The View From Here

[Halbarad]

"Pandora, are you there?" Tim says, approaching the sphere. "Got a bit more company this time around."

[Brian]

After a moment, the mists are disturbed, and Pandora emerges from the mist, though she seems a bit surprised to see as many people as there are waiting.

She spells out in golden letters against the side of her sphere: "It is good to see you again, though I did not expect you to enter the dream.  What has happened?"

[Ebiris]

Daniel looks a bit relieved to see Kyle complaining about all the trouble it took to get here. Makes him feel more secure in his own complaints.

"Hi, Pandora," he waves, once close to the sphere, briefly peering at her message. "We kind of had to come into here so we could escape the army that was about to do unspeakable things to us. Hope you don't mind us dropping in for a bit."

[Brian]

"Not really," she writes back.  "I seldom get guests.  I should be following the reality more closely, much of what you discuss surprises me.  But at the same, we need to get you back into reality and out of the dream as soon as possible -- you can die from being here too long, and then be unable to return to Earth.  This would be especially bad with ... all of the anchors here.  We run the risk of severing the dream from reality."

[Carthrat]

"Oh. That sounds bad," pipes up Tom, observing the messages closely. "Exactly how, I'm not sure, but dramatically bad, all the same."

[Halbarad]

"That's what we came for," Tim agrees. "Kyle said you'd probably know how we CAN return to reality from the Dream. Whatever it is we need to do, just tell us and we'll do it, or at least give it the best shot we can."

[Brian]

"You'll need to be helped out with more power than brought you in.  Since I'm trapped in here, there's not much I can do to help ... but if you find the Brotherhood of Morpheus and ask them, I'm certain they can send you back."  The previously written letters begin to fade away quickly, until only her current message remains visible.

[Halbarad]

"How exactly do we find them?" Tim replies. "At least in coming here, I knew what we were looking for. I'm not sure where or how to start looking for them."

[Brian]

"They'll probably look for you," she replies.  "But ... they have a bastion set up.  If you can think of the image of this person...."  She draws a circle, which quickly fills with the image of a very gristled and wiry looking man, probably in his late thirties.  He's carrying a spear with a golden point (gold must have some symbolic value in dreams), and a bright yellow headband.  "If you can find your way to him, he can lead you to the bastion.  And then they will fetch me away from here ... and we can get you out."

[Halbarad]

"I'll do my best," Hal replies, taking several moments to familiarize himself with the image. "We'll come back here once we've found them. Thanks for all your help, Pandora." He gives the oracle a smile and a nod, then closes his eyes and tries to focus on the image of the wiry man in gold.

[Ebiris]

"Exactly how it sounds bad was the part about us dying," Daniel points out to Tom grumpily.

[Brian]

Tim is relatively certain he could find his way to this person.  It'd probably even be easier than finding Pandora.  Of course, he'd probably need to get down to at least the crossroads before he could make a new path easily.

[Halbarad]

"Okay, I think I can find him," Tim confirms. "Should we all go, or just a few of us while the rest wait here with Pandora? Or does it really make a difference?"

[Ebiris]

"I don't mind sightseeing," Daniel shrugs. "But I dunno if it really matters who goes or not."

[Brian]

"Probably best to stick together," Wallace opines.  "We don't really know a lot about this place."