Arrachtas
Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2010 11:19 pm
(IC) What name or title do you go by?
- I am Sir Arrachtas O'Connaill, former Knight of Lordaeron, former Knight of the Scarlet Crusade. I am now Arrachtas to friends, and I do not care in the least what the enemy would call me, though I do hope they spit it out with great vehemence.
(IC) What is your gender and race?
- I am a man... or at least I once was. I am a male Forsaken.
(IC) What is your class in life? Why did you choose to follow this class?
- I once served as a knight for the mighty Lordaeron army, and then the Scarlet Crusade thereafter. I must say that my story was hardly unique in that I was groomed for the role from a young age by my proud and over-indulgent father. Though I once fancied myself somewhat of an academic, as I was sent to learn both reading and writing as a young boy, I now realize that my duties in service to others have always spoken for myself far better than any scribbling will. While I do still enjoy reading and writing, I must confess, my poetry is rotten.
... that was an undead joke. I am afraid that I am still trying to resurrect my sense of humour.
(IC) How would you describe yourself?
- Describe oneself? To be honest, it is not a gentleman's place to speak for himself, and so I would think that my actions speak for me. Despite my resurrection as Forsaken, I have tried to remember that I am not a beast, but a man. I no longer breathe, but that does not mean I am mindless as the Scourge filth are. I... have had a very hard time coming to terms with my existence as something that I spent much of my mortal life battling against - the undead. I realize now that while my flesh may rot, and my eyes may now glow, I am still who I always was - I merely serve under a different flag. By the Dark Lady's grace, I have served the Forsaken to the best of my abilities, and in between such services, I have spent what little rest I have by a fire with a dusty tome or two.
(IC) How many "Honorable" Kills do the Battlemasters currently have recorded for you?
- Well over five thousand screaming mortals have fallen before me. I do not remember their faces - only the terrified noises they made as they bled out before my eyes.
(IC) What drives you in life? How would the Grim benefit from having you among its ranks?
- I was raised from when I was but a boy to believe that the banner one follows dictates as much about one's own character as one's own actions, and so I place my loyalty before you with great care and sincerity. As I write this, I am incomplete - a knight with no nation, as the Dark Lady's army has never seen need of me beyond defending the Undercity. To say I am motivated by revenge would be the most easy answer... but the easy answer is not the whole tale. True bravery exists both in deed as well as word, and so I must speak the truth - I am driven to prove to myself, and to those who would destroy us, that I deserve to exist - that our kind are not cast-off wastrels of the Lich King, but are deserving of our lands and our pride. Since the day I first clawed my way out of my fetid coffin and into this new... life... I have been driven to prove that I am still a man who may bring about great change, and great deeds for the nation and flag that I serve. I ask only for the opportunity to demonstrate that the lessons I learned in life have continued to serve me in unlife.
(IC) What did you do prior to The Grim?
- Prior to The Grim, I wandered, lost. My memories of Loraderon are so strong, and in some ways, I remember my old kingdom and friends fondly... even if they reject me as a rotted shell of the man they once called a friend. I served both Lordaeron and the Scarlet Crusade with great pride, and lament their loss to me. Indeed, it is because of their memories that it has been so hard to find another banner to rally behind, though I now know that my days alone should come to an end. I have spent much of my past months battling Arthas, for he was once my own Prince, and there is little I despise more than a traitor. By the notches in my blades, I would say that I have wrought more than my fair share of havoc amongst his zealots.
(IC) What are your thoughts on the pact between the Alliance and the Warchief Thrall?
- Thoughts? You want... my... thoughts. It is wrong. To say that we need an alliance with those self-righteous bastards is akin to saying that I need to gnaw my own bloody arm off. I would sooner see our lands put to the flame than accept the 'help' of their kind. My kind have suffered all too much at the Alliance's hands, and I consider it a personal crusade to see that they never, ever, have the power to bring my race to an end.
(OOC) The Grim is a role-playing guild that requires full immersion (heavy RP) of their members. What does that mean to you?
- It means that IC-conduct must at all times be appropriate to the setting, and appropriate to one's character. Furthermore, to maintain a generally positive atmosphere, it should be realized by all that IC-interaction should not bleed over into real-life altercations nor strife. As a chap who has always enjoyed a deep and immersive experience in-game, I must admit that I am extremely excited at the prospect of something I should have done years ago, when I was very active on TN - joining a group of like-minded individuals whose experience can only enrich my own (and I theirs, in turn, I hope!)
(OOC) The Grim are considered a Lawful Evil guild, ruled by structure and a defined chain of command with the intent to see the complete annihilation of their enemies. How does your character's personality and storyline follow the Grim Mandate? Is there any conflict between how you want to play your character and the theme of the Grim? If so, what do you expect out of joining us?
- In the lawful sense, Arrachtas was a Knight (or in training to be one) for almost his entire life. As a former Scarlet Crusader (arguably the prime example of a Lawful-Evil entity), my character embodies the hard-line approach that would make many "good" characters flinch, committing acts which the "good" would consider "evil". After all, have you ever heard of a merciful Scarlet Crusader? hah! Furthermore, the Grim Mandate really suits Arrachtas' (the character's) hard-line approach - blood and victory is all that matters. Reasoning and bartering is not something he would ever consider honourable or worthy of a second glance, and I like that raw determinism about The Grim, and feel I'd blend in well.
(OOC) What sort of role-playing experience do you have, online or off-line? Do you consider yourself a beginner or Gary Gygax?
- Extremely experienced. For the past (near) three real-life years, I served in an equally heavy RP guild (Alliance, Emerald Dream), and was both an RP officer for a time, and then contributor to the guild's bi-monthly newspaper. Under my character at that time in the guild, I wrote many articles to keep the guild at large informed of such things as raid activities and the like. An example of my work can be found here at http://www.wix.com/GazetteOE/Volume-2 (my character's name was Flashheart, for reference!). I can provide additional examples if need be! This all said, I do not consider myself an RP elitist at all, but merely a man who really enjoys the creative process. As an RL highschool teacher (of history), I realize that it is the human condition and its stories that really get one in touch with events. Warcraft is an RPG, and without its great story and friendly people to share it with, I feel the game loses its meaning.
(OOC) Do you have any previous WoW experience? (PvP, Raiding, Battlegrounds, Different Servers, Different Guilds, Different Factions, etc.)
- I was an original Beta tester for this game, and have had an active account since day one. I started out on Lightning's Blade, many years ago, before rolling an Alliance character on Emerald Dream, and a Horde character on Twisting Nether. For reference, I was once (during Vanilla, and then Burning Crusade) a member with Hellscream Marauders, and then Fate's Hand, both here on TN. While I enjoyed my time amongst them, their predominant "all business" attitude, with little care for game lore or RP really turned me off, and led to my 'transfer' of sorts to Emerald Dream for the past couple of years, where I was involved in its RP community very deeply. I need RP *and* game content - not just one or the other! My primary involvement in WoW, outside of RP, has traditionally been raiding; Arrachtas, as a recent example, has the Glory of the Icecrown Raider achievement (the one that gets you the Bloodbathed Frostbrood Vanquisher) which was accomplished a couple of weeks ago, and was done in a friendly and non-hostile environment. I have *always* loved raiding and pushing content, and always will, but I refuse to raid at the expense of civility, or outside of a genuinely social environment. It is for that reason that I am glad to see that raiding in The Grim appears to be both very strong AND very social/friendly. Indeed, without RP and social aspects to my raiding, Warcraft ends up entirely more shallow than I would like!
(OOC) Is this character a server-transfer or has it been renamed recently?
- Yes. This character was on Emerald Dream since day one of Wrath of the Lich King (Alliance-side), and was recently transferred to Horde, Twisting-Nether. Why? Mostly because I have extremely fond memories of Twisting Nether's Horde community (as does my wife, who was here longer than I), and when it became clear I wanted to move on with my gaming, I thought that returning to fondly familiar stomping grounds would be best, especially when I found out The Grim still existed.
(OOC) What are you, the player, looking for in the Grim? What are your expectations of the guild?
- I am looking for friends, and a mature community. At 28, and as a teacher, I have to say that above all, I value a good time with good people who I can relate to on a personal level. I spend my days working with great kids, but on "me time", I really want to get into a game with people who enjoy it the way I do - namely all aspects, especially the very rich RP backstory that this great franchise has. I am someone who has always been active in all aspects of WoW - RP, PvE, and PvP, and it is that breadth - that holistic approach of The Grim - that really has always made you guys stand out as a group of people I should have applied to years ago (my friends rolled Alliance, which prevented it!). It is DAMN hard, as I am sure many of you know, to find a guild that *truly* enjoys all facets of this game.
If I had to boil it down to the essentials - friends, involving RP, and solid raiding are what my passions are; I hope to get involved in some dynamic RP with you chaps (I hope we can come up with some cool events!), and to push some challenging raid content, both now, and come Cataclysm!
(OOC) When joining the Grim, each new applicant will be matched up with someone to help them get into the swing of being Grim. In order to coordinate this, we will need to have a fair approximation of your play schedule. Please give a general outline below, OR if you wish to keep it private, send a PM to Aquizit.
- As I am a teacher, I am extremely fortunate in several regards, with reference to play-time. Namely, I have summer vacation, winter vacation, spring break, etc. etc. Furthermore, my weekends are always free, and my work-day ends at 3:15 p.m. five days per week! Warcraft, apart from weight-lifting and cars, is my primary hobby, and so my play-time is quite extensive. I can generally be online any time needed, especially as my wife also plays the game, and therefore never EVER presents wife-aggro
.
(OOC) Please provide an armory link to your character for verification.
- http://www.wowarmory.com/character-shee ... ing+Nether
(IC/OOC) Do you have anything further to add?
- Three things:
1. I am going on vacation for four weeks to Europe, very soon (returning July 31st). I dropped this application now instead of after my return because I was excited to see that you guys are still around, and not only still around, but thriving. I really wanted to put my proverbial "best foot forward", and so here I am! I hope to be able to enjoy an interview before I leave (Tuesday the 29th or Wednesday the 30th would be the best), but will otherwise look forward to it as soon as I return.
2. My wife, and perhaps another friend or two from a previous guild on another server, may be interested in joining as well. All of us are "combo" players - i.e. very much into RP, raiding, and PvP. I thought I should mention this in case any of them drop an application, and mention my name.
3. For the curious, the reason I (and a couple of others) left our old guild was over a personality conflict, and a slow "growing apart". While we have had many friends there over the years, few guilds really retain the same outlook and nature that they start out with, and when those changes occurred, home no longer felt like home, so to speak. That said, I have fond memories of The Grim from my two years on Twisting Nether, and am very much hoping that I can find a permanent home amongst yourselves.
My thanks for reading this highly digressive diatribe... I am afraid it's the academic in me coming out! I should also mention that "Peace Through Annihilation" is a very jingoistic phrase, and I love the hell out of it. I like how you want people to put it in an application - good way to check they actually read all the information.
Oh, and I should mention that I moved my DK to this server, as he's my all around "best" character at present. If, for RP/raid/PvP reasons he's undesirable, I have a similarly-geared Combat Rogue who I also enjoy that I could bring over instead. I'd like to be the best fit I can, so just let me know! My rogue: http://www.wowarmory.com/character-shee ... =Arrachtas
Cheers!
- I am Sir Arrachtas O'Connaill, former Knight of Lordaeron, former Knight of the Scarlet Crusade. I am now Arrachtas to friends, and I do not care in the least what the enemy would call me, though I do hope they spit it out with great vehemence.
(IC) What is your gender and race?
- I am a man... or at least I once was. I am a male Forsaken.
(IC) What is your class in life? Why did you choose to follow this class?
- I once served as a knight for the mighty Lordaeron army, and then the Scarlet Crusade thereafter. I must say that my story was hardly unique in that I was groomed for the role from a young age by my proud and over-indulgent father. Though I once fancied myself somewhat of an academic, as I was sent to learn both reading and writing as a young boy, I now realize that my duties in service to others have always spoken for myself far better than any scribbling will. While I do still enjoy reading and writing, I must confess, my poetry is rotten.
... that was an undead joke. I am afraid that I am still trying to resurrect my sense of humour.
(IC) How would you describe yourself?
- Describe oneself? To be honest, it is not a gentleman's place to speak for himself, and so I would think that my actions speak for me. Despite my resurrection as Forsaken, I have tried to remember that I am not a beast, but a man. I no longer breathe, but that does not mean I am mindless as the Scourge filth are. I... have had a very hard time coming to terms with my existence as something that I spent much of my mortal life battling against - the undead. I realize now that while my flesh may rot, and my eyes may now glow, I am still who I always was - I merely serve under a different flag. By the Dark Lady's grace, I have served the Forsaken to the best of my abilities, and in between such services, I have spent what little rest I have by a fire with a dusty tome or two.
(IC) How many "Honorable" Kills do the Battlemasters currently have recorded for you?
- Well over five thousand screaming mortals have fallen before me. I do not remember their faces - only the terrified noises they made as they bled out before my eyes.
(IC) What drives you in life? How would the Grim benefit from having you among its ranks?
- I was raised from when I was but a boy to believe that the banner one follows dictates as much about one's own character as one's own actions, and so I place my loyalty before you with great care and sincerity. As I write this, I am incomplete - a knight with no nation, as the Dark Lady's army has never seen need of me beyond defending the Undercity. To say I am motivated by revenge would be the most easy answer... but the easy answer is not the whole tale. True bravery exists both in deed as well as word, and so I must speak the truth - I am driven to prove to myself, and to those who would destroy us, that I deserve to exist - that our kind are not cast-off wastrels of the Lich King, but are deserving of our lands and our pride. Since the day I first clawed my way out of my fetid coffin and into this new... life... I have been driven to prove that I am still a man who may bring about great change, and great deeds for the nation and flag that I serve. I ask only for the opportunity to demonstrate that the lessons I learned in life have continued to serve me in unlife.
(IC) What did you do prior to The Grim?
- Prior to The Grim, I wandered, lost. My memories of Loraderon are so strong, and in some ways, I remember my old kingdom and friends fondly... even if they reject me as a rotted shell of the man they once called a friend. I served both Lordaeron and the Scarlet Crusade with great pride, and lament their loss to me. Indeed, it is because of their memories that it has been so hard to find another banner to rally behind, though I now know that my days alone should come to an end. I have spent much of my past months battling Arthas, for he was once my own Prince, and there is little I despise more than a traitor. By the notches in my blades, I would say that I have wrought more than my fair share of havoc amongst his zealots.
(IC) What are your thoughts on the pact between the Alliance and the Warchief Thrall?
- Thoughts? You want... my... thoughts. It is wrong. To say that we need an alliance with those self-righteous bastards is akin to saying that I need to gnaw my own bloody arm off. I would sooner see our lands put to the flame than accept the 'help' of their kind. My kind have suffered all too much at the Alliance's hands, and I consider it a personal crusade to see that they never, ever, have the power to bring my race to an end.
(OOC) The Grim is a role-playing guild that requires full immersion (heavy RP) of their members. What does that mean to you?
- It means that IC-conduct must at all times be appropriate to the setting, and appropriate to one's character. Furthermore, to maintain a generally positive atmosphere, it should be realized by all that IC-interaction should not bleed over into real-life altercations nor strife. As a chap who has always enjoyed a deep and immersive experience in-game, I must admit that I am extremely excited at the prospect of something I should have done years ago, when I was very active on TN - joining a group of like-minded individuals whose experience can only enrich my own (and I theirs, in turn, I hope!)
(OOC) The Grim are considered a Lawful Evil guild, ruled by structure and a defined chain of command with the intent to see the complete annihilation of their enemies. How does your character's personality and storyline follow the Grim Mandate? Is there any conflict between how you want to play your character and the theme of the Grim? If so, what do you expect out of joining us?
- In the lawful sense, Arrachtas was a Knight (or in training to be one) for almost his entire life. As a former Scarlet Crusader (arguably the prime example of a Lawful-Evil entity), my character embodies the hard-line approach that would make many "good" characters flinch, committing acts which the "good" would consider "evil". After all, have you ever heard of a merciful Scarlet Crusader? hah! Furthermore, the Grim Mandate really suits Arrachtas' (the character's) hard-line approach - blood and victory is all that matters. Reasoning and bartering is not something he would ever consider honourable or worthy of a second glance, and I like that raw determinism about The Grim, and feel I'd blend in well.
(OOC) What sort of role-playing experience do you have, online or off-line? Do you consider yourself a beginner or Gary Gygax?
- Extremely experienced. For the past (near) three real-life years, I served in an equally heavy RP guild (Alliance, Emerald Dream), and was both an RP officer for a time, and then contributor to the guild's bi-monthly newspaper. Under my character at that time in the guild, I wrote many articles to keep the guild at large informed of such things as raid activities and the like. An example of my work can be found here at http://www.wix.com/GazetteOE/Volume-2 (my character's name was Flashheart, for reference!). I can provide additional examples if need be! This all said, I do not consider myself an RP elitist at all, but merely a man who really enjoys the creative process. As an RL highschool teacher (of history), I realize that it is the human condition and its stories that really get one in touch with events. Warcraft is an RPG, and without its great story and friendly people to share it with, I feel the game loses its meaning.
(OOC) Do you have any previous WoW experience? (PvP, Raiding, Battlegrounds, Different Servers, Different Guilds, Different Factions, etc.)
- I was an original Beta tester for this game, and have had an active account since day one. I started out on Lightning's Blade, many years ago, before rolling an Alliance character on Emerald Dream, and a Horde character on Twisting Nether. For reference, I was once (during Vanilla, and then Burning Crusade) a member with Hellscream Marauders, and then Fate's Hand, both here on TN. While I enjoyed my time amongst them, their predominant "all business" attitude, with little care for game lore or RP really turned me off, and led to my 'transfer' of sorts to Emerald Dream for the past couple of years, where I was involved in its RP community very deeply. I need RP *and* game content - not just one or the other! My primary involvement in WoW, outside of RP, has traditionally been raiding; Arrachtas, as a recent example, has the Glory of the Icecrown Raider achievement (the one that gets you the Bloodbathed Frostbrood Vanquisher) which was accomplished a couple of weeks ago, and was done in a friendly and non-hostile environment. I have *always* loved raiding and pushing content, and always will, but I refuse to raid at the expense of civility, or outside of a genuinely social environment. It is for that reason that I am glad to see that raiding in The Grim appears to be both very strong AND very social/friendly. Indeed, without RP and social aspects to my raiding, Warcraft ends up entirely more shallow than I would like!
(OOC) Is this character a server-transfer or has it been renamed recently?
- Yes. This character was on Emerald Dream since day one of Wrath of the Lich King (Alliance-side), and was recently transferred to Horde, Twisting-Nether. Why? Mostly because I have extremely fond memories of Twisting Nether's Horde community (as does my wife, who was here longer than I), and when it became clear I wanted to move on with my gaming, I thought that returning to fondly familiar stomping grounds would be best, especially when I found out The Grim still existed.
(OOC) What are you, the player, looking for in the Grim? What are your expectations of the guild?
- I am looking for friends, and a mature community. At 28, and as a teacher, I have to say that above all, I value a good time with good people who I can relate to on a personal level. I spend my days working with great kids, but on "me time", I really want to get into a game with people who enjoy it the way I do - namely all aspects, especially the very rich RP backstory that this great franchise has. I am someone who has always been active in all aspects of WoW - RP, PvE, and PvP, and it is that breadth - that holistic approach of The Grim - that really has always made you guys stand out as a group of people I should have applied to years ago (my friends rolled Alliance, which prevented it!). It is DAMN hard, as I am sure many of you know, to find a guild that *truly* enjoys all facets of this game.
If I had to boil it down to the essentials - friends, involving RP, and solid raiding are what my passions are; I hope to get involved in some dynamic RP with you chaps (I hope we can come up with some cool events!), and to push some challenging raid content, both now, and come Cataclysm!
(OOC) When joining the Grim, each new applicant will be matched up with someone to help them get into the swing of being Grim. In order to coordinate this, we will need to have a fair approximation of your play schedule. Please give a general outline below, OR if you wish to keep it private, send a PM to Aquizit.
- As I am a teacher, I am extremely fortunate in several regards, with reference to play-time. Namely, I have summer vacation, winter vacation, spring break, etc. etc. Furthermore, my weekends are always free, and my work-day ends at 3:15 p.m. five days per week! Warcraft, apart from weight-lifting and cars, is my primary hobby, and so my play-time is quite extensive. I can generally be online any time needed, especially as my wife also plays the game, and therefore never EVER presents wife-aggro
.(OOC) Please provide an armory link to your character for verification.
- http://www.wowarmory.com/character-shee ... ing+Nether
(IC/OOC) Do you have anything further to add?
- Three things:
1. I am going on vacation for four weeks to Europe, very soon (returning July 31st). I dropped this application now instead of after my return because I was excited to see that you guys are still around, and not only still around, but thriving. I really wanted to put my proverbial "best foot forward", and so here I am! I hope to be able to enjoy an interview before I leave (Tuesday the 29th or Wednesday the 30th would be the best), but will otherwise look forward to it as soon as I return.
2. My wife, and perhaps another friend or two from a previous guild on another server, may be interested in joining as well. All of us are "combo" players - i.e. very much into RP, raiding, and PvP. I thought I should mention this in case any of them drop an application, and mention my name.
3. For the curious, the reason I (and a couple of others) left our old guild was over a personality conflict, and a slow "growing apart". While we have had many friends there over the years, few guilds really retain the same outlook and nature that they start out with, and when those changes occurred, home no longer felt like home, so to speak. That said, I have fond memories of The Grim from my two years on Twisting Nether, and am very much hoping that I can find a permanent home amongst yourselves.
My thanks for reading this highly digressive diatribe... I am afraid it's the academic in me coming out! I should also mention that "Peace Through Annihilation" is a very jingoistic phrase, and I love the hell out of it. I like how you want people to put it in an application - good way to check they actually read all the information.
Oh, and I should mention that I moved my DK to this server, as he's my all around "best" character at present. If, for RP/raid/PvP reasons he's undesirable, I have a similarly-geared Combat Rogue who I also enjoy that I could bring over instead. I'd like to be the best fit I can, so just let me know! My rogue: http://www.wowarmory.com/character-shee ... =Arrachtas
Cheers!