~Hierlan, Planet Carass, Sigma Universe~
Magus placed his journal on the table. It had been nearly three months since he had arrived. He felt it was finally time to execute his first experiment. The ingredients were ready for what he hoped would be a two-way trip. He went to the far end of the laboratory where he had cleared the equipment last week. Slowly, Magus began the incantation. His hand slowly moved. Figures took shape floating where he moved his hands. A high-pitched whine began to emanate from the space he was looking at. His carefully manicured white nails cut the air as he thrust his hands forward. An explosion threw him across the room. Glass shattered as his vision darkened.
He awoke to the freezing temperatures of his home. Had he discovered another portal back? Slowly he stood up. Pain shot through the right side of his back and down his leg. A blue portal swirled before him. Magus assumed he had been knocked out for several hours. A meter and a half of snow lay piled around the portal and brisk winds were blowing through. Pages turned on the various tables. He grabbed the rope secured to the wall and moved to the portal.
"Heh, the look on master's face upon seeing me approach the village from a portal would be amusing."
As Magus placed his right foot through the portal he was pulled through like a vertical whirlpool. He was spat out of the other side into a snowbank. He laughed as he pulled himself back up. At least the snow tasted right. Magus stood yet again and observed his surroundings. He was indeed in mountains. Moonlight danced along the strands of his silver hair. His shadow laid long behind him. He paused for a moment looking above. The stars were wrong for his home or Hierlan.
"I know Carass is large but those stars…. They… Something is wrong."
Concern crossed his face and his ears twitched. The ground shook below him. He feared an avalanche was starting on the mountains above and he had no shelter. A large metal contraption soared by overhead. Fire spewed from three cylinders attached to it. The fire was nearly as pale a blue as his skin. What in the world was that? It passed with the speed of a falcon and the roar of a dragon.
"That's new," he chuckled after his heartbeat returned to normal.
It was then he noticed some of the stars moving overhead. There appeared to be several comets streaking through the sky. What part of Carass had infuriated the Gods so much as to call for it's destruction? Slowly he began to trek through the snow to a low point between the closest mountains. A glow seemed to emanate from somewhere in that direction. After a few hours of joyous wind and snow, he started to crest the hill. The trees were not covered in snow the way those behind were. It was also noticeably warmer.
What he saw stopped him in the half meter snow. More began to pile around his legs. Ahead of him stood a city that defied his imagination. More metal things boomed around a dome in the distance. Fires burned all over like a sort of deep-sea jellyfish. Hundreds of structures of various shapes and sizes littered the valley below. Magus turned and fled back towards the portal. This did not seem to be anywhere he had ever read of. Had he entered the realm of some God or otherworldly being?
Magus finally approached the swirling vortex and almost jumped through. He braced himself for the rough landing. He held his hands up and began to pull the threads of the portal until it began to close. Once done he looked around at the snow covering some of the equipment and most of the floor. He wondered what his guide would think were she to see it. His heart still slightly pounded but he managed a laugh. He had opened a portal. He just wasn't sure where it opened to. If it were a realm belonging to some divine beings, why were there not guards? Or was that what those metal beings were?
He went up to his office and grabbed a quill. He began writing a list of what he needed replaced after his… costly, but successful experiment. Once his short list was complete, he cast his spell over the scrying pool sitting to one side of the desk. After a brief wait, a wrinkled human appeared.
"Yes Arch?"
"Ah… I have a short list that I need filled please."
The human crinkled his face, "well send it through the pool and I will see that someone attends to it and brings it to you."
"Also, do you have an expert on magic travel?"
"No, never had a need for one. We have mages who know various ways to do so but nothing regarding theory. That is what you are referring to correct?"
Magus nodded.
"Well, I think you should contact one of the academic places. I hear the Crelan Imperials have several large schools of magic and alchemy."
Before he could respond the image disappeared in a small splash. He hadn't even sent the scroll through. Rather than try to contact the apparently busy mage again, Magus used magic to light the scroll on ablaze and send it on the winds to the desk of that same mage. Hopefully it wouldn't take too long for his goods to arrive. There were a few edible items he was interested in trying. He looked in the codex in the center drawer. The incantation for the Central Imperial Mages Academy was on the first page. After using it, another human face appeared. This one seemed irritated as well. Is this how all human mages were?
"Where can I direct your inquiry?"
"Um, I have made a portal breakthrough and would like to show it to… someone?"
"One moment."
The water slowly swirled. It went on for several minutes. Finally, an elf looked up at him.
"You have a question about magical travel?"
"No, I wanted to see if someone could tell me where a portal I created went to. So, I guess yes?"
The elf looked bored, "were there locals? Did you try asking them? Do you know what language they spoke or what they look like?"
He looked around. He hadn't wanted to make contact in case his presence there was unwanted. The other elf sighed and turned away. The waters swirled once again. Magus was beginning to stress. He had only used scrying pools a few times and it was mostly with others across Doerna. It seemed to take an eternity for the waters to stop swirling. When they did, he could see water splashing into the air on the other end. After a few more minutes a hairy face appeared.
"Ummm, CIMA Archives. What work are you looking for?"
Magus was confused for a moment. He believed he was looking at a dwarf. It was refreshing. The dwarf looked friendly and just as confused as he was.
"I am an Arch mage from Doerna. I have been experimenting with portals and trying to figure out what is happening to them. I am unsure of where a portal I created goes to. There were some kind of metal creatures flying through the skies."
The dwarf's face brightened, "were they carried by balloons? Was there steam coming from them? I might be able to tell you where they opened to."
"No, they belched fire and roared as if they were dragons in armor."
"Hmmm…. I don't recall seeing anything like that in the archives or my travels. Perhaps I should see if I can come and view this portal?"
Magus jumped up and slammed his palms on the desk, "yes! Please! I would love for someone to come investigate this with me. The region is rather cold, so you might want to bring some appropriate gear."
"I will send word of the results of my meeting. Until we speak again…."
"Magus. I am Arch Magus of Doerna."
"Until we meet snow-elf. I am called the Librarian."
The pool splashed up, signaling the end of the call. He jumped up and paced in excitement. He was finally getting to show someone his experiment worked. Magus snapped his fingers. That was if he could recreate it. He rushed down to his laboratory. He had to test the portal to ensure he could show the revered mage who was coming to see it. For days he tested and retested his mixture. It took several attempts to limit the opening of the portal to a simple pop. He had lost track of how many days exactly had passed. Much of it had been spent unconscious on the laboratory floor. He would have to check the sky and see what day it was so that he could update his journal.
* * * * *
~City of Crel, Crelan Empire, Planet Carass, Sigma Universe~
The Librarian rushed to the office of the Head Archivist. It had been quite some time since he had been out of the academy. For that matter it had been about as long since he had left the archives. The Head Archivists door was open. It usually was unless he was meeting with someone important. The Librarian approached his desk and waited to be acknowledged.
"Remember something from your past Librarian? Or do you have a question about where something should actually go again?"
He spewed out his words like vomit, "I was contacted by someone requesting an investigation into a portal he created. A snow-elf at that! I think it warrants a look-see to learn where it goes. What he described is not something I am familiar with from all of the tomes and lore I have read through."
The Head Archivist sighed, "we do not send an emissary to look into every wild mage's theory and experiment. Was it some kind of new magic? Was it groundbreaking? Who is the mage in question?"
The Librarian paused for a moment, "no… I don't believe he is a renowned mage… He was very excited though and saw some creations or beings of metal that didn't fit any descriptions I am aware of."
"Are you saying you know every creature and creation to wander Carass? I doubt even you can remember everything."
The Librarian's excitement was starting to wane. He looked around the office.
"Surely we could spare someone to take a look?"
"Sure, you can go. Report to the treasury and they will arrange transport and a stipend for your travels. Goodbye and good luck."
The Librarian batted his eyes for a moment. That was easier than expected. He hurried out of the office before minds were changed. He went to his cell to gather his belongings. Returning to the scrying pool, he cast a spell trace to discover where the snow-elf had been calling him from. It turned out the mage was in Hierlan, a nation outside of Imperial authority. He heard a giggle.
"Let's gooooooooo!"
That voice he heard before he tended to pass out. It was mocking him. Hopefully it stayed quiet for the duration of his trip, but that hope was minimal. He sent a bird to the treasury ahead of his arrival. There were books to gather for the journey to research the region he was going to as well the customs of… what was the country called? Doerna. That was it. He needed to learn the customs of Doerna. The Librarian was in the middle of packing when darkness overcame him.
"Don't worry my boy! This is gonna be fun!"
He woke up to the morning sun and saw a note slipped under his door. On the other side was a sack of coins tied to the handle of his cell. The treasury had already arranged transport on an airship to travel directly over the mountains to the north. He would be arriving at the wood elf capital and then take a ship flying a flag of truce to the Hierlan capital. The Librarian smacked his head. It had been months since his Library at the Red Mountain had exploded in glorious destruction. He still could not remember exactly what had happened. He had somehow forgotten that Hierlan was one of those places the Empire was fighting for control over. The wood elves on the southern part of the island were merely puppets, but the north… Those humans were putting up one hell of a fight.
It was a two hour walk to the aerodrome. The elevator creaked and groaned as the ropes pulled him and his bulky belongings up to the docks. There a fleet of zeppelins awaited departure to their various ports of call. He had taken one of these recently from the neighboring city when his home was buried in lava.
* * * * *
~Hierlan, Planet Carass, Sigma Universe~
Magus grabbed his pack to begin his third foray through the portal. He had gotten it stable enough that he wasn't knocked out every time he opened it. Landing was also now an easy concept. He had never traveled by portal before. While he was taught the basics of opening portals, he had always been passed over by the Master. Sher'Tam always went with him on trips to other places. Now though, he was able to gain that knowledge firsthand.
His last trip had won him a perfect point from which to observe the magical city he had discovered. So far, he had seen many humans as well as some interesting species unknown to the books back home. He stepped through the portal and headed to his new spot. After the trek through the snow, he laid out his wool blanket. He laid down and pulled out his spy glass. Dozens of the metal creatures flitted about. There were many different appearances and he began to wonder if they lived at all. They all seemed to swarm the hive, darting in and out. He had watched several fly overhead and into the sky.
He wondered how close he could get. Hours slid by. The sun rose in the west. That was confusing to him. Back home the sun and moon rose in the east. Magus packed up his blanket and headed along the rim of the valley. The city was a flurry of activity. As he got further along the rim, he began to see other odd creatures. Their bodies composed of straight lines and moving along avenues. One stopped in front of a building containing clothes in the window. A human stepped out along with a being whose head looked like a pile of pudding. Perhaps the creatures bound to the earth were more like carriages. How did they move though? There were no horses or other creatures pulling them. Another carriage creature passed by on odd-looking wheels. Ah, so they were horse-less carriages!
Magus pulled out one of his journals and began to take notes. He sketched what they looked like as well as several of the creatures moving about the city on foot. His Master would be as excited as he was.
"What if the flying creatures are carriages as well?!"
Magus decided to move further along the edge of the valley. The valley took a long time to travel and the sun had crossed half of the sky by the time he neared the flying creatures' hive. There were pads surrounding the outside of it. Up close, there were hundreds of lily-pad structures connected to the hive. Those are where the flying creatures landed. Indeed, more beings exited the flying carriages. He sketched out a few of the flying carriages. Waiting until the sun was nearly set, Magus headed back to the portal.
After returning through the portal, he headed up to his office. He found it relaxing to sit in the comfortable chair and update his journals and notepads. As he neared the office, he heard papers shuffling. Magus rounded the corner to find the door open. Peering inside, he saw a large person looking over his desk. He bumped the door by accident and the person turned around. Standing before him was an oak-skinned dwarf, much taller than he expected, with deep russet hair. His large robe did little to hide his stocky frame. The oddest thing though…. His right eye was a beautiful emerald green while the left was fiery red….