Ethraeli Ascends, Part One

[Sephira]

I know lots of folks have told me how much they've been enjoying the plot, and I really appreciate it. DMs are paid in raves. But I would be remiss if I didn't give a shoutout to the folks who have made this story possible:

First up, all the folks on the DM Team. We started with the idea "Lets get more ladies on the Nine, its a sausage fest"

In particular, Ambrosia came up with the seed of the idea: What if Valok and Hurine had a kid? From there I ran with the idea, and bounced various ideas off of lots of DMs to refine into something that worked. In addition to this, I solicited advice from the DM Team multiple times throughout the execution of the story, right from the beginning. Everybody was super helpful in "writing" myself out of corners or slipping a little twist in. Shoutout to BeRF who reminded me that the players themselves are a resource to resolving story obstacles. Additional shoutout to scaylz, eternal_time, Caydo, and Plethora who all helped me turn a nebulous idea into an actual story and plot.

Second, CCC. As the end of the plot approached, I knew I was going to need to really up the ante in terms of spectacle, and I started to run out of ideas for how best to do that with the tools available. EE gave us a a lot, and Caydo had already set up a tool to increase the scale of objects. Shoutout for a massive assist from Caydo and VoidHamlet in implementing a rad as hell idea: adding in additional music.

In particular, Sarmanos put together the battle area, created NPCs for the final battle(s), and helped me choose cool music to fit the foes and the themes. A majority of the cool things in the Bobil fight are a result of the things Sarmanos created for me, and though it hasn't yet happened, the same goes for the fight with Angadar. Most of the really cool stuff you saw with Bobil and will see with Angadar are because of the hard work Sarmanos put in to help me put on a damn good show. Even now, after a test run with the Bobil fight, he is putting on the finishing touches to the fight with Angadar.

Lastly, players. I don't just mean players that showed up and put in the work with their characters to move the plot forward and solve problems I presented to them. Many times I chatted with players about the story and brainstormed with several folks about cool things their character could do or how best to stick the landing, or what the end result for the pantheon should be. I'm not sure I could name absolutely everyone who was an inspiration to me not just through the stellar roleplay of their characters but with many discussions over Discord about how to land this plane.

I appreciate you all more than I can say and I literally could not have done it without you.