Sat Dec 9 19:41:00 2006

At 11 o'clock AM, Day of Freedom, 18th of the Month of the Grand Struggle
on the Theran calendar Fezzo perished, never to return.

Where to start with the end of Fezzo? When I initially rolled Fezzo early last spring I hadn’t played CF since I had a Scion transmuter in the spring / summer of ’04. I was out of the loop for any preps, game changes, etc... I was just looking for a fun character I could play and could slowly break myself back into the mix for Thera politics, gameplay and PK’ing. Additionally, I’d never really played a thief, so I thought that a pickpocket would give a new challenge and afford me to keep out of trouble until I was ready for it. Fezzo lived nearly his first 200 hours before he was PK’d (of course, he got schellacked a number of times after that!), so it all worked out pretty well.

In the end, Fezzo ended up being a blast to play. I angled his role and play as a shady merchant with a smooth tongue and a penchant for getting his hands on just about anything he wanted. He put a lot of value into building his network of contacts – if he could establish a relationship where a) someone was indebted to him, b) someone valued him as an ally, c) someone felt he was useful enough to work with or even d) chose not to arbitrarily try to kill him because of his standing or actions, Fezzo felt he had notched another link. Of course, any sort of alliance he ever held was tenuous at best; the value of that alliance really depended on what he felt he could get out of you short-term and long-term and what the consequences would be by him getting that from you.

I learned a lot about pickpocket thief play with Fezzo. Waldali was very helpful in the beginning for passing on some tips, and by the time I had hero’d Fezzo and become the Kingpin of Galadon I felt pretty fearless in exploiting all of the pickpocket skills whenever Fezzo needed to use them. As Kingpin, I really tried to position Fezzo as an unscrupulous merchant king as opposed to a power-mongering gang leader. He tried to push his power and control through business deals and favors instead of violence. After getting his tail kicked around several times as he came up the ranks, he found it much easier to punish his enemies by continuously stripping them of their most valued possessions.

Fezzo did well as a merchant. Of the 6-7 million copper he eventually ended up earning, nearly all of it came from thievery or commerce. Despite snatching what probably ended up being hundreds of items and coins from other players (including Tribunal) in Galadon, Udgaard, Hamsah Mu’tazz, Voralion City and Seantryn Modan, Fezzo was able to avoid ever being reigned in by the law and never once was flagged as a criminal during his life. I apologize to everyone I annoyed or frustrated with Fezzo, but at least I had a lot of fun!

Goodbyes:

IMMORTALS

Unfortunately, I don’t think I did enough to warrant much immteraction. Outside of a couple of emotes and imm experience gifts from what appeared to be random snoops, I didn’t interact much with any Imms.

Qaledus: You were my patron, and for my first 200-250 hours I spend a decent amount of time trying to get your attention at your shrine with various shinies. I recall “breaking in” to your office once when I saw you in there with someone else. You gave me the quick boot and that was the last I saw you. I probably should have kept seeking you out, but hey, Fezzo had business to attend to! Maybe on the next go – I’ve heard lots of good things about you.

GALADON THIEVES

Waldali: You were exactly what Fezzo needed as a mentor, and I felt like you had him on a fast-track to succeed you as Kingpin from the start. You gave the guild credibility and taught me a lot of little thieving tricks that I think really made Fezzo effective once he took over after your death. I remembered your comment to me that blackjacking was “crude” when I could just pick from someone every time a steal opportunity came up. It became a true test to steal as much as I could and walk away without the mark ever knowing what happened. Great character!

Gringora: You’re one of those people that really sticks out a character and plays it to the max. I don’t know how your thieving skills were, but you were a nice, fun character to be around. When Meyrshal showed you how to loot that treasure stash you really gave my stranglehold on the guild donations a run!

Slyther: You put a donation blitz on me when we had the Kingpin election following Waldali’s death, and you almost caught me. Then I never saw you again…too bad.

Cruk: You shot up the ranks and could raise funds like a fiend. You deleted just before you’d caught up to me and I was afraid you were going to wrestle the guild leadership from me. Along with Waldali, you guys were the most talented thieves I saw in the guild.

Others: More donations! More donations! You’re thieves, for crying out loud. Money isn’t that hard to come by…

OTHER THIEVES

Paskat: Kind of flew under my radar until you became the bandit king. Seemed pretty good, too bad we didn’t have more interactions.

Joad: We started out around the same time, but you passed on right as I came to hero. Spun some good deals with you.

Cordango: Were you ever going to hero, man?

Seffar: Caught my attention early. Something about Scion thieves always seems fun.

Nilan: You were the one and only person Fezzo every really worried about when he got into the hero ranges. Anyone else that could detect him he either was able to intimidate or else was able to keep on the good side of. You were malicious and I knew that if you got that poison rag on Fezzo’s face I was in big trouble. I made it a point of avoiding you at all costs until I could get a big hand up and then would try and jack you and strip you clean. Great Scion poisoner character.

EMPIRE

Skilltore, Draktel, Kharghurln, Inthulnizra, Xoregh, etc… All you guys were generally Fezzo’s best customers and, ironically, the least likely to go after my hide. Guess you saw a little value in having the little Kingpin on your side, and I think you guys probably reaped the most favors from me because of it.

Is it just me, or does it seem like the Empire is always being carried by the Emperor and one or two sect leaders?

FORTRESS

On the flip side of the Empire, I found the Fortress to be the most unforgiving, materialistic, vengeful and grudge-holding of anyone (ironic huh?). This doesn’t go for all characters, as a lot of you were great and played excellent roles.

Lauraine: You were my favorite (you single-handedly hero’d Fezzo) and Fezzo’s best customer overall. You must have dropped 700,000 gold in Fezzo’s pocket for trinkets and “protection” from the guild. 500,000 came from one particular purchase, and the example you set with the protection money gave Fezzo an idea he was able to use to reap decent cash from others in the future as well. Glad to see you immort!

Overzealous Guys: Easy, boys. Fezzo really didn’t have bad intentions and your scrolls to Fortress to complain about him were kind of overkill. Just because he took your Thunderlance doesn’t mean he needs to be consigned to the same fate as your least favorite lich! It took a long time for Fezzo to talk his way out of the predicaments you got him into.

Meyrshal: You really, really didn’t like Fezzo, did you?

BATTLE:

Yuvralin: Stop chasing me already, eh?

Jayden: Fezzo’s first friend…even though you were 40 rank and Fezzo wasn’t even above 10 yet you had time to talk and interact with him. Thanks!

Others: There were a lot of you and I never really got to close to any of you. You didn’t want to waste much time on my until your stuff started to turn up missing, and then I had to avoid you because deathblows hurt.

OUTLANDER:

Didn’t really get to know many of you. I didn’t go into the woods ever because that’s not what Fezzo did. You only came into towns to light it on fire or raid the Spire, and if I possible I’d take what I could from you. Otherwise we didn’t interact much.

TRIBUNAL:

Lots of good Tribunal characters that I interacted with. They kept Fezzo’s town organized and business flowing, and he respected it by making sure he didn’t compromise their laws…at least not blatantly in front of their noses.

Taquin: You seemed pretty damn tough. Intimidated Fezzo enough to where he didn’t want to risk snagging that Hand of Doom in Galadon.

Gotakanal: Sorry about the Staff of Medius.

Spenner, Insularte & Linolaques: Wish we could have interacted more.

Som: My favorite. Underestimated you in our first meeting, and your quicksand taught me a good lesson. After that Fezzo worked you pretty hard with the blackjack, but we came to a happy medium after a while and actually had a productive relationship.

SCION:

Outside of Seffar and Nilan, almost no interaction. Sneaky buggers you are.

NEXUS:

Not sure what to think of all you yet…

HERALD:

Eacer: Good customer, fun character to interact with. Wish you’d gotten me back in the Eternal Star!

Herald Imms: The one area I was kind of disappointed in with this character was the permanent ban that Fezzo received for the Inn. I remember receiving it after failing a steal on Meyrshal in the Inn, and I honestly think it was probably only the 4th or 5th occurrence in over 250 hours of game play where I got nailed for stealing (maybe 10 total attempts) – and Fezzo never attacked anyone in the Inn. On the other hand, I saw a lot of people get away with a lot more murder attempts in that place and it seemed like they never got the punishment doled out to poor Fezzo. Any time one was visible, I appealed the ban to the Herald Imms. 9 in 10 times I was simply ignored. On one occasion Iunna let me in temporarily. Fezzo didn’t cause any problems, but he was never granted access again. It’s a shame because I really feel that Fezzo was a colorful character who could have added a lot to the ambiance of the place. It’s your call in the end, but maybe hear me out next time at least? I never EVER got an explanation not matter how much I sought one.

OTHERS

Gistle: Good transie. Fun to hang around, once we sorted out our differences.

Anyone else: Just post, and I’ll respond. Sorry if I forgot you!


In the end, thanks everyone for a great time with Fezzo! And, by the way, if you ever accused Fezzo of stealing something from you, you can rest assured sure as hell that he DID do it, no matter what he said (I cannot remember one person who ever falsely accused Fezzo)!

Ciao,
Fezzo (aka Trestar and whoever else you might remember him as…)

I don't really remember Fezzo from playing Inthulnizra. I remember you from Nezlintryzn because you were the only thief I could see that could have stolen my cube of force. Well done evading my order to kill you.

Yes - Fezzo took it. You noticed it gone almost right away, so Draktel pretty much busted him. I remember Inthulnizra a little because you were Fezzo's best customer when he was in his 20-ranks.

I went through so much gold with Inthulnizra it was insane. I bought the 2 etched pendants from Dartelius for 500 gold. And not only that, I believe I owned the Galadon Guild with bribes for information, gear, and the casual knock out here and there.

I was playing a zealot who despised anyone who would commit any sort of offense against Forties, up to and including stealing crap and taking things from corpses. Seonex regarded it as both cowardly and hindering the duty of the Fortress, which was primarily the preservation of the Light. It wasn't the materialistic part that made me be an asshole to you. It was just that it would be poor RP for my character in general to let you get away with it.

I think the Forties who are like "Oh, you stole things from my friends, ganged them down with a few Empire people awhile ago, and took things from their corpses, but I'll forgive you because you are a thief and a neutral" is a lot worse RP than calling you out on it.

I can see how Empire people can be like "Oh, you killed a few of my friends awhile ago and/or took all their shinies? What the hell, I never liked them anyway" but for Fortress its quite different.

Basically, if you are going to play a thief, you should realize that some targets are less risky than others, and you should be ready to reap the IC consequences of what you sow. Don't think that just because you happen to be a thief you can get away with repeatedly attacking/stealing from Forties and the rest of the cabal just hug and kiss and forgive you next time you meet them.

My notes to the Fortress about you weren't complaining about your actions. Okay, so you steal my thunderlance. It sucks, I liked that lance, but life goes on. Just so happens that Seonex IC isn't about to let you get away with it and swindle/help Empire necros gang down some other hapless goodie.

P.S. I thought that note you wrote to the Fortress about you being a veritable angel and repenting your deeds and donating 50 gold to the Balator Orphanage was pure genius. It had me laughing so hard, especially a few days later when I caught you stealing from me again.

LOL - It was all in good fun. Just trying to get away with anything I could and should have gotten beat down a lot more than I did. BTW, Fezzo never really did pony up the 50 gold to the orphanage...!

>> Cruk: You shot up the ranks and could raise funds like a fiend. You deleted just before you’d caught up to me and I was afraid you were going to wrestle the guild leadership from me. Along with Waldali, you guys were the most talented thieves I saw in the guild.

Well played dude. This was my first thief since about '96 (and I only played him because I was getting sick and tired of having my wands stolen from all my necro's) so I was a bit green to start with but got a hang of building up the bank account. I never knew what you were on, but I always though "just another 500k and I reckon I'll have him". 500k would come and go and you'd still be on top. Infact I was so far infront of anyone else and still behind you that I just gave up on ever catching you Cruk wasn't ever going to challenge for the Kingpin, he just wanted to be the number one donater in the guild.

City tie thieves are fun to play eh?

We never did have that sitdown. Either you were fleecing someone, or I was out wandering somewhere.

I'll say more when I'm gone, but I just wanted you to know how much crap I had to put up with because of your itchy fingers. People I had known and befriended(or never spoken to), began cursing me to no end. All I could do was say it wasn't me, and might have been another thiefy. If they mentioned you, I'd just say, 'Yep, the Boss is like that sometimes, I's sorry....'

Bugger.

PS I had a couple of Donars willing to help me top you on the list, but I would still have had no intention of trying to take over. Meyrshal's to blame for me coming as close as I did...And I thank him for it.

PSS What was your final Donation Total ?

You certainly were Fezzo's consistent guild-mate, though I was wondering if you'd ever hero! Because you were the only one around most of the time, he had to deflect most of the blame for conspicuously missing items to you. Sorry about that!

I figured it was Meyrshal pumping you full of funds for the donations - he really didn't like Fezzo much. Logging on one day and seeing that you jumped up 2,000 gold gave me a little pause. I can't recall exactly what I ended up with for donations, but it was around 1,000 - 1,500 gold ahead of you.

Best of luck with the rest of your time with Gringora!