Rosss : "Courage brethren!"
- Details
- Created on Wednesday, 03 February 2010 23:00
- Written by Strombanni and Snakeeyes
On the ferry from Harrys to Pleasant Meadows I had some time to look through my notes again. I can't believe how little info we had on this place. Rosss sent me the coordinates to where he wanted to meet me for the interview and all I knew was that it's an ancient abandoned castle, filled with history and secrets. I left the ferry and traveled East towards the location. As I got closer to the location, a thick fog started to creap up on me from all sides.
The fog got so thick that I barely could see my hands in front of me.
The Last Knight of Versailles Tower
I took a step backwards as a skull suddenly appeared in front of me, firmly planted on top of a spear. The skull and the red ribbon on the spear told me that this is clan territory, so I kept moving forward following my compass. I heard waterfalls and.... wait... the sound of a phasefront.
The phasefront blew the fog away and the castle appeared in front of me in all its beauty.
Rivers, lakes, rocks, narrow paths and a mystical castle, built in a risky way. "Enjoy it while you can" Rosss said. "The fog will be back in full force very soon". The beauty of this place had struck me so I didn't notice that Rosss had parked his aircraft and was standing right next to me. He told me that the Versailles Tower was commissioned by the eccentric leader of the clan Knights of Avalon, Lord Galahad, and that rumors says this castle houses another bio-mechanical creature hidden away in a secret basement, like the one in Camelot. Just a few seconds later, the fog was allready returning. 
"Let's head inside while we still can see where we're going" he said. He lightened up a torch and we went inside. As we walked down the corridors, he told me that the soldiers of the Knights have abandoned the castle. I couldn't resist thinking to myself... Rosss, the last Knight of Versailles Tower.
"You had some questions for me?" he said while lighting the torches attached to the walls. I looked quickly at my notes, and asked "When you arrived rubi-ka you chosed to become a keeper. After all these years, what do you think is the best part of being a keeper?" Rosss answered without even thinking about it :"My first reason for chosing keeper as my profession, was that I wanted to be able to explore this world by myself, and keeper was a great choice for that. Now I still love it because not only does a keeper perform very well alone, he can join a group and instantly make the entire group better in 4-5 different ways with such strong auras. I love the feeling of being added support to those around me. I also love the whole idea of feeling valiant and righteous and all that!" Then suddenly out of nowhere he shouted "Courage brethren! Rally to our standard! And may fortune steady our grips, strengthen our resolve, and see us victorious this day!" The empty walls carried his voice a long way down the corridors. He looked at me to check my reaction, before he bursted out in laughter.
-Experience as much of this world as you can
"Recently you reached enlightenment after more than four years on rubi-ka, so your path to enlightenment has been a pretty long journey compared to some of your good friends in TRB. How did it feel to reach enlightenment after all these years, and what would you recommend for our new members? The quick path or the long journey?" Rosss took a deep breath while closing his eyes. Almost like he tries to memorize every step on his long journey. Then he said "I always like to be thorough, and when taking each new challenge I always wanted to not only come out alive, but completely dominate and fully explore all the possibilities. This always led to me stopping along the way, and the time-consuming, difficult and often expensive process of trying to become ridiculously overpowered for the major areas. It taught me so much about this world, and there is really so much out there to be explored and accomplished, and saving the enlightenment for last always left me comfortable knowing that there was always another challenge left to do. Fast or slow, I definitely recommend experiencing as much of this world as you can, to really appreciate what it has to offer." He got up from his chair to head for the fireplace and threw another log into the hungry fire.
He kind of made me curious of how such a calm and peaceful guy could get so interested in the conflict, so I asked him :" You are often seen at the battlefield to defend or attack, and are known as a great warrior. What would you say to members who's not joined the war yet, and what would they learn or gain from taking a bigger responsibility in the ongoing war?" I could see he lightened up by this question, apparently a very interesting field for him. He grabbed his hand around his sword, and said :"Nothing is sweeter than a grand victory, nothing so disheartening as a bitter defeat. The battlefield at rubi-ka can take you to your most emotional extremes, from being thrilled to enraged. Don't ever be afraid to get involved and rest assured that all of us started out just as newcommers in the beginning. The more you do, the better you'll get. As a faction and as an organisation we've certainly had our ups and down, but I can't think of any times in my history with The Red Brotherhood where we've been without notum fields. I love knowing that we've emerged as one of the stronger clan orgs on rubi-ka and that we are certainly a strong force to be reckoned with. Each new person that joins in the effort adds to our success. Even without joining the fighting action, simply building towers and filling up our fields to the maximum plays a huge role in strengthening our position."
-I wouldn't be at home anywhere else
I just had to cut in, no matter how interesting this was, because I knew this was a subject he could talk about for hours. "So Rosss... you've been in TRB for around 5 years now, how much do you think we've changed and what is our biggest strength right now?" Again it looks like he's memorizing, mentioning something about filling out the TRB application because it looked like the best choice. Suddenly he came back to me and smiled before he said: "TRB has certainly come a long way since those days. I know there were only a few of us and still many things on rubi-ka that we could not
attempt as an org because of the difficulty. Now we have truly grown to the point where we can get together and tackle anything this world has to offer
and come out victorious! The biggest strength has always been our enthusiasm and unity. When these are lacking, the difference is felt. From what I see today, TRB is still stronger than ever and our troops can be marshaled to work together almost every day to accomplish and to assist in reaching our org goals, as well as those of our members." While he told me this, and by looking at him talking, I had the impression that he is really proud of his home... our home...The Red Brotherhood. I got that confirmed, when he finished with "TRB has been my one and only org, and I know I wouldn't be at home anywhere else".
-Be a friend
Suddenly he got quiet and grabbed his sword. I don't know if he felt something or if he heard something, but he walked slowly towards the door. He kicked it up, and right behind it I saw a big fat Vulture eating a rat. He grabbed the Vulture around his neck, and threw him out a window. "People just don't know how much work it is to maintain a castle like this", he said while closing the door behind him. I took the hint, and replied "Ok Rosss, I have one last question for you before I have to head back to the HQ: "Your baby in The Red Brotherhood is the org bank which holds many useful items, and you have been controlling and organising it since the first items was added to the bank. How important is the org bank to a guild like TRB, and what was your main idea behind it?" He answered: "My motivation for the org bank was pretty simple. I love to help people, and I hate the frustrating feeling of being stuck. The org banks was an attempt to gather together many resources of those of us who had plenty of extra gear/nanos/items and share with those that might be having a harder time finding it. It's a lot of work keeping it all organized, but I've got it down to a science." He smiled, before he continued: "It was always supposed to be a give and take mentality, in harmony with our need before greed policy. We love to help each other in TRB, but no one wants to help a person that is incapable of putting forth even the slightest effort on their own, or gives nothing back in return. Some things like implants and nanos are easy enough to get on your own, so we've done away with stocking them. I remember what it's like to start with nothing when arriving rubi-ka, but with some work, and a little help on the way, even our members starting from scratch should find this new world a lot less frustrating, and being in a great org like TRB a very rewarding experience."
As a tradition, I just had to say "Any last comments?". "Yes", he replied. "The best part of being in TRB for me has been getting to know the people, helping with each other's difficulties and rejoicing in successes. Don't just be there. Be a friend. Show respect, tolerance, understanding. Give and share when you can. Make Rubi-Ka and TRB a better place, and you will find that all the time you passed in this world will have helped you grow".
With those wise words in mind, I left the castle and the last Knight of Versailles Tower.
Snakeeyes & Strombanni
Date : 03.02.2010
