Part 3A - Die Söhne von Meyernick (Alex)

[Philulhu]

”A spare blanket and some food if you have any, bitte,” said Alex, offering the landlord another coin for his trouble.

[SunlessNick]

A short time later a woman appears with a blanket. Soon after that the landlord returns with some bread and a large bowl of diced meat mixed with several types of bean, and a pair of serving bowls. The meat smells like fried fish - the dish turns out to be lightly spiced, and delicious, though you can't identify the beans as any kinds with which you're familiar.

[Philulhu]

Alex set the bowls on the table and shared out the soup. He invited Elsie to sit down and eat.

As they ate, he said, ”The old man at the store said that Dreamers - presumably you and I, among others - can affect this world. I wonder how that works? Do we just think that things should be different and then they are?” He shook his head. A practical, prosaic man, it was difficult for him to understand how that would work.

He studied the spoon with which he was eating the soup. He turned it in his hand then closed his eyes, trying to imagine it as a fork instead...

[SunlessNick]

OOC,Alex's Dreamshaping: 14. Rolled 1D100: 36.

The spoon is still a spoon when you open your eyes.

"Maybe?" Elsie says anyway. "It can't work every time, or this place would be a madhouse. Maybe we all change it together. Jürgen said Hlanith looked like an Expressionist film set. And there's all the nightclubs." With a sad expression she adds, "And the political fighting. If it's true, what must it be like for the people living here?"

The soup leaves you with a warm glow in your stomach, and the lamplight is bright enough to read by. Whichever book you start with, Elsie scoots round beside you, scanning the pages as well.

[Philulhu]

Alex laughed dryly. ”Probably just as well that didn’t work,” he said. ”Imagine the mess if I was trying to eat soup with a fork!”

He picked up the book about Hlanith first of all, reckoning that getting a better understanding of where they were would be a good place to start.

[SunlessNick]

It's a geography of the Dreamlands as a whole that you got, along with one on the gods and one on Berlin. But the Dreamlands book does unsurprisingly begin with a chapter on Hlanith.

It it described as one of the youngest cities in the Dreamlands, and "close" to the waking world - it's even said that some of the granite from which most of its buildings are constructed comes from there - though it's a little surreal to hear of your own world being called "there." Many dreamers quickly find their way to Hlanith, especially those who come to the Dreamlands unknowingly.

The city is a great trading port, whose docks are busy night and day - by law, all taverns are located in the dockside district [though Elsie observes that that law doesn't seem to be diligently enforced these days]. Trade goes out by sea, over land, and along the river Oukranos, at whose mouth Hlanith sits. The city's people pride themselves on hospitality to all travellers.

It's ruled by a Doge, who dwells in a luxurious palace built atop a bridge over the Oukranos. It says he has a great reputation for justice, though a book printed in Hlanith would probably say that whether it was true or not. He's advised by a council made up of political elders, important merchants, and priests from the city's prominent temples (from the look of it, the one you visited near the docks and the one where you witnessed the riot are both in that category).

Hlanith is also part of a region of cities and towns called the Six Kingdoms, the rest of which make up the next part of the book. One of them is called Ulthar, which is the other place dreamers tend to visit first, especially those who wish in some way to escape from their waking lives - it's a place of archaic and rural idyll, and home of the great priest Atal the Wise. It's also one of the centres of cat civilisation, though the book doesn't explain what cat civilisation is supposed to mean.

Others include Thran, which is upriver from Hlanith - a city of great spires and minarets, and one of the Dreamlands' great centres of learning. Lhosk, another trading city, like Hlanith, further down the coast. And Hatheg, only a small town, but counted as a kingdom because it's built in the shadow of the mountain of Hatheg-Kla, where the gods come to visit. [Alex will remember that when you went to the Great Mountain temple by the docks, there was a relief of two mountains over the gate, and Friede called one of them Hatheg-Kla] The last was called Golthoth, but it fell long ago - its people, called the Dark Wanderers, still travel through the other five, and are still counted as a kingdom out of respect for their heritage.

Elsie wonders if this Thran is a centre of learning and the priest Atal is so celebrated, why the Dotherites wanted to go this other city so far away. "Unless they did already try them, I suppose."

OOC,You can add a skill Dream Lore of 15%.

[Philulhu]

”Possibly,” mused Alex. ”Or maybe they hold different religious views and aren’t on good terms. Speaking of which...” He picked up the book about the gods and began to read again.

[SunlessNick]

The gods worshipped by most in the Dreamlands are called the Great Ones - which you knew - but this book puts names to some of them. The names are mostly nonsense syllables you don't recognise from mythology: Karakal the lord of fire, Lobon the lord of light, Oukranos after whom the River Oukranos is named, Tamash the lord of learning and illusion, and Zo-Kalar the lord of life and death. Nath-Hornath is the god of a city, Celephais, called the City of the Sunset, which some believe makes it the holiest of cities in the Dreamlands (although the people of Celephais do not themselves make this claim). There are three goddesses: N'tse Kaambl the guardian of justice, Hagarg Ryonis the deliver of wrath, and Yath-Lhi the devourer in darkness.

The Great Ones are almost always worshipped collectively rather than one at a time. The exceptions are Nath-Hornath who has dedicated temples in Celephais, and Yath-Lhi who isn't worshipped.

Their home is a black marble castle on the mountain of Kadath, far in the North of the world, though they visit other mountain tops and dance upon them.

There are those who do not follow the Great Ones. In particular, you see mention that the merchants of Dother have their own religion, which they never speak of to outsiders. ["Looks like you were right," Elsie interjects]

The book doesn't mention Meyernick that you can see.

[Philulhu]

”This seems like the Roman gods, or the Greeks. Gods of fire, light and death... ... not much carousing for this lot.” He smiled grimly.

”And no mention of this Meyernick. Is he a god, do you think? Or a prophet? Churches aren’t fond of those - they tend to tell a different story to the approved texts...” He sat in thought for a while. ”That would make sense given what we saw at the temple earlier.”

He yawned and glanced at his watch. ”One more before lights out,” he said, picking up the Berlin text and starting to read.

[SunlessNick]

"Prophet, I think," Elsie says. "Jürgen and Konrad didn't seem to think much of the idea of gods. I wonder if he's dreaming, like us."


The Berlin book is a haunting read. Obviously a few years out of date, it describes the city from the of the war to the hyperinflation, detailing an economy dependent on its black markets to survive, and the privations of families and widows forced to sell hierlooms, mementos, or their bodies just to scrape their next meal together.

"They aren't aren't wrong about it," Elsie says in a subdued voice. Alex saw enough of the same in Bremen to be able to say the same.

Apart from tales of Berlin's economic woes, the book claims that many dreamers come from there, empowered by a great gift that allows one man to show his dreams to another as if they were real.

[Philulhu]

”It’ll get better, I’m sure it will,” said Alex, with more conviction than he felt. He read again the passage about people being able to share their dreams. “I wonder if that’s what happened to us?” he asked. “Did someone dream of us and bring us here?” He shook his head - it didn’t make a lot of sense.

He pushed the book away, drained the last of his bier and stood up. “Time to turn in, I think.” He checked the door to see if it had a key and then picked up the chair he had been sitting on, trying it for size if he were to use it to prevent the door from opening. ”lf you want to use the klosett before bed then now’s the time. Once I close this door, I don’t plan on opening it again until the morning!”

[SunlessNick]

Elsie takes your advice. Once you and she are done, the chair blocks the door quite handily.

[Philulhu]

Alex wishes Elsie guten nacht and settles down, wrapped in the blanket. He sleeps with his feet against the chair propped under the door handle so if anyone tries to come in, he’ll know about it straight away.

[SunlessNick]

You pass the night unmolested, though you feel stiff when you wake up, earning you an apologetic look from Elsie. Her party dress looks a bit more folorn this morning, especieally since she doesn't bother tying her feather accessories back into her hair. "Next time I should try dreaming myself dressed like you," she says.

Of the two rooms, this one was Jürgen's - Konrad's was next door, which they were sharing.

You can hear the woman from last night, knocking on doors down the hallway, delivering bread for breakfast. She gets to Jürgen and Konrad's door but they don't answer. You hear her open it. Then you hear her scream.

[Philulhu]

”Schiesse!” Alex swore as he pulled the chair out of the way and yanked open the door. “What’s happened?!” he asked, although he already knew it wouldn’t be good news...

[SunlessNick]

Elsie follows close on your heels.

"He's dead!" the innswoman cries.

Through the open door of Konrad's room, you can see Konrad lying on the floor, a pool of dried blood around his body - at this distance you can't see a wound, but you can see his face, and the woman is clearly correct.

There is no sign of Jürgen there, alive or dead.

[Philulhu]

”Stay back,” Alex warned Elsie as he crossed the threshold into the room. He knelt by Jürgen and felt for a pulse, not expecting to find one but feeling he should make the effort. As he did so, he looked over Jürgen’s body for any obvious signs of how he had died.

[SunlessNick]

It's Konrad's body - Jürgen's not there. There is no pulse, and his body is cold - there are two stab wounds in his side. His pockets have been turned out, as if he were robbed (though that's a very exaggerated "as if").

Elise does what you say, though she doesn't seem afraid of the sight.

You hear some banging from the floor below. Elsie looks round. "I can hear Polizei," she says.

[Philulhu]

OOC, Sorry - misread the post and got the two confused! :?

Alex quickly looked around before standing and exiting the room. Taking Elsie by the arm, he hustled her back to their room, where he hastily folded the blanket he had slept on and draped it over the bed. ”Don’t want anything that might arouse suspicion.”

He looked back out into the corridor, wondering if they had time to make themselves scarce...

Spot hidden, failed... (55/45 - https://www.dholeshouse.org/Tools/DiceVerifier?RID=c22006e8-80fe-48b4-806e-a08da6c39504)

[SunlessNick]

It doesn't appear that there's a quick way out to avoid the approaching Polizei - though you can close the door quickly enough that they don't see you. You hear them bustle past the room you're in and into Konrad's.

Then the landlord's voice saying that "that" is the other room rented by him and his friend.

And then the knock on your door.