MMO

Snow drifts down from the milky white clouds that blanket the dawn of Nordic sky, frosting cabin eves and wooden store signs. Through the beautiful yet blinding snow the sun manages to break from the horizon of the sea. The Northernmost town of the continent of Skyrim, Dawnstar was a town of humble fishers, miners, and smithies. The 30 people who lived here ran on a simple and easy schedule. Wake up, eat, work, break, work, go home, eat, sleep. Not too many adventures occur here but all too many adventurers pass through here for the famed Dawnstar fillet o' fish and a bottle of Honning brew mead. One such adventurer is passing by but for a single night. Freitla Lioness. A powerful Nordic woman as skilled with magic as she is with the sword, she bears the armour of the infamous Aldmeri Dominion, as a trophy and as a warning to all who dare cross her path. "Dent my armour I'll dent your skull!" Prideful and perhaps a bit too confident in her combat prowess, those are the words she roars to mead filled men in bars wanting some action... of the wrong kind. With yet another handful of teeth to add to her 'lucky' pouch the door booms with the dreaded knocking of a stranger. Whom shall disturb the peace of the quiet town of Dawnstar? Bandits from the valley, Sabre Cats from the mountains, Wraiths from the frost? And whom shall protect Dawnstar and live to eat another fillet? The ten guardsmen, the five smithies, the lone warrior? With door booming and hearts pounding a voice echoed from outside. "Daniel, dinner's ready!"

Daniel taps the ESC key propping himself halfway between standing on two legs and sitting on his swivel chair, with one hand leaning on the cluttered desk glazed with Doritos powder and Mountain Dew residue, and the other holding his headphone cup away from his ear. "Sorry, what was that?" A slight pause between mother and son "I said dinner's ready. It's lasagne..." Daniel abruptly pulls off his headphones, lays them down and slides past his desk. Opening the door a crack to check whom dares disturb the weekend-long marathon. Golden light slices into the darkness, with only blue monitor light backblasting onto posters and peeling wallpaper. Acne and grease stained face peer out from the darkness. The goblin opens up his den a little more and reaches out for some 'Italian nourishment'. "Thanks mum..." He peers down at the plate with a golden cake of lasagne and back up at the golden face of his dear mother, smiling in gratitude. The door severs the light and clicks back into place. Daniel lays his dinner on his wooden study desk to the right of the den, to be eaten 'later'. Navigating back to his battle station with the glow of the blue monitor as light, continuing The Adventures of Freitla Lioness. A daring and strong hero with iron hide skin and golden heart, willing to sacrifice herself for the lives of others. Daniel should know, he built Freitla himself and he plays Freitla himself. He's even taking up writing a novella based on her adventures, keeping his precious drafts on the chipped yet cleaned wooden study desk. Though his handwriting's sloppy and the story poorly structured, Daniel always puts in a little extra time on Friday night to draft, write and edit... but tonight is Saturday and that's going to be occupied by an extra seven hours.

Freitla steps outside with sword and spell, legs primed and arms ready, she scans from left to right. Doors locked, windows sealed the fishers watch in hope that they live to fillet another day. Ominous, whistling breeze fills the deathly stillness of Dawnstar... and from the heavens blasted an almighty roar. To the sky, Freitla raised her sword and through the thick white was the opaque but bold silhouette... of a dragon. It circled overhead, hunting and surveying. The beast catches wind of Freitla and plummets down to the ground, wings outstretched on the snow it lowers its head to meet the eyes of the dragonborn. Freitla with a heart of golden courage stares into the eyes of the monster. "I'm not scared... you scaly bastard!" The dragon arches back, fills its breath with hellfire and blasts out on Freitla, sending her flying to icicle clad rocks. Impaled and roasted, it's the end for our hero and the end of Dawnstar. The world all around Freitla closes to the black abyss. Just as she's laid to rest, she awakens back to the bar, with the body of an unconscious man at her feet. The door booms with the dreaded knocking of a stranger.

Head hung and hands pulling back on hair, Daniel taps the ESC key. "Not the same goddamn dragon..." Defeated yet again he inspects his Freitla's inventory. Weapons, armour, spells, potions, not much to go on. Some are rare and worth saving for that 'one battle', others are useless but worth some gold. Daniel decides to think it over with some lasagne. Leaving the headphones on the crusty desk and slinking to his study, reaching behind the desk for the lamp switch. Clicking on, golden light illuminates the yellow-brown wooden desk, no crumbs, no spills, no pizza boxes. After each meal grab some wet ones and wipe the desk, rules Daniel made to keep his books, drafts, Stanley the cactus in the corner and the portrait clean. Alongside impeccable stainless steel cutlery for mum's dishes. Daniel grasps a fork and slices into the golden dish for the five-star, family loved laz-ag-na. Adjusting the lamp neck upwards so not to feel like a hunchback an alabaster framed portrait in the corner is dimly lit. Pausing, Daniel stops eating, carefully lets down his fork and wipes his hands together. Four fingers on the back panel and his thumb resting on the frame he bring the portrait closer into view. Autumn, 2015, Comicon, near the main entry, at precisely 4:00 pm. Daniel, with his once-in-a-blue-moon clear skin and Freya, with flawless jewelled eyes and her waving golden locks. Every day at school Daniel would be the laughing stock, the punching bag, the skinny nerd into Dungeons and Dragons. And Freya Bailey, though not amongst the popular girls with their bows and makeup and bracelets and nails, was beautiful in every other way. She kept her head down to dodge the crossfire of school affairs and did what needed to be done, but that didn't mean she wasn't happy. Bright as the sun with her smile radiant with joy. Practically intimidated by girls (or anyone who wasn't behind a screen and keyboard) Daniel had to muster golden courage to approach Freya, talk to Freya and most of all... ask Freya out. With poetic triumph she eagerly accepted his offer and the duo went off on an adventure to the land of nerds. Hands down, Daniel declared 2015 Comicon "the best day of his life." The portrait is a treasured memoir of that day. Though Daniel's courage soon enough fizzled away, fearing of even approaching Freya she soon dissolved away leaving behind the memory of Comicon and a print of a photo.

With a tear breaking and the lasagne finished Daniel decides that perhaps it's time to play a different game. Freitla Lioness needs a rest after being toasted by a dragon over and over again. Closing down Skyrim, Daniel scans his library for options. Having enough of Skyrim but not Elder Scrolls he boots up Elder Scrolls Online. The MMORPG of choice. He opens to the golden metropolis of The Imperial City, where he left off with his soft-hearted Orc, Larzol Bamog. Not a regular player of ESO, Daniel reacquaints himself with the world and the controls. One of the perks of playing alone in a huge open world is that not many people disturb you, most of the time. Alone in a big city Larzol wanders around the market, browsing axes and armour of all kinds. Off in the distance was the erratic movements of another player, jumping and sprinting all about the stalls. A new hero with the name Carmallia. A level 5 human. Larzol attempts to sink into the crowd, not wanting to be noticed nor wanting to be noticed not to be noticed. Carmallia stops soon bounds her way over to Larzol. Petrified, Larzol freezes... but so does Carmallia. Only a few feet between one another, the golden girl spoke through headset. "Excuse me, could you help me please? I'm a little lost..." One second, Daniel's lungs shrunk, two seconds his hands shook, three seconds his lips parted, four seconds he drew breath, five seconds... six... seven... eight...

"What do you need help with?"