| Due to a very weird error, all of the " and ' marks have been replaced with ?'s. I'm not sure why, and I'm just too lazy to go back and fix it at this point. Eventually it'll get done, say, if people complain. |
| Not so long ago, in a Multiverse just through the Astral.... The first thing he noticed was the smell. After a few harrowing experiences of one sort or another, he had learned it?s best to keep down to earth about these things, never-mind some kind of magical hole ripping open in the air and sucking him into it, the soreness he felt all over his body after the rough travel, or the light, tingly sensation that was spreading all throughout his body, or any of these things that would surely have frozen him with panic had he dwelt on them. No no, for Vespis Gabrieve, it was certainly the awful smell that permeated the place where he landed that first came to mind. Standing up, and dusting himself off lightly, he took another deep breath, the stench wasn?t really all that bad, it seemed that whoever owned the place he fell into had taken great pains to fill it with perfumes rather than whatever permeated the air. He looked about, it appeared to be someone?s storage room, filled with a bizarre mixture of paints and vicious looking bladed objects. Vicious that is, if they were about a foot longer, or if he could fathom what they were meant for. It wasn?t soon after that he realized there was someone else in the building, someone who had obviously heard his rather.. Uncouth, entrance. He realized this not by superior hearing, but by the chiming voice that called out, ?Another visitor! I?ll be right with you! Oh, and be a dear and take off your shoes before walking about.? It never hurts to be polite he thought to himself, promptly removing his shoes, which were somewhat dirty, so it was probably best he took them off after all. It seemed very warm at present, his toes weren?t chilled in the least. After that, he stood up and hesitated, finally the thoughts he?d been putting off, the ones about how impossible it was he should be here hit him, he just fell through a magic hole into a funny-smelling place (there?s that scent again... What IS it?) And there?s a woman in very odd clothing opening up the door in front of me tattooed across every visible surface and speaking, ?Welcome to Sigil... Oh my, your awfully pale aren?t you? Come on in, and tell us how you got here! Bound to be interesting.? Afterwards, she turned, and nearly shouted in a completely different, rather authoritative tone, ?FEEDS! Start up some tea, we?ve got a guest.? Off in the background, he caught a glimpse of something very strange... It looked like a frog, a very large frog, standing upright, with claws, and teeth. To be honest, what he caught a glimpse of wasn?t all that strange, save for their length. His eyes focused on the Claws... And the teeth... And then, they promptly lost focus, and he fainted dead away. He awoke to the fragrant scent of... Chamomile? Yes indeed, whoever pulled him out this time certainly did have a taste for good tea. ?Mmm... Mother?? He inquired in between the traditional moans and groans of recently regaining consciousness. ?Not quite, but I?ll get you on your feet just the same.? A familiar voice replied. Charming, female, Reflexively he turned his head to the side as he always did when waking up to the sound of an unnamed female voice, ?Ahh.. Thank you! Terribly sorry, but I don?t believe I caught your name?? He inquired Madame?? ?Lady Rhisa, But, you can keep calling me ?mom? if you want to, I don?t mind.? she replied matter-of-factly, ?But enough about me, Who might you be, and wherever did you come from?? Finally, his head was clear enough to open up his eyes and look about, he was on a bed in what seemed to be a.. Remarkably normal room in a remarkably normal house, compared to what he?d just been through. The aforementioned tea was lying on a bedpost next to him, Lady Rhisa on a hair, beaming with a matronly radiance, wooden floors covered with a bizarrely patterened rug, portraits of people he didn?t recognize, and abstract art lined the walls. There was one of a great city located atop a masssive gear, like a metal version of the things that fell from a broken gnomish mechanical time-keeper back home, it was interconnected with hundreds of other gears to form a clockwork perfection. Another depicted a flat circle of land, map like, though it didn?t seem to have any real distinguishing features for the most part. There was one glaring example, that of a massive spire rising into the night, capped by a.... Metal donut? All the while he was so engrossed in the paintings and portraits on the wall, he had never bothered to answer Rhisa?s question, gaping around like some country yokel. She answered for him, ?Well, at the very least I can see your new to Sigil, and the Planes entirely if your going to be so amazed by a few portrait of them. I shudder to almost envy you really, you?ll be able to experience the wonder of visiting those places for the first time now.? She said, almost whistful. The shock on Vespis? face was immediately obvious, ?Me? Visit... What? But... Um, That?s not just a picture?? He blurted out, inwardly cursing himself for his lax tongue, outwardly still a bit unnerved by the whole mess he?d gotten himself into. ?Why yes, actually. It?s a bit more convincing in person of course, hard to imagine something exists that you haven?t sensed for yourself isn?t it?? ?I suppose so? Hee responded. Lying still for a few moments, gathering his wits about him so as to find the perfect words to speak when he finally did, ?But, go there? No Offense My Good Lady, but I would like very much to go home.? ?Sadly, the portal you just came through is only stable at this end, another trip through it might send you nearly anywhere in the Multiverse. But my dear stranger, you never did tell me where home is?? She inquired. ?Home, Home, The city Khelbeross, same as the river that runs beside it. Have you heard of it?? ?Khelbeross? I can?t say that I have, that would be your prime I suppose. Tell me about it?? Right about now a thick, throaty voice shouted out from a different part of the building, it reminded him of... Croaking? ?Rhisa! We?ve got a customer, Factotum Miriel? ?I?ll be right with her!? Rhisa shouted back, turning to Vespis and giving a few parting comments, ?Business calls.. Now get your rest, and drink your tea before it gets cold..? And so he did. |