[Deprecated path] Aidan, the male Helltouched Human. [Deprecated path]

Author's note: This is the original version of the story and is very outdated. This path will not be continued. Please read the primary path here: https://chyoa.com/chapter/Prologue-%5BStory-v2%5D.726485

For you, the choice really was easy. You like to stick fairly close to the default options whenever you start a new game, but plain humans are just boring. Fortunately, there's a neat middle ground to pick from. You focused your attention to the Helltouched Human choice and an information window appeared to the side of your vision.

Humans are one of the shortest lived, but most prolific breeders in the Realms. Humans have a broader affinity for skills than other races. No special bonuses to race. Humans get five points to distribute per level.

Helltouched are not a true species of their own, but rather an echo of some distant ancestor’s transgression. Helltouched can be born to parents of any race, and for the most part they look like their parents. There is always some feature or characteristic which signals their heritage, however, which could be horns, a tail, unusual skin, eye, or hair color, or a wide variety of other possibilities. Helltouched are common enough in aggregate that they are recognized and not attacked on sight as demons, but rare enough that they cause a stir and no small amount of unease whenever one appears. Helltouched take most of their affinities and traits from the races of their parents, but they also tend to have a higher affinity for fire, dark, and blood magic. Helltouched get one fewer point to distribute per level than their base race, but each level gives them +1 to Willpower and +1 to Charisma.

Hell yeah! Pun intended, you think to yourself with a smirk. Human, but not quite fully human, with a dark and sinister edge. Yeah, there's the text about others being uneasy around you but if it gets too bad you can always just make a new character. You rarely stick with your first character for very long anyway, it's just a way for you to learn the rules of the game. The racial bonuses also seem pretty nice, with bonuses to three types of magic and what basically adds up to a bonus point in a mental attribute every level.

As for gender, you'll choose male for now. Nothing against anyone who wanted to play a character of a different gender, but for starting out it's best to stick with what you know. You do take a moment to adjust your avatar's physical appearance, though. A nip here, a tuck there, a couple extra inches down there, and for your Helltouched feature you chose a long, slim tail with a spaded head, like a classic devil's tail.

Finally, for your name you just decide to pick a name you had used for several other games. You don't even know the lore of this world yet so once again, no reason to get fancy.

As soon as you mentally finalize your choices on the character creation interface, a voice sounds all around you and once again, everything goes black.

The Chosen has chosen; may his path be true.

This time the blackness lasts for a very long time, and you feel as if you are both moving extremely quickly and standing perfectly still. Your body refuses to respond to your mind's commands to act, and just as you accept that something has gone terribly, terribly wrong, you are ... elsewhere, and once more in control of yourself.