Rayalia

"Zeke-?" Phaedra had not given him a hug when he'd asked for it. Not a real one. It was a half-assed embrace, one that read of her annoyance at the situation, her aggravation of his stubbornness. As much as she'd hoped her cold demeanor would deter him from wheeling off into battle, it didn't. As much as she'd hoped her shitty attitude towards him that day would get him to reconsider, it didn't. She'd come to regret that in the hours, weeks, months and years following. Her regret wouldn't bring him back. She hadn't gone into the portal after they had made a mess of the distraction. She was the only one. Perhaps if she'd been stronger, kept a better eye on him, forced him to return to the city with her, he'd have lived. The what-if's linger as long as the regret does. "Why isnae anyone doin' anythin'-?!" She hadn't even gotten to say goodbye. She hadn't gotten to apologize. One moment, he was laying on the bench with shuddered breaths, the next, completely gone by the hands of those near. It would take a few hours for the shock to wear off, to fully understand what had just happened. Then the boy's last words come to her in the form of a letter and the guilt increases ten-fold. She'd never called him her brother, not out loud, but there was some part of her that had always felt protective of him, that had found his strange quirks endearing. Any annoyances were tolerable and, really, isn't that what younger siblings do? Annoy the hell out of you, then wiggle their way back into your heart the moment after. The thought tears her up from the inside out. She tries with utter desperation to write down her memories of him, to immortalize his image to stave off the inevitable, but all that strikes the pages of her journal are tears. She never gets more than a few trembling letters written before the rivulets soak the page, time and time again, until finally, it hurts too much to keep trying. Her weakness, however, rips her apart perhaps most of all, for she had nothing else to remember him by; just her memories and the emotions connected. And a promise. A single promise. She wouldn't die until his death gets avenged. In the years following, for however long the druid has, Phaedra would cling to her fading memories of him. Time works against her condition, seeking to erase him from her thoughts, just like it always had her parents, her other family members, her friends, her achievements, her failures, over and over and over again. It would take decades, but, eventually, it would be as if the boy had never existed in her life. And yet... And yet... For the rest of her time in the mortal realm, there would not be a single game of dice gone by that a small pang of loss would not find her, as if something was sorely missing. She would not know why such a wave of emotion would wash over, but it would come without fail. Perhaps it would be brushed off, but it would return in full force the very next game. When she wins, the urge to turn and tease the ghost of a memory would steal her breath away. And with loss? Well... That loss would always come with a small sense of an older sibling's pride.

I think that's kind of the point @Wizryis getting at: for a lot of treelords, this doubling down makes it feel like there will be no where left for the treelord to go - no growth, no change, nothing. If this part of the rewrite passes, they will turn into event-esque CAs, much like necromancers have become. Their story caps where their mind just constantly chants "naturebalancenaturebalance-". You might say that's an exaggeration but obsessions are, indeed, all encompassing. I don't see how this matters if someone has read the lore and is making a genuine attempt to understand it. As a druid player, please, don't gatekeep. Lore is meant to be enjoyed by all. On top of that, Wizry rps with druid players every day, including treelords, as do I. We can have differing views on the rewrite. I've said all I need to say about my opinions, offered @MayRndz my ideas, helped a few people figure out a way to say their ideas on the matter in a cohesive way. You're free to disagree. o7

I don’t think anyone’s really misunderstanding the lore rewrite as a whole - we’re just offering constructive criticism. A lot of people are fine with the mentality changes, others know how it’ll entirely flip what their treelords have been working towards for irl years in the mental department. If this goes through, it’ll be a big change for how people rp their CAs. @Wizryand @bloomtiarahave valid points, as do many others who have commented. No, it’s not right for treelords to not have mental changes, but from the people I rp with that have the CAs, I can most definitely say they ARE playing their lords with mental problems affect by their change. A new forced mentality (and the way it’s written here, it is implied if not outright saying it’s enforced) isn’t needed and will heavily affect current lord rp.

Half the new spells are directly related to fae-type magic, or are near replicas of transcendent magic. The lack of soul in the literal soul tree is basically just what an epiphyte is, sans the influence of an actual fae. The original lore's intent is to give druii a stronger body so that they don't have to worry about death via illness or old age, not to make them more fae like. That's what transcendence is for. That's just my opinion. I actually quite like the other spells. Like I said; I'm neutral on this rewrite, I like some of it but the other half doesn't make sense to me.

Maybe I'm just so used to the tree housing the soul and the concern over saplings taking on a few large arcs during my own character's story, but the switch feels very epiphyte-y. A lot of the spells feel fae-themed, more like an addition to epiphytes or transcendence druii rather than an update to treelords, which I've always interpreted with vibes more aligned with regular nature themes. I know this is meant to be a rewrite of course, and it reads well, I just don't think it should be so heavily fae leaning. It no longer feels like a Druid CA but rather a Fae CA, if that makes sense. Which I suppose is what you were going for, but I never got the impression that such was what the OG lore intended to be.

Gave it a once over and I'm a little distracted, so apologies if I've misconstrued any information, but this rewrite feels more a little like an epiphyte copy, paste, and improvement rather than a unique CA. I like some of the changes made but I'm not so sure about the other half. Regardless of my neutral mentality on this post, it reads well and the ideas are interesting enough.

When an animal summons with the ability for combat has been nerfed to the point that rping a chihuahua as a combat companion is more useful instead, call on Classy to make the necessary amendments. +1

Doubled. Why is my art - that was a commission for someone - used on this post when neither I nor my customer approved of it?

Phaedra glowers down at the missive in her hands, lips drawn thin and displeased. "All these valah-! All they do is take und take und take! All th' jungles are half gone! Und for what? Large, ugly castles tha' host only silence! I hate people..." The 'ame crumples up the paper and chucks it in the fire of her tavern, briefly stoking it slightly hotter. "I need t' go kick some shins."

I've bothered mods at least 1-5 times a week about it cause I keep redoing the insides of my house and breaking the building on accident :WHEEZE:

mushroom blocks if there isn't already. please. illivira will stop bothering mods with constant modreqs of "please help me fix my wall"

MC Name: Rayalia RP Name: Axilya Persona ID: 61336

This feels nothing like what the original (and the updated) mindscape lore was going for. The attempt to improve it is appreciated but, personally, I feel this restricts the freedom of mind far too much. If someone is abusing the current lore, that's to be reported and taken care of on a case to case basis. I have rped with many players that use mindscape rp and I haven't seen anyone who has broken a redline (and I am a stickler for following redline rules). Perhaps you're just rping with the wrong people?