The Comet Fades

[firstfrost]

"And then, the Comet fades from the sky. Weythran still can see it for a little while longer, but it's invisible to everyone else." And then we live... more or less happily, some as kings and queens, some celebrating, some still planning for the future, ever after.

We defeated the Breaker two years ago, though that didn't keep him from showing up for one last smite (or six). We lost many of the players in the year off when attention faded, but finishing without wrapping up the last of the plots would have been sad. Not that I'm not sad now.

Comet was my perfect run. Bright golden themes of epic fantasy and dark shadow themes of sacrifice and "there is always a price". I had the best love plot ever, which was also the worst love plot ever for a while, but it did finally get better again. There were riddles and puzzles and mechanics I was good at and mechanics I was terrible at. There were mad left turns that tirinian ran with (like Dunyazade, Illusionary Dunyazade and Other Dunyazade), and there were plots that moved with the fated inexorability of the tide coming in. There were clashes of armies and explorations into realms of wonder and mystery and creepy horror and mysteries to puzzle at and to solve. I figured out that I could stop being scared of looking like a fool in front of strangers, because I could channel Dunyazade, and she has more confidence than me.

I cried when Scherezade died, and when Bart and Robert died, and when 'al Jabar fell, and now. While I don't enjoy crying, it is only the things I care about that can break my heart. There is always a price - and the price for a magnificent story is that the story must end.

Comments

[dcltdw]

There is always a price - and the price for a magnificent story is that the story must end.

Well said.

Congrats on having a great campaign!

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

How long had Comet been running?

[firstfrost.livejournal.com]

Twelve years. (I still have the first-run mail from October 1999). Forever!

[justom.livejournal.com]

Character creation party was 12 years ago today!

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

Wow, that is a long time. Also, happy birthday!

[mathhobbit.livejournal.com]

*hug*

[merastra.livejournal.com]

Very cool. In spite of the sadness of the end of a great run, I envy you that.

[chengesu.livejournal.com]

I share some of your mixed feelings, but mostly feel impressed by a run which managed to hold together and stay compelling for so long. I was a "latecomer", being around for only 9 of the 12 years (after accepting my third opportunity to join). I determined today that it's not actually my longest-running game (by a year, and still growing). But it's my longest-lasting single character and the longest coherent plot arc by a long shot. I was always impressed by tirinian's ability to continue to provide variety and keep things moving for so long, and by the compelling characters which surrounded me in the form of the other PCs. End of an era for sure.