Imrahil sits brooding in his study.

He has to make an announcement to his comrades in arms from Raging Fury and he doesn’t really know how to put the words. Nine years he has been their leader, another two years he was in the guild as a normal member and an officer. From his first raid as a recruit on the tainted islands of Solteris to these last events in the new Chardok he has been there for more than 4 out of every 5 events for more than 10 years, but he has grown weary lately.

Overall 16 years of constant battle have taken their toll, especially since the pressure of responsibility (as officer or leader) has been there for most of those years, not only with Raging Fury”, but also with Darkwind and Drachentaenzer before. He doesn’t feel the urge to battle mighty foes anymore as he used to, it shows in his participation in raids as in his fulfilment of his duties as guild leader. His pride makes him want to believe that he is still an asset in the guild’s raids, as a player and as a leader, but deep in his heart he knows that he is not giving enough anymore.

At his prime he was one of the strongest paladins to walk on Norrath, sure in his step and confident of his prowess, leading his guild into battle time and time again. Quite a long way from the young and fresh knight who went out of Freeport 16 years ago to hunt down his first rats before moving on to the orc camps, forced into retreat upon the Griffon’s approach. Following down memory lane he fondly remembers his first break in on the Plane of Fear, when all his small guild Die Namenlose Bruderschaft and their allies could do was to run towards the western area and hope a cleric would be able to save himself to resurrect everyone later. Then the first raid encounter upon the mighty dragon Trakanon in Sebilis with Drachentaenzer, the battles on the ice continent of Velious and on the moon Luclin and the first steps in the Planes of Power. The transport over from the universe of contested and aggressive Solusek Ro to the remote Kael Drakkal, where DT started to flourish, becoming the uncontested leading guild for several years, the last few under his leadership.

Finally the decline of the population had taken its toll and the inhabitants of Kael Drakkal had to flee to the universe of AnTonius Bayle, where once again the competition was fierce. His face shrouds while he remembers about how tough the decision to leave Drachentaenzer for Darkwind had been, although he regained his enthusiasm for big adventures during the race to be the first to beat Mayong Mistmoore in the Demiplane of Blood. Even though Darkwind was beaten to this ultimate goal by Raging Fury he is still proud to have been among the very few who had to face the future demigod in the Demiplane in his very first incarnation.

Then the time of another departure arrived, when he left Darkwind to exchange his officer’s mantle once more for the unadorned armour of a recruit in Raging Fury. He still remembers the frantic race towards the final fight against the gods Solusek Ro and Mayong Mistmoore between the guilds on AnTonius Bayle with RF prevailing once more and how relaxing it was, just to be a normal guild member, only to focus on his own role in each event.

That respite did not last very long though, because somehow shortly after he started to lead raids, became an officer and finally guild leader. Imrahil was not sure whether he had been lusting for power or if it was his feeling of responsibility to step up when needed or if he has simply been masochistic, most likely it has been a mixture of all three motivations which has gotten him into these roles time and time again. He just hopes that overall a majority would judge his efforts as beneficial in hindsight, knowing that there are always people who feel mistreated or neglected when a large group of humans has to be handled.

He has always tried to temper his sense for justice (after all, he is a paladin of Mithaniel Marr) with compassion, but sometimes tough decisions had to be made and while he has never liked to punish (or even expel) members, he has not shied away from this duty either. Remembering heated discussions with some of his officers in the past he is grateful for the last relatively quiet years of his leadership and the overall enjoyable atmosphere in the guild. He really can’t complain in that regard lately, but still he feels tired, so it must be something else, the dark-haired knight muses.

He ponders the real cause behind his weariness and comes to the conclusion that it is probably a mixture of multiple reasons: the burden of responsibility over the years, the feeling, that there is nothing really new to experience and last but not least the departure of so many good friends of old, who have moved into their well-earned retirement:

Xack, the godfather of tanks, the unholy trinity (Illandra, Tamarea and Illona), the “Leader of the Dwarf Legion” Grynoldy, Imhotep the lorehelmet, all long gone, same as his predecessors Dalrek and Obsqura or his good friends Klorch, the polite troll, Ninan, the selfnuking wizard, Spiritbane, the semi-evil necro, Kikthin (Paladin Pinky), Charrok, the perma-dieing bard and Manadasa, the paladin he looked up to when he was an untested knave himself.

From all those who have been in Raging Fury when he joined so long ago only a handful is left today:

Aderahl (then still as druid Aderel), always extra ordinary DPS

Jolene, the friendly bard lady from the unfriendly Universe of Rallos Zek

Bebop, the slow typing Halfling druid with the healing skills to shame some clerics

And or course his officers, Vmas, the private dancer and silent RFP master and Jarasil, the friendliest officer he has ever met, always there when needed.

Yes, he will miss them, as he will miss the other friends he has been sitting together with through one guild meeting or the other: Ismel, Pippi, Suri, Blackjaw, the list could go on and on. He will also miss the friendly talks with so many people from around the world, but he somehow doubts he will miss having to force himself to battle on days he feels no desire to do so.

“I will enjoy my freedom, maybe after some time in retirement the hunger for adventure will rise again” he tells himself.

For now his duty though is to set up a speech to announce his own retirement and to hand over the mantle of the guild leader. He decides to make it short and simple as he steps onto the balcony in the great hall of Raging Fury:

He waits for their applause and cheers to subside, then adds:

He is glad that he leaves the guild in capable hands and in a stable state, although he really hopes that Jarasil will find some more people to help him with the different tasks a guild like Raging Fury requires.

He finishes his speech with a few final words:

It has been an honour and a privilege to lead this guild for such a long time, longer than anyone before in the history of Raging Fury. I wish you all the best in your endeavours in Norrath and in other worlds and rest assured: I will visit this hall to share stories and laughter again as I will also continue to visit my friends in the other world. For now though I shall enjoy my retirement away from this alluring world called Norrath.

He grabs the sword that bears his name and that of his guild, raises it and let's it fall down in a final salute:

...to wish people around the world a great time with friends and family, a time to relax and reflect on what has happened over the last year. Certainly it is also the time of the year where certain wishes from previous years are repeated, because they simply are precisely what you want to express and so I will just rehash a nice Frostfell message from a few years ago (I think I could be running for presidency with such awesome efficiency skills, couldn't I?).

Anyway, here we go:

To all members of Raging Fury (former and present), to all our friends from other guilds or other games than EverQuest and of course all the people who just like to read about Raging Fury:

Enjoy the season of the year with your families and friends, be jolly, celebrate and overall have a wonderful time!

For myself I can only say that while being grateful for all my friends living close by, I am also indebted to EverQuest forever, as it has brought me some new friends from around the world (many of whom I had the pleasure to meet face to face) without whom my life would be so much poorer.

People who don't share our hobby often look down upon us because "it is only a game" and "you should interact with real people more than being in the virtual world", but all I can say is that I am truly grateful for having met so many great people, some of whom I consider among my closest friends. Does it really matter if you live in the same city or even the same country? Being there when you need someone to talk to, cheering you up when you are down and in the same way letting you yourself participate in their lives - that's what friendship is about in my book!

The internet brings possibiLities to our generation that none before has had and from my point of view what could be better than to try to learn about different cultures by the people themselves? Aren't all those "internet relations are not real"-sayers closing their eyes to the new oppotunities we have?

There is a whole world of people to meet out there and during times like these I would like to express my gratitude for all the precious memories I have gotten by starting EverQuest 15 years ago.

Yes, this is a bit sentimental, but what more appropriate time to reflect upon all the great people we have been priviliged to meet over the years? EverQuest still has people playing not alone because it is such a great game, but mostly because of all the bonds which have been built over the years. Some people may leave, but many still stay in contact even years later and that is what counts.

...you have reached the end of the quote...

OK, that was by far the laziest news update I have ever done (and that does mean something), but nonetheless the words themselves are 100 percent true. It became quite clear how many good friends we have made in EQ during our usual December meeting in Nottingham last weekend, organized by Illandra, where once again we had people from different countries assembled to eat, drink and have fun together (and of course to watch STAR WARS!)

While I was in Nottingham my guild was so nice to wait with winning the final event in tier 1 of the newest expansion of EverQuest called The Broken Mirror (TBM). As I did miss the start of the expansion itself (Las Vegas > Norrath, sorry guys), I have simply forgotten to make nice screenshots, so all I can say is that I will put it on my list of New Year's resolutions to make better news in 2016!

Anyway, that's all for this year, enjoy the last days of 2015 and drink an eggnog (or two) for me, time for a last quote from my news from two years ago:

So from the bottom of my heart I wish you all a great time, may you have a splendid finish of 2015 and a great start into 2016!