Welcome to the beginning of the story! Due to results from the survey, I’m starting off with a brief introductory look at the characters and the world; however, if that’s not your cup of tea, you can skip to the story snippet at the end. Since the email ended up being pretty long, it’s only a small portion of the scene, but I wanted to include something of the beginning. I hope you have fun!
Also, no polls or questions at the end, since I’m still in the middle of writing the scene. Next time, however..
Also, if things in the introduction don’t immediately make sense, or it seems like a lot of details to keep track of, don’t worry! The introduction is supplementary material for fun and reference, and isn’t something you have to memorize. All the important stuff will be worked into the story, and the really important stuff will get repeated often.
[Note: apologies for any typos; due to outside circumstances, the editing of this was a lot more rushed than I had hoped. I look forward to improving the quality next time around]
Recap: All I Wanted Was a Cup of Tea
(This short story is technically the first part of A Four-Dimensional Plot, but can be read separately or not at all. For those who are interested and haven’t downloaded it yet, click >>here)
Agent Jeanne Townford is a washed-up agent hiding a fugitive. Said dragon, Calernon “Cal” Agrabeth, is on the run from his home dimension and his emperor after being framed for treason.
Together, they try to get Cal through a portal and to safety, but Jeanne’s supervisor and partner (Agent Stanton) crashes the party; he’s under the impression that Cal is a dangerous criminal and that Jeanne got hurt trying to stop him. Cal evades capture, and Jeanne is left to wrestle with feelings of helplessness until Stanton helps calm her down and sends her home for a much-needed rest.
Introduction
Main Characters:
Weapons Specialist Agent Jeanne Townford
Jeanne is honestly surprised she’s survived this far in life, and she’s not sure what to do with that. The one thing she knows she wants to do is help people, protect them and help them access a safer life than she grew up with; but she’s failed at every place she’s worked, and is one mistake away from getting tossed out of her favorite job yet.
So, she’s trying to keep her job by, uh, well, listening to a fugitive’s sob story and deciding to hide him in her basement instead of arresting him. She believes him, and she can’t turn away someone who needs her. And now he’s her only friend—so that means helping him at all costs.
Calernon Agrabeth
Cal, a teenager in dragon years, used to be the darling of the Skailorn court, being one of the emperor’s youngest (and most inconsequential) cousins. As an extrovert hoping to make friends with anyone, regardless of species, he got along well with everyone and wasn’t threatening enough (from a political standpoint) to be mistrusted.
But now he’s on the run for treason, attempted murder, and arson. So what happened? That’s sure what he’d like to know. He still wants to trust and like people, but being a fugitive isn’t very conducive to that mindset. So for now, he’ll just keep running until he can figure out how to fix this mess.
Lead Agent Percival Stanton
If you asked people what they thought of Stanton, they’d say he’s a hard worker, charismatic, smart, and a good leader; and he’s done his best to live up to these ideals. Despite all of that, and despite his knowledge that everything has nuance, he has grown a tendency towards a strict “good guys and bad guys” mentality.
If someone (or something) is hurting others, they’re the enemy and they have to be stopped. So he’s become a bit fixated on finding Cal—after all, according to his view, Cal is a cowardly lowlife (what kind of person betrays someone?), and Jeanne needs a win. Solution? Catch that criminal, help Agent Townford get the credit, and then everything’s good again. Right?
Rhys Vordur
Growing up in a family of Wardens implies that he’d be good at dealing with monsters. Except he’s not, he knows it, and it haunts him. He’s just a scared child who doesn’t want to get hurt, and who feels responsible for getting his parents killed. The legacy handed down to him is that of protecting others, dealing with the evils that go bump in the night, and instead he’s letting everyone down.
He hates that, and that he’s so afraid, but it’s not like it’s something he can change. For now he’ll just stay good at running and hiding, and maybe that will be enough.
Kalgyrad (a.k.a The Dragon-Man)
He’s in Rhys’s dimension as part of an undercover delegation from Skailorn, the dragon empire. Being the only dragon of the group that can shapeshift into something humanoid (though he’s more practiced at being an elf), he’s the negotiator. His goal is simply to get a deal that’s beneficial to every side of every bargain. Or at least, that’s his story. He does seem to have some other plans that he’s not sharing.
Mara Minerva Daley
It feels like everyone assumes that she got adopted as a charity case, and she gets tired of telling people that no, that is her biological dad, her mom just died and he remarried and now she doesn’t look like the rest of her white family. So instead of explaining it ad nauseam, she sticks to the outskirts, keeps an eye on other outcast kids, and hopes for something more.
After an encounter with the entity known as Kathryn, she discovered that the extra-normal exists, and it’s given her a hunger for hidden knowledge. Which makes Rhys the perfect target for her—he’s an outsider, like her, and he knows about that Mithae stuff. If there’s any chance that he might be having an adventure, she wants in.
“Grammy” Beth Anne Vordur, Retired Warden
Old and tired, that’s how she feels. But she has a teenaged grandson to raise and train and keep safe—despite his best efforts—and a family to keep an eye on and offer her help to. So, no rest, no slack. The Warden profession is often a fatal one, as she well knows from watching her once-large family get whittled down over her lifetime, so she still has work to do.
Now, due to her age, she’s largely fallen into the role of consultant and advisor—except for Rhys. He is, perhaps, the person in most desperate need of training that she’s ever seen, and the least willing to take part in it. Somehow, she has to make sure he’s equipped to survive, even if it means fighting him every step of the way.
Universe: Mithaedrir
Red for blood and Mithae, green and blue for Aedrir’s vastness – Ae is over both.
Mithaedrir is home to many distinct and varied dimensions, all with different lands and histories. For example, some dimensions discovered magic (Mithae) sooner than others, some still haven’t found it, some developed Mithae and science side-by-side. Some dimensions are ruled by extra-normals (like, say, dragons), some by humans, some have a balance of both. One dimension is the tortured hybrid of two dimensions irreparably phased together, another is run by a Mithecal mafia, and another is home to all the legends we’ve only ever heard of. And that’s only a fraction of the documented ones.
There are few constants across dimensions. One is the organization known as CENCA, another is the world’s “composition.” The universe is built up of “Mithae” and “Aedrir,” what we might translate as “spirit” and “matter.” Obviously it’s more complicated than that (the science that we have still exists there), but those two elements are the basic building blocks of their reality.
Magic (Mithae)
Mithae, as it is called in-world, is the force or ability that acts on Aedrir, which is physical reality. It is more of a science than an innate ability (though that can play a role), and anyone can do it if properly trained. That being said, it is a complicated process.
The three components of a spell (or “rewrite”) are dense materials, music, and runes. The music represents the Mithae, the materials (the denser the better) represent Aedrir, and the act of writing binds the two together. With those three elements, magic is enacted on objects in a way that alters them and makes them capable of affecting the world in new ways. For example, writing the correct “rewrite” on a stone (a decently dense material) while humming the right notes can make the rock glow, turning it into a light source.
So, for a further simplified explanation, a thaen (magic user) vocalizes a specific tune while writing magic, and the combination of all the elements “rewrites” the function of the object to be pretty much whatever. Rewrites have also been described, in more modern times, as a way to “hack” an object to make it do different things, like giving light, or shielding you, or exploding, or helping you heal, etc.
Limitations include: density and durability of the item (rewrites can wear off, and wear off quicker with weaker/less dense materials), space to write, time, and concentration. Hence, most rewrites are prepared ahead of time, and it is rare to have someone, say, perform a rewrite during combat. Knowledge and discovery are other factors in the Mithecal sphere. Some integral symbols have to be “discovered” and, since it’s a languageof its own, this means that no society or dimension is going to know every part of Mithae.
Dimensions
The main dimensions that we have at play in this story are Jeanne’s, Rhys’s, and Cal’s. There is also a secret 4th one, but that won’t come up until a while later.
Jeanne’s Dimension, 199 (D.199):
This is one of the dimensions most similar to our world. There are a few key historical differences—for example, Canada and the United States are the same country, and the Scotts were the dominating power in the UK. Also, Mithae is widely known and used, alongside science, and the extra-normal is known and generally accepted. Humans are still the dominant species, but there are some pockets of other races (such as gnomes) in random counties, and not all extra-normal forces are hostile or assumed to be so.
Rhys’s Dimension, 198 (D.198):
Mithae and the extra-normal are hardly known at all, and anyone who mentions those topics are written off as kooks and loons. The terrain itself is much harsher than ours, and while in North America borders ended up being fairly similar, the landscape is more dramatic; e.g., the Appalachians, where this story takes place, are far more rugged and dangerous, dealing with frequent landslides, earthquakes, and storms. The world as a whole has been held back by natural disasters and unstable lands. As a result, the population tends to gather almost solely in larger city hubs. Gathering together might be dangerous in some ways, but at least it means help is more readily available. There are pockets of towns and villages, but they’re considered rural and backwater, and tend to be full of frontiersman-type people determined to carve out their own existence. Instead of Mithae, they have science and technology, but it’s a few decades behind our world’s.
Cal’s Dimension, 41664 (D.41664):
The whole of the world is a united empire between the other races (elves, humans, shydes, etc) and the dragons. The dragon emperor is at the head of this coalition, and is tied magically to the land, but the royal court is dominated by other races. It’s a bit of an uneasy balance, and one that has been a long time in the making. But there is a peace of sorts—any attempts at one kind seizing power over the others would lead to mutually assured destruction. It’s much more in everyone’s interests to talk and vote things out. In Cal’s time, a status quo has been reached, and, while it could be improved upon, it’s largely stable.
The Extra-Normal
This term refers to anything abnormal, or “extra,” beyond what a particular dimension is used to. Say, in our world, if there were fairies, they would be extra-normal, but a walrus wouldn’t be. In a different dimension, that might be flipped.
It is a pretty broad category, encompassing anything from a salamander that can cough fire to fully sentient, fantasy-type species. There is also no known limit to what “extras” can be or do. There have been reports of reality-warpers who distort the ground around them like heat distorts plastic, or of creatures that can get you lost from a single look in their eyes—or just a tree that moves on its own. Some animals and creatures also display Mithecal talents, affecting the world in strange ways, and some are able to perform simple rewrites. This has led to the theory that humans first learned how to use Mithae from them.
CENCA’s slang for all of those are the “extras.” They also have more defined terms and classifications (Regular, Extra-Normal, Mithecal, and Supernatural are some of the more known ones), but “extra-normal” is still the blanket term.
Wardens call extra-normal creatures “the illdýr,” or refer to them more sidelong (“them and their ilk”). This comes from the old Norse word for evil (íllr) and “dýr” (which means animal/beast). According to Warden lore, their traditions originated in Viking times; some groups even tie themselves back to Beowulf, and his friend Brecca.
CENCA
CENCA, or the Corporation for Extra-Normal Creatures and Activities, is one of the few consistents in a varied multiverse—though they’re as changeable as the dimensions they’re in.
Their basic goal is to be the line of defense between the normal and the extra-normal, but the application of that differs wildly. In some dimensions, that means protecting humans from dangerous monsters; in some, it means taking the side of the extra-normal to keep humans from eradicating it; in some, races like elves are normal and the humans are extra-normal. Sometimes, CENCA is basically a glorified DMV for interdimensional travelers, others, they’re an elite force like the FBI, or engaged in an all-out war against a hostile world. They work with a blend of Mithae, science, and technology, and are usually further advanced than the world around them.
Their policies change, too, depending on the dimension. If the extra-normal is well-known, they are classified as “open book,” meaning that they operate publicly. Others are “closed book” status, a secret shadow organization that does what it needs to in silence.
They are a corporation, too—they can’t properly be categorized as “good” or “bad.” They have good people and bad people, and in some dimensions they’re the bad guys, and in others, they’re the last force for good and safety in a world gone mad. The one thing you can be sure of is that they’re probably up to something.
As a side note, CENCA in Rhys’s universe was only recently founded, so they’re young and ill-established in comparison to their big sister in Jeanne’s dimension.
Episode 1, Part 1:
A Dragon-Man Pays Us a Visit
I hid the second time the dragon-man came.
Courage has never been my strong suit, and that was triply true of teenage me. So, when I sensed him coming (dragons have a strong presence, if you know what you’re looking for), I grabbed my school books, my Mithae tracings—anything that might give me away—and wedged myself into the nearest closet.
Grammy didn’t blink—or at least, I would be surprised to find out if she did. Likely she had known he was coming long before I did, and watching me hide in closet was far from unexpected. If I’d have to guess, I’d say she was wondering why I didn’t go to my room. Simple—there are many open windows in our house, and I didn’t know which direction he was coming from. Crawling was an option (to avoid the windows), but I didn’t have an accurate read on how far away he was, and I did not want to be caught on the floor when Grammy opened the door.
And open the door Grammy did. Like him or not, she had a strict philosophy of hospitality; the furthest that philosophy could be bent was to make him knock at the door (several times) while she took her sweet time chopping potatoes. Eventually, I heard the faint clatter of the knife on the cutting board, an even fainter sigh, then her slow, measured footsteps.
“Well, well,” she drawled, the door creaking open. I could picture her wiping her hands off on faded jeans. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”
Grammy had the voice of a smoker, even though she hated anything related to cigarettes. It was probably caused by yelling at the hapless kids she trained, I guessed, or a throat injury from her Warden days. It rasped even when it was smooth, and cut you on its edge even when it was soft.
“Just here for a friendly visit,” the dragon-man replied, “if I might be permitted to take some of your time.”
His voice was rich but hard, like something dug out of the ground and polished.
“Hmmmm, I don’t know how much of that I have left,” Grammy said drily, “but I won’t deny you a smidge. Come on in.”
To be continued…