13th of January, Astral Reckoning Launch Day

Gaming Sanctuary Exterior, Paris

I spent the rest of yesterday getting together the last few bits of preparation - setting up accounts on various online RMT markets, refreshing my memory on current events and putting in an application for a break with my University course leader. Followed by the implementation of a basic workout routine to get my stamina up in preparation for more strenuous activities later down the line. If I weren't short on time and money, I'd have signed up for the University's campus gym, but there's nothing I can do about that.

The game server goes live at half eleven, about two hours from now, but getting started on the VR business will occupy a fair bit of that gap in time. For one thing, this will be the 'first' time I'm ever using VR, so I'm legally obligated to go through some government-mandated e-paperwork and an orientation program to ensure that I'm fit to use the technology, which takes twice as long as it needs to.

With the inherent dangers of Virtual Reality technology - disconnecting mind and body isn't something that's really supposed to be possible for humans after all - places that are licensed to rent and sell it have to undergo rigorous vetting and regular inspections to make sure some psycho isn't using it as an excuse to reprogram people into puppets or whatever.

Not that it's ever happened, but a few people have been forced into a comatose state by idiots who don't know what they're doing trying it anyway, or businesses cutting corners on maintenance. Lying in one of these capsules is like putting your life in their hands if you want to take an extreme view of it, so the government can be forgiven for a bit of paranoia.

Of course, that also has the side-effect of showing that those businesses like Gaming Sanctuary who have managed to hold onto their licence without incident for a long period of time are trustworthy, which contributes to the internet cafe's overall popularity in a big way. Students know that coming here isn't going to magically empty their brains of five weeks worth of lectures.

Entering the cafe once again, I note that the place only has one or two extra people at the stations compared to yesterday. But I suppose that's to be expected.

The front desk is manned by a beanpole with messy hair. I flash my membership card at him and ask which room my capsule is in.

He taps through some windows on the desk's tablet, "Room number 12. Says here on the system this is your first time, so if you'll follow me, I'll get you hooked up and load you into the Official Orientation Program."

An hour and a half later, I pass the examination portion of the OOP with full marks, then mindlessly sign several waivers and permissions documents that basically boil down to saying, 'Yes, I'm healthy and sane. Yes, the companies hosting the games I play can hold and request my personal data for medical monitoring purposes. No, Gaming Sanctuary is not responsible for any faults originating from exterior companies etc. etc.'

By the time I'm done reading and signing everything, I'm left with a little bit of time to kill, so I should probably get out of the capsule and do some quick exercises.

One of the unfortunate consequences of VR, especially with prolonged use, is the damage it does to your body and posture. Too many long sessions will leave you in a frozen knot that a team of chiropractors can only fix by pulling you at both ends like a Christmas cracker. Hence why I got into the habit of exercising over the years to compensate.

Any spare time I get will inevitably be dedicated to aerobics and strength exercises if I don't want my bones to fuse together from inactivity.

In the middle of a set of toe touches, the alarm on my watch starts beeping, indicating that there's only a couple minutes left until launch. Sluggish, I breathe forcefully to keep the oxygen flowing, before stumbling to my feet and swinging my legs over the edge of the capsule, pulling the hatch down behind me and getting all the gear attached to their proper places.

Within seconds of activating the capsule, I'm out-cold and staring at the login screen for Astral Reckoning - a vast field of stars as seen from one of the mountains in The Empire of Stone.

Made a point to hike up there once with some friends of mine. Honestly, the login screen didn't do the full view justice, and it's something that will always stick with me.

In any case, it's time to log in.

???, Merrow?

With no fanfare to speak of, I open my eyes to a sea of gorgeous flowers, with a stone-paved path up a small hill upon which crowns a silvery gazebo.

The moment I think about following the path I find myself already at its end. Looks like I got Variation B of the Character Creation this time around, as opposed to the library - or Variation A.

To my knowledge, there are only two places you'll be brought to for Character Creation, but we never did figure out if there was any significance to which you get summoned to.

The Guide, however, is a very familiar sight.

A stoic woman with a slightly bored expression on her pretty face, dressed in soft leather and chainmail sits at a steel table with floral twists with one booted leg over the other. Her hair is a mousy brown with a short fringe and tight double-braided ponytail and a small red capelet wrapped around her waist.

She's one of Merrow's gods - read, high-level artificial intelligence - though why this psycho of all people got volunteered as one of The Guides to welcome in noobs, I really don't know.

Knowing my manners, I fire off a quick salute in the Enduring style with my right arm, two extended fingers across the heart. There's a more formal variant I could use, but we don't have that kind of relationship, so it'd be a bit of a faux pas.

The woman cocks her head, curious, "Greetings Newborn. I'm here to guide you in your first steps on Merrow, but from the looks of things, you seem to already be familiar with some of the customs."

I nod, "Yes, I am."

She smiles, "Fantastic, that saves me a bit of time explaining. Unless you have any questions?"

I shake my head.

"Mhm. Right, well my name is Jannis, one of the gods of this world. Have you decided on the name your new vessel will be known as?"

"Silver Nosster," I respond, the words calling into existence a 2-inch thick obsidian slate upon which the name is inscribed at it's head.

"You may choose your race from the following: Firm, Silva, Kon, Quirstic and Panoplast. Do you require any explanation of their traits?"

"No. I choose Silva."

Firm are, functionally and essentially, humans. Except Firm are capable of magic. They're good for people who don't want to deal with the gimmicks the other races come with and those who like not being racially discriminated against on Firmament, the primary continent and namesake of the species.

Silva are...well they're elves. Except they have a magical crystal for a heart. Which makes them better at surviving in low magic areas but also an unfortunate target for unscrupulous mages and profiteering bandits. Using too much MP can also cause Silva to enter an exhausted state as though they ran out of stamina, but it regenerates faster than any other race at base, and there are certain tricks you can employ later on in the game.

Kon are short, hairless Firm with wooden arms and legs. Losing a limb as a Kon is far less problematic since it will just grow back, but it is somewhat flammable without taking proper precautions. They enjoy greater regeneration when they're in contact with the ground but need specially modified footwear to take proper advantage and it can get a little pricey.

Quirstic are just plain fucking weird, and the people who play them are also just plain fucking weird. A bit of a stereotype I admit, but I've yet to meet a single Quirstic player who didn't give me a serial killer vibe - like they're going to kidnap me and use me as fertiliser for their apple orchard. Something to do with how they process and express emotion. Quirstic are bio-crystalline humanoids whose skin is comprised of smooth, flexible stone and their bones are made of magical crystal. They're tanky sonsofbitches, able to incorporate rare gems and metals into their bodies for stat boosts and pretty good at magic, but they're also heavy, quick to tire out and sensitive to extreme temperature environments like deserts and mountain peaks. Overall they favour skirmishes over protracted battles and they're damn good at it.

Panoplasts are a rummage sale of demihuman tropes. Too much variation to nail down what the pros and cons are, but they're highly customisable, so it attracts a lot of minmaxer types. And ERPers, but I refuse to acknowledge their existence and the player brothels some enterprising Panoplast players set up. Besides that, Panoplasts are generally disliked by the other races for a laundry list of reasons relating to each of the constituent races that make up the Panoplasts. It's fine if you're going to stick to Panopla, but it's a major inconvenience when starting out on Firmament.

When weighing my personal preferences against the pros and cons of each species, though I picked Firm when I started playing the first time, Silva are a bare first, followed by Firm. The Firm are easier to modify through magic and alchemy than other races, but Silva are better from the get-go without sacrificing much of that highly important adaptability.

The word 'Silva' is engraved beneath my name.

"Please choose a form with which you are comfortable inhabiting for your vessel. Be aware, that you cannot be that which you do not understand."

Which is fancy talk for, you can't pick a gender that's different to what is on your most recent census. Not the most popular rule and one that haunts Astral Reckoning throughout it's lifespan. The reasoning they always gave was along the lines 'we can't explain because of (technobabble/company secrets) and it would be dangerous'.

It takes a few minutes longer than I'd be comfortable admitting to get done, but in the end, I am inhabiting new flesh: Tapered ears and short blonde hair. Tall stature, as average a face as I could manage, and burnt orange coloured eyes with a nose that's straighter than my own.

It's like sculpting, in a sense, so I got a little too into it and forced myself to stop when I noticed how much attention I was paying to the curvature of my new ass. Still, there's only so much I can do at the start. The Body Adaptability System will dictate how I look in the end - in simple terms, your activities in-game determine the health, fitness and aesthetic beauty of your vessel.

I'm about five inches taller than I was previously which is a little disorienting, but on the plus side, this new body is less stifling than the placeholder avatar I was inhabiting previously. Breathing deep, I smell the fresh scent of flowers, the pleasant aroma making me smile unbidden as I inspect my new body for any minor defects I missed.

Finding nothing, I nod toward Jannis, "I'm ready to choose my Star Sign and Class."

Star Signs are a bit of a strange thing to choose if you're not familiar with the belief systems of Merrow, which place astrology at the heart of many religions and schools of magic and philosophy. Choosing a Star Sign may only seem like a minor boon, but not only do the benefits scale, there are also a plethora of hidden effects that only become apparent the more you play. Star Signs can dictate what opportunities you can take advantage of, so in the future there are some online guides people put out documenting things they discover related to it. These opportunities are almost always pivotal moments in a player's progression, too, which only further highlights their importance.

At once, the sunny skies turn to deepest starry night, and a number of constellations highlight themselves, with an overlapping pictogram showing what the constellations are supposed to depict.

I immediately disregard all but two: The Heroine and The Jewel.

The Heroine increases your max Willpower by 1% of it's total, which, while worthless early on, is fantastic little bonus at higher levels for magic users and people who are allergic to mental interference.

On the surface. It also makes gaining affinity with Good Aligned NPCs easier, Evil Aligned NPCs harder and causes Legacies relating to The Heroine to recognise you as a potentiate from the get-go, raising both the difficulties of their tests and the quality of the final reward.

It rather goes without saying that The Heroine is very powerful if I'm able to take proper advantage of it. With the main problem being that her Legacies are already considered some of the harder Legacy challenges available, so increasing the difficulty of them by an arbitrary amount for potentially not enough of an increased reward is something to bear in mind.

The Jewel is a bit of an odd one. Being born under The Jewel causes all equipable items (With some Quest item related exceptions) to lose 1.5% less durability compared to base values.

Honestly, nothing to really write home about, but the hidden effects are both great and terrible: One-Star NPC vendors buy things I sell to them at 7% less than their market value and the ceiling for haggling is likewise reduced by 7%. Which is a massive pain in the ass since there's no way to get rid of it and higher tier merchants aren't nearly as common.

On the other hand, like The Heroine, craftsman Legacy trials increase their difficulty and reward as well, and some of the more famous legacies from my previous life made the people who found them overnight millionaires.

There might be other twists I don't know about, but based on what I do know, it all boils down to whether I decide to follow in the footsteps of The Heroine or try to maximise my potential profits from crafting.

In the end, I choose to suck it up and pick The Jewel. I was already a pretty accomplished armorsmith before, and I'd be better off keeping my crafting skills topped off and useful in the long run. I can point talented, trustworthy people who will get more use out of The Heroine's Legacies in the right direction and kit them out with anything they're missing, and I already know which NPCs to approach and how, so the affinity gain buff isn't really all that necessary.

I can't get too greedy. Got to remember that.

Jannis stares hard at me while the tablet inscribed the symbol of The Jewel, "Of the paths to power, you can pick from the following: Apprentice, Scout, Fighter, Hedge Mage, and Trapper."

Observing Jannis' face, it's pretty obvious where her biases lie, given the look of expectation when she brought up 'Fighter' and the twinge of annoyance when she left 'Trapper' for last. A sentiment that I whole-heartedly understand as a veteran of the Figher path, because seriously, fuck Trapper players.

"Fighter, please," I nod, content not to try and reinvent the wheel by giving up on a lifetime's worth of experience with the blade.

The obsidian slate floats toward me, now complete. Reaching toward with my left hand, it dissolves into light particles and is absorbed into my vessel to form one of the building blocks of my 'soul' and the basis for which a person is able to inspect their stats. Allocating my twenty free attribute points will have to wait until I'm properly in-game as it requires a special meditative ritual to modify yourself with them.

Jannis grins wide, slowly drawing herself to her feet, meeting my eyes at the same height, "Are you ready to begin your journey, Newborn?"

Here goes the tricky part, "I'd like to request the blessings your Guidance, Jannis, Lady of Steel's Ambition."

Jannis takes an involuntary step back, shocked at my intimate knowledge. When Jannis recovers, her grin returns with a malicious vengeance, the gentle atmosphere of the garden disappearing under the weight of her divine Presence and she stares me down with the glee of a true sadist given a new toy, "Ohhh-ho-ho? Do you now?"

IdleFancy

Forgive me for the exposition dump, but it is, as ever, a necessary evil.