There is a giant snake with a mirror for a head. As is tradition for this snake and others of its kind, it writhes around blindly and when the mirror hits someone they are - somewhere - else.
"Somewhere else" is standing in the bitter cold, howling wind all around, near a strange tower of metal scaffolding with a small shed at its base, the shed half-covered by the driven snow.
Ara'Vine panics, having suddenly come from the blistering heat of the desert. Shelter first... he rushes towards the shed, intent on opening the door as quickly as possible.
It's not locked. It takes a little effort to wedge it open, and it's not any warmer inside, but at least the wind is gone. Very little light is filtering through the window, but the shed seems crowded with metal equipment, indistinct in the dark.
He has a few adaptations to the desert that really need to go. He curls up and begins changing himself. Thick fur sprouts, limbs get shorter and thicker.
As his eyes adjust most of the equipment remains unrecognizable, but over there is a stove and a small bit of coal and a lantern with a bottle of kerosene, plus a lighter.
With better light, the stove is hooked into some kind of engine which is hooked into a large console-desk thing that seems... Electronic. There is a cot in the corner, no blanket, and a note on the desk that says 'no contact for 3 weeks. Locking down equipment and proceeding to base camp location. -Steven R.'
He has no idea what those are, and can't read the note.
He stops and takes inventory of what he had on him when he was eaten by the mirror snake thing:
- About 500 pounds of organic body to shapeshift with, now only 6 feet tall instead of over 7, much of it muscle and now thickly-furred.
- An outfit of light flowing cloth meant to be worn in hot climates, plus sandals.
- His orich-copper Charger, a spool of weight-wire, and an orich-electrum earpiece for understanding languages.
- A handful of charge-stones containing stored up magic for emergencies or trade.
- He had been fully-charged with magic before being eaten/teleported, but he used his week's allotment to adapt to the cold.
With the contents of the shed being apparently useless, he blows out the lantern to conserve fuel and steps outside to look around.
The strange shed and tower are atop a ridge, perhaps chosen for being the highest spot on the broken terrain of the nearby area.
Aside from ice, snow, and the tower - which groans ominously as the wind shifts -There's nothing of note in the immediate environs. The sun is low.
...There's a faint light peaking over one of the ragged hills, barely visible for a moment every fifteen or so seconds before going off again.
He considers his options, then makes his way down and towards the light. Kicking off the useless sandals, he lopes through the snow at a steady pace.
The light quickly goes out of view, obscured as he attempts to navigate the ridges and cliffs. He'd better have a good sense of direction.
The snow is no worse than being in the middle of the desert during a sandstorm. Being able to sense the planet's magnetic field like a bird helps.
Then after several hours of broken hills and sharp ice-walled canyons (and no sign of anything alive except the very faint smell of some kind of large predator, at one point), he can come to the end of the ragged terrain and onto a wide ice sheet. The light in the distance is visible again, and more clearly than before. It's a rotating beam, like a lighthouse.
It's the middle of the day soon, snow-glare drowning out the light, but his way is still clear enough - a thin stream of smoke or steam is rising from somewhere nearby the light.
There's a shape in the sky. It looks like some kind of flying vessel, terribly small and alone in the vast sky. It's not heading towards him, unfortunately.
Wow, he's never seen something like that in person.
He can keep going until evening.
It's late in the afternoon when notices a small group of people with dog-sleds, wearing thick clothing and survival gear, watching him from a careful distance.
He brushes the accumulated snow off of his desert robe so he looks more like a person and waves towards them.
Have they found a Yeti?
Well. He/she/it has clothes. Maybe the fur and... Size... Is some kind of overly large coat.
They approach to shouting distance and shout, "Hello! Who or what are you?"
He can understand them but the earpiece only goes one way.
In his own language he shouts back, "Hello! I don't know where I am."
Hopefully that will at least register as speech and an attempt to communicate until he can get closer.
They don't recognize the language, but that might be the fault of the driving wind, making it hard to hear. But they're feeling uneasy about this. They'll start backing away if he tries to approach them. It becomes evident that at least one of them has a rifle; He's loading it.
"Wave twice if you can understand English! Wave twice if you can understand French! Wave twice if you can understand Swedish!"
He waves twice each time, then gestures to his ear. "I can understand you, I can't be understood." He's wearing an elaborate electrum ear cuff, and tries to gesture that they'll need to trade it off to communicate.
The ear jewelry is involved in his understanding somehow? A translation device seems absurd; Flying machines and automatons seemed absurd two decades ago, though.
They argue for a moment. They shout, "Please wait a few minutes!" They bring out a spotlight hooked up to a big battery and point it at the 'lighthouse', and start exchanging some kind of on-and-off flashing code with it. It's a slow process, apparently.
Attempt to converse - Remain cautious - Reveal information & render aid at your discretion - Report back 1 hr or before returning to city w/stranger.
Alright, then. "Hello again! You can understand us with that... Earring?"
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