☀️ Arselia and Akonia

One day this had to happen, and here is the ending. I started writing it the moment the fate of the last apostle was decided, as that's exactly where I planned to finish; beyond the fights, nothing further was intended anyway (though if Ayano hadn't listened to the maid's advice, I would have had to). In theory, the plot could have been developed indefinitely and slowly stretched until the year 1000 and beyond, but that seemed not very viable to me, especially since most of the plots and relationships had reached their resolution.

The question of the millennium: how did it happen that this expa was brought to its logical conclusion?
The main reason, of course, is that the players didn't lose interest in it until the very end, for without players, there can be no game. For this, my great gratitude and respect to all of you. From the heart — thank you.

As for my own state, I recall these words from Alex:

When we play in expas, we don't just put on the masks of our heroes and step onto the theater stage with acting improvisation. We gain the right to another life, beyond our single earthly one. A life that can be lived as anyone. And though it may be short, though incomplete, there will be others... After each finished life of mine in the form of my hero, one way or another, although I am sometimes sad, I never despair, for I believe — there will be more. And every time my faith is not in vain, and every time I gain the right to another. This is a great value — the right to live the lives of other people besides your own. And for this right, I thank such a generous demiurge.

They had found a strong emotional response in me before, but recently I have felt their significance for myself on a more conscious level. Firstly, how many games do you need to play, cartoons to watch, books to reread, etc., before the satisfaction derived from them begins to fade? As it turns out, this limit truly exists. I watch/read/play — in other words, I consume something — and the response is no longer as strong as before; only a few things truly captivate me. And an expa is not only something unpredictable, but also a social event in the company of good friends. In my youth, I considered myself an introvert, but with age, such communication has come to be valued much more highly. Therefore, personally for me, this party became a far more important and interesting event than any of my favorite games and other things. Secondly, an expa is something that you and I built from scratch. Yes, it may have its technical flaws, but it's something that we created together for over a decade, even though we didn't copy the system from an existing one, but literally assembled it on the fly. I believe that what we have here is unique. Many people might have a Porsche in their garage, but how many manage to live another life in such a format? In general, I think this needs to be appreciated.

Another important point that I was taught by unsuccessful experience — the absence of pauses. When I took on this party, I strictly decided for myself that I would not take them, because more than once or twice I've had cases where I "took a pause for a week or two," and then it was no longer possible to get back into it. Therefore, even on days when I had no desire, felt unwell, or just had tedious routine chores that made me want to jump out the window, I still forced myself to write at least something minimal. Sometimes this resulted in low-effort posts, but I came to the conclusion that "something is better than nothing." Because waiting for inspiration, a surge of strength, or a good mood almost certainly leads to nothing good. The tournament and the battle with Stallya serve as a good example. So much effort was required to account for everything and calculate everything, and there were so many fails that I really wanted to just "rest," but again, I understood that rest would most likely lead to a premature end. Therefore, even if it was with some struggle, we passed that part and moved forward at a normal pace.

Kosha
You haven't played with me for a very long time and I want to tell you this... Your characters repeatedly found themselves in unpleasant situations, the universe itself seemed to throw spokes into your bicycle wheels, but you never gave up and complained about nothing (the incident with the circus and everything associated with it is a good example). At the same time, you played very actively; it was clear that the fate of your characters mattered to you, but you were not afraid to take risks with them. I think this is magnificent. And it's a good thing that Ment suggested a small detail back then, which helped save Beata from death. Without her and her romance with Guillon, this party would have lost a great deal.

Loken
Well... I admit, your roleplay in this party is my favorite of all. I hope this doesn't offend anyone, but the way Ayano resolved various situations with a word, how she revealed NPCs and influenced them (Bazhena, for example, could have turned out to be just another portrait with a name like the guys from the golf club, but instead became a very interesting character; and Lord could have become a local version of Laid and that would be it), as well as how much of a sweetheart she was overall, is unprecedented for me. Oh, if only I could open my front door tomorrow and see her on the threshold...

Girych
I hope that the second half offset any possible negativity from Calcite! And thank you very much for the life you filled Kridear with. What I devoted not so many lines to in the description, you made into something truly beautiful. When reading about Klin's relatives and acquaintances, the tragedy brought by Hopelessness was truly felt.

Ment
Starting from Aiko and continuing with Erephir, I was very impressed by how much detail you went into when roleplaying your characters' professional activities. From the detailed budget calculation of Carneol to the invention of various things... You know, I didn't plan on inventing new professions or giving features to old ones, but reading your roleplay, I had to add features to the blacksmith, create a watchmaker, and then facilitate all sorts of cool equipment! Because you read how Erephir forges something, and you realize that it cannot be "without an effect," it's just that cool.

Arets, Nebok
It's a pity you dropped at a certain point, but I was still glad to see you in the first half.

Fragment
You are as always — appearing rarely, but effectively. I read every post with great pleasure and hope that the story of the brothers, unfulfilled in Lugwort, was able to find its resolution here.

Alex
I really wanted to see you a bit more, but given current realities, I understand that it's unlikely... Nevertheless, what I managed to see from Kenshiro, I liked very much.

Astral
I admit, sometimes you annoyed me a bit! But at the same time, I won't mince words and say that your participation in this party had an exclusively positive effect. And imagine, if it weren't for you, perhaps Erephir wouldn't have existed, so your characters definitely left their mark.

I won't write about individual events because there were so many different ones across various time periods... The incident with the ball alone is worth mentioning. But overall, I believe a wonderful, event-filled story resulted.

On GM characters

Nariya
Princesses/queens/empresses are almost like a staple in my plots. Rinze, although she barely interacted with players personally, was remembered well and for a long time, so this time I wanted to make something that was just WOW. You could even say she was my ultimate princess 😎. I think there's reason to love her and not love her. Some may agree with me, some may not, but I believe she played her role as the central figure of this plot wonderfully.

Sonata
As I already wrote in a neighboring thread, if someone had ever told me that Sonata would end up in another world and go shopping with a player character, I would have thought it was some kind of nonsense, but in reality, everything turned out differently. Once I ended her story on a tragic note, but this party allowed me to give her a happy ending. I think I can with a clear conscience call her my favorite NPC.

Lord
This was a veeeeery unique and unusual case. I had to put in great effort to rehabilitate him in the eyes of the player character and somehow "be liked" by her. This isn't some cozy little quest where the GM has all the tools for pressure, but a real challenge where the absolute initiative is with the player, not the GM.

Sonata's Students
Initially, I didn't plan to give them names, portraits, etc. It was assumed that in the coven they would be "student 1", "student 2", and so on, but at some point, I decided to endow them with personal characteristics. There wasn't much contact with these guys, but I liked them and they came in very handy when writing the ending.

And many others. Zheka, Bors, Kayaska, Kalinka... Some were well-developed, others a bit less. I think that if you reread this expa from the beginning, some events might be perceived quite differently when you know where they all end up in the end.

Well, once again, thank you everyone! Hope to see you again in the thousandth year 🧐