to: everyone

[assembles]

Hey there, everyone. My name is Steve Rogers and I'm one of the people most recently summoned to the Free Cities. I'm also a good friend of Sam Wilson's — we've worked together for a number of years. I know he's made quite the name for himself here.

I've only been here for a little over a month, but in that time I've noticed a sudden increase in military activity within Cadens. There's increased drills and training exercises, equipment moving in and out, that kind of thing. I went by Fort Wilbridge and tried to ask some questions, but all they really had to say was that they were acting out of an abundance of caution. Almost like they're expecting something.

It seems suspicious, so I was wondering if anyone else has noticed a change in how the factions are behaving, whether it's something I haven't picked up on in Cadens or something going on in Thorne or Solvunn. I figure it might be a good idea to compare notes so we won't be completely blindsided if something else is coming our way.

That's all I've got for now, but it's nice to meet you all. In a manner of speaking, anyway.

Comments

[princessvegas]

I guess you could put it that way. Kinda makes us sound like a B-team, but. [ Hmm, yeah, on reflection, her Earth was definitely a B-team Earth. ] I'm from the year 2020. Not a great year.

Of course they won't. Cadens gets an unlimited supply of special weapons, Solvunn gets their gods. Thorne gets -- ask Sam about Relena. But even if that was a one-off, they're still building their ranks with people they think have better magic than most normal folks.

[assembles]

I guess it's all relative. My Earth is alternate to yours. 2023 here, so in the grand scheme of things we're not that far off.

[ What she's saying all rings true. Steve's here in Cadens, where there's the strongest military presence. Stephen Strange is in Thorne, where magic is supreme. And Thor's been brought to Solvunn, where gods are treated with reverence. ]

You're not wrong. [ He adds yet another point to the list of things to ask Sam about. ] Why do you think they summoned you?

[ He doesn't know much about her except she's from the Kansas of an alternate Earth, but she's clearly been here for a while. ]

[princessvegas]

Mm, no, y'all are real far off my Earth. You can't even imagine by how much. Shit happened to us that y'all lucked out on. [ And yes, that includes Thanos. She would have taken a Thanos snap over Captain Trips any day of the week. ] Plus, there's way more of y'all here. My world's down to just me and Nadine left in Abraxas.

[ If dryness can be conveyed in only handwritten text, it's absolutely desiccating the next sentence that comes through. ] According to Thorne, I was a "mistake".

[assembles]

[ With everything that Steve's been through, that's hard to imagine. Julie's probably spoken with Sam about it, but he didn't have to actually live through those five years. Steve isn't going to turn this into a contest, though. ]

So you're from the same world? Good to know. She handled me pretty well when I barged in on her asking about Sam.

[ Steve knows how he can be. He's got that self-awareness, at least. ]

Oh, so you were part of one of the first groups. Was Nadine also considered a "mistake"?

[princessvegas]

[ Julie is prepared to defend her "Worst World" trophy at any time. ]

Yeah, she's dealt with way worse than you. Kind of hard to phase her.

No. There were originally four of us from my world. Two upstairs, two in the dungeon. She was upstairs.

[assembles]

That's a good quality to have when you're in the medical field.

[ Nadine had done a decent job of calming him down without even actively trying. He's curious about what this "way worse" might be, but it's a lot to pry into during a first conversation.

So, even people from the same world could be split between wanted and not wanted. ]

Did they ever explain their criteria for who they wanted?

[princessvegas]

They never even told us what crimes we supposedly committed. Just kept saying we'd get a trial, even though we never did. The only guy who ever got a trial, they tried to hang.

[assembles]

That's one way to make people feel welcome.

[princessvegas]

And then they had the balls to be surprised when barely anyone stuck around.

[assembles]

It doesn't sound like diplomacy is their strong suit. How are the Summoned who are still there managing?

[princessvegas]

I'm pretty sure all, or at least most, of the ones who're left were upstairs to begin with, so they were already being treated nice. But there's only a few. The rest were all brought after we escaped, and Thorne has always been good to them.

They don't work or anything, unless they want to. The only people left that I know personally are there more because they think it gives them a better chance to study the Singularity.

[assembles]

[ Steve still can't imagine choosing to stay in a place where other people had been locked up for no good reason, but maybe they had some other good justification for it. ]

I also gather that it's not usually that easy to cross the borders, even if they wanted to. For the newer arrivals, I mean.

And yeah, it makes sense to have people in all corners of the continent so we can keep an eye on things. Especially the Singularity.

[ No doubt that's why Strange is there. ]

[princessvegas]

As far as I know, there's only three Summoned who've crossed the border outside of the jailbreak, and all three did it from outside Castle Thorne. The newer folks don't have a prayer at it. The crown won't give them freedom or money they'd need.

The original portals, how Sam and the others got here, were a fluke. Like friendly terrorists or something, I guess.

[assembles]

So they're stuck there whether they like it or not.

Friendly terrorists? How much do you know about them?

[princessvegas]

Pretty much. I mean, it's probably not impossible to get out, but it's close. Thorne can track any of their Summoned as long as they're inside the kingdom borders, so even just escaping from the castle isn't enough. There's only three other big-ish cities in Thorne, and two of them would just cart any runaways right back to the castle.

Uh, pretty much nothing. I know the guy's name is Oliver. He had a woman with him. And I know that they're able to do magic bigger than anything else I've ever even heard of here. They froze all of the natives in Thorne for an hour, and they broke through the wards in the dungeons to open portals and let us out. I heard once that he can get close to the Singularity, too. Way closer than any native should be able to. But I think that's pretty much all anyone knows.

[assembles]

How do they track them?

That sounds like some pretty intense firepower. [ Freezing everyone in an entire kingdom for an hour? Steve doesn't think he's seen anything of quite that magnitude. ] There's been no sign of them since then?

[princessvegas]

What do you think? Magic, of course. I don't know that anyone has worked out exactly how the trackers work though.

Not a hair. But there's other places in Abraxas besides Thorne, Solvunn and the Cities, you know. They could be anywhere.

[assembles]

Not an easy spell to undo, huh?

[ Not that Steve understands much about that sort of thing. He'll need to check in with Strange on that, though he's also pretty sure Sam would have already discussed it with him. ]

True. I know that there's been some recent visitors from places further afield.

[princessvegas]

Well, we don't even know exactly what kind of tracker it is, so it's kinda like picking a lock you can't see. Plus, the trackers that Cadens and Solvunn are probably using aren't gonna be the same thing, so. Three different invisible locks to pick.

[ She honestly can't imagine that Cadens in particular is letting their Summoned wander around unmarked. Solvunn might be slightly more lenient, but she still doubts it. ]

Yeah, that shit's REAL new. From what I can tell, the vampires and werewolves almost always stay holed up in Nocwich. So who knows what that shit means.

[assembles]

Sounds like we need to figure out a way to make them visible, but magic isn't really my forte. Do you know for sure we're being tracked here too, or are you assuming that's the case?

Vampires and werewolves are one of the few things that stayed the stuff of fiction, back home. Either way, it just feels like another sign that we're on the verge of something.

[princessvegas]

My world didn't have magic at all, so I'm not the one to ask either. I mean, damn, I already got two from your world trying to help me.

No one official's said so, but come on. They brought y'all in to enlist you, and then they just let you go? Seems like they'd keep a closer eye if they couldn't hunt y'all down at any second. Plus, the government folks around here never seem to have any trouble finding us when they need to. [ Those weird slips that kept showing up come to mind. Julie had roundly refused to return them, and would not so much as open the door when someone came around for her signature. ]

Nah, the vampires and werewolves probably don't mean as much as we think. They were here long before any Summoned. And I know that there's always been a little bit of trade or whatever with them. They just usually prefer to keep to themselves.

[assembles]

Two?

[ Sam must be one, but Steve's curious as to who else. ]

Yeah, it's a fair assumption to make. Summoning people with a variety of abilities and power into your world and then letting them run free would be pretty irresponsible.

[ Of course, they shouldn't have brought them here in the first place. But that goes without saying. ]

Maybe you're right, but the timing just feels off. Why are they choosing to show themselves now of all times?

[princessvegas]

Well, yeah. I mean, my situation is kinda different from pretty much everyone else's, so I need as much help as I can get.

[ She does not realize that he's lost the thread about magic. Julie has, via sheer persistence and willpower, essentially press-ganged several people into helping her figure out her magic. Strange had been the first to pick up on the fact that Julie's magic doesn't function much like the Academic magic the others study, and had then directed her to Wanda for better instruction. What Wanda lacks in resources like books, Strange seems to have. ]

I mean, I'm sure we have something to do with it. Like if America found out China was playing host for aliens, they would reach out and be like "hey maybe we can meet them too?". But I do think trade in general is probably playing a big part in it. Gold glitters all the same across the map.

[assembles]

Different how?

[ Once she explains, the thread will likely be picked up again. Steve just tends to assume Sam is helping pretty much everyone, and Nadine is clearly a friend of his. It stands to reason Julie is too. ]

True, but some of you have been here for about a year now, right? Maybe it does have more to do with trade, then.

[ But he isn't completely letting go of the possibility that the potential onset of war is a factor too. ]

[princessvegas]

Well, like... I guess I don't really know the right words for it. My magic ain't like the normal magic in Abraxas, not really. But my world didn't have any magic, so I never knew about it. Wanda's been a lot of help, hers is closest to mine. Stephen usually has books that can sorta fill in the gaps.

[ Which is not to say that Sam hasn't helped; Sam pretty much adopted her almost a year ago. But he's not much assistance when it comes to matters of magic. ]

Sure, but I doubt we're gonna get a straight answer out of anyone. I mean, the Nocwich critters don't seem to snack on regular folks too much, so I don't know if they're the biggest worry right now.