Maeve: “Yikes! That’s a more gruesome failure to communicate than I’ve heard of before. You rattle that off like … are you a history scholar as well as a priestess?”

Una: “Not particularly. Since before my grandparents’ time, at least in the kingdom of Selkir, everyone who learns to read memorizes and recites the story of what happened there. You’ll also likely hear other details of the second era’s battles, of the fall of the Kingdom of Dark Wood, or of the disastrous efforts of the abolished College of Zuul in one of the bardic songs if you visit enough taverns.”

I figuratively chewed over that story while literally chewing the last of my lunch bread. Also, I realized someone was singing out in the common room, which I hadn’t noticed while listening to the story about monsters.

Maeve: “So, basically on the other side of these gates, we’re dealing with a ‘demon’ king or ‘demon’ god, right?”

Una: “What is a ‘demon’?”

Maeve: “Oh, I guess that isn’t a word here. It’s an otherworldly being. The king or god ones are evil big boss entities. Who often exist to be evil. And who usually commands evil minions to … uh … do evil.”

Una: “Perhaps that. We don’t know what might be on the other side. Do you have these ‘demons’ in your home world?”

Maeve: “Not really. Only in fictional stories. At least as far as I know. But we have lots of people who write stories where a ‘demon’ king or god is the Big Bad Evil Guy who needs to be defeated by the heroes.”

Una: “Fascinating. Fiction in this world usually involves a journey to one of the lost wonders of nature from the first era. Although the elven bards have many tales of romances, some involving courtship for hundreds of years. And they say most of them are fictional because few elves are willing to share their own courtship stories beyond their families.”

Maeve: “Huh. I guess you don’t really need fiction about fighting evil when you’re busy really fighting evil, right? How about dwarves, what’s their fiction?”

Una: “I’m not sure. I hear they have tales of legendary mines. But I don’t know whether they’re fiction. Aside from that, it’s said they have many drinking songs. I’ve only ever seen a few dwarves. Never met one. And I don’t know if there are dwarven bards.”

Maeve: “And the lizard people?”

Una: “I’ve heard of such a people living far to the west. My friends say there are many unusual visitors in the capital. Maybe they might also be found there. As for myself, this is actually my first time away from Dunmar. So … I don’t know.”

The capital would be Selkir City. Dunmar is the only city in the Jovar Duchy, roughly on the opposite side of the duchy from the village of Enatus. First time out of her hometown? I guess that’s life without cars? Even though it’s fair to say I hadn’t gotten out much for a while before coming here, I’ve been well outside my hometown a bunch of times. We even got to the shore once when I was a little kid. God I miss sandcastles on the warm beach. Salty ocean breeze making my hair sticky. The smell of french fries sizzling in peanut oil. And my parents.

After dwelling for a bit, I wipe a tear from my right eye. It looked like Una noticed, but she didn’t ask about that.

Una: “Do you know of the seven gods from your world’s game?”

Maeve: “Sure. Tornung, Satvar, Ilki, Vulcane, Hecate, Vyapar, and Shush. We have stories in our world of gods with names like Vulcane and Hecate, except ours is ‘Vulcan’. Do you suppose they visited?”

Una: “It wouldn’t be surprising at all, considering the legends of them traveling to other worlds.”

Everybody back home figured the Three Moons game just cribbed the smith and magic god names from Greco-Roman mythology. Seems that’s not quite right. Yay inside info! Not that anybody on Earth would believe me even if I could tell them. Except for the people from here. But telling them would be like telling Rosalind Franklin about DNA.

Una: “Tornung conveyed that you would have questions about how things function in our world.”

Maeve: “Ooh. Right. OK. So, levels … once they’re earned, do they activate after a certain amount of time?”

Una: “It is hard to say because levels can only be gauged in a temple sanctum. But we believe that having been earned, levels are then granted after sufficient sleep.”

Maeve: “Granted?”

Una: “Yes. Although we can view the level, illnesses, and some other information via a rite, even we priests have incomplete knowledge about how exactly levels are determined. It seems that various practices and endeavors are recognized by the gods. The practices include killing monsters, learning and practicing spells, or some say even baking a particularly good pie … though I’m not sure I believe that one. The gods recognize these achievements by granting various boons. The most universal boons are toughening of the body and growth of the spirit. The tissues and organs resist damage more with each level. And more magic can be used. Levels may also magnify training efforts from before the achievement of the new level. Although it is not clear that such things happen with every level or for every person.”

Maeve: “How many Health or Mana points are typical at each level?”

Una: “‘Points’? Like in a competition? I assume this is a way of speaking from the game in your world. We call it ‘portions’. For the average young adult, who has no level, we can see the damage to their health as a portion missing. If 9 portions have been taken from them, 1 more would bring death. Many adults achieve the 1st level. At that point, the toughening of the body doubles the portions to 20. Thereafter, each further level adds 10 more portions, the equivalent of an unleveled person’s health. Mana appears to progress in roughly the same way, considering the increases in how much magic can be cast.”

So the number of Health and Mana points in the game does reflect what’s normal here. Wow, that makes my 10,010 seriously freakish.

Maeve: “Does Mana always refill at the same rate?”

Una: “In the course of a day, mostly yes. But it may replenish faster in certain places such as larger temples and slower in particularly barren places. Also, much faster when dreaming or deeply meditating. And it is fully replenished with the granting of a level.”

In other words, don’t skip too much sleep if I want to keep casting. Mom would love the incentive for me to get a good night’s sleep.

Maeve: “How about the battlegrounds? Where the monsters are thickest?”

Una: “I’m sorry to say I don’t know very much of that. Not aside from the nearest borders of fallen lands. And they say monsters can strike anywhere outside settlements. Even here within the Jovar Duchy, I would not have traveled far without guards. Yet farmers somehow manage outside the walls here, so there must be few attacks.”

Oh right … I’m asking a priestess who never before left her hometown.  

Una: “What I do know is that the Camber Duchy to the north borders on the fallen Kingdom of Dark Wood. At the time of the fall of Dark Wood, our king built forts just across the border and took in survivors there. At times there have been incursions into Camber as well as loss and rebuilding of one fort or another on the border. Every year, some of the newly trained royal troops from Jovar head north to serve in Camber. When they retire from the field, some return to Jovar and others serve at Selkir Castle. One of my father’s childhood friends took the path of castle service. To the west of Dark Wood, the Kingdom of Novgora is said to be face constant threat. There are quite a few tales of battles and at least one of a fallen city in the far north, Nyarat.”

Novgora. In the Three Moons game, most of the Kingdom of Selkir was basically newbie-land. Low to mid level zones. Dark Wood was basically just raids. Big groups would go there to challenge huge, tough monsters or hordes of medium monsters. And the BBEG at the end of the main quest was in the Kingdom of Novgora, with the ultimate quest-ending battle taking place in a cave in the northern part.

Sounds about right, I guess. But …

Maeve: “Does anyone ever change sides and work with the evil forces?”

Una: “No. Not since the College of Zuul’s catastrophic failed efforts to negotiate. That would be insane.”

Maeve: “Huh. That sounds like it would help keep things simple. How about judges?”

Una: “Judges? They arbitrate in disputes and in some cases enact punishments.”

She answered that like it couldn’t have been anything other than coincidence that I happened to ask about judges after evil people. If most people wouldn’t imagine a judge being a bad guy, I bet being a judge would work as a great cover for being a bad guy. This also means that if my info about the game’s BBEG is true – and if the gods know about it – then the gods aren’t telling their priesthood everything. So that’s interesting.

Maeve: “Where would I find guilds?”

Una: “Which ones? Dunmar has a bards’ guild and a merchants’ guild which operate throughout the duchy. There are guilds for more trades in Selkir City.”

Maeve: “For adventuring? For battling monsters?”

Una, looking extremely confused: “A guild?”

Ah. Foreign concept. Apparently the Three Moons game adopted this concept from other games in my world rather than bringing it along from this world.

Una: “Most patrols are organized by the local city guard. The royal army would handle assaults on monster strongholds.”

Maeve: “I see. That’s all the questions I can think of right now.”

Una: “Alright. Next. Do you know where to go to find the Temple of Ilki to the south?”

After checking my map, in the middle of which Una commented, “I don’t know what that means.” to the English word “map” …

Maeve: “Yes, I can find the temple.”

Una: “When you leave Enatus, go there. My impression is that Ilki will contact you there or perhaps leave something for you there. That part was not clear. Afterwards, if you head straight towards Dunmar from the temple, you should find someone else from your world. I’m sorry I don’t know more about whom. And that’s it. That is what I was told to convey.”

Then she held out a silver coin.

Una: “I can also give you this. I don’t know how far it will take you, but my temple provided one silver for my travel and another to give to you.”

She smiled and guessed what I was thinking.

Una: “But no, please don’t use it to pay me back for the meal.”

After that, I asked her about her life in Dunmar and as a priestess. And she asked about mine in my world. We talked about that sort of thing through dinner and then into the evening.

In the middle of the night in my moderately comfy bed in the inn, I woke up from dreaming about eating a snake raw with my hands and teeth under the moonlight in the woods and found myself chewing on my pillow. So that was weird.

When morning came, I tried using the Search spell to find Una. It worked. But apparently when they’re further away it doesn’t put a HUD indicator over my regular field of view. Instead it brings up my map and shows a dot with a label there. It actually showed several dots there. Probably her guards with her.

Asking around about campfire equipment led me to a blacksmith shop and buying a flint and steel set. Snagged a cast iron frying pan while I was at it. Stuffed both into Inventory. Thank the Interface I don’t have to carry this pan around in my hand or somehow strap it over my shoulder all the time. With a way to cook things, I also picked up some vegetables for travel food. And then some extra arrows. This promptly got me back to zero coins again. Not exactly a goal, but I don’t think it’d be healthy to eat nothing but meat Midnight catches, so had to get some veg.

Soon after I wandered out and into the woods again, Midnight strolled up to me and greeted me with a hug. Frankly that was terrifying. But she didn’t bite, just nuzzled and licked while I scritched her and struggled not to fall over. I think I could get used to this. Yeah, I want to get used to this.