Once you make your character, your avatar changes. From your perspective, this is sudden, giving you a sensation of vertigo. You are now short, much shorter than you are IRL. You can also feel the beard on your face. You reach up and stroke it. Currently, it is rather short and unadorned. You know that among dwarves, according to WHF lore, beards are allowed to lengthen with age and achievement, and adornments such as braids and beads are added for particularly worthy feats.
You look around to find yourself again within the void. In front of you is another menu. Quickly, you choose "Start game," and prepare yourself. Another cinematic plays, this one showing scenes ostensibly from your characters apprenticeship, finishing with you being told by your master that your apprenticeship was finished, and that, as a reward for being "not a complete failure," he was sending you to Altdorf as an escort for a commissioned sword. Once there, you would be on your own and cleared to set up shop as a runecrafter. This was followed by a cutscene showing, from your perspective, your small group being ambushed by bandits and yourself knocked over the head.
You awake to find your avatar body, so different from your own yet feeling insanely real, lying on a straw mattress. You can feel the straw poking you in the back, and the ache in your head where you were clubbed unconscious. Eventually, after the pain subsides and you stop marveling at your new body and the responsiveness of the technology, you sit up. You are clad solely in a pair of linen pants and makeshift sandals. As you leave the bed, a woman enters the room.
"Ah, Master Dwarf! You have awakened. A caravan passing by found you and the remnants of your group along the road and brought you here. You seem to have been the victim of some bandits. They've been plaguing the countryside around here recently, and you're not the first victim. Some of the others are out in the village square. We've dressed you as best we could; we don't have much suited for dwarves. My name is Margaret, I'm the village herbwoman. I'm afraid you'll have to vacate that bed permanently, we need it for the injured."
As she finishes her speech, two men carrying a makeshift stretcher bring in a heavily bandaged man and place him gently on the bed. Margaret looks at you and says "You can buy healing items from me, but if you want to help, see the village headman in the town square. You can't miss him."
Seeing as the important dialogue has likely been finished, you exit the building and are greeted by the sights and smells of a large medieval village. The smells are the worst part, but you gamely plow through and keep them out of your thoughts by marveling at the technology that allows you to experience them. Several other players are gathered in the square, nametags hovering over their heads. There's three humans, two dwarves, and six elves, along with a halfling. The starting village seems kind of crowded. Most are gathered around either a market stall or a tall, bearded man with one arm, who must be the village headman.
You make your way through the crowd and greet the village headman. As you are not in a party at the moment, a separate conversation with the character is spun off and he, from your perspective, not the others, turns to you and begins to speak. "So, Master Dwarf, you have awoken! I am Gunther Aberhoff, head of this village. You were found by the caravan of our local merchant, Freidrich Nussbaum, as he came along the road into town. The bandits that have been causing such problems lately seem to have struck you as well. Your goods were stolen, along with your possessions, and your escort killed. You are lucky to be alive."
The natural language AI built into the game should allow you to hold real conversations with NPCs, so you say "Yes, thank you for helping me." You are somewhat startled by the gruff voice that comes out of your mouth, fitting for a male dwarf. "Is there anything I can do to repay you? I wish to settle any debt I may have, as well as recover my possessions."
Gunther strokes his chin with his remaining hand. "Several people in the village have tasks that need doing. If you visit the blacksmith, he may be able to give you some basic equipment so you can help clear out some of the bandits and other creatures in the woods. We have had some others who were victimized by bandits, they may be able to help you or have tasks that require doing."
A quest acceptance window pops up, reading "Small Beginnings" and you accept it instantly. A quest log appears on the HUD displayed across your vision. "Visit the blacksmith for weapons" is listed, as is "Seek work around town" and "Join a party [Optional]." You absently thank Gunther for his advice and turn to look around the village square. There is a market stall on one side of the square, around which several other players are crowded. The blacksmith's is also here, judging by the shingle over a covered area which is filled with a forge. A man in a leather apron hammers a piece of iron that has been heated red hot, then quenches it in a trough of water.
You walk over to the man and he looks up at you. "Ah, Master Dwarf. I hear you took quite a blow from those bandits. You're undoubtedly here for some gear. Thankfully, I happen to have some sized for a dwarf. I bought it for scrap, but it should work well enough for now." A trade window pops up and you take the few items from the shop inventory marked with a 0 for cost: A poor quality breastplate, a poor quality set of greaves, a poor quality helmet, and a poor quality warhammer. You equip your ramshackle outfit and thank the blacksmith.
Exiting, you consider what to do. You know there are a couple of choices coming up about game rules, so you should probably decide now.
Game rules:
[]Realistic combat: Combat will be realistic. You will have to actually learn to fight using a melee weapon, to load, aim, and fire a blackpowder weapon, to use a bow, etc. This will make combat harder, but also means a skilled player may be able to tackle enemies above their level.
[]MMO combat: You swing in the vague direction of your target and do damage. Your special moves require no skill to use, ranged weapons have a cooldown instead of a reload, etc.
Next action?:
[]Get more quests and do them
[]Go out into the wilds and grind
[]Find a party to join
[]Logout
