Slowly, you start to awaken. All approximately at the same time. You feel amazing, as if every injury and illness you ever had was utterly gone. Like it never existed. Most of you don't recognize each other...that is, until you see the floating holographic name over each person's head. Next to the name, the words 'Wanderer, Level 2' also hangs in the air.

'Ah...you are awake. Quicker than usual, as you have been in flux for two days. I have enabled you inventory system, and your HUD. Please check your inventory tab. It should be in your sight, and the lower right hand corner of your vision. Don't try to touch it, just think of accessing your inventory.' Trevik mentally projects.

Assuming you all do so, you see in front of your vision a floating backpack, which opens itself and reveals...nothing. There is even a message.

OPEN YOUR LOOT BOXES, DUMBASS! When reading the message, the same game show host like voice is heard in your minds. Just like the voice you heard when the invasion began.

'Let me guess, the System AI left a nasty little note in there, did it? Sad to say, the AI is a bit on the...buggy side. When first created, it was meant to keep peace between the wanderers and the various corporations who fund the games. Now its a bit...off. As a result, it is more antagonistic then it needs to be. Your loot boxes will come from it, usually when you do something it deems worthy of a 'Boon'. This can take a variety of forms.'

OOC-Describe waking up in your new bodies. Your various familiars and companions are still dormant, lying on the floor next to you seemingly asleep.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:46, Wed 19 Jan 2022.

Hershel's eyes shoot open with a start as the rest of him lay motionless. His pupils slim and come into focus as he takes in the area. His sight was keen, his body felt hale. It was as if a fog had lifted from his person; a poison removed from his mind.

Moving to stand and look at the others, Hershel looked at his hands, his beautiful hands. Both his arms were decorated with an assortment of small bony scales that held a dull green sheen to them. At the ends of his hands laid claws, sharp and tough, reminiscent of his lost flaying knife. He ran his tongue across the valley of jagged razors within his mouth, the tools of the trade. Hershel emits a dry hiss from with as he looks at the others gathered here with disinterest. He stops when he sees the twitching mass of feathers and muscle beside him.

"She sent you to watch over us didn't she?" He says to the bird as he gingerly picks it up and sits back down with it in his lap. "My dear darlin' Louise. Always by my side."

Sated with his discoveries for now, Hershel remains quiet and seems... Happy?

In reply to Hershel (msg # 2):

The bird, its bizarre mutant flesh twitching, rubs its head against Hershel's scaly hands. It peers at the others and let's out a sound that sounds like a bird being strangled, even though it seems healthy. Assuming it's current state can be considered healthy that is.

Jake awakens with the last twinges of the splitting headache he received from the guildmaster's "tender" ministrations fading away. He rises slowly, happy to be healthy and pain free once more, though largely unchanged. A little more toned, glancing at his arms, skin a little clearer, perhaps. The edges of his new, vibrantly blue tattoo. But that had been his decision, hadn't it. To hold onto as much as he could of himself, while still embracing the options this new world presented to him.

To his side rests a construct he recalls designing as if in a trance, a marvel of metal and engineering shaped almost like a dragon or wyvern. Atop it sleeps a small snake, coiled up delicately, his new guide from an unknown, unseen patron

Flexing a newly developed mental muscle, he changes, skin twisting to become  fur, muscle rippling and bones creaking gently, until a bear-like humanoid stands in his place. "This will take some getting used to," he mutters, his voice deepened into a growl.

In reply to Jake (msg # 4):

The metal beast' eyes glow. Then it proceeds to stand, staring Jake directly in the eyes. Then it slowly scans the room, only to return to watching Jake very carefully.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 04:51, Wed 19 Jan 2022.

In reply to Jake (msg # 4):

The snake, still resting on top of the metal beast, unveils itself. The forked tongue tastes the air, and it stares at Jake at the same time as the metal creature it rested upon.

"I'm cold." Came a voice, and Jake has to do a double take to realize it was coming from the snake. "Look, I hate to complain, but you have fur. This metal thing you designed is not terribly comfortable. Do you think you could...you know, warm me up a bit!? Like ASAP!?"
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 04:48, Wed 19 Jan 2022.

Connor's eyes shot opened fast as he emerged from his transformative sleep into wakefulness. He flexed his hands and arms - they felt the same as before, albeit a bit...crisper, if that made sense? His while body felt cleaner, and he felt more fit than before. He rose to his feet, finding that he almost sprang upward in a silky, dexterous motion that was a bit foreign to him. He could see clearer than ever before, and his body felt energized and hale.

But the most dramatic change he was noticing was in how the world looked to him. He still saw things like a human, but the attention to detail and how he understood his surroundings was...unbelievable. His mind was working as fast as a mini-computer as it took in various details, and he kept vacillating between perceiving things before him in terms of strange arcane symbolism and scientific analysis.

And he felt something strange, yet pleasant within himself. A sort of energy and potential for energy that he never experienced before. Like that feeling that if you only believed in something strongly enough, you could make it come true. Except as a charge that coursed through his blood and wove through his flesh. He felt, for the first time, the beginnings of his newly emerging inner wellspring of magic.

...and magic felt marvelous!

And practically glowing in his sight, for he was now starting to literally see the magic within and around him, was a small pile of gemstones and twinkling diamond dust that was laying still near his feet. He looked at the pile of strange magical gems, and tilted his head curiously. Some of the jewels were cut and faceted, but others were uncut and either polished smooth or even rough gemstones. And as he looked at those unfaceted gems, a fancy word came to his mind: Cabochon.

In reply to Connor (msg # 7):

The pile of gems begin to pulse and move. They begin orbiting each other, and then floating in the air. The Orbit moves directly around Connor's head, and then it speaks.

"Oh dear. You seem to be made of very fragile flesh. And you have...what are those? Lungs? And other organs!? My goodness, that is disgusting!  Would you not rather be petrified into stone?"
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 04:55, Wed 19 Jan 2022.

In reply to Cabochon (msg # 8):

Connor's eyes darted back and forth as his eyes darted back and forth from the moving mass of swirling gems. He remembered trying to make a familiar that was pretty, cool, and also memorable and unique but this far exceeded his expectations. The thing was orbiting around Connor's head, like he were some sort of planet. And in a way, he sort of was. A small, tiny planet for now but one that had a lot of growth potential!

And as he looked closer at the orbiting gems, that strange thing happened with his eyes again and he was seeing magic. Detect Magic flashed in his Hud briefly when he thought about what was happening before disappearing soon thereafter, but he didn't remember activating it. It must have been instinctually cast when he woke up from stasis. But he could now see the magic flowing through the thing, and could also see a clear and immensely strong sympathetic connection between the orbiting energy and accompanying gemstones and himself. So his analogy to it being like the rings of a planet with him as the planet really was fitting.

He reached out and touched one of the stones gently, and it was pleasantly warm to the touch before it sped away from his finger and returned to its proper orbit.

"So...so you can talk. You're not a machine. No, you're made of stones but yet...you're somehow very fundamentally alive, aren't you?" Connor asked the floating stones in response.

"And why on Earth would I want to be petrified? Unlike you, I wouldn't be able to move or much of anything if I were petrified. And don't you forget that it was this weak flesh, breathing with these lungs, that created you after all!" Connor added, with a smirk.

"That's the peculiar thing about flesh. It's both fragile, yet surprisingly strong. It can be cut and bruised fairly easily, yet...people can survive falls from trees and even worse things sometimes, and sometimes flesh fails but other times it recovers and heals from damage that would shatter a gemstone. So I will opt to keep my fleshy parts for now, thank you."

Nathan awakes. He then take a couple of deep breaths before sitting up with a start. He found himself far more focused than he usually woke up. His mind was able to process more details much faster. he found the holographic signs that popped up when he viewed almost every person or object but realized ignoring them could denying him information that could keep him and others alive.

He glanced at his companions noting the changes they made for themselves. Having played computer RPGs, he appreciated how the game provided the  players opportunity to create an idealized hero concept to overcome challenges providing hours of entertainment from a often frustrating real world.

But now that imperfect world was gone and the ultimate virtual reality game was the only avenue to this point to regain or at least avenge that lost world. He again looked at his companions. He realized that in order to have even the smallest chance in hell to do this he going to need help and these were the people he would probably need to work with to make that happen.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:03, Wed 19 Jan 2022.

Tsuki's eyes opened slowly and blinked slowly for a few moments. She then reached up and touched her nose, blinking. "...wow, I have, a snout." Came her soft delicate voice. Still measured as it had always been.

Finally she would stand, and spin around several times looking behind her. Her eyes wide at not one, but a trifecta of tails behind her coming from....her! "...holy...I have a tail! I have three tails!" She says in shock as she grabs and hugs her floofy tails.

Then something caught her eye, next to her was a large fox. One that was larger than it normally would be. "Wow, you're big for a fox...  Hmm...Dire Fox, you are my Companion. I am going to call you Keyla."

In reply to Tsuki (msg # 11):

The animal seems happy to be awake. She at once leaps up to tries and lick Tsuki's face. Failing that, she rubs herself between the Foxwoman's tails. Seemingly able to wrap herself between the fur without getting caught, and graceful enough not to step on them.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:48, Wed 19 Jan 2022.

In reply to Connor (msg # 9):

"Really?" Came a sarcastic response. The stone kept a slow orbit around his head.

"Dont knock until you try it. Besides, I have to imagine anything is better then eating and...ugh...what you have to do after you eat. Dont worry, I will research a process to get you fully petrified. Then think of the stimulating research projects we can conduct over the centuries!"
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:10, Wed 19 Jan 2022.

In reply to Iaena (msg # 6):

Nodding, he gently reaches down toward the little albino snake, allowing her to climb up his arm into a more comfortable position. He's careful to not actually try and pick her up. Dull as they are, his claws look like they could still hurt

In reply to Jake (msg # 14):

"Thank you so much! Way better, dude!" The snake said, sounding a bit like a hippy. "Ummm...you dont need to be a bear when you dont feel like it. Just think about changing back."

Almost instantly after he said done his vision started to fade to black while he was standing against the wall.  When his eyes opened he was still standing against the wall.  He looked around at the others and saw that some had changed and some stayed human.  He shakes his body and pushes off against the wall to fully stand up.

John’s body feels stronger and younger.  He looks at his hands and some of the 50-something wrinkles are gone.  The skin is taught and has a different color too it.  Maybe because the sun is different here?  Maybe because this is basically a giant, real life CRPG?  He’s wearing regular clothes but not from 21st century Earth.  “Where’s my weapons and armor?”, he says out loud.

He looks over that the bear that is standing and a notification pops up over it in his vision giving the creature’s name.  This will be interesting.  He thinks, “This HUD will definitely speed things up as we get through this … this … monstrous labyrinth.”

He look to the bottom right of his HUD and thinks “Inventory” and the backpack opens up and is empty.  “OPEN YOUR LOOT BOXES” he hears, but he can’t seem to see a loot box in his inventory.   He starts looking around the room.

He walks over to Guildmaster Trevik.  “Where can we find the loot boxes?  I don’t seem to see any in my inventory or around the room.”

In reply to John Miranescu (msg # 16):

'Ah. I am glad you asked.' The floating Brain thing said.

'In your HUD, think of the term 'loot box'. An icon in the upper right corner will appear, and any boons the AI has granted you will show up there.' It paused. 'Along with an annoying commentary. It's just part of the show, sadly enough...' The mental sigh could be heard by everyone, along with the words.

OOC-When you are done with your stats, have your character post he is trying to open their loot boxes.

In reply to Cabochon (msg # 13):

Connor rolled his eyes sarcastically.

"Well I will admit...a human taking a crap after a meal isn't our most glorious moment. So maybe petrification has its benefits. But you'd have to do it right...otherwise, for a fleshy being like me it's just a cage. Not everyone can be as naturally magnificent as you are, you know. I made you specifically to be cool you know, which means I'm even more magnificent by extension." he said with a grin, turning the conversation back on the floating stones playfully.

"I will hear out your research theses, but no promises after that." he said.

He then considered the empty backpack in his HUD, and these loot boxes. He wanted to see what gear he had to work with. Something - ANYTHING - would be better than nothing as he prepared to enter the deathtrap labyrinth again.

Connor nodded at the Guildmaster (was it a bad thing how quickly he weas getting used to telepathy already?) and thought about "loot boxes" and "boons" in his HUD and watched to see what happened. Not only if he could see boxes and boon icons and such, but if he could open them or access them or otherwise analyze these boons and such.
This message was last updated by the GM at 20:58, Wed 19 Jan 2022.

Listening intently now as he held Lousie in his arms like a child, Hershel tries to navigate the 'hub' or however the voices called it. He didn't really understand the vast sweeping majority of what was going on, but tried to participate anyway, and looked to open his 'lootboxes'.

In reply to Connor (msg # 18):

As soon as Connor thinks of 'Loot Boxes', two holographic chests appear floating in front of him for all to see! One is bronze, the other seems to be made of a very shiny metal. Then a familiar loud voice is heard by the whole room...

"BOON GRANTED!

You have gotten sneaky chicken boon!

You managed to hang back and avoid the worst of it while getting to the guild hall alive! Not sure what all those dead people are thinking of you right now, but hey you are breathing and they are not! Good for you!

You have been awarded a Bronze loot box!"

The bronze box opens and a variety of items flow into your holographic inventory.

(OOC-You may start with an adventure's pack, one bit of armor your are prof in that is less than 5 gp, one weapon you are prof in that is less than 5 gp, 10 things called 'Wanderer biscuts' instead of the rations provided by the adventure's pack, Spell books containing all the spells you already listed, a mini lab needed to make any alchemical/herbiest things you can normally make, four 1st level formulas, one 'minor Healing potion' and one 'minor Mana potion' which is separate from any other sort of potions you can make.)

"BOON granted!" The voice says again, the second word not quite as loud.

Now the shiny box opens.

"You have gotten the Early adaptor boon! You were one of the first 10,000 Wanderers to make it to the guild hall alive! Nice job! The next such Boon won't been anywhere near this easy, cupcake.

You have been given a platinum loot box!"

The box spins, holographic confetti shoots into the air.

Inside the box lies a very small gem. Almost at once, it hovers in the air, changing from hologram to solid stone. It at once zips into Cabochon's orbit, making the intelligent rock glow even brighter.

"You have gained the Orbiting stone of life and death!

When attached to a familiar, this stone provides the following benefits.

1-This stone heals the familiar, or one other creature being orbited 1 HP every 5 minutes.

2-This stone adds +1 to hit and +1 dice of magic damage to any spell cast a creature being orbited by the familiar.

3-The creature being orbited by the familiar no longer needs to eat!

This item is upgradeable!"

In reply to Hershel (msg # 19):

Hershel is next, and the voice rings out again.

"BOON GRANTED!

You have gotten the Bad Hermit boon!

Despite your every instinct, you decided to help others and even talk to them! What sort of Hermit are you!? You are going to be thrown out of the Anti-social social club!

You have been awarded a Bronze loot box!"

The bronze box opens and a variety of items flow into your holographic inventory.

(OOC-You may start with an adventure's pack, NO armor(but see below), No weapons(But see below), 10 things called 'Wanderer biscuits' instead of the rations provided by the adventure's pack, a Survival kit, one 'minor Healing potion' and one 'minor Mana potion' which is separate from any other sort of potions you can make.)

"BOON granted!" The voice says again, just like with Conner. Again, the second word not quite as loud.

Now the shiny box opens.

"You have gotten the Early adaptor boon! You were one of the first 10,000 Wanderers to make it to the guild hall alive! Nice job! The next such Boon won't been anywhere near this easy, cupcake.

You have been given a platinum loot box!"

The box spins, holographic confetti shoots into the air.

Inside the box is a loincloth made of fur and reptile scales. It at once appears physically and Hershel is suddenly wearing the item

"You have gained the Gator shorts!

When worn with no other armor, this item provides the following benefits.

1-This Armor counts as Medium armor with the comfort benefit. It has the same stats as Hide armor, but no weight or other drawbacks.

2-Any unarmed attack counts as having the Magic Fang spell cast upon it.

3-This creatures bite attack gains the grapple trait. This creatures tail attack does 1d6 + strength mod blunt damage and gains the agile, trip, and sweep traits! Note, any unarmed attack can be made before getting the sweep trait on the tail attack!

This item is upgradable!"
This message was last edited by the player at 01:19, Thu 20 Jan 2022.

Noticing the digital countdown he  was reminded that there was a time limit to contend with " Time is a wasting as he searched his inventory for the loot boxes.

In reply to Nathan (msg # 21):

Just like the others, Nathan's boxes appear.

"BOON GRANTED!

You have gotten incompetent martyr boon!

You tried to sacrifice yourself for a bunch of lazy, good for nothing wanderers and then you DID NOT DIE! Do you have any idea what that does to the narrative!? NEXT TIME GET IT RIGHT!!!

You have been awarded a Bronze loot box!"

The bronze box opens and a variety of items flow into your holographic inventory.

(OOC-You may start with an adventure's pack, one bit of armor your are prof in that is less than 5 gp, one weapon you are prof in that is less than 5 gp, 10 things called 'Wanderer biscuits' instead of the rations provided by the adventure's pack, crafter's book, a mini lab needed to make any alchemical things you can normally make, four 1st level formulas, enough ammo to have 30 shots, and ammo making kit, one 'minor Healing potion' and one 'minor Mana potion' which is separate from any other sort of potions you can make.)

"BOON granted!" The voice says again, the second word not quite as loud.

Now the shiny box opens.

"You have gotten the Early adaptor boon! You were one of the first 10,000 Wanderers to make it to the guild hall alive! Nice job! The next such Boon won't been anywhere near this easy, cupcake.

You have been given a platinum loot box!"

The box spins, holographic confetti shoots into the air.

Inside the box lies a sniper scope like device. It appears in Nathan's hands.

"You have gained the scope of precision!

When attached to a weapon, this item provides the following benefits.

1-The scope provides +5 to all Devise A Stratagem rolls

2-The weapon this gets +1 to hit and +1 die damage.

3-When observing something through the scope, the character counts as having dark vision and ignores light and medium cover!

This item is upgradeable!"
This message was last edited by the player at 06:16, Thu 20 Jan 2022.

Jakes shifts again, watching closely to make sure he doesn't harm or jostle his familiar. He shakes his head at the uncomfortable sensation, looking almost like a dog drying himself off before the pelt gives way to a human figure once more

"Alright then," he says, "Let's see what we've got."