David H. Kelk

The raid led by Ember and Lysander slew Halyite and returned water to the parched desert. Such a radical transformation drew the attention of the RavenLand's Game Masters, who took an active interest in the affairs of the players. Emperor, the top-level AI, began to move and recruited help.Ember tempted Lysander into crossing the personal security system. They tamed giant eagles, taught concerned parents how to play and they recruited the best player in the game. When two suspicious guilds with polar opposite goals appeared, they enacted a cunning plan to spy on them.To stand toe-to-toe with Game Masters, they needed a legendary power of their own. It came in the form of an illegal item that shouldn't exist. As all of the powerful forces in RavenLands Online clash over who controlled the fate of this virtual world, Ember and Lysander have to determine who trapped them here, stop them and win their freedom.

Lysander was tired of online RPGs. He began playing the RavenLands: My World Online virtual reality fantasy game with the intention of kicking back and having some fun. Ember was deaf in the real world. When she logged into RavenLands, she could hear, but not read lips anymore. The two met by literally stumbling over each other.Two days later, the logout button disappeared, trapping thirty-six thousand players in the game. Ember and Lysander teamed up to find out how to disconnect from RavenLands. They had to act quickly, as their real bodies were in danger ofdehydration and starvation. Early on, they realized that the monsters, dungeons and treasures were glitzy distractions. Playing the game was playing on their enemy's terms. They won their freedom by cleverly exploiting weaknesses in the game system itself.They led a demi-raid, competed in an arena run by flamboyant undead and caused a great change in the land.Everything didn't go their way, though. Ember and Lysander were forcefully separated in a dungeon and they had to deal with numerous hostile players. As the death toll increases, they push at the edges of the game and force an important person out of hiding. Later, when many players die in a raid, they resolve to do whatever it takes to win their freedom.