A Tale of Two Elves
By Bricu | September 10, 2010
RP relationships evolve just like any other relationship. Sometimes this evolution is guided–two players decide to explore the relationship between their characters–and sometimes this evolution is organic. Today we’ll explore the latter with help from Bricu and Two Elves: Indarra and Illithias.
Indarra
Bricu Bittertongue and Indarra Leafwhisper were–initially–friends with the potential for a lot more. Today, Bricu would grudgingly admit that Indarra saved Threnn and Naiara’s life, then grumble about not trusting her. Indarra might have something nicer to say about Bricu, but she might quickly change the subject to something more pleasant. The devolution of this relationship was not plan, it occurred organically. Their relationship went sour for a number of reasons including:
Now, Indarra’s player (Yva) and I attempted to fix this situation a number of times; however, the two characters would not cooperate. This is not to say that these situations have not been difficult. Simply put, it can be difficult for players if their mains do not get along. Yet their arc-of-dislike has allowed for more character development. Bricu’s lack of trust for Indarra added another level of tension to a story line that investigated Indarra’s past. This same lack of trust also gave Indarra a chance to shine when Threnn’s life was in danger during childbirth. Despite the players desire for amicable characters, I think the characters had the right idea.
Illithias
Once upon a time there was a nasty, vindictive and violent Night Elf who hated everyone. For the most part, that hasn’t changed. Illithias is still violent and vindictive. What has changed is her relationship to Bricu. Where as Bricu used to feed into her aggression and nasty behavior, over the past two years Bricu has started to take a more paternal (not patriarchal) view of Illi.
What changed?
During a Pub Night, Illithias was tricked into revealed her age and what happened to her family. At her oldest, Illi is 14 (in human years) and lost her family in a tragic event. Bricu recognized that she was a fellow orphan. Her circumstances far surpassed anything he experienced. Bricu, at 14, had friends and coworkers. Illithias has nothing. Since that RP session, the two have developed a complex, and thoroughly rewarding, bond. Instead of mocking Illi, he stood up for her. When she was nasty and crude, Bricu didn’t return the language. When Illi called Bricu ”Human,” he gently–for Bricu–corrected her.
Then Illithias called him Bittertongue. Then she called him Bricu.
Characters have to follow their arcs. We can push and pull them this way or that, but in the end, the characters will also go in the direction they want to go in.
Fill us in on your character’s relationships? Which ones have changed for the better, which ones have changed for the worse?
2 Comments
Mommacow on September 10, 2010 at 12:46 pm.
One of my favorite WoW RP things has been the unexpected friendship that developed between Rashona and Corspilla, and to this day I’m not sure entirely how it happened. I know it *started* with the two of them bonding over pally-hatred, and from there it just sort of developed to the point where Rashona looks at her as a sort of demented younger sister. It’s oddly heartwarming to me. And it’s even more fun since Dorritow doesn’t think much of Rashona, and Rashona holds one hell of a grudge for being punted into the Dire Maul walls by Dorri.
I don’t script relationships much, if at all; I just tend to have a character’s default reaction to new people in the back of my head, and let it work from there. Rashona’s default approach is mild tolerance, and it takes a *lot* to jostle her out of that one way or the other. My orc hunter has a sneaking suspicion that everybody else is cooler than she is, and my elf warlock just thinks everybody’s a demon or a ghost. Planned stories don’t seem to work for me, but Rashona definitely has her own character to follow; she develops, but slowly.
Itanya Blade on September 10, 2010 at 1:25 pm.
Corspilla started out as a fairly vicious bit of Forsaken insanity. Over the years, she has kinda grown into everyone’s annoying little sister. I took the first step to making Pill a more mild character when I answered a personal request on the realm forum and, while I have never had a lot of interaction with Jest in game, I cannot thank him enough for putting up that add. By making Pill the daughter of rather infamous human paladin on our server, I was able to add a ton of baggage to her.
Pill hated Bricu at first sight. He was a pushy human paladin. And despite Davien speaking for him, she still wanted him to die. And, despite Pill managing to screw up lots of things, Bricu has managed to tolerate Pill and Pill actually likes him. (The way to tell if Pill actually likes you, she sends you a pair of socks, not just one.)
For Dorri, I never intended for Dorri to be in any kind of permanent relationship. But Dorri would meet Keltyr in Shattrath and listen to all his complaints about the people he adventured with. Somehow these conversations while walking around in Dalaran led to something more. Enough that when Dorri had her eventual fall, Kel was there to help her back up.
On the bad side, I always wanted Dorri and Keilos to be friends. In fact, Dorri still wants to be friends, but she doesn’t know how to be. The fellow Blood Knight’s constant adverse reactions to every thing she does leaves her baffled and angry. (And being baffled actually makes her angry) She does not understand why Keilos constantly views her as a failure when they started out so well.