I'm Watching You Registered Member #273
Joined: 7:18:06 pm GMT 09/21/04
Posts: 6051
Hi everyone. It is with a truly heavy heart that I post here today about someone many of us knew here through so many years of love and laughter in the beautiful cooperative story-telling adventure that is Thain.
Talla, bless her, reached out to me via Facebook to share this terrible news, asking me if I would share it with all of you here. I was just advised that Katana3DG (aka Udanax) passed quite suddenly. His family is devastated, as might be expected, but are surrounded with love and support as they struggle with this personal tragedy.
I know that many of you likely interacted with him in various ways here for many years, and that this news will impact you as it has us. Talla was assured that his journey from this world was swift and, we may hope, painless.
For those who may not have known, Katana was the 17th registered forum member and was around for pretty much every incarnation of Thain from the very beginning, his forum account registered on 02/24/04, only eight days after the account of Thain founder BitRaiser was created. He saw and was a part of every major change to the island, his characters often integral, or even pivotal, to countless stories large and small throughout the last fourteen years.
I know from OOC chats between IC interactions that Katana cared very much about Thain and the people here. I believe he loved the stories, the collaboration, and being a part of a place where we could all be hero or villain as the mood struck, and where actions heroic or horrible could and often did lead others to countless hours of fun, excitement, or even love and heartbreak.
All of us here invest a certain measure of ourselves in each character we play. And Katana was no exception. Though I never had the pleasure of meeting him in person, I admired the man I saw reflected through the characters I had the pleasure of interacting with and the person I chatted with OOC about many things through the years. And I feel a sense of personal loss at his passing. I liked him. I respected him. And I was always able to feel the person beyond the character and believe strongly that he loved his time here with all of us.
I cannot help feeling that were he able, he would tell us all to remember him with fondness, to know that he appreciated us while he was here, and to stay focused on the bright and beautiful memory of a life well lived, though the clouds of grief may pass briefly before our eyes.
Forum Admin Registered Member #623
Joined: 6:43:48 am GMT 10/01/05
Posts: 4996
This is absolutely tragic, and my deepest condolences to his family. Katana was a part of this community for near 15 years. It's surreal to imagine he's not going to be back on.
Registered Member #1761
Joined: 10:05:21 pm GMT 10/13/11
Posts: 456
I never had a lot of interaction with Katana, but every interaction I did have was marked by his kind spirit. No passing is ever marked without solemnity and sorrow; his is no different, in that respect, but Katana's life is one that has, undoubtedly, touched an uncounted number of people.
I personally offer my condolences to his family. Their lives, and our community, are made darker by his passing. May his memory cause those lives to shine brighter than before.
[ The Island of Thain ]
Somber News - A Farewell to Katana3DG
