Board Thread:Roleplaying/@comment-12599067-20141127202735/@comment-12599067-20150108033007

Efmrider wrote: (People don't change that drastically.  Changing lifestyle is easy, but we're not talking about lifestyle.  The speech that Clarent gave indicated he had changed his entire belief system.  He acknowledged that he had done wrong and had caused people much pain and he was trying to make up for it.  He insulted Conall, saying that he was bad because he killed people for money.  Yet Clarent, as a necromancer in the Order of the Wyrm, a lieutenant of THE Necromancer, killed people for power and knowledge.  Which is worse?  Neither.  The motivation is different, but the end result is the same.  Each got something in return for their dark deeds.

If Clarent had changed his belief system--and by his speech he indicated that he had, he would not have done what he did to Conall. He would have allowed himself to be killed because he figured he deserved it. It would make up for all of the deaths he caused, all the people he made suffer. OR, he would have helped.

He was upset because we abused his sellsword, but that was your fault, not ours. We tried being nice and you did not let it work.

Clarent did what he did because you were pissed off at me for what I made my characters do. Well, we tried everything. Persuasion. Bribes. Intimidation. Force. There was nothing left but to try to kill him so he would not be a threat. Why did you make it so hard? Not just hard--impossible! Why would you craft such a character to be the liason to help us find Rowan and make it so difficult we were all frustrated? No one else will say anything--but I will. Your RP's used to pop pretty good, but you've gotten too convoluted, too complex. Such writing should be reserved for a book or for fan fiction. That is not the kind of writing you do in an RP.) (Belief system, lifestyle, call it what you want. In my eyes, they are quite related to one another, enough to be nearly synonomous. In any case, no, Clarent did not kill for power and knowledge. He killed because he believed he was doing something good for the world. The Necromancer planned to take the throne and restore the Empire to glory, even if that meant that they, the few, must rule the many by fear. He killed for the sake of order, a goal far nobler than the selfish ambition of power, knowledge, or coin. I am not a violent person myself, but even so, there are times when the only way to make people listen is to make them listen. He didn't enjoy it, and as he said, he would have taken it back if he had known that they would be defeated, but he can't. The necromancers are many things, but time-travelers are not among them.

No, he would not. He regrets his actions. But if he felt bad enough to die for them, he would have killed himself a long, long time ago, without glory or honor. But he's past that now. He knows he can't take it back, and allowing himself to be killed would solve nothing. That is hardly repenteance. Instead, he's continuing on with his goal: maybe not underneath the Necromancer, but certainly not underneath the Great Uniter, who does nothing about their elven overlords or the White-Gold Concordat. The Great Uniter may dream of a world unified without the Thalmor, but the Necromancer actually does it.

Er, no. You said it yourself: the best way to deal with an enemy is to make them an ally. Maybe not in those exact words, but with the same message. So the mercenary did not comply to Kasra's advances. They could just as easily have followed him.

Intimidation and force mean nothing to a man who has killed hundreds for the sake of order, and bribery is for shallow and vain men. You attempted persuasion, but only for the necromancer to join your side. Never once did you try to sympathize with him, even though he was right in saying that the Great Uniter has done little. Instead, you aimed a sword at his chest. I even attempted to give you a chance to have Conall put the sword away and give diplomacy another try. But you just kept pushing.

I made Clarent because there has been a lack of differing opinion. So far, it has been mostly anti-Thalmor and pro-Empire. But the Empire isn't perfect, and the Thalmor has some justifications, even if the means to their ends make it difficult to side with them. You support the Stormcloaks in the game, yes? I may not, but that doesn't mean I would try to kill a Stormcloak character if they didn't cooperate.

I thought you were a believer in realism, Rider? Then you should know that "good" and "bad" is not black and white. It's all about goals, ambitions, and what you are willing to do to reach those goals. There may be some complexity to it, but that's just part of seeing two sides of the coin.

It kills me to hear that, though. Especially considering that, up until Hasaan and Megan's spat, I had done nothing but smile, nod, and apologize, which was difficult in itself because everything I had done: every character I had made, every scene, every plot point, was crafted to be eloquent but have purpose, even if it wasn't clear. To hear such harsh judgement passed on it, especially when it's often changed for your sake (often times changing the original meaning or spirit behind it), upsets me. I can stand for criticism, but I have trouble accepting it given that I am so often forced to explain myself, and even then, nothing ever changes. I have been very patient thus far, but I am becoming increasingly displeased.)