Well, what is he going to do, sit here and play fetch with the dog for an hour, of course he unfurls it.

He considers using a mirror, but discards the idea; if this whole convoluted affair was a leadup to a madness-inducing scroll, he thinks that he’s going to pat the head of whoever set it up and tell them to make their maniacal plots less ridiculously complicated next time.

It's a rather abstract drawing, that may be a map, may be a geometric representation of a cosmic horror, may be an experiment in weird lines, depending on how he squints at it.

He squints at it in several different positions, from every possible angle, backlit, frontlit, from the side, as several different sorts of animals who have odd color ranges and visual perspectives, and in the closest thing he can find to complete darkness! Doesn’t hurt to be thorough.

The map shifts slightly each time, showing sometimes subtle changes - a door here, a wall there - and sometimes a different layout entirely. The only thing constant is a square in the middle that has a single exit, leading to a larger area with more exits.

That... seems like a hint? That he should go out above the gate, again? Maybe? He doesn’t know, he’s never taken a class in deciphering mysterious ever-changing cartography.

He tucks away the map, turns into a bird - a raven, this time, for variety - and swoops back out over the gate, into the larger area.

It seems the same as the last time he saw it, though since he didn't stop to count the number of doors or measure the sides he can't be sure.

No, no he can’t.

He lands on a roof, detransforms, and plucks up the map from nowhere-in-particular - does it look much different, here?

It's shifted somewhat. The parts he can see match up. The starting area might be a slightly different size?

Also there is a dog barking at him from the ground. Person wandered off! But she's a good girl and found her! This is a fun game!

Shaitiren tucks away the map, shifts into a bird, flits down to the ground, and shifts back. Absent-minded pets are allocated.

It doesn’t seem like he’ll actually be able to manage to solve this situation without using new magic. 

He sighs, internally.

He takes out his wand and staff, mutters, gestures, and casts.

Among the many things that Ruwien magic can do is ‘allow for communication with animals’.

“Can you understand me?” he says, understandably.

"Hello!!!" she says, brightly. "How are you talking?"

His smile is a bit forced.

”Hi! I’m using a spell: I can only hold it for a little while. While I have it on, could you tell me about where we are? I have more treats.”

"Treats are good! I don't know. I was playing the run away game with my person. Then I smelled a SMELL and dug for it and found the bad thing, and then my human was shouting and I couldn't move and something bad happened and I fell and I was here."

“Could you describe the bad thing in further detail? Do you know how I could get out of here?”

"Smelled bad. I thought it was a dead thing but it wasn't. I don't know. I can't get out. You fell from the sky, though."

... he looks up at the sky, so as to discern if it has any stars.

No - 

Unless - 

There's one, high above, shining like a beacon over the place he entered.

Oh thank fuck for half-remembered bits of secondhand dream imagery.

He pets the dog, one last time, and dispenses a bit of jerky. There’s an air of finality to it.

And then he’s flying, flying, flying, as the fastest bird he’s ever known, towards that single star in the sky.

It's a long flight, the distance blurring dream-like in his mind, and he doesn't remember the end of it - 

And he wakes up, a hard bench under him.

He spends a moment collecting his bearings and beating back his internal cascade of ‘what the fuck! what the fuck just happened!’ in favor of some more productive line of thought.

And then he’s walking rapidly towards the door.

(If he looks: the washing machine that produced the not-dog appears to have never been there. There's no sign of it having been dragged off or missing, and there's a dryer there now instead.)

No one accosts him on his way out.

He notes this down, passively, as he skedaddles.

Hello, door to Bina’s apartment. He would apologize for knocking on you with unnecessary force, but he’s not really in the mood.

She opens it.

"What happened?" she asks, stepping by to let him in.

“I fell into an alternative dream dimension after being bathed in green light by an eldritch monstrosity. There were scritches. I’ve had a day.”

"...Lime green? Like the fruit."