spiderlegs
Indubitable and Inscrutable
E P I L O G U E
Welcome to Wargrave, INSERT PLAYER NAME! The rules are simple. You must activate the log-out trigger hidden somewhere among these nine lands. Should you fail to find this trigger, you will be trapped within the game forever--or until the side-effects of virtu-sim immersion kill you!
I'll be popping back in to check on you from time to time. Until then!
TO REVIEW THIS TUTORIAL AT ANY TIME, ASK FOR "SYNTHIA"
- redherring
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NAME | Harley Kalsen
USERNAME | redherring
AGE | 20
RACE | elf
CLASS | mage
APPEARANCE | Harley's got long brown hair that reaches to her rear. She often pulls it back into a braid, leaving just her straight bangs down to frame her round face. She's short, got large brown eyes and slightly thin pink lips. Her skin is tanned and freckled, but it's obvious she's of American descent. She doesn't seem to be anything other than Caucasian. Her hair is straight, but it gets wavy after it's been in a braid for too long.
AVATAR | Harley's in-game avatar doesn't show much resemblance to her real self. Her avatar is taller than she is and has a more athletic body. Her avatar's skin is more pale than her own, and is entirely freckle-less. Her skin looks much like that of a porcelain doll's. Harley's eyes in-game are a bright blue, and her hair is a mix between hot pink and pastel pink. Her hair is also cut into a medium bob, but she retains the bangs. Her lips are fuller and have a dark pink coloration to them. She prefers fitted clothing that are loose in the non-fitted parts.
PERSONALITY | Harley's got a bit of OCD. She enjoys symmetry, and perfect fits. She's pretty relaxed, other than her OCD problem. She also has anxiety and depression, leading to a toxic mix of mental illnesses if she goes idle for too long. If she stays busy, she's perfectly fine. This also leads to another problem, though. She physically exhausts herself to the point where she passes out sometimes. She prefers to not have to think herself to sleep, as she often goes over events that she screwed up from years prior.
HISTORY | Harley grew up in a normal home when she was young, but her father died in a car crash when she was only seven years old. Her mother remarried to a seemingly nice man three years later, which was rather quick, but Harley was glad to nave a new daddy. However, her new father wasn't exactly the person he seemed to be. He turned into a chronic alcoholic. He also became very controlling and prevented Harley's mother from going out with friends, or just generally being even remotely an independent woman. Harley, when she turned seventeen, had enough of his bullshit, and convinced her mother to gather their things when he left one day to go to work. They gathered everything up and left. They drove half-way across the country before they came to a stop. They had to build everything up again, but they did it within a year. Harley's mother got a job, and so did Harley. Harley had gotten familiar with many video games when her step-father was being controlling, as it was something that she could focus on and isolate herself with.
REPUTATION | She's known for winning many tetris tournaments. She's also known for having the highest scores on many new, abstract games. She's not necessarily new to RPG's, but since she's also been notorious for her OCD, she was chosen to beta test this new virtual reality game to find out if it's got any major bugs left.
OTHER | She's got an allergy to most animals in reality, so she's never had a pet.
- TheSandMan
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NAME | Maximo “Max” Sandoval
USERNAME | TheSandMan
AGE | 35
GENDER | male
RACE | elf
CLASS | warrior
APPEARANCE | Max wears his curly, dark-brown hair long, stray tendrils framing his narrow face and aloof black eyes. His ephemeral, crooked smiles pass like noonday shadows over a perpetual frown, reflective of his habitual gloom. Half a beard clings to his jaw, now peppered with gray and white. Of middling height, his body fluctuates from wiry thin to slightly plump. Ink stains blotch his sturdy, square fingers, and he has a compass tattooed over his heart.
AVATAR | Max’s avatar bears little resemblance to his real body. Tall, muscled, sleek, and graceful, the elf shares Max’s tan skin, but has smooth silver hair and golden eyes.
PERSONALITY | Max was born with a frown on his face. Though he prefers to call himself a realist, even he admits (deep down) that at best he’s a cynic and at worst a pessimist. Perhaps its this attitude that dooms so many of his ventures from the start, but it’s also part of what makes him an excellent critic and strategist. He can see the worst and prepare for every eventuality.
Still, he maintains a sense of humor about it all, and that’s why people like him, though over time his negativity can wear anyone down. To complicate matters, Max has a hard time seeing things through. He craves variety, and looks constantly for new experiences. Yet at the same time, some part of him longs for consistency. It’s a tough balance to strike, and thus far has left Max discontented.
HISTORY | Born in Linares, Chile, Max’s family followed his mother’s career around the world in a series of moves that occasionally brought them back to Chile. Though Max’s apparently innate cynicism hindered him in his youth, he blossomed into a veritable social butterfly as a tween and teenager. His biting humor and comically morose outlook on life earned him a dedicated following that he was quick to take advantage of before his family moved again, leaving their dubious escapades behind.
To keep in touch, Max met his friends online through various virtual-reality games. He soon discovered that he had a talent for strategy, and began forming more and more competitive teams. In college, he won his first national tournament.
School proved more of a challenge. Though he’d entered college with plans to major in economics or engineering or anything useful, he finally emerged with a bachelor’s in Comparative Literature. For a while, he tried teaching English, but soon discovered that his habitual restlessness wouldn’t let him be. To relieve that mental itch, he began moving again as he had as a child. In the meantime, he supported himself first on tournament winnings and consulting fees, then as a critic for various publications.
He was only twenty-five when he met his first wife. Sarah. She wanted it all: the white-picket fence, the kids, the golden retriever, and block parties on weekends. Max stayed as long as possible: four years. He took up teaching again to help pay the bills. Together they had a baby and named her Pia. He should have been happy, and hated himself for wanting to leave.
When he was thirty-one, Sarah suggested they part ways. It was for the best, they both agreed, and Pia could visit him (wherever he was) during the summer.
His second marriage was even shorter and more miserable. Vivian fell in love with the handsome vagrant, vowing to rove with him to the end of her days. Within three years, she was fed up. It was time to settle down or split. Max kept moving.
Lately Max has taken to writing things other than acerbic, biting critique. He’s trying his hand at memoirs, scribbling poetry on greasy napkins. Though he still games, he does it more for the money now than anything. Hanging out with his old friends--or anyone his age--has become a torturous reminder of his lonely homelessness. His summers with his daughter (now nine years old) are the highlight of his life. Sarah has a new husband now, but Pia has her father’s long face and restless spirit; they're like two peas in a pod. When he can, Max takes her to Chile, where they reunite with the rest of the Sandovals. He’s trying to teach her Spanish, and manners, and how to eat crabs. You know. The important stuff.
It’s winter though when he gets the Gamemaker’s invitation. Any distraction will do when it’s winter.
REPUTATION | A brilliant tactician and mysterious mastermind. Something of a mercenary.
OTHER | Fluent in (Chilean) Spanish and English. His cousins and grandparents own a vineyard--his visits with them have given him a taste for fine wine. - Jo Kibe
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NAME | Joseph Kaziro
USERNAME | Jo Kibe
AGE | 26
RACE | dwarf
CLASS | healer
APPEARANCE | Clean-shaven, well-scrubbed, and ironed to perfection, Jo’s perpetually-mussed hair is the only hint that he ever steps foot in reality. He tries to keep it short, but even then can never keep his hands off it, resulting in headful of fluffy, cowlicked black down. If you can see past the soapy smell and chaotic curls, you might notice his eyebrows are never quite level with each other, adding an asymmetrical, slightly worried cast to his otherwise cheerful features. Jo’s tendency to slouch obscures his above-average height, but nothing could distract from his lanky, bony build--as if he’d never managed to fill out after puberty.
AVATAR | Jo has the appearance of a broad-chested, dark-skinned dwarf, with dark brown eyes that glow with hidden amber in the sun. His reddish-brown, curly hair is cropped tight to his skill.
PERSONALITY | The term “rule-bound” comes to mind with surprising ease when thinking of Jo. It misses the mark though. Jo doesn’t just abide by the rules--he clings to them, like a child to his teddy bear. Yet within those parameters, he thrives. Nobody knows the rules better than Jo, and it gives him an edge wherever rules matter most. He takes full advantage of this in his nonstop mission to show up the people around him. There’s no end-goal here. It doesn’t matter if he’s playing at college or poker, Jo just wants to win. Yet he shies away from responsibility, and hates using his superior status to command others. That may change as he grows older, but for now Jo is happiest socially with someone else taking the lead and making the rules. In the end, he’s a player first and foremost, not a gamemaster.
HISTORY | Joseph’s parents only ever wanted the best for him. They’d grown up during a period of economic downturn, and even as Uganda’s fortunes turned for the better, they spent their resources and energy preparing their son for the intense competition they remembered. For the most part, Jo seemed content to be shuffled from tutor to tutor, advancing at a prodigious rate. Yet he got on poorly with his cousins and other kids his age, something skipping grades at school didn’t help.
At seventeen, Jo began his undergraduate studies far from his parents’ domain. All at once he found himself in charge of his own time and energy with no idea what to do with it. Choosing his own classes--let alone his own major--proved overwhelming, and his first semester was a misery.
In his second semester, Jo met Namanda Maria. Namanda introduced him to the gaming society, where he made his first real friends. After that, Jo filled his life with games. Within weeks, he went from gaming N00B to walking rulebook. It quickly escalated to the point where Jo was banned from playing any game twice, which pushed him to play online. There he discovered virtual-reality games, then in their infancy. He became obsessed, to the point of winning several national tournaments and securing an internship with a Ugandan virtu-tech company that summer. Three years later, they hired him for real and agreed to fund his graduate degree in Neuromechanical Engineering.
Besides having an on-again, mostly-off relationship with Namanda and a few gaming buddies, Jo remains a social amateur. Living on his own has been one of the biggest struggles in his young life, forcing him to move back in with his parents three times after his roommates kicked him out. Now that he finally has an entire apartment to himself though, he hates being there. More often than not, he sleeps in the staff lounge or on a friend’s couch. Despite his pedantic nature and over-competitiveness, Jo has been making a real effort to improve his social skills. And it’s working--just very, very slowly.
REPUTATION | Intense, knows all the rules, and stays in-character even during tournaments.
OTHER | Fluent in English and Arabic, in addition to his native Luganda.
- TheoryofLayla
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NAME | Layla Lubbart
USERNAME | TheoryofLayla
AGE | 27
RACE | human
CLASS | rogue
APPEARANCE | In reality, Layla is a woman that most would quite literally drool over. She's got a heavy amount of Brazilian blood in her, which makes her have the stereotypical body of a Brazilian woman- average height, with curves that aren't too excessive. Also, a rather shapely rear that she knows how to move to her advantage. She's also got a bit of Greek and Russian blood in her. Dark green-brown eyes peer out from dark, shaped eyebrows and her hair has been dyed a midnight blue. She knows how to use makeup extremely well, and often wears winged eyeliner and uses bright red lipstick most of the time. Her hair is wavy, as it was naturally a medium blonde when she dyed over it with dark blue, and it isn't damaged, since the dye is only demi-permanent and was all natural. She often wears dresses, as she finds them to be comfortable. She also wears high heels because her feet have high arches, and most flat shoes don't support the said arch. She's got dimples when she smiles.
AVATAR | Layla's in-game appearance is a bit more natural than her appearance in reality. She's got dark brown hair where her blue hair once was, and, since makeup usually isn't an option when making a character, she can't give herself winged eyeliner or bright red lips. She settles for dark pink lips and darker green eyes, instead. Her body is pretty much the same, though her skin is usually a tone darker. She's got the same dimples in her cheeks. Of course, since she usually chooses flying characters, they end up with heavily feathered wings that span about ten feet. They fold up neatly on her back when she wishes to not use them. The feathers are black, like that of a raven or a crow. She also has tattoos in-game that cover some of her hip areas, one of her thighs, and curve just under her bust.
PERSONALITY | Layla's very aggressively in charge almost all of the time. Her voice has an American accent unless she gets mad, upset, or feels some other strong emotional response to a situation, and then she takes on an accent that sounds like a mix between Russian and Brazilian. It's oddly attractive, and rather authoritative. She speaks some Latin, flawless Portuguese, flawless Russian, and fluent English. She's trying to learn how to speak more languages. She enjoys video games more than anyone that she knows, honestly. She wouldn't say that she was addicted, but it's probably the highlight of her day. She is usually the team leader in team-oriented situations. She's got a few strange fears, though. She loves spiders and snakes and bats, but she's absolutely terrified of frogs and other amphibians like salamanders. She loves both dark colors and pastel colors. She's also known, though, to be very sneaky when discovering peoples' weak spots. Highly ambitious, she seems like a very nice person at first, but she'll stop at nothing to see herself succeed. Sure, she won't really stab you in the back in reality, but she'd notorious for doing it in video games. She usually plays stealthy classes when they're offered, and she excels at switching teams. Overall, in video games, she's definitely two-faced. But in reality, she's very straightforward.
HISTORY | Layla grew up in a Catholic environment, with a Russian father and a Brazilian mother. Her mother was very strict, and her father was more of a relaxed man. He wasn't religious, but her mother seemed like she'd rather see herself die than for her child to be non-religious. She was trained to be a ballerina, seeing as how she loved to dance. However, dancing took a backseat to singing when she was around fifteen years of age. She realized that her voice was much more powerful than her dancing body would ever be. To catch attention while dancing, you had to have someone watching you. People didn't even have to be truly listening to music to understand the meaning. Her mother, having spent several thousands of dollars on ballet lessons over the years, was furious that her child had chosen to pursue singing instead of dancing. When she was eighteen, she moved out willingly, though her mother clung to her. After about a year away from home, her mother calmed down and realized that her daughter would be happier with singing. However, Layla, by then, had decided to pursue both singing and dancing. She's often used for movement tests in video games, and she loves voice acting, along with making music for video games.
REPUTATION | She's not really won any competitions, per se, but she's known for contributing to several big-name game companies worldwide.
OTHER | None.
S E T T I N G
RACES | The game begins with three basic races: dwarf, elf, and human. They coexist and intermingle in relative peace.
THE THREE CITIES | There are three major cities within Wargrave: dwarfish Ferrisburg, elvish Lucium, and human Port Cerulia.
Ferrisburg boasts a bustling industrial scene, full of smoking factories and workshops turning out every good under the sun. Its winding halls and bustling neighborhoods extend well under the mountains it sits among.
Verdis is the agricultural capital of this world. Its glistening canals and irrigation complexes have turned its arid chapparal land into a verdant pleasure garden.
Port Cerulia forms the hub of all trade. Traders of all races gather here to exchange spices, textiles, metals, weapons, and much more in the markets of this balmy seaside city.
THE NINE LANDS | The world of Wargrave includes nine lands, each defined by its particular climate.
THE NORTH | a rugged land rich in minerals and poor in population
The Hoarfrosts: The deep and icy pines of this taiga have swallowed many a traveller whole. No one knows what lies beyond this frigid forest, and it marks the ends of earth on all maps of WarGrave.
The Zenithean Range:To the south of the Hoarfrosts, high mountains form a formidable barrier and alpine habitat for a variety of strange, insular folk. Among them, the dwarves stand out for their extensive subterranean domain and famous city of Ferrisburg.
THE MIDLANDS | a warm and hospitable land of many peoples
The Feldgrau Forest:At the foot of the mountains you'll find shadowy temperate forests, joyful in the dappled light of day, but more treacherous by the silvered gleam of the moon. Dwarves, elves, and humans all have their outposts here, among the more mysterious native races that dwell there.
The Grass Sea: Further south, the trees give way to a broad and undulating grassland. Well-worn paths crisscross the green and amber waves, leading their many travelers hither and yon--as long as they never leave the trail. Those who wander are never seen again.
THE SOUTH | a harsh, arid land of hardy folk
The Malangere Wastes: Bordering the Grass Sea, a dusty expanse of wiry shrubs and thorny brush cloaks a chaparral labyrinth of canyons and gullies. Once bandit land, the elves have tamed it, cultured it, and created verdant oases--each more stunning than the last, but culminating in the jewel-like Verdis.
The Vermille Sands: As hot as the Hoarfrosts are cold, this desert marks the other end of Wargrave, from whence no explorer has returned. Its red sands extend for many arid miles, enclosing the lost kingdoms of secret tribes of sand-elves and even more mysterious races.
THE EAST | a wet land of mysterious fogs and dangerous beasts
The Virid Forest: As dangerous as they are beautiful, the eastern rainforest stretches over endless miles. Totally unmapped, any who find themselves within this place had best throw themselves at the mercy of its many strange tribes.
The Cinere Mire: Where the rainforest does not reach, the swamp predominates. Its marshy waters, sometimes fresh, sometimes briny, hold almost as many mysterious creatures as the rainforest. For those who know its ways, the swamp provides a bounteous feast. For those who do not, a watery grave.
The Cerulian Coast: A thin, yet fertile threshold between land and Cerulian Sea, the coasts of Wargrave boast a thousand brilliant cities founded by humans but home to all manner of species. Of these, Port Cerulia's brilliant white walls remain the most iconic and most visited.
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