Vaya's Adventures in the Hub

A portal opened in the dimensional field and a couple of arrows flew through before four people fell through and the portal started to shrink.

"Vaya!" one of the elves shouted, "What the-" She cut off as she noticed the odd sky. "...Is this the Fade or something?"

Another elf picked himself off the ground and checked his staff for damage. "Of course not," he replied crankily. "Do you see any demons? This is somewhere else." He scanned the empty fields. "...No idea where, though."

Vaya stood there and looked around then back at the portal which was too small to enter. She reached out wanting it to stop but it closed anyway. She closed her hands and looked around with a stupid smile. "Well it's not Skyhold... and uh the portal is closed too, uh yeh we are here now."

A human picked himself off the ground and just pointed in a direction that seemed to have a dome in the distance. Vaya perked up. "Well, we should head over there at least? Better than standing around in a stupid field."

The other two nodded. "Might as well find out where we've landed," the elf said with a smile. "Aw, this'll be an adventure! Wait until they hear about this back home!" The other elf sullenly followed as the group moved toward the dome.

"Well, that's the plan here. As long as this is not the Fade or someplace with red templars we should be ok. Then again some potions wouldn't hurt right about now. Does anyone have any spares?" she asked as she walked at the front of the group.

"Yeah I have a couple extra," Sana said, handing them over. "What's the plan here?"

Vaya drank one and tossed the second to James who promptly drank it as well "Uh kick open the door if it's needed, kick red templar ass if it's needed, or just talk if it's needed."

Sana sighed. "I hope there aren't any templars here, they're no fun." She folded her arms behind her head as she walked.

"Well, I can always... you know." She pulled out a handle summoning the spirit blade forward from the hilt. "Ah, their faces when they see a small elf mage with a giant one-handed magic great sword are always great."

Sana cackled in agreement. "You still have to teach me how to do that," Aram complained. "I'm sick of lugging a real sword around to enchant."

"And as I said last time, there is a book somewhere in Skyhold about it. I was reading it the other day. Once you find that you need three wisp essence and about ten ingots of lazurite, then I will help you make it at the forge." She gently tapped his face as she skipped forward a little bit.

He wrinkled his nose and scowled. "You're not fooling with me, are you?"

"No of course not, I found the book when we got first arrived at Skyhold. It's next to Vivienne," she said walking backward now.

"Well I'm not going to talk to her," Aram retorted, quickening his pace. "Come on, let's see what's here so we can leave."

"Oh no don't get me wrong you don't need to talk to her. I literally just walked in took the book walked off then put the book back once I was done," Vaya continued to walk backward.

"Now come on get your butts in gear, it's time to find out where we are." Vaya started to head off in a jog toward the dome.

---

Vaya walked up to the wall "How does this open?" She asked as the door slid open, she screamed a little and jumped back. "Na din'an sahlin!" she yelled as she fired off a spell at the opening door mid-panic.

Set off by Vaya's spell, the other two elves drew their weapons. After a moment without a response from the inanimate object, Sana relaxed her stance. "I don't think that's an enemy, lethallan."

As the fireballs headed for the door and almost into the entrance lounge, they were met with several blasts of dark purple flame that, when they collided with them, safely dissipated both attacks. Isala, on the inside and at his desk, seemed to have stood up to respond with these flames, his 'ears' gently lowering after the cast.

"...Nevermind," Sana said, hackles rising again at the unfamiliar sight. "You sure that's not a demon?" Aram clutched his staff. "Vaya?"

Vaya coughed and put her staff on her back "Ara seranna-ma My bad" she snickered trying not to laugh at her own stupidity, she then stopped laughing as she saw Isala.

"Fenedhis lasa," she cursed as she grabbed her hilt and held it in front of her the spirit blade igniting out of it like a light saber.  James grabbed his sword and shield and stood in front of them ready to start tanking

Isala held his hands to his chest, then waved at the group standing by the entrance of the entrance lounge. One of the flames behind him moved forward to meet the group, and then it began to glow as a voice came out of it.

"Hello! Please don't be alarmed," Isala said, attempting to defuse the group. "There's no danger present in here, so you don't need to brandish your weapons."

"We will not be tricked by you demon," Vaya said as she got in a battle stance and swung as the flame and dropped a magical barrier on everyone, James raised his shield and prepared to charge at Isala

The flame just separated at the wind, but then merged back together as if nothing had happened.

"I might be unfamiliar, but I'm not a demon," Isala attempted to explain; he sat back down at his desk and prepared an Aegis call on his computer in case this was too difficult to handle nonetheless. "I'm called a 'Mirey'. If you can calm down and relax your weaponry, please, I can explain everything and we won't have to escalate the situation."

"Rule one of the Fade, never listen to demons, and on that note, speak quickly," Vaya said against her better judgment.

"What if it has a good deal, though?" Aram asked half-seriously. Sana bonked his head lightly. "What did Vaya say about talking to demons?"

"Thank you." Isala kept his eyes on the group as he talked. "This is the Hub, which is a city between realities designed as a safe haven. You're not in your own world right now, so things work differently than you're used to. Our residents seek safety and we want to avoid scaring them because of misunderstandings like these."

Some of the varied people in the entrance lounge were looking at the group apprehensively. There were a couple amongst them, however, who looked like they were completely ignoring the commotion.

"It's not mentioning any deals for power," Aram hissed, disappointed.

"Hmmm wait, huh wait what if, considering the metaphysical-" and Vaya was in her own world as she started to ramble on about magic theory for a good minute before shouting out loudly

"WE ARE NOT IN THE FADE! wait unless... hmmm no, but... hmmm" and again in her own world.  James sighed and put away his weapon

"Yeh I think we are fine, give her a couple of minutes to stop... that"

Sana sighed. "Ir abelas, stranger." She rose up a hand in greeting. "There are beings in our world that can't be taken lightly." Aram startled, surprised he could understand the unfamiliar words to be an apology.

James shrugged and walked towards the desk dragging Vaya with him, who is still mumbling to herself, and popping off various spells to understand dimensional BS

"It's okay, I understand the confusion." Isala's flame started to head back toward the desk, and as it did, it said, "follow me, please!"

Isala, meanwhile, went away from the easy Aegis call and sat down in a more professional, relaxed manner, holding his hands together and resting them on the desk while waiting for their approach.

James got to the desk while dragging Vaya who was letting herself get dragged along at this point

The others followed suit, putting their weapons away again. Aram poked the door curiously before rejoining the group.

"Welcome to the Hub," Isala began, "a safe haven for all sorts of people who have been displaced from their realities for any reason. Are you looking to enter the city? Or would you like me to explain some things for you? I'm open to questions."

"You say you're not a demon and Aram's right, you haven't been acting like one. What do you mean by a different reality?" Sana figured she'd ask a few questions until Vaya calmed down.

"Yes, I'm not a demon. I'm from a different reality, and my species calls themselves 'Mirey'," Isala explained. "Realities are where people come from that all operate under their own rules and laws, and have their own versions of life and other things. Anything is possible when it comes to realities, quite literally, because each one isn't subject to the same notions of what is 'real' and 'possible'."

"Your reality, for example, may have creatures called demons that act in certain ways, but those never existed back where I'm from. Yet similar things might exist in another reality, and someone from a different reality to you might share the same cautions against them as you. Does that make sense?"

"Kinda? But it doesn't need to, right Vaya?" She laughed. "Alright, so what's there to do here? You got dungeons to explore?"

"GUYS I GOT IT WE ARE NOT IN THE FADE!" she said as the ball of magic in her hands exploded into sparks, she seemed very happy with herself "but then... hmmmm where are we?" someone please stop her before she goes back into her own little world

Sana waved a hand in front of Vaya's face. "Another reality, hello? Stay on the ground?"

"Baaa," she yelped, "Hmm what? Oh uh yeh that would make sense."

"You're in the Hub," Isala repeated patiently. "If you're looking for adventure, we have a facility called the 'Questing Guild' which allows you to take up tasks for people for rewards that take place in other realities. I'm sure there's plenty of quests available to take which suit your tastes."

"Otherwise, the city provides free accommodations and living necessities, so if you want to have a home here you can customize to your heart's content, it's entirely possible," he continued. "There's also a supermall full of various shops, where you can get a variety of goods, resources, equipment, and lots of other things from other realities; and combat arena, an extensive library, and many other facilities that are detailed in informational materials that are provided around the Hub."

"Ohhh Mother of Halla your Inquisition's going to want to hear about this," Sana said with wide eyes, nudging her friend.

Vaya's eyes grew wide "I think we just hit the jackpot, I think Liliana will be very impressed with this... if she believes us"

"Very nice, can we focus?" Aram complained. He turned to Isala. "Look, do you know how we can get back to our reality?"

"The easiest way would be through the Questing Guild, as they typically manage travel to other realities, and you can be used to help articulate it," Isala answered. "If you don't have a safe method to get back, I would recommend it."

"Hmmmm well considering they would be wondering where we are if would be good to get back," Vaya thought out loud

"You can be sent back whenever you want, so if you need time to recover, we have facilities to help..." Isala tilted his head, looking at their state.

Vaya inhaled and her eyes widened once more "TIME FOR A VACATION" she jumped in the air and fist pumped "we can spend some time just dungeon delving meeting new people relaxing and of cause giving Sana all our nuts" she smiled at her friend

"Sure, sure, tease the poison user. Why don't we do some exploratory dining and see if we can't find something you can't stand, huh?"

Vaya gets up in Sana's face with a playful smile "Challenge accepted" then she goes back to a comfortable distance "You know I am gonna just say I like something when I hate it just to spite you right?"

"I'll figure something out, don't you worry da'len."

"Fen'Harel ma halam." She playfully squinted at Sana and poked out her tongue a little bit.

Disgusted by their antics, Aram refused to look away from Isala. "Can you point us in that direction or something?"

"To enter the city, you just need to fill out a simple form. It's to keep track of visitors and residents and allow you to utilize a variety of services, as it'll act as your ID," Isala answered, then pulled out the small dome. "Tap the glass dot on the top of this dome and the form will appear. You can fill it out by either typing, writing, or speaking, or I can fill it out for you."

"Are you sure your not a demon, and this is not the fade?" Vaya asked once again.

"Yes..." Isala tilted his head again. "This is standard procedure for everyone entering, including me."

Vaya shrugged "Well bad decisions make for great stories" she then started to fill out the form

What’s your name? Vaya Are you an adult? Last I checked What are you? Elf Where are you from? Thedas

"I think I am done?" she said still poking buttons.

The others crowded around to add themselves in as well.

What’s your name? Shosana Lavellan Are you an adult? Yes What are you? Elf Where are you from? Thedas

What’s your name? Aram Surana Are you an adult? Yes What are you? Elf Where are you from? Thedas

James filled his out as well

What’s your name? James Are you an adult? Yes What are you? Human Where are you from? Thedas

"Thank you." Isala took all of the domes once they were finished and scanned each of them into the system, correcting answers that didn't fit. He went to open the doors to the Hub, which were also sliding. "You may now enter the Hub. There are maps available for you to help you find your way around, and you'll be able to find the Questing Guild with it. Feel free to grab any informational material and have a read, too!"

"Oooooo this is gonna be so much fun," Vaya said as she skipped off into the Hub.

James sighed and followed behind.