Special Letter to Readers

Hello Friends,

This week is monumental in many ways; the most important to our community being the upcoming stormfront.  Crucia has succeeded in her plans and a Queen from a distant land comes to the Telara shores seeking help from the ascended.  I'm speaking, of course, about the expansion that releases early this week.  It may be some time before our hero reaches Dusken, she still has many battles to wage on Telara. (To be clear, when I say Telara, I mean the original continent.  Dusken is still on our planet, but a new and exciting continent across the ocean.)

This is also a very special week for the blog Anneleigh Ascended.  One year ago next week I began writing the stories of a High Elf who experienced ascension at the time of the shade. 

So, instead of writing a new story piece this week, I wanted to highlight some projects  from other creative people who play rift.  I hope visiting them will spark a creativity movement throughout the community.  Stay tuned after the reviews - I've also got an important announcement about Anneleigh Ascended.

Emaranthe has lived and died many times throughout the decades since the Ward was cracked. Her first death, at the hands of the Wanton under the rule of Maelforge the Dragon God of Fire, came when she was a mere 18 years old.

Ascended by the Vigil, she is a gifted Pyromancer, and together with her friends, Ivo and his brother Jaeger...both powerful Warriors, and Jadeth the Elf Cleric whose healing is the best in all the land, they vow to free the enslaved and drive back the Cults of Dragons of the Blood Storm and keep them from taking over Telara.  (From the Youngest Ascended)

 

The Youngest Ascended is a fan-fiction backstory writen by the author Cheryl Mackey.  About two months after I began my story, I became aware of her blog after seeing a post on the official forums.  She has been writing the story of Emaranthe for some time now - her original ad was in August of 2011.

 

My next favourite creative piece is an official forum post with some fantastic 3D renderings of Rift characters. Kristafee's Rift Art.  She has since moved on to starwars, but you can see her artwork on the forums or her  DeviantART site.

A plug now for my second project - this time from the defiant point of view.  Not a pure RP blog, Eldritch Vanguard is a Lore and History analysis, designed to seek out truths in otherwise obscure passages of lore.  Very new, Eldritch Vanguard is my way of seeing the other side of the Factional wall.

 

Another storygal, and one I'm particularly proud of, is Verhysa at Tales of Ascension.  In this creative writing journal, Verhysa records not only the actions and story of her new Guardian Raenyn, but also her thoughts and feelings on the game itself, history tidbits, and news.   Verhysa, or Nightfever as you may know her, plays on Faeblight, and is an active member of the RP community.

 

Moving into the slightly less creative, more news side, my favourite Rift News site is Heralding the Ascended, though I get most of my Rift news from the official forums or podcasts.  Check out Rift Reporter, produced by fellow Faeblighters Chris and Sallennia. There are several other podcasts I haven't had a chance to listen to yet, but if you are interested, search RIFT in Itunes.

Basically, what I'm trying to say by highlighting all of these great people is - Get Your Rift Creativity Flowing!  Take a chance, start a project, and put it out there for the community to see.  Rift is new (relatively speaking), but our community is already top shelf.  We just need a few more creative bodies to bring it to life outside the game.

Now, I promised a special announcement about Anneleigh Ascended.   Meet Gwenllian, a Dwarven Mage.  Starting next week, and ever second week from then onward, I will be posting her story alongside Anneleigh's.  (don't worry, Anneleigh's story will still be weekly)

Headstrong and stubborn, Gwenllian is a 15 year old ascended who was not chosen by the Vigil to commune with them in stasis for 20 years.  She instead returned to her family and must seek out her own path in assisting Telara. 

Over the course of a year, I have come to many conclusions; Anneleigh, the High Elf, does not mix well with Dwarves; her story would not bring her into Moonshade; she would never visit Ember Isle, or would do so only as an outsider.  When I created Linny, she almost instantly became my favourite character for roleplay.  Her story helped flush out my other characters, and hers stands out most prominently in my mind.    I believe strongly in the idea that the Dwarves must be the ones to take back Hammerknell, and that is what she will try to do.

I don't want to say more right now - my characters are begging me for some play time - must hit 50 before Tuesday! - so I'll see you next week for not one, but two stories!