My Weird Dumb Story - Blog Posts

From the writings of Lady Chandra of Alagadda, on the events leading up to the Second War of the Masks.

The children of the Dream are no longer mortal, although at first they remain creatures of flesh, they have always been and always will be. Mortal and immortal, human and inhuman, those we call Dreamers live in a fragile balance, always on the run, always on the go, always hunted down, yet infinitely free. The first Dreamer I met was (and I hope still is) the Honorable Nian Zhen, Chief Archivist of the Library, my friend, benefactor and Master. The name by which he is best known outside the city , however, is the less flattering name of Mad Dreamer. In the Lands of Kouranes, and among the Dreamers who roam the Darklin Plain, they call him the Lost, the Fool, the Forsaken, the Prisoner, yet he is one of the greatest of his kind, having pushed himself to the limits of the Dream, to the Void beyond Being. His are the words with which I have described the Second Birth of the Dreamers, to him we owe all our little knowledge of this elusive species. Only after her disappearance, by sheer coincidence, did I meet the Dreamer. Arual was her name. It was the day of the 3345 Carnival of the Red Lord and the City throbbed at a frenzied rhythm under a scarlet sky, lost in ecstasy. The last time I saw her, the city was burning and destruction was following in her footsteps. Much of what happened after that day was because of her, yet while I hate the consequences of her actions, as I hate what they led me to do, I can't hate her, because I know she had no choice. Or perhaps, if she had, every other decision would have led to unacceptable consequences. For my part, I acted in good conscience, with honor and diligence, always pursuing the interests of the City.

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Dagli scritti di Lady Chandra di Alagadda, sugli eventi che portarono alla seconda Guerra delle Maschere.

[I sognatori] Non più mortali i figli del Sogno, pur restando in un primo momento creature di carne, sono sempre stati e saranno sempre. Mortali e immortali, umani e inumani, coloro che chiamiamo Sognatori vivono in un fragile equilibrio, sempre in fuga, sempre in viaggio, sempre braccati, eppure infinitamente liberi.

Il primo Sognatore che abbia incontrato era ( e spero che sia ancora) l'Onorevole Nian Zhen, Capo Archivista della Biblioteca, mio amico, benefattore e Maestro. Il nome con cui però è più conosciuto fuori dai confini della Città è quello, meno lusinghiero, di Sognatore Folle. Nelle Terre di Kouranes, e tra i Sognatori che vagano nella Piana Oscura, lo chiamano il Perduto, il Matto, l'Abbandonato, il Prigioniero, eppure è uno dei più grandi della sua specie, essendosi spinto fino ai limiti del Sogno, fino al Vuoto oltre l'Essere. Sue sono le parole con cui ho descritto la Seconda Nascita dei Sognatori, a lui dobbiamo tutta la nostra scarsa conoscenza di questo specie così elusiva.

Solo dopo la sua scomparsa, per pura coincidenza, ho incontrato la Sognatrice. 

Arual era il suo nome. 

Era il giorno del 3345 Carnevale del Signore Rosso e la Città pulsava a un ritmo forsennato sotto un cielo scarlatto, persa nell'estasi. 

L'ultima volta che l'ho vista la città stava bruciando e la distruzione seguiva le sue orme.

Buona parte di quello che è successo dopo quel giorno è stato per causa sua, eppure nonostante detesti le conseguenze delle sue azioni, come detesto quello che mi hanno portato a fare, non posso odiarla, perché sono consapevole che non aveva scelta. O forse, se l'aveva, ogni altra decisione avrebbe portato a conseguenze inaccettabili. 

Per parte mia ho agito in buona coscienza, con onore e diligenza, sempre portando avanti gli interessi della Città.

Arual the Dreamer leaves Alagadda as she begins the Metamorphosis of her Third Birth.

I just could your Dreamer stuff and I absolutely love it as a fan of the Carcosa mythos and SCP. My question is, what are some of the differences between Carcosa as and Allagada in this world, as one is very inspired by the other?

I am so happy you like it! I'll try to do my best to answer your question.

When I started the project I knew that I wanted to include both Alagadda and Carcosa, despite their strong similarities (I just had to paint them both, their aesthetic is just so perfect), so I ended up making some... bold choices in the matter of worldbuilding.

Carcosa exists as the lost city from the "King in Yellow". Once a thriving metropolis ruled by the sister-queens known as Cassilda and Camilla, now it's the place where Hastur lies dead-dreaming like the other Great Old Ones.

Alagadda has no direct ties to the Great Old Ones, nor with the Outer Gods, though it still is part of the Dream of Azathoth (or rather its equivalent in this story). It is an inversion of Carcosa in many ways, its mirror image. Alagadda was created (I think I borrowed the idea from Theology of a Snake, by Sunnyclockwork) when a man tried to reach apotheosis under the guidance of a mysterious entity, but was tricked and failed, becoming a negation of godhood, a "god-shaped hole". Everyone else paid the price, of course. Through this failure and from the binding of this Anti-god, Alagadda became what it is now, the city of Alchemists. Alagadda is to Carcosa something like what antimatter is to matter. The Great Old Ones and the Outer Gods cannot enter its dimension because it would mean mutual destruction.

One of the main themes of this project is the struggle between the overwhelming forces of the universe and the desire of mortals to become their own gods in order to free themselves. Carcosa and Alagadda in a way represent a worst case scenario for both sides.

Carcosa is now mainly uninhabited. Only the servants of the King in Yellow, and what remains of the fallen dreamers the King snatched from the Dreamlands remain (there is a reason why the Great Old Ones are kidnapping dreamers, I swear). It is visited still, by madmen and artists, that chase it in their dreams. Most of those who reach it never leave. Those who manage to return are broken. Mortals were never made for godhood.

Alagadda is as we see it in the SCP article by Metaphysician, but there are some changes that I had to make for the sake of the story, for example when the Dreamer first arrives at Alagadda, the Black Lord hasn't been banished yet. I and @amyma-ymamy also made up quite a lot of random lore to try and pull off some Alagaddan politics (because politics is fun).

I hope this makes some kind of sense, because the whole thing is still a work in progress.

(Also apologies for any spelling mistakes or weird syntax, English is not my first language.)

The empty shells of fallen Dreamers, those caught by the servants of the King in Yellow, tormented and used for horrible experiments still wander the lost city, always seeking for what they lost.

The Dreamer finds herself in Lost Carcosa, and is saved by a cat of Ulthar.

@amyma-ymamy