Sorry this first chapter is so short, I'll try and make the rest a bit longer. Hope you all enjoy this! And that I remember to update this!
Neither Valdemar nor Doctor Who are mine, sadly.
BANG!
The Doctor gave a little yelp of startlement as he fell forward into the TARDIS console. There was a sad little fizzling sound when it landed, sending up smoke into the main control room. The Doctor let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding and shoved himself back up onto his feet. He pulled on his trench coat calmly and stepped outside. Somewhere new! A whole other universe judging by the difficulty the TARDIS had had when landing. The Doctor stepped out the door into a grassy, sunlit—ditch. His arms pinwheeled, trying to keep him balanced until his feet landed on the bottom of the muddy ditch with a splash. The Doctor caught himself with his hands on the edge of a well-trodden dirt road, stood up straight, and clambered out of the ditch with rather more dignity than when he'd fallen in, glancing around quickly to make sure no-one saw him.
"Well then, where am I?"
He took out his screwdriver, pointing it all around.
"Hmm. Nowhere I've been before, that's for certain. Not much of anything I recognize, and rather a lot of psychic energy. Strange. Well, off we go. Allons-y!"
With that, the Doctor sauntered off down the road.
The sun was high in the sky as Herald Terril sighed, shoving her grey hair out her face. All predictions pointed toward a nasty winter, but only so many provisions would be able to fit in the Waystation.
Knock knock knock.
"Milady Herald?" came the voice of the Drunken Bird's chief stableboy.
"Come in, Brent." Terril answered, turning around in her chair. In walked Brent, a skinny, grubby boy with mousey brown hair followed by a stranger. The stranger had short, darker brown hair that stood up like a bunch of spikes, an incongruous grin on his face, and eyes that looked older than they had any right to be. He wore a long pale brown coat and what looked like a fitted, stripey blue shirt underneath it.
"This bloke came in outta nowhere in a field north a' town," the boy scratched his head. "Says 'is name's the Doctor, don't know anythin' about what's goin' on."
"Doesn't know anything, Brent. Good grammar is a great helper in being able to advance further in life. Thank you for bringing him to me."
"You're welcome, milady Herald." With that, the teenager shut the door and headed off, presumably back to the inn.
Terril rubbed her temples as she looked the man over. "Good afternoon, Doctor."
The strange man gave an infectious grin. "Love me a good mystery. Good afternoon, Herald. What's your name?"
"Doesn't matter to you," she answered shortly. "What's yours?"
"Doctor."
Terril gave him a long look, then sighed. "Whatever. What's your problem?"
"Don't know, really." The Doctor replied. "What's yours?"
"None at the moment! Why are you here?"
He smiled again. "I have no idea why I'm here, or where 'here' is. That's what I'm trying to find out."
The woman pinched the bridge of her nose. "You really have no idea? Kingdom? Town? Anything?"
The Doctor shook his head and Terril pulled out an old piece of notepaper and a pencil.
"Fine." She began drawing in quick, smooth lines. "This is Valdemar. This is Haven, in the middle, the capital city. We're to the north of that by a good ways, about halfway to Sorrows. Way up north here is the Forest of Sorrows which marks the northern edge of Valdemar. North of that is a bunch of wilderness and tribesmen. To the East of us is Iftel, which is neutral. To the southeast is Hardorn and to the south is Karse. We're currently neutral with Hardorn and in the middle of a war with Karse. To the southwest is Rethwellan and between those last two is Menmellith, which is a client state of Rethwellan. We have a pretty long-lasting treaty with both Rethwellan and Menmellith, so that's not a problem. On the west side of Valdemar is Lake Evendim and beyond that is the Pelagiris Forest, which is full of magic creatures and crazy stories. I would suggest not going there. Do you know what the uniform I'm wearing means?"
"Is that why you're wearing all white?" the Doctor asked.
"Yes. In Valdemar, at least, anyone wearing all white is a Herald, anyone in all green is a Healer, and anyone in all red is a Bard. We Heralds also have Companions that look like white horses with blue eyes but be aware that they're a lot more. Healers heal people, pretty self-explanatory. Bards do music. Heralds uphold and spread the law, give news, deliver important messages, lead troops, and pretty much do whatever they have to protect people who can't protect themselves and Valdemar in particular. Rethwellan, Hardorn, and Valdemar are each led by a Monarch. Rethwellan's monarch is chosen by a sword, ours have to be Heralds. Karse is ruled by a prophet, though I believe they technically have a king. No-one knows much of anything about Iftel. Understand?" Terril glanced up at the stranger.
The Doctor seemed to look through her for a moment before nodding his comprehension.
"The town is right beside the North Road. My advice is to take that south to Haven and talk to the Healers there if you're looking for help with this amnesia of yours. There are a couple of healing temples on the way there, but the Healers there are used to dealing with mostly just illness and physical wounds, but you appear well and uninjured. Tell the Healers down at Haven that Herald Terril sent you and you should be alright. Got it?"
"Yes." The Doctor pursed his lips. "Forest of Sorrows? That's an unusual name."
The Herald looked at him for a moment. "The last Herald-Mage died there about 200 years ago. Ever since, the forest has killed anyone who enters it with harmful intent. I was on circuit up there once. Strangest thing. There's not even always a visible cause of death, they just look terrified out of their wits. I'm certainly glad that whatever it is seems to be on our side, that's not how I'd care to die."
The stranger paused for a moment, then grinned slowly. "I guess that's where I'm headed, then. Sounds like just the right kind of problem for me."
Terril stared out the door for a minute after the Doctor left before going back to her work.