_{N A M E}

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_{A G E}

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_{G E N D E R}

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_{T H E M E}

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_{O N L I N E P E R S O N A}

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_{C L A S S}

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_{L E V E L}

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_{S T A T S}

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_{S K I L L S / S P E L L S}

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_{I N V E N T O R Y}

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_{S T O R A G E}

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“Until we meet again, my friends!”

You mean there’s no logging out?

Hanako Moriyama, or as she was better known in Aether Online, Rael, grinned widely as she crossed her arms in response to the declaration addressed to the entirety of the server’s population of users.

As other players of the game likely scoffed, panicked, or went into a dumbfounded fit of confusion by the in-character portrayal of “The Dark Lord”, it was evident that she had wholly different feelings about it. The prospect of being confined to a virtual world was not entirely unappealing to the purple-haired young adult. In fact, if she had to describe how she immediately felt without filter or pre-thought she would’ve likely said the concept was exciting and freeing rather than being afraid or anxious about it. For her entire life she had been tasked with maintaining expectations from not only her family but the community as well; forced to deal with the drudgery of social popularity and comprehending the demands of being a model student. In fact, she was pretty much sure she was the only one who saw the virtual captivity as a blessing in disguise to the level she did— all of the trappings of society’s expectations, judgment, and incessant demands were now irrelevant and the true escapism she desired was finally obtainable.

A laugh escaped her lips as she continued to process it all; especially the irony of her confinement cumulating in her absolute freedom.

But even through her “liberty” she was not so naïve to think of the consequences and risk of her new reality. As exciting as all of the news was for her, there was a lot to take in and consider and the questions began to enter her mind almost as soon as her initial bewilderment faded from thought. Did they require to eat to maintain themselves? Did the mechanics change due to the full immersion that was likely to take place? What happened if someone was to die?

Was this one of those situations where her and everyone else’s lives in AO were now absolute, where they had to be wary of even the slightest mistake? Would they die outright if their health reached zero? or would this be a case of countless revivals at resurrection sites? If she “died” would she have to wait for a cleric to arrive to rescue her? The entity had not explained how perilous death was in the game, a fact that was likely the cause of much anxiety by the server’s populace. Why did this being that called himself a dark lord only tell them that they couldn’t log out? An important question that many would have to either die to find out or await another appearance of the mysterious entity.

The smartest decision is to find a group right now. Deal with less significant issues later; if I know VMMORPG players as well as I think I do, things are about to get... violent.

Rael’s amber eyes narrowed as she looked at the nearest crowd— looking for anyone who might be eager to have a comrade in arms. Once she saw someone of interest she walked forward before speaking confidently.

“Strange day, right?”

Age: 18
Sex: Male
Class: Novice
Level: 9
Stats:
HP - Calculated after acceptance.
MP - Calculated after acceptance.

Skills/Spells:
[Shadow Blast] A ball of dark Energy ball is created in the users hand. While it takes several seconds the damage the spell deals is well worth the time.
[Bone Blade] A pointed whip like bone tail is sprouted from the User and used as a temporary close combat weapon.
[Life Siphon] A passive skill. Each time the target is hit with Dark magic, the damage dealt is given back in HP to the user.
Inventory:
Rod
Traveler’s Tunic
Health Potion [10]

Storage:
150 gemstones

Age: 18
Sex: Male
Class: Novice
Level: 9
Stats:
HP - Calculated after acceptance.
MP - Calculated after acceptance.

Skills/Spells:
[Shadow Blast] A ball of dark Energy ball is created in the users hand. While it takes several seconds the damage the spell deals is well worth the time.
[Bone Blade] A pointed whip like bone tail is sprouted from the User and used as a temporary close combat weapon.
[Life Siphon] A passive skill. Each time the target is hit with Dark magic, the damage dealt is given back in HP to the user.
Inventory:
Rod
Traveler’s Tunic
Health Potion [10]

Storage:
150 gemstones

Username: Allune
IRL Name: Sara White
Age: 16
Sex: Female
Theme: Optional.

Background:
Born the second child to a rather modest family, Sara is the youngest daughter of a baker and police officer. Despite her modest circumstances, she lived a rather pleasant childhood, with a caring older brother, and a loving family. She proved to be quite bright as a child, Sara and her brother were well educated at a young age and were taught manners as well as many homely skills such as cooking and cleaning. Throughout their childhood, Sara's older brother would often take her into the city to play with other children. Sara had difficulty making friends, she was shy and was known for her gentle and sensitive demeanor, while her brother was well respected and outgoing.

With her parents often busy with work for long hours, Sara latched onto her brother Logan, as a source of comfort and guidance, and formed a strong bond with him. Her brother raised and taught her almost as much as their parents did, and Sara obediently followed in his every step. This included her brother's love of video games. When she was younger, she would often sit in her brother's room and watch him play video games with his friends or by himself. Occasionally, her brother would invite her to play as well. The connection between her brother and video games would later lead her to become a bit of a gamer herself. a

When her brother announced that he had gotten a scholarship to a prestigious technology school on the other side of the country, Sara was heartbroken. Before he left though, Logan bought Sara a LexNav headset and a copy of the new VRMMO, Aether Online. The two siblings promised that they would play with each other, and Sara eagerly immersed into the game, eager to be able to play games with her brother.

Personality:
Shy and timid, Sara is a quiet young girl with quiet and passive demeanor. This level headed young girl tries her best to stay brave and rational in the face of hardship and adversity, despite her youth and inexperience. Honest and trustworthy, Sara is compassionate and kind, if a little soft-spoken and a bit of a wallflower. Loyal to a fault, Sara cares deeply about her loved ones, and is willing to go to great lengths to defend those she cares about. Very down to earth, Sara doesn't react well to surprises and prefers familiar and comfortable to extraordinary and otherworldly. Sara can be rather self conscious, and has a habit of second guessing herself, despite any talents she may possess.

Class: Novice
Level: 9

Stats:
HP - 110
MP - 100

Skills/Spells:
Skills:
Passive:
[Spellcraft]- How potent your magical abilities are. Increases your MP regeneration rate and spell strength. Restricts armor class to light or cloth.
Spells:
Earth Spells

• [Earth Shield] - Raises a stone barrier from the ground in front of you to protect you from attacks.
• [Stalagmite] - Raises a stone spike from the ground to pierce a foe.

Inventory:
Rod
Traveler’s Tunic
Health Potion [5]
Mana Potion [5]
Storage:
150 gemstones

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Writing Sample
Allune gave a satisfied sigh as she lightly sipped on a glass of hot liquid. It tasted like tea. More than just a satisfying tea, Allune watched in interest as her MP bar began recovering at an increased rate, ultimately topping off at a full 100 points. Allune sat on the top of a grassy hill, her virtual body being bathed by a golden sun in a cloudless blue sky. As she felt the wind grip at her hair, and her bare feet pressing against the almost surreal soft grass, Allune realized why her brother loved VR games. Aether Online was filled with hundreds of picturesque vistas just like this one, managing to fit everything from beaches and oceans, to forests, and grassy hills like this one, all in one game world. It was a far cry from the real world- her home in cloudy, dreary Seattle, where the was rarely more than a few hours of sunlight a week, and gray and blue were overwhelmingly the most common colors in the city.

From her spot up on the hill, Allune could see several people below her fighting with the countless numbers of goblins in the fields below. They were likely doing the quest that she had just complete, defeating some ten goblins to retrieve a handful of little black marbles that the quest NPC- this little boy in sandals and a farmers tunic standing at the top of the hill- the only area relatively safe from monster spawns. The quest itself was relatively simple, goblins were among the weakest enemies in the game- not the level 1 enemies that they trained on when they were just starting out, but they were pretty simple to defeat enemies- even when they were slightly higher level than you. They were more difficult due to their numbers and aggressiveness rather than their sheer strength or tenacity.

The quest reward for returning the marbles to the kid was a cup of MP restoring tea and a loaf of HP restoring bread. Allune had already consumed the bread, and with the tea, she was back at full HP and MP. Both the bread and tea were delicious, and were the first bits of 'food' that Allune had consumed in the game as of starting it up. It was a fairly low level quest, so Allune figured the quest was to introduce people to the idea of eating food in the game- as several cooking quests were available in the starting town of Sanctuary. Allune had at first passed up on those quests, believing cooking to be silly, and desiring to catch up to her brother, but now, she might go back and give them a try.

Getting to her feet, and straightening her robe, Allune tossed the empty cup, which disappeared into a cloud of blue shards as soon as it left her hand- the same had happened with the paper from the load of bread. At least they wouldn't have to worry about littering. Allune pulled up her menu and began looking around for a new quest- she had to make some headway to catching up with her brother- the man was a hardcore gamer if ever there were any, and had advanced past level 18 by the time Allune had reached 9. She had a lot of work ahead of her if she wanted to eventually catch up with him. He had told her that he'd help her quest a bit after her first class advancement, which was only one level away, so Allune searched for a quest that could bump her the rest of the way to level 10.

Allune's search was brought to an abrupt stop, as the green field and blue sky were suddenly bathed in a burnished orange, as the sky dyed itself red. “Greetings adventurers, I am the Dark Lord!”, the figure introduced itself. In continued to explain to the server populace what was going on, and as he spoke, Allune came to the realization that she was incapable of logging out now. Allune gave a small gasp of fear at what that meant for them all. As he finished and disappeared, the world returned to its beautifully bright state that it had originally been in. Though now, the beauty seemed almost marred by the tone this 'Dark Lord' left.

"This can't be real, right? She asked herself, more than the other players who were gathering at the top of the hill around her.

What would happen if they died in the game? How would they sustain themselves? Was this a moderator's idea of a prank? That and other questions rapidly ran through Allune's head before she remembered that her brother was still in the game. What if he was in danger as well? The guy had always loved getting in over his head in these games- that was just how he played, whereas Allune was considerably more conservative and safety conscious. Allune began heading back to Sanctuary, maybe he was there, maybe she could find him, and then maybe they could figure out what to do.

Username: Callum
IRL Name: Logan White
Age: 22
Sex: Male
Theme: Optional.

Background:
Born the first child to a rather modest family, Logan is the oldest son of a baker and police officer. Despite his modest circumstances, he lived a rather pleasant childhood, with a goofy but shy younger sister, and a loving family. He was something of a genius as a child, and was well educated at a young age. As a child, he noticed that his sister seemed to latch on to him, and follow him around in whatever he did. Throughout their childhood, Logan would often take her into the city to play with other children. Logan was well known around his neighborhood for his outgoing and friendly persona.

With their parents often busy with work for long hours, it was often left to Logan to take care of his sister- from cooking and tutoring, to driving to school and general caretaking. The siblings ended up forming a rather strong bond. Logan had always been an avid gamer, and played almost every new game as they came out. He even made a bit of money on the side as a streamer, where his friendly face and confident personality garnered him many fans. As his sister followed him around, he eventually shared his love of videogames with her, and the two would often game together after class.

After taking a few years off after high school for travel and work, Logan was accepted into University of California San Diego where he intended to study Electrical Engineering. Before he left, he bought himself and his sister a LexNav Headset, and a copy of the new VRMMO Aether Online, a game that he had been extremely eager to play since hearing about it.

Personality:
Confident and charismatic, Logan appears outwardly jovial and warm-hearted. His lazy and carefree demeanor, combined with his near perpetual times of thought is occasionally mistaken for a lack of spacial awareness and carelessness. Underneath his relaxed persona lies an innate brilliance, a highly intuitive and calculative mind. Highly perceptive and logical, Logan shows an almost insatiable appetite for knowledge and learning of any kind, be it scholarly or practical to the point that his lazy and carefree demeanor is broken by a manic, almost obsessive disposition when presented with things of unknown nature. Despite his lazy demeanor, Logan is a dedicated scholar boasting considerable knowledge of mathematics, and engineering. Logan possesses a well developed moral compass, and can be fairly protective of his friends and siblings.

Class: Novice
Level: 9

Stats:
HP - TBD
MP - TBD

Skills/Spells:
Skills:
Passive:
[Endurance] — How physically tough someone is. Increases the damage one is able to take from physical attacks. Higher levels would mean being able to take more hits, be staggered less, and generally how resistant one is to physical forms of damage.
Active:
[Shield Bash] — Rushes a step forward to attack a foe with a shield. Staggers foes.
Spells:
Light Spells

• [Revitalizing Light] – A spell cast on himself or others that heals 30% of the target's HP.

Inventory:
Steel Mace
Round Shield
Traveler’s Coat
Health Potion [5]
Mana Potion [5]
Storage:
150 gemstones

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