Now that the event is over I figured it is safe (and smart) to share and archive my RP journal (all 17 entries). smile Just to clarify the terms used: 'battlefield' is where the fighting happens, 'battleground' contains both the battlefield and the team hideouts.
I hope you enjoy my scribbles. biggrin
Frustrated cleric: Grab a weapon, join battle
Entry 1
Finding people to heal is so hard, I actually get xp faster by fighting, eventhough that means faster energy drain.
There's just too many Jacks and not enough Bunnies to hurt our brothers-in-arms. I'm going to fight.
Signed, Frustrated cleric.
Frustrated cleric: Write in your diary.
Entry 2
So, I've managed to get some xp, but I also accidentally fought this one Bunny who keeps counter attacking. Sapped my health quite a bit, I'd better stick to rogues and clerics if at all possible. I probably should take a break soon and recover energy, but first I'll ambush one more Bunny, hopefully with better results.
Singed, and signed, Frustrared cleric.
Frustrated cleric: Feel refreshed, equip sickle
Entry 3
My energy seems to have returned almost completely. Apparently some Bunny had come across my soultrace in the battle field, because I suddenly found myself riddled with injuries I knew I hadn't received prior to my rest in the hideout. It is marvelous how you can one moment be mopping the floor with your entrails, and the next find yourself fully restored by the healing magic of a fellow cleric.
As I write this I prepare myself for combat, my sharp sickle figuratively leaking destructive magic and my tome bookmarked and ready for healing out on the field. Hopefully I get to gloriously spill entrails other than my own. Perhaps I actually find injured fellow-Jacks so I may heal them, and follow the path I devoted myself to in service of our leader.
Signed, Frustrated cleric.
Frustrated cleric: Fling expletives at your misfortune
Entry 4
F*** those Bunnies. F*** them to h*** and back up through the sewers... with a rusty blade, preferably sideways. Even when I fight other level twos, I keep missing, or they counter attack. I actually managed to give this one f***ing Bunny a free level-up when they kept counter attacking. Finding people to heal is as difficult as ever, so fighting still remains my preferable method for leveling up.
My health isn't critical but I'm out of energy for now. However, I am covered in filth and blood, most of it my own. I will retreat to the safety of the hideout for a shower and some rest in the protection of my brothers-in-arms.
Signed, filthy Frustrated cleric.
Frustrated cleric: Rejoice reaching a new level
Entry 5
I finally managed to reach level 3. The increased energy reserves were quickly spent on trying to down a level 1 Bunny. They leveled up through counter attacking me, but eventually I beat them down, and proceeded to do so to another level 2 Bunny. I still tried to beat a third level 2 Bunny, but I didn't have enough energy.
When I finally ran out of energy to attack with, I got ambushed. Never saw their faces, and I'm not entirely sure how I woke up in the hideout. Someone must have dragged me here, I guess.
With my energy so low, it really doesn't matter whether I get healed or if I rest until I heal naturally. I guess some other young Jack cleric could use this chance for easy experience.
My limbs feel heavy. Sleeping would probably be a good idea.
Signed, the sleepy Frustrated cleric
Frustrated cleric: Find a clean page in your diary
Entry 6
I cannot believe I was chased out of the battleground for two days. So many wasted chances to gain experience... The last thing I did before being forced away, was to spend my last energy to lovingly heal a measly scratch on our glorious leader's hand. It was a left-over from his latest skirmish out on the battlefield that other healers on scene didn't have the energy left to deal with.
Eventhough the look on his face didn't change even for a second, the leader turned to give me a fairly long look, in the middle of the hectic strategy planning he had going on with a group of knights and defenders. I hope the look was one of annoyance caused by my interruption, and not because he was surprised that we care about our leader, or shocked by my gruesome injuries, because I do not need his shock or his pity.
I need him to stay focused on leading us fearlessly into the battle, not on me channeling healing through my own severed off hand which I was wielding while the rest of my gear was pinned under my less functional arm. After all, my hand was returned to its rightfull place once a still fresh healer heading to the battle field stopped by and re-attached it with sufficiently powerful magic.
The end of this war is near, I can feel it. The magic is thicker in the air and the magical saturation appears to multiply experience gained. Today alone I have beaten almost as many Bunnies as in the days before. I ruined several pages of my diary with the blood of our enemies... It was less pleasant that it sounds like, soaked pages glued together or otherwise unusable. And the smell of drying and/or rotting blood means it is delightful to drag around. Eh, atleast the smell is unnoticeable out on the field. The only reason I'm wasting time to write this instead of fighting and earning massive amounts of experience, is that I kicked enough Bunny tail to run out of magic. Have to hide while I recharge my energy.
Signed, sloppily, Frustrated cleric.
Frustrated cleric: Pretend toilet breaks are not a thing that happens on the battlefield
Entry 7
I found a place with constant acces to a low level Bunny rogue's soul trace. I have been steadily camping it, taking him down several times today. I take a break to rest every time my energy runs out, and then wreak havoc on him again.
Though I have noticed that the rate of his dodges as well as his counter attacks have gone slightly up as I have camped him longer. I guess his soul is becoming attuned to my magic, allowing his soul to lash back with more accuracy when I use the soul trace to send my destructive magic after him.
The wounds his counter attacks have caused are so small compared to my increased health that I have practically healed just writing this. I wish my energy regenerated as conveniently. I cannot afford the energy potions, unless I leave the battle grounds for work. What an irritating problem.
Signed, pissed off, Frustrated cleric.
P.S. I might have to consider publishing a memoir after the war.
Frustrated cleric: Wait for respawns, ponder your recurring dreams
Entry 8
Switching targets to some other stable Bunny soul traces after each kill appears to cut down the amount of counter attacks. I have, however, noticed a curious pattern in the miss/counter attack ratio: most of the time they occur when my target is near low on health. I have an educated guess that as the wounds (which appear seemingly out of nowhere from their physical perspective) get worse, their souls instictively become more defensive and start randomly lashing out to the direction of their own soul traces. Resting to regain my energy is as inconvenient as ever, but otherwise I wouldn't be writing this diary at all, let alone eating this delicious sandwhich. Sure, sitting on a corpse while eating kind of ruins your appetite but out here on the battlefield this is honestly the least bloody spot to sit on.
Earlier, when I was in full health and even had some energy left after taking down my favourite Bunny rogue, I stopped by in the hideout, just to check if there was anyone to heal. Our leader was once again back from the battlefield, and was surrounded by yet another group of tired healers. I joined the group and spent my remaining energy on a few low level heals, sealing the last bleeding wounds he had. I doubt he recognized me from before (with all my limbs being attached this time) and if he did, he did not show it.
Not that it matters, I am a cleric, after all. My path is devoted to healing and helping, being in the background. If I had wanted glory and attention, I would have chosen to become a knight or a mage.
Still, I keep having these daydreams that turn into nightmares... daymares?... when I doze off between fights and my journal entries. Dreams of coming across our mighty leader Jack out on the battle field, severely wounded and and one eye either gouged out or otherwise heavily bleeding and useless. Dreams of running to him, reaching up on my tippy-toes and using my most powerful magics just to restore that eye, him bending slightly to let me do my work. The eye fixed, I turn my attention to his other wounds. He feels the healed eye with a hand even as he already straightens his back and starts looking for the next enemy to fight.
The dream reaches its turning point soon after I briefly look up at him as I pour my magic into the first set of gaping wounds on his abdomen. The flinch of his muscles beneath my hands, that sharp little inhale that borders on being a gasp of relief, the tightening of his mouth and the light squint in his eyes to hide this moment of weakness out on the battlefield, they all fill me with such immense gratitude for being allowed to use my magic for the healing it was meant for, that the feeling threatens to ruin my concentration. My attention turns to the wounds I'm tending, I sink into the bliss of magic turning into life, my eyes brimming with unshed tears of joy as I close one wound after another. My mind is singing praise to finally following the cleric's path ('yes, take my magic, take all of it and heal!') when the leader suddenly stiffens and tells me to hurry up.
That's when the nightmare takes over. Even in the bright flow of healing bliss, I was already hurrying, and still am, with half of my energy used up. He has so many wounds, even using all my energy will not be enough to heal them all. Being on the battlefield and not in the safety of the team Jack hideout, I prioritized the biggest wounds as soon as I saw him. I sew together wound after wound, as I hear heavy footsteps behind, running closer. The leader keeps telling me to hurry, each time more urgently than the last, finally starting to nudge me aside in the middle of channeling more healing and assuming battle stance. Now he's pushing properly and leaning away from my magic, while I try to fix his leg. Who ever is approaching is only steps away and I turn around unfinished magic filling my hands.
Upon the sight of the Easter Bunny's shiny metal suit I ruin the healing bliss, turn the raw magic in my hand into a destructive one and hurl it towards him, but I'm not channeling it through my sickle like usually and he is so fast. The spell misses like it was aimed at nothing and drains so much of my energy that I could have used for healing. The the big Bunny's metal clad fist bats me aside easily, like I weigh nothing, and I go flying. I land coughing blood and look where our leader strifes with the Easter Bunny, hobbling around on his wounded leg, taking some blows and landing some. I limp closer. They seem evenly matched, at first. But while Easter Bunny entered this fight practically unharmed, Jack started out wounded and with a bad leg. Then, a nasty blow causes his leg to give in and he lands on his back in the bloody, muddy ground.
Even when down, our leader doesn't stop fighting. He crawls backwards to dodge Easter Bunny's strikes, injured leg limply trailing along, punching and kicking with the other leg at any weakness he sees. I'm almost there, when a Bunny mage's spell strikes me down. My hair is singed and my shoulder feels like it's on fire. I look back and see the mage and a group of other Bunnies quickly approaching. The Easter Bunny ignores me as I grit my teeth at the pain and crawl the last few feet to our leader. I use my strongest healing spell to fix the leader's leg and completely drain my remaining energy. I see the surprise on his face when his injured leg suddenly starts working again. And then I'm covered in Bunnies. Stabbed, kicked, burned with magic, I still stay awake to see how the leader kicks his opponent back long enough to get on his feet and dodge the first few Bunnies. I tell him to run. He doesn't get away from the next Bunnies, and the big Bunny is back hounding him. My vision goes black. I hear a group of Jack's getting closer, shouting, telling our leader to hang on, to retreat. I don't know what happens next, because that's when I wake up.
I don't know what causes that dream. There are few minor variations, but that's the basic version. Maybe it's caused by my magical frustration of not being able to heal most of the time. Kind of like a non-sexy wet dream, about healing magic. And the nightmare part... I'm not so sure about that. Guilt, maybe? Caused by abusing my magic for destruction instead of the healing it was meant to do? Do dreams even mean anything? All I know is that Freud would have fun amateurishly picking that one apart.
Signed, Frustrated cleric.
((Note: This turned out a bit more 'shippy' than I originally thought it would. :-/ Made me second-guess how to interpret the character's motivations...))
Frustrated cleric: Wake up and abuse the exp boost
Entry 9
I woke up from my rest and made a few attacks, now I'm level 5. I'd love to write more and all that stuff, but I have Bunnies to gank. And dinner waiting to be eaten, but enough of that. Back into the fight.
Signed, Frustrated cleric.
Frustrated cleric: Be slightly less frustrated
Entry 10
A friendly Jack rogue tipped me off about a spot with plenty of Jacks fighting and needing healers. Good, because I'm apparently getting too strong to manipulate most of the soul traces at my usual camping spot. The soul traces become distorted by the presence of sufficiently powerful magic, preventing my attacks on any Bunnies who are significantly weaker than I am. And after leading some younger Jacks to the prime camping spot, I've had to share even the stronger soul traces that I can still (ab)use for attacking.
So I guess I'll follow the rogue and start healing. I doubt I get to dedicate myself solely to healing, so I better not put down my sickle just yet.
Signed, Frustrated cleric.
P.S. I haven't seen the leader for a while, I probably should stop by at the hideout to check if he needs any healing. The Bunnies give him more trouble than anyone else and yet he never complains...
Frustrated cleric: Rewrite the song stuck in your head
Entry 11
For some reason I have a song stuck in my head, and eventually I changed the words to make it more tolerable. Here's the few lines of the "fine" poetry I composed:
"Heal, heal, gank, heal,
dodge, cast, pwn,
down with Bunnies,
Jack's our boss..."
Signed, Frustrated cleric.
((Original song here: Oxhorn - Tank tank heal tank))
Frustrated cleric: Rest from doing cleric stuff
Entry 12
Dear diary... I am so tired, and so happy. Yes, even in the middle of a war. After hours of healing my brothers-in-arms, I am out of energy. No more do I have the aches I previously did not realize I had. Only in their absence have I noticed the tension and aches caused by casting destructive magic against my calling. This relaxing warmth in my muscles came with the purifying side-effects of repeatedly casting healing magic.
Team Jack hideout feels safe and welcoming in a way it hasn't felt before. I found myself a quiet corner to write in. Soon I will take a short nap, but first I have to eat something. There's a delicious, sweet smell in the air, I think someone has been baking on their break.
I cannot help but wonder... I have finally flushed my systems, both mental and physical, of stagnant healing magic. Maybe my nigthmares are thing of the past now... Who knows? I guess I will find out soon enough.
Signed, significantly less Frustrated cleric.
Frustrated cleric: Get poetic again
Entry 13
I have yet another song stuck in my head, stopping me from sleeping, so I made new words to lure in good dreams.
"Jack is our king,
Jack is our king,
the Easter Bunny must not win,
Jack is our king."
Signed, musically Frustrated cleric.
((This is the reference...))
Frustrated cleric: Slack off
Entry 14
Some time ago I hit a bit of quiet spot in my new spot, so I went back to my old camp and ganked a couple of the Bunnies there. When I got back to the new spot I had healing to do once again. I've hanged around that spot, completely using up my energy several times. Feeling the end of this war getting near, I haven't bothered taking many bigger breaks. I pretty much use magic as soon as I regenerate it, just to get as much xp as possible. The wait to regain my energy is just as frustrating as it was when I was fighting. I truly live up to my self-appointed title.
As for the nightmares, they didn't stop completely. Mostly they just begin and end sooner in the sleep cycle. Some details also shift around a bit more, but the nightmares are no longer a direct continuation on good dreams, more like stand-alone episodes.
Well, I better get back to healing. I'm not sure if I have time to write again before this is over.
Signed, Frustrated cleric.
Frustrated cleric: Steadily approach level up
Entry 15
I am just 8 experience points from level 6. I may be freaking out a little. I didn't expect come this far during this war alone. I've been upgrading my costume every time I have leveled up. I'm already planning what to use next.
Our leader hasn't needed healing any of the recent times I've seen him, but I have plenty to do on the battlefield, healing my fellow-Jacks and ganking Bunnies.
Signed, Frustrated cleric
Frustrated cleric: Dream while awake
Entry 16
The combination of repetitive magical exhaustion, getting wounded and not sleeping is doing strange things to my head. While I remain physically awake and active by fighting or healing, I occasionally have dreams. Literal daydreams, coming and going uninvited and separate from my mind's guidance. It is a curious experience. The plain dreams I do not mind, but the flashes of nightmares when I try to concentrate are a true challenge to my ability focus.
Signed, Frustrated cleric.
Frustrated cleric: Lament
Entry 17
This might be my final entry, for now. The war is over... Halloween Town is destroyed. Jack and Easter Bunny are nowhere to be found, and what we could find in the aftermath of the bomb suggests a grim fate for both of them. My heart aches with worry and sorrow. The guilt isn't helping at all, either: In the last hours of the war, my exhaustion got the better of me and I passed out. That might be the only reason I still live, the reason I wasn't there when the bomb went off.
It seems that my bad dreams may have been some sort of prophetic visions. Their intensity and clarity increased as the war neared its end, and the dream scenarios gradually showed more details of how the final event turned out to look like... In almost all my visions Jack had hurt his eye. I have seen the 'remains', and looks like that part came true before the explosion. With the end of the war my cleric's abilities have gone dormant, waiting for the next time they are needed.
Though my magic sleeps, I still have visions. I don't know if they are prophetic, or just a coping mechanism. Unlike my previous visions, these haven't gradually approached a single version that hints at the conclusion. These visions branch out to different directions, as if mapping out the future of alternative timelines. In most of them Jack and Easter Bunny are eventually found. In some visions they are dead, and receive grand funerals from their followers. In others they live, having escaped together or alone, hiding and licking their wounds in peace, in one particular vision they declare their everlasting romantic hate for each other and proceed to have the most disturbing sloppy make outs imaginable... Sometimes they are rescued, usually by Santa.
I don't know what to think of these new visions, but they do give me hope. Halloween just wouldn't be the same without Jack, and Easter needs the Bunny... Actually, Gaia itself wouldn't be the same without either of those two. Eventhough Easter Bunny was the agressor in this war, I do not want him gone for good. If anything I hope he finds closure and peace of mind, and reforms his attitude as a holiday spirit. He has forgotten that when it comes to being cute, looks might go a long way, but they aren't all there is to it.
Signed, heartbroken, Frustrated cleric.
gojira86 Community Member 
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