My Many Memories of Narfell
-
It was fantastic RP and good natured players that got me hooked on Narfell. One of my first characters was a wizard. After he died about half a dozen times to kobolds outside Peltarch, I decided that it was a good idea to make some friends and learn the ropes before venturing off alone again. I made an elven bard from a far off land. He was fun to play because he had no real background story and could just jump right into things, and as he got to meet new people and learn about Narfell, so did I.
My inspiration for creating Roland came from several sources. The first was the death of my bard to a bunch of Bandit Marauder Hounds in the Nars Pass. Travelling alone from Norwick to Peltarch was near certain death in those days - of course, I had to try it.
Next, there was Baldur's Gate II, still one of the best RPGs in my opinion, and specifically the character of Keldorn Firecam, the Paladin of Helm you meet in the sewers beneath Athkatla. He was a great character - noble and knightly, but also gritty and tough (I mean, he was down there fighting a colony of beholders by himself). He was also a bit over the hill, with baggage like a wife and kids that he never saw, all things that I think made him more human.
Then there were the people I met in my first few weeks on the server.
At the outset, props are owed to Illuminatus for making me feel welcome right away, and for the encouragement he gave when he said he liked my story about Roland’s family background. He also made House Brynmor an official noble house of Peltarch, which was pretty cool considering I wrote the first draft of their story on the back of a napkin.
I still remember Grey Bishop’s amazing roleplay as Troth Betold, the fallen knight. One particular event comes to mind, where Troth led a group of us to arrest the rakshasa Vasha Doon, who was masquerading as a Calishite noble running in the Senate elections. We went into Doon's house, and things got bad fast. He let loose a dire tiger on us that killed most of the city guards, then chased most of the group around in circles while Troth chased the tiger. It was my first DM run event in Narfell, and great times. Over the years I got to know Grey a bit better. An all around great guy, he was a master at playing the anti-hero, the bad guy that you hated to love. His main character, Vashere Orbarskyr, had a bit of a reputation as the Darth Vader of Narfell way back when.
Did I mention Roland once saved Vashere’s life when an orc army attacked Jiyyd? Well, he did, and that’s how he became an honorary Knight of the Crimson Guard (for anyone who remembers that guild). Anyway, moving on…
Kanen Hightower was just the opposite. He was –the– hero in shining armor, always fighting evil wherever it reared its ugly head. Which was a lot of places in Narfell. To me, Kanen was the guy who never backed down from a challenge or wavered in the face of evil, regardless of the odds, yet somehow triumphed each time (or at least more often than not) – a true paladin. True to his name, he really was a towering pillar of strength and a beacon of hope for Team Lawful Good.
Since Kanen seemed to have a monopoly on Narfell’s traditional shiny hero market, I tried to find ways to distinguish Roland. I gave him a rather odd family, for a paladin, and made Peltarch his home, which was an unlikely place to find a paladin in those days. The Divine Shield was actually based in Jiyyd then. I even gave Roland more than 10 INT (shocking, really, and it showed considerable foresight when the Expertise feat was introduced in the NWN expansion about 3 months later).
I remember once when Kanen and Troth nearly came to blows in the commons. There was a magical plague sweeping the city and the guard had a lockdown in effect. A diseased citizen broke through the guard's lines, and Kanen shot him down with an arrow. Troth went ballistic, yelling that it wasn't necessary. Kanen said there had been no choice, and then Troth, the fallen knight, just dropped a bomb on the paladin: "There is always choice."
Fantastic stuff.
-
Oh, yeah, this was one of the posts that convinced me to return. Just to toss it out there.
-
You brought a warm smile to my face old friend.
I'm just glad the years I put into Narf weren't forgotten.
To know the stories we all shared are remebered, is the greatest reward a DM can take with him.
I couldn't have done it without you.
-
Thanks for the comments, glad you guys liked my ramblings.
-
_though it hasnt been as long for me here as most I have to give this memory its due.
I remember when Calen first arrived in Narfell. Jiyyd was quiet as most sat at the fire in Norwick so he spent alot of time alone and Rping with the npcs.
One particular day I will never forget is when Roland showed up in town, gave Calen a history lesson about Helmites as well as helping me out a little OOC on roleplaying and what to watch out for.
The conversation lasted for hours it seemed as they walked and talked discussing historical points in Jiyyd. Discussed Helms teachings and the way that Paladins were looked upon.
Thank you for such a great welcome its one of the reasons I stayed. Roland will be missed and so glad you dint kill him off.
will always remember Rolands words, "patience boy and you'll make it"_
-
Wow strep.
It sure seems like you had fun.
Thanks for sharing.
-
sniffles and misses many of the people too
:hug:
-
A conclusion of sorts
On the whole, I'd say Roland had a good run, and I'm glad he got to leave on a high note. Roland managed to get elected to the Senate at a time when it was run by the notoriously corrupt Seafarers. At the time of Roland’s retirement, the leading Seafarer Senator and his long time political nemesis, Torin Bravickus, was insane and in prison for treason. In the interim, Roland helped lead the city through 3 wars, slew a dragon in single combat (thanks Yith), banned the Church of Bane and the Blood Spiders from Peltarch, travelled through time to stop an evil god (thanks Pinky), uncovered a Seafarer conspiracy to steal a Senate seat (thanks Sera), and saved Peltarch Herald Thril by fighting off Vloss Orbb and a small army of Blood Spiders (with Grag's help of course). He then stood trial for murder, in which he was (quite maliciously) prosecuted by Senator Bravickus, and ably defended by Zyphlin and Shannon, former and future Magistrates, respectively.
Roland also crusaded in the abyss and across the planes, got captured and had an extended stay in one of us Orcus's halls (Wykith, you'll always be in our nightmares), fought demons and devils in Jiyyd and got to be the guy entrusted with the Black Egg abyssal portal spawner Ancient Narfell doo-dad before the good guys destroyed it in the B8 Finale (thanks Lager, Coaan, and the rest of the team who ran those events).
In short, Roland deserves a long vacation, and I'm giving him one. You never know, I may take him out of Narfell storage and dust him off now and again for cameo appearances, assuming something special is going on. Otherwise, he'll be off to make the acquaintance of one Keldorn Firecam, and help reduce the overgrown beholder population of Athkatla.
edit: what, you didn't think I'd actually kill him off, did you?
-
Syne and the Divine Shield
Syne started off as Aspera's toadie, then became feared as an Inquisitor and finally a Senator, trading barbs with Roland in the commons on a regular basis. Eventually, he became a devil who tormented Roland and the Shield for years until we managed to dash his plans for world domination by banishing the Little Lady of Infernus from the Prime Material. Probably the Shield's crowning achievement while Roland was Grand Master.
Which brings me to the Divine Shield, of which no discussion would be complete without mentioning Shane, who laid the groundwork for the guild and helped keep us alive when we were struggling for new members in the early days. But Roland did most of his adventuring early on with Cyrus, the fat priest of Torm with the purple beard. The two of us got so good at cleaning out old Skara's cave that we used to get compliments from the DMs who dropped extra stoneskinned goblin assassins and enraged umber hulks on us. And there was Sam of Sam's hill fame, the gentle giant who always had Roland's back no matter how bad things got.
Mariston Thel was the first of our squires - Cyrus used to send him to clean out the first floor of the crypts in Norwick on a regular basis. Later he moved up to Peltarch, got elected to the Senate in a flawlessly run campaign (shameless self plug), and eventually succeeded Roland as Grand Master. Thou werst most fun to adventureth with.
Shannon D'Arneau was a quiet young priest with shaky self confidence, and too smart for a Tormtar :). He made an OK squire, and later became one of Roland's best friends, both on and off the battlefield. He narrowly beat the Seafarer candidate for Magistrate, completing the Holy Triad of Brynmor, Thel, and D'Arneau that subsequently ruled the city like kings (hehe).
Natanya, also played by Yith (who played Gildor), was far and away Roland's best squire. She spent something like 6 months as a squire before we finally made her a knight. She was also the only squire Roland ever had who actually carried around stuff for him (this was before persistent storage). Without a doubt, she was the voice of gentleness and compassion in the DS, and I think she kept the rest of us honest. It was fun playing Roland as her adoptive father and threatening to kill her and Rath when he found them together in the temple :).
As a DM, Yith also ran the plot in which Roland got to fight a dragon, settling an old score and finding his holy sword. Prompting the line, when Guard General Vick Dunderstone saw it and said, "fine blade, Brynmor,": "Yes. I recovered it from the hoard of a dragon that I slew in single combat."
Kara was the one who got away. She joined the Shield quite a bit later than the rest of us, after the whole Crystal fiasco in Norwick, but quickly joined the guild leadership. We would never have got through the Halls and the Little Lady events without Kara. And if we hadn’t brought her, she wouldn’t have become Nevae’Ama, Grand Marshall of the N’Jast army that invaded Narfell, and no doubt a bane to future generations of shiny types.
Although he was neither a member of the DS nor played a major role in the Syne plots (at least to my knowledge), Konstantin deserves a mention here - out of professional courtesy, if nothing else. I like to think that in his later days, Roland may have been the closest thing Kon had to a friend. As with Syne, the two might have found themselves fighting on the same side under slightly different circumstances, rather than against each other most of the time.
-
Even more
Roland remembers the former Magistrate and Senator Evendur Mildsilver as an intelligent, well-spoken young man whom he hired as his Advisor, and who later became a real force to be reckoned with. I rememer Evendur the player as a solid roleplayer with a great sense of humour.
Roland first met Magistrate Barrim Asbravn when he just arrived in Peltarch. The two later became companions in arms against the bandits, and made regular patrols of the pass together. Over a beer at the Mermaid, Roland suggested that Barrim join the defenders or the city guard – Barrim ended up joining the Guard, later made Magistrate, and the rest is history. Fighting our way out of the Senate after Koreth’s coup was incredibly fun.
Zyphlin was Norwick's Ambassador to Peltarch, and Roland met him through a mutual friend, Trev. It was fun to watch Roland get narrowly edged out by Zyph when the Senate picked a new Magistrate :P. And then there were the many, many, many adventurers they went on together. Too many to recount here, but I'll post again later if I remember anything particularly entertaining.
Talgrath was a mercenary from the south that Roland met through Zyph. The first time they met, they of course went to the Mermaid for a beer, where Tal crossed his legs on the table and generally behaved like the ill-mannered mercenary that he was :). Tal went on to become a fixture in the Defenders, eventually rising to the rank of Captain of the elite 2nd Corps, and dramatically converted to Tyr in his later years. One of the few mercenaries Roland ever trusted.
Maya was a little known Uthgardt woman who had travelled north to Peltarch to join the Black Dragon Knights. Roland first met her outside Troth Betold's house one day. It didn’t take her long to make a name for herself. Roland and Maya never adventured together regularly, but they moved in the same circles, and the two always seemed to end up together in the big events – town attacks, wars, the B8 finale, etc.
Amusingly, Roland ended up in adventures with all the chaotic types. Not just chaotic, INSANE chaotic. There was Gildor, the classic dodgy rogue who was a great shot with a bow and had a vicious mean streak, but who secretly cried on Roland's shoulder when no one was looking one day. Suffice to say, Gildor got into trouble pretty much all the time – probably the funniest thing she ever did was draw a card from a magical deck that reversed her alignment – to Lawful Good.
Then there was The Fool, the gnomish illusionist who for kicks one day turned the armour plate of every Black Dragon Knight in Peltarch pink. And secretly blew a hole in the side of a Seafarer ship whose captain had refused to help Roland when he was investigating the Icelace pirates for the Senate. And ate warmachines for breakfast. Because he could.
I kind of think of Roland and Fool as the Odd Couple of Narfell – the serious paladin of Helm who still knew how to laugh at himself now and then (or maybe it was just me laughing), and the crazy but good natured gnome sorcerer. One time Vino possessed a giant and chased the two of us (probably around level 6 or 7 at the time) all the way to the western gate in the foothills outside Peltarch. We slammed the gate behind us, Fool got up on the hill and hurled a few fireballs, then we opened the gate and Roland killed the giant in one hit. Fool set em up, Roland knocked em down. Ah, good times.
There was Meril, the bard who always managed to get chased by the biggest, baddest enemy in every major fight we were in. The best was when a group of us were fighting warmachines in the Lost City mines. A line of heavily armored fighters stood blocking the tunnel as a warmachine charged at them. But the warmachine didn't attack, it just stood there, like it was stuck. So one of the dwarves says, "maybe it wants to talk," and steps aside. The thing runs straight for Meril and proceeds to chase him in circles for about a minute. We managed to smash it to pieces just in time to save him.
Azrael also deserves an honorable mention here for blowing up Peltarch’s Icelake wall and flooding the sewers, drowning an army of Blood Spiders and their families in order to forestall a Blood Spider attack on the city. And then having the guilt drive him insane, confessing everything to Roland, and trying to stab himself to death in the temple of Tyr. Daisy sure didn't like cleaning up that mess.
-
More memories
Then there were the guys I adventured with regularly in the early days.
Kasumi Ungarath, the little hin spellsword that could. Kas was a genuinely good and humble guy who could nevertheless open a can of whup ass on most bad guys (at least, when he had time to buff first). He was mean with that bastard sword, which for a hin was of course a greatsword. Kas and Roland must have fought together hundreds of times. Kobolds, ogres, giants, evil cultists, you name it. On one particularly memorable trip, we got ambushed by a huge group of bandits in the pass. We were fighting back to back, surrounded, and when we saw a bandit officer coming around the corner, we knew we were done for. Just then, a big group led by a dwarf named Gruff Klump showed up out of nowhere and wiped the floor with the remaining bandits. More dramatic timing, I have never seen (or appreciated as much).
As a player, I learned a lot from Blake. I had some familiarity with DnD when I found Narfell but online RP was entirely new to me. As a player, he really took me under his wing and taught me the ropes. There were a lot of people who did that for me, but he was the first and probably the best. I had a lot of fun times after he left, but things were also never quite the same without him.
Through Kas, I ended up hanging out and fighting with some of the old Cerulean Knights like Demi, Glory, and some bard/fighter guy whose name escapes me now. Good people – too bad a Paladin of Helm really had no business in a guild dedicated to Mystra.
The first big storyline I played in was Zweiander’s Crysalis Draco plot, where I played with Kas and a group of guys that I still consider to be the best adventuring party I ever had the privilege of joining. There was Trevalyan, a rogue/fighter and all-around ass kicker whose player previously played Narfell’s hero-in-chief before Kanen showed up. Trev knew the game inside and out. He taught me a thing or two about how to survive and fight effectively with others, and to give you an idea of how much I trusted him IC and OOC, a level 6 Roland once stood with Trev face to face with an ancient white dragon. Fortunately, it decided not to slaughter and eat us (thanks Zwei).
Vino Sten was the best cleric a party could have. He managed to keep us all alive against overwhelming odds with split-second reflexes, falling back to heal one of us as we lay dying at -7 or -8 HP, then running ahead back into the battle to heal the guys on the front lines. Later, Vino also made a brilliant DM. His behind the scenes scheming always kept his NPC villains a few steps ahead of us, and he was hilarious playing Rath Ashald. Besides his complicated intrigue and political plots, Vino was great with one-off events and adventures that, at least for me, hearkened back to the old days of tabletop pen and paper gaming. Even if you were just fighting kobolds, he knew how to make you feel like a hero.
Talgris Caldason, what can I say? I’m sure everyone who knew Wykith was hugely impressed by the depth of his characters, and the little details that made them memorable – whether it was Talgris with his pixie friend and his absurdly foul language, or Syne with his pipe and sinister smile. I didn’t want to see Talgris leave when Wyk decided to retire him. As a player, I knew my paladin wouldn’t be adventuring much with Syne, and I’d see less of Wyk.
Later, as a DM, Wykith’s plots convinced me to pull Roland out of early retirement, and it was the best decision of my Narfell career. I loved every minute of the Syne/Little Lady/Nephilim plotline because the stories were brilliant, the fights were a terrifying (but not insurmountable) challenge, and when we won, we really did feel like heroes. It was a unique pleasure for me to share in those stories with Wyk and the Divine Shield crew, and famous guest stars like Demi and Maya. I think for those of us who played the plot out to its conclusion, and it took well over a year, it kind of spoiled us. I never had quite so much fun in Narfell again.
Best moment: we were setting out to stop Mel'hrus, the evil sorceress who had released a magical plague on Peltarch using the power of the Crysalis Draco. We were going to launch a secret attack on her underground stronghold against suicidal odds. But getting there required a bit of climbing through the foothills, and as it happens…half of us failed our climb rolls. We were just getting started and we couldn't even get up a hill.
Of course, we went on to win the day anyhow, which only made the whole episode funnier.
