The
Virtual
Realm

Scatter count: 2
Presto produces:
Portals missed: Just the one
New characters: Thom,
Named Walk-ons:
Star Wars references:
Scooby-doo references:
Groovy Objects:  The Locked Portal (destroyed)
Named Places: Ur

Original Title: The Turn of the Tide

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Notes

On Ensembles.

I had always wanted a story that stood alone as a proper Season 3 finale. Most importantly, I wanted to do it as an ensemble, with each of the kids having a specific part to play.
Each of the tests and trails were tailored for each kid, so it was a bit of a cheat. Also, I had decided I wanted Venger involved in the series finale � in the real series he hadn�t been seen since the Odyssey of the 12th Talisman, with the Seal-verse version he hadn�t been seen since OH.
I hadn�t intended to make it so long, either. But I wasn�t far into chapter two when I realised it wasn�t going to work with just five chapters, so it was doubled up to ten to make two episodes and each chapter was lengthened. I�d liked the way Venger was there, trailing them, from the very start, and it seemed logical that each chapter should have an associated Venger section to do with each other the kids.

On Evil Villains.

I had originally planned to use Kelek�s return for the big evil dude in this; he was supposed to have come back with Venger (somehow), and be after the Locked Portal as well. But that was scrapped after a discussion on Helix about the New Young Ones. Kelek�s return was going to be used there as well, in a very similar manner, so I decided to try and think up something else.
Thom was originally there in my notes too, but he was just a means to an end, as the kids needed a way of getting information. Ultimately, I decided that he would make a good, and unlikely, Big Bad to continue into the next season and so I changed things around a bit. His name is the name of a character in the fighting fantasy gamebook �Deathtrap Dungeon�, and it seemed appropriate!

On Assyrian legend and Locked Portals.

Ur is the name of the Capital of Assyria, and since I was mining Assyrian legends for ideas, it seemed obvious to use that; Tiamat is an Assyrian Goddess, and Apsu (from DHS) is an Assyrian God. The real Ur was famous for its palace, so it seemed logical to have the Locked Portal there.
The myth of the key was just circumstance; the Locked Portal had cropped up before (at the beginning of Darkest Hours), and I wanted something that was generally considered to be too powerful to have lying around. Having it locked, obviously meant finding the Key, but just looking for one bit of key seemed too easy.
I also wanted Eric to be the only one to open the Portal, though it�s never really spelled out in great detail in the story. He is the first one to touch the key, when he collects it from the pedestal, and he is the only one that can fit it together.
Eric gets most of the down stuff happening to him in this story; he almost has his throat cut by the wererats (and is saved by Venger!!), he has to crawl through tunnels virtually naked, he gets large lumps of rock dropped on him, he gets to walk through fire and finally he has to bargain the lives of his friends with their only way out!
And also a big thank you to Kryschenn from Helix for the museum ref.

On Rocks and Resonance.

This is a place that appears in Threnody by Rana Kane (at Rana's Realmlore) and she kindly let me borrow them for a moment in this fic. I've always liked the idea of "fan-lore" - something by the fans, for the fans and it crops up from time to time in my fics - Tang in All That Glitters is from NeilG; The Travellers Trees are by Kimmy, and stuff from Random Scribbles' work pops up surprisingly often, especially that Wishing Well.
And there is something deliciously recursive about it - writing fanfic about some fanfic... where will it end?

On Endings.

Since this story bridged the two seasons, it is quite unique in the Seal-verse. the ending-ending isn't the end, as we have the set up fpr the whole of the coming season. Thom has a bigger part to play, and hints will start showing up as the season goes on.