Messages

Such a moving and tragic story.  Great obituary! great first PC!

I second what Pentaxius said.

I'm sure you can understand that both Jarik and Sru "knew" of each other's presence in and about Sanctuary... Through that common (spoiler) link... And I felt like I needed to meet Jarik at the right time; despite how deeply embedded in the goings-on of Lower Sanctuary he was... Meaning: Jarik was one of the go-to-guys... to find out who was who, and what was what in Lower.

I know I took my time (like months)... but so glad I got a chance to meet and talk to you with depth and quality when we did. And only scratched at a few surfaces :)

Awesome that Jarik started as a random sellsword... and ended up a Dark Prince of Ibrandul. :)

Well played!

Dear Kiskit, of House Yalspephrit,

Looooved the interactions this crazed human foisted on Sru. We both found out at the same time.... that I must be part elf as well as.... something else...:: Immune to sleep-spell attacks!  A resistance to Kiskit-shenanigans that happily surprised me.

Very well played. I am certain Kiskit-Sru 'conversations' will continue into the next world. Like sands through the hourglass... :D

Until then.... Peace..........

[hide=(10) Larrak's End, and Strange Allies in Traensyr]Sru and Larrak had a long standing battle over what to do with Gregor Raspkov. It reached a point where Larrak and Sru duelled for the right to decide his fate. Even if Sru had been fully enspelled for for the duel... I dont think she had a chance: Larrak was very dogged in a fight. Poor Gregor was given, "Buckley's and none" to decide his fate.
After all that... Larrak had decided to meet an Orog Champion in a duel. If Larrak won, the Society would have allies in battle against the Dread. If Larrak lost... we had no idea. Larrak lost after a drawn out fight to the death. Without Larrak... we felt a bit lost... Incomplete, though several Ordinants, Oathsworn, Tempered, and others arrived to help us continue into Traensyr.
The Champions face each other...Battle ensuesAnd so we enlist these 'Allies' (see below).And then these 'Allies' showed up, smelling a big fight, and wanting in, regardless of the Larrak outcome (see below).We actually made tactical plans for entry into Traensyr with them all. Plans that made sense.So off we went through the 'empty' streets...And soon found a fight (see below).And more fight...And targets to strike at? We moved so fast, Sru had no idea what the targets were. Only a vague understanding of spoken locations, she had never seen before. She followed the stream of conquest, like a good Ordinant.And we stopped briefly, before finding stairs...[/hide][hide=(8) The Dread Lord]Lots of skirmishes along the way, party spread out between Lower and Upper Traensyr (if such places even exist; hard to tell!).This was THE defining moment for Sru. It was what GithZerai call a 'significant event', a turning; how they measure time. Sru could see the illithid chasing the party along the Upper level platforms. Being GithZerai... something clicked inside her... and she went... "**** this", and turned around to face the monster. It also seemed that all the Ordinants had the same idea at the same time. Strange, but true (see below).Any Creature... that can stop time... needs to be respected...You can read the narrative flow of events inside the screenshot. The War on Consciousness became very specifically felt by many during this encounter. Sru had people who were there come up to her long afterwards and ask... "What happened?" ... No-one could define what happened with a language I understood.... Fantastic stuff by all involved (see below).That Bigby's hand visual was not just a 'Spell'...When that Bear-Druid's head imploded.... I knew we were in serious trouble (see below).Abala and Ordinant Elene (and several others) are offscreen to the right of the screen shots narrative here. You can hear them screaming for RETREAT! (see below).The Hand had evaporated, Dax was at Sru's feet, little Sru was struggling to drag Dax's body out of range of the now levitating illithid: she was torn between helping Dax and reaching for Baelian's hand and saving herself... When the platform gave way. You can see what happened. This image is perhaps not as visually accurate as the narrative is (see below).
And so... Sru died. So did Ordinant Elene, Ordinant Dax, Seivjar the Halfling Talosian, Njordr the Bear-Druid. Perhaps others. Baelian, Shafire, Watcher Dathran (sp. - Kiroy's Watcher) dragged us all out. And brought us back to life.[/hide][hide=(7) An Avatar of Malar? - Part One]I liked this encounter. The Huntmaster found Kavruun Benegor worthy, I believe... The Screenshots reveal enough.[/hide][hide=(7) An Avatar of Malar? - Part Two]Abala argues with the Huntmaster.
[/hide][hide=(6) An Avatar of Malar? - Part Three]A storm erupts in the Huntmaster's wake...[/hide][hide=(6) Looking for the Dread Master in Traensyr again]This shot is here to show that the Society does care for it's Oathsworn! Sru took Agent Rufus's recipe and materials  (unbeknownst to him? who knows...) and attempted to create a cure for Shafire's affliction. Did not work. Shafire did purge alot though.... And so... following a lead, we end up below Traensyr, facing this thing...A pause in the streets with Abala.Searching...Where exactly do we go? Whose lead are we following?In here! (see below).[/hide][hide=(5) Traensyr oddities]Is this a lab? These are definitely thralls.And that is... ??Closer to the target (see below).Spells, psionics, thralls.... battling one big mess... (see below).Sru believed she struck the correct smaller target to allow everyone to take down the massive target. Jormund seemed to understand, he helped me. Only logical & tactical move Sru did that elicited a clear result. Though, the illithid and its drow 'alchemist-thrall?' escaped [/hide][hide=(8) Sru's Last Society Mission - Part One]From the look of these Screenshots, all Sru did was work in Traensyr... Not true. These are the only SSs that managed to 'take' when I pressed the SS button! .. Anyway... Here we are at a briefing in the field. We are following the trail of that Dread Master yet again, it seems. Here with Dess, Berylla, Gustavus, and Logan Ackerman. Gareth Rauviane is offscreen, but present. The Ordinant Field Commander's name escapes me. We worked with him a few times though!There were so few of us going into the deepdark, through Traensyr... that at least three other Field Ordinants came to aid us. A good thing!That bounding Ordinant was Hostace, I think. We needed their help for sure (see below).Another view of the battle, moments later (see below).One Ordinant held the line behind us, while we ran ahead.... A hopeless last stand...We didn't exactly run... more... cautiously advanced deep into enemy territory (see below).Ysinode's forces keep meeting us... every step of the way (see below).[/hide][hide=(6) Sru's Last Society Mission - Part Two]More Dread forces. We must advance.These missions require Epic Concentration! One wrong move, can lead to a series of wrong moves, can lead to disaster...And so we go deeper... A minor battle that could have turned bad very fast for Sru. She always had great frontliners to work with: Ordinants. And the healing support was phenomenal. Selfless.I have no idea what that drow got electrified with... but thank the gods it did get zapped!Two drow thralls vs. seven Ordinants/Oathsworn. Never underestimate the enemy![/hide][hide=(7) Sru's Last Society Mission - Part Three]The blood begins to flow on both sides. Gotta love those potions being slugged down mid-strike!Sru had her psi shields up here... She felt confident, but never certain. note: the drow bionist waiting for us in the background. Just out of range.. (see below).Overview of this one battle: we ended up having several battles much like this. Epic concentration! Throw in a bionist or two.. and the odds change.The Drow Spear-Wielder is finally cut to his knees behind Sru...
Certain parts of this journey must remain a mystery... Suffice to say, we made it into Old Port sewers. This is the encounter where Sru lost her marbles: taking directions from aberrants? Sru had a sense that they would turn on us at any time.Dess managed to keep his cool, asking the right questions. Getting us where we needed to go (see below).
And so this Society Mission went even deeper, into a place I can only describe as an Aberrant House of Horror. Many surprises, and riddles along the way. After all the battling to get there, the riddles messed with Sru's mind. Too much thinking, not enough rest.
And it was in this madhouse that Sru was caught off-guard, transfixed by a sight she could not comprehend, and turning around... her psi-shield lowered... she was overrun and cut down easily by thralls.
She was raised by the goodwill of her fellow Ordinants and Oathsworn, Logan Ackerman offering kind words to urge her onwards... ... but Sru was out of her mind... not completely in her body... And so... Ordinant Sru lagged behind the party.... and disappeared.[/hide]

WARNING: LOTs of Screenshots. I've hidden them in batches of 2-10. The Numbers before each entry, eg: (3), indicate how many Screenshots are hidden in each batch. See below:

[hide=(8) First Impressions]Sru started, like many of us...on Toril's ruined surface (see below).
Early lake walks with future Ordinants (see below).
Kennet Mercer told her to choose a path - all 3 cannot be done alone (ie: save Surfacers, Kill Aberrants, Protect Sanctuary). (see below).
 The vainglorious vow (see below).
Another hardworking Ordinant who disappeared before Sru joined them (see below).
First attempt to convince a Diviner (Vesper) to remote-view Ysinode & locate her rrakkma party (where are they?)...
Observing the tiny Director with the big reputation. Abala fascinated and frustrated her... (see below).
Her first taste of the power of the Spellguard.. after the War on the Dark Lake... and the furore over Sapphire Island (see below).[/hide][hide=(9) Alchemy Lessons, Oathsworn & Ordinancy]An in-depth Alchemy lesson with Doctor Kellyn Carter. I remember Carter saying, "An Alchemist does not create recipes, she discovers them."With Watcher Mali Stewart, waiting for the alchemy 'experiment' to end, so the next attempt can be made. Carter's single lesson gave me a profound respect for what Alchemists undergo to learn alchemy. So much trial and error. (see below)
Ordinant Malcolm Larrak digging deep (see below).With Anne du Montfort & Larrak (see below).Full throttle Oathsworn Idealism (see below).
Larrak swanning about with a magic stick (see below).A Vision of Terribilita... (see below).Rebirth and Return (see below).Sru's "Ordinancy" confirmed many things for her: her past, her mission... Also opened her up to the value of the Crusade as well...[/hide][hide=(7) Early Questing & Brognar's Brigade]Siliander took Sru strange places telling her it was wizard's work... Thayans!... hmk!I missed Brognar's First Charge at Traensyr. This was the Second Charge, where we were met with silence inside the Massive Gate (see below).Brognar mustered lots of dwarves, early Tempered followed his lead, lots of people came to his call. It was completely suicidal, of course... More silence below, with the stairwell down blockaded (see below).And in turning back, the host of drow-thralls arrived behind us (see below).So many of them, that even the brave Ordinant Larrak fell. Mysteriously... a helper arrived and raised him from death. A few present found this very odd (see below).Brognar reported all about his Lowerdark Charges to Abala.Sru went into the Chapterhouse and meditated on all the crazy stunts & portents. The wall was her friend for awhile (see below).[/hide][hide=(6) Let's hunt in Lowerdark, Dax!]Ordinant Toran Dax never needed any encouragement to go rampaging through the Sands. Dax intended to die there. Sru did not. However, when Dax & Sru went hunting on this occasion, quite a few of Dax's friends turned up to help us. This lead to Sru wanting to see inside the gates of Ysinode... at which point Robal & Abala & Dess all turned up to lay the law down and haul us back to Sanctuary.Saved by Dax inside Chabzash (see below).Fighting our way back to camp (see below).Smacking aberrants on the way back (see below).On the boat Sru discovered for the first time that being an Ordinant did not grant her powers to take people anywhere she liked. Abala set the law down, Dess agreed. Robal was quiet. (see below).Spellguard ended up fining both Wayfinder Gyllin and Ordinant Sru 1000 gold each for taking unlicensed citizens on patrol in the Lowerdark. Basically, Robal said to us... "Are you mad? You wanted to walk into Ysinode." Sru is against the back wall next to Dess going, "Yes I am mad. When are you lot going to wake up and fight the Dread?" Dess said something like, "There won't be a trial. People are asleep, yes." The Tempered pleaded ignorance of the law and got off. Clever of them![/hide][hide=(4) Sru's First experience with a Directorate Election: Narvis/ Kingsley]Politicking with Narvis outside the House of Governance, not long before the votes were counted (see below).Rhiannon Kingsley, our mysterious Society Founder. How can a human know so much about the Dread Empire, Sru asks herself (see below).The votes have been counted. Sru had an interesting discussion with Kasi Radma... who quietly handed Sru a small dispelling hand-grenade she claimed she had made herself. "Keep it," said Kasi. I did wonder what other ordinances Kasi had up her sleeve at that moment...Abala reassures Kingsley (see below). And you know the outcome of that election... Well done Narvis![/hide][hide=(3) Dax has no fear...]Dax: "So you want to see who this --spoiler-- is? Let's go have a look." Sru: "Uh, yess, Dax." (see below).Wise words between new friends (see below).Deep in Dread territory (see below).[/hide][hide=(4) Encounters with friends in Sanctuary]Arantras the White.Baelian Kalvath - a good friend. Instilled hope in her that some humans retained a soul (see below).Took a long while to crack the ice around Robal's heart. Had a fantastic conversation with Robal the day before he died. Saw signs of life in the Spellguard Agent.Mia Datson opened Sru up the the concept of the Netherese influence on Toril.[/hide][hide=(7) First Big Lowerdark Society Mission - Part One]Ranging Ordinants had found an illithid laboratory and asked us to go look-see.Are we ready?Yes, let's go (see below).Ambush! (see below).At the site (see below).Discussing the evidence of our eyes (see below).In we go... [/hide][hide=(9) First Big Lowerdark Society Mission - Part Two]Inside the lab.What's this? (Sru was convinced for a moment she had to climb inside. Stopped by four Ordinants wrestling her away from it. Looked like early perma to me).Did an illithid write this? Someone else? Questions... questions... (see below).Well this looks suspicious. How do we get beyond it? (see below).There's always a way. But.... consequences... (see below).Time to go (see below).Get out! Yes! No! Wait! Go! What?... Run!Get out! Run!... Someone wants to stay and do what? Yes! No! Umm...We were right: they came for us! Fight! -- Note: Eventually.... One Ordinant Commander held off a score of drow-thralls, while we all ran away! Someone had to make a report! Also note how Sru is the only one not fighting. The button masher behind Sru was trying to figure out... Catapults... The halfling wildling, Tegwyn, beat Sru to it. Tegwyn just appeared inside the lab, followed us around, cranked the catapult... and then left... So cool.[/hide][hide=(2) The Humanity Herald - First Edition]Well this was a surprise. And Sru did what she did so well. Ran away and hid from the crazy humans.Agent Rufus affected her so much, she began to makes plans of where to run to, where to hide. Plan A, B, C and D. The place below was actually a godsend of lore and deepening into her spirit. So getting pushed by her enemies inside Sanctuary, forced her do some soul searching. Thanks for the push RwG! Plan B, C, and D, were 'havens' sought out progressively further afield.[/hide]

Thanks for being my Fed-Ex messenger for certain small friends in Lower! Certainly helped.

Much love for the crazy merchant, with the Chair Summons, and the TARDIS trunk! :)

Congratulations. Enjoy! :D

Sumah was very cool. Only recently started to interact with her, learning more, as the layers of her personality seemed to peel away...

Well played! :D

I had no idea who I was talking with most of the time. Twisted my brain. Lots of good long talks in odd locales (for me). Talks that went everywhere and no-where. But certainly helped deepen my IC lore interests...

I never knew when she was going to turn on me. Being on edge for that long can be very..... nutso-making!

Very rarified PC, in my experience. I did think she worshipped Dendar. Maybe she did :p

Well played!

[Brain Mole]

Brain Mole - an aberrant psi-creature.

Similar to the Psionic Hound, except using Dire Badger physical model, with groovey purple or strange glowy skin/FX (or perhaps water bubbles floating up from their bodies?) when enraged.

Since Brain Moles are attracted by Psi-Activity, and magical spells that replicate psi-FX,, ... perhaps a Brain Mole might be randomly summoned on a 1 in 30 chance to a spell-caster not using Abjurer's Nighshade.

The Brain Mole's abilities could be: Balagarn's Horn, chew, Int drain, chew, dominate person, chew, burrow into the mind-field of the target,... anything you like.

And there could be nests of Brain Moles deep in the UD, or the Machine... that are very dangerous en masse.

Hey man! Well played :)

I remember you well at Traensyr, aiding us during crazy... and I think it was Jean who Larrik helped save from a particularly strange Beholder....but more than anything...
I remember your work as a Watcher, basically saving my life, by sticking to a strict interpretation of Sanctuary law and seeing that justice be done.

A very honest, direct, no nonsense persona that I admired.

Enjoy creating a New.

Now that he's dead, can we please talk about all the cool and heroic stuff Baelian has done but NOONE knew about it because he's just soo damn HUMBLE that he'd never brag? :(

RIP Baelian, EFUR's other action hero.

Baelian Kalvath........

Saved me more times, in more ways than I can count.

My impression of him is: He was a farmer, not very good at tilling fields, but obviously nurtured his wife (Alenia) and child with his attention and care. He lost his family on the Surface, a loss that set the course of his Vengeance against the Dread Empire that took his family and friends from him.

He lost his hand fighting the Cyricists in Lower. It would not surprise me if he confronted them alone, I don't know. He sought ways to regain his hand and his strength - not for himself, but to aim this strength directly against the Dread.

For a human, he was wise and very patient. He demanded justice through the bureaucratic networks of Sanctuary Law when needed, speaking to Directors, and Upper leaders directly. He had a relationship with the people of the Temple of Hoar, that I only glimpsed once while I was seeking solace.

I learned how to negotiate the Sanctuary illusion, through Baelian's example of literally walking outside the illusion; his distaste for politics - his understanding of the need to meet written Law with his own deep sense of Justice.

I asked him if he was a 'Paladin' once. He refused the title saying, "Do not call me that..."

And walking with Baelian in the Lowerdark on several occasions was inspiring. Seeing a human broken in body, but not at all in spirit. A sense of the thousands of souls taken by the Dread that he wanted to exact vengeance for, calling on thunders... We hear these words all the time, spouted by warriors and priests that come to Sanctuary...
Baelian made me believe he was acting alone, subtly embodying more than an ideal, an Ordinant who would go down fighting the dark gods, all the way.

And so he did..........

I am humbled and honoured to have known Baelian. Thankyou for being a wonderful example of the best of humanity in this dark place. Endure, Brother.


Baelian reporting to an Ordinant Commander after a dangerous, taxing mission.


... while on that mission...

Was a pleasure to work and patrol with Mad'Ox (albeit briefly).
We'll have to pass your blue uniform on to the next Tempered.

Need more barbarian dwarves that can temper their temper. :)

Well played!

You were so close to making it :(

RIP Stokes.

Well played! Your detective work helped us enormously.

He was black!?

Perfect :D

Though... being the only child of a Chultan Merchant Lord could mean anything. Looks like the misunderstood Agent had a lot of impact on a wide range of people.

I loved our first brief meeting in the Serena Tower lobby. So much 'lawful', penetrating esoteric knowledge offered in so little time.... One thing I like to do is read a PC's IG bio description-thing, to get a bit more of a sense of outward appearance and manner. (I know its a minor thing to be obsessed about, but it helps me enormously with immersion.
The thing about Robal is that he had none! Here I am labouring over my own description, and intrigued by the broad range that other PCs manage... and here is a Spellguard Agent giving me... nothing...
Fantastic impression of a faceless "company guy". That made me have to work alot harder to understand Robal through interaction and much more observation.

And Robal's death could not have come at a more inopportune time! :D Loved how we were becoming more friendly IG... thawing the ice between SG and Society a bit :)

Great character!