Solo [The Traveler's Complex] The Beginning and the End

[Katelyn Marks]

89th, Summer, 515 AV

"Many evil things there are that your strong walls and bright swords do not stay."

J. R. R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

It was late in the evening as Katelyn trudged up the stairs of the Rest House to her room. Another dizzying day in the swamp city. She wasn't sure she liked the place really--mostly for the slavery. That was a big no-no in her book, but it was the basis of Kenash's entire infrastructure. There were more slaves than free men and women. It made her extremely uncomfortable; especially the fact that quite a few of them seemed to be marked by brands or tattoos on their faces. Symbols of the rich families that ruled over the city in a strange cutthroat dance, all with a piece of the pie, and all scrabbling for more.

Everyone in Kenash wanted more. More gold, more things, more power. It made her skin crawl thinking of how easily one could drown in the politics of this swamp. Part of her wished she could have seen Zeltiva first instead, but it was a fleeting thought, and an ungrateful one. Katelyn felt bad for thinking it at all. Ser Moore had taken the time and immense responsibility of bringing her on this short quest, all at his own expense. It was surely expensive, and when she begged the mage-knight to let her chip in, he had repeatedly and stubbornly fended off his squire's pleading.

Kate stopped at door of her room, key hovering at the lock. For some reason, today she took pause. Her eyes wandered further down the hall, inexplicably drawn by an unfamiliar pop of color. At the very end of the hall where once was a window, a bright purple door dominated the wall. Confusion was the first emotion, then an unsurprising wave of curiosity. Surely an entire wing wasn't expanded in less than a day. At least that was the logical doubt filling her head. And yet there it was! A brand new door. Such a strange color choice as well. It didn't match a single part of the complex that she'd seen so far, and if anything, this city was all about appearances.

So she didn't fight it when her legs started marching her down the hall. If it's unlocked, it's clearly not against any rules to peek inside, the squire justified easily, and was smiling mischievously by the time her fingers closed around the latch. It clicked when she pulled--Ha!--and swung open on quiet hinges. The hallway had lanterns inlaid in the walls, each lit with a cheery flame, but it wasn't necessarily bright. When the strange door opened though, stunning, unfiltered daylight spilled through the long hall and left her momentarily blinded.

"What the petch?"

[Katelyn Marks]

Katelyn rubbed her eyes vigorously, hoping to massage function back into them. Blinking against the glare of the sun, the redhead heard the sound of waves, tinkling, and smelled salt heavy in the air. As her eyes adjusted to the brightness, her jaw dropped. The ocean groaned before her, stretching off into the horizon in all its white-capped splendor. Colors twinkled brightly at her toes; smooth pieces of glass that clicked and clacked from the force of the surf beating against them. The hallway ended suddenly and seamlessly; hardwood turning to shining beach, and ceiling opening up into the sky. Heart pounding like a drum in her chest, Kate took a single, hesitant step outside.

Her boot crunched loudly in the glass, and a baffled smile stretched across her face. She'd seen the beach from a distance, but hadn't yet visited it personally. It should have been several blocks north of here... and not at her fingertips behind some magical door. Katelyn couldn't even begin to guess what was going on, or how it was happening. Perhaps some sort of divine anomaly or sorcerer's illusion? Maybe something in the swamp's air was making her hallucinate? There were so many theories, but that's all they were, so she pushed herself a little deeper and abandoned the open doorway.

When Katelyn glanced behind her, it was like a hole in the middle of... reality. The purple portal stood ajar to her hallway, but a ways in the distance she could actually see the roof of the Traveler's Complex, about three blocks south. It was like a strange dream--the kind where nothing made sense and cats could talk. The redhead turned back to the ocean, shielding her eyes from the setting sun. It was a beautiful view, and if this was just a weird dream, it still seemed like a really good one. As she strolled closer to the water Katelyn couldn't help but ohhh and ahhh at the kaleidoscope under her feet. She plucked a piece up as she walked and lifted it up to the light, admiring the small fractures inside the uneven but smooth chunk of molten color.

Maybe Kenash wasn't so bad after all?

While the squire enjoyed the view, there was that strange sensation again, pulling her eyes away. A woman stood at the edge of the surf's reach several meters down the shore, facing out as if just as bewitched by the scenery as Kate was. After a moment of watching the stranger though, the wondrous smile on her face slipped. There was something eerily familiar about the woman, and it made the squire's stomach twist unexpectedly. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end, and goosebumps prickled along her arms.

Katelyn stepped closer, driven by curiosity and that enigmatic pull. The woman had familiar red hair, long and wavy and curling at her round waist. She wore a leather jerkin, earthen-colored pants, old leather boots, bracers, loose white shirt... Kate instinctively looked down at her own clothes, face turning pale. From somewhere deep in the dark of her mind, a voice whispered frantic warnings, rousing a strong instinct to flee. They were the same as what the other woman was wearing--hair too. Even the pouches on her belt were perfectly duplicated down to their placement. Run, run, run! Kate crunched closer, mesmerized by the unsettling mystery.

"Excuse me?" her voice called, surprisingly strong and clear. Just turn around. She wanted to see the woman's face. Had to see her face. Katelyn stopped on the colorful glass shore, transfixed, sweating, teeth grinding nervously. The woman turned.