It is the year 2145 when Deus Ex, a small unknown company to the public, announced that they are entering the virtual games market with a bang. They presented Fantasia a virtual game that promised 99% realism and everything gamers would crave in an MMO.
Everyone thought it was a shameless advertisement at that time.
But, by every metric Fantasia delivered.
Lifelike NPC? Check.
Consistent worldbuilding? Check.
Jawdropping graphics and sensation system? Check.
It is clear that the company has technology ahead of its time.
The game flopped badly.
Because while Deus Ex has amazing technology, it is clear the company don't know a single thing about running an MMOs.
There is no game balance. Overpowered classes and skills plus game-breaking items abound. Their public relations department needed to be shot. No public announcement or communication of any sort of major game expansion and changes.
There is also Deus Ex's adherence to the game plot to the expense of everything else. It caused the game to get increasingly harder as time went on. It got so bad that the game is harder than an apocalypse simulator. Combined with 99% realism wherein you feel exactly how you die, it is a minor miracle that Fantasia lasted 5 years.
And now is the day for the server to close.
As befitting of the company with the worst PR department, there is no announcement. But, you kept your pulse on the chatter of NPC's and know that today is the foretold doomsday.
Shaitan, the demon lord of destruction has completed the pillars ritual and will harvest the world of Fantasia resulting in its complete destruction. The great alliance or what is left of it planned to make a final stand. But, everyone knew that this is a doomed effort.
To say farewell to the world that has been a second home to you for so long, you plan to log in for perhaps the final time.
Greeting <player>! As you may have surmised, from the quest title, you are going to play as an npc mook in an mmorpg "Fantasia", it's your job to make the MMO a smashing success while somehow surviving the "game" world itself. And while doing this you are going to save the world <oops spoilers>...
Anyway onto character generation
[ ] Male
[ ] Female
Personalty:
Now here is where we ensure that you actually have a personality! No one wants to play a cardboard cut-out after all. Pick 1 vice and 1 virtue. Also, don't pick the opposite vice and virtue. So picking pride as a vice and humility as a virtue is a no go.
While reading this list, you might be wondering why is there only 6 vices and virtues, aren't there are originally seven? That is because I need an even number to give the players more agency so I had to ax one. Lust is then divided into Gluttony and Greed, thus Gluttony here doesn't mean food but indulgence in pleasurable aspect in general while Greed is the unchecked craving for anything be it material or immaterial things.
As for how having 6 vices and virtues give you agency. Hint: there are 6 board members of Deus Ex and the virtues and sin can be said to be two sides of the same coin. For example. Invidia is also Humilitas.
How did you interact with Fantasia:
[ ] COMBAT HERO
Even if you didn't get one of the overpowered classes or items, you managed to be the best in combat just by the sheer dint of your skills. You are in the forefront of every raid and you managed to hang in the top 100 in PvP as well. If there is an actual game balance in this game a lot of pundits say that you might have made it to top 10 - nay 1.
[ ] LORE EXPLORER
Worldbuilding, worldbuilding, worldbuilding. You singlehandedly built the game wiki. If there is someone that has a question about the game, they only have to ask you. Instead of focusing on combat, you focused on RP and have a certain influence in all the remaining game factions.
[] Plan Route Heroine
-[] Female
-[] Humanitas (Kindness)
-[] Gula (Gluttony)
-[] LORE EXPLORER
X.x.X.
Everyone the Final Battle for Fantasia is estimated to happen any minute now!
Log in to the game for perhaps the final time!
Jenna Raymond twitted the message to her followers along with a picture of the flag of the Grand Alliance. A golden starburst on a field of black. The eight-spoke of the star surrounded by ideograms that symbolized the eight major races that banded together to form it.
Within a few seconds, there are a lot of upvotes. A lot of well-wishers and trolls as well.
With a sigh, she closed the browser and looked at the picture showing the silent battlefield at the end of the last skirmish. In the end, she couldn't do it. Putting the picture even to get more players to log-in felt wrong somehow. Disrespectful to those who gave their lives to the defense of the city.
No matter how many people say they are just NPC and how many vocally advocated treating NPC as clumps of data. A belief that even some of her friends espouse saying it makes thing easier. Jen could never really get into such a mindset.
Which is probably why she's doing this.
Jen reviewed her character information on the game's official site.
4,503 Achievement points.
A few months ago, Fantasia introduced the concept of achievement points. It was simple enough in context. Players who have done something significant in the game world would be given points. The number of points depends on the difficulty and the influence of the player action. Players then can use the points to make changes in the gameworld like getting a new skill or item. Or perhaps, more importantly, transfer a game world item into the real world.
Such a move was loudly criticized as the company's desperate attempt to get more players to play the game.
The patch also came a bit too late. The writings on the wall were clear. Fantasia's population were only sustained by a few hardcore players and was rapidly plummeting. The end of the game was near in both the real world and heck the plot of the gameworld reflected it. Is it any wonder that most of the player base have decided to cut their losses and just get memorabilia with their points?
Not that many players can redeem anything besides a few mundane trinkets. According to her calculations, there were less than twenty people could have achievement points to take out items worth getting.
But, for those who have accumulated enough and can farm it, they've found that achievement points or AP for short were worth playing the game and more.
A friend of hers - Allen, used 7,000 achievement points to buy a low-grade panacea for his mother. He related that after drinking it; his mother who was wracked with pain from stage III cancer immediately felt better. After a hospital test and a visit to their physician, the cancer has gone dormant.
There are other stories like that in the player circle.
Strangely though, Deus Ex was quiet regarding this and no news media ever followed it.
Allen even told her that the doctor who diagnosed the medical miracle seemed to have forgotten about it when asked.
This led everyone who knew about it being on guard.
Daringly and to fish some clues, Jen wrote a few articles on the "official" game wiki under a pseudonym - painstakingly collecting the various rumors hoping some sort of explanation. She took care not to put names or other distinguishing feature in case everything went wrong. Even changing her writing style.
Disappointedly or perhaps luckily, nothing happened.
Still, one good thing came with that research - Jen managed to convince a lot of her friends and acquaintances to return to the game with the lure of AP. It helped that with the grand alliance repeatedly being pushed back by demonkind, there are AP aplenty. Case in point, Jen's AP rose by 300 just this week and she's just a crafter. For perspective, most of her points were painstakingly accumulated for four years of game time.
Which is why Jen knew what she was doing is kinda stupid.
She should do what she originally planned and just buy more seeds of some of the less magical plants. The ones she can be sure to be grown on Earth. Then, buy a large field and hopefully grow them. After that profit would surely come just for the rarity of the plants. And if the plant retain their esoteric effect from the game, Jen could only imagine the price kissing the sky.
Her Papa would surely praise her for it saying that she is following in his footsteps…
You'll bring lots of food when you go back? Really? A child hesitantly smiled at her.
Her friends are right. She's a big dumb softy that's what.
But, even if they'll rib them for it she was sure that they will understand. And its not like this is a completely emotional decision. She has already redeemed a few samples and given enough time she could work herself to getting the volume needed. It might even work better this way. At least, Karen and Declan would not take it as charity if she proposed a venture together considering their contribution this time would be roughly equal.
Convinced, Jen typed send relief goods to Yhandiff on the text box. Then, after a moment of thought erased it. What good will sending food do now?
Send items that Yhandiff needed most.
She wondered if such a vague wording could even work.
This action will consume all your remaining achievement points, is it okay?
Jen clicked yes.
Processing.
Insufficient AP to materialize everything, would you be willing to use earth cash to fund the deficit? At 99% discount, it comes at 10,025 dollars in raw materials?
At this, Jen hesitated. That is a lot of money and one wherein she would balk at. To spend it ---
... I think everything here is real, Jen...
Maybe, she's thinking about this the wrong way.
Fantasia has been free to play game for its whole life and she hasn't put a single cent in the four years she played it. And it's not really a large amount of money, not for her. In fact, the AP has more value in its potential and she has already determined to spend it.
To avoid losing her nerve, she promptly clicked yes.
Thank you for helping Fantasia.
Important Artifacts will materialize to their respective receiver.
Miscellaneous relief goods will materialize the moment you log-in the game.
The stone that Jen felt was stuck on her chest for the past month alleviated if only slightly.
This way at least she could say that she did her best. Lighthearted than she had been for months, she opened her guildmates chat server:
CrafterQueen: Hello guys, I've finished putting up the final announcement. What's up?
Theygaveusonearrow: Everyone is mostly logged-in. Taz is just complaining about the game food in the server right now.
Tazmanian Devil: They fed us dogs, Jen! A dog! I love dogs!
CrafterQueen: Oh. Those. They've been cutting the hellhounds for meat for a while now.
Tazmanian Devil: WHAT?!!
R.John: Makes sense. What do we expect them to eat? The forest burned down from the constant sieges and almost every region is in enemy hands. The only thing aplenty are demons.
Crafter Queen: It's just too bad that you can't eat hellhound too much or else you'll get blight poison if you don't have immunity.
Tazmanian Devil: …..
R. John: Taz is quiet for once. Lol
Crafter Queen: Anyway, you should log-in with me Taz, I've brought some supplies and will probably be able to cook a decent meal for us.
Lupin: Brought supplies? Wait the rumor was true?
Crafter Queen: What rumor?
Lupin: You bringing back supplies to the camp. Everyone is saying it.
Tazmanian Devil: Yeah. It was all over the camp. I was actually going to suggest that you sit this out because you'll get lynched if you don't bring any.
Tazmanian Devil: And it's stupid to bring any. You can use your AP for better things.
Crafter Queen: ….
Tazmanian Devil: Jen?
Crafter Queen: Haha …. I didn't actually announce it to anyone….
Tazmanian Devil: JEN!!!
Crafter Queen: Well, I calculated that I don't need that much AP anyway. I can still make my plan work just with more time.
Theygaveusonearrow; The whale queen strikes again!
Lupin: Lol
Lupin: Anyway, we still haven't proved that rumor about the game items yet.
Tazmanian Devil: The only reason that we haven't is because of the freaky conspiracy.
Tazmanian Devil: Deus Ex are made up of aliens. I tell you.
R.John: It would make more sense if Fantasia is really another world. It would explain the realism at least.
Theygaveusonearrow: Considering what happened and is happening everyone collectively voted to not think about it or get collective depression.
Tazmanian Devil: Besides, my aliens' theory makes more sense.
Theygaveusonearrow: Whatever you say, Taz.
Lupin: Anyway, I'm logging back in. Karen just wants me to tell Jen @Crafter Queen that if she's really logging in, message her ASAP since she will be escorting you around.
Crafter Queen: Karen doesn't need to bother...
Lupin: It's getting rowdy in the city, right now. I almost got ganked by some lowlife and I'm dangerous looking. You're easier prey in comparison.
Lupin: Anyway, I'm going back in. I probably can ambush some demon scouts and get me some sweet AP. Later.
Crafter Queen: Wait. I'm logging in as well.
X.x.X.
Finally, you're entering Fantasia! Pick the social links that you want to interact with once you're in-game. Note that this isn't a plan voting, just pick the choices you like accordingly.
Pick three from this list:
[ ] Karen, the Weapon Saint wants to meet with you. Go with her ASAP or she might get angry with worry.
[ ] Declan, the Guardian Knight, is said to be doing patrols around the city area. You might want to meet with him for a chat.
[ ] Cray, the lazy ass that he is said to be hanging around the wall rampant. Maybe he has strategic insight he wants to share?
[ ] Aoife, an enterprising culinarian is said to have made a recipe from the blighted meat, go and share a meal for the final time.
[ ] Morwen, the grand alchemist might have a breakthrough....
[ ] .... the mysterious girl from the plaza, you have a strange feeling about her...
QM note:
Just getting the feel of the personality of our protagonist. She's tentatively golden-haired and blue-eyed right now. Because its the classic, but I'm open to suggestion. The only thing in my notes regarding the appearance is kindness (emit inner warmness?) and gluttony (attractive). Combined you're a Disney princess. ^^
Or something not too far off because you're rich in the real world. Gluttony "A woman of wealth and taste" has a wealthy background in it. Also, the other builds got turned into social links. lol
I've also managed to sneak some quest concepts. Remember AP because it is going to be important once you got isekai'd as an NPC mook
Jenna Raymonds
Real World Counterpart
Appearance Concept Design
The first thing that will hit you when you see Jenna Raymonds is the fact that she's gorgeous. She's also updated in the latest fashion even if she wears them in an understated way.
Jenna or Jen for her friends also has a kind face. She's not very intimidating at all.
Another feature that many remarked is her "alert eyes" that offset the softness of her appearance hinting on some steel underneath.
[] Karen, the Weapon Saint wants to meet with you. Go with her ASAP or she might get angry with worry.
[] .... the mysterious girl from the plaza, you have a strange feeling about her...
[] Aoife, an enterprising culinarian is said to have made a recipe from the blighted meat, go and share a meal for the final time.
X.x.X.
Jen opened her eyes to see the familiar flash that accompanied logging-in to Fantasia. In front of her was a massive stone archway, its runes still flaring with magical energy from the recent summoning. Around her, the cavernous room was empty.
Nat must have been taken to another summoning gate.
Slightly disappointed Jen nonetheless remembered Nat's chat message. She touched her right ear where she wore the communication pearl; sending a burst of magic as well as the image of the crimson weapon master.
Feeling a mental click, the pearl connected to its counterpart.
"Hey, Karen!" Jen happily called out.
"Where are you?"
"No, hello Jen?"
"..."
At the burst of static that followed, Jen smiled. Karen was just adorable.
Out of the stone building, Jen saw the red-tinted sky, the crimson moon bleeding fire like drops of blood. On the horizon, visible beyond the fortress walls, an ominous black pillar rose. There were a lot of people milling around their tents and wooden shanties. The ramshackle constructions contrasted greatly with the ancient elegant buildings. At the center of the camp, there was a large wooden building with a sign saying Kharnifax.
Seeing the people's pointed teeth, furry ears and body. Some with a tail peeking out, Jen figured out which gate she exited.
"It looks like I got summoned near the lupine quarters."
"Don't move. I'll be right over."
"Sure captain." Jen cheerfully called out.
Inspecting her surroundings, Jen's smile slipped off. Yhandiff truly has changed since they came here. Before everything that happened, Yhandiff was only mentioned in legends - the home of the watchers of Fantasia's order. When the demons managed to control most of the game areas and plant their pillars of hell on the world, the divine protection of the city also broke.
Yhandiff was revealed to the world.
That proved to be a blessing in disguise as Yhandiff became a rallying cry toward the desperate resistances scattered around the globe. The Grand Alliance was birthed.
Even without its divine shield, Yhandiff still has powerful protection. In fact, its extraplanar shielding was the reason for the random logging point around the city. While Yhandiff's wards don't fight the players' materialization as it would demons or other malevolent forces, it was still heavy enough that it can't be precise. Thus, players were redirected toward any of the four summoning gates within the outer city.
That said, impressive protection or not, the city wasn't built with a large population in mind so a lot of temporary shelters were built.
Seeing the empty tents and shacks - the desolate faces huddled within them, Jen felt despondent.
A few months ago, the Lupine quarters was one of the liveliest section of the city. The Lupine was quite communal before and their recent tragedy has done its best to band them together. At night, a lot of bonfires were lit. Lupine dancing ceremoniously around the beat of the drum. A Lupine ritual to seek aid from the mother moon.
Now, it became a veritable ghost town like many of the communities that formed in the city.
X.x.X.
So lost was Jen in her introspection that she didn't notice the attack until her robes' barrier automatically deployed to prevent the claws from skewering her from the back.
"IT'S YOUR FAULT THAT THEY DIED!"
Immediately, Jen's reflex kicked in and she threw a small gem at the direction of the attacker. Turning around, she saw a Lupine warrior, his full bestial form already out, his face distorted with feral rage.
The gem promptly exploded.
The warrior threw his arms to shield himself.
Jen scrambled to get some distance, her hand going into one of her specially prepared smoke bombs which she promptly threw away.
The bombs would be doubly disorienting toward someone with sharp olfactory senses and the Lupine has one of the best there was.
A sharp howl distorted reality
Sharp gust of wind blew the smoke away.
Jen coudn't even think as a clawed hand once again collided with her mana shield, the force batting Jen away into one of the nearby tents.
This isn't an ordinary run off the mill elite warrior. This is a pack leader at the very least.
This isn't something I can deal with on my own.
Realizing the danger, Jen tore out a scroll even as she crashed toward the tents. A magic sphere filled with paralytic energy enveloped everything in a 100-meter radius. Simultaneously, a flare of magic went up in the air - two swords crossed with staff in the center - the symbol of her guild Vigilance.
..., the paralysis should wear in a minute but Karen is on her way already…. That should be enough time …
But, contrary to her expectations, the wolfman still managed to move. Static electricity only slowing him down to something that Jen's eye could follow.
... tangled thorns next, followed by fire in a bottle...
Thankfully, Jen didn't have to deal with him now.
With the force of a small meteor, Karen announced her arrival. Her skill meteor impact, dealing large blunt damage to whoever was unlucky enough to be at the opposite side of her sword. The force of Karen's arrival knocked the wolfman off his feet and into the far off stone wall.
"You, what are you doing?" Karen's sharp voice cut through the air.
At her appearance, Jen heaved a sigh of relief.
The wolfman roared once again. The static electricity visible on his body faded forcefully as the wind began to pick up from his body. With a speed greater than he has shown Jen he proceeded to charge into the new arrival.
With a look of distaste, Karen dispelled her sword, an imperial spear replacing it.
"Nine dragon head strike!" Karen thrusted her spear toward the charging wolfman, eight illusionary spears appearing as she moved.
With a movement too fast for Jen's eye to follow, the two combatants clashed. In a blink of an eye, the wolfman fell to the ground, deep spear stabs littering all over his body.
Karen didn't stop though, she went into a deep jumping crouch which Jen recognized to be a fatal move.
"Wait, don't kill him!" Jen shouted.
The crimson weapon master halted, looked at Jen with exasperation tinged with fondness. "This piece of scum attacked you."
"I know. But, I think it's better if you don't kill him."
Jen wasn't saying this just because she has a well-known distaste for killing either. Around them, were a lot of lupines who were milling around - some still caught under her paralysis effect. Considering their communal leanings, Jen could understand why they didn't move to save her since she's an outsider. But, she really doubted that they wouldn't move to save their fellow kin even if he was the aggressor.
That could only end with a neverending bloodbath right now and the players' relationship with other factions was tense enough as it is.
Jen held Karen gaze, subtly gesturing toward their surroundings.
"Tsk" the weapon master muttered beneath her breath. With an angry gaze at the remaining Lupines, Karen went to Jen's side and Jen allowed herself to be carried away in the weapon master's arms, feeling comfortedly relieved that the danger was over.
"Thanks, Karen."
"Don't mention it." The weapon master was always uncomfortable with receiving gratitude. Especially Jen's. "You should talk to others."
Oh yeah. The signal should be visible throughout the city. Jen touched her communication pearl, "Everybody emergency over. Karen is with me now."
"Thank god. You're okay." Declan replied. "I was patrolling in the middle part of the city. I feared that I couldn't arrive on time"
"That interrupted my sleep... you know? " Cray predictably commented.
"You're so unlucky Jen. Out of all the gates, you just have to start with that one. We have a lot of heat with the beast tribes."
"Wait. Did something happen?"
"It is all over the city. The southern defensive line got slaughtered with only a few survivors."
That didn't sound good. The Alliance army was stretched thin as it was. If a font collapses the demons would be able to march into the city.
Still, something doesn't sound right.
"Why would they hate us for that?" Jen pointed out.
The wolf's howling words wouldn't leave her mind.
At that, Nathaniel was silent.
"It might be buggy programming. Or probably just people wanting someone to blame." Cray replied after the long pause which instantly made Jen suspicious. Cray doesn't reply to conversations unless there's a point to it.
"In any case, since the emergency is over. Will talk to you later."
"Comrade Cray is right. We should focus on our assigned task. I will talk to you later as well.."
"I've also got something to do. Bye Jen."
The sudden ending of the conversation added to Jen's suspicion.
They were avoiding the topic.
Jen took a glance at Karen. "What happened?" Jen asked her silent guardian.
Karen sighed.
"It's not your fault."
"That kind of reply makes me feel that it's my fault you know," Jen replied, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
Karen sighed again. "As you know some of the players are in the armies out of the city. When the demon launched their assault and when it was apparent that we were losing, most of them logged off," Karen explained.
"I see."
Jen wasn't terribly surprised. She guessed something like that happened with what the wolfman said. The players' reaction was not surprising either. With the ruinous death penalty that Fantasia imposed, they'll, of course, choose to log-out instead of dying. Heck, the only reason they were playing at all was that she reached out and explained the advantages of AP and how most of them could farm it safely. The fact that they used such a strategy should be common sense.
It was only to lure more players in the game.
It wasn't supposed to work out this way.
"You did your best. It's not your fault."
"Yes. You're right." Jen replied. It won't do to worry her guildmates like this.
Karen gave her an unreadable look.
It might be Jen's imagination but the arms around her seem to tighten.
X.x.X
Safely tucked at their guild headquarters or the stone structure that they have commandeered as Vigilance's meeting place. Jen finally remembered to look at the thing that she invested all her AP.
No matter how she inspected it was just a simple wooden box with no ornamentation whatsoever.
And yet, there was a certain sense of gravity to it like the world would change once the box was opened. Which was ridiculous, with the defensive line collapsing it would take a miracle to save the city.
Everything is far too late now.
Jen opened the box.
X,x,X,
A pillar of light spilled out, sowing divine miracle on the city of Yhandiff.
Food appeared to those who were hungry, the wounded were healed. For a simple perfect moment, everything felt right in the world.
Secretly, where no one could see ten people stood up receiving something hidden.
Then, the light ended.
Spies within the city got to work. They investigated the event, inwardly scoffing at their findings. They cited that the light show was simply the last comfort the fallen gods of this world to their doomed followers.
As for the wooden box, only a simple bracelet made of overlapping circles was left.
- on it was carved the words -
Tempus Circulo
X.x.X.
QM note:
Hello everyone! The update is getting seriously long so I'll just stop here for now. That and I feel that this is a natural stopping point … so yeah… Also, now you know your current fighting style.
Throw items at the enemy!
Maybe you can emulate Gilgamesh someday lol
Anyway, let's talk about Jen's build for now. As you may have surmised from this update you have abysmal combat skill but Jen is still a player that managed to survive this hardcore MMORPG so where did all those sweet exp go?
The answer to that is you're a crafter. Perhaps THE CRAFTER wherein the player base is concerned and due to that, you will a perk/skill when you get isekai after the prologue which is called Crafter's Heart which basically gives bonus learning for a field of crafting.
So while I make the other half of your update. Please pick three professions that you think Jen has the highest skill at. This is to generate your skill and help me to plan plot hooks better. Culinary is not on the list because it was voted on the previous update and with the Gluttony trait will be automatically receiving more than the maximum learning bonus for crafter's heart. Please note that the way I will calculate this is by ratio. There is already a predetermined amount of xp and I will ration it by votes. For example, Alchemy gets 4 of the votes with 8 voters Then, that meant alchemy will get half of the maximum xp possible.
Note that this is just the starting learning bonus and doesn't lock any of the professions. It just makes things easier for Jen to relearn the said profession, so just pick your favorites. None is a bad choice.
1. The difference between Enchanting vs. Runemaking
Each rune symbolizes a concept. For example. you learn the rune of Izaaz which is Ice. At the rudimentary level, you can slap the rune into an item and it will become "icelike". The user only has to channel some mana into the sword and it will activate the rune. The sword then does extra ice damage! This effect is permanent until the sword isn't in good condition or the rune gets damaged.
The process of enchanting, on the other hand, is different. First, you must know the spell that you want to put. For a given example, let's say fireball. Then, you put the spell on let's say a wand. Depending on the level of your enchantment, you could put like 1 fireball or 100 fireballs in that wand. After that, you have a wand of fireball which you could use with just a flick of your finger o whatever movement you programmed on it. The difference though is once the charges of enchantment ran out, you have to put another charge again (if your wand didn't destroy itself).
Enchanting and Rulemaking is synergistic though. A lower example of synergy is making a wand of blasting light but putting a sun and storage rune on it. Now, your wand of blasting light can recharge by being out in the sunlight instead of doing it yourself!
2. The difference between Alchemy, Culinary, and Herbalism
Herbalism is really uber farming turned 11. It helps you plant that magical plant that only lives in the middle of the volcano at your backyard. It can also help you double the yield of plant gathering. If you grow plants, you can with a lot of work put special traits in them, like for example you want to make magical resistant oak or something.
Alchemy is basically transformation at the core. It transforms the 1 kg of coal into diamond for instance. Its also not like cooking in the process. For alchemy, you gather plants that have healing properties and you alchemize them into an elixir for instance. Said elixir would then be able to grow your missing arm in an instant but after using it will have a cooldown because the elixir used all your fat and the next elixir you consumed will probably kill you instead of heal you.
Culinary at high levels will give you buffs. More importantly, even at minor levels culinary can give permanent stats if you eat a certain type of food enough times. Like you decided to snack on dragon blood for instance. It gives a minor buff of mana regeneration. But, if you kept eating that stuff for a while you notice that your mana is slightly increasing permanently.
3. High level of Tailoring
Really high level of tailoring can have , my backstitch is so good that it turns back the items durability to its original pristine state. My crosstitch is amazing that I can stitch two different materials together and make it occupy the same space. Stuff like that.
Vote called. Sorry for taking a bit too long, I took a commission work for a friend of mine since he's running out of deadline and it ate up some of my free time. The update should come within 24-48 hours?
50% bonus exp to culinary skills see: epicurean dream skill for more details
31% bonus exp to enchanting
31% bonus exp to runemaking
24% bonus exp to animal husbandry
22% bonus exp to architecture
14% bonus exp to alchemy
14% bonus exp to herbalism
11% bonus exp to engineering
3% bonus exp to tailoring
3% bonus exp to mining
3% bonus exp blacksmithing
rare skill scriptwriting automatically available on character creation
Jen has a natural talent for creation and it reflected very well in the previous timeline. Her culinary skill among the players is simply without contest.
She also managed to reach a lofty height in several profession notably enchanting and runemaking. The top guild Vigilance owes a great amount of its success to her enchantment and runes which she managed to apply everywhere. And I meant everywhere. Because one of her other great talents is in architecture.
While she hasn't spent much time on animal husbandry as enchanting and runemaking, she has a natural talent for it. Animals just love her and she doesn't have much obedience problem with tamed monsters. Besides this, she also is one of the top suppliers of alchemical and engineering items and occasionally dabbled in tailoring and blacksmithing in order to supplement her enchanting.
Of the gathering professions, Jen is quite good at herbalism and only slightly average in mining. Still, Jen is decent enough to tell precious metals and ores apart easily.
Finally, Jen has developed skills on the rare field of scriptwriting,
Notes:
Formula used:
= Votes/ Voters X 50% for every field.
Comments:
*Animal Husbandry gets an additional 10% if voted because of the trait "kindness".
*Note that even a 3% on something meant that Jen got all the basics of the profession down.
Jen woke up on her enchanted cloud mattress feeling her head pounding. She really shouldn't have taken those shots. But, when Wistari offered to share a millennial old wine flavored with Ygrassdril sap Jen just couldn't help herself.
When the light show ended, everyone seemed to have extra healings of food in front of them and while Jen was sure that in other areas cooler heads have prevailed and they preserved a greater part of the food. The part of the city that is under the players' control had an impromptu party. They have to do something about the food that appeared after all. The players usually have limited inventory space and food was a minor consideration to Jen's great consternation.
Clink Clink
While trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes, Jen noticed her brand new bracelet.
A simple bracelet made of unknown golden metal embedded with the words tempus circulo. It holds a mysterious power within.
Effect1: Can bring back the wearer to her original condition 5 seconds ago. It can only be activated once every 24 hours.
Effect2: ???
Effect3: ???
It is a bit gaudy for her taste but the effect is simply amazing.
To bring back the wearer to her original condition 5 seconds ago means Jen could get stabbed then activate this equipment and promptly get unstabbed. It is basically a life-saving accessory of Legendary quality as it broaches the time domain. Jen despite her best effort doesn't have any of those.
The other two unknown effects were a bit worrying but not much so. Her guild has found other equipment and items that were difficult to appraise and they've found that if an item has a question mark on its effect it's either one hasn't met a certain requirement or it is sealed somehow. It is a bit suspicious that Jen got it for such a low amount but she wasn't the type of person to look at a gift horse's mouth.
With bleary eyes, Jen got out of her bed and staggered toward the kitchen, careful not to step into some of her guildmates that lied sprawled on the floor.
"Good Morning!" Nathaniel's cheerful voice called out along with another spike of headache.
"That was some party! Ain't it Jen?" William's uproarious voice doesn't help it either.
Looking at the two of her guildmates' perky faces and knowing that the two of them drank just as much if not more at the party, Jen felt a stab of irritation. Maybe she should have tried to develop her poison resistance like Nat or perhaps tried to improve her constitution like William?
Then again, that involved getting poisoned and other troublesome things.
At least, Declan appeared to be hilariously drank considering he was dead to the world facedown at the table. Feeling her neck creaking at his rough posture, Jen drew one of her emergency pillows and gave it to William.
"Help me put it to Dec," Jen asked.
"Sure, sure," Nat grinned snatched the pillow then threw it to the floor. He then promptly kicked Declan's chair which promptly tilted backward with a loud crash.
Jen looked at Nathaniel with exasperation.
"I'm just correcting his posture and the pillow is there," Nat innocently replied. And true enough, Declan's head hit the pillow exactly right.
"Hahaha! No harm no foul!" William concurred beside him.
Feeling this was a lost cause and giving a silent apology to Declan, Jen sat on the table and began to take out a brewing equipment, her special coffee beans, a burner, along with a sobriety potion Jen made specifically for this sort of occasion.
In a few minutes, everything is ready and Jen is nursing a nice black blend which promptly made her headache disappear along with giving her body an energizing gentle heat. If she decided to check her status window, she'll probably see a minor invigorating buff activated.
"This stuff tastes good as always," Nat said from the side.
"I say that tea would be better, but someone is a philistine," Willaim complained.
"The peanut gallery should remain silent if they still want another," Jen threateningly moved the beaker away from William. "Besides, tea is a bit too mild for this, the potion's aftertaste would ruin it."
"Bah, I still say you can make it work."
"Well, if someone managed to get the Havalist instead of burning it I could have made some but no…."
"Well, I have to get the hallucinogenic spores out some way."
"You should have entrusted that job to me, William burns everything…"
X.x.X.
After bickering with Nathaniel and William and eating her breakfast, Jen made a few more batches of the special sobering coffee and entrusted it to Lisa, another of their guildmates who was normally in charge of logistics to distribute it to her guildmates who will be needing it soon.
At least in the players' quarters, there is a dramatic difference between the atmosphere yesterday and the present. While there is still a sense of hopelessness in the air, it wasn't as omnipresent as before. If nothing else the party lifted the mood of this section of the city.
Right now, she was in front of Vigilance temporary headquarters waiting for Karen. While the party was underway, some NPC's also visited. Some were officials that expressed their thanks for the food and inquired if they could repeat the same thing anytime soon. Others were just simple people who wanted to thank them. Some were NPC's that her guildmates have high relationship with.
Of course as one of those who did diplomacy for the guild, several of Fantasia's residents visited Jen that night to inquire, to just make small talk, to partake in the party and other things. Aoife's particular visit stood out to mind considering he hinted that he managed to solve the blight problem. As a fellow culinary enthusiast, of course, Jen was curious about the process.
*Clink* *Clank*
Around her, the atmosphere stills as if the world temporarily paused.
Her new bracelet suddenly sounded and Jen was surprised to see a young girl wearing a white dress in front of her.
Was her situational awareness that weak?
"We meet again."
Jen blinked, examing the girl again. Last time, soot had covered the girl making her pitiable but now with clean clothes and with the light of the sun, no matter how dim -
Brown curling hair, sparkling green eyes, and a grin that made Jen smile reflexively back -
She's really cute!
"You kept your promise. Thank you." the child sweetly intoned while simultaneously offering an apple - if perhaps the brightest and most luscious apple to her. Just a whiff of the sweet scent has Jen drooling.
"Please have this." The girl offered the apple.
But, before Jen could even touch the apple or even contemplate if this is a trap.
A young man held the girl's arm halting the offer. "No fair sister, you agreed that I should do the thanking."
The young girl only smiled innocently. "You can't blame me, I might not be greedy as our sister but I have problems with letting go of things I like as well."
Why does Jen have the feeling that they are talking about her? She was about to interrupt and get some clarification on this increasingly mysterious conversation when the elder brother fully faced her.
Blonde hair and amber eyes.
A face as dazzling as the sun smiled at her.
Jen felt her face heating up.
"Dearest benefactor, please take this as a token of appreciation." He took her hand and kissed the back of it like a gallant knight toward a princess.
"I --"
But, before she could say anything both the siblings disappeared in a blink of an eye, leaving a confused Jen behind.
"What just happened?"
*Mark of Kindness??? Is now available on the status window*
X.x.X.
QM note:
Hah! Finally finished. Aoife section is once again deferred to the next update. The next vote involved the closest faction to Jen, this will determine some of Jen's skill and starting influence after the prologue. As Aoife's race will be dependent on which race you pick here. The skill epicurean dream, the mechanics and flavor of the said skill will greatly depend on which faction you pick here.
As a rule of the thumb for starting influence: Humans > Elves > Fey
As for the skill that you can possibly get and the effect that it will have on epicurean dream: Fey > Elves> Humans
Don't worry, I made sure that starting skill will be useful to your build.
[ ] Humans - Jen is a human is it any wonder that Jen is closest to the human nations.
There are several human nations in Fantasia. The Empire of Chin, the Four Kingdoms Alliance, The Republican Merchant of Ven and others. In the face of the apocalypse though the survivors banded together. Since humans were present in all expansions, having insider knowledge of their workings beyond even what is given by lore explorer can only help. Note that the four kingdoms are the setting of the base game.
*Gives the best starting NPC influence bonus, gives no additional skill and minor improvement on epicurean dream.
[ ] Elves - the children of nature who seek only harmonious balance is it any wonder Jen likes them?
As Elves were born from the union of elementals and spirit, there are several types of elves in Fantasia. There are the classic wood elves, the solitary fire elves, the flighty air elves and many more. Elves are usually long-lived, an ordinary member having a millennial lifespan. While elves as a race will only be introduced in the middle of the MMORPG lifespan, they mingle with other races as well. Even at the base game, some elves are present in the four kingdoms if you can find them.
*Gives minor starting NPC influence bonus, gives a minor skill and major improvement on epicurean dream.
[ ]Fey - eldritch creatures from beyond Fantasia, considered as much as an outsider as the players and their six gods; Jen is one of the few who do well in dealing with them.
Harkens from the old tales of fairy creatures than the new modern fairy tale take, they are divided into the Summer Court and the Winter Court. They sent emissary toward Fantasia to help with the invasion as well as to form an alliance against the siege of demonkind and their masters from the abyss. They came from another world and went into play at the last expansion, so any insider knowledge gleaned from them if any is kinda useless.
*Gives no starting NPC influence bonus, gives a rare skill and a ridiculous overhaul to epicurean dream that it will become a unique skill.
Jen was still in a state of confusion when Karen arrived, jumping in front of her from a nearby building.
"Ah! Don't scare me like that!" she scolded. "By the way, did you see a pair of native brother and sister while up there?"
The weapon master gave a negative shrug.
I suppose having an easily solvable mystery is too much to hope for.
Wait, she felt a system announcement. Sure enough, something was added to her status window.
message
Mark of Kindness??? Kindness is never wasted. Blessed is the receiver and twice blessed the giver.
What does this do? It doesn't sound bad but the fact that she got it a trait from a random encounter has certain implications. In Fantasia's logic, only greater beings could probably do that.
"Jen? Is something wrong?"
Jen shared her status window and explained what happened.
"You are such a troublemaker. I wish I could put you in a box sometimes."
"It really wasn't my fault." Really things just sort of happened to Jen. Being accosted by an admirer was something that she dealt in real life, not in a game.
"I think I understand your brother's feeling now." Karen just sighed at her. "Are you still going to the human quarters?
"Yeah. I need some more good news and Aoife is just the ticket." Besides, it already happened and worrying about it wouldn't do anything anyway. At least with Aoife, she'll learn something and get some delicious food in the bargain.
X.x.X.
The human-controlled part of the city is just beside the player quarters. Or perhaps, it is more accurate to say that the players' quarters are within the human region. This is to be expected considering that players are humans in real life and in the game and such superficial similarity breeds trust. It does make one wonder what would have happened if the race change option was widely implemented. Jen remembered there was a quest for that three years into the game's life span but the requirements were a bit onerous that no one has ever completed it.
Her musing was cut short when a passing patrolman hailed them, "Good Morning Lady Jen! Lady Karen!"
"Good Morning Sir Arnold!" Jen answered back. "Have a safe patrol!"
"Do you need an escort to the headquarters, milady?" Another soldier who was busy cleaning his gear stopped and approached two of them.
Jen politely declined. "Thank you, I'm just visiting Aoife for now."
"Please call me if you need anything!"
There were other greeters and wellwishers, polite inquiries and random conversations from the people that spotted them. Jen was happy to entertain them, aware that this might be the last time she might see them. After a while though, the two of them reached Aoife's place, which also doubled as a mess hall and kitchen for the human soldiers. Aoife, himself, is outside the wooden hall dissecting a mighty hellhound with a butcher's knife. Jen immediately noticed a few burn marks on his hands and wondered how he got them; it wasn't there the last time she visited.
Seeing them approach, he gestured to a nearby table full of cooking implements. "Wait a bit, I just need to get this done." With a flourish, he cut the hellhound's shank and laid it in front of them.
"About what you've said yesterday... " Jen began without preamble, behind her Karen sat on the bench a few feets away a silent sentinel as always.
"Ah that... I'm planning to test it further before you arrived."
"Perfect. We can see how it is done!" Jen clapped her hands.
"Well, don't be too hopeful. I've hit some snags here and there…."
"Don't be pessimistic. I'm sure it will work! You've said that you're inspired by how the wind elves sing, right?"
"Yeah. When my father was around he taught me how to sing to the wind and sometimes even toward plants..." At this, Aoife unconsciously touched his slightly pointed ears, the only sign of his elven heritage.
Jen has long heard of Aoife's father. Rumor and tales painted a whirlwind romance between the gallant wind elf and a beautiful noblewoman. Thankfully, the Kingdom of Ceya being a seafaring country that receives traffic from many races, has long been inoculated to such unions and the response of the public was just mild curiosity and bawdy tales in the tavern. It even worked out the best for Aoife's parents as the two of them managed to build a powerful merchant fleet.
It would have been the perfect happy ending except Aoife's parents ran afoul of pirates which they now knew to be backed by warlocks. The warlocks aimed to isolate the continents from each other and thus merchant companies like Aoife's parents were the first to go.
Knowing that this was a somewhat sensitive topic, Jen made a sympathetic expression.
"I don't have much talent in being a merchant or seafarer, and I'm not naturally good at magic like most elves, but I learned a few things from him... "
"Should you be telling me this?" Jen interrupted. "I mean…"
"Heh. I don't think my father would mind. He was always a bit carefree about these things and it is not like I'm talking about tribe secrets. Besides, this is something I've discovered myself. And well, if things get worse it would be nice if a piece of my craft would live on... "
To this, Jen only fell silent. The knowledge that the players were from another world is not really a secret. With the desperate threats that Fantasia has there were a lot of talks of moving into the players' world until it was found out that demon pillars prevented such things. Sometimes, Jen privately wondered if that move was possible though. Fantasia is a game but Jen was increasingly convinced that...
"Anyway, you know mage sight right?"
"Yeah. Perhaps better than you even." Jen teased respecting Aoife's change of subject.
"And you know element sight as well?" Element sight is a significant feature of the elves. It was widely known the elves see elemental mana naturally and they are especially sensitive to their own elemental nature with the wind elves seeing wind mana, forest elves seeing living mana and so on. Only the high elves, their ruling caste, are said to be sensitive to all of it. Of course, various magicians have tried many spells to replicate the effect over the years and their spell creation while not exactly common is not that rare to find either.
"Yes, I know that as well." Jen may not be a battle mage but elemental sight is very useful for enchanting purposes.
"Then you know aural sight?"
"Of course. If you combine elemental sight with mage sight, you can see an object's aura." Jen nodded quite familiar with the topic, it was something she did once she finished with high level enchanting, to check if there was no magical instability.
"And you know that living beings have natural auras of our own."
Jen nodded again.
"Well, when an elf sings to the wind, they are actually using the wind element in their aura to manipulate the natural wind mana in their surroundings. This is done by seeping it on their voice. So I thought what if I could do that with cooking as well? "
"Wait. Is that what gives your cooking the extra kick?" Jen realized. No matter the recipe or the ingredients - Aoife's cooking always has a sort of unique flavor within it, a flavorful light salty aftertaste making one long for an ephemeral something. It was what made his restaurant so popular back then.
"Yeah. That's how I do it. Now open your mage sight and watch this," Aoife pointed at the hellhound shank right in front of them. With Jen's mage sight opened she could see the greens rivulets of magical corruption running through the whole shank.
Then, Aoife minced the shank and mixed white purifying powder on it. Whenever the powder touched the meat, the poisonous green hissed and disappeared. Finally, after thoroughly mixing it with the powder, the green color thoroughly disappeared.
"Currently, this is how we neutralize the poison within the meat and this means that it is quite safe for consumption. But, you know the problem with it right?"
"Yes, eating it for long periods of time make the eater irritable and weaker."
"Now watch it with aural sight."
When Jen switched to aural sight, she could see that the meat still has a sickly greenish glow.
"Even if the poisonous substance is gone, the mana of it has already seeped in the hellhound's body so it has an aural imprint even when it was gone."
"Now, watch when I try to use my technique on it."
With aural sight, Jen could see Aoife's light blue aura flowing to the meat trying to infiltrate the sickly green tinged aura. She could see how the two neutralized each other. Could see how Aoife's hand began to flake as if burned...
Wait.
Burned?!
Before she could even move, Karen is already at the other side of the table pulling Aoife's hand away. After that, Jen reached out for her healing poultices and began to put the prepared ointment into the reckless chef's hand.
"Do you need to demonstrate that?" Karen asked. Jen concurred. Considering the fresh scar burns on Aoife's hands such a thing mush have been tried several times already.
The reckless chef had the gall to laugh, "Look at the meat now, it is lighter than before right?"
Jen did look with her aural sight, the green is a tad lighter...
Hmm... my aura is actually larger than Aoife, I wonder if ...
That train of thought abruptly died when Jen noticed that Karen is looking at her with judging eyes.
Jen just smiled innocently.
Karen didn't appear to be buying it, drat.
X.x.X.
skills
You've acquired a new skill!
Epicurean Dream
Type: Passive Skill
+50% bonus exp on culinary skills
culinary creations acquire ???
The culmination of Jen's cooking skill from the previous timeline. It gives a massive bonus to learning any type of culinary creations. More than that, Jen's last conversation with Aoife have resulted in a birth of culinary style - one that allows Jen to express her unique flair as a chef on the dish.
X.x.X.
QM Note:
The update is done!
Regarding the Epicurean Dream Skill, the ??? will be updated when Jen formally acquires the skill and find what is the difference between Aoife's style of cooking and the normal way. Her aura has its own effect different from Aoife's.
This is the base version of the skill. Mechanically, it is possible to acquire the upgraded epicurean dream that the elf choice gives. Narratively, this is why Aoife is half-elven. Regarding how to get the elven skill, I put some hints about it in the update itself, really.
Now, is time to get a plot coupon that would allow you to slip in the person's retinue after the prologue.
[ ] Aldwyn Loann
The heir of the defunct Kingdom of Loann. The Kingdom of Loann is known for its brave knights and fertile fields supplying most of the food of the alliance. Aldwyn, himself, ascended the throne when his mother died of infected wounds. Though, there are hints of foul play regarding this considering the revelation of warlocks' plot early in the game and the fact that his mother was a famous runic knight and thus could easily recover from it.
Aldwyn, ascension to the throne was marked by severe unrest due to the beast tide provoked by a secret cabal attacking his kingdom which also left it as easy picking for the rejuvenated horde.
Aldwyn currently is a powerful runic knight leading what is left of his people in Yhandiff.
[ ] Christiana Bouryn
Part of the royal family of the mountain kingdom of Bouryn as her uncle is the current king and an apprentice of the leading magister of the magical city-state of Alusa. She was implicated and charged with poisoning her mentor, thus causing a diplomatic rift between Bouryn and Alusa.
At the subsequent investigation, Christiana was never found and have thought to have fled. This later was thought to be false as she was held by warlocks. Later it was found, Nestor, the new archmage in league with the secret cabal and was orchestrating chaos in the surrounding areas. With the resources and power of his new positon, he opened a new demon gate inviting the legion of the Knight Furcas to Fantasia. No one knows how Christiana escaped but she returned as a powerful sorceress who assassinated Nestor for his crimes.
Currently, Christiana is in Yhandiff helping to fight the demons in her solitary way.
