The Gate Traveler

18.4.2016—Traveler Guar Shum

I knew this world would be trouble the minute I touched the Gate. They had three names for their world. Why!? And it's not like the other names were good, so they couldn't decide. Two of the names were Dirt and Ground. Really? Drop the silly names and keep the good one; it's not complicated.

I seriously thought about turning back, but the closest gate was weeks away, and I was tired of Shimoor. It's nice, but pretty boring.

The minute I crossed the Gate, the Guidance asked me about glamour and identification. 400 mana gone. I crossed back to regenerate. With the low mana levels, it would have taken me weeks.

I listened to the first people I met and learned the language; another 500 mana gone. I'm back at the Gate to regenerate; this will be annoying.

I reached the first city and was in shock. Based on the low mana levels, I already knew this would be my first technological world, but I didn't expect that. The buildings were enormous, and there were mechanical carriages of every shape and size zooming everywhere. They looked dangerous; getting hit by one of them would kill me. They also emitted a poisonous smoke that permeated the air. I felt myself getting poisoned and was glad I picked up a healing spell with my last ability point. I'll need to use it when I leave to reverse the damage.

I asked around for a place to sell jewelry or coins, and someone directed me to a store. Of course, it was strange. Normal beings typically keep money in the till or a pouch, but here, they displayed it in big glass cases. I asked about the proprietor, and he was called over. He was excited about the coins, but wanted to see their identification. Seriously? Your money has identification? This is going to be even stranger than I thought. I told him I'd bring them and left.

I tried to conjure identification for the coins, and it worked—200 mana gone. So, every coin needs its own identification. This world is just ridiculous.

I went back, showed him the papers, and sold the coins. The proprietor asked me where to transfer the money. Really? Those are my coins and my money; I don't want to transfer it anywhere; I want to get it. The proprietor looked at me like I was insane.

I'm the crazy one? Your coins have identification! When you sell something, they want to transfer your payment somewhere else! This world is so strange.

Finally, he told me they didn't have enough money to pay me for two coins, and he needed to send somebody to the river to get money. Why do you keep your money near the river? I'll never understand this world. I only sold him one coin, and he paid me with papers. For a minute, I thought he was trying to cheat me, but with all the other strangeness, I kept quiet and decided to check those papers somewhere else. He was already looking at me like a lunatic, so I better stay silent. I promised to return to sell the other coin and left.

I asked around for an inn and got instructions.

Dear fellow Traveler, please note that inns in this world are called hotels, and they assign stars to them so the innkeeper can know how much to charge for a room. I'm staying in a 3-star inn, and it's fantastic with a confusing washroom, an enormous bed, and a box I can watch stories on.

Also, the papers are real money.

The money system in this world is also a complete mess. They have coins like in normal worlds, but their coins, of course, have to be illogical. The people in this world use coins made of strange metal that have little value—they are worth less than their metal in other worlds.

They use money made of regular paper—it's not even magical paper! The pictures and numbers on the paper determine its worth. They also use credits like the technological worlds I heard about from my father. I'm sure they will also use mana coins when the mana level rises. It's like with the name; they can't make up their mind.

I took my father's advice regarding learning about a new world, spent another 500 mana for the reading skill, and went looking for a library.

___

I'm back at the inn, and everything I learned in the last days in the library and from questioning people makes less sense than everything I've been through so far.

Dear fellow Traveler, a lot of small kingdoms, which they call countries, comprise this world. That in itself is not strange, but each kingdom speaks a unique language. We are talking here about thousands of mana. But worry not, I searched in many books and found out that they have a language called English that most of the kingdoms know, even if it's not their spoken language. Even better, the box with the glass in the inn shows a lot of English stories, so you can use it to learn the language. But don't make my mistake; ask what language is in the story. I learned the German language when I arrived here and the French language from the story box. Only the next day, I discovered it was not English and had to learn another. Another 1000 mana lost. Back to the Gate to regenerate. I'm pleased I didn't move away from it.

The money is even more complicated than I thought. Each kingdom has its own money with its own pictures, and even if the numbers are the same, if the pictures are different, the worth of the money is different. The coins are also different. I found copper coins that are pretty useless here and planned to get a lot of them to use in other worlds, but then I learned that they're only plated with copper.

But worry not, dear Traveler. There's a fantastic opportunity that I found: I sold my gold coin for 1,750 euros, and found a shop that sells things for games. It's called a D&D shop, and they sell a pouch with 50 copper coins for 10 euros. That's 8,750 copper coins, or 87 gold coins and 5 silver.

I will conjure identifications, sell all my other gold coins, buy more copper coins, and return to Shimoor to convert them to gold.

___

I'm standing near the Gate to Shimoor, but before I leave, here are some general things I learned:

They sell strange drinks that contain small amounts of poison. They call them soft drinks for some reason. What's so soft about poison? I'll never understand. Drink only water or milk.

They sell many strange things they call food. They come in colorful packages, don't smell or look like food, and contain small amounts of poison. You can buy fresh fruits and vegetables from market stalls, as well as cured meats, cheeses, and bread. If you don't have a healing spell, don't risk it. And even if you do, trust me; you don't want to taste the strange packaged food; it either tastes like paper or leaves an unpleasant aftertaste in your mouth that you must wash with water.

Good things to buy for personal use:

They have a very sturdy material called jeans, which is excellent for travelling. Buy a couple of pants and jackets.

I found an enormous store for "camping gear" and a lot of good equipment for traveling. I bought a tent that jumps out, assembles itself, and is easy to fold again. It even has nets to protect from bugs. A couple of sturdy and comfortable shoes for traveling, soft socks, an excellent hunting knife that will serve me for years, a clever gadget to hang a pot above a fire with a unique pot with a round bottom, a thick folded blanket with a device to close one side that's called a "sleeping bag" and some cups and plates.

If you don't have a spell to purify water, they have small round things called tablets to purify water. I don't need it, but maybe it will help you.

In a different store, I bought a lovely invention called a bicycle that will make traveling long roads much more manageable.

I came through the Gate to a land called Germany near the city of Frankfurt (marker added to the map). To be honest, I haven't traveled this world. Maybe I'm not ready for a technological world. It's too alien. Or perhaps it's because this is my only second world as a Traveler.

But at least I have an enormous barrel with copper coins to convert to gold, all in lovely pouches that will sell. My father told me that a smart Traveler can earn riches and come back home set for life. I'm beginning to believe him.

I hope my account will help you acclimatize more easily.

Goodbye. May your road be happy and your adventures gentle.

3.5.2016—Traveler Guar Shum