It has taken me a while to write this post, but only because Delear's passing is one that affects my life as player incredibly.
Delear was.... so many things, heh. He inspired roleplay like few long-lived characters have managed. He changed the course of history, in more ways than one.
My very first character feared him like no other. He became the demon in her nightmares, and the whispering evil always in the back of her mind. With the help of a certain scry tool and a cabal spell, he convinced her that he could hear her thoughts all places and always, and there was no place safe to flee.
There was one time, walking through Nerina, when a NPC, a completely normal NPC, suddenly turned as she walked by, its eyes empty. It was a single emote, and it made the hairs on my arms stand. Came and went so fast, it was the best creepy-effect I've ever seen.
The sweet deception of Glasia, charming her and bringing her to sit whimpering by his feet in Krychire, cemented my love for SK and its roleplay. Glasia promising to keep her safe from the summon attempts to lure her out of her camouflaged hiding in the wilderness, Delear's voice sending her running across Pyrathia a bundle of nerves.... Meh. It was beautiful and scary and intense and roleplay at its very best.
With Alea, I saw a rather different side of him. Heh! I remember one episode especially, when he, his undead, Schkazix and Alea were in N'Kaysha, and she got into an argument with the undead. His response, and his own discussion with the undead about whether to leave her trapped in N'kaysha for all eternity, was fun stuff. Heh! Thank gods for Schkazix
.
In every log I have read with Delear, he made a difference. Even when he was passive, he was a catalyst. A great roleplayer, a great PK'er, but first and most important of all, an incredible, unsurpassed catalyst and instigator.
I miss him horribly.