Complete Private Eastern Brisshal Awakening

[Ornthalas]

After an intense beginning of creating a character, Lucien's mind started to grow fuzzy, not entirely understanding what was going on to him. After a few moments of this intense haze came the sudden sensation of falling, wind beating against his face and ears, the cloak that he spawned with billowing in the wind as the sudden sound of wind came rushing in his ears. He was barely able to get his eyes open enough, squinting and seeing that he was falling from the sky, heading towards the ground at breakneck speeds.

And all he could do in this moment was scream

As he felt his limbs waving in the air, he did his best to gain control of his body, adjusting and moving so that his body was as flat as could be, slowing his decent but a small margin. He saw that the best place for him to land with the least amount of damage would be a tree that poked a bit higher than the rest of the forest. He adjusted his trajectory towards the towering titan of a tree, bracing himself as he crashed into the leaves. A few thuds and bruises later, he was hanging off of one of the low-hanging branches, the ground a few feet away from him. He took a minute, groaning in pain as he peeled himself from the bark of the branch, rubbing his head. "Well, that's a way to start." he muttered to no one in particular. He spent a few moments catching his breath, stretching all the sore muscles and making sure there were no broken bones. After this, he carefully leapt down to the ground and checked his immediate surroundings.

Trees, there were a lot of trees.

@Yugam @Jin @Kyra Vashtana @Katelyn the Bewildered @Zhulong

 

[Siondhe]

The creation took far longer than she'd expected, and as the grey room faded away, Naomi found her eyes squinting against the sudden light that bombarded her. She raised a hand, noticing the soft pale colour against the otherwise bright surroundings, casting a slight shadow to cover her face.

As her eyes slowly adjusted, she could see the soft purple colour of the tunic she'd chosen – a light violet colour that seemed bland and forgettable. A shake of her head, and she noticed the dark purple hair falling down to her waist, the movements so natural that she wondered if this wasn't reality.

Her attention was torn away as she heard screaming above her, and her gaze shifted upwards in order to scan the sky. She squinted against the bright sun as she tried to find the cause of the screaming. Her gaze was drawn as she heard a crashing sound nearby, followed by the sounds of breaking branches, and then a voice muttering nearby.

"Uhm…hello? Are you okay?" Crossing the small space to the area that she'd heard the voice, Sarah leaned forward, glancing up into the tree – only to jump backwards as a figure jumped to the ground before her, landing with a less than impressive thump. "Oh! Hello! Are you new here too? And…did you fall from the sky? How did you manage that? Can you fly?!"

A brief moment's pause, before she realises that she had forgotten to introduce herself. Holding out a hand, she'll smile at the other player. "By the way, my name is Na- uh…Kyra…it's nice to meet you!"

 

[Ornthalas]

As he adjusted his cloak, he noticed that a voice had perked up from the forest. He panned his view back and saw a younger looking lady close to him, asking him a large amount of questions, his hands jumped up defensively, a bit cautious about talking. But he then remembered that here, he was no longer Lucien. He was Ornthalas, he could be someone new, someone good at talking.

"Oh uh, me? Yes I'm new." He said, a small smile, and he looked up at the sky from where he fell. Nothing seemed amiss, just an average blue sky with clouds. "No I cant fly but... Did-did you not fall?" He asked the girl, a bit confused. Was he some sort of weird case? Has a player never fallen from the sky before? Maybe this was one of those "Prophesy" storylines like he had heard and read at home. He saw that the young lady, who's name appeared to be Nauhkyra, introduced herself. He took her hand with a small, elegant bow. "I am Ornthalas, pleasure to make your acquaintance." He said with a smile. "Now, do you have any idea where we are right now?"

 

[Siondhe]

She cocked her head as the other player stumbled through his first few words, seemingly hesitant. She couldn't help but wonder if he was still trying to connect to the world around him – much like she was – or if he was simply making the transition into character. Shaking her shoulders, she nodded as he finally pinned his question.

"I think I fell? But it felt more like…well, more like just gliding, than what happened to you. And…far less destructive. Did you come in that hard on purpose?" She glanced back up towards the mess that he had left on his way down, her eyes directing towards the few broken branches above the player.

"Well, Ornthalas, it's a pleasure to meet you officially. As to…where we are, no I've no idea. I just got here myself. I'm…I'm fairly new to this place as well. Do you think there's a guide or something?" Her hand raised and seemed to flick through the air for a few moments in spasms, before she managed to clench and open her fist, bringing up the menu. She flicked through the display for a few seconds, before closing it and shrugging, smiling at the other. "Yeah, I got nothing…"

 

[Ornthalas]

As the girl explained how she fell through the air, he realized that it was not a Prophesy of any kind, his luck just ended up being horrible and he had the roughest landing of the day. He rubbed the back of his neck in remembrance to the pain he not long ago felt, and shook his head. "No, no I had no plans to land like that. I could barely control myself as it is." He chuckled, a tad awkward in admitting such a fault. "I did my best to steer towards the tallest tree for the easiest landing, and even then it was rough." The tree still stood tall amongst the other oaks, elms and spruces galore. However, he could faintly see a few broken limbs and branches, fresh wounds open and bits of sap coming from the unshielded wood beneath the bark. Apparently, his landing had been a tad harder than he realized.

"Ah, maybe there is a guide, hold on." He fiddled around with different ways to open the menu, until he eventually discovered how to open it with his hand as Nauhkyra did. but he wasn't able to find anything that would help. He shook his head as he made eye contact with the young lady once more. "Neither do I. Maybe we should start walking in a direction and hope we find civilization?" He asked, looking around and trying to figure out the best point to start from. "Because I feel, that if we were to stay here something might come to hunt us down." He said, checking his armor for any weapons but finding none. "And I don't think they'd be the friendly variety."

 

[Siondhe]

She could see out of the corner of her eye as the other player flailed about for a moment, seemingly mimicking her own actions in order to bring the menu up. She had just considered speaking up, when his hand clenched and opened. She watched for a few moments, as he seemed to run through the menus, before giving up and acknowledging defeat as well.

"You think something else will…" Her gaze looked around them, darting between trees and skyline, before glancing at the grasses around them. For a moment, she felt herself tingle, as if the adrenaline was building up within her. Shaking her entire body – almost like a dog – she forced away the feeling, trying to plaster a smile on her face once more.

"I doubt anything unfriendly will show up…maybe another player, if someone else new joins! Wouldn't that be lucky chance though? To run into someone else new all in the same time…" She shrugged as she tried to make light of the situation, before moving off to her left. She had no inclination on where to go, but she knew her new companion was right on one thing – staying here wasn't helping. "Well, maybe we can find something over here…? A civilisation, or maybe some sort of forward post or something that we can find some sort of help at?"

 

[Ornthalas]

Orn looked around, his elven eyes peering into the woods to try and make out anything different or unique that might catch his eye, but nothing seemed to be caught. This was your average, everyday forest. If not a bit unique with the amount of trees here. This was a denser forest, much denser than he was used to at his home. But it was cozy all the same. As he looked at Nauhkyra, she seemed a bit bothered by something, but she shook it off and put on a smile, if a bit fake and strained.

"There's always a possibility of danger. But, if anything I can distract it while you run away to find help. I'm sure I could make use of these... What were they called again?" He opened the menu to look at the name. "Masteries. Right, Masteries." He turned his direction to where the wind was pushing against him, the scent of wood smoke drifting in this direction. He pointed in the direction of the smell. "Wood smoke, if anything this will either be a town, a campsite, or a forest fire. Either way it's a start." He said, a bit of sarcasm at the end. He started to trek his way towards the scent of civilization, checking his pockets and finding nothing but pixelated dust. They'd need to find a town or wandering trader soon, from what he'd read about the game, combat is a pretty big feature. They'd need to be ready, just in case. "So if I may ask, what got you into this game? Since its illegal and all that." he spoke, trying to spark up conversation.

 

[Zhulong]

a query as a conversational opener was traditional. almost key, even. small talk wasn't an easy subject to master, after all, but zhulang blinked twice in rapid succession at the question posed to the other.

she'd been listening, of course — not for long, having only just made it after she could assume an introduction had been made. if these two figures were closer, surely, they would seem as such from the get go. neither of them would find the need or even hazard a reason for poking the other about their entry to the game.

but then the key phrase was dropped. illegal?

true, she hadn't been able to look up the app on the store. neither was she familiar with having seen any marketing surrounding the game. just a code sent between players. at best, she knew it to be piracy... but this just seemed a little more than foul play. zhulang rose from the brush nearby, trying to keep quiet, a hand on the hilt of her weapon.

it hadn't even been a day since she logged on, and she was already starting to play the part well.

two strides to push her out of nature. a few more closed the distance between her and the other players. the woman wasn't trying to be stealthy here, but neither did she feel the need to emphasize her presence. when she was certain they were within earshot, with ample space between the parties, she spoke up.

"excuse me. i couldn't help but hear about an illegal activity. something about the game? would you two like to explain that to me?"

 

[Katelyn the Bewildered]

While the others were busy talking amongst themselves, a faint light glow shot above them and had darted into the tree-line to the east of them. Not causing a crash or rustle by too much, the phenomena was over nearly just as instantaneous as it had began.

Then, shortly afterward, a soft high pitched voice could be heard very faintly, the one speaking dismissed from view by the foliage between herself and the group.

“…T-Test test— AGH!! Wait… It worked? It works!! YES!!!”

The voice gave off a whole hearted giggle of happiness, and the person it came from appeared to be running straight for the group, the small branches and thistles snapping in her wake. Moments later, a girl that was half under five feet, wearing a hakama with arm sleeves, and adorning white hair with a light blue hue styled in a lightly braided waterfall down her back, burst out of the bushes in a full blind run, running straight into Kyra and falling backward from the sudden impact.

Landing on her arse, she propped herself up as she recovered from the stun, rubbing her head, before standing up and slowly looking at the others with a blank, innocent expression.

“…Holy fuck, you guys are tall,” she commented, before slapping her hand over her mouth in surprise.

 

[Siondhe]

She leaned forward, her smile thinner than previously as she watched the other man find his bearings, and hint at a direction to take. She ignored the fact that it was essentially the same direction she had first motioned towards, letting him take the lead with a wave of her hand. Following alongside, she bounced slightly on her feet, feeling her hair bounce, and the ears on top of her-

"Oh my gods I have ears!" Her hands shot up to the top of her head, patting the ears carefully and wincing when she bent it the wrong way by accident. "Ow! These things actually feel pain!"

Her eyes glanced behind her as she felt something twitch in response to the pain. The small, bushy purple tail caught her eyes, and she felt her mouth open as a squeak erupted from her. "Oh my gods I have a tail too! Look at it! LOOK at it! It's so fluffy and cute and…"

She stopped as she realised that the other had continued with a question, almost ignoring her outbursts, or simply more interested in the world around them. "Illegal? What do you mean it's illegal?"

Another voice spoke from nearby, causing Kyra to shriek again and leap around, her hands coming up as her tail fluffed outwards, ears pinning themselves down against her head. She felt herself snarl at the voice, before her eyes locked onto it. She cocked her head, seeing another animalistic looking individual in front of her. She cocked her head, considering a question, but was interrupted by another voice just as spoke up.

"Tall?" Her question squeaked out, as her eyes shifted to Ornthalas. She leaned in sideways towards him, her tail twitching behind her as she whispered to him, her eyes darting between the other two newcomers. "Well, aren't we just collecting all the newpeople?"

 

[Ornthalas]

Ornthalas looked a bit confused as Nauhkyra asked about the game being illegal. Surely she knew this game was banned in almost every state, if not every single state? He had taken a pretty big risk to get this game, and apparently people didn't know that such a game could get them fined or put in prison. He scratched his head in confusion and was about to reply, but a new voice and Nauhkyra's scream jumped him, backing from the young ladies that arrived, one also consulting about the legalities of Terrasphere and another saying that they were tall.

"Uh....hi." was all he could muster for the first few seconds. Nauhkyra hid behind him a bit, and he did his best to cover her with an arm. "I hope you're here to ask questions and not pick fights." he said, a bit of a warning to the two. "But yes, Terrasphere is illegal worldwide. Whether you like it our not we're all felons if we are caught with the game. Whether that comes with punishments or prison time, I have no idea." He spoke to the group, then he turned to the white-haired girl. "And yes, elves tend to be a little tall." He said, sounding a tad snarky but meaning it in a joking way.

"Are you two new to the game as well? Or here for...other reasons?"

 

[Zhulong]

the gathering of players was starting to get a little bigger with the new entrant stumbling upon their conversation. zhulong, motionless, gave her a glance before her focus resettled upon the elf. "felons," she repeated, folding her arms, "the same way pirates are classified as criminals for stealing a copy of something that didn't belong to them?" in not knowing the punishment of having such a game under their possession, it felt enough of a reason to downplay whatever the man had said.

oh, but what if he was right? surely, there would be exceptions to the rule, and the player herself would be one of them. surely, surely. at best, some research would stave her off the game and she would know then if it was alright to play — or otherwise. maybe it was illegal to play because it didn't have a rating yet. reasons formed just to soothe calmness on her shoulders. it was only then she remembered she wasn't ready for a fight if their group did break into a skirmish.

zhulong's gaze swept across the players. well, so long as they were all peaceful here, there was no need to settle matters with violence.

 

[Katelyn the Bewildered]

Listening to the conversation of legalities and etcetera, the new girl was a bit perplexed at first, albeit not as phased about it as she probably should be. Giggling a bit at Ornthalas’ comment about elves, she shrugged it off as something she probably should’ve thought about during character creation. “Well, this is probably a better time than any to introduce myself,” the girl said, itching the side of her hand. “Hi! I’m Katelyn, I think the race I chose was Faerin! I thought they’d be a bit taller, but I was apparently wrong; I’d thought that this was just a very new game. An online friend of mine had told me about it. I guess he likely pirated it, if the illegal stuff is legit? Buuuuut, I do have some VPN and spoofing stuff set up, so hopefully that’ll be enough to let me keep playing and not get into direct legal confrontations… Sorry about the Tall thing, by the way! I’m not sure what came over meeeeohhhhhhh my god your ears are absolutely adorable,” Katelyn finished as she stared in awe at Kyra. “And a tail too?! Are they only cosmetic, or are they real feeling?? And OH MY GOSH YOUR HORNS,” she exclaimed while looking over at Zhulong, making it already aware of her natural hyperactive and spastic mental state.

 

[Yugam]

Per Aspera

Ad Astra

For what godforsaken reason Yugam kept coming back to Eastern Brisshal, the man simply did not know. Not that any of his experiences had been particularly bad, he just couldn't figure out why in the hell he kept wandering his way back when there was so much else to explore in Terrasphere. Maybe it was just the sense of familiarity that kept drawing him back east. Whatever the case, the dark haired man wandered the dirt roads, his path closed in on all sides by thick trees.

The last time he'd been here he'd stumbled across two new players (well, newer than himself) and had shown them the way to Dunstaads to get some supplies before sending them off towards Astorea. Now, it seemed, he was destined for a similar meeting.

Up ahead, the man could hear eager chattering, the forms of two beastfolk, an elf and a faerin coming fully into view. And it was made very clear by their lack of weapons or armor that they had all literally just dropped into the game, perhaps only minutes ago.

To greet, or not to greet. Now that was the question.

@Jin

 

[Siondhe]

Kyra's eyes shifted between the two newcomers, her frame still somewhat hidden behind Ornthalas' own body. Not that she new this Ornthalas individual anymore than the others, and as she leaned out from behind him, her hands holding onto his shoulder for support, she questioned her own actions. Neither of the other two appeared armed, or truly dangerous, and after a moment's consideration she stepped out from behind him.

"I had no idea this game could be illegal...I just downloaded it from..." Her voice drifted off as she considered where she'd gotten it from. It hadn't been an official app store, and being entirely honest with herself, the entire experience to get it had been a bit iffy to begin with. She had, of course, heard rumours about the ghost game. Not that she'd ever believed it. How could a game exist that they couldn't regulate?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sudden barrage of words from the smaller player. Her ears and tail twitching in response, she glanced upwards towards the top of her head, before responding. "Uhm...they seem real? Like, they move and react to my thoughts...and they feel like they're a part of me. That, and they feel pain - I tested that already, by accident."

She glanced over at the other beastkin individual, noting their own appendages and extremities. A soft smile, before her eyes caught sight of someone else in the distance, a man standing by himself, seemingly staring at the group. A man, who appeared dangerous. She gave a nod in his direction, before calmly asking the other three, "Should...we be worried about him?"

 

[Katelyn the Bewildered]

“That’s crazy,” the Faerin said in awe, still examining the two beastfolks’ cute animalistic features, before hearing Kyra mention the man that was watching them. In response, she spun on her heels, now looking at the newcomer in curiosity. He definitely appeared to be a bit more experienced at the game, judging by his equipment and the way he carried himself.

“Do you think he helps newbs?” she asked aloud, before already continuing regardless of an answer, walking toward Yugam. “Hello there! What’s your name? Mine’s Katelyn; we’re a bit fresh to the game,” she explained. “You look like you’ve played for a while; I don’t suppose you’d be willing to join us, for a bit?”

As she talked, the girl tripped over a rock, and nearly face planted but managed to catch herself just in time.

 

[Ornthalas]

Orn was a bit taken aback. From what he had read up on, this game was dangerous and illegal, and he thought that was common knowledge. These women... seemed to not have read the same things he had. One of them being a tad snarky, tried to compare it to a pirate taking a video. He just squinted at her, a tad annoyed and decided to not comment, feeling as though it was some sort of mind game trap, in which he felt he wouldn't win.

He turned to the White-haired girl, as she started to let her voice carry a long conversation, half of which he didn't entirely understand but he just nodded along. All he got is that his name was Katelyn, and she was a species that he had seen at the initial screen, the Faerin. It was an interesting choice, to say the least. Katelyn and Nauhkyra talked about the womans... tail and horns? He hadn't noticed them at first, she must have chosen a beastfolk, another one of the species. He couldn't quite tell what her choice was, but she seemed happy with it nontheless. He brought his full attention back to the three of them.

"Illegal games aside, it seems all of you aren't out to kill us, so I guess that's a good thing." He spoke. "My name is Ornthalas, since we're doing introductions." He bowed slightly, then looked over at the stranger a bit away, and waved a bit tentatively. he turned to Nauhkyra and shrugged. "We've met each other, and then these two and none of us have tried to fight. Stay on your guard, but lets give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe this is a No PvP zone."

 

[Magdalyn]

To greet or not to greet.

Of course, Magdalyn had no way of knowing that she shared the same thought as a man standing a short distance away from her. She hadn't even seen the man with which she shared a thought-wave, her attention so focused on the gathering of newcomers. That conclusion hadn't been rocket science - the lack of weapon and beginner clothes served as a dead give-away. Mags had seen her fair share of first-timers since diving into Terrasphere 1 years ago, and she'd offered many of them a helping hand. That, she figured, was why the decision was practically made for her.

"Hi there," she greeted from a few paces away, a single hand lifted in greeting. The broken sword at her hip - simply an ornate handle - likely didn't strike fear into the hearts of newbies. But her higher-level armor, and the confidence with which she approached, could raise hackles. So she hung back a step, and offered adequate warning.

"Hope I'm not intruding," she continued, "but normally a gathering of people in this area means real-life friends syncing up, or total first-time confusion. If it's the latter, is there anything I can do to help?"

 

[Zhulong]

well, if someone else in the group had vouched for internet privacy protections, then it gave zhulong a reason to breathe out a sigh of relief. her situation had been likewise. and none of that commercial software touted on influencer commercials, either; she made sure it was the good kind, shared only with her family at best. she was sure they wouldn't mind.

a glance towards the fae and the player felt her hand run over her horns. "oh, thanks." they were short, stubby -- had she picked a male character, she wouldn't be surprised if they were antlers instead. "i was supposed to meet a group here myself, i think. though i'd like to keep the origins of where i'd gotten the game from a secret. could be another way of tracking you down from the outside world if this space was illegal." her gaze settled on ornthalas, remembering the man's words. "i'm zhulong," she added, tilting her head. "though, if that's hard to pronounce... just call me addy."

the better question to have answered, despite not having the position to do so, would be why there were certain others along their path looking towards their way. players with more experience, she guessed, judging by how much more put-together they seemed in addition to some shinier looking armor. at least one of the figures seemed friendly enough.

following katelyn's advance, zhulong directed her front towards the woman over yonder. "sorry, i'd only approached these guys over a dispute. i'd heard about the possibility that playing this game could categorize you as a criminal if you were caught by law enforcement. and that sounds a little hard to believe, to me." her body shifted, almost attempting to match the player posing guide. "is this true? and if so, isn't it just as illegal to be spreading the game around, despite any intention?"

 

[Vashti]

Other than the fact that her ears were absolutely adorable, the sensory overload was staggering.

Vashti reached up and fidgeted with the furry, sensitive ears that set her apart from her real world counterpart. It was the first of many things that reminded her that as real as this felt, it wasn't quite the same. She wasn't quite the same. Eastern Brisshal was breathtaking, not because it was overwhelmingly beautiful or because it felt completely different from the city where she grew up, or the countryside where she had taken up residence. It was breathtaking because it felt so... real.

When she heard about a game world, she anticipated something like the cell phone games that she used to pass the time between photoshoots, or like the shooters her younger brother spent all his waking hours drowning himself in. Virtual Reality was the only thing that set it apart in her mind. Alana had gone to one of those booths in the mall and been blown away by how crazy it was to see things like they were actually in front of her.

This was nothing like that.

She continued to rub the backs of her ears subconsciously, and her tail began to wag behind her. Several blinks later, Vashti realized. "Oh," she blinked, covering her mouth as she glanced back over her shoulder. "I have a tail."

Bumbling like an idiot in the first moments of her experience inside Terrasphere, she was broken from her trance by the sound of several voices in the distance. She glanced over and saw other people, and her heart leapt. "Ohmygod," she squealed. "I wasn't expecting to run into anyone so soon. I'm just going to go over and say h---"

Her feet had pulled her forward before she had time to think about what to say, or if the situation was dangerous. This would mark the first time in months she had contact with anyone else, and she was dying for any form of contact. The best way to jump into a conversation was to take initiative and speak when you had something worthwhile to contribute, and since she didn't know what they were talking about, she waited for a moment and listened, just to see where the best time to jump in would be.

"i'd heard about the possibility that playing this game could categorize you as a criminal if you were caught by law enforcement. and that sounds a little hard to believe, to me." her body shifted, almost attempting to match the player posing guide. "is this true? and if so, isn't it just as illegal to be spreading the game around, despite any intention?"

Illegal? The word flashed in her mind, and Vashti tilted her head.

"The government has an agency that's trying to cover it up," she blurted absently, without any regard for convention. After a moment, her hands flew over her mouth. "Oh, gosh, I'm sorry!" Her face flushed red as she looked from one person to the next. She kept her face covered as she continued. "I was just so excited to see other people, I completely forgot myself. My names Al-- ah, Vashti! Yeah, that's right!" She bowed her head apologetically to the woman who had just spoken ahead of her.

"I don't really have many details other than that, though. They have been pretty tight lipped other than 'don't play this game' and 'if you see something, say something."