Back to Basics Chapter 1: Where are we ?

[ewancummins]

''Hmmmm, let me examine it more closely..."

[BigBadQDaddy]

The Professor's eyes narrow in scrutiny as he looks over the information presented on the parchment. He shakes his head slowly from side to side. "The message is rather simple yet informative about the possible contents of the mine. Whoever had been in charge of the mining crew was sending for an expert to verify if what they had found was indeed a true silver vein." He hands the parchment back to Dalorna.
"Here." He points to a portion of the parchment where a small scribble of information is set apart from the rest of the strange script. "This gives the date the message was written. the year is 657. The calendar is one I have never heard of before."

[ewancummins]

''Silver? Hmmm...that matches what Ping had told us, doesn't it? Well...""

She looks back to the safe.

[VAN]

Sara walks where the professor and Dalorna stand.

"It is 759 here Prof. I mean in my world. I have told you that you came here and not me to yours. I don't know how and why but we are in Nova Vasa now, and the message on the parchment is like 100 years old."

[ewancummins]

Dalorna looks again at the scrolls before commenting-
''Such a low count of years. Hmmm...I don't know this calander. When does it begin- the birth of some local dynasty? So..."
She looks intently at Sara for a moment before asking-
"Your world? You mean your country don't you? "
She looks to the Professor for reassurance.

''Surely we aren't that far from home? We are just in some other part of Faerin, perhaps off the regular trade routes. I mean, these people speak the Common Tongue. Someone mentioned Bane. The trees, rocks, the sea- it all seems to be of our mortal world."

[Roofdrak]

While they are discussing the scroll Isidar swings her hammer and attempts to smash the lock off of the safe, but to no avail.

[Lord Skybolt]

The safe appears to suffer no harm from her blow . The inset solid combination lock to the box safe just seems to ignore her feeble attacks on it with barely a scratch on it . But she did shake the dust off from it with her blow .

[BigBadQDaddy]

''Surely we aren't that far from home? We are just in some other part of Faerin, perhaps off the regular trade routes. I mean, these people speak the Common Tongue. Someone mentioned Bane. The trees, rocks, the sea- it all seems to be of our mortal world."

"I am truly sorry, child. I can not provide the reassurance you seek. Given the possibilities of travel between planes from a theoretical point of view it is wholly possible that we have found ourselves spirited away to another world entirely. Though as I have stated earlier the parallels are to close to ignore. We may simply be in a land of our own world which is somehow partitioned off from what is known."

[ewancummins]

''Well....we'll be better off worrying about things over which we have some control, I suppose."

Dalorna looks over at Isidar.

''I don't think that simply battering that safe is likely to open it. This place use to be a mine. Let's look for tools. A chisel and hammer, or a pry-bar, might do the trick."

The girl turns to the desk and begins to search it.
She tells her companions-

" Let's take a few minutes and search the whole room again. If we don't find anything else of interest, I suggest we move on and explore the rest of the mine."

[VAN]

"The calendar begings from the founding of the realm Barovia. A land not very far away from mine actually, but in which I have never been. I don't know if we are in same world or no but things seems to fit better in how I know things than you all. No offence but look, the calendar is 657 adn not way ahead as you were expecting. But yes this isn't the time or the place for philosophical discussion about other worlds and stuff. I like Dalorna's idea of searching the room and the mine."

[ewancummins]

Dalorna looks up from the desk for a moment, and asks Sara-
''Well, what's the current year on your calendar? How long ago was 657? This room seems to have been unoccupied for a long time."

[BigBadQDaddy]

"I agree with Delorna as well. A few moments to inspect this area isn't much of a diversion of our search of the cave as a whole."

[VAN]

As searching the room Sara replies:

"Well it's 759 now. So we are 102 years ahead. But do you think that this cavern has been empty for so long? I meant wouldn't be possible if just the scroll is that old?"

[ewancummins]

As searching the room Sara replies:

"Well it's 759 now. So we are 102 years ahead. But do you think that this cavern has been empty for so long? I meant wouldn't be possible if just the scroll is that old?"

''Well, look around. This place seems to have been abandoned for a long time. Look at all the dust. Look at the mouldering clothes. I think it's quite possible that the mine has been abandoned for a century, yes...at least, abandoned by human beings..."

[Roofdrak]

We have met the current inhabitants. At least some of them. I wonder what happened to the miners. Does anyone have something I can use to pry this lock open? My hammer alone has not done the job.