The fifth chapter concerns Randolph Carter making the journey to Celephaïs, asking after the men who bear resemblance to the gods, and setting off on a boat to their lands.

After bidding farewell to the ghouls, Carter wanders through the woods. He hears murmurs of a war between the cats and the zoogs; the latter are enraged by their slaughter by the cats of Ulthar. Understanding the language of both, he finds a group of cats and warns them of the pending attack. Using Carter as a translator, the cats broker a peace deal with the zoogs. His job in the Enchanted Wood done, Carter sets off towards Celephaïs.

On his travels, he discovers that the god-like men come from the cold land of Inganok, where no cat dare tread. The men of Inganok trade in onyx, which they mine and use as a building material. It is revealed that their land neighbours Leng, which is separated from them by an impassible mountain range. Prying further, Carter finds that a stony desert lies between Inganok and the mountain range, a desert so unsettling that even the men of Inganok no longer travel in it despite its rich onyx deposits.

Finally reaching Celephaïs, Carter visits his old friend Kuranes who has lived for many years after his physical death. He has become bored of Dream and models parts of Celephaïs after his earthly homelands in the West Country of South England. After revealing his plan to climb Kadath and entreat the gods, Kuranes follows suit with almost everyone else who has spoken to Carter, and advises against his continued journey. Ignoring the wise king’s advice, Carter finds a ship of the men of Inganok and sets sail towards their homeland.

Lovecraft was really having fun with this short story. On a simple quest to find a particular mountain range, our hero has been kidnapped by slavers from the moon, been rescued from moon-toads my cats who can jump to the moon, climbed a dangerous mountain to bear witness to a colossal carving of a god, been kidnapped by night-gaunts, traversed the abyss, snook through a city of ghast-eating giants to regain the surface, and brokered a peace between the cats of earth and dream and the carnivorous zoogs. While there are definitely horrific undertones such as the seeming ever-looming presence of Nyarlathotep, this is definitely more of a tale of classic fantasy than a tale of horror.

I was interested to see how Kuranes had developed over his long years in Dream. I was especially interested in the fact that he had grown weary of near godly power over the city of Celephaïs, and that he is embarking on long journeys to sate his wanderlust.