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It was the beginning of the end. 

After years of exploring the vast world of Yggdrasil, after years of pillaging dungeons and grabbing ahold of precious loot, and after years of breaking through the boundaries of the game world itself, it appears that Tor Magnus III will have to finally put his axe up for good. And where was he when he got the news? According to him, he was exploring the last bit of land far into the north, where there were no settlements, no NPCS, just a vast uncharted mountain range that served as a barrier between the existing land and whatever lied beyond. He wanted to see what he can find beyond these natural barriers. What would he find? A new world? A void? An invisible wall? It has never really been said. And he was just on the verge of scaling through this mountain range. He was on the verge of treading through new grounds.

Yet while the server would usually bring an adventurer like Tor to make haste before everything closed... this encouragement suddenly vanished. 

All of it. Gone.

Erik Fredriksen had lost the will to explore.

It was a day he long since dreaded. He knew this day would eventually come, but he believed it would come much later. Very few games reached up to the length that Yggdrasil had been operating, but even then, none of the most popular games of his time nearly compared to this one. Even the games he worked on as a programmer often remained relevant for say, one to two, maybe three, years, before a new game would bring the attention of the masses, or the consumers as the Triple AAA corporations call them. Yet Erik fell in love with this game, along with his dwarf character, Tor. He wanted to become the first player, at least to his knowledge, to traverse 100% of the map. He wanted to find all the available secrets he could find. He made all these calculated maps, as well as complex instructions to get to these seemingly "unreachable" places. He even managed to break under the map, although accidentally, leaving his character to fall endlessly into the void, only to quickly teleport him out through the use of "Warp Powder" and found himself back to the safety of his house. No one believed of his accomplishment - save for his dwarven friends within the Adventure Guild - but it was a personal accomplishment of his.

Ahh, his friends. They left earlier today prior to the message, most of them either having to go to work or sleep, depending on their time zone. The few that were still here, like the guildmaster, [url=https://i.pinimg.com/736x/32/68/c0/3268c0ea013e95c1420aff40ccaa9593--dwarf-paladin-fantasy-dwarf.jpg]Alfrigg The Wise[/url], resigned from his position after making a public announcement of the situation to the rest of the guild. All that remained of the proud Adventure Guild now was him, Tor The Unbreakable. 

Those were the good ole' days. The days when the sun was high and the land seemed immensely infinite. Now Tor was on the verge in 100% completing the entire map, but... he didn't press on. It's almost as if he didn't want to continue. Perhaps the small veil of mystery should be preserved, just to keep the mysterious quality alive. He began to feel like he didn't deserve it somehow, as if it was always destined to be out of his reach. Yet he doesn't leave the server right on the spot. No. He decides to stay. He'll stay in the game right until the time that the game completely shuts down, booting Tor out of the game and wiping away the 1650 kroner ($202 USD) that was invested into the game. It's not extremely much, and most of that money was used to boost his rank in the early years of his career, but alas it's still 1650 kroner. 

Who knows what lies just beyond the mountain peaks. For all Tor knew it could be disappointment at this stage. Or maybe it is something worth seeing. Perhaps he may get an achievement. But now it all didn't matter. So on this very cliff edge where he stands, the rugged dwarf sits, seemingly content with his fate as he awaits for the countdown to finally mark the end.

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[color=0072bc][b]"W-Wha-What?"[/b][/color]

She was confused. She was most certainly, utterly confused.

The announcement that Yggdrasil was shutting down was like a hammer slamming down on your head at terminal velocity. Bethesda was caught completely off-guard and ill-prepared for what was going to go down. Charlotte's character had only existed for the past few years, still in the mid-late hay day of the game. Through sheer determination, with a healthy dose of luck, she was able to achieve relatively major success. However, her biggest accomplishment was receiving the massive Colossus Cannon after completing that one Siege Event. It's a cumbersome weapon to wield, however it made up for it in the raw power it can unleash. Now only few years after earning that special cannon, trying desperately to continue in [i]'getting guder'[/i], the game seemingly wanted to take it back from her.

[color=0072bc][b]"T-They can't!"[/b][/color] she cries aloud to one of her fellow members of the De Ordine Imperii, [color=0072bc][b]"I still need to reach my full potential! Oh please, don't close the game now!"[/b][/color]

Of course, her begging only replayed the simple fruitless answer. 

[i]"I'm sorry, but there's nothing else we can do."[/i] replied the other remaining members solemnly.

She's been trying to hard to do her best. However, the last time she went into a skirmish with her team, she was quickly overwhelmed by a fast rogue who managed to close the distance to her and nearly defeat her. She was saved by one of her teammates, but alas she felt guilty for letting herself get squandered like that. Now with seemingly no chance to redeem herself, all she can do is just erase herself from the party. She walks away from the sprawling activity and heads for the armory. Usually she'd be here when crafting her ammo for the Colossus Cannon, using the elemental essence of the fallen foes she finds in battle. Now this is only a simple reminder of the past. There's nothing else she can do other than sulk, leaning her cannon beside her as she aimlessly stares down at the ground...

Lost and all alone.