Over the next two weeks, David and I were kept busy with work. We spent a few nights playing our game, American Gods, and the other nights we spent preparing our camping gear with stuff we didn’t want to leave behind – especially in the case of us being gone for weeks or months, if that happened. David, for example, had told me he was bringing a case of his asthma puffers, as well as some antihistamines in case we had allergic reactions to something there – and he also managed to purchase 2 epi-pens, which I hoped we never needed. I had stashed a large amount of the gold and gems in my pack – but left about a third of it at home. I also read up on some basic survival skills. I packed my grandmother’s journal too, figuring it might have some much needed advice once we get to the other side. On a whim I packed about 3 pounds of salt, and 3 pounds of pepper too, because in the middle ages – at least on our world - spices were money. It cost maybe 10 bucks, so I figured it was worth it, even if they didn’t sell at all. I bought some more ammunition too – 1 box of .38 and 1 box of .357, as well as two boxes of something the sales clerk called Shotshells – which were like shotgun shells designed for a .357 magnum pistol, like mine. They looked cool – and I thought I might need to blow a really big hole in a really dangerous monster, so I bought them too. They fired #4 shot. They were supposedly only good at close range – like maybe 15 feet at most.
I also wrote my dad and mom a note, telling them where I had gone – in case I wasn’t able to come back for a while. I explained everything – about the Adventure Tokens, Grandma’s journal, the gold and gems, and I wrote the location of the Portal too. I also explained that David might not be coming back with me, when I came back. I also apologized to mom and dad, for not telling them what we were going to do – but I think they would know why I didn’t tell them, considering dad’s probable reaction to all this.
By now, most of the stuff from Grandma’s that I’d put on Ebay had sold – and the rest I’d donated to the thrift stores. I’d made about 1100 dollars combined for the old vinyl, the figurines, and the assorted other knick-knacks I’d found. Some of the tacky jewelry from the 1970’s really surprised me with its value.
Eventually Friday afternoon came around – and I said farewell to many of my coworkers, wondering if it would be for the last time. To be honest, I was full of anticipation and nerves – I was worried it would work and we would end up on another world, and worried it wouldn’t work, and we would have wasted all this time for nothing. I didn’t really think the latter was going to be a problem – but the possibility niggled at me constantly. On the way home I swung by David’s and found him waiting by the front door with his gear.
“Somebody looks excited!” I called out as I parked my Kia Rio.
“Damn right! I’ve been waiting for our camping trip for weeks!” David replied eagerly.
“David!” his mom’s voice called from inside. “Your father said you forgot something in the mud room!”
“I’m pretty sure I didn’t, mom!”
David’s mom came to the back door, and sighed. “You dummy.” She began. “Your dad is so happy about you getting your first gun and all that stuff, that he decided to buy you boys a couple of cases of beer for your camping trip. It’s yours to take.”
“Seriously!?” David replied. “I can’t believe it!”
“Believe it, mister. Now take the beer with you, or he’ll be really disappointed, okay?”
“Okay mom!” David went back inside and brought out two cases of beer – one of Coors Lite, and one of Bud Light, and put them in the back of my car.
I grabbed some of David’s gear and helped him load it up, and then waited while he kissed his mom goodbye.
“Seeya mom!” he called out, and then hopped in the car.
“Bye, Mrs. Wilson!” I called out.
“Drive safe, you two!”
“We will!” I replied, and put the car in reverse. David watched his mom, waving goodbye to him, and then turned away, letting out a breath I didn’t know he was holding in.
I didn’t say anything as we drove in silence… I think that might be the last time he ever see’s his mom. I didn’t know what to say. The thought of never seeing my mom and dad again made me feel a bit sick, but I wasn’t planning on going forever, like David was. I didn’t want to think about goodbyes.
We got to my place a little while later. Mom and dad’s cars were in the driveway, so I pulled up behind them, and David and I got out.
“I’ve gotta grab a quick shower and get dressed in my camping gear. The camping stuff is in the garage – could you load the car while I’m getting ready?”
David nodded. “Sure thing, Jeff.”
I went inside and called out. “Hey mom, hey dad! I’m home!”
“Hey son!” Dad called from the kitchen. “Today’s the day, isn’t it?”
“Yeah! David and I figured we would get a head start and get to the campground tonight.”
“Well, promise me you’ll drive safe, and you’ll call me when you get there.”
“Will do, dad. I promise, and if there isn’t cell reception, I’ll drive to the nearest phone and call you from there.”
“Thanks, son. When do you expect to be headed home?”
“I dunno. No later than Saturday or Sunday next week. Probably Saturday afternoon, unless we’re having an amazing time.” I felt really shitty lying to my dad like that, but there WAS a chance we’d be back by next Sunday… just not a big one. Then again, maybe the portal really was bullshit and we wouldn’t be going anywhere.
“Your mom made you some tuna sandwiches for the road, and a thermos of her home made lemonade.”
“That’s amazing! Where is she?”
“She’s at Susan’s next door. She’ll be back in about five minutes. Will you wait to leave until she can say goodbye?”
“Definitely. I need to grab a quick shower first – gotta wash the McDonald’s off me.”
“I understand. Why don’t you get to it. I’ll take the sandwiches and the lemonade out to David to put in the car.”
“Thanks dad.”
I headed upstairs to grab a quick shower, simultaneously excited as hell to begin a real adventure, and feeling like absolute slime for lying to my folks and possibly leaving them for weeks or months without knowing if I was alive or dead. I hoped they would forgive me in time.
* * *
About 20 minutes later, I felt clean and a lot more human. I still had my misgivings, but I was resolved to carry on. I got dressed – a pair of comfortable blue jeans, socks, hiking boots, a T-shirt, and a jacket for later if it got cooler. I had a hat in my gear, plus a rain coat, and a warmer jacket, changes of clothes (especially socks and underwear) and a pair of running shoes. I didn’t expect to need all of it, but as David said ‘it’s better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.’
My gun and its paraphernalia, which had previously been hidden under my bed, was packed in with our gear in the garage, and was probably safely ensconced in the car, unless David missed something, which I doubted. The chainmail, sword, dagger and other medieval gear was likely loaded as well.
I headed downstairs, and found Mom, Dad, and David waiting for me. They were talking about how much fun we were going to have on our camping trip… They had no idea!
“Hi mom!” I said, giving her a big hug. “Thanks for the lemonade and sandwiches.”
“You’re welcome, honey. There’s also some chocolate macaroons packed too.”
“Awesome! Thanks mom!”
“Remember, son. Please drive safe.” Dad remarked.
“Will do, dad. You ready to go, David?”
“Yup!”
“Great. I’ll see you later!” I waved goodbye to my mom and dad, and instead of waving, my mom gave me a big hug.
“Have a great trip, honey.” She told me.
“I will!” I got into the car, and buckled up – and waited as David did the same. We waved goodbye one more time, and then I headed the car out towards the highway – we were taking Interstate 81 – it was the fastest route, clocking in at about 3½ hours. We were off! Finally!
As we left town behind, and got moving on the interstate, I could feel and hear David begin to relax.
“You okay, David?”
He sighed, and nodded. “I’m good. I’m finally free of them. I’m free!” He didn’t look like he really believed it.
“So now what?” I asked. “What next?”
“You mean, aside from going camping and hopefully going to another world?”
“Dumbass… Yes, aside from that.”
“I don’t know. I’d like to find someone to teach me magic. I’d like to explore a lot and see as much of the world as we can. I don’t know. I need to know more about their world to know what I can and can’t do. Did your Grandma’s journal ever describe the magic they have, if any?”
“Yeah, it did. Grandma wrote that there are two types of magic she knew about – the magic that gods bestowed on their priests, like clerics in D&D, and the magic that sorcerers used that drew upon the natural world. She also said something about sorcerers being a bit feared, because using too much magic could make them ill, or go evil or something. She said the worst thing that can happen to a sorcerer is to become a ‘Fallen,’ which only happens if they use too much magic too recklessly.”
“Sounds crazy.”
“Yeah. It seems grandma became a warrior, and hooked up with a clan of people living in a city on the other side. Apparently the land there is divided into various clan holds, and each clan has a king, and there’s a high king that rules them all. She was going to get married to one of the sons of the local king – but he stood her up at the altar, and it broke her heart. She returned to Earth soon after, and never went back. She said her betrothed was named Colin Mac Tavish – and from the subtext I saw in her journal and from what I saw on my character sheet, I suspect dad was Colin’s son, and I might be his grandson.”
“What!? And you were going to tell me this when?” David griped. “Seriously! You find out your secret history, and you wait two weeks to reveal it? Dude, not cool!”
“I was distracted myself, too. You asked me to think about this trip – and I did, a lot. I left dad and mom a note – I’m not coming back at the end of the week unless this Mercia totally sucks. I’m going to stick it out a while, and give it a decent chance. I don’t want people to ask ‘What happened when you found real magic?’ to have my answer be ‘I chickened out and ran home the first chance I could.’ Hell no.”
“So this Lord Colin Mac Tavish is your grandpa?”
“I guess so. I guess he and grandma were intimate before the wedding, and either she didn’t know or she didn’t tell him so it wouldn’t influence his decision. The journal was pretty short on details about that stuff. It wasn’t really a journal of her thoughts as much as a message to me, or anyone who read it and decided to go through. She obviously left a lot of stuff out.”
“Good to know. I’m still pissed that you didn’t tell me.”
“Fair enough. I wish you had trusted me a few years ago about all the stuff with your family and being Trans too. I feel like you felt you couldn’t trust me, and it really sucks to feel that way.”
David looked chagrined. “Sorry, Jeff. I just wasn’t ready to tell anyone. You’re literally the first person I told, any of that stuff to.”
“Thanks, then. Did you ever figure out a name you want to be called? I’d be happy to try and use it for our trip, unless it seems weird to you.”
“No… That might be kind of cool, actually. I was thinking of Rachel… Rachel Wilson.”
I liked it. It sounded pretty. It didn’t fit my mental image of him – I mean her – at all, but that was on me, not Rachel. “I like it. It sounds ‘girl next door-ish.’ It’s a good name. If you stayed, would you have started hormones?”
Rachel thought a little bit. “Yeah, but only after moving out of state, and getting away from my folks. I was hoping there might be some magic on the other side that might help me, like a magical gender change or something. Something to cure my Asthma would be nice too.”
“Well, I might be able to help with one of those.” I said. “Grandma says some of the priests gave out free healing to those of the faith, to show the power of the gods and to help the community. One of them might decide to help you.”
“Are the gods nice or nasty? Or is it a mix of all kinds?”
“She didn’t write a lot about it. There’s a couple of pantheons – a bunch of gods and goddesses called ‘The Familia’, something she called ‘The Gods of Fate’, and another group she called ‘The Dark Three.’ Presumably, they’re the bad guys. The Familia are supposed to be sweetness and light, and the Gods of Fate somewhere in between.”
“Are you generalizing? A bit, maybe?”
“Maybe. She did have more details in the book, but I can’t remember right now. It sounded to me like you got some good gods, some neutral gods, and some evil gods. It was pretty basic.”
Rachel sighed. Okay, maybe I was being a bit cavalier but I didn’t think I’d be quizzed on off-world theology before we even got to the other world!
We drove on for a while in comfortable silence, just letting the sound of the radio wash over us. About an hour into the trip, Rachel broke out the sandwiches and lemonade, and we had something to eat. I loved mom’s lemonade… she used the lemon zest from the peel to make a great lemon syrup, and added it to carbonated soda water and created a lemon-soda. It was awesome. The sandwiches hit the spot, and by the time we were finished them, we were over the halfway point. I pulled into a gas station, and filled the tank up – and gave Rachel some money for sodas and some junk food, and we took a short bathroom break. Once done, we hit the road again. After another twenty minutes, we started talking again.
“So, Rachel, I haven’t forgot my promise to you about getting a third of what I found in the attic.”
Rachel smiled, an honest grin a mile wide, but looked confused a bit too. “Yeah,” she said. “You made about 1200 bucks.”
“No, I made 1200 bucks, and had 230 gold coins and 350 silver coins, about 12 large gemstones and about 18 tiny gemstones. I figure about a third of that is yours too.”
“Whoa! Jeff! Are you sure? That sounds like a lot of money!”
“I don’t know. It might be – or it might be enough for a few weeks. Until we understand their money system, we should be careful. Still, I did promise, and if you are staying forever, I’d like to leave my best friend set up for life, if I can – and failing that at least have enough you can rent an apartment or own your own home or something.”
“Did I ever tell you you were the best? Cause you’re the best.”
“Thanks, Dav… I mean Rachel. I’m just taking care of someone I care about.”
Rachel smiled again – a happy smile – and looked out the window for a bit. “Thanks for calling me Rachel.”
“You’re welcome. You could have asked for yourself to be called Lady Wisteria Zord the Conqueror, and I’d have at least tried. I’m glad you picked something nice and simple like Rachel instead.”
“You would not have called me Lady Wisteria Zord the Conqueror.” Rachel laughed.
“Nah – I’d have probably given you a pet name like ‘Lil Z’ or ‘Wisty’ or something.” I laughed back.
“Dork.”
“Probably. Nerd too.”
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
“Ditto.”
We laughed, and listened to the radio some more, and the miles rolled on by. By about 8:30 pm, we reached the Bucktail state forest, but it took us another 30 minutes to get to the campsite. I had downloaded a map of the state park, and marked where our campsite should be, so finding it was pretty easy, even if the sun had gone down. We pulled into the campsite around 9:15pm, and parked. I left the lights on, so we could see to get the tent up and ready.
“We’re here!” I said. “Let’s get the stuff out of the car, and get a lantern lit, and get the tent up.”
“Good idea. Which pack is the tent in?”
“The dark green one. The lantern should be tied to it with a carabiner.”
“I see it.”
We started upacking the car, and getting our tent set up. It was too late to do much other than that – and get our sleeping bags laid out in the tent. Seeing as how we were still at our campsite, we left the food in the car so that it wouldn’t attract bears and other scavengers, and we got settled for the night, bringing our packs into the tent. It took over an hour to get everything set up, but it was worth it. The tent we had picked out was nice and spacious – it had room for both of us, plus our packs. I dug out my Ruger and holster, and loaded the weapon, just in case.
“Is your weapon handy?” I asked.
“Which one? My gun is loaded, and in my pack. The other stuff is still packed. I was going to sort that stuff out in the morning.”
“Okay. We probably won’t need weapons anyway until we hit the other side. Anything you want to talk about?”
“Hell, yes, but I don’t know where to start.” Rachel began. “Is there a town nearby once we get through?”
“I don’t know about ‘nearby’ – but within walking distance might be a better description. Grandma said there was a town called Enders Hollow about 20 miles east of where we come out – assuming the portal goes to the same destination twice in a row.”
“True. It looks like we’d better pack for a hike, then.”
“Yep. We should get some sleep.”
Rachel nodded, and we got ready for bed. I turned off the lantern, and the tent plunged into darkness as our vision adjusted. Soon, we could see by the light of the moon – such as it was. It was a warmish night, with a nice breeze blowing, taking the worst of the heat and the mosquitoes away.
“Good night, Rachel.”
There was silence for a moment, then a reply. “Good night John boy.”
“Dork.”
“Dorkette, thank you.”
I snorted in laughter, and went to bed.
* * *
The next morning was busy. We woke early – around 6:30am, and spent about an hour cooking breakfast and getting cleaned up in the local facilities at the campsite, since these might be the last flush toilets we saw for a while. Dav… I mean Rachel was packing up the cook stove, and I cleaned the mess kits, and we were getting ready to begin our expedition. Our tent had been taken down and packed away, along with our gear.
Looking at the pile of gear we brought, I wondered if maybe we brought too much. We were going to be pretty heavily encumbered, especially trying to climb up the cliff face Grandma mentioned. Still, she had managed it, and presumably she took her gear with her, so we should be able to manage it too.
“One of us should wear the chainmail and the weapons.” I suggested. “The other person can carry some extra gear to compensate for the weight difference. We should also be armed.”
“Agreed.” Rachel replied. “It’s your armor. Why don’t you try it on?”
Jeff nodded, and tried on the gambeson – the padded under-layer that went beneath the chainmail – and struggled with it for a few minutes. “It’s too small. Or I’m too fat. It looks like it’ll have to be you who wears it, assuming you fit it.”
“Might as well try, right?” Rachel agreed. She tried it on – and although the gambeson was a bit snug, it fit her a lot better than it fit me. I needed to hit the treadmill – but I assumed all the walking we would be doing would help a lot.
I helped her with the chainmail shirt – I had done some googling, and I think it was a riveted chainmail hauberk. It was probably really expensive when Grandma bought it, too. Luckily for both of us, the armor was more generous with its size than the gambeson, and soon Rachel was outfitted with the chainmail. She attached the arm guards next, and buckled on her leather belt with her gun holster, her hatchet, and her hunting knife.
“It fits pretty good, but it weighs a bit.”
“You look badass, Dav… sorry! I mean Rachel.”
“Hehe. Thanks. Why don’t we take a picture?” Rachel looked like she was appreciating me trying to use her chosen name.
“Why not? Out cell phones won’t last long anyway.” I grabbed my cell phone, and took a few pictures of Rachel in my grandmothers chainmail. They looked freaking cool. When I showed them to her, she agreed.
I started gearing up myself, getting the sword belt and the dagger grandma had settled around my waist, with my gun’s holster attached to it. I also had a hatchet and a hunting knife – with a compass in the handle, like Rachel’s. I didn’t look nearly as badass, but Rachel took a picture anyway. My pack was considerably heavier than Rachel’s because it carried the gold and silver in it, as well as Grandma’s journal and my extra ammunition. I had loaded my Ruger with four of the 20 shotshells I had, and 4 .357 magnum bullets. I figured whatever the shotshells didn’t hurt, the magnum rounds might.
“What do we do with the beer?” Rachel asked.
“Well, unless we want to carry it about ten miles, I think we’re leaving it here.”
“Seems a shame to waste it.” She replied.
“I suppose we can carry one hand on each side, and bring one of the cases with us. We can leave what we don’t drink at our base camp near the portal.”
Rachel agreed, and we took the case of Bud Light, and set it aside. We packed everything we weren’t taking into the car – which I fully expected to be towed if we overstayed our allotted time in the campsite – and took one last look.
“This is it.” I said.
“Yeah. From here on out, we’re heading towards a new world.”
“Let’s activate our HUD so we don’t get lost, and head out.”
“Wait… We have a HUD? A head’s up display? For real?”
“We can have that up, or we can just overlay the travel marker on what we see.” I replied, telling her how to work the menu screen until she could get it to work. A few seconds later, she smiled – she’d obviously got it working.
“I’m good to go. From the overland map, it looks to be maybe 7 or 8 miles from here – but there aren’t any trails leading all the way to it on the map. There is one that gets us about halfway, though.” She said.
“I see it. We might as well follow the trail for as long as we have one. Let’s go.”
And with that, we headed off.
* * *
Carrying the case of beer 5 miles down a trail was a little more strenuous than we expected, but after a short pause, we continued. The day was sunny, and warm without being hot. The sky was clear, except for a few puffy white clouds, and all around us were the sounds of nature. Birds, insects, the buzzing of cicadas in the summer heat. We eventually reached the point where we needed to head off-trail. From here it was maybe 2-3 miles to the cliff face, assuming the scale on our HUD was correct. We moved off-trail and started hiking through the woods themselves. There was some light underbrush, but for the most part the pathway was clear enough to travel, albeit a bit slower than when we were on the trail. There was a small mountain to the north east – our destination. Another hour and a half passed with us following our journey markers, and we were pretty tired – but by the time we stopped for a rest, we had reached a small clearing at the base of a cliff rock face that rose at least 60ft upwards, to a depression you almost couldn’t see from the ground, and then continued further up.
“I think we’re here.” I groaned. “And if we aren’t, we’re close. What do you say we break and have some lunch?” I set down the case of beer.
“Good idea.” Rachel replied. She groaned, and set down her pack. “There’s an old fire pit over there. Do you think your Grandma could have used it?”
“Maybe. I doubt anyone would find this place unless they knew where to look.” I set down my pack as well, and sighed with relief. I was definitely out of shape.
“Why don’t we cook some lunch? Then, we can climb up the cliff and take a look-see.”
“Yeah – and if we carry a rope, we can lower it to grab the packs so we don’t have to climb with the packs on.” I replied.
“Good idea.”
We broke out some sandwiches we had made that morning back at camp – basic peanut butter and jam on white bread – but it was good, and it was filling. We washed it down with a can of lukewarm beer.
Looking around, I could see the carved hand holds in the side of the cliff – they were a little hard to find, but I knew they were there. “I’m going to try and climb up to the ledge. If Grandma’s journal is right, there should be some stairs part way up!”
I went and grabbed a coil of lightweight rope. “Wish me luck.”
“Good luck! Try not to fall!”
I began to climb, using my hands to find purchase, and my feet to help push me up. It was difficult, but not impossible, and I slowly made headway. Handhold after handhold, foot by foot, I climbed – and eventually I crested the last handhold and saw the stairs that Grandma had mentioned! I hauled myself up onto the stairs, and rested a few moments.
“Wooo! The stairs are up here, Rachel!”
“Fantastic! Was the climb tough?”
“It wasn’t easy – but I’m a bit out of shape. It’ll be hard with the armor on. Let me lower a rope.”
“Haul up the packs first!”
“Yep!”
It was the work of maybe five or ten minutes to get the first pack to the stairs. “I’m going carry the pack up to the cave so we have more room.”
“Gotcha!” She called out. “I’ll hook up the last pack.”
The steps looked hand carved, but were easily climbable. They were narrow though – about 30 inches wide, so it was a bit of a tight fit in the cleft or fissure between the cliff face and the splinter of rock that the stairs were carved into. A few moments later, I reached the top of the stairs, and left the pack on a flat spot of ground.
“The pack is ready!” Rachel called out.
“I’ll be right there!” I headed back down carefully, and began hauling the last pack up. Luckily, this one was a bit lighter, and hauling it up was easier. I carried it up to the top of the stairs too.
When I got back down, Rachel was trying to climb the cliff face, instead of waiting for me. Stupid! “Do you want me to lower a rope?”
“Yeah – I’ll use it as backup. These handholds are pretty good. I can even get my boots in them.”
“Okay.” I lowered the rope in case she needed it, and watched her climb. Dav… I mean Rachel, was young, like me, and a little bit more fit too. She managed the climb – not really with ease, but not really with serious difficulty either. I hauled up the rope, since she didn’t need it, and retreated up the steps a few feet. “Need a break?”
“At the top of the stairs.”
I nodded, and began climbing. Now, I know thirty feet doesn’t seem like much – but it’s pretty close to three stories in an apartment building, and this was the third time I climbed it in the last hour. When I got to the top, I collapsed on the ground, and just groaned.
“Yeah, that was a nasty climb. You did it like what? Three times?” Rachel looked tired, but not fatigued, like I was. She did look a bit shaky, and was gasping for breath, and took a puff of her Asthma inhaler, and let it work for a moment.
“I think I need to get more strength, or less body weight.” I moaned.
“Maybe this would be a good time to select the rest of our stats and skills?”
“Gah… Now you tell me.” I laughed. “Being stronger or fitter might have made the climb easier. Maybe we should.”
“I think I might need Smarts or Spirit to be a caster.” Rachel said. “What role do you want to fill?”
“Well, I guess I could be the Rogue or the Warrior to your Sorcerer. I’m not sure I have what it takes to be a cleric.”
“Hey, who knows? Maybe one of the faiths over there will knock your socks off? I mean, if everyone knows the gods are real, and they actually DO stuff, then why not if you like it?”
“Good point. I think I will spend a couple of my points – but I’m going to save some in case we need to make a quick purchase later.”
“Good idea. I’ll do the same.”
I looked at my character sheet – it seemed ‘d6’ was average for a stat – like ‘normal human’ or something, and ‘d4’ for skill level was probably ‘beginner level,’ so I bought up my strength, agility and vigor – one of us needed to be a warrior, so I guess I’ll fill in for now. Maybe I can get some magic later? I saw my stats increase as I selected them – but felt a weird rush of energy and saw some lights flare around me… What the hell just happened?
I stood up and looked around. “Did you just see some flashing lights, Rachel?”
“Yeah. You glowed for a moment, just like I did. I think it does that when we spend our points.”
“Huh. Okay.” I felt a little different, and looked down at myself. It felt and looked like my stomach was thinner! “Hah! I think buying my vigor up made me more fit. I think I’m thinner! Probably stronger too!”
“I’ve noticed similar effects with me too.” Rachel said. “I bought up some skills too – Athletics, Fighting, Shooting primarily, plus I also bought Spellcasting, in case it helps me with my power.”
“Cool. How did you find spellcasting? It’s not on my menu.”
“I don’t think it unlocks until you have an Arcane Background, like I do.” She replied.
“Gotcha.” I spent a few of my skill points, buying up the same skills Rachel did. “Skills and stats seem to have a direct change on your Dodge, Parry, Toughness and other stuff.”
“That’s good to know. What now?”
“Let’s compare notes and then go through the portal – it’s already mid-afternoon.”
“Okay.” We pulled up our character sheet HUD and compared notes.
Name: Jeffery Fowler
Sex: Male
Height: 6’ 0”
Race: Human
Age: 19 (September 1st)
Weight: 175lbs
Advancements: 0 (Novice)
Attributes
Derived Stats
Skills
Strength d8
Dodge: 6 (4, Reduced by Enc.)
Academics (Sm) d4
Agility d8
Parry: 5
*Athletics (Str) d6
Vigor d8
Toughness: 6 (7 w/Heavy Clothing)
Battle (Sm) d4
Smarts d6
Move: 12 yards/18 yards run
Boating (Ag) d4
Spirit d6
Charisma: +2
*Common Knowledge (Sm) d4
Driving (Ag) d4
Edges
Hindrances
Fighting (Ag) d6
- Charisma
- Overconfident
*Notice (Sm) d6
- Brave
- Heroic
*Persuasion (Sp) d4
- Rich
- Mild Mannered
Repair (Sm) d4
- Talent for Sorcery (Placeholder)
- Loyal
Shooting (Ag) d6
- Secret (Noble Bloodline – Scion of
*Stealth (Ag) d4
Clan Mac Tavish)
Survival (Sm) d6
13 Skill picks spent
You are Moderately Encumbered
1 Skill picks unspent
Name: Rachel Wilson
Sex: Male
Height: 5’ 10”
Race: Human
Age: 19 (January 31st)
Weight: 158lbs
Advancements: 0 (Novice)
Attributes
Derived Stats
Skills
Strength d6
Dodge: 6 (4, Reduced by Enc.)
Academics (Sm) d4
Agility d8
Parry: 5 (6 with Arm Guards)
*Athletics (Str) d6
Vigor d6
Toughness: 5 (7 with Chain Shirt)
Boating (Ag) d4
Smarts d8
Move: 12 yards/18 yards run
*Common Knowledge (Sm) d4
Spirit d8
Charisma: +2
Driving (Ag) d4
Fighting (Ag) d6
Edges
Hindrances
*Notice (Sm) d6
- Attractive
- Heroic
*Persuasion (Sp) d4
- Arcane Background (Sorcerer)
- Loyal
Repair (Sm) d4
- Strong Willed
- Mild Mannered
Shooting (Ag) d6
- Stubborn
*Stealth (Ag) d4
- Secret
Survival (Sm) d4
- Quirk (Transgendered)
Spellcasting (Sp) d4
12 Skill picks spent
You are Moderately Encumbered
2 Skill picks unspent
“Hey! My name on my character sheet is Rachel! Cool!” Rachel called out.
“That’s awesome, Rache!”
“Rache?” She asked, smiling.
“Umm… Rachel?”
“No, it’s okay. Rache is cool too.”
“Okay. I guess it’s better than Lil Z?”
“OMG, yes!” She replied. “Grab a flashlight.”
I grabbed my flashlight – a military style crank flashlight, and gave it a good crank, just as Rachel was doing. No need for batteries, means we get to use the flashlights longer. Plus, Rachel found a bunch in with her dad’s prepper stuff – Ed wouldn’t miss them.
“You ready?” I asked.
“Hell yes! Let’s go!”
We grabbed our packs and headed deeper into the cave – and we hadn’t gone more than a few steps before our lights revealed the lintels and arch of a doorway. It was just like Grandma said – covered in vines, flowers, and little squirrels – some of which were wearing clothes – and was topped by images of moons that were waxing and waning… The arrangement here was actually Waxing, Full, Waning, in that order from left to right. It was beautiful, and as we got closer, the doorway started to sparkle, again, just like Grandma said it would.
“It’s real.” I said out loud to myself. “If we touch it, we’ll go to wherever it is on the other side.”
“I’m going to try it.” Rachel replied. She stepped up and touched the wall – and there was a flare of light – and she was gone.
“Holy shit!” Rachel was gone! This was it! I stepped forward, and touched the wall. It felt warm, and bright – and there was a flash. It felt like falling – and then I stopped, and staggered forward a few feet, bumping into Rachel.
“We did it, Jeff! We did it! We’re somewhere else!” She cried.
“Whoa! That made me dizzy!” I said, trying to get my balance.
“It wears off in a second.” She said, helping hold me up.
“Where are we?”
“I’m guessing we’re in a cave in Mercia, wherever that is. I’m going to go see.”
I nodded, and joined her. Together we headed towards the mouth of the cave – we could see it about 50 feet ahead of us, with some light shining down it. It must be daytime. Good.
We walked excitedly towards the light at the end of the tunnel, unsure of what would await us when we emerged. Our adventure had truly begun!