, Max's words about this being a shared dream sink in, and you realise this is not the first time you've dreamed of being in Hlanith. You now have a skill, Dreamshaping at 14%, which you can use to make changes in the environment around you, although you can't directly affect another dreamer with it.

[SunlessNick]

"They're a poor lot," the driver says in response to Max's question. "In times past we would only see merchants from Dother. But more have been coming here lately, and they have no goods to sell - they're beggars and whores when they're not gathered up in their camps, and they smell like they're starving. That's why the Great Mountains priests help them I suppose. I don't know what you're expecting to get from them."

[HoneyDog]

"Fascinating!" Karl thinks. "It's like a whole other world, but resembling ours. These Dotherites could be refugees and immigrants from the east."

[Philulhu]

Alex mulled over the idea of this living dream in his mind. The concept was strange to say the least; the idea that he could change things merely by thinking about them? It sounded like the sort of thing that fellow Freud would come up with.

He tried closing his eyes but the jolting cart and his concern for Elsie we’re too much of a distraction so he vowed to try again when he could collect his thoughts.

OOC,Can we see any of these Great Mountain priests?

[Mr. Handy]

"We're looking for a missing woman," explains Max. "We think she may be there."

[SunlessNick]

"Good luck to you then," the driver says. "As I say, you'll find them just up the Straße here." Clearly he's unwilling to take you the rest of the way, but neither does he ask for payment.

Max,a clear memory emerges from the foggy recollection of your previous visits; the cart drivers work directly for the city authorities of Hlanith, and receive their payment that way.

Alex,The priests aren't initially visible, though you see them soon enough.

With little option but to continue the rest of the way on foot, you soon reach what must be the compound of these Great Mountains Priests. It is built of marble rather than granite, and resembles a cloister surrounding a number of low buildings whose purpose is not immediately apparent - the faintly Moorish look of most of the city's architecture is replaced her by something more Grecian looking. While the cloister is easy enough to cross into from the street, there is also a prominent gateway, which is surmounted by the depictions of two mountains - one is much larger than the other, but more stylised, while the smaller one is more elaborately carved and realistic looking.

"Hatheg-Kla," Friede says as she looks at the mountains. "The smaller one is called Hatheg-Kla, I think."

What must be the priests themselves are dressed in white monastic habits. Most of them are administering blessings to sailors about to board ship, but there are a quarted of them wheeling a large handcart piled with foodstuffs.

[Mr. Handy]

"Shall we just go up to the gate, describe Elsie, and ask if they've seen her enter?" asks Max.

[HoneyDog]

"Sure" Karl shrugs. "Sometimes the most direct route is best."