skjold is my instant fav.
The exposition dumps are huge, and don't often feel organic.
at the start, the MC instantly monologues their backstory on the way to the portal. once there, they name drop some friends' names for a bit while starting at the portal which is suppose to have urgency yet continues to reference them. these friends we haven't yet met prior at all to build off of either. I feel like a proper prologue is needed leading up to the portal going haywire. Show the MC at the university with these friends stated earlier for a better set up.
Skjold, I like his mellow and respectful vibe but, he's a walking, talking lore double wide extra thick lore book. every other sentence is spoon feeding various info of the town, rival nations, some laws at the MC right away to someone he just met ever so casually. Explaining something is one thing from a naive question MC has being a fish out of water but dropping a near whole history lesson is another when on their way to his cell. I know he was getting a read for the MC reaction to it but it sure was a lot all at once. I love lore and history dumps, yet gradually over time via environment and yes dialogue, that warrant's a mention for the current situation.