Name: Izumi Suzuki
Age: 16
Level: 25
Screen name: Blaze
Appearance:
Beta tester or first time: First timer
Skills: Battle Healing, straining, picking, cooking and acrobatics.
Weapons: Dual Katar

Equipment: Black long leather coat with hood black shirt, black trousers and large black boots. Small amount of food usually only a day or twos worth.
Guild: Solo never found any interest in joining one but could change her mind.
History: Izumi was just regular girl went to school did her homework on time ok sometimes a bit late. She was a fairly big gamer and so were a lot of her friends. Her parents are pretty boring her mother works at a bank and her farther is an accountant.

When SOA was announced she and her friends tried to get a copy of the beta but non of them got one. When SOA was finally ready and about to be released her and her friends waited in line for a day however it was sold out long before she got to the front. When she got home her farther gave her a small gift wrapped package. Turns out her farther had recently done some work for a big gaming store and as a thank you they let him buy a copy of SOA before it went on official sale. He new how much she wanted a copy as she hadn't stopped talking about it for months. She instantly went up stairs and plugged it in and started it up.

She was so happy at the start of the game. She had made her avatar look as big and strong as possible also she was playing a dude. However that all changed when that fateful announcement was made, she was so scared but she was also so embarrassed. The equipment that had look so cool on her big buff man of an avatar now looked ridiculous on her tiny body and where also very baggy almost falling off. She ran off leaving as fast as she could only stopping to quickly sell her clothes and buy different ones.

As the game has gone on she has branched out into as many fields as she can to make a living. She only spends a bit of time levelling but what she mainly does is listen in on other people. This really helps her find the best areas to level which she can use herself or sell the information on. She also sometimes collects information on the locations stats and skills on the most important and top players. She has become known as an information vendor. Since this information gathering takes a lot of time it takes a lot of time away from her levelling her character.

V A N G U A R D
"On the blood of our brothers. On the blood of our sisters.” - The Vanguard Maxim

Known as one of the strongest guilds in SAO, Vanguard has drawn a lot of attention, and criticism, for their ways. Their numbers are moderate; they are not too crowded or too few. Despite not being the largest guild, Vanguard is widely known and has a respectable reputation due to its contributions to boss fights and raids. They have taken part in every boss fight and are always on the front lines, working to clear the next floor. But despite Vanguard's contributions, some feel that the guild is too harsh, especially on its own members. The recruits go through a tough selection process, and the slightest err, in either combat ability or general attitude, is enough to get one expelled immediately. Those who make it through are expected to keep up, often sacrificing every minute they have to train harder. Vanguard has also made enemies of more rebellious guilds, since Vanguard's off-duty soldiers often play the role of vigilantes in towns they stay in.

Joining Vanguard is no easy task. Staying in it is even harder. A recruit has to be strong enough to fight alongside the highest leveled players, which sets a very high standard for those who wish to join. But it doesn't end there. Each member must also have to share the values of the guild. These are, in order from the most important to the least:
1) Sacrifice
2) Justice
3) Hard work

The guild has a strict policy about #2 and #3, since #1 is harder to judge. Many players who meet the level criteria think that they can join and stay in Vanguard, but following these three values is as important as the level requirements. Those who show malicious intent, greed, manipulative tendencies, or corruption are expelled almost immediately. Those who are lazy, or don't act when they have the power to help someone, are given one chance to fix their behaviour.

Vanguard's colours are grey and white. All members wear heavy armor and a white cape to show their guild colours. The grey signifies their iron will, and the white signifies both their commitment to a higher cause, and death. Every soldier is skilled with the shield and the sword, although some prefer to use two handed weapons.

As their maxim suggests, Vanguard has lost members throughout the lifespan of SAO. They honor the dead in their own way, and see their camaraderie as a sacred bond between them. Almost every soldier is willing to lay his life on the line for his allies, and despite the harshness of the guild's regulations, the bond between them is hard to break. These men and women spend most of their free time training, often dueling each other for hours on end.

The main goal of Vanguard is to clear the game before the casualties grow any further.

Name: David Yankovsky
Age: 16
Level: 44
Screen name: Thall
Appearance: Ingame Appearance


Beta tester or first time: First Time, although he is a veteran of the RPG genre.

Skills: Maxed out with sword and shield. Can cook basic meals.

Unique Skills:

• Guardian Angel: Thall does not have this ability yet, and will not have it until he is higher level. When his health drops to a critically low level, an angel will materialize. It will step into the fight, attacking the enemy and healing Thall for about ten seconds before it disappears. Can only be used once per lifetime.

Weapons:

• Sacrament: A silver rapier that does extra damage to undead and demonkind. It doesn't have a high maximum durability, so it needs to be repaired often. Thall uses this weapon for emergencies only.


• Iron Longsword +5: Not as strong as a rare weapon, but this upgraded sword has never let its wielder down.


• Iron Shield +5: Every member of Vanguard must carry a shield in their inventory, even if they prefer two handed weapons. Thall prefers the shielded approach.

Equipment:

• Apollo's Vestments: A set of plate armor that is slightly lighter than most. It has a special property: When the user is in sunlight, his health regen rate will be faster.


• Vanguard's Medallion: It is shaped like a large coin, and has a shield on the center. When the wearer has allies behind him, he will gain bonus armor and magical resistance. This weapon is considered to be one of the key elements to the guild Vanguard's success. Every soldier gets one once they finish their training.

Guild: Vanguard

History:
David (or Thall, as his in-game name goes) had never been too big on idleness. He avoided guilds, mainly because the social aspect of them often slowed things down. What made things even more complicated was called "drama", a MMORPG term meant for players who created a fuss over item distributions when a boss was killed. Thall was new to SAO, but he'd been playing RPGs long enough to know what to avoid, and most guilds he had come across were riddled with obvious red flags.

During his earlier days, Thall helped newer players, even though he was a new player himself. Despite being new to the game, Thall went to great lengths to find out everything he could from the handbooks that beta testers had published. It came to a point where he had read so many of the handbooks that he often ran into beta testers who knew less about the game than he did. Most of Thall's early levels were spent reading and gathering information about the game, and despite not joining a guild, he made allies with a few beta players who had advanced knowledge. Being generous at heart, Thall passed information down to new players, or often helped those who skipped reading the books, since those were the types that got themselves into the most trouble.

Thall solo'ed content at a fast rate. He was used to being alone, since he didn't have many friends in real life, either. He had been a loner out in the real world, and he was going to be one in here. To him, it seemed like some things would never change. It didn't bother him too much.

But when he came across Vanguard, a guild renowned for its diligence and high morals, he felt that it was too good for him to turn down. It was a clan of similar minded individuals who worked hard to clear the game, and had harsh regulations that kept everyone honest. Thall was a good fit, and he finished the training portion of his recruitment earlier than the others. His stay with them was good. It had been everything he had asked for: honest allies he could count on, sparring partners who never turned down a challenge, and a constant life of fighting on the front lines. But despite all of this, he still feels like something is missing.

Thall's personality is dull. The only topics he ever talks about are fighting techniques, items, and strategy. He is focused mainly on clearing the game, but he's also the type of person who will stand up for those in need. Like any other member of Vanguard, putting his life on the line is not a strange notion to him, as long as it is for a greater good. One of Thall's main weaknesses is that he's quick to judge others, which often drives people away from him. He spends almost all of his free time training, eating, or sleeping. Often, he will mediate before battle to clear his senses.