Shattered Kingdoms

Mitch didn't play Emet. Algon did.

You are right, this is a guideline. A somewhat stricter guideline in some sense though as the pbase has a habit of getting up in arms over some things and reporting/complaining about them and completely ignores others. There is a lot of room for interpretation and it can be done still adhering to these guidelines and creating something unique without losing the notion of good vs. evil.



My opinion? Yes and no. It really depends on how you go about it. I find it acceptable for lighties to have a darker side if it is akin to their "fatal flaw" in the sense that throughout the life of their character we see it as a struggle that takes place. A scrupulous character, for example, could be so because they have from time to time and continue to fall victim to desires for vengeance and death despite their moral conflict with it. They feel guilt over their actions and pray to their Lord or confide in a friend or whatever to show that simply killing for the sake of killing is unacceptable and they recognize that in some fashion, yet have trouble holding back.

As to darkies well, they have historically been given a bit more free reign in this area than lighties. But I don't think it should be taken too far. I find it acceptable to trick someone into thinking you are their friend and then using them. But this cannot exist for the life of the character in my mind, there has to be a point in a daibolic character's mind where there is that break from all possibilities of niceness. Where they can no longer hide their nature.

both of these concepts though are evolutionary. Things that happen and are built up over the course of an individual's life.



I agree with jenbbo on this one, because they are whiney little [REDACTED]. As prominant darkie(ish) priest I have had all kind of people ask for rezzes. When it is someone I don't know I try to figure out if they are light aura'd because she will deny them. And I have had people get very angry with me for this. Telling me how I should RP my character, that it is more proper for a darkie priest to revel in tainting the heart of a lightie through a rezz. But she feels the exact opposite. She has tried her damndest to keep those who are light of heart away from darkness to preserve the balance. This isn't her being nice, and I believe the only interaction my character and your's have had is because of a rezz she denied.



It is most likely never going to happen and I do not really like the whole redemption RP angle to be honest. It could be a fake out, I've seen it used to get a rezz and generally that is where it ends. There is another angle as well, and that has more to do with you being a Zavijah priest than a lightie and that is the notion of enlightenment. As the faith stands it is lightie only and the concept is mainly that those of a dark heart simply can never reach a true state of enlightenment, so perhaps those darkies are seeking something more akin to that, but through other means rather than seeking a true change of heart.



This is because they suck at RP and only want to PK and therefore want to make sure they are if not on friendly terms, at least good terms with anyone who can get them good loot. (This is a broad and probably somewhat baseless generalization. But I see it happen a ton and not just between PC's. I've seen lighties perform dark themed quests to get loot) I'll call myself out on this one though, Thyki (aberrant priestess) considered Yuni (paladin of dulrik) a very good friend. This was based on mutual respect of one another and a valuing of the other's opinions. They never fought as a team, had Yuni ever asked for a rezz or any other prayer (which he never did) she would have refused. But they would sit in Nerina and discuss politics, religion whatever for hours. They disagreed on a lot of things and would argue about it. The point is though, they knew should they need to take up arms against one another they would, but the relationship was one of mutual respect and honor, seeing the other as an equal. This is the sort of relationship that I can see developing between hellions and paladins and I personally find it acceptable. I suspect this is not exactly what you mean by overtly dark and being friendly, but it's there for what it is worth.



As to this part, if darkies are offended by your character not wishing to spend time talking to them or helping them, they need to suck it up. Hell, even the lighties you might find offense with. I know Thyki doesn't help every darkie that comes along just because they are dark. She has her own standards and she will stick to them. If players cannot handle how you RP your character and you are adhering to your alignment, they are the ones with the problem, not you.

And with that long tirade over, there are few exceptions to what I stated and they generally sum up to player count. If I am the only priest in the realms and it is a lightie (lowbie) who is dead, and I have sent up a prayer with no response and they have waited around for a while, I will help guide them through the oracle. I try to be a considerate player as much as adhering to her RP. I will also, with the consent of both parties bear witness to paladin/hellion duals and offer prayers for the loser if they do not have their own priest handy. These are my two major exceptions.

Emet didn't have any problem with darkies, he had a problem with liars. (He was a Dulrik priest). Aldric was aberrant, so Emet decided he could trust him. Interesting example though!

Another fun fact: I didn't talk to Aldric's player OOC until months after our characters had been roleplaying with one another.

Sometimes the line between "light" and "dark" gets blended a little more.

All of my aberrant characters have preferred their interactions with principled characters more than most greys or other darkies, simply because they had the common aspect of following "the code." Kirken trusted most paladins far more than Dago (diabolic rogue) or Jydel (necro), for example.

Similarly, Luce (principled griffon) had a lot more respect for Slayne (hellion) than pretty much every other grey / scrupulous character he interacted with.

Slayne was nasty mean though.

Yeah, but he kept his mean nice and bottled up inside and only let it out at the right times.

One of the ideas with this alignment system is that it suggests how safe a character is to be around. If you go down the alignment descriptions from good to evil, you see how characters are more susceptible to temptation. That doesn't mean principled characters never have moral failings, or that diabolics have to kill on every little whim, but it's a good general picture.

From that perspective, lighties working with darkies is not necessarily a problem. A principled character can be nice to virtually anyone, if he thinks that furthers the greater good. This is not a Team Good vs. Team Evil game.

This isn't to say there's anything wrong with the standard of lightie priests not resurrecting darkies. Some faiths even have explicit OOC rules about such things, because it wouldn't be in-character for the god to do it. It also isn't to suggest that lightie-darkie relationships aren't problematic. But the problem can just as easily be a darkie elevating friendship over personal advantage, than it is a lightie furthering evil by being too accomodating.

As a seperate comment, I note there's no rule that darkies can't try to manipulate lighties. Requests to "change my heart" and ressurection complaints can be perfectly IC, but may not be ICly honest. But even there, there's nothing wrong with a darkie ICly wanting to be more moral; he's just not allowed to succeed without deleting.