LAST EDITED ON Apr-24-01 AT 12:53 PM (CST)

Heh. This is gonna be long.

What an anticlimax. I died thanks to a pair of bashing/tripping whitecloaks while trying to get a sword to work at the forge. Not even to the scions (crap, and I just realized that I don't have about half of my role logged)

Well Tahren was by far the most interesting character and the most fun I've had playing Carrionfields. I've been playing for a long while, but I always get disinterested before my characters get fleshed out. After six or so years on and off, I finally got a character that was worth taking to hero (yes, this was my first). Tahren actually was an accident, sort of. I was playing a gnome dagger spec named Boric and was in the process of getting inducted into ragers when I thought to myself "hey, I bet no one's had a paladin in ragers yet" so I rolled one just to see if I could do it. I chose to follow Thror's religion because, well, it's like having a sylvan assassin that follows Sebeok. There's just fewer hurdles to pass if your god is a god in the cabal. So I went to babynames.com and found a fitting name - Trahern "strong as iron". But I mispelled it when I logged in to create him.

Anyway, Thror and his religion completely intrigued me, and I became immersed in it. I was more interested in the religion than getting into ragers, but somehow managed to do both anyway. I only used some of the most basic supplications (like bless and detect invis) and only used them at shrines and temples. Man that was a pain in the ass. Then when I got inducted, Thror was talking about how I could continue to use my supplications on myself, but not any of his men. And only at the shrine. Fine. But to my surprise, anytime I tried to commune: "You're a Battlerager, not a cleric!" So that made my life a little more interesting as well. I had to learn the locations of weapons that were already blessed, cause I couldn't do it myself. Thror, I think I was on the same page as you when you gave me the extra virtue stuff. But you did realize that I couldn't commune, right? If I could, that hammer one would have fit perfectly in my role.

So I got my butt beat so many times it wasn't even funny. How about that pk ratio...9%? Is that the lowest ever? I was able to pretty much hold my own there at the end. I even got a solo kill on a transmuter once! Warriors ripped me apart, offensive transmuters ripped me apart, assassins ripped me apart. By the end, I was just this old blacksmith doing what he did best.

Tahren believed that the power of the gods in mortal hands was the root of all evil. Not just magic, though. He felt that clerics, even though they were granted their powers, were also easily swayed to draw more and more power until they would take more than they were granted, making them potential mages in his eyes. He also believed that to be truly strong, you must use what physical strength you have, and that was hopefully clear in a lot of my interactions (and also with sacrificing my supplications).

Well let's get on with the many thanks and interactions I had:

Thror - So many things were left unfinished. All our interactions were fun...well except for two of them. The first was an honest mistake (I really thought the orc was link dead) and the second was just a frustrating situation (stranded after another death on the lake with no food, water, boat). It sounded fine as I typed it but when I read back over it I just sounded like a whiny bitch. Thanks for calling me on it. Interactions with the D, with Veldrar, with the drow, with Vestis the angry dockman (Lyrlolthien you were there) *grin*, and of course with you, yourself. Tahren saw you as a father figure, praising me when I did good, smacking me with your hammer and making my gut burn when I did bad. Thems was good times.

Warborf - wish we were able to continue together...I can see our potential abilities complementing each other so well. You were the only cleric that Tahren really trusted. It was a blast working the forge with you when we finally were on at the same time.
Murchadha - I think I saved you from deletion a long time ago, so you'd better not go and auto-del on us. I struck a transmuter that you were travelling with on Eastern once, and instead of fighting with it, you waited and worded him out. That was smart, man, smart. Last thing I wanted was to fight with you.
Xarax - You shouldn't have deleted. It was fun trying to figure out how to get that damn smith to smelt some mithril for us (Did you say mithril?!). Always had fun running with you.
Windric - I taught you to read, you taught me to dodge. But you actually learned to read and I still got hit by everything and their mother. It was fun...I don't know what you did to get on Thror's bad side though.

Dawn - can't recall any real interaction, but I may have just forgotten
Warlock - Annalena, we had a few words at the Lyceum with Quesnel, but you didn't have the time then. Then when you had the time, I didn't, so nothing really came of the situation. Oh well . I talked with a few of the other Warlocks here and there (one elven conjurer in Kiadana, but I don't remember your name).
Maran - Travelled with a couple of you there at the end. Tahren always thought you were just a bunch of misguided guys. You had the war right (eliminate evil) but in Tahren's eyes you weren't striking the cause. In fact, in your blind rage against all evil, you managed to let the source of it into your fortress. It made for some interesting talks.

Nexus - Vendalain, there were three of us and one of you. One of us was actually hunting you while the others stood idle. You came up and tried to 'cold be sleep' the three of us, so that seemed aggressive in Tahren's eyes, so we attacked. You did a fine job with your propaganda in that painting of the event Vahlen, you were a tough bastard, and I really admired your role. We didn't talk a whole lot, but we did tangle a few times. I always lost. Caelph, we fought a few times here and there. I felt like bards were a class I could actually fight well against, if they were alone. Sanorik, Bonjo, that cloud giant ranger who took an UNSPEAK from Obeelael at the village, I really couldn't stand up to any of you.

Scion - A lot of you were just pricks (don't worry, it was still fun!). Here at the end, I'd get killed by a group and then while I was trying to re-equip, I'd have a falcon fly up to me or a healer gate to me. Daemelin, you and that healer actually attacked Thror's shrine to try to get at me. Only wish he had been on to see what kind of hell would have broken loose. Another group of Scions attacked Warborf at Thror's shrine at one time and I came to defend it with him. Daemelin, I could handle your mongoose but not the lion. Lokilith, you were frightening. I had trouble switching from polearm to mace/shield, trying to keep up with your porc/ram form. Your other form was easy to handle in combat but I never knew where you'd show up. Zheesus, you nuked me with a disruption in Ysigrath while I was re-equipping w/o spellbane or resist. Ouch. Yaretumtum, I had hoped to turn you, but it didn't pan out. Kravidian, we fought more times than I can count. You got me a couple of those times, I got you none solo. Probably forgetting a bunch of stuff that I wanted to say about Scions. Oh, Nightwalkers can be a bit much at times. Just thought I'd throw that in.

Battle - So many good times here, I'll probably forget a bunch of 'em.
Hyshrawr, your statements about how getting on the pillar should be foremost in every villager's mind was an eye-opener for Tahren. If I were ever faced with a choice, I would ask myself "which would get me on the pillar" and act accordingly.
Trewyn, your induction style was fitting for Tahren. I approached you a couple of times, and once you told me that you had made a decision from the first few words I spoke, but it was not in your hands. I would use that as guidance when I would interview applicants.
Sojai, I suspected that you were in cahoots with the drow, but couldn't call you on it without dividing the village even more.
Garatolo, it was fun...sorry we didn't get to speak more about the forge.
Rio, I came so close to challenging your rightful place at the head of the village several times, but the village had nothing to gain and everything to lose from such a challenge, so I stood by and acted as advisor when you were there, and leader when you were not. The situation with the drow was the most frustrating part of playing Tahren because I couldn't speak with the war master, he only wanted to speak with you. I saw greed in your eyes (if you will) when you talked with the drow, as though you weren't looking for the best interests of the village, so I tried to keep you in check as much as possible. Anyway, it was still fun. I'd step in front of a nine-foot ballista bolt for you.
Wodrahcir, that bit that earned you your title was beautifully done, and was a perfect example of how the village is supposed to work now. If only we had some more peeps...
Vultros, I enjoyed our conversations regarding the future of the village. But I'd have you convinced one day and the next day you'd be back to your old stance. Made things a little difficult . As a player, it really seemed like you were just trying to lead a rift in the village with the hopes of being the leader of a new village. A good angle, but Tahren wouldn't stand for it (since it wasn't for the good of the village) and I tried to push Rio to help me quell the uprising, if you will. Guess it worked.
Torakkel, you are just a bad mofo. You keep getting kicked out of the village, though, and I think I know why. It's cause you argue. A lot. You probably have a right to in a lot of situations (from a player standpoint) but I felt that Torakkel, the character, probably could have kept his mouth shut in some circumstances. Well, that having been said, Torakkel was just a cool character and fun to raid with. I'm glad you were made General, but was real disappointed when you got the boot.
Kerig, we really needed you in the village. I loved playing with bards, and my shield specs complemented a doubleblocking defender like you wouldn't believe.
Ysaertvo, I think you had some good ideas for the silent tower, and I wish we had had the manpower to look into them further. It was always fun travelling with you because you actually WANTED to learn, like a student of war should.
Obeelael, Steffes, all you other guys I haven't mentioned, it was fun.

Tahren really felt like he was the heart and soul of the village since the change. Rio lost his computer, so there wasn't a leader, and Tahren basically took charge. I had all the burdens of being leader and none of the perks But it sure was fun. All you applicants (all three of you?)...I don't know what to say. I tried to talk with everyone I could in depth, and I really did read through your notes in detail. On the subject of applicants, Rio I've got to say that "his past doesn't sound likely" isn't really a good reason to deny an applicant. Some of these guys have been hanging around for literally weeks, ranking slowly against odds and trying to get into the village. There's one applicant now who this is like his third try with a third character. Maybe I'm too nice, but you've got to give some of these guys a chance. Fire giant guy (didn't want to post your name), sorry I croaked before I could check out your recent changes.

I guess I'll end it here. I enjoyed playing Tahren. Thanks to everyone who made it fun. I think the village changes will turn out to be fun and/or enjoyable and eventually it will even out.

I'm sure I've forgotten some stuff that I wanted to say, so I may add to this later. I was looking through some logs and I couldn't find about half of my role, so Thror if you've got it (by chance) I'd really appreciate if you could send it to me.

Justin

jkstrelec@aero.tamu.edu