“You don’t understand--” As the word left her mouth, Isa realized her mistake. You don’t tell Alice Fondel that she’s mistaken. About anything. It’s not that she was sensitive or pouty. No, Alice was just that smart, and Isa had learned that she generally only made declarations after long deliberation. If Alice said she wanted crispy eggplant at Wong’s, you could be sure that she’d studied the menu ahead of time.

Isa started again. “I was so worried about you.” She leaned over and kissed Alice. “I didn’t know what to think about Ysel - I still don’t - but I needed help finding you.”

“You were amazing,” said Alice. “That man, the one - the one doing that…. Ritual, I guess. He touched your face, and….”

Isa took Alice’s hand and squeezed it. “We don’t have to think about that right now. We’re safe; we’re together; let’s get married.”

“Wh-wh-what? Where did that come from?” Alice gestured at the grove and the people working and wandering about. “In the midst of all of this, you still manage to be the most surprising thing around.”

“Is that a Yes?” Isa flashed a smile and then grew serious. “I thought I’d lost you, Ally. And in the fight, all I could think about was getting you out of there.”

“Where did you learn to fight like that? You don’t kickbox or do martial arts. You don’t even do yoga, but you moved like…. I don’t even know.”

“I have good dex.” Isa had meant it as a joke but talking about her ability scores made her think about her notebook. Since she had a notebook, Alice should, too. Isa looked under the bed. “Do you have a small notebook?” She held out her hands. “About yea big?” Without realizing it, Isa used the same words that Joth had used on her just a few months ago.

“A notebook?” Alice shook her head. “I don’t even have my-- my bag!” Alice got off the bed and leaned over, picking up one of the bags that Fara had laid out with the other loot.

“Is there a notebook in there?” Isa suddenly wanted to explore Varana with Alice, but if she didn’t have a notebook, that meant that the…. The what? The gods, the universe? The Controller, Isa decided, the Controller - whoever, whatever that was - it had either given Alice a notebook or it hadn’t, and nothing Isa could do about it.

“Gimme a second,” Alice grumbled as she opened her bag. “There are 2 books in here.”

“Two?” Isa reached into her bag to retrieve her own notebook. “That doesn’t make any--”

“She gave me one - Ysel. In my dream. She handed me a book, and she said….”

“Notebooks are, well they’re personal,” said Isa. “They’re like your character sheet, but they also have your quests and any notes you make. They have your spells, if you’re a magic person.”

“Wait - what?” Alice opened the notebook in her lap. “My ‘character sheet’?”

“You said Ysel explained it all.”

“She told me about Varana, about its magic, and the danger the rift poses. She did not mention character sheets.”

For a moment Isa was at a loss, and then she realized that Ysel wouldn’t need to know about D&D. Varana would just be…. home to her, and notebooks, well they’d just be the way you organize your life.

“This world,” Isa said slowly, “it functions kinda like a game of Dungeons and Dragons. I’m a fighter; you’re a-- What are you? A rogue, like in the game?”

“I’m a wizard?” Alice looked from her notebook to Isa. “So the second book…..” She picked up the other book. “....Is my spellbook. I remember now. Ysel handed it to me, and she said, ‘The power of nature dwells within.’”

“Not a rogue? Huh. But you know how to play a rogue.”

“Yeah, but my very first character was a wizard - Maria. Named after Maria Merian, a German botanist. How funny. Hadn’t thought of her in a long time. That was 3.5. And think about it - I’m not really very rogue-y, do you think?”

True, Alice was nothing like the one real rogue that Isa knew - Mery Braydon. Alice was careful, deliberate, methodical. “But wizard? Are you happy with that?”

“I guess I’ll see. Della’s pretty awesome in fights. God, I wonder how different it is from 3rd edition.” She laughed. “Listen to me. This isn’t a game. I don’t have dice.”

“Fighting,” said Isa, “I can’t explain it but combat feels a little like the game. But yeah, no dice.”

“Some spells used to be automatic hits. And yeah, that’s right, magic missile….” She hurriedly flipped open the spellbook.

“Do you mind if I look at your notebook?” Isa asked. She held out her own. “It’s kinda personal - everything is in here, but I want you to look, if you want.”

“Sure.” Alice handed Isa her notebook without looking up from the spellbook. She patted beside her leg. “I’ll look in a sec.”

For a few minutes they sat in silence. Alice was somehow Level 3 already, and the first of her 2 quests was simply “Level Up.” The other quest was titled “The Lockwood Quest.”

Too late Isa thought about her past quest log. Alice would see the quest to rescue Mery; she’d see the feldspice quest, and even that silly quest that began it all--

“Fedru, the evil wizard, huh?” Alice held up Isa’s notebook. “Not from Star Wars or Star Trek. Not fictional at all.”

“I didn’t know that he’d try to find me. Al, if I thought you were in danger, I would have told you. You have to believe me.”

“I do, babe. Besides, Ysel told me that it was supposed to be you on that table. It’s kind of a good thing it was me and not you. You only found me because Ysel looked into your mind.” Alice tapped on Isa’s notebook. “How do you know this Fedru?”

“There’s a guy in Bywater - this little village - and I don’t know if he’s a good guy. I mean I thought I knew, but--”

“You’re not making any sense, love. You thought Fedru was a good guy?”

“No! God, no. He was totally weird and creepy. His friend, Joth - Joth Windbane. He’s a regular guy like us. Hey, he’s from Vermont, too! And a wizard.” Isa pulled back to look at Alice. “That’s kinda strange.”

“This whole thing is strange.”

“Yeah but Joth’s from Vermont. You’re from Vermont.” Isa cocked her head.

“Yeah right. No, wait - his last name is Windbane? One of the Middlebury Windbanes, no doubt.”

Isa said, “Seriously? There’s a Windbane family?”

“That was sarcasm, babe. You’ll find lots of Connors, Thompsons, Lingettis, and Fletchers in Vermont, but no Windbanes. Who is this guy?”

“Right. Of course. Silly. Yeah, I don’t know. Joth’s kind of annoying, but also kind of endearing. He rents a room from this old guy, and I don’t know - he just doesn’t seem like a bad guy, but he works for Fedru.”

Alice frowned. “If he works for the guy who tried to kidnap you and kill me, then yeah: he’s a bad guy.”

“He does, like, wizard-for-hire stuff.” Isa shrugged. “Gig economy.”

Alice put her head in her hand. “You really want to think the best of this guy. Why?”

“We fought together, a couple of times. He saved my life at least once. There were these gnolls, so Joth set the forest on fire, which pissed off these druids.”

“Gnolls, druids…. This really is like D&D, but it’s life.”

“And we’re playing together.” Isa stroked Alice’s cheek. “I like that.”

Alice smiled shyly. “Ysel, when she came to me in the dream, she called me ‘Princess Alice.’ Is that what you….?”

Isa’s cheeks felt hot. “I mentioned you to a friend of mine once - before we started going out - and she called you ‘Princess Alice.’” Isa shrugged. “It fits you.”

“Princesses don’t have dirt under their fingernails.”

“Everything you do is perfect.” Isa pulled a strand of Alice’s hair back into place.

“You must love me.”

“I do.” Isa looked into Alice’s eyes. “I really, really do.”

“I love you, too.” Alice smiled. “And I forgive you for keeping this a secret.” She looked around. “I probably wouldn’t have believed you. Where is this place? Or maybe it’s when is this place?”

“I haven’t found that out. I do know time can be weird here. It didn’t really move much in our world. I was here for like a month and only a few hours passed in Portland.”

“So,” Alice said, “we can help with the rift and not come back homeless and jobless.”

“If we help with the rift. I still don’t understand.” Isa reached for her notebook. “This Lockwood - of course! - quest….” Her voice trailed off as she read about the quest. The shield between Varana and Earth ruptured generations ago, and with time and use, the rupture spreads. You, Isa Chamberlin, have a chance to heal the shield and restore balance.

“I understand,” said Alice. “She showed me. I saw the shield, saw the wound, saw the damage.”

“Yeah, but babe, Varana isn’t our--”

“The damage to our world.” Alice patted her chest. “Our world, Isa. But both worlds need our help. If you’d seen what I saw, there’d be no question.”

Isa nodded silently. “OK. I hear you. We’re going to need….” Her voice trailed off as she saw new writing forming on the page. Under The Lockwood Quest it now said: Gather friends and supplies for the journey east. “‘Gather friends.’” Isa closed her notebook. “I do have friends here, and it’s time you met them.”

Spoiler: Alice's Character Sheet

Name: Alice Fondel

Race: Human

Height & Weight: 5ft 9 inches / 160 lbs

Class: Wizard Level 3

Alignment: Chaotic Good

Background: Stranger in a Strange Land

Arcane Tradition: Evocation

Hit Points: 17 AC: 12 (15 AC with mage armor)

Current Hit Points: 17

Combat: +4 to hit +2 to damage

Weapons: Dagger +4 to hit 1d4 +2 / light crossbow +4 to hit 1d8 +2

STR

13

+1

DEX

15

+2

CON

13

+1

INT

18

+4

WIS

11

0

CHA

11

0

Saving Throws: INT +6 and WIS +2

2

Acrobatics (Dex)

0

Medicine (Wis)

0

Animal Handling (Wis)

6

Nature* (Int)

6

Arcana* (Int)

0

Perception (Wis)

1

Athletics (Str)

0

Performance (Cha)

0

Deception (Cha)

0

Persuasion (Cha)

6

History* (Int)

6

Religion* (Int)

0

Insight (Wis)

2

Sleight of Hand (Dex)

0

Intimidation (Cha)

2

Stealth (Dex)

6

Investigation* (Int)

0

Survival (Wis)

Feat: Plant-Based – Alice’s connection to nature (enhanced by her contact with Ysel, Lady of Lockwood) gives her proficiency in Nature checks. It also gives her advantage on Perception, Stealth and Survival checks when she’s in the wilderness.

Class Features:

Arcane Recovery / Sculpt Spells / Evocation Savant

Wizard Spells: DC = 14 Spell Attack +6

Cantrips – Frost Bite / Message / Poison Spray

Level 1 – Charm Person / Absorb Elements / Mage Armor / Shield / Magic Missile

Level 2 – Suggestion / Blindness & Deafness