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Virtus took the book from the lad, noticing the insecurity in his eyes. This one had a past that troubled him. Just like everyone else on the planet, Virtus thought.

“I was looking for any maps or clues about this place. The most effectual means of finding a way out would be to accumulate resources and systemize a strategy based off that.” The lad spoke with eloquence. Was he a noble? “You were a soldier?” he continued. “Is there any stratagem you’ve used to handle a similar situation before?”

Were? It was hard not to notice the lad’s past-tense wording. Did he know? Or was Virtus now trapped here, and a soldier no longer, whether or not he’d deserted? “Uh… not really. I’ve never been randomly dropped from a solid ceiling before.” Virtus felt a little uncomfortable, so he turned away from the other two’s eyes and to his book.

The book didn’t have anything to do with strategies, especially not ones involving escaping a castle overseen by some creepy dude’s uncle. Virtus wasn’t especially interested, until he got halfway through the book and noticed the pictures.

People. Lots of people. Most weren’t smiling, some looked scared, others angry, others confused. Each page began with a word, which seemed like a name, mounted above a person’s portrait. Beneath the portrait was a paragraph about the person. A book of characters? Or a biography?

Virtus did a quick scan of the room, then flipped to the front of the book and let his eyes skim the page more carefully than he had last time. The small, perfectly neat handwriting hurt his eyes and made his head swim, but he buckled down to read it. The first gazillion pages were copyright, whatever that was, then a few paragraphs of pure gibberish.

Giving up on the first section, Virtus picked a place in the middle and started reading.
<p style=”text-align: center;”>…worlds. You who have questions that need answering, prepare to have those answered. This is the purpose.</p>
Huh? Confused now, Virtus turned a couple pages and read another paragraph.
<p style=”text-align: center;”>…danger is real. The injuries will hurt, you will need food, water, and rest. Death is possible, and has stained my stones before. This is the purpose.</p>
Virtus looked up and met Nithel’s eyes, then the lad’s. “It’s some kind of journal, or something, written to the reader.”

Nithel didn’t respond, but the lad’s eyes grew wide.

“Look at this,” Virtus added, reaching for a table and dragging it nearer. He turned to the end of the book and spread it out on the table, running his fingers over the pictures. “People.”

The boy came over to Virtus’ side and studied the pictures. “Aragorn,” he read slowly. He studied the picture for a bit, then flipped the page over. “Jadis. Who are these people?”

Virtus studied the words. It was just a brief history, but something caught his eye. Beneath the woman Jadis’ portrait, and at the bottom of the page, there was one line, written with a human hand. From Charn.

Inspiration struck, and Virtus turned pages rapidly. From Badon Hill, read another, then From Arrethtrae, from Aerwiar, from Arda. 

“Worlds,” Virtus murmured, remembering the previous word.

“I beg your pardon?” Nithel asked.

Shaking his head, Virtus flipped farther until he came near to the end. There it was. From VaSerBo.

Lytt.

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@kimlikesart @this-is-not-an-alien @rusted-knight @anne_the_noob14 @skylarynn @sylvain-alistair

Hope it’s okay that I did that. I figured it might be cool if these weren’t the first people “Lord Castle” *wink wink at Cathy* trapped. Maybe the people from Lewis and Tolkiens’ books were developed here, out of pure imagination? If that’s too weird, let me know and I’ll change it. 😉