Sat Aug 22 21:51:38 2020

At 9 o'clock AM, Day of the Great Gods, 33rd of the Month of the Winter Wolf
on the Theran calendar Ydane perished, never to return.

Thanks for the tips. You were awesome even though evil and I was goodie.. tried to keep my distance but you have Arjandrous life better.

Thanks for the kind words! I'm just glad I got to visit (redacted) before I tried to rescue you there while wanted. Not exactly my finest moment.

Oh man! I felt so bad about that. I had the whole cabal working on getting me out of that ridiculous predicament. Not being able to wear multiple pieces of -str gear is rough. Thanks for what you did there!

Fun times!

I knew this was coming and was planning to start wearing some age-reducing gear, but it came sooner than expected. "Ooops".

Ydane was my first mage character in around ten years and first shapeshifter in about twice that. It was definitely a learning experience. Much of that came from having to navigate the "new" sleek system, which I got to experience for the first time, and from having to supplement with limited wands when I got stuck with a bad spot. Also, gathering items for Pininip's quest.

To my mind the sleek system is mostly okay, but some of the locations are too difficult, while some others are maybe too easy. Some of them were literally impossible for me given my forms. Still others were too obscure; had someone not told me (in game) where to look I would have never found them in a million years.

Forms: I had owl for multiple weeks without ever being able to use it because I knew I wanted to roll the bones. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough edge points to do so and it took multiple weeks for my initial role entries to be rated before I could. Definitely no hard feelings, though; the entries were super long.

Eagle is a great form, but I'm not sure how I feel about tiger. Pounce definitely got me a few kills and it synergized well with deftness of the falcon, but pounce also failed a lot. Also felt like I was somewhat unlucky with my lower-tier forms. The only ones I ever used at hero were emu (forage, danger sense) and barn swallow (nest), and both of those were almost completely superseded by phoenix.

Without going into detail, phoenix was useful but not a game changer, which I assume is by design. It let me really mess with certain opponents, but, if I was on my own, didn't necessarily make me that much more likely to actually land kills. Maybe if I'd had insects it would have been a different story, but...c'est la vie. It did shine when I had backup though.


Two other miscellaneous thoughts: I'm pretty sure I'll never play another air shapeshifter that isn't Outlander. The powers are just that amazing. Also, I regret taking the "bloody pecker" edge. Folks on the forums really talked it up, but, in hind sight, I wish I'd taken "Go For The Throat" instead.

Some specific character notes:

Jormyr: Thanks for taking a chance on me! I though it was funny when you asked if I liked the phoenix form and mentioned some of the other ones you'd considered giving me. What was I going to say, "No"? I was just happy to have any quest form. Also, sorry I was so slow on the uptake re: your religion.

Quanhest: Enjoyed having you as Nightreaver. I won't lie; I would like to have gotten the opportunity myself, but you were cool enough that it didn't bother me too much.

Maeneekoni: Prior to joining Outlander I'd only interacted with you as an enemy, so it was interesting getting to see you from the perspective of a pseudo-ally. Sorry I wussed out and never followed through on the discussion we had about me going after good-aligned Outlanders.

Galvinar: It really felt like you were the Tribunal cabal for the majority of Ydane's life. If you're feeling down about dying so often, it's only because you're fearless and come against crazy odds! That, and I happened to get really lucky against you a few times. Sorry about that one time in Galadon. I should have realized you were AFK, but was too "locked in" and didn't notice.

Ethlererreva: We each said our piece in game, but I'll reiterate that I was not "afraid" of attacking you. There just wasn't much to be gained by it most of the time, and you weren't a true cabal enemy, and I had to spend a bunch of charges and preps each time I did. That one time at the chasm was so tragic. I had spotted you from the air and went off to prepare, then, when I came back, I completely failed to notice that Yickle was also there before I attacked. "Ooops".

Pininip: I was not lying when I said I had reservations about you prior to noting Ergush. Since half-goblin isn't a "thing" in Thera I rationalized that you were just a butt-ugly gnome who thought he was a half-goblin. Had I wanted to keep things copacetic I could have opted not to pursue the matter. I definitely knew going in that I would fare poorly against you and that it would complicate my life, which it definitely did. It would have been much easier to just overlook the half-goblin thing.

Some final shrine RP while I was a wraith.

civilized <641hp 972m 778mv 16500tnl (0.00%) 10 PM> n
Within an Unnatural Cavern 
 
[Exits: south]
     A massive block of ice rests in the center of the cavern.

wilderness  <641hp 972m 777mv 16500tnl (0.00%) 10 PM> l statues
It is impossible to determine how long each statue has existed here, but the
oppressive heat of the nearby magma walls has taken its toll.  What must have
once been exquisite detail is now little more than a vague hint at its former
glory as the stone begins to melt and sag.  The size and builds vary greatly,
suggesting that each may have once represented a particular individual.
Interestingly, all appear to have been crafted with a note towards a favored
weapon or possession, but even that detail has fared no better.

wilderness  <641hp 972m 777mv 16500tnl (0.00%) 10 PM> em strolls around the altar, inspecting the melted statues one last time.
Ydane strolls around the altar, inspecting the melted statues one last time.

wilderness  <641hp 972m 857mv 16500tnl (0.00%) 11 PM> em peers at them without blinking, unbothered by the searing heat.
Ydane peers at them without blinking, unbothered by the searing heat.

wilderness  <641hp 972m 857mv 16500tnl (0.00%) 1 AM> em raises a ghostly, wrinkled hand to touch her face, but it merely passes through.
Ydane raises a ghostly, wrinkled hand to touch her face, but it merely passes through.

wilderness  <641hp 972m 857mv 16500tnl (0.00%) 3 AM> pray I take my place with those who stand around altar, Lord Jormyr, soon to pass into obscurity,
unrecognizable and forgotten. 
You pray to the heavens for help!

I just donated $5 for the PBF but must have missed the option to add a note to my donation. Sorry Umiron.

You were a great enemy and I am actually sorry to see you go and kinda bummed you didn't get to play with phoenix more. I was dreading the day you got nightreaver.

That said, after you got Phoenix I was much more cautious about fighting you as Phoenix was pretty nasty for me.

No worries about the AFK. I didnt know my client had frozen until I typed where and nothing happened. I can't think of any time you were not a class act.

And on my deaths, I could play it a lot safer, but I got leader con early on so...

Congrats on age dying, winning a RC, and getting a neat quest form! We didn't interact a lot, but I know you certainly tried to kill me, and came close that one time when I was fighting Maere. I"ll miss shooting at you! I hope you had fun with the character. GLWYN!

I'm sad I came around so late in your life. You're no-nonsense conviction was definitely a counter-balance to my non-chalance, but it tempered me and made me respect the Reavers all the more. I was really looking forward to getting to know you and I look forward to see whatever it is you do next. Great job.

Allies and enemies seemed fond of you, I always enjoyed seeing your dialogue and scuffles.


Ydane says 'Time has done what your village could not.'

-Ish

First of all, apologies for this taking so long - I knew you were getting up there, and
had some ideas for gechos, but felt none of them quite fit right yet...and then I
spent Saturday at the ER w/ my child. (Severe cough - COVID tested. Negative,
but has pneumonia).

I think Ydane is a good example of a character that wasn't necessarily unique and
amazing (which is a definite struggle with shapeshifters), but simply played a role
solidly and consistently for near 500 hours. For the record, I was probably most
entertained by you trying to make me happy by killing frost giants and continuing
to brutalize you for it.

As to not getting the religion - yeah, you definitely were bad to begin with it. It is
something I struggle with sometimes with the non-priests, as there's nothing a
character really NEEDS from Jormyr, but there's also not a ton they GET out of it
at that point. You're definitely not the first to be tripped up by the religion.

The quest form was up for debate for a bit, so figured I'd give you something to do
and maybe get input ICly about what you felt fit you, w/o necessarily telling you
what was up.


Anyways, glad you had fun, see you around next time!

Man, are we going to miss you. Always aggressive and even though we sat on opposite sides of the Tree, we did a little more that just get along to go along. Come back to the Tree soon!

I'm sure I'll be back in the Tree sooner or later, but I don't usually play the same cabal twice in a row so it may be a while. Thanks for helping me experiment with my form abilities!

Ydane, all that a Reaver should be. You with insects would have been thing to see. You will be missed.

Great job doing your thing. I enjoyed our interactions a lot. Was great to have you as part of the zoo of outlander. You certainly put in the hours and part of me as a player wanted to give the phoentiger pounce and flyto monster a chance at insects but ultimately Quanhest thinks she is way more deserving.

You ate some seriously overwhelming deaths ( teleport at convulsing right to Hamsah guards comes to mind) but bounced back great. Tribute to a solid player. You were a solid reaver and a great presence. GLWN

That death was so stupid of me. I'd just fought Vodette and forced her to flee, but was stuck at my recall point and I think I was faerie fired. I was super worried that Vodette (or someone else) would come along and kill me, so I started teleporting, hoping to land near someplace I could go underground, instead landed in a Hamsah guard tower.

Then I didn't realize I could pass door and walk out of the prison cell, so I sat there naked cursing my fate until Vodette flew to me and two-rounded me. Lesson learned!

Being an, unless you were out of movement, why didn't you go find a cave or underwater or something?

gr

well done on a deadly murderbot fly shifter. i know there were folks who hsted you ooc. i had no issue w your char. you did rp after all.
sure kept me on my toes.
glad i can run around without watching my ass for you now
congrats on age death no idea you were around forthat long.
that phoenix of yours a quest form?
glwyn