To New Destinations

I reach my home and note how still it is. As I step into my front yard and reach for my keys I wonder if I'll be able to open the front door seeing as time is frozen. I stick the key to my house into the lock and when I jiggle it I am delighted to find that it still works. I tremble nervously as I feel the door unlock and I push it open. I don't know what I was expecting, but whatever it was isn't what awaits me.

The interior of my house doesn't exist anymore. What waits for me on the other side of the door is a hallway, not the one that should exist but a wholly new one, and a number of floating orbs. I hesitate for a second, as I am suddenly brought face to face with the reality of the strangeness of the situation I am in.

I take a cautious step forward, crossing the threshold into my house, and when I do an invisible force pushes me forward and into the house fully. The door closes behind me and I let out a mirthless laugh as I am suddenly forced to and past a point of no return.

"Okay… I guess I can just keep going." I say, aloud, as I begin to walk towards the floating orbs. When I begin to approach them I hear a sudden and abrupt burst of what feels like radio static that startles me but I don't stop walking and as I close the distance the static begins to quiet, but I still hear something. I begin to hear words.

"That was a mildly amusing adventure, little one. A decent first foray into the wilds of the multiverse." Mutters one of the voices. I can't tell if the voice comes from the orb or if there is something else in this hallway, something invisible. I nod and graciously accept the praise, as I find that I am able to supernaturally discern the emotions in the voice. I feel absolutely certain that I am being praised. I walk until I stand in front of the orbs, and when I am standing in front of them I pause, unsure of what to do. Eventually two new voices fill the silent hallway, and what they say makes me feel a bit embarrassed.

"Why is the human looking at our translators?"

"I'm unsure, I… I think he thinks those might be our bodies?"

I blink and feel a blush spread across my face as I realize that I just can't see the creatures in this room. I clear my throat before I begin to speak.

"I… did not know that those orbs were your translators. I have now realized that. I don't know what comes next." I explain, which causes a chorus of different peals of laughter to surround me, coming seemingly from the air even as the orbs begin to move around me. The laughter lasts for a few moments before a new voice speaks up and makes itself known.

"Luciano, you have survived the allotted time you were asked to survive in Chronicle. Congratulations! What this means is up to you." The speaking voice sounds feminine, or at least feminine compared to the other voices.

"The jumpchain rules as explained by those we imbued with fragments of the knowledge needed to begin to explain jumpchains to mortals in a Creator world were more accurate than inaccurate. You have two choices, due to the circumstances by which you have arrived here. You can move on and go to another jump, or you can stay in this world." The voice explains. It is polite and straightforward, or as straightforward as I can supernaturally intuit that it can be. I don't need to think about this, so I immediately respond to the choice.

"I would like to move on. I wish to go on another jump." I state, confidently. This causes the orbs to vibrate and I can feel a subtle rumble in the floor beneath me, which makes me grin.

"That is excellent news. Do you have any specific setting you wish to visit?" The same voice that spoke to me about my choices asks. I nod, having already made up my mind long before this.

"I wish to jump to Generic Werewolf." I proclaim, my confidence still audible. I half expect a jump doc to appear in front of me, and for me to be a given of budget of points as I try to settle on a build. I don't expect to hear a crackling burst of static, and to suddenly hear another voice speaking directly into my mind.

"Oh hey, an easily supplementable jump. Good choice kid! I like your guts. If you make this part of a supplement I'll give you something nice in return." A powerfully masculine voice proclaims, and though the thought of that is exciting I wait a beat to see if anyone else has anything to say. My caution is rewarded when I hear the voice from earlier chime in.

"A benefactor has offered an incentive to take on the 'Specific Universe' drawback. The incentive is simple: the benefactor will pay the costs to trigger a 'Quest Mode' version of appropriate jumps, any jump that naturally includes a precedent for werewolves, and will design an enhanced build for you that incorporates these stipulations." The voice proclaims, which causes me to pause.

"Quest Mode" is an invention of mine. It is an alternative form of jumping that I directly invented, as I found the original style of designing a build to be ineffective for some jumps and I didn't relish the ridiculous levels of power that came with a straight creative mode chain where everything and anything could be purchased willy-nilly.

The basic gimmick of "Quest Mode" is that it allows a jumper to grow throughout a jump instead of getting everything that they get from a jump doc the moment they enter a jump. Normally jumpchains begin with a sort of "Build phase" wherein a jumper is asked to create a build using a jumpdoc, giving them knowledge of their perks, items, and any new companions before they enter the world. Once they make these purchases these things become "Fiat-backed" and are guaranteed to work in other settings or worlds, barring drawbacks or scenarios that make them unusable.

A "Quest Mode" jumpchain is an alternative style of going on a jump or a full chain that allows a jumper to devise an initial build of things they get the moment they enter a setting, normally an entire origin or two's worth of perks and items, and gives them the ability to earn everything else. They earn these things by behaving in ways conducive to the origins they wish to get things from, and then completing quests once they've sufficiently acted like the origin they want. These completed quests award them perks and items related to the quests, with harder quests awarding more powerful and costly perks and items.

This mode is meant to grant freedom from the burdens of convoluted builds, while not allowing someone to enter a diverse setting with every single superpower available to the most obscure characters the instant they step into the setting. The fact that it is an option for me is something I immediately move to take advantage of, and I ask the voices which jumps are available if I wish to do that. I get a response from a mechanical-sounding voice a split second later.

"Current jumps compatible with the 'Generic Werewolf' jump are: 'Wrath of the Righteous', 'Elder Scrolls V', 'Elder Scrolls IV', and 'Baldur's Gate 3'. If you elect to choose one of these jumps, the jump you select will take priority over 'Generic Werewolf' but elements of it will spill over into the setting you visit. Additionally. once you make your choice you will be transported instantly to the setting you chose." The voice reveals, which causes me to hesitate. All of those settings are video game settings, specifically RPG video game settings. This makes sense, werewolves are a common part of fantasy RPGs.

I've seen the jumpdocs for all of these games but the only one I specifically remember is the one for Skyrim. It is a solidly powerful jump document, and I mull over whether or not to take the offer.

This is a touch earlier than I initially planned for a visit to Skyrim… However, something handy about using a Quest Mode way of exploring Skyrim is that there are inbuilt quests for the origins. The jump, assuming I remember it correctly, has four origins: a "Voice", a "Warrior", a "Mage", and a "Thief", and each of those origins corresponds well with a major questline or two. The "Voice" is the protagonist origin, the others are self-explanatory, and if I had to experiment with a quest mode style quest… that'd probably be the way to do it.

I spend a moment contemplating what I already possess, which is the full slate of things from Chronicle. The primary gimmick from Chronicle that now sits in my possession is my powerful telekinesis. This ability is strong enough that it will be interesting to use it in a setting that is magic-heavy like that of Aurbis… It's also not the only ability of note I'll be taking with me, since I'm taking things like my creativity with superpowers to a magical place, and I'll be taking my social perks with me as well. I eventually make up my mind and smile as I begin to speak.

"I would like to make Generic Werewolf a supplement with Elder Scrolls V - Skyrim." I remark, and the instant that I say this my surroundings begin to blur and I suddenly feel immense discomfort as I am forcibly moved. I am instantly placed on my knees and a text box appears in front of me.

[Alert: Transition to new setting underway

You are transitioning from the liminal space between realities to the Nordic settlement of Helgen. You have a fully maximized 'Werewolf' form, as a reward from the benefactor who spoke to you earlier.

You have received the perks and personal-scale items that correspond to the origins the benefactor who gave you this opportunity designated for you as well as the 'General' perks from Generic Werewolf. Please note, big property items will need to be purchased or earned in-jump however they attain true fiat-backing the moment you are recognized as their owner in some capacity. This is true of all property items, including those of origins other than your initially chosen ones.

You also have a basic set of memories outline a simple past prior to the moment you stepped into the new body you are about to occupy. You also have been bestowed with an 'Inventory' style ability to facilitate holding your items on your person without using your warehouse. Your basic details for this jump are the following:

Origin(s): Human, Knight, Peasant, Magic/Ritual (Generic Werewolf) Voice, Warrior (Elder Scrolls V) (Race: Nord)

Age: 22

Sex: Male (Unchanged from last jump)

You are on the cusp of attaining the ability to enter your personality reality. Please complete this setting's tutorial to receive another notification that will alert you to more specific details about the version of this jump your benefactors, including the one who rewarded you with the werewolf form you possess, have elected to put together for you. Certain choices will be made once you are out of the tutorial, including certain choices related to in-jump perk-based decisions.]

Time remains frozen until I finish reading the notification. When I do I immediately realize what is going on, I am starting this jump from within Skyrim's tutorial mission… I need to leave Helgen, and survive Alduin's initial explosive reentry into Aurbis after he was shunted forward in time by the group tasked with dealing with him the first time.

My senses begin to pick up new stimuli even as my memories of my last day on Earth suddenly fill a back corner of my mind. I begin to get up, listening to screams, while I consciously learn that my death was completely mundane. I was struck by a car and died where I landed as the vehicle drove off.

Something about the mundanity of that makes me laugh internally, even as I look into the dark eyes of Alduin the World Eater, who sits perched atop a tower straight ahead of me. The monster is unlike anything I've ever seen in person.

The dragon is enormous, easily the size of a house, and he gazes at me curiously, as if sensing my power. I don't hesitate to move the instant that I fully acclimate to my surroundings, the burning town of Helgen, and I decide to stick with the canon moves made by the Dovahkiin and dart towards a nearby tower where stormcloaks are calling for their brothers and sisters to rally into. When one of them sees me moving toward him he hesitates but quickly elects to urge me on, welcoming me in as I begin to sprint full speed towards him.

All around me Helgen has erupted into chaos. Imperial soldiers, led by both the famed General Tullius and the woman who my pre-jump memories tell me was the one who signed off on the attempt on my life I just escaped, are attempting to fight against Alduin. They command archers who fire arrows at the ebony-scaled and black-winged nightmare.

Thankfully for them the dragon ignores their meaningless attacks and simply takes to the air the moment that I turn and run. My telekinesis is strong, but it's currently not strong enough to stand up to Alduin meaningfully, and if I do something stupid here Alduin will simply elect to focus on me rather than burning, biting, maiming, and murdering others, all of whom are probably better-tasting idiots than the idiot I see whenever I look in a mirror.

Within a heartbeat of the Stormcloak urging me on, I reach him and escape the blasted open-air skies of Helgen. As soon as I am in the building I realize the figure who let me in is a realistic-looking Ralof; the lead Stormcloak ally during the escape from Helgen. Ralof scans the area just outside of the tower. He grunts, seeing imperials and natives of Helgen alike stuck outside, some of whom are trying to organize a meaningful defense of the city as Alduin begins to fly towards a new space to terrorize elsewhere in Helgen, and then closes the door leading in and out of the tower.

The bottom floor of the tower is filled with stormcloaks, some of whom are only dressed in the same rags I realize I am wearing as soon as I begin to examine myself. One of the rag-wearing stormcloaks is a real-looking and noble-seeming Ulfric Stormcloak, whose bindings are cut even as I take a beat to begin to fully study myself. He removes the rag that imperial soldiers roughly put into his mouth hours ago during our dramatic capture as he stoically studies the people who are crowding the tower's entryway.