Twenty Years of EFUAbout twenty years ago, on September 22, 2005, the first EFU forums officially opened. This means EFU is now celebrating its twentieth anniversary.
The BeginningA few weeks before the forums launched, some friends and I had to part ways from the City of Arabel persistent world. I had been playing there for about a year and found it incredibly compelling. I don't need to tell most of you how alluring roleplaying can be. It was like the perfect combination of competitive gaming, creative writing, and acting. I had played a couple of prominent characters in CoA and made some friends. After we were deservedly banned (I'll spare the details here), we formed an IRC channel to discuss our next steps. I had experimented with the toolset and found it enjoyable, developing ideas about how a persistent world could be more challenging and engaging. Unfortunately, I had almost no technical ability (still basically don't), but I was somehow able to use the same skills that had led me to master a successful necromantic crime guild in roleplay to instead convince friends and strangers to develop code and content.
One of my friends (Greener_Grass) suggested I read about the Underdark. In a slightly hungover state one morning, I wrote down some notes:
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Escape from Underdark\=
Setting:
Name of town: Sanctuary
A refugee town for escaped slaves and others seeking sanctuary from the many terrors of the Underdark. The town itself is built into the remains of a ruined deep-gnome city called Dunwarren. The town was founded by two human brothers (Frederick Bresley and Charles Bresley, both escaped slaves from the nearby Drow metropolis named Traensyr) approximately one hundred fifty years ago. The current populated town only takes up a small part of the original deep gnome city.\
In truth, the deep gnomes were conquered by a gigantic Beholder who enslaved them several centuries ago. The Beholder was an incredible glutton and gourmand, and forced his deep-gnome slaves to construct for him ever more titillating feasts that would appease his lust for new tastes and sensations. Additionally, the beholder had a cruel and inhuman sense of humor and would indulge in a variety of pleasures and displays, including sending armies of charmed deep gnomes against each other in mock battles. Discovering the evidence of these events, and the true history of what happened, will be one of the things that PCs discover gradually.\
Eventually, the Beholder put out his central eye and began to seriously study the art of magic. He is at present a Beholder Lich, turned into one in a ritual that took the lives of most of his remaining "subjects." He now quietly rests in his lair beneath the city, surrounded by the animated forms of his offspring and an army of undead.\
A large drow city (Traensyr is near the town, and the drow persist as one of the greatest threats to the town's existence. A duergar fortress nearby serves as (mostly) neutral territory and trading area. There is also a mind flayer colony and rival Beholder hive with an intensely anti-magic philosophy.\
The original deep gnome city (only a small part of which is populated and known as the "town") is designed throughout to be well hidden and virtually undetectable by the gnomes' original enemies. Secrets and mysteries abound. Much of its construction also seems mechanical in nature, and it is speculated that the city itself was a kind of gigantic unfinished machine that once operational would secure the safety of the gnomes in some unknown way. Discovering the nature of this machine will be something that PCs gradually accomplish.\
Factions:\
The Watch -- Founded by Charles Bresley less than a year after the town was founded, the Watch is dual purpose law enforcement and town defense. They are defenders and protectors, and often heroes.\
Spell Guard -- Founded by Melinda Bresley (Charles' wife) a decade after the founding of the town. It was believed that extensive use of magic could be detected by the town's enemies, and the Spell Guard's stated purpose is to regulate and control the use of magic within the town. Additionally, they provide magical support and assistance to the Watch in matters of law enforcement and civil defense. Their robes provide a damping effect that negates the ability for the user to be detected using magic from a distance. Unbeknownst to most of the town or even many of its members, the Spell Guard's true aims are more controlling and the organization ultimately seeks clandestine and total control of the town. They seek to prevent any action that will draw attention to the town and frown upon those who seek to escape the Underdark and make it to the surface, as such action threatens their own power and they claim it endangers the whole town. The Spell Guard controls a large number of golems, many originally of deep gnome construction, that they use to assist in the defense of the town.\
Seekers -- Founded by Frederick Bresley. The primary and stated aim of the Seekers is to discover a way to escape the Underdark, and help people do so. Like the rest of the town, they believe the only person to have ever successfully arrived at the surface is their founder Frederick Bresley. Unfortunately, all of Frederick's notes and instructions for how he planned to do so were lost shortly after he left. The Seekers thus seek first to recover this information, or discover a new route, and then guide people out.\
Tigereye Mercenary Company-- A recent arrival to the town, this group is extremely profit-oriented and will do virtually anything for anyone. The company has been contracted by the Watch to assist in the defense of the town, although otherwise the relationship is uneasy as many of its members continue to make trouble for the town.\
Town Council -- The Council is a predominantly religious group responsible for the judging of cases, investigations of misconduct, and creation of laws. All members are elected by the town's population. The Council has members of many faiths as well as paladins and the non-anointed. The total number of the council is 50, 40 of which are reserved to be DM controlled NPCs.\
Scripted Story:\
This setting has room for many kinds of different PC concepts: drow spies, insane cultists, lost explorers, charmed mindflayer thrall, and so on. However, the most common kind of PC (and the one the server is truly built for) is the escaped slave struggling to make a life for himself in an unforgiving and terrifying under-world.\
Much like Arabel has the Ashby scripted meta-plot, this server likewise has a series of scripted meta-plot quests done at various stages throughout a character's career relating to one of the founders of the town, Frederick Bresley. Charles and Frederick Bresley were two brothers who founded this town, but whereas Charles remained to make the town safe and turn it into what it is today, Frederick pressed on and is believed by many to have actually successfully escaped the Underdark and made it to the surface. Others say he failed, and died alone.\
There will be a series of roughly five scripted quest relating to discovering more about Bresley, as well as a final scripted quest that will result in the scripted retirement of the character. Players will be presented with a choice to either press on (and be warned OOC that they will be ending their character if they do), or turn back (and continue to be able to participate in the town's plots and politics). Depending on the choices that the PC has made, the final culminating story driven scene will either be the discovery of Frederick's starved skeleton and a dead end or successful passage through to the surface world. Players that do choose to complete the story arc of the server in this way will be rewarded with being memorialized in the hall of statues back in the town along with Frederick Bresley himself, regardless of whether they ended up escaping or starving to death. It should be noted thus that the true fate of Frederick (one of the big mysteries of the server) varies according to each PC, and can only ever be discovered IC by a PC at the moment of their retirement.\
Bresley Quest 1 (PC Level 3)- The very first quest a PC will likely ever accomplish (PCs start at level 3). The PC begins the setting discovering the remains of an ancient encampment with a few clues that suggest some sort of refugee town nearby. One of the items they find is the mouldering and partially ruined journal of Frederick himself, which they are advised to bring to the Seekers Headquarters where they learn more about the history of the town.\
Bresley Quest 2 -- to be determined\
Bresley Quest 3 -- to be determined\
Bresley Quest 4 -- to be determined\
Bresley Quest 5 -- to be determined\
Side Quests/Plots:\
Beyond the Bresley plot there are a good number of scripted quests as well as plots that are more dependent on DMs for advancement. Details such as learning more about the undead Beholder that lurks in the depths, engagement in Drow House politics in the nearby city, learning more about the deep gnome constructed city-machine that they live in, and so on.\
Additionally, a major emphasis will be on faction conflict and intrigue. In addition to the more permanent DM factions listed above, an effort will be made to support other kinds of groups as well (drow spy cells, evil cults, etc.)\
Major NPCs:\
Xorandos (Chaotic Evil Beholder Wizard) -- An undead beholder lich. Xorandos is perhaps most notable for his extraordinary size as a Beholder, as well as his penchant for cruelty and mad amusement. Xorandos single-handedly conquered the hidden deep gnome city several centuries ago, and charmed and enslaved most of its inhabitants. At the time he was an incredible glutton, and gorged himself on the gnomes as well as forced them to provide him with ever more bizarre feasts. Gradually he began to dabble in magic and necromancy, and surrounded himself with a small army of the animated remains of his own brood as well as undead deep gnome servitors. As the creature grew in age he sought lichdom, sacrificed most of the remaining deep gnomes in the city to conclude the ritual, and has mostly kept to himself in a sort of undead slumber in the deep recesses of the city ever since. When he was ruling over the deep gnomes, he was known only as "The Great Appetite" and numerous records that PCs will discover will refer to only this mysterious "great appetite."\
The Mayor, a.k.a YorrickBresley (Lawful Good Human fighter/ranger)-- Charles Bresley's grand-child, and the ruler of the town. The Watch is directly responsible to him, and he has the respect and admiration of most of the town's citizens. A quiet, intense man who personally believes that although escape may be possible for some he has an obligation to remain and make the town safe for those who aren't strong enough to manage the escape on their own. He prefers to be addressed only as Mr. Mayor, and referred to only as The Mayor.\
Melinda Bresley (Lawful Evil Human Sorceress) -- founder and true ruler of the Spell Guard. Although she believes that escape from the Underdark is probably possible, she enjoys the control she has over the Town and quietly exerts pressure to persuade people to remain. Despite her conniving nature, she is no true villain, and is as committed to the town's survival and safety as anyone. She is extremely old (she is the Mayor's grand mother, after all) and few even know she's still living. She has extended her life-span through the use of her magic and more importantly through stolen Illithid technology. She spends most of her time now floating in an Illithid vat in the basement of the Spell Guard Enclave, keeping in touch with the city through her assistants and divination magics.\
Freldo Alluicious (Chaotic Good Rock Gnome Bard) -- Friend of Yorrick Bresley (deceased son of Frederick) and current leader of the Seeker organization. A somewhat absent minded and impetuous leader who escaped from slavery roughly when the original Bresleys did and was one of the town's first inhabitants. He is committed to the ideals of the Seeker organization, and refuses to accept that escape is impossible. He is a brilliant painter, and has filled the Seeker headquarters with beautiful landscapes and portraits of the dimly remembered surface world.\
The Captain (Chaotic Neutral Duergar Fighter) -- Founder and supposed leader of the Mercenary Company. Easily the most skilled fighter in the whole town, he is greedy and violent. Rejected from his duergar city due to his lack of interest in a life of toil.\
Gaerlan Martell (Neutral Evil Tiefling Wizard/Rogue) -- The true leader of the Mercenary Company. Gaerlan is descended from a rakshasa, and prefers to remain invisible or unseen while quietly running the Company. He is probably the most well informed member of the town, but desires more knowledge above practically all else. He is on the look out for spies and adventurers to puzzle together the mystery of the deep gnome city as well as whatever it is that lurks in the depths of the city.\
Sheriff Short (Lawful Neutral Fighter) -- A somewhat peevish bureaucrat who manages the Watch and reports to the Mayor. Very fond of chess and a stickler for organization, prefers to remain in his office.\
Design Notes:\
Space should be claustrophobic, cramped, dark.\
The Town itself should be small and designed that PCs regularly see each other.\
The Town itself only takes up a small part of the ruined deep gnome metropolis, there should be an almost post-apocalyptic Mad Maxx feel to it all.\
An OOC area at the start is very important to explain information about the setting and expectations for players. This is a story telling server, and players should be encouraged to truly involve themselves in the idea of that.}
Many of the details from this original write-up were changed, but a lot remained the same. From these simple notes we we got to work.
The Magic of Original EFUAnd so we began. There really was something magical about original EFU (just ask those of us who played it). We were young, raw, and immature about many things, but something about the server was just the absolute best. It was also, frankly, sometimes too intense for me. Finding the right balance between a creative hobby and an all-consuming pastime is a lesson many people have had to learn, including myself.
After a couple of years of complex plot and intrigue, things reached their climax. Sanctuary fell in a dramatic battle with the rising of the Appetite and an invasion from the worst horrors of the Underdark. Player characters fled through the ruins of old Dunwarren to find access to the old 'Way' that led to the surface. Some succeeded in 'escaping from the underdark' - most did not.
The March of ChaptersChapter 1: "Escape from the Underdark" was followed by "Escaped from the Underdark: Archipelago," where the setting moved to the shrouded Isles of Old Ymph. New generations of DMs and players helped us tell new kinds of stories as characters developed a settlement in jungle ruins.
Someday I will try to write down the full in-game history of EFU as best I can remember, but that isn't really the post I'm composing today.
Suffice to say, things continued to be truly awesome.
EFU:A was followed by "EFU: Mistlocke" as the action moved to the other end of the island, where characters dealt with the horrific Withering Curse and the villainous antagonist H'bala. Our stories became increasingly epic as we reshaped a world originally based largely on WOTC's Faerûn into something very much our own.
Then came EFU:R, when the sun was extinguished and all free peoples were forced to hide in the Underdark, returning to the ruins of old Dunwarren. Eventually, the Machine from v1 was completed in an apocalyptic moment of total destruction. Its true purpose was revealed at last: the kindling of a new sun for a new world.
Our story continued in the "City of Rings," where the reincarnated souls of denizens from the Forgotten Realms awoke in a vast, complex labyrinth world. Legends spoke of a King at the center of all the rings who would grant any wish to those who visited him. Some players spent RL months of arduous and deadly travel trying to find their way through the Rings. No doubt our ambition exceeded our grasp, but thanks to the herculean labors of so many DMs (especially Abala) we were able to provide a genuinely unique experience that I don't think will ever exist again.
In time, this chapter also concluded with the collapse of (most of) the Ring Walls. Our focus narrowed to the refugees and residents of a small desert citadel called Ephia's Well. This is where we find ourselves today.
Twenty Years LaterFor twenty years, EFU has continued to endure and evolve, changing from chapter to chapter, exploring new creative themes but always maintaining the same basic principles: OOC respect combined with intense IC risks and consequences. Many thousands of collective human hours of attention have been devoted to this very peculiar digital pursuit. I don't wish to overlook the server's flaws that have always and will doubtless always exist. The vast majority of players who try us soon leave. There has been plenty of frustration and difficulty, and EFU has always been far from perfect. Even as I think about all the good times that this server has produced I don't want to overlook all the bad. Nevertheless, there really is and has always been something magical about EFU.
Most who play EFU eventually move on, but plenty of us remain - to one extent or another - lurking or playing, dipping in and out. I can say that for myself, the greatest thing about EFU has certainly been the community. My own life outside EFU has taken its particular directions from country to country, state to state, and project to project. I have always been deeply grateful that wherever I am or whatever I'm doing, I can always check on EFU (which has truly taken a life of its own) and find a thread of connection that has existed throughout my entire adult life.
What Is EFU?What is EFU? I still have no idea. I almost never tell anyone about it in my own life and I have no idea how to describe it to people who haven't experienced it.
It's definitely something. Thousands of players, maybe around 100 DMs over the years, so many thoughtful and interesting people took it upon themselves to engage in some small act of creation and contribution. So many tiny little moments of creativity & engagement. It's really amazing, and I am so grateful that it still exists.
So thank you all.
I'm confident that EFU isn't going anywhere. Even as some of us old DMs and players slide into middle age and inactivity, I am confident new generations will continue to rise up to make their own mark. For new players, forgive some of us our occasional moments of nostalgia and retrospection. The server is doubtless better & more dynamic than ever and the slate is ready for you to make your own mark of awesomeness.
In recognition of our anniversary this year, we will - at some point - be temporarily putting up the original v1 module for players to explore and play a bit. I think many of us will appreciate a chance to see how things used to be and how far we've come. Details to follow.
For now, feel free to post any old memories or thoughts you may have about EFU in this thread. I am sure many people will enjoy reading them.
Thank you all!
20 years and i still love efu! thanks to all the dms and players for some awesome times and memories.
ya'll old
Big thanks to you Howland, and the rest of the DM team for providing the best gaming experience I've ever had. And props for keeping such a gem of a community. You've all had a direct hand in keeping the magic and spirit alive for so many of us through all these years. Here's to the next 20!
crazy to think i've been here for half the journey, more or less.
here's to twenty more!
I am lucky to say I have been playing since the first incarnation after finding EFU on the NWN spotlight. It's always maintained the right level of DM interaction, player interaction and independent discovery to keep me coming back. Thank you to all the leadership and DM team past and present!
It's been a hot minute. Coming in during Mistlocke, it's been ten years of something consistent and evolving, in a way that you can't really find anywhere else. This last half of the decade has been an explosion of upping the ante, with new mechanics and the like, yet not overly reliant on haks - the mapmaking is cleverly done, and always has something going on in each destination, no open traverse maps.
The new DMs that've come into the picture as well have been great for being easy to reach, are able to juggle 20-ish players regularly and do a lot of the heavy lifting that keeps the server going on the day to day.
To another 20!
This year is I think my own 10th year playing efu, it took Voss a whole bunch of convincing to give this a try lol. I've always been highly invested into it and I think this game is a very unique & perfect balance of what I crave from gaming. Great job, all.
I can't quite believe that this place has been around for 20 years. Well over half my life I have been part of this community on and off.
I came to EFU as a fresh-faced 16 year-old in 2006. Having previously spent my time running guilds in the staid and vaguely perverted Argent Dawn EU scene, I had heard that NWN offered a more hardcore experience where characters could die and suffer real consequences. Someone told me they got ganked in EFU with 'minimal RP' for 'being evil'. My interest was duly piqued.
My first character was an amnesiac Elf, which I thought was good for a setting I knew nothing about. Within minutes I had blundered into Lower Sanctuary, and been beaten and interrogated by our dear departed MithralDragon's bouncer whose name I forget. Slightly bruised, I logged off and went about my day. A few days later, Lower Sanctuary had undergone a revolution. People were making fiery speeches in the Pissing Crone. There was talk of war, taking the revolution up above. Upon the floor, I read a political screed written by none other than DM Calculor, which to my money remains some of the finest writing ever done for EFU. I grew obsessed with the opaque, conspiratorial histories penned by DM Arkov, and the magnificent DMing of DM Howland. Soon after I resigned from my WoW guild and never looked back.
EFU is a place where I have honed my craft. It's one of the first places that people took me seriously as a creative. At the time I was made a DM (23rd January 2008), I was the youngest person to ever have been bought onto the team at a strapping 18 years old. I'm eternally grateful to Howland for seeing something in me back then, and I doubt I would have the confidence to call myself a writer today had I not been given that early confidence and space to develop as a creative.
Since then I have on and off been responsible for various plots and background material. Some of my earliest plots were running the Civil War that preceded the fall of Sanctuary at the end of v1, the Red Eleint war alongside our dear DM Mort in v2. Along with Secutor, I dreamed up the Numinous Order faction, whose odd brand of occultism and acid crusader vibes are still impeccable. For V2 I built the Forgotten Forest, which would go on to become the main setting for V3.
However, V6 is where I have finally shed my reputation as a somewhat flaky if occasionally inspired DM. I was going through a difficult transition in my life, and found myself at a loose end with lots of time on my hands. I thought I'd check on what was going on with EFU, and saw a new version was in the works. Humbly offering myself as a writer for some background material, I soon grew fascinated with the background work that Abala, Halfbrood, Hound, Howland, and Ironside had sketched out and thought I could do a reasonable job at colouring in some fine detail. Soon after, the Colossi were born. The rest, as they say, is history.
With Tala, Abala and my beloved DM Halfbrood, we built a setting that has (I believe) the highest levels of consistent building and content quality that the server, and perhaps NWN itself, has ever seen. In a scene where big, empty areas with monsters to kill are a somewhat unfortunate standard, we built a world chock full of mysteries that many have still never seen. I'm so proud of the world we have built together. I am also so happy to have had the chance to run the Great War that ran for over a year. It has long been my ambition to do a war plot for EFU that felt like a truly epochal conflict, and believe that we achieved that together. Thanks to the team as a whole for working together to make something feel so alive, and to Tala and Halfbrood for the incredible background work done making this war feel so alive.
To you players, thank you all for being here. You never cease to amaze me with your wild creativity. Here's to another twenty.
happy anniversary, baby
I would not have written any of this if Dan hadn't shown up. Gotta get my nose brown.
I have been here since just after launch. About right when the Tigereyes were no longer a DM faction. I remember my first PC's name - Frulbo Muddenspeak, a Halfling. I walked into Sanctuary and people invited me to 'fight clowns' with them, then kicked me out again when they found out I was level 2. I remember roleplaying a lot with a Rogue who became a Wizard called Kepler Szul. I had a lot of adventures and a wonderful time. 20 years later I played over 100 kobolds (which all died) and now longingly await monster races with the same fervor I had for them all this time. EfU has certainly changed a lot. The quests are really polished, the systems are complex and the DMs have a lot of experience. It was interesting to watch the story continue and the world evolve and get remade several times over. Thanks everyone for sticking around. And for existing.
You know what is amusing? Having come from Armageddon MUCK I always considered EfU the softcore server, in stark contrast to Dan. What? They let you respawn here if you die to a bug? LUXURY. So to me, this was the relaxing place that wasn't super serious and where you didn't need to apply for every character. I thought that was nice. Did you know I played at least 200+ PCs that I would delete as soon as they died for the first time, just because I had more fun that way?
Well. Here's to another twenty years.
Also, we miss you, Dan.
- Jasede
Edit:
Oh, Howland asked for old stories. We veterans have thousands of them living forever in our memories. Sometimes, because they were so long ago, we mix them up. Here are some of my v1 memory highlights:
1) I watched a crazy powerful werewolf (PC) get destroyed by the spell Color Spray, of all things
2) I tried to recruit kobolds for the Shadowdragon Etorix but I brought too much attention to his disciple, Baldev Cole, so he brought me to his mansion and the hidden altar and brutally killed me behind locked doors. V6 could use more of that cruelty at times. It keeps the Wheel turning.
3) Once, I made a Gnome called Gorno Goldgoggles and two hours later I got Gorno Goldgoggle's Golden Goggles from some quest where we helped out a Pale Master fight some undead Deep Gnomes. Don't underestimate the power of a name.
4) Any and all interactions with Intryzz. New players won't get it.
5) Applying to play a beholderkin with an 11-page long application (complete with an index and summary and abstract) and getting it on my second try, floating around a lake area and running from every PC that wanted to kill me on sight only to eventually manage to lure one into the no-PVP inn so I could talk to them.
6) The same beholderkin getting smuggled into an island filled with fish people and being discovered, leading to a great PC having to die. Later, running into Howland and the Ordinators and getting brutally killed after I tried to reason with them using Hold Person.
7) Playing an awesome fighter/wizard kobold to observe Aleczumberzeil more closely, earning a 0% spell failure FULL PLATE and getting banned the next day because I cheated at PVP in a panic because I didn't want my PC to die so soon.
8) Talking shit about Aleczumberzeil's name OOC because I did not yet understand how important a memorable name is, and being totally ignorant who played him, only to earn a deep respect for his roleplay -- not wordy at all; poignant and strong. Short, powerful emotes that said more than long paragraphs. Talked to everyone, too, Halfbrood-style.
9) Dying to random gnomes countless times on dozens of kobolds
10) LOWER LOONS
Glad to be here and see EFU kicking for so long, someone has to keep the gnome dream alive!!
EFU has forever been the best roleplaying experience that I have ever had bar none.
It has a depth that other servers and games are simply unable to match and it is a testament to the sheer dedication of both the DM and Playerbase.
First memories of EFU were the days I was still learning to roleplay and back in the early days of NWN where some servers would go offline during the day because the hosts had to use the PC's for other things I came across EFU with some friends as we were server hopping, looking for something interesting.
With no concept of an what a RP appropriate build was I made some rediculous meta build Fighter with dumpstatted charisma and wisdom who was ready to become a weapon master, with no idea what I was stepping into.
He didnt last long. I seem to recall fighting some rat king in a dank cave but weirdly the thing that stuck with me were the little things, Antidodes, Sal tonics, Crowbars - mundane ways to approach problems other than just "Throw magic at it" which we take for granted these days but at the time was really quite novel that someone would go out of their way to put something like this into their server.
I didnt get to play properly until years later and the start of chapter 4. It took some time to get used to the unique culture that EFU has.
Some of my favourite experiences..
Traveling with an Underlake pirate out of Lower taking on contracts across the dark while being haunted by a horrible shadow-thing.
Playing a crazy necromancer who filled the dungeon floor of the lower fortress with undead while ominously telling people not to go down there.
Swearing an oath of vengeance on a Werewolf PC with a Hoaran RSD after they murdered his friend, fulfilling that oath, only to get kidnapped by the druids for their own ritual of vengeance later that day.
Having had the pleasure to Run the rings twice and actually making it to ring 1 once - Honestly,roleplaying the camping on the road, having little scenes with people, chatting and discussing the insanity of the Cthonian (Thanks Abala!), the constant little bits of fighting within the group - it was all that I ever wanted from this game, more than anything else.
Chapter 5 was such a unique experience I was so sure was not possible in nwn, but against all odds, you made it happen.
If I had one regret through it all, I just wish I was a better player and able to play out characters longer.
Twenty years. TWENTY YEARS!?
I got suckered into joining EFU after my IRL friend and roommate, SevereMeltdown, told me about Howland developing a Underdark server. I was like, "Finally! I can live out my Drizzt fantasy!" That never happened. I got introduced to a tragic dark fantasy world and I was ill prepared for the journey and lessons I would learn on the server.
SevereMeltdown and I first played on CoA, SevereMeltdown playing a serious archer of Shevarash, and I played a plucky mischief maker halfling that fancied himself as Tailor, Tiver Neehigh. It was fun while it lasted and once his Shevarash archer died, he talked me into creating a thayan knight to pal around with his thayan wizard. That lasted about as long as one would expect and it was at the end of our playing at CoA.
Then along came the beta/alpha days of EFU. Unfortunately I chose to play a monk of shar as my first character and that went over about as well as a fart in an elevator. The character died sooo fast!
My favorite memory of EFU is when I played the tiefling Kyle Briar becoming best friends with Melrick, played by Meldread. Kyle Briar was always seeking to not walk down the darker path of his heritage but not giving into his darker side would be the downfall of Kyle. Melrick, someone's character (I can't remember), and Kyle met beneath the old rundown library (I think?) and was presented with a choice. Chose to swear himself to a fiend or die here in the dirt. Kyle chose the latter. The feelings of losing Kyle to his best friend, no, his brother was overwhelming. Anguish, hatred, betrayal, loss, love, and regret to name a few. It was the first time I felt the weight of the Underdark and of EFU.
An excerpt from the UnholyWon Retirement Post:
Meldread: "Kyle was the first EfU character I've ever killed, and for Melrick he was the first of many he would kill directly or indirectly. He was taken and sacrificed to the devil, with the intent of punishing him for his refusal to serve. I then got my most awesome piece of DM loot ever, only because of its flavor and meaning to the character, "The Charred Heart of Kyle Briar."
That item allowed my character to summon a shadow 1 / day, whom was presumably Kyle Briar. This was used awesomely in RP afterwards despite the shadows insane combat weakness. Numerous characters would eventually sell their souls to avoid Kyle's fate."
Over the years I played mainly supporting and expendable characters to other Players genius, and the ride was always incredible. I even tried to retire once but still lurked in the shadows of the server, mIRC, and Discord.
Everyone I have had the joy to interact with have all been phenomenal Roleplayers and people. I couldn't tell you how much I love this server and its people in just a single post. I can say I think about the server often and wonder what the future holds for it. Twenty years is half my life span and I wouldn't change any of my experiences for the world.
For those of you wondering, yes I did retire from EFU from June 15, 2010 till July 16, 2010, but eventually I did vanish from the server and NWN when my work with my Master's became more overwhelming.
I look forward to the next twenty years! May I still find the time to create a character, make stories together, and throw tantrums when I don't get my way.
P.S. If anyone knows how to contact Meldread, I'd love to chat with him!
Thank you