As you stand poised to continue your
adventure drink, an indescribable sensation overcomes you. You feel a sudden discord in time, as if months have passed in an instant while you stood stock-still mid-breath. You feel the drag of air against your limbs as you try to ambulate yourself through the chrono-molasses, each attempt to contract a muscle and urge yourself into action becoming an insurmountable task.
The intangible lag abates as quickly as it beset you, with every struggled attempt to move your body hitting all at once as if queued actions, culminating in some sick dance moves as you flail around. After your impromptu break-dancing, as you regain control of your own destiny, your hands instinctively move towards your weapon in an effort to defend yourself against whatever evil wizard had foisted this time-fuckery upon you.
But no cackling robed antagonist presents themselves. Instead, you find a small point of light flicker into existence about chest level, a short distance away from you. The point swirls in a circular motion, with each revolution adding more scintilating sparks as from hot iron worked in a blacksmith's forge. The rotating point begins to expand, taking on the appearance of a firework twirled on a string about a central axis, cascading glittering embers against the floor and walls. Momentarily you worry about the fire hazard, but the embers never settle, instead floating slightly above the surfaces before twinkling out of existence.
As the central iris of the ring expands, your surroundings beyond the brilliant swirling frame begin to warp and blur. What should have been the wall of the room you occupy dissipates until you can clearly see through the portal into another land. Great stone pillars rise from the weathered slabs of the floor, each linked together with a beautifully decorated arch, though they support no roof. The open sky above shines silvery moonlight down upon the area, illuminating in stark relief a large statue in the center of the area. This statue depicts a wise figure with a kind smile, surrounded by seven songbirds. The statue exudes a comforting presence, even being but a viewer looking through time and space.
At the base of the statue, you can make out the comparatively small figure of a tiefling, curved horns glinting in the moonlight, crouched by a rain puddle. They carefully fill a vial from the reflective pool, and seem oblivious to the magical swirling vortex materializing a few dozen feet away from them.
As you step closer to the portal and reach your hand forward, you feel a thrum of energy against your fingertips. The moment you make contact, a voice echoes through your mind without touching your ears.
"Time is fleeting. A great threat looms over Toril from beyond the stars, and the planet needs every able-bodied savior it can muster. Time on this side of the portal will halt, should you chose to step through.
Do not fret, only your essence will travel from this place to inhabit a copy of your body. Should you perish, or once this threat has been quelled, you will return back here free from harm.
Adventurers, assemble!"