Curiosity did what, now?

[lurkingkobold]

The kobold's research cave is coming along nicely, after her previous adventure - the floor carefully flattened (by teleporting stone out) and softened (by teleporting sand in); the permanent portals to Deva and the cavern's exit, currently closed to anyone who doesn't know the passwords, but marked off, with spaces set aside for several more portals; her experimenting supplies tucked away behind further portals in her workspace; a small cache set up for her new translation necklace and any other magical items she might happen to find in her travels.

And, now, another portal, leading to another new world. She double-checks that she has her traveling gear - translation necklace, teleporting ring, twine - completes the spell, and peers through.

Comments

[lurkingkobold]

After about ten minutes, a new elf pokes her head in the doorway. "Dusk said there was a new person in here?"

She scans the room, eventually spotting Elarron. "Oh, you are a new person! Hello!" She crosses the room and sits across from him. "I'm River, I'm sort of a jack-of-all-trades around here; I'm afraid Dusk didn't tell me much about you, just that I should come meet you."

[last_one_out]

... Elarron decides that he likes Dusk.

"Hello," he says, smiling. "I'm Elarron. I appeared unexpectedly in this forest a few hours ago and people think I'm probably from another world. It's been a confusing day."

[lurkingkobold]

"Wow, I can imagine." She scans the room again. "And let me guess, Petal is at the council trying to talk them into opening another trade route, and Rain is off someplace panicking about otherworldly titans, and meanwhile nobody has bothered to figure out what you can eat or where you're going to sleep."

[last_one_out]

"...That sounds about right," says Elarron. "Although I'm not sure what a titan is."

[lurkingkobold]

"Oh, they're big stompy monsters, kind of like a dragon or giant but they're all different. We're well-defended here, though, nothing to worry about. So, what kinds of things do you eat?"

[last_one_out]

"Well - I don't know, what kinds of things do the people here eat?"

[lurkingkobold]

"Elves eat mostly fruit and grains. Tigerfolk eat mostly meat; they can eat a few kinds of fruit but it's not really good for them. And then the animals eat all sorts of things, so we have a little bit of everything on hand even if we don't need it for ourselves."

[last_one_out]

"Aluvai eat fruit and grains and meat. Other things too, but fruit and grains and meat are fine by themselves."

[lurkingkobold]

She nods. "I'm planning on making corn chowder for dinner tonight; I can make enough for two if that will suit you, or I can ask around and see what else we can come up with."

[last_one_out]

"That sounds fine to me. Thanks."

[lurkingkobold]

She nods with a grin. "Sounds good. As to where you can sleep -"

"Shell's old workshop is still free," interjects one of the mages.

River blinks. "And what if he needs something during the night?"

"He can ask the guards. Unless he'd rather tell us what the ring does."

"...oh." River considers this, and then nods reluctantly. "I suppose that's where you'll go, then."

[last_one_out]

"...What?" he says, blinking confusedly.

[lurkingkobold]

It takes a moment for River to get her bearings again. "Magic can be dangerous. You seem nice enough, but nobody is going to want a stranger with unidentified magic walking around unsupervised." She seems a little bit apologetic, but mostly unsettled under the veneer of friendliness.

[last_one_out]

"...I... think this might be a different-worlds thing," he says. "Magic doesn't really—do that, at home. It wouldn't make sense to think of something like the—the ring as dangerous." (He is visibly uncomfortable discussing the ring, in a way that suggests someone trying unsuccessfully to relax a strong expectation of privacy around an extremely personal subject.)

[lurkingkobold]

River nods. "Well, we'll manage. Do you know if they're expecting to be able to get you back home soon?"

[last_one_out]

"It didn't sound like it."

[lurkingkobold]

"All right. Do you have any idea where you'll want to go, if they can't?"

[last_one_out]

"I don't - I don't know where there is to go," he says. "I don't think there's anywhere I could go that would be much like home. So... I don't know. I'll figure something out, I guess."

[lurkingkobold]

River nods, sympathetic. "They'll do the best they can." She takes a moment to re-focus on being welcoming. "Is there anything we can do to make things more comfortable for you, in the meantime?"

[last_one_out]

"I'm not sure... um, where's the place you said I might be sleeping?"

[lurkingkobold]

"Shell's old workshop, by the pond - we used to keep otters, and she was in charge of their food. I think they've been using it for storage, recently; it shouldn't take long to get it set up for you." She looks to the mage who spoke earlier, who shakes his head. "We should wait for Petal and Rain first, though."

[last_one_out]

"Hm. Okay."

[lurkingkobold]

"...so, tell me about your world? Or I can tell you about ours, if you have questions."

[last_one_out]

"Well, it's hard to tell exactly what's different between my world and yours," he says thoughtfully, "because I've never been to the sunlit lands myself. The part of the world where I live doesn't get direct sunlight at all, and things are very different there, but our sunlit lands might be very much like yours and I wouldn't know. It sounds like you have more monsters here than in the sunlit lands I know of, but much less than in Aluvanna."

[lurkingkobold]

"That sounds a bit like the underdark, except that the underdark doesn't get any light at all. And not many people live there, or at least not many civilized ones - dwarves do, sometimes, but not elves or humans."