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Norman Smivens

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AGE: 26

APPEARANCE:
In a brief summary Norman could be described as "Thoroughly unthreatening".

He is a rather skinny fellow, lanky and standing at around 5'11". His jawline is rather slender and he has somewhat softer features, not exactly the spitting image of masculinity. He has medium length jet black hair that he basically just cleans. He lets it do it's own thing since he's not really worried about dressing up his hair. His eyes are a deep grey color with deep bags around them due to his rather nocturnal schedule. He does wear formal attire on many occasions but you'll also find him wearing black long sleeved shirts and plain jeans.

PERSONALITY
Norman is a smart man. He is also a timid man.

He has a fair amount of curiosity, thrilled with the prospect of exploring worlds from the comfort and safety of his own home. His bravery is not his strong suite as he is typically easily cowed and is quite generally shy. He understands that he's weak in that regard and wishes he weren't so, using a virtual reality to try and live a life where he's more outgoing and bold. Unfortunately that hasn't been going so well for him. On the plus side the strife has driven him into more adventure than he thought he could handle.

At times he can be paranoid and is very often quite high strung. He means well but his fear of consequences can bring out the worst in him. Despite everything he's invested in giving this second life of his the best shot he can give. His reluctance to give up what progress he's made can make him awfully bold when his back's against the wall. The last thing he wants to lose is the closest friend he's ever made, Rook, an NPC companion he refused to relinquish to The Chess Club.

He is a fairly intelligent scholar and tends to put a lot of thought towards his pursuits. His avatar design reflects a great deal of his heavy leaning towards strategy and numbers over reflexes and direct combat. In game he compensates for his poor aim and slower reflexes by giving his avatar more emphasis on area control and support magic. With Rook by his side he intends to explore all that Haven Online has to offer.

After all, he was well in over his head ever since that fateful day.

BACKGROUND:
Norman was never a popular man. His parents were always prouder of his older brother and he never had many friends. Growing up he turned his focus more towards his studies and gaming, building his passion for both. As he grew up he eventually set off to University where he got his doctorate in mathematics. In the meanwhile he made a living designing web pages, learning how to code as a secondary interest. When a friend, more colleage than friend really, mentioned the announcement of a new game coming out for the IRIS. The Haven caught Norman's eye and soon he had joined to find himself in it's fascinatingly diverse world.

So naturally the first thing Norman did was look for groups that shared interests of his to join. No real harm to that, yes? Wrong. Very wrong. When he saw The Chess Club they intrigued him. He had always been a chess fan and his colleague recommended this club among a list he compiled so they both signed up to join the club. Upon being given an excrutiatingly thorough rundown of their rules they were first forced to change their usernames to include the title [Pawn].

All the members held the name of a chess piece to indicate their importance within the club and all newcomers started at the bottom as [Pawn]s. The brackets were to differentiate their names from the names of the actual pieces themselves so there was no confusion. Before long they were given a full on chess piece to maintain and run at which point they were conscripted into one of the Chess Lord's armies. How lucky they were that the army they were forced to join was run by the cruelest, most ruthless member of them all: The White [Queen].

She was almost as talented as she was crazy and she's the most talented player in the club. While most would describe her as a paranoid, hateful, antagonizing and all around despicable human being there was no doubting her skill in chess. Almost never lost and always won by crushing her opponents with extremely aggressive strategies that no one had ever seen before. Unfortunately for her armies victory was all that really mattered in her eyes. She was the head of the club so she was never short on supplies to rebuild her pieces and thanks to the needlessly draconian rules she always had first pick of the newcomers. To her the people who took care of the pieces were no less disposable than the pieces themselves.

_
There was no room for originality. None of the higher ups cared about their wants or ideas. The upper ranks were filled with elites who very much acted the part, treating those they considered lesser with little to no respect. Norman had eventually gotten to run a Rook though, a station just a bit higher up than those who were fresh to the club. He didn't want to lose his position despite how little the higher ups cared. He didn't enjoy staying but as per the rules leaving the club meant giving up all that the club had given him, including his board and chess piece.

Being a timid man he contented himself with his role as the operator to the Rook. He suppressed his feelings of inadequacy and put up with his thankless job within a game. His friend however was a bit more of a rebel. One day back in the chess piece workshop they were tending to their pieces when his friend pulled out a swatch of wool along with a vial of blue dye.

[b]"Hey, I got the blue dye."[/b]

"No, we're not allowed to use dyes. That's against the rules."

[b]"I'm gonna do it.[/b]

"You can't do that it's [i]Cheating[/i]!"

[b]"I'm doin' it."[/b]

"No, no no no no-!"

Applying the dye his friend had turned the swatch blue. Norman's fists were clenched so tight his knuckles were white.

"God damnit! God damnit god damnit god damnit god damnit! You broke the rules! You broke the rules and now everybody's gonna be mad because you broke the-"

The sound of a gentleman clearing his throat brought Norman's furious rant to a halt, the both of them standing up stiff as they slowly looked over to the voice's owner. It was Baron [Rook], one of the commanders in The White [Queen]'s army.

[b]"I see we have ourselves two scofflaws who see themselves above rules and regulations."[/b]

"What!? No! nonono-"

[b]"SILENCE! You both will see me in my office. Now."[/b]

[Pawn]'s expression fell. This was it. He was in for it now.

-
He sat in a chair just outside Baron [Rook]'s office in the waiting room. He could hear him talking from where he sat. He was going to strip them of their roles and put them back in the station of pawns. It didn't matter if it wasn't his fault. He felt guilt well up as he could hear his friend trying to convince the baron that he was the only one responsible for the transgression but he'd hear none of it.

Norman hated it. He hated Baron [Rook]. He hated The White [Queen]. He hated The Chess Club. Most of all he hated himself. He was a slave to this club, treated no better and given little more. He was not bound by chains of iron but of the mind. Before the club he had nothing and all that he had earned in all the battles he's fought in were going to be stripped away as though they meant nothing. As though he meant nothing.

This would not stand. He didn't come to the virtual world to live a life of drudgery and belittlement, he came to escape that world and live in a world where he could decide for himself who he'd be. Up until now this was what he had chosen. No longer.

While Baron [Rook] grilled his friend he got up and left back into the workshop. He took his board, he took the Rook he was attuned to and he simply walked away. No direction, no map, he just picked a direction and walked for as long as he could keep walking. Sure, his profile page was going to get downvoted to hell for this and his comment section was going to be a veritable pit of profanity but he didn't care anymore. He wanted to see something new, to do something new and be the one who chose to do that, not anyone else.

_
He lived a life abroad in Haven Online since then. He'd done a few quests but for the most part he's mostly just explored, roaming from the tallest mountains to the deepest dungeons. Using his board has made navigation a breeze so he'd taken to drawing up maps for other adventurers to use, all for free. He'd made a name for himself amongst travelers of many sorts but The Chess Guild had not forgotten his betrayal. He'd remained apart from society as they would never cease in hounding him to return what they had given him. As far as they were concerned he had robbed them like some filthy criminal scum. It was hard to argue that the stuff he kept was technically their property but he would never give it all up. He felt he had earned all that they had given him. To ignore the sweat and tears he had shed in all his time on this game, all of it for them, to his mind was the real crime.

Now, with the creation of The Crossroads, he was given a new realm to explore. More than that however was reached out to by the developers, emplored to help them right the wrongs they've been dealt. For once he felt filled with a sense of purpose, something he could do that would be appreciated. He could maybe even be... A hero.

Something he could never be in reality. Perhaps with this he could finally atone for both his poorly spent lives. One more chance to turn his virtual life around and be that person he'd always wanted to be.


TALENTS AND SKILLS:
- He's got a doctorate in Mathematics so obviously he's got a good head for numbers.
- He's skilled in strategy games. His favorite games are tower defense games.
- He's a decent coder, having written up a fair few websites and even a couple VR sites.
- He tells terrible puns. Not sure if that counts.

[Pawn] & Rook

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&
[hider=Rook]
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[Pawn] STATS:
STR: ▰▱▱▱▱▱
STA: ▰▱▱▱▱▱
DEX: ▰▱▱▱▱▱
INT: ▰▰▰▱▱▱
WIS: ▰▰▰▰▱▱
LUC: ▰▱▱▱▱▱

Rook STATS:
STR: ▰▰▰▰▰▱
STA: ▰▰▰▰▰▱
DEX: ▰▱▱▱▱▱
INT: ▰▰▱▱▱▱
WIS: ▰▱▱▱▱▱
LUC: ▰▱▱▱▱▱

[Pawn]'s ABILITIES
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Ability: Set The Board.*
Description: This ability basically just activates The Chess Board. When activated the board will create a topographical image of the land centered on the location of the board itself. In addition to the land itself The Chess Board will also display all Chess Golems in range of it's view. The Chess Board will even allow it's user to view cross-sections of areas revealing the contents within. The view is limited to a cube perimeter whose sides are 0.8 Kilometers far from the board. The board only displays areas seen directly by the user, covering all unknown areas in an opaque mist which only clears upon physically viewing the location for the first time.

Ability: Castling.
Cooldown: 30 Seconds.
Description: In using the Rook [Pawn] has the ability to perform Castling. When activated [Pawn] can teleport right beside Rook and vice-versa. Neither [Pawn] Nor Rook can be teleported into spaces they are physically incapable of fitting into and they will never overlap with any other non-gaseous object. All items that are regarded as being either equipped or in inventory by the system remain as such.

Ability: Mending.
Cooldown: 10 Seconds.
Description: With this spell the user can channel mana to restore the physical form of a non-living object until it is once again whole. The speed of Mending's restoration is dictated by the user's INT stat. In order to cast Mending the user must be physically touching the target. The user cannot cast any other spell and maintain Mending at the same time nor can they attempt to harm anything. Should the user attempt any other spell or attack the spell will end, leaving the target object only partially mended to a degree based on how long the Mending spell was channelled. The larger the object's health pool is the longer it takes for Mending to fully restore it. The spell's cooldown activates once the channelling ends.

Ability: Tower Defense - Basic Turret.
Cooldown: 20 Seconds.
Description: This spell conjures forth a Basic Turret within arms reach of the user. The Basic Turret is a small intangible arcane construct with a floating orb of magical energy hovering directly over it. When the user designates a target the turret will fire a small mote of magical energy which will fly directly to it's target and erupt, dealing a small amount of arcane damage. The mote moves slowly for a projectile but tracks wherever it's target is and never stops until it hits it's target. The mote is intangible towards everything with only one exception: It's target. This means no amount of cover will stop it and it will hit no one else besides it's target. The turret fires slowly and it has a sight perimeter of only six meters in radius. Motes however have an unlimited tracking distance. The Basic Turret have an unlimited duration but cannot be moved. For the duration a Basic Turret is active a portion of it's user's mana pool equal to the cost of the spell will be locked, unable to be recovered until the turret is dismissed. If multiple designated targets are in range of a turret the turret will fire upon the nearest target.

Rook's ABILITIES
---

Ability: Golem Traits.
Description: As Rook is a sentient construct it is subject to different limits as opposed to living beings. Abilities and spells that function strictly against organic targets fail to effect it. It never grows tired and never undergoes fatigue. Abilites and spells that effect the mind do not work on Rook since it's mind is born not of flesh but of pure magical energy. As a golem Rook requires neither food nor water. Rook cannot experience pain nor pleasure. It does not need to breath and it cannot be deafened. Bright flashes do not hurt it's eyes. If Rook is destroyed it can be repaired if enough of it remains. Rook's bodyparts can be exchanged with different types of bodyparts so long as they're compatible with golems of it's design.

In exchange Rook is subject to spells that effect non-living objects and materials, especially those of it's composition which is stone. It cannot recover health over time no matter how high it's stamina is nor can it use consumables designed for organic users. It cannot smell nor taste anything. If the user it is attuned to goes unconcious it goes inactive. If it's attuned user dies it enters standby mode until someone else attunes with it. As a result of it's thick design it's fifty percent more durable than standard characters however it is reduced to half it's overall mobility as a result. Rook cannot equip most items not designed for use by it's design of golem.

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INVENTORY:
- The Chess Board* (Abilities with an * require this item.)
Description: The Chess Board is the staple tool of The Chess Club. It looks like a standard chess board but possesses great power. Almost none are seen outside The Chess Club and the club takes great displeasure towards non-members using such boards.
- Blue Wizard Robes (+1 INT, +1 WIS.)
- Blue Wizard Hat (+1 INT.)
- Round Glasses of The Sage (+1 WIS.)
- Jeweled Gloves of The Amethyst (+1 WIS.)
- Medium Backpack.
- Small Foldable Table.
- Ten Traveler's Rations.
- Compass.
- Spy glass.
- Spell Book.
- Ten Pens.
- Stack of Papers.
- Ruler.
- Canteen.
- Tent.
- Four Pitons.
- Lantern.
- Three Flasks of Lantern Oil.
- Rope.
- Bedroll.
- Currency Pouch (30 Units of Currency.)

NOTABLE FEATURES:
- He's got more clothes than was featured in his Inventory, they just provide no stat benefits so they weren't really worth mentioning. He IS wearing pants I assure you.
- It might be a bit subtle but he's got a chess theme.
- His original username was TheOriginalSine. He never changed his name back from [Pawn] because he had been stuck with that name for so long he just sort of grew accustomed to it. He doesn't even really remember his original username anymore.
- His friend's name is Eddy. His username is GetReady4Eddy.
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