[Acradius]

Out of all the realities, timelines, alternaties, what-ifs, and worlds in general that Acradius Journeyman had visited, there was much in his life that he had seen. Yet, every once in a great while, he would stumble upon something that he had yet to experience. Many people thought him so well-traveled that he had seen and done it all once or twice. Far from it. While on his various, self-assigned quests, be they for hope, or immortality, or sometimes even for blood lust, sometimes it was just good for the weary Time Warrior to be able to stop and smell the roses.

It was a figure of speech, of course. There were no roses out here. In fact, there really wasn't much of anything that was alive. The occasional bird would sail overhead, curious as to when he would make a less dangerous target. Patience, my friend. There will be meat here soon enough, he thought. Let us just hope it is not mine. The bird's call, as if in answer, echoed strangely among the landscape. Indeed, all sounds, from the metallic clanking of his shining half-plate armor, to the eerie, haunting harmony of the wind, fell somewhat warped and twisted upon this almost-alien place.

As he approached another rise, Acradius stopped to study another wave. It, like the very surface he walked on, had frozen solid, in mid-crest, forming quite a beautiful pattern of coral-like rock on the curved tip. It sloped down in the kind of imperfect perfection that only nature can achieve, and joined the rest of the Jade ocean that the blond man stood upon. Jade was not simply the color of the hardened substance, but the nature of the stone itself. Apperantly, two hundred years ago, on the closest continent, some great calamity happened. It was a magical release of intense power, and had varied effects on the geography of the area. For one, the ocean had turned to Jade. Looking to the west, in the direction of the mainland, the lone figure could see the towering black trees far beyond the beaches.

They were also a result of what had come to be known as "The Jade Wind". The arbor had grown to immense sizes, and in an act of instantaneous aging, petrified right then and there. Slowly, the people that lived in the forests were trying to reverse the process, and at the same time harvesting the valuable and prolific amber which was the result of the trees' sap. At the same time, the people that made their living upon the Jade Sea were mining the valuable mineral out of it, and excavating skeletons and ships that were trapped in it. It was a slow process, and the groups fought what could only be called a holy war against each other, but eventually this planet would return to normal.

He took a deep breath, and prepared himself for the fight to come. Shielding his eyes, he looked up at the glaring sun that would have made a man unused to his armor bake like a tinfoil-wrapped potato. Noon. I wonder who my opponent will be this time...