Rachel Kuehl
Prof. Nicole Mazzarella
EngW 494: Senior Seminar – Imparting Vision
September 29, 2014
Genre: Fiction \\ Technically Science Fiction \\ Fantasy Elements
Prologue—Water Lilies
Once upon a time, the whole world totally sucked. There was just a little village. With a little tavern (with only one bartender who knew jack-squat), a blacksmith, a general trader with some alchemical ingredients (that he talked about all. the. time.), a mill, and a road. The road was made of regular windswept cobblestone, compacted dirt, and grass, and it was large. Like, dwarf the village large. So to pass from the blacksmith on the south side to the miller’s house on the north side was really to have your eyes drawn out of town. Drawn up, up and …show more content…
Rocélian was extremely selective. You couldn’t just buy the game and hop into the world. You had to apply—with essays and questionnaires and shit—and if you died—which the developers had promised was much harder to do in Rocélian than in any other VRMMORPG of the time—you had to reapply. And whatever you had already built? Your character and levels and abilities? Fwshhh. All gone. The developers didn’t tell anyone what they were looking for either. You didn’t know if you were supposed to set yourself up as a genius or a video game nerd or an average Joe or what. All sorts made it into the game in the end. And Lanval, lucky beneficiary of this rare honor to be involved in the beta testing of Rocélian Online itself, within his first few seconds of entering the game, was staring at that hazy horizon, and that road that whispered of greater things still to be done, and that endless, endless blank palate, and a spindly, stupid-looking straight patch of valley …show more content…
“I don’t want to be a king,” Lanval said. The bartender turned his eyes to Lanval. “Good,” it said, then, as if reverting to a previous conversation, added, “But Rocélian has no kingdoms, no castles, and no protectorates. All we can offer you is the earth, and all it’s riches. Perhaps you should look into mining? There are rich deposits nearby, and our village could do with expanding.” Lanval looked into the eyes of the bartender. It was said in their day that you could create the perfect NPC from head to toe except for the eyes. Lanval had to say the development team had out done themselves, the bartender was a beefy man who looked like the type who made their living shouldering people in and out of confidence. Just the right mix of intimidating bouncer and jovial grandfather to make you believe you could cry your inner demons out to him in a drunken state while simultaneously trusting him with the details of a murder. But still in those eyes you could see a sort of far-away-ness. This guy was in front of you, but also
Prof. Nicole Mazzarella
EngW 494: Senior Seminar – Imparting Vision
September 29, 2014
Genre: Fiction \\ Technically Science Fiction \\ Fantasy Elements
Prologue—Water Lilies
Once upon a time, the whole world totally sucked. There was just a little village. With a little tavern (with only one bartender who knew jack-squat), a blacksmith, a general trader with some alchemical ingredients (that he talked about all. the. time.), a mill, and a road. The road was made of regular windswept cobblestone, compacted dirt, and grass, and it was large. Like, dwarf the village large. So to pass from the blacksmith on the south side to the miller’s house on the north side was really to have your eyes drawn out of town. Drawn up, up and …show more content…
Rocélian was extremely selective. You couldn’t just buy the game and hop into the world. You had to apply—with essays and questionnaires and shit—and if you died—which the developers had promised was much harder to do in Rocélian than in any other VRMMORPG of the time—you had to reapply. And whatever you had already built? Your character and levels and abilities? Fwshhh. All gone. The developers didn’t tell anyone what they were looking for either. You didn’t know if you were supposed to set yourself up as a genius or a video game nerd or an average Joe or what. All sorts made it into the game in the end. And Lanval, lucky beneficiary of this rare honor to be involved in the beta testing of Rocélian Online itself, within his first few seconds of entering the game, was staring at that hazy horizon, and that road that whispered of greater things still to be done, and that endless, endless blank palate, and a spindly, stupid-looking straight patch of valley …show more content…
“I don’t want to be a king,” Lanval said. The bartender turned his eyes to Lanval. “Good,” it said, then, as if reverting to a previous conversation, added, “But Rocélian has no kingdoms, no castles, and no protectorates. All we can offer you is the earth, and all it’s riches. Perhaps you should look into mining? There are rich deposits nearby, and our village could do with expanding.” Lanval looked into the eyes of the bartender. It was said in their day that you could create the perfect NPC from head to toe except for the eyes. Lanval had to say the development team had out done themselves, the bartender was a beefy man who looked like the type who made their living shouldering people in and out of confidence. Just the right mix of intimidating bouncer and jovial grandfather to make you believe you could cry your inner demons out to him in a drunken state while simultaneously trusting him with the details of a murder. But still in those eyes you could see a sort of far-away-ness. This guy was in front of you, but also