Pikeman Archive

Okay, in the swordsman forum one of our newes members made an extremly well written reply to an individual who stated that having a guild which tests its members character before entry was pointless and juvenile.. I have decided to post his response because it does a great job of explaining the guild test.

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"It's.... well, no offense guys, but it's pretty jeuvenile. It sounds like 12 year old boys inventing secret handshakes and code-words. "

Hi, I am a new member of the Heron Order. There is some truth in what you say Romana. The truth is, we are all participating in some form of fantasy when we play a game like SWG. But I am far beyond 12. I was 22 when Star Wars premiered in the theatre. That doesn't mean I am mature though. Taken to an extreme, there are those who would say that anybody playing SWG is childish. So lets go beyond that and assume it's OK to play MMORPGs (maybe this will help open my FS slot). I'll clean my glasses, put on a fresh black T-Shirt, and get back to my point.

Until you have participated in the tests it's very hard to understand how effective they are. I can only tell you that they are very meaningful, and far removed from sophomoric ritual. One can hunt with a person for days and not really know anything about the true nature of one's companion because hunting is a very focused endeavor, with a fairly well-known and expected mode of participation. On the other hand, those that passed these tests didn't even know they were doing it; I am a witness to that, having both undergone it, and having helped to administer it.

The people I have met, and they are but few at this time, in The Heron Order are bright, sensitive, and considerate people. I hope people looking at this 'testing' scenario can applaud it, for it is a good thing in my opinion (its' not just, "Right, you're in !"). In fact, it even steeps one further in the depth of the game; at the point of acceptance one has already achieved a bond of mutual experience with the guild. And this is the very purpose behind any other ritual in modern society: graduation, merit badges, driver's license, degrees, fraternates, sororities, clubs, societies, political parties, etc, ad infinutm. Once you cross whatever threshold has been arranged, you have a common frame of reference, a milestone passed, that you share with those that have gone before. That is a heck of a lot more meangingful than clicking on a message box response to join a guild.

But there is no hidden agenda; in fact the Heron Order is specific to sword wielders, so right up front it is not asking for game-wide participation; it is preferential by design. As I write, I see that I may be trying to distance myself from the notion of being juvenile. Yet... yet, I remember the days of youth with imagined sabres, and swashbuckling, fighting the imaginary bad guys, having secret caves and warrens, secret words, secret signs. I remember them fondly.... I daresay passionately. That's much of what I am here for.

We might just need to get a secret handshake. Set your decoder ring to XX.

Jcxg c pkeg fca !

Argus Mull
Master Weaponsmith/Novice Fencer
~ Order of the Heron ~

//Send Transmission//..

Transmission Origination: Lok

From: Staff Sergeant Baenre (Project: Heron)

Transmission Destination: Rori

To: Colonel Locksteele

Title: Project Heron Weekly Status Report 048

Colonel Locksteele,

The project is coming along nicely, and the cell is nearly formed. The alliance’s suspicions of Imperial activity on Lok seem to be well founded. Though things have grown quiet this week which has left me slightly unnerved. I have decided to extend the patrol parimeters for our L.R.S. Detachment in reaction to this. So far there has not been much of note to report. However four days ago the commander of the Long Range Surveillance Detachment Sergeant Jekk Valant noted that the patrol encountered tracks made by storm trooper armor near waypoint charlie, which is near Nyms Stronghold. They tracked this and came upon a party of 4-5 consisting of one storm trooper without a helmet, a rifleman, and a few others. Using his long range scanners Sergeant Valant was able to identify the storm trooper as the infamous Sev Laurance, and even of more note the rifleman was the famed "Phlegm" of the companions. What is even stranger is that there was no combat between these two. It appeared that "Phlegm" was in a very emotionally distraught state and at one point he threw his laser rifle into the Lokian dust. At which point the infamous Sev Laurance himself actually retrieved this rifle and forced it back into "Phlegms" hand. The patrol did not want to be discovered so the remained at a distance and were not able to pick up any voice communications.

This seems like a very strange occurrence and deserves to be sent to all necessary commanders within the alliance. Is there some kind of alliance forming between the Rebel Phlegm and the Imperial Sev? Is the arrival of Sev Laurance upon Lok in any way connected to the rising imperial activities here? Have the Imperials caught wind of Project Heron? Please pass this on to the intelligence division and reply with any answers they may discover.

Also on a side note other day the patrol tracked a very strange man near the same waypoint. He seemed to be mentally unbalanced and may have a hallucinogenic psychosis of some sort. He frequently spoke to the empty sky and listened as if he was hearing some reply. He broke in multiple anger fits, then just as suddenly would fall into a near comatose apathy. Sergeant Valant believes that he may have seen this mans tracks leading directly into a destroyed Kimogilia nest at waypoint Delta. Very strange happenings here on Lok. There is no way one man could have survived that. Right?

//End Transmission//