The Interview
1. Where did the origins of Markus come from? Was he just a test character? One in a long line of concepts? Or was he well thought out or imported from somewhere else in your fantasy life? Give us a good idea of how Markus came into being.
The origins of Markus. Hmm. It has been a while since he was created so some of the details are a little fuzzy. But I distinctly remember being bored with my previous characters on other boards. They had all shared the same outlook on life: Cynical, sadistic, selfish and all those fun things. Some of them were downright diabolic. So when a friend back then introduced me to Mizahar around the time the other board I was on died, I was thinking about trying something new and different in a character.
Both of us came from boards primarily based around PCs fighting each other and I enjoyed and do still enjoy fighting threads so it made sense for us to place them in a militaristic order and both have fun developing them as soldiers and at the same time write about something we enjoyed. He had set his eyes on Ravok, I had mine on Syliras (Ravok would be a continuation of the bad guy-characters I had made so that was a no go in those days). Eventually I won out and we made a pair of squires under the benevolent rule of Dusk.
Markus became a test character of sorts for me, to see if I could actually write a character aligned with good and not get bored with him. Which meant I didn't pull any stops in his CS, made him all the usual good guy stuff, idealistic, loyal, wants to help people, friendly, altruistic etc. But as soon as I began to play the character I found that many of those entirely good things constricted me and Markus rebelled against those constraints and turned out different as I used him IC (more on that in question 5) – gave him some problems instead of an entirely goodie two shoe Gary Sue.
So that was the origin of Markus, my attempt to break my usual mold of 'evil' characters. Turned out different than I had expected. Nor did think I could keep to the same character for so long.
2. Syliras can be a challenging place to rp in due to the sheer amount of newbies and continual swinging door of folks coming in and out but rarely staying. How do you choose your threads, rp partners, and what draws you to a particular type of character if anything?
The swinging door of Syliras: Well, it has its downsides and upsides. A lot of interesting characters drop by and give the opportunity to RP with them, on the downside is that it makes for terrible long lasting thread buddies to develop plots with as they don't tend to stick around if they're only dropping by, but I have no complaints there, met a lot of awesome rp'ers over the years and given me many interesting threads.
As mentioned in the first question/answer, I enjoy writing fight threads. This means that any thread concepts containing any sort of violence always catches my interest. As a direct consequence of this I am typically attracted by fighter-characters and knights/squires - The knights and squires have the added benefit of (back in the day at least) giving us a chance to write a thread that would work towards the knighting requirements without it being a long solo training thread.
But that is not to say that I shy away from non-fight threads, I quickly learnt that I would burn out on fighting threads if Markus did nothing but fight all the time. But primarily I still enjoy a good fighting thread. So if I see a player/character who writes great fight scenes and they appear on the doorstep of Syliras, I have a tendency to contact them for a thread.
3. Being the first character to earn the title Syliran Knight in game is quite the accomplishment. What motivated you to decide to EARN it rather than start with it and what keeps your drive up for holding Markus in that lifestyle?
Thank you very much!
Back in the day (I feel old saying that) when Richard and I joined the site, there wasn't yet a requirement for squires (or the lore didn't specifically say this, at least, once again, a long time ago, I don't remember the details) that they had to fulfil the knight requirements before they could go on their quest. They could go on a quest and as long as they (like characters starting as knights) worked towards the goal of a fully fledged knight, they would be in the clear. But I liked the change/clarification more than going on a quest right as the character was created. First of all it gave me something to work towards. A purpose for Markus. An end goal for the training threads and spurred me on to write a little more, for as a knight I knew there would be more opportunities. It would open new doors to worlds of new possibilities. New things for Markus to do, get his own squires, get sent on missions etc. With that in mind it made the threads more fun and every grade put me towards the goal of a knighting quest. Earning the quest was a lot of fun and when I finally reached the requirement it felt good! It also allowed for me to get a feel for Markus and develop him as a character before he was sent out on his own to fetch a mage halfway across the Sylira region. I fear he would have perished quite early had he not been given the chance to mature as a character.
I enjoy writing Markus as a knight/sergeant knight and I can't IC or OOC see a reason why he would or should leave the lifestyle. Plus, now that there are so many player knights and squires around – so many helpless players to order around now that Markus is a sergeant knight. Plus that there are constantly new people to rp with also makes it easy to keep up the desire to write as Markus. But there are times where I have lost interest in Markus and had off-months where I worked on other things or characters. So it is not always that the drive can be maintained, but I always return to Markus in the end.
4. Considering that you are role model among the virtuous pcs on the site, are you consciously aware of this fact or do you simply RP what you want when you want and let the reputation fall where it will?
Markus... virtuous. After all the people in chat poking fun at Markus/OTK relentlessly (you know who you are), it feels weird to have someone call Markus virtuous... Especially without a hint of sarcasm.
If anyone considers Markus a role model, I would in return consider that an honour to have written a character that could be considered one for the good characters. But I have rarely considered Markus' reputation outside of IC. IC I know he himself cares much about his reputation and would try not to jeopardize it through stupid or dishonorable acts. OOC, not so much. I am sure I have done things with Markus that would ruin the reputation if people found out (in fact I know I have). I just try to write Markus in a way that does him justice, so it is not intentionally if his reputation remains intact or if it shatters.
5. Some people claim their PCs talk to them in their heads. Does Markus talk to you? If so what types of things does he say? And do you listen/not listen/laugh?
Not sure if this qualifies, but back in the day where Markus was still being developed and I was trying to get the feel for the character, I sort of had a mental banter with the character I wanted to play and the Markus that wished to exist. It, amongst things, meant that Markus developed an entirely different personality when he fought. I had pictured it as defensive and honorable – that went out the window in the first fight and Markus instead got aggressive, dishonorable and brutal. I simply loved the stark contrast between him fighting and him in social situations. From dishonorable and brutal fighter to an honorable and emphatic squire wishing you the very best.
But since his conception I haven't heard much from him as since then he has developed somewhat naturally on his own. Only occasionally when I stray too far from the true 'Markus' does he chime up and I write him more faithfully.
6. . Now that you’ve achieved one big goal in game, what are some of the other goals Markus has set his sights on (or his player has)? Can you talk about his future and where you want to see him go from here?
This is obvious: Hero of hero mountain. - A more serious goal. IC Markus still has his sight on advancing as far within the Syliran Knights as he possibly can. Ambitious little climber he is. Being marked by another god/dess or getting a secondary mark from Sylir would also be on his wish list. Markus would also like to reconcile with his family, it isn't a grand goal, but that is one of the reasons he is leaving, gasp, Syliras.
I have asked myself the same recently and I ended up deciding that Markus should visit his family in Zeltiva and generate some drama and development from that encounter. Considering most of his other plot threads and ideas has been related to Syliras/Knights, I figured a change of scenery would be needed to see him grow a little more as a character. It gives me the opportunity to write in a different city for a prolonged period and try something else with Markus (looks at question 8... riiight).
That is just the first step of a long line of ideas I have planned. After Zeltiva Markus is heading to Sunberth to have a little fun in the chaotic city of scum. Let us see how far out of depth I can get Markus and see if he can survive a city so chaotic. Pull him out of his comfort zone, away from the military might of Syliras and out as a lone knight and see him flail about in a world unlike Syliras and feel like he doesn't belong.
Something else I would like to see was Markus getting a wing comprised entirely of PCs. It would be a hassle and dangerous if people went inactive or likewise and require a lot of coordination between the six different characters. But it would be cool, would just require 5 pc knights who are willing to obey Markus' command.
7. What is your favorite thing about Mizahar? What is your least favorite thing about Mizahar? We’d love it if you’d talk about your contrasts and do a bit of comparisons.
Favorite thing: It almost sounds cliché and cheesy, but here goes: The player base. Large, varied, silly, smart, funny, spread all over the globe and everyone sharing the same fondness of writing and roleplaying. Plus I have had a lot of fun in chat talking to people. Sharing ideas and plot lines. So yes, if you are reading this, you are my favorite thing about this place. Yes~ it is normal to feel a warm fuzzy feeling in your chest, just embrace it~
Least favorite thing: If the player base was my favorite aspect, the other side of the coin has to be: Grey names. It always makes me a little depressed to see all the grey names, people I rp'ed with and had fun with in chat who are no longer around.
8. Markus is considered one of the more stationary PCs verses one of those that are out adventuring and seeing the world. Can you outline some of the benefits of being a stationary PC and tied to one city/group/cause?
A little funny that Markus has now left Syliras for Zeltiva. Horrible timing I suppose?
But yes, Markus is/was a very stationary PC spending most of his time in the glorious city of Syliras. If we don't count his current travel plans he only left Syliras twice in the time I have rp'ed him (not counting flashbacks). Once on his knighting quest and once to wage war on Sahova. So he only left the city because of his duty to the knights. Having Markus tied to the knights always gives him that underlying purpose for every thread, unfortunately PCs tend to avoid doing criminal stuff around Markus in my threads. Would be fun to haul a PC into the Tank and let Radiant sentence them to the mines.
But on the subject of being a city-dweller opposed to an adventurer, it is hard to say what the benefits are, both types of PCs got their merits. There is the benefit that you get to know the city intimately as you spend most of the time within the city. Which also means the character gets to spend more time building up a network inside the city, get embedded within the hierarchy (and not as an outsider). This gives certain long term goals within the city to work towards – Markus as the example again, long had the goal of becoming a sergeant knight – and in reference to question 6, he does not plan on stopping at sergeant – which gave a purpose to the threads and a goal to work towards that would not easily be achieved if Markus had been away from Syliras.
For someone who had a hard time mentioning the benefits, I sure did say a lot.
9. In terms of faith, Markus worships all sorts of deities and honors a pantheon as he should on Mizahar. Is there any deity Markus just HATES with a passion and would rather not see in his life? Who and why?
Well that is easy to answer: Rhysol. A hundred times Rhysol. I mean, for a knight who counts Yahal, Tyveth, Sylir and Wysar as his main deities, a god whose domain is evil, betrayal, chaos etc. It becomes readily apparent that Markus and him would and should be at odds.
Which leaves no doubt that Rhysol is Markus' most hated god in all of existence. Markus loathes the defiler for everything he has done and blames him for all the things that is wrong in the world. (which he sort of is to blame for) He would attack the god on sight and then get squashed like a bug, or worse, for his troubles. It is a good thing Markus has never had a run-in with the god in that regard. But Markus' hatred of Rhysol stems primarily from his master indoctrinating him from a young age to hate everything about the god and know him as the enemy of Syliras.
10. We often ask Featured Characters if their PC is drastically different than they planned or if they have stayed right on course. Would you consider Markus one of those PCs that has a mind of his own and writes himself, or would he be more of the type of PC that has stayed in full alignment with his original design? Elaborate on this.
Markus is drastically different from the original design, I spoke of this in question 5, but that is hardly. First I never imagined his past would be as dark and nor did I expect Markus to have been such a vicious bully in his younger days before the knights straightened him out. Strangely enough Markus as a young kid was exactly what I was trying to avoid when I created Markus in the first place. Stupid character, subverting my plans.
Secondly: I never thought he would develop into being a semi-racist. But one thing lead to another and bam, suddenly he dislikes half a dozen races. Some with good reason (Nuit, Drykas(might soon vanish) and Zith) others because they look weird (Charoda and Pycons).
Aside from those hiccups and his worrying taste for violence, Markus has stayed true to my concept and his ideals of Syliras and the knights being the only viable way of returning civilization to a world torn asunder.
11. As always, the last question is yours. Do you want to talk about anything else or take the time to step up on a personal soap box now that you have an audience?
Uhm... Yes. I got a couple of things I would like to say. *gingerly steps up on the soapbox, falls off and breaks a leg.* ouch, typical.
1: I mentioned this under favorite things, but now that the fuzzy feeling in your chest has died down, allow me to reignite it. Thank you all for making Mizahar a fun place to log on to and write and especially those I have met and RP'ed with IC and those I will RP with in the future! (Yes, let the fuzzy feeling blossom)
2: A collective thanks to everyone doing voluntary work on Mizahar. You hardly get all the thanks you deserve so here is a shout out to all of you. Graders, chatmods, liaisons, mentors, AS, DS, RS and last but certainly not least Founders. Thank you all for the work you put into the place, it wouldn't be the same without your hard work.
Might be cliché, doesn't stop it from being genuine.
C: A personal thanks to Radiant for finally wrapping up Markus' knighting quest. I never imagined when I started out that four different DS' would have to take over and continue it,nor that I would take so long for it to be completed. Especially as I don't think any one of the previous DS' left any clue as to where the thread was heading so it was great that you grabbed the thread and wrapped it up nicely! You have my eternal gratitude. *salutes as OTK*
4: To all the squires and knights players out there, get to work and give Syliras more fully-fledged knights to toss at every problem.
It has been an honor and a privilege to be chosen as the featured character of June *bows*. But it is time I leave the soap box for someone else to abuse. |
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by Isana Lin on June 2nd, 2014, 9:29 am 
