The Dyeland FAQ
by
Jenni
- How long has Dyeland existed?
Who knows? Since whenever God created
it. It is important to note that the name Dyeland only
came into use in 1998 when Princesses JenniAnn and Audrey
decided it would be a great place to bring their community of
TBAA/JD fans. The official name is actually Asteriana
and its native people are Asterians. Since those folks
have a sorta Renaissance flair to them, it could maybe be
implied that Asteriana was founded/ discovered in the 13th or
14th century. Due to the Celtic vibe, one can assume
they were a mix of English/Irish/Scottish people.
Side note: The Asterians and Dyelanders are friends. If
we're gonna have a made-up, fictional world I see no reason to
write in some vicious culture clash and land grab. The
two groups may not have a lot in common but they're fond of
each other and they work together when the need arises.
- How did these people get to Dyeland?
Several different ways!
Probably the most common for first timers is "act of
God." This would be the case for Andrew and Mick among
others. They were literally dropped into Dyeland by
God. In Mick's case it was to make peace with his
past. In Andrew's case, it was to set up his
future.
Still other people experience one heckuva wrong turn.
Maybe they were lost in some neighborhood in Kansas.
They turned into an alley and, suddenly, they're in
Dyeland! Likely this is another act of God.
People might be invited. However, this is only done
after some sort of screening process since secrecy and
safety are vital not just to Dyeland but also their Sibling
Cities (The Tunnels, L.A.). Occasionally someone will
forgo the screening process. Vincent was more or less
invited there by Lady JenniAnn's parents who were concerned
for their daughter. Now he's very much welcome and his
Tunnels in NYC are among its Sibling Cities.
(Screening processes are skipped when Joshua says to let
people enter Dyeland.)
As mentioned above, there are also the Asterians who have
grown up there with generations of their families having
resided there. That would be bit characters like
Cliff, Daisy, Sibyll, the Storyteller (Lewellyn), and others
who would assumedly refer to the place as Asteriana
still. Sadly, their numbers are dwindling since many
of their children moved to Earth.
Finally, there are the portals. That's the most common
mode of transportation to and from Dyeland. More on
that below.
- Alright, so how do they get back and
forth between Dyeland and Earth?
Portals. Think of it like
the wardrobe that led to Narnia. There are two types:
God-created ones and creature-created ones. The first
type just exists and for all they know have always existed
since Dyeland and the Earth were created. For example,
God put a portal in Omaha that let to Dyeland that had
another portal that led to the Tunnels. This is how
lil LJA ends up with Vincent and Catherine. Assumedly,
this would be how the lost Kansas people in the example
above also ended up in Dyeland: they went through a portal
without realizing it.
But portals can also be created by Cliff, Dyeland's resident
magician. In the past, he's put some in Mick's
apartment, Willy's London factory, and other locations to
make travel easier.
One portal can lead to multiple places if it's
God-created. For instance, the one Joshua created in
the gazebo (transferred from Andrew's willow tree) might
take a person to the Tunnels one time and to LJA's parents'
home another time, depending on where they're trying to
go. They first need to use the key Joshua gave
everyone to "unlock" it and then select the carved image
that matches where they want to go. Current options
are:
-- the Tunnels
-- the "blue room" at St. Genesius' in Manhattan
-- an alley in Manhattan
-- JenniAnn's bedroom closet in her parents' house in Omaha
-- a random alley in Omaha
-- Mick's apartment in L.A.
-- another random alley in L.A.
-- the Romano Family Farm in Albany
In turn, those portals also need to be "turned on" by the
same key. If they lead to multiple places, they, too,
will have carvings or images of some sort. Without the
key, nothing will happen. The key is a relatively new
thing, instituted by Joshua in 2014, since Dyeland now has
little ones. It's a security measure to keep kids from
wandering who knows where. Prior to Joshua making this
change, the portals were always "live" which is why it was
important Cliff close the ones he made down as soon as the
Dyelanders were finished with them (like when he installed
one in Andrew's rental home in West Hollow, IA... it's not
there now because Cliff closed it when that assignment
ended.)
It is important to note that this is NOT
teleporting. A Dyelander couldn't be standing in their
kitchen and think "I want to be in Australia" and go
there. They would have to go to one of the Dyeland
portals and then come out a portal in Australia.
Except neither Cliff nor Joshua have put one in Australia
for the Dyelanders to use. So there are definite
limits. Similarly, a Dyelander couldn't be running
down a street in New York and will themselves to
Dyeland.
Joshua can create/alter/close portals because he's God and,
thus, can do whatever he wants. Cliff was born with
the special gift of being able to open and close
portals. He can't do the fancy stuff Joshua can with
keys and multiple options. Cliff's portals go to only
one location. Cliff is a responsible portal maker but
the possibility exists that other, far less conscientious,
portal makers exist or existed in the past. So the
possibility of an unstable portal does exist.
- Where
is Dyeland in relation to Earth?
I dunno. Again, Narnia is a good parallel. It's
simply its own world. It's connected to Earth but you
couldn't really say it's next to Earth, above Earth, below it,
etc.
- How
did Andrew become involved in Dyeland?
The short version is above. Here's a bit longer one: On
March 17, 2000, Andrew once more found himself in what he
would later learn was a spot called the Glen of
Goodness. He'd been sent there before and admired the
place but never became involved with the few people he saw
there (Asterians). But on that fateful day in 2000...
all that changed. Our poor, unjustly-maligned, beloved
angel of death was not having a great day. Let's face
it: some people are afraid of him, some think he's evil.
Death *does* have a bad reputation. So imagine Andrew's
surprise when he heard someone singing a love song... one that
seemed to be about *him.* He followed the voice which
was originating from the Fields of Gold. When he made
his way there he found a group of people who, far from
shrinking away from him, seemed to be absolutely enamored with
him. They invited him back and so he returned.
Again and again and again until eventually he was given a
house there, Serendipity. So now Dyeland is his home
away from Home and its people his family. Although he
now lives in Willowveil since he's co-parenting Belle with
JenniAnn.
- How can I be involved in
playing/writing Dyeland?
Since we started this,
some of us have begun to take the Dyeland stories quite
seriously. We put a lot of time and effort into
maintaining continuity. Thus, we ask that people
please read and heed the guidelines before becoming
involved. Thanks!
Dyeland
Stories
JABB Portal
JABB TOC