The Dinosaurs and the Buffalos are playing a soccer game, and you're the ball.  The richocheting madness begins to cool when big snowflakes drop out of the sky, and the animals leave you on the playing field to be covered by snow...

And you are covered by a thin layer of snow. Its dreadfully cold.

And you hear Ajax in your mind cursing, vowing vengeance on Ares, promising to visit pain and suffering in new and unique ways on him, and then to track him down to another world and do it all over again. He's livid with rage. And he's back to being your sword.

PT

I get up and take a look at Ajax..

At least we agree on something...

I concentrate envisioning that room that I trained in and try to teleport back to the world.

You stand up on a wind-swept landscape covered by ice and snow.  Concentration fills your mind, and you realize the essential steps of what you're trying to do are not coming clear to you.  Teleportation does not work in this world, much less inter-dimensional teleportation.

A gust sheers aside the curtain of the blizzard for a second and you see a mountain falling away beneath you. With a feeling like destiny or perhaps deja vu' you hear a perplexed voice behind you.

"Wh-what's happening to me? Wh-where a-am I? I was just doing my taxes on the netbox before heading into the midnight shift, and..."  The voice fades into perplexity.  You turn your head and see a tall man, about forty pounds overweight, and slightly balding. He's got a Golden Retriever by his side, and scattered about him in the snow are what looks like some of the contents of his apartment.

PT

"Konban wa, jii-san."

---

OoC: I'm not actually going to start introducing myself in japanese.. its just that when I considered a response, it was the first thing that came to my head.  Avahur would know it, as I knew how to do it a couple years ago.. but really...

---

"Who are you?"

I ask the obviously confused and probably new verser (assuming it is one).

This reminds me of the first world I came to as a verser... that's irritating.

I walk over to the man and casually rest my hand on my sword, staring at him wondering what his next move is, as I prepare to drop to a crouch bring out my sword and in the motion of drawing it, if the dog attacks me to slam it with the hilt of the sword as I draw it, burn the dog with incendo and point the sword at his throat..

He looks nervous as you approach him aggressively.

"I'm Lance Perkins, um, Web Designer for Stratford and about a dozen other online comic strips. Now who are you? Because I was just sitting down to work on the new netbox, and bam! I'm here? This is insane, I'm going insane. Seventy hour weeks trying to start my own business, and now I've cracked."

He turns away and mutters to himself darkly about various signs that he was losing his grip.  His dog licks his hand.

PT

"Congratulations, you just convinced me not to kill you.

Anyway.. you're not going insane.  My name is Avahur, former game programmer for a government that I don't even know if it still exists.  Due to the similarity in professions...or my old profession rather, I'm going to explain some things to you.

Do you believe in the possibility for the stuff that happens in fantasy games and such to potentially exist?  You know, dragons, magic, and that sort of thing?"

"Well...no, not really. I mean I used to. I wished it were true when I was a kid." He picks up one of his shirts, a hideous Hawaiian thing with dancing green peppers on a black background, and shivering pulls it on over his other shirt.

His dog whines.

"You're trying to tell me that...I've been snatched by a teleporter ray like on Sixguns in Space? Or is it...no....never mind." He peers at your face. "I thought every kid watched Sixgun Sam...which means you didn't, and alternate reality....how is any of this possible. I may not be insane, but this is. And how do you know I'm not insane?"

PT

"Trust me you're not.

How is it possible?  Not sure." ((OoC:I almost wanted to go in an explain it, but then I remembered that Avahur doesn't even know why it happens.))

"It just happens..  Anyway, congratulations on becoming an immortal mortal.  You died..  It happens.  When you die, you will travel to a different world, different laws of physics... assuming people know what physics are, different laws of the world.  Some worlds don't allow you to use abilities.. others allow you to use magic.  It's pretty decent. So, aside from the fact that you can learn anything and you have unlimited possibilities... to get there, you need to die...  Kind of a big downside isn't it?  On the bright side however, all your possessions come with you, your dog for example.

If you really don't believe what I say, I can prove it to you.  Yes, it is a bit hard to grasp at first, but give it a couple deaths, and you'll get used to it.

Oh, before I forget, each world has a different way of keeping time.  What may only be a few weeks in world, may be a year or so in a different world.  I was in one world, then left, came back after about 10 months or so, and 3 years had passed there.  I think I recall us being versers...  or something to that effect, which is why whenever I explain this, I simply say, when you verse...  which is an easier way to say when you die and go on to the next world.  I've died over 20 times.. I think its near 25 or so times now..  you learn things each time around.  For example.. this place reminds me of the first world I ended up on, where I was in your position.  I met someone and he explained things like this... although he said it very simply, and proceeded to kill us both and we versed.  Then it really sunk in, that it wasn't fake.

So yes, you verse and go elsewhere, it happens.  I probably won't kill you unless you do something stupid and make me want to kill you.  When you die, your body returns to normal..  I don't think we age.. I've been versing for 3 years or so, and I havent aged.

That is the basic gist of it.  If you don't believe me now, you will when you age.  Every world has its own issues.. what you do is up to you, it is your life...lives, you can do what you please.

Oh, and so you know, those that live by the sword, die by the sword."

I motion my hands to the two swords on my waist.

"It happens, there is no way around it.  What you want to do with your life is up to you. I've got a son that is also like us, he is out there somewhere... I wonder if I'll meet him again.. if not, whatever, we both live forever, I'll find a way to find him eventually.  I can teleport after all, maybe if I hone my skills enough I can travel to previous worlds.  But, I digress.

That is the situation, do with it as you will, I'm going to walk around and see what's on this world, feel free to follow.. or stay there..  its your choice."

I walk off looking for civilization or should there already be some, I find a place to relax for a bit.

He looks thoughtful, and nods.

"OK. Fair enough. Wow." He giggles. "Call me Sixgun then. Not that I can shoot worth a pallet full of out of date computer gear, but I suppose I could learn, and I'd be more comfortable with a gun than a sword like yours."

He starts to gather up his stuff into a pillowcase, and as you walk away, he calls...

"You know anything about getting warm?"

You wander off a bit,a nd he huffing catches up to you.

You are on an icy mountaintop, and it stretches steeply to your right with some light on its face, and to your left, you can't see as clearly as its a bit darker. You could also walk backwards and forwards along the ridgeline.

You see no signs of civilization.

PT

"A gun?"  I reach through my pack and draw my sniper rifle..

"Yes, I can use guns quite well, however I prefer to be up close and personal with a sword.  And should I be too far away, I can attack them with magic."

I use the sniper rifle's scope to look into the distance for a better view of what is around.

"I'll be right back... I'm going to get a better view.."

I proceed to concentrate and focus my energy.  Levitating light objects is a breeze, levitating myself, while it can be done, it is a bit harder to do and if not concentrating fully on the task, can prove disastrous. I obtain a deep concentration on what I need to do, and how to go about doing it, gathering energy and proceed to levitate myself upwards into the air 75 feet or so and look around with the sniper for anything then lower myself downwards... Should I succeed then I proceed to wipe the sweat off my face with my arm.

You lift off with great effort. Its clear that psionics is not very welcome in this world as you've done this easier in other worlds. Which probably means that a lot of the more complicated psi skills are not going to work at all.

Once up in the air, you're spun about a bit by the wind, and slashed in the face by flying snow.  Just as you're about to give up, you do catch a glimpse through a rent in the curtain of snow.

Mountain upon mountain, all covered in blankets of white extend before your eyes for a half second, and then the show is over. Not happy with this, you descend back to the ridgeline.

"Flying by force of will." Your 'guest' says. "You can move things with your mind. You say I'm like you, so that means I ccan do it too."

He reaches out a hand...

PT

"It takes practice, and causes stress on your mind.  If your mental strength isn't strong enough you won't be able to lift heavy objects, yourself included.  Through practice, I can lift myself and my items...  Plus, it seems that sort of ability isn't as present on this world as in other worlds, so I don't intend to try it again, especially in this weather."

I wipe snow and such off my face as I speak, slightly muffles my words a bit as my arm and hands cover my mouth in the process..

"Also, things are not looking good on our end.  There doesn't seem to be any form of civilization for miles...  the best way out of this world is to die.  But, then again, just because I couldn't see anything doesn't mean it doesn't exist.  Perhaps if we were at a lower elevation things would be different.  However finding a way down might be an issue.

Also, it wasn't flying by force of will, I used magic.  Although I suppose depending on how you describe magic, you could call it force of will..  Still, we should find a way down."

"Magic? Whoah, what a mindrush."  He pauses. "Okay, way to get down. Do you have any rope? I don't. I have five feet of bunji cords, and my shoelaces which are MountainTech, and you don't know that brand, but its really good, but two feet of really good cord is nothing."

He shrugs, and starts down hill.

And the snow under his foot shatters. It was just a thin shell covered by a slender blanket, and he tumbles down a few feet, but now that he has momentum, he's going to keep it...

His next stopping point is...well you can't see one.

PT

That looks entertaining...  hmm..

I create fire and shoot the snow at the point that he started rolling... curious to its effects.

He tumbles down out of sight, and less than ten seconds later you can't sense him.

You play with the fire, and discover details of the structure of snow.  Its not just one thick undifferentiated blanket. There are layers, and crusts, and layers over the crusts, and hollow spots where snow melted under the crust, and snow blanketed the icy crust above.

You're working on this when one of your experiments tips something loose.

The mountainside gives way, and over a hundred tons of snow plunges downward taking you with it.  You ride the wave, arms windmilling, and then you're over the edge, and you have an extraordinarily beautiful view of the valley beneath you.

Its a thousand foot drop...

PT
OOC: +@1 to Understand Snow or Snow Country Survival.

**** this is just like my first world... although this time, I have magic, and wisdom...

I trace the rune on my arm activating the stoneskin rune, (assuming it will activate), then quickly trace and recall the image of the rune on my chest, activating the phasing rune.  I then proceed to wave my arms around and say "pendeo" to emphasize the spell giving me more power and control, and use levitation to slow my descent when I get closer to the ground.  Just before impact, I intend to twist my body to roll with the fall to further reduce damage.

You roll smoothly without pain aided by the slow speed that you land, and by the stoneskin. As you come up to your feet a sudden gale burst of snow and ice roars down the small valley between the great mountains and staggers you with its weight.

And then its gone leaving rocks, and snow, and ice.  And the cold. Its very cold.

PT
OOC: Does Stoneskin protect against the cold?

OoC:I have no clue.  It hardens my skin, making it as hard as stone.  It might to an extent, but I do not know for sure.

I grab some snow and eat it, keeping my mouth and throat wet, and proceed along, shivering a bit as the cold takes effect.

There has to be civilization eventually...if I go down far enough..

I continue looking for a way down... safer than how I just got down..  If I don't see a safe way down I look for another cliff..

OOC: We'll call it as having the same effect as a windbreaker very light jacket then. And more tommorrow.

PT

You head down, slipping and sliding, until you reach a glacier that looms over a deeper valley that falls into shade before you.  The shivers have caught up to you after about thirty minutes, and you're chilled to the bone, and start to almost uncontrollably have your teeth chatter. It requires a conscious effort for you to stop chattering your teeth.

PT

Well, I've never been frozen to death.. it should be an interesting experience..  at least this way I can learn to adapt to cold weather..  **** its cold....  I should press on and deal with it, as the saying goes, "You can rest when your dead" or in my case, verse.  I should continue on and see where I can get.

I try to run a bit, get the body moving and warm myself up a bit.  Continuing to move, I press on looking for a way down, a cliff, or anything really.

You make your way down the glacier, jogging as you go, and have to stop as you go over the edge because the cold drops even further now that you're shaded by the huge mountain in front of you.  You can't breathe, and  you realize you've frozen your lungs solid by running in -30 Fahrenheit weather.

+@1 Snow Survival.

PT

I focus heat energy and try to warm myself up magically on the inside.  Should that fail, I dig through my pack and activate the triangle box.  Then from there take it at a steady pace onwards.

The spell heats you up from the inside, raising your core temperature, and to your relief releasing the ice's grip on your lungs.

+@1 Snow Survival (Don't run in -30 F.)

You continue down the length of the valley, still in shadow, but making good time. You come to a bifurcated passage. A narrow canyon perhaps fifty feet wide, and a broader sunlit path to your right that leads up and perhaps across the slope of a mountain.

While waiting, you heat yourself again. The snow has stopped falling.

PT

I continue walking and look for a cliff, taking a steady pace so that I move but don't chance my insides freezing that quickly again.

When in doubt...go left.

I go to the left through the narrow canyon.

You head down into the icy canyon, your feet slipping in spots, and are thankful that once you get past the entrance it broadens a bit, and the icy patches covered by a thin layer of snow turn to a thick icy crunchy crust of snow over deep powder.  You have to break through with your weight on each foot as its just strong enough and sharp enough to make pushing through it inadvisable, and just weak enough that you can't walk on it.

Its slow going.

You make a mile down the canyon, and emerge into a great shallow bowl of a valley with the sunlight gilding it golden as the sun dips toward the horizon.  And across your path fifty feet in front of you is an animal track crossing your path.  The footprint is the size of a dinner plate.

PT

Excellent, dinner.

I follow the footprints, doing what I can to track whatever beast made them.

A blind man could, quite literally, follow these tracks. A clear field of snow, and then large holes punched into it makes for a very easy trail to follow.  You follow for about half an hour, and then you see a bit of ice-covered rock, a crag jutting up out of the snow about fifty feet. On top of it is an enormous beast, about seven hundred pounds, about fifteen feet from the tip of his whiskered nose to the end of his lashing tail.

It looks like a snow tiger, but with all white fur, and a great deal more fur and mass.  It also looks more rangy than a snow tiger. Its perhaps fifty percent larger, and twenty-five percent heavier than a snow tiger, and then it has massive amounts of fur (at least you hope its fur...if thats muscle, you're really in trouble.)

It howls at you, spitting its rage. The vibrant ferocity of its cry starts two small avalanches on the far sides of the valley and echoes around the giant bowl valley for tens of seconds.

PT
OOC: Dinner...heh. Thanks for making me smile.

I'll be eating well tonight...  only thing now is to kill it.  Ajax, ready to have some fun?  We've got a beast to kill.

I point at it and beckon it to come to me.  I then proceed to transfer some magical energy into Ajax and slowly approach it, remembering what happened last time I ran.  I ready myself to make a short charge to slice into the beast, keeping ready to shoot incendo at it should I need to parry its claws, instead of managing an attack.

Hmm.. parrying.. it'd be easier to chop them off...eh?

It richochets down the ice crag, throwing sparkles of ice into the sky, and then it hits the snow and really comes into its own.  Bolting at you with twenty feet leaps it doesn't have enough time to fully accelerate to its top speed before its on you at thirty miles per hour.

Its very much like almost getting run over by a car.

Its approach is dead silent except for the thump-thump-thumpety thump of its powerful legs.

You try to charge, and slice. You think you connect. It swings its paw, and it hits you as you're trying to focuse incendo.

You're knocked back fifteen feet in a head over tail flip in the air.

It roars at you from ten feet away, and proceeds to slowly stalk you with rage radiating from its every pore.  You see a slice along its upper right leg that bleeds red, but its far less consequential than you hoped for.

*The creature is infused with magic, boss.* Ajax whispers in your mind. *I didn't touch it.*

PT

Very well, lets see how he likes it when he faces a hungry man that is in no mood to mess around.

I rage, and kill it.

With blazing eagerness, you leap to the attack. Your first strike hits it on the nose, and it lurches up on its hind legs to tower over you. Eager, you jump forward, and trip on an irregularity in the ground, under the snow.  It catches you on the side of the shoulder, and flips you into a right flying corkscrew.

It then comes after you, but it too is jolted off-course by the irregular ground.

You bounce back up, and swing, and rip open its left paw from toe to 'elbow'. It slams you in the chest with its right paw, and pulls out your still beating heart.

Furious you smash your sword into its face, and things go away as you fall backwards....

=============================



PT
OOC: Yup, that's two botches in a row. One for you, and then following, one for it.