Kali
On August 3rd 2003, Karen Hillyer died; the player of GM Aelsidhe as well as the legend ranger Kali, and whom most of us at least knew of even if we didn't get the chance to interact with her. (You can find the memorial page set up by her brother at http://www.geocities.com/jagerdude69/kaz/.)
I considered her a friend. Kali and Juspera were friendly, and Aelsidhe liked to make fun of me when she could. We liked each other. She was a brilliant woman with opinions, who liked to share them. She was a talker. My favorite Kali story to tell was the night we were chatting on the porch, and she found a glass wand and waved it at me to see what it did. Then she continued doing what she did best. Five minutes later, she took a breather to say, "You're being quiet."
And she herself told what was possibly the funniest story I've ever heard in the game. Something about some legend from the old days. I can tell the story myself, poorly, but I don't remember all of it and I don't do it justice. But the punch line is "What other castle?!" so I'll leave you to imagine what the story's about. I kept meaning to have Kali tell me the story again so I could remember enough of it to tell it myself.
Her presence will remain in the game. Her presence was already existent on my website. She's the professor of Stickology, the deus ex machina of Dart Sharks, and an invisible voice of amusement in more logs than I may know -- she was fond of playing pranks, and I strongly suspect that was her in our Warning, among many others. In fact, in any log in which NPCs, passersby or other messaging appears for the purpose of making fun of me, I suspect her hand. Wisps of her humor rest here and there in these pages.
I'll share what remains as time goes by. These are my Kali/Aelsidhe mementos. Some of them you'll recognize; some are new.
You see Lady Kali Sablefen the Elf.
She appears to be in her 100's, has short, straight red hair, grey eyes,
and tanned skin.
She is in good shape.
She is holding a dead eel in her right hand.
She is wearing a gold ring, a highly polished veil iron shield emblazoned
with the symbol of Voln, a tiny glass dagger earring, a rune engraved silver
clasp, some closely fitted black leathers, a weathered black cloak, a worn
oilcloth pack, a silver bound threk hide pouch, a jet black jacket, a beautifully
hand-tooled leatherbound map case, some black velvet gloves, a string of
dark bloodstone beads, a small silver locket, a silver-trimmed black headband,
a finely-tooled black leather harness, a large platinum ring with two fiery
threads of gold twining over the surface, a silver scabbard engraved with
swirling runes and glyphs, some slouched black leather boots, a gleaming
black onyx rose, a small silver star, some black leather legguards, some
silver raindrop earrings, a beautiful Eissa charm, a large wild rose, an
exquisite falcon charm, and a crystal amulet.
You see GameMaster Aelsidhe Linche the Dark Elf Necromancer.
She appears to be in her 140's, has long, braided black hair, multihued eyes,
and dark skin.
She has a black widow spider on her finger.
She is in good shape.
She is wearing a white rose bud, a black silk sack, a pouch woven of snakeskin
and spiderwebs, a wilted holly pin, an ash grey flower, a large sack, a tattered
black lace veil, a flowing spidersilk shroud, some black leather stuff, a
gnarled felwood staff capped with a black ora drake's head, a mystic bag,
a tanned merchant hide sack, a small silver star, a fancy looking black onyx
god symbol, a squirming cat bag, a twisted iron key, a scorched black button
that reads "I am *NOT* nice!", and a mottled grey rose.
Familiar
You concentrate on the Call Familiar spell...
Your spell is ready.
You gesture.
Your mind reaches out, seeking a suitable creature to be your familiar...
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.
A shaft of scintillating light suddenly pierces the ceiling and strikes the ground next to you. The beam of light then explodes in a shower of sparks and Aelsidhe is standing in its place.
Aelsidhe says, "Oop"
Aelsidhe flails her arms about.
(Zellyle explains: "I had cast call familiar at the same time that Aelsidhe made a typo and landed where she wasn't expected. This familiar was very hard to command and ran off without doing my bidding.")
Refrain
You: "Oh... does anyone want a fresh granite amulet?"
You: "I will put it on the credenza. Credennnzaaa..."
You: "Egads. No one told me that if I stayed up past midnight I'd turn into Nevrek."
Kali: "Vhat?"
You: "HA!"
Jiliette: "who is Nevrek? what do you mean by that Juspera?"
Kali: "Could be worse, when the moon is vull you could transvorm into a vight."
You: "Nevrek is a dark elf who is taller than Setzier."
Kali: "Setzier is rather short for a Faendryl."
Kali: "That's why he had to join the Sheruvians."
Kali: "You have to be taller than the bottom of this sign to be a Luukosian."
Me and Aelsidhe
You feel a sudden jolt of nothing short of the raw power of divine intervention. For some reason, you cannot bring yourself to move quite yet, but feel relieved nonetheless.
A passer-by comments, "I think she just likes being dead."
You belt out, "I do not!"
Sarahoff says, "I believe she was one of the first to drown"
>report You're cruel, whoever you are!
SEND[Aelsidhe] Get some deeds, Faendryl weenie.
SEND[Aelsidhe] By the way, youw ere the first person to drown. Congratulations :)
You feel like you have too many deeds...Time for a swim?
Aelsidhe was very fond of poking fun at me after I died, either through SENDs or IC messaging. This particular case was on the night the Maelstrom Bay & beyond area opened up in the Rest.
Setzier and Aelsidhe
Aelsidhe shows you an exquisitely carved block of ice, which she is holding in her right hand. The ice is carved into a gaunt figure who seems to be nearly strangled by the terrifically evil-looking cloak which enshrouds him. His dark, greasy ponytail seems to flap in the very wind as he leads what seems to be the runt of the jackal litter on a delicate veniom-linked leash - on second thought, it is not quite clear who is leading who.
Setzier glances at Aelsidhe.
Aelsidhe turns the ice out of Setzier's view.
(Setzier tries to peek at Aelsidhe's carving.)
Aelsidhe shows Setzier her carved block of ice.
Setzier stares at Aelsidhe.
Setzier exclaims, "Hey!"
Setzier carves the ice into "Carved into the ice is a figure of a dark elven woman wearing scary-looking clothing. A large bold button sticks out form the lady's garb which reads, "I am *NOT* nice!", however the not is crossed out. Hidding behind the woman is a man holding a quill, grinning slowly.".
Aelsidhe taps a scorched black button that reads "I am *NOT* nice!".
Aelsidhe scowls.
Aelsidhe exclaims, "And your little dog too!"
Aelsidhe and Setzier
Lady Aramana's group came through the postern gate.
Setzier says, "Ah."
You leap from hiding to attack!
You swing a small razor-sharp hatchet at Setzier!
AS: +405 vs DS: +876 with AvD: +31 + d100 roll: +85 = -355
A clean miss.
The guiding force leaves you.
Roundtime: 6 sec.
You feel the blood drain from your face.
Setzier traces a simple rune while intoning a short, mystical phrase...
Setzier gestures.
A wave of icy blue ethereal ripples moves outward from Setzier.
You are buffeted by the icy blue ethereal waves, and knocked to the ground.
You are pinned in place, unable to move.
Roundtime: 18 sec.
... 35 points of damage!
Wicked slash of frigid energy shatters right eye into a thousand tiny particles!
Penetration to the brain causes instant death!
Your SIGN OF MADNESS is no longer effective.
Your SIGN OF SMITING is no longer effective.
Your SIGN OF SWORDS is no longer effective.
Your SIGN OF STRIKING is no longer effective.
Your SIGN OF WARDING is no longer effective.
Your SIGN OF DEFENDING is no longer effective.
The buzz of thoughts in your mind subsides.
It seems you have died, my friend. Although you cannot do anything, you are
keenly aware of what is going on around you...
You mentally give a sigh of relief as you remember that the Goddess Lorminstra
owes you a favor.
...departing in 10 mins...
Setzier glances at you.
SEND[Aelsidhe] At least you have deeds this time.
Setzier traces the lines of his jackal's head mark.
SEND[Aelsidhe] You know he only does that cause he likes you. It's a Faendryl courtship ritual.
Setzier gestures at you.
A silvery translucent thread extends from Setzier encompassing you.
You sense the warmth and comfort of salvation.
Setzier gazes up into the heavens.
You say, "Touching a bunch of dog head stuff can't bind me to your god."
You exclaim, "Don't you dare!"
You exclaim, "I'll kill you!"
Setzier applauds.
Setzier gestures at you.
Setzier suddenly looks very drained.
You feel a sudden jolt of nothing short of the raw power of divine intervention.
For some reason, you cannot bring yourself to move quite yet, but feel relieved
nonetheless.
You feel the touch of the hand leave your soul.
>report Yeah, I'm going to marry him and have like 10,000 of his babies.
SEND[Aelsidhe] Well of course, you don't imagine you'd have just ONE from an egg-laying creature like that?
Setzier nods to you.
SEND[Aelsidhe] Sorry i confused Mnar earlier when I told him you were undead. He thought his VOln symbols weren't working.
Better innuendo
It was through Kali that I got to know Mnar. A couple winters ago, Kali went through a spate of box hunting and hanging out around the HS porch, so I did too, because hey, she was a legend, and I was going to suck up to her. Mnar was there too. After a few days of that, they decided to visit Teras together, and I had managed to fit enough sucking up in before that time that I warranted an invitation to come too. That trip was the beginning of the beautiful friendship between Mnar and me.
You focus your mind on Kali and think:
"Actually, we're playing naked leapfrog."
You focus your mind on Nevrek and think:
"We're not! I swear!"
You focus your mind on Kali and think:
"I am. Apparently I'm 'distracting.'"
You focus your mind on Nevrek and think:
"Shush. We're just talking."
Lady Kali just arrived.
You stand back up.
Mnar nods to Kali.
Kali asks, "What is Neverek talking about?"
Kali laughs!
She took us hunting sand devils on Teras. Normally being taken hunting something over your head by a 100+ friend is an opportunity to flex a mighty temporary power. I assumed this would be too. But no, after amassing a swarm of sand devils, Kali played with them while Mnar and I were torn to shreds by sandstorms, Mnar in his non-padded armor barely making it out alive, bleeding everywhere. I'm not sure exactly what Kali was doing with the sand devils, since I was too busy trying to stay alive, but I remember her laughing.
Loyal friend
Briars says, "Yes, Kali is one of the few people that actually took a liking to Briars when Briars was growing up."
Briars says, "Which was reassuring."
Briars says, "After an era of hate."
You say, "Aw."
You say, "She had terrible taste."
Briars says, "Yes."
With terrible taste
A voice rasps hollowly, "His paaaaaast is my fuuuuuture."
A voice rasps hollowly, "Deeeeeaaaaatth is coming."
SEND[Aelsidhe] Boy, someone needs a new keyboard!
Somehow, even the other GMs still appreciated her...
Bradach relates in his banaltra event credits: A special debt of gratitude goes to GM Aelsidhe. Not part of the original team, Aelsidhe was approached with the idea of perhaps closing one or two of the shops in the Landing. She responded with such enthusiasm that virtually no shops in town remained open. She quickly became essential in providing some of the atmosphere of the event, including the most horrifying messages (high-pitched screams of children in the distance...that sort of thing). We wont go into detail about the glee with which she dropped banaltra in the dying caverns.
(I happened to expire to one of those dying cavern banaltras. Though to be fair, my connection went out right after it appeared.)
And most of all, a fixture of the lands
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I'll miss being poked fun at and talking with her on a late night. Rest in peace.
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