For a moment, the world around her is a swirl of color that refuses to resolve into anything she can clearly make out-

-and then she's looking out over the edge of a mountain, with warmth at her back. The sound of laughter, the smell of a roaring campfire, and the sight of a twilit horizon over snow-capped mountains greet her.

She spins around in panic, and- Then turns around more carefully, more poised, to look at where she is now in detail.

(Is something wrong with her? Could she have been knocked out and brought somewhere else? A head injury that interfered with forming of memories and then suddenly healed leaving no other signs? She doesn't think so.)

The mountains and the sky offer no helpful commentary. The bears which have gathered around the campfire do begin to take notice of her.

One of them says, "Welcome, visitor! Are you new to Brux?"

She puts the flute in its case to cover a deep breath and her startled stillness. Smooths her elaborate dress, which is green silk with leafy motifs and warm-colored embroidery and - while not as limiting as most dresses, it doesn't go to her feet and is plenty loose around the joints - probably sacrificing at least a little range of motion for its looks.

Apologetic smile, and inclining her head, she responds, "Hello. I'm afraid I don't understand you." And her cortical stack doesn't either. Which is. Strange. A group of campers deciding to be bears is one thing, but greeting people with some personal conlang - or something-

"What a strange language. I'm sorry. One moment, please."

Berrypaw wanders into one of the tents that make up this campsite.

The other bears look at her curiously, but don't say anything. They get back to their conversations.

...She looks at the sky and attempts to spot Luna. Or enough stars to pattern match to Sol's sky.

There is a sun and a moon visible in the sky.

They're not quite the right ones. She looks for signs of being inside an o'neill cylinder and finds none.

It's possible some horrible poison could cause the wash of colors, and then she'd be dead enough to dig out her cortical stack. But it's not reporting any lost time and she's not feeling the tinglyness of reintegration. Is there any reason for someone to want to put her in... Some kind of extremely sophisticated VR cage? The level of hacking and/or detail needed to make her not notice being in VR now that she's spending time feeling the weight of her body on her feet, listening to herself breathe, stretching one arm slightly is a little absurd, but she has no other ideas except 'actually teleported somewhere else' which is... Equally impossible.

Well, good thing she's in a very calm and exploratory shape at the moment. This is interesting if nothing else. She spends the next little while taking in the landscape. It's rather pretty.

"Hello, visitor. Welcome to Ursis."

A large black bear approaches her slowly, so as not to scare her.

She's more frightened of the situation than what's clearly a person wearing a giant predator form. She doesn't expect casual murder and bears seem to be the done thing here.

"Oh, you speak English. Thank you, I feel welcomed. Ursis looks beautiful- What I've seen of it so far. I can't say I'm familiar. I'm not exactly sure how I got here either... Or that nothing happened to me between Scotland and here."

"I am unfamiliar with Scotland. You are currently in Ursis, on Brux. You seem to have arrived via portal."

"Oh? Portals are supposed to be impossible, as far as I know. Fiction, out of old legends. Our understanding of the world forbids faster than light travel, which portals imply. I'm honestly not sure whether to believe my own eyes. They can be interfered with back home, even. Ah- I go by Changeling, most of the time. Hello, it's good to meet you."

"You may call me 'Father Bear'. Portals are reasonably rare in the multiverse, especially the kind that can be operated without a portal-key. Perhaps you had an item on you and performed some unusual action with it? Regardless, you are here now, and you likely cannot return the same way. What do you need to be comfortable, Changeling?"

"I was playing the flute. Well, that depends on how I interpret 'comfortable'. I'm unlikely to die even out here. I'll certainly miss a lot of amenities I am used to. For the chance to explore something genuinely new to me, perhaps worth it." Wry smile.

"Exploration calls to petitioners and visitors alike in The Beastlands. Perhaps you have come to the right place, despite your unusual circumstances. Do you need food or rest before you set out on an adventure?"

"I don't expect food to be difficult, I have potent digestion. Probably I should figure out how to make a... Tent, or something. What adventures does one find here? Lost temples with dangerous traps? Monstrosities that must be hunted down and defeated? Beautiful landscape to explore forever?"

"You may need to ask some of the others. I rarely find cause to leave Ursis, myself. They say The Beastlands are full of unexplored wilderness, of course, but few come here to explore in the way primes would. They simply live: foraging, hunting, mating, and on, and on..."

"I am ever more confused. I would appreciate if you tolerate me asking questions a while. Such as what a petitioner is, exactly, and a prime... Ursis is right here, not the whole - state, continent, world?"

"Ah, my apologies. For petitioner, substitute supplicant, perhaps, or worshiper? Petitioners are the people who come to exist on this plane after having lived and died on the prime material plane. People who live on the prime material plane are known as primes. Ursis is the name of this settlemet, consisting of this camp fire, the tents, and those who choose to live here. This layer of the plane we inhabit is called 'Brux', and the plane is called 'The Beastlands'. Is that helpful?"

"Yes. Pardon me, I just- An afterlife?" She takes a deep breath. "None of this sounds familiar to me. It's quite a shock. It does not feel real."

It's beautiful though. She wants to go climb that mountain and sing at its peak. She wants to paint that valley. She wants to wander and watch. This form gives her a deep appreciation for aesthetics, an obsession even. Perhaps it's time to change, if that's unhelpful...

"Please take your time. You can sit and eat with us. You may hunt, fish, forage, spar, or play with us as well, but only if you wish. Leave to explore whenever you are ready."

"Do you know if there's a way to go home."