Synopsis: Grand Quest I-Part 1 (a Sir Differel Dreamlands adventure)

Once More Unto the Breach, Dear Friends

Dracula appears to the girls one day and hands them a note from Sir Differel before leaving. The note is an invitation to dinner at a Japanese grill.

When the girls arrive, they find Medb received a similar invitation. They are taken to Sir Differel's table, and discover that the restaurant is empty except for her. Over the course of dinner, she explains that she needs them to find a way to get her back into the Dreamworld. With the help of Ceithlenn, the Antonians, and the Conclave, the Caerleon Order has been conducting raids on suspected Serpent Person and rogue Fomorian groups and their human proxies, and the intelligence gathered suggests that some kind of buildup is going on in the Dreamlands. She fears it may be used as a launch point for an invasion. Medb discounts the possibility, because of the time differential, and the fact that established gates are too remote and creating even a temporary gate takes a great deal of power. Nonetheless, Differel feels she needs to return to the Dreamlands to check things out for herself. At the very least, she's been feeling quite a bit of pressure lately. She could use a vacation, and the Dreamworld is perfect; she can take a few weeks off while only being incommunicado for a few hours. Medb explains that she can use the same procedure she used for the girls, when they had to return to the Dreamworld suddenly: a potion that will put her to sleep for twelve hours. That should be more than enough time to find out what's going on there, if anything, or to get a good rest. She warns her, however, that the drawback is her body will be helpless, unable to awaken until the potion wears off, but Differel dismisses that as inconsequential. Besides, she will have Dracula guarding her, and Medb states she will want to guard the girls.

After dinner, they return to the girls' home. There Differel and the girls undress and put on robes while Medb prepares the potion. When she is ready, they take the potion and lie down on Medb's bed. They soon drift off to sleep . . .

73 days and counting

. . . and the next thing Differel knows, she is standing in a garden with the girls, still wearing the robe. The girls explain that the garden is a staging area that provides access to the Dreamworld. As for the robes, they normally sleep naked, and they arrive here naked, so they figured this time they had better do something different. They take Differel to the Seventy Steps of Lighter Slumber. Before they start down, however, they tell her that while they can descend together, she will enter the Cavern of Flame alone. It's an idiosyncrasy of the Dreamworld: all persons must pass through the Cavern alone, where their fitness to continue on will be judged by Nasht and Kaman-Thah, the priests who guard the Dreamworld. The girls can do nothing to help her, but they promise that if the priests do not allow Differel to enter, they will find out what's going on for her. They descend the stairway and walk together through the opening into a cavern . . .

. . . where Differel finds herself alone and naked. She is confronted by the priests, who inform her that she is worthy to enter the Lands of the Dreams of Men. She asks them if they know of any unusual activity in the Dreamworld connected with the Waking World, Serpent People, and Fomorians. The priests inform her that there has been a steady influx of persons through the Cavern and the physical gates, but they cannot become involved in the affairs of Dreamers, they can only guard the Lands. She must find out for herself what is going on. However, they report that her first clue may be found in the Zoog village. In the back cavern she finds waiting for her the same adventuring outfit the Girls made for her during her previous visit, along with a pair of glasses and wheellock pistols, plus powder and shot, and a box of cigarillos. She also find Caliburn there as well. After dressing, she descends the Seven Hundred Steps of Deeper Slumber . . .

. . . and emerges into the Enchanted Woods with the girls, now dressed in their adventuring outfits. They are welcomed by the Zoogs who watch the entrance. When Differel explains what the priests told her, the girls take her to the Zoog village. The Zoogs feast them, and the girls regale the Zoogs with a recitation of their latest Waking World adventure. Then they explain who Differel is and why she's there. Differel asks if they know anything. The Zoogs offer a piece of news, but in exchange for a story. So she tells them of the invasion of Britain in 1999 by the Fomorian wizard-king, Grendel. Afterwards, the Zoogs reveal that strange Dreamers from Ulthar have been trespassing through the Enchanted Woods to get to the Oukranos River. They don't know who they are or where they are ultimately going, but they know Seidhlóch the Moneylender is involved, because they are being guided by one of his agents. Which is the only reason the Zoogs haven't punished them for the trespass. When Differel questions the worth of this information, the girls point out that the only reason why people would brave the dangers of the Enchanted Woods when there is a safer route is so they can travel unseen, which suggests they have furtive, if not nefarious, motives. Differel wants to leave for Ulthar immediately, but the girls object, saying it is too risky to travel the Woods by night, even with a Zoog escort. Besides, once they arrived it would be too late to do anything anyways. So they decide to stay overnight in the Zoog village. Differel acquiesces only because she needs the girls to escort her around and make introductions for her.

72 days left

They go to Ulthar the next morning. Upon arriving, they inform a sleepy cat that they need to see Shadow-stalker. They then settle into their house. As they change and clean up, Shadow appears. They tell her about their mission and she leaves to arrange a meeting with the cat council. After a quick breakfast at the Hostel of the Laughing Cat, where they learn that Medb is off adventuring, the girls take Differel shopping for some comfortable city clothes, then they make a stop at Seidhlóch's shop, ostensibly to make a withdraw of money he holds for them to provide Differel with funds. When they mention what the Zoogs told them, he is genuinely surprised. He tells them which of his agents knows the Woods well enough to guide a party though it. That individual is in town and he will send him over to the hostel at noon. They return to their house so Differel can change, when Bettie / Uilmheidhrea shows up, having heard they were in town. When she learns why they're there, she volunteers to help. Shadow appears and informs them that the council will see them that night. They ask Shadow to arrange for a feline stake-out of the hostel. Then they and Uilmheidhrea treat Differel to a couple of hours at Tabitha Grayson's Spa for Women.

At noon the girls and Differel meet with the agent. He denies guiding anyone through the Woods and the girls let him go. Shadow informs them the cats are following him and the girls tail him to a warehouse filled with crates. They sneak in and witness him meeting with a Fomorian. The cats break up the meeting and catch the agent, but the Fomorian gets away. The girls interrogate him with the help of the cats and he reveals that the people he guided wanted to get into the Dark Woods; he doesn't know why. A check of office records show that the crates are scheduled to be transported to another warehouse in Hlanith. Most of the crates contain mundane equipment and paraphernalia, but one contains empty amphorae. Meanwhile, Sunny finds a pot filled with a red liquid that looks a lot like cherry Kool-aid. The girls take a sample, then send word to Burgomaster Kranon to have the crates impounded.

They take the sample to Mephitis the Apothecary for analysis, but she recognizes it immediately. It is the juice of the fruit of the cunae tree, which is indigenous to the Dark Wood. It has the ability to cause hallucinations in Waking people, but in the Dreamlands it allows Dreamers to alter objects, the landscape, even people in the Dreamworld. It is powerful and dangerous, but the Horned Lord guards the fruit as zealously as he does the Golden Mushroom, so how anyone could collect even so small an amount as the girls discovered from under the nose of the Horned Lord is a mystery. The girls decide to journey to the Wood to see him and try to find out. From there they can travel on to Hlanith. Uilmheidhrea agrees to go on ahead to Hlanith to check things out. That night they have a nice quiet dinner at the hostel before heading for the council grove.

There they report on their mission. The cats confirm that they have detected a larger then normal influx of Dreamers into the Dreamworld over the past few years, but that the vast majority have disappeared into the interior never to return, so most people would not be aware of their total numbers. However, recently the influx has seemed to increase, and they also have reports of groups of Waking people entering the Dreamlands through one or more of the physical gates, again disappearing into the interior. They confirm that Ulthar seems to be the collection point for supplies manufactured or gathered from all across the Six Kingdoms, and that these are sent on to Hlanith for subsequent shipment overseas, but to where they do not know. While they knew an agent of Seidhlóch was guiding groups of men through the Enchanted Woods to the Dark Wood, they had/have no idea what they were/are doing in either location, since by treaty or tradition they do not enter either. They welcome the news that the men are simply passing through the Woods, but they report that they have seen these same men leave the Dark Wood carrying filled sacks down river to the town of Tarzi, where they are loaded onto a boat and taken to Hlanith. They have been unable to determine what is in the sacks, but they are disturbed by the revelation of the cunae fruit juice, and agree that an interview with the Horned Lord would be efficacious. They also agree to get a message to Medb. Eile and Sunny believe that the cats are holding back, but Differel seems unconcerned and accepts what they have been told without question. Later, back at the house, she explains that she is used to royal patrons withholding information and using her as a pawn, so she expects it of the cats, but she has also learned to keep her wits about her and not take anything for granted.

71 days left

The girls and Differel get up before dawn and travel north to Kirin, arriving by mid-afternoon. They then take a boat across the Oukranos and enter the Dark Wood. They call out to the Horned Lord and a tree-monster arrives to carry them to the throne clearing. There the Horned Lord welcomes them and they introduce Differel to him. He offers them something to drink, which they accept, and they ask him about the people collecting the cunae fruit. His answers are evasive, and then they realize the drink was drugged. They pass out before they can get away.

When they come to, they find themselves naked, bound and gagged by vines, as more vines emerge from the ground and slowly wind their way around their bodies. The Horned Lord is profuse in his apologies, but he states this is the only way. They will not be harmed; they will just sleep for a few hundred years, but they will be safe.

Just then, Ubasti enters the clearing. Using outré power, she threatens the Wood and coerces the Horned Lord into letting them go. While Sunny restrains Differel, Eile asks what's going on. The Horned Lord explains that he made a deal with a Fomorian to keep the Woods safe, in exchange for several years worth of cunae fruit. Each Autumn a group of men come and pick half the fruit, then carry it down river. The Fomorian appeared in the Wood yesterday and demanded that he destroy the girls and Differel, but he could not bring himself to do it, instead deciding to place them in suspended animation long enough that they would no longer be a threat. Ubasti demands that he let them go, and he acquiesces. The women dress, but while Differel is hostile and Eile feels betrayed, Sunny is more forgiving, and she promises the Horned Lord that she will make sure the Fomorians never bother him or his Wood again.

Back in Kirin, Ubasti explains that Medb had asked her to keep an eye on the girls until they could meet up with her, being as she doubted they would just sit and wait. She also explains that she has been doing her own independent investigation, since she views the Fomorians as threats to felinekind, and she is not concerned with traditions, treaties, or formalities under such circumstances. However, at this time, all she can offer is that while cunae fruit is going into Hlanith, none is coming out, but she has seen amphorae being loaded onto black galleys. What's in them and where they are going she has been unable to determine; whoever is organizing all this has gone to great pains to successfully hamper surveillance. However, the black galleys mean the Leng Men and their Moonbeast masters are involved, which further means this conspiracy is more widespread than a few local criminals and opportunists. She also informs them that she has heard rumors that another foreign power is involved, but who is unknown.

70 days left

The next morning Differel and the girls take a boat down to Hlanith; Ubasti goes with them. Upon arrival in the early afternoon, they check in at the Inn of the Sixth Happiness, where they meet Uilmheidhrea. She reports that she found the warehouse where the crates are delivered to, but there are none there now, and she hasn't been able to discover where they were taken. So they all go to the Tavern of the Amethyst Scorpion to talk with Tyco Brahzie. Though retired, the former thief still takes an interest in criminal activities in the city. He agrees to find out what he can, but in exchange, he asks that the girls entertain his crowd; Vichnia is off tonight. Accompanied by Uilmheidhrea on a concertina, the girls sing songs, tell jokes, and playact, all in a suggestive, even lewd manner. They also help Shadow perform acrobatics. Ubasti juggles her swords and does a magic act that gets a rousing applause. They encourage Differel to participate as well, and after some coaxing she finally gives recitations from Shakespeare that leaves the crowd spellbound. During a break, she confides to the girls that as a little girl she always wanted to be an actor.

Later Tyco reports that he found out that all crates delivered from Ulthar to that warehouse have gone to one location, a building down by the docks that is supposed to be abandoned. He gives them the address and they leave to go back to the inn. Ubasti goes off to reconnoiter. Along the way they are ambushed. They react well, but Uilmheidhrea and the girls are without weapons and there are too many. They are about to be overwhelmed when an armed cloaked figure appears and helps them fight the attackers off. It then escorts them back to the inn, where it reveals itself to be a female Leng Man.

She introduces herself as Nycien Chameril, though she will answer to "Kami". She is a resistance partisan, fighting to free her people from the yoke of Moonbeast oppression. As such, she is loyal to her people, not to Humanity, but for now, Human interests and her own coincide. She is in Hlanith trying to discover why the Moonbeasts have allied themselves with the Fomorians, when normally they are enemies. While spying on a group of Leng Men, she overheard them hiring a band of cutthroats to waylay a group of adventurers who were disrupting an operation they were engaged in. She followed the cutthroats hoping to alert the group and join them, since they seem to be investigating the same operation as she, only from a different direction. She had never dreamed she would rescue the illustrious Team Girl!, known in the Dreamlands as The Twins. To which Eile snorts in derision. She then explains that she is acquainted with Medb hErenn, and it is from her she learned of the girls. Even so, the girls accept her help. She then reports that she has learned the Leng Men are operating out of an abandoned building down by the docks. Strange fruit goes in at dusk, and at dawn amphorae go out and are loaded onto a galley. She snuck aboard one time and looked in one of the jars: it was filled with a cherry-red liquid. The girls indicate they plan to check out the building that night, and they ask her to come along.

They rendezvous with Ubasti outside the building, and she informs them that there are people inside, hard at work. The only guard is quickly dealt with and they sneak in. They see what looks like an assembly line process. The picked fruit have been dumped into vats filled with heated water. Workers skim off floating fruit and pass them to people who make cuts in the outer rind. Next, other people pound on them with mallets to pulp them, then the pulped fruit is dumped into a press. When full, a group of people pressed the fruit, squeezing out the cherry-red juice. The juice is filtered through cheesecloth into a vat, and finally ladled into amphorae, which are covered with resin plugs and sealed with wax. Each filled amphora is loaded into a cart, which Kami identifies as the one that transported the amphorae to the galley. Even as they discuss what to do, they are discovered and attacked. Though well armed, the workers outnumber them and quickly surround them. One of the workers, however, causes a diversion and the women break out. They cause the workers to scatter as they damage the interior and destroy the press. Then the building catches on fire. In the confusion, the half-loaded cart gets away, and the worker leads the women out before they become trapped. They hurry to the docks, but when they try to board the galley, the Moonbeasts in the hold emerge and attack. They retreat to avoid capture, and the galley gets away. Then the city militia arrives and arrests them. But the worker who helped them has disappeared.

69 days left

The next morning, Medb arrives and gets them released after paying a hefty fine. Though she is upset, the girls are surprised that she is not as upset as they thought she would be, and she admits that by now, she has come to expect trouble to follow in their wake. She listens to the collective report, but unfortunately they appear to have hit an impasse: there is no way to find out where the galleys have been taking the cunae fruit juice. However, Medb is intrigued by the worker who helped them; he or she might have the answer. Shadow and Crèmedevoyager organize the city's cats to find this person. Meanwhile, with the Leng Men, Moonbeasts, and this mysterious "foreign power" involved, they will need powerful allies of their own. She believes they should pay a visit to Kuranes and ask for his help.

Eile, Sunny, and Differel go to the Ooth-Nargai consulate to arrange passage to Celephais. Since Differel's last visit, Kuranes has given the girls their own dromon, but it is dry-docked most of the time and needs time to launch, crew, and provision. On their way back to the inn, they are waylaid and captured. They are taken to a seedy tavern, where they are confronted by Marseille Sheraton. She offers them a bribe to leave the matter alone, but she isn't surprised when they refuse. She confides that she would prefer to kill them, but she is simply acting as a go-between in this instance. She will have to consult with her employer, but she feels certain he will now grant her request to execute them. She has the women tied up and locked away in a storage room, but Sunny enspells a rat to chew through her bonds, and she gets the others free. As they try to sneak out, they encounter the worker who helped them earlier. She takes them to where Marseille is meeting with her employer. It turns out to be Eochaid Bres, son of Elatha, the leader of the Fomorians in the Dreamworld. They wait until he leaves, then catch Sheraton unawares and kidnap her, taking her back to the inn. There Medb interrogates her, but in exchange for her freedom, she agrees to tell everything she knows, which isn't much. However, she does know that the cunae juice and other materials are being taken to Hazuth-Kleg across the Cerenarian Strait. Unfortunately, she doesn't know anything about a foreign power.

After Sheraton leaves, Medb reveals that the worker who has been helping them is a Serpent Woman named Ssas'sashu'ra, and she reveals her true form. She also explains that she has been helping them because, while loyal to her people, she would rather reach an accommodation with humans than exterminate them, if for no other reason than that the Serpent People cannot win an open war against Humanity. The girls welcome her help nonetheless. Afterwards, they have an early dinner at the inn, then do some carousing at the Amethyst Scorpion.

68 days left

In the morning, the dromon is ready and they sail across the Strait to Celephais. About half-way across, a strange craft rises out of the sea and attacks. Armed men board, but the sailors are disciplined and fight back. Differel takes charge of the defense while Medb blasts the submarine. The raiders flee from the unexpected stiff resistance and the submarine sink out of sight. Raiders left behind cut their throats or throw themselves in the sea to avoid capture. However, they strip the uniform of an officer before throwing the bodies overboard. Differel suspects the craft belonged to the mysterious "foreign power", but Medb does not recognize the insignia on the uniform. Though no one was killed, enough were badly wounded that the dromon limps into port at sunset. After they report to the harbor captain, they go to the girls' mansion, where after a meal and baths, they retire for the night. However, Eile makes sure to double the guard just in case.

67 days left

The night passes without incident and the next morning they send word to Lady Saighlíne Áirdenté that they seek an audience with Kuranes. She comes by mid-morning to inform them that Kuranes is in Serannian, but she has sent a message to him. She listens to their story and she agrees that this is a matter that concerns the Kingdom of Ooth-Nargai, if for no other reason than that Hazuth-Kleg is involved. However, she does not recognize the uniform either. Whoever this foreign power is, it is beyond the knowledge of the Knights of Celephais. A reply arrives mid-afternoon. Kuranes grants an audience and invites the girls and their party to Serannian. They board a galley at sunset and head north, eventually reaching the fabulous city in the clouds.

They are met be an honor guard at the dock and escorted to a residence. After they get settled in and change, Medb takes them to the Grand Cathedral. They find a choir practicing, and they listen for some minutes before the session ends. The choir master turns out to be Finnabair, one of Medb's daughters by her husband Ailill, the king of Connacht in ancient Ireland. She takes them back to her residence, where they meet her six-year old daughter. They share a meal together, during which it is obvious there is unresolved conflict between Medb and Finnabair, but the two women make nice for the sake of the child and their guests. After the daughter has been put to bed, Finnabair takes them out for a night on the town, except that in Serannian even the most wretched dive is an establishment of grace and refinement. Despite her putting up a brave front, it is so obvious that Medb is having a bad time that the girls suspect Finnabair did it on purpose. Nonetheless, they stay out past midnight and generally have a relaxing time.

66 days left

The next morning, the girls and their party are summoned before Kuranes. They are taken to his palace, where they are given ceremonial robes. They are then led into the throne room and presented along with others as part of a general audience. A summary of each supplicant's petition is read before the court, and Kuranes either accepts, denies, or defers the petition. They are then led out. Kuranes defers the girls' petition, and they are taken to a waiting room. There they are entertained for a couple of hours before Kuranes himself arrives. He sits with the group and chats with them casually, showing no anxiety over Ubasti, Kami, or Ssas'sashu'ra. They explain their mission, and what they have learned so far. Kuranes reveals that in his many travels before he became king of Ooth-Nargai, he had never encountered this foreign power, but he has rumors of them. The technology they displayed in their attack, while not impossible for the Dreamlands, is highly advanced and suggests influence from powerful magic or another parallel dream world. He agrees that it could constitute a threat to Ooth-Nargai, and promises his full support, up to and including military intervention. However, he also recommends that they seek the help of his ally, the city-state of Karchedon in the island nation of Punica. For as he is the premier power in the north with control of the skies, they are the premier power in the south, with control of the seas.

He also supplies what he believes is another piece of the puzzle. Over a year ago, a black galley put into Celephais for emergency repairs. As part of a routine inspection, the Leng Men revealed they were transporting rubies to Dylath-Leen. However, customs soon learned they were transporting slaves as well, so Kuranes ordered the ship, crew, and cargo impounded. In doing so, they discovered that the galley was carrying five times as many rubies as normal. The Moonbeasts committed suicide, but the Leng Men were sent home on another galley. However, one defected, and he revealed that the rubies were not destined for Dylath-Leen. Unfortunately, he didn't know where they were to be delivered, nor did he know what they were for, but he did know they were not being used for their normal purposes. Kuranes reveals that while the rubies are usually used for trade and monetary transactions, they have one known magical property: they allow for Dream constructs to remain in existence after the Dreamer who created them awakens. He suggests a pattern is beginning to form, but he fails to divine what it signifies. Nonetheless, he feels this lead should be pursued. Unfortunately, it would seem that it can be pursued in only one place: the Moon, where the Moonbeasts mine the rubies and have their main base.

Kuranes leaves them alone while they debate what to do. Going to the Moon would be dangerous, and if they were captured, the Moonbeasts would show no mercy, delighting as they do in torture and having an appetite for human flesh. Nonetheless, the chance of finding out what's behind all this is too tempting, and they decide to risk it. When Kuranes is informed, he offers them whatever help they need. They then spend the rest of the day preparing and resting.

Continued in Part 2