LogicsFate said:as I was checking the adventure there seemed to be a consensus that Irene wasn't coming back. I wasn't sure what to make of it.
No consensus at all. Two of her companions (including my character) are waiting in Monemvassia in the hope of getting word from her. If you have insight based on reading Irene's thread (M2.5), please don't share it with us. For all we know, she may be dead already, although given Venus' latest post here I (Orsal, not Nurlan) doubt it.
Since character posts rarely get edited in mid-adventure, a character that has never been edited is probably one whose first adventure hasn't finished. It doesn't suggest to me that the character has never been used.
Also, a character can have an extended hiatus between adventures. If a character (or, worse, a DM) disappears from view mid-adventure, it's a good sign that the player has given up. If the adventure gets finished and the character doesn't immediately come back to the Red Dragon Inn, it may just be that the player isn't ready to start another game right then. I certainly hope Guilt Puppy hasn't decided to abandon Sturm.
My character, Jo Guilan, is somewhere between extended hiatus status and retirement. I haven't definitively given up on him, but he's likely never to be activated again, mainly because in-character reasons make it difficult for him to meet an adventure hook.