OOC: It's great to be aboard! I'm excited to begin.

In reply to Scord (msg # 2):

You are sitting in a coffeeshoppe with some other customers at other tables when the wall explodes?? or collapses and some strange man in rough country gear comes to his feet from the center of the room where he had dove?? been thrown?  unsteadily but far faster than someone who just got pile driven through a wall should have.

He whips out a hammer going from left to right, and you don't know if you should be more appalled or astonished.  He has a sword through his chest, and blood on his arm is flung your way with some of it going into your dropped open mouth.  Ick.

Then fire blooms from his hammer, and a bone chilling laugh is heard from beyond the wall.  The eye hurting ball of fire hits something not visible, bounces back, and there is fire everywhere.

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

You wake, not hurting, feeling light, feeling like cool air is blowing on your face, and so you open your eyes as you lay on your back.

A Tree stands before you.  No, a TREE.

A quarter mile above you, you see a branch overhead, on which many houses sit.

And the trunk is a mile wide....

OOC: Nice verse-out!

IC:
Wow! Strange déjà Vu there. Is this a different universe, or am I in Heaven? While this Scord hasn't ever played Multiverser, this Scord's player has, and is given to understand that characters aren't supposed to have ever played before, so this Scord isn't familiar with Multiverser, but did play other multiverse related games and read such books.

The first thing I do is look for someone to talk to or an intuition to do a certain thing.

OOC: The scriff sense would seem like an intuition to Scord at first until he is more familiar with it.

IC:
I pray, Father, let me do Your will. If I'm in Heaven, please come to me. If not, help me understand where I am and what's happened.

OOC:
IRL my wife is alive, but my sole purpose would be to get back to my original universe and take care of her if she were still living in-game. Is it alright to say she died before I versed out?

In reply to Scord (msg # 4):

You feel something familiar off to your right.

Given that an Earth redwood would be a rather small sapling next to this TREE, its seems safe to say you're somewhere else.

You begin praying, and suddenly you hear a vicious voice in your head...

A follower of the Old Religion on Shaya.  Surprising.  And he's ripped the worldwalls right open.  Don't worry tasty, little morsel, I'm coming for you and everyone else real soon.

An impression of man sized teeth comes through.

Opening your eyes, you see a middle aged blonde woman in a tunic and skirt that look well made who is looking at you from a distance of ten feet.

"Where did you come from, sir?" She says, and at first it seems English, but then you realize its another language entirely.

OOC: Yes, that was a botch.

"I come from a place called earth. I am so sorry about all this, but I bring terrible news. A destroyer is coming to this place, and it is threatening to devour us all. It spoke of a place called Shaya, and of an Old Religion, as well as worldwalls. Do any of those things mean anything to you?"

I look off to my right in the direction that feels familiar.

EDIT:

I wonder how I understand her and if she understands me...
This message was last edited by the player at 18:34, Mon 30 Dec 2019.

In reply to Scord (msg # 6):

You realize that you can speak her language as well.

"Earth, oh you are a human.  Oh, well this is Shaya, or...." She points at the Tree.  "That is Shaya, or her dead body."

She walks closer.  "I am Mistress Acena.  I am a Shayan. As to the Old Religion, I hear you Humans worshipped someone called....Jesu or something.  Some of you still do." She helps you to your feet, and over her shoulder you see a city of small beaten down buildings, and beyond that grass and in a great curve beyond that, the grass ends and it looks like the Moon.  You seem to have awoken in something like a city park, but with little in the way of benches or jungle gyms, but you see some kids tossing a small ball very fast at each other.

Her skin is slightly golden as is every other person in your sight.

"Perhaps you should talk to a priest of Shaya.  But I would not worry.  The Emmissary will protect us.

The familiar feeling leads you toward a root that sticks out the ground ten stories tall, and is dotted with buildings a few hundred feet away on the other side of a street and more low buildings.

"Mistriss Acena, will you accompany me and walk in this direction for a few minutes?" I indicate the direction toward the root where I'm feeling drawn.

"Please forgive my ignorance, but who was Shaya?"
I plan on asking her where the humans are, how they got here, and who the Emmisary is.

In reply to Scord (msg # 8):

She nods, and you walk toward the housing be dangled root.  The feeling is still in front of you.

She is shocked, but covers it.

"A thousand years ago, the goddess Shaya with her great spear stood in the space above this planet with a fleet of spaceships of her people and a fleet of Humans from New Texas and Terra, the Terran Confederation.  And Krox, dark god, came with his dragons and they fought.  Krox overpowered Shaya and ate most of her.  Uncaring, he left.  And the Shayans and the Humans drove off the dragons.  And the first Emissary took the spear and drove it into Shaya, and threw it down to this planet as the ghost of Shaya told him too.  And from that spear was born the Tree.  And with her power, she made a space for life on this planet.  And now we care for Shaya hoping her to rise again, and the Tree cares for us."


You cross a road, watch a starship rise from the city, casting a wide shadow and then leap skyward becoming small against the upper branches until it goes out of sight, and you realize the 'feeling' must be on the other side of the root.

I continue around toward the other side.

"I have to say, I'm enchanted by this place. I love trees, and to see such a Tree... It is wonderful. From the sound of it, Krox and Shaya were very large. What kind of power does an Emissary, or a god have?"

After she answers that, "Where I come from, most people care about their families the most, and generally just enjoying whatever they can - therefore freedom and safety are widely accepted as the common good. What are the cultural values of the Shayans?"

In reply to Scord (msg # 10):

You go around and arrive at a larger than normal two story  house.  Its also a bit more well kept up than the ones on its right and left which are directly adjacent.

"A goddess or god can change their size.  They can be human, and some of them the legends from the Godswar say can be bigger than a planet.  Shaya, if she had not been struck down could have given life to this whole planet.  The Emmissary....remember that spaceship, he could have swatted it from the sky easily."

"We too, but we live in a dangerous universe with Wyrms and demons.  If you can learn to master magic, it is wise, and besides its much nicer up the tree than hear among the roots."

I walk around to try to figure out where the familiar feeling is leading me. If it's inside the house, I knock on the door.

"Magic!? I'd love to try to master magic. How does one do that? Also, what do folk use for money around here?"

I am feeling very grateful toward Mistress Acena, and I'll be looking for a way to repay her kindness if I can.

In reply to Scord (msg # 12):

OOC: sorry about the break.

You knock on the door.

Mistress Acena responds while you both wait.

"Ah, well, you can go to a Catalyst.  There is one in the Tree.  It would give you access to the spheres of power that Shaya favored.  And why are you knocking on the door of ..."

The door opens, and a gray haired, expensively dressed man stares grumpily out on his porch.

"Mistress Acena,..." And he looks at you questionly.

"Master Merchant Troff." She bows.

"Master Merchant Troff, I'm honoured to meet you. I arrived here just a few minutes ago, and I got the feeling I was meant to come here, so I did."

I think quickly about the Catalyst, and am eager to ask what it is.

EDIT: OOC: No worries about the delay, life happens all the time. Gaming is just extra.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:44, Wed 08 Jan 2020.

In reply to Scord (msg # 14):

"I was in my basement doing my accounts, and then suddenly all about me were these objects...."

He invites you in and takes the both of you downstairs to the more spartan basement where a plain office exists.  On the ground all over the basement are a number of your items.  The total weight must be less than a hundred pounds, and they must be yours that were at your house.  List away....

How about this (copied and pasted from JohnA1nut's game):

Worn:
Clothes:
Jeans, t-shirt, suit, socks, underwear, sunglasses, shoes, boots,
Accessories:
black leather belt with steal buckle, titanium wedding ring, copper bracelet, cross necklace, vial of holy water, vial of holy oil, holy salt, blessed red brick dust made with bricks from the wreck of the Agnes G. Donahue in 1913
Assorted:
pencils, pocket knife, wallet w/ cards, $440, lockpick, wallet ninja, $4.40 in coins, keys, iPod, iPhone, water bottle with water, flint & steel, carbon filter straws

Other items:
1 lb of variety of high quality cannabis, joint papers, Pax 3, charger & cleaning kit, bag of cannabis seeds, 100 yards tin foil, Smudging stick, water-proof backpack, extra lighters, boxes of matches, solar charger, soldering rod, collapsible fishing rod, fishing line, hooks and lures, hammer backed utility hatchet, small tent, water filtration, iodine (for water purification, and disinfection), 5 emergency thermal sheets, 50' rope, small metal pan, shovel head, bullroarer, laptop, 10 64GB micro USB sticks, 3 changes of clothes, hiking boots, rubber boots, raincoat, sweater, picture of wife,

Compound bow
50 arrows

Backpack with assorted survival and toolkit items
bag of assorted imperishable trade goods
bag of assorted seeds
bag of assorted psychoactive plants & fungi
bag of assorted religious accoutrements
bag of assorted non-lethal crowd controlling items

Holy items:
Bottle of holy water, bottle of holy oil, 1 kg holy salt, .9 kg blessed red brick dust made with bricks from the wreck of the Agnes G. Donahue in 1913, cross & figurine of Jesus made from olive wood from Jerusalem, NIV Bible, NRSV Bible, the Message, Paintball World Bible, journals, cannabis pipe
This message was last edited by the player at 23:41, Wed 08 Jan 2020.

In reply to Scord (msg # 16):

Approved.

The Merchant is curious about how your stuff go in his basement.  He really seems to want an answer before letting you walk off with your stuff.

In the process of examining your stuff you ask about a Catalyst.

Troft responds.

"I've travelled a bit, and seen a few Catalysts, not just the one on Shaya.  They are frequently dangerous to enter as they spontaneously create life which often defends the Catalyst.  I've seen the Eye of Krox.  Demons inhabit it.  Its a good five hundred yards across.  Now, Shaya's Catalyst should be more friendly, but it is guarded inside the Tree.  They don't just let anyone at it.  However, if you join the Shayan Marines, there is a good chance you could become a Visitant, and many of them survive the visit to the Finger of Shaya and become Tech Mages."

Mistress Acena nods.

"Most survive.  In the old days they let anyone try and lots died or went insane or just vanished.  But now they have tests to make sure you are compatible before you go in."

"I would be happy to give you an answer, but the best I can say is that it must've gotten here the same way I did. What year is this? I am from a time when all humans lived on or in orbit around Earth - our home planet. It seems like that was a long time ago for you. The last thing I remember is being in a store and someone deflecting fire onto me. I thought I had died, but then I was here. Somehow my stuff seems to have come with me. The short answer is I just don't know."



"In that case, I might like to join the Shayan Marines. What are the ethics standards of the Shayan Marines, and how would I join?"

In reply to Scord (msg # 18):

He stares at you open mouthed in astonishment and then visibly tries to come up with an answer.

"Its, its 973 After the Godswar, but the Humans on New Texas say is 5438 in the Old Calendar, I think."  He rruffles through some papers, and checks.  "Yes. That's right.  Course, they mostly count from the Godswar as we do, or from the founding of New Texas or Terra.  Really, our calendars for interstellar traders can be a confusing mess."

"Courage, Obedience to Law, Preparation, and Love." Mistress Acena said.  "My uncle retired from the Marines."

As I have answered sincerely, I gently assume I have possession of my things (leaving room for objection), I respectfully turn to Master Merchant Troff and humbly say, "Master Merchant Troff, I thank you deeply for caring for my possessions in my absence. Since I am from another time and place, I am unfamiliar with any customs you may have concerning this kind of thing, but in my home I would be miserly if I didn't offer you a finder's reward."

I offer him a joint and a $100 bill. "This paper art-piece was our currency, and this is a cannabis joint which we smoke to enhance relaxation, socialization, pain relief, meal enjoyment, spiritual connection, prayers and sleep. I don't know if it will work with your physiology, but I consider it valuable, and my pleasure to offer to you for your generous kindness. I'm grateful for the time you have given me and I can't ask for any more of your generosity. May you be blessed as we leave." I sincerely pray that last sentence, making the sign of the cross with my hand in the 'benediction' pose.

If he refuses once, I say, "Are you certain you won't accept my gift of gratitude?" but I respect a 2nd rejection without further question.

I turn toward the door and look at Mistress Acena, "Mistress Acena, what is the law that must be obeyed? Is it statutory law or is it common law? Is it a law to be obeyed to the letter or to the spirit? And how might I join the Shayan Marines?"

In reply to Scord (msg # 20):

He seems amenable to the idea of a reward, and Mistress Acena chuckled.

"Merchants don't turn down free money, lad."

Troft snorts at Acena, and then he smiles at you as he accepts the gift.

"Its not all about the money."

And then as you do the benediction you hear perfectly harmonious singing all about you with voices ranging from contra-contrabass to ultra sophrano...

In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. ...

Golden light seems to be leaking out of the walls.  Both the other two are looking about in extreme agitation.

OOC: It's been awhile so I'd need a refresher, but I did learn New Testament Greek as part of my M.Div. Would it be alright to say I can speak Biblical Greek?

"Well that's new. I intend the blessing to either lead you toward your salvation or for your household - all those under your care or employ - to prosper as One-Who-Is chooses."

"Mistress Acena, would you please walk with me a little further?"

After we're a little away, I turn to her, "You mentioned that Obedience to Law was one of the standards of the Marines. This is a noble thing, to be sure, but what is the law that must be obeyed? Where I come from there are 2 types of laws - laws that must be obeyed to the letter of the law and those for which the spirit of the law is more important. And how might I join the Shayan Marines?"

Establishing a ritual for prayer:
I make the sign of the cross while wearing my cross necklace, vial of holy water, vial of holy oil, and holy salt. I put on the full psycho-spiritual armour of God (fearlessness in humble honesty, satisfaction with innocence, confidence for service, fidelity of love for God and all, sincere joyful expression, scriptural WWJD intuition, connection with God for the good of others) and then I pray,
"Father set me on the right path to being a more effective friend. Spirit, I love you. Guide me along Your chosen path for me."
EDIT: OOC: I plan on putting the ritual part into a spoil-box to keep distraction down to a minimum.

The intended effect of my prayer is to help me move toward the goal of learning the magics of this world.

OOC: I'm curious about the stuff revealed in this quote:

I'm especially curious about what threats these people may be facing. But I'm also curious about any potential social disparities between those who live among the roots and those who live up the tree. Although my character's motivation is toward the wisdom of learning to master magic, I'm also enjoying the story.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:15, Sat 18 Jan 2020.

In reply to Scord (msg # 22):

OOC: That was Latin, I believe. As to Biblical Greek, yes.  But if you ever travel back to Grecian times  you're almost certain to have a weird accent.

The light fades as you walk off with Mistress Acena.  She is dumbfounded and follows silently.

She frowns, and then says "I don't really know how to answer that.  Its not something I think about.  As to the Marines, well that's easy. "  She points out into the town where a lone skinny tower stands two stories higher than its neighbours.

"The Tower of the Sword."

You pray and the lights and the singing is much louder, and you realize that going to the Shayan Marines is a good path to learning the magics of this world.  The lights fade, but much slower.

"Mistriss Acena, you have been an incalculably valuable acquaintance to me, and I barely know you. I am very grateful I met you. If it is possible to keep in touch with you, I'd like that. How might we contact eachorher?

"Before I leave, I'd like to pray for you if you don't mind. Is there anything in particular I could pray for?"

After this, Ill be heading for the Tower of the Sword.

In reply to Scord (msg # 24):

"I....the voices were so beautiful." A tear appears in her eyes. "I've never heard anything more beautiful in my life save for my babies. I wish I could hear them more."

She finds a bit of paper and gives you her address.  You can send mail to her or hire a kid on the street as a messenger.  She explains that unlike Terra, kids are expected to be willing to pitch in for adults who they are related to for free, and others for small coin.  It seems for whatever reason kids are safe from being bothered here.  Glancing at the TREE, you suspect that having a even dead incarnate goddess of Life hanging overhead might have something to do with that.  Its plausible in this world that the lightning bolt from on high might be a real thing.

---

Spoiler for prayer ritual & what I pray: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
I make the sign of the cross while wearing my cross necklace, vial of holy water, vial of holy oil, and holy salt. I put on the full psycho-spiritual armour of God (fearlessness in humble honesty, satisfaction with innocence, confidence for service, fidelity of love for God and all, sincere joyful expression, scriptural WWJD intuition, connection with God for the good of others) and then I pray in Greek,

[You Who Are Who You Are, I love you with. Forgive me if I have treated Mistress Acena as a means to an end rather than as an end in herself. Thank you for sending her to me and gifting her with the willingness to help me. You have said that you would bless those who bless me. Jesus, she is very moved by the Singing Voices of Blessing. If you are willing, please bless her and open her ears to hear the Singing whenever it will benefit her and especially when it helps her to realize Your infinite value. Let Your will be done. Amen.]

---

Intended effect: Mistress Acena can hear the singing voices whenever it will benefit her, and maybe begin to realize the goodness of Yahweh.

After the blessing, I thank her once more, bid her farewell and head toward the Tower of the Sword.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 06:43, Wed 22 Jan 2020.