We all ate a light breakfast. Sorex had made some grilled leeks for us to eat before heading back into the magic iceberg. Leeks actually tested pretty good. A little plain, but pretty good. I got up, "Time to start looting I guess."
Viree asked, "Is this what most adventures are like?"
I shrugged, "Most of mine at least. Starts with stealth, once stealth is lost just hide in a corner or something and beat the shit out of everyone. After that its looting and investigation."
Sorex nodded, "Most fights are ended before they actually start. Unless the two parties are of equal force. In which it comes down to smaller details. A good example is when adventurers fight the undead. The undead are almost always physically stronger or have higher numbers. They have a very exploitable flaw however. They are undead, most of them don't have intelligence anymore. Just vengeance, grief or some kind of duty is all that is left of them. The except to this are liches, necromancers and vampires."
I agreed with Sorex, "The most important traits of an adventure is to be sly, alert and thinking on the fly. Those three traits will get you through most dangers."
Viree sighed, "I feel like I'm being disillusioned."
Sorex laughed, "I think it is pretty fun. Anyway, we got a lot of work to do."
I slipped through the entrance first and noticed it seemed to get slightly bigger seems it was melting. The ship still sat there, shivered. "I do not like this quiet."
My two companions agreed we couldn't even hear the sound of the water anymore. This time when we entered the ship we had a clearer plan. Sorex would collect usable books, weapons and miscellaneous objects. Viree would be clearing up the Captains room, while I handled the cargo hold. I had a good idea on how to handle the Hearth. I just wanted to make sure they don't get hurt or something.
We all split off and I entered the cargo hold. At first I though I'd need to search everything. However in the back of the cargo hold I could... I could feel it. I found the remains of a shattered chest. Ice had formed inside of it and broke the chest and lock box that held the hearth. It looked almost like a sapphire pearl.
My hands glowed with a blue light and I casted grant frost resistance. Sure enough I now had beyond 100% frost resistance. I reached out for the Hearth and even with all the frost resistance I had it was cold to the touch.
{Atmoran inheritance added}
{Living Blizzard added}
{Frozen Death added}
{Achievement, First Player to unlock their Personal Quest}
{Unique Achievement, Eye of a dead storm}
{New Personal quest added, A forgotten land.}
{Personal quest has been unlocked. Would you like to view the memories of the past?}
{Personal Quest added, Would you like to view the adapted backstory?}
I blinked and before I spoke everything went black.
------
A man in a business suit greeted a man bound to a wheelchair. "So would you like to test it?"
The man in the wheelchair asked, "Before that, let me see if I got this right. You are offering terminal or uncurable patients the ability to try out your new game, right?"
The suited man nodded, "Yes."
The wheelchaired man asked, "The game is essentially a completed world? and said world is an elder scrolls game?"
The suited man nodded, "Well, it is actually just the beta. To test the AI, see if if the technology it uses can care for patients like yourself, and finally give people a second chance."
The wheel chair man sighed, "Sure I am in. Explain the rest."
------
I jerked awake. I was in bed... I sighed, "just another one of those weird dreams. My imagination getting the better of me."
I grabbed my bow and left my house. The air was extra cold today. Yriggim waved to me, "Vek! about time you wake up. You remember your mission?"
I scoffed, "Yes! I know! Leave for skyrim, build a reputation, come back to save the bastion. Three easy steps."
Yriggim shook his head, "It is more than that, but yes. We need help to stop the Keldefrost."
I straightened my cloak. The Keldefrost was a living storm swallowing the whole of Atmora. I breathed in the cold air. "I'll figure something out. When have I not?"
Yriggim nodded, "Here is all the gold we have. Heh, at least the stuff when we still used currency. We can't offer you much else Vek. So you will need to do what you can. May Kyne be with you."
I bowed, "May Kyne be with you."
With the sack of gold I pocketed. Jaclyn ran over. "Vek, wait! Take this!"
She held out a book. "That's your prized possession though."
She smirked, "I think you will need it more. Besides, something to at least remember us by."
I nodded, "Thanks Jaclyn."
She shoved me forward, "Go to the docks and get on that boat. Never forget where you came from!"
I smiled, "How could I forget this hellhole?"
-------
I snapped awake again. This time I was in control. I felt a little sick from the flood of memories. Not only did I get most of my memories back from before the game. I also got what I assume was my character backstory. I paused sorting my thoughts out.
Starting with my past... life. I guess it is a past life. I had agreed to play this game essentially permeantly. On earth I was paralyzed from the neck down. The cause wasn't really important, just the fact I was not happy with my life. I don't really know how I feel about that.
The players had their memories wiped when we entered the game. However we would get them back when we unlock the personal quests. This made sense to me. It raised some questions about killing other players, but truth be told. It really didn't matter to me.
I checked the quest log, sure enough that blank quest turned into my personal quest. I thought for a moment. I decided on burying all that. If I was truly paralyzed on earth I wanted to enjoy this chance all the more. After all I remembered my circumstance on earth, not my name, age or any other detail like that. So I was well and truly Vek Frostwane now.
Second was the backstory. It seemed obviously tied to my personal quest. The problem I saw with this however was I didn't make my backstory very in depth. This meant everything was adapted for the players to match according to their wills. I theorized that the personal quest was basically set on three conditions.
Number one, whatever you made your basic backstory at the start as. Second was how much you are using that backstory in the present. The third condition was something connecting you to your backstory.
This raised some questions about how all this worked. Was this all luck or was things re-written to be based on player actions? Perhaps it was both... I looked at my personal quest again. Acquire the means to save Atmora from the living storm.
Perhaps in time I'd get an in lore explanation. For now it mattered little to me. I thought for a moment. I wasn't the type to dwell on these things. I buried this along with my original memories. I would literally never mention this to anyone.
More importantly I now had a ton of information swirling around in my head that was loosely related to my backstory. Information on the hearth and how to use it. Some fighting techniques unique to Atmora. Information on frost giants, which I honestly didn't expect. Apparently Atmora tamed frost giants to fight for them.
I looked down at the hearth and sighed. I breathed in and with a flick of my wrist ice formed. I reversed the motion and the ice melted away into nothing. Yup, so it was real. Which meant I was holding a heart of a living storm. The Hearth of Isazmelta was heart of a living blizzard much like the one consuming Atmora. A literal manifestation of the elements.
Living storms could create Ice wraiths, the frozen dead, and all sorts of stuff like that. Stalhrim was actually a side effect. I laughed, at that. Stalhrim a material as strong as ebony was a side effect. Sadly the Hearth couldn't do half the stuff an actual living storm could do. The hearth was essentially a corpse of a living storm. I marched out of the ship as I left the cargo hold I could no longer see my breath. I hadn't realized how cold it was down there.
-----Yeah, that is it for the meta information. You know the 'past life stuff'. I felt like I needed to establish it, but keep it somewhat vague at the same time. So that is basically it. He didn't die or anything like that in real life. He is just literally a part of the game. That's all...-----