Well, there really wasn't any need to get that deep that fast, was there? Another moment of concentration and I was back to the main screen.
CHARACTER CREATION
NAME
GENDER
RACE
APPEARENCE
ADVANCED APPEARENCE
CLASS
PROFILE
SPECIALITIES
ITEMS
START IN: Epic City
Now, understand something. For the past few moments I have been a disembodied, avatar-less thing. There was no sound, no feeling, no smell. And it was driving me fairly loco. The programmers had anticipated this, however, and slowly I began to feel hands, a pulse, weight, ambient room temperature. A muted flowery scent calmed my olfactory senses, while equally soft music, a simple melogy, started playing in the background.
I immediatly felt better.
"So," I said to myself. "Let's get started. Gender!" I was pleased to see the other listings vanish. I quickly picked male; experimentation could come later.
"Race!"
By Lancelot's pickled beard there were way too many choices here. Human, too easy. Ar'aka'put'hat, too unpronouncable. Cheese...no. Just...no. (The following night I woke up in a cold sweat after a dream of being made of cheese while people ate me). Finally, I decided to stick with something simple. "Elf," I said to the void.
The avatar spinning nearby changed smoothly. Muscle vanished, leaving a build that spoke of the lithe muscles of a swimmer or gymnast. Green, almonde eyes stared forward, and long ears poked through rich brown hair.
Please pick your subrace
Well, that was a surprise. A long list of options came into my sight. I felt a slight twinge. Elves had a subrace for everything. Heaven forbid that they be one diverse species.
A smile krept over my face as I selected "Mixed Blood". The mechanics were a bit more advanced than I wanted to play with, but it felt like it was time to upset the careful balance of elvish bloodlines. The limits of my experimenting reached, I selected Sylvan and Elder as my ancestry.
The avatar changed again. His skin grew pale and began to show something of an aura, a radience. He also lost over a foot in height, coming to rest at about five and a half feet, if I was any judge. A floating box of green text informed me that this body would channel magic easily, but would not be able to take a great deal of punishment in combat. Not a problem.
I started to refine my appearence. I found that while I could enter measurements into the computer, I could also mold the avatar directly by reaching out and molding it with my 'hands'. That was a lot easier, and while I did not get a perfect likeness, I got very much the kind of look I had always wanted.
My new body was lean, a bit scrawny, but had pronounced facial features that gave him a wizened look. His hair was long and had an untidy, ruffled look that still managed to look attractive. He had an aura of dignity I found appealing.
