And so I am done, again. I have the rest of my summer that I want to spend doing non-CF stuff. That added to the fact that Lok had almost become a job to me has more or less turned my interest in the character and the game. Since March Lok was expected to essentially single-handedly keep Scion on pace with the combination of Battle, Sylvan, Maran, Warlock, Dawn and sometimes even Nexus. It seems as though I always was one step behind. We had our moments…The likes of Daemelin and Tikar were monstrous when it came to giving us the little nudge we needed to get over that edge, but it was always short-lived compared to what the other cabals could throw at us and I think that that is how things will remain in the current cabal atmosphere and setup. When Scion gets a consistent base of heroes and leaders, things will change, maybe.

Lokilith was my first character in nearly two years and I never intended her to be anything more than an arcane transmuter who would poke around in the Master cabal. Right after I rolled I died in the Weald to a lynx or something because I had no idea where the kobold warrens were, and that essentially summed up life for Lok. I’d never seen Conjurers, new bards or new paladins…so much is still new to me, so forgive have naïve I was in the game.

How Lok got to where she was, I’m really not sure. I tried to be as conspicuous as possible so that I didn’t get drawn into the role Lok eventually assumed, for I’d been down that avenue several times before and I just wanted a nice relaxing character to play on my terms. I guess I got frustrated after seeing the original chancellors mass delete, followed by Maymunah’s hasty departure, and so I asked Valguarnera for the position. At first I thought I could make a difference, and with Salviar around I thought we’d get Scion rolling. Then came Salviar’s disastrous Lich quest. And I was the sole Chancellor for several weeks. Then comes Ritrav – for a week. And I was the sole Chancellor for over a month. Then comes Vehrak – for less than two weeks. And I was the sole Chancellor again.

I don’t blame anyone for what happens with Scion except for me. I think that the Scion immortal staff is great and I think that there are a lot of Scion players who are great players. Maybe I didn’t work hard enough to promote and maintain other Chancellors, maybe I inducted the wrong people. But whatever happened, I suffered serious Lokilith burnout after specifically setting aside at least an hour a day, at least six days a week, for interviewing. Generally, this hour stretched out longer, and on top of that I spent many, many hours trying to work the various Scion characters into one of the series of quests and/or studies that immortals or I had developed. I’d try to make sure everyone in the cabal was active doing something they’d enjoy, but at the end of it I’d turn around and realize that 5 of my best heroes that I’d spent all this time for had deleted or died in the last week or two. Perhaps it was the daunting fact that the obstacles that Scion faces are easily double what Empire faced that leads the people who play Scions to expect more than they are getting. Perhaps I spent my time wrongly, perhaps I didn’t set a strong enough precedent or perhaps I simply failed to interest them at all in the cabal, but whatever it is really burned me out.

I guess all I want to leave you with in this farewell is that yes, there are things wrong with the current cabal system. Yes, there may be slight class imbalances, particularly when they are exploited in this cabal system. But no, these are not major factors in how the game goes. The people behind the characters are what will drive this game, and when all you do is present excuses for why something can not be done, you won’t have any time left for figuring out how it can be done. Grit your teeth, dive in and enjoy what the game has to offer you rather than resent what the game DOESN’T have to offer you. The immortals do a great job at making the overall mechanics of Thera very dynamic and it’s a pity that a lot of people just don’t have the postive outlook and realize that this is just a game, albeit an incredibly addicting and consuming game, and that it should be enjoyed for what is there.

Take, for example, Daemelin. Daemelin was given the forms of a tiger and a mongoose. I have seen dozens of mongoose, and dozens of tigers, as well as many comparable combos. Instead of sitting back and saying ‘Damn, I’m the only Scion in hero range besides Lokilith and my combo is meat for a lot of enemy characters out there. Plus, the damn imms took away my rods. Might as well delete.’ he said ‘Hey! I’ve got the mofuggin tiger and moongoose! Look at all the people I can mess with! Let’s go wreck #####! I’ll tear their gizzards out with my bear hands! Woohoo!’ because he had a great outlook on the game and simply enjoyed playing for the sake of playing. It didn’t matter to him that certain classes or cabals or other combos could potentially whoop him without breaking a sweat, all that mattered was that he could log on and play. Because of this he became one of the most successful players that I ever played with and he found ways to do things that other people wouldn’t have thought possible.

That’s my mini-lecture for today, I guess. =P When I deleted 2 years ago I quit CF for other things and only started up Lok out of sheer winter boredom. I’m leaving again now and don’t expect to return because this damn game takes too much time, something that I seemed to have forgotten before I rolled Lok. It’s been good, all. Here’s a quick list of byes.

Scarab:

Qxorlarran – Lokilith bends down and writes in the sand ‘You’re perfect for your role.’
Drucyrus – Keep visible, man. Good fightins.

Herald:

Quesnel – Always wanted to get a better repertoire going with you, never happened. Kept sending spies to infiltrate your ranks but they always seemed to delete on me.
Tindarellin – Hell no, you don’t get any sanctuary from me and my posse, elfie!

Battle:

Torakkel – You were the toughest mofo warrior I ever faced. Nice work
Sargon – Keep pluggin. My forms couldn’t take you very well, but battle needs more of you.
Armand – Battle needs more consistency like you, too.
Rio – Log on when you’re a leader.
Tahren – Ballsy move, going unempowered paladin for battle. My respect.
Others – Lok drooled at the chance to fight ‘ragers who weren’t specialized in certain long skinny weapons. Rager is a tough cabal to play. Nice work.

Tribunal:

Gormarn – You were badass and what Tribunal needed to make itself not a joke.
Fellicitinia – Sorry Lok was so rude to you. Personally, you’re one of my favorites. You must have the patience of a rock to sit in the guildhall interviewing or whatever as much as you do. Props.
Trillox – Another of my favorites. You were good. Kudos on the swift cranial that finally brought me down to you, Gormarn and Fellicitia in Galadon after the fiasco.
Mudanathor – Thought I had you in the bag as my ‘inside guy’. And, yes, I deserved the flag. =P
Zieth – Lokilith slaps your hand for raiding Scion.

Sylvan:

Plyate – Nice work in building a strong cabal. Songs + sylvan powers = scary for most people.
Belarion – Got some balls between those legs, eh?
Various rangers – Snare is a nice skill. Keep settin’ and ambushing.
Saldradien – Good to see druids still exist.
Feirhuld – Did we ever fight?
Implagur – One of my old archenemies. It was good.
Aliborni – Tons of potential
Others – It’s good to see Sylvan alive and kicking. I did even worse with Sylvan as I did with Scion. Also, remember that you can chameleon right outside the Chasm now! =P

Entropy:

Nazgauga – Maybe my favorite orc, you were fun. Too bad you faded away…
Dariana – Tons of potential, never really came for me.

Nexus:

Tiberanius – I dig you.
Caelph – Not bad yourself. Too bad Lok hated Nexus.
Vahlen/Sanorik – Only got to go head to head once – before I got my major forms. I was itchin’ to have at the two of you.
Bonjo – I have more respect for you than anyone in the game. This guy had the roughest set I’ve ever seen on a warrior and was the only Nexus in the game. Plyate along with a couple invokers, rangers, a tranny and a healer came and took the scepter and there were only two or so other Scions about besides me. Even though the light only tipped the scales by a fingernail, Bonjo (a cloud giant) said he’d come along even though most people in the game would never do it. And he didn’t just come along. He waded in there with his unique set, wailing away, willingly taking whatever the Sylvans threw at him with more heart than most any Scion I’d ever been with in a similar situation. Poor bugger went down, of course, and lost it all. I remember sitting here, feeling bad and thinking ‘Damn, I don’t know if I could have done that.’ Great work.
Bladjix, Leius, Xillinas – Good work in bringing down the Giant of all Giants, Tikar. The ironic thing about it, though, is you all get titles for it…yet Tikar, who accomplished feats ten times that to even get his axe to that point, went untitled until * after * he died! Poor Tikar. =P Just goes to show you how frail the AP class really can be once the illusion of invincibility has been dispelled.
Others – Lok hated the Nexus.

Dawn:

Ambrose – Pluckly girl, ain’t you? Never short on words, at least. =P
Satinka/Tuyhon – Well done. You made life tough.
Elarion, Braiden, Grunk – Doesn’t the world already have too much dawn? =P
Tannice – You sopped up the pain I put on that warlock when you were young. Must have nearly killed you, but it did the job and sent me retreating.
Drepseon – Annoyed the hell out of me as a dawnie, things got interesting afterwards. Wish you would have stuck around so we could have really got things rolling.
Yathonos – A very interesting character…too bad you deleted.
Others – Dawn was part of the three-headed monster called the Fortress. It was fun going against you all. Keep raiding for the Scepter and you’re gonna surpass Maran.

Warlock:

Annalena – You must have done something right. I wish I would have gotten more out of our interactions but you always seemed to be on another boat or something. You always seemed displaced from the rest of the Warlocks, as though there was regular Warlock, and there was Annalena, Pet of the Warlock Gods. =P
Disola – Thanks for going down finally. I couldn’t do anything to stop the eagle/word of recall that you evaded me with so many times, so I’m glad Daemelin was able to hone in on you with that tiger.
Andulvar – Chase scripts are cheap. I’m already going one on five against you without counting the archon(s) and elemental(s)…and you want to us the processing power of your computer to outgun me, too? Other than that, I suppose, nice work.
Dastian – You had a deathwish and were recipient of the most god-awfully wrong round I ever laid on someone with my ram. Must have caught you slowed with stoneskin down. I liked how you separated yourself from the Fortress pack. Made you stick out in my mind, if nothing else.
Solmyr, Mealrocan, Celyrin, etc… -- Your cabal headquarters was in the one place that really made it potentially dangerous for me to go after the hoardes there when any of you invokers were around. Damn avalanches. I must have had about a thousand boulders land on my in my life.
Parcimus and the rest of the conjies – Goodie conjies have it made, with the cabal situation the way it is. Rarely, if ever, are there enough Scions compared to Fortress folk about to be able to neutralize your archons effectively before they are swarmed over by your allies. With Lok I felt I could take anyone in the Fortress solo with little difficulty – except for even a naked conjurer. Could be done, I suppose, but only with a ton of effort. Dunno. Never really faced many solo. =P Tough buggers you are.
Dachadaen – Talk smack talk smack talk smack talk smack, hit Tikar and Lokilith’s range, dead Dachadaen, deleted Dachadaen. =P
Isham – Hey buddy. Way to stick it out in the early years.
Greil – The one warlock shifter I knew I’d have to work to kill (not that I’m that good…my forms just were conducive to beating other trannies)! Great form combo and good character integrity.
Warlock trannies – Boy, there were a lot of you. =P As a whole, I thought you were all were a blast to go against.

Maran:

Balrahd – Short-lived rivalry. The only paladin I recall to put away his sword(s) or shield to use a polearm against me.
Vilaeren, Bessian, Amadioru and the rest of the paladins – It’s tough to bring you guys down! Good marans. Bessian, stay online when the going gets tough, man.
Ponahad (and Ilmora, though not a Maran) – Rivalry started before I knew what bards could do. Don’t know how I survived battles against you and Ilmora knowing what your class is capable of now. And to think that I’d get frustrated that I couldn’t kill BOTH of you simultaneously. Nice work, Po, miss your character, Il.
Ciemar – You were a bitch for Lok.
Talnic – You were a bitch for Lok, moreso than any non-rager warrior.
Ronahan – You, too, were a bitch for Lok in the early days.
Kamba/Warborf – Way to stick it out. Wish I could have interacted with you more than just with my quills.
Others – The last of the three-headed monster. Definitely the smallest of the three heads, but at times the most deadly.

Scion:

Daemelin – Who else to lead the list? You were incredible. Together I felt we could do anything. A pity you never got a quest form, and some thought you deserved Lok’s. But then…Lok brought you in on the quest for a reason, didn’t she? =P
Tikar/Fomorius/Hejduk – Badass mofos. Things definitely changed when you were around. Tikar, you were something else.
Salviar – A few more % points of luck, and Scion would have been an entirely different cabal this spring and summer.
Vehrak/Maymunah/Ritrav – Can I get a little ‘elp here?
Stoslav, Zeglufin, Yizxenlach, Madraech – Welcome to mass deletion city. Enjoy your stay.
Gaenlin – You’ve got a ton to offer Scion.
Rhavean – Lok’s first ‘pal’. We got that everfull pouch back when I was at 175 hours and rank 47. I held that pouch all the way up through 450 hours. Kinda sad to see it go.
Avoiwoo – Cunning little fellow.
Sarenth, Zsoqe, Reddyn, Zerten, Grodagan, Glauryn, etc (aka…all my trannies) – Kinda tough living in the shadow of Daemelin. You all did alright, though. It was a pleasure.
Vestain – Part of the reason Lok needed to become chancellor was so that you did not achieve it (I know Yiz had you slated for it) We hated each other to start and you prolly would have uninducted me. We got along quite well after a while, however.
Malfius – Now, I’d understand if Tikar deleted when he lost that axe…but you?
Kravidian, Reddyn, and all my necros – The world needs another Lich. You all do well enough, but the days of uber Spectres went the way of easily attainable rods.
Susis, Aerdica, Zelthinas, Sorn – Always good to have healers! I was pleased with each of you. Sorn, you’re a little bitch anyway. =P
Relixez, Landruum, Vaustrien, etc… -- It was always good to see assassins around and I wish I had involved you more in the cabal happenings. Out of sight, out of mind, I guess. Landruum, you picked me. =P
Mespon – Yes, there was a hero scion invoker, that one time.
Rosalia and Nhakma – Yes, there were hero scion conjuerers, too.
Karnavex and Turgesn – My shammies. Karnavex, each time I spoke to you I liked your character more and more. Scion needs more of you. Stick around and great things will happen with the cabal.
Venorsh, Duasgel, Carrock, Emile, etc… -- Takes some balls to play a scion warrior. It puts a big target on you and your cabal powers don’t give you much additionally. I thought you all did as well as one could expect.
Guntarlin – You were very capable, wish you’d be around more.
Astirath – Deadly efficient. Too deadly, apparently, you thug.

Others:

Amyrok – Wish I hadn’t killed you in Trothon, especially since you deleted right after. Had plans for you…
Escudeira – Made me chuckle how you’d hop the fence on me all the time. You were fun.
Jonni – Hrm…pest!
Elsindai – Where’d you go? Our interactions were fun, and I had a lot in store for you.

Immortals:

Scarabaeus – Lok was played as an athiest who believed she could harness power to grow beyond the gods, but you were the closest thing she had to a god. You’ve always been a great god for immteraction with me in the past and I was anything but disappointed. Thanks for questing me. Initially, for the gargoyle quest I thought we merely had to take down Disola once, and so we spend 5 relentless hours throwing ourselves at insane odds in the Fortress to try to get to her. When we finally did and I realized that was just the beginning, imagine how I felt. =P I think that’s the only time I felt physically tired after playing a game, I was trying so hard to get to her.

Valguarnera – You’re doing great things and are a great addition to the immstaff. I’m sorry I couldn’t do more for the cabal on the mortal side of things, but I tried to at least provide some stability there, if nothing else. Your role play is impeccable and I know you have nice things in store for the future. You were Lok’s mentor and did great at motivating and encouraging me. You always had time to talk about any quests or whatever I needed. Keep up the good work.

Jacynth – The first immortal I’ve ever inducted into a cabal, as far as I recall. I enjoyed all of our interactions and I think that you’re going to help bring Scion around the bend in the future (or at least until you decide your….passions are needed somewhere else.)

Zulghinlour – Never directly interacted with you, of all the gods. Bit of trivia: I inducted you into Empire back when you were a wee lil’ carrot top.

Sebeok – Never got a chance to mosey with you, either, but I hope you got to watch me some. I brough a lot of that hari-kari how-many-is-it-gonna-take-to-bring-me-down ##### you once tattoo’d me for back in the day just because I knew it would give you some viewing entertainment.

In General – The mud has improved a lot since when I left the game 2 years ago. Everyone is a much stronger role player and there are a lot more options for people in terms of strategies, roles, areas, items, you name it. Keep it going. Its time consuming and all, but I think everyone would agree that no matter how much they may disagree with changes and policies, what you have created is infinitely better than no CF at all.

And that’s all I’ve got for now, guys. It’s been fun, but I have the rest of my life to attend to now. Feel free to write me here or at my email (cjjohns7@hotmail.com) and I’ll respond to whatever you want to know.

Trestar