We stepped out of the portal

Introduction

We stepped out of the portal.

Our muscles trembled with excitement, our skin tingled, and tiny yellow sparks crackled across it. Behind us, golden lightning bolts darted more wildly through the portal’s vortex than they had before we stepped through it. The numbness quickly passed, and our clothing remained intact.

The sky was gloomy, as if a storm were brewing, yet a strange, greenish-blue light filtered through the clouds, which did not seem friendly at all. Behind the portal, rocky towers resembling shark teeth jagged the horizon. Before us lay the ruins of a bygone era. Crumbling stone buildings of various shapes stood in rows facing one another. Between them stretched a wide, square-like street paved with stone slabs; it looked as if the entire settlement had been built around the portal. Some of the buildings, with their towers, resembled small churches. Most, however, had been reduced to mere ruins. Vines had coiled around the stones, and leafy trees burst forth from several houses, their roots tearing apart the once-carefully laid walls. The doorways were particularly strange. Some were so low and narrow they looked as if they had been made for children, while others were as large as a church gate.

Suddenly, we noticed a movement. A figure stirred on a pile of stones. Slowly, the creature’s form took shape out of the gloom. It was crouched in a half-squat, hands resting behind its back, torso leaning forward. It stared at us as if it couldn’t believe its eyes.

We looked at each other for a moment, and when we turned our gaze back to the stranger, he stood up. Even from a distance, his robust build was evident. His clothing resembled that of a medieval wanderer. A tattered cloak and ragged garments fluttered in the wind. His head was covered by a hood, and his face remained hidden in shadow.

And he started walking toward us…

With every step, he seemed to grow larger. Fear coursed through every bone in our bodies. Our feet felt as if they were rooted to the ground, while the approaching figure appeared ever more massive. As the features beneath the hood slowly came into view, it became clear that we were not facing a human.

We managed to free our feet from their bonds and stepped back toward the portal, and he stopped. For a few seconds, we just stared at each other, motionless. We were terrified. He just watched. Slowly, he raised his hand and pulled the hood off his head. His skin was greenish, his jaw large and broad, and from it two distinctive, larger, upward‑pointing teeth jutted out. His ears were large and pointed, his nose short and wide.

An orc.

His hair and beard were black, but he had no mustache. At the same time, his eyes glowed a light blue. There was something reassuring in his gaze that slowly eased our terror. It was as if he wanted to convey that “there is no need to be afraid.” His gaze was unique; we had never seen anything like it before.

He spread his long arms wide and spoke.

„Üdvözöllek Portáljárók!” – that means: Welcome, Portal Walkers!

His voice rang out with surprising clarity. It wasn’t particularly deep—though given his size, we would have expected it to be much deeper. All of that, however, paled in comparison to the realization that he was speaking our language. We continued to stand there, speechless.

We tried to process what was happening to us. He continued… He introduced himself… He said:

• that his name is Krull,
• that he is very happy to see us,
• that he never would have thought such a wonderful thing would happen to him today,
• that everything was fine,
• that we had nothing to fear,
• that he would help us with anything…

As we listened, it became clear that he was just as excited as we were.

This realization eased much of the tension. We no longer saw a bloodthirsty monster before us, but someone who was genuinely happy to have us there. Shortly afterward, we introduced ourselves as well.

In the minutes that followed, a barrage of questions came from both sides. We wanted to know so much that we could barely wait for each other’s answers.

After a while, Krull’s expression suddenly changed. His eyes widened slightly, as if something important had occurred to him. He suggested we accompany him on his journey.

Along the way, we could get to know Vinperia’s world, and he would answer all our questions.

And so, without hesitation, we went with him.

Leaving the memorable site of the portal behind us, we set off down a forest path. Krull had a cart pulled by a strange, cattle-like creature.

He called him „Bogár” (means Beetle).

On his cart, glass bottles clinked inside wooden crates, alongside a few small wooden barrels. They were filled with wine. Our orc was a wine merchant, and he was taking this very shipment to an inn called “Tompa Agyar” (means: Blunt Tusk) on the other side of the forest. We accompanied him on this journey. It was incredibly entertaining that he spoke our language. I marveled at this for a long time and kept asking how it was possible.

Krull explained that we are not the first Portal Walkers. His grandfather had met others when he was still a child. The Vinperians believe that Portal Walkers who arrived in the past had taught their people various languages, crafts, and cultural customs. Perhaps that is why we speak the same language….

The forest consisted of massive deciduous trees. Their thick trunks towered above us, their roots winding across the ground in many places. These were covered with tiny mushrooms that glowed in shades of yellow and blue. Their faint glow illuminated the path, for the dense canopy of the trees almost completely obscured the sky.

Krull warned us not to touch the mushrooms, for they were deadly poisonous even to the touch. Of course, he only told us this after we were already holding them in our hands. He laughed heartily at the sight of our terrified faces, then added that he was just joking. Later, we discovered that he particularly enjoys teasing others.

But then he turned serious and told us not to eat them, because they cause diarrhea. But they do have their uses: at least they help us see the path in the forest.

Further in from the trail, we spotted a reddish, web-like formation in a darker, deeper root. It looked like some kind of slimy red spider’s nest. We asked Krull what it could be. He just waved it off and added that it was just an incubator. To him, it was a fairly common occurrence. However, he said he didn’t feel like talking about it right now. Once we got to the inn, we should ask the bartender, because he loves to tell stories—about this, too.

The forest path wasn’t very long—or at least it didn’t seem that way, though perhaps that was due to the new discoveries and the excitement. By the time we emerged from the trees, the weather was no longer gloomy. Through the scattered clouds, we could see a sky shimmering in a magnificent greenish-blue hue. What was interesting is that even though it was daytime, millions of tiny stars were still visible in the sky. The sight was breathtaking. Before us, a magical landscape unfolded: in the center stretched a long ridge dotted with yellowish-green fields and small clusters of trees. To the right of it lay a vast basin, embraced by tall, snow-capped mountains. Settlements emerged among the colorful fields and groves. Slender towers, castles, and elegant buildings rose above the landscape.

This is Irol.

Krull told us that the Irolian elves live here.

He had a really good relationship with them. They made a wonderfully fragrant white wine using the local Irolith flower. In fact, their entire culture revolves around that magical plant.

To the left of the hills lay another basin. It was longer than Irol, and its far end was invisible, lost in the distance behind the forests. This region was not surrounded by mountains. It was flat as far as the eye could see, a yellowish wasteland stretched across it.

This was Moc’sar.

This is where the Moc’sarian orcs lived. Krull was one of them, though by his own admission, he didn’t count as a typical Moc’sarian. Most of his people lived off the treasures provided by nature and rarely left their homeland. He, however, loved to travel, trade, and discover new places.

He told us that from here, you can’t see any of Moc’sar’s wonders. The orcs had retreated to the other end of the forest, where nature still thrives. Once, this entire basin was full of water and life, but rainfall is decreasing, the climate is changing, and the marshy areas of Moc’sar are drying up. But he was happy to take us there too, and would give us a proper tour of his homeland.

To us, the landscape looked more like an endless yellow pasture. From the tone of his voice, however, you could sense that his people had lost something precious.

In any case, the orcs live on the other side of the forest. Some of them even farm in the outlying—less marshy—areas. This is where the Moc’sar red wine, which fills the cart, comes from.

The Tompa Agyar Inn is located near the center of the hills, at a three-way intersection.

The building looks as if it were built in a medieval Western European style. Stone walls are set within a thick timber framework. There are many small windows in the walls and in the attic. The balconies are decorated with flower boxes. It looked clean and cozy from the outside.

Before we went inside, Krull gave us cloaks to put on because our clothes would give away that we weren’t locals. He thought it best to avoid drawing attention for the time being. He went in first to look around, then motioned from the doorway that we could go in. Upon entering, we found that it was indeed much more spacious than it had appeared from the outside. Behind the entrance, a spacious, high-ceilinged common room welcomed us. The space was filled with massive wooden furniture. To the right, a fire crackled in a huge stone fireplace. Opposite the door stood a small stage, with a dance floor in front of it and a staircase leading upstairs behind it. On the left was the bar, stocked with neatly arranged bottles, glasses, and mugs, and manned by an orc bartender sporting a crown of black curly hair. The bar in front of him was just as clean as the white shirt he was wearing. He had on a light brown leather apron with decorative belts and buckles, but even that had barely a spot or two on it. Yet one can easily get dirty behind a bar.

There weren’t many people in the inn. There were guests at about a tenth of the tables, but they were already in a pretty good mood.

Krull led us over to the innkeeper. He introduced us.

It turned out that he was the owner of the Tompa Agyar. But he was happier that we’d arrived with the wine than that he was meeting us—Krull immediately pointed out that he was a regular here at the inn and had seen a lot, so it was hard to impress him. After we helped unload the shipment, the innkeeper—whom everyone just calls „A Főnök” (means: The Boss)—invited us to stay the night at the inn. Krull said he doesn’t usually offer this, so we should definitely take him up on it. However, the free invitation was only for us. Our merchant was a day late with the goods, so Főnök deducted his fee from the price of the wine.

So we spent the evening there. The inn filled up slowly but surely. All sorts of creatures came and went. There were humans, orcs, elves, broad-shouldered dwarves, and a gnome-like creature smaller and less stocky than the dwarves, along with a green goblin-like companion—they were the most drunk of all.

But everyone was drinking, and they drank as if they had to. In the magic of the evening, we remembered the hatchery we’d seen in the forest, which Krull had promised Főnök would tell us about, so we asked him. We listened for hours on end. Often, the locals would chime in with a story or two.

— This very interesting and lengthy story provided a wealth of information, which I will summarize and recount later. —

In short: in Vinperia, there lives a special parasite known as the Mindreaver. Once it infects someone, it slowly takes control of their body. The victim remains conscious the entire time, trapped within their own mind, unable to regain control of their body.

The worst part is that it’s almost impossible to avoid infection.

The parasite is everywhere.

Its reproduction can’t be stopped either.

We were reassured that we’re most likely already infected.

But there’s no cause for concern, because they can’t tolerate even a small amount of alcohol in the body. So even a glass of wine completely flushes them out of the system. That’s why everyone drinks in Vinperia. Generally, there’s widespread hatred for the Mindreaver parasites, yet Krull adores them, because he owes his successful business to them.

Incidentally, thanks to this, every single race has its own remedy for the whisper — that’s what it’s called in common parlance when someone becomes seriously infected, because after a while the patient hears whispering voices; that’s the first symptom. Medicine, however, calls it „Parasomnia”. So, since consumption is inevitable, each race has developed increasingly sophisticated products. I have to say, we tasted some pretty high-quality goods.

By the end of the evening, we were exhausted from drinking and all the experiences.

I don’t even remember how I got into bed.