Memorium NPC Request: Umbra Midnight

[Kistulot]

Hello everyone. This post is about somewhat of a serious, solemn topic. It's one I wouldn't have even made if not for how many times I heard a recurring thought yesterday and I'm trying to do my best to lead the charge in this situation as much as possible.

 

Ursula Renee Mallory, played by @Eildath, was a very important interaction for a lot of people on Everlasting who roleplayed. She did content, too, everything from, well, every Trial, TF, and Raid you can imagine! (If I'm not mistaken she did lots of Labrynths, I was there for plenty of Hamidons, and she was always happy for the WST!)

 

Yesterday the community found out that on the 7th of December, Eildath passed. It was a sudden, unexpected event. Those who knew them, hung out with them regularly, knew that over the course of the year they were experiencing more and more illnesses bad enough it prevented them from even wanting to use discord. Even still, whenever they were well enough they were there, a part of the roleplaying community on Everlasting, positive, warm, and welcoming to everyone they could be.

 

More than once yesterday I heard so many people saying that @Eildath was helpful and kind to them when they didn't even know anything about the game. They were helpful with people needing to learn the mechanics, people needing to learn about the community, and as a social butterfly with angel wings, their character knew, or was recognized, by so many.

 

Having her there, to many people, was something warm. Comforting. It was a little sign of the community being okay. It was the knowledge that even if you didnt play for a month, or a year, they'd be there and just as happy to roleplay with you...

 

...only now, Eildath is gone, and they wont be logging back on.

 

Unfortunately, we have confirmation that this is not a prank faking-their-death sort of situation. Their facebook was found (used the same name, Eildath, and the same Sinistar pic they used on discord) and then, so was their obituary. They were 47 years old. Far too young to go how they did, when they did, and they had so many stories left to tell, so many more lives still to touch..

 

That's why I'd like to ask the Devs, and others to support the call, to add Ursula Mallory's heroic persona, Umbra Midnight, to the game as a memorial NPC.

 

Sticking her somewhere visible yet out of the way in Pocket D would suit--maybe behind the bar in the PVP area of pocket D (she did spend no small time as a bartender for The Stormcage where she touched so many lives by remembering running gags, welcoming people, and being generally amazing) but an alternative might be in Founders Falls, on top of the ring surrounding Infernal and Numina, crouched down, glowering at Infernal.

 

In her lore they had a not-so-serious beef (nothing that broke Infernal's lore, it was a response to a demonic possession, etc, basically showing up to an alert in the area)  and I think it might be a cute way for people to be able to visit her, be told about her, without being in an area that might cause distress to those who miss Eildath and all of the joy they brought so many.

 

Please, if you interacted with Eildath even just once, support this post, share it around.

 

They loved this game, and they loved this community.

 

Let's make sure no one ever forgets them.

 

Let's make Ursula Mallory, Umbra Midnight?

 

Immortal.

[Rudra]

There is already a memorial on the Fallen but not Forgotten forum where members like that are supposed to be commemorated.

https://forums.homecomingservers.com/forum/70-fallen-but-not-forgotten/

 

[Indystruck]

It was so heartwarming to see that almost everyone who showed up the vigil at least could identify the character when mentioned and that so many had a just a little story to tell that had brightened their day at some point. I spent some time notifying other communities, and just... it was the same thing, everywhere. Everyone had a story, everyone had a positive outlook. I am going to miss them, and also, yes, please.

[Laucianna]

I personally think this would be a wonderful and kind thing for the Homecoming team to do 💛 My full endorsement

[Light Edge]

Even though I knew @Eildath / Umbra Midnight closely for the last year and a half, it was every bit as amazing as it was heartwarming to see just how much of the Everlasting community showed up during the 14+ hour vigil in front of city hall yesterday to share their stories/memories of our departed friend, to offer sympathy, and show support. Every player we lose is a tragedy, but this is one of those losses that's being felt across so much of our community on Everlasting. While @Eildath is gone, it would be wonderful if their character could live on somewhere in NPC form, as a lasting memorial to a friend and person who touched so many hearts in this community.

[StormyWeather]

I've known them since the beginning of Homecoming, all on the same character.  Ursula, the character, was  a fixture in the D and for a long time, a bartender on the club scene.  It felt like everyone knew her and she knew everyone.

 

This feels like a good idea.  Please?

[Sierra]

I agree.  A memorial NPC like this, of a widely beloved player, would be awesome to see.  And well deserved and earned.

[Americas Angel]

I didn't know them personally, but I did know of them. A memorial NPC would be a lovely tribute. 

 

+1

[Super Atom]

Sorry about your loss!

 

A lovely way to let people remember their friend. Yes x100

[Starweaver]

❤️ yes please

 

[biostem]

Maybe they could use a door in Echo Plaza to connect to a sort of "Memorial Hall", which can include such tributes...

[Kistulot]

3 minutes ago, biostem said:

Maybe they could use a door in Echo Plaza to connect to a sort of "Memorial Hall", which can include such tributes...

 

Honestly, I wouldn't particularly mind this either? 🙂 Or they could just be somewhere in Echo Plaza. It is a weird place that doesn't really conform to ordinary reality...

 

...though that said we already have some memorial NPCs, so unless we really lean into that...

[biostem]

Just now, Kistulot said:

...though that said we already have some memorial NPCs, so unless we really lean into that...

My only concern is that, at some point, wouldn't things get a bit... crowded?  I figured if we had a central location for such tributes, and since as an instanced area it could be expanded as needed, it would offer the best of both worlds...

[JuliePhoenix2]

She was so well known and beloved. This would be a wonderful tribute to her memory. 

 

[Kistulot]

25 minutes ago, biostem said:

My only concern is that, at some point, wouldn't things get a bit... crowded?  I figured if we had a central location for such tributes, and since as an instanced area it could be expanded as needed, it would offer the best of both worlds...

I mean there's plenty of room to drop an npc in the world in many places without it being more than 'making the world feel lived in'

[Snarky]

I am sorry for the pain so many are feeling about Eildath’s illness and passing. Perhaps let it be tempered with the knowledge that because the joy that Eildath brought was so great then the depth of loss is equally large. 
 

This does bring up the possibility of a type of memorial for not just Eildath, but for so many who have fallen.  And many more still in the future.  Some place or way to honor the memory of those who are not with us now, but are cared for in our memories.  Maybe even some way we can interact with the memorial.  Sign it with our global, leave something permanent, etc.  

[Kistulot]

Just now, Snarky said:

I am sorry for the pain so many are feeling about Eildath’s illness and passing. Perhaps let it be tempered with the knowledge that because the joy that Eildath brought was so great then the depth of loss is equally large. 
 

This does bring up the possibility of a type of memorial for not just Eildath, but for so many who have fallen.  And many more still in the future.  Some place or way to honor the memory of those who are not with us now, but are cared for in our memories.  Maybe even some way we can interact with the memorial.  Sign it with our global, leave something permanent, etc.  

Even if there wasnt some way to demarcate that we'd been there?

 

A hall of memories could be neat, too 🙂

[Soahl]

I only knew Eildath for the last year, but I'd seen them around since the first days of Homecoming and honestly... Umbra Midnight was, to me, a fixture of not just the community but the game world. You could always tell when something interesting was going on because those were the few times Ursula wasn't out and about. Her IC presence was like a thermometer for the D and the club scene, and that only became more true when I was lucky enough to find my character in the same SG as her.

I'd love to see the character memorialized somewhere, see that little sign that even if the player is gone, their character's story is still going strong.

[Indystruck]

even if this doesn't go through, if there was just a way to do custom npcs in bases so all of us could do our own little memorial thing, it'd be cool.

[ScarySai]

Custom npc support in bases would be a nice way around the rather robotic suggestion of a "tomb of the unknown soldier" type of thing.

[Indystruck]

yeah this is a game where your main is just a flagship, your banner, and the idea of "nah here's a big rock with no names" just nullifying all the creativity of people who've passed doesn't sit with me. i'd rather get nothing and have the chance to build something in their stead than that

[ScarySai]

It's also a relatively much easier ask to just add an npc or a plaque somewhere every few years than to develop a whole ass tomb.

[Kistulot]

Honestly, some kind of memorial site for all of the heroes who died in the rikti and praetorian wars?

 

Reasonable.

 

But it feels like something a little different for the players who made that lore matter and feel alive is something else entirely.

[WeaponPrime2]

This would be a lovely memorial for Ursie.

[Snarky]

9 hours ago, ScarySai said:

It's also a relatively much easier ask to just add an npc or a plaque somewhere every few years than to develop a whole ass tomb.