[hr]
[center][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPeFSYa-4Ow][h2]You died.[/h2][/url][/center]
[hr]

The crystal clear memory, the moment of your death, burns at the back of your vision in exquisite detail. In this image, time freezes and every minutia stands out for you to ponder at your leisure. Behind it, the rest of your memories stretch into infinity like an endless hall of mirrors. Somehow you know you will never forget any of it. Moments of bliss and despair, weakness and triumph alike, engraved into eternity.

It would seem that you are alone, in this “eternity.” Endless darkness stretches out in every direction. Yet you feel claustrophobic, as if sealed in a box waiting to be opened. You stand upon a floor, but to look down reveals no shadow nor footprint. You are not sure if the pristine, featureless expanse is emptiness, or shadow. You have a body, but your eyes, nose, and every nerve may as well be nonexistent for all the perception they provide.

Yet your ears hear a voice.

[b]“Awaken, O bereaved spirit of another realm…”[/b]

[hider=THE VISION OF JEHANNE][hider=The Gentle Lady]
[img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1094242197211185182/1095838923743297647/jeanne_d_arc_fate_and_1_more_drawn_by_aomaru_shta_chu_jisuiai__0ce604060f0d84e6e996c4b9c4c2fcf1.png[/img][/hider]

In black, there is now white, and with this disparity comes a return to sensation, to feeling. A blinding white light tears a rift in the darkness, spreading up and then to either side as if a great pair of doors are swinging open before you. Within this chamber of light, you see [b]her[/b]. Where she stands, the hem of her gown ripples into the floor and moves like gentle undulations across a still pool of water. Drifting feathers from her many wings float past you, trailing tiny golden motes as they stroke your face with the gentleness of a mother.

[b]“Greetings, mortal soul.”[/b] She extends a hand to you, as her loving smile takes you off guard. [b]“I am Jehanne, Divine Spirit of Light, Redemption, and Conviction.”[/b] But she senses your hesitation, and turns her palm to sweep towards the floor. She presents an image below your feet...an entire world laid out before you. A world that is not your own.

[b]“By grace, I have been allowed to speak to you across time and space. For you have been selected to be reborn.”[/b] She bows her head for a moment, and the infinite expanse ripples.

[b]"The world you see below you is called Aedven. In some ways, it is like your Earth, as it was long ago…in fact, there is a striking level of similarity between this world, and the myths and legends of your own.”[/b] Jehanne begins to spin the globe, and the image grows closer and closer. [b]“Brave knights of Men, with shining blades, and wise sorcerers wielding mysterious magics, fight against the likes of monsters and demons here alongside Elves and Dwarves. This is a world plagued by Demon Kings…”[/b]

As she spoke, a shadow emerged beside you, startling you to an extent you hadn’t thought yourself capable of experiencing any more. This “thing” was much like yourself—but it seemed made of pure, writhing shadows. It slowly walked to Jehanne’s side…and sat down near her feet, like a sulky child called to heel by a strict parent.

[b]“...and rescued by Heroes.”[/b]

On your other side, another “thing” entered the chamber, but its form was almost too bright to look at, and so warm it might burn you without meaning to. It too knelt at Jehanne’s feet, taking a knee and bowing its head like a knight before royalty. Then it relaxed opposite the dark shape…though the two seemed to glare at one another every so often as Jehanne continued. Her smile faded somewhat, as she cast a sober eye over you once more.

[b]“Unfortunately, you were not called to play out such a tale.”[/b]

She holds out her hand again, but this time she beckons you forward. Before you can move, however, a sharp, soundless breath is drawn out of your non-existent lungs. You feel a vital part of yourself drawn out by her power, numerous threads wound into a single ball that condenses until its smooth, marble-like surface is smoother than glass.

[b]“Thus, I bestow upon you the only gift I am able.”[/b] Jehanne begins to roll the sphere between her hands, though it seems to float in her palms. You see your life playing out again over its frictionless surface, but the images are growing brighter and brighter. [b]“In this world, when Souls re-enter the Cycle…Every memory, emotion, attachment, and experience, is scrubbed clean. Like skim from milk, these things are taken and purified. The Soul, now stripped of everything it once was, takes on a new life in the physical realm…and what is left is poured into the Sea of Mana to become the fuel for Magic.”[/b]

She casts the marble back to you, and as it enters your chest you feel a new sensation thrumming through you where your heartbeat used to be.

[b]“Instead, I return this to you in its purest form. You shall retain all of who you were…and the Magic it has created shall be imbued in your very Soul, no matter what form your new body takes.”[/b] She then redirects your attention to the image of Aedven.

You now see a settlement of some kind. Even that, perhaps, is too complex a term for it. It’s…a camp. Something primitive, barbaric, as if you are looking into an era of Earth long gone. Jehanne continues to speak. You can only partially pay attention, but she seems to know everything about you…and she gives you a choice, of some kind, related to the “Magic” that now rests within you…Hesitantly, you reach out as a floating parchment filled with words you only think you understand floats in front of you. You make your choice.

[b]“You will be Blessed, to understand all tongues, as is the way of Otherworlders. You will, as one who retains this memory, have a Connection to the System not present for most native beings. But, in return for this, your new life shall be quite different. You shall become an Orc—a race with many enemies, and many flaws, but much potential. [i]This[/i] is why you were called.”[/b] Jehanne closes her eyes for a moment…and when she opens them again, her kind expression and bright eyes have become subdued. You realize that there is steel within her—that the armor she bears is not merely for regal ceremony. And the realm around her seems to shiver with her power, as the dark and light figures to either side of her flinch back.

[b]“Show me, then, what you can become.”[/b]

The great doors swing open again, and a powerful wind like air being sucked from a space shuttle pulls you backwards. Even if you struggle with all your might, it tugs you inch by inch. As you watch, Jehanne turns away from you, and the figure of bright light waves goodbye before it too turns to follow her. 

The dark one, however, continues to watch you. It has no face, and yet you feel as if…it grins.

Then you are pulled through the doors, and they slam shut with a deep, reverberating shock. Moments later the sound repeats itself, even though all light is gone. And again. And again.

Your heart is beating again. You can feel stone under your back. You open your eyes.[/hider]

[b]You are reborn.[/b]
[hr]
[center][h2]The Orc Camp: Your New Home[/h2]
[youtube]https://youtu.be/7xjOSSWqZfg[/youtube][/center]
[hr]

You awakened with what was possibly the worst headache you’d ever known. It felt as if you had just had a vivid dream that lasted…days? Weeks? Months? You dreamed you were a little creature, a miserable Runt of a thing, and that you struggled to survive every single day even as an infant. You dreamed memories that weren’t your own, names that didn’t make any sense, and other creatures that were bigger, stronger, and far meaner than you. 

Then you realized it hadn’t been a dream. But [i]you[/i], the [i]real[/i] you, had indeed woken up.

You found yourself in the Brood Pit, a large, circular dugout beneath an overhang of rock. The entire camp rested at the base of a mountain, with a sloping ledge and trails at its edge that led down past rocky brushland to a dense treeline. Many of the camp’s shelters were thus carved into the rocky outcrops and cliff faces, though tents and crude wooden buildings were scattered around as well. The Brood Pit’s name came from the fact that this was where baby orcs were left while the broodmothers went about their other activities. Hidden from the sight of flying raptors by the rocks, and kept from escaping by the walls of the pit and several guards who were always on duty, the infants would be quite safe here until they matured into proper Runts.

Which became the case for yourself and many others, as of today.

“OI! WAKE UP, YA BUNCHA MUKHS!” A [i]mukh[/i] was some kind of insult to the Orcs, implying low status, subservience, dumb muscle…a mook, basically. You saw several of the other Runts snap to attention. And a huge, looming figure appeared above the pit—the [b]Head Warrior, Auguz.[/b]

“Today’s the day, Runts!” he roared, causing some of the younger infants to start bawling. The wetnurses, a couple of pudgy, older Orc females, began gathering the babies to them and hushing them with food—such as fat, squirming grubworms and some kind of pasty gray gruel. Auguz looked over you and the rest of your generation with an appraising eye, and subtly nodded. He opened the wicker gate of the Brood Pit’s protective fence, and forcefully gestured until all the Orc Runts filed out.

“Today is yer first hunt!” He walked around the group like a drill sergeant, though the Runts were the furthest thing from disciplined or trained. “You’re to go into the forest, find somethin’ good to eat—and kill it, pray-fur-ably!—then bring it back here! IN ONE PIECE!” He violently pantomimed to get his point across. “Ya don’t eat it! Ya don’t tear it up! Ya bring it back, to PROVE to us that ya gots what it TAKES!” He suddenly drew a long, somewhat worse for wear sword and began waving it around, almost putting out more than one eye with it. 

“If’n ya comes back alive, then ya gets to come outta the Brood Pit for good, and start trainin’ to be a REAL Orc! And if ya can’t do that…” His voiced lowered to a threatening growl. “Then don’t come back at all!”

“Uh…if we couldn’t get back, uh, alive…wouldn’t we’s be deads?” piped up one Runt. Auguz whirled and smacked him with a backhand across the face, knocking him to the dirt.

“THAT’S THE POINT!”

Mutters and mumblings began breaking out among the other Runts, and it seemed a few of them were already scrambling back to the pit to grab what few possessions they had available to them. Some proudly declared what they would be hunting or where they would go. Those dream-like memories within you bubbled up again.

You knew very little about this world. But your human mind had long been able to process what was going on around you, even as an infant in your new body. Thus, you had overheard other Orc hunters talking about their activities. You had seen creatures brought in, butchered for their meat and other useful things. And perhaps even an “attack” or two, where some unlucky mukh wasn’t watching where he stepped or the camp guards got caught lacking. So you knew about a few kinds of creatures and resources in the area.

You just had to decide what to do from here.

[quote=SYSTEM]
[b]A New Quest is Available.[/b]

[b]Quest Giver:[/b] Head Warrior Auguz
[b]Quest Details:[/b] Find Something to Eat and Bring it Back Whole.
[b]Optional:[/b][list]
[*]Kill a Creature
[*]Keep the Target in High Quality Condition
[*]Return to Camp Uninjured[/list]

SELECT YOUR TARGET:
[hider=Monsters]
[list]
[*][b]Slime[/b] - You know Slimes are quite common in the Forest, especially in areas where leaves and other things have broken down into compost.
[*][b]Dire Rat[/b] - You know Dire Rats often burrow among the rocks around the camp’s perimeter, or in burrows out in the Forest. You also know they have a very painful bite that sometimes makes Orcs very sick.
[*][b]Jackalope[/b] - Jackalopes are supposedly very common in the Forest, but you’ve heard they’re quite fast and sensitive to sounds and thus difficult to catch. Their horns are very sharp, but they’re not as aggressive as other monsters.
[*][b]Elwet[/b] - You’ve seen these creatures being caged up around the camp from time to time. They’re a very strange sort of chicken-like bird, but quite aggressive and territorial. They can be caught in the forest, and don’t seem capable of flight…but you did see one set an Orc’s backside on fire one time…
[*][b]Tatzelwurm[/b] - Supposedly it’s like a half cat, half snake? And poisonous? You’ve overheard Orcs talk about watching the trees for them, because they blend in with the branches and leaves.
[*][b]Random[/b] - Maybe you should just go out there and see what happens…[/list]
[/hider]
[hider=Materials]
[list]
[*][b]Healing Blossom[/b] - A green plant with shimmering, blue-white flowers and a minty smell. You know the leaves are edible, or sometimes made into tea, and that it seems to be used as medicine. It’s supposed to grow in places where there’s lots of “mana?”
[*][b]Red Cream[/b] - An unmistakable red mushroom that oozes a red, creamlike substance when its bulbous head is cut. You once heard an Orc say a single mushroom could keep someone full for several hours. But they only grow in dark places…like caves.
[*][b]Topapo[/b] - A thick, tuberous root that has poisonous leaves, but can be peeled and prepared a variety of ways. Orcs like to bake them in hot coals. You’ve heard they grow wild in dark, loamy soil and produce thin crawler vines that latch onto whatever they can.
[*][b]Leppa Fruit[/b] - A round, blue fruit that grows in certain hardwood trees. An Orc that used to guard the Brood Pit got ambushed while picking them and was killed a while back, so maybe they grow somewhere dangerous?
[*][b]Ven Fern[/b] - A purple fern of some kind with curly, pipe-cleaner like stalks. Like the Healing Blossom it seems to be used a lot in tea. You’re not sure how edible it is, but it seems to be “prescribed” often by the Orc Shaman…
[*][b]Random[/b] - Maybe you should just go out there and see what happens…[/list]
[/hider][/quote]

[color=firebrick][b][[OOC: Feel free to add or flesh out anything about the scene that you feel would’ve prompted a response from your character. The “target selection” only applies to what you’re hunting for the Quest—there are plenty of other things you might find if you go looking for them! Ask if you need any further details and feel free to go off in search of named NPCs or interact a bit before heading out…or whatever you decide to do!]][/b][/color]