In the game Achaea, my character (Demetrios) has for some time had the honor of being engaged to one of Achaea's most compelling and wonderful figures - Beneficia of Cyrene. Beneficia of the Bells.

There have been so many times when I have wanted to write something epic, something truly grand - a masterwork that would express both on the fictional side how powerfully Demetrios feels about her and how blessed he has been with their love, and on the non-fictional side, something that would communicate to Beneficia's player how much I enjoy playing the game with her, what a wonderful, high-quality person she is, and how much I appreciate the dedication and tenacity she has shown to the relationship between our characters over the past whatever. She really has been the best thing in that game to happen to me.

Instead, however, I produced this. I have tried to create this work time and time and time again for literally real-life months, and every time, what I produce just seems to fall so pathetically short of what I want to say, that I can't produce it.

Well, this is no exception. It is not great. It is not even the best thing I've ever written. It is almost a disservice, to show this to you, the readers, and expect you to come away with any kind of accurate approximation of the impact Beneficia has had on me.

In addition, I have all but quit playing Achaea, these days. I pop in perhaps once every few weeks. I feel very unworthy of the investment Beneficia and her player have made in me, and it nearly brings me to tears as I think about it and write pieces like this.

In any case, if somewhere in the galaxy of karma, good intentions count for anything besides paving the road to Hell, I hope this counts for something.