From: "Stephen C. Johnson" <sjwriter@netcom.com>

The secret passages of Carlson House
	Truthfully the Carlson house could be more aptly described as a
true gothic manor.  I originally encountered the edifice during a
particularly bad rainstorm when my car broke down.  Being a bit noticable
to the Paradox spirits at the time, I settled for the more mundane
solution of slogging up the hill to call the auto club.  Once inside the
house however my training in the Sphere of Correspondence instantly
alerted me that something was wrong.
	The owners and their trio of old but trustworthy servants insisted
I stay the night and I was not at all loath to disagree.  All of the rooms
of the house that I entered, both during my initial tour and subsequent
late night explorations, proved to be exactly correct in their dimensions. 
Thus making the secret passageways I knew to be there impossible, but they
still existed in quiet and defiance to my knowledge of their
impossibility.
	I spent three delightful days at the Carlson House and never once
penetrated the mysteries of the secret passages, though I explored them
with great care.  Their purpose is a mystery that eluded me, though the
owners regaled me with a number of stories and even taller tales of family
legends embellished and well polished with the passage of time.  Whatever
secrets Carlson House has are still secrets hidden away from me.
	{Mechanics: Not everything in the World of Darkness is part of some
great reality spanning plot.  A simple Correspondence four effect
co-locates the various "secret doorways" through parts of the basement
wine cellar before connecting to another matched "secret doorway" in
another part of the house.  If the mage concentrates on a key while
opening any of the "secret doorways"  she will enter into a small room
which was the inner sanctum of the mage who created the "secret
passageways."  A number of books are present in the room including, at the
Storyteller's option, the multi volume journals of the creator of the
Correspondence effect.  The secret passages were created for the vivid
imagination and amusement of a pair beloved grandchildren and have
lingered and strengthened because of generations of family belief in them. 
At the Storyteller's option a Master of Correspondence AND Matter might
notice that the actual dimensions of the various rooms of the house are
shifting to accomidate the belief's of the family.}

The magickal furniture of the Oracle Belinda
	I am not one to invite flattery, but I have been within the
private residence and realm maintained by the Oracle Belinda somewhere on
the Horizon.  The Oracle herself is a delightful mage, though she does
tend to terribly obscure puns in ancient languages.  What makes her realm
so truly unique however, is the furniture within it.
	On my first visit to the Oracle's realm I was greeted at the front
door by the coat rack.  Though it uttered not a sound, and my rather well
honed senses could detect no spirit of any kind inhabiting the polished
wood, it's various wooden arms move with swift grace to help me out of my
coat and then hang it on one of it's arms as it silently gestured for me
to enter the sitting room.
	Once in the sitting room the tea pot greeted me with a steamy
whistle and then levitated to pour tea into one of the impatiently waiting
cups of exquisite china.  Then the couch moved slightly and then molded
itself to the contours of my body as I sat down on it.  Point in fact my
conversation with the Oracle Belinda was much more difficult because of
the "helpfulness" of the furniture which inhabits her realm.
	I thought nothing of the furniture after leaving her realm, but
recently encountered a table and trio of chairs in the Umbra that could
have only come from her realm.  They were extremely happy to see me and
were very insistent about escorting me the the Oracle's realm which had
obviously been attacked and severely damaged but some force.  I am not
certain I truly wish to encounter a force or being which can safely
assault and defeat an Oracle in her own realm, but the furniture is quite
insistent that something must be done to rescue their owner.  But in the
meantime they are attempting to repair the realm as best they can,
approaching mages of the Traditions when something proves beyond their
abilities.
	So, if you are in the Umbra some day and a nightstand, coat rack,
chair or other piece of furniture approaches you be cautious but not too
careful.  After all, it is an Oracle that they represent and at the moment
require only a bit of aid here and there from the mages they approach.  It
is when they finally find the Oracle Belinda that things will become
extremely difficult.
	{Mechanics: There's very little that mere Adepts or Masters can do
to effect these bits of furniture.  They are a bewildering mixture of
Life, Matter, Spirit, Mind and Prime that merely hints at the range and
power of what an Oracle can do.  They can be destroyed, but other then
that effecting them is simply too complex.  What happened to the Oracle
Belinda is left completely in the hands of the Storyteller, but remember
one thing.  If she as an Oracle can create such incomprehensibly magick as
her furniture and then be snatched away in the midst of her own realm. 
Whatever did that to her must be even more powerful then she is.  Think
about it.}

The Sands from the Realm of Dreams
	Many legends speak about the sands of dreams and many children in
the America's and Europe are told bedtime stories of the Sandman who puts
children to sleep with but a bit of sand.  That much raw collective belief
shapes reality and has transformed the sands from the Realm of Dreams into
one of the most potent Talisman a mage can gather.  Of course the mage
must physically go to the Realm of Dreams and physically gather the sands
in the Realm of Dreams.  No easy task, especially in light of the dangers
of the journey and the realms themselves...
	{Mechanics: The sand in question can be found only on a handful of
beaches in the Dream realms.  The effect if even a single grain touches
the face of the target is a conjunctive magick of Life and Mind which puts
the target instantly and completely into a deep slumber and transports the
mind of the target directly to the Dream realm.  What makes the sands
unique however is that even sleepers may use them on other sleepers.  To
be effective it requires only that either the sleeper using the sands or
the sleeper who is the target knows where the sand originated.
	An amount of the sand taken from the Dream realms is a rich source
of Quintessence to mages, but it is tainted with resonance's of the Dream
realms.  If a mage drains an amount of the sand for it's quintessence then
that mage gains a success towards slipping into Quiet.  Gaining additional
successes towards entering Quiet for every additional point of
quintessence drained after the first.  Marauders tend to have vials of
this sand whenever they need or want them and seem to be unaffected by the
Quiet drain the sand of quintessence engenders.}