Barbara Thunderfoot Kudos and Retirement

[Jaytega]

It feels bittersweet to be back after a multi-year hiatus.
Sweet because I enjoy this community so much and hope to continue to build great stories together.
Bitter because it was finally time to move on from one of my most beloved characters.

Barbara Thunderfoot would have many kudos to give out over her long life, and due to no fault of her own, I will likely miss some, please forgive.

When she first arrived to the mainland, a Barbarian woman bearing the mark of a tribe whose main tenets were Feasting, Revelry and glory in battle, she had just begun her new training in the ways of Knighthood. In an attempt to balance her more ferocious nature with skill and tactics born of the Red Knight herself, she turned to the city of Cordor, looking to put these more civilized tenets to use.

She would be brought on the Guard to work alongside awesome characters like
Mather Allias
Leon Griffith
Cei
Savol
Tognark
Kose
captain elias

Chasing pirates, defending the lands between cordor and the dale, writing up reports and bringing on fresh blood were always good fun.

Then of course, our leader, Gertrude Gawain, in truth, where Barbara learned everything it really meant to be a knight and to stand what you believe in, even if you stand alone; a true leader, a truer friend.

As Barbara raised in ranks, from Sgt to eventually replacing Gertrude as Commander when the former leader sacrificed herself to repel the shadow monster threat against the surface world, she became closer with politics, rubbing elbows with the likes of
Ezekiel
Derristan
Tabitha & Merryiam Fuzzypaw
Giogi
Miranda Magna

She learned how to navigate complex issues involving the evershifting chessboard that is settlement leadership, and from them and her late former leader she used her power as Cordor Commander to oppose truly great villains:

Katernin Bersk
Peram Flint

This dynamic eventually lead to the eventual rebellion that formed an epic rivalry of ideas, pitting 'Dark Cordor' vs 'True Cordor'
Many showed loyalty to Barbara, many fought alongside her and saw the wall together a few times. In a final attempt to show Barbara was truly loyal to Cordor, she hatched a master plan, one that did unfortunately ruffle a few feathers.

Through the final rebellion planning stages, Barbara would turn to those she never thought she would, unsavories and outcasts, and unfortunately I have forgotten their names, but Barbara will always remember their deeds and actions in helping her set up this ploy. For she found her true call to battle, it could never be against the city she had grown to love so much, instead she decided to take the battle to those who were biding their time and would strike against cordor in its weakest moment: The Underdarkers!

Thank you to all of the dozen plus souls who charged the underdark city gates (unsuccessfully) with Barbara on that day, and I apologize to anyone who was caught up in the defense of Cordor and was expecting us to actually attack cordor, and made time for that event which never came.

After Barbaras Exile, her rebellion crushed, feeling like she had failed utterly in the defense of the memory of her mentor Gertrude, Barbara did retire her Knighthood, going back to her roots, her family, the Thunderfoot Tribe.

Barbara was 'remade' as a Tribal Barbarian and she used her rekindled connection with her tribe to drive the Thunderfoot tribes lore further. Thank you to all (mostly the old cordor guards alts!) those who were so inspired and willing to contribute to the lore by rolling their very own Thunderfoots! I was honored to be a part of that.

Barbara became very close with a certain planeswalker...one Anton Brightshadow, and it was through him that she entered into enterprise! Business was booming as she funneled her illicit metalworks into Cordor through his estate and many trips to different dimensions would have this barbarian woman traveling across fireworlds, lands of pure ice and even the plane of death. I will always be grateful for the ultraconvincing, esoteric planeswalker!

As she got older, she reconnected with an old prodigy of hers! Thekla Thunderfoot! A tale you would have to hear for yourself to believe, but lets just say that the fates of the forgotten realms weave tales together in a way most beautiful, and Barbara spent many years rekindling that old friendship, Thekla now an equal, having learned and been through so much, Barbara felt as if she was like a mother to her. It saddened Barbara to go on so many trips with Anton, but she had a business to run afterall!

And thats when it happened. 2 years of Real Life. But in Arelith, we will say something much different occurred for Barbara.

On one of her expeditions on behalf of BrightShadow enterprises, she was planeswalking with some of antons magical items, when suddenly, something went wrong. The magic, it wasnt supposed to do this, it was meant to travel through dimensions, not through time... but it did. The next thing Barbara knew, she was waking up inside of the Logging Camp of Guldorand, she looked down to her hands, to find they seemed unfamiliar. She looked to the nearest mirror, catching her reflection. She looked like her grandmother, except of course, without a single hair on her perfectly shaved head!

Somehow, something very wrong had happened, 25 years had gone by, and Barbara was now an old woman, the last battle-ready years of her life stolen away from her, she called for the only name that came to her mind, and Thekla came.

Barbara spent the next few tenndays with Thekla, haunted by voices she knew not the source of. Accepting what had happened, grateful to at least have her old friend by her side, but she felt weak, sapped of all her energy, and was clearly, passed her adventuring days. The voices continued, but they did not whisper evil, they whispered many things that she could not understand, but as time went on, she think she knew whose voices they were.

She found hope and a new fondness for this laid back life, and hey, she could at least still dance as a Thunderfoot would dance!
So Thekla and her decided to visit a nearby festival of fire, where a gigantic bonfire was a blaze, just like the Thunderfoots used to make for their most epic ceremonies.

It was the most inspirational moment Barbara had found since traveling through time, and her blood began to pump, her feet began to stomp, and Barbara Thunderfoot danced her final dance around a bonfire that reminded her of what she missed most: home.

Thank you, everyone, for the amazing experience and I look forward to continuing the lore of the Thunderfoot with you all.

[Gideon DeVay]

Welcome back.

I recall returning to Arelith in 2019 to a Cordor vibrant with conflict and opportunity to participate in a complex narrative. It felt like a "golden season" to me.

[Morto]

>.< I can't read this without Crying!

Love you Barbara / JayTega!

[Edens_Fall]

It's bitter sweet to read this as I am happy you as a player have returned, but saddened to see Thunderfoot retire. I have had the pleasure of seeing her across most my PCs in one form or another since I started Arelith. From my time in the guard as Cei to the tomfoolery Sibayad, Thunderfoot has been there.

Regardless, welcome back and I look forward to seeing what new PC story you create!

[Taerl]

Oh the good ol days. I'm glad i decided to move Kose from Goldurand (Kose was friends with Thekla and if i recall correctly he even brought Thekla into the the Shields, which later she out ranked him, lol) to Cordor to help a friend of his with running a shop and more. In the process he joined the Guard and i tell ya, the fun started right away and it was non stop.

If I recal corectly it was Savol who was awaiting trial and we were having a meeting regarding such with perim and Katernin Bersk in the guard barracks. Eventually Kose spoke his piece about them being wrong and corrupt and whatnot, leading to Kose to be the first to be fired, followed by most of the rest of you shortly later,lol.

That UD attack was crazy fun as we were so freakin outnumbered it was mind numbing. Best part of it was I actually escaped being found after the main fight, only got 1 kill before going sneak mode and watching the search from afar.

Good to see you back, hope to run into you sometime. Kose is on the shelf atm but i always come back to him, but for now i am getting me some UD time in.