To those friends our characters have lost.
Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2022 8:27 am
You might still play with the players. Or you might try, and find.. you don't fit in the way you did with a person's old character, or on your old character. And while this may create ... awkwardness, and regret.. I want to compliment it. I want to stop and take a moment ... to examine, and compliment the sheer, and insane scope of Arelith, its history, and players for a moment.
Arelith existed for years before Andunor. And if my estimations are accurate? Andunor existed for some 5 years before my first character was created some years ago. I have, in my time on Arelith, seen some objects labeled "07 AR". (Arelith Reckoning) and for MOST of Arelith's history ... this server was on a 1 IRL month == 1-year RP time, more or less. The amount of history on Arelith? Is staggering.
Server resets, time adjustments due to bugs, whathaveyou.. recently, the time system shifted to 1 month IRL = 3 months in-game. This is fine for time compression-- but I still want to examine the fact that.. the current year of Arelith Reckoning is 146 AR. And this? This roleplaying project I came so late to participate in with all of you ... Is still here. Because people love it.
And I am awed by its scope, its complexity, its scale, and the number of hours people have put into it, its secrets, its history, its roleplay, its art, its craft, its IC traditions, its rivalries, its economy, and everything else that makes Arelith the beautiful, frustrating, awe-inspiring, terrible, endearing, outrageous and fun environment that has kept all of you coming back to for so long that it is, honestly, kind of frightening. (Let's be real here ... it's been like five years since NWN ENHANCED EDITION came out!)
A private server and RP community that was so strong that they survived the slow death and rebirth of its own game. This community is pretty close to the age of World of Warcraft. In a niche genre, in a niche game. And I've been thinking about that more, and more lately. That long Arelithian history? Is littered with so many characters that had so powerful an impact that ... aren't with us anymore, and can't be met by new players ever again.
Sol'vyr of the Erudite Arcanum (And Sorcere!) ... that.. while he has an NPC in the game.. Or the Matron of Pit-Town, who I never got to meet as a player also immortalized by an NPC ... the history of interconnected and interwoven characters is so vast that it boggles the mind to the point where it's impossible to even begin recording their origins and relationship connections. But these are just the ones we see with something left behind.
So what I'd like to do today? Is take just a moment to remember some of our favorite characters that others might not know ever existed. Whether it's years ago, or months ago ... some unsung hero you're not sure is rolled or still kicking around-- mention someone who was fun, or funny, or friendly, or terrifying and villainous who you ran from. Anecdotes, and things you loved, and missed.
I know the players of only two of these characters; and have never really tried to keep track of people's alts.. so if I've crossed paths with you since and never said hello? It's honestly because I never even knew it was you. Thank-you anyways. I like taking characters at face value and sometimes don't get along with people's 'new' characters anyways.. but these characters? Taught me valuable things about Arelith, probably without intending to.
For me, my unsung heroes are:
Grelveth: The "Human Necromancer-Wizard with the skull mask" who ran the potion shop right in front of the hub bank. I have no idea what his name was, and I was like.. level 8. Some male drow who wooped butt (Edit: Snuggybear? What? Haha.) with a dual-wield quarterstaff that Saslae liked and who helped her a lot mouthed off to the wizard, and the wizard killed the drow male.. and then Saslae picked up the drow's body, but was then over-encumbered and tried to run to save him. He demanded the body, Saslae refused, and he killed her and bashed both ... but 24 hours later, my character approached him, to try to bribe him to forget the matter, with her meager gold. And he accepted and set the matter aside. He later enchanted Saslae with some basic gear while I was still getting started on Arelith and had no idea what I was doing. (I was like level 16 with 1 level of weapon master, haha.) I was legitimately kind of sad when he eventually told Saslae he was leaving the city, as he had enough gold.. said he was going to the mainland, and that was that. This is when I realized 'rolling' a character was possible. As a Kensai? I had to branch out, and meet new people to even function because I quickly ran out of potions that I used to buy exclusively from his shop and some of the meanings of loss, and people rolling began to dawn on me. The new person who took over that shop wasn't a potion vendor ... and suddenly, when I thought I had a system for leveling figured out: I had no idea how to play the game again. This interaction of getting dunked, and bribing him (and him accepting the bribe and letting the grudge go in exchange for the respectful offering) is kind of how I developed Saslae's idea of what 'proper behavior' was in Andunor: Once the point is made and they acknowledge it and change the behavior? You let it go so business and gold may continue to flow.
Queln'rak: This drow male had self-marketing down to a science. He'd just shout his name and walk around loudly, and beat people with a halberd. Respectful to all-female drow, and an absolute beast in a fight. Always talked in the third person, but the man was a machine, and he was absolutely unforgettable. I am told he was one of the last Udos holdovers. The player taught me some game mechanics and showed me where a special key I found went and I periodically go back to show newbies where the key goes, just to repeat this experience for others. Queln'rak was larger than life.. and.. yet? Somehow he was never obnoxious. He was rolled before I was level 30 I think, like a lot of people on this list. I knew nothing of Arelith builds, and I took my first level of weapon master at almost level 17, while talking to him. He was a weapon master, and we both had two-handers, and him whirlwind-ing things to death was amazing to me as he showed me around the areas outside Andunor out exits I had never found. I think he even took Saslae to the surface once. I don't think he ever said it .. but him saying something like: "QUALN'RAK IS LARGE AND HUNGRY!" is something that always repeated in my mind like a meme, haha.
Siefer Rosemont almost 4 years ago. A male Tiefling Battle-Cleric. He was polite but HE LIKED TO FIGHT! I couldn't remember his first name after so many years (though someone just reminded me!), but I know he had a sister character still kicking around in the last year or so. I remembered him standing up for my character back before she was anyone important ... maybe he just wanted a brawl, but he was pretty great. He was fun to do dungeons with. Last saw him in The Andunorian Slave Pits, where we were all gambling on cage fights. Our characters whispered together ... and he was never seen again by Saslae. Sas tried to reach out to his sister, but ... she had her own thing going on. My character was always convinced he got (REDACTED) by (REDACTED), but she never found out for sure.
The other one was a Female Drow Spellsword, just before the Sharps/Brogenstein war between Blimth and Vance Gravelle. The two of us got in a row with 3 Brogensteiners (Buppy, Falgrim Vintergaard, long before he became Thane! And a female dwarf who later labeled my character 'The Selfish-Rock' which is a title Saslae kept for years.) in a place called "The Needle Chamber" that she had shown me (which has always had a special place in my heart since) and.. the Brogensteiners won hard. Never actually got to RP with her again. My character swore a blood feud against Falgrim and Brogenstein that lasted decades because of THIS specific event but there's no record of this character's name, and my character sometimes mutters in shame about having forgotten the name of her first friend after so many years; it's kind of become a growing neurosis for her. I loved her little: "I mean business" waddle that she'd do with a bad attitude. I think it was the HoTU female skeleton? It was weird. The anim change they made that everyone hated.. but with her robe it looked like she was scooting with haste, and about to walk over politely and beat someone with a newspaper when she had her perfectly level rapier out at her side. It was kind of 'barely contained vibecat'-ing while walking on a character who I remember (possibly incorrectly!) as very intense and judgemental; like she was trying to keep herself from losing it until she got to the target of her ire. She is THE REASON I made my surfacer a Spellsword way back in the day.
Tornius, the former Blackguard of Bane, turned wisened and aged Blackguard of Cyric. Saslae and he bonded over the mutual hate of that current generation of Banites and both fought against them; talking about their independent struggles and issues. He also saved her from a vampire lord who was trying to kill her. He was the father of Mathew Darnissian-Gravelle. Both Tornius and his son Matthew were disciples of Vance Gravelle, though Mathew never met his father or mother as an adult. One of Saslae's few friends. Tornius's death set Saslae on a very, very dark and paranoid path. Ever since she's been kind of possessive and protective of Matthew.. and she had a weird phase where she kind of began being protective of specific bloodlines of former allies for a while, trying to cultivate multi-generational loyalty realizing how quickly they all die and how she could very likely outlive them all as an 'elf'. (Dark or not) Tornius's (REDACTED) was Saslae's first brush with The Void Cult. Tornius was the first human Saslae (tried) to see as a peer, and appreciated for more than what she could get out of him ... and then he died. And Saslae was suspicious of (REDACTED) forever, after that and would have killed (or tried to kill) them if she ever got the impression that individual was planning to kill Tornius's son.
A Warlock my spellsword's leveling party had affectionately named 'Antlers' because of the helmet he wore. Leveled up with him on Skalijard, with Taestra Rinn. We came to Brogenstein, and? Last time we were all together, to explore an ice cavern we found.. there was a server crash, and we never managed to get "the band" back together. Herald? Harold? I don't remember his name, but he always made me laugh and I loved RPing with him. I tried going back to my spellsword, but playing without him was never the same. Fell out of love with my own surface character without him.
Airli, The Pixie-Knight ... He was ... 'openly fey', haha. Until you have stopped to examine the madness of entire groups of drow running in terror from a pixie who talks constantly about 'the power of friendship' and being 'happy and gay together' ... flying pixie-dust circles and loop-de-loops around everyone AT THE SAME TIME THE PLAYER IS SOMEHOW TYPING (how do your fingers do that?!), you haven't laughed hard enough. And it was innocent, beautiful laughter that was never really at anyone's expense. I loved this character dearly, and could never see enough of him. Then he got rolled, and none of my characters ever found he was gone. I only found out through OOC. He was a wonderful experience to talk to on my surface character and the little fairy was killing people with a 2-handed rapier years before Falchions existed. <3 I also remember him saying, any time someone said the word 'Yes!' in ear shot: "You said yes! We're getting married!" like he had seen it happen once, and innocent, and child-like he repeated it like a meme; and he'd fly around happily in circles for like 10 minutes going on and on about it. It was so beautiful. I think he had at least 10 (male and female!) "husbands" and he'd call them that at all future meetings ... a groan-worthy and ongoing gag that worked because he was so innocent. It was beautiful. I believed him as a fairy.
Though references may exist somewhere? I never found them. Who're your unsung heroes from your early days, or even just awhile ago that history books may not remember?
Arelith existed for years before Andunor. And if my estimations are accurate? Andunor existed for some 5 years before my first character was created some years ago. I have, in my time on Arelith, seen some objects labeled "07 AR". (Arelith Reckoning) and for MOST of Arelith's history ... this server was on a 1 IRL month == 1-year RP time, more or less. The amount of history on Arelith? Is staggering.
Server resets, time adjustments due to bugs, whathaveyou.. recently, the time system shifted to 1 month IRL = 3 months in-game. This is fine for time compression-- but I still want to examine the fact that.. the current year of Arelith Reckoning is 146 AR. And this? This roleplaying project I came so late to participate in with all of you ... Is still here. Because people love it.
And I am awed by its scope, its complexity, its scale, and the number of hours people have put into it, its secrets, its history, its roleplay, its art, its craft, its IC traditions, its rivalries, its economy, and everything else that makes Arelith the beautiful, frustrating, awe-inspiring, terrible, endearing, outrageous and fun environment that has kept all of you coming back to for so long that it is, honestly, kind of frightening. (Let's be real here ... it's been like five years since NWN ENHANCED EDITION came out!)
A private server and RP community that was so strong that they survived the slow death and rebirth of its own game. This community is pretty close to the age of World of Warcraft. In a niche genre, in a niche game. And I've been thinking about that more, and more lately. That long Arelithian history? Is littered with so many characters that had so powerful an impact that ... aren't with us anymore, and can't be met by new players ever again.
Sol'vyr of the Erudite Arcanum (And Sorcere!) ... that.. while he has an NPC in the game.. Or the Matron of Pit-Town, who I never got to meet as a player also immortalized by an NPC ... the history of interconnected and interwoven characters is so vast that it boggles the mind to the point where it's impossible to even begin recording their origins and relationship connections. But these are just the ones we see with something left behind.
So what I'd like to do today? Is take just a moment to remember some of our favorite characters that others might not know ever existed. Whether it's years ago, or months ago ... some unsung hero you're not sure is rolled or still kicking around-- mention someone who was fun, or funny, or friendly, or terrifying and villainous who you ran from. Anecdotes, and things you loved, and missed.
I know the players of only two of these characters; and have never really tried to keep track of people's alts.. so if I've crossed paths with you since and never said hello? It's honestly because I never even knew it was you. Thank-you anyways. I like taking characters at face value and sometimes don't get along with people's 'new' characters anyways.. but these characters? Taught me valuable things about Arelith, probably without intending to.
For me, my unsung heroes are:
Grelveth: The "Human Necromancer-Wizard with the skull mask" who ran the potion shop right in front of the hub bank. I have no idea what his name was, and I was like.. level 8. Some male drow who wooped butt (Edit: Snuggybear? What? Haha.) with a dual-wield quarterstaff that Saslae liked and who helped her a lot mouthed off to the wizard, and the wizard killed the drow male.. and then Saslae picked up the drow's body, but was then over-encumbered and tried to run to save him. He demanded the body, Saslae refused, and he killed her and bashed both ... but 24 hours later, my character approached him, to try to bribe him to forget the matter, with her meager gold. And he accepted and set the matter aside. He later enchanted Saslae with some basic gear while I was still getting started on Arelith and had no idea what I was doing. (I was like level 16 with 1 level of weapon master, haha.) I was legitimately kind of sad when he eventually told Saslae he was leaving the city, as he had enough gold.. said he was going to the mainland, and that was that. This is when I realized 'rolling' a character was possible. As a Kensai? I had to branch out, and meet new people to even function because I quickly ran out of potions that I used to buy exclusively from his shop and some of the meanings of loss, and people rolling began to dawn on me. The new person who took over that shop wasn't a potion vendor ... and suddenly, when I thought I had a system for leveling figured out: I had no idea how to play the game again. This interaction of getting dunked, and bribing him (and him accepting the bribe and letting the grudge go in exchange for the respectful offering) is kind of how I developed Saslae's idea of what 'proper behavior' was in Andunor: Once the point is made and they acknowledge it and change the behavior? You let it go so business and gold may continue to flow.
Queln'rak: This drow male had self-marketing down to a science. He'd just shout his name and walk around loudly, and beat people with a halberd. Respectful to all-female drow, and an absolute beast in a fight. Always talked in the third person, but the man was a machine, and he was absolutely unforgettable. I am told he was one of the last Udos holdovers. The player taught me some game mechanics and showed me where a special key I found went and I periodically go back to show newbies where the key goes, just to repeat this experience for others. Queln'rak was larger than life.. and.. yet? Somehow he was never obnoxious. He was rolled before I was level 30 I think, like a lot of people on this list. I knew nothing of Arelith builds, and I took my first level of weapon master at almost level 17, while talking to him. He was a weapon master, and we both had two-handers, and him whirlwind-ing things to death was amazing to me as he showed me around the areas outside Andunor out exits I had never found. I think he even took Saslae to the surface once. I don't think he ever said it .. but him saying something like: "QUALN'RAK IS LARGE AND HUNGRY!" is something that always repeated in my mind like a meme, haha.
Siefer Rosemont almost 4 years ago. A male Tiefling Battle-Cleric. He was polite but HE LIKED TO FIGHT! I couldn't remember his first name after so many years (though someone just reminded me!), but I know he had a sister character still kicking around in the last year or so. I remembered him standing up for my character back before she was anyone important ... maybe he just wanted a brawl, but he was pretty great. He was fun to do dungeons with. Last saw him in The Andunorian Slave Pits, where we were all gambling on cage fights. Our characters whispered together ... and he was never seen again by Saslae. Sas tried to reach out to his sister, but ... she had her own thing going on. My character was always convinced he got (REDACTED) by (REDACTED), but she never found out for sure.
The other one was a Female Drow Spellsword, just before the Sharps/Brogenstein war between Blimth and Vance Gravelle. The two of us got in a row with 3 Brogensteiners (Buppy, Falgrim Vintergaard, long before he became Thane! And a female dwarf who later labeled my character 'The Selfish-Rock' which is a title Saslae kept for years.) in a place called "The Needle Chamber" that she had shown me (which has always had a special place in my heart since) and.. the Brogensteiners won hard. Never actually got to RP with her again. My character swore a blood feud against Falgrim and Brogenstein that lasted decades because of THIS specific event but there's no record of this character's name, and my character sometimes mutters in shame about having forgotten the name of her first friend after so many years; it's kind of become a growing neurosis for her. I loved her little: "I mean business" waddle that she'd do with a bad attitude. I think it was the HoTU female skeleton? It was weird. The anim change they made that everyone hated.. but with her robe it looked like she was scooting with haste, and about to walk over politely and beat someone with a newspaper when she had her perfectly level rapier out at her side. It was kind of 'barely contained vibecat'-ing while walking on a character who I remember (possibly incorrectly!) as very intense and judgemental; like she was trying to keep herself from losing it until she got to the target of her ire. She is THE REASON I made my surfacer a Spellsword way back in the day.
Tornius, the former Blackguard of Bane, turned wisened and aged Blackguard of Cyric. Saslae and he bonded over the mutual hate of that current generation of Banites and both fought against them; talking about their independent struggles and issues. He also saved her from a vampire lord who was trying to kill her. He was the father of Mathew Darnissian-Gravelle. Both Tornius and his son Matthew were disciples of Vance Gravelle, though Mathew never met his father or mother as an adult. One of Saslae's few friends. Tornius's death set Saslae on a very, very dark and paranoid path. Ever since she's been kind of possessive and protective of Matthew.. and she had a weird phase where she kind of began being protective of specific bloodlines of former allies for a while, trying to cultivate multi-generational loyalty realizing how quickly they all die and how she could very likely outlive them all as an 'elf'. (Dark or not) Tornius's (REDACTED) was Saslae's first brush with The Void Cult. Tornius was the first human Saslae (tried) to see as a peer, and appreciated for more than what she could get out of him ... and then he died. And Saslae was suspicious of (REDACTED) forever, after that and would have killed (or tried to kill) them if she ever got the impression that individual was planning to kill Tornius's son.
A Warlock my spellsword's leveling party had affectionately named 'Antlers' because of the helmet he wore. Leveled up with him on Skalijard, with Taestra Rinn. We came to Brogenstein, and? Last time we were all together, to explore an ice cavern we found.. there was a server crash, and we never managed to get "the band" back together. Herald? Harold? I don't remember his name, but he always made me laugh and I loved RPing with him. I tried going back to my spellsword, but playing without him was never the same. Fell out of love with my own surface character without him.
Airli, The Pixie-Knight ... He was ... 'openly fey', haha. Until you have stopped to examine the madness of entire groups of drow running in terror from a pixie who talks constantly about 'the power of friendship' and being 'happy and gay together' ... flying pixie-dust circles and loop-de-loops around everyone AT THE SAME TIME THE PLAYER IS SOMEHOW TYPING (how do your fingers do that?!), you haven't laughed hard enough. And it was innocent, beautiful laughter that was never really at anyone's expense. I loved this character dearly, and could never see enough of him. Then he got rolled, and none of my characters ever found he was gone. I only found out through OOC. He was a wonderful experience to talk to on my surface character and the little fairy was killing people with a 2-handed rapier years before Falchions existed. <3 I also remember him saying, any time someone said the word 'Yes!' in ear shot: "You said yes! We're getting married!" like he had seen it happen once, and innocent, and child-like he repeated it like a meme; and he'd fly around happily in circles for like 10 minutes going on and on about it. It was so beautiful. I think he had at least 10 (male and female!) "husbands" and he'd call them that at all future meetings ... a groan-worthy and ongoing gag that worked because he was so innocent. It was beautiful. I believed him as a fairy.
Though references may exist somewhere? I never found them. Who're your unsung heroes from your early days, or even just awhile ago that history books may not remember?