Sat Jun 11 20:56:21 2005

At 3 o'clock PM, Day of Thunder, 24th of the Month of the Shadows
on the Theran calendar Amaranda perished, never to return.

Race:	arial
Class:	invoker
Level:	51
Alignment:	Good
Ethos:	Chaotic
Cabal:	FORTRESS, the Fortress of Light
Age:	43
Hours:	315

Well! This character turned out to be just so much fun. She started off as a throw away character, I wanted to try out an invoker, get a feel for it, and waste some boring time at work. So I threw Amaranda together, no role, poor description, rediculous and random sphere choice of vivimancy, and set off! I think Caradoc and I hooked up simply because we were the only two non evils on the entire who list. I realized I should give her some kind of personality, and I threw together something silly and rediculous to play – a ditzy, vain cheerleadery type airhead prone to chatter too much about inane things and always say the wrong thing at the right time. And I had FUN with it! I also set some very simple guidelines for this character – she loved Caradoc, would do anything for him, and would pretty much follow him anywhere. I also told myself whenever he age deathed/con deathed and or deleted, Amaranda would follow him there. Which is why I deleted her, something I really didn’t want to do. I actually got a little teary when I did it – Yes, Ghrulkar, girls do play this game!

A lot of goodbyes (don’t hate me if I forget people), this character ran into so many great people:

Cytherea – Amaranda’s best friend. Always there for her, keeping her in check, giving her a shoulder to cry on when she needed it. You were everything a Cardinal of the Fortress should be. You’re going to make an awesome, awesome Acolyte imm. Thanks for everything.

Sessha – you sassy minx! Another fantastic friend. Can’t believe you didn’t stick around for skinny dipping in Innis’s glade. You were a terrible influence on a bird already prone to inappropriate lapses of judgement. Wish we could have hung out more.

Kaleyu – We also didn’t get to hang out as much as I would have liked. Great character, fantastic RP, you were the one Amaranda regretted the most about leaving. Sorry about that big target I put on you when I gave you humansunder. ;)

Solasarath – To put it mildly, Har! Sorry about all those times I had to touch you in inappropriate places, I swear it was almost always Sessha’s fault! Aw hell, I’m not sorry. ;) You needed someone to make you less stuffy! Thanks for the help levelling, exploring, generally following me around so I didn’t get myself killed. I always felt pretty much invincible as long as you were within cry distance. It was always a little weird for me though RP’ing a character who was actually jealous of how much Caradoc obviously adored you – but, like you said when I deleted – guess I got him in the end! *laughs*

Kiel – I realllllly like this character, even when you’re babbling at me about Enya whispering in your ear. You put everything into it, even though you die a lot. J You know your stuff, I always felt super out classed as an invoker by you. Lots of fun, thanks for everything, glad we could keep each other company through some of the tougher invoker spamming stuff – sorry I fell down on that contest, enough spamming was enough!

Leqiel – you little…peeping tom! I could tell when you started this character that you were (I thought at least) a really good RP’er purposely playing a character nearly as obnoxious as mine, but you also had a charming side to you. Some of the funny, flirty things you said to Amaranda had ME laughing, but Amars bemused. The Fortress definetly needs more people like you.

Gumbldink – I don’t think anyone could pull off what you’re playing half as well as you do. Just an all around impressive character. You’re VERY lucky you had that healing sleep to replenish all those damn tail feathers you stole from me!! Sorry to leave you alone – try not to drown!

Qing Long – I always thought of you more as the “Solid Rock” rather than the “Wild Savage.” I don’t think you did it on purpose, but am I the only one who thinks “Porn Stah” when I see your name on the who list? Amaranda was an orphan who’d never had any kind of family, and she always looked at you as something of a father figure – good, safe, solid, dependable, comforting to be around. Perfect.

Brodie – I always loved your “How I died in a stupid way today” stories. You seem to make a good “good” Outlander to me.

Salvrath – Stoney Fighter! I love that your speech is so particular that in the midst of all the outlanders, thieves and transmuters constantly talking to me, I could pick you out of a line up! Cool character, just the right mix of neutrality, chaos and willingness to throw down at any time.

Aclandus – Another really really good friend, though I can’t believe you were willing to let Lyristeon eat you for me. Eat! Maran don’t let evil gods eat them, for heaven’s sakes! I got you that silly amulet but then I didn’t see you! Thanks again for everything, you do awesome, even though I can tell English isn’t your first language.

Obane – Wish you’d stuck around, Fortress could sure use you now!! I can understand why you might have thought it was boring when the Fortress was over the top strong, I haven’t seen you pop up on the Battlefield yet, maybe you’ll come back?

Jemr – Penguin! Too cute. You’ll have to hold my Acolyte reins now. J Good luck.

Artelin, Janiax, and other assorted Battle – thanks for keeping me on my toes. I spent a lot of this character’s life dodging assassins, but Janiax you got me good that one time. I always tried to cajole Battle to not attack me, even though I knew it was hopeless, but the sass talk was always fun.

I tried not to fight too much with Amaranda, she was supposed to be a little cowardly, more of a support character than anything, but I did get a couple of enemies!

Runaktla – Funny, well played sardonic character. That time you ran up to me: “Runaktla’s neurological disruption concerns you.” I was like, #### that DOES concern me! Word! Then I looked back and I was like…oh, that took like…5 hps. Hm.

Ithzaruul – ugh. I started off with some respect for this character, but your childish, ooc rant at me made me lose all of it. Obviously some character that you thought I was (That I wasn’t) had a bad clash with you at some point. Grow up, get over it, move on with your life, stop letting it ruin the game for you. Don’t you realize that by ranting like that at people in that ooc of a manner you put yourself on the same level as the person you can’t stand? I’m pretty sure there’s better than that in you somewhere. Find it.

Nhimiere – Invoker on invoker combat is such a frustrating dispel war, and you two both play MUCH better invokers than I do. I’ve read a lot of good things about your RP, but I never experienced it outside of the spam stoneshatters.

Shapan – thanks for upping my sad ass Acolyte PK Ratio – murder Acolyte rar!

All you assorted Empire who whined (Ndisachue (( I can’t see this name without thinking PIKACHU! btw))) when I’d raid – suck it up, Aarn told me to do it. You don’t want to say no to Aarn…

Imms – Some characters seem like golden children to the imms, and Amaranda wasn’t one of them. So the character developed a very healthy fear of all things immortal related. As far as whoever (all of you?) had the big problem with that pendant – I was just confused. I had no idea who this suposedly evil god was or that it was his symbol. As far as I know on this mud, there are two different kinds of evil items – those that good can wear after a paladin purifies them, and those that can’t be worn regardless. If that pendant was so evil, shouldn’t it be flagged the latter? If goods shouldn’t wear an evil item after a paladin purifies it, what’s the point of them having the commune?

Innis – you’re cool, thanks for all the alcohol. I wasn’t your typical follower, I know. I also wasn’t sure what to do with sphere vivimancy, and I’m sure it showed!

Shokai – thanks for holding up the Floofi side of the Fortress. Your actually coming down and talking to me was great, I really appreciate it. I was hoping I might get Acolyte leadership, though I know the character was a poor fit for it. I’ll have to try again some day with something more suited for it! I think the Acolyte powers are just fantastic, they add a great element to the good side of this game.

Aarn – Yipe! I don’t know what else to say. I’m sorry Amars was too froofy and not dwarven enough for you. J In the end, it was fun to RP her as filling up with tears at the slightest hint of a booming dwarven voice.

Lyristeon – Thanks for saving me. :P Couldn’t I have just given you a few tail feathers instead?


And of course, last but not least...Caradoc. I was going to write something sweet, well thought out and meaningful. But then I thought...naw, I'll just go meditate instead!

Hmm... sardonic. "Scornfully or cynically mocking". Sweet.
I had to look up dictionary.com for that one. There's a
number of you Fortressites that try to turn me from the dark
side, so I can't discern which things you said versus Scierra,
Cytherea, Caradoc, or yeah I'm probably missing one but that
may be well about it. Noted the cowardliness at some points,
and to me and others it seemed you wanted to keep your
shinies, but if its RP by all means you do what you need to
do. There are some things I do in this game that make me go
"Dang, I can be a real jerk" but its all about the evil RP.

Anyways, funny comment about the neuro disrupt, luck with the
next,

- Runaktla

Ithzaruul – ugh. I started off with some respect for this character, but your childish, ooc rant at me made me lose all of it. Obviously some character that you thought I was (That I wasn’t) had a bad clash with you at some point. Grow up, get over it, move on with your life, stop letting it ruin the game for you. Don’t you realize that by ranting like that at people in that ooc of a manner you put yourself on the same level as the person you can’t stand? I’m pretty sure there’s better than that in you somewhere. Find it.


What in God's name are you even talking about? I called you "petulant". Jezerael doesn't have a monopoly on the damned word. You took this really, really inappropriately. Toss up a log of this alleged OOC rant if you have it. I'd love to shoot it down.

I don't know, man. I saw part of that exchange (or an exchange like that, if there were more than one) and I thought it was pretty obvious what you were getting at.

Do you have plausible deniability? Yeah, probably. Would I personally believe you if you said you weren't trying to take Jezerael cracks there? I don't think that I would.

(Side note: I handled the end of you lich quest and you lived through it, so I think I'm pretty clearly not the el presidente perminente of the peaceful democratic republic of ithzaruul-hater-topia.)

Well, as far as I can recall I never went ooc with Ithzaruul in any player-to-player interactions. I mean, I played the character as hardcore as possible, and had tons of goals lined up that I didn't want to jeopardize...it just was not in my interest to do something stupid like that, and I'm not a stupid guy. If I did, though, and I just don't remember it, I apologize.

But I will say this: I despised Amaranda in-game, and I had a strong ooc dislike of the character as well. Every interaction she ever spat my way just left a bad taste in my mouth, and so when I guess I "went off" on her, all of that came out. I just feel that there was enough IC dislike going around to be all the fuel I needed to verbally cut her down. No, I'm not going to go into specifics on her farewell thread, and I'm not going to do it when mine comes up, because I don't like flames on the battlefield.

I certainly don't intend to fuel flames on the battlefield. I don't log anything I see as an imm so I can't discuss specifics, anyway.

But, hypothetically if after a fight someone sent a tell to Ithzaruul and said:

"That was a very poor showing. You fight like a limp-wristed elf warrior who favors spears and daggers! If you don't improve quickly, those dogs of the Fortress will likely make you their Captain!"

Is that OOC? Not really. Does it pretty clearly imply something OOC? I think it would.

That's roughly what I think was going on there. It's not the worst thing I've seen by a long, long stretch, but I just think you're better than that.

Point taken. I understand what you are saying. However, I really don't think I was implying that she *was* Jezerael. It was more like a comparison, which should be considered an insult considering Jez's history. That's what I was going for.

Even with Ithzaruul's own interactions with those two characters, here is what I gathered: Both did whiney, non-characteristic-of-an-Acolyte crap after ANY interaction. I mean, if I said something it was met with a response that just made me think "Why is this guy caballed? I wish I didn't say anything now." So, with that, I compared Amaranda to Jez and let her know exactly what I meant.

But as you've pointed out I can really see how it seems like I was saying "Oh damn, you're SO Jezerael," and I regret that. Too late now though.

Ow! I know Amaranda wasn't a great Acolyte, it was my first time playing one, and the character concept wasn't made to be an Acolyte. So I learned a lot. Maybe you could give me some advice on how to be a better one? If not here, then you saw my email via Dioxides. Thanks! I'd like to play another Acolyte some day, I really liked the cabal.

I'm sorry you found Amaranda to be a poorly played, whiney character. I wasn't trying to be like that. I think I interacted with you twice, the first one because I was curious why you were raiding Fortress when Outlander had your item, the second because I was like, man why do I keep accidently teleporting to your hiding spot!

But yes, I did get the impression from when you called me a "Petulant whiner" that you were trying to assign who I was. Simple misunderstanding.

Don't sweat it. Every character that I've ever had that was "successful" gets opinions from players that are both good and bad. The thing is that since the whole game, the whole "experience" is in text, it is impossible to really know how someone is trying to come across at times. I also call it "text-tone", and it generally gives the impression that someone is being a #### when they don't mean to be. As an example, let's say you are telling a buddy on whatever messenger service you use about how you got ganged down by a group of five. Then, let's say, your buddy responds back with "That's funny." How do you know (unless you know the person well enough to get their meaning) if what they meant was "It was funny that you got ganged," or "It's funny, in a sad kind of way, that they had to gang you"? Anyways, I know I'm rambling, but I hope this makes some kind of sense. The main point here is that I know I didn't see the best of Amaranda, and I know you didn't see the best of Ithzaruul. Yeah, it was a misunderstanding, and it seems like we've actually straightened things out rather than bitching at each other endlessly. Thanks for that.

The point is, a goodly priestess is not going to wander about with evil symbols, given a choice.

If you didn't know it was an evil symbol, fair enough. But now you know, I don't see why you don't understand that.

It's like a Christian priest using a font with satanic carvings all over it to baptise people. Even if there is no evil power in the font, a Christian priest would still not do it.

A Muslim would not have naked women carved into his door-frame.

See my point?

Removing the taint is for items with evil, as you know. However, with some items, that's not the only reason to avoid them.

So much for having a 'big sister' to talk with! (though you wouldn't be 'that' big by now :D).

Seriously, it's a shame we didn't get to continue whatever would have come next, after our little talk. Was a nice chat (Indirectly killing the Emperor during a recommendation talk aint bad :), I was like what the!)

See you around!

Ah cannae believe all yehs fargas are deletin'. Do yeh nuh realize how fargin' hard it gonna be tuh rank wif t'ree people in your group range, two of which wanna gut yehs arse? Nuh tuh mention yehs leavin' meh out tuh dry wif all dese fargin' heathens tuh redeem and/or kill. Ah neva thought ah'd say dis, but ah'm glad ah still have some fargin' pointy-ears around cause wifout dem ah'd be fargin' alone.

Ah couldnae tell yeh was new tuh invokas. Seemed tuh meh like yehs knew yehs crap. T'anks for all dem trips inta Trot'on followin' all meh fargin' deaths tuh transmutas. Yeh was a good friend and yehs tailfeathas make good pillows. Har!

Cytherea – Amaranda’s best friend. Always there for her, keeping her in check, giving her a shoulder to cry on when she needed it. You were everything a Cardinal of the Fortress should be. You’re going to make an awesome, awesome Acolyte imm. Thanks for everything.


It was a blast, we did have fun, and we went through the "bad" times together. You were like my little sister, I always tried to watch out for you. And the ideas we came up with together..imagine if they came to fruit, would of been more fun. You did a good job, I didn't see anything wrong with the charecter you played. Well deserved promotion to Acolyte and the rest is rather history. Good luck with your next, think you will do a good job with it.

-Cytherea

I'm glad the stories were amusing, I have more fool-proof plans in the works! You pulled off the mildly ditzy chatterbox pretty well and I thought it was great fun.

Good luck with whatever comes your way next.

Oh no. Now both fort invokers are going down, since I'm either con-dying or deleting really soon.

I thought you were really, really ditzy. Didn't mind the ditzy vibes, it brought more fun and jokes into the game, and I really enjoyed teasing you and/or Caradoc about Amaranda's 'affair' with Caradoc. Was real fun, and nothing in the game cracked me up more than that (aside from Gumbldink, but that's for his goodbyes).

Is this your first invoker? I thought you were fairly experienced in the 'areas' department and knew your way around pking and stuff.

By the way, I never took a single feather from your person. Kiel's nice even if he doesn't smile much (well, at least early in his life).

Hope I'll know your next character :)

Sessha absolutely loved you from the minute she saw you. What a trippy bird! I'm sorry for the grossly long absences on my part, it seems as though we parted ways soon after the friendship started. I don't think I was logged on at the same time you were for a month or more. I always looked for you though! I got such a laugh after Solasarath confronted Sessha about the infamous 'goosing' incident. I didn't expect the whirlwind that created, but how fun! I'll miss you, kiddo.

Kaleyu – We also didn’t get to hang out as much as I would have liked. Great character, fantastic RP, you were the one Amaranda regretted the most about leaving.

Good times indeed! Kaleyu and Amaranda hit off fantastically. It really is a shame that you're gone now. There were so many interesting story arcs in development! I thought Amaranda was a great character; fun to be around, handy and intelligent in a tight spot.

You really pulled me back from the brink of being bored with Kaleyu. Spending ~40 hours between ranks 35 and 39 was getting really tiresome and excitement was running short for the character. Thanks for the refreshing burst of RP. It really added new life and new depth to the character. Hopefully I'll be around for a while to come now.

Best of luck on your next! See you in the fields.

>Qing Long – I always thought of you more as the “Solid Rock”
>rather than the “Wild Savage.” I don’t think you did it on
>purpose, but am I the only one who thinks “Porn Stah” when I
>see your name on the who list? Amaranda was an orphan who’d
>never had any kind of family, and she always looked at you as
>something of a father figure – good, safe, solid, dependable,
>comforting to be around. Perfect.
>

Haha! Well, you can call that "solid rock" feeling a failure in my roleplay :P Can't win 'em all.

Anyway, Amaranda was fun to be around - when it was possible. You and all those damned dwarves.

I liked Amaranda lots.

Amaranda was a good foil to the much more stuffy Solasarath. I'll miss having someone to contrast my RP like that. I won't miss some of the crazy crap I had to help you and Caradoc out with. Ok I will miss that.

Being an Acolyte isn't easy with all the mixed messages. You did a nice job with it.

P.S. Repeatedly outcharmed by me. How sad is that? :)