I'm playing Dragonrealms again.
And I am so very hooked.

How could I ever have *left*? I can't even imagine it. It's still the best gaming experience I've ever had, even after all the bumps along the way. And the GMs have been consistently trying to make training easier and fun. Maybe a pain in the arse for those who trained hard with the old ways, but me? I don't care.

Talli is circle 36 and looks like she'll be doing a fast track to level 40. She needs a crapload of Scouting, Climbing and Swimming (in that order) to get there, and a smaller amount of Medium Edged. After that I think I'll cut down on the circle chasing and get my weapons and defenses trained some more.

As for those wondering about my Order involvement. I had previously wanted to keep Talliska uninvolved, but after meeting with Manze and several new members he picked up since I was gone, I decided I really *liked* these people. I have some hope for the future direction of the Order, and wanted to stay on at least a while longer to see where that will go.

Also Halcier is still a member, too! TOTALLY a plus. He's one of my oldest remaining friends in DR. :)

So anyway, I just got off the Council and will hang around as a regular member with few obligations (just a meeting a month really). Fine with me as long as the White Rose continues to hold to beliefs that Talliska can live with.

There's a lot going on in DR lately, I've found, what with Lyras returning from the barrier that the Prydaen and Rakash leaders kept her trapped in while the rest escaped in the Great Migration. It's bizarre seeing a character who's been written in history for so long finally stepping out and being part of the world again. (Lyras is the necromancer that laid waste to the Prydaen and Rakash homelands, leading to them coming to the mainland that Dragonrealms is set on.) I had actually thought the Lyras plot would already be done by now, but apparently she and her minions are still running around causing trouble, including almost nightly invasions of undead -- including, much to Talli's horror, Prydaen and Rakash zombies.

Talli recently had a run-in with one of Lyras' colleagues, a halfling necro named Tachid. Not much of one, since it mostly consisted of her dying horribly trying to drag someone to safety, then getting her fur rubbed by the creepy necro halfling who wanted to make a fur coat out of her. Eww. Then after a LONG wait she finally got dragged to a Cleric, but by the most unlikely of helpers (I'm sure she loved being called an "it" by her so-called saviors... she and I both know it's pointless to make a big deal about such things, though.)

In any case, it's really awesome how the recent events make the Realms seem like such a dangerous place. You can never really forget that Lyras is back, it's this shadow that's just creeping over everything. Now and then you'll pass through roads or parts of town and there'll be undead nasties wandering around. And the NPC necromances walk the land fairly often, too.

Ultimately it's supposed to culminate in the opening of the Necromancer guild. I'm curious to see how it will be received, and how people will play them. Talliska, certainly, has every reason to shun anyone who becomes a necro, both because necromancy ruined her family and Hub, and because Eu-Demrris-Tenemlor (the trio of gods traditional Prydaen worship) look down on necromancy as an abomination to the Wheel. Prydaen believe in reincarnation, something unusual in DR, actually, but something I tend to like in fantasy after playing so much Exalted.

Speaking of Exalted, though... my excitement and obsession over returning to DR, training Talliska and getting reinvolved in Dragonrealms RP, has pretty much screwed up my ability to keep up with my rpol games. I feel horrible about it, in a way, and I'm straining myself to keep up, but part of me just wants to stop caring and take a break. :/ Honestly? I am not having as much fun with rpol as I used to be. Particularly concerning Five Coils, which has consistently been the thorn in my side what with player attrition and other issues (the attrition is partly voluntary on my part though). I really think I just need a serious rpol break.

However that's not completely possible. I want to at least keep up with the few games I have where I actually have the story and events figured out more clearly (Outcastes, which has moved on an intermission in An-Teng, and Soul Collectors, which I've recently brought toward the first, hopefully climactic, battle of the game). I also want to continue keeping track of daily progress in the Academy (I'm at a good point to let activity slow for a bit, but after January will start to step up events again). Where does that leave Coils? Well... somewhere I can at least bring things to a close in Earth District, I hope, though it's currently the last to do on my priority list. :(

I'm starting to wonder why I ever try running 4 games at once though. 3 seems to be my limit. Which means one may need to go. I'm already thinking of pretty much leaving most if not all of the other games I currently play in, because if I'm going to be going back to DR, there is NO way I can both play in games AND run games in rpol as well.

DR has its claws in me and won't let go! Man, I just missed it so much. I hope that with the experience and training changes I may finally be able to advance in my guild, and get up to 50th, 60th, and even higher circles. One can dream!

P.S. I activated only five characters for DR this time.
- Oira: my cute lil' halfling who usually does all my DR transactions (aka shopping! :D)
- Talliska: my favorite character to play, my Prydaen ranger with the most RP and history established for her in game.
- Ryshassa: my first character ever in DR, an Elothean Empath. Alexsei's wife, and one of my most iconic characters (established firmly as the representative of my depression, anxiety, self-hate and past abuses). Less of that is obvious in DR as it was in other games she was played in, though.
- Atmadja: My spunky barbarian, and Ryshy's sister. Atma is sadly still WAY low in circle. Every day, I regret rerolling her. Sigh. :( I wish I'd never done that! She might've been 30th circle by now.
- The last one I'd rather not mention in case people from DR read this, cause I don't want people to know who she is. I prefer to have at least one character that's little known!