Spoiler (click to show/hide):
It's been about a week since launch day at this point. The day that gamers around the world had been dreaming and praying for The day that those dreamers entered their nightmare. The experiences of the beta players had been highly publicised to hype up the game. Bit by bit, previews of the early zones and monsters had been released. Everyone had a chance to plan what they were going to do the moment those servers came online. Then, three hours after the game opened, the trap closed. Everyone received a message from the game server, a message that automatically opened and played for each player.
"To you, my devoted fans. Welcome to the world of Altera. It is a world that I have slaved over for years in order to perfect the technology and the setting. You stand now in my greatest work of art. However, the greatest stories ever told are never told in regards to the passive observer. They are told of those thrust into the heart of the action. Now, those people are you. You are part of this world. You experience this as though you are really here. In fact, who is to say that you are not? Your ability to log off has been disabled and will not be enabled again until someone defeats Kas'lin and closes the Rifts forever. This world is now your world. Be who you dreamed you wanted to be. Live it."
The panic had been immediate. Players across the server reacted with rage, with tears, with disbelief, and even with just plain stupification. By the time 24 hours passed, and everyone had to spend the night in the game, nobody thought it was a prank or a publicity event any more. Now, seven days later, everyone is finally starting to pick up and get on with the business of playing the game.
The starting town is called Rendle, and is where everyone has begun their journey. It has been designed a major hub and trade settlement, somewhere worthy of hosting players for many levels to come. The city is perched on the edge of a lake and has rivers running through it, dividing the city into several wards. The Castle Ward is the center of government for Rendle and where the military barracks and the leadership are. The Market Ward is where most merchants can be found and most trade is conducted. The Residential Ward is where most of the townsfolk can be living. The Guild Ward features guild halls available for purchase by player guilds as well as some local bars for socialization. Finally, there is the Old Ward, or the Thieve's Ward as it is known on the street. The Old Ward is a section of town classified by the game as a dungeon area, where poverty and crime have taken over to such a degree that the town guard don't even patrol it or enter unless absolutely necessary. There are those who live in the Old Ward still though, whether because there is money to be made working with those criminals or simply because they cannot afford to live elsewhere in the city.
Several player guilds have established themselves since the day the servers started. Three are of particular note. The first is the Vanguard, a guild dedicated to defeating the game. They are focused on building their characters and pushing for the goal of closing the Rifts as quickly as possible so that everyone can escape and return to their real lives. The Heretics are players who have decided to abandon the path of beating the game. If they cannot escape, so much the better. Outside, the real world is full of work, drudgery, disease, depression, danger, and being returned to their own bodies that were thrust upon them by accident of birth. This is their true awakening and want everyone to embrace this new life. Finally, the third group is the Gankers. A PvP alliance, these players recruit either those who are strong or those who will do what they will say. Then, they turn on their fellow players, attacking them either for the gold and experience, or just for fun. They are the trolls and the griefers.
A stone map is located in the middle of the Guild Ward, built orginally by the Vanguard. It's two meters tall and three meters across, holding a vague map of the surrounding area. Any player has authorization to make additions to the map with an enchanted quill with the board, but the Vanguard reserves editing priviledges, something they've had to use several times to remove vandalism done by the Gankers. The map shows several dungeons located by the Vanguard and made freely available to all players in the game for their farming and exploration purposes. The Old Ward is of course on the map. As well, the city's sewers have been highlighted as a dungeon, several entrances through the city marked down to be easily found. Outside the city, there is the Briar Wood, a forest zone crawling with monsters that has a recommended level of 3 for solo characters (Everyone is level 1 right now). Misty Vale is another zone highlighted, marked as a new player friendly zone with easy classed threats and a recommended level of 1. It's fog filled valleys create isolated pockets to control the size of mob groups and minimize the number of monsters that might add on to a brewing battle. Arcanos Keep is marked on the map a little ways from town, a wizard's tower that stretches up high into the sky and bearing a recommended level of 5.
Last but not Least, there is a War Zone marked on the map. A continual event, the War Zone is a Rift that opens into this area and spawns out monsters on a regular basis. The Church maintains a permanent military encampment on site and has an open call to any Champions of the Gods to come and assist them in fighting the hordes. Any players helping them will be faced with possibly large numbers of dangerous monsters, but the Church offers reward points redeemable for prizes such as powerful Buff spells and henchmen to follow you for a while.
Today, the Inn of the Gambler's Ace is open for business. On the ground floor, it has a central tavern room that has wooden tables spread about, solid and well worn chairs at them to sit upon, and a bar for those who care to sit at it and take their orders there. In the traditional manner, a dwarven bartender sits behind the bar on his stool, waiting to take orders while he whittles away at a stick. The serving staff is made up of a trio of rather shapely buxom wenches who glide through the room, taking orders and delivering drinks. People simply refer to them as the Blonde, the Red Head, and the Brunette. For those desiring a little more privacy, there are a few booths around the outside of the room with red velvet curtains that can be drawn over the entrances. Upstairs, the Inn has rooms for rent available to those players who haven't yet purchased housing, which is just about everyone.
The Gambler's Ace is usually a good place to find some good drinks and a good quest to go on. Today is no exception. Standing at the side of the room is a dark skinned man wearing arabian style heavy robes and holding an ale in his hand while he sips at it and surveys the room. He's marked as a quest giver for any players that check the interface. One of the walls of the Ace's drinking room has a series of posters stuck to it, each one holding a picture, a name, and a price, a set of bounties set by the city watch. Finally a middle aged man wearing hunting leathers is sitting at a seat by the fire, also marked as a quest giver.
It's been about a week since launch day at this point. The day that gamers around the world had been dreaming and praying for The day that those dreamers entered their nightmare. The experiences of the beta players had been highly publicised to hype up the game. Bit by bit, previews of the early zones and monsters had been released. Everyone had a chance to plan what they were going to do the moment those servers came online. Then, three hours after the game opened, the trap closed. Everyone received a message from the game server, a message that automatically opened and played for each player.
"To you, my devoted fans. Welcome to the world of Altera. It is a world that I have slaved over for years in order to perfect the technology and the setting. You stand now in my greatest work of art. However, the greatest stories ever told are never told in regards to the passive observer. They are told of those thrust into the heart of the action. Now, those people are you. You are part of this world. You experience this as though you are really here. In fact, who is to say that you are not? Your ability to log off has been disabled and will not be enabled again until someone defeats Kas'lin and closes the Rifts forever. This world is now your world. Be who you dreamed you wanted to be. Live it."
The panic had been immediate. Players across the server reacted with rage, with tears, with disbelief, and even with just plain stupification. By the time 24 hours passed, and everyone had to spend the night in the game, nobody thought it was a prank or a publicity event any more. Now, seven days later, everyone is finally starting to pick up and get on with the business of playing the game.
The starting town is called Rendle, and is where everyone has begun their journey. It has been designed a major hub and trade settlement, somewhere worthy of hosting players for many levels to come. The city is perched on the edge of a lake and has rivers running through it, dividing the city into several wards. The Castle Ward is the center of government for Rendle and where the military barracks and the leadership are. The Market Ward is where most merchants can be found and most trade is conducted. The Residential Ward is where most of the townsfolk can be living. The Guild Ward features guild halls available for purchase by player guilds as well as some local bars for socialization. Finally, there is the Old Ward, or the Thieve's Ward as it is known on the street. The Old Ward is a section of town classified by the game as a dungeon area, where poverty and crime have taken over to such a degree that the town guard don't even patrol it or enter unless absolutely necessary. There are those who live in the Old Ward still though, whether because there is money to be made working with those criminals or simply because they cannot afford to live elsewhere in the city.
Several player guilds have established themselves since the day the servers started. Three are of particular note. The first is the Vanguard, a guild dedicated to defeating the game. They are focused on building their characters and pushing for the goal of closing the Rifts as quickly as possible so that everyone can escape and return to their real lives. The Heretics are players who have decided to abandon the path of beating the game. If they cannot escape, so much the better. Outside, the real world is full of work, drudgery, disease, depression, danger, and being returned to their own bodies that were thrust upon them by accident of birth. This is their true awakening and want everyone to embrace this new life. Finally, the third group is the Gankers. A PvP alliance, these players recruit either those who are strong or those who will do what they will say. Then, they turn on their fellow players, attacking them either for the gold and experience, or just for fun. They are the trolls and the griefers.
A stone map is located in the middle of the Guild Ward, built orginally by the Vanguard. It's two meters tall and three meters across, holding a vague map of the surrounding area. Any player has authorization to make additions to the map with an enchanted quill with the board, but the Vanguard reserves editing priviledges, something they've had to use several times to remove vandalism done by the Gankers. The map shows several dungeons located by the Vanguard and made freely available to all players in the game for their farming and exploration purposes. The Old Ward is of course on the map. As well, the city's sewers have been highlighted as a dungeon, several entrances through the city marked down to be easily found. Outside the city, there is the Briar Wood, a forest zone crawling with monsters that has a recommended level of 3 for solo characters (Everyone is level 1 right now). Misty Vale is another zone highlighted, marked as a new player friendly zone with easy classed threats and a recommended level of 1. It's fog filled valleys create isolated pockets to control the size of mob groups and minimize the number of monsters that might add on to a brewing battle. Arcanos Keep is marked on the map a little ways from town, a wizard's tower that stretches up high into the sky and bearing a recommended level of 5.
Last but not Least, there is a War Zone marked on the map. A continual event, the War Zone is a Rift that opens into this area and spawns out monsters on a regular basis. The Church maintains a permanent military encampment on site and has an open call to any Champions of the Gods to come and assist them in fighting the hordes. Any players helping them will be faced with possibly large numbers of dangerous monsters, but the Church offers reward points redeemable for prizes such as powerful Buff spells and henchmen to follow you for a while.
Today, the Inn of the Gambler's Ace is open for business. On the ground floor, it has a central tavern room that has wooden tables spread about, solid and well worn chairs at them to sit upon, and a bar for those who care to sit at it and take their orders there. In the traditional manner, a dwarven bartender sits behind the bar on his stool, waiting to take orders while he whittles away at a stick. The serving staff is made up of a trio of rather shapely buxom wenches who glide through the room, taking orders and delivering drinks. People simply refer to them as the Blonde, the Red Head, and the Brunette. For those desiring a little more privacy, there are a few booths around the outside of the room with red velvet curtains that can be drawn over the entrances. Upstairs, the Inn has rooms for rent available to those players who haven't yet purchased housing, which is just about everyone.
The Gambler's Ace is usually a good place to find some good drinks and a good quest to go on. Today is no exception. Standing at the side of the room is a dark skinned man wearing arabian style heavy robes and holding an ale in his hand while he sips at it and surveys the room. He's marked as a quest giver for any players that check the interface. One of the walls of the Ace's drinking room has a series of posters stuck to it, each one holding a picture, a name, and a price, a set of bounties set by the city watch. Finally a middle aged man wearing hunting leathers is sitting at a seat by the fire, also marked as a quest giver.
With that, consider this open for RP! Anyone with a character ready to go can post in however they'd like. The Gambler's Ace is where I have as a default starting spot, consider it merely a suggestion.
