"No. You're standing up."
"Hah!"
Yes, no doubt she's a little shy around your
lower horn.
That feeling that there's more to him is stronger here, probably because he's exerting himself magically. The land around us varies between woodland and open fields. They looks like they're used for farming, but the few buildings we see look dilapidated and deserted.
"Are we going into the Dream?"
To be fair, at the edges of the realm, there's probably little difference between them. There are many soft places where the Dream touches the world, after all...
"I doubt it. There are few pathways into the Dream that can be travelled on foot. No, I see the path the elves trod. They sought to hide their route."
"Do you know a way into the Dream? We're trying to get there."
I bet that dream storm doesn't count. Given that they weren't on foot in many spots.
Surprised OL resisted the urge to make a 'walk into mordor' joke, though.
"Drink wine and then sleep. Or do you need to enter physically?"
"Physically. We need to get there so that we can go into Erebos by the back door. We want to talk to Melinoë, and I want to know what happened to Themyscira."
Just in case what happened to it
doesn't undo itself when they remove the Anti-Life?
"There is no direct route, I'm afraid. If you can travel to the lands of the Sumerian gods, there may be a route that they use."
"How come?"
Interesting. I suppose it's so lost that they've retreated from the world... Or been let go of.
"Even the Dream Lord could not move an entire nation into his realm without leaving echoes. The Sumerian gods use that connection to sustain themselves, and they are not above leasing it for the use of others when if profits them."
"Why do they need to do that?"
A surprisingly mercantile approach to matters. Though I suspect they get little more than an additional trickle of energy from such dealings. But it can keep a pantheon existent just that little bit longer...
"Our spheres decay without something to bind us to the material world. Or if we can use titanic levels of power to sustain them. I don't have that power, and neither do they."
So… Why..?
I suspect pantheons with
that much mystical oomph are few and far between.
"Is it the Cornwalls? Are they what keeps Otherworld alive?"
"No. That helps, but it isn't enough power. Likewise with the small groups of people who still worship me. We are sustained by a great piece of-"
Ah. Someone set up a little something-something to help them out, eh?
"King Kon-Sten-Tyn."
"-enchantment. Yes." He flashes me an inquisitive glance. "How do you know of it?"
It sounds the sort of thing a certain line
would do.
"I'm friends with his current heir. Who I can only assume is descended from a daughter. He did something to corrupt the establishment of the Christian religion in England, didn't he?"
"Yes. Basically. It was more to ensure that they could not forget about what came before than anything direct, and the ley line network provides us power as well, but without his work we would probably have faded by now."
Which is a shame. So much myth and legend has already been lost to the ages already...
"Mercury doesn't like the standing stones. She thinks that they distort the natural flow of energy."
"Usually I'd advocate for the natural state of things. But earthquakes and volcanoes aren't good for humans, and those are what happens when geomantic power runs wild."
Perhaps tell her
that next time you see her, OL. Though she'd probably dismiss it as masculine excuse-making...
His eyes dip to the trail that he's somehow following.
"As I thought. Dorset."
Dorset? What the fook's in Dorset that could be useful?
"What's special about Dorset?"
"It's where cats first entered Britain. Good hunters, cats."
Interesting. I can see where this is going. A certain
goddess who grows ever wearier with each passing year...
"And why is that important?"
"I'm not so good with domesticated animals as I am with wild ones. Dogs, eugh. Give me honest wolves instead."
Makes sense, being a god-figure of the wild.
"Why is it important that's where cats entered Britain?"
"There's no British cat god. Cat were brought here by Phoenicians, who brought the Kahndaqi cat goddess with them when they came. And thanks to all of the cats in Britain, there's still a weak link to her realm. It's a good place to get from one realm to another, if you don't mind the risks."
Honestly, I can't think of cat deities other than Bast...
Huh.
"And what risks are those?"
"Bubastis is a decaying realm. All the glory it once held is reduced to ruins and vague traces of power. And not all of its people like being dead."
...Boy, his information's just a
little out of date, isn't it?
Kon and I exchange a glance.
"So… When was the last time you were there?"
Heh. That would be amusing to see: Divine day trips to visit other pantheons.
"Some time ago. It's hard to keep track here."
"And how much worship would a place like that need in order to regain something of itself?"
Like, say, an entire nation rediscovering their ancient faith, out of
curiosity if nothing else?
"This is like the time that Graham explained what trains are. Has something happened that would have revitalised Bubastis?"
I nod. "Teth Adom returned to life. He rules modern Kahndaq, and he openly worships its old pantheon. I wouldn't say… That the people have abandoned Islam, but… The old religion is… On their minds more than it used to be."
And sometimes, that can be enough to make them
reconsider.
"That… Might change the situation."
"Ah, Paul? I… Went on the internet one time, and…" Kon looks away awkwardly. "You said the Japanese pantheon was recruiting. Do you think they'd have gone for… Bast?"
Makes me wonder if they've snagged any other minor deities that were at loose ends.
"They were mostly interested in new focuses of power rather than other old pantheons. Why..?"
"Catgirls." / "Catgirls."
Who
doesn't like catgirls?
Especially if they're
more than teenagers wearing cat-ears.
"Bast isn't a kitten."
"The Japanese just depictions of women with feline features as… Um. Ah. I'm not totally sure why, but they use them a lot. The Japanese pantheon might capitalise on that by offering Bast a position. Maybe."
Probably out of a sense of mischief and naughtiness. In the same way that dogs are loyal and steadfast.
"Humans with animal features." He grins. "That will never catch on. Ah!"
I point ahead to.. a partially collapsed keep. At the speed we're going we're on it in seconds, slowing down to a stop just outside what's left of the outer wall.
This'll be their gateway, then.
"Here?"
"Look for a cat icon. That will mark the entry point."
Heh. Feels like a video game quest. "Find the cat icon and interact to teleport to the Instance." Sadly, I doubt it'll sparkle or glow for easy detection.
Kon and I nod, then the three of us proceed inside. There are signs of fires having been lit in the not too distant past, blacked embers on the floor up against several walls. Some footprints, mostly humanoid, but… I don't know, those could just be scuff marks. I'm not a tracker. But I can just wave my hand and release my construct lanterns to find a cat statue.
"What should we expect when we get there? You said it was more primal?"
As long as they don't end up as prey, I'm sure they'll be fine.
"Yes. You will become less your material self and more your arcane self."
Kon glances at me, and I shrug. I coped with being a spirit snake in the Silver City, I can cope in Cat City.
...Wonder if Kon will become a sun-man. And cause every cat who sees him to go into a doze...
"Is that dangerous?"
"It may be strange and disorienting for you. That may be dangerous. The experience itself shouldn't be."
I worry that your sense of 'dangerous' and theirs may be calibrated for different levels of
risk.
I get a flicker of sensation from one of my construct lanterns. A heavily corroded cat statue about twenty centimetres tall tucked out of the way on the first floor.
"Found it. Let's go."
Heh. Summons for the win.
