Well I figured I'd post this, if anyone has comments feel free to leave them, also this is by no means finished, as you'll see the end of this portion is in the middle of something. I'll try to post new stuff ever so often, can't promise consistency upon release, but I'll try to get some stuff up once in a while. If you read the story, tell me what you think so far by dropping a comment.

For those looking for adventure, a sense of excitement, or a story that will haunt you in your dreams, I may not have what you are looking for, but what I have to tell you is unique in its own way. This is the story straight from my personal journal, of an adventure that may be simply thought of as fiction. What happened to me, so many years ago, I can hardly believe now, as I sit in my chair stricken with old age. If you'd like to hear my tale, please just take a seat, and let me begin to weave my story.

I was an ignorant youth. I had only thoughts of the town I lived in and of the friends that I had. I cared nothing for what happened in the world outside. The only world I knew of was the town that I called home. I would spend all my days pretending to be a great hero. Attacking "goblins" and "orcs" with my mighty wooden sword, or my "magical" staff. I would make up strange symbols and write them on paper pretending all the while that they were powerful spells that would cause the "ogres" to fall to their knees. My friends and I formed a band of warriors. We constantly fought the bad guys, climbed trees to see the "ancient forest" before us, and created new scenarios in which to adventure. As we grew up our desire to continue our game became less and less. We started to focus on simply using our intellect, and created a game to be played while sitting at a table. Though some of us yearned to run through the woods once more, they stayed silent in fear that it would not be "cool" any more to do.

What I know now I will tell you, and you don't truly have to believe me, but I swear it to be the truth. That game that we started was not all pretend; there was something real, something that we did not know that we were tapping into. The others may have been able to escape it entirely, I may never know, but for me, my life was in that game, and for that I was captured. There were forces outside of our control trying to allow us to relive what had happened in another land. We just didn't know it, but I know it now. You may ask how I can be so sure, well the simple answer is because as I poured more of my heart and soul into the game, after most had left; it was harder and harder to escape the world that started to appear in my mind. It was when I had put at least ten years into it that it truly happened. I had just finished off polishing up some of the work, and was on my way to bed. I was within mere inches of reaching the safe haven of the still unmade bed when I simply lost consciousness.

When I awoke, which seemed like hours later, I found myself sprawled out on a stone floor. I could have panicked, with the simple recollection that I do not have stone floors whatsoever in my house, but that thought did not really cross my mind. My immediate thought was on how I had fallen down. I tested my legs, and my arms to see if I could move them, to my relief I had full range of motion. When I pushed off the floor and took in the sight that is when I started to feel the hair on the back of my neck rise up. I was in a foreign world. I was no longer in a world of electricity, of computers, and TV. I was in a world of stone floors, stone walls, lit torches, and dampness. Where could I possibly be, could I have sleepwalked into a museum exhibit, or somehow, though very unlikely, sleepwalked all the way to a castle?

Though fear and disorientation ruled my body, I forced myself to walk around. I was in a room that was lit by 4 torches one in each corner of the room. There seemed to be no furniture, and there were no windows. There was a door thankfully, and so that is what I tried. I walked across the room, hearing the echoing of each bare footstep on the stone. When I reached the door I was impressed with the shear strength that this door represented, though close it looked incredible thick, and incredible strong. Even though the door was rough wood, there was enough metal in the door that it looked like the only way to get rid of it would be to drop a bomb on it.

I tried opening the door and found that it was thankfully unlocked. Even though it was unlocked it took every ounce of strength that I had to even crack open the door, but when I did, I took a peek to see what was on the other side of the door. What I saw I'll never forget, but to continue my tale, I saw the outdoors.

I was looking at a wilderness. There were hundreds of trees scattered around, and they all seem to give off eerie shadows on the ground, thanks to the bright sun in the sky. I have to say that this was when I started to really panic. My thoughts went wild, had I possibly been kidnapped, who would kidnap me, why would someone kidnap me, and there were more than a dozen more questions going through my head.

After another amazing show of strength I was able to open the door enough to walk outside. I was indeed in a forest, but not to the kind that I was use to. I was use to forests of pine trees, and every once in a while some other type of tree, what I saw before me were no pine trees and trees I had never seen before, or if I had I couldn't identify them.

I gingerly walked around, afraid that I would split open my foot on something, and also scared to death that I would trip on something. I know, what a hero, but when one is in a strange place, one tends to do strange things.

I once again took in the sight that I saw and still found myself completely lost. How could I have possibly been taken so far away from a place that I could recognize? Finally getting that question out one more time, I started to plan how I was going to get out of this alive. I decided the best idea was to try to find a path that I could follow and hopefully get out of the forest. Sadly after about ten minutes of looking all around the stone hut that I had awoken in I found that there was nothing. Strangely enough still, I may not be the world's best tracker, but it didn't look like anyone or anything had been near this place, with the exception of me. I went back to where the door was put my back to that opening and started to walk in a straight line, or as straight as I was going to be able to do.

I walked for what seemed like miles, and all the time I saw the exact same thing, I thought to myself that maybe this was a dream, and I would have one of those scary movie moments where I end up right back where I started, but that never happened. What did happen was that the sun started to descend to the horizon, and the once brightly lit forest was becoming dark. Looking back on it I should have taken a torch, though I'm not exactly sure what the lifespan of one is, and if I had blown it out if I would have been able to light it again. When the sun had finally disappeared, and the sky was replaced with millions of stars, the forest came alive with sound. Thankfully it was the soft chirping of crickets and grasshoppers, but what I did find a bit disturbing is the fact that they seemed to be moving quickly around me. I felt as if I was being circled by an unseen enemy coming in closer and closer, in for the kill. Thankfully no attacks were made that night, but I did freeze. As I continued to walk, with the chirping ever swirling around me, it became colder. My poor excuse for night time clothing was not going to keep me warm tonight, but I really didn't have a better choice. So I continued to walk, and I some how gutted it out until I had reached the edge of the forest, and the sun's encore show. Being completely exhausted, cold, and all of a sudden famished, I decided that I needed to find some clothes, some food, and preferably a bed to sleep in.

It wasn't until that plan sunk in that I decided to look around and see if anything looked slightly familiar, or if there were billboards or signs that would give away where I was. What I did not see was billboards, signs, cars, or even planes in the sky. I saw a field of grass, and what looked like a dirt road off in the distance.

Seeing the road gave me hope that I could get out of here alive with only fatigue and an empty stomach to tell of my crazy adventure. To practically sprinted to the road, knowing in the back of my mind that it would take me to civilization and out of this place. When my feet hit the road I noticed that it was not paved nor did it have gravel or tire treads, but I did see something on that road, footprints. They seemed to continue away from the forest and to the horizon, so I just simply followed them. As I continued to march down the road I took it the breathtaking sites of the fields that extended off to each side, and the calm breeze that ruffled my hair from time to time. I was so caught up in the peacefulness that I didn't even see the man standing in the road until I had almost walked into him. He had coughed, and if he hadn't we would have been jumbled up on the ground.

"Lost are we?" the man asked.
"Just slightly, could you tell me what city we're close to?"
"Damn, boy, you must be really lost then, you're in the low country, close to Hilt."

At the mention of the low country and Hilt I knew that I was in a bit of trouble. I had no idea where I was, and stranger still I felt like the information the man gave made some sense, but how I couldn't figure out.

"How far is Hilt from here?" I asked, trying to not seem completely baffled as to what was going on.
"It's about another 2 hours walk down the road."
"Then I'll be on my way there."

I parted from the man, and it wasn't until I was slightly further down the road that I remembered that the man was wearing an old, beaten up, leather tunic, a black wool belt, and dark tights. What a strange outfit to be wearing, I wondered if I had maybe walked onto a movie set, or one of those small towns that do all the authentic dressing up and whatnot. I let that thought fade after just a few moments, and focused on putting one foot in front of the other so that I could get to the town of Hilt. As I walked I found that the scenery was much of the same, fields over there, a breeze from time to time, and fields in the other directions. After about an hour and a half I started to see a walled city on the horizon, but it was quieter than I was use to, not once did I hear the honk of a horn, or the sound of construction equipment. As my confusion was climaxing I made it to the gate of the city, where I was met by yet another person dressed in medieval clothes.

Before I could stop myself I blurted out, "Do you know where the highway is?"
The man looked at me strangely and answered back, "You're standing on it, are you blind?"

Pure, incredible, shock hit me hard. How could this be the highway, where the hell was I?

"I take it that this is Hilt?"
"What kind of question is that, of course this is Hilt, are you right in the head?"
"Perhaps I'm not... do you have a map maker in the town?"
"Yeah, of course we do, Old Figoran lives about four houses to the right."
"Then that is where I need to go."
"You won't be going nowhere, boy," There it was again, everyone kept calling me boy, I am 26 years old, and they are calling me boy? "I can't let you go into town looking like you do. You could be an enemy of the governor, and I can't take that chance. Especially with your lack of clothes."
"Ah, I see, well funny story..."
"Tell you what, you're starting to make people stare, go find yourself some clothes, and then come back."

The crushing sound of defeat was what I heard. Not only would I not be able to find out exactly where I was, but worse off the food smells that started to waft out of the town were going to continue to taunt me at a distance. I had to find clothes, he said, where in the world would I get clothes. I have no idea where I am, I have no money to buy clothes, and I didn't know anyone who I could ask for some to borrow, that is when a corrupt idea popped in my head. If there is a town there has to be places that are outside of the town, if I can get lucky perhaps I could steal some clothes and then find out what I need to know. So I left the guard where he stood and started off to my left. It took a while to spot anything, but then I lucked out. There was chimney smoke coming from a small red house, and I followed it. When I got closer to the house I could hear the sound of playing children, and the sound of someone sweeping. So as to not frighten anyone I snuck up to the house, I know my logic is weird, but I figured if anyone spotted me with my ratty t-shirt, and gym shorts I'd draw attention to myself. What was I doing? I was sneaking up to a strange house, trying to rob them of clothes, man I was desperate. I lucked out though I found a pair of brown linen pants and what looked like an old wool shirt. I sure lucked out finding these clothes, but I didn't luck out by the simple facts that they were slightly big on me and probably hadn't seen a washing machine in about a month. I held my breath and put the clothes on top of my own, I wasn't about to lose my favorite shirt and shorts for this. I was still barefoot, but at least I had something with a little bit of weight and I could blend in a bit. So I started to walk back to the town. Once I was within 200 yards of the gate I had an idea. The guard may have been rude and pointed out the obvious, but if I could just change my appearance just a bit more I'll bet I can slip through without having to deal with him. With that thought in mind I went over to a moist piece of dirt, dug my hands in and slopped the dirt on my face. After smearing some dirt on my face I started back towards the gate. As I approached the gate the guard stared me down.

"Hey, you, beggar, don't be stealing anything inside this town, you do and its up on the wall with you."

I simply mumbled a reply and kept walking. The guard didn't stop me and I found myself on a cobblestone way with buildings and houses of all shapes and sizes. There were the buildings that oozed richness with their columns, paint, and intricate designs. There were also buildings that you know had fallen on hard times with their broken shutters, or the unclean look of the building. I only had to wander for a second before I spotted the map maker's place and I made a bee-line for it. As I got close to the door I heard a loud crash, some profanity, and then a small grey cat dart out of a window. Whatever had just happened it seemed to draw the attention of every person on the street. Suddenly fear of being noticed gripped my body. I didn't want to go toward the building in front of all these people, but I had to find out where I really was. I decided it would be better to just wait for the commotion to die down. In the meantime I took advantage and looked over more of the town. This town must have been here for centuries. As you looked further into the town you could notice that there were ancient buildings off in the distance. This place must have grown over the years, and promptly stopped when the wall was put in. I was so absorbed into the sights that I didn't notice where I was until I ran into a stone statue. Of all the places I could have wound up in, the cemetery was not high on my list, but here I was standing in the cemetery. Here there was an eerie calm. The sounds of the hustle and bustle of the town seemed hushed, and the only real sound that could be heard was the wind as it lightly played with the leaves of the trees bordering the property. There were close to a hundred headstones, and even some tombs. Some one took very good care of the grounds as there were no weeds to be seen and the grass was kept low. As I looked around to see the entire cemetery the strange feeling of knowing where I was came again, but how could I possibly know where I was, I must still be lost. I squashed that idea and found a small pond in the back. There I washed my face, my hands, and even tried dunking the smelly clothes in. Doing so partially took care of the smell, but I was now left with soaking wet clothes. Knowing that I needed these clothes to move around the town I decided to lay them out on the ground and let the sun dry them. I then took a seat behind one of the tombstones, and situated myself so that no one coming into the cemetery would automatically spot me.

I must have dozed off because when I awoke it was night time, and the chill in the air was back. I quickly grabbed at the clothes that I had laid out, and thankfully with the exception of a bit of dew the clothes were dry. I put them on, shivered, as the cold feel of the clothes touched my skin, and got up. I looked around and saw thousands of stars strewn across the sky, but the moon had not made its presence known yet. I quickly zigged and zagged between the headstones to the gate of the cemetery. When I reached the gate I turned back to the mapmaker's place and started to walk. Even at night the town had life, there were you're happy drunks struggling down the streets either talking to each other, to themselves, or simply talking to no one in particular. There were also sounds of people finishing up their meals in their homes. My stomach let out a very angry growl, and the sweet smell of food made me weak at the knees. I needed to find food and fast. Knowing that I didn't have any money, and that if I didn't eat soon there would be dire consequences I decided to go after the leftovers. I knew the whole time that I was running the risk of making myself sick, and possibly killing myself, but if that was going to happen I at least wanted a full stomach. It wasn't hard to find something to eat, all I did was follow the sounds of what I would guess was a bar and once there I simply walked to the back door and eyed the pile of garbage. There wasn't anything that looked incredible but there were pieces of meat and some bread. After about 15 minutes straight of shoveling down what I could find I felt better, but also feared what could happen with what I ate.

Now, finally full, I started back to the mapmaker's. By the time I reached his front door only a single light was on in the building. It was the light from the second floor window. I wondered if I should wait until tomorrow so that I would not be disturbing him, but then the recollection of the sense of being completely and utterly lost came over me, and I began to knock on the door. After the first dozen knocks I heard and saw movement. There seemed to be a light that was moving out towards the door from down the hall. When the door was finally open I found myself standing in front of a very small man in a nightgown, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He had a long wispy white beard and mustache and seemed to be truly ancient.

"There better be a good reason to wake me, my bones don't like being jarred out of my bed in the middle of the night."

"I am in desperate need of your help..."

"Ah, a foreigner, interesting accent, I can't quite place you."

I was dumbfounded, how could this old man that hadn't even looked at me yet guessed so much already, did I really sound that different than other people?

"Now it seems that you've lost your tongue, please come in, and we will talk about what you need."

He led me down the hall and into a room to the right. For a man who looked as ancient as he did he could still move as if he was gliding across the floor. He offered me a seat and then went about lighting the candles in the room. While he was doing this the feeling of dread started to creep up on me. There didn't seem to be any electricity, and it didn't seem like this town would have even known what that was. Where was I? Once the man had lit his candles he took a seat in an opposite chair. He then took a deep breath and began to talk.

"Now I'm going to guess that you are completely and utterly lost. You seemed unnerved by the fact that I was lighting candles..."

How could he possibly tell that, he had his back to me the whole time and he was across the room the majority of the time?

"...and it would appear that you are scared, absolutely, out of your mind."

I then thought what do I tell this guy, if I tell him everything will he think I was crazy, or would be automatically know that I was holding back. He didn't look like he had a sinister bone in his body, but then again who was I to tell. I was in a place that made no sense to me, and this very small man seemed to be able to read my mind. I must have been staring at him because he grunted and started to talk again.

"Haven't you ever seen a gnome before? Dear gods, you seem like a simpleton staring at me like that. My name is Figoran, the mapmaker, I have seen all there is to see in this land of Pryann, and there hasn't been a race or creature that I have not seen."

My heart stopped, and I almost turned to stone in fear of what he had just said. He had called himself a gnome, and he had taken it a step further and mentioned the land as Pryann. Rapidly the memories of the game that I had worked on started to come rushing back into my mind. The lay of the land, the maps I had drawn for the many table top adventures, and the famous names that I had thought at the time I had made up, but here sitting in front of me was one of the people I had dreamt up talking about a world that I thought I had created out of thin air. All of a sudden many different things started to make sense. I had fallen into my game, and it seemed that I wasn't going to be able to go home as easy as I once thought.

"Figoran... I apologize for my stares and for my bad manners; it seems that I have fallen into a dream."

"Oh but you have not, what you see before you is real, you do not dream, you are living what is around you."

"But that is impossible, this can't be real, there has to be a reason for all of this."

"Then I'll take it that you have figured out where you are then..."

"I have but I haven't, I need a breath of fresh air, I'm not thinking straight."

"Then take all the time that you need, I'll be waiting for you here."

I quickly got up, almost losing my balance, and walked as fast as I could out the door. I found my way back down the hall and out the front door. When I got outside I was panting for air, it felt as if my lungs had been squeezed shut and I was going to pass out, but I didn't and as I started to calm my breathing a new question popped into my head. If this is truly the game that I've spent so much time on and it is now real, does that mean that I'll have to beat the game that I have never been able to put an ending to, so that I can go back home? I took a couple more deep breaths and then returned inside the house. I had the inkling to just run and hope that by doing so I would be taken back to where I was suppose to be, but remembering that that would be utterly stupid I didn't. I walked back down the hall and into the room where Figoran still sat patiently.

"And you have returned, are we feeling better now?"

"Slightly, but still greatly confused as to how I am here right now."

"What an odd question, I would assume that you simply put one foot in front of the other."

"That's not what I meant. I mean how am I in Pryann, it shouldn't be possible."

"You are full of strange thoughts, how could you not be in Pryann, it is all around you, there is no escape from it."

Little did he know that that statement made more sense than he had intended. The thoughts of all the years of work put into the game, and the creation of the intricate quests, creatures, races, and statistics allowed his statement to strike home. That is when I had an idea.

"I need some information."

"Proceed."

"Where can I find the Paladin Zealeus, or perhaps the Thief Gershinin?"

"In the history books I would think, but if you are trying to find the actual people I'd say that your best chance is to go north from here and find Delvin's Gate, there you can get a better idea of where to find these people."

So this was truly my game, Zealeus and Gershinin were the first characters to be put into the game, and it would appear that I would actually be able to meet them in person. I began to wonder what other parts of the game had crossed over. There were two other heroes that adventured with them, a lone warrior named Mythran, and a slightly unhinged dwarf named Amagmus, I began to wonder if they too could be found in Pryann. That is when I remembered the darker presence that I had created for this world, there once was a hero named Rustorus who lusted for power, and gave all that he was to be enriched by a forbidden magic. The transformation left him disfigured, but strong, he lost all memories of what use to be and became the most feared man in Pryann, and he became the Dark King.

"I apologize for all the questions but I just have a couple more. I was wondering if there was anyway that you would let me borrow some money, and perhaps point me to a place where I can be better equipped for the journey ahead."

"Though I'm not the charitable type, I feel giving you items will be good for my Karma."

Figoran leapt up from his seat and went to a table that sat next to the door. He opened the top drawer and pulled out a pouch that was bulging with coins. He then gracefully did a 180 and walked up to me with the pouch held out.

"Here you go traveler, may this coins be put to good use, but beware this much money will draw unwanted attention if you are not careful."

I took the pouch out of his hand and tied it to my belt. I started to make mental notes of items that I would want my character to have if I was playing the game. After a few minutes I dared to ask the question that I had to know.

"Does Rustorus still live?"

The lights went out, the room went dark, and Figoran began to pace. He started to mumble words that I could not catch. The grace of his walk was gone, it was almost as if he had forgotten how to be graceful, what was left was a heavy thudding walk. He never looked at me, but he did seem to be staring at a point in the ceiling. Without notice he stopped, turned to me, and stared deep into my eyes.

"What do you want with a man like that?"

"I just simply wanted to find out about him."

"That name is a name that hasn't been spoken of for almost 20 years now. That name is said to have been pulled from every history book, and only those who can remember what happened back at that time remember his name, and yet you are but a babe in comparison, yet you speak that name with ease as if he was a friend."

"I can assure you that he is no friend of mine, but I had to ask about the state of him because once he walked among Zealeus and Gershinin."

"Something is not right with you, boy..." Great back to the boy thing again. How bad could Rustorus have possibly become in this "real" Pryann? "You know too much of the history, and yet you know nothing of this land."

That was the last sentence that Figoran would say to me because at that moment his temper exploded and he came at me like a wild animal, screaming obscenities at me, and cursing all that I was. I moved from the chair and made for the door. Figoran was right on my heels as I sharply turned to get a clear path to the front door. I then sprinted, pumping my arms as hard as I could, but Figoran kept up with me. I was mere inches from the door when he some how was able to sweep my legs out from underneath me. He pounced on my back, spat in my face, and like that he slowly walked back down the hall as if I was just a distant memory. I tried to move and found that besides the excruciating amount of pain in my back I was fine. I reached for the door and opened it. When I was back on the street I decided not to risk speaking of such things for now. I really didn't need the force of an entire town weighing down on me. My next thought was, as much as I needed to outfit myself with items from these shops I did not want to risk Figoran talking to people and having them corner me. So I started to walk straight for the gates. As I approached them I could see that my favorite guard was still there, but he didn't seem to pay me any attention. He was more intent on keeping things out than he was interested in keeping things in. Once outside the gate I took the path that circled the town and started to head north. As I walked I tried desperately to remember the many different variances of the maps that I had drawn for the game, all the time wondering which version actually was the real Pryann.

There was only one way I was going to figure out and that was to explore, just like I would if I was playing the game. A sense of joy and wonderment came over me at that thought. I had dreamed of being a hero of the people, able to slay demons and dragons, and now I might just get that chance. If there were gnomes present in this world there could possibly be goblins, orcs, dragons, and a many more different things out there. That is when I thought about the possibility of magic. If there was one thing that I wish I could do growing up it was throw lightning bolts out of my hands, I wondered if I would be able to actually accomplish this now. Feeling a little bit giddy I almost went right off the trail to face the unknown, but the split second thought on the fact that I had no weapons stopped me. I had to get to another town and fast, it was going to be tough trying to contain my excitement, but it had to be done so that I could try to live out my fantasy.

It was a good day and a half walk until I saw the outline of the next city. I had survived another bout of hunger by find blackberries on the side of the trail, and now I was preparing myself for interacting in another city, and trying to remember not to scare or piss off anyone. As I came closer to the town I could tell that this one was a bit more rural that Hilt. There was still a wall, but this time it was made of wood, large tree trunks held together by strong looking vines. Thankfully this town also didn't have a guard posted on the outside of the town, so there was no chance of getting screamed at or getting named the ever popular name of "boy" for doing something out of the ordinary. Once I was at the gate to the town I did notice a slumbering man sitting just inside the gate and thought to myself that this must be the guard. Trying not to wake him I quietly walked into the town.

I was greeted by a town filled with dirt roads and low buildings. The roads seemed to go haphazardly off in almost every direction. This town was about half the size of Hilt but it sounded like there were as many residents. The sounds of the hustle and bustle indicated to me which way I needed to go to get some equipment and preferably a fresh meal. As I walked into the town square I saw dozens of street vendors trying to sell their wares. There were florists, bakers, artists, and more standing in their own stalls. I could hear the light ding of a blacksmith's hammer, so that is where I decided to go first. It turned out that the blacksmith was directly across the square from where I had entered, but walking a straight line would have been impossible, and probably the design of the place. I had to walk by several different vendors all trying to outsell the last, but my mind was focused on getting a real sword in my hands. When I finally arrived and stepped into the shop I suddenly felt like a kid at a candy store. On the walls were several different swords, maces, flails, shields, armor, and helmets. I started to day dream of the days where I had once pretended to be a great warrior wearing some of the equipment I now saw on the walls.

"What can I do for you today?" asked the blacksmith, who seemed to have just materialized out of nowhere.
"I'm looking for a good sword, and some armor," I replied, trying not to sound too giddy with delight, but it must not have worked because all he did was eye me up and down.
"A sword I have for you, but if you think you can wear a full suit of armor, I believe you're sadly mistaken. I tell you what I'll give you a hard leather vest, I seriously doubt that will cause you much discomfort."
Slightly disheartened that I wouldn't be in a gleaming suit of armor, I just replied, "That's fine."

The blacksmith chuckled at the look on my face and walked towards the wall with all his items for sale. He selected a couple of swords off the wall, ones that looked average, but well made. Once again my dream of having a bright gleam sword was squashed. That is when I saw it, the blacksmith had laid out three swords on the table, but it was the fourth that he was pulling down that caught my attention. Immediately I went to it, it seemed to have a slight tinge of blue to it, the grip was a dark black leather, and the hilt was a bronze type of metal. Upon seeing the look that I was giving the sword the blacksmith smiled.

"Well it looks like you do have some taste after all, you've eyed the best sword these two hands has ever created, it may not look like your average sword, but there's a good reason. This sword is made of a rare metal, that has not been seen in these parts for over a hundred years. If you're going to be taking this sword home with you, you're going to have to prove to me that you deserve it."

"And how do I go about doing that?"

"Simple, you're going to have to show off your sword skills against an opponent."

Fear and excitement flooded my senses. I would actually spar with an opponent and show my battle skills. I had waited many years to once again spar as I had with bamboo swords that my friend and I had made. Then the thought of facing an opponent who probably has been training with a sword since birth came to mind. There was no way that I was going to be able to use my wild swings, and pathetic parries to defeat them. My only hope was that I was going to be able to face an opponent that was blind, crippled, near death, or extremely young. The blacksmith took me into the back of his shop and introduced me to my opponent, his apprentice.

The apprentice stood about 6 foot even, which made me slightly the tall combatant, but what he had and I didn't was the appearance of strength, and also the fact that he had about 99% more muscles than I had. The blacksmith whispered into his ear, and I saw a smile perk up on his face. I could feel a bit of the blood drain from my face as the apprentice's grin became wolfish. He took off his apron and walked out from behind his anvil.

"Well it would appear that I get to demonstrate some more of my sword skills for the boss today. I promise I'll try to end it quickly, and with only a little bit of pain. The name's Jaric, let me show you to the training ground."

I followed him out the back of the store, his words echoing in my head. We walked out onto a packed dirt, fenced in area, where there were a couple of training dummies placed in the corners. Jaric took me over to a locked wooden chest, unlocked it and allowed me to peer inside. I saw all shapes and sizes of well worn swords. I gathered that I was going to have to pick one so I started really analyzing each sword. Jaric got a bit impatient and just grabbed a random sword and walked into the middle of the yard. I knew I had to pick fast, but what to choose? As soon as he cleared his throat I knew my time was up. So with a bit of defeat I just pick up a random sword.

The sword I picked up was thankfully light, and didn't seem like it was a bad choice. I walked towards Jaric, with the sword in my left hand, and my right hand balled into a fist, to try to hide my fear. Jaric cracked another smile, and then slowly pointed to where I should stand to start the duel. When I took my position he slightly bowed his head to me and then took up a fighting position. I tried to copy his position but ended up showing how much of an amateur I really was. His first move towards me showed me exactly how over-matched I was. He seemed to flow like water, every movement was smooth and calculated. He swung the sword quickly from the right, how I blocked it I will never know, and I don't think Jaric even expected that outcome. He jumped back a couple feet and started to circle me. I turned with him never giving him an open side or my back. Then with a flash of metal he was on me again, this time he came from above, and once again by some miracle my sword met his and this time parried it away harmlessly. Whatever I was doing was getting to Jaric, after only two swings and still not having placed a hit he seemed to become red in the face. Out of anger he swung again, and this time I parried, and then without even thinking spun to my left and landed a hit on his back with the flat of my sword. I had to be dreaming this, there's no way I could be doing this, and yet I was.

When Jaric came to face me again he was practically foaming at the mouth, while I was still on the verge of peeing my pants. He started a huge wind-up with his sword and charged at me. This time I simply sidestepped the attack and placed a victory strike right on the back of the neck with the flat of the sword. Jaric crumpled to the ground and laid there dazed. The blacksmith was probably watching the fight because as soon as I landed that hit he came running out with a look of true curiosity and confusion on his face.

"I apologize for mistaking your skill with a sword, I thought you were just a wannabe hero looking for a fancy sword to go swing at invisible enemies. I see now the error in my ways. Please I insist that you take the sword and armor free of charge as thanks for sparing my top apprentice."

Somehow I remained calm, but on the inside my jaw had about hit the ground in amazement over what had just occurred, and now what was happening. So as to not completely lose my sanity in front of them I quickly walked back into the store and went to retrieve the sword. When I found the sword I found that it had been put in its scabbard. I buckled it to my belt and walked out of the store. As soon as I was out the door I made a mad sprint for the tavern that I spotted. I took a seat in a chair by the door and let all my nerves loose. The exhaustion came over me, and I shook a little, but I had somehow done only something that I had dreamed about, and I got that much more excited about where this adventure would lead me. It wasn't until several minutes later that I noticed the server standing over me patiently waiting for my order. Hoping that I wasn't going to show my ignorance for the cuisine in this other world I just ordered a pint of ale, and a leg of turkey. Thankfully the server simply nodded and headed into the back of the tavern. I must have zoned out again because it felt like only seconds before the server placed my food and drink in front of me. Within the first sip of the ale I knew that this was different from anything I've ever had. The taste seemed to almost burn as it slid down my throat. I didn't want to show my discomfort so I tried to eat huge chunks of the turkey and then drown it with the ale. My plan ultimately worked and I paid the server for the meal. It was then that I made up my mind to get supplies and head out that night to try to continue my adventure. It wasn't until I tried to stand that I knew I should not have tried to act so macho. I quickly found myself lightheaded and my rear returning quickly to where it had just left. Afraid that I would stick out like sore thumb, I simply sat down on the bench and tried to figure out how I was going to walk out of there with any shred of dignity. I decided that the only way I was going to accomplish such a feat was to stay seated and collect my wits for a bit. The tavern wasn't overly busy so the servers didn't seem to mind me just sitting there. After a while I attempted to rise again. This time I was prepared for the dizziness and slowly made my way to the door. Once outside I noticed that the sun was starting to become obscured by the western buildings. If I was going to get supplies I was going to have to hurry, I was pretty sure that the stalls were going to be closed for the day within the hour. I headed directly across into a stall that appeared to sell general supplies. Sitting inside that stall was a plump, sweaty man constantly swatting at flies.

"Excuse me sir I need to a supply pack with some flint, food, canvas or tent, a bed roll, and some kindle."
The man looked me over and replied, "I don't move unless I know that I'll be getting paid."
I grabbed a hold of my money patch, shook it twice, and said, "Will this be sufficient?"

The man flew around the stall as if he was suddenly able to harness the speed of the gods. Within little time at all the man had a full pack for me and I paid him his asking price. Now that I felt more prepared to take on the great unknown again, I slung the pack onto my back and made for the northern gate. There were a couple passer byers that did look at me once or twice but none of them stopped me. I was almost to the gate when a man, walking in the opposite direction, stopped to look at me. Once our gazes locked I had the strangest feeling that I knew who this person was, but that would be impossible, I had come from a different world entirely.

"You, young man, I must speak to you right now."
"I'm sorry sir, but you seem to have me mistakened with someone else. I am in a hurry and can't really stop to chat."
"I think you will be making time for me now so that we can discuss how you got out of the stone shelter in the middle of the woods."

The shock hit me like a fist to the stomach. How could this person possibly know what had happened to me? Thoughts started to run through my head, most revolving around who this person could possibly be. My expression must have given away what I was thinking because the man simple smiled at me.

"There are a lot of things that you don't quite understand right now, but I will tell you this, listen to me and tell me of what has happened, and I can help you greatly."
"Then explain to me now why you haven't tried to talk to me until this point?"
"Ah for that explanation we need a more private location. There are ears on the street that love to gain information for those with the right amount of coins."
"I guess I have no choice but to follow you now."

The man quickly moved towards the northern gate and gestured to a house to the left. The house was at one time a very well kept place with stain glass windows, but it appeared that the house had not seen an owner for many years. The ivy had not only crept up the walls but seemed to have snuck in to the upstairs window. I followed him up the walkway to the front door. He simply made a waving gesture over the door and it opened. As we walked in I immediately noticed that the outside in no way reflected the condition of the inside. It was as if I had walked into a very different house. Everything seemed to have just been cleaned. There were dozens of masterpiece paintings on the walls, and from the entry hall I could see a fire blazing in the back room. The man walked towards the fire, and opened up the door to reveal a large study. He motioned to the chairs in front of a large desk, and the seated himself behind the desk. Once I was seated, and had looked over the room many times, I settled in for the information that this man could have for me.

"Now lets get down to business. You came out of the stone shelter in the middle of the woods. You have no idea where you are, yet you seem to know some of the people that live here, and have some idea about the lay of the land. I have to ask myself, who are you, and why are you here?"
"Look I really don't know how I got here, all I know is that I awoke in that building, and for sake of trying to figure out where I was I left that building. I may not be from here, but I have seen maps of this place before."

The man started to drum his fingers on top of the desk. It seemed that he was pondering something huge and was trying to decide what he was going to say or ask.

"Fine, maybe you have seen a map, though I seriously doubt it seeing as you came from the shelter, but you couldn't possibly know the true name of the Dark King. Only scholars and those on their deathbed still recall that name, and yet you spoke it so freely, without fear."
"A lucky guess. maybe it was a name that I may have seen or heard somewhere."
"Try again, once that man took power, the name was banned from ever being used again. Also to utter that name is a capital punishment, as there are those who fear simply mentioning his name will bring him back to life again."
"Again? Is he not mortal, didn't those that were once his friends, but betrayed kill him."
"Now see you know too much of our lore for someone who is completely lost and not from here. He was stopped by those adventurers, but to kill him, that would be physically impossible. You see the Dark King made it to Giddian's Gate, and was able to take the slightest of sips from the holy waters to make him immortal. It was not enough to save him from the attack, but it was enough to allow him to rise ever again when his powers returned."

I was not going to be able to outsmart this guy, it was true I knew way too much for not being from the land of Pryann. The more I opened my mouth the deeper I seemed to be digging myself into a hole. I think he knew it to because just as that thought came across my face he was ready to speak again.

"Sir, I do believe that I am now required to ask you more, but unfortunately the time for asking questions has passed. I will tell you something, but in return I want to continue our conversation when this is all said and done."
"You have my word."
"Good then take the northern gate, and don't stop until you reach a grove of trees that seem to be blood soaked. There you will make camp, and there you will find help. I wish I could go with you, but it is my job to watch the shelter, and nothing more. I will have to learn later how you broke through my enchantments, but that will have to wait. Please continue your journey, and my the Dark King forever slumber through your visit."

The man gestured towards the door, and I didn't hesitate to take my leave. Within a minute I was out the door back in the yard of what I had thought to be an abandoned house. I walked back into the lane and started towards the gate again. The sun wasn't going to wait for me so I had to walk fast. As what the man was turning over in my head I started seeing the many maps I had drawn of this place, but not one did I recall contain a grove of trees that met his specifications. Perhaps it was one of the finer details that never went into the maps I made, as there were so many revisions of the game. My luck must have continued because just as the last of the light was about to leave the land I spotted a grove of trees that indeed looked blood soaked. If I was going to make camp, I was going to have to continue to hurry. Amazingly enough, even though my camping experience was very limited, I was able to get everything together as well as make a fire. That night seemed to blot out everything around me. I was surrounded by an almost suffocating darkness. Try as I might I could not stay vigil for very long, within a couple of hours I had drifted off to sleep slumped against one of the trees. When I awoke there was a hazy mist that clung to the ground, and the fire had long ago died out, but these things I expected to find, what I didn't expect was the woman sitting opposite of me just staring.
I shot up into a crouching position and grabbed for my sword. It didn't make me long to remember that I had taken the sword off when I had laid down, and now it was out of arms reach. I nervously looked at the woman, and then at my sword. She seemed to sense my unease and decided it was at that moment that she would begin to speak.

"No need worry about my intentions, I am here upon someone's request. I will not harm you, at least not this time. My name is Wendy, and I'm here to guide you to some place that is sacred."

The name sparked something in my head, but it must have been wrong. When I ran the games Wendy was always the name of the bar wench in the starting town, I never put her outside of town. So before I could keep my mouth shut I was speaking.

"Wait, shouldn't you be in the tavern of BorderTown?"

That seemed to bring a smile to her face, "It is true, you do know more than should know. For one who knows so much, I believe you can answer your own question."

It was then that I remembered the twist that I gave her character in the game. She looked like your average person working in the tavern, but she was also an agent for the Bounty Hunters. Of course, how stupid of me to forget that detail. So Wendy wanted to show me something, and I now felt much more confident in following her.

"Alright then lead the way, let me just pack my stuff away."

She simply nodded, and I quickly ran around the camp I had made trying to be thorough but at the same time fast, and not try her patience. Once that was done she simply stood up and started walking deeper into the grove. The sun was just coming up when we got into the really thick part of the grove. There seemed to be vines covered in thorns guarding the way that Wendy wanted to take. I began to think that maybe she got herself lost, and that I put too much faith in my decision to follow her. She muttered something under her breath, and waved her hand. All of a sudden we were no longer in a dense grove of trees, and we were no longer surrounded by the vines. We stood in the middle of a field with bleached white rocks, and some kind of stone building in the distance. Had we teleported, I couldn't tell, but we were definitely not where we were a second ago. The bewilderment on my face must have plainly shown because Wendy smiled at me.

"Don't worry, we're here. We are in a place that not even the Dark King could find if he tried, at least not at this moment. We are nearing the Tower of Amanza."

For the first time, in a long time, a name finally didn't cause a wave of deja vu. The Tower of Amanza had never been part of the game that I helped create, and yet it was here within a day's walk. Wendy took my silence as a que to start walking towards the tower. As we walked I noticed that there was a constant gentle breeze that seemed to wash over me. I felt as if I was protected, and that I would never face harm ever again. The urge to stop and just sit down and let the wind play through my hair became almost unbearable, but Wendy noticed the effects before I fell victim to them.

"We must keep walking, don't let the enchantment lull you away. If you stop in this part of the meadow you'll never be able to start again."

With that being said Wendy pointed out what I had missed, the tall grass to the sides hid small piles of bones. Victims of the wind's little game. There were mostly animal bones hidden in the grass, but there were quite a few that could have been human, but I wasn't going to go investigating if they were. With that little bit of information locked away in my head we pressed on. We must have walked for a couple of hours before Wendy turned to me and held her hand up. She listened to something for a moment, and then felt the air to her left with her hands. It almost seemed as if she was pushing against some invisible wall. Then came the low rumbling noise. The ground started to shake at our feet, and then what wasn't there a moment ago was there. What that was was a trap door a couple inches from where Wendy had been pushing. The odd thing is that it made no sense. The door should have just shown the meadow, and yet it showed a darkened room. Wendy turned to me and motioned for me to go inside. Seeing as she hadn't steered me wrong yet I didn't even hesitate. I was in the room and I took a look around. Inside I found a fine layer of dust clinging to ever surface. There was a large wooden table present, and it was stacked high with books, bowls, cups, and other items. I took a step towards the table and saw that there was a small light that seemed to be coming through a hole in the wall. I took another step, and all of a sudden I was in darkness, with the exception of that small amount of light. I turned around quickly and found that I was in the room alone.

"Wendy, where are you?" I screamed.

I recieved no reply. I started to wonder if I had stumble back into a similar situation from where I started this adventure into Pryann. My heart started to race. How could Wendy have tricked me in the end? It didn't make any sense. In all the games I helped create Wendy never betrayed the characters, and yet I found myself alone in an almost completely dark room. I took a couple of deep breaths, at this point, and decided that I'd just have to find a way out of this situation, just like I did the first. I tried to find my way back to where the openning used to be, but to no surprise all I felt was a solid stone wall. I then turned my attention back to the small amount of light coming from the other side of the room. As I drew closer to the light source my feet got tangled with something on the floor. I threw my hands to brace my fall, but a little too late. The impact to the floor jarred me and left me winded on the floor for several moments. By the time I was able to move again I started to adjust to the amount of light in the room. I discovered that I had infact tripped over a rolled up rug that had been left haphazardly in the middle of the floor. After feeling like a complete idiot for a couple more minutes I got myself up and dusted myself off. I then started to move, once again, towards the source of light, only this time I was watching my footing. When I finally reached it I discovered that the light was coming through the wall. Yet this wasn't a wall, as I touched it I found that there wasn't any real substance to the wall. Whatever it was it had a lot of give. As I investigated further I found that I was looking at an old moth-ridden tapestry. So I put a little bit of my wieght into it and started to walk foward. It didn't take long for me to push the tapestry up enough for me to walk into the candle-lit room behind it. What the previous room was, this was the polar opposite. This place was spotless, everything was in its place, and it was well lit. I looked around the room for a bit, saw a bookcase, a table, and some chairs. I almost missed the stone door when I looked over it, but the odd colored ring hanging in the middle of what I thought was the wall gave it away.