Sandy petersens cthulhu mythos (1) 19

The Gates of Slumber!

Back to the Waking World!

All cats in the Dreamlands are Dreamlands cats:

A cat in the Dreamlands can always choose whether

intelligent and fully sentient beings with feline

it wishes to return to the waking world mentally or

instincts, behavior, and skills.

physically, regardless of how it got to the Dreamlands.

Dreamlands cats spend so much time asleep
because that is when they enter the Dreamlands and

When a cat returns from the Dreamlands, it always
returns to its physical body in the waking world.

become intelligent. Their waking lives are somewhat

If a cat returns physically to the waking world,

of an afterthought, intended to seek affection, to mate,

regardless of how it entered the Dreamlands, it returns

to fuel their body, and for rest and relaxation. Most of

through the Gates of Slumber, which always lead to a

their activities take place during sleep.

location within 1 mile of where the cat left.

A cat can always choose whether to enter the

If a cat went to the Dreamlands mentally and returns

Dreamlands or the waking world, either physically or

mentally, it wakes up in the waking world wherever it

mentally. Most of the time, a cat enters the Dreamlands

left. If the cat entered the Dreamlands physically but

mentally and leaves its body behind, asleep.

returns mentally, its body reappears where it entered

When a cat enters the Dreamlands physically, it
travels through the Gates of Slumber, a dimensional
portal imperceptible to most beings. When doing so,
the cat is no longer present in the waking world. Cats
can only do this when they are completely unobserved.
The Gates of Slumber are an actual physical location.
However, they are typically open at many places at

once, and move around, so they are not always at the
same spot. Sometimes, they may be behind a backyard
fence, or perhaps they might be found in an abandoned
badger burrow, or else up a spooky old tree. Only cats
know for sure. Humanoids can only tell the cat has left
physically when, for instance, the cat runs into the attic
and doesn’t return for a day or so.
It is important to note that because a cat wishing
to enter the Dreamlands must physically find the
Gates of Slumber and can only pass through when
entirely unobserved, a cat cannot simply escape to the
Dreamlands when it is, for example, caught in a trap or
imprisoned. Cats can only perform this form of travel
when they have free and unrestricted movement.

the Dreamlands or at an unobserved location within
1 mile.
A cat cannot otherwise use Dreamlands travel to
move its physical body.

Between the Dimensions
When a cat is in the dream state, it can travel much
farther and faster than it could while waking. For
example, it can leap to the moon and back from the
earth’s surface in the Dreamlands. It can even travel to
the stars beyond, but this is dangerous.
When in the dream state, cats may meet unusual
entities and objects in the Dreamlands, particularly
if they travel far from the places they know well. A
cat may well visit the Dreamlands, fill up on eating

pixies (or whatever), and then return sparkling with
pixie dust. A Dreamlands cat may encounter an entity
none was meant to see and might never return—or be
profoundly changed by the experience.

Family
While cats often regard a particular other cat as a
friend or recognize it as a relative, they do not have a
true family life. Tomcats wrangle over desirable mates,

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