The Salem Institute of Magical Crafts began in summer 2003, as many sets of lists. I�m the sort of person who makes lists; I made lists of classes I wanted, lists of boards we needed, lists of people to advertise to. I had lists of plotlines I liked, and characters I wanted to play, and ideas for more lists. The Plague and Rixa West were on one of the very first lists. I still have most of those early sketches, and will probably keep them for a good time yet. For the memory, just to have.
I knew what the school looked like from the very beginning, but I had no idea how to get from the picture to the reality. That�s another thing about me; when I write I tend to get pictures, and then I have to keep badgering my characters to give me the details behind the pictures. I usually know where I�m going. Rarely do I know how I�m going to get there. I had to learn HTML, with a lot of help from different websites and friends. I am forever thankful to Cisco for helping me with that. And for Jay teaching me how to use stylesheets, much love kiddo, and Avery�
Gosh, I�m not sure what Avery didn�t help me with. But he forced me into the site when I was ready to let it die before it lived, and so he�s my hero for that.
That was all when Salem was being built, when it was a collection of unfinished pages. But now I�m not sure that ten pages would ever cover all of the thanks and love I want to shower on everyone who has come to Salem since then. Jay, Avery, and Cisco helped me to build Salem; but it was the students and staff that came afterwards who gave it life.
Paula, you came in the very first term, and are now going to carry Salem on. You have been so great honn. You have stuck it out through the rough times; I can�t remember a time when you haven�t been here for Salem, except when your Bel was acting up, and even then, you�ve still managed to get on!
And you�ve done so many great things in character. You�ve tamed the greatest prat the world has ever seen; you�ve immortalized chocolates and Pride and Prejudice; you�ve had friends who were grateful for you to step on their feet; you�ve always been a perfectly snotty Princess.
Between all of you, you�ve kept people posting on the site when it was slow, and always, always kept me reading your posts. You�ll be a marvelous Headmistress. Better than that even.
Anna, where to begin, where to begin. As my first Deputy Head, you shaped the school into what it is today. I know you�ll keep doing that as a Deputy Head again.
You�ve had so many posts that absolutely sent me into hysterics. Your rendezvous with Ranel and battles with Til certainly set a high standard! Cromwell owes his life to you in character, and at times probably his sanity as well. I have to echo the latter note out of character too. Oh, and thank goodness you and James finally got together- geeze, thought we�d all be waiting forever on that one!
It�s great to have you back Anna. Oh, and your baby girl is beautiful- I bet she gets treated like an angel. Stay wonderful, okay?
Ruxi, you�re a true founding father.
You�re probably the first one to cause a stir on the site, to cause interest, and it was lovely. I remember you pairing Faith and Bane together in that first term- genius. It set a high standard for DADA Professors; I�ve been forever comparing them to you.
You�ve always held a legacy at Salem, even when you were not here. In concrete, there was the Dueling Arena, created at your insistence. Several aspects of the house history we owe to you; that�s forever recorded in The Secrets of Salem. And even now the name Hagen Plato is a byword among the students. I trust that it always will be.
Thank you for all of that Ruxi. Salem would not have been the same without you.
Professor Dobbs, you�re another one of the �firsts.� You�re one of the first people to mark traditions, to build a history. I think that when I remember Terrigena I�ll remember your Start of Term Speeches. They�ve been a tradition every year, from Faith Favor�s artistic renditions until now.
I hope you stay for a long time yet. There are some things that don�t need to be changed.
Lell, you arrived in that second, golden term when the boards positively exploded. Between you, Leslie, Ellie, and the rest of Sal Salis it was like posts were raining down. It was fantastic.
You�re also one of the few whose application I actually (and yes, I�m telling the truth) remembered. You ended up coming a little late that first term, do you remember? And when I didn�t see the red headed, fireball Crin I remembered from the app, I was so disappointed. Because I remembered that I liked her, and I liked your writing, and I wanted you at Salem.
But you did come! I did back flips. Well, I would have if I could. And you came, and you posted, and Limbo was born, and even though I still haven�t learned how to spell Dalmeiier without looking it up, I�m oh so glad that you stayed. Oh, and on a side note, you have the coolest screen name in the world.
Leslie, I associate you with the Sal Salis legacy too. I think Sal Salis needs a sign to commemorate your year. But that�s off topic, isn�t it? You�re one of the blessed few who can manage a power without crossing the Mary-Sue line. It�s lovely to know that that�s possible. And out of character, you�ve helped me tremendously with the occasional tactful e-mail or comment. Tactful in word, thoughtful in judgment: traits that make situations so much easier to handle. Thanks.
Kristy, Salem would have no profiles without you. You are the absolute best, the girl who can do everything. Your characters are some of the most complete around, and some of the ones whose posts I always read first. Between Derry and his shoes, Belinda and her wand, Terrance and his plants, Kate and her treats, I could go on and on and on, but there is something I love about all of them.
I know I�ll have to keep popping into Salem just to keep up with the Pierces. The lives of the illegitimate lovechild of Lex Luther and family will always be interesting.
Til, your tallness, you have the busiest real life of anyone I know. I know you really haven�t had much for the site lately, but we were glad to have you, and I hope you�ll still pop in lots. We can�t lose our favorite Derry-obsessed, very tall, medic-a-phobic, former-Less, adopted-Kendrick girlie, now can we? Keep giving Anna hell babe. You know she secretly enjoys the chance to liberate her sarcastic wit.
Sarah, this last plot wouldn�t exist without you. You�ve been genius, I�m so glad you�ll be on Salem to help see it through. Out of character I know you�ll keep the site on track, and in character I know that everyone�s favorite twins will cause as much madness and mayhem as necessary to keep things off track. It�s a wonderful combination.
I could rave on for a really long time, and I would, but it would get repetitive. I can only tell you you�re an amazing person so many times. But even so, maybe once more won�t hurt- you�re amazing (end of story).
And Kat, keep Zach in his place, okay? Behind every mischievous boy�
And stay cool over there in Aussie summer-land, and g�luck with Quidditch.
Emberlynn, I know you�re not here anymore, and I hope that your marriage is happy and full. I just wanted to include you because your characters set a standard, and still live on today, through other authors. Thank you for staying as long as you did, and stirring up everything from romantic snowball fights to that dratted insulting mirror in the Velvet Hall. You rock.
Ellie. I don�t even know where to start. Wow.
In character is the best place to begin, I suppose. Terrigena common room, Ellie�s first year. Cromwell was wearing a nightgown. That�s when they met. And I want you to know that Cromwell has had a splitting headache for the last six years and it�s all your fault. No one else has put Cromwell through as many trials as you have, but at the same time you helped to give his character a depth it would not have had otherwise. I struggled the entire first term with his character. Once you came, I still struggled, but it was no longer to define him. It was to understand him.
You�ve given me some of the most challenging roleplay conversations, and it�s been incredible. I�m sorry to see Ellie leave Salem without graduating, but in a way I can�t help but think that it�s rather fitting that she is leaving at the same time as Cromwell. Two lives intertwined, eh?
And out of character�I�ve known you for more than a year Mags, and I�ve seen you change a lot over that time. I�m very proud of you for that. And at times I think you�ve opened my eyes too. I�d tell you to keep your feet on the ground, but I don�t think that would fit you. You do better when your feet are dancing.
To everyone else- even if I didn�t name you, it doesn�t mean I don�t know how much you�ve done for the site. No one is more enamored with people who roleplay than a person who runs a roleplay site. I�ve always been almost incredulous that so many people would show an interest in Salem, would care enough to give up their time to write here, to make it something worthwhile. At first I thought it was probably a fluke, and since I�ve maintained that I am just a very, very lucky person.
But lucky or not, now it�s February 2005. Salem has grown past anything I ever dreamed. All of the years are full. The ideas and love and have welded it together, to make it so much more than I ever could have, to shape it into a place that I love very much.
So thank you to everyone. You are all fantastic.
One last cheers for you all.
Cheers!
Headmaster William Cromwell
Now and forevermore, WC
