Land of the Dry Treatment 30.08.13

7/27/2019 Land of the Dry Treatment 30.08.13

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Land Of The Dry

You dont have to believe in fairytalesto be in one.

The Great Australian FairytaleA Treatment by Alex Giles


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Humble Beginnings...

In a mash up of western and fantasy genres, Land Of The Dry is afeature length story set in a fairytale land, following an odd assort-ment of accidental heroes who are forced to ban together to stop

an evil that nobody else believes in.

Heavy inuences from contemporary cross genre epics such asPans Labrynth, the steam-punk styled Wild Wild West and Se-renity (and its prequel series Firey) as well as inspirations from cultlms of my own childhood The Princess Bride and The Labrynth,we are introduced to a world engulfed in the impossible, one thatembraces the fantasy elements, but only as devices as they com-pliment the story; such as the stories within Tim Burtons Big Fish orPirates Of The Caribbean. Land Of The Dry sends us into a similarplain, but with an entirely original backdrop: The Outback.

It smashes elements of western and fantasy genres together, add-ing a Victorian and steampunk style to create a world that in-trigues, inspires and engages.

In preparation for this long term goal, the wheels are already inmotion setting up the world surrounding Land Of The Dry, in thehopes that it may one day gather a following to aid in supportingthe full feature length story.

This is demonstrated through The Botanist a 16 minute short lmis based loosely on one or two of the characters, set years before

the feaure, and has been a successful (and where unsuccessful,educative) experiment into playing with a great many effects, styleand concepts that intend on being harnessed in Land of The Dry.

The Botanist can be viewed here:http://vimeo.com/72485398Password: smile


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The Botanist has also been the rst angle into building a multi-platform masterpiece with Land Of The Dry as the umbrella for the world the desired outcome not only being making the full feature, but having its followers invested in its development, not necessarily nan-cially, but more importantly, creatively.

The beginnings of this can be seen through the various artwork contributions on the Pintrest (pinterest.com/landofthedry/) and Devian-tart (alexthegiles.deviantart.com) pages, all fans of the short lm who have taken on board characters/ideas represented in the shortlm and made it their own. The Land of the Dry is really just the beginning, it is the world within that is the real star of the lm, and it is thisunique realm that invites and intrigues audiences to become involved: in whatever way engages them the most, whether by drawing

pictures, reading graphic novels, writing fanction: in the hopes to one day follow the footsteps of Tolkien and Lucas and the exponentialgrowth of both the universes they once dreamt up.

Such evolved the script Dual Wield a short lm, still experimental with some conventions, but with the depth and desire to result in a prod-uct of even higher quality and aspirations, would hopefully lead to a new avenue with enough merit and support to enter into the rstepic feature.


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The World Around Us...Obviously, the backdrop of nineteenth century Australia makes for an exciting landscape, and intriguing time: with cities building,and towns swooning, they are still incredibly segregated, and surrounded mostly by the Newlands, which is thick bush landscapeinhabited by creatures most believe to be completely imaginary.Our story begins in growing city of Signet one of the rst landing posts of the colonialists. It is already industrial, and is built almostentirely by the convicts that were settled there in the rst place, many of whom were eventually released, forming a corrupt andobscene cobblestone city.This is an exciting time: the dawn of Man. Cities and settlements continue to erect in the surrounding towns, gold is being panned,opals mined, roads are being unraveled and and all the while the stories of how the land was before are being forgotten.In the slums, crime rates are high, but poverty is higher, and in the towers, the lthy rich look on with greed over sympathy.As the story unfolds, we grow to discover the curious town of Baxter.Seated up-river from the main town, Baxter is generally a one-road (or rail in this case) town. One way in, one way out. But there iscertainly a great deal more to Baxter than the quaint mining village it rst appears. It is lled with incredibly unique characters, manyof whom are left over from the fairytale war that once rattled at its doors, and though the townsfolk would deny it for fear of beingaccused mad, they all know that the stories read to children are equally not all they seem.The tavern is at the centre of town, being the hub of the community, and spiraling out we see numerous shops all odd in their own

way, a wig-makers, a garden nursery for conscious potplants, a lotions and potions store, a pet store of never before seen creatures,and a tree who hums when the moon is full. Further out, we see free-standing torches surrounding the village, always lit, always burn-ing, and out further still, we can make out The Dry.Creatures that were once men, but over time and darkness have hideously malformed, skin turned to bark, and pain ingrained ontheir disgured faces, they are statues frozen by some force many years ago. Turned to stone, crumbling. Once they may havethreatened the existence of our world, but now they line the forest, watching but never blinking: statues of a past long forgotten.As we discover later in our story, out further still is the newlands: a mountainous rainforest often lled with unfamiliar creatures andhidden treasures just waiting to be discovered. More importantly, a tree whose branches glow when they point in the right direction,and a window ingrained in a rock which is said to have the power to change the past, but only when aligned with all the correctingrediants.


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The World Within...Celebrating the concepts of fairytales is ingrained within the story of Land Of TheDry. Though mostly accomplished through one of the characters: Lily, and her loveof storybooks, the overarching idea that the entire plot results in one great fairytaleis essential, and such is the development of layers of stories within.There are a small number of fairytales that are exposed within the feature: vignetsof approximately 3-5 minutes each undertaking a completely unique style depen-

dent on the character that tells them.These stories all follow a simple three-beat structure, feature simple and archetypalcharacters, and have associated morals/lessons that come with the likes of Aesopsfables, or unmodied stories from the Brothers Grim. They feature a raw and directplot, reminiscent of the age in which they had been told, rather than the romanti-cized and censored versions of classic tales that are told today.The integration of these short-stories results in Land Of The Dry developing a style ofits own. Collaborations with other directors and animation teams to bring the storiesto life not only provide a compelling storytelling method through the eyes of thenarrating characters, but is a brilliant guide to the foundation of the feature: the

signicance of fairyales.

In the present treatment, the three stories that are featured as their own vignets are:

The Tale of the Three Princes- told by a nun to her orphan pupils

The Tree Who was once a Man- told by a tree to his lonely occupants

The Window in the Rock- told by a Witch to a group of would-be heroes


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In the beginning, we arrive in a number of places. We follow characters

whose lives are soon to be interwoven...

Timothy SwindleThe Magician: One of our stories begins as Timothy nds himself lost andbroke in the strange, relatively new city of Signet, wanting nothing morethan to get himself home to the motherland. Feeling wrongly committed,he is a street-magician of about twenty years old, recently given his free-dom after a sentence for stealing raisins on the streets of his home countryfar across the oceans. He seems to be unsuccessfully raising money bybusking with his magic tricks, and the local shipmen all but laugh at his fee-able attempts to request that he be allowed on board their vessels back tothe motherland. They are all on strict instructions and no amount of moneywould ever see his permission on board without a beheading.They jest: unless, of course, he were to nd the rumoured gemstone as largeas his head. All seems a little hopeless for Timothy, especially as his cheap

magic is quickly wearing thin on the townsfolk: now all wise to his change-swindling maneuvers.

Prince AbacusThe brother of the king: still bitter at his unfortunate luck continues his ef-forts to change the past. His brother has banished him to the outskirts of themotherland, far to the North, but his vendetta only grows. He speaks of hissearch for the Seer and we peek into his collection: a branch with a glow-ing end, and a giant, blue gemstone, the size of someones head.Abacus is certainly past his prime. Too old to ght or to stand up to the king,possibly one of the reasons he has been given some small power over thecountry, he has years of built up anger, built up resentment, and it has left

him a bitter person, and with a scowling face, a permanent frown built be-low his noble brow.

James ArchibaldThe last sorcerer: Archibald is impossibly old; 90? 100? He speaks with anincomparable wisdom unlike any heard before. Though once a power fulwizard, Abacus has abandoned hope on his aged goal of winning a war

that was lost long ago. Now he is dragged through the snow by the forcesof a royal, undoubtedly to meet his fate. Archibald, though in control ofevery moment that unfolds, has been driven so far from his once passionateand ghting spirit, now willingly goes with the humans who seem somewhataware that he is sparing their lives only because he cannot be bothereddestroying them.

Lily ReusThe Storyteller: The daughter of a once celebrated Botanist, resides in thesmall and curious town of Baxter. Falling far from the tree, Lily has very littleinterest in her fathers plant and plantlife-experiments, much more interest-ed in the stories in her books about the fairytale war. Any potential friendsmake fun of her, and the rest of the village seems to think very little of herstories, barre the morales seemingly driven into each one, but she remainsconvinced that these stories hold a value of truth, and will not be swungotherwise.

Needless to say, her best friend is not a human at all, but an intelligent pot-plant the cactus: Spike.They spend their days reading the stories, and taking the Botanists latestcrazy owering plants down the river and into the city of Signet to sell at themarkets, continuing the income for their very small, but very green, family.

Abby RoseThe small, orphan girl Abby runs through the marketplace in the city of Sig-net. She makes it across and up a tree just in time to overhear a nun read-ing to a group of children The Tale of the Three Princes.She is quaint, dirty, but driven. She means business, and while is strong andwise for her age, she is still a child, and its things like storytelling that catch

her out, revealing that she is still a child, and one in need of attention andnourishment.After the nun catches her spying from a distance, she is instantly recog-nized: Abby has been running from the orphanage for some time, justclever enough to keep herself out of the clasp of the convent.

ACT I


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James Archibald & Prince AbacusSuffering in the dungeon, Archibald breathes through his pain, andfor the rst time in weeks, has the light of day shined upon him.

His captor, the prince (brother to the king), Abacus stands beforehim, speaking of a forgotten prophecy and a way to change thepast.Archibald denies its possibility; insisting that to succeed one wouldneed to locate a lost tree amongst a forest, a stone that was lost atsea, and a seer whose kind are now completely extinct.Abacus disagrees at his suggestions, revealing in his possession, astick from the tree, the gemstone of which he speaks, and a mysteri-ous vial of blood, asking that Abacus agree to assist him in his mis-sion to change the past: as their goals just so happen to align for abrighter future for both of them.Archibald would have his army win the war, and if the humans hadnot joined his opposing forces, he would have seen a victory.Abacus would have himself be crowned King, and should this occur,his strong opinions against the colonization of the new world wouldhave meant that the humans would have never joined the warefforts, and the existence of the other sorcerors, and much of themagical creatures that were wiped out thanks to the war would stillbe in existence.This is a surprisingly mutual objective.

Timothy SwindleAn ordinary trick isnt going so well as Timothy notices the Order OfAbacus passing through: And surprisingly enough, manages to usehis quick skills to steal the large gemstone in their possession.

This results in a rather large chase around through a dusty andbustling marketplace. In admist saving his own hide, T imothy comesacross a small girl, and her blind companion. This is Abby, who hasbeen running from some nuns, and a shopkeeper after stealing anapple.He stops for just a moment to help her, and as she drops the appleoff the rooftopbut rather than fall to the ground, her mere willseems to keep it mid-air, slowly spinning.Thinking nothing more of it, Timothy is nearly caught, and still withouttime to observe his bounty, continues off into the town.

Abby RoseContinuing her rush through the town, Abby nds time to stealan apple and is now on the run from the nuns and the apple stall

owner. In her rush, she bumps suddenly into a small boy: Lyon.He is blind, and when he talks, he doesnt make sense: His words arejumbled, and not to be mistaken with a child with a disability, Lyonspeaks clearly, and even intelligently: but any words he speaks seemto have no relevance.Curious and sympathetic, Abby takes him on as her honorary littlebrother, and they continue through the marketplace together, healmost giving away their position, speaking out of turn and not in awhisper. Finally, in a near-miss, Abby drops her apple and it rolls offthe edge of the balcony: but with her will, she manages to keep itaoat mid-air. A stranger notices, but instead of calling her a witch,directs her enemies the other way.Thankful but wary, she pulls Lyon back into the tunnels below themarketplace, and back to share a sleep in the branches of her fa-vourite tree.

Lily ReusWorking her stall in the marketplace for her father, The Botanist, Lilyand Spike have their reading time interrupted by a strangerand his large glowing gemstone. Assuming that this dark,mysterious man who seems to conduct magic isnone-other than the Last Sorceror, Lily helps Timo-thy escape, and they head upriver in her smallrowboat, abandoning her market stall, but withthe possibility of a real-life adventure, just like

those spoken of in her books. Timothy, gladto be given the opportunity of escape ishappy to act as her fairytale character,and clutches his gemstome tight.

Turning Points...


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Lily ReusLily leads Timothy into her home town of Baxter.Though he puts on a brave face, the journey growsin curiosity: and eventually they begin to pass a hor-ric site: statues of what appear to be men, thoughtheir bodies mutated to almost resemble barrentrees, all with painful expressions. Lily explains thatthese are The Dry, and tells that they were once evil

men who faught in the fairytale war. That they werestopped by the thirteen heroes, and the continentwas saved, all in accordance with her favourite storyof all, which she begins to recount:The Army of the Sun.Of course, Timothy refuses to believe in such non-sense.They then pass a row of ame-lit torches. Lily ex-plains this to be the work of The Warden. A gan-gly, strange man who spends his days keeping thetorches burning. The ames keep burning, and thiskeeps The Dry at bay.Once arrived and settled in the village, they go to

the Witch to get an idea of what the gem might beworth. She is unhelpful and takes very little interest,until James Archibald barges in. He holds a glow-ing branch, which Lily recognizes as something herfather, the Botanist once held. The witch and Jamesclearly have some hatred of one another, and aght results in some of the blood from James vialspilling on Lilys dress.As the ght escalates: somewhere between oncepowerful magicians, and an elderly couples feud,Lily and Timothy take this as a moment to get out,but it is in the escape Timothy reveals that he is not

a sorcerer at all, but really a cheap street magician,not to mention no belief in her childish stories. Lily isdeeply upset and offended, and they agree to partways in the morning.Resting at a nearby stream, Lilys dress is caught inthe water, and the blood stain on its bottom runsinto the running water: and before them grows animage: its a point of view: someone is watching asmall girl. Timothy recognizes this instantly, this is thegirl from the marketplace. But, as usual, he denies itssignicance, and Lily is left staring at the image asshe falls asleep, next to him.

The following morning at dawn, Lily gets a move on,back into Baxter. Leaving Timothy behind.But before she gets too far, she is caught by Jameshaving dealt with the witch, she has broken hisonce-glowing stick, and he knows Lilys father will beable to lead him to a new one.James ArchibaldHaving tracked his precious stone to the small town

of Baxter, James runs into an old enemy: the Witchof the Woods, Arim. She knows full well he is out tochange to past, and has noticed the winds of timebeginning to blow, but fails to stop him, merelybreaking his tree branch. Though this is one of thethree items he desperately needs in place to recre-ate history, he noticed that the girl, Lily recognizedhis now broken wand, and tracks her down to ndout why.Locking Lily in a cage in Baxter, and using her asbait, he forces her father, The Botanist, to take heand his men to The Forever Tree, and plucks from ita single twig, which glows when pointed in the right

direction.Victorious, he burns down the forever tree, andleaves her father behind to rot.As he returns to the village, his men just leave the girllocked up, and go to meet with Abacus.

Prince AbacusHaving been warned of the events unfolded: he los-ing his precious gem, and then Archibald having thewand destroyed, Abacus is in a foul mood.He holds his vial of blood tight: He still holds one ofthe three key items. They simply pour the vial into the

water and the images that evolve out of the cloudgive them clues as to where they need to travelnext.Abacus entrusts his most devoted assassin, Archer,with the task of retrieving the gemstone from thethief, while he follows the trail left by the blood.Timothy SwindleAfter the ght with Lily, Timothy is left alone with hisstone, and heads back to the city of Signet, andhe feels that the only sensible thing to do would ofcourse be to drink his problems away. After somerun-ins with the locals, muttering to himself about

the falseness of such a fairytale-war, and the silly girlobsessed with fairytales, he ends up urinating behinda tree. Who curiously, speaks to him.Giving himself away in the middle of the night,Archer takes back the stone with little competi-tion from the intoxicated Timothy, who then wakesstrapped in an old gallows.Timothy manages to enlist the help of an orphan

girl and her brother, and she takes him to where shelives, a tree on the other side of town.This is of course, Tluse, the very same tree on whomhe had urinated on the night before, but with anapology and some truth, he is forgiven, and ends upsleeping in Tluses branches, along with the orphanchildren as Tluse tells his own story: The Tree whoused to be a manBut everyone is asleep before he can reveal theendingthat he was once a human, turned into atree by a witch of the woods.

Archer

Returning with the Gem, Archer nds his Prince, Aba-cus to be close to nding the source of the blood,and James arrives with the stone.The weight of what lies ahead is nally revealed toits full extend: The wand only glows when pointedin the right direction: leading towards the Windowin the Rock. Once arriving, the window can only beactivated by a seer, who they are about to nd, andthen the seers will on what time period is visited canbe controlled by the Willing Stone: the same gemthat has been the source of so much chaos. Theseare the three keystones to changing history. A stick,

a rock, and a mind.Heading into the past, Abacus will re-write history,afrming himself as king, ensuring that the humanforces sent to aid the Fairytale war are disengaged,allowing James Archibald and his forces of the Sunto rule the new continent.Then, the nal stage of the operation is completedas the Order of Abacus arrive at the trunk of T-luse, and take the seer: the young boy, Lyon, in themiddle of the night.

ACT II


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Lyon is not an ordinary boy, as has already beenmade clear, he is certainly much more than heseems. He is, in fact, the Seer that they have beenlooking for. Supposedly extinct, his kind have theunique ability to see through time; some into thepast, others into the future. But even for his kind, Lyonis rare; he seems to see into both simultaneously,

leaving little room for the present. This explains hislack of awareness for his surroundings, and inexplicitramblings.

AbbyDevastated as her feaux brother is stolen from herarms, Abby follows the Order as far as she can,which leads her and Timothy to discover poor Lily,still locked in a cage.Between Abby and Lily, Timothy is persuaded to aidthem in rescuing the boy, with of course a promiseof wealth: being given the prize of Lilys fathers prizepossession: a potplant that grows golden owers.Using what Lily can remember as a basis, they headin the search for the Forever Tree, through the New-lands, rst of all, crossing the ame-torch fence, andthen past the Land Of The Dry.Skipping off into the distance is The Warden, andTimothy begins to question further the reality of theevents they are going through.Following only a hunch from an old story that Lily re-members, they follow the moon as it crosses the sky,but bump into a small but troublesome Sprite, whoseems trustworthy, but actually guides them downan incorrect path in order to keep their company. In

the evening once the Sprite has gone to sleep, ourheroes escape, and follow what is left of the moon,before they begin to see the sun rising.Eventually, they reach the tree, but things are not asthey were remembered. It seems James Archibaldhas anticipated this happening, and burnt the treeto the ground.The Botanist, barely alive, is released from his chains,

and they head back towards Baxter, defeated, butnot before Timothy has a chance to collect some ofthe ashit has to be worth something.

The BotanistOn the way back into the town, things havechanged signicantly. The ame-torches are not lit

for the rst time since he can remember, and thewinds have grown much stronger.Before the six heroes can get far into the town, it ismade very clear that there is a bounty on all of theirheads, and before you know it, The Botanist and Lilyare both thrown straight into a prison cell on the farend of town.Within the prison, they begin chatting to an elder,who claims to be a hero from the fairytale war.Though shadowed in the darkness of his adjacentcell, the small amount of light reveals the elder to beless human and more avian. Perhaps he was once aYowie, a humanoid creature taken on the likeness ofits surroundings, in this case, an owl.He begins to recount all of which Lily had alwayshoped was true; the army of the sun, the forevertree, the window in the rock, but more impor-tantly, he begins to depict the rough change in theweather for a change in the winds of time. It seems,he explains, history can be re-written, and the warcan still be lost. There was a betrayal in the ThirteenHeroes, who defeated the army of the sun, and theone that betrayed them still walks the world, hopingto nd a way to alter the past, and change history.The winds hadnt blown like this since the window

was created, and the king destroyed, so perhapsthe betrayer was making his play.Lily makes the suggestion that they would need tond the thirteen heroes in order to stop him, or thetwelve that are left, but the Elder disagrees: theheroes, or what is left of them are so scattered andtorn, reuniting is impossible.

SpikeNow left with Abby after a kerfufe and attack ofthe townsfolk, Spike and Abby are hopelessly lost,wandering through an unfamiliar town, and localsriled up by the Order who recently passed through.Abby and Spike, while trying to hide are stumbledupon, not by the order, but by a couple of unfriendly

locals, who drag them away in a sack in the hopesof reward money: All their pictures have been hungaround the town by the Order. The men, Raddusand Gilby decide to have a drink on the way backto the prison, dragging the girl and her cactus withthem.Using his cactus prongs to escape, Spike creates ahole small enough for himself, with the intention ofreturning with help.Passing by a nearby small corridor is Timothy, andSpike manages to nd his way into Timothys pack,without Timothy noticing.

Timothy SwindleEscaping out of the town, but leaving his compan-ions behind, Timothy takes his small bag of ash, andhis golden ower and heads towards the docks ofSignet, carefully passing by the Baxter townsfolk, us-ing his magicians tricks to evade their sight.On his way out, he is spotted by one of Abacusmen; Archer, who splits from the Order. This man wasspotted with the boy; Lyon and could be trouble.He is forced to steal Lilys boat, heading back downthe river towards Signet.As he travels, the winds of time blow past him, and

the creatures known as The Dry have begun to stir.He tries to turn a blind eye, but behind him theygrow more restless.Timothy arrives and pays his way with a goldenower onto a boat home to the motherland.


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Archer

Timothy looks over the ocean, uncertain of his actions, but on his way home.Hauling anchor, he has convinced himself that this is right thing, but is broughtback into reality when attacked by Archer.A quick ght nds both men equally agile, and the folk aboard the ship are farfrom helpful; most encouraging, and some even getting involved.Finally, Archer is stopped by none other than Spike: who reveals his hiding placein the bag of Timothy.Archer is dumped in the ocean, along with the blood stain on his cloak:The image revealed in the water grows: Lyon is being taken across the desert,the dark men surrounding him are following the glowing stick that he had over-heard stories of earlier, and the stone he once held in his own hand.The wind blows a sudden gust and Timothys hat goes ying.

The men from within the boat see the vision in the water and take it as a badomen, diving into the surrounding sea: abandon ship!

Timothy SwindleFueled with new emotions, Timothy grabs Spike and heads into town, he looksclosely at his bag of ash and heads straight for Tluse. Once there, he climbsthe branches, and covers one of his branches with the ash. Immediately, the tipbegins to glow, surprising both Timothy and Tluse.Then, intent on curing Tluse, Timothy decides to break the spell: By closing hiseyes very tight, and giving him a kiss. Though both are disgusted, slowly, Tlusebecomes somewhat human again: and ends up being a particularly ugly tree-person. But humourously, is still extremely ecstatic at being somewhat humanagain.

Together, they begin to follow the tip of Tluses nger which points straighttowards Baxter.This time, they jump on board the train, and the folks on board arent very wel-coming to the magician, his cactus and his tree, and while most jump off, theyforce the driver to steam on towards Baxter, despite the rumours of the townbeing overrun with creatures.

On the rails, Archer makes a reappearance: and an on-board train duel occurs.

While Archer and Timothy duel, Spike and Tluse keep the driver fuelling theengine.Eventually, Timothy overcomes Archer, and he is tossed out into the desert. Ashe is left behind, some of the Dry head towards Archers rolling body. He is mostcertainly done for.As they get closer to Baxter, more creatures line the t racks, and when pullinginto the station, the town itself is almost entirely abandoned: The Dry wanderthrough, and our heroes move quietly to avoid disturbing the horric creatures.They head straight for the one place that still has its lights on: the pub.AbbyBailed up against the walls with ames are the townsfolk, and at their helm isnone other than the small girl, Abby. It seems she has worked out that the only

thing they seem to fear is re. She has designated an area to each of her men,and when she sees Timothy who has betrayed her, she doesnt want to let himinto her fortress, until he reveals he has brought Spike along. Then Abby opensthe door.Timothy explains that they will go together to rescue Lyon, right after grabbingthe others, Abby explains she saw them being carried away into the prison.Making their way through the town, armed with torches of re, our heroes arriveat the prison and break free the Botanist, Lily, and the Elder from the cell nextto them. Timothy explains that although in the past, it has been the heroes whohave stopped the evil conict, this is a new age of heroes, where you deneyour own heroic qualities; he is the hero of illusion, the Botanist the hero of plants,Lily the hero of re, Lily the hero of story.Once she eventually agrees, Lily decides that if she is truly the hero of story, then

their own story she was going to have to start writing an ending to.Declaring no way to be able to catch up on foot, Lily demands that they visitthe witch of the woods so that she may help them.

ACT III


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LilyWith the obvious inuences of the Dry, there is now no questioning Lilys knowl-edge of fairytales, and all trust her to lead them into the woods, following atrail of mushrooms, and far away from the groaning creatures of the town.And so into the woods they go, marching along paths that dont seem tohave been crossed for a generation, until they come across a door. Thoughnothing is behind it, when it is opened, the house behind it can be crossedinto.The Witch reluctantly invites them in: and her den is nothing short of magni-cent. Rotating cogs and gears all work in an awkward movement together tomake for a room which is constantly in motion. To the extent which the doorthey walked through has already been picked up and placed somewhereentirely different, the windows in the background are picked up and placedwith completely alternative scenes on the other side. She recognizes the Elder,Owl, but is far more interested in Abby than actually helping any of them.Abby, paying little attention is more fascinated by the small ocarina inside anold, rusty chest, which seems to be calling out for her.Once opened, she picks it up. While Lily almost stops her, she begins to play,and the Witch is brought to tears by the tune.Brought on by the music, the doors and windows seem to change direction,and all align to the same place. Abby is confused, but this all seems very natu-ral to her.The witch explains: Abby is no mere mortal. In fact, she is born from two ofthe thirteen heroes: Her mother, the sea witch, and her father a sand sailor.

She goes on to explain: The tale of the Sea-Witch and the Sand-Sailor andsuggests that once the war was over and the sand sailors were all killed, oneleft his ship to her, should his daughter ever re-appear. Immediately, Abbysintuition leads her through a door and into an old, dusty shed. She pulls thegiant sheets off a giant, hardwood sailing ship, but with a large modication:

wheels.This is the vessel of a Sand-Sailor, and while thought to be extinct, the ability tocontrol it still runs strong in her blood.TluseSo on board they hop, Tluse holds his arm out straight, and Abby steers themto follow the guiding light at the edge of his nger.As they go deeper into the night, more creatures from the Dry attempt to at-tack them, but the sailing ship struggles onwards, with the determined Abbyat the help, and Tluse guiding, they are headed straight for the Window inthe Rock.

James ArchibaldEverything has fallen into place. Finally able to avenge his former king, Jamesand the Order arrive at the window and begin to setup his greatest conjuringof all: His wand no longer needed, he forces the boy, Lyon, before the win-dow. Being a Seer, the window automatically opens up to him, and throughhis unwilling eyes, moving images are projected into it: these are time periodsfrom within Lyons mind.Of course, Lyon will not participate, attempting to only reveal images fromunhelpful times, so James withdraws the gemstone from his possession: TheWilling Stone, to ensure that the child focuses on one image in particular: thenight before the crowing of the king. The bedroom of Prince Alfred.This whole time, it has been Abacus who was the second brother of the King,from the story told at the beginning by the nun, and his throne was ripped

from his rightful place by his brother.Though he is incredibly unwilling, Lyon is forced to focus his rapidly switchingmemories across to the particular time, and James watches on as Abacusenters the window.


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The New HeroesArriving as Abacus steps through the window, Abbys boat nally begins to fall to piecesand they abandoned ship into the sand dunes just in time.James Archibald and his men immediately rush to arms, but are countered at each turn,by a surprise cactus wound here, or a whallop from the arm/branches of Tluse thereAbacus manages to steady Lyons mind, while keeping off his two old enemies: the Witch& the Elder.Meanwhile, the ever sneaky Timothy Swindle manages to escape into the window, follow-ing Abacus, attempting to stop whatever is about to happen.AbacusStepping through the window, an incredibly dangerous act indeed: if the boy projectingthe images were to stop, or be raced away, both his insides and outsides would be imme-diately encased in stone. This drove his patience to extreme levels.But here he is, the world around him builds and the smokey haze of Lyons mind beginsto become more and more clear, a staircase forms from surrounding mist, and reveals hisfathers castleEventually he makes it to the stop of the stairs, followed by Timothy.They enter a babys room: in the Tale of the Three Princes, the king decided on his third sonbeing the next heir, because he brought the family the greatest gift: a newborn.Killing the baby will surely see events as they should have been.As he is about to stab the baby, both Abacus and Timothy are instantly transported toanother time, another place: A sandy desert.Lyon has regained control in the outside world. The men struggle.

LyonOn the outside of the window, James Archibald is forced back by the forces of good, andeventually can only go one place: inside the window as well, but not before grabbingback the Willing Stone that had been knocked from his hand.Now, the outsiders can only hope that Timothy can get out, and then Lyon can close thewindow. They watch on, barely able to see through the thick, moving glass-like liquid.Lily is held back by her father: it is too dangerous to follow them in.

The Window In The RockInside the window, James Archibald holds his Willing Stone tight, and while the worldswitches rapidly around them: a marketplace, a train-station, a campre, a henhouse, Ar-chibald looks back to the boy, and uses the stones magic to make them appear in an old

building, where a group of people stand around a table. Quickly, he jumps into the middleof it and grabs a piece of paper that is being kept between them: a map.Then, all in a beat, he waves a small wand from his pocket, and creates a second win-dowjumping through and away.Abacus is at a loss. He has been betrayed, and now there is no stone to keep Lyonsthoughts localized.Not missing a beat: Lyon takes them to a place Timothy remembers very well: a circus.And as the layout changes around them, Abacus is left inside the cage of a lion. He iscaught, and restrained back into the present.


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A Fairytale Ending...Back in what remains of Baxter, the winds of time have ceased, but the stone-dry creatures of The Dry remain as relics throughout the town.They are being collected up, and taken somewhere far away.Our heroes are happily settled into a routine, Timothy and Lily share a sweet, sideways smile, running her fathers potplant and herb stand.Timothy has been helping Abby rebuilt her boat, and she adorns a Captains hat that is far too big for her.Tluse attempts to woo some townsfolk, and while he is obviously unsuccessful, the girls play along.Abacus is in a prison cart on the train back to Signet. His only company is a pen and paper, and he has started to draw a rather pathetic, but heartfelt storybook.Custody of Lyon has been given to the Sprite that had tried to befriend our heroes earlier, so that they may company for one another forever, on the condition that

the Sprite never return him to civilization. They row off in a boat together, now Lyon has a very obvious bandage around his head: anyone trying to track him nowwill not be able to see through his blood.The Witch arrives at the potplant stall with a cauldron full of muck she has been preparing for clearly a long time, and discusses that Abby is much more than justthe daughter of a Sand-Sailor. She is also the daughter of a Sea-Witch, and moreso, the Sea-Witch is still alive. With a drop of blood into her cauldron, they can seewhere Abbys mother is being held.We peer into the murky puddle, and while a faint image can be made out, the story is drowned out by the music and the whirlpool.

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Land of the Dry Treatment 30.08.13