A Game of Tag NaNoWriMo Prep

Real world setting, plays in the 2010s. A new game has hit the market, or more accurately a new version of an existing game has been gaining huge popularity.

Mistforged, a mildly successful single-player title received its latest upgrade 2 years ago. After the addition of a co-op mode / multiplayer feature for the game increased sales already, the studio decided to expand into another branch: player vs player content, where users can not only form teams with their friends, but also fight against enemy teams for bragging rights and rank. While the game mode reached instant popularity within a core circle of PvP gamers for its diverse playstyle, it wasn't known outside the gaming community until they entered into a cooperation with a famous soft drink company just in time for their first World Championship Tournament. Suddenly Mistforged's player base doubled within weeks, and then doubled again and again, and the previously unimportant tournament ended up having millions of viewers. Now, a year later, the second tournament is being broadcasted to a viewer base all around the globe, pushing the hype. Sales are skyrocketing, there seems to be no limit to how many players it can attract.

The game is played in the standard PvP format of 5 players per group and 2 teams facing each other. There are 5 roles to fill in every team, and each role has a myriad of subclasses that are more or less useful depending on the team composition and playstyle of the individuals. The roles are: Shaman, Hunter, Fighter, Scout and Sentinel (might be subject to change).

In the original Mistforged, a player would pick one of the 5 roles and start with this as their main character, acquiring the other 4 classes in the process of the game and being able to control and customize those NPCs to form a group. The objective was to expand their village and defend it against the encroaching mists that are a constant threat to their livelihood. Few plants survive the suffocation of the fog, and the durable few that do take hard work to grow in the soggy soil. Creatures hide in the mists, as do other tribes, and while some are friend, most turn out to be foe. Life is a daily struggle: to provide for their tribe, to protect it, to keep all of them healthy and mentally stable. Most of them are farmers and craftsmen who do their duty without complaint, but some stand out for their abilities, become those that venture out into the mists to help all of them survive.

A Shaman is the one who can control powers outside of the physical, who can see past the mists without eyes, who can push them back and pull them in, make the earth shake and the rain fall. They are revered but also feared, outsiders in their group for there is nobody who can truly relate to their fate.

A Hunter is the one who ventures out into the mists of their own free will, who dares go where nobody else does. They hunt for game far beyond the village's walls, lay traps in the mist and are experts at slaying the monsters that reside inside them. Through their experience they know where to find herbs and plants that would otherwise be lost to their people.

A Fighter is the one who needs to be the bravest of them all, because what they are fighting aren't the creatures that hide in the mists, not even the mists themselves, but the other humans that live within them, that use the cover of the fog to sneak up on them in hopes of raiding their village. They are able to fight with swords and daggers, to break bones and coldblooded enough to attack first and ask questions later.

A Scout is the one who ventures beyond the walls of their village for the longest time. Sometimes they are traders, in search of others like them, willing to exchange one necessity or another in hopes of survival. At other times they are watchers, waiting for a sign of life or death, observing the mist for changes of any kind. They bring news, good or bad, though sometimes it is through not coming home at all.

A Sentinel is the one who defends their village, who protects both their walls and their people. They know to fire arrows into the mists as well as they know to set bones and bandage wounds. To shield others from the things the mists bring is their is their duty, with their bare bodies as shields if necessary.

All of them are trying to survive in a world that is barely habitable, twisted and bent and broken by the mists, shaped by them in a never-ending battle. They are mistforged.

Our main character, let's call her Kitty for now, comes into Mistforged during a rough patch of her life. Her mother had been in an accident and hospitalized in a coma before she eventually died, leaving her struggling with a crippling depression. Daily life is a struggle, human interaction is one too, and despite her family trying their best, Kitty is slipping from them, stuck in a loop of inaction that she can't escape from. Her father and stepmother are doing their best, but she has lost her motivation, is scrambling for something that gives her a hold on the world again. Her twin sister is her only connection to the outside, to other people in general, but she doesn't know how to handle Kitty, how to make tings right again.

Not knowing what to do, her twin and their little brother push Kitty into what they know, the escape they have been using when life gets too much: gaming. The approaching Mistforged World Championship is everywhere, player activity is incredibly high, and her sister finally sits Kitty down in front of her computer, logs into her account and tells her to go and play. To have fun, to life.

In the span of a year, Mistforged turns Kitty's whole life around.

WC: 1015 words

Alias: Kitty (HelloKitty3416)
Real Name: Hanna
Age: 19 years old
Country: Switzerland

Born close to Lucerne in Switzerland, Hanna grew up in the region with her parents and her fraternal twin sister, Kiara, until she was 3. When the twins were 4, their parents - who had never been married - separated and their father moved away from the family. Their parents had been close friends, but had never planned to have a long-term relationship and got caught by surprise when Hanna's mother became pregnant. They took care of their children together, but otherwise lived very different lifestyles. Their father worked for a data security company and spent much time at the office, while their mother was a veterinarian, who worked in the villages around the lakes close to Lucerne. Her clients were mostly farmers, and she was always out and about in nature.

Just a few days after their 3rd birthday, their father was offered a job opining in Zürich that was an opportunity he had been hoping for for quite some time and their parents decided to split up. Hanna still had a set of grandparents in Lucerne, then, who had been taking care of the girls when their parents were busy at work. Hanna and Kiara visited their father on the weekends, who introduced them to his new "girlfriend" pretty soon, the sister of one his colleagues who loved children and adored the girls.

Wihout any animosity from their mother or other relatives, they warmed up to their stepmother, who eventually gave birth to their half-brother, David.

Aside from their split family, Hanna had an almost boringly normal childhood. She had a good crowd of friends, explored the lake and mountain-side, did all the things kids usually do. Kiara was the ambitious twin who did extremely well in school, but she also dragged Hanna along, not wanting to go to a school where her sister wasn't also enrolled.

Kiara had clear plans for what she wanted to do: study architecture. They always joked that she got that from their Dad, the need to plan and build. Unlike her (older, by 39 minutes) sister, Hanna was one of those kids who are teenagers happy with living life and overwhelmed with the pressure of deciding what they wanted to be in life before they've even hit 20 years of age. Her final exams in school were decent, not bad but not great either. The subject she did best in was religion, because she liked the stories and had a good memory for them as well, but even though they'd grown up catholic, Hanna wasn't really religious.



TBC

WC: 437 words