The Return of Keeble

ollowing the Three Kingdoms shutdown during the Fall and early Winter of 1993, many clerics who had just begun to earn their full array of spells and guild powers returned to find many familiar faces. Changes were occuring in the guild structure, in the form of assistant guild masters. Early staff additions included Seartoo, Xyloxyl, Djun, Samhain, Boner, and Seklos. Many changes came and went, but the most dramatic change was the huge influx of new members and the resulting high number of Clerics who could be expected to be bumping into each other throughout the day. At the urging of Keeble, newbie recruitment was promoted heavily. Low membership in the guild in the past was to be corrected. With a few higher level clerics becoming known throughout the realms as able to hold their own even with the Necromancers and Knights, interest and membership in the guild swelled to previously unknown proportions.

t some point not long after, a noticable absence popped up. Keeble took an unpaid leave of absence, thrusting the bulk of guild responsibility back to Nightshade. While Nightshade was stuck wallowing in College Station with only the company of all-time flap and sometime cleric Trian, who incidentally later wizzed within the Cleric guild, Keeble was left to work on his tan and statuesque physique somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico. More guild changes came for the most part in terms of mana regeneration formulas and non-guild member healing abilities. Continued grumbling began in earnest, and the root of overall guild complaints, which ultimately led to the `Bitch Line' and Junk Board, can be traced to this time period.

ometime near the end of Summer 1994, while chatting with Nightshade, he mentioned that everything was going to be cool because Keeble was going to be back in a few days. Since his departure I had trudged merrily along within the guild, slowly but surely amassing my fair share of guild experience and the guild levels that go along with it. The impetus of keeping within sight of the mighty and war experienced Mosiah moved my adventures steadily forward. I had even ventured to go so far as to boldly yet foolishly throw myself into Mosiah's realm, that of player killing. Once again Pistil had pestered me to the point which I had to show that I too could survive the hand to hand combat of player conflict. As an aside, regardless of what Pistil now tells you, he had to wiz or face newbie status. While my first player killing exposure amounted to looking over Pistil's shoulder as he tried not to give his presence away to Crusader, Lun, and Broderek hunting him in the catacombs, I was terrified of how deadly the game could be in these circumstances. In those days the cloak of hiding was Pistil's best friend. Nevertheless I saw him die at the hands of other players more than I would have been comfortable with at the time.

ut as the absence of Keeble from the guild began to show more and more, Mosiah grew tired of clan wars and retracing his steps through the familiar and then much smaller realms. We mulled over the options for weeks: should we become wizards, which one of us should do it. Honestly, the two of us felt a huge responsibility to help out the guild, and the burden of continuous guild revamps and code updates was far too much for one wizard. Of course no one could have helped Nightshade as his code was `his own special brand' and he was notorious for his refusal to give access to anyone not sharing half his macaroni and cheese dinner. And then only if you bought. Mosiah and I decided that of the two of us he was the more resolute to become a wizard, and then he just went ahead and did it. I'm sorry it had to be Mosiah, he was by far the best player Guild Master the guild has or will ever see. While not very vocal his leadership was exemplary, and to this day he is the Cleric who can see the picture most clearly. And we thought he'd have a player character in a few months, boy were we naive.

o as Keeble's return approached, I was trying my darnest to think of a suitable return for the High Wizard. So I busted my butt to get to guild level 30, an unknown. Sure enough the day he logged back on I had the guild experience, and after a few minutes of letting him work through the hellos and such I told him (on the Guild Master line):

Glaebor (GM): Hey Keebs, got a suprise for you...
Keeble tells you:  Ya?  What is it?'

I ran to the box and prayed.

Glaebor has been looked upon with favor by Kyron.

Wow! A totally new experience, I was maxed out in the guild. I had nothing left to do, nowhere else to go.

Keeble tells you:  Hey, how the hell do I use this GM stuff...I mean
     the line and that stuff...what are the commands?  I forgot em!
Glaebor (GM): duh
Glaebor (GM): didnt you do the code for that?
Glaebor (GM): its gtel blah

A slight pause.

Keeble (GM): *snort*
Glaebor (GM): welcome back dood
Keeble (GM): good to be back

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Inscribed by: Glaebor -- October 02, 1995