An end and a beginning (Commoner) (CURRENT, Voting in progress)

My apologies for not updating sooner, but I have been focused on something outside Chyoa. I am almost done and will soon be able to do a bit more writing on Chyoa.

Also, I have not yet decided if I should continue the Commoner path or the Noble path, so I am going to add a thread to each one. Here's the one for the Commoner path, and I hope to finish the one for the Noble path some time tomorrow.

Lastly, I edited the previous thread a bit. If you are wondering why Diana and her mother did not leave as soon as the portal was ready – you will now find an answer there.

For one long moment Diana hesitated what to do. A scream from somewhere outside made her move at last. It was like no other scream she had ever heard – clearly the source was a demon. Fortunately it was not close to their home.

Not wasting any more time Diana ran to her room. Once inside she quickly removed the dress she was wearing and put on a different one – a brown dress that would help keep her warm during a cold night, if she ever had to sleep out in the open. Next she put on a heavy brown cloak with a hood – it was nothing special, but it would help protect her and hide her face, if necessary. Then she put on her Veil Charm – an unassuming copper necklace that could change her appearance, if necessary. And last, but not least, she took her weapons: a simple steel dagger and her Summoner's Staff.

Once she had taken everything she needed from her room Diana ran to the house's cellar, where the portal was waiting for her. It looked like a large dark-blue circle that reached from the cellar's floor all the way to the ceiling. Somehow it looked the same way from every direction.

Apart from the portal there were only two things in the cellar: Two heavy backpacks – one for Diana and one for her mother. They contained food rations, a spare set of clothes, and a little bit of money. Everything else had been moved out in order to provide more space for the sorceress to work.

Diana stopped briefly to catch her breath. She took a look at the portal, then at the cellar's open door, and hesitated whether to wait or go. Part of her wanted to wait for her mother, while another part of her worried that if she delayed the portal could close prematurely, leaving her trapped in the cellar. Finally caution (combined with her mother's earlier words telling her to go) won and after taking a deep breath Diana stepped through the portal...

...In the blink on an eye the young woman found herself in some sort of forest, with tall trees all around her. She took a quick look around to make sure there were no obvious threats and then turned towards the portal, waiting for her mother to come through... but instead the portal flickered once and simply vanished without a trace.

W-what? This was not supposed to happen! Diana screamed in her mind as she frantically looked around, but saw no trace of the vanished portal.

It took her several minutes and a lot of deep breaths, but finally she managed to calm down. It's alright. It's alright. This must be just some sort of precaution to make sure no one from this side will enter the portal. I'm sure the portal is still there and mother will come as soon as she can. In the mean time I should take a look around and figure out where I am. There should be a village nearby...

Having calmed down at last Diana started looking around again, this time paying a lot more attention. Lots of tall trees, some bushes, flowers, grass, fallen tree leaves... and a girl that seemed to be gathering something, most likely herbs or flowers (or both). The girl was not very far from Diana's position and was facing away from Diana. She appeared to be unaware of the fact that she was no longer alone in the forest. If she's gathering things on her own she must believe this part of the forest to be safe. The young summoner concluded. The question is: What should I do now?

Vote: What does Diana do now?
A. Approach the girl and try talking to her – maybe she can get some information about the forest and the village that's supposed to be there...
B. Ignore the girl and look for the village on her own
C. Do something else (specify what)

X. Minor Action.

Note on summoning: Before doing anything else Diana could summon one or more creatures. You can check the character sheet for a list of her current known summons. But remember: A girl accompanied by a bunch of summoned creatures is guaranteed to attract A LOT more attention than a lone girl.