Not all the characters mentioned here belong to me; Ayanna was DappledSun's creation, while Thalia and Theseus are Asante-Sana's.

As promised, here's the Q&A section concerning Ismene's Ridiculous Resume and the roleplays involved.

So, what was Evander's story?  Was he ever an adventurer, too?

You bet he was!  Evander grew up to be an adventurer who specialized in long-ranged combat (bows and arrows).  I'd like to think that human versions of HoundFlash's Sullas and DappledSun's Scorpio and Ayanna were a part of his adventuring party, too, because why the heck not? xD



What about Ismene and Dulutar's relationship?

Okay, time for some deleted-content talk; Ismene and Dulutar had a confirmed "relationship" of sorts near the end of the third campaign.  Dulutar asked her out on a date that went hilariously bad, and afterward the two agreed to be a thing.

However, the reason I decided to overlook this part of Ismene's story was because there was no substance to the relationship.  Dulutar and Ismene mostly just hung out and sparred together and things.  Physical affection didn't come naturally to either of them, either, so they mostly avoided that; however, that wasn't something I had an issue with at all.  My main problem was how... void their relationship was?

The two of them didn't interact with each other nearly as much as Ismene got to interact with her friends, and the GM wasn't interested in hashing out details concerning the characters' relationship.  Besides that, there were a lot of things Ismene's friends did for her that Dulutar never seemed inclined to do; talking to her when she was upset, standing up for her when she was being challenged, or even hugging her when she was sad.  If a romantic partner couldn't be as affectionate as a friend, then I'm not sure 'romantic partner' is all that correct of a term.  xD

Besides that, Dulutar held great prejudice against elves, and the GM informed me that he would not have approved of Ismene's adopted half-elf child.  And well, between Owl and Dulutar... Ismene would choose Owl.  So that's all there is to it.



Why didn't you include that one part with Brocktree and Svantreski?

For those of you who weren't aware; at the start of SQ4, Vance sent Brocktree a telepathic message to come to Faldor as soon as possible.  Brocktree (who happened to be in the sky city of Svantreski at the time) said he would be there, and immediately proceeded to... dive right off the clouds.  I am not making this up at all.

This action of his resulted in him crashing into an ice glacier and shattering it into pieces with his body, which is actually why the merpeople were suffering from an illness later on.  This of course killed him, and a side quest was needed to find his body and revive him.

And my answer for not including this is... no.  Just no.  God no. 



Why did Rhogar and Dulutar close themselves off from everyone like that?  It doesn't make any sense after everything these guys went through together!

Actually, this wasn't due to any story alterations or retcons of my own doing.  This information came directly from the characters' owners, themselves.  Rhogar's player informed us that his character lost interest in communication with his friends after the trials he endured in this final campaign.  He felt such a strong bond to his god that he no longer needed the friendship of mortals; not even mortals who had risked their lives-- and very souls-- to save his.  I'm sure the player had his reasonings for this move, and seeing as I wanted Ismene to leave Usana, well... I feel like this loss of friendship was probably for the best.

No explanation was given for Dulutar, but considering his personality, one could easily say that perhaps he and Ismene stopped talking because he wasn't sure how to handle the emotional problems she developed after the end of the plot.



I thought you told me that Ismene found/raised Owl in Usana!  Why'd you retcon all that?!

Because I could?  It worked better for the character and I prefer it this way.  Besides that, I'd rather not leave my character in someone else's world.  In a more universal setting like Greyhawk, I had some more creative elbow room and comfort than a little homebrewed continent could give.



Whoa, why did you change up how things ended with the Emperor God?  That never happened at all!

And lastly... some more deleted content.  The original ending with Mr. Fus wasn't nearly as peaceful as the one I depicted in "Final Showdown."

The GM had previously entrusted Brocktree's player with information concerning the final session, and how it was supposed to end.  What you read is how it was supposed to end.  The GM's plan had always been for the Emperor to revive all those who'd given their lives fighting for good on the battlefield before leaving Hell.  However, Brocktree's player disagreed with this idea and pleaded with the GM to have that changed.  He felt as though it would be better if those who'd died, well... stayed dead, otherwise what was the point?  He also no longer wished for the GM to play Viktor as an NPC, and wanted the character returned to him (in case you'd forgotten, Brocktree's player and Viktor's player were the same person), so in that final session, the GM was not playing or controlling Viktor at all aside from detailing his successes and/or failures on the battlefield.

Unfortunately, that meant that any of the positive character development built between Ismene and Viktor had also been rendered null.  Brocktree/Viktor's player wasn't interested in sentimentality; what he wanted was an ending with conflict and divided sides, so he ensured this by having the fallen soldiers remain dead.  After The Emperor made his leave, Viktor approached the group with the few surviving followers he had left, and berated the adventurers for the damage they'd caused.  This turned into an ugly exchange of words between Viktor and a couple of the party members, and a lot of things were said that couldn't be taken back.  Viktor believed that the Emperor should have been allowed to live and that he probably could have been reasoned with later on; any suffering from the non-human races would have been honorable sacrifices.  He also disowned Ismene as his daughter, and told her in not so many words that her parents' deaths had been worthy sacrifices as well.  At one point I think he even said something along the lines of "boohoo, you lost two family members.  My army is dead."  Aewyn then threw a punch at Viktor's face, to which Rhogar responded by arresting Aewyn on the spot for displaying violence against another civilian; as for the rest of the party members, they had to help clear the battlefield of bodies as penance for the disaster they caused.

Needless to say, I was upset with how things had ended for my character.  And yes, it's okay for me to say that.  Like I've said before, I've always respected my fellow players as well as their different preferences for story/roleplay.  That doesn't mean I have to like it.

I'd gone into SQ4 believing it could give me better closure story-wise than SQ3 had, and instead got a character whose heart was basically shredded when all was said and done.  When I later expressed this to the GM, he explained to me what he had originally planned for the final session and how he would have played Viktor in that hypothetical ending (he also provided some in-character lines, which I used in my own retelling of the battle.)  I asked if I could go with this as Ismene's canon instead, and while the GM agreed to it, he also informed me that if I went with this ending, Ismene would no longer be allowed to interact with anyone else who'd chosen the real session as their canon.

I didn't have to give it any thought; I agreed to the deal.  All I wanted now was to focus on salvaging my character and bringing her to a better state of mind.  I don't like anti-climatic or pessimistic endings, and I didn't want to leave Ismene the way she was now.  The only way I could fix her was to pull her away from the wreckage.  So, that's what I did.  Thankfully, Cassi and Aewyn's players also agreed to go with this canon, so she wasn't completely alone.

And that's pretty much it; I don't regret changing a damn thing, so if you as a player have a problem with it, you have to remember that this is my canon.  No one said it had to be yours.

That is all.

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