Happol: City of the Lost

In this dream, Ca'eam is known as Happol. It is not a place one can visit on purpose, as one only finds themselves in Happol when lost. When one realizes where they are, they will no longer be within Happol.

Lost City

Happol is a city that is lost even to itself— its streets, bridges, markets, and homes are a confusing web that none can navigate. This jumble rises to blot out whatever lies beyond the city limits, and none can quite say where Happol was built to begin with. It is assumed that those who built the city were, themselves, lost. Even architecture cannot be relied on, a structure may bear markings of traditional Japanese construction, yet will deviate just enough to confuse its origins. This occurs throughout the city's many edifices— each nearly resembling something familiar, enough to be mistaken from a distance, but decidedly alien upon closer inspection.
Within the city are those lost within it, be they people, places, or things. Family dogs that went missing one fateful summer day, pencils that were dropped but never found, loves that got away— whatever has been lost can likely be found in Happol. Some of its denizens go their entire lives without knowing where they are, and make a home for themselves within the strange city. Should they call it home, thus naming it, they would find themselves outside the city once again. Stories of Happol go back untold centuries, their origins— just like those of the city— having been lost. It is only through familiarity with these tales, not signs or markers within the city itself (of which there are none) that one can recognize it, and escape.

Lost & Found

There are those who attempt to rescue people and things from Happol, though their knowledge of the city makes this quite difficult. Thus, they must act via proxy— their methods often include kidnapping and displacing people so that they become lost, and find themselves in the city. Typically, these proxies are given a sheet of text, or a photo of what the rescuers wish for them to find— with the hope that they will find them, and discover their location soon after, thus returning together. These missions are rarely succesful, however, given the confusing nature of the city, its size, and the proxies themselves either becoming lost to the city or realizing where they have ended up before they find their target.