Upon entering you see many of the villagers just sitting outside their houses doing nothing, though a couple of them are lazily plucking some sort of stringed instruments. They barely pay any attention to you at all.

You know you're not supposed to talk to strangers, but in this situation you don't really feel like you have a choice, so you ask one of them for help.

"Hey, I need some help, these shadow things attacked me…"
"Wazzat? Shadows? Shadows don't come 'round here boy, we's got ourselves a wizard to protect us! If you got shadow problems, maybe you should talk to him. He's a pretty smart guy. He's in that nice lookin' house over there, the one with the roof! Careful though, he's usually in a bad mood. Argues with his wife constantly too." The fat villager says going back to drinking whatever it is he's drinking.

Not knowing what else to do you head over to the wizard's house. As you approach you can hear arguing from the inside.

You knock on the door which is opened by a young woman dressed in a waitress like outfit. She's pretty, but looks very tired, behind her appears an older man who doesn't look much like a wizard at all.

"Whadda you want kid? We ain't buyin' anything!" he scowls.
"Are you really a wizard? You don't look like one." You remark.
"That's because he isn't a real wizard. He's a lazy charlatan!" the woman answers.
"Shut up Talia, I was good enough to get YOU."
"Yeah, that's because I was too young and naïve to know any better! I knew I should've married a knight!"
"Hah! And what knight would marry a serving wench like you?"
"Melcar, I don't have time for your nonsense today, I have to go to work. Can you at least TRY to do something productive while I'm gone, like casting some cantrips to cut down the overgrowth in the backyard? Sheesh, I think I saw a nest of Furms making their homes in there and you know much I hate those little purple things! They infest everything and then you can't get rid of them! So can you DO that one thing, if nothing else?"
"Yeah, yeah."

The woman throws her hands up in dismay and leaves the house, leaving Melcar and you alone.

"So, what's your deal kid? I know you ain't from this backwoods village because I know everyone here and you actually look like you bathe every once in awhile. You lost or something?"

You explain your situation to Melcar, somehow he doesn't look surprised, but he does look a little more interested in you.

"Hmm, sounds like the Nightmare Tyrant. He has a habit of snatching people from other dimensions and draining them to harness his power. Those shadows you encountered are what's left of his victims. I'm not entirely sure of his methods for choosing, but I do know he only takes those with strong imaginations though. It's probably why he prefers children since they tend to be more inclined to think up fantastic things." You were lucky to escape from him."
"Well how do I get back home?"

Melcar looks at you a moment before replying.

"You interested in doing a little yard work?"
"Uh…"
"I'm really busy with an experiment, and I just don't have time to mess around with clearing the overgrowth in my backyard. If you do it, I think that'll give me time to complete my experiment, as well as giving me time to look up the spell that can take you back home."
"Well okay…"
"Good, there's a scythe in the back. You shouldn't have too much trouble."

Melcar closes his door and you walk around the back, which literally looks like a jungle. The grass is almost as high as you are and the scythe is a little too unwieldy and large for you to use properly. Soon tiny purple people appear and angrily throw small stones at you and squeak some sort of jibberish. They apparently don't like you trying to tear up their home.

You don't see how you're ever going to finish this task.

You run back to tell Melcar

You aren't going to mess about with a bunch of angry little purple people; you don't know how dangerous they might be. You head back to the front of the house and knock on the door to get Melcar's help.

You don't get an answer, but a short man with a long pink beard comes walking up the steps, he's your height, but is obviously old. He reminds you of a dwarf. Maybe he is, you are in a different world after all, but the pink beard is really bizarre. There's another taller man walking behind, but is very disheveled looking. His odor isn't the best either as he gives off a bad smell and he isn't even next to you.

"Outta the way boy! I got important business with this charlatan who claims he's a wizard!" the dwarf exclaims nearly knocking you down.
"Chargrum, are you sure this is a good idea? I mean it was only five gold…"
"ONLY FIVE GOLD? Stinky, you've been working for me for how long now and you're still too dumb to figure out that nobody steals from me? You've truly hit an all time low in stupidity!"
"Yeah, but this guy's a wizard…"
"He's a charlatan! And even if he was a real wizard, it doesn't matter because the money for once is the least of my complaints, he's gotta pay for what he did! That blasted potion turned my beard PINK, or were you too stupid to even notice that Stinky?"
"Okay, I'm just saying…"

Before you can react to all of this, Melcar finally answers the door and addresses you first.

"What's all this blasted noise? Didn't I tell you to go clean up my backyard?"
"But there are all these mean little purple people throwing rocks at me!" you say.
"So? They're just Furms, just stop them, shouldn't be that hard for you."
"Nevermind all that, I want my five gold back, look what your potion did to my beard, you charlatan!" the dwarf yells.
"Oh fer…look Chargrum, I said no refunds when I sold you the potion, besides you got what you wanted. Your beard grew a lot longer didn't it? Don't like it? Shave it off!"
"WHAT!? Shave off my beard? That's madness! But no dwarf wants a pink beard! What Dwarven woman would want me like this?"
"(Sigh) Stop pretending that you're a dwarf! You're a Halfling that's just trying to fool Dwarven women! And you're calling ME a charlatan?"

Chargrum suddenly looks around nervously and then hits Stinky for snickering.

"Shhhh! Alright, alright, keep your voice down! Look, do you have anything to change my beard back to a proper color?"
"Maybe, but…hmm, that doesn't look good…"

Melcar's statement and his eyes gazing past his porch cause the rest of you to turn around look where upon you see the sky turning jet black and dark winged creatures begin to descend from it.

"SHADOWS!" Malcar yells at which point you, Chargrum, and Stinky all rush inside before he shuts the door.

"What are shadows doing here? This village isn't even of any strategic importance to the Nightmare Tyrant!" Chargrum shouts.
"He's the Nightmare Tyrant, does he need a reason? But I'll wager they're looking for him." Melcar says pointing at you. "They'll probably try to swarm the house soon, I better prepare this place….I have to go get my spell book!"

After Melcar runs off to go get his book, Chargrum demands and answer from you.

"What did he mean, they're probably looking for you?"

You hesitantly explain yourself at which point Chargrum gets a look in his eye that makes you uncomfortable.

"So if that's the case, then the Shadows will probably leave after they get you, well I know how to solve this problem!"

Chargrum advances on you.

You run away

You run up the stairs of the house, with Chargrum in pursuit.

"Don't just stand there picking your nose Stinky, help me catch the little runt!" Chargrum shouts.

You reach the second floor and run into one of the rooms locking it behind you. You turn around to see that you're in a bedroom. Probably Melcar's no doubt. A single window leads outside. You could escape from it, but you then remember all the Shadows are outside waiting for you in the first place, in fact you can hear their screeching surrounding the house.

A Shadow breaks in the window just as Chargrum bashes the door open and you begin to wish you were anywhere, but here!

No sooner have you thought that, you find yourself in front of Melcar, surprising the pair of you! From the looks of things, you're in a basement, or lab. You know you're underground, because you can see there is a stairway leading up and hear Chargrum's voice coming from above. He's screaming actually.

"Wha…where did you come from?" Melcar asks.
"I…I dunno! I was running from Chargrum and hiding and then I wished I was someplace else and then I found myself here!"
"Wait. Why was he chasing you?"
"He was trying to throw me to the Shadows!"

No sooner have you said that, when Stinky comes running down the stairs.

"The Shadows are in the house and they took away Chargrum through one of the windows!"
"What?! I just erected a barrier! They shouldn't be able to get in!"
"Well a few of them have, and Argh! Here they come!" Stinky says as some Shadows come down the stairs hissing and screeching. He quickly runs towards the both of you and behind Melcar.

"Get behind me too, kid."

A few chants and Melcar unleashes a couple of electrical blasts from his fingers zapping all of the attacking Shadows. They give one last screech before disappearing.

Melcar immediately rushes upstairs to see if there are anymore Shadows, you and Stinky follow closely behind him. After some checking, it would appear that the rest of the Shadows have been kept out and only a few managed to get in before the barrier appeared. You can still hear them still trying to get in though.

"Whew. Okay. That should hold for awhile." Melcar says collapsing in his chair.
"But what about Chargrum…the Shadows…they…"
"I can't do anything. They got him and that's it. But judging by what the kid told me he was trying to do it sounds like he got what he deserved anyway. Besides, I would've thought you of all people would've been glad to be rid of him, with the way he treated you."
"I…guess so, but what're we going to do now?" he asks.
"Dunno yet, but I'm hoping the kid can help out. If he can like I think he can; then we should be fine."

Now both of you are looking at Melcar wondering what he's talking about. He sees that he'll need to explain in more detail.

"Kid, as I said you were brought here by the Nightmare Tyrant due to your strong sense of imagination. However, judging from your recent transportation trick it would appear that your imagination is strong enough to cause things to happen with the mere power of your mind. Yet, it would also appear that your power is limited. You wished you were away from danger, yet only re-appeared in another place in the house. Though my magic barrier was up at that point, so perhaps that has something to do with it. I don't know…let's test something."

Melcar points to another chair.

"Concentrate, and think about that chair being solid gold."

You aren't sure about all of this, but you're interested in this "new power" you've acquired so you comply. Perhaps you could try to even wish yourself back home!

You close your eyes, concentrate and wish for the chair to be solid gold, but it's more difficult than you thought. Your mind is periodically bombarded with images of darkness and grinning Shadows. Eventually you fall to the floor. Melcar helps you up. The chair is still the same, except it has a single gold piece on the seat. Melcar checks to see if it's real, and then he pockets it.

"Well, just as I thought, it's unpredictable and weak right now."
"I…saw Shadows and darkness…" you say still holding your head.
"It looks like the Nightmare Tyrant really wants you; he's probably linked to you psychically or something. I wouldn't try to use your power to try to get back home. You're likely to appear right in his clutches, but if we harness your power a little better, we can at least get rid of this immediate threat of Shadows. Focus on immediate help right now rather than a long term…"

Suddenly Melcar is struck in the back of the head, by a Shadow! It must've still been hiding during the search! Melcar collapses and falls. Stinky runs off, leaving the Shadow to turn its attention towards you, hissing aggressively.

You use your power to try to escape

You attempt to wish yourself elsewhere again, but you failed to heed the warning given by Melcar who stated how such an action might be dangerous, and in this case it was…

Your mind is once again flooded by darkness and Shadows filling you with terror, and causing you to feel pulled towards it. A sinister laugh echoes throughout your head causing you to immediately break your concentration, but the damage is done as you are captured by the Shadow that's currently in the room with you. At this point your mind is too paralyzed with fear to be of any use, but it knocks you out just to be sure you don't try to escape again.

Then it, along with its fellows takes you to meet the Nightmare Tyrant, whose laughter you hear once more before he carries out his evil plans for you.