Chapter 1: The Birth of The Shinra Electric Power Company
In the year 2126 AD, a revolutionary game called YGGDRASIL was released. Countless players immediately flocked to experience what promised to be the most immersive DMMO-RPG ever created. Among those eager pioneers was me—Xander Richardson.
The game delivered on its promises, offering unprecedented freedom in character customization, equipment choices, and gameplay mechanics. But what captivated me most was the NPC creation system. Players could craft nearly anything they could imagine: custom appearances, races, abilities, items, and even detailed personalities. While these NPCs couldn't move or react like living beings, carefully crafted descriptions could bring their characteristics and behaviors to life.
Players quickly embraced this creative freedom with diverse visions. Some designed alluring characters meant to dazzle the eye, while others crafted intimidating, powerful-looking guardians. But I had a different goal entirely—I wanted to resurrect an old classic.
Final Fantasy VII. This iconic RPG has redefined gaming since its 1997 debut, capturing the hearts of players throughout the late 90s and 2000s with its compelling story, memorable characters, and groundbreaking visuals. Sadly, the developers ceased production of new mainline entries in 2021, though the original titles remained playable through digital downloads and emulators. Despite their dated graphics, this epic tale of Cloud Strife, Sephiroth, and the struggle against corporate tyranny still moved players decades later. I often wished I could have experienced their initial releases firsthand.
My mission became clear: recreate Final Fantasy VII's legendary characters and creatures within YGGDRASIL. Recognizing the scope of this undertaking, I founded a guild and recruited fellow enthusiasts of this forgotten masterpiece. What else could I call it but The Shinra Electric Power Company?
The membership requirements were straightforward yet demanding:
First, characters must be human to authentically roleplay as Shinra executives, SOLDIER operatives, or scientists experimenting with Mako energy and Materia. Second, members needed unwavering dedication to the guild's mission. Third, applicants required extensive knowledge of Final Fantasy VII lore, characters, and storylines.
From hundreds of interested players, only thirty met our standards and earned official membership in The Shinra Electric Power Company. We organized into five teams of six members each, with every group tasked with recreating the characters, summons, and creatures from different aspects of Final Fantasy VII's world.
Our guild quickly gained notoriety! Other players attempted to follow our example, seeking to revive classics like Devil May Cry and Dead by Daylight. However, none succeeded—they either disbanded before making meaningful progress or lost interest halfway through their projects.
We nearly faced the same fate. The intricate mechanics required to recreate each character and the complex Materia system itself proved incredibly challenging in a world governed by traditional magic rather than Mako energy manipulation.
Fortune smiled upon us when the developers took notice. One developer, himself a Final Fantasy VII fan, championed our cause and secured approval for a private customization system called "Materia Fusion." This dedicated developer spent months crafting mechanics that authentically replicated how Materia and Jenova cells functioned in the original game.
With invaluable input from The Shinra Electric Power Company members, he succeeded brilliantly. However, our triumph nearly became our downfall. The privately granted Materia Fusion system demonstrated overwhelming power, creating enhanced beings and summons that surpassed traditional magical abilities entirely.
Player outrage erupted immediately. The community condemned the unfair advantage our guild had received. To appease the masses, the developer imposed a significant limitation: Materia Fusion-type NPCs consumed enormous amounts of MP continuously, severely limiting their sustained combat effectiveness and requiring careful resource management.
This restriction didn't concern us—we sought authenticity, not dominance. We accepted the limitation without hesitation. Yet players remained unsatisfied, demanding public access to the Virus mechanics despite our built-in disadvantage.
Eventually, the Materia Fusion system became publicly available. The irony was swift and satisfying: most players lacked the knowledge to utilize it effectively. They produced weak, unstable creations that drained their MP reserves without providing meaningful power, so they quickly abandoned the system altogether.
Years passed as we completed our ambitious project. During this time, The Shinra Electric Power Company's reputation grew through participation in guild wars and battles for crucial world items. We engaged selectively, fighting only when rewards were essential to our progress. Despite our MP limitations, our carefully crafted Materia-enhanced guardians and summons overwhelmed most opposing guilds. Players could no longer complain or file reports—everyone had equal access to the Materia Fusion system. Success depended entirely on one's skill in manipulating Materia combinations into powerful creations, and we had mastered that art.
Through countless skirmishes, events, dungeons, and wars, many fell before The Shinra Electric Power Company's might. Only a handful of guilds possessed the strength to match us in battle. Chief among these rivals was Ainz Ooal Gown, a formidable guild composed entirely of players who had chosen heteromorphic races. They proved both powerful and tactically brilliant on the battlefield.
Our conflicts with Ainz Ooal Gown became legendary, with victory shifting between us depending on circumstances and strategy. Both guilds earned reputations as forces no one dared challenge lightly.
Our guild base reflected our thematic dedication. Located within a towering spire-like dungeon, the interior resembled the iconic Shinra Building complete with sleek metallic walls, blue-tinted lighting, and corporate meeting rooms. Executive offices, Mako reactor chambers, and SOLDIER training facilities prioritized function over beauty, perfectly capturing the industrial corporate atmosphere of our inspiration.
Unlike traditional guilds that positioned their main base on the ground floor with NPC guardians above, The Shinra Electric Power Company operated from the top floor while hiding our treasury in the deepest basement levels. This inverted design proved strategically sound—while the top floors appeared accessible via elevators, reaching our treasures required surviving encounters with dozens of powerful Materia-enhanced NPCs. Guild members often observed from a secure executive boardroom on the highest level, watching intruders meet swift ends at the hands of our SOLDIER operatives and summons.
The construction phase had been exhilarating—designing NPCs, crafting the perfect laboratory aesthetic, and bringing our vision to life. But once completed, monotony set in. Most members gradually departed for more active guilds focused on ongoing battles and events. By the end, only five remained committed to our original mission.
Now, as YGGDRASIL approaches its final shutdown, I stand alone as the last guardian of The Shinra Electric Power Company—its creator, Xander Richardson.
So, here it is.
Suggest the characters you want to be NPCs here.