001. video.

[jalan]

[ The girl that appears now on the network is not incredibly competent with this technology, but nor would she publicly broadcast without having had a bit of practice beforehand. That flicker of uncertainty in her expression is stifled, and her smile is subtle but warm. ]

Hello, [ is said, with a twinge of a raised eyebrow. ] My name is Daenerys Stormborn, of the House Targaryen, and this next moon will mark the six months I've been here. I am not the first of my land to arrive -- many of you are already familiar with Ambassador Baelish.

And over the past few months, more and more of my people have come through the Porter. We represent different lands, different values, different politics, but in this world, we find ourselves with more similarities than we'd ever imagine sharing. If any of you of Westeros or Essos are viewing this [ because gods know it took her a while ] and we've yet to meet, I'd very much like to rectify that.

There are more than just us, too, who have likewise entered this land and felt like strangers to its technology, its ways. If you feel more at home in a world of horses and candles and swords, I'd like to know you too, whether you're new or have been here for sometime. We face a conflict between wishing to recall always the worlds from which we hail, and represent them proudly, while achieving a level of integration that ensures we have a voice. Perhaps there is a solution to find, between all of us.

Likewise, [ she adds, ] if you are entirely at home here but perhaps would be willing to act as a guide, then please do step forward with your name and your skills. You would want also to be a patient sort of person, but I assure you, we learn quickly.

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[jalan]

Well, I won't ask after your long story in this moment, but I'd be glad to hear it when you're next inclined to share it. What sort of land was yours? Beyond its level of advancement, I mean.

[ Because as much as Dany might like to try on new words, this woman has the cadence of a native. ]

[notsheepish]

Oh, you know. Knights and magic and monsters and powerful women fighting over a throne. All that fun stuff.

["Fun." Yes, that's the word for it.]

And as for my story... the short version, I guess, is that I was friends with one of those powerful women, and another one who hated her used magic to lock us in a trap. A trap that was in another world a lot like this one.

[jalan]

[ There's a pause from Daenerys. Suspicious, a little, that this isn't some form of jape at her expense.

The shortform story helps ease that, but only slightly. ]

We can't speak of magic and monsters so easily, of my world.

[notsheepish]

Well, they aren't exactly everywhere in mine. The lucky ones can go their whole lives without seeing any of it, but they're definitely a reality. Personally, I've run into enough of both to last several lifetimes.

[Ruby gives a... slightly dark chuckle? Wow, her life is so weird.]

[jalan]

Well.

[ So can Daenerys, but she opts to just leave that alone. ]

We've more knights than is arguably useful, and I'll gladly take powerful women vying for the throne over greedy men.

[notsheepish]

Oh, I've met a few of those too, but it's definitely a woman's world. Which my feminist side thinks is great, obviously, though my "getting banished to a cursed prison" side might sometimes have doubts?

[jalan]

If greatness can reside in women, so too can evil, I suppose. [ She has set fire to at least one, after all. ]

So you were banished, like we were banished here?

[notsheepish]

Sort of? I was definitely in that world a lot longer than any imPort's been here. But at the same time we were sent, the curse also messed with our memories, made us think we'd always lived there. Hard to escape when you don't know you're in prison.

I only remembered who I really am a couple of years ago.

[jalan]

And that's why you talk like you do.

[ A smile, now, subtle as ever, a little crooked. ]

I apologise -- I had the thought that perhaps you were mocking me. I've never heard such manners of language in my world, and worlds like it.

[notsheepish]

Oh! No, definitely not making fun. It's been... an adventure trying to figure out what it means that I've been both of these people before. People with some similarities, sure, but who lived very different lives.