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#also Wizard Gem is six foot???
thedo0zyslider · 3 months
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Reunited - Chapter One: Lonely Is The Mountain - 3k Words
Fwhip and Gem live alone in the new mountain home they'd made after The Rapture, and they think they always will. That is until a certain someone turns up on their front lawn, at six in the morning no less.
[Not canon to the eal universe! just a fun little idea i had :)]
A03
Fwhip wakes up, feeling groggy like he normally does. Like he has for the past however many months. There is pain in his back as well, another thing that had gradually become more and more familiar to him over time. It's like a constant friend now, his never ending pain. It has been since the…. incident . Yeah. The incident. That's what he'll call it for now, even though it does have an official name already. The incident.
He blinks again, and notices a warmth beside him. Gem is curled up in the bed as well, her face hidden in his side. Right, they'd both accidentally fallen asleep the night prior, too tired to keep doing much else. Not that either of them mind, for they probably kept each other rather warm enough throughout the coldness of the night prior. At the foot of the bed there is a pile of books, new ones Gem had found. She'd been looking for something, she wouldn't tell him what, and the half dragon had tried to help his sister the best he could. 
Fwhip shifts, dislodging his sister and trying his best not to kick the books. It's a small bed, so Gem doesn't go far, and ends up in almost the same position she had been in before. He holds back a smile, and removes the stupidly big wizard hat from his twins head, lest it get any more wrinkled while she sleeps. 
They were never really like this before. Affectionate, he means, they were never the most affectionate. But, well, losing everything but one person changes that. Fwhip fights back a frown at the thought, and fixes Gem's messed up bangs as gently as he can. He knows how much he hates her hair being messy, after all. 
If he looks on the side of the small bed, the ginger can see Nova and Koda. The two dogs are curled up in a pile on the floor, and in the middle of said pile is the baby dragon Violet. The other wyverns seem to be hanging around outside the window, so that's all the pets accounted for. Though the three massive wyverns could take care of themselves. 
Beside him, Gem finally stirs. She sits up with a small sound, blinking the sleep from her eyes. Fwhip turns his head, and gives the best smile he can manage. “Morning sleepy head.” He huffs, nudging her side gently, to prod her awake more. His sister just makes a vaguely annoyed sound at that, never having been much of a morning person. 
“Morning.” She grumbles, stretching her arms upwards when she is finally upright. “We both fell asleep, didn't we?” Gem goes to stretch her legs as well, but stops herself, realizing the mess that lays on the foot of the bed; also looking like she forgot that they put it there.
“Yeah.” Fwhip answers, failing to hold back an amused snort at his sister's face. Normally, the wizard would glare at him, or something of the like for that. But she has never been a morning person, and is therefore not in the mood for an exchange like that. Instead she just ignores her brother, and finishes what stretches she can in the limited space of her bed. Because this was her room they’d fallen asleep in. The half dragon would never be caught dead with this many books in his room, especially not one's about magic.
“So much for my research.” Gem sighs, looking at the rather concerning stack of books on the bed. It’s honestly a miracle none where kicked off, with two people sleeping on the bed. Two people that were reportedly very restless when they slept, for a magnitude of different reasons. It’s also a surprise they didn’t shuffle too much and wake each other up, but maybe that shows just how bone tired the twins are. How bone tired they have been, for what feels like years now. It’s only been half of one.
“What're you even looking for?” Fwhip asks, scanning over the titles of the books once again. They all have something to do with spells or potions. Some are even written in other languages, like elvish, galactic, or even fae speak. A bunch of jargon the former Count knows he can’t read, and didn’t even know his sister could. Though he shouldn’t be surprised, for how well read Gem always was. The only languages Fwhip new were the native ones from their homes, and the ones of machinery. (He knew a fair amount of mermish languages, like codlish and whatever the salomfolk had used to speak. He ignores that fact, and the books written in those dialects, for his own sanity and peace of mind.)
“It's a surprise.” Gem says, throwing her legs off the edge of the bed. She glances around, presumably for her hat, probably very aware of its absence atop her head. Wordlessly, Fwhip reaches to wear he had put it, and goes to hand it back to her.
“I hate surprises.” He says, his sister taking the hat back from him. He felt inclined to help Gem put it back on, but knew she liked wearing it (and all her clothes, really), in a specific way. So the ginger knew it was best to let Gem handle all of that, unless she specifically asked for help with something. And Fwhip could understand, for he was often the same way with his own clothes. It was a twin thing, as their parents had always lovingly said. When they had still been around, that is.
“No you don't.” Gem calls him out in his lie. Surprises are the whole reason why he loves inventing, and making things, because there’s usually a fair amount of them in his creative process. And she had seen him get way too happy over every birthday and Christmas surprise to ever believe him on that. “Now help me put these books away.”
“Fine, oh Great Wizard.” Fwhip huffs, following the wizard’s lead as she gets to her feet. He steps over the dogs, who have surprisingly not stirred at all the noise yet. And neither has violet, which is even more surprising; but also kinda a relief. A baby dragon was always quite the handful to handle in the mornings. A glance out the window told him the wyverns had deprecated too, which meant the morning was finally, truly getting started. Even if that start was probably a little later than they both would've liked. 
“That's Miss Great Wizard to you!” Gem exclaims, already carrying about five, maybe six heavy books in her arms. The former Count hurries to keep up with her, grabbing what things he can from the edge of the bed. There are a few other things, notepads and writing utensils, hidden beneath the sheets as well. Which was even more stuff to clean up. Yay .
“Excuse me. Fine, oh Miss Great Wizard.” Fwhip snorts in amusement again, tempting himself to nudge Gem once more. But he figures that's a bad idea, with all the books she's carrying. Dropping one would probably be unfun, and also wake both of the dogs up. 
“Are you sure you can carry all that? Nothings gonna give out on you?” Gem asks, seeing the load he has already started to carry. Said load only consisted of the same amount of books she had, maybe one more or one less. Fwhip wouldn’t know, he wasn’t counting when he grabbed the books. He had just grabbed at random to feel like he was helping.
“I'm sure. I'll be fine.” The former Count shrugs, adjusting the weight in his arms again. To be sure he won’t drop it, and to assure both himself and his sister. Even if he doesn’t think that will do much in the way of assurance, it's better than just standing there with a loose grip on seven odd books.
Gem goes to scold him, but is quickly cut off. Partly because they have done this song and dance before, many of times since he was first injured. So much so that the half dragon has grown bored and exasperated by the predictable arguments they have. It does not help that he also has never been a morning person. Another one of those twin things they shared. “Fwhip-”
“I'll be fine.” The ginger pushes, making a point by walking several steps forward. He can feel the light ache in his arm, but that is okay. It’s only a light ache, and those tend to either stay consistent or get worse. Usually they do the former more. So he can carry this stuff a few doors down to the library easily, no problem or any pain involved! 
“If you insist.” The wizard sighs, tightening her grip on her own things. She goes to catch up, to walk beside him and try to get the door. Fwhip has to hold back a smug, triumphant little grin, and the stub of a long gone limb flicks in happy success. 
Right after Gem finally relents, and finally agrees to let him do something like this on his own, his body decides to work against him. Pain shoots up his arm and leg at once, the ones on the same side, and Fwhip has to hold back a swear. The pain gets to his head as well, as it often does, and he knows he’s going to fall before he even starts to do so; the sensation has become that unbalancing.
“Shit” He hisses, catching himself on the door frame. Despite his best efforts, two books do slip from his grasp and tumble to the floor. Two loud bangs follow them, and the dogs jolt awake with ear splitting barks. Their barks normally don't hurt at all, now it's just a really bad time for them to be making any noise. 
Gem sees him wince at the sound, and hushes the animals as quickly as possible. They always did listen to Fwhip more than her. But Nova and Koda, as if able to sense the energy in the wizard’s voice, or how much pain their owner is in, do quiet down after a few seconds. They also keep Violet,  who is now awake. occupied in their own doggy way. Somehow. Which leaves all of Gem’s attention thankfully free for her injured idiot brother.
“Are you okay?” His sister asks, at his side in an instant. Worry is clear in her tone, and Fwhip has to ignore it. If he doesn’t, the guilt of causing it will consume him whole and make this whole situation worse than it already is. If it can get any worse, goddammit.
“I'm fine.” He says, trying to lean toward his sibling. Towards her warmth and comforting, familiar presence. But if he does that he is not fine, and she will have to spend half her day helping and healing him once again. So Fwhip does not do that, instead he leans away, and ignores the flash of pain as he does. Moving hurts , everything hurts right now.
“Don't lie to me.” Gem doesn’t chastise him at the moment, even though she has more than every right too. Mainly because her brothers stupid, and have done this dozens of times. Most importantly, he will do it again. But Gem is smart and caring enough to know that lecturing will do nothing but make the half dragon feel worse. So instead she allows herself to fret and worry, and let the warmness of it wash over her stupid sibling. Even if he can’t appreciate it at the moment, they both know he will later.
“....I'm fine.” Fwhip huffs, going to stand. Instantly, he falls down again, his chest landing hard on the books he’s carrying. It knocks the wind out of him, which is just great , just another problem he needs right now. Pain shoots up his arm and leg again, and feels like it is traveling up to his back. Which is fan- fucking -tastic! Back pain, again! His favorite thing on the pain menu!
“Idiot.” Gem huffs, not meaning the insult seriously. Well, not too seriously. She crouches next to her brother, taking the books he hadn’t dropped away from him desperately. She places them quietly next to her own stack, now on the floor as well, trying to avoid making anymore very loud noises. Fwhip wants to protest, but his damaged arm is already giving out from the main, and the ringing in his ears has not subsided. And his bad leg is aching, probably because he’s so shit at taking care of it. The ginger whimpers, and feels stupid. Like some helpless child.
“You need to rest.” The wizard hums, running a comforting hand through his hair. Fwhip hates how he leans into it, like a small child leans into his mother when sick. He hates it. The half dragon hates all of this so much, and the searing pain on his right side is not making it (or his mood, for that matter,) any better.
“...J-just got up.” He protests, the half dragon’s voice sounding weak even to him. He pushes the thought away, along with the waves of self hatred that follows it. Fwhip does not need to focus on that right now, he needs to focus on breathing, so he can stand again, and not worry his sister anymore. He can focus on all those bad thoughts later, when he’s trying to sleep ofcourse. 
“I know, but you’re hurting.” Gem soothes, petting Fwhip’s head some more. Finally, he allows himself to go slack, and lean into all the comfort he is being given.“I’ll get you some ice and a hot drink okay? After I clean this.” She tells him her plan, like he is a small child. And the half dragon knows this is for his own good, and that he is not being babied. He knows Gem would rather stab herself than treat him as lesser, if he didn’t do it first, but it is hard to ignore the nagging in the back of his head telling him otherwise.
“Sure. Whatever.” He huffs, moving away from her touch. Gem removes her hand from his head, resting it on his arm instead. A sign  he knows well, indicating that he is about to be helped up. What can the ginger say, he finds himself randomly falling a lot more these days…like some kinda old man…
“Think you can get to your own room? It’s just a door over.” Gem says, watching as her brother stops kneeling over on the floor. The half dragon moves into a crouching possession, the pain finally starting to dull enough to move. He lets the wizard hold his hands in hers, and gets ready to go back to standing for just a few minutes.
“I can.” Fwhip says, taking a few moments to catch his breath, and lets the pain dull the best he can. Thought that probably won’t be for very long, but hopefully long enough to do what his sister is suggesting. Because as much as he hates to admit it, it is a damn good and perfectly sensible (maybe even a tempting) suggestion. “I can.”
After that, Gem hoists him to his feet smoothly, well used to doing it by now. She is also strong enough to do so as well, rather impressively. Fwhip mangoes to make it across the hall, only having to lean against a wall for a good minute, maybe too at the most, before he is able to shamble away. Gem calls that she is going to clean their prior mess, and change into some new clothes, then she can do whatever he needs. He yells back some word of acknowledgement, and lets his mind wander elsewhere for a minute as he enters his bedroom for the first time that day. Probably the only one too, since Fwhip will most likely be stuck in it for most of not all of the day, at the rate he’s going indicates anything.
They have a few villagers living closer to the bottom of the mountain, and that's it. Other than that, the mountain is very lonely. Always has been, and probably always will be. It’s what he thinks about as he looks out his bedroom window, shuffling with his good clothes. He knows Gem told him to rest, but he at least wants to change out of his probably dirty ones. Look presentable for the day, in case he needs to actually do something. If the aching in his muscles lets him.
He holds back a sigh, and quickly shrugs off his clothes from the day prior. An outfit that reminds him of his younger days. Before he was a leader of anything. Back in his early twenties, when he was a very different and more unpleasant man. Times he wasn’t very fond of remembering, for a lot of reasons. The casual outfit he was shrugging on now was more like the current Fwhip, and subsequently made him feel more comfortable in his own skin. Even if his arms did burn with a pain they hadn’t years ago, when he had truly come into his own and first adopted this style.
Fwhip catches a glimpse of himself in the mirror, and has to look away. He hates seeing the scars that line his face, truly he does. They bring nothing but bad memories and pain. They're all explosion shaped, a reminder of why the marks are there in the first place. A permanent reminder of what he has done. 
The former Count sighs, and shrugs his coat off. He has to see the scars on his arms as well, and they are much like the ones lining his face. He sits down on the edge of the bed, one he often finds himself able to get out of, and lets all those rather unpleasant thought consume him as he looks at his scars. 
The explosion banged him up pretty good, Fwhip has to admit. It leaves him unable to do much, some days. Either from physical pain or the probable depression, the former Count has found himself bed ridden more than once. He hates it, being useless while Gem works around the house and tries to carry on. He knows she understands, but he still hates it nonetheless. 
Gem was hurt in the incident, but less than him. Fwhip experienced the whole blast, while his sister only got a silence of the aftershock. She had a few sprains that had long since healed, and some lingering pain. Pain that lingered in her legs and arms, but pain that could be easily managed with spells and natural healing methods. Though the emotional and mental pain did not heal as fast. Her dragon's were also okay, and had quickly healed from whatever damage they had sustained. Something about them healing quicker and being more than people were. 
Fwhip, on the other hand, has had more lasting injuries than his sibling. For starters, his physical pain lasts longer, and is worse. It often calls him to fall down or lose balance, like it had barely half an hour. Which meant he couldn't do any heavy lifting, which eliminated most tasks that would make him feel helpful and like a worthwhile member of this house. Because the universe loves screwing him over as of late, it seems. 
He cannot say which of them has it worse emotionally or mentally, but the former Count figures it's similar enough. They had both lost everything that day after all. Though mental illness and the emotional pain that came from trauma were never something to be compared or pitted against each other. And he wouldn't be the one to start it, Fwhip wasn't that far gone. Not yet, anyways, and hopefully never. 
His injuries had been more serious, multiple contributing to his new balance and coordination problems. One of said injuries being the loss of most of his tail, the limb having been blown off in the explosion. Half dragons often used their tails for balance, to support the extra weight their wings added. Though not that that mattered anymore, because his wings were also gone, blown to bits. Well, they hadn’t all been blown up that day, only half of them having remained. But half dragons do not grow their wings back, and the tissue had been badly damaged and bleeding from multiple tears where flesh had once been. The risk of an infection was far too high for even the most experienced healers to be comfortable stitching his wounds closed. Back then, and still now, it was better for him, and their current situation, to amputate the rest of his wings. Even if it was one of the hardest things Fwhip had ever had to do.
Neither of the twins were doctors, but he was sure he’d sustained some type of nerve damage somewhere along his body, and something was permanently wrong with his back too most likely. Oh, and he had god awful headaches and migraines now, probably also there to stay forever. Or maybe all of it was fixable. He wouldn’t know, he wasn’t a healer; was never good at that sort of thing.
Fwhip figures Gem has a permanent ailment or two as well, just that they're more manageable. But she doesn’t mention them, opting to worry about her brother and his myriad of new health issues instead. And the ginger did appreciate it, really, he just wished his sister would care for herself more. He could see the pain and grief hidden in her eyes, no matter how hard she tried to mask it.
The half dragon sighed, knowing he would have to retire for the day. And it was barely even mid morning. His pains had gotten worse while he sat there thinking. So reluctantly, his limbs aching like an absolute bitch and the phantom pains consuming his whole backside, Fwhip allows himself to curl up under the warm covers of his bed. He jokingly blames this all on the studying and reading he had to do last night, his body getting revenge for doing many mundane activities he knew he wasn’t a fan of.
A few minutes later, both Koda and Nova clamber onto his bed, knowing to be gentle when he is in the state. Fwhip smiles, and gives them both plenty of rubs and scratches behind the ears, letting them know he is not bad for their earlier barking. He grabs a book from his nightstand, one on machines and redstone. He’s had enough of books in the past twenty four hours, but there’s not much else to do to pass the time.
Fwhip hums as he flips through a page, his interest somewhat peaked. He’s read this book before, many of times, but it has yet to get interesting. He hears some clinking in the kitchen, and hopes Gem will make him that magic tea. The one that works on easing pain. Or maybe just some normal tea, his favorite flavor, just to make this day go a bit better. If only to help him get through the pain, that will be enough. What she does is always more than enough, after all.
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aceofrooks · 2 years
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Thank you for the canon height chart ms ldshadowlady
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boohbear19 · 3 years
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Webbed Up PT 2
 Just wanted to thank you all so soooo much for all the support and patience! I apologize for the delay, I was finishing up my spring semester at school! Just to warn everyone, I am still new to Marvel so I apologize in advance if I miss a few things in the plot or mess up somehow, but the story is based on Peter and reader (You!) 
Spiderman x Pregnant! Stark! Reader 
Rated: M 
Disclaimer: language, smut, teen pregnancy, violence
(Isn’t he so handsome? I just wanna play with his hair!!) :’’) 
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It all happened so fast. First you were evacuating school, next your father had scooped you up ranting on about some wizard, and now here you were somewhere in space, standing between a semi-argument between Peter and your father. 
It practically went down like this:
Peter: This suit is awesome I was gonna go home but-
Tony: You shouldn’t be here!
Peter: You made me this suit so technically it’s your fault
Tony: What did you say!!??
Peter: Ah! Nooo!! I take that back I’m just saying-
blah, blah, blah....
You started to zone out during the rest of the conversation/argument. The nausea was starting to come back, and you knew anywhere would be safer for you and your unborn child than here. Of course, you couldn’t blame your father, he had no idea that you were pregnant (neither did Peter) and he knew how much you wanted to be an avenger, so he’d often drag you along on their missions. He was going to freak when you told him, Peter would probably pass out, knowing your father will kill him.
The wizard’s magical red cape floated over to you and extended it’s cloth-like arms in offer to warm you up. It must have noticed you shivering with your arms folded. 
“I-I’m fine, t-thanks...” You stutter, making the cloth shrug before it wrapped itself around you, clearly not taking no for an answer. It was soft like velvet and warm. Like fresh out of the dryer warm. 
“Thanks,...um....magic cape?” You giggle, drawing Peters attention to you. 
“Y/N!? When did you get here!?” His puppy eyes widen as a huge smile spreads across his cute face. His arms are around you and your face is pressed against his strong chest before you had the chance to say anything.
“I’m so glad you’re safe...” He whispers in your ear before kissing the side of your head sweetly.
 With your pregnancy hormones leaving your brain on autopilot throughout the days, you were sure you could have fallen asleep right then and there in your boyfriends arms. 
“Of course she’s safe. She’s with me.” Tony chimed in, he sounded irritated. “Do you think I would let something happen to my daughter?”
“Oh! N-not at all Mr. Stark! I was just worried about y/n since the school closed and the streets were-”
“Yeah, yeah. I get it kid. Calm down.” Tony rolls his eyes. 
Peter breathes a sigh of relief before looking down at you, his eyes fill with concern. 
“Are you feeling okay, y/n? You’re pale as a ghost!” 
You didn’t want to lie. You hated lying more than anything and it was eating you up more each day of not announcing your pregnancy. Pepper found out because she overheard you on a phone call with the doctor. You then told her that you missed two periods, and she then brought you to the doctor for a checkup and ultrasound.
“i-I-I-m....Peter....there’s-” You pause to take a deep breath. Peter waits patiently and strokes your hair as you try and collect yourself.
You look up into his eyes. Those deep, beautiful brown puppy eyes. His pupils were wide and large with love for you. His hands were on your hips gently. 
A large knot tightened in your stomach, your heart began to race, and tears welled up in your eyes. How would this affect everyone when they knew you were pregnant? How could you be safe against Thanos!? 
Another thing that you hated more than lying was relying on others. That was why you’ve been training since you were twelve years old. You wanted to defend yourself and save others, not the other way around. You refused to be a damsel in destress, not that you looked down on others for it. You were a Stark. There was nothing that you wanted more in the world than to be a hero like your father.
Now you were just a burden. You were a damsel in distress, you’re pregnant and you were only going to get bigger.
“Peter, I’m-” 
“Save it for later you two.” Tony cut you off before you could finish your sentence. He was crouched behind a half wall that overlooked the opening to a large room in the ship.
You looked over at Peter helplessly who stroked your cheek in response before he took your hand in his. The webbed pattern of his costume made them feel rough. 
“Hang in there, sweetie. We’ll get out of this soon and bring you home, okay??”
You could only nod and hope he didn’t notice you were crying as he lead you over to your father. The knot in your stomach felt larger and tighter, it was getting hard to breathe.
“I found the wizard.” Tony says as you and Peter approach him. 
You felt the urge to vomit increase as you crouch besides your boyfriend and father. The cape around you must have sensed it because it unraveled itself around you and floated over toward Tony who shooed it away from him. 
“That goon knows he has the stone...” Tony said, more to himself than to you and Peter. 
During the ride to space with your father, he told you the whole deal with Thanos wanting all six of these so called “Infinity stones.” Tony said Thanos plans to get all six stones to destroy half the worlds population. Legend says that if all six infinity stones are in the hands of one person strong enough to helve their power, they can destroy an entire planet, solar system, and of coursed...people. 
You and Peter look down over the half wall to see a man strung up below in front of a sneering goon. His hair was salt and pepper colored and he also had a beard. From what you could make out, he had striking blue eyes, although you weren’t sure if it were from the lighting below. 
“Alright..so that’s our guy?” You ask, the nausea slowly dropping to your relief. 
“That’s him. Damn, I wish we could have just thrown that damn thing in the garbage disposal...” Tony grunted. 
“Why didn’t you? Than Thanos wouldn’t have all those gem-stone things.”
“Ah the wizard and his buddies made some oath to look after it.” Tony replied. 
“Screw the oath! Mankind is at risk here!” You sigh before looking over at Peter. His eyes were fixed on the wizard below. His eyebrows slightly furrowed it almost looked like he was frowning. You knew that was his thinking face. 
“How the hell are we going to get him out of this?” Tony grumbled to himself, that’s when Peter perks up. 
“Hey! Have you ever seen an old movie called Alien!?”
You couldn’t fight off the smile that formed across your lips. You remembered that one rainy afternoon during the summer. Peter was over sitting around in the lounge with you. The two of you spent the entire day playing card and board games and making food. You decided to end the day with a horror movie, which took you a good half hour of convincing for Peter to agree. 
Peter got creeped out easily toward parasite-type of stuff, so he wasn’t the biggest fan of those movies. But he could never say no to you. During the whole movie you found yourself laughing as Peter would duck his face to hide in your shoulder and curse at every jump scare that the movie had to offer. He hardly touched the homemade popcorn you two made he was so scared.
Once Kane got impregnated by a facehugger it was all over for Peter. He started to blame you for his future nightmares and sleepless nights. He was genuinely freaked out and you felt bad for laughing, you really did. But he was too damn adorable and all the snuggles and feeling Peter’s warmth around you during the chilly evening felt amazing. 
Once he mentioned Alien you knew exactly which part he was referring to. The end of the film, where Ripley opened the pod doors, pushing the alien out into space to float for eternity. 
Tony paused for a moment, considering it. “That’s actually not a bad idea.”
“A little dangerous, just be careful.” You say, resting a hand on Peter’s muscular arm. 
He gave you a sweet smile as he took your hand in his to place a gentle kiss on the top of it. 
“Always will be, so I can come back to you.” 
You could feel your dad cringe as the two of you shared a sweet but brief kiss. 
“Wait...should I help?” You ask, once Peter pulls away from your lips. Even though you knew you weren’t up for any fighting or anything that involved physical activity but again, you refused to be helpless. 
“You could be a distraction.” Peter suggested. “Or kick his butt before we throw it out into space.” 
“Whatever we do, we have to do it fast before that goon destroys the wizards ass.” Your father replies. 
You and Peter exchange a nod before you cautiously climb off the half wall. You noticed there were multiple things you could grab onto such as knobs and random ledges. 
“Painful, aren’t they!?” You hear the goon sneer to the wizard. “they were originally designed for microsurgery.” 
You crept up behind the goon slowly and as quietly as you could. Even from behind the creature was extremely hideous. It almost looked like an alien. As you got closer you could see the wizard was being held up by these needle-like things. They looked sharp as knives and were a silver-gray color. Some pierced his upper chest but most pierced his face. 
“And any of them-” The goon continued but that’s when you cut him off. Lifting and spinning your entire body into a graceful and perfect roundhouse kick. Slamming your foot into the back of his head, knocking him straight off the ground.
The wizard looked up at you alarmed and partially shocked, while the goon glared up at you with a dirty scowl. 
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” 
The goon snarled at you just as you heard a loud “THUD!” from behind you, knowing it was either Peter or your father. 
“Just saving a friend, dude. Stealing stones that ain’t yours is not cool. Didn’t your mother ever tell you about stealing?”
Your remark made the goon growl as he shot up to his scrawny feet, glaring at Tony behind you. 
“I could end your friend’s life in an instant!!!” The goon snarls, very pissed off. 
“I got to tell you, he’s not really my friend.” 
You look over to see your dad floating in air, his helmet over his face. The eyes in his helmet glowed a bright vibrant blue as he spoke.  
“Saving his life is more of a professional courtesy.” 
“Your powers are no match to mine. You saved nothing.” The goon sneered, raising its hands. Large metallic objects floated over to him. 
“Yeah, but the kid’s seen some movies.” Tony replies, just as he shoots a rocket from his hand, this action blasts the goon and the objects he was holding down toward the open hole of the ship. 
Feeling the instant and intense pull from space, you hurl yourself to the closest staircase, wrapping your arms and legs around the banister as tightly as you could.The wind blew your hair furiously. 
You noticed the magical red cape fly over to the wizard once he flew down after the goon. It offered him its long cloth to hold onto before Peter catches him with a string of web. You crane your neck to watch the scene below as spider-like arms spring out from the back of Peter’s suite grasping onto the edges of the hole as he pulls the wizard back inside the ship with him. Your father then seals the hole. 
Peter hurries over to you, releasing his mask from his face, his hair all fluffy and messy, reminding you of a hyper puppy. 
“y/n! It’s okay! You can let go now!” 
He bends down to gather you in his arms. You let go of the banister to wrap your arms around Peter’s neck. The two of you touch foreheads and close your eyes listening to the sound of each others breathing. 
“Th-t-that was s-some kick, y/n!” Peter praised, completely out of breath. “I-it was s-so....so cool!! I-” 
“Breathe, Peter.” you say with a smile, cupping his face in your hands gently. You stroke at the loose long strands of hair that hang from his face, brushing them back so you can look into his eyes. 
Peter laughs and takes a deep breath. “Sorry! That was just...so cool!”
You laugh in. response hugging him close to you and resting your head on his shoulder. You didn’t ever want to let go, but with the arguing you heard from your father and the wizard, you knew it’d be best to intervene. 
“Hey, what’s going on?” You ask, as Peter sets you down gently to your feet. He walks over to the wizard. 
“I’m Peter by the way!” Peter greets him, extending an arm out to him. 
The wizard looks at him for a moment before responding, 
“Doctor Strange.” You noticed his cape had returned to him. 
“Oh! You’re using our made up names! I’m Spider-man then!” 
Doctor Strange then looks over at you curiously. You catch the drift and introduce yourself. 
“I’m y/n Stark...his daughter..” you gesture toward Tony. “I don’t have a made up name....not yet...”  Doctor Strange just gives you and Peter a look before walking back over to your dad. 
“The ship is self-correcting its course. Things on autopilot.” Tony announced. 
“Can we control it? Fly us home?” 
Your head started to spin you felt super dizzy. You weren’t sure if it was from the kick or just your hormones but something felt off. 
“Y/n? What’s wrong?”
You could feel Peters arms around you, you could hardly stand any longer so you fall into them.This caught Doctor Strange and your fathers attention  
“Y/n!?” Tony called. 
“Is she not well?” Doctor Strange asked. 
Peter sat on the floor with you cradled in his arms, His fingers are stroking your hair and his warm breath fanned your face. 
“Y/n...what was it you were trying to tell me earlier?” 
You swallow hard, looking up to see your father and Doctor Strange in front of you with concerned looks on their faces.
“Y/n, what’s going on? Did that goon hurt you?” Tony bent down so that he was eye level with you. 
“No...” You rasp, feeling your eyelids starting to grow heavy. The world around you was fading. You could feel your head pounding.
Sleep. You needed sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N:  I’m sorry if the ending was a bit rushed. I’m hanging around my boyfriends work and his little cousin was chatting my ears off wanting me to play with her. l it was super hard to focus! 
Thank you so much for reading! and for your support! Stay tuned for more! :)  Also let me know if you want to be tagged!! :P I apologize if you weren’t tagged my computer is acting up! I’ll try to fix it for the future! :D 
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a-square-minus-one · 3 years
Text
Honey 7
It’s been a while. I won’t lie and say that I didn’t have severe writer’s block. Still don’t like how this turned out. But it’s something. 
 “I’ve brought reinforcements,” Terra says, throwing her hands in the air enthusiastically. Raven breezes past her and places her bag of crystals and herbs onto the table.
“To our exposed tower,” Raven drones, emptying her bag one crystal at a time. Garfield bites at a hangnail on his thumb.
“Uh...you’re welcome,” Terra says, head tilting to the side and hands falling limply at her sides. Raven glances at Terra briefly, then returns her attention back to the stones. It’s silent for a few moments. Garfield sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger. Terra and Raven toed the line between friends and enemies constantly. They cared about each other deeply but also knew exactly what to say to push each other’s buttons. There was no telling how they’d interact with each other at any given time.
  “Thank you Terra,” he says, placing a hand on his girlfriend’s back. She shoots him a loose, irritated smile. 
“You don’t need to thank me,” Terra says, directing her words at the sorceress across from her. Raven’s head is turned down.
“Thank you for thinking of us Terra. I just don’t know if this is an instance where there is strength in numbers or whether adding members to our team multiplies our vulnerabilities.”
Garfield places his hands on Terra’s tight shoulders, feeling the air around everyone rising in temperature. 
“Mmhhhm, I get it,” Terra says, sucking her lips into her mouth in a way that suggests she did not, in fact, ‘get it.’ “Guess I was just worried when Garfield called me in the middle of the night to tell me that your little boyfriend turned him into a literal fish out of water.”
“Okay!” Garfield says, clapping his hands at the same time Raven’s head snaps up at Terra. “Terra and Aqualad are here. Nothing we can do about that now.”
“Right,” Raven says, keeping eye contact with Terra for a few beats. She puckers her lips, and looks blankly at the wall behind them. “Truthfully, both of your powers will be very useful to us.”
“How so?” Terra asks. Garfield tries not to make his relief visible when he notes that a lot of the edge in both of their voices has been softened.
“I’ll explain but first-” Raven says, waving her hands until there is a circle of white gemstones around the group. “Demons can’t pass a barrier of quartz.”  
“Right,” Terra says, rocking on her heels and eyeing the little rocks skeptically. “So how can we help.”
“Incantations don’t really have a shelf life. They are immediate solutions to immediate problems. Spells and curses work best when they are bound to something tangible. Either a person or something earthen. It’s the reason why voodoo dolls are usually made of clay. And the reason for these,” Raven says, gesturing to the multi colored crystals in front of them. “And water-”
“Is a purifying element,” Aqualad finishes for Raven, playing with a chunk of amethyst. He looks around at the team’s expectant faces. “Ever watch the Wizards of Oz? Water melts the witch.”
“Such a marvelous movie!” Starfire exclaims at the same time Garfield blurts-
“Raven takes showers though.”
He immediately buries his forehead into Terra’s hair. Not the best time to sound like I think about Raven showering. He thinks to himself, clenching his eyes tight. He feels his back muscles tighten when he hears Garth chuckle.
“The Wizard of Oz is an exaggeration of the actual truth,” Garth says.
“Being?” Nightwing asks. Aqualad looks at Raven to see if she wants to explain. Raven shrugs.
“You were very eager to explain a few moments ago,” she says, eyebrow arched. Garth chuckles, running a hand through his jet black locks. “Water is considered pure. Dark magic and dark energy travels through it at a much slower rate. It’s why people use water in baptisms and exorcisms. It’s meant to cleanse.”
“Is there anything this guy doesn’t know about?” Garfield mumbles under his breath into Terra’s hair. 
“I’m not great at art history,” Aqualad says. Garfield makes a point to look at Garth’s face when he rolls his eyes.
“So our plan is to have Aqualad throw buckets of water on your brothers?” Garfield asks.
“Our plan-” Raven narrows her eyes at Changeling. “Is to trap my three eldest brothers in crystal cages and detach their spirits from their corporeal forms.” 
“That sounds-” Cyborg starts, scratching at his head. 
“Like murder,” Nightwing finishes. Starfire cringes, placing her fingers on her lips. She looks to Nightwing, then to Raven.
“It’s not,” Raven says, sighing when Nightwing doesn’t immediately relax. “It’s not. My brothers are higher order demons. Their spirits cannot be destroyed.”
Nightwing crosses his arms over his chest. 
“Really Nightwing, do you honestly think we are capable of removing sin from the world?” Raven asks. One of her eyes twitches. 
Raven looks around to her teammates who say nothing. “The answer is a very very clear ‘no.’ My brothers need to exist.”
“The world needs balance,” Aqualad says. Raven nods at him. 
“Something it will not have if my father is released. Which is why we need to separate my brothers’ spirits from their bodies and trap them in clay figurines. This will make it nearly impossible for them to communicate their plans with each other. It will solve our problems for at least another decade.”
“And their bodies?” Nightwing asks. Raven feels her skin prickle at the sharp accusation.
“Are just that,” she replies smoothly. “Bodies. Their bodies only serve as conduits for their immortal spirits. Trigon will eventually find another human woman to manipulate and seduce and my brothers will have a new conduit.”  
“We need to think of another way,” Nightwing bristles, pounding his fist into his hand.  Raven looks at his fist in his hand.
“There is no other way.”
“We can’t just murd-”
“This is not murde-”
“Then why does your plan end with six lifeless bodies. Your brothers have human mothers. They are human.”
“No Nightwing...there is absolutely nothing human about my brothers. If you knew what they were capable of, you would know that. With certainty.” 
“Trigon made them the same way he made you.”
The words shouldn’t have had as much force as they did but Garfield finds himself taking a step back. He can hear everyone’s breath catch in their throat at the same time. Garfield notices Raven’s shoulders shift, almost as if she’s accommodating the weight of the words Nightwing just said. Besides that, she is frozen in place.  She does not look up. She does not acknowledge what was said. Nightwing’s frowning, his fingers twitching against his thighs. It looks like he’s torn between wanting to say something and wanting to stand firm. He doesn’t get the chance to make the decision because Raven turns around, her cloak swirling around her ankles. She starts moving towards the common room doors.
Then suddenly she yelps in a way that makes Garfield’s ears ring. One second she’s surrounded by shocking white light and the next she’s being propelled backwards, forcefully and quickly, into the sofa. Garfield can hear the impact as her back hits the wooden structure underneath the cushions. He winces. He and Starfire are by her side immediately. Nightwing runs in front of her, bo staff gripped tightly in his hand. His eyes are sharp as he looks around the common room for the intruder.
“My brothers aren’t here,” Raven says, wincing a little as Starfire helps her to sit up. Nightwing turns around, eyebrows crinkled. Raven sighs. 
“Star could you-” Raven pauses. Garfield looks down as her throat moves when she swallows deeply and silently. “Could you move one of those crystals?”
And understanding falls over Garfield like an itchy sweater.
“Demons can’t pass through a ring of quartz,” Raven mumbles, looking down. Garfield feels fingers tighten around his heart as Nightwing’s last words are validated. Trigon made them the same way he made you. He wonders how many therapy sessions he himself would need to work through that idea. Aqualad moves to the quartz quickly and tosses the gem across the room.
“You’ll have to-” Raven clears her throat, and she hasn’t looked back up again. “You’ll have to put it back when I leave.”
“Listen Raven-” Nightwing starts.
“I’ll be back,” Raven says, rushing to the roof. Garfield presses his lips firmly together and runs a hand through his hair. No one moves for a couple minutes.
“So...what do we do now?” Terra asks. Garfield rubs the back of his neck. The whole team looks to Nightwing. His face and body are a mix of hard angles as he looks to the doors Raven left out of. His lips a straight line. His shoulders at perfect right angles with his neck. His jaw, somehow even more chiseled. Still Garfield can see traces of regret behind his statuesque frame. Realizing they wouldn’t be getting anything useful from him, Starfire, Cyborg and Changeling look between each other.
“You’re up grass stain,” Cyborg says, drumming his mechanical fingers against his chest. Garfield gapes at him.
“Up for what?”
“You gotta bring her back down,” Cyborg says, as if it’s that simple. Garfield places both hands on his head.
“Bro, what if she’s meditating?”
“Her brothers can attack at any time. We have to prioritize this,” Cyborg says, arms crossed over his chest. Garfield looks towards Terra who has started up a conversation with Aqualad since Raven’s departure. He leans towards his friend.
“Do you really think I am the best person to talk to her about this right now?” Garfield whispers, his voice coming out like little hisses between his tight lips. Cyborg waves him off.
“Her brother was obviously trying to throw you two off your game earlier,” Cyborg shrugs. Garfield crosses his arms across his chest and resists stomping his foot.
“Seriously? Why does everyone keep saying it’s obvious? What am I? Chopped liver.” 
“Of course not friend,” Starfire says, rubbing her hand back and forth over his shoulder. 
“You know you’re the only one who can talk to her when she’s on that roof.”
“That’s not true!” Garfield exclaims. Cyborg presses his lips together and tilts his head from left and right as if contemplating that sentence.
“Okay, we could all probably  reach out to her but you’re usually the only one ballsy enough to do it. She’ll be expecting you.” 
“Well it’s not gonna be me this time,” Garfield says, fingers digging into his elbows. It was awkward enough in the elevator. 
Garfield stares at Cyborg. 
And Cyborg stares at Garfield.
And Starfire stands to the side looking between both of them.
And five minutes later Garfield finds himself on the roof of the tower, the door closing softly behind him. 
Garfield curses and silently prays he’s not interrupting time she needs for herself. Raven’s knees are clutched to her chest, the soft wind is blowing strands of her hair backwards. He’s pondering how to approach her when a strand of her hair catches the light. All together her hair is such a dark purple that it’s almost black but when the strands are separated it’s a plum color. It’s the same color of the plums his mom used to bring him in Africa. They were always so fat and juicy. Garfield licks his lips.
“Are you going to stand there all day?” Raven asks, not bothering to look back at him.
“Was trying to avoid getting thrown off the roof,” Garfield says, placing his hands in his pockets and leaning against the door. Raven finally looks back, and the light is hitting her in a way that tints half her face golden. 
“Haven’t thrown you off the roof, or anywhere for that matter, in years.”
“That’s-” Not true, he wants to say but then he thinks about it. She hasn’t used her powers on him in a while.
“Fair enough,” he says, and walks towards her. He tilts his chin to the spot next to her. “Mind if I sit?”
“It’s not my roof,” Raven shrugs. Garfield presses his lips together tightly but sits down next to her anyways. He mirrors her position, bringing his knees to his chest. He looks out at the glittering water.
“You think my plan is murder?” Raven asks. 
“Don’t think you’re capable of murder,” Garfield says, watching a bird jump around at the shore line. They let the sound of the waves crash over their conversation for a few moments.
“But I’m not comfortable with your plan,” he says and turns his head to look her in the eyes. “And I’m not sure the rest of the team is either.” 
Raven’s lips remain frustratingly straight. Garfield doesn’t break eye contact.
“There’s not another option.” Garfield shakes his head.
“There’s always another option.”
A particular hard wave crashes against the shore. Raven looks away to look at it.
“They won’t hesitate to kill any of you if given the option,” Raven says in a low voice. Garfield watches as she brushes a strand of hair away from her face then looks away again. 
“It’s usually a hazard of the job,” Garfield says, leaning his back against the roof and looking up at the clouds above their heads. Raven looks back at him from her seated position the sunlight behind her is making the edges of her hair glow.
“If your lives are in danger I’m going through with it regardless of what Nightwing, or anyone, thinks.”
Garfield sticks his palm underneath his head and juts his bottom lip out in thought.
“You know Nightwing didn’t mean to insult you.”
“Doesn’t mean I wasn’t.”
Garfield hums. 
“I’m sorry,” he says.
“You don’t have to apologize for Nightwing.”
 “Well yeah but I meant for making things uncomfortable in the elevator and for being so crude.”
“My brother made them uncomfortable,” Raven says, getting up from her seat.
“So you admit it was uncomfortable?” Garfield asks, grinning. He shields his eyes with his hand so he can get a better look at her face. She gives him a deadpan expression, then juts her chin towards the entrance to the Tower.
“Let’s get back inside.” 
Garfield walks in front of Raven once they get off the elevator to the common room and quickly removes the stone just as she’s about to cross the barrier.
“Okay, let’s say my plan is murder. Let’s say that that is something that you think I am capable of-” Raven begins. Garfield cringes. Cyborg shoots him a look.
“Hey! I got her back downstairs,” Garfield says, hands up in front of him.
“Raven-” Nightwing says through a sigh. She puts a hand up.
“Let’s say my brothers, who have stood behind every person who has done any sickening thing in this world, are like me. Let’s say these men who have raped, murdered, robbed, are anything like me-”
“Your brothers are nothing like you. I misspoke-”’
Raven puts her hand up again. “What is your plan?”
“We keep them in a similar room to the one we kept you in on your sixteenth birthday.” 
Raven purses her lips. “I don’t know what you are expecting from this experiment but I would be remiss not to remind you that my brothers’ entire identities are tied to how many people they can make fall from grace,” Raven pauses, then sighs. “But I admire your infallible, perhaps misplaced, hope that there is something good even in the depths of Hell...maybe I’m too close to the situation to see properly. I am not too proud to admit that.” 
She shakes her head. “I trust your gut Nightwing. It hasn’t led us astray yet. If you think that we can do this some other way. If you are convinced-” Raven hesitates, biting her lip. She looks Nightwing in the eyes. “I have followed you blindly to the ends of the Earth before.”
Nightwing lets those words settle on his shoulders. “I didn’t mean to say that you are anything like your brothers. But maybe-” Nightwing pauses. He places a hand on Raven’s shoulders. “Maybe they are, even if only a little bit, like you. Anyone who has the potential to be like you should be given the chance.”
“So be it,” Raven says, bowing her head, and moves to the table fingering her crystals.  
“You’ll all have to wear these. It will protect you from demonic influence.”
“I think we are forgetting one dragon sized problem,” Cyborg says.
“I’ll worry about Malchior,” Raven says. Garfield clears his throat.
“Actually Rae-” he begins. Raven looks up at him and he messes with the collar of his uniform. “I think I can help with Malchior.”
“Unless you’ve been hiding your knowledge of archaic magic-” Garfield rolls his eyes. 
“I think I can turn into a dragon,” he interrupts. She stutters and he has to stop himself from grinning.
“You can- I- what?” 
“Why haven’t you told me this baby?” Terra asks. Garfield shrugs.
“It’s new. I thought I could only turn myself into animals but apparently mythological creatures are not off the table.”
“How did you find this out friend?” Starfire asks, eyes wide and shiny. Garfield blushes and plays with the hairs at the nape of his neck.
“I may have turned into a unicorn.” Cyborg snorts.  Raven has to resist smiling when Garfield’s cheeks tint brown with a blush.
“Why would you-” Terra begins but things start to connect for Raven.
“Jordan,” Raven says in a low voice. Garfield peaks up at her through his lashes. “She loves unicorns.” 
Garfield nods, keeping eye contact with Raven. For once it doesn’t make the air around them too thick to breathe. 
“Well. I’ll have to be at your side at all times. Malchior will not resist an opportunity to change your form again. These crystals will protect you from my brothers but not Malchior’s magic. Aqualad can only be in so many places and he can only provide a temporary barrier. I’m going to have to shield your mind.” 
“Woah. I don’t think that’s safe,” Terra says, standing in front of Garfield with her hands up as if forming a protective barrier around him. “What happens if you get knocked out?”
Raven bites her lip, contemplating this. Garfield moves in front of Terra, his back to Raven.
“Even if I’m not fighting with Malchior directly, I’ll be in the same field. It’s better I’m close to Raven so I have the added protection of the mental shield.” 
“How about you sit this one out?” Terra asks, hesitantly, in a voice so low that Raven was sure Terra already knew the answer would be ‘no’ before she even asked the question. Garfield, in typical Garfield fashion, does not get defensive. He chuckles and grips his girlfriend’s shoulders lightly.
“Can superheroes do that now?” he directs the question to her but then swirls around to his teammates. “Cause let me tell you, there are about a million battles with Plasmus that I would’ve sat out.” 
Terra sighs. 
“We’ll make sure Aqualad is by us too. That way if I get knocked out, he can put up a barrier quickly and Garfield can escape somewhere.” 
“I want to be by you too,” Terra says and Nightwing immediately shakes his head.
“We’ll need at least four of us to fight the six brothers.”
“Four brothers,” Raven corrects.
“Four?” Starfire asks. “But there are seven sins?”
“My brothers weren’t all born in the same year. Currently sloth is an infant and Greed is around 2.”
“What?” Cyborg asks. Raven shrugs.
“Many women get a feeling about how evil my father is before he can impregnate them. Gluttony is only eight years old but I still wouldn’t underestimate him.”
“So Envy, Wrath and Lust are the only fully grown adults?” 
Raven nods. 
“So-”
Red lights swallow up the common room. Raven curses, quickly using her powers to string fragments of crystals around her teammates' necks. 
“We don’t have time. Remember, the goal is to get them in crystal cages.”
23 notes · View notes
cobradoesmcyt · 4 years
Text
Infinite
POWER
Cub could feel the moment that the Power stone entered someone's hands, felt its power buzzing passively in the air.
He shakily sat down, hand twitching as it felt the power twirl around it. It longged to feel the power coursing through it once more, but he buried that deep down. As someone who’d once held the Stones, he knew the pull of their power, a power they’d just use against you if given the chance. 
He hoped that whoever had the stone didn’t get anymore, or that anymore came to be. Because he feared Hermitcraft would never be the same if all six came to be.  
Purple
When Grian had noticed that the Button had six colors he couldn’t help himself. He got a gauntlet specially made, made to be a mix between the one Iron Man used and the one Thanos used (shape of IM’s and style of Thanos’). He then used some Watcher magic to turn the concrete block into a purple stone, and he added a mild strength effect to it too. 
You know, to make it more realistic! 
 TIME
When he felt the second stone, Time, if the subtle feeling of time stopping for a second or so was anything to go by. He really hoped it was someone else. 
He hasn't yet figured out who has the Power stone, but he’ll figure it out eventually. And if he doesn't figure it out himself then he’ll just ask someone else. Easy as that! 
 Green
As soon as he got the green concrete block he did the same thing he did with the purple one. He blinked in surprise when he noticed that the air around him seemed to still, the heat still there but not trickling all over his skin like a hot breath like usual.
He looked down at where he’d just placed the green stone in, a feeling deep inside him telling him it was the stone that was doing this. So he focused in on it, silently asking it to turn time back to normal, and to his disbelief it did as it was told.
Surely it couldn’t actually be the Infinity stones, right?
 ...Right?
 SPACE
By the time he felt the presence of the Space stone he knew it was Grian that had the Stones. He’d been trying to set up a meeting with the dirty blonde, but they’d both been so busy that it hadn’t been able to happen.
So he went to Scar, hoping that he could tell him  the moment Grian became free.
The wizard agreed, but asked that he (Cub) come to his base and explain everything in person. Which Cub agreed to.
Blue
Grian had realized that the stones on his hands were more than just simple mineral crystals. Because no normal stone should open a portal to the nether at will, and most definitely not a frameless one.
When he discovered this new ability two clashing emotions filled him. On one hand he wanted nothing more than to rip the stones off and crush them under his foot before throwing them into the void. But on the other something pulled him to keep them, and to also use and master them. But most importantly it also whispered non verbal encouragements to get the last three, to finish the sextet of stones.
And he listened to the call of the Stones.   
MIND
Cub didn’t know Grian had the Mind stone until he saw the other. It had just been a quick look, the two seeing each other when Grian had been flying by when Cub stood in a portal, but the new, glistening, yellow, stone was very prominently radiating power for the short moments Cub saw it. The stone had subtly used its power passively to make Cub look at it's current wielder, as if to say “do you see what you're missing now? Look at all you could have had, look at all of what you denied”. 
It made him furious. Not at Grian, no, but with himself and the stones. If he’d been trying harder then there would be no way everything would turn to this, to the stones getting powerful enough to hide their presence from him. And if the stones had never even come into existence then things would be perfectly fine, and Grian wouldn’t be in danger of corruption. 
Oh god, Grian was in danger of corruption.    
  Yellow
Grian sat giggling at the top of his base, the voice in his head telling him of all the pranks he once abandoned and then expelling how to make them work with their powers. He didn’t ask who “they” were, mind being too wrapped up and enthralled by the prospect of finally being able to do many of the pranks he once left behind.
He was doing exactly what the Stones wanted, he was letting them in.
  SOUL /̸̧̧̳̮̑̂̀̃̈́̔̌̎̈́́̎͒̇ö̷͔͉̱̯̱̟̯͍̬͈̣͑͗̈́͋͋̎̊͘r̶̨̡̨̤̯̪̞̙̙̭̭̼̦͊̎͐̈́́ȁ̶͓͙̹̥̬̙̜̣́̎̀̆ͅn̴̢͇͔̜̦̟̱͇̼̬̻̫̪̜̊̒̊̊̏̍̇́͌̕̕͠g̴̡̡͉̗̪̘͓͖͓̞̝͊͌̓͆͠͝ͅë̶̢̨̠̝̲̤̹͔͇̗͔́͜
When Grian got the Soul stone everyone in the Nether, and Cub of course, felt it. It was like someone had dumped a bucket of cold water over their soul, it was suffocating and chilling. But to Grian it felt like a warm breeze had gently blown around him, it was comforting and sweet, like coming home to a loved one's embrace.
But all it was all nothing more than the Stones reconnecting, their powers melding together and holding each other once again. ‘Just one more now, one more and we can have all the fun in the world’ The Stones whispered to Grian, caressing their powers around him, to enthrall him into them even more.
“Just one more.” He echoed, and as he watched his reflection in the glass of the green team lounge he could see dark vein like symbols crawling up to his face. And looking up he could see his eyes quickly flash the color of all the stones he already held, and looking even further up the barely visible sight of a crown like thing over his head made out of the five stones he already had, with an obvious missing spot for the last one. 
Just one left until the gauntlet would be filled up.  
 REALITY
The button was red. The button was finally on red!
Grian gleefully bounced up the redstone build and pressed its stone button, smiling widely as the bar filled up once more before dispensing the red concrete block. As soon as the block hit his hands it turned into the red stone he’d been told of, the last one to the six piece puzzle on his hand. He held out his right hand before bringing the Reality stone to its resting place in the middle of the gauntlet.
As soon as the stone was in place he felt a power shock-wave make its way through his arm and up his body, almost like his veins were acting like cables to pump the Stones powers through his body.
‘Summon a mirror, wouldn’t you like to see yourself?’ Grian did want to see himself, so with quick instructions from the stones he summoned a mirror out of thin air. The face that met him was not the one from the start of the season. No, this face was lined with black veins that traveled down his body, his eyes changed color depending on from which angel he looked, and above his head now a full crown of only floating gems sat, all fully visible and pulsing with stored power. ‘Look at you Wielder, so powerful, so much more powerful than that Vex coward’
“Vex? Do you mean Cub or Scar?” Grian asked, eyes looking down at the stones as he let the mirror fade back into hot air. ‘Both, though Cub was the main man of the operation’ The stone hummed, though there was an underlying feeling of amusement to the words. ‘Tell me Wielder, how do you feel about showing him, and all the others, the power of us?’
“Let’s do it!” Grian grinned. And with just three little words the Grian of Hermitcraft was gone, instead replaced by Grian of the Stones. Same person, ones just free and the other trapped by the power of the Stones mind manipulation.      
INFINITY
Xisuma was just about to ask someone to go get Grian, seeing as how the dirty blond was late for a server meeting, when said Hermit walked through. The admin was about to greet him joyfully, but he then noticed how Grian looked and he was instantly on edge, sword drawn and held at the ready. Many others could see that something was wrong too, and they were one step ahead of their admin. 
Grian paid them little mind, crazed eyes instead focusing on Cub. “Cub! Just the man I was looking for!” Jevin stepped in front of Cub, sword held out protectively in front of them both. This made the builder chuckle darkly. “I’m afraid that won’t work, but A for a good attempt.”
His eyes then flashes blue before the pharaoh robed man was in front of him, in an instead Cub can easily see both the changes to his friends, and the final stone on the gauntlet. “No.”
Following his line of sight Grin grinned. “I’m afraid so.” He then held up the hand, making a show of flashing the stones in the others face. “Wonderful, right? I can’t see why ever denied something like this, Cub, it’s amazing! It feels like I hold the power of a hundred universes in my hand.”
“Grian, you have to get them off!” Scar cried, eyes wide as he finally noticed the stones over the builders head. “You can’t hold them!”
“Clearly I can!” Grian called, rolling his eyes at the wizard. “Plus, it’s not my fault you two were too cowardly to use them!”
Cub shook his head. “That’s not it! The stones are too powerful to be held by just one person alone, it’ll corrupt someone's mind!”
“Corrupt someone? Sure I got some new marks along with a crown, but how the hell is that me being corrupted?” Grian sneered, eyes flashing purple as he looked down at Cub. 
Before anyone could answer him he shook his head. “No matter, whatever you’ll say nothing will change.” ‘Well said Wielder. Now, show them what we have!’
Cub, seeing Grian’s eyes flash to red and stay red, barely managed to avoid the solid stone that now was where he’d just been. Grian growled before swiping at the bearded man with a fist and purple eyes, it was blocked and the sword which blocked his attack cracked slightly under the power of the impact. In a ditch effort to halt any major movements from Grian, Cub swung his axe at the dirty blonds legs, which the shorter didn’t manage to dodge. So with a cry he stumbled back, but not before firing a stone spear at his attacker.
He was about to swing again, but an arrow, which was then followed by two more, hit him and made him back up. Looking up with a snarl he saw the Hermits, all fully geared up and ready for battle, approche. 
“So this is how you want to play, huh? Fine let’s play.” Grian charged towards the group, and everytime he took a step one more of him apparead, until he reached them and over twenty of them surrounded the group.
Cub looked at the copies, trying to find the real one, when something touched his head. It took him a few seconds to realize it was Grian’s gauntlet that was touching him. He tried to whirl around and attack, but he was stopped by an unseen force.
“Now, now Cub-dear, no need for violence.” Grian cooed. Only, it wasn’t Grian, but instead the stones. “I’m just showing you what you missed out on so long ago.”
“Let him go.” Cub hissed, struggling in the stones mental grip. “Your beef is with me, not him! He’s innocent!”
“Not really. His past is as tainted as us, if not more!” The stones laughed, their grip on his hand tightening. “But that’s besides the point, he came to us, so we’re using that to our advantage. Pretty neat, huh?”
Cub caught Scar’s eyes, and subtly sent a silent message of “help” to him. After a nod answered him he focused back on his captor. “Neat is the last word I’d use, especially for this.” He glanced back over towards the fighting Hermits and noticed that Scar was not amongst them. And if the shifting of the earth under him he had a good feeling about it. “Now, please let me go.”
“Let you go? I’m afraid we can’t do thAAAAA!” The Stones screamed as a large plant slapped them away from Cub. Said Hermit brushed himself off before saying, “Should have let me go when I asked nicely.”
“You know, if I hadn’t stepped in you’d probably be a goner by now.” Scar commented as he walked up to his friends, keeping an eye on Stone-possessed-Grian. 
Cub had no chance to retort before their opponent was standing once again. The stones growled loudly before charging at the two, just as he swiped at them, he disappeared. Neither knew what had happened until they checked their communicators.
Grian has been banned
Everyone looked to where Xisuma was standing, unshed tears in his eyes as he held his admin screens up with shaking hands. “I’m so sorry.” He cracked out, refusing to meet anyone's eyes. “I didn’t have a choice.”
“But you did!” Scar argued. “We could have gotten the stones off! We could have saved him! But now he’s left to rot with the Stones slowly taking him over more and more!”
Their argument was broken up by the sky turning a deep purple, and soon a familiar, yet also so not, laugh echoed around them. “How cute! You thought you could banish us! Well guess what, you can’t!”
“NO!” Cub growled, his eyes glowing blue for the first time in such a long time, the air crawling with yell. “I will not allow you six to take him away from us! From me!”
The stones cooed at him, forming back at where they stood mid charge. “Aww, has the little bear finally figured out his feelings? How cute.”
“I have. You know what else I’ve figured out?” He asked, eyes narrowed as he looked at the controlled form of Grian.
“What?” The dirty blond asked, eyebrow raised at the taller man.
A sharp smirk spread along Cub’s face as an evil glint entered his eyes. “You can’t sense invisible people.”
It took the stones one second to many to realize what he meant, and the gauntlet on their hand was soon destroyed by Scar’s magic. The wizard winced, seeing as destroying the gauntlet meant crushing the arm, which meant crushing Grian’s arm. Thankfully he knew that it would just be severely broken and with minimal scarring after it had fully healed.
As soon as the gauntlet no longer had a thing to keep a connection through to Grian they lost their control over him, and due to the big amount of magical energie used the dirty blond fell unconscious. Cub rushed to the smaller Hermits side as Scar got one shulker for each of the stones.
“You're safe now.” Cub whispered, hand caresing Grian’s soft hair gently. “The stones are gone.” Xisuma came up to him and asked to look at Grian to make sure he was okay and rid of the stones, which he was on both accounts, if you ignore the broken arm and all of that. 
“But what about the markings? Shouldn’t they be gone?” Zedaph asked, seeing as he, along with all the other Hermits, were now gathered around their unconscious friend.
“It’s ancient magic.” Scar sighed, having put away the six stones safely. “They’ll fade like scars, but just like scar’s they’ll still be there.”
“Well who cares about a few markings?” Tango butted in, hands on his hips. “Marking or no markings, previously tried to attack us or nor, he’s still our friend! And we’ll help him as such!”
“I’m almost offended you think we wouldn’t help him.” Cleo said drilly. “Though I’m sure Cub over there will help him as more than that.” She added with a grin. 
The pharaoh dressed man flushed, but didn’t deny her words. Which got him some teasing from the others, but they were mostly just happy and relieved that the stones no longer held a hold on their friend.
INFINITESIMAL  
It was a long road of recovery for Grian, possession of any kind is never any fun, especially not when it involved hurting your friends. But with the help of everyone around him, Cub more so than others, he was doing okay. He was by no means good, god knows this was something that he’d never forget, but he was better. And as time went on, he was sure to get better and better until he was good again. And he’d do this with the support and help of those around him. Their Hermits after all, help and support is something they're all good at. 
So yeah, Grian wasn’t good. But he was getting better, and that’s the important thing.
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crowdvscritic · 4 years
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critic // YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU (1938)
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Photo credits: IMDb.com
Before writing off You Can’t Take It With You as a bunch of fluff because it’s a feel-good film, I’ll stop you right there. Yes, this Best Picture winner is funny, and yes, the Vanderhof family is twee as could be. But I’m glad that once upon a time ago comedies could win Best Picture, if for nothing else it’s a refreshing change of pace from a decade of films mostly epic and serious.
Almost every film I’ve watched from the ‘30s has been about money, class, or a combination of the two. Even adaptations of decades-old books like Little Women and Wuthering Heights leaned into those themes, and what is The Wizard of Oz if not a metaphor for wanting to leave a simple life for a world of riches? (I know I wouldn’t mind moving to a city named for gems where I’m treated like a princess.) Many films of the decade focused on the melodrama of class differences and the tragedy of poverty—think Alice Adams, Gone With the Wind, Grand Hotel, The Little Princess, The Rules of the Game—but I contend that comedies and fantasies may be more effective at convincing its audience of what it wants to say. Tragedies are moving, but laughter puts you at ease, and fantasy opens your mind.
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You Can’t Take It With You is comedy with a dusting of fantasy, an ideal combination for warming your audience to what you have to say. Think of how Adam’s Rib uses humor to make commentary on gender equality, how Harvey (again with Jimmy Stewart) introduces an imaginary six-foot rabbit to challenge how we treat people with different beliefs, and how Trading Places reopens the nature vs. nurture debate. Blazing Saddles, Office Space and This Is Spinal Tap spoof blights on our culture; The Breakfast Club, The Graduate, and Mean Girls address challenges of growing up; Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, Jojo Rabbit, and Juno soften the entry point for uncomfortable topics; Dr. Strangelove and pretty much every Coen Brothers film venture to the dark side of comedy to make commentary on the dark side of humanity.
Other comedies and fantasies from the ‘30s have made remarks on class and wealth—think The Adventures of Robin Hood, City Lights, It Happened One Night, and My Man Godfrey—but I’ve yet to see one with perspective as articulate as this Best Picture winner. Some commentary is on the nose because Grandpa seems to have sage advice for every situation, but it’s also because each character must face the central conflict of the film: Will they choose fear or courage as their security?
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It’s the root of the struggle between two families, and every unhappy character clings to something out of fear. Kirby Sr. holds tightly to his career, and his wife (Mary Forbes) cares about social status. Mr. Poppins stays at a job that makes him miserable, and a cantankerous IRS man thinks the country will fall apart if people don’t pay their income tax. The worst outcome of this fear is what the shareholders of the bank do, which is dehumanizing anyone blocking their path to profit. Some decisions good for business are bad for people, and Kirby Sr. gets a George Bailey-style look at the darkest timeline when business is prioritized.
Bottom line: Alice and Tony are facing that choice for the next generation: Will they compromise out of fear of loss? Or will they find courage for the future? You Can’t Take It With You is an enjoyable Best Picture winners, but it’s not a puff piece.
ARTISTIC TASTE: 9/10
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vacationsoup · 5 years
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New Post has been published on https://vacationsoup.com/25-free-things-to-do-in-edinburgh/
25 Free Things to Do in Edinburgh
Group Accommodation in Edinburgh
An architectural and cultural gem, Edinburgh should definitely be on your bucket list of places to visit. The city may have a reputation for not being easy on the pocket – it is a western capital city, after all – but there are plenty of activities that you can do for free. Here is a list of 25 things to do for free in Edinburgh.
Places of Interest Scottish Parliament Building Located in Holyrood within Edinburgh’s central UNESCO World Heritage Site is the Scottish Parliament Building, which is open to the public six days a week for the majority of the year. The building itself, completed in 2004, is worth a look, having won numerous architecture awards. If you are interested in what goes on inside, it is possible to join a free guided tour of the building on Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays. The tour lasts about one hour and you will learn about many aspects of the Parliament Building, including how the Parliament works, the building’s architecture and design, and pieces from the art collection.
Greyfriars Kirkyard and Greyfriars Bobby One of the most well-known cemeteries in the world, in recent years owing to a certain writer who penned seven novels about a boy wizard who stole names from the tombstones to use in her books, Greyfriars Kirkyard is the resting place of a few well-known Scots. Possibly the most visited of the graves is that of Greyfriars Bobby, a Skye terrier who died in 1872. A familiar figure in 19th century Edinburgh, Greyfriars Bobby reportedly guarded his owner’s grave for fourteen years and stole the hearts of the Lord Provost William Chambers and the public, who would bring him food. Chambers even organised a dog licence for him, thereby saving him from being put down by the local authorities. Greyfriars Bobby himself is buried just outside the kirkyard, close to his memorial statue. Edinburgh Central Library Opened in 1890, Edinburgh Central Library was the first public library to open in the city. As well as being a beautiful building to walk around, the library organise a number of events throughout the year. Some are ticketed even though they are free so it is best to check the library’s website for details. As for the collections, the library has several floors and has books, periodicals, maps and newspapers going back many years in six different departments. Outdoor Spaces and Activities Arthur’s Seat and Holyrood Park Edinburgh is built on seven hills which form Holyrood Park, and the highest of these is Arthur’s Seat, named allegedly after the eponymous King Arthur of British legend and supposedly the location of Arthur’s Camelot. In reality, the hill is an ancient, now extinct, volcano which erupted around 350 million years ago. It makes for a pleasant walk and is also the location of a well-preserved fort dating back approximately 2000 years. Holyrood Park is the park surrounding Holyrood Palace and is home to a wide range of flora and fauna as well as a 15th century chapel and a fresh water loch. Dr Neil’s Garden One of the most impressive gardens in the country, Dr Neil’s Garden – also known as Edinburgh’s Secret Garden – is the result of the hard work of two medical doctors, Nancy and Andrew Neil. Situated next to Duddingston Loch, the garden has long been a source of inspiration for writers, musicians and artists. It is a space used for meditation and contemplation, and also makes for a lovely setting for a romantic walk.
The Royal Mile and the Grassmarket Possibly the most famous place in Edinburgh, the Royal Mile connects Holyrood Palace to Edinburgh Castle. A good percentage of the city’s museums, sights and galleries are located on the Royal Mile. You also have the opportunity to see an abundance of Scottish crafts, including the national tartan fabric. Just a short walk away is the Grassmarket. During the medieval ages, the Grassmarket was the city’s market place and execution site. It is now one of the most vibrant areas of the city with lots of shops and pubs, but you can still discover its past by following the Greater Grassmarket Historic Trail. Royal Botanic Garden Set in an amazing 72 acres of land, the Royal Botanic Garden is easily one of the most stunning botanic gardens in the world. There is much to explore in the garden, including: the arboretum, a tree collection containing over 730 species; the rock garden with plants from Asia, Europe and the Americas; the Chinese Hillside which highlights the strong links between the garden and China; the Queen Mother’s Memorial Garden with plants from around the world to symbolise her love of travelling; and the demonstration garden, focusing on encouraging people to grow their own food.
Portobello Beach Perfect in the summer months, the seaside district of Portobello Beach is located just a few miles from the centre of Edinburgh. It is the ideal spot for sunbathing and swimming when the weather is fine and the beach is also host to a number of events, such as the Big Beach Busk, a huge busking event and sporting competitions for volleyball and triathlon. Archivists’ Garden Archivists’ Garden is located in the open courtyard between General Register House and New Register House and houses 57 species of plant, all of which are connected to Scottish history and culture in some way. These associations are divided into five categories: Events (Birth, Marriage and Death); Famous Scots; Heraldry; Homecoming; and Tartan. The garden layout is a physical representation of the human mind and memory; the flora are planted in a flowing pattern to mimic the randomness of the human brain. The Potter Trail It is a well-known fact now that JK Rowling wrote a lot of her best-selling series of Harry Potter in Edinburgh, with a lot of local locations inspiring names, places and characters in the books. On this free walking tour, you will discover these locations, including the real-life street that Diagon Alley is based on, where Professor McGonagall and Lord Voldemort are buried, and the school which was the inspiration for Hogwarts. You will also visit the Elephant House, the cafe where Rowling wrote the first book. Calton Hill A designated UNESCO World Heritage Site, Calton Hill offers wonderful views over Edinburgh, especially at sunset. It is also home to a number of monuments: the National Monument of Scotland, which is dedicated to Scottish soldiers and sailors who perished during the Napoleonic Wars; Nelson’s Monument; and the Robert Burns Monument. Museums and Art Galleries Scottish National Gallery Housing an astonishing amount of art from around the world, the Scottish National Gallery is a must for every visitor to Edinburgh. Opened in 1859, the collections here span all the way from the Renaissance to the 20th century, and include works by Botticelli, Vermeer, Constable, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Turner, Monet, Raphael, and Rembrandt, among many others. There are actually two buildings of the gallery, the National Gallery Building and the Royal Scottish Academy Building, which are now connected by the underground Gardens Level.
The Writers’ Museum Located on the Royal Mile in Lady Stair’s House, the Writers’ Museum details and celebrates the lives of three of Scotland’s most revered writers – Robert Louis Stevenson, Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott. It is not necessary to have read the works of these writers in order to enjoy the museum as there is plenty of information given throughout. The museum houses a number of portraits, personal effects and rare books belonging to the three. Highlights of these include: original drafts of Burns’; a plaster cast of Burns’ skull, one of only three made; and Stevenson’s riding boots and a ring given to him by a Samoan chief. Outside the museum is Makars’ Court where you will find flagstones inscribed with the names of Scottish writers from the 14th century up to the modern day. National Museum of Scotland History buffs will be in heaven during a visit to the National Museum of Scotland. Detailing the country’s history, the museum looks into various facets, such as art, design and fashion, science and technology, and nature. In the Grand Gallery – one of the most beautiful spaces in Scotland with its high windows and tall pillars – there are a number of wondrous objects on display, such as a 19th century lighthouse lens and a 12-foot long South Pacific feast bowl. In the Natural World galleries you will come face to face with a giant Tyrannosaurus Rex and discover the wide variety of the animal world. Other galleries to check out are the World Cultures galleries, the Scottish History and Archaeological galleries, and the science and technology galleries. City Art Centre One of the most interesting galleries in Edinburgh, City Art Centre offer a wide range of exhibitions from the historic to the modern. They primarily concentrate on photography, architecture and contemporary art. As well as the exhibitions, they also have a hands-on ArtSpace where you can try your hand at different art projects such as portraits, landscapes and collages. They even have facilitated art sessions on Saturday afternoons. Museum of Edinburgh If you are particularly interested in the history of the city itself then the Museum of Edinburgh is for you. Situated in the 16th century Huntly House, the building is a maze of collections relating to the city’s origins and history. One of its most impressive collections is its decorative art. Examples include silver, glass, pottery and porcelain, showing the diversity of Scottish craftsmanship. Other interesting items are the collar and bowl of Greyfriars Bobby and the National Covenant of 1638. Fans of the TV show Outlander will be interested to know that some scenes from series three were filmed at Huntly House. Museum of Childhood The first museum in the world completely dedicated to the history of childhood, the Museum of Childhood has an impressive collection of toys and games dating back to the 18th century. The ground floor has recently been refurbished and now includes a number of new items, including a retro Buzz Lightyear from the year 2000. As well as toys and games, the museum also showcases costumes and fashion and details the home, nursery and school lives of children throughout the ages. Scottish National Portrait Gallery The Scottish National Portrait Gallery was the world’s first portrait gallery, opened in 1889. It’s an impressive building in itself, built in the Spanish Gothic Style, making it distinct from other buildings in the area. Designed specifically to showcase pictures of Scotland’s heroes and heroines, the gallery now houses a vast array of paintings, photographs and sketches, beginning in the Renaissance and leading up to the present day. Some of the more famous portraits include Mary Queen of Scots, Robert Burns and James IV as well as some modern names like Billy Connolly and Robbie Coltrane.
Museum on the Mound If you’re interested in the story of money, the Museum on the Mound, located in the Bank of Scotland’s head office, tells it in a fascinating way. It looks at the way in which money has evolved over 4,000 years, from using objects such as shells and tea as currency to our present day coins and banknotes. It has exhibitions on the rise of building societies in Victorian Britain and the changing face of banking throughout the centuries. The museum also has some interactive activities to take part in, such as trying to crack open a safe and applying for a 19th century life assurance policy. Churches and Chapels St Giles’ Cathedral Founded in 1124, St Giles’ Cathedral, the High Kirk of Scotland, is located at the heart of the city and was the focal point of the Scottish Reformation during the 16th century. It is the most important place of worship in the city and named after the patron saint of Edinburgh, who was extremely popular during the Middle Ages. Unusual for a Presbyterian church, it has some stunning stained glass depicting several figures, including Saint Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland. Magdalen Chapel It would be very easy to miss Magdalen Chapel – it’s hidden away in the Cowgate – but it is well worth seeking out due to the fact that it has the oldest stained glass in Scotland. Built in the 16th century, it was initially partly established as a hospital for the poor as well as the sick. Its stained glass was the only ones to survive the Scottish Reformation. The central window feature four shields including the arms of Mary Guise, the mother of Mary Queen of Scots. The chapel is now used as the Scottish Reformation Society’s headquarters. St Cuthbert’s Parish Church Built on the foundations of at least six previous churches, St Cuthbert’s Parish Church is hidden away at the west end of Princes Street. The current church was built in the late 19th century but also includes an 18th century memorial chapel to those who died in the World War I. This chapel is the location where Agatha Christie married her second husband in 1930. Other notable features of the church include the Byzantine-inspired apse and rounded vault with its exquisite ceiling paintings and marble and alabaster pulpit, and its stained glass window of David on his way to defeat the giant Goliath, made from Tiffany glass. Entertainment Live Music at Whistle Binkies Although many venues offer free music in Edinburgh, Whistle Binkies gets the nod for offering up to four bands on any given night during the week. They are free to enter from Sundays to Thursdays, and up to midnight at the weekends. In addition to regular gigs from both signed and unsigned artists, they also hold open mic nights. Live Music at Sandy Bell’s If folk music is your thing, Sandy Bell’s is where you should head. With evening sessions every day and afternoon ones on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays – with the exception of the month of August during the Edinburgh Festival, when afternoon sessions take place every day – you can catch a wide variety of acts performing different folk genres, including Scottish reels and American bluegrass. The Stand Comedy Club Edinburgh has a great culture of comedy and the Stand Comedy Club is one of the most popular venues in the city. Although you need to pay for most of their gigs, they do have a free improv show at Sunday lunchtimes led by resident comics Stu and Garry. They also serve food so it makes an ideal place to go after a big Saturday night out. Edinburgh is a stunning city with plenty to keep you occupied for days. And with all these free attractions, there really is no reason not to visit.
Travel Tip created by Helen Thomas in association with Vacation Soup
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darkelfshadow · 7 years
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Session Summary - 17
AKA “The Wyvern Hunt”
AKA “Depth Charge The Hero”
Adventures in Taggeriell
Session 17 (Date: 28th January 2017)
Players Present:
- Rob (Known as “Balasar”) Dragonborn Male.
- Phil (Known as “Nac”) Half-elf Male.
Absent Players
- Arthur (Known as “Gim”) Dwarf Male. <Controlled by party>
NPC
- (Known as “Naillae”) Elf Female. <Controlled by DM>
- (Known as “Korvin”) Human Male. <Controlled by party>
- (Known as “Valder”) Elf Male. <Controlled by party>
Summary
- Wealday, 10th of Neth in the year 814 (Second Era). Winter.
- The party begin this session, within the now abandoned bandit camp, within the ancient ruins of a complex of buildings devoted to the God Alairros; having fought and driven off the bandits last session. Night is approaching and so too is the cold and rain.
- As the sun sets and the darkness creeps in, most of the part retire to the relative safety and warmth of the bandit leader’s lodging; whilst Balasar The Death Monk examines the dead body of the Great Ape, taking various samples and items, like the beast’s heart.
- With more time and no chance of bandits wandering in, the party take the time to more thoroughly search the large northern building of the bandit leader. Nothing of value is found.
- Whilst Gim and Naillae remain behind at the entrance to the northern building, to keep an eye on the Lady Lilya who is still quite fearful of the bandit’s return, the rest of party move into the large open clearing that is central to all the buildings. At the center is the stone well which sits upon a large mosaic dias, surrounded by six old and weathered statues.
- Korvin tries to remember some of the history of the place. Nac keeps interrupting him and giving his opinion as to the history. And after a few minutes of terse discussion, bordering on full out argument, the two arrive at the same conclusion. This temple complex must be from the time before the Kingdom of Tyriba existed, now ruled by a King, and must be from when the previous Empire of Aerestow existed that covered most of the southern land mass, over seen by a “God Emperor”, about 2000 years ago.
- The stone well, which Valder had previously observed had a compass on the top edge but facing in the wrong direction, is searched and examined. Balasar notices a very small, tiny triangle carved onto the stone wall, facing north. Balasar tries to move the top dial of the well and it turns, slowly but with great reluctance. Nac, Korvin and Valder help Balasar with pushing the compass edge of the stone well and with the combined effort it moves easily. They keep turning it until the north dial does indeed face north, and lines up with the tiny carved triangle, and it settles into position with a click. At the same time, Naillae shouts out that a small panel opened up on one of the north statues.
- The statue is examined by Valder and within is a small wooden chest that the wizard pulls out. As he does so, the ancient wood crumbles into dust and slivers and the contents fall out onto the soft sand: a small leather pouch; a glass vial; a silver pendant on a chain; and a silver scroll case.
- All the items are gathered and taken into the north building and the party regather there. The Lady Lilya has gone through some of the bags in the leader’s room, looking for her missing signet ring, and has located some of her travel clothes. She has now scrubbed off the dirt from her face and has changed into clean clothes.
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- As the bandit leader’s lodging had a fire going and a pot of stew cooking, the party are warm and feed this evening.
- The items just found are examined: the leather pouch is ancient and as the pouch is handled the hard, brittle leather begins to break and fall apart in fibres, and out spills 33 silver coins and a large diamond. Balasar appraises the diamond as being worth 100 gp and notices that the silver coins are not the current coins of the Kingdom of Tyriba; they are of a different shape and design. These coins are secured separately from the other coins of the party.
- The silver pendant has the symbol of shield set with a tower and star, the symbol of the God Alairros; this must be a Holy Symbol of the Solider God. The vial is identified as a Healing Potion by Valder, and he also examines a handful of previous vials and all are Healing Potions. Some other vials, that were found in the building with the Great Ape, are examined and Naillae states they are two Poison vials and one vial of Anti-toxin. The silver scroll case is opened and an ancient scroll removed, the paper is still flexible and shows no sign of age or ware. Valder reads the scroll, with a little difficulty, it is a spell he has never heard of before: one of the lost spells from before the Dragon Wars! He deciphers the script and it is a spell known as “Reverse Compass” that can confuse and befuddle a foe to move in random directions for some time.
- Watches are set and the party get to sleep, thankful for the warmth of the fire.
- Apart from the occasional soft moan carried like wind from the southern building across the open clearing, nothing disturbs the party this night.
- Oathday, 11th of Neth in the year 814 (Second Era). Winter
- The party arise in the early morning, the sun having just risen. The day is cloudy, windy and cold but the rains have stopped.
- During breakfast, the party decide to go to the large southern building and examine it, even though Lady Lilya, has begged them not to as she fears for their safety.
- Nac speaks, “I heard wails coming from that place last night.”
- Gim speaks up, “Yeah we all heard it too, so?”
- Nac replies, “I said wails, plural. With the way the bandits wouldn’t go in there and would leave trinkets at the entrance, the cold feel to the place and the wailing, I believe were facing a chorus of banshees in there.”
- With that grim news the party gear up and prepare to move on.  It is decided to leave Naillae behind to guard and reassure the frightened Lady Lilya and everyone else will head down. The southern large building stands prominently. Where the other buildings in the area show evidence of losing the fight against time and nature, this building has already lost. What was once the roof now lays in stone ruins among the ground. The forest has overrun the place, driving a line of trees right through the sides of the building some 15 or so feet from the entrance, erupting out of the floor and heaving the foundation into disarray. The trees shoot through the building’s absent ceiling, enveloping it in their green canopy.
- The group enter the building and as a line move forward into the thick line of trees that grow internally and block of the rest of the building from sight. Korvin and Valder are on each of the end of the line. In the middle are Balasar and Gim, with Nac standing close behind the pair.
- After the party slowly push their way through the 15 foot wide span of trees, the back half of the stone building comes into view in the dim light. A pervasive stink of offal and decay hits the party. The floor is littered with the remnants of the collapsed ceiling, mouldy and torn linens, and bones. Before the party can do much else, a soft wailing begins from eastern side room and the air begins to flicker as a shimmering figure can just be seen about to emerge; a Banshee!
- Immediately, Balasar rushes over to the emerging figure, a brief flicker of fear passes over him but the monk remains steady (Successful save versus fear effect), and swings his enchanted blessed mace. The weapon swings through the Banshee twice and does tremendous damage; the wispy figure appears much duller and less luminous. Korvin moves across into view of the figure, he too remains calm (Successful save versus fear effect) and lets off a burst of arcane energy, striking the floating figure and evaporating it into mist.
- Suspecting another Banshee the party ready themselves towards the other side room on the west: Nac and Valder ready spells and Gim readies a crossbow.
- Guessing correctly, another Banshee does indeed appear from the western side room. Nac and Valder fires off spells at the luminous figure and Gim lets loose a crossbow bolt at it. The floating Banshee drifts across into the room and everyone manages to keep their emotions under control (everyone made a Successful save versus fear effect) and as the Banshee gets to the middle of the large hall it lets out a loud wail, that causes the whole party to wince but have no ill effects (everyone made a Successful Constitution save versus instant Death). Balasar runs over to the creature, which is already injured from the waiting attacks of Nac, Valder and Gim, and again the Dragonborn Monk swings his enchanted mace at it, which swings into twice and destroys the creature into mist.
- Immediately the cold in the room vanishes. Now the party spend most of the morning to search the large hall, the two side rooms, various piles of rubbish and garbage and all the walls for secret passages or compartments. They find in the east room: 27 sp and 13 gp, and three small blue gem stones (which Balasar thinks are worth about 10 gp each). In the west room they find: a small gold bracelet, and a large diamond (which Balasar thinks is worth about 250 gp).
- Returning to the north building, where the Lady Lilya and Naillae are waiting, the victorious party are warmly welcomed back by the Lady Lilya who listens raptly at the tale of vanquishing the two Banshees.
- Eating the rest of the stew from the pot, the party prepare to leave, during which Nac performs a Prayer of Healing to cure some of the injuries on the whole party.
- Leaving the bandit camp at about midday, the party walk south along the track, back to main Ling-Gar road and then west onto Lington. The journey takes about 6 hours, during which time nothing of note occurs, and with about 15 minutes left of sun light, the party arrive back at Lington.
- Splitting up, just in case the party get recognised, they enter the town with the Lady Lilya and then once safely through the defended north gate; the party regroup.
- The Lady Lilya directs the party down various streets until after a five minute walk they see a very large Manor that takes up a small block. The Manor is surrounded by tall stone walls, beyond can be seen numerous trees, and a three level Manor with richly detailed painting and stone carvings covering it. The players approach a large ornate gate on the outer wall, that is guarded by knights in full plate armour, wearing capes that bear the symbol of a leaf on top of a sheaf of wheat; the symbol of House Haldenfrond.
- As the party approach the gate, they are seen by the knights and shouting can be heard announcing the arrival of the Lady Lilya; which brings many more armoured Knights rushing to the gate. Nac takes hold of the Lady’s hand. As they get near the gate, all the Knights kneel down, with one Knight in a set of plate mail inlaid with gold detail, speaks, “My Lady, you have returned. Your father Lord Guildain has been advised and awaits you inside the Manor.”
- Nac uses his cleric powers via a cantrip to enhance his voice and presence, “Yes, tell your lord your lady is returned under my protection.”
- Most of the knights breath in deeply in surprise and awe but the captain simply stands and with a slight smile replies, “I think we can do without a show? My lady, after you.”
- The group is escorted into the lavish Manor, through a set of large detailed double doors (guarded by more knights) and led into a large waiting hall that is resplendent with colours, paintings, tapestries, silver wear, ornate furniture and exotic trinkets.
- After a moment, from the rear of the hall enters an imposing man, Lord Guildain.
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- He is dressed in fine red robes. His sour and somewhat ugly face looks over at the party. The Lady Lilya rushes over to her father and embraces him.
- Lord Guildain and the party discuss the rescue and how they managed to find and return his daughter. Lord Guildain mentions something about paying the agreed posted reward and sends one of his servants to retrieve the amount; something which the party were not aware of but just nod in acceptance.
- The party learn that Lord Guildain of House Haldenfrond is from a very wealthy family, built on a merchant empire of selling, exporting and importing: spices, salt, flour, incense, and fragrant oils. When the matter of what exactly Lord Guildain does and some probing questions by Nac, he sends his daughter away so that he may discuss “boring matters of business” with the party. Korvin enquires whether the Lord has a private library, and when he learns that there is indeed one present, is granted permission to attend the library to examine it.
- The party are brought into a guest dining hall with the Lord and a lavish dinner is waiting for them; a meal is also brought to the library for Korvin to eat.
- All around the house are the symbols of House Haldenfrond, a leaf over a sheaf of wheat. As the party are walking towards the dinning table to take their seats, Balasar leans towards Nac and whispers, “I recognise that symbol. When I was a pirate we raided some ships and stole their cargo it had that symbol on it. It wasn’t spices or salt in there. It was weapons.”
- Nac smiles, “Interesting. I think I can use this to our advantage.”
- With the knowledge gained from Balasar’s past, Nac and Balasar keep probing into the exact nature of Lord Guildain’s business. The Lord is being evasive and both Nac and Balasar sense he is being deceptive. Nac mentions something about a possible business deal back in Phandalin that the Lord may wish to get involved in but wishes to do so in private. At first the Lord is reluctant as he can’t possibly see what profit a small frontier village like Phandalin could hold for his interests but Nac is persistent and eventually Lord Guildain agrees to a private conversation with Nac.
- At the end of the fine meal, which was five courses, smoking sticks, pipes and cigars are brought out along with a fine selection of alcohol. Nac and Lord Guildain move off to a side smoking room in private.
- In the room Nac presses his advantage in knowing that Lord Guildain’s empire is actually built on weapons sale and not spices. The Lord admits this is true when Nac offers a possible deal with shipping weapons over to Phandalin to supply a contact he has there. Nac learns that the Haldenfrond empire is built on illegal weapon and armour sales to anyone or any kingdom with enough coin. Lord Guildain wishes to know how long it will take to receive an answer from the contact in Phandalin and Nac replies a day. An agreement is made that Nac will contact his Phandalin contact and arrange a meeting.
- Meanwhile, in the guest dining hall, Balasar, Valder, Naillae and Gim are enjoying themselves. Korvin has also returned from the library, impressed with the collection, but disappointed that there were no books on anything related to the arcane arts. Everyone, except Balasar, is partaking of the alcohol and tobacco. Gim has pulled a small smoking paper and is attempting to roll his own smoking stick. He grabs a tobacco pouch and goes to the bottom of the pouch and pulls out a bunch of mostly stem, ignoring the green leaf. The Dwarf rolls up the stem in a smoking paper into a small smoking stick.
- “What are you doing Dwarf?” asks Naillae, “You’re suppose to roll the leaf, not the stem.”
- The Dwarf takes a puff and then leans back in his chair, eyes closed, “Oh yeah, that’s the stuff.”
- Nac and Lord Guildain now re-enter the guest dining hall, their discussion being concluded.
- A servant brings in 5 leather bags and deposits them onto the dining table.
- Lord Guildain speaks, “As posted, the agreed price for the reward. Each of those bags has 100 gold coins in it; 500 gold coins in total.”
- The party take the reward. The Lord retires for the night but arranges each member of the party a room for the night in the Manor, in thanks for saving his daughter, and states the party will be supplied breakfast in the morning at which point they must take their leave.
- The party have free reign to come and go from the Manor until morning so Naillae decides to head out for the night to catch up with some acquaintance from the Thief’s Guild. Balasar asks her if he could appear before the Guild about a job to find a missing person. Naillae says she’ll ask.
- Balasar and Gim decide to head out for the night to get a drink, and make their way to the far side of the city, to where they previously found The Black Blades tavern. On the way they pass the “Fallen Sons” public square, where during the day is normally filled with market stalls, and move up to the Job Notice Board. On the board are numerous jobs pined to it: one asking recruits to join the Lington Militia as soldiers for 1 gp a week for 1 year service; the posted Reward to rescue the Lady Lilya for 500 gp; a bounty on a dangerous Wyvern for the Hunter’s Guild for 500 gp; and an escort job for the Imperial Mail Office to guard the Imperial Couriers to various locations, including one towards WInterhaven for 25 gp per guard. Balasar takes the jobs off the board for the Hunter Guild and the Imperial Mail Escort.
- Continuing on to the more seedy part of Lington, Balasar and Gim make their way back to The Black Blades tavern. Once again the tavern is noisy and filled with drunk patrons and much ruckus. Once inside they see small fights here and there, unconscious bodies about, people singing and dancing, gambling, games of chance, dwarf tossing, and just all round shenanigans. Behind the bar is a towering Half-Orc, seven and half foot tall, with a large frame. He serves customers drink and is obviously the bar keep of this place.
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- Gim moves over to look at a competition going on at the dart board between four competitors.
- Balasar moves over to the Dwarf tossing. A rather plumb Dwarf, tied up and gagged, who is trying to get free is the object of the tossing and a large wooden bucket is the target of the tossing. Balasar takes a turn and throws the Dwarf so hard he smashes the head of the Dwarf through the wooden bucket smashing it, which elicits a loud cheer and much applause from the crowd; and a mug of ale is thrust into Balasar’s hand as a reward.
- Gim gets bored with the dart competition and can’t work out who to place a bet on so he heads over to the bar and gets the attention of the Half-orc bar keeper, who is called Gront.
- Gront speaks in a loud deep voice, “What you want?”
- Gim looks up at the tall figure and shouts to be heard over the ruckus, “Depth charge.”
- Gront looks down and squints, “What?”
- Gim then orders a large mug of ale for some coppers and a small Dwarven brandy shot for 10 gp. Gim drops the brandy shot into the mug of ale and then skolls the drink down in one go. Gim wipes the foam off his lip and says, “That is a Depth Charge.”
- Suddenly a bunch of people near Gim start yelling out and ordering Depth Charges from Gront.
- Gim, now feeling the effects of the alcohol, goes over to the Dwarf tossing competition and picks up the tied Dwarf. He raises him easily and throws the Dwarf so hard he goes through the bucket and smashes it, the tied Dwarf ending up with the copper band from the bucket now stuck around his large frame. The crowd erupts with cheers and lifts Gim up in triumph, yelling “Depth Charge!” over and over.
- Eventually, Balasar and Gim leave the tavern, Gim singing and swaying slightly. As they walk through the dark streets they find themselves suddenly surround by six street thugs who pull scimitars out, demanding the pair hand over all their money.
- Without waiting, Balasar rushes forward to engage three of the thugs and drops two quickly.
- Gim likewise moves over to another three thugs and nearly takes off one of their arms with his battle axe killing him outright (Critical Hit - Slashed Shoulder - Maximum damage).
- The fight is over quickly as the thugs have picked the wrong pair to try to rob. With one thug left who tries to run away, he too is brought down when the chasing Balasar unleashes a torrent of acid at him via his acid breath.
- They search the bodies but only come up with two small pouches filled with a total of 25cp, 7 sp and 3 gp.
- The pair return to the manor before midnight and retire to the rooms. The rest of night goes uneventful.
- Starday, 12th of Neth in the year 814 (Second Era). Winter
- The party are awakened by a Manor servant knocking on each of their doors to inform them that breakfast is ready. Nac tells the servant to ask Lord Guildain to meet them at breakfast as he has some information for him.
- Downstairs in the guest dining hall a large and elaborate meal is laid out, with various fruits, breads, slices of meat and various drinks.
- During the meal, Lord Guildain appears and Nac informs him that he has made spoken to his contact in Phandalin and they have agreed to look into a deal. Someone will attend the Lord’s Manor in two days time to discuss the Phandalin trade. Lord Guildain looks pleased and takes his leave.
- Balasar whispers to Nac, “I know your contact is Halia, that’s obvious. How did you speak to her so quickly, Phandalin is about 60 miles away, and what’s she going to deal with a bunch of weapons?”
- Nac smiles, “Don’t worry yourself about the fine details Balasar of how or why. Just be assured that it’s done and in time will be in all our best interest.”
- Over breakfast Naillae informs Balasar that she has asked for a meeting for Balasar with the Thief’s Guild regarding his job. She has been told they will think about it and get back to her in a day or two.
- The party finish their breakfast and leave the Manor, the iron gate gets shut behind them and it is clear they no longer will have access into the Manor as guests. The day is cloudy and windy.
- They make their way over to the commercial district and find a Jeweller / Antique shop called “The Fine Brooch”. Inside a female elf by the name of Petrilla serves them. The party sell of some of their gems and the small gold bracelet for a total of 270 gp. When Balasar shows the ancient silver coins they found hidden in the well in the bandit’s camp Petrilla’s eye widen. She quickly goes and gets a reference book and looks something up and then examines the coins under an eye glass. She offers to take all 33 antique coins and in exchange offers the party four small yellow diamonds, each worth about 250 gp. They party agree and make the exchange.
- Leaving “The Fine Brooch” they make their way over to the Lington Hunter’s Guild Lodge which is a rustic building, obviously well used. Inside the lodge, is filled big comfy chairs and many animal skin rugs. Along the walls hang numerous heads of beasts hunted and killed. From across the room, comes a man in his sixties, limping very badly. He has white hair and an impressive moustache.
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- The party learn he is called Odard and he is the Master Hunter for the Guild in Lington. He speaks with an obvious accent from the far northern lands. The party discuss with Odard the posted bounty for the Wyvern. He gives them some advice about fighting a Wyvern and tells them where to look for the beast.
- As the party leave, Odard shouts out, “Remember, you bring head back, then we drink, and you get pay. All good!”
- The party feel confident they are ready to take on that challenge and leave straight away via the nearby west gate and head out along the Haven-Ton Road which they follow for about 6 miles before leaving the road to head north into the grass lands. After an hour they find a series of ancient collapsed pillars, which Odard had advised them of, and then take a trail that heads north west. They follow this for nearly two hours before the trail heads into the Changrove Forest. They follow the winding trail through the thick trees until after a couple more hours they come to a large clearing about 150 feet across. In the center of the clearing is one large ancient tree of immense size. Surrounding the ancient tree are twelve smaller trees, evenly spaced, in a ring around it.
- Naillae looks around, “What is this place?”
- Valder speaks, “I’m not sure. I’ve heard of druid groves but I don’t know if this is one.”
- Nac speaks, “What ever it is, you hear that? Nothing. No birds. No wild life. Nothing. I think we’ve found the Wyvern. Get ready!”
- The party slowly creep forward: Valder and Korvin head over to the left; Nac and Naillae head over to the right; and Gim and Balasar head forwards towards the ancient tree.
- From the rear a large red beast suddenly beasts forth from the trees, smashing over two trees. Only Naillae who was watching the rear is ready and throws two daggers at the Wyvern. The winged beast reaches Korvin in a single bound, and snaps his mighty jaws at the Warlock, and swipes him with his barbed poisonous tail which slams into Korvin’s side. The Warlock drops to the ground, dying, and the Wyvern continues with speed, never pausing, and leaps into the air, wings beating fast to blow sand and dirt into the eyes of the party as it rises into the air above the clearing.
- As the party are reeling from the sudden assault and clearing their eyes from the sand blast the Wyvern banks to the right and swoops down towards Nac. As the beast flies past it snaps with its teeth and strikes out with his claws. Nac nearly suffers a fatal blow but luck intervenes and he only gets injured (Critical Hit on Nac but Rob forced a re-roll by using his Inspiration).
- Seeing how they are sitting ducks out in the open, Balasar, Nac and Naillae run over to the ancient large tree and hide under the thick canopy. Valder attempts to drag Korvin to the nearby tree line but is unable to move him (Failed Strength check). Gim rushes over to the dying figure of Korvin and stands next to him, his battle axe ready, “Come on ya filthy red beast! Taste my axe!”
- As the Wyvern swings around again, Balasar uses his Wand of Magic Missiles to fire at it and Nac casts spells too. The beasts swoops down and tries to grab Korvin, wanting to claim his prize and food, but as he does so, Gim swings his axe and strikes at the beasts claws cutting a deep wound (Critical Hit - Low Blow - Maximum damage) causing the creature to drop Korvin.
- As the beast flies off and comes around for another pass, Gim quickly grabs the dying Korvin, and drags him into the tree line and hides him in a bush. Gim and Valder then stand behind the tree line trying to get some cover.
- As the Wyvern flies around, Nac concentrates hard and lets loose a powered up spell, forcing as much divine energy into the casting of it as he can (cast 1st spell at 3rd spell level - increases power to add more damage dice) and lets fly a guiding bolt that hits the beast hard. A dim glowing now surrounds the beast also making it easier to see and hit.
- Valder points upwards and sends forth a small orange ball that flies rapidly towards the beast up in the air and as the small ball reaches the Wyvern it explodes into a large fire ball. The Wyvern does a barrel roll and manages to avoid most of the fiery area, only taking some damage from it.
- With no open targets the Wyvern flies down and lands next to the tree line, desperate to get it’s prize. It starts to attack at Gim, clawing and swinging with his poisonous tail; the Dwarf using the trees to avoid most of the hits but still takes huge wounds.
- Once again Balasar lets a volley of Magic Missiles at the rear of the downed beast and Nac launches another guiding bolt at it that blows off one of its wings, dropping and killing the beast (Critical Spell Hit).
- The party quickly regroup and check Korvin who has managed to stabilise and stop bleeding (three Successful Death Saves).
- Now the threat is over Nac performs a Prayer Of Healing to heal the party, which also brings Korvin back to consciousness.
- Over the next hour and half, Valder goes over the body of the Wyvern with his tools and manages to harvest some useful alchemy items from it that should be worth some money. As per the agreement with Odard The Hunter, they cut off the head of the beast to return it, to claim their bounty.
- It is now late afternoon now with less than an hour and half left of sunlight, and the party decide to stay put and rest; to set camp up just outside the clearing on the trail.
- Balasar speaks, “Is it a good idea to be so close to that grove at night? I got a real bad feeling about it.”
- Nac respondes, “Yeah, should be ok. What could go wrong?”
- As night comes the party are already well set up for camp. Watches are set for the night.
- About half way through the night, during the time that Valder and Korvin are on watch, they see a large number of small, floating lights, coming from around the ancient tree.
- Concerned, the pair on watch wake up the rest of the party.
- Valder and Korvin look at the winking lights that are changing colours and in unison say, “Will-o’-wisps!”
- Nac grabs for his armour, quickly trying to put it on and shouts, “Get your armour on now Gim!”
- Gim and Nac hurriedly try to put their armour on, as the party watch the lights at the far tree wink out one by one and vanish. A moment later, before the Gim and Nac have finished putting on their armour properly, twelve small wispy balls of light appear all around the party surrounding them.
- Valder, Balasar and Korvin each get approached by two wisps; Nac and Naillae get one wisp each and Gim gets surrounded by four wisps.
- The party are finding it hard to damage the wisps quick enough as the strange undead creatures are immune or resistant to most things and non magical weapons do little to them. Korvin is dropped quickly and as he does so four of the wisps begin to float over his dying body.
- Naillae is getting badly damage and attempts to run off towards the ancient tree but one of the wisps follows her. The rest of the party take on the wisps one by one but very slowly as most of their attacks are doing limited damage.
- The four wisps that float over the downed body of Korvin then begin to feed on him and suck up and consume his life energy. Korvin dies instantly. (Failed Constitution Save versus Death).
- The party are getting hammered by the wisps. Valder in desperation casts a fireball spell directly at his feet, the large ball of flame engulfs the party and wisps; all except Naillae and one wisp which are moving towards the ancient tree. Through Valder’s skill as a Evoker, he shapes the flames around himself and Nac, Balasar, and Gim; the intense heat and light surrounding them. The flames burns at the wisps and dead body of Korvin. After the flames are gone, most of the wisp are still present but damaged.
- Naillae still trying to run away from the single wisp at her, runs through the party and lets the party take on that on too, as the wisp chasing her instead goes for Nac.
- The rest of the battle is hectic: Valder casts more spells with tremendous force (two Spell Critical hits for double damage); Balasar nearly missed with his mace (one of the few weapons capable of dealing sufficient damage to the wisps) but managed to hit (Rob used 1 Luck point to re-roll a miss); and Nac used his Channel Divinity to call forth the power of his God to bring an unholy strike at one wisp.
- Eventually all the wisp are destroyed.
- Nac quickly pulls out a scroll from his backpack, and reads it hurriedly, his only Revivify scroll, but he has to cast the spell before the body has been dead for 1 minute otherwise the spell will fail.
- Luckily, Nac is quick enough, and Korvin sits up coughing, returned to life.
- The rest of night passes uneventfully.
- Sunday, 13th of Neth in the year 814 (Second Era). Winter
<And as the party get ready for the new day, that is the end of the session.>
XP Allocation
Group - Combined (This is equally divided by the number of players who were involved)
Quests (Only quests that are completed or rendered undoable, during this session, are shown here)
- Return Lady Lilya to Father = 400 XP
- Unlocking The Well of Alairos = 100 XP
Creatures Overcome
- Banshees = 2200 XP
- Street Thugs = 150 XP (Rob and Arthur only - as only ones present)
- Wyvern = 2300 XP
- Will-o-wisps = 5400 XP
Individual (This is only given to that person and is not divided amongst all players)
Special Bonus (Outstanding Role Playing)
Nil
XP Levels and Player Allocations
Player : Start +  Received = Total  (Notes)
Phil : 12407 + 1941 = 14348 (Level up to Level 6)
Rob : 13319 + 1941 + 75 = 15335 (Level up to Level 6)
Arthur : 9500 + 1300 + 75 = 10875
NPC (Valder) : ??? + 866 = ???
NPC (Korvin) : ??? + 866 = ???
NPC (Naillae) : ??? + 866 = ??? (Level up)
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opaloremerald · 4 years
Text
Chapter Six
I stared at Emilie from the Cinta table. It had been a full week since she had had the fever and ran away to the secret room.
             Emilie laughed, her hair falling in a black waterfall across her back. Her jewel-green eyes flashed as she ate her waffles. She is the exact opposite of Skylar. Mellow, middle class, a dark beauty. Luck nudged my arm, breaking me out of my daydream.
             “You got the hots for the Intercental shark?” he said, a smile on his tone. I flicked his head, taking down a gulp of my orange juice. Luck took that as a sign to change the subject, “You going to the village tonight?”
             “Yes, and isn’t it more of a town than a village? We went by it in the car,” I touched my wand, which was hidden in it’s little slit in my suit-jacket sleeve. I gave a little cough and felt the flat cat’s eye under my teeth shift ever so slightly to remind me that it was there.
             That was one reason that I didn’t like cat’s eyes. They were rough and always wanted to be recognized for the little work they did. The semi-valuable jewel barely made any liquid flame, though it was the only gem that could produce it.
             “To humans, the difference between a town and a village is the amount of people in it, to magic folk, it’s gaged by the amount of magic coursing through it. The place just a bit away is in fact a town to humans and a village to magic folk,” Jake said, referring to gargoyles, Elves, Mer, Dwarves, Goblins, fæs, dragons, and—I thought of that poor thing with the emerald I gave her—animas. Animas weren’t considered witches or wizards. Dragons were regarded with caution, but they were considered equal with humans.
             The headmistress, Headmistress Christopher, rose from her seat in the middle of the row of teachers. Her hair floated above her in an intricate cloud, with ribbons of fire or water or ice wherever you looked. The effect was hypnotizing.
             “Now I understand today is the first day off since Sunday, but I want to set some ground rules for our year ones and new guests,” she gave a flourishing wave in the general direction of me and my friends, “One: you cannot spend your days inside; At least six hours have to be spent outside a day. Two: homework is allowed, but not required. Studious people are important, but there is much more to life than your educations. Three: don’t do anything your upperclassmen wouldn’t.” At the last rule she gave a wink, obviously knowing what the students of Serpentine did when the other teachers weren’t looking.
After she finished her other announcements, the girls started to filter out. I saw Emilie slip into a niche in the back corner of the Dining hall, checking around her to see if anyone was following. I furrowed my eyebrows, meaning to tail her, but Luck seized my arm and pulled me away.
I frowned at him as we left the room, “What was that for?”
“Dragging you away from a bad idea, dude,” Luck led me up the staircase, “We have’ta change outta these fancy monkey suits if we want to fit in at that town. You do have casual clothes, don’t you? And one of those Jevos said to wear sturdy clothes because there’s a stable you can go horseback riding from.”
I sighed and summoned my map with a simple flourish of my hand, looking over the grounds section. I planted my finger on a building. “Serpentine Academy has stables, too.”
Luck laughed as I let Jake pour over the parchment, “But doesn’t it add a little more flair to do it in a forbidden place?”
I rolled my eyes, but agreed with my friend in that statement. My mother and father had always told me not to hoard gems until I was older, or try to breathe flame until my chemicals settled, but I had started to do so, not telling my parents and relishing in the feeling that they were wrong.
We arrived at our dorm room and changed into our human clothes, mine being jeans and a long-sleeved tee. I shoved a ball cap on my head and tapped my work-boot clad foot impatiently. “Luck! It doesn’t take this long for me or Jake to do our hair!”
The said boy was next to me, sniggering as he tried to flip his wand over his knuckles. I had seen Emilie do that all the time in classes. I wondered if it was her tic, something that she had always done. I had also seen her tapping her wand against her leg or a table, maybe it was something a dear friend or sibling had taught her. Or maybe I was reading to far between the lines.
I clicked my tongue, making sparks as I waited for one of my best friends to come out of the bathroom.
“The reason,” Luck said, coming out of the doorway and striking a pose, “is that not everyone has perfect I-just-rolled-out-of-bed-hair like you do.”
I whacked him over the head and started out the door. Luck was paused by the far window in our room, and I was about to yell at him to get on, but he beckoned me over. Luck pointed out the window and I sidled up next to him.
“Someone’s cocky,” he announced. Emilie was on a grey dappled horse, riding to the village. She bounced on the bare back of the mare and clutched her mane. My gaze was glued on the sight until Jake broke me from my trance.
“Speaking of cocky, we need to get to the village before we’re caught in our civvies,” He said and I drew up to my full height, a few inches taller than Luck. I nodded, brushing my hand over my wand in my back pocket.
“How far away is it from the academy? We might need to take horses too,” I said as I left the room, trying to forget how pretty Emilie’s hair had looked as she sprinted off of campus. Jake waved his hand in the air in a kinda-sorta way. I sighed.
             The stables were hidden away about one hundred yards into the west forest. Strangely, three horses were already tacked up and ready to go, a note on each bridle saying their name and that they were free to be ridden anywhere. I raised an eyebrow, but relished the feeling of warmth around me. It was a relatively cold day, but the sudden fall snow that had fallen last week was melted. The air outside the barn was fresh and crisp, perfect for riding. I took the reigns of a chestnut paint with buckskin splotches named Butter and led him out.
             I stuck my foot into the stirrup and hefted myself upwards. Horseback riding was one of the only things that my father let me do on our extensive property in Wales. I relished my time on my own horse, Fyre, who was a jumper. I squeezed my feet around Butter gently, getting him to start in on a walk.
             Luck trotted out on a black mare with a star on her head and Jake came with a brown quarter horse. I gave a smirk to them. “You wanna race?”  
             Luck agreed immediately, but Jake took a little coaxing. His mother, who was very protective, never let him get on anything without a helmet on. Eventually he came around and maneuvered his horse, Fred, into racing position. I leaned down onto Butter and, as I called go, kicked him into action.
             I could see why they named him Butter; the horse’s moves were smooth and quick, soon leaving the others in the dust. I dipped my head, trying to keep my hat on as I thundered down the path down to the village.
             Somebody crouching down on the side of the road piqued my interest. Their hair was held up in one hand as they inspected something on the ground. The person had a notebook on one knee and occasionally referenced in it or wrote down something. I passed the person quickly with a slight dip of my hat.
             I beat both Luck and Jake to the village by a long shot. There were girls in groups around the town, but none of them talked to him or his friends. They seemed hands off and/or indifferent to us boys, mostly because we were in the Take of Cinta, which no one seemed to like.
             I dropped Butter off at the stables with a pat and reassuring words that I would come back soon. I saw the dappled grey that Emilie had been riding bareback digging her nose into a bag of oats. That meant she was in town, too. I wonder if her friends were here and if that was the only reason she came.
             I walked around the village, entering shops and smiling at the town girls. Giggles followed me everywhere and they increased when Luck and Jake joined me. We entered a leatherworking store and glimpsed a flash of a whitewash blonde head, a long and snakelike braid, and a waterfall of black hair.
             Emilie. I hadn’t talked to her since she escaped down the secret tunnel. I wondered if she was avoiding me. But why would she do that? Would she mind if I just came up next to her at a random store? Luck walked ahead of me, smirking at my indecision.
             “Hey girls!” the thin, transparent girl didn’t turn, and neither did the imposing one with the braid, but Emilie whipped around, her eyes widening at the sight of them. She turned back around immediately, but I saw the markings on her face.
             Two thin triangles underneath each eye. I tilted my head. Had she gotten a tattoo? Those weren’t allowed at Serpentine and she could get expelled if the headmistress thought it necessary.
             Emilie ducked her head as we came towards her group. The thin girl looked up at her with concern, but kept her conversation with the man behind the table ongoing. It looked as if she was buying something. Three bracelets were set out on a velvet stand and the man picked each up and examined them carefully.
             “Yes, these will do quite nicely with the other pieces we have here—adding that feminine touch, I see,” The man said as we came up to the counter, he glanced up as he put the bracelets underneath the glass, “What can I help you with, chaps?”
             Luck started to open his mouth, but I stopped him before he could make a comment about me staring at the back of Emilie’s head a minute before. “We heard you had some cool stuff and wanted to check it out”
             The man nodded, “Well, my name’s Levi, and I can’t help you as of now because I have to log in Ms. Smith’s items, but Emilie can help you. She’s got a part-time job here and needs to get in her hours this year.”
             Emilie stuck her tongue out at Levi, but hopped up over the counter and slid behind it anyway. Her head came up, green eyes flashing, “What would you like?”
             How had I not noticed how well she hid her French accent? “I dunno, maybe a bracelet or something.”
             I glanced beside me and saw Luck and Jake talking to Levi, the traitors. The sound of the glass top of the counter brought me back to looking at Emilie. Her green eyes were tilted up at me skeptically, but I looked down at the leather pieces she had set out for me. There was a thick leather cuff with a band of braided, thinner leather imbedded in the center, a round-braided one, and one with an emerald in the center. I fingered the emerald, thinking about how I gave the chipped gem to that poor anima, but set it aside. I still preferred opals. I looked at Emilie. Why is she so intriguing to me? I don’t even like her looks or her personality. No. She doesn’t like me either. She’s been avoiding me for the past week.
             I smiled at Emilie and said I didn’t want to buy any of them. I made my way over to Luck as she slid over the counter and said goodbye Levi. The thin blonde and imposing tall one both bid the man adieu and followed her out.
             “Come back again,” Levi called to us as we exited behind her. Emilie touched the tattoos on her face and winced as we passed her to get into the street.
             “What are they?” the thin girl asked quietly, not knowing I could hear her.
Emilie sighed, “Meré says its normal for a—”
She was cut off by a sharp yell. A man with long red hair was pointing at Emilie and her eyes grew wide with the attention the action brought. Everyone had eyes on either her or the red-haired man. My own gaze darted between them.
“Quel?” Emilie asked in shuddering French. The man narrowed his eyes.
“I know your kind. You can speak all kinds languages, don’t play dumb,” the redhead growled, stalking up to her. The witch’s small frame shrunk underneath the man’s imposing height and she didn’t meet his eyes. This was an Emilie that I had never seen before. She was—scared?
             “Je ne sais pas ce que vous entendez,” she said frantically, waving her hands, “je le promets!”
             The man raised up a hand and struck Emilie across her face. She visibly shook, but no one moved to help her, they all seemed frozen in place, not even breathing. I moved to stop the man, though it took all of my strength. As he lifted up his hand to hit Emilie again I grabbed his shoulder with my hand and wrapped my other arm around her.
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friendshipcampaign · 5 years
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Session Recap 3/30/19: Ends and Beginnings
The portal dropped the party, giant frog still in tow, in a glade at the foot of many massive, gnarled trees. They could see a group of four humanoids, looking to be elves, chatting animatedly in the distance. Kriv and Ditto waved at them and one, dressed in green and bearing an elaborate braided hairstyle, bounded over to the party and excitedly introduced themself as Lirulë. They said they and their three friends were here to help, and that the portal the party sought was above them and protected by “as many wards as there are seasons.”
Voski asked Erwyn if the elves counted the seasons differently than those in the Common calendar, and he explained they usually acknowledged six -- Spring, Summer, Autumn, Fading, Winter, and Stirring. Amaranth started scrambling up the tree, made it to a point where the tree split, and discovered a platform there. It bore elaborate designs in wood and metal, and she called down to Erwyn that she could see Elvish writing on it.
Kriv followed after her, but got stuck partway up. Ditto offered to fly up the rope ladder to help the others up, but as she moved to attach it to the platform the temperature in the glade suddenly dropped, and the wind picked up in gusts. Amaranth was blown off the platform by a particularly powerful one, and Voski cast Feather Fall in order to safely catch her. Erwyn tried to climb the tree despite the more inclement weather, but wasn’t able to get very far, even with the claws still sprouting from his hands.
Ditto again tried to fly up and attach the ladder, against the wind this time, but was also blown away by the gusts. Kriv, however, had figured out how to get around the part of the tree giving him trouble and pulled himself up onto the platform, where he also spotted the writing in Elvish, as well as six gems -- one a silvery-grey, one green, one milky blue, one red, one white, and one yellow. After a some very of slow progress, with Kriv and Amaranth trying to coach him from opposite ends of the tree, Erwyn decided to Misty Step up the rest of it and was able to join Kriv. He could discern that the writing read: “Like dispels like.”
Voski was about halfway up the tree when suddenly the wind died down into a light breeze, and she was able to get up once Ditto secured the rope ladder. With the lull, Amaranth announced she was going to climb up using her daggers, to which Erwyn objected, saying she didn’t need to hurt the tree. Amaranth began climbing anyway.
“See, Erwyn?” she said.
“Amaranth, be careful!” he shouted, distressed. “There’s a ladder right there!”
“I’m always careful!” she said.
Suddenly, Amaranth felt the tree shift underneath her, shuddering from the points of her blades, and she fell from it back onto the ground. Voski went to cast Feather Fall again, but at that point was entirely out of spells, so Amaranth had to catch herself in a slide in order to land safely.
“The tree didn’t like that I was stabbing it, so just, uh, keep that in mind,” she called.
“I did!” Erwyn said.
To make a final point, she stowed her daggers, but scampered up the tree without the help of the ladder and joined the rest of the party on the platform. She had tree sap all over her hair, but still tried to look cool to the others.
The party decided to try a “seasonal” approach to the stones, hoping that creating some effect similar to that of each season they represented would dispel their respective wards. Voski suggested trying a windy effect on one of them, so Erwyn used Druidcraft to cause a small puff of wind around the silvery-white orb. It gave no response. However, the white stone trembled and swirled for a moment. He tried casting the same spell on the white one and the color swirled away, causing the ward to start to glow with a white light.
Thinking for a moment, Erwyn suggested that the wards might represent something different -- the colors historically assigned to different schools of magic in certain scholarly circles. He pointed out that if this was true, the blue would likely be Enchantment and the silvery one Divination. Voski asked him which color would represent Evocation, and when he informed her it would be the red ward she cast Dancing Lights over it, causing a similar effect as the colors swirled away.
Ditto caused a Mage Hand to appear and turned towards Erwyn, asking about conjuration, and he informed her it was represented by green. She smushed her Mage Hand into the green one, dispelling the next ward. Voski confirmed with Erwyn that Enchantment would be blue before glancing about at all the stones and leaning in towards it.
“You know, the others are a lot more lustrous than you,” she said, dispelling the blue ward with Vicious Mockery.
Erwyn used Detect Magic on the silvery one -- which gave him a powerful ping, but also dispelled the Divination ward. As Erwyn had explained earlier that Illusion and Necromancy were the only schools absent, Ditto correctly deduced that the last one was Abjuration, but didn’t have a good spell to dispel it. When Kriv asked what abjuration meant and Voski and Erwyn explained it would be a protection spell of some kind, he stepped up and cast Sanctuary on the yellow stone, dispelling the final ward.
The air around the group grew colder and the carvings on the platform began to move, revealing a complicated latticework. Another line of text in Elvish was exposed, reading: “Seek your key in the lights above.”
The group looked up to see a group of giant fireflies floating lazily above them. Most of their lights were greenish in color, but one’s glow seemed to be more white. Voski cast another set of Dancing Lights near the whitish firefly, which seemed to catch its attention. She lured it down towards the group after catching its interest, until she was able to lead it in front of Erwyn. It turned out to be a complex wooden creature, with wings made of translucent crystal with golden veins, and a crystal orb glowing on its hind end. Ditto grabbed the creature and discovered hinges on the orb. When she opened it, she told Erwyn he should open it and take the key. He responded nervously that he didn’t want to hurt it with his claws. Carefully, he lifted the hinge to release the key, and discovered it bore the symbol traditionally used to represent the Prime Material Plane.
“Well,” he said, breathlessly. “That’s, ah… that’s home.”
Ditto gave a relieved sort of laugh, releasing the firefly as Kriv said, “Thank god.”
The remaining carvings shifted into a portal, and all around the party as they prepared to depart, it began to very softly snow. The group paused around it, suddenly taken with a bittersweet feeling. They were keenly aware that they were stepping back into a place where time would have a hold on them -- like jumping back into a river, where you or the people you care about could be dashed against the rocks at any time, and where there was nothing you could do about it if you went on. But also that those feelings were what living in the world was, and that it was why one couldn’t just stay in the Outer Planes, with their timelessness, their unchanging nature, their days that blurred into each other.
The party all looked at each other, and stepped in.
They reappeared in one of the hexagonal rooms of the Infinite Library. Hubris and Violetta (and her goose steed, Ire) were still waiting for them, along with a cluster of flumphs. To the party’s surprise, they were also now joined by a worse-for-the wear Alembic and Palava, the former resting heavily on a cane and the latter looking as if he hadn’t tranced in some time. Alembic waved tiredly at the group. Hubris and Palava rushed forward, both babbling over each other as she excitedly went on about their performances and showing them the library and he expressed how proud he was of the group.
Kriv walked up to Violetta and put his hand out. She returned his Bahamut pendant and he thanked her for looking after it. Hubris explained that Alembic and Palava’s arrival meant that they had some idea of the passage of time in the world outside the library, and that it was then both every time after and exactly 5 o’clock of Plomés the 12th -- only a day after they had entered the trials. Voski asked if it could be assumed that the group had passed, and Hubris confirmed this was the case.
Erwyn went over to talk to Alembic and Palava, asking them if things had gone alright, and they said they had at least successfully sealed the portal. Palava looked him over and asked if he was in need of any help himself, freezing for a moment when he noticed the scars on Erwyn’s neck that had been left by the psoglav, as well as the claws and fangs he was currently stuck with. Erwyn explained there had been another accident with his magic that caused him to sprout them.
“Can anyone in the room dispel this?” Amaranth said loudly, causing Erwyn to look a bit embarrassed. Violetta asked him to step forth and was able to reverse the effect.
Palava explained that the portal they had dealt with was slightly outside of the city Midhurvyá proper, but as it had resulted in spillover from war-torn Acheron there were still a number of individuals they hadn’t been able to save. He solemnly went on to explain that they’d been seeing more and more instances like this since he’d started with the Gatekeepers, and that they’d directed the group here because they were in need of help.
Violetta admitted they had experienced more losses as of late, and that in many ways the Gatekeepers were also still recovering from the loss of their previous headquarters. This had been in Natostar -- a city which had experienced a wildly dramatic explosion at the end of the Fourth Age over a thousand years ago, creating the Wizard’s Sea in its place when the city was completely and utterly destroyed. She mentioned that in the wake of the disaster, which the organization hadn’t been able to do much for except clean up the pieces, it seemed like the weave of magic had been weakened, causing more planar disasters. But that all had settled down years after. This newest uptake in portal activity was far more recent.
Ditto asked just how recent, and Violetta explained it was only in the last three decades or so, with a smaller period of intense activity in the early 1380s (about 70 years ago). In the past few years, however, the increase had been exponential.
Voski admitted she was still trying to comprehend the Natostar connection and Violetta explained that there was historical evidence of several very high-profile summonings there, and that the wards collapsing had made planar travel outside of the city impossible. She went on to say that no one sent to the city ruins to investigate had ever returned--evidence of their instability even a millennium and a half later.
Ditto shyly mentioned an interest in the library, now that they had won access to it, but said she didn’t know exactly where to look. She asked if Hubris could help her browse, and the tabaxi agreed to assist, bounding over to one of the doors. The two headed off to the next room. Kriv asked Violetta if she knew of a place in Wayspell to send a letter. He explained he wanted to send one to a falconry in the mountains east of here, and she directed him to a post office in the city connected to the halflings’ delivery network that he could visit tomorrow.
Hubris lead Ditto through a few hexes and began to explain the library system to her. Ditto noticed that the titles of all the books they passed just looked like gibberish. Hubris elaborated, saying that the Infinite Library contained every possible book, but that this also meant it contained a lot of things that meant nothing. Essentially, you could find any text -- so long as you knew what it was. The Gatekeepers, with the help of the flumphs, kept an index of all the texts they knew of that could be accessed through the library, which would make it possible to find them among the stacks.
Ditto asked if the two of them could have some privacy to speak and Hubris transported them, grabbing Ditto’s shoulder to bring her along as they teleported to a more distant hex. More sure of her ability to speak freely, Ditto admitted she was hoping for texts on creatures from the Far Realm, as well as the ways in which they could be summoned -- but more importantly, how to send creatures back.
Hubris rolled her eyes back in her head for a moment and, through some unknown magical means, “located” some books she thought Ditto might be interested in: one foundational work on the Far Realm, and one general text on banishment. She pulled a book from her own pack and ripped out a page, with instructions on how to navigate the library to get to what she was interested in -- with the hex, wall, and shelf if could be found on written down on it. After being instructed on how to use it, Ditto told Hubris to tell her friends where she was if she came across them. The tabaxi teleported away, and Ditto summoned Tiktik, who was relieved to hear that she’d completed all of the trials.
Back in the testing room, Voski commented on the understaffed nature of the organization, and asked Violetta if they were likely to be called on by the Gatekeepers soon. Violetta admitted it was likely, though with the party’s unique limitations due to being in Elessea’s service they might be called upon in a less-conventional manner, and perhaps to assist with smaller breaches. Voski also brought up that she had taken some notes on the behalf of some of the creatures in the trials, and that she thought the Gatekeepers could do a lot to improve their productivity.
She also asked if the fae anchors meant anything to the people left in the room. Alembic explained they had some idea of them, but not too much -- or what the fae might be planning with them --  and that it might be something good for the party to keep an eye on. Voski said that it seemed like the fae were dealing with some issues of their own, and implied that there might come a point where their interests would align with those of the Gatekeepers, if they were willing to consider it.
Her next line of questioning was if the group had ever recovered anything from some of the sites of planar incursions by fiends, such as records suggesting they’d had some accomplices. Alembic explained that the rifts often happened in situations where there were already concentrations of magic making the planar divide unstable, but that it was possible someone might have lent a hand in some incidents--such as in Lyrium, where the magical library had been very carefully handled prior to the disaster. Erwyn mentioned that Calma had implied to him that the wizards in the city might actually have had some kind of fae connection, not fiendish, though he wasn’t sure how solid her information was. They would need more information to be sure.
Voski went off to write down some of her improvement ideas for the testing facility, and Alembic and Palava went to speak with Erwyn. Palava seemed to want to give him a hug, but acted as though he wasn’t sure it would be well-received and instead gripped his shoulder a little too tightly. He said he was interested in what Erwyn had just said, but also asked how he was doing, and apologized for the two of them having had to leave to abruptly. Palava asked when they were going to be heading back out, and told Erwyn he’d like to speak with him before they left, joking that everyone else around them needed to spend so much time sleeping and he got restless.
Erwyn in turn mentioned that he had many questions about what the two of them had told him in Folly’s End, about possibly teaching him to seal portals. Palava said they would be happy to help him, although depending on his own proclivities they might also want to talk to Hubris, as there were many different methods that all depended on the person in question performing.
Amaranth, in the meantime, had started awkwardly talking to one of the flumphs.
“It was pretty fucking crazy in there,” she said.
“Indeed,” the flumph replied. “Do you require sustenance?”
The flumph explained that some snacks had been prepared, as people completing the trials were often in need of something to eat and drink. It lead her to a table that had been set up with a nice spread of cheese and crackers, and she loudly called to Kriv, who seemed equally excited about this. With the two of them alone, Amaranth asked why Kriv had run off without the others in the Bytopia simulation, as running off alone was something he had scolded her for in the past. He brushed this off, saying that he had told the others where he was going, and continued to eat.
Hubris reappeared closer to the others (first Voski and Erwyn, then Kriv and Amaranth) and let them know that Ditto would like to talk to them when they were done. 
“Also, Amaranth,” she said. “You’d have better luck in Wayspell than in here, but the section you want is ‘Practical Philosophy.’”
“Oh, I like you!” Amaranth said.
Voski had begun enumerating some of the requests by the denizens of the trials to Violetta and asked where, in particular, they’d found the creature in the Abyssal simulation. Violetta said that it had come through a rift and was being sought after by some cults, who were calling it the Oracle of Zuggtmoy, before the Gatekeepers acquired it. Apparently there were some demon lords who were very unhappy they couldn’t hear its pronouncements for themselves. Eventually, Voski handed her the list of suggestions she’d made.
“It’s for morale-building,” she said. “You need some of that around here.”
She then entered the room where Kriv and Amaranth were snacking, and they encouraged her to join them. Kriv asked Hubris if the Learnstead had some kind of submission process for materials, mentioning he had some notes of theological importance. He gave her some copies of the information he’d been told by Tsova about the Caftner pantheon. She asked him what his goal was for the information, and he replied that he wanted to keep it from being lost.
Hubris then took the others to Ditto. She told them that she’d at least been able to figure out that there was some kind of spell that she thought would be able to send the creature back -- but that she wanted to contact the creature again, both to reassure it that she was working to help it and possibly to get more information that might be able to help them.
Erwyn expressed that he wasn’t opposed to the idea of her contacting the creature to tell it they were working on things, as it seemed the compassionate thing to do, but that he had concerns about contacting the creature directly to figure things out better -- worrying that it might give incorrect or even dangerous information because it didn’t understand how this plane it was on now worked. Ditto responded that the most important thing to her was reassuring the creature, and if that was all he would accept as safe she would be willing to settle for that. But that she still believed they could learn more from questioning it, regardless of whether its answers could be fully trusted. Erwyn told Ditto he was worried her guilt might cloud her judgement on the matter -- not of whether they should help it, but perhaps how they should. He also admitted he was concerned for her own well-being should she try.
Voski pointed out that the Gatekeepers had just told them that planar disturbances hadn’t been exclusively the result of Ditto’s summoning this creature. Ditto countered that the early 1380s was about the same time she’d called it forth, which was significant evidence that her actions had some effect on the current situation. Erwyn said that he felt like she was very wrapped up in seeing herself as the nexus of all this, even though the patterns had more likely been going on for millennia. Ditto pointed out that she was practically begging for the others to agree that she could ask this thing a question, which was more than ample proof that they could trust her not to go off and do something inadvisable on her own.
“I don’t think I can trust anyone in this group not to go off and do something on their own,” Erwyn said.
“Well, I brought company,” Voski pointed out.
Thinking, Voski asked if it was possible for a summons to take multiple steps or summoners over a longer period, wondering if Ditto’s accidental contribution could have been the last. They talked about Ditto’s previous experiences talking to the creature, and how it had seemed so confused and scared to be on this Plane. Voski mused that, if this had been someone else’s intention, someone else might also be trying to contact it now. The group also made sure to fill Hubris in on the parts of the situation she didn’t know about -- which was most of them. She advised that they return to the inn in order to talk to it.
The group talked with Hubris about their options for getting to the goblin market and how much time they’d have in the city. She assured them that someone could assist them in using the Gatekeepers’ teleportation circle here -- as well as in the future, if they ended up someplace else with one. Knowing they’d have a few more days in town, the group decided to take advantage of the libraries the next day.
The group headed back to the inn along with Hubris, Alembic, and Palava (as the latter two had previously helped Ditto in contacting this creature). Voski made sure to pay for another night in the inn, and everyone crowded into one of the party’s rooms. With as much support in the room as possible, Ditto cast the spell.
“I think I can send you back,” she Sent to the creature. “I won’t give up. I need more time. I can only talk sometimes. I’ll talk to you when I can.”
The same overwhelming presence as before filled her mind, this time causing her head to snap back dramatically and twitch. 
“I THOUGHT YOU HAD STOPPED LISTENING,” the creature said.
Despite the dramatic display she was able to reassure the others she was fine, though exhausted. Her head hurt. Amaranth, who had positioned herself on the floor next to Ditto out of concern before she’d even Sent the message, pulled her into a hug.
The group made plans for the next day and Hubris told them she would meet them in her office before she dashed off. Before they left, Kriv asked Alembic and Palava how things were at the last breach they’d closed, and was reassured it was fairly well-contained. Palava gave them the address of a family friend he and Alembic were staying with while they were in the town. Alembic, though, looked even more exhausted than he had before, so the pair took their leave as well.
Once the party was alone, Kriv headed over to where Amaranth and Tiktik were already hugging Ditto. He told her that whatever she decided to do with this situation, he would be standing behind her. Ditto sat up and told him that meant a whole lot, and he enveloped her in a hug -- which she returned as best she could despite her size. He then left for the stables to go see Volfred, whom he hadn’t been able to speak to since the group had started the trials and who was very happy to see him, as well as heal his hurt shoulder.
Voski wandered down to the kitchens to get some real food and found Erwyn waiting downstairs as well when she emerged. He said he wanted to talk to her about what the Oracle had mentioned in the Abyss simulation, and specifically the messages it had given them. He proposed a trade, saying that he’d tell her what he knew about what it mentioned to him and she could tell him what she knew about her own message. He seemed to be trying his hand at the sort of social situation she was rather good in, but wasn’t managing nearly the same level of panache -- and fumbled pretty immediately when he mentioned the Brand of Glasya directly and Voski began questioning him brightly about it. Erwyn insisted he was proposing a trade of information, though he didn’t sound confident about it.
They danced a little around talking about Voski’s own prophecy, and whether the “she” the oracle said was listening might have been Lolth. Erwyn wondered if this meant Voski had caught her attention while bringing him back to life. Voski reminded him that, while one of the tunes she’d played during that ritual involved Lolth, her appeal for godly intervention had ultimately been a challenge to Pholtus. Erwyn pressed a little, but was unable to get her to share if she had any prior history related to the goddess. All the same, he told her he would uphold his end of the exchange and asked her if she was familiar with the name Esmerelda Vilar. 
She only vaguely recognized the name as a businesswoman who operated in the Porti Eyriri area, but had at least heard of her. Erwyn admitted that he had once tried to investigate a cult to Glasya that Vilar was in charge of. He pulled out a small bronze pentacle symbol to show Voski and explained he’d wanted to learn what he could about stopping groups like theirs. They had figured him out very easily, however, and tried to kill him, seeing as they didn’t want the information that a prominent, well-respected noblewoman was not only engaging in black market magical weapons smuggling, but was also an infernal cultist. 
Voski asked why he was disclosing this information just to her, and why he’d decided to approach her in such an unusual way. He said that he knew she was good at getting information out of people, and thought maybe he should be more like her.
Unconvinced, Voski brought up the Carceri simulation, alluding to what Erwyn had disclosed to her about hearing his sister’s voice in there, and how the others couldn’t have known about this when they pushed ahead with the trial. She wanted to know where Erwyn was standing with everyone else right now, if he was sharing such personal information with her, since it was sometimes hard to tell who in the party was on solid terms with whom. She had to be confident there was at least one stable connection amongst them. 
“You came to me with your problems, Erwyn,” she said, politely concerned.
When Erwyn seemed confused, Voski asked directly if something was up between him and Kriv, as she would usually have pinned them as trusting each other. Erwyn admitted that he was concerned about what had happened in the Bytopia simulation, and that it had tied into some of his fears about worrying why the others kept him around.
“I’m having a little bit of a hard time with feeling like I can trust people, which is strange for me,” Erwyn said, explaining that he found himself worrying about what the others thought of him because he cared about them and didn’t want to disappoint them.
“Why do you need to trust everyone you meet, though? Isn’t it enough sometimes to understand them?” Voski said.
When Erwyn explained that it was more that he wanted to trust people than needed to, Voski assured him that the two of them were fine, seeing as the party needed each other in their current situation. He expressed that he still had fears of being left behind if his contributions weren’t enough, and she pointed out that they had brought him back after he died, which was a considerable investment and should reassure him of his value -- particularly if, per the Oracle’s prediction, they may have attracted the attention of Lolth in the process. Voski offered him some stew.
Meanwhile, Ditto seemed much more relaxed after finally being able to reassure the creature that she was trying to help it. She continued to hang out with Amaranth, but slipped off to the stables later in the evening to cast a different Sending -- to one of her mothers, Mollybottle.
“It’s Ditto,” she said. “I’m alive and I’m okay. I’m sorry I couldn’t talk before, I needed the right spell. I love you all so much.”
The mood ring that she wore on her hand flashed bright green, then settled on the most vibrant blue she’d seen on it in years.
“Ditto-dot? You’re alright?” came the reply. “We don’t care what you did, or what’s happened since. Please just come home.”
Ditto started laughing and crying at the same time in relief. Kriv, who was also still in the stables, heard Ditto’s sobs and found her there before gently tapping her shoulder.
“Are you okay? Anything you want to talk about?” he said.
“It’s the first time I talked to my mom in a really long time,” she said, crying.
Kriv scooped her up and took her over to Volfred, asking her how long it had been since she’d talked to her mom. Ditto replied that it had been about 70 years. He asked her if she’d been happy to hear from her, and squeezed her tightly. She squeezed back. He admitted he missed his own mom, too, before saying he was sure they’d both get to see their moms again.
“I meant it, what I said,” he added, referencing his earlier declaration that he supported Ditto -- not just as a friend, but because he believed she was right.
The pair snuggled up again Volfred, with Tiktik settling near them, and continued to hold each other close and talk as the night passed.
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TASK 1 - THE QUESTIONNAIRE 
» THE BASICS «
Full name: George Fabian Weasley
Meaning: George = farmer
Reasoning: Fred and George were named together after Molly’s brothers, Gideon and Fabian Prewett.
Pronunciation: J-ore-j fae-be-an  wee-z-lee
Nickname(s) or alias(es): Georgie (occasionally by his family) 
Preferred name(s): George
Label: the peter pan - someone who doesn’t want to grow up ; childish and irresponsible ; someone who fear of letting go and moving on.
Date of birth: April 1st 1978
Zodiac sign: Aries
Religion: Atheist
Ethnicity: White European
Nationality: British
Gender: Male
Preferred pronouns: He/him
Sexual preference: Bisexual (demisexual)
Romantic preference: Panromantic (demiromantic)
Hometown: Devon, England
Resides in: London
Occupation: Owner of Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes
Language(s) spoken: English
Native language: English
Marital status: Single
Political views: Moderate liberal
Financial status: Well off
» BACKGROUND «
Species: Wizard
Birth order: Middle Child
Traditions/customs: Snowball fights with his family on Christmas
Level of education: Almost finished Hogwarts
How were their grades? Acceptable
Best childhood memory: Christmas morning with his entire family together  
Worst childhood memory:  He once charmed a rock to act like a bludger so they could practice Quidditch and it hit Ron in the head, knocking him unconscious. His parents healed him, but they were both furious.  It was the angriest he'd ever seen his dad get. He and Fred were grounded for a week - they spent the first two days locked in separate rooms. He wasn’t sure what he hated the most being alone, disappointing his family, or that he put his brother in danger. From then on, George was more thoughtful about possible repercussions of his actions.
Experienced discipline: Despite lenient parents, he was disciplined a lot for pushing their wide boundaries
Family’s economic status: Not great.
Childhood career choice: Changed regularly depending on what Fred wanted to do - he just wanted to work with Fred. The one they stuck with the longest was being a cursebreaker like Bill
School subject they excelled at: Charms
School subject they had trouble with: History of Magic
» APPEARANCE, VOICE, & MANNERISMS «
Looks like (or face claim): Oliver Phelps
Height: 5’8
Shoe size: 9
Figure/build: Athletic, slightly skinny
Hair color, Natural or Dyed? Light red, natural (he dyed it brown for a while after Fred died, but it’s since grown back to it’s natural Weasley red)
Hair style/length/width: Just long enough to cover his missing ear. It’s straight, with a few waves depending on if he took the time to brush it or not (usually not)
Eye color: Brown
Eyesight: 20/20
Teeth: Bottom teeth are slightly crooked, but nothing to worry about. He’s never given it much thought
Shape of face: Oval
Body/facial hair: His facial hair is too thin and pale to grow a beard, so he shaves it off. He doesn’t shave his chest, which has a relatively thin layer of sandy red hair.
Self-care: Lots of tea. Chocolate. Friend. 
Skin tone: pale
Birthmarks/scars/distinguishing marks: He’s missing his left ear. He has a thin scar from quidditch on the back of his right shoulder.
Tattoos: None.
Piercings: None.
Innie or outie belly button? Innie
Dominant hand: Right
Describe their signature: Matter-of-fact, Hastily scribbled half-cursive
Nail polish color:  None
Clothing style: Bright colors, patterned, earth tones
Frequently worn jewelry: None
Describe their voice, what accent? Smooth clear voice, British acent
Speech style: fast, energetic, enthusiastic
Singing voice: Decent for a karaoke bar, but nothing to write home about. Although he likes to intentionally sing off key sometimes just for the hell of it.
Verbal tics: He still says ‘we’ instead of ‘I’ sometimes, or ‘our’ instead of ‘my’ since he’s so used to everything he does involving Fred as well.
Scent: earthy
Posture: Relaxed. He slouches and leans against things a lot, unless he knows he’s in front of an audience - then he’ll immediately straighten up
Gestures:  Energetic. He talks with his hands a lot without realizing he’s doing it.
Default facial expression: Cheerful or contemplative
Age often mistaken for: 27
» PERSONALITY «
Personality type: ENTP
Upon first meeting them: He seems very cheerful and goofy, a bit full of himself
Catchphrase(s): “Wicked”, “You know what?”
Positive traits: Enthusiastic, passionate, brave, thoughtful, creative, resourceful
Negative traits: Cunning, blunt, rebellious, self-indulgent, spiteful 
Likes: cheering people up, people who make him laugh, people who stand up for others
Dislikes: authority, people who act like they’re superior, people who try to tell him what to do
Usual mood: Alternates between cheerful and melancholy
Sense of humor: George has a broad sense of humor that ranges from childish pranks to sharp witty jokes. For the most part, he has an innocent sense of humor, preferring to makes jokes at his own expense (or the expense of his close friends or family who he knows will receive them well).
Soft spot/vulnerability: Fred and his grief around Fred’s death.  His future.
Insecurities: He sometimes worries that he bothers people by reminding them of Fred, that they’ll mistake him for Fred, or that they think it would have been better if he’d died and Fred had survived instead.
Fears: Unable to move on after Fred’s death, spending his whole life alone, never being happy again, losing more members of his family
Comforts: one-on-one time with close friends or family
Habits/quirks: Talking with his hands,
Nervous tics: He sometimes bounces or taps his foot with nervous energy. If there’s something in his hands, it makes noise - he’ll jingle keys, tap his quill, or clink coins together. He can’t keep still for long.
Hobbies: Quidditch, pranking people, reading short fast-paced (often comedic) books, thinking up new inventions for his joke shop
Guilty pleasure: childish pranks
Desires: Happiness, a family,
Wishes: Fred hadn’t died.
Regrets: Not being able to save Fred. Anytime someone got hurt during one of their pranks.
Secrets: At Fred’s funeral, several people told stories about ‘Fred’ that had actually been about George, and vice versa. George never corrected them.
Superstitions: None.
Lucky number: 7
Pet peeves: People who talk for long periods of time without saying anything interesting.
Level of seriousness: 4/10
Level of independence: 9/10 (Financially, he’s independent. Emotionally, he’s still dependent on his parents and his siblings)
» FAVORITES «
Accessory: Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes pin
Activity: Playing games with his family or friends
Animal: Dog
Beverage: Butterbeer
Clothing item: He secretly loves the jumpers his mom knitted him. He never wears them out, but still sleeps in them sometimes.
Color: Orange and Purple 
Day of the week: Monday
Food: Fish and chips
Gem: Sapphire
Holiday: April Fools
Ice cream flavor: Butterbeer
Instrument: Piano (he can’t play, but he likes the sound of it)
Mythological creature: Griffin or Dragon
Number: 77
Quote/saying: Laugh it off.
Person: Fred. (Living = Angelina or Lee)
Possession: His wand.
Scenery: English countryside
Scent: Autumn leaves
School subject: Flying Lessons, Troublemaking + avoiding  Filch (there’s an art to it so it counts as a subject), Charms
Season: Autumn
Quidditch team: Holyhead Harpies (since Ginny is on it)
Teacher: McGonagall
Time of the day: Late afternoon
Transportation: Broom
Weather: Warm, sunny, and breezy
Word: Joke
Vacation destination: The burrow with his family
» HEALTH & PSYCHOLOGY «
Blood type: O-positive
Time of birth: Morning
Place of birth: At home
Manner of birth: It was a quick and straightforward birth, the only surprise being that there were two kids born instead of one. No one knows which twin was born first, as they weren’t given their names until later that day, and no one could remember which of the two identical babies was which.
Vaginal birth or cesarean section?: Vaginal
Birth weight/length: average
Sex: Male
Diet:  Eats what he wants when he feels like it.
Alcohol Use: Socially.
Drug Use: Rarely, for experimental purposes.
Addictions: None (except occasionally he’ll get addicted to his work -  perfecting a potion or new line of products)
Allergies: None.
Body temperature: Average
Exercise habits: Occasionally runs to relieve stress. Enjoys playing recreational Quidditch (or any sport, really, though most often Quidditch)   
Sleeping habits: He rarely had trouble sleeping until Fred died. Now it’s hit or miss. Sometimes he sleeps deeply - sometimes he has nightmares. Sometimes he dreams of Fred and wakes up crying. Sometimes he has pleasant dreams. He hasn’t found the secret to predicting what kind of night it will be.
Do they get occasional checkups? No. If something bothers him, he’ll see someone about it.
Ever broken a bone? Yes, in Quidditch at Hogwarts his second year, he broke his arm, but he was laughing about it and it was fixed within minutes.
Hospital visits, what for? If the hospital wing counts, then a lot - he’s been there thirteen times for himself, three more for Fred, and every time Ron or Ginny or one of his Quidditch team mates were injured, he visited them. He also visited his dad in St. Mungo’s after he was attacked by Voldemort’s snake.
Any physical ailments/illnesses/disabilities? None.
Any mental illnesses/disorders? Complicated grief that manifests similar to depression and PTSD
When were they diagnosed? About a year after Fred died - he had showed up at his parents house crying and saying that he couldn’t live like this anymore - it felt like his heart was physically hurting every day. They took him in and he slept for two days. When he woke up, Mrs. Weasley encouraged him to see a therapist. He went six times before he stopped.
Any medication regularly taken? No.
Phobia(s): None.
Are they prone to violence? Only if you insult or threaten  his family.
Enneagram Type: Seven/ The Epicure
Moral Alignment: chaotic good
Temperament: sanguine
Element: Air
Intelligence Type: Linguistic intelligence
Approximate IQ: One point below genius
Sociability: Extroverted
Emotional Stability: Moderately stable, apart from his grief over Fred
» LEGAL RECORD «
Birth Name: George Fabian Weasley
Other legal names: N/A
Have they ever been arrested? Surprisingly not.
Ever served prison time? No.
Do they have a criminal record? No.
Have they committed any violent crimes? No
Property crimes? Not that he was caught for (although he trespassed a lot and has broken and entered several places around Hogsmead, just to go exploring with Fred)
Other crimes? He has gotten some of the materials for his potions from questionable sources.
» CAREER & INCOME «
Primary Source of Income: Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes
Secondary Source of Income: None.
Approximate Amount per Year: More than enough to pay his bills,  cover his extravagant clothes, buy everyone in his family nice birthday  presents, and still end the year with a bit more in his bank account than he’d started off.
Content with their job (or lack thereof)? Yes
Past job(s): None.
Spending habits: George hardly ever buys things on his own and prefers to spend his money on experiences - taking friends out for drinks, going to Quidditch games, vacation, etc.
Dream job: Exactly what he’s doing, but with someone helping him
Work ethic: If he cares about it/ thinks it’s important, he’s great. If he doesn’t he won’t get it done.
Feelings on their past occupation(s): N/A
Reason for leaving past occupation(s): N/A
Reason for their current choice of occupation: It was Fred’s idea, but George loved it. It was basically making his favorite pastime into a career
How long have they been in their current occupation? Five years
Are they well liked among their colleagues and employers? He thinks so, and for the most part he’s right. He genuinely cares about his employees and they can see that.
» RESIDENCE «
Living situation: Alone.
Good or bad neighborhood? Diagon Alley is decent enough.
Cost/rent: Fairly expensive.
Home type : Flat over Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes
How many stories? 1  
Exterior colour: purple
Interior colour: earth tones
How many bedrooms? 2 (he’s turned Fred’s bedroom into a study)
How many bathrooms? 1
Any plants? No.
Tile, wood, or carpeting? Wood
Housekeeping: He keeps it from getting too bad, but it’s not exactly clean. When it gets too messy, he pays someone to clean it.
Something they usually keep stocked in their fridge or cabinet: Tea, milk, sugar, honey, cookies/biscuits
Something they always keep next to their night stand: A glass of water or milk
How do their neighbors feel about them: They never hear him in his flat, but they get annoyed with him for the commotion the joke shop sometimes causes - or the sounds of explosions from his office which doubles as a lab.
Do they hate their neighbors; if so, why? No - he hasn’t given much thought to them
Is their home haunted? No
Has there been any deaths in their home? No
» SKILLS & ABILITIES «
Physical strength: 6.5/10
Offense: 7/10
Defense: 8/10
Speed: 8/10
Intelligence: 9/10
Accuracy: 8/10
Agility: 8.5//10
Stamina: 7/10
Teamwork: 8/10
Lying: 9.5//10
Sociability: 10/10
Talents: Playing pranks, juggling, muggle card tricks, story-telling
Shortcomings: organization, attention to detail, expressing his feelings 
Cook? Not well.
Bake? If he has a recipe (it’s like making a potion)
Drive? He doesn’t have a license, but he drove his father’s car a few times and managed not to crash it (although Fred was the better driver)
Swim? Yes
Play an instrument? He tried to teach himself the drums once when he was little, but never stuck with it enough to learn more than the basics
Play chess? Wizard chess, yes. He’s surprisingly good when he’s paying attention and not thinking about something else.
Braid hair? No.
Tie a Tie? yes.
Pick a Lock? Yes.
Shoot a gun? Hasn’t tried.
» VIEWS ON «
Life: Too short.
Death: Too permanent.
Love: Is essential.
Sex: Intrigued by.
Marriage: Is important.
Divorce: He understands it’s sometimes necessary, but doesn’t want to see it happen to anyone in his family.
Family: The most important thing in the world.
Friends: Tied for most important thing in the world.
Politics: They’re important, but he hasn’t had the energy to keep up with them lately.
Religion: Lies to control people.
Work: Might as well do something meaningful with your time.
Money: Isn’t happiness, but it certainly is better being happy and rich than happy and poor.
Alcohol/Drug Use: Don’t abuse it and you’re good.
Tattoos/Piercings: They can be wicked cool or awful depending on what they are. You know, Quaffles are cool, Dark Marks aren’t.
Swearing: A way to express emotion. And rebel.
» SEX & ROMANCE «
*optional if mun is underage or uncomfortable
Virginity? Still a virgin
Gender preference: Female
Dominant/submissive? Both
Top/bottom/versatile? Versatile
Turn-ons: Teasing. Lip biting. Laughing. Confidence.
Turn-offs: Being emotionally distant.
Kinks: Saying his name, trying new things
Anti-kinks: Anything too painful or dangerous
General libido: It’s like on hold until he meets the right person
Do they have sex often? Not at the moment. 
Do they take the initiative? Not at first, but once he’s in a committed relationship and they’ve had sex a few times, then yes.
How do they act? Excited, caring, genuine
Do they go slow or jump in? Slow
Do they act like a friend or a lover? Friend
Type of kisser: Passionate, gentle 
Do they like kissing in public? Once he knows someone will kiss him back, yes  
Can they commit to one person? Yes
What are they like in relationships? Happy, Caring, Optimistic, Clingy,  
Do they want kids? Yes
Do they want to marry? Yes
How long was their longest relationship? He’s been on a few dates, but never really dated anyone
How are they in bed? Inexperienced
Do they get jealous easily? A little, but he doesn’t make a big deal about it.
Feelings on oral? Intrigued by it.
» FAMILY «
Father: Arthur Weasley  Describe their relationship:  Warm and caring. George looks up to his father, even though he jokes around with him and gives him a hard time sometimes.
Mother: Molly Weasley
Relationship: He and his mother argued a lot during his teenage years, but they’ve made up and been very supportive of each other since the war. He doesn’t understand her sometimes, but he loves her and he knows she loves him. 
Brothers: Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, Ron, 
RELATIONSHIP: After Fred, he was closest to Ron, but his relationship with Ron was always strained by the fact that George thought of him as younger and needing protecting. He looks up to his older brothers and loved playing with them when he was younger, but lately he realizes he hasn’t gotten to know them as adults very well. He still admires them and a slight bit of younger sibling hero-worshiping going-on, but he’d never admit it. 
Sister: Ginny Weasley 
RELATIONSHIP: George always enjoys spending time with Ginny. Of all his siblings, she reminds him the most of Fred. He loves it when she tells an unexpected joke or pulls a prank. As with Ron, he tries to be the tough older brother and has a hard time opening up to Ginny about anything less than perfect in his life. 
GRANDPARENTS: Dead [*Charlie what are you putting for this? haha]
RELATIONSHIP: He has a few fond memories, but doesn’t feel like he ever really knew them. 
Significant Other: N/A
Children: N/A
Pet(s): None
» GENERAL RELATIONSHIPS «
Best friends: Lee Jordan, Angelina Johnson 
Childhood friends: His brothers, Lee Jordan, Gryffindor Quidditch team (most of the Gryffindors in his year and the year below, really)
Rivals: Slytherin Quidditch players 
Past romances: A few one-time dates, nothing to write home about
Roommates: None at the moment. 
» QUESTIONNAIRE «
In the ABO universe, are they an Alpha, Beta, or omega? Beta
Expensive or inexpensive tastes? Both
Hygienic or Unhygienic? On the lesser side of Hygienic
Open-minded or close-minded? Open-minded
Optimistic or pessimistic? Optimistic
Daredevil or cautious? Daredevil
Logical or emotional? Logical
Disorderly and messy or methodical and neat? Methodical and messy
Prefers working or relaxing? Both
Confident or unsure of himself/herself/theirself? Both - appears more confident than he is
Generous or stingy? On the stingy side of generous
Polite or rude? Polite to people he likes  - rude to people he doesn’t like. Strangers are somewhere in the middle.
Book smart or street smart? Street smart
Popular or loner? He’s become more of a loner since Fred died.
Leader or follower? Both - he was used to following Fred, but he’s been leading his staff at Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes successfully and he enjoys it.
Day or night person? Both.
Cat or dog person? Dog (he loves cats too though, especially if they’re friendly)
Closet door open or closed while sleeping? Cracked open
Coffee or tea? Tea
Sleep or eat? Both
Showering in the day or night? Night
Bath or shower? Shower
Shaver or waxer? Shave
TV or movies? Movies
Iced tea or lemonade? Lemonade
Ice cream or smoothies? Ice cream
Cupcakes or cake? Cake
Beach or mountains? Beach
Movie theater or Netflix? Netflix at someone else’s house
Buying music or downloading illegally? Downloading illegally. Unless he knew the artist. Then buying 100% and you better buy too.
Hot chocolate or hot apple cider? Hot chocolate
Video games or computer games? Video games.
Milk chocolate or dark chocolate? Milk
Sunrise or sunset? Sunrise
Feminine or masculine? Feminine
Are they a good or bad liar? Good
Do they have a fake I.D.? No
How long would they survive in a zombie apocalypse? A fair amount of time, as  long as if he was with other people.
Do they travel?  Yes, when people will go with him. Traveling is something he’s recently discovered he loves to do.
What do they wear to bed? Shorts or just boxers in the summer ; soft trousers, t-shirt, and a sweater in the winter
On what occasions do they lie? As an adult, to keep his family safe. To keep surprises
What is one thing they’d most like to change about themselves? He wants to be more like his old self before Fred died
How would they like to die? Saving someone he loves
Do they snore? Softly
Do they chew their pens/pencils? No
Can they curl their tongue? No, but he thinks he can
Can they whistle? Yes
Do they believe in the supernatural?  Yes
Are they squeamish? Yes
Have they ever killed anyone? Why? How? In the Battle at Hogwarts, he killed a few of the Death Eaters by hitting them with stunning spells at the same time as other people on his side.
Have they ever seen anyone die? In the battle of Hogwarts, he saw several of his former classmates hit by spells that killed them instantly.
Are they a lightweight? Yes and it’s hilarious
Do they forgive betrayal? If no one was hurt, then yes. If someone was hurt, then no.
Do they shower every day? Every other day
Most traumatic experience: Fred’s death
Do they wear the hood on their hoodie? Sometimes
Do they use chapstick? Not unless someone (like his mother) makes him
Would they rather sleep with someone else or alone? With someone else
What position do they sleep in? back/side
Which side of the bed do they sleep on? Left
Can they multi-task or must they focus on one subject at a time? He can multitask, but he’s better at hyper focusing on one thing
If suddenly challenged, would they rather run away or stay and fight? Stay and fight
Do they get restless when things are too quiet or do they favour solitude and silence? Restless
What would completely break them? Fred’s death completely broke him. Now, the death to any other member of his family would push him over the edge.
What was the best thing in their life? Fred.
What was the worst thing in their life? Losing Fred.
Do they curse often? Occasionally, when there are no kids around.
» EXTRAS «
Deadly Sin: Pride
Virtue: Kindness
Celtic animal sign: Fox
Chinese zodiac sign: Horse
Zodiac flower sign: Honeysuckle
Native American Zodiac Sign: Falcon
Zodiac gemstones: Diamond, Amethyst,  Emerald
Theme song: Just hold on (Steve Aoki)
Song that would like to play at their funeral: Good life
Song that is likely to be found on their music library: It’s My Life
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New Post has been published on Mortgage News
New Post has been published on http://bit.ly/2kldHfN
a-beginners-guide-to-glendale
(Photo by Renee Silverman via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr)
Glendale is the third largest city in L.A. County with a living population that is, if you count its massive cemetery, outnumbered by its dead. It’s sleepy, it’s safe, and in 2011, a bunch of consultants reported that most people found it “boring.” That inspired city leaders to launch a marketing campaign centered around the slogan, “Your Life. Animated.” This was derived from the fact that Glendale is the home of both Dreamworks and Disney’s Grand Central Creative Campus.
Glendale was incorporated in 1906, and owes much of its success to real estate developer Leslie Coombs Brand, for whom the town’s main drag is named. It’s certainly scenic, with views of distant mountains and blue skies and numerous public parks. In the early 1900s, Chamber of Commerce president Edward U. Emery came up with the idea to call Glendale “the Jewel City,” as he said it “sparkled like a jewel in the sun.” The name stuck, and can be evidenced in businesses such as Jewel City Bowl and Jewel City Yoga.
But if you really dig in, you’ll find that Glendale has a variety of fun things to do that you just can’t find in L.A.. You can, for example, enjoy a $4 Mai Tai or learn about the history of neon (and even how to make your own neon sign). Glendale also hosts a large Armenian population—one of the largest in the United States—which has gifted the city with numerous fantastic Armenian bakeries and restaurants (we’ve listed one of our favorites below). It has an old-school roller rink with a decades-long LGBTQ night, and a music venue that is often more out there than anything you’d find on the Sunset Strip. Here are 18 ways to have a totally not boring time in Glendale, the Jewel City.
(Photo by Juliet Bennett Rylah/LAist)
The Museum of Neon Art
The Museum of Neon Art (MONA) used to be located in downtown Los Angeles, but opened in a larger space in Glendale in February of 2016. It’s easy to find, as a bright neon diver in a red swimsuit adorns the top of the building. Inside, you will find a rotating gallery of neon effulgence, a studio where you can sign up to learn how to make your own neon art, and lots of fascinating history. Their collection includes the sign from the Brown Derby formerly at Hollywood and Vine, as well as the animated sign from Zinke’s Shoe Repair in Glendale. Each sign tells a story, so feel free to linger in the glow and absorb them all. If you’re interested in learning even more about neon, we recommend Angel City Press’ Spectacular Illumination: Neon Los Angeles 1925-1960 by Tom Zimmerman. It’s authored with help from MONA board member Eric Lynxwiler, who also hosts the museum’s neon tours. Be sure to begin or end your visit to MONA with a stroll down the adjacent paseo, where you will find a refurbished neon sign from Clayton Plumbers, originally located in Westwood. The animated sign features water dripping from a leaky faucet.
The Museum of Neon Art is located at 216 S. Brand Blvd., 818-696-2149. Tickets are free for MONA members and children 12 and under, $5-10 for everyone else.
(Photo by howard-f via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr)
The Americana
Okay, the Americana is a mall. But it’s a magical open-air mall and the big sister of Los Angeles’ The Grove. It is always full of shoppers who seem so casually unhurried as they relax with a latte or a cupcake (which are available at a Sprinkles ATM machine). One could spend a great deal of time here: restaurants include Katsuya, Din Tai Fung (which usually has a line of people waiting to eat their dumplings) and Bourbon Steak; coffee is available in numerous spots including French eatery La Pain Quotidien; and you can unwind at Ombra Wine Bar or Nordstrom’s Bar Verde. One of the Americana’s newer shops is Sugarfina, a high-end candy shop where one can customize their very own bento box of unique treats. Also new are a handful of favorite eateries located across the street, including Shake Shack, Eggslut and Mainland Poke. The mall, it should be noted, was home to one of the very first Apple stores. Some people apparently love The Americana so much that they live there in one of the over 300 luxury apartments and condominiums.
The Americana is located at 899 Americana Way, 818-637-8982.
The Glendale Galleria
This is also a mall. We love it because it uses song and dance (see above) to note its competition with the posh Americana. We’re also fond of the fact that, with their two powers combined, the malls have just about every shop a person could ever desire. Sure, the Americana has a Nordstrom’s, but it doesn’t have a Hot Topic, which supplies all your metal tee and blackest black eyeliner needs now, does it? The Galleria also has an In-N-Out and a Chipotle, and, according to the above song, they “haven’t seen a ghost in days.”
The Galleria is located at 100 W. Broadway, 818-246-6737.
A Beef Lulu Pate (Photo by Juliet Bennett Rylah/LAist)
Elena’s Greek Armenian Restaurant
Here is where you can get a very filling plate for $12 at most. The menu is fairly simple, consisting of lulu, shish kabob and other meats, paired with rice, veggies, hummus and deliciously tangy garlic sauce. They’ve also got felafel, stuffed eggplant, lentil soup and salads for vegetarians. The food is flavorful and hearty, and it’s an unpretentious restaurant that’s amicable and effortlessly casual. Elena’s has been in this location for over 30 years, and everything they serve is made daily in-house.
Elena’s Greek Armenian Cuisine is located at 1000 S. Glendale Ave., 818-241-5730.
(Photo by Juliet Bennett Rylah/LAist)
Forest Lawn Memorial Park
A sprawling six cemeteries make up this 300-acre park, consisting of some 250,000 graves and 250,000 internments. The cemetery was founded in 1906, but in 1917 management was handed over to Dr. Hubert Eaton, who decided that he’d much prefer a happier cemetery where life could be celebrated. Eaton, a Christian, believed that life after death held something greater, which perhaps colored his rosy sentiments. He wrote that Forest Lawn should be “unlike other cemeteries as sunshine is unlike darkness … a great park devoid of misshapen monuments and other signs of earthly death, but filled with towering trees, sweeping lawns, splashing fountains, beautiful statuary, and … memorial architecture.” And so it is. A stroll through Forest Lawn is one filled with beauty, and it can culminate in a visit to the hilltop museum, where one will find rotating exhibits, statues, a collection of stained glass and other breathtaking works.
Famous residents include Michael Jackson (he is privately interned), The Wonderful Wizard of Oz author L. Frank Baum, father-and-daughter musicians Nat King Cole and Natalie Cole and Walt Disney, who was not cryogenically frozen and stored at Disneyland, despite pervasive rumors to the contrary.
(Photo by Juliet Bennett Rylah/LAist)
Glendale Tap
The Glendale Tap is a dark, comfortable dive with over 50 brews on tap. The bartender will hand you a beer list printed on several sheets of paper attached to a clipboard. You also get a basket of shelled peanuts. The beers are available in full pours as well as small pours, which gives aspiring cicerones the option to try more than a few. They have all the usual hoppy selections, as well as a list of more unique stouts, porters, sours, barrel-aged and fruity beers, and even ciders. If you want to see what they have before you head out there, you can view their tap list here. Available beers change regularly, so don’t expect to find that pumpkin ale you fell in love with in October to be there in March, but do expect a more than suitable replacement.
The Glendale Tap is located at 4227 San Fernando Road in Glendale, 818-241-4227.
(Photo via Facebook)
Brewyard Beer Company
Brewyard is Glendale’s first brewery, opened by childhood friends Sherwin Antonio and Kirk Nishikawa in December of 2015 in a former warehouse. The brewpub specializes in “Ale’d Lagers,” which they describe as beer made with a fermentation technique in which “lager yeast is fermented at higher ale-like temperatures for shorter periods of time and completely skips the lagering process.” The end result is a beer that takes like an ale, but has the lighter finish of a lager. Communal seating and board games make for a neighborhood feel, and food is available via a rotating cast of food trucks. There’s a truck inside the bar, too: a 1936 Ford where the flatbed functions as a table.
Brewyard is located at 906 Western Ave., 818-409-9448.
(Photo by Michael Locke via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr)
Alex Theatre
The city of Glendale owns this historic theater. It opened in 1925 and was named “The Alexander” after the son of developer C.L. Langley, who intended to “provide a good place of entertainment to keep Glendalians from going to Los Angeles and Hollywood.” In its early days, guests could see vaudeville and silent films, and by mid-century the theater was screening first-run blockbusters. The theater briefly closed in 1991—it’s final screening was Terminator 2: Judgment Day—before being purchased by the Glendale Redevelopment Agency in 1992. It reopened on New Year’s Eve, 1993, and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996. Today, you’re apt to see a host of entertainment, including film, theater, dance, comedy, music and more. Though it may be known today for its iconic, 100-foot neon tower and marquee, the Alex didn’t get this feature until 1940, when it was added by architect S. Charles Lee.
The Alex Theatre is located at 216 N. Brand Blvd., 818-243-2539.
(Photo by Suzanne Danziger via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr)
Moonlight Rollerway
The Moonlight Rollerway is a rare gem: an old-school roller skating rink, just like the ones you loved in junior high. It opened in 1956 as Harry’s Roller Rink, and still has the original maple flooring. In addition to your standard all-ages, kids’ and adult skate times, Moonlight also hosts various themed nights. Wednesdays, for instance, have been an LGBTQ night for over 20 years. On Tuesdays, owner Dominic Cangelosi still plays live music on a vintage organ. If you want to make a day of it, a concessions stand serves relatively cheap snacks, ice cream, candy and non-alcoholic beverages.
The Moonlight Rollerway is located at 5110 San Fernando Rd., 818-241-3630.
The Complex hosted a ‘Back to the Future’ themed ‘Enchantment Under the Sea’ dance. (Photo by Annie Lesser/LAist)
The Complex
Proprietors John Giovanazzi (of Das Bunker) and Mike Guerrero opened this relatively small, 150-capacity venue in 2013. What’s fun about The Complex is that if you pop by on a random night, you can hear pretty much anything. The music could be metal, goth, industrial, EDM or some amalgamation of all of the above. And on Mondays they do a karaoke night where you’re less likely to hear “Sweet Caroline,” but might finally get to do that obscure 90s alt-rock track that’s never in any of the books. They also have plenty of craft beer and cocktails made with fresh ingredients.
The Complex is located at 806 E. Colorado St., 323-642-7519.
(Photo via Facebook)
Dave’s on Broadway
Dave’s isn’t what some people would call a great bar, but it’s a great dive bar, the likes of which are rapidly disappearing. It’s dark, the drinks are strong and cheap, and it’s the least amount of fuss. They’ve got all the things neighborhood dives must have: open mics, TVs for watching sports, pool, free pizza or hot dogs on select occasions, a live band or two, and judgment-free karaoke multiple days a week.
Dave’s is located at 708 E. Broadway, 818-956-9123.
Breakfast croissant. (Photo by Juliet Bennett Rylah/LAist)
Foxy’s
If you ever wanted to go out to breakfast and toast your own bread, Foxy’s is the place for you. It’s a very versatile diner, offering a variety of both American and Mexican cuisine that’s suitable for all three meals of the day. You could sit on the lovely patio and commune with the sparrows who are hoping you drop a crumb or two, or you could ask to be seated indoors at one of the tables that features a shiny toaster. The menu is quite expansive. You can get an Ahi tuna salad, chili fries, a burger, a monte cristo, filet mignon (for $16), pork chops, tilapia, tacos, pasta, omelettes, French toast, pie, a shake, a beer, a Bloody Mary or many cups of coffee. And that’s only a fraction of Foxy’s offerings.
Foxy’s is located at 206 W Colorado St, 818-246-0244.
(Photo via Facebook)
Brand Park
Brand Park is a 31-acre park that you will find at the base of the Verdugo Mountains. It’s as scenic a park as you’d want, with a plenty of trails for hiking and biking, a basketball court and a wading pool for the kids. Unique to Brand Park is the Doctors House Museum & Gazebo, as well as a gorgeous public library.
The Brand Library opened in 1956 in the former home of Glendale’s greatest champion, the aforementioned Leslie C. Brand. According to KCET, the palatial estate was built for Brand by his brother-in-law Nathaniel Dryden, who traveled to India to get ideas for its architecture and design.
The Doctors House was built in 1888 and was the residence of four doctors, hence the name. The Queen Anne Victorian home would later house silent film star Nell Shipman and her family. The Canadian born actress was one of the first women to direct her own films, as well as one of the first movie stars to appear nude on screen, which she did in the film Back to God’s Country. The Doctors House was moved to Brand Park in 1979 from 921 E. Wilson Ave., also in Glendale, where it had been slated for destruction. It was officially restored and opened to the public as a museum in 1984. You can go on tours of the house on Sundays for a suggested donation of $5. The window is narrow, as docents are only around from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Be sure to call ahead to ensure they’ll be there and to check their website for special events.
Brand Park is located at 1601 W. Mountain St., 818-548-3782.
(Photo by Juliet Bennett Rylah/LAist)
Damon’s
Damon’s is a long-standing tiki restaurant and bar right in downtown Glendale. It’s been around since the 1930s and has been in this particular location for over 30 years. If you find yourself unwilling to wait in line to get into Clifton’s Pacific Seas, Glendale’s casual tiki bar has all the Polynesian decor, coconut shrimp and cheap fruity cocktails your heart could desire. Behind the bar, the bartender will tell you that their specialties are the Mai Tai—rum, orange, pineapple—and the Chi Chi, made with rum, pineapple and coconut. They’re $7, unless it’s a Monday or happy hour (daily from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.), during which they come at the dangerously low price of $4 a piece. Food options include plenty of reasonably priced barbecue, steaks and seafood that skew towards the comfort variety. Damon’s is not a fancy restaurant, but it’s kitschy and fun.
Damon’s is located at 317 N. Brand Blvd., 818-507-1510.
The beautiful grounds of Rockhaven. (Photo by Annie Lesser/LAist)
Rockhaven Sanitarium
The abandoned Rockhaven Sanitarium sits on 3.5 acres at the foothills of the Verdugo Mountains. It is technically in Montrose, but owned by the city of Glendale. At one point in time, it served as a feminist sanitarium, both employing and serving only women. It opened in 1923 via nurse Agnes Richards, who was upset by the way she had seen women treated over the course of her career in other psychiatric hospitals. The facility shut down in 2006 after some 80 years of service. LAist writer Jean Trinh and photographer Annie Lesser explored the grounds in June of 2016. “With the way the rooms are decorated, it appears as if the residents of Rockhaven just vanished and left all their belongings behind. It’s equally fascinating and eerie,” Trinh wrote.
The facility is maintained by the nonprofit Friends of Rockhaven. Tours of the crumbling grounds are occasionally offered, though the opportunity to see the facility for yourself in this state may be limited. As of late 2016, Glendale had selected a proposal from developer Gangi Design LED Build to convert the site into a retail center and park, according to the L.A. Times. The plan involves renovating 14 of the buildings into shops or for nonprofit uses. Glendale Mayor Paula Devine said she selected Gangi’s proposal “mainly because it satisfies my goals for Rockhaven and, more importantly, the desires of the majority of our community. I feel that Rockhaven is a jewel in our community … so I really feel that the city needs to retain ownership of this property.”
The Rockhaven Sanitarium is located at 2713 Honolulu Ave., 818-248-1707.
(Photo via Facebook)
Tumanyan Khinkali Factory
You could wait in line at Din Tai Fun, and we’re sure you wouldn’t be disappointed. But if that sounds unappealing, give the Georgian dumping destination known as Tumanyan Khinkali Factory a shot. This J-Gold approved restaurant specializes in soup dumplings known as khinkali, the best of which is the beef, though they also come in cheese or spinach and mushroom. The dumplings are boiled or fried, then served hot and flavorful, with a dollop of sour cream on the side. They are rather large and only $2.50 or $2.75 each. You also might also go for a cheese plate, which consists of Chanukah, a soft Armenian cheese. The restaurant has a full bar with beer, wine and specialty cocktails as well.
Tumanyan Khinkali Factory is located at 113 N. Maryland Ave., 818-649-1015.
(Photo via Facebook)
Deukmejian Wilderness Park
This spectacular park consists of 790 acres in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. There are a variety of trails here from easy to advanced, and rewards include sweeping views that make you feel far removed from crowded city life. Bring lots of water and sunscreen, of course, even on a cool day.
A portion of the park is developed and holds the Le Mesnager Barn, built in the early 1900s by French winegrower Louis Le Mesnager for use as a stable and storage facility. The original stone barn had to be rebuilt in the 1930s due to damage from both fire and flood. This area is where you can find your ranger station, parking, bathrooms and picnic areas. The rest is all nature.
Deukmejian Wilderness Park is located at 3429 Markridge Rd., 818-548-3795.
(Photo by Archie Tucker via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr)
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church
Even if you’re not the religious type, this historic church is something to see. The church itself dates back to the late 1800s while the present building in this particular location was built by architect Carleton M. Winslow in 1948. In addition to religious services, the church hosts a variety of theater and music performances. (We first became aware of this beautiful church when attending Johnny: The Shell, a production by The Speakeasy Society, an the immersive theater company.
Church grounds include a courtyard with a fountain, lovely stained glass work, and a bench or two for people to watch from a distance.
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church is located at 1020 N. Brand Blvd., 818-240-3860.
(Photo via Facebook)
The Famous
The Famous is where you go if you want to get a craft cocktail in Glendale. It’s found across the street from The Americana and has a fine selection of whiskeys, as well as a cast of classic cocktails. Happy hour is Monday through Friday, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., and consists of $2-off cocktails. Small bites are available and include your usual bar bites: tacos, wings, burgers, a couple sandwiches and a salad or two. It’s a dark hideaway that, unlike some mixology joints, manages to not be pretentious.
The Famous is located at 154 S. Brand Blvd., 818-241-2888.
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25 Free Things to Do in Edinburgh
Group Accommodation in Edinburgh
An architectural and cultural gem, Edinburgh should definitely be on your bucket list of places to visit. The city may have a reputation for not being easy on the pocket – it is a western capital city, after all – but there are plenty of activities that you can do for free. Here is a list of 25 things to do for free in Edinburgh.
Places of Interest Scottish Parliament Building Located in Holyrood within Edinburgh’s central UNESCO World Heritage Site is the Scottish Parliament Building, which is open to the public six days a week for the majority of the year. The building itself, completed in 2004, is worth a look, having won numerous architecture awards. If you are interested in what goes on inside, it is possible to join a free guided tour of the building on Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays. The tour lasts about one hour and you will learn about many aspects of the Parliament Building, including how the Parliament works, the building’s architecture and design, and pieces from the art collection.
Greyfriars Kirkyard and Greyfriars Bobby One of the most well-known cemeteries in the world, in recent years owing to a certain writer who penned seven novels about a boy wizard who stole names from the tombstones to use in her books, Greyfriars Kirkyard is the resting place of a few well-known Scots. Possibly the most visited of the graves is that of Greyfriars Bobby, a Skye terrier who died in 1872. A familiar figure in 19th century Edinburgh, Greyfriars Bobby reportedly guarded his owner’s grave for fourteen years and stole the hearts of the Lord Provost William Chambers and the public, who would bring him food. Chambers even organised a dog licence for him, thereby saving him from being put down by the local authorities. Greyfriars Bobby himself is buried just outside the kirkyard, close to his memorial statue. Edinburgh Central Library Opened in 1890, Edinburgh Central Library was the first public library to open in the city. As well as being a beautiful building to walk around, the library organise a number of events throughout the year. Some are ticketed even though they are free so it is best to check the library’s website for details. As for the collections, the library has several floors and has books, periodicals, maps and newspapers going back many years in six different departments. Outdoor Spaces and Activities Arthur’s Seat and Holyrood Park Edinburgh is built on seven hills which form Holyrood Park, and the highest of these is Arthur’s Seat, named allegedly after the eponymous King Arthur of British legend and supposedly the location of Arthur’s Camelot. In reality, the hill is an ancient, now extinct, volcano which erupted around 350 million years ago. It makes for a pleasant walk and is also the location of a well-preserved fort dating back approximately 2000 years. Holyrood Park is the park surrounding Holyrood Palace and is home to a wide range of flora and fauna as well as a 15th century chapel and a fresh water loch. Dr Neil’s Garden One of the most impressive gardens in the country, Dr Neil’s Garden – also known as Edinburgh’s Secret Garden – is the result of the hard work of two medical doctors, Nancy and Andrew Neil. Situated next to Duddingston Loch, the garden has long been a source of inspiration for writers, musicians and artists. It is a space used for meditation and contemplation, and also makes for a lovely setting for a romantic walk.
The Royal Mile and the Grassmarket Possibly the most famous place in Edinburgh, the Royal Mile connects Holyrood Palace to Edinburgh Castle. A good percentage of the city’s museums, sights and galleries are located on the Royal Mile. You also have the opportunity to see an abundance of Scottish crafts, including the national tartan fabric. Just a short walk away is the Grassmarket. During the medieval ages, the Grassmarket was the city’s market place and execution site. It is now one of the most vibrant areas of the city with lots of shops and pubs, but you can still discover its past by following the Greater Grassmarket Historic Trail. Royal Botanic Garden Set in an amazing 72 acres of land, the Royal Botanic Garden is easily one of the most stunning botanic gardens in the world. There is much to explore in the garden, including: the arboretum, a tree collection containing over 730 species; the rock garden with plants from Asia, Europe and the Americas; the Chinese Hillside which highlights the strong links between the garden and China; the Queen Mother’s Memorial Garden with plants from around the world to symbolise her love of travelling; and the demonstration garden, focusing on encouraging people to grow their own food.
Portobello Beach Perfect in the summer months, the seaside district of Portobello Beach is located just a few miles from the centre of Edinburgh. It is the ideal spot for sunbathing and swimming when the weather is fine and the beach is also host to a number of events, such as the Big Beach Busk, a huge busking event and sporting competitions for volleyball and triathlon. Archivists’ Garden Archivists’ Garden is located in the open courtyard between General Register House and New Register House and houses 57 species of plant, all of which are connected to Scottish history and culture in some way. These associations are divided into five categories: Events (Birth, Marriage and Death); Famous Scots; Heraldry; Homecoming; and Tartan. The garden layout is a physical representation of the human mind and memory; the flora are planted in a flowing pattern to mimic the randomness of the human brain. The Potter Trail It is a well-known fact now that JK Rowling wrote a lot of her best-selling series of Harry Potter in Edinburgh, with a lot of local locations inspiring names, places and characters in the books. On this free walking tour, you will discover these locations, including the real-life street that Diagon Alley is based on, where Professor McGonagall and Lord Voldemort are buried, and the school which was the inspiration for Hogwarts. You will also visit the Elephant House, the cafe where Rowling wrote the first book. Calton Hill A designated UNESCO World Heritage Site, Calton Hill offers wonderful views over Edinburgh, especially at sunset. It is also home to a number of monuments: the National Monument of Scotland, which is dedicated to Scottish soldiers and sailors who perished during the Napoleonic Wars; Nelson’s Monument; and the Robert Burns Monument. Museums and Art Galleries Scottish National Gallery Housing an astonishing amount of art from around the world, the Scottish National Gallery is a must for every visitor to Edinburgh. Opened in 1859, the collections here span all the way from the Renaissance to the 20th century, and include works by Botticelli, Vermeer, Constable, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Turner, Monet, Raphael, and Rembrandt, among many others. There are actually two buildings of the gallery, the National Gallery Building and the Royal Scottish Academy Building, which are now connected by the underground Gardens Level.
The Writers’ Museum Located on the Royal Mile in Lady Stair’s House, the Writers’ Museum details and celebrates the lives of three of Scotland’s most revered writers – Robert Louis Stevenson, Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott. It is not necessary to have read the works of these writers in order to enjoy the museum as there is plenty of information given throughout. The museum houses a number of portraits, personal effects and rare books belonging to the three. Highlights of these include: original drafts of Burns’; a plaster cast of Burns’ skull, one of only three made; and Stevenson’s riding boots and a ring given to him by a Samoan chief. Outside the museum is Makars’ Court where you will find flagstones inscribed with the names of Scottish writers from the 14th century up to the modern day. National Museum of Scotland History buffs will be in heaven during a visit to the National Museum of Scotland. Detailing the country’s history, the museum looks into various facets, such as art, design and fashion, science and technology, and nature. In the Grand Gallery – one of the most beautiful spaces in Scotland with its high windows and tall pillars – there are a number of wondrous objects on display, such as a 19th century lighthouse lens and a 12-foot long South Pacific feast bowl. In the Natural World galleries you will come face to face with a giant Tyrannosaurus Rex and discover the wide variety of the animal world. Other galleries to check out are the World Cultures galleries, the Scottish History and Archaeological galleries, and the science and technology galleries. City Art Centre One of the most interesting galleries in Edinburgh, City Art Centre offer a wide range of exhibitions from the historic to the modern. They primarily concentrate on photography, architecture and contemporary art. As well as the exhibitions, they also have a hands-on ArtSpace where you can try your hand at different art projects such as portraits, landscapes and collages. They even have facilitated art sessions on Saturday afternoons. Museum of Edinburgh If you are particularly interested in the history of the city itself then the Museum of Edinburgh is for you. Situated in the 16th century Huntly House, the building is a maze of collections relating to the city’s origins and history. One of its most impressive collections is its decorative art. Examples include silver, glass, pottery and porcelain, showing the diversity of Scottish craftsmanship. Other interesting items are the collar and bowl of Greyfriars Bobby and the National Covenant of 1638. Fans of the TV show Outlander will be interested to know that some scenes from series three were filmed at Huntly House. Museum of Childhood The first museum in the world completely dedicated to the history of childhood, the Museum of Childhood has an impressive collection of toys and games dating back to the 18th century. The ground floor has recently been refurbished and now includes a number of new items, including a retro Buzz Lightyear from the year 2000. As well as toys and games, the museum also showcases costumes and fashion and details the home, nursery and school lives of children throughout the ages. Scottish National Portrait Gallery The Scottish National Portrait Gallery was the world’s first portrait gallery, opened in 1889. It’s an impressive building in itself, built in the Spanish Gothic Style, making it distinct from other buildings in the area. Designed specifically to showcase pictures of Scotland’s heroes and heroines, the gallery now houses a vast array of paintings, photographs and sketches, beginning in the Renaissance and leading up to the present day. Some of the more famous portraits include Mary Queen of Scots, Robert Burns and James IV as well as some modern names like Billy Connolly and Robbie Coltrane.
Museum on the Mound If you’re interested in the story of money, the Museum on the Mound, located in the Bank of Scotland’s head office, tells it in a fascinating way. It looks at the way in which money has evolved over 4,000 years, from using objects such as shells and tea as currency to our present day coins and banknotes. It has exhibitions on the rise of building societies in Victorian Britain and the changing face of banking throughout the centuries. The museum also has some interactive activities to take part in, such as trying to crack open a safe and applying for a 19th century life assurance policy. Churches and Chapels St Giles’ Cathedral Founded in 1124, St Giles’ Cathedral, the High Kirk of Scotland, is located at the heart of the city and was the focal point of the Scottish Reformation during the 16th century. It is the most important place of worship in the city and named after the patron saint of Edinburgh, who was extremely popular during the Middle Ages. Unusual for a Presbyterian church, it has some stunning stained glass depicting several figures, including Saint Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland. Magdalen Chapel It would be very easy to miss Magdalen Chapel – it’s hidden away in the Cowgate – but it is well worth seeking out due to the fact that it has the oldest stained glass in Scotland. Built in the 16th century, it was initially partly established as a hospital for the poor as well as the sick. Its stained glass was the only ones to survive the Scottish Reformation. The central window feature four shields including the arms of Mary Guise, the mother of Mary Queen of Scots. The chapel is now used as the Scottish Reformation Society’s headquarters. St Cuthbert’s Parish Church Built on the foundations of at least six previous churches, St Cuthbert’s Parish Church is hidden away at the west end of Princes Street. The current church was built in the late 19th century but also includes an 18th century memorial chapel to those who died in the World War I. This chapel is the location where Agatha Christie married her second husband in 1930. Other notable features of the church include the Byzantine-inspired apse and rounded vault with its exquisite ceiling paintings and marble and alabaster pulpit, and its stained glass window of David on his way to defeat the giant Goliath, made from Tiffany glass. Entertainment Live Music at Whistle Binkies Although many venues offer free music in Edinburgh, Whistle Binkies gets the nod for offering up to four bands on any given night during the week. They are free to enter from Sundays to Thursdays, and up to midnight at the weekends. In addition to regular gigs from both signed and unsigned artists, they also hold open mic nights. Live Music at Sandy Bell’s If folk music is your thing, Sandy Bell’s is where you should head. With evening sessions every day and afternoon ones on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays – with the exception of the month of August during the Edinburgh Festival, when afternoon sessions take place every day – you can catch a wide variety of acts performing different folk genres, including Scottish reels and American bluegrass. The Stand Comedy Club Edinburgh has a great culture of comedy and the Stand Comedy Club is one of the most popular venues in the city. Although you need to pay for most of their gigs, they do have a free improv show at Sunday lunchtimes led by resident comics Stu and Garry. They also serve food so it makes an ideal place to go after a big Saturday night out. Edinburgh is a stunning city with plenty to keep you occupied for days. And with all these free attractions, there really is no reason not to visit.
Travel Tip created by Helen Thomas in association with Vacation Soup
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