The city was strange, to say the least. They followed the white-haired lady down the market street, taking in the sights. There goblins seemed to cheer as the passed, waving their flags at them. They were initially all held at the exact same height, which was impressive enough, since some goblins were taller than others, but at some point they broke into 'the wave'. The timing was impeccable, and the undulation actually started to make James dizzy. The line eventually ended, as did the market, giving way to a clearing that revealed the city's main feature- a massive chasm. Dangling boxes hung off the sides of the bridge, evidently the only safe way to descend into its depth. The system of chains seemed to simply disappear as it descended, giving off an impression of an infinite drop.

It was crisscrossed by two bridges, both starting in the city at large and ending on an almost oval-shaped strip of grass that was about a fourth of the total area of the entire place. Guard-towers made of the same strange stone as the markets lined the edge of the arc, standing tall over the bridges and chasm. Little structures were arranged in thick lines around the grassy plain, almost circling around a huge structure that sat smack-dab in the middle of it all. It looked like it had been expanded, a huge fort that was a mixture of the same stone as the walls and apparently newer stuff. In particular, the newer materials were used to build a huge, cylindrical tower and a new 'wing' of the fort, nearly doubling its size. A tiny, unmarked and rectangular structure isolated from the rest didn't escape notice. It was actually a bit strange how it just unceremoniously stuck out of the grass.

The kids were especially excited to cross the bridge. For some reason, the younger they were, the more predisposed they were to getting uncomfortably close to certain death. As the group walked, the kids would trail the railings, peeking out, only to realize they were being left behind and catch up- rinse and repeat. Their guide was unconcerned, although she may not have even noticed. She hadn't turned around the entire time, which was odd enough. Even James would sometime turn around and check to see he hadn't left anyone behind, but she was so confident. The atmosphere around her stride mixed with her outfit, giving him the impression of pure competence. Perhaps the 'secretary' guess wasn't far off- or maybe she was more like a CEO, svelte but strong, a lady of dignity and power. He certainly wasn't ready to find out what was going on with the things she touched, and what that'd do to a person's body. Either way, the presence of such modern sensibilities in a midieval world was jarring.

Even on the bridge, each step seemed to turn the area around it pitch-black, and with every move, those cerulean neon lines flitted across the ground or the air around her, almost like sparks coming from a flame. It made him feel more like he had been dumped into a videogame, strongly contrasting the 'primitive survival' feel he had been getting before. Throw in the goblins, and he had to wonder if he signed up to beta test an exceptionally immersive VR experience. At the same time, the deaths had been real- too real. Putting legal issues aside, no person would put so much effort into something so gut-wrenchingly terrible. Still, if this wasn't a game, then what was with the strangeness? "What's going on with the… special effects?" He asked, uncertain what precisely to call it. He wasn't ready to say it was a glitch in the matrix just yet, and 'magic' didn't seem quite appropriate.

She didn't even break stride. She just walked, and for a moment, he thought she couldn't hear him. Then, the lady turned to look at him- still walking- and nodded. "You'll find out in a minute. I'll be happy to answer any other questions, though!" She said, another business smile playing across her face. That was awkward, to say the least. He tried to think of something that wasn't the reality-bending she was doing so casually. He settled on asking about the locale. "What is this place?" He asked, returning her smile. He hoped his 'Mister Moses' talents were helping him make a decent impression. He had never really been good with people like this, back home.

"Home," she said. "We gained control of this city roughly a month ago. What do you think of 'The City of Man'?"

He frowned. You'd never get away with something like that on Earth- it was just so broad. Even 'the Isle of Man' was pushing it, and that was named centuries ago. At the same time, this wasn't Earth, and if this was to be home-base… "It'll do nicely, I think."

She looked pleased. "I told them as much, but they just wouldn't listen. Is there anything else?" It was curious that she was talking about a 'they' all the sudden, but he ignored it. Instead, he mulled the situation over, thinking about everything they had seen thus far. It wasn't like there was much to ask about the goblins- they were probably previous inhabitants, maybe even the people who ran the city. The white stone that had been used to build the newer structures looked suspiciously similar to concrete, although it wasn't quite as smooth or refined as what he was used to seeing. Since there really were humans here, it made sense, so that wasn't even a concern. The way one of the gates was made of wood was strange to say the least, but that wasn't very pressing. In fact, only one thing stuck out in his mind, although he felt it was just a bit silly. "What exactly is that little building, over there?" He asked, pointing at the unmarked structure that sat so far away from the rest of this decidedly military branch. His best guess was 'a prison', but it seemed too small for that.

The woman chortled, sharing in a private joke. "That's the boom room," she said, turning back to look at where she was going. They were nearing the end of the bridge, now. That just left James with more questions- for instance, what the hell a 'boom room' was. Still, it was an answer to his question, even if it made no sense. It was gratifying to be back on the soft grass again after the walk. At some point, he must have really torn up his feet. Judging by the way the others were looking enviously at the woman's simplistic shoes, he wasn't alone. They walked towards the huge fort, crossing the field. He wondered when this group had first arrived. After all, they had taken over a city of goblins at least a month ago. That would have only been a few days after his group got brought into this New World. It was impressive, to say the least. Surely there were many more people waiting to greet them just on inside.

As they neared, one of the fort's doors swung open. Two people filed out, neither especially happy to see them. One had the most muscled legs James had ever seen, and he wore something like a guard's outfit. He was wearing a bandana decorated with the same simplistic design as the city's 'flag'. The other was most likely a woman and she was a matching set with the man- her arms would put most heavy-lifters to shame. She managed to look friendly. Both of the people's faces weren't normal, though. It was like someone had mixed and matched features from a gorilla onto a human's head, giving him a strange impression. As they approached, the white-haired woman waved to them. The two of them fell into line, side by side with the lady, and she finally turned all the way down. She gestured to the man.

"This is Netya. He's captain of the guard," she said. He bowed slightly, nodding at her words. She nudged him and he went off to do… something. It occurred to James that the city had been unusually empty, especially if the residents weren't all goblins. Was that for their benefit? The woman continued, waving happily at the woman. "She is Ayala, and she is the Warden, and she will be your mentor as you get a grip for life in the city." Ayala smiled at them, bowing slightly. Her smile looked more like a grimace, but she didn't object to what the white-haired lady was saying. Even as James was about to ask what they actually were, she continued. "They're both Gomen. From what some 'digging' has told us, they arrived a few centuries ago, and they have some noted similarities with humanity. In fact, there are many such races, according to their testimony." She let them get a grip for the fact that there were far more than three sentient races running about for a moment before continuing. "We are not alone, and we aren’t the strongest or the fastest. At least, I don't plan to arm-wrestle Miss Ayala any time soon," she said, smiling. A gentle chuckle rolled through the crowd. "We're not even actually the most technologically advanced, even if from what I've heard we're damn close. So what are we, if not human?"

A few people nodded sagely, but James for one was completely lost. What good was 'being human' if they were outmanned and outgunned? As though reading his mind, she kept the speech rolling. "Here at the City of Man, we're trying to levy that fact to our advantage. We're a versatile race, and luckily for us, we're apparently uniquely suited for magic-" Her monologue was cut off by an abrupt cheer from the audience, mostly children, but also an unfortunate number of adults. James may or may not have been among that crowd. He was definitely excited for magic, though, especially if it would let him do cool shit like the lady had been doing on the walk up. The lady seemed resigned to the fact that any motivational potential or weight her speech had been blown, so she settled for brevity. "Welcome to Hogwarts. My name is Merrilyn, and I'll be instructing you on how to tap into what potential you may, or may not, possess."

It was something many children had dreamed of since fourth grade. "Harry Potter" had been made mandatory reading for elementary schoolers at some point, and even though it was over a century old, it still captured the imaginations of kids everywhere. Granted, it was dated, and some of the language and ideas remained controversial, but it was still fantastic, bringing a little bit of magic into the sanitized, mechanized modern era. Now some white-haired office-lady said she would teach them how to do that sort of thing- how cool was that!? Even as advanced as technology was on Earth, they had never quite figured out how to make wands and broomsticks work. Merrilyn stepped aside from the door, her presentation and introduction finally finished. James quite suspected that the wave of excitement washing through the crowd was all part of the plan. He thought they were supposed to enter, but two more people came out. Evidently, the ceremonies weren't complete.

One was a girl, and she was in a wheel-chair. She was beaming at them, so innocently it was as though she had popped right out of a donation drive poster. She was moving around alright, leaning forward to get a better look at them even, but her legs were uncomfortably still. It took James a moment to drag his focus off of how tragic that was and back to reality, at which point he promptly took note of the fact that there was a wheel-chair in a fantasy world. It was a simple thing, with little wooden wheels and barely any cushion, but it was still a wheel-chair. Pushing that wheel-chair was a young man who seemed to be all intensity and bones. He was almost uncomfortably thin, and the only thing keeping him from being stringy were the muscles that lined his extremities. He was pushing the cart with one hand and one hook, a fierce metal thing that ended in a terribly sharp point. If Merrilyn was like an office-lady, this boy looked more like a pirate.

The girl in the chair was beaming, and the boy was in a deep frown, a stern look. They made for a strange combination, the two of them. The girl wore a simple pair of trousers and a wooly green shirt, while the boy wore leather hide armor. It was stitched together, as many parts made of a distinctly thick grey hide as inferior, light-brown. It made for a strange look, almost Avant Garde, but it was quite clear that this kid was all business. He brought down the girl, setting her to look into the crowd from an angle, before re-centering himself. Now they could see his leather pants, and more importantly, two massive sheathes. One was misshapen and strange, more like a pistol holster, and it hung to his left- the same side as his missing hand. The other was more traditional, but it was quite wide- rather than a sword, no less than five daggers' hilts poked out, all in a row. It was quite a get-up, especially considering he was so young.

He squared up with the crowd. Many of the children were starting to get tired of standing around when they could be doing magic, but now, almost all of the adults were at attention. The way the boy carried himself sent a message- he was in charge. This was the leader of the operation, not the muscle-bound Ayala or even the eminently magical Merrilyn. He pointed to himself. "I am the General. You can call me Gen." He said, confidently. He pointed to the girl in the wheel-chair. "She's Catarina, and she prefers to go by Kat. She's the fastest runner we've got-" at that he grimaced, and the girl's smile seemed to falter, but he continued- "but at the moment, she's disposed." He stood a little straighter, coming to his full height. The boy, or 'Gen', was quite tall when he tried to be. He finished with the white-haired lady, pointing to her. "You've already been introduced to Merrilyn. You need to be quite cognizant of the fact that she will not hesitate to dispose of you if she thought it was a good idea."

Merrilyn looked indignant for a moment, opening her mouth to retort in a huff, but in a blink, it washed away. She stared at Gen, speaking up for the first time since he had left the fort. "I would prefer you didn't say it so plainly. It makes maintaining my persona that much harder." Quite a few people suddenly felt quite a bit less comfortable with standing anywhere close to her. Gen held out his hands to placate them- well, he tried, but one of his hands was a hook. It was probably more intimidating than anything. His stony demeanor broke for a moment, and he spoke quickly. "I'm not threatening you, it's just the way Merrilyn is- I…" He struggled to find the words, evidently not feeling too 'general'-y at the moment. James got the picture, though, so he stepped forward.

He spoke loudly, hoping to catch the crowd's attention before they got too uncomfortable with the situation. "You don't plan on hurting us, right?" He asked. It was the question everyone was thinking, and the one that no one was answering. The boy shook his head vehemently. "No. Honestly, Merrilyn's right. I'll have to explain some of the more touchy topics a bit differently next time." He stood straighter again, regaining some of his confidence. "You're all safer here than you are anywhere else. I can't promise it's quite like home," He squeezed his hand into a tight first, raising it in front of him, "but it's the best we've got. At the moment, it's just the three of us-"

The crowd froze. James froze. The girl in the wheel-chair, Kat, started laughing. She spoke up, for the first time, wheeling herself forward a little bit. "Gen's not one for first impressions. When we met, he said something or another about hallucinations and passed right the fuck out." She winced, noticing the children grinning at her use of inappropriate words. "Sorry. It's true, though. We're not going to hurt you. I'm Kat, and I'm sure you guys are curious about who- and what- we are. Spoiler alert, we're just normal people in a 'fricked up' situation. Well, Merrilyn really isn't right in the head, but don't mind that." This time Merrilyn had evidently recovered. She harrumphed, going back inside first. Gen sighed, walking over to Kat. She was certainly a bit more personable than Gen had been, and suddenly they were all a little more optimistic about the situation. He started wheeling her back over to the door, and she beckoned for them to follow.

The inside was well-lit, and it was surprisingly cool for such a warm day. It was full of tables and wooden chairs, arranged something like a cafeteria. It had a rudimentary stage, a well-lit platform that sat just slightly higher than the rest of the room. It had a few chairs lined up in a row, and Merrilyn had already sat down in one. Gen took Kat over to the stage, practically lifting her, chair and all, onto it. For being so stringy, he had some serious strength hiding somewhere in there, James noted. Gen proceeded to shift aside a few chairs, lining her up with the rest. He sat beside her, pointing the tables out to the crowd as they filed in. Soon enough, everyone was seated. It was the first time that had sat in chairs in ages, and by God did they miss it. It made them feel just that little bit more like they were home.

Gen stood. "Seeing as I'm not so good at this… presentation stuff, I've decided to let Kat present. For all intents and purposes, consider her my PR girl." He said, smiling. He seemed less tense now, maybe relieved to not have to wrangle with breaking in the new civilians. Kat matched his smile, looking up at him, and then wheeled forward just a tad. "Forgive me if I don't stand on ceremony," she said, letting the humor show through in her voice. James wasn't sure if he was supposed to laugh, but that got a chuckle out of him. The girl was a good speaker, and now that they were inside, everyone could hear her quite clearly- she projected well. "You already know who we are, more or less. I'm the girl who can't run anymore; Gen is a socially awkward genius- at least as far as war goes- and Merrilyn is the über-talented sociopath. Honestly, I don't know what else I can tell you, there. I'll take questions, though."

A young boy's hand shot into the air like a rocket, finely honed from years of education. Kat pointed to him. He stood, smiling, and spoke as loudly as he could- perhaps a bit too loud, really. "How did you take over a city with just the three of you!? And- and- and, is it true we'll be able to do magic?" Kat giggled, smiling down at him. "One question at a timer, little guy. Your second question is easy, though, so I'll answer it first. Yes." The little boy was ecstatic, hopping about. Another wave of excitement washed through the crowd, and Kat waited a moment for them to settle down.

"As far as your other question," she continued, "It's a long story. It starts in a cavern, one so beautiful it's like nothing you've ever seen..."