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[The Hidden One] [Baturlan] [Snim] [Orion] [Getalby] [Luwain] [Shnaud] [Letto] Reading the explanation below is still very advisable! |
Dear Players of mine,
Though no reaction of yours to the "Looking back" series has been received as yet, I am meanwhile continuing it by recalling a very unique document which is found in my archives, which sends us far, far away into the past (or future): two years (Earth time) before this commentary was originally written, two and a half years before its revised presentation on the Internet.
Then, in March 1993 Earth Time, 4.15345 Gonwa time, the Fellowship of the Flying Paladin consisted of Letto, Orion, Luwain, Snim, Baturlan, Getalby <Daniel's first character>, The Hidden One, Tei HaTor, Lazuly <played by Tamir Bustanai, who left the party unwillingly after the birth of his daughter> and - unforrtunately :) - Shnaud <played by Shay Avnon>.
The Fellowship served then in Castle Harina (in the city of So, district of So, county of Yutwardei, Kingdom of Gonwa), ruled by a strong but paranoical Lady Tamasar, one of the most influential powers around through political and financial manipulations, not all of which were as clean as a white blanket.
At this stage, Letto didn't have his horse and sword yet, though he KNEW he would have to reclaim them in a castle named Mandu. It appeared that such a castle indeed existed in the city of So, but it had lain in ruin for a century and was reputed to be haunted; some connections between the Harina family and the (long vanished) Mandu family were also rumoured.
Thus, Letto was still an UNDEAD PALADIN; Luwain was undead, too, and so was Orion (and, of course, Snim). Baturlan, on the other hand, was STILL not undead.
The party had double loyalty: they swore to be loyal servants of Tamasar, who nonetheless suspected them to be spies. She was RIGHT. The party, as a task force of Gonsu-2, were sent to spy on Tamasar and discover her illegal actions probably involving the neighbouring state of Tsea.
Add to this the dreadful mystery of Harina Castle - WHAT terrible thing is awaiting in its cellar, protected by the strongest magic? Was Tamasar's grandfather, Neda Jori, the rightful heir of Harina? [Answer: no] - and you will remember part of the atmosphere in which the party played/existed.
Right into that, I (the Massi) asked the Fellowship members to produce descriptions of themselves as they see them, and of the OTHER PCs as they see them. I have not, till now, revealed what I received then; even now it may continue secret information.
But, honouring the anniversary of the Fellowship, I will now release part of it. The least secret is the description which people made of THEMSELVES, and this is where I will begin.
Below you will find a selected list of self-descriptions dating from more than two years ago: the "telegraphic" portrait of Getalby the Shamamapi, the *misleadingly naive* portraits of Snim ("a harmless agricultural elf", hah??) and The Hidden One (remember that he was a priest of the FORBIDDEN god Lentu even back then!!), the artfully written portraits of Letto, Baturlan and Orion, and a beautiful song in which Luwain describes himself! (BTW, Luwain's descriptions of other PCs are songs, too, and really great ones; I will post them later). I doubt whether the players - or characters - would easily agree with Shnaud's "modest" self-description.
Larger letters denote the original March-April 1993 text. Enjoy!
- I
can't recall). Looks very weird wearing his scale armour.
Usually has a long sword, a short sword and a long bow on him but also
- quite
noticeable - a very large lumberjack's axe which says something about
his profession.Yes , BATURLAN is quite a guy. Not only is he incredibly handsome (if you like tall red-haired red-skinned mean-looking men) , but he is also ingenious in the terrible things he does to the creatures who try to hurt him or his partners (provided , of course , that he is in no danger trying to do all those nasty things).
He also has a hawk, called TOP, who is rather like his owner in many ways. He is also mean-looking , and tends to fly off when the going gets tough.
BATURLAN especially likes to steal the magically worthy items the party found and selling them or exchanging them -to his benefit.
BUT he always comes out with the solution the party needs... with them knowing it or without.
Orion, The Lawful-Good Wight Priest of Darish, Lord of the Sun. When a stranger looks at me, he will see a short, fat man, wearing a red and grey robe. If he is a citizen of So, it will be clear to him I'm at the service of the family of Harina. He will surely think: "What use does the lady of Harina have to such a clumsy man?"
If he gets to meet me, he will find it out quickly; I'm a priest of Darish, Lord of the Sun. I bring law and kindness to people, and spread the word of Darish in the world.
A very weird thing that will stand out the moment he walks with my friends and me in a she-giant, whom I refer as "Vera", that answers to everything I say with the words "Yes master".
She's not too clever, you might think... She's just a giant. And
suddenly, out of nowhere, we are attacked!!!!
(Well, in fact, the flying paladin, the one you couldn't miss, who's
at a low fly above us, warned us 20 seconds before the actual
engagement).
And as the battle heats, you see a weird thing. After each and every
attack made, my hand is sent towards my opponent, and with my touch
he shivers, as if his life energy is sucked from his body. Moreover,
his two-handed sword, wielded with talent and wit, seems to have no
effect upon me.
The battle is done. We won. It looks impossible that this low, fat,
clumsy priest, wielding his morning star, brought this fighter to
the dust. And suddenly the sword wielder wakes back to life. You
almost pass out as you see him stands up and turn towards me:
A sudden understanding strikes you.
Bye!
My name's Luwain
I lived on the second floor
of the three-dwarves-inn
No, I don't think you've seen me before.
If you feel something strange at night
Some kind of music, some kind of light
It's just me singing, it's all right
A spell I'm casting, not a fight
A song I'm writing, through the night.
I think although I'm shorty
Being an elf is not too bad
Maybe it's because I'm charming
It's no problem getting laid.
Don't let your eyes fool you, though
I am no coward, don't think so
It's just I think, when times are hard
When we're in combat, all around
It's most important, to look behind.
And there is something
I didn't get to mention yet.
Don't tell my girlfriend
she doesn't know I am undead.
It's not as if I wanted to
my life was taken, but I tell you
as long as songs are coming true
and there are friends to stick with too
I'm having fun, I really do!
A short description follows (to be expanded later):
Letto - a name rarely used for a veteran paladin who worships Voris and The True Way. More common names for him by his companions may be: "Stupid Paladin", "Why Doesn't He Shut Up?" and, of course, "Get The Idiot To Enter The Cave First".
The idiot will never refuse. He, 1.75 meters covered with plate mail medium shield, helmet and other "goodies", will go in, accompanied by his two faithful war dogs, Njorl and Jaws, and normally attack everything he might find inside, out of sheer nervousness. This tendency is being reduced as he gains maturity and XP. He is practicin' on becoming a true complete paladin, which is the hardest of tasks, since it involves both gaining more power and the knowledge how not to use it... That is all for now.
Indeed, "that is all for now". It remains to note that Vera was Orion's undead servant, drained by him and thus having become a wight. Orion maintained it that this didn't harm the Sun's (Darish then, not Rikkli) ways. Vera inherited this position from a cyclops named Warner (there were two of them, one after another), and when she died, Orion's next servant was an orc-wight nicknamed Romeo, who was dismissed to the afterworld when Orion changed his mind about employing undead servants. This happened during the party's second sojourn in the town of Here (district of So), when they saved the town from the vampires.
A last remark appears in a letter dated 21 March 1993, where Baturlan sent me the descriptions of other Fellowship members. It pertains to Baturlan himself and his plans to become a vampire. I can't help quoting it:
I WANT YOU TO NOTICE THAT IF I AM GOING TO BECOME AN UNDEAD , IT WILL BE VERY FUNNY : THE RED WHO DIDNT WED BECAME NEWLY-DEAD... AINT IT SAD ?
Oh, isn't it?
the Massi of Mirn-Kaia.
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