Alex appeared in the typical black void which game devs tend to prefer. A short cutscene later about how players came into this world, The general gist of which was that players were creatures not from this universe, known as Soul-Fiends. Soul-Fiends could take in energy from an area to create a physical body for themselves. As outsiders Soul-Fiends often create avatars in the regions which could use their talents.

Soul-Fiend #25 - Alex Rolvick

Please, choose two soul skills. These will stay with you, and their progress will not be lost upon avatar death.

* Precision: + 1 Potency to Critical Strikes

* Burst: + 1 Potency to AOE damage skills

* Wildfire: AOE fire damage spell

* Stab: Targeted damage skill

Alex knew he did not want to play a mage this game. Partially because he knew his father was well versed in fighting them. Mostly, however, because Alex found mages to be boring in combat. Long range bombardment and resource micromanagement was never something Alex enjoyed in games. The void then showed a large world map. Most of the areas were still under the fog of war, but a few areas became visible. As Alex looked in the direction of a desert area which looked like a cross between a caravan and an army a popup gave him more information.

The Warlords of Savangar seek new blood to add to the warbands.

* Grants access to the Common Orc, Common Human and Common Half-Orc Races

* Easy Access to the Brutal, Desert Shaman and Slave skill trees.

"Alright, so I guess it's time to choose a faction, and my faction choice gives access to certain races. Also seems to say some examples of common skill trees in the area. Not sure I want to join the warbands, too many chances for a quick first death."

Alex's vision went underground as he looked towards the next area and saw a Priestess crying over a collection of corpses. As Alex watched he saw her turn around and another man cut off her head.

World First! A Faction has Fallen!

The Grizgal Coven was destroyed by the Silversteel Hunters.

Soul-Fiend Death Stroke has destroyed the last vampire of the coven.

Attention - Your faction choices have changed due to a faction's fall. The Grizgal Coven has fallen, but it can be rebuilt.

* Grants access to the Rare Free-Thrall, Uncommon Vampire-Spawn or Common Human races.

* Easy Access to the Blood Arts, Addiction and Battle skill trees.

"Fuck, how did someone already get through character creation and kill off a vampire coven!" Alex wasn't interested in dealing with rebuilding a faction this early in the game. Roaming to the next location Alex saw a dark forest with strange colors and creatures.

The Twilight Grove needs protectors.

* Grants access to the Legendary Moon-Cursed Troll, Rare Twilight Spriggan and Uncommon Moon-Elf races.

* Easy Access to Nature, Lunar and Forest Walker skill trees.

A Legendary race sounded tempting to Alex, but a cursed creature would have a lot of problems, and Alex knew himself. If he went with a legendary race and it made him super powerful, he wouldn't rely on other people. Moving onto the last location Alex saw a small village which was near a forest.

The Village of Silvarish has a werewolf problem.

* Grants access to the Rare Wolfkin, Uncommon Feral Lycan, Common Human races.

* Easy Access to the Predator, Tracker and Cunning skill trees.

"Interesting, wonder what the Wolfkin is and why its a higher rank than the Lycan. Not that I want anything to do with that. Those Silversteel Hunters are close by."

World First!

The first Legendary Creature has been chosen.

soul-Fiend ??? has become an ???

Due to another player's choice, the Legendary Moon-Cursed Troll is no longer available.

"Well, that answers that question. Being a tree sounds like fun, and I want to see what a legendary creature might look like."

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

After choosing the Twilight Grove as his faction, the world map zoomed into the forest. Within the forest, Alex saw a cutscene.

Long ago the Twilight Grove was a massive forest, but the nearby kingdoms warred nearby, and the lands suffered. Followers of the god Lunar prayed to him and he, seeing the devastation granted a boon to the one surviving dryad and her small collection of surviving trees. Lunar made the trees resist magic and their natural energy affected the land. As the dryad expanded her domain, she found that her trees could come to life with some effort on her part. Protectors of her forest the spriggans became, and the grove grew. Lunar's followers were cursed by another entity, and his fury was great. An Elven woman offered to find the cause of the curse and end it, but that was long ago. The elves made a home in the grove learning to use the magic it made so easy to learn and finding ways to work with the Grove Mother to gain the things they needed. Now the Grove has become endangered by adventurers and mages seeking the materials blessed by Lunar, and they care not for the dangers they awaken or the consequences of their actions.

"Looks like I stumbled onto an area with some good lore."

The Twilight Grove has Two Race Options Available:

Twilight Spriggan: Spriggans are agile and often magical creatures. The take on the properties of the plants which make them and have many special abilities. Spriggans Gain the Photosynthesis Skill and Flammable Trait.

Moon Elf: Blessed by the god Lunar Moon Elves have a natural affinity for his magic and are talented at fighting within his domain. Gain the Lunar Magic skill and Gloom Stalker Trait.

All Members of the Twilight Grove gain the Darkvision Trait and the Twilight Grove Resident Title

Alex had already decided he did not want to be a mage so going for the Spriggan was the only real option he had. Hoping that he would not be forced into a mage role Alex waited for the next section of Character Creation.

As a Rare race, you gain access to two evolutionary choices. Choice 1: Blessing of the Moon God.

Moon-Blessed Wood: Gain resistance to magic and a + 1 to all aspects within the Mana Control Skill.

Twilight Thorns: Gain the ability to grow thorns on your body. They can be used as weapons or defenses.

Nature Loved: Gain the Nature Affinity Trait and the Speak with Plants spell.

Alex immediately took the Thorns skill, it would be nice to always have a weapon since he planned to be a warrior of some kind. Plus with the Stab and Precision skills he had the thorns would be useful even at the beginning and hopefully become a powerful resource in the future.

Choice 2: Grove Mother's Protector

Treant: Increases size and mass of avatar. Treants are 10ft tall and weigh around 10,000 in their early stages.

Dryad: Become the Grove Mother's daughter. Your magical aptitude makes you important in assisting the Grove.

Seeker: Seekers find new areas to expand the Grove in some cases even leaving the grove to find new lands to let the Mother push her roots and create new groves.

Alex wanted the ability to leave the grove and still assist it so the Seeker seemed perfect to him.

Attention: Due to Admin Interference your avatar talent is restricted to Rival Soul. Rival Soul: Soul-Fiends 25 and 13 are locked in a rivalry of some nature. The following are the terms and conditions of their rivalry.

The Rivals seek to prove who is better and they have chosen Conquest as their Challenge.

Conquest: All events which led to the Rise or Fall of a faction will be noted here. Should both avatars be on the same side victory in an event will be determined by contribution.

Current Score: #25: 0 #13: 0 - Status: Even

Score Calculations: Common Factions (1), Uncommon (2), Rare (3), Epic (4) and Legendary (5)

Rival Soul Boons: Losing - None, Even - +1 to a skill's aspects, Winning - +1 to a skill tree's aspects

"Well, that explains why Dad wanted me to use this account."

Creation Breakdown:

5 Aspect Points Used - Twilight Seeker

2 Aspect Points Used - Rival Soul

Aspect Points Remaining 3/10

Choose Allocation:

Upgrade Skill?

Gain Skill

Alex looked through the Skill options he could gain and chose a 1 AP Identify Plant Skill from the Herbalism Tree which cost him another point to unlock. His last point went into Upgrading Stab since Racial Skills couldn't be selected. The Upgrade Screen explained to him what the stats for the game were.

Potency: How effective your ability would be. This counted damage, healing, duration and tons more.

Control: How many extra properties a skill could have. Which explained why the skills so far were so simple. He simply didn't have control.

Flexibility: How easily a skill could be used and integrated into other purposes. Low flexibility skills would fail in situations that didn't fit into their nature.

Resiliency: How durable and protective your skills made you, and how easily a skill could be countered or overridden.

Alex decided to place a flexibility point into Stab. Would rather be able to use it often than be incredibly useful but rarely available.

Congratulations on completing your first Avatar. 1 Aspect Point Awarded to your Precision Skill.

Please Standby for Avatar Possession.