LAST EDITED ON Feb-16-02 AT 01:08 AM (CST)

>The thing that kinda irked me more than the greed factor was >the fact that most of the gear-gathering ended up getting a >groupmate or two whacked in the process.

To my recollection, the only instance (besides Nefahrin's death at the slave mines of Sitran, he didn't bring enough seaweed, how can you fault me for that?) of someone's death while I got gear was at the kuo-toa king. Kadeem, Theerkla, Daurwyn, and... hm, some alligator shifter (sorry, I can't remember your name!). Four deaths is four deaths too many, aye. But 'most of the gear-gathering' was done by me alone, or with an invoker. And unless I am sorely mistaken, that involved no deaths. We did go to Whistlewood swamp once, and I believe I was the one that died, because I was unwilling to escape and let my companions perish in my stead. Noble enough for you? I guess not.

>storing enough extras in your inventory that you could equip >every paladin that stepped into the guild for three hours...is >VERY bad.

I will stand adamant that I did not hoard gear. I'll tell the most that I had in my inventory that I did not intend to give away (and I did give a lot of what I didn't need away to other paladins and comrades).

Some noremove slash/slice/cleave attack sword in case whatever I was fighting was immune to divine power.
2 periapts.
A girdle with various prep items.
Some other gauntlets in case I didn't want the blademaster's gloves draining all my mana.
A drink container.
Hide of the Ancient White Dragon (for fighting Tilaen, which <some nameless thief> promptly stole).

If you can _honestly_ believe (and I think that both you and I know that you are exaggerating in your above qutote) that I was hoarding gear, you are very mistaken. From time to time I held on to nice pieces of gear for friends of mine, namely friends that had helped me get the damnned sword.

Now, for the other important topic.
As whoever first responded to your post stated, playing a true Paladin is nearly a myth. Heroes of legend and lore (not the damnned fairy tale ones mind you) almost all had character flaws. These character flaws can make the hero very interesting and fun to play. I believe that I got the short end of the stick here, and that you held me to a silly standard. Now I'm only speaking out of one perspective, of course. Yet still, I am required of myself to ask how I failed so miserably that I would get unempowered and given a discraceful title. Was it my selfishness? I answered calls of distress very often, as many will maintain. Was it my Greed? I rarely kept an inventory full of stuff that I didn't need. I generally gave it away to those that could use it. Now, lets say I'm going on a mission to the Inferno to explore some and to get some gear (hell, who goes down there not to at least get some gear?). Unless we make it all the way through (and I've never been down there, so I really don't know what I'm talking about), we're going to die. By logic, a very unShokai-paladin thing to do. Would I get unempowered for that as well? In a recent event, MaranHopeful and Maran1 raided the Chasm. In reports from a source undisclosed, Maran1 failed to act on numerous opportunities and as a result, MaranHopeful was killed. A very unShokai-paladin thing to do, I would imagine. I am no judge of Maran1's character, but would not this merit a warning, if my actions merited a severe 'warning'? Now, before I start calling the kettle black, I'll state that I'm just a little confused, and feel a little cheated. Am I justified? I guess I'll never know. But character flaws are an ingrained part of human life, and I'm not talking about the silly quirks of a character. You must have known about all the bad things I did, and few of the good. Otherwise, I can find no reasonable arguement for the ground of my desmise, other than that you deemed it so. Which, sadly, is not enough for me.

Again, I maintain that I did not hoard gear under any circumstances, I prayed constantly regarding many instances of what I have done and what I feel. The only responce I got was the horrible images in my blade, finally reflecting the damnned state that my soul was in. A bitter ending, and after almost 250 hours of no Immortal contact, you'd better believe I'm not going to wait another 250.