Enter the Amasango

Error Gate

A faint sound of rolling dice echoes in the silence.

You step through a gateway of smoke and find yourself on a grassy hill overlooking a walled city. A river to your left flows past what you instinctively know is the southern wall of the city, and it empties into an ocean stretching to the western horizon.

"Entering the world of Gonketune... Welcome to Echo City."

The words float in the air in front of your eyes, giant letters that glimmer in the sunlight for a moment and then fade into nothing. Looking around, you see a single tent -a modern design with nylon cloth and fiberglass poles- and the burning embers of a dying campfire. There is a rough-cut walking staff in your hand and the weight of a leather backpack resting on your shoulders.

As you survey the horizon, you notice the faint sound of a small whirring fan. A small, faceless drone about the size of a grapefruit approaches and hovers in front of you.

"Good morning! [Afternoon, evening... whatever]. I am Photobomb, your personal companion [translator, world encyclopedia and gofer]. I am here to assist you with any messages you may receive or wish to send. I can guide you to the best shops [markets, inns, museums or other places of interest] as you travel through new areas. I can also store maps of the locations you visit and pull them out for you to reference. Speaking of maps--"

A tiny light flickers on, projecting a two-dimensional map in front of you. "This map shows the city of Echo and its surroundings. You are here, on a hilltop to the southeast. I understand that this is your [information loading] first visit to Echo. Depending on your game style, Player, you will no doubt be interested in visiting one of the following locations."

A small green dot begins to blink on the map, just outside the city walls.

"As I indicated, you are here. I recommend traveling through the Eagle's Gate--" -a yellow gate icon appears - "unless you prefer to stroll along the river to Echo Port and through the Fish Gate."

"Echo Port is a fantastic place to purchase fish [and other edible aquatic creatures] or to acquire gear and perhaps rent a boat so you can fish for yourself. Tradeships visit this city from almost every other great city-nation in the world, making Echo the best place to acquire artifacts [clothing, artwork, spices and other commodities] from any of the other nations. That does assume you are able to afford it. Also, most of the traders and ship captains already have buyers for their cargo. You will have to visit Oceanview Market to make those kinds of purchases."

"For the sightseers and fortune hunters, I recommend starting your adventure at Eagle Castle. Catch a quick tour of the grounds, and then speak with one of the Peacekeepers - Echo's local militia - about opportunities to serve the community and to earn a few gold coins on the side. You could also join Chalkdust Caravans as a merchant or hired muscle, or sign on with the crew of a Marlin Transport Ship and sail to another part of the world."

"Players seeking knowledge about this world or about specific skills find that the Great Library of Echo holds vast amounts of information on almost any subject of interest. Our historic Garden of Roses at Echo's center is also a great place to learn about important events and heroes from this nation's past.

"Finally, for our crafts-persons [lumberjacks, stone crafters, artisans, bards and the like] there are entire streets dedicated to whichever skill or craft you seek to develop. The Popinjay Academy is a renowned place of learning if you want to study more classical skills, while the training programs at the Clockworks of Kengir teach skills such as metal work and basic mechanics. [Insert tangent] In fact, the Clockworks is where I was constructed."

The drone pauses its monologue abruptly. There is a brief, unpleasant sound of grinding gears, and the map display winks out.

"Wait. [Error. Re-calibrating time device.] I am sorry. My memory circuits just informed me that you are a Beta Player. This world is not part of the beta-test, so it is not yet open for public exploration. It appears that you arrived here in error."

The drone hovers in front of you for a long, awkward moment.

"It does appear that correcting this mistake is beyond my current programming. May I suggest that you travel directly to the Gate of Traveling between Worlds, or the Amasango Gate as it is named in your Player's Guide [and in the title of this game] so that you can return to the official Beta Testing grounds. Obviously I cannot force you to make this choice, but you should know that the Developers will not accept responsibility for any bugs or glitches [like arriving on this world in the first place] that you might experience during game play."

"Whichever direction you decide to go, I am here to serve."

———

Dear Player... please list the destination you prefer to explore next in the Story comments.

1. Ask Directions to Echo's Amasango Gate - your unscheduled tour of Gonketune will end and we will return to your regularly scheduled Beta Test.

Ask Directions to any other location - Please indicate which of the listed destinations you would like to explore next. You could also suggest a general location type common to a fantasy or steampunk genre and challenge the Author to create a comparable location in-game.

Here is a quick reminder of the locations inside Echo that Photobomb described.

2. Echo Port
3. Oceanview Market
4. Eagle Castle
5. Chalkdust Caravans
6. Great Library of Echo
7. Marlin Transport Ship
8. Garden of Roses
9. Popinjay Academy
10. Clockworks of Kengir

It is advised that you save often. Lost or corrupted game data of your time in Gonketune cannot be recovered, and your return to this world cannot be guaranteed.

Additional creative  "write-in" alternatives will also be considered, and may rank higher  than popular opinion depending on their originality (alternatives cannot cross into material copyrighted by others) and relevance to the  story.