...it suddenly receded and you found yourself in what appeared to be a small and very old looking Arabian town and you were in a busy market place.

Hannah looked around.  Were the others here?

Fred and Raven were no where to be seen.

Hannah, baffled, began to look around the area--

--her clothes shifted to match what the locals were wearing, but she had not yet noticed.

"Is there something wrong?" an elderly woman asked you.

Hannah looked her over.  It was probably obvious that she was a foreigner... wasn't it?

What had happened to her clothes, though?  She realized that they'd altered, somehow...

"I had two friends with me just a moment ago," she said.  "...I thought they were right behind me.  We're strangers here, I'm afraid, and I don't know what kind of trouble they might get in if we're split up."

"Perhaps they are waiting for you at the inn, child," the old woman said.

"Inn.  Yes, that could be," said Hannah, uncertainly.  "...I'm turned around.  Where is that?"

The old woman pointed behind you.

"At the edge of the market, dear."

"Thank you," said Hannah, and she went in that direction.

The market was crowded, but you made it to the Inn.

Hannah went inside.

"Welcome!" A large man with a moustache said as you entered. "Welcome to my humble inn. How may I serve you?"

"What do you have to drink?" Hannah asked, while scanning the customers for her missing friends.

"We have coffee, milk and water," the man said, seeing you look around. "I see that you are not from around here. Are you a friend of the pale man?"

"Pale man?  Possibly," said Hannah.  "I did have a pale friend... what did this pale man look like?  And tea, please," she continued, hoping that it wouldn't be too expensive.

The man went on to describe Fred.

"We found him in a terrible condition, he had apparently tried to attack a group of slavers."

"Yes, that's my friend!" said Hannah, excitedly.  "Where is he?"

The man calls over a young woman who is maybe a couple of years older than you and whispers something in her ear.

"This way," she said heading upstairs, unlocking a door and opening it up revealing Fred in bandages, lying on a bed.

"Fred, what happened?" Hannah asked.  "How did you get in this much trouble this quickly?"

Fred groaned.

"He had been outside with a pale woman," the inn worker said. "Slavers attacked them, leaving this man for dead. We were sure he was dead, but he has made an insane recovery. This was yesterday and his wounds are nearly healed."

"What happened to the woman?" Hannah asked.

"She was taken by the slavers, who headed north," the young woman said. "If only the priestesses were here to deal with that trash."

"I am feeling better," Fred said.

"Good," said Hannah.  "I'm going after them."

"I'm coming too," Fred said, sitting up.

"You can't!" the young woman said. "You were grievously wounded four days ago! You should take months to heal!"

"I'm fine, really," Fred said.

"Are you?" Hannah asked.  "Stand up, Fred.  If you can."

Fred did, without any problems you could see.

"All right," said Hannah.  "Fred, can you fight?"

"Ah...kinda?" Fred said.

"Well, grab a big stick or something," said Hannah.  "You might have to fight them again, but I can keep them busy."

"Can you fight?" Fred asked. "I haven't seen you do it."

"I've been training in Filipino Martial Arts, mostly Kali, for years now," said Hannah.  "Yes, I can fight."

"Well, uh, I can brawl a bit," Fred said.

"You might still be able to help," said Hannah.  "Get something heavy to hit with."

The young woman gave Fred a club.

"Oh hey, thanks!" Fred said.

"Good enough," said Hannah.  "Let's go."

"We're back!" Hannah called.  As if the villagers would somehow miss the scene.

Some of the villagers looked over at you, but quickly looked away.

"...okay, what's going on?" Hannah asked.  She turned to one of the rescued captives.

"Why aren't they happy?  We beat the slavers and brought you home..."

"We're not actually from here," one of the rescued people said. "This is just the closest bit of civilization around here."

"Well, all right," said Hannah.  "Do they just not like your people?  They were more friendly to me earlier..."

"Perhaps they are worried the slavers will come back?" the rescued person said.

"I drove off or took down that band entirely," said Hannah.  "Are they part of a larger group?"

"No, but it might be good to announce it," the person said.

"All right," said Hannah.  She turned and addressed the villagers.

"DON'T WORRY!" she said, loudly.  "EVERYTHING IS FINE!  WE DEFEATED THE SLAVERS, STRUCK THEIR CAPTAIN DOWN AND SCATTERED THEM TO THE WINDS!"

There was a cheer from the crowd.

"...better," said Hannah.  "So how far are the rest of you from your homes?"

You quickly gather that the slavers had been traveling a path, raiding small villages along the way.

"Will you need help to get home?" she asked.  "Or can you find your way?  I don't know this land at all..."

"We should be fine," one of the freed prisoners said. "I took the money the had."

"Good, good," said Hannah.  "Fred, Raven, let's go somewhere and talk."

"Sure, sounds good. The inn there?" Raven asked.

"Yes," said Hannah, leading them there.

You arrived back at the inn, the young woman before led you to a small room.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" Fred asked.

"Well, all this," said Hannah.  "We now have superpowers.  We are in a new world.  What do we do next?  And Raven, what can you do?"

"I seem to be able to make good or bad things happen," Raven said. "I'm not really sure, it's been pretty crazy."

"I seem to be able to change my clothes," said Hannah.  "...including to armor.  And also weapons.  Fred won't die and heals quickly."

She declined to say that that was clearly going to be useful for him.  It was true, though.

"Yeah, I'm amazed he's still alive," Raven said. "One of the slavers put a sword through your head!"

"I guess it is pretty impressive," Fred said.

"And I have no idea how, or if, we can get home," said Hannah.  "We need to figure out what we can do here."

"I'll freak out once I calm down from all this crazy stuff that's happened," Fred said.

"I hope you get the chance," said Hannah.  "I'd suggest in general that we try to go to a large city.  We might be able to learn more there."

"The slavers were talking about one to the north," Raven said.

"Let's try that, then," Hannah proposed.  "But stick close.  We don't know what kind of dangers might be out there."

"I dunno, how about we stay the night here?" Fred asked.

"...Probably a good idea," said Hannah.  "We should be rested before we travel."

"Great, they got this amazing stew here," Fred said. "I'll order us some."

"Plenty to drink, too," said Hannah.  "Fighting is thirsty work."

Fred came back in a bit.

"The food should be ready in a bit, and they let me order us wine!"

"All right, but be careful how much you drink," said Hannah.  She hoped that it was watered, at the very least.

Raven took a sip of the wine.

"Interesting taste."

Hannah tasted it gingerly.

It appeared to be some sort of mulled wine. You can taste cinnamon, nutmeg and some other spices you can't place.

Well, that wasn't awful, but Hannah decided to only sip it slowly.  No telling how strong it was.

Soon the young woman from before brought in a tray with heaping bowls of hot stew and several bread rolls.  She smiles and bows before leaving.

This was what she needed.  Hannah tucked into the food.

It was quite good. The meat and veggies were just the right level of tender and the spices were nice. It seems Fred wasn't kidding.

"This is very good," said Hannah.  "Good call, Fred.  How are you doing, Raven?"

"I'm okay," Raven said. "Just thinking about how much I stand out here, being so pale."

"We should buy you local clothes," said Hannah.  "Aside from anything else, you need protection from the sun."

"That sounds like a good idea," Raven said. "But we don't have any money."

"...which raises the question of how we're going to pay for this food," Hannah observed.  "Is there some kind of reward for driving off slavers?  It feels like there ought to be."

"Maybe the waitress likes me," Fred said.

Hannah looked Fred over.  Well, maybe?

"But we should find out," said Hannah.  "Just in case."

"You can go and check, you're the big hero, right?" Fred said.

Hannah sighed.

"Fine, fine," she said.  "I'll do that."

She went to look for the waitress.

You found the young woman without much trouble.

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

"Not at all," said Hannah.  "But I don't know what form of payment you take for the food, and drink, and the help you gave Fred before."

"Oh, no payment is needed," the young woman said.

"...well, thank you," said Hannah.  "Can you tell me why?"

"Why not? If you don't help people out here, they die," the young woman said.

"That's very good of you," said Hannah.  "Thank you.  If there's something I can do to help this place, tell me.  I might be able to do it."

"It's fine, I hear you took out some slavers," the young woman said.

"Yes," said Hannah.  "I'll do it again, too, if I find more."

The young woman nodded her head.

"Where are you headed next?"

"Not certain yet.  We're strangers in this land," said Hannah.  "Is there a city near here?  That might be a good start."

"The next city is to the south," the young woman said. "There is not much to the north."

"Then I guess we're going south," said Hannah.  "Is there anything we should know about that area?"

"It's a big trading hub," the young woman said. "You can find nearly everything there."

"That's good," said Hannah.  "What would we need to be ready for a journey like that?"

"Besides some food and water, I'd say a map and some sort of cloak or coverings," the young woman said.

"Some of that, I can handle," said Hannah.  "Some of that is simple.  But where would we find a map?"

"There is a merchant who sells them," the young woman said.

"Can you show me where?" Hannah asked.  And could she figure out how to buy all this stuff, or would they help her?

"Ah, sure, hold on a moment," the young woman said, heading out of the room.

"Maybe she isn't interested in me...," Fred said.

"Who, Fred?" Hannah asked.  "If you mean me, well, unfortunately, you're right.  I've told you that before."

"Our waitress here," Fred said, as the waitress came back in much more sensible clothing.

"Well, maybe someday," said Hannah.  "Who knows?"

She waited to see what the waitress had to say.

"Ready to go?" the waitress asked.

"I suppose so," said Hannah, "if you can show us where to get a map."

"Yes, your friends can stay here," the waitress said. "Follow me."

"All right," said Hannah.  She followed.

The waitress stopped just outside of the inn and handed you a small pouch before continuing on.

Hannah looked at what it contained, of course.

There were several gold pieces in it.

Unexpectedly generous... Hannah went to find a merchant with a map.

The waitress lead you to a small building just off of the market. An elderly woman with an eyepatch was sitting behind the counter.

"Hello, young lady, how can I help you?"

"Hello," said Hannah.  "I'm going to be traveling, with some friends, and I need supplies... and a map."

"A local map, then?" the woman asked.

"One that can help me get to the city south of here," said Hannah.

The woman got up and went to the shelf behind her, grabbed a rolled map and turning around and handing it to you.

"Here you are. The oasis is marked."

"Thank you," said Hannah.  She bought some supplies for the trip and returned to the others.

When you entered the room, Raven whistled.

"You sure managed to get a lot."

"The waitress helped," said Hannah.  "But also, I think they like that we defeated some slavers."

"Makes sense. We are awesome after all," Fred said.

"We are, yes," said Hannah.  She refrained from mentioning to Fred that his talent was, after all, dying well.

"Shall we head on to the next town? Maybe find more cute girls?" Fred said.

"I don't know if it will do you any good, Fred," Hannah said.  "But yes, let's go.  Are you ready, Raven?"

"I'm ready," Raven said.

"All right," said Hannah.  "Let's get going, then."

Soon, Inaaya arrived at the village.

"Let's try at the inn again," Inaaya said.

People were indeed talking and gossiping in the Inn.

Inaaya went to innkeeper.

"I have heard some rumours of strangers with weird powers in this town. Is it true?"

"Who's asking?" said the Innkeeper.

"The temple," Inaaya said.

"You don't look like a priestess," said the man.  "Lots of people have been asking..."

Inaaya sighed and took her robe off, revealing her priestess garb.

"Is that better?"

"Forgive me, holy one," he said bowing.  "Yes, strangers were here; I know that one had a power to not die, no matter how grievous his wounds.  Is that the one you seek?"

"Yes. Where are they?" Inaaya asked.

"I believe that they left town," he said.  "This small village is too small for a hero of that stature."

"Do you know where they are headed?" Inaaya asked.

"A city further south," the man said.

"Thank you for this information," Inaaya said as she headed back to the ship, filling her guards in on what she learned along the way.

A voice called out as she approached the ship.

"Excuse me, are you a Holy Mother?"

"Yes? Can I help you?" Anaya asked.

"Please, Holy Mother," she said.  "My mother is sick, dying.  Can you offer a prayer for her?  She's through here."

"Please, Holy Mother," she said.  "My mother is sick, dying.  Can you offer a prayer for her?  She's through here."

Inaaya headed inside, being careful in case.

...well, it appeared to be true.  There was an old woman lying down there, breathing raggedly, her eyes glazed and distant.  She clearly didn't have long.

Inaaya hurried over to her side.

"...find her,"  the woman said, reaching out a hand to Inaaya.

Inaaya took her hand.

"I'm here, I'll give you your final blessing."

"T-take... take her..." the woman was trying to say.

"Hush, mother," said the younger woman, firmly.  "Save your strength.  Be serene.  Be at peace."

"I will," Inaaya said, as she began the prayers.

The woman started to say something, to reach up her hands, but the effort was too much.  She lay back, at peace.

The young woman looked at Inaaya expectantly.

"I'm sorry, I have some questions," Inaaya said. "What did she mean by take you?"

"She always told me that this village was not my place," she said.  "That my destiny was for something greater, and she gave me this strange key."

She held it out-- it was bronze, and oddly shaped.

"She said I needed to find the lock that this key opens."

"I will let you travel with us, if you want," Inaaya said.

"Thank you," she said.  "I am Nahla."

Inaaya nodded,

"I am Inaaya, please pack quickly."