What the f~@!? Something is wrong. You feel a tugging sensation in your gut. At first it’s unpleasant, but it quickly grows painful. What could make it feel like there was a black hole in your ass eating your own guts like that? Thoughts that you’re certainly going to die flood your panicking brain as the sensation spreads throughout the rest of your body. The world around you begins to blur, and twist. Your vision narrows to a fuzzy tunnel. Was it something you ate? Did someone poison you? Are you having a heart attack? Rapid fire speculations keep coming as your brain tries to make sense of the impossible. Soon everything goes black, and you lose all sensation of your body...Disembodied consciousness...how strange. Time suddenly loses all meaning. All the niggling aches, pains and sensations you didn’t even notice are gone. There is nothing left but the capacity for observation of the unfolding of reality. Suddenly stars appear, and not just the measly few strong enough to break through Earth’s atmosphere. ALL the stars appear, all around you, whirring and spinning by at incomprehensible speeds.
Nebulae and galaxy clusters never seen this way by human eyes before flash past in a seemingly endless parade. Suddenly, finally, it stops. One star grows in focus as you burst through the edge of its white corona to zoom through the space lovingly embraced by its heat and gravity. There is a planet now, surrounded by three moons of different sizes. One blue, one grey and the third a soft shade of pink. Hanging below them is a blue green sphere that could at first be mistaken for Earth. But, upon closer observation it’s clear to see that the planet is somewhere else entirely. The land masses are all the wrong shape, and there are too many of them. Your journey continues towards the planet’s surface, zooming in on a temperate area north of the equator. A beam of red, green and gold energy embraces your wayward consciousness, pulling it downward. Sensations begin to return as a new body forms around you. It feels like your old body, only clean and in good repair. There is something else there too, like an itching at the back of your mind, but you cannot place the sensation. Suddenly there are two others there with you, you feel their presence descending with you.
Full reality slams back into you as the lights become overwhelmingly bright. A hard unyielding surface of stone makes itself felt beneath your hands and knees. Your normal clothes are gone. It feels as if you are wearing a shirt of some kind, and loose trousers tucked into knee high boots. The lights fade, and the space comes into view. You are kneeling in a spacious, dome ceilinged room of some sort. A man wearing a strange suit of armor and wielding a sword stands before you. Looming above all of you is a statue of a creature that resembles a humanoid baboon with a long tail and large avian wings. Its tail ends in a bony club-like appearance. Three others kneel with you, forming a square around the man.
The man speaks a word in a language none of you understand and a glowing runic pictogram appears in the air in front of him. He continues through a complex series of gestures, almost a dance, while humming. Threads of scintillating energy stretch from the seal, across the room and into the ears and throats of Ilam, Dyana, Luuluu and Trevor. They feel a strange sensation for a moment, an itching of sorts, and then its gone.
Magretheon turns to them and says, "Fear not Chosen Ones, I mean you no harm. I am Ser Magretheon. My organization, the Knights Errant, called you here to help our world."
As the otherworldly knight speaks, sounds of battle filter their way in from outside the structure. Explosions, clashes of metal and loud slams rock the building. Magretheon looks worriedly over his shoulder at the exit to the chamber. "Speak the questions you must have quickly. I fear by brothers and sisters will not be able to hold back the Kolgiar for long. Now that you are here, we must make haste to escape!"
(General Description: 5' 8" tall, appears to be about 18-20, african american, lean and athletic build: muscled but whip skinny, female, head shaved)
Dyana crouched down slowly, her body ready to leap in any direction as her eyes dart around the room, taking in as many details as possible. She freezes as she sees the older man run headfirst into what could only be described as an invisible wall. Where did the cops go? What is this place? What the hell did he hit?
She turns to observe this clown who seems to think he's some kind of wizard or knight. Rage begins to build.
You want questions? Well how about: How did you bring us here? What happened to that guy? And what in hell is a Kolgiar?!
Dyana's voice rises in volume until the last question is a shout. She is breathing hard, trying not to panic. She reaches for the shiv in the bottom of her shoe only to realize her clothes and, but more importantly her knives, are gone.
Ilam, a man in his late thirties with olive skin, prematurely gray hair and mediterranean features, gets up from his prone position. He might have been fit as a fiddle once but has now amassed a bit of belly, and his movement is as sluggish as the look on his face is confused. Clearly, this isn't an emergency drill nor a terorrist attack, this is something else. Well, at the very least the situation doesn't seem to be immediately threatening. He takes a step back from the oddly dressed Ren-faire guy in the middle of the room, when he notices that he himself slipped out of his scrubs and into a possibly even uglier outfit.
Relax, he says to the aggravated young woman next to him, raising a hand in a calming gesture. He doesn't seem hostile. Normally he'd sound impeccably American but in a pressed situation like this the Hebrew accent kicks in.
Without letting his eyes off her, he speaks to the sorcerer in the middle of the circle. Eh... Sir Mag... Magrethon? My name is Ilam Migrom. Where are we going? Realising the man is in great haste, he saves further inquiries for later. Instead, he tries to slap himself on the cheek to chase the mix of pain and drowsiness away, and takes a deep breath. Probably this is just another weird dream, and he has fallen asleep on night clinic duty again. This will all be over soon...
Then, it crosses him he just saw that bearded guy basically pounce a wall of hard nothing and slump. He takes a step over in his direction to kneel down, Are you alright?
(General Description: 5' 8" tall, appears to be about 18-20, african american, lean and athletic build: muscled but whip skinny, female, head shaved)
Dyana crouched down slowly, her body ready to leap in any direction as her eyes dart around the room, taking in as many details as possible. She freezes as she sees the older man run headfirst into what could only be described as an invisible wall. Where did the cops go? What is this place? What the hell did he hit?
She turns to observe this clown who seems to think he's some kind of wizard or knight. Rage begins to build.
You want questions? Well how about: How did you bring us here? What happened to that guy? And what in hell is a Kolgiar?!
Dyana's voice rises in volume until the last question is a shout. She is breathing hard, trying not to panic. She reaches for the shiv in the bottom of her shoe only to realize her clothes and, but more importantly her knives, are gone.
"I brought you to Berselaxoison to fulfill the prophecy of the Chosen Ones in our time of need. I used a summoning ritual combined with the power of the Stones of Laag in this, their ancient holy place." Ser Magretheon quirks an eyebrow. "What "guy" are you referring to, maiden?"
"The Kolgiar are a race of insectile monsters which are invading this world," Magretheon explains. "The noises you hear outside are them assaulting this temple in an attempt to stop the ritual I just completed. This," he says, pointing to LuuLuu, "Is LuuLuu. She will be your guide on this world. She can help you learn our ways and our past, and you can help us find a way forward."
A short, compact simian female stands to Magretheon's left as Ilam, Dyana, and Trevor arrive. Her long-sleeved tunic, long pants, and sturdy boots are made of simple tan leather. Her hands and neck are covered in delicate light brown fur, while the long light brown hair on her head is put up in pigtail buns. The bare skin on her face is tan from spending a lot of time outside. Her brown eyes are as wide as saucers over her button nose and small mouth, incredulous as she watches three strange beings pop into existence right in front of her. Magic no doubt. I don't like it one bit. She seems a little bit nervous to even be there at all, and keeps peeking around behind her and wringing her hands.
Her eyebrows shoot up to her hairline and her eyes become impossibly wide as she watches the bearded man attempt to tackle Magretheon. Idiot! And I'm supposed to lead them? Luuluu is relieved that the battle mage does not punish the man for his foolishness. Her relief is quickly replaced by even greater anxiety as she hears the explosions rock the building. After Magretheon introduces her, she nods awkwardly. "Wait til you see the bugs!" she blurts out at her three new companions, gesticulating wildly toward the wall to her left.
Dyana comes up slowly from her crouch at the tubby man's words. As she glances behind her, her eyes catch on her shivs. She gathers them in one hand, leaving behind the empty gum wrapper she'd forgotten to toss.
He doesn't know what a guy is? Nobody could be that dense. I don't think he's faking it. He's useless.
Dyana's attention is redirected toward the diminutive girl beside Magrethon. She begins to walk slowly but aggressively towards Luuluu, who she sees as a weaker, easier target. Her fists clench, but she's tucked her knives into her new boots. Her teeth are gritted and she is fighting her adrenaline, which is like a voice shouting in her head to run. Nothing new there. Alright then. If you're gonna be our guide, why don't you start with why you look like some sort of Chinese-movie-CGI-monkey-king freak? Is that invisible wall over there gonna keep out the bug monsters? Or do you think his 'brothers' can take them down? I can't believe those words just came out of my mouth...
"Trevor, this is not a trick, or a delusion. Dyana, please, do not..." he pauses as Dyana bumps into her own invisible wall.
Suddenly, a loud bang is heard from down the hall, like large doors slamming open. It is followed by strange chittering, hissing and the grunts and cries of people in pitched combat. Colorful flashes of light cast staccato shadows across the floor of the summoning chamber from the open doorway.
"Heckloth balls!" Magretheon curses. "They have breached the temple...we have no more time. Outside on the roof there is a dragon waiting to transport you away from here. You must take the stones of Laag and flee this place. Protect them with your lives, for they are the key to defeating the Kolgiar. Countless good knights have paid for them with their lifeblood. I will release the wards holding you now...please don't make me regret it."
Magretheon makes a few brief gestures and a gossamer shimmer flashes briefly in the shape of a dome around the three Travelers before disappearing.
"The side chambers have stairs which can lead up to the roof. Please go quickly, I will try to hold them at the entrance to the temple!" Without further word, Magretheon sprints from the chamber, blade held ready. The sounds of nearby combat continue to be loudly heard.
So there's a pile of blue scrubs in one corner, as well as a portable metal case with some Hebrew script on it. Ilam, realising that although the situation is completely weird it's at least not an immediate threat, and he makes his way over to his discarded stuff.
I have to agree with you about the ISIS, but I kind of think they're not a priority right now, he comments to Trevor, as she kneels down to open up his case. I was on my way to do blood transfusions at a field hospital on the Gholan heights and all of a sudden the world just disappeared, and here we are. I've got blood bags here ready for donors... guess that ain't happening though. Just play along, I guess. I'm not a huge fan of temples, so let's get out of here. Ilam picks up the case and tosses the scrubs over his shoulder.
He looks over to the others, So... any of you guys ever saved the world before? Looks like we're the heroes now.