Realm of the Sovereign

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Anderiel

ARG
Original poster
FOLKLORE MEMBER
Invitation Status
Posting Speed
  1. Multiple posts per day
  2. 1-3 posts per day
  3. One post per day
Writing Levels
  1. Adept
  2. Advanced
Preferred Character Gender
  1. Female
Genres
Fantasy of all types, Scifi of certain types, Horror, Romance, Slice of Life if certain criteria is met. Anything that can swing from light-hearted, to the polar opposite in a moment's notice.
Noah-Bradley_shogun-rising_burning-village_final.jpg

Modia, Town of Beginnings

"Greetings players~ Welcome to the Town of Beginnings. Here you will encounter a plethora of activities and encounters to cater to new players like yourselves. To the north you will find a small farming settlement where some of the natives may need your help, to the west are the Orc Hovels the first dungeon within DIS! What's in the south and east are a secret, but for now I will be on my way! Oh, by the way, my name is AIE. From all of the devs at GUESS we say, thank you!"


What surrounded the new players was not a town, nor were there any guides or stray characters around them. Within the surrounding area, all they would see were an ocean of flames, embers below their very feet, the corpses of what were once buildings in every direction. Whatever once stood here was large, and alive, but none of that remained but a charred and ever burning husk of what once stood there. Screams could be heard in the distance, close enough to be identify as a woman's. It continued on for a number of moments, but it eventually cut out and the sound of crackling wood and falling metal was all that was left.


It was only after the woman's screaming stopped that a few figures appeared out of the smoke in the not-so-far distance, large shadows pulling wagons and walking beside creatures nearly twice their size. It was a caravan of some sort, though it's ignorance of the ruined scene was suspicious in itself. But it was the number of smaller figures that began to appear throughout the burning town that was more troublesome, inhuman shapes that arose from the ashes of the town, staring lifelessly towards the group of new players. Quickly and without warning the eight creatures opened their maws and let our shrill screeches in their particular direction, following that, they slowly began to waddle towards the players.

To each individual player, UI appeared before them stating the words.

Tutorial[V2] Begin.
 
‘Well that was odd.’ As his vision went white, he couldn’t help but think the questionnaire that had been prepared was unusual to put mildly. He could only guess at how the AI or system designated a character, but was in fact quite curious to see what he would be assigned as. As his vision grew dark, a voice began to speak to albeit its dialogue was awfully short for what could be considered the opening of a game.

Blinking as his vision filled with red, Zouse dropped to a knee and coughed violently, squinting his eyes to see through the sea of flames that surrounded him. Beyond the chaotic sights that greeted him was the god awful smell things that had been burnt to ashes. He managed to suppress the reflex with a grimace before he finally looked up to get a better look at the surroundings. “Plethora of activities and encounters in-fucking-deed,” he muttered bitterly as he surveyed the carnage and what was left of the town. While he did take note of the eight others that seemed to have spawned into this mini slice of hell with him, his observations were rather abruptly cut off by all too lifelike screams. The fact that they were cut off halfway through didn’t help with the chills he felt, despite knowing that this was all a game.

Glancing warily in the direction of the, assumed, dying screams he could just make out a number of silhouettes against the rising backdrop of smoke. Given the size of the creatures, Zouse felt they would be best avoided for the time being. Their intimidating size and stature aside, they could be considered a distant problem that deserved the back seat as numerous figures crawled free of the town’s burning remains. “Oh great… zombies,” he muttered as he took in their lurching movements before wincing when their shrill cries reached his ears. Given their slow movement he figured now would be a good time to familiarize himself with the system and his particular character as much as possible, though he did keep one eye on the approaching mobs. As such, he didn’t miss the the pop up displaying,

Tutorial[V2] Begin.
“Greeeaaaat.”
 
After flying through the questionnaire everything went white, he assumed this meant the game was loading. What a weird way to start a game... Suddenly he was sitting in a caravan approaching a village of some sort. It was hot and the smell of burning wood filled the air, looking around him he was surrounded by other new players. While, rubbing his eyes trying to adjust to the sudden placement in this wagon, an NPC greets him telling the newcomers and himself a brief description on where they were. Just as randomly as it came, it left the players as they approached the burning town.

A woman's scream broke the silence in the air, it was terrible and would make you think we were playing in a horror genre. The scream was soon cut off and the crackling wood was all that echoed through his ears. He walked to the front of the caravan and looked outside. What the male saw wasn't human or a known animal, it wasn't known in general. A UI popped up and he jumped back looking at it. The message read: "Tutorial [v2] Begin" Interesting story line. Well time to start. The male jumped out the wagon and landed rolling onto his hands and knees. He stood up tall and drew his blade, his status bar popped up displaying his name: TheBlankM. Now standing before these beasts they let out large shrieks and walked over to the caravan. The more I look at 'em the more freaked out I am. TheBlankM stuffed his hand in his pocket holding the large single edge dagger in his other.
 
<<Modia, Town of Beginnings>>
<<Myrmesta ; AIE a qt>>
Damn, it had been a few years since he had last been in a VRMMO, but the graphics were AMAZING. Even that introductory quiz was splendidly good-looking, if only because AIE, the white-haired, blue-eyed NPC, was an absolute cutie. It was for this type of eyecandy that made video games so much more appealing than reality. Despite his internal squealing at how AIE’s voice totally reminded him of Honoka’s though, Myrmesta still had enough presence of mind to absorb all the exposition that had been thrown at him. He could already feel his body changing as the surrounding area flashed white, hands becoming rougher, his skin becoming harder, his clothes shifting and turning until it became something entirely different.

And then, a blast of hot air introduced himself to the newbie-friendly town of Modia.

Nice ambience, with all the smoky skies and the crackling flames and the screaming humans and the charred buildings. He would have whistled, impressed, if it wasn’t for the fact that there were most definitely enemy mobs nearby. Patting his head, Myrmesta realized that he had an annoying hat on his head and promptly removed it, tossing it into the flames. The hat burned, instead of turning into data-bubbles or whatever. Another realism-point for Realm, huh?

In the distance, eight waddling monsters were approaching him, and, turning about, it appeared that the matchmaking system for Realm had brought him into a rather…diverse party. Well, more like a shitty fucking party that only had one, maybe two melees who could actually act as tanks. He bit his tongue in annoyance, before realizing that his face wasn’t contorting into annoyance. Stone-faced indeed. It appeared that all the flavor text about the Golem race that AIE had shown him was correct.

Notching one arrow into his glowing, badass bow, he said, his cheerful tone not matching his expressionless face, “Reckon this is what the hicks up north need help with?”
 
--Modia, Town of Beginnings || Iglius Abatior--​

My oh my, had he missed the VRMMO scene, that much was certain. Iglius, as he was going to be known by in this little world, had taken his time working through the quiz, rather than taking the 'first thing to mind' approach, he had taken a more steady approach and answered each as his mind said was best, rather then rely on instinct like some might have. Now for the fascinating part, he was shifting to match the form the game had chosen for him. Taller, bulkier, and yet it didn't feel like anything was off or unwieldy in the slightest. In fact, he felt more agile and intelligent then anything else. Fascinating, he loved this about the VR experience, flaws that others saw in it aside. When the AI greeted him and explained the area, introduced itself, and went through its motions, he started speaking before it vanished. "Ah, thank you very much for..."

Well, he certainly felt silly talking to an AI after the shift happened. First though, rather warm burst of air hit him, which was quite the change. Not too uncomfortable, mind you, but it was certainly a shift. He glanced around, seeing a rather interesting party group to be sure. That one, in fact, looked like a walking rock. He smirked, talk about a stone wall to hide behind. Of course, his attention fell onto the eight creatures heading their way, rather disturbing, he decided. As much as he didn't want to, it looked like violence was their only way out here. Sighing quietly, he took stock of his equipment and surroundings, gripping the cane he had tightly. So be it, then. The message of "Tutorial [v2] Begin" flashed in his vision, and he chuckled, rotating his shoulders. "Yes, the second version of this tutorial? Makes one wonder how the first went. Oh well, I suppose its time to wage war then, yes?"
 
Oreo was impressed. He was not a newbie to the VRMMO genre, but almost immediately this game had already made a positive impression on a veteran MMO player.

“I love the ambiance of this place,” said the green haired midget, his head pivoting on shoulders as he took in the surroundings of the ‘Town.’ “Very cozy. I like it!” Having spawned into the zone in a sitting position, he stood up, but not before picking up the impressive metal staff that laid next to him. Reaching his staff arm forward, he examined himself and his gear before testing the weight of the pole arm, grinning broadly. Not bad for some starting equipment, he thought. Comfy robes too, not very restrictive.

Satisfied with himself, Oreo Lawson spun his healing staff around in several arcs before planting it into the ground in front of him. He looked around again, first at the burning starting village, then at the large monsters approaching in the distance, clearly enemy mobs, and finally at the comparatively alive people, which he took for fellow player characters before scratching his cheek. He liked the devs’ sense of humor. It was a starting village alright. A very unique one. Very gritty. It was definitely a change of pace from some of the happy-go-lucky Korean and Japanese games he’d occasionally play.

“Looks like this is an exercise in party tactics, then?” asked the tiny healer, to nobody in particular. He adjusted his glove. “Or, maybe a straight jump to a tutorial on respawning.”
 
As she loaded in, Marina opened her eyes and immediately liked what she was seeing. Fire? Zombies? A destroyed village? It seemed like it was going to be one of those action-packed tutorial levels, then. Hopefully, there wouldn't be too much railroading. Or having her skills locked out until she finished a long tutorial quest chain.

Marina rose to her feet, inspecting herself for a moment. Cold, clammy skin...was she some kind of undead? Drawing her sword, she glanced at her reflection in the metal, which only confirmed that the game had assigned her as whatever undead race it had. But she was still killing zombies? Weird. Must be one of those Scourge/Forsaken differences.

Glancing around, the undead swordswoman noticed a few other players standing nearby. As the smallfolk of the group spoke, Marina nodded in agreement.

"Eh, I don't think the devs would be that sadistic to kill us off in the first five minutes. Swear to god, though, if this game makes us go through some kind of 'main story' quest chain, I'm going to be pretty annoyed."
 
Entry into the game world was met with a large intake of simulated air as 'Reiki' prepared for the first step into a new timesink. She had expected a much more in-depth character creation process, but in the end she was faced with a mere quiz. It sufficed, she was sure, given how advanced the game seemed already, and she figured the system had some sort of huge algorithm in it to spice up the results of the quiz. Still, whatever she got, she'd be unlikely to complain; VRMMO tended not to present her with boring options when it came to the character.

With a rush of pixels and particle effects, she found herself stopping in place amidst a small crowd of what were presumably fellow newbies. With a curious smile she surveyed herself, looking over the wonderful attire she'd already been given. Lifting her her arms up to gaze at the sleeves, she swished them back and forth until one caught on fire from a nearby ember. Frantically she swatted the fire out, leaving a mildly burnt portion of her robe. Grimacing, she turned to her surroundings and finally realized how messy everything already was.

A battle-torn town at the start of the game wasn't too uncommon, but the fact that what appeared to be hostile enemies were already in the vicinity did seem a bit rushed.

“Looks like this is an exercise in party tactics, then? Or, maybe a straight jump to a tutorial on respawning.” said a small player. Reiki scoffed.

"Well it can't be any worse than Black Spirits, right?" Stepping forward, she gestured to the rest of the un-formed party, "It does seem though that we've already got our hands full. I've got your backs if you've got my... front? Seems like I'm a supporter anyways." She was unsure of exactly what it was she was supposed to do, but that was what the tutorial is for, right?
 
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