Sun Dec 4 12:45:18 2005

At 4 o'clock AM, Day of the Great Gods, 26th of the Month of the Dark Shades
on the Theran calendar Alven perished, never to return.

Race:	human
Class:	paladin
Level:	51
Alignment:	Good
Ethos:	Neutral
Cabal:	FORTRESS, the Fortress of Light
Age:	67
Hours:	330

Well, Alven was a number of "firsts". First paladin, first fortressite, first empowered char ever, first goodie in 8 years.

The concept of a character was something like playing an evil (read: selfish) paladin. I wanted Alven to be a usual paladin - greedy, bloodthirsty, pompous, arrogant, cowardly etc., with only exception that he wouldn't be a hypocrite. The hard part was that Alven would realize he's a bad guy, but he would keep a guile of a good guy. To do so, Alven should have appeared a perfect example of the opposite qualities - humbleness, respect, honor, self-sacrifice, charity and so on. His evil nature was supposed to show up in role, in occasional says when someone would anger him, in emotes and later in life - in his preachings of Grurk. That's how I wanted it to be; it's up to IMMs andplayers to judge how it really turned out.

Alven's life was a crusade against wicked ones (in other words, a bloodthirsty rampage). Alven was a solo-ranker: it fit the religion nicely, and also was convenient because I wasn't dependant on other. After I was smacked with a plague for grouping (with a rager?), I stopped grouping at all, even for raids.

Fortess experience was about as I expected it to be. Too many idiots for comfort, some pompous elitists, and a few decent people to save the day. Constantly whining, hoarding and incompetent healers get a special prize. I was rather harsh with interviews, approving only about 1/3 of applicants.

Grurk: thanks for all. You were absolutely cool, exactly what I expected from a patron deity, and even much more! Tons of IMMteractions, great boons, some smacking when I deserved it, nifty titles... I thought you were too kind to me. I have only one complaint: man, why Hope? It was sooooo unfitting to RP that I came close to losing grip on the character. Luckily, con-death was near, and I decided not to ask for a con quest.

Fortress IMMs: liked you all, especially Aarn. You played a major part in your cabal's life.
Icthaen: very cool. You came close to softening Alven's dark heart.
Dulmisa: much respect for willingness to fight (and actually killing!) me alone. Also, I can't help but appreciate the success of the complete clone (game mechanic-wise) of my last character :-)
Qulenit: thanks alot for your aid.
Oqoko: special prize for the biggest source of annoyance ever :-) I understand that's RP and all, and I tried to keep my temper.

Decent fortress folks: sorry, can't remember all the names! From the latest crop, Feichin comes to a mind. Thanks for a company and for tolerating Alven :-)

Empire/Scion/Falun: happy ganking.

Sorry I forgot many, post and I'll respond!

I'll take a break from CF, probably from 3 to 6 months. Wintersports and all that jazz.

Calessin

I remember interacting with Alven with four different characters. I remember bashing you down as orc and being an Outlanderish transmuter to doubt your ways and evil Outlander ram to avoid you. You were always polite and well-mannered as a friend or foe, and learned quickly the reduce lesson against an orc. Good luck with the wintersports and your next when you feel like rolling again!

Murgh/Atohner/Frearrir

Ah, my dear bashing orc (first PK death!), talkative transmuter and fierce yet not very nasty shifter. Liked all of them. Your characters add alot to the game, making it much more fun. Keep it up!

I would definitely like to read your role. I didn't pick up on the evil bloody rampage thing at all. Just the whole politeness and 'do it yourself' attitude you brought to Fort. I definitely hear ya about the frustrations of playing in a goodie cabal, but I think that has it's allure too. You get to help a lot of newbies (that means me) and that's good right?
Anyway cool character, even cooler now that I know you weren't just a simply goodie paladin like Ulo was.
Oh and I still feel bad about getting you killed in the battlefields like twice. I know how bad that mob death must've sucked when you're solo ranking.
Later.

>I would definitely like to read your role.

Well, there's a problem. You surely know that there's no paypal in Russia :) I was going to donate some sum to CF anyway (say, $200), so I'd pick up my PBF as well as some others. As soon as I figure out a way to donate the money (I have a russian Visa to transfer from), I'll do it. Maybe the IMMs could help me here?

> I didn't pick up
>on the evil bloody rampage thing at all. Just the whole
>politeness and 'do it yourself' attitude you brought to Fort.

This part worked out as intended! Glad you caught it.

>I definitely hear ya about the frustrations of playing in a
>goodie cabal,

Ah, this was totally expected, no worries at all. I used to kill fortressites with my evil chars alot, so I imagined how the things looked from the other side of the fence.

> but I think that has it's allure too. You get to
>help a lot of newbies (that means me) and that's good right?

Yep, I suppose I should have felt satisfied :)

>Anyway cool character, even cooler now that I know you weren't
>just a simply goodie paladin like Ulo was.

Hey, thanks. Anyway, playing a paladin consistently is not that simple, and I'm sure you know it quite well.

>Oh and I still feel bad about getting you killed in the
>battlefields like twice. I know how bad that mob death must've
>sucked when you're solo ranking.

Ah, don't worry. When you play this game for 10 years, ranking is not a problem at all, even if done solo. For me, full looting is much worse.

Alven

>Later.

That Dulmisa is your character. I was almost sure in it ;)
We did not cross much but you were looked as very solid player.
Good luck with wintersort I am going to visit Kavkaz for couple weeks as well ;) Thought it will be more freestyle than your beloved "slalom" or what ever it calls in English.

>>>Too many idiots for comfort, some pompous elitists, and a few decent people to save the day

P.S. I wonder in which part of Fortress I was :)

>That Dulmisa is your character. I was almost sure in it ;)

Nah, I don't do *clones*. I play too little to allow myself a charity to repeat a playing experience. Granted, I'd surely do better with a combo I've played before, but I prefer versatility over efficiency. To support my argument, here's my complete list of heroes:

Warrior uncaballed (1999)
Conjurer Master (2000)
Thief Battle (2001 - 2002)
Invoker Scion (2003)
Assassin Empire (2004)
Paladin Fortress (2005)

>We did not cross much but you were looked as very solid
>player.
>Good luck with wintersort I am going to visit Kavkaz for
>couple weeks as well ;) Thought it will be more freestyle than
>your beloved "slalom" or what ever it calls in English.

Heh, I wish. Friends call me to Elbrus, but I think I'll skip it this time. Good luck to you as well!

>
>>>>Too many idiots for comfort, some pompous elitists, and a
>few decent people to save the day
>
>P.S. I wonder in which part of Fortress I was :)

Come on, don't be so hard to yourself. You were surely on top, very solid from both RP and PK perspective. A shame I knew you mostly from Log Board. It's a fantastic improvement from your previous characters. Good luck to you in CF as well, if you keep it up, you'll soon be on top of CF PK elite.

Though it was long time ago you were my favourite goodie and I think one of the most nasty enemies because of the faith virtue. Liked you very very much, cool char. Pity I could not dig Alven in depth though I do not think it was an easy thing to do to anyone : )

Ah, Zheairth! We fought each other ALOT. I understand that I wasn't the most convenient prey for you :) As for digging the character, I think you once reached the back of his teeth when the sanc fell and you came with Tirnath :)

Bleh, happy ganking. You'll be remembered by me as the
Paladin that I thankfully never saw wield Defiance (at least
not in my char's lifetime) and you showed up alone, always,
and therefore you were transmuter-chow :)

Take it easy,
- Runaktla

Of course I did not mean you in the ganking part. You were always willing to fight me alone, and were pretty good at it. It was a challenge to fight against such a powerful enemy as you!

Alven

Not much more I can say, other than, you'll make the hall of fame of Grurk followers. :)

Your longevity was incredible. As for hope, you already had two kick ass virtues, I don't like giving a third that will make you invincible. So it was hope or charity. Hope you weren't too disspointed with your THIRD virtue. :P

All in all, great character - now make and evil bastard that follows me, we need a really really really evil Imperial. ;)


Grurk

>Not much more I can say, other than, you'll make the hall of
>fame of Grurk followers. :)

Well, thanks once again! I figured out you liked me for some reason; granting me *everything* I could possibly wish for - empowerment, great titles, tattoo, three virtues, bonus experience... Thanks to you, playing Alven was surely quite pleasant experience. I started to preach your religion much more towards the end, mostly towards Fortress folks and the applicants, and that was fun!

>
>Your longevity was incredible.

That's the way I usually play my characters - about a year each. That annoys some people who believe that caballed chars should play at leas t 20-30 hours/week, or they should delete. Glad you don't share their opinion!

> As for hope, you already had
>two kick ass virtues, I don't like giving a third that will
>make you invincible. So it was hope or charity. Hope you
>weren't too disspointed with your THIRD virtue. :P

Awwww, despite my attempts to explain, you got me wrong here. I don't complain about being myself underpowered - temperance alone is quite powerful (maybe even too powerful). I surely didn't mind you giving me the third virtue - I know that's quite rare, and a great honor. I don't really know how powerful other virtues are, too. My concern was that Hope was not fitting to my RP at all - I was not going to provide Hope to anyone for this matter. Probably Charity would be a better choice (as I did alot of rescuing and helping), I don't really know. From what I've seen, Hope looked *very* useful for a caballed paladin who would rally forces about him, but nearly useless for a "lone wolf" type of characters, as most of the supplications affect the whole group, and similar abilities are already possessed by paladins. Anyway, I appreciate you giving me *any* third virtue, so thanks for this as well!

>
>All in all, great character - now make and evil bastard that
>follows me, we need a really really really evil Imperial. ;)

Thanks, I'll consider that :)

Alven

Well done with Alven, you were a becoming a fixture around the Fort. I did notice that you weren't a very reliable source for information on applicants pretty early on, so I pretty much just stopped listening to your recomendations. :P Other then that, you were reliable, and I knew someone would be taking it to the badguys when you were on.

Also, I definitely agree with Grurk... if someone gets a third virtue, you're almost GARUNTEED that one of them will be hope or charity. They're still very good virtues, but they're the only ones that aren't really combat oriented, and three combat-oriented virtues is one too many in my opinion.

Good luck with the winter sports, don't break a leg or anything like that. Look forward to your next!

Aarn

>Well done with Alven, you were a becoming a fixture around
>the Fort. I did notice that you weren't a very reliable
>source for information on applicants pretty early on, so I
>pretty much just stopped listening to your recomendations. :P

Well, someone has to provide negative feedback :) My harshness during interviews was influenced by
a) Character's RP - if an applicant managed to anger me somehow before or during an interview, there's no way he would receive a recommendation;
b) Desire to keep undedicated chars out of the Fortress;
c) My personal thoughts that the cabals are not for everyone.

Sorry if I was a crappy interviewer; I didn't put as much effort in it as I could. I was not aiming for a leadership position, but if I would have been granted it, it'd been a real challenge.

>Other then that, you were reliable, and I knew someone would
>be taking it to the badguys when you were on.
>
>Also, I definitely agree with Grurk... if someone gets a third
>virtue, you're almost GARUNTEED that one of them will be hope
>or charity. They're still very good virtues, but they're the
>only ones that aren't really combat oriented, and three
>combat-oriented virtues is one too many in my opinion.

Aww chief, you've got me wrong too. It's all about RP and character purpose. To me, paladin is a purely RP class, it's just not suited for stacking kills. I believe Alven was my only hero character in past 6 years which had less than 100 kills. So I don't complain that I haven't been given instant slay ability or something else like this :) My frustration probably also came out of the dilemma I got: on one hand, I supposed to be soloist, and I was granted all the nifty powers for my somewhat successful effort in this direction; on the other hand, I have all these god-granted powers designed to affect one's group, and not to use them is a disrespect to your deity. I couldn't find a good answer for this one.

>
>Good luck with the winter sports, don't break a leg or
>anything like that. Look forward to your next!

Thanks! I don't promise avoiding traumas though - besides mountain ski, I also play mini-soccer, which, in my opinion, is more dangerous. Anyway, if I get a trauma anyway, I might roll another character sooner ;)

Alven

>
>Aarn

I covered you in my goodbyes with Qulenit and... errr... whatever my a-p was named, but I'll say it again. As someone on the same side as you it was fun the couple times we did things together. As an opponent I really regretted doing those things together to make you any more powerful =P I still can't get over how soundly you thrashed my ass. Strangely enjoyable.

>I covered you in my goodbyes with Qulenit and... errr...
>whatever my a-p was named, but I'll say it again.

Zimel! It was Zimel!

> As someone
>on the same side as you it was fun the couple times we did
>things together. As an opponent I really regretted doing those
>things together to make you any more powerful =P I still
>can't get over how soundly you thrashed my ass. Strangely
>enjoyable.

Hey, careful with that stuff! You may become addicted to it ;)

Thanks, both Zimel and Qulenit were damn good, as many other characters of yours.

Everything I remember seeing from Alven was great. I'll look forward to seeing what you come up with in the spring.

Thanks, Nepenthe! Such compliment from you means alot. A shame I couldn't get into the Nyathl Ikalith anymore for some reason, or I'd con-died much earlier ;)

I just met you today, and it is sad to see all these forties going.. I guess it is time for the next batch to take a stand.

Luck on the next.

Tough and tenatious. Man I HATE that templars high defense!
Good job all round, always very paladinly in speech and deed.
Your loss is definitely another dent in the Fort's ranks.

You were the Best Paladin during my time, hands down, I ####ing hated you with a passion, very well done.

What were we all running on 8 con or less or something?
:)
Best of luck with your next.
-Feichin.

The he is a she thing was funny btw but truly Alven always encouraged Oqoko no matter what foolishness she had gotten herself into. Thanks!

>What were we all running on 8 con or less or something?
>:)

6 con is more like it. Planned to last a couple of month, but oh well :)

>Best of luck with your next.
>-Feichin.

Thanks! Liked your character. Well, I like all your characters, but this one is also an improvement in PK ability as well.