Salutations, friend! If you’re reading this, I assume you’re either a FESSer or someone who wishes to join the Fire Emblem Sanctuary of Strategy. Or perhaps you’re one of my colleagues—an old veteran who’s been here (or had been here) for years, ever since the “good old days.” Either way, this history will prove quite useful for you. If you’re a newbie, reading this account will fill you in on many of FESS’ most prominent personalities, acquaint you with its distinctive culture and structure, and familiarize you with its important rules and regulations. If, on the other hand, you’re one of my old comrades, even one who no longer frequents the board much anymore, this history will provide you with a recap of nearly everything, good and bad, that we experienced during our time here. Heck, you may find yourself reliving a few fond memories as you peruse my work! Anyways, that’s enough of an introduction. Let’s start from the beginning, 3 long years ago, at least of June 2005, as I began writing this…



I must start off with a warning: up until December 30, 2002, I am running mainly off of my own memory in constructing this history. Proboards has an annoying habit of regularly purging old threads, which means information from the very first days of FESS can be found only in my notoriously cloudy head. I truly regret that I cannot show you the glories of Old FESS firsthand. Fortunately, however, many of my old friends have better memories than I do, and have helped me extensively in crafting this History. I have credited them appropriately when I am quoting from their recollections (stating whether they were given to me on AOL Instant Messenger [AIM], LiveJournal [LJ], or whatever), although mere words could not do justice to immeasurable ways in which they have improved this work. I should note, though, that I have taken the liberty of correcting any small typos or grammatical errors I found within any chat transcripts I use, since I thought it would be needlessly petty to present serious conversations marred by the small mistakes everyone makes when typing. I have also softened a few dialogues concerning sensitive matters so as to keep this History respectful and inoffensive. Finally, as is obvious from the wisdom and intelligence of my contributors and the patience with which they have dealt with me in the course of my writing, all omissions, errors, and assorted mistakes that may be present in this work are entirely my own.

Anyways, from what I do remember, and from what others have told me, the beginnings of FESS were actually rather unassuming. You see, a game called Super Smash Brothers Melee had recently been released in the U.S. This game featured two characters from Fire Emblem, Marth from FE1/3 and Roy from FE6. This sparked great interest in FE, and soon, rumors would be floating about that FE6 would be released in the U.S. At this time, the two founding members of FESS, Mr. Captamzai and Mr. TerranigmaFreak, were active members of GameFAQ’s various Fire Emblem boards. Soon, they caught wind of rumors Fire Emblem 6 would be coming out in the U.S. Lamentably, these rumors would prove to be false, but they seemed quite credible at the time, so Mr. TerranigmaFreak thought creating a site before everyone else did would be a good idea. As he said himself,



“I was thinking about making a site for FE6 since rumors were that the game's coming to the US . I figured it would be cool to have a site up with tons of info before everyone else.” (AIM chat)



He soon made a thread at GameFAQs asking for help—“I asked for someone with HTML skills. Cap said he'll help me, and bam.”

Ironically enough, TF didn’t want to have a forum at the very beginning, since as he said at FESS, “The boards were made by Cap; I was actually against it thinking no one would ever be there anyway. Kind of pointless to have a forum with just 2 or 3 people you know. But soon, FESS grew bigger than I could ever imagine.”



That was essentially it. Captamzai recollects much the same happening, saying “I was bored back then...Grade, like, 6-ish. Too much time on my hands [unlike now]. I knew how to make a site. He [TF] wanted to make a site. GameFAQs thread, boom boom, bam. Bascially he made a thread asking for help on the site, and I offered. Anyhow, we made the site, but after a bit, I couldn't stand not having a forum, so I made one.” He also states how important SSBM was for the early site, saying, “I got into FE because of it! No me = no fess...TF might have found another one to make a forum, but it might not be the same, eh? I'm also pretty sure it brought at least 50-75% of the initial fan base” (AIM chat).



Those were the humble beginnings of what would later grow to be the greatest Fire Emblem site in the English fandom. TF’s site would become known as “The Mamkute from 20,000 Fathoms,” and its forums would soon follow it. As Captamzai told me in our chat, on June 29th, 2002, 12:59 A.M, the Fire Emblem Sanctuary of Strategy, or FESS, was born.

I should note here that the original name of our forums was simply “Fire Emblem: Sword of Seals.” This was because the site and forums were originally created in anticipation of the game being released in America . When it became apparent no release was forthcoming, however, and the forums grew beyond one game, the site was known as the Fire Emblem Education Center for a short while. Eventually, however, Captamzai held a small contest with suggestions for names, and one choice he liked was “Sanctuary of Strategy.” Lamentably, this occurred before the cutoff limit for Proboard’s purges, but I can provide you with what Cappy told me himself:

“nuppo99: My second question is: Why were the forums called FESS in the first place?







Cappy: Fire Emblem Sword of Seals xD That was the original name.







nuppo99: Ahhh, I see...







Cappy: however, since our board expanded to cover MORE than just that game, I put forward a SHIT load of suggestions, one of which was Sanctuary of Strategy, and people liked that, so it stuck.







nuppo99: Ahhhh, I see! ^_^







Cappy: I remember having a post with a LONG list of 'SS' XD







nuppo99: XD”



At the time, Fire Emblem was virtually unknown outside of Japan , and thus, FESS would remain very small for quite a while. I do not believe it can claim to be the first FE community on the web—as I recall, someone by the name of RukesRiese maintained a small Fire Emblem mailing list of sorts. There were also a few decent English sites out there for people to peruse—RukesRiese’s was rather good (check it out here: http://members.aol.com/rukesriese/fe/ ), and a man by the name of Ray Chien had some nice script translations of FE4. Also, I think our very own Lord Alvein had a small Fire Emblem 5 website called 'The Golden Leaf!' I do believe FESS was the first actual message board in the English language that was dedicated to Fire Emblem, however. As an interesting coincidence, there was a Japanese board preceding it also called FESS—the Fire Emblem Secret Society (which is gone now). The name is just a coincidence, though, since our board was originally named after the Sealed Sword videogame and later morphed into Sanctuary of Strategy. In any case, the board was quite tiny at first. According to TF and Captamzai, only a few people were there—Mr. Eaichu arrived about a day or so after the board’s inception, Alvein was there for a while, and so was Juigi Kario. These are names you’ll grow familiar with as we go along.



Anyways, the board grew quite slowly. It took some time for FE fans to find out about the place on their own. We eventually found our way, however, and over time, FESS found itself with a lively, vibrant community. I shall name for you the most prominent members of FESS during this idyllic time, the period between June 29, 2002 and June 16, 2003. During this near-year, FESS was graced by the presence of such people (in no particular order) as Princess Paola, proprietor of the Dragon Tier (an excellent FE3 website), Prince Marth (Paola's then-boyfriend), the esteemed Eaichu, Prince Alvein, TogeKid, Bloody Deity, Synthetic, Gamersara, Iris, Insane Zero, Animarth, Dark Twilkitri, “Claudius,” Coolmario, Chainy, Dtheaterfan, Juigi Kario, Chris Kern, AceNoctali, Nobaka, Phlogistic, Seti, Skzero, Stahn Dunamis, Diedrupo, Darth Tasuki, Kyuusei, Yume, Bardiche, CheekyChiki, and, in all likelihood, many other people my wretched memory has decided to forget. Last and certainly least is myself, Gunlord.



Now that I’ve introduced you to a few characters of this particular “era,” I’d like to describe it to you in greater depth. As I have said before, I have little to give you other than what my fuzzy memory can provide, but even it should be able to come up with a few useful tidbits of information.



In terms of organization, the old FESS was as loose as you could get. It differed considerably from the way it looks today. At the very beginning, there was no “Craziness Domain.” Only after the General boards began to get more cluttered did Cap create a “Craziness Domain” for people to have fun and spam. Also, we used to have a “Celebrations” board, but this was deleted because the Craziness Domain could be used for essentially the same purpose. The RPG board also didn’t come until later, when a few people who were having fun “fighting” in a few threads thought a forum where you could actually have battles and things like that would be a cool addition to the forums. There was no Philosophy Forum either—the General board handled most discussions of that caliber. It also handled introductions and such, which was why there was no Introductions Board at the Old FESS. Finally, the General Board also handled much of what would go into the Anime/Fanart and Other Games forums at Modern FESS. The Fanfic forum was also absent, coming into existence under the guidance of Ms. Summerwolf and Ms. Iris during the creation of Modern FESS on Invisionfree. Most fanfics were actually housed in the RPG section of Old FESS after it was created. Indeed, admittedly, this section of the board was something of an unmoderated wasteland—the fics posted were generally terrible, and people made threads that should have gone elsewhere but instead languished unmoved in the RPG forum. Only until Superbus came along did it see any semblance of real moderation, and even then not much. What wasn’t completely stupid was often funny and creative, however, as many of the lasting threads in there proved. There were many entertaining battles and duels, so the board at its best could almost be considered a second Craziness Domain. This is much the same at Modern FESS, which is why posts in the RPG board there don’t count towards your post count, just like in the CD. Many other structures we take for granted today also didn’t exist back then—there was no Spriting board, Introductions board (Members introduced themselves in the General board), Consoles subforum in the Other Games board, or even a Seima no Kouseki board, since that game hadn’t even been announced in the time of Old FESS! (I am indebted to Eaichu for this information) As you can probably guess from its organization, old FESS was very lax about its rules—there were few that were really enforced. In the general board, you could talk about pretty much anything you wanted. Wandering off-topic was no serious offense, and many discussions in the FE4 boards found themselves turning into morality debates on homosexuality or incest (I actually have a few mini-papers of those debates saved on my hard drive!). For anything that was REALLY spammy, you could send it off to the Craziness Domain and have fun with it there. It is also important to note that Old FESS was MUCH less stratified than Modern FESS. There was no Veteran group or GEOS group, and moderating was almost non-existent—TF and Captamzai, the administrators, rarely flexed their muscles, and the few mods they did appoint (Alvein, Juigi Kario, Coolmario and Paola were the first) really didn’t do much either. They certainly didn’t have to, since things at FESS were quite peaceful in those days. Perhaps the starkest indication of this was the fact that “guest” posting was allowed at Old FESS—you didn’t even have to register to participate in the community, although doing so obviously gave you many benefits, such as recognition, an avatar, a signature, and other such boons.

If you’d like a first-hand look at the Old FESS, please go here: http://fessforum.proboards11.com/index.cgi

This is the original FESS, the old Proboards many of us grew to love. Although at this point, most of the old archives have been deleted by Proboards, you can still look at everything since December 30, 2003, I believe (as of this writing—who knows what more Proboards will erase?). As an aside, I should point out that Captamzai had no particular reason for choosing Proboards as the home of his forums. As he told me, “I was already on several forums on proboards, so it was just, ‘oh, I’ve been there, so why not use it to make my own?” (AIM conversation) It was a matter of familiarity, little more. Anyways, if you’d like to get a better idea of what, exactly, I’m going to be talking about, take a look through this board’s archives, and lose yourselves in the dusty memories of better days long gone by.



I really do have many fond recollections of this time, which perfectly illustrate the warm, friendly atmosphere of Old FESS. New members would often be greeted on AIM, and Mr. Eaichu and Mr. Alvein were the first ones to give me an IM. During some of our first conversations, we took to speaking “ghetto-ese” with each other, so Alvein decided to make a thread challenging me to a “rap-battle.” Unfortunately, it took a while for the thread to come to my attention, so by that time, he had taken to combating Ms. Chiki instead. Despite my tardy arrival, good times were had by all, and it was pretty fun.



The Old FESS, during the “Good old days,” was quite small, as I’ve mentioned, as thus, many of its common visitors had formed a very friendly, tight-knit community. Indeed, it wasn’t just a place to talk about FE, but almost like a home, a place where you could relax, unburden yourself of your troubles, and let your friends listen to your woes. An example of this would be when Ms. Paola made a thread in the General board describing her troubles with people at school. A message board is not usually the first thing you’d think about when you’re looking for a few sympathetic ears, but as I recall, the board regulars offered their condolences and sympathies to Ms. Paola, and even I, a newbie at the time, lent her a few kind words (that contributed to my past reputation of being a somewhat kind man). To a large extent, Old FESS wasn’t just a message board, but a place where people could associate with each other not just as gamers, but as friends. Today, many great friends have met each other through the forums at Invisionfree, so this is a quality that perseveres, to at least some extent, in our Modern FESS.



As I have mentioned above, there was no Philosophical forum at Old FESS, so high-quality discussion had a habit of springing up virtually anywhere on the board. An example of this would be the debate that sprung up between Ms. Paola and myself on the Monshou no Nazo (Fire Emblem 3) board concerning the proper romanization of Marth’s holy sword. I said it should be Falcion, while Ms. Paola maintained it should be Falchion, because historically, the Falchion has had a reputation as a dragon-slaying weapon. Both of us brought our knowledge of linguistics and history to bear, and an enriching discussion was had by all. The same thing could be said of a thread concerning Ares in the FE4 section of the board. The son of Eltoshan is commonly called Ares, however, Ms. Summerwolf and others maintained he should be called Aless, due to the fact that his personality is nothing like the Greek god of war’s. Thus, we had another historical debate, with me taking the position that the character’s statistics merited him being called “Ares,” while Ms. Summer said that his wisdom and kindness called for a softer name like “Aless.” Both of these debates were friendly, reasonable, and pleasant for everyone involved. This legacy of stimulating yet amiable discussion is something our present-day administration works to preserve in our Philosophy forum.



As one looks at Modern FESS, he sees a wide variety of amusing, idiosyncratic customs, in-jokes, and indeed, individual personalities cropping up here and there across the board. All of us know about the troublesome Hurt and Heal topics, we all know Dark Millenia is a Nooru fangirl, DilbertSchalter is our “Pontificating Liberal,” CO Raptor provides us with our Mecha Generals, etc. etc. etc. Well, the denizens of Old FESS had many of these eccentricities as well. Allow me to document a few of them.

One of our founders, TerranigmaFreak, was a pretty zany guy himself. Aside from running the "Mamkute from 20,000 Fathoms," he also had a website called Sigurd's Pants, the name of which alluded to his fixation on the legwear. You can see it <a href="http://www.angelfire.com/ny3/firemblem/pants.htm">here</a>. Also, some FESSers appropriated 'holy weapons' for themselves (a la Fire Emblem 4; for instance, I was known for throwing about the Gungnir) and his was called the "Holy Toilet Plunger." Our TF was quite a character indeed.



Many old FESS veterans had their own distinctive quirks that even I manage to remember. For instance, two respected members, TogeKid and CheekyChiki, used to be called “The Twin Talkers of Doom and Agony.” This was because every week, once Friday rolled around, they would engage one of their legendary “Posting Frenzy Fridays,” where they would essentially post as fast and profligately as possible, drenching the entire Craziness Domain in hilarity. It is easy to see how they acquired their nicknames!

PrinceLeaf and I also got along quite well. We had something of a running joke between us—in a FESS chat one day (more on FESS chats later) I joked about getting “high on life,” and when Leaf heard of this wonderful new drug, he instantly asked me to “Pass the bong, yo.” Back in the day, whenever Prince Leaf and I wandered into a FESS chat, it would soon be filled with exclamations of “Puff, puff!” and “Pass the bong yo!”



Another notable personality still haunts FESS to this very day—everybody’s favorite Lord Frumpygrumps! Back at the Old FESS, DarkTwilkitri was as indispensible as he is today, helping Eaichu with his Fire Emblem 4 English patch, as well as the various FE4 FESSer patches that came out! His skill at hacking, parsing, and otherwise modifying FE games was and still is unparalleled, and he was just as valuable back then as he is now.

Another important member was Mr. Diedrupo, who has been long absent from FESS. While he was here, however, he provided the community with much information on the Japanese games and the Japanese fandom. His contributions were invaluable to our message board, and his efforts will always be remembered with fondness by the fandom.

Yet another respected member was Mr. Seti, who would rise to become a moderator at Modern FESS. He had something of a blunt and abrasive personality, so it was easy for people who didn’t know him well to take him the wrong way. However, his peerless intellect, grasp of common sense, and knowledge of videogames would soon win them over, and even today he is one of FESS’ most esteemed Veterans.

A rather strange member was Juigi Kario. First off, I would hasten to note that he really did contribute at least a little bit to the Fire Emblem fandom—he wrote many Fire Emblem FAQs and did some particularly notable work for Fire Emblem 1 on the NES. He also did some good work for FESS, as he was one of the very first moderators promoted. However, he had a rather abrasive personality which made him unpopular at FESS. He would often harass his friends on AIM, bombarding them with odd questions about various video games or his petty problems on GAMEFAQs. Nowadays, he no longer visits FESS very much, and few lament his departure. Still, despite his eccentricities, he does deserve credit for the little good he’s done this board.



A far more popular and respected moderator was Ms. Kyuusei! She was promoted after Paola and with Gamersara. She was Canadian, and very proud of that heritage! She was also extremely knowledgeable about the Fire Emblem games, Sword of Seals in particular. As an aside, she was a great fan of the Noah/Fir pairing (along with the Lyn/Rath pairing in FE7). She also played a lot of the other Fire Emblem games, and her love of FE4 led to a funny in-joke between her, Summerwolf, and Iris. Back in the old days, she was known as the “Cute, seme part of the Finn, Lachesis, and Eltoshan threesome,” because Summerwolf, Iris, and she were fangirls of these characters, and were referred to as a “threesome” because of their habit of mock-cybering with each other in the FESSchats. This led to many confused newbies thinking they were actual lesbians, amusingly enough. Anyways, more importantly, though, her expertise with FE6 was why TF promoted her to moderator! Also, he wanted to add a feminine touch to the previously all-male staff. Anyways, Kyuusei worked at RPGFan and went to E3 a few times, and her connection to the videogaming media made her a very valuable asset to FESS. Thanks to her, FESS was always privy to the most up-to-date news on Fire Emblem and the gaming world in general. As you can see, Kyuusei contributed much to the Fire Emblem fandom, and FESS was and is fortunate to have her.



FESSers today regard Ms. DTN and Ms. AutumnSacura as among our greatest artists. Well, even before these two gifted ladies graced our forums, FESS certainly didn't want for artistic talent! Back in the old days, our best artists were Ms. Bloody Deity and Ms. Synthetic. Both of them were absolutely INCREDIBLE--I've never seen anyone who could replicate Synthetic's unique, dreamy style of work, and Bloody Deity could infuse her art with such emotion that it often seemed the characters she drew had souls of their own. I remember with particular fondness a picture of Ishtar from Fire Emblem 4 she drew for me. It still remains one of the best pieces of fanart I've ever seen, and Bloody Deity does far more than justice to the character, imbuing the tragic lady of Freege with a pathos not expressed in even the official artwork. It remains one of my deepest regrets (admittedly, among very many deep regrets) that I did not save her piece to my hard drive. Another excellent artist was Mr. Kanzakii, who still hangs around FESS as a Veteran even today. Roylover also lavished us with many good pieces of art, as she continues to do so today. Now, I obviously don’t mean to disparage anyone else’s work--Ms. Autumn Sacura's beautiful drawings are nothing to be scoffed at, and Ms. DTN's character portraits have found their way to the avatars and sigs of people no less august than Superbus himself! As skilled as they are, though, there can be no replacement for the gifted artists of yesteryear, and the great work of Synthetic and Bloody Deity should never be forgotten.



Most of you probably know how much Mr. Superbus likes Lilina, from Fire Emblem 6. Well, back in the old days, Coolmario held the spot of resident Lilina fanboy. As I recall, he was also one of Old FESS’ most beloved regulars—he had a habit of continually asking for backup, so after a while, he became FESS’ resident backup provider. Also, he was one of FESS' earliest mods, being promoted not long after the board's creation. Another notable FESSer was Beta Food, whose avatar was a can of some sort of food product, became FESS’ resident delicacy. Many other characters from other Fire Emblem games had their own followings—Nobaka was a big Lakche (FE4) fan, and he was also fond of pairing her with Johan, an Axe Knight--he was fond of "sword girl x axe guy" pairings. Est was (and still is) a great Est (FE3) fanboy, Togekid was (and still is) a Tinny (FE4) fan (to the extent that many call him her "owner!"), TF was (and still is) a Merlinus (FE6) fanboy, Alvein was our resident Patty (FE4) fan, Ms. Iris and Ms. Summerwolf were great fans of Lenster (Country from FE4--Summer was a particularly avid fan of Finn, and Iris of Cuan), Eaichu USED to be a Lachesis (FE4) fan (before realizing she really wasn’t that great) and I myself was a fanatical Ishtar (FE4) fanboy, although nowadays, I’m known for my undying love of Renault from Fire Emblem 7. We also had our own Dark Mage fanboy! Phlogistic adored Canas and dark magic users in general—as he said, “Dark magic isn’t evil. It’s just better!”



Leaf, of course, was, and still is, our resident Beowulf fan.



Speaking of Ms. Iris and Ms. Summerwolf, both of them were among Old FESS’ most well-known personalities. For instance, as I recall, Ms. Iris had a rather unique penchant of utilizing French bread as weaponry, and her enemies in the boards of Old FESS would often be smote by the fearsome power of her baguettes. Of course, the fact that she was one of Old FESS’ most intelligent members contributed to her popularity as well! Indeed, she was one of our best writers overall, being a particularly skilled author of Fire Emblem fanfiction. She had a truly peerless mastery of the English language, and since she was always there to correct people’s grammar (indeed, she is one of the few people I know who have utterly conquered the semicolon) she soon became FESS’ resident Grammar Nazi. Her intellect and writing skill made her a logical selection for Moderator of the Fanfic Forum when Modern FESS was created.



Ms. Summerwolf was old FESS’ other resident scholar. The breadth and depth of her erudition were truly mind-boggling. She was primarily an excellent scientist—IRL, she was actually studying a natural science at a top-notch institution in Thailand, so whenever someone had a science-related question or started a science-related debate on the Philosophy board, Ms. Summer would always be the undisputed authority. Her knowledge extended far beyond the hard sciences, however—she knew a tremendous amount of world history, being well-versed in the histories of many different religions, cultures, and nations. Most astounding of all, though, would probably be her tri-lingualism. Ms. Summer was of Thai extraction, but she had an admirable command of both the English and the Japanese language. Her skill with Japanese made her EXTREMELY valuable in Old FESS. Nowdays, we rely on the esteemed Mr. Firelizard to provide us with translations of Fire Emblem games, but back in the old days, Ms. Summerwolf was our primary translator. Her passion for Fire Emblem 4 was unparalleled back then, and she proved to be an indispensable aid in translating the game so English-speaking fans could enjoy it. Her abilities with the English language were even more exceptional! She was an avid writer of fanfic, and her English work was so good that it compared favorably with the fiction of Ms. Iris! Thus, due to her sizable intellect and amazing writing skill, Ms. Summerwolf would also be promoted to Moderator of the Fanfic Forum, right beside her good friend Iris. FESS has always been known for having a very intelligent membership, and people like Ms. Iris and Ms. Summerwolf were a major reason we gained that reputation.

As an aside, I should not that there were several other translators of note as well—North2 and Chris Kern. Both of them contributed greatly to our board. North2 provided several excellent translations of the Fire Emblem 4 “treasure” book, and his work greatly clarified many aspects of FE4’s plot. Chris Kern provided an excellent translation of the Fire Emblem 6 game script--he translated up to chapter 14, and his work would later be continued by Standard Addition at Modern FESS, or FESS2. Indeed, in many ways, he could be considered Mr. Firelizard’s predecessor! Both of these men worked very hard for FESS, and it is my intent that their contributions will never be forgotten.



Anyways, there was another custom in which Ms. Summerwolf participated quite avidly—that of “Beokilling.” This practice was unique to FESS, and requires some explanation. You see, Beowulf, from Fire Emblem 4, was one of the game’s least liked characters. There are a few shallow reasons he is so hated—many people thought he was “ugly” and that he “sucked” as a unit. There are more substantial reasons for his demonization, however. Back in the old days, it was assumed he lied to Lachesis about knowing Eltoshan in order to get into her pants, and when she became pregnant, it is also assumed that he just up and leaves her. The evidence for this comes from his in-game conversations. You see, Lachesis was quite in love with her brother, saying in chapter 2, “I need a man the caliber of my dear brother. That's why I'll never marry.” More evidence comes from a gossipy villager elsewhere in the chapter, who says, “Wouldn't ya say King Eltosian and th' princess are a wee bit too cozy for siblings?” Now, when Beowulf and Lachesis talk later on, Beowulf says, “[You] remind me of Eltoshan… We go way back. Don't mean t'be so nosy, but he asked me t'check up on ya.” This is apparently the first of Beowulf’s sins. As the Beokillers will tell you, there was apparently no way Beowulf could get to know Eltoshan, so he must have been lying.



The second of Beowulf’s sins is that he supposedly “left” Lachesis with two kids. Here is his love conversation with her from Chapter 5, as taken from Dark Twilkitri’s Text Dump of the script (which all the other FE4 convos are also taken from, BTW):



Lachesis:

Beowulf...



Beowulf:

Lachesis, if anything were to happen to me, I want you to go to Lenster.

Fin is there with Cuan's children. Give him a hand, okay?



Lachesis:

How could you say that!? When we go, we'll go together!



Beowulf

Lachesis, I've got a confession to make.



Lachesis:

Hmm?



Beowulf:

I've known your little secret all along.



Lachesis:

!!



Beowulf:

Take good care of yourself. It was mighty nice while it lasted.



Lachesis:

Wait! Beowulf!!

(Taken from a script dump of Twilkitri’s FE4 patch)



Now, remember, this was in chapter 5, which means that Lachesis must have had Nanna and Delmud already. Thus, Beowulf is telling her “it was nice while it lasted” just when she needs him to take care of her children. Most of FESS’ women (and several men!) thought that made him a complete and total douchebag, so he became the most hated character from FE4. As Ms. Summerwolf said,

“He abandoned Lachesis and was rather hatable at it. I don't know what wording you got, but I read the Japanese version and that was the impression I had at the time. Most of the original Beokillers were the first people who tried to crack the Japanese script in FESS. “

(Taken from an AIM conversation with the most venerable Ms. Summerwolf on September 10, 2005)

As a result of Beowulf’s perceived abandonment of Lachesis, the practice of “Beokilling” arose. “Beokilling” on Old FESS was essentially the creation of entire threads dedicated to torturing and killing this character in the most sadistic ways imaginable. He would be dipped in acid, impaled upon spikes, decapitated, burned, torn apart, and otherwise utterly annihilated in the Beokilling threads. Ms. Summerwolf would probably take the cake as his most dedicated (and creative) killer, and her hatred of him was virtually unparalleled. Ms. Iris would probably run a close second in her abhorrence of the character. As an aside, both of them also hated Trabant from Fire Emblem 4, and killed him frequently as well—“*kills Trabant*” would pop up in many of Summer’s posts, if my memory serves. The reason he was almost as despised as Beowulf is because he killed Cuan (The dreamy prince of Lenster, who had Ms. Iris and Ms. Summerwolf, among others, as his fangirls) in chapter 5 of FE4. Anyways, to get back on topic, many other FESSers hated Beowulf with equal fervor. Ms. Iris despised him, of course, and Mr. Togekid used to abhor him. Indeed, he would constantly deal Beowulf a multitude of horrid fates in Hannibal the Cannibal (which I shall explain later). Mr. Togekid no longer feels that way now, however, since Beowulf is, statistically speaking, a good unit, and evidence from FE5 seems to point to Lachesis being something of a skank, due to the fact that Delmud can use Beowulf’s sword while his younger sister Nanna is obviously Finn’s daughter. Other notable Beokillers included Mr. IZ, Ms. Synthetic, and later on, Mr. Superbus himself. Of course, it is also important to note that Beowulf had his defenders as well. I never particularly liked or disliked the character, and his treatment of Lachesis never really perturbed me, so I lacked the necessary drive to be much of a Beokiller. One FESSer, however, did make a special effort to defend him—DTfan. As I recall, our good DreamTheater fan was a staunch pacifist and disliked violence in any form, and thus, tried his best to defend the poor mercenary.

Speaking of DTfan, if you’d forgive my indulgence, I’d like talk about a few FESSers from the old days who don’t come by anymore. DTfan is one of them, and he was quite a good friend of mine. He was pretty quiet and reserved, but it was his compassion and kindness towards others that made him notable. He perpetually exuded a sense of calm, serene wisdom, and grew to be much loved in the community (and by myself—we were great friends) because of this. Another fine FESSer was a fellow you won’t see on the vet list—his name was SetsunasSword. He was also a very quiet and soft-spoken guy, but he was quite mature and well-respected on the boards. Also, TerranigmaFreak actually had a brother! This guy’s screename was “Stu,”and he did contribute quite a few things to the board, mainly pertaining to Fire Emblem 5. As TF told me over AIM, he no longer comes around because he’s engaged in real life pursuits. Yet another good member was Sk2zero. He was quite nice and easy to get along with, and he was also quite a pious young man. I fondly remember him asking me if I was a Christian (before I actually became one) because I had displayed a considerable degree of knowledge about the Bible in one discussion thread. One of our members, Animarth, not only was (and remains) a close friend of mine, but he contributed a lot to the board while he was here, participating avidly in the chats and even working on an FE 1 translation! Bardiche was another beloved member. Although she no longer comes to FESS and is more active in the Dynasty Warriors fandom, back when she was at our board, she was well known for her intelligence and sharp wit.

Another great member was Adilink, who helped me out quite a bit with this History. His name derived from “Adil,” his first name, and “Link,” from the Legend of Zelda, thus giving him the title “Hero of Time.” Along with TF, he was one of our forums’ resident Nintendo fanboys! Even so, however, he was a smart and respectable poster, well-liked for his reliability and good heart. Also, I cannot fail to mention his great patience, since I have taken so much of it with my questioning him about FESS History! A great member from France who came by during this period was AceNoctali. He joined on June 17, 2003, after a month of lurking. He is a great fan of Fire Emblem 4, and he is one of the game's foremost authorities in the French-speaking world! He was also of great assistance to Eaichu and DarkTwilkitri in creating the Fire Emblem 4 translation patch--he merged j2e's translation patch with Eaichu's two correction patches into a single compilation patch, which was the most-used patch of the game until Twilkitri released the Reparations Patch.

There was also my good friend Nobaka. He had always stood stolidly by me, even after my disgrace during “The Incident” (more on that later). There are few friends who have been as loyal as he has, and many other FESSers share fond memories of him as well. And, of course, there were innumerable other good members, like BenX4, Claude, Lia Strife, Darth Tasuki, and many more who helped make Old FESS a great community. I know this probably seems like an irrelevant digression, but from a historical (and personal!) standpoint, it’s very important. Everyone at Modern FESS recognizes the names of our most revered Veteran contributors, like Eaichu, the great Administrator, or CO_Raptor, the excellent Moderator and Spriter. Back in the days of Old FESS, however, we also had many other excellent members who made the board the wonderful place it was. Not only is it important to me that they get the recognition they deserve, but any sort of scholarly honesty demands I highlight their contributions and overall worthiness, even if they don’t come by any more. I hope that wherever they are now, they have achieved success and happiness, if only due to their good work on Old FESS.

Now that I’ve regaled you with stories of good old members from the good old days, let’s take a look at another of FESS’ oldest customs—Newbie Killing. This practice dates from very long ago on Old FESS, with one of our most senior members, InsaneZero. The concept of newbie killing was pretty simple—whenever a new person made an intro thread, IZ would barge in and proceed to chop him up, or blow him away, or otherwise kill him in a wide variety of ways. Although this seems inhospitable, it was all meant in good fun, and was something of a welcoming party for newbies—it was just our way of both greeting new folks and showing them our lighthearted, irreverent nature. It wasn’t meant for anything else, and I quote the man himself:

“nuppo99: Okay! IZ, first off, I want to make sure...what was "Newbie Killing?" That was just going into a newbie's intro thread and just blowin them up, slashing 'em, etc. right?



IZ: yes



nuppo99: Cool cool ^^ And were you the first Newbie Killer?



IZ: yes



nuppo99: When did you start doing it? Just when you came around to FESS?



IZ: pretty much



nuppo99: Cool cool...if you'd forgive my intrusiveness, where was this custom borne from? Why'd you start newbie killing? I don't think you remember your first newbie kill (although if you did, that would be AWESOME! ^_^) did the custom signify anything important? I always thought it came from CNX...I remember that forum having a reputation for being mean to newbies, so I wonder if newbie killing had anything to do with that?...Newbie Killing was just for fun, then? ^^







IZ: pretty much.

nuppo99: Who were some other notable Newbie Killers besides yourself? Didn't ArmorDragon and Willfor get involved in it too? And I apologize for my intrusiveness, but when did the practice die off?







IZ: yes

IZ: And the practice died about a few months into new FESS







nuppo99: I guess so...^_^ But as I recall, anybody could Newbie Kill, right? Even I blew up a few newbs on Old FESS, right?







IZ: yes







nuppo99: I see...alright, thank you very much, Mr. IZ! ^_^

(AIM conversation: I am nuppo99, IZ is InsaneZero—I changed his SN for privacy reasons)

Thus, as you can see, Newbie Killing started out as just one member’s pleasant little distraction. It soon grew in popularity, however, and soon, many other FESSers engaged in the practice, and it became a regular ritual of the FESS boards, with newbies being “inducted” into the community by being “killed” by older members. This was all good, clean fun for a while, and the custom lasted a very long time, with almost every member of FESS (even me!) killing at least one newbie. Unfortunately, as time passed and Old FESS became Modern FESS, this custom would get to be annoying and more of a nuisance, and the administration phased it out. That is a story for another time, however, and I will expound on it later on in this History.

As an interesting aside, InsaneZero and I actually go way, way back. We’re both from a forum once called CNX: Toonami (A anime-and-action oriented block on the Cartoon Network TV channel) Revolution. That was my very first forum, and as one can imagine, I was something of a buffoon there—I had to be chastised for talking like a Tolkien plagiarizer! I learned a lot there, and the roots of my politeness on FESS can probably be found there. Unfortunately, it died soon before I came to FESS, due to inactivity and members migrating to other Toonami boards. Still, I managed to find IZ on FESS, and we took to each other like the old comrades we were, and even today we still reminisce about good times at the old CNX board every now and then.

Now, I would most certainly be remiss if I did not mention one of Old FESS’ most beloved running jokes: Hannibal the Cannibal. This was essentially a bizarre, extremely long story conceived of by Mr. Togekid and Ms. Yume, and other FESSers were allowed to add to it, which resulted in its great length. I can think of no-one better suited to explain it than one of its authors, so I provide to you Mr. Togekid’s thoughts on his creation:

“nuppo99: Also, I just have one small question about FESS History, concerning something from Old FESS, if I may? ^_^



Mr. Toge: Of course you may. :O



nuppo99: Mr. Togekid, what, exactly, was " Hannibal the Cannibal?" Could you describe it to me, and its most important components and attributes?



Mr. Toge: I assume you're asking this for that FESS History project you're working on? :O I'm surprised you don't know about HbaC, though... I remember that you were pretty active back then, when Yume and I were writing it.



nuppo99: Yeah, I was. From what I understand, it was just sort of a crazy story in the CD, where random stuff just sort of happened, like floods of Beorats and whatnot :O However, since I wasn't the actual author of the work, I think it's more historically accurate and honest of me to try and actually quote the person who co-authored it ^_^ So if I may ask, could you describe it to me? What were you and Yume (you knew her better) trying to accomplish with it? In your opinion, what were its best and most important aspects? :-)



Mr. Toge: Oh, lord... Hmm... I really need to refreshen my memory. XD It's been ages since I wrote an actual chapter.



nuppo99: Alright...is there anything you do remember? Even a lil' bit? ^^



Mr. Toge: Well, I remember it all started out in that "Ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer" thread. After a billion of silly questions, people starting to make small, crazy stories as answers. After a little while Yume and I somehow got to writing an actual continues story. That was the beginning of HbaC. It started as a small joke, but before we knew it, it became one of the most hilarious and entertaining aspects of the CD. I remember a lot of people would bug us to keep writing more and more chapters. The story also became longer and longer over time.



The story itself... it started out when several FESSers lost their favorite FE characters and they suddenly realised they were in this huge room. After trying to escape, a servant told them that his master, Hannibal, was ready to see them. At dinner they were told that they were the actual dinner and they were all thrown in several prisons. It didn't take long for several of them to break out, though, and they started to run around in the huge castle of Hannibal . However, they were not the only people currently residing in that castle. It was also full of BeoRats (with many different species), the FE characters and naked Beowulfs. The FESSers, trying to find a way out, got into several amusing situations because of this.



Hmm... all we were trying to accomplish with it, was to amuse our fellow FESSers and friends. We were happy to see people enjoyed reading the story and we loved reading the comments on it. And it was something we could do together... Yes, they were good times.



nuppo99: When did it end, if it ever did? I don 't recall it having any sort of official ending, so to speak...



Mr. Toge: It didn't. D: We never got around to finishing it.



nuppo99: Ahhh, I see. So it just sort of petered out, then? When did that kinda happen, was there sort of a date? Pardon my intrusiveness...



Mr. Toge: I can't remember the exact date, but... it should be more than a year now. D:



nuppo99: Alright...



nuppo99: Indeed, good times they were...^_^ Anyways, thank you sooooo much, Mr. Togekid! This is *really* helpful, I'll be sure to quote and credit you in my History. Thanks so much again! ^___^



Mr. Toge: I'm glad I was able to help you, Pierre. ;3 If you need more help, don't hesitate to ask me.



nuppo99: Thanks again ^^”

(I am nuppo99, Togekid is Mr. Toge—screen name changed for privacy)

This is the best explanation of HBaC you can get. It started out as an offshoot of a thread in the CD, and as FESSers added to it and helped it grow, it became one of the Craziness Domain’s most beloved offspring. Unfortunately, Yume left Old FESS (under circumstances I shall describe later), and although she still wrote chapters and talked to Toge, she became less and less active, and eventually, even Toge stopped writing it, and as he said, it petered out more than about a year or so ago. I am writing this in September of 2005, so the last chapter was probably written (he doesn’t remember the exact date) around August 2004 or even earlier. HBaC, in many ways, represented all that was good about Old FESS. It epitomized a sort of good-humored egalitarianism—anybody could write a chapter, although Toge and Yume wrote the bulk of it. It also exemplified the sort of humor Old FESS had in spades—inside jokes and friendly, benign hilarity. It was fun, funny, and open to all, just like Old FESS used to be.

Finally, I would be remiss if I did not describe one of the most endearing features of Old FESS—its AIM chats. Back on Proboards, we had not yet established an official FESSchat on IRC or any other chat server. We didn’t really need them, however—we enjoyed “unofficial” FESS chats using the AOL Instant Messenger program. One FESSer would just start up a chatroom (usually with an irreverent name—my chats were usually called “Cowboy BeBoner” for instance) and invite as many FESSers as he could find on his buddy list. Unlike the FESSchat of today, these chats were unmoderated, due to the fact that the small, closely-knit group of members could be trusted to restrain themselves. Of course, “restraint” on FESS is defined quite differently than it is elsewhere, and the FESS chats of yore were filled with all manner of raucousness and debauchery. Whenever a FESS chat was created, uNFing (an acronym for the “universal Noise of Fucking”, which soon became a synonym for the actual act) was sure to follow. Of course, these chats could be serious as well—I fondly recall having some of my most stimulating discussions with members like Ms. Iris or Ms. Summerwolf within the confines of the FESS chat. Still, as Mr. Eaichu told me, “I honestly don't see what stood out so much about it. Maybe it was because it was a knit group, maybe. Not so knit now, HAWHAW!!!” (LJ comment) A great part of the old FESS Chat’s appeal was derived from the camaderie and closeness its members shared. Now, of course, with the growth of FESS and the departure of so many of its older members, that intimacy is long gone, likely never to return. At the very least, however, some vestige of the AIM chats lives on in today’s IRC FESSChat. Although it certainly isn’t the same as the nice old chats from yesteryear, as anyone who frequents IRC with any degree of regularity can tell you, there’s still plenty of fun to be had in #FESSCHAT on Dynastynet.



I’m sure a few of you out there are fairly surprised by this description. After all, many of the people I’ve mentioned left long before you came to this site; many of the customs I’ve described disappeared long before I even began writing this History. Thus, if you’re not a grizzled old Veteran like me, I suppose you might find it hard to imagine that FESS used to be an easy-going place. Modern FESS, on Invisionfree, is now as efficiently organized and run as a well-oiled machine. It’s difficult for you newer folks to picture lighthearted banter dominating many of the boards, and it must be even harder to think of Superbus taking the unassuming, laid-back leadership style of TerranigmaFreak, who really didn’t even want to be considered much of a leader back then. He tried to place himself on the same level as everyone else, and indeed, there were no real ranks at the old FESS—moderators did little, and the Vet and GEOS groups didn’t exist. Posts in the Craziness and RPG boards counted and were worth as much as posts elsewhere. Nowadays, the rules are (VERY) strictly enforced, and everything (and everyone!) has its place. The dictates of Superbus carry the iron force of law, moderators like Togekid (and me, back when I was a mod) ensure they are followed to the letter, our respected Veterans provide role models of good behavior to the rest of FESS, and those in GEOS stand as examples to the ignominy that awaits anyone who violates the order of our domain. What could account for the truly profound difference between the FESS of yesteryear and the dominion of today? I believe the answer lies in a broad historical trend that can be observed in the development of actual states, not just message boards. In small communities, stringent enforcement of the rules isn’t really very necessary; indeed, rules themselves aren't very necessary. Near anarchy can reign with a fair and benevolent hand, and a lax ruler presiding over a nonexistent government is looked upon with love and blessings from his subjects. As time passes and the community grows, however, a codified set of rules is necessary, strong, active, and strict rulers have to take power, and these rulers must set into place subordinates and write edicts and statutes for the preservation of order. Mr. Superbus heartily agreed with this, saying, “I can definitely relate to that. Want proof? Check out my other forum, and look at the rules. You'll notice I'm a LOT more lenient over there than I am at FESS.” (Comment on my LJ) Thus, when presiding over a small community, a ruler does not have to have a very strong set of laws to govern competently.

Also, Mr. Eaichu made a very good, practical point on the merits of a lenient leadership when dealing with a small group. As he said, “It's because if the forums are strict from the start, there won't be too much attention paid to it. It may seem professional, but a lot of people won't be inclined if a small group is already taking things way more seriously than they should. Start small, work up.” (Comment on my LJ) Thus, if a board’s administration is too harsh when it first starts out, people will get discouraged and disgruntled and they will seek out greener pastures. Only when a board grows, and spammers, ROM requesters, flame warriors, and other such criminals begin haunting its forums, will people begin to look for a strong, powerful ruler whose might can separate the chaff from the wheat. Thus, looking at it this way, the lax leadership style of TerranigmaFreak and Captamzai, back in the old days, was fitting for the small, close-knit forum Old FESS used to be.

From my tone in describing the Old FESS, you can probably guess that I have the fondest memories of this period, moreso than almost anything else. Was the Old FESS really as nice as I made it out to be? Perhaps I am viewing the past with rose-tinted goggles, allowing my nostalgia to blind me to a perhaps ugly reality. I will readily admit that I do have a sizable chip on my shoulder, being a decrepit, lingering remnant of the Old Board myself. Objectively speaking, however, you can say that this board truly did have many admirable qualities, most of which might have even the most devoted Modern FESSer pining for the days of yore. For instance, very few troublemakers came to Old FESS. RMCHEROS stands as one of the very few pathetic enough to get banned. Compare that with Modern FESS, and I’m sure Mr. Superbus and the other admins would prefer the relative tranquility of old times over to the constant stream of idiots they must so vigilantly drive away—Superbus wouldn’t have to waste time banning 4 people on a single day (The highest number yet recorded at the time of this writing) and Eaichu wouldn’t have to deal with people bombarding his inbox with requests to change their names. Thus, the loving description I impart to you of Old FESS is not merely an old fool’s wistfulness. It had its problems and it was far from paradise, but it was at least a very nice place where you could hang out and feel at ease with a few friends. Unfortunately, as everyone knows, all good things must come to an end, and while FESS would endure many trials and travails over the next few years, the first real trouble it experienced, and the terrible calamity which brought this idyllic period to an end, was wholly and entirely my own personal doing. This, my patient reader, was what you have likely heard of as “The Incident.”