Chapter 3: Background Overview
After deciding on his bloodline, class, and growth path, Jake set his sights on the final option—the starting location.
[Where did you end up?]
[Westeros, Essos, Sothoryos]
Looking at the options, Jake couldn't help but smirk. He could understand Westeros and Essos, but why even include Sothoryos?
That was a place devoid of human civilization and filled with poisonous miasma, where even the greatest explorers couldn't survive.
If a player started there, wouldn't they be practically dead the moment they landed?
After some thought, Jake clicked on Westeros, primarily because the original novels described the region in much greater detail. Jake believed that with this knowledge, he would be able to advance better in the early stages.
Then, more detailed locations appeared.
[Crownlands, Riverlands, Stormlands, Reach, Vale, Dorne, Westerlands, North, Iron Islands, Beyond the Wall]
This time, Jake chose the Riverlands, primarily because of its convenient location. He could easily reach any major events or opportunities he heard about.
However, just as Jake was about to proceed with selecting a specific city, the system didn't display the next option.
This surprised him, as it meant that the player's specific starting location would be randomized.
This meant that players who had agreed to form an alliance wouldn't start in the same city; they would have to travel to their pre-arranged rendezvous point after landing randomly.
Of course, this didn't particularly disadvantage Jake, since he was going solo anyway. The rendezvous for other alliances wouldn't take more than a few days regardless.
After finally confirming his selections, Jake clicked the confirm button.
[Please enter your name]
"Name?" Jake repeated, then casually typed in "Ian."
[Please design your image]
"Wait, I can even customize my own face?" Seeing the preview image of a fully armored hedge knight wielding a longsword and mounted on a horse, Jake was momentarily stunned, then began experimenting with modifying the knight's appearance.
Soon, Jake realized he had no talent for character design. The faces he created were so ugly they looked like something out of an early 2000s RPG.
So he placed his hopes on random generation. After three minutes of cycling through options, he finally clicked confirm on the image of a typical blond Andal youth with handsome features.
[Character Generation Completed]
Soon, a complete background story was presented to him.
[Background Overview:
You have the blood of both the First Men and the Andals. (Strength +2, gain the skill 'Common Tongue')
Your father is a farmer in the Vale, and your mother is a maid in the manor of a local landed knight.
In 281 AC (Note 1), you were born into this world as the eldest son in the family, and your father named you Ian. It was an unusually warm late winter, as if spring had arrived early with your birth. However, at the end of the year, the cold of winter suddenly returned to Westeros, and heavy snow fell everywhere. This year was called the False Spring. (Starting capital +200 silver stags)
When you were one year old, Jon Arryn, Lord of the Vale and Warden of the East, rose in rebellion against the Targaryen crown. Your father, summoned by the local lords, took up arms and marched south, never to return.
After the war, your mother was forced to sell the family mill to repay the debt your father incurred from purchasing equipment before the war. She then took you into service at a knight's estate. Your quick wit endeared you to the knight's wife, who arranged for you to serve as a companion to her son, your own age. (Mind +1, gains the skills 'Basic Etiquette' and 'Basic Common Literacy')
At the age of eleven, you and your young master were sent to an Earl's castle, where you began learning swordsmanship, horsemanship, and the lance from a master-at-arms, and you excelled. (Strength +4, Agility +4, gains the skills 'Basic Swordsmanship', 'Basic Horsemanship', and 'Basic Lance')
Two years later, you defeated your young master in a training bout, earning the right to serve as squire to a knight of the Earl's household. (Strength +5, Agility +5, improved the skills 'Basic Swordsmanship', 'Basic Lance', 'Basic Horsemanship')
At the age of 16, you distinguished yourself during a campaign against the mountain clansmen of the Vale, and your knight knighted you after the battle. That night, you anointed yourself with the seven oils and completed your vigil in the sept. (Strength +10, Agility +10, gained the skills 'Intermediate Swordsmanship', 'Intermediate Lance', 'Intermediate Horsemanship')
Not long after, you married the daughter of the steward of a landed knight's estate. She wasn't particularly beautiful, but you were deeply devoted to her.
However, on your wedding night, your former young master, drunk on wine, stormed into your bridal chamber with four guards. Still seething from your previous victory over him, he declared that your bride was his subject and that he would exercise his ancient right as a lord: the first night.
However, the jus primae noctis, a tradition inherited from the First Men, had been abolished by the fourth Targaryen king, Jaehaerys I, the Old King, at the urging of his queen, Good Queen Alysanne.
Therefore, you regarded his demand as a provocation and insult, calling out to your squire and friends for aid, and a fierce battle ensued.
In the ensuing melee, you slew your former master and his guards, but your wife and companions also perished in the chaos.
The battle caused a fire, and the manor where you spent your entire childhood was soon engulfed in flames. Without time to spare, you hurriedly gathered your belongings (a longsword without heraldry, a full set of old mail without heraldry, a trained horse, 200 silver stags), fled the Vale overnight, wandered to the Riverlands, and began your career as a hedge knight.
After the background story, detailed character information appeared:
[Ian:
Strength 21, Agility 19, Mind 11
Skills: Basic Etiquette, Basic Common Literacy, Intermediate Swordsmanship, Intermediate Horsemanship, Intermediate Lance]
(Note: Literacy skills in the same language will supersede spoken skills in the character sheet. Only those who can speak but are illiterate will show speaking skills separately.)
"Tip: the bodies used by the players are all synthetic humanoids released into this world by the organizers. They appear without prior history. The natives of this world will have no memory of the player characters." After confirming that Jake had read the information, AI Annie spoke.
"However, the system generates a plausible backstory based on the player's customization choices. Players can access relevant knowledge and memories, allowing them to better integrate into the world of Westeros with their new identities."
"That's pretty convenient, actually," Jake nodded. This feature was genuinely helpful to players. After all, even the most knowledgeable fans of the books would inevitably miss many details about the actual lived experience of a particular profession in this era.
However, this obviously created a problem: it made it much more difficult for players to identify each other. With good acting, two players might sit together in a tavern, drinking and talking, without realizing the other was a player.
This obviously contradicted the receptionist's statement that players would engage in fierce competition and even kill each other from the start.
From a game design perspective, if the developers wanted players to kill each other from the beginning, they shouldn't have designed such a mechanism to help players hide their identities.
It didn't make sense. Jake mentally filed away this observation for later.
"Now that you've completed all the steps in the creation phase, just click the confirm button to officially cross over," Annie reminded him. "While you can't act until all players have completed their transfers, you can use this time to understand the full game mechanics and the functions of the auxiliary system."
Jake thought Annie's suggestion made sense. After all, the organizers had stipulated that detailed game mechanics could only be accessed after entering the game.
If he used the waiting period to thoroughly analyze the mechanics, he wouldn't waste a single second after the official start.
With that thought, Jake no longer hesitated and clicked the confirm button.
The moment he clicked, he suddenly felt as if he were dissolving. Sight, hearing, and touch gradually vanished, and the entire world turned white.
Note 1: AC (After Conquest) stands for 'After Aegon's Conquest.' It begins with the coronation of Aegon I Targaryen, the Conqueror, as King of the Seven Kingdoms. It is the common calendar used in Westeros, also known as the Aegon Calendar.
(End of Chapter)
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