You're a Wizard, Harry! [DAY 1 :: SOLO]

[Elliot Grantham]

Pencils and paper clattered together softly, their sounds muffled by the fabric of the bag containing them as it was tossed to the floor. The room was dark, but wouldn't be for long. Bright blue light cut through the darkness as a familiar hum signaled the beginning of Elliot's rest period. He sighed as he sank into his office chair which proceeded to creak in protest. The lecture series had been more exciting than usual, but that also meant that class had run over. Though he loved what he did, it was nice to have a break every now and again. He was just about to don his headset when he saw a notice. His expansion download had finished.

"Sweet action!" He whispered in excitement. He had heard great things about the upcoming Elder Tale expansion, one which enabled people to choose a mock-up of his homeland as a server. He placed the headset on the desk and proceeded to go through the installation process. He hadn't heard much about the expansion since its launch, but the hype had been incredible.

His fingers rapped impatiently on the desk as he watched the loading bar creep past 85%. It was taking so much longer than anything else. "Come on then! Hurry up!" He hissed at the machine. He'd already been waiting over an hour. He was getting ready to just give up and call it a night. He had an examination in the morning, after all. He wasn't in undergraduate school anymore, he was in the big leagues. He HAD to study and he had to rest. His finger straightened and moved toward the monitor's power button, and stopped as the loading bar shook and shot to 100%. He glanced at the clock. 11:59 PM. "I've got time for a little jaunt..." He reasoned to himself. "After all, I'm pretty solid on Strauss' theories."

He heard the clock in the hall chime. Once. Twice. Three times.

He placed the headset on and flicked the power switch.

Four. Five. Six chimes.

The intro to Elder Tale began to play.

Seven. Eight. Nine.

He felt a tug at his stomach.

Ten. Eleven. And then... nothing. Or so he thought.

Slowly, he opened his eyes, and as he did, he realized he felt a breeze. For a moment, he could only see the bright blue of his computer screen. Though it seemed brighter than normal. "Who opened the window?" He hissed as he shook his head, trying to get his pupils to actually do their job and regulate the light they let in. He reached down for the arm of the chair so that he could get up, but his hand touched something soft, something wet. "What?!" He blinked rapidly and as he did, he saw a myriad of hues around him. Pinks, purples, greens, and blues. Colors galore!

Startled, he jumped to his feet, realizing he had been sitting on dew-drenched grass. Something jangled as he rose, and this caused him even more distress. His chest felt heavy! He glanced down and saw hundreds of tiny metal circles linked across his torso and down to his knees. "What the heck is going on?!" he nearly shouted, looking frantically this way and that for any sign of an explanation. It was only when he looked to his right did he realize he was holding a staff. "Hello? Is anyone out there? What's going on? Where am I?" Little did he know, he had entered The Unfounded Kingdom of the Elder Tale... and his life, would never be the same again. There would not be a twelfth chime.



Word Count: 604

Elliot = #fce88d

[Elliot Grantham]

No one, at least no one that knew any more than he did, heard Elliot's cries. Everywhere around him, he heard the same story. Someone logged into the new server, and didn't remember anything before waking up in new clothes, and sometimes even a new body. All around him were elves, fox-tails, wolf-hairs, and normal humans. After a few hours, he had realized that he was among those who had changed. He wasn't human, not any more. He had what appeared to be magical tattoos up and down both of his forearms, and when he looked down at his chest, he could see a few peeking through the chainmail he had mysteriously acquired. It was as this realization dawned on him that answers began to come.


"Where's Hagrid when you need him?" He wondered aloud. He had always wished for an acceptance letter from Hogwarts, just like every other English boy his age did growing up, but this? This was some trippy mess. He crept closer to a small group of people who looked as if they knew one another. Hiding himself behind a nearby fountain, he began to listen.

"No, I really do think we got pulled into the game! That has to be what happened."

"You're absolutely crazy! How is that even possible? Oh, right, it isn't."

"Whether it SEEMS like it is possible or not, how else do you explain your ears, and his TAIL? You bloody can't, Amy, so calm down. He may be onto something."

Elliot felt his breath catch. He wasn't crazy. Other people were thinking the same thing. Somehow, some way, they had all been pulled into Elder Tale and were not playing the game, but living it, and nearly everyone was level 1.

He felt the cold stone of the fountain on his back as he sank to the ground. He caught himself wondering if the whole situation was a joke, just really realistic, and even if the situation was permanent. If it was permanent, could they contact the 'real world'? What about his exams? His parents? His friends? He only had a few friends from back in the day that had even heard of Elder Tale. Whether they were in the same situation or not, he didn't even know how he could contact them.

SMACK!

Elliot let his hand rest on his stinging face. He would not travel that road. He would not... further lose his cool. He would take a bloody chill pill and investigate. He would find out why he was there and how to get home. He would NOT sit and feel sorry for himself. He would do what he had been trained to do. Research. He would read anything and everything he could in order to figure out how to get home.

Taking a deep breath, and really hoping what he was about to try would actually work, he thought about the player interface. He felt the warmth of a small victory as a bright blue and green holographic panel rife with icons leapt into being before him. "Now... let's see what we have..."


Word count: 517

[Elliot Grantham]

HP/---------------
MP/----------------

Dust filled the air as papers shuffled and objects shifted after what appeared to be a many century long slumber. Elliot had no idea how long things were supposed to have been dormant, but from the looks of the dilapidated building he had found himself in, it was a long, long time. He coughed and waved his hand as he sent more dust into the air. He had no idea what he was doing or what he was looking for, but he felt drawn to the place. He blamed it on his propensity for research in the real world, but something told him that this compulsion had nothing to do with his normal studies... it was like he could FEEL what he was looking for.

He had already searched for hours, but to no avail. The old building looked like a library, it even had shelves, but any books that had been there had long since been stolen or eaten by time itself. The books were not alone in that reality. There was a moment of creaking protest before a loud snap was heard. The wood of the chair Elliot had lowered himself into gave way and sent both him and the shards of wood, which used to be a chair, to the floor. "Great, that's just bloody great." He hissed, dusting himself off as he rose. He coughed once again, his fall having kicked up even more dust, and then froze. His eyes snapped to the left, as if by instinct.

Old, weather-worn, and rotting on a table sat what had beckoned him. Almost automatically he gravitated toward the table. Gingerly, he picked the book up from the table and cracked it open. Several pages fluttered out and fell to the floor, but there were fragments. Fragments of shimmering blue script left unscathed inside the tome. It was so strange, though there was little and he could scarcely find one sentence connected to another, he could feel the power. He wanted to know what it said! He could see it on the page, but he could not decipher what he could see! It infuriated him to no end. He would learn, but he knew it would take time. Given recent events, however, it would seem that time was something that he had.


word count: 383