Agent Isolde Mhaille-Vaughan, Chief Herald of the House of Governance...

[Pandip]

... Knight-Artificer and Theoferrous Knight of the Shining Hammer Society, Lady of Whitehurst, Countess of Whitehurst, State Secretary to the First Citizen (first Alice, then Dhimani), self proclaimed owner of "the blade that killed Melinda Bresley," formerly Warder-Adept (also fired at least twice), formerly Clerk of the Civil Service, once an Armiger, "but soon I'll be something way more than that."

Gentle called her Agent "Titles" for a good reason, and she wore all of them with pride.

Isolde started in April purely because I got the itch and I wanted to survey the server before I started a "real" character. Little did I know, I was going to be swept up by a lot of incredible players with great PCs and all of the amazing interactions that happened during the Enhanced Edition hype.

Like most characters, I neglected to take screenshots for most of the best moments -- but I did get some of them!
... a lot of them include Alice, so I hope you loved that PC as much as I did.



When Isolde showed up in Sanctuary, she was a bratty and petulant but power hungry survivor who wanted to not only endure, but eventually find the ability to thrive. She immediately attached herself to Councilor Gerrard Vaughan and, despite her playful and disrespectful demeanor coming in direct conflict with his stuffy nobility, established herself as his confidant in the Armigers' black and silver garb.

Isolde talked a lot about her "encounters" with the Dread General Kingsley, how she had fought her, broken her Swords... in reality, it went more like like this!

Character interactions are what drive the majority of my interest in EFU, and in the early days, when I had the time, Isolde was a chipper conversationalist who was always willing to grab a drink with anyone who would listen to her speak. She took a lot of pride in having a hand in every pot, which meant that she met with a lot of seedy elements in awful places. Lots of early encounters with the Exile Collective, Lowerfolk, and various other figures as she constantly railed against the corruption of the Spellguard in Vaughan's colors.

Isolde stuck with Vaughan for weeks, even helped him attack the Spellguard and try to assassinate Claire Chambers, girl genius, multiple times. Eventually, however, Isolde got bored with Vaughan and the Armigers, felt that things were not going anywhere, were not progressing as fast as she wanted them to. She strayed from leading the Armigers in Vaughan's absence and toiled over what she would do now that she'd publicly and openly ostracized the Spellguard... and then a new face came out of the Mythallar.
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Alice Fairclow had a huge effect on Isolde. Alice came to Sanctuary as a beacon of hope and Isolde latched on. Though she was apprehensive at first -- considering Alice to be so bright-eyed that she'd get devoured by Underdark in short time -- Isolde offered to hear out her plans on multiple occasions and, after finding that she wasn't dead in a ditch somewhere, eventually agreed to join the Shining Hammer Society. They vowed to do things differently. To stand against the Spellguard. To make animatrons of their own. To never be just another cog in the machine, but always work towards the completion of the Work. To be a beacon of Man together.

Isolde never stopped being, uh... "playful" despite her companionship and growing friendship with Alice, though.

I really can't stress how great Alice was; she was a constant source of interaction and intrigue and a never-ending supply of motivation, IC and OOC, and I don't think I would have played Isolde for as much time as I did if it wasn't for Alice and Valp's effect on her.
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The Spellguard receded from Sanctuary, blew up some bridges, ostracized the populace, and became the tyrants everyone always knew they could be. This lead to the House of Governance not being safe and, by extension, Councilor Fairclow being in constant danger. Isolde wanted to protect Alice at all costs -- she didn't think her voice could sing as hopeful and wide as Alice's could. Later, she would tragically learn that she was right, but for the time being, they needed a solution. Isolde suggested the Spellguard, but balked at the idea of submitting to their rule. She hated Claire Chambers, girl genius. Eventually, things got worse, and worse,  with Alice being under attack... and eventually even a certain mercenary lady suggested joining the Spellguard.

During the Shining Hammer Society's independence, the Sisters Two -- Sister Butch and Sister Supple -- were well respected and always offered aid despite being xenians, a fact that would eventually get Alice killed.

At one point, Rana killed Gerrard Vaughan, who had become a deranged and infected Knight of the New Path, which lead to a hilarious turn of events: He forgot to take Isolde out of his will. So she became Lady Isolde Mhaille-Vaughan, countess of Whitehurst. Nice.
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Malark Amblecrown, another figurehead Isolde frequently boasted about working with, meeting, and being a "trusted ally," was none too happy about his Knight's death. One of the few times Isolde followed orders. Props to Ironside for always making a scene with NPC possessions; Malark was always dealing out some anime-level monologues whenever he was around.

Adapting to life in the Spellguard wasn't particularly easy for Isolde considering how long she had spent calling them tyrants. It especially didn't help that Alice was so attached to Claire, who Isolde hated.

But Alice never stopped recognizing her friend's dedication... even if Isolde got fired and rehired as a Warder like twice.

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She spent a lot of time in the Warders, seeing the revolving door that was the Spellguard meat grinder churn through countless allies, friends, and enemies in the faction -- including her best friend.

Long story short? The Spellguard sucks, but it's always important to keep the right respective.

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At some point, striving to be the miserable Adept who typically only finds joy in "hitting things over the head" would lead to some trying circumstances. But a superior's choice to intervene on Isolde's behalf -- along with her ever present, survivalist instinct -- would lead Isolde down a path of rebellion that led to her achieving her and Alice's goals: A member of the Shining Hammer Society becoming an Agent of the Spellguard.

She never stopped talking about that one time she tried to kill Claire Chambers, girl genius, with Gerrard Vaughan and her many attempts to topple the Spellguard, even to new recruits. Some things never change, and for Isolde, her constant bragging and exaggerations of the truth never ended, even when she got what she wanted.

I wish I had taken more screenshots of Claire and Isolde, whose relationship, despite being distant, changed drastically since Claire was a wee Warder torching gnomes in the square.

[hide=full offense, but agent robes < netherese garb. what a dope looking tunic]





















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Thanks to everyone involved in the character. I never have as much time for EFU as I would like, but I was incredibly grateful to be able to play Isolde for such a long period of time despite necessary breaks and lulls in activity. While her early days were perhaps her best, there was a great satisfaction in seeing her grow, develop, and transform as a character -- from an overzealous rebel trying to break Serena Tower to a pragmatic Agent that often found herself representing many of the things she originally abhorred.  I think Isolde was oftentimes less than the people she interacted with, but it's always fun to inhabit this crazy world we play in and I hope others found as much amusement interacting with her as I did playing her.

Huge shout outs to Valp and Alice, who shaped this character and motivated me every step of the way. Major props to Abala for Claire Chambers, who is just wildly brilliant and nuanced despite her grating pyrotechnics and was constantly fun to butt heads with throughout Isolde's career. Lots of love to the usual suspects who deal with my incessant, neurotic whining about my PCs and their development.

I'm a bit disappointed that I probably don't have the time or patience to see the end of Sanctuary all the way  through with a level 2 scrub, but I'm sure there will be more adventures to come in whatever comes next.

[Bearic]

Fantastic Clerk, that became more of a clerk by not being a clerk. XD


Always great interactions. =]

[Random_White_Guy]

It was awesome seeing her develop overtime from many different PCs on my end. I think I had the pleasure of meeting with her in almost every stage over the months which was really fun to see develop.
A PC that definitely embraced the long term to wear many hats, and a rare case of switching sides in EFU with some success.

[Ciorbă de Burtă]

This is one of those times where I'm almost reluctant to write something, because whatever I say will be so much less than, and never do justice to, what I would like to describe, and the praise I'd like to offer.

Isolde is an emblematic case study in my favourite kind of PC: the ones that become alive, ensouled, gain a life and a mind of their own, and grow organically, and dynamically -- because the player has the talent, the patience and the openness to allow the PC to achieve its own existence.

Such characters both evolve freely, and yet (like a real person) always remain essentially themselves, throughout the unpredictable course of their lives. This was what was fascinating to watch about Isolde. How she changed, so much and significantly, and yet always remained the same old Isolde.

Isolde was a fantastic fictional character in her own right, and always very endearing and entertaining to me.

Isolde played an enormous role in Alice's development and entire history. She was Alice's first friend and ally in Sanctuary, her truest comrade and her most faithful companion. As these screenshots chronicle, their journey was a parallel one (I never realized they were created so close in time to each other) and it was just ... insanely rewarding, challenging and genuinely moving to be a part of. Like reading a great novel.

Their friendship was also an amazing place from which, for me as a player, to discover the incredible setting of Sanctuary and EfU:R for the first time.

For me, interacting with Isolde and with Claire were perhaps the main motivation for me to invest so much time into Alice. Isolde and Claire remain my two favourite PCs ever.

Thank you for authoring Isolde, thank you for your encouragement and friendliness as a player, and well done on a truly original creation.

And lastly: these are some amazing screenshots, most of which I've never seen before so thank you for sharing them.