Wow...well done. From both an Immortal and mortal standpoint, you really stood out as a character. I really enjoyed your thoughts on war, your messages to the Village on the different strategic and tactical aspects of fighting, and your support during the entire change of Battle philosophy. I didn't watch you as much as Thror, but the times I did spy on you I was suitably impressed.

Those Rites were the first I ever ran all by my lonesome, and you guys didn't make it any easier for me. Choosing a leader was a tough as hell decision for me to make, and it came down to a more or less gut check on my part, that could have gone either way. I'm hoping it gets easier with practice, but in any event, I'm glad you stuck it out despite not being chosen.

I hope you can find another role/character that gives you as much enjoyment as this one did...sometimes that's a hard thing to do.

Kastellyn the Devourer of Magic, Lord of Legends

>Wow...well done. From both an
>Immortal and mortal standpoint, you
>really stood out as a
>character. I really enjoyed
>your thoughts on war, your
>messages to the Village on
>the different strategic and tactical
>aspects of fighting, and your
>support during the entire change
>of Battle philosophy. I
>didn't watch you as much
>as Thror, but the times
>I did spy on you
>I was suitably impressed.

It's good to get such positive immortal feedback on this character. I put a lot of effort into him, and most of the little details that made this character come to life happened in such a way that only a snooping imm might catch on

>
>Those Rites were the first I
>ever ran all by my
>lonesome, and you guys didn't
>make it any easier for
>me.

Yeah, thanks for blessing that mattock. I'd have been up an unsanitary tributary if I went in with my bare hands. Of course, Tahren was willing to go in bare-handed if he needed to...Not having participated in any rites before, I really didn't know what to expect.

>Choosing a leader
>was a tough as hell
>decision for me to make,
>and it came down to
>a more or less gut
>check on my part, that
>could have gone either way.

As long as you feel you made the right decision

> I'm hoping it gets
>easier with practice, but in
>any event, I'm glad you
>stuck it out despite not
>being chosen.

I don't know what I would have done if I were chosen to be leader. As a player, I simply didn't know enough about cabal wars and hero-level goings-on at the time. I didn't want to participate in the rites because I was worried about what would happen if I WAS chosen. But I would have broken Tahren's role if I didn't at least try to become leader of the village. Besides, several other ragers came to me and said that they'd basically follow me to the grave if I were their leader, so I figured "What the hell, why not?"

I didn't expect to need to choose my interviewer, but I thought it was appropriate in an ironic sort of way. A paladin rager being questioned by an anti-paladin rager - Tahren's polar opposite, yet probably the one person who had the most in common with him. It was fun

Great, great job Tahren. Though I didn't know you long, I considered you a great role modle vilager. g'luck in the future.

I must say the interaction I had with you as my mortal (a fellow thror follower) was brief, but made me take notice of you as more than just a person playing an interesting gimik. Instead, I found myself watching you from time to time and being pretty astounded all in all.

Well done, good job, and good luck with your next character.

Shokai is one god I'm surprised Tahren never had to answer to. The threat of the inevitable "how dare you attack others of the light" interaction gave me some concern while I was trying to flesh out the character's role. Then I was there during Trewyn's little becoming forsaken incident, and I felt that I really had to prepare to justify my actions to Shokai. There were several plans of attack: self-righteous (Tahren knows more about 'good' than Shokai), repenting (Tahren is sorry and won't do it again), apologetic (Tahren is sorry but tough noogies, he'll keep doing it), Noldarian (Tahren tries to show Shokai the inevitable repeat of history within his fortress and gets the Warlocks kicked out of it..ha!), and compromising (Tahren realizes the Warlocks mean well and agrees not to actively hunt them, but still may do battle in raids and such).

Um..but the 'inevitable' interaction never happened. And yes, a couple of these would have gotten me skewered by Shokai or booted from Battle. Might have been interesting, though.

Do you mind sharing which follower of Thror you played, or is the character still alive?

I played the lesser known Imaljin (Nexun felar ranger, made it to level 43 before it became more of a chore to play than fun).

Now as to why I didn't smack you down, you were playing a paladin, a warrior-priest of Thror, and as a whole (from what I saw at least) you killed good only when you had to, or they were mages....granted I didn't watch you as throughly as I do my followers, so I may have missed something...but from what I saw, there was no reason to smack you down. It's a strange compliment, though, that you actually thought 'hrm, will I have to deal with Mean Shokie..and if so how will I do it.'

Well I loved the little bit of interaction we had, though usualy was after a battle. You started to make me feel bad that one day when you kept sticking around Tar Valon and the Rift and we kept fighting. To the point of where I was going out of my way to find others of the light to hunt when the light was in power.
Vahlen held respect for you (perhaps the only one among the village at the time) Since you held true to your beliefs when you knew you would perhaps die, and as well would actually not attack at times when I wasn't with a mage.
Good luck on your next character.

Bout damn time...

Don't have much to say really. If ya don't make the pillar I'm raisin' hell! Keep up the good work.

Trewyn

I forgot to ask this in the long reply down below...Thror basically asked me to immort and join him at the forge in Asgard. I really wanted to (and it was not in Tahren's role to ask for stuff) so I wrote a note expressing the situation. It was quite long because I tried to do what Thror suggested, reflect back on my life and speak of things that had made me pure. But I never really heard back.

Why?

I tried to ask Thror, and he basically grumbled and said something that sounded like either I had screwed up early on, or maybe that he had, and that I would understand in time. I really had a couple of good ideas for areas and also some interesting additions/changes to the new village. I'm just curious as to what it was that kept me from ascending?

Also, if any of you watched Tahren, I'd like to get some input on his roleplay, his role, anything else you might have to say.

Justin

>I forgot to ask this in
>the long reply down below...Thror
>basically asked me to immort
>and join him at the
>forge in Asgard. I
>really wanted to (and it
>was not in Tahren's role
>to ask for stuff) so
>I wrote a note expressing
>the situation. It was
>quite long because I tried
>to do what Thror suggested,
>reflect back on my life
>and speak of things that
>had made me pure.
>But I never really heard
>back.
>
>Why?

More to come below. Just touching base with you on these questions. I wanted you to immort. All of the time and energy you put into this character only proved to me how dedicated you were to making an impression. Those people who make such impressions and allow us to wonder, are the real heroes of this game.

>I tried to ask Thror, and
>he basically grumbled and said
>something that sounded like either
>I had screwed up early
>on, or maybe that he
>had, and that I would
>understand in time. I
>really had a couple of
>good ideas for areas and
>also some interesting additions/changes to
>the new village. I'm
>just curious as to what
>it was that kept me
>from ascending?

Consider never hearing back on the 'heroimmorting' my fault. It was rather foolish of me to raise your hopes and mine. You will understand in time is about as correct as I can get on that point. You are welcome to e-mail me if you have more questions.

>Also, if any of you watched
>Tahren, I'd like to get
>some input on his roleplay,
>his role, anything else you
>might have to say.

I watched Tahren -A LOT- and will express some opinions of such further below.

>Justin

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

By far, you were one of the best ragers I seen in a long while. You shoowed leadership and courage. Lucky for Scions, you were not the leader. I think you could have made a big difference.

I saw you early on and was really impressed with the character. I remember having trouble trying to come up with a in character reason to talk to you, and see what you were like, and from the three or four sentences we exchanged, as well as what I observed and heard, you did an amazing job. You didn't really know me, but I got a lot out of you playing.

I have you beat for lowest pk ratio though
sorry

Aluria

Note: This has not been edited.

>Heh. This is gonna be
>long.

Yeah from me also


I was literally heartbroken when I logged on to see Tahren had passed away earlier this afternoon. I know it sounds cheesy but I came to admire and enjoy every moment I was able to interact with Tahren. 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

I really should be working on a thesis paper but I wanted to make sure you saw some response to your passing. Having an hour to spare these days is rare so I'll try to make the most of it:

>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)

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


"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.

Actually there was once a Paladin Rager in the 1st age. 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. Had I done some more research I would have realized that rager paladins + communes = not gonna happen.


>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.

Heh.

>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.

Which you pointed out in your role. 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.


> 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!"

Gah! You don't understand how frustrating this was. I found out a week later that there was really no way to remedy this and so I felt compelled to apologize in any way possible. Realizing that Thror never apologizes my thumps on your head had to do.

>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.

Hrm. Didn't realize this

> 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?

I realized this after the fact. Almost a week after the fact that you could not commune. As I stated, BoltThrower showed up one day and gave me the 'novice immortal laugh' that included 'had you consulted with me, I could have told you that he wouldn't be able to commune.' I was feeling like an idiot at this point. I had actually done research on paladins (having very little prior knowledge of them) about communes that would fit perfectly with your role. Those were the types of blessings I wanted to give you. It was pretty futile once I realized the problem.

> 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?

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.

>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.

Which you did best. I'm curious as to the next character who will be capable of capturing my adoration as Tahren did. 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.

>>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.

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. You really didn't sound like a whiny bitch rather I wanted no excuses. I realize I (Thror) is one of the harder immortals to get along with, due to my rather grumpy attitude and my stubborn role.

> 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.

Like I said. I enjoyed every single moment of it. I made sure that you were given a full dose of my religion. From every aspect that was important and from every perspective possible. I wanted you to realize that for all your effort, I was going to try and deliver tenfold. I have a tough religion to follow. It is hard to know when you are doing well and the rewards come unexpectedly. I hope the two rewards you gained *through my religion* were meaningful due to all of your hard work.

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. 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. 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.

>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

I think your the best (or second best) goddamn role player I've ever seen. I don't think I ever saw a crack or a flaw in the statue of role play that was Tahren. Our times in the forge were absolutely -great-. I have only played one other character passed like 25th level, and I was only able to have the will power to do it because of role playing like Tahren's. I wish more people would interract with "inanimate" things around them. They make everything more real. When I was in the forge with you I felt like I was in a searing hot place filled with toil rather than just "The Shrine of Thror." I really enjoyed emoting about training with our weapons and forging. I could have sat there for hours. I felt guilty about forging when you weren't around, because I thought "Thror is gonna think I'm stealig Tahrens idea." So I have foregone it, even though I enjoy it. (And Thror, if you want to throw your 2 cents at that, I'd appreciate it.) Maybe I'll see if I can get Murchadha to come with me. I wish I could have made it to the forge more with you in your last days, unfourtunatly I have not had much time to do anything but die and try to regear before the next Scion raid.

I think it's also worth mentioning that Tahren is very securly in Warborf's role. It stemmed from our long conversation the night I got in trouble over killing Zsosqe and not preaching to Scarabeus. That was the first time Warborf didn't bellar at the top of his lungs... and has become a habit when he is forging men or in the Shrine. (Thror might have noticed this.)

I was really looking forward to some more weapons training and sparring drills. Now that I have the idea, I might pick it up with someone else. (If I can stop dying for a minute) For the last two years I've been training all day every day for Tae Kwon Do events. In fact thats what I'm doing right now, and why I'm with out my happy little (shitty) mud client. I would have loved to cross reference my martial arts training with some quality role play.

Interracting with you raised the bar for me as a player, and the sort of zen way of Tahren made me think about a few things in real life as well. "Think before you strike."

I'll be sure to drop you some email!
-Dan

It's funny...the emotes and things at the forge stemmed from a two or three hour session with Thror where he 'taught' me to forge. I realized how easy it was to bring a room with a good description to life. The same is true about people with good descriptions.

>I would have loved to cross reference my martial arts training with some quality role play.

Bringing your own personal knowledge into your roleplay is sweet. Even if you don't know about something it is worthwhile to do a little research and learn a little bit. You end up with a lot more to use in your roleplaying.

The idea of weapons training in the forge started with Windric, a ranger who couldn't read the tenets of the faith. I taught him to read and in return he taught me how to dodge through a (long) series of interactive emotes. That worked its way into my role in the hopes of getting some kind of defensive skill, but that never panned out.

So the major things that you enjoyed in our interactions were actually learned in interactions I had with other people.

I've never been in anyone's role before...I think I mentioned that interaction you spoke of in my role, but I can't remember and I don't have it logged . Maybe I just talked with Thror about it.

>Interracting with you raised the bar for me as a player, and the sort of zen way of Tahren made me think about a few things in real life as well. "Think before you strike."

This was pretty sweet to read. Trewyn taught me that you could learn a lot by listening, so that's what I did. What happened is that Tahren could actually observe and consider each move before he made it (zen, baby). Plus I tried to age him right. In addition to three different descriptions (young-mature, middleaged-old, old), I tried to change his attitude as he aged. At the beginning of his life, he was headstrong and self-righteous and basically a real ass. Then as he aged, he got progressively more and more philosophical in his interactions. This attention to detail may be too subtle to be recognized by other people, but I found that it really helps you flesh out your character. You and I really didn't start talking until Tahren was already all philosophical and old .

As far as raising the bar for you as a player, I honestly felt intimidated by Warborf. I kept thinking to myself "geez, I wish I could keep up with him" -ooc in a roleplaying sense and ic in a molding others kind of way. It's amazing how your bar was raised, and that in turned made me feel like I needed to raise my own bar a bit. Someone said that good roleplaying is contagious. I guess they were right.

Keep on keepin' on, Warborf. You've got a killer character and I really enjoyed our interactions.

Yeah, I found some junk to say

I honestly felt sorry for you when you were getting your ass handed to you regularly. I tried to help you out by looting, grabbing weapons, giving armor or what ever. You certainly added a lot of fun to it for me. I was always trying to take your list of skills and figure out how I would work them in to make a kill. And any villager that would follow my stupid ideas to attack four scions in the palace is okay in my book.

Trewyn

You caught me once in frustration mode in the mid-ranks. We sat down and actually tried to figure out some kind of strategy.

Summary--
Trewyn: "Can you blind them"
Tahren: "No."
Trewyn: "Can you keep them in combat?"
Tahren: "Not with any consitency"
Trewyn: "What CAN you do?"
Tahren: "Disarm. Charge. Pugil."
Trewyn: "Huh. Good luck."
(edited slightly for comedy's sake)

And it's hard to practice what you preach. Tahren believed in being self-sufficient, including 'earning' equipment ("I don't need your hand-outs!"). That was a tough choice to make. I think every other villager handed me equipment at one time or another and I would drop it or hand it back. If a non-villager handed me something out of pity, I'd drop it and sac it . I think I said it when you died off, but Tahren really looked up to Trewyn, being a lightwalking villager and all.

yeah...see if I mention you again! jk Great playing, you did what I always thought about in the back of my mind...playing a battle paladin. Great job, I was always glad to see you around. You were Chalin's favorite ic rager...and friend. After Gungnir died that is.

AAron

What can I say... Blah!
Scion will pay. And whitecloaks too!

You were one of the best villagers
and I miss you.

>but I felt that
>Torakkel, the character, probably could
>have kept his mouth shut
>in some circumstances.

You've got me here. Being touched on the nerve
I often couldn't resist.

PS. Forget pk ratio, it doesn't matter, at all.

I really enjoyed running with Torakkel. I felt so bad when I had to basically tell you that you had no place at the village after you were exiled this last time. And I REALLY needed your help, too. But from a character standpoint, the imms are the head honchos, so what they say goes. I was actually a little afraid that I'd have to end up fighting you to make the point that they exiled you, so you couldn't be here...but luckily you left before I got myself into trouble .

The best time was against Kravidian and Yizenxlach with their armies when we didn't have the head. You tried to tell Tahren not to come because I'd get killed, and I ran in there fully expecting to get killed. I might not have been that much help, but I can assure you that winning that battle made its way into many many applicant interviews.

Well played and well done! I have to admit when you were first entering the village I and Hyshrawr felt for you. Your limitations were staggeringly obvious and heartrending to watch when all I could do was stand there and wait to do anything to make things easier. (ie. grab a disarmed weapon from them or loot you if you fell)
I was really impressed that you achieved hero rank all things considered but likewise I wasn't too surprised because grit and determination had to be staples for you to choose the path you'd chosen. I do wish I'd managed to hold onto the ghost till you and others were within reach so that we could have warred together on a more level playing field but such was not to be...
As for the Pillar, I don't even think it was until Trewyn and I both rose to the call for a leader that I really let it sink in. In a sense not just from a character standpoint my goal with Hyshrawr 'was' to gain a place there, but in hindsight it 'should' be the goal that every rager hopes to achieve. I personally 'know' I fell short of the mark many a time, though I didn't want to seem detached from the world around Hyshrawr or from the character either. (Which is how I view mindlessly throwing yourself into 'any' combat.) But I have 'no' doubt whatsoever that your name will be there as well. Well fought!
Hyshrawr

Sorry this took me so long to get around to posting. Tahren was a major force in Murchadha's life. Our discussions, especially around the time you mentioned kept me from pulling the plug, so for that I thank you. Overall I would have to say Tahren was an extremely deep character and very interesting to interact with. I found him to be more of an introvert than I originally thought, and he seemed to become moreso as time went on. I also hated to see you die as much as your role dictated he did. This is why I continually tried (mostly unsuccessfully) to give you gear and why I worded Implagur out when you were fighting him. Anyhow, good luck with the next incarnation and I hope whoever I am playing will interact with your next character, either as a comrade or an enemy.