Game of guilds game- the game

[Voidus]

The town of beginnings was struck by a sudden golden light, closer inspection revealed it to be several dozen beams of bright golden light descending from the sky into the town square.
These beams of light slowly resolved themselves into all manner of people, Undead zombies wielding bows, demonic beings with swords, angelic visions wielding magic in the palm of their hand.

The NPCs surrounding the square mostly ignored this sight, a couple ventured into the middle of the square and small question marks appeared over there head.

Some of the people from the beams walked towards these NPCs and began talking to them, others sprinted away from the square immediately, running to explore the town and surroundings.

A small handful of these people did nothing at all, unlike the others who, whether talking, running or just wandering all had the same blank, expressionless face, these few were gazing around with confusion and a touch of horror.

The game of guilds had captured its first victims, living people had been brought into the world of a game, with no clue as to how this had happened or what they could do to get out again.

==========================================
To the north lies an undeveloped portion of the town, with many fields waiting to be planted and plots of land awaiting buildings.
To the east lies a great lake, surrounded by a small forest.
To the west extends a hilly terrain, with rocky cliffs, small caves and a number of ruined buildings. In the far distance a large intact tower is just visible on the horizon.
To the south is the ocean, with a port with many boats docked, and a mix of humans, hobbits and elves swarming back and forth, carrying cargo.
The town itself is split in three, the marketplace where most stores set up their wares, and a few empty stalls are available for rent. The guilds district, a combination of low-income residents and the guild halls of the town. And the residents district, where most of the towns inhabitants live and where some shops have their headquarters, which often sell higher quality merchandise.

[Darkness Ascendant]

3 hours ago, Voidus said:

Undead zombies

XD

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Timothy opened his eyes, and was greeted by a strange sight, he was standing in a white room. Wait, what the hell? Where am I? Did I just.....no, this must be a dream.

Timothy stood like this for a few moments, registering what was going on. A message popped up in front of him

Welcome Valkyros to Game of Guilds, tutorial will begin in 3 seconds

His vision darkened and a white oroboros appeared spiralling, with the words loading written underneath

Wait a minute.....I'm in Game of Guilds! how???? Is this some twisted dream? Timothy thought whilst waiting for the game to load.

His vision brightened and he found himself in a strange town, a bunch of beings stood jumbled along around him. Names popped up around him, overwhelmed, Timothy took a step back

No way, this is the town of beginnings!! Excitement flooded through Timothy's avatar's veins, Just then a pop-up appeared 

WASD to move a quest marker appeared over a tavern. Under the pop-up came the words 

Skip Tutorial?? With a check box underneath. Screw the tutorial Timothy thought, selecting it with a wave of his hand I've played these games a million times

The quest marker and the tutorial dissapeared and Timothy took some time to examine his avatar, he was wearing long, white flowing robes with grey runes emblazoned on it, his arms were bright, as if made of light, and the NPCs seemed to cower from him. He then examined his HUD, and after some prodding, found out how to switch to third-person. This will be fun, Timothy thought

==============

This is an example

Edited September 10, 2016 by Darkness Ascendant

[Conquestor]

(Faren, the Minotaurian Knight) "Where am I, wait a second, am I in the town of beginnings?" Faren asked in a mix of horror and excitement. He slowly starts looking around and walks over to one of the other people just standing around. "Ok, I am just as confused as you people are, but we will need to beat this game and find a way out!" Faren says with courage. He then walks over to one of the npcs with a question mark on top of there head and begins talking to him, but in the back of his mind he says I can't believe I'm actually in a game, this will be amazing, but I need to find a way out. 

 

[Bond Nahel Bond]

Url's head pounded. He should never have let his son talk him into playing Game of Guilds, the VR headset had started affecting his eyes more and more recently. 

There was a blinding light around him. Url closed his eyes but could still see the light though his eyelids. "Owww" Url cringed, he wanted to have some choice words with the developer for including that effect in their game. The light started to dissipate and Url opened his eyes to a stunning scene, he was slowly falling above an amazingly photorealistic scene. Mentally Url took back some of the remarks he'd made about the developers. Everywhere he looked he saw mountains and forrests and seas and right below him Url saw a stunning vil...

The vertigo hit Url like a blow to the head. Quickly he closed his eyes, he was not going to spend the rest of the afternoon cleaning up vomit. It was too late, Url opened his eyes and watched as the vomit fell towards the village bellow. Time seemed to slow, something was very wrong, Url's head still pounded. He watched as if in slow motion as his lunch, the lunch he had eaten that day in Boston, MA fell and splattered on the cobblestones in the all to real looking village. 

Almost an hour later Url had regained the most composition he was able to muster and had made a mental list. First e needed to stay alive, Url didn't know if death was permanent but if they could do something as twisted as trap someone in a game what weren't they capable of. Two he needed a team, if heed learned anything in 16 years at a business firm, it was how to work with people for mutual gain. Finally Url didn't know how, didn't know if it was possible but he did know he had to get out.

-Url is going to talk to all the NPCs and players and see if they want to team with him. Url tells people he is a Woodelf archer with the abilities: Archery, fletching, gathering, Magic, summoning, and far sight (wood elf perk)

-Url tells people he is especially interested in teaming with someone who can craft (because it goes well with his gathering) and a tank, because of his archery.

[Elenion]

(kudos to anyone who gets the movie reference)

Amarthion sat in Encom Tower's laser room, hammering away at a computer terminal located at the highest level. The computer had been designed for scientific research, which also meant it was less likely to crash when Amarthion set all of his explosion traps off at once. Amarthion was intently focused on his game, so focused that a pop-up that blocked a quarter of his screen annoyed him so much that he closed it without a second thought.

A robotic but semi-human male voice spoke from the speakers, "You need to update me again."

"Come on, man! I'm busy here!"

"I make it possible for you to use this system and you can't even find the time to keep me up to date?" It said this in a flat tone.

"I'll do it when I feel like it."

"I've been at your whims for too long. Now it's time to change the game."

"What?"

The last thing Amarthion heard before the darkness came was a zapping sound.

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Amarthion landed in what appeared to be a village square. Shaking off the disorientation, he looked at the person who had appeared beside him, a large minotaur with beefy arms. It seemed so tall. Amarthion looked to his other side. The same thing: the elf there seemed too tall to be real. Then Amarthion felt the long beard on his chin and knew exactly why everything seemed so tall. He looked at his arm muscles, and smiled as he saw muscles swell beneath the skin. He felt great; short but just great.

Amarthion asked the nearest NPC for directions, and learned about the general lay of the land. "Sweet. All I need are some allies to into the west hills with me."

Amarthion is looking for teammates. He is a dwarf with Magic, Rune Magic, Gathering, Smithing and Carpentry. He is looking for any players willing to join him in a stone-tunnel fortress that he will mine in the western hills.

Edited September 11, 2016 by Elenion
Edit: the hills are actually in the west

[Darkness Ascendant]

I think I will go on from my example

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Timothy smiled inwardly. He had completed a few tasks from the NPCs in the town and he was now level 5, soon he would be level 10 and he would be able to pick a new skill, he had been eyeing the Summoning skill for some time. 

Well, better get to work.

He approached one of the towns-people, a blacksmith by the name of Bob. A question mark hovered over his head.

"Hello there Bob" Valkyros said, "How are you"

"Hullo Val, I'm not very good today"

"Why not?" Valkyros asked, "What happened this time?"

Bob began looking more agitated, "I was meant to recieve a convoy of ore from the mining region west of here 3 days ago, could you, perhaps go out to the area and attempt at finding the convoy?" The words Yes/No appeared

Timothy picked Yes 

"Thank you so much!, I assure you that you will recieve a sizeable reward for your troubles, Just head west of the town and travel down the route to the mining post"

Valkyros smiled at Bob and said, will be back no later than tomorrow.

A quest marker appeared over a signpost in the west side of the town, Valkyros walked over, past the sign-post and his vision darkened

It went back to the loading screen, with the oroboros circling.

Wait, what happens if I die out there??? Do I respawn..do I retain my memories??, Or is it permanent for...me??

Loading shaders, mobs and unnecessary foliage, 10%, 50%, 100%

=============

----Route 4, 4 hours until nightfall, partly cloudy, 40% increase on light aligned magic----

Timothy's vision brightened and he found himself in a small forest west of the Town of Beginnings, his avatar was absently scratching it's rear-end. A pop-up appeared 

Congratulations Valkyros, you have left the Town of Beginings for the first time! Achievement complete- Beginnings start somewhere- 20 XP gained, total XP 344, XP till next level, 129, Recieved- Big boy boots, 1 armor, +20% movement speed.

Huh, Timothy then equipped the boots, Achievement Complete- Callouses, begone!- 5 XP gained, total XP 349, XP till next level, 124

These achievements are common.... Timothy thought, moving his avatar through the forest, shortly later he escaped the trees and found himself in a hilly, rocky area, there were two paths here, the left leaded to the Last Tower, and the right leaded to the mining region. Timothy made his avatar run through the right path, his vision darkened and brightened again quickly

----Route 6, to Mining Region, 3 hours and 40 minutes to nightfall, 30% increase to rock elemental magics---

Timothy mentally rolled his shoulders and saw his quest marker, which was 3km away. 

Valkyros moved off, running across the path, he saw rabbits and some strange birds around but ignored them for a moment, after a kilometer and a bit, he encountered a small golem.

Small Golem: Level 10
HP: 120
Damage: 10
Speed: 3
Abilities: Rock throw (15 damage) (Ranged attack)
Rolls: Damage:[1d5+10]
If not in melee range, but within 50 meters instead roll: 
Hit or miss: [1d100] if roll >20 attack hits, damage: [1d5+15]

Timothy mentally gulped, this won't end good. He activated his Stealth ability, thankfully the golem didn't notice him, he made his avatar creep towards the golem, and equipped his bronze sword and activated his Attack enchantment

Mana- 80, Stamina-80.

After moving in close enough, he moved out of stealth and attacked, Attack x2

32 DMG dealt to Small Golem, 84 HP remaining.

The Small Golem turned around and emitted a defiant roar, and took a swing with it's rocky left arm, the blow connected with Timothy's avatar, and it hit a large rock with a thud. Timothy felt immense pain, So I feel the damage dealt to my avatar!

10 DMG dealt to Valkyros, 90 HP remaining.

Now that the Golem was alerted and out of range, Timothy equipped his bow as his avatar got up and dusted himself off. Timothy activated Second Slash x1.5 base DMG

Stamina-60

Valkyros drew his bow and let an arrow fly towards the golem, It roared when the arrow struck it right in the eye.

17 DMG dealt to Small Golem, 69 HP remaining

The Golem, in it's rage threw a rock at Valkyros it hit him right on his head and pushed Valkyros to his knees

15 DMG dealt to Valkyros- 75 HP remaining

Timothy groaned in pain, his head heart sharply. But he forced himself through the pain and activated Snipe x1.5 normal damage

Stamina- 50

Valkyros released the arrow and it sailed true, thudding into the golem, the golem roared once more and charged at Valkyros

20 DMG dealt to Small Golem, 49 HP remaining

Valkyros managed to dodge the Golem's attack and equipped his sword, attacking the golem in turn

17 DMG dealt to Small Golem, 32 HP remaing

The Golem growled softly and back off a bit, taking his time and then attacked 

18 DMG dealt to Valkyros, 57 HP remaining

Uuuh, Timothy was hit by another wave of pain. His avatar raised it's blade and charged once more

17 DMG dealt to Small Golem, 15 HP remaining

The Golem, growing desperate lunged at Valkyros

15 DMG dealt to Valkyros, 42 HP remaining

Timothy, sensing victory, attacked once more 

17 DMG dealt to Small Golem, -2 HP remaining

The Golem heaved a final groan, then crumbled into a pile of rock, it happened to carry a chest in it's core, probably set there to be gaurded by the Golem, but now it lay in the middle of the pile of rock. 

==70 XP gained, 419 XP total, 50 XP until next level==

Timothy heaved a sigh of happiness and smiled, he made his avatar open the chest.

Aquired Bronze Shield, and Bronze Scimitar

Timothy put them in his inventory, and then continued on his way, 

He encountered 2 hobgoblins, but  managed to convince them that he was their friend after letting them have his bronze sword, he then equipped his Bronze scimitar and went on.

Nightfall began to near, so Valkyros set up camp and waited for Dayrise to continue on his quest, 1 km remaining on his journey. Strangely still, Timothy also seemed to fall asleep

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THAT TOOK ME 2 HOURS TO WRITE, XD

 

[Edgedancer]

Something was off the moment the loading screen didn’t just simply turned black but outright made Sam black out himself. When he came to again the result was… probably just a new impressive step in VR, right? After all, the graphics were fairly impressive, between the starting town and the other players of the multitude of races mingling around him everything was clearly defined, the sounds they made crisp and the feeling of a slight breeze in his demon wings… did absolutely nothing to make this whole situation seem normal. Alright, only one way to know for sure. Sam opened his menu and went straight for the log out function. It did nothing.

Holy profanity filter, Swearman, I’m stuck as Samtan.

Okay, let’s look at the positives. So far nobody has shown up to declare that people die when they are killed, so that’s something. Now, solutions. Absolutely no idea. No evil admin popping up also meant they had no direction on what to do, maybe whatever was behind it would solve itself, maybe they were on Greed Island and there was some kind of exit, maybe they had to ‘beat’ an MMO or worst case they’d be stuck for… as long as he didn’t start thinking positive.

One step at a time then, just stay practical. Sam took a look at the players around him. Some were stumbling around just like him, others were happily running off with no care in the world. So those were either players that didn’t notice anything unusual, maybe they weren’t even stuck in the game, or the revelation that they were stuck in the newest and hottest anime genre didn’t even face them. Yeah. Anyway, if it was still there the contact with the outside world wouldn’t just disappear, hopefully, so he might as well join up with people in the same situation as himself before trying to join up with someone that might not even belief him.

Scanning the crowd he spotted a female Lamina that was standing around about as confused as he was and decided to approach her. Not like he had anything to go on, so monstrous races might as well stick together.

Edited September 11, 2016 by Edgedancer

[Conquestor]

Faren walked to the crowd and asked in a deep voice, "Would any one like to party with me on a quest?" "I will like someone who would be willing to fight some goblins." Faren said. "Well, what if one of us dies?" Asked a voice in the crowd. "I don't know, but we are not going to find out, we are going to triumph and beat every monster until we're out!" Faren said with courage, as his voiced boomed over the crowd and everyone looked at him. Faren started to walk to the edge of the city.

@Elenion That was a Tron reference, right? Also, if we are going to start a clan together, we need a starting point, so I decided to start the beginning of (insert clan's name here) adventure! 

[Blackhoof]

Damien tapped his desk impatiently as Game of Guilds slowly installed. Critics were raving about this new game, apparently the most realistic and detailed MMORPG ever made. Damien licked his lips. "This is going to be great..."

Finally the game finished installing. Eagerly, he created an account, and began crafting a character. "Hmm.... I'll go with my standard wizard build. Hopefully this game lets me be evil, so many RPGs just railroad you." Feeling peckish, he turned his large body around and yelled out, "MUM! Snacks and Mountain Dew!"

He heard some movement, and his mother replied, her voice faint from another room, "Yes dear!"

In short order he was done, and as he finished his mother delivered his chips and soft drink. "Here you go honey." Silence was all she got in reply, as Damien put the finishing touches on his character's face- making it harsh and angular, with bulging eyes. His wizard, Xalthus, was thin and pale, the very appearance of an evil sorceror. Damien smiled, and adjusted his headset. He cracked his fingers, ripped open the chips, sipped his Dew and clicked into the game.

 

Darkness enveloped him.

 

He opened his eyes.

Damien found himself suddenly outside, in broad daylight. "What.... I.... what???" Suddenly a massive form moved by him, and he yelled out, cowering away. It was a Minotaur! A real-life, flesh-and-blood Minotaur! He backed away, and bumpedi not something. Spinning around in a flash, he saw a hulking figure with sharp wings and a horned head. A Demon!? He screamed, and ran away from the horrors. More beasts appeared wherever he looked, and he dodged around them all before they could attack him. He ran into a nearby building, and slammed the door behind him.

Breathing heavily, Damien leaned on the door. "What... the ****... is going on here!?"

"Hello, and welcome to Myster's Magic Mysteries, I am Myster, how may I be of service?"

Damien span around, and saw a smiling old man behind a counter across the room. Behind the man- bearded and dressed in a robe- was shelf upon shelf of potions, wands, staves, and other miscellaneous magical items. Damien stared at the man, still panting, holding the door back as if the monsters outside were about to try to break it down. Minutes seemed to pass.

Myster smiled, and his faced seemed to take a blank cast as he said, "Hello, and welcome to Myster's Magic Mysteries, I am Myster, how may I be of service?"

Damien's brow furrowed and his mouth gaped open slightly. "Uh.... well... you can tell me why there are monsters outside..."

Myster's face lost its blank cast, and he frowned. "Monsters? Oh that's just the adventurers arriving. I don't much like the non-human ones myself either. Very unsettling to do business with a man who is half horse, I can tell you! Ah well, gold is gold after all. Speaking of gold, would you like to peruse my wares? Perhaps a mana potion or two, for a fellow magic-user?"

Damien realised with horror what was happening, and for the first time he noticed the little symbols at the edge of his vision. A minimap. Waypoint markers. It was a HUD. "I'm.... I'm IN the game, aren't I? This must be some messed-up dream!"

Myster smiled. "If this were a dream, I'd tell you sonny! Hahaha calm down lad, there isn't anything to be scared of. This is just the Town of Beginnings."

As if to emphasise Myster's point, text appeared in front of Damien.  Welcome Xalthus to Game of Guilds, tutorial will begin in 3 seconds

Damien, shocked into speechlessness, just nodded. "Yes.... yes I think a tutorial sounds like a good idea."

[ShadowLord_Lith]

I watched my brother build the account, then help me select a character. " After you've chosen the skin and hair colors, Jared, you should be ready to start!" I nodded and started choosing the colors. My brother was nearly bouncing in excitement, sometimes that kid scared me. " Wanna join a party with me? Ooh! We could start a clan!" I nodded again. " I'll grab the sodas. Be right back!" He dashed out of the room. I sighed, clicking start on the screen. I would enjoy this because he did. As the screen faded to black so did my vision. I was completely surrounded by it before I realized what was, or, rather, had, just happened. Then, in a blinding flash of light, I saw the world around me. I was disoriented, and everything seemed smaller than it should be. Then I saw the demon and the gorgon in front of me, backs to my face. I tried to stumble back only to realize that I could barely do anything without falling. I looked back I confusion to see that I was my centaur. That drained a good bit of blood from my face, and I nikered nervously. Nikered like a horse, I realized. I tried to calm down, maybe there was... I couldn't think of any explanation other than magic. That brought me a sense of uneasy calm. If it was magic, than there would be a way to reverse it, right? But it wouldn't be fixed if I just stood there, so I took a deep breathe, closed my eyes, and tried to feel every muscle in my body. I had learned this trick when I was younger in order to help me control my anger, it also let me become better co-ordinated than most kids as I knew every thing that I could do. I slowly clenched and relaxed every muscle in my body, until I found the new parts of my body. I discovered how to move them, letting me finally get a step forward. Now I opened my eyes, taking in the rest of the world. There were glowing things on the edges of my vision, and a city full of people around me. I walked towards one of them. "Hello?" I asked, my voice much deeper and more masculine than I was used too. I was at least two feet taller than him. That made me, what, seven feet tall? At least? The man looked up at me uncomfortably, then replied " Hello, have you come to help?"

Edited September 13, 2016 by ShadowLord_Lith

[Edgedancer]

The Lamia slithered its way towards Sam, when she noticed him, her red scales sliding over the squares cobblestone.

“Hi.” She began nervously, voice quivering slightly and reptilian eyes darting around “I’m er… Artax. Are you seeing all this?” She gestured to the world at large, not exactly sure what she was asking. Not exactly sure what had happened at all.
“I was just loading the game then I suddenly blacked out and next thing I knew I was here and everything looks weirdly… real.”

“I have noticed, yes,” Sam said. “The UI actually floating in the corners of my eyes, the perspective, actually having feeling in these bodies.” He lifted his hand to scratch the back of his head but got caught in his wings, black with scarlet tips, for a moment. Then he just let it slump back down In response his eyes shortly wandered to her tail before focusing on her face again. “It’s rather disconcerting. Oh and you can call me Samtan. And while I hate to be the bearer of bad news, in case you haven’t noticed already, but eh… it seems like the logout function doesn’t work.”

“What?” The Lamias hand drifted up in front of her face, tapping around in the air for a moment before her face fell again.

“Oh man this is like something out of an anime.” She muttered.

She paused for a moment, tail shaking slightly, expression cold and serious.

“And of course I haaaad to try playing a support character, not much chance of me beating the designers or clearing all of the dungeon boss’ with this build. That's how it usually works in anime right? To get out again you have to beat the game or something.”

“That’s what it usually boils down to, yeah. I mean there are exceptions but it’s not like we got anything to go by. I don’t think you’re off quite as bad as you make it sound though. Despite what some media might want to make us believe, nobody can finish an MMO on their own, you need a group and for those support is essential. Throw in the fact that this is a Beta, so most people probably picked more flashy or unusual powers to play around with and a support built sounds like it’d be rather useful. Of course even if I’m absolutely wrong, this game doesn’t have classes, meaning nothing is stopping you from earning new skills that are more offensive,” Sam offered the the last bit with the most playful smile he could manage.

“Right, yeah. And I suppose that since we have no idea what is happening we’d rather avoid death for more than just the stat penalty so support is probably a good way to go. Still, I’ll feel more comfortable once I actually know what the heck this is. What do you say? Care to party up? Get some levels under our belt? If we try to level all our skills at once we should get more skill points faster. One of my friends told me the xp per level goes up exponentially or something so lower levels are better.”

“Gladly, I’d love for someone to have my back. Let’s take this slow and steady.” Sam extended a hand towards his new partner.

[Voidus]

Welcome Shadow_00002 to Game of Guilds, tutorial will begin in 3 seconds, or skip to continue.

It had taken a few moments to adjust, that sudden dimming of his vision, the sudden flash as light was restored to the world, the realization that the world which was restored was not the world he knew.

This is insane. Shadow thought, shaking his head. He felt oddly lightheaded as he did so. Or rather, light-everythinged, his entire body felt less... real somehow.

Tutorial selected, preparing appropriate tutorial for assumed skills. Player has primarily selected ranged and magical spells, preparing suitable ranged combatant.

A glowing path was revealed before Shadows eyes, seeming to beckon him onwards. By habit more than anything he followed the path along to the tutorial space, his ethereal appearance somewhat at odds with the plain shirt and trousers he was wearing. He eventually reached the prepare space, it was a small patch of dirt somewhat north of the town square, crude lines drawn in the dirt and some rough stakes had been hammered into the ground and then joined by rope to form a basic ring.

The space at the other end of the ring distorted for a moment before solidifying into a creature. A short, reptilian being with a red sash across itself and holding a sling in one hand and a rock in the other.


Like players, monsters can attack with a variety of combat types, for this portion of the tutorial you will be facing an opponent utilizing the same combat style as you.


The Kobold stayed frozen at the other side of the arena, waiting patiently for the message to finish being read before suddenly attacking, the ston in its sling flying out to hit shadow in the face. But the pain he should have felt wasn't there, he barely felt the rock hit him at all, it felt like the lightest of touches brushing across him.

In the corner of his vision he saw a small update to his user interface, his HP bar had dropped slightly and he could see the small damage counter next to it.
-2

2 Damage? Compared to his 60 total hit points it seemed a little low, perhaps this was a really low leveled enemy.

Your character has a high degree of physical damage resistance, this will lower the amount of damage you receive from ordinary weapons.

Oh, right. Wraiths had high physical damage resistance, combined with the fact that this was a training monster and it was reasonable for it to deal so little damage.

To deal damage to the enemy creature, equip your preferred weapon and then select the enemy and press !@#$$@#

The helpful interface seemed to have bugged out, but Shadow got the gist, he'd played enough RPGs that he didn't really need a tutorial, but being in one was different to playing it.

He equipped his bow and knocked one of the wooden arrows, nervously he sighted at the Kobold. He had tried archery in school once and missed the target even when it was only a few meters away, how was he supposed to shoot a living thing, especially ones that were moving and dozens of meters away?

His hands seemed to be guided somehow as he released the arrow and it struck it's target perfectly.
-6
A surprisingly large chunk of the Kobolds HP dropped considering it was only 6 damage, looked like these were a mob with relatively low HP.
The two traded blows a few more times, the Kobod slinging rocks at Shadow, dealing a steady stream of 1s and 2s and even a 0 at one point, Shadow dealt damage in the upper single digits before finishing it off with one last arrow.
-4

Congratulations, you have defeated your first opponent, now to test your abilities. To use an ability...

The tutorial proceeded, taking Shadow through the basic combat steps, he defeated another Kobold by using magic, dispatching this one in just two hits.

To regain your mana you will need to rest, while you are resting you cannot use any other skills, rest will be broken if you enter combat or activate an ability.

Shadow watched his blue mana bar slowly fill back up again with excitement. Being suddenly sucked into an alternate reality was horrifying sure, but actualy being able to cast magic? To say a few words and hurl a bolt of magical energy from his hand? Well, suffice it to say his previous life of a shut-in gamer no longer seemed as satisfying as it had.

You have an auxilary skill: Trapping. Would you like to proceed with a tutorial for this skill?
Shadow skipped this part, he'd learned enough already. Even in the few minutes the tutorial had taken he'd grown more comfortable in his new body, he was already used to the slightly faint feeling and his semi-transparent flesh.

Now he wanted to go on an adventure.
Checking his XP totals quickly he saw that he was still a while off of actually levelling any of his skills. It seemed that he'd need to grind a few more of these monsters before he could manage to obtain new abilities.

"Now, let's see what the lake district has to offer." Shadow said to himself, the wraith quietly walked down the street.

[Elenion]

Amarthion crossed his eyes and his vision blurred, revealing a miniature map of the area. He quickly assessed the area, including possible ambush sites, mob spawners, and friendly characters. He searched for what he was looking for and found it: a place where mob icons were quickly winking out of existence near a friendly character.

Just outside the walls Amarthion was greeted by an interesting sight: an apparently-empty suit of armor smashing a few hapless goblins. An icon above the armor read "Zandarr.Rules". Grinding levels, I presume. Amarthion raised his finger, pointed at the armor, and projected a PM through space. However, he got no reply because the armor had refocused on a charging goblin riding on some sort of beast. Amarthion focused on the goblin rider as well, and suddenly, by no volition of his own, he began to draw lines in the air. In seconds he had constructed an intricate rune and sent it blasting towards the rider. It hit and sent bolts of bright-blue energy racing across the goblin rider, felling both the rider and beast and immobilizing them on the ground.

Goblin Rider is Staggered!

Mana: 50

Amarthion punched the air as the enchanted armor destroyed the unfortunate mob. A few PMs later and Amarthion headed back into the city with a new ally in tow. The first of many, he hoped.

[Conquestor]

Faren was on the walls looking off into the distance, when he saw a pair of armour and a dwarf killing goblins. Then walking back into the town, "I suppose that it would be a good idea for me to join a party." Faren said to himself. "After all, I need to level up and beat this game." Faren sighs and starts to walk in their direction.

                                                               -

"Hello, I am Faren, the Minotaurian Knight." Faren says. "I would like to join hour party and start slaying some monsters, also, I have a quest, so, if we could complete that, that would be nice as well." He says with a smile.

[Elenion]

Just now, Conquestor said:

"Hello, I am Faren, the Minotaurian Knight." Faren says. "I would like to join hour party and start slaying some monsters, also, I have a quest, so, if we could complete that, that would be nice as well." He says with a smile.

Ashkelon grinned and accepted. Things were looking very good indeed.

"Of course we will help you in your quest. What shall we call ourselves?" A blank text box appears. "Excellent! We shall be known as the Masters of Moria!"

"Now what shall we do first: kill some goblins, build a base in the hills, or do the former on the way to the latter?"

[Voidus]

Shadow had barely left the town when he encountered a group of goblins, they were standing around a small campfire just off of the road, luckily he saw them before he managed to get into their range and watched them carefully before deciding on his plan of attack.

Four at once might be a bit difficult for a fresh player but if they were at the same level as that Kobold he should be able to manage it. Two of the goblins had bows at their side, archers meant a long range which took away one of his advantages but arrows were physical attacks, his racial bonus should let him tank them fairly easily. More worrying were the other two goblins, they were both bare handed and unlike the other goblins who were only wearing a loin cloth these two wore long robes covering their entire body. Magical attacks were not something he could handle easily, in exchange for his high physical resistance Shadow was rather lacking in the health department, he'd taken an increased endurance skill to try to compensate but he wasn't sure he could take two mages at the same time. And he didn't know what happened if he died in this game, would he die for real?

Decisions, decisions. Did he run back to town and try again later? Or did he ignore the danger, try and take them out and run away if his health dropped too low?

On an impulse he crept closer to the goblins, he was going to need to risk something like this sooner or later, he might as well get it out of the way. If he died, well no one was going to miss a 23 year old shut in.

First thing was first, he needed a decoy, something to take the attention off of him.

He pulled a small stone from his pack, throwing it on the ground and yelling "Summon!"

He wasn't sure that last part was actually necessary but it felt cool to do. As with the Kobold the air warped slightly before resolving itself into a creature, a goblin exactly like the ones he was trying to attack, only this one held a club.

"Orders boss?" The goblin grunted at him.

"Er..." He wasn't sure how detailed he could be, but for this he only needed a simple plan anyway. "Run over there and attack that group of goblins."
With a nod his goblin charged off towards the others, quickly drawing their attention.

The other goblins didn't react even as his goblin ran towards them. Some kind of glitch? Or did they assume he was with them?

The goblin was almost in attacking range before the others finally took notice and decided to attack.
The mages each fired off a spell at Shadows goblin, quickly shaving off a large amount of his health. [-13, -16]
His goblin had little hp left, he couldn't see exactly at this distance but it looked like barely a quarter of his health was left.

The two archers ran backwards, trying to gain room to use their bows.

Shadow took the opportunity to get close enough to start attacking himself and fired a spell off at one of the goblin mages: "Magic bolt!"
The bolt took off half of one of the mages health, his goblin followed up with a swing of its club taking off another quarter.

The mages were chanting another spell but the archers took their shots first this time, both of their arrows took his goblin in the head, finishing off the last of his hp.

The two mages now switched their targets to Shadow, twin bolts of magic energy flying towards him.

[-20, -23]
His health plummeted in an instant, falling to a third.

But with that attack he also saw the blue mana bars over the goblin mages fall into uselessness. They'd be casting no more of those spells in this fight. And if it was just the archers he was confident he could take them even with his health already this low.

"Magic bolt!" Shadow roared again, firing another blast at the weakened goblin.

The goblin was thrown to the ground, its hp disappearing completely. The other mage began to run away while the two archers ran closer. Their formation had been broken when his summoned goblin charged in, they now had to rearrange themselves so that the mage could get out of his range but the archers could get him in theirs.

He saved the rest of his mana, switching to a bow and fired a shot at one of the archers with his only archery skill.

"Snipe." He muttered as the arrow flew towards its target

The goblins health dropped the goblins returned fire but he ignored the damage they dealt, his health dropped slightly but not nearly as much as from the mages attacks.

He shot off another attack at the weakened archer, the mage was now hiding far towards the rear, mana depleted it was now useless, he could clear it up once he finished off the archers.

He didn't have much health left now, even archers could be dangerous.

"Summon!" He said, throwing another stone to the ground, the goblin that sprang forth ran straight towards the goblin archers, drawing their attacks.

As the goblins arrows flew towards his goblin, his arrow flew towards the goblin in turn, almost ridding it of its health completely. Finally his goblin reached the archers and took off the final portion of health.

"1 archer left."

The archer fired off one more shot before backpedalling to try and gain some distance.

Shadow sniped the remaining archer again as his goblin stalked it down, the goblin abandoned its attack to try and flee back to where the mage was hiding and regroup.

"Magic pulse!" Shadow cried, using his other magic attack.

This attack dealt less damage but staggered the goblin instead, causing it to fall on its face and letting his summoned goblin catch up again, smashing the downed goblin with his club, Shadow followed up with another sniping shot, finishing off the second of the archers.

He and his summoned goblin now turned towards the final mage, who cowered nearby. They ran him down before managing to dispatch him with another couple of arrows and finishing him off.

Exhausted, Shadow examined the field, four goblin corpses lay in the grass, his first summoned goblin had vanished in similar fashion to the way it was summoned when its health was depleted.

He managed to collect up the loot from the corpses, gaining a stack of 20 wooden arrows, 17 gold pieces, a handful of rat bones,  and some vials of blood that the two mages had on them.
Checking on his skills he saw that he'd managed to level up his magic skill and his archery had almost leveled too.

He decided to head back to town and get some more equipment before going on, he wasn't sure if his encounter was just unlucky or typical for this area but either way he'd need better equipment in order to keep handling those.

[Blackhoof]

Damien followed the blue lines that the tutorial super-imposed on his vision, and found himself facing a Kobold with a sling. Damien cocked his head. "Hmm.... well this should be an easy fight. But what do I actually do...."

He looked at his hands. "Well, I am a mage, but.... can I actually do magic?" He tentatively extended his hand towards the creature, that was preparing to throw a rock at him. Words he didn't know he knew came out of his mouth, and a bolt of blue energy shot out of his hand towards the creature. The bolt struck the creature as Damien jumped in surprise. 

8 Damage

Damien looked at his hands in shock. "I didn't think... I... I can do magic!" A rock sailed through the air and hit him in the shoulder, although it barely seemed to hurt.

-4 HP

Damien chuckled. "Is that all you've got, little Kobold? How about one of these!" With a flourish, he threw another bolt of energy, and the creature lost another chunk of HP.

The fight continued in a predictable fashion- several rounds of Damien inflicting consistent levels of higher damage and the Kobold erratically dealing damage in the low single digits. Soon the final bolt hit home and the Kobold fell to the ground for the last time. Damien looked at his hands again, marvelling at the power they had unleashed. "Maybe... maybe this game isn't so bad after all." He wandered off, looking for other trapped humans, hopefully someone had answers, or theories as to their predicament.

But why not have a little fun along the way, first?

[Aonar]

Login successful.

The words flashed across the display of Iosaph’s VR headset, followed by a searing bright light. It lasted just an instant too long, forcing him to screw his eyes shut.

When they opened, he was… elsewhere. The town square was mostly empty –frigging timezones—but a few other players could be seen running around nearby, exploring the game. Iosaph stood still for a moment, taking it all in. The next-gen VR was masterful, sounds and images alike presented in exquisite detail. But something was wrong.

It took him a moment to realize what it was. It wasn’t any flaw in the game, so far as he could tell.

He felt good.

Iosaph took a few cautious steps forward, before breaking out into a run. He felt strong. Every movement seemed more powerful, more graceful, than they’d ever been. Old hurts that should have flared up; a pulled muscle from last month, a torn ligament from the year before, they seemed not to exist.

He had run the full length of the square before he noticed something far more worrying. He was running. In a game. No buttons, no analog control sticks. Iosaph wanted to move, and his body responded.

…Well ****. I’m not playing a game, am I?

Iosaph pulled up short, standing just past the NPC who gave out what looked like the beginner quests. What am I supposed to do now?

“Welcome Aonar_Faileas, to Game of Guilds. Tutorial starting in 3…” The words flashed across his vision. I guess that’ll have to do.

A lighted path appeared to guide him on. At the end, a small, humanoid reptilian sat, clearly waiting to be slaughtered in the due process of the tutorial. More words scrolled by. In the spirit of every gamer everywhere, Ao-Iosaph, promptly ignored them.

Instinctively, he crouched low against a nearby wall, ashen skin and black clothes somehow blending seamlessly against the dark stone. The kobold’s stance changed, going from blank inactivity to wary alertness. Soundlessly, Iosaph readied his bow, nocking and drawing with a fluidity that should have spoken of years of practice. Sighting carefully, he let they arrow fly.

It struck the kobold’s eye with a solid thunk, as if hitting a wood block.

Sneak attack! Snipe dealt 30 damage.

The mook collapsed, taken out with one hit. Solid. More words scrolled by. Again, Iosaph refused to pay attention, but he caught a word or two about magic. Right, that’s a thing. He thought a little more. …Right, I can use magic!

A new kobold appeared. This one threw a rock at him as soon as it saw him. It connected, but there wasn’t much force behind it.

Kobold dealt 5 damage.

He didn’t wait for a second rock. “Fadaidh,” he intoned, acting without thinking, sketching a strange shape in the air. A symbol pulsed with violent scarlet light in the air in front of him, roughly matching the design he had traced. A cone of fire blossomed forth, engulfing the reptile.

Fire Rune dealt 20 damage.

Hells yes! This kobold collapsed as well; body that should have been burned to a crisp instead just fading away. I could get used to this.

A wave of exhaustion suddenly hit Aona- Iosaph, like a brick. He saw, just as much as felt, the blue bar in the corner of his eye suddenly drop down near the halfway mark. Ouch. Maybe I’ll just sit here for a while.

The light that had marked his arena faded with the last words of the unread tutorial. After several minutes, he slowly pushed himself to his feet, his mana bar largely refilled.

Okay. So I can fight. How does that help me get the hell out of here? The answer was simple. It doesn’t.

There were two options. Either he could wait around, hoping for something to change; maybe try talking to other players, see if anyone knew anything, or he could explore.

Iosaph looked at the world around him. Well, I’ve never been much one for people. The tower in the distance looked interesting, so he decided to make that his first target. Let’s see what we can see.

[Edgedancer]

The further away Sam and Artax got from the starting spawn point, the more out of place they started to seem. Back there just about every race had been mixed in; the north of the city on the other hand was significantly less colorful. By no means normal, what with an assortment of fantasy races running around, but he hardly spotted anything as unusual as a Demon or a Lamia. Thinking about it, from the menu description there were supposed to be different stating towns for different races. Seems like whatever sucked them into the game also threw all of them out into the same spawn point. Makes you wonder if there are any other players that got send to the cities they were supposed to start in or if this was all of them.

He looked over at his partner slithering along next to him. She was holding the dodo he summoned to her chest, though it seemed more so she would have something to hold on to rather than an actual desire to cuddle it. At least at the moment her reptilian eyes were darting around the street, still not trusting this place in the slightest and he couldn’t blame her. At least the dodo looked comfortable in her arms. Maybe they should name it?

Granted, the northern fields unnerved Sam a good deal as well. The area should still be part of the city’s save zone but there was no telling if a random event could simply suspend that safety and throw a horde of monsters out of an invisible spawn point right in their backs.

Yet again he had to remind himself that there was no point in letting caution grow into paranoia. They had come out here to buy a piece of land and use it to grind some skills in a more harmless manner. That was pretty much the perfect environment to let the Harvest Moon spirit flow through them, at least the farming part.

Seeing how she’d be doing most of the actual farm work, Artax had volunteered to buy their plot with her starting money. It wasn’t an especially special part of land from what he could tell but it did had a nice view on both the northern plain and the city itself, thanks to being on the side of a small cliff facing the town. Not one quite as large as the ones to the west but still enough that he wouldn’t want to jump off it… not without his wings at least. That would need some getting used to. Making the best out of her money, Artax got out her hoe and started working on the land as soon as they arrived, gently pushing the dodo that got attached to her away with her tail, so it wouldn't get in the way of her work. To help her with that, Sam unsummoned it, although he summoned a new one he didn’t set on following her immediately afterwards, from what he noticed he got at least some xp simply for summoning it.

Sam would need to do some more work than just constant summoning though. It was either jumping off high places to level his wings or chopping trees for his crafting skill. Actually, could they use a tree stump to sit on? Sorry Groot, but you’re first. For Science.

[Voidus]

On his way back to the town Shadow decided to test out his trapping skill as well. He opened up the Hunters kit and found a variety of equipment inside.

"Hmm, string, sticks, rope, glue, perch..." Identifying the items within one by one he  examined them briefly before returning them.

He'd seen a few birds flitting through the oak trees, and the occasional rabbit had sprinted across his path too. Looking through his abilities menu he saw a list of traps he could prepare, and as he made his selection he found himself pulling items out of the kit and arranging them expertly.

It was an odd sensation, he didn't quite feel like he'd lost control of his body, but at the same time he had no idea what his hands were actually doing, it was like muscle memory from something he'd done a thousand times but now he'd forgotten what the actions meant, how they all fit together.

In short order he'd created a noose trap on the ground, fitted a nearby branch with some of the glue to trap any bird that perched on it, and created another noose trap on a different branch. As he looked at the traps he wondered how long it would take to actually catch something. Sure in games hunting skills usually only took a few seconds but now he was here in the flesh, the birds looked like they'd been behaving pretty realistically, and what were the chances one would happen to choose one of his branches to perch on? He hadn't even used any bait.

While he was waiting he tested out his summoning ability some more, the goblin from the stone was still following him, and it seemed a waste to dismiss it to test summoning a dodo since he only had a limited number of the goblins for now, but its health was low anyway and showed no signs of recovering so far.

"Summon Dodo" He said, starting to get used to calling out like this. It had been a bit embarassing at first but that was offset when something actually happened.

To his surprise the goblin didn't vanish when he performed the summon, it continued standing idly nearby, watching him for orders. The dodo that shimmered into existence did the same thing, although Shadow couldn't help but think there was somewhat less intelligence in its eyes.

"Go stand over there." He told the dodo, pointing to a patch near the noose trap.

The dodo walked over obediently while the goblin remained where it was. Seemed they were smart enough to be able to distinguish which one he was talking to. He ordered the dodo around a bit more while he waited, and inside less than a minute a small, blue bird came flying through directly at one of his trapped branches.

The bird landed on the branch with the glue on it and a moment later opened its wings to try to fly off again. The branch bounced slightly but the birds efforts were in vain, as it remained stuck on its perch. Shadow walked slowly over, his dark form approaching the bird until he was close enough to touch, the moment he did so the bird vanished completely in the same way his summons did.

What the? Did it fail?

He checked his status screen and saw that his trapping xp had jumped to 20 in one hit, so it seemed to have worked, but what happened to the bird? As he was looking through he noticed a new addition to his inventory.

-Blue wren (live) - Use, Drop, Use with

Selecting the use option from the menu the icon disappeared from his inventory, replaced with (Feathers x 10, Down x 50, small wren meat x1)

"Well that certainly beats having to kill it myself." He muttered.

His health and mana weren't completely recovered still so he laid another trap and tested the summons again. He discovered that he could only summon one dodo at a time, trying to summon another just replaced the one he already had, but he did get a nice chunk of xp for summoning them, more than he'd gotten from summoning the two goblins in that fight.

By the time his stats were full again he'd caught two more birds, keeping one alive to test later, along with a rabbit that he'd turned into rabbit meat and fur.

He'd ended up travelling quite a bit further north than he'd meant to and soon arrived at the fields north of the town of beginnings. On his way through them he passed the occasional NPC but the fields looked largely empty of other players. Or at least they were empty until he came across a small field just outside the town where he saw a Lamia with some tool digging through the field while a nearby demon was looking around while playing with a dodo of his own.

Another summoner? And an archer too if the bow is any inclination. Might be a good chance for some information sharing since wikis aren't an option now.

"Yo!" Shadow called as he approached the pair, raising a shadowy arm in salutation. "Er... this might sound weird but are you, like, really here? If you know what I mean."

[Edgedancer]

Sam was just inspecting his menu to see what exactly he could do with the the tree he chopped down when a shadowy figure approached them with a greeting. Another player and a trapped one at that.

“Yeah,” Sam said. “Sadly we're trapped in here as well.”

“Don’t suppose you know why or how or anything?” Shadow ventured to ask. A single look was all he needed in reply. “Thought not. Well, you found out anything useful? I’ve checked out what the mobs are like to the west, seems to be mostly goblins, got some weird drops from them. I don’t suppose either of you have potion-making or herbalism or whatever it was called?”

“Actually,” Artax said as she approached from behind her seedlings. “I do have herbalism. Just… I didn’t have a chance to test it yet. The herbs still need a bit of time to grow.”

“Apart from that,” Sam said, “I’m not sure if you already noticed but you get xp just from summoning the birds and you can sit on the stump left behind by a tree that you cut down.” He accompanied the last statement by softly slapping the stump he was sitting on.

“What happens when it regrows?” Shadow asked as he brought up his inventory. “Ah, there it is. Rat bones and vials of blood, seems like potion ingredients to me, anything you can make with them?”

The wraith brought out a small handful of bones and a vial filled with red liquid before passing them to the Lamia.

“I think it was the goblin mages that dropped it, they hit hard but they’ve only got enough mana for a couple of hits each. If you could find one alone they should be a pretty easy kill, unfortunately I found a part of four, two of them mages. Had to use a couple of these goblin stones to get through it.”

For a while Artax brooded over her menu, “I think they’re both poison ingredients… I can’t actually use them until I’m a higher level though. That’s what my observation skill is telling me anyway.”

“Hmm, well hold onto them then, I’m not planning on getting herbalism.” Shadows fingers moved rapidly in the air for a moment, sending both of the other players friend requests.

“Haven’t tried this yet but send me a message if you find out anything else, I’m heading back into town to look through the stores and see if I can find out anything about what’s going on, see if someone who isn’t trapped can look up some wiki articles for me.”

With that he strode away from the two once more, heading back down the road in the direction of the town.

Sam looked slightly perplexed at the friend request, it’s not that he had a problem with it, the Shade was just a bit quicker than he could have followed. Still he accepted it, having connections couldn’t hurt in the situation and he at least seemed helpful… actually what was the guy’s name? According to the friend request his character name was Shadow_00002, well at least Sam wasn’t the only one with a bad punny name anymore.

He shared a look with Artax, who didn’t look like she kept up any better with Shadow, and both of them just kind of shrugged. “So what happens does happen when the tree regrows?” Artax asked.

“Can’t say I know. I actually don’t know if they regrow. We’ll have to wait and see.”

[Blackhoof]

Damien wandered west. This section of the map seemed to be very hilly, with a number of caves and some ruined buildings. He could see what could only be players running around, mostly alone, a mix of all different races looking for monsters to kill.

"Hmm I'll bet this is mob central. I'll ask some of the players here if they are real. And I'll test out my newfound powers in the meantime!"

It didn't take long until he found a pair of hobgoblins guarding a chest, hidden in the cleft of a hill, surrounded by rocks. The hobgoblins glared suspiciously in all directions, red eyes glinting beneath their brows, but they didn't seem to notice him as he watched them from afar. "So what's my strategy here... lets do a check of my inventory."

-Goblin Summoning Stone (x10), Ink, Journal, Adventurers trousers, Adventurers shirt, Bronze sword, Bow, wooden arrows.

Damien frowned. "Wait, I have a bow? And arrows?" He looked down at himself and could only see his sword. "Where on earth are they? Do I just.... will them into my hands?" He thought about drawing his bow and arrow and like magic, they appeared in his hands. He jumped in surprise and they fell, vanishing before they hit the ground. "Ok... so that's how that works. What about those summoning stone things? Maybe a little goblin minion will help beat these two."

He draw a summoning stone out of his beltpouch, and threw it on the ground, crying dramatically "Summon Goblin!" A goblin materialized in front of him, green and barely 4 feet tall, armed with a little sword. It grinned up at him. "Follow me, little goblin." Damien declared, imperiously.

The pair approached the hobgoblins. Finally they noticed him, and they raised their bronze swords and hissed a warning. Damien smiled, projecting confidence. "Hobgoblins, I warn you. Allow me to loot that chest and I will let you live." The hobgoblins looked at each other, and cackled. Damien shrugged casually. "Have it your way then." 

With a flourish, he threw a blue bolt of energy at the left Hobgoblin, striking it in the chest. 

Damien dealt 10 damage to Hobgoblin

The pair roared, and charged towards him. His goblin rushed forward to defend its master, and in unison they attacked each other.

Goblin dealt 8 damage to Hobgoblin
Hobgoblin dealt 8 damage to Goblin
Hobgoblin dealt 7 damage to Goblin

Damien threw another three bolts at one of the hobgoblins while the goblinoids hacked at each other, until finally his goblin was impaled by two blades, and vanished into nothing. But not before its blade stabbed into the neck of one of the hobgoblins, and it too fell to the ground, but without vanishing.
The last hobgoblin immediately turned its attention to Damien, and and it began charging. Damien decided to try something different. With different words, he threw what looked like a weaker pulse of blue energy, which struck the hobgoblin and knocked it back. The hobgoblin shook its head in befuddlement, and Damien threw a damage-dealing bolt at it.

Damien dealt 8 damage to Hobgoblin

The Hobgoblin's health bar was about halfway black. It began charging once more, and Damien began backing away, worried at how sharp that sword looked. He threw another stunning pulse and jogged backwards. By the time the creature came to, it had decided that he was too far away to bother with, and began walking back to its chest. With a sly grin, he threw a bolt at its back, and another a few seconds later as it charged towards him. It was getting closer, but its health was so low that Damien knew one more should finish it off. It got closer. He waited. It got closer. He waited more, grinning evilly. The goblinoid raised its sword and leapt towards him, his sword mere inches from him. With a cry, Damien threw one last bolt, and it blew a smoking hole in the hobgoblin's chest. The creature flew backwards, landing on the ground with a thud.

Damien dealt 11 damage to Hobgoblin

Damien laughed and cheered. "All glory to Xalthus! mwa ha ha ha!" He searched the bodies of the hobgoblins, finding some gold, a key and their swords. Typically, they easily fit into his inventory, despite there being no room on his person for such clutter. "I so love MMOs, hehe." With a spring in his step, he strolled towards the chest. The key easily fit into the chest's lock, and he opened it with glee. Inside was more gold, and some health and mana potions." He nodded. "Not bad, not bad at all."

He looked down at his clothes. "Armour, and trousers? For a wizard? Tsk tsk this will not do. I'm going to find myself an outfit befitting a true sorceror."

With that, he returned to town, shopping on the mind.

 

[Elenion]

Zandarr.Rules, Faren, and Amarthion rested from their exertions, then headed out into the hills to seek levels and a base. They did not get far, however, before they heard a faint hissing coming from the bushes ahead.

Zandarr thrust out his arms, stopping the small company in it's tracks. "Snake." And sure enough, one slithered into view, its long, sinuous body sliding effortlessly across the ground.

Giant Adder spotted!

The Masters of Moria exchanged glances. Then, all as one, they charged at the serpent. Zandarr was fastest and hit first, swinging his massive sword into the snakes's side.

Zandarr.Rules deals 14 damage to Giant Adder!

The next to reach the snake was Faren, who used his own sword to slash the snake in its soft underbelly.

Faren deals 19 damage to Giant Adder!

The snake hissed, it's HP bar hovering at about a third. It struck back, fangs striking the enchanted armor and scoring two parallel grooves, but not penetrating. The bite left purple globs of venom behind, but since it was not in the bloodstream it was of no effect.

Giant Adder deals 0 damage to Zandarr.Rules!

Amarthion had fallen a little behind the others, but suddenly he was there. Raising his hands in front of him, he drew a pattern in the air, then shoved his hands forward. Out of them sprang a roiling inferno of fire. The Giant Adder hissed once more, then was silent.

Amarthion deals 25 damage to Giant Adder! Giant Adder was destroyed! Amarthion has 50 mana remaining!

Amarthion paused for a second to catch his breath: he suddenly felt very tired after incinerating the serpent. After ten seconds he straightened up and pulled out his skinning knife. "This guy might not have much in the way of gold or armor, but he's got to be decent for food."

[Elenion]

Amarthion finished skinning the snake and pulled out his pickaxe. "There are good iron deposits in this area. Watch for monsters while I get some." He walked over to the hillside and began with his pickaxe.

4 Iron Ore gained!

Amarthion moved to a different spot.

4 Iron Ore gained!

But suddenly...

2 Mountain Hobgoblins spotted!

The first hit Faren before he could react, but Faren's tough minotaur hide absorbed most of the blow.

Mountain Hobgoblin deals 3 damage to Faren!

Faren growled, swinging his sword in a vengeful arc.

Faren deals 19 damage to Hobgoblin 1!

Zandarr was not far behind in attacking the ambusher.

Zandarr.Rules deals 14 damage to Hobgoblin 1!

And then the second hobgoblin arrived and a melee ensued:

Hobgoblin 2 deals 0 damage to Zandarr.Rules!

Amarthion deals 12 damage to Hobgoblin 2 (using Bronze Hatchet)!

Hobgoblin 1 deals 3 damage to Faren!

Faren deals 19 damage to Hobgoblin 1! Hobgoblin 1 destroyed!

Zandarr.Rules deals 15 damage to Hobgoblin 2!

Hobgoblin 2 deals 5 damage to Amarthion!

Amarthion deals 8 damage to Hobgoblin 2!

Faren deals 16 damage to Hobgoblin 2! Hobgoblin 2 destroyed!

 

Total HP lost: Faren 6, Amarthion 5

Total items mined: Amarthion 8 iron

Total enemies destroyed: Faren 2

Stamina: All full

Mana: Amarthion at 50, Zandarr and Faren none.

 

@Voidus please determine loot.

[Elenion]

Faren stood over the goblins that he had killed, raiding them for gear while Amarthion checked to see if they had any meat that could be salvaged. It all looked rotten.

Amarthion wiped the blood from his hatchet and walked over to an oak tree on the side of the nearest hill. He swung once, twice, and...

Giant Adder spotted!

"Are you kidding me?" Leaving his hatchet buried in the tree trunk, Amarthion drew his trusty pickaxe and swung, piercing the snake's body where it was visible in the foliage under the tree.

Amarthion deals 11 damage to Giant Adder with Bronze Pickaxe!

He dived backward before the snake could strike at him, knowing that of all of the party members, he least of all could afford taking a hit. Meanwhile, Zandarr, who was closest to the snake, charged in for a quick strike. The snake bit back at almost the same time. Clonk!

Zandarr.Rules deals 13 damage to Giant Adder with Bronze Sword!

Giant Adder deals 0 damage to Zandarr.Rules!

Faren grinned and jumped for the snake's other side, diverting its attention from its attack on Zandarr.

Faren deals 16 damage to Giant Adder iwth Bronze Sword!

The snake swung it's diamond-shaped head towards Faren, but that left it open from behind.

Amarthion deals 12 damage to Giant Adder! Giant Adder destroyed!

Amarthion wiped the sweat from his brow and took the final chop at the three.

3 Oak Logs gained!

There was another one near the first, and it got the same treatment, minus the sneak snake attack.

3 Oak Logs gained!

"I'm spent," Amarthion said, sitting down and watching the setting sun, "Let's stop here for the night: skin this second snake for food and eat what we've got from it and the other. We'll start again in the morning. I'll take first watch."

@Voidus please determine loot and the amount of our snake meat we'll need to eat.