To those still around to read this,

I'm afraid the time has come for me to retire Kalon. It has been an incredible journey -- I do not exaggerate when I say I am the person I am today in large part because of my interactions with all of you. As I write these words, I realize that despite having known many of you for ten years or more, few here ever knew even the first thing about the person behind the screen. And so now at the end, I want to make introductions.

I found Imperian a full two decades ago; what initially drew me in is that it was just about the only online game I could play on a severely underpowered laptop a"a laptop I only had because I was able to salvage it from the trash and refurbish it myself. I was still a child at the time, and my home life was... difficult. Imperian was my escape to another world; one where I could write myself into a fantasy away from the tempests constantly brewing outside my bedroom door.

Few friends were comfortable visiting my home more than once, but through all of you I found a second family. I did a lot of growing up on this game, and apologize to those upon whom fell the responsibility of socializing me. From secret friends, to friendly rivals, to very public enemies: each of you taught me something of the world and how to find my place in it.

I have so many treasured memories a"I could not even begin to list all the names and faces that have shaped me. I tried, truly, but they did not all fit in a single post! Most are retired or deleted by now anyway... For the past several days Ia e logged in just to reminisce, but the truth is this server exists now only as a memorial to what once was. Never again will there be more than a rare other face awake in any city or guild. No more will it be possible to waste away an entire afternoon raining hailstones down on unsuspecting passerby from a grove outside the gates of Antioch.

All the things that once tethered me here are gone a"the community, the combat, even the world itself has moved on. The magickal forests of Khandava where I found my first home are corrupted; the Order of the Stars where I found the voice to lead is scattered just like the stars we venerated. On this final visit, I barely even recognize the game I once knew: a new spectrum of shards fall from the sky, aspects now ascend under a a nified moona and the entire map is of antimagick affinity owing to leylines I could not even sense without chasing down some squirreled away priest: entire systems implemented and cast aside that I will never be able to learn or love.

And yet... I remain. Imperian succeeded in seeing me through the crucible of my childhood and equipped me with the skills to flourish. Roleplaying gave me a mastery of language that lifted me through my liberal arts degree, while PvP gave me the aptitude for both programming and teaching that I use now in my job today. Nature and stargazing have become permanent fixtures of my personality even outside the game, in part because of the memories I made here.

Now I return not as someone looking for an escape into memory, but as someone seeking a venue where I can write new stories, and it is something Ia e realized cannot do here. In the past few days Ia e started a character on Aetolia, and found there a time capsule of an earlier era a"Ia e felt the joys of being the new player once more, and being led about by an artifacted basher under strict instructions not to attack anything (Ia e hit level 100; a feat that took me a full decade the first time around!) Ia e attended a council bonfire filled with paragraph long emotes and a banquet of carefully crafted food, complete with a sudden upset when the event was crashed by an unwelcome guest. I feel on Aetolia all the same joys I once felt here, and in light of this, Ia choosing to consolidate my investments to give that character his opportunity to shine.

To those of you who managed to read all the way to the end of this long ramble, thank you. I know I write this too late for most of the players who recognize me, but if anyone does find this and wish to contact me, my handle on most other services has come to be mwobee a"you can find me on Discord or Steam under that name. In Aetolia I'll be playing a character much like the one I played here, I imagine. Look to the nature council for a new player fascinated by the stars and always trying to punch above his weight class, and I'm sure we'll cross paths (or reach out to @mwobee on the Aetolia Discord and we could even pre-arrange an RP scene -- apparently that's a much bigger thing over there!)

I hope I see some of you again under brighter skies. Rumor has it Aetolia is even about to reveal a new astronomy/star-magic themed class open to all factions, serendipitous timing tha tIa sure Kalon would have considered with great significance.

Thank you everyone for these past years,

a"Matt (a.k.a Kalon, and half a dozen other characters of no import)


Penned by my hand on the 13th of Fas, in the year 353 AM.