The Port

Strycker has arrived, coming from Aperture.

Strycker stumbles slightly as all of a sudden, he's in a new place. How odd. The sudden change in scenery almost gave him vertigo, and he clutches his head for a second. He closes his eyes, then looks up. This place was way different than the dark hole he was just in. What was this place? He shoulders his weapon, and gazes around. Strange place, for sure. He looks around, noticing some banners. He's surprised to see that he does understand the language, and reads it for a second. "Do no harm to others." He wonders for a minute how they enforce that, if it's against the law to do harm. Isn't the only way to stop those doing harm to do harm? Whatever, the place seemed peaceful enough. He glances around at all the people standing around. Quite a few individuals here, and each of them seemed rather odd.

Captain Integra watched the new arrival with careful curiosity. Everyone went through the strange sense of divination vertigo that he usually did, before he decided to address the newcomer. "Hey. You have.... Youre stronger than most." He hesitated for a moment, "Whats up?"

Strycker looks up as the man addresses him. He nods in recognition, then looks around for a second before responding. His voice is rather quiet, but easily enough to be heard. "Hello. Where do I happen to be, sir?" He keeps his tone respectful, even though he is addressing a figure that, to him, seems to be dressed quite strangely. What precisely was this place?

"Fabled port a' Proxi," the oddly dressed man thumbed his hat, causing it to tip up slightly for just a moment. Even just a cursory glance could tell that this newcomer was a stranger to the planet. If the Captain had to guess, he'd say the man had probably never seen intergalactic travel. "And don't call me sir; Sir Black'art was my father."

The Captain's shadow flickered, even though the lighting hadn't changed, "You... ah," He leaned slightly towards the newcomer and breathed in deeply. "You smell like yer fresh from Aperture." The Captain's mouth turned up into a cocksure smile. "Dying's a bitch, innit?"

Strycker nods. "I suppose I did die. How odd." He does remember his death quite well, although it did feel more like he was awake a second and then no more, rather than a painful passing. He doesn't much care for the memory, grimacing slightly. He begins talking, not quite to Blackheart, sort of thinking out loud. "So, I assume that stepping through that, what was it, that 'Aperture', brought me here. That means... Well, that means there are more planets than Klendath, I suppose. Unless they advanced quite a bit. Say, is there any way off of here?" He addresses the question back to blackheart.

Waiting for the newcomer to fit the pieces together, the Captain reached into his coat and produced an anemometer, pretending to check the weather. Blackheart watched the man's face as he quickly started to figure out where he was, "Klendath?" He looked the man up and down once more, "How long ago did you leave the land of the living? If you're from Klendath, you're a living relic. I could help and take you there, but..." He spread his hands in the air, "Not much there yet."

"Heard they started terraforming the dirtball. Hell apparently even the Aschen took an interest in it at one point," Scratching his head, he continued, "But I can't imagine anyone you knew still being there." Blackheart made a show of looking at his nails, and upon finding a bit of dirt underneath, he began to pick at it with a small knife. "No one worth returning to the realm of man for at least."

---

The ears on a nearby Drow began to twitch, he couldn't help but overhear a conversation two new arrivals had struck up. Moonlight wasn't sure how long he had been sitting on the ground, it felt like centuries. Millions of people came and went through here, though usually, all he saw of them was their feet. These two were the first ones he remembered having any sort of meaningful conversation. "Did you two say you were leaving the Spirit Plane?"

They were too far away to hear him, it'd been so long he had forgotten voices needed to be heard. Slowly he made his way over to the two and thrust his hand out towards the man not dressed as a clown. "Dances-In-Moonlight, a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Any chance I can hitch a ride to Svartalfheim with you two? I'll do more than my fair share of work."

"I must return to my Empire."

His voice cut through the din of the Port's walkways. Where did he come from? Was it sheer fanaticism that propelled him forward? The answer was elusive for the scarred, and tattered Imperial officer.

Quickly, he regained his composure, and his demeanor changed, he pulled what remains of his uniform close, and surveyed his surroundings. Whatever this fantastical place was, he had a sole purpose to return home.

"I need a fresh set of clothes." He said to himself aloud.

Strycker looks up, hearing first the one that calls himself "Dances-In-Moonlight." The first thing that really struck him was the pristine white hair, then he realizes there was a question to be answered.
"I'm not sure, I assume Mr. Blackheart here knows more about that than I."
He looks off to the side as yet another new individual makes themself known. He silently watches as a man in ruined clothing walks through the port, a rather odd spectacle, but after short consideration he supposes that everything is rather odd now, so he might as well get used to it.

"Well..." Blackheart scratched his chin while Stryker put the onus of a plan on him. "I know how to get back... in theory." The Captain reached into his coat and fumbled about for a second before producing a silver sphere about the size of his fist. Holding it with one hand, he gave the other half of the sphere a few twists before pressing the primed button he had primed with the action. The sphere began to float out of his hands and it projected a three-dimensional image of the Realms.

Moonlight's eyes went wide as he pointed to a map section near the bottom, "That's Svartalfheim!"

The Captain nodded, "Yes, and we're here." He tapped a gloved finger to a section near the middle of the map, "And just on the other side is Midgard." He used his other hand to indicate a part of the map almost horizontally opposite their location. "So in theory it's just a hop, skip, and a jump away. In practice, however..."

"In practice there is a reason you are still here." Moonlight jumped quickly to the conclusion, eyeing the man up and down. He didn't want to trust the man, but for now, it seemed he had no choice. "Well, I guess it's good there's more than one of us then."

Blackheart clapped his hands together, "Exactly! What say you?" He eagerly awaited the response of the man with the broadsword. "Feel free to grab whatever, or whomever you need from the Port before we leave."

What...is this place?

Loki, not wishing to be noticed, slinked through the shadows as the Port slowly came to life. With the leadership of Proxi away, what would become of all the refugees from the lower realms as they filtered their way into the safer bastions of the heavens and beyond?

Alas, more pockets for picking, he thought to himself before vanishing back in the direction from whence he came.

Loki, the Trickster God has left the area, heading north towards The Plaza.