Restam had grown bored the last few days.  All was quiet in his kingdom and nothing needed his attention.  This was one of the problems being over 2000 years old, there were times when you would get bored with life.  Luckily he had a remedy for his boredom, the world tree.  The world tree was actually a portal to a infinite number of realms, realities and time periods.  The world tree has eighty one runes and nine runes are required to open a portal.  He has already visited almost two dozen different realms and realities using the world tree.  Each reality he had visited were different, sometimes the differences were minor, other times they were major.  The two most notable were one in which magic did not exist at all other than the world tree and one where magic utilized ley lines and was technologically advanced.<br/><br/>Having made his decision to use the world tree he summoned Darla into the study and told her that he would be leaving and that he didn't know when he would return. He handed her all the documents she would need and his signet ring with his seal on it, everything she would need to run and rule over his lands in his absence. She was already the one running the day to day operations of his lands as it was. He smiled admiringly at her as he caressed her cheek, remembering when he had first seen her in whatever village it was she had once called home. The young naive merchants daughter, how easy it was to capture her attention and then her mind, it took almost no effort at all. No one looking at her today would believe she was a hundred and two and was once a merchant's daughter. Now she was one of his chosen, someone he had manipulated and molded into a weapon, a spy and a emissary.  She was his number one chosen, one he felt secure enough to leave in control of his lands.<br/><br/>The rest of that day he spent gathering supplies, a wide assortment of rare ingredients and magical trinkets, storing most in the portable hole, for lack of a better description. It was actually a felt like material that when laid flat opened a hole into an nontraditional space which items could be stored and later retrieved. Anything living placed within it was put into some kind of stasis until removed. His favorite trinkets, the rarest of ingredients and a few powerful magical items he kept on his person, but not too many in case he had to shield his magical presence.<br/><br/>He gathered his items and approached the tree, his long slender fingers feeling along the bark for the runes deep within, touching nine in a random order a shimmering veil appeared before him. He took a deep breath to calm the gambit of emotions and thoughts coursing through his mind, excitement, hope, anticipation and caution. He straightened himself and stepped through the veil, already preparing to shield and dampen his magical presence once he arrived.<br/><br/>As he stepped through the veil he gasped for breath, using his staff to lean on, until his body and mind became accustomed to this reality. He could sense the magic potential and smiled, knowing he would soon have access to numerous spells, until then he would have to depend on the items he brought with him, the most notable being his staff, sword and the circlet that rested upon his brow. There were several differences between this realm and the one he had just left, thankfully most of them were minor.  He spent a day in the shade of the world tree in this new reality gaining the power he needed to cast multiple spells.<br/><br/>He drew a glyph on the ground next to the world tree so he could find his way back and then set out to explore this new reality.  One of the first things he needed to do was find someone he could learn the local language from.  After learning the local language and some of the customs in a nearby town he headed off to explore in earnest.  While traveling through the forest he noticed a subtle change in the woods around him, it was more alive than it had been five minutes ago.  Restam continued on but he was now more alert and focused on being more aware of his surroundings.  It was growing dark as dusk approached and he started to look for a place to camp for the night.