Our charming tale begins with Cirrus, a teenager from the small village of Shel on the magically concealed Island.

Cirrus wasn't much different from you and me, if one could overlook the fact that he was a genius, a self-taught wizard with decent spellcasting ability, and not a human!  Like you and me, he had a personal dream - in his case, to become the most knowledgable, more powerful wizard ever.  But he had other dreams too.

Y'see, all his life, he dreamed about fantastic locales, peoples, and creatures he encountered from books and the tales of others.  He was intelligent enough to appreciate the significance and history of the the tales, but he was wise enough to accept that subjects like technology and mythology didn't exist.

Then one day he discovered, he wasn't as wise as he thought.  Hrm.....let me rephrase that: then one day he discovered, the world contains less wisdom than he thought......

Three myths became fact that day:

• The gryphon (AKA griffon), a creature thought extinct for eons, wasn't. 
• It was far deadier and more durable than thought possible. 
• The Mists, the myth about a dimension-breaking, world-connecting magical phemonemon, might not be.  Every tale about it - its colors, its ability to enable travel between realities, the mage Mo'kre - might be.
• The tlytecs, a race of dymanic beings that shouldn't exist where he lived, do.  One came here from somewhere, at any rate. He showed Cirrus that tlytecs, or humans as they called themselves, should not be scorned for their numerous flaws.  'Cause we's not all destructive, dumb-headed, short-sighted beings, damnit! 

Alas, trouble occured when Cirrus brought the human home and the gryphon followed them, most of it caused by the gryphon when it ruined a local ceremony and destroyed much of Shel. 

Local authority figure Maxil, convinced at either he or Ira summoned the creature, made much strife for the unlucky if plucky duo.  Stout-hearted but subborn, it was not he (but Ira) who finally eliminated the gryphon.  T'was a sad day for the ego of the head of the Militia when a lowly bard beat him to it!

Thanks to Ira's quick and lucky thinking, the griffon was banished via some Deux ex Machina-style magic.  A lame way to eliminate a monstrous foe, perhaps, but when time and lives are on the line, any method goes.  We'll save the heroic, ethical actions for the epics.

Unfortunately, Ira's identiy as a human was later reavealed.  With a dagger.

Will Cirrus be able to explain himself?  Will he even try?  Or will he panic instead?  Hey, I did state that Cirrus's a guy like you and me, not some "legendary hero of action!"

I did warn you that this is a "charming tale" not some "grand epic!"  Heh.....!

- Ira Johnson, traveling bard and all-around comedic person

Between Realities is an online manga which began in May of 2002.  It updates every Wednesday and Friday, provided it's not midterm or finals week at UCLA. 

It's one part comedy, one part adventure, one part fantasy, one part many other things, zero parts hentai (yay).  As the manga progresses, much more will be revealed about the background, the storyline, and the characters. 

If you like plane-hopping fun like Planscape or Tsubasa, this is for you.  What more needs to be said?  Read it!  I'm sorry if the plot seems slow; I'm learning the pacing of comics by trial and error.

-Katrover Swatroad, UCLA college student and an aspiring cartoonist since 7th grade