[Diane] Chapter 1: A New World

[Throndir]

《Character Sheets

》

《Chapter 1: A New World》

Location: Earth
Date: 2017 - May 22

Location: ???
Date: ???

http://www.youtube.com/v/wop7l9k0aLY

When you finally began to stir, everything was different than what you expected. However, the memories of the the final few moments still lingered in your mind. The car slamming into you with forceful impact, your vision starting to blackout as you started to lose consciousness, everything becoming so very cold. Yet instead of what you expected, there were no loud sirens from emergency vehicles, people shouting in alarm, hard paved roads, or pain. In fact, everything felt peaceful to you. There was the rustling sound of grasses being blown by the wind, the ground felt soft, and when you finally opened your eyes you realized you were looking face up into the skies above. The crisp smell of fresh air and the outside world greeting you.

A bright blue sky, one that didn't quite look real, yet was still there above you stretched across your vision. Expanding it, looking around you, would have seen fields of grass from as far as the eye could see. It was surrealistic. Where you expected some sort of break, either mountains, hills, or perhaps even forests, there was nothing but long fields of grasses, the bright blue sky, and fluffy white clouds overhead.

There was a penetrating feeling of calm in the area, and it was hard to shake it off. There was a dream-like state to it all. Everything felt real, but at the same time it didn't. It was at that moment that a voice greeted you. A warm gentle voice, though one that still carried a sense of strength and power behind them.

"Hello Diane."

The girl who spoke was armored from head to toe, carrying a long spear that looked much too large for her, along with a round metallic shield on her other arm. She had a set of unnatural green hair, with unnatural red piercing eyes. It was similar to the cosplayers who went to conventions, or perhaps, even someone dressing up for halloween. She was a small girl, through her eyes continued to look sharply brimming with confidence. She had a gentle smile on her face as she bent down offering a hand for you to grab on and pull yourself up. Her next words confirmed a suspicion.

"Welcome to the afterlife."

[Anima mea]

Looking around a bit more, Diane's mind went into overdrive taking in the details and beginning to analyze the situation she was in.  Taking into account the death she remembered experiencing and what she knew about the afterlife beliefs of various cultures from movies and books, she shakes her head.  "I expected the Elysian fields to be a bit more, I don't know, peaceful, considering you were supposed to go there after usually a struggle, unless I'm mistaken of course."

Taking in the obvious warrior in front of her, she considers her armor and weapon, "Although, you definitely have some minor Greek flavorings in your armor and weapon, although no greek would be silly enough to wear that into battle.  Much too heavy, how do you move around like that?  Or is this some European afterlife.  A female knight greeting you in such a get up would be odd though, as they have a male centric, very much Christian heavy afterlife from what I've noticed."

She walks up to the woman and looks her dead in the eyes, "And I know you aren't Native American, nothing about you fits that kind of spirit world at all, except the setting, but you, you are the only thing that doesn't fit as well. So not to belabor the point and over quote a game, I have the question, "Who are you?"" Diane's eyes are hard, her body language showing suspicion and the heavily muscled frame is tensed as if ready to strike.

[Throndir]

The girl continued to smile brightly as she turned back towards you. "When you live in a world where there is pain, and death, well, that would be the struggle, is it not?" The girl responded. "The Elysian fields... Yes... That is one such name granted to this place." She said nodding her head thoughtfully. "It goes by many different names too. The Summerland, Heaven, the Garden, Paradise, the Spirit World, Burotu, Aaru, to name just a few. In the courses of all human history, the fascination of what lies after death has always been something people had taken a keen interest to."

When you mentioned her armor and spear, the girl easily lifted the weapon and threw it straight up into the air. It didn't seem like it was thrown very hard at all, however, the spear continued to sail straight up into the skies. Further and further it went. "However... Do not be bound by preconceived notions Diane. Nor is this place specifically anything that truly follow any laws of the world of what you may know, except for those that I choose. For you see, this place is my domain, it isn't one tied to any one culture. There are those of us that choose their domain to be a forest, or of those simply high in the skies, and even those within the deep reaches of space."

"As for who I am..." Her eyes glinted. "I am simply who I am." It was at that moment the spear that looked like the same spear the girl had thrown up into the skies suddenly reappeared back into her hand. There was no flash, or any other indication that it had appeared, only that a blink later the green-haired and armored girl would be wielding it once again.

[Anima mea]

Diane watches all of this and there is a look on her face that can only be logic trying to assert itself into a situation where it may or may not have a place.  Shrugging she replies with,"However you perform your little magic tricks, if what you are stating is true, then logic dictates that wasn't a dream or hallucination and I am well and truly dead.  With that being established what am I to do in the afterlife.  It looks a bit dull here and honestly, I'm itching to find something to work on."Looking around, she starts to look for a place to find shelter, "Although, I suppose if this is the afterlife I should at least look to getting a shelter built so I can start establishing a productive afterlife." 

Walking away from the being a bit, she begins to look for a stick and an open spot of earth to start drawing out at house, "You wouldn't happen to know where I could start finding building materials do you?  Or if someone in particular in this I guess plane of existence owns this plot of land?"  Turning back to the being, she looks at her and smiles, "Of course, there is the fact that most of the time in the afterlife the deity being doesn't usually greet you.  So what I'm most curious about is what it is that you would like me to do for you."

[Throndir]

The woman continued to smile as she kept her eyes on you. For some reason, you had easily found a stick. A single long stick that looked perfect for your plans. There didn't seem to be any other things on the ground save for the soft ground, but at the very least there was a long stick. As you moved away from the being, you couldn't help but notice that the ground was indeed soft. It felt like mushy dirt, as if it was mud, or perhaps a bunch of wood chip mulch, but the ground indeed looked normal.

"This particular plot of land? There isn't really any owner, except for me." The armored woman replied. "And you are right about that. The after life is similar to this. There is no concept of time or days, the soul simply would exist; they move on and rest. Their life's journey ends there in a perpetual stillness until one such as I chooses to give them rebirth. But for you... Well, I find you a bit more special than all the others, so I decided to give you this physical form while you're here in my domain." She grinned. "After all, it's probably easier to talk with me when you aren't a disembodied soul, where you can still think in the way that you do."

"Which leads me to my next question, tell me, Diane, how would you like to have another life? One where you get to keep your own thoughts and memories, to be the same as you are now."

[Anima mea]

Picking up the stick, she looks at the being and attends the being's words attentively, her mind processing her surroundings and the being in front of her, the words simply another data stream coming in at the time.  Once the being finishes talking, Diane looks at her in a thoughtful silence. Looking down at the stick in her hands, she smiles, "What kind of life are you talking about?  I sense that you have a purpose for me in asking.  And let's be quite honest, I'm not more special than the average person, I've simply," the pause is for a moment only, "honed my talents in a different direction than most.  In fact, you could bring in a dead police detective or a veteran mechanic for either of my major talents." 

Turning away from the being, she uses the stick to draw in the ground and begins to draw out the basic floor space of a house for herself.  Spending a few minutes doing this she has managed to draw the ground floor and beside it a second floor.  She turns and looks at the being, "So tell me what the catch to me having a new life is?  And as I don't have a name for you, I hope you don't mind me calling you Gaia."  She takes another look at the being she has dubbed Gaia and her countenance becomes thoughtful again.  After a few moments, her entire being becomes still and her breathing slows considerably. 

[Throndir]

"You may call me what you wish, names were never truly important to the rest of us, we recognize each other not by name, but by who we are. Gaia..." She smiled thoughtfully. "That was the name given to one of us by those you call the Greeks, along with stories of incest, betrayal, and anger." She laughed. "Like in all stories, there are always hints of truth to it all."

She watched in silence as you spend the next few minutes drawing the floor plan. Finally she broke that silence.

"You are more special than you think. Truly there is no catch to it, other than giving it your all, in whatever way that is, in the new life granted to you. The other option granted to you... well, is the more natural course of souls. Your will and self as you are now ceases to be, though you shall still be. Things like your learning in life, or your memories of the past, and what 'nurture' of your life has taught you will be refreshed anew. You'll be born into a new form without recollection of your past."

"Do you need time to think about it?"

[Anima mea]

"I will proceed with your offer of a life in a new world.  I may as well see if can attempt to not die in another world as well.  Besides, there is the potential for there to be chances to learn something new Nd to sharpen old skills, maybe in new ways." Standing up straight, almost at attention, Diane looks Gaia dead in the eyes, "Let's get this show on the road!  No sense in waiting!"

[Throndir]

"Very well then. Diane... Live your life to the fullest. Try not to purposefully die too though. Even among us there are rules to follow. Though there are some which would claim them to be more like guidelines, incurring the wrath of the others is not something one can win. Not even me."

She waved her hand then, and as she did, your surroundings grew brighter and brighter. It took only a second for everything to become a pure white haze, with the armored woman being the last thing you saw until the whiteness engulfed everything else.


Location: New World
Date: Day 1

As quick as it had appeared, the whiteness vanished, replaced by the sight of a field around you, with a village further in the distance. A set of runes around you had been glowing, but was quickly fading. There was a group of people surround you as well. Many of them were armored in a way that reminded you of something from the medieval ages. However, there were others too who wore robes. The majority of them wore simple shirts and pants. Though, nothing to you looked like anything you would find someone wearing back on Earth. A couple of them had blonde or brown hair, but a lot in attendance, especially the ones further out who wore the the plain clothing had a strange white hair. Altogether, there was about ten armored men, two who wore flowing robes, while the rest perhaps twenty or more behind them and around you wore the simple clothing.

All of a sudden a string of notifications appearing in a translucent green window appeared. It looked like it was floating in midair, however, whenever you moved your head, it moved too, making it so that it was always in your field of vision. The notifications scrolled upwards from the bottom, and once they got closer to the top, or sometime had passed, the notifications would fade and vanish.

You have gained a new title『Summoned Hero』
You have gained +8 STR
You have gained +8 DEX
You have gained +8 CON
You have gained +8 MAG
You have gained『Quick Learner』
You have gained『Mana Sensitivity』
You have gained『Translate All』
You have gained『Personal Status』
You have gained『Upgrade』
You have gained a new title『Upgrader』
You have gained +8 INT
You have gained『Reshape』
You have gained a new title『Reshaper』
You have gained +4 CON
You have gained +4 MAG
You have gained a new title『Fleeting Tinkerer』
You have gained +2 MAG
You have gained a new title『Mass Builder』
You have gained +2 CON
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You are now level 15. Spend your unallocated points.

As the notifications scrolled through your vision, the people around you spoke. Something seemed off with the way they spoke.

Roll Perception if you want to figure that out.

"I bid you welcome to our country, the Felencorp United Alliance."

One of the robed men spoke next.

"Hold up Kayden! This is the hero of our village, my brother and I will speak to her."

There was another man next to that one, he was also robed, had white hair, and looked strikingly similar to the one who had just spoken.

"What my brother said, we had a deal."

"Tch. Very well. I will present my case after." The armored knight said, choosing to then stand at attention and step back while the other two strode forward to you. Both of the men did indeed look similar. They had the same hair, eyes, and clothes. They looked like mirror images of each other, though from their interaction and the fact one of them called the other 'brother', it could be assumed that they were indeed brothers. They then continued to step closer.

"Welcome to Chynance village. Our humble village and abode." One of them said, when they were both finally directly in front of you, the other one held out his hand in a handshaking gesture. "And you, our hero, have our unwavering fealty." The other one finished for him.

[Anima mea]

Rolled 1d20 : 8, total 8

[Throndir]

Perception: 14
You were not able to pick out anything specific from their dialogue and speech patterns. They did indeed talk normally. The two white-haired men spoke in a slightly different way than the knight however, almost as if they had an accent, or that it was the knight who had the accent. But you could still understand it all perfectly. The way both white-haired men spoke to you, made it seem as if they had more trouble finding the right words to say.

Feel free to roll again in the next dialogue scenes after this conversation.

[Anima mea]

Diane looks at the three men and mind kicks into overdrive analyzing the situation and the words that have been heard, at least she ones she understood.   Allowing for variable cultural interpretations, she blinks a time or two as this spawns multiple conversational paths and natural, action paths for her to follow from this point.  However, something makes her come up short, something that makes her groan, there was a knight and two men in robes standing in front of her and if any of her guesses were correct, she was in hell.  She speaks up finally, only a few moments passing as she analyzes all of this and she looks at the two robed men, "I'm going to make a few basic assumptions first and I would like for you two to help me with my understanding of the situation please. First I am assuming that you summoned me or I was sent here magically is that correct?  Secondly, the knight over there is your lord's man and if I am any kind of good analyst of my own luck, you are embroiled in a war, hence why you are summoning heroes?  Lastly, and this one is predicated on being correct about the first assumption, if you have magic your level of technology is low and something called a steam engine or even flintlock rifles and pistols are not something your society as a whole have produced.  How far off am I in any of my assumptions?"

Looking around a bit, she begins gathering data again, and looks at the two young men, "I am sure I am not worthy of your fealty, but if allowed I would like to earn your friendship.  My name is Diane, Diane Malone."

[Throndir]

Awkwardly, the second twin brother lowered his outreached hand when he realized it wasn't being taken. He continued to speak a moment later. "Perhaps it is different in your world... Very well then..." He said as he eyed his brother. The two of them instead held hands, then with their other hand free they both bowed in unison.

"I am Maban Angwin..." He said.

"And I am Kenver Angwin." The other one responded a moment later.

"Together we're the Priests of Light in Chynance, this village. It was my brother Kenver who primarily did the summoning. He's a powerful caster, and a devout follower of the goddess." Maban said. At this, Kenver looked towards him, his gentle eyes meeting Maban's.

"Don't be silly my brother..." He said as the man placed an arm over his brother's shoulder. "You too are a powerful priest and caster. You're important to this village. You're important to me."

"Kenver..."

"Maban..."

"Not now Kenver, the hero is here... Hero Diane..." Maban said looking towards you. It was Kenver who then let go of his brother, then at once, they both went to their knees in reverence for you.

"You owner us with your request for friendship, Hero Diane. We shall treasure it, if you are willing to have us."

[Anima mea]

Diane watches the two of them and something about the situation makes her shake her head.  She reaches out and down with each of her hand and shakes the opposing hand of each priest, pulling them to their feet.  When she steps back, "My mother always said I had poor social skills.  Sorry about that.  I do have a question for you two.  Shouldn't you two as priests of your village be more confident in yourself?  Being humble is well and good, but being confident in what you offer your people and in yourselves can only make you better at what you do." She turns and looks the village over, something like a poker face covering her own face.  She then turns towards the priests again, `K"Perhaps you could give me a tour of your village and we could get better acquainted, after of course, I attend this knight, I feel like perhaps we have business and well, I was always as shrewd as I had been taught to be about business."&d She walks over to Kayden and looks him in the eyes, her entire demeanor having changed from analytical and curious to cold and hard.  `K"Tell me Sir Kayden what business do you have with me?  Time to cart me off to some war?  A marriage?"&d

[Throndir]

Kenver flashed a gin. "It's quite alright. You being social would have been more strange considering everything around you must be different and sudden. We've taken you out of your world, and it's more commendable that you are willing to listen. We're definitely priests, one of the tenants we hold on to is of course humbling ourselves to the hero regardless of how embarrassing it is. Normally, we bow to no one, not even these soldiers from the Felencorp or their mighty country. Apart from you, the only one I truly bow to is Maban."

"Kenver, you're just as important as I am, don't sell yourself short... We two are our village's leaders and we guide our village to the path that goddess has laid out for us."

Perception on Village
The village was quaint. The houses were small, and definitely reminded you of old european cottages. They were built with stone and wood, with roofs that looked like thatched hay. There were a couple buildings however that were made completely out of stone. There was at least once that towered over the rest, and had stained glass as well. If these two men, Kenver and Maban, were priests, that looked likely to be their church or temple. The villagers themselves all had a strange quality to them. Unlike the knights, the villagers all had white hair. It wasn't the type of bleached blonde hair you might find back on Earth, their hair was truly more akin to grey or white. They weren't quite like albino people, though there were a few who definitely had pale skin with white hair than the rest of the crowd.

"A war?" Kayden echoed. "Quite astute hero, for I have yet to mention anything of the war. As for marriage... hardly. That was tried some decades ago, and did not end well for any of the parties involved. And though I am the Felothian Knight, I too will not allow marriage against one's wishes..." The knight stood up then and snapped their hands. A boy behind the knight moved forward to stand at attention. He had blonde hair, and blue eyes, and wore a simple tunic. He looked young, 14 or maybe 16 years of age at the very most.

"Ma'am!~"

The boy stated in an almost sing-song voice. The knight nodded approvingly. "This is Hunt Holton, son of the Holton family. I had been training him as a squire up til now, and he will be serving you as your squire, hero. Lastly... There are dangers in this world that could cut short one's life. Hero Diane, keep in mind that you are a hero. It isn't a far thing to say that you are a national treasure to be guarded by the country. As you have guessed, there is indeed a war, one that had been ravaging our world for the last century. It is through the efforts of heroes like you, the Felothian knights, and the people of this world, that our country still stand strong and united."

"In that regard, I am to train you. If you level up enough, the risk of your death would be greatly lessened."