Begin Quest
A flash of light from the screen temporarily blinds you as soon as you press the button. When your eyesight returns, your eyes are greeted with miles and miles of grassland, dotted only by the occasional tree or other plant life. Other than a large rocky outcrop, everything at ground level seems normal. There’s no signs, waypoints, or anything you’d expect in a typical game to guide you as to where to go.
At ground level, things are normal; the sky, not so much. The plains are well lit with sunlight, which wouldn’t seem so odd if it weren’t for the fact that the sun is backlit by a starry night sky. Though no expert on astrology, you also don’t recognize any of the star patterns you see, and… are they moving, if ever so slightly? And how can you see planets?! And why are there dozens of them?!?
You leap graceful up to the top of rocky outcropping to get a closer look at the sky. Not much about this world is making much sense, especially when you realize how close some of those stars are. You feel like you could reach out and interact with them even though they’re out of your physical reach. What is this world?!
<This is the Plane.>
You jump with something less than a feline’s typical grace, a few loose stones falling out from under your feet and toward the ring of lionesses that have gathered around you silently as you find your balance again. That voice you heard must have been coming from one of them, though it wasn’t a voice your heard with your ears; it’s as if the words were simply broadcast directly into your brain. The thought of being surrounded by possibly psychic animals does put you on edge for a moment, but any fear that they may wish to fight or otherwise challenge you are quickly put to rest as they lower their heads in something that strikes you as a bow. When you hear the, “voice” again, you identify it as belonging to a lioness with red stripes across her cheeks from among the nine other lionesses below.
<This is the world between worlds. From here, one can pass from one reality, one planet, one dimension to another.>
She rises, as do the other lionesses. You feel a kinship, a respect for these creatures you’ve only just met. You have their unyielding trust, and they look to you for guidance and leadership. While the rest of the lionesses look directly toward you, the striped one’s attention is directed more toward the sky. Following her gaze, you noticed her attention is drawn toward one curious looking star.
<Our purpose is twofold. To those who come in peace or find themselves lost between worlds, we serve as guides to help them on their journey. To those that would see to do harm or threaten to balance between worlds, we serve as guardians to thwart them and maintain order. The Sky above shows when a world is in distress.>
You assume she means that star that seems to have gone from the typical starry white color to a worrying shade of red. It reminds you of a flashing police car light the way it blinks, not that flashing red lights usually mean anything good. Reaching a paw toward it seems to form a connection between the star and you, and Nilana(as the striped lioness identifies herself to you) encourages you to trust your instincts. Once you feel the connection is fully made, you bring your paw slamming to the ground.
The star seems to drop like a piece of fruit of a tree, though curiously it doesn’t seem to appear any larger even as it grows closer and closer. It remains a tiny mote of light no bigger than your claw even as it drops, its landing point almost directly between you and Nilana. Like a comet it falls until it strikes the ground, vines growing out of the splitting star like vines, if vines were made of starlight and grew into a neatly round shape. There seem to be shapes within the circle that forms, though the hazy nature makes it tough to determine exactly what you’re looking at even as you climb down off the rock for a closer look.
<The portal is open. Come, Silvaya.> Another lioness nods as the three of your stand before the portal. <The rest of you, stay and protect the Plane.>
Though she’s treating you as their leader, the two of them go ahead of you. Stepping through the portal, you find yourself in…
Written by LunaMoonstone on 24 February 2018
