Welcome to Weimar Berlin, where a heady stew of occultism, art, politics, and decadence barely covers the scars of the Great War and desperate poverty that followed - and where the veil between the waking world and the Dreamlands is wearing thin.
"Have you noticed that they never use names?" he whispers. "They never address each other. And they've never introduced themselves, nor asked our names. Pretty unusual, no?"
Mr. Handy wrote:"I hadn't noticed that," says Max, "but now that you mention it, it is odd. I think I've even been doing it myself while I'm here. Is it just the Dotherites, or did the people of Hlanith act the same way?"
OOC,You recall the girl you danced with in the Manticore's Feather told you her name, Milaya, although you asked her for it first.
"You're right, they don't," Helmut says. "Is that a quirk of their culture, or a facet of this world? Perhaps they don't have names. We don't know quite how real they are."
Armed with this new fact, the three of you can observe that while the Dotherites speak to one another, they do indeed never use one another's names, even when two of them are discussing a third.
Meanwhile, the voyage reveals vistas of reddish desert that stretch to the horizon in both directions, though the river's banks boast broad fertile strips of dark soil - every so often you pass a farm or small village brick huts - the people look North African in both features and dress, and seem amiable, greeting passing barges with waves. The river itself is enormous, nearly half a mile wide - it would almost certainly have been navigably by the ship had the city's bridge's not blocked its passage. There are other boats, mostly going the same way as you, and mostly emanating the scents of Thraa's bread - some stop and unload at villages, while others keep going.
Unless anyone sees fit to confront the Dotherites about this quirk of theirs, the journey passes without any mishap, and after a few days you approach the city of Kadatheron. It's built of squat, square towers which would resemble a fortress more than a city were the windows not large and open. Even in the golden dawn light it looks more austere and less hospitable than Thraa. It's built on one side of the river only, the other being given over to farmland. From here it's impossible to tell which of the buildings are this Temple you're here to visit.
"It is close to the centre of the city," one of the Dotherites replies. "All the major streets converge there."
As the barge comes in to the dock, you can see the city's people are close in appearance to the farmers and villagers you saw along the river. Few pay you any notice, concentrating on the other barges carrying food. However a couple of lightly armoured men come your way, asking what your business is in the city - it is clearly the three dreamers they are addressing, not the Dotherites.
"The great road is that way," one of the guards points along the dock. "Once you reach it, you need only follow its course - it leads to the temple's square."
The great road proves easy to spot - it's just shy of 75m along the stone-paved dock, between the bustling of unloading barges and equally busy covered stall set against the tower walls. The street is wide, wider than any in Berlin, yet crowded with people and carts - to either side, the towers you saw from the river rise several storeys up, while the buildings between them seldom exceed one - ahead, you catch glimpes through the throng of what must be the temple, a low structure of dark-coloured marble ringed with columns.
The great road ends at a huge circular plaza paved with light-brown stone - other, similar strees branch off of it at intervals, heading back into the city. Like the great road, the plaza is thronged with pedestrians and carts, although the usual consequence of having so many horses and oxen about doesn't seem to apply.
The temple itself sits at the centre of the plaza. It's only a little taller than the one-storey buildings of the city, but as broad as a city block. It's built of a dark blue marble, with black and white veins visible now you're closer - and surrounded by roofed walkway supported by columns.
A half-dozen guards can be seen at intervals along the walkway on your side of the building. Two flank an open doorway, though no one is entering or leaving.
As you approach the temple, the guards at the doorway straighten up. "Hold!" one of them says. "If you seek entrance, you may pass, but these others may not accompany you," he adds, indicating the Dotherites.
"We expected this," one of the Dotherites says. "We will wait."
Max, Karl, and Helmut are allowed through the entrance, which leads into a large hall, decorated with standing plants and equipped with low marble benches. High slit windows admit shafts of light. Another opening leads further into the temple.
The gate guards follow you in, those who have been trailing you from the docks close on their heels.
You sense their demeanours change too late to react before the shout of "Sieze them!" and the sound of running feet from the aperture ahead. Behind you you hear the snick of swords being drawn.
Seeing that there's no way to get past the guards behind them and expecting more trouble ahead, Max concentrates and tries to create a new doorway leading out of the temple.
OOC,Dreamshaping roll (10% skill) to create a new doorway:
0
Can I spend 4 Luck to make that a success?
The guards not attack immediately, presumably waiting to see if the three of you surrender.
Mr. Handy wrote:Seeing that there's no way to get past the guards behind them and expecting more trouble ahead, Max concentrates and tries to create a new doorway leading out of the temple.
OOC,Dreamshaping roll (10% skill) to create a new doorway:
248953:0
Can I spend 4 Luck to make that a success?
OOC,Yes.
The marble wall to the left of you flickers in and out of your view, like a moment of blindness, and then there is another doorway, similar to the first.
