Mats dies on page whatever.

[Matsujin]

Hey guys, I haven't spoken to the WFR crew in a while; even before I stopped playing WoW I think we were travelling in very different circles in game. But I've always liked and respected you guys, even though I'm rarely, if ever, involved in any of the RP you've got going on. I know that some of your characters have had interactions with Matsu'jin in the past, so I felt it was important to pop in and tell you that I've decided to kill him off - for good this time.

The truth is that I'm not only done with World of Warcraft, but even when I was still playing, I had the very real sense that Matsu'jin no longer "fit in". I had a lot of fun with him when we were battling the Silithids, raiding Blackrock Spire, and going toe-to-toe with the likes of Zul'jin (even if I had some beef with that particular storyline) and Hakkar: but Matsu'jin doesn't belong in the world that WoW's become. I see no real place for him amongst the ranks of those storming the halls of Ulduar to fight Old Gods and emmisaries of the Titans - he has no stake in those battles, and I have no taste for the in-game killing of dragon Aspects. It's just too epic for me, and Mats was never meant to be about that stuff.

I could just leave him in the jungle, and allow him to just exist somewhere out there, but I think the better option would be for him to die. He's long out-lived whatever purpose he once served, and now I think he needs to go. Kunikiko and I were writing a story when my computer died (which was the final straw that lead me to quit WoW) in which Mats and Kuni enter into a blood pact to take revenge upon the Drakkari for their betrayal of the Loa. In game, Mats was involved in a lot of RP runs into Zul'Drak and the like (he lead Rashona's Hunter in to "gather materials" that he'd need to cleanse her pet's spirit, but the reality was that he was just using her and her allies to gain entry to the well-guarded city, destabilize the power structure, and tear down whatever he could get his hands on).

The story was intended to culminate in Mats and Kuni taking Al'jinda (our resident frost troll) hostage, so they could torture the absolute hell out of him. Mats was going to go first, and really just do horrible things to Al (I mean like rip his lower jaw off so he wouldn't have to listen to Al's "lies" - it'd regenerate later, of course). The whole point here is that Mats knows what he's doing is wrong. He totally understands that Al'jinda had nothing to do with what the Drakkari did to the Loa, but blood must be spilled, regardless -- but once he's finished, he realizes that Al has, in his eyes, fully paid the price for the sins of his people, and he no longer sees a traitor, but his friend instead. And so Mats protects Al'jinda from Kunikiko when she comes to finish him off.

Mats fends off Al as best he can, but Kuni really outmatches him in speed, so she eventually lands a solid tusk to the face, which rips out Mats' eye and is meant to sort of paralell what happened to Ceil in that old storyline. Since Matsu'jin controls his magics by stepping into what he believes is a Dreaming World, without the use of one eye, he can't see that world properly, and his powers go totally out of control. What Kuni and I had decided was that it was going to be this huge blast that knocked her out cold, and allowed Mats and Al'jinda to escape (Mats' eye wouldn't regenerate because he had dishonoured the Loa himself by involving himself in the whole affair, or because Kuni's tusks are the instruments of Shadra or whatever -- could come up with a thousand reasons why it never came back, honestly). But I've decided that that blast is going to literally kill Mats, instead. What happens to Al'jinda and Kunikiko after that is really up to them.

I think we had planned for Kuni to say something like, "I will see you suffer for your treachery" after tusking out Mats' eye, to which he would respond with, "No, you will only see me in Hell," right before the blast. So if anyone's interested in last words or anything, there you go.

I certainly don't want to kill off Mats, but I think it's for the best. And I mean, that's not exactly the way I'd want him to die, but really, few people ever die the way they want to, right?

Thanks again for all of your support and friendship over the years.

And good luck in everything you do.

love,
nathan.