Sun Mar 11 17:11:15 2012

At 4 o'clock PM, Day of Freedom, 25th of the Month of the Sun
on the Theran calendar Alvorax perished, never to return.

Race:	storm
Class:	warrior
Level:	51
Alignment:	Good
Ethos:	Neutral
Cabal:	FORTRESS, the Fortress of Light
Age:	253
Hours:	180

Come on, the only negative comment I get is for saying something like, I finally win one to Odei?

If I remember correctly, I was sitting in Hamsah guild, he comes up to me, attacks, I flee and Voz finishes him. Voz and I were not grouped, had not spoken, or anything. He simply heard my attacked yell and came to the guild.

The reason I had said it was during the past I had fought Odei. Mostly me attacking him but as it "seemed to me" that he knew he'd wipe the floor with me, he began coming and attacking me if I was there and no mages around. Once where I was healing/prepping (think this was when sushi began holding me 3 tics instead of 2 but could be wrong) at Galadon altar and was on my way to defend the village (had been speaking with Gilnak sp? I think) from Kiraava, he comes up pincers me down, left me feeling a little bitter. I know I didn't do this kill solo but it felt good to see him finally die.

In all seriousness though I do try to better myself after reading comments and I'll try to watch my tongue more often.

I cringed, frequently, watching you fight people, but I will give you props for trying to go it alone. I think the pity/suicider Marans usually start to come in after 200 hours of pain, so I was just actually starting to think about pulling the trigger if I saw you get off a good kill or something else suitable. I did give you a little title to keep you trucking along.

Good luck on your next, it was good to have you in the Fort, and I'm glad you went the solo suicider route because the gang on people suiciders take the entire Fort down with them and that makes MommaBaer cry much much.

I didn't know who to thank for the title but it did breathe quite a few extra hours into the character. Really appreciated. It's the little things like that which keeps one getting back up after being beaten so many times.

You know, I can get it from your side, but you have to understand that Fort spent the whole night ganging the #### out of Odei and he was getting it so, so much worse than you were and taking it like a champ. He was the underdog in that situation and you were just one guy piling on him.

There's a reason he ran out of con a week before you deleted.

I know he had some tough odds, so when I saw other Fortress or Marans after him, I'd try to leave them to fight. Like you said, happened often. Only two pks that I have on him were this one and one solo. 2 Solo deaths, one I described and one that I was flat out beaten.

This instance is where he began the fight, with the head, against me who was several levels below him. It was just a fluke (as far as I know) that Voz happened to be walking through Hamsah at the same time.

Wasn't trying to say that I didn't respect the fights he had with others, the character/player or whatnot just that this one had a little more history to it.

The only reason I said anything is that it means something to me, what the people I interact with, mortal or immortal think of my characters. So I just wanted to get some context out there hoping I wouldn't be thought less of.

I thought Alvorax was fine in general. Just that one time I'm like, "Man, that's the third time Fort has ganged Odei in the last hour and then that? Ow."

I don't typically play fortress but wanted to try something that I hadn't done in a few years so, Alvorax was made.

I had a pretty decent trip up to hero, except for running into the lowbie/midbie rank sitters. They know who they are and likely don't care but to each their own.

Fortress:
Lots of cool people. Very nice RP from most of you.

Marshall- Thanks for showing me a few things. Always top notch RP but Alvy?

Cardinal- You saved my life often, really often. I hope I was able to teach you a few things that helped offset all the aid you gave me. Hah. Between you and the Marshall, were likely the two I interacted with the most.

Baer- I was really happy to hear you come across CB that one time and wish me luck. I'm sorry I didn't turn out to be Maran worthy. I was beginning to think that I'd be in line for a pity Maranation with my 180 ish hrs then, I killed a goodie mob, two days later, killed the Marshall and I had a pretty good idea that afterward, I wouldn't live long enough to become as I was down to 6 con, I think.

Enlilth- I logged that interaction, it really made me feel good knowing I was being watched even if I did get my butt kicked. I was like, what conjie sent me this? Oh, no conjies are on. Oh it's this evil god being funny. lol

Neltouda- Sorry I always seemed to be slow, like the poetry, and the story but all in all, I had a blast in those interactions.

I never really sat out to gang, like I didn't intentionally go around with a summoner trying to entwine and gank people and it really didn't fit too well in my sense of Honor anyway. I wasn't full on, solo pk, solo this, solo that and thought Honor was more in line with respect. I gave it to most people, even enemies. I would congratulate people with titles even if they didn't know me because the character thought that people like that were to be admired for the most part.

Also, I rarely complained when I lost gear. I lost lots and lots. I tried not to ask for anything back and if I did ask it was to see if it was my killer, the one who beat me, that took items or someone else. Playing again to the Sense of Honor/Respect. My char wanted his beliefs to spread so I'd try to speak with most enemies.

Enemies:
There are too many to name.

Kiraava- My god did I dislike fighting you, every time I would think something was going my way, boom you'd pull something out of your butt and I'd die.

Xazzax- Really dislike you, I mean really. You would come up to me, patch, nod, whatever, knowing full and well I'd attack you once I was able. I don't know your reasoning so I won't speculate. Your a tough enemy, the only time I think I ever really won a skirmish was the last time you and I fought. First few rounds, bash, flurry, I was pretty much unharmed, you fled like gushing or something. What happened after I'll keep mum on but My god did it piss me off. I wasn't that upset that I'd lost gear, you know why. However, it was a Galadon thief who took all my swords and weapons when I died though.

Orcs (Krunk, Krugg, Muzgash, every other orc) I really disliked fighting all of you. I lost like 80 or 90 weapons from grapple, I'd wager. You all seem to bash better than me as a giant with 400+lbs of stuff which annoyed me. I was kicking myself every time I'd get hit by one of you saying.. Why didn't I take Greeting. Lastly, you all tank as good as I did with swords, while you were using axe main wield? wtf?

Annoying Scion who wasn't in pk range who looted my weapon after I died to 3 hero scions, 3 nightwalkers, and waited til I got there to despoil it "non magic weapon" and laughed at me... just wow.

Specs/Legacies:
Sword/Whip+Flail- I thought it was a good idea but I was a little off.
Flurry was lacking in my opinion. I recall hitting way more 6 and 8 hitters years back. I don't know if RNG hated me or something but I was really annoyed.

Flourintine- Well, see above.. Orc with axe tanks equal in pk. Um.. Bad Rng or something else I wasn't taking into account maybe?

Riposte- Got it to 99 and it just didn't look all that good, but in several of my orc fights they would snap back on any hits I landed including flurry or double thrust. I was like.. ouch.

Entwine- Great skill but I took too much damage once I landed it. Also, all mages, assassins, orcs, and anyone who uses talismans can get away from you. I tried entwine, flurry couple times, but that was about the most I could because taking too much damage.

Strip/Eyejab/Choke- All worked fairly well but I think that either I, or my build I just wasn't able to utilize them to the best. I never got the chance to try dual strip on Kiraava like I was planning.

Gates- Not a bad legacy but didn't seem to do anything against elements or magic which was the prime reason I took it. Was hoping for all around dam redux.. Oopse. Heh.

Maelstrom- A handy legacy, ended up being able to attack a few people that I wouldn't normally be able to. Also helped a lot of the, dirt/blind and get disarmed fighting style of my enemies.

I'm fairly sure that I came off like a complete noob at times and after playing this build I did kinda feel that way. Truth be told though, I had a rough couple days, pk wise and irl, so when I died to "Certain Death" and then got pit looted, I decided it was time for a fresh start.

I really wish I had more good to say instead of my bad experiences because I really did have some good times. Lots of RP, enjoyed the hell out of the Inn time. Also the time I got to see Fjarn a couple times. I'd really like to know more about your religion.

Fjarn, fwiw I remember you as a Mortal and hold a lot of respect that your still here contributing. I remember you once said to me, "Your con loss, Battle's huge loss." I'll never forget it.

Liked what I saw

GLWYN

Sorry I didn't throw out a mention. I always had a negative affinity toward Shamans but I did like having one on my side this time around. Keep a truckin.

>Orcs (Krunk, Krugg, Muzgash, every other orc) I really
>disliked fighting all of you. I lost like 80 or 90 weapons
>from grapple, I'd wager. You all seem to bash better than me
>as a giant with 400+lbs of stuff which annoyed me. I was
>kicking myself every time I'd get hit by one of you saying..
>Why didn't I take Greeting. Lastly, you all tank as good as I
>did with swords, while you were using axe main wield? wtf?

80 or 90 weapons seems like an exaggeration, but I know Krunk took quite a few from you. Seven be exact. The question is, as a sword spec, why weren't you using a noremove sword?

Orcs don't bash better than giants. They bash (essentially) the same as giants. What they do better than giants is cheap shot. So bash + cheap shot is going to make it look like more effective bashing. I don't know if you were using enlarge when facing orcs or not, but that would also be something to look at.

FYI Greeting isn't something I personally would rely upon for defense vs. bash. For offensive use it is awesome, but defensively it isn't that great IMHO.

Orcs don't tank well. They certainly don't out tank a sword spec that is wielding their swords. I know from Krunk's fights that getting the swords out of your hands was priority numero uno. Krunk wouldn't bother if you weren't going to out tank him.

All that said, I liked Alvorax, but we all have chars that end up as failures despite out best efforts. We all know you are capable of good chars. Here is to hoping the next turns out better for you.

I wasn't using enlarge all the time, but I did use it often. I guess it was just bad Rng for me. Also, the cheep shot on missed bashes, I think I recall seeing an orc hit me with it even after they missed the bash. Not 100% on that one, but I think so.

The reason I wasn't using no disarm/cursed swords is that cursed swords that are heavy enough to primary wield aren't requestable. I did come across two, the desert scimitar, and bal'talon, both were very light, like 7 and 4 lbs respectivly so no primary wielding them with any of the other swords I had. The lightest one was like 9 or 10 lbs. Not to mention that Bal'Talon was the sword that the lowbie looted and saced from me two days after the only time I got it.

You personally took 7, but I fought the other 7 or 8 orcs throughout my trip to hero and each one did the exact same thing. Some took more than others. lol. It actually got so bad that I really felt bad to go and request another that would get stolen.

I think your a Great Orc example though, always out there, always doing the orc thing. You'd be even nastier as leader.

You were always ready to fight and kept trying to figure out new ways to beat me. I enjoyed that you'd also *always* RP back with me, and even though Kiraava is evil IC, you could tell it was respectful RP between two players and that was a fun change.

You certainly surprised me the day you ranked from 44 up to hero range quickly. I was used to beating you up then one day you have Bal'talon and almost smoked me in a matter of rounds with me barely getting away, after that I realized we were going to have a fun time with each other.

Good luck with your next Alvorax, it may have felt like a failed character to you but in my eyes you were certainly the exact type of character CF needs around and I hope you're in the fields again soon.

It took me a while, but fighting you really reminded me of fighting Eoria a long time ago. That last one where lash missed, I thought you were fractions of an inch from death and broke out the Yous fargin ####e, couldn't believe you got away. But then I learned it wasn't so close and said oh well.

I'll be back before too long.

Sorry, I misquoted you Fjarn, was thinking of Grogim. But I did still play along side you as your Drillmaster.

You know you loved it.

I knew you were having a hard time. No surprise: Squire is basically all the downsides of the Fortress with very few of the upsides! I also had you pegged as someone who tried to run alone when possible, which I laud. Operating solo as a fort warrior, especially as a non-maran fort warrior, is definitely a very challenging path. Its possible, yeah, but I woulda picked a whole different series of legacies for it, thats for sure. :P

I liked Alvy, and tried to help him where I could. There aren't many nodisarm swords: most of them are noremove which is much more of a pain to handle, especially if you want the ability to swap to your second spec. I think one thing you should consider doing more often, however, is ask on cb for help with gear after you lose it! I lean on the Fort all the time when I'm undergeared - there's really no shame in it. Ask for helps with gear or preps; probably the only really big upside to playing squire at hero is that your cabalmates are inclined to help you out, especially if you have great presence (you did) and were pretty cool (you were).

Regarding orcs: I'm fairly convinced that berserk gives them some haste-like bonuses in combat. I've seen them outmelee sword warriors and rangers while berserked.

Next fortie I try won't have a restriction like the loaner thing. Thanks for the advice though. I was really looking forward to the time that I didn't get hit for demo apoc fire through all my preps, lol. There is always next time. Thanks again for the chance in fort, I made sure to save that log.

You had a lot of gear full loot issues. Maybe you should
play more ultra conservative like the elders.

nt

Alvy! You, like Laes, were one of the Squires who ran around solo engaging in some brilliant victories and horrifically bumbling defeats. I try to keep a close eye on the solo-runners, and my sporadic checkups on you probably saved you a few con.

Alovrax had a ton of heart. I wish you would've called for help more often, though. Bal'talon is infinitely more easy to procure when you have a healer helping you out, for example :p

GLWYN

Like I said, always good to have a competent healer around. Again, sphere Honor, I didn't like asking for help so I really tried not to.