“Each head  looked at me for a moment before the last head opened its mouth and shot down at me.” She shrugged “I woke before it could it eat me though. I’ve never seen anything like it in my dreams before. Or reality for that matter. Amazing and terrifying at the same time.”

Howard tilts his head a bit, "So all of the heads regarded you then one claimed you, interesting. It could be you felt you were being judged and finally accepted. One particular head taking interest in you." He looks to Violet for a moment then back to Liya.

"Another possibility is maybe you felt unworthy of the power, or feel the power of walking the Hydra's path would or will consume you. Fear is not uncommon since the bodies of those who did not succeed can sometimes be found around the path, or their blasted forms. I am sure Violet warned you of the possibility you might not make it."

"I had utmost confidence in Liya, but she was informed of the dangers." Violet says with some pride.

"That is good, everyone should be warned. The secrets of reality are not for everyone. Some minds and bodies are unable to handle it. Even now if I were to approach someone on one of the many worlds and tell them their world is but one of many. Some would call me a mad man or a heretic. Most would not believe me though there are some who would."

He then focuses back fully on Liya, "Now your dream, you only saw its head descend towards you with it's mouth open so I wouldn't worry about the Hydra actually wishing to eat you. Dreams are usually your mind playing out things. Of course among us dreams might also mean a bit more. The Hydra is a real creature and what powers and abilities it must possess we can only guess at."

"Claimed me? Hm. That certainly sounds better than it wanting to eat me, or wish me dead," Liya replied with a light chuckle.

She smiled at Violet, "I wouldn't have been able to do it without your guidance Violet."

Liya enjoyed her dinner and drinks with Howard and Violet, talking about dreams and the Hydra.

Howard hands you a small book.

"A gift for your successful walk. May it help you on your forays into the many worlds."
He then rises, "Thank you for the lovely meal Violet, I must be going though. I will give your regards to the others when I run across them." He kisses her hand then slowly fades away.

"Thank you Howard. I appreciate it." She took the book and set it on the table in front of her.

She watched him leave and smiled. "I like him. I think I could learn a thing or two from him."

Violet looks on as Howard disappears.

"He must be getting lessons on his entrances and exits." She then looks over to Liya, "Don't encourage him Liya. You would be inviting a librarian to discuss every book in his library. Though he often speaks of things even he should not know or mankind should not know, so I guess it is safe for womenkind to know." She smiles.

Honestly though, we kind of keep Howard at arms length, he is amazing at what he does but it effects him. You saw a bit of it just from asking him about your dream. So ready to practice more trump travel ?"

"I'll keep that in mind. But, I do like books," Liya grinned and finished her glass of wine.

"Absolutely. Im ready when you are."

The rest of the day is spent in getting used to the trumps and contacting, blocking contact and traveling with the trumps under Violet's tutelage which is rather excellent. You will be able to pick it up rather easily and soon you are able to travel to Violet even when she moves on to other worlds which she does a few times in teaching you.

"Violet? Who taught you how to create and use Trumps?"

At the end of the day, Liya returns to her room with her book and begins to unwind for the night. It had been a long and productive day and she was ready for the next day to start. She opened the book from Howard and flipped through the pages.

"One of my handsome paramours from a distant kingdom, you wouldn't know of it. He was quite good at art and that was something we shared though he taught me that art could capture more then a moment in time but the essence of the subject. Are you interested in learning such refined art, is that why you ask Liya ?"


The next morning as you go over the book Howard left you, you discover it is a journal written by Howard. A kind of diary of sorts of his first travels into the many worlds and what troubles he faced. How he overcame them and a lot of discoveries he made along the way. A rather good book for someone just starting out.

"It seems like it would be a useful ability to possess. Especially when discovering new worlds. A library of trumps for The Hydra kingdoms could come in handy."

Still in her nightgown, Lyia spent the morning reading the book from cover to cover. Howard's travels, troubles and discoveries were all fascinating and she could easily loose herself within its pages.

When she was finished reading Liya began drawing to pass the time. She started with drawing Violet holding her glass of wine, her long fingers wrapped around the stem as she held it out.

"I will consider teaching you once you get used to walking worlds for a while. Come back and let me see the style of your work and we can work on that possibility. Everyone currently has deck such as yours though I will have to add yours to their decks."

A slight squinting of one of her eyes could be seen as she talks to you.

"Tomorrow is your big day, you get to head out into the many worlds."

Her eyes sparkled with excitement. "Im actually really excited for that. I cant wait to see what's out there."

"Do you have any idea of what you might need for your travels ? I will provide you all that I can. I look forward to hearing your stories of what you get up to out there."

She then holds up a hand, "Now remember not all places will everything work, this place a lot of technology works but that isn't the case everywhere, yet you will gain a feel for finding the places with the technological and magical laws that you wish. I prefer technology it is more stable and reliable."

"If technology doesn't work in every place, then a sword and dagger will be good. If I need anything else, I can find it out there. I'll have my deck on me as well if I get into trouble," she smiled.

"A sword and dagger, do you even know how to use those ? I was prepared to give you a pistol though you are right those things should serve nearly anywhere."

She sends a servant off to fetch you those things.

"I can handle blades pretty well, but I wont turn down a pistol. I'll get some practice with that on my walk through worlds."

When all is said and done she is presented with a small pack with items she might need for mundane daily use as well as a pistol and around 40 normal rounds and 10 that look shiny which Violet had told her were silver for unusual creatures. A dagger and a fencing blade which while serviceable is a bit on the lighter side of blades.

So where to?

PM

Liya started her walk to new worlds sticking close for the time being, to worlds with limited technology but just enough to have fun. She packed her book from Howard and the ring from Bastion with her deck of trump cards. Her first world destination is a Steampunk type of reality.

Zeplins sail overhead with great propellers that catch the sunlight with their brass or perhaps copper coloring. The streets seem a bit more crowded and where she exits rat like creatures run about scampering to the shadows. Bits of detritus and chemicals which don't smell nice rise into the air some even forming small puddles.

She sees some gangs fighting with each other but she also knows she can move away from this unpleasantness to explore the greater world she finds herself in. She knows she is in a world that is like Volcania the world she had been living in for the past year though the technology here was based more on steam tech and a more fanciful version of science. A bit of magic seemed to be in the shadow as well.

Liya walked the streets of the this world with wonder and excitement. She looked around for a hole in the wall place to get a drink and a little fun.  Maybe cards or dice.  “Or maybe a little trouble. I bet Bastion would have  o problem finding trouble, she laughed to herself.

She easily finds a whole in the wall joint it's sign is so worn she doesn't even know the name of the place. Questionable types are indeed inside playing various games of chance and there is even the sound of fighting coming from somewhere nearby though she can't see anything at least here.

More then a few eyes look her way as she walks in. Some even do a double take as she stands out in this place.

The barkeep eyes her and calls her over, "You ah, take a wrong turn miss ?" The older man had salt and pepper hair though part of it was missing on the left side and there was evidence of some burns on his skin. His eyes were a dark brown.

One of the young men says, "We got room at our table for yah."
Another says, "Whatcha mean our tables full up." The other guy punches him full out knocking him backwards and off his chair. "Chair just became available."
The other guy is rubbing where he was hit obviously stunned.