Write2brandy
| Write2brandy | |
|---|---|
 The Hall of Fame award for attending the "War to Avenge Brendan" | |
| Ex-Member | |
| 2005 | |
| WG | |
| Joined | 2004 |
| Status | Inactive (2005) |
| Ranks Held | Guardian |
| RuneScape | |
| Started playing | During or before 2004 |
| Status | Retired |
| Display name(s) | Write2brandy |
| Other clans | None |
| Real Life | |
| Real Name | Brendan |
| Born | unknown |
| Nationality | American (presumed) |
Write2brandy (real name Brendan) was a RuneScape player and a member of the Wilderness Guardians in 2004. Brendan suffered from Leukemia, and in December 2004 it was reported that Brendan had passed away and an in-game funeral was held by WG. Shortly after, a member of the Rune Outlaws (a notorious rival of WG) desecrated the grave site, leading to WG declaring war on RO for the second time. The event gained widespread support from the clan community and a large alliance of clans amassed to "avenge" Brendan, though RO ultimately did not show for the battle. However, Brendan was avenged when the RO member initially responsible was killed in-game by WG in February 2005. Brendan was later revealed to be alive.
Contents
Background
Brendan joined WG in late 2004. He was not active on the clan forums so there is little surviving information about his time in WG prior to his apparent death. The first surviving record of him dates back to 2 November 2004, on a topic regarding potentially inactive members. In response to Brendan being listed, Wildflame110 noted that while considerably quiet, Brendan was active during the clan's PK trips, and had helped several other clan members. Wildflame also revealed that Brendan had been diagnosed with Leukemia (blood cancer) several months previously.[1]
The Funeral
On 20 December 2004, Wildflame posted a topic on the WG forums stating that Brendan had passed away - presumably from Leukemia. He did not have specific details, but mentioned that the news had been confirmed by two other WG members, Sainath and Srivatsa who had real-life connections to Brendan.
Upon receiving the news, His Lordship responded with his intentions of posting letters of support to Brendan's real-life family from the clan members, as well as holding an in-game funeral event on the same day.[2] The funeral event took place as planned - the WG website memorial page stated that a larger one would be held at a later date, but this is not believed to have occurred. Despite the relatively short notice, more than ten WG members attended the event.
The funeral began at the Monastery west of Edgeville, where a minute's silence was held at the altar on the first floor. In the monastery's centre, a fire was burned (in place of a candle) to pay respects, the ashes of which were kept in the clan bank. A lengthy funeral procession followed, and WG made their way to Rimmington by way of Falador. They lit fires to spell "RIP" outside of the Port Sarim jail, before moving to inside the Rimmington chapel where Wildflame gave a sermon. To conclude, Sainath had a set of in-game bones belonging to Brendan, which were buried just outside of the chapel doors, and fires lit around the square. A retrospectively amusing aspect of the event was when an uninvited level 27 player arrived and began cooking fish on the memorial fires.
Gallery
A photo gallery in memorandum of Brendan was made for the WG website containing screenshots of the funeral. Captions are copied verbatim from the originals.
The Quiet Reflection: Here we remembered Brendan, and observed a minute of silence in the upper level of the monastery.
The Gathering: The clan, reflecting on the funeral on the edge of the wilderness, north of the monastery.
The Flame: A fire was burned, as a candle is, to pay respect to Brendan. We keep the ashes in the clan bank.
The Pilgramage[sic]: We move to the Final resting place of Brendan on Runescape, through Falador.
Voyage Through The Quiet: The clan passes the scenery of Rimmington.
Quiet Time: We prepare for the last voyage of Brendan
The Firey[sic] Farewell: R.I.P spelled in flames. A tribute to our dear friend
Reverence: We acknowledge the speech of Wildflame110, close friend of Brendan. If you ever pass by this chapel south of Rimmington, please remember our great friend.
The Mass: As wildflame gives his sermon, the clan listens obediently and respectfully.
The Burial: Fortunately, Sainath had a set of bones belonging to Brendan on Runescape. The funeral ended with the burying of Brendan's bones. Unfortunately, the moment was soiled when a level 27 began cooking his fish on the burial ground of our friend, on our sacred flames.
A rebuilt version of the gallery was made by Vio in 2024, and can be found here.
Rune Outlaws and the War to Avenge Brendan
Details of Brendan's passing and the funeral were spread around the RuneScape community via fansites, and word reached the Rune Outlaws - a clan which had already developed a hostile relationship with WG due to an unfavourable first war. Deadlyjosh - a prominent RO member - visited the chapel on or around 22 December 2004 and proceeded to dance on the "grave", as well as bringing a separate set of bones and dropping them on the square as if "unburying" Brendan's bones. Deadlyjosh took screenshots of the desecration and posted them publically to the RuneScape Realm fansite, as well as sharing them anonymously on the WG forums. The disrespectful act enraged WG.[3]
His Lordship initially set a bounty of 500,000 coins on the player responsible (who was unknown at the time), and publically condemmed the act on the Rune Village and Tip.It fansites. As a result, WG formed two new alliances: one with Fear (a clan previously hostile to WG) and one with Legends Legion. Both clans condemmed RO's actions and pledged their support to WG. Upon learning that the player was Deadlyjosh, His Lordship held RO accountable for his actions. His Lordship declared war on RO for the second time, and following a conversation with Renesito, the date was set for 8-9 January 2005. The terms of war stipulated that allies would not be allowed (WG's allies at the time included The Sabres, The Synergy, Fear, RuneScape Scorpions, and Ghostknights). In order to circumvent this, His Lordship called on the wider clan community for support - suggesting that the "no allies" term meant that any other clan would be permitted to join the battle. WG also temporarily suspended their policy against multi-clanning, allowing players from other clans to temporarily join WG for the war.[4]
On the day of the war, a large alliance of clans including The Moriquendi amassed alongside WG, with an estimated total of 150 - 200 players. However, RO ultimately failed to appear. In order to salvage the event, a PK trip was held instead, which was considerably successful as a result of the large turnout. Despite no battle taking place, the event was known as the "War to Avenge Brendan", and WG considered themselves having achieved a second victory by default against RO.[5] The WG members present were given an attendance award in the Hall of Fame.
Gallery
- The War to Avenge Brendan
Aftermath
On or around 1 February 2005, WG member Xort encountered a team lead by Deadlyjosh in the Wilderness. After a short fight, Xort organised a small group of WG members: himself, Wrecknbreak, Deluxo_Dj, Aust Galonde, and Erinol. The group of 5 attacked and successfully managed to kill Deadlyjosh - though the kill picture appears to be lost to history - and the rest of his team ran or teleported away after his death. His Lordship considered this justice for Brendan, and offered to pay Xort a bounty of 100,000 coins, which Xort asked to be split evenly among the other four WG members.[6]
Having failed to come to any resolution with RO, WG's relationship with the rival clan only worsened. WG would go on to declare war on RO a third time in 2005, and the negative reputation that RO continued to build for themselves eventually led to the clan's closure. A positive result of the ordeal, however, were the newly developed alliances. WG would take part in a large-scale war with LL against Rivendell in 2005, and maintain a successful alliance with Fear for a total of 18 months, over the course of which several allied wars and other events were held.
On 31 January 2005, Sainath reported that Brendan was in fact alive. It is believed that Brendan had been about to undergo a major surgery, and had told Wildflame110 and Srivatsa that he was going to die. However, Brendan survived the surgery and on 31 July 2006, around a year and a half later, Wildflame110 confirmed that he had personally spoken to Brendan. Over the course of his battle with cancer, Brendan had lost 20 kilograms (44 pounds) in weight. The clan was relieved and overjoyed to hear of his survival; the funeral and the resulting dispute with RO were disregarded in favour of the good news.[7]
Trivia
- His Lordship listed "KoD" as an ally of WG in his topic on Rune Village, possibly referring to the Knights of Death - though it was highly unlikely that KoD would have been allied to WG at the time. This may have been an error, and His Lordship meant to refer to the Council of Dragons ("CoD") instead.
References
- ↑ Wildflame110 (2 November 2004), "Re: List Of Inactive People", S4. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
- ↑ Wildflame110 (20 December 2004), "Write2brandy", S4. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
- ↑ jackthebear (22 December 2004), "You Are Cordilly Invited To Join A Special Memoria", S4. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
- ↑ His Lordship (27 December 2004), "War With The Outlaws!", S4. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
- ↑ His Lordship (9 January 2005), "Official Post-war Topic", S4. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
- ↑ Aust Galonde (1 February 2005), "We Got Deadly Josh", S4. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
- ↑ Sainath (31 January 2005), "Oh My God!", S4. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
