Cana II
Cana had a feeling that the dwarves weren't giving her the really good ale, considering how reluctant they were to give up anything else. Nonetheless, it was quite possibly the absolute best ale she'd ever had. She was currently sitting a table with some dwarves, having an otherwise pleasant conversation about what was going on.
"So what exactly brought you here?" Gorik asked, "I imagine you don't regularly collapse atop mountains."
"No kidding," Cana said, swirling the mug she had, "I'm not really sure what happened, but I was in my guild hall talking with my friends, looking over this big, weird game one friend brought home." She then downed the ale in one swig.
"Refill!" she called. A dwarf woman hurried over to oblige her.
"By the ancestors," a dwarf named Fertan said, "I'd say that kind of drinking could make a dwarf raise an eyebrow. Certainly made me do it."
"I'll take that as a compliment," Cana said, before continuing her story, "And I'm not sure what exactly happened, but then some kind of magic activated, and we were all sucked into the portal. I guess the portal sent me to the top of the mountain."
"Hmm," Gorik mused, stroking his beard, "I suppose we could inquire a runesmith about such a thing, but such magic is far beyond anything a dwarf could wield."
"So none of you can use magic?" Cana asked, still somewhat surprised by that.
"The runesmith can draw power from the runes of old," a dwarf named Akdar explained, "But there is not much else than that, and even then, there are very few runesmiths here in Zhufbar."
"That reminds me," Cana said, "Where exactly is 'Zhufbar'? I mean, I've traveled a lot, and I've never heard of such a place." With that, the dwarfs started explaining how Zhufbar was a hold of Karak Varn, one of the many "Karaks" that made up a great dwarven empire that controlled an entire mountain range in the humbly entitled "World's Edge Mountains". These were all places that Cana had never heard in her life. As she was listening, right then, it dawned on Cana. She wasn't in a different part of Ishgar, hell, she wasn't even in Earthland anymore. The portal had sent her to a completely different world.
"Gods," she muttered, rubbing her forehead as she tried to process all of that. The only thing she could think of to do was to find her guild mates. She knew that if they went through the portal too, then they must have been sent to this world as well.
"I need to find my friends," Cana said, "Where is the nearest nation populated by humans?"
"Well, the nearest, and I suppose greatest nation of men would certainly be the Empire," Akdar said, "When I was a lad, my father told me of great adventures men from the Empire would have with dwarves." Cana thought about that. While she wasn't sure about any country she'd never heard of before, she figured she didn't have any real options at this point.
"Well its a start," she said, "Now how do we get to it?"
"You would have to travel to the West," Gorik explained.
"But I at least would advise against going by the surface my dear," Fertan said with a frown, "You would have to either march through the corrupted lands directly to the West of here, or advance through the mountain passes, which are not friendly to men or women."
"Well then," Cana said, pursing her lips, "Any ideas?"
"There is always the Underway," Gorik said, "But you would need a dwarf guide in order to navigate such a maze. And I am afraid no one here is any guide."
"Perhaps, but how about a deal?" Akdar suggested, "We have to make a delivery to another Karak down the Underway. You are in a guild, yes?"
"Yeah."
"What kind of guild?"
"A mage guild," Cana explained, "Basically what we do is we take jobs that require some kind of magic in order to accomplish. This can include slaying monsters or what not."
"Well then, how about we hire you as an extra guard for the journey?" Akdar suggested, "You accompany us down the way, and in exchange, we'll give you guidance to Empire territory through the Underway." Cana thought about that for a time, swirling the ale in its mug, staring at it. Again, she wasn't sure what she should do in a given situation like this, but she did know that it was probably the only thing she could do.
"Eh, its not like I've got any other choice," she said, before downing her ale in one gulp, "When do we go?"
Note: Sorry about how short was, but there is actually remarkably little that can be done with Cana at this point in the story. The next scene we see with Cana will definitely be a lot longer.
Bare in mind, that I'm still using TW as a template. In its universe, Zhufbar is right on the outskirts of Sylvania. On a play through, I tried to launch an attack on it. It didn't go well. By the way, if people are going to get on my ass about dwarves sharing their ale, invoke the MST3K mantra: "its just a fanfic, I should really just relax".
Please review. Next chapter we'll see Lucy in Lustria again. Things are certainly escalating.