Hello everyone! Chapter 2 and we are finally entering the game. I probably could have consolidated the prologue and chapter 1 into a single chapter but the reincarnation stuff was sort of it’s own deal which except for some confusing bits coming up could probably be completely skipped. Oh and don’t get too comfortable with the new chapter everyday thing that I have had going on. Spring semester for college is starting soon so I will have less time for this. Anyway lets get on with it *rawr*

And I’m falling…

So I took a step through the door to NeoRealm. Everything seemed normal and then I realized there wasn’t anything under me. Thus started my expedient trip down.

??? ~ “Welcome to NeoRealm Traveller! Congratulations on being one of the fastest to realize you weren’t standing on anything without knowing it ahead of time. Seeing as you amuse me I will have someone personally help you with character creation. Just give me a second. Rose, We have an interesting one. Come on over and help him with character creation! Okay, she should be over in a moment. Until then you can wait

*Suddenly the surroundings change into a posh looking waiting room and I slowly drop into a chair*

??? ~ “here. Hope you like your stay in our realm!”

Okay that I must admit was unexpected. I was expecting something to happen as even the spoiler free stuff mentioned the start to be quite a shock but they most certainly didn’t go through that. I guess I get to be guided through the setup by an actual person instead of just an automated script. Oh, hey, the magazines are actually just blogs about the game. Guess I can read one whi

Rose ~ “Hello sir, I don’t have all the time in the world no matter how interesting you may be so lets get this show on the road. Shall we?”

“Um, Okay. So whats first then?”

Rose ~ “Well normally the system would give you the choice of any currently available race but to speed this up are you looking for anything specific so I can narrow the selection down a bit? Oh and choose a name.”

“Call me Jade I guess. Also Psionics sound interesting though I don’t want to train hard. Maybe a race which just has a minor power as more of a gimmick. also I want to stay humanish and mostly the same body type. I have a good feel for my body with a bit of martial training so I don’t want to start all over in that regard. Is that enough to narrow it down?”

Rose ~ “Hmm, a minor power. Not many people want that and just go for the extremes. Oh and we call Psionics and such Talent in here. Whoever was in charge was a big fan of a book series which named it such. Anyway would you like the power to be offensive, defensive, or just utility? The offensive ones are the most common as races tend to develop their powers for survival and defense comes in at a close second, probably only lagging because you can also hunt with an attack. Utility while not rare tends to only come attached to a race who already has all the other stuff but there are a few good options.”

“Give me the utility. That sounds like it would be the most useful overall. A small attack or defense would just get overshadowed and mostly forgotten on the wayside once I have access to better stuff. After all, once you have a rifle you won’t go back to the blunderbus.”

Rose ~ “With that in mind we still have about 53 races though I must admit many of them are just humans which were stuck on a planet alone for a few hundred years. Let’s start by looking at the”

??? ~ “pssht, show him the Far Human”

Rose ~ “As I was saying let’s start by looking at the ones closest to the center of mankind. Though as we were so rudely interrupted if you don’t like the first few I will show you the Far Human. First up is the…

Well everyone calls them the Spine Men. They have a real name but I honestly can’t pronounce it. Their interesting quality is that they have sharp bone protrusions along their spine and at their joints. Partly to protect the area and mostly as a weapon. Their planet of origin is classified as a death world which are places so extreme that only extreme evolutionary measures will let things survive on them. They mostly focus on strength and have a muscle packed body which shows the true meaning of offense is the best defense as they are so tough normal blades can’t cut them. The Talent they have is a minor regeneration which is required to keep the areas around their spikes healed. Their biggest down side is agility and space travel. Their bone spikes require a special suit and even then fighting might cause tears in it. Here is what you would look like as one without changes”

*A 3d image of a distorted version of me appears in front of us with horrible bone spikes popping out all over the place*

“Ugh, lets skip them and in fact any options which are so, so horribly muscled as well. I like my agility and lithe looks thank you very much. Also while the spikes are interesting the difficulty with space travel doesn’t sound fun to me. Any options which make space travel hard should be taken out as well. If I am in a game about travelling the universe I want to do just that.”

Rose ~ “Hmm, well that does narrow our options down quite a bit further. Most utility powers come from the body already being able to defend itself. Actually it takes like most of the top 23 options out with the rest being knocked out by the travel thing. I was thinking you might like the Banderkin too. Sadly their bodies are covered with a sensitive fur like hair which needs a good air circulation or it starts being damaged. Can’t even dream of taking a ride on a smaller ship or heavens forbid go by low passage. Their ability to read the emotional atmosphere with their talent is almost too much to be a minor power as well if it wasn’t for the uncontrolled nature of it.

With that I guess I should just skip right to the Far Humans. I was avoiding them as they are quite boring actually. All they are is a regular human who had a parent that happened to travel a little too far beyond the core realm, stared into the abyss a little too much, or jumped a few too many times in succession. They aren’t tainted, mutated, evolved, modified, or in anyway different from most humans besides a tendency for oddly colored hair and eyes (though honestly you Travellers all seem to want odd colors) as well as a guaranteed minor power. It does tend to end up integrating with your skills over time though even that is boring. The best way to describe the ability is like that spell from fantasy roleplaying games of old, prestidigitation. *sigh* They are so much like humans that unless a high level identification happens you most of the time even register as human. Well here is what you would look like”

*An image which is almost exactly like me pops up, standing in at about 6 foot tall with an about average build though slightly on the slimmer side. It has a slightly tan appearance making the only real difference between the image and me a vivid shade of blue for the hair and the eyes which are a deep aqua almost transitioning to black in the center*

“Now that is more like it! I must admit the eyes might be a little creepy but otherwise this is what I want. Even the power is perfect. Minor yet helpful in the long run. I don’t think I will ever not use it. Though I do have to ask, do normal humans have Talent? It would seem that especially with this one just labeling it human would be easier.”

Rose ~ Of course he would like it. I just don’t get what is so interesting about him that I would be called out to help with character creation. He seems boring to me. “Regular humans do have Talent. It is just that you wanted something specific. A normal human just has whatever random powers they might end up with. The near human races tend to be differentiated, especially with ones which are basically human, by whether the power breeds true. Actually Far Humans about the only exception to that. The only way to make a Far Human is to have the parents meet one of the conditions. With that in mind there are no half-whatevers when it comes to human sub-races. You’re either a Spine Man or not. If both parents are from different sub-races it’s a random chance which they take from or they turn out as a regular human with powers from both sides. Though they won’t be able to guarantee that the powers will pass on just like any other human. The System has told us that you can have on a very rare occasion a cross-breed bud like a mule it stops there and no one has had a verified sighting of one yet. Anyway with the race and appearance chosen we can move onto the stats. Just say status and your base stats should appear then show Rose so I can help.”

“Status”

*Ding*

Qi DetectedQi Stat UnlockedQi set to 1

Status PanelNAMEJadeClassLEVEL0RACEHumanSUB-RACEFar HumanTITLESInterestingBasic StatsStrength4Agility7Vitality5Mental Fortitude11Unspent Points5Advanced StatsLeadership2Luck13Qi1Health Points16Health Regen.05/secStamina Points16Stamina Regen.08/secTalent Points24Talent Regen.12/secTALENTSNameRankPrestidigitation15

“Uh, it just told me I unlocked the Qi stat”

Rose ~ “No it didn’t. That needs an advanced class and only unlocks for non-humans. Besides Luck all your starting stats are based on you and what was done to the character model.”

“Well you can just take a look and tell me if I am hallucinating or not, Status Show rose”

Rose ~ “Looks normal, high mental fortitude and…

Ah, you do have Qi. Don’t mind me I need to yell at the mystery voice you shouldn’t even know about. Why in all the Realms does he have a damn Qi Stat! Travellers shouldn’t ever start with that stat! Even natives need some weird cultivation techniques to get it without a specific class or race.”

??? ~ “I know right? I told you he was interesting *giggle*”

Rose ~ “You… Nevermind, I don’t care. Congratulations, you have Qi. You can infuse your attacks and the amount decides how effective it is. Being an advanced stat you can’t put points into it so unless you find some damn cultivation technique that actually works for humans or get the right class it won’t do you much good as it is stuck where it is at. You can spend your points in your basic stats though do note that once a stat reaches double digits it takes more points to raise it depending on class and race. I advise if you want to do so hold onto your points till you get a class as it may reduce the cost.”

“I think 3 in agility to put it up to 10 and then 1 in strength and vitality”

Rose ~ “Okay, with that mess taken care of do you have any specific planet you want to start on? As you chose Far Human you can choose anywhere a Human can start which is basically anywhere except the homeworlds of other races and any restricted areas.”

“Well seeing how things are going lets have the mystery voice decide.”

Rose ~ “I wouldn’t advise tha”

??? ~ “Check! Once again welcome to the realms and have a nice day!”

*With a burst of color I disapeer”

Rose ~ *sigh* “Can I get back to my family? I am completely over dealing with Travellers for the day. If it wasn’t for the fact that you can literally conjure whatever I need to smooth the trouble I was in before I would wash my hands of this. No one should know this much about their home.”

??? ~ “I am sorry about it. You have been a great help and unlike some you actually kept it a secret so I didn’t have to mindwipe you.”

Rose ~ “Well thats disturbing…”