Ordinant Sru Syishodel - GithZerai Zerth Sword-Mage

[Somniis]

"Time is an illusion that the mind can learn to ignore."
—Zerth cenobite saying.

“Time to go then…”
- Lucy... (from the movie).




Some of this is true. Some of it is fantasy. All of it happened.
This is what happened:

Ordinant Sru Syishodel died, overrun by thralls while on a Society mission in Old Port. Witnessing horrors for so long outside Sanctuary, and in dreams, eventually exacted a toll on her. In a moment of lapsed concentration during battle, the disciplined GithZerai hesitated… and was struck down. Ironically, she was moments away from completing the holy task of rrakkma: the mission GithZerai set themselves, to not return home to Limbo until one illithid is killed for every single member that undertake the rrakkma. Meaning: she had to kill one illithid Dread Master, then she could return to Limbo, with honour, a Proven One in battle and spirit. For the young GithZerai, first time away from home, despite her years of monastery training, killing this one dire enemy proved to be an extraordinary task, constantly pushing her beyond her means.

The thing about killing ONE illithid is….. it is damn near impossible to achieve. Illithid are (and rightly so) a terrible superpower beyond cognizance. Thralls are bad enough: illithid Lords are juggernauts of mind control and warfare. Even the concept of what an illithid is, how they are ‘born’, how they evolve, is easy to read in things like FRs ‘cannon-stuff’… The illithiad. But, we are talking about EfU, and the aberrants here are…. different, stronger, stranger than we can know. Even this little GithZerai developed respect for the lack of knowledge she had regarding illithid, determined as she was to kill one. The cost was her life in the end.

[hide=Why die now?]
It is difficult for me to explain why she needed to die when she did. It was a decision I made after she first faced an illithid Lord in June 2014 – that her next death would be permanent. I had a lot of trouble sticking to my decision when she died so unexpectedly recently. I know the mantra is: “Keep calm, and respawn.” – but I was not very good at it. (Apologies to all those players and DMs who were baffled by my actions). I really needed to understand my inability to let go; to accept the death of a character, the death of a set of pixels, shifting about on a screen.
Sru was my first level 9 character on EfU. I had a lot of luck with Sru, that I have not had with other characters. The longer I managed to stay alive, the more I wanted to take the EfU death system seriously. I also need to sort a few things IRL, so I had it in the back of my mind to let go next time Sru was seriously compromised by her actions, or wiped out IG.

A long time ago, Sru was  killed during an encounter with an illithid Lord in Traensyr. She was trying to drag the body of Toran Dax to safety, while the illithid Lord destroyed the Upper level platform using it’s monumental psionic power. Sru fell below, landing on her head, breaking her neck. After falling in Traensyr, she was raised from her death into the House of Knowledge, at the feet of Patriarch Lhesley. She learned later, that through the efforts of Baelian and Shafire, she had been given a Candle of Life. She was very surprised to find herself alive, back in Sanctuary. This return from death planted the seed in me OOC, to make the next death permanent.

The aberrant madhouse in Old Port broke her. The more she walked it, the more she felt it was a hell of her own making. In accepting death, walking away, she realised… deep down… that she did not have to be the one who killed the illithid. She did not have to be the Saviour of Sanctuary. She had to save herself. In a moment of weakness, she turned back for Sanctuary into the darkness below. She turned away, seeking the beauty of her soul, sidestepping her way past the inner demons, seeking the Light Within. Journeying backwards to the beginning of her soul. Perhaps she was not strong enough to face the illithid Lord. Perhaps she had endured enough of Toril. Turning away might have been an act of surrendering to the Pits of Growth. She broke her own taboo about death.

Sru encountered loneliness while living in the basement of her mind. The aloneness of meditating, like Dostoyevky staring at a wall, like some medieval monk, closing herself away from the world, supremely confident that she will transcend the world spiritually, by ignoring it. Not true. There was always some want that Sru had, that needed to be collected, or found. It was just her mind, trying to justify the contents of her mind, by attempting to clean out the darkest parts loitering about in her mental-labyrinth. But the constant hammer of nightmares, I felt were alien to Sru, human nightmares that wore her down. She began to feel the nightmares were her own.[/hide]

[hide=GithZen Mysticism and Me]
I am attracted to Taoism and Zen as a spiritual path, and GithZerai fit this model very well. So it was fun to explore that in RP. Since Nature is severely compromised on EfU’sToril/Faerun, Sru sought to balance Toril’s elements inside her and out, like doing inner alchemy. She was a theoretical alchemist, not a practical one, basing her alchemy on the four elements that constantly shape-shift the plane of Limbo, a planar home where the Githzerai lawful disciplines are constantly honed by the utter chaotic elemental shifts and beings the dwell within the plane, beings such as Slaadi. Early on, Sru witnessed the raw danger of alchemy through a good teacher (Dr. Kellyn Carter). So she elected to read alchemy texts, not having the funds or desire to collect materials to do many hours of experiments.

Sru assumed that only Zerthimon understood the need to ‘transcend’ the war on Consciousness, which extended to reflect a silent snoberry she had towards humans. This snoberry began to fall apart when she found the Church of Ascension, and the records they kept, and the people attracted to it. The notion of Bresley, the Ascended One, suggested that Zerthimon was not the only soul capable of ‘transcending’ the darkness, by aligning to Light. Her air of importance was challenged constantly, because ultimately she was not at all important to Sanctuary’s safety. She was one of thousands seeking True Sanctuary.

Many people she met showed her humility. Most humanoids made sense to her, marginalised by Agent Rufus’ racial profiling

Sru had a stream of small runic tattoos along her jawline, depicting the four elements (fire, earth, water, air), signifying her apprenticeship as Shaper of the Elements in Limbo (in short, she was a wizard/fighter). She was a Zerth, who sought to emulate Zerthimon by taking all three paths that GithZerai define as: Scripture of Steel (Fighter), Scripture of Mind (Wizard), Scripture of Will (Psionicist). Sru was a novice in all three Scriptures, thrust out of the Monasteries of Limbo as the Dread War began, following other GithZerai across the planes…[/hide]

[hide=GithZerai Lexicon]
I had a large GithZerai lexicon developed for Sru to use. I found that the longer she stayed in Sanctuary, the more she had to use human/oid concepts to communicate with. Her People’s legends often fell on deaf ears. So she just went quiet about Zerthimon a lot of the time. She became increasingly guarded when asked. “Who are you?”

GithZerai value freedom above all else. To the point where they allow others to follow insane paths, if it will teach them the value of avoiding insane paths. People who seek out slavery, to know what slavery is all about, even going as far as being killed by their slave master (see, “T’cha’s choice”) must be let be. Which is what illithid do constantly to their thralls, throwing them away when useless… Yet, GithZerai also understand Unity as an absolute necessity if they are to persist. Unity with like-minded people. This is what drove Sru so nuts in Sanctuary. So much division and discord in the face of the Dread Empire. The Society of Ordered Mind certainly gave her a sense of True Sanctuary.

She was Zerth, which represents a minor faction of zealots among GithZerai, who believe in the eventual return of Zerthimon. Being a subrace zealot, who could not communicate clearly to the human & humanoid outsiders in a stange place, like Sanctuary, watered down her zealotry a lot. I felt her zealotry persisted somewhat, channelled into the Society Crusade. She tamed her anger, focussing more and more on the endgame: – finish the rrakkma. She took to explaining herself to others one on one, in private.[/hide]

[hide=Weakness]
I made an effort to reflect her poor charisma (10 CHA). She lacked confidence, and ran away from lots of things. She spoke the Common tongue in a hacked out way. Eventually, she would boost her basic abilities with wizard spells. Sometimes I would emote her body or shoulders slumping, when the spells wore off, and her abilities returned to their original state. I made an effort to avoid leadership roles because of this CHA limitation. Perhaps once, she had a large patrol put under her guidance, kind of elected by others who were present. She had her spells boosting her at that time. And attempting to lead any large groups without clear guidelines being voiced, is nutty on EfU at the best of times.[/hide]

[hide=Strengths]
I wanted Sru to be a Sword-Mage with a focus in abjuration. Not only did her GSF: Abjuration grant her mechanical AC, I sought to reflect her need to create a wall of protection around herself, with emotes about her struggling Psionic-Mist power, her Ancestors coming through as vague Spectral entities (bit of RP license taken). Abjuration was like a mystical premise she explored by crafting her book: The Human Brane.
 This book wasn’t planned, but arose after a few months of game-time. Initially written in response to being attacked by Agent Rufus and his inflammatory Humanity Herald, the Human Brane was designed as a study of the human psyche in Sanctuary. Sru had a mild case of xenophobia towards humans. She was also troubled by the notion that GithZerai might be descended from humans… A possibility she did not deal with well.[/hide]

[hide=My Gaming Intentions]
My intention when I play is to add depth to the psychogeography of the server, by leaving traces and memories in the characters and places she interacts with, if at all. Many characters drift in and out of the EfU setting, and I can see how this premise of ‘loss’ comes from narrative techniques like George RR Martin’s disposable protagonists. Being forgotten is part of the setting. Moving towards the next life experience is also part of the setting. I know I take this game way too seriously a lot of the time. I don’t know why. It is absorbing for me, because it feels like such a ‘live’ online environment.

In a fantasy world where Hobbe’s law of short, brutal, quickly forgettable lives can drive plots, character/monster interactions, Sru intended to fight the immense power of the Dread Empire, stretched over the planes and a millennia, by planting small seeds of knowledge and a dignity of spirit.

EfU is often like an enormous chess puzzle to me. Who watches the watchers who watch the watchers… kind of thing. Big control trip. Attempting to unseat tyranny.[/hide]

[hide=Loot]
The best ‘Loot’ Sru had was who she was: GithZerai.[/b] Thanks to the DM team for giving me latitude to explore this subrace.[/hide]

[hide=Building a GithZerai Subrace:]
I remember working on a GithZerai application years ago with DM Snoteye, brainstorming, gathering the lore I would need to play a GithZerai accurately. It became an immense, unfinished project. I jumped at the chance to play Sru in 2014. The more I looked into defining a GithZerai based on ‘canon’ FR and Planescape materials, the more springboards I had into the mind of a subrace character. People get so antsy about a subrace being played realistically in a fantasy setting. Gygax understood that we make up the rules, and so do the DMs. There are gaming guidelines that work to ensure great gaming experiences for everyone at the intersection online that is EfU. To me, when I focus on immersion into the fantasy world, all my mechanical oversights, weaknesses & strengths fall away, and the story remains to be explored.

I designed Sru as a flanker, so she could hold her ground for a time, and heal when she could. Granted, I was not a frontliner, and didn’t go around seeking to assassinate others, or take huge risks. I had begun to feel that every time we venture outside the Sanctuary Shield, we take a huge risk, facing unknown terrors in the dark. I have not played a wilderness PC during this chapter, and have not had the hiding skills developed with Sru that I know are available to rogues/ druids/ rangers, to avoid many monsters if desired. I played Sru as an extremely cautious GithZerai, suspicious of outsiders (life on Toril, in general). I imagined what it would be like to be the descendant of a race of People who once escaped the slavery of a distant illithid empire 20, 000+ years ago. How cautious would one be? So she rarely went outside the Shield without the company of others. She had to rely on being with People she knew little about. She had to adapt to her environment.

One of many things Snoteye said to me while researching GithZerai was,“What I really do not want to see is a true gith race played like a human.” Sru was a ‘good’ aberrant, if you can imagine such a thing: she made an effort to explain that there is a difference between malign aberrant psionicists, and other types of psionicists. It is not that psionics, like the Weave, is evil. It is a powerful field of energy. Just so happens, that some entities in the field use the power for their own gain, like illithid, beholders, etc… Don’t forget the gods in the original D&D settings used spells AND psionic powers. Anyway, psionics in EfU needs to be carefully considered when used in a low-magic, low-level setting. Also remember: this is just my opinion about how to play a PC psionicist. I imagined that “psionics” was a spiritual pursuit and practice, a soul realization that GithZerai were often capable of accessing. I know that many canon-game-resources define psionics as ‘Mind Science’. I accepted that illithid were the supremacists of (Psionic) Mind Science: and I worked with the notion that Sru felt psionics, perhaps like an empath… intuitively. More of a Heart Science, or a Feeling Science… Anyway, we can get lost in endless Psi-theorizing. I certainly have.

The mechanical build Sru played was developed with the help of DM Jayde Moon. Certainly made her able to endure. There is a definite structure on how to unfold certain NWNs builds. Not that Fighter/Wiz builds are mechanically viable for PvP; I've spent years attempting to make one work - never have. I just know that EfU's 'mechanics' go all hazy-wave-state with certain gear, luck, buffs, etc... I learnt many things about PvP builds playing Bastions of War for years. Another NWNs game that drove me batty at night, with builds, builds, builds, running through my mind. What if this? What if that? In the end, EfU is a different bowl of goldfish and fighting fish. Again, I haven’t sought out the PvP encounters that other players are renowned for. I actually came to EfU to escape PvP, as ironic as that may be to some EfU players, considering how ‘Game of Thrones’ EfUs PvP action can be. I’ve pursued mostly story on EfU so far.[/hide]

The players Sru interacted with in conversations and patrols were many and diverse. I played the GithZerai as a kind of zen-warrior race, intolerant of stupid humans (thankyou to her major antagonists, Agent Rufus and Lord Falconer!).

[hide=So many great memories:]
Siliander Ayloud buying Sru ‘A Tomb of Stone’ by Aleczumberzeil. Buying Mystryl Juice from Charlatan Ebeneezer, and trading spell-jokes & wild castings with him in the Crone; Being tested and attacked by Kiskit, bouncing off walls inside the House of Heroes; being tested and attacked by Zachary Arunsel (aka, Old Man Walker, or Riddle Spider) inside the Society ‘box’ (aka, broom-closet); duelling with Larrak for the life of Gregor Rapskov behind closed doors; fighting Ma-Pa in its lair with Larrak and others;
witnessing Amirah Zahaara cure herself, exploring Amirah’s vast lore; Melarue Saralonde telling her, “You must find the illithid, before they find you. Now that is a challenge. That is the real magic.”; meeting Arantras the Ghost Elf of Sanctuary, who gave her access to lore she never anticipated was available; attending Sumah’s funeral pyre in Lower Sanctuary; Society vision-quest mind-meld with Baelian Kalvath; trying to turn lore-seeker Loreli, the Snake woman, into an ally against the Dread; getting smacked down by Reaver hunting parties and being released (twice); being tested by Agent Rufus in his Spellguard ‘cell’ – and walking away; being asked to submit to a cranial fluid extraction by Rufus; being asked to submit to a phrenology test by Doctor Leopold;
 fishing for drow-heads in dark waters with Finn the Fisherman, then attacked by a Rot-Druid, who then dragged Finn off to Rotsville; San Telmo’s “Juggly Beasts from the Under-Underdark” was inspired oddness; constantly on the alert for the Hunter Falconer, never knowing what he will do; being saved by Kingsley from Rufus’s cringing corruption; speaking with Jarik Blake about what Dendar is; sharing family history with Amadeus vonKratz; sharing words with Shayama about Ley Magic; fighting dozens of Chosen, alongside Nibley, and Cordelia’s summoned chair in the Sewers; Seers questing with Ringol and two others... and living through it!; AK Matt’s epic-kobold-quest-turned-Machine-AI-quest alongside the Tempered – whereby I mashed buttons for over an hour to kill one boss. Result: my arms did not work properly for a week IRL; my last hour long talk with Logan Ackerman, hearing of Silverymoon called the “Jewel of the North”, which pricked up her long elf-like ears..…. Jewels?... So many other small meetings, phrases, and interactions that lead Sru deeper and deeper along the path. I cannot recall them all.[/hide]

Sru Syishodel’s Field Logs – Her journal is meant to reflect Circular Symbology in GithZerai Literature. It’s literal shape for written dialogues, GithZerai architecture, sacred geometry of circles, alchemy of circles.

Sru talked alot and asked many more questions than any conscientious GithZerai ever should.

I’ve avoided spoiler screenshots, best I can. (Please find screenies below!) While presenting many aspects of the visual narrative of her life. Screenshots in the last months of Sru’s life are few and far between. There are lots of Screenies anyway, as you will see!

Sru was a lot of fun to play. Thanks to my fellow Ordinants, who made hanging out so fun.

Thanks to all the DMs who consistently create quality gaming experiences for this fantastic server.

Thanks to Howland for making me feel welcome here right from the start. Your guidelines and acceptance has made all the difference.

I’m taking a break for awhile. Bye for now.

Sincerely,
Somniis.

P.S: Please find below my massive collection of Screenshots in two postings. Peace...........

[Somniis]

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]

[Somniis]

[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]

[cmenden]

I was very sad to hear that Sru had died! She will honestly be one of my favorite PCs for years to come. Great job, Somniis!

[Kiroy]

That last fight was a tough one.  I'm going to miss her :(

[TheShadow]

I enjoyed my time with sru, she was amazing to work with on all my characters, including Mali stalwart, Rioana lefei, Mili, Laruian card ( i think we only met once on her) and.. thats it, i think. Sad to see her go, but i completely understand.

[tala_kai]

I knew Sru was probably great, and I was sad for missing such a PC to interact with. From the screenies and bio I figure I didn't know how much she was truly awesome.

Still, I was glad our PCs had a little chat before her death.

A really great obit thread. Really shows how much Sru was important to you.
Can't wait to see your next PC!

[Pentaxius]

An Amazing tale, what a dark and epic journey. My mind is blown.

Very nice obituary! The sheer amount of effort and research you've invested into depicting a Githzerai is palpable, and the result was a great success.

[The Old Hack]

I loved Sru so much. I liked her friendship with Anne and I feel kind of bad I wasn't able to stick with her. Sru was a great, great character.

[Divine Intervention]

An excellent collection of screenshots, one of the best I've seen in a long time.  You did a great job with Sru and it was always interesting to DM for you guys.

Well played.

[Bearic]

That's an overwhelmingly impressive amount of character depth.

[Jasede]

I will dearly miss her.

[Technologic]

That looks to be the most well thought out character I've ever seen. . . wow.

[Halfbrood]

Really enjoy your PCs, Somniis. Sru was no exception. Excellent work.

[Sankis]

Sru was fantastic and I can safely say that there will never be an Ordinant like her again.

I only wish our times matched more so we could have done more stuff.