NeoRealm – Staring Back Into the Future

“Okay, with the tutorials out of the way we have just a few more matters to finish. Easiest is you need a name to go by. Just your first name as any last name or titles will be gained in game. Also, while this warning hasn’t been necessary recently, you can have whatever name you want. You need not do something stupid like adding numbers to it or that good old classic ‘leet’ speak nonsense”. Then the lady mumbles under her breath, “not that, that seems to stop anyone” before continuing, “And the other thing is what town you want to start in”.

Jason had already thought long about what to call himself. From regular names to fantasy name, even some of those so called ‘leet’ names. In the end though he figured the simplest answer is probably the best. “Just call me Jason. I didn’t change my body so why change my name? As for where to start I don’t have anywhere picked out already. Give me some options please.”

The lady sighs, “I guess I should have expected this, you haven’t followed the norm with anything else. The names fine if not the most common choice but why don’t you have a starting town chosen? From what I know all of you types get counseled on where to start. Whether a town that specializes in their skills or just the town that the people they live near started with. They all have something in mind even if it is a list.”

Looking a bit apologetic Jason explains, “Well I did have a lot of people telling me where I should start. There are even towns devoted to barehanded martial arts even if they are just NPCs doing it. But that’s the thing. Those are all places that many before me have chosen. That isn’t a bad thing but I know one important thing. The list of starter towns is constantly changing. When a place gets too populated, it’s removed. If a town loses enough people it become available again. Even unknown towns can get discovered and added once a trade route to it is developed. I don’t mind if I end up in one of the suggested towns but I don’t want to be limited by that.”

The lady sighs again, “Well at least you have a reason for it. Just by questioning them most people back down and just list a few towns they want. Since you want to go through with this its time for a round of question and answer to limit the list. Anyway let’s start with the simple questions. What do you think about Cardinal direction, weather and seasonal structure, general land features, player density, and relative difficulty?”

“Hmm, I don’t mind the direction. As for the general weather I want a normal season cycle though not getting too hot in the summer. Honestly something that matches my local weather would be fine. I definitely don’t want one of those stupid eternal winter or summer places. Now land features? A mountain nearby would be nice and maybe a big river. Now players are a difficult question. Obviously I don’t want to be in one of the popular towns. They have to build a second town next to it because the first one is constantly filled with new players spawning in and dealing with their month of being stuck there. Also it isn’t like I could end up in a town with no one. Enough people choose random to give any town a decent population in a few days. Meh, just going to go for a town with a lower population of them. Finally I guess just go with a nice area for the first hundred levels. I can move later for better pastures.”

With Jason’s answer the lady looks somewhat relieved, “Well you aren’t trying to just get a full list of all the towns, not that others haven’t tried. Now with those answered there are only a few hundred towns on the list. Now for more specific things and feel free to just answer yes or no. Do you want there to be a dojo/training hall, nobility, known dungeons, or an official trade route going to it? As just a note, an official trade route means there is a least a gravel road going to it instead of just a dirt one.”

Jason answers, “No, yes, nah, and sure”

“Okay, with that we can narrow it down to 3 towns. Mostly because you didn’t want a dojo. Almost every town has one to train their guards and give the young some basic self defense ability. Anyway your options are as follows.”

After reading the descriptions Jason asks, “So why don’t these towns have a dojo in them? The first one definitely seems like it should have one.”

“I can tell you a little of why though not too much, that would be cheating. Anyway the Town of the Chilled Pass is also used as a military training camp. Instead of a public dojo they have a barracks which only the military can use. With such an important place the local kingdom doesn’t leave it up to the locals. Next up is Shine Fish Village. They just have a heritage of staff techniques which is passed from parent to child. No public dojo because they won’t pass it onto outsiders. Finally is Jor. Because of how important the crossroads it stands on is but not being in anyone’s kingdom they aren’t allowed a local defense. All the surrounding people just send their own guards to provide ‘security’.” explains the Lady

Jason ponders for a bit before answering, “Yeah, Jor is off the list. I don’t want to step in whatever mess would cause an independent village to not be allowed its own defenses. Similarly with that Chilled Pass place. Sounds like a mess though not as much of one. At least it is their own kingdom that is doing it but still not cool. I guess that leaves me with Shine Fish Village then. Can you tell me any more about it?”

“Not particularly. I am not allowed to tell you too much. That is why getting counseled on what town to start in is considered so important if you aren’t just going random. Any last questions before I send you off?”

A sheepish look and Jason asks, “So yeah, what is your name? I’ve just been thinking of you as ‘The Lady’ till now.”

“My name? I don’t mind telling you though you won’t be able to pronounce it. Though maybe if you get the right chances you might learn why”. With that the lady snaps her fingers and Jason starts to fade out. Just before he is gone he hears her say one more thing.

[Starlight](Gentle light, Goddess of Potential, Kind, Moon’s Sister)

Akhier

Things I wanted to mention but didn’t:

Language of Intent, Language of the Gods, Hearts Language, and whatever other name I might stick it with. This is something that I like to include in all my works of fiction. To explain it take the word ‘cat’. You just read it and thought of a cat. I personally first think of a orange and white cat that a relative ended up leaving with my Grandmother when he got a place to live after having to live at her place for a while. You didn’t think of the same cat unless your my grandmother. Even with my explaining the cat you likely thought of the wrong image because I didn’t say if it was a striped cat or something else. The intent behind the language is that by hearing or reading something in the language the entirety of what it is they are talking about will be transferred. I can’t really do that so I simulate it by having the main word in brackets then put a few guiding words in parenthesis. With the cat example I would do [Cat](Orange and White, Striped, Grandmother’s, Grumpy) and even then it misses some of the nuance. This isn’t a ‘true name’ as that would be something unchanging while if the cat had something happen to it and lost an ear then I would add (missing left ear) or some such. In the game it isn’t the true language as yeah, not direct mind to machine interface. Instead it provides a number of quick flashes of what it is meant to be while the word is being said. One important thing about this language is you can’t lie with it. If you tried it wouldn’t be in the language anymore.