Virginia
is… an interesting girl. Not what I expected from someone who’s so young.
Teleported
inside her room at 9, because using doors takes effort. She didn’t notice me at
first. Watched her run to the window, look out, run to a mirror and brush her hair,
back to the window, straightened a picture on the wall, back to the window,
grabbed stray clothes off the floor and tossed them into the closet, back to
the window….
“Ahem.”
She jumped. Not as much as I’d hoped. But it was satisfying nonetheless.
“Alright
Virginia, what is it you wanted to say to me?”
She
didn’t answer. Sat down at the edge of her bed and stared at me. I was
surprised by how intense that stare was.
“You’re
clumsier than I thought you’d be.”
“What?”
“You
practically tripped over yourself when my dad threw you out. And then you did
trip after flailing around when I threw a marble at you.” Um… okay I may have
skimmed over some details about that in my last post…. “That’s not the type of
behavior I expected from someone who some of the people in the Order described
as ‘Dancing Death.’ At least Grendel isn’t lying when he says you’re pretty.”
….
What. What was going on, why was it feeling like I’d already lost complete
control of this conversation after just a few sentences. Had think of something
to say fast.
“How
do you know about Grendel?”
She
arched an eyebrow. “Everyone who goes into the Dreamlands knows who Grendel is.
He’s the reason the Dreamlands are still around.”
“What
do you mean by that?”
She
cocked her head to the side. “How much do you know about the Dreamlands?”
“Well
I read Randolph Carter’s journal, and I went there once in ’86….”
She
laughed. “Wow. Wow. You realize
that’s over 2,500 years in the Dreamlands, right?”
….
Wow. No, I hadn’t. I remembered Dan telling me that an hour in the real world
was a week in the Dreamlands, but I’d never thought to do the math….
My
shock was fairly apparent. “Things have changed a bit since you last visited,”
Virginia said.
“…
Alright, that’s just going to add to the long list of questions I was planning
to ask you. But first, I’d like to get into the Dreamlands, so I can actually
see what’s being talked about. I need you to enter it first; if you go in, I
can follow.”
“So
just like Grendel then?”
“Yes
just like-wait how do you know-”
Her
smile cut me off. It was far too clever than any child’s smile had right to be.
“Let me see if I understand you. You want me, a poor defenseless little girl,
to go to sleep while being watched by a complete stranger?”
“Yes.”
“Alright.
Try anything and I’ll break both your kneecaps.” Then, without any
consideration to comfort, she fell across her bed. The speed at which she fell
asleep caught me off guard; I almost missed the timelines shifting into the
Dreamlands. Tossed myself into them before they could change back, and suddenly
I was in the Enchanted Wood. It looked… mostly the same. Same ash covered
ground, same charred black trees. Except now the trees had grown leaves, each
as black as their bark. And rising above all the other trees was a single,
immense tree that stretched past the clouds….
“We
should get out of here. This isn’t a safe place to stay.” Some strange woman
was talking to me oh wait shit was that Virginia?
I
know people look different in the Dreamlands, but this was… I mean… she…
She’s
underage in the real world she’s underage in the real world she’s underage in
the real world she’s underage in the real world she’s underage in the real
world she’s underage in the real world….
“Are
you going to stare at me like that this entire time?”
“…
Yes.”
“Fine.
Just walk while you do. We need to get to the town of Ulthar as soon as
possible. I don’t like getting caught out in the open.”
“What
about Dylath-Leen?”
“Dylath-Leen
is gone. The inhabitants were flayed alive by the Wooden Girl and then slowly
murdered by the Plague Doctor. Hlanith, Ilarnek, Ooth-Nargai, Iganok, are all
gone as well. Every city except Ulthar is gone. Now start walking; the trees
are listening.”
She
didn’t talk until we were out of the woods, and into an open field. “Alright.
From here it should only take a few hours to reach Ulthar.”
“Just
a few hours of walking? Is it really that close?”
She
had that smile again. “Who said anything about walking?” The ground rose up
behind her, and shaped itself into a wheeled platform with two seats on it.
“Skilled Dreamers can manipulate their surroundings here. And I just happen to
be a very skilled Dreamer. Get in. We
can talk while we ride.”
Well
I didn’t see that coming. With some uncertainty, I got into one of the seats.
And then the platform began to move forward; not extremely fast, but much
faster than we’d be going on foot. “Now what are those questions you wanted to
ask?”
“Most
importantly? What the hell Grendel and the Esoteric Order of Dagon are doing
here. I’ve been trying to figure out what Grendel’s up to for a long time now,
and all I’ve been able to get is that he’s got some kind of plan involving
summoning gods and I’m still not entirely sure how that connects with all of
this.”
“I don’t know anything about summoning, but their goal here
is just to keep the Fears from completely destroying the place.”
“How
strong is their presence?”
“Let
me put it like this. There are less than 300 humans left in the Dreamlands.
Only a dozen of us aren’t members of the Order. These days, unless you’re a
strong enough Dreamer to hold your own, you either join the Order or die.”
“Has
it really gotten that bad?”
“It’s
always been bad. The only difference is now the Fears are running out of people
to kill here.”
“What
about Grendel? You talked like you know him.”
“Kind
of. I’ve talked with him occasionally, whenever I’ve had to work with the
Order. Creepy guy. Likes to talk too much. But he’s the only person capable of
holding the Fears back.”
The
landscape of the Dreamlands seemed even more colorless than my previous visit.
The grass had only the slightest tinge of green in it, and the sky was almost
completely grey. And no matter where we traveled, I could always hear the faint
sound of carnival music.
“So
what is it that you’ve heard about me from the Order?” I asked.
“A
lot of stuff. Most of it rumor. Something about you being Grendel’s sister, or
girlfriend, or both….”
“No.
I am neither of those things.”
“Really?
Well, forget those rumors then. I do know that you’re a time traveler like him.
And from what everyone says, you seem to run around trying to be a hero, which
has put you in conflict with the Order on occasion. I hear a lot about what
they call the ‘Battle of the Jersey Dockyard’ from ’96. The survivors from it
treat you like a legend.”
“…
Yeah that hasn’t happened to me yet.”
“Then
you can ask the survivors for tips for when it does happen.”
Ulthar
was coming up. The town looked like a fortress. Tall walls surrounded by
trenches and barbed wire, with gun emplacements and artillery pieces. Not sure
what they thought that was going to do against the Fears, but it looked
impressive.
Hanging
on either side of the town’s fortified gate were two read banners, each emblazoned
with a five pointed star containing a burning eye in the center. Guarding the
gate were several men in military camo, wearing red armbands with the same star
symbol.
“Hey
Virginia!” One called to us. “What brings you here tonight?”
“Found
a new friend. Her name’s I-330. Perhaps you’ve heard of her?”
“Seriously?
No way! The boss will want to hear this!”
“Yeah
well too bad tell him I saw her first! Now open up the gate!”
They
did so, and we got out of our chairs and walked inside. The town looked as
military as its defenses implied. Every building had a purpose, and was built
to withstand attack. The few people I saw out were all armed, and looked
constantly on guard. Saw a few night gaunts flying around, some ghouls, and
several other creatures I’d never seen before, all walking the streets. It
looked like how I would have imagined a city under siege.
“Now
that we’re inside, what are you going to do?” Virginia asked.
“I…
um… don’t know. I thought I was going to find some kind of evil plot going on
here, but I’m not seeing any of that…. Maybe if I investigate….”
Virginia
called to a soldier walking by. “Hey Mike, what is it you people are doing in
this town again?”
“What?
Come on, Virginia, you already know that.” He answered. “Grendel says we need
to keep a foothold in the Dreamlands, or the whole place will fall to the Fears
and they’ll tear it all apart.”
“Anything
else? Any secondary objectives or missions here?”
“Not
that I know of. You’d have to ask the boss.”
Virginia
turned back to me. “Ta-da. Investigating, check. Now what?”
“We…
um…”
“You’re
starting to make me think you came here without a clear goal or plan in mind.”
“Of
course I’ve got those! I’m here to… I have to….”
“Why
are you so determined to stop Grendel?”
“He’s
trying to summon ancient godlike monsters so he can lead them in revolution
against the Fears and seize control of the world!”
“And
is that really a bad thing?”
For
a moment, I was speechless. “Of course it’s a bad thing! They’re monsters!”
“And
the Fears aren’t?” He voice sounded so… old. Old and tired. “Have you seen it
when they take an interest in someone? When they slowly break a person’s will,
turning their lives into an unending hell? Have you watched people lying on the
streets, covered in dozens of blisters and rashes from all the diseases the
Plague Doctor has given them, unable to even moan in pain? Or a woman shredded
into thin strips by the Smiling Man? I don’t know about these ancient monsters
of yours. And Grendel’s too much of a nut for me to trust him or his plans. But
after spending centuries in the Dreamlands, watching them massacre town after
town just for their amusement, letting some other monsters take care of the
Fears sounds like a nice idea to me.”
I
had no answer to that. Why was I so
determined to stop Grendel? Yes, he’s an insane murdering psychopath. But I
can’t say the Fears are much better. Should I focus on them instead? But I know
what I read about the old gods; they were creatures which would have destroyed
the planet out of sheer apathy. Are they
any better?
I
was going to get my answer soon. As I stood there, silent, a blank faced man
approached and, in complete monotone, told me that Grendel was waiting for me
in his hall.
But
I’m not saying a word about what happened there until I have had several drinks
in me.
I-330
