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Perihelion Queen in Clockwork
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3 mos ago
Username RuinInRed
Player Profession: Outside of the game, Ruin was a corporate engineer, specialising in arcology design and construction. The game provided an escape from her technically-demanding job, and allowed her to indulge her more creative impulses and flights of fancy, free from the spectre of the bottom line that ruled most corporate arcology designs.
An atheist in real life, she chose to be an angel in the game primarily on the basis of aesthetics, but now that the game world has become real, she is beginning to experience an inner conflict between the hard-science of what had once been the real world and the new - to her - forces of faith and divinity. Looking for God - whether to honour or supplant - may become more than a metaphor for her.
Her job was a demanding but very well-paid one, and whilst having less time than some to spend on the game and her character, she compensated for this with the liberal use of cash-only items, bolstering her gains and her powers during the times she was able to devote to the game.
Character Role: DPS, Crowd Control
Alignment: 500
Appearance: A slight and slender creature wrapped entirely in an ornate white and gold metal shell, resplendent with eight shining gold wings of light reaching far behind her, it is clear that Morningstar is not human. The intricate halo glowing behind her close-helmed head provides a further clue, should one be necessary, and golden light spills through the eye-holes of her Masque, as final punctuation. It is just possible to discern that Morningstar is - or prefers to be - female from appearance alone; some subtle shaping of the breastplate and the general impression of her Masque’s face are the only visual clues.
Her voice, however, is unusually resonant, particularly given her relatively small stature, rich and clear and undeniably female. It has an odd half-echo to it, and the perceptive might deduce that she uses a minor cantrip to alter the sounds in some way.
Should her armoured skin be broken, damaged enough that it fractures and peels away - or should Morningstar deem it expedient to unveil herself - what lies underneath fits very few people's idea of 'angelic'. The higher Morningstar levelled her racial classes, the more inhuman that inner form became, and now what lies beneath is a twisted mass of pulsing red-raw meat, tortuous purple arteries and organs of indeterminate function throbbing beneath straining membranes, baleful and lidless eyes glaring at everything and nothing, jewelled pins and golden rings driven at random through her flesh...all in all, a far cry from the 'divine' outer shell.
Race: Angel, ostensibly a servant and agent of the divine.
Racial Levels:
Angel [15/15]
Archangel [10/10]
Principality [10/10]
Dominion [10/10]
Seraph [5/5]
-Job Classes:
Wizard [15/15]
Archmage [10/10]
Herald of the Host [5/5]
Artificer [10/10]
Architect of Creation [5/5]
Abilities:
Seraph
Call of the First Circle – Morningstar invokes the divine power resting within her, summoning forth lesser angels from the lower Circles to do her bidding.
Angels, Archangels, Powers, Thrones, Principalities and Dominions all joyfully answer the clarion call to arms.
Thunder of Heaven – Morningstar causes ten great spheres of incandescent plasma to erupt into being, splitting into innumerable smaller globes and arcing to far-distant targets, immolating them – and considerable portions of their surroundings – in solar fire.
A barrage from celestial artillery, the world shakes with the thunder of heaven.
Judgement – Morningstar is Heaven’s will Incarnate. White lightning scythes an area clear of life, and all that remains of those who succumb are statues of petrified salt, gleaming in the unforgiving sun.
Judged and found wanting, the salted earth shuns the sinners.
Grand Entheogenesis – Holy magic is rapid-fire and an order of magnitude more powerful. Heaven moves through the Seraph; the mightiest of holy spells come easily to their lips, buoyed by their essential nature as beings of Good.
Herald of the Heavenly Host
Herald of the Heavenly Host – Summon the greatest angels of the First Circle: the seraphim and cherubim. Morningstar’s power is the solar reflection of Heaven, and in her puissance she may command even the greatest of the Host to leave the Throne and work at her side.
Seraphs and Cherubim descend the Golden Stair at the Herald’s call and bathe the world in wonder.
Mandate of Heaven - Morningstar is Heaven’s will Incarnate. For an angel to stand against her and her commands is unthinkable.
Mortal summons are a holy duty, but the Mandate reigns supreme. No chains will bind, no portal bar, no beguilement hold.
Gates of Heaven – The Pearly Gates lead Morningstar to an extraplanar haven, there to rest and recuperate should her campaigns in the mortal realm take their toll. She must at least survive her combat in order to sketch the Gates and pass through them.
To gaze upon the very Gates of Heaven is to glimpse paradise.
Canonization – Morningstar’s benediction grants the target an aura of holy light inimical to all things evil, and boosts their attacks with holy fire.
Blessed are the Saints, who come bearing the golden heresy of truth for all to see.
Architect of Creation
Creation – Morningstar is an artist, and Creation itself her canvas. With this, she is capable of reshaping entire landscapes to her will and whim. From the moving of mountains to the most delicate filigree fretwork on a fantasy castle, as the Architect she can make and mould the land as she will.
Factory-Cathedral Cant – Let lesser artificers toil in grimy obscurity or cluttered workshops, let them know the tyranny of the production quota and the monotony of endless days on the assembly line. Not so here; the factory-cathedrals raised by the Architect are things of beauty and power, turning out sanctified automata and artefacts to shape and ease the world.
Supernal Flaw – To improve the world, first one must see its flaws. All non-organic things fall under its spell, and the Architect as a consequence is able to inflict considerably increased damage to them whilst the Flaw is active.
Equipment:
Name of Item: Sceptre of the Host
Appearance: A slender ivory field-marshal's baton, impressed with tiny glimmering golden laurel leaves and engraved with an exquisite golden angel figure.
Description of Item: Morningstar's favourite item, the sceptre bolsters divine magic and has a chance to rip control of enemy angels away from their summoners. The level of angels affected is contingent on the wielder's own, and the levels of their racial classes. Its glow is holy, and cuts through even the most impenetrable darkness, magic or otherwise.
Downsides of Item: Restricted to angels; it cannot be wielded by mortals. Even then, command of the Host is reserved for the very highest Circle; whilst lesser angels may hold the sceptre, they will receive continuous damage as a rebuke for their hubris.
Name of Item: Distance-Hungry Ring
Appearance: A slender golden band set with eight burning diamonds
Description of Item: The enchantment laid into the foundation of this item drains a portion of the mana purposed to enemy teleportation magics. The functional effect of this leeching is to force a slight delay on enemy teleportation powers, and a second enchantment provides warning to its wearer.
Name of Item: Infinite Flask
Appearance: An ivory-and-gold pitcher.
Description of Item: Even the driest desert holds little fear for a holder of an Infinite Flask. This useful little artifact never empties, providing sweet spring water in perpetuity.
Name of Item: Armour of the Herald
Appearance: A set of heavy, elaborate armour, designed to fuse with and modify the naturally-armoured forms of the angels. Morningstar has customised it heavily from its original, rather plain appearance, turning it into a glitteringly ornate riot of gold and white that draws the eye with its intricate filigree-work.
Description of Item: The Herald's armour halves the chance that enemy attacks will disrupt its wearer's concentration when summoning angelic forces. It also cuts received physical damage by 20%.
Name of Item: Masque of the Herald
Appearance: Created by Morningstar, the Masque complements the Armour of the Herald. It is shaped in the form of a serene, youthful face in lustrous white and gold, merging seamlessly with Morningstar's armour.
Description of Item: The Mask provides Morningstar with a small boost to her charisma. Post-Yggdrasil, this means that the mask replicates facial expressions consonant with her emotions and speech, although it is naturally very clear she is not human.
Name of Item: The Glass-Smith's Ring
Appearance: Created by Morningstar, the ring is a slender band of platinum and diamond twisted together, the curves of metal and gem drawing the eye.
Description of Item: An arcane resonator for some of Morningstar's favourite spells, this little ring bolsters the power and range of its wearer's vitrifying magics.
In-Game Backstory: Outside of the game, Ruin was a corporate engineer, specialising in arcology design and construction. The game provided an escape from her technically-demanding job, and allowed her to indulge her more creative impulses and flights of fancy, free from the spectre of the bottom line that ruled most corporate arcology designs.
An atheist in real life, she chose to be an angel in the game primarily on the basis of aesthetics, but now that the game world has become real, she is beginning to experience an inner conflict between the hard-science of what had once been the real world and the new - to her - forces of faith and divinity. Looking for God - whether to honour or supplant - may become more than a metaphor for her.
Her job was a demanding but very well-paid one, and whilst having less time than some to spend on the game and her character, she compensated for this with the liberal use of cash-only items, bolstering her gains and her powers during the times she was able to devote to the game.
Although angels were Good and Holy, the aberrant exception to most NPCs' revulsion of heteromorphic races, they were still counted amongst that number by the game itself, and thus were prime targets for many other players. Morningstar was no exception, particularly since, during her initial forays into the game, she preferred to play solo.
Angels, however, in particular the lower ranks, were never meant to fight alone, and after several abortive attempts to go solo, Morningstar caved to the game's system and found a small group of nine other angel players, banding together for mutual support - the clan that became known as the Sephirot, after the Judaic concept.
Whilst initially brought together by the hunts against them, the Sephirot members found a shared joy in the roleplaying aspect of the game. To be the divine envoys, the harbingers of light and hope the angels were portrayed as in the game's lore, however, the Sephirot first had to be strong, strong enough to counter the hunts.
Heteromorphs in general had several strategies for surviving in that time: the Sephirot focused on strength and knowledge - the one feeding into the other until, collectively, they were a very prickly proposition indeed. It was very hard to kill the Sephirot themselves whilst countering waves of lesser angels and a continual barrage of spells and powerful racial abilities.
The Sephirot never grew beyond their initial numer, remaining at ten players, resonating nicely with the symbolism of their name and largely preventing factionalisation and splintering. They explored far and wide, and were generous with their coin and their favours in the field of information, holding fast to the belief that knowledge was power.
Over time, the various members specialised; Morningstar became the clan's artillerist, raining down divine and arcane doom from on high, and later their strategist, coordinating the lesser coterie of angels they controlled. Staying true to their roleplaying roots, the Sephirot campaigned as high-level leaders of the angelic Host, frequently in the vanguard against evil events and guilds, but always fading back from the limelight once the job was done - recalled to Heaven, in their own cant.
In truth, their more sporadic style of play was necessitated by their jobs; many of the original Sephirot were skilled employees, their talents in demand. To make up for their lack of playing time, the group was well-known to liberally use cash items, closing the gap and cutting - as much as possible - the wearying grind of levelling, combining this with copious information bought, found or traded into a lethal combination.
Time was the downfall of the Sephirot, and to a lesser extent the advent of the Guild system. Players were promoted in real life, or married, settled down, found other interests and hobbies and slowly drifted away, particularly since the Guilds both reduced the need for defenders of the weak and made outright conflict with many of them unwinnable for a small ten-member clan, stockpile of supreme items or no. The Sephirot played the game for a long time - since they lacked the numbers to be a side on their own, they became the tipping points, the pressure which tilted events one way or another, but something of the wild freedom of the earlier days had gone and their choices seemed lesser.
Eventually, only Morningstar was left, a solitary Herald where once ten had stood, roaming the empyting worlds of Yggdrasil even unto the final night.
Cohorts
Callis, the Prince of the Dawn – A radiance second only to the Morningstar herself, the cherubim blazes brightly, six sweeping wings of rose and gold bearing him aloft. Castellan of the Castle Arcadia, he commands the regiment of gilded Radiant Servants that man the citadel’s defenses, and where Morningstar soars aloof he is to be found in the thick of the fray, carving a bloody swath through his enemies with a thousand gleaming blades and trusting to his ensorcelled heavy plate to weather any retribution.
Alexis, the Queen in Clockwork – If Callis is the Dawn, Alexis is the Dusk. Whilst the Prince serves proudly on the front lines of the heavenly Host, directly defending the Sephirot, Alexis is quartermaster and chatelaine of the Sephirot’s dimensionally discordant barque Castle Arcadia. Altogether quieter, more meticulous and far more averse to the limelight than her counterpart, she arguably holds the greater power; her silver keys can open gates to many realms, with the proper knowledge, and her benedictions have saved many a lesser angel from their final dissolution.
Final Note
Flying into the final sunset of Yggdrasil, with the flying barque Castle Arcadia beginning to crumble in the background.
Player Profession: Outside of the game, Ruin was a corporate engineer, specialising in arcology design and construction. The game provided an escape from her technically-demanding job, and allowed her to indulge her more creative impulses and flights of fancy, free from the spectre of the bottom line that ruled most corporate arcology designs.
An atheist in real life, she chose to be an angel in the game primarily on the basis of aesthetics, but now that the game world has become real, she is beginning to experience an inner conflict between the hard-science of what had once been the real world and the new - to her - forces of faith and divinity. Looking for God - whether to honour or supplant - may become more than a metaphor for her.
Her job was a demanding but very well-paid one, and whilst having less time than some to spend on the game and her character, she compensated for this with the liberal use of cash-only items, bolstering her gains and her powers during the times she was able to devote to the game.
Character Role: DPS, Crowd Control
Alignment: 500
Appearance: A slight and slender creature wrapped entirely in an ornate white and gold metal shell, resplendent with eight shining gold wings of light reaching far behind her, it is clear that Morningstar is not human. The intricate halo glowing behind her close-helmed head provides a further clue, should one be necessary, and golden light spills through the eye-holes of her Masque, as final punctuation. It is just possible to discern that Morningstar is - or prefers to be - female from appearance alone; some subtle shaping of the breastplate and the general impression of her Masque’s face are the only visual clues.
Her voice, however, is unusually resonant, particularly given her relatively small stature, rich and clear and undeniably female. It has an odd half-echo to it, and the perceptive might deduce that she uses a minor cantrip to alter the sounds in some way.
Should her armoured skin be broken, damaged enough that it fractures and peels away - or should Morningstar deem it expedient to unveil herself - what lies underneath fits very few people's idea of 'angelic'. The higher Morningstar levelled her racial classes, the more inhuman that inner form became, and now what lies beneath is a twisted mass of pulsing red-raw meat, tortuous purple arteries and organs of indeterminate function throbbing beneath straining membranes, baleful and lidless eyes glaring at everything and nothing, jewelled pins and golden rings driven at random through her flesh...all in all, a far cry from the 'divine' outer shell.
Race: Angel, ostensibly a servant and agent of the divine.
Racial Levels:
Angel [15/15]
Archangel [10/10]
Principality [10/10]
Dominion [10/10]
Seraph [5/5]
-Job Classes:
Wizard [15/15]
Archmage [10/10]
Herald of the Host [5/5]
Artificer [10/10]
Architect of Creation [5/5]
Abilities:
Seraph
Call of the First Circle – Morningstar invokes the divine power resting within her, summoning forth lesser angels from the lower Circles to do her bidding.
Angels, Archangels, Powers, Thrones, Principalities and Dominions all joyfully answer the clarion call to arms.
Thunder of Heaven – Morningstar causes ten great spheres of incandescent plasma to erupt into being, splitting into innumerable smaller globes and arcing to far-distant targets, immolating them – and considerable portions of their surroundings – in solar fire.
A barrage from celestial artillery, the world shakes with the thunder of heaven.
Judgement – Morningstar is Heaven’s will Incarnate. White lightning scythes an area clear of life, and all that remains of those who succumb are statues of petrified salt, gleaming in the unforgiving sun.
Judged and found wanting, the salted earth shuns the sinners.
Grand Entheogenesis – Holy magic is rapid-fire and an order of magnitude more powerful. Heaven moves through the Seraph; the mightiest of holy spells come easily to their lips, buoyed by their essential nature as beings of Good.
Herald of the Heavenly Host
Herald of the Heavenly Host – Summon the greatest angels of the First Circle: the seraphim and cherubim. Morningstar’s power is the solar reflection of Heaven, and in her puissance she may command even the greatest of the Host to leave the Throne and work at her side.
Seraphs and Cherubim descend the Golden Stair at the Herald’s call and bathe the world in wonder.
Mandate of Heaven - Morningstar is Heaven’s will Incarnate. For an angel to stand against her and her commands is unthinkable.
Mortal summons are a holy duty, but the Mandate reigns supreme. No chains will bind, no portal bar, no beguilement hold.
Gates of Heaven – The Pearly Gates lead Morningstar to an extraplanar haven, there to rest and recuperate should her campaigns in the mortal realm take their toll. She must at least survive her combat in order to sketch the Gates and pass through them.
To gaze upon the very Gates of Heaven is to glimpse paradise.
Canonization – Morningstar’s benediction grants the target an aura of holy light inimical to all things evil, and boosts their attacks with holy fire.
Blessed are the Saints, who come bearing the golden heresy of truth for all to see.
Architect of Creation
Creation – Morningstar is an artist, and Creation itself her canvas. With this, she is capable of reshaping entire landscapes to her will and whim. From the moving of mountains to the most delicate filigree fretwork on a fantasy castle, as the Architect she can make and mould the land as she will.
Factory-Cathedral Cant – Let lesser artificers toil in grimy obscurity or cluttered workshops, let them know the tyranny of the production quota and the monotony of endless days on the assembly line. Not so here; the factory-cathedrals raised by the Architect are things of beauty and power, turning out sanctified automata and artefacts to shape and ease the world.
Supernal Flaw – To improve the world, first one must see its flaws. All non-organic things fall under its spell, and the Architect as a consequence is able to inflict considerably increased damage to them whilst the Flaw is active.
Equipment:
Name of Item: Sceptre of the Host
Appearance: A slender ivory field-marshal's baton, impressed with tiny glimmering golden laurel leaves and engraved with an exquisite golden angel figure.
Description of Item: Morningstar's favourite item, the sceptre bolsters divine magic and has a chance to rip control of enemy angels away from their summoners. The level of angels affected is contingent on the wielder's own, and the levels of their racial classes. Its glow is holy, and cuts through even the most impenetrable darkness, magic or otherwise.
Downsides of Item: Restricted to angels; it cannot be wielded by mortals. Even then, command of the Host is reserved for the very highest Circle; whilst lesser angels may hold the sceptre, they will receive continuous damage as a rebuke for their hubris.
Name of Item: Distance-Hungry Ring
Appearance: A slender golden band set with eight burning diamonds
Description of Item: The enchantment laid into the foundation of this item drains a portion of the mana purposed to enemy teleportation magics. The functional effect of this leeching is to force a slight delay on enemy teleportation powers, and a second enchantment provides warning to its wearer.
Name of Item: Infinite Flask
Appearance: An ivory-and-gold pitcher.
Description of Item: Even the driest desert holds little fear for a holder of an Infinite Flask. This useful little artifact never empties, providing sweet spring water in perpetuity.
Name of Item: Armour of the Herald
Appearance: A set of heavy, elaborate armour, designed to fuse with and modify the naturally-armoured forms of the angels. Morningstar has customised it heavily from its original, rather plain appearance, turning it into a glitteringly ornate riot of gold and white that draws the eye with its intricate filigree-work.
Description of Item: The Herald's armour halves the chance that enemy attacks will disrupt its wearer's concentration when summoning angelic forces. It also cuts received physical damage by 20%.
Name of Item: Masque of the Herald
Appearance: Created by Morningstar, the Masque complements the Armour of the Herald. It is shaped in the form of a serene, youthful face in lustrous white and gold, merging seamlessly with Morningstar's armour.
Description of Item: The Mask provides Morningstar with a small boost to her charisma. Post-Yggdrasil, this means that the mask replicates facial expressions consonant with her emotions and speech, although it is naturally very clear she is not human.
Name of Item: The Glass-Smith's Ring
Appearance: Created by Morningstar, the ring is a slender band of platinum and diamond twisted together, the curves of metal and gem drawing the eye.
Description of Item: An arcane resonator for some of Morningstar's favourite spells, this little ring bolsters the power and range of its wearer's vitrifying magics.
In-Game Backstory: Outside of the game, Ruin was a corporate engineer, specialising in arcology design and construction. The game provided an escape from her technically-demanding job, and allowed her to indulge her more creative impulses and flights of fancy, free from the spectre of the bottom line that ruled most corporate arcology designs.
An atheist in real life, she chose to be an angel in the game primarily on the basis of aesthetics, but now that the game world has become real, she is beginning to experience an inner conflict between the hard-science of what had once been the real world and the new - to her - forces of faith and divinity. Looking for God - whether to honour or supplant - may become more than a metaphor for her.
Her job was a demanding but very well-paid one, and whilst having less time than some to spend on the game and her character, she compensated for this with the liberal use of cash-only items, bolstering her gains and her powers during the times she was able to devote to the game.
Although angels were Good and Holy, the aberrant exception to most NPCs' revulsion of heteromorphic races, they were still counted amongst that number by the game itself, and thus were prime targets for many other players. Morningstar was no exception, particularly since, during her initial forays into the game, she preferred to play solo.
Angels, however, in particular the lower ranks, were never meant to fight alone, and after several abortive attempts to go solo, Morningstar caved to the game's system and found a small group of nine other angel players, banding together for mutual support - the clan that became known as the Sephirot, after the Judaic concept.
Whilst initially brought together by the hunts against them, the Sephirot members found a shared joy in the roleplaying aspect of the game. To be the divine envoys, the harbingers of light and hope the angels were portrayed as in the game's lore, however, the Sephirot first had to be strong, strong enough to counter the hunts.
Heteromorphs in general had several strategies for surviving in that time: the Sephirot focused on strength and knowledge - the one feeding into the other until, collectively, they were a very prickly proposition indeed. It was very hard to kill the Sephirot themselves whilst countering waves of lesser angels and a continual barrage of spells and powerful racial abilities.
The Sephirot never grew beyond their initial numer, remaining at ten players, resonating nicely with the symbolism of their name and largely preventing factionalisation and splintering. They explored far and wide, and were generous with their coin and their favours in the field of information, holding fast to the belief that knowledge was power.
Over time, the various members specialised; Morningstar became the clan's artillerist, raining down divine and arcane doom from on high, and later their strategist, coordinating the lesser coterie of angels they controlled. Staying true to their roleplaying roots, the Sephirot campaigned as high-level leaders of the angelic Host, frequently in the vanguard against evil events and guilds, but always fading back from the limelight once the job was done - recalled to Heaven, in their own cant.
In truth, their more sporadic style of play was necessitated by their jobs; many of the original Sephirot were skilled employees, their talents in demand. To make up for their lack of playing time, the group was well-known to liberally use cash items, closing the gap and cutting - as much as possible - the wearying grind of levelling, combining this with copious information bought, found or traded into a lethal combination.
Time was the downfall of the Sephirot, and to a lesser extent the advent of the Guild system. Players were promoted in real life, or married, settled down, found other interests and hobbies and slowly drifted away, particularly since the Guilds both reduced the need for defenders of the weak and made outright conflict with many of them unwinnable for a small ten-member clan, stockpile of supreme items or no. The Sephirot played the game for a long time - since they lacked the numbers to be a side on their own, they became the tipping points, the pressure which tilted events one way or another, but something of the wild freedom of the earlier days had gone and their choices seemed lesser.
Eventually, only Morningstar was left, a solitary Herald where once ten had stood, roaming the empyting worlds of Yggdrasil even unto the final night.
Cohorts
Callis, the Prince of the Dawn – A radiance second only to the Morningstar herself, the cherubim blazes brightly, six sweeping wings of rose and gold bearing him aloft. Castellan of the Castle Arcadia, he commands the regiment of gilded Radiant Servants that man the citadel’s defenses, and where Morningstar soars aloof he is to be found in the thick of the fray, carving a bloody swath through his enemies with a thousand gleaming blades and trusting to his ensorcelled heavy plate to weather any retribution.
Alexis, the Queen in Clockwork – If Callis is the Dawn, Alexis is the Dusk. Whilst the Prince serves proudly on the front lines of the heavenly Host, directly defending the Sephirot, Alexis is quartermaster and chatelaine of the Sephirot’s dimensionally discordant barque Castle Arcadia. Altogether quieter, more meticulous and far more averse to the limelight than her counterpart, she arguably holds the greater power; her silver keys can open gates to many realms, with the proper knowledge, and her benedictions have saved many a lesser angel from their final dissolution.
Final Note
Flying into the final sunset of Yggdrasil, with the flying barque Castle Arcadia beginning to crumble in the background.
ShwiggityShwah Good Diet, Sleep, Excercise, and Leeches
Member
Seen
4 yrs ago
Username: GiveITaSQUEEZE
Player Profession: QC Investigator for Big Pharma
Character Role: Versatile (Role dependent on form)
Appearance:
Alignment: +400
Racial Levels: Trillip 15 > Treant 10 > Treelord 5
Job Classes:
Abilities:
Equipment:
Alt Gear:
In Game Backstory:
The Player didn't think about the character he made at first. The idea became ridiculous at first. "Im going to be a farming tree. His name will be Siraki...Taken. Carmine. Taken... okay How about ShwiggityShwah... WHAT COME ON! Okay GiveITaSQUEEZE! Yeah that worked. Great. Oh well, time to have fun." He wanted to be a literal tree hugger... as in he was a tree that hugged.
And so, the adventure of GiveITaSQUEEZE began. A little cute Mandrogora type character running around as a farmer with a hoe for a weapon and throwing turnips to heal other low level newbies. He eventually needed to get something a little more martial, so figured the Druid matched the tree theme well. Plus the 'Treant' race had a bonus with them. He usually went for a path less traveled but Treants were rare and druid had alot of versatility. Nature magic for support, healing, and ranged dps. Wild Shape for tank and melee dps. He started the druid route. It took him to the beautiful world of Yggdrasil, epic sprawling landscapes. He showed his fiance the pictures, tried to make her play.
She showed interest, she especially loved how this was how nature was supposed to look. Green and good. It led to alot of conversation. Alot of dreams. Unfortunately she was volunteering, doing her part to make the real world match the game world. Sadly, he had his own responsibilities, and so he left it to her to save the world, he'd bring the money. Teamwork. He wanted to find more nature. Do more things that followed the natural world. He started to develop his character as a role player, and wanted him as a guardian of nature. Protect the wild and encourage a proper order of things.
This led him to only do quests on the side of good, helping people, and avoiding those quests that would lead to exploitation and destruction. He engaged in pvp with 'evil' players and joined guilds that were associated with the ideals of heroism. For a long while, he was a supportive team player to them, capable of fitting any role required for any quest or raid they engaged him.
Then a rare item description gave him a clue to look in a certain area of the world. This was odd as there was nothing about the item in the wiki's about Yggdrasil. On occasion, someone would find something completely new to the game as the devs continued to keep adding to the game world. This led him to an unknown faction, the Emerald Grove Conclaive. It was a kind of secret society of druids that would commune with nature and protect the world from calamity. For finding them, he was given access to their shops, resources, and high level quest line with a whole bunch of new lore to the world. The Grove told him that treants only awaken when Yggdrasil the first tree was in danger and that treants, the wooden ones were ancient guardians of the land, one of its first inhabitants that tamed the primordial chaos that the tree spawned from. The time has come again and this time, all of Yggdrasils children would need to fight.
He was so excited with the discovery, he created the wiki articles, shared the information on forums, and actually attracted others, some former friends but a bunch of new ones. All of them were nature lovers, conservationists, biologist, botonists, gardeners, and virtual outdoorsmen. He became an impromptu founder of a Guild and the leader of a small chat group which became friends in and out of the game. They even became friends with his busy fiance.
Together they made the small conclaive into a pretty sizable faction, complete with treasuries, crafted assets, NPCs, all the while exploring the new quests and dungeons the Grove offered. The quests took them inside the world tree, fighting against the world serpent among its roots. They discovered an apocalypse cult in its trunk. There was even a raid where the players had to go through a temporal portal to defend the seed of the world tree from an aberrant force called 'The Blight'. During the final battle with a monster simply called 'The Scarlet King', its possible that the seedling is taken, leaving only a hole with a glowing blue green light. A small island in a sea of chaos that Yggdrasil would bloom upon. Squeeze looked to his team mates, at a loss for what to do, before he received a prompt. [Become] is all it said. Hitting it with the mouse, Squeeze cast himself into the light, his tree body disappearing and a single sproutling beginning to grow.
The player was kicked out of the game but relogging in, found himself spawning inside of a unknown chamber near the Emerald Grove conclaive, the 'Primordial Essence' trinket on his person, and a new elite job title awarded to him. His friends raved about it for weeks. They theorized that Squeeze had gone back in time and was the first sprout of the World Tree. In a sense, GiveITaSQUEEZE was the World Tree, grown from chaos, now re sprouting thousands of years later cause he was inside of it all this time helping it grow, protecting it. The interpretation was just a theory, but the trinket, the job was a unique game condition, and Squeeze found it. It was one of the best times of his life.
He was hooked on the game ever since, and he and his Guild flourished. The legend and the instance raids giving them a whole number of unique items that other players eventually found and joined to get. It all came to an end when the announcement that the server's would be put down.
It was fun while it lasted, defending such a vibrant, wonderous, and beautiful land. Time to face ugly reality, but atleast there was a ray of beauty and hope waiting for him. He had a wedding to plan anyway...
Cohorts:
Squeeze's cohorts are a combination of NPCs that are part of the Emerald Grove Conclaive faction and the created NPCs of a bunch of players that also discovered the Conclaive which ended up becoming a kind of secret fan club the player was a part of, kind of making a guild in and out of the game. Its debatable whether the Guild still exists, but feel free to use the Faction for stories as they are meant to be a secret society of natural protectors, keeping the forces of nature in balance, fighting off the forces of death and plague etc.
Last Actions Before the World Ended:
Frantically putting the finishing touches on Carmine Lily so he coule take some screenshots as a present. He didnt think it would take that long.
Player Profession: QC Investigator for Big Pharma
Character Role: Versatile (Role dependent on form)
Appearance:
Alignment: +400
Racial Levels: Trillip 15 > Treant 10 > Treelord 5
Job Classes:
- Farmer 15
- Druid 15
- High Druid 10
- High Tamer 10
- Shifter 10
- Guardian of the Grove 5 - Acquire Max Level Arch Druid, have +250 Alignment, Complete the Emerald Grove Quest Line, get Exalted Reputation with the Emerald Grove Conclaive.
- Wyld Wood 5 - Be a Treant/Treelord, Acquire the Legendary Item: Primordial Essence, Complete The Blight Quest Chain.
Abilities:
- Racial - Bark skin - Defense and resistance to poisons and disease increase.
- Racial - Symbiotic Communion - While in Natural Environment, mana and health regeneration increase.
- Racial - Branching Limbs - Size, Strength, and Reach increases. This applies to all forms.
- Racial - Natural Connection - Potency of Spells with the 'Nature' Element Increase.
- Racial - King of the Wood - Summon Wood Golems to fight for a while, their potency is tied to the player's level.
- Class Farmer - Farming - Can grow food and herbs. High levels can grow magical ingredients and use them in some recipes.
- Class Druid/High Druid - Druidic Magic - A list of spells that follow the theme of nature. Ensnaring Roots, Storms of Thorns, Weather Control, Celestial Fire, Earth Sense, Camoflauge, Channeling Animal Abilities, Animating Plants, Walls of Roots, Plant Growth, Regeneration, Clouds of Poisonous Spores, Summoning Venomous Swarms of Vermin, just to name a few.
Some Higher Powered Spells from The Guardian of the Glade
The Gladewyrm – a summoned titanic beast that crushes your foes and heals allies as an aura effect.
The Spiteswarm Hive – a colony of magical insects which makes nearby allies more durable, resisting magic.
The Vengeful Skullroot – a sinister, sentient, floating tree that can slay foes by seizing bodies in its crushing roots and sapping the life out of them. Seeing the bodies in the bark and skulls in the roots causes terror.
Reclamation - A semi divine spell that causes the sun and stars to shine through the druid. Where the light touches, life flourishes. This is especially deadly to undead type enemies.
Genesis - Causes vast swathes of land to come to full fecund beauty, Great for Farmers. Also can resurrect a dead character. - Class Shifter - Wild Shape - Transform into Beasts, Elementals, and other forms, to include other humanoids. At this point, nearly all animals regardless of size are fair game.
Note: The Wyld Wood Class allows some unique Shape options.
The Form of the Plagues The Player doesn't become one creature, but many. A cloud, an army. The game defaulted to a single kind of attack, an aoe of stinging biting insects causing physical, poison, and acidic damage but since its real, the possibilities are quite vast.
The Form of the Behemoth Titanic Creatures become targets of Transformation, and all of their abilities.
The Form of the God Monster Divine Creatures become targets of Transformation, and all of their abilities. - Class High Tamer - Control Plants and Beasts - The Tamer class allows for summon and control over animals to the point that they become companions. The ability overlaps with druid abilities so that sentient plants also count. He has multiple companions he can call temporarily or swap them out.
Whiskers is his favored 'combat mount', a Dragonoid type enemy called a Forest Phoenix. His high defense and large target range makes him a great tank while Squeeze can focus on DPS and the Phoenix types have a myriad of magical resistances and aura effects with combat spells. - Class Druid/High Druid - Healing magic and buffs - The Nature Spells revolve around regeneration and life magic, so there are a lot of spells that allow for Squeeze to act as a healer. The buffs can purify disease, poison, some curses and offer nature, elemental, and animal based buffs to imbue invisibility, mobility, strength, perception, etc.
- Class Druid/High Druid- Poison and disease based debuffs - Fungi, Poison, Venom as well as disease can be utilized via magic or other means to debuff enemies. Mushroom bombs that make choking, blinding spore clouds. Curse of the Sloth. The Prey's Fear, can give Squeeze the edge.
Equipment:
- Primordial Essence: Trinket - The very essence of what is versus what isn't. The essence has unlimited potential of what could be. It's user is able to transform from one form into the next without needing to transform back first. Additionally, the user can develop their own 'custom' forms. Taking attributes from other creatures to combine them.
- Heart of the Nidhoggen: Trinket - The Heart still beats, and its blood races through those that hold it close. Using the heart channels the behemoth's power for a time. Caster's become fighter types of equal value, and their magical power translates into physical power on top of their own stats.
- Branch of the World Tree: Staff Weapon - A twig of Yggdrasil, the world tree. Its power to create and destroy channeled into every act. Greatly enhances magical power. Capable of casting the spells The Ravenous Thicket Wall of IronWood or Spirit of the First Tree while on cooldown without spending mana.
- Regalia of the Ancients: Chest
- Wreathed in Life: Legs
- That Which Strides At the Edge of Everything: Shoes
- Unbowed Unbroken: Wrists
- Touch of Life: Glove
- Touch of Death: Glove
-- Set Bonus Touch of Rebirth - Grants an life explosion effect. An enemy killed by the player causes the body to burst in an explosion of thorns and living essence. Nearby allies get health while other nearby enemies suffer damage. If they also die, the life explosion triggers in a chain reaction. The resulting corpses become flowers, making them impossible targets for necromantic effects. - The Wyld Veil: Cloak
- Ring of the Promised: Ring
- Oroborus: Ring
- The Emerald in the Grove: Pendant
- The Everbloom: Reusable Item
- The Snapmire Vine: Reusable Item
Alt Gear:
- The Tooth of the World Serpent[/*] Spear Weapon
- Hunger of Yanagu[/*] Chest Armor
- Primal Claws[/*] Wrists
In Game Backstory:
The Player didn't think about the character he made at first. The idea became ridiculous at first. "Im going to be a farming tree. His name will be Siraki...Taken. Carmine. Taken... okay How about ShwiggityShwah... WHAT COME ON! Okay GiveITaSQUEEZE! Yeah that worked. Great. Oh well, time to have fun." He wanted to be a literal tree hugger... as in he was a tree that hugged.
And so, the adventure of GiveITaSQUEEZE began. A little cute Mandrogora type character running around as a farmer with a hoe for a weapon and throwing turnips to heal other low level newbies. He eventually needed to get something a little more martial, so figured the Druid matched the tree theme well. Plus the 'Treant' race had a bonus with them. He usually went for a path less traveled but Treants were rare and druid had alot of versatility. Nature magic for support, healing, and ranged dps. Wild Shape for tank and melee dps. He started the druid route. It took him to the beautiful world of Yggdrasil, epic sprawling landscapes. He showed his fiance the pictures, tried to make her play.
She showed interest, she especially loved how this was how nature was supposed to look. Green and good. It led to alot of conversation. Alot of dreams. Unfortunately she was volunteering, doing her part to make the real world match the game world. Sadly, he had his own responsibilities, and so he left it to her to save the world, he'd bring the money. Teamwork. He wanted to find more nature. Do more things that followed the natural world. He started to develop his character as a role player, and wanted him as a guardian of nature. Protect the wild and encourage a proper order of things.
This led him to only do quests on the side of good, helping people, and avoiding those quests that would lead to exploitation and destruction. He engaged in pvp with 'evil' players and joined guilds that were associated with the ideals of heroism. For a long while, he was a supportive team player to them, capable of fitting any role required for any quest or raid they engaged him.
Then a rare item description gave him a clue to look in a certain area of the world. This was odd as there was nothing about the item in the wiki's about Yggdrasil. On occasion, someone would find something completely new to the game as the devs continued to keep adding to the game world. This led him to an unknown faction, the Emerald Grove Conclaive. It was a kind of secret society of druids that would commune with nature and protect the world from calamity. For finding them, he was given access to their shops, resources, and high level quest line with a whole bunch of new lore to the world. The Grove told him that treants only awaken when Yggdrasil the first tree was in danger and that treants, the wooden ones were ancient guardians of the land, one of its first inhabitants that tamed the primordial chaos that the tree spawned from. The time has come again and this time, all of Yggdrasils children would need to fight.
He was so excited with the discovery, he created the wiki articles, shared the information on forums, and actually attracted others, some former friends but a bunch of new ones. All of them were nature lovers, conservationists, biologist, botonists, gardeners, and virtual outdoorsmen. He became an impromptu founder of a Guild and the leader of a small chat group which became friends in and out of the game. They even became friends with his busy fiance.
Together they made the small conclaive into a pretty sizable faction, complete with treasuries, crafted assets, NPCs, all the while exploring the new quests and dungeons the Grove offered. The quests took them inside the world tree, fighting against the world serpent among its roots. They discovered an apocalypse cult in its trunk. There was even a raid where the players had to go through a temporal portal to defend the seed of the world tree from an aberrant force called 'The Blight'. During the final battle with a monster simply called 'The Scarlet King', its possible that the seedling is taken, leaving only a hole with a glowing blue green light. A small island in a sea of chaos that Yggdrasil would bloom upon. Squeeze looked to his team mates, at a loss for what to do, before he received a prompt. [Become] is all it said. Hitting it with the mouse, Squeeze cast himself into the light, his tree body disappearing and a single sproutling beginning to grow.
The player was kicked out of the game but relogging in, found himself spawning inside of a unknown chamber near the Emerald Grove conclaive, the 'Primordial Essence' trinket on his person, and a new elite job title awarded to him. His friends raved about it for weeks. They theorized that Squeeze had gone back in time and was the first sprout of the World Tree. In a sense, GiveITaSQUEEZE was the World Tree, grown from chaos, now re sprouting thousands of years later cause he was inside of it all this time helping it grow, protecting it. The interpretation was just a theory, but the trinket, the job was a unique game condition, and Squeeze found it. It was one of the best times of his life.
He was hooked on the game ever since, and he and his Guild flourished. The legend and the instance raids giving them a whole number of unique items that other players eventually found and joined to get. It all came to an end when the announcement that the server's would be put down.
It was fun while it lasted, defending such a vibrant, wonderous, and beautiful land. Time to face ugly reality, but atleast there was a ray of beauty and hope waiting for him. He had a wedding to plan anyway...
Cohorts:
Squeeze's cohorts are a combination of NPCs that are part of the Emerald Grove Conclaive faction and the created NPCs of a bunch of players that also discovered the Conclaive which ended up becoming a kind of secret fan club the player was a part of, kind of making a guild in and out of the game. Its debatable whether the Guild still exists, but feel free to use the Faction for stories as they are meant to be a secret society of natural protectors, keeping the forces of nature in balance, fighting off the forces of death and plague etc.
- Carmine Lily A Dryad with a Beastmen skin that Squeeze personally created. His fiance did not play Yggdrasil but their relationship had alot of influence on how Squeeze roleplayed the character. Carmine Lily is supposed to be a kind of stand in for his fiance so he could play with her in spirit. His fiance loved animals as she worked at an animal shelter in her spare time and volunteered for conservation groups. Carmine Lily has that same kind of theme. Her abilities follow the Forest Wizard and Summoner paths as she can conjure nature spirits, beasts, or golems, and then buff them for better abilities, healing them, all the while sending down spells that make things unfavorable for her enemies wearing down opponents through attrition and savagery. She's designed to be more focused on DPS through use of summons as she was apparently a very blunt, stubborn, and passionate individual. Carmine Lily is the same. She has a heart overwhelming with care for those weaker then her and a burning passion to protect them. It's almost unnerving how she can swap from care free and motherly to sadistic and predatory. She doesn't know what restraint is.
- Lavender Candy A fairy created by the guildmate Vampybitm3. She is was designed to act as a mage, illusionist, and enchanter, kind of fitting the mischievous fairy motiff. That kind of mentality is her in spades. She's playful, a trickster, and a bit of a narcissistic and attention hog. Wrapping herself and other in illusions to lead them a stray is great fun, even to her friends but she can talk her way out of it. She's also a bit of a clinger, attaching herself to someone for their attention, and she gets jealous easily. Some of her initial build ideas led to alot of the security for the Grove, so she definitely takes great delight in manipulating her enemies. It's almost to the point of sadistic how she can play with someone's head.
- ZeroCreated by GiveITaSQUEEZE to model after his dog. A Canine Beastman that was designed to act as another companion for Squeeze's adventure (He went through a collect monsters and beasts during his Tamer phase). Squeeze felt he needed something a martial type to synergize with his caster build so Zero kind of has a Barbarian Fighter levels but as Squeeze understood the game, he added more variety, making him a totemic shaman, using tattoos to boost his primal savagery. As a person though, he's gruff but loyal, contemplative and calculating and like a dog he's quick to anger and quick to forgive and have a good laugh. He actually has a head for tactics, having seen Squeeze experiment with different builds and strategies throughout the game.
- Arduin the Seeker An actual NPC from Yggdrasil and the Faction Leader of the Emerald Grove, aka, the main quest giver. She is a shaman and an oracle, able to commune with the spirits of nature in order to warn others of the dangers to the land. Personality wise, she looks young but she is wise beyond her years and has seen some horrors which has turned her into a source of stoic regality, disciplined, and emotionless. One can see how tired and lonely she is, seeing all these terrible things that she'd need help in stopping... and then suddenly her small little group of natural defenders houses a bunch of eccentric and excited gamer's as a guild. Now that she's off script, its a mystery how she will be now, surrounded by friends and allies.
- Merryweather An NPC of the Grove. Nothing particularly special about this Centaur as she is essentially a druid in training, a gardener, herbalist with hopes of becoming an alchemist or pharmacist. The only reason she is mentioned is that her jubilation and over bounding enthusiasm to help out makes her a rather common sight around the grove and Squeeze uses her for various tasks and eventually hopes to have a top notch potion maker among his retinue.
Note this is a work in progress and I will elaborate on specifics
Last Actions Before the World Ended:
Frantically putting the finishing touches on Carmine Lily so he coule take some screenshots as a present. He didnt think it would take that long.
Golden Spiral Moonstruck
Member
Seen
2 yrs ago
Username: Tsuchisumo
Player Profession: Virtual Idol (Arcology Resident)
Character Role: Core Support
Alignment: 500 (Extreme Good)
Appearance:
Tsuichisumo is a Moirae who can acquire multiple forms, and as a result her default state resembles a human. It's a mimicry of her V-Idol model, with a far larger wardrobe and minor modifications here and there.
Regardless of form her wavy golden hair holds a peerless luster, a cosmetic effect which she is particularly fond of. In the case of her human base, her eyes are a pure, vivid, light blue. As she has a character model which transforms, Tsuchi had to increase her base height to make transitions across forms more consistent. In the end, she would've preferred a shorter character if it had been possible. As it is, her avatar is quite tall by Japanese standards. Its always been slightly disorienting for her.
Tsuchi favors the use of hats and other head cosmetics regardless of her form, a matter of personal taste. She prefers simple rather than gaudy clothing, only having used the later during formal Guild meetings. In the case of special cosmetic effects in the vein of Halos and the like, she grants a special exception based on cool factor, but only to a certain point. Regarding dress style in particular, she especially favors frilly dresses complimented with gloves. As a whole, she greatly enjoys that her Heteromorphic race is conductive to dress-up. In terms of style, her standard clothing is often religious or spider themed, sometimes incorporating both motifs. As her base V-Idol model outside of Yggdrasil is that of a Spider Queen, she strove to replicate that theme here.
[Arachne] 10 (Advanced)
[Moirae] 5 (Rare)
[Theurge] 10 (Advanced)
[Saint] 10 (Advanced)
[Prophet] 10 (Advanced)
[Oracle] 10 (Advanced)
[Hospitaller] 10 (Advanced)
[Twilight Handmaiden] 5 (Rare)
[Fount of Elaphine] 5 (Rare)
In-Game Backstory:
Tsuchi is a Virtual Idol popular with the wage slave masses, well known for her wholesome and relaxing content. Yggdrasil came around at a very important moment of her career. By the time of its release over a decade ago, Tsuchi had finally broken through and made it big. The very first game she streamed in an Arcology was, in fact, Yggdrasil. For that and many other reasons, even for this deteriorated Yggdrasil which was about to end, Tsu has many complicated feelings about it.
For Tsuchi, her time in Yggdrasil was something fraught by many mistakes.
Her first(and per the rules, only) character was of course Tsuchisumo. She created an avatar which resembled her own V-Idol 3D model much as possible, then spawned into a starting region as usual. Unfortunately she didn't have much foresight, and did all of this on stream. Seeing as she had chosen a Heteromorphic race Tsuchi was a valid target for PK, and being a level 1 character, she had little recourse. The result was naturally a great deal of unenjoyable spawn camping.
This difficult period was short lived, however. In the end Tsu was supported by her horde of fans, some Yggdrasil Players, while many more were joining the DMMO-RPG for the very first time. Unfortunately, these new Players also selected Heteromorphs as if to show solidarity. In turn, this provided even more visible targets to freely PK, for rewards and special job classes. At a certain point it evolved past just stream sniping, and veteran players who had ignored the situation begin harvesting her fans as they appeared.
What was once stream sniping ballooned into a massive mess, which only ended up being resolved by Tsuchi taking a short break from the game. In the end, she entered the game with a dedicated Clan of protectors, having to be escorted at all times. As a result this early period was quite obtuse, and it wasn't until Tsu established a Guild that she implemented various means to counter information leaks.
That very Guild was the pride and joy of her fans, for a time. The Great Unholy Citadel, Dis- a large and imposing dungeon found on the outskirts of Helheim modeled after the Tower of Babel. This place would become Guildhall for Tsuchi, and thus her home in Yggdrasil.
Dis had once been the central citadel to a great holy city of the upper worlds. Unfortunately, after the cities corruption at the hand of devilish machinations, it was dragged down to Helheim. Core figures from the attempts to claim Dis would go on to become the 12 Peers, who stood atop the Guild as leader figures. Tsuchi herself became Guild Master, with the specific term in NPC flavor text being Imperatrix. When it came to the Guilds name, she unfortunately suggested 'Sticky Crusade' on stream. After a vote, everyone eventually settled on Eternity Crusade for a name.
Immediately, they set to the task of restoring Dis to its former glory, before the honeyed words of Devils had brought it to evil. Eternity Crusade was made up of Heteromorphs who renounced the trappings of beasts or evil, instead devoting themselves to good. At least, that was the theme of the Guild- and to that end, most new members were expected to transform into Heteromorphs at some point, if they weren't Heteromorphs already.
The idea of any expansion of numbers was taken that more inhabitants of Helheim had seen the light, and reformed their ways accordingly. Though it wasn't a roleplay guild, it definitely had a certain air to it like that. Much of its theme and architecture drew from the likes of Latin, Greek, and Romantic mythology- or historical Kingdoms such as the Franks. NPC design followed those precepts, adding more flavor to the Guild as a whole.
Boosted by the resources of vanguard Clans and Guilds, it could be considered a long standing and successful Guild- even it it declined as Tsuchisumo's interest in the game did. As much as Tsuki enjoyed player versus player combat, it was simply too difficult for a Guild with such a large target on their back. The issue of streaming also constantly came up as an issue, nor did something so competitive fit her image.
As a result, the Guilds focus was instead on exploration, expansion, exploitation, and extermination. That is to say, it was a Guild that focused on the key theme of Yggdrasil; exploration. Acting as trailblazers across the physical world and the games many secrets, this was where the Guild found its true power.
Cash shop items assisted its growth greatly, both purchased by Tsuchi's extreme wealth and the devotion of Players and fans. There was one such case where she spent a massive donation entirely on the cash-shop gacha, in one session no less.
What PK the Guild experienced was in defending its Hall against raids, which were somewhat frequent until Tsu began to drift away from Yggdrasil. Traps and special cash gacha mercenaries were relied on more than their centralized level 100 NPCs, because upkeep was made easier through support from vanguard groups. Though forced to conform to the adriane system, it was still a well defended bulwark, a foothold for the forces of good in Helheim itself.
The Guilds three treasures could be called Dis, its myriad NPCs, and finally the Holy Lance, the Guild Weapon which was a physical(virtual) manifestation of her fanbases devotion. Though called the Holy Lance, it was actually a divine magic casters staff which only resembled a spear. It incorporates the greatest holy relics from the pantheon of heavenly Gods, making an item-set. Its sleeping form was referred to as the Bleeding Lance.
Tsu herself referred to it unofficially as the Radiant Heart. She was always something of a dork, after all.
During her early tenure as Guild Master, Tsuchi also took pains to properly optimize her character build. She adored PvP even if it wasn't something she was allowed to engage in by circumstance, and was assisted by more experienced fans in character crafting.
The immense amount of effort she put into into this was a decisive reason for her declining interest in Yggdrasil. Between acquiring special benefits from quests, investigating conditions for classes, and other boring things, she had eventually burned out on the game. For things like that, she'd rather have her fans just take the reigns, or leave instructions for her. For some things, she had to go out and discover things for herself, and that took wasted time and effort. Releveling from low level constantly was already punishment enough.
As Yggdrasils golden age reached an epoch, there was less and less reason to justify participating in that DMMO-RPG. It was an obtuse game made even more obtuse by the limitations imposed on a big streamer in a multiplayer game. Though it had been an important game to her, she drifted to other dive based games and equivalent content.
After the golden era of Yggdrasil, she only really returned on a whim or during large expansions and events. Instead, she took part in more reflex based games, such as the ones which emerged during the dive mecha game craze.
That she didn't stay and play the game during that period has become a regret for her. Had she put in the effort, maybe they could've done something crazy and acquired a World Item, or do other amazing things like conquer a World. Even if it was an immensely frustrating experience, 'the memories we made in Yggdrasil were precious'. It was some useless regret like that.
Final Note
Rushing through Dis to get back outside, Holy Lance in hand. She wanted to contribute to the farewell fireworks with it, as an excuse to use the Guild Weapon at least once.
Player Profession: Virtual Idol (Arcology Resident)
Character Role: Core Support
Alignment: 500 (Extreme Good)
Appearance:
Tsuichisumo is a Moirae who can acquire multiple forms, and as a result her default state resembles a human. It's a mimicry of her V-Idol model, with a far larger wardrobe and minor modifications here and there.
Regardless of form her wavy golden hair holds a peerless luster, a cosmetic effect which she is particularly fond of. In the case of her human base, her eyes are a pure, vivid, light blue. As she has a character model which transforms, Tsuchi had to increase her base height to make transitions across forms more consistent. In the end, she would've preferred a shorter character if it had been possible. As it is, her avatar is quite tall by Japanese standards. Its always been slightly disorienting for her.
Tsuchi favors the use of hats and other head cosmetics regardless of her form, a matter of personal taste. She prefers simple rather than gaudy clothing, only having used the later during formal Guild meetings. In the case of special cosmetic effects in the vein of Halos and the like, she grants a special exception based on cool factor, but only to a certain point. Regarding dress style in particular, she especially favors frilly dresses complimented with gloves. As a whole, she greatly enjoys that her Heteromorphic race is conductive to dress-up. In terms of style, her standard clothing is often religious or spider themed, sometimes incorporating both motifs. As her base V-Idol model outside of Yggdrasil is that of a Spider Queen, she strove to replicate that theme here.
Racial Levels: 25
[Ushi-Oni] 10 (Base)[Arachne] 10 (Advanced)
[Moirae] 5 (Rare)
Job Levels: 75
[Priest] 15 (Base)[Theurge] 10 (Advanced)
[Saint] 10 (Advanced)
[Prophet] 10 (Advanced)
[Oracle] 10 (Advanced)
[Hospitaller] 10 (Advanced)
[Twilight Handmaiden] 5 (Rare)
[Fount of Elaphine] 5 (Rare)
Ushi-Oni (10) (Basic)
Ushi-Oni are cursed scions of the Gods. Important characters of the faith who act with insubordination are often cast down to the lowest roots of Yggdrasil as punishment- transformed into half-spiders and forced into an eternity of slavery to the enigmatic Norns. At the lowest low they work to repair, expand, and protect their Masters ever growing Tapestry of Fate.
Rarely these creatures secret themselves up one of the many threads attached to the World Trees roots. From there, they enter one of the remaining worlds to build nests and increase their numbers. Because they are long lived and their actions tend to be bestial, concentrations of Ushi-Oni are quick targets for extermination.
Among Heteromorphs, Ushi-Oni have a innate penchant for divine casting and useful defensive abilities. Aside from their capability to produce webs, they also have innate bonuses to jumping. They are notable for gaining Arcane Sight extremely early by the standards of casting Heteromorphs.
Tsuchisumo originally had a full 15 levels invested in this portion of her racial evolution, but after tweaking her build, it was reduced to 10. It was plainly more efficient to transition as soon as she had gained all the casting bonuses. In the case of pure martial-types, usually they bring Ushi-Oni to a full 15 levels but rarely advance into Arachne or Moirae. This is because as one follows the Ushi-Oni evolutionary track, its status as a casting race becomes more and more evident.
As an aside, this is a Heteromorphic race humanoids can transform into under select conditions.
---
Arachne (10) (Advanced)
An ascended form of Ushi-Oni which has attained a greater intellect and wisdom, the Arachne. A Sage-like evolution, they have completely discarded any remnant bestial trappings of their lesser brethren and attained advanced civilization. As a result, within their own society, they have a status not unlike nobility- though usually of a religious kind.
Though their former Gods may have 'betrayed' them, there are many dark Gods gnawing at Yggdrasils roots, ever hungry for more followers. For many Arachne, the sacrilege of worshiping these evil Gods is worth whatever impotent ire their former masters may hold against them. Some Arachne instead intend to surpass and show up the Gods through web-weaving, and indeed, they are masters of the art.
Starting with the Arachne evolution, naturally produced webs become an excellent medium for magic- be it creating a physical manifestation for the likes of Tsuchi's Spiritual Links, or sealing wounds in combination with healing spells. The true strength of the Ushi-Oni evolutionary line lies within their valuable webs, casting potency, special sensory abilities(Such as See Invisibility), and magical defense. Arachne is where these various features begin to truly express themselves.
While Arachne is skewed heavily toward Caster characters, it is also conductive for craft builds which use weaving, or monofilament spider web users.
The primary perquisite to this evolution was attaining at least level 40. To start gaining actual racial levels, the Player had to use a particularly disgusting item called the Graeae Eye. After these conditions were met, the Player needed to complete a introductory quest at a cave full of annoying jump scare enemies.
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Moirae (5) (Rare)
The completed form of Arachne. A penchant for weaving the threads of fate and manipulating divine energies has resulted in an evolution from 'Sage' to 'Seer-Sage'. Moirae have achieved the pinnacle of their race, and most become personal Handmaidens to the Norns- or rule over their less enlightened siblings with a velvet covered iron fist.
It is not uncommon for Moirae of this level to fall within one of three camps. Those who faithfully serve the Norns, those who kowtow to the darkest entities imaginable, and the rarest few who willfully assert their independence. They are fundamentally a race with shadowy origins, so Moirae still inhabiting the nine worlds inevitably come to blows with Yggdrasils defenders.
. . .However, the 'personality' and 'ability set' cultivated around Tsuchisumo generally contradict the lore of Yggdrasil.
Moirae gain access to end tier sensory abilities, such as True Sight. They are supreme divine casters who directly worship and entreat Gods not as supplicants, but instead as selected champions or heralds.
One must be at least level 80 to gain access to Moirae. An item called the Tapestry of Fate had to be gained as a rare drop from a Norn Raid Boss- a late game enemy whose expected level was far above level 80. As a result, it was extremely annoying to attain Moirae racial levels. A Player had to become dead weight, get the item from someone else, or power level to end game(Which itself may preclude the Player from special rare classes). There were many outspoken complaints about this oversight from the community, but the Devs never responded even once.
Ushi-Oni are cursed scions of the Gods. Important characters of the faith who act with insubordination are often cast down to the lowest roots of Yggdrasil as punishment- transformed into half-spiders and forced into an eternity of slavery to the enigmatic Norns. At the lowest low they work to repair, expand, and protect their Masters ever growing Tapestry of Fate.
Rarely these creatures secret themselves up one of the many threads attached to the World Trees roots. From there, they enter one of the remaining worlds to build nests and increase their numbers. Because they are long lived and their actions tend to be bestial, concentrations of Ushi-Oni are quick targets for extermination.
Among Heteromorphs, Ushi-Oni have a innate penchant for divine casting and useful defensive abilities. Aside from their capability to produce webs, they also have innate bonuses to jumping. They are notable for gaining Arcane Sight extremely early by the standards of casting Heteromorphs.
Tsuchisumo originally had a full 15 levels invested in this portion of her racial evolution, but after tweaking her build, it was reduced to 10. It was plainly more efficient to transition as soon as she had gained all the casting bonuses. In the case of pure martial-types, usually they bring Ushi-Oni to a full 15 levels but rarely advance into Arachne or Moirae. This is because as one follows the Ushi-Oni evolutionary track, its status as a casting race becomes more and more evident.
As an aside, this is a Heteromorphic race humanoids can transform into under select conditions.
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Arachne (10) (Advanced)
An ascended form of Ushi-Oni which has attained a greater intellect and wisdom, the Arachne. A Sage-like evolution, they have completely discarded any remnant bestial trappings of their lesser brethren and attained advanced civilization. As a result, within their own society, they have a status not unlike nobility- though usually of a religious kind.
Though their former Gods may have 'betrayed' them, there are many dark Gods gnawing at Yggdrasils roots, ever hungry for more followers. For many Arachne, the sacrilege of worshiping these evil Gods is worth whatever impotent ire their former masters may hold against them. Some Arachne instead intend to surpass and show up the Gods through web-weaving, and indeed, they are masters of the art.
Starting with the Arachne evolution, naturally produced webs become an excellent medium for magic- be it creating a physical manifestation for the likes of Tsuchi's Spiritual Links, or sealing wounds in combination with healing spells. The true strength of the Ushi-Oni evolutionary line lies within their valuable webs, casting potency, special sensory abilities(Such as See Invisibility), and magical defense. Arachne is where these various features begin to truly express themselves.
While Arachne is skewed heavily toward Caster characters, it is also conductive for craft builds which use weaving, or monofilament spider web users.
The primary perquisite to this evolution was attaining at least level 40. To start gaining actual racial levels, the Player had to use a particularly disgusting item called the Graeae Eye. After these conditions were met, the Player needed to complete a introductory quest at a cave full of annoying jump scare enemies.
---
Moirae (5) (Rare)
The completed form of Arachne. A penchant for weaving the threads of fate and manipulating divine energies has resulted in an evolution from 'Sage' to 'Seer-Sage'. Moirae have achieved the pinnacle of their race, and most become personal Handmaidens to the Norns- or rule over their less enlightened siblings with a velvet covered iron fist.
It is not uncommon for Moirae of this level to fall within one of three camps. Those who faithfully serve the Norns, those who kowtow to the darkest entities imaginable, and the rarest few who willfully assert their independence. They are fundamentally a race with shadowy origins, so Moirae still inhabiting the nine worlds inevitably come to blows with Yggdrasils defenders.
. . .However, the 'personality' and 'ability set' cultivated around Tsuchisumo generally contradict the lore of Yggdrasil.
Moirae gain access to end tier sensory abilities, such as True Sight. They are supreme divine casters who directly worship and entreat Gods not as supplicants, but instead as selected champions or heralds.
One must be at least level 80 to gain access to Moirae. An item called the Tapestry of Fate had to be gained as a rare drop from a Norn Raid Boss- a late game enemy whose expected level was far above level 80. As a result, it was extremely annoying to attain Moirae racial levels. A Player had to become dead weight, get the item from someone else, or power level to end game(Which itself may preclude the Player from special rare classes). There were many outspoken complaints about this oversight from the community, but the Devs never responded even once.
Priest (15) (Base)
A base job class that acts as a foundation and requirement for further advanced job classes. In contrast to the likes of Cleric, a part Warrior base class, Priests are second rate in close combat. In exchange Priests lend themselves much better to divine spellcasting and are the basis for many healer builds. Priests gain the ability to channel energy and turn undead as class abilities, both scaling with a characters overall divine caster level.
Excepting those only looking to satisfy certain advanced class prerequisites, taking Priest to the max level of 15 was typically the norm in Yggdrasil. As a base class, levels in Priest may be taken by a character at any point of their choosing.
Hospitaller (10) (Advanced)
A divine spellcasting class which focuses on both potency and efficiency for various restorative abilities, including preventive techniques in line with effects such as temporary HP. Resurrection is naturally an area of focus for this class, and reducing the general associated costs of that entire spell line is one of its strongest points. It's a generalist support-style class for a divine tradition Caster who wants their allies alive, with their MP left intact to keep even more friends alive. With the metagame of Graces adding to counterplay against the negative status effects so often inflicted by various powerful NPCs, it's also far from a generic 'healbot'. From the perspective of the community, it is often viewed as a strong pick for min maxed healing builds.
Level (1) Cornerstone: Graces (x/day)
For a certain number of times per a day, a Hospitaller may choose to add various rider effects, called Graces, to spell and class abilities which make use of positive energy healing. Graces typically remove a specific status ailment based on the selected Grace, ie Disease. New Graces known are added each level advanced within Hospitaller. At maximum level within the Hospitaller class, failing to remove a status effect with a Grace will still suppress it for an extremely short period of time.
Level (5) Keystone: Healing Mastery (x/day)
For a certain number of times per day, a Hospitaller may treat a healing spell used as being under the effects of Empowering metamagic.
Level (10) Capstone: Preventive Medicine (At-Will)
If a healing effect would place a target above its maximum health, that target will retain a small percentage of the healing overflow as temporary health points. The maximum amount that can be overhealed is determined by the strength of the healing effect used. These temporary health points will fade after some time.
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Prophet (10) (Advanced)
A rare leadership styled casting class oriented around powerful aura abilities which protect and enhance allies. Prophet is a class focused around maintaining momentum for an allied team. More than just providing reactionary 'band-aid' support, this class also tries to cover an allies aggression. It is equally adept at single target or group support, making it a flexible job class. Prophets are guiding stars who materialize the will of Heaven, supporting the righteous. They learn a variety of Divine Mandates, special auras corresponding to a particular celestial sphere. Active Divine Mandates may be freely expended at any time to grant a heightened version of their benefits to a single target.
Level (1) Cornerstone: Mandate of the Silver Heaven (At-Will)
The Heaven of the inconstant, corresponding to the Moon. By expending the normal amount of mana in conjunction with this abilities use, buff-type spells will instead act as if they were an aura centered around the Prophet. The strength of spells used in this way are diminished, but regain some of their former power as levels are gained in Prophet. At maximum level, metamagic effects may freely be applied to any spell transformed into an aura by this class ability.
Level (5) Keystone: Mandate of the Glittering Heaven (x/day)
The Heaven of just warriors, corresponding to the planet Mars. This Divine Mandate enhances the general combat ability of nearby allies, increasing both their damage and chance to land a solid blow.
Level (10) Capstone: Mandate of the Crystal Heaven (x/day)
The Heaven of divine love, corresponding to the Primum Mobile. This aura increases the resistance abilities of allies, while also mitigating a small but unconditional percentage of oncoming damage. This Divine Mandate is always taken into account before any other defenses, or defensive abilities.
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Saint (10) (Advanced)
Saints are a divine spellcasting class which focus on increasing both the potency and flexibility of various preventive and restoration focused options. This also includes various methods of empathetic healing and the like. It is a natural step down the path of the likes of Hospitaller, enabling allies to safely dominate the battlefield with even greater ease. It has an excellent skillset for making the best of a bad situation, helping to mitigate even the consequences of an allies death.
Level (1) Cornerstone: Spiritual Link (At-Will)
A Saint may create a Spiritual Link between herself and a willing ally. A certain amount of damage inflicted on that ally may instead be taken on by the Saint, in effect reducing the damage inflicted. At job level 10, a portion of the Saints resistances are granted to the target of a Spiritual Link.
Level (5) Keystone: Spiritual Link (Greater) (At-Will)
A Saint may also partially take on status ailments afflicting an ally connected to them through a Spiritual Link. While this means the Saint takes on a negative effect, it also reduces that negative effects power and difficulty to remove. A Greater Spiritual Link will not function on purely physical status effects, such as diseases transferred by a sickly creatures attacks.
Level (10) Capstone: Spiritual Shield (x/day)
A Saint connected to an ally through a Spiritual Link may choose to temporarily suspend the effects of a status ailment. While these negative statuses are still considered present, they cannot affect the target of a Spiritual Shield for a very short period of time. The duration of a status malus is not used up while it is being delayed.
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Oracle (10) (Advanced)
Oracles are a divine spellcasting class which focus on increasing the potency of both divination and buff abilities. Through seeing future challenges and manipulating the currents of fate, they can better position themselves and their allies to seize the day. Aside from enhancing their spellcasting, Oracles also gain useful perception abilities such as limited use All-Around Seeing. Some of the classes strongest features enhance sensors used by the Oracle or increase the chance of a divination ability being useful.
Level (1) Cornerstone: Omens (x/day)
Oracles may ordain prophecies, bringing about a preferred futures materialization. By altering the strands of fate, it becomes possible to place an Omen on a individual ally. While under an Omen, positive status effects originating from the Oracle will have their potency increased. At job level 10, healing effects originating from the Oracle will also benefit from the same enhancement.
Level (5) Keystone: All-Encompassing Eye (At-Will)
The Oracle may maintain additional instances of scrying effects such as sensors at the same time. Whether or not the actual Player can handle effective use of this ability makes it very dubious.
Level (10) Capstone: All-Seeing Eye (1/day)
Once a day, an Oracle may activate All-Seeing Eye with a divination ability to pierce through anti-divination spells or equivalent effects.
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Theurge (10) (Advanced)
Theurges are a divine spellcasting class which focuses on increasing the potency of their spellcasting and more prominently metamagic. They ply the waves of divine tradition magic, entreating Gods and equivalent beings for secrets- while attempting to further their understanding of the primal forces of existence through magical theology. As above, so below.
Level (1) Cornerstone: Divine Study (At-Will)
A Theurge is an expert at analyzing and contextualizing the faith-based compendium of magic, which calls upon the Divine. By expending time and gold, it becomes possible to engage in Spell Research to further ones spells known. The efficiency and speed of Divine Study is determined by ones Theurge level. Unfortunately, Spell Research ended up being a dropped feature, never actually implemented by the Devs. As a result, a portion of Theurges abilities do nothing.
Level (5) Keystone: Divine Ritual (x/day)
By increasing the cast time of a chosen spell by several seconds, a Theurge may reduce the cost of metamagic enhancements applied to that spell. A certain amount of damage taken during the casting will result in the spell being lost. The mana expended for the spell would also be lost in such a case.
Level (10) Capstone: High-Metamagic (x/day)
A Theurge can expend uses of her Turn Undead and Channel Energy abilities to reduce the mana costs associated with metamagic enhancements.
Twilight Handmaiden (5) (Rare)
One of the vaunted rare classes, in this case a form of divine spellcaster. A title which signifies the user 'understands the tapestry which makes up the world'- in other words within the context of Yggdrasil's lore, this class is equivalent to becoming one of the Norns(Fates). It requires the Player to be at least level 90, have five levels in Moirae or Cyclops, and have a certain number of Fate related job classes. Restoring fate(and allies. . .), along with altering(Buffs) and perceiving(divination) the future. Dedication to such abilities results in Twilight Handmaiden as a reward; and in return, it shows its own dedication in enhancing all those abilities. As it is a fate manipulation class it also holds a few nasty 'bad touch' tricks, themed along the lines of snipping the threads of fate. A Twilight Handmaiden also gains access to the exclusive analysis focused vision type, Knitsight, which most of its abilities are themed around in some form. By bringing its total levels to 5 the ultimate ability of Knitsight, the Gold Cord, may be obtained.
Level (1) Cornerstone: Red Cord (At-Will)
By drawing on the red thread of the present, a Twilight Handmaiden is capable of seeing the connections of Fate. By inputting a specific player or location name into a popup text box, a red string leading to the specified target will materialize for only the user. Following the 'optimal path' to a target, it ideally tries to approximate a straight line. Activation takes several seconds and makes the user vulnerable, remaining so for as long as they follow the Cord. A certain threshold of damage will result in losing the Cord, on top of the extra damage. Anti-divination effects work as usual, although the Twilight Handmaiden is not a valid target for any triggered counterattacks. There are a variety of joke results for off-rails inputs, in the same spirit as Wish Upon A Star. For example, 'Love' would always lead to the closest trash mob.
Level (3) Keystone: Silver Cord (x/day)
By drawing on the silver thread of the past, a Twilight Handmaiden is capable of defying death.The Twilight Handmaiden may use this job ability to cast a resurrection spell with a cost of extra mana mimicking a contingency style effect, which lasts several minutes. The Resurrection spell will automatically activate if the target dies within this time frame, negating their death without the usual applicable penalties. This effect otherwise acts as normal for whatever resurrection spell was casted, including counter spell vulnerability. It's similar to certain auto-Resurrection items and consumables.
Level (5) Capstone: Gold Cord (At-Will)
By drawing on the golden thread of the future, a Twilight Handmaiden is capable of precognition. Within the context of Yggdrasil, this ability allows its user to see the results of actions- thus ignoring delays from animations and the like. It includes seeing ranged attack trajectories, where swords will end up at the end of their attack animation, the targeting reticule of a mages fireball, or even the emote a Player is preparing to select. It also grants its user the ability to see through false data, as a greater form of true sight. Additionally, allies may be designated with Status and Greater Status At-Will, and will thus become valid targets for Cord abilities.
---
Fount of Elaphine (5) (Rare)
One of the vaunted rare classes, in this case a form of divine spellcaster. A title which signifies the user as a 'perfected agent for life energy'- in other words within the context of Yggdrasil's lore, this class is equivalent to drawing on the power which furnishes the World Tree at its roots. They become an emanation around which even non-living things become more vivid, more intense, more motive, more 'real'. It requires the Player to be level 95, have the ability to channel energy, the Saint and Prophet class, as well as having a certain kind of job build. There may be an additional racial requirement Tsuchi doesn't know about. Enhanced restoration(and preventive measures) along with resurrection are the key focuses of this rare classes various abilities. Fount of Elaphine is fundamentally a healing class, and if that fails death itself may be freely defied, mitigating its costs. It also enhances channeled energy, such as combining it with Turn Undead, or allowing it to ignore healing reduction effects.
Level (1) Cornerstone: High-Admixture (x/day)
A Fount of Elaphine may, for a certain number of times per day, alter the energy type of spells so that they now inflict positive energy instead. This alters the type of a given spell for the purposes of job class abilities, magic items, and the like. Any non-damaging effects of the spells are changed as is appropriate.
Level (3) Keystone: Channel the Fount (x/day)
The Fount of Elaphine quickens her use of Channel Energy. Also, for a certain number of times per day, the Fount of Elaphine may vastly increase the potency of a Channel or Turn ability by concentrating its effects on a single target.
Level (5) Capstone: Sequence of Life (2/day)
For a period of one minute, the Fount of Elaphine may become a paragon of life itself- their nature enhanced similar to what a theoretical positive energy elemental would resemble. They become a gestalt of positive energy, temporarily taking on an aspect of the Spring of Life itself. This fleeting ascension beyond mortality increases the efficiency and potency of all positive energy effects, such as healing, resurrection, and various restoration methods.
A base job class that acts as a foundation and requirement for further advanced job classes. In contrast to the likes of Cleric, a part Warrior base class, Priests are second rate in close combat. In exchange Priests lend themselves much better to divine spellcasting and are the basis for many healer builds. Priests gain the ability to channel energy and turn undead as class abilities, both scaling with a characters overall divine caster level.
Excepting those only looking to satisfy certain advanced class prerequisites, taking Priest to the max level of 15 was typically the norm in Yggdrasil. As a base class, levels in Priest may be taken by a character at any point of their choosing.
Hospitaller (10) (Advanced)
A divine spellcasting class which focuses on both potency and efficiency for various restorative abilities, including preventive techniques in line with effects such as temporary HP. Resurrection is naturally an area of focus for this class, and reducing the general associated costs of that entire spell line is one of its strongest points. It's a generalist support-style class for a divine tradition Caster who wants their allies alive, with their MP left intact to keep even more friends alive. With the metagame of Graces adding to counterplay against the negative status effects so often inflicted by various powerful NPCs, it's also far from a generic 'healbot'. From the perspective of the community, it is often viewed as a strong pick for min maxed healing builds.
Level (1) Cornerstone: Graces (x/day)
For a certain number of times per a day, a Hospitaller may choose to add various rider effects, called Graces, to spell and class abilities which make use of positive energy healing. Graces typically remove a specific status ailment based on the selected Grace, ie Disease. New Graces known are added each level advanced within Hospitaller. At maximum level within the Hospitaller class, failing to remove a status effect with a Grace will still suppress it for an extremely short period of time.
Level (5) Keystone: Healing Mastery (x/day)
For a certain number of times per day, a Hospitaller may treat a healing spell used as being under the effects of Empowering metamagic.
Level (10) Capstone: Preventive Medicine (At-Will)
If a healing effect would place a target above its maximum health, that target will retain a small percentage of the healing overflow as temporary health points. The maximum amount that can be overhealed is determined by the strength of the healing effect used. These temporary health points will fade after some time.
---
Prophet (10) (Advanced)
A rare leadership styled casting class oriented around powerful aura abilities which protect and enhance allies. Prophet is a class focused around maintaining momentum for an allied team. More than just providing reactionary 'band-aid' support, this class also tries to cover an allies aggression. It is equally adept at single target or group support, making it a flexible job class. Prophets are guiding stars who materialize the will of Heaven, supporting the righteous. They learn a variety of Divine Mandates, special auras corresponding to a particular celestial sphere. Active Divine Mandates may be freely expended at any time to grant a heightened version of their benefits to a single target.
Level (1) Cornerstone: Mandate of the Silver Heaven (At-Will)
The Heaven of the inconstant, corresponding to the Moon. By expending the normal amount of mana in conjunction with this abilities use, buff-type spells will instead act as if they were an aura centered around the Prophet. The strength of spells used in this way are diminished, but regain some of their former power as levels are gained in Prophet. At maximum level, metamagic effects may freely be applied to any spell transformed into an aura by this class ability.
Level (5) Keystone: Mandate of the Glittering Heaven (x/day)
The Heaven of just warriors, corresponding to the planet Mars. This Divine Mandate enhances the general combat ability of nearby allies, increasing both their damage and chance to land a solid blow.
Level (10) Capstone: Mandate of the Crystal Heaven (x/day)
The Heaven of divine love, corresponding to the Primum Mobile. This aura increases the resistance abilities of allies, while also mitigating a small but unconditional percentage of oncoming damage. This Divine Mandate is always taken into account before any other defenses, or defensive abilities.
---
Saint (10) (Advanced)
Saints are a divine spellcasting class which focus on increasing both the potency and flexibility of various preventive and restoration focused options. This also includes various methods of empathetic healing and the like. It is a natural step down the path of the likes of Hospitaller, enabling allies to safely dominate the battlefield with even greater ease. It has an excellent skillset for making the best of a bad situation, helping to mitigate even the consequences of an allies death.
Level (1) Cornerstone: Spiritual Link (At-Will)
A Saint may create a Spiritual Link between herself and a willing ally. A certain amount of damage inflicted on that ally may instead be taken on by the Saint, in effect reducing the damage inflicted. At job level 10, a portion of the Saints resistances are granted to the target of a Spiritual Link.
Level (5) Keystone: Spiritual Link (Greater) (At-Will)
A Saint may also partially take on status ailments afflicting an ally connected to them through a Spiritual Link. While this means the Saint takes on a negative effect, it also reduces that negative effects power and difficulty to remove. A Greater Spiritual Link will not function on purely physical status effects, such as diseases transferred by a sickly creatures attacks.
Level (10) Capstone: Spiritual Shield (x/day)
A Saint connected to an ally through a Spiritual Link may choose to temporarily suspend the effects of a status ailment. While these negative statuses are still considered present, they cannot affect the target of a Spiritual Shield for a very short period of time. The duration of a status malus is not used up while it is being delayed.
---
Oracle (10) (Advanced)
Oracles are a divine spellcasting class which focus on increasing the potency of both divination and buff abilities. Through seeing future challenges and manipulating the currents of fate, they can better position themselves and their allies to seize the day. Aside from enhancing their spellcasting, Oracles also gain useful perception abilities such as limited use All-Around Seeing. Some of the classes strongest features enhance sensors used by the Oracle or increase the chance of a divination ability being useful.
Level (1) Cornerstone: Omens (x/day)
Oracles may ordain prophecies, bringing about a preferred futures materialization. By altering the strands of fate, it becomes possible to place an Omen on a individual ally. While under an Omen, positive status effects originating from the Oracle will have their potency increased. At job level 10, healing effects originating from the Oracle will also benefit from the same enhancement.
Level (5) Keystone: All-Encompassing Eye (At-Will)
The Oracle may maintain additional instances of scrying effects such as sensors at the same time. Whether or not the actual Player can handle effective use of this ability makes it very dubious.
Level (10) Capstone: All-Seeing Eye (1/day)
Once a day, an Oracle may activate All-Seeing Eye with a divination ability to pierce through anti-divination spells or equivalent effects.
---
Theurge (10) (Advanced)
Theurges are a divine spellcasting class which focuses on increasing the potency of their spellcasting and more prominently metamagic. They ply the waves of divine tradition magic, entreating Gods and equivalent beings for secrets- while attempting to further their understanding of the primal forces of existence through magical theology. As above, so below.
Level (1) Cornerstone: Divine Study (At-Will)
A Theurge is an expert at analyzing and contextualizing the faith-based compendium of magic, which calls upon the Divine. By expending time and gold, it becomes possible to engage in Spell Research to further ones spells known. The efficiency and speed of Divine Study is determined by ones Theurge level. Unfortunately, Spell Research ended up being a dropped feature, never actually implemented by the Devs. As a result, a portion of Theurges abilities do nothing.
Level (5) Keystone: Divine Ritual (x/day)
By increasing the cast time of a chosen spell by several seconds, a Theurge may reduce the cost of metamagic enhancements applied to that spell. A certain amount of damage taken during the casting will result in the spell being lost. The mana expended for the spell would also be lost in such a case.
Level (10) Capstone: High-Metamagic (x/day)
A Theurge can expend uses of her Turn Undead and Channel Energy abilities to reduce the mana costs associated with metamagic enhancements.
Twilight Handmaiden (5) (Rare)
One of the vaunted rare classes, in this case a form of divine spellcaster. A title which signifies the user 'understands the tapestry which makes up the world'- in other words within the context of Yggdrasil's lore, this class is equivalent to becoming one of the Norns(Fates). It requires the Player to be at least level 90, have five levels in Moirae or Cyclops, and have a certain number of Fate related job classes. Restoring fate(and allies. . .), along with altering(Buffs) and perceiving(divination) the future. Dedication to such abilities results in Twilight Handmaiden as a reward; and in return, it shows its own dedication in enhancing all those abilities. As it is a fate manipulation class it also holds a few nasty 'bad touch' tricks, themed along the lines of snipping the threads of fate. A Twilight Handmaiden also gains access to the exclusive analysis focused vision type, Knitsight, which most of its abilities are themed around in some form. By bringing its total levels to 5 the ultimate ability of Knitsight, the Gold Cord, may be obtained.
Level (1) Cornerstone: Red Cord (At-Will)
By drawing on the red thread of the present, a Twilight Handmaiden is capable of seeing the connections of Fate. By inputting a specific player or location name into a popup text box, a red string leading to the specified target will materialize for only the user. Following the 'optimal path' to a target, it ideally tries to approximate a straight line. Activation takes several seconds and makes the user vulnerable, remaining so for as long as they follow the Cord. A certain threshold of damage will result in losing the Cord, on top of the extra damage. Anti-divination effects work as usual, although the Twilight Handmaiden is not a valid target for any triggered counterattacks. There are a variety of joke results for off-rails inputs, in the same spirit as Wish Upon A Star. For example, 'Love' would always lead to the closest trash mob.
Level (3) Keystone: Silver Cord (x/day)
By drawing on the silver thread of the past, a Twilight Handmaiden is capable of defying death.The Twilight Handmaiden may use this job ability to cast a resurrection spell with a cost of extra mana mimicking a contingency style effect, which lasts several minutes. The Resurrection spell will automatically activate if the target dies within this time frame, negating their death without the usual applicable penalties. This effect otherwise acts as normal for whatever resurrection spell was casted, including counter spell vulnerability. It's similar to certain auto-Resurrection items and consumables.
Level (5) Capstone: Gold Cord (At-Will)
By drawing on the golden thread of the future, a Twilight Handmaiden is capable of precognition. Within the context of Yggdrasil, this ability allows its user to see the results of actions- thus ignoring delays from animations and the like. It includes seeing ranged attack trajectories, where swords will end up at the end of their attack animation, the targeting reticule of a mages fireball, or even the emote a Player is preparing to select. It also grants its user the ability to see through false data, as a greater form of true sight. Additionally, allies may be designated with Status and Greater Status At-Will, and will thus become valid targets for Cord abilities.
---
Fount of Elaphine (5) (Rare)
One of the vaunted rare classes, in this case a form of divine spellcaster. A title which signifies the user as a 'perfected agent for life energy'- in other words within the context of Yggdrasil's lore, this class is equivalent to drawing on the power which furnishes the World Tree at its roots. They become an emanation around which even non-living things become more vivid, more intense, more motive, more 'real'. It requires the Player to be level 95, have the ability to channel energy, the Saint and Prophet class, as well as having a certain kind of job build. There may be an additional racial requirement Tsuchi doesn't know about. Enhanced restoration(and preventive measures) along with resurrection are the key focuses of this rare classes various abilities. Fount of Elaphine is fundamentally a healing class, and if that fails death itself may be freely defied, mitigating its costs. It also enhances channeled energy, such as combining it with Turn Undead, or allowing it to ignore healing reduction effects.
Level (1) Cornerstone: High-Admixture (x/day)
A Fount of Elaphine may, for a certain number of times per day, alter the energy type of spells so that they now inflict positive energy instead. This alters the type of a given spell for the purposes of job class abilities, magic items, and the like. Any non-damaging effects of the spells are changed as is appropriate.
Level (3) Keystone: Channel the Fount (x/day)
The Fount of Elaphine quickens her use of Channel Energy. Also, for a certain number of times per day, the Fount of Elaphine may vastly increase the potency of a Channel or Turn ability by concentrating its effects on a single target.
Level (5) Capstone: Sequence of Life (2/day)
For a period of one minute, the Fount of Elaphine may become a paragon of life itself- their nature enhanced similar to what a theoretical positive energy elemental would resemble. They become a gestalt of positive energy, temporarily taking on an aspect of the Spring of Life itself. This fleeting ascension beyond mortality increases the efficiency and potency of all positive energy effects, such as healing, resurrection, and various restoration methods.
Seafoam Goddess' Golden Hair (Divine)
An artifact type gacha shop item which is only available on Valentines Day. It requires a very high karma value to equip, and recreates the Goddess of Beauties magical hair. . .apparently. It is not a wig, but rather an item which becomes one with the users already existing hair. Crafted by the greatest smiths of Yggdrasil for the love Goddess, each strand is said to be more valuable than even a elder dragons treasure horde. It costed just about that much in real money, at least. It greatly increases the users Charisma.
Tiara of the Radiant Spring (Legendary)
A blessed piece of headware dedicated to the Great God who presides over Asgard. It is an object of religious significance, obviously, and it pulses with the Great Gods power. It can be rarely obtained after completing a long quest line for a certain spirit who was its former owner. While worn, it increases the maximum range of the owners aura and channel abilities.
Anguish of Valedar (Legendary)
Tears from the wise Sage Valeda, said to be shed as she foresaw the demise of countless worlds in the Devourer's maw. Her tears which were weighed down by despair fell to Niflheim, where they became eternally frozen as prophetic lenses. Originally spiffy looking ice glasses, Tsuchi rebuilt them with data crystals as essentially contact lenses. Carrying the foresight of the Great Sage, this magic item enhances the users perception and extends the range of all special vision types.
Falcon Cloak of the Great Goddess [Asgard] (Divine)
Mere fragments of the true Falcon Cloak, the lost regalia of a certain famous Goddess. A portion of the Cloak fell to one of the Nine Worlds each. Despite what this implies it was not a limited stock item, and instead each world had its own variant with different visuals and abilities. These powers could be increased even more under certain conditions, bringing out the 'true power the cloak once held'. It was a particularly infamous gacha shop item because some variants were brazenly better than others. The Asgard version features feathers from Hugin and Munin, the embodiments of 'thought' and 'memory'. For those who wear the cloak, the user will gain a connection to their worlds encompassing knowledge. It greatly increases the users Wisdom.
Grand Ecclesiarch's Shawl (Legendary)
The blessed garments worn by the once great High-Priest of the Sun Goddess. The Mausoleum-Cathedral he found eternal rest within was sacked and desecrated, and as a result his corpse became a vengeful incorporeal undead. This is a raid drop that can be gained through defeating him. It increases the power of healing abilities. Because of its origin, it requires a very high karma to equip.
Starlight Vestment (Divine)
The night skies reflection upon Urd spun into holy garments by the enigmatic Norns. It embodies the boundlessness of the Heavens which shall not be so easily consumed by lowly Earth-Crawling evils. It is a very rare drop that can be found after conquering end game foes, assumed to be given as reward by either the Gods or Norns for defending Yggdrasil. Capturing just a fragmented image of the 'Well of Fate', the font of all knowledge, greatly enhances the abilities of those who draw upon the powers of magic. It grants the user a fragment of that infinite whirlpool of primordial energy, increasing ones mana.
Prismatic Celestial Chainmail (Relic)
Medium armor custom made using data crystals, striking a balance between basic protection and movement. Composed of high grade prismatic ores, it also utilizes various enchantments to increase the defense of the user. It is generalist armor that splits its data to defend against both magical and physical attacks, but in exchange it isn't specialized in stopping either. Fundamentally it was created just to increase its users survivability. Within her monstrous Heteromorphic form, it assimilates into her natural armor.
Spinneret Bracelets (Relic)
Custom made item using data crystals. They increase the amount of web the user can produce in a day. Within the standards of Yggdrasil, a custom item like this is practically a requirement for any optimized build using webs. In other words, a spider tax. Going beyond just using web for support abilities, there are also crafter builds who use spider silk and mono filament wire-style web users.
Gloves of Bore-Tooth (Relic)
A specialized tool created by a great wizard who was inspired by a certain Squirrels use of shortcuts to move up and down Yggdrasil. This is cashshop only artifact item. The gloves allow the user to exploit dimensional shortcuts and extend their reach to locations within line of sight by bending space. This item can't be used to launch attacks with this extended reach, but can be used for a variety of other purposes. It is especially popular with Crafters because of the convenience they can lend. For a Caster like Tsuchi, it is useful for spreading her webs and delivering healing.
An artifact type gacha shop item which is only available on Valentines Day. It requires a very high karma value to equip, and recreates the Goddess of Beauties magical hair. . .apparently. It is not a wig, but rather an item which becomes one with the users already existing hair. Crafted by the greatest smiths of Yggdrasil for the love Goddess, each strand is said to be more valuable than even a elder dragons treasure horde. It costed just about that much in real money, at least. It greatly increases the users Charisma.
Tiara of the Radiant Spring (Legendary)
A blessed piece of headware dedicated to the Great God who presides over Asgard. It is an object of religious significance, obviously, and it pulses with the Great Gods power. It can be rarely obtained after completing a long quest line for a certain spirit who was its former owner. While worn, it increases the maximum range of the owners aura and channel abilities.
Anguish of Valedar (Legendary)
Tears from the wise Sage Valeda, said to be shed as she foresaw the demise of countless worlds in the Devourer's maw. Her tears which were weighed down by despair fell to Niflheim, where they became eternally frozen as prophetic lenses. Originally spiffy looking ice glasses, Tsuchi rebuilt them with data crystals as essentially contact lenses. Carrying the foresight of the Great Sage, this magic item enhances the users perception and extends the range of all special vision types.
Falcon Cloak of the Great Goddess [Asgard] (Divine)
Mere fragments of the true Falcon Cloak, the lost regalia of a certain famous Goddess. A portion of the Cloak fell to one of the Nine Worlds each. Despite what this implies it was not a limited stock item, and instead each world had its own variant with different visuals and abilities. These powers could be increased even more under certain conditions, bringing out the 'true power the cloak once held'. It was a particularly infamous gacha shop item because some variants were brazenly better than others. The Asgard version features feathers from Hugin and Munin, the embodiments of 'thought' and 'memory'. For those who wear the cloak, the user will gain a connection to their worlds encompassing knowledge. It greatly increases the users Wisdom.
Grand Ecclesiarch's Shawl (Legendary)
The blessed garments worn by the once great High-Priest of the Sun Goddess. The Mausoleum-Cathedral he found eternal rest within was sacked and desecrated, and as a result his corpse became a vengeful incorporeal undead. This is a raid drop that can be gained through defeating him. It increases the power of healing abilities. Because of its origin, it requires a very high karma to equip.
Starlight Vestment (Divine)
The night skies reflection upon Urd spun into holy garments by the enigmatic Norns. It embodies the boundlessness of the Heavens which shall not be so easily consumed by lowly Earth-Crawling evils. It is a very rare drop that can be found after conquering end game foes, assumed to be given as reward by either the Gods or Norns for defending Yggdrasil. Capturing just a fragmented image of the 'Well of Fate', the font of all knowledge, greatly enhances the abilities of those who draw upon the powers of magic. It grants the user a fragment of that infinite whirlpool of primordial energy, increasing ones mana.
Prismatic Celestial Chainmail (Relic)
Medium armor custom made using data crystals, striking a balance between basic protection and movement. Composed of high grade prismatic ores, it also utilizes various enchantments to increase the defense of the user. It is generalist armor that splits its data to defend against both magical and physical attacks, but in exchange it isn't specialized in stopping either. Fundamentally it was created just to increase its users survivability. Within her monstrous Heteromorphic form, it assimilates into her natural armor.
Spinneret Bracelets (Relic)
Custom made item using data crystals. They increase the amount of web the user can produce in a day. Within the standards of Yggdrasil, a custom item like this is practically a requirement for any optimized build using webs. In other words, a spider tax. Going beyond just using web for support abilities, there are also crafter builds who use spider silk and mono filament wire-style web users.
Gloves of Bore-Tooth (Relic)
A specialized tool created by a great wizard who was inspired by a certain Squirrels use of shortcuts to move up and down Yggdrasil. This is cashshop only artifact item. The gloves allow the user to exploit dimensional shortcuts and extend their reach to locations within line of sight by bending space. This item can't be used to launch attacks with this extended reach, but can be used for a variety of other purposes. It is especially popular with Crafters because of the convenience they can lend. For a Caster like Tsuchi, it is useful for spreading her webs and delivering healing.
By means of the almighty cash shop, she has gained the ability to use rings on each of her fingers. Because doing so would look frankly embarrassing, she has bought further cash shop items to make it less obvious using cosmetics. Those slots which aren't filled would be changed based on the expected task at hand. For example, taking rings that resist fire when facing a fire elemental, as the most basic sort of example.
Ring of Freed Action
Protects against temporal attacks and the like, alongside other forms of movement impediment. For players who PK or expect to be attacked in PvP, it is a required tax item by the level of 100. Without it, Magic Casters with access to temporal abilities such as timestop become far more terrifying, and annoying.
Ring of Obfuscation
Protects against being acknowledged or detected by divination-type magic. It is an item to prevent ambushes, or being spied upon in areas not warded by anti-divination effects. Because it also masks the users magical aura, it has various tactical applications as well. Against the likes of Magic Casters who haven't specialized in divination, something like this is sufficient enough.
Guild Ring
A sign of ones commitment to their Guild. Also, essentially a requirement for high-speed movement within a Guild Hall. Warding against teleportation and the like is the basics among basics, and with this ring the user can teleport to named rooms freely as an exception to that warding. Certain thief-type classes can steal items from a players inventory, so it's critical that this item in particular does not leave the Guild Hall. In such a case, it's replaced with another ring befitting the task at hand.
Ring of Mastery Wand
A very rare artifact item. With the expenditure of mana, its owner may use a single wand outside of their normal casting tradition. However, the ring has a cool down time of one hour before the owner may select a new wand to apply this effect to.
Ring of Resurrection
Lessens the EXP loss and overall costs for being revived by a great margin. In addition, instead of dropping the highest quality item on death, the user would drop the lowest quality item. For a level 100 character who expected to be placed in dangerous situations such as PvP, this was an important item. Although having to grind out five levels was not the end of the world, losing your greatest item could feel like it.
Ring of True Resistance
Increases the users base resistance against negative effects and the like. Having a high resistance ability was important for not only fighting enemy magic casters, but also in increasing the resistance of allies through her class abilities.
Ring of Freed Action
Protects against temporal attacks and the like, alongside other forms of movement impediment. For players who PK or expect to be attacked in PvP, it is a required tax item by the level of 100. Without it, Magic Casters with access to temporal abilities such as timestop become far more terrifying, and annoying.
Ring of Obfuscation
Protects against being acknowledged or detected by divination-type magic. It is an item to prevent ambushes, or being spied upon in areas not warded by anti-divination effects. Because it also masks the users magical aura, it has various tactical applications as well. Against the likes of Magic Casters who haven't specialized in divination, something like this is sufficient enough.
Guild Ring
A sign of ones commitment to their Guild. Also, essentially a requirement for high-speed movement within a Guild Hall. Warding against teleportation and the like is the basics among basics, and with this ring the user can teleport to named rooms freely as an exception to that warding. Certain thief-type classes can steal items from a players inventory, so it's critical that this item in particular does not leave the Guild Hall. In such a case, it's replaced with another ring befitting the task at hand.
Ring of Mastery Wand
A very rare artifact item. With the expenditure of mana, its owner may use a single wand outside of their normal casting tradition. However, the ring has a cool down time of one hour before the owner may select a new wand to apply this effect to.
Ring of Resurrection
Lessens the EXP loss and overall costs for being revived by a great margin. In addition, instead of dropping the highest quality item on death, the user would drop the lowest quality item. For a level 100 character who expected to be placed in dangerous situations such as PvP, this was an important item. Although having to grind out five levels was not the end of the world, losing your greatest item could feel like it.
Ring of True Resistance
Increases the users base resistance against negative effects and the like. Having a high resistance ability was important for not only fighting enemy magic casters, but also in increasing the resistance of allies through her class abilities.
In-Game Backstory:
Tsuchi is a Virtual Idol popular with the wage slave masses, well known for her wholesome and relaxing content. Yggdrasil came around at a very important moment of her career. By the time of its release over a decade ago, Tsuchi had finally broken through and made it big. The very first game she streamed in an Arcology was, in fact, Yggdrasil. For that and many other reasons, even for this deteriorated Yggdrasil which was about to end, Tsu has many complicated feelings about it.
For Tsuchi, her time in Yggdrasil was something fraught by many mistakes.
Her first(and per the rules, only) character was of course Tsuchisumo. She created an avatar which resembled her own V-Idol 3D model much as possible, then spawned into a starting region as usual. Unfortunately she didn't have much foresight, and did all of this on stream. Seeing as she had chosen a Heteromorphic race Tsuchi was a valid target for PK, and being a level 1 character, she had little recourse. The result was naturally a great deal of unenjoyable spawn camping.
This difficult period was short lived, however. In the end Tsu was supported by her horde of fans, some Yggdrasil Players, while many more were joining the DMMO-RPG for the very first time. Unfortunately, these new Players also selected Heteromorphs as if to show solidarity. In turn, this provided even more visible targets to freely PK, for rewards and special job classes. At a certain point it evolved past just stream sniping, and veteran players who had ignored the situation begin harvesting her fans as they appeared.
What was once stream sniping ballooned into a massive mess, which only ended up being resolved by Tsuchi taking a short break from the game. In the end, she entered the game with a dedicated Clan of protectors, having to be escorted at all times. As a result this early period was quite obtuse, and it wasn't until Tsu established a Guild that she implemented various means to counter information leaks.
That very Guild was the pride and joy of her fans, for a time. The Great Unholy Citadel, Dis- a large and imposing dungeon found on the outskirts of Helheim modeled after the Tower of Babel. This place would become Guildhall for Tsuchi, and thus her home in Yggdrasil.
Dis had once been the central citadel to a great holy city of the upper worlds. Unfortunately, after the cities corruption at the hand of devilish machinations, it was dragged down to Helheim. Core figures from the attempts to claim Dis would go on to become the 12 Peers, who stood atop the Guild as leader figures. Tsuchi herself became Guild Master, with the specific term in NPC flavor text being Imperatrix. When it came to the Guilds name, she unfortunately suggested 'Sticky Crusade' on stream. After a vote, everyone eventually settled on Eternity Crusade for a name.
Immediately, they set to the task of restoring Dis to its former glory, before the honeyed words of Devils had brought it to evil. Eternity Crusade was made up of Heteromorphs who renounced the trappings of beasts or evil, instead devoting themselves to good. At least, that was the theme of the Guild- and to that end, most new members were expected to transform into Heteromorphs at some point, if they weren't Heteromorphs already.
The idea of any expansion of numbers was taken that more inhabitants of Helheim had seen the light, and reformed their ways accordingly. Though it wasn't a roleplay guild, it definitely had a certain air to it like that. Much of its theme and architecture drew from the likes of Latin, Greek, and Romantic mythology- or historical Kingdoms such as the Franks. NPC design followed those precepts, adding more flavor to the Guild as a whole.
Boosted by the resources of vanguard Clans and Guilds, it could be considered a long standing and successful Guild- even it it declined as Tsuchisumo's interest in the game did. As much as Tsuki enjoyed player versus player combat, it was simply too difficult for a Guild with such a large target on their back. The issue of streaming also constantly came up as an issue, nor did something so competitive fit her image.
As a result, the Guilds focus was instead on exploration, expansion, exploitation, and extermination. That is to say, it was a Guild that focused on the key theme of Yggdrasil; exploration. Acting as trailblazers across the physical world and the games many secrets, this was where the Guild found its true power.
Cash shop items assisted its growth greatly, both purchased by Tsuchi's extreme wealth and the devotion of Players and fans. There was one such case where she spent a massive donation entirely on the cash-shop gacha, in one session no less.
What PK the Guild experienced was in defending its Hall against raids, which were somewhat frequent until Tsu began to drift away from Yggdrasil. Traps and special cash gacha mercenaries were relied on more than their centralized level 100 NPCs, because upkeep was made easier through support from vanguard groups. Though forced to conform to the adriane system, it was still a well defended bulwark, a foothold for the forces of good in Helheim itself.
The Guilds three treasures could be called Dis, its myriad NPCs, and finally the Holy Lance, the Guild Weapon which was a physical(virtual) manifestation of her fanbases devotion. Though called the Holy Lance, it was actually a divine magic casters staff which only resembled a spear. It incorporates the greatest holy relics from the pantheon of heavenly Gods, making an item-set. Its sleeping form was referred to as the Bleeding Lance.
Tsu herself referred to it unofficially as the Radiant Heart. She was always something of a dork, after all.
During her early tenure as Guild Master, Tsuchi also took pains to properly optimize her character build. She adored PvP even if it wasn't something she was allowed to engage in by circumstance, and was assisted by more experienced fans in character crafting.
The immense amount of effort she put into into this was a decisive reason for her declining interest in Yggdrasil. Between acquiring special benefits from quests, investigating conditions for classes, and other boring things, she had eventually burned out on the game. For things like that, she'd rather have her fans just take the reigns, or leave instructions for her. For some things, she had to go out and discover things for herself, and that took wasted time and effort. Releveling from low level constantly was already punishment enough.
As Yggdrasils golden age reached an epoch, there was less and less reason to justify participating in that DMMO-RPG. It was an obtuse game made even more obtuse by the limitations imposed on a big streamer in a multiplayer game. Though it had been an important game to her, she drifted to other dive based games and equivalent content.
After the golden era of Yggdrasil, she only really returned on a whim or during large expansions and events. Instead, she took part in more reflex based games, such as the ones which emerged during the dive mecha game craze.
That she didn't stay and play the game during that period has become a regret for her. Had she put in the effort, maybe they could've done something crazy and acquired a World Item, or do other amazing things like conquer a World. Even if it was an immensely frustrating experience, 'the memories we made in Yggdrasil were precious'. It was some useless regret like that.
Within Dis, Knight-Captains were the highest order NPCs created by the Peers or lower standing members with special permission. The less important NPC levels were generally created(in terms of flavor and the like) by those who donated large amounts of money. In other words, fans could donate to include their own original character within the Guild. Because of the nature of a rabid fanbase and the need for effective NPCs, a lot of vetting and changes had to happen, but it was pretty successful as a concept.
Dragon-Knight Cadmus
A custom NPC created using guild base data storage. As one of the Knight-Captains, they could be considered the fruits of a Guildmates effort, vision, and care. Cadmus is a Dragonoid with only Warrior classes, his build focus being tanking. By employing a dragon knight job class, he is further able to bring out his full abilities as a Dragonoid Hetermorph without shifting his form. His armor and even shield is fused with his skin, combining its defensive value with already peerless natural armor. In that sense, the armor he wears is essentially just for cosmetic purposes. As a tank, they mitigate or take as much damage as possible, while still having the offensive power to pressure opponents and not be ignored. Using his breath ability in conjunction with his weapon, he can unleash a fearsome counterattack of burst damage as a finishing move after a lengthy battle.
Within his own flavor text, Cadmus is something of a tragic hero trying to act in penance for a grievous past mistake. Because he can lose it and become overeager sometimes, he is extra hard on himself. His intellect is not exactly stellar despite being a genius in combat, and he is something of a gorilla. That said, he also has a certain charm and earnestness that is very endearing, and he is the picture of heroism. Among the NPCs, this is the one Tsuchi had her hands in the most when it came time to make NPCs.
Royal Guard Captain Mystes
A custom NPC created using guild base data storage. As one of the Knight-Captains, they could be considered the fruits of a Guildmates effort, vision, and care. Mystes is a Hydra built to be the quintessential Holy Warrior. They are a divine half-Caster half-Warrior, with a limited spell list focused on strong self healing and buffing. They have various beneficial class abilities in line with this notion, acting as a wrecking ball that smashes through pretty much any opposition. Between their powerful self enhancement, healing abilities from job and racial levels, and sheer damage output, Mystes can be considered the strongest Knight-Captain in a melee. As they were created by the Guilds biggest optimizer who assisted in creating Tsuchi's own build, perhaps that is to be expected.
Within their own flavor text, Mystes is an errant religious Knight who settled in Dis after the Crusade(Raid) to claim it. They were originally overly enthusiastic about purging evil in their youth, but this has become tempered in some respects through equal parts tragedy and experience. There is a particular case in their flavor text where Mystes lost their Cleric teacher in the distant past, and ended up projecting them on the Guilds leader, Tsuichisumo. Mystes was written as somewhat restrained, but not anywhere near being an introvert.
Grand Vizier Corinth
A custom NPC created using guild base data storage. As one of the Knight-Captains, she could be considered the fruits of a Guildmates effort, vision, and care. Corinth is a Sphinx focused around a classic control Wizard build. They focus around various methods to control both the battlefield and enemy, from summons to terrain alteration. As they are a dedicated Caster, she also has a wide breadth of flexible and powerful spellcasting. In that particular sense, she could also be considered something of a generalist, thanks to spells known alone. She is surrounded by NPC copies of herself with lore and crafting job classes, meant to represent simulacrums of herself. Tsu often cringes in guilt around them, given how much money the Wizards maker donated to make said NPCs.
Within her own flavor text, Corinth is chief adviser and manages the Holy Citadels library. Corinth is a resident of Dis who was present even before the future Guild Hall was cleared of evil. She arrived to take advantage of the antediluvian library, heedless of the local fiends. She is a hoarder of knowledge and a genius among geniuses, with the flexibility of a true renaissance woman. Corinth appears distant and wise, only speaking up with key information at important moments. In actuality, she was just written as a cripplingly shy introvert who only opens up more around the Peers, and especially Tsuchi.
Field Marshal Alcaeus
A custom NPC created using guild base data storage. As one of the Knight-Captains, he could be considered the fruits of a Guildmates effort, vision, and care. Alcaeus is a Shade, a high tier incorporeal undead. A spellsword style build, he is a half-warrior who boosts his fighting power with arcane energies- along with attaching devastating spells to his weapon strikes. Defensively they eschew armor in favor of their dexterity and various defensive abjurations and wards- along with their naturally incorporeal nature. Overall he is a generalist melee fighter who cuts through varied defenses, making him an excellent duelist.
Within his own flavor text, Alcaeus is the remaining mortal half of a long ago ascended Hero-King who once protected Dis. As the city fell to Niflheim, Alcaeus returned as a ghastly Shade who sought vengeance against the dark forces which corrupted that once pristine city and disturbed his rest. The notions of basic hospitality are something important to him- reciprocity, generosity, and so on. He is acting commander over Dis' forces, as his wisdom and weight of experience makes him easily the most qualified. He's a clever old fox who can be quite smug and has a strong youthful energy to him, in spite of his advanced years. His creator designed him based on the likes of Zeus or Odin, at least as a basis.
Devil Lord(former) Astaroth
A custom NPC created using guild base data storage. As one of the Knight-Captains, he could be considered the fruits of a Guildmates effort, vision, and care. Astaroth is a Devil with a classic Assassin build, focusing on stealth attacks, inflicting debuffs, and poisons. His builds ultimate purpose is taking the enemy down in a burst of damage, and if need be setting this up with tricks and various negative status effects such as poison, bleed, or physical attribute damage. They have invested levels in the powerful Ninja job class line, so they also have access to various powerful tricks.
Astaroth is actually based on the Raid Boss Tsuchisumo's Guild defeated to claim Dis as their Guild Base. He was well beloved for his melodramatic lines and taunts during the fight itself. As a result, the devil was recreated as one of the Knight-Captains- as if he had been 'reformed' after his defeat. In regards to Dis, he takes on wetwork jobs benefiting from his 'unique outlook'. Outwardly he always seems to be half-assing his work, but he's actually very dedicated. Embarrassed about his previous actions, Astaroth is rather aloof as a result. Regarding his relation to the other Knight-Captains, it's a 'cold on the outside, warm on the inside' sort of situation. A character based on the beloved Yggdrasil NPC Mephistopheles.
Dragon-Knight Cadmus
A custom NPC created using guild base data storage. As one of the Knight-Captains, they could be considered the fruits of a Guildmates effort, vision, and care. Cadmus is a Dragonoid with only Warrior classes, his build focus being tanking. By employing a dragon knight job class, he is further able to bring out his full abilities as a Dragonoid Hetermorph without shifting his form. His armor and even shield is fused with his skin, combining its defensive value with already peerless natural armor. In that sense, the armor he wears is essentially just for cosmetic purposes. As a tank, they mitigate or take as much damage as possible, while still having the offensive power to pressure opponents and not be ignored. Using his breath ability in conjunction with his weapon, he can unleash a fearsome counterattack of burst damage as a finishing move after a lengthy battle.
Within his own flavor text, Cadmus is something of a tragic hero trying to act in penance for a grievous past mistake. Because he can lose it and become overeager sometimes, he is extra hard on himself. His intellect is not exactly stellar despite being a genius in combat, and he is something of a gorilla. That said, he also has a certain charm and earnestness that is very endearing, and he is the picture of heroism. Among the NPCs, this is the one Tsuchi had her hands in the most when it came time to make NPCs.
Royal Guard Captain Mystes
A custom NPC created using guild base data storage. As one of the Knight-Captains, they could be considered the fruits of a Guildmates effort, vision, and care. Mystes is a Hydra built to be the quintessential Holy Warrior. They are a divine half-Caster half-Warrior, with a limited spell list focused on strong self healing and buffing. They have various beneficial class abilities in line with this notion, acting as a wrecking ball that smashes through pretty much any opposition. Between their powerful self enhancement, healing abilities from job and racial levels, and sheer damage output, Mystes can be considered the strongest Knight-Captain in a melee. As they were created by the Guilds biggest optimizer who assisted in creating Tsuchi's own build, perhaps that is to be expected.
Within their own flavor text, Mystes is an errant religious Knight who settled in Dis after the Crusade(Raid) to claim it. They were originally overly enthusiastic about purging evil in their youth, but this has become tempered in some respects through equal parts tragedy and experience. There is a particular case in their flavor text where Mystes lost their Cleric teacher in the distant past, and ended up projecting them on the Guilds leader, Tsuichisumo. Mystes was written as somewhat restrained, but not anywhere near being an introvert.
Grand Vizier Corinth
A custom NPC created using guild base data storage. As one of the Knight-Captains, she could be considered the fruits of a Guildmates effort, vision, and care. Corinth is a Sphinx focused around a classic control Wizard build. They focus around various methods to control both the battlefield and enemy, from summons to terrain alteration. As they are a dedicated Caster, she also has a wide breadth of flexible and powerful spellcasting. In that particular sense, she could also be considered something of a generalist, thanks to spells known alone. She is surrounded by NPC copies of herself with lore and crafting job classes, meant to represent simulacrums of herself. Tsu often cringes in guilt around them, given how much money the Wizards maker donated to make said NPCs.
Within her own flavor text, Corinth is chief adviser and manages the Holy Citadels library. Corinth is a resident of Dis who was present even before the future Guild Hall was cleared of evil. She arrived to take advantage of the antediluvian library, heedless of the local fiends. She is a hoarder of knowledge and a genius among geniuses, with the flexibility of a true renaissance woman. Corinth appears distant and wise, only speaking up with key information at important moments. In actuality, she was just written as a cripplingly shy introvert who only opens up more around the Peers, and especially Tsuchi.
Field Marshal Alcaeus
A custom NPC created using guild base data storage. As one of the Knight-Captains, he could be considered the fruits of a Guildmates effort, vision, and care. Alcaeus is a Shade, a high tier incorporeal undead. A spellsword style build, he is a half-warrior who boosts his fighting power with arcane energies- along with attaching devastating spells to his weapon strikes. Defensively they eschew armor in favor of their dexterity and various defensive abjurations and wards- along with their naturally incorporeal nature. Overall he is a generalist melee fighter who cuts through varied defenses, making him an excellent duelist.
Within his own flavor text, Alcaeus is the remaining mortal half of a long ago ascended Hero-King who once protected Dis. As the city fell to Niflheim, Alcaeus returned as a ghastly Shade who sought vengeance against the dark forces which corrupted that once pristine city and disturbed his rest. The notions of basic hospitality are something important to him- reciprocity, generosity, and so on. He is acting commander over Dis' forces, as his wisdom and weight of experience makes him easily the most qualified. He's a clever old fox who can be quite smug and has a strong youthful energy to him, in spite of his advanced years. His creator designed him based on the likes of Zeus or Odin, at least as a basis.
Devil Lord(former) Astaroth
A custom NPC created using guild base data storage. As one of the Knight-Captains, he could be considered the fruits of a Guildmates effort, vision, and care. Astaroth is a Devil with a classic Assassin build, focusing on stealth attacks, inflicting debuffs, and poisons. His builds ultimate purpose is taking the enemy down in a burst of damage, and if need be setting this up with tricks and various negative status effects such as poison, bleed, or physical attribute damage. They have invested levels in the powerful Ninja job class line, so they also have access to various powerful tricks.
Astaroth is actually based on the Raid Boss Tsuchisumo's Guild defeated to claim Dis as their Guild Base. He was well beloved for his melodramatic lines and taunts during the fight itself. As a result, the devil was recreated as one of the Knight-Captains- as if he had been 'reformed' after his defeat. In regards to Dis, he takes on wetwork jobs benefiting from his 'unique outlook'. Outwardly he always seems to be half-assing his work, but he's actually very dedicated. Embarrassed about his previous actions, Astaroth is rather aloof as a result. Regarding his relation to the other Knight-Captains, it's a 'cold on the outside, warm on the inside' sort of situation. A character based on the beloved Yggdrasil NPC Mephistopheles.
Final Note
Rushing through Dis to get back outside, Holy Lance in hand. She wanted to contribute to the farewell fireworks with it, as an excuse to use the Guild Weapon at least once.
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