Chapter 1

The mountaintop was devoid of life. Not even the tiniest plant could be seen resting upon its peak. 

As a single creature slowly approached the peak, rocks littered its landscape. She was short, wearing a long white cloak with a down hood. The cloak had golden highlights around the wrists and an upside-down heart on the back, the bottom portion sporting a diamond pattern. The cloak itself ended above her ankles.

Beneath the cloak was a plain light green shirt with sleeves of unknown length. Around her waist was a red cloth belt holding up her white skirt. 

She wore simple black dress shoes with dark green toe tips and heels. In her Right hand was a medium-sized white Ivory staff that doubled as a spear, with a blade of green crystal resting atop it.

She said nothing as she walked to the top, tapping the staff against the ground with every other step. Upon reaching the peak, she looked out across the land. Massive structures and towns littered the skyline. Slowly, she turned and took in all that there was to see, the skyline changing drastically depending on the direction she was facing.

To the south, a large kingdom took up most of the skyline. She could see a volcano billowing out a large volume of smoke and ash to the east. To the north, all she could see was a frozen wasteland, and to the West, a large forest. The Sun was slowly lowering behind the trees, and she sighed as she took in her surroundings.

She had dark green hair curled up on the left and right, with three small tufts atop her head. Her ears ended in points long enough to easily peek out of her hair. 

Completing her look, she had emerald green eyes that were fairly large compared to the rest of her very rounded face. Her perfectly round eyes were half open, making them look like half circles.

"It's such a shame," she decided, averting her gaze to the sky. A massive meteor blotted out the sky and slowly approached the land. "I liked this game," she held up her hand and tapped her index finger in the air; a menu burst to life.

The name, The Pillars of Eternity, was flashing at the top. Beneath it, the name Bree was flashing next to a multicolored 250

A timer at the top right of her menu confirmed she had less than 10 minutes before the servers shut down. "Suppose I should spend these last precious moments at home," Bree decided as she took one last look at the massive game world she would never be able to explore again.

She held out her staff, and the Jade end began glowing as she opened a rift to her homestead. Upon entering, she looked out at the floating island, which was her home base. Even though she had no in-game friends to show it to, she had used every resource available in the game when making her home, going as far as to spend real money on it.

Her virtual home, a seven-story mansion, had the first five floors curved like a horseshoe, with the first floor jutting out slightly to either side at the end of the curve. The sixth floor was comprised of three separate towers and the roof area: two towers on either end of the curve and one in the center of the bend. The seventh floor rested atop the centermost tower and housed her throne room.

Next to the rightmost first-floor extension on the right side of the mansion was a small farm area for growing the ingredients required for multiple recipes, from food to potion recipes. Near the far left edge of her property was a shabby-looking cottage with a tall, somewhat crooked tower sticking out of it, a Windmill turbine spinning near the top. She made her way down the paved path to her mansion. A Garden filled the area. One of the 12 NPCs around her home stood by the front door.

 It was a Humanoid figure covered in swaying blue robes; a hood was drawn over its head, letting only a few of its silvery hair strands free. On its face was a mask shaped and painted like an Oni's face. A Greatsword was set firmly in his grasp, a set of shining silver gauntlets were the only hints at the armor hidden beneath his clothes.

She held up her hand and said as clearly as she could, "Open; Door." It didn't touch the door, but it still opened for her while the NPC bowed. She walked in and looked at the large entrance hall. There was a two-sided staircase at the very back leading to the upper level, with a set of doors between the two stairs and a set of two doors on either side of the entry hall. 

A golden statue of herself sat between the two stairways with her default expression, half-opened eyes, and a sweet and innocent-looking smile. The room's walls were decorated with armor and a set of non-metallic gear with a cape. On the wall above the two mannequins with the two gear sets were a framed Great Sword, Bow, and Wizard's staff. She had originally obtained these as a reward for playing the pre-launch beta.

Her avatar's expression stayed the same, but she smiled at the memory of her reward becoming worthless before the end of her first night of playing the day of launch. Some pieces hadn't even made it past the tutorial.

She walked past it, chuckling slightly at what a waste of time and money it had all been. Bree continued down the corridor before arriving at a set of stairs. She held out her hand and watched as her time slowly wasted away.

"There's no time to see it all," she said sadly as she ignored the stairs, cut another doorway into the air with her staff, and went to the seventh floor of her home, where her throne sat waiting for her.

A Large window was behind the Throne; although the throne could swivel around three-hundred and sixty degrees, it usually only faced one way. Standing illuminated by the window, three creatures dressed as maids were around her throne.

On the right was a girl made entirely out of plush; she had one round blue plastic eye and one large red button eye, with a pink yarn-like substance for hair that didn't pass her neck; despite being made of stuff and fluff, she was shaped like a human. She held a large sewing needle for a sword like a rapier and a massive button for a shield in her plush hands. Her outfit had stitch marks running all across it, on her chest the name Annie was sewn into her dress.

On the left was a Catgirl. She had cat ears where human ears would be and a long tail wrapped around her waist like a belt. Her hair, ears, and tail were a soft shade of lavender. She held dual Axes in her hands, and her maid outfit was black with gold Trimmings. The name Zoey was engraved into her dress in cursive.

The last of the maids was both the tallest and the buffest. She was slightly over 3 meters tall and held a Kanabo over her shoulders. She was lean and muscular and had a single long, pointed black horn in the midpoint of her forehead; she had a long mane of coal black hair, her right canine was a snaggle tooth, and her skin was deeply tanned. Her species was that of an Ogre, she was Bree's favorite lean mean, well-built killing machine, her maid outfit was plain black and white, and on her chest, a name tag had Bella neatly printed on it.

All three maid uniforms lacked head accessories, and their dresses fell below their knees.

Bree walked up to her throne and felt just as amused as always at the size difference.

The Throne was large and lavish, occupying about the same space as a typical loveseat. She sat on her throne easily and looked at the time she had left—less than a minute now. She tapped her staff against the ground as she looked around the throne room.

"I've spent more money on the Pillars of Eternity in a week than I spent on food in a month," She decided with a sad laugh. "Can't believe I wasted 12 years of my life obsessed with this stupid game," She smiled as she looked at her three maids one last time. "I'll never financially get over this loss," she decided as she waited for the server to go down and closed her eyes. Once she opened them, she knew that all there would be in place of the game was an error message, and she'd have to take her headset off and start living her life in the real world.

Then she opened them. Instead of an error message or her home screen, all she saw was the throne room, the game's U.I no longer visible as she looked around before moving her hand to activate the button for toggling between sitting and standing, and instead watched her Elf character's hand do the motion as though she was holding the controller.

She attempted to open her menu and instead poked at the air, with nothing happening. She sat in silence as she tried to figure out what was wrong. After a moment, she figured that since the server was now down, she had glitched her headset and was now stuck staring at her throne room with no game controls for her to use.

She reached to the sides of her head in an attempt to take off her headset and instead touched the side of her face. She was silent for a very long moment before she spoke. Her voice was no longer rough and boisterous; it was now softer and sweeter, which only fueled her fear and confusion.

"Something is wrong," she declared in panic. As soon as she spoke, her three Maids raised their weapons and looked around. Then, a voice rang out from behind her.

"Don't worry, My Lady. We will investigate the grounds for intruders." Bree slowly turned to look up as Bella the Oger bowed to her before she and the other two maids marched to the entrance; Bree watched them leave and, once alone, cried out.

"What is happening!?" She got to her feet, and her character did the same. Unprepared for her character to move as she did, she fell to the floor painfully.

"That hurt!" She realized in absolute panic, "And Bella spoke to me; NPCs don't talk, and they certainly don't run off to investigate the grounds without being expressly commanded to!" 

Bree began breathing heavily and attempted to make sense of what was happening as she pulled herself up, moved her free hand around, and grasped her staff. She could feel it smack against the floor and felt the vibrations running through her arm as she tapped the staff against the ground.

"I'm not holding my controllers," she realized. I'm not in my apartment anymore, either. If I were, I would have hit my desk by now." As she began to panic, the door to the throne room suddenly opened. She turned as another one of her NPCs entered the room.

"My Lady," Winnie the Harpy spoke as she approached. I beg your forgiveness, but I could sense your panic from my tower." Winnie had blue hair and feathers. She wore a plain black suit with no tie and a pair of half-moon spectacles on her face. She had normal human legs that ended in Bird claw feet instead of full bird legs.

 As she had wings in lieu of arms, her suit had no sleeves and instead had rips where they had been removed. She used her wing to push up her spectacles as she spoke. "I also see you have deployed the Maids. Is there anything I can do to ease your panic, My Lady,"

Bree looked up at her NPC in silence for a moment. "What the hell do I even do in this situation?" she wondered. Hiding her panic and confusion, she decided to play her part until she could piece together what was happening.

"Winnie, I need you to go out to my maids and come back to me immediately if anything is found to be out of place,"

"At once, Mistress Bree," Winnie said with a notable tone of happiness before calmly making her leave of the throne room. Bree stood her ground while trying to activate her control console; eventually sighing in defeat.

"This is like one of those stories where the video game sucks you in, and it becomes real," She made her way towards the door and pushed it open, feeling the wood against her hands as she did so. She entered the stairwell that attached her throne room to the rest of the building. She slowly made her way down to the sixth floor; instead of heading to the first floor, she chose to exit at roof level.

As she exited onto the roof, she found three more of her NPCs standing beneath the night sky. During their 'on' hours, one's NPCs would be stationed at their posts; during their 'off' hours, the characters would instead wander about one's abode. These three had wandered onto the roof level when the game had ended.

Minerva the Minotaur, Sheepy the Satyr, and their child Inky the Slime. Minerva and Sheepy wore matching outfits of Dark Blue Overalls, dark yellow long-sleeve shirts with black lines across them vertically, and dark brown work boots that hid their hooves from the world. Minerva had the added accessory of thick leather gloves. 

Minerva had two long, thick horns on either side of her head that cured outwards and back inwards, ending in dull points. She had long, wild Brown hair that went down to her shoulders in the back and was kept short up front to keep it out of her eyes, just visible through her hair where the cow ears were on the side of her head. She also had a Tail that was currently tucked away; she was nearly equal in height to Bella; she had bright green eyes.

Sheepy had two long, thin horns that only curved back and were dull at the end. She had short, fluffy white hair that looked like wool since it was wool. She had sheep ears on either side of her head, a small fluffy tail, and soft blue eyes. No visible wool on her body, but that was due to Bree setting it so she was always freshly groomed. Although now that she was probably real, there was a chance of it growing out.

 They were both staring out across the grounds in silence. Resting in Sheepy's arms was the little orange and red ball, Inky, the earth slime, who was too busy enjoying being held to notice the world around them. Besides being a slimeball, his only noticeable characteristic was that he had eyes. The right eye was Green, and the left one was Blue.

Bree stood next to them as she looked at the massive difference to her home island. On the grounds themselves, the door guard and perimeter guard, a dullahan ranger with a Greatsword named Silver and his riding mount Orion, a giant tabby cat that could walk on both two and four legs who wore a saddle on his back, were both running around in panic at the changes surrounding the island, seemingly unsure how to even start reporting the problems happening before them. The front door opened, and her three maids burst out, Winnie following them soon after. They all came to a quick stop and looked out in shock.

Originally,, Bree's island had been floating in space, as that was how personal property worked in the game, but now it was deep in the heart of a luscious forest, cracks surrounding the area that the island had embedded itself in.

"What's happening?" Sheepy asked. Her voice was soft and sweet even while scared, even though Minerva had been the one she had been asking Bree answered her.

"Seems my home fell from the heavens," She noted, putting the fear of god into both Minerva and Sheepy.

"Mistress!" Minerva declared in shock before getting down on one knee. Even kneeling, Bree still had to tilt her head to look Minerva in the eyes. "I am so sorry I didn't see you there," Sheepy said; following her wife's example, she knelt before asking.

"What kind of magic could force you to bring your homestead to the ground?" She asked with a tinge of fear.

"The end of the world, I suppose," Bree said simply as she looked up and saw the stars in the night sky. She had spent years playing the Pillars of Eternity and knew for a fact that the developers had hidden their names in the stars, looking up now none of the stars where the same "And to avoid us ending as well my home seems to have relocated to a new world, or perhaps a different period of time in the same world?"

"Brilliant," Winnie cried as she flew up and kneeled before Bree. "Truly, no creature in existence is as merciful and wise as you, Mistress Bree. Not only did you find a way out of absolute extinction, but you allowed us, your humble servant, to survive with you," Winnie went from kneeling to full-out groveling as she pushed the ends of her wings into the ground and pressed her face into the floor, sucesffuly achieving the title of the first person who Bree had to look down at, "There aren't enough thanks I could give to you my Lady for saving us from the end," Minerva and Sheepy followed Winnie's example and Got down lower. Bree reacted on instinct and noted.

"Sheepy, Minerva can grovel for the both of you since you're holding Inky." Minerva took that to heart and cracked the roof as she forced her hands and knees to go lower than before.

"Thank you, my Lady," Minerva said, "For saving me, my wife, and my child,"

"It's quite alright," Bree said, feeling bad for their praise as she had no idea what was happening around her, "Winnie, gather everyone to the Front Lawn,"

"At once, My Lady," Winnie said as she got to her feet, her eyes turning Yellow before she spoke her next words, "Attention all, Mistress Bree requires your presence at once in the main garden immediately to hear and receive your thanks and praise for saving us all from armageddon," 

Winnie bowed one more time before flying to the Garden, Minerva, and Sheppy were about to move to the door leading back to the staircase when Bree stabbed at the air with her Staff. The Jade Blade cut into the air and cut a doorway into the air.

"Oh, cool, it worked," she noted to herself before speaking aloud. I think you'll find this way quicker," she recommended. Sheepy and Minerva thanked her, and Inky made a cooing sound as they walked through the dimensional doorway. Bree, still shaking slightly at having successfully opened the doorway, followed them.

"My Lady," Bella Said as Bree walked out "Are you alright, you're shaking!"

"It takes a lot of magic to move an entire building through dimensions," Bree said simply as she improvised a lie on the spot. "We uh…in truth, we were supposed to still be in the air, but it seems moving us all across time and space was too much even for me," The Plush Maid, Annie, walked to Bree and sat down with her legs out.

"You may use me as a chair, My Lady," she said without hesitation. Please take this moment to rest." Bree failed to think of a good reason against this and proceeded to sit on Annie, who put her arms around her and did her best to act like a chair; she was even softer than the chair Bree had sat in to play the game. 

Zoey began massaging Bree's shoulders, and seemingly just for attention, Winnie began lightly flapping her wings to give Bree a cooling Breeze. Silver and Orion Stopped their panicking upon realizing Bree had arrived and bowed to her.

"My Lady," They said in unison, Silver's head falling off as he bowed. "Thank you for saving us from Armageddon," After the Duo gave their thanks, and Silver put his head back on, they nodded to one another and promptly went back to panicking. Bree waited for the last of her three NPSs to Arrive, the first one to show up did so by bursting out of the ground, Bree only just managed not to react in surprise as she looked up at Leafolio, the Genderless Tree Nymph. 

Leafolio said no words, as they lacked a mouth, and instead clumsily bowed, as it swung its club-like arms into a praying motion to try and look proper.

It wore a little vest with a sash made of thorns and vines across its chest. Around its waist, it had something akin to a grass skirt made of palm leaves. It wore no shoes, its feet were made of shaped wood. Its most telling features were that its head was simply a bush with two large yellow eyes, and it completely lacked hands, having club-like arms that just ended in a few leaves.

"It's nice to see you, Leafolio," Bree said politely. Leafolio said nothing, as was par for the course, and they simply shuffled their weight from foot to foot. Bree failed to read their emotions, but she had the good fortune of having designed all of her NPCs and had written them all backstories. The fact that Sheepy and Minerva were acting like a couple told her that her backstories had almost certainly become true. 

As such, she knew everything about them all and knew a surefire way to please Leafolio. She had picked the name after a stint of reading Shakespearean tragedies but got over the phase not too long after the fact, no longer liking the name but not wanting to spend the real-world money to do so.

She added a nickname in their bio as a cheap and lazy solution. They wished to be called Leafy, but having no mouth, they tragically had no way to ask and were thus cursed to be Leafolio forevermore. However, this would be a good way to test just how alive they are by seeing if Leafolio would respond to the nickname or not.

"You know, Leafolio is such a mouthful. How would you feel if I called you Leafy?" The Nymph's reaction was to move erratically, and Bree chuckled. "Raise your right Arm for yes, Left for no," Leafolio's right arm shot up, and Bree laughed. "Very well then, I'll be sure to call you Leafy from now on," Bree smiled as Leafolio moved around in an excited little dance, their head spinning in place.

"Mistress Bree!" A new voice declared, and Bree turned to the last of her NPCs and the only other couple besides Minerva and Sheepy, Manfred the boar-orc, and Boris the liger-man. Manfred was dressed in stained grey pants and a black T-shirt, with a stained Apron covering his belly. His hair was tied back in a ponytail.

Boris was wearing black shorts and a white tank top with a headband. He had the features of a Lion, but his fur was that of a Tiger. He had his mane cut and tied up in the same style as Manfred's hair, along with a wisp of mane on his chin that looked like a little beard. Bree smiled as her Master Chef and his husband, also his only staff member, bowed to her.

"Mistress Bree," They declared. "Thank you for saving us from Armageddon,"

"You're all very much welcome," Bree replied as she got up. Annie and Zoey pouted as she left their care. That being said, I have an important declaration. I need you all to be on high alert. All Guards are to be stationed outside for the immediate future. Bella, you and Minerva will patrol the perimeter. You're to go clockwise, Minerva counterclockwise." Minerva and Bella both saluted her, and Bree turned to Silver.

"Silver, you are to stand by the front entrance. Annie, you and Leafy are to patrol around the mansion, and should it need to be harvested, protect the Farm and Sheepy while she works it. Zoey, you and Sheepy will be on the roof. You two are lookouts for the time being. If Sheepy has to work the farm, I'll need you to work double time." Bree looked to her NPCs and, after finding no complaints, moved on.

"Manfred, you'll be busy in the kitchen, ensuring everyone is well-fed. Boris, you'll be helping him. It's your job to get everyone their food on time and get everyone a drink at least once an hour." The two nodded, and Bree turned her last NPCs.

"Winnie you're to go into your tower, I want a protective barrier around the estate as fast as you can get it up, and Orion you're keeping an eye on Inky, Protect him as though he was me," Orion's eyes began shining.

"Orion will kill anything that attempts to touch young Inky," he declared proudly as he got onto his feet. Sheepy handed her baby off and patted him slightly. "Have no fear, Sheepy, nor you, Minerva; Orion defends best of all!" 

Bree raised her hand to her followers and declared loudly, "I will not tolerate failure among any of you, do you understand,"

"Yes, My Lady," the 12 NPCs declared. Leafy bowed, and Inky now had little nub hands waving towards his mother, clearly distressed that he was no longer with them.

"Good, go and serve me with honor," Bree waited as her NPCs moved out to do their tasks, and once they were all in their positions, she made her way to the small house that made up the base of the tower. She did her best to mimic her character's walk cycle from the game.

She opened the door and found herself in a giant library whose size didn't match the size of the small house she had entered.

"Alright," She said as she attempted to remain calm "Don't panic, you're an Elf now, that's cool, it's fine," Bree took several deep breaths as she walked among the hundreds of thousands of books, "At least I don't have to worry about the bank coming after me for that loan, and I doubt I'll have to worry about Taxes, or having to sell my blood so I can afford to eat, or going to work tomorrow…or ever again,"

Bree smiled and tapped her staff, making a golden flame burst to life on the blade's tip. "Oh man, this went from a panic to a pep talk; I'm a powerful elf mage!" Bree squealed at the possibilities all around her momentarily before calming herself down.

"No, you're a powerful Elf, Mistress of this Manor who has 12 super kick-ass followers who respect you, you need to act dignified, no squealies" Bree held her joy in "Oh my stars, is this what it's like to have friends? No, even better, this is what it's like to have people admire you!" Bree had to take a few breaths to calm herself by thinking out the negatives of her situation 

"I have no idea where we are since we probably aren't in the game anymore, and they're all going to be counting on me to lead them into the unknown. Their safety is in my hands." With the bad and the good laid out, Bree was still happy but far less excited as she made her way up the tower and found Winnie hard at work.

The top of the tower was covered with shelves overflowing with items and a single writing desk that had been set up for decoration. Facing out the open window that looked over the Mansion, Winnie was standing next to the master cauldron, used for defense spells to help in P.v.P. Raids, something Bree hadn't bothered to participate in for a few years.

Winnie was looking over a scroll to see what ingredients she needed to set up a perimeter defense spell when she noticed Bree. She nearly fell over herself and out the window before bowing.

"My lady, what a pleasant surprise! Have no fear. The protective barrier should be placed around the mansion before the break of day,"

"Wonderful news," Bree noted before looking out at the forest; even though the tower gave her a perfect view above the trees, she saw no signs of civilization in any direction. "I should venture out and take in our surroundings,"

"If it was anyone but you, I would insist on a guard," Winnie replied curtly. "But you have been an adventure for longer than I have been in your service, so I know all I can do is wish you luck on your excursion,"

"Alright," Bree replied, having half expected Winnie to try and stop her. "Tell everyone to keep to their tasks until I return,"

"Of course, my lady," Winnie replied as Bree cut a hole in the air, having only taken the scenic route to help process what was happening around her. She exited at the edge of her property and entered the great unknown.