by Seth Ring
Flexing his fingers and clenching his fist, Xavier could feel the power in them. Power that his hands in the real world lacked. There was a solidity about this body that his body in the real world didn’t have, a weightiness as if this body was somehow more real. Jumping in place, Xavier felt no discomfort whatsoever. Instead, he felt strong and powerful, as though he could take on the world.
“Thank you, traveler. Due to your race selection, your starting location has been locked. When you arrive at your starting location, you will be prompted to select your name. Once you have entered the game you will encounter many different situations and challenges that will require you to use your wits and strength to overcome. There is much to discover in Nova Terra, including quests, specialized classes, and secret treasure. Please enjoy your stay in Nova Terra!”
As the world of white faded away, Xavier found himself in a small stone room with a magic circle in the center. Standing at the door was a guard who stepped forward with a clipboard and said in a nervous tone as he looked up at Xavier’s towering bulk, “Ho, traveler. Please write your name for the record.”
Mulling over his name choice for a moment, Xavier wrote “Thorn” in the available space. After receiving a small package that included five pieces of bread, each barely big enough for a single bite, five equally small water skins, and five copper coins, he ducked through the door and into a bustling medieval city complete with cobblestone streets.
Welcome to Nova Terra
Welcome, traveler! In order to get your adventure started, please see one of the secretaries at Berum’s city hall to receive your first quest.
You have received 3 Destiny points that can be used to change your destiny.
The long cobblestone street, easily two carts wide, stretched to his right and left, and the colorfully painted wooden buildings that rose on either side presented a charming picture. Hawkers called from their storefronts, trying to attract the attention of the crowds that raced by. Players, easy to spot by their determined movements toward their respective destinations mixed in with the slower, less deliberate townsfolk NPCs who went about their daily lives, unaware of the incongruity between the players and themselves.
Xavier, no, Thorn, was astounded at how realistic everything was and could have been convinced it was reality if not for the box of text hovering in the middle of his vision. Dismissing it with a thought, he joined the flow of players. Despite standing a full two feet above the rest of the crowd, the players were far too preoccupied with their own tasks to pay attention to him. Plagued his whole life by the stares of others, a profound sense of relief swept over him as he looked around at the crowds hurrying by while paying him little to no attention.
In fact, despite his height, there were many other players that stood out far more than Thorn, who was dressed in the simple beginner clothing. Fanciful armor covered a myriad of races streaming by, giving full testament to the claim that Nova Terra was a place of diversity. Graceful elves stalked down the road, brushing past human warriors in massive plate mail armor. Short but wide dwarves cut a determined path through the crowds while equally short halflings slipped through like tiny fish.
Even more interesting were the odd Tigerkin that dotted the crowds or the Birdkin wheeling lazily overhead. Many of the more exotic races could not be seen, since they were more region specific. Demonkin were entirely missing from the city. From the research that he had done, it seemed that Humans and Demonkin formed the two main races of Nova Terra. Each race was part of an empire occupying approximately half of the continent.
It was the friction between these two empires that formed the primary conflict in Nova Terra, with the other races allying themselves with the two main races. Berum, the city where Thorn had spawned, was in the north-west, far from the front lines of the Human and Demonkin conflict. The far north of Angoril was a frozen land of tundra, ice-covered mountains rising like dragon’s teeth into the sky. Berum was located on a long chain of mountains that started in the far north, skirted the steppes and flowed all the way down to the Midlands along the western coast.
Deep forests and tall mountains marked the landscape around Berum, and the local population consisted of hardy human pioneers and taciturn dwarves who preferred to stay in their mountain fortresses.
After spending several minutes looking over the pop-ups that explained how to use his inventory and the limited number of other game features, Thorn decided to spend some time wandering around the city where he had started. Starting points in Nova Terra were based on a variety of factors and were divided into three different categories: rural, urban, and military. Anyone who spawned in a small town was considered to have a rural start while those who first spawned in a city had urban starts. Starting in a military fort was rare but had been known to happen, especially when the player had a military history in the real world.
Surprisingly, Nova Terra was quite adept at identifying what a new player was familiar with and using that knowledge to ease them into this new world. There had been some hubbub when Nova Terra launched because people were concerned that the system was reading the player’s memories, but Horizon’s public demonstrations to the contrary put them at ease.
Looking at his in-game map display, he saw the city he had arrived in, Berum, in the north-west of Angoril, the primary continent in Nova Terra. Even though the game had been out for a number of years, no one had managed to explore the entirety of Angoril, and many a guild was still focused on trying to map out the massive land. Angoril was roughly divided into eight sections, four in the north and four in the south.
From what he had read about Nova Terra, it seemed that each of these sections was a duchy, ruled by an appointed duke. In the center of the northern half of the continent, residing in the floating city that graced most of the advertisements for the game, was the Imperial city where the Human Emperor held court. Mirroring this, the Demonkin capital was located in the center of the southern duchies. But, rather than floating, the Imperial city of the Demonkin occupied the inside of a massive pit.
The southern and northern ends of the continent were temperate and had rotating seasons, but the four central duchies were closer to a tropical environment.
Apart from the continent of Angoril, there were three smaller continents that had been introduced in various patches, and each had a different theme. Rasyn, off Angoril’s eastern coast, was styled after Japan’s Tokugawa period. To the north lay Gerund, a Viking themed location that housed numerous barbarian clans while to the south was Moa’techa, the Mayan themed empire. Each of the smaller continents was also dominated by a specific race.
Thorn spent almost an hour walking around and taking in all the new sights and sounds of the city. It wasn’t until he heard someone complaining about the rate of loot drops that he even remembered this was a game. The sights and smells were mesmerizing to someone who had been closeted his whole life. Brought out of his daze by the reminder, Thorn decided to check where he stood before he made a plan of action.
“Status.”
Name: [Thorn]
Race: [Titan]
Health: [100%]
Mana: [100%]
Titles: [None]
Conditions: [None]
Racial Traits
Titan’s Strength: Increased resistance to mind-affecting conditions
Titan’s Endurance: Increased resistance to physical conditions
Titan’s Strength and Titan’s Endurance were excellent. Both were defensive abilities and complimented his massive innate strength. Extra resistance to anything was excellent as far as Thorn was concerned. After all, the more defenses the better.
CHAPTER SIX
“Uh, sir?” a polite cough brought Thorn back to the present. Tugging gently on Thorn’s sleeve was an intimidated city guard whose nervous companion was behind him, clutching a wooden nightstick.
“Yes?”
“Um. Would you, uh, mind moving, uh, to the side of the street?” stammered the guard, pointing to the s
ide. “You. Er. You’re kind of blocking the traffic.”
“Oh man, I am so sorry!” Thorn exclaimed. He had been so engrossed in his status that he hadn’t realized that he was standing in the middle of a street, a long queue of carts bunched up behind him. While they could have squeezed by, the sight of his 8’ 9” frame had scared the drivers enough that they called over a guard to deal with the giant.
“No, no,” reassured the guard. “It is no problem at all.”
Stepping to the side, Thorn took the opportunity to ask the guard some questions. “I’m new to Berum and was a bit lost. Could you point me toward the town hall? I need to see someone for my starting quest.”
“Uh, you are a traveler? Sheesh.” Relieved, the guard put a hand to his chest. “I thought you were one of those barbarian frost giants. You had me worried there for a minute.”
“Frost giants?”
“Yeah. They’re huge like you, but people say they have terrible tempers. I heard one of them got mad and froze a whole city full of people. Everyone in the city, dead, just like that. Anyway, city hall? No problem.”
After getting directions, Thorn left the guards and made his way to the large building that dominated the center of the Public district. Berum was split into four main sections, each focused on a particular grouping of businesses.
The North district was residential and had the largest number of restaurants and businesses for entertainment. To the east of the city center was the Public district, where most business was conducted, based around city hall, while to the south was the Canal district, which was where all the goods going in and out of the city passed. The western part of Berum was called the Forge district, where the businesses that had to do with crafting were located.
City hall was a large, multi-story stone affair that gave the impression of a beehive as uniformed clerks ran around, this way and that. Players streamed in and out as well, eager to hand in their quests and get their rewards. Thorn made his way up the steps, ducking his head to pass through the door. Players instinctively moved around him, looking at him with curiosity. The guards, however, grew nervous as Thorn’s shadow fell over them.
Ignoring the guards who were readying their spears, Thorn passed by them into the spacious main hall, taking in the marble floors and pillars with glee. Thorn loved buildings that had enough space for him to stand. In fact, because of that, he had spent quite a bit of time studying architecture. He had always held the ambition of creating living spaces customized to his personal needs. A big smile on his face, he walked over to one of the secretaries who was staring at him wide-eyed.
“Hello, I’m Thorn. A new traveler. I was told I could get my first quest here?”
“Uh, yeah.” Spellbound, the secretary, a pretty brunette with a button nose and deep dimples had to look almost straight up to look Thorn in the eyes.
With a chuckle, Thorn crouched, reveling in his freedom of movement. In the outside world, this simple movement would have ended with bloody cuts in his skin and lots of pain. Nova Terra was different, and Thorn was free to move as he wanted. Crouching brought them almost eye to eye, a position much more comfortable for the secretary.
“You are big.” Still stunned, the secretary couldn’t seem to get past Thorn’s size. She stared at the hand he had rested on the edge of her desk. It was easily twice the size of hers.
“I am,” agreed Thorn, amused as always by the sheer unbelief on her face. “So… about that quest?”
“Hm, oh, right. Oh, I’m sorry, you surprised me,” the secretary stammered, embarrassed by her staring. Straightening herself out, she launched into the standard announcement for the first quest. “Welcome to Berum, traveler. Please hold for a moment while I scan you in. Once I’ve done that, I’ll get you the opening quest.”
Welcome to Berum
Welcome, traveler! You have arrived in Berum and are ready to start your grand adventure. To begin, visit the following places:
Edgar’s Emporium
Berum Training Hall
City Library
McCarthy Farm
After agreeing to the quest, Thorn thanked the secretary and strolled out past the worried guards, giving them a friendly nod on his way. Before he had started the game, Thorn had been nervous about all of the social interactions that he was going to be forced into; after all, most of his life had been spent alone. Thankfully, his friendly and cheerful disposition seemed to serve him well, and, so far, it had not been an issue.
Opening his map display, Thorn realized that each of the places that the first quest had him going was in a different section of the city. Obviously, the point of the quest was to get him used to the area. Though, if he had known that, he wouldn’t have spent two hours wandering around the town. His random stroll had taken him by all of the locations he needed to visit except for the McCarthy Farm, which was located right outside the city.
Retracing his steps, Thorn headed off to his first destination, the City Library. Located in the northern district near some of the upscale neighborhoods, the City Library looked similar to City Hall. Much of the architecture in Berum was similar, and the buildings, comprised of large stone blocks, gave a sense of longevity and stability. Unfortunately, Thorn still had to duck when going in.
The library was split into three floors, with a large open courtyard in the middle, covered by a stained-glass roof, creating a charming picture in the streaming sunlight. Players stood or sat in various library nooks, browsing through books they had taken off the shelves. Seeing that there was a central desk, Thorn headed that way, only to experience a repeat of his interaction with the secretary at City Hall.
“Hello, I’m a new traveler and this is my first time here at the library.”
“Wow, you are big,” said the wide-eyed elf after a moment of stunned staring.
“Uh, yeah. So, can I get a library card or something?”
“Library card? Oh, right. Yes, yes.” Pulling out some forms from underneath the desk, the librarian helped Thorn register himself, explaining the rules and regulations as he did so.
“You can borrow a single book at a time but only for a week at a time. Once that week is up, the book will automatically be returned to the library through the enchantment on the back. While at the library, you can read as many books as you would like, and if you want to return them, stack them on the return table. Make sure you don’t leave anything in the books like bookmarks, as they will be returned with the book as well.
“The three different library floors each contain different sorts of books. On the bottom floor, you will find histories, biographies, and books about the different races. The second floor consists of crafting, job-specific, and how-to books. The third floor is comprised of an eclectic mix of various ancient tomes and books in other languages.
“If you are having any trouble finding a book, you can use the scrying stones located throughout the library to search by title, author, or subject.” Pausing to scan the form that Thorn had completed, the librarian filed it away and then brought out a flyer. “We also offer accredited classes through NTU. They can be taken here in Nova Terra or in Fantasia where we have a campus. If you are interested in a class or a full degree you can sign up here at the desk. We accept in-game currency or universal credits.”
“I heard that degrees can transfer from the outside world, is that right?” asked Thorn.
“Oh yes. So long as the program was accredited, you can apply any degree to receive an equivalent in-game title. Would you like to apply a degree now?”
“No, I’m good for now,” replied Thorn, looking around at all the books. Reading was one of his favorite things to do, but now was not the time for that. In this new world where he could move, he didn’t want to spend his time cooped up inside.
Leaving the library, Thorn headed for his next location, the Training Hall. It was located in the Forge District near a large collection of smoke-belching smithies. The Training Hall comprised of a large open parade ground and a la
rge gymnasium-style building located next to the city barracks. Inside the parade ground, a large group of local NPCs were running through sword training while a couple travelers smacked furiously at some scarecrows.
“Ho, traveler, are you here to unlock your true potential?” boomed a voice as Thorn entered the hall. Turning his head, he saw a man coming toward him dressed in a simple leather sleeveless shirt and brown pants. A large, thick metal studded belt with matching bracers and boots completed the classic look of the warrior trainer. “I can teach you to be the best warrior this world has ever seen! As long as you can pay, of course.” This last sentence was quite a bit quieter.
“Ah, you offer classes? What do they cost?”
“Haha! Of course I do! Best warrior training this side of the East Empire’s gladiator pits! The cost is 10 silver every three days for basic training, 50 silver for intermediate and 1 gold for advanced. You have to pay for a week at a time, and if you quit, I keep the money!” The large man tried to look down on Thorn, a task made difficult by the fact that he was a good two feet shorter.
