Celefais is the great city of the plane of dreams, legendary seat of the first great dreamer king, where time passes but no inhabitant ages. It lies across a river beyond an enchanted forest and is the only city there.
| Type | City |
| Plane | Plane of dreams |
| Also called | Celephais, Old Nargai |
| Spanish entry | Celefais |
Description
Most buildings are of “pristine sky-blue marble, topped by slender minarets, in styles sometimes somewhat arabesque”. The walls are crowned by bright bronze statues of famous heroes of ancient pantheons. The city is entered by a pass crossed by a river, which travelers cross by ferryman; he charges and can be friendly.
The three laws
- No one ages. Time passes but does not consume. Within the city there is “a particular place of temporal condition”, and there are fountains of youth that rejuvenate those who spend years in them; whether these are the same place is not stated.
- Time runs at a different rate from the material plane, one day per hour.
- One inhabitant is born per aeon. A birth occurred recently. Native inhabitants are very few; the visible population comes from other worlds: «Hay viejos y jóvenes pero porque han venido de otros lugares» (“There are old and young, but because they have come from other places”).
Institutions
- Temple: “it is bright, there is a temple”, served by eighty priests; its god or pantheon is not recorded.
- Market: a commercial center that “some say is at least 10,000 years old”; its markets “are quite pleasant”.
- Fountains of youth (see above).
Trade
Bearers of the king’s gift sell in these markets at three-quarters of value and buy at normal price. Objects leaving Celefais are marked with a “U” and a serial number, “like a kind of document”, as is done with weapons.
Visitors
The city had visitors recently. Steve Reyes completed a study retreat there in the realm of dreams.
Conflicting accounts
- Which way the time ratio runs (whether the day belongs to the material plane and the hour to Celefais, or the reverse) is disputed between versions.
Open questions
- What happens to those who cannot pay the ferryman, and what he charges, is unknown.
- What the king’s gift is, who grants it and on what condition, possibly the first dreamer king himself, is not established.
- What the “U” means and who applies it is unknown; the source verb is garbled.
- The city’s size, layout and gates other than the river are not recorded.
- Who the recently born inhabitant is is not recorded.
- The legends of the first great dreamer king are linked to England; the nature of the link (dream equivalent, origin of the legend, gateway) is unexplained.