Sylyn Nine-Fingers: Orza's Bane. Killer. Companion and friend.

Started by TwoOClock, April 10, 2019, 12:50:00 AM

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TwoOClock

Sylyn is dead. It was an amazing run, and my inclination not to go to sleep at normal hours did once again bite me in the butt... kids, remember not to charge Kiernen Hafit at 3 am with no buffs. Log off. Go to sleep, you nerds.

Nonetheless, her death was fitting. Having served her purpose, avenged Detective Milos Andelko and fulfilled her promise to save Lori Underbough, Sylyn died in a desperate, selfless attempt to distract Hafit from a fallen Adrian Winespill. And it worked- swimmingly.

HISTORY:

Sylyn was actually a random ringrunner character, created in the first hour or so of server uptime. She was meant to be a regular adventurer, and I planned to focus on the PVE side of the server, for the most part. That mostly worked, until she caught the FEELS, a stone cold hunter's ultimate downfall. How deep did she go? All the way to ring 85. Her group was also the first to EVER breach ring 92.

REYMOND'S BLUES


The old, early days of Ringrunning with Tenilue and Milos.


Syl was originally a part of the crew of Reymond's blues, the one rival to the Nearly Greens. Together, they breached ring 95. Her utter dislike of the distinctly un-crew-like atmosphere of the group and a particular incident involving one key being given to Daniel Brandybuck (which Daniel promptly donated back to her) led her to realize he was more of a loyal companion to her than others. She wound up creating her own, secret ringrunning group, "the five". Composed by Argus, Lori, Milos, Daniel, and herself.



One of the main reasons behind this, was utilitaristic. Early days Sylyl was a self-centered survivalist with no regard for anyone but herself, ready to sacrifice her companions in the name of her own convenience or safety. She had fallen (?) for Cafrasil of Yhlos, a peer who was slain at the front of Castle Orza by Naomi and her goons.

Pictured below, one of the coolest of Syl's assassinations. I wanted to post this since Naomi's obituary:

HER OBIT:


MY OBIT:


Cafrasil's death had a huge impact on her. She stole his remains, and Howlando (amazing, thank you Howlando) gave me a 100 lbs item called "Cafrasil's remains" that I intended to have her lug all the way to ring one. Her goal? Pleading the King for mercy, and reviving Cafrasil.



Unfortunately- Eryeth revealed a tryst with him. Her perfect image of Cafrasil shattered, she chose to shatter him instead. Eryeth was (rightfully) terrified of her since.

















Ringrunning, however, continued. Her merry, motley crew was somehow the first to breach 92. Bonds became tighter, but the sullen, independent, rude Sylyn clashed poorly with the group's general disposition, leading to fights and disagreement.



It all culminated with Lori's unpredictable roll, and her transformation into a goblin. Which led to more interesting things...

THE GREAT GOBLORI




A botched restoration attempt involving Silver, Friends, and Percy Thomas Peacock stealing one of the artefacts for reasons unknown only made things worse. The little goblin turned into a disgusting maggot, and Detective Andelko was cut down by the Arbiters.

A fever fugue-dream involving a discreet amount of poison followed. While she remembered nothing about the conversation upon waking (don't try this at home!) the conversation and Milos' request left a sizable dent on her personality and psyche, complete disappearance of the accent, and led to a questionable obsession with saving the sinister, freaky, jiggly maggot...






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SLEEPING WITH THE MAGGOTS


Shenanigans ensued. Sylyn fumbled backwards in order to keep Lori safe from the Peerage's attempts to eat her, leading to some (very poorly acted) mastermind scheme: to kill a random maggot, and (badly) pretend it was her. Surprisingly, everyone, including Lord Norbert, kind of shrugged and went with it.






ALAS, POOR LORICK


Unfortunately, Sylyn had the very poor idea of killing Peacock- now and Orzan retainer. While I initially did not intend to do so, and Syl merely wished to question him, his answer and refusal of all outs send Sylyn into a murderous rage. She beheaded Peacock, piked his head, and the deadly tango with Kristoff Orza began...

PEACOCK



City Sending by Sylyn Nine-fingers : This is what happens when you steal from a ritual to restore a little girl, fuck up a ritual and get a bunch of people killed. I`ve no problems with the rest of you. I`ll return his head. The rats can have the rest.

City Sending by Kristoff Orza : "Sylyn". Velstra dog- that is what you are, isn`t it? I see you wrapped around their finger so often it`s hard to tell. It doesn`t matter. Start running. Go. Go as deep into the rings as you can. It won`t matter. We`ll still find you. We`ll still kill you.

City Sending by Kristoff Orza : But it wouldn`t be fun without some competition. If anyone finds her and kills her first, bring me her skull for my collection. I`ll reward you with something precious.

City Sending by Sylyn Nine-fingers : You know, Orza, there was another of your retainers on the ground. It was a quick matter to give her a quick cleave, and now I think I should have. I had a mind of leaving your retainers be, but if you insist...

City Sending by Sylyn Nine-fingers : And since you bark about Velstra so much, at least they aren`t a bunch of bloodthirsty bandits. So perhaps I will join them indeed. Whoever wishes to hunt me may join Percy on the Peerage spike. Errilam- meet me at the Prison, please.

``City Sending by Frank Hollenbeck : [with a somewhat cracking voice] The bronze ears have been loud today. Im sorry to add to that. I, and others, have just heard of Loris death. Id like to ask us all to take a moment to pray for a good soul, now lost. To whichever god you follow- or even to none at all- please offer a kind thought and a bit of quiet. Lori, you were better than this City deserved. You will be missed.

Somewhere around this point, Sylyn passed a '95 camp containing Kristoff's First Knife, Kristoff's Second Knife, and Kristoff's Third Knife. Being the absolute savage that she was, she decided to go deeper, tame a cave bear, feed it half of her pack in potions, spin right about and kill the trio. EEs happened, and Sylyn was forced to flee deeper into the rings.

THINGS GOT INTERESTING


And suddenly, magically, Sylyn returned home, accompanied by two brand new friends. Adrian and Errilam Winespill.





And immediately sworn in.




City Sending by Adrian Winespill : Greeeetings, Ring 99! It is my sincere pleasure to announce that, for exceptional service in bringing exotic, prestigious food to the Endless Feast, Sylyn Andeval is the newest retainer of House Velstra! May she live a long and prosperous life as part of our extended family...

This was perhaps the best worst decision Sylyn took. Peerage life turned out to be hilariously fun, and, unfortunately, very very deadly. In order to prove her worth, and still high on Orzan blood, Sylyn challenged Siobhan...

City Sending by Sylyn Nine-fingers : *A thunderous voice echoes over the sending system.* SIOBHAN OF ORZA. Your hands are still red of your Sister`s and Marianne`s blood. The colors you so proudly wear shield black-hearted saboteurs, and seek to silence those who`d do justice.

City Sending by Sylyn Nine-fingers : I hereby CHALLENGE you to a duel of honor, so that your black heart will not stain that of Adrian Winespill in the union of marriage. In three days time, I will face you on the Peerage Bridge.

City Sending by Siobhan Diomasaigh : [A weary voice.] Sylyn, you grievously disappoint me. In so many ways. First by lying. I did not kill Marianne; I attempted to save her. You dare tell me the blood of my sister is on my hands, mere hours after I lose her? Has Adrian so sickened your brain?

City Sending by Siobhan Diomasaigh : I am a Veteran, and you are a mere Retainer. You are beneath me in rank, and so I have no obligation to accept your preposterous challenge. Yet I still might. If only to put an end to this tragedy you are acting out. If only to teach you both a lesson.

City Sending by Siobhan Diomasaigh : But I wonder if you are a brave enough woman to come and repeat your shameful lies and your hollow phrases to my face, or only by messenger. Please detach yourself from the slimy hold Adrian has over you, and come to the Bridge. Challenge me in person.

City Sending by Siobhan Diomasaigh : And now in three days. But now.

No duel happened. Instead, things devolved into the near execution of Siobhan, immediately followed by her marriage.

Sylyn was at this point surrounded by:
- The man he tried to kill at least four times over, now her best murder-pal (Errilam)
- The man she glassed, then resurrected (Aliatris)
- The woman she DEFINITELY tried to kill (Siobhan), over the hand of the other man she kinda also tried to kill (Adrian)

Sylyn became the spymaster of Velstra. More shenaningans ensued, most of which too fresh to be relied in this Obituary. Please, see "characters" for a rough overview.

Despite much clamoring on Aliatris' behalf in order to remove the bounty, Syl was eventually brought down by her worst enemy: FEELS. She witnessed Adrian being cut down by Hafit, right after a double murder. She immediately resolved not to survive a second Cafrasil, and charged Hafit in one last, desperate attempt to save Adrian's life, being swiftly cut down by the Orzan assassin.

She now awaits passage to the other life, and will usher forth her friends as they will be claimed by the Rings. All, until her first and last- Adrian Winespill, will come to pass.

PERSONALITY:

Sylyn's most salient trait was her "Red Dragon" blood. While it was never sure whether she truly possessed draconic heritage, and almost certainly simply "channeled" a draconic rage that was simply her doing, it pushed her to a definite predatory, violent, sanguine slant. Sylyn's "love" always started out as a covetous, malicious, threatening intention, that either grew into complete indifference or irrationally intense obsessions- for ill or good.

Fear immunity, FE dragons, and her complete lack of bluff ranks also played a part. Sylyn was played as something of an omnipotent moron, an instinctive and willful force of destruction, powered almost completely by her own desires and whims, and succeeding simply by virtue of being extraordinarily intense in the pursuit of whatever she set her heart on. This confused a great deal of PCs, who made the dire mistake of assuming Sylyn was a complex and layered personality, while in truth, Sylyn's greatest strength and virtue was having no layers at all.

As a result, she was a blunt, dirty, often unpleasant brute who did what she wanted, said what she wanted, and felt what she wanted in any and all occasions, regardless of irrelevant details such as circumstance, feasibility, convenience, and reason. Sylyn's one saving grace was her proclivity to surround herself with good people, not in order to manipulate them, but abiding to a somewhat strange notion of "crew", inherited from her old Wyvernslaying family. An exceptionally tight knit crew of family/colleagues/friends she was completely dedicated to, through thick and thin.

Sylyn had an extremely manipulative, predatory personality, that often led her to play with her food. As pointed out by Errilam, she was quite close in personality to Errilam himself- equally vicious, and lusting, both literally and figuratively, for conflict and blood. The difference in personality was very little, and mostly in the fact she preferred to orient her worst instincts towards people who she felt "deserved it". Villains, bandits, and tyrants.

Sylyn hovered close to CE for a time. Then, thanks to the influence of "the five" first, then Cillian Darcy, and ultimately Aliatris de Orellana, Sylyn started growing tired of her selfish, cold-hearted, survival-oriented life. Which, ultimately (and ironically), led to her death.

The murder of Peacock first, and her last sacrifice were two of the selfless acts Sylyn ever committed. She met her redemption, and her death, in the defense of her beloved, Adrian Winespill, unable and unwilling to survive a second Cafrasil.

RELATIONSHIPS, AND THANKS:

STRANGER: CAFRASIL / ADRIAN: Two wonderful PCs, two incredible stories. Cafrasil of Yhlos was Sylyn's first and in the end worst obsession. Cafrasil was the first of a long line of "sponsored" Peers, individual she championed in order to manipulate the Peerage into growing a moderate, biteless faction able to keep the peace in 99, and not interfere with ringrunning. She, promptly, grew fond of him, and his death was the first of many gentle nudges towards growing soft and ultimately seeking redemption.

Her first impression of Adrian was perhaps the most correct. She initially took him for a naive and gullible boy- alternatively mocking him, growing disgusted of his perceived manipulation, being smitten by his sudden bouts of human compassion, and lashing out aggressively and cruelly after his continuous gaffes. Sylyn originally intended to punish Adrian for his arrogance, and "buy" him from his father as nothing more than cattle. However, Adrian coming to her rescue not only squarely changed her opinion of him, but pushed her to join Velstra.

A secret unknown to all, Sylyn was rather loyal to Velstra. However, she joined for no other reason than to continue her "hunt" of Adrian's heart. Had Adrian (and Aliatris) been of no interest to her, she would have simply kept running or held her own against pursuing Orzas. Kristoff's bounty offered her the perfect excuse to not sever her contacts with her old friends. Eventually, as Adrian's history and personality emerged, she started pitying him, and after some time, harboring sincere affection. This single instance of genuine love led her to commit a single, selfless act, forfeiting her life and ending her most difficult hunt.

Sylyn's goal, after Adrian saved her life, was to open his eyes about the delusions of the Peerage. She believed Adrian a romantic, misguided man, too starved of affection and too easy to manipulate with the mirage of fatherly love. She became fiercely protective of Adrian, against Adrian's worst enemy: himself.

As such, Sylyn's chief reason for staying in Velstra, as opposed to simply wandering off was to at once sabotage "fake, peerage Adrian" and to assist, awaken and foster what she perceived as his stunted true nature, hoping to one day become his loyal companion and settle down for good.





THE FIVE: Sylyn's ringrunning group. A little, motley crew that turned ringrunning into a "The Hobbit"-like adventure. Derring-do and cheer, constant squabbling and friendship, making up for being less than optimized. A shout out to Howlando, Halfbrood and the DM team for following us in our advance into the rings! And a warm goodbye to Argus Haffurd, Daniel Brandybuck, Milos Andelko, and Lori Underbough.

LORI UNDERBOUGH: New player, great ride. Lori was the little sister Sylyn never had. She bravely faced her "unpredictable" rolls, and the Quest for Goblori- then Maglori, was a major driving goal in Sylyn's life, enough to outshine her quest for Cafrasil's redemption.

MILOS ANDELKO: The real mastermind. Milos Andelko was a washed out, harboiled detective, originally a level-headed and blunt counterpart to the fiery, rude and uncompromising Sylyn. Thanks to his scheming however, and his untimely demise, Sylyn wound up absorbing his personality and mannerism (in particular this showed through the loss of an accent, and shifting from drinking to smoking) and in the end repeating his sacrifice. The oath Milos placed on her defined the rest of her life- luckily, Sylyn died shortly after fulfilling her promise and resolving her quest.

AETHELWINE SILVER: Silver was one of the few characters who could soothe Sylyn, by simple virtue of treating her kindly. Initially an object of concern, the "dangerous enigma" quickly grew to care for the young magus, and, fittingly showed her affection by beating him black and blue after finding out about Isiratuu's perceived betrayal, believing him, Lori and Silver to be essentially done for. Sylyn mentored Silver, to a degree, by taking away a large portion of his innocence and naivetè, a horrible crime that defined and irreversibly soiled the relationship. From little brother, Silver quickly grew into an almost fatherly figure, succeeding where Sylyn failed.

Silver was another of the key characters that led to Sylyn's "redemption". He showed her that kindness and trust can prevail, and in the end, that a life of violence is doomed to fail.



ALIATRIS DE ORELLANA: Aliatris was Sylyn's first Velstran contact. It all begun in the little labyrinth, when a lone Sylyn ran into a patrol of Velstra, in a narrow room she could not exit from. While she expected to be butchered on the spot and robbed of keys (as it was prominent at the time), the Velstra simply let her pass. Aliatris was the second peer she "sponsored", offering him assistance in exchange for spreading the (false) notion that stealing keys would have inevitably drawn the curse.

Their relationship started utilitaristic, then Sylyn making a pass at him was blown out of proportion into a faux romance, much to the two's amusement. A genuine attempt at romancing Aliatris was met with the notion she was "actually quite a sweet girl", being turned down for good, glassing Aliatris, and eventually feeling bad enough to resurrect him through the Waters.

Aliatris awakened after a time, now tied by a hefty life debt. Eventually, the two became friends (?) and while Sylyn could never really pin her finger on the slippery Velstra, he wound up defending her and her soul fiercely, both offering to duel for the removal of her bounty, berating Adrian for not taking good enough care of her, and flying into a rage at Errilam attempting to turn her into the house killer.

The two took great pleasure in alternatively insulting and flirting with each other, for no other reason than to embarass their mates and entertain themselves. The underlying relationship was actually a rather solid platonic friendship, and, near the very end, in Aliatris finally convincing Sylyn to give up her evil ways for good. Aliatris is, to date, the only person together with Silver who could shame Sylyn, going as far as to treat her as a damsel in distress or a little girl in need of protection.

P.S. : Aliatris is the perfect hero.




ERRILAM WINESPILL: Sylyn tried to kill Errilam pretty consistently since his attempted hit on Soppira, and later on, his betrayal of Lori. She constantly organized, schemed, tracked, stalked, spied, assisted his enemies and slipped people whatever intel they needed. She assisted Abed, pushed Andert to take immediate action against him, tried to frame him, conspired with [redacted], organized ambushes, and constantly slipped assassins a stream of information about his habits, weaknesses, and ringrunning habits. Sadly, they all failed.

"Abed's murder fairy"



Sylyn flat out told him she wanted to kill him. Somehow, it flew right over Errilam's head:


After Sylyn joined Velstra, the madness begun. Sylyn kept making attempts to his life throughout, but was exceptionally torn between despising him for his evil ways, ADMIRING him for his evil ways, recognizing him as a brother in arms, and returning a sort of grudging respect. Errilam claimed to admire her courage and her viciousness, and she fully returned the sentiment.



Errilam turned out to be incredibly cunning, pointing out her true nature with incredible precision...




... which led to a strange tug of war between her shoulder devil (Errilam) and angel (Aliatris), with Errilam constantly tickling Sylyn's taste for violence, murder, debauchery, and joyful killing, much to her frustration and her delight.

Sylyn was alternatively horrified and sort of fascinated with Errilam, would be MURDER-FRIEND and best of worst enemy. Main ally and foe. Evil, evil, delightfully evil, loyal brother. Near the very end, Syl largely lost interest in killing him, and while she would not have prevented an assassination attempt, nearly grew to tolerate him.

He also hit on her. Yes, this happened.


SIOBHAN DIOMASAIGH: Much of Sylyn's relationship with Siobhan stemmed from Siobhan's fascination with her. Sylyn was actually largely indifferent and entertaining her out of pure and simple amusement, nearly until the very end. Siobhan backing out of their duel and refusing to fight Sylyn softened up some, and while she wound up protecting her some, their relationship was for the most part one-sided.

The very last days, post Adrian's marriage, saw her gradually slowing into the role of a faux sister, rival in love, jailer, companion, mediator, enemy, and friend. The delicate balance was upset by bits and bobs about Siobhan's past and nature, leading to Sylyn taking on an increasingly more protective, and brutally honest role. She did not want Siobhan -or- Adrian to die, and wound up, bizzarrely, serving as a sort of diplomat between the two.




DARE: Scary. Cat. Friend. And too many spoilers for this Obituary. Way too many spoilers.

CILLIAN DARCY: A very brief but lasting impact in Syl's life, she met the paladin both when he was just a wide-eyed newly awakened, and very suddenly at the end, after he became a grizzled holy warrior. Cillian Darcy got the ball rolling- as it were- and a brief speech about the need to stand up against evil beyond one's own death were one of the first sparks that brought Sylyn to question her own ways. Deeply regret there has not been more. Come back soon!

HARLOW: Honorable mention. While Sylyn was an inconclusive flirt, she hit on a long, long line of unfortunate people (among which "Mr. Foxcomb", Silver, Siobhan, Aliatris) the last of these poor souls was Harlow Crane. She was rather fond of him, partially because she could practically smell an underlying current of brutish evil, and was extremely puzzled at his tame, doglike exterior. Harboring an unsavory fascination, she made fun of Crane, fought him- rather cruelly- and took great pleasure into seeing him grope around for contrived explanations while being plainly and bluntly flirted with. A potential comrade, and a sadly missed occasion at many, many interesting debates.

On your toes, Crane.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS


SECOND IMPRESSIONS


THIRD IMPRESSIONS


"THEY SAY SHE WAS SO TOUGH, HER GIRLY FRIENDS WERE GRIZZLED MERCENARIES"


MISC:

YES, YES HE IS


I WONDER


FRIENDS


MORE FRIENDS




EVEN MORE FRIENDS


FRIENDS WHO DO NOT KNOW THEY ARE FRIENDS YET




ORLY (Why was everyone afraid. She was incredibly weak. Why.)


SASS: NOT EVEN THE CITY IS IMMUNE (BONUS: COOL LOOT)



IN VINO, VERITAS


PURPLE BLUES


ACCURATE
[6:49 PM] HikoSashiri: you are the rude


Bio

i am a god

RPG

I think I only met her once on Abed but it was a very funny interaction.

"Hello. Here's a ton of great potions and throwables. Kill Erillam."
That's my purse! I don't know you!

Cat

Never interacted with her much to my dismay, but I have seen her around and have heard much. Sad to never get that chance! She was great.

Empress of Neon

A badass girl who was always a delight to interact with. Lived her last days in a blaze of awesome.

9 fingers/10.

Can't wait to see your next creation!

Easy To Remember

Legitimately bummed out by the loss of such an appreciated character, one who is likely to always be my favorite of the chapter.

The time spent running with The Five was the most fun I'd ever had on an RP server, and your characterization of Sylyn and the group she formed is a huge part of what got me so attached to EFU.

Great job, and RIP Murder Mom.

Black_TopHat

One of those "Oh good, Nine-Fingers is here... oh crap, Nine-Fingers is here" moments occurred everytime she popped outta stealth and scared bejeezuses outta me.

goate

Massively cool obit, and massively cool PC.  Looking forward to your next.


Aethereal

An incredible character that brought out so much raw emotion, not just through herself but her impact on and interactions with others. I think a large part of that came from how she truly immersed in the relationships between characters in a way that was genuine and real - a verisimilitude rather than mere contrivance of reality. A depth I feel is generated when the player's heart and mind is put into the narrative (at the inevitable cost that you will hurt at an unexpected or sudden conclusion).

I could never have imagined things would play out the way they did just from those earliest interactions where Sylyn first made an offer to help out Ordo Arcanum, then became a "dangerous enigma" (due to her behaviour, sentiments and overall outward demeanour) to ultimately becoming the only character Aethelwine truly trusted (and later got so terribly burnt for - a lesson that was burnt into the wizard's eidetic memory for all time). Your summary there between our characters is spot on too.

Sylyn was the type of character that makes EFU so great. A meaningful story - thank you.

Oh and great IC journalling. I encourage everyone who has the time, interest and motivation to keep a character journal - because despite being your own personal tale of your character lived through your eyes, that character's story is also part of a much larger and greater narrative which all of us are shaping together. It's also quite personally rewarding in my opinion and a good way to help get into the character's mind on a deeper level which I find helps with roleplay. (No pressure to do so, of course, play the way you're most comfortable with, I just think it's cool to see these stories when they run complimentary to IG experience. Though one must always be cautious of letting loose spoilers or very easily metagamed info by doing so.)
---
'Even life eternal is not time enough to see, all the folly and despair of poor Humanity.' - To Life - A Shoggoth on the Roof

It is through Art, and through Art only, that we can realise our perfection.

Loops

  :'(

Sylyn was one of the many things that made Eryeth the hyper paranoid wreck she is today. I wish we played together more, but when we did it was always amazing. I can't wait to meet your next character.

TwoOClock

Posthumous shout out to SELENA SANDRUE of the RUMOR MILL.

https://i.imgur.com/YPPJueb.png

Amazing issue, leaving it here for posterity. Syl's story is very much not over yet, and I look forward to spying on the repercussions. Make me proud, survivors!

PS:
Quote from: RPG on April 10, 2019, 01:35:24 AM
I think I only met her once on Abed but it was a very funny interaction.

"Hello. Here's a ton of great potions and throwables. Kill Erillam."

Arguably, the only brand of friendship you will ever need.
[6:49 PM] HikoSashiri: you are the rude

Grouch

Shoulda joined GLITT when I got you blackout drunk and tried to force you.

It would have been a HIT.
Things will never be the same (I've applied too much ketchup to this hamburger)