In a Town

[Halbarad]

Tim shakes his head. "Shouldn't be surprised, I suppose. Just another impossibility to toss on the pile at this point. So... what other Dream is this? Something completely separate from the main Dream, or just a separate area inside it?"

[Bjorn]

"Remember how I said that the Cabal steals realities?  Well, those realities had their own Dreams, and after the Cabal was done, those Dreams sort of float free.

"To win the Contest, you have to become attuned to those free Dreams, because there's still a shadow of a connection to their old lands.  So...." He shrugs.  "We did."

[Halbarad]

Tim thinks for a minute, and then nods. "Would make sense, if you're trying to strengthen the Dream. If it's been stretched thin because of adding these other worlds, it'd make sense to connect with their Dreams and bring them in line with our own."

He pokes at the ground with his staff for a minute. "I'm still trying to figure out what my own connection is with this whole thing. One minute I'm a caseworker with way too much shit to deal with in clients, next thing I'm finding out I have the ability to shape reality around me with a thought."

He looks over at Bjorn. "What you said earlier... why do you find the motivation so important? If people know the stakes, and they know what they've got to put on the line, why does it matter why they're acting to help you? I don't really understand the Dream itself well enough yet to say for sure whether strengthening its ties to reality is good or bad, although I can't see anything any worse about it right now than any other form of power would be. I'll agree - the goal you've put forward is certainly the most 'pure' in a sense, and it's the easiest not to lose focus on."

[Bjorn]

Bjorn thoughtfully purses his mouth as he listens to Tim, and shifts the apparently empty scabbard on his hip to a more comfortable position.  "Well," he says slowly, "there's a distinction here in terms of what 'helping' means.

"See, entering the Contest is a... contract.  And only so many people from each group -- five, until recently -- can enter the contract.  So on some level, New Delphi, as an example, helps the Order, works with the Order, but it isn't the Order.  Not the way I am, or Philip or Nathan or Parthipan are.

"To help the way New Delphi does, motivation doesn't matter as much.  But to actually be part of the Contest, to join the 'inner circle' of the Order, if you want to put it that way, motivation matters a lot.  Firstly because there's no way out but death once you join.  Secondly because if you don't believe in our goals, and we win, what will you do when it comes time to make the decision about how to change reality?"

He snorts slightly.  "And then it gets complicated, but roughly speaking, reality obeys the same laws as the Dream at the fundamental level.  And belief, motivation, will, that's the stuff that shapes the Dream, and thus reality."

[Halbarad]

"Yeah, I got that part," Tim replies with a snort, twirling his staff and releasing is from existence. "It's not as easy to change things here as in the Dream, but it's still possible.

"You did say five, though, and you've listed four names. What happened to the fifth?"

[Bjorn]

"He was killed," Bjorn replies shortly.  "Yesterday."

[Halbarad]

Tim winces. "Sorry to hear that... what happened, if you don't mind me asking?"

[Bjorn]

Bjorn sighs.  "He took things personally," he says, "more or less.  Pax Arcana was in the Earth Dream at the same time as us.  One of them blackmailed him, and he tried to take revenge by trapping her in the Dream for a little longer than she normally would have been there.  Then he gloated about it to the rest of Pax, and one of them killed him before any of us could do anything to stop it."

[Halbarad]

Tim shakes his head. "That was... well, never mind. At least that makes a bit more sense now," he replies, half to himself.

"What's your story, though? I recognize the name from IRC, but I never really talked with you much that I can recall. How'd you wind up in the middle of all this?"

[Bjorn]

Bjorn cocks an eyebrow at Tim.  "What makes more sense now?" he asks.

[Halbarad]

"Hmm?" Tim looks up. "Oh. It makes a bit more sense why you're so focused on not losing sight of your goal. And yeah, I'd agree with you. Letting a personal vendetta get in the way in something like this would be... foolish, to say the least. With the world at stake, you can't afford to be petty."

[Bjorn]

Bjorn studies Tim for a moment, and then looks off in the direction of the mine.  "Anyways, to answer your question, I was kidnapped by the Workshop.  The others, acting on Oracular instruction," he looks back and grins lop-sidedly, "helped to rescue me."  He shrugs.  "And in doing so, we found about the Order, and like I said, it was a job that needed doing."

[Halbarad]

Tim snorts. "I know the feeling, although before this the worst I ever had to do was take over administrating a website. But yeah. If those other groups you were talking about are the only alternatives, I don't see what else you could have done."

He thinks for a few minutes more. "The question I'd have to follow that is, what does the Order need us for? I can see why you'd need our help in general - more hands to do the work for things like New Delphi are always handy - but like you said, they don't need to be part of the Order itself for that."

[Bjorn]

"Well, we need another member now," Bjorn points out, a bit drily. "And in fact, it turns out that because of the way Paul was killed, we can have more than just five in our circle.  And frankly, we need every advantage we can get."

[Halbarad]

Tim nods. "Well, you've certainly got my interest. I'm still learning what I can do as a Dreamer, but at the very least you've got my help outside of your order. I certainly don't disagree with your cause - it'll have its problems, no doubt, but it's infinitely preferable to the alternatives."