Zepher

"Quite a blade you've got there. I haven't been in Eubric enough to pay much attention to the plots and intrigue here. Seems the Wolfgang is the biggest threat to me, anyway, but last time I caught onto a threat the heroes I was with let the threat walk away. So, now I just save other villages." Boomingham chuckles. "Does your friend remind you of me because I too am rich and powerful?" "I may go to the fields my self, for a while. I hear it clears the head a bit, though if you've already tackled the big uglies maybe there's not much of a point." Boomingham shrugs. "Ah well."

Selected Heroes For Quest #88: Fathers and Sons Hoke Ablesword, Level 29 Mystic Knight *Party Leader* Tesni Hightribe Level 31.5 Beserker Benji Cavernhall, Level 35 Beast Warrior Jess Islanti, Level 19 Assassin Nerwen Calmcacil, Level 20.5 Shaman

Boomingham pockets the essences. "Bequeth, well, aren't you proper." A loud laugh. "Thank you, Thothwick. Don't mean to only talk to you for the essences, of course. Hope that the world has been treating you well as well?" "Too long, as I feel I say just about every time the two of us meet. How are you, my shortest friend? Keeping mind and blade sharp, I'm sure! When was it that I last saw you? Before the Foundation Day Ball, or since then?"

Current Sign-Ups For Quest #88: Fathers and Sons Johon, Level 26 Raider Dyric Rone, Level 22.33 Assassin Hoke Ablesword, Level 29 Mystic Knight Thothwick, Level 25 Black Knight Althior Emorith, Level 36.5 Necromancer Tesni Hightribe Level 31.5 Beserker Hybros, Level 29 Assassin Alexis Fenral, Level 35.5 Harlot Dreyrugr, Level 19.5 Black Knight Alexandre le Chevalier, Level 23.33 Black Knight Purpearl Berthadhiel, Level 3 Mage William Harkenshire, Level 19.5 Warden Matthias of Eastgate, Level 1 Ranger Benji Cavernhall, Level 35 Beast Warrior Jess Islanti, Level 19 Assassin Mizuki Kimura, Level 20.33 Assassin Thormanil Nihai, Level 30.5 Dragoon Alexander Vandangant, Level 19 Hunter Nerwen Calmcacil, Level 20.5 Shaman Sign Ups Close in ~24 Hours "Glad to hear you know each other. It's good to have good men know good men." Boomingham pauses and glances over at the bar, but it appears conversation is more important to him than another drink. "I've been busy. Sometimes I think back to the quests I've been on and it feels like they were four or five or ten years ago instead of just one or two. Once upon a time I was looking for stolen goods in a Shadeaux warehouse, and now I'm helping them win cities in their favors." Boomingham shrugs. "Have either of you been to R'Klif? I've just returned. Went out there with Ellaria, the dearest of the dears, Nerwen and the traitorous wizard boy. Things went well enough, all things considered. It's good to do good again. Good to get out of Eubric. Seems in this city any damn brat can join the Watch." "And what of you two? Searched any warehouses of late? Where are you off to? And in all honesty, Hoke, while I'd love to go out again, I think I need a drink or two to smarten me back up before I get worn too thin."

I just put together the list of everyone signed up for 88, and then closed the window while it was posting. So, if you're interested in 88, make sure you're signed up. EDIT: Looks like it made it after all! Huzzah!

Do I actually owe Hoke gold? It's not listed anywhere, but it's more than possible.

"Hoke, how is big bad Olegia treating you!" says Boomingham with a grin. "Still working hard, I assume? Can hardly recall when last I saw you, been in the hall so often and so long that it's all sort of a blur at this point. Do I owe you some coin? It's not in my books, but Hel, I can hardly remember anything. Pull up a seat. I believe you know Mr. Thothwick here?"

I think it's time to do my Zepher thing too. Nerwen - Wonderful. I am so happy that we got to quest together, finally. I think that we've laid a real good frame work, and though the quest was slow at time and we had to read back to know what we'd already discussed, I think it worked. I have stated before that I think Nerwen is the closest thing to a love interest I could see for Boomingham, and while I'm not sure that's true, they certainly have a long ways to go in their relationship. The fact that you've given weight to your elf status is very cool too - it is underplayed by most people, but you make it a believable part of your character. I think it's powerful. I think Nerwen is awesome and unique and I'm glad to see where she and Boomingham and she and Guts go. I hope we will quest together again soon, in perhaps a more goal oriented quest. We can clash or work together beautifully! Ellaria - Again, wonderful. Ellaria and Boomingham are very unlikely friends, and I really enjoy it. I don't know what has drawn him so much to Ellaria and Nyx, but he really wants to look after both of them AND respects them both immensely at the same time. I think that our quest together (Taking Out the Laundry) was a very powerful one for Boomingham, and as it was just the two of us (conversation-wise) for a majority of that quest, I think that Boomingham and Ellaria know each other better than many of the other heroes. I'm always happy to have you on a quest. I am very excited to see more of Ellaria in the future, and I hope that you are alright with keeping Boomingham as part of your story, because both he and I love the charming, sweet, innocent, powerful young mother you've created. Alexander - I'd like to see more of your character, of course, but when you did post a lot (particularly in the beginning) it was always a fun conversation. I feel too that you began to lose interest in the end, but I'd love to quest with you again. Arthur - I actually like questing with someone for that long. I think Arthur and Boomingham are great foils, and I really enjoy the dynamic they have. Every conversation is revealing with them. It's rare for Boomingham to dislike and like and disrespect and respect someone, but that's how he feels about Arthur. For a character with such strong convictions, it's good to have someone who throws a wrench in everything. Arthur is smart and cunning and tactical, but he makes bad choices and is dumb. Boomingham still doesn't know what to make of him after a year, and I think it's good. You may be tired of it, but I'm sure not. Tholar - You were rocky at the beginning, but you seemed to start to grasp it as the quest came along. Keep improving - we're all confused as to how to play when it all starts off, but you've laid some groundwork and started to get the hang of things, and while at the beginning (I won't lie) I probably would not have wanted to quest with you again, you came along enough that I'd be more than willing to give it a shot. Remember this is a community game - stealing the lime light isn't allowed. I actually have some notes on Gaiden too, but that will come later. As I find is often true, I think WBD and Kintober have aptly summed up a lot of what I feel (too Karie centric, Octavyn is kind of boring with all his in your faceness, the battles were cool), but I want to go more in depth. But, this is long enough already, so that will come along when it comes along.

Having quenched his thirst, Boomingham rises from the bar and makes his way over to the sleeping Thothwick. He gives him a friendly little nudge. "Wakey wakey, sleepy head. I believe you have a few essences that belong to me."

As is usual, it is Barty who does the shopping for the dynamic duo. He lugs behind him the Tome of Affluence and a number of other items. The angel flips through the tome as he goes, grumbling the whole time and adding his own little notes to the work that now has three authors. First to Anwyl's, selling the Pongcanis whip (80/2=40 gold+386=426). Next to Elphaba. The angel stares down the witch and conducts his business quietly, selecting a Scroll of Frailty, two amethysts, a ruby, and a lullaby wand. (50+50+50+90=290. 426-290=136) Finally, he returns to the dwarfish man and gives him the book, having him inlay an amethyst and a ruby into the cover (136-100=36). The angel leaves the market with a small cache of gold, but feeling more prepared.

Getting together all the characters for a quest is near impossible, unfortunately. Hopefully we can figure it out. I've never done a cut scene before. I find them indulgent in general, but Kintober has shown that they can work without being intrusive, and I had the set and the characters kicking around anyway, so I figured why not? I tried to make it work for more than one character, too, even if Boomingham was the only one featured.

Boomingham walks down the streets of Eubric, having smacked his horse on it's big behind and watching it gallop away. He assumed the elves bred them to return, and if not, they had just lost a horse. His wandering takes him into the hovels, and he takes out his Tome of Affluence and begins to jot down his newest thoughts about uniting a people, elves, and second chances. The notes in the book were good, sure, but he had more to add. He understood power and influence and how to make the right choice in a tough spot. Barty burst to life beside him. "Who in Olegia do you think is going to read all that drivel when they have the holy books of Ennoc?" asks the little angel. "I'm hoping to leave it to Nyx. Just in case anything ever happens to me. I need someone to have something of mine, and most everything else I own crumbled years ago. It's called a legacy." "Humph, poor girl would be better off without it." The angel suddenly bursts out of existence again. "We've got company." Two men stand before Boomingham as he lowers the book to his side. "Well howdy there! Boomingham, ain't it? We've met before. The name's Everyman!" "Who's your acquaintance?" asks Boomingham, but the third man just shrugs. "Doesn't matter much. I was only stopping in town briefly, hoped to see if an old friend was still alive. Seems she's not around. So, on with life." Boomingham laughs. "Isn't that the way with it." "It seems to be," says the stranger. "But we keep on going. It's all just fun and games, anyway. Might as well enjoy it while we can." "Onwards and upwards," mumbles Boomingham, but he's smiling as the stranger and Everyman disappear. "We've still got more to do, don't we Boomingham." "Oh yes we do, my little friend. Much more to do." A few minutes later, Boomingham bursts into the hall loudly once more, walks up to the bar, and orders himself a drink. He's in high spirits once more.

BD, I don't feel I have to tell you my obvious complaints with the quest. It was too long, and with not enough padding. I know you had issues up front, but they seemed to extend for months. I would have personally preferred a longer pause up front, and then a quest that ran smoothly from there on in. Those 48 hour breaks really get to me, and the lack of auto-rolling, etc. You spoke of commitment, and there is a commitment for QMs to update every 24 hours. Once or twice it's fine to miss, but it got pretty consistently over that amount of time. That being said, I know I was impatient, and I apologize. I always feel like it's such an awful thing to do as a fellow QM - we know the work involved and we still whine. I agree that those who speed up your quest to get back are particularly unfair, and I hope I never came across as that, but I do know that I was impatient all the same, so I apologize. Sets were... of course, absolutely stunning. Some were re-used more than I would have liked, but that's a-okay. The only reason it bothers me is that the sets are so beautiful - the more we ring out of you, the better. Your characters are always improving. I thought a lot of them were fun, though I wish some of them spoke more. You have a tendency for lots of characters without delving into them as much, which is too bad because ALL of them intrigue me. I think if they spoke more to us and to each other, you'd be golden. That being said you did build quite a few strong characters I hope to revisit. My other major complaint, which is RARE for you, is that sometimes I felt a little lost as to the surroundings - where the hell did our NPC allies go at the end for the Mopag battle? How did we communicate in the hex battle? Was I on a horse sometimes? These are things that would really help us role play, and though I know that it's not the biggest deal for you, it is for some of us, and helping us enjoy the game to it's fullest extent is part of your job. To my fellow questers - we all ebbed and flowed with the slow quest, but over all I had a great time with all of you. I'll give you further thoughts soon, in another post. My main point of the post is, of course, thank you. QMing is a job. It is time consuming and challenging and a lot of work. Doing it is really a huge favor to the community, and you always do a good job, even if not always your best job. I really thank you for the time and for sticking with it, even when the world got in the way. It means a lot, and I'd love to give your quests another shot when you feel prepared again. :thumbup:

You're both doing a good job. Find what about them clicks, and what about them causes tension. That will take time, of course. Haldor has been through a lot since they last met. He is a different man... with a few more secrets. You can play that up. Jess too can have changed, we just haven't seen it. Or maybe as an elf she's stayed the same, and that could cause some tension. It's really just roleplaying together long enough... and maybe you two will end up on a quest soon together if you both sign up for the same one.

Thank you, Sandy!!

"Aye, here are your gloves. If I could have my gloves back, and also my scroll, I'd be very thankful."

CJP, I think that was one of your better quests. The story was strong, the battles were pretty decent. They did seem kind of long - it's something a lot of us QMs are working on. Lower health with fiercer attacks seems to be working. I think that if you had introduced Julio a little sooner and had him do more, there could have been more conflict/more thought in the player's actions. Introducing NPCs and then revisiting them later works well for story purposes. But, other than that, it was pretty solid and looked like a lot of fun.

"Let us borrow those horses we rode here for the ride back. Other than that, I think it's time that we get on our way."

I believe Moone sinking predates the founding of Eubric by quite a long time, though correct me if I'm wrong. I'm asking because... certain very soon upcoming quests will have flashbacks to the early years of Eubric. And I love the Doppel, mechanically. I was also planning to use something similar to it, and if it works, a similar enemy will appear sometime in the future of Zepher quests. Thanks for testing it out.

"Maybe someone ought to dig, and then let's get out of here. This place smells stale."

Sandy (and others!) how long ago was Eubric a real city? I know when it was "founded" but it was like a fledgling fishing village before that, right?

And it's not like picture building and photographing time is holding us back. It has been two weeks since the final fight of the quest, so hopefully we'll be headed back soon... especially considering that we're pushing five months now...

Yeah, exactly, it's true from her point of view, and not from other characters. As long as she doesn't ignore them "no, I got away because I CAN travel at the speed of light" (which would be saying "no" to their roleplaying, if we're looking at it that way), and they don't ignore her "No, I DID catch you" (which would be, again, a no), then both can exist from different points of view. Be respectful, but ignore what doesn't work, and then everyone can play.

I didn't say deny it, I said avoid it. In their version of the game, they can do that, and your's, they can't. There's an easy way to have both happen without conflict unless you force conflict. If she can travel at the speed of light in her game universe, you respect that she "got away" though in your universe, she just went to fast or hid to well, etc. It doesn't mean canceling what they do, it just means respectfully ignoring it.

I think the best way to treat role play you find ridiculous or unhelpful is to simply ignore it. You can let everyone play the game, and you don't have to be rude, just don't consider the portions you don't like.