As I stated previously, I had reshaped the story of my character, gone was the cannibalism but still remained the invisible goblin Kizzwazz. This hour long of seriousness needed to be balanced with a little devil-may-care trickery and so after a foundation of friendliness was built; I started to show the many facets of my character. Every so often I would add simply a little nod, hint or allusion to my little invisible companion; I was lying in wait, throwing out the bait and reeling my new friend in.
After some time and several ales, Faris, my friend caved in "my I enquire who is this Kizzwazz you keep referring to?" A bolt of mischief flashed before my eyes "Kizzwazz is my companion, my master and mistress; my divine leader" I waited for the reply "ah my friend, the ale is talking, it makes fool of us all."
Genuine annoyance flushed through me as I read the response "Kizzwazz is sat next to us friend, only the worthy may see him," I starting to believe my hogwash.
"I have seen many sights but never have I seen a mage under the dominion of a Kizzwazz," the reply came. "He is my master! He says I should not listen to you, you are scourge filth," it was true my friend was a bearded Death Knight.
"What? How can you say that? Kizzwazz leave this man, Trevorr, come with me, let us go to the cathedral and rid you of this demon," It was working.
What followed was a scene I had could have only dreamt of occurring. I stood up in the inn, proclaimed to all that "You will never part me from Kizzwazz!" and stood by the door "If you wish us to separate, we do so in death! I mean to drown myself in the canal!" several people stood and followed me towards my watery doom. My friend Faris had led the cries for me to stop my madness, I was unfaltering "Kizzwazz demands that we depart this realm forever, we shall perish only in physical form."
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I took a step towards the canal, Faris followed "No, please, I can help you, join with me and we shall rid you of your demon" I was surprised how much I was getting into this, the small crowd was bustling with cries of madness "nobody can help me." I plunged into the watery depths, the blue bar of air quickly slid away, Faris plunged into the water with me "Please, we can help" I simply bowed under water and slipped away into death.
My actions it would seem were pretty short sighted. Oh sure I had created an event that would cause shockwaves throughout the role-playing community but now I was dead, finished, a corpse upon the stony canal floor. Rather than resurrect I had an idea that would be fraught with giggles and so I embarked upon it. I rolled a Death Knight and set about finishing all the quests in the pursuit of finding my path back to Stormwind City. Several hours past and finally I was accepted back into the Alliance, upon my arrival I headed towards a mail box, quickly I wrote the words "Hello friend, I have returned, grasped back from the clutches of the scourge...Kizzwazz bless you" I was now Trevorr the Death Knight, would I struggle to expel my inner demon or revel in its command? Well I had yet to decide.
Finally after a number of hours I left my role-playing odyssey behind but in all honesty, I will return to it. In this element of the genre, I had found something I had thought lost. The magic, adventure and immersion of earlier games such as Ultima Online, EverQuest and Dark Age of Camelot are something that for the longest time I have craved after. This was a time where towns, villages and destinations seemed less functional, the game world was truly a social experience and as the genre has progressed in refinement and fluidity, that something that gave all of these fantastical elements has been lost in translation.
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Role-playing for me had been a struggle within myself, it had been uncomfortable and awkward but when pressed, I had socialized more than I have in years and in essence, recaptured some of that earlier feeling. It is astounding to see inns and various locales being used beyond functional purpose. Guilds taking residence of various abodes as places of ownership, players sat around the city simply conversing. All of this added a layer of fantasy and immersion that I thought was unobtainable in games such as World of Warcraft. The spark of creativity that flew easily through earlier games was now apparent here, just in an imaginative form.
I would return to my character with no question or debate. In the many long years preceded my departure from my beloved EverQuest I have never found such immersion and glee on a virtual level as I have when role-playing on this server. While my character still needs refinement, the simple joy of seeing a server of players reveling in the world that has been created for them, I cannot help myself, I must participate.
