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I remember reading some place that a guild founder kicked out of the guild due to pausing could reclaim his founder status. Is the same true with secret societies? I for one am not seeing such a button.

Q: What does it take to make a Lurian nice?

A: A journey to the other end of the continent.

Please let me know what you think of this idea. It is just a sketch.

- Temples allowed only in rural regions
- Worship of ancestors
- Player characters may become saints after death -> a guild is formed
- Saints may be elevated to deities when enough legend is built
- Food is sacred, and starvation a sign of ancestral anger

More of this later...

I am flabbergasted. It is not often that something in BM makes my head spin thus as to be quite unable to untangle a mental knot that it has caused. This correspondence, however, is one of such things. Without further elaboration, here is the brief exchange of letters for your amusement:

Letter from A (1 day, 11 hours ago)
(Personal message to X)
Sir X,

Would you by any chance be interested in exploring the path of a noble cavalier, a path of truth, honor and proper etiquette?

Respectfully,

A

Here is my young lord character trying to reach out for the new player, hoping him to join a society he has recently created. This is what he receives as an answer.

Letter from X   (1 day, 11 hours ago)
Earl A,

No, the life of a cavalier does not appeal to me. I find that 'proper etiquette' is only useful around women. I am a man of war, and war dictates what a man needs do. Even if that need is one that is not 'proper'.

Signed,

X

Subtle and eloquent. Not really, but straight to the point. It rubs my young lord the wrong way in all the possible ways. His face grows red as he shouts to his scribe and hastily dictates the following response:

Letter from A  (1 day, 10 hours ago)
(Personal message to X)
Sir X,

You may yet find that proper etiquette does open doors that otherwise shall remain forever closed for you. For that matter, it is "Lord [region name]" for you.

For [realm].

A

Feeling thus undermined by a newcomer, he composed this brief letter, which he thought was clever and witty. He had some distant hopes that the newcomer might not hit his head to the brick wall with his brash manners, so he took the time to write a brief warning. You put your hand on a hot stove and you get burnt. With his recent lordship and young age, he feels the need to puff up his ego. To distance himself from the newcomer, he chooses the most formal way of address and throws that for the newcomer. But the newcomer is steadfast and stands resiliently in his commitment to his cause:

Letter from X  (1 day, 10 hours ago)
Earl A,

I did not neglect your title, and am shocked that you are so tempermental as to send a veiled threat to a mere no-one, on his first day in realm. You would do well to inspect your own etiquette I daresay, as no one is likely to wish to stay around with such a greeting as yours.

Signed,

X

By now my young lord is furious. He has inherited some of the temperament that runs through his family, but he has enough of a peace of mind as to refrain from further correspondence. Then a thought occurs to me that the player of X might be a new player, because his letters certainly give a hint of such a possibility. Whilst my character has made up his mind, I think it prudent to write to the player just in case. You know, it's all about friends gathering to play together and such, so I try to be nice:

Out-of-Character from A  (1 day, 9 hours ago)

(Personal message to X)
Hello,

This is the player of A.

Whilst A will not respond to the letter written by X, I will, just in case you are really a new player and not a returning one, in which case you already know what you are doing and I wish you the best of luck with it, and hope that interesting developments from this first exchange of letters create drama for many months to come. But in case you are really a first time player, I wish to make clear the distinction between the players and the characters they play. A might be... a bit cocky with his success at the recent tournament and a lordship at a young age. That's who he is so that is how I play him. Such attitude is prone to create conflict, which is good, as various levels of conflict both in and outside the realm is the spice of the whole Battlemaster experience, at least in my opinion.

I myself am a recently returned player and have played BM for quite some years before. Regardless of whether you are a returning player or not, welcome to Battlemaster and be sure to rock the boat at proper and improper times. ;)

With this letter I hoped to settle the matters and let our characters agree to disagree among the classic division "nobility for culture" and "nobility for war". But now to the grande finale which concluded our correspondence and resulted in the utter flabbergastation mentioned earlier.

Out-of-Character from X  (1 day, 9 hours ago)
Thank you for the welcome.

I am in fact, a returning player. I know full well the differentiation between players and characters, but do not know how that plays into it. My character pointed out the veiled threat, on his arriving day in realm, in character. It is not reassuring that one of the two people in realm who have contacted me, have been hostile no matter how subtle or in character it is. My character pointed that out appropriately. Thank you for letting me know about your victories and successes, but they are irrelevant to the matter at hand.

I see no need for more OOC contact regarding the matter, and am confused as to why you brought it up in the first place.

It is not very often that I am truly truly confused. As much as I have tried, reading this last message does not make sense in any level. It is as if I was being held accountable for the writings of my character and should somehow... do what about it? An apology? To admit my error and write back, in character? As we can see he was equally confused here. Of course I will never know just what exactly was relevant to the matter at hand or even just exactly was the matter, as he was not interested in further discussion. There is, of course, the possibility that I have gravely misunderstood something as essential as IC and OOC differentation, in which case I would most sincerely need it clarified to me in capital letters.