Beodda, son of Aethwin

[Garem]

Beodda, son of Aethwin was a remarkably fun character. Some backstory, then some screenies. He received 3 pieces of DM loot over his life, but unfortunately I only got a pic of one of them.

Before I tell his story, a bit of personal stuff - this is my last EFU character, because it's time to move on. I was married two months before Beodda was created, although my wife is not a US citizen (as I am) and returned home to go through the (awful) U.S. immigration process. That leaves me in the liminal space of being married and alone with enough free time to really enjoy EFU. Beodda took two major breaks in May and October - both because I was spending rare, precious time with my wife before we had to separate again. My intent was to play a character who was separated from his wife, and that was at the core of his frustration and struggle to reach Ring 1 and ask for the King to reunite him. I didn't expect to actually reach Ring 1, but instead hoped to face a particular enemy and ask for a showdown as a closer to the character when my own wife was finally able to finish the process and move here permanently. Frankly, it should have happened by October - but U.S. immigration is astoundingly inefficient, so the character lived a bit longer than I thought he would.

Who he was, and why...
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In his former life, Beodda was a diligent common man of 42 years, who loved books when he could afford them. He had a loving wife but they could not have children. Sometimes he fought in the local militia in shieldwalls, wearing old armor, a battered round shield, and a simple spear. He was as common as dirt. When he was Awoken, he lost all his memories except that he had a wife. It tormented him that he could not remember her face.

Beodda was created as the composite character of two historical figures: King Aelfred  the Great (as portrayed by the talented David Dawson in The Last Kingdom) and Bede the father of English History. Beodda was cunning and bookish, but knew well that the world was dangerous and he needed to fight - so he did. Special thanks to SkillFocusPwn for getting the concept and making some very cool, appropriate loot (which I negligently forgot to screenie...). Early on, his goal was to create unity and peace between rival factions, or at least between the Peers and Tickers. He gave up on that goal not too long afterwards, but his second and supporting goal, to create a sort of defensive militia group to protect the whole Ring regardless of affiliation became the Blooded Shields. All other goals, which were many, evolved out of in-character relationships and actions. Oh, and one last influence of note was Bishop Robert Barron. I'm not Catholic, but he's a bright dude who helped me channel a lot of what I thought Beodda's core values should be.

Beodda was never meant to be a great fighter (he started with 14 strength), although he was intended to be solid defensively. He didn't even particularly like killing, certainly not people until it was absolutely clear they needed to die for others to be safe. This letter well-encapsulates his philosophy, and the extent of his strong preference for mercy. He was jumped and ganked at least half a dozen times, although he fought a long list of villains including: Errilam, Magnus, Ahsra, Cataryn, and Virgil at one point or another - although each one was able to escape. A few prominent baddies beat Beodda, but he escaped either due to friends (Calvin Winter sneaked his unconscious body away) or by just getting robbed (the Ratship Orc Pirates). His only real PC kill was the gnome necromancer-slaver, Geromino.

He struggled at first to gain any sort of traction, but made quick friends with the willful Velastra Quarterdragon (who attempted to press him into service; he refused) and quirky Varthan Yannavich, which eventually became the Tears of Blood. We had a great time as the rising new Ringrunning team under the shadow of the more successful Nearly Greens. The Tears went through a rough time, but in those days, Beodda was operating without an Oath. We broke through the 95th as the second to do so, late into the night. It was remarkable, and a special thank you to Howland for making it even more special.

And then, Beodda took an Oath. Velastra was at the time Lawful Evil and Beodda left the Tears to everyone's great dismay. It developed into an excellent story in its own right that would define all the Tears for the rest of their lives,  to steer Velastra in a direction to become good. It was an impossible task, given her philosophy in those days and sheer force of will. Varthan, Kowl, and Beodda schemed to align Velastra with a metallic dragon to convert her towards goodness. The real story of discovering her steel draconic roots was far better. Yet, circumstances would never permit them to be truly reunited as a unit. They remained steadfast allies and friends until the very end, as captured by this letter.

Beodda then started with the sub-goal he was started to do, which became the Blooded Shields. That period was among my favorite, with a great team of excellent players and interesting characters. We were a strange bunch but we had a hell of a good time. You guys are all amazing, with a special shoutout to whatfor's Alfrida Lesica, who became Beodda's second best friend. I shed an actual tear during an amazing period where Lesica left Beodda and the Shields in an effort to fight Ib'Javi in her own way. I cannot believe I didn't screenshot it - just an incredibly well-written and performed moment in time.

Through that era, Beodda developed a close friendship with Aethelwine Silver (and Lori Underbough), and the two were often in disagreement but never quite at odds. It was a fun, long-term relationship with a kernel of mistrust. Wizards! Just can't trust them. There is a lot to say about the Shields, but I'll abbreviate it by saying we had an excellent run and faced huge challenges, and overcame a few of them. Many, maybe even half, of our players were brand new to EFU. Experiencing that was an absolute delight. Thank you for sharing it with me! This is when Beodda took his break, and I spent time with my wife. The Shields would never reconstitute.

Beodda's third period was the Barber's Guild and Guild Member era. He was trying to develop his political skills, after being bested by Tchammorar in the Ib'Javi vote. The Barbers never really hit it off, which is a real shame. He developed some close friendships and rivalries, with Caston Winter, Calvin Winter, Rarande, Kirkland, Verata, Manus, Nantalius, and some other great PCs of that time. It was a wild period, which led to the two major server developments in the Defense Contract dispute and ended around the Sibilant War. It was a high water mark of "godammit being a paladin is hard" because of the lack of allies and RP/mechanical limitations on paladins. Beodda knew Kirkland was a Knave for a long time, and later Anemone. He just couldn't prove it, and couldn't shake enough information and proof loose to use.

The Sibilant invasion kicked off a major plotline, with who became Beodda's third best buddy, Vargot Heirgild. Vargot brought his gem and intended to give it to Beodda for safekeeping - but he refused. In part, I was just busy those days and didn't want to carry around an important plot item with only a few ours IG a week. On the other hand, it was a better story and Beodda had a fatalistic side. Beodda teamed up with the Stonebuilders, Velastra, and a huge host of players with a scheme to hide the gem with the Bulwark dwarves - so long as they could get Vargot passed the 95th Ring. We accomplished that, but it led to a massive clusterfuck of Peerage vs. Ticker drama and the Bulwark refused the gem. Most of the Peers stormed off, and the remaining friends of Beodda determined what to do: Vargot would keep the gem. But somehow, disinformation spread back to the Square's villains-in-chief that either the Bulwark or Beodda had it.

This led to the critical and dramatic moment when the Butchers and Kirkland tried to shank Beodda, when it spilled into the streets and Buck Wambles was killed, resulting in Beodda becoming a Stonebuilder and solidifying his view that the Square needed to destroy the Butchers entirely (although further cementing would certainly come...). This was the second time Beodda took a break so I could spend time with my wife.

Beodda returned to a world in chaos, few friends, and uncertainty. The Stonebuilders had some new inspiration from events just prior to his return, so Beodda ran with it as best as he could. He tried his best to shake up the Square, but PC overturn and ambivalence was high. Then, he got pulled into a curious plot that had been arranged by none other than Grigori Orza, asking for help from Beodda by name. I can't get into the specifics, but it was a huge challenge that Beodda accepted. It was still in position to continue... until the moment Beodda was (completely unexpectedly) murdered, but that's fast forwarding some.

Since nothing was changing in 99, he turned back to the Rings when the chance came up. Through the challenges he became extremely close to his fourth and final best buddy, Angvald. It led to Beodda coming back into close contact with his old friend, Velastra. He nearly accepted her offer to become his Guard Captain - but he did not accept (yet) as there were still enemies within Ticker Square that threatened her and he would not leave Ticker until they were dealt with. (This is the big bad he was going to try defeating before death/retirement if no other chance came up.)

It was great to explore the Rings more thoroughly, and everyone should make a serious effort at it sometime. There were a lot of great characters in this period. Marcille Riley, Andrea Nes, Sam Cassady, Eirikr, Wakefield (as a rival), Annette (as a frienemy?), Coriander. and some sporadic contact with interesting Ringrunner characters all up towards the 70s and 60s.

And a fifth era of Beodda, and what I expected to be the final chapter, was just about to turn the bend when a bizarre, unexpected bit of behavior led to his murder. I logged in earlier today in the Commons, Beodda started running back to the Square, was blacked out within two minutes, and dead within twenty minutes. That's EFU for you I guess.

It was a lot of fun. It really, really was. I bought the new edition of NWN on Steam late 2018. but didn't really play until EFU:COA began. Steam says I've played for 1,050 hours. Worth it! Thanks to everyone for a great time. Special thanks to Abala, who oversaw a the majority of the important events in Beodda's life and Ironside for a few of the really important ones. Lastly, thanks to Howland for SO much work and vision and the back-end DM crew who doesn't get the attention but deserve a lot of love for making an interesting, engaging space for us to tell our stories of heroism, villainy, drama, and comedy.[/hide]

[hide=Loot first! Beodda's dope sword]

[/hide]

[hide=The oldest of friends]
"As I said upon that beautiful night on the Silverspike, where our names were placed together upon the stone, that we will die our final death together when the storms upon that peak should choose for our carving to be forever worn away and none shall speak of the Tears of Blood, our triumphs, challenges, losses, and victories. This brings me the height of joy and satisfaction."




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[hide=Book buddies and friendship breakers]
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[hide=You really shouldn't get involved in Peerage antics]
Glitt didn't have any players, so Beodda was tasked with riding in the joust for House Glitt. They gave him a drunk horse. And I EE'd in the middle of a bout.



[/hide]

[hide=The Blooded Shields, Wannabe Heroes]



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[hide="Kidnapped" to help]

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[hide=But really, he would help almost anyone who needed it, leading to some strange meetings]

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[hide=Beodda spent a huge amount of time and gold trying to help newly Awoken paladins, no matter who they "sided" with]
[/hide]

[hide=The Grand Alliance of 99 against the Old Masters, by Beodda and Velastra for Vargot]



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[hide=Don't deal with wizards, they're all mad here]



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[hide=What did I say, you REALLY shouldn't get involved in Peerage antics]

[/hide]

[hide=The toughs of the Stonebuilders]
Beodda fell into the Stonebuilders, and I wasn't sure how it would go. It ended up being a great deal of fun with some interesting characters. I didn't get as many screenshots of this period, because we were often deep in the Rings.

[/hide]

[hide=Secret changeling?][/hide]

[hide="The Booder" - a giant creature of chaos and evil who hunted down Beodda; we expected a rematch, but never got it]

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[hide="I'm a man of the woods, it's my pride"]
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[hide=Late revelations, unresolved questions]

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[hide=What is the meaning of life?]
A fun little puzzle quest created by SFP. It led to two nice pieces of DM loot that I somehow didn't get screenshots of. =(

[/hide]

[hide=A petty act of defiance]
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Some parting thoughts, rants, suggestions...

-Especially during my two long breaks away from EFU, sometimes people would infer what Beodda was doing or not doing. Don't fucking do that. Life out of game needs to come first. But second, it's tantamount to playing someone's character. Cut that shit out.
-EFU isn't an arena server last time I checked. When and how often to FD has been an argument for the last 13 years. Some people, including some DMs, seem to be trying to make it one. For those on the other side, who favor letting drama and conflict simmer for longer, keep fighting the good fight. It makes the server better. This isn't specific to any one instance.
-Try playing a long term characters. It's harder than static, suicidal, short-term characters, but much more fun to play a dynamic character. And refer to the previous bulletpoint.
-At the haters, lol. "Beodda should have..." naw dog. He exactly what he should have done, when he did it, and for the reasons that made him exactly who he was.
-Paladins are awesome. They can be mechanically very strong, but hey, I built a really fun one whose favorite feat was Skill Focus: Lore. Play them in a way that makes sense and is fun to you. Stick to your character, in a way that makes sense and makes them a real person.

Catch me in Discord at Garem#7411 and add me as a friend if you'd like to keep up! As I've said many times, thanks guys and gals. I've had a wonderful time.

[Jello!]

It's been fun. Sad to see you go, but completely understandable. Hope to see you around discord still!

[Garem]

I have no idea why it's refusing to post this on the main thread so putting it here. RIP Andert. Beodda held a lot of funerals for his friends.

[Nazey]

The Blooded Shields were what initially hooked me on EFU!  My first faction on my first EFU character.  Thank you for the experience.  Beodda was a consistent, honestly played character and an iconic paladin in my books.  I'm sad to see you go though, I hope you crack and come back some time.  ;)

[LiAlH4]

Wonderful interactions with him. Congratulations on a great PC!

[Quarterdragon]

Beodda was a great PC to interact with.  I enjoyed the long arc of a troubled friendship, with our characters wavering between resentment and respect, drawn apart by their different commitments and allegiances but together by the brief history shared in the original Tears of Blood.  Sad to see him go.

[Poolson]

Holy crap, he actually died?

I never thought I'd see the day. He was a blast.

[LoveLess]

It seemed like no matter what, Beodda was always a thorn in my side on every PC when it came to politics.

Despite anything that might have been said, that's pretty impressive.

[Easy To Remember]

Sorry to see you go!

I enjoyed interacting with Beodda quite a lot across multiple characters, both assisted and hindered. He always seemed like a very human take on a paladin, which otherwise, as a class, can often appear really rigid and robotic.

[Blue41]

Beodda was always willing to follow his own path, even when it took him to lonely places for ill-advised meetings. Meeting with him were turning points on two previous PC's, though for different reasons, and I've always enjoyed playing with you. Sad to see you go but RL has to take priority. You'll be missed.

[Axioein]

An excellent character and a wonderful swan song as you get ready for the next phase in your life. Best of luck down the road!

[putrid_plum]

He was the man!  Goodluck in the future and of course, RL is NUMBER ONE!!  Wish you all the happiness in the world!

[Drink With Me]

Tough news to hear. Never got that conversation or the chance to share more stories. 

[Grix]

Beodda, son of Aethwin was truly a legend. I was very luck to join him with a few different characters in his life time. In the early days we ran the rings together, experiencing the horrors and frustrations of 92. Fast forward half a year and we bump into eachother again, this time on Angvald. I would find he was still right where we left off in 92 and decided it was unacceptable. So Beodda and Angvald dove in together head first, managing to reach ring 64 and reunite at long last with all of Beodda's companions from his earlier days.

This character was one of my best friends on efu over the months and his death was truly heartbreaking. It felt cheap for such an amazing character to have such an unamazing death. Personally I feel he deserved a much better more epic ending. But, such is Efu. Beodda was one of the most inspiring characters I've had the pleasure to play with. He was always fun to be around, never negative IC or OOC and always ready to pick up and go do anything any time. A perfect buddy to RP with and a top-notch traveling companion.

It's not often a character's death strikes a chord with me, but this one did. Well played Garem and very sad to see you go, but very excited that you'll get to spend more time with your family! Go get em bro, its been absolutely awesome kicking it on efu with you. The legend of Booder will live on. And you will never live that down! Haha.

Cheers!
Markus Tiberius Ankrath
Angvald Khauzat-Gaur

[Pup]

RL is overrated!  But seriously, I'm sad I was unable to return in time to see you off proper.  Looks like I really missed out.  Congratulations *mumbles something under his breath* on getting married and I'll check-in with you some time on Discord.

Mazeltov!