Mon Aug 19 21:51:06 2002


9 o''clock PM, Day of the Moon, 14th of the Month of the Shadows on the Theran calendar Martinian perished, never to return.

You would impress me as well. Now that I've read your role I see why you were so lippy. I also understand where the village comes into play with your mouthing off. Tough roles can be a B#tch. I always liked having you around and knew you could fight which was a HUGE bonus for me. As for my role...well it's as twisted as a Drow being tattoo'd by an Orc. Hope your next is more fun, cause yes it's a game.

ps. Balance works fine for me. *chuckle* I also know your pain with a character going the wrong direction.

Pretty much nothing went right from day one with this character but I kept steaming on, kept playing him, mostly because it's not so easy to hero a storm warrior rager and get your skills up and all that. But let me explain.

I wanted a rager trabryn follower. I was neutral good, since you can't be lawful as a rager. Trabryn then tells me I can't be a tattooed follower because I'm not orderly enough. Then they change the system and it's not "lawful" ethos but "orderly". I asked them to switch it so I could be what I'd always intended, and played, etc., but never really heard back. So, that went wrong.

Then, legacies. Both of mine were screwed up. Balance of the sisters was very buggy. It wouldn't let me dual wield weapons of less than or equal weight, if they weren't the same weapon. Which, of course, defeats the purpose of the legacy. So I had to find really light flails and really heavy maces to dual wield them.

Flow of Shadows. I didn't even know it could avoid spells until I saw it on the logboard today. It never did that for me, whether I had spellbane up or not. And it went off about five times total in pk's. Total. It pretty much never worked, and my bringing it up on the bug board is what got the helpfile changed to reflect that.

So, a legacy that doesn't work for you and one that is broken for most of your time with it. (It got changed this past weekend, for the most part. Still a bit buggy though.)

So no religion as wanted, neither legacy working as predicted (though when I could wield mace and flail, it was great. A super combo and very good concept by you imms. I'm not getting down on you all here, the legacies are the whole reason these days to make warriors. I just wish I'd been able to work as intended, or switch from flow to something else. I'd have never chosen Flow if the helpfile said then what it says now, of ocurse) and then the recent problem with Huraz and all that.

Martinian's role, which I will post below, was such that he always had to be better than everyone else, because he was born a runt. Always had to work harder, do better, all that, just to keep up. And, he wasn't your usual storm giant in that he was betrayed by his people - in his eyes, though they wouldn't call it that - and so he felt no ties to them at all. He did what he thought was right, and helped people, but was not goodie goodie as some thought he should be just because of his race. He was never evil and he always was upset when a good aligned mob had to die for the cause, but he wasn't about to go helping little goodies just for the fun of it, either.

As for why delete now, Martinian wasn't going to change his attitude (he didn't think he should have to, being a villager isn't about love or being liked, it's about doing duty and respect and trusting you can fight when needed, which I always believed he did) and so either he would be exile forever, or he would change and break his role and get reinducted. Neither seemed fun. And in the end it's a game and if it's not fun, don't play.

Anyway, I'll post more about him later, there's a bunch to say but I'm not in the mood right now. Just a few quick shout outs.

Bryvac and Barponrye - we did a lot of practicing. As we got older I thought worse and worse of Barponrye as a character, seemed very newbie-ish, though I now know he isn't, but always liked him as a person. Bryvac on the other hand I didn't like so much at the start but by the end liked and respected tremendously.

Valarath - I couldnt believe you were still a villager every time I logged on. I hope it's in your role to do really absurd things, or say really wacky things. Yes or no, though, you were always fun to have around. Knew something unexpected was going to happen.

Huraz - I think you're a fine leader, contrary to what many probably think. The two issues at the end, suicide and victory, are things I think should be addressed. I think suicide, given the right circumstances, is perfectly valid. Come on, entire warrior cultures (Japanese, for instance) have grown and included suicide and honor and being a fine warrior. It is even more appropriate in a world where such suicide isn't even permanent! It should never be done lightly, or without real understanding, but it shouldn't just be a blanket rule either. I can think of several situations where it would be preferable to suicide, ghost, unghost rather than wait to die and prolong it all. Anyway you are a good leader and I have a lot of respect for you, the end notwithstanding.

Yror - You're the only one who really surprised me. Our last conversation was disturbing. And I think you were desperate to come up with a real justification and finally latched onto the morale thing. Whatever. Aside from that I liked that you went with an unusual race/class/weapon/villager path combo and you did it pretty well. We had fun on the mountain levelling. And the battle I posted on the logboard was really great fun.

Birota - you impressed me. Constantly.

Owagwyn - you also impressed me, though I had a hard time getting a real grasp of your role or who you were trying to be. Could be I just didn't talk to you enough.

I'm sure I'm forgetting people. Sorry. I'll post again later or tomorrow or something.

role + Years ago an enclave of storm giants left the lake and formed a smaller community
role + of farmers and other tradesmen. North and west they went, and they found some
role + fine land following an offshoot of the murky river. There they settled down,
role + and while their village never grew to nearly the size of the lake kingdom,
role + it grew to be more than just a collection of huts. It became a real, working
role + home for several hundred storm giants.
role +
role + Over the years they had their share of happiness and sorrow, like any group
role + of people. One of the tragedies that would recur though was every now and
role + then one of the children would go missing. These children were never found
role + and were of course a source of great pain for all who knew them. But the
role + reason for their loss was never discovered.
role +
role + One day, a generation or so ago, the people began noticing that their portion
role + of the murky river was now even darker, and worse yet, showing colors that
role + would never be found in running water naturally. They did not know the
role + cause, and their best healers found nothing wrong with it, but still the water
role + was disturbing. But it was their only source of fresh water so they continued
role + to drink it. Among those who drank it was a young giant woman named
role + Vorilinian, recently married to Glorinost, and happier still, recently pregnant.
role + Being pregnant she drank more than her fair share of the water, feeling
role + safe because the healers had pronounced it fit for drinking. Months later,
role + the happy day came and she gave birth to her son, Martinian. But as her
role + first cry of joy left her mouth, it ended on a sad note as the healer handed
role + the boy to her. Martinian was the smallest baby any had ever seen. If not
role + for his color, you’d think he was a human baby! And weak he was, as though the
role + strength of the giants just did not flow in his veins.
role +
role + Glorinost consulted the healers and no explanation could be given, but of course
role + all thoughts were on the strange changes to the river. So, finally, an expedition,
role + led by Glorinost, was dispatched. They followed the river upstream, ignoring
role + backtracking along only the one riverlet that shared the discoloration. Seven
role + days they trekked, until finally they found the outlet for the strange colors.
role + The High Tower of Sorcery.
role +
role + Entering the Tower, looking for the Grand Mistress who is one of the rulers of
role + the Tower, Glorinost and his companions passed by sights strange and diabolical.
role + A master enchanter, a necromancer, strange hands and eyes floating in the air, and
role + even a Librarian floating amidst shelves of books. Finally, they reached the
role + Mistress. They asked about the strange fluids rolling into the river from the
role + Tower. The Mistress, neither kind nor mean, did not know the source of the
role + tainted waters, but led them through the corridors. Finally, they came to
role + the Master of Evil. There, standing with his acolyte, they saw him standing
role + over a cauldron, murmuring words of vile darkness and magic most foul.
role + The Mistress, uncaring as to the magic itself or it’s intent, simply asked if
role + The Evil Master had let his magic spill beyond the Tower. Laughing, the man
role + dressed in black ignored the giants around him and told the Mistress he had spent
role + the past year working on a spell and what does she care if his byproduct spilled
role + into the river? Other beings, non-magical beings, were of no consequence.
role + The Mistress answered that she didn’t care about the others, but she did care
role + that her Tower was not orderly and confined. She ordered the Master of Evil to
role + either find a way to confine his spells, or cease casting them. The Evil Master
role + agreed.
role +
role + Turning to Glorinost the Mistress said “mystery solved” and began to turn away,
role + the matter already forgotten. Before she took her first step out of the door,
role + Glorinost leaped at the Evil Master, cursing him and demanding he undo what his
role + magic spill-off had done to his son. The Evil Master, as though noticing Glorinost
role + for the first time, raised one eyebrow, pointed a finger and a wand at the giant, and
role + spoke four words. As his companions looked on in horror, Glorinost was racked
role + with disease and his body began melting as though he were a candle in an oven.
role + Before even the first of them could move, Glorinost was dead, and what remained
role + of him was merely clothing and bone.
role +
role + “Tut, tut” said the Mistress of Magic, turning now fully around to face the Master.
role + Frowning at the mess, she motioned with her arms and the mess disappeared, no
role + remnant left even to signify Glorinost’s presence. “Time for you others to go”
role + she said, and with a word of magic, sent them home.
role +
role + Appearing at the temple of their village, the giants who had accompanied Glorinost
role + quickly found Vorilinian and told her what happened. The village elders gathered
role + and the men told of the vile magic which had tainted their water. The healers,
role + now understanding that their divine powers were unable to see the unnatural,
role + magical taint on the waters, set about finding a way to purify the river. But while
role + all of this was being done, Vorilinian was sitting alone, with her week old baby
role + Martinian in her arms, singing to him songs of her people. A small smile was on
role + her face, but when anyone came to talk to her, to help her, or to touch the baby,
role + a vicious look on her face and a growl like a cornered she-wolf scared them away.
role + Hours passed and she would not move, she would not speak and she would not
role + do anything but rock her baby and sing to him. Eventually, even she could not
role + stay awake and she fell asleep with Martinian in her arms.
role +
role + A midwife and a healer and Vorilinian’s sister Brinolian rushed in and took
role + Martinian, cleaned him, and saw to his mother. That was the last time he was
role + ever held by his natural mother.
role +
role + Vorilinian woke hours later, but her mind was gone, replaced only by an empty
role + longing for her husband, and a nameless joy with children. She had no memory
role + of her own son, and she could not, or would not, remember his name.
role + Martinian was told and believed that Brinolian was his mother and her husband,
role + Thurgarus, his father. He always felt pity for his aunt Vorilinian, but he was
role + never told why she was sick, or his true history. The entire community of giants
role + kept the secret of his parentage, and even the existence of Glorinost, for years.
role +
role + Martinian grew up with other boys his age, but he was always barely half their
role + size. The magically fouled water his mother had drank while pregnant stunted
role + his size, made his growth both little and late. And as boys are everywhere, in
role + every culture and of every race, they don’t care why a thing is, they care only
role + that it is, and so all the other boys teased and bullied little Martinian.
role + To compensate, Martinian would exercise intensely, making more of his puny
role + body than any other giant made of their bigger one. His strength was returned
role + to him with puberty, but his height never came. No healing, no exercise, no
role + wishing worked to make him grow to even close to the full height of his people.
role +
role + And, as secrets have a way of doing, his past came to light by accident, when
role + he was a young man and no longer a child. A visitor from the Lake kingdom
role + was in the village, as the giants would trade and communicate with eachother
role + from time to time. Martinian was practicing with his weapons out in a clearing
role + near the river. It was a favorite place of his, where few others ever came, and
role + close to the water where he could cool off and relax after a workout.
role + A few voices reached him and he stopped his practice, listening. Soon he
role + recognized his mother, who by now was a village elder, talking with the visitor
role + from the Lake. “Is this the place?” the visitor asked? “Yes” replied his mother.
role + “Even after all these years, coming here makes me angry and sad, and I
role + sometimes dream of taking vengeance on the vile magician of the Tower.”
role + “I understand of course. Even at the Lake we were horrified of the incident and
role + the king sent his most serious protest. But it’s many years ago now. Does the boy
role + know of his true parentage? Does he know the name Glorinost?” “No” said the
role + woman he thought was his mother. “No, he will never know. His mother passed
role + away three years ago, still possessing only the mind of a child, and without any
role + recollection of her husband, or that she was Martinian’s mother. There is nothing
role + but hurt and pain to be gained by honesty now. He will always be marked by what
role + happened, his size makes that obvious, but otherwise he seems happy as any young
role + giant, and we see no reason to change that. We are happy being his parents, since
role + I cannot have children myself.”
role + The two passed out of earshot, but Martinian barely noticed. His mind swam as
role + his world was rocked. His mother is not his mother and his father is not his father!
role + His whole life is a lie! And his size was the result of some magician’s magic from
role + the Tower of Sorcery! Everything he was, everything he believed, everything he
role + thought he could trust, was a lie.
role + Running back to his home, knowing his mother would still be out with the visitor
role + and his father out in the fields, he gathered his few belongings, some supplies,
role + his weapons, and some coin, he fled his village, tears in his eyes, and curses
role + on his breath. Never would he tolerate lies again, never would any be dishonest
role + with him and get away with it, nor would he be dishonest with others, or cause
role + them the pain he was feeling now. And magic. Magic! Magicians would pay for
role + what they had done. The death of his family, the betrayal of his people in lying to
role + him for all those years, all of it came from the magic in the river.
role +
role + They would pay.

n/t

A good read. Very good indeed.

Thanks, took a while.

I remember reading your role, and enjoying it, so I payed you a visit to talk to you. I was fairly impressed, overall. I'm sorry things worked out the way they did for you, personally, but I was glad to see that sort of challenge and strife in the village. Always makes for an interesting time. I didn't watch you much, but I liked what I saw when I did.

You taught me an important lesson the first time i tried to retrieve. I looked forward to fighting you, strangely enough it seemed you were one of the few ragers I tended to fight alone. I always empathise with people who get booted out of the village, for the most part for very small things.

I remember that time when you were telling me that I had no skill, and that it was the truth. I was dying to give you the rejoinder 'But if you get killed with someone who's got no skill...' but you promptly fell into a storm giant sleep.

Good luck with your next character.

We got off on the wrong foot, but I started to enjoy your company down the road. Especially that fight at the destructor..

>Then, legacies. Both of mine were screwed up. Balance of
>the sisters was very buggy. It wouldn't let me dual wield
>weapons of less than or equal weight, if they weren't the
>same weapon. Which, of course, defeats the purpose of the
>legacy. So I had to find really light flails and really
>heavy maces to dual wield them.

Did you ever see if I actually fixed this?

>Flow of Shadows. I didn't even know it could avoid spells
>until I saw it on the logboard today. It never did that for
>me, whether I had spellbane up or not. And it went off
>about five times total in pk's. Total. It pretty much
>never worked, and my bringing it up on the bug board is what
>got the helpfile changed to reflect that.

The bug board pays for itself...now if only I could get paid for fixing them

I got your note in game, but we've been having problems with the email of late, so I hadn't seen them yet. I did what I could to try and get stuff fixed up, harder when I had nothing to do with the legacy stuff and had to continually ask around what they were supposed to do, and then figure out the formulas as well. Anyway, thanks for the bug reports, luck in the future.

So long, and thanks for all the fish!

I really thought that you would amount to something great, for some reason or another. You seemed to have a pretty honorable way about yourself, at least through our interaction.

I'm sorry to see you go, and good fights.

Jareiah

I must say, well done. I enjoyed interacting with you, even though you were a bit bossy, and even more crabby sometimes. I didn't mean anything personal by our last conversation, it was a totally in char thing. Out of char, I wanted you to get back in, really, but it was something that didn't happen this time. Oh well, see ya on the flipside
Bryvac

I figured it was just a character thing. But thanks anyway. Good luck with the generalship and all that.