#☾ ooc ! ❛ —— ( they baldured our gate! )

[silksworn]

you ask her to dance at the ball and she says she didn’t know worms could speak wyd

#can you tell that I hate drawing clothing and would rather die #and that I can’t design for shit? #but shhh just take this #personally I would thank her #☾ ooc ! ❛ —— ( they baldured our gate! ) #☾ visage ! ❛ —— ( give me your skin as sheer as a cobweb ) #also that orher hand was killing me we’re just gonna forget about her for now

[branchbled]

desperately wishing I wasn’t at work right now so I could get things running over here, but this song is so aggressively Nettie to me.

anyway. let’s treat this as a starter/plotting call so drop a like if you wish for a Nettie 🌱

#she already has a whole playlist that’s how bad the brainrot is :’) #☾ ooc ! ❛ —— ( they baldured our gate!)

[silksworn]

you walk into Iraestra's parlor and two of these mfers are staring at you wyd

#if you cast 'speak with animals' they call you a bitch #the single happiest moment she had in the game besides teaching that lil girl to raise the undead was meeting His Majesty #she & minthy also got inspired by it from their Noble backgrounds which was also Very Good #i acquired scratch for the camp just bc i like him but she hates dogs #LOOOOOOOVES LOVES LOVES cats though #omg she can have two of them and they're named Portent and Omen! #☾ ooc ! ❛ —— ( they baldured our gate! )

[silksworn]

a collection of Iraes for your viewing displeasure

#need 2 draw her more.....her face is so fun #☾ ooc ! ❛ —— ( they baldured our gate! )

[silksworn]

the things you look up as a writer

#implied animal harm/hunting for rugs/brief mention of eyes under the cut. not anything graphic but to be cautious #this may or may not be about halsin #☾ ooc ! ❛ —— ( they baldured our gate! )

[silksworn]

🍝💖 and I didn't see it on the list but what music have you been vibing with lately too? <3

🍝 — favorite food(s)?

oof I have,,, a lot. I really like most types of seafood! Most things coconut or mango 😋 for specific dishes palak paneer and mapo tofu come to mind. Oooh or french onion soup or stuffed shells and...I'll stop myself there. My favorite desserts would have to be cannoli or green tea ice cream.

💖 — what was one of the greatest/happiest moments you’ve had in the rpc?

Well, I haven't been in this specific rpc for too long so all I'd really be able to say would be something sappy like meeting you! 😙🖤 But if we're talking general rpc experiences, I've been in quite a few over the years. And when I played canon characters I never really was one to interact much with duplicates (though I had no issues being mutuals with them), but one fellow Zevran rper was an incredible artist and let me use their art specifically for icons as well and they were just. So sweet and nice and it felt good that they trusted me to use their art (with credit). And in general I've just met so many lovely, incredible people rping. Some of my best friends in the entire world I've met through writing on tunglr, so even if things aren't the same as they were almost 10 years ago when I first started rping, I'm glad to be back and doing it again. It's the sense of community that makes it really worthwhile.

🎧 music!

Gods, I listen to such a wide variety of music and I almost always have something playing in the background. I tend to listen to a lot of metal/alt-metal, but I also listen to pop and k-pop and rap and goth-rock and punk?? Basically anything that catches my ear, I'm not particularly genre-loyal. Currently I've been listening to a lot of Deftones, Blackbriar, Baek Yerin, BAND-MAID, In this Moment, Boy Harsher, MUNA ! I could go on but I'd be here all day.

Munday Asks / @fatewoven

#for the music i linked a specific song for each that I enjoy but in no way feel obligated to listen to any of them #the real answer here is that my music taste is everywhere and anywhere and i cannot wrangle it into something describable #thank you for questions mwah mwah #fatewoven #☾ ooc ! ❛ —— ( they baldured our gate! )

[silksworn]

every time I see another drow it's an automatic followback from me. let us all do a football huddle.

#no but actually i love interacting with other drow characters. being able to dig into juicy culture stuff and also like #i get to play around more with iraestra's name and former role in society etc #☾ ooc ! ❛ —— ( they baldured our gate! )

[silksworn]

// only a lil subby when the whips come out <3

I’d say ‘soulmates’ if either of them believed in a notion that romantic or saccharine

#also just y’know #circumstances and both of their prides and i think the issue is that they’re a little TOO alike #tho interestingly enough even with their desire to rule she also doesn’t have an issue sharing power as long as she gets to be an equal #so had it not been for being tadpoled if they were just a tav + gortash meeting she would have probably agreed to his deal #but alas….i think they’re very ‘in another life’ almost #where they’re a little softer and a little less cruel. but i wonder would they still be drawn to each other the same way??? #tho sometimes i think irae is deeper in this emotionally than enver is which is to her detriment #and the burgeoning trust she developed for him was her first miscalculation #honestly letting him into her head and into her bed was the first mistake #and then everything else followed #i just….ugh!!! really love the two of them #fatewoven #☾ ooc ! ❛ —— ( they baldured our gate! )

[silksworn]

hm. sometimes i wonder if i play too heavily into certain tropes with iraestra, to the point where she is just a caricature of a character type. older woman, condescending and refined. she is noble & (was) rich & enjoys her creature comforts. she is a necromancer and macabre and obsessed with death & the body. she is vile & cruel & wants nothing more than revenge and power — all done before. i've been asking myself if there's something i should add to make her feel more 'real' and fleshed out, or if there's something i should take away. is she too predictable? or maybe i'm worrying about it, and she's fine as is. unsure.

#☾ ooc ! ❛ —— ( they baldured our gate! ) #i do feel like playing more heavily into her anger aspect is helping a little. i feel she is both fire & ice. the inferno and the sleetstor #she can freeze you utterly out or she will burn like nothing you have ever seen. and once she is ablaze good luck with those flames lol

[silksworn]

despairing bc my irl friend/ex roommate is starting up his d&d game again after months of hiatus and i. have no desire to really return to the game. i just didn't jive with it. but i also don't want to tell him that :////

#not really relevant to this blog i guess but it does involve one of my actual d&d characters #their name is Obba and they are a half-elf swanmay ranger. very softspoken and part of this swanmay enclave that protects nature #i miss the character but the game itself....eh..... #☾ ooc ! ❛ —— ( they baldured our gate! )

[silksworn]

I've decided to start reading both the Drizzt and the Starlight & Shadows novels for Drow LoreTM

#also hi not dead tentatively pokes head in here #☾ ooc ! ❛ —— ( they baldured our gate! )

[silksworn]

my cat is the absolute worst model and refuses to look at any sort of camera or cooperate. butthole’s purring the entire time too 😭

#my ass sat here 10 minutes trying to get him to cooperate #by the last picture I have given up #on my way to work 😔 hate it here #☾ ooc ! ❛ —— ( they baldured our gate! ) #anyway its munday so my face under the cut etc

[silksworn]

IRAESTRA OBLODRA: THE ABERRANT WITCH

IRAESTRA OBLODRA, a neutral evil drow of noble background, is an accomplished school of necromancy wizard & psionic that your party may encounter within the Shadow-Cursed lands. She is a cultist of the Absolute and a member of Ketheric's inner circle, but she seems to have her doubts about the Absolute and is sure something deeper exists beneath Moonrise. She can prove not only to be a fearsome ally, but an incredible font of information concerning psionic powers, aberrations of all sorts, and the plans of the Chosen.

PART 1: Recruitment , PART 2: Act 2 Companion Quest , PART 3: Act 3 Companion Quest , PART 4: Banter, Companion Opinions , PART 5: Approval & Disapproval

RECRUITMENT

There are two distinct ways to meet Iraestra, depending on how the party resolved the Grove conflict. Either way she is ultimately recruitable.

Siding with the Tieflings

If the party sided with the tieflings, she can be found while exploring a graveyard within the Shadow-Cursed land. She is searching for something with increasing frequency, checking over her shoulder as if expecting something to emerge from the shadows. Within her possession is a Moonlantern - if recruited, she will let the party have hers. The party may engage the drow in conversation, in which she will be elusive about her true purposes for being out here by herself. Like many True Souls you will experience a moment of connection with her, though you will note that it feels different from any other you have encountered so far. The touch of her mind feels colder, more precise. A scalpel parting the folds of your thoughts held within a surgeon's calm hands. If you attempt to read her thoughts in a similar fashion the DC will be incredibly & suspiciously high. If you manage to get a read on her you can sense that she is full of doubt and fear. She is uncertain and feels that she is running out of time. On a failed check she feels you probing around and will laugh openly, saying that you stumble around like a child and make far too much noise. She warns that if you try that again she will ruin you. The moment gone, she seems all too-eager to get rid of you and be on her way, but the party is attacked by a horde of undead when she attempts to slip away. After the battle she will curse quite colorfully, already investigating the remains of the creatures. She'll proclaim that they stink of Balthazar's foul touch; he has become bold in his attempts to rid himself of her. The party can try to get more information out of her at this point and she will be a bit more friendly. Iraestra will introduce herself and answer that Balthazar is an abomination that seeks to end her because she has started to ask too many questions. She will try to ascertain your belief in the Absolute while not giving away that she has begun to doubt the 'God' herself. Should the party indicate in any way or slip up that they are not truly cultists, she will say that she is relieved to find another who doubts and asks if she may join you. Iraestra does not fully comprehend the extent of the Cult's treachery due to the influence of the tadpole, but her naturally high psionic resistance is making it increasingly difficult for the Netherbrain to keep her complacent and docile. She feels that something is deeply wrong, but cannot put her finger on why.

Siding with the Goblins

If the party sided with the Absolutists and razed the Grove to the ground, Iraestra instead will be encountered during Minthara's trial by Ketheric. When the sentence is passed you can look at the small crowd and notice that there is another drow woman standing apart, a fearsome frown marring her pretty face. Ketheric nods to her as he passes; this is obviously someone he acknowledges/knows on a personal level. Should the party approach her she will comment that it is not Ketheric's right to pass judgement on Minthara. She quickly seeks to correct what she has said, but she is obviously disturbed by how the trial went. A similar mind-melding scene will play out as it did in the tiefling-siding scenario, revealing that she is not completely loyal to the cult. You can agree with her original assessment, and if you express any interest in freeing Minthara, Iraestra will volunteer to accompany you down to the dungeons. The torture scene plays out as normal, in which you can decide to either erase Minthara's mind yourself or save her from her tormenters. Iraestra will heavily disapprove and abandon you completely should you decide to do the former. Leaving the tower with Minthara is noticeably easier should you have Iraestra escorting you out herself. Instead of having to persuade the guards yourself, a single guard will attempt to engage you in dialogue. Iraestra bristles at being questioned, threatening that she will have her head and serve it personally to Ketheric should they attempt to waylay your group further. The guard backs off quickly, furthering the question of who exactly Iraestra might be here. Once outside the tower you can pass a perception check to realize that Iraestra is about to attack Minthara and stop her. Either way she attempts, but you can try to talk her down and ask why she is doing this. She will answer that she helped you merely because Minthara's life belongs to her — she alone has the sole right to end it, not Ketheric. This conversation will reveal that Iraestra is from the fallen draw house of Oblodra, slaughtered over a century ago by Lolth and house Baenre. It is possible to talk Iraestra down from her fury and due to finding out earlier that she has her doubts about the Cult, offer to help her get to the bottom of it's mysteries. She will make an uneasy truce with you, stating that she will bring no harm to Minthara as long as the two of you call yourselves allies. For now.

#☾ ooc ! ❛ —— ( they baldured our gate! ) #☾ headcanons ! ❛ —— ( shame is a blade you turn against yourself ) #woof this was longer than i thought it would be #going to take breaks between writing up all these posts in case they're similar in length #will edit this so everything links correctly once i make all these posts

[silksworn]

Irae is that bitch who puts on perfume to go to bed

#admittedly i do too but i like to smell it as i fall asleep #also just smelling good is nice LOL #okay I’m home now time to look at my drafts/inbox…sigh… #☾ ooc ! ❛ —— ( they baldured our gate! )

[silksworn]

Feel the need to make this known I guess. But as a pansexual mun, I heartily disagree with making any of the companions any sexuality that does not also reflect that they are bi/pan. They are not 'playersexual', they have sexualities. They are queer enough as is! We do not deserve erasure as much as any other queer identity. It's not the same as taking a 'straight' character and giving yourself more representation. And frankly, it's disrespectful of individuals attracted to more than one gender. I'm tired of seeing it and will not be following back if I do.

#☾ ooc ! ❛ —— ( they baldured our gate! ) #i keep seeing it in this fandom 'oh so and so acts too gay to be bi' bi people do not act one specific way #and can be as femme or masc as they want or perform gender however they please and still be bi at the end of the day! incredible!

[silksworn]

lord above help me. writing so much for irae's lore that now i'm afraid no one is going to want to read all that. i wouldn't even blame them.

#i'm not even out of her childhood and i'm at a page and a half sobs #☾ ooc ! ❛ —— ( they baldured our gate! )