Jessica logged in to Deicide and was in the waiting area to select her avatar. The space was a garden with a white picket fence which acted as the border. In the distance was the kingdom of Salsver which was the largest human city in the game. The sky was clear with an endless azure only broken by the golden orb which hung high above them. Jessica could not feel, taste or smell anything in the game because she used the SensoryMap which did not allow for the transfer of those senses. However, she always appreciated her waiting room space for its tranquility and beauty.
In the space her five avatars four females and one male interacted with the environment with predetermined animations. They did not pay any mind to her silhouetted form unless she got close to them. The first avatar was the level 75 dracálfer daywalker Pneuma. The dracálfer also called blood elves or vampires in Deicide were once light elves that betrayed the other elven races to the Dark Gods in exchange for immortality. They weren’t undead like traditional vampires and it was impossible to tell them apart from normal elves until they used their magic.
Pneuma was planting roses in the garden; she wore a white robes with complex magical circles stitched into them. Her skin was tan to the point of being only a few shades lighter than bronze. Her bright red hair fell flat and was cut to neck height. Her eyes were as beautiful as rubies and had hearts for pupils. She was slender and short looking to be no older than eighteen. She had many facial piercings including two on her bottom lip on the right side, one between the lips and nose, one on her right nostril, three on her nose bridge, one under her right eye, and the final one on her left eyebrow. She also had four ear piercings on each ear. She was wearing a golden ornamental head chain with three sapphires in jewel encrusted settings. Each of the sapphires has a different small but complex magic circle encased within it which produces a dim light. The five gold chains wrap around her head. One goes over the top parting her hair while the other goes around the sides at decreasing elevations.
At the picnic table two of her avatars sat eating cake and appeared to be having a conversation with one another. They were just playing out the animation and while they did speak it was in a nonsense language. The two avatars were named Eraká and Awen Sinshri and they could not have been any more different in appearance.
Eraká was a human ethnicity called giant, so despite her height and well toned frame she looked no different from an ordinary human. Out of all of the avatars between Jessica and Kevin, Eraká was the highest damage dealer despite only being level 114. Standing she was eight feet tall and had a caucasian complexion with sunburn freckles on her face and shoulders. Eraká had reddish-black hair in long braids down to her waist.
Awen on the other hand was a trustale although they are known more generally as a nature dragon-girl. They are a subhuman and dragon race that according to the lore of the game were created by Dark Gods when they fused humans with dragons creating a new race altogether. The race shares similarities from both sides of their lineage. Awen was the level 150 Natural Cleric class healer for the guild. Her long flowing earthtone robes attested to her skill and level.
Awen was covered in scales which are earth tone colors ranging from tan, to dark brown and green. The scales along her limbs are sharper, more jagged and bone-like while those on her midsection and breastless torso are smaller, more tightly packed, and flexible. Her face was human, quite beautiful and covered in small translucent scales giving the appearance of smooth peach skin. Her eyes are multicolor and will change color depending on the angle she is viewed. She had five small horns each about two inches long growing from the center of her forehead back to her race's equivalent of a hairline. Awen had black and brown feathers that grew atop her head like hair and laid down flat about shoulder length. Her feathers continue growing along her neck and spine following down to her tail which was prehensile, six feet long and covered with bonelike spikes. She has two wings which extend from her back. The wings have a thin membrane which is partially translucent. Along the arm of the wing small feathers grow which look almost like hair at a distance. Her total wingspan fully expanded is roughly 25 feet and because of this her wings will sometimes drag the floor.
The next Avatar was Kokou who did not seem to fit into the otherwise almost picturesque scene. Kokou was designed by Kevin to be the manliest of men. He was a celestial race called kitsune spirit which were based off of the nine tail fox. He, unlike other kitsune spirits, looked to have the same build as a professional bodybuilder on steroids. He had a handsome face with a short beard and a flawless mocha skin tone. His hair was sandy brown and shoulder length. He was walking up and down the length of the garden patrolling the women. Kokou was a level 150 berserker and looked like a heavily armored tank. The only thing that gave away his race were the two long fox ears cutting through his hair and the long singular fox tail behind him.
Finally Jessica’s main avatar was on the opposite side of the grounds watering various plants. Her name was Lilitu and she was also a celestial although she was a sub-race of the angels known as a demon. Lilitu shares many similarities to stereotypical demons in Judeo-Christian beliefs. She has pink skin which darkens to a vibrant red along her limbs. As a member of the demon race she has two scars on her back from where, according to lore, all demons had their wings removed as punishment.
She has long and flowing jet-black hair which is usually in a long French braid. She has two horns which extend upward from her forehead with a slight swoop backward. Each of her horns have five gold rings with various gems and magic enchants. She also has notably longer, and sharper canine teeth as compared to humans. Her eyes change colors every few minutes thanks to an item Jessica purchased in the Cash Shop.
Her clothing consisted of long elegant and intricate black and silver robes with sterling mithril plate armor over her torso. She also has sterling mithril arm and leg guards. The armor over her robes produce purple sparks of energy which crackle around her. Her robes also have different magical seals placed on them along with other trinkets on her belt. On each of her fingers is a different ring all of which are magically imbued and glow while using magic.
Jessica walked over to Lilitu as she watered the garden. The avatar paid her no mind and just continued to play out her set animations. Once Jessica was within a predetermined range the avatar set down the watering can and faced her with a slight smile. Jessica looked Lilitu up and down admiring the curves of her avatar slightly jealous of her physique. Jessica then reached out her hand and stepped into the Lilitu becoming the avatar. Everything shifted around her and in a blink she was inside of her room in the Silver Estate.
The room was fit for royalty though overly indulgent in complex gold engraving which lined the trim of the deep brown wooden walls. Heavy blue curtains broke up the dark wood and gave the regal space a breath of color. Above the bed a magic chandelier stretched like many branches of a tree across the entirety of the ceiling. Even the impossibly long arms of the golden light fixture were inscribed with beautiful patterns that would make any craftsman jealous of its perfection. The room was the personal space of the guild master and its overly lavish design was a product of Cash Shop and crafted items. As the guild master this was Jessica’s private room and she had full reign to design it as she saw fit.
In Decide when the player was not in game the avatars could be programmed to do any number of tasks including take missions and complete quests. Jessica and Kevin both programmed their avatars to do specific things throughout the day. Their guild was the number three guild in the game, a feat made even more impressive since their guild had the bare minimum human players of two. Everyone one else in the guild where their complexity programmed Avatars. Jessica as Lilitu walked over to the silver mirror in the corner of the room. She looked over her appearance and hair as the butterflies in her stomach settled. She was still nervous about talking to Kevin now that they were going to be alone.
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She blew out a quick breath and patted her cheeks forgetting for a second that she would not be able to feel her hands due to the limitations of her SensoryMap. She took in a deep breath and with a thought her menus open floating in front of her. She looked through her contacts list to see if Kevin was already online. When she didn’t see his name she turned and walked out of her room into the hallway. To the right and left of her door were two NPC bodyguards who saluted her as she walked out. Both were in full plate armor with the crest of the guild on their breastplates. Jessica paid them no mind as they followed behind her to her right and left.
The hall was not as lavishly designed as the room but still gave the impression of wealth. The Silver Estate could comfortably hold a guild of 250 members each having their own room. While not as extravagant as Lilitu’s room, the others could be used as homes for guild members that didn’t have the funds to purchase their own residents. Jessica and Kevin’s guild, AFKIRL, won the Silver Estate guild hall when they won the last Guild Battle which is a biannual tournament between guilds. The guild came with additional building on its large estate which offered even more housing and many luxuries not present in any other player home in the game.
Jessica still often got lost while walking the halls so she kept her map window open which floated in the air in front of her. One of the luxuries that this guild hall had was the presents of NPC’s workers, maid and butlers which maintained the guild hall and the grounds of the estate. A unique aspect of this guild were the npc guards that would patrol the premises. Guild Halls are considered safe zones so there was no threat of being killed by other players normally. However during guild conflicts the safe zone is lifted and guilds can be sieged.
The guards that protected the guild acted as mobs to slow down the advancing attackers if AFKIRL was ever under attack. The guards outside were only around level 50 so they would not be a challenge for any appropriately leveled player. However the deeper they got into the main guild hall the tougher the NPC’s would be. Those that guarded the treasury were level 120 although there were not many of them. The guards outside were all various toran races while those that were level 100 and above were celestial races. This was a major boost to the defense of the guild.
After a few minutes of walking around in what felt like circles Jessica turned to one of the blank walls and held out one of her hands. Teleportation was normally prohibited in safe zones however since Jessica was the Guild Master she could still use her teleportation skills.
“All things are mine to twist, bow to me o’ space and time, become my vessel,” Jessica stated uninterestedly.
On her command a black smoke rose from the floor taking the shape of an open doorway. Purple energy sparked from the black void as it twisted reality to her will. The skill she used was Lesser Teleport which she leveled to the highest rank called Awakened. The ranks for skills starts at one, for the lowest rank, then counts up to 10 after which the skill mutates to its true form. A true skill rank goes E, D, C, B, A, S then Enlightened and finally Awakened which is the highest and most powerful rank.
In Deicide when a player levels a character they are awarded skill points. The skill points can be used to unlock countless abilities or strengthen unlocked abilities. Players can even craft totally new spells if they unlock and level the correct spell combination. Hundreds of combinations are known but due to the secretive nature of many of the top players keeping one's unique skills secret are paramount.
Jessica had seen the effect of the Lesser Teleport many times so she was not impressed by the skill in the least and instead was still worried about seeing Kevin. Her mind was working overtime to keep her composed for his arrival. Jessica stepped into the swirling mass of darkness and instantly was inside of the main hall of the guild building. Her two guards stepped through with her before the spell dissipated into the ether.
She checked her contact to see if Kevin had finally logged in which he had. Kevin’s avatar Harahel walked out of a golden doorway that appeared out of thin air and disappeared just as suddenly. When a player logged out their avatar never leaves the world. Instead they become NPC and will act out whatever commands they were programmed to do. Normally a player could have only four avatars but both Jessica and Kevin paid real world money to have two accounts and five avatars on each. Harahel was programmed to return to the Celestial Library in Enthroned. So anytime he logged in the majestic doorway to the library would appear and he would step out of it. Kevin thought it looked badass for an angel to literally bend reality with such a powerful skill every time he appeared.
“Kevin!” Jessica yelled to get his attention as she walked closer to him. “Hey there handsome looks like you maxed out your sex appeal stats.”
“There you are!” Kevin said, turning around to see her. “Sorry I am still loading in… I don’t have my setu…”
Jessica hugged him as soon as she approached. She wanted to greet him with a kiss but Deicide does not allow for any potentially sexually explicit behavior. Hugs were seen as okay and were allowed by the game as long as both participants were over the age of eighteen. This was to prevent anyone from inappropriately touching a minor who were of course also playing the game. The Protection of Virtual Persons Rights Act laid strict guidelines to all Sensory Augmentation games to ensure safety for all players.
“Your sister?” Kevin asked, knowing the answer. “What did she say?”
“She was just being nasty.” Jessica responded with a sigh. “I wish I could feel you right now.”
“We don’t have much longer then we won’t have to worry about any of them.” Kevin said in response. “Your avatar is beautiful but nothing beats the real thing you know.”
Jessica stepped back from Kevin’s embrace.
“Maybe I should have been Pneuma she would love to hear you call her beautiful,” Jessica said.
“The vampire girl? Why… wait what did you write in her bio?” Kevin questioned.
Jessica was a writer when she wasn’t playing Deicide. She always made sure that all of her characters' in-game bio’s were filled out and made sense as to why they would join AFKIRL. The in-game feature to add bio’s were purely for roleplaying purposes so many players didn’t bother. Kevin filled out all of his character bios as well but only because Jessica was so adamant about it and wanted to help him come up with interesting backstories.
“I read it to you, remember?” She asked disappointedly. “She is in love with Harahel, but alas her love can never come to be because Harahel already belongs to Lilitu the Guild Master.” She said in an exaggerated fashion while taking wide graceful steps and placing one hand over her face like a damsel in distress. “How could she possibly hope to win the heart of Harahel when he already has a BAB.”
“A… BAB?” Kevin questioned.
“A Bad Ass Bitch, Honey, keep up.” Jessica responded with a smirk, breaking character for a moment.
“Oh--yeah I should have known silly me.” Kevin responded as he walked after her.
“So will you tell her she is beautiful too?” Jessica asked instantly, getting back into character. “Would it ease her maidenly heart or burden her with hope of something never meant t…?”
Suddenly Jessica and Kevin fell down through the floor into what in the real world would be rock and dirt but in the virtual world was pitch darkness. Kevin could feel the air flow past him as they fell. He as Harahel push magic into his wing which opened and flapped to catch the air. A brilliant orange halo appeared behind his head as his wings electrified the air itself. However, he couldn’t stop his fall despite his wings or the special attribute of being an angel. Jessica cast flying spells, teleportation spells even telekinesis but none stopped or slowed their fall. They both tried to log out of the game but nothing would work. The only thing they could see was each other as the abyss took them.