River

Wings of Ash

"Hm, Blitz, I like it. I'm sure he'll live up to his name."

Hera began walking back towards the Grand Gate, signaling for Jason to follow her. She pondered his question as they walked.

"Well, I honestly don't know much about the class myself... I've just always preferred swords, and the knight class caught my eye more-so than the swordmaster. I did read in the manual that knights have the most special skills of any of the weapon art classes and that they're high in strength. I'm interested to see what skills I gain as I level."

Returning through the gate, Hera found it was busy as ever with new players. She stopped for a second to get her bearings, and then remembered to take the second street on her left. Soon, the two of them were in front of the tavern. Hera entered, assuming Jason would follow behind her. She approached the NPC and began chatting with him.

"Thank you for your assistance! Here is your reward!"

Hera watched her experience bar go up significantly. When she checked her inventory, the pelts had been replaced by 50 gold. It didn't seem like much gold, but she would probably have to wait until she could get into the dungeons at level 5 to really gain some gold.

---

Inventory:
Raw marmot meat x5
Gold x50

Wings of Ash

Hera blinked in surprise when Jason used a special skill. She realized she hadn't looked at her skills yet. She pulled down the menu and noticed two skills, but neither would be much use with a low level enemy like a marmot. She would have to give them a try later. For now, she waited patiently as Jason finished collecting pelts.

"We can walk back to the tavern once you finish. Then I'd like to head over to the market and see if I can buy anything useful with the gold I earn. You're more than welcome to join me, if you'd like."

Hera explained as she watched Jason fight. She looked over at the small grif, surprised by its strength. She'd picked up some marmot meat as well, and wondered if the grif would like some.

"What did you name your grif?"

Hera asked, curious about the strange creature.

Wings of Ash

Hera had just finished slashing her fourth marmot and was picking up the droppings when she noticed that the player from before had approached her. She straightened her posture and looked him right in the eyes as he spoke. It may be a video game, but that doesn't mean good manners should be foregone she reminded herself. She did, however, look away for a moment to observe the man's beast, a small grif that more closely resembled a chicken at this point, but could become very powerful, no doubt. She reasoned that this player must be a beastmaster, an interesting choice of class.

Hera was slightly taken aback when he asked her to team up with him, but she understood why he would want to do such a thing. Leveling up and completing quests goes much faster in groups, especially when people of different classes join up and combine their skills. She couldn't help but chuckle when he very seriously told her he was trying to form the best team in Ashlin, but she admired his ambition, and decided to tell him so.

"I admire your ambition, I too would like to be a part of a strong team. Yes, I will team up with you. I'm Evelyn, but I prefer to go by Hera, if you don't mind."

She stated, smiling slightly at the man. She noticed another marmot approach her and it reminded her of her purpose here.

"If we are to team up, you should know that I'm currently on a quest. If you kill five marmots and collect their hides, you can bring them to a man over at the Rat Tavern and he'll give you 50 gold and 300 experience."

She explained, taking a swipe at the last marmot. This time she managed to kill it in one swipe, and she watched as her experience bar maxed out. She felt a warm glow for a moment and then heard a bing. She had managed to level up to level 2. She smiled triumphantly, but knew that she wouldn't be able to gain much more experience by killing marmots.

Wings of Ash

When the hill was directly in front of Hera, the marmots came in sight, popping out of various holes. Hera felt a little bad about attacking defenseless creatures such as these, but she reminded herself that it was just a game and that they would re-spawn in minutes. Hera dashed up the hill, making her way to the very top. When she looked down, she saw another player making his way towards the hill. He was a large, bearded fellow that somewhat resembled a bear. He must be a Xilite Hera reasoned. His armor and demeanor suggested that he, too, was a new player. Returning her focus to the hill, Hera noticed a marmot pop out of a hole right in front of her. It eyed her nervously, but didn't attack. Weak enemies such as these rarely made the first move. Drawing her sword, Hera slashed at the marmot and watched its health bar dip into the red zone. Alarmed and wounded, the marmot ran towards her, scratching her leg. This did not deal much damage, but did scratch her armor a bit. Hera raised her sword and dealt the final blow. As the marmot collapsed, it dissolved into pixels and disappeared, leaving a pelt in its place. Hera picked up the pelt and placed it in her inventory.

"One down, four to go!"

She exclaimed, dashing towards another marmot a few feet away from her, a grin on her face. Even those these were easy enemies, it was satisfying to fight, and she found that she handled her sword nicely.

Wings of Ash

Upon entering the tavern, Hera spotted a man with an exclamation point over his head, most definitely an NPC. She approached him and listened to his spiel, rolling her eyes at how corny NPCs usually sounded. Hunting marmots seemed like an easy enough task, though, and it would give her some gold and experience, so Hera clicked accept on the quest screen that popped up in front of her.

"I guess I'm off to the Grand Gate now..."

She said to herself, walking out the door behind the two players that had just left in front of her. She wondered how newbies made friends so quickly in this world. She had assumed that she would be playing solo for awhile until she joined a guild or something, but those two new players had already begun taking on quests together. Would the game be more enjoyable if Hera found some friends to play with? Not willing to ponder on it for too long, she continued on towards the Grand Gate with a tight grip on her sword. When she arrived there, she found a large mass of new players standing at the edge between the city and the plains. Many were discussing their course of action between proceeding into an area where they could be attacked and where PvP battles could take place. Hera glanced around at all the new faces for a moment, wondering if there were any other solo players amongst them. Hera pulled up the map in her inventory and took note of a small hill about half a mile outside the gate labeled "Marmot Hill".

"These beginning quests are pretty self explanatory, aren't they?"

She mused, before proceeding through the gate in the direction of the hill.

Wings of Ash

Evelyn turned the key and opened the door to her apartment. Sighing in relief, she pulled off her heels and undid the top two buttons of her shirt. It was around dinnertime, but she didn't feel like cooking just yet. Instead, she plopped down on the couch and opened her laptop, which lay beside her. A grin spread across her face when she saw the icon on her desktop: the new game had finally finished downloading. I'll just play for a little while... Evelyn reasoned, and she double clicked on the icon. The game booted up.

The world of Ashlin seeks a hero...

Evelyn named her character Hera, after the queen of the goddesses in Greek mythology. She was a woman of great grace and power, and the perfect model for her character. Hera swung her sword around to get a feel for it, and let out a laugh. It felt good to move her limbs, even if it was just a game. She placed one hand beneath the sword and examined it. It was your typical starter item: a bit rusty, low attack and a bit lightweight for her taste, but it would do for now. She looked down at her armor, which was in similar condition to the sword. Her arms and legs were plated with a dull steel-like metal, and her chest was covered by hard leather. It seems that the game had not provided her with a helmet.

Finally, Hera looked around her at the City of Beginnings, which her interface told her was known as Maori. Hera found it strange that the starter town was named after the native population of New Zealand, but figured it was just a coincidence. Looking back down at her sword, Hera decided that she needed to upgrade it as soon as possible, but her inventory reminded her that she had no gold. She wondered how she would make gold in this world. Most likely, she would be able to earn some by completing quests and killing enemies. Ready to jump right in, Hera wandered down the nearest street in search of a quest. She came upon a building with a sign hanging over it, stating that it was "The Rat Tavern". Shrugging, Hera figured this was as good a place as any to find a quest, and she wandered inside.

Wings of Ash

My CS is up! Let me know how it looks :)

Wings of Ash

"Real Life" Character:

Name: Evelyn Pierce
Age: 22
Appearance:

Appearance

General Personality:
Evelyn is a very professional, hard-working young woman. Straight out of college, she began working at a law firm and moved into her own apartment. Most of the time, she is exhausted from working non-stop, and work is the only thing on her mind. Back in college, she played a lot of MMORPGs during her study breaks, and admittedly became addicted to them. As a result, she still plays them during the free time and when she needs to let off steam from work. Evelyn has always been a very serious-minded and mature person who will stop at nothing to meet her goals. However, due to her addiction to MMORPGs, she has developed a nerdy side that she prefers to hide from most people, in fear of their judgements.

"Game" Character

Screen Name: Hera
Race: Hyur
Class: Knight
Appearance:

Appearance

Skills:
Evasion - the player side steps the enemy's attack and uses her sword to hit the enemy in the side and knock them over
Steel Shell - a move that requires magic and boosts the player's defense by reinforcing her armor

Soul Story Online~ [Casual-HighCasual]

I swear, I leave this website to go to sleep and I come back to a full-fledged conversation that I've missed out on.. >.>

Soul Story Online~ [Casual-HighCasual]

Uh o.o I did I miss something? I wanna quest too! Don't leave me out! D: