Alethia Taranfollt, Nerd

[GetOuttaHere]

I have no screenshots, so you'll have to tolerate my words and a single sketch I did a year or so ago.


Possibly my favourite character from any PW. Alethia Taranfollt (meaning Seeker of Thunderbolts, implying her search for divinity) started as a blank slate with one broad idea - Build a god. This idea rapidly shifted after spending some time with the house of knowledge characters at the time, which turned her views to a more humanistic existence without gods, investing her time into philosophy. This caused me, in turn, to spend a lot of time reading the works of actual philosophers, so I could show her own growth as she moved onwards. I think if it hadn't been for the great debate I wouldn't have had anywhere near as much fun with her as I wound up having. So, I must thank all of the custodians at the time, Vendelstalh and Amirah for really kicking off the character, and not only giving me a great place to work from with the character, but also giving me a great lens through which to view a whole range of topics I'd never looked into before.


I then attached a lot of ideas formed from the premise of Louis Theroux's weird weekends, and came up with a book that became her great ongoing work, and powered a lot of her drives on the server. This worked out great, as I built this idea of a character who needs to make friends in the most unlikely of places in order to succeed in her tasks, and she did manage to meet and greet with some extremely hostile cases, though not much of her many interactions with a wide variety of parties ever made it into her writings.


She wasn't a big driver of conflict, which I'm aware is loved here. Instead she quietly spent her long time on the server meeting people, and forming long lasting friendships. To those of you with whom she spent her last days, I really, truly am thankful. You, god I'm actually tearing up as I write this, made my time on the server truly wonderful. Partly why there's no screenshots is that the things I truly loved were long, winding conversations, and Alethia's transition over time from a student to teacher was a lovely bit of growth.


It's appropriate then that she died not fighting for glory, honour or gold but to keep her friends alive against a terrible threat. A shame that, in the end, she'll now be unable to spend more time with them.

[Silvermoon_Dervish]

Oh wow, one of my PCs made the cut.

[MessengerGirl]

Alethia was an excellent character, and I enjoyed every conversation with her.  I wish now that I would have had the chance to sit down for that interview with her.  While she might not have been the catalyst for major PVP conflict, she definitely pushed low-key intellectual conflict in the vast majority of her conversations.

I really appreciate what she added to the world, helping spread the legend of other PCs, some of them long dead.  I never would have known about Tancred or Imrahl had she not shared their stories.

She really exemplified the purpose of the House of Knowledge, in my opinion, of making lasting stories out of ephemeral characters.

Well done!

[Gentlemen of the Empire]

I've got fond memories of interacting with Alethia across several characters. I particularly enjoyed the conversations between Tancred and Alethia and her responses to his Maximum Philosophy. It was really interesting to see her gradually change as a character and gain confidence in her convictions over time. It was also enjoyable to read her perspectives on the driving philosophies of different characters, which is not something that gets explored enough on EFU.


It's unfortunate to see her die, but I think standing by her friends and facing something exceptionally dangerous goes to show how much the character grew over time. I would have liked to have seen more, but will look forward to whatever you roll up next.

[Fields of Ash]

NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERD!


I'm a little biased in liking Alethia.





It's always a joy to meet with characters who are ready to earnestly engage other pcs. Alethia didn't shy away from other ideologies and world views, and made a point to try and understand everyone she knew. It was really refreshing having somebody ask me 'why' about aspects of my character. She will be dearly missed!