Astral Flow

Chapter 1

[Lindrick; Capital of New Beginnings]

That was the name card that popped up for all the players that entered into the area.

Confusion and excitement filled each and every one of them as they took in their surroundings, the large number of players catching some off guard.

It wasn't the nicest looking place, stone walkways crumbling, abandoned buildings, scrawny looking npcs. Even the fountain in the center of the plaza looked like it hadn't been used in years.

"Yup this place is just as depressing looking as i thought..." a fair skinned knight thought to himself aloud.

He had windswept blonde hair pulled into a small ponytail and teal colored eyes. His armor consisted of some shabby old metal plate mail that'd clearly seen better days, along with a tattered dirty white cape hanging from his back.

The username in the top left of his hud read "Ryder", it was right above the main status bars. "Man they really aren't hiding this inspiration at all are they? Oh well, guess it just adds to the atmosphere."

Ryder inspected his gear, old dingy armor, a two handed longsword and a shield were the only things he had, though he promptly removed the shield. "Sheesh, even the starting equipment is pretty minimal..." he glanced around hoping to see some kind of shop or sign of where to go. No such sign existed unfortunately.

With a sigh he rubbed the back of his head before starting a walk around this so-called capital. The place was more like a ghost town than any would be capital, it definitely seemed more like a beginner hub. Only two to three NPCs were there from the looks of it, the rest of the population seemed to be player based surprisingly enough.

"Might as well see if the NPCs have anything important to say" he mused to himself, unsure of what else to do.

Ryder walks up to a rather scrawny looking woman in what appears to be some kind of tattered and torn robe. It looks like she's seen better days and she seems to be focusing on some kind of prayer.

She had pale, almost ill seeming skin, sunken in green eyes with permanent dark bags under them and messy dirty blonde hair that reached down to her shoulders.

"Oh merciful gazer, please lead these outlanders to freedom. Bring us our new lord. Bring us salvation!" her voice was hoarse and raspy, like she'd been speaking all day.

"Excuse me, miss?" Ryder spoke gently trying to calmly get her attention, she may have been just an NPC but it was still fulldive, she still seemed somewhat real.

The woman let out a surprised gasp before looking up, fear in her eyes.

"Oh forgive me, I didn't know you had all already arrived!" she stands up and lightly bows "My name is Eleanor, i'm the Memento Maiden of these parts."

Ryder tries to hide his confusion a little before asking. "A Memento Maiden? What is that exactly?"

"Oh right, I forgot that you Outlanders might not know of such things... my role as a Memento Maiden is to allow those such as yourself to use the power of Memoirs and Mementos to increase your own abilities." as Eleanor says this she produces a small talisman of sorts. "Here, this is a Memento, an object imbued with the memories of a fallen soldier."

The talisman did seem to have a faint glow to it, like an item just begging to be picked up. Carefully he scoops it up and examines it, only for it to fade and turn into bright blue particles that drift away. Soon after that a number appeared in the bottom left of the hud, experience points had just been added.