Skirmish for Terra

"Oh god yes! I knew these aliens would love video games as much as we humans do! How do I know? Come on, we're stuck on a ship flying through space for two freaking months before we get to the next world. How else are they going to pass their time?!?"

- Asha

Skirmish for Terra is an online role-playing game developed and published by Arri-software for the Time Dilation Headset. While it was developed by Regalti, the game itself is heavily based on their visits to Earth in the distant past, with a lot of gaps filled in with their own imaginations. The result is a fantasy game that is highly regarded and played by nearly a hundred million regalti across the The Delvi System

Released in the year 346 Before Exodus (roughly 2010 in human years), 'Skirmish for Terra' had a rather rocky start, but after many of the game's issues were patched out and new expansions were announced, the game quickly became a best seller. Within its first year the game reached ten million players, and by the year 350 B.E., the game had a player base exceeding 80 million players.

One notable feature the game has over other MMORPGs is the ability to play in your own private instances and sync your progress with the game's main servers once a day and sync with any server at any time. This is a useful feature when the regalti population is spread out across several billion kilometers of an entire star system.

The game is also notable for not having playable regalti characters, or that of any species from the cairn Sector. It is common knowledge the game's location is heavily based on a muddy world somewhere in the outer fringes of Pleiades Sector, and that the playable races there are endearingly similar to regalti in many ways.

For a Limited Time New Players recieve 1000 Sand Dollars, premium currency for use in the store, as well as the rare and powerful Moose Mount. Nothing can beat a cavalry army of Meeses!

"As a Canadian, I can confirm that our armies totally ride Moose into battle! "Meeses" are the fastest, strongest, best-est mounts on Earth!"

- Asha

Story

The world of Terra was destroyed long ago when the Anthropos tried to play god. They took the machine god Talos and attempted to replicate what the gods themselves could barely understand. The automatons of Talos then turned on their masters. The resulting war caused their civilization to collapse. Various powers took over in the resulting chaos and the wilds mostly reclaimed what humanity had built.

You are a representative of the Anthropos, born in an earlier Age, frozen in time for an unknown reason. You now awake in this age where machines and various other factions rule the land and your people are pushed to the edge of extinction. Will you help the Anthropos retake Terra and restore it to its former glory, or will you help bring about the world's utter destruction, or will you go against both forces and carve out your own kingdom for yourself?

Playable Races

Anthropos

The Original rulers of the world. In their arrogance they used the power of Talos to reproduce a bronze army which nearly wiped them out. Now huddled in the ruins of their once great cities on the edge of the wilds, they are losing hope.

Dryads

Tree spirits that were originally neutral in the war between Anthropos and Automatons, until the destruction of the world became a possibility. Now they are only on the side that wants to preserve the world more.

Automatons

Most Automatons want to see the destruction of the rest of Terra. Several work with the Anthropos to prevent the destruction of the world, while many others are neutral and are figuring out what this feeling called 'living' is.

Character Classes

Assassin

Trained in the desert stronghold of Uluru, Assassins are agile and deadly, wears light armor, and can master any thrown weapon.

Stats

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Pirate

Masters of the High Seas. From their base in Tampa, they steal from anyone. They wear light armor, and are masters with any one handed weapon.

Stats

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Ranger

Masters of animals and any ranged weapon. Originating from the plains of Denver. Rangers can wear any type of armor and mainly use guns.

Stats

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Knight

Trained in the city of London and the original defenders of the land, the noble knight wears heavy armor, and are masters of any melee weapon.

Stats

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Witch

Masters of the ancient arts known as magick. Trained in the city of Salem. they can wear heavy or light armor but are unable to use any weapons. Their unique abilities more than make up for it.

Stats

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"What do the colored stat bars mean? Which one is Strength, Vitality, and Mind? You can't think of stats in a Regalti video game like that. Everything about our language and culture is tied to color and emotion. So instead of Strength determining the physical damage you do, you have to look at the color red, or Ferocity, but also at near-violet, or Spirit. The colors are as follows:

Red - Ferocity

Orange - Anticipation

Yellow - Serenity

Green - Stability

Cyan - Reflex

Blue - Intelligence

Near-Violet - Spirit

Far-Violet - Passion

Don't spend too long picking a class, they're more like guidelines for a starting point anyways. We'll get you where you want to be when you finish making your character!"

- Elya

"Cowboys, Pirates, Assassins, and Knights as playable classes? It's like they picked the best pieces of humanity to put in this game!...Would have been perfect if there were Samurai too!"

- Asha

Enemy Factions

Beast Men of Meshiko

It was thought that the great Jaguars of the Marika Jungles were once Anthropos, but when they tried to play god and sent the world into chaos, the gods of Meshiko sought to punish the men under their influence, turning them into beast men. They will eventually turn fully into Jaguars, but until then, they retain a very little bit of their humanity, doing whatever their god Tezcatlipoca commands.

If you run into one of thest beast men, they cannot be reasoned with using words. they only respect the strength of their great clubs, lined with the obsidian teeth of long extinct dragons. If you can defeat one in battle, you may gain an ally, but if you ever insult one, you will have an enemy forever.

Sirens of Sargasso

Masters of the seas and sworn enemy of the pirates. It is said that the Sirens were once Anthropos, but were dragged underwater during an ancient cataclysm by the God Neptune. The Sirens were to serve him, but they rebelled. It is said that Neptune is now trapped at the bottom of the sea and only his trident could possibly free him. The Sirens broke the Trident into three pieces and sent them to the corners of Terra so they could never be brought back in one piece.

Sirens can generally be reasoned with, but if you must fight, be ready for their powerful aqua magick, as well as their voice. It is said that their songs can send even a god into a slumber.

Emus of Australis

It is said that long ago, humanity attempted to rid Terra of the threat of these supremely intelligent, birds. In fact they have attempted numerous times since before history was recorded. Now with the Anthropos in decline, the emus saw their chance, and now have full reign over the southern deserts of the world. They are planning for their chance to retake the entire world.

"We gotta tell Jessie whenever...if we ever get back to Earth. It seem that news of the Great Emu War even reached the stars and news of the great, uhm...war, is known by the whole galaxy!"

- Asha

Automatons

Originally confined to the factories of Crete, the Automatons of Talos broke free of Anthropos control and spread out across the world, wiping out humanity and anything else that got in their way. Not even the Gods could fight them. Many were imprisoned or killed and their magick absorbed by the automatons.

Unlike the other factions, there is no reasoning with these mechanical beings. You must fight them or run away. They are heavily armored and have a variety of abilities.

Plot Background...

"Skirmish for Terra" is a video game that the regalti Elya Sarai plays religiously. When the humans Ryan, Asha, Sarah, and Juan were abducted, Elya tried several different things to try to get to know them better. Asha then asked about video games, and Elya went into a hours-long talk about her favorite game, which, she realized was based on Earth.

She convinced Ryan, Asha, and Juan to play it with her. Sarah declined. After they put on their Time Dilation Headset and laid down, they were sent into a dream-like state, and into the world of Terra. Elya walked them through character creation and the basics of moving around in an alternate world. Elya explained that time there was much faster than real life, so they could play pretty much as long as they want.

Before they knew it, they had played the game for nearly a month, but when they took the headset off, only about eight hours had passed in real life. Ryan and Juan played the game several more times, but Asha played it nearly every night, sometimes every day, all day. She also played other games on the headset, not just this one. Gradually Asha became more and more disconnected from reality, but, as she isn't even able to accept the reality that she is no longer on Earth, playing a video game that is mostly like Earth is the next best thing for her.

"Seriously Asha, we're a little concerned. None of us have seen you for a week. It's like all you do is play that game..."

- Ryan

I've done worse! I mean, I know i've technically played for five whole years in the last month, but, it's not THAT bad! right?"

- Asha