A Council Room
The thing about greater beings is that each of them thinks they are the greatest until they are confronted with proof to the contrary. This invariably leads to each of them thinking they can act without consequence. When a council of them gathers together, each wielding enough power to rewrite, at least in small part, the rules of reality, this type of thinking is multiplied near infinitely. Unfortunately for this particular council, likely the single being that could disprove their greatness had taken exception to their actions, and for the first time in a long time there would be consequences.
The council had almost unanimously decided to run the scan of reality, seeking out those who could wield mana, early. Each of them was positive that their greatest enemy was up to something and, in their minds, disrupting those plans was worth breaking their own rules. Besides, they were the ones who had set forth the rules and forced the enemy to listen. What could the Betrayer do but follow the rules they had set forth? And if they could force the Betrayer to listen to the rules, they could certainly break those rules themselves and force the Betrayer to accept. In their minds they held supreme power. So now, they sat in their Council room and discussed their success, stuffed on their own righteousness and sense of superiority.
“One of the Novices rejected their first offer,” Vivia spoke, “They could be dangerous.”
“There’s always one,” said Akron, “It’s nothing to worry about until they reject the second offer. In the ages we’ve been doing this, only one has ever rejected the second offer. Not that we gave them much of a choice.’ The great being trailed off with a chuckle that was not quite evil enough to fit his appearance, a hulking brute wreathed in darkness.
“True enough,” Vivia responded, her own appearance the exact opposite of Akron, delicate and radiant, with streams of golden light flowing off of her.
“Listening to the two of you prattle has been the bane of my existence for millenia,” A third voice spoke, this one wearing a robe that looked as if it contained an entire cosmos.
“Oh shut it, Helikon,” Akron spoke, “Your unnecessary unpleasantness has made dealing with you a chore. You should take a page out of Jynth’s book.” The hulking being waved a massive paw towards the fourth and final being that had not yet spoken, and as far as anyone left alive could remember, had never spoken. Jynth was impossible to describe. No matter how hard one looked, his features always remained indistinct and never lasted long in your memory once you looked away. Even beings with perfect memories, such as the very ones in this room weren’t entirely certain what he looked like.
Helikon huffed and crossed his arm, two galaxies together as he did. Jynth, in his usual fashion, sat there without saying anything. A voice different from the rest spoke into the room.
"I don't know. An eternity without conversation would somehow seem even longer"
At once, every pair of eyes, which was more than one might expect, in the room snapped to the spot where Vivia once sat. In her spot the robed figure that had hovered over Nicholas now sat languidly, feet upon the grand table that took up the center of the room.
Akron stood up from his seat and slammed his hands down onto the table, the darkness writhing on them charring the surface.
"Betrayer." He growled, “How did you enter these chambers? What did you do to Vivia?”
“Betrayer? I haven’t heard that name in years, although I still go by Betty occasionally. You forget Akron, who designed these chambers, and as for Vivia, I disintegrated her. But you and I both know that won’t keep her away for long" Even as Betty spoke, a shriek of rage rang throughout the extraplanar room. With a burst of light, Vivia snapped back into place beside Akron, fists clenched at her sides.
"How dare you?" She thundered at Betty.
"Pretty easily actually, sister" Betty responded lazily, "we need to have a chat."
"Have a chat?" spat Vivia, "we have nothing to discuss. Leave or be destroyed." At that Betty laughed.
"If you all could destroy me, it would have happened a long time ago. And we have everything to discuss. You broke the rules. You ran the Scan early and violated the agreement."
Vivia scoffed while Akron and Jynth stiffened almost imperceptibly.
“Rules? What rules? We get to make the rules and you have to follow them. That’s how it works, Betty. The agreement only existed because we decided to allow it and you can do nothing but accept that, the weakling and coward that you are.”
“Play nice now Vivia. The Betrayer has simply forgotten their fallen and distant place. How dare you walk these hallowed halls? Pretending to be one of the greater beings? You gave up your place here and nearly destroyed reality. We will do as we decide is best, because it is for the best. Don’t make trouble, Betrayer.” Helikon spoke contemptuously, ego dripping from every syllable. As Betty listened to the words of Helikon and Vivia, their usually jovial and almost carefree attitude fell away from them. Their easy going smile fell from their lips and it was replaced by a cold and stark visage.
“You two seem to be under the impression that because I no longer reside in the higher planes that I have lost all of my power.” As the Betrayer began speaking, a tearing sound began in the far, dark corners of the room and it grew louder with each word they uttered. By the end of the sentence, what started as a tearing sound sounded similar to the crashing of typhoon waves. Vivia completely lost all of her bluster, looking around herself fearfully, the sound still increasing despite the Betrayer having fallen silent. The cacophony was terrifying, even to infinitely experienced beings, and then, suddenly, it stopped.
In a dead silence, the council room began tearing itself apart, brick after brick flying into the nothingness beyond the room, and then the Betrayer spoke. “I have lost nothing and all you have gained are delusions of your own grandeur.”
“How are they delusions? I am light. I am everything kind has ever happened and everything good that has ever existed.” Vivia said, voice quivering.
“No Vivia, and that is your mistake. You convinced yourself you are light and that light is the same thing as goodness. You’ve even managed to convince a good number of mortals this is this case. It isn’t. And I will no longer tolerate you violating your own rules and then backing it up by claiming you know best. The next time one of you does so, I will put you in that hateful trap of a realm and I will kill you.”
“You have no way of backing up that threat, Betrayer.” Akron rumbled, “Besides, you have no way to escape that realm anymore than the rest of us”
“Tell that to our dead brother, Akron.” Betty spoke, far more amiably, “I can back it up and I will. Push me right now I will prove it starting with you.”
At that Akron growled and started forward, his lumbering mass gaining speed quickly. Betty shifted their stance, in preparation to meet his charge. Before the two could meet, there was a fluttering and a whisper of sound and then Jynth was between them. Akron came to an immediate halt and by the look on his face, it was not by his choice. He bared his teeth at Jynth, who stared back up and him and simply shook his head. At that, Akron completely stilled although his face looked uncertain and when he looked back up at Betty, rage flashed across it. For a person who never spoke, Jynth was someone you always wanted to listen to.
“Thank you, Jynth.” Betty said with a slight bow of their head, “I would have hated to have to get my robes wrinkled. But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t have. I meant what I said, Councilmembers. Do not test me.”
And without further ado, Betty vanished from the room. All of the council members except for Jynth, looked at each other as they experienced a fear that they would never admit too.
Nick’s Perspective
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
The sound of a bird in the distance woke Nick up. He blinked a few times, to clear his eyes and slowly the events of the last however many hours came back to him. He vaguely remembered settling against a tree to take a nap. As he stood up from the ground, the stiffness of his body confirmed that memory. Before doing anything else, he checked his surroundings and made sure there was no immediate danger. Thankfully this time, there were no large and furious omnivores hanging around in the area.
Strangely enough, the strangling panic he felt yesterday was muted, like it was behind a veil. His thoughts were relatively clear, and even though he was worried, it wasn’t overwhelming. It felt less like he was actually in his situation and more like he was watching it from a safe distance. Some part of him realized that this was likely a symptom of shock. He sat there contemplating this.
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Quest!
An otherworldly power has taken an interest in you. Actually multiple otherworldly powers have and this one is just a tad nicer than the others. This one knows what it’s like to be stranded in a strange dimension with naught but the clothes on your back and a scroll to learn the local language. They also know that if you don’t get your shit together pretty soon, you won’t live long enough for knowing the local language to matter. So they have some tasks for you!
Find Shelter - This is pretty up there. You’re in a forest with at least some very angry creatures. Having a place to safely close your eyes is a must. After all, only jackasses fall asleep in the middle of the forest.
Find Food - The rumbly tummies make it hard to concentrate. Find something to eat. Here’s a hint, if you like going the way of the settlers on Oregon Trail and shitting yourself to death avoid the orange berries. Most of the others should be safe. I think.
Figure Out Magic - This is the only one you’ve made progress on. You’ve got better luck than some leprechauns I’ve met, stumbling across healing magic the way you did. Although you were just dumped in a strange world so maybe not. Figure out how to use magic reliably. It’ll pretty much be the only way you can survive.
Rewards: Not Dying! That’s a pretty good one, right? If you do well enough maybe there will be something else.
P.S. - It isn’t shock. Your emotions should have been muted since you entered the world so your brain wouldn’t melt from the impossibility of your situation. It’s happened before. Not pretty. There are some very powerful beings who are now on the naughty list for not taking that precaution.
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Well at least that explained his current emotional state. That was one less thing to worry about. The quest notification itself was blurry, giving Nick the strong impression of static over a radio. The other floating words didn't have that. Nick thought it was strange but then realized, it didn't matter. The quest was telling him to survive and telling him how to do it. Everything it listed he likely was going to do anyways but it was nice to have it enumerated so clearly. Plus the tip about the berries really was invaluable. No one enjoyed the hershey squirt death. As soon as he had finished reading the words disappeared and he wondered if he could bring them back up.
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You must have a linked Grimoire to access Quests and other stores data, such as known wefts and weaves.
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Huh. That was inconvenient.
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Quest Update!
Find a Grimoire - It's super useful! I can't believe I forgot it.
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I? Someone had to be personally writing the quest. His situation couldn't be more ridiculous.
"Jesus Christ," Nick muttered under his breath.
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Nope!
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The word appeared, even fuzzier than the rest. Intellectually, Nick realized that his situation was absurd. He was in the middle of a forest, in a different dimension that apparently had magic, with floating magic words floating in front of his face. And now he had to find shelter and food. Nick knew nothing about surviving in the wilderness, and who knew if any of the very little knowledge he did have from his brief stint in the Boy Scouts even still applied. It was another dimension. In shorter words, he was pretty much fucked. And even knowing the likelihood of his demise, he didn’t feel fear. Whatever was muting, was working over time.
And so it was that with nothing but a few goals and not a single idea on how to achieve them, Nick Strand put the sun of another dimension at his back and began walking. If he didn’t know any better he would have just assumed that he was lost in a forest somewhere. Nothing stood out as being obviously alien, at least to him. Nick trudged through the forest, trying for some semblance of a straight line, keeping a close eye on his surroundings. He was no biologist, but even as an archaeologist he had some small familiarity with botany and none of the plants he was seeing would be out of place in any temperate forest on Earth. The underbrush itself was much scarcer than he would have imagined, until he realized the thick canopy overhead likely limited the amount of sunlight reaching the plants. He walked for hours and the entire time he spent looking around taking in the pristine beauty of the land around him. It was almost eerie how peaceful it was but despite it all something seemed off about it and then he realized, it was almost absolutely silent in the forest.
In fact, since the bear, he had seen no evidence of life at all in this new world. Only the occasional chirp from an insect let him know that he wasn’t alone. The silence surrounding him meant one of two things. The first, and least likely, was that fauna in this realm was incredibly rare. As he had encountered a bear within minutes of being here, he felt that this was probably not the case. The second was that the animals were avoiding him. Nick half remembered a documentary he had watched from years ago that had mentioned that truly wild animals, ones that have never met humans or don’t live near human settlements, don’t avoid humans. They have no reason to as they haven’t been hunted by them. They don’t recognize humans as the predators that they tend to be. That meant there were humans in the area and that they had been there long enough for the animals in the forest to get a new instinct. Filled with a hope that the emotional filter didn’t seem to block, Nick picked the speed of his trek. If he hurried, he might find shelter before nightfall.
Soon after his realization, a new sound entered his ear: the trickling of running water. Running water was good. It was likely the cleanest he'd find and in the middle of a forest it could mean food. He stumbled forward, his entire body aching. A day ago he had been an aspiring archaeologist. He was still a student so he spent most of his time studying, with the rest in the field. He was in relatively good shape, but relatively good shape doesn’t prepare you for a night of sleeping on a forest floor followed by a day of walking. His body was hurting. To his relief the source of the noise wasn’t too far off and he came across flowing water. Not quite large enough to be called a river, it was still a good size stream, at least 60 feet across. He could see fish swimming in it, and there were signs of animals nearby. Normally he’d not be able to tell that animals had been nearby, but there were some very obvious... leavings not to far from where he discovered the river. None of this helped him any because he had no idea how to hunt, nor did he have any weapons with which to hunt. The fish though; he might be able find a way to catch some fish, which would be good for food, even if he hated the taste of them.
Leaving thoughts of food for later, Nick fell to his knees and began scooping water into his mouth, his thirst hitting him suddenly like a freight train. Thoughts of parasites and other unknowns about the water were shoved roughly into the back of his brain, as he gulped water down. He drank until he felt slightly sick from how much, then collapsed onto his back, breathing heavily. He lay there for a moment and contemplated his next move. He had to stay near the river for now, it was the only source of water he had found, and thankfully seemed fairly clean. He still wasn’t certain but he was fairly confident that he could find a way to capture some fish for food. It wasn’t as if there were only a few, the river was slow enough here that he could see it teaming with life. A spear thrust, even a horribly executed one, should be enough to get him some dinner. That solved food and water, now he needed to find shelter. That was going to be trickier if he wanted to stay near the river.
Sitting up, Nick looked downriver. It continued for a bit through the trees before going around a bend and disappearing. Upriver seemed clearer, and Nick though he could see the beginnings of hills in the not too far distance, though the trees made it harder to tell. Hills could mean overhangs, which would function enough for shelter for one night, and, Nick thought, the water would probably be even fresher. Having no other logic to rely on, Nick pulled himself to his feet, and began walking upriver.
Not too long after and he realized he was right. There were definitely hills upriver. Hills that very quickly turned mountainous. The bends in the river and the tree line must have worked perfectly together to hide this from him earlier, but it seemed he was in the foothills of some mountain range. The closer he got to the mountains, the thinner the forest got, towering giants of trees slower replacing their numerous, smaller cousins. Within half an hour of walking along the river, Nick had found what was almost a valley. He had walked along a strip of land beside the river, no more than ten feet wide. Next to the strip and on the immediate far side of the river were decently high rock faces, likely 20 feet tall. He followed the strip for another 5 minutes and suddenly the rock walls opened up, revealing what he could only describe as a valley. Though it’s ultimate source was much farther up, as evidenced by the waterfall on the far side of the bowl, the river here pooled into something between a pond and a lake. The valley-bowl itself was likely 2 or 3 hundred meters across and slightly more than that wide, with the water taking up a solid third of that. For whatever reason the trees here were smaller than the giants just outside of the valley but just as thin. Smaller shrubbery filled in the places between the trees.
If Nicholas had been on a nature walk, the sights would have taken his breath away. It was amazingly beautiful, with the waterfall crashing into sparkling water and a picturesque mountain towering over the valley walls. The air was fresh and clean and the sky a clear blue, with a few wispy clouds. But the most beautiful thing of it all to Nick was the mouth of a cave, he could see from the entrance to the valley. It was on the right of the valley, opposite the pristine water, and the trees were clear enough for him to make it out even from this distance, a conspicuous shadowy spot on an otherwise lit wall. Shelter.