A bard of some sort, 'Dar had the singular advantage of understanding the value of tact and subtlety to a much greater extent than the rest of our merry gang. He was a useful companion, what with his ability to think and to be sneaky and so on, but he didn't ever get to do much before he died.
Jen's Commentary: 'Dar was a good guy! It was nice to finally have someone around who realized that yelling "halt, foul miscreant" isn't going to make the murderer immediately turn himself in, and that kind of thing. He wasn't as naive or tactless or silly as most of the others, which always buys points in my book. Plus, he was another bard! I finally had someone else in the group who appreciates music! Believe me, I was beginning to wonder about these people...
Alamon was our resident healer. He served some Lady Goddess called She Who Aids, or some such thing, and basically didn't do much other than provide first aid, turn undead, give us good ideas, and so forth. Not at all a useful member of our little group...
I actually can't say much about him, for the simple reason that except when he was doing something useful or bashing Jen, he kept very quiet. We all liked him, he was very helpful, but... he often blended into the background. I think the DM liked it that way.
Jen's Commentary: I suppose I should have been nicer to Al, since he did heal me and so forth, but somehow, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. For one thing, he was a cleric, and one of the annoying kind who's all over me about being what he calls a "godless heathen." I do believe in the gods, honest! I just don't think they're paying a whole lot of attention to us. But did he accept my explanations? No, of course not! For another, he sure did like to frown on all sorts of things that I think are only being practical. I mean, he would have us die of thirst in a desert just because the locals thought giving water to strangers was a bad thing. Does that make any sense, I ask you? All in all, the two of us never agreed on anything. Still, I hope he's happy wherever he is!
Johnethry was a human warrior who was given his nickname by Jen after the latter got tired of constantly referring to him as "hey, you!" For a good long time, no one knew a bit about him, because Tolec was the strong, silent type. We knew that he had a pair of dogs that followed him everywhere until they vanished during the course of our adventures, he was a rather unorthodox warrior, and he was looking for a dwarf for some reason or another, but that was about it.
Eventually, he opened up somewhat, and we got to know him somewhat better. He was still fairly quiet, but at least we know a bit more about him.
Jen's Commentary: Dogboy was a good guy, really. He was obviously smitten with Haley, and I'm very curious as to why he never said anything about it to her. I kind of wish he talked more; he normally had interesting things to say, but he almost never said them. And sometimes, I thought he babied me, which drives me nuts. But overall, he was a great guy to have around, especially since he was so handy with that axe of his!
There's so much to say about Haley, I'm not even sure where to begin. But I guess I'll start with the simple stuff.
Haley was a short human female arcanist. You may be wondering just what an arcanist is. So am I. No, actually, an arcanist seems to be a mage of sorts who likes dead things, or at least, undead things. I'll spare you the gory details, largely because I don't know them.
Haley seemed to have a little problem with tact, but we liked her anyway. She also seemed to have real difficulties in learning when to say "no."
On the plus side, Haley was all but fearless (I do wish she'd been a little less nonchalant about that half-eaten boy, though). Despite having thus far been relatively ineffective in the party's battles (something by no means limited to her!), she always doid her best. And sometimes I think she was smarter than the rest of the party combined (at least about certain things; her methods of breaking and entering leave much to be desired), since she was the source of so many good ideas.
Alas, Haley was excessively unlucky. She was always the first one to get sick, was definitely the person who failed the most horror checks and so on, and worst of all, she was always this close to being dead, or so it seems. Poor Haley!
Jen's Commentary: Haley was my best friend in the group, except for Sam. She was normally really fun, and I loved her to death. I still miss her a lot, so I'm not going to say any more than that.
Ah, Leighla. We all miss her very much, largely because she saved our hides more times than I can count. Saying she was a good archer is just a bit of an understatement; in strict point of fact, she was more like a portable cannon than anything else. Leighla grew up in a place called the Tangled Trees, which pretty much tells you all you need to know. In other words, she was far from the most cosmopolitan among us. Leighla was fairly serious, to say the least (a less charitable person might even go so far as to call her a stick in the mud), which is always a nice thing to have in a party that includes Jen. Unfortunately, Jen was doing a pretty good job of teaching Leighla how to have fun, and doubtless this would have had significant consequences if Leighla's player hadn't had to leave the group due to lack of time.
Jen's Commentary: Leighla Treeclimber has to be one of the neatest people I have ever met! First off, she's half-elven, and trying to be more elven all the time, so obviously, she has great sense. Plus, she's just unbelievably good with her bow, she's got a good head on her shoulders (as if I needed to tell you that, since I've already mentioned her lineage), and deep down inside, she's a fun-loving person. Of course, she takes her religion way too seriously, she claims to be allergic to cities, and she pretends to not be a fun-loving person, so there are still a few things we have to work on, but still... We all miss her tremendously. Here's to you, Leighla!
Lihon was a human monk of some sort, always mumbling some odd mumbo-jumbo and otherwise being a general monkish type person. She tended towards smugness and feistiness. She and Jen loathe each other with a deep and abiding passion, but despite this, she was still an okay comrade, as long as she kept her mouth shut. =P
Jen's Commentary: Okay, you know how there are certain people who just rub you the wrong way? Lihon was one of them. I don't know exactly what it is, except that she liked talking down to me and taking credit for my ideas, but she had to be the most irritating creature on the face of the planet.
Liss had one of the more checkered careers with our little group. He started out as a young psionicist early on in our adventures, quickly met the fate that all NPC's meet (alas), and came back as a sort of ghost type undead thing. This led to no end of difficulties and eventually culminated with him buying the farm for real. Liss wasn't often of great use in terms of sheer muscle, but his youthful exuberance and intelligence were greatly appreciated. Some of us wish he hadn't been quite as exuberant as he was, mind you, since he had a real thing for exploring nasty places like swamps and sewers and whatnot, but nevertheless, he was a valued companion while he was with us.
Jen's Commentary: Liss and I had a very mixed relationship. I liked the guy well enough, and I think it was mutual, but I'm also quite sure that we annoyed the nine hells out of each other at times. I like to think of him as a misguided younger cousin or something. I do wish he hadn't been so excited about forging recklessly ahead, and his swamp fetish was positively revolting, but he definitely helped keep things lively around here! Too bad about that lack of a body, though... And when he got a new one, that was just as bad, because the poor guy started to decay and stuff. All in all, he's probably better off being truly gone than being forced to be undead, but I still kinda miss the little creep sometimes. But don't you dare tell him I said that!
Maerlyan was one of the original party members, but also one of the first to go. He was our healer, so everyone had nothing but nice things to say about him, but unfortunately, the player had other commitments, and after a rather traumatic encounter with a ghoul, we found ourselves short one druid. This situation has since been rectified, and Maerlyan was part of our group for such a little time that I'm afraid no one even thinks about him any more, except as another example of the tragically short lifespan of your typical NPC.
Merf was to be Maerlyan's replacement. A healer and a mage, he never really fit into the group. This is due to the fact that he was sort of arrogant and pompous (which was intentional, but not very endearing, especially to Jen). After a single adventure with us, he decided to seek greener pastures. This was actually very unfortunate, as Merf was more inclined to think things through than the rest of us (we are, I'm sad to say, a somewhat hasty bunch) and of course, his healing skills were very useful. But we replaced our replacement healer, and life goes on.
Jen's Commentary: Okay, I have to admit that I really didn't like the guy much. He took himself so seriously! I mean, yes, he could heal, yes, he could cast spells, yes, he was smart, but still... He seemed a little reluctant to use his abilities on us, and of course a healer who won't heal people isn't very helpful! I don't wish him ill; I'm sure that over time, I would have helped his world view. But I don't miss him a bit, either. He made Al seem nice!
Mitsy was another of those early party members who didn't last long. She was a short human mage who liked to scream a lot and flirt with the men in the party. She was thus the target of most of Jen's jokes (occasionally, a Mitsy reference still works its way in), and as such, her gruesome death was very inconvenient. Not surprising, mind you, since (a) she was an NPC, and (b) she was, at least in spirit, a blonde, and we all know how cute blondes who flirt too much end up in horror stories, but still inconvenient.
Jen's Commentary: Oh dear gods, let's not talk about Mitsy. I'm not exactly well known for my serious approach to life, but Mitsy seemed to think that we were put on this earth for pleasure alone, and that just won't do. She turned out okay in the end, but for the most part, the little twit was a royal irritation. Fortunately, she didn't deal well with being made fun of, so I could keep her in her place, and if I ever start a career as a travelling comedian, her life will no doubt provide me with a whole lot of truly excellent material!
Old Norp came in at the same time as Merf, but for whatever reason, the player was pretty much a no-show from day one, so Norp never even got as far as showing us a personality. Thus, I really can't say a bit about him.
Samar Moonwalker was a half-elven ranger/druid... you know the type. We were all quite pleased to have him, since he provided a capable extra swordarm (always welcome around here!), he could heal people (ditto), and he helped to keep Jen out of trouble (ibid).
Sam was fairly quiet and cautious, but he was always willing to pitch in and lend a hand when needed (and as mentioned, he was somewhat protective of Jen, which meant he was kept fairly busy). I wish I had more to say about Sam, given how valued of a party-member he was, but really, I think I've already described him about as well as I can. He just wasn't as loony as the rest of us. Although a strong argument could be made that anyone who has a thing for Jen needs his head examined...
Jen's Commentary: Sam was definitely one of my best friends around here. For one thing, he had the great virtue of being part elven, and it showed since he had the good taste and good judgment to always be on my side. If only the others were more like that, I'm sure so much more would get accomplished. Also, he was another of those people who are very protective of me, and while I don't think that's necessary, it's very sweet. Sometimes it looked like the strain of keeping up with me was running him a bit ragged, but I suppose that was just his human half showing through. If I could have changed one thing about him, it would be that he wasn't always very willing to do me favors. I mean, I don't think I'm expecting too much when I asked him to grab my boots for me or some such thing like that, but he did a lot of rolling the eyes and not a lot of actually helping. Still, he was a great friend, and I'm really going to miss him.
Sirann was a wild elf fighter. He didn't last long with the group, as the player had other commitments, but he was good to have around while it lasted.
Jen's Commentary: I wish Sirann had been more open; he was pretty antagonistic when he joined up, which is normal for his kind, but was tragic because no one really watched out for him except for me, and I was so busy watching out for everyone else that I wasn't able to save him. It was nice having another elf in the group, though!Sirius came in at the same time as Sam as a replacement for Leighla. As you might imagine, with her gone, we were sorely lacking for competent warriors, and Sirius definitely fit the description. Alas, he was also rather hot-headed, which was the cause of quite a bit of trouble at times. He also seemed to have a thing for Jen, which was a source of a great deal of tension between them. Flashy, flamboyant, I think the character fit the party fairly well, but apparently the player disagreed, because he took off after only a few sessions, and of course, as an NPC, ol' Sirius didn't make it much past that.
Jen's Commentary: Jerk! Yes, he was an excellent warrior, especially for a human, but he was not a very likable person! I mean, I think he kept his brain in his pants, and I've long since forgotten the number of times I had to tell him to take his hand off my butt or lose it. All in all, a splendid example of why elves are so much better than humans!