NA

OOC, I'm always looking to have more enemies because I play mostly for PK. It would be a nice excuse to fight some neutral outlanders. I thought it could make sense from an RP perspective as standing by your comrade trying to save his kin.

All that aside, you made things more fun. Good job.

(Edited by Rahsael to remove a questy thing)

(had to get this posted since Umi gave me a pdf push, thanks!)

So..... it's been a long time. Several years since my last character and yet, despite how it ended last time, I decided to give it a shot during the pandemic after I heard of the character challenge. Ironically I'm not too thrilled how this ended but I feel like it is for the best - I made a choice that was basically impossible to see played out and with the Imm drama I knew getting Sacer was not gonna happen even though it fit best. There's a lot to say but I'll try and make sense of it.

I'm going to post as a reply with the file I was given by Rahs for my character. Umi was nice enough to get the pdf so check that out. Sadly, almost all arcs in the character didn't really pan out (seriously Muzzabak, wtf) so I was bit of an outsider besides being the murderer of Lorente's mother (which I learned later on) and a strange beast in a strange land... with only the goal of trying to find other centaur in the "hellscape that I call home". I wasn't cuddly, I wasn't nice, and I probably rubbed some people the wrong way but I tried my best to adhere to the solidarity of the one goal... that eventually drew me over the edge. I had a lot of fun, I hope others did as well. I felt like this was a B/B+ kind of character for me - I obviously felt better when playing Corzu as a Marshall, part of it was the new Fortress (Neo-Fort would have kicked Big Red almost instantly) and disliking the race/class/path combo, but on a more obvious note the world is crazy outside and that just gets into your head and makes it hard sometimes to not let it bleed through. Allies were allies, and then they weren't, but all who were I held onto even when I jumped over the cliff.

Centaurs: First off, I would never recommend this to anyone - I'm dead serious. Let's just rattle off all the places you can't go - Tiamat (man did this suck with all the Pathfinders), Draconian ruins, easier Yzekon, new battlerager ghost area, Ruined Keep, most Sewers, Pyramid, Grove entrance to Palace... it's too long if you include all the little spots you can't. You're basically chugging flight/seaweed your entire life for no real reason at all - thankfully Maran helped with that. Gear is horrrrendously low, I think people who wrote areas forgot that there are 6 unique pieces for centaurs, not just a few (even the new centaur area has no belt). I luckily got the legendary belt early on and every other centaur was asking me for other belts - some slots have less than a few pieces across Thera. Also the fact that most of the centaurs won't take kinship besides trade, which requires an itemslot of high value (surprise there are none), you're screwed if you can't kill centaurs. Inherent rear is also horrible, its worse than kick and after like level 10 I never used it again. The upsides are nice (camo vision being the key one, carry weight limits another) but unless ya plan on fighting rangers your entire life, it doesn't compare with the downsides. I would never do this again, it feels like it was just partially thought through and never really completed to be viable (kind of like goblins).

Paths: I'll make another post on this in Gameplay but don't ever play these paths this way There are so many better options and my god was the mana management bad with this guy...

Rahs: You were the reason I gave this a shot and probably the only reason I'd come back after the recent drama. You really put in a killer amount of effort and I hope you enjoyed watching this strange horseman stumble forward. Your work on the mudlet and passion for the game is ever apparent and if you could be cloned, CF might not be where it is today.

Einoh: Top notch, it was a lot of fun... bit weird knowing that we've known each other for a very long time but I hope you didn't catch on to that since I tried to come back secretly. I think I did a decent job with the religion and the path before me - it just took a turn over time because everything was getting in my way from the one goal I wanted to reach. Nothing personal - I do find it ironic its your elf that got me into massive trouble.

Padwei: I have to be honest here, I really *really* do not like the new Fortress and this kind of ruined it for the character. If you want to keep changing the cabal, call it Dawn-lite. Every interaction you had with me you were kind of a jerk, I'm really not sure what your problem was. Our first interaction was giving a single sentence demand then going wizinvis - not cool.

Scarab: Still to this day, one of the best Imms in the game and the Shadow Plane is like a perfect puzzle to wrack my brain. I spent I don't know how long trying to figure it all out and map it down - I *think* I got further than anyone else before and we were about to try the one thing I think that would get us further and I got my empowerment stripped in the middle of that trip.... frustration at its finest. Holy hell was that boss monster a literal horror to kill. I know you've got real life, a pandemic, and all kinds of #### going on in your life but the mud really needs Team Evil and could use you more... if anything to maybe steer the ship a bit.

Imogrezio and Suippi: You two rock, I would have given up a long-time ago if it wasn't for you two. You two should be showered with Imm gifts because the RP was amazing, always. The only reason I was logging on in the end was a blind prayer shot if Scarab was actually around or if I could talk you two before I left. After about a few logins of twiddling my thumbs and spamming research in Hamsah, I just couldn't wait longer. I really hope you to finish the work in the Plane, I think the thing we discussed will work.

Fortress: Devrena, Deiramor, Frayhel, Ajanfidel and many more to mention I had fun and I hope you did as well. I hope you can now see from the PDF why I was slipping further from the good path, it was nothing personal... Laurandt, I'm gonna try my best here to be nice, but you are bat#### crazy I applaud Einoh trying to be a moderator between the two of us but man you drove me nuts. Chetush/Shapa, even after all these years you are so easy to pick out of a crowd... it was fun being on the same side for awhile but really, you need to learn how to take risks and have fun - deleting your bard so fast was disappointing. Being abandoned to avoid a war (I did *not* make that choice to leave) really really... no *really* pissed me off. I've done multiple wars across cabal "allies" in my 15+ years of CF and to get kicked to avoid it is just incredibly bleh and shows how little I understand this pacifist newbie holding-pen it has become. This left a real sour taste in my mouth and pushed me over the edge.... I had this strange hope that I could comeback and terrorize the Fortress for *certain reasons* - would have been so cool if it came to that.

Outlander: Lorente you were awesome, Admund you were also but man did Theo hate you in the end! Great job for you both. The whole "Plane exploring is bad!" is honestly just lame, it's one of the last explore zones, I've seen Outlanders go before (and to the Inferno which is basically the same thing), and Lorente and I had a really cool arc with the Archmage on why to go there... and then suddenly, unlike other explorers, I get made the main target of your beliefs. It just felt contrived but I was honestly fine with it, I thought it'd give us something to do for RP sake when Empire and Scion were non-existent the last few months.... how it ended was so anti-climactic and cheap.

Lots of enemies to mention: Angaph was awesome, Targung was fun (happy to give ya tips if ya want, you had such an awesome combo) and there's a lot more that hopefully I was able to give a bit of a run for their life (this combo was really bad in pvp).... one frustration though was there was a very prolific amount of low-investment characters who would hero out of nowhere, talk some crap, and then quit out. The graveyard is filled with people sub-100 hours and it just gets old really. The amount of shifters these days feels like it skyrocketed from old day numbers when it was already too high. The amount of "perma friends" is so completely apparent and is hilariously rampant and unchecked (hello 4 orcs who all login/logout together or seeing Shapa pass himself gear). One of my best older characters was a RP-heavy Flame of the Cult denied for a hell trip because I didn't send a note and yet right after me the Russians and other groups cleared the entire inferno repeatedly to the point it got closed. It was frustrating to be in the middle of a very apparent Fortress bandwagon moment and then they become enemies.... just lame how cyclical and how fast people burn up (I thought sub 350 was bad).

On just the general state of things, CF just hasn't landed where I thought it would over time. I thought the numbers would get smaller and the interaction would scale up with a heavy focus on quality but there's just a lot of fundamentals holding it back. The state of this site is a perfect example (just remove the forums already, showing code updates from 2-10+ years ago is just bad), the game's lack of evolution (when's the last time major update since the desolation shaman path several years ago? new race or class? new areas and fundamentals all waiting months to years on a single coder), and just how the game never evolved with the new social age it just feels... off. Sometimes it was great, other times it was an incredible drag and the character contest really was the saving grace. I think someone said it best about Eybean who really did "roleplay with you, not at you" and that is apparent through a lot of the player base and staff (Vote Beroxxus for Evil).

Anyways, off my soap box. I had fun, not sure I'll be back. Stay safe folks, realize there's absolute chaos outside, be chill and as I said as Theo repeatedly... I only do what I know is right Funny how that turned into "Embrace the Dark".

Cheers,
torak
(CF discord: SlippingSand)

Man if I had gone Fortress this would have been such a different story....


Theorendus
Race: Centaur
Gender: Male
Class: Shaman
Ethos/Align: Orderly Good
Cabal: Fortress or Tribunal
Sphere: Reason
Religion: Einoh
Role Guidelines:
Theorendus was born in a place where the sun never rose.
It was a colorless place, ruled by things unseen. It was a miracle that he lived to adulthood - a
miracle attributable to the members of his tribe there. It was desolate and oppressive, but
beautiful, in a way. Ruins and ancient contraptions littered the vast and barren expanses - ruins
that made Theorendus’ imagination go wild. He wanted to fix them. To live in them. To use them
as they were meant to be used by those who had built them.
But this was not the way, said those of his tribe. This life was all he knew, until he discovered
there might be more. As the young centaur hunted in the darkest woods of this primordial place,
he came across two dark-haired children who stood on two feet and huddled together close. He
stalked them close; it was not clear if they would be good food. He saw them speak to
something in the dark - what it was, he could not make out. And then, he saw brush part, and
they stepped through. He followed them, and came upon a strange void.
When he found his way out, Theorendus was terrified. Rich colors and light flooded his senses.
After some time adjusting, he discovered the cities of Thera and was enchanted - most unusual
for a centaur.
To see the cities, he took work running errands for the Hamsah Mu’tazz-based El Azahr Trading
Company until the patriarch died and the inept son took over, ran it into the ground and went
mad. A group of former coworkers began working as bounty hunters and invited Theorendus to
join them.
He was pleased to be part of this great, living contraption, where every part served some
purpose to keep it all going. Then came Soreina Lidwych.
The bounty was high, all things considered. Theorendo tracked her down to apprehend her. She
tried to run. He drew his weapon. She was dead. He felt some sorrow; it was the first woman he
had killed. It was only after he turned in her scalp that Theorendo learned her abusive husband
had issued the contract, claiming she had stolen a ring - her wedding ring.
This put Theorendo in an unexpectedly dark place. He considered ending his life, but, thinking
the place that he came from was Hell, feared he would be sent back to the darkness.
He decided to devote his life instead to discerning the difference between guilt and innocence,
goodness and wickedness, through worship of Einoh. He would never go back to the dark.
Motivations:
- Make up for his past sins
- Protect the innocent
- Strive to define goodness and contemplate restraint and reason in a set of moral writings
throughout his life
- Preach order as a virtue
- Stay out of hell
Description Guidelines: Scarred, serious and morose.
Quirks:
He becomes genuinely upset at violence, even if it is to protect those of the Light. He will fight
valiantly, but accept no honor for it. He is likely to sternly lecture anyone who congratulates
another on violence, for it is not violence that should be celebrated, but the privilege of living to
enjoy another day, and help others do the same.
He believes Order is a virtue.
He sees a city as a single, giant organism, and sees the beauty of nature within it.

I really like Theorendus, and appreciate the roleplay. Unfortunately both our characters value things differently and thus often we're at each other neck. Despite that, Laurandt IC wise, really like Theorendus alot. Like what was said before, love hate relationship within a family and among siblings.

>Padwei: I have to be honest here, I really *really* do not
>like the new Fortress and this kind of ruined it for the
>character. If you want to keep changing the cabal, call it
>Dawn-lite. Every interaction you had with me you were kind of
>a jerk, I'm really not sure what your problem was. Our first
>interaction was giving a single sentence demand then going
>wizinvis - not cool.

I really only remember one conversation and I was working at the time. I probably shouldn't have been vis and I think I caught one of your tells well after the fact, so I responded and went wizi because work was slamming me.

As for what you think I'm doing to Fortress, I don't know. I haven't changed anything about it in the roughly 10 months I've been around.

GLWYN.

Unless I initiate the tells (I don't think I did here), trying to hash things out via tell isn't usually the best way to approach me about something since there's a good chance I'll miss it in general snoopage of lots of people. CB or a shrine visit to discuss matters is generally going to give better results (and tends be more formal).

We didn't chat a lot, but I had a positive impression of Theo. I seemed to have weirdly good luck against shamans with Angaph. You and Thiga in particular. Think I just got lucky with timing, catching you right after sanc dropped. Which, honestly, is probably the only way I was ever going to kill you.

I thought it was fun as well, our interactions had enough conflict to keep them interesting along your path. I do not take anything personal from your switch at the end, as characters can swing across arcs depending on what is happening, so my removing your powers was not personal either.
Every time we would argue, I started to wait for that emote of you stomping around, because I grew to like it. It felt like it fit the character, and represented a centaur version of frustration.
I don’t know who you are, so I can’t say we’ve known each other a long time. And if the elf you are talking about is the one we spoke on earlier in your path, I was not switched into the elf at the time or anything like that. Any interaction there was someone else’s.
It was funny that I defended you, and then the worries others had all came true, Einoh had hurt feelings over it. But since you’re dead, he will try to remember you fondly.
GLWYN

Thanks for the fun with Theorendus, you sure did a great job on roleplaying, and you are very articulated with words, wich makes you great on argumentations.

Enjoyed our time around exploring and hunting together, a shame there were so few enemies to be hunted most of time we were around.

As to backup you in the war against the tree... in the end, you were so obsessed with the shadow plane and took an stubborn/agressive attitude towards people, that they should be with you or against you, that made your "good" alignment bleed. You pushed many from you, so should be no surprise you lost support. Anyways, i applaud you stand to your role like that, but damn, i wished to jump on your neck sometimes (Theorendus neck).

But that also brought a lot of new elements to the game, be proud of that. End up unnempowered, with alighnment change and all, sure must have left a bitter taste, but you sure pushed that way.

Hope you overcome that fast, and come back to the game. You sure can make interesting thinigs happen and involve those around you.

GLWYN

It was sad to see Theorendus go the way he went, but Father Panmorne has me looking so closely at other characters, I foresaw this character arc just as I predicted Targung would delete if Inaj did not get emperor or be made anathema by the new emperor.

Theo was proud, single-minded, and focused, which served as both his strengths and flaws. Many of us tried to find alternative routes to enter the shadow plane, but it was apparent you were wanting to change alignment and turn Theo's story into a tragic fall. Well done! The tale of Theorendus should become a lesson for every future squire and scribe.

A terrible place for me to put this, but I am with you in that I absolutely hate that great explore areas like the Inferno and the Plane of Shadow should be off-limits to Fortress for RP reasons. One of the reasons I was entranced by CF was the vast world to explore, and to hear its gems being closed off for any reason makes me a sad panda.

Come back soon.