[center][h2]Saga of Astrid - Year 0[/h2][/center] Astrid awoke beside a small creek in the hills, naked and with no memories of how she got there. For a moment she simply sat there, looking around and trying to situate herself, but as much as she tried to remember how she could possibly have gotten here, all she remembered was going to bed after returning from her psychiatrist, her husband Bjorn once again having left a message that he'd be with his girlfriend tonight. It didn't make any sense... But no matter, she had a meeting and was probably already late, maybe she had been kidnapped and when the criminals noticed who she was they left her in a field after stealing everything she had? She'd see soon enough. Seeing flowing water, she decided to follow it, figuring eventually this ought to lead her to civilization or at least the sea. But something was wrong... this wasn't Sweden. Actually, it was still familiar somehow... after walking for a while she replaced where she thought she had seen this kind of landscape, on a cruise in the Mediterranean! After a while, Astrid stopped. Voices... yes, she was hearing people talk! In... Swedish? She understood them perfectly somehow! No matter, she walked up the hill and looked down under a tiny waterfall and saw a bunch of women in bizarre, rustic clothes. Her first thoughts were Sami natives, but this didn't fit with where they were. "Excuse me, I need some help." She declared with a calm that mostly came from how tired she was after walking for hours bare footed. The women stopped what they were doing to look up with curiosity and then a mix of awe and fear. The difference between the two was massive! Astrid at 6ft tall with her long straight blonde hair and these girls who were much smaller, all with hair different shades of brown, they were looking at her like an alien. ------------- The women generously gave something for Astrid to wear, though it barely fitted. When asked where she was, they simply answered Astrid that they were near the village. When asked to be more precise, they said it was Vilcas village, for Vilcas was their chief, as was his father Vilcas before. Astrid initially thought these people were LARPers who really stuck to character, but... when she said certain words like country, police, president, these people all looked at her with genuine misunderstanding. Finally she was brought to the village where she quickly became the center of attention. To say the least she definitely stuck out, everyone around her had such a feeling of... inbreeding. Finally she was brought before Vilcas, a tall man -for his village- that arrived one head shorter than her. "And who might you be lass?" "I am Astrid. Astrid Palmkvist. Look, good sir, I'm sorry to bother you but I really need to contact the police. My father is a wealthy man, I'm sure he'll pay generously for any help you can provide." This caused Vilcas to raise an eyebrow and the villagers around them to whisper. She clearly heard someone say she must've fallen on her head as she kept talking nonsense. The chief slowly approached her, reaching for one of her hands, which she pulled away reflectively as she stared down at the man. To be honest she was confused, she was afraid, but she had a gut feeling that now was not the time to show fear. The man held her gaze for a moment before smiling, seemingly amused. "May I see your hand, my lady?" He was polite, this seemed to prompt silence and renewed interest from the crowd. Astrid nodded and presented her dainty little hand with her long slender fingers. "Well. Those certainly are not the hands of a commoner!" He said loudly as he rose her hand for the people around to see. Indeed she was free of callouses and blemish, those were the hands of someone who had never worked a day of hard labor in her life! Or for someone of this time and place, the hands of a noble. "You seem to be lost and tired my lady, please, dine with us tonight, once you are rested we will see about returning you to your father." ---------- ...Could it be she had been plucked from her existence and dropped on an alien world? Back in time perhaps? As around her people feasted around a fire (wherever she was, these people seemed to be quite rich in livestock) she looked at the night sky. No light pollution in the slightest, more than that, not once did she see the lights of a plane or of a satellite streaking across the sky. "So, Lady Strid-" She could understand them and they understood her, but some words they seemed not to have the concept of, and likewise her name seemed foreign and unusual. "-why don't you tell us of your home?" Astrid looked down on Vilcas and his assembled family and servants who looked at her with interest. Didn't they have phone to bury their nose in like normal people? "I don't think you'd believe me if I told you." She said with a tired voice, not really being in the mood for any of this. "Come on now! You certainly don't look like you come from these parts! Entertain us a little." Astrid rolled her tongue in her mouth, calculating the situation. She was not in the mood but she understood this man was her host and, if this was not a nightmare that she'd wake up from tomorrow, someone who might have a lot of power over her destiny. "If you insist, Chief Vilcas." Astrid deliberately took her time to sit comfortably and lean forward, so she might have time to think about what the hell she would even say! Talk about modern day Sweden? These people had no idea about half of the words she used to talk about modern life and what she described would seem like insane ramblings! "...I come from a land called Gondor." She practically blurted out, shamelessly stealing Tolkien's intellectual property as she carefully looked at everyone around her for a reaction, a smirk or a face of some kind that would tell her they understood her cultural reference, but nothing. If these people wanted to be entertained, then she'd entertain them! She had read everything Tolkien had written so she managed to recite the story of Gondor, Numenor, Sauron and the one ring pretty convincingly, answering questions as a matter of fact and keeping up the story better than she ever could a lie. Ultimately, she and Vilcas's clan stayed up almost all night talking about Middle Earth and they would spent many nights hung to her lips as she used what knowledge of modern media she had to tell stories and keep the chief entertained. Eventually this became somewhat of a routine as Vilcas brought Astrid out to recount her stories to guests and travelers. Every day that passed forced Astrid to accept her faith and to be thankful of the role she had managed to get herself as she watched everyone else in the village toil with back breaking labor. But was this it? No, if she had to stay here, she couldn't simply remain a curiosity to entertain others.