Story/Group History

## Alpha Trials

After the Players are saved from Yggdrasil's Stage by the cosmic parasite Tabaqui, they are brought into their floating city, equipped with Digits to aid their mission to survive the Trials. Although they decide to live together as community, forming relationships turns out difficult, and the Players find themselves challenged by the new world in more than one way.

After two weeks of peace, they are taken into the first Trial, The Howling Manor of Polterpumpkin, which they manage to beat together despite the hard struggles the Trial puts them through. Having come to the conclusion that Yuzai no longer holds the power of the Shepherd during that Trial, Tabaqui initiates an experiment to bring him into the consciousness of Yggdrasil, who grants Yuzai his power back, turning him into a Mystic, seemingly for an own gain. The reasons remains unclear.

When the community of Seashore, an established trading community, reaches out to them, the city heads over the ocean. The mayor of Seashore informs them that an army has invaded their land and cut off trade supply paths, although they have not harmed them. Yuzai realizes that the army is the one that belonged to him in his past world, and an agreement is made to find their commander in order to make him stop the siege.

When the Players are preparing to leave Seashore to head to Glacier's Bay, Yggdrasil begins to choose Players once again. During the instance, Tabaqui faces an interference to their hacking process, throwing off their perception. This results in them miscalculating the range of a Death Zone, which claims the life of a new Player. While Tabaqui disappears from the stage, the stag of winter season within the realm, Duraþrór, weakens Yggdrasil and guides the Players to safety through a portal. Tabaqui remains missing.

The Players head off to Glacier's Bay, which turns out to be a Trial Stage. They are reunited with Tabaqui, who had escaped to the instance, and together they follow the reindeer Dasher into a small Christmas themed village that sits in the heart of the stage - Yuletide Village. A few days into having settled, a Mystic called Krampus appears, beginning his Trial named Krampusnacht, a gift exchange between all Players with twisted rules. Down the road the community discovers that Krampus, and potentially other Mystics, are not actually hostile, and after completion of the Trial, they return on their way to find Oshu.

In the meantime, the Shepherd seeks out Yggdrasil, who unlocks abilities inside of Yuzai that had been sealed by the priests at Oshu in his childhood. Previously having struggled with his identity, Yuzai names himself the First Shepherd of Yggdrasil, claiming true neutrality between the god and the community. Yuzai confronts Tabaqui, implying he knows a secret they are hiding from the Players.

The community receives a distress message from the continent of Jiahera, which Tabaqui chooses to follow, given they seem to have been invaded by the enemy they are pursuing. Seeking out the mediator who sent the message, the Players meet Kezia, a centaur who struggles with his mediating success. During their meeting, they are ambushed and have to fight soldiers of Oshu, before they manage to free and can reconsider their strategies together.

The Players are taken into another Trial, the Cupid Carnival by Eros.

[...]

In interest for a quit pro quo, Nevaeh invites the Players into his camp, vowing to keep a truce. As they talk, they realize that the warlord's church is a dangerous sect, although he claims not to see the Players as enemy. The truce is held for a few weeks, and eventually the Players manage to convince Nevaeh to abandon siege at Seashore.

In the meantime, Yggdrasil sends out mysterious Primal Mystics to give Mystic Items to humanity, intending to cause more chaos by making some more powerful than others. Yie'lao, the head of the Lao Dynasty of Jiahera, is given a Mystic Item, which she uses to slaughter a Primal Beast in front of the Players' and Beastkin's eyes. Alike her, other rulers of the land receive such items, and the war worsens. Nevaeh as well receives a Mystic Item, the Ashen Maiden, which he uses to spread his Blight across the land.

A Primal Mystic called Nezha visits the Players to inform them of the purposes and use of Mystic Items, Yggdrasil's intentions through the Primal Mystics, and about rifts in the continuum that are causing the realm to let in gods from other worlds, forming yet another threat. Together they plan to ambush the Primal Sun Wukong, who is known to give out Items, with the help of the Primal Tang Sanzang. However, before the Players can go through with their plans, they are pulled into another Trial; An interdimensional Trial by the Mystic Savory, which brings the Players into a completely new dimension - The Island of Jarr.

Upon their return, the Players seek Nezha out once more to go through with their plan. In several failed attempts to summon Tang Sanzang, they manage to summon the Primals Hanako-san, Kappa, Pandora and Jeanne d'Arc, who agree to join their side, until they manage to finally summon the monk. With combined forces, they manage to take a Mystic Item from Sun Wukong.