A. everyone lives happily ever after

Start another thing!

It's just starting to get dark. You're in a quiet, dimly lit pub with smoke billowing out of every other booth and a jukebox in the corner playing some Stones, as it has been all night. You're waiting to see a contact who agreed to meet you there at 5:30. It's 7:00, and you've been there for two hours. Maybe it was a mistake not to get you're contact's name, you've never operated in Ireland after all, and only know you are looking for a thin, pale, older gentleman with small spectacles who coughs incessantly. So far, you haven't seen anyone who came close to matching that description. On top of that, the wait staff are starting to look at you funny. Why wouldn't they? You've been there for two hours and are still nursing your first Scotch on the rocks. They'd be making a killing if they sold cigarettes, though, because you've been going through those like candy, you think to yourself, putting out another in the increasingly crowded ashtray. Suddenly, two large men walk in, and keep looking at you while trying to look like they aren't. It doesn't matter if no one knows your name, you're an American, you stick out like a sore thumb, and these guys look like they want more than just your thumb to be sore. Then again, maybe it's it's your nerves. Maybe you are so anxious you've started to think that everybody has it in for you. Who else could know you were there? What's that, one of the men appears to have a gun in his coat? Or maybe you're just imagining that, you are a lightweight when it comes to drinking, and you're already feeling a bit tipsy. Or maybe that's just the nerves again. Whatever the case, you can't keep sitting there in plain sight.
Do you:

A. Confront the men

or

B. Collect your thoughts in the Restroom.

Why did you feel you had to mercy kill another storyline that wasn't anywhere near done yet?

Even if this thread (awesome idea btw.) sits some time without people progressing the tale, it'd probably be added to again. This way, there would be the chance for one long story to emerge, albeit gradually. I don't see the absolute need for lots of posts each day for this kind of thread to justify it's existence. I think it's just not that type of thread anyway. Threads like corrupt a wish go without a new addition for days sometimes but have not died.
Again, love the idea, but I think you throwing wrenches into the works here is what sabotages the flow of storytelling, and NOT the fact that there is some time between new posts.

I was replying to another post that had two options, one of which was the answer I made. I understand what you mean, though.

Peeling yourself out of the sticky booth seating, you experience a sudden fit of dizziness that doesn't feel like it could be solely caused by that one drink you had. Trying to steady yourself, you head towards the back of the dive. Those guys that looked suspicious to you before have planted themselves at the bar, the staff ignoring you once more. Feeling hopeful that this is all just some momentary paranoia attack, you punch open the door to the men's room. A splash of cold water to the sweaty face sure will do you good. A look in the mirror above the sink you homed in on stops you abruptly. Behind you, the reflection shows a blinding, pulsing halo of light and through it you can see your friend Paul semi-conscious lying in some courtyard that looks oddly familiar. As you think to yourself "Here it is now, I'm finally falling apart...", you can see Paul back there sitting up, turn his face towards you through that vortex of light and with a voice like mud scream "7493.59!". And then, blissful nothingness.

You are drowning, obviously. There is a sudden sharp pain on your scalp as your head gets pulled from underwater and you fall to the ground beside the fountain in that courtyard Paul and you got transported to by that talking light emanation, right when the USS Pampanito got blown to submarine hell. It's all coming back to you now, you must have temporarily lost consciousness, there's no other way you can explain that bizarre dreamlike hallucination of that bar scene you just had.
Your friend stands over you, clearly these are some strands of your hair in one of his fists. You turn to the apparently sentient apparition wavering beside you and manage to ask where the heck it brought you guys to.
The vortex tells you that all be revealed in time, and there are benevolent forces looking over Paul and you. There is the need to begin a journey now, which will require all your wits, fighting spirit and good understanding, as you decide which way to turn, whom to trust.
And with that, the talking halo disappears into thin air. Paul blinks twice, looking in need of a good pinch to snap back into reality. But the same can be said about you, to be honest. As you let your gaze move over the stone walls of the courtyard, you notice there are paths out of here, where one leads north, the other east.

"Come on, Paul", you say. "Let's get on with it. We've got to find a way home."

Do you

A. Take the doorway to the north, where beyond lie hills of green and mountains farther away?

B. Lead Paul through the eastern exit, where a flock of seagulls in the distance seems to indicate an ocean near?

Curious to see whether the coastline here bears any resemblance to the dock area of the submarine, you lurch through the eastern exit, startling another flock of gulls that had been resting just beyond. You watch them swirl away, the old 80's tune from the band "Flock of Seagulls" briefly plays in your memory and disappears. The flock of gulls pass over the stone pathway that leads further east down to a wide boardwalk, from here the wooden walkway leads another 20 feet or so before encountering a solidly built pier, with decorative ironwork holding up a multicolored canvas awning. There seems to be someone on the pier, fishing. A more utilitarian dock not too far from the pier tethers several old-fashioned boats. Several more human shapes seem to be wandering along the shoreline itself, but they are too far away for you to distinguish any details about them. The seagulls you saw before hover over this small, distant throng, crying insistently. It seems you and Paul are not here alone, wherever 'here' is.

You look back at the stone wall to the courtyard. Now you can see the fortress from which you have emerged, but there are few clues as to who owns it or how old it is. The stones are a bit weathered, and have shells and sea creatures carved here and there. Another walkway leads around the courtyard area, presumably heading for another entrance to the castle. There seem to be medieval sconces attached to the wall at intervals, just as there are refillable oil lamps bordering the boardwalk and pier. The pathway continues past the current entrance in the other direction as well, meandering over a sandy bluff covered in reeds. You hear muffled noises from beyond the bluff. Maybe there is a town that way?

Your head still aches from the explosion, so you rest on another handy bench, wondering if you are still hallucinating. This peaceful scene is nothing like the festive, electrically/powered scene where your adventure began. Are you even in the same century? An alternate reality perhaps? Paul flops down next to you, shocked and pale.

Do you

A: Seek out the only human you can clearly see (on the peer)?

B: Explore the other path that leads around the castle courtyard?

C. Take the other path over the dunes and see if there is a town (a decent pain reliever would be helpful at this juncture.)

"Let's find out where we are at last", you mutter more to yourself than Paul, who seems to have fallen asleep on the bench beside you. You get up and walk towards the man standing on the pier, who is casting a fishing net down into the crystal-clear port water. As you get closer, you can make out more details about the fisherman: he seems in his fifties, sports an apparently strong physique though being rather short. He wears simple workman's clothes which style you'd place maybe back in historic times, but you are no expert in these matters. On the upper arm area of the man's long-sleeved shirt you can make out a symbol of sorts, a dragon or rather large snake?

Do you

A. Approach and address the fisherman with "Are they biting, my friend?"

B. Halt and pretend to look at the sea horizon, in order to watch the man a bit longer?

C. Walk up to him and offer to help hauling the net back onto the pier.