Birth of a Hero[closed]

[Maximus]

The cold, familiar feeling of air rushing brushing past Maximus’ face hit him. It was happening again. For the third time this week, he had fallen off his carefully selected perch on the roof of the tallest nearby building. Keeping watch over the grand city of Londenium was never an easy task and it was a task which never gave respite. He had been rather careful, or more specifically lucky to avoid death with his many trips to the ground.

This could mostly be attributed to his selection of Acrobat as a sub class and taking the Fall Defense skill. These have left him hanging by a thread when he came crashing like a boulder into the ground and he was thankful for his foresight into selecting these skills. The path to being an ally of justice, a hero was paved with blood, sweat and often tears. It was hard work to attain the abilities and coordination which allowed them to perform their fantastic feats of strength and agility. It was for this reason as well that Maximus was training himself daily to be able to feel more comfortable in his newer, strengthened body.

This new universe of his was a place filled with magic, wonder and adventure which touched all corners of the world. It was a place where man has attained abilities far beyond any which could be remotely possible in the real world. This was a wonderful realization at first. Running faster than a speeding bullet was something that was already attained by certain classes. The ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound appeared as if it might someday be possible, yet therein appeared the problem. With the possibility of wondrous feats and the ways in which they could be used in applications for good, there were also just as many ways in which they could be used for evil.

As such, these uses were already starting to emerge on a greater scale every day. To put it simply, the rate at which crime was expanding was alarming. In a world where people held these new incredible powers, there was nothing to keep them in check. Nothing to tell people beyond their own conscience as to what is right or wrong. What is acceptable and which actions deserved to be punished. The rules of the old world no longer applied here, as much as one might wish they did. It pained Maximus to see these crimes go unpunished as they happened right before his eyes, but it was not just there that they stopped.

All across the land crimes ranging from petty theft to the rumored great atrocities of the people of the land were slowly filtering in from various sources. Many of them like most rumors only held a shred of truth to them. However there was still that shred of truth which made it frightening to Maximus. No, it was frightening to Jeffery. The law student who has spent many years attempting to become a real ally of justice and was only a stone's throw away from attaining that dream. In the real world a lawyer is most often associated with negativity and dark emotions. It was his dream to try and change that in any way that he could.

?CREDIT: By Requiem of Remoor!

[Maximus]

The real world had many of it's own problems, some of which could never possibly be remedied without a complete breakdown and restructuring of society. An occurance that is extremely unlikely to happen in a politically stable world. Particularly in one of the world's currently safe countries like Britain. It was unthinkable to believe that it might be possible to break down and rebuild from the ground up a justice system in such a place that it has existed for so long that it is ingrained into the very people which support it.

However Elder Tales was a different animal altogether. It was a brand new story just waiting to be written by the multitude of adventurers which flooded it's streets, fields and forests. Many of them were quite benevolent and pleasant people, eager to carve out a new life and make the best of everything they could in the unfounded kingdom. Perhaps it was in the name itself which gave them hope.

The Unfounded Kingdom. A greatness that which is yet to come, but has yet to come to actualization. It is as if the developers themselves encouraged the creation of an entirely new country by the players. One which spawned it's own unique culture, it's own customs and beliefs, and more importantly it's own sense of justice. One could not simply have a functioning and stable society without the backbone which kept it all working.

Food was important to keep bellies full and to keep people happy and satisfied. The mush that was currently called food was disheartening to all those whom consumed it. However rumors told of chefs that were challenging the norms of this world in order to make food that people could bear to eat. If they are capable of doing this, then it will be vitally important to the ability of society to work together

Shelter was another of the basic human necessitates that needed to be taken care of. The inns located in town may be cheap, however they do little towards giving people a sense of home, or a sense of purpose. Only when people can carve out a little piece of land that they can definitively declare as their own, will they finally attain a sense of security. There are a great many buildings in Londinium, however they are largely in a state of severe disrepair. It would take some real effort to get them to a state where humans can comfortably live in them. The dedicated crafters seem to have taken up the call to make the world at least more tolerable.

The economy was a pressing concern as it was just freshly established for all of the players here. Almost everyone is a new player, with little assets to their name. It will be months before anything gets sorted out on this end. How much gold a player's work is worth is something that is likely to be changing on a daily basis. It is also the greatest cause of concern with crime making the gold change hands in unnatural ways. Maximus did not envy the jobs of accountants whom had to sort out the multitude of messes left all over the world.

?CREDIT: By Requiem of Remoor!

[Maximus]

Which left what in Maximus's mind the most important issue of all. Security and the ability to uphold law and order. It was easy for people to feel some level of safety if the conditions outlined were met in some way. A stable income, good food and a roof over one's head were some of the most basic needs that a human needed to survive. However in the Unfounded Kingdom there was something that was severely lacking. The fact that there were no longer any kind of NPC police force meant that it was now anarchy.

Criminals were able to do whatever they wanted without any kind of fear of reprisal or negative consequence because there simply was not anyone who cared enough to take up the mantle of justice and work to fix it. There were no longer any laws or justice system in place. The old world in which Jeffery lived in had been shattered like a piece of glass. To pick up the pieces and try to melt it back would only have the same kind of result in the end.

It would merely be glass. Weaker than it's original form and not nearly as pretty but still a very brittle substance which could easily shatter again for any number of reasons in this world. What the kingdom needed was a set of laws and a way to administer justice that was forged from steel, and not from a material which could be so easy influenced. A new society for a new country needed to be constructed from firm absolutes. There is a need for a distinct set of morals and values. What is acceptable and what must be punished.

Just having the codes in place will not be enough to stop those who want to oppose it. Those black hearted individuals who wish to steal their way to riches. Or those viles excuses for humans who think it is acceptable to murder players and people of the land alike. Those, people... Maximus struggled to even allow himself to call them people were what drove him now. After seeing people of the land murdered before him for the mere satisfaction of an adventurer... He would never forget it, and he could never comprehend those who took pleasure in killing.

Monsters and other such enemies created by the system were just that. Artificial enemies designed for players to advance and acquire wealth and equipment. People of the land however, were just as real as any adventurer and were meant to be a part of the world as intelligent human beings. To end their lives even if they were not the same type of being as an adventurer, was just as much murder as it would be killing someone back in the real world. This world breeds a cycle of violence and fuels it in a way not seen for many centuries on earth.

What the unfounded kingdom needed was another entity alongside it. A paladin forged from the same steel as a kingdom to protect the new fledgling society and it's people who were not capable or willing to protect themselves. What Londinium needed was a hero. He may not be the one that they want, but Maximus intended to be the one that they were going to get.

?CREDIT: By Requiem of Remoor!