[Kitsumi]

//This is probably just a place-holder form. I'm not sure what form the mysterious/possibly evil wizard will actually take.



As the multitude of players collected themselves after the sudden drop, a shadowy figure began hovering above the crowd. "Players!" he shouted in a booming voice. "Welcome to Evelon! Before you begin your adventures here, I must divulge a bit of information with you." He waited until every eye was on him before continuing.

"This isn't a game." Before the words could register and send people into a panic, he launched his explanation. "You see, I have teleported all of you into a real world called Evelon. You will not be able to log out, because you are no longer playing a game, and you are no longer in that world.

"Your actions and choices within Evelon will have life or death consequences. In this world, you can become injured, fall ill, and even die, just as you would in our world. If your health bar falls to zero, there will be no chance of revival. Your life is now within the game.

"Never fear, however. I have made it possible for more of the fun video game aspects to follow you into your new life here. You will still have a health bar, as I have mentioned. You will still be able to level up your skills and use them to protect yourself, earn wealth, or even become a powerful force within Evelon. You will gain loot from all wild kills - but only the truly wild ones, so don't go around killing intelligent species or you may get yourself into trouble. And you will always be able to recognize your fellow gamers by checking above their head for their username and status bar.

"Well, I believe that's all I have to say, for now. Go forth and enjoy your adventures! And remember, I'll be watching." The man began to fade before their very eyes. Whether he was leaving them or simply masking his visibility wasn't clear. But within seconds, he was no longer able to be seen.

And then, all hell broke loose.

[Jedi]

"What the-" Inferno didn't know what to think of this situation. He was still surrounded by all the gamers in the lobby, but they were now standing in an open field. He was even more confused when he saw the figure before all of them. He listened half halfheartedly until he heard him declare that this was in fact not a game. With that, he reached up to his head, in an attempt to remove the gaming device. To no prevail, it wouldn't come off. Not only that, he couldn't feel it. He felt like he was making a fool of himself until he saw others attempting the same feat without success. And so he listened more intently, trying to learn as much information from him.

When the sorcerer, or whatever he was, vanished, he had to react quickly. A man brandishing a battleaxe came full speed at him. From the name above his head, Inferno guessed this was another player. He tore the battleaxe away from his grip, then swung it around, landing it in the man's chest. In a desperate attempt to survive, he tried morphing back to his beast form, dying as a lucain.

The sight left him nauseous, but he kept up his defense, trying to stay alive. Two more came after him but he discouraged them when he brandished his own swords with flames as he drew them. They took off running. With that, he took to the sky before anyone else could come after him.

---

Ackerley woke to utter chaos. He'd hit his head on impact, leaving him unconscious during the wizard's explanation. But now that he was awake, he saw people tearing each other apart. Luckily he was near a small area of bushes, which he went to for cover.

From there, he caught a glimpse of Aditi. She was summoning imps to keep her safe from the frenzy. They were only low level, as they were all she had access to at this early level. Ackerley rushed out and grabbed her by the wrist, knowing they couldn't protect her for long. "Hurry. We've gotta get out of here." He pulled her towards the bushes, where they watched the battle for a short time.

[Kitsumi]

When people began to realize that the man had been telling the truth and that they were unable to log out, they began to panic. Some of them simply tried running. Others, for some reason, thought that they would be safer if they attacked the other players. It became utter chaos, and three Kuhna were stuck in the middle of it.

"Rory!" Twylla slashed her claws at a would-be attacker sneaking behind her cousin, and then gave him a harsh shove forward. "Move your ass! We need to get the hell outta here. Magi?" "Here!" Her brother's voice came from her left. "I have a low-level Illusion spell that I can use to distract people from you. I'll stay back and make sure you get away safely." His sister looked like she wanted to argue, but Rory was pale as a sheet and wasn't moving without her coaxing, so she nodded once and then began pushing Rory to safety.

Somewhere in the middle of things, a woman who had yet to explore her beast form wielded the pistol she had started out with. Hotaru didn't want to kill anybody, but she refused to let the panicked mass of players kill her. So whenever anybody turned their attention to her, she would take a couple of shots at their feet, scaring them away. It wasn't until a rather large Paragon eyed her that she finally began to run for cover. She practically dove into some bushes, ignoring the prickles. When she noticed two people already hiding in them, she began to back away. Without a word, she turned and ran.

[Jedi]

Soaring over the field, Inferno saw that it wasn't as bad as it looked. At least half of the players had taken off into the nearby woods or the town. He wasn't sure what it was called and figured that it might be strange to enter such a different world. Whatever people live in these lands might be dangerous. He wasn't sure, but if this wizard brought them into this world, there was no telling what for.

When he thought he saw a good place to land, he descended. He was a little while away from the battle that ensued, but not too far, should he decide to go back later. Inferno stretched his wings, feeling them strained after a rough attempt at flight.

---

"What the hell?" Aditi said as the stranger took off. Aditi didn't pay her too much mind though. Just as she turned her attention back to the battle, she witnessed all of her imps being slain. "That'll be us if we're not careful. We need to leave," said Ackerley, who began sneaking in another direction. "Fine," Aidti settled as she followed her boyfriend. They entered the woods, unsure of what they might run into.

[Kitsumi]

After a few minutes of running, Rory turned back to see only Twylla behind him. "Where's Magi?" He worriedly looked around, but saw no sign of his other cousin. "Oh my god, where is your brother?!"

"Calm down," Twylla said. "He'll follow as soon as he can, I'm sure. Now come on - let's see how useful these wings of ours are. We need to get far enough away that we won't be in any danger." Seeing her cousin's frightened expression, she sighed. "Don't worry, we'll stay as close as we can. We'll find Magi when all of this is over, if he doesn't catch up with us first. I promise."

They were surprised to see how easy it was to use their wings. When they finally landed, they warily eyed the Paragon who had also landed nearby. "You'd better not try anything," Twylla growled. "I may be smaller than you, but I'll kick your ass if you try to harm us."

---

After seeing his sister and cousin make it to safety, Magi had planned on following them. But when he spotted a woman, still in human form, struggling to defend herself with only a two-handed staff, he felt like he had to come to her aid. "Let's see what this illusion magic can do," he muttered to himself as he began casting the spell. Soon, the woman's attacker was running from what he thought was a swarm of bees circling him. He screamed something about being allergic, and Magi couldn't believe his luck.

"Hey, you!" he called to the woman. "Follow me - I'll get you to safety."

The woman hesitated, obviously not ready to trust him. But in the end, her desire to leave the fighting players was greater than her fear of the Kuhna. "Thank you for helping me," she said as she hurried to his side. She seemed to be reading Magi's username as he read hers: Khalyrra.

[Jedi]

Inferno held his ground, but he made no attempt to threaten them. "Look, I don't want any trouble." He recalled the man who he'd impaled with his own battleaxe. If the wizard was telling the truth, that made him a murderer. Or would it be in self defense? "I don't want to fight any more than you do, but don't think I won't kill you if you try something." He stayed still, waiting for a few seconds in case they made a move, but decided to cut off the standstill. "Truce?" he offered.

---

Ackerley and Aditi finally found a place of solitude. They were hiding within a large hollowed out tree trunk. "This thing must be a couple meters in diameter," observed Ackerley. He looked up and down at his girlfriend's atire. It was a simple black robe with green trim and a white tunic underneath. Something most likely common among necromancers. Aditi observed her boyfriend's attire as well. He was wearing a black shirt with a green short vest. His pants only went as far down as his ankles and he wore wooden sandles. "What kind of knight wears crap like that?" From what she said, he knew he was in trouble. He stood in silence, not sure of what to say. "Ackerley? What did you do?!" She was pissed to say the least.

[Kitsumi]

Twylla was still eyeing the Paragon warily, but Rory spoke up. "Truce," he said. When his cousin turned her glare upon him, he shrugged. "You know that we probably can't take on a Paragon that size, not without honing our skills." The woman huffed. "Well, we could have, if-" "I know, I know," Rory interrupted, rolling his eyes. "If you were a Paragon."

"Wait a minute..." Twylla suddenly turned her attention to the Paragon's username. "Inferno? You don't happen to be a PKer from that one game, are you? Oh, what was it called? Death...death something. Death seeker? Something like that."

---

Magi and Khalyrra had made it out of the fray, but now they were a bit lost. "I'd like to bring you to my sister and cousin," Magi said. "Because there's safety in numbers. The only problem is, I'm not quite sure where they are."

"Maybe we should climb a tree?" Khalyrra's suggestion caused Magi to look at her oddly, and she tried to explain. "First of all, we'll be less likely to be seen in a tree. It'll make us safer, in case other players start fanning out to try to find each other. Secondly, we'd be more likely to spot your family that way."

The kuhna nodded. "Huh. That is a pretty good idea. Alright, after you." He gestured towards the nearest tree, indicating for her to go first.

---

Alone, Hotaru knelt and closed her eyes. She needed a plan.

"Step one," she whispered to herself. "Get better gear. Step two, start leveling up my main skills. Step three..." What was step three? "Step three will come when I get to it." She jammed her pistol into the holster that conveniently came with it. "I might as well get started. I wonder where the nearest shop is...and what the currency is." She groaned. "Maybe step one should be to grind some low-level beasts for loot."

[Jedi]

Was she talking about that old MMORPG that came out seven years ago? "You mean Dead Slayers?" He didn't want to answer the question truthfully, but figured he'd have to to get their trust. He answered with a simple nod, knowing she was probably some grieving ex-player. "Look, I don't want any grief. It's bad enough that we may lose our lives playing this game. And to think, I was actually slapped earlier this evening trying to buy this game, even though the bitch had two sets already."

---

A red palm-shaped mark made it's way onto Ackerley's cheek. "Are you telling me I'm stuck with a fucking hippie for protection?!" He didn't know what to respond with, which only infuriated Aditi more. She let loose with a punch across the other cheek, sending him out of the tree trunk. He fell to the ground and spat out a few drops of blood. His jaw was feeling slightly unhinged, but not too bad. "I'm sorry," was all he could say. "SORRY?!" she yelled. "We might just die out here, AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!"

[Kitsumi]

As soon as Inferno admitted to being the PKer she had known in that game, Twylla flew into a rage. "Seriously?! You fucking killed me within like two minutes of my joining!" "Language!" Rory tried to silence her, but there was no stopping her mouth once it began running. "You kept following me around and killing me whenever I had gotten any good loot. I rage quit that game!"

At first, she didn't notice what he had said about the slap. But Rory's eyes widened, as he remembered what Twylla had said earlier about having to slap someone. "Umm...someone slapped you?" he asked innocently. Immediately his cousin's eyes lit up, and she began laughing out loud. "Oh my god that was you?! I am so fucking glad I slapped you." "Language!" Rory pleaded.

---

Just as Khalyrra got a good hold on the tree, she heard raised voices coming from nearby. She turned her worried gaze towards Magi, who gestured for her to be quiet. "Stay behind me," he said, as he went to investigate the source of the noise.

The Kuhna hadn't expected to find a couple arguing in a hollowed out log. "Miss?" His first thought was that the man posed a threat to the woman. "Are you alright? Is this guy bothering you?"

[Jedi]

Great! he thought to himself. Not only was he trapped in a deadly video game with complete strangers, but he was now making enemies as well. That is, if they view him as an enemy. From what it looked like, the female was more amused at him than angry. That at least relaxed him as he was hoping to diffuse the situation. "You've got problems with me. I get it. I have a problem with getting slapped over a video game console. But maybe we can just put our past behind us and work together. I'm sure having me by your side wouldn't be too bad. Would it?"

---

Aditi panicked at the appearance of the kuhna. She turned to look at it, not sure exactly what to make of it. She had forgotten that they could shift into beast form at any given moment, but quickly remembered as she heard it speak. "I'm fine," she said in a rude tone. Immediately she turned to look at Ackerley, who had started standing up again. He used his staff to keep his balance, as he was still dizzy from her punch. "It's my fault," he stated. "I was suppose to choose a different class and now I'm stuck like this." In truth, he did like the class he had now, but was trying to take the blame so that Aditi wouldn't be angry as much. "It's nothing important enough to worry about," he said to the Kuhna. Aditi remained silent, too frustrated to talk to either of them. So he did the introduction. "I'm Ackerley, and this is Aditi. Who might you be?"