Scene #9739: Welcome to The World

Owner	Pose
Atoli	The World (R:2). 64 of God's very own terabytes, yes, terabytes, entirely dedicated to creating a nice little virtual space for people to play around in, socialize, fight, and surely, nothing else at all. How many of those terabytes are in a shady black box even the game devs don't know how to fully access? Who's to say! The size makes it so much easier to just purchase an M2D directly from the company, pre-loaded with the game, than suffer its download. The M2D is a nice, slim VR headset with no wires and a battery that boasts over a hundred hours of play, while being so light you can barely tell you're wearing it. Controllers come in standard gamepad format, or two slim VR doohickeys, you know the ones. The M2D has a camera up front, which you can turn on to be able to wear the thing on the go. This thing is made so you can play video games on your commute to work or on the bus to school, and it's a feature they boast! Putting the headset on does not dull your senses or put you in a weird paralyzed state, though playing from the comfort of a nice chair or your bed is still advised just to be comfy. First launch into ALTIMIT OS prompts a few registration pop-ups, the usual. Name, preferred display settings, so and so on. This display then beams your eyes with a glorious 1280x1024 resolution ring-shaped desktop with apps like 'email' and 'browser' and 'The World'. You cannot run two apps at the same time! Want to check your emails? Exit whatever you're doing. It's a VR headset and PC all in one. It's a respectable attempt, for the price and portability. Eventually, you log in to The World. UNLIMITED ONLINE GAME The World R:2 A Dazzling Twilight Dream Ver.2.26 ==> Log In NEW Official Site NEW Official Forum Quit The title screen is a chainsaw-like sword dividing the screen, over a backdrop of dark city streets, modern buildings with large pipes and steam-powered technology. While the site and the forums taunt you with the promise of new messages, you surely didn't come here to read LORE, or to check out what the GAMER WORDS in this world are like. You log in, eventually. The game now demands that you create your first character. You float in a bright orange void, surrounded by holographic displays, formless. Windows appear, asking in succession for a race, a class, and then letting you enter a character name. Your name can be 18 characters long. It can contain spaces, special characters, numbers, and does not need to abide by any particular syntax (like starting with a capital letter). -------> NEXT POSE CONTAINS CHARGEN INSTRUCTIONS
Atoli	Character creation is fairly straightforward. You customize your appearance freely. Only your weapons reflect on your character model. The main aesthetic of The World includes a lot of rounded markings, flowing tattoos and patterns that are almost always on clothing, and frequently on the skin as well. More conservative patterns are simple face markings, but there's a lot of freedom here too. There are only two races: Human -All-rounders. They have a knack for technology and tend to look down on those of the beast tribe. They possess divine wisdom but dislike magic. Beast -Beasts are humanoids with animal-like heads, resistant to innovation and more concerned with their own cultures. There are three tribes: -Ya Tribe: Large and intimidating, they possess higher physical stats but lower magical stats overall. -Lei Tribe: Comparable to humans in size, this tribe often has canine or feline appearances. Higher speed, lower defense. -Tu Tribe: Shorter and wiser, and frequently fluffier, those of this tribe have higher magical stats, but lower physical stats. Regardless of your choice, it is specified that player characters all belong to the same faction: Teutates the Pursuers, a group that focuses on unity between the two races. Player characters are also known as Adventurers. Next is your class: Blade Brandier (1) -Light armor and rapid skills allow these swordsmen to use one-handed blades to adapt to nearly any situation. Macabre Dancer (3) -Dancers utilize twin fans as weapons and can use all forms of magic, specializing in inflicting debuffs to enemies. Edge Punisher (1) -Wield massive blades and heavy armor to both dish out extreme damage in close quarters and take hits without flinching. Flick Reaper (2) -These heavy-armored mid-range combatants use scythes to perform area attacks and aerial combos, but suffer at long ranges. Harvest Cleric (3) -Healers who use staves and have access to healing, buffing and damaging light magic. Essential to any group. Lord Partizan (2) -Spears and heavy armor grand these warriors the highest defensive stats and armor-piercing skills, in exchange for being slow. Shadow Warlock (3) -Masters of dark magic, warlocks use tomes to unleash extremely high damage spells in large areas and crippling debuffs to enemies. Steam Gunner (3) -Through the use of their steam-powered bayonet weapons, gunners excel at long range physical attacks, and their light armor even lets them utilize the bayonet in melee like a sword in a pinch. Tribal Grappler (2) -Monks in all but name, these spiritual warriors use light armor and fist weapons to deliver rapid combos and possess an unnaturally high HP pool. Twin Blade (1) -Use light armor and twin knives to deliver fast multi-hit skills that devastate unarmored targets. Versatile, easy to play. Adept Rogue (*) -WARNING: Adept Rogue is an advanced class for experienced players only! By mixing and matching up to three classes, unlock a high level of versatility and power, but beware, leveling each class is much longer this way. To make an Adept Rogue, you begin with 4 class points. You must spend these on the above classes, using the value after their name. You will begin play with the first class chosen this way, and must unlock the rest through special extension quests. You may freely pick which armor type you wish to wear. Adept Rogue stats are average across the board, slanted slightly towards their class choices. -------> NEXT POSE CONTAINS SCENESET
Atoli	You finally complete character creation. The world flares to life around you in a burst of orange and red lights, and then disintegrates into hexagons and circles. You are then beset by a very brief loading screen, until... /_\ Eternal City Mac Anu The first sense to return is hearing, as soft music plays all around you. You quickly regain full control of your characters, now quite aware of their own senses. They aren't quite 1:1; muted, somewhat, and you can easily infer that it's to avoid overstimulation, especially in combat. The senses are somewhat overlapped with your own, such that you still feel the controller in your hands and have near-perfect enough awareness of your real body that you could get up and do things while playing easily enough. But the fabric or metal of your character's clothes is as real to you as what you still wear beyond the headset. There's a gentle sea breeze smell in the air. Your eyes... can definitely tell this is much lower resolution than the real world. But it's nice and colorful, at least. The Delta-server Root Town, Mac Anu, is beautiful, cast in an orange haze like an oncoming sunset. The architecture is stone, accented by large bronze and steel pipes that carry steam all around the city. There are docks, you can see, and much of the area where you've appeared seems dedicated to player shops, as countless colorful specimens scurry around from one stall to the next to buy items from people rather than NPCs, even at a mark up. Behind your spawn location, massive stairs lead up, into a sort of temple. The more researched among you know it's where the Chaos Gate is, the hub through which players travel through The World's many areas - but also, the Multiverse. Through some freak accident or maybe divine intervention, this world has Warp Gates not just on its Earth, but within this specific video game too. Almost no one ever visits the game, though. You can do that with a headset, without taking the risk of finding out what happens if you die in the video game with your real body. Imagine that. Among the many colorful people going up and down the stairs, Atoli stands out just a little, not because she's taller or brighter, but because she has a distinctly high pitched voice, and is currently in the process of waving at a few players, who are on their way off. "Please take care!! It was really fun to help you through your first dungeon! Invite me to play anytime. :)" This is also when you notice the game has speech-to-text, converting speech into subtitles including the occasional insertion of emojis when your mood is obvious enough.
Riku Asakura	Riku had actually used some of the money that he gets either from the Paladins, his job with Trideag, or even the third part-time job he does in his world, which is some sort of store clerk, to find and purchase an M2D. He plays with it in Nebula House, showing it off to his roommates, Pega and Laiha. Laiha doesn't care, because these are 'boy things' to her. Pega, on the other hand, is just as excited as he is. Eventually, Riku settles down and puts the headset display on to log into his device. It's weird to him, because he doesn't sense the usual sensory dullness that comes from using a headset like this. He can experience the real world and 'The World' just fine together. Obviously he wouldn't use this while actually being an elite, but it'd be neat to use this on a train! He obviously was here for 'The World' and uses that to log into the game itself. He spends a long time customizing his character. While he can't get the EXACT field for it, he does a sizable job of remaking an old fan favorite of his. He takes a helmeted look, with a red, blue, and black helmet. He also has a chest piece in those same colors, but a black undersuit and white boots. He chooses human because he feels a balanced stat line is probably important, even if the class he chooses might differ. Then it goes over to Class. He is of two minds on this, because Tribal Grappler seems very much the feel for heroes like Don Shine and Kamen Rider in general, but also Don Shine uses a blade, so Blade Brandier also seems like a good choice. He COULD go for Adept Rouge, but he can't think of a class that would feel right to pair with Tribal Grappler and Blade Brandier. He thinks about this for a bit and makes a decision to go with Tribal Grappler because that seems the most true to the entire genre rather than specifically trying to remake Don Shine. Oh yeah, he'll have to name himself too... Hmm! He eventually types in Impact Radiance, glad that it's just under the letter limit and hits enter. Finally, he starts loading, waiting in darkness until finally Mac Anu loads. He looks around the portal hub and then realizes there is a Chaos Gate and a regular warp gate. "Wait, why is there a Warp Gate here...?" Okay, that's really weird! Does this mean the game is important to the Multiverse or something? Eventually, he hears a familiar voice and turns his helmeted head towards Atoli. He takes a few steps and offers a wave. "Atoli? Hey, I'm uh... Riku, from the radio?"
Hiromi	Somewhere, an argument takes place. A short wheat-blonde girl, hair cut a bit above her shoulders with blunt bangs and bushy brows, with miko-like clothing, detached and flared sleeves included, stands againt others in similar, but not quite identical dress. All of them have mostly-human appearances, excepting canine -- or, rather, lupine -- ears and tails. They are not presently wagging. Chie is the shortest and slightest among them. There is a sense to it, a tone and vibe, that the two older wolf-miko consider her old enough to be going off on her own, but young enough to worry about it, especially if she's using an argument that amounts to 'mom said I could play with the magic hat.' The other two aren't entirely aware that there are multiple VR games, and that this wasn't the one previously discussed. Eventually, Chie gets her way. As is so often the case, the smallest dog held the biggest fight, and she needs permission to make a request of Concord resources to get a chance to fight. The others have to agree that chances to fight are inherently valuable, as are new experiences, though one still worries quietly about bad influences. She worries despite not even knowing the words 'gamer word,' but decides that a cautious nature may be her own weakness to overcome. So it is that Chie makes her selections, not at home, but in a room prepared by the same multiversal procurement and hospitality personnel as found her the headset. They don't get frequent requests from her world, so there are no budgetary issues -- and still wouldn't be if this weren't just some world's version of a home console, for that matter. . . . "What! Why can't I use my name? What's wrong with it? 'Already in use'? Who took my name? Tell me--!" . . . "Hah! I'm already advanced. I've even beaten elites! This won't be any problem. Besides, who would use just one weapon? Shizendo teaches that everything is a weapon. They haven't learned this." . . . "These can only be stretched this far? Oh! --OH! This can go like this... it's so...! Then, then, if it's like that, it can also be like--! Yes, that's perfect!" . . .
Regulus	Regulus actually had to ask Atoli to get her a headset since she wasn't exactly wealthy enough to put down 300 bucks for a VR headset but she had heard people describe how they FELT about the game and now she was trying to see if the truth matched up with the hype. Admittedly, the hype didn't seem to be doing much for her, but man--she'd like to just chill out and play a game for a day. And this can double with getting to see one of the new Watchmen in their natural habitat! Nice! Regulus would feel a little weird playing a Human character since she's not one and honestly part of the fun of a video game, in Regulus's mind, is to try new things and have new experiences. She doesn't really like this talk about humans having 'divine wisdom' either. Buut being just some sort of 'magic user' also feels a little unfun so she ultimately goes for a Lei tribe beast character and a steam gunner. She spends most of her time in character creation before ultimately making a nod to her real life identity by going with lion cub ears, but she is aiming on the more human extreme here all the same because she doesn't want the bodytype to be too different from her usual on her first VR MMO! Name... Name... She decides to go with Calico Jackie. Because she thinks that's very funny. Annnnd after a bit more fiddling with character customization bits. She goes for orange/black ears, a stylized star tatoo around her left eye and another of a flower on her cheek. Brown eyes and... done. Once Regulus is in, she walks around in a circle for a while, jumps a few times, and then makes her way towards Atoli. Wow, she thinks, small world. Oh--but Riku is already introducing himself. Should she try to keep a low profile in the game? ... Eggh, that's too much effort. Besides, she already knows she's going to be in the game. "Hello love." Regulus says. "So this is The World huh? Pretty fancy. How do I make the symbols appear?" She definitely skipped any pre-game tutorial.
Meresankh	Snug in her sarcophagus, the business of governance settled for the time being, Meresankh settles her M2D over her eyes. A primitive machine, to be sure, but the software was something else altogether. When she skimmed through the game's local data, the Necron queen was genuinely impressed by some of the rendering technologies, the sheer quantities of data the machine was prepared to transmit and receive. When the character creator loads, she contemplates her choice of species. The humans bore the most familiarity, similar enough to the sublime Necrontyr form to evoke a sort of nostalgia. But this is a chance to try something new! To be something new! Ultimately, xenophilia overcomes egotism and Meresankh selects the Tu tribe, eager to begin. Her attempt to capture the essence of a Necrontyr Empire skolopendra hunting-beast produces an odd result, but one she is pleased with. Long and floppy ears like a rabbit's but narrower at the base than the ends, nearly-black fur, a long and thin forked-tipped tail, a kitty nose and whiskers but otherwise humanlike features - like an anthropomorphized Yakko Warner. Somewhere between cat- and bunny-girl, were it not for that strange tail. Class? Steam gunner, obviously. Meresankh's so comfortable in a position of technological superiority that she doesn't think twice about it. The process of her self-creation complete, Meresankh - or Candace Infinity, here - wakes in Mac Anu, clad in a forest green gambeson or tunic quilted with black threads, with brown tights, gloves, and scarf. A pair of steampunk goggles rest on her forehead, and her (for now) basic steam rifle is slung next to her backpack. Immediately upon forming fully and gaining control of her movements, Candace flexes her toes, curls and uncurls her fingers. Savors the extraordinarily unfamiliar sensation of being alive, warm, breathing, no longer trapped in a cold shell. She briefly considers if such a "VRMMO" might be some solace for her people, assuming the original Necrontyr biology could be accurately reconstructed and simulated... but that's a big question, and right now she can wiggle her toes! That's basically new to her! She bounces in place a little before looking around at the other new log-ins. First she spots another Steam Gunner! How exciting. Someone to trade techniques and secrets with, down the line... she saunters up and introduces herself. "Many greetings! You seem a newcomer, like myself. It is 'The World' indeed! A place of our very own to explore and conquer! Oh, it is a delicious opportunity, no?" Her ears perk up a little as she hears Riku introduce himself by (out-of-game) name. "Oh but I must away, an acquaintance of mine has also arrived anew!" Scurrying joyously over to Impact Radiance, Candace greets the toku hero with an energetic wave. "Hello! We have already met elsewhere, but here you may call me... Candaaaaace Iiiiinfinity!" She does a little spin and a dramatic pose to show off her avatar and outfit. "Oh, we have even chosen complementary classes! A cunning sniper and her rough-and-tumble ally! This will be truly, truly wonderful!"
Chuyao He	Chuyao didn't download the game for the lore, because he didn't download it at all. Rather, he bought the M2D. Even so, he does fall for the taunting of the site and the forums, long enough to read the lore (yes) and to see enough Gamer Words to realize that he could spend all day gently counseling gamers not to display to other people that they lack education without ever experiencing the game himself. So, yes, eventually, he does log in, after pitying that "Such a marvel is wasted on such petty displays..." "A character name...'" Is the next part. "not my name, but the name of a person in this unofficial account... If it is to be such a tale, why not something fanciful?" >Golden Moon Xiu Chuyao chuckles to himself. It takes him some time to navigate the text selection--but he's pleased to be Next is his choice of race. He reviews his choices. "So, the humans have more balanced attributes than the beasts, but do not truly excel. And the beast tribes... hm, yes..." He elects for a human after some deliberation. His class choice is not nearly so debated. There's some, after seeing 'tribal grappler,' but as soon as he hovers Macabre Dancer, he locks in--"So, they are aware of the applications of short weapons! 'Macabre Dancer' should make for an easier acclimation." He opts for short hair held in a bun, with golden hair and eyes to match his character's namesake. The eyebrows are like fierce flames, and he opts for a tattoo on the chest that resembles a crescent moon. His clothing is green with gold trim, light, breathable, and a good deal less conservative than what he'd wear in real life when it comes to the neckline. It's revealing enough to show the tattoo on his chest in full. The point is, after all, to be at least a little adventurous, isn't it? Entering Mac Anu, and... "Outstanding! Amazing! Just as the Dame Commander said, many images of objects exist, yet, to think that such scale and detail is possible...! Ah... music?! Truly, Mac Anu may be said to be alive!" He pats his clothing, testing the feedback the headset provides. Turning around, Golden Moon Xiu shades his eyes and follows the stairs up with his eyes. "Could it be the Chaos Gate? Ah... my words are transcribed..." The localization is really good. Chuyao doesn't know it, because the Chinese he speaks is several centuries older. "Some of the characters seem strange... perhaps the calligrapher is taking liberties? No matter... it is passable." If there's a UI he's too lost in the sauce to see it beyond the chat. But that is how he recognizes--"Ahem! Pardon me!" Golden Moon Xiu waves to Atoli from the foot of the stairs. "Might you be sister Atoli?"
Hiromi	"Wow! What is this! I can smell it, too, even though I smell the room. What's this mean? This is part of the magic?" ChieIsChie is now on the scene. Since she hadn't introduced herself on the radio today, it may come down to recognizing her by voice. Someone might also recognize her by face, if you tried very, very, very hard... or maybe not. There's only so much the character creation process can do, even with as much time as she spent on it, and she clearly had priorities other than recreation of her real, curren appearance in mind. To put it simply, several of those sliders were pushed as far as they can go. The World cannot produce a taller, buffer, more jacked canine-eared woman than this, nor a Lei Tribe member with a closer to human face. There was a vision, here, and no restraint, with a clear ideal of bodytype in mind. Her hair's lengthened to mid-back, her tail is as bushy as she could get it, her less-clearly miko-like garb is more form-fitting -- but that kind of comparison is only possible for someone who's met her. Naturally, her voice and behavior haven't changed at all. She's fully energetic, jumping up and dropping down, climbing the scenery, dropping to all fours to chase down a much shorter player just to bump into them harmlessly, and then greeting Atoli while doing rapid side-jumps. "Hi! I'm Chie!" Obviously. Her starting equipment is light armor and a spear, and her class reads Adept Rogue.
Hiromi	'Outstanding! Amazing! Just as the Dame Commander...' "Oh! That voice! It's you!" The exclamation marks are consistently read off her voice, as Chie points toward Chuyao's avatar, and then freezes, before she settles on shouting, "Golden Moon Xiu!" instead of whatever she was about to say. 'Hello love.' ChieIsChie spins on her heel, still pointing. "And yooou -- Calico!" She makes as if to run into Calico Jackie, only to remember that Mac Anu isn't allowing her to tip people over. But, maybe she should try a few more times...?
Petra Soroka	Will Petra spend a day purchasing and learning a VRMMO that she's had a dozen criticisms of already in the radio, to lubricate the gears of socializing with two people who are only interesting to her because of her desperate hope that they're romantically entangled? No. She doesn't even like Haseo, and Atoli is deeply unremarkable. Her love for love is great, but not worth subjecting herself to an MMO and a crowd of Elites all on its own. No, to sweeten the pot, she has to get weird with it. PHONE: Lilian Rook texts \| And your idea for something funny is? PHONE: Phoning Lilian Rook, Petra Soroka texts \| i don't really have any interest in joining whatever fuckass guild or whatever that they cook up PHONE: Phoning Lilian Rook, Petra Soroka texts \| but it's kind of a lot of fun to spectate elites while they plausibly don't know who you are PHONE: Phoning Lilian Rook, Petra Soroka texts \| and like atoli said, there's a lotttttt of new players joining right now "Emails...?" Petra burbles to herself, flicking through the menu in the headset. Having only ever done VR with the classic 'weird paralysis' version of it, it's actually a little upsetting that this one goes the exact opposite direction and forces you to move your physical body to engage with it. She doesn't want to do that! So instead, she ties her own wrists together to dissociate her body from her in game movement, and psychically links directly into the control pad via encasing it in Silver. Bonded thus, she gets into character creation, then has to back out again in order to send an email(?!) to Lilian in the system. >> @Silke : i'm gonna be named Ariadne so you can find me Petra will immediately veer away from choosing a simple human, but the only other option is distressing. She will not walk out into the world with a snout, whatever others might think of her, but it takes a lot of work to smooth out the faces of the beastfolk. Several other parts of the body are uncooperative in similar efforts to smooth, as well. "Boobs to zero. Zero. --Come on. There's no fucking way that's the smallest it goes. Are you kidding? That's like, the size mine are in reality." What comes out into the newbie area of Mac Anu is a wolf-eared androgynous Flick Reaper, with shoulder-length pale-grey hair tied into an elaborate but messy series of braids. They've got extensive tattoos within the design of the game, wrapping around both arms and with sharp lines down the chest and poking up from the waistline to accentuate their exposed hips in the cutout of their leotard. The legs are heavily armored, and so are the arms from the elbows to fingertips, making a lopsidedly quadrupedal-seeming silhouette that makes up for completely human-ifying the face except for sharp teeth. The leotard gets tucked down into belted shorts that are nearly completely covered by the thigh high greaves, and the sleeves are cut off to reveal as much of their arms as possible, which are then partly covered by shoulder pauldrons. The name that appears above their head is Ariadne, and they orbit around the starting area while waiting for the second pair of her group, familiarizing themselves with the big goofy scythe on their back and the controls generally. Obviously, the Petra inside the machine can recognize these Elites streaming in by the fact that their voices are totally unchanged, and her goal is to maneuver herself in their vicinity. So, trotting up to where Atoli is being surrounded by the others, scythe handle held down in both hands in front of them to swing like a cheerful little cane, Ariadne pokes their head right into the group. "Oh, hey! Is this some kind of new players' onboarding event going on? Can we join?"
Lilian Rook	Lilian, who has had more than enough of VRMMO bullshit after one run of which, which was scarily invasive and also overlapped one of the worst points in her life, wouldn't ever self-inflict anything remotely similar, much less a relatively normal consumer-friendly half-measure that uses game controllers and allows you to answer the phone. If she were somehow of a mind to microdose evil flashbacks, she'd do it with something worthy of Elite attention; not a silly videogame for nerds. Completely unrelated to that, bustling Mac Anu has been thriving with so many brand new players from all different places lately that the 'just left character generation' spawn outside the temple is packed with people who think Elites are kind of freaks and people talking about videogames as if they're sorcerery should maybe have a senior's day or something; or at least such is the case for a level 1 Harvest Cleric named Chalcomede, who is already trying to give the stairs a wide berth after getting an earful of 'delicious opportunity' and 'many images exist!' and an eyefull of giant wolfgirl titty bouncing up and down in public. Have these people no shame? Considerably shorter than practically everyone here, perhaps she chose a height she's used to in real life, or perhaps she's embracing the whole 'healer/support' stereotype a bit too eagerly. Balancing her entire colour palette to faded pink and purple on as close to white as she can get (even the eyes), picking the glitteriest hairband in the lineup with the most excessive dark hair, and immediately gluing herself to the arm of the player she'd just spawned in with, suggests the latter option, but even though she speaks with that specific cadence of 'talk-show soft' Japanese that characterizes roughly a fifth of all famous examples, her attitude is . . . "Isn't it obvious that they're someone else's social group? An after school club, probably. Look at how they're acting . . ." Holding tightly to Ariadna's arm and insisting on keeping her distance at the same time makes everything very difficult for her ostensibly IRL friend too. "Listen to them. It's clearly some kind of cultural exchange program. If you're going to go over there and make me wait, you could at least ask them to take their wild partying somewhere more private."
Haseo	Haseo really doesn't want to be here. He didn't want to be a guild leader either. And yet, here he is, being roped into babysitting a bunch of noobs. He really needs to learn how to put his foot down and say no to his guildmates Gaspard and Silibus, but it's really hard when they don't leave any openings to say anything and ooze a certain amount of enthusiasm that stunlocks him. Well, it'll probably be fine. He assumes thanks to Atoli that a bunch of Elites are going to show up because that's just his luck, which means they can mostly handle themselves when it comes to combat, and the only thing he'll have to go over is things like how to form a party, save, and where the shops are. He'll also have to tank the mental stress of whatever topic he doesn't care about they feel the need to blab about today, but he's used to doing that. Retail work has made him so much stronger. Having done several runs already with new players thanks to this event, he hasn't had a shortage of items to put up in his shop, having seen Gaspard's face more times than he'd like to for one day as he makes his trek up the stairs as he makes his way towards the Chaos Gate, stopping once he notices Atoli and the distressingly growing number of new players gathering around her. He could just bail right now and do a dungeon that he actually gets something out of while nobody notices him. Not like he's really needed anyway, they already have a high level healer anyway, which is ideal if you're trying to help people learn the game. What's a bruiser like them going to do in comparison to that? Kill everything in one hit? Sit back and make them feel better? "Hey." Against his better judgment, he doesn't try to sneak out of his obligations, instead just raising a hand as he speaks to get attention as he joins them. "So, are these people we actually know, or is it more people we need to actually help?"
Foundation Scions	The marvelous Matilda Bouanich, Monitor Assistant of the SPDM, Representative of the St. Pavlov Foundation's very-own Department of Multiversal Outreach, and, now, officially soon-to-be Field Investigator (trainee), has been very lonely of late. Even if she had access to a broader-access Elite-band radio, (which she's quite upset about not having,) her required assistance in keeping tabs on, and writing report after briefing after report on, the Rescorla-Wagner encampment back at the Foundation's campus, keeps her both extremely busy and extremely tired. She isn't even getting time off of her work at the SPDM! The Great Matilda Bouanich does not concern herself, either, with the fact she's had to scry upon many of her acquaintances, and a coworker or two, be convinced of her now being mean and cruel to them, all because of a bit of arcanum. She totally isn't concerned! Not at all! She's concerned quite a bit actually. As such, even without having had the chance to hear of The World from radio-lines, 'overworked and lonely' is exactly within the target demographic for an MMORPG, let alone one in full Virtual Reality. Splurging on a system is an end-of-month luxury, and a deserved-feeling present to herself for working so hard towards her goals, it's as much an exciting seeming escape as a treat to go and get her hands on something bright and fun and no-stakes, with the promise of company again, especially with the official-dealings with established guilds? If it's advertising like this, it must certainly be the Thing to get into! Comme c'est excitant! ==> Log In The orange void and it's menus are bright and flashy, harsher than such things as Artificial Somnambulism, but comfortingly static. If also off-puting! She thought it may be a comforting navy blue instead! The first character-making choice is a difficult one, actually. On one hand, Matilda Bouanich, who is an arcanist, and not a human, still looks more like the 'human' category of this game, and thus could more easily apply such things as her immaculate fashion tastes to the follow-up designing, but that there is specifically a choice between just two options, makes it feel like there is a pressure for her to pick the other. But, that isn't what she had in mind! And isn't it a little bit exciting and exotic to play pretend..? ==> Human Class is easy, however! ==> Adept Rogue (Shadow Warlock, Blade Brandier) Matilda Bouanich is a prodigy in all things! The warning clearly is for anyone else but not her! She can figure it out so easily, and, of course, everyone will think she's cool for picking something difficult at the start and still mastering it quickly! No, she doesn't know how to play the video game at all. This is just about her first time with any video game, actually. Maybe she thinks the game will be charmed and make levelling be quicker again if she just demonstrates her talent and eagerness? 'Shadow Warlock' is simply a must, the second class picked out of the giddy image of herself as a brave and dashing hero getting caught up in stylish swash-buckling duels, and the likes. Still, does it have to be called 'shadow' warlock, rather than 'really splendid and likeable' warlock? ==> Name:_
Foundation Scions	Emerging into the game-world of Mac Anu, Nemo Aronnax (who is either a Ms. or a Capt., Matilda has not-yet decided!) looks to be shaped by a childhood of reading adventure novels, as the username so obviously implies. Where Matilda Bouanich so often looks like she dresses to run and jump, this character that she's made looks like a tomboy scamp ready to lean off of sailing-ship shrouds or out of a safari vehicle. Nemo's hair is the same ashy blonde as Matilda's own, but almost boyishly short, and made to be blown by the wind. How far did she lean into making a... humansona? Nemo is dressed in khakis, canvas, and adventuresome leather- loose-legged pants, light khaki, with grommet-threaded cords as accents are tucked neatly into tall brown leather boots, a darker-colored khaki vest, double-breasted with silver buttons and subtly patterned with The World's style of markings, loosely in the shapes of waves, adds to the adventure novel feel. Rolled up past the elbows are the sleeves of a buttoned-up blouse, light blue. Nemo has one glove, and it is fingerless. Barely any tattoo markings adorn her, the only ones visible is on the middle of her forehead, and the back of her un-gloved hand, some sort of cultureless third-eye symbol each. Video-game oversized, at Nemo's side, is a large casting tome, fashioned and pouched as best as she could to look like an adventure journal. To literally cap off the design, is a flat-topped brimmed hat, keeping the sun out of her eyes, for all that matters. of course, Nemo is still played by Matilda. As soon as she's stopped giddily looking around (with a hand to shield her eyes and help look further and closer, of course), Nemo nearly bounces as she moves to run closer to commotion and other newcomers. She has to be around and moving and stylish to look cool and interactable in front of them! She has to pose proudly with her arms at her hips, and she has to clamber on pier pylons! This already beats paperwork. 'It was really fun to help you through your first dungeon!'5'Might you be sister Atoli?' But that's strangers talking about one of the people on the newcomer-sanctioned guild advertisements! completely shamelessly, Nemo pushes past to point a finger at Atoli and go, "You will be telling me about this 'dungeon'! I want to see it!"
Hiromi	'So, are these people we actually know, or is it more people we need to actually help?' Chie has to stop and think about this one. "Oh! You made, that place, I remember. In the sand." She nods. 'That place.' They might get to see that again, but this isn't something she knows. Haseo is likely right about several things, including that at least a couple people here will have no idea of the pitfalls of menu navigation. 'Oh, hey! Is this some kind of new players' onboarding event going on? Can we join?' "Hi! Who are you?" Ariadne is almost instantly accosted by the size-maxed wolfwoman. This is not, in fact, very much like an encounter with Hiromi, for a variety of reasons, but there are a few superficial similarities, and the one material point in common that she practically teleports into personal space. "Aria---den?" Uh-oh. "Chi... Charu... Cha, co..." Chie claps her hands together and, looking at Chalcomede, says, "Chocolate!" Apparently satisfied, her attention shifts back to Ariadne long enough to say, "Wow, your hair! That's so much work to do." Unclear whether she means chargen or the physical act of braiding. "What do your tattoos mean?" She's refrained from taking any tats, but that's because no one was on hand to tell her what they meant, and they weren't in the specific style she already knows. 'You will be telling me about this 'dungeon'!' Someone is climbing things! Chie soon shifts focus to Nemo for this exact reason. "Oh! You're so fancy! Is that a book?" It's a tome. She wasn't really paying attention to the warlock class description. "Do you write in it? Is it a journal of adventures?" This series of assumption-questions makes perfect sense.
Regulus	Regulus is pretty much acting like Regulus. She is pretty bad at not being Regulus. Indeed, failing to not be Regulus has caused Regulus no small amount of trouble in the past, and in the present, and no doubt in the future too. She thought about trying to not be Regulus for the sake of checking this place out but ultimately gave up on that entirely pretty quickly because she just doesn't have it in her to pretend to be someone else for who knows how long. ''Many greetings! You seem a newcomer, like myself.'' Regulus doesn't actually recognize Mersankh's voice even if she isn't changing her voice because she just hasn't really committed Merseankh's voice to memory. "Oh hey! Uh ... conquer?" She quirks her head at Mersankh. Regulus doesn't really know much about roleplaying for one's personal entertainment but she can get the idea of someone playing up the game for the fun ofi t. "I mean I might not be playing that long I just wanted to check it out, I'm actually really busy right now, also I heard they don't have cooking so it might not be that delicious, but hey--maybe I'll get hooked!" She hops around a few more times but doesn't seem to have realized how to exchange friend codes or many other basic functions just yet. "Nice to miss you Candy." She says, immediately devolving into nickname use. Chuyao of course is immediately recognizable by 'sister Atoli' though Regulus...isn't so sure she wants to approach Chuyao and risk ... ANOTHER LECTURE. Especially not in a video game. Fortunately, ChieIsChie is there to help. "Chie! Is Chie!" Regulus says before running on all twos to try and bonk into ChieIsChie only to bounce off of her due to the aforementioned no-tripping clause. "Seems like you're already having a ball!" The rocker says. "I can't believe ''games'' have become so vast enough that you could get lost." Really, all the problems with The World, bunny kicking included, is kind of overshadowed just by the 'realness' of it all. "Sure, Ariadne!" Regulus says, having learned from ChieIsChie that you're supposed to use your in character name. ... Wait, is Atoli's name not Atoli? She stares up at the sky for amoment thinking about it. "Uh wild partying? I haven't even begun to party." She nods over to Nemo. "Yeah. Wait--no! I didn't even commit a crime yet."
Chuyao He	Golden Moon Xiu looks like 'martial hero,' for sure, though he is admittedly much closer to Little Bastard's build than to Chuyao's. Broad-chested, bronzed, and with the appearance of being boisterous, yet... the player can't quite stick the landing. "Indeed, it is I, the wandering vigilante, Golden Moon Xiu! However did you guess?" asks the only guy here who talks like this, and so far the only guy with fans, and the only guy with a Chinese name, and the only guy who looks like the infamous 'young master,' and who is only dimly aware of the UI. Look at how they're acting . . . "Ah..." If it weren't for the local chat, then Golden Moon Xiu wouldn't be able to pick out that line amidst all the bustle. "...brother Haseo, I am in fact Chuyao He. Your guidance would still be appreciated, as it would seem that I have caused offense without meaning to." "Perhaps the finer points of etiquette within this community would be a helpful primer before our adventures properly begin?"
Foundation Scions	'Oh! You're so fancy! Is that a book?' "Why, yes! Your eyes do not deceive you! It is a book!" Maybe books don't exist for all of the players across the multiverse? Well! She's already being seen as cool! Yippee! "I can show you- er, but, one moment, s'il vous plaît!" Nemo puts up a finger, looks to the side, and takes one biiig scooch back out of Chie's personal space, and quickly hops up one, then two, then a third step, until she's more or less closer to eye-level with the much-taller Chie. "Ah, c'est bien mieux." Nemo un-pouches (and equips) the Tome. Whatever's in it is a complete surprise, having freshly-generated as a level fucking-nothing nobody, so, when she says, "You're correct, exactly-so! A prized posession, certainly, and entirely irreplaceable! Mon journal de bord!" An adventurer's must-have! "I've embarked by ship and over-land, on long journeys to the edges of the sensible, mademoiselle, 'Che-ess-chi-ey..'?" The barely-opened book gets snapped shut, and Nemo's other hand is stuck out to shake! "And many more are to come, of course! Do you wish to hear of any?"
Petra Soroka	"Isn't it obvious that they're someone else's social group?" Upon seeing Chalcomede, Ariadne's immediate urge is to engage in the time honored MMO tradition is excitedly jumping in circles around her to show their approval of her character design. Just as they start to, Chalcomede grabs and clings to their arm, yanking them back down into reach with a little 'ack-'. Held down by their arm, it's really an elbow-height type grip between the two of them, with Ariadne being taller than average and Chalcomede being significantly shorter. "Ohh, but look, they've got a cracked out cleric already. And she's offering carries to newbies. Isn't this kind of thing fate, or something?" In response to Chalcomede's complaining, Ariadne is patiently reassuring, with a more subdued and steady demeanor than their outfit might suggest. "Sorry, sorry for making you wait. I just got excited seeing how many other new players there are right as we're joining up. Maybe they're cool; we won't know if we don't stick around. It's not like we have anywhere else to be, okay?" Out in reality, Petra is overcome with a delirious fever as she lifts up her hand in the game and rests it on top of Chalcomede's head to stroke her hair. Emboldened by not being immediately thrown off, like handling a skittish untamed horse, the affection gets gradually more confident. "So, are these people we actually know, or is it more people we need to actually help?" "Do you all know each other from somewhere else?" The eyes emoji automatically appended to the end of that message really changes the tone. Haseo looks exactly like he did when Petra met him before, which is the most embarrassing thing she can imagine, so she wants to upset him a little bit. She looks towards the very tall and muscularly gap-moe Chie, then back at Haseo. "So you're friends already?" "You will be telling me about this 'dungeon'! I want to see it!" /w @Ariadne >> @Chalcomede : Oh my god is that Matilda? "Ah, c'est bien mieux." /w @Ariadne >> @Chalcomede : It's so Matilda. Leaning over Chalcomede's head to whisper to her scalp, Ariadne only half-suppresses a snicker at Nemo's antics, fangs slipping out. They slip their hand up the shaft of their scythe to grip it right below the blade, tapping the length of it against the pylon she's on firmly enough to wobble it a little bit. "Woah, is this a roleplay thing? I don't think I caught up enough on the lore. You wanna tell me about it?" "Hi! Who are you?" Petra cannot hold any malice in her heart for Chie. Ariadne reels back a bit, expecting to be knocked over by the charge, and when they aren't, they straighten up and push their ears back upright, stretching on their tiptoes to look up at Chie. "'Ariadne'. '-dne'. And she's Chal-co-me-de. Nice to meet you... Chie?" Ariadne folds their hands behind their head, flicking one ear towards the heavy patterning of tattoos on their arm. "I think they're symbols of power, or something like that. Magical crests? We wouldn't all have them if they were ritualistic, I'm pretty sure." "I can't believe ''games'' have become so vast enough that you could get lost." "'Have become'? Are you new to VR?" Ariadne props the blade of their scythe up, leaning against it like a tall walking stick. "This is only the very first town. I think there's supposed to be tons of other areas around the world too."
Hiromi	Regulus says before running on all twos to try and bonk into ChieIsChie only to bounce off of her. Chie laughs. "You're so much smaller now!" As if that weren't entirely by choice. "But your voice is the same size." 'Seems like you're already having a ball!' "Yes! Maybe? It's big, and playing-pretend is fine, but playing needs more than space to be 'a game.' Right? You need goals and challenges and something to climb--! No, not just the little stone pillars." She's already climbed those. 'Indeed, it is I, the wandering vigilante, Golden Moon Xiu!' "I caught the scent of the wanderer! You can't fool my nose!" Chie holds said nose high, fists on her hips. She probably cannot actually smell Chuyao from here. 'Perhaps the finer points of etiquette within this community...' "Doesn't everyone know how to 'play'? Just follow your instincts." Hers involve a lot of running into people to see what happens, but she's quickly getting/gotten that out of her system in this no-combat zone. You can't even really mildly inconvenience people here. 'I can show you- er, but, one moment, s'il vous plaît!' "Yeah! I want to see!" She won't read anything in it, but she still wants to see, because it's there. Or because she doesn't see many books. Maybe both. 'You're correct, exactly-so!' "I knew it!" Plus one point. She just keeps winning. "Oh! Have you gone over the Death Sea? Through the Fog? Have you seen the Ayakashi? Did you hunt them, or did you run? Did you seal your ship from the mists?!" Was literally any of that in the lore? She holds out her hand after a second, working mentally through the unfamiliar ritual she's seen in formal occasions, and shakes Nemo's hand. "I'm Chie! Just Chie." Chee-eh. 'So you're friends already?' Thinking Ariadne means Haseo specifically, "We haven't fought together yet, but we played in the same place. That's the first step to making friends, but there's still more." She tries out the names as if being told them is a totally independent event from having tried to read them. "Ariadne, Chal-co-me-de, I see! That's right. Nice to meet you!" 'I think they're symbols of power, or something like that. Magical crests?' "Eh? Oh? Oh, so you're not sure. That might be it. They look a little familiar, but mostly not familiar. They're not like armor-warding." What?
Haseo	"Oh! You made, that place, I remember. In the sand." "Sand??? What- Oh. The sandcastle contest. Yeah. You were one of the people who helped run that then I take it? " She's not weird enough to be Petra, annoying enough to be that Ember person, and he feels like if this was Arthur's character, he'd know instantly. So that's probably the safest bet. "...brother Haseo, I am in fact Chuyao He. Your guidance would still be appreciated, as it would seem that I have caused offense without meaning to." "People are gonna be weirded out if you act like that. Being new to a game is one thing, coming off as a tech illiterate tourist is another. If you've got system questions, though, just ask. " Oh. Right. Some people come from worlds where they don't have VR, or even video games. Maybe he's going to have to handhold a bit more than he thought... He's even more thankful for Atoli being here. He doesn't know how she does it, but she seems to have infinite patience. Or maybe she's just better at hiding her annoyance. "Do you all know each other from somewhere else?" The eyes emoji really gives off the vibe of a truly rotten woman. Or maybe he's just imagining it, it's just a new player being a bit weird. Probably a foreigner from somewhere outside of his world too. He does his best to smile, his scowl disappearing, and while the expression doesn't look bad on his character model, it definitely feels off for those who've heard or seen him before. "We're all acquaintances from out of game. So are you here for the new player campaign as well? " Even his voice is weirdly cheery, as he calls upon the power granted to him by working the cash register. The power comes at a price however, as he can feel his real life health bar ticking down by the second, and it's already pretty low from doing this for basically an entire day.
Lilian Rook	'Chi... Charu... Cha, co... Chocolate!' The iconic expectation of the level 1 healer: 'Wah?! Th-that's not . . . Um . . . it's pronounced . . .' The reality: "Oh. They're illiterate too. Should you all be playing videogames if you can't read English?" Never mind that it's Greek. 'What do your tattoos mean?' You'd think this would be the second condescending remark, but what happens instead is Chalcomede slapping Chie's closest hand away (either one is fine) from Ariadne for some reason. She stares up past her shoulder, expectant. 'Ohh, but look, they've got a cracked out cleric already. And she's offering carries to newbies. Isn't this kind of thing fate, or something?' "Haa? I thought the point of this whole thing was we were going to spend time together!" says the very not-cracked-out cleric. "I already chose cleric! Why do you need another one?! If you're not going to play with me then whey did I even get this game?!" 'It's not like we have anywhere else to be, okay?' This is, of course, absolutely true. 'Chalcomede' and 'Ariadne' are specifically here for strange safari reasons in the first place. It's not really clear what purpose it serves to get fussy about it. "We have the whole game 'to be'! Anywhere with me is better than--" 'Oh! You're so fancy! Is that a book?' 'You're correct, exactly-so! A prized posession, certainly, and entirely irreplaceable! Mon journal de bord!' She gestures from halfway behind Ariadne, leaving the gist of it politely unvoiced, and only ending her sentence with a shockingly sopping wet "Isn't it? Shouldn't it be? We just started and you're already trying to find an excuse . . ." Ostensibly, being pat on the head is a habit that calms her down. In reality, the sensation-- even beamed by VR headset as it is-- makes Lilian Rook neurochemically segfault. Chalcomede goes calm again, because her player needs a minute to process and mentally reboot. /w @Chalcomede >> @Ariadne : Obviously. She's making me want to run over there right now and catch her in the act. I could. /w @Chalcomede >> @Ariadne : Just like it's obvious that you had way too much fun with that character creator. I know what you are. Being leaned on, Chalcomede clutches her starter staff to her chest, dusts down her mahou shoujo base layer of a newbie outfit, and stares upwards until she can catch Ariadne's chin at the very tippy top of her field of vision. Or possibly their hair? Or ears? Or something? "If you were interested in roleplaying, you could have said so. I'd have looked it up and we could already be doing something by now." she says. "They're all level one as well. They can hardly even read. Why do you need to ask them?" After not getting the most immediate reaction physically possible, she 'subtly' attempts to step on Ariadne's foot with her heel. 'Ariadne, Chal-co-me-de, I see! That's right. Nice to meet you!' Chalcomede turns her head sideways, pouting less visibly than the :/ automatically attached to her text, which makes both of them worse. "Nice to meet you." 'We're all acquaintances from out of game. So are you here for the new player campaign as well?' She leans in to whisper "See?" not very quietly, side eyeing Haseo thrice. And yet, the worst is yet to come. 'Perhaps the finer points of etiquette within this community would be a helpful primer before our adventures properly begin?' "For starters, it's impolite to try and distract someone else's boyfriend." says Chalcomede, grabbing Ariadne's arm a second time.
Regulus	''You're so much smaller no! But your voice is the same size.'' "The smaller you are, the harder you are to target!" Regulus assures Chie despite having no idea if this is true or not in terms of gameplay. "But I like that, 'voice is the same size'. After the beach party, I thought I should try to meet this game on the game's level. I might be a pacifist, but that doesn't extend to games." Though she isn't really so keen on becoming a 'player killer' all the same. It feels a little silly, but also exploitative of strange game design choices. Apparently kicking the animals is the way to play the game too, and that's kind of weird! "I'm glad we get to play together again. I got a little impatient at the end with designing the character, like, let me in right?" She looks around a bit and adds, "Looks like there's a ton of space here to run around and clamber, I wonder if I get tired in the game like I do in real life if I've been running around a lot." She keeps hopping up and down, usually like from side to side. She just seems to be enjoying this element of the game despite it being a pretty basic mechanic. "The game has jumping, Chie!" She sounds pretty impressed by this. "So I bet it does have climbing too."5r #-1 FUNCTION (ASNI) NOT FOUND "Oh, yeah, totally new. This is a big jump in hardware from what I'm used to too, I'm gonna have to figure out how this setup works it's crazy. And so realistic?" She jumps around Ariadne for a while. "Hey Ariadne," She jumps around Chalcomede. "Hey Chalcomede." She pauses and adds, "This isn't your first time playing VR?" Calico Jack eventually, through all her jumping, manages to jump down and land on her own tail, and then falling flat on her own face. Chie might not be able to trip Regulus in town but Regulus can trip Regulus in town. Calico Jack seems more impressed than embarrassed, "Wow...! I forgot about the tails, this is incredibly realistic. Maybe they focused all their efforts on stuff like this rather than on game design..." And if The World manages to be like this, she can't help but wonder what Bladecraft is like. Maybe it's a good thing she came here jkust so she wouldn't be so embarrassingly out of her element in front of Nika who seems to know her stuff. She's pretty sure Nemo is Matilda, and after she's been hearing about her possibly being left behind on an alien planet, is kind of more relieved that she's, like, alive and normal instead of like being stranded or something. Then she remembers the fear rocks and her enthusiasm for Matilda presence dampens considerably but she better not, like, make it too obvious she's Regulus? Maybe she won't recognize her and they can avoid something awkward. "What's roleplaying?" Regulus asks. "Is it like how it sounds? Another way of saying acting?"
Chuyao He	"I have eyes, but cannot see Mount Tai. Such a thing is, of course, impolite anywhere. Please forgive my boorish manners." Golden Moon Xiu nimbly deflects the hostility with humility, offering a fist-in-palm bow, head down. Being new to a game is one thing, coming off as a tech illiterate tourist is another. "Then this unrefined wanderer will keep his wonderment to himself. 'Please take care of me,'" is how the chat translates what Golden Moon Xiu says, but the Understanding confers some additional context; 'I'm in your care/I'll listen attentively.' "What should we be doing? Is our equipment satisfactory to begin an expedition, or should we spare some time to provision first?"