Dream d2563-s: What the Sorting Finds

I had a dream where...

I had a dream where the map room floor had been cleared to the walls and the marks were laid out in three piles along its length: city-marks at the northern end, ruin-marks at the southern end, and the towns and villages in the space between them.

Lano settled near the window and did not move from it.

The Second Clerk was still aligning the southern pile when I took up the column. Three city-marks in the northern pile: the City of Emberford, the City of Frostridge, the City of Osierlow. I entered each in order. The four lit cities of the full map include Willowhythe, which was among the settled seven and is not on the floor tonight. I noted this in the margin.

The southern pile held thirty-five ruin-marks, face-up, each with a note card fastened to the corner. I moved along the row and read each name. The Ruins of Mistthwaite was the largest entry by note: the card identified it as the site of the largest pile of unanswered letters in the world. I wrote that into the column without abbreviation.

Three marks in the southern pile carried a red flag. The Second Clerk named them as I reached the end of the row: the Ruins of Frosting, the Ruins of Mossness, the Ruins of Zephyrden. These three were not left in good order. I entered the flags in the record beside each name.

Among the central pile, the mark for Eldergate Town carried its own note: the town of unfinished roads. I wrote it in.

Lano rose from the window, walked once around the southern pile with her nose close to the floor, and returned to her corner. She did not disturb the cards.

When the column was closed, the night's tally stood at three cities, thirty-five ruins, and the cluster of towns and villages between them. Of the sixty-five places on the full map, forty were cold. Forty-one had been left in good order. The seven from the last walk were settled and were not rewalked.

The Second Clerk gathered the checked cards into a stack and set them on the table.

I set down the pen.

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