Sun Feb 16 04:01:05 2020

At 2 o'clock PM, Day of Freedom, 25th of the Month of the Frost Giant
on the Theran calendar Antaluvion perished, never to return.

What a journey! I have to admit, I expected my deadline being more like at least 550 hours, rather than 412. Sadly, I think it came way too soon, I thought Antaluvion still had lots to give. Oh well.

I am a returning player and I created this character on the 10th of November last year for two reasons. First off, I joined the CF Discord channel and I was pleasantly surprised with the good mood and just non-toxic environment. Quite the opposite of what that QHCF used to be.

Secondly, Rahshael did the thing on titans of text which intrigued me. There was a place that I had not sunk time into. Though that was a large motivating factor for this character, I will not devote any more time into it in this post.

My last character was Thalamanion, elf monk maran back in 2017. Before that I had another huge break.

I have many invokers under my belt, mostly in old Scion as well as in Tribunal and one odd in Outlander. But I had never played one in Fortress. I had not anticipated that I would be so rusty with them. In my early PK's I often froze or didn't know what to do. It took me a lot of time to warm up to it. The tips I received were very welcome. I even had to go back to my own tips on the qhcf diku thing .

Some notes on playing human invoker in Fortress
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In general, the timeline with the character was hero + all spell masteries after 100 hours, including induction. Fortunately there were was a liberal use of bonus skill learning before and during the holidays. Maran after ~200 hours. I picked Fortress simply beccause playing is more fun together with others and being a goodie we are incentivised in a way being evil never is, when it comes to helping out one another. This was especially useful for getting wands.

I picked all elemental paths but I think that was a mistake, I could have dropped water. In addition, going for human instead of h-elf/drw and losing that one INT was also not worth it, except perhaps that I could use kinship for some interesting gear.

When evaluating the cabal powers I was very sceptical about Fiera'Rroga Aegis. Like how often would I need that?

Well it turned out it was ALL THE TIME A cabal power that came up as a huge boon! Thank you especially to Sylivari for helping me perfect it. Dispellers everywhere.

The lack of flight killed me a few times, in particular when Terpilans bard was about with the dispel trip spam. So the maran flight boost to mantle was also a huge thing. Ironically I received it right around the time when Terpilans deleted (and those pesky assassins stopped showing again).

As far as lightforge is concerned, it's an interesting concept but from a tactical standpoint I suspect there were just so many wands that weren't useful in most situations. Usually I ended up creating some 30+ wands to get the one that I actually needed.

Cry of the phoenix is cool, especially for quickly defending. It absolutely netted some kills.

I comitted the same error that seemingly everyone who plays an invoker nowadays does, which is to try buy the demielemental transendence edge. I have a log of how I bought it back in 2007 when it was just above aura attunement. I know everyone says it's just stupidly expensive and presumably the cost has gone up since 2007. Still. For all those new invokers out there: don't waste your time trying to get it. I ended up most of Antaluvions life without any edges save the Grimoire thing to not kill goodies, as well as fast deshield. And the scroll edge but that was for other reasons. Once I died to insect swarm so I bought the lucky edge, got an item that increased luck, bartered for the orb that helps against that and then never got insects cast on me again

Regarding the killing of goodies being a big nono in Fortress. I think it's a great opportunity for RP and showcasing a more human side of characters, handling grief and loss. But at the same it is just complicated and probably daunting for new players. Especially if it comes to the second or third. Since most members of the Fortress are stuck in the squire/scribe level and just hoping to become full members I think this can be a character killer even.

If we are serious about this, why not give detect good to Fortress as well?

Lastly on this subject, I wasn't a very bloodthirsty maran. Sure if I found someone I would engage but there were plenty of preps to be gathered and exploring various areas were also a lot of fun. I think that is why it took some time for me to become maran and eventually leader as well. Just few kills.

I certainly had my fair share of stupid deaths. One when I was away brushing teeth, another when our robot vacuum cleaner Ragnar was stuck somewhere.

A bit about the role/RP
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In the past I have played the evil scholar role as a standard. It just comes naturally but for Antaluvion I wanted to step away from that. Instead I tried to be a good guy who was also a scholar. But I think I ended up being a very generic good mage.

Somewhere in the middle of Antaluvions life he got some echoes that completely threw him around and though it opened up plenty of RP opportunities I ended up not running very well with. I definetly could have done more with that. All in all I received the attention of one certain Imm and it was epically awesome and I was a little dumbstruck by it and felt like I couldn't really play along very well.

With Antaluvion I learned the key for longevity with characters is setting up your own goals. For me, it is not enough to just log on, raid/retrive, farm preps and look for gear. It becomes dull pretty quickly. Going for a tattoo is certainly key, and I think having targets in the form of exploration etc. is also exceedingly good. Looking back I have certainly had those intentions back in 2014 and earlier, but in those days I rarely matched playtimes with imms and I think that's an argument in favor of todays cf. Active imms that actually interact with someone on European playtimes.

But please consider setting immdriven events to be at another time than 7 PM system time. That's 2 AM here in Central Europe. If you go for weekends instead and do earlier perhaps?

The actual goobyes
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Gruntner: I already wrote in your thread, but you were a huge influence in Antaluvions life. But above anything else, just a very good friend.

Ishuli: Thank you for the interactions and the tattoo! My one regret with Thalamanion back in 2017 was that I never completed the work and I was glad that I could this time around. The amputation suggestion for the hands was hilarious.

Ellainaraya: I remember us doing our final ranks in Sitran? It's fun that we ranked up together and then ended up leaders in parallell, though it was only for a short while.

Ysforgul: Beastly. When you had that ghostly scimitar I simply could not face you head to head. You got some cheeky kills on me I think. Amongst other when I had just logged on and was reading notes and you had just retrived and came in bashing. I never logged off in the Fortress after that. The gentlemans agreement regarding looting made fighting you more about having fun than the anxious events it can be when facing certain other foes. It seemed you were more suicidal earlier in your career though.

Sylivari: We had some great fights. Both one on one and sometimes with backups on either side. All around fun. As an Empire shaman I think you don't really need any preps aside from flight for a fight. But as a mage it's always about wanding up and getting ready. The price is just higher. After that one energy drain kill I spent massive amounts of gold on gambling but never got that orb. I remember fondly when I was raiding with Allatell and Viggkhun, and you were not only defending at the Council, but actually out and poking us when we were resting up. You even drove us off once. Great enemy!

Elladorius: We had some good talks. Thanks for stoneform that one time. I didn't realize it was rot death so when I suicided due to being made wanted, I lost it heh. Around the holidays or before our times matched better, then after that we rarely joined. We could have explored heaps but it was not to be.

Rahshael: Cool on an epic magnitude. Delightfully twisted. Can we restart the character challenge?

Xuvian: We had some good talks. You had some interesting thoughts about thar-eris that we discussed roughly around the holidays. But it never came to any conclusions and I wanted to talk to you about the subject of Antaluvions studies but there was never a good time. Thank you also for the aid with the Aboleths that one time.

Emperor: That damn banshee. I think in the first fight it was like three rounds? Then dead. Second it was two rounds? I came in prepped like a christmas tree both fights with saves like crazy. Didn't help. I was bummed I never managed to kill you but it didn't seem our times meshed well.

Padwei: Thank you for Marshall and the edge. We had some interesting talks.

Korsgaard: Thank you for being made maran!

Steapa, Xalic, Allatell, Viggkhun, Yaenn and the other squires/scribes: Good luck guys. Just stick it out for a while and you will be promoted.

Thank you again everyone,
Antaluvion, aka: adrigon, Karnif and radical_curtain

I was serious about the amputation! I had this plan, when I saw how many edge points you weren't using, to amputate your hands and replace them with ice (your top affinity), steal your edge points, and give you Demi-Elemental Transcendence after the surgery became slightly botched and more of you had to be replaced with elements. But you were super intent on solving the cause behind it, which I can totally dig as well. So I find it funny that’s the edge you were going for anyway. If it makes you feel better, you were really close on your own, hence why I planned to nudge it over the edge. I was curious if anything would come of your hand-quest via other imms, but you were so close to age death that you just ended up, well, dying!

I really liked Antaluvion! You chatted with others about your study (a lot), seemed to enjoy learning and sharing that learning with others. That’s a scholar if ever there was! I always wanted to push you in single-minded fashion to dismiss the concerns of others (Worries, in the way of knowledge? How dare you!) and shove through to learn things anyway.

Your study made things particularly hard. Normally I’d plan to mess with you in various fashions in your study, or while you’re doing it, etc. but we don’t mess around in area-explores, so you were pretty on your own there. All the same I hope you enjoyed being Antaluvion as much as I enjoyed watching you play him. I totally bungled attending your lecture, sadly, stuff came up and I wasn’t able to get in until it was ending, so sorry I missed out but I heard good things!

As to event times, it’s rough. While I may be able to play earlier in some of the days, that doesn’t mean I’m not working – and events take more time/attention than a single interaction might. So early times for events just don’t often work for me. And funny enough, when I HAVE varied time on the weekends, I’ve gotten others asking “No, not this time, THIS time” – which happens no matter when events get scheduled. I’ll see if we can’t mix it up a bit more in the future though.

Some lines from Antaluvion that I enjoyed. These are not sequential, but always made me picture a neat little scholar – I loved your esay usage:
Antaluvion says after a moment 'I have had some challenges, my Lady.'
Antaluvion says 'What in the'
Antaluvion says unable to hide his smile 'It is an occasion of joy, Lady Ishuli. Progress.'
Antaluvion says 'When we are there, there is an enervating darkness pressing on to us. Hurting us even. But I wonder if it is evil, or if it is simply like ... a very cold place, one could die from the chill, but the chill in itself is not evil.'
Antaluvion says raising a finger 'Yes, exactly so!'
Antaluvion says 'It has been the invisible wall we have hammered at, and finally we have found a key.'
Antaluvion says: There are ... echoes of real civilization there. I need more time.
Antaluvion says 'Though I consider myself a bit distanced from emotions, I do not deny the intense guilt. Certainly it would be a great disservice to me and everyone if I did not learn from this.'

Antaluvion says 'The lecture was good, I believe. The Marshall started by falling asleep before I had started speaking, but after woken up listened attentively all the way through it.'

Antaluvion says with a chuckle 'Lessons passed on.'


Antaluvion says 'Ah, drink, right, er, not much of a drinker.'


And one of the first lines you ever told me:
Antaluvion says 'I have had this ... sense of a pulling to something dangerous. I believe I have a subject that has chosen me, rather than I have chosen it.'


If not obvious, I loved the atmosphere you put off. One of the things I really appreciated was that numerous others considered your research topic to be a dead-end from the angle you were approaching it from. But you figured out something **nobody else in the game had** all by yourself by testing things out. HUGE props to you for that, I was cheering at my screen when you pulled it off.

Great job with your character, please make more because if they’re half as cool as Antaluvion you’ll still be adding to a ton of peoples’ fun

-Ish

Thank you for this detailed reply, it certainly brings a smile to me. Replacing the hands would have been so cool of a development!

Yeah, just bummed about the age thing. I actually considered talking to you about it and if anything could be done to extend it, like the equivalent of a con quest.

Esay is great! I don't know why more aren't making use of it.

Regarding the research topic: yeah, I had no idea it was considered impossible until that point. Frankly I was a little disheartened there for a while.

Now it's the drawing board to see what can be created.

Thank you again

Instead of selectively giving out demi-elemental transcendence to people you like, how about lowering its cost so that normal people can actually get it?

Just a thought.

I did have the same issue on my last invoker. I took the edge to avoid killing good mobs, never really needed it, was surprised at how expensive it was in the current edge point climate, and then never qualified for demielemental transcendence.

A huge loss for the fortress. You were very dangerous and I enjoyed our fights. A real shame that you only got 400 hours, that seems very low.

Definitely less suicidal now.

Great job! Good luck with whatever you do next.

Sadly, the cycle takes us all within time.

We did a pretty good bit of fighting with the Empire, made a dent here and there. Admittedly though, I was dumbfounded when I saw some of your earlier tactical decisions when we'd go for a retrieval. By the time you'd died a few times, it certainly seemed to improve and I was glad to have you along more so than aggravated at you getting yourself or me killed. Now I have one fewer competent ally by my side.

On a different note, I am surprised at how short your lifespan was though. Was that age gear or some other affect? I was sure we'd have much more opportunity to gab but sadly, it wasn't to be. I'll never learn those secrets now...

Regardless though, great job on a long lived character and I commend you for making some headway where almost no others have thus far.

That was unexpected! I was looking forward to more time co-leadering with you. We were just starting to get to know each other on a deeper level. I thought you had great RP and was intrigued by the story you had going on even though Ellainaraya is somewhat suspicious of that place to begin with.

I didn't watch you a ton, but I liked what I saw from afar.

Enjoyed our fights, and yes, you got unlucky twice I had some tricks prepared for you and started to cast them... until I've realised you are a corpse under my feet already (took a couple of seconds). At the first moment I thought that you have worded or something. Invoker is a very bad matchup for necro, especially smart and experienced invoker like you were. Well played! And position was a very well deserved. Enjoyed our little talks, could be more there - next time I encourage you to RP more with your enemies. Sometimes it may lead to the wonderful and unexpected experience.

Good luck with your next, and thanks for the good fights!

Interacted as an ally and as a foe good job on both fronts.

I was shocked to see when you age died. Did you get withered much?

GLWYN

Its sad to see you gone. A great enemie, always good fights. Well-deserved position of marshall.

As about IC, I'll tell more in my farewells.

Good luck with your next.

Was great having you around to teach me.. well more or less everything from fighting tactics, preps, gear to getting around Thera.

You made me feel like a noob at times =)
(which I guess I am)

Was hoping to get some more exploration done togeather but alas..

Sad to see you go

GLWN

This is going to sting for Fort for a long time, especially with a number of Imperials rising to Hero.

When you were around I felt pretty comfortable no matter the odds. I only saw you later in life and you seemed on top of your game again. You were also very knowledgeable in PvE, and I didn't know you cracked into the Shadow Plane.

Thanks for the mentoring and support you gave me, and I wished there was a third leader spot so you could have had leader age sooner.

GLWYN

> going for human... except perhaps that I could use kinship for some interesting gear.

Doh. For some reason I've always thought that kinship can only be used by the neutral (or good/neutral) races. Bonks self but happy to learn this!