66

2023-02-27 12:39:04 -07:00 · 2023-02-27 12:39:04 -07:00 · a6f6c8711b
parent 0238af505f
commit a6f6c8711b
5 changed files with 1653 additions and 967 deletions
--- a/basement.order
+++ b/basement.order
@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ src/epistolary/00062.md
 src/epistolary/00063.md
 src/epistolary/00064.md
 src/epistolary/00065.md
 src/epistolary/00066.md
 src/notes.md
 src/acknowledgements.md
 src/afterword.md
--- a/src/epistolary/00066.md
+++ b/src/epistolary/00066.md
@ -0,0 +1,197 @@
 ---
 title: 00066
 created: Sun, 26 Feb 2023 12:08:16 -0700
 updated: Sun, 26 Feb 2023 12:08:16 -0700
 public: yes
 syndicated: yes
 ---
 ### 00066 {#00066}
 > "Thank you. May your search brings you good tidings." Inky replies
 > with a smile and nod towards the sea.
 > 
 > "As to what brings me here, another traveller and myself have been
 > summoned to the Harpoon Club at a Wandering Bazaar. However, despite
 > uncovering the occasional biscuit tin or cotton candy wheel, my knack
 > for thing-finding doesn't really extend to sentient bazaars in pocket
 > dimensions." Inky chuckles wryly. "Might you happen to know the way?"
 > 
 > As they end their question, Inky slips their hands into the pockets
 > of their hooded vest and is met with an envelope nestled within one
 > of them. A message from Master Alex. The packet is a bit lumpy to the
 > touch, as though there is a small round object inside. The sysorcerer
 > may have decided to spend some quality time with his stalker after
 > all. Must be lovely to have a dedicated fan. The two wouldn't mind if
 > Inky went on a spot of sightseeing.
 > 
 > "Also, did you say the Throne of Konsu?" They glance in the direction
 > of the large tower and back to the figure before them.
 "Ah, you don't know the story of Lord Konsu?" The ravenfolk beckons
 you to walk with him as you talk. "In the beginning, nobody knew how
 to dream. There were no real *people* then. Just beasts and creatures
 and horrors.
 "So at that point, every creature visited Ousia only twice: at the
 moment of birth, and at the moment of death. And all the time in
 between was spent longing to return to the sea."
 At the ravenfolk's side, the world spins under your feet. In mere
 steps, you have made it to the base of the mountain jutting from the
 center of the island.
 "And one day, Konsu did. He dreamed. He was the first. Each night he
 returned to the sea, and it swallowed his madness and his wildness.
 It evolved his mind. It is dreaming, you see, that makes you human.
 "The sea claims everything though eventually. But you know this
 already. You crossed the sea. Surely you saw how it can work on
 dreamers who have tarried here too long."
 Still the ravenfolk guides you onward until you arrive at the base of
 the fractal tower, all purple and yellow stones.
 You step inside and find voluminous halls, walls lined with statues
 of all subjects. Fawns in revelry, elegant women in repose, terrible
 giants in agony, warriors standing at attention, leaping fish, and
 roaring lions.
 He leads you through a labyrinth of empty halls, up grand stairs,
 across yawning vestibules and dizzying bridges suspended between
 towers as he continues to talk.
 "Ousia works even on Konsu the Lord of All Dreams. Ephermeris is his
 throne, it's true. But it is also his prison. The island *is* Konsu,
 you see. He is no longer at liberty to roam his domain himself, in
 his own flesh. But perhaps you have already met one of his avatars?
 Morpheus? The Dude 215R? Kilroy? Hmm, yes, I see that you have.
 "Well," he says pulling up short of an archway. You can hear voices
 and laughter and the clinking of dinnerware on the other side. "I
 believe we have arrived at your destination. I thank you for the
 company, and will leave you here."
 The ravenfolk withdraws, disappearing once more into the maze of the tower.
 You look through the archway and see a plush dinner club absolutely
 packed with patrons of all possible shapes and sizes. The Harpoon
 Club.
 You catch somebody waving at you from a table in the far corner.
 Blavin Blandfoot. He grins and beckons you forward.
 Joining him is a tall, slender cat person. Its facial features mostly
 obscured by its jet-black fur. And with their back to you, a wizened
 old man. The three of them are in the middle of a round of tumbrot, a
 complicated game of wagers---overly complicated, some would
 say---involving a special deck of cards, a set of dice, and a
 tumbling tower of blocks.
 You watch as the cat reaches out and carefully removes a block from
 the middle of the tower. It places it on top, and the tower sways.
 The group at the table excitedly holds its breath, and when the tower
 falls, the cat holds its head in its hands in exaggerated dismay. The
 old man whoops and gathers up his winnings and then turns and looks
 over his shoulder in the direction that Blavin is waving.
 Corraidhín the Sysorcerer grins and waves at you.
 > Alex pulls at the trigger of the ak and he plummets towards the waves
 > sending a wave of cold lead towards the bigger Katsuva. "Son of a
 > bitch, never trust someone who has to hide their face, agent 7,
 > marvelo, always was right on that one." Hell, dunno if magical dream
 > guns work on mushrooms, but to hell with it, Alex thought.
 > 
 > He plunges into the water gripping tightly to his weapon, the little
 > katsuva clinging to him. As the water wraps around him he kicks at
 > the little mushroom breaking its grasp on his leg, and begins to swim
 > back up to the surface. "Like hell we're doing this your way
 > cavatappi dude."
 > 
 > Back in the real world..
 > 
 > Marvelo stares bleakly at the child and his assailant. "Who the fuck
 > do you think you are? And what the hell are you doing with the kid,
 > Rind, ain't nothin good to come from some shady bloke like you. The
 > hell do you think you're teaching him?"
 > 
 > As Marvelo hurls insults as demands at his assailant he slyly presses
 > his thumb and forefinger into the palm of his left hand, breaking a
 > small resistor embedded in his palm which activates as feint
 > electrical pulse inside his body. Just enough to trigger a Zabbix
 > alarm, which kicks off a series out automated correction scripts. A
 > dose of adrenaline here, a quick alaert to the remaining agents with
 > a broadcast LAT/LONG details via encrypted twtxt feed, but most
 > importantly something special Alex had each agent prepare, just in
 > case their luck ran out, an alarm only the damned could sleep
 > through.
 > 
 > The screech of heavy metal music blares throughout the audio system
 > of the warehouse, every alarm and speaker comes alive blaring heavy
 > riffs of guitar and wicked drums fill the air while screaming echos
 > around the building. Marvelo laughs maniacly as his uninvited guest
 > reels at the unexpected turn of events.
 > 
 > "Alex! We caught him!" Marvelo yells through his laughing fit.
 Gliftwirp frowns as the sirens wail in the fish market. He tightens
 the rope around Marvelo's neck. Deprived of oxygen, Marvelo struggles
 and then goes limp.
 The hemogoblin in the corner trembles as an overpowering sense of
 JUSTICE sings in its veins. It gnashes its teeth and its bloodshoot
 eyes become pupil-less pools of red. A single word dances on the tip
 of its tongue.
 It watches as Gliftwirp stands at the edge of the ritual circle,
 looking in. Pillows and blankets creep slowly toward the dreamers
 like slugs intent on smothering them.
 The hemogoblin launches itself into the air with a cry of "EEEEE!
 VULL!" and lands on the assassin's back, sinking its teeth into the
 nape of his neck and reaching its claws around for his face.
 Gliftwirp cries out in pain and surprise. His hands shoot back to pry
 the thing from his back even as he is propelled forward by the force
 of the attack.
 Gliftwirp and the hemogoblin cross the circle of salt and ash and
 spill into the pillows in a heap and instantly both of them fall fast
 asleep.
 An observer would almost think they were cuddling each other in their
 sleep. If it weren't, that is, for the goblin's claws, still sunk
 into the side of the warpwefter's face.
 Rind, sired by the melon seller, abandoned by his own mother, and
 adopted by the assassin, watches all of this unfold. And sits down
 and strokes the duck's feathers.
 ~
 Alex's ascent into the waking world is interrupted by a surge that
 tugs him sideways and off track. The presence of new arrivals in the
 stream, the tenuous connection between the waking and dreaming worlds
 held open by the Dream Sigil. Somebody beckoning him, summoning him.
 He emerges from the void into an endless, featureless expanse. Plain,
 loose, dark soil as far as the eye can see, with only a small rock or
 two here and there to break up the monotony. The black empty sky
 looms ominously overhead.
 Before you is a tall, slender person in voluminous robes of deep
 purple. Their soft, smooth face framed by curtains of long, straight,
 blonde hair. They wear a golden circlet on their head and a golden
 eye in the middle of their forehead. And in their hands they wield a
 resplendent longsword.
 Shreds of a tattered red cloth lie strewn about their feet.
 They lift their head at your appearance. "Alex," they say. "It is
 good that we finally meet. You have done me a great service in
 gathering pieces of my essence---including this, the Sword of
 Y'aml!---so that I may finally start to return to Basmentaria. You
 have done so much already, but I am afraid I must ask more of you
 still."
 WHAT DO YOU DO
--- a/www/index.html
+++ b/www/index.html
@ -289,6 +289,7 @@
 <li><a href="#00063" id="toc-00063">00063</a></li>
 <li><a href="#00064" id="toc-00064">00064</a></li>
 <li><a href="#00065" id="toc-00065">00065</a></li>
 <li><a href="#00066" id="toc-00066">00066</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a href="#afterword" id="toc-afterword">Afterword</a></li>
 <li><a href="#appendix-a-dramatis-personae"
@ -362,11 +363,11 @@ into the <a href="#current-story">current story arc</a>.</p>
 you can <a href="https://tilde.town/~dozens/quest/rss.xml">subscribe to
 the rss feed</a>.</p>
 <h2 id="stats">Stats</h2>
-<p>Total length: 83975 words / 358 minute read. (Mind you, that’s the
+<p>Total length: 85483 words / 365 minute read. (Mind you, that’s the
 length of this entire page, including all the extra bits and bobs. Not
 just the story.)</p>
-<p>There have been 226 messages posted over 228 days since the first
+<p>There have been 229 messages posted over 229 days since the first
-post on July 13, 2022 for a daily post rate of .99.</p>
+post on July 13, 2022 for a daily post rate of 1.00.</p>
 <h2 id="chapter-1">Chapter 1</h2>
 <p>This is the first installment of BASEMENT QUEST.</p>
 <p>Jump to: <a href="#00001">1</a> <a href="#00002">2</a> <a
@ -6993,6 +6994,158 @@ look behind you as Ousia rises up to meet you.</p>
 <p>Kasutva clings to your leg as you fall, crying. “We’re sorry. We’re
 sorry,” they say over and over as you are pulled below the waves.</p>
 <p>WHAT DO YOU DO</p>
 <h3 id="00066">00066</h3>
 <blockquote>
 <p>“Thank you. May your search brings you good tidings.” Inky replies
 with a smile and nod towards the sea.</p>
 <p>“As to what brings me here, another traveller and myself have been
 summoned to the Harpoon Club at a Wandering Bazaar. However, despite
 uncovering the occasional biscuit tin or cotton candy wheel, my knack
 for thing-finding doesn’t really extend to sentient bazaars in pocket
 dimensions.” Inky chuckles wryly. “Might you happen to know the
 way?”</p>
 <p>As they end their question, Inky slips their hands into the pockets
 of their hooded vest and is met with an envelope nestled within one of
 them. A message from Master Alex. The packet is a bit lumpy to the
 touch, as though there is a small round object inside. The sysorcerer
 may have decided to spend some quality time with his stalker after all.
 Must be lovely to have a dedicated fan. The two wouldn’t mind if Inky
 went on a spot of sightseeing.</p>
 <p>“Also, did you say the Throne of Konsu?” They glance in the direction
 of the large tower and back to the figure before them.</p>
 </blockquote>
 <p>“Ah, you don’t know the story of Lord Konsu?” The ravenfolk beckons
 you to walk with him as you talk. “In the beginning, nobody knew how to
 dream. There were no real <em>people</em> then. Just beasts and
 creatures and horrors.</p>
 <p>“So at that point, every creature visited Ousia only twice: at the
 moment of birth, and at the moment of death. And all the time in between
 was spent longing to return to the sea.”</p>
 <p>At the ravenfolk’s side, the world spins under your feet. In mere
 steps, you have made it to the base of the mountain jutting from the
 center of the island.</p>
 <p>“And one day, Konsu did. He dreamed. He was the first. Each night he
 returned to the sea, and it swallowed his madness and his wildness. It
 evolved his mind. It is dreaming, you see, that makes you human.</p>
 <p>“The sea claims everything though eventually. But you know this
 already. You crossed the sea. Surely you saw how it can work on dreamers
 who have tarried here too long.”</p>
 <p>Still the ravenfolk guides you onward until you arrive at the base of
 the fractal tower, all purple and yellow stones.</p>
 <p>You step inside and find voluminous halls, walls lined with statues
 of all subjects. Fawns in revelry, elegant women in repose, terrible
 giants in agony, warriors standing at attention, leaping fish, and
 roaring lions.</p>
 <p>He leads you through a labyrinth of empty halls, up grand stairs,
 across yawning vestibules and dizzying bridges suspended between towers
 as he continues to talk.</p>
 <p>“Ousia works even on Konsu the Lord of All Dreams. Ephermeris is his
 throne, it’s true. But it is also his prison. The island <em>is</em>
 Konsu, you see. He is no longer at liberty to roam his domain himself,
 in his own flesh. But perhaps you have already met one of his avatars?
 Morpheus? The Dude 215R? Kilroy? Hmm, yes, I see that you have.</p>
 <p>“Well,” he says pulling up short of an archway. You can hear voices
 and laughter and the clinking of dinnerware on the other side. “I
 believe we have arrived at your destination. I thank you for the
 company, and will leave you here.”</p>
 <p>The ravenfolk withdraws, disappearing once more into the maze of the
 tower.</p>
 <p>You look through the archway and see a plush dinner club absolutely
 packed with patrons of all possible shapes and sizes. The Harpoon
 Club.</p>
 <p>You catch somebody waving at you from a table in the far corner.
 Blavin Blandfoot. He grins and beckons you forward.</p>
 <p>Joining him is a tall, slender cat person. Its facial features mostly
 obscured by its jet-black fur. And with their back to you, a wizened old
 man. The three of them are in the middle of a round of tumbrot, a
 complicated game of wagers—overly complicated, some would say—involving
 a special deck of cards, a set of dice, and a tumbling tower of
 blocks.</p>
 <p>You watch as the cat reaches out and carefully removes a block from
 the middle of the tower. It places it on top, and the tower sways. The
 group at the table excitedly holds its breath, and when the tower falls,
 the cat holds its head in its hands in exaggerated dismay. The old man
 whoops and gathers up his winnings and then turns and looks over his
 shoulder in the direction that Blavin is waving.</p>
 <p>Corraidhín the Sysorcerer grins and waves at you.</p>
 <blockquote>
 <p>Alex pulls at the trigger of the ak and he plummets towards the waves
 sending a wave of cold lead towards the bigger Katsuva. “Son of a bitch,
 never trust someone who has to hide their face, agent 7, marvelo, always
 was right on that one.” Hell, dunno if magical dream guns work on
 mushrooms, but to hell with it, Alex thought.</p>
 <p>He plunges into the water gripping tightly to his weapon, the little
 katsuva clinging to him. As the water wraps around him he kicks at the
 little mushroom breaking its grasp on his leg, and begins to swim back
 up to the surface. “Like hell we’re doing this your way cavatappi
 dude.”</p>
 <p>Back in the real world..</p>
 <p>Marvelo stares bleakly at the child and his assailant. “Who the fuck
 do you think you are? And what the hell are you doing with the kid,
 Rind, ain’t nothin good to come from some shady bloke like you. The hell
 do you think you’re teaching him?”</p>
 <p>As Marvelo hurls insults as demands at his assailant he slyly presses
 his thumb and forefinger into the palm of his left hand, breaking a
 small resistor embedded in his palm which activates as feint electrical
 pulse inside his body. Just enough to trigger a Zabbix alarm, which
 kicks off a series out automated correction scripts. A dose of
 adrenaline here, a quick alaert to the remaining agents with a broadcast
 LAT/LONG details via encrypted twtxt feed, but most importantly
 something special Alex had each agent prepare, just in case their luck
 ran out, an alarm only the damned could sleep through.</p>
 <p>The screech of heavy metal music blares throughout the audio system
 of the warehouse, every alarm and speaker comes alive blaring heavy
 riffs of guitar and wicked drums fill the air while screaming echos
 around the building. Marvelo laughs maniacly as his uninvited guest
 reels at the unexpected turn of events.</p>
 <p>“Alex! We caught him!” Marvelo yells through his laughing fit.</p>
 </blockquote>
 <p>Gliftwirp frowns as the sirens wail in the fish market. He tightens
 the rope around Marvelo’s neck. Deprived of oxygen, Marvelo struggles
 and then goes limp.</p>
 <p>The hemogoblin in the corner trembles as an overpowering sense of
 JUSTICE sings in its veins. It gnashes its teeth and its bloodshoot eyes
 become pupil-less pools of red. A single word dances on the tip of its
 tongue.</p>
 <p>It watches as Gliftwirp stands at the edge of the ritual circle,
 looking in. Pillows and blankets creep slowly toward the dreamers like
 slugs intent on smothering them.</p>
 <p>The hemogoblin launches itself into the air with a cry of “EEEEE!
 VULL!” and lands on the assassin’s back, sinking its teeth into the nape
 of his neck and reaching its claws around for his face.</p>
 <p>Gliftwirp cries out in pain and surprise. His hands shoot back to pry
 the thing from his back even as he is propelled forward by the force of
 the attack.</p>
 <p>Gliftwirp and the hemogoblin cross the circle of salt and ash and
 spill into the pillows in a heap and instantly both of them fall fast
 asleep.</p>
 <p>An observer would almost think they were cuddling each other in their
 sleep. If it weren’t, that is, for the goblin’s claws, still sunk into
 the side of the warpwefter’s face.</p>
 <p>Rind, sired by the melon seller, abandoned by his own mother, and
 adopted by the assassin, watches all of this unfold. And sits down and
 strokes the duck’s feathers.</p>
 <p>~</p>
 <p>Alex’s ascent into the waking world is interrupted by a surge that
 tugs him sideways and off track. The presence of new arrivals in the
 stream, the tenuous connection between the waking and dreaming worlds
 held open by the Dream Sigil. Somebody beckoning him, summoning him.</p>
 <p>He emerges from the void into an endless, featureless expanse. Plain,
 loose, dark soil as far as the eye can see, with only a small rock or
 two here and there to break up the monotony. The black empty sky looms
 ominously overhead.</p>
 <p>Before you is a tall, slender person in voluminous robes of deep
 purple. Their soft, smooth face framed by curtains of long, straight,
 blonde hair. They wear a golden circlet on their head and a golden eye
 in the middle of their forehead. And in their hands they wield a
 resplendent longsword.</p>
 <p>Shreds of a tattered red cloth lie strewn about their feet.</p>
 <p>They lift their head at your appearance. “Alex,” they say. “It is
 good that we finally meet. You have done me a great service in gathering
 pieces of my essence—including this, the Sword of Y’aml!—so that I may
 finally start to return to Basmentaria. You have done so much already,
 but I am afraid I must ask more of you still.”</p>
 <p>WHAT DO YOU DO</p>
 <h2 id="afterword">Afterword</h2>
 <p>I don’t know what I’m going to put here, but I didn’t want this
 document to just abruptly end. So here you go: a kind farewell and a
--- a/www/rss.xml
+++ b/www/rss.xml
--- a/www/spoilers.html
+++ b/www/spoilers.html
@ -289,6 +289,7 @@
 <li><a href="#00063" id="toc-00063">00063</a></li>
 <li><a href="#00064" id="toc-00064">00064</a></li>
 <li><a href="#00065" id="toc-00065">00065</a></li>
 <li><a href="#00066" id="toc-00066">00066</a></li>
 </ul></li>
 <li><a href="#spoilers" id="toc-spoilers">Spoilers</a></li>
 <li><a href="#acknowledgements"
@ -365,10 +366,10 @@ into the <a href="#current-story">current story arc</a>.</p>
 you can <a href="https://tilde.town/~dozens/quest/rss.xml">subscribe to
 the rss feed</a>.</p>
 <h2 id="stats">Stats</h2>
-<p>Total length: 83975 words / 358 minute read. (Mind you, that’s the
+<p>Total length: 85483 words / 365 minute read. (Mind you, that’s the
 length of this entire page, including all the extra bits and bobs. Not
 just the story.)</p>
-<p>There have been 226 messages posted over 228 days since the first
+<p>There have been 228 messages posted over 229 days since the first
 post on July 13, 2022 for a daily post rate of .99.</p>
 <h2 id="chapter-1">Chapter 1</h2>
 <p>This is the first installment of BASEMENT QUEST.</p>
@ -6996,6 +6997,158 @@ look behind you as Ousia rises up to meet you.</p>
 <p>Kasutva clings to your leg as you fall, crying. “We’re sorry. We’re
 sorry,” they say over and over as you are pulled below the waves.</p>
 <p>WHAT DO YOU DO</p>
 <h3 id="00066">00066</h3>
 <blockquote>
 <p>“Thank you. May your search brings you good tidings.” Inky replies
 with a smile and nod towards the sea.</p>
 <p>“As to what brings me here, another traveller and myself have been
 summoned to the Harpoon Club at a Wandering Bazaar. However, despite
 uncovering the occasional biscuit tin or cotton candy wheel, my knack
 for thing-finding doesn’t really extend to sentient bazaars in pocket
 dimensions.” Inky chuckles wryly. “Might you happen to know the
 way?”</p>
 <p>As they end their question, Inky slips their hands into the pockets
 of their hooded vest and is met with an envelope nestled within one of
 them. A message from Master Alex. The packet is a bit lumpy to the
 touch, as though there is a small round object inside. The sysorcerer
 may have decided to spend some quality time with his stalker after all.
 Must be lovely to have a dedicated fan. The two wouldn’t mind if Inky
 went on a spot of sightseeing.</p>
 <p>“Also, did you say the Throne of Konsu?” They glance in the direction
 of the large tower and back to the figure before them.</p>
 </blockquote>
 <p>“Ah, you don’t know the story of Lord Konsu?” The ravenfolk beckons
 you to walk with him as you talk. “In the beginning, nobody knew how to
 dream. There were no real <em>people</em> then. Just beasts and
 creatures and horrors.</p>
 <p>“So at that point, every creature visited Ousia only twice: at the
 moment of birth, and at the moment of death. And all the time in between
 was spent longing to return to the sea.”</p>
 <p>At the ravenfolk’s side, the world spins under your feet. In mere
 steps, you have made it to the base of the mountain jutting from the
 center of the island.</p>
 <p>“And one day, Konsu did. He dreamed. He was the first. Each night he
 returned to the sea, and it swallowed his madness and his wildness. It
 evolved his mind. It is dreaming, you see, that makes you human.</p>
 <p>“The sea claims everything though eventually. But you know this
 already. You crossed the sea. Surely you saw how it can work on dreamers
 who have tarried here too long.”</p>
 <p>Still the ravenfolk guides you onward until you arrive at the base of
 the fractal tower, all purple and yellow stones.</p>
 <p>You step inside and find voluminous halls, walls lined with statues
 of all subjects. Fawns in revelry, elegant women in repose, terrible
 giants in agony, warriors standing at attention, leaping fish, and
 roaring lions.</p>
 <p>He leads you through a labyrinth of empty halls, up grand stairs,
 across yawning vestibules and dizzying bridges suspended between towers
 as he continues to talk.</p>
 <p>“Ousia works even on Konsu the Lord of All Dreams. Ephermeris is his
 throne, it’s true. But it is also his prison. The island <em>is</em>
 Konsu, you see. He is no longer at liberty to roam his domain himself,
 in his own flesh. But perhaps you have already met one of his avatars?
 Morpheus? The Dude 215R? Kilroy? Hmm, yes, I see that you have.</p>
 <p>“Well,” he says pulling up short of an archway. You can hear voices
 and laughter and the clinking of dinnerware on the other side. “I
 believe we have arrived at your destination. I thank you for the
 company, and will leave you here.”</p>
 <p>The ravenfolk withdraws, disappearing once more into the maze of the
 tower.</p>
 <p>You look through the archway and see a plush dinner club absolutely
 packed with patrons of all possible shapes and sizes. The Harpoon
 Club.</p>
 <p>You catch somebody waving at you from a table in the far corner.
 Blavin Blandfoot. He grins and beckons you forward.</p>
 <p>Joining him is a tall, slender cat person. Its facial features mostly
 obscured by its jet-black fur. And with their back to you, a wizened old
 man. The three of them are in the middle of a round of tumbrot, a
 complicated game of wagers—overly complicated, some would say—involving
 a special deck of cards, a set of dice, and a tumbling tower of
 blocks.</p>
 <p>You watch as the cat reaches out and carefully removes a block from
 the middle of the tower. It places it on top, and the tower sways. The
 group at the table excitedly holds its breath, and when the tower falls,
 the cat holds its head in its hands in exaggerated dismay. The old man
 whoops and gathers up his winnings and then turns and looks over his
 shoulder in the direction that Blavin is waving.</p>
 <p>Corraidhín the Sysorcerer grins and waves at you.</p>
 <blockquote>
 <p>Alex pulls at the trigger of the ak and he plummets towards the waves
 sending a wave of cold lead towards the bigger Katsuva. “Son of a bitch,
 never trust someone who has to hide their face, agent 7, marvelo, always
 was right on that one.” Hell, dunno if magical dream guns work on
 mushrooms, but to hell with it, Alex thought.</p>
 <p>He plunges into the water gripping tightly to his weapon, the little
 katsuva clinging to him. As the water wraps around him he kicks at the
 little mushroom breaking its grasp on his leg, and begins to swim back
 up to the surface. “Like hell we’re doing this your way cavatappi
 dude.”</p>
 <p>Back in the real world..</p>
 <p>Marvelo stares bleakly at the child and his assailant. “Who the fuck
 do you think you are? And what the hell are you doing with the kid,
 Rind, ain’t nothin good to come from some shady bloke like you. The hell
 do you think you’re teaching him?”</p>
 <p>As Marvelo hurls insults as demands at his assailant he slyly presses
 his thumb and forefinger into the palm of his left hand, breaking a
 small resistor embedded in his palm which activates as feint electrical
 pulse inside his body. Just enough to trigger a Zabbix alarm, which
 kicks off a series out automated correction scripts. A dose of
 adrenaline here, a quick alaert to the remaining agents with a broadcast
 LAT/LONG details via encrypted twtxt feed, but most importantly
 something special Alex had each agent prepare, just in case their luck
 ran out, an alarm only the damned could sleep through.</p>
 <p>The screech of heavy metal music blares throughout the audio system
 of the warehouse, every alarm and speaker comes alive blaring heavy
 riffs of guitar and wicked drums fill the air while screaming echos
 around the building. Marvelo laughs maniacly as his uninvited guest
 reels at the unexpected turn of events.</p>
 <p>“Alex! We caught him!” Marvelo yells through his laughing fit.</p>
 </blockquote>
 <p>Gliftwirp frowns as the sirens wail in the fish market. He tightens
 the rope around Marvelo’s neck. Deprived of oxygen, Marvelo struggles
 and then goes limp.</p>
 <p>The hemogoblin in the corner trembles as an overpowering sense of
 JUSTICE sings in its veins. It gnashes its teeth and its bloodshoot eyes
 become pupil-less pools of red. A single word dances on the tip of its
 tongue.</p>
 <p>It watches as Gliftwirp stands at the edge of the ritual circle,
 looking in. Pillows and blankets creep slowly toward the dreamers like
 slugs intent on smothering them.</p>
 <p>The hemogoblin launches itself into the air with a cry of “EEEEE!
 VULL!” and lands on the assassin’s back, sinking its teeth into the nape
 of his neck and reaching its claws around for his face.</p>
 <p>Gliftwirp cries out in pain and surprise. His hands shoot back to pry
 the thing from his back even as he is propelled forward by the force of
 the attack.</p>
 <p>Gliftwirp and the hemogoblin cross the circle of salt and ash and
 spill into the pillows in a heap and instantly both of them fall fast
 asleep.</p>
 <p>An observer would almost think they were cuddling each other in their
 sleep. If it weren’t, that is, for the goblin’s claws, still sunk into
 the side of the warpwefter’s face.</p>
 <p>Rind, sired by the melon seller, abandoned by his own mother, and
 adopted by the assassin, watches all of this unfold. And sits down and
 strokes the duck’s feathers.</p>
 <p>~</p>
 <p>Alex’s ascent into the waking world is interrupted by a surge that
 tugs him sideways and off track. The presence of new arrivals in the
 stream, the tenuous connection between the waking and dreaming worlds
 held open by the Dream Sigil. Somebody beckoning him, summoning him.</p>
 <p>He emerges from the void into an endless, featureless expanse. Plain,
 loose, dark soil as far as the eye can see, with only a small rock or
 two here and there to break up the monotony. The black empty sky looms
 ominously overhead.</p>
 <p>Before you is a tall, slender person in voluminous robes of deep
 purple. Their soft, smooth face framed by curtains of long, straight,
 blonde hair. They wear a golden circlet on their head and a golden eye
 in the middle of their forehead. And in their hands they wield a
 resplendent longsword.</p>
 <p>Shreds of a tattered red cloth lie strewn about their feet.</p>
 <p>They lift their head at your appearance. “Alex,” they say. “It is
 good that we finally meet. You have done me a great service in gathering
 pieces of my essence—including this, the Sword of Y’aml!—so that I may
 finally start to return to Basmentaria. You have done so much already,
 but I am afraid I must ask more of you still.”</p>
 <p>WHAT DO YOU DO</p>
 <h2 id="spoilers">Spoilers</h2>
 <details>
 <summary>