Write2brandy

Write2brandy Fires lit around the "grave" where a set of Brendan's bones were buried, 20 December 2004.
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	unknown

Write2brandy (real name Brendan) was a member of WG in 2004 who suffered from Leukemia. In December 2004 it was believed that Brendan had died, and a funeral service was held in-game. 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.

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 raids, and had helped several other clan members. Wildflame110 also revealed that Brendan had been diagnosed with Leukemia (blood cancer) several months previously.

Around two months later on 20 December 2004, Wildflame110 posted a topic on the WG forums stating that Brendan had died. He also mentioned that the news had been confirmed by two other WG members, Sainath and Srivatsa who had real-world connections to Brendan. His Lordship planned to host an in-game funeral on the same day.

The Funeral

Brendan's funeral at the Rimmington chapel, 20 December 2004.

Brendan's funeral took place on 20 December 2004, the same day as his apparent death was announced. Despite the relatively short notice, more than ten WG members were present. 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 the clan 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 Wildflame110 gave a sermon. To conclude, Sainath had a set of 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 a level 27 player began cooking fish on the fires, somewhat ruining the moment.

A photo gallery in memorandum of Brendan was made for the WG website containing screenshots of the funeral. A rebuilt version of the gallery was made by Vio in 2024, and can be found here.

Rune Outlaws and the War for Brendan

The alliance charges towards Annakarl, 8-9 January 2005.

Details of Brendan's passing and the funeral were spread around the 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.

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.

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 raid 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 for Brendan", and WG considered themselves having achieved a second victory by default against RO.

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.

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.

Galleries

Funeral Gallery

Captions and comments are copied verbatim from the original photo gallery.

• 

  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.

War Gallery

• 

  The alliance makes their way through the Wilderness.

• 

  The alliance heading through deep Wilderness.

• 

  The alliance spread southwest of Annakarl.

• 

  The alliance charges towards Annakarl.

• 

  The alliance enters Annakarl and finds it empty.

• 

  The charge from a Moriquendi member's point of view.

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.