The story of the Shifting Coin is somewhat unusual and shrouded in mystery. It came from what an outside observer could call the ‘original’ universe… if such a universe existed.
Nobody really knows ‘how’ it came into being, but there are a few theories. The first, is that the strange coin might be magical in nature. A strange spell was cast upon it, to keep shifting or sliding, from one dimension to another… The other theory is that is came from a technological experiment where it was sent into some strange quantum dimensional state. Though however it came into being, the fact it exists is not known to the dimension it would be found in.
The coin itself looks like a simple dime, though it might have an odd design. Numbers that were based on a different script owing to a different history from this original universe. It might be made from a different metal instead of the normal one… there will always be ‘something’ a little different about it. The face might not even be human on it and it could be considered a ‘prank’.
The coin was usually found discarded… as if waiting for someone to pick it up. This was the start of a vicious cycle.
What did this strange coin do?
Once picked up, the coin would glint and with a soft flash, take the bearer to another dimension, without warning or them realising. This new world would look completely identical to the world they had left… in fact, initially, there would be nothing to indicate they had ever left at all. (at least, this is the theory… it is entirely possible that the coin warps all of reality for everyone except the current holder… there is no way to know for certain.)
The new dimension would have a similar history even to the holder’s personal life… but… there would be ‘something’ different. Something that they would be unprepared for, when confronted with it unlike everyone else.
Of course, it was very unlikely they would ever find out it was the coin that they picked up as the root cause of all this… and the coin itself, being unable to be spent as money would often be discarded and thrown away, ready to take some other unsuspecting victim to take to another world, continuing the cycle…
