[Welcome to Freedom. Please design and name your character.]
Moira smiled brightly as she chose the details of her character: a young female elf with enchantingly long shiny black hair and vibrant emerald eyes. "I choose the name 'Dancing Princess."
[Name is currently available. Would you like to complete the character design?]
"Yes!"
[You may choose a starting package. It is recommended that you choose a weapon and armor. You may choose a total of 3 items.]
Moira slowly looked through all the available items.
After a few hours, she was finally ready to log in.
[Beginning introduction. The information will be available for review on the help menu.]
Meanwhile; Jericho made his human character look like himself, just a little less food deprived. "I choose the name 'Jericho the Bard'."
[Name is currently available. Would you like to complete the character design?]
"Yes."
[You may choose a starting package. It is recommended that you choose a weapon and armor. You may choose a total of 3 items.]
Jericho paused. "Is there a search function?"
[Yes.]
"Search for musical instruments."
A long list appeared before him. Jericho found two smaller instruments he liked and was very familiar with; the ocarina and the violin.
"Search armor."
A shorter list of beginner armor and their general usage appeared before him.
He saw a black medieval vest that was classified as light leather armor. "What a great find." He chuckled as he selected the cloths as his final item.
[Beginning introduction. The information will be available for review on the help menu.]
Jericho became his avatar and walked into the doorway. He was quickly taught the basics of how to access all of his menus.
[While applying skills will not be covered in this tutorial, skills follow the rules below.]
The game has countless 'pre-created skills.' These skills can be learned from either a skill book or an instructor. Skills obtained in this manner will always start at skill level beginner 0/10.
Each skill falls under one or more "skill line" categories. Skill lines are measured by proficiency a person has within that skill set. Examples: Fireball is a tier 3 magic spell. "Fire skill line must be at stage 3 to learn. Burning blade is a hybrid skill requiring both the blade skill line and Fire skill line to be at Tier 2.
Skills beyond your capabilities can be learned but cannot be used until unlocked.
Skill lines can be observed in the help menu. While it won't give you a list of skills in the skill line, it will give you ideas of what types of skills belong to those levels and some combination skills. Skill lines increase proficiency based on the highest ranked skill known.
Besides teachers and skill books, skills can be obtained manually. Repeatedly performing the equivalent actions with the intent of 'creating' a skill will eventually unlock the skill. The skill's level will vary depending upon the combined results of application. While this allows for skills to be learned, it often takes significantly longer to obtain unless you are already familiar with the skill. If the person attempting to obtain the skill does not meet the basic requirements, the skill can be obtained but remains locked until proficiency has been reached.
No game in existence can account for every possible skill and skill type initially. As a result, skills can be created. The system will do a thorough analysis of the actions and intentions of the creator before creating the skill. The skill's level will be based on the person's performance. Once the skill has been created, the system will add it to the list of skills. The creator of the skill's name will be labeled next to the skill if it is ever found as a skill book.
Details about different skill types and how they operate can be found in the various city and town libraries.
[Basic characters start with base stats of 1 with 70 assignable stat points. Every level up, you gain 5 assignable stat points. Every 3 levels instead of gaining the 5 assignable points, all stats increase by 1. Statistics are shown as follows.]
Strength- Determines how much weight a character can carry, inventory weight capacity, and strength of physical capabilities.
Agility- Determines movement speed, attack speed, and other speed based actions.
Dexterity- Determines how good a character is with precision based actions. Actions that require nimble hands are greatly impacted by this stat.
Constitution- Determines max HP, max stamina, and resistances to physical ailments.
Endurance- Determines Health and stamina regeneration. Endurance also reduces the strain of physical activities.
Intelligence- Determines the number of different types of items a character can carry and the power of non-physical capabilities.
Wisdom- Determines Max MP and resistances to mental ailments.
Will- Determines MP regeneration, and reduces the strain of mental activities.
Charisma- Determines how influential your actions have upon others and increases the effects of charisma based abilities.
Luck- Determines the probability of things going better than expected.
Jericho laughed as he looked at the list of stats. "Truly a musician needs all of these, but I should have a little bit of a focus. Dexterity, Endurance, Will, and Charisma are musts and I could use a bit of extra luck."
He pulled out his stats and assigned the points where he felt they best fit.
"Status"
Jericho the Bard LV 0
HP 50/50 HP Regen: 11/minute (Approximately 1 every 5.5 seconds)
Stamina 25/25 Stamina Regen: 11/minute (Approximately 1 every 5.5 seconds)
MP 25/25 MP Regen: 11/Minute (Approximately 1 every 5.5 seconds)
Carrying capacity 50 Lbs Inventory space 25 slots
Strength 5 Agility 5 Dexterity 11 Constitution 5
Endurance 11 Intelligence 5 Wisdom 5 Will 11
Charisma 15 Luck 7
Skills: NONE
[Welcome Jericho the Bard to the starting town of Trillith. Due to special circumstances, Player Dancing Princess is added to your friend list. When she enters the game, she will also start in Trillith.]
Jericho opened his eyes. The small town was quite busy. Players and NPCs were everywhere. "While I wait for Moira I should see how accurate these instruments are." He muttered as he sat down at the well in a more secluded part of town and turned his violin.
After confirming that the notes on the violin were correct he pulled out the ocarina and started to play a calm minor toned heroic piece. He closed his eyes, immersing himself into his music.
The surrounding players were shocked to hear music coming from the well. A few gathered around to listen.
After a few minutes the melody ended. He took a breath and started playing sad music filled with hope; an arrangement that felt like someone waiting for their loved one to return.
When the music finished he put his ocarina away and looked up. He fell backwards, surprised by the gathering in front of him. He quickly grabbed the well's rope before he fell in.
Some members of the audience laughed.
A sturdy woman in heavy armor came forward and lifted Jericho back up.
"Thank you." He smiled.
"Be careful next time." The woman replied placing a silver coin in his hand before walking off.
Jericho smiled at the crowd. "This rarely happens on the street in reality." He muttered happily to himself. He pulled the ocarina back out. "You all seem to want to hear more. Let me give you something more playful." He let out a slight smirk. "I call it, Feather Rush." He placed the ocarina up to his mouth and started playing a very fast paced lively staccato tune.
As he finished, three notification appeared before Jericho.
[You have acquired the skill Ocarina. Evaluation results skill level Expert 8/10]
[You have acquired the skill line Music. Due to current skill level of 'Ocarina' Skill line is currently rated at tier 3. Special musical skills can be learned.]
[Your friend 'Dancing Princess, has come online.]
Jericho pushed the first two notifications aside and quickly sent a message to his sister. [I'm by the well.]
The gathering was confused by his sudden pausing.
Jericho smiled. "The next song I am going to play is called Swamp Palace. You can find the full version of this and the other songs I have played today if you look up, 'Jericho Maestro'" He proclaimed before playing another fast paced regal staccato song.
Moira smiled as she saw the crowd. "See, my brother's music is magic." She slipped past the horde of people.
Jericho finished his song and looked at the young elf in an indigo dress that had pushed her way to the front. "I've been waiting for you, Princess."
Moira smiled. "They had clogging shoes. Since you already brought a crowd, can I dance for them?"
Jericho nodded and put the ocarina away. He retrieved his violin. "Which dance?"
She smiled. "Warriors of Darkness."
He lifted his violin and started playing a dark Celtic melody.
Moira started moving her legs quickly causing the metal plates on the soles of her shoes to clack against the pavement in rhythmic patterns. The indigo dress fluttered wildly. Her dancing gave off an imposing aura of dominance which was strange coming from her small frame.
As they finished Jericho patted his sister's head. "Now that you have shown them you can't be messed with how about we go with something gentler?"
She nodded and removed her shoes. "Celtic Dream."
"Sure." He started plucking at the strings on the violin in a calming arraignment.
Moira started dancing slowly and elegantly like a fairy.
The two added their voices to the mix.
A few musical pieces later, the two were exhausted.
"Thank you everyone, for your support today. Sadly, we have worn ourselves out and must bring an end to our performance today. Remember, Look up Jericho Maestro and support us."
Many people donated a few copper and silver coins before departing.
Later that day, on the forums. A post attracted the eyes of a few dozen individuals.
Person 1: A strange miracle occurred today. Here is a video clip showing the man called Jericho the Bard using the strange object to play music and the young elf, Dancing Princess, dancing. They were found in Trillith.
Person 2: What is that object? How did he get wonderful music into the game like that?
…
Person 29: I looked up Jericho. He doesn't use any of the apps to make his music. They are all recordings of him using strange objects. They are called instruments. They were common in history but lost popularity about 200 years ago. His music is great considering his medium. There are even a few videos of a young girl dancing. I suspect Princess is his sister. How long did she have to train in order to get that skilled? Those are dancing skills that were popular back in the 1000s and early 2000s. There were a few performance companies famous for shows using similar types of dancing back in the day.
Person 33: No wonder he can bring music into the game like that. It isn't some advanced thing.
Person 34: You try playing one of those two things he played. I doubt you could produce anything remotely close to as good as he does.
Person 35: Dancing Princess and Jericho the Bard we support you!
…
© J Eranoth