A long time ago...

 ...in a galaxy...

No wait, wrong intro.

Right. Pour yourself a drink and have a seat.

A long time ago (in the mid 90s), I got hooked into playing online RPGs, specifically MUSHes (for which the Wikipedia link will help those who don't know what I'm talking about). One in particular, Chivalry, went through ... um, four generations, of which I played on 2, 3 and 4. 

Somewhen around 2009, having kept in occasional contact with some of my friends from Chivalry, I got roped in to a play-by-Google-Wave game (remember Wave?) that had picked up some while after Chivalry 4. It's been going (despite the regrettable demise of Wave - we moved to Docs) since then, somewhat off and on as people had real life intervene until pretty much now. 15 years in that incarnation.

I've met three or four of the players, narrowly missed meeting another.

Sad to say, Sunny, who played a number of amazing characters on the game, passed away this morning, a few hours ago as I write. We met once at a SF/Music con around the turn of the millenium, but she has essentially been a friend with whom I've shared some incredible moments of creativity for the past three decades, and one of the best RPers and (perforce) creative writers it has been my pleasure to share a universe with.

As I said when Rob Holden passed, especially in this modern world where friends are often not people we've necessarily met in person, grab the chances you get to tell folks what they mean to you. You never know when that may be taken away from you. 

A toast, once more.

To friends near and far away, passed and still with us, and to the memory of an amazing friend and rôle-player, Suzanne "Sunny" Capwell.