>There
>is a rather deep pit
>in my stomach knowing I
>have to deal with a
>loud mouthed dwarf as one
>of my followers, rather than
>the composed and cautious Smith
>who has endured so much

There's a fine line between "composed and cautious" and "too afraid to act". I'm glad I danced on the good side, that was actually my intent. It fit in with the tenets of the faith, but was counter to the traditionally held rager beliefs...that made for some interesting character development.

>Rather fitting that your corpse is
>probably strung up in the
>Whitecloak gallows. Damn them!

Yeah, "Darkfriend in the camp!" Those silly Whitecloaks.

> I did some research
>on it before inducting you
>since I realized how big
>of a chance I was
>taking that you would work
>out.

Glad I didn't let you down.

>I spent hours
>watching to see if you
>would adhere to this and
>I found you very dedicated
>to the role. The
>amount of dedication it took
>to play this character was
>really admirable.

You have no idea. I was so into this role that I actually got pissed off at myself when I communed bless a step from the healer in the temple of the sun. I think that was the only time I broke the role, and that was an accident.

>
>Gah! You don't understand how
>frustrating this was.

Bet I do. I figured it was an oversight, and figured it wouldn't get remedied, so I worked it into my role as a trial I had to face. Turned out fine. Of course, I still tried 'com bless' in the forge once a week or so..

>>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?
>
>It was pretty low. I
>watched many of your battles
>and winced at the outcomes.
> That didn't stop you
>from continuing to try and
>do your damndest to shape
>other people.

Actually, Tahren felt that he learned more from defeat than victory. I also knew from the beginning that I'd be at a disadvantage for the entire life of the character, so I didn't expect much higher than 9%. It's hard to do much with angel's wing, flank attack, shield bash (stuns maybe 50% of the time), and disarm. Throw in a charge or a pugil, if I don't feel like using a shield. There just weren't many tactical options for me. I mean, this was literally the extent of my combat skills.

On that note, I also learned early that shaping other people had to be done with subtlety. It was pretty difficult, but I think I was successful. Sometimes -not- attacking a mage made more of an impact. I also took my position as a Veteran and ran with it, using the position of authority to shape others. While many say that interviewing applicants is a huge drawback to being in a leader-type position, I saw it as an opportunity to shape the village at the source. The situation with the drow was another example of subtle shaping. I spoke with a few villagers one on one and tried to get them to see that it was up to the two of us to hold the village together. Once several guys started feeling that responsibility, there was a sort of bond between Tahren and those villagers. Several would come to me and say things like "I'm a bit iffy on this situation, but if you say it's in the best interests of the village, then I'll go with it". That was a major sign that Tahren was gaining some kind of respect in the village and also that he had a lot of power to guide the village in a good direction. What better situation for a Noldarian Smith, eh?

>You spent
>countless amounts of time within
>my forge with various emotes
>that had me with a
>crystal image of how Tahren
>looked forging in my forge.
> I don't think I
>will ever forget those.
>Actually I won't since I
>logged a number of them.

Glad you were watching It was challenging to think up new ways to do the same thing. I stopped 'sharpening' things towards the end and started actually creating from raw metal. It was fun, and I thought I might score a unique broadsword or something from it, but I wasn't -expecting- anything.

That was one good thing about Tahren, he really went with the flow and never expected to be given anything. I worked on one thing at a time, and if I got it, I'd move to the next. Empowerment, induction, tattoo, virtues, extra skills - whatever happens, happens.

>I think this was the one
>time you grated my nerves.
> I realized we weren't
>seeing eye to eye on
>a number of our confrontations
>but I was determined to
>make sure that you 'among
>others' were humble before the
>Gods.

I noticed the 'not seeing eye to eye' thing as well. Funny, that.

This moment of clarity showed Tahren just how self-righteous he was. He bowed before no man and the gods were his equal, for he was doing their work. I mean, he even argued with the Destructor about tactics after a botched raid on the Nexus. I was begging for you to lay the smack down and it played perfectly with the first mistake (I got smited, and then when Thror came down I said "What the bloody hell was that for?!"..shoulda been slain ).

>You really didn't
>sound like a whiny bitch
>rather I wanted no excuses.

I hope the interaction after the lake incident was indicative of the change in Tahren's attitude. I don't think I gave excuses, but I was dying to tell you what I was actually trying to do. That was the low point of Tahren's life, and I was about 50-50 on whether I should just delete at that point (one thing I shared with Tahren is perfectionism). Of course, what ended up happening is that Tahren learned tolerance...a big part of the "sometimes not attacking is more effective" issue. Thror COULD have stripped my tattoo, and would have been right to do so, but by not stripping it, he had more of an effect. Tahren always kept this in the back of his mind when dealing with mages.

The same thing (not giving excuses) happened when "An Immortal" got onto Tahren, Torakkel, and Kerig (I think) for not immediately striking some Sylvan transmuter while we were in Balator on our way to the palace. I wanted so badly to explain myself, because ignoring the transmuter fit perfectly within the bounds of the new village in that situation. Instead Tahren took full responsibility (knowing that he could get kicked out of the very village he helped to bring to fruition) and left it at that.

>I wanted you
>to realize that for all
>your effort, I was going
>to try and deliver tenfold.

I knew something special happened with Tahren, so it was pretty easy to pick up on hints you dropped most of the time. Of course "You do nae understand much, lad" pretty much summed up some of our talks

> I have a tough
>religion to follow.

True

>It
>is hard to know when
>you are doing well and
>the rewards come unexpectedly.

True, true

>I hope the two rewards
>you gained *through my religion*
>were meaningful due to all
>of your hard work.

Yes, actually, they were very cool. Especially since the first of them was an idea I suggested back on Glimo's board a loooooong time ago (it may have been suggested before then and after, I'm not taking credit ). The second was a long time coming, but it at least gave me a fighting chance in combat.

>
>As a villager you were incredibly
>adept at planning, coordination and
>writing your ideas about the
>village. I have even
>researched them and given most
>of them some thought.

This is a huge complement, especially considering this was my first rager and my first hero. I often gave control of the group to someone else so that I could coordinate other villagers/applicants/temporary allies on the way there and on the way back. I often wonder how many of my interviews you sat in on. As far as my ideas about the village, I really took the changes and ran with them. Medieval warfare has always intrigued me so I did a lot of research and tried to apply some of what I found to the village. I saw a LOT of potential for the village to expand beyond its current state, but suddenly there were no applicants and half the oldies deleted.

>You were a prime example
>of courage and dedication was
>impressive. I cannot compare
>you to anyone, well, because
>you are as unique as
>anyone I have ever had
>the pleasure of interacting with.

Again, this is a huge complement. I try hard to bring solid roleplay into all my characters, but this is the first that I simply couldn't stop playing. Tahren was like a good book. I think Warborf is having the same problem - he had to go to Boston before he could stop .

> I had been hitting
>a rather long-winded down as
>far as interactions went and
>Cf was becoming rather boring
>until I was introduced to
>this character. I thank
>you for making it memorable
>for me as well.

Another huge complement. I'm glad you had as much fun as I did. Sometimes we, as players, forget that the imms are just players too. CF has its ups and downs for everyone, and it's extremely refreshing to see that I had the same effect on you that you had on me.

Well, sorry this was so long...every time I start to write something I think of something else I want to say. I'll see if I can pace myself from now on...

Justin