Never Split The Party

What if J.R.R. Tolkien's work wasn't fiction, but a primer to help humanity get accustomed to a harsh truth?

There are nine known realms, a world for each race, including dwarves, gnomes, and elves.

In the middle rests Middang3ard.

Each world knows the others. Each, except Earth.

Humans long ago turned their backs on magic, throwing their stock into science and technology, their governments shielding the people from the reality of what was going on elsewhere.

So be it. Humans were never very go...