And she is falling. Through the Material Plane, through the Astral Plane, and further still. She finds herself spinning. For a brief instant, she sees everything, and understands everything she sees. But such understanding cannot fit in her mind, and it mercifully evaporates without doing any lasting damage.

She feels herself being twisted and squeezed, hurtled down a corridor of malevolent light. There's a sense of safety off to one side of the tunnel. She touches it-

-and lands, on her feet, in a small municipal park. She's on a patch of grass, with several large deciduous trees. The sun is shining brightly. Several catfolk in unusual outfits are walking through the park. On all sides, she's surrounded by enormous spires, buildings of glass and steel at least fifty stories tall.

This isn't Heaven (probably, she hasn't died before and maybe this is what it's like).

That's a lot of glass. She didn't know buildings could get that tall.

She'll go over to the nearest person and ask them where she is, she just had what she thinks was a Teleport mishap but it might have been a Plane Shift.

The person turns to look at her. "We're at the corner of Ring 68 and 274th Street." He speaks clearly enough, but he has an accent she doesn't recognize. "Do you need directions somewhere?" He doesn't seem to be in that much of a rush.

"I am not sure what city I'm in, I was just in Almas, in Andoran. If you don't know where those are I think I'm much more lost than I expected".

"This is Katown, in the Katzen Herzlands. If you don't know where that is, you're more lost than anyone I've ever known." He scratches behind his ear, looking rather nervous. "Where is Almas?"

"Almas is the capital of Andoran, a country on the planet Golarion. I in fact don't already know where that is and am concerned that I'm now on a different planet entirely".

She notices that he's nervous but doesn't think of anything in particular she should do about it.

"You are on the planet Flusion, ma'am, in the Jubilo system. It would appear that both of our days suddenly became a lot more interesting." The nervousness is gone, now, or at least suppressed. "I know of no Golarion, though it might be known by different names. What happened to you?"

"I got attacked by a giant mirror-faced snake monster, and apparently they transport people who fall into the mirrors to other planets, which I guess is as good a way as any to make someone not be your problem anymore". 

"Golarion's main distinguishing feature is that the entire planet is one big cage for Rovagug, an evil god who likes eating planets. It's the third closest planet to its sun. If that doesn't identify it getting home is going to be hard".

"I don't know of any planet like that", he says dubiously. "But if one existed, I probably wouldn't be allowed to know about it, so that doesn't mean much." He pauses, thinking.

"What's your name, by the way? I'm Purt."

"I'm Velra. Is there an obvious place for Extremely Lost People to go here?"

"There is no Imperial Ministry of Katzens who Travelled from Unknown Planets with No Knowledge Of How They Got Here, as far as I know." Purt uses a single compound word to describe the made-up ministry. "And a normal government office would have no idea what to do..." He thinks it over. "I suppose the Kaiserpolizei would know what to do. Or rather, they'd have the authority to decide."

"I have some idea of how I got here, I got into a fight with a monster I'd never heard of and it turned out to have at least one trick I'd also never heard of."

"If this planet doesn't get people like me a lot, presumably because the snakes send different people to different places, I guess in the short term I should set up somewhere to live here for now, are there moneychangers who'd accept weird coins from places they haven't heard of?" 

"Moneychangers? Like a bank?" It's not that surprising, Purt reasons, that Velra's dialect is different than his. What should be surprising is that she speaks Katzen at all.

"They probably would, if the coins are made of precious metals. There's a bank about five blocks from here, on 280th Street."

Of course she speaks Katzen now, she didn't already have a translation method.

And off she goes, to exchange the fifteen or so gp she has on her for whatever the local currency is.

Purt gives Velra some directions and watches her set off. He looks in the direction of the police station, contemplating what to do next.

The buildings stretch up from the streets, and are linked with a myriad of bridges and pedways. A metro train runs along elevated tracks above her. She reaches 280th Street. It's much wider than 279th, and instead of just containing pedestrians and bicycles, it has a wide section for vehicles. Hundreds of cars drive along it, their electric motors whining.

Velra feels noticeably light on her feet, as though she's just taken off some fairly heavy training weights. Soon she reaches the bank, which is set into the ground floor of another skyscraper. Inside, dozens of Katzen are walking this way and that, or lining up to speak to a teller. Two uniformed security guards stand stiffly to either side of the door.

This is very cool and if she ever manages to get back to Golarion she is going to make so much money selling how it all works to the Abadarans.

Velra is a teenage monk who's never been more than ten miles from Almas before this, and just because Felandriel Morgethai lives there doesn't mean random residents have been to her low-gravity demiplane, or know that it exists. She has no idea why she feels so light and will have to wait until she gets some books to find out, for all she knows the entire place is under a permanent area-effect Bull's Strength.

She'll walk in, wait for a teller to be available, and ask them how much of the local currency she can get for what she has.

"...What currency did you say this was, again?" The teller examines a gold piece curiously, and then uses a small ultraviolet flashlight on it.

"Andorani sails, they're from a country on the planet I'm from. I don't know if their composition is different from the ones here or something".

"They aren't on the currency list. But give me one moment." The teller takes a coin and disappears into the back, leaving Velra alone at the counter.

He returns a few minutes later, licking his nose as he sits down. "These coins are pure gold. We can pay for them by weight, if that is acceptable." He places the coins on an electronic scale. "It comes to ninety-two katzmark and five eighths. Is there an account you'd like to place it in?"

"I just got here and don't have one, can I create a new one now for that?"

"Certainly. May I see your visa or passport?"

"I, uh, don't have one. I got to this planet earlier today by accident, if there's something I should do about that I'd be happy to but I haven't yet."

"...mrowr", the teller mutters contemplatively. "A government office would probably be able to figure something out. There's one in this building, on one of the higher floors."

He gestures to the small pile of gold coins. "Would you like to keep your sails? Or should I change them out for katzmark?"

"There's no reason to keep them, I don't have a way back. How do I get to it from here?"

"As you wish." The teller takes the money and hands her four sixteen-mark bills, two eight-mark bills, three four-mark bills, a half-mark coin, and an eighth-mark coin. All the currency has the same crowned katzen on the obverse, with various other figures (including other races) and symbols on the reverse. "Thank you for your patronage."

The teller points her to a set of elevators, where a building directory lists the office as being on the 43rd floor.

"Pleasure doing business with you too."

Velra has only interacted with the concept of paper currency in the form of Chelish dollars before but these one definitely don't say that they're backed by the souls of the damned anywhere and it's not like paper is Evil.

And she'll head up, noting that she needs to find out how elevators work at some point.

The elevator's doors open, and it carries her swiftly up to the 43rd floor. The doors open on a hallway, and it isn't hard for her to find the office. Small windows provide a view of nearby buildings, or patches of sky. 

"What's your name, and what do you need today?" The clerk speaks Katzen with a gravelly monotone.

"I'm Velra, and I arrived on this planet by accident and think this is the place to go to for getting documentation and stuff like that."

The clerk doesn't react to the idea of arriving on a planet by accident. "Citzenship or temporary residency? Temporary residency needs a passport from another nation."

"I'm pretty sure the planet I came from isn't in contact with this one, and I don't think I'll be able to get back anytime soon" if it was easy someone would have done it already, "so unless there's a simple way around that I guess I'll go for citizenship."

"Velra. Citizenship. Take a seat, your name will be called."

She can sit. It's not hard and if it was she'd figure it out anyway.

...

...

... ... ...

"Velra?"

Velra is ushered into a side office by a different clerk, this one wearing something that looks more like a uniform. "This says here you're seeking citizenship? I just need to take your biometrics to make sure you're not already in the system, and then we can swear you in and give you your papers."

By the standards of anyone not from Axis or somewhere similarly Lawful, Velra takes oaths very very seriously.

What exactly is the text of this oath.

(Whatever process lets her understand Katzen included 'biometrics', which is apparently not necromancy. Cool.)

There's a brochure explaining the process for getting Katzen citizenship (show up and ask for it), and the text of the oath is written on the back.

I swear, under penalty of treason, my allegiance to the Kaiser and the Katzenartig Imperium. I shall obey his laws, protect my fellow citizens, and fight in the Imperium's battles if called upon to do so. Long live the Kaiser!

She'll think about this while doing the not-necromancy stuff.

If they're giving citizenship to anyone who shows up, this is not the sort of oath where they expect you to be Lawfully binding your future self by swearing it. That doesn't mean she'll ignore it, but it does mean it wouldn't be betraying a trust she was given, only no longer holding to what she believed about the Imperium. She won't make this unless she concludes she in fact supports them, because otherwise she wouldn't mean it, but it would count as meaning it to support what she now knows about the Imperium, and if it turns out that actually this is like Cheliax, she can Lawfully say that she did in fact think that the Imperium was the sort of thing she'd support, she no longer thinks that, and publicly resign her citizenship before doing anything to oppose them.

Given that, what does she know about the Imperium so far? Random people who're asked for directions from strangers spend a few minutes helping them, they have nice parks (it's at least something), you get citizenship by asking for it, there was that sense of safety in the beginning but there's no reason to think snake-based involuntary transport is on her side here (although it did apparently teach her the language), and they're apparently mostly catfolk but that doesn't really matter one way or the other. That does sounds like the sort of place she'd be fine with. Kaiser sounds suspiciously like a non-elected title but Lastwall isn't a democracy and they banned slavery seven hundred years before Andoran did. She'll want to spend a while in a library to confirm things but she's provisionally on board.

The text of the oath......allegiance is pretty clearly a statement of intent, she so far in fact supports them. Obeying the laws she will in fact do unless and until she decides that the government is not in fact legitimate, in which case she'll renounce citizenship first. She'll protect her fellow citizens whether she swears to or not. Fighting in their battles she'd do unless, again, she decided she didn't support them. It also doesn't specify that she'll do it on their side but she's not that kind of somehow-technically-Lawful. The Kaiser should live a long life unless he doesn't want to.

She'll swear this.

A machine takes her iris, noseprint, and a saliva sample while the clerk prepares the documentation. "Right. Species... Katzen. Last name? Date of birth?"

"I'm an orphan, if I need a last name I guess just go with 'Foundling', and I don't know when I was born or the calendar here, I guess the first day of the first month for simplicity?" They have months here, right?

The clerk gives her a strange look, but nods. "What's your age, then?"

She is indifferent to strange looks as long as they aren't gaze attacks.

"I'm sixteen."

"Sixteen... well, you're an orphan, so I'll just mark you as emancipated..."

After a few more dull questions, the clerk prints some papers and hands one of them to Velra to sign. It's the same oath, with a signature line underneath. When that's done, they stamp the papers, and Velra, Citizen I-1601251503, is given her identification card.

That's a lot of implied citizens, although it'd be less if they've been around for a long time and count from the beginning.

With that done, she'll head back down and wait for a teller again.

The line in the bank has shortened substantially, and the teller from earlier waves her over. He takes her citizenship card, comparing the picture to her face.

"Good. I can open an account for you now." He hands her a contract, which is two fairly dense pages. The first part is quite simple: she deposits her money, the bank can do what they want with it but promises to give it back if she asks, 1% interest per annum (may change at any time), may charge reasonable fees for interplanetary money transfer, et cetera. The rest seems to be edge cases: what if she has her account stolen, what if martial law is declared, and so forth. The contract is written in notably plain Katzen, with legal terms defined in footnotes.

Yay, it's just like the banks back home. She'll sign it.

The teller types at a keyboard as she reads the contract. When she signs it, he takes it and presses a button. A machine rumbles and buzzes, and he hands her a small plastic card, still warm. "Katzenbank" is written in elegant letters along the top, and "VELRA FOUNDLING" underneath that. A golden chip is embedded in the plastic. There is no magnetic strip, but there is a series of raised dots under the account number.

"Would you like me to deposit your cash, now? If you're planning to stay in Katown, you probably won't need it, but paper currency is still sometimes needed elsewhere on Flusion."

"If I go elsewhere I can always come back and withdraw some, there's no reason to bother with it now."

"I want to find somewhere to rent next, do you have any recommendations?"

The teller looks at the rapidly-shortening line behind her, and judges he can spend a few minutes giving her advice. "Central Katown will be quite expensive for you, especially if you don't have the training for a higher-paying job. You'll probably want to move to the outskirts- hold on, we have paper maps somewhere."

In a few moments, he digs one out and has it spread out on the counter. At the centre of the map is the Great Katown Pyramid, which is surrounded by concentric ring-roads connected by street-spokes.

"We're here, at 280th Street and 65th Ring." He indicates a point west and slightly north of the pyramid. "The closer you get to the Pyramid, the more built-up the city is. And more expensive, although Loris and the Kaiser are trying to change that." He indicates several coloured lines. Some run along streets and rings, others slowly move outward in a spiral. "You'll probably be using the trains to get around. They're free, just scan your citizen card. As for where in the city you should go... what sort of job are you going to look for?"

"I'm not sure, the planet I'm from seems significantly lower-tech than this one and I think I'm going to want to get more oriented before deciding that."

"Unless you think you're going home in a few days, you should probably get a job. The money you have might be good for four weeks' living expenses in outer Katown, but not much more." The teller gestures to the southern end of the city. "Southern Katown has a lot of rail-yards and logistics stations, and no matter how automated things get, it seems there's always physical labour to be done. You look strong, you could probably do well there while you get your bearings." He rummages through the desk and produces another brochure. "Of course, you can always join the army. Eight-year contract. Guaranteed room and board, they train you, and it's the most direct way to serve the Imperium." He doesn't say that last bit with exceptional fervour, or like it's a sales pitch. He simply considers "directly serving the Imperium" to be one of the benefits to consider.

She takes the brochure.

"I might do that at some point, but I don't think I should make long-term commitments on my first day here. Southern Katown sounds great, I'll try that for now. Where can I get a map of all this?"

The teller folds up the paper map on the counter and hands it to her. "You seem to need it, you can take it. We have a stack of them in the back."

"Thank you. See you again sometime!"

She doesn't even need to use the map to figure out where the nearest 'train' is, there was one overhead on the way here. Does anything interesting happen while she tries to get onto a southbound one?

Getting on the train is fairly easy. When she enters the station, she just has to tap her citizen's card on a black square, and some thin glass doors swing open for her. Every passenger is doing the same thing. The doors would be trivial to jump over: they clearly serve more to state the rules than to enforce them.

Velra takes a train counterclockwise along the ring to 180th Street, where she can transfer to a southbound train. The train's windows are wide, and the seats are quite comfortable. The massive city of Katown stretches out in all directions. To her left, she can see the peak of an imposing black pyramid in the distance. From this vantage point, she can see several flying machines soaring above the city and sometimes between buildings, as well as the swarms of cars and pedestrians below.

The 180th Street station is larger than the others, featuring multiple tracks. A southbound train arrives within several minutes. This one's a little busier, but there are still enough seats for everyone.

"Mama! Look, out the window!" an excited young katzen shouts. Out the window is 180th Street. It is enormous, easily twenty lanes across, with a rail line running down the middle. Both sides feature multiple bike lanes (divided from the street by concrete barriers) and wide sidewalks dotted with trees and park benches.

It's not hard to figure out what the child is pointing at. Ahead of the train, a mountain of steel is rolling down the road. The tracked behemoth occupies the entire width of the street, and is escorted by dozens of vehicles that are directing traffic to drive between its tracks. The road is clearly designed, somehow, to accommodate this.

The enormous vehicle is nearly as tall as the elevated train tracks. At the top is a turret from which emerges a cannon the size of a small building. As the train approaches and begins to overtake it, a painted runway on its rear upper deck is visible. Hundreds of smaller guns of various sorts emerge from assorted turrets, casemates, and sponsons. A large flagpole is mounted to the back of the main turret, proudly flying the flag of the Imperium.

Those flying things are cool. She wants one.

Wow that is huge. She kinda wants one too. She might try to get training to be one of the people operating things like it, depending on whether she decides to join the military and what the other options there are.

"Arriving at - 128th Ring. This is a terminus station. Please exit the train."

The buildings are sparser and shorter, here. They're surrounded by a sprawling railyard, but as they approached, Velra could see broad, flat warehouses, modestly-sized apartment buildings, and various empty lots and construction sites. There are still well-maintained parks and green-spaces, larger than the ones downtown.

Those remaining on the train disembark. Various signs point towards express trains going further south and to exits on either side of 180th Street. The street is just as wide as it was downtown, but it's much quieter, with fewer cars on it.

Is there an obvious place to go to rent one of the apartments in those modestly sized buildings or does she need to ask random passerby how to do that.

One of the buildings within sight of the train station has a large sign on it.

ROOMS AVAILABLE - 1BR, 2BR.
Reasonable Rates.
Special accommodations for amphibious, phototrophic, and radiotrophic species.

The building is on 129th Ring and 179+1/4 Street, which is three blocks away from 180th Street. There were no fractional streets downtown, but they apparently exist here.

She'll walk there. Fractional streets are probably harder to learn to navigate but she can just use her map.

Are there, in fact, rooms available?

Behind a desk in the apartment foyer is a receptionist, or perhaps a security guard. She appears human. She has brightly coloured hair and large headphones. She turns a dial on the headphones and looks to Velra.

"We do have some rooms available. You can rent by the week or by the month. Would you like me to show you what we have on offer?" Her eyes flick between Velra and the computer-screen in front of her.

Velra grew up in a majority-human city, she was aware that they wouldn't all be catfolk.

"Sure. Is it cheaper to pay by the month?"

Amelie nods. "It's five katzmark per week, but only twenty per month. So about a twenty percent discount if you pay monthly." (Velra's knowledge of the Katzen language tells her that a month on Flusion has 34 days, and there are sixteen months a year for a total year of 544 days. Weeks are, mercifully, still seven days.)

Amelie puts a BACK SOON sign on the desk and stands up to lead Velra to the elevators. She taps the button for the 11th floor.

"I think I'll get the whole month now."

She follows her.

After they get to the 11th floor, Amelie touches the door with a ring on her finger, and it opens. "Here we are."

The apartment contains a bathroom, a small-but-not-claustrophobic bedroom, a sitting-room with a view of the industrial skyline, and a kitchenette. There's also a desk with a computer on it, and a pair of empty bookshelves.

She'll pay for it, if she can't tell how something works she can always go back down and ask.

Once that's done, she'll note where everything is (huh, they have machines that keep things cold, neat), and then she'll attempt to figure out how to use the computer. Is it operable by someone who's never seen one before but, like, has the concept that magic items which respond to instructions you give them are a thing?

Touching the keyboard causes the screen to light up, showing a picture of a sunrise. The picture appears to have been taken from above the planet, with the thin blue atmosphere set against a black background.

As she continues to press buttons and issue commands, different symbols appear on the screen, but it's difficult to figure out what she's actually doing. And then, in response to some button-press or another, the computer speaks to her in a flat, stilted voice.

"Accessibility mode on. Say 'voice mode' to activate voice commands." A square has appeared in the middle of the screen, with words like "screen reader", "colourblind mode", and "cybernetic integration".

"Voice mode."

She doesn't need the screen read to her, she can read it herself, the thing she wants is a guide to how to use it. Is there an option like that? Something like "Tutorial"?

"Voice commands activated. State your request."

The computer is remarkably stupid. Velra has to restate most requests several times before it gives her what she wants. However, she is eventually able to find detailed documentation on all of the computer's features. It is clearly written, if dry. Studying this will take a while.

She has time! Like a month of it, even!

About an hour later, Velra understands the basic concepts: Use the brick to move the "cursor", press the button when the cursor is over the thing you want. The keyboard lets you enter words. Don't use voice unless you absolutely have to, because it's terrible. She memorizes the sequence of buttons to make a tutorial appear about whatever she's currently using.

Velra hasn't eaten since she attacked that snake. She's starting to get hungry.

The snake started it.

Is there food in the magic cold box or does she have to look for a shop on her map?

No food in the cold box. One of the cupboards contains several heavy boxes of dense meaty-smelling pellets, but the boxes are labelled "CIVIL DEFENCE RATIONS: FOR EMERGENCY USE ONLY".

Her map doesn't have local businesses on it, only important landmarks. But the computer has a map on it which shows the local area in much more detail. Grocery stores are regularly-spaced, and there are two within walking distance. There are also some cafes and restaurants nearby.

She does not have an emergency.

She would like to make a Use Magic Mundane Device check to make the elevator descend. She's done it before! Only once, but still!

DC: 20. Velra rolled: 19.

In order to go to the ground floor, Velra presses the bottom button. It worked last time, after all. She ends up in a basement full of locked storage closets.

That looks like she went too far. She presses the second-to-bottom button.

She makes it to the lobby. Amelie briefly looks up from her computer to nod at her as she leaves.

Great! Once more unto the breach grocery store.

The grocery store is laid out in a grid of shelves. Food is stacked in boxes, jars, or bags, and customers walk through the shelves to take what they want. There are wagons available to carry groceries as you move through the store, but some people bring their own wagons. The store has nine aisles, and signs indicate the direction that people should walk "during peak hours".

It's not very busy. Probably not peak hours.

She did not bring a wagon, and thus will not be getting more than she can carry back, which (given bags) is limited by her strength more than its volume.

She'll take food-looking things until she has about a weeks worth, and then go pay for them. There is an obvious place to pay, right?

Not really an obvious location, no. But she sees another customer pull their wagon into a circle painted on the ground. The circle flashes and beeps, they touch their bank card to a box on the wall, it beeps again, and they leave the store.

She'll copy that.