That's a bit of a head-scratcher and actually ties into another issue I've been musing on as of late:
What about character important forum RPs? They obviously take a bit longer to complete than RP in-game. Unless you're setting the dates for it rather nebulously - or having it happen so it "ends" in the present, working happening events into it - how do you work what happens into things?
Example, say you're in a forum RP and - at some point during the event (which was set at a fixed point in time) - your character got horrifically scarred. Before that point, you were just RPing as normal in game. You like the scar and the story behind it, so you update your character model at the aesthetician with a tattoo to stand in for said scar.
Do you try to play it off like your character had the scar the whole time?
Not quite the same, but similar.
As for your particular case, though, I'd just put the RP itself on the backburner and try to weaken your IC ties with them so you're not so linked to them. If you can think of a legit reason for there to be a huge pause (I need to go do investigate this -> GONE FOR YEARS), then it should be easy enough to pick it up again later.
Or, if it never does, you'll have made your character independent enough they can just idly wonder "whatever happened to that?" every now and then. Maybe turn it into your own special plot if you're sure they're not coming back where you go find out why they disappeared. That'd be risky, though, giving an end to a character that's not yours - I'd definitely want to take to the player themselves first before lining something like that up.
Um... hope that helps?
What about character important forum RPs? They obviously take a bit longer to complete than RP in-game. Unless you're setting the dates for it rather nebulously - or having it happen so it "ends" in the present, working happening events into it - how do you work what happens into things?
Example, say you're in a forum RP and - at some point during the event (which was set at a fixed point in time) - your character got horrifically scarred. Before that point, you were just RPing as normal in game. You like the scar and the story behind it, so you update your character model at the aesthetician with a tattoo to stand in for said scar.
Do you try to play it off like your character had the scar the whole time?
Not quite the same, but similar.
As for your particular case, though, I'd just put the RP itself on the backburner and try to weaken your IC ties with them so you're not so linked to them. If you can think of a legit reason for there to be a huge pause (I need to go do investigate this -> GONE FOR YEARS), then it should be easy enough to pick it up again later.
Or, if it never does, you'll have made your character independent enough they can just idly wonder "whatever happened to that?" every now and then. Maybe turn it into your own special plot if you're sure they're not coming back where you go find out why they disappeared. That'd be risky, though, giving an end to a character that's not yours - I'd definitely want to take to the player themselves first before lining something like that up.
Um... hope that helps?
~