had to repost, it got deleted somehow as I was editing it

Thunder boomed in the still Antonican night. Dinaden Gahalantine looked up from the mug he was drying. The gods’ disapproval sounded again, louder. Closer. The clouds burst forth all at once with rain, and the water beat down upon the Jade Tiger with a hiss. Torches burned brightly in their sconces, illuminating the main hall with an orange glow. Shadow danced across wet travellers, just now entering. Business will be good tonight, thought Dinaden. Quickly bored of thoughts of coin, Dinaden’s mind drifted to other things.

A party of adventurers walked in, clad all in steel and laughing boisterously among themselves. One largish man seemed particularly enthused. He waved his hand, still clutching a sword, in the air. Din caught snippets of conversation: “…and did you see?…then I… tumbling to the ground, haha!” “Aye, but then you…with the beer and that…when you…” came the roguish reply. The first man roared even louder with laughter. “Hahahaha, aye, that I did, but…” Din smiled as he dried another mug. Did I sound so foolish in my younger days; was I such a braggart as this? Aye, I probably was, Din decided with a hearty chuckle.

Chipmunk's story is shorter, funnier, weirder, and less fantasy cliche. Basically the short short version is she worked for the CIA in modern times, was part of an experimental program to create more perfect assassins by recombinant DNA therapy (she was zapped with Chipmunk DNA, gained powers of super agility and speed and preternatural accuracy with thrown nuts, and later other projective weapons), things went fine for a while as she used her new Chipmunk powers to blast the bejeezus out of the United States's enemies, then eventually got pissed off at government BS, went rogue, and started blasting the bejeezus on a freelance basis, then eventually became a part time hero when freelance lost its allure, then was captured by the Circle of Thorns, tortured, escaped through a portal, and came to find herself in Azeroth, where even the greatest gnome technology could not replace her love of automatic firearms, so she trained in the next best thing, warlock power! The rest is history, and now you know where she got the name Chipmunk, and the origins of her bloodthirsty and deadly nature.

I was pretty pleased with how Dinaden's retirement story played out

Dinaden walked briskly towards Scarab Freeport Headquarters. The building was in the north business ward, near the bank and many other Freeport businesses. People bustled about, rushing to get to where they were going. His trusty sword was poking him in the back again. Dinaden sighed. With a practiced movement and soft grunt, he carefully adjusted his sword in its harness on his back. It was a fine weapon, and had never failed him in spilling the blood of countless evil monsters, but Dinaden had seen enough blood to last a lifetime.

Part 3: Look Who’s Coming to Dinner

Dinaden stood up. Several people looked up from their food. Clearing his throat, Dinaden addressed the crowd. He remembered Ozzy’s words. They were true. Without the public’s support, even a brutal ruler like Jendl could not rule. Without the slightest hesitation, Dinaden spoke what he knew must be said: “May I have everyone’s attention? Before we get started with the meal, I also would like to give my tribute to Jendl. By your leave, milord.” said Din, trying not to choke as he addressed Lucan with far more respect than he deserved. Lucan peered suspiciously at Dinaden. It would appear rude to deny him the opportunity, and so he said “Of course, Lord Gahalantine, but keep it short, I am hungry.” The assembled dignitaries laughed politely at this.

JT Story, Part Two:

After learning of Jendl’s planned banquet the week before, Dinaden had immediately went to see Luxy and Gyst, two of Scarab’s leaders who were at the time having dinner in the chambers of the Inner Circle of Scarab’s HQ. Using their magic, they contacted Jayfoot. Dinaden knew that Jayfoot could help gather information on Jendl’s plans. Jayfoot had come as quick as he could. Sneaking into the Freeport Militia HQ, Jayfoot had brought back discouraging news. Jendl was guarded by at least a dozen alert and well-armed guards. Besides that, there were magical wards that even Gyst had never before covering Jendl’s personal quarters.

my writing got (slightly) better on later as I continued Din's story much later on in his career, where he was in semi-retirement and having 1 last adventure in Freeport:

The Jade Tiger

Thunder boomed in the still Antonican night. Dinaden Gahalantine looked up from the mug he was drying. The gods’ disapproval sounded again, louder. Closer. The clouds burst forth all at once with rain, and the water beat down upon the Jade Tiger with a hiss. Torches burned brightly in their sconces, illuminating the main hall with an orange glow. Shadow danced across wet travellers, just now entering. Business will be good tonight, thought Dinaden. Quickly bored of thoughts of coin, Dinaden’s minnd drifted to other things.

Since we're doin character stories lately...

I wrote these back in I wanna say between 1999 and 2002, when Din was first created in EQ, then eventually retired and moving on from EQ. Like all heroes, even after he seemed to retire, somewhere along the line he got rejuvenated a bit it seems And yes, Tonto stole the idea of running the Jade Tiger from Din's retirement! At one point I had a sweet pic of Dinaden drawn by Frosty (remember his character art?? dang...) Cant find it anymore, sadly.

Next I will have to write the story of how Dinaden met Chipmunk (when she was the Splendiferous Miss Chipmunk in CoH, or after she went through the Circle of Thorns portal to Azeroth? hmmm), since they are my 2 most important characters.

Its a great game....the latest in the Elder Scrolls series. To give you an idea of the style of game, its the ultimate evolution of Ultima Underworld for those of you that were gaming in the early 90s. The graphics, if you have a good vid card, are just mind blowing. The textures are the best I've ever seen in a fantasy RPG, bar none. Oblivion has excellent voice acting ala KOTOR (including substantial contributions from Patrick Stewart and Boromir...er I mean Sean Bean), and the main plot quest line is MUCH improved over that of Morrowind. Its pretty non-linear, and you can design a custom class character and do whatever you want, in whatever order you want, but there is a good main story quest line also to keep you focused on progressing through the game and beating the game eventually.