EpicOne

It was a horrible experience. I couldn't believe my eyes when it had happened...what had happened. It was like a nightmare, everyone laughing so hard they cry as if they had never laughed before. The pain and suffering I had felt at the expense of this terrifying experience was enough to make me call my mom and dad and tell them of this dreaded day. "Why so serious? It's only a game, you really need to get a grip on yourself." they had said. A grip on myself? Why, it was more real than reality could be: it was a pwn in cyberspace.

Death. Me, dying! In front of my whole class. Not at the hands of something worthy like a dragon. No, nothing that impressive. I'd prefer to be killed by a mentally challenged kobald then what happened. And it was all because I forgot to heal before I unclipped.

The savagery of it too. My world has been shattered - all I've worked for, all my earnings gone to waste. I'm devastated, my hopes dashed. How would I recover, how would I get back to where I was before this tragedy? I had no idea the severity of my actions; a simple mistake and I'm back to where I started. Heal, my superiors would tell me. Always heal. The evils that roam this world cannot be trifled with, cannot be swayed and will attack at all costs - the more susceptible you are, the better. They are unforgiving. This world truly harbors heart-wrenching tribulations. And I still do not understand the meaning of it. Why must I labor here? Is the real world not good enough?

I spent a day moping and feeling sorry for myself and then the anger set in. It simmered deep with in the volcano of my soul and simmered as I began planning for my return. First, I needed to research the game archives, the forgotten history of this dreaded/loved game. There is something missing that those old scrolls maybe able to uncover. I am sure that the old librarian knows more about the game then he is willing to share so a day at the library may prove to be a wise use of my time.

There is something very appealing about the library. The dim lighting perhaps, mingled with the smell of dust and leather, the crinkle of yellowing parchments as they are gently opened. Prior to becoming of age enough to play the game, the library was were I would often spend a rainy afternoon. Hamish knew me well from those days, and the old man greeted me with a smile and a nod as I entered the massive stone building.

I wondered around aimlessly throughout the library. Seeking for something to inspire on what I should do. Thats when I found the section in the library that looks like no one had visited in years. The section all about character creation in the game. Everyone is taught from the very begining to choose certain classes and certain races out of the hundreds of possibilities. I thought to myself this is what I was looking for, and this is how I can get back at everyone who laughed at me. By making the best character anyone has every seen.

Excited by my discovery, I pulled several aging documents from the worn, wooden shelves and quickly found an empty table nearby. Spreading out the ancient, parched documents, I sat down in a chair and began my research into a new character. It was daunting to see how many classes and races existed within the game and yet everyone I knew, including myself, chose to be one of the following: Witch, Warrior, or Healer. So, the first thing I knew I had to do was scrutinize all of the class and race descriptions to come up with something unique. After carefully researching the various classes, I decided I would not be the cookie-cutter class. As I flipped to the last page, it caught my attention. I'm not sure if it was the half naked man, or warewolf, or even the angelic butterfly. But I instantly knew it was the right choice for me. Today I will choose to be the Shapeshifter. The Shapeshifter is intelligent, agile, and fierce. He is the jack-of-all trades. Next decision, which race will my Shapeshifter originate from?

I turned to the races section in the character selection isle. Most people choose humans to reflect who they really are. I flipped page after page to find a race that not many people use or have ever heard of. Thats when i fliped to a page with a race that was the most incredible thing i had ever seen. The troll race apeared on the page to have grotesque looking facial feature. A horrible under bite, with long pointed fangs. A long hooked nose equillay as sharp as its fangs. And lastly, huge eyes that appeared to be able to see black paper in a pitch dark night.

Just think, My character will be feared by all, maybe I can shape shift into a little bunny and watch unsuspecting characters run up to attack me, just for me to transform into Super Troll, and destroy them! I wonder how long I can shape shift? Guess I’ll just have to find out… So I click the next button!

So next came the name, the hardest part in making your character. In fact, it's even harder when you're a troll. You see trolls aren't the smartest creature. They only know like five letters and their vocabulary only consists of no greater than 30 words, none of which are no more sophisticated than club, fart and booger. They also have been known to have horrible short and long term memory. In fact it's been reported that players, of the troll race, become more retarded, in real life, as they play. Taking all that into consideration, I called my Troll Fred. And without any further worry about my well being, I entered the world of Epic.

My troll awoke in a dimly lit forest. "An appropriate place for a shapeshifter to start," I said aloud as if talking to Fred. Shapeshifters are believed to be in tune with nature so a forest makes sense. However because I was away from civilization I was in immediate danger. I checked to see what items Fred had started with. He had no armor and no weapons. All that he had was a couple of potions.

I started walking toward town. I knew what to do. I just had to execute the plan. If I followed the plan I could fool them all and become wealthier then any one could imagine. Maybe I could even win the game and bring my parents from back from exile. The first step in the plan is to infiltrate the troll camp and gain their trust.

Finding the camp wasn't difficult. I had walked for less than an hour before coming upon a clearing full of rudimentary cloth tents supported by sticks. I was spotted almost immediately by one, who stood up straight to a full seven and a half feet tall and demanded, "You troll! Where club, booger?" It took me a moment to realize that the troll was trying to ask me where my club was - how quickly I had forgotten how stupid these creatures were. I would, of course, need to respond in kind, so it that understood me.

So in the best way I could put things together I said, "Booger?! Club over there! It very big!" As I said this I pointed over to a small tree and convinced him that I could uproot with great ease. The stupid creature believed me immediately and kept moving on. "Okay, it good." it said to me, so I moved on into the troll camp and came upon a small hut. I thought I was in the clear by making it past that dumb guard, but then suddenly three more trolls appeared, one of them was wearing glasses and held a book in his hand. He gestured to me in a forceful manner, and unsure of what this meant, I stood still in my tracks, waiting for their next move.

"You," the troll with the glasses said, nodding his head towards me. "What is your business here?" "Uh...," I stammered, unsure of what to say. This troll seemed unnaturally intelligent for his species, suspiciously so, in fact. Few trolls are able to pronounce any word with more than one syllable, fewer still that can make such a subtle gesture simultaneously. I carefully weighed my next words, as they would surely determine, more than anything else, what was about to happen.

"I am here for the ancestral dagger of Logg." The troll with the glasses stood, seemingly resolving some inner struggle. He looked about, surely wondering if the other trolls knew what I referred to. Though they stared blankly at me as if I had read a passage from 'War and Peace', his cautious demeanor did not wane. He leaned forward, closing his book with a snap and startling the others. His glasses slid down his nose and he spoke with a low tone. "You will come with me now."

His tone left me disinclined to follow his demand, however I found my feet moving forward. It was part of my Shapeshifter quest - who knew what it would lead to... treasure, magical items or trinkets? I pondered this as the apparent 'leader troll' led me to his desired destination. We approached an ominous bamboo structure with a cloud of smoke fuming out of the entrance. The trolls went in without a moment's thought, however I hesitated. What would I find if I entered this tent? This seemed to be a new realm in a seemingly structured world.

Gathering my courage, I stepped into the bamboo tent and was pleasantly surprised to find out it was actually a sweat tent. Some of the trolls had already taken seats around the central fire pit and were using sticks to scrape their sweaty skin. Amazed to find that trolls actually practiced any form of hygiene, I looked towards the troll with the glasses. He indicated that I should take the seat next to him and I hesitantly obliged, unsure of what was about to unfold.

I watched carefully as the trolls went about their rituals. After a few moments, I began imitating them picking up a stick and scraping my skin. I listened in on the conversation, which consisted more of gestures and grunts then words. The language was not hard to grasp and soon I joined in the powwow. I had memorized and rehearsed my trolls backstory so that I deftly answered any questions regarding my troll's history and quickly found myself accepted among the clan.

Beauty was the key to unlock its secrets, no shiny weapons, no valorous heroism, I alone was astonished on the clever thinking that can take you to many places. "And do you remember giving me this pendant?" Generosity shall be repaid in full.

Snapping out of my sweat-induced stupor, I began blinking heavily and the mental fog clogging my thoughts started to disperse. I looked around, and realized with a sobering jolt that all the trolls had stopped their individual activities and were staring blankly at me. My stomach went cold as I suddenly recalled that I had unknowingly induced a Shapeshifter trance state. "The relaxing sweat bath must have initiated it!" I thought to myself frantically. The trance state is what Shapeshifters enter in order to change their physical appearance. My hands flashed up out of the water to my face, and felt soft flesh. Soft, human flesh. I heard the deep, guttural growl of an angry sounding troll float across the room.

The trolls then began to stand up. One by one each troll stood up staring at me as I was still sitting. I felt the heat of there breaths scrape my skin as they began to sing. They were dancing around me, hopping up and down while swinging their heads. I felt nervous as the uncertainty of these trolls scared me. The trolls danced around me for what seemed like forever. Finally one of the trolls stopped dancing. Sweat was pouring off of his face, the odor made my eyes began to water. He approached me with a deep growl and brought his dark eyes inches away from mine.

Luckily, I remembered the potion in my pocket. Before anyone could prevent me from doing so, I threw the small vile onto the fire. A thick, gray fog consumed the tent. Soon, the sound of laughter was as thick as the fog as every troll in the tent began belly laughing uncontrollably. They started falling on the ground rolling their pudgy bodies to and fro which allowed me to slip out of the tent with ease. Part one of the plan totally screwed up. Or so I thought.....

I ran from the tent deep into a forest. The forest was growing increasingly dark the farther i ran in. You could tell these trees were old. I finally got to a stopping place where i felt less concerned about the orcs following me, and more concerned about what is behind every tree i come by. I turned around to make sure none of the orcs have followed me. I stood there for a little while wondering what to do next, when i heard a little chuckle behind me.

As I turned around my eyes were met by a set of giagantic glossy owl eyes. "Frederick!" The owl hooted at me. Initially I was startled, but the voice sounded so famailar. "...Olive, is that you?", I nervously whimpered. "Of course Frederick, do you like my new form? I spent the past few years training under Sage Raia mastering the ability of flight." "That's great Olive! I'm so proud of you.", I tried to be as convicing as possible, but I was jeolous deep inside. After all, Olive was 2 years younger then me. And now she has better abilities then me? "Unghh.", I groaned to myself. I've tried to shapeshift into a flying creature but have failed many times. "Frederick, what are you doing out here?" Olive asked.

"I'm-". Whoosh. A boulder flew by, hitting Olive and squashing him flat against a nearby mountain side. "What the f-" I shouted from the shock before a gigantic, 20 foot drawf came stomping out in front of me. Before I could react, the Drawf pick me up and pulled off all my limps. He then gave a deafening laugh and let me drop to the ground. As if what he did wasn't cruel enough, he then proceeded to heal me back to full health. And without a single word, the giant drawf went stomping off into the distance, leaving my limbless self on the ground. I shape shifted several times to see if changing my form could save me, but no matter what I did, my body remained limbless. I lay there and began to cry like a baby. "I HATE MY LIFE! I HATE IT! MY LIFE IS RUINED! What will I do now? live a real life outside the game? Impossible! It can't be done! I know, I'll find that Drawf and kill him! I'll-" My words were cut short by a flock of vultures that randomly appeared out of nowhere and proceeded to rip me to shreds.

The vultures devour my remains, pulling shreds off skin and meat, swallowing the pieces in one gulp. The pain is unbearable with my body is going into shock, coming in and out of consciousness. The feeling of pain is starting leave my body, “have they cut my spinal cord.” I see my intestines being pulled out of my body, I ask myself, “when will it end, this can not be happening!” As the vultures go for my eyes, my life starts to flash before me, and as I start to blackout for the last time I smell Almonds!

As I die, I wonder to myself if there was a way that I could have lived my life differently and remembering the moment seven years ago when I spoke to my farther about the adventures that would await me as I went out side of the sacred city of Sondesca, the birth place of our forefathers that helped carve this city and kingdom out of the barren plains and filth ridden lands populated by the horrible monsters that could be found everywhere. My father warned me that as I left the city to go on my quest to find out what happened to my mother in the war of two worlds, that the way I lived would change forever and nothing would ever be the same. He handed me a map that he assured would help guide me on my journey, but what was odd is that pieces of the map were missing and he reassured me that when the time was right, the pieces of the map would come together and become obvious to me as I wander off into the wastelands in search of my mother and the old city of Sonder.

The memory forces a last bit of energy into my body. "No!" I already died once, I will not die again. I don't have any limbs anymore, so I can't weild a weapon. I don't know any spells either. Without thinking or hesitating I do the first thing that comes into my mind. I use all my remaining strength to lift up my head and bite down on one of the vultures as hard as possible. Anything to keep myself alive just a little longer. The vulture lets out a dreadful noise, at least its probably dreadful, my senses fail me as I can't see or hear anything. The pecking stops, the birds probably back off after being startled by the vulture's cry and my sudden movement. I release the bird in my mouth, but not before it slashes my face with its talons a few times. How much time did I buy? I wonder as I lay motionless waiting for my impending death.

Suddenly a group of elves appeared from the forest, upon them seeing the vultures attacking me they advanced towards me and proceeded to fight the vultures off. I noticed a female elf in white robes in the back of them that looked as if she was chanting a powerful spell. Suddenly I felt the pain ease from my body and noticed that I had all my limbs back. I was shocked to say the least, that I was fortunate enough to have these elves come by and have such a skilled healer in their mists. I sit up slowly and offer them my thanks. The elves insist that i follow them to their village as the forest is crawling with creatures. Needless to say after the entire 20 foot dwarf ordeal that almost killed me, I agree and head with them to there village deep in the forest.

I followed the elves to a village deep in the forest. It was nothing like anything I had seen before! Beautiful rose gardens on every house... and the houses weren't little stone or wood structures placed haphazardly, no, they were tree houses that blended in so well to the trees, you would think they were part of them. A elf asked me a question and I quickly looked up and replied. My reply startled me, for my character replied in a human voice. I looked up into the mirror and saw a beautiful human male staring back at me. Were the elves just being nice because I was pretty? What if they knew I was a troll?

I joined them for dinner. They had a lavish dinner with all the fixings. While this sounds awesome i was unsure of how eating would affect my characters shapeshifting form. I took a seat looking around the table. I noticed something that i had not noticed about my saviors before. They were not just any elves. They were dark elves that were not alllowed near any city.

I shook my head in disbelief, straining to remember what I could from the local librarian, who specialized in monster analysis in epic. They had once been a powerful race in Epic, but some catastrophe led to them laying siege to several of the major cities. When the dust settled most of the dark elf NPC's had been slain, and the guards protecting the city had forced most of them beyond the city limits. They now openly attacked them on sight, and they tended to be equally hostile toward players.

They are not to be trusted, I told myself. This was a strange occurrence to meet such a rare breed of humanoids though, so taking time to learn thier custums and what-not might prove quite the event. So, I bide my time and continue through their daily duties and see what else lie in store for me.i

Darkness swept through out the lands, the city guards were placed on high alert, rumors of the evil approaching the city walls. Sorceress Kaldrin faints to the ground, visions of destruction lay before her memories, the royal guards rush to her aid, “Milady, are you alright.” She replies, “I’ll be fine, a foul darkness is coming.” One of the guards, with a surge of adrenaline rushes towards the bell tower to sound the city alarms. The clatter of bells in the night strikes fear into the city buildings.

The forest darkens as if the moon’s beauty had vanished out of site over the forest canopy. Dark Elves march in columns with the dark armor clattering, strangling the harmony of the forest’s singing voice. Allies of goblins and knolls follow in formation behind the brutish dark warriors striking imitating visions. The grass begins to shroud and discolor as the monstrosity catapults plunder the forest grounds with their towering size. In the distance, fear stains the air as the armies of darkness approach the human kingdom.

As darknes overcomes the light in the sky, the dark elves are clearly visible in massive numbers approaching the human kingdom. The gaurd in the watch tower can barley keep his head up. The heavyness of his armor, and ale brewing in his system is making his eyes drift away more and more every second. The gaurds eyes close for a split second then suddently he wakes him self up as he jumps up. The gaurds eyes open and jaw drops to the ground. He starts to studder and then screams for help. He had no idea what was about to happen.

He fell to the ground, scared. He felt an emeny catch jim. it was Jake Snake. "Are you ok?" asked jake snake. "tyeah he replied" "good cause im gettin u outta heree" but jake snake was suprised at how many metalg ears were arouhd, so he tyook out his rtocket blauncher and blew them up "thank god" said the main charactwer of the stoery. "yeajh i no jake snake said back to him then out of sudenly came master cheif and he said stop jake snake i kno who youyr father is and the main character saidf OH NO JAKE SNAKE LOOKOUT BEHIND YOU