This will be the day we've waited for

This will be the day we open up the door...

Well, or something like that. Today is the day Road to Purgatory starts and I'm pumped. All projects are done, the flamewar has not yielded new drama to laugh, hell, if I had to wait any longer I may have done something stupid like a short interview just to stir shit up again, but no. People who need to be told that I'll be mostly out of contact know about it, my answering machine is primed and ready, yes I am ready. And today is the day I waited for.

"Pica, Countdown to Road to Purgatory-Launch." In red letters, like the bomb-countdown in a bad thriller, the numbers appear in front of me. 20 minutes till launch. I go to my training hall and do a single sequence, centring myself and marvel at the smoothness of control the training has given me with my virtual body, in the beginning there was a feeling of it being a bit 'off' especially when I wasn't using the floating time and my mind was focusing without my body being able to keep up. But repeated training has made that go away and I can control my virtual body perfectly, no matter what speed my mind goes. I also learned to drop myself into the state of highest focus, my zone, to speed up my mind quite a bit. When not using the floating time-dilatation I easily notice the change and am now used to it and manage to keep in balance when doing so.

"10...9...8..." Oh, it's time. "Thanks Pica, log me in as soon as possible."

A strange sensation overcomes me, it's like falling, only in reverse it feels like I should move downwards but I'm moving against it. Then, just as sudden as the sensation started, it stops and I'm on a green meadow, some birds sing in the trees, a breeze makes the leaves rustle.

"Greetings, Traveller" A soft voice speaks behind me, causing me to whirl around and drop into a combat crouch. In front of me stands a Mediterranean looking lady, wearing a gown of pure silver, flowing like no fabric I've ever seen before. Now, I feel silly for dropping in the crouch and stand normally, with shoulders square and head held high. Yes, I know it's silly to try to stand tall if you are only 4"8 but still, the thought counts to me. "Greetings, friend. Some call me Samantha, who might you be?" I asked the woman. "Well, some called me Alkmene, but as I'm one of the Daimon, I cannot give you my true name. Maybe you know that names have power and it would be unseeming to give a new arrival such power. So choose a new name for this realm, one that you can share with all that meet you." Wait, Alkmene? Daimon? Yes, I've read up quite a bit on Greek mythology just in case the developers borrowed more than just their name from it. If I remember right, Alkmene was the mother of Hercules and either stayed mortal or was turned into a polecat and then taken in by Hecate. And daimons are immortal spirits, teaching and guiding mortals by order of the deities. Seems like this one was an disciple of Hecate.

"Well met, Alkmene, may wise Hecate watch over both of us. For a local name, what do you think about Morgana?" Using Hecates name gets a small smile out of Alkmene, "Ah, a well read one. Now, let's get on with it. To enter the world of Mundus, you will need a suitable guise. You can either use your own body as a baseline or you can craft yourself one from scratch. You should, however remember that using your own body as a base is of great advantage because you are most familiar with it, Now, which method should it be?” As she said that, a blue box appeared.

Welcome to the Road to Purgatory-Beta

You met your guide to character creation. To test all features, some testers will be restricted in their choice so every feature will be tested.

The box disappeared and Alkmene continued as if I'd answered her. “Ah, so you want to use your own body as a baseline? Well, that means we need to find it's attributes, does it not? Both physical and mental traits will be measured, we use nine parameters to do so. Oh, and please remember that this is only the baseline, you may be able to modify it later or adapt your guise to the world you travelled to.”

Again, blue windows appeared, telling me about the attributes they used.

Strength This describes both your pure muscle mass and the ability to use it. It's also part of the overall well-being of the being. Agillity This describes your physical manoeuvrability, reflexes and physical reactions helping with prescision usage of the whole body. Dexterity The ability to deftly use your hands and your hand-eye coordination. Important for writing, lock-picking and everything else that requires precise manual movement. Endurance This describes how long you can last doing strenuous physical tasks. Also increases the pain tolerance. Vitality This describes the overall health of your body. The more Vitality you have, the more overall health you have and the faster you regenerate after being wounded. Courage This describes your ability to look the unknown into the eye without blinking, your mental toughness to go where no one went before and proudly stand in the face of overwhelming odds. Courage allows you to ignore fear, both physical and magical, and to remain calm under pressure. Intelligence This describes the strength of your mind. Higher Intellect means better mental calculations, memory and higher magical power. Charisma This describes your natural skill at using your looks and the inherent aura of your body. Higher charisma allows you to manipulate others without using magical means, no matter if it is to be seen in a certain way or not to be seen at all. Intuition This describes the speed of your mind. It increases your overall perception, allows you to make better split-second decisions, helps to recognise patterns and bring yourself in harmony with magical streams.

Ok, that's a bit more than normal, but interesting. I could see that pretty much everyone needs every attribute, some, like Intelligence, Charisma or Endurance are a little more specialised but nothing is truly useless for anyone.

“Most normal humans have around ten points in each attribute but personal growth, environmental factors or magic can change that. There will be multiple tests. Let's start with the first.” Alkmene announced with a smile.

The world around me faded into black.