Posts from ☀️ Arselia and Akonia

22:00, 31.12.999. Margel's Chamber of Horrors. Once, a series of brutal murders had occurred here, committed by the captain of the guard in the district where it was located. Later, the building was converted into a temporary headquarters for the Left Pillar. Now, years later, it was a house with no bureaucratic or functional value, serving as a meeting place for the students of Sonata Reim; on paper, the building and the land it stood on belonged to her. Now, eleven very intimately acquainted men over 40 had gathered in these halls. — It's still a pity that there are eleven of us, not twelve like before. One short of a dozen, and the number would be more elegant. Miyuki Hirage was overseeing the process. This was because he still served Sonata Reim to this day, and managing her property was part of his diverse duties. — Two consecutive ones look neater than a one and a two. Another prominent man, well-preserved for his age, was Heinos Gnarlwise. By now, he was a very famous musician across the former empire. Among all his "classmates," only Matthias was as financially successful as he was. — A dozen divides in two, but eleven does not. — Guys, we haven't gathered together in so many years, and you're prattling on about the beauty of numbers, seriously? The one interrupting the intellectual duel was Djiro, who had flown in from Thais. — Well, what do you suggest we do? — Heinos asked him, but looking at Matthias, he suddenly remembered something. — Oh, hey, do you have that favorite book of yours with you? — Yes, why? — Tell us again what happened to Hugon, not everyone has heard that story in detail yet. — Not exactly a festive topic, but fine, it's better than debating numbers. — Matthias opened the photo book he had shown his wife and daughter a month ago. — It's no secret that Hugon dreamed of a "pure" Margel, right?.. The Empress's love for aliens tormented him greatly, and at some point he felt his powerlessness and gave up. Remember when he "healed" Stalia with a little fire? He wanted her to take everyone down just to spite Naria that way. He admitted that to me himself when I met with him in Calcite. He also told me about how he robbed Erefir personally and Carneol in general. He snatched three artifacts, an expensive dress, a Dryad figurine, wedding rings, and much more. In short, after the tournament, he decided to leave Margel—maybe he feared retribution for what he'd done, or maybe he just wanted to leave his old life behind.

— And how did he get together with Enio? — Djiro inquired.

— He noticed her once in the square, she was apparently chained in stocks awaiting her execution, and so, following his free-spirited soul, he decided to free her. Maybe he showed compassion for a fellow countrywoman, who knows? We'll probably never know the truth; the more interesting thing is that after what happened with her, she fell head over heels in love with him and obeyed him in everything. They even got married later, using the dress and rings stolen from Carneol for the ceremony, but I think the procedure was unofficial, so I'm not sure if it's correct to consider them married or not. The dress, by the way, was a bit too tall for her, as far as I know... Anyway, he would send her to meet other men to then extort money from them, so I don't think there was even a whiff of love there, at least on his part.
— Why's that? — Heinos asked.
— Well, you know... I think most men wouldn't want to see their woman in another's arms.
— Heh. Too true.
— Well, in short, they then went to Calcite and decided to charm the local king. Hugon got into his retinue, and Enio became his favorite concubine. She later bore him a son... From Hugon. The king designated the little one as his heir, and then they foolishly killed him, hoping everything would go to their son and Enio would become queen regent. But their order in Calcite isn't as mild and consistent as ours in Margel. Civil strife began in the country between the sons of Akkad and the city rulers, and in Barsin, power was seized by an old mercenary named Kingaludda. He sold Enio into slavery, and what happened to Hugon I don't know, but I doubt he survived these events.
— So maybe we should try to find him? — Tenok suggested.
— Good luck with that. — Heinos clearly disagreed with the suggestion. — The world is big, and one person in it is small. If he's alive, he'll let us know himself. Although returning his cloak would be interesting—we'd assemble a full set of Ayano's artifacts, and one of us would finally become a person of exceptionally low moral character.
— Yeah, that's harsh. — Djiro washed down the rainbow trout with cognac and turned the page of Matthias's notebook. — Remind me how you ended up living with Bazhena, Hein?

— Well, there's not much to tell, she just took pity on me when Ayano rejected my feelings for her.
— And if now, years later, Ayano offered to get back together, would you agree and leave the bunny girl?
— Yes. Without even hesitating.
— Bro, you're something... Don't you already have a daughter together, or am I mixing things up under the influence of alcohol?
— That's right.
To confirm his words, Heinos shows the guys a photo.

— ... The resemblance is noticeable. In both senses. Her name's Aya, right?
— Yep. Named after my first love and Bazhenka's best friend 😁.
— And why haven't you gotten married yet, by the way?
— Well... How to put it. Bazhenka never planned to live with just one person, but seeing many couples among her friends and acquaintances, she eventually followed their example. I think she just disliked the idea of being a replacement for Ayano. Or maybe she didn't like how "Bazhena Gnarlwise" sounds.
— Yeah, a lot has changed since our youth.
With a look full of nostalgia, Matthias stared first at the surface of his glass and then at the pages that smelled of wood, lost in memories.


— You know, Yun, you could say I partly owe my family happiness to you. Remember your painting from Hurma, "Jigokuraku"? I noticed Ahuri because of it, and my spontaneous invitation for a date eventually led to a wedding a few years later.
— Yes, I remember that. Ahuri turned out to be a very pragmatic woman, responding to your passionate love out of the consideration that she saw you as a worthy candidate for the role of husband. — Yun commented on this from the height of his 100 INT. — Did that never bother you?
— Nope. Our mutual love and family idyll isn't something that happened suddenly, but something we built together through joint efforts over many years. I'm proud of that.
As Ayano had advised him, Suien became a mountain of a man who protected his loved ones and friends from any adversity and always kept a cool head on his broad shoulders. After "Brother" left Margel, he took over leadership of the "Dryad" and has been doing what he loves ever since.
— I heard that Ahuri is raising your children as servants of the Reim family... Does that sit well with you? — Djiro suddenly asked.
— Quite well. It's the most noble of all the families I know, and it's unlikely they could find a better place and purpose in life than under their wing. I am absolutely certain that Sonata and her spouse can raise only a person of exceptionally high qualities. — Suien suddenly decided to deflect. — Kanchan, how's Creya these days?
— Fine, her mental balance has long since returned.
— And has her former wildness also returned? — Djiro inquired, still wanting to ask and find out.
By "wildness," he, of course, meant her tendency for hot-tempered swearing.
— Sometimes, but in such situations I calm her down with the Coven's "stiffening" and "shot," — voicing this strange thought, the man now in his fifties smiled shyly.
— By the way, I don't think I ever asked you how you two got together? — Asked Amirega, chewing a huge piece of meat.
— Well... Remember when the coronation was?
— Of Lunamaria?
— No, of Naria.
— Nope.
— It was on the 20th of November, 975. Creya was very surprised then to learn that Ayano was the adopted daughter of the new Empress, and she was always afraid that one day the city guard or someone worse would come for her and take her to the square, where she would then be brutally executed for once daring to insult the first princess of Margel. And when Heles sank, her life and psycho-emotional situation only worsened. That's when Mother, who had long been her neighbor on Emerald Avenue, helped her. First with a kind word and soothing magic, and then, during our closer acquaintance, she suggested we marry. Such marriages were not uncommon for the entrepreneurial families of Margel, so I took it normally, I even liked her, and I pitied her very much back then.
— I see, it seems only Tenok and I have it so simple, right, brother?
— Seems so.
After they finally got their own headquarters, students of Sonata who came from other regions began to explore the city more actively, and Amirega and Tenok took a liking to the food at "Diablo." They became regulars there and at some point started dating the waitress daughters: Tenok with Solitaria, and Amirega with Yufinia. Well, a few years later, they got married on the same day. Currently, Tenok is engaged in food production for their family business inherited by Solitaria, and Amirega heads the Margel Biological Institute, founded with funds from Sonata Reim.

Suddenly, the doors of the Chamber of Horrors open, and another man, well known to them all, steps onto the threshold of the hall where the eleven warriors of "Aconia" were sitting in the middle.

— Iraola! — Yun rejoiced. — Did you finally find time to come?
— But of course, Father? How could I miss such an important event for all of us? And where are my solar brothers and sisters, not yet in place?..
Through the joint efforts of Naria, Arabella, Kayasa, and Bresia, Iraola was healed of the injuries and emotional trauma inflicted on him in the coven, but he was most grateful to Yun and Rijkumera for first taking him in and then officially adopting him, giving him the childhood and youth the coven had once deprived him of. Since then, he has discovered a rare gift for magic and great charisma, and a journey through the former regions of the empire led him north, where his kindness and magic solved many problems burdening the local people after the Schism of the empire. After that, they wanted to make him their wise king, and he agreed, becoming a kind of mini-Sillion.

...

— ... I hold no negative feelings towards Midoriku and his comrades. — During the conversation following his arrival, Djiro asked him a rather crude question about his past, but the green-haired king answered calmly, not changing his expression at all. — If it weren't for him, I most likely wouldn't have met any of you, and my life in the coven gave me a unique perspective on the world... So, everything happens for the best. Calcite is a good example.
— Ah, right, you recently went there... I mean, sailed. — Matthias thought, reflecting that the current situation in Calcite became what it was due to the actions of Hugon and Enio. — How are things there?

— All is calm. Slavery and the slave trade have been abolished, but the free market is thriving, people enjoy high personal freedoms, crime is under control, rebels have been suppressed, corruption has been defeated, and shifting sands are being combated by laying new reliable roads.
On the day Naria severed Anuzish's connection to space, those of the aliens who were magically enslaved by their summoners gained freedom. Taking advantage of their newfound freedom, Felicia Lungworth killed her master, Shen Shao, and left Minjin. She did this not so much out of revenge for the cruel treatment she endured, but because of what she considered the base nature of this man. Freed from her shackles and her "new past," she decided to see the new world with her own eyes, and her feet carried her to the Calcite torn apart by civil war, where she led a new faction and, through strength and wisdom, brought the country to peace. Since then, she has been the autocratic queen of Calcite.

— Alright, folks, the ladies are probably already in place, — seeing that the clock hand showed 11:00 PM, Miyuki stood up, — and the rest of our acquaintances too. So it's time to gather.
After a while, they reunited with their wives, friends, and acquaintances. Queen Lunamaria was also present in the square. Who knows, perhaps among them were Carneol and the now-not-princess Ayano?
— Well, guys, to the new millennium!!!
— To the new millennium!!!!!!!!!

The beginning of the new millennium will not be an ordinary change of calendar date. After the destruction of all singularities of antiquity and the isolation of Anuzish from cosmic influence, the world finally achieved equilibrium, and the vacuum formed in the divine space was filled by the birth of a new natural goddess, joining the ranks of Sylphide, Moen, Teron, and Rufus. The third incarnation of Aconia, freed from the grievances of the past and recognized by Arcelia and her other brothers and sisters, became the goddess of light, the element of harmony, and the feminine principle. She will appear to Margel in the first minutes of January 1st of the year 1000 and will remain in it in her physical shell until the end of the first month of the new millennium. Like Naria before her, she will perform miracles and share her wisdom with all who thirst for it, after which she will disappear, returning to the natural form of the light element, which was any illumination capable of reaching mortal eyes. Many were concerned with the question—did anything of Naria's personality remain in her? The fact that she appeared to the world precisely in Margel indicated that yes. Gods should not have cared about a calendar invented by mortals, and yet she chose the first day of the new millennium according to the Arual calendar as the date of her new birth. These events conferred upon Margel the status of a holy city—the City of the Sun/Bright City/Home of Aconia, to which pilgrims began to flock from all over the world. As they bid farewell to this departing millennium, Sonata Reim performed a touching song in Margel's square. Thus, the saga of ☀️ Arcelia and Aconia has truly come to an end, but the story of Anuzish does not end here.

If you want to write epilogues for your characters, you can use the information above as a starting point, plus ask me about some things (for example, a Heroist might be concerned about Kridear's fate in the context of the empire's Schism and ask whether Naria/Lunamaria would agree to sign some kind of treaty that could be used to defend against opportunists post-year-1000... There are also some characters whose fate depends entirely on certain players...


If desired, Ahuli can be married off to Miyuki, but she will still remain by Ayano's side (at least that's what she wants)... 
Minako wants (and in theory can) become a mika. 
As for Lord, everything is clear... 
Grigory's attempt to kidnap Bazhena was reported to Naria, and Naria told Ayano to deal with him as she sees fit - she is her friend after all. 
Krasotulya for a long time really wanted to become as close a friend to Ayano as Bazhena, but due to her character and social status she never dared to make any attempts to do so. 
Once upon a time, Ladya harbored secret hopes of marrying the director of XXX, but after Ayano appeared on the scene, those unspoken thoughts were locked away... Her fate depends on what happened to XXX. 


She gave birth to twins - a girl and a boy, naming them Aiko and Rafael respectively. Any M Karnelian can take them if they want 😏


The lives of these maids are closely intertwined with the fate of the XXX cafe. 


Ariwel never outgrew her admiration for Erefir and always tries to stay close to her. 
As for Amamius, everything is clear...


As for Sanexa, everything is clear... What happened with her pregnancy can be determined by Gyrych himself - maybe they had an IPB there, or maybe not. 

Lifa woke up from her coma on the morning of January 1st, year 1000. 

Remember the others - I'll add them.

Erephir brought Dionys and Anna together, and although they weren't close before, they managed to find common ground and live happily.

And how happy she was when she farmed about 7k experience and learned to smelt metal with Baldr.

Well, that was epic. I'll think about it and discuss it, and then I'll write a personal ending.

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 🧐

Remember when he healed Stallia with fire? He wanted her to defeat everyone just to spite Naria.

My biggest question about the game has been answered, now I can sleep soundly.

Forgot something... In April 977, Evgeny asked Ayano to give him this thing.

It wasn't mandatory, of course, but it would be great if she agreed...

Added 51 minutes later
Another thing I remembered. Considering the length of the game + the number of characters, it was sometimes very difficult to keep everything in mind, and even simple things like whether one character addresses another with "you" or "thou" caused difficulties 🤓

when they brought the disobedient Zumer to the ritual

Miko-sama, would you agree to arrange a marriage for Klinex if they asked, as they wanted?

— And who is Adrian among these two?
— No one. I don't have any photos or drawings of him.
— That's a shame. Although, maybe it's for the best, often people with ugly moral qualities are also ugly in appearance.

you're welcome

Added 2 minutes ago

Miko-sama, would you agree to arrange a marriage for Klinex if they asked, as they wanted?

Of course, absolutely, and I won't even ask for a ransom (even though they could go to Kreedear). And I could even arrange it for Bibobu, if they decide not to wait for Jek for another six months. I even have a local passport now, everything is above board.

Revan annoyed me... I wonder, is this an achievement or not...

A lot of time has passed, but I still remember every post, from the first to the last, and all the cringe that it caused me. It feels like it was yesterday. No, there were some good moments, but mostly it was just cringe.

You: a fanatical follower of Rinze and yearning for the enslavement of this world
Also you: indirectly provided significant support to Naria in her plans

I don't have any sediment left, so... probably not an achievement. Feel free to sign up if there's a next one.

Oh yes, I hoped you would write this! I understood a lot and next time I will be a little anime girl.

If Zhenka doesn't marry BiboBobu by the end of the month, then they will go to Aiyano in Kamimori. But their wedding will definitely take place. I don't know if I will write an ending for them, but I consider the arc of Beata and Gion to be complete; they just need to live happily ever after, with advice and love. The characters have developed, reevaluated their views, become better people, and everything will be fine for them. It was an eventful game. It's no joke, it was the longest expansion in the history of the Hive, the second-largest thread on the forum, it seems, after the Abbey ("What are you listening to now" will be played out later, but right now this thread is longer). I enjoyed it. I have reevaluated my attitude towards forum role-playing; it turned out not to be so boring after all. And I unexpectedly became attached to my silly characters; I even had to rewrite Beata so that it would be comfortable for her to play. I got hooked like a cat in a vacuum cleaner. I would also like to separately note the warm interactions and gatherings of the players; Team Carnelian is the best ❤️ But still, the game exhausted me a lot, I think it was noticeable, especially in the last part. I am a very nervous, very impressionable, very emotional person, I get very involved, worry, and live in fictional worlds, and I only managed not to lose it by some miracle 🤣 I even wanted to discuss a couple of moments with a psychologist, but in the end, I managed to sort things out myself. My physical health also suffered due to staying up late in the thread. I expected it to be stressful (it was Revnya's expansion!), and I came with the idea of doing a crash test of my psyche. I passed the crash test with honors, but my psyche is persistently screaming a stop word at me, and I think I will listen to it. Therefore, unfortunately, I am going on vacation again 😔 I don't know for how long, but I will most likely skip the next few games, and we'll see what happens then. Thank you, Revnya, for GMing, and thank you to the players for the company, and Team Carnelian, you're the best ❤️

What should I write in the conclusion so as not to delve into general platitudes about an "excellent game" or routine praising of other players? To be honest, heaven knows. After 8 (3-DOS) months (which didn't feel like a burden at all; it feels as if I could have played for another half year), many small details that you noticed at the time have faded from memory, and will only return if one rereads the thread in five years (which would be a non-trivial task given 2k pages).

I'll say that I liked the idea of an isekai of old champs—primarily because at one point in my life, against the backdrop of new and newer expansions, I gradually and suddenly realized that I wanted to play a mage again (and actually, I'd wanted to play a priest for a long time), only this time from start to finish and with all the "menofculture" technicalities, because last time it turned out very poorly (arrived in Calvad, literally spent the whole week at home, not doing any side quests because it wasn't RP-appropriate, then one fight in the palace and the ending, and I didn't return to that character in subsequent realms, although I could have, instead generating new ones). Therefore, when I first read the starting posts (skipping the lore, races-classes), once I reached Miss Cosmos, I dropped all other reading and instantly understood who I wanted to isekai. Only after actually starting the game and realizing that I couldn't really kill any demons here did I understand that I'd have to go into social interaction, but regardless, it didn't bother me; rather, it pushed me toward a full roleplay of my character outside her old paradigm. And I don't know how it seemed to an outside observer, but personally, it felt like it turned out well, even though at first I had to invent meanings for myself (which wasn't poorly-forced or sucked-out-of-21-fingers, but overall came out quite RP-appropriate).
In theory, I'd like to play isekais again sometime; there are 1-2 champs I'd like to revive, although I understand that this was most likely a one-time thing.

Overall, this expansion felt like an AAA pro-ject; the devs in the forbidden extremist Twitter said it took a year of development, but it feels like several.
I really liked the detail put into everything, from the smallest NPCs to various events, and the freedom of action—go chat with NPCs, study things that aren't marked as quests in the Gameplay, and so on. Plus, unlike several previous games (no offense to them, they were also good), there was an overall plot here, but in practice, you weren't forced to participate in it. For example, I didn't necessarily have to go after Vitka at the time—and essentially none of the carnishons did either—a conditional guard could have handled him; same for the coven, same for Minjin—Carneol failed in it, but that didn't become his end, similarly with other outings. Perhaps only Calcite felt like hardcore in that sense due to everything that happened and the unclear prospects, but as I see it, there were many options that simply weren't tried—it's enough to remember the moment of buying the map, which revealed that players had cleared maybe 10-20 percent of their location, meaning opportunities still exist, and quite a few.
And long ago, I wanted to play non-party content again—not only because it imposes certain limitations in terms of the need for communication with players, which can eventually become tiring, but simply because old games were never forced party-content, but exclusively voluntary. Yes, once or twice there were moments because of this when my character slowed down the overall plot for a while (Farelia and the coven), well, that's just local stuff; I hope that overall it didn't annoy other players too much, as I like to think—on the contrary, it was sort of a breather for them, which should not be neglected in such multi-month gaming. If so, sorry, I didn't stretch it out on purpose.

Regarding Agelord—my respects; creating such a deliberately comical-unpleasant, if not rotten, character and gradually leading him toward "redemption" and becoming perhaps (if not the) most trusted champ and a person of many virtues—that was very skillful, and despite claims that "he wasn't planned to be this way," actually, speaking as an expert on this character (which I had to become over half a year)—it's not that unbelievable; there were plenty of hints even in the very first meeting, and in the end, it was implemented very well.
I hope Siver likes our ending if he reads it on page 1876.

A separate "my respects" for Anpan—I don't even remember when my ass burned so much and flew to Venus because of an NPC/event as it did with him. Amazing thing is, I can't even pinpoint one specific thing that made me BOMBARDED, but rather a synthesis of several relatively harmless individual details led to this. Probably the only moment of similar emotional strength was when I died as James in the arena over some nonsense and lost Tsalaria, after which I deleted my character in one of the super old expansions.
It's hard to describe in words how much resentment I felt toward this fictional NPC in just a few posts, however stupid that may sound—so much so that I had to drop out for a week or a week and a half. Additionally, it was infuriating because of his crazy thoughts upon returning from the coven—in his head, you could probably rename the expansion to "☀️ Anpan and Ayano."
But still, I'm glad my character eventually managed to make peace with him (even though he is still wrong). Let this be a lesson for her.

Plot-wise, one question remains—who are the remaining apostles? I mean all those wells, bloods, moons, etc.—i.e., those who weren't explicitly described in story posts. I'd like to know something RP-related about them...

Alright, finally, I will touch upon the topic of praising players.
First, I liked Astralych. Even if he ended his journey cringey, we were all in that situation as beginners, and overall he felt like a pleasant breath of fresh air. I sincerely hope he takes this experience as a rule that one should not give up even in the most hopeless situation, and will please us with his participation again. From the heart.
Second, I fully agree with everything the Mage Guild wrote about Drakkosha. Not a single complaint, only absolute RP from any, even the most desperate situation, plus flavorful RP outside of active game actions. I liked it very much; the bibobys were one of the mental anchors when game situations became a bit heavy to process. And I really liked our little event with the purification of Giyoshi—it seemed small and side-content, but everything was roleplayed so well and with such effort. My deepest respect.
Well, Ment is obvious—he simply carried Carneol on his back for as many as two lives, and even took over the counting in the final battle. I still consider the Blood Queen's feed to be the most tragic event ever (although from my character's point of view, she could name one or two others at that level). Overall—my non-ironic respects. Speaking for myself, the crown of a leader is very heavy, but you carried it with absolute honor (and not for the first time).
It's a pity things turned out that way with Alaria on the penultimate day; the situation still seems foggy to me. But what can you do... Considering that current characters are unlikely to be used again, then "probably" this isn't such a critically serious loss... and it remains in our power only to keep her image in our hearts. I liked how, being cut off from all her "abomo-tentacle false memories" ((c) Brunetsky), she still found the strength to move forward, gritting her teeth, and succeeded in this. I would have liked to see her at a tournament...
I don't feel particularly sorry for Artza and Nebosa—the first was crushed by IRL halfway through, and the second is a lifer + it's absolutely normal for him to delete his character. But I felt sorry for Nishu, I won't argue.
I felt sorry for Alexa, but not in a pitiful sense—Kenshiro wouldn't approve of that—but in a bittersweet-fatalistic one. He was a good character, and Alex as always roleplayed excellently—detailed, thoughtful, and realistic, so that you read it and really feel the described scene and believe what is happening. I hope all the NPC pseudo-experts of the setting were wrong, and after destruction his soul still returned to the cycle, or at least went to the local analogue of Valhalla.
Girych and Frag—well, I have no words here. Every post was like a holiday, no matter how long it was—such pleasant and organic roleplay that it invariably lifts the mood upon reading. I was super happy that Frag managed to finish playing Garrett (+Harold), and how Klim, the pseudo-simpleton, overcoming his existential difficulties, eventually earned both a title and a top girl, and dealt damage like a dreadnought, and made a bunch of acquaintances, both friendly and political, and even regional-national, while he started as just some random guy with a slavery curse. This will be an example for all living about what social elevators are possible in Revan's expansions (to be fair, in this one he was much kinder than usual)—one only needs to put effort into overcoming problems.
IN GENERAL, top players and a top expansion, without any doubt, and this is easy to understand by the commitment of the players who didn't mind pouring more than half a year of real life into it. Even if something happens tomorrow that changes all IRL life so that the entire ХВ falls apart and scatters in all directions, we will remember this game until our death from old age as something absolutely grandiose.
Arigato gozaimasu, — my character bowed 90 degrees.

You also seemed like a cool guy, Morning

Japanese priestesses are awesome!