Well, first: thank you for giving me another sleepless night.
I - with the help of Google translate - had a look at the French forums, where the protocol of the latest Avalae assembly was posted. There I could read that the cat is out of the bag and that the termites will be used in all countries, if we like it or not, because it simply is part of the Rangers plot. Fine (for the Rangers at least). I only wish the team would have told us right from the beginning that everybody else will be a mere bystander, an extra at best, without any chance to influence the preceedings, to change the history of our world, so to say, with every effort and involvement - apart from gaping and applauding when someone holds up the sign to do so - unwanted. Then none of us, no Zorai and no Matis, would have tried to find alternatives. We still would have been frustrated for various reasons, of course. But Rodi di Varello could have told the Nobles that they have to accept the experiments right at the beginning, and something similar could have happened in Zorai, and that would have been the end of it; we would have sat, quietly, and had waited (at least) a full year until that bloody termite thing is finally through, counting our fingers and toes in between (as probably the Trykers and Fyros did since they agreed to the experiments). That was not done, though. Instead we were left in the illusion of the possibility of participation, even of a chance to do something much more in harmony with the mentality of the Zorai and the Matis, and we fully embraced it.
So now we know we were wasting our time. The Matis had the humiliation of a Karan ignoring them and doing business with the Rangers directly; the Zorai still await something of a similar indigestible diet, I dare to guess. The meeting with the Karan, when it finally came - far too late - was so weird that we probably (as players) could have smelled a rat. We decided to believe in a glass half full, though, and now learn that our optimism and our hopes were vain, and that right from the beginning there would have been no chance to get involved and to contribute ideas and that every investment of time and thought was just a waste of it. The outcome of all this is a seemingly foolish Karan you can't trust, an idiot Botanist, and scheming leading Rangers, not to count sleepless nights and frustrated players.
In the end, I can only speak for myself, of course, and for my character. If I had known from the beginning, I would have simply kept Salazar out of all this; he would have ignored the whole termite thing, never wasted a thought on it and never spoken a single word about it. He would have minded his own business and only be seen at the Yrkanis Assemblies, but not at the local ones, nor at the meetings of the Rangers. I, as a player, would have just waited until the toothache is over, so to say.
If it would have been told to us in between, at the meeting with the Karan, when all the milk was already spilled, we just could have dropped the whole Rotoa plot and the deceitful hope for a "good ending". As far as I'm concerned, Salazar would not be in the very uncomfortable situation to have agreed to return to the Chamber of Nobles recently, for he would not have been returned to it at all - in fact, he would not have been at the meeting where he was asked. So I urge the Event Team to look for a German Matis player who could take over Davae, please - not that that player has much work to do there.
While Salazar has lost all his trust, I feel like someone who got beaten for petty crimes he has not done. Worse, I don't find pleasure in the game anymore; the delight of being part of all this is gone. I'm all numb and unsure if the excitement of so many years will ever return.
Having said all this - and I had to say it, for my heart was full and I could not find any sleep - I have no idea how the other players feel, and I mainly talk about the Matis players and Zorai players, although everybody is welcome to voice an opinion. That the Rangers feel pretty comfortable, though, should be obvious.
I - with the help of Google translate - had a look at the French forums, where the protocol of the latest Avalae assembly was posted. There I could read that the cat is out of the bag and that the termites will be used in all countries, if we like it or not, because it simply is part of the Rangers plot. Fine (for the Rangers at least). I only wish the team would have told us right from the beginning that everybody else will be a mere bystander, an extra at best, without any chance to influence the preceedings, to change the history of our world, so to say, with every effort and involvement - apart from gaping and applauding when someone holds up the sign to do so - unwanted. Then none of us, no Zorai and no Matis, would have tried to find alternatives. We still would have been frustrated for various reasons, of course. But Rodi di Varello could have told the Nobles that they have to accept the experiments right at the beginning, and something similar could have happened in Zorai, and that would have been the end of it; we would have sat, quietly, and had waited (at least) a full year until that bloody termite thing is finally through, counting our fingers and toes in between (as probably the Trykers and Fyros did since they agreed to the experiments). That was not done, though. Instead we were left in the illusion of the possibility of participation, even of a chance to do something much more in harmony with the mentality of the Zorai and the Matis, and we fully embraced it.
So now we know we were wasting our time. The Matis had the humiliation of a Karan ignoring them and doing business with the Rangers directly; the Zorai still await something of a similar indigestible diet, I dare to guess. The meeting with the Karan, when it finally came - far too late - was so weird that we probably (as players) could have smelled a rat. We decided to believe in a glass half full, though, and now learn that our optimism and our hopes were vain, and that right from the beginning there would have been no chance to get involved and to contribute ideas and that every investment of time and thought was just a waste of it. The outcome of all this is a seemingly foolish Karan you can't trust, an idiot Botanist, and scheming leading Rangers, not to count sleepless nights and frustrated players.
In the end, I can only speak for myself, of course, and for my character. If I had known from the beginning, I would have simply kept Salazar out of all this; he would have ignored the whole termite thing, never wasted a thought on it and never spoken a single word about it. He would have minded his own business and only be seen at the Yrkanis Assemblies, but not at the local ones, nor at the meetings of the Rangers. I, as a player, would have just waited until the toothache is over, so to say.
If it would have been told to us in between, at the meeting with the Karan, when all the milk was already spilled, we just could have dropped the whole Rotoa plot and the deceitful hope for a "good ending". As far as I'm concerned, Salazar would not be in the very uncomfortable situation to have agreed to return to the Chamber of Nobles recently, for he would not have been returned to it at all - in fact, he would not have been at the meeting where he was asked. So I urge the Event Team to look for a German Matis player who could take over Davae, please - not that that player has much work to do there.
While Salazar has lost all his trust, I feel like someone who got beaten for petty crimes he has not done. Worse, I don't find pleasure in the game anymore; the delight of being part of all this is gone. I'm all numb and unsure if the excitement of so many years will ever return.
Having said all this - and I had to say it, for my heart was full and I could not find any sleep - I have no idea how the other players feel, and I mainly talk about the Matis players and Zorai players, although everybody is welcome to voice an opinion. That the Rangers feel pretty comfortable, though, should be obvious.
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Salazar CaradiniFilira Matia
Royal Historian
Member of the Royal Academy of Yrkanis
First Seraph of the Order of the Argo Navis