Cogito Ergo Sum Rabidus

Makris Tor. His was a name that struck fear in the hearts of grammarians and evil-doers alike.

I first met the stout Lugian when exploring the vault near the remains of the Ithanec Cathedral. He was a mighty warrior, but also something of a philosopher. Though, it was sometimes hard to tell what he was getting at. Though elegant in his own dialect - some obscure Lugian tongue - his fluency in the more common tongues left much to be desired.

Nevertheless, Makris was a great philosopher. Or he was crazy. Perhaps both.

His view of the physical world was that it was not real as you and I know it to be, but some imaginary world where beings from some other "real" world played out an alternate life. For these other beings, this is but a playground or a retreat of some sort. These other beings control our every action and when they disengage from our world, we cease to exist.

Yes, I laughed too, the first time I heard Makris talk of such things. But now . . .

Well, it's something to think about.

Makris called the being that controlled him, "Player." Player was a cruel god, who constantly tormented Makris.

He forced Makris to plunge headlong into combat where there was no chance for victory. He paralyzed the hefty warrior at moments of peril, leaving him at the mercy of whatever roaming beasts happened upon him.

He made the poor Lugian speak in strange tongues about devices and magicks called "veedeo cards" and "rams" and "boards of keys."

Many other vestiges of madness did Makris's cruel god leave upon him, but even so, Makris reverenced this strange deity.

He prayed often to Player. Sometimes, he prayed for release from his strange maladies and other times, he would pray for the well being of his companions. I am not sure that Player heard his prayers, but if He did, such a cruel being must have delighted in the poor Lugian's suffering.

Player was not the only inhabitant of Makris's other realm. I remember gathering for some small quest when Makris began lamenting the loss of so many of his companions to vile demons. The demons all had strange unpronounceable names, like "Afk," "RL," and "Brb." Makris occasionally claimed to be possessed by such demons himself. One in particular that I found amusing was a strange malevolent force of the other "real world" that apparently caused great distress to Makris. He called this malicious magic, "Lag," and claimed that it interfered with the very fabric of time and space and was the cause of many unexplained deaths.

Makris Tor has long since left this world. Perhaps he has gone on to that "real" world, or perhaps he has merely returned to the shelters.

Every now and then, when I plunge head long into battle with creatures that I would not normally attack, or when I sit for long periods of time, with no apparent ability to move, or even speak, I wonder if perhaps Makris Tor was right all along. Are we some puppets of the evil god Player?

Well, I don't really think so. But I do think that Makris should have stayed away from the Mucor Mushrooms.

As Player might say, "Lol."

Whatever that means.