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= Unconfirmed information

Pâhry. Major Obscure City, east of the Desert of  SOMONITES. It ruled for over a century over the western half of the CONTINENT, and imposed the use of French as a common language (see LATREILLE). Starting in 671 AT, this city was the first to "regularise" itself. It hosted two great INTER-CITY EXHIBITS. Its OPERA HOUSE most probably connects with the Garnier Opera of Paris. ELEPHANTS are almost worshipped in Pâhry, despite the fact that there are no living specimens anywhere near (GC).

Palace of the Princes. Residence of the Princes of TAXANDRIA after the GREAT CATACLYSM. During the Eternal Present era, its bells were the only mean of marking TIME in the city (SEP).

Palace of the Three Powers. Seat of the government of BRÜSEL, originally designed by Joseph POELAERT. Identical to the PALAIS DE JUSTICE DE BRUXELLES, to which it is linked; except for the summit, which ends in a pyramid rather than a dome. Started in 671 AT, it took many years to finish it (EC, B, GC).

Palais des mille feux [Palace of a Thousand Lights]. A lamp shop in BLOSSFELDTSTAD, property of Mrs. BOUCHINEY. While experimenting with aerial stereoscopy, MICHEL ARDAN crashed into its skylight, which had been built in the days when the city was still called BRENTANO (ODH).

Palazio. A casino in ALAXIS, designed by Paul Dufournet HOREAU and decorated by Ludovic DEL GIUDICE.  This is where the start of the Carnival is signaled three times a year (INT). SAINCLAIR lost huge sums of money in this establishment (GC).

Pantin.   A Parisian neighbourhood in the North-East section of the city, where the Great Mills are located.   There is a close copy of this quarter somewhere on the outskirts of an Obscure City, maybe BRÜSEL, bordering the Ocean (AS#107).

Papadimitrikopoulos, Konstantin. The jovial proprietor of the STORK CLUB (GC).

Passage. To cross from one world to another. It can be done by "mechanical" means, through points that have an affinity with the other universe, or simply by the power of a mind with the proper setting. Many of the physical locations have been described on the INTERNET. See also BOYER, PASSEURS and VERNE.

Passage Fatal (Le) [The Fatal Passage]. A fresco by Augustin DESOMBRES. 1905 AD, 690 x 380 cm (MAD).

Passages.   Locations that allow one to cross over from one world to the other seem numerous enough, but are often fluctuating, badly documented and difficult to find.   Several attemps have been made to date to compile them, mostly on the INTERNET, and some of the major sites are listed below.  It should be noted that impermanence is a notorious characteristic of such points, and the authors of those lists decline all responsability for the inconveniences that might result from an unsuccessful attemp...  See also COMPÈRE.

Passeurs. A French term usually translated as ferryman. The original meaning is not however restricted to boat handlers, and covers anybody who helps people to cross over to somewhere else. Those who can assist others in "passing" to the Obscure World are often artists, writers or architects, and they don't always realise that they have a special talent.

A few suspected passeurs :

Paulzen, Marie. See DURAINE DE MONTIGNAC.

Pauvreté dans les Somonites [Poverty in the Somonites]. A book by Estève DESCHANT (GC). See SOMONITES.

Pavel. Assistant of HUBERTUS (INT).

Pavilion of Books. There is always one at any INTER-CITY EXHIBIT, and this is generally the feature that decides of the success of the whole event. During the 750 AT exhibit in PÂHRY, the books themselves seem to have taken possession of the place, causing strange occurences (GC).

Below:  the Pavilion of Panoramas

Paz. Monetary unit used in XHYSTOS (MS). Franz BAUER was offered twenty thousand of them for his mission to SAMARIS, and it was considered a very good salary (MS).

Pellerin, G. With P. CHRISTIN, co-author of an article titled "Ni le lieu ni l'heure: Augustin Desombres et la tradition ésotérique" [Neither the Place nor the Hour: Augustin Desombres and the Esoteric Tradition].

People of the Forests.   One of two civilizations that share the planet VÉDRA, in the HOLLOW EARTHS system.  Its HABITREES are in perfect harmony with the environmnent (AS#11).  See also PEOPLE OF THE MARSHES.

People of the Marshes.   The second society living on the HOLLOW EARTH world of VÉDRA.  It favours "hard" technologies, and its monumental towers are raised in the middle of craters smothered in poisonous fumes (AS#11).  See also PEOPLE OF THE FORESTS.

Péradam. Currency of PORT-DES-SINGES (GC). In the novel Le MONT ANALOGUE, by René Daumal, they are described as crystalline spheroids of various size, harder than diamond and almost as transparent as the air itself (MA).

Périls du couloir (Les) [The Perils of the Corridor]. A two-part fresco by DESOMBRES. Probably unfinished (MAD).

Period. A sub-division of TIME in the HOLLOW EARTHS (C, N, TC, Z). See also CYCLES and LOMBES.

Perret Brothers. French architects and developers, born in Brussels. They are considered to have raised armed concrete to the level of a noble construction material. -Auguste (1874-1954 AD), in collaboration with his brothers Gustave (1876-1952 AD) and Claude (1880-1960 AD), has erected the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris (1911 AD, adapted from a project by H. Van de Velde), the church of Raincy (1922 AD), the Garde-Meuble national, and has also supervised the Havre re-construction (PLI).

Perret Tower. A building of SAMAROBRIVE that favourably impressed Jules VERNE during his visit to that city (EC).

Pétin, Ernest. Inventor of the AEROSTATIC LOCOMOTIVE (ETPV).

Petite Boutique de M. De Vrouw.   [Little Boutique of Mr. De Vrouw]  Established in BRÜSEL in 731 AT, this company specialised in the sale of Obscure items to the inhabitants of our world, where it started operating in 1997 AD (LSLC). See also FLORENCE.

Phœbus. A semi-mythical planet in the Obscure World, always pictured as covered with skyscrapers (GC). Models of it can be found in many places, including our own world. See ENFANT DE PHŒBUS.

Pierre. A traveller from XHYSTOS, who left one day for SAMARIS and never came back (MS).

Pierre and Dany. Siamese brothers in the ROBERTSON CIRCUS. They are merged to such a degree that they can almost be considered to be a two-headed man (EP). Their silhouette is identical to that of the Princes FILIPUS SEVEN DASH EIGHT, of TAXANDRIA (SEP).

Pierrette. A married woman of the VILLAGE OF MYSTS, caught in bed with her neighbour by an unexpected hardening of fog (C).

Pilote solitaire (Le) [The Lone Pilot]. A fresco of DESOMBRES central, along with NUIT BLANCHE, to the article written by P.CHRISTIN and G.PELLERIN (MAD).

Piranesi, Giovanni Battista. Italian engraver and architect, born in Mogliano Veneto (1720-1778 AD). He has produced over two thousand etchings; often of a visionary nature, that have been a source of inspiration for neo-classic artists, but also set him as one of the precursors of Romanticism (PLI). See Giovanni BATTISTA.

Pisa. [1] A city known to the inhabitants of The TOWER for its unusual bell tower (LT). [2] A city of northern Italy, in our world.

Place Milena. See MILENA.

Plaisir des huîtres. [Pleasure of the Oysters] A book by M. LELOUP (EC).

Plaza of Order. (In French:  Place de l'Ordre)  A public square on the South Shore of URBICANDE, in the axis of the street leading to the planned Third Bridge (GC).

Pneu-Rail.  See TYRE-RAIL.

Poelaert, Joseph. The architect in charge of building the PALAIS DE JUSTICE of BRUSSELS and the PALACE OF THE THREE POWERS of BRÜSEL. Known for his frequent pleasure trips to PÂHRY. A secretive man, he always refused to let anybody see his plans. He stayed for a while in the Department of Incurable and Bedridden of the BRÜSEL CLINIC (EC, B). The man seems to have left an historical trace in both worlds, and it is not impossible that there may have been two separate Poelaerts, trying to reach each other.  See STREETS OF BRUSSELS.

Poelaert, Théodore. Prefect of BRÜSEL. According to Pr. Georg Gardenner, as quoted in L'ÉCHO DES CITÉS, only his support allowed his cousin Joseph POELAERT to be chosen for the construction of the PALACE OF THE THREE POWERS (EC).

Poetry. In the Obscure World, it is highly respected form of literature. Most appreciated for its mnemonic virtues (GC). See ACEVEDO and ALAXIAN.

Poirier, Gustave. According to FRIEDRICH/ROBUR, he was the Prefect for Communications (RA).

Polo (Nicolo and Mafeo). Explorers from the Italian city of Genova, brothers of Marco. They may have visited the Obscure World in the distant past. See MAFEO.

Porrentruy. [1] In the world of the Obscure Cities, a small town in the north-west of the CONTINENT, remarkable for the way its buildings are set on the edge of breath-takingly high cliffs. The MUSÉE DES OMBRES is located there (RA, EC, EP). [2] There is also a city of the same name, in German Pruntrut, in the Swiss canton of Jura.

Port-des-Singes. [Port-of-the-Apes] In the Obscure World, a city of ARD, that uses PÉRADAM as currency (GC). See also MONT ANALOGUE.

Porte de Hal [Gate of Hal]. A subway station of BRUSSELS, scenographied in part by François SCHUITEN. An important point of PASSAGE to the Obscure Cities, it is perfectly copied in BRÜSEL. Tramways are coming out of the walls in both universes (GC, ACO). See also DE LA BARQUE, KRIJS and STREETS OF BRUSSELS.

Postal Service. Although there is no official mail service between the world of the Cities and ours, there are indications of officious traffic. We know of an Obscure stamp which is virtually identical to a 1991 AD Belgian one; both issues show ROBICK reading a letter. (ACO, B). Inside The TOWER, mail used to travel one way, from top to bottom. See also BRAUNSTEIN and ZABEL.

Posterism. The technique of covering a building to be demolished with scenes showing the finished project that will replace it (in original French: affichisme. In BRÜSEL, the conflict with the FACADISM trend brought the city close to civil war (GC). See also DISPLAYISM.

Potferdom! Constant ABEELS' favourite swear word (B). A very mild Dutch profanity.

Pound. A currency accepted in all major Obscure Cities (GC), and apparently the official tender in BLOSSFELDTSTAD (ODH).  It is to be noted that the original French term "livre" also means "book", and that rare books are a much sought-after commodity in the Obscure World.

Poznah. See JUNGLE OF POZNAH.

PRESENT. The only newspaper authorised in TAXANDRIA during the rule of the PRINCES. It had no pictures, and dealt strictly with the Here and Now (SEP, TAX).

Prestigiacomo, Jérôme.  An Obscure playright.  He he rumored to have been one of the many lovers of DURAINE DE MONTIGNAC (INT).

Princes.  See FILIPUS.

Psycho-systematic. A specific branch of the Obscure science of psychology. We know very little about it (INT). See ELKAÏM.

Pym, Théophraste (Pr). One of the main persons in charge of keeping ARMILIA in good working order. FRIEDRICH/ROBUR simply called him "Old Pym". Author of the booklet Des MYSTÈRES DU CALENDRIER (RA, GC).

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