Punish

She's at 96.9940% I'm sitting here at my desk watching my level 36 Palus Knight Champagne kill bright red reinforced stone golems because she's wearing B grade armor and wielding a Bow of Peril w/ an infinite quiver. . Behind her my level 48 Cleric (never did the class change was too worried about the time to do the quest) and Shilen Elder (didn't have to do a tedious class change quest because the game let me click her straight to SE) are buffing and healing at regular intervals by a predefined macro script I tweaked exactly perfect for this area. The funny thing is I'm actually a little bummed I didn't take the time to do those class change quests now... I'll never get to read that quest line. Have you actually sat and read the Class Transfer Quest lines? Some are pretty dark.. anyways, I've gotten this little setup so good under the Ivory Tower I've been able to let it roll all day since 8:00am this morning. No DEATHS! Except for when apparently I came back from lunch and someone had PK'd me deliberately. I just kinda laughed about that, rez'd to clan hall, popped open my teleport map and I was back to automated farm mode within two minutes. Heck, even the experience loss didn't bother me at all, whatever I'd lost, I'd get back. Didn't really matter much since all I had to do game wise was get my characters into position and flip the switch as it were. My Cleric and SE are in B grade armor now, I was saving that for when they hit level 52. It was a mini-goal along with several others I'd had planned out to keep myself busy. But after the patch just like my Palus Knight you can just slap that stuff right on and go to town... It felt good seeing them get to wear the armor for about 5 minutes, but it kind of sucked at the same time too. Half of the fun was going to be JUST getting them to level 52.. my main out leveled them long ago, hardly ever used them but I was still managing to get a few percents here and there. IT was gonna HAPPEN! I had a lot of other various characters as well, I event spent a bit of adena on over-enchanting some high D grade weapons to help them along. I got a couple +10's that were painful and a few +8's that just surprised me, it was fun and rewarding to get them to those levels though. I made them, and felt pretty attached to them as they were some damn good weapons for D grade! But now, today, they could take that BOP out and lay waste to anything using that instead. Those weapons are useless now, along with all other D grade gear I had amassed to gear out my many low-level project characters, kinda like Champage, remember the Palus Knight... she's at 98.3539% since I started writing this... Anyways, yea the point of all this. It really is amazing just a few little commands and some timed heals can keep this character going for 15+ hours, I mean the experience isn't super amazing but still, she hasn't died ONE damn time. There are tons of other people around me, nobody seems to care, we're all hitting the same mobs just "grinding" away... Oh, I'm up like 200k also, didn't have to use any soulshots on this area and with an infinite quiver its just bank! I even got a Chakram edge... no point in making it but I got it! I know I've said a lot but I really don't have much to say other than. There's no point in wearing Brigadine Armor for your new little level 20 Alt character, having to run through Giran and find that damn helm. 99.514% I laughed about the guys name but already I forgot who PK'd me, I wasn't mad, that death didn't matter, I wasn't there and even if I was, I would just get the experience back anyway. 99.7872% I've been playing for 15 hours 99.9893% This will be the first level in 15 years of playing this game that's not mine. DING! You killed this game's soul in one day.

I do think its funny I made my PR long ago and ended up inadvertently rolling an SE to do the fungus quest to build adena for clan level 1... People laughed at me. NOW WHO'S LAUGHING MUHAHAHA... (VR ARROWS!!!) anyways... patch sucks. NCsoft literally destroyed 80% of the servers net worth in a single day.

"Most of the things we fear will happen, never occur." ~ Legendary Lord Punish It has been a long road in the pale moonlight. Some time had passed since the Legendary Lord visited his village on the outskirts of Gludio, stepping through its gates he paused and marveled still at the grand vision he'd been able to manifest into reality. Four humble villa's, each owned solely by himself, his clans Legendary, LegendaryPhalanx, LegendaryCalvary, and his dwarven industrialists TheBodkins had all been united by these halls. The center of the village had been a rallying point for his forces during sieges of Gludio and brought his three primary clans together as they formed his Pheonix Legion alliance. In many ways, Legendary owned a direct tactical advantage against the entire eastern coast of Aden with possession of these halls, but the real purpose had always been the unity amongst his ranks owning the entire village would inspire. It is his greatest achievement, this is his "Long Strategy". Now the opulent and luxurious halls of Aden are home, gone is the innocence, humility, and origin stories of the factions of Aden as he knew it would eventually be. All manner of civility, honor and respect end as war devolves those waging it into the worst possible version of themselves. Wealth, Envy, Power all at play in spectacular fashion as raw unfiltered emotion shifts from simply competing against your enemies to outright demanding their full and total annihilation. "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men...." Punish stated verbatim alone in the open air, his words hung still as if asking a question. "Am I a bad man?" he thought to himself... from his reading he thought he knew the answer. He can neither be good or bad, as he must be both. All men are wicked creatures and anyone who expects to fight righteously does so at a significant disadvantage versus a man who will not. This is sovereignty, the authority from which a clan is to govern itself and the path it will follow. This is where your personal values are tested, where the real question about not just leading others but how to lead them is more important than the pursuit of wealth or power. "Always do the right thing, even when it is hard or unpopular.", "Always do what you say you will do.", "Always pay your debts.", "Respect whoever is in Command, follow orders, bleep later", "Always admit when you are wrong.", "Show even your worst enemies respect, the moral measure of a civilization is in its treatment of its enemies." thoughts ever persistent in the phantom rangers mind, ingrained into his very being. Was he a bad man? No one wants to think of themselves as such, it was true he had done some bad things... but all who would attempt to shape culture throughout history have done bad things in pursuit of good. Good and Evil is always a matter of perspective. "You know I can hear you thinking from my bunk?" a voice cracked in the darkness, "Why don't you come inside ... little lord." Grampa Bodkins said with a smirk. Immediately the dark elves posture softened as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders, obediently the Legendary Lord followed the dwarven warsmith into the TheBodkins clan hall. "I didn't know you were coming! I would have prepared something to eat, do you know how late it is?" asked GrampaBodkins clearly half asleep, yet excited to see the Lord of the Legendary Clan. "I didn't know I was coming to be completely honest, I went for a walk and found my way here...." Punish replied sheepishly "I should probably visit more...". And with that statement and the nature of its delivery, the pair enter into a verbal dance that has played out 1000's of times, with each understanding their role. "How are the girls?" Punish asked, "Oh, they are sleeping, as normal people do at this time of night." Grampa Bodkins quipped half-heartedly, "Zoey, Peekaboo and Dipsy were just about to leave in the morning to deliver you a new shipment of arrows! I spent quite a good deal of time crafting these for you, its a fine batch!" he said beaming with pride motioning for Punish to have a seat at the table. "Oh.... about that..." Punish responded just as a very large bowl of Elphie-O's was delivered. GrampaBodkins with a half-cocked eyebrow looked upon the archer suspiciously. "Yeah, umm.. well, you see. I don't need Steel Arrows anymore, I need silver ones..". Grampa Bodkins head shook automatically as if he'd heard something wrong, "Excuse me?". "Yea, about that. I kinda got this weapon during this midnight raid, which was really interesting! let me tell you about it, Ronos was all like "Let's raid at midnight!" and everyone was like "Okay!", then we got there and started Killing all the level 70 Raid bosses, but Carebearz showed up, and I wanted to stab them but Ronos was like "let's do a sneaky trick!", then I was all like "OMG! gotta stab them!", then Kenneth showed up, and he was like bleeping relentless". "Language!" Chastised Grampa Bodkins, thoroughly attempting to understand the complexity of the story. "Right, Okay so Kenneth was freaking relentless and wouldn't leave us alone." Punish continued, "But, we had like soooo many people, like over 140+ people, were in the raid force, which we get regularly now. Oh yeah, there is this raiding force named DPS ON and we play a lot and Carebearz hates that, so anyway. Kenneth was like RAWR, and I was like RAWR and Azrealla was like RAWR." Punish explains with his hands as if dragons are attacking each other. "So, eventually we were just like "Boohooo Kenneth, we r b stealing all your raid bosses" and he got really mad. But then this dropped and we were all like "HOLY SHIT!" GrampaBodkins stiffened his gaze on the dark elf. "I mean HOLY CRAP! and then another dropped and I got one." Punish finished, shoving a spoon full of Elfie-O's in his mouth, chewed loudly and swallowed hard. "So I need Silver Arrows now." he continued his explanation. "I just got done making 20,000 steel arrows...." the WarSmith said in exasperation at the task he'd JUST finished. "Oh I knew you would probably be a little angry, so I got this!" Punish holds up his Infinite Silver Quiver. "I'll never need arrows again! This thing magically spits them out FOREVER! Sam and I were on this mission after he got a +16 Eminence Bow out of Oriana's chest, I got a C grade steel quiver and he got this one, so we traded but at the last minute Sam was all busting my chops like "I dunnooooo, a B grade for a C grade quiver....?! so I gave him one of the two D Grade quivers so Sam made a Phantom Ranger". Grampa Bodkins simply nodded and allowed the Dark Elf to finish. "So let me get this straight, Ronos led a midnight raid into enemy territory, utilizing sneaky tricks you didn't agree with, against a relentlessly hostile force led by Kenneth and the spoils of which led to you receiving a Bow of Peril, which is why these 20,000 steel arrows are no longer needed but that's okay because you somehow managed by the grace of heaven (and Sam) acquired a magical quiver that produces endless silver arrows, thus putting my entire life's profession into jeopardy?" "Kinda" Punish replied. "Lessons?" Grampa Bodkins asked, "Respect those in Command, follow orders, bleep later" Punish stated dutifully, "Why?" Grandpa pressed. "Command is responsibility, it is hard and stressful. Everyone does the best they can, at the moment they can. Dissension only fortifies the enemy position in the moment of giving commands." "Did you follow orders?" Grandpa asked, "Yes" replied Punish. "Change your perspective on Kenneth" Grandpa instructed, "Lessons?". "The hostile force is defending their claim to resources that ultimately will contribute to our faction gaining strength and further challenging their claim. He is the leader of his faction, he is relentless as a means of leading by example." Punish stated flatly as he slurps the milk from his finished bowl of Elphie-O's. "Who is right or wrong?" Grampa asks inquisitively. "No one" stated Punish. "Why are you really here?" Grandpa thoroughly impressed with the dark elves answers surmised this portion of his story is not the true reason for his visit. Punish gave a knowing look to the elder dwarf. "Because of this." Punish said as he retrieved a weapon from his satchel and allowed it to fall atop the table before the warsmith, with an incredibly loud thud the weapon slammed against the wood with an unimaginable impact from being dropped from such a relatively low height. It's incredibly dense metal gleaming in the candlelight, the warsmith admired the craftsmanship and detail of the weapon, he'd seen the weapon before but not since entering retirement and taking care of orphans. "Now that is a WEAPON!" the War Smith exclaimed. "It's a Deadmans Glory" Punish added, the elder dwarf seemingly looked at the Phantom Ranger motioning with his hands as if to relay the simple fact he was a seasoned dwarf and of course he knew a Deadmans Glory when he'd see one. Grandpa Bodkins hefted the weapon from the table effortlessly and examined it closely, "My, my you could lop off a wyrms head so easily with this!" Grandpa Bodkins commented in wonderment, "What are you to do with it?" "It's clan property" Punish stated respectfully as he gently grasped the weapon from the warsmiths grasp. "Oh, right. Of course." Grandpa answered as he released his grip on the weapon. Punish placed the weapon back into his satchel and sat quietly. "So what is the problem?" Grandpa asked. "Everyone, who can use this weapon, want's this weapon, but there are very few of these caliber weapons that drop from our excursions into raid territory." Punish went on, "Collectively, this dynamic has an adverse effect on clan unity, people get incensed when their expectations aren't met, or if a decision is made counter to a belief they have on whom is more deserving over another based on several factors, such as personal wealth, current gear, personal contribution to the clan, PVP vs PVE centric play or if they are a member of the clans leadership hierarchy vs non-leadership positions. There are so many varying belief systems on the subject." "Ahhhhhh" the dwarven artisan answered understanding the problems that faced the Legendary Lord. "Tell me what two emotions are most decisions based?" Grandpa asked, "That's an easy one, Love and Fear, you taught me that long ago." answered Punish. "And whenever you are tasked with a difficult decision which one should you rely upon?" Grandpa pressed, "Another easy one, Love, of course, fear is mostly irrational, 80% of the things we fear will happen, never happen." Punish continued. "And when your decision could be unpopular which decision should be made?" Grandpa pressed. "The right one." Punish replied, "And who is right or wrong, even if your impending decision is unpopular..." Grandpa let the words hang in the air. "...... No One" Punish said, shaking his head, truly appreciative of the Elder Dwarves wisdom. "So if no decision is right or wrong, and fear is mostly irrational and the things we fear will happen usually do not ever happen.... what can you truly control?" Grandpa reasoned. "Only myself" Punish replied. They both sat in silence as Punish absorbed the lesson to be had. Whatever happens, was going to happen. He feared a scenario that hadn't yet occurred and was futilely attempting to please everyone, where that would never be possible in the first place. "Thanks, Grand Dad" Punish stated with great respect. Grandpa Bodkins looked upon his little lord with love and affection. He had come so far from the orphan he'd saved in the wilds of the dark elven swamp 15 years ago. "You know it's getting late son, I have to get up early to catch the girls before they attempt to leave for Aden with 20,000 steel arrows you no longer need." Grandpa quipped. Punish simply smiled and rose from the table. "Going? we have an empty bunk upstairs." Grandpa offered. "I'll be staying at the BloodCrusade clan hall tonight, with Champagne." Punish said with a wink. "Oh, the Dancer you decided to give an entire Clan Hall too?" Grandpa said shaking his head. "Hey now! She's incredibly talented." Punish said in her defense. "Yeah, Yeah, and how are Erica and Tabitha?" Grandpa said with a knowing stare. "Oh they are fine, they are in Aden right now, dressing up in ridiculous outfits in an attempt to get Oriana Weaponry Box rewards or something or another, they still are a little catty with each other from time to time but mostly get along." Punish said a matter of factly. "I will never understand your "Many Loves" theory..." Grandpa shook his head. "Most people don't" Punish stated, standing from the table gathering his things. Just as he was a baseball inadvertently rolled from his satchel of gear and came to rest beside his finished bowl of Elphie-O's... "What, the hell is that?" Grandpa asked perplexed at the sight of such an odd item. "Language Grand Dad!" Punish said with a smirk, "It's a magic baseball". "A "Magic" baseball?!" Grandpa said with air quotes. "Yes, a magic baseball...." Punish said realizing he really had no explanation for the item. "I'm just going with it.... " he said with a shrug, "What else can you do?" "True" was Grandpa's only reply, understanding this is soooo not the realm from 15 years ago. Punish exited the small villa and proceeded down the center of Legendary Village to the BloodCrusades abode and knocked gently. As the door creaked the Dark Elven beauty inside came into focus, "You got a lot of nerve!" came Champagnes immediate response. "DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG I've been cooped up inside this damn house!" "Whoa, whoa, Okay, I probably deserve that!" Punish stated instantly falling into his apologetic mode. "I have been meaning to take you out I promise! I swear, we are going to start playing together more often from here on out", "I've been in Aden doing all these running around, but BABY I swear I need you!" "Yeah, well I've heard that before!" Champagne bristled, clearly tired of the Dark Elves excuses, "Where are Erica and Tabitha?". "They're back in Aden, it's just me and you right now, babe." Punish said with a sly smile, "I don't know" Champagne stated softly her defenses clearly fading against the Dark Elves charm. "Here, Catch" Punish laughed tossing her the Dandy Baseball, as Champagne caught it instantly the Blade Dancer was transformed, wearing a revealing baseball outfit that hugged her every curve. "Hey, batta batta batta .... swing batta batta." Punish teased. "You're absolutely terrible" replied the blade dancer with a smile she could no longer contain. "So I guess you're looking to score a home run tonight huh?"