[Northern] [Northern]

[Crys Ruggles]

Greetings unto all of you on the NR list!
I have been watching the discussions on this list recently, and I come to
you to pose a challenge. I know that compared to some of you, the six years
I have spent playing stand as a mere blink of an eye; but, I also know what
this game has become for me over the course of those years. For some time, I
have been hesitant to post because I feared adding fuel to the fire that has
been burning here. However, I finally decided that it would be better for me
to speak once, ask my questions, and not stay in my own shadows of doubt. I
cannot point any fingers, and although I have my own opinions about a
handful of the issues that have come up, I cannot say that I am any more
right (or wrong) than anyone else who has spoken. I started playing this
game at a time in my life when I desperately needed something close-knit. I
desperately needed examples of the honor, grace, and chivalry that this game
is all about. The people of this region, including many of you, regardless
of whether they actually knew of these needs, took on that task and became
like family to me (and you have stayed that way). Some of you, in fact a
fairly sizeable number of you if I am not mistaken, have been playing longer
than I have been alive.

I am having difficulty trying to fathom the string of events that has
happened to change this from a game into a source of greater stress than
that which the mundane world places upon our shoulders. We are a diverse
group of people. I know that we are a people of many backgrounds,
experiences, and opinions. This diversity can be a great thing. It can also
sow countless fields of seeds of doubt. If we continue to scathingly turn on
our own people, this region, principality or no, will fold in on itself and
become little more than a pile of rubble in the middle of the Known
World…then we are all left with nothing but to pick up the pieces. It
saddens me to see people, some of whom who have devoted much of their lives
and more of their hearts, who feel unwilling to sing or to dance or talk to
someone who has been their friend for fear of it being seen as some
suspicious act of politics and back-stabbing. I, for one, am going to
continue to be friends with my friends. If that makes me ignorant or
idealistic or politically naïve or whatever, then may I be all of those
things and more with comrades who mean the world to me. Every one started
playing for a reason, whether to learn, to belong, or to hit your friends
with a big stick and still be able to go have a beer with them afterwards.


My challenge is this, and I lay it on the table in front of every single one
of you:

I ask that each of you who are willing sit down for a few minutes and write
the reasons you started playing. Tell me your story. If you want to send it
to the list, fine. If you would rather send it to me privately, also fine.
Even if you just sit down, write it down, and send it to no one, you will
have remembered it for a few minutes. I am not asking for a game of “but!
But! he/she said/did/thought/thought about thinking…” I am only asking about
you. I ask any who are willing to take up this challenge. I am curious to
know, and I want this region to remember.

Yours in Service
Doireann inghean ui Brolchain

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