Friends in a Foreign Land

Arden opened his eyes. He was lying in grass; the sun was just coming up over the tree line. He sat up and groaned out of habit before realizing there was no reason to. Nothing on his body hurt when he sat up. He actually felt pretty amazing. He quickly glanced around and saw that he was in a grassy clearing surrounded by forest. Hazel, Ewan, Nolan, and Willow were starting to sit up as well. All of them were wearing roughspun tunics and trousers. There are several backpacks sitting nearby. Hazel and Willow looked like fitter versions of themselves, but Nolan looked younger, more muscular, and less bald. Arden quickly patted his own head and found he had a full head of hair now, as well. He just sat there grinning and running his hands through his hair.

"Having fun?" he heard Willow say.

"Why yes. Yes, I am," Arden replied. "How do I look?" he asked with a smile.

"Like you did before four kids and a failed marriage," Nolan said, drawing a chuckle from Arden.

They all stood up and looked around. When Arden and Nolan made eye contact Nolan asked, "Exactly what did you get me into this time?"

"Just a bit of adventure. Let's go take over the world Pinky," Arden responded with a nervous laugh.

"You do realize that in that cartoon Pinky was the genius and that Brain was the insane one, right?" Nolan asked.

"Makes sense to me," Willow added.

Hazel laughed, "Yeah, we all know dad's crazy."

Thinking to himself, [Status] and a screen appeared in Arden's vision

Status

Name

Arden

Class

Cleric

Race

Human

Level

1

Languages

English, Common, Celestial

XP / Next

0 / 200

Attributes

Health

Stamina

Mana

178

150

100

[Stats]

A

L

M

S

45

16

37

31

[Skills]

[Spells]

[Quests]

[Abilities]

[Boons]

"Niiice," Arden said to himself.

"What?" Nolan asked.

Suddenly a scream drew their attention to the two girls. Hazel was standing right next to Willow, yelling, "How are you taller than me‽"

"It's part of the deal I worked out with Goddess Aservia. Didn't you ask your goddess for anything?" said Willow, all haughty.

“You seriously asked a goddess to make you taller than Hazel?” Nolan asked in disbelief.

“No,” Willow replied with a grin. “I asked a goddess to make me the tallest sister.”

"Doggie!" yelled Ewan as he took off running toward a large wolf that was standing about forty feet away. The wolf turned and started running toward the group.

"Ewan!" hollered Hazel as her hand was suddenly wreathed in flames.

"Wait! That's," started Willow just as the wolf collided with Ewan, knocking them both over. Arden and Nolan cracked up laughing as Arden placed a hand on Hazel's arm, stopping her from whatever spell she was about to cast. He looked at Willow and asked, "That's Arlo, isn't it?"

"That's what I was trying to say! Hazel, you better not hurt my dog!"

"Dog? That's a wolf! Are you sure it's Arlo?" looking back to the wolf who was bouncing around playing with the toddler, "Ewan, get back here!"

"Have you ever seen a wolf that derpy?" responded Arden

"Ahh, good point," Hazel said while stalking over to where her son was playing with Arlo, who was no longer a black lab, it seemed.

"So I guess Hazel's a mage of some sort?" said Nolan. "I spoke with a god named Robani. He said he's the god of physical strength and adventure. He wanted me to be a Paladin of his."

"Pally for a god of strength? Guess that's why you're looking like a wannabe Arnold," Arden said with a grin.

"Yes and no," Nolan interrupted. "The idea of trying to move around while wearing heavy armor doesn't appeal. I asked for other options. I'm okay working with Robani, just not the role he wanted."

"So, what did the two of you come up with?"

"You are looking at the first Divine Fist of Robani," Nolan proclaimed with his chest puffed out. “It’s a unique monk class.”

"That sounds pretty bad-ass. I'm still hung up on your physique. You've never had that much muscle. I'm kinda jealous," Arden said with a grin. "I spoke with Cilena. She said she's the Goddess of Duty. Really seems like she should have been your deity, Nolan, with how you've always talked about duty being heavier than a mountain. Anyway, I'm a Cleric for her now." Looking to Willow, who was now rolling on the ground playing with the new and improved Arlo, "Hey Willow, what powers did ass-a-whoever give you besides being taller than your sister?"

"It's Aservia! The Goddess of Wilderness, and she made me a Druid and made Arlo a wolf and my companion." Willow stated in a matter-of-fact tone while looking at her father exasperatedly. She turned to her sister, who was holding Ewan, "Did you ask for Ewan to be brought here? Don't you think that it's dangerous?" She asked with a concern laced tone.

"Of course, I asked for my son to come with me. I wasn't going to abandon him like some mothers do!" Hazel replied with a touch of heat in her voice. "And my god is Viznen, the God of Magic. He made me a sorceress." As she stated her class, she raised her hand, which was covered in flames again.

"Yeah yeah, you got magic. Stop showing off," said Arden. "It seems we all have magic. Did Ewan get a class?"

"Yes sir," Hazel said dejectedly before continuing, "No, Ewan doesn't have a class. However," Hazel cut her eyes back to Willow, "I did ensure his safety. Viznen has put a ward spell on him that will keep him safe until he reaches his age of accountability. And he also said that any experience points Ewan earns are banked until then but he can learn and level up skills and spells now. So if he learns to fight early, he'll get a head start later."

"Good thinking Hazel," said Nolan. "I tried to ask my god a lot of questions. Some he answered, but for many of them, he just told me to ask you, Arden".

"Yeah. You know me, always the loquacious one." Arden said. "I have a lot to share, but let's grab our stuff and get moving. I'll explain more on the way. I see Arlo but not Twix. Is she here?"

Everyone looked at one another and shrugged. "Doesn't look like she made it, Dad,” Hazel responded.

“So you forgot your own dog?” Willow asked rather judgmentally.

“First off, she wasn’t my dog, she was Ewan’s,” Hazel snapped back before continuing in a more somber voice, “And I was talking about more important things. I asked Viznen about bringing Christina.”

That stopped Arden in his tracks. “What did he say?” Arden asked in a tone that showed even he wasn’t sure what he hoped the answer to be. He and his oldest daughter had a complicated relationship, to say the least. But he loved and missed her. “It would be good to her again. And she was a good fighter.”

“Vizen said that if she had been there when we were all pulled to this world they would have offered her the same choice, but since she wasn’t… well, you know.”

“Yeah. That makes sense. Probably for the best, I guess,” Arden replied.

“You said we needed to get moving. Where to?" Hazel asked, changing the topic.

"There was supposed to be a guide here to meet us, but I don't see him. I don't care to spend my first night in a new world lost in a forest. Let's go find us an inn." Arden said. "Anyone have any spells that let them fly or levitate? No? Ok, Willow, go climb that tree and find us a road out of this forest."

"Me? Make Hazel do it! She's the one that always climbs stuff."

"I'm afraid she'll get stuck in the tree… again."

"Hey, that was only twice!" Hazel yelled.

"You should have learned after the first time," Willow joked with a grin and turned to her dad, "Okay, I'll do it."

"Give us a description of what's around us first, then the road out of here," Nolan added.

Willow looked around and chose the tallest tree she saw. Before she started to climb, she touched her forehead to the tree and then patted it a few times, then she just started scampering up. As Arden watched, he realized the tree was growing hand-holds for Willow to grab onto. He turned to Nolan, who just shrugged and said, "Druids."

Once she reached the top, Willow called back down, "I see trees. So many trees." As she turned, her face lit up, "There's water in that direction. I think it's a river," pointing out to one side, "might be a road next to the river. Lots of trees everywhere else."

"So trees everywhere, and West is a river and possibly a road," Nolan stated. "Guess we head west."

"Sounds good," Arden says before calling up to Willow, "Come on back down. Carefully!"

While Willow climbed down, Nolan started digging through the packs. "How do we know whose is whose?"

"Pull up the identification screen," replied Arden. "The one to the left of you is mine. Toss it here."

Nolan looked confused for a moment, and then his face lit up.

Object Identification

Arden's Backpack

"Damn, we have status screens and inventory just like a video game! This is awesome!"

"Right‽ It'll definitely make remembering everyone's name easier." Looking over to Arlo, Arden grinned, "Even Arlo has a label."

Arlo

Species:

Dire Wolf

Companion to:

Willow

Level:

N/A

Nolan quickly identified everyone's pack and passed it out before putting his on. A moment latter Nolan was standing in hardened leather armor that looked to still allow for full range of motion. "Looks like the equipment screen lets you set three presets for outfits." He said before instantly shifting back to his tunic and trousers.

"Cool," said Hazel as a sorcerer's robe appeared on her. "I have a robe!" She said with a big smile.

"And everything in the backpack appeared on the equipment screen as soon as I picked it up," Willow added.

Arden laughed before adding, "Alright folks, set a preset for battle and one for traveling, then let's get going. We're burning daylight."

"Are days the same length here as on Earth?" asked Willow.

"Nope, one hour longer than we're used to." Arden replied before he added, "Arlo! Are you still useless? Go scout ahead."

The wolf ignored Arden and continued walking next to Willow and Ewan.

As the group walked through the forest they started sharing everything they’d learned about their new home.

"So you’re saying we’re going to live forever?" Nolan asked?

"No, not forever. But some of our friends are now dwarves and others are elves so I convinced the gods that even though we’re human they couldn’t let us die off while our friends are going to live for hundreds and hundreds of years longer. So, they gave us all a boon. We’ll all live to be around a thousand years old unless we get killed by something. If you pull up your status screens you should see an option for [Boons] and the extended life should be listed there."

Everyone’s eyes blanked as they did as Arden said.

“Millennial Vigor,” Willow read off, “You have the natural lifespan of one millennium. That is so cool!”

“The other boon you should have was one I asked for. I got us a bonus to all experience earned,” Nolan stated, proud of himself. “While I like having hair, I can’t believe you got us a boon to keep us from going bald.”

"No shit? Oh, I see it. ‘Wisdom’s Growth’ Gain Character Experience 10% Faster. Gain Skill and Spell Experience 25% faster. That’s bad ass dude!" Arden said as fist-bumping Nolan. "But not everything was superficial. Are you enjoying that younger body? I got that for us. Anyone younger than 25 just got a new body the same age as they were. The rest of us got a new 25-year-old body. And you notice how none of us are having problems seeing? That’s because we’re all in tip-top shape. No bad eyesight, no arthritis, no old injuries to slow us down, nothing of the sort."

Nolan looked at Arden appraisingly, "Functional bodies seem like a logical thing to provide. Are you sure you got these bodies for us, or are you just taking credit for something the gods were going to give us anyway?"

"Well, being that it’s a magical world, arthritis or bad eyesight only exist in areas where no one with healing magic has visited recently. But the 25-year-old bodies I totally did negotiate for,” Arden said with a grin. “Now, I see another boon in there that lets us learn any language. Who asked for that one?”

“Probably mom,” responded Willow. “She always liked learning new languages.”

“Well, someone say something to me in a foreign language. Let’s see if it works.”

“Ill se peut bien que vois soyez comedienne, mais je vais vous voler la vedetti si cest la derniere chose que ferai,” recited Willow.

“Holy crap, it worked. I know French now,” Arden said. “Est-ce que tout le monde a appris le français?”

“Yes, we all learned French.” Nolan replied. “But when did Willow learn it?”

“Sophomore year of high school I was in a play and all my lines were in French,” answered Willow. “That’s the only one I remember.”

The next little of was spent with everyone trying to remember words and phrases in all the foreign languages they knew. By the time they had run out of things they had all learned French, Spanish, Japanese, and Russian. They had also learned that a single word in a foreign tongue was not enough to get the boon to work. Somewhere around three to five words seemed to be the sweet spot.