#dragon roos island

[fravenwood]

[Book Review] The Priory of the Orange Tree

This review is as spoiler free as possible!

Book Title: The Priory of the Orange Tree

Author: Samantha Shannon

Genre: Fantasy

Publication Date: 26 February 2019

ISBN: 9781635577921

Introduction:

Hi! Today’s book is The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon! Fantasy is my genre of choice for most reading and writing, and this book has been on my radar for a while. A standalone epic fantasy novel with strong characters, worldbuilding, LBTQ+ rep, and…dragons? Yes, please!

Plot Summary:

The Priory of the Orange tree follows the events of a grim fantasy world. About one thousand years prior to the beginning of the novel, there was a fire dragon (or wyrm, in the novel) known as the Nameless One. He was prophesied to return one day and destroy the world, infecting all humans with a disease known as the red sickness. We start by following the story of Tané the dragonrider, but we are soon introduced to Niclays the alchemist, Ead the spy, and Arteloth the messenger as our other POV characters. Each of them has unique goals and character arcs, and everything wraps up really nicely in the end. A breath of fresh air compared to many modern fantasy novels wishing to be the next Game of Thrones with massive cliffhangers and no resolution.

Characters:

Oh, Miduchi Tané. There’s a lot more to delve into about her backstory, but she doesn’t get a lot of attention during the plot. She makes a mistake in the beginning of the book, one that ultimately defines her path throughout the story—but she definitely has the least amount of thought and care put into her.

Niclays Roos has a bit more going on. He wants to create the Elixir of Life, a pursuit first given to him by Queen Sabran of the kingdom of Inys. He was cast out to an island after failing to provide it to her, and he decided to continue trying to create it only to deny her its power. An interesting premise, and backed up by a past relationship that gets further explored throughout the novel.

Ead Duryan is by far my favorite character, and I suspect Samantha Shannon’s as well. She gets the most attention, and her storyline is the only one related directly to the book’s title. Working as a spy for an organization known as the Priory, she seeks to protect Queen Sabran Berethnet at all costs. There is a legend that this royal bloodline must continue to prevent the Nameless One from returning. Her arc of learning to live in Inys and being pulled between life there and her duties as a member of the Priory is the most compelling in the novel.

If Ead wasn’t the best character, it would’ve been Arteloth Beck. He is sent away on false pretenses of an important espionage mission to separate him and Sabran. Evidently, the two are too close, and people worried they might be rizzing it up. This is a problem for those who wish to weaken the queen. Along the way he has significant growth, and his character traits are intriguing and complex.

Writing Style:

The prose in this book is beautiful. There are a few times where it comes across as a little infodump-y, but for the most part Samantha Shannon writes a vivid tale and somehow never runs out of steam through this chonker of a book. She uses lovely descriptive writing, being sure to bring each location to life. Aside from a few clunky dialogue lines or expository paragraphs, this novel’s writing is what really sucked me in.

Themes:

There are several themes in this book that deal with relevant social issues or moral questions. Whether or not someone is a good or bad person based on their past comes up multiple times, as does the issue of bodily autonomy for women. LGBTQ+ representation is also high in this book, a wonderful change from the norm in adult fantasy. It never felt forced, nor did it feel out of place. There are also great themes of perseverance, courage, the typical fantasy themes.

What I Liked:

The scale of the plot is massive, and the characters are still somehow lovable in their own ways. Even lesser-developed side characters have so much charm. The way Samantha Shannon brings them to life is unparalleled! There are lots of fun twists and turns, and those twists have turns themselves. I’m also a sucker for the “dragons were gone but they’re coming back” trope, and she executes it really well. The political sphere felt fully realized and imaginative, and the magic system takes the classic fire versus water idea and takes it in a fresh direction.

What Could Be Improved:

As previously mentioned, I could tell which characters were her favorites and that wasn’t necessarily a great thing. There were exposition moments that dragged on, and sometimes the pace was a little too slow or fast. Tané’s storyline in particular was odd, because the dragonriding thread should’ve been one of the most fun. Unfortunately, we rarely see her riding a dragon because the plot keeps throwing conflicts at her that prevents it.

Conclusion:

The Priory of the Orange Tree is a great fantasy novel. Beautiful prose, colorful characters, a lifelike world and gripping plot threads make this a must read for fans of fantasy and adventure.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5

#fantasy #reading #books #libraries #writing #book review #the priory of the orange tree

[isolarya]

even in the end

headcanon that the ender dragon is a guardian. the people keep it alive through the magical ender crystals, which replenish the dragon's health and keep it from ageing in the already timeless end.

as the world is practically endless in this au, there is of course more than one dragon! the end is much larger, although just an empty, filled with many dragon islands known as the domains of the dragons.

each dragon watchers over a specific part of the world, but eventually, once a dragon lives long enough, it starts to hurt the world.

this happens when the players, who have abandoned the area around the stronghold by now, leave the dragon. the crystals need upkeep to keep the dragon tame and happy, and when the crystals break to only their most basic purpose, the dragon gets angry. it starts wreaking havoc, tearing down anything that it isn't familiar with and releasing poisonous breath into the air.

this is where the dragonhunters come in. they're a group of players who exist solely in the end, travelling from island to island on their ships to kill and hatch dragons. later, this purpose falls to the players who inhabit the area around the stronghold.

the dragonhunters, after so much exposure to the void, begin to twist and evolve in order to survive. the ender pearls they hold meld into them, their essence and power becoming one. they grow taller and thinner, their skin as black as the void. soon, they forget their purpose roo, and only endermen are left behind.

the end was once a lively, safer place. now, the rogue dragons are more common than not, and what the endermen used to be is all but forgotten.

#endermen #ender dragon #apricity au

[lem-argentum]

AHEM would you like to hear about my favorite video game tracks. no? well here they are anywya <3

rune fac.tory lightning round i love 4’s selphia plain n sercerezo hill is awesome n the rune prana/dragon cave theme from 3 also rock aaand trieste forest (arranged) from 2 and three sisters inn from oceans. <333

ff lightning round too i have another post dedicated to xv songs already but shoutouts to wanderlust and bros on the road ii (had to pause directly after getting that link because that one would make me cry HEFNDJ) <3 IX’S OST IS REALLYGOOD 10000 hearts for melodies of life, and also village of dali, over the hill, and gargan roo. vii’s don of the slums is also Awesome and besaid island from x is EVERYTHING along with spira (unplugged) <3 vi’s phantom forest is reallllyyyyy pretty and so is RELM’S THEME and i also super love magitek research facility and the zozo town theme. <333 i haven’t gotten far in v but its town theme is soso lovely also <33

moon r.pg has an AWEEESOME soundtrack my favorites are warp wet woods and killer blues i could listen to those foreeeeeverrrrrrr <3.

CHI.CORY A COLORFUL TALE SUCH A BELOVED VIDEO GAME TO ME abandon me is So Good along with probably ancient evil the boss music is SOO GOOD AUGH <333. and my favorite town theme is potluck it is calming to me <3

nice weather, ain’t it? from li.ve a live is good and so is cry a live and the master descends the mountain ANDthe battle theme for that chapter was also my favorite and. really good game btw <33

ch.rono triggerrrrrrr corridors of time Awesome wind scene Awesome the trial is also fun i love that segment <333. very pretty songs in this game

mentioning also lu.fia 2 because it has a REALLY good boss theme i need to play more of it sometime <333.

OH YEAH I PLAYED GH.OST TRICK really awesome music complication is good and HUGE FAN of lynne’s theme you should all play this gamethank you bows <33

#lem text #lem ramblings #riveting post from meeee . <33 #started this as a distraction and it’s been two hoursfmdn SUCCESS I GUESS. <3 goodniight ^^ <3333

[kazenomegaminowanpisu]

When Ben Beckman and Kira Met for the first time

Warning:SFW, Not fluff, oc x character, Ben beck man x Kira,

Kira x Ben Beckman

New name ship "Kiren"

—The ship of the red haired pirates anchored on a big island. where they can spend the night.

—some of the crew mates check out some bars where they can put a party for their night.

—"Oh it was a good bar" shanks and his companions enter the bar all of them got surprised to see a gray haired woman sitting into piled unconscious villagers.

—"Woah your ummm" Shanks approach the woman, "stop right there stupid" shanks stoped from walking. "who are you to approached me!" Shanks smiled. But suddenly he got blown away in the air. His friends start laughing.

—shanks stood up. He was laughing too. "Tsk bunch of useless males" the woman stood up and approach Lucky Roo. "you look cool" yassop pointed his gun into the woman. But before he could even pull the trigger, yassop came flying into the wall.

—Shanks companions became serious. "Leave" Ben Beckman approach the woman. "who are you" the woman loom at Ben, "you can call me Kira!" Lucky quickly attack Kira. And so do Ben.

—they kept attacking her bet it seemed they don't make enough damage into her. "Is that all you got?" Kira let out sigh. Shanks use his conquer haki. And some of the villagers and his companions collapse. But Kira remained standing. "Are you really a yonko?" Shanks smiled at Kira. "Wanna be part of my crew?" Kira smirked. "you can't even defeat me"

—Ben was ok her back pointing his gun into her. "stop being a brat" Kira faced ben and tell him to pull the trigger. Ben grab Kira's arms and throw her into the wall.

—"wanna bet?" Ben took off his coat. Kira stood up as she wipes the blood on her lips. "if my first mate won against you, you are going to join my crew" Kira smirked. "and if I won, your head will be my trophy" shanks smiled.

—"Let's start!" The whole crew start cheering up for their vice captain.

—The fight started. Kira and Ben start circling each other. "beckman, what a ugly surname" Ben vanished in the wind. "go!!!" his crew mates start shouting.

—Ben appeared at Kira's front and Attacked Kira with a punch, but Kira manage to dodge it all. "Is that all you got!" Kira manage to punch Ben's face. "ha!!" Kira Attack Ben.

—"Huh?" Ben saw something behind her back. Ben quickly run towards her and tried to grab her coat. "What the" Ben knew something was up.

—kira tried to dodge his attacks and Ben was trying to pull the coat off. "what are you doing!" Lucky Roo shouted.

—Kira kicked Ben's face and Ben didn't dodge it. "Weak old man!" Ben became serious. And he vanished once more and this time he Finally pull Kira's coat away.

—Every one hot surprised to see a big dragon mark on her back. "what did you do!!!" Kira's eyes became in tigers eyes and slowly her body transform into one. Kira Roar loudly. Ben didn't back up.

—kira attack Ben and Ben got blown away. His arm was on Kira's mouth, Kira's fangs slowly sank into his flesh.

—Ben stood up and give Kira blow into her stomach. kira blown away. Ben look at his bleeding arm. "you exposed my mark!!!" Kira slowly turn back to normal. "the tattoo is great" Ben approach Kira. "it's not a tattoo!!"

—Shanks approach to Kira and Ben. "both of you show a great a spirit when it comes to fighting, but it seemed that no one wins" Kira pinch shanks face. Shanks catch Kira's fist. "I'm in" shanks smiled as he nodded.

—kira touch Ben's wound, the wound slowly vanished away. "I will be the one that will kill you old man" Ben hold Kira's waist and he pulled her closer. "I can't wait" shanks announced that there was a new member of the group which is Kira.

#One piece Canons #One piece oc x character #One piece oc #kazenomegaminowanpisu oc x one piece characters #Kira x Ben Beckman #kiren canons #kira x Beckman #one piece oc canons #kazenomegaminowanpisu #one piece #hannaemeraldwhitedragon #writing #anime

[goalhofer]

2023 World Baseball Classic Great Britain Roster

Pitchers

#17 Tahnaj Thomas (Altoona Curve/Freeport, The Bahamas)

#18 Donovan Benoit (Dayton Dragons/Key West, Florida)

#19 Cam Opp (Binghamton Rumble Ponies/Denver, Colorado)

#21 Tyler Viza (free agent/Phoenix, Arizona)

#23 Akeel Morris (Long Island Ducks/St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands)

#25 Michael Petersen (ACL Rockies/Middlesex)

#27 Matteo Sollecito (Swarthmore College Garnet/London)

#29 Michael Roth (free agent/Greer, South Carolina)

#32 Alex Webb (free agent/Surrey, British Columbia)

#33 Daniel Cooper (free agent/Newport Beach, California)

#34 Chavez Fernander (West Michigan Whitecaps/Freeport, The Bahamas)

#35 Ryan Long (Delmarva Shorebirds/Woodinville, Washington)

#41 Branden Noriega (ACL Cubs/Miami, Florida)

#42 Malik Binns (FCL Phillies/DuPage Township, Illinois)

#43 Trayce Thompson (Los Angeles Dodgers/Rancho Santa Margarita, CA)

#44 Joseph King (St. Louis Cardinals/Redwood City, California)

#49 Vance Worley (free agent/Sacramento, California)

#50 McKenzie Mills (Tigres De Quintana Roo/Marietta, Georgia)

#55 Gunnar Groen (ACL Diamondbacks/London)

#67 Jake Esch (free agent/St. Paul, Minnesota)

#70 Andre Scrubb (free agent/Prince William County, Virginia)

#72 Jack Seppings (Brown University Bears/Newnan, Georgia)

#79 Ian Gibaut (Cincinnati Reds/Houston, Texas)

#94 Richard Brereton (free agent/London)

Catchers

#8 Harry Ford (Modesto Nuts/Kennesaw, Georgia)

#20 Ural Forbes (free agent/Freeport, The Bahamas)

Infielders

#2 Justin Wylie (New Jersey Jackals/Lancaster, Pennsylvania)

#4 B.G.A. Murray; Jr. (South Bend Cubs/Nassau, The Bahamas)

#11 Nick Ward (Washington Wild Things/Kennett Square, Pennsylvania)

#24 Darnell Sweeney (free agent/Ft. Lauderdale, Florida)

Outfielders

#1 Anfernee Seymour (Long Island Ducks/Plantation, Florida)

#9 D’Shawn Knowles (Tri-City Dust Devils/New Providence, The Bahamas)

#12 Chavez Young (Lansing Lugnuts/Freeport, The Bahamas)

#14 Matt Koperniak (Memphis Redbirds/Adams, Massachusetts)

#15 Alex Crosby (Southern Maryland Blue Crabs/Vacaville, California)

Coaches

Manager Drew Spencer (London Mets/Glendale, California)

Bench coach Brad Marcelino (Tacoma Rainiers/Carlsbad, California)

Hitting coach Jonathan Cramman (London Mets/London)

Pitching coach Zach Graefser (Great Britain Baseball/St. Louis, Missouri)

Bullpen coach Conor Brooks (Great Britain Baseball/Plymouth, Massachusetts)

1B coach Albert Cartwright (Great Britain Baseball/Nassau, The Bahamas)

3B coach T.S. Reed (Great Britain Baseball/Temecula, California)

Assistant coach Antoan Richardson (San Francisco Giants/Nassau, The Bahamas)

#Sports #Baseball #National Teams #U.K. #Celebrities #The Bahamas #Missouri #MiLB #Tacoma Rainiers #Massachusetts #Dayton Dragons #Florida #Illinois #West Michigan Whitecaps #Arizona #Delmarva Shorebirds #Washington #Mexico #Georgia #Binghamton Rumble Ponies #Colorado #Rhode Island #Pennsylvania #Canada #British Columbia #South Bend Cubs #New Jersey #Southern Maryland Stone Crabs #Tri-City Dust Devils #Minnesota

[pneumarq]

Little wingless dragon. 🦎 🐲 #Iguana #Reptil #México #Jungle #Cozumel #Island (at Cozumel Q. Roo.) https://www.instagram.com/p/CgeuE7fOuTY/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#iguana #reptil #méxico #jungle #cozumel #island

[crowjack20]

Spec girfugol/pseudo-girfugol post 1(no this isn't breaking the rules of girfugol because this is just a thought experiment.)

Name:yip

Kingdom: bushsand empire

Class:gryphus

Species combo:maniacal ripperoo*-southern Island bonebeak*

Age:4

Gender:bi cisgender hen

Size class:large(3 ft 6in)

Weight class:standard

+:strategic, helpful, kind

Neutral:blunt, competitive

-:violent, slightly sadistic, overapologetic

Strengths:physical strength, her claws and beak will end you if a trap don't. well armed, even without armor she's lethal, with sickle claws and a strong beak, she's a killer. Great strategic thinking, her wits were put to good use in the army.

Weaknesses:while lethal, she don't have much natural defence. Her improvisation skills and surprise attack strategies are ineffective without the element of surprise.

Occupation:a former General of the NK army, now a hunter/trapper/butcher.

Likes:

Avus:those who are patient, her brother, or like stories

Food:red meat, particularly kangaroo or elephant, greasy foods, and potatoes.

Other:hunting, bone carving, armor, running, rain

Dislikes:

Avus: those who are in a rush, merchants, and cheat at things

Food:bananas, dry foods, soup

Other:humidity, tight spaces, the ocean.

Added items:two sets of iron talon extensions, a straight-dagger pair for her front-paw sickle claws, and a more recurved hook type for her hind feet. Iron helmet, leather bodysuit with bronze plates on the belly and sides and iron on the back. And a leather tail sleeve.

Voice claim:don't have an actor, but she's got a southern drawl, and a somewhat hyena like cackle

Name:lutra

Species cross:maniacal ripperoo*-southern island bonebeak*

Kingdom:bushsand empire

Class:gryphus

Age:4

Gender: straight cisgender roo

Size class:large(4 ft)

Weight class:bulky

+:funny, loyal, creative

Neutral:competitive, lawful, stern

Negative:violent, easily distracted, bloodthirsty, vengeful

Strengths:physical strength, his muscle and brawn will end you. Well armed, even without armor, he's deadly, with knives and meat hooks for claws and a bone crushing beak, he don't need weapons. Incredibly creative and intelligent, he's mastered the hunt.

Weaknesses:overly emotional, if he's on a mission, he might get distracted by an insult or an attack on his life. Kind of crazy, if he has a plan, it usually gets ruined by his insanity.

Occupation:a former soldier of the NK army, now a rancher/thug for hire.

Likes:

Food:red meat, particularly mutton, fish, salty foods, bones, and eggs

Avus:his sister, patient avus, and avus who have money

Other:trapping, taxidermy, the smell of leather, rain, and his cattle

Dislikes:

Food:poultry, spicy foods, leafy greens

Avus: backstabbers, bandits, monarchs

Other:wolves, duststorms, boring parties

Added items:an iron helmet. Bronze chestplate with a dragon etched into it. Bronze extensions of his claws, a straight-dagger pair for his front-paw sickle claws, and a more recurved hook type for his hind feet. A necklace with whale bone beads and a pendant carved from a hippus antler(the cord of the necklace itself is leather) leather arm and leg bands.

Voice claim:don't have an actor, but he's got a crazy voice, a western drawl, and a somewhat hyena like cackle

These two are twins

**: I mentioned this symbol during the species combo sections to give credit to Tribbetherium, for letting me use his creatures, in this case the maniacal ripperoo. And to give credit to sheather888 for making the southern island bonebeak

[k-eke]

Medli is teaching to Kass how to play the Dragon Roost island's theme :)

#animation #animated #gif #fanart #Kass #Medli #song #dragon roos island

[aso-designer]

And here it is! Here we are with a new adventure starring Pinstripe and Komodo Joe ! This time Pinstripe will face a new issue that he'll have to learn through: Jealousy! By the sight of a muscular Potoroo, Pinstripe will do everything to prove he's better than him... And mishaps ensues! 🤭

______

*Pinstripe was very gloomy, despite the lovely month that just started. The main town of Wumpa Islands was decorated by flowers of all sorts and since we were approaching Easter, there were few bunnies and egg shaped decorations.

Pinstripe wasn't in the mood, mainly because he had less work from Dr Cortex. Sure he no longer really serves him , but the Potoroo often received documents from the evil scientist that he had to report and sign. It was like a bonus work next to his actual office job. But since a while, Cortex seemed to no longer need help from Pinstripe, which had kind of depressed the Potoroo. So because of this bonus lack, the Don passed less time at the office, one of the only places where he felt really good, that, his Tommy Gun and Joe.

Speaking of Joe, the Komodo Dragon was concerned about his friend , and propose that he could find an hobby like doing some sports activities, since had less things to do, and not be completely alone. Pinstripe relucantly accept, and since Joe was doing gymnastics to maintain his flexibility, the two of them gets to the sportsclub together.

Pinstripe : Look Joe, it's nice to proposing me to find an hobby, but you didn't have too.

Joe: It doesn't hurt to try. I mean, Kong, Tiny and Ripper Roo are there as well. You should see how amazing Rippy is in boxing. He litterally defeated everyone who ever faced him.

Pinstripe : Oh... Really ?...Well, I hope they make sure to put him back to his straightjacket once he's all done.

Joe: Yes, I think they make sure of this.

*Pinstripe takes a glare of the few posters displayed on the building's glasses. Few of them got his attention.*

Pinstripe : Say... that thing they talked about months ago... You think it still planned?

Joe: I have no clue. I admit I almost forgot about this.

Pinstripe : Well, when it'll actually happens, they better call us to join. I just want to feel important again.

Joe: Same for me.. Sometimes I feel we're not invited enough.

Pinstripe : Yeah...

Pinstripe *see another poster* : Oh look, Fake Crash is banned from that building again. He sure love to cause a mess with his shenanigans .

Joe: That's not really important. He'll always find a way to get in there. Anyway.

*They proceed to enter in the building.*

Joe: I'm going to that room for the gym practice. You can go there if you want. This is where they do bodybuilding.

Pinstripe : Yeah, perhaps It wouldn't hurt to get stronger arms, especially with my Tommy Gun.

Joe: See you later, Pin'.

*Joe gets in the gym room. Pinstripe gets inside the bodybuilding room, a bit sceptical.*

Pinstripe : I wonder if this will lead me to something...

#crash bandicoot #pinstripe potoroo #komodo brothers #komodo joe #crash team racing nitro fueled #joestripe #crash bandicoot 4 #crash team racing

[elizabethbennetonweeds]

🌬 songs for a particular mood you can't explain

• a world alone ~ lorde • ribs ~ lorde • 400 lux ~ lorde

• indigo night ~ tamino

• perfect places ~ lorde • awakening ~ aurora • nandemonaiya ~ radwimps • sparkle ~ radwimps • mystery of love ~ sufjan stevens • rise ~ boyce avenue (cover) • ho hey ~ the lumineers • california dreamin' ~ the mamas and the papas • goodbye, my danish sweetheart ~ mitski • sofia ~ clario • suzume ~ radwimps x toaka • is there anything love can't do ~ radwimps • you're on your own kid ~ taylor swift

• empty ~ ray la montague • sleep on the floor ~ the lumineers • i know the end ~ phoebe bridgers • space song ~ beach house • 10 mile stereo ~ beach house • champagne problems ~ taylor swift • empty notes ~ ghostly kisses • fourth of july ~ sufjan stevens • this city holds my heart ~ ghostly kisses • run ~ daughter • you are somebody else ~ flora cash • jane ~ mai • ja'i demadè á la lune ~ ghostly kisses • lullaby love ~ roo panes • ya'aburnee ~ halsey • haligh, haligh, a lie, haligh ~ connor oberst ft phoebe bridgers • ophelia ~ the lumineers • buzzcut season ~ lorde • savior complex ~ phoebe bridgers • hold no grudge ~ lorde • sidelines ~ phoebe bridgers • first love/late spring ~ mitski • the great war ~ taylor swift • movement ~ hozier • past lives ~ borne

• daddy issues ~ the neighbourhood • do i wanna know ~ arctic monkeys • talk ~ hozier • apocalypse ~ cigarettes after sex • affection ~ cigarettes after sex • power ~ isak danielson • art deco ~ lana del rey • mariners apartment complex ~ lana del rey • infinity ~ the xx • serotonin ~ girl in red • whatever it takes ~ imagine dragons • akuma no ko ~ ai higuchi • ULTRAVIOLENCE by lana del rey • brand new city ~ mitski • mocking bird ~ eminem • whispers ~ halsey • no one changes ~ connor oberst

• mademoiselle noir ~ peppina • achilles come down ~ gangs of youth • icarus ~ bastille • persephone ~ tamino • bells in santa fe ~ halsey • the islander ~ nightwish

#songs #song recs #lorde #the lumineers #aurora aksnes #hozier #lana del rey #tamino #taylor swift #the xx #the neighbourhood #sufjan stevens #arctic monkeys #music #playlist #gangs of youth #isak danielson #cigarettes after sex #ghostly kisses #ryn weaver #peppina #bastille #flora cash #radwimps #roo panes #daughter #halsey #phoebe bridgers #beach house #imagine dragons

[dragonladdie]

Elf ocs you say? Do tell!

THANK YOU BESTIE

There are two major "categories" of elf: Geode and Stone elves. There is technically a "third" category (unfondly) called "Glass elf," but we'll get to that ;)

Geode elves

Their skin is naturally pigmented a rocky gray from their origins underneath the surface of the ground. They have straight hair which is either white or black, with long, pointed ears. The only splash of color on their grayscale bodies is their eyes, which are always bright colors, hence their name.

Like I said earlier, the Geode elves originated underneath the continent, Brivet(pronounced briv-ETTE). Legend has it that hundreds of years ago, the golden deer-masked goddess Anigea (pronounced AH-nee-gee-ah) came to them, warning them of how the surface world was dominated by the Dragons: Horned, flying monsters with power over the elements-- and how the Stone elves on the surface lived in fear of the creatures. The Geode elves were worried, but the great hero Tyru (pronounced TY-roo) rallied the other elves to help the fellow elves. Long story short, the dragons were eventually defeated and vanished after the ten-year war, and Tyru was crowned Emperor, wearing a golden deer mask in honor of Anigea. The Geode elves established their main territory on an island in the center of the Inmo Sea: A city-state simply known as "The Capital."

Not too long after these events, the Geode elves became greedy. The Capital became a deeply classist society, materialistic and devoted to individualism, and started to develop an uptight disposition around any non-Capital citizens.

Modern Geode elf culture is famously hedonistic and devoted to individualism. As stated before, as a nation that subsists on capitalism they are inherently classist, and though recent years have seen the ladder to success grow more accessible, the line between nobility, commoners, and the lesser fortunate remains distinct and nearly impossible to cross.

Prideful to the tune of considering elfkind the unequivocal ideal, they dismiss other entities as uncultured, barbaric creatures (which, according to some conspiracy theorists, may or may not have been the true reason they started the famous war with the dragons)

Materialism is a cultural virtue and being performative with both your appearance and actions is not uncommon nor unexpected, especially among the higher ranking classes.

Flashy makeup and attire (for all genders, as gender roles in this world is unheard of) is popular with the Geode elves, as the only non-monochrome color on their body is their eyes. Colorful hair dyes and tattoos are currently in style as well.

When out in the city-state and attending public events, nobility and royalty ALWAYS wear masks resembling animals. This practice stems from the belief that during the Dragon-Elf Wars, one god lent their power to one randomly selected warrior, each of those warriors being the common ancestor of the Noble Houses. These masks pay tribute to their respected patron gods, and resemble the ones that they wear(For example: The Royal House, a.k.a. the Votaine Line, wears a deer mask to resemble Anigea's).

Seeing a noble's face without their consent is considered a crime, with various punishments in order of how serious the offense is. For example, if a Noble's mask accidentally slips off or is broken and you happen to be in their presence, the worst thing that may happen is a fine, depending on how conservative said Noble is. However, forcibly ripping off or breaking a Noble's mask is considered worthy of a life sentence, or even execution.

Stone elves

Frankly, the Stone elves are a lot more diverse than the Geode elves, and cannot be put under just one label as a whole. They are not just one group, but four distinct cultures, with certain features according to which region of Brivet their ancestors originate from. They are as follows:

Northstone elves make their home in the mountainous peninsula of Brivet, with a setting similar to Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand. Noticeable traits are olive skin, dark monolid eyes, and black hair.

Weststone elves reside in the diverse landscape toward the west of the Inmo Sea, with a similar setting to Canada and the U.S. Noticeable traits is skin that ranges from a light tan to umber, aquiline noses, and dark brown or black hair.

Eaststone elves' ancestral home is located on the archipelago off the eastern coast of Brivet, with a setting similar to Australia, Aotearoa, Hawai'i, and Polynesia. Noticeable traits is skin that ranges from olive to dark brown, monolid eyes, and dark brown or black hair.

Southstone elves' land is on the southern brush of Brivet, with a similar setting to Kenya, Tanzania, and Benin. Noticeable traits is skin that ranges from dark brown to ebony, with full lips and coily black hair.

Stone elf culture is not a monolith. While there are some similarities between clans adapted through trade and allyship over the years(such as beading and ribbonwork), every clan's beliefs, customs and traditions still greatly vary. (Man I'm going to have to have to greater flesh out these guys cultures soon 👀)

There is one constant between modern Stone elf culture: a shared sense of community and family. No one within a village is a stranger, with people fondly calling each other brother, cousin, auntie, etc. Secrets are not kept long in towns, and events such as births, weddings, and holidays are celebrated as a whole.

Hair also has a lot to do with Stone elf culture. While exact traditions vary, a good example are the Weststone elves. Weststone elves typically grow their hair long throughout their life, only cutting it when a loved one dies. Braids are a common hairstyle, whether it be only one or up to four.

Stone elves do not waste ANYTHING that comes from an animal. At all. Doing so is dishonorable and disrespectful towards the animal you killed. So it's not all uncommon for a family to go knocking on close friends' doors to ask if they'll want the leftovers from their meal. Bones, skin, fur, and even teeth is made into clothing, jewelry, etc. So you can imagine their disdain for the Capital's habit of tossing out anything they don't want.

While the Stone elves are very much their own societies, they are still under Capital law. They still need to pay taxes, get jobs, buy their own stuff, etc. Many elders gripe about currency being obsolete and pointless, but hey, that's capitalism for ya, pal.

The "third" category of elves are called Glass elves: or better known as "fake elves".

There is a major detail about Dragons I forgot to mention: their ability to shapeshift. They can mimic the appearance of Stone elves down to the color of their eyes, with just a few limitations. One limitation is they can't copy the appearance of a real person. They change into their elfsona, if you will. Another limitation is that their pupils stay slit. This is harder to catch, since most Stone elves' eyes are naturally dark colored. The third limitation is that their teeth stay noticeably sharp, just enough to give anyone the creeps.

Urban Legend says that less than twenty years ago, two of these "glass elves" gained the trust of the Emperor and moved into the castle. About ten years later, people woke up to the Capital burning. The entire city watched as the Emperor, half of his body terribly burned, slay ones of these "elves" that won the hearts of the city in it's true form.

The second dragon was never found.

#ask box #long post #worldbuilding #oc #fantasy #elf #dragon #native people in fantasy #Brivet #enjoy 😌

[terramythos]

TerraMythos 2021 Reading Challenge - Book 9 of 26

Title: The Priory of the Orange Tree (2019) 

Author: Samantha Shannon

Genre/Tags: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Third-Person, Female Protagonists, LGBT Protagonists

Rating: 10/10

Date Began: 3/12/2021

Date Finished: 4/12/2021

1000 years ago, the world burned. Draconic creatures terrorized the land, led by a horrific evil known as the Nameless One. But then something happened that sent the monsters into a seemingly endless sleep, and the world has rebuilt in the centuries since.

But the Draconic evil begins to stir in its slumber, and the divided nations of the world have little chance to stop it. Eadaz is a mage from the Priory of the Orange Tree, sent to spy on the northern queendom of Inys. Legend has it that as long as the royal line continues, the world will be free from the Nameless One. While it's a long shot, Ead guards the young Queen Sabran closely to preserve the peace. However, as she and the queen grow closer to each other, Ead has to decide where her loyalties lie. Meanwhile, her close friend Loth is secretly sent into exile by the royal spymaster due to his controversial friendship with the queen. Supposedly sent as an ambassador to the newly Draconic kingdom of Yscalin, he soon finds himself out of his depth, entrusted with a deadly secret.

In the isolationist Eastern country of Seiiki, Tané wants nothing more than to become a dragon rider. The dragons of the East are old, wise, and revered as gods-- eternally opposed to the Draconic legions of the West. However, the night before the choosing ceremony that will decide her fate, she breaks isolation and discovers a young man from the West on the shore. Rather than report him to the authorities, she and her friend smuggle him to the island of Orisima, the only place Westerners are permitted. Niclays Roos, an old man exiled to Orisima by Queen Sabran, soon finds himself caught in the conflict. He believes if he finds an elixir for eternal life, he will finally be able to return home. When he's forced to shelter the forbidden Westerner, Niclays' entire way of life is upended-- but he is soon granted the opportunity to escape his exile.  

'My grandmother once said that when a wolf comes to the village, a shepherd looks first to her own flock. The wolf bloods his teeth on other sheep, and the shepherd knows it will one day come for hers, but she clings to the hope that she might be able to keep him out. Until the wolf is at her door.’

Full review, minor spoilers, and content warnings under the cut.

Content warnings for the book:  Some sexual content. Blood, gore, violence, traumatic injury, suicide, and death. Torture and execution. Miscarriage. Body horror (kinda). Drug use.

Clocking in at just over 800 pages, The Priory of the Orange Tree is a long, detailed story. I tend to label things Epic Fantasy when they have world-changing stakes. While Priory certainly fits that criteria, it's the first fantasy book I've read in a while that really does feel like an epic. It stars a huge cast of interesting characters from many walks of life, all of whom find themselves caught up in a world-spanning conflict. It captures the sense of a standalone, grand adventure that shorter fantasy novels of today don't typically reach.

With a book this long, it would be easy to ramble on forever about everything I liked. However, I'm going to try to keep it short and simple.

One of my favorite things about this story was the sheer depth of the world. Lots of people compare this to The Lord of the Rings not for its tropes, but the attention to detail regarding the countries, politics, history, religion, and so on. I'm inclined to agree with this assessment. The world felt alive and multi-dimensional. I could pinpoint many parallels to our own mythologies and histories-- particularly drawn from Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. There's also a clear love of language in the story via its beautiful prose. I like to think I know English pretty well, but this book taught me quite a few new words! Might fuck around and call sunsets "rutilant" from now on.

I thought all four leads were interesting. Ead is kinda the "main" lead of the novel, although Tané overtakes her in the latter half. Everyone had different personalities and backstories, and I genuinely enjoyed all of their arcs. Niclays in particular would be an easy character to hate; of the four, he's the most selfish and does some real questionable shit. At the same time, it's hard not to sympathize with him. He's a sad, unjustly exiled elder who's lost the one man he cared about, and finds himself in a desperate situation. These types of characters are interesting to me; a glimpse of what anyone can become given the wrong circumstances and cruel treatment.

With stories like this, one of the most satisfying payoffs is how the different characters and stories come together. It was interesting to see how their paths converged and diverged over time, and ultimately how everything tied together in the end. I also appreciated the character relationships. I liked that Loth's close friendships with both Sabran and Ead were intimate yet platonic without some awkward love triangle.

From some story specifics... I'm a sucker for the bodyguard romance trope, and seeing it done with women in a mainstream novel gave me life. I thought the romance between Ead and Sabran was really sweet; I didn't see how it would work early on since Sabran was a little insufferable, but she had hidden depths (oh god, another weakness of mine). I also really liked the idea of traditional European and Asian dragons being diametrically opposed, and that being a core theme of the story. Intelligent and/or talking animals are another thing I adore in spec fic, so I dug characters like Aralaq. Kalyba's ongoing relevance and gradual exposition was also neat; I love minor world details that turn out super relevant later.

Also, the entire final battle/ending sequence was SO good. Really creative and action packed. Action scenes often blend together for me (and can be logistical nightmares) but Priory's climactic ending was just awesome. I don't want to spoil specifics, but it reminded me of many beloved epic battles in modern fantasy. Avatar the Last Airbender, How To Train Your Dragon, and Pirates of the Caribbean all came to mind. 

My main criticism with Priory is that often, the plot relied on convenient coincidence to get the characters out of a jam or otherwise advance the story. I can excuse a minor contrivance or two for the sake of a smooth story, and the scope of this book is big enough that it'd be hard to avoid. But some are nuts. For example, Loth gets rescued from certain death by a giant ichneumon while traveling through the mountains. We later learn the ichneumon is Aralaq, a friend of Ead's, and he just happened to be in the middle of nowhere, far from his home, and stumbled upon Loth. Loth, who ALSO happens to be Ead's best friend... which Aralaq presumably doesn't know?

Another is the MAJOR SPOILER regarding the rising jewel's location. I didn't hate the twist itself, but there was so little build up to it. I wish there were more early hints to justify it, because with setup it would be a pretty cool development. These things didn't ruin my enjoyment of the story, but the borderline deus ex machina (machinae? machinas?) did take me out of it a bit. It’s possible I missed stuff so I’ll give some benefit of the doubt. 

Overall, though, The Priory of the Orange Tree is a fun, world-spanning adventure. Like any long book, it's an investment to get into. However, if you're looking for a standalone, feminist fantasy epic, this is certainly a good place to start.  

#10/10 #taylor reads #2021 reading challenge #bro this took exactly a month to read but in my defense it's long and i also powered through Pillars of Eternity lmfao

[itsbenedict]

Two-Faced Jewel: Session 5

A half-elf conwoman (and the moth tasked with keeping her out of trouble) travel the Jewel in search of, uh, whatever a fashionable accessory is pointing them at. [Campaign log]

Caught up in a blood feud between the villages of Wheat and Barley, Saelhen and Looseleaf are tasked with investigating a recent death. Their investigation takes them to a spooky tower owned by the local crazy torture wizard, which- hey, why was this guy not considered a suspect, huh? He's a crazy torture wizard!

Last time, the group was introduced to Malath Kanthalga, matron cleric of the village of Barley. She has no trust for outsiders- but she was willing to let Looseleaf lend a hand in proving once and for all that the scoundrels of Wheat were responsible for the recent murders.

To that end, the party is led a ways down the road to the farmstead of Roos and Gera Nicksickle, an elderly halfling couple which was recently slain.

En route, Looseleaf sizes up the farmers Malath has been arming, to see if any of them seem to have combat experience. There's one lizardfolk farmer who seems more comfortable with the armor, and holds his pitchfork like a spear. She makes a note of that.

They arrive, and are met by Lester Jawhold, a doughy-looking human man who's standing guard over the body out in the field, accompanied by a number of vicious-looking hounds. With permission to search the crime scene, some investigationing occurs.

Saelhen gets some basic details- the body was pierced through the chest with a four-pronged weapon, as described. Plus, there are the remains of hastily-erased footprints in the dusty soil- bootprints, it seems.

Looseleaf uses her animism magic to get a more direct picture of the incident. The corpse, recently dead, has a dead-corpse spirit that retains some information thanks to the emotionally volatile nature of recent events. The cause of death... being suddenly pierced through the heart, from the front, by a strange four-pointed weapon that induced extreme pain. It appeared to strike from out of thin air. Nothing about the corpse indicates a memory of seeing an assailant.

Indoors, the other victim, Gera, is found dead on the floor of the kitchen. It seems like the cause of death is the same, but... Looseleaf's animism reveals that her vital organs are intact, and she appears to have died of shock from the extreme pain.

All Saelhen finds from searching the house is... an empty cupboard with a recently-unlocked lock, and a mattress removed from its bed. Plus some of the same bootprints from outside.

Looseleaf has the idea to search the house for the victims' boots, to compare with the prints found outside. And what the search reveals is... there are no boots. They didn't own any. They were halflings. So their house being covered in dusty bootprints... well, it implies someone else was here and murdered them, which rules out the "a weird knife sort of inexplicably teleported into their chests" theory, at least.

The only real clue they have to go on is the extreme pain experienced by the victims. This suggests...

Malath gives a little exposition on the torture wizard- apparently he considers himself a savior, who through his experiments intends to vanquish pain itself- and surely torturing a few unwilling test subjects will be worth it, if he succeeds. Malath doesn't seem to consider it likely that Lumiere is the culprit, for the same reasons as Thalath- but jokingly suggests that perhaps Lumiere might have some information on who stole his torture tools to commit murder with.

Looseleaf: "So," Looseleaf asks, "if we're going to the tower wherein dwells a torture wizard, what can you tell us about what we might expect to face there? Ravenous horrific alchemical experiments ready to eat our faces? Traps? Magical servitors? A portal to another realm full of horrors?" Benedict I. (GM): She looks briefly surprised. "No, I... though I haven't been victim to him myself, I would warn strongly against confronting Lumiere, unless you're all much more seasoned than you look. None from our village have been able to resist him when he decided our consent was no longer worth trying to wrest from us." "Those who have been inside the tower might have more information for you, if you're fool enough to try." Looseleaf: "Well, team, you've heard the mission dossier, I guess. Do we think we're fool enough to try?" Saelhen du Fishercrown: Saelhen Fishercrown is not fool enough to try. Unfortunately, Saelhen isn't getting to be Saelhen right now. "...I imagine that we have no other recourse." Benedict I. (GM): Vayen looks... almost gleeful, insofar as his face betrays any expression. Looseleaf: Thanks for the vote of creepiness, edgelord.

Saelhen opts to kill annoying helicopters with one stone, and suggests that the team split up to gather information on the tower from the townspeople. She also suggests that Malath personally keep an eye on Vayen, as the least-trustworthy-seeming member of the group. Good persuasion means it works, and Vayen goes off to interrogate Lester Jawhold while the rest of the team heads into town to ask around about Lumiere's past victims.

First, on the way back to town, they speak with Chitch Ssarzar, the lizardfolk with the apparent military background. He's got one hell of a sob story for them!

Saelhen du Fishercrown: 24 PERSUASION (8) all i do is win Benedict I. (GM): That'll do it- Chitch is pretty horrified at the implication that you're actually trying this, but with sufficient reassurance, he'll spill his guts. He came to Grain back when it was just Grain, twenty-odd years ago, hoping to raise his infant daughter somewhere less dangerous than the Cutthroat Islands. Then, during the fire, his daughter was kidnapped by the wizard, and he tried storming the tower to get her back. He got captured, strapped to a rack, and had his flesh flensed and healed and flensed and healed repeatedly. At one point he thought he'd get a reprieve, when the wizard's teakettle went off and he went downstairs to get some tea- but the flensing knives just kept going, by themselves, without stopping. He never saw his daughter again. He was eventually released, and thanked for his service, and by that point he was too traumatized to ask Lumiere what happened to his daughter, in case it provoked him to torture him more. He's pretty wracked with guilt over the situation.

They get a rough description of the first few floors of the tower, up to the torture room. Plus, some exposition on the town's history:

Looseleaf: Okay. More questions: this time, asking about the town. It was called Grain, once? It split into two towns and now Barley hates Wheat? There was a fire? How did this all come to happen such that a single town turned in on itself? Benedict I. (GM): Yes- either 28 or 29 years ago, he forgets exactly, there was some feuding between farmers growing different crops. The ones with less fertile soil, sandier towards the southeast and closer to the mountains, had some kind of grudge against the landowners with more fertile soil, and it was this whole political infighting nightmare he didn't understand, as he was new in town. Then the dragon attacked, and... he's not entirely sure what happened, because accusations were flying left and right, but apparently some people tried to use the dragon attack as cover to commit arson against their enemies? Saelhen du Fishercrown: DRAGON Looseleaf: A FUCKING DRAGON Benedict I. (GM): And most of the town burned down, and when it came time to rebuild, nobody wanted to build near each other- and there was some sort of weird religious split between Family and Harmony so that most of the Harmony people decided to go grow wheat on the worse land, and the Family people went to go grow barley on the better land. He'd never been super involved with the split, as a newcomer, and spent the early rebuilding period being tortured- Barley was just the closest civilization after he was set free. Looseleaf: Mmmmm. A tragedy, all around, gods-damn. Saelhen du Fishercrown: caused by a dragon. a dragedy, if you will.

Then it's off to visit the innkeeper, Cassie Zeishus.

Benedict I. (GM): When you reach the inn, you meet Cassie Zeishus, the innkeeper. She tells you about the time she visited the torture wizard to see if her husband was there. Looseleaf: Oh, yeah, you know. Just, a conjugal visit. To the torture tower. Benedict I. (GM): Apparently her husband, kind of a good-for-nothing out-of-towner she married largely as a charity case, kept on gambling and trying to sleep around and doing general sleazy vice stuff, and was miserable in a town that didn't want to indulge him- and she's pretty sure he faked getting kidnapped by the torture wizard to escape it. Saelhen du Fishercrown: as one does definitely not victim-blaming Benedict I. (GM): This was corroborated by Lumiere quite pleasantly answering the door and telling her no, he hadn't seen hide nor hair of this Arnie fellow, and would she like to come in for tea? And her saying no, no thank you, and walking away. Looseleaf: Huh. Benedict I. (GM): She doesn't know why the guy let her leave, despite a propensity for forcing people inside and torturing them in the past. She chalks it up to having been very intimidating towards him.

Saelhen also tries to inquire about Kensa, Thalath's sister, who's apparently in some sort of dire straits here. She doesn't want to give away that she's asking about Kensa deliberately, so she takes something of a garden path of conversation, about Malath and why the townsfolk call her "Mother". Eventually she gets to Kensa, who apparently weaves cloth and sells it to the general store, where she can be found around this time of day. (She's apparently got something going on with the shopkeep's son.)

Looseleaf: these affairs might not be something we can intervene constructively in. Saelhen du Fishercrown: I mean, Saelhen's definitely abducting this child Looseleaf: gosh, well, when you put it that way, how could we not. Saelhen du Fishercrown: let's visit the general store! saelhen enjoys cloth.

At the general store, they find... not really any evidence that anything bad is going on with Kensa. She seems... fine? Also six feet tall and jacked as hell, because she's a goliath and their twelve-year-olds are just like that?

Kensa notices Lady Noeru de la Surplus' fancy silk dress, and fangirls over it immediately.

Benedict I. (GM): "Whoa, is that silk?" "I don't know if we have any silk in the back, but-" "Silk?" the girl by the window asks. "Ohmigosh, you have a silk dress? Ohmigosh, how much did it cost?" Saelhen du Fishercrown: "Ah." Saelhen expected a little more resistance than this! "15 gold, when I bought it." Benedict I. (GM): "Whooooaaaa..." She's looking the dress up and down with obvious envy. "Nnnnngh, but I don't have... fifteen gold..." Looseleaf: oh my gosh she wants to buy it

Benedict I. (GM): "It's- hang on, if I get ten, will you sell it?" "I can probably get ten! And I'll throw in a replacement!" "Not silk, but-" "Uh, Mr. Teller, do you still have last week's stuff in the back?" Looseleaf: this kid's great Benedict I. (GM):"It's good, I promise!"

Saelhen, being a con artist and kind of a jerk, turns down the offer, but skillfully reframes the issue by exploiting Kensa's love of textiles to get it repaired on the cheap in exchange for a swatch or two of the fabric. Great... job...?

After interrogating the townsfolk, Looseleaf has a bright idea- she wants to buy a climbing pack to scale the tower from the outside. It costs her extra, since new stuff has to be custom-forged overnight (a remote farming village like this doesn't have much call for climbing packs), but she gets it.

Vayen comes back, with testimony from Lester. It's not much they didn't get from Chitch- just a note that apparently vegetables were chopping themselves in Lumiere's kitchen.

Looseleaf: i should get some food too maybe! anyways all this is really pointing hard to 'the four-pronged stabby painblades move on their OWN'. it's not clear who's BEHIND it, but it's pretty obvious now that all the clues point towards the stabbies being the culprit.

-

The next morning, they head out to the tower. They notice a couple things: one is a sign that reads: " KEEP SHOUTING",

and the other is a bunch of broken glass and rubble strewn across the ground. Looking up, they notice the sixth floor seems to have had a large window smashed open. Weirdly, less glass on the ground than you'd expect if it'd been smashed open from the inside.

Looseleaf's Animist class can Detect Magic, sorta, and it's pretty clear to her that the front door is magic- so rather than fall for an obvious trap, she puts her plan into action. She can jump 30 feet up with the aid of her wings, so she's able to jump straight to the third floor and try to drive a piton into the stone to drop a rope for the rest of the party.

Here is a list of problems with that plan:

Looseleaf has tiny little sticklike moth arms, which exert insufficient force to drive pitons into stone with no leverage.

Breaking a window to attach the rope to instead results in a broken window.

Inside the broken window is a spindly suit of armor covered in nasty spikes, which immediately springs to life and turns to face whoever just broke a window next to it.

Also an alarm goes off.

Looseleaf is able to get the rope secured before the living armor attacks her, and jumps back out the window- as a moth, she essentially has Feather Fall on at all times. Still, going in through that window presents a problem.

They've noticed something, though- the automaton doesn't seem to be chasing them out the window. It's just standing there, staring down at them. This... gives Looseleaf a bright idea.

Orluthe has to make his grapple check with disadvantage, given that he's trying to snag this thing with his halberd with one hand while clinging to the side of a building by a rope, but luckily this thing botches its own roll thanks to its patented "stand perfectly still because there are no intruders in the building" maneuver.

It takes a bunch of fall damage from hitting the ground, is knocked prone, and the remainder of the party immediately unloads on it on a surprise round with crits for a bazillion damage, killing it before it can move.

This was a really good idea!

Too bad there was another one just inside, which Orluthe is now alone with!

...Wait, no, he's a giant wolfman in football armor and he suplexes the other one out the window, where the exact same thing proceeds to happen to it. Okay. Cool.

With that, the party makes their way inside. Whatever the alarm was, it seems to have died down, physically- whatever was powering it petered out. Plus, Looseleaf's magic detection means there's no way they could get caught in any traps!

Any magic traps!

Saelhen fails her perception check while walking across the room to a treasure chest and hits a tripwire and a net falls from the ceiling, trapping her and Oyobi! I bet this would be a really dangerous trap if there were, say, two menacing spiky robots bearing down on them trying to kill them while they were defenseless. As is, though... it's a minor inconvenience.

After this snafu, Saelhen tries to pick open the chest, only to find that the lock is a) quite well-made, and b) itself trapped, with a poison needle in the locking mechanism designed to go off if a lockpicking attempt fails. She just barely gets her fingers away in time, and opts to leave this treasure chest to loot later, after they're done here.

The stairs up from floor 3 seem to be blocked off by a translucent red magic barrier, so Looseleaf resumes the original plan. She stands on the windowsill of the third floor, and just flaps up to the fourth floor, looking inside and this time unlocking the window telekinetically from the inside, rather than breaking it and setting off an alarm.

When she opens the window (to the torture laboratory), some more very scary torture robots immediately go after her, as do a variety of flying knives that have quite a bit of movement speed and stab her repeatedly.

Maybe this idea had some flaws.

Next time: Looseleaf hopefully doesn't get turned into moth sashimi by animated torture implements! More dungeon is crawled! Some jerk falls down the stairs and it's hilarious!

#tfj log #twofaced jewel #d&d 5e

[chelseacatgirl]

Been a while since I made an NPC OC for Skylanders, so meet Ellis, who was also called "The Hooded Hybrid" by everyone in Skylands. Name: Ellis Species: Elf/Mabu Hybrid Gender: Male Element: Magic Family: Usher *Father; Deceased* Gabrielle *Mother; Deceased* Voice Actor: Sam Riegel (Like Kazuki Sendou from Comic Party) https://youtu.be/XUZ9XmBZbNI?t=233 Biography: Ellis is a orphaned hybrid of a Mabu *Around Flynn, Cali, and Nightshade's breed* like his late father Usher and an elf like his late mother Gabrielle. He once lived on an island in Skylands that knows less of the Skylanders where he grew up on a small house in the forest until age five where a gang of troll poachers invaded the household and murdered his parents before kidnapping Ellis. The trolls planned to have their own zoo much better than the Cyclops Queen's, where it's a zoo of hybrids they capture and display in a attempt to gain money to be rich, and Ellis is the first and only one. Three days after he was imprisoned, he managed to escape, where he grew up on the run for years, even wearing the hood to conceal his identity in order to avoid the poachers, while he grew up he had heard about the Doom Raiders and been avoiding places where they caused mayhem, all while he doesn't know much of the Skylanders, while one day, he may want to do good, as well as making friends because he's been alone for a long time. Three days after the Skylanders, as well as their allies, Hunter and Bianca's group, the five dragons and their Dragonfly companions from the Dragon Kingdom, Crash Bandicoot and his friends and foes saved Skylands from Spellslamzer and Nitros Oxide, there are unstable rifts that appeared in Skylands as Nitros Oxide's henchmen were planning to hunt down the 10 elemental orbs *Similar to the ones in Avalar* to give to Emperor Velo XXVII in order to conquer Crash's universe, as well as Spyro's universe, and Ellis wanted to find the orbs in each of the shrines, but everyone in Skylands thought he was stealing them, there, they refer to him as "The Hooded Hybrid". A few days later,  Master Eon and Buzz sent Nightshade and Luminous to find and capture him and bring the orbs back. When they encountered the Hooded Hybrid, he recognized them as two of the Doom Raiders, and also thought they be after the orbs, while Ellis was trying to fight back the former Doom Raiders, the rift appeared and sucked Luminous and Nightshade away from Skylands and into Gasmoxia in Crash Bandicoot's dimension. A few hours later, Wolfgang, Dr. Krankcase, and Chef Pepper Jack went to find Luminous and Nightshade and deal with the Hooded Hybrid, like with Nightshade and Luminous, Ellis thinks they're going to steal the elemental orbs from him too, then suddenly the rift sucked Chef Pepper Jack away into Crash's universe, much to Wolfgang and Krankcase's dismay then another appeared sucking the two former villains to Avalar. Spyro and Cynder, alongside Dragonfly companions Sparx and Sting were sent to find the five former Doom Raiders as they never returned. When they encountered Ellis, they noticed he wasn't a thief that was stealing the orbs, but was trying to ensure that the villains outside Skylands won't go after them, but before he would reveal who they were, the rift sucked Ellis away, promoting the four to go through the rift, yet Spyro, Cynder, Sparx, and Sting were separated from Ellis where they ended up in Gasmoxia from Crash's dimension, but they found the Magic and Undead orbs, meaning he could be nearby. When Ellis was stranded on the planet Gasmoxia, he once again encountered Luminous and Nightshade, who have found the Light and Dark Orbs before encountering Terro, who wanted the orbs for Velo and Lord Akura for inter-dimentional domination, when Terro defeated Nightshade and Luminous, he captured Ellis and the Elemental orbs he has in his possession without realizing the Light and Dark ones, much to their dismay, realizing the Elf/Mabu Hybrid was trying to prevent the villains from taking them for evil purposes, before Spyro, Cynder, Sparx, and Sting appeared and found the two former Doom Raiders before heading out to rescue Ellis. When Ellis was locked up in the dungeons, he attempted to escape, but encountered Team Rogue's Raketi Hyena, Lars Black, Alejandro Gila, and Talon Hawk, as well as Oxide, before Chef Pepper Jack, alongside Dingodile, Tiny Tiger, Koala Kong, Ripper Roo, Pinstripe Potoroo, and the Komodo Brothers *Who freed him from the dungeons* appeared and saved him from them, right before reuniting with Wolfgang, Krankcase, Luminous, Nightshade, Spyro, Cynder, Sparx, Sting, Elora, Sheila, Crash,Coco, Crunch, Carbon Crash, Carbon Coco, Tawna *From another dimension from CB4IAT*, Irma Bilby, Bumpy Woylie, Pasadena O'Possum, Yaya Panda, Aku Aku, Lani-Loli, Ika-Ika, Dr. Cortex, N. Brio, N. Gin, Nina, and Uka Uka. After hearing Ellis's backstory and what he was doing, they went off to free Kupuna-Wa and Akano and retrieve the Elemental Orbs from the villains. After defeating Terro, then N. Oxide, then Velo *Whose robot body is once again destroyed* and freed the Quantum Masks and got the orbs back, they then encountered and defeated Akura before he and Terro retreated back to Skylands. After both universes are saved, Ellis gets to know more about the Skylanders while spending time with them while they promised to track down the same troll poachers that once capture him a a child. He currently lives in the same elf village in the Radiant Isles that Midori and her family live in.

Drawn on ibisPaint X on my Samsung Galaxy Tab A. Skylanders series © Activision Ellis (c) Me

#Skylanders #Ellis

[onepiecereactions]

One piece crew’s bet when they see the newspaper coming

Imagine, every morning in the One Piece world, the sun is shinning above the sea, everyone is waking up and drinking coffee to start their pirate’s day. And then, you can see the cute little bird that is giving the newspaper, flying in direction of the pirate’s boat. Here are the bets that everyone is making about the new of the day. And sometimes it’s not very friendly…

 Red hair pirates.

Shanks: I bet 1 million Berry that Luffy made another unforgivable mistake towards Marineford.

Benn: 1 Million that he punched a celestial dragon. Again.

Lucky Roo: 1 million that he accidently exploded an island.

Yasopp: 1 million that he has a new strange nakama. 1 more million if it’s a dead man, a talking bird or a dragon.

Shanks: Oh my god, I swear that I will stop piracy if he asked an admiral to join his crew.

  Heart Pirates.

Law: I bet 100 000 Berrys that Eustass ugly face will be on the first page. That would brighten my day.

Bepo (secretly to Jean Bart): 100 Berrys that the captain will cut the image and put it in his personal notebook.

 Kid Pirates.

Eustass: If that stupid Trafalgar Law got his ass kicked I will give you all 1 million Berrys.

Killer: 1 000 Berrys that the captain will destroy the ship if he sees that Trafalgar’s bounty is higher than his.

 Donquixote Pirates.

Doflamingo: I will give you all 1 million Berrys if the chief of the newspaper posted on the front page the nudes of Crocodile that I send him.

Trebol: How the hell did he… ?

  Whitebeard Pirates.

Thatch: I bet 100 Berrys that Oyaji will make a deviation of 3 weeks just to meet a new pirate crew that he saw in the newspaper and ask them to become a part of the crew.

Marco: Oh lord that would be so difficult to pass through the east waterway and there is a storm coming we should go by the west and…

Ace: 1 000 Berrys that Marco is having a headache before the end of the day.

  Strawhat Pirates.

Nami: I swear to god that if they posted in the newspaper that Luffy fall completely naked from the boat I will stop piracy and I’ll hide in hole for the rest of my life.

#one piece #nami #straw hat pirates #monkey d. luffy #monkey d luffy #thatch #Whitebeard pirates #Marco the Phoenix #Marco the pineapple #portgas d ace #donquixote doflamingo #doflamingo #eustass kid #Eustass Kidd #trafalgar law #bepo #shanks #Akagami no Shanks #benn beckman #lucky roo #yassop

[banduckoot]

You got it, anon! I’m gonna do them all!

TINY TIGER HEADCANONS

Tiny was created around the same time as Pinstripe, Koala Kong, and Ripper Roo. The reason we don't see him in the first Crash game is because he had yet to be put in the Cortex Vortex, and was not ready for Dr. Cortex to use.

Tiny worked for N. Brio in Crash 2 because, seeing how N. Brio was the actual creator of all the mutants, he saw the stuttering scientist as a father figure. But then he suffered a humiliating loss to Crash, despite being bigger and more powerful... this triggered such a strong hatred for the bandicoot that when N. Brio chose to ally with Crash, Tiny deserted him. Cortex would find Tiny later, convincing him to join his side for the opportunity to destroy Crash in the future.

Like it says in the Crash bible, Tiny was created to be the ultimate weapon: claws as sharp as Ripper Roo’s, the strength of Koala Kong, and the ruthlessness of Pinstripe Potoroo, all in one intimidating package. His weakness, obviously, is his low intelligence.

The reason Tiny isn’t as smart as he could be is because his unmutated self was cloned from the very rare remains of the long-extinct thylacine (Tasmanian tiger). The remains weren’t in the best of shape, and the cloning process itself was highly experimental at the time.

TAWNA BANDICOOT HEADCANONS

The only reason Tawna was created was to give birth to Crash’s offspring. Cortex wanted an army of super bandicoots to do his bidding, and to make sure he got it, he mutated Tawna into his vision of the perfect woman. Basically, he made Tawna sexy so that Crash would do the frick frack with her.

Unfortunately, because Cortex was so particular about making Tawna attractive, he developed an attraction of his own towards her. He didn’t INTEND to start liking her, but the more he watched her, even spied on her, the more his feelings grew. Cortex tried to hide his attraction, but Tawna wasn’t blind to his occasional leering and suggestive comments, and it made her sick.

Tawna is currently dating Pinstripe. While she did love Crash very much, she began questioning her feelings when she realized she was basically MADE to be Crash’s lover. She broke up with Crash in order to explore the world and find herself... and she found herself in Pinstripe’s arms. Pinstripe had developed a soft spot for Tawna prior to and during the events of Crash 1, and offered to take her in when she realized that the world outside the Wumpa Islands wasn’t quite ready for someone like her.

Tawna is basically the apple of Pinstripe’s eye, and he spoils and pampers her like a queen to show his affection. It can be a bit suffocating for Tawna at times, as she’s the sort of gal who likes to get her hands dirty once in a while. Once, Tawna got so fed up that she temporarily broke up with Pinstripe and dated Dingodile for a bit instead. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, that didn’t last long, as she realized she still had feelings for Pinstripe.

The one and only time Tawna willingly cooperated with Cortex over something was to help him run the Moulin Cortex. You know, that place from Twinsanity during the first Humiliskate segment? The Moulin Cortex is a cabaret filled predominantly with female performers... and despite what you may think, it’s not strictly adult entertainment. The purpose of the cabaret was to boost morale for Cortex’s minions, be they animal, mutant, cyborg, or android. Tawna took the job of running it all - as well as performing - simply because she thought it would be fun. Granted, she hates Cortex with a passion, but using her beauty and brains for legitimate business purposes was way too tempting to refuse. Plus, she got to hire Cortex’s mother as a performer just to spite him.

KOMODO BROTHERS HEADCANONS

Komodo Joe and Komodo Moe were, much like Tiny, created prior to Crash 1. We do not see them for the same reason as Tiny - they had not been put through the Cortex Vortex and were not ready for use.

Joe and Moe worked for N. Brio in Crash 2 for the simple reason that they genuinely disliked Cortex, especially Joe. They saw how Cortex treated N. Brio, stealing his ideas and just being an all-around asshat, and immediately recognized what a charlatan he was. After the events of Crash 2, they struck out on their own as treasure hunters, becoming highly interested in precious gems and jewelry after hearing so much about the Power Gems from N. Brio. They even bought a jewel mine... you may know it as Dragon Mines from CTR.

Moe was mutated before Joe, making him the “older” brother.

Not long after Joe first decided he hated Cortex, he met Pinstripe. After finding out just how loyal to Cortex he was, to the point where he’d threaten naysayers with his gun, Joe decided he hated Pinstripe as well, and he was not shy about it. The two mutants developed a rivalry with each other, and now when they see each other, they want to kill each other. (Based off of similar information from the Crash bible, by the way.) Tawna thinks the rivalry is childish and that they should just kiss already.

#Crash Bandicoot #Headcanon #tiny tiger #tawna bandicoot #komodo joe #komodo moe #Dr Neo Cortex #pinstripe potoroo