Let's start trying to map this place systematically.
I'm going to focus on the central district first, since that's where most of us seem to arrive and where things are most consistent. Please add what you remember, and let's see if we can build a coherent picture.
I've made dozens of sketches. The architecture is so distinctive - those curved walls, the way buildings seem to lean toward each other. Let me scan some and post them.
The central plaza matches your description. But I've also been to a different plaza, further up the mountain. Smaller, quieter. There's a structure there that feels like a temple - not as grand as the library-cathedral but more... focused? More sacred?
I've been trying to map the market district. It's harder because things shift more there - stalls appear and disappear, the layout changes between visits. But there are constants:
The people in the market are more likely to interact with me than those in the central plaza. Maybe because commerce requires acknowledgment?
I've been focusing on the library-cathedral interior. It's vast - bigger on the inside than the outside suggests. Multiple levels connected by spiraling ramps. The books (or scrolls? tablets?) are in a language I can't read.
But here's something interesting: I've started to recognize some of the symbols. Not read them exactly, but feel their meaning. Is anyone else experiencing this?
That's fascinating. It might be a form of dream-learning - your subconscious is creating meaning-associations for the symbols even without conscious comprehension. Or... the symbols themselves might be conveying meaning in a non-linguistic way.
We should document which symbols you're starting to recognize and what you think they mean. Then compare across dreamers.
New here, came through one of Harlan's events. I've been dreaming of this place for about a year.
Something nobody's mentioned: the tunnels. There are entrances scattered around the city, leading down into darkness. I've never gone far - something always stops me. But they feel important. Like the city is only the surface of something much larger.
Tunnels? I don't think I've noticed those. Where have you seen entrances?
One in an alley off the market district - looks like a cellar door but opens onto stairs going down. One near the coast, in the cliffs below the city. And I think there's one under the library-cathedral, though I've never found the door.
They feel different from the rest of the city. Less stable. More like regular dreams in there.
This is interesting. I found a reference in Tumanov's translated work to "passages below" that were "carefully regulated." He doesn't explain what they are or where they lead. Martin, can you describe what you see when you look into them?
Not much. Darkness, but not empty darkness - more like there's something down there I can't quite perceive. And a feeling of... possibility? Like anything could be down there.
I usually wake up soon after I try to enter.