She arrives in, not quite a field with a few trees dotted around. There's a large pillar in front of her made from spirals of Granite and Marble. A few moments later two people fall from the sky. They land on their feet as if this is an ordinary occurrence.

One of them is wearing blue jeans, and a green shirt with a rather poofy hairdoo.

The other has mismatched eyes, one blue and one green. A wide poofy wizard hat with a red brim, a dress and matching pants that are pulsating with red magenta and blue and last but certainly not least what appear to be a giant pair of pink butterfly wings.

The man speaks first. "Hello there Traveller. Welcome to Terraria."

“I-“

She visibly composes herself for a moment, before bowing to them both.

”I’m afraid I did not come here purposefully. Where is Terraria? And may I know your names? I am Kalryi Terivesi.”

"I am the Guide but you may call me Andrew if you prefer."

"And I am the Deviant but you may call me Calius."

She blinks at the extremely odd names, but says nothing about them.

“Of course. Can you tell me where we are? I’m afraid that I do not recognize your naming traditions at all.”

"This is Terraria. A land of magic and adventure. People from many worlds come to brave the challenge and obtain power. Well.... they used to you're the first visitor in a while."

“Many- Many worlds? Can you- clarify what you mean? And… how do I get home? I came here… er, by mistake.”

"Terraria was created by beings of incredible power, their civilization stretched across many worlds though we only know bits of things our visitors have said. As to how you can get home we can bend some rules but the only way out is to beat the gauntlet."

“Oh. I see.”

”What is the gauntlet?”

"There are a series of challenges you must overcome. With each challenge you complete you will gain new weapons and equipment which will aid in defeating the next challenge. All the challenges are combat focused. There is no risk of death or permanent injury. Touching that pillar over there indicates an agreement to begin." He nods at the prominent spiral shaped pillar.

“And agreeing is the only way I can return to my home? Once I return home, can I come back here? Is there a way to send a message home - my family will think I’m dead. How long will this take? Do you - do live here? Sorry, I just- know nothing about you.”

"Sometimes people have left on their own before completing the gauntlet but not with the magic of this world. You'll be able to return whenever you wish if you complete the gauntlet. It's possible we could send a message we've never done it before but that seems like an acceptable bend to the rules. We would just be sending a letter though we couldn't guarantee it was received. We are unable to leave this world. We will remain here for as long as the world continues."

“I would appreciate a letter. Do you have paper and pen? And… oh, hm. No way for me to get my seal…”

"Sure," The woman pulls a miniature table and chair from somewhere and then suddenly they're full size and on the ground in front of her. She pulls out pen and paper and puts those down on the table.

Kalryi double-takes, but shakes her head, smiles gratefully at Calius the Deviant, and sits down to start writing. Then she takes a closer look at the pen.

“Ah, how do I use this?”

"It's self-inking" The pen has a thick cylindrical body with  a tip a bit like a quill but made of metal extending from the end. There's a tiny bead of ink visible at the nib.

“Right, but- Hm.”

She cautiously presses the tip onto the paper, and inspects the ink. She then attempts to make decent looking letters.

The ink doesn't drip it shouldn't be hard to make nice looking letters for someone familiar with a quill though the weight is different enough that she'll probably be a bit less neat and a bit thicker than with a quill.

She manages acceptably enough, then, though it takes her a few tries!

When she gets to the end, she frowns, looks very focused for a few moments, and burns a pattern onto the paper.

”That should be… well, they might not think it was counterfeited, anyway. It’s as good as I’m getting. How will you send it?”

"With magic, can you picture where you want the letter to end up?"

She nods, and pictures her desk. 

The Deviant nods and taps the letter. It vanishes. "It should find its way to where you wanted. I can't be completely sure because we haven't tried this before and we have no way to check."

She nods. “Thank you very much. If you ever need me for something, feel free to call.”

She takes a breath, steels herself, and places a hand on the pillar.

Immediately she feels lighter on her feet. Like she could jump higher and run faster than she could before. She also gains an awareness of her surroundings even though they're behind her she knows exactly where the two people are. She also has a slight empty feeling like there's a space where something could be but instead there's nothing. Finally, she senses a pool of some sort of energy within her that wasn't there before.

What.

Okay. First step. Figure out what changed. Lighter on feet is easy to notice - can she actually just higher?

She tries jumping straight up, and seeing if it seems superhuman in anyway, normal, or like she did more physical activity than sitting at a desk.

If she's jumping as high as she can her jump carries her up 4 meters.

Well that’s sure something. Right, panic over extra magical powers later. Right now, figure out what they even are. Is running as boosted as jumping is?

She probably couldn't run at 26 kph before.

Well. No. Although, this isn’t actually mage-level, just someone-who-runs-a-lot level. Which is, quite irrationally, disappointing. 

Okay, she can sense people, which is a very odd sensation. Can she sense anything else? Can she stretch it farther? 

She can 'see' out in all directions, close by, within about 5 meters she can see through trees and other objects though not inside them. Past that her vision is obscured by objects like normal vision. She also has a sense that she could close these magic eyes if she wanted.

This could be incredibly useful. This is the kind of thing that saves your life! She is absolutely not closing those eyes.

Right. What else. The weird kind-of-uncomfortable empty feeling, and the weird pool-of-stuff feeling. Can she manipulate them at all? Push the pool into the emptiness?

When she focuses on the emptiness she can feel three types of slots. The most numerous are all empty, there's about a hundred. There's of another type of slot which is also totally empty that feels more convenient for some reason there's ten there. The third type of slots feel fuzzier like there isn't an exact number and some are filled. If she focuses she can recognize everything she's wearing in those slots. She could try moving one of those items to one of the other types of slots.

That does make sense? She tries moving one of her (less important) rings to a “more convenient” slot.

There's now a sense that she could call the ring to her hand if she wanted.

Did the ring disappear?!

Okay. Calm down. It’s some kind of - storage, is all. She calls it back to her hand.

It appears gripped between two fingers which moved of their own accord to hold it.

Well that’s extremely creepy.

Right. Okay. Sure. She’ll just. Move the ring to the “less-convenient” slot.

It vanishes from her fingers and now one of the slots is filled.

And if she moves it the the (clothing?) slot it was in?

It appears back on her finger. Right where it was before.

Did the vaguely convenient-feeling ones do anything different? Did it take longer?

She didn't feel like she could move the ring into her hand when it was in one of the less convenient slots. Also it takes most of her focus to move things around like this she wouldn't want to do it while she was busy. Calling the ring to her hand from the convenient slots on the other hand was effortless.

Weird. Useful, and creepy, but also very weird.

Right. The… pool of stuff. Does mentally poking it do anything?

Nope, she can feel that it's small and that it's full but poking at it doesn't yield anything.

Can she stir it? Boil it? Draw it out into the air?

It's stubbornly static.

That’s aggravating, but there are probably more urgent things to worry about, like what she’s going to eat. Convenient berry bushes tat she recognizes as edible are probably too much to hope for, but she’ll check anyway!

She doesn't see any familiar bushes. "Do you want your starting equipment?"

“I’m afraid I don’t have any payment for you, but if they are gifts from friend to friend - yes, I would be gladdened.”

"Giving people starting equipment is part of my job. Would you like it all at once or one piece at a time with explanations?"

“I would appreciate the explanations.”

"Well to start here's your basic tools." She hands over an axe, a pickaxe and a hammer. The axe is for cutting down trees. The pickaxe is for most things that might be in your way and if you're tweaking things you've built. The axe can chop down trees and the hammer can reshape things." When she holds then they all feel enchanted and it feels like she can turn the enchantment on or off.

What.

what.

What.

…

Sure. Free enchanted items. Why not?! This is technically probably not the weirdest thing that’s happened today. Oh frick-

“Thank you very much for your generosity. Will these repair on their own? Do they need to be recharged in any manner?”

"They won't break, you'll be able to make better ones soon enough though."

What.

Okay! That’s! Something! Thoughts of infinite wealth and power are not useful if you starve!

”Thank you. Are there any other objects?”

"That was just the start. You'll also want this sword. It's better for stabbing than slashing. And this grappling hook will help you get around, it's equipment so you don't have to hold it to use it if you equip it. This net will also help you catch some things."

Are they also enchanted?

They're easier to move than she'd expect the net's handle is a meter long and the net itself is big enough to catch her. The sword is also fast and she can feel the grappling hook in her mind when she holds it. It'll launch itself in any direction she wants with a thought.

Huh. That might be very useful, then. 

”Are there others?”

"These are magic socks that will let you run faster. And this bottle will let you make a short jump in midair if you have it equipped." The socks are blue. The bottle has what looks like a miniature cloud inside it. "You can eat these to improve your durability and mana. The red ones are for durability the blue ones are for mana." They seem to be candies the blue ones are shaped like stars and the red ones are shaped like hearts. They also seem stuck together but when she touches them she has a feeling that she can separate them.

“Are the effects temporary?”

The expensive color of the socks should not be surprisingly; clearly these people do not care about mortal concerns like limited resources! And yet! She puts the socks on using the inventory, and puts her old ones in an inconvenient slot. She then tries to put the bottle in a clothing slot, and waits to see what happens. 

"Most effects are temporary but these are an exception. Certain events are more likely to happen if you increase your durability though."

“What events? And what is mana?”

"Mana is used to power the enchantments on some weapons and tools, having more will let you power them for longer. You can probably feel it. As for the events, a friend of mine you might find helpful will only come if you've eaten at least one. If you eat at least two some nights the moon will turn red and monsters will spawn faster and certain unique monsters will appear that only spawn with a red moon. If you eat at least three then slimes might start falling from the sky. If you eat at least five then a giant eyeball might appear and attack at night, and also goblins might invade."

“…right. Only eat this one, then. Thank you for the warning.”

”Is the mana the internal pool?”

"Yes that's it exactly."

She nods, and swallows the candies.

The pool is now five times the size it was before. She feels somehow healthier it's a subtle thing.

The Deviant hands her a potion bottle when she touches it she can immediately feel that it has 15 doses. "This potion will teleport you back to this pillar." She hands over a torch. Except it's actually a hundred torches somehow. "These will help exploring or fighting underground or at night."

She blinks at those, but puts them into the convenient slots.

She hands over three cubes one of which is actually 25 cubes. The cubes are miniaturized like the table from earlier she can feel that they'll be a meter on a side when placed. "These are the pieces to a bulk storage system you can move stuff from your personal storage to here. And you can use it for crafting." She hands over a bracelet. "And last but certainly not least this is a map bracelet it'll record where you've been so you can keep track and find places again."

She nods and puts on the bracelet, and places the cubes in the less-convenient slots.

When she puts on the bracelet she can feel an option to do something in her mind. "Do you have any questions?"

“How do I use the cubes?”

"The ones I gave you a bunch of are the actual storage. They'll keep up to 40 slots each. You can find materials to upgrade them or make more. If you put them next to each other they connect they can't be moved while there's things in them. The green cube is the interface touching that will let you take things in and out. The blue one is the crafting forge. It'll allow you to combine items with other items to make new things. It also has ten special slots for crafting catalysts that expand what's possible to make. They all need to be touching to work together."

“Alright, thank you. Is there land here that people will not object to me inhabiting?”

"This entire island is yours to do with as you please. The area within a hundred meters of the pillar is a safe zone. I'd recommend building your storage system around here."

“Wait- er. Clarify what you mean by safe zone?”

"Enemies and attacks will stop at the edge and you'll be unable to summon enemies while within. If you enter the zone during most challenges you will be considered to have forfeit and have to try again from the beginning."

“Wow*. Thank you. Is that all?”

*generic expression of awe

"I think that's everything. For now, I'd recommend exploring the area. Be careful of water that's anything but deep blue each other color is imbued with dangerous magic. Though I wouldn't worry too much, your clothing is at more risk than you are. If you want to keep it safe you can use wood to craft basic armor and wear it instead."

She nods. “I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you for all the help.”

Time to see if she can find something to kill and eat!

She can see some small animals around the area. Rabbits, squirrels and birds.

Well, she knows the theory of this, at least. Focus, channel power, bird’s head is now boiling.

The bird drops out of the sky.

Oh good. Frick, cooking.

Well, the first step’s a fire, right? She looks around for some promising-looking branches.

It doesn't seem like there's any branches whatsoever on the ground.

Okay, no, even she knows that’s weird. Do the trees have branches?

They do, though they're all quite short compared to the height of the trees and the trunks are all remarkably straight.

Well, she can almost certainly jump high enough to reach them, now, so she’s going to try to break one off.

She successfully reaches one of the lower branches but breaking it is difficult. She isn't quite strong enough.

Right, how dangerous would it be to use the axe while jumping.

Well, first she should test if the axe will go through the trees easily. She does so.

The axe makes a substantial dent in the tree and a few acorns fall out.

Huh. Well, probably fine to cut off a branch, then.

She does so.

As soon as she does the branch transmutes into a small plank of wood that can fit in the palm of her hand. If she touches it she can feel that she could place it as a cube about 2/3 of a meter on a side.

What.

…

What the fuck.

Right then. Okay. Sure. Fine. This is. Fine.

Well, can she burn it if she places it down?

It's harder to set it on fire than normal wood if she's done that before but she can set it on fire.

She’ll… uh.

How does one cook a bird.

She pushes a stick through it and holds it over the fire, for lack of better ideas.

This works for certain very generous definitions of working.

Ffffantastic. This was all very deliberate and definitely intended. She totally knows what she’s doing.

Right then, Plan B - burn it from the inside out until it’s mostly “cinders with some meat on them” and eat that.

This doesn't seem likely to yield much nutritional value.

Well it’s at least not going to be raw!

Why did it have to be outside… Right, just think of the untold riches. This is all fine. It will be fine. She’ll… eat her very burnt bird and look for promising plants, or maybe something to set on fire, because that would be cathartic.

She doesn't have to go too far before finding slimes they are flammable. She also finds some strange yellow flowers that seem more vibrant than the other types scattered around. And with a bit more searching, pumpkins.

Wait, what?

Okay, those do not exactly look like they have internal organs per say. Boiling them, does that kill them?

Fruit! It looks similar to some kinds at home, but it’s probably worthwhile to ask the friendly natives if it’ll kill her. She picks one up, remembers she has a pocket dimension, and puts it in there.

It does indeed kill them. They seem to evaporate and they leave behind some rope, a few small balls of gel and some coins.

Where did those come from?!

Whatever. Fine. They’re magic. Everything’s magic. Why not. Save the internal screaming for later, grab the stuff, put it in the pocket dimension, maybe the coins are valid currency, seems pretty unlikely though - shit did she just accidentally counterfeit money. Right. That. Right.

The Andrew and Calius are both easy to find.

“Ah, I killed a slime and it dropped coins? Are these valid currency? Did I accidentally counterfeit?”

"They're valid currency here. I can't speak for any other world you might visit."

“And they normally appear when slimes are killed? Er- sort of jelly-esque texture, colorful?”

"They'll typically appear when you kill any hostile creature. Stronger creatures will drop more."

“Huh. How does the economy function?”

"What economy? Those of us you meet will accept your money. If you have more than you can use that way then I guess you can shoot it at enemies with a coin gun eventually."

“Wha-“

”…Why do they want the money?”

"... I don't sell anything personally but I don't think desire is really the best way of understanding things. We all have our roles to play and accepting money for goods or services is part of the role for some of us."

“Do they…”

She trails off for a moment, seeming to contemplate something, before shaking her head.

”Right. I also found this fruit, do you know if it’s poisonous, and how to eat it?” 

She holds out the pumpkin.

"If you make a furnace you can use your crafting interface to turn that into a pie. That'll be quite filling. A furnace will need some stone though I don't think you have any yet."

“Huh, alright. How do I make a furnace?”

"You'll need twenty stone, five wood, one gel as ingredients and a workbench in a crafting talisman slot in your crafting interface."

“How do I make a workbench? And what is gel?”

"Gel is the blobs left behind when you killed the slimes. A workbench is made with wood in the crafting interface."

“…Right.”

Right. Weird crafting magic artifacts. She can totally do this. And she’ll start by chopping down a tree, with this axe! 

…Hopefully the magic will help here, because Kalryi’s never done this before in her life.

As it turns out even touching the axe to the tree creates a visible notch and touching it again makes the notch bigger after about ten touches the entire tree transmutes into a number of wood and acorn items that magnet together and fall to the ground.

Convenient! Are there any other plants around to test this on?

There are more trees and also some small bushes and wildflowers. Aside from the trees most of them just vanish instead. In one case a bush is replaced with a strange worm about as long as her shin and a couple inches thick. In another there's a giant grasshopper the size of her hand. Both are alive.

Ooh, grasshopper! Now a crispy bug.

Indeed, the world offers no guarantees about how useful the burnt bug is.

Well, as long as it doesn’t randomly disappear, Kalryi will have a snack!

It's mundane food there's no special effects.