Tanner: Yeah, we didn't do much hunting where I'm really from, so I mostly played sports. I like the outdoor sports better, but you take what you can get in the winter.

Bakar: I'm an outdoors-man myself. In fact, I can't remember the last time I slept in a house with a proper roof. I know that sort of life isn't for everyone, but I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one. I definitely know what you mean about the winter though. You have to at least find a cave or something for warmth. Just on my way to meet Lord Vledorin, I got caught in this whopper of a storm. I could barely see the door, and when I opened it, instead of meeting Vlendorin, I find myself here. Funny how things work out that way.

Tanner: Yeah... The world doesn't seem to get any less crazy... Even if you spend most of your life trying to figure it out, or learning to just go with it. It doesn't seem to make a difference.

Jhils: the worst animal I know is the Nhent.

Tanner: *reads* And I thought my step-mom could talk an ear off...

Jhils: *grins*

Joshua: *stumbles through the door* That was interesting! Now where am I?
Me: Don't worry about that, just learn some things while conversing with these gentlemen.
Joshua: *shrugs and looks them all over before sticking his hand out to the closest human* Hi, my name is Joshua Brookings. I'm from Illinois, but I'm living in Montana right now. Who are you all?

Tanner: No way, you're from American Earth? Nice! I'm Tanner Grayson, I'm from New Jersey. *shakes Joshua's hand*

Jhils: Illinois? American Earth? New Jersey? What's that?

Bakar: Nice to meet you Joshua. I am called Bakar. *Takes Joshua's hand and turns it into a bro-hug.* I'm originally from the region on the western shores of the Greater Sea, but a lot has happened since then. I've traveled far and wide, but have never heard of these places of which you speak. I would love to hear about these places, from the both of you, of course! Perhaps I could visit some day.
My favorite thing about living near the sea were the sunrises. I left there when I was very young, but I still remember how the whole world came alive in a burst of color almost every day. So what is it you like about your home?

Joshua: *shakes hands with Tanner* Hi, Tanner! You're from New Jersey? I've always wanted to go there. What's it like? Have you ever been to Illinois? *turns to the strange creature who did not introduce himself* How do you not know about American Earth? *shakes hands and reluctantly hugs Bakar* The Greater Sea? Would that be the Mediterranean or one of the Oceans? What time period are you from? *thinks briefly* That question is for all of you. I'm really not sure why I'm here or even where here is, but for some reason, I'm thinking I'm no longer in the world I grew up in.

What is it I like about my home? My family, the fun and work we can do together, the rolling hills of Illinois, the mountains and stark beauty of Montana. *sighs* Riding horses all day keeping the cattle in line. *chuckles softly* I think a better question might be what I don't like about my home.

Jhils: Oh, I'm Jhils.

Tanner: I saw the inside of a Chicago airport once, but that was it... Jersey's nice. I live more inland so there's a fair bit of farm land and a lot of deer. I live just about in the woods though. It's pretty good.

Joshua: *shakes hands with Jhils* Nice to meet you, Sir. *turns to Tanner* Airport? What's that? Farmland and deer, those are some of my favorites! I love plowing the fields, smelling the dirt, hiking through the woods and hunting the deer for dinner. That's the best life.

Bakar: Now you boys are speaking my language. If we ever get out of here, we should all try to go hunting together.
*Turns to Joshua.* Mediterr-what? I've only really ever known it as the greater sea. The elves inhabiting the far shores call it Getis Tu, and they call the Lesser Sea to the north Turis Tu. I think I have a map, just a moment. *Reaches into pocket. Pulls out a rather crude map, and hands it to Joshua.* I'm from that little town on the eastern shore, Korzon. I was taken from that place when I was very young and have since seen more lands then are on this map.

(Me: Sorry, this map was drawn in a hurry a long time ago. There are plenty of errors for you to laugh at. I laugh at them too, so don't feel bad.)

Tanner: I haven't actually done any hunting yet... Not even back home. A part of me wishes I had, now that I'm around people who need to in order to survive. I don't like feeling useless.

(@Brookings) It's like an ordinary port I guess, just for... flying ships... Only they don't look like ships, and they can't stay in the air for days.

(Just realized that Tanner is in Birthright, now I know the type of situation is.)

Joshua: Hunting together would be great! We could teach you to hunt, Tanner. *takes map from Bakar* Um, you don't live on Earth, do you?
(@Tanner) Okay. That sounds kind of strange. What time period are you from on Earth?

Jhils: Hmm, I think that we all live in different worlds.

Bakar: Wa??? How is that even possible?

Jhils: *shrugs shoulders* Dunno.

Joshua: That's definitely what it is sounding like. I'm not even going to try to wrap my mind around that. So, Jihls, what is your world called?

Jhils: Gwedel.

Tanner: The early turn of the millennium... I don't know how far ahead that is to you... Yeah, we're all definitely from different worlds. I've seen a different world before...

Jhils: You have? Well, what world are we in now?

Bakar: What does it matter? The real question is whether or not we are going to all be able to get home. *Feels light headed* I need to sit down. *Sits down and catches breath.* I still don't quite know what you all are talking about. Other worlds? Flying ships? Turning Millinum...things? This is all very uh...unbelievable. How far away are these other "worlds"? Surely no one has ever traveled to one and returned to his own. It must take many years to travel that far.

Tanner: I think it's sort of more like a door between rooms... You couldn't get from one room to the other unless there was a doorway... At least, that's how it seemed when I traveled... I don't really know.

Joshua: *to Jihls* Gwedel? What is Gwedel like? Does it have trees, water, sand, all of the above?

*turns to Tanner* Turn of the millenium? As in the late 1900s? Wow! I haven't even made it to the year 1900 yet. Trains and horses are our main transportation. Considering your flying machine thing, I'm guessing trains and horses are pretty much non-existent where you come from.

*to Bakar* Just take it easy there, mister. I haven't heard of other worlds before either. And I definitely haven't heard of anyone going to other worlds.

Tanner: Oh, there are still trains around. They're cheaper than planes, that is, the flying machines, but horses are mostly used for fun. I know a lot of people who have horses.

Jhils: All of the above I guess. Aye, I think that it is a room between all the worlds that we are in.

Bakar: *Puts his head down in his hands in worry.* A room between worlds...okay. And there are doorways that lead back to the different worlds. But what if we take the wrong door way? There are people counting on me back home. I have to get back to them eventually.
*sighs, and then sits up strait.*
Maybe it would be better to talk about something else for a little bit. This is starting to freak me out.

Jhils: Sure, what do you want to talk about?

Joshua: Horses just used for fun? We have always had to have a really good reason to have any animals and they had to earn their keep. *shakes head in amazement*

*to Bakar* I know you wanted to change the subject, but I will say just one more thing about it. My author had me in another room like this a little while ago and it was explained to us that time does not change outside this room while we are in here. Our authors will also make sure we get to the right place when they are done with us here.

*to Jihls* Have you done any hunting? I can't remember who said what about hunting.

Jhils: I have hunted. *looks at Tanner* ONLY for food, and not for fun.

Bakar: *Stares dumbfounded at Joshua.* Our what?

Hunting is nice, but I'm sort of with Jhils on that one. I haven't done a whole lot recently, unless you consider what I've been doing as bounty 'hunting'. I don't really think it qualifies as that. It has more been like spying with some instances of self-defense that turned into taking prisoners in order to keep the whole situation quiet. It is sort of a long and complicated story, and I'm not sure I want to get into that right now.
How about we talk about our families or friends or something? I've recently found an old friend of mine. She had helped me escape from...well, a demon I suppose it was; not a fun thing to remember.... Anyway, I had been following her for sometime, and now that the war is over, things are looking up for the two of us to...well, you know. I've been doing a few jobs here and there to save up the money for her bride price. *Blushes slightly.* She is really something.
So what about you guys? Are there any sweethearts waiting for you back home? Or if there is more to be said about hunting, by all means, be my guest. I sort of never really liked it all that much, but it can be fun if you do it with friends, otherwise it is more of a chore.

Jhils: None. No. Sweetheart. Ah, are you going to get married? What about the person who Tanner was talking about? The girl with scars and other things, are you interested in her?

Tanner: I haven't thought about that sort of thing for a few years. There used to be a few girls, but life just got so complicated, it didn't seem important anymore. And now, what with doing in a completely different place with completely different ways and creatures, I have too much to learn and do.

Joshua: *to Bakar* Our authors. The people writing about our lives. It's a bit confusing at first, but you get used to it after awhile. At least I did. Yes, hunting for food is definitely the best way to go. I don't like hunting "just for the fun of it". It actually isn't as fun when you know you don't really need it.

Let's see, families. *grins* You want to hear about my family? They're pretty amazing and fun and there's quite of few members.

As for sweethearts, no, I don't have any. I had a crush on my schoolteacher 6 or 7 years ago, but that's about it.

Jhils: So only Bakar is going to get married, my life is too complicated. People trying to assassinate your king. You have to go this certain place to find help, etc. etc.

Tanner: What's a bride price? I mean, besides the obvious...

Jhils: Money? A home?

Bakar: Well, the tricky thing is that she is royalty. We've known each other since we were very young however. After what happened in the war, I found that I had a very special skill set that very few people seem to posses these days; namely, I know how to get in and out of very trick situations. Erian's uncle offered her hand to me only if I could procure some information for him as well as these. *Bakar reaches into his pocket and pulls out two bright gems. They are expertly sculpted into what look like signets of some kind.* They are the signet stones of two of the rebel leaders. I just need to get one more, and then I can have Erian's hand.

*Me: Man...that was a lot to make up off the top of my head. Bakar's world isn't as well developed as he makes it sound.*

Jhils: Ooo, cool. Can we help?

Bakar: Um...I don't know. Have you done that sort of thing before?

(Me: *Thinks it would be cool to do a short community story where we do just as Jhils suggested, but then thinks it would be better if he had just 'said' that rather then 'think' it.* You know guys, we could try something like that for real on the forum. Bakar's world isn't very developed so I it would be cool to make up some stuff together about it. The map Bakar showed you was originally a map for an RP anyway. It would be nice to get some use out of it again. We could just take turns narrating the story of how Bakar gets the third signet stone. It might be fun for these four guys from different worlds to go on a small quest together. I could start a new thread if you are up for it.)

Jhils: Like what type of help?

Tanner: I for one haven't done anything like that before, but it sounds better than doing nothing. As long as I'm constantly getting pulled between worlds, I might as well make myself useful.

Joshua: I might get married eventually. I'm only seventeen right now. I am definitely not ready to support a wife. However, I would be wiling to help you, Bakar. Though I have never done anything like that. *shrugs* I'm always up to try something new.

(Me: I don't want to kill this conversation, so could we do two different story threads? One would just continue as it is about to with what Bakar is about to do/say. The other will continue from here.)

Bakar: Guys, it is really nice of you to offer to help, but as you can see, *jiggles the locked door handle* we are stuck here. The best we can do is stay put and hope for the best. If Joshua is right, then we should find our way out of here eventually. Maybe there is something in the room which could help us out. Do you guys see anything interesting or useful? At least it will pass the time more quickly.

Tanner: My deck of cards was in my other coat.

Jhils: *dunno* I don't bring anything.