Posted By Klutzy Shutterbug on June 14, 2009
So, the nerd is a big nerd. It isn’t a put down, it is the truth and its OK. I love him for it and he is OK with the way he is.
However, don’t let that fool you…since marrying him, I have been turned into quite the nerd myself.
One of those “nerdy” ways is the MMOs I play with him. Our very first MMO (Massively Multiplayer online game) was Ultima Online and this was my “introduction to roleplaying.
Now, when most people hear “roleplaying” their mind immediately drifts to bedroom games. I was a little shocked when my husband first suggested it only to find out it was playing a character in this alternate reality world online.
Over time it came quite naturally to me and I created a persona for a character named Skylar. Later, I was named Skylar Elderan in a roleplay sense…since I married the nerd’s character, Kain Elderan, in game. And when I say married, I mean seriously…rings exchanged, vows said married. In game. About a year after our real life vows.
Over time, a lot of people have picked on both of us for our involvement in these online games. One family member once commented on the addiction side of things and how ’stupid’ he thought “wasting away our days” was for this game. For us, however, playing this game has opened up a creative side and opened up the chance to make friends from all around the globe. I figure, the nerd and I could be out spending money or wasting away in front of the TV, but we have found a hobby that we both enjoy and do together. Different strokes as the saying goes…
My creative side really came out when I started trying to roleplay and over time, I have produced some storylines and almost novel length posts about my character that have turned out pretty good. The nerd has been at this longer and read a lot of fantasy novels so his writing is quite a bit better than mine tends to be, but at times I have surprised myself.
Recently we stopped playing our last MMO, World of Warcraft and I had sworn off MMOs for awhile. However, the nerd came home from work the other day with that “look”.
Allow me to explain…the look. He comes home with a lightbulb over his head and a smile on his face. For most people this look would mean a new purchase or bringing home a new puppy. For us, “that look” is starting a new MMO. Well, this time it wasn’t exactly “starting a new” MMO, it was reactivating an old one. Ultima Online was on the menu this time. Over the years, throughout all the MMOs we’ve tried (UO, World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XII online, Everquest, City of Heroes), Ultima has been the one we’ve always gone back to…each time wondering why we left the last time.
Ultima, by now-a-days MMO standards is a bit “antiquated”. The interface is completely different than most and the look is a bit “simple.” However, the interaction and roleplaying is unsurpassed by many other games that came after it.
Earlier in the week we reactivated our 42 month old accounts and tried to start learning what 4 years and a few expansions have done to the game. I won’t mention the fact that the nerd has also managed to pull in a few friends that used to play with us as well. He tends to have that affect on people.
Besides the actual game play as far as skill and items…the roleplay is coming back to me and I am enjoying it. I’ve run into a few old faces we used to play with and been reminded of some old friends we have lost contact with. (That is a whole different post on trying to find people you haven’t talked to in 4+ years) We have been in game and had a chance to “revive” our old characters and start getting creative again.
The point of this whole entry is to share the first story I’ve written for our return to the community. The basic concept to the story is that Skylar (my character) and Kain (the nerd’s character) have returned to Sosaria (the land that Ultima Online takes place in) and are settling back in to their “old” lives after being away. Skylar is ill with an unknown ailment and their leaving was to try and heal her in a different environment. Dayn is their son (another character of the nerds) and Isabella (my/his crafting character) is the “lady in waiting” in a sense for the Elderan House.
Here is my first entry:
Skylar rose weakly from the chair that had become worn and comfy. Looking towards her husband, she spoke quietly. “M’love, I think it is time for our return to Sosaria, things have not been well here for some time and this climate and change of scenery has not improved my condition as we would have thought. I see it in your eyes daily…you long for the friends and the familiar site of Yew trees… these lands have become stressful and lonely for us. Taking you away from Sosaria was probably the worst we could have done… and all for the hope of treatment.”
Kain looked deep in thought and Skylar wondered if his mind had wandered away again until he spoke. “A return to Sosaria…” Kain said with much deliberation in his voice, “returning would be uprooting life again, settling, learning the new ways that have reached Sosaria in our absence, but mostly it would mean a long journey and in your condition…”
Skylar put her hands on her hip and stared Kain directly in his deep brown eyes. “I know you worry, I love that you worry so much about me…but I do think it could help me as well. This place hasn’t helped, I feel honestly that I have gotten worse by being in strange surroundings and people. A trip to our true home would be good for us. Dayn will be the hardest to convince but wherever there are hunting lands and taverns, he will be happy I suppose.” After speaking her son’s name, Skylar paused for a long moment thinking about the son that she birthed and raised that has since all but disappeared. She thought about the smile of her young son…replaced by the grimace every time she mentioned his safety while hunting or visiting his parents. Smiling to herself she thought about the young boy Kain used to be and how much Dayn reminded her of that headstrong boy that knew no fear…
“Yes, m’love he will be hard to convince, but we’ll just remind him it is a new adventure!” Kain’s voice startled Skylar who had become caught up in her memories. This seemed to be happening a lot, which convinced her Sosaria was the place to settle down in…for good.
“Darling, we will need to inform Isabella. We are the only family the young lady has ever known and our return to Sosaria will probably brighten her day some. She hasn’t seemed very happy with our new home.” Skylar’s mind wandered back to the day that she and Kain had stumbled upon Isabella. She was wearing tattered clothes on her own back, but selling wonderfully crafted items to the locals in Britain. That day, Kain had brought Isabella home and the Elderan’s had fed her and supplied her with a steady satchel of gold for her services. The precocious child had taken Skylar back to the nurturing instinct from the days of raising Dayn and the wonderful dresses she was supplied in kept their chests overflowing.
Skylar packed lightly as her worldly possessions here would not be much good in the lands of Sosaria. Her wardrobe, as always, was packed neatly and she dressed in a red dress and matching hat for the journey. Kain was beside her packing as well, most of his clothes, still the color of Yew green, reminded her of their days living and working within the quaint town.
Once they were packed, they stood in the doorway of the small cabin that had become their home in recent years and turned away into the night. The journey would consist of visiting a powerful wizard who could open a portal to the border of Sosaria as Kain’s magic had not worked since crossing over into these new lands. Dayn and Isabella would join later…after they told their friends goodbye and gathered their belongings. Dayn had agreed that the trip was just the ‘new’ adventure he needed and traveling with only Isabella was the bargaining chip needed to finally get him to agree. Skylar smiled to herself when she thought of Dayn feeling as if he were Isabella’s protector all these years. She had never been able to give Dayn a sibling so he had began to think of Isabella as the little sister he needed to protect. She loved that about him. His caring heart and need to protect everyone he loved. Albeit he was completely stubborn like his father, she felt that she and Kain had raised a decent young man.
Stepping through the massive portal to Sosaria, Skylar breathed in a sigh of relief. Already, the feeling of home was overwhelming and the smell of the Yew trees was a welcome change from the stench of their last home.
Kain and Skylar rode through the woods to find Empath Abby. The familiar landscape seemed unchanged and their sense of direction was still intact, thankfully. Opening the doors to the abby, the memories flooded Skylar emotions and tears filled her eyes. Kain, worried that the trip was too much for Skylar, looked concerned. “M’love, are you OK?” he asked. “Yes, dear just happy to be…home again.”
As they walked down the hall, Kain readied his gold for the innkeeper and secured a room for the evening. “M’love, this is going to have to do for tonight, you need to rest and we will have to seek out a new home. I am going to run these packhorses to the stables and come right back. Please settle in and rest…you need it.” He hugged her tightly and threw back the blankets on the bed. “Climb in and I will return shortly.”
Remembering very little after climbing into bed, Skylar awoke with the sun and looked over at the empty space beside her. “Where is he at this hour,” she wondered. Just as she could get her thoughts straight the door opened and Kain came in with a plate full of fruit and bread. Skylar smiled to her husband and sat up, knowing that protesting to breakfast would be wasted oxygen.
“M’love, after a full night’s sleep it is safe to say I am OK for now. We should venture out today and see what and who we can find. I am anxious to find some old friends…and we should probably make arrangements for seeing about a house before Dayn and Isabella arrive,” Skylar commented between mouthfuls.
After eating an ‘appropriate’ amount, Skylar jumped out of bed feeling more renewed than she had in a long time. Even the fruit was sweeter and the beds softer here she thought to herself.
Category: Roleplaying, Ultima Online, gaming |
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Tags: creativity, gaming, Roleplaying, Ultima Online
I thought I knew where to begin after my extended absence from my blog. I started this blog in hopes of getting some thoughts out and having a place to let off steam from time to time and here I go neglecting it for so long. I hope soon to be able to feel the inspiration to blog…at least every other day. We shall see. I’d also like to figure out how to bring in some more traffic. My wonderful friends read it and for that I am thankful 
So a little something you should know about me. I’m an addict. I need a 12-step program. For what, you may ask? Well it depends on the week.
Have you ever just had one of those days?
)
My husband and I have been married 9 years. In that time, he has played a plethora of MMOs and console games as a hobby. I don’t mind, it keeps him happy because he enjoys it and it allows me “free time” to do my own hobbies. We aren’t clubbing type people and we aren’t always the wealthiest that go out shopping constantly…we’re homebodies.
