(DEL) Darian Kesharas the Apprentice of Alchemy, Advisor to the Chancellor

What a run. Well, it's been six months, and unfortunately other constraints on my time are bringing it to the point where I just can't honestly play a leader-type character if I can't log him on often enough for it. I accomplished just about everything that I set out to do, at least that I can reasonably expect to, and had a lot of fun doing it, so I'm doing this without regrets. Better to go now, rather than just fade away dying a slow death.

Where to start. Darian was a '####it' character - I decided, okay, I'm gonna say the hell with all of the obsessive-compulsive type stuff and just have *fun* for a change. I picked human warrior for ease of ranking, and made a promise to myself not to practice skills to perfection (except through normal use of course), and not to go all anal over prep-gathering. I stuck to those pretty solidly, and in the end the only thing I ever actively practiced was flail at 40th level, but only because I had to in order to specialize, and even then I quit once I hit 90 :P Prepwise I only bought flight potions, and word/teleport potions until hero, and then I mainly just added detect invis on occasion (more to see my allies than enemies!). I used other stuff from time to time, especially if I came across it, but I wasn't obsessed with always having a ton on hand.

Another thing I swore not to do, was log off when the odds were bad - and damn but they were bad at times! I died my fair share, but I also tended to fight a lot of battles that I might have likely survived had I been more anal about prepping/choosing them, but who cares? I still killed more than I died, even if not by much. I ganged people when I had the chance, but that was as much a reaction to both getting ganged, and being outnumbered on the whole most of my life, as anything else. Darian had no morals about that sort of thing, so why not? His big thing was not lying, and I think I stuck to that as well as I possibly could. As far as looting, I had no morals about taking everything, though I usually never saw any reason to just sac it all, and would let people take stuff back when I could conceivably do so while staying in character. I also tried to make it a point nearer to the end, to ask people if they'd had anything of sentimental value - I always just think it sucks ass when people sacrifice stuff that has RP value only (like wedding rings or something). That smacks of just being an OOC asshole to me.

I'll make my role etc a separate post after this, but on the whole, Darian was a seducer. He was designed to be handsome, intelligent, and well-spoken. He was bound to never lie, as part of his role in being a Valguarnera follower, but I found that this wasn't too hard to get to work even so. He was also something I'd wanted to try, namely, a warrior who wanted to be a mage - I had some success with this, as I got the old master spell Brew after many quests and hard work. It was very nice, but for anyone who thinks I had life easy because of it, no, I didn't :P I still had to gather stuff to brew, and even then what I came up with was variable - and I had a bitch telling the potions apart using only lore ;) Nevermind all the thieves who kept stealing my bags. Damn them all. :P

What else... my specs were sword and whip/flail, even if I didn't use the latter as much - damn thieves kept stealing my spare weapons, when I had a chance to stock them. My legacies were Enigma (I was a mage wannabe after all) and Vanguard (I was a seductive half-succubus, so leadership/influence ought to come naturally). I also was given Striking the Shadow's Footfall after one particularly hard quest. If anyone wants to know how those work out in PK, Enigma rocked for being able to quaff recall potions in combat alone. Vanguard was useful in group quest/exploration situations, but for the most part it seemed comparatively weak, in my opinion - "sorta nice" rather than whoopass. Striking was cool, though I'm still unsure how useful it proved. Maybe it'd have been better on a character who was better geared for it, I dunno.

Oh, as far as dueling... from early on, Darian made a point of never duelling. He was a warrior by necessity, not out of pride/desire/etc, and he saw absolutely no point in a duel. He didn't think it proved anything, because his skill as a warrior was meaningless to him. It had nothing to do with fear of dying, or fear of losing gear, because I did that all the time anyway ;)

Speaking of which, I should mention that anytime I was in the Inn, I was pretty much there to interact, not because I wanted to hide. I had far, far, *FAR* better places to hide than that. No, I'm not going to reveal them, since I'd like to use them in the future. :P

Farewells and comments:

Immortals:

All of you I had anything to do with were cool - you do a great job, even if people never vocally appreciate it as much as they ought to ;)

Valguarnera:
You told me I was the 4th person to get your tattoo - with how long it took, I believe it! You were awesome to interact with. Only thing I might suggest would be interact more with the rest of Scion and make your presence felt a little more - I'm sure they'll all be grateful for it.

Kastellyn:
I was definitely honored to win the role contest. The flail I won was really cool, roleplaying wise, even if statwise it was mostly something that was pretty so-so, aside from the damage type.

Nepenthe:
Damn you and your damn area to hell! I think that of all the con I lost, half of it was to you and your sadistic creation. Keep up the good work, I loved it even still, and now my appetite has only been spurred on, for there are yet more puzzles I've found in there to solve. ;)

Whichever unseen Imm that was breathing down my neck that one time: While it was tempting from an OOC perspective to go after what you were offering, it ran completely contrary to what Darian was about, and what he had been arguing/preaching with Scion. He was very much down on physical/temporal power, having felt that Scion had lost sight of its true goals while chasing after the sort of worldly domination/rule that was ultimately illusory, in his mind. I strongly got the feeling later on that this was a teaser for Empire, and I'm flattered at least that I was cut in to the extent of being offered a chance to quest towards it - but it just wasn't in my role to accept, which is why I turned you down.

On to other players... I'm sure I'll forget some, so forgive me please! ;)

Scion:

Jhaelryna: One of these days I'll learn what the secrets were that were only hinted at in our interactions. I won't say anymore now, here, lest anyone else learn about it. You were cool, even if some of your particular peccadilloes irritated me sometimes. I think we definitely shared strongly in a vision of a smaller, more elite cabal, and that worked out quite well in the wake of that big purge. Keep up the good work, I'm sorry I couldn't hang around longer.

Ghuljun: You're definitely unusual in some of your choices, but I respect that. Tough in your own right despite some things many would question, I think you'll do well, even more than you have already.

Others: Don't lose sight of Scion's goals, as tempting as that may be, and as hard as it may be given that only some of us seem to get the quests - it's there, you just have to look for it and prove yourselves.

Empire and PseudoEmpire:

Well, you all got what you were working for, so congrats. Too bad it didn't come earlier, but then I sense we wouldn't have been working together even tacitly if it had. ;)

Thornarcrull - Seriously, don't expect to go telling a cabal leader you basically want to just go do your own thing instead, and not expect to get booted. Jhaelryna and I gave you way way too many chances to back down, but you just kept your nose stuck in the air - I'd have thought it was the character were it not for all the forum posts I've read :P Really, if it's not just some kind of face you put on for the game/forums, tone down the ego, man. Seriously.

Sakard - Pretty tough, man - wish we'd had more chances to fight alongside each other. Good luck in the future.

Herald:

Darian was all about making friends with Herald and using them as best he could, to gather information and the like. He never meant them direct harm, usually, but at the same time he usually had some sort of ulterior motives in mind. He also sort of enjoyed the fine life, and was happy to relax and enjoy himself in good company, though, so it's not like he didn't mix business with pleasure :P

Lynnette - I think I already said everything I wanted to, mostly. Darian originally set out to try and see how well he could go with seducing Lynne, both because of your position in Herald and because of your relationship with Khalazid. Over time, though, he grew fond of her, and if he ever really cared for anyone, it was her. As the role indicates, he was half-succubus, though he never knew that, and as such couldn't understand why he was drawn in so powerfully - where a succubus might have fed on life energy, he could only sense the desire to go to that energy, even if as a moth to a flame, and Lynne was the person he became closest to. Who knows, he might have eventually just fallen truly in love with her, but as is it wasn't meant to be. I had fun, hope you did too.

Shiluzar - Bah! You need to log on more, there were a lot of things I wanted to work on with you, interactions to do, but I could never seem to find you on except once in a while. ;)

Aneriasha - A useful contact, though you always seemed to be off with others. We ranked up some early on, in the 30s and so, though from about 40+ you started to be more of a hindrance compared to high-power mage/priest types, since neither of us could tank terribly well without aid. Sorry I couldn't give you that other blade I promised :P

Darch - Would've liked to have interacted more with you, you were an interesting ally/contact. I don't know all of what you had going on, but it was fun at least ;)

Airael - Enjoyed talking to you, wish you'd been around more. It was always fun to try and get information out of you, or even to just spend time chatting.

Meladori - Again, it was fun talking to you, and trying to see what I could get out of you. As for the gift of that one blade, I just wanted to get rid of it in a way that would get it *out* of the hands of people who were trying to use it against me, for as long as I could, and at the same time figured I'd buy some good favor with one of the heralds. ;)

On to Enemies!

Fortress:

Some of you were cool. Others seemed like two-dimensional figures running around shouting "Kill the Red Aura Guy!" - but I want to stay positive, and I don't know what sort of things you did other than fighting, so I'll keep it to that.

Khalazid - Bah! I say, Bah! I wanted to get into a big rivalry with you... we were both interested in the same girl, heck, even our weapons were opposite, Desert Sun vs Desert Night. ;) And then, poof - you disappeared right when it was looking like it could get interesting. Darian absolutely hated your guts for that too, because of Lynnette. He sort of felt like she deserved better than that, and worse, he felt like there was nothing he could do to defeat a ghost.

Fahnrore - damn gangs of goodies. You seemed to at least have some interest in trying to return some stuff, which I applaud - so many goods these days just strike me as being no different from evils, just on the (gold aura) team.

Elrys - Someone I wish I'd had more chance to interact with. You seemed cool, and I disliked having to fight you, and felt we could have been friendly (or at least friendlier) had it not been for that. But again, see the above seducer comment ;)

Sheilica - Another Acolyte/Dawn that struck me as actually putting principle above winning, and kudos for that. One irritation - yes, I really do have to take your powers in order to take those of the Maran, since you both have only one shared item now ;P

Sylvans:

Griimbling - I swear you helped us once in the desert against Sylvans, back when Entropy was still around, and told us you wanted to be a Baron so we wouldn't attack you. :P

The rest of you, well, I think my primary interactions revolved around fighting, fighting, and more fighting. I think I got my revenge by poisoning the sands outside of the Chasm, so there'll never be any more briartangles/thorns/whatever waiting out there :P

Warlocks:

Jhard - Tough character, but if you want my opinion, too much "She's a witch, BURN HER!" and not enough master-ish openmindness and love of knowledge, but that's just my opinion on Warlock. I just got a kind of kick out of our chat where you swore up and down that my alchemy skills had to be related to dark magic, though ;)

Galial - That was a surprisingly short fight between us there, but I hadn't realized you were so wounded. You didn't really stand a chance at all, but you were also fighting on *my* turf. I tried to leave at least some of your things, though, since it must have sucked for you. Other than that one time, invokers mostly kicked my butt unless I was shielded by another invoker, so it was sort of revenge ;)

To that one other warlock I talked to, and you know who you are - Don't despair, I spoke to the person I promised to, before I deleted, and hopefully you'll still get contacted even though I'm gone.

Battle:

Sayangu - That time on Eastern must have seriously sucked for you. I don't doubt your assassinate skill was high enough that for you to miss was horrible luck, and to get bashed down afterwards must have sucked even worse. Better luck in the future ;)

Sabiene - Congratulations on Imming, you deserved it. Darian would've much preferred to sway you to his side, though I knew it would've likely never happened. ;) Good luck as an Imm.

Others - Hmm, no one comes to mind. Bunch of bloodthirsty bums, but hey, that's what I'd expect!

Uncaballeds:

Narissa - Congratulations to you too. Wish we could've travelled more, I would've liked to have gotten to know about your background, after having seen a few clues in our interactions. Good luck as an Imm.

Queesha - Guh, all that nice gear and never getting used in the wars! Bah! ;) It was fun exploring with you, and you were always ready to go somewhere and do something, on the rare occasions I could find the time to do so.


Ah well. I'll be around still. I'm sure as heck not quitting CF, though I can promise you that I'm not deleting to play an Empire ;P See you all in the fields.

Read your role, though, and I can see why you won.

What attacktype was your reward weapon ?

-Cassman-

The role quest reward weapon did mental type damage. It was pretty cool, and definitely something I'd never seen before on any weapon. I was eternally paranoid that someone would steal it, though, and when I died I usually had to quickly talk whoever had grabbed it into giving it back (which worked until a crash eliminated it after I'd mistakenly thought I'd gotten it back).

You were fun, mostly up for hunting villagers and one i could count on to raid the village. Thats all i pretty much knew of you, killin villagers, heh. Drop an email Farleyman600@hotmail.com good luck with your next char

Cassougi

After all we did together, I don't even get a mention! Whats
up with that! I was there when we purged the cabal and was
one of the first back in you bastard! You utterly suck! *grins*
Seriously though, you were one heck of a role player, and I
did enjoy all our trips together, even if I mostly was dragging
you about with us! And I thought at least the imms would have
given you detect invis as a spell :P You did well with the
Scions and I agree, the smaller cabal was better overall then
the larger cabals. Hope you have fun with your next char.

Brian S.

Hello again. Sorry to see you go. You were very fun to have around. It sure is delightful to have someone of opposite alignment and pretty much the anti-thesis of what you stand for available to chat. You were always quite cordial, and I really couldn't tell how you were evil. Must have been that entire "I'll do anything, ANYTHING to get what I need." Including slaughtering villages and torturing blind puppies. It's sad to see you go, whoever shall I converse with now? Well, because I have never had a conversation with you that I haven't ended like this, I might as well tell it to your corpse. Repent. You can still be saved! *smile* See you on the other side.

Really good character. I enjoyed our interactions and talks in the Inn during Xandrya's early years. Darian was kind of an enigma to her because, being a bard, she valued truth yet at the same time she knew Darian was a high ranking Scion and she had trouble dealing with that in her own mind. Still she found Darian to be most intriguing to talk to because of it.

Very well played and I think you well deserved to win the role contest.

Travelling with you was always a pleasure - wish I could have done it more often. If you don't mind, would you list some past characters?

Cheers.

Dafeb

You were playing a good character as a warrior and even more so your role too. I'm sure the quest suited your legacy and I admire the way you stuck out alone mostly. Sad thing you deleted, you really have my respect against the tide of light.

I remember there were just the two of us in Hamsah and there were a bunch of sylvans and marans along eastern road, with shifter birds flying the air trying to pin us down. We wondered if we could even surive the road to Galadon should we venture out. Sure had it tough then.

Take care and enjoy your next.

Well it was fun whenever we did actually talk. It was actually sort of amusing knowing you were trying to get information from me at times even though Airael for the most part knew sometimes that you were rather strange asking for "things" *coughs and grins slightly*
Have fun with your next and I hope to see you in the fields! :)

Definitely - I wish we could have interacted more, but perhaps that's more because I just didn't have nearly enough time to get going all the plotlines that could have dreamed up. I would have also spent more time in the Inn if not for all those damned thieves... nothing sucked worse for me than having all my bagfuls of potions stolen. If anything, the Inn was far less safe than many of my actual hiding places, which is why I always had to laugh when people accused me of 'hiding' in there. ;)

>Sabiene - Congratulations on Imming, you deserved it. Darian
>would've much preferred to sway you to his side, though I knew
>it would've likely never happened. ;) Good luck as an Imm.

You got that right :) I remember you from my earliest days. I think you were in the midranks when I rolled, or so. You were treated as something of a joke back then, a fighter who died a lot and could land a few kills but was nothing to be overly concerned about. I remember how I began talking to you after that one time that you and Lan got bounced by Melkorath and someone else... I'll tell you, I look back on Sabiene's mortal life, and it feels like I played two or three characters given all the changes I saw. It's amazing.

While I never got to know you terribly well, I was not all that surprised to see you make Advisor. I recall how beforehand I had been commenting to you about how "The chasm isn't really treating you as well as you deserve". Well, post-purge, I guess it became much more your style, eh? I do know that the chasm stopped being anything resembling an enemy force after the purge. You guys basically didn't raid. I don't know why, and I'm not going to ask, just commenting. I'm sure you had your reasons.

I also want to comment that I felt that you were much like me in one critical way: While you were a warrior who wanted to be a mage, I was a thief who wanted to be a healer. Through different means, we both accomplished that goal, which I find very interesting. Best of luck on your future chars, you've well proven that you can RP with the best of them on this one (if you hadn't already).

- Sabs

P.S. 394 hours and just 50 years old? Was that a typo? :P

After the purge, I think I could probably count the number of active scions on my fingers, really. I almost never inducted, and Jhaelryna only slightly more so than that, mainly because nobody seemed to have gotten what we were about, or proved worthy enough on sheer roleplaying points to merit a little teaching (which I did do at times). Instead, it was always people who just wanted to be big happy team evil and go kill and raid and such. Scion just isn't about that, it has higher goals than mere butchery and plunder. So yeah, we really didn't raid as much because there was less emphasis on raiding and more on other things, but also because we were rarely more than one or two on at a time, and had to not only deal with Battle, but Maran/Sylvan/Warlock etc.

And no, that's not a typo. I had a few things that kept me nice and young, but that's all part of my secretive magic and powers which I'll keep to myself. ;) Being a leader for a long time did help, though.

Kastellyn:
I was definitely honored to win the role contest. The flail I won was really cool, roleplaying wise, even if statwise it was mostly something that was pretty so-so, aside from the damage type.

You deserved to win. I hope others take the time to read your role; I wasn't the only Imm who thought it was a really unique twist on things.

Weapons given for quests like that aren't going to be limited, so statwise they won't even approach being uber-deathful. The damage type I requested raised a few eyebrows, though, but it made sense so the powers that be let it slide. Glad you enjoyed it.

You were an extremely well RPd and played character, very enjoyable to watch. Good luck with your next.

Well, sad to see you go. We had some fun fights and interactions. Rot was just the ban of you. *chuckle* I hope you don't consider me one of those two dimensional kill the red aura guys cause I really try to not do things that way. I liked your char and are verbal spars were as much fun as our physical ones. Thanks for getting me back the wedding ring and tux the one time I died in the Fortress. Think that was one of the coolest things anyone has ever done. Mad props for that dog.

Vashka

From what I recall, you were very very stubborn. Us arguing was about like bashing heads against a brick wall, because Darian was so completely convinced (being sphere truth and all) that his view was right. At least you made the effort to argue. The ones I was referring to were more others, really. And yes, rot did suck. I think it got me twice, and one other time I managed to shrug it off. Of the two times I died to it, once was because I made a deliberate decision to just keep fighting, rather than running to go sit it out with lots of +con items. I managed to land a few other kills that time, so it's alright. The other time I was pretty much caught without a full suit of gear (including a bunch of +con items to deal with rot). I think that was the most annoying thing, at times, was regearing only to get smacked around again before I could really get going. Prep items really are the bitch part about regearing... which was what I loved about my last rager. Grab a pair of weapons, and you're back in it already ;)

Yeah. I liked your character. Although, we pretty much beat you down. I'm sure if you had the sizable force that the Fortress has right now, you would've done the same to me. You were quite the character. I tried to get that whole "no-looting" thing instilled, sorry if a couple of times it wasn't so. Well done. Come to the goody side!

Give it a while, and I might just. I play everything, though I haven't played a goodie-good in a while, just because the situation up until now has made evil badly the underdog, unless it's as an evil rager or something. Empire may likely change that, but we'll see I guess.

Actually, though, one thing I tried to change was how Scion had just turned into a big bullies club that tried to beat down everyone else, and I think that was a big part of the change that went with the whole purge and such a few months ago, to a smaller elite cabal. Unfortunately, everyone else seemed to still have massive numbers, and use them mercilessly - it wasn't just the Fortress, but Battle/Sylvan and even Warlock, and lemme tell you, it sucked to try and recover from the Fortress, and get attacked by groups of Warders and Ragers during all that. Seems that with Empire though that may get counterbalanced, though me, I like smaller elite groups better. Just seems like the roleplaying is better, is all.

Yeah. I totally agree. I sort of knew that the good had the advantage when I rolled this character, but from my previous one I also knew that something else was coming. And yeah, chances are with the coming of the Empire, alot of things are going to change. I have some other thoughts about this but there are better places to discuss it.

I cant believe you left me out jerk! hahah naw it was fun interacting with yer at the inn... and I knew why you wouldnt dule occ but inchar i always had to mess with ya and try to egg ya on.. haha one of the most memoriable times with wigga was when I went to the inn and got all drunk and then started gambling and then i put like 200k on one roll and lost it all haha I was drunk so I started vexing out and yelling at the gambler.. then I stumbled back to the bar and started eyeing down the mage bar tender there it was the dillo i forget her name and she threw me out for being a agressive drunk.. so i tryed to get back in and the guard wouldnt let me so i tryed to drunking sweet talk em to let me in and he wouldnt so i slapped him and he slapped me back so i faught em and then you came out with the dillo and i went crazy hehe that was fun.. I wore your poncho with pride and bragged to all the other ragers about it... I thaugth it was fun in all man and I did respect your char.. hence why I gave back your weapon, even though i could wear it ;) heh sucks though that not a day later I was ganked by like 5 and my weapon and my imbus gaunlets and my shield were all taken.. even though they were basicaly Rager only and all the other ragers knew they were mine and kinda made them like they were mine for good after the rites.. but I guess thats what you get somtimes... hell man good luck with other chars and glad to see you had fun..

"haha one of the most memoriable times with wigga..."

heheeh you call your char "Wigga"?? :)

-Quid, the pointer and attention bringer of frivolous topics.

Fighting Ragers sucked. I actually did better in the mid-ranks against them than at hero, ironically. The sheer amount of preparations I tended to need to fight a rager, warrior to warrior, on even terms, just never made it worthwhile in my mind to go for a fair fight anymore. Warriors, while fun, aren't so much my style - think I'll go back to more magey types now.

'We invited'? When I was made exile, you wasn't a chancellor yet. I didn't like you since I believed that you are weak. I think you knew that. I was surprised a lot when you have been made Advisor. Well done, I suppose.
An my ego... leave my ego to me, it's mine and only mine. I don't see a reason to tone it down, since I enjoy my dear, sweer, invaluable, best in the world ego.

I was already the Advisor then, and could have thrown you out the moment you started backtalking me. However, I wasn't playing the petty tyrant, nor someone who doesn't tolerate other viewpoints, etc, so it wasn't until you'd finally proven that you had no intention of doing anything but be obstinate that you got booted.

As to how strong the character was, I was deliberately weaker than I could have been. I chose to have fun and roleplay, over trying to get that ultra high kill ratio (something I've easily done in the past). From the get-go, I made choices like that. Obsess about staying on top all you want. Obsess about your pretty gear all you want. In the end, the only way to win at CF is to have fun. Some might say it's how you're remembered, too, but I know I fought against relatively bad odds most of my life, stayed on through thick and thin, and I have no regrets about any of that.

No, I don't think so. I wouldn't return if I'd see you as an advisor. Jhaelryna inducted me (*snort-n-sniff*), then a week later I saw you as an advisor.

Now tell me, if you can be a weak warrior, i.e. do not fight well, because you wish to have fun, why cannot I be a healer, that do not heal a lot, because he wish to have fun too?

Doesn't matter. I had fun, and you had fun. I'd wish you a good luck, but I don't want to. ;)

It all depends on your definition of weak. I didn't 0\/\/|\| half the mud, so I guess that makes me "weak" in your eyes. I didn't play a scion warrior to do that, least of all human with the specs and legacies I chose. I've had characters who were death incarnate (yes, at hero) in the past, so I have nothing to prove. I still fought well enough, because I killed more people than killed me. Personally, I don't really see how you can get off calling other people weak when you've gotten the reputation as the gangingest healer around.

You're welcome to play whatever you want in the game, but there are consequences for it. If you want to wuss out and not raid when your cabal leader tells you to come help, well, you're gonna get booted, whether you're in Scion, Maran, Battle, etc, or even Empire. Just do us all one favor, and keep your insults and snide comments outside the game to yourself.

I second that!

I third third. :-P

And on a side note... It always makes me happy to see people with the same attitude as my own, Darian. Set your own goals, achieve your own things, but most of all, have a fun time playing the "game"... I wish more people understood that.

No mention of Zekasiq?

How many times did I save your life, again? ;-)

Toward the end, how many times did I "woops" and get you/Jhaelryna killed. If it looked like I was TRYING to keep you alive, then good, that's how it was supposed to look... but toward the end I dropped the ball purposefully at some points, and on at least two occasions got Jhaelryna killed, and you, where I could have saved you easily.

Oh well, thems the breaks. Even still, it was fun interacting with Darian.

Zek.

Having help was useful, though ultimately I mostly preferred to rely on myself. One of the big tenets of how I tried to play was, Never try to blame others, it's only an excuse for your own failings. Being truthful to himself meant that Darian had to admit his own failures, flaws, etc even if he hated every minute of it. Pretty much in every death, I saw what I could have done, or knew already that the chance I'd taken had been a stupid one, and that it was ultimately nobody's fault but mine that I died. A lot of times though I was fine with that, because there were some chances I just had to take, in order to remain true to the character and what he wanted.

Well done! We went to thick and thin when we were fighting together then well...I became distant. I have a log of you and our troops when we raided Ragers and well...it went very sour.

Oh yea...I think you should look my farewell once I'm gone, might be interested in some stuff.

Good luck for whatever is next!

I enjoyed your character and I was sorry to have to leave you, you played Darian well. Congratulations on brew, that must have been fun.

I regret we didn't get to interact more.

You seemed pretty cool as well, though I'm sure you had a whole lot of your own things going on. I wonder how many people just dismissed you out of hand over your spec choice. ;) Never did get to hear the full story of why you got booted, but oh well, I'll have to wait for your farewells I guess.

A shame I never did get around to fighting you other than in a couple raid situations. Was fun talking to you at the Inn, then a few other times after becoming a Scribe (then Acolyte). You always said you didn't duel, but I was curious to see your bash against my no-lag legacy thing, but alas it wasn't meant to be. I wish we would have interacted more, but the times we did it was fun. I still remember your shock (or it appeared that way to me) when I would throw people out of the Inn that attacked you. Anyway, good character and have fun with the next whatever it is.

Your role is:
Added Thu Nov 21 21:26:10 2002 at level 1:
The following are excerpts from memoirs written in old age:

...but it is impossible to understand who I became, who and what I am now,
without first understanding where I came from. As a child, my true origins
were not known to me, nor would I have truly grasped their importance even if
I had. It was also fortunate, in that the peasant farmers who took in the
foundling child that was me would have more likely given me over to be burned
to death, if they knew the Truth. Nor did I know growing up how that truth,
as well as the search for the darker truths of the multiverse would shape my
destiny. I could go on for some time on the depths and nuances of the impact
and power of Truth in this world, something many ignore or take for granted,
but that will come later in this work.

As a child, I was raised by the peasant farmers who had taken me in,
alongside their own natural born children. No one knew who my parents were,
or what had happened to them. I was never told much more than that I was
simply found, with my swaddling clothes in a small basket by the roadside,
with no sign of anyone nor any struggle, no dead parents, merely a
mysteriously abandoned child. It and other strange things were not something
to be dwelled on, to my foster parents, but instead something to be feared
and avoided at all cost. To them and their neighbors in the nearby farms and
the other outlying villages of Arkham, to ask questions was to court trouble,
disaster, death, and even worse things.
But I never shared that view. Somehow, I always knew I was different than
them, different than my foster brothers and sisters, in more ways than my
appearance. It would become increasingly more apparent, first to myself, and
then increasingly to my foster family and their neighbors, who in turn grew
suspicious of me. In the end, when I left Absalom to make my way to the mainland,
the news was greeted with sighs of relief, rather than tearful goodbyes. Nor
did I miss them, then, or even now. I did not take their family name, and in
time even their given names I have let slip from my mind like so much useless
chaff. I knew that they were not my family, though at the time I had no
inkling of my father's profession, let alone my true mother's abyssal
nature...

Added Thu Nov 21 21:30:36 2002 at level 1:
...and because of that heritage, as well as my draw towards the dark truths



of the world, the heavens, the multiverses themselves, some may be surprised
that I did not seek training in the Arts Magical. At first, I must admit I
was tempted by the powers those guilds might offer. However, being alone in
the world I was forced to survive by the strength of my body rather than my
mind, and as such I grew adept at the warrior's art, and in constant
training. Perhaps I might have grown up differently, if it had not been for
my unusual heritage. It is rare enough that a true succubus makes her way
outside of the Demon realms, let alone to this world. And from all I have
been able to gather for them to conceive a child by a human (which is only
ever an intentional act) is rarer still, and deciding to have a male child is
next to unheard of. My mother's motives were a mystery to me for a long
time, even after I learned of her true nature. Would I have become who I am
now if it had not been for that abyssal blood in my veins? How much of what
I have chosen in life was a result of my own will, and how much was I simply
a pawn in a far greater game, moving as unseen figures knew I would? The
answer that I find most believable, so far, is that the truth lies somewhere
in between. There is free will, but we are still guided by our circumstances
as well as great
er forces, and all together do these disparate elements make
us what we are.
Regardless of this, I found myself called on to become more than I was, more
than a simple mercenary or guard, and not knowing what it was that spurred me
on, then, I took to the road, and to a life of adventure.

Added Sat Jan 11 15:25:54 2003 at level 44:
...and so I continued in training for a long time, adventuring, and
fighting. Eventually, I began to make the acquaintance of magi and
priests who were privy to darker secrets, the kind which I felt I had
long been searching for. As such, I decided to win my way into their
alliance, though my only goal at that point was to learn more of the
truths I sensed they knew of. I didn't yet know what I truly wanted
to do with that, once I had it. I expected I would discover that
when I knew all that I sought. I was more a creature acting on
instinct rather than pure reason, unnatural though the source of my
instincts proved to be. It was from these magi and priests that I
learned of the Shadow Beings, the Ccul'gra, or Nightwalkers as some
call them. It was also here that I began to learn a little of the
magical talents I might possess, even though it began with merely

learning to use a few simple wands and the like. But it was progress
towards my goal of learning the truths of magic, of the world, and
of everything, myself included.

Added Thu Jan 16 20:46:12 2003 at level 45:
In time, my desire to find the truths about myself, about magic, about the
dark destiny that enveloped the world itself, becoming the overwhelming force
in my life. I had been obsessed with the power of Truth in the abstract for
some time, and had long ago sworn an oath to myself never to tell anything
but the truth, nor to seek even to mislead someone deliberately using
half-truths. I would make my the Truth within my words my weapon, that no
one could deny that I spoke the Truth without regard to whether it benefitted
or harmed me. If need be, I would refrain from speaking, or refuse to
answer, but never would I lie. Over the course of my life I admitted many
things to many people, but never once did I say that I was sorry, or make
apology for something to give that impression. I would freely admit if I did
not intend for something to happen as it did, but I would also readily admit,
for instance, that I cared neither way if someone died or not. For I never
found that there was anyone I truly cared for in the way that others around
me had, rather, I judged others on their usefulness to me. I never had
friends, I merely had allies and interests. I was cold, callous, and I was
fully aware of it. In order to harness the power of the Truth, I knew I
would always have to be brutally honest with my own self. Far too many that
I met were not, they surrounded themselves with illusions and lies about the
sort of people they were, and had they ever faced up to the truth of their
lives it would likely have destroyed them. No, I admitted every single thing
others might consider a sin or transgression, and learned that it meant
nothing to me. I would not define myself by their morality, rather, I would
remain true to who I was. I saw nothing wrong with acting in my own benefit,
in fleeing or hiding if a battle did not go my way, or in using whatever
advantage I could to win. I also freely admitted this to both myself and
others.Nor did I care if others did the same - such was the nature of
conflict and warfare. The only thing that bothered me was when others let
their actions make a mockery of the ideals they professed to believe in.
They could not remain true, and thus they were guilty of the only thing that
was a Sin in my eyes.

Added Sat Jan 25 20:41:41 2003 at level 48:


As I grew into my maturity, I found also that my talents were growing,
not simply in the realm of magical ability and affinity, which I had
been actively pursuing for some time, but also in terms of relations
with others. Looking back now and knowing what I do, at the end of my
days, old and greyed, I understand that it likely was caused by my
unusual heritage, but at the time I was still completely unaware of
any of it. I found myself provoking unintentional attraction at times
in members of the opposite gender, and gaining influence as well with
many whom I came across. Words became a more potent thing to me, that
I could use to shape others with, and guide them as I wished, even
without deviating from my oath to speak only truth. In some ways
my status as a Seeker of Truth may have even served only to help me
in these things, as others were less wary of potential deception in
words, for there was none there to be found. But this was merely the
start of such things, and it would not be until later that it came
truly to the forefront.

No, the most important occurance at this point in my life was the
meeting with the Keeper of Secrets, Valguarnera, that I had sought for
so long.

(The rest of this entry is snipped, lest it give away questy secrets - suffice to say this is the start of the interactions and quests, leading to getting my quest spell, tattoo, etc)


Added Sun Feb 23 18:45:11 2003 at level 51:

(More snipped stuff)

Added Sun Apr 6 16:05:20 2003 at level 51:

(Still more snipped stuff)



Overview: I was a little disappointed that none of the imms decided to really run with the story hook I put in my role, but I was happy with the interaction I did get, so it's not a big deal - I played the background up as best I could regardless.

Your description is:
Before you stands a man of human descent and indeterminate years. Thin lines
crease parts of his face, around the eyes in particular, showing the travail
of the years creeping up on him, yet his hair remains thick and dark without
even a hint of grey, cut to a medium length, strong and lustrous with
occasional highlights of red mixed in with the dominant black. His skin
bears a slight tan, but for the most part his fair complexion would seem to
indicate that he spends his time as much in scholarly pursuits as he does in
more physical ones. Even still, he is quite well muscled, and exudes a
powerful image of strength. His eyes are a cool, calm shade of blue, his
gaze confident and alert, filled with a quiet intensity. His expressions and
mannerisms seem somewhat reserved most of the time, seeming to listen at
least as much, if not more so, than he speaks. The most memorable thing
about him though is how handsome he seems... nearly perfectly so, almost as
in an unearthly way.

<968hp 504m 1072mv 21600tnl 4 PM new> sc
Darian the Apprentice of Alchemy, Advisor to the Chancellor
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Level : 51 Sex : male Race : human
Ethos : Neutral Align : Evil Class : warrior
Practices: 0 Trains : 0 Hometown : Bryn Shandar
Exp : 438900 To Level : 21600 Sphere : Truth
Age : middle-aged, 50 years old (394 hours)
Hit Point: 968 /968 Mana : 504 /504 Move : 1072 /1072
Str : 23(23) Int : 20(20) Wis : 20(20)
Dex : 20(20) Con : 12(16) Chr : 17(18)
Carry # : 26/32 Weight : 306 lb 12 oz (Max 527 lbs)
Gold : 1 Silver : 65 Copper : 328
Wimpy : 300 hp Morale : Moderate Position : Standing
Hitroll : 28 Damroll : 35
AC pierce: -139 Divinely armored AC bash : -139 Divinely armored
AC slash : -136 Divinely armored AC magic : -125 Divinely armored
vs Spell : Barely protected vs Paralysis : Barely protected
vs Breath: Not protected vs Petrification: Not protected
You have 0 weapon specializations.
You have 0 legacy choices.
You are specialized in sword.
You are specialized in whip and flail.
You have unraveled the Enigma of the Thirteen.
You see your foes better than they do through Striking the Shadow's Footfall.
You inspire those who follow you with the Vanguard's Desire.
You are affected by:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

charge 1%( 1%) axe 75%( 75%)
dagger 77%( 77%) flail 97%( 97%)
mace 75%( 75%) polearm 75%( 75%)
spear 81%( 81%) sword 100%(100%)
staff 75%( 75%) whip 75%( 75%)
bash 100%(100%) berserk 92%( 92%)
dirt kicking 100%(100%) disarm 98%( 98%)
dodge 91%( 96%) enhanced damage 100%(100%)
hand to hand 84%( 84%) kick 1%( 1%)
parry 100%(100%) rescue 81%( 81%)
trip 76%( 76%) second attack 100%(100%)
third attack 100%(100%) fourth attack 100%(100%)
cross 78%( 78%) offhand disarm 75%( 75%)
shield cleave 1%( 1%) pugil 1%( 1%)
lash 76%( 76%) fast healing 100%(100%)
haggle 86%( 86%) meditation 100%(100%)
recall 100%(100%) nightwalker 87%( 87%)
brew 96%( 96%) lore 98%( 98%)
warcry 81%( 81%) shield block 75%( 75%)
dual wield 100%(100%) nightfist 95%( 95%)
double thrust 98%( 98%) flourintine 100%(100%)
riposte 87%( 87%) jab 100%(100%)
flurry 96%( 96%) drive 77%( 77%)
parting blow 86%( 86%) feint 100%(100%)
choke 78%( 78%) pull 75%( 75%)
strip 81%( 81%) eyejab 78%( 78%)
retreat 100%(100%) dash 75%( 75%)
entwine 76%( 76%) pen 75%( 75%)
You have 0 practice sessions left.

You are using:
<worn on finger> a moss-lined ring, set with turquoise
<worn on finger> a black and white striped heartstone ring
<worn around neck> something.
<worn around neck> something.
<worn on body> a breastplate decorated with red enamel
<worn on head> the helm of Kazzal-Bak
<worn on legs> a set of polished mithril legplates
<worn on hands> a pair of fine gloves
<worn on arms> rune-covered silver armguards
<worn about body> Cloak of the wolf-kin
<worn about waist> a wide bronze belt
<worn around wrist> (Humming) a smooth ruby bracer engraved with a spider
<worn around wrist> something.
<wielded> (Glowing) a scimitar rimmed with blue-green flames
<dual wield> an obsidian scimitar named 'Desert's Night'
<tattooed> a copper rune, denoting a Hydra

(I've had better than the above, though I usually made do with far worse - this is more to show the tattoo than anything else)

<968hp 504m 1072mv 21600tnl 5 PM new> You are carrying:
a swirling potion
a potion of transportation
(Glowing) a feather of levitation
a large water skin
( 4) a black iron blade
a black sword
a large saddle bag
a cowhide knapsack
a simple leather sack