A forum for the Port Luskan role play

Alyra stands in her library and looks around. All is more or less as she remembers it, and yet not quite. She frowns slightly, sifting memories. At last she realizes the source of her confusion.

She has had many libraries: the one in Celelond's tower, the one in her house behind the inn, the one in the home she shared with Linaya, and the one she constructed for herself in her current home. This one is reminiscent of all of them, taking the best qualities of each to make the perfect work space for her. There are plenty of windows - not that daylight ever mattered much in Port Luskan, but she likes to be able to look out and see what's lurking - and the remaining wall space is filled nearly floor to ceiling with bookshelves. Her desk faces the doorway, and she has a clear view from there of the entrance to her home across the next room. Beneath the window behind her desk is a low shelf where she has stowed her writing supplies. A locked cabinet in one corner holds - well, it is locked, and enough said.

She walks into the outer room and pauses, certain she heard - yes, she definitely hears something now: a faint sound from below. She has a visitor.

Memories of past visitations flood her mind, and for a moment she stands absolutely still. She feels acutely vulnerable, as she once was, when monsters tore at her roof and enemies strode unchallenged into her living room. Then she shakes off the feeling, for that is all it is, and walks purposefully to the purple velvet cushion that sits beside the door. Why bother with a staircase, she muses, when this is so much simpler? She steps onto the cushion.

Lacy looks up, perhaps a bit startled, to see her old friend standing by the doorway, grinning like a Cheshire cat. Neither woman speaks for a moment, and then Alyra is moving forward, her arms outstretched, to hug her friend tightly. "Welcome home!" she whispers.

Lacy hugs Alyra back, laughing a bit, crying a bit, so very glad to see Alyra again. Then she leans back, looks again to make sure it's really Alyra and that she's not just imagining things, then hugs her friend again.

"Alyra, I'm so confused. I don't understand this at all, " Lacy sighs, "Is this really you? What's happened? How did I get back here, and how did you, and what has happened?"

Frowning slightly with confusion, Lacy steps back and sits down again among the cushions, brushing her hair back behind her ear, patting the cushions next to her, inviting Alyra to join her if she wants.

"I'm so glad to see you again, so unbelievably glad....but I just don't know what to make of all this," she said, waving her hand in a circle to indicate the shop and beyond. "I even thought I heard Glenn earlier and then a voice I didn't know...are we all coming back... to wherever it is that we are?"

Alyra smiles, but not as easily as she would like, as she settles onto the cushions next to her friend.

"Lacy, I think I understand some of the answers, but not all, and nowhere near as well as I'd like to. It's like things come into and out of focus for me, sometimes even minute to minute." She stops a moment and considers, then plunges ahead and explains as best she can:

"I don't know how aware you were of things happening on the island, I mean, the magical happenings. Remember the portals and the monsters and all? And remember the mages and how they all seemed to have different kinds of magic? Well, it's all tied into the planes.

"We know there are a lot of planes; some say an infinite number of them, and each one is unique, with its own character, its own flavor, if you will. Mages have the ability to draw power from the planes, or more specifically, from a particular plane that they have an affinity with. Like for me, it's the Plane of Sound. For Steph, it's the Plane of Dreams. And actually, I think the Plane of Dreams is where we are." She pauses a moment to let that sink in.

"I've been wandering in and out of Dream since we left the island, I'm sure of that, but it's only recently, maybe the last couple of months, that I've really been aware that that's where I am. I no longer wake up and think, 'Oh, what an interesting dream'; I wake up and think, 'Oh, I was there again.' And when I'm in the middle of it, I know where I am. Well, most of the time, anyway. Like now, I know this is Dream, and that I will go back to my own home at some point and 'be awake' for a few hours.

"I also know that others are here. People are signing the guestbook, like you and Archie did. And I've heard the voices, too. Cel was calling us. Did you hear that? He's here, somewhere." Her face is still, carefully still, as is the air around them both for a long, fragile, listening moment.

Lacy listens quietly to her friend's explanation, trying to absorb all that. As Alyra stops talking, the silence almost crystalizes as the two women sit, listening and waiting.

Suddenly, Lacy stands up, with a startled look on her face, jarring Alyra a bit. She walks a few steps, her face focused in concentration, her hands clutched together as if she's thinking hard about something.

She stops by the book stand, turns toward Alyra, and starts to speak. As she opens her mouth, though, she glances down and is momentarily distracted.

"Alyra, that looks like jam smears in this book. How did that happen? I don't remember those being there when I signed it. Oh, but anyway, this is what I want to know. If this is Port Luskan in the Plane of Dreams, and if this is the book shop, and if..."

Lacy takes a breath, trying to get her thoughts out coherently, "if...well, if that much of Port Luskan is here and so vivid, then... is the Temple there...I mean, is the Temple here? How would I get there now? I used to be able to visualize the Temple and move myself there....is that possible here?....oh, Alyra, to see the Temple again....

"And what happens if I wake up? How do I get back here again? Do I have to wait to be called each time? If I come here in a dream, will I just randomly appear in some random spot here? I remember clearly there were some places that one did not want to just suddenly appear.

"Oh, Alyra, I'm sorry, I don't mean to just throw question after question at you....but I seem to have so many right now."

When Lacy mentions the jam, Alyra goes over to the bookstand immediately to survey the damage. It is then that she notices the muddy footprints and other evidence of tampering with her neat, tidy shop. She frowns slightly. "I would say that can mean only one thing," she announces somberly: "Kids. -- or baby dragons. -- or hobbits. Well, OK. That can mean only three things." She hurriedly cleans up the mess while Lacy poses her questions, grateful that in your dreams, at least, such chores hardly take effort. As Lacy finishes, Alyra frowns again, thoughtfully, and then does her best to answer.

"I think there must be a temple, Lacy. After you left, they moved the temple and the meditation center to a small island off the southeast coast, which they named "Serenity Isle." I don't know if the temple is there now, or if it's back where it was when you lived here, in Cliffside. Or is it Solice now? I have no idea.

"This place seems to be the island as we knew it, but I have known it in so many ways... Maybe we should go have a , eh? See where things landed? Maybe some other folks would like to join us? We could also see if there are any places that are unsafe, while we're at it.

"As for appearing suddenly in a bad spot, whenever I come here lately, I seem to land where I feel most comfortable, which is my rooms upstairs. But I have also landed other places in Dream, which are less home to me. I do often seem to come back where I left off, more or less, especially if I dream myself here intentionally. If I just fall asleep without focusing, there's no guarantee, really; it's just like any other dream and I could end up anywhere or nowhere. But I almost never do that anymore. I would consider it wasted time."

Stephenie smiles as she starts to see familiar things forming around her, she feels a sense of joy, but also sadness, so many things happened here, and now she finds herself in the place she called home.

In the distance she sees something she thought that she would never see again....

She quickens her pace to reach it as quickly as she can, her heart racing hoping she will see a familiar face, surely it would be too good to be true...

She reaches the book shop door and knocks lightly, surely she will be here, slowly and carefully she opens the door and peeks around, "Alyra, are you there, hello, Alyra?", she enters slowly taking in the familiar smells of books and dust and smiles to herself. "Alyra, are you there?", inside her heart races and she waits to hear if there is a reply.....

Alyra tumbles into the snow in front of the bookshop, stands up and brushes herself off, then goes to the door. As she enters, her mind is full of ideas for the bardic circle, since in fact, it seems to be in need of some repair anyway. For one thing, she wants the fire moved out of the middle, and maybe a stage over there... and...

She stops suddenly, brought up short by the fact that there is something in her path. She stumbles back, a bit awkwardly. Not another tree, she thinks. Not in here.

No, it is not a tree; it is a person. It is--

"STEPH!" she cries, and leaps to embrace her friend.

Stephenie sees Alyra and tears of joy start to roll down her face "Alyra dear friend, Alyra" and runs to her embrace "It's so good to see you again, how are you, where have you been, it is true, is this really Luskan, and how?" the questions tumble from her mouth too quickly to allow Alyra to answer and she holds her close and cries with joy...

Alyra laughs as she holds Steph tight, so delighted to see her friend. "Steph, slow down! One question at a time!"

At last, the two part and look at each other, all smiles, but then Alyra's face goes still; she is obviously listening to something.

"Steph... listen. It's Cel, telling us..." She listens a moment more, but the is now quiet. "He said something like 'we bring both fond and fiend.' I can guess what that means... Steph, we'll have to be on our toes." She frowns slightly, still listening, then smiles slightly. "Well, nothing has torn my roof off yet, so I expect we have a few minutes, anyway, to get caught up." She goes to the couch by the fire and sits, then gestures to the seats. "Come, sit down, let's see if I can't answer all those questions for you. And then you can answer mine.

"First of all, yes, this is really Luskan, but you know this realm better than I: how this came to be is more your department than mine. Lacy and I have been exploring, and so far we have found many of the places you would remember: the temple, the castle, the bardic circle... Well, actually, I found that on my own. But anyway, the questions about me I can answer a bit better.

"I'm fine, and have been keeping myself busy. I stayed on at the Hotel for a few weeks after you left, but the others all seemed to be drifting off, so I went exploring. I followed the way to Faerie, since that business about the civil war had me a bit concerned. That may actually have been a nothing, though; in all this time, I've not heard a peep from any of those folks. But I spent a bit of time there, and then I decided I really needed a place of my own, a safe place, and one that would allow me to keep tabs on Faerie. So I created my own plane using sound, and then built Windang Hall there. I have means of travel between there and a few places in Faerie. It suits my needs, but it is not Port Luskan. It is so good to be back here!

"I have been spending a good deal of time in the Plane of Dreams as well, but it took me a long time to get to Port Luskan.

"Now it's your turn." Alyra grins. "Where have you been, and what have you been doing? I know I saw you once or twice here, but not here here, if you know what I mean. I mean, I know I've seen you in the Plane of Dreams, but um... you looked different?"

Stephenie listens to Alyra words intently and gets ready to answer her questions....

Yes in the Plane of Dreams I have many forms *laughs* and some of them are very different to how you are used to seeing me.

I have continued my rule over the warriors we spoke about last time we were together, and i continue to learn what it is like to be a Queen, everyday is a learning experience, and to add to the excitement of my life here, I take on other forms and travel and experience new adventures.

I heard Cel calling and I found myself here, I could not beleive it at first, it took me a moment or two to realise where I was, I have missed you so much Alyra and I have missed our friendship, *looks around the room and smiles* and I have missed this place, the smell, and sounds....

I just hope that all the horror of this land is not still here, but I did notice in Cel's message that we bring foe as well, I just hope that this may be a new start for us all, and I hope to see others soon, have you seen anyone else, has anyone else answered Cel's call?