Arrival
Anna looked around. Where-ever she was, this definitely wasn't Toril anymore, not with the way the mana felt. Thinking back to the previous few minutes, she tried to work out how she got here, but it didn't make any sense. One moment she was on the streets of Waterdeep, evading an angry mage, the next she was here. Taking stock of her surroundings, she was on a paved road in farmland, and based on the position of the sun in the sky, it was late morning.
"Well, this is better than Waterdeep sure, but where am I?" She pondered.
Her train of thought got broken by a literal tear in reality opening in front of her. Holding her hands up to shield her face as air rushed toward the tear, a woman clad in black armour with grey-black hair stepped out, and the tear sealed itself shut. Lowering her hands, she locked her gaze with the woman, and her red irises unnerved her, though she wasn't sure why.
"You." The woman said in a language she didn't recognise, but she understood the words nonetheless. "How did you get here?"
Anna looked at the woman, and felt uneasy. She looked almost... too real, if such a thing was even possible. Every pore on her porcelain skin was crystal clear, every strand of hair crisp. "I... what are you?"
"Answer my question first." She replied frostily.
"I don't know." Anna said plainly. "One moment I was in Waterdeep, now I'm here."
"Call me Vordea." Vordea answered. "Waterdeep, can't say I've heard of that place before, but I don't exactly get out much. Too busy with my universe. Let's do something about that horrible language you're speaking first."
Vordea snapped her fingers, and Anna felt a wall of words flood into her mind. Holding a hand to her forehead, she felt dizzy for several seconds.
"What did you do?" Anna asked, but then covered her mouth in shock. What language was that?
"Just a little gift." Vordea said, waving her hand dismissively. "That was Karandi. You also know Gilnan. I can read the intent of your words. My lovely mortals would never be able to do that. Now let's do something about that skirt, you'll get arrested at best if someone sees you like that."
Vordea snapped her fingers again and Anna's skirt which could be charitably described as revealing grew in length until it covered her knees. Anna looked down in shock, and then back up at Vordea.
"T-that wasn't magic. What was that?" Anna's voice quivered. What was this monster she had encountered?
"Oh nothing special don't worry your blue haired head about it. Might want to do something about that, incidentally. Or don't. Just some advice. Do have fun here on Karand." Vordea said with a smile, deflecting the question with practised ease.
"Wait where am I? Where's Karand?" Anna shouted, but Vordea was gone.
Deciding to take stock of her surroundings, she noticed her umbrella was leaned against a stone wall, as if it had been placed with care. Spotting a shining piece of a metal next to the tip, she practically dove for it. Her knife! It made it over too. Noticing her now modified skirt had pockets, she quickly and quietly shoved it in one, just in case anyone was watching.
Before she could dwell for too long on where she was, she felt a sudden chill as she watched the colours of the sky suddenly invert for a brief moment. Standing a scant few feet away from her was a woman who was definitely not there a minute ago.
"You are new." She stated with all the warmth of a frozen ocean. "Where did you come from?"
"I-" Anna paused. This was different than Vordea. She wasn't too real. She was barely even real. More like a negative space in reality that happened to be human shaped. Blacker than black hair, eyes that were perfectly black voids. The only colour came from her grey robes and corpse like pallor of her skin. "What are you?"
"I am Eigengrau. I am the Goddess of Death..." Eigengrau stated. "and Time."
"Death? Like Jergal?" Anna ventured. Okay maybe this was something she could work with.
Eigengrau stared at Anna. The seconds dragged out to what felt like an eternity.
"No. Not like Jergal." Eigengrau stated with finality. "I am the concept of death. I am not its manager. I am not its bookkeeper. I am death, given form."
Eigengrau stopped speaking, and seemed to be waiting patiently for Anna to gather her thoughts. Anna's mind for her part was racing. How could a concept gain form? Be speaking to her? For that matter, what was Vordea then?
"So, if you're death..." Anna stated uneasily after a few seconds.
Eigengrau nodded a fraction a millimetre.
"Then what was that first woman I met? Vordea?"
Eigengrau gave the faintest smile. "She is creation. She is the artist of the blank canvas that is the universe. She has many poetic titles that you will discover in time."
"Where am I?" Anna hoped Eigengrau would be helpful than Vordea.
"You are 20 miles from Point Thoryn, on the edge of the Barony of Thoryn. You are located on the continent of Karand, on the planet of Karand, the 4th planet in the Vega planetary system, in the Dragon Spine Galaxy, at the centre of this universe, grid marker 0 0 0. You have transferred via unknown means out of the multiversal shard you came from to enter this one. You have been catalogued as part of Karand. I really must be going now, Miss Engelbrecht. Use the knowledge myself and Vordea have imparted upon you if you wish to survive."
As she finished the sentence, she simply vanished, as if she never existed. Not even a breeze passed through. Anna waited for several minutes, unsure if she was going to get a third visitor. When none came, she finally took a good long look at her surroundings. She had almost missed it at first, but her bag of holding, or at least a bag of holding, was next to her umbrella. Thrusting a hand inside, she was slightly disappointed it wasn't hers. This one was just filled to the brim with coins.
Pulling a few out, they were all stamped were the seal of Waterdeep. While at least she wasn't starting broke, passing off literal alien currency might be slightly difficult.
"Well metal is metal, right? They'll just melt it down anyway."
Putting aside the coming difficulties for the moment, she pocketed the bag of holding and picked up her umbrella. Using it as a walking stick, she started down the road in the direction that Vordea had gestured toward.
She was admittedly surprised to see a city all but rising out of the swamp, but the geography of this Karand didn't seem to make much logical sense, and felt very vibes based. Like the soil, it was far too firm for being in the middle of a swamp. None of the buildings even seemed to be settling. Taking in the atmosphere of the city as she walked through the main gate, the first thing she noticed were the guards.
"They don't have a full suit between the two of them." Anna whispered to herself as she observed two guards chatting to a merchant. One was using his sword like a walking stick, and the other was outright leaning on his spear.
"Excuse me ma'am." A third guard had managed to sneak up on her, and yawned as she turned around in shock. "You look a little lost. First time at the Port?"
Anna recognised the language as Karandi, and decided to respond in kind.
"In a word, yes. Blasted wizard told me he'd get me to a city. Should have asked him to clarify." Anna answered, weaving a small lie. "I could use some directions, though."
"And where does the young lady need to go?" He asked with a wink.
"I got a bag full of... well, I guess it's still technically currency somewhere. Who can help me with that?"
"Ah, you'll be wanting the bank. Toward the docks, there's a gauche dragon statue out front." He gestured toward the ship masts poking above the rooftops of the buildings.
After Anna thanked him and began to walk away, he pulled out a small crystal from his pocket and briefly whispered into it before pocketing it again, and carefully observing the strange blue haired woman until she was out of sight.
"Odd one." Another guard said, meandering up to the first guard. "Never seen hair like that."
"Never heard an accent like that either. I already sent a message ahead."