"Augh what the fuck," she says, and manages not to fall over, and then realizes she said it in a different language. 

This is not the Worldwound.  It is also not Sothis or its environs.  It doesn't feel like she's enchanted, but it also doesn't feel like the last time she found herself someplace completely different- no explosion, for one thing.  (It's also actually decently warm, for the first time in months, she shrugs out of her coat and ties it through the strap of her satchel.)  That looks like a dangerous-beasts amount of trees, she should stay on the road- OH HOLY SHIT that thing is FAST never mind.  She will stay within sight of the road, a safe distance away from the- construct?  It seems to be ignoring her at least, that's good.

Detect Magic:  nothing.  Detect Fiendish Presence:  nothing.  "Hey Nethys, what the fuck, if this was You I'd have appreciated any warning,":  nothing, not that she really expected anything.  

She'll... head housewards, then, testing out her new language as she walks- good, she still knows the ones she started out with- and keeping an eye out for beasts on the one hand and speeding constructs on the other.

There are more speeding constructs! Several of them stop at the intersection, waiting for the lights to change color, there are people inside them. Bassy music thumps out of one that four teenage guys are inside, drinking beer.

She'll have to cross the road, twice, to get to the house and church. Or she could walk down the smaller and older side-road towards a metal gate with a red STOP sign, which none of the cars are taking.

She'll at least walk as far as the gate, and see what she can see past it, especially if it lets her get a road-crossing out of the way before dealing with the- cars?  Is that related to cart or is it a sound-coincidence... her new language apparently doesn't come with sourceless philology knowledge, boo.

There's open space and a corn field beyond the metal gate. The small road continues for a while. There are some tall buildings in the distance off to the left, but the area behind the gate otherwise seems pretty empty. A smaller sign declares: 

United States Department of Energy - Fermilab. No unauthorized entry. Visitors should use the main entrance located on Kirk Road <--- 1.5 miles

Managed by Fermi Research Foundation on behalf of the Office of Science at the U.S. Department of Energy

So 'United States' is probably the place she's in?  Could they have picked a less specific name- maybe the new language is translating it- she thinks maybe she's heard of there being a confederation or something somewhere in Avistan, this feels like Avistan sort of weather (it's damp) but for all she knows they're all over the place in Arcadia or Castrovel or whatever.

Department of Energy.... is a... division?  Some kind of government or university thing?  With an 'Office of Science' and a 'propernoun Research Foundation' nested inside it, okay, so it's maybe more likely a university and they're studying fire and electricity and acid and whatnot, (hopefully) not trying to regulate use of them, that would be wild and also inconvenient to her specifically. 

"No unauthorized entry" is pretty obvious, and she can't see any magical defenses (or for that matter guards) but she is not in a mood to find out what kind of disguised wards a 'Department of Energy' puts on its stuff.  She'll head back to the crossroads and watch the behavior of the cars for a while, until she can spot a pattern that lets her cross houseward.

Red light means stop. Green light means go! No crosswalks here, though.

Okay, so if she goes a little ways away from the crossroads and waits until there's a red light facing her, there shouldn't be any cars coming from that direction, and any coming from the other direction will be slowing and should be dodgeable...  she'll wait until she sees a bit of a gap and then try dashing across, satchel wrapped protectively in her arms.

Nobody wants to actually hit a pedestrian. She makes it across.

The house is sturdy brick. Actually, from closer, there's an inscription in the stone threshold: 'Big Woods School'. The church is mostly faced in white-painted horizontal slats of some kind of strange material. There's also a cemetary, a car in the parking lot just on the other side of it, and a sign. And up ahead, a large warehouse visible past trees and the road curving slightly.

Eastern Orthodox Church

St. Amalberga The Great

Holy Liturgy: Sunday 10 AM, 2 PM

There are two cars in the parking lot, and a couple of men taking boxes out of one and carrying them into the church. They look kind of tense and anxious, glancing around a lot.

She doesn't recognize the god- saint? if it's a saint, it's a bit odd the sign doesn't say what god they're a saint of... oh shit are they monotheists here.  That doesn't look from the outside like a torture kind of church but those guys sure don't look happy... she'll continue casually towards the cemetery and read some gravestones.  She's probably worried over nothing and just too used to thinking about Cheliax, 'orthodox' right on the sign kind of implies they're distinguishing themselves from some other heterodox church?  How many of Cheliax can there really be.  Well.  How many of Cheliax-and-Nidal.  And if they spotted her holy symbol they didn't immediately chase after her about it.  She's still going to read some gravestones and try and get a sense of what sort of afterlife they're expecting, and then maybe tuck the mask inside her shirt once she's out of their view. 

"Rest in peace" and "now lies in Heaven" and "forever remembered" all feature on the gravestone. They have birth and death years. It must be somewhere around 1991 in the local system, going by the latest one she sees.

A big ol 18 wheeler truck rolls by. There must be ten carts or more worth of cargo in that thing. The graphic on the side advertises Allstate Car & House Insurance.

Okay, good, they're expecting Good afterlives, she was just being paranoid.  (That thing is giant, wow... they insure houses here?  Is it... bringing someone a replacement house?)

She'll head back around the side of the church where the men were unloading things- are they still there?  Failing that, a door that looks like it's meant for parishioners and not the Church's private business?  Or is that just the big door out front?

They're still there! Lots of boxes stuffed into a big car. And other stuff- Right now they're ferrying 24 packs of bottled water inside. Well, one is. The other is keeping watch. (He tries to smile reassuringly at her. Badly.)

Slightly nervous return smile!  "Hello- I, um, I'm very lost, is this a church that aids travelers?  I can help out-" well, not with the channels until she's sure they're not monotheists, and not carrying those with her wizard's noodle arms, she'd be more hindrance then help- "with the children?"  She doesn't particularly like childminding but it's not like it's hard.

"-Pardon me for asking, ma'am, but are you sick? Have you been in contact with any any sick people?"

"...no?  Not anytime recently."

"Good. Good. You can use our telephone at least, if that helps. We will - have ask the priest if you should, uh-"

"We fear that the rabies epidemic is worse than they are making it sound," the other man interrupts. "Much worse. So we are moving supplies into the church, and will move our families here too. We don't have a safe place far away from people to use, but the church is at least a little bit away from the crowded places."

"Oh, shit-  I'm, uh, I'm not much help with an epidemic-" because Remove Disease is third fucking circle and she can't even manage cleric firsts- at least in the church they'll be closer to clean water-  "but if you don't have anybody for laundry I can do that.  If the priest doesn't mind."  'Telephone' is a... Message contraption?  That's a thing here???  

"I don't think laundry is-"

"Hygeine is important. It helps keep sickness away, even if the disease is not rabies."

"-Yes Ennis. We'll call Father Ramisov. Do you truly have no place to go?"

It's a Good church and these are good people and there's an epidemic, now is the time for a leap of faith if there ever was one.  "I- don't know where this is or how I got here.  But I'm a priestess, too, if Father Ramisov wants backup... I'm.  A pretty new one, though."

One of the guys looks really uncomfortable. The other asks, "Oh? What faith would that be? I'm not familiar with non-Christian faiths."

Because, obviously, Christian faiths only take men as priests.

"Nethys,"  she pulls her little divided mask back out of her shirt collar, "god of magic and knowledge?  I don't actually know if you've heard of him here, we don't know Christ where I'm from either."  (Thank you, mysterious language knowledge, for reminding her how to get the noun back out of the adjective.)

(It is perhaps relevant to note at this point that Khalida is wearing slightly mismatched handspun-woven-and-stitched clothes that look like a not-sexy renfaire version of Lawrence of Arabia, carrying a black and red leather coat that, if someone looked closely enough, has a pentagram imprint on the shoulder where the embroidery was carefully picked out, and speaking completely perfect English with a bland newscaster accent.)

"-Ah. I am not sure if a cult like this... Well, I have never heard of that one. And orthodox doctrine holds that magic is evil, as it comes from making sinful deals with devils. I think. It's also, uh, not real, unless you mean something very unusual by magic."

"Oh, I might mean something very unusual, I didn't speak this language this morning.  But don't worry I am definitely not making any deals with devils, I know better than that."  Chelish coat notwithstanding shush brain she definitely doesn't need to explain about Cheliax if they haven't even heard of Nethys.

"Good. The devil is a great deceiver and cannot be trusted."

"I think perhaps you should speak to Father Ramisov? We do need to keep unloading and go back for another trip or two... We should have asked for more hands."

"I can help carry till Father Ramisov gets here, if I won't be in the way?  I'm not all that strong."  (She is a tiny noodly teenage girl.)

"No, no, he's not coming here. We would call him on the telephone."

Where is she from? It's not like phones are new, like computers.

"Oh... yes, I'd, um like to talk to him on the telephone?"  This place is weird and disconcerting and apparently having an epidemic which she can't actually do much for except provide clean water and channel at people until they pull through on their own.  But it's not like her odds are much better alone in the woods.

They can arrange that! There's a hall for service, with wooden pews and some nice religious art (detailed patterning on the furnishings, stained glass and paintings of people holding books, or babies, or holy symbols, or a humanoid angel with a trumpet, or a man wearing a crown of thorns - their holy symbol is a one vertical bar with three horizontal bars, apparently) and a few back end and office areas in the church. It's cooler inside than outside. The telephone is a red plastic handset attached to a wall; A woman inside who is inventorying and storing away food objects will keep her company if that's alright? Just because there are private documents and valuables in here.

They call the priest and give a report- She can hear a voice too low to understand, giving answers. They're at the church and putting away the food supplies. They're being careful, yes. A strange woman showed up and it sounds like she is lost or confused somehow-- She says she's not sick and hasn't been near any sick people recently, yes. Young, quite young, and foreign, perhaps Middle-Eastern? They didn't ask. She speaks English, yes, but... Ah... She says she has magic? Yes, it sounds very silly. No, they're not sure of that. Yes, she's right here and would like to talk. 

They hand the headset to her.

Oh yes, she understands, she won't touch anything,  she can just look at the art.  (Oh wow there are a lot of books in here...)

She's slightly awkward using the phone but doesn't hold it upside-down or anything, she watched how the person before her was using it.  

"Um, hello, Father Ramisov?  My name is Khalida, I'm from- really far away."

"Good morning, Khalida. It sounds like you are lost and troubled. If we can help you, of course we should. You do not need to tell me, but if you are avoiding something in your life - someone who hurt you, or might want to hurt you - well, if we were to help you go somewhere, it does not need to be 'home'."

"I, um, what?  Nobody-"  well, plenty of demons want to hurt her- and most things that actually have are dead-  "I mean, I guess I don't want to go back to my father's house in specific, if you have some way to send somebody back to their birthplace, that wouldn't do much good?  If you can send me back to where I was right before I came here, that would be all right-"  except your parishioner thought magic wasn't real?  How does she ask that without sounding like a total idiot-  "but, um, if you can't and you're having an epidemic here I might be able to help?"

"-I see. I thought you might be running away from home, since they described you as 'young' and- Well, it doesn't matter. Where were you right before you came here? Where you are now, our church is a bit north of Aurora and Naperville, which are both west of the city of Chicago. In Illinois, in the United States of America."

"Oh- no, I'm, uh, not here on purpose.  Um, so I was at Fort Eleven on the north border of the Worldwound, which isn't really in a country but I think used to be called Sarkoris?  On the planet Golarion.  Um."  Okay there is no not weird way to say this but she does have to ask.  "One of the guys I talked to first said magic, um, isn't real?  Is it, like, illegal, or does it just not work here at all?"

"-O child. Earth is the only planet God has given us. When I hear the word magic, I think of showmen performing tricks with sleight of hand using decks of cards, or coins, or clever devices on a stage. That is not illegal unless you use it for fraud, it is also not supernatural in the sense that it is within the workings of the physical world as can be understood. When they make a coin seem to disappear, it is only hidden, not truly gone."

...?  She's- just going to not engage with the theology part right now (are they not-evil monotheists?), it feels somehow rude to say 'well I have a different god and a different planet, I'm not one of you'.

"Okay, um, I don't super want to do fraud, so that's good- do you maybe have a different word for the stuff priests do?"   She pokes at her new language-  "...miracles?  Faith healing?"  Neither of those are quite right, whoops.

"Miracles are the province of God, and while faith is a powerful force, God does not call us to rely on faith alone to heal, to reject other tools such as scientific medicine... I think you may have been raised very confused, miss Khalida, a great wrong to you. Perhaps I am wrong- There is an epidemic, which seems worse than usual, perhaps that is a sign and strange things are in the world."

"Um, I-  I really do think I'm just from really really far away?  ...and I don't reject scientific medicine, there's nothing wrong with it if you can't get faith healing?"  Why does this entire conversation keep feeling a quarter-turn off from what she expects it to be.  "Anyway, uh, if your god is jealous I don't want to cause you problems with Him?  If you're all set on clean water I can go somewhere else, if you know who needs it?"

"I'm very confused, young lady, is the problem. If you need shelter, we can shelter you. It is only right to do so. But I'm confused. Do you follow a god that is not known by names such as the Almighty, the Christian god, Yahweh, Allah, Elohim, Jesus Christ?"

"No, yeah- I mean, not that I know of- Nethys, the All-Seeing, god of magic and knowledge?  But I know He's called by other names different places.  ...also yeah I don't actually have a place to sleep tonight yet.  If you have room I'd- like that.  If you're sure your god won't mind."

"God is said to be all-seeing. But I'm not talking to you to give you a sermon right now... How many years old are you? It is relevant to your position under the law and the ways we can help."

"Nineteen?"  Almost, but she'd just as soon round up, even if she's really quite sure at this point they can't somehow send her back to her father.

"Those under eighteen years of age are considered minors, children, in the United States. Being nineteen, there is no need for anyone to try to find your parents or another responsible agency to look after you, since you are so sure they are not to be found here. I may recommend against a young lady moving around alone, but you may so far as I understand the law. And I hereby grant permission to sleep within the church tonight and feed and water yourself with the supplies there, if you wish."

"Okay, um, that all makes sense, thank you.  ...should I hand this back to someone, I don't know the duration on it?"  Is the person who was talking through it previously hovering in earshot?

The two men are fetching boxes again, but there's a woman shelving things visible in an open door to a storage closet- Nobody's introduced themselves, really.

"-Ah, if you don't have questions for me, simply place it back in the slot on the wall and go in peace."

"I mean there's a ton of things I don't really understand here but I don't- really have questions questions?  -oh, I guess will your god mind if I faith heal people?  It's not gonna do barely any good for illness but I can go do it outside if it's a problem.  Uh, and you said a lot of names earlier, which one should laypeople be calling Him by?"

"I believe 'Jesus Christ' is most common, though I won't get into the theology." He sounds amused by this answer. "I do not think faith healing is a sin, if done with good and pure intent."

"Okay, thank you.  I can do one this evening, then, I like to keep one for emergencies."  Khalida's sourceless language knowledge did not come with telephone etiquette; she puts the device back in its mooring without signing off. 

She'll head over to the woman shelving things, then, and ask, "Hi, um, Father Ramisov said I had permission to sleep here?  ...do you want any help with that in the meanwhile?"

"-Oh, you need a place to stay? We'll have to get some spare blankets and pillows. I didn't think about that, what about people who lose their own or forget them when they come- Well the important thing is that I'm counting everything, and labelling and organizing it all. I'm not really sure how things are going to turn out, but, well, my husband says his friend who works in - mortuary services - is hearing bad gossip says things could get bad, very bad," she is affecting a gruff accent, "So better safe than sorry. Maybe we can convince the kids it's an adventure, not a terrifying imposition. I'm rambling, I'm Dana, Dana Goebbels."

"I'm Khalida, it's nice to meet you-  I, uh, I'm from really far away and don't know how I got here."  Although she has some suspicions.  "So- yeah.  This was the first place I found."  She fidgets with the edge of her scarf a little. "Mortuary services, that's like for- funerals?"

"Oh dear. Did you hit your head that you remember, does it hurt? Any lumps? No, no. Well- Sort of. He, ah- transports bodies. Gets them to where they need to go for funerals or investigations, and cleans where they were."

"No, I- well, I had kind of a headache earlier, but I don't think it was from hitting it.  Also I speak English now."  Oh look what interesting shelf labels.  

Dana seems to miss the 'now', and will anxiously ramble on as they shelve and count and label things. It's about twenty minutes before they're out of things, and the closet is getting kind of full too even with other things already present stacked at the back.

Some background world facts mentioned during the ramble:

Taxes are going up again. Didn't they elect Republican politicians on the promise that they'd REDUCE the state debt...? It's probably President Clinton's fault somehow, even though he's the President and not the state governor.

They say that it always takes a year or two to develop a vaccine for any new disease, so there's no just waiting and getting your flu shot about the rabies epidemic.

School is out 'for the summer' right now. Dana's son is sixteen and being lazy now that he doesn't have school anymore.

There's an 'industrial park' behind the church a ways and a 'suburban neighborhood' about a mile past the pond and 'Eighty-Eight', a road that goes to city of Chicago(?) off to the south and 'Fermilab' to the north.

You need a car to get anywhere these days, what a shame, they should have more bus services.

The 'Naperville River Walk' is a really nice park. There's a university in Naperville too.

Aurora has a 'bad part of town', where you ought to carry a weapon or walk in pairs or groups in her opinion.

Khalida's clothes remind her of 'the old country', she can get something probably more comfortable at Kohl's Store for not too pricey.

"Do you need anything? It must be quite distressing to be lost and then run into rumors of trouble on top of that."

Khalida can help hand her things, and keep track of counts for her, and try to piece together things about the world from what she's saying without asking too too many super weird questions.  

"I don't think so- I was really lucky I had my bag with me when whatever it was happened.  I guess dinner, if you have enough to spare.  ...what's a vaccine?"

"We can definitely spare dinner. It'll be packaged things unless you want to wait though- I think the plan is to get an outdoor grill from Sears and a lot of charcoal, to handle cooking- A vaccine is, you know- No, you don't. Er. I don't really understand how it works, but they make a weak version of a disease, and give you that, so weak you don't even actually get sick, but the body learns how to fight it. So if you catch it again, it doesn't sink in nearly as far. They managed to get rid of smallpox completely you know, it was a big deal. Nineteen eighty. And I think polio and measles are nearly gone too, I don't remember the numbers."