The last Druid of Evil

Delphinus

As it's come up a few times, it might be prudent to link to a Metamorphosis thread on the old forums. Basically, the way it's depicted in the artisanals is accurate.

Delphinus

@Aepas: You misunderstand. The link to Blue and Orange Morality was meant to convey the idea of alignments apart from black, white, and grey. In this case, green is a legitimate alignment -- a moral and ethical perspective in its own right.

Know also that a large part of Achaea isn't explicitly stated or written. If you read over the thread I linked above, you'll notice that Neraeos is going on what "feels right" based on the evidence that's been given to him. Many things aren't canonised, but in context, they're broadly held to be true. It's a safe bet that future canon -- if it occurs -- will usually support these assumptions. To that end, the difference between "fact in the world" and "player assumed or created" isn't as clear-cut as you'd think.

The best solution is to read between the lines. If you're given the letters X and Z, you're right to guess that "Y" comes between them, regardless of whether or not it's actually said. This is especially true if you've spent a decade playing an alphabet mage!

Aepas

@Big D
Okay, that's a perfectly acceptable answer in my books but just as well I'll have to stick to the RP I've dedicated to myself. He will still believe in his foresty evil ideals, and continue to get jumped and killed I'm sure, but that's alright. I hope that the concept of the RP is not enough to really upset anyone, mainly because the version I see and preach is still about a neutral forest that grows strong and gets rid of oakstone, etc etc etc. Maybe I'm just stubborn, but I feel like it is a valid standpoint of RP and it can really only go downhill from here since we can't have other people joining mhaldor as a druid and getting on some kind of bandwagon, though it would be interesting to start such a movement! XD.
granted, I don't really want this to all turn into a big debate of ideals and understandings, like I've said, I just want to know where my safe zone is for RP so I don't go around messing up and just being lulzy.

Basically what I say is that it's not really like a priest helping chaos or evil, and it's not like an infernal saving babies from a burning orphanage. It is a conflicting ideals, but I believe they are in a spectrum that it is possible to overlap in.

Now once again to Aepas' physical form. I did do a few things once, with.. i dunno, sitting on my haunches. I've since removed that stuff and really the most that I actually do is nod my many hydra heads. Once again this is reflected in combat, as three heads act together with form and physical stuff. It's safetly assumed that the semi-visible spirit is really just mimicking everything that Aepas is doing, but as it would if it were a tangible thing. It again does not mean that Aepas is gone or not there, but he is completely overlapped by a massive spirit (still assuming on my part that overlap is a semi-visial/phsyical way, rather than a mental one). Things that don't and can't happen is people touching his spirit like it was really a big hydra. no patting of my heads, no touching his scaly flank, none of that nonsense.  But for the head bobbing, I can assume that is hardly different than flapping my invisible wings to fly. Hope that makes sense. Still, if that seems -completely- wrong I can just cut it out even if i don't want to. I don't want to go around doing things and having people murmer "gaw why is he doing that.. doesn't he know he's not a hydra" yes.. yes I know. Granted, aepas still thinks he is a hydra.

Sherazad

If you accept that the hydra is spiritual, maybe you can have it reflect on your emotes? Because you can't expect people to think you don't think you're a hydra when you do Aepas nods his three hydra heads. Try to add something like, it's a spirity head or ghostly looking, whatever. Something better than my efforts xD. Omg, I need sleep badly.

Miralath

Aepas, my character would be absolutely fascinated with yours, should they ever happen to meet as she is obsessed with knowledge and ideologies of all kinds and a heavy duty researcher.

Personally, though, I love your ideas and I wish more people would get into a hardcore RP mindset that pushes the limit in the way that you do.

Idelisa

I wish I'd seen this thread a month ago.  I love this.  Like @Miralath, Idelisa would be captivated by yours.

Anyway, just wanted to chime in as an involved forestal.  Idelisa was, at first, a druid (She's Sylvan now because of a number of things that drove her away from them). What she learned of the Druids and Oakstone ideals left a particularly sour taste in her mouth for many things, to the point where she was (is) vehemently against many of the rules and regulations.  For example, she feels that everyone is a part of Nature and that Oakstone is actually hurting Nature by causing the forests to attack people.  She feels that fire, holocausts, and other forms of destruction actually cleanse the forests and that those that do damage are, as you said, restoring balance.... clearly not in the way of the 7 Truths, but still very against Oakstone and even her own husband.

 

Meeting with Carmain / @Mishgulhelped to reinforce her beliefs that many forestals are, erm... fake and enslaved to Oakstone, and finds Mhaldorian's to be refreshingly genuine and even downright kind... again, due to her own personal experiences.  She was just shy of becoming Mhaldorian when some asshole (ahem @Anatral ) came along and ruined things for me since I evolve my characters accordingly. X(   

Keep up the good work.  I think that we as beings are often contradictory, so I do not find it to be surprising in a character and feel that it simply adds to the complexity, making him quite genuine rather than a one dimensional personality.  I also love that you as a player are willing to let him evolve, since I've found that many people that RP don't account for experiences, and keep their characters very static.

</rambling>  

Edit: Stupid Carmain using Mishgul on the forums. :P

Mishgul

Carmain is my alt, Mishgul is my main.

Aepas

I hate to revive a dead thread, but I'd like to thank everyone that gave me so much encouragement and support as far as my RP was concerned. Many things about Aepas are the same, and yet many things have changed. His hatred for oakstone continues to grow, as well as his hatred for harvesting (ffs am I the only forestal for Mhaldor? oh wait..) His sense of "Hydra" was broken by his mother, which involved a huge shatter to his ego and willpower, along with many other things. He continues to try and live as much as he can, trying to show others how "awful" oakstone is. Once again I'd just like to say thank you to @Delphinus (though we never spoke IC, his points on the forums helped make sure I was acting accordingly.) @Rangor for beign an ass IC, though it made sense. @Vrah, @Nizaris, @xenomorh, @arador, @ruth, @tvistor, @antidas Thank you all for helping develop the char, from simply obeying orders, to interacting with the forestal ideals.
@vyln as the only non-mhaldorian Aepas knows, for listening to his curiousity for music and art, and even playing parts of his -no touch- rule.

Once again I know Aepas' RP may not be entirely cannon, but you've all done a ton in making the game and RP side of things enjoyable for me.

Averi

I met you today! Great character! Didn't realize you were mhaldorian but it's awesome that you're both mhaldorian and a forestal. 

Halios

Interacted with Aepas a couple times. Definitely have a cool thing going man.

People sometimes forget that without the true RPers there would be no "world" for us to move around in and experience.

As one of the non-RPing vanilla type, thanks.

Elowin

Eeeee, what a cool concept! P'raps there's room for a new, 'savage' forestal faction that doesn't coddle the wilds?

Tvistor

I think that's what Eleusis is supposed to be.

Elowin

Eh, maybe back in the day. They always come off a bit LOTR elfy to me.

Edit: That is to say, they may live 'simply' but they ain't /savage/.

Anatral

Elowin said:

Eh, maybe back in the day. They always come off a bit LOTR elfy to me. Edit: That is to say, they may live 'simply' but they ain't /savage/.

The span of attitudes, lifestyles, beliefs, personalities and opinions within Eleusis is staggeringly vast, ranging from those who would easily fit into Cyrene without having to change anything to those who would easily fit into Ashtan without having to change anything and then those who are really, truly just pure-nature.

You'll get people who have been somehow 'civilised' by living in the village, and act as if it was made of brick and mortar, while also getting those who slightly resent the fact that the village is there in the first place. While the true savages - characters who just don't work in society are rare (because it's a bitch to RP consistently while also being a little cliché), I can name at least one organisation that follows quite strongly savage ideals.

@Elowin find some excuse to bump into Anatral.

Elowin

@Anatral I don't play anymore.
My character is an ex-Mojushai Blademistress, former Kastalian who's presumably somewhere in the jungles of Meropis searching for a reason to either embrace a life of Strength or abandon the world to the embrace of Death.

I might come back to Achaea when I get a new computer sometime in Feb. For now, I'm on my phone. Not stepping FOOT in game as a Mark w/o a system, lol.

Anatral

Elowin said:

I don't play anymore. My character is an ex-Mojushai Blademistress, former Kastalian who's presumably somewhere in the jungles of Meropis searching for a reason to either embrace a life of Strength or abandon the world to the embrace of Death.

Boo. Ana and Elowin met a few times about a RL year ago, but they were all pretty brief interactions.

Delphinus

Anatral said:

The span of attitudes, lifestyles, beliefs, personalities and opinions within Eleusis is staggeringly vast, ranging from those who would easily fit into Cyrene without having to change anything to those who would easily fit into Ashtan without having to change anything and then those who are really, truly just pure-nature.

You'll get people who have been somehow 'civilised' by living in the village, and act as if it was made of brick and mortar, while also getting those who slightly resent the fact that the village is there in the first place. While the true savages - characters who just don't work in society are rare (because it's a bitch to RP consistently while also being a little cliché), I can name at least one organisation that follows quite strongly savage ideals.

Occultists and Mhaldorians can be very genteel when they aren't sacrificing babies. There's something to be said for the complexity of the individual, never mind the variation within an org.

Jraatha

I'm going to be honest, I didn't read any of the posts that aren't the original one. From what I can tell, there are no mechanics that can remove Druidic powers unlike devotion and necromancy. Therefor there is no, and cannot be any true right to the will of the forest.
Its seems to me what you do, you don't view it as evil. You progress nature you make it stronger. You are not a Druid of Evil. You are a druid of evolution.
Other druids may seek to stop you, claim you are corrupting nature. Yet they are the corruptors. You are the only Druid to ever let Nature surpass your own strength. You allow the creatures that can slay you into your own sanctuary. And yet the others coddle the sick and the frail that would have been weeded out by the natural order of things. They weaken nature in their misguided efforts to satisfy some sick power fantasy rooted deep down in their subconcious. They wish to be perpetually stronger than nature so that they can "protect" it... yet all they do is control and manipulate it for their own benefit.

Sorry, I went off on a Tangent. Seeing such a great character awoken the muse in me. But in clearer terms, what you are doing is not wrong, IC or OOC, its just different. Achaea does a good job at weeding out the actual "spechul snowflakes" that just want to be outside of a group. But remember every story needs a villain, and you are endowing that service well to hundreds of Druids. Even better, you are a villain whose justification could rock the foundations of hundreds of players characters.

Delphinus

The one true threat to Nature is necromancy.

Mishgul

nonsense, without necromancy things would just stay dead.