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| Greetings, |
| |
| As most of you know, Kelly, the player begind Lilith/Rae passed away |
| about two months ago. I posted only a short note when it happened and |
| I also created a temporary statue in the memorial garden. As of today, |
| the temporary statue has been replaced by a beautiful permanent marble |
| statue. Thank you so much Varian for creating it. With the finilized |
| statue now in place I also think now is a good time to tell you a |
| little more about who Kelly was and what she did for Genesis. As I did |
| not know her as her mortal Rae, this note will be focused on her life |
| in Genesis as a wizard. Below follows a summary of her time as a wizard |
| as well as some memories/messages from a few of her fellow wizards. |
| |
| Kelly has been a part of Genesis since 1992 and first became a wizard |
| under the name Grace. Even though most of us probably think of Avenir |
| when we think of Lilith she actually started her career in Krynn, |
| where her most notable creation is the Knight's Spur back in 1994, |
| but she also worked on the original Knight's guild. Her time in Krynn |
| was relatively short, though, and she soon joined the brand new Avenir |
| domain that the wizard Tepisch had founded in 1995. Like most things |
| in Genesis, Avenir was coded by many different wizards over many |
| years, but Kelly was instrumental in the early days, both as a |
| programmer/content creator as well as a provider of many ideas and |
| stories for the deep lore and very specific theme Avenir has. |
| |
| In 1996 the wizard Grace was abandoned and replaced by Lilith who |
| spent several years creating content for Avenir, and later she also |
| started maintaining and updating Avenir and neighboring Terel. It's not |
| realistic to try to list everything Lilith made, but it's safe to say |
| that it's hard to take a step in Avenir without running into something |
| she has either created or been part of creating/updating. For example |
| she is the creator of most of the Holm and it's inhabitants, the Mummers |
| of Sybarus and Dancers of the Veil clubs, the Forbidden City, and |
| Melchior's baths. Much of the Shadow Union and it's culture also came |
| from her, and she created several fun things in the Bazaar that |
| most likely all players in Genesis have used at some point. Surely you |
| have asked the butcher over there to make a weird sausage from a corpse |
| you brought in, and surely you've bought one of the iconic medallions |
| with the fun messages from that shady goblin. |
| |
| Lilith did much more than what I have listed above, but despite all |
| her major contributions, one of the things she was the most proud of |
| (according to very reliable sources) was actually quite small in |
| comparison. It was when she convinced the usually stubborn Mercade |
| (he is a dwarf after all) to add support for a "You have defeated"- |
| message instead of the usual "You killed"-message. This way, players |
| could win over NPCs in a fight without actually having to kill them. |
| It's for example used when you defeat the khopesh-wielding Dej Minha |
| in Avenir. |
| |
| Lilith was gone from Genesis between 2009 and 2014, and when she |
| returned she continued her work in Avenir and Terel. She also spent a |
| couple of years in the AoP team during this time. More recently she was |
| liege of both Avenir and Terel and updated a lot of old code as well as |
| creating new areas. For example, she rebuilt Fort Sybarus and created |
| the new catacombs under the Isle of the Dead. |
| |
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| Rae and I (Layn at the time) were both mortal knights of Solamnia. I |
| was in the conclave with Dordon and Solace, and Rae was one of the |
| more prominent senior knights of the day. |
| |
| One day, while standing around at the crossroads at the south end of |
| Vingaard Keep (none of which really led anywhere at the time) a |
| stranger ran up to me and introduced herself as Grace. She was not in |
| any guilds, but was either a veteran (which was the second highest |
| mortal level of the time) or maybe a small champion (champion being |
| the highest mortal level). |
| |
| At the time, once champions became large enough in stat average, a |
| scroll would appear in their inventory. A "wiz scroll". That was how |
| Genesis got their wizards at the time, you just used the scroll once |
| your character had mastered enough of the game to be of sufficient |
| size. |
| |
| Well, Grace immediately told me that she was in fact Rae. She had run |
| through a bunch of quests over the past few days, but had been unable |
| to get big enough to earn a wiz scroll and she really wanted to wiz |
| without losing Rae. So, she asked if she could have my wiz scroll |
| instead. |
| |
| Which I was happy to do. And moments later, Grace had been accepted |
| into the wizard ranks. Grace eventually changed her name to Lilith, |
| but I always remember being part of that very first step in her |
| long and productive wizard career. |
| |
| Varian |
| |
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| Lilith was among our finest crafters of lore and stories and her |
| fingerprints are subtly visible in many places in Genesis. She started |
| her wizard life in Krynn as Grace where she was involved in the |
| creation of many things, which unfortunately has been forgotten due |
| to time. As one of the early wizards who coded for Genesis that did |
| not have an academic background associated with programming, Lilith's |
| probing of the framework that holds Genesis together resulted in at |
| times hilarious results and other times disasterous results. Some of |
| the early oversights that would have never occurred to seasoned |
| programmers were discovered by Lilith -- a distinction among Genesis |
| wizards that she has confessed to be mildly amused by. She was heavily |
| involved in the creation of the lore for the Dragon Order when it was |
| decided that the Kahedans and old Roke domain (now Cadu) were to be |
| closed. If someone needed to rephrase a description or find a suitable |
| word to describe something, she was always there to help. Most recently |
| Lilith completed some items in Terel that had been left uncompleted |
| for over a decade when she took over as liege of the domain. |
| |
| Of course Lilith will always be best remembered for her work in Avenir, |
| an original domain that has no source material to draw from. As the |
| "Vice Hegemon of Sybarus" she oversaw the creative consistency in the |
| domain and coded a good portion of the domain herself. If you ever |
| wondered where balloon figurines in Genesis came from, look no further |
| than the bazaar in the city of Sybarus in Avenir. Those flirty emotes |
| available to the Dancers of Veil were created by Lilith as well. Next |
| time you wipe lipstick off your face that remained after a sultry kiss, |
| remember she made that possible in Genesis. |
| |
| Lilith's contributions to Genesis are numerous and especially visible |
| in some areas that desperately needed a lady's touch. She will be |
| sorely missed. |
| |
| Ckrik |
| |
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| It feels like forever ago that I first came to know Lilith. It was in |
| a way that one comes to know something "more" than. I was a new player |
| in 1996, the year the Lilith became a wizard, and all wizards were |
| something undeniably scary. |
| |
| I was young, 14 or 15 at the time. I had found a bug that resulted in |
| me getting in trouble. I think it was Mercade who spoke to me and |
| reprimanded me for exploiting a bug. I also recall Lilith saying |
| something along the lines of "clever" in a way that only Lilith could. |
| |
| While I knew she did not condone of the exploiting of this bug, she |
| saw something in me that I would not see in myself for a long while. |
| A bit of cleverness, some ingenuity, some panache. Lilith had the |
| ability to see the best in others and, if one was willing, she would |
| help anyway she could. |
| |
| Fast foward many years to when I was an established mortal. I played |
| a character named Aimee. I was also going through a tough time in my |
| life and was trying to find myself. I spoke often with Lilith on MSN |
| messenger. We became friends and she helped me through some difficult |
| times just by being an ear to listen and provide some advice without |
| any judgement. There are many people responsible for who I am today, |
| and Lilith is one of them. |
| |
| Lilith was a passionate, dedicated and fiercly loyal friend. She |
| was creative and talented and had the ability to come up with unique |
| ideas to make the worlds of Genesis rich. |
| |
| I was fortunate enough to get to meet Lilith in person last year. We |
| had lunch and talked about old times and current times in Genesis. |
| She was kind, generous, and funny. I am thankful to have had this |
| opportunity as she is one of those truly genuine people that you are |
| thankful for having had the opportunity to know. |
| |
| As I sit here and write these personal experiences that, I hope, help |
| to illustrate the impact Lilith had on folks she encountered within |
| this virtual world since she began playing in 1992, I am sad and |
| thankful. Sad that her presence is gone from this world and thankful |
| that she was a part of it. I am sad that others will not get to |
| experience speaking with her, but thankful she will live on in the |
| hearts of those who knew her, as well as immortalized within the |
| countless contributions she has made to Genesis. |
| |
| Thank you Lilith, thank you Rae, and most of all thank you Kelly. |
| You will be deeply missed. |
| |
| Tim/Mirandus |
| |
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| Lilith was a singular persona in the long and storied history of |
| Genesis, and I am very sad at her passing. The briefest description I |
| could imagine for her is simply the word, "Formidable." She was gifted |
| with wicked smarts, infectious wit, bold style, voracious creativity, |
| grand vision, and profound and varied interests. |
| |
| Her contributions to what Genesis has become over the years would be |
| nearly impossible to fully list, for while she herself created vast |
| amounts of vivid and distinct content, much of her impact has always |
| been dynamic, and related to the way she works among the people. |
| |
| As both a mortal and a wizard, she felt deeply for the concept that |
| players were the smartest and most valuable part of the game |
| community, and deserved to be given the tools and agency to realize |
| their potential and promise. Her approaches were, quite often, |
| controversial and polarizing. Even so, in the end I will always call |
| Genesis a much richer place for her work and her ways. She is unlike |
| anyone else who has been here. We will not see her like again. |
| |
| Farewell, Friend of the Donut. |
| |
| Gorboth |
| |
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| I did not know Lilith personally, but this is what I would say to her |
| if I could: |
| |
| Your work is a magnificent legacy to inspire and challenge creators |
| never to settle for "good enough". You have set the bar where it |
| belongs: the heavenly Source. |
| |
| With eternal gratitude, |
| |
| Santetra |
| |
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| My favorite Lilith memory is this excerpt from the header of the |
| web-cloth body stocking file that Lilith created: |
| |
| * Revisions: |
| * Lilith, May 2004: Took TORSO off the set_at list. I don't know who |
| * added it there, but if I find TORSO in this file |
| * again, I am going to break someone's fingers. |
| |
| From /d/Avenir/common/city/obj/stocking.c |
| |
| (The body-stocking, as most of you know, does not cover a person's |
| breasts). |
| |
| Tapakah |
| |
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| It's somehow both chilling, and beautiful in a way, that one of Kelly's |
| last creations for Genesis was a quest where the player gets to meet |
| the Sybarite god of death - Mascarvin. |
| |
| You sadly ended up meeting Mascavrin much too early Kelly, and even |
| though you are no longer with us, your creativity will always amaze |
| and inspire new generations of players and wizards as long as Genesis |
| exists. |
| |
| Ectios Kelly, |
| Cherek/Magnus |
| |
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