Hitting The Ground Running

Gathering what little remained of import from the wreckage of my shuttle, I headed towards the tall central building which I could see in the distance. I was stunned again by the architecture and the statues placed around the building. As stated previously, I had studied what I knew of this world and knew that in this particular stream a large percentage of the populace were gifted with amazing abilities. It was a humbling experience to be walking up to such a structure. As I grew nearer, individuals dressed in bright clothing, masks, and capes ran or flew past. In a way, it was like walking into a dream, a vibrant energetic place of activity and color. However, it also seemed a place for extremes for as much as there was animation and brilliance there was also a sense of foreboding and danger. For every colorful individual I saw, I witnessed at least three more shadowy figures standing in the shadows. A block away there was the sound of gunfire and the sound of some sort of explosion. Not knowing how my equipment would work, I shied away from these encounters for now and moved towards my goal.


I drew closer to the central building I could see more and more assorted individuals gathered under a monolithic statue. I mentioned the statue in my first entry, a huge stone man carrying the world on his back. It was obvious that under the legs of that statue was a gathering location for several individuals in bright wardrobes had come here to sit, float, and discuss things. Amongst this crowd and dressed in my typical grey travel coat, slacks, black gloves, and upper leather and brass armor I was unassuming. I was taken no notice of as I entered the building carrying the remains of my equipment and followed the directions to the MAGI office and Azuria.

As I imagined, she was expecting me. Seeing me enter, she gave a wave of dismissal to a red skinned fellow in black robes and what looked like horns coming out of his shoulders. Her penetrating eyes glanced over my equipment and my ragged appearance in a quick scan and then she smiled, "Captain, welcome to Earth, welcome to Paragon City."

In the discussion that followed I was surprised to learn that not only had a team of mystics sensed my presence in the Otherworld as I came near, they also had been able to divine my name and my past. Though the depth of their knowledge did not startle me, I was impressed the amount of power she held in check with a wave of her authoritative hand. Dimensional visitors, so I was told, were nothing knew to her or her team. However, Otherworld ships and their crew were and she expressed curiosity to my mission here.

Between quick interviews with what appeared to be an unending flow of magical humans and entities, she explained much to me about the place where I had landed and I told her of my mission to record what I could of not only the city but whatever critical event was about to occur. She had some tea brought for me and I was able to explore some of the many artifacts stored in the MAGI office. She explained I would be required to carry a registration card and would need to stay in contact with her as much as possible. As she could, she would grant me higher security levels which would enable me access to various areas of not only the city but of Magi. All standard procedure for a new in-bound hero. Although I refuted the hero title, she continued to use it and instructed me that it was "what we do around here."

She asked to look at my equipment so she could guarantee to her supervisors I had brought nothing world-shattering to her dimension. Amused by this, I showed her what little supplies I had and made sure to show her my crystalline powered items including my gloves, my flying crystals, and other items apparently undamaged in their small crate.

After the review, she stated that she would put some people towards getting me back in communication with my ship still orbiting in the Otherworld as well helping me to find a place to stay. She also, rather boldly, asked that if I were to be visiting Paragon for an extended time if I could help out with matters at hand. I agreed to this since it seemed more then a fair trade and, inspired by her boldness, asked her to dinner. Amused by my forwardness, she demurely stated she was not available for awhile due to MAGI matters but I did get a small promise of perhaps a lunch. It was at that point she complimented me on being able to "hit the ground running" regarding my arrival to her plane of existence.

It is, after all, one of the strengths of an Otherworld traveller.

I left her to her duties at that point and with my sharp cornered registration card walked back outside to sit and take a harder look around me at not only the scenery but the vast number of "heroes" on the move. I tried to contact my vessel one last time with the spare crystal I had but was greeted only with silence. I sat for some time and watched the sights. There is a profound moment that exists at the very beginning of an adventure and I wanted to drink it in. And while waiting for the MAGI contact which Azuria promised would find me, I sat and watched and waited.