Kevin L. O'Brien's Blog: Songs of the Seanchaí, page 28

Travel in the Dreamlands

Travel in the Dreamlands is not a trivial matter. In the absence of automobiles, airplanes, and motorized ships, options are extremely limited. Horses do not exist in the Dreamlands; at least, there have been no verified reported sighting of any. Neither do donkeys or jackasses. Instead, there are zebras. They can be ridden, but they are smaller than horses, so while strong and durable, they are somewhat uncomfortable to ride. They are also slower, though still faster than a man walking. And they are temperamental and willful, making it difficult to control them. They are better used as draft or pack animals, where their stamina allows them to travel for hours at a time, but at little better than walking speed. Their advantage in that case is their ability to haul heavy loads. They need less care than horses, being hardier, but they still require access to grass or grain and water, and need frequent washing and grooming, otherwise they will weaken and die. They do not need shoes like horses, but their hooves require special maintenance. They are not suited for cold climes or high mountains. These are not the Dreamlands equivalent of a jeep or sports car; people who are not already experienced horsemen should avoid using zebras until they have been trained in their care and control.

Other available animals are llamas, camels, yaks, and elephants. Llamas are an advantage only in mountainous terrain, camels in the desert, yaks in the cold northern wastes, and elephants in thick forests and jungles; however, camels and elephants may be encountered anywhere. All but llamas can be ridden, but they are each rather uncomfortable in their own way compared to horses. They are also no faster than a man walking, since they walk rather than trot. However, they can haul or carry heavier loads than zebras, and they require even less care, though camels and elephants can be more temperamental. Of these, camels are probably the best choice for a novice as a first-time work animal, but it is still best to wait until after receiving training. A number of other creatures are available as steeds, but they are rare, and can be extremely dangerous. These include Hippogriffs, Griffons, Wakiyas, Rokhs, Shantaks, Dragons, and Nightgaunts. Only very experienced Dreamers, and preferably those versed in magic, should attempt to tame one.

Vehicular transportation is virtually all animal powered, hence the same problems of dealing with steeds is multiplied by the number of animals needed to pull the conveyance. While the design of a transport can be nearly infinite, they are themselves limited to carts, wagons, carriages, coaches, chariots, sleighs, and canal boats. Ocean-going vessels use either oars, sails, or both, though again the designs can vary widely, up to and including 19th century clipper ships. However, some exotic transports do exist. The city of Creachabh in the Six Kingdoms maintains a fleet of six trains, a Baker's dozen boxcar-shaped wagons connected together, drawn by the same number of camels specially breed for strength and speed. Though they are used primarily for cargo, they can carry up to a dozen passengers on the top of each wagon. The peoples of Sydathria use a prairie schooner based on the design of the Conestoga wagon that uses sails for propulsion.

And the closest thing the Dreamlands have to an airship is the cloud barge, essentially a galley with the hull saturated with space-mead to make it buoyant. However, while it floats, it still needs a method of propulsion, and it uses sails. Both Celephaïs and Karkedon maintain a fleet of cloud barges, but they are so incredibly expensive to build and maintain that only a wealthy government can do so. Though some families of the Knights of Celephaïs have a personal cloud barge, they were all supplied by King Kuranes as rewards for faithful service. Nonetheless, rumors persist that a group of wealthy individuals are creating a fleet that will be used for passenger transport all over the Dreamlands.

Even considering steeds and vehicles, travel in the Dreamlands is geared towards pedestrians. This is evident by the fact that distances are divided into intervals of one day's travel called journeis. For example, the route from Ulthar to Hlanith along the River Skai and through the Thorineach Hills is accepted to be three journeis long; that is, would take three days of travel. A journei is the distance a healthy person can walk in one eight-hour day, which according to Naismith's Rule is roughly twenty to twenty-five miles. Eight hours is considered long enough to allow a traveler to eat breakfast and break camp in the morning, take a few rest breaks during the day, including one for lunch, and make camp, eat supper, and relax in the evening, while putting in a full day's walk.

It should be noted that this is not a strict conversion. The established number of journeis for each route are determined by tradition, not by measured distances. As such, some journeis may be longer than the Naismith estimated distance, while others may be shorter. Then too, some travelers may be able to cover a greater distance than average in eight hours, while others may take longer than eight hours to cover the journei. As well, eight hours is not a required limit; travelers may walk however long they wish, even for just part of the day or well into the night. The journei system was not set up to measure actual distances; instead, it was intended to give travelers an estimated time to reach their destination, and to show where they can expect to find rest facilities, if any.

The majority of these facilities are settlements; this is especially true in well settled areas like the Six Kingdoms. For example, the route from Ulthar to Hlanith mentioned earlier terminates the first journei at the village of Mozam and the second at the village of Broidh. However, different types of facilities can be encountered. Some are unique to specific regions, such as the oases found in the western deserts. Others are establishments set up at intervals between established facilities to cater to travelers for a profit. Some of these are inns of various designs, such as Japanese ryokan or Roman tabernae. Others are caravanserai, to accommodate trading caravans. Still others are roadhouses, that not only offer food and lodging, but also stables, fresh mounts or draft animals, and repair facilities for vehicles. There are also forts that provide protection against a region's dangers. Some more interesting facilities are those patterned after Roman thermae, but are complexes with lodging, shops, and entertainment as well as baths. There are even establishments that act as full-scale resorts.

It is no coincidence that these establishments are created at the journeis, or that certain journeis have become associated with existing oases and settlements. Even though travelers can walk longer than eight hours, and some can travel farther in eight hours than a standard journei, very few can walk two full journeis in a single day. Those who try must travel through the night. In the absence of artificial lighting, however, the night is extremely dark, even in the open under a clear sky and a full moon; on overcast nights and new moons, and in forests or hilly terrain, it is almost impossible to see more than a yard around, and in towns and cities even that little is eliminated.

Torches shed weak light, covering only a couple of feet, and don't last more than a couple of hours. Lanterns are somewhat stronger and longer lasting, but still cannot effectively illuminate more than a couple of yards. Light spells are stronger still and can last indefinitely, but even they cannot illuminate more than a couple of fathoms. Yet any source of light on a dark night can be seen from a great distance, thereby calling attention to the traveler and making him a target. Just about the only travelers that can journey at night with impunity are Cats. On top of which, nearly all facilities have curfews, and seldom admit travelers after dark, especially well after dark.

As such, most travelers prefer to camp for the night in a secure location. For example, intrepid pedestrians often walk the Ulthar-Hlanith route mentioned earlier in two days, camping at some spot in the Thorineach Hills between Mozam and Broidh. They try to find one long enough before dark to set up, and cook and eat a meal. After dark is when there is plenty of time to sit around the fire and tell stories. And many campsites have been used so often they have almost become rest facilities in and of themselves. Often on a heavily traveled route, several fellow travelers may have already made camp at a likely spot, and being as there is safety in numbers, they will usually invite newcomers to join them, or to camp nearby.

But why camp out in the open when a warm bed, good food and drink, and perhaps connubial companionship can be had at an inn, or even a farmhouse, for a price?

Hence, the various journeis came to be associated with existing facilities, and new ones tend to be established at commonly frequented campsites located at specific journei locations, even if the distance is shorter than a standard eight-hour walk. Still, some variety in distance is to be expected. For example, well settled regions can have more frequent rest facilities, so it can be possible to push on past a journei and still find a facility after a few more hours, whereas sparsely settled areas will have fewer, perhaps even none until the destination is reached, requiring travelers to camp out whether they wish to or not.

Despite the presence of rest facilities to make things easier, however, travel is still fairly arduous. Walking a full eight hours requires that a traveler be in excellent condition, especially over rugged terrain or uneven ground, to keep from becoming exhausted. Even those lucky enough to have a steed or vehicle will find the ride tiring, due to the lack of pneumatic rubber tires, suspensions, and shock absorbers. In fact, riding an animal can be more comfortable than driving a cart or wagon, despite the expense and trouble of caring for one.

River travel is not much easier. Rivers don't always go where people want, while roads can. Some regions have canals, but these are meant to facilitate trade, not pedestrian travel, hence they still may not go where a traveler needs to go. In any event, canal boats, which are drawn by animals, and river barges, which are propelled by poles, don't move any faster than a man walking. In fact, since the canal or river itself can make a good travel route, a strong walker can often outpace a barge or boat. Rowboats, skiffs, and dories can be more tiring than walking, while canoes and kayaks don't hold as much and can be less stable. Punts are only suitable for shallow water, such as streams and wetlands. Sailboats can only go when there is a wind, and can only go in the direction the wind blows. However, if river travel is convenient and desirable, a raft is probably the best way to go. Though slow, it is relatively simple and easy to construct, it can be made as large as needed and can carry heavy loads, it's very stable, and it can drift with the current or be propelled by sail, oar, or pole. It's only real disadvantage is that it cannot withstand heavy whitewater, unless made of unusually strong material and designed with reinforcements.

Ocean travel is often the only way to cross straits and seas, or reach a coastal settlement. Sailing ships can only travel when there is a wind and it's blowing in the right direction, even with a lateen sail or Bermuda rig. In fact, it's not unusual for a traveler to be stuck in port for weeks or months as his ship waits for a favorable wind. Galleys, galleasses, round ships, catamarans, longships, and other oar-powered craft can leave whenever they wish, but they seldom take passengers, though they might be willing to hire on extra rowers. They are, however, slower and more vulnerable to rough weather. Even if a berth can be secured, private cabins are available only to the wealthy, when they are available at all. Otherwise, passengers are treated like cargo and are usually given a hammock, or a pallet as in an Atlantic slave trade ship.

Wealthier passengers may be allowed to eat with the officers or captain, otherwise they eat what the crew eats (though the officers and captain often don't fare much better). The food is filling and usually wholesome, but it tends to be bland and limited, and may not keep entirely well, especially the fresh fruits and vegetables. The water, stored in wooden barrels, becomes stale after a few weeks. There are usually no bathing facilities, and clothes are washed in urine, if at all. Scurvy and other nutritional-deficiency diseases are a real danger, as are bacterial diseases, especially those associated with unsanitary conditions and the various types of food poisoning. Bad weather can plague an entire voyage, and violent storms are an extreme hazard. About the only enjoyable part of a sea voyage is that the crew and passengers are given a gallon of beer, a pint of wine, and a cup of rum each day, being safer than the water to drink.

Regardless of his mode of travel, a traveler should also dress for the climate, to avoid exposure in cold or rainy weather, or sunstroke in hot climates, as well as be prepared for unexpected storms or other adverse weather conditions. Despite the prevalence of rest facilities, a traveler should carry at the very least food and water, extra clothing, first aid supplies, flint and steel, and a map. This will increase his burden, which in turn will increase his effort and eventual fatigue. And if he plans to travel through wilderness areas that have fewer rest facilities, he will need to carry sufficient gear to camp out at night. That will require a pack, or a pack animal, to carry it all (and the pack animal will require its own food, water, and gear as well), which will hamper him further.

Of course, a traveler has to know where he is going. A map is probably the best navigational aid for walking roads and paths, but going cross-country will require additional means. Pocket compasses do exist, but are expensive, because of the craftsmanship involved in making them, and cheaper ones are unreliable. Besides, a traveler can get his bearings off the sun and pole star, assuming a clear sky. Of better use is a sextant, if he knows how to use one, but even a simple astrolabe can give him a general idea of his latitude. Longitude is mostly a matter of dead reckoning, but a pocket chronometer can allow him to estimate his position with the change in rising times for key stars. However, good ones are also expensive, and cheaper ones do not keep good time.

Despite the fact that Dream-bodies seem to be hardier than Waking-bodies, accidents and illness are still a real possibility, and can be fatal if the nearest facility is more than one journei away. A weapon could be useful; even in well-settled civilized regions there are still dangerous animals to contend with. And facilities do not offer their services for free, so some form of money will be needed. Unfortunately, this can also attract the attention of bandits, as will having anything valuable, even good clothing. All in all, it should be obvious that taking trips in the Dreamlands is nothing to take lightly.

Caerleon Order Land Vehicles

Like any modern military group, the Order needs to be able to transport personnel and equipment, as well as supplies, anywhere as quickly as possible. On land, it can boast of a large variety of vehicles that can see its troops safely to any destination throughout Great Britain and the Commonwealth.

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Synopsis: Moving Day (a Team Girl Adventure)

Medb visits the Girls at Eile's Uncle's townhouse to tell them she found a place for them to live. She takes them to a house in a gated community in Lowry. She gives them a tour and shows them the modifications she had done. Eile is surprised at how quickly the modifications were made, and suspects that Medb had actually acquired the house for herself some time before she met them. The house is bought and paid for, and Medb will take care of the homeowners' association fees; the Girls will pay the utilities. She will furnish it with some basics and other things, but she will give them an allowance to decorate it as they see fit, though if they go over budget they have to make up the shortfall. The Girls like it and agree to be ready to move in a few days. They don't have much to pack in any event.

The next day Eile goes to see her Uncle. She takes Sunny along and introduces her, then tells him about the new house. She wants him to move in with them, which Sunny supports, but he declines, saying he's comfortable where he's at, and they have their own lives to live. He does, however, give Eile papers authorizing her to sell the town home and tells her to put the money in a CD so she and Sunny have a nest egg.

A couple of days later, a moving van shows up and six burly fellows load it up with all the furniture and boxes from the townhouse. As it pulls away, a rented minivan pulls up and the driver states he was sent by Medb to drive them to the new house. As soon as they get in, however, they are gassed and put to sleep.

Medb oversees the offloading from the moving van, but when she's told the Girls got in a minivan sent for them, she takes off to locate them.

When the Girls awaken, they find themselves at the bottom of a pit cell. A guard watches over them and calls someone on a headset. Presently a distinguished elderly gentleman comes by. He introduces himself as Conrad Dantine. He is courteous and chivalrous, but he won't let the Girls go; he needs them to get a hold of Sunny's parents. He had planned to take them from the townhouse, but when he discovered that they were moving, he had to act fast before they were lost to him. He will soon be sending a message to Medb demanding that Sunny's parents give themselves up. Meanwhile, they are his guests and will be well taken care off. Sunny demands privacy, and he tells the guard not to look inside their pit. He then leaves. Eile is surprised he agreed to that, but isn't sure what good it does them. Sunny states that it gives them the freedom to plot an escape.

Medb is at the townhome, looking for any clue as to where the Girls were taken, when her cell phone rings. Thinking it's them, she answers, but it's Dantine instead. He tells her he has them and that he demands the surrender of Sunny's parents for their release, otherwise he will turn the Girls over to the people who hired him. Medb tells him she can track him through the Girls' cell phone, but he tells her he's calling her on his communication console, which is using a scrambled signaled. He gives her 24 hours to produce Sunny's parents, and texts her a phone number where she can reach him. As soon as he hangs up, Medb calls Masie and has her work on descrambling and tracking the signal. However, next she calls Sunny's parents to inform them of the bad news. They offer to surrender themselves, since Dantine is a man of his word. Medb refuses to consider it, and instructs them under no circumstances to come to Denver.

The Girls discover that if they stand on top of the refrigerator and Sunny stands on Eile's shoulders, she can just barely reach the lip of the pit wall. But she can't jump to catch hold. They need some kind of grapple she can pull herself up with. Getting down, they look around and see that the bed has a metal frame with 'L' shaped legs. Eile takes off her belt and uses the buckle to unscrew the bolts on two of the legs. Getting back on top of the refrigerator, Sunny is able to hook on to the top of the pit wall. She pulls herself up as Eile pushes, then runs around to release the lock on a ladder mechanism, which drops a ladder into the pit. The guard grabs Sunny, but she fights like a wildcat, preventing him from subduing her or calling for help. Eile climbs the ladder and punches his lights out. They search his pockets and find what looks like a hotel key card. They also take his baton. The key card opens the door to the cell block and they enter the installation proper.

Medb receives word from Masie that she has located the source of the transmission: an office complex in the Stapleton area. Medb rushes out there to retrieve the Girls.

The Girls have trouble exploring the complex, narrowly escaping recapture several times. Then they find what looks like a lounge. Inside are two female personnel, a guard and a technician. Sunny goes in bold as brass, pretending she's one of them. As she distracts them, Eile takes out the guard and holds the technician hostage. The Girls then strip them of their uniforms and tie them up, then put on their clothes.

Medb arrives at the office complex and goes in. When security tries to stop her, she overwhelms them and invades their main office. She then hooks Masie into their computer, and she discovers the existence of the underground complex. She also overrides the security codes so Medb can enter.

The Girls are able to move around more freely with their disguises. They are challenged only once, and Sunny bluffs their way past. However, they travel blindly as they try to find a way out, and they accidentally stumble into the control room. They see Dantine talking to Sunny's parents. He is arranging a meeting in a public place, where they will surrender once they see the Girls are safe. Eile has to gag Sunny to keep her from crying out. When Dantine switches off the communicator, they try to leave, but he spots them. Fortunately the room is dim enough that he doesn't recognize them. He orders them to follow him, but he leads them towards the cell block. Then he receives a call over a loudspeaker. When Dantine calls on an intercom, he is informed that the Girls escaped and overpowered a guard and technician. He realizes the Girls are with him, but before he can alert anyone, Eile knocks him unconscious with her gun.

An alarm goes off, and the loudspeaker announces an intruder. They realize it must be Medb. Guards run past them, and the leader orders them to follow. They find Medb battling a dozen guards and throwing them around like rag dolls. The leader orders his guards to open fire, but Eile and Sunny attack them. They turn on the Girls, but that gives Medb the chance to weigh into them. When they are all subdued, Medb leads them out of the complex and to her awaiting car. As Medb speeds away, Sunny explains her parents are coming to Denver to give themselves up. Medb contacts her people and discoveres that they overpowered a flight crew and stole a jet. They will be in Denver in an hour. The problem is they could land in any number of places around Denver, and they have shut off the jet's avionics, including the radio, to prevent tracking, which also means they cannot contact them. They must get to the meeting place to save them.

Maela and Oda wait by a monument in City Park, when a half dozen minivans appear. Dantine gets out of the lead car with a woman they recognize as the art thief and forger Rene Knutzhorn. Maela used to do work for her and Oda helped a few times, but when she tried to have them killed to protect herself, they turned against her. She wants revenge. Dantine's security people get out of other vans to be ready to receive them or stop them if they try to flee. They demand to see the Girls. The last van opens up and they see them inside. As they approach Dantine to give themselves up, however, the Girls appear and warn them it's a trick. Medb's own mercenaries appear and surround the guards. They put up a fight to allow Dantine and Knutzhorn to get away. The Girls and Sunny parents chase after them joined by Medb. They try to hide in a grove of trees. Medb, Maela, and Oda go in to flush them out. However, they appear and take the Girls hostage. Sunny fights back and kicks Knutzhorn; she knocks her to the ground. When she tries to shoot her, Dantine takes the bullet. Eile then subdues Knutzhorn. Oda wants to kill her, but Sunny convinces her not to.

Medb sends her mercenaries away before the police arrive, taking Dantine's guards with them. Medb meets with a police detective who takes Knutzhorn into custody and has Dantine taken to a hospital. In exchange for not pressing charges, Medb takes control of his lair. Medb is royally pissed at Maela and Oda for defying her, but cannot fault them for wanting to protect Sunny and her partner. Sunny then gets her wish and they have dinner together before Medb takes them back to their safe haven. Eile and Sunny then spend the first night in their new house.

The Companions of Medb hErenn

Medb hErenn often gives the impression of being a loner, being as her willful independence is so strong that even when she has lovers or a husband she is either dominant or aloof. Yet she craves companionship as much as any normal person, perhaps more, and as a result she is almost never without at least one companion wherever she lives or travels.

Most of her companions have been small birds and mammals, being as her druidical training gives her the ability to communicate with them. She can also train them to obey her, something she cannot do with human companions. Though she has no stated preference for one kind of animal over another, more of her companions have been cats than any other animal except birds, with rodents a close second. Canines are one of several types least likely to be companions, yet she has traveled with foxes, wolves, even a coyote. She has even had reptiles, arthropods, and fish for companions, as well as some exotic creatures, such as a unicorn, a basilisk, and a phoenix.

She has, however, had a number of human companions, individuals who, for one reason or another, have decided to travel with her. These are not friends in the normal sense, though they may consider Medb to be a friend. The main reason is that friendship is a foreign concept to Medb. The only time she had friends was in the Dreamlands, but when she returned to Earth, she found it difficult again to maintain friendships. She sees companions as comrades-in-arms, like members of a warband, and while sworn to protect them, she would not hesitate to sacrifice them if necessary. Whereas she would never sacrifice a friend, and would die for one if need be. Some companions are also protégés, but that need not be the case, and few protégés become companions.

Because of her longevity, all but a very few companions are transient, and even those who are not find it prudent to distance themselves from her at frequent intervals. As such, she frequently has to find new ones.

What follows is a list of her companions. Click on a name below to open a hidden panel, then click on it again to close it. Click on an image to see a larger version of it.

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Next eBook: A Deliberation of Morality

The next story in my schedule to be published through Smashwords will be:

A Deliberation of Morality

Few of us ever see out shoulder-devils or angels, those personifications of our own good and evil sides, and those who do are generally hallucinating.

But Sir Differel Van Helsing has to be different....

This will be another free ebook.

New eBook: A Typical Friday Night

I have just published my latest ebook:

A Typical Friday Night

Eile and Sunny of Team Girl have been lured to a slum tavern with an offer of adventure, sweetened by a rich advance in gold. When they arrive, however, they quickly discover that the deal isn't kosher, and they refuse the offer. Afterwards they decide to enjoy a relaxing evening just having fun.

Unfortunately, trouble always seems to follow them like a love-starved puppy, and if two bruisers have their way, this Friday night will be anything but relaxing.

This ebook is free and can be downloaded from Smashwords.

What's Your Favorite Apocalypse?

I am writing a Team Girl Alternative Reality story inspired by the C. J. Cherryh short story "Cassandra". In my story, Eile and Sunny run a coffee/bread/sandwich shop and live above their store. Their life is ideal, except that every waking moment of the day Sunny sees visions of apocalyptic doom. She can't shut it off; the visions come uncontrolled and without pause. However, they are not visions of a single apocalyptic event, but multiple events, a different one each moment. This has convinced her she is merely hallucinating, until the day a new shrink tells her that maybe they're real, but not visions of some future.

Maybe they're visions of the fates of multiple alternative worlds.

During the course of the story, I will describe Sunny's visions. As such, I need a list of apocalyptic disasters. I am not at a loss for ideas, but even I can't think of everything.

So I would like to know: what is your favorite end-of-the-world scenario?

Write a comment on this blog, or comment on my Facebook post.

Thanks in advance.

Glass in the Dreamlands

Glass has been present in the Waking World for at least 5500 years, so it is well established in the Dreamlands. In fact, glass can be considered the plastic of the Dreamworld, but only insofar as it can be used for a wide variety of purposes. Unlike plastic it cannot substitute for other materials like wood, metal, or ivory.

Glass is defined as an amorphous solid that can undergo a glass transition. To be amorphous means that there is no overall crystalline structure such as there is in ice or quartz. Nonetheless, it displays all the mechanical properties of a solid. Its molecular structure is more like a highly viscous liquid, but the individual atoms are bound by strong chemical bonds like in a solid. Claims that glass can flow like liquid over centuries are not true; the amorphous structure locks in the shape and does not relax or deform under normal conditions. The glass transition refers to the temperature at which a substance goes from hard and brittle to soft and plastic. However, this is not a phase change like melting ice or metal; the temperature at which glass actually melts is much higher. Rather the glass looses some of its viscosity as the disordered and random network of bonds between the molecules weaken, allowing it to deform rather than break.

At this point, a distinction needs to be made between glassmaking and glassworking. Glassmaking is the creation of raw glass from raw materials. A mix of materials is heated until it melts, forming a homogeneous solution. Then it is cooled in a slow and careful manner to prevent crystallization. The result is an ingot of raw glass. Glassworking, on the other hand, is the processing of raw or recycled glass to create new glass objects. This involves simply heating the raw glass past its transitional temperature but not high enough to melt, thereby making it plastic enough to shape and mold.

While the formula of the mix of raw materials for glassmaking will vary depending upon the kind of glass being made and the materials available, they all contain the same three basic components: a former, a flux, and a stabilizer.

The former creates the glass matrix. While a large number of materials can undergo a glass transition, the primary material used in glassmaking is silica, or silicon dioxide. Fused silica glass is among the strongest glasses around, with a very low thermal expansion (the degree to which glass expands when it is heated) and excellent resistance to high temperature and weathering. Silica can be obtained from quartz, silica pebbles, and flint nodules, all finely ground, but the most commonly used source is sand. Meanwhile, alumina (dialuminum trioxide) can substitute for silica in certain types of glass.

However, the glass transition and melting temperatures of silica are so high that only three places in the Dreamlands can produce it. The flux component is an alkali used to lower the temperature at which the former melts, making it possible to produce glass more easily. The most common flux used is soda (disodium oxide). Sources of soda include plant ashes; natron, a natural mixture of sodium carbonate, also known as soda ash, and sodium bicarbonate, known as baking soda; and trona, a sodium carbonate/bicarbonate mineral. Potash (potassium carbonate) can substitute; this is derived from wood ash.

Unfortunately, flux also makes the glass soluble in water, so a stabilizer is added to make it insoluble as well as increase its corrosion resistance. The most common stabilizer used is lime (calcium oxide) but magnesia (magnesium oxide) and/or alumina can be used as well. Since they also increase durability, they are often added in addition to lime. The most common source of lime is quicklime, obtained from roasted limestone, chalk, marble, or seashells, while dolomite serves a source of magnesia and bauxite a source of alumina.

Glass that uses soda as a flux and lime as a stabilizer is known as silica-soda-lime glass, or more commonly just as soda-lime glass.

Other types of material can be added as well. Sodium chloride or sodium sulfate is used to reduce the number of air bubbles in the glass mixture; this is known as fining. Natron happens to contain small quantities of both. Boric oxide (diboron trioxide) is added to produce borosilicate glass, otherwise known as Pyrex, which has a much lower thermal expansion than soda-lime glass. Boric oxide is obtained from borax. Lead oxide is added to make lead crystal, which has a high refractive index, making it look more brilliant, and it has high elasticity. It is easier to work, but it cannot stand high heat. Lead oxide is obtained from the mineral encrustation called litharge. Various other metal oxides can be added to color the different glasses. These include iron (aqua), iron and sulfur (amber), manganese (purple), copper (blue or green), lead (dark green), copper and lead (red or brown), cobalt (dark blue), antimony (white), and antimony and lead (yellow). These can all be obtained from various minerals.

A mix of iron and manganese can create a colorless glass, while tin or bone ash can make an opaque white glass known as milk glass, though other colors can be added. Auric (gold) oxide can create an opaque ruby red, but the oxide must be obtained by dissolving gold in aqua regia (a 1:3 solution of nitric and hydrochloric acid). The Men of Leng are somehow able to mass produce an extremely hard lead crystal colored ruby red that is carved to look like pure ruby. The Leng Men in fact claim this glass is real ruby crystal, but alchemical analysis has revealed that it is really a form of glass. A similar glass, colored a bright purple, is obtained from reacting the dissolved gold with stannous chloride (tin dichloride). This very precious glass is imported at great expense from the South.

Despite a nascent chemical industry, glass materials in the Dreamlands are nearly all obtained from nature. The most common type of glass made is soda-lime glass; it accounts for 90% of all glassmaking. The ideal recipe for this is sand, natron, and quicklime, since these serendipitously contain all the necessary ingredients for making it. In fact, sand usually contains alumina and lime as well as silica, making it a popular former for any kind of glassmaking. Another popular mixture is crushed quartz, trona, limestone, dolomite, and bauxite, with sea salt. The former lends itself well to small operations, while the latter is preferred by larger operations. The mineral feldspar makes an excellent former, because it contains silica, soda, potash, alumina, and lime in fairly large proportions. In areas with many trees, potash tends to replace soda. And a common ingredient used throughout the Dreamlands is cullet, which is recycled glass ground into granules. In fact, there are merchants who buy broken and discarded glass objects. However, they must be carefully sorted, because glass retains its color and chemical composition even after melting.

Other types of materials can be added as well. For example, glass reputed to be imported from fabulous Cathuria contains significant amounts of barium oxide, possibly obtained from witherite. The presence of the barium gives the glass a jade-like appearance.

Within the central Dreamlands, there are seven foundries that produce ton-quantities of soda-lime glass in the form of huge slabs or ingots. This is in addition to the three foundries that produce fused silica glass, but only one of these lies in the central region, in the city of Fonderia in the Six Kingdoms. However, there are dozens of workshops that are able to produce pound-quantities of glass for local use. The technology used is pretty much the same everywhere; the only significant difference is in scale. Furnaces similar to pottery kilns are heated with the help of draughts to increase the temperature. Crucibles are preheated, after which the raw materials are added and heated until they fuse but not melt, followed by cooling and grinding of the resulting crystal into powder. This process is known as fritting and it increases the quality of the glass by precipitating out soluble contaminants, releasing dissolved gasses, and preventing light powdering materials such as ash from blowing out before full melting. The frit is placed back in the crucibles along with any available cullet, and they are placed inside the lower part of the furnace and heated until the mixture melts and becomes thoroughly combined. The molten glass can then be poured into moulds and allowed to cool. Huge slabs of raw glass can then be broken into chunks, and along with smaller ingots sold to the many glassworking shops scattered across the whole of the Dreamlands.

Furnace designs vary depending upon the material being used, particularly the flux. Natron allows for operating at cooler temperatures whereas potash demands higher temperature; however, the higher the temperature the less flux that needs to be used. Fuel also has a strong influence, in that burning wood allows for a large, spread-out furnace, whereas coal requires a compact furnace to better contain the heat, a more efficient draught system to increase the heat and drive off contaminating fumes, and a flue systems to remove the coal ash. The most common design for a wood-fired furnace is a rectangle, often with two of more wings at the corners. The wings would be used for preheating, fritting, annealing, and glassworking. A beehive shape is also common, using different levels within for different steps of the process, but this design can also be coal-fired. However, most coal-fired furnaces use a butterfly design. Aside from being made from stone instead of brick, and using covered high-refractory clay crucibles, these used chimneys to increase the air draught and draw off fumes, as well as underground flues to collect and remove the ash.

The seven soda-lime foundries do not do their own glassworking, but the three that produce fused silica do because they are the only ones capable of doing so. Meanwhile, many of the smaller workshops combine glassmaking with glassworking, though they will still purchase raw glass to keep up with demand. There are many different techniques for working glass, and not every shop does them all, but most involve heating the raw glass past its glass transition temperature to make it plastic enough to work with, but not hot enough to melt. Additionally, all glass needs to be annealed, otherwise it can develop internal stresses as it cools, which can cause it to crack or shatter when subjected to a temperature change or mechanical shock. The annealing temperature is that point at which glass is too hard to deform, but soft enough for stresses to relax, which usually happens in minutes. The temperature at which glass is worked is higher, so relaxation of stresses in the raw glass occurs automatically. Once the glass object is finished it is generally heat-soaked until its temperature is even throughout. Then it is slowly cooled until the temperature drops below the strain point, at which time it can be removed from heat and allowed to cool naturally on its own.

One of the oldest glassworking techniques is the core and rod. A shaped core of clay and sand is fashioned over a metal rod and a ductile rope of glass is wound around the core, after which the glass is fused with repeated reheatings and smoothed by marvering, which is rolling the hot glass on a smooth surface. Alternatively the core can be dipped in hot glass. Threads of glass of different colors could also be wound around the hot glass, sculpted with metal tools, then marvered flat. Once cool, the metal rod is removed and the core scraped out. Glass beads are also very ancient; in fact, they may be the first mass produced glass object in history. Typical methods include winding a strand of hot glass around a wire coated with clay, or creating a long drawn tube of hot glass that would be cut into discs and rounded.

Another ancient method is murrine. This involves creating canes (long rods of glass) that contain colored patterns that are only revealed when cut in cross-section to form beads or discs. These patterns can vary from simple geometric shapes to complex detailed designs and even portraits. Murrine discs can be arranged in patterns and fused together to form distinctive decorative glassware that can be shaped into different forms. Fusing in general is another ancient method and it takes advantage of the fact that hot glass pieces stick to each other and bond as they cool. It allows for the creation of intricate and delicate sculptures and pieces.

Slumping is another ancient method. It involves heating glass until it becomes plastic enough to flow under gravity into or around moulds. This use of hot glass's natural plasticity also forms the basis of more modern techniques. One is a form of slumping that utilizes a ring. The glass is placed on top of the ring and when heated is pulled through the ring by gravity, creating a tall vessel with a long neck. Pressed glass uses a mechanical plunger to "press" the hot glass into or through a mould. A similar method is casting. In this technique, the glass is heated until it is molten rather than just hot enough to be shaped, and it is poured directly into moulds. Two types of casting are hot casting, which is pouring molten glass into hardened sand or graphite moulds, and kiln casting, in which a heat resistant mould, usually made of plaster or ceramic, is placed inside a kiln with raw glass and cullet, and as the glass melts it flows into the mould.

Possibly the second oldest general method of glassworking, however, is glassblowing. It represented a truly novel technique of glass forming when it was developed, because it exploited two seemingly contradictory properties of hot glass: plasticity and viscosity. Plasticity allows it to be deformed without damage, such that introducing air into a mass of hot glass can inflate it like a balloon. Viscosity, on the other hand, makes it stiff enough to hold its shape and not rupture. In fact, the stiffer the glass the better it inflates, up to a point, so glass meant to be blown generally has less flux added to it than glass meant to be worked by some other method. The layers of glass get thinner as the mass inflates, and they tend to cool faster as a result. Though this allows for forming vessels of uniform thickness, it also means the mass has to be frequently reheated.

Glassblowing requires that the glass be raised further above the glass transitional temperature than other glassworking techniques, often close to but not quite to the melting temperature. As such, glassblowing workshops have three furnaces instead of just two. The first, usually referred to as "the furnace", contains the crucible of near-molten glass from which the gather is taken. The second cooler furnace, often called "the glory hole", is used to reheat the gather in between working and shaping steps. The third still cooler furnace, called "the lehr", is the annealer furnace and is used to slowly cool the finished piece.

There are many different techniques for glassblowing, but they can all be divided into two broad categories: free and mould-blowing. Free-blowing involves spooling a mass of hot glass, called a gather, at one end of a hollow tube called a blowpipe and blowing into the other end to inflate the gather to the proper size. It can then be worked into the desired shape. Particularly skilled workers can form just about any kind of vessel or object through an enormous variety of manipulations and actions. Mould-blowing, on the other hand, involves blowing the gather into a mould to create a vessel or object of the right size and shape. While it can be worked after removal from the mould, moulds can be well enough crafted that no further working is needed. Because of the high degree of skilled labor involved, free-blowing tend to be restricted to workshops creating artistic pieces and short-run production items, usually fairly expensive, whereas mould-blowing requires less skilled labor and can be used for mass producing cheaper items for general consumption.

Though most working and shaping techniques are fairly common, there are a few specialty techniques used by only a few craftsmen. Caneworking is the technique of adding intricate patterns and stripes to vessels or other blown glass objects using rods of glass (canes) of single colors, multiple colors, or simple to complex patterns. Lampworking is similar to glassblowing, but it uses oil or naphtha-fueled lamps to heat glass rods or tubes instead of furnaces to heat raw glass and cullet, and makes use of tools and gravity to work and shape glass, with less actual blowing. Though mostly used for creating figurines, trinkets, curios, ornaments, beads and such, it is also used to create alchemical and other forms of precision glassware as well as glass models.

Once a piece is formed and worked into its basic shape, but before it is annealed, it can be sculpted while hot into its final form and/or to give it added artistic design. For faster, more consistent results, it can also be pressed into shallow moulds to create inlayed designs. Once cooled to room temperature, however, to be further worked it must either be reheated, which can damage it, or worked cold. In fact, an entire craft guild is built around glass carving, much like woodworking, goldsmithing, or stonecutting. Carving generally takes two forms: engraving and cutting, though both can be used on the same piece. Engraving involves four techniques. Grinding involves abrasive cutting to form a relief image as in cameo work, or an image cut into the surface as in intaglio work. Stippling involves creating a pattern that stimulates varying degrees of solidity or shading using small dots cut into the glass. Drypoint is similar, but it uses fine scratches much like sketching with a pencil. Finally, etching involves creating a pattern of frosted glass using an acidic, caustic, or abrasive substance. Unlike other methods, the glass is not so much cut into as it is roughened up and clouded. Etching is advantageous for thin layers of glass and other conditions where cutting into the glass may weaken it.

Cutting can be as simple as cutting shapes out of plate glass to as complex as creating intricate three-dimensional designs. One common form of cutting is called cameo glass. This involves creating a vessel or object with two or more layers of colored glass. The outer layers are then removed to create a single or multi-colored relief image much like a cameo image. Though practically any combination of colors can be used, the base layer is generally much darker than the upper layers to create a strong contrast. A rarer and more wondrous method is the cage cup. This is literally a vessel, such as a beaker or a bowl, that is carved in such a manner as to appear to be surrounded by a delicate cage of glass that is highly decorative. The cage is attached to the vessel by short stems or shanks.

In the Waking World, it is a manner of some debate as to whether the cage was carved out of the vessel or was a separate piece attached by fusion, but in the Dreamlands they are in fact cut and carved from the thick walls of the formed vessel. They can be and often are dual or multi-colored, but many are single-colored. Most have simple geometric designs, usually circular, but they many also display figures and scenes. In the Waking World there is considerable debate as to whether they were drinking vessels or oil lamps, but in the Dreamlands they are created for both uses. These have been described as the pinnacle of glassworking and are very expensive, with the rarest and most expensive being made of dichroic glass, which shows one color when light shines through it and a different color when light shines on it.

Of all the different glass products produced in the Dreamlands, perhaps the most difficult to make is window glass. Modern manufacturing methods cannot be used, so quality and consistency are difficult to maintain. For the most part, then, glass windows are for letting in light or for decoration, not for seeing through. In any case where clear, undistorted sight is needed, the window is generally left uncovered. Though glass composition and method of manufacture are important factors, the main reason for poor optical properties in window glass is inconsistent thickness. Though a number of unusual methods have been tried, such as using printing presses, it simply is not possible to produce large panes with a consistent thickness without subjecting them to a laborious process of hand grinding and polishing. It can be done with smaller panes, though, and many windows are mullioned, meaning numerous small panes are set in a lead lattice frame.

There are a number of methods for making plate glass that can be used as window glass. All but one are blown, and of these all but one are free-blown. The easiest way to make plate glass is to cast it by pouring molten glass into a flat mould, but this produces the poorest quality window glass. Crown glass is probably the most widespread. In this method a large hollow bubble is blown, then spun to allow centrifugal force to flatten and widen it. Once cool, panes can then be cut from it. The best panes can be found at the outer edge, while glass from the center can be used for cheaper panes. The second most common method is broad sheet glass. In this method, a gather is blown into an elongated balloon shape, then the ends are cut off and the resulting cylinder is split and flattened on a metal or ceramic plate. The quality varies considerably and the resulting plate is generally small.

A form of broad sheet glass is called blown plate glass. In this case, a cooled broad sheet is ground and polished to improve its quality, though this makes it much more expensive. This is also known as polished plate glass. Similar to broad sheet glass is cylinder blown sheet glass, except that it is blown into a cylindrical mould and allowed to cool. Once the ends are cut off and the cylinder split, it is reheated until it unrolls flat. Rolled plate glass is the closest to machine-made plate glass in the Dreamlands. It can be made as cast, broad sheet, or cylinder blown sheet glass, but then it is passed between two rollers to flatten it out before cooling. The rollers can also be patterned to create a pattern in the plate glass itself.

Caerleon Order Artillery and Missiles

Beyond grenades and land mines, the Order also utilizes a limited number of artillery weapons. Though it has no field cannons, it does possess the same kind of field ordinance regular infantry troops have access to.

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Synopsis: The Origin of Team Girl

Eile Chica is standing outside Johnny Rockets cafe on the Sixteenth Street Mall waiting for her online role-playing game partner to show up. She's never meet the player behind White-Lion; she doesn't even know her name. Yet just after New Year's Day she received an email asking her to meet. However, she's been waiting almost three-quarters of an hour with no luck. She finally decides White-Lion is a no-show and is about to walk away when she hears someone call out, "Braveheart?" Braveheart was the name of her character.

She turns around and sees a young girl, mustard-blond, blue-eyed, hourglass figure, with glasses, wearing dirty, disheveled clothes and wrapped in a blanket, staring at her. She looks like she hasn't had a bath in days. Eile assumes she's a homeless person. She steps towards her, asking if she's Braveheart. Eile confirms it, and the girl seems to almost faint from relief. She replies that she's White-Lion. For Eile it's an awkward moment. She wasn't sure what to expect, but she doesn't want to get mixed-up with a homeless person who might be crazy. Still, she seems harmless enough.

She asks if they can go inside; she's cold. Eile agrees and they find an empty booth. Eile sees her looking at the other people eating and she seems to almost drool. Eile asks if she would like something to eat. Again she almost seems to faint from relief and says yes. She eats like she's starving. She not only eats her own meal, but half of Eile's.

While they eat they talk. She introduces herself as Sonne Hiver, remarking that her friends call her Sunny. Though she tries to maintain a casual air, Eile can see she's nervous, even frightened. At one point, the crash of plates in the kitchen sends her diving under the table, and she only tentatively resumes her seat. She tries to laugh it off, and Eile pretends it didn't happen. She's now convinced Sunny is crazy and wants to get away from her as soon as possible. That doesn't gel with her experiences while role-playing with her, but even then she did seem somewhat eccentric.

After they finish, Eile pays the bill and they leave. It's clear to her that Sunny is hoping Eile will stay with her longer, maybe even invite her back to her house, but she just wants to get away. The look on Sunny's face, one of desperate, hopeless pleading, is heart wrenching, but Eile steels herself to walk away. As she does she hears a commotion behind her. Something tries to compel her to ignore it, but finally she turns to look. A half-dozen thugs are struggling with Sunny, trying to drag her away. Sunny is screaming for help, but everyone else around them is ignoring her. Again, something tries to compel Eile to also ignore it and walk away, but then Sunny makes eye contact and shrieks, "Braveheart, help me!" That breaks the spell. Eile yells for the men to let her go as she sprints towards them. Two of them try to head her off and Eile uses her boxing skill to subdue them. Sunny smashes the face of one with a glass pitcher and kicks another in the shins. The last two pull guns, but Sunny clobbers one with a tray while Eile throws a chair at the other. Sunny then grabs Eile's hand and pulls her into an alley.

They run over to the next block and up the street a ways before they realize they aren't being followed. They then duck into the entrance of a business building. Once again, Eile feels a compulsion to abandon Sunny and walk away, but it is weak and easily overcome by her anger. She demands to know what's going on. Sunny will tell her, but only if they get away first. Eile wants to call the police, but Sunny refuses, saying she doesn't know who to trust. So Eile relents and offers to take her home. Though Eile arrived by light rail, she hails a cab and directs it to an address in Aurora.

The thugs regroup and return to their hideout. They are confronted by their leader, who can't believe two young girls beat them off. Nonetheless, he directs them to search for them and not come back until they've found them. He then reports to a woman in a back office. She is upset at his failure, but is mystified by how the other girl was unaffected by her mental manipulation. She is also disturbed that she can no longer perceive Sunny. He assures her he will find them, and she indicates he had better if he wishes to retain a whole skin.

Back at her tiny town home, Eile lets Sunny take a shower while she collects her clothes. She decides to pitch them, being as they are too ragged and dirty to salvage, and she fears they may be contaminated with lice or fleas. She gives Sunny a robe that she can't quite close all the way. The sight of Sunny's ample cleavage, plus that of her thighs and her shapely legs, gives Eile strange sensations which disturb her. Nonetheless, over tea and sandwiches (which Sunny devours), Sunny tells her story:

She was born and raised in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He memories of her childhood are all perfectly normal, but as she looks back on them now, she notices certain things that were somewhat strange. Such as, her parents never worked or did anything that seemed like work, yet they never lacked for money or denied Sunny anything because they couldn't afford it. At the same time, they didn't live in luxury either. Also, they never let her do anything that would require her to be away from them at night or for longer than a day, such as summer camp or sleeping over, but they always found some other way to give her the same experience, such as camping trips and overnight parties at fancy hotels. Perhaps the oddest thing of all was that they never attended any kind of function together. Whether it be PTA meetings, parent-teacher conferences, Sunny's plays or recitals, what have you, one parent attended while they other stayed home. When necessary, the attending parent brought a video camera to record the event, and afterwards the tape would be replayed for the other parent who stayed home. But Sunny enjoyed that as much as the event itself, so she learned to accept it.

Otherwise, her childhood was fairly normal, what with games, neighborhood parties, school, singing and dancing lessons, learning the violin and piano, and self-defense classes. Weekends and summers were filled with adventure: trips to national parks and monuments, big cities, and family recreational centers; camping trips to wilder and more remote places as she got older, river rafting, hiking, horseback riding, and bicycle tours; summer stock, plays and recitals, and concerts; shopping sprees, salon visits, and just bumming around. As she got older, she started spending more time with friends. She hates to admit it now, but at that time she considered her parents uncool and disdained their past activities as kids stuff. But secretly she still enjoyed their increasingly rare outings together.

Things changed very suddenly. One Saturday morning she kissed her parents goodbye and left to spend the day with her friends. That evening when she came home, her parents were gone, vanished. Black suited men in black vans soon showed up and whisked her away. None of them would tell her what happened or even speak to her beyond simple instructions. They took her to a safe house to sleep over, then the next day they took her across the state to West Lafayette, to live with her aunt. She wasn't really her aunt, just a family friend, but it made little difference. The woman kept her at home virtually all the time. She home schooled her and wouldn't let her go out at night or on weekends. The only time they left was to go shopping or make occasional trips to the doctor or dentist. The first two years were lonely and boring, but she persevered.

The only unusual thing that occurred was that occasionally her aunt received a mysterious visitor, a massive woman who spoke to her in private. Sunny saw her arrive one time from her bedroom window. She could hear them talking, but she never saw the woman after that. Her aunt denied that anyone visited. Sunny tried to break in on them one time, but while she heard her through the door, the woman vanished before Sunny could open it. Another time she spied through the door keyhole. She saw the woman, but after a few seconds she turned at stared right at Sunny, locking eyes with her. The next thing she knew, Sunny woke up in her bed. Her aunt tried to tell her she dreamed it, but she knew better. Even so, she never saw or heard the woman again.

After she received her GED, she enrolled in Purdue University as a general science major. Though she lived with her aunt, she was allowed to go to campus on her own. She made new friends, but she still wasn't allowed to go out after dark. Her only consolation was the online role-playing game Otherworld. After she completed her homework, she played for hours at night and on the weekends. It satisfied her craving for adventure and allowed her to interact with other people. The highpoint of this time was when she met and befriended Braveheart.

On the day of her last finals for her first semester of her third year, she came home and found her aunt murdered. She tried to call the police, but the phone was dead. Before she could decide what to do, the men in black suits driving black vans showed up and took her away. Just outside of town, however, they were ambushed by armed men. They killed all the men in black and took her captive. When the car she was in stopped for gas, however, she insisted on going to the bathroom. Inside she found cleaning solution and other chemicals. She used them to create a diversion and escaped. She made it to a diner and hid out in an isolated booth to think. She was frightened and had no idea where to turn. She didn't know how to contact the government and she didn't know who else to trust. Then she thought of Braveheart. All she knew about the character's player was that he/she lived in Denver, but after almost four months of play she believed he/she was a good person and would help her. So she decided to try to find him/her.

She used her credit card to buy a bus ticket to Chicago. Then she took out a large cash advance and threw away the card. She bought another ticket to Denver, and managed to evade the people watching the bus terminal and get on a bus. It took two days to reach Denver. During that time she was almost recaptured several times. She began to suspect the people after her were somehow tracing her through her cash. When she arrived in Denver, she gave the rest of her cash away to a homeless person and exchanged clothes with another. She then disappeared into the homeless community.

For two weeks she lived as a homeless girl. She avoided shelters for fear of being caught, and instead panhandled for change to buy soup and slept outside. Finally the day after New Year's she got the chance to send a message to Braveheart, asking him/her to meet her on the Sixteenth Street Mall. She thought Eile might be Braveheart, but she was too scared and uncertain to approach her until it looked like she would leave. Then she called out her "name" in desperation. The rest Eile knows.

By the time Sunny finishes, it is evening and they had switched to wine. Eile doesn't know what to make of the story. It sounds like a paranoid delusion, but the men who tried to snatch Sunny were not hallucinations. Eile again suggests they call the police, but Sunny again refuses, afraid the people after her might have corrupted the police. Eile doesn't want to get involved, but she can't just make Sunny leave. Besides, if Sunny is telling the truth, she needs help desperately. The fact that she thought she could trust her makes her feel good about herself, something she hadn't felt in almost a year. She also feels a longing for companionship, which she also hasn't had in a long time. On top of all that, she believed Sunny had become a close friend while they played Otherworld, so she finally decides she cannot turn her back on Sunny. She offers to let Sunny stay as long as she needs to, at least until they can figure out how to get her out of this mess. Eile gives Sunny a long tee-shirt and a pair of panties to wear, and they have dinner. Eile wants to go out the next day and buy Sunny some clothes. Eile has a guest room, but she uses it for storage, so for tonight she lets Sunny share her bed. She feels awkward doing so for some reason. It feels to her like the closeness of Sunny's body is titillating. This disturbs her, but she manages to go to sleep. However, she has erotic dreams concerning Sunny, and when she wakes up at one point she realizes her body has responded to the erotic stimulation.

The leader of the gang reports to the woman that he has discovered the other girl used a credit card at the restaurant. She used the same card to pay for a cab, and he has the address. The woman instructs him to get his gang ready, but not to move until she gives the word.

In the morning, Eile wakes up groggy. She undresses and heads for the bathroom to take a shower. There she surprises Sunny coming out of the shower. Eile retreats, throws on a robe, and escapes downstairs, mortified. Sunny comes down later, a bit sheepish, but she offers to make breakfast. Eile isn't sure what bothers her more, that she and Sunny saw each other naked, or that she liked what she saw and was turned on by it. However, coffee and Sunny's easy-going manner puts at her at ease. After showering and dressing, she gives Sunny a huge coat to wear and they go out shopping. She buys Sunny several outfits plus underwear, one of which Sunny puts on. At lunch, Eile explains that she works as a freelance graphic designer. She makes enough to get by, but not a whole lot, so this shopping spree aside, they have to be careful with money. Sunny asks about her life, but Eile sidesteps the question for now. Eile realizes she feels very comfortable with Sunny, despite her initial misgivings. She also thinks of their day together as a date, which brings back her anxiety over her growing attraction to Sunny.

When they get back to Eile's home, they are caught by the gang and hustled into a van, but in the city they manage to jump out and escape in heavy traffic. They hide out in an alley. Eile realizes they can't go home, but she has no money, so she has no idea where else to go. Sunny remembers one of the few refuges she found while hiding out, a mission run by a Lutheran pastor named John Sjauken. She takes Eile there. The pastor remembers her and agrees to hide the girls. He gives them a meal and a place to sleep. The room only has one bed, but Eile steels herself to share it with Sunny.

The woman is furious with the gang leader over losing the girls again, but she will give him one final chance; the stakes are too high to start over with someone else. He states that his men are already combing to district, but since they know Sunny had been hiding out among the homeless, they are also checking all the missions, large or small, in case she may go back to one. The woman admonishes him that time is running out. If he cannot get Sunny soon, she will get away for good. At which point, she won't have any further use for him.

Eile wakes up after another erotic dream to find her and Sunny embracing. Startled, she jumps out of bed and is amazed that Sunny keeps on sleeping. She hears talking out in the hallway. She opens the door a crack and sees Sjauken talking with a woman hidden in the shadows. His words lead her to believe he is in league with Sunny's pursuers. She awakens Sunny and they slip out the window, taking the blanket with them. They find shelter of sorts in an alley and settle in to pass the night. It's cold, so the girls huddle together for warmth. Her feelings overwhelm her and Eile kisses Sunny. Sunny seems pleased and they kiss again. Eile then stops, but doesn't want to leave her, so they cuddle. Sunny sings Eile a lullaby and as Eile drifts off to sleep, she feels Sunny kiss her on the forehead.

The gang leader meets with his lieutenants, one of which informs him the girls were seen going into a Lutheran mission run by an old pastor. He sends his men to go there and pick them up.

The girls wake up at dawn, uncertain what to do or where to go. They are attacked by members of the gang, but suddenly a massive woman appears. She beats them off with a walking stick while the girls help. Sunny recognizes her as the woman who visited her aunt. She introduces herself as Medb hErenn, and she takes the girls to a diner to get warm and something to eat. While there, she explains what is going on.

Before Sunny was born, her parents had been special agents for the government. As a result, they made many enemies. When her mother became pregnant, they retired so that Sunny could have a normal childhood. However, their enemies continued to search for them. That was why they never attended functions together. That way, if one was captured or killed, the other could still get Sunny safely away. However, one found them and tried to kill them that day they disappeared. To protect Sunny they fled, leading the enemy away. Medb got them into protective custody while she arranged for the government to get Sunny away. She then kept an eye on Sunny for two years before deciding she was safe. However, that same enemy found her and tried to kidnap her to force her parents to surrender. Medb has been looking for her ever since. She tracked her to Denver, figuring she would come looking for Braveheart, but then she disappeared. So she put the word out to her contacts and associates to be on the look out. One was Pastor Sjauken. He had alerted Medb that he had Sunny safe, and Medb had come to get her to safety, but she and Eile fled before she could make contact. Now that she has them, she plans to take them to a safe house until she can arrange to get Sunny out of the country.

The gang leader is with the woman when he gets a call telling him the girls left with a massive woman. He orders them to follow.

Medb takes the girls to the house and admonishes them not to leave. She does, however, show them an emergency escape exit just in case.

The leader gets a call that the girls were placed in an apartment and the woman left. He orders his gang to assemble for an assault.

The girls shower and change clothes, and have something to eat. The house is well-stocked with DVDs, but they decide to talk about what happened in the alley. They are too nervous to discuss their feelings, so they tiptoe around the issue, but their feelings overwhelm them again and they kiss. They are about to embrace when the gang breaks into the house. Fortunately the door and windows are fairly strong, giving the girls a chance to escape. Eile sends Sunny down the exit, then locks it off so no one can follow. She cuts the power and heads for the kitchen to get a knife. She is caught by having a bag thrown over her head and her hands manacled behind her back. She is then taken out, pushed into a vehicle, and taken away.

Medb arrives to find the apartment a shambles. Sunny appears and tells her what Eile did. Sunny demands they go rescue her. Medb refuses, saying she's sorry, but Eile obviously knew what she was doing. Sunny's safety is all important, and so she doesn't die in vain Sunny needs to get away. Sunny tries to run but Medb cuts her off. She states that even if she wanted to rescue Eile, she has no idea where she has been taken and they cannot take the time to look for her. That's when Sunny reveals that she found the tracking device Medb planted on her, and she put it in Eile's clothes instead. Amazed, Medb goes out to the van and activates a computer. The screen shows Eile's location. Medb then agrees to rescue Eile.

Eile is taken to a warehouse and secured to a chair. When the bag is removed, the woman realizes she isn't Sunny and kills the gang leader. She then orders Eile killed. Before the man can do so, Sunny appears. Distracted, the men do not see Medb enter from another direction and attack them. Moving faster than Eile can follow, she kills the gang members she can reach while Sunny releases Eile. The girls try to escape, but are cut off by the remaining gang members. Medb goes after the woman, but she moves as fast as Medb and both dodges and knocks the massive woman off her feet. She then transforms into a beautiful but horrific figure armed with a large scythe. At that sight, the remaining gang members flee, but the girls remain.

The woman attacks Medb, who can barely keep away from her. Sunny finds a long metal pole and tosses it to Medb. When Medb catches it, she goes on the offensive. The two women are evenly matched as far as speed, strength, and skill are concerned, and the battle rages back and forth as each tries to gain the upper hand. They fight at normal speed, however, since their mutual magical abilities cancel themselves out. Even so, their fight resembles a beautifully choreographed dance, and they tirelessly chase each other around the warehouse. In time, however, it becomes clear Medb is the better fighter as she drives the woman back. Finally she disarms her, knocks her onto her back, and impales her with the pole.

But she doesn't die. Her body tries to dissolve into a black mist, but she is held in place by the pole. Medb forces her to agree to leave the girls alone. She uses torture to make the woman repeat her vow over and over again until she repeats Medb's exact words. At that point Medb pulls the pole free. She dissolves into a cloud that coalesces into a magpie and flies out an open window, screeching its head off. When she rejoins the girl, Medb asks Sunny how she knew cold iron would defeat a Fomorian. Sunny professes ignorance of what Medb is talking about. When Eile asks, Medb explains that the Fomorians are an ancient race that predated Mankind. They used to rule the world, but are now in hiding, asleep in the deep places of the earth. Some day, however, they will awaken to reclaim their rightful place, when the stars are right. Meanwhile, some Fomorians have remained awake to prepare for that day, or to pursue their own agendas. The woman is one of these. Her name is Ceithlenn, and many centuries ago she had been the wife of Balor of the Baleful Eye, a terrible Fomorian king. She is now Medb's bitterest enemy, but while she is treacherous and deceitful, she has honor and will not break her word. That was why Medb insisted that her promise be worded exactly.

Medb takes the girls back to Eile's house. With Ceithlenn neutralized, Medb offers to reunite Sunny with her parents the next day at the Denver Zoo. She then leaves. Eile clears out the guest room so Sunny can sleep there. Sunny is clearly disappointed, but Eile believes Sunny will be leaving with her parents and she doesn't want to start anything they cannot finish. However, she has a fitful night as her feelings war within her.

The next day, the Girls go to the zoo and Sunny meets her parents. Eile is surprised to find they are both women. Medb explains Sunny's conception, but swears Eile to secrecy. Sunny introduces Eile to her parents. Medb announces that Sunny cannot go with her parents. Eile offers to let her stay with her. Medb takes her parents away, and parents and daughter separately grieve.

Eile takes Sunny home. They have dinner, and afterward over wine they finally discuss their feelings. Eile tells Sunny she believes she loves her. Sunny is pleased and tells Eile she loves her. An awkward silence falls as they wonder what to do, when Eile grabs Sunny, kisses her, and they fall on the ground. They give into their mutual passion and make love. Afterwards, Sunny claims that only now have their lives truly begun, and Eile feels it is true.