{open} your adventure begins
Cameron Davis
Artist

Age: 30 | Height: 5'8" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 2 - Strg: 13 - Dext: 17 - Endr: 15 - Luck: 8 - Int:
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#1


One moment Cameron was trudging home from the pharmacy, their thoughts a million miles away -- flicking between adventure in Faerun and the high cost of their medication -- and then the next they were actually a million miles away, in a completely unfamiliar place, a barren wasteland below an imposing obsidian tower.

Cameron stopped in mid-step, their mouth falling open. "Uh ... what?"

They looked around in shock, one hand gripping their backpack strap tightly, as if keeping hold of their bag was actually the important thing right now. Then they took off their glasses and rubbed them clean on the hem of their shirt. Putting them back on, they blinked a couple times. Yep, wasteland and tower, definitely. Well.

"What the absolute hell?"

Now what?


cameron ?



"Cameras" by Ennev is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Neos Rivetter
Explorer/Storyteller

Age: 33 | Height: 6'1" | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Nomadic
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#2
Neos
Look out 'cause here I come
And I'm marching on to the beat I drum
A man in a full-black business suit had walked out of the portal not long behind Cameron, the man's eyes covered by curly bangs of brown that ended in blue and a wide-brimmed black hat on top of his head. Recent misadventures had caused him to be lost in thought for the moment. "Arceus-dammit, this world's a mess and a half," the stranger muttered to himself with a minor snarl before he raised his head to see the road he expected to see to the closest civilization in this 'Hollowed Ground'. Upon doing so, however, he found himself blinking once with bright emerald eyes upon seeing another in front of him.

"Are you okay," he asked gently, a sympathetic look on his face, which was illuminated faintly by the six-pointed blue crystal hanging around his next. "You lost?"
I'm not scared to be seen
I make no apologies
This is me
Cameron Davis
Artist

Age: 30 | Height: 5'8" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 2 - Strg: 13 - Dext: 17 - Endr: 15 - Luck: 8 - Int:
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#3


"Um ... yes. Definitely." Somehow the presence of a strange man in a suit who seemed to appear out of nowhere only made the whole experience all the more surreal. Maybe Cameron was dreaming? They felt awake, but you often thought you were awake in a dream, didn't you? Though Cameron tended towards lucid dreaming.

"A minute ago I was walking down Fifth Avenue and now I'm ..." Cameron gestured vaguely at the world around them. "So yeah, you could say that I'm pretty lost."

They wanted to ask if this was a prank, but that didn't make any sense -- they couldn't imagine the practicalities of a prank that could suddenly relocate them like this. They definitely weren't indoors on some kind of set; they could feel the open air around them, the clouds moving above, the bite of cold a little too much for Cameron's light jacket. There was a little snow on the ground. Maybe Cameron was hallucinating? That had never happened before, and they couldn't think of anything they could have done to trigger it. If they were hallucinating so completely that they couldn't see the real world at all, maybe the best course of action was to just stay still and wait for it to stop.


cameron ?



"Cameras" by Ennev is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Neos Rivetter
Explorer/Storyteller

Age: 33 | Height: 6'1" | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Nomadic
Level: 2 - Strg: 13 - Dext: 13 - Endr: 13 - Luck: 12 - Int:
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#4
Neos
Look out 'cause here I come
And I'm marching on to the beat I drum
"Fifth Avenue...?" Neos' eyes had narrowed and lowered somewhat as a little bit of homesickness for his Earth came to him. After a moment, he looked back up towards the stranger in front of him, who still seemed to be lost in their surroundings. Just like Sah...just like himself.

"This...is going to sound absolutely fucking weird of a question, but...you wouldn't happen to from anywhere like an area known as either Unova or Kalos, would you?" There was a slightly-hopeful tone to his voice, that he wouldn't be alone in this world in that way, he'd have at least a Trainer to work with through the madness of this place. However, he didn't not bank on that thought, feeling how much of a longshot that was. His Earth was one of an unknown number of worlds and realities throughout this Omniverse. That was a harsh reality he had to learn a long time ago.

He then gently rose a hand before placing it on Cameron's shoulder, giving it a firm yet gentle squeeze. "Also...you may be lost, but not in the way you think. Would you be willing to walk with me down the road, so you aren't alone here on Caido? Staying out here, especially alone, is a pretty dangerous idea."
I'm not scared to be seen
I make no apologies
This is me
Cameron Davis
Artist

Age: 30 | Height: 5'8" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 2 - Strg: 13 - Dext: 17 - Endr: 15 - Luck: 8 - Int:
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#5


"Fifth Avenue, yeah." The fact that this man hadn't heard of one of the main drags in Cameron's moderately-sized town was ... Actually, considering the situation, maybe it would have been weirder if he did know Cam's hometown. "No, I'm from South Carolina."

Cameron flinched back from the touch; they weren't a very touchy person, and didn't usually let strangers get that close to them. Some warnings from their childhood echoed in their head: Don't go anywhere with strangers and If you're lost, stay where you are until someone comes and gets you. But if this place was dangerous -- and it didn't exactly look hospitable ... Besides, Cam was 25 now. They weren't a little kid to be led astray by a stranger with candy, and their parents weren't about to come and find them. Especially here. "Sure. Where are we going? We're in ... Caido?"


cameron ?



"Cameras" by Ennev is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Neos Rivetter
Explorer/Storyteller

Age: 33 | Height: 6'1" | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Nomadic
Level: 2 - Strg: 13 - Dext: 13 - Endr: 13 - Luck: 12 - Int:
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Posts: 170 | Total: 259
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#6
Neos
Look out 'cause here I come
And I'm marching on to the beat I drum
"The world we're in is called Caido, yes," he said with a nod before looking ahead upon the dirt and stone road that seemed to lead to nowhere almost immediately, only seeing what looked like aged stone buildings pretty damned far into the distance. "...damn, that's a trip," he muttered before looking down towards his current company. "The area of land we're currently in is known to the people of this world as the 'Hollowed Grounds', and I was coming here to explore this area and learn more about this world myself. I've heard about some form of civilization here, but it seems to be recovering from recent events I'm not wholly privy to myself. Also...let me know if you get tired of walking before we get to the end of the road, I may be able to at least give you a way to rest while we continue." He then softly smiled towards her before adding, "I keep forgetting, the name's Neos Rivetter, what's yours? Might as well exchange names while traversing this semi-shattered world."

He then blinked when his brain finally registered the bag she had been holding onto for dear life and lifted a hand to point at it. "Wait, how did you end up coming here with that?"
I'm not scared to be seen
I make no apologies
This is me
Cameron Davis
Artist

Age: 30 | Height: 5'8" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 2 - Strg: 13 - Dext: 17 - Endr: 15 - Luck: 8 - Int:
Played by: Bees Offline
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Posts: 296 | Total: 1,206
MP: 1749
#7


"So you're telling me I'm not on Earth anymore," Cameron said, their voice coming out flat rather than disbelieving. They probably should have been more skeptical, but it wasn't that much weirder to in another world than to be instantly transported across the Earth -- if they were going to accept the latter, they'd consider the former as well. As impossible as it seemed, they had read plenty of stories with this premise -- written a few too, though they tended to prefer pure secondary worlds over portal quests.

But those were fiction. People didn't actually step into new worlds ... was what Cameron would have said half an hour ago. Yet here they were.

"Um, OK." That was a good bit of information that Cameron didn't really have a lot of context for, and they doubted they'd remember it. "I'm Cameron Davis. Uh, my pronouns are they/them, by the way."

Did people in this new world have a concept of nonbinary genders? The words were barely out of Cameron's mouth before they regretted them; they hated introducing themself to new people and not knowing how they'd react to that whole concept. And it seemed like they should really have bigger worries right now than not being misgendered.

"My bag? I carry it all the time." They'd long since chosen a backpack rather than a purse or briefcase to hold their laptop, camera, wallet, etc. when on the go. It was a bonus, Cam realized, that today they happened to have their medication in there as well. Otherwise -- well, where did one source Abilify in another world? Actually ...

"Maybe this is a weird question," Cameron began, "but, like ... what's the year here? What, um, level of technology ... ?"

They wanted to know whether they were in for a swords and sorcery experience where they'd have to adjust to medieval life or more of an urban fantasy thing. Or even sci fi. How could they know?


cameron ?



"Cameras" by Ennev is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Neos Rivetter
Explorer/Storyteller

Age: 33 | Height: 6'1" | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Nomadic
Level: 2 - Strg: 13 - Dext: 13 - Endr: 13 - Luck: 12 - Int:
Played by: Tesability Offline
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Posts: 170 | Total: 259
MP: 360
#8
Neos
Look out 'cause here I come
And I'm marching on to the beat I drum
An eyebrow rose slightly at the mention of 'Earth' as they continued walking, confusing him a little as he did not recall anything along the lines of a 'South Carolina' on his home Earth. The same eyebrow went up a little higher at the mention of 'them/they' for how they referred to be known by, but it went back down to normal after he remembered something from his home.

There was a lot of genderless Pokemon back home that were the same way if they didn't feel like identifying with either a masculine or feminine identity, so this did kinda track...he just never expected a human to do it, though.

He ended up inhaling through his teeth sharply at the last question, making him realize fact he didn't know some things of that nature. "Sadly, I haven't been here that long, either, only a few months by now. Little mad for not asking about the year when I first came here." He glanced away for a moment before he realized that they mentioned the term 'technology' around him, causing him to snap his head right back to her. "The fact you even know of the term 'technology' is actually amazing. It's a pretty foreign term around here."

He then looked ahead once more, making sure they weren't walking into anything subtly dangerous while trying to figure out how to explain to his company what they ended up walking into. "For the most part, this place is mostly medieval with some degree of magical power in this world, though most of it did not take the form of spellcasting. A small amount of it did, but not a lot. There's a high godly influence in this world, however." He clicked his tongue once in thought, before adding, "Speaking of godly influence, there's one strange exception that I came here to find out more about. While there's a low presence of advanced technology, there seems to be a budding Goddess of Technology somewhere around this area."
I'm not scared to be seen
I make no apologies
This is me
Cameron Davis
Artist

Age: 30 | Height: 5'8" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 2 - Strg: 13 - Dext: 17 - Endr: 15 - Luck: 8 - Int:
Played by: Bees Offline
Change author:
Posts: 296 | Total: 1,206
MP: 1749
#9


"So ... you're not from here either?" Cameron rubbed the back of their neck. "Are there a lot of -- I mean, does this happen often here? People appearing from, uh, other worlds?"

Maybe they wouldn't be as out of place here as they thought, if the residents of Caido were used to people just showing up out of thin air. Or was it usually more intentional? Oh, that led Cam to a rather important question, one they couldn't believe hadn't been at the forefront of their mind: "Is there a way home?"

They didn't know if they wanted to go home immediately -- it seemed untenable to just head back to their shitty job and boring life after learning that whole other realities existed. But eventually they'd probably want to see their parents again, wouldn't they? Ride in a car. Eat pizza. God, use the Internet.

Listening to Neos' explanation of Caido's technological development and time period, Cam nodded. OK, swords and sorcery it was. That was the setting they generally preferred for their fantasy adventures, though they'd been getting more into urban stuff too, and of course sci fi was great ... Though Cam had never really wanted to live in a medieval world. They liked technology. If they had to pick a universe to move to, they would have preferred a sci fi one -- something idealized, like Star Trek, not a post-apocalyptic hellscape. And, honestly, the area they'd come out in kind of looked like a post-apocalyptic hellscape ... They hoped Caido got better at some point.

"A goddess of technology? Interesting." This being a whole new world, Cam had no problem believing in magic and gods -- though back home they were an atheist. But if they accepted that they'd been teleported into a new universe or whatever, magic didn't seem that far-fetched; actually, it made more sense than not having magic. "So, um, where are we going?"


cameron ?



"Cameras" by Ennev is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Neos Rivetter
Explorer/Storyteller

Age: 33 | Height: 6'1" | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Nomadic
Level: 2 - Strg: 13 - Dext: 13 - Endr: 13 - Luck: 12 - Int:
Played by: Tesability Offline
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Posts: 170 | Total: 259
MP: 360
#10
Neos
Look out 'cause here I come
And I'm marching on to the beat I drum
"The people that have been made to come to Caido, us Outlanders, have been seemingly coming here over the past few years after the release of this Goddess of Technology I mentioned beforehand. Many say that she had a large hand in those that have come here, but I don't know for sure, nor am I just gonna accept that without at least looking into it myself."

Neos patiently waited for Cameron to finish with her...er, their questions, thinking back to when he info-dumped another upon his entry into this world as he glanced towards them. Fortunately, however, he can at least keep up with most that was shared with him. "For where we're going...I wholly don't know myself since this is my first time coming to this area, but over in that direction," Neos then pointed ahead, "the road from the local portal leads to there, so there will likely be others around." He then lowered his hand back to his side before refocusing his eyes back on them. "I will say that not all of Caido looks like this. I recently came from one area that almost froze me like a popsicle while there, though there's no going there now for winter...er, Deepfrost, I mean."

Upon being asked if there was a way out, bright eyes narrowed, brown and blue eyebrows lowered and Neos found himself looking ahead with a piercing glare towards the buildings far ahead. "The Naturals of this world are convinced there's no way to leave once here. They'll have to forgive me if I butt my head against that idea and try to find a way for those that want to leave." He was slightly growling as he said that, though he tried to make it clear with body language that none of it was aimed at Cameron. He then exhaled sharply before lowering his head as they walked on. "I've been through five different realities and I managed to get out of each one, even if it was with divine aid for a couple of them, but there's just about always someway out. The trick is finding it."
I'm not scared to be seen
I make no apologies
This is me
Cameron Davis
Artist

Age: 30 | Height: 5'8" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 2 - Strg: 13 - Dext: 17 - Endr: 15 - Luck: 8 - Int:
Played by: Bees Offline
Change author:
Posts: 296 | Total: 1,206
MP: 1749
#11


"So there are portals here? But they ... don't lead to other worlds? Just other areas of Caido?" Interesting. Cam might have to check out one of those portals themself -- part of them was actually starting to get excited about the prospect of exploring a new world, taking part in an adventure like the ones they'd read and roleplayed so much.

Then that thought deflated as they remembered that they weren't, like, good at things. Oh, they were a decent artist and a good photographer and quite a good DM, but they couldn't actually adventure. And it didn't seem like any of their existing skills would be too helpful in a medieval society. Uh-oh. "How do people, uh, live here? Like, make a living? I'm a photographer, and I don't really think that's going to be big here."

Though they did have their camera with them. Maybe they could wow the locals by introducing them to the technology. It was a digital camera, though, so it would need charging to continue to function for long ... (Not having checked their bag yet -- or even their phone -- they didn't realize that all their electronics had burnt out on arrival.)

"You've been through five different realities? Wow. So there's a lot out there, huh?" The idea of some kind of multiverse wasn't foreign to Cameron, of course, but again, that was in fiction. They'd never thought it was actually real -- at least not on more than a quantum level, not in a way you could visit and explore.


cameron ?



"Cameras" by Ennev is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Neos Rivetter
Explorer/Storyteller

Age: 33 | Height: 6'1" | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Nomadic
Level: 2 - Strg: 13 - Dext: 13 - Endr: 13 - Luck: 12 - Int:
Played by: Tesability Offline
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Posts: 170 | Total: 259
MP: 360
#12
Neos
Look out 'cause here I come
And I'm marching on to the beat I drum
"There isn't a portal for everywhere just yet, but it looks like there's multiple future ones planned. I do not personally know how they've been made, but I have my theories based off past experiences in other worlds." He was honestly glad the portals were here, even if they did remind him of the Warp and the absolutely self-destructive reality that was related to. "If you plan on exploring with their aid, I hear the portal for Halo's been snowed over and rendered unusable for the season, so I'd leave that one to last on your explorations."

He heard the question about making a living and the unspoken 'Oh, shit' behind it, causing him to take on a slight frown. "One, if you're from a world that has currency, you might as well forget about that here. This world takes to trading for business, either for favors, services rendered or resources. Example, where I just came from through the portal behind us, this one innkeeper lets me stay in one of the rooms if I help around the place on the nights I stay. I wind up mainly playing bouncer, though..." He gave a sheepish chuckle before adding, "You have no idea how many fights just stop when you have a 'lion' just plop down in the middle of the main room in front of the fireplace. If they continue afterwards, they're drunk and should be booted out."

He then registered the mention of a 'camera' in what was asked of him and he grimaced at that. "Uh...I haven't seen anything along the lines of a camera...of any kind...in this world so far. And with the two kinds of cameras I'm personally familiar with, you'd have trouble in due time. The digital ones from running out of electricity and the..." Neos stopped for a second, thinking hard while looking up and drawing a blank as he tapped his foot at increasing speed. "...damn, it's been so long. I forgot what they're called back home. The other kind of camera I'm familiar with was one that you can snap a picture with, and it would take the film in it to print out images on the spot. The image itself, however, forms after roughly a minute, though. You'd have issues replacing the film once you were out."

He then looked back ahead before continuing to walk ahead once more. "Yeah...I've been through multiple realities, a couple of them technically being multiverses on their own that could be traveled through if you have the way to do so." Neos then gave a sudden full-body shiver that had him bring his balled-up hands to his chest for a moment before saying, "I warn you now, if you ever find yourself in a dystopian reality and you hear mentions of something known as the 'God-Emperor', do everything, and I do mean everything, you can to get out of that reality...the chance of you landing in that twisted reality is minuscule, but...holy Arceus, I'm amazed I still have any degree of sanity after going through that one reality..."

As if you were ever sane, dear counterpart.

You shut it back there, Gemini, Neos mentally snapped back at the other voice in his head, his steps stopped for a second too long when he did so.
I'm not scared to be seen
I make no apologies
This is me
Cameron Davis
Artist

Age: 30 | Height: 5'8" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 2 - Strg: 13 - Dext: 17 - Endr: 15 - Luck: 8 - Int:
Played by: Bees Offline
Change author:
Posts: 296 | Total: 1,206
MP: 1749
#13


"Halo?" Cameron asked. Might as well start building up their understanding of Caido's geography now -- though they could pick up from context that it was a snowy place, and thus probably not somewhere they'd enjoy hanging out. They liked snow in moderation, but having grown up in the south, they weren't very accustomed to the cold.

So this world ran on the barter system ... "Maybe that's better," Cam mused. "I don't imagine my bills would be worth much here -- let alone my debit card. But I can do favors, I guess."

Though they came back to that "not good at anything" issue -- especially if this world was medieval and thus operated without many of the conveniences Cam was used to. Maybe they could wash dishes? They'd lived in a couple apartments that didn't have dishwashers, so they weren't terrible at that, though they kind of hated it.

Something else in Neos' words stood out, though: "What do you mean, a lion?"

"Yeah, my camera's digital, so charging it would be an issue. Uh, that's a Polaroid you're talking about. I don't use one -- they're cool, but kind of a gimmick at this point. It's more important for me to get a digital copy of the picture so I can edit it and post it online." They were rambling, Cam realized. Neos probably didn't care about their Instagram. They blew out a long breath and added, "I mean, I'm a half-decent artist too, but ... mainly digitally. Maybe someone will be interested in that, though. Doubt they'll care about anything else I do ... I can't even get paid to DM at home, let alone here."

Cameron looked over at Neos with concern. "Yeah, I'd say 'dystopian' and 'God-Emperor' are pretty big warning signs on their own ... You OK?"


cameron ?



"Cameras" by Ennev is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Neos Rivetter
Explorer/Storyteller

Age: 33 | Height: 6'1" | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Nomadic
Level: 2 - Strg: 13 - Dext: 13 - Endr: 13 - Luck: 12 - Int:
Played by: Tesability Offline
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Posts: 170 | Total: 259
MP: 360
#14
Neos
Look out 'cause here I come
And I'm marching on to the beat I drum
"With people shuffling in to Torchline, a more-tropical location that I've been staying at since I came here, from other places around Caido..." Neos ended up inhaling a breath through clenched teeth at the swarm he saw just before coming here. "...not gonna lie, the extra hands would be appreciated at the inn I've been staying at, even if it's something as simple as serving food and washing dishes."

"...huh, not only do our worlds have the same name for itself, that kind of camera goes by the same name as well." He decided, for a moment, to bypass the 'lion' inquiry, and instead raised an eyebrow at an acronym used after realizing his brain didn't provide any possible answers for it. "Also...DM? That's not an acronym I'm familiar with...and yeah, I'm alright...just a minor headache brewing that's not from anything you're doing. Just get them randomly."

'Random', you say?

Shut UP. Trying to focus.


"...again, unless you brought what's needed for all that with you in that bag of yours, good luck pulling any of that off. That and anything that works as a by-hand charger." He then sadly shakes his head before adding, "As much as I would love to see some of that here..."

"...by the way, I've noticed that every hum...gah, person on this world has something special about them, even if it isn't immediate," Neos recalled after a moment based off what he had seen so far. He then adopted a slight smile before adding, "So...remember when I mentioned a lot of fights start when a lion plops in the middle of the common room? This was why I said to let me know when you were starting to get tired...and don't expect me to talk like this."

With that, Neos leaned forward and his clothes, hat and necklace blended into him as he changed right in front of her, his body warping to become larger and quadrupedal with tan fur growing out of him. The mane of hair on his head under his hat became even more wild as it grew all the way around his head as well. By the time he was done, the man was gone...and right next to her was a lion whose shoulders came up to the middle of Cameron's chest.
I'm not scared to be seen
I make no apologies
This is me


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