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Letter 5                               Date Sent: Mon Dec 11 10:48:27 1995
To:        Dreamlands
Cc:        Moonclaw, Darkstalker
Held:      Dreamlands
Subject:   Th' story so far...
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Okay, this old and slow-moving plot has been discussed (sometimes very
briefly) in various times with Morpheus, Mania, and Mirth (hmm...all
M-names!), so here's a summary of what's gone on so far to set the record
straight. :) 

The portal to the Dreamlands from the Tenebrae's Jungle Clearing has been
around for... well, as long as any Tenebrae can really remember, though the
portal itself has often fluctuated, growing stronger and weaker in cycles.
It's never before posed a threat to the Tenebrae -- indeed, they've
welcomed it, using it as a place to follow their dream-quests. Until
recently.

In recent times, especially while Darkstalker (the Sha'cri of the Tenebrae,
most attuned to the magical forces of the Tenebrae lands) has been
distracted or absent, a number of Dream-beings from Nightmare have managed
to make their way in commando-like parties into the portal to Crinos. These
Dreams are led by Shade, a dark and twisted Nightmare-being who mimics
Moonclaw -- indeed, he's formed from Moonclaw's darker side. Severed from
Moonclaw and bound within Nightmare (see the log 'Wolfshade' on Rina's Mush
Log WWW page) Shade is *not* happy now that he's managed to extricate
himself from his bindings. The Nightmares he's led into Crinos have
targetted the Venator specifically -- killing more than a few. (Although
some other Verdimm have become victims of the Nightmares, the Venator are
the chief targets.) It took Moonclaw a while to figure out the source of
this new threat, and when he realized where it originated, he told
Darkstalker, who was chagrined at the thought that it had originated within
his lands. While the Jungle Clearing is magically warded against threats
from the outside, there were no wards to protect from something that
originated *inside*... such as the portal to Dream. The Nightmares had
never menaced the Tenebrae, but the Venator being allies of his,
Darkstalker took matters into his own hands. He made a great working of
magic, gathering a tremendous force, and ripped the Dream-portal away. To
all appearances he succeeded, and those Nightmares within Crinos were
either destroyed in the Working or severely weakened. Doubtless the Venator
will finish off those that remain. That's where we are now, IC... 

But, there's more. It seems that Darkstalker didn't quite succeed as well
as he might have -- the Dream-portal was rent from the Tenebrae Jungle
Clearing, yes, but what no one realizes yet was that a new portal was
quietly opened at the instant of the old one's destruction -- in effect,
simply moving the portal. The wards on the Tenebrae lands were sufficient
to disallow the Dream-portal to manifest within those lands, but the portal
is still within the jungle -- outside of Tenebrae territory. Shade has been
temporarily set back, but as he was within Nightmare and not Crinos during
the Working, he wasn't harmed. He's not through yet. One consequence of
this action is that the Nightmares will now have no qualms about targetting
Tenebrae, as well, and will probably seek some sort of revenge. (There was
one other consequence of this Working, but that's another TP, not directly
involving the Dreamlands.:) ) 

So, that's it, folks.. for now. :) The log of the Dream-portal's
pseudo-destruction will be available on my WWW page soon, and can be
emailed too. Of course I'm expecting that someone of power in the
Dreamlands might notice what went on, and if the Dreamlands wanted to
dispatch someone to 'investigate', that'd be fun. :)

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