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rolanpilled · 5 months

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BG3 Patch 5 Spoilers

WARNING: BG3 SPOILERS AHEAD!

New content from the ending scene of BG3. This is all from the perspective of a redeemed Dark Urge who romanced Shadowheart and Halsin, and recruited every "good" ally possible.

people at the party: all your companions, scratch, owlbear, volo, and a bard in the middle playing a song (his name is milil)

lae'zel is the only one who isn't here physically, she sent an astral projection instead because she's been busy fighting vlaakith

astarion explains why he ran away (ashamed) when the sunlight hit him, he's become a "hero" who adventures and has accepted himself

(romanced halsin) you can hug halsin, he's missed his friends and you. you can do both the hug and the kiss, it's really sweet. he's turned the shadowlands into a community, repursing reithwin and moonrise towers into homes for people

jaheira's daughter rejoined the flaming fist, she's been working on rebuilding the harper network. the upper city was entirely destroyed by the battle but has been mostly rebuilt. she jokes that you might be a parent soon

wyll gives you a choice between three stories, a stegosaur/dinosaur battle, an impossible lich, or a young dragon. he lost his warlock powers but has been managing the best he can, and has become a RANGER ("a true hunter of monsters"). duke ravengard is commanding the flaming fist and help rebuilding the city, and he's very proud of his son

minsc and boo guard the streets while jaheira is "occupied with harperish manners". they "went to give a tickle" to the zhentarim, then got locked up in a zhentish cell, awaiting execution? idk if i'm reading incorrectly but he seems to be implying that he actually GOT executed but withers brought him back just in time lmfao

gale has become "professor gale dekarios of blackstaff academy, educator of the esteemed school of illusion". tara is with him. he surrended the crown of karsus to mystra, who cured him of the orb in exchange (his tattoo is gone), though his students still think he's explosive (he implies that he uses it as a threat to keep his class under control). he tells his students about your adventures together. he also implies you're welcome to visit his tower

shadowheart (main romance) - the game told me that we settled down together to live a happy, peaceful life on a farm in the countryside. shar still hurts her (if parents are saved), especially when she can sense that SH is enjoying herself, but it's been getting less frequent because she's been "losing interest". there's a new hug and kiss scene for her too, so i'm assuming this is for ALL companions and not just halsin/SH/whoever

withers will speak to you about karlach, explaining that she won't be able to come back. he jokes about her, which is rare for him, and you're given to opportunity to grieve her loss. in "a dozen tendays" (assumedly how long bg3 is), "an entire life was lived, she lived several centuries" (not exact quote).

milil, the bard playing in the center, does NOT want to be there. he's pissed that no one recognizes him (he's pissed specifically that i'm a bard and don't recognize him), i had to pass a deception check to recognize him and he cheered up and offered to change the song he's playing

there's a chest called "Chest of Grateful Words" filled with letters from your allies!

"Official Guild Letter"

"Letter from Barcus"

"Letter from Art"

"Letter from Valeria"

"Letter from Ravengard"

"Letter from Sebastian"

"Letter from Florrick"

"Letter from the Gur" (unascended Astarion)

"Letter from Alfira" (durge, killed quil grootslang)

"Letter from Dammon"

"Letter from Elminster"

"Letter from Nocturne"

"Letter from Voss"

"Letter from Hope"

"Letter from Mayrina"

"Letter from Nine-Fingers"

"Letter from Zevlor"

"Harp-stamped Letter"

Baldur's Mouth Gazette

If you find anything interesting I missed, please let me know.

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momolady · 4 months

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2023 Year End Stats

Not to be stereotypical or anything, but for me at least, 2023 was an odd year. I bled for 6 months straight, dealt with the worst pain I still can't comprehend, had a hysterectomy, moved in with my partner, got some cats, dealt with a lot of stress, watched the world burn. Yeah, it's been pretty good to outweigh the bad.

But anyways! I've done the math and put together a list of my stories that performed the best this year. At least in terms of notes anyways. I'm also going to share my stories that didn't perform as well and hope they get the love they deserve.

Anyways, let's get on with the count down. Forty total stories have published on Tumblr this year. Sixty-six were published on Patreon. Top monsters were orcs (7), Vampire (3), Fae, Minotaur, Romm Monster, Lich (all 2).

Top Ten Stories:

10. Kahann the Naga

This one would probably be in my top ten favorites to write of the year. This dark, twisted romance between a lonely, isolated girl shipwrecked on an island with the dangerous and sexy Kahann struck the dark romance itch I've been wanting to scratch.

9. Keir the Orc

Comfy farm romance that features annoyances to lvoers. What else could you want? Orcs are always fun to write, I feel I could do it with my eyes closed, but thankfully I don't wanna do that.

8. Atharo the Lich

The pink lich, this one had imagery in it I couldn't get out of my head. the visions of this pink lich still huant me and I wish I could conjur such sstrong imagery still.

7. Asier the Drider

A simple premise we cann understand. Getting packages and ordering online is probably yhe msot fun we can have without leaving our homes. But what if your neighbor was annoyed by this? And what if that neighbor was a drider?

6. Auberon the Room Monster

The enchanted library. i think I've written more about the romance and mystery of bookstores an libraries more than anything. But this story was special, with lots of worldbuilding wrapped like a blanket around these characters. The room this monster stays in is the library, and who doesn't wanna spend time with that guy?

5. Marek the Vampire

This murky, dark, and swampy tale is one of those that stays with me. The idea of a different sort of vampire, one in the bogs and wetlands of a strange peninsula that gets flooded every year haunts me. The image of him is one of my absolute favorite creations and I hope I get to visit this peninsula village again.

4. Placide the Paralangua

This story marks the beginning and growth of my Charcourt universe. Liek Hearthway Hollow it's a town filled to the brim with straneg creatures, only it's the Paralangua, alligator type monsters who throw a festival every year to celebrate their history and the continued growth of Charcourt. Is it a cult? Maybe. There's a new five part tale of this area up on Patreon now.

3. Ben the Werewolf

Enmies to lovers, I think most people get on board with this trope. This tale of Hearthway Hollow delves into the relationship between two high school enemies who reconnect after years and manage to put aside their competitivness to find one another. The lead in thisstory is also Rowan's little sister.

2. Leraye the Demon

Demons are always fun. My demon characters have ways of weaving themselves in and out of the world we know, sometimes as proper members of society, often not. Leraye is one of those that visits our world as a full time member, seeing out the comforts of a Chinese bakery whose owners are a family with ties into the reality he avoids.

Florenz the Vampire Bat

This would for sure also be on my favorites of the year. This dark story wove together elements of fantasy, horror, and romance that I love to death. The lead is sophisticated and dashing, the lead is adventurous and excitable. The chemistry between the leads while writing this tale was so good.

The Ten Least Appreciated Stories

10. Juniper the Tiefling

I am deeply disappointed this didn't do as well as I expected. This story was based on characters me and my bff made for a one shot DND session. So this story was more personal to me than others. but more than that, I feel it had some of my best banter!

9. Rocco the Guard

Another personal tale based on ideas me and my friend came up with during a visit where we watched the Owl House together. I also greatly enjoyed the leading lady who was smart, spunky, and chaotic in the absolute best ways.

8. Ozzie the Werewolf & Tryfon the Naiad

It has a trans lead, it has polyamory, it was set in hearthway Hollow! I thought this story was serving up gold on a platter. But maybe people weren't in the mood for gold. The comedy in this is top notch, at least I thought.

7. Laertes the Fae

Another story where the dialogue I feel sparkles and pops with every interaction the characters had. This did only recently come out, so maybe it'll grow after this.

6. Ransom the Shapeshifter

Another personal story based around lore me and my bff created for our Stardew Valley characters. It also featured a nonbinary lead and monster, I thought people would be excited for this. I loved playing with the avant-garde sci-fi aspect and being a little weird. But maybe that's why people didn't like it too much lol

5. The Leshy

Another story that would be in my top ten for my personal favorites to write. I loved the complexity of the leading lady and crafting her has made her a personal favorite. The characters and world of this story will be one that stays with my thoughts as I think about the cozy, dark streets anfdthe moss covered steps of the buildings.

4. Jaqueline the Dullahan

This story has it all! Chocolate, Halloween, a sexy dullahan chef, and it's a lesbian romance. Maybe I don't have enough wlw readers but this story came from a ko-fi prompt I wrot and just grew into a full fledged story. I really enjoyed the atmosphere of this story and how it felt like a cozy fireplace with hot cocoa.

3. Beast the Symbiote

Beast is a character I have been wanting to get out into the world for years. She's such a complex villain character, and who doesn't love that. I feel like she is one of my coolest characters. Lucky Devil was also a character I had been dying to get out, she's been in my head since I watched Magi Madoka and she took form slowly over the years. She is in part based on me, and I want to do more with this lovely couple.

2. Fia the Selkie

I'm starting to see a pattern here. Male reader stories aren't ya'lls cup of tea? Too bad, I have some amazing male readers and commissioners I adore working for. Fia was this comforting warm blanket of a story. A struggling musician and the lovely Selkie he's come to be with. I really love this story, please check it out if you want some comfort.

1.Ria the Orc: an AU

I'm actually a wee bit pissed about this one. Another male reader, and Ria is a character I've come to absolutely love. This was written for a commissioner I've come to consider a friend, and writing for him has become an amazing experience. Ria and her beau have also become such real, loving characters in my head. This was an AU of the modern monsters Ria where she is in Obresh and participates in the Reaping. Who doesn't love Reaping stories? C'mon folks, give these ten stories the love they deserve!

Thank you all for an amazing year! Next year I will hopefully publish and you're going to see bigger and grander things from me, I owe that to all of you. Keep a look out for my Ozren novel hitting the shelf soon. Thank you so much and I hope I continue to write stories you love.

#top ten #year in review #2023 #monster romance #monster fuqqer #monster smut #orc #vampire #lich #fae #writblr #writing community #creative writing #personal

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acre-of-wheat · 1 year

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Everyone ready for an unhinged theory about The Gales from Willow 2022?

So obviously they’re a dark mirror for our protagonists, and they function like a lot of teams of baddies in media-- they tie up each character in combat scenes by either having skills that subvert what the heroes are good at, or are simply just better at the same skills the heroes have.

Have a fast and dexterous fighter like Kit? Throw the Scourge at her and it overpowers anything she throws at it. Have a knight commander in full armor? Toss the Lich at him and have it bamf out of existence every time he swings his sword at it.

But I think there’s more to them than being battle foils for the characters. When Elora and Kit are hemmed in by the Gales and Airk, he tells them that the Gales are, “not what you think they are.”

So much of Willow has to do with the past, and choices, visions and alternate futures, recursions and cursed blood. I think that the Gales actually are our heroes, from a time when they gave into the Crone’s temptations.

Spoilers under the cut.

The Lich / Graydon Hastur

There’s a lot going on with Graydon.

First, his scar. I think it’s pretty obvious that there’s something magic going on here, and my guess is that it is a seal meant to prevent whatever possessed Graydon in the first place from popping out again.

I’m going to hazard a guess that whatever is still inside him is where his magic comes from. Magic apparently comes in several colors, but it does seem to at least partially relate to who is casting it, and what the spell is.

Willow and Elora’s natural colors are green, which you can see in the training montages and in Elora’s battle with the crone. Red appears to be pretty obviously bad.

Something happens to Elora’s magic color when she casts a Nekotic spell the Crone taught her though. The color turns darker, and goes blue.

Graydon’s “natural” spell color seems to be purple, and it doesn’t change based on what he casts, even when he fights the Crone and uses a spell that sounds very Nekotic.

I think it’s only a matter of time before the influence of the Wyrm makes Graydon’s spell work go fully red.

I also think his scar/seal is spreading. During the trek across the shattered sea, Graydon begins to learn magic. We know from Willow that magic takes a toll on the body, and we see that a bit with Graydon during a conversation with Elora.

She tells him not to scratch at something, and Graydon pulls his shirt aside to look, very carefully not revealing what it is. It’s worth noting that this is not on the side that he was injured on, so it’s not that “acting up.” Instead, I think it’s the seal spreading as he uses more and more magic, thinning the line between him and whatever possessed him.

If the scar continues to spread, perhaps Graydon might come to look like the Lich that we know-- covered completely in scar tissue.

The Doom / Jade Claymore

This is the one that initially got the gears turning, and all because of the weapons involved.

Throwing stars are only used by two characters in the show, and it seems like such an odd choice. Not daggers, axes, or javelins, but throwing stars. The Bone Reavers and the Tir Asleen knights don’t seem to use them, so they’re not a cultural practice that Jade might be familiar with. They aren’t used in the original movie either. Jade uses them once in battle, and then once during a training scene which doesn’t seem to have any story significance other than to remind us that she has them.

The only other character to use such a distinctive weapon is the Doom, when attacking the silt sleigh.

Because we’re talking about weapons, it’s worth noting that the Doom dual wields metal whips. Until the last episode, the only one of our heroes to dual wield her weapons is Jade, when she uncouples her sword from its staff/sheath

Speaking of distinctive, the Doom’s dark metal face plate is pretty unique, but we do know another character who wears a face mask into battle-- a battle that took some of Jade’s innocence with it.

I also really like the symbolism of the Doom’s first fight being with Kit and Sorsha, the very people Jade is most adamant about protecting.

The Dag / Kit Tanthalos

This one feels like a fairy-tale curse. What does Kit’s dream mother offer her? Freedom, a chance to go wherever she wants. In the usual wicked twist of irony, why not make that freedom both symbolic and literal by transforming her into a bird creature? Rootless, homeless, chasing after who she used to be and the girl she used to love.

The Scourge / Thraxus Boorman

This one doesn’t have much to go on-- they’re both tall, beefy dudes? The only thing that might be symbolic is that we know Boorman would rather jump off the edge of the world than have an intimate conversation-- what better way to avoid intimacy than to have a spiked cage around your head?

#willow #kit tanthalos #jade claymore #elora danan #graydon hastur #thraxus boorman #willow spoilers #willow 2022

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derseprinceoftbd · 3 months

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Okay listen up buckafucks I am about to start discourse that definitely does not already exist:

Silas Octakiseron, again, despite being a giant prick, did and said nothing wrong.

Was he overly suspicious? No, because how could you be overly suspicious. Like (oh so that's how that works), he was getting all his information from *Teacher*, who I am now realizing was Doc Fucking Scratch, and there were murderers on the lose, who the fuck would trust people!?

The same goes for Colum; Teacher told him not to, and his reasoning was known to be bullshit by that point, being a fucking Lich and all, why the fuck would he continue playing by that man's rules?

TL;DR Silas is genuinely #4 on my Missed List, beating out Isaac and Abigail, and only falling under Palamedis, Magnus, and poor, poor Jeannemary.

#gideon the ninth #the locked tomb #gideon the ninth discourse #locked tomb discourse #the locked tomb discourse #tlt discourse #silas octakiseron #teacher tlt #teacher #colum asht #palamedes sextus #palamedes the sixth #jeannemary chatur #magnus quinn #doc scratch

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michaelbaileywriter · 10 months

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Station Identification Time

Who Am I? I’m a writer originally from Falmouth, MA who now lives in Oxford, MA with my awesome wife Veronica and four cats who don’t like to let us sleep in. After 15 years with the Falmouth Enterprise, where I worked as a general and political reporter, blogger, and editor, I left the news industry to focus on my creative writing. In addition to my novels (more on that in a minute) I’m a…

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chaoticbardlady99 · 1 day

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Darling, Never Stop Haunting Me (Spawn Astarion x F! Ghost Reader)

Chapter Five: Nisi Pellis Nostra (SOS)

Synopsis: The Lich reveals his fate for you and your 'higher purpose' after a series of experiments that leave you feeling hopeless. The Spawn Monster tries to reassure you that everything is going to be okay.

CW: Mentions of gore, mentions of non consensual surgical-esque procedures on Ghosts, basically I've been watching a lot of Criminal Minds lately, being changed against a character's will.

Disclaimer- put together the picture for the banner, but I do not own any of the pictures. Birdie's 'image' is a stock image. I will not describe the readers body in detail- she is just merely on the banner for ✨drama✨. I believe the picture of Astarion is from @cheekylittlepupp . And then the symbol of Orcus in the back is a free image off the internet.

Likes, Comments, and Reblogs are always appreciated! Thank you for all your support and love!

Chapter 4 : Chapter 6: AO3

You know you have only been in the liche’s ‘care’ for a little over 24 hours now, but it feels like you have spent forever and a day down here already.

Yesterday he had performed multiple experiments on you by seeing how your body responds to various types of magic. You are extremely sore

It’s just you, Leon’s desecrated body, and the Spawn Monster. You’ve had a few exchanges with the creature as it tries to tempt you into conversing with it.

You want to, but it’s too confusing and makes you feel sick.

Aurelia had been Cazador’s first spawn and she had fought so hard to keep him from being angry with her while Astarion turned towards malicious compliance.

After Aurelia came Astarion and then Dalyria. Dalyria has always fascinated you with her brilliance and pension for medicine as well as modern tactics. She did not believe in the Gods nor that they would save her so she was determined to save herself.

Violet and Yousen became spawn within days of each other and fought like cats and dogs- neither one of them willing to be the Scratch of the duo and keep the peace. You did enjoy their pranks on each other (when they weren’t ridiculously cruel).

Petras had been maybe two, three decades before Leon- who only became a part of the coven a decade ago. Petras' dullness had driven Cazador, Astarion, and frankly, everyone mad. You have never met someone so dense in your entire existence, but at the end of the day, he was always good. He tried to keep his intentions as pure as possible and despite Astarion’s disdain for him, Petras did adore him and considered him his brother. He had been the hardest one to crack regarding Astarion’s location in Baldur’s Gate that day so many months ago.

“What does dick cheese mean?”

It’s a fair question that not even you can really answer- to be frank, you had kind of panicked when Leon had turned on you with his hackles raised. You just threw out some words to break up some of the anger.

You want to look over at the other siblings- you are desperate to be able to look over and see them all separated- somewhere far away and happy.

Somewhere safe where Leon’s grief could never- would never- touch them.

“I honestly don’t know,” you whisper, “I was just throwing out words.”

“It was clever,” the Spawn monster says, “it made me think of a STI.

“Which Leon has been for a while.”

You snort and look over, only to look away again. Your heart is truly broken for them. You will never complain about being stuck as a Ghost again- you are very very lucky.

Astarion will be devastated, despite what he would lead others to believe, he does actually care about the individuals he suffered alongside with in Szarr Palace. He will be especially upset to see Dalyria, the one he does consider a sister through and through, is gone. He will even grieve Petras who he pretends he is incapable of tolerating.

You shake your head- yes, he will grieve, but you will make sure he doesn’t fall to his knees and let life guillotine his heart. The survivors' guilt will not win- you will make sure of that- and if there is a way to save the Spawn, they will find it.

“Is it that bad?”

The sadness in their voice is still recognizable through the heavy slurred speech. You nod numbly. There is no point in lying.

“I’m sorry.”

“Whatever for!?”

This time you do look over and face your fears- looking her in her eyes (well Aurelia and Violet’s eyes). It’s odd how you can see how the five distinct personalities are still there all from a look or a change of posture.

A sudden burst of pain causes the creature to keel over and cry out- the stitches glowing with an angry red color.

The monster looks you in the eyes with tears.

“We’re a monster,” it says, “we should have stopped Leon the moment Yousen and Aurelia went missing. We suspected, but thought it was too good to be true. Leon couldn’t do this to us.”

You shake your head aggressively, trying to will your own tears away. This is not about you- you're not the one who has had your autonomy ripped away time and time again.

“You will not apologize to me for something out of your control,” you say softly, “Leon made his own choices. I wish they hadn’t involved any of you.”

“We know,” it says, “we appreciate it.

“And personally,” this time you know it’s Dalyria, “I am grateful to you for taking care of Astarion. You need to promise you will continue to take care of him.”

There is a finality in their voice that causes you to release a choked sob. They don’t plan on ever being saved or fixed.

“Birdie, you must do us a favor.”

“Okay?”

“You have to destroy us.”

“What!?” You hissed in surprise, “no!”

“Please,” it begs, pleads, a tear going down Dalyria’s face, “it hurts- he will continue to refurbish us like he has been doing. The remainder of our bodies- they have been scattered around. We will never be able to rest while he continues to resurrect pieces of us at a time.

“Last time, Petras was doing all of the talking until he became annoyed with Petras. That’s why his lips are stitched shut with silver- any talking will make his pain worse.

“Don’t leave us here to suffer.”

“But what makes you so sure I’ll be out of here anyhow? Maybe we can find a way to save yo-“

“No,” it says, “there is no way to undo what has been done.

“We can still feel his emotions to an extent. Half hysterical and racing to get here. Nervous, scared that he has lost you permanently. Cazador is dead, but our own connections are still there- faint, but there.

“Promise us that you will destroy us- every last piece.”

You take a shaky breath in- maybe you should also be concerned for your own survivor’s guilt.

“Okay,” you whisper, “I promise- if it has to come to that, but don’t give up hope.”

The sad smile is unsettling and full of rows of razor sharp teeth- you breathe unevenly and try to calm the galloping in your chest.

It may not matter that you know who they are- it’s still terrifying and unsettling to see them this way.

Clanging from down the hall- you can hear the Shadar Kai soldiers coming towards you. You wish you could turn invisible and hide, but whatever magic is around your cage is preventing you from being able to cast anything.

The lich walks into the room- an unsettling smile across his dead, rotting face. He stares into you as if he can see your entire existence. It’s been one whole day of not being bothered of him- you knew becoming complacent was a bad idea.

The Spawn monster protests and slams against the cage- trying to keep the Lich from reaching you, but it’s too late. Your body feels like jelly and you begin to unravel to the floor- your form is absolutely paralyzed.

“Leave her alone!”

“SILENCE!”

A ripple of red, angry magic goes through their body and the scream that echoes through the room makes you cry and your heartbreak. They just wanted to help you- you will find a way to help them. This will not be the end for any of you- you are determined to save yourself and them.

You may not be very big Birdie, you think, but apparently you are pretty strong for whatever reason and you know how to use Bardic Magic to an extent. You know how to use Vicious Mockery and you have a decent amount of cantrips like Firebolt and shocking grasp. You just need to break whatever hold he has on your body. You can do this Birdie- you badass bitch!

You continue to hype yourself up in your head as they carry you off down the hallway by your limp limbs- at least it doesn’t hurt.

You focus with everything you have in your body and begin to chip away at the grasp the liche has on your body.

“How very fascinating,” the lich muses as you are laid down on a stone slab, “you are rather strong and you think rather quickly on your feet for someone who died so young. I wonder what secrets I will find inside you…”

Gods no. This isn’t happening to you- the knife begins to cut into your abdomen like your skin is butter and it’s horribly painful- the blade coated in silver and silver itself. Even if you do regenerate (hypothetically you should) it’s going to hurt and take a lot longer than you would have hoped to heal.

You can feel the lich enforce his will on you and you are forced to lay there quietly- entirely unable to move and no matter how much you try to fight against his grasp- it doesn’t happen.

He pulls out each of your organs- inspecting them and it hurts. You can feel him put your heart in other, dead bodies- seeing if the body will come to life. It does- momentarily, but then you begin to choke and the body dies and your heart is returned to you.

You have never been touched before by anyone and now? Now you just feel violated. You stopped keeping track of what he was pulling out, putting in and out of other bodies before putting back in your own, and even scooping out ectoplasm surrounding your organs. It all feels unnatural and painful- you zone out.

You are there for hours- you know because you’ve been counting the seconds in your head- trying to focus on every passing second instead of the grubby, evil fingers tearing you apart and putting it back together.

You give up- unable to justify trying to live through this if this is the existence you are doomed to.

For once, you don’t want Astarion to come. You don’t want him to see you this way and you hope he’s turned tail and ran away instead of rushing into danger to save her. Your tears begin to fall again- the Lich pulling out one of your eyes, commenting how fascinating it is that you are still able to produce tears without it before putting it back in to mend it back together.

You drift off into a land where this had never happened. Maybe a different time period, an alternate universe, where you are playing at a Tavern, a young bard trying to make a name for herself. A beautiful, cocky Magistrate walks up to you with life in his cheeks and blue (or maybe green?) eyes.

In this reality, Astarion courts you, adores you, and neither one of you is horribly traumatized to get there. You live a happy life together, you go on adventures, own a home together, and maybe even one day have children together.

Your parents would have adored him- you wonder if his would have adored you?

“Lubanac is going to be most pleased,” the lich hums, “you are going to be the perfect little creature for the Morbid Maze. I know exactly what I am going to turn you into!

“Ah here it is,” the Lich menancingly smiles at you and your own scream of terror reaches your ears, “a Necroplasm! It will take another day since I have more tests to conduct, but you’ll be one of these beautiful creatures soon, my beautiful little Ghosty.”

It’s just a blob of ectoplasm and bones. You whimper and begin to shake.

“Oh no, no, no,” the lich strokes your face, “do not cry little one- you won’t even remember any of this once I change you.

“It will all be over soon,” he coos, “and in the meantime- you are doing an honorable service for our Lord Orcus and his priest, my leader, Lubanac. You will have a higher purpose once again- you will protect the morbid maze and fight alongside Orcus. What a boon- I’m almost jealous.”

It’s a fight not to continue crying- not wanting to give the lich more curiosities to poke around with or a reason to turn you earlier- so you do the only thing you can think of doing.

You fall asleep.

************************************************

You can feel all of your organs back in the right place within your body, but you feel entirely ruined to your core.

Astarion would never want you this way- used and rearranged, ectoplasm happily consumed by a lich who was constantly telling you every ‘fascinating’ detail he finds in your form as he worked. The lich at least gave you a bit more insight into your own condition- technically Donella did succeed in changing you, but she didn’t know how to resurrect you so that’s why you are stronger than a normal Ghost- you harbor some Spawn strength.

You went from being a Ghost, a Cat, a Person, and then a Science Project for a Necromancer. How fitting. Next? A necroplasm- unable to be saved or changed back to your original form.

“Are you okay?”

You look numbly in the direction of the Spawn Monster and their eyes look worried for you- your eyes are filled with angry tears, you can barely see them through your vision.

“No,” you choke, “I feel violated. I feel….

“I feel unworthy,” you whisper, admitting it outloud, “I feel disgusting.”

“We understand,” the spawn monster gives you a smile, “but you are going to get out of here and that will never happen to you again.”

You just shake your head, crying harder.

“I don’t know if I care anymore,” you sob, “I don’t want to go through that again- I can’t. He’s going to change me into, into-“

One of the creatures he showed you slimes by and it eats up the dripping ectoplasm on the ground like a starved dog- bones being stretched apart. The creature looks you in the eyes as if it knows and it lets out a wailing scream. You barely scoot out of the way in time before it’s limbs make it through your cage- a starving look in it’s eyes.”

“Shhhhh,” Dalyria’s voice soothes you, “you won’t go through it again- you will be okay. He’s coming as fast as he can.”

The spawn monster, as horrific as it is, leans up against the part of the cage that is close to yours- offering a hand. You crawl over and reach for it like a child- the creature, the remainder of people you care for, try to soothe you by running their thumb over your hand and keep telling you it’s going to be okay. That you are not allowed to give up any hope.

And that Astarion is on his way.

*******************************************************************

Author note: Likes, Comments, and Reblogs are always appreciated! Please let me know if you would like to be on the tag list! I am using the Ghostwalk campaign for NPCs, locations, etc. It is a 3e Campaign and doesn’t mirror 5e Ghosts. I have tweaked some of the ghost powers and such for the sake of the story, but if you would like more information on Ghostwalk and the City of Manifest, there is a PDF online that is free to download :)

Tag List: @n3rdybirdee @fandomarchiveilyd @dajeong @hotmesshobbit @godoffuckedupcats @bitchstarion @hereliesblackdragon @pebble-bb @preciouslittlebhaalbae @lavvyan @beepersteeper

Special thanks to @davenswitcher thank you for helping me brain storm 💜

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maltacus · 9 months

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Sylvanas + Arthas? + Jaina?

GhosterM made an epic comment reading partially as follows...

Prequels might not be the best Star Wars movies (although Revenge of the Sith is Top 2 in my heart) but they have some extremely versatile quotes that you can use in pretty much any fandom, works especially well in Warcraft since Arthas and Anakin have some similiar archetypes. Few more that i thought about when commuting:

...

Also me when i see people shipping Arthas with Sylvanas: "You will go home and rethink your life"

...

...and now I am of course rethinking. And noting that on AO3 there are 14 works tagged Arthas Menethil/Sylvanas Windrunner and the longest is 93k which is a heck of a lot of words but by no means impossible I know from experience because sometimes things grow on you.

How impossible is it really? Let's approach it methodically.

Arthas freaks out at Stratholme and Northrend under Mal'Ganis' manipulation and that is on him and pretty damn bad. But the rest is theoretically all on Ner'zhul and Frostmourne.

Sylvanas as undead and suffering the same mind control from the Lich King could potentially show some understanding. Or not, because she is seriously pissed at him for substantial and, ahem, heart-felt reasons or one frosty such reason to be precise.

Scratch talking then. They fight, or Sylvanas hatches the plan to mind-control Arthas and send him on a suicide run against higher ups or whatever else - for some reason she uses the hallmark banshee power of possession! Now she has an unimpeded front row seat witnessing the chains on his mind. Spice it up to make that possession cut the link and free Arthas from the Lich Kings control because why not?

Join forces against Lich King preparing to then stamp out Arthas at the first available opportunity? Well, if Kerrigan did it in the Brood Wars so can I, Sylvanas reasons. Off they are to a forced alliance...

Aaand why not toss in the old flame that actually probably WILL listen to Arthas even when nobody else will and who Sylvanas will then seek to assassinate out of spite and to twist the knife deeper into the death knight, only to become touched seeing Jaina's unconditional love and finding herself brooding on how much young Menethil was really his own when desecrating Quel'thalas...

It is in all honesty actually thought-provoking that the Forsaken queen does not ponder more on whether it is Arthas or Ner'zhul pulling the strings, but the Frozen Throne seems to hint that Ner'zhul could be keeping a low profile even among his underlings, which would probably have been a wise move with all the nosy dreadlord supervisors snooping around.

I know of course that a pairing could be pulled off in far simpler ways, but wouldn't it be half the charm to do it in the angsty and limitlessly forgiving and understanding way that Jaina and Sylvanas are to each other in many Sylvaina tales?

After all, if Sylvanas (who in her long life may or may not have done a lot of terrible things too in the bitter, bitter war against the Amani trolls) can be forgiven for so many things done in undeath absent Frostmournian mind control, why not Arthas?

Jaina reunioning with Kel'thuzad whom she personally helped kick out from Dalaran and later hunt down and kill, would just be a bonus.

[Megalomaniacal Evil Laughter and Thunder Outside]

#sylvaina #arthas/jaina #arthas/sylvanas #warcraft 3 #world of warcraft #fanfic #lich king #sylvanas windrunner #arthas menethil #jaina proudmoore

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vinthetiefling · 6 months

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Baldur’s Gate 3 was worth the wait.

I’ve spent over a decade searching for the next game to inspire what I felt playing Dragon Age Origins. That’s not to say I’m not enamoured with the creative beauty of Legend of Zelda, the epic storytelling of the Witcher, or the existential freedom afforded to you in Disco Elysium. For me, the greatest source of that feeling is the ability to fail and to have those failures fleshed out and made real. To witness those failures having a meaningful impact on your story and where it’s headed. There are countless forks in the road, which might explain why I retained so many save states despite routinely culling them.

Sure, high rolling is nice. High rolling kept some of my favourite characters from turning on me or becoming consumed with power. I even built a sorcerer with high persuasion in anticipation for what lay ahead. But the hidden intricacies—the people you notice or fail to notice in a flooding room, the choice to give into a whispering dark urge, the fate of a prince with no bearing to your backstory—are where we cut our own paths, and where we unwittingly stumble into failure.

Whether you want to come into the game with a preset alignment, decide on a case-by-case basis, or even throw it all out the window and veer from good to evil—that’s on you as the captain of this ship! And make no mistake, you are the captain. Even when the characters have their own bonds, belief systems and priorities outside of your mad dash to remove the tadpoles.

The writing was ingenious. There were characters I never saw myself caring for who demonstrated vulnerability and complexity, making me wade into hell to save them. Other characters I’d pegged under a certain alignment or archetype. They later proved themselves capable of doing a 180 and becoming a problem later. There were those who showed an incomparable ability to adapt and those who held strong to their beliefs. I also loved the touch of recruiting potential enemies into your party where they would prove to be invaluable assets to the team.

That’s not even touching on the choices you’ll be able to make in Acts 1, 2, and 3. Tdlr; It would be one hell of a task to make two runs resemble each other.

Here’s the lowdown on my run:

Character:

Vin the tiefling was a divine soul sorcerer conjured in pencil on the back of my rogue’s player sheet back in 2017. He was a backup in the event that I died. Eventually, I brought him out and his stats made him the face of the party, which was unfortunate for me as a naturally uncharismatic person. His shenanigans later saw him captured, petrified, amputated, crushed beneath the falling tower of a lich and transformed into a weapon of Bhaal. My favourite trait of his was his refusal to die. My sparkly glitter dice kept him going, and in the spirit of that, Vin was reborn in BG3 as the son of Bhaal.

Origin:

The dark urge didn’t pull any punches. I don’t know if I’ve ever felt so uncomfortable playing a character in a game—one who embarks upon his journey by smiling over the bodies of a nautiloid wreckage. So began my fight for control over Vin. There were moments when the game took my autonomy away, which added to my helplessness as I witnessed him kick a squirrel and commence the torturing of a captive under interrogation. I had no idea which scenes the urge was going to leap out in, and that made for a wild time. My best bet was to simply avoid situations where the urge might pull my strings. But that was hard to do when Faerûn was set on falling apart. I was a puppet, and Bhaal was my master. I was so rattled by what Vin did to Alfira, I did nothing but play with Scratch after. It was real, the discord struck between my trauma and head-in-the-sand coping.

Combat:

Wizards might have the ability to consume scrolls over sorcerers, but with Vin’s persuasion, intimidation, deception and performance checks, he was more than happy to leave the thinking to the experts. I built him as best I could to his configuration in the home game. While divine sorcerer didn’t exist as a subclass in BG3, my next pick for him was draconic bloodline, which provided a healthy boost to my AC. In a great stroke of luck, Vin’s detect telepathic and telekinetic feats were largely mirrored in the illithid powers provided by the consumption of tadpoles. My main spells were a combination of fire bolt, shocking grasp, burning hands, fly, haste, fireball, telekinesis, and chain lightning. I hoarded explodable barrels and bottles of flammable grease, and the invisibility afforded to me through Alfira’s sacrifice helped me wipe the board clean. Godspeed, Alfira. You saved many lives by helping me kill efficiently.

Story:

Act 1—We saved the tieflings and druids by destroying Minthara and the goblins. Her armour was great on Wyll for a time. Gale and Vin seemed into each other, until the weave scene happened and I decided to keep it friendly. My closest bond was with Shadowheart, who showed an intelligent and practical approach to whatever Faerûn threw down at us. We helped the myconids and befriended Omeluum. Then, we saved the Grymforge gnomes by eldritch blasting the duergar into lava and honking Nere’s nose with a shocking grasp. It’s a shame he was so terrible and evil. I thought we had a connection.

Act 2—Imagine my surprise when Jaheira joined my party after hunting Vin like an animal in the shadowfell. The urge wanted me to take out Isobel and revel in the horrific fall of the Last Light Inn, and I told it to shut up. We saved as many prisoners as we could in Moonrise, masquerading as an evildoer in front of Z’rell who was super into it. Then we cleared the Gauntlet of Shar, where Shadowheart spared Dame Aylin and became a Selûnite. I’ve never seen a more bloodthirsty Aasimar. Balthazar went down in like two hits. We sweet-talked Mizora into an infernal rapier, apparently missed Zevlor in the illithid pods, and destroyed Ketheric. Vin slow danced with Wyll. Oh. And Halsin glitched out of my party after we saved Thaniel, so I painstakingly went back to the beginning of Moonrise to save him. His name is now a curse in my house.

Act 3—Vin slept with anything horned, tentacled and from the Underdark, along with his beloved fiancé. We defeated Cazador and set the spawn free, got the Orphic Hammer for Lae’zel, rescued Wyll’s father and the Gondians from the Iron Throne, reunited Gale and Mystra, cleansed the house of grief with fireballs and said goodbye to Shadowheart’s parents, usurped Gortash by letting Karlach get in the final hit, saved Matthew Mercer and his lovable space hamster, and put Ansur back down in the dirt. After pulling on Bhaal’s chains for so long, Vin became an unholy assassin then turned and rejected Bhaal himself.

When I crafted the guardian form that the Emperor took on, it was made to resemble Vin’s younger sister in our home game. What occurred lore-wise was a projection of the sister he never had because his real blood-kin was Orin. And what a villain Orin was! What an actor. Tormenting us as a fortune teller, a newspaper interviewer, taking on Lae’zel’s form in a way that almost convinced me if not for the corner she’d turned as a character! In the end, she was no match for my scrolls of hold monster. I might not be a wizard, but I’ve swindled enough gold to buy a mansion and I’m hotter than Elle Woods. That’s the sorcerer class, baby.

Romance:

Wyll fell into place for Vin, and the more thought I gave it, the more sense it made. He was the guiding light for our dark urge rehabilitator. Vin was written to be chaotic good in his mind but chaotic neutral in practice. In truth, his sense of justice is shallow. Sure, he steps in front of oppressors and a specific trigger for him is slavery, being a slave to his dread lord father and all. But he thwarts evil simply because he *can.* What’s funnier than subjugating the weak? Overthrowing those with all the power and stealing their crown. Luckily for the everyday person of Faerûn, Vin is a merciful ruler. I’m not quite sure if Wyll could see what I saw. To him, Vin was a shaker and mover, a trailblazer in a world of horror and cruelty. To me, Vin was a self-indulgent manipulator given a new set of keys. Can he fix me? He can try, one slow dance at a time.

Endings:

After staring at this decision for a good ten minutes, I trusted the Emperor by letting him kill Orpheus and destroyed the Netherbrain at the end of the final battle.

Lae’zel was convinced to stay after I let the comet prince be assimilated. This felt like the more evil outcome of the split in the road, to be honest. I doomed the Gith’yanki so I could live without tentacles. In accepting it, Lae’zel renounced her obligation to the Gith regarding Orpheus or Vlaakith. I stole her hope for change and left her with an ordinary, mercenary life. She seemed happy. But Lae’zel, I’m sorry. You deserved more.

Gale reforged the crown for Mystra and washed his hands clean of its power. I was happy with this outcome for him, but it also reminded me of why Gale and Vin fell flat as a romance. Gale was still utterly consumed by Mystra, and staring at her face before our little date sealed the deal for me. He would always be second to the goddess of the weave.

Shadowheart, Jaheira and Minsc have a fresh start to look forward to. I suppose the latter two will find new work around the city. I especially enjoyed having a harper in the mix after watching D&D Honor Among Thieves. And as for Shadowheart, her parents are gone, but she’s broken from Shar’s clutches and the world is hers. I see her becoming entrenched in her new Selûnite status and rising peerless among their ranks.

I legitimately thought we’d killed Astarion before he ran from the sun. As he never ascended, the tadpole was the only thing protecting him. It was hinted in our discussions that he would go to the Underdark to offer guidance to the spawn once the battle was over. If that isn’t an enormous change from the cutthroat we first met, I don’t know what is. He showed the greatest capacity for change and self-reflection, and for that, he went from one of my least liked to most beloved characters.

At the behest of his father, Wyll became Duke Ravengard. But it was a fairytale ending and a ball and a wedding that came at the cost of someone else. Who better to rebuild Baldur’s Gate when his warlock powers have vanished? With Gortash gone and the power vacuum ripped wide open, who else could wield such empathy and an unwavering sense of justice? While it was a form of drudgery compared to being the Blade of Avernus, Wyll seemed a perfect fit. Without knowing what was at the end of the string, I took it.

I’ve been building up to the hollyphant in the room.

Karlach died, and it felt not only devastating and real, but very dear to me as a person with something malfunctioning in their body. Her happiness for Vin saving himself hit like a dagger in the chest, because there’s hope for him, and none for her. She’s so happy for you while she’s dying. How do you make peace with that? You can’t. In her final moments, I saw how much Vin loved her—the real sister he never had—and that look on his face as she exploded will haunt me forever. I wished we could’ve saved her and given her a life in the city she loves. In hindsight, I know about Wyll and Avernus. I plan on making a run where Vin, Wyll and Karlach venture through hell together as the ultimate poly triad.

To wind down from the hype, there were battles that ruined my day. My heart was beating, my grip on the controller was strong, and the screams and laughter came from a primal place. My partner knew not to come into the room in the middle of Cazador because I was going to punch a hole in the screen. I’ve never been challenged quite like this, with special mentions to the Iron Throne and a final battle in which I did everything possible to avoid bringing out my beloved owlbear. My appreciation for clerics is at an all-time high, and I’d gladly put up with Lae’zel any day for what she brought to table.

It’s all a part of being alive, isn’t it? Life happens, and in that mess of sacrifice, temptation and broken promises, we find ourselves.

#baldur’s gate 3 #bg3 #bg3 spoilers #spoilers #review #a full and comprehensive rundown on the playthrough as best as I could summarise it #lae’zel #shadowheart #gale of waterdeep #astarion #wyll ravengard #karlach #jaheira #halsin #vin the tiefling #the dark urge #a tale of two moralities

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mareenavee · 11 months

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WIP Whenever :D

Though it's actually on Wednesday this week, hehe.

Tagged by the lovely @thequeenofthewinter!

Tagging the most esteemed @friend-of-giants, @paraparadigm, @changelingsandothernonsense and @saltymaplesyrup!

I did share the last lines of this particular chapter earlier this week, so I'll pick a few paragraphs from earlier on! I actually just posted a chapter today that this will call back to. (: Enjoy!

“Calm down for a second,” Teldryn said. “I’m the one that’s supposed to be upset about the ice and cold.” He kicked at a few rocks and pebbles, all of them mostly wedged into thick ice. “He’s messing with me, but I know it’s because there’s work to do here. I flat out refused to check it out before. But I recognize where we are.” He watched as Nyenna wrestled with fury and fear, then decided to let them both go. She sighed and crossed her arms. They walked into the cave together, blessedly out of the biting wind, before she spoke.

“So what does he want from here?” Nyenna asked warily, scanning the place. Her eyes caught on something across the way, but she tore her gaze away.

“There’s interference here. This is as close as we can get to Benkongerike where another of his stupid books is apparently hidden,” Teldryn said. “In other words, this place… Or, really, the entire fucking iceberg of a coast is haunted. Hopefully not by more liches. I’m not sure what the theory is.”

“You knew he was collecting Black Books? Daedric artifacts?” Nyenna asked, looking aghast.

“It’s not as bad as all that. They’re safer with him,” Teldryn said. Nyenna raised an eyebrow. He just shook his head. “He’s a pain in the ass, really, but not evil. At least not in the traditional sense, I suppose.” He could tell with each word that Nyenna was getting more and more apprehensive about the whole thing. He scratched the back of his neck. “Just trust me on this, alright? Let’s figure out what is causing all the fuss here.”

“It’s probably that,” Nyenna said. She pointed across the cave to what appeared to be a troll skull wedged in the ice. It was adorned with horns that curved upward toward the ceiling. There was something familiar about that, but Teldryn couldn’t quite place it. “I noticed it almost immediately. It’s got some kind of magic attached to it. Not sure exactly what it is from back here, though.”

She motioned for him to follow. Something twisted in Teldryn’s gut as he walked behind her. It all seemed like a bad idea, suddenly. Nyenna was so casually walking toward the thing, but it was all wrong. He watched as time almost seemed to slow, her breath a cloud in the chilled air, arm outstretched toward the thing. Little stolen candles flickered and melted down on worn wooden boxes. Tiny, sharp spears were dug into the ice, holding up scraps of painted leather. Some were adorned with carved bristleback bones crossed and bound. Tiny carved runes were scrubbed with dirt to bring them forward against the harsh yellow-white of the fragments. All signs of Rieklings. This was an altar. With a shock, Teldryn remembered what this skull must have belonged to. He settled a hand over an amulet he had tucked under his shirt. He could feel the enchantment even through his armor. It bore the same spell signature as the skull in the ice. He gasped as the centuries-old realization hit him like a boulder. This belonged to Karstaag.

“Wait, Nyenna! Don’t – !”

He reached out his hand and caught her sleeve just as her fingers grazed the chilled bone of the frost giant’s skull.

#MareenaWrites #Tag Game #The World on Our Shoulders #Nyenna #Teldryn Sero #LDB/Teldryn Sero #Skyrim #Elder Scrolls #tesblr #writeblr #fanficblr #skyrim fic #skyrim fanfic #skyrim fanfiction #fic #fanfic #fanfiction

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mwolf0epsilon · 6 months

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The Umbaran Pathogen - Day 20: Master and Servant

Summary: While on the move towards the medical facility, the medics are thrown into a terrifying game of cat and mouse. One where both of the 'cats' seem to take great pleasure in toying with the 'mice' in the most violent way possible.

Warning: Blood, violence & slight cannibalism (overall just an awful time for the medics)

Twitch belongs to @gaeasun Pitch belongs to @lost-on-kamino

Here's what Tup and Dogma currently look like!

Prev / Next

[In which the events on Umbara are worsened by an unknown pathogen taking hold of both the 501st and 212th. These series of drabbles will follow a non-linear timeline based on the AI-less Whumptober prompt list for 2023.]

THIS STORY IS ALSO ON AO3

---

To Coric it almost felt like they'd all been running for an eternity. Not too surprising of a feeling, since they had been functioning on basically little to no sleep for the last couple of days. As things currently stood his team was running on pure adrenaline. Carrying on despite being so desperately tired. Unwilling to waste what little precious time they'd been given, to reach what could be the solution to all of their problems.

They were still so far away from their goal however, and the exhaustion was taking its toll. Tempers reaching their peaking point as they were forced to stop running, pushed to sneak, to keep an ear out whenever they heard something that surely meant danger.

The medics were tired, scared and pissed off. And it felt like the galaxy itself was laughing at them, as it impeded their progress at every turn. From putting all kinds of obstacles in their way, to leaving them completely without a means of communication as comms went down once again...

"Just two clicks north." Pitch urged them in hushed whispers. The facial scratches he'd gotten from Lich were superficial at best, but the way they had become inflamed could only be painful for the blue-haired medic. The stilted way in which he spoke indicating he was trying to bare with it, despite clearly being uncomfortable. "Just two more..."

"If the karking Umbarans don't get us..." Sponge responded tersely as they gently prodded their own bruised face, wincing in pain from just how tender everything felt. The cantankerous vod had taken quite the beating back at base.

"Shh..." The CMO shushed them both, unwilling to risk any sort of argument sparking between the three members of his team. Or, worse yet, risk alerting the enemy troops to their position. It was already bad enough that they were expecting to be hunted down by the gruesomely transformed Tup. The last thing they needed was to add those peskily persistent Umbaran soldiers into the equation...

That said, the last patrol they'd managed to sneak around had been a fair ways back, and since then Coric hadn't seen anyone else in their path. Not even any of the scavenging beasts that had been picking clean both clone and Umbaran carcasses alike.

It was disconcerting, to say the least...

"It's too quiet..." Twitch mumbled, glancing over the tall coiling grass they'd hidden in. The thick fog already hid them pretty well, but they'd all decided it'd be safer to hide in the brush anyway. "I don't hear the Banshees flying overhead anymore..."

"Shh!!!" Coric shushed more insistently. Frowning to himself as he did so, because the youngest party member was right. However, announcing it out loud wouldn't help them in the slightest. Especially when they needed to stay hidden.

Common sense said the lack of animal noises could only mean one thing: That there was a larger predator in the immediate vicinity.

If they slipped up now and startled something that had every intention of eviscerating them on sight, then it'd be game over for both the 212th and 501st battalions. Everyone's survival was staked on them finding a way to put an end to this horrific mess ASAP. They couldn't squander this chance to do so.

Failure was not an option.

"There's nothing around." Sponge hissed harshly, a challenging glare aimed directly at Coric. Daring him to try to shush them again. "The path up ahead is looking practically barren... We'll be exposed as soon as we leave the path to the capitol."

That was indeed true. The way they needed to go was further away from the main road itself, which was carefully framed by the dense treeline and thicker foliage they had been using as cover. The moment they stepped out of their current hiding spot to trek towards the medical facility, anything with good vision would be able to see them from a mile away.

And they wouldn't be able to see it coming until it was too late. They'd be sitting tip-yips.

"How many power packs do all of you have on you?" Pitch asked after a moment of tense silence between all four medics. He appeared to be looking through his belt and ammo pouches, taking stock of what he had at hand to see if there was anything he could use to make this situation a smidge less difficult.

"I ran out ages ago..." Sponge sighed, motioning to just how little they were carrying at all. They hadn't even bothered to keep their blaster on them, since without ammo it had been rendered virtually useless. And then, between the mess with Krell and the sudden influx of patients, they had been far too preoccupied looking after the sick and injured to even think about getting into a fire-fight. "All I have on me are liver flavored treats..."

"Liver flavored treats...?" Twitch stared at them in confusion, head slightly tilted to the side as he wondered why Sponge would be carrying that on their person at all.

"...It's a long story." Sponge shrugged, trying not to sound embarrassed about it. "What do the rest of you have on you?"

Coric sighed. So much for silence then...

He began to sift through his own pouches and painfully light medpack. Taking inventory of what he had, and finding little to feel encouraged by. With a groan he held up three single energy packs, a half full canteen of water, a novelty lighter shaped like a very specific body part, and a packet of starfruit flavored bubblegum.

The lighter and energy packs were really the only thing he could think might come in handy.

"I have one energy pack, a scalpel and a ration bar..." Twitch added to their little pile of resources, while simultaneously trying not to stare too hard at the anatomically-shaped lighter. "Is that gum?"

"It's to keep me from smoking." Coric admitted sheepishly, knowing fully well that if Kix were here he'd be on his case about it. The smoking that is. Not that Sponge wasn't already sending him a look that definitely brought some heat to his ears. "Started after Teth... This entire planet is making me ache for it too, but I haven't even had the time to think, much less find out if I can bum a death stick from one of the usual suspects..."

"That stuff's going to kill the lot of you." Sponge angrily huffed. "Once we get off this hellhole of a planet, I'm cracking down and inspecting everyone's karking loot stashes..."

"Ok." Pitch brought them all back to attention, this time being the one to block a potential argument from starting. "Between the four of us there's one shot each, and at least one blade that can be used as a last resort weapon..."

He looked to Sponge first.

"You don't have a blaster on you but that's fine. You can take my spare." The blue-haired medic handed over said spare blaster, pushing it and one of the energy packs towards Sponge. "The liver treats. Do they smell strong?"

"Strong enough that Beau always knows if I have any on me." Sponge took the blaster and put the charge in, loading it effortlessly. They also held up the packet of treats, and the stuff certainly smelled quite potent when they opened up the zip keeping it sealed.

"That could be a useful distraction if we cross paths with something hungry enough to try to make us into supper..." Pitch remarked, before turning to Coric. "The gum, how sticky is it?"

"It's Corellian bubblegum." Coric crossed his arms. "Takes ages for it to harden and stop being sticky, which is what makes it such a good smoking deterrent..."

"Should stick to sensors and mess up the security network once we actually get to the facility. The lighter has many uses as well." Pitch hummed, seeming pleased despite them not having all that many resources to work with. "I won't lie to you, the odds are heavily stacked against us. But in the face of adversity we adapt and we conquer. We were trained for this."

At that, Coric couldn't help but frown again. They were all combat and field medicine certified, yes. But what Pitch was up to was a little above their station. Only ARCs and Commandos went off on their own, MacGyvering remarkable solutions to spectacular problems...

Sure, Coric had been a survivor and witness to some pretty horrific things in his time serving as the official CMO. Had had to put back together vode that shouldn't have survived some of the wounds they had been brought in with.

He'd been there for both Teth and Christophsis for crying out loud!

But he'd never really considered himself ARC material. Kix and Sponge were experienced enough, but neither were on the same league as a fully independent Commando medic. And Twitch had only just recently been deployed...

"We're trained to fix up the men, not go off on our own..." He looked Pitch in the eye, his uncertainty more than clear as he spoke carefully. "We're not meant to rush off on some half-baked misadventure with no real tools to work with..."

"We do have tools. They're not conventional ones, but we can still do this Cor'ori'vod. " Pitch insisted, reaching out to firmly grasp Coric's shoulder. Trying to reassure him. "And even if you don't feel like you're qualified, you have to try. We all do. For the others..."

A sudden piercing scream put an end to the would be tender moment.

"TWITCH!" Sponge was looking up in horror, and it didn't take them even a second to follow their gaze and see why.

How they hadn't heard the loud buzzing noise of those massive wings flapping as they approached their position, Coric didn't really know. What he knew was that Tup had managed to not only catch up to them, but also gotten the drop on them completely. And now he was hovering about 10 feet in the air with Twitch held by one leg, the younger medic flailing uselessly against the strong grip of Tup's huge mantis-like pincer.

"G̴o̵t̴c̷h̵a̸~̶" The mutated clone smirked, his warped voice skipping slightly as he taunted them almost jovially.

"Hang on Twitch!" Sponge called out as they bent down to grab at the loaded blaster they'd dropped due to the unexpected attack.

"To what?!" The aforementioned medic yelped as he continued to flail. Then, pausing for a second as he squinted at the ground, he began pointing behind the group. A look of fear on his face. "Watch out!!!"

No sooner did the warning come, did Coric gasp and splutter as he felt the air get knocked out of his lungs. Something massive and solid having rammed into his back, sending him toppling over Pitch who let out his own yelp of surprise.

Sponge fared no better as they were suddenly grabbed by the head and dragged against the Umbaran forest floor, getting a faceful of dirt, loose pebbles and grass. Their assailant seeming to take great satisfaction in roughing them up, before hauling them into the air by the back of their armor.

They hadn't managed to get a hold of the blaster at all, the weapon having been thrown aside in the confusion.

As it turned out, Tup had gone out of his way to get Dogma before coming after them. The duo working effortlessly together to catch them completely unaware. Succeeding in not only ambushing them, but also getting a hold of at least two of the medics they were so eagerly hunting for sport.

Spitting out a clump of grass that had gotten stuck between their teeth, Sponge looked up at their captor for just a brief second before screaming as they felt gravity catch up with them. Hitting the ground with a loud thud and a resounding crack of plastoid, and then wheezing slightly as they tried to recover from the stomach-churning drop.

"Sponge!" Twitch continued to struggle in Tup's grasp, only to scream in terror when the mutated trooper began to swing him about as if he were a toy. Taking some kind of sick pleasure in the distress he was causing him, if the giggle-like clicks were anything to go by.

"A̵g̶a̴i̴n̴.̸" The tear-drop tattooed clone purred out an order, which Dogma was quick to respond to. So quick in fact, that Tup chirped in pure delight as he watched his brother pounce on Sponge and drag them back into the air, only to violently drop them onto the forest floor. Practically cackling as the agender clone began to bleed from their split lip and broken nose after the second hit. "A̵g̶a̴i̸n̶!̵"

On the third grab, Pitch acted.

The blue-haired medic screaming in rage and lunging for Dogma to attempt to grapple with him. A move which the other clearly saw coming, as he quickly blocked the attempt with his upper-right arm, before using the lower left to scratch Pitch across the face.

Unlike with Lich's scratches, Dogma's claws had cut deep gashes that bled profusely. Blinding the medic with his own blood and preventing him from seeing the kick aimed directly at his stomach. And then a horrific pain in his right thigh made him practically howl in agony, as Dogma drove his stinger right into the gap between his groin and his leg armor.

It felt like molten metal was being poured directly into his bloodstream. The searing sensation bringing tears to his eyes, and causing so much pain that he couldn't even scream anymore.

And then it stopped. All sensation abruptly cut. Pitch couldn't move.

"Oh stars, Pitch! Pitch!!!" Still held by one leg, Twitch kept calling out to the injured. Perhaps trying to see if they were still alive, since both of them had gone so terrifyingly still "Sponge!!!"

Coric shuddered as he got onto his hands and knees, winded and still trying to get his bearings. Spurred on by his little brother's desperate cries.

A few feet away from him he just about saw the loaded blaster and began to scramble for it, trying to get something, anything, to help defend against this brutal onslaught. As soon as he moved, however, Dogma was upon him. Maw opening up wide and clamping down on his left shoulder.

The scream ripped out of the CMO's throat almost as loud as the tearing noise that followed, as the mutated sergeant ripped a chunk of flesh off of his shoulder. Completely immobilizing his left arm.

"H̷o̶w̵ ̴d̴o̸e̸s̴ ̸h̸e̵ ̴t̶a̴s̴t̴e̵?̴" Tup giggled gleefully, as he watched Dogma chew up and swallow the pound of clone flesh he'd just removed from the medic. Seeming completely fine with doing something like this to someone he'd once called his brother.

"B̵a̸d̸.̸.̵.̷" Dogma's antennae flicked as he sniffed, jaws clicking loudly as he spoke in a rather unenthused fashion. "N̶o̵t̵ ̸a̷n̵ ̴o̷u̸n̷c̸e̷ ̴o̴f̷ ̸f̶a̴t̷.̶.̵.̵"

The medics were being unceremoniously played with. Their pain mocked like it was the funniest joke the infected duo of troopers had ever bore witness to.

Pitch didn't know if to cry or laugh. Not that he could do either. He could breathe and slowly blink away the blood and tears, but that was just about it. Whatever kind of venom Dogma now produced was potent enough to immobilize, but not enough so that it'd disrupt his respiratory system or even motor functions like blinking and swallowing.

If he were to be eaten alive he'd be awake and aware enough to see it go down, even if he couldn't feel it happening.

And yet that was less a terrifying thought than that of seeing his brothers torn apart before him, while he was helpless to do anything about it. It was... It was Chord all over again...

Besides him, Sponge let out a pitiful whimper.

The combination of pain and exhaustion no doubt making it difficult for them to remain awake. They were trying. He could see from the corner of his eye as they tried to push themselves back up, only to collapse once more when their arms shook and gave out under them.

It was hopeless. They were all going to die here. This twisted game of cat and mouse ending just like the real deal, with the cat playing with its food until little remained to tell the tale. They'd all failed. Pitch had failed.

SCREEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!

Eyes darting back up, Pitch choked out a surprised gasp as he saw Tup suddenly toppling to the ground. The huge mutant writhing and thrashing about, as Twitch (who'd managed to twist himself just enough to grab onto the insectoid man's long tail), bit down on the sensitive cerci resting right at the tip.

Bit so hard, in fact, that he'd managed to draw blood.

"T̷U̴P̴!̸!̶!̷" Dogma rushed forward to try to help his brother, his stoic and unshakable demeanor lost to the panic of seeing the other hurt. He was so preoccupied with getting to Tup in fact, that he didn't notice as Coric took hold of one of his wings with his uninjured arm, before tugging on it hard.

The drone screeched in surprise as the delicate tissue and nerves tore, sending him crashing down onto the forest floor while Coric lunged once more for the blaster. As soon as he had a grip on it, he aimed and took the shot, claiming Dogma's other wing.

The smell of burnt wing tissue was jarring against the stirred earth and cut grass scent, from when Sponge had been dragged through the ground like a sack of oats. Pitch wondered briefly if that is what revenge smelled like... A thought that was quickly chased away by another shot sounding off, and yet another loud screech filling the air before Twitch rushed over to his side.

His kih'vod's face was coated in blood. Some of his curls dripping with the stuff from when he'd been initially sprayed. But it was the wild flash in his eyes that threw Pitch for a loop.

Not once in this entire nightmare of a campaign, had Twitch looked this ready to lose it...

A new wave of adrenaline must have hit him and Coric, a theory which was confirmed when Twitch effortlessly lifted Pitch onto his back, while the CMO did the same for the unconscious Sponge. The duo proceeding to run as fast as they could towards the medical facility, while Tup and Dogma were temporarily unable to follow. Staggered by the sudden pain that had been afflicted onto them.

They were still two clicks away.

If that bothered Twitch and Coric as they ran while carrying some very heavy dead weight, it didn't show. Survival instinct really was something magnificently unpredictable.

#Eps Writes #star wars #the clone wars #whumptober #Umbaran Pathogen AU #clone medic coric #clone trooper tup #clone trooper dogma #clone ocs #clone medic pitch #clone medic twitch #clone medic sponge

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