Back in the mists of time, 8-10 years ago, when I first screwed up enough courage to actually post on the Wotmania Message Board - the then only Message Board, incidentally - down the bottom there was a post. "Why do you come to Wotmania" authored by Simon.

The post served as a safe place for newbies to post their first words, which would be acknowledged by Simon, flame-free, and having got past that giant hurdle unscathed, newbies would then launch themselves into mainstream discussion of who killed Asmodean, why is TMJ so damn sexy and Erica's choice of underwear; they could also enter into Fanatic posts (at their peril) and generally learn site etiquette.

Time passes. The Wotmania site grew creaky under the load of posts, and a new message board appeared. Strangely enough it was called CMB2.

Wishing to make my mark in this strange new land of Wotmania, when confronted with the blank space of CMB2, I waited the necessary nanoseconds that etiquette required, and posted a brand new "Why do you come to Wotmania" post on the brand new CMB. Howls of derision, scorn and distaste resulted from my ungentlemanly actions in pre-empting Simon's rights, and my site presence was established.

CMB3, CMB4, CMB5 and CMB6 followed in due course as the Wotmania site laboured under the weight of posts. on each I posted the requisite "Why do you come to Wotmania" post, which sat, at the bottom of the CMB.

With coming of RAFO, I posted the current "Why do you...." post; out of a need for continuity, and out of sheer mischief, I suppose.

I was never as good a steward as Simon had been, I freely admit. He is the Master, whereas I was simply an acolyte.

Over time, the post remained a safe haven for newbies; it also became a place where private jokes flourished, relationships blossomed, and latterly a place where returning site stalwarts could leave passing greetings if they lacked that certain arrogance required to create a post directly on the message board. It became, in a sense, a post that stayed the same on a site that was transforming itself into multiple message boards. A Poste Restante for passing old-timers, if you will.

Just as Mike Mackert moved on when he lost the need to know would Rand manage to survive the final battle with his entourage of wenches intact, I have moved on to a great extent. I still get email notification of new answers on the post. I still look at them. I answer those I feel the need to.

The post remains until either it is deleted, or Ben creates a second CMB when the current one gets too creaky for the servers to handle. It will re-appear at the bottom of the CMB when someone posts on it. That new post may mean nothing to you, or it may well mean a lot. Entirely up to you.

To me it means 8-10 years of coming to a place which interests me, whose denizens interest me, whose raison d’être interests me and whose history I honour. What started out as a place to discuss various story lines in Mr. Jordan's writings turned out to be a place where many friendships were forged, and a fair few marriages were founded. It is also a place where people can pour out their souls and receive a supportive hearing.

By the way, who actually did kill Asmo?