Eusis hates camping on Mota and would much rather be watching his favorite show and debating with his friends if the dark new character, the Black Swordsman, is a good guy. He never expected to find the answer in such a way.http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7281821/1/Black_SwordsmanOh, boy, this one has a ton of author's notes too. Anyway, the impetus for this story came from wikipedia, specifically the article for the practice of
tsujigiri. It whirled inside my mind for a while and bumped right into my Phantasy Star writing craze when I considered that we really don't know much about Algo's past and thoughts on the modern era. My theory has been that Mother Brain came into power after the calamity that switched the positions of Palma and Motavia. Someone had to be in charge during that time to give Mother Brain power, which eventually led me to wonder as to what happened to those people. Not only that, there are all sorts of "revival" movements, like the Wiccans for example, that try to bring back customs from the past to today. The ideas just came together until the basic shape of this story was formed.
Eusis/Rolf was a special problem for me, as I wanted to "hide" him as an adult. Of special nuisance value was his surname, as I couldn't find one I liked. Eventually, I hit upon "Shani" by following the wiki chain from the Andromeda constellation to the star Alpha Andromedae to the Hindu nakshatra to him. Shani is very harmful to those who follow the path of Evil, betrayal, backstabbing and unjust revenge, which seemed perfect for Rolf.
Amy was wonderful and named his mom for me. In thanks, she gets to look all cool and stuff and be the first to crucify me over this story. Amberlynne O'Shea was one of several pre-readers who helped me fine tune it and our own dearest Heather also proofed it for me!
Lastly, this story is apparently the 500th PS fanfic on FF.net, so go me!
EDIT: Forgotten note - I also wanted to imply why Rolf was a bit bratty as a child in his text adventure. My reasoning was his attempt to approximate someone he admired in behavior, but failing to capture the actual nuances.
R&R appreciated, as always.