[center][h2]"Farewell and Adieu..."[/h2][/center]

"[b]Rex Black[/b] is a character created by [@Psych0pomp]."

You've seen that credit mentioned alot in our previous episode.  Rex, our rakish, ribald, rogue of a First Mate, was one of the first characters to join the crew.  Along with his parrot, Lucky, he cut a colorful swath through our posting in the first episode, with a written voice that was as hilarious as it was engaging.  If there was sin to be had, you could count on Rex to be first in line.

We hadn't made it out of Episode 1 before learning that his author, [@Psych0pomp], was wrestling with a number of difficult issues on his homefront. He tried to hang in there, but his posting activity dwindled through Ep. 2 until one day when we realized that Psych had stepped away from all of his RPG commitments unannounced.  With no one to voice our First Mate, Wolf and I agreed to step in and write him when our plots required, until we could write the character off at the end of episode three.

And then came Headhunters M.C.

The bike gang was first envisioned to conduct a raid on China Doll once we'd broken atmo, followed by a landing on  one of Greenleaf's moons. (Bryson's Rock, lol)  From there we'd see the conflict over shipping rights play out.  This was all well and good until a drunken Hook went spoiling for a fight in the Twirling Rabbit.  That little surprise turned our planning on its' ear and opened up a significantly richer story for the bikers and their hapless hostage, not to mention what we've seen of Hook's growth and suffering for his actions.

But none benefited more than Rex.  The new plot arc provided additional tension and some brilliant individual character growth (Hook's bout of the DT's forcing him to lower his rifle comes to mind).  But Rex?  Not only did he make his exit as a hero, he departed with a style and flare that are purely his own.  

[@Psych0pomp], if you read this, we wanted to express gratitude for the use of the character.  As he grew to be universally admired by our writers and lurkers, we like to think that we kept him alive and vital within your guiding vision.  Rex Black will be missed.

wolf and sail