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whaledenwtf · 5 months

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Gale Dekarios X Sorcerer!Reader - Spin the Bottle

The Gale girlies of tiktok got their clutches in me and I want him. I already had my hands full with wanting Astarion AND Halsin but now Gale too? I can't believe I've dedicated so much time to PIXELS. Anyways, here's some wizard sex. :)

AO3 LINK: Here Baldur's Gate 3 Masterlist: Here

Warnings: afab!reader and Male Smut, Body Worship ( Female Receiving), Creampie, Oral (Female Receiving), Misuse of the Mage Hand Cantrip (oh yeah), Praise Kink, Spin the Bottle Trope, Angst too!!! Sorry

I try to keep Gale as close to his character as possible but the idea of even entertaining Mystra in the fic for more than half a moment fills me with anger. So I try to only bring her up during the angst.

WORD COUNT: 5325

The last few days... weeks? Have been awful. Ever since you met all your companions in the wreckage of the nautiloid ship (and evidently, the wreckage of any normalcy) you've spent every day exploring the Sword Coast looking for answers and seeking guidance on how to rid yourselves of the tadpole. During the day, the heat is cooled by the breeze of the ocean, but nothing can quell the stress of the band of misfits you find yourself surrounded by.

"We should head to the cre'che. You may be too far gone, too weak, but I need the guidance of Queen Vlaakith." A chorus of groans echo Lae'zel's words.

"All offense, but I do not want a githyanki prodding in my skull." Shadowheart tells her annoyed. You roll your eyes, bracing yourself for the oncoming fight. You've been around them long enough to know that the daily Lae'zel and Shadowheart fight will have to be broken up by you, again. Lae'zel unsheathes her sword and points it towards Shadowheart.

"Just because you are a k'chakhi, doesn't mean (Y/N) can't understand reason." You look around and see everyone look annoyed. Well, almost everyone. Astarion always watches the fights with glee, bright smiles and wicked intentions.

"Excuse me? What did you just call me? I'll make sure Shar punishes you greatly." Shadowheart pulls out her mace. You can already tell this will get bloody. You walk in between them and put your arms out.

"Enough. For gods sake, both of you need to relax. You're both acting unreasonable." You cringe the moment you say those words.

"Unreasonable?!" They both respond, aiming their weapons at you. You roll your eyes, pulling out your staff.

"Point those weapons at me again and I'll make sure to cast a Hold Person so well you'll be stuck here until you transform." Everyone's mouths drop open at your words. You were a sorcerer, usually kind tempered, or you'd like to think so. This has been the tenth time you had to break up a fight between the two in the last three days. It was sickening, and you were at your wits' end. Astarion giggles with glee, clapping his hands at your words. You point your staff at him too.

"I'll cast it on you too-" He pouts at your words, no longer finding the threat fun when it's directed towards him. "Now all of you shut the hells up so we can go find more answers on what to do. No more fighting." Everyone nods silently. You exhale loudly and smile.

"Now let's go." Lae'zel scoffs, sheathing her weapon and bumping Shadowhearts shoulder as she walks past. You turn away and lead the group forward, going towards the Goblin Camp that is holding Arch Druid Halsin captive; the druids in the grove said he may have information on your tadpoles.

"I'm afraid that I cannot heal you. These tadpoles are different, and have magic that even someone as experienced as I cannot remove them." Halsin tells you sadly. The group groans at the tall elf's words. After completely eradicating all the goblins and other beasts in the camp, Halsin is still unable to help.

"However, I was able to track that they are coming from the Shadow Cursed lands, and may be tied to the Moonrise Towers." This was news! Not as good as you were hoping, but its a lead! A start to an otherwise longer journey.

"I appreciate you trying Halsin. Thank you." You tell him quietly. He nods, his hand on your shoulder.

"I should be the one thanking you. You have freed me and explained what Kagha was planning to do to the Emerald Grove-" Astarion cuts off the Druid.

"Yes yes, we get it. We helped. Seems like we did it for no reason." Without turning your gaze away from Halsin, you wack him with your staff. After a loud thump and Astarion's "ow", you smile at the elf.

"No need to thank me, Halsin. Your information will guide us onward." He nods, frowning for a moment.

"Once I get back from ending the Rite of Thorns, I will meet you at your camp and join you on your journey. I hate to ask more of you, but I need assistance with eradicating the Shadow Curse."

"More help?!" Astarion exclaims. You turn around, ready to strike again, but Gale beats you to it. He does you a solid and wacks him upside his head with a large tome. Astarion flinches, complaining about his hair. You smile at Gale in thanks, who winks in response to you before you turn back to Halsin, blushing.

"I'm sure in ridding the curse we may find more information about the parasites." Halsin engulfs you in a hug, and you laugh patting his back.

"Thank you, little one. I will trek to the Grove now. You are more than welcome to join me." You turn to look at all your companions, some of which seem eager to go back to the Grove.

"I think we should, just incase a rampant goblin attacks you again." Halsin chuckles, before letting go of you.

"Then let us make haste."

At the Grove, you watch as Halsin berates Kagha. Afterwards you see Zevlor run up to you.

"We must thank you (Y/N)! We gathered all our gold so we can give you something for your troubles." You watch as the man pulls out a small pouch, filled with everyone's gold. You felt pity, as the need to do good outweighed any reward, especially one so small. You knew taking their gold would leave them only with the clothes on their backs, and the supplies they had.

"Oh Zevlor, I cannot take this from you. Keep it for Baldur's Gate. We are just grateful we were able to help in time." He shakes his head.

"At least let us thank you. We can celebrate at your camp and share our wine and food with you." You ponder this.

"Something to destress may be necessary, lest we hear Lae'zel and Shadowheart fight again." Gale whispers in your ear. Your breath hitches. Ever since you pulled Gale of Waterdeep from the collapsing portal, you've been smitten. Despite his very human nature, his soft brown eyes, beautiful features and prose had caught your attention. He was gorgeous, and your heart yearned for him, mind, body and soul.

"If I have to hear the word cre'che one more time I might gauge my eyes out." You whisper back. He chuckles, the sound warm and it shoots straight to your core. You make your decision.

"I think a celebration with some wine, food and good company would be a great reprise from all the stress. We'll see you at sundown." The group cheers, excited for some wine and relaxation. This seems like the first decision everyone agreed with. You smile at them as Zevlor walks away, telling the tieflings about the celebration.

You were already drunk off the vinegar-like wine, teetering on the edge of consciousness and depravity. You see all your companions scattered across the camp; some entertaining the company of the tieflings, others drinking on their lonesome. This won't do! Your drunk mind exclaims. Before you could act on it, Astarion walks up to you, smirking.

"Well, hello to you sweetheart." You blush at his forwardness. It seems everyday you spend together he gets more bold in his words and touches, but he isn't Gale.

"H-hello Astarion." You tell him, stuttering from your inebriated state. His cold hand meets your arm, and you startle, sobering up momentarily.

"Just a hello? I was hoping for a better form of greeting." You roll your eyes at his theatrics.

"And what would that form of greeting be, my beloved?" You ask him sarcastically. He grins, his fangs glistening in the lowlight of the campfire and lanterns scattered about.

"Perhaps a kiss? Maybe a night, with yours truly? I can make you feel things no man has ever made you feel before~" He grabs your waist and pulls you close.

"No things a man has made me feel before? That's cute, but won't work on me." You tell him, slapping the side of his face as though he were a child.

"Won't work? Darling, it's true! I will make you crave my touch~" He whispers to you. You laugh in his face, and he frowns at your response.

"You should go into comedy with such jokes!" He lets go of you and pouts.

"You're no fun." You smirk at his words.

"Oh I'm plenty of fun. You're just not my type." He is taken aback.

"I'm everyone's type, sweetheart. You're just lying to yourself- or your standards are quite low." You really can't entertain his theatrics any longer, your eyes already looking around for Gale.

"Alright Astarion. As lovely as this conversation was, I've got to go." You pull away from him, spotting the wizard near his tent, a glass of wine in one hand and tome in the other. You rush towards him, before your journey is cut off by Karlach.

"H-hey soldier!" You smile at the tiefling.

"Hi Karlach. Are you enjoying yourself?" She nods, her body swaying.

"Of course! Between my engine sort-of working for now, and the booze, I'm on cloud nine!" She tells you, spinning in place. You giggle at her theatrics, before stabilizing her when she gets too dizzy.

"I was thinking of playing spin the bottle! Now that I can't burn people it would be fun to play-" She gives you puppy dog eyes. You feel bad for Karlach, you really do. A victim to Zariel, and now to her infernal engine, you can tell she just wants to be hugged and loved. You hug her, grinning. She grips you back tightly, sighing into your arms.

"Let's gather the others! Can't wait for the inevitable Lae'zel and Shadowheart kiss." You both laugh. You let go of each other and rally the others. You manage to get Lae'zel, Shadowheart, Gale, Wyll, Karlach, Astarion to join you near the campfire. Even Halsin decides to join, after you ask him sweetly. You're all sitting in a circle, with Halsin to your left and Astarion on your right. Gale is sitting directly infront of you, and you catch his gaze more than once. You decide that if anyone asks, the blush is not from the handsome wizard, but the booze. Yeah that'll work, you think to yourself.

"Can't wait to kiss you, sweetheart." Astarion tells you. You roll your eyes, taking a sip of a new bottle of wine.

"Get in line, fangs." Karlach tells him, smirking at you. You laugh at her words.

"Alright, alright. Let's get to kissing!" You smirk at everyone. After a minute of downing the bottle in your hand, you empty it and put it in the center of the circle.

"Now that little alchy finished drinking, who wants to spin first?" Astarion speaks up, smirking at your companions. With enthusiasm, Karlach shouts.

"ME ME ME!" You chuckle at her reaction, and give her the go-ahead. You watch her buzzing in her seat as she spins the bottle. It does one, two, three spins before landing on Wyll. They look at eachother, eyes wide.

"Oh shit-" Karlach whispers. The whole circle starts chanting, and after a minute of tense stillness they kiss. You all cheer, laughing and smiling. Then they don't let go, still kissing. The cheering gets louder,

"Oh gods, split it up." Astarion says, fake gagging. They split, gasping. Both of them are blushing, and you smirk.

"Had fun?" You tease them. They look away from each other, realizing the implications of their kiss.

"Alright, now Wyll's gotta spin!" You tell them, grinning. Wyll shuffles closer to the bottle, watching it spin until it lands on Halsin. You gasp, before cheering. Their kiss was quick, but you could tell Halsin was in control. He chuckles as they part, and Wyll sits back down. Halsin spins the bottle, and it spins for a solid ten seconds until it lands on Shadowheart.

"Now this will be interesting." Astarion whispers into your ear. You giggle into your hand, nodding. Your eyes split from Halsin and Shadowheart to see Gale watching you and Astarion's closeness with a frown. Before you could give him a look, you hear cheering. Your eyes glance back at Halsin, who pulls Shadowheart onto his lap and grips her tightly as they are kissing. Your eyes widen, lips parting.

"Oh." After a minute, they split, panting. Shadowheart stands from his lap, her legs left unstable from the powerful kiss. She fans herself for a second before spinning the bottle. It barely does a full turn before it lands on Lae'zel. You start laughing loudly.

"Absolutely not." She says loudly, already reaching for the bottle.

"Hey! No respins!" Karlach says, eyebrows furrowed. Shadowheart huffs. Lae'zel hasn't spoken up, just watching Shadowheart's plight with a grin.

"Fine. But watch yourself, githyanki. I will not hesitate to end you if there's any funny business." Lae'zel rolls her eyes, before pulling Shadowheart into a passionate kiss. Everyone's jaws drop as they kiss, all their verbal fights (and some physical, mind you) seemingly have turned into sexual tension. Lae'zel pulls Shadowheart into her, before pushing her under her. After hearing someone moan, you decide to cut it out.

"Okay, stop! Holy hells, if you're gonna do that do it in the privacy of your own damn tent." You tell them, grimacing at the sounds coming from them. Without a word, Lae'zel picks up Shadowheart and walks away from the circle. You guffaw, before turning back to the other companions, eyes wide.

"Um-" Astarion cuts you off, smirking.

"Alright! Since they left its my turn!" He claps, before spinning the bottle. It lands on you, and you groan.

"Come here, sweetheart." He whispers. As he closes his eyes, you give him a quick peck and turn away before he could wonder what happened.

"That was hardly a kiss!" He shouts, crossing his arms.

"Oh, boo hoo Astarion." You tell him, laughing. You spin the bottle. It does one, two, three, four turns, before it lands on the object of your attentions. Gale's eyes widen, and he freezes up.

"Pucker up wizard, it'll be done before you know it." Astarion sulks from beside you. You crawl towards him, blush deepening. When you get into his personal space, you sit down on your haunches and get comfortable. His hand goes to the side of your face, while the other goes to your waist. Your arms wrap around his neck and you meet in the middle.

This kiss was unlike any other you had in your life. The world around you disappeared, sounds muffled. All you could feel was Gale and his magical essence. You became tuned to one another, magic flowing freely between you both. His hands move around, the one on your hip going to the small of your back and pulling you closer, as the one that was holding your face goes to the back of your neck to hold you to him. Your lips open when his tongue traces the seam of your lips. Your tongues battle for dominance, and you moan into his mouth. That seems to snap him out of the trance, and he separates from you. You can see his deep blush, and he gets up and runs off. Your eyes follow him, and you furrow your brows.

"If he ran away because of your kissing skills, maybe I should be grateful you only gave me a peck." Astarion says. Your eyes snap back to his.

"My kissing isn't the problem. I'll go check on him." You get up, dusting the dirt off your legs and walking towards his tent. When you turn around, to glance at your companions, you see Karlach and Wyll cheering on Astarion and Halsin as they kiss. You roll your eyes and look forward, going into a jog so you could reach Gale's tent sooner.

When you get to his tent, you cough outside so he can hear you. You hear him mutter a "come in" so you enter slowly. When you enter his tent, your eyes widen. Its larger on the inside, and looks homely. There are towers of tomes and books, some old and some new, and your eyes are taking in the beauty of the bigger-on-the-inside tent that reflects Gale's personality. When your eyes stop wandering, you notice Gale sitting on the edge of his large bed, hands holding his head as he sits dejected.

"I wanted to check in on you." You tell him quietly, walking closer to him. He sighs, and looks up at you.

"I'm sorry-" You reach him in two short strides, and kneel so you are below him. His eyes follow your movements, and you see the sorrow and sadness lurking in his beautiful brown eyes.

"You never need to apologize to me Gale. Are you okay?" You ask him softly. He sighs again, frowning.

"I'm not." He says quietly. You know he's upset, by the succinctness of his words.

"You can always tell me what's wrong. You know I care about you-all of you." You save yourself at the last moment. Now's probably not the time to admit your feelings, especially when he doesn't seem receptive to your advances.

"I'm just-" He exhales loudly. "You're not the issue here, (Y/N). I am. Everything I have done, everything I do, was for her. Now I feel lost, between the bomb inside my chest and the tadpole in my head, I feel as though I have no control over anything." Your hands gently takes one of his, holding him softly.

"You are the most talented wizard I have ever met, Gale of Waterdeep. You have control over everything, more than most of us." He shakes his head, eyes getting misty.

"You're wrong, you know. I have lost favour with my goddess, and have lost control over my emotions it seems. I just ran away from you and you still check in on me. Gale's Folly, I once named my demise. But it seems everything I do adds to my torment, and it affects others." You go to deny him but he cuts you off. He turns to the side, looking in the distance.

"I have always known my purpose, since I was young. Hone my powers, control the weave. Serve my goddess. The universe that was once kind to me has turned against me, against my reverence for Mystra. I was cursed, am cursed. In the deepest darkest shadows of my folly, I met you. A sorcerer who I respect and admire greatly. Now I am destined to lose that too-" You grip his hand tightly.

"You have not lost me yet, Gale." You whisper gently to him. His face snaps back to yours, his eyes searching yours for the truth. All he sees is your honesty and admiration.

"I do not deserve you." He whispers, shedding a tear. You wipe the tear away, holding his face.

"It is I who does not deserve you, Gale. You've been hurt, badly. I would never expect anything from you more than what you are ready to tell me. You must know how important you are to us, to me." He looks down at his lap, pondering.

"I've always felt the need to do anything to serve Mystra. Even sacrifice the deepest parts of myself for her, if she had asked. Many times, she had. But you; you ask nothing more from me. You give without taking, and I don't understand how you think I am deserving of your kindness." He whispers.

"Gale. You are magnificent. I care about you, more than I care for the others. Ever since I pulled you out of that portal I knew that you'd be someone I'd care for. Since then, all I've done is fallen more for you. You don't need to reciprocate any feelings, but you have to know how much someone cares for you- I care for you. You are worth much more than Mystra has ever given you credit for." His eyes snap back to yours, widening at your words.

"I did not realize-" You cut him off gently, the hand on his face squeezing slightly.

"I was afraid to say anything. I understand your trepidation regarding your situation. If I was in your position I would have given up long ago. But please, please do not think for a moment you are not worthy of love. You are kind, good of heart and deserving of more than most of us in camp." He pulls you into a hug. Your arms find themselves around him, squeezing him tightly. Your head finds itself in the crevice of his neck, inhaling his scent of old books and hazelnut; a scent you could only describe as Gale.

"I'm sorry. I do care about you, deeply. I have not felt such a way since Mystra, but sitting here with you now, I have never felt such acceptance and understanding. I'm afraid of what darkness the future holds, but it does not seem as dim if you are there with me." He tells you into your ear. You sigh, nudging your nose deeper into his neck. You leave a soft kiss on the side of his neck before pulling away.

"I'll help you rid yourself of the Netherese Orb, and then the parasite. You are not alone." His hands grip the sides of your face.

"I can never feel alone when I'm with you." He pulls you into a kiss, and the adoration he feels for you translates in the movement of his lips. You kiss him softly, before pulling away.

"I do not want to take advantage of you when you are feeling so low." You gaze at him, admiring his looks. His eyes, long dried from the tears, shine in the light of his tent.

"I want to be here with you. No advantages are being taken. Please-" He pleads, begging for you. You bite your lip, and his eyes follow the action. He rushes forward, sliding off the side of the bed and kneels in front of you. He pulls you into a kiss, desperation and need coursing through his blood. You moan against his soft lips, all worries and fears dissipating into the night air. He pulls away from you, panting.

"Those sounds... You're entire being... No magic can compare to your beauty." He whispers, his breath fanning against your lips. You blush under his gaze and words, unable to reply.

"I want to show you my love the way gods do, please let me." He tells you against your lips, kissing you again. Your hands cradle his neck, thumbs trailing up and down the column. You pull away again, shaking your head.

"I don't need magic, or gods. Not when I have you right here infront of me." He pulls away, a deep blush on his face. You notice that it goes down his neck, reaching his chest; as well as the tips of his ears, which are also tinged crimson at your words.

"Are you sure? I can make you feel things, see things.... experience things beyond your wildest imaginations-" You cut him off, pouting.

"You already make me feel those things, Gale. Can't I have the man in front of me? I am no goddess, and you needn't seek my approval. You already have it." He nods, before taking your hands and pushing you forward so you're laying against the floor. His fingers link with yours and pull them above your head. You're panting, breasts heaving and grazing his own chest. His gaze trails from your features down to your neck, then further down to your chest.

"Gods. Seeing you in such a state makes me reconsider if I am truly cursed. You're ambrosial." His face goes to your neck, peppering kisses and licks up and down. You moan again, your arousal climbing higher. Your hips begin to grind the air, praying for solace, pleading for his touch. He bites down on you, blunt teeth tickling your skin. You gasp out, back arching so your bodies are fully touching.

"Please, please Gale." You whimper, eyes closed and lips parted.

"What do you need, my love?" He asks you huskily, still licking and kissing your neck.

"I need you." You wail out, eyes watering from his teasing.

"Not as much as I need you, my sweet." With a wave of his hand, both your clothes dissipate. His eyes wander, admiring your body. Your hands go to his chest, caressing the hair there. For a moment, your fingers hover over the tattoo, before touching it with such gentleness. He exhales at your touch, eyes closing while your hands wander. Your hands go to his shoulders where they caress the tense muscle there. He smiles before opening his eyes, adoration shining in them.

"You are a goddess." You squirm under his words, blushing deeply. His hands start to caress the sides of your torso, going up to your breasts. His thumbs start rubbing against your peaks, the rough texture of his fingers making you whimper. Your hands squeeze his shoulders, as you look at him pleadingly.

"Gale, don't tease me." His eyes glace up to your face, as he lowers himself closer to your chest.

"Don't worry my sweet sorcerer, I'll make sure this night is magical." His lips take in one of your nipples, as he begins to suck and bite. You gasp, your nails digging into his shoulders. As he worships your nipple, his other hand begins to play roughly with the other one. His empty hand waves, and a mage hand appears and takes both your wrists in its mystical grasp, placing them above your head like Gale had done moments before. He moves to the other nipple, giving it the same treatment.

You whimper under his actions, panting and arching into him. One of his hands trails down to the apex of your thighs, and begins to caress your core. You exhale loudly through your nose as you bite your lip, groaning. He comes off of your chest with a pop! and grins at you.

"My sweet, are you this wet for me? Can't wait to spread you open and taste you for myself-" His hands spread your legs as far as you can go, as he lowers down. You feel his breathe on your core. For a moment, nothing happens, but then he summons two more mage hands to hold your thighs open as he begins to taste you.

His tongue licks the side of your thighs, as he places open mouthed kisses on your hot skin. He does this for a minute, just worshipping your skin, and then he licks up your core. He moans into you as he tastes your slick, eyes closing.

"Ambrosial, just as I suspected-" He opens his eyes and looks at you as you watch him attentively. "I can't wait to taste you until I bring you to other planes of existence." He attacks your pussy with fervor, licking and prodding at you. His ambidextrous tongue works wonders on you, he spreads you open further with his fingers, as he brings his tongue into you. You gasp at the intrusion, hands struggling against the grip of the mage hand, wishing to push him further into you. As he continues to taste you, his concentration wavers and the mage hands dissipate. Your hands latch into his dark curly locks, tugging at him as you continuously plea don't stop. He chuckles into your skin, as he pulls away.

"I won't stop worshipping you until the end of the night, my beloved. I promised you magic, and you'll take it like a good girl." You whimper at his words, slick leaving you. He licks it up from the source, moaning into your skin. As he goes to take your clit into his mouth, two of his thick fingers caress at your entrance before going in to the hilt and curling upwards. You caterwaul at the attention, hands gripping his locks tighter. He licks and sucks at your clit, fingers pistoning in and out of you. You feel your nirvana quickly approaching.

"G-Gale I'm close, so so close. Please-" You beg him, eyes closed. He hums against your clit as he curls his fingers curve upwards. You've hit your peak, back arching into the sky and thighs tightening against his head. You see explosions of colours behind your eyelids, and your body is weightless for many moments. As you come back from your high, you open your eyes to see Gale admiring your face; his fingers lazily pumping into you. You clench around his fingers as you pant, eyes still unfocused.

"O-oh-" You whisper, head hitting the floor as you close your eyes to try to get your bearings. Gale chuckles at you as he removes his fingers from you, tasting your spend on his skin. As your breathing gets back to normal, you open your eyes again to gaze at Gale.

"I want to please you-" He cuts you off, picking you up off the floor with relative ease and depositing you onto the bed.

"If you do that I know I will not be able to please you as long as I'd like." He tells you honestly as he licks his lips. You surge forward, capturing his mouth against yours. You can still taste yourself on his tongue, and it excites you further. Your legs lock around his waist and pull him into you, his cockhead bumping into your clit. You split from each other, admiring one another.

"Take what you want from me, Gale of Waterdeep." He moans at your words, and grasps his cock in his hand.

"You don't know how you affect me, (Y/N). Your words, your scent, your taste. I can't wait to take you and make you mine." As he speaks, he thrusts into you in one quick motion, bottoming out inside of you. You both gasp, the connection unlike any other you had ever experienced in your life.

"Please make me yours Gale. I'll be anything you want, do anything you want. Just make me yours." He begins to thrust into you, his pace rough and deep. He continues to hit that spot, and you feel your orgasm coming again.

"I'm s-so close." You whisper into his ear, kissing the side of his face. He turns and pulls you back into a passionate kiss. He pulls your legs over his shoulders, and you feel his tip kiss your cervix. You gasp against his lips, panting.

"That's right, sweetheart. Let go-" His words bring you to your crest, and you babble as your brain short circuits. As you reach your peak, he does as well, moaning out your name against the column of your neck. His hips stutter to a stop as he releases inside of you, the clenching of your pussy too much for him. He collapses onto you, kissing your neck and whispering sweet nothings to you. After a moment, you pull him into a gentle kiss, savouring the moment with him.

"You are perfect." He whispers to you as you part. Your hand caresses the side of his face.

"You are the perfect one. I hope I can spend the rest of this journey reminding you." You tell him softly. He closes his eyes, smiling at your words.

"How can I ever consider myself less than when I am in your embrace?" You blush, pulling him into a hug. After a moment, he gets up, getting a cloth to clean your mixed spend from between your thighs. Once he deems you clean, he lays back down next to you. You spend the rest of the night cuddling, hushed words of love and appreciation to one another.

The End.

#fanfic #fanfiction #baldur's gate 3 #smut #gale x reader #gale dekarios #gale of waterdeep #bg3 gale #gale my beloved #bg3 #angst with a happy ending #light angst #gale x sorcerer!reader #gale / reader

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insomniaruler · 2 months

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I have more ~H E A D C A N O N S~

The Hermitcraft ‘medic’

Now not all servers have medics, most private large servers do (such as Ponk on Dsmp). The medics role is to either give someone a quick death and painless if they have infinite respawn and it’d be easier to heal from the respawn than the injury. But if infinite respawn isn’t an option (once again like the dsmp) they heal people to the best of their ability. They all swear an oath to keep players away from perma-death no matter who they are. The largest servers have actual hospitals (such as hypixel).

So on Hermitcraft who’s the medic? I’m so glad you asked! I have a handful of possible headcanons.

1. Doc. I cannot stress this enough but this man is not a medical doctor. He can make stellar prothstetics but he can’t tell lungs from hearts no matter how much he tries to convince us with Doctor literally being in his name. do not let him near your broken arm because you will wake up with a prothstetic instead (yes this did happen to ren[no neither regret it])

2. Stress, she technically doesn’t have the training necessary but! She mostly heals using magic because you cannot convince that she is not a Druid. She’d be quite good at it! You would be healed but the likelihood plants rising up is small, but never zero.

3. GEM! Where’s this coming from? Well! GeminiTay has a bachelor’s in Medical Laboratory technologies IRL! So I feel Gem gets to the server she looks at Druid Stress trying her best and Doc ‘how many people can I convince I’m a medical doctor’ m77 and just sighs. She has Stress on as a nurse together they’ve been trying to get Mumbo and Etho to stop eating Redstone (because it is very toxic)

4. Keralis, resident therapist, very important on Hermitcraft

5. X, he has admin magic, enough to heal him as needed but it’d probably fry a normal persons immune system.

#hermitcraft #mcyt #docm77 #stressmonster101 #gemini tay #keralis #xisumavoid #minecraft headcanon #headcanon #headcannon #sillies #Minecraft mechanics #minecraft lore #Minecraft

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larsisfrommars · 3 months

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The Light Won't Die (Part 3)

Halsin x Tav

Rating: E for Everyone

Chapter: 3/??? (<- Prev Chapter • Next Chapter)

Word Count: 1401

Genre: Adventure, Hurt/Comfort

Content: Halsin x Tav, Male!Tav, Fighter!Tav, more grappling with PTSD, someone let Shadowheart have too much wine, hc Karlach is Tav's 2nd in command, cliffhanger

"The group was ready to move on, save for one Druid. He knelt, staring intently into the empty eye sockets of the tragic traveler. As if searching for something, recognition. As if he could reconstruct a familiar face from the contours of the humanoid skull."

———————✨🌿✨———————

“Stay close to me! Keep your torches lit!” Tav commanded, the party obliged as their crew band of eight tread carefully through the beginnings of Shadow Cursed Lands.

They were every bit as grim and grueling as the Druid had warned. Still they were well warded against the gnawing darkness. Between two strategically placed Daylight spells cast upon weapons courtesy of Halsin and Shadowheart, and The Blood of Lathander which bolstered their torches. Even when Wizards with bad knees straggled behind or overeager Barbarians bounded ahead.

Still, it did not eliminate the possibility of attack. With Moonrise Towers looming gloomily in the distance as a constant reminder. Though perhaps it did leave room for some curiosity.

“Something over there.” Tav muttered signaling the rest of the group to follow.

It was the scraps of a campsite, a very old one at that. A failed solitary venture into this accursed place. The skeleton was completely bare of flesh, any weapons or armor it had carried long since picked over or shredded, despite the unsettling lack of living animals in the area. Still, perhaps there was something worth scrounging for by way of torches or provisions, maybe even some magic if they were lucky.

And so they were, to a degree, they made short work of sifting through old rotten rations and scraps of cloth to pocket a modicum of coin, tools, even a few potion ingredients. Not that’d there’d be a place to sell such things for a while yet.

The group was ready to move on, save for one Druid. He knelt, staring intently into the empty eye sockets of the tragic traveller. As if searching for something, recognition. As if he could reconstruct a familiar face from the contours of the humanoid skull.

“You alright Halsin? I’d say let’s Speak With the Dead if you’re curious but uh, I hear it doesn’t work well on skeletons.” Tav called back from a pile of freshly emptied crates.

“This is true.” Halsin replied absently “Perhaps we shouldn’t dawdle. I suspect there may be Blights about, if memory serves.”

The great elf stood up, pocketing the small tattered book that laid beside the remains. Ready to move forward, Tav noticed but said nothing. Halsin had asked for no share of the pickings, the Druid was entitled to a bit of light reading. Maybe he would glean something from the text they could not.

It was not too much longer before a weariness worsened by the curse bade them make camp. Torches around every tent, and a fire at its heart. Tav hoped it would be enough, it seemed every edge of the camp had something shadowy skittering just beyond his line of sight. It was unnerving, he prayed it was just the stress of the day.

They ate and drank well; wine, bread, sausages, fruit, and so on. However, normal fireside chatter was dampened by the warning their first encounter with a shadow curse victim bore. Save for that of one particular party member.

“I know it’s rather, intense” Shadowheart continued, after perhaps a little too much wine. “but you cannot deny there is a certain beauty to the depth of silence here, the weight of the shadows. The Mistress of The Night has total control here. She has blessed me with the ability to walk safely through it, to ease you all safely through it. The Lady of Sorrows will guide us towards the answers we seek, I’m sure. She rewards all who appreciate her dark embrace.”

“Well, at least someone’s chipper.” Karlach muttered in a mixture of amusement and exasperation, finishing off the last of evening’s rationed bottles.

Most of the group chose to humor or to ignore her, politely listening or getting distracted among their own conversations. Tav strove to be the former, hoping for some nugget of truth or doubt in her recitation of words that did not seem like her own. Yet he found himself capable of neither. For he wasn’t the only one who could neither sit and listen to her impromptu sermon, nor bring himself to make conversation.

Was Halsin… scowling? The Archdruid had been withdrawn, brooding even, ever since they’d left that body behind. Flipping through the pages of that book he’d found on the day’s hike toward Moonrise. Perhaps he should say something about it to him.

Perhaps it was too late.

“If it is all the same to you. I think I have heard enough of the virtues of Lady Shar for one evening. Good night.” Halsin growled sharply.

Though he had not raised his voice nor spoken to the Cleric directly. The rest of the party was shocked into silence. Even Shadowheart had snapped out of her wine-addled religious reverie. Her expression soured into an ineffable wall of inner turmoil. The Druid had given no inkling of his distress to anyone save for Tav… until now.

“You alright bear man?” Karlach asked gently.

Halsin’s expression flickered with the faintest hint of regret before hardening into frustration. Unable to form a reply, he gave a heavy sigh, and meandered away to his own tent.

Tav couldn’t bring himself to leave well enough alone. He shot Shadowheart an exasperated glance, and Karlach an apologetic one for leaving her alone with the tension. Still, finding himself uncaring as to whether either were received as his feet willed him towards Halsin’s tent for the second evening in a row.

This time he’d knock, given what happened last time he approached the Druid’s tent unannounced, especially now that they were in this wretched place.

“Halsin? Can I come in?”

No answer, better if he’d leave then.

“Please.”

Halsin’s voice betrayed a mountain of emotions so grand Tav could not possibly name them all.

So once more Tav’s reflexes won the day as he near instantly slipped inside. In Halsin’s lap was the tattered journal he had found. It was open to what seemed its final passage, damp droplets smearing its last writings somewhat.

“His name was Saryn.” Halsin rumbled, his voice thick with grief, as it had been in the Mountain Pass.

Everything snapped into place, the book, the body, the concern over Blight presence, the outburst by the campfire. It was all so painfully obvious in hindsight. That sorry sight of a corpse was one of the Halsin’s own. He felt stupid for not seeing it sooner.

“I pleaded him not to come to this cursed place, not alone. I warned him of its danger and still he left. He was barely an initiate at the Grove… I could have stopped him. I had it in my power.” Halsin let out a ragged sigh, opening his clasped paw to reveal a tattered emblem of Silvanus. All that remained of the fallen’s long since decayed armor.

Tav wanted so badly to touch him, to be of some warmth or comfort in this terrible place. A place that brought this man more pain than any magic could neither inflict nor heal. He’d draw it out of him with his bare hands like poison from a wound if he could. But he feared any attempt would break the spell of Halsin’s confidence in him in this fragile moment.

“It takes an old fool to make as many mistakes as I have. Too many times now have I been made to abandon those in most need of me… but no longer.” Halsin’s fist tightened around the emblem once more, broad shoulders trembling with barely bridled emotion.

Halsin opened his eyes now, agitated, gold skittering across hazel-grey. Not quite ready to look upon his abiding and quietly watchful companion. Who had since come to kneel beside him.

He let out a deep, slow breath, back straightening. His rigidity from the past few nights having melted away into something much more familiar to Tav from the Archdruid, confidence.

They’re eyes finally met, a warmth there where once there’d been a wall of painful memories.

“But I have allies now.” He concluded, “Greater than any I had before. A pocket of light against the darkness, and a welcome one. I fear I could not survive without it.”

The first genuine smile Tav had seen bloom across the wood elf’s face since they’d approached this awful place felt enough to banish any lingering affects the Shadow Curse could or would ever befall Tav again. He reached to take Halsin’s hands in his own.

“Shit!”

Fun Fact!: The inciting incident is not only the inspiration for this entire fic but it's something you can actually find in Act 2 and I just thought of how mortifying it would be if Halsin could've been with you when you find it!

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prof-peach · 1 year

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Hi,

I'm making a dnd campaign with a pokemon module of 5e and wanted to use a bit edited version of Dotaku Island, Prof. Peach and the crew cause I like your headcannons and work nice with my idea of the inner workings of the Pokemon world.

Is it okay to use them?

It's a campaign with friends and we're not making any profit from it, but still wanted to ask cause now more than ever artist consent is important (even when nothing about this is goong online so normally people woukdn't ask, but I also wanted to say I've been a huge fan of your work for a long time so two birds with one stone ig).

Either way, thanks for showing your work to us here on tumblr and hope this ask isn't too weird :)

Haha sure go for it, I’m chill with non-profit use, and if you ever do post junk let me know so I can snoop.

Fun notes for anyone who may be inclined to do this: THESE DO NOT NEED TO BE USED NOR FOLLOWED, PICK AND CHOOSE IF YOU PREFER.

North is off limits, no exceptions. Being caught there will get you removed from the island on the first ship back to your original region. You will struggle to return here if found in the north. Patrols line the fences to make sure no one goes in, night and day.

Players will take damage if they try to touch peach in any way. Treat her as a high level monk/Druid, who 1000% will throw hands with u and your Pokemon given a good reason. Cold and distant to approach, pawns players off to other staff at any given opportunity. A hermit who will humour you if you can appeal to her better nature, or great desire to fight things. You may lose but it’s the trying that counts.

Wisdom saves (DC28) with Val if you try to touch her. Not only will you gain force damage if you succeed (half damage) or fail (full damage) to lay hands on her, but you’ll see horrifying illusions for a minute relating to loved ones. Frightened condition until a long rest, compelling you not to approach further. I cannot stress this enough. Penalise players for trying to touch her, peach will bluntly warn you once, after that you’re on your own.

Grey regularly hands out handy snacks that may help heal or buff teams. He is warm and open, a good person to approach for hints and tips. Notably found in his labs or out running errands, he’s always kind and gentle, unless that is you threaten his home or his loved ones in a severe way. He is scarier than peach when he’s pushed too hard.

Plenty of staff roam around to offer aid or information, ranging from gardeners, cleaners, shop staff, and specialist keepers who maintain the visitors sections.

A groomers, cafe, food stands, daycare, small fairground with rides and games, a hotel, lighthouse, port, greenhouses and of course multiple lab and practical spaces exist, amongst other interesting buildings.

The resident ranger can offer assistance but she is known to stay quite busy, and so getting her attention may prove difficult if it’s a trivial issue.

Adoption zones are the only approved areas to catch Pokemon, and even then it’s a process that requires a test and paperwork, so everyone involved is able to provide adequate care to the mons in question, and so they know any pre existing conditions.

The islands purpose is recovery, so human needs come in second. The Pokemon will always come first, a fact some visitors may have issue with. The staff will not care and continue to do their job without concern for this.

Year round events make the island busy and people are welcomed to join in with whatever’s going on, be it chilli cooking contests, fairs, pageants, board rental for the sweet ocean waves, or watching a migration pass by. There’s always something to do!

This is all optional, just have fun with it, and I hope your players enjoy! If they ask about it, redirect them to the blog so they can dive on into the content.

#prof.peach #ooc

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annamelia-art · 9 months

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So, I started this blog with at least a partial intent of posting some of my own art but I haven't yet. Because I'm a bit of a coward, ultimately. However, I have just finished drawing the starting D&D party I most recently was part of (we since picked up a wizard but I've not drawn him yet) so I figured I could share these. I don't give permission for any of them to be reposted or used elsewhere although reblogging is fine.

I actually drew these in reverse order from how they display in this post so 🤷‍♀️ idk either I'm getting worse or my judgement is impaired.

This is Inga, she's a goliath Bard of the College of Sorrows. She is a devotee of the Sisters of Iallanis, who collect stories in this world. She has been sent into the world to seek out stories and bring them home. She plays the drum, normally a smaller, more portable drum, but I felt like going fancy for the picture.

Next, we have Endarin, an Eladrin Paladin, which can be a tongue twister for sure. She's a knight of the Summer Court, which in our world has kind of a Grecian flavour, and she seeks to fill her late mother's shoes as bodyguard to the Queen of Summer, just as soon as she's done saving this little gang of miscreants from themselves.

Also from the Summerlands we have Sir Humphrey of Harenburh, a very proud Harengon Fighter. He is a chivalrous knight, whose rapier is as sharp as his wit, and whose cloak billows dramatically in the wind. He gave his heart to one of the fair maidens of Summer, and ever since has been on a quest to prove himself worthy of her regard.

From the court of Autumn we have Kale Oriandor, a Tiefling Druid, and his companion, Skunk Moon, the wolf. Kale is softly spoken and contemplative, and has very poor luck, particularly when it comes to meeting and observing wild animals. [Seriously, his player has like, the worst dice curse I've ever seen]

Finally, from the Unseelie Court of Winter, allow me to introduce you to the bane of everyone else's existence and the reason every member of the party has earned the Personal Enmity of Lolth the Spider Queen... Tingaling! She is a Pixie Sorcerer who thinks ethics and morals are things that happen to other people, and whose favourite spell is Detect Thoughts. She would happily sell her grandmother, or burn an orphanage, or steal a cookie, whatever seemed to be most convenient for her current needs. Sadly for Ting, her player had to drop out, and so she has gone to become an NPC, in Magical Witness Protection, or wherever people go who have, and I cannot stress this enough, Pissed Off Lolth So Bad She Personally Hates You

#dungeons and dragons #character illustration #character art #my art #disabled artist #original characters #dungeons and dragons characters #seriously ting was so much fun #her player was completely new to the game and just went from zero to infinity straight away it was epic #i miss her #but we have a new guy and i have ro draw him next #please don't steal

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sunshineistyping · 2 years

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hey :o)

i had an idea just now where the glamrocks and the daycare attendants learn about d&d and decide to play out of curiosity

assuming y/n is the DM, who would play what kind of character

OKAY SO I LOVE DND AND I HAVE SO MANY IDEA ABOUT THIS!

First of all, Moon is a rogue and refuses to be anything else. He’ll fight god before he switches classes! However, you have to give him credit, he’s a damn good rogue. He comes up with some of the most out of the box ideas Y/n has ever heard of but they usually work...unless the dice gods get angry with him 🥲

Then Sun is pretty cool with Wizard or Cleric, has occasionally played Bard but isn’t that big of a fan. He’s a fairly positive guy in and out of character, in character he definitely has more attitude and it’s kind of funny to see him put on a new persona!

Of course Roxanne is a Paladin, is that surprising in any way? Her sass really comes out when she’s in character and it’s HILARIOUS. I cannot stress enough that she is the funniest person at the table!

Then Chica is an absolute Druid and a killer one at that. The same way moon refuses to play anything else? Yeah that’s Chica too. She just loves the class, that and you get to see the way she grows excited about new beasts. It’s fairly cute

Monty is a Barbarian no I don’t take criticism. He’s an absolute KILLER player to have. He really manages to bring both his character and the game to life. It’s like Monty playing himself with added sparkle 🤔

Of course Freddy is a Fighter and shockingly also a fan of the Bard. (That was sarcasm) This man has seduced Dragons successfully by rolling Nat 20’s. None of you are sure how he does it but he has and it’s a skill only he can accomplish as a Bard!

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

———————————————————

#fnaf headcanons #fnaf au #:o) anon #sunshine answers

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talontarget · 3 years

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characters i ferally hope for cr to play in c3 <3

travis: a human or tiefling with wild magic, i simply think it would be amazing

marisha: okay hear me out: water genasi and a bard. yeah???? YEAH??? I JUST THINK IT WOULD BE NEAT

liam: a tabaxi cleric, maybe a woman!! liam playing women or female aligned characters is just ✨my favorite ✨ because he's so damn good at it

sam: i would love a serious character, like an aasimar with a chip on their shoulder, maybe a ranger??

laura: you can pry druid aarakocra laura from my cold dead hands, i want this so bad

taliesin: a nonbinary kenku fighter, i cannot stress how much i cannot get this out of my head

ashley: an overzealous/overconfident sorcerer, maybe a tiefling?? or a half-orc, just something over the top and in your face, i think she would do so well with this (cannot stress enough how i would also like to see her play a human fighter just for the ellie implications, tlou and tlou2 are like my favorite games ever sue me)

#critical role #c3 #travis willingham #marisha ray #liam o’brien #sam riegel #laura bailey #taliesin jaffe #ashley johnson #matt mercer #that one post thats like gays talk about critical role like its a football draft #yeah we do baby

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cheshiresense · 4 years

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Oh, can I ask for Ichigo in a Witcher AU (if you've watched the show ? Medieval Fantasy Generic AU if you haven't...)

I’m afraid the only thing I know about the Witcher is that the main character is this really strong antisocial grumpy dude that nobody likes, who goes around killing monsters for money, and one day he saves a guy who becomes like his PR manager/best friend or something. That’s it. So I’ll have to go with a generic medieval fantasy AU instead.

1. Ichigo is a mercenary, a monster-killer-for-hire (which is the only bit of the Witcher I can incorporate lmao). But yeah, he’s a mercenary, trained by his family, who have been hermits in like the Forest of Menos or something since before Ichigo was born because the Kingdom of Seireitei exiled them ages ago for dabbling in dangerous magic. Oh, normal magic is fine, the healing chants that their clerics learn, the potions and elixirs that their druids make, the purifying prayers their priests all know to defend the kingdom from ghosts and demons.

But the Shibas had always been a little too curious for their own good, more interested in pushing the boundaries of magic than being afraid of it, and even before their exile, they’d been fairly well-known for their summoning magic, which already made them powerful, one of the biggest noble families of the kingdom with a specialized branch of magic passed down through their line. But then they discovered elemental magic, and even worse, they refused to hand over their research and knowledge to concerned parties who would’ve been able to monitor its usage more responsibly. That was the last straw, as far as the church and the other nobility and the government were concerned. Some wanted that magic for themselves, others wanted to erase all traces of it. Most of the Shibas were hunted down and killed, the rest scattered, and summoning magic was banned in their wake. Elemental magic left with them, not a single page of notes left behind in their wake, a final fuck-you to the kingdom they’d once served so faithfully.

Decades down the road, the Shiba name is barely remembered and never spoken of. Ichigo’s left home after deciding the hermit life really wasn’t for him and he’d like to see more of the world. He knows his history, knows to stay out of Seireitei, so he makes his living by wandering the lands around his ancestral kingdom. Mercenaries like him can find work so long as there are monsters, and there are monsters everywhere, and Ichigo is good at his job, especially with his family’s magics at his disposal. There was a reason Seireitei drove the Shibas to death and ruin the same way they annihilated the Quincy kingdom in the east, too scared of the exorcist warriors they trained to tolerate their existence. Fear has always been a powerful motivator.

2. Meanwhile, back in Seireitei, a huge fuss is kicked up when one of the Kuchikis’ youngest up and coming officers ends up freezing the entire sparring yard one day at the Academy after snapping under the stress of constant bullying for coming from lowborn roots. She collapses immediately after, but there’s no taking back all the frozen trees and grass and buildings in the vicinity. Incorporating ice magic into her blade definitely counts as elemental magic, one thing leads to another, and by the time she wakes up, she’s been locked up in a cell somewhere because half the kingdom wants to know how she did it so they can do it too while the other half wants her dead. Everyone agrees that they can’t risk her falling into the wrong hands or under the wrong influence. Weeks later, when her execution seems imminent, her brother-in-law and head of house manages to sneak her out of the prison and back to the Kuchiki estate, where he then practically throws her at a portal gate already open and waiting for her.

“You cannot remain here,” Byakuya tells her, cold and aloof like he doesn’t care at all, but the grip he has on her shoulders is almost bruising. “Seireitei is not kind to those who are too different.” He shoves a bag into her arms. “This is all I can do for you. This portal will take you to the outer edge of Rukongai. Do not use ice magic. Do not come back. If you are found within Seireitei after tonight, I will not save you again. Do you understand?”

Rukia wants to cry and rage and beg Byakuya to make this all go away, she’s actually still not entirely sure what she did wrong, accidental magical outbursts don’t happen every day but they’re pretty common in students just beginning their magical studies. What did it matter if she froze a few things? She didn’t even hurt anyone! Was ice magic really so terrible? She’d never even heard of anyone using it before.

But she also promised herself that she wouldn’t do anything to dishonour the Kuchiki name after Byakuya was kind enough to continue looking after her just because he’d loved her sister.

So she swallows down her protests and takes the supplies, and they both pretend she doesn’t have tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes.

“Will I see you again?” She can’t help asking.

Byakuya’s face looks carved from stone. “I sincerely hope not.” And then he pushes her through the gate.

Rukia staggers out somewhere on the outskirts of Rukongai, the surrounding expanse of land that lies between Seireitei and the other kingdoms. The portal snaps shut behind her, and then she really is well and truly alone. It isn’t as if she’s never been in Rukongai before, she and her sister were born here after all, but she’d never been here, so far out, so much closer to the rest of the world than Seireitei.

So she does what she’s wanted to do for weeks but wouldn’t let herself when there were guards watching - she spends the next ten minutes or so huddled on the ground sobbing her eyes out, because now she has no family, no home, and no idea where to go from here. She’s no stranger to survival - at the very least, she knows how to barter and trade, look out for pickpockets and navigate towns without standing out too badly, which is actually more than she can say for a lot of highborn kids, but she’s also completely alone, and she wasn’t even out of the Academy yet. If she stumbles on monsters, which is more likely the farther away she is from Seireitei, she’s probably going to end up very dead.

Eventually, she stops, scrubs her face clean, and digs through her pack to see what Byakuya had given her. Money, clothes, a bit of food and water under preservation spells, a map of Rukongai, a couple daggers, and some healing salve and bandages. It’s better than she expected, less than she hoped for, but anything less than a magic wand to turn back time is less than she hoped for.

In the end, all she can do is shoulder her pack and begin trudging her way towards the nearest town. Whining about the unfairness of it all isn’t going to help her, and night will fall soon. The last thing she wants is to be caught out in the middle of nowhere when the sun goes down.

3. Of course, it’s just Rukia’s luck when two weeks later, trouble runs into her. One moment, she’s counting coins in the room of another inn (she’s already running low, with no real job prospects in sight), the next, there’s shouting and screaming from outside, and in the distance, a lone wolf’s howl splits the night.

In the room next to hers, Ichigo’s eyes snap open. Oh good, his meal ticket has arrived.

By the time Rukia’s good sense is overridden by the desire to figure out what is going on, someone - from the room beside hers - has already leapt out the window, more shouting and screaming and running footsteps have stampeded through the streets below, angry snarls has followed, and Rukia bursts outside with a dagger clutched tight in her hand just in time to see a cloaked figure whirl around the fangs and claws of a beast, a werewolf, a blade of silver in his hand, and Rukia barely even sees the rise and fall of it before the werewolf has lost both arms. It barely has time to howl in agony as it collapses to the ground, and then orange light sparks at the stranger’s fingertips, and a moment later, the werewolf has burst into flames.

Rukia gawks like an idiot because she’s definitely never seen a spell like that before, and more than that, the stranger made the whole fight look easy. Against a werewolf.

The street is silent once the werewolf dies. No one else is around, and the stranger simply straightens and turns. It takes her a few seconds to realize he’s leaving.

It takes her less than that to run after him.

If this man knows fire magic, surely he would know something about ice magic too? But, more than that, he is strong. If she can be half as strong as him, then maybe, maybe, even if she can never go home again, she might at least be able to make something of herself.

4. Ichigo would like it to be known that he had not agreed to this. But this stupid, ridiculously weak girl won’t stop following him around, and the one time he’d shaken her and left her behind in between towns, his conscience had forced him to double-back when he’d heard from someone in the next town that there’d been a pack of wargs roaming the surrounding hills. Of course, because either his luck was shit or the girl’s luck was shit, he’d arrived just in time to prevent her death-by-warg.

She really was useless with those daggers.

“So teach me how to be better then!” The girl demands, a humiliated flush high in her cheeks but a stubborn tilt to her chin. She looks scruffy and tired, and Ichigo has no idea what she’s doing on her own because it’s pretty fucking clear she’s not used to nomadic life. But she seems to want to get stronger, and everybody has to start somewhere, so Ichigo supposes he can’t begrudge her ambitions, whatever they might be.

Still, “I don’t do anything for free,” Ichigo tells her, even though that’s not strictly true considering he’s already saved her life for free.

The girl glares at him because they both know full well she barely has enough money for meals and a roof over her head these days, but then she offers, “Teach me, and once I get strong enough, I’ll become a mercenary too. Then, I’ll give you a portion of my pay for however long it takes me to clear my debt.”

Ichigo stares dubiously at her, at her dirty but expensive clothes, at her daggers that would probably cost Ichigo half a year’s worth of bounties, at delicate hands unused to the wilderness. But he also takes in the way she crosses her arms and scowls back with a desperate sort of defiance and steel in her spine, and in the end, he heaves a sigh.

“You better keep your word,” He warns her. “Or I’ll take your head myself.”

The girl brightens. Ichigo already regrets everything.

But from that point on, he gains a travelling companion/pseudo-apprentice. Her name is Rukia - no last name - but it becomes pretty clear why when he starts her magic studies by telling her to show him what she already knows. It’s all basic stuff, and she’s not even that good at it, but then she also haltingly admits to an uncontrolled burst of ice magic, and Ichigo gets a pretty good idea why she’s wandering around like a ruffian.

After that, he tells her of Seireitei’s glorious history, specifically the parts the kingdom has swept under the rug, and the consequences of using elemental magic even outside of Seireitei. Not illegal, but not wise to flaunt either.

“But you know it too!” Rukia points out. “Fire is elemental magic, isn’t it?”

Ichigo grunts an affirmative. “Yeah, and I either make sure nobody’s around, or if they ask, I show them some matches and pretend they just didn’t see it.”

And then, fed-up with talking, he shoves her into the river at their feet. She screeches the whole way in and the whole way back up. “ICHIGO!”

Ichigo smiles meanly. “If you want to learn elemental magic, you need a better foundation first. Let’s start with meditation.”

If she gets good enough one day to even halfway succeed in murdering him the way her furious black glare tells him she wants to, he’ll consider these lessons worth it.

5. And basically I just want these two to become badass mercenaries together. Ichigo was totally fine and prepared to spend the rest of his life alone, with maybe the occasional trip home to visit family. But then Rukia barrelled into his life and refused to leave, and as he gets to know her and vice-versa, he supposes there are (significantly) worse people in the world. She’s a quick learner, and she doesn’t complain, she works hard, and their somewhat antagonistic relationship smooths out with time, enough that eventually it becomes second nature to look for her first. And even after Ichigo deems her good enough to strike off on her own, all she does is remind him of her debt to him and refuse to leave. He feels like that’s going to become a theme in their lives.

Their little group probably expands over time. They bump into a Quincy exorcist, one of the last of a lost kingdom. Ishida is even pricklier than Ichigo but he can shoot a target blind and he takes to following them too after the three of them lay waste to a cave full of vampires with a combination of elemental magic and fancy arrows. Apparently, the scholar in him just can’t leave a completely unknown branch of magic alone.

They pick up more people - Kisuke and Yoruichi, two survivors of a caravan train that had been travelling from Seireitei to Las Noches (”Shihouin,” Rukia whispers to Ichigo the moment she lays eyes on Yoruichi’s eyes and hair and skin) that had been overrun by nightwraiths. For apparent nobles, they don’t seem to be in any haste to return to their kingdom or call for better aid than three suspicious mercenaries. In fact, Yoruichi seems overjoyed to cut her hair and purchase a concealment tattoo for her eyes from Ichigo and basically take to monster-hunting with the enthusiasm of a child let out to play for the first time. Kisuke didn’t even look like nobility to begin with and won’t stop pestering Ichigo about his magic the moment he spots him making a campfire without flint.

They get Mizuiro, a bard who smiles through the massacre of the bandit camp that had abducted him, and the enhancements he hums in battle are impressively efficient in speeding up their movements or strengthening their blows or reinforcing their shields. Then they get Inoue, a healer with spells in her repertoire as unknown as elemental magic, and her friend Tatsuki, a martial artist without a drop of magic in her but can give Ichigo a run for his money in a spar.

They probably bump into another group of bandits except this one’s a bit weird (”We’re not really bandits,” One of them, Yumichika, claims), but that’s the label people have slapped on them, it’s what happens when you loot the rich (”They can usually afford strong fighters,” The leader Kenpachi grouches) and give to the poor (”What the fuck am I supposed to do with a mountain of gold?” Kenpachi demands). And somehow or other (obviously when Ichigo wasn’t fucking looking), Kenpachi and his people don’t leave either, and by this point, they’ve pretty much gained a bit of a reputation as some kind of mini-organization of protectors roaming the countryside, it’s fucking ridiculous and Ichigo regrets all his life choices but especially when Renji and Ikkaku and Rukia and Tatsuki get into another knock-down drag-out fight at an inn or a tavern and Ichigo’s the one who has to pay for the damages.

But anyway, eventually, Ichigo probably takes them all home where they can be his family’s problem instead. Needless to say, they get on like a house on fire, Kisuke invents like three new branches of magic in the Shiba library in the space of a week, Yoruichi and Kuukaku take to each other like long-lost soulmates, and in general, there’s just a lot of Found Family Feels. Kenpachi is in heaven, he’s never had this many people who can knock him on his ass and be down for another round.

And EVENTUALLY, someone from Seireitei probably comes to poke their nose into where it doesn’t belong because How Dare some lowborn mercenaries go around taking all the monster-hunting business away from the kingdom? Also Kaien may or may not have started spreading rumours of elemental magic and summoning magic and other never-before-seen-or-heard-of magic that makes Seireitei Very Anxious. It devolves the way it always does and results in the usual - Seireitei sends a bunch of their military in to seize everything that should be under their control and to get rid of any loose ends.

Ichigo, already stressed from the madhouse inmates he lives with (THIS IS THE WHOLE REASON HE LEFT IN THE FIRST PLACE, AND THEN HE CAME BACK AND MADE IT TEN TIMES WORSE), and he is Absolutely Delighted when Seireitei gives him the perfect excuse to blow off some steam.

And then idk there’s probably a revolution cuz the citizens and surrounding kingdoms are sick of Seireitei’s shit, none of the Shibas want to be crowned though because wow, what a waste of time, sounds boring, so Rukia is like maybe my brother can do it, he’s responsible and stuff, so they give the crown to him, and Rukia gives him an awkward hug, no hard feelings but she’s not sticking around, and the Shibas are given a place back in the city and everybody knows not to fuck with them and Kisuke starts publishing all their inventions and spreading them so even normal everyday people can learn. And then Ishida’s probably like I wanna rebuild my kingdom but there’s an asshole living in it at the moment who leads a cult and pretends he’s a messiah come to save us all so we need to kill him first, and Ichigo’s like DID YOU SAY MURDER AND AWAY FROM HERE I AM SO DOWN, and then basically Ichigo’s Menagerie of Misfit Mercenaries go to take back Wahrwelt from Yhwach, but that’s another story.

#headcanon meme: answered #bleach #fantasy au #medieval au #kurosaki ichigo #kuchiki rukia #headcanon #why did this turn into a friendship palooza?#i have no idea #for some reason they just fit together in this au

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fluffmonger · 4 years

Text

The Pelor Theory

Or, I’ve spent way to much time overanalysing this, but have this anyways.

So, it’s here at last, Caleb’s big arc, or at least the beginnings of it, and oh man am I stoked. Caleb has had these loose ends dangling for a long time now and Liam has continually been dropping little hints as to the Big Secrets, always very cryptic. Now, this might seem a bit out of left field, but given things like the Moon Theory, hey! Might as well go wild yeah?

Imo, one of the biggest loose ends and mysteries we’ve got regarding Caleb right now is his time in Vergesson Sanitorium, and especially who was the woman who healed him? Why did she do so? So… my theory.

Let’s start at the beginning. Why was Caleb even sent to Vergesson? In his words, “I broke a bit.” He claims he doesn’t remember much of his time there, that it's all kind of a blur for him, except for the woman who healed him. (This is important, we’ll come back to it). It's very clear from everything said in 18, and then expanded on in 49 and further about his scars and Trent’s goals that Caleb was abused and heavily traumatised. That alone, on top of the guilt and stress of hearing his parents dying screams would be enough to break a man.

However, I don’t think it’s as simple as that alone. (continuing under the cut for length)

Trent has placed false memories into the heads of many of his students, brilliant students who from a mechanical standpoint, we can assume have pretty good stats. Beyond that, none of them seem to have realised at the time that their minds were played with magically. Most spells of that nature tend to leave a target aware to a degree if the deviation is too sharp from normal. However, Trent is likely an Enchantment wizard, who specialises in mind fuckery via magical means, using the 14th level feature Alter Memories, which allows an Enchanter to charm people without the noticing or remembering that they were ever charmed (it's utterly terrifying y’all, super abusable).

A very common and powerful spell, that Matt has absolutely used before, is Feeblemind. We know Lady Briarwood had the spell, and used it in her first appearance. We know she was part of the assembly, once long ago before being kicked out. So it's not improbable that Trent also has access to it, and would make use of it. Feeblemind, in short, reduces a creature's intelligence and charisma scores to 1, and prevents them from casting spells, using magic items or even communicating. It is only possible to try to save against it every 30 days, and vs an Archmage’s spell save, with a modifier that low there's no way to get out of it outside of magical intervention.

So where does this leave us?

Caleb broke, after suffering through severe abuse and being manipulated into killing his parents

Caleb, despite having a Keen Mind, cannot remember his time in Vergesson, except in flashes and fuzzy moments

Caleb was very likely subjected to Feeblemind, which he’d only be able to escape via magical means.

Which brings us to the woman. Caleb says that she arrived some years after he broke, and was another patient. She laid her hands on him, and not only was the worst of his mental illness lifted, but his memories were restored to their original state, before Trent altered them. When looking at spells that can remove a Modify Memory and a Feeblemind, the only two that fit the criteria are Wish and Greater Restoration. Wish is a super rare high level spell. It’s unlikely that someone would use it on Caleb, a lost and broken former Volstrucker, even if there's stuff we don't know. If it was a wish spell, that opens up some very intriguing possibilities, however I am not willing to put money on it. However, Greater Restoration is only a 5th level spell. It is available to bards, clerics, druids, certain classes of warlock, and artificers. Of these, I think it's most likely that a cleric is the one who healed Caleb. Why?

Well….

We know Caleb grew up in Blumenthal. Blumenthal is a small farming town outside of Rexxentrum. Its most notable feature is a giant statue of Pelor, the Dawnfather. Liam has stated outright that Caleb, Astrid, and Eadwulf all “walked in the light of the Dawnfather” as children, in his Narrative Telephone story, which he confirmed to be a metaphor for Caleb’s childhood and school years. We know his father was in the military, a low ranking soldier of some sort, and the Dwenadalian Empire honours Pelor as a God of War, and he’s the patron of the Righteous Brand. We know Trent pushed the idea of “Empire Over All,” Caleb stresses this aspect very hard, but we also know that he doesn't believe in anything anymore, when questioned about his feelings re: his training in ep 49.

Pelor is a god of light, previously mostly shown as the patron of Whitestone in CR 1, which makes sense given Whitestone was founded by displaced Dwendalians long ago. He hasn't played much role in CR 2 as of yet, however, the final fight with Obann takes place in his cathedral in Rexxentrum. One of his major symbols is that of a burning brand or brazier that takes the place of his head in depictions.

We have every reason to believe that, as a child, Caleb likely worshipped Pelor to some degree. Additionally, his given name, Bren, means “to burn” in german. Liam has said there's a deeper meaning behind it, however. In the artbook, there's a curious diagram that says “Brennan”. It is set up almost the way we see certain spell circles set up, and within are Roman numerals for 8, 13, and 17. 13 is the age Caleb was when he went to Solystryce. 17 is the age at which he killed his parents. 8 would be a likely age for beginning to show magical potential. I'm still not entirely sure what's happening with that, however, Brennen as a name has several potential sources. In old Gaelic, it can be traced to names meaning sorrow or tears or raindrop/drops. In old english it can be traced to a word meaning Burning Hands, which keeps the fire theme and is very interesting indeed.

Back to the point at hand…. Caleb likely has associations in the past with Pelor, though now he doesn't believe in or worship the gods or the Empire (and in the empire, the gods are but an extension of Empire, really) and there is a deep secret behind his name, and there is more he isn't telling us. What reasons does trent have for keeping him locked in Vergesson when he was already broken and useless? Who would go in just to save a broken man? What is Caleb not saying? I posit that Caleb, Bren really, has some deeper connection to Pelor, which he may not be aware of entirely. There is something about Caleb worth saving. Perhaps he was born on an auspicious day, or with a certain connection in place? Whatever it is, he is important enough, that a cleric of Pelor faked madness or revolutionary sentiment long enough to get into Vergesson themselves as a patient, and then used Greater Restoration on Caleb at least once, but possibly twice, and then faked madness as part of their cover. They are most likely not dead and may or may not still be in the asylum. And I absolutely think we’re going to start seeing these connections pop up as we move back into Caleb's arc, and exploration of the depths of Cerberus.

So tldr, I guess?

Caleb was magically affected by Modify Memory and Feeblemind, and his own mix of neurodivergence and trauma

Caleb was placed in Vergesson after breaking/being controlled in order to be monitored and possibly experimented on to some end of Trent’s

Caleb was later healed by someone who found him, likely using Greater Restoration, which cured him of the magical interference.

This person could have been many classes, but the most common and easiest to see fit into the Empire would be a cleric

This cleric likely served Pelor, and healed Caleb specifically due to Caleb having a connection to Pelor

The nature of this connection is mysterious, but absolutely important, and will play a role in this upcoming arc, if I’m right here.

#caleb widogast #bren aldric ermendrud #trent ikithon #pelor #the dawnfather #dwendalian empire #cr meta #cr theory #critical role #critical role theory #critical role meta #critical role spoilers #cr spoilers #the mighty nein #cr2 #cerberus assembly #this may be a bit of a reach but im personally into it #also i know i project re caleb and religion but hey

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dungeonqueering · 3 years

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Herofall update

The three players have settled into their downtime pretty well. They revived a faerie dragon that had been petrified while part of the rebellion that started as a result of the protagonist’s deaths a hundred and fifty years ago. The faerie dragon is named Pluck, and when they finally asked what Pluck’s pronouns were, Pluck just hissed. (The bard oog said “Oh, Pluck’s gender is ‘Do Not Refer To Me’ What a fuckin’ vibe”) Pluck speaks draconic only, despite understanding common, and it took the players a good solid bit to realize that Pluck was responding in draconic to all the things they had been saying in Common. Pluck just refuses to use Common lmao Pluck is also big on pranks and keeps encouraging people to do mild pranks for ‘morale’. Also, we decided that draconic is Welsh, so I slap that dialogue in google translate and post it in the chat. Pluck also only speaks in bold text.

During this downtime, the players are really getting to know the NPC members of the rebellion, since they hadn’t had but a partial chance before. This is made complicated when Elanor’s girlfriend, Vallynn (Lynn) tries to break up with her basically immediately when the heroes get back. It turns out the leader, Thalia, who notably has a stick up her ass, convinced Lynn that her and Elanor’s relationship could serve as a distraction and potentially be dangerous to both of them should the evil wizard Malum find out about it and try to use it to tear the rebellion apart. They have an incredibly healthy relationship talk and decide to stay together anyway. Love wins.

Meanwhile, the bard Dolos gets to know and seduces the bard Bliss, another member of the rebellion. He also gets to know many other members of the rebellion and, while having truesight active so he can spot Malum’s invisible minions, he notices that Thalia’s ears are disguised. She’s not human, as she pretends to be. She’s an elf. That sure is a weird thing to hide. He confronts her about this, and she basically says “It’s personal and I don’t want to talk about it.” Meanwhile, Animus the Druid (ex wizard) uses his newfound staff gifted to him by an ancient and sacred tree to Awaken a cat. The cat offers up the many names he’s been called, and Animus settles on Milo. Milo asks about magic and the nature of being alive and time. He asks if he can learn magic. Animus decides to teach the now-sentient cat to be a wizard. This will go fine.

Lynn and Elanor go on a camping trip. During, Lynn lets those three little words slip, and as a DM and storyteller, this is INTENTIONALLY very early in their relationship. It’s been established that Lynn is impulsive, among many other things.

Animus takes Milo and a fledgling wizard named Temerity that was recruited on their last mission to the College of the city they’re in. Using a letter he forged from Dolos’ other persona (itself an identity stolen from a murdered billionaire), he enrolls Temerity in the wizard college and begins doing research to figure out how a talking cat can do somatic and verbal spell components so that he can, and I cannot stress this enough, make me give a LITERAL HOUSECAT class levels in WIZARD Dolos confronts Thalia. She seems desperate to gain his trust, and he intrigues her with a bit of his own past. They agree to each share and keep their own deepest secrets. I won’t post what Thalia’s is quite yet because I actually had that part of the conversation in PMs so the other players would find out on their own later, but it’s maybe a bit of a big deal. We also learn a bit about her past (she was a boring desk-bureaucrat before starting the rebellion somewhere in the 48-56 year old range, she was also a noble whose nanny was killed by the evil wizard Malum.) We learn a bit about Dolos’ past as well. Before he was a powerful wizard, Malum was a noble lord. He allowed the poor in his city to die during a plague, and that included most of Dolos’ family. (Dolos is a changeling, but was adopted by a human couple who were part of a 15-ish person acting troupe. He grew up traveling and using his shapeshifting to play many MANY roles well.) This leads into them talking about Dolos’ nature as a changeling. Dolos offhandedly lists his other personae, including the one Thalia hasn’t seen: Alice. She asks about it, and Dolos shifts into Alice. Thalia looks away, and Alice picks up that it’s because (i’m going to paraphrase here) she’s a useless lesbian who’d lost her normal stoic composure due to letting herself be vulnerable and honest during the conversatrion. This led to Alice flirting, and Thalia was uncharacteristically interested. She had a ton of concerns to address, though. Namely, how much of a gd hypocrite it would make her since she had just tried to ruin Elanor and Lynn’s relationship (albeit that one was romantic and this would not be) a few days prior.

Alice does a remarkable job of assuaging all of her fears. Thalia’s behavior and motivations as a character become clear. Nearly everything she does, including the personality she fakes for the rebellion, is all motivated by fear. Alice helps comfort that, and see’s her relax for the first time since they’ve known one another. This is going to be a big turning point for Thalia as a character since the stick wedged firmly up her ass up to this point has been dislodged. She’s still afraid of many, many things. Still paranoid. But... less. Willing to accept that comfort and closeness is actually possible. And she now *trusts* Alice/Dolos in a way that she hasn’t let herself trust anyone literally ever. That’s going to make things... emotionally complicated.

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adelaideoldburg · 3 years

Note

1, 2, 4, 7, 17, 23, 30 for the ask! (☞ﾟヮﾟ)☞

THANK YOU THSNK YOU THANKIJOUUO

1. What is their home stable in-game? Why?

Adelaide: Steve's

Wynonna: Moorland

2. Where do they actually live in Jorvik?

Adelaide: she lives in Silverglade village and boards her horses partially at steve's and rooster her stallion at silverglade equestrian center

Wynonna: she works at Moorland until she saves up enough to move to South Hoof to work at the Rescue Ranch

4. Who is their Soul Steed? What breed are they? Do they have any markings or look different in some way from the in-game appearance you could give them?

Adelaide: Obi is her soul steed he is a jorvik warmblood and he’s a gray with a black coat when he was born so hes kept a darker mane but now i do not see him as a full dapple since hes a bit older so hes mostly white with dark points

Wynonna: doesnt have a soul steed but Bowie is a dark bay warmblood cross with a large white star that narrows to a point in the middle of his face and he has 3 socks on his two back legs and right front

7. What are their powers? Are they stronger with one Circle over any of the others?

Adelaide: her powers are still a bit unknown. she can speak to some animals and communicate well to most like she can calm down stressed animals and most animals seem to understand her but she can actually talk to obi and wolf and they talk back but thats because of their own backstory. in high stress moments she can summon light but thats been a rare occurrence and something she doesnt really want to think about lmao

Wynonna: hasnt shown any powers but they are just lying dormant (she has dark magic) but she is stronger than the circle she just doesnt know it yet

17. How do they feel about the Soul Riders? Do they trust them? Feel like an outsider? Are they closer to some over the others?

Adelaide: she trusted them completely at the beginning and she does think they have best at heart but actions have shown adelaide that they cannot be 100% trusted so she only helps out when they desperately need her. she likes all the girls but she doesnt really consider them friends

Wynonna: has run into all the soul riders but hasnt really interacted with them probably mostly with lisa as they both grew up in Texas but adelaide who is closer to wynnie has trid to have them keep distance as she is still a child (17 when she moves to jorvik) and doesnt trust the druids to use her (they all sense her powers a bit but dont know the extent)

23. How has their visit(s) to Pandoria affected them? Do they have scars? Has it affected any of their life views?

Adelaide: absolutely hates pandoria and finds it creepy and just unnerving to be there. she doesnt have any scars but it definitely made her broaden her views about the world we do not know

Wynonna: has yet to go there

30. Do they like the perpetual winter of Dino Valley or the perpetual autumn/fall of Goldenhills Valley, or is it strange to them? Do they prefer one over the other, or neither?

Adelaide: loves fall so she loves goldenhills even with their nightmare creatures and how the weather never changes but hates the cold so she tries to avoid dino valley ( her cousin on the other hand loves it)

Wynonna: finds it weird but shes seen a lot of weird stuff on jorvik but she doesnt have a preference over the two the dino skeletons are really cool to her though

#sorry again for the late reply #god i could keep going but i feel like im already talking too much lmao #thank youoouou #oc tag #oldburg.txt

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ghostcatsso · 3 years

Text

Time for a druid meeting with Justin. Let’s see what Fripp wants.

Ah, dad moorland came too. Elizabeth quickly told him this is druid business and he’ll have to leave. Poor guy

I took Justin to the secret stone circle

Almost immediately as I got there, Fripp told Justin he was under arrest and thanked me for apprehending him. Excuse you sir I was under the impression we were gonna help him?

Apparently the druids don’t trust that Justin was tricked, they think he’s actually evil, so they’ll be locking him up. Great.

We soul riders tried arguing his case after they had taken him away, but Fripp quickly distracted us. He has information on how to save Anne!

She’s been located in pandoria, and she appears to be much deeper than Lisa was. Far too deep for the Sleeping Widow to help again, that’s for sure. We’ll need a portal to pandoria. For that we’ll need a keystone that’s kept in the stonecutter’s vault in Dino Valley. To get to Dino Valley faster we’ll need a portal there, and to get that portal we’ll need another keystone. That keystone is just kept by Avalon, though. Much easier to get to

Avalon struggled to find it among all the other junk he keeps in his pockets, but I got it eventually.

Back in the stone circle, Fripp instructed me on how to set up the portal

Pretty keystone

And then Linda and I were told to go through and find the stonecutter’s vault and ask for the pandoria keystone. This should be interesting, since I have yet to unlock Dino Valley on this account.

I took a lot of pictures of this inbetween worlds place and I’ll probably post them in a different post lol

I’m in Dino Valley and SSO isn’t yelling at me to get out of a closed off area, so hopefully it’s fine. Poor Chance isn’t a cold tolerant horse, though, so it looks like we’ll be taking this slow

Linda said she could feel strong magic and to follow her. Off through the creepy dead tree forest we go

Until we came to a minecraft ice spike biome

oh look there’s even an igloo. think we’ll find a villager and a zombie villager inside?

Linda said the magic she senses is coming from here. The door must be hidden by an illusion. We used our moon magic together and revealed...

it’s just a hole, nothing exciting

inside, on the other hand, is very pretty

we found this ghost guy who says he’s Magnus Steinar, Jon Jarl’s stonecutter, and we must prove our worth before he’ll let us pass

I gotta find the missing pieces to this runestone. Easy enough. I did it pretty quickly just running around the maze of corridors. I don’t see how this makes me trustworthy

The Stonecutter said he probably should’ve given us a more difficult test, but he’s a man of his word, and he opened the door for us.

I love this room, it’s so pretty! And right under the tree is the keystone for the pandorian portal. Time to head back to Fripp

Fripp told me how to set up the pandorian portal

He said he needs the other soulriders to stay and help power the runestone, I’ll have to go alone. Oh cool, I’m sure this will go great.

This inbetween space looks much more spikey. I’m sure that’s fine...

finally, Pandoria. This place is so pretty but honestly, and I like pink, but it’s too pink.

Anyways, I followed the trail and eventually found...

I bet that’s Anne. Yikes, she does not look so good.

I tried to talk to her but she just told me to leave, that I’m wasting my time, that Garnok cannot be stopped. Oof.

And then Darko showed up out of nowhere

And he summoned these tentacles, which I think are supposed to be Garnok himself?

Anyway, Chance and I decided we’re no use to Anne dead, so we noped outta there

Cue a stressful race where I was avoiding tentacles and mushroom spores and shadow seekers along with the normal race obstacles.

and yes the tentacles were still after me through the inbetween

im surprised i didn’t fail this race tbh, especially we me taking pictures lol

Finally, I’m back. Fripp was confused where Anne was but interrupted himself to say something’s coming and I need to close the portal quick!

Too late! Darko and maybe Garnok followed me through! Darko put some sort of spell on the other soul riders so they could move, and then ran to the keystone to take it for himself

The thing about keystones that I didn’t mention earlier? You need to remove them carefully, or the portal could destabilize and explode, possibly sucking people into it. So when Fripp saw Darko grabbing for the keystone, he ran to stop him and

The keystone exploded very pink and Darko was sucked back through the portal, along with those Garnok tentacles, but Fripp...

Well, Fripp doesn’t look so good. He managed to say something about talking to someone named Evergray, before Elizabeth showed up. We told her what happened and she said Fripp must’ve taken in all the pandoric energy from the keystone himself. The druids will be able to heal him, but it’ll take time.

She took him away and I was left with the soul riders

I told them what happened and we agree we have to save Anne, and this Evergray is our only lead. We decided to go ask Avalon who Evergray even is

Avalon seemed very reluctant to tell us much about Evergray, let alone have us meet up with him. He’s an ex-druid who was exiled and he lives up north in a place full of witches.

We told him it was Fripp that told us to find Evergray and that finally convinced him. He said he would send word that his exile is over and he can come back. He’ll let us know when Evergray has returned.

#sso #chance and charlie #story quests #quests

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bread-elf · 4 years

Text

DWC 2020 - Day 14

Silence

The Long Vigil - Childhood A pair of large hands cradled the small child, cradling her carefully as she slept. Soon he too would sleep, for a long time, to rejoin in the vigil. A final kiss to his mate before returning the child, having left one more seed planted in her belly that he won’t get to meet for a time. The slightly older boy watched with a confused expression, and he reached to ruffle the boy’s hair, nearly the same shade of green as his own hair. And then he left, to sleep with his brethren. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As a small child Jiroki couldn’t remember her father. A Druid of the Claw, he slept in the Talon Dens, the barrow dens of Stonetalon Mountains. Her mother, Sheradel Glaivefall, was a Sentinel, but with the help of other Kaldorei in the region she was able to successfully raise three children. A woman of deep purple hair and markings of the Owl on her face, she was strong and raised them with a firm, but gentle hand.

Brethilon, the eldest, looked more and more like his father as he grew in height and stature, though his hair did not match the same shade of green. A young boy running around with his friend Rydras Feathergrazer up the path, his bright blue hair bouncing behind him. The middle child, Jiroki, led by the hand of her mother, her hair pulled back into a fishtail braid as she moaned and groaned in complaint as they walked up the slope of the hill. And then the youngest, Estal'anar, a toddler carried by their mother as the timid child looks around curiously, forest green hair tied in little pigtails while her arms wrap around her mother's neck. Sheradel ignored the whines as they ventured to the Talon Dens, where the children would meet their father for the first time. Or at least see him. Rydras was the same age as Brethilon and Sheradel had high hopes that they would walk the same path in druidism, though that had yet to be determined as the two had far more interest in competing with each other and rough housing as boys do. But nonetheless, she brought Rydras along to learn more of the druids who sleep. The barrow dens were like a maze to Jiroki, having an urge to run off and see how far they go, but with the pull of her mother’s hand she’s taken down winding paths and slopes downward. They passed by many rooms and alcoves, some with bears curled up in balls or a person laying on a mat, resting peacefully. Watchers kept watch of the druids as they rested, as well as some Sentinels that patrolled mostly the entryways higher up. A tiny rock jutting out from the ground causes Jiroki to trip, but her mother keeps a firm grip to prevent her from falling, and then the group enters a specific chamber. There in the back, nestled in a dug out pit to accommodate his size, slept a grand bear. His body heaved gently with each breath, having ashen colored fur and having different druidic ornaments hanging about his body. He snored lightly, and the children watched with caution from behind Sheradel. Sensing their hesitation she sets down Estal, sitting the toddler down as she herself stepped closer to her sleeping mate. Kneeling beside him she carefully runs a hand over his head, petting the druid before leaning down to plant a gentle kiss atop his head as well. Brethilon and Rydras looked on with curiosity at the creature, the son having memories of the father and trying to put the pieces together. Jiroki did not, and instead paid more attention to her baby sister, who glanced around and had begun to crawl onto her hands and knees, getting ready to stand. “Come closer, Brethilon.” Sheradel beckons her son closer, who still hesitates. “Say hello to your An’da.”

Brethilon does as such, a bit timid of the bear, as if he were an animal. Rydras comes closer to, with a bit more confidence and a deeper curiosity, even daring to pet along the muzzle as well. Sheradal doesn’t stop him, letting the boys gauge the druid much closer. Estal had managed to get onto her feet, able to stand on her own but still wobbles when walking. Jiroki came to help her baby sister, fond of the living being smaller than her. “Jiroki.” Sheradal calls for her, catching her attention. “Bring your sister over here please.” Jiroki pouts, getting moody. She didn’t want to come here, not to see this thing. But she obliged, gently grasping Estal’s tiny hands and walking backwards, helping the toddler to walk. They get closer, Estal finally giving notice to the sleeping druid, stopping in her steps and her wide silver eyes looking on. A child’s stare, processing what she is seeing for the first time. But at the beckoning from the woman that Estal knew and recognized, with a happy giggle she starts to walk that way, forcing Jiroki to quickly move and accommodate her assistance. Sheradel scoops up the small child once she’s in reach, placing her down to lean against the druid. Estal feels how soft the fur is, starting to feel around with tiny hands, then gives another childish giggle as she pats her hands against the bear. Brethilon came up to help stop the patting hands, cautious that she would wake their father. “Oh Arileath, I wish you would have waited a bit longer.” Sheradel sighs out, watching the children interact with her. Jiroki had walked off though, starting to explore the little den they all sat in, Rydras going to bother her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jiroki fumbles with the tiny flowers, her brows knitted together as she tries to get the stems to tie together. But she’s a bit too rough, and she huffs as some of the flowers tear. “Slower, Jiroki. Patience.” Sheradel reaches over to assist, aiding the middle child to get the flowers to tie together to create a crown. “You cannot rush these things. But don’t stress, it doesn’t need to be perfect. Your An’da would appreciate them nonetheless.” The pair sat out in a flower field in the forest, Estal sitting with them as the three worked on making flower crowns. Estal, now a young girl, her delicate hands much more apt at the fragile task compared to her older sister. Brethilon and Rydras standing at a nearby stream, pant legs rolled up as they tried to catch tiny fish. “Brethilon isn’t making any.” Jiroki grumbles, watching as the boys play, sighing as she’s made to do this task instead of splashing in the water with them, especially watching Rydras as he laughs out loud. “That’s because he already has his gift prepared.” Sheradel pulls her hands back, turning to glance at Estal’s work, but just watches as the youngest carefully weaves the crown at her own pace. “Once these are done, then we may go.” “An’da isn’t even going to see it, I don’t want to make one.” Jiroki gets more and more frustrated from the flowers, putting them down with a huff. “Jiroki!” Sheradel quickly turns to look at her, her eyes narrowed sharply in a way that Jiroki would learn to mimic when far older. “Why would you say that? Your An’da loves you, all of you, you should be showing your support.” “Well I don’t want to!” Jiroki stands upright and suddenly runs off, going into the forest. She hears her mother call out to her but she keeps running, following the stream further on. Sprinting as fast as she can she eventually trips over something, falling hard into the gravel and sand by the stream. Groaning in pain she pushes herself up onto her knees, feeling the scrapes begin to sting on her hands, elbows, knees. Looking up she notices the part in the stream where it widens, turning into a river, and further up ahead there are other elves. Standing on a rock is a man, fishing rod in hand as he reels in a catch, a shorter elf beside him with a fishing net. An older son, it looked like, as he jumped down into the water with the net and helped scoop up the catch his father works to keep on the line. Jiroki finds herself staring for a time, sitting on the damp shoreline as footsteps run up behind her. “Jiro!” Rydras had followed, panting heavily as he caught his breath, faster than Brethilon. “You ran away.” He simply states, nothing else in mind as he expects a response to that simple line. “I don’t want to go.” Jiroki begins to pout anew, sniffling as tears sting her eyes, looking at her hands to see the scrapes. Rydras comes up beside her and crouches down on his feet, hands on his knees as he peers at her hands. “Don’t you like seeing all the bears?” Rydras plops back onto his rear. “But they’re so cool though! My Min’da says I can be one if I wanted!” “No!” Jiroki squeaks out in protest, high pitched enough to catch the attention of the other elves further upstream, and it startles the boy beside her. “Don’t be like my An’da! Then you’d just sleep all the time, and do nothing!” Jiroki starts to sniffle some more, rubbing at her eyes to try and stop the tears, she didn’t want the boy to see. “And you’re already lazy!” “Am not!” Taken aback by her sudden jab, but he notices the blatant tears, the snot bubble forming on her nose as she can’t hide her emotions well. “I guess it would be kind of boring to sleep all the time… I don’t have to sleep though! I don’t think.” Scratching his head, his words not comforting Jiroki. He glances around awkwardly, the rest of her family not in sight. “Er-... Do you want to share my An’da?” “Huh?” Jiroki looks over at him, confused. “Yea! Well, I don’t know, my Min’da says he won’t give another baby to be my sibling.” Scratching his head again, confused by the process. “But I don’t like it when you cry, you’re not nice when you cry. But, I kind of share your Min’da, don’t I? I feel like I have two Min’das sometimes! You can have two An’das!” “I don’t know…” The suggestion both confused her yet calmed her all at once, Rydras as much a part of her as the rest of her family. But she sighs, unsatisfied. From behind Sheradel watched carefully, silent like a saber watching over her cubs. Brethilon stood by her, remaining quiet as it seemed his friend was doing a good job at settling down his sister. Estal never was as vigorous in activity as her older siblings and peers, catching up and jogging to her sister, carrying some flower crowns. “Jiroki!” Fretful, near to tears as her voice makes the two turn. Once Estal is standing by them she holds out what would have been Jiroki’s flower crown, all finished and made. “I- I didn’t mean to make you angry! I just really like making these, I've been practicing!” Hiccuping, as if she were the cause of Jiroki’s initial anger. “I- I finished it for you! Please don’t be mad!” “No, I wasn’t mad at you!” Jiroki quickly stands up, and Rydras does too. “You dummy! Don’t cry!” She is quick to embrace her smaller sister, soothing her before the onslaught of tears, and the gesture eases the youngest elf’s heart. Sheradel walks forward as Brethilon goes to join the small entourage, waving at the other elves to indicate the children had a supervisor. Then she turns her gaze down to Jiroki, a penetrating gaze that began to make the child squirm as she let go of her sister. Sheradel says nothing, continuing to do as such until Jiroki could no longer handle it. “I’m sorry Min’da…” Jiroki says quietly, gaze downcast as her hands grip at the hem of her shirt, fiddling with it. She expects retribution from the stoic woman, a spanking or some form of punishment. A hand reaches over, making her squeeze her eyes shut, but Sheradel just smooths Jiroki’s hair. “I am upset too.” Sheradel admits, for a moment being gently honest with her children. “I wish your An’da was awake to be with us, more than anything. But he cannot, not for now, or for a long time. While he Dreams, we must remain vigilant for him.” Reaching her hand down to tilt Jiroki’s head up. “Do you understand?” “Yes Min’da…” Jiroki didn’t, setting her gaze downcast again, but Sheradel knew. Accepting it as is for now she draws her hand away. “Come, let us go now, before the flowers wilt.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “You’re getting better.” Estal comments as she and Jiroki weave flowers together into a wreath, sitting in front of their sleeping father. Today it was just the two of them, their mother having duties to attend to. Brethilon and Rydras were with them, but then suddenly ditched them. The two teenagers decided to honor their mother’s words and go do their weekly visit with their father, but they had plans to get the boys in trouble later. “I’m trying…” Jiroki grumbles, still not quite used to the fragileness of the flowers. She much preferred the feel of the bow in her fingers, having begun to learn archery under her mother’s tutelage. “I still don’t think we should use flowers.” “But An’da likes flowers.” Having been told as such by their mother, Estal had taken it to heart. “Better than the rocks Brethilon leaves, I think. I’m pretty sure An’da wouldn’t like rocks as gifts!” “Well you don’t know that.” Jiroki still felt a lingering bitterness as their father continued to sleep. But she had begun to learn the curvatures of the barrow dens, the rhythmic breathing of the sleeping druids like a song on repeat, how easily she could now point out the features on her father compared to the other druids. Though Jiroki still trips on that little rock jutting out of the ground nearby every now and then. Estal just sighs and continues her task diligently, having great pride in how well she had learned to weave flowers. Together they were making one large one, their father sleeping soundly. He moved and rolled over slightly, and the two paused, waiting with bated breath to see if this was it. But no, it isn’t, and they resume their weaving. They understand better now that when druids slept they weren’t actually ‘dreaming’, just off in some sort of faraway land, one they could get to as well if they had the talent for it. But they were very young, and Jiroki admired the strong woman who stood with the Sentinels more, like her mother did. Estal herself had recently become infatuated with a Priestess, admiring her and even wearing her hair in a similar fashion to the older woman, a braid dangling over her shoulder. “There, all done!” Estal exclaims happily, admiring their work as the flower wreath that’s dotted with different colored flowers. “Alright, carefully…” They’ve had instances in the past of their work suddenly falling apart as they lift. Together they stand and carefully hold the wreath, bringing it towards their father. They drape it over his head, it being larger so they extend a part of it back over his thick neck. It doesn’t fall apart, and they watch as the druid just sleeps with it on. It begins to slip, and a part of it slides down onto his snout, and his nose wiggles while an ear twitches. The display elicits giggles out of Estal, which encourages a small smile on Jiroki. But the bitterness shifted into sadness. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jiroki felt her stomach drop, seeing her mother kiss another woman. The sight confused her, her brow furrowing as Sheradel cupped the woman’s face. Not only that, Jiroki recognized the woman to be Rydras’ mother. The child, though grown and barely just scratching the surface of her fifties, takes a step back behind the tree. She had come out here to search for Rydras and her stupid brother who were supposed to meet with her to practice hunting, yet had stumbled upon something she felt she shouldn’t have had. But her mother had great prowess, hearing the tiniest of steps crumpling the grass. Her head swiftly turns, and Sheradel sees her eldest daughter running off. Jiroki didn’t know why she ran off once being spotted, but she couldn’t help herself. After some distance she slowed down, out of breath as the confusion built up, and it began to meld into anger. Hearing footsteps behind her she turns, and for the first time she sees her mother panicked. “Jiroki-” Sheradel herself out of breath from sprinting after her. “I can explain.” “I dont’- I don’t understand!” Jiroki speaks her mind, feeling she deserved answers, and demanded them. “I thought you were waiting for An’da! But you’re kissing someone! Rydras’ Min’da of all people!” That confused her more than anything. She knew both their mothers were close, they seemed to be the best of friends, yet… “I-I know, I…” Sheradel does her best to keep face, but she can’t stop the embarrassed flush crossing her cheeks. But she sighs, defeated. “I feel we should talk.” Together they sat, under the stars as Elune sat in her zenith, and they remained quiet for a time as Sheradel tried to think of what words to share. “I love your An’da dearly, he is my other half. I will wait forever for him if he were to never wake up again.” Sheradel knew that wouldn’t be the case, yet the thought stung her heart, and it offered no comfort for Jiroki. “I am not the only one who has a loved one sleeping. But, I…” Now having to tread carefully. “I am just a mere being. Without your An’da, I feel empty inside. If I did not have you three to nurture I would be in a worse state than I am now.” Sheradel rarely spoke of how she felt, the type to keep things to herself, something Jiroki had begun to pick up on. But Jiroki listened carefully as her mother opened up to her. “But I miss him, and I’m very lonely. I am close to Rydras’ Min’da, and she helps ease my stress. I care very much about her.” Her head tilts to look at Jiroki, full of shame. “Do you hate me?” “No, I don’t…” Jiroki herself felt the pain of not being able to speak with her father, even if she could still see him and know he was well. But she couldn’t imagine what that must feel like for her mother. She tried to put herself in her mother’s shoes; if Rydras went to sleep and did as such as her father… Jiroki couldn’t even imagine the sweet boy being in a deep sleep for so long, so lifeless. “You will encounter many lonely souls in this world. They all will have different ways of coping.” Sheradel looks back up at the sky. “Lonely souls are drawn to one another, I feel. Some will seek others for comfort, emotional or… Physical, like kissing.” Hoping upon hope Jiroki’s imagination won’t run wild. “Or even less subtle ways; not so obvious. Like someone pouring themselves into their work, or constantly on the act of duty to achieve many great things. If you learn early enough how to tell these signs, you will find that there are so many like me. Like us.” “Like us…” Jiroki stared down at her knees, hugging her legs into her chest. She took in her mother’s words, trying to process them, pick them apart, find deeper meanings. Jiroki did feel lonely, she wished she could speak with her father, wished she could draw Rydras’ attention more. Though Jiroki wouldn’t learn true loneliness until she’s much older. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “I think we should kiss.” “What?!” Rydras nearly chokes on the almonds he had been snacking on, quickly swallowing them and coughing before whipping his head towards Jiroki. “What the- What kind of statement is that?!” The pair sat beneath a tree, in front of their favorite flower field. They were alone, as of late they had been spending their free time here when it was just the two. Jiroki herself couldn’t believe the words that came out of her mouth, but they did, and she rolled with it. “I just…” Starting to fumble with her words. “I’m lonely.” Jiroki blurts out. “And I… I heard once that people kiss when they’re lonely.” “... What?” Rydras just becomes even more confused now, looking at her skeptically. “I don’t think that’s going to help any…” He eyes her up and down with that face. “Shouldn’t you do that with a boyfriend?” “Well you’re a boy!” Jiroki motions a vague hand at him. “And a friend, so…” “You know that’s not what I meant!” Rydras gives a heavy eye roll, though his cheeks begin to heat up. “I don’t know how to kiss! I never have!” “Well me either!” Jiroki huffs in turn, cheeks bright. “But I’m sad! Please? Just one. What if I embarrass myself with someone else for my first kiss?” “Like anyone would want to kiss you.” His rebuttal earns a smack on his arm. “Ow!” “Ugh, you’re so rude!” Jiroki turns her head away, grinding her jaw as her arms cross. “Fine, nevermind…” Her ears droop a bit, indicating her sadness. Rydras stares at her for a bit then looks away, heavily thinking as an awkwardness fills the air. Then, he sighs heavily. “I-I mean I guess…” The blush never fading from Rydras’ cheeks, even getting a darker flush of purple as Jiroki whips her head to look at him. “R-Really?” She didn’t think he’d so willingly accept, feeling her own cheeks get even hotter. Butterflies began to dance in her stomach, and he squirmed as if they danced inside him too. “Y-yea. I mean, I guess I could use the practice too.” Trying to act as if it wasn’t a big deal, though when his brightly lit gaze glances at her it seems to look even further then that. “O-Okay, well…” They do nothing for a moment, but she moves first, turning herself to face him. He does the same, the two sitting as they stare at one another. More awkwardness begins to brew, it palpable against the skin. “So…” Rydras stalls, the pair unsure of how to go about this.”I guess… Um. Halfway, maybe?” His voice even cracks. “Yea, that, uh… Seems fair.” Jiroki clears her throat, unable to hold his gaze for any length of time as they constantly flick around. The stalling continues, pursing her lips together, and then she squeezes her eyes shut. “O-Ok! Let’s- Let’s just do it!” Jiroki kept her eyes shut and she leaned in, puckering her lips out far, unable to handle the thought of watching him come closer. He must have done the same, because they bonk their foreheads together. “Ouch! Hey, I said kiss, not smack heads!” Jiroki complains as she rubs her forehead, and he shakes his own head partially from the bonk. “I-I didn’t do it on purpose!” He retorts, his pride hurt. “Fine- just don’t move! I’ll move in, you big baby!” Jiroki huffs, but she does as told, squeezing her eyes shut and staying still. Though her face was contorted into a grouch, her heart beat fast in her chest, feeling the blood rush to her ears. Rydras stalls for a time, his own heart pounding in his chest, threatening to leap out. But, with an audible gulp, he carefully leans in, watching this time to make sure he doesn’t miss. Carefully his trembling lips press against hers, and her lips react in kind and pucker out. They hold for a few seconds before drawing back, now glancing at each other. “That…” Jiroki’s mother was right in saying it helped with loneliness. Now Jiroki was filled with embarrassment, having kissed her childhood friend of so many years, her brother’s best friend. “That wasn’t so bad…” “Y-Yea…” Rydras glanced away, unable to meet her gaze. It occurs to her then that this may have put a splinter in their friendship, feeling an awkwardness creep. “I-I’m sorry,I shouldn’t… I shouldn’t have made you…” Jiroki looks downward. “Just- sorry, I-...” “H-Hey, don’t be sorry.” Rydras looks back to her, sensing her building dread. “It wasn’t bad! I mean, I don’t think it was…” His hands clench one of his legs as they sit, anxious. “I, uh… Can we do it again?” “Huh?” She looks up, genuinely surprised. “I-I mean, I can totally do better, I think…” He tries to laugh it off. “You said to practice, right? You could get better at it too, if anyone actually is actually crazy enough to want to kiss you…” Taunting playfully as he’s prone to, though there was a certain softness in his eyes, something that stole her breath away. “O-oh, well, ok…” The butterflies erupted, her breath catching in her throat. But as Rydras comes in a second time for a kiss she meets him halfway, and they practice for many times after. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In her haste and grief she tripped over that blasted rock again, giving a frustrated groan as she moved on. Some of the guards had watched her warily when she came in, but they knew her, and knew where she would be going. “An’da…” Jiroki hiccups, tears streaming down her face. Blossoming in her hundreds she falls onto her knees in front of the sleeping druid, having come here by herself, needing sanctuary. Jiroki’s hands come up to cover her face. She hadn’t brought anything as a gift with her, having dashed here after witnessing something heartbreaking. Rydras had got close with another girl, having seen him walking with her from time to time. She didn’t think much of it, until they held hands and he gave her a tender kiss as lovers would. After Jiroki already had given all of herself to him. “I’m s-so, so stupid!” Jiroki clenches her hands and smacks the top of her head a few times to vent her frustrations, trying to keep everything in and not exploding. But it breaks her down further, beginning to sob amongst the sleeping druids. There’s a small shift and she looks up, seeing her father roll onto his side. His peaceful serenity just infuriates her more. “Do something! Say something! Anything then just sleep!” Her voice rising a bit, it began to bounce off the walls. Nothing happens though, and she slumps in defeat. “Why am I even here…” She adjusts her legs, sitting on her rear and letting her legs cross, hanging her head down. “You’re not going to wake up. Why do I bother.” Looking to the side she saw a few of their gifts her family had brought over time. Estal’s most recent flowers must have wilted, because they were gone. But a few small rocks stood in a pile nearby, oddly shaped rocks and some shiny stones that Brethilon would find, making some sort of makeshift altar. A wood carving beside that of a glaive, crafted by her mother, set aside and her only gift. Her other gift to him were their children. “Can you even hear me?” Jiroki looks up at the druid, but is only met with no reaction. “We've been visiting you for years. Do you even know you have three children? Do you even know that Min’da is seeing others?” She brings her legs up to hug her knees, resting her head on her knees. “Can you even tell how much pain I am in right now?” Silence. Arileath continued to sleep, on his side and snoring softly as a bear would. Jiroki sighs, letting go of her legs as she feels exhausted from her emotions, still very much heartbroken. “Now I want to sleep…” Looking at his fur, it always felt so soft. Glancing around, no one was there, at least from what she could see. Though against her better judgement she moves to join him in his pit, leaning herself against the druid and feeling his warmth. He felt so warm. “I could probably tell you anything in the world and you wouldn’t even wake up.” Sniffling a bit as she adjusts herself, laying against his proper. Her body shifted with the movement of his breath, but her weight didn’t off balance his rhythm in the slightest, just like a giant pillow that moved. But as she rests against him she feels oddly soothed. Letting her eyes drift closed and just sharing his warmth. Though the pain in her chest felt like a stab from a knife, she could share her heart's woes with her An’da, and he would still accept her into his warmth. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thereon, Jiroki continued to visit her An’da, even mostly. She had found comfort in his silence. She could talk of her day, vent out her problems, spew out her innermost thoughts, and he could not judge her. She liked to think that he wouldn't judge her, either. And she continued to visit up until she finally had been deemed ready to be a woman. “This is it…” Sitting in front of him again, feeling anxious of her coming rite of passage. “I’m nervous. Min’da won’t speak of it, but I think she’s nervous too. I just hope I do well…” Breathing in an unsteady breath, then letting it out slow. “So… Yea. I got this. I know I can. I just can’t help. I wonder if…” Her thoughts begin to drift, to a face of a boy now a man, though she clicks her tongue in annoyance. “Ugh. I doubt it would make a difference with Rydras. I don’t know why I’m so…” Hanging her head, feeling the mixture of emotions inside of her. Though he no longer spent time with that girl, nor any girl really, the bitterness remained of how he betrayed her. “I’ll worry about that later, I need to focus. I’m going to do my best.” Jiroki lifts her head up, looking down at her father. Having brought flowers with her, she once more begins to weave a flower crown, fingers still fumbling with as she grumbles in mild annoyance. But she gets it done, having years of practice with her sister. Taking it she gently places it atop her father’s head, then leans down to kiss his snout. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After everything was said and done, Jiroki couldn’t stop staring at her markings. Even days after it looked so strange, and she could still feel it. Staring down at her reflecting in the stream she touches her face, tracing over the mark of the Claws. So new to her, yet so fitting, it resonated with her as felt pride within herself for finally having achieved this. Her mother was proud, as was her brother. Little Estal still seemed a bit timid to undergo this, though surely soon she would too. Jiroki wished her father could see, but she had plans to go and tell him of it later in the week. Turmoil still tugged at her heart, about a boy she couldn’t get out of her head. A boy turned man, who often cast his eyes towards her… “JIROKI!!” The now-woman jolts in shock, her heart nearly leaping out of her chest in pure fright, and she scrambles up. Looking around she spots Rydras running towards her. Though it was not uncommon for men to have long hair, he still preferred his on the shorter side, the bright blue hair trimmed but having a beard to match, it tied with ringlets. He ran hard and fast, eyes wide as he skids to a halt. “What’s wrong?!” Jiroki had never seen him in this sort of state. “Did something happen?!” “You won’t- You won’t believe this!” He stammers, trying to catch his breath, sounding as if he had been running for some time searching for her. “Your An’da, he’s awake!” Jiroki never thought she’d hear those words, and they seemed so foreign to her. She blinks a few times, expecting him to say something else, but he gives her a bit of an exasperated look. “Well?! Come on! He’s awake, we have to go!” “You’re serious?!” The adrenaline began to rush through her veins life never before, nearly feeling light headed, but her feet started to move. “Where!? How did you hear?!” “Hurry up, come on!” He turns and runs, leading the way, and she runs after him. “I saw him! He went to your home!” The pair ran like the wind through the forest, and Jiroki soon passed him and continued on, needing to see for herself. Could he really be awake? The druids had been asleep for thousands of years before her birth; she had learned that her father woke up to finally be with his mate, but after bearing children had to return. So why now? Running to the home all her family lived in she nearly tripped and stumbled multiple times, until she stopped hard upon reaching her house. And there he stood. At first she thought she saw the back of her brother, then realized he had the exact same shade of sea green as her own hair. He held her mother fiercely in his arms, the two looking inseparable. Estal stood nearby, in disbelief as her hands covered her mouth, staring at the strange man as their brother Brethilon stood beside her. He looked moved to tears, his long hair tied back in a massive braid, and from where she stood Jiroki could see his chest heaving with sobs he tried to contain. Rydras skids to a halt beside her, slipping on the dirt, then staring ahead as well. Sheradel lifts her head up, fresh tears on her cheeks as she smiles at her daughter, then begins to pull back from her mate. “There she is.” She says, and Arileath turns. Jiroki couldn’t move. With wide eyes she stared at her father, a man with crows feet and wrinkles on the sides of his lips. But those wrinkles vanish as he begins to smile, a wide one that left permanent marks and a youthful gleam in his eyes. He begins to step forward, slowly as he approaches his child, cautious at their first official meeting. Rydras himself begins to step away, giving the two their space as he moves to stand with the others. “Look at you…” He breathes out, his deep with a gentle lilt. “You’ve grown up so much.” Arileath stands before her, the two just looking at each other. “... Are… Are you really?...” Jiroki’s eyes scan his face, looking for similarities. He could see traces of her siblings, little details. Not only that, she couldn’t help but feel she knew this face very well, able to pinpoint the details on a more grizzled, furred face. “That I am, that I am.” Arileath chuckles lowly, tilting his head to the side, some of his shifting along. “We met once before, you probably don’t remember. You were such a little thing, I could carry you with just my hands…” He brings his hands up and looks down at them, mimicking how he had held his daughter all those years ago. “I knew you would have my hair, you had a head full of it when you were born. And it’s so long too.” “I…” Still at a loss of words, eyes brimming with tears. It was all so hard to process, and she didn’t know how to feel. A thoughtful look crosses his face, and then a boyish curiosity. Leaning forward, he whispers something for only her to hear. “I kept hearing whispers in my dreams.” He whispers ever so softly, a father sharing secrets with his child. “Sweet ones, sad ones… But the same voice, many times. But only-” Holding up a finger to idly wave it. “Only in these recent years. Only after you all grew up.” His smile grows with warmth, looking at her softly. “Did you wake me from my sleep, my beloved daughter?” A sob escapes Jiroki’s lips, unable to hold back the emotions that wanted to burst forth, and she embraces the man. And he in turn holds her in a fierce hug, a mighty one that could rival the strength of a bear, after years of only providing her with his presence. Now, the silence is broken, and he can hug her when she comes to him for solace. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Why did you want to go fishing?” Arileath asks in mild confusion, laying on his side and propping his head up while by the river. A flower crown sat on her head, made by his youngest. Estal sat with the fishing rod, excitement fluttering in her heart as she zeros her focus on keeping an eye out for fish at her father’s advice. Sheradel sat nearby too, creating a wood carving as she’s in perfect bliss. “That’s what I’ve seen fathers do!” Jiroki protests, huffing at the man as he so nonchalantly lays around while she and Estal do all the work. This had been her idea after all, but she had expected a different outcome. “I thought you would do the same!” Arileath lets out a hearty laugh at that, a jovial man, good natured and the opposite of his mate. “Now where did you get a silly idea like that? Anyone can fish. Look! Estal is doing wonderfully!” Estal beams, but Jiroki wasn’t buying it. “You’re so LAZY!” Arileath laughs some more, causing Sheradel’s smile to brighten, but she in turn starts to chuckle when Jiroki reaches over to smack his arm and he protests. “Ouch, hey, don’t hit your An’da!!” Nearby Brethilon and Rydras continued to still act like boys. Racing each other by climbing the trees as fast as they can, and then find the fastest way down without severely injuring themselves. “Okay, well, I need to stretch my legs!” Arileath stands, placing his hands on his low back and stretching himself out. “I’m just so stiff from all that sleeping! Come my dear, walk with me for a bit.” He extends his hand out to his mate, giving her a stubble wink. Sheradel’s cheek begins to flush in color, and she takes his hand and stands. “Ugh, we’ll never catch anything at this rate!” Jiroki rubs her face, patience not her virtue as they had yet to catch anything. “Ooh you will eventually, don’t fret. Patience is virtue. Brethilon! Rydras! Help your sisters, they’re having trouble.” The father drapes his arm around the mother’s hips and they begin their walk, heading further upstream. “Catch something good for dinner! We’ll be back!” “Uuugh.” Jiroki falls onto her back, laying in defeat. “This was your idea, don’t complain.” Estal gently chides, determined to see the task through as she continues to be in charge of the fishing rod, though Brethilon comes and sits beside her. “Here, give me that. You’re all being noisy, that’s probably why the fish aren’t biting.” He takes it and Estal lets him, content to sit with her brother and enjoy the atmosphere. “Yea, yea.” Jiroki rubs her face then sits back up. Rydras sits himself down closer towards Jiroki but says nothing, looking over at the river. Jiroki glances at Rydras for a bit, then leans herself back a bit to watch her parents while they’re still in sight. They walk together, an arm wrapped around each other, not a care in the world as they’re finally together. They looked so happy, yet they had been parted for years, thousands even. Her gaze flickers towards Rydras, and the memories flood in. Their childhood antics, their first kiss, their first time, their first heartbreak. Despite everything, the feelings lingered, and she couldn’t get them to go away. His head begins to turn and she quickly glances away, looking back down to the water, and she thinks some more. Though they were not ready for one another, her heart was stubborn just like her. She can wait. (( @daily-writing-challenge )) (( I never thought I’d get to write up something about Jiroki’s child hood, and it became so much more fleshed out than I anticipated! For any of you that took the time to read this, thank you SO much, and please let me know if you did! ))

#stories

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