A/N: Hi everyone! This is the first of four chapters of character introductions, of four heroes that shall save the world. I mean, it's a video game world, but that doesn't make it any less impressive, does it?

Happy Birthday, Kitsune!


Quixotism


Sebias was excited - that was the only way he could put it. The otter had just bought Defenders for Mossflower on Steam for the cheap and affordable price of ten dollars (well, it was nine dollars and ninety-nine cents, but nobody cared about that). Downloading the game took him twenty minutes, not helped by the sub-optimal WiFi in his room, but finally, he was about to charge headfirst into the world of Mossflower, where he was to push back the evil armies of the Kingdom of Southward and be renowned as the heroic Taggerung!

Character creation was always the hardest part of every MMORPG, but Seb knew what to do. He had prepared for this. Brown-furred otter, green eyes, really expressive body language. "Gotcha!"

What Seb had not prepared for was to be stuck in a teeny room with a beaver, with fur just as brown as his own.

"Mossflower," announced Todge, his voice booming across the dingy little room. Sebias shivered, his fur standing on end. He was finally getting to play! "A land graced by the blessing of seers and the protection of heroes. Thanks to them, seasons of peace have been established. But peace was never meant to last. Rumours of a huge force are rearing their ugly faces, and it is time for heroes to answer the call… the call of Nest. Will you stand among us and fight for your land?"

The otter clapped his paws excitedly. "Awesome! I can't wait to save the world!"

The beaver mirrored his motions in similar excitement. "Splendid! That will be six dollars, ninety-nine a month! Thank you very much."

Dumbstruck, Sebias blinked as his smile faded into a surprised expression. "What? You mean I have to pay for the privilege of saving your tails?"

"Yep! So would that be Visa or Mastercard?"

"Okay… firstly, screw that, secondly, screw you, thirdly, you're on your own. I'm outta here!"

Todge crossed his arms. "Fine. We don't need you. I mean, it's not like you're here for the specific intent of playing a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game or something."

Silence blanketed the room for a minute or two, before Seb relented and the sound of credit card details being typed down on a low-end computer was heard.

The beaver grinned, nodding in approval as the otter opened the door to a new world. "That's more like it."


"My name is Sebias, call me Seb, and I'm brand-new to the world of Mossflower! I'm super friendly and positive and I love to make new friends! Well, I try to, anyway."


Sebias' in-game persona siddled up to another player's.

"Hi!" The excitable otter grinned. "I love your outfit!"

He was given no more than a glance. And even then it looked more like an animation glitch than anything else.

His grin faltering, the otter gave the silent player a pair of thumbclaws up."Okay. Bye!"


"I became an adventurer to be part of an active social community while questing!"


Standing in the middle of a bustling crowd, under a sign that read in poorly-written paw-writing 'CRAYLOCK', the otter whistled in appreciation.

"Wow! This world is so lively!"

A pine marten with a mark on her forehead approached, muttering about how everybeast was touching her.

"Hey there!"

She proceeded to walk through him. The otter frowned.

"I feel violated!"

A badger passed, their eyes bulging as they fell upon the otter. Wordlessly, he stepped aside, and disappeared down an unmarked alleyway.

Sebias frowned, his shoulders sagging. "Well, at least he made an effort."

He decided to try his luck on a nearby mouse. Surely some gamers here were nice!

"Hey! Wanna go questing together?"

The rodent spun round to face him. "Cheap Gold! Fast and instant delivery! Just visit 'double'u'-double'u'-double'u'-dot-DoMF-dot-freegold-dot-notascam-dot-net!"

"Whoa! Free Gold! What a deal! I knew I just had to be optimistic!"


"I am a very optimistic beast with quite the earlygame experience."


A level forty-nine fox tapped the otter on the shoulder.

""Hey! Wanna join our guild? We don't know anything about you, and we will continue to not know anything about you even after you join. But hey, we get to boost our numbers!"

The otter blinked. "Then what do I gain from joining?"

"You get a shiny badge!" the fox grinned, pinning said badge upon the otter's chest. "Oh, and you get to take anything from our community chest!"

The otter crept towards the chest, his eyes widening at the sight on cheap, common, low-level gear.

"Sweet!" the otter breathed, trading his centurion helmet for one of the provided ones. "Wanna do a dungeon together?"

"Nope." the fox chuckled, teleporting away.


"However, I've grown more experienced now and discovered that the only person that can help me make friends is myself! So I just throw stuff at the wall and hope it sticks!"


The otter slunk up to a dancing player, giving them a pair of finger guns. "Ha! So quirky! Totally not a waste of sub money and electricity!"

The otter popped out of a barrel in front of another player. "Hey, how are ya? Anyone else wanna play together?"

The otter slid over to a small crowd of low-level players. "I see a bunch of 'new adventurer' icons, so I know I'm not the only one! Anyone wanna go on a raid with me?"

Nothing but dead silence answered him.

"What a wonderful community!" the otter cheered.


"I chose to be a Paladin because it sounded cool. I didn't really read the description because come on, Paladin! You can't possibly be cooler than that!"


"Seb," growled a squirrel far too into the game for his own good. "These hordebeasts are kicking our asses!"

"Don't worry!" the otter replied, spamming 'Fast Blade' with newfound tempo. "I'm focusing on this one weasel, and it's only a matter of time until his health starts chipping away!"

"Draw them away!" The squirrel seethed as he cast 'Fire II', frothing out the mouth in rage. "You're a tank, you can't do damage!"

The otter blinked. "I'm a tank? I thought I was an otter! And a Paladin!"

Another otter shook his head. "Ich dachte Paladine sind Verteidiger!"

"Speak English!" Sebias whined, watching as 'this one weasel' stabbed him in the chest.


"I'm getting better at understanding my role in the team."


"Come here, you vermin! This way!" Seb hollered, running laps around the hordebeasts and watching as one by one, the rats, ferrets and crows started chasing after him - and was that a wolf he saw? "Okay! I led them all away from you! Now what?" It was only then that the hapless Paladin realized he was surrounded.

He swallowed. "Guys?"

His teammates shook their heads, watching in resignation as the otter was beaten into a bloody pulp.


"My team gets somewhat frustrated with the way I tank, but hey. You can't improve without any sort of practice!"


Sebias tore through a pair of oversized cockroaches with ease. Grinning confidently he pounced upon a crab - and was promptly bisected.

"What the heck? Why is there a Level 50 monster with the low-level trash? Help! Revive me!"

"If I cast Raise on you, you're not going to learn your lesson," a sour-faced ferret scowled, turning away to deal with the rest of the bugs. "Also, you don't pay my sub."


"Overall, I'm having a blast here, and I can't wait to take down all the enemies and save Mossflower! My name is Sebias, and this is my - this is our story!"