[Cen Pri] [MIDNIGHT] Kirken

Nightwing · **Posted:** Fri Jan 21, 2011 1:54 pm

[Cen Pri] [MIDNIGHT] Kirken Darkhoof, voice of War, Imperial Consulate

Code:

[HP:100%] [ME:100%] [PE:100%] A Sandy Beach of Forlorn Isle

You topple over and cease to breathe.
You have died of natural causes.
A baby bronataur stops following you.
You release all your spells.
You no longer feel favored.
You feel less protected.
The white aura around your body fades.

Kirken was my second successful (read: played past mid-expert) character, my only character to catch a PAR flag; ironically, also my second (somewhat failed) attempt at playing a battlepriest - Luce being the first. His original character concept involved creating a priest that could successfully ride on the front lines, and the imperial + centaur skillset seemed to lend itself toward that possibility. Sadly, a technical limitation on the formation meant that Kirken was never able to fullfill that dream in PvP, but there were a few fun PvE encounters where he was able to put more squishy finesse classes behind him to his great amusement.

Unfortunately, Kirken faded into almost-nothingness after a particularly gruesome 5v3 (we had the 5) rout in the Chancel, which coincided with the beginning of summer and a drastic surge in work responsibilities. It took a good three months to get back into the swing of playing him, and then work took over again right at his final peak in mid-fall, leading to a rather anticlimactic exit.

All told, though, I had an unbelievably good time playing Kirken when my schedule permitted. I'm not the kind of person to try and create a long litany of names, mostly because I always forget people unintentionally.

Having said that, hats off to most of the M.C. during the golden age of Turon (too many to name, but you know who you are), and the Black Hand (especially Gliknok / Veret) who were always there for Kirken in his later days.

No thanks to Peso for being the only person to repeatedly set Kirken up to die

, a galling endeavor made more annoying because I never got the chance to repay the favor. Props to Syn for making multiple characters that made life hell for Kirken in the latter years, although I think the final ratio was 2:0 (given that I sniped you a couple of times when you were a mouthy 35ish character, and Kirken carried Lelahiah's leg to his grave).

Mad props to lothoriel for always being an inspiration with Baba -- Baba was what Kirken really aspired to be, and one of the most satisfying things about having those permanent mirror images was the fact that he finally had something up on Baba.

My personal favorite day on Kirken came when the Imperial crew brought a bit of overkill to Exile. It started a little something like this (P.O.V. Turon):

Code:

You say 'Holy word then brandish.'

You open the door to the inn.

You run east.

The Taproom of the Hart and Rose

A red-haired male human is here riding on a spirit steed.
A frosty-eyed male human is here riding on a young white dragon.
A chestnut-pelted horse stands here.
A mottled male centaur is flying here.
Tyrr (a superlative male elf) is here riding on a spirit steed.
A serving wench moves deftly through the taproom serving drinks.
The swordsman Halfdane is here, quietly drinking by the fire.
A merchant guard is here, relaxing between jobs.
A small boy works here collecting glasses and clearing the tables.
A thuggish-looking giant glowers here, watching the customers for trouble.
A brutish-looking man stands impassively at the door watching the crowd.
The swordsman Halfdane is here, quietly drinking by the fire.
The warrior Grimm is here, regaling folk with tales of his youth.
A legionnaire walks in from the west.
Constable Orgalioth marches in from the west.
A palomino courser walks in from the west.
Kirken gallops in from the west.
Flavian runs in from the west.
Louin darts in from the west.

[HP:100%] [ME: 44%] [PE: 99%]
> o const dirt red-haired
A red-haired male human quickly jumps out of the way as Constable Orgalioth kicks dirt into the air.
Ok.
A red-haired male human utters the words, 'uizuiqubrz kadagru'.

[HP:100%] [ME: 44%] [PE: 99%]
> Tyrr yells 'Guards! A blonde-hahred male half-elf is trzing to murder me!'
Lorz backstabs Tyrr, resulting in a lot of blood!
Tyrr slumps out of a spirit steed's saddle.
Tyrr's hammer of light suddenly fades away!
Lorz's second backstab does UNSPEAKABLE THINGS to Tyrr!
Tyrr is DEAD!!
You hear Tyrr's death cry.
A spirit steed wanders away.
Kirken utters the words, 'midnight'.
The darkness of midnight descends upon the area.
Kirken's spell has no affect on Constable Orgalioth.

What followed was exactly what you might have expected. To this day, it still makes me smile to think that the last thing those poor people saw was the sight of one of their own dropping instantaneously before the darkness (and destruction) fell.

And now, some interesting asides for the stat junkies:

From his prime -- Kirken's 24/7 affects / spell list, thanks to a combination of imperial NPCs and gear:

Code:

 oOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOo
 o [Affects] Kirken Darkhoof, voice of War, Imperial Consulate               o
 o===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===o
 o Affect: 'armor' - deflection bonus to probability to dodge                o
 o Affect: 'ironguard'                                                       o
 o Affect: 'protection'                                                      o
 o Affect: 'resist elements'                                                 o
 o Affect: 'detect invis'                                                    o
 o Affect: 'detect hidden'                                                   o
 o Affect: 'mirror image'                                                    o
 o Affect: 'bless' - morale bonus to willpower                               o
 o Affect: 'bless' - morale bonus to probability to hit                      o
 o Affect: 'lighten load'                                                    o
 o Affect: 'prayer' - morale bonus to reflex                                 o
 o Affect: 'prayer' - morale bonus to fortitude                              o
 o Affect: 'prayer' - morale bonus to weapon damage                          o
 o Affect: 'infravision'                                                     o
 o Affect: 'secret spell'                                                    o
 o Affect: 'shield' - deflection bonus to magical protection                 o
 oOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOo

 oOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOo
 o  #  Spell                Casted On            Concentration   o
 o===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===o
 o  1  protection           Yourself             light           o
 o  2  secret spell         Yourself             light           o
 oOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOo

EQ (toward the end Kirken thought it was hilarious to run around looking naked):

Code:

You are using:
<worn on finger>     (Invis) (Sacred) a Dark Ring of War (brand new)
<worn on finger>     (Invis) (Sacred) (Glowing) a Dark Ring of Dominance (brand new)
<worn around neck>   a cloak with numerous arcane symbols (superb)
<worn around neck>   (Invis) (Glowing) (Humming) a twinkle star (brand new)
<worn as symbol>     (Flaming) a fiery red sun
<worn on body>       (Invis) (Sacred) The Breastplate of Conquered Souls (brand new)
<worn on head>       (Invis) a wreath of ice-thorns (brand new)
<worn on legs>       (Invis) banded steel barding (superb)
<worn front hooves>  (Invis) (Glowing) a pair of horseshoes made of golden flames (superb)
<worn rear hooves>   (Invis) (Glowing) a satyr's studded diamond hoof brace (brand new)
<worn on hands>      (Invis) (Glowing) a pair of battle mittens (brand new)
<worn on arms>       (Invis) (Glowing) some etched rerebraces (brand new)
<worn about body>    (Invis) (Humming) long flowing robes of palest blue (brand new)
<worn about waist>   (Invis) a wide belt of etched plates (brand new)
<worn around wrist>  (Invis) a leather wristband with coral beads (brand new)
<worn around wrist>  (Invis) (Glowing) a finely-crafted wrist guard etched with a VII (brand new)
<right hand>         (Invis) the wall of Horrors (brand new)
<left hand>          (Invis) (Humming) (Cursed) the Blade of Damnation (brand new)

The above gear had roughly 15 willpower, 15 fortitude, 12 reflex, and 20 MP with 0 MR (pretty pitiful for a priest, but decent when you consider the high number of stat mods and the blisteringly low rate of success in enchanting usable gear).

Attributes with EQ (unhasted, unstrengthened, although he had scripted GM haste as well):

Code:

 oOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOo
 o [Attributes] Kirken Darkhoof, voice of War, Imperial Consulate            o
 o===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===o
 o    Status: Grand Master(1)   Race: Centaur          Class: Priest         o
 o       Age: 78                 Sex: Male              Size: Large          o
 o Alignment: Aberrant     Handiness: Left handed   Religion: Sargas         o
 o===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===o
 o       STR: Titanic (23)       INT: Genius (24)        WIS: Omniscient (25)o
 o       DEX: Limber (12)        CON: Durable (18)       CHA: Dynamic (22)   o
 o===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===o
 o Carrying capacity: 12 items with a maximum weight of 425.0 pounds.        o
 oOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOo

Attributes after age death:

Code:

oOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOo
 o [Scores] Kirken, Darkhoof, voice of War, Imperial Consulate               o
 o===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===o
 o    Status: Grand Master(1)   Race: Centaur          Class: Priest         o
 o   Kingdom: Empire           Cabal: The Midnight Council (Member)          o
 o===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===o
 o     Coins: zero                                                           o
 o  Carrying: 0/4 items                     Load: 0.0/275.0 pounds           o
 o===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===o
 o    Health: Excellent       Mental: Pulsating     Physical: Fresh          o
 o Attribute points: 0        Wimpy:  40 percent    Mode: Kill/defensive     o
 o===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===o
 o You are standing.                                                         o
 o You are almost eligible for a level advancement.                          o
 o You have played 500 hour(s) so far.                                       o
 oOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOo


 oOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOo
 o [Attributes] Kirken Darkhoof, voice of War, Imperial Consulate            o
 o===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===o
 o    Status: Grand Master(1)   Race: Centaur          Class: Priest         o
 o       Age: 87                 Sex: Male              Size: Large          o
 o Alignment: Aberrant     Handiness: Left handed   Religion: Sargas         o
 o===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===o
 o       STR: Powerful           INT: Brilliant          WIS: Wise           o
 o       DEX: Clumsy             CON: Durable            CHA: Sociable       o
 o===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===o
 o Carrying capacity: 4 items with a maximum weight of 275.0 pounds.         o
 oOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOo

Baldric · **Posted:** Fri Jan 21, 2011 2:28 pm

Mana/art/hp trains plz
Is there a backstory? Or maybe a quick summary of his life after creation? If so, it would be appreciated. Also . . . scripted MI? Is that from a DS item?
Anyways, I enjoyed all my interactions with Kirken. I’m sure I enlighted him a few times. I think you’re super. You were also one of the most reliable priests in the pvp and pve scene. Well done.

ninja_ardith · **Joined:** Wed Sep 24, 2008 12:21 pm **Posts:** 4452

If you want to play a healer that can frontline with the best of them then you should play a cleric in D&D.

Nightwing · **Posted:** Fri Jan 21, 2011 8:26 pm

Max mana / hp / 4 art (I had planned on trying to get to 6 with mentor points, but only wound up with one).

I don't generally create a complicated backstory for my characters. He was an Imperial, and he wanted to join the MC. He kicked his way through the low levels, in the usual boring "level a priest" fashion.

His first memorable interaction was with Golaret, who'd managed to get himself arrested. Kirken had earlier found out about his Imperial ties, and ran two or three days worth of fetch errands to reclaim some of the arrested sorc's loot in an effort to curry favor with the Empire.

His second memorable interaction was with Aldric (which I'm sure is what you were looking for), since Aldric led War and the MC. Eventually taking the HF flag involved a bit of sermonizing, and I surprised myself with Kirken's response (which came with about 10 minutes worth of prep).

Other highlights include induction into the MC; serving underneath Turon (often literally -- I love playing griffons and centaur for that purpose alone); safely pulling a group of level 35-40ish characters through the Plane of Nightmares to recover their things; being present for the Terrell/Nyphera/Paddah/Nico vs. Jydel (and theoretically, other Imperials, but the only other contributing factor in the fight was Turon's intimidate); "bugfixing" Somnium by having him petrify our entire group, resulting in our statues crumbling within 2 minutes and losing everything; and eventually getting revenge by being in the first group to kill both Somnium and Ephialtes.

Also, my only known IMM interaction with Kirken was when the Seraph of Sargas decided to drop into Menegroth and try to lay the blame of a griffon induction at my feet (a not-so-subtle way to let me know I'd picked up the HF flag a second time).

Also, the walrus song. Not because it was mine, but because it nearly got us killed. And because it got funnier every time I heard it.

And yeah -- the scripted MI is from DS.

No more battlepriests for me. If I do decide to play a priest again (which is very likely, given that they're the only characters I seem to be able to grow into), I'm going cloth for sure.

Rodwen · **Joined:** Fri Dec 26, 2008 1:22 pm **Posts:** 1648

Nightwing wrote:

Also, my only known IMM interaction with Kirken was when the Seraph of Sargas decided to drop into Menegroth and try to lay the blame of a griffon induction at my feet (a not-so-subtle way to let me know I'd picked up the HF flag a second time)..

ladyjennbo · **Posted:** Fri Jan 21, 2011 11:21 pm

I recall Kirken being very helpful to me especially on Seremela. I'm not sure if he had interaction much with Faerti or Menkh.

Orac · **Posted:** Sat Jan 22, 2011 5:34 am

Nightwing is a classy player. I hope he comes back. He always seems so new to me but he's been around for years now. As for Kirken, sadly my only memories of him are Estobar Killing him at the empire stones after Paddah made him recall, and I think I might have either group pked him or XXXXXX killed him once too. I don't know.

That bugs me because Kirken was around alot when Estobar was active and Estobar lasted for over a year irl. He was also a paragon for much of that time and I never ever really rped with Kirken or any other midnight council member much at all. Since I was trying to bring back the rp rich days of Aurius, and I did succeed in that on the lighty side of things, I feel like I failed a bit because the rp was lacking between the Hammer and it's enemies.

We were a tight circle, a real good bunch, along with the guardians and Paddah, but I think everyone else was really kept at arms length by me. Not much rp with them, I can't speak for Paddah and the gaurdians though they might have spoken often with the midnight council. I wish I would have done more of it.

Thyki · **Posted:** Sat Jan 22, 2011 9:50 am

Awwww, I knew he was gonna croak off soon, but it doesn't make it any better. I always enjoyed our interactions. The last thing I remember from kirken and Thyki is when a griffon tried to join the MC. That whole thing was just ridiculous and hilarious at the same time. He was a great priest and good to joke around with. I'll miss him.

Thyki

Rodwen · **Joined:** Fri Dec 26, 2008 1:22 pm **Posts:** 1648

Thyki wrote:

Awwww, I knew he was gonna croak off soon, but it doesn't make it any better. I always enjoyed our interactions. The last thing I remember from kirken and Thyki is when a griffon tried to join the MC. That whole thing was just ridiculous and hilarious at the same time. He was a great priest and good to joke around with. I'll miss him.

Thyki

Actually, the griffon didn't want to join the MC. I know, because I played him. Herlem just wanted to follow Lord Sargas is all, and was actually invested by Zancore, which is why he lost his HF flag back then.

I'm glad that it was funny, like I intended it to be, and for the ridiculous part, that's just a side-affect, but it wasn't entirely unwanted either.

razorblade009 · **Posted:** Sun Jan 23, 2011 2:16 pm

Kirken was one of my very favorite members of the MC to roll with as Petrus. We had lots of good times leveling together, especially at the Circle of the Holy; though I sadly never got to do much PK with him. But I enjoyed every interaction with the character and hope you come back and grace us with more. Here's to another of the greats (in my opinion) of the MC during my time! :drunk:

Shattered Kingdoms

[Cen Pri] [MIDNIGHT] Kirken

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