Kyffin thinks a long time, and keeps his thoughts to himself a while. Eventually he says, "Yeah, I don't know much about dreams, but ours do seem to relate in some way to our current predicament. Dunno what they mean, I'm no dream-reader, but I think that book in Albert's dream is significant. Al - would you know that book if you saw it again?"
He later turns to Tristain, "What were the eyes looking at in your dream. Maybe if we knew that, we'd know what the eye needs to see. Was there anything else reflected in the mirrors?"
"What were the eyes looking at in your dream. Maybe if we knew that, we'd know what the eye needs to see. Was there anything else reflected in the mirrors?"
"Uh, I dunno," Tristain rubs the back of his neck and goes back to bonking his head. "I've told you what I remember, but it's all so misty, you know?"
"Maybe the Eye needs to see itself."
Tenebrynn's large eyes drift upward toward the ceiling for a moment, then she nods with consideration, "With a mirror? Could work. Can't hurt. Better than burning the door."
"Right then, it can't hurt nothing to try, where do we find a mirror to show the eye itself? Maybe we can do that before turning down for the evening, then search for the book in the morning."
"Boy. Search for boy, then book."
Tristain yawns, ending his wall-bonking to do it.
"It's been a long day. Might be we again in the library tomorrow? Might be more to learn there," Chalker says, eyes flickering to Kyffin/Walter/the unknown.
Tristain goes to make a bed in the Chapel in or around Brenton (so he can keep an eye on the boy). He doesn't want to know if the stupid eye will be back in the morning.
Tenebrynn throws up her hands in frustration. "No! Not starting in library! Not looking for dream book! We look for the missing boy tomorrow! The boy! Wasted too much time with papers and book throwing rats and obsessions with door dismantling and with saving crazy yellow-robes already! We look for the boy!"
Surprised by her own exasperation, she looks wide-eyed at Tristain for a moment before scurrying off to the corner she'd curled up in the night prior. Sitting on the floor with her knees drawn up to her chest, she wraps her cloak around her and disappears into her own little fort.
Kyffin will keep watch on the prisoners, sleeping there in shifts with whomever else (Al?) is watching them with him.
And he quickly agrees with Tenebrynn, "Yes, as much as I want a name, we must find the boy. My naming can wait."
As he beds down, he wonders if he will dream again, and if so - will they be helpful or harmful?
Al takes the normal guard shifts and settles in the chapel with the others. "Ay yep, we look for the boy, but ain't no harm in showing that eye the mirror next time it clogs up our doorway. That thing ain't natural and it might be part of what trapping the other folks here as well."
The night passes uneventfully, and for most of you, if you have dreams, you don't remember them when you awake.
Perhaps because you still doesn't know your true self, you can't say the same. You remember finding yourself wandering in an endless cloud of yellow vapor. Other shapes form and vanish in the mist, fleeting, unsettling things that refuse to be focused upon. After what seems like a lifetime, an exhausted-looking man with a ponytail of straight, white hair stumbles through the fog. He’s insane with desperation. He tries to pass you by...
When you try to interact with the man, he gapes and shouts, “We’re all lost here! We’ll never escape!” before rushing away.
His ranting, “What have I done? What have I done?” follows him as the dream ends.
"Passage to Qadira," you hear him cry as he fades, the voice following you momentarily out of the dream and into wakefulness. "Is no one going to Katheer?"
You wake to find the horrifically familiar eye waiting for you in the doorway.
Trying out the theory you devised last night, you pull the large mirror from its room and past the curtain. Immediately, the eye seems to widen as it sees its reflection and it lets out a familiar wail -- "What have I become?!" This time, though, there is no weeping ammonia and the eye seems to shrink in on itself, the yellow wall pulling in with it until it disappears to some unknowable place.
In the morning, Walter/Kyffin tells the others of his dreams. "Well, in the interests of full disclosure, I had another dream last night. Did any of you? Hrm."
"I was wandering in that yellow vapor again - aimlessly more or less. Then an exhausted looking man appeared. He had a ponytail of straight, white hair. He looked insane with desperation, or maybe just insane, and he passed me by."
He straightens up, "In my dream, I tried to stop him, and he shouted that we'll never escape, we're all lost, and kept repeating 'what have I done?'. I wonder if he's the reason we're all stuck here? Maybe some doctor gone wrong?"
"We should question the prisoners about him, and those in the camp. Then head out and search for the boy."
- - -
When the party tries the mirror - and it works - he lets out a small cheer, happy that they're making some headway anyway.
- - -
Assuming we question the prisoners, he'll ask them about the man, describing him carefully, and trying to see if they know him.
"What could a doctor do to cause all this?" Heinrich muses aloud. "But I concur, let us ask the prisoners first."
"Who is this man? Is he Zandalus?"
Tristain can't believe the mirror works...and begins to question the foggy madness of his own mind. He bonks his head for a few moments while he tries to understand the ties between his dreams and this new reality, the reality above the cell with the starting corner.
"I don't understand," Tristain bonks as Walter finishes his story. "If my dream was real, then your dream might be real. If my dream lead us to solving the eye, then your dream might lead us to figuring out why we are trapped in this demi-plane above the cell with the starting corner."
*bonk**bonk**bonk*
"Yes, we need more information about Zandalus...or we need to spend more time dreaming. Perhaps all this physical searching could be replaced by a more thorough dream process? Mayhaps we should start cultivating certain mushrooms to enhance our dreams...?"
Tenebrynn points energetically at Kyffin, "That was the dream that I had! We had the same dream!" But when the conversation shifts to talking to people before hunting for the missing boy, her excitement evaporates into irritation.
"Boy is lost, prisoners are not. They will still be in chains after we find lost little boy! Last night you said your naming could wait. Why can't questioning crazy yellow-robes wait too?"
"The prisoners may have seen the boy." he says simply. "Let's ask them, and about Zandalus, and then proceed to search further for the boy. OK?"
"Right, let's look for that boy, where haven't we searched?" Albert leads the way to investigate the unknown areas of the hospital. "Maybe that doctor's book has some clue to where the boy is trapped? We best retrieve that thing as well."
Tristain will follow Albert and Walter wherever they go, to question prisoners or to explore a new area. He has his trusty longspear with him.
"The more information we can gather, Tenebrynn," Heinrich seems to taste the name, unsure how it feels, "The better our odds of success. We are operating at a deficit of good evidence here. The prisoners may provide such. We will not spare long hours on them, only a few moments."
Tenebrynn nods with a shrug. "Ok. But yellowrobes are just going to say things about Zandalus this and Zandalus that again. Let's go and be done with it quick though." She shooes the others off toward the manacled captives, following along behind as her curious eyes wander aimlessly about.
The three prisoners stare warily at you as you returned to the room where they are manacled. The man licks his lips, though whether that's a sign of nervousness or thirst -- or perhaps something else -- you don't know.
Heinrich clears his throat. "Are you thirsty? We will give you a drink after you answer our questions. Who is the man with the straight white ponytail? Looks exhausted? Appears in dreams. Who is he?"
Tristain stands near Heinrich as he begins the questioning. He bonks lightly on the wall, trying not to be too distracting to the interrogation.
Aid Diplo/Intim
"Also, tell us about your dreams? Do you have dreams? Of what?"
Kyffin waits to ask any further questions until the ones already asked have been answered.
Then he'll add, "Have you seen a little boy, about so tall, running around? C'mon, we may have our differences, but surely you'd help us find a youngin'."
"It's best you tell us what you can, we're only trying to help." Albert coons in the soothing voice of elderly people.
"You speak of Zandalus! Accept him and he shall lead you to freedom!" one of them replies. "All is a dream, and he keeps us from the dangers that would rend our soul..."
They seem confused by the talk of the boy.
"Zandalus has no children among his followers. Most did not survive the coming of the dream world."
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"Most did not survive the coming of the dream world."
Tristain's eyes boggle.
"Did you hear that!? I KNEW IT! I WAS RIGHT!" Tristain looks around with fierce eyes. "This is all a dream...a dream dimension. I'm now not sure if we are 'awake' when we are asleep and now is the dream. I KNEW IT!"
Chalker's head turns to see who is correctly aligned with him, who is totally correct.
"Nothing in this place makes sense...we barely control our own actions. Other people seem to be shallow characterizations of people. The Eye Door! See!?" Tristain grips his longspear, bringing it up to lean against the wall and nearly taking Tenebrynn's ear off. "That mist outside is probably on the wall blocking our path to consciousness...we are co-dreaming this reality and only when we sleep do we see the truth."
Chalker returns his attention to the speaker.
"Does Zandalus know of the Cell with the Starting Corner? Where can we find Zandalus? I must know."
The man blinks at Tristain.
"You are truly mad, are you not? Zandalus is everywhere, protecting us. Worship him and he shall lead you to salvation!"
"How do you worship Zandalus? How do you get his attention?" Heinrich asks, frowning.
"Mad? No, I'm the only sane one here," Tristain responds. "I'm the only one who saw the danger of the Eye Door. And the only one who can read well. No...I'm the one who understands where we are in relation to the Starting Corner. These others exist in reference to me in reference to the Starting Corner."
Tristain pauses to let his breath catch up to his mind.
"So...Zandalus does not exist in a physical vessel, huh? He is the yellows mists outside our walls? Should we go out there to worship him?"
Tristain has no desire to worship Zandalus, but does want to know more.
Tenebrynn frowns at the yellowrobe's words. "Zandalus is the man with white hair? He can't even save himself, what makes you think he can save you?"
After ducking under Tristain's errant spear tip a third time, the little gnome blurts, "Watch it with that thing! You're as bad as these yellowrobes if you think we're still dreaming!"
Glaring with her large, gnomish eyes, she adds sharply, "Remember lady with rift inside of her? Yellow mist sounds like the same, but worse. It doesn't sound like we are dreaming, but that dreaming place is taking over here. And if you almost hit me with that spear again you will soon be referencing the bottom of my foot with the front of your face!"
"Zandalus gives his attention to us. We do what he tells us, and he protects us for it," the cultists reply, words tumbling over each other as all three strive to praise Zandalus.
Zandalus's hair is magnificent beyond your comprehension, gnome! He has shown us the way, and will protect us as we fulfill his wishes. The mists shall not take us, for we follow Zandalus!"
"What does Zandalus tell you to do, then?" Heinrich asks, ignoring his companions' prattle.
"We sought records that would tell false tales instead of spreading his glory!"
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Kyffin follows the conversation, and while he's not sure they're learning much, it is helping to fill in some gaps. Though he still has no name, he feels more confident than before. More comfortable. This place might be crazy, but it has a beginning, and that means it has an end. They just need to find it.
"What would you do if we let you go?" he says, grimly worrying over the response.
"We would find our way back to Zandalus!" one of them declares defiantly.
"I thought Zandalus was all around us?" Tristain is confused again. "Is Zandalus not the yellow mist? Is he a person? Where would you look for him?"
Tristain may not be learning anything, but he's trying.
"Maybe it's the dream realm we need to find and get that Zandalus fellow out of there before he can cause any more problems or drag the rest of us good folks in there with him. Maybe the boy found the way into the dream world and got lost. We otta go find that doctor's book first, might be something important in there about getting out once we found the way in."
"Yes, yes, to Zandalus - right. But would you attack us or the other survivors again? Or would you go in peace and seek out your Zandalus without bothering the others?"
He leans in, curious as to their responses.
Heinrich sighs. "I think we have discovered what we may from these zealots. Let us search for the missing boy."
They look perplexed at Tristain's questions: "He is not the mist, nor is he a mere person. He is Zandalus! He shall protect us and keep us from harm! You must look for him in your heart, for there shall you find Zandalus and learn of his supremacy!"
They're cut off from their further praise of Zandalus by Walter's questions:
"We would not hurt them!" the prisoners reply. "We would find our way back to Zandalus, so he can gather them to him and make sure they understand he is the way forward."
"Wait, where is Zandalus now? Where would you go back to?"
"He holds court in the Shattered Halls. We will find our way there and tell him of what transpires out here."
As before, Walter thinks they're sincere. Crazy, but sincere.
"Where are these SHattered Halls? Can you give me directions?"
"If you don't mean to hurt anyone, then why did you swing clubs and bars at our heads?!" The wild-eyed look on Tenebrynn's face makes it clear she's not buying any of what the prisoners are selling, especially their oaths of peaceful coexistence.
"Because that was the word of Zandalus!"
Tristan has no more questions for the crazed yahoos, nor the imprisoned cultists either. He bonks his head and is ready to go search the halls for the boy.
*bonk**bonk*
*bonk**bonk*
*bonk**bonk*
Tristain's bonking timing is different today. He doesn't know why.
"I think we've learned what we can from these. I cannot bring myself to kill them outright however, and I agree with Tenebrynn's concerns - we can't let them go."
"We leave them locked up for now. Let's find the boy."
Kyffin/Walter is ready to head back out into the unknown. Once well clear of the camp, he draws his scimitar and keeps it handy.