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.

The wall-mounted terminal has a screen which helpfully informs her that her groceries cost 3 6/16 katzmark: A week of food is a little over half the price of a week of lodging. It gives a happy beep when she scans her card. 

It beeped for the other people, she was expecting that. If it takes more than a week to understand how everything works she'll decide whether to try earning money before that's done.

And now she walks back. Her apartment hasn't walked off while she was gone, right?

No.

Amelie is outside, holding a wand with some hooks on the end and a ring hanging from a string. She moves it in a sort of circular motion, trying to put the ring on the hooks without touching it.

"Afternoon." She looks concerned about something.

"Out of idle curiosity, where were you living before you came here?" Amelie's tone of voice is light and friendly, but there's something intense about her gaze.

"The planet Golarion. I don't actually know how far it is from here."

Her gaze is allowed to be intense as long as she's not a gorgon or something.

Amelie nods. "What country? What was it like?"

She lands the ring on the back of the stick.

"Andoran, the Birthplace of Freedom. It was nice, but I think it's less technologically advanced than here is."

She is not sure what's up with the ring but it probably doesn't matter.

Amelie's eyes widen a little, but she quickly resumes control of her expression.

"Interesting. Why's it called that?"

"It's the first democracy in the Inner Sea, and the longest-lasting one."

"I haven't heard of any of these places, but... that sounds about right."

She opens the door, heading back into the office, moving with excited urgency. "Wait, you've been using that map of all Katown to get around? I've got maps of the local district here." She practically shoves one into Velra's hands.

On the bottom, in tight handwriting, the map says:

Your room isn't safe. Do not go there. There's a gym on the second floor. Meet me in the women's locker room in 30 minutes.

Rolling Sense Motive.......sure, she seems sincere.

If she's not going to her room, she has a half-hour to kill, she might as well spend it in the 'gym', it sounds like a weird version of a training hall.

Is there somewhere to put her groceries down?

There's a common area with a few cabinets and fridges. They aren't locked. A sign indicates that unlabelled goods will be cleared out in the morning on the first day of each week.

The gym does, indeed, look like a weird version of a training hall. It's a long rectangle, with a thick concrete wall on one of the long sides.

Near where she walks in, there's a few racks of small weights, some soft mats, and a couple of walls covered in thick, colourful carpet. Someone who looks kind of like a lizardfolk is doing stretches on one of the mats. There are also some metal apparatus of uncertain operation, but the weight-markings on them suggest that they are different ways to lift heavy things.

Further down the hall, it seems more familiar. There are a couple of sparring rings, and some weapon racks. A Katzen is attacking a training dummy with a one-handed wooden sword. Velra doesn't recognize the specific form he's using, but he appears to be moderately skilled.

Towards the back, there's another weapons-rack. The concrete wall doesn't go all the way to the end of the hall: behind it, there's a range with targets, currently not in use.

That works.

Targets for what? The snake interrupted her shuriken-throwing, can she restart where she left off?

There are no shuriken on the racks, but there are a few throwing-knives, and crossbows, and a larger number of pistols and rifles. A sign informs her that she can use her own weapons, as long as they are not armour-piercing, not explosive, and carry less than 2 kJ of energy per shot.

That works, she'll use the knives, unless they're terribly weighted or something. Does anything interrupt her before it's time to head to the locker room?

The targets fixed to the end of the range are pretty far away for throwing-knives, but there's a wooden target on a stand that she can haul out to where she wants. The knives are of unusual design from her perspective, but it's not difficult to work out how to throw this type. Nothing interrupts her for the rest of the half-hour.

She slowly gets better at it the whole time.

Okay, practice over, time to find out what mysterious things are going on here. To the dungeon locker room.

Amelie has changed into suitable workout clothes. She nods at Velra when she comes in, and beckons her into the showers. She turns on full-blast and steps away from it. She speaks not in a whisper, but in a relatively low voice.

"They aren't allowed to put recording devices in here. They might have some outside, though, and the noise from the shower will hopefully confuse them."

Ugh, her fur. She'll be fine, whatever.

"Who's 'they'?"

"Kaiserermittlungsdienst. Imperial Investigative Services. They paid me a visit shortly after you left. They didn't tell me who they were looking for, but they demanded access to the computer systems, and the logs say they were searching for someone with your name." She leans against the wall opposite the shower. "I assume it has something to do with Golarion, or how you got here."

"Do you have a guess for why they didn't just ask me about whatever they wanted to know?"

"Um. They assume you'll run away? Or maybe they're just used to sneaking around. I think Investigative Services likes being mysterious and dangerous, sometimes."

"That sounds kinda dumb. Is there anything wrong with my room other than how I shouldn't do anything I don't want them to know about there?"

"I assume they've put hidden cameras in your room. They might want to surveil you without your awareness. I can put you in another room, but they'll catch on, and then I'll probably be arrested." She frowns. "Have you done anything noticeably bad yet? Usually Investigative Services only goes after dissidents, or sometimes intellectuals."

"I've been here for less than a day, I've only had time to make a bank account and get an apartment here set up. Why are you doing any of this?"

Amelie pauses. Velra gets the distinct sense that she's attempting a Sense Motive of her own.

"Because anyone they're going after is probably important. You seemed proud of Andoran's democracy, so I assumed they're going after you because you're a pro-democracy agitator of some kind. And because-"

She speaks more quietly, as if it would make it less incriminating. "-the Imperium has conquered a lot of nations that didn't want to be conquered. Investigative Services stops them from making trouble, and anything I can do to make their lives harder is a win as far as I'm concerned."

"Is there anywhere I can verify any of this? Is the stuff I can look up on the computer in my room censored?" She is not yet capable of fixing this, which means she'll focus on thing she can fix until she's stronger.

"There's not... much censorship. You can read about the Unification Crusade, the Mondkannone bombardments, the demolition of the Zuspri temples. The Kaiser's not ashamed of his warmongering, he's proud of it." She adjusts the earbuds she's wearing, staring at the shower-head. "You won't find much about Investigative Services, I don't think. I'm not actually sure, though, I've never checked."

"That's better than it could have been, which isn't much. Are there accessible ways to make Investigative Services not be able to find me or should I default to just looking things up without having discernible opinions on them until I understand what's going on, at which point I can decide what to do about it?"

"There are ways to avoid drawing their attention. You already have their attention, and using those methods would only make you more suspicious to them. But they presumably know you're not from here, since you haven't been trying to hide it, so just reading about Flusonian history wouldn't surprise them."

"Is there anything I should do before that?"

Amelie turns around to stare at the wall. "Oh, Mirlean, I don't know. I'm not... used to this. I've read about this sort of things, but I've never done it myself... do you want a hidden weapon? That sounds like it could be useful?"

"What kind of weapon?"

"What can you use? I have a storage closet in here for the training gear. We don't have a big selection, but we have a few that will actually hurt someone."

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Monks are proficient with the club, crossbow (light or heavy), dagger, handaxe, javelin, kama, nunchaku, quarterstaff, sai, shortspear, short sword, shuriken, siangham, sling, and spear.

"Uh, does 'I knew how to use the knives back in the gym but I'm not sure what the things that looked like a crossbow without the bow part were' answer that?

Amelie's mouth drops open briefly. "Oh. Right. Different planet. Um. If you know how to use a crossbow it won't be hard to learn, but you'll still have to. I have knives."

"I have some skuriken already, but I'll take more. Where can I learn how? How long would it take?"

Amelie drums her fingers against her leg thoughtfully. "Children learn in school, usually starting around age five. There are classes for adults of course, but they'll assume you know the basics, especially since you're Katzen. I don't know of any classes for adults who don't know how to use a gun."

"I could teach you the basics, I suppose. Once you know how to use it without hurting yourself, independent practice can bring you further along."

"Sounds fine. Does here work for that? When would we do it?"

Amelie nods. "Here works. We can do it right now, I'm on break. Or tomorrow in the early morning, before my shift starts."

"Now works, I have not managed to pick up any time-sensitive errands in the last few hours."

"Okay. One more thing. Please check in with me if I won't see you for a few days. If they do disappear you, I'll need to run away before I'm next."

She moves to turn off the shower.

"Will do."

So, how do these things work?

Amelie walks with Velra back to the firing range at the back of the gym. The katzen who was doing sword-drills on the training dummy is now repeatedly climbing the wall-carpet and jumping off.

Her hand flutters over the weapon-rack. In the end she picks up a two-handed weapon. It's quite a bit longer than a two-handed crossbow, but without the bow part it's much skinnier, and about the same weight.

"This is a rifle. Don't point it at anyone you don't want dead." She slots a metal box into a hole in the bottom. "It is now loaded. This switch on the side controls whether it can fire." It's currently in the SAFE position. "You hold it to your shoulder, like a crossbow, and pull this trigger to fire." She hands the rifle to Velra. "Wait. Do crossbows on Golarion have sights?"

She does not want anyone here dead, and thus is keeping it pointed at the ground until it's time to use it.

"The things you use to judge how far away things are before you get a feeling for it? Yes. This doesn't have them though."

"Right... okay, you're going to want to start with the solid sights. Nobody ever uses them, but it's how everyone gets taught and I assume there's a good reason for that." She takes the rifle back and removes an object from the top. "There's this notch in the back, and this post at the front. Line them up in your sight-line, so that it looks like the post is sitting in the notch, and they're both sitting on the target. You might want to close one eye."

Okay. Eye, then notch, then post, then target. Line 'em up.....

"Okay, now what?"

"Make sure it's braced against your shoulder, and then pull the trigger."

Shoulder: Braced. Trigger: Pulled. Target: ?

There's a loud crack, and now the target has a small hole in it, on the top right-hand corner.

"Good! You have nine rounds left, so keep shooting until you're empty and then we'll continue."

She pulls it again. Does it hit any closer to the center this time?

Yes, although this time she hits below the center.

She doesn't really have to correct for gravity, it moves too fast to fall much. Pull. Pull. Repeat until out of bullets.

She finds she's usually missing lower, but her last four shots are all quite close to the center.

"Wow, that's some fast improvement. You've trained with other weapons, haven't you?"

It's like she can't read my tags.

"Yup!"

'Close' is not 'on', there's still room to grow before she needs harder targets to train against.

"I'm sure you'll want to practice some more with that, but let's try a different weapon, one that's a little smaller." And more concealable.

Amelie takes the rifle, makes sure it's safe and empty of ammunition, and puts it back on the rack, trading it for something else.

"This is a pistol. You can use it with one hand or two." She holds another metal box, of a different shape. "And these are magazines. They contain the ammunition." She hands Velra the pistol and the magazine.

Instead of the solid-sights, the pistol has a glass window with a glowing red dot in it.

"How do you aim these?"

"Hold it up, look through the glass, bring the red dot onto the target and shoot. You don't want to press the pistol to your face, just hold it in front of you wherever feels comfortable."

Okay. Can she figure out how to load this one on her own?

There's a hole in the handle that will admit the magazine. It's asymmetric, so she can only put the magazine in one way. When she does, it clicks into place, and she feels something shift inside it.

She's not going to just trust that she got it right, because she has a positive Wisdom modifier.

"Is that how it's supposed to go?"

Amelie nods. "It's meant to be as simple as possible. When it's empty, you press this catch to release it. If it's not empty, you pull back on this first, to put the cartridge back in the magazine."

Got it. Is this easier or harder than the rifle to aim with?

As long as she gets the dot where she wants it, she can't miss. But it kicks back harder when she fires, and jumps around in her hands. As long as she doesn't rush, her accuracy is much better.

She'll get better at it too once it's no longer her first time using it.

Amelie seems to agree. "There are some more guns on the rack. They all work the same way. There's more ammunition over here. You can swap the sights out by pressing this button on the rail. Do you have any questions?"

"Where can I get my own, for non-practice contexts?"

"A store, I suppose? I haven't looked for a weapons-shop near here, but I'm sure you can find one. Just be careful." She smiles slyly. "The salespeople get paid commission."

"I'll get around to that. Do you think that was enough to manage further practicing on my own or should we do this again sometime?"

She briefly stops to think. "For basic small arms, I think you'll be able to practice safely. Don't buy anything exotic without figuring out how to use it first." She looks behind her. "I'm going to do my workout now. If you keep practicing and you have questions, feel free to interrupt."

"I will."

Practice practice practice it's just like back home, this is her thing. Eventually she remembers that she went out to buy food because she was hungry and......didn't......actually get around to eating. This is what happens when she gets distracted. Are the bags still where she left them?

Somebody's moved them, but they're still there.

That's good enough for her. Can she successfully operate the elevator this time?

No issues. Velra may consider herself to have proficiency in elevator use.

Wonderful. Now it's time to eat, and then look things up.............how is it already four hours later. She is going to have to work on not spending too much time on these 'computers' unless she thinks it's worth it.

Anyway, what does she find out?

The planet Flusion is home to a dozen intelligent species. The most numerous are called the Katzens, Zuspris, Roqualians, and Kronks. The Katzens are catfolk, the Zuspris are lizardfolk, the Roqualians are humans, and Velra doesn't recognize the Kronks. These species have historically tended towards their own parts of the planet, but the Imperium is implementing various policies to encourage more internal migration and cultural mixing.

An elevator consists of a box on a pulley with a counterweight about the same weight as the box. When empty, it takes almost no energy to bring it up or down. The most important part is the emergency brake, which will stop the elevator if the rope snaps. The whole thing is driven by an electric motor...

The Katzenartig Imperium was declared eighty years ago (that is, a hundred and twenty-one years of the length Velra is used to) following a brief civil war. Its predecessor state was the Cat Kingdom, a monarchy that fell apart due to an ill-advised war, diplomatic errors, and general administrative incompetence. Kaiser Kattail, who is the same individual who founded the Imperium, rules with unchecked authority.

Every planet in the Jubilo system has been colonized, and the Imperium's recent invention of FTL travel has allowed it to colonize nearby star systems as well.

The crown jewel of the Imperium's space program is Project Mondkanone, also known as the Kaiser Moon. Construction began a few years after the Imperium was declared, with the cooperation of other nations. Flusion's only moon has been equipped with an enormous railgun that fires huge metal slugs at relativistic speeds. Recently, the Imperium has added engines and a hyperdrive capable of moving the entire moon.

A railgun is a weaponized linear motor, which operates by applying a large current through two rails connected by the projectile...

During the Unification Crusades, Katzen forces seized military control over the Mondkanone. When Roqualia's army held off the initial Katzen advance, a single shot from its main cannon destroyed the captial city of Lutécie, killing several million Roqualians and throwing their government into disarray. After a second shot destroyed the port city of Moulinet, Roqualia surrendered.

The Katzenartig Imperium is founded on the rule of law, obedience to authority, and equality between species.

She's fine with the first and last of those, the middle one is a problem though. She doesn't think she can join the military in good conscience.

What other opportunities to level are there around here?

Velra spends several paragraphs reading about nearby dungeons and XP potions before realizing that the article is describing a fictional game of some sort.

It doesn't look like they really think in terms of "leveling". You can attend classes on just about anything. Some cost money, others are paid for by the state. It doesn't look like "adventurer" is a job here, or if it is, the computer doesn't talk about it.

Weird.

What are the options?

In the next week, the nearest college (which doesn't appear to be something you join, just a place to take lessons) will offer:

Anti-aircraft artillery: maintenance and operation
Introductory hyperphysics
Driving lessons
Flying lessons
Financial literacy
Radio operation
History of the Wacegi War
Linterian Cuisine

She's interested in Introductory hyperphysics, driving lessons, and flying lessons. When does she need to show up for those?

Driving lessons are once a week for two hours, in the evenings, and the first lesson will be three days from now. Hyperphysics is an afternoon class, four times a week for an hour, starting next week. Flying lessons are six hours a day on the weekends.

Is it a weekend now?

It will be tomorrow.

So, nothing to do until then but more research and shooting practice? What a coincidence, she loves research and shooting practice.

Around suppertime, there's a firm scratching at the door. Not the sort of scratching that says "I baked cookies, would you like some", or even "I have a wonderful business opportunity for you". This is the sort of scratching that says "Open the door, now."

"Who is it?"

"John Clawthorne, Imperial Investigative Services. We have a few questions. You're not under arrest."

"Okay. Come on in."

The door opens to reveal a uniformed Katzen with a large beard (or mane?) and a tall cap. The hall contains four others in similar uniforms, holding weapons that are halfway between the pistol and the rifle in size. They look bored but alert.

John lets himself inside. One of the others follows; the other three remain in the hall.

"Good evening. Velra Foundling, is it?" His eyes sweep the room, looking for exits, escape paths, places someone could be hiding.

"Yes." She's not nervous because she checked, they don't have anything like Malediction here so she'll be fine whatever happens.

John remains standing and places a briefcase on the kitchen counter. "Before I ask my questions, I would like to tell you something about our jurisdiction. We target terrorists, would-be assassins, and revolutionaries. And we investigate unusual or unexpected events. We do not care about normal crimes. If you've gotten yourself mixed up in something criminal but not revolutionary, we do not care. If you are a con artist running a scam, explain the scam to us, and we will be on our way without breathing a word to anyone. Do you understand?"

It sounds like a speech he's given many times, but it doesn't sound perfunctory.

"Yup!"

"With that in mind... what planet are you from, Velra?"

"Golarion, on the Prime Material. It's the one Rovagug got sealed in."

"Where is the Prime Material?"

"It's a plane. I've never left it, unless this isn't there, and I don't actually have a way to check if this is part of it or not. There's a bunch of other planes I know of but I don't know any of them to have separate planets."

"As in, the Prime Material is the physical or material universe?"

"Sort of? It's the plane where most mortals live, as far as I know, although there are exceptions like Awaiting Consumption. There other ones, that you can get to with Plane Shifts or Gates and stuff, or apparently mirror-faced snakes. I did not already know that mirror-faced snakes were a thing, or that they did that."

John Clawthorne nods. "Mirror-faced snake?"

"I got here because there was a giant snake with a mirror where it's face should have been, I fell into the mirror and it sent me here."

"Are such snakes common on Golarion?"

"I'd never heard of them, so not that common, but there are probably lots of species I haven't heard of."

"I see."

John places a sheet of paper on the table, and takes some coloured mechanical pencils from his briefcase. "Do you think you can draw Golarion's solar system?"

"I know what the planets are named, and what order they're in from the sun. Not more than that."

"One sun? What colour is it? Do you know which of the planets have moons?"

"It's yellow. Golarion has one moon left, so does Castrovel, Liavara has five big ones and a bunch that are much smaller than them, Bretheda has dozens, Eox has a bunch of tiny moons and one artificial one, the other six don't have any." Or so Aroden wrote down in the History and Future of Humanity, and He would know.

John writes this down, making sure to get the order of the planets correct. "Do you have anything else? The colour of any of the planets, for instance?"

"In order from the sun is Aballon, which is grey, then Castrovel followed by Golarion, both blue and green, then Akiton, which is red, then Verces, which is iced on one side and overheated on the other, then Eox, which is also grey, then Triaxus, which is blue and green again, then Liavara, red and yellow, then Bretheda, blue and purple, then Apostae, grey again, and then Aucturn, which is grey-yellow."

"Thank you. This is most helpful." John flips through a notebook.

"What is the political structure of Golarion?"

"There's a lot of different countries, some bigger than others."

"What are the most powerful ones?"

"Cheliax, Geb, and Galt mostly?"

"Which country were you part of?"

"Andoran, it broke off of Cheliax a few decades back."

"Why? Was it peaceful?"

"Cheliax is ruled by Hell and they wanted not to be. There was some fighting before the ceasefire."

"When you say *ruled* by Hell, what do you mean?"

"The Queen sold her soul and compacted with Asmodeus for the crown? Because she somehow thought that was a good idea?"

"Who's Asmodeus?"

Oops. Maybe she should have not told them about that but it's too late now.

"The Lawful Evil god of slavery and screwing over anyone who tries to cooperate with Him? He sucks, there are way better options."

John seems to relax fractionally. "So Asmodeus does not rule Cheliax personally, but through the Queen, who represents him?"

"Yes. He couldn't afford to do it personally, He doesn't have that much budget."

"I see. Who governs Andoran now?"

"The People's Council, along with the Supreme Elect." Is this the part where she dies before even getting the ability to turn into a gryphon the way catfolk monks usually can. She feels like it might be the part where that happens.

Nope. If anything, John seems pleased with this answer.

"You're clearly Katzen, from our perspective. Do any other Flusonian species have analogues on Golarion?"

"Yes, The Zuspris and Roqualians, which seem to be kobolds and humans respectively."

"Interesting. It is not often, in this line of work, that I encounter something truly unusual. This situation qualifies." John makes a show of flipping through his notebook.

"We would like to invite you to stay at the Grand Katown Pyramid for a while. Our researchers would like to learn more about Golarion and how you came here."

"How much are you offering per day?"

"As in, money? One and a half katzmark per day, plus room and board. And medical care, including basic bioenhancers if appropriate."

That's not nearly enough to be a fair share of a potential entire new planet to trade with (she is not worried about them trying to colonize Golarion, the gods wouldn't let planet-level weaponry anywhere near the Cage).

"25 a day plus 10% of profit derived from this, or 5 million upfront, your choice."

"I'm not authorized to give you anything close to that much. And how would you define 'profit' from a research venture, anyway?"

"Well, there's a whole planet to trade with, assuming you can get there, and it seems like Golarion has very different capabilities than you have here, which means there's a lot of potential gains from trade to be had. If you don't want to invest in that I guess I'll just find venture capitalists who are interested or something." Maybe people don't come up with venture capital if they don't have Abadarans going around and doing it?

"Information related to inter-dimensional, inter-universal, or inter-planar travel is considered a state secret. You can't do that, I'm afraid. Our final offer is five katzmark per day, an official pardon although I don't think that's necessary for you, and a medal if we find anything interesting."

She whacks the nearest guy, attempts to stun them, and, assuming they don't shrug it off, takes their gun, she'll aim for nonlethal areas but she's not that concerned with the welfare of the people trying to kidnap her.

Roll for initiative.

The nearest guy has just begun to raise his gun when she whacks him and takes it from him. John is running away.

Kidnappers with guns have priority to non-gunned kidnappers. If he's still in range once she's dealt with the other three and not clearly surrendering it'll be his turn though.

Shouting in the distance. This small gun kicks a lot harder than the pistol did, and it keeps firing while she holds the trigger down.

"Damn it, who's got the rubber bullets?" A moment later, one of the goons kicks open the door and fires into the floor. One of them bounces up and hits her on the arm. It hurts, but it's clearly nonlethal damage.

She has 18 hp, it'll take more than that (not a lot more, come on, she's level two) to stop her.

She's not trying to kill them but her bullets are better than that. She isn't yet as good as they are at the "aiming" part, which means she misses more but she also doesn't always succeed at only hitting nonlethal areas, Nirvana bamboozle the judges.

Her bullets aren't very good at not killing people, but they are very effective at stopping people from shooting her. Three kidnappers down.

"...escaping, need backup with stun weapons, subject is armed." He's speaking into his wrist while the last remaining bodyguard lays down suppressive fire.

What wrist?

The one which is now broken and bleeding. John gives a most un-thug-like yowl.

The guard runs out of ammunition and detaches the magazine from the gun, fumbling it into their belt. The hallway is now full of bullet-holes.

"If you want me to stop shooting you can always surrender!" That guard has too many functioning legs, how about correcting that.

Corrected. Her gun makes a little beep and stops firing. Out of ammo, but there's another bodyguard who doesn't need his anymore.

John manages to open the fire escape with his one working arm and retreats, slamming the heavy door behind him. It doesn't lock, though. Fire escapes can't be locked.

She'll grab that one and follow him.