As our heroes complete the final preparations to enter the dreaming, Desiree turns up again... and so does Sidonie! Sidonie has won the battle with Anastasia... except now she can't get her body back. It's lying in a coma over at the DeMorgan center for Neurological Disorders.
Everyone goes over to see the body... neither Miles nor Desiree's magic seems to avail. Milton discovers some information on the net that implies that what has happened is the connection between the body and the spirit has been lost. And those things are hard to find again. On their return to court, Duke Ten decides that Sidonie will come along with them in the hopes of fulfilling her own quest while part of the greater one. Magda objects, but is overruled.
The expedition sets off into the dreaming - our heroes (minus Dill, but including Sidonie), Duke Ten, Victor, a couple of boggan servants to deal with tents and such, and a good two cohorts of the ninth legion to provide protection. Starting from the camp of the ninth legion they follow a compass provided by Quux which should point the way to Arcadia. First they pass through the valley where pigs fly (including Old Pinky, a blimp-sized pig who hangs over the little valley). A pig trader tries to get Magda to give up her charge in exchange for Bacon, but no deal. That night the party camps on the outskirts of a vast forest, and the Duke gets Magda to give the piece of the dreaming to Miles for the night.
In the morning Magda reclaims her charge, and it's into the woods we go. At midday they come to the hostel of the Rose, where they sit down to lunch with the Rose Knights who want to hear all about what has happened since last they met. They are quite happy to hear of the efficacy of bronze weapons against the fomorians. Since it appears that the path of the quest will head through the ruins of the Citadel of Bones, some knights accompany them for a time.
As they get closer to the Citadel they can see that huge shaped rocks - no, bones - thrust up throught the forest floor and seem held down by the trees. Once they pass into the ruins of the Citadel itself they are attacked by white fomorians, who kill many Rose Knights and legionaires before they are defeated. Magda herself slays several, one falls to Desiree's magic and one to Milton's bronze bullets after swallowing his gun. Magda is wounded, but nothing that Desiree cannot fix. By nightfall they are out of the forest and make camp again. Tonight the charge is given to Desiree due to certain irregularities in Miles's behavior that morning.
Unfortunately it enhances Desiree's natural tendencies, and the camp is overrun with pairs of animals. Milton is hurredly given the piece of the dreaming, and the animals stop coming. "It's a good thing we stopped it before it started raining!" says Sidonie. Perhaps we will listen to her more in the future, but probably not.
The next morning they press on into the mountains, heading towards a huge volcano which the learned amoung them believe to be Arawn's forge, a place of great unseelie power. Night finds them on a narrow road on the mountainside, and they have nowhere to run to when hideous creatures pour down upon them, hopping like mountain goats down the steep side of the mountain. Miles and Desiree fall off the side into the mists when Miles mistakenly lights himself on fire, and though the others battle bravely they are finally forced to retreat down the cliff with the aid of climbing equipment. The legionaires die protecting their retreat.
After climbing down for what seems like two forevers, they findthemselves in a misty place where mounds of snail shells stretch high above their heads. Miles and Desiree are found in craters in the shells, very battered, but Milton's herbalism is able to bring them around and Desiree's magic goes the rest of the way.
The keeper of the snail graveyard, a pale boy with one leg, tells them that they wouldn't be here if they weren't lost. After Sidonie gifts him with a ribbon, he also tells them that they won't be able to leave until they each find something that has been lost. So they set to searching.
What they find: Desiree finds a love letter to her written by Sir Ten that was never mailed - in fact she finds several drafts of that letter. Magda finds a diary Jenny will lose when she is fourteen, which reveals that she will become a Changeling! Maggie can't resist reading more and discovers that Jenny will be a... Satyr! Augh! Milton finds an old map of Boston which sheds some light on the feng shui of the city. Miles finds a silver cord bound to Sidonie's body and gives it to her, and Sidonie finds a crystal much like the focus and gives it to Miles. Duke Ten finds a sock, and Victor finds something small which he won't discuss. To Milton's keen eyes it looked like a ring before it was spirited away.
With these discoveries they are able to leave the snail graveyard and head out across a cracked and broken plain which as they travel is more and more filled with broken machinery. We leave them for the evening as they have encountered a vast chasm cutting across the plain...
Player Notes:
During the descent, Victor's rope is cut and he starts falling.
Duke Ten grabs for him and misses. Sidonie manages to nudge him
towards Magda, who catches him. -MIN