#gnome evaded

[postanagramgenerator]

Nightmare nightmare nightmare nightmare nightmare nightmare nightmare

ANAGRAM GENERATED:

nightmare nightmare nightmare nightmare nightmare nightmare nightmare

→

hhhrmmm i might imagine the hermit gent arranging a tenth anagram in regret

#this isnt my tenth anagram it wouldve been funnier if it was #bask ox #gnome evaded

[saturdaysky]

You may resist, but it's too late. You already embraced the powers the parasite gave you. You leveraged them to manipulate, to dominate, to survive. Your nature is no longer your own.

Mayhew failed the save to resist the Emperor's offer, and I have never been more pleased at a consequence! What an amazing moment.

Timelapse, line drawing, and character musing beneath the cut.

This choice!! Or rather, this lack of choice!

I love, love, love how failing the save made Mayhew's own will ambiguous, even to himself. He didn't want to be changed, he didn't want to forfeit his humanity (gnomanity)...or did he? He resisted. He opened his mouth to say I will not, but the door to his mind was already unlocked, power welcomed in. Mayhew will never know who unlatched it.

Also, while this is a Gale run -- Mayhew and Gale make each other worse in the most devoted, well-meaning way; the heavens will rue their names -- it also kind of feels like an Emperor run. A subtextual badwrong not-romance.

The Emperor and Mayhew are allies of circumstance turned intimate enemies. The Emperor listens to Mayhew's every thought, gives protection which Mayhew needs, offers advice and temptations which Mayhew takes. Mayhew likes the Dream Guardian; Mayhew cannot shut the Emperor out. Mayhew would see the Emperor dead, if he let himself think about it, but he would miss him after he was gone. And, of course, Mayhew is too curious for his own good, and the Emperor is full of answers.

For the two of them, partial ceremorphosis is a kind of consummation: what could be more intimate than shaping someone from within and without? Metaphorphosis is a gift, by one telling, and a horror story by another.

You are exquisite, the Emperor praised. Mayhew will never know if he became so by his own will.

(He failed the save by one (1) point.)

---

Timelapse! It includes all the silly things I drew for my friends, including: 1 tonsure, 3 neon signs, 2 cat emoji, 1 crotch face, and the emperor's armor drawn with my left hand. Spot them all!

Lines!

I don't usually work primarily with line, but I love it. In some ways, it's easier than painting, and in other ways much harder. I find I can't fudge things as much with linework as I can with paint; because the stroke is smaller, I have to be more specific. Even if I abstract details away, I need to understand the underlying form until I know what I am abstracting. It was fun having to be so rigorous.

#mayhew: who unlatched the door to my mind? how did this happen? #also mayhew: [eating his 20th mindflayer tadpole] #but also -- if you get Bernini Apollo and Daphne vibes from this art you are correct #this was such a fascinating moment and i am so glad mayhew failed #he's skirted through life evading consequences but this one got him!! #the emperor is awful but he's a fav. manipulate mansplain mindflayer am i right #my art #mayhew #bg3 emperor #bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #the emperor x tav #gnome tav

[roraimae]

i'm so normal about all the things swimming around in my head right now, i'm chewing on the walls

#born to christen the new sketchbook with cool things #forced to write out backstory #I love DnD I love playing it I love my characters I love character building in a vacuum #BUT #as soon as I have a group and need to be ready in a week I die #inner critic at volume 100 every idea I ever had is bad actually and I keep getting lost in details #'divination wizard that studies divination to figure out how to evade a prophecy' sounds so fun on paper #especially with the added flavor of 'they're from a cult devoted to the god of divination and left them behind for this' #but like #to fill that out #aughhh #is the person that would be harmed in the prophecy a sibling or friend? #are they part of the cult or not? #who are the people in the cult? #what's the family situation actually? #so much to consider #I'm thinking maybe in the cult and really devoted so they don't want to leave and will resent my character for trying to save them #but still sibling or friend? #mh #honestly chances are this will have very minor involvement actually because the campaign is in one city and they hail from a different one #but still #I'm just rambling to the void cause it helps me think lmao #congrats to whoever actually reads my tags #I also haven't even decided if I play a gnome or dragonborn or maybe a tiefling afterall agh #tbf that has little bearing on the character but that's the ISSUE I have nothing to tie in

[transguyhawkeye]

chungledown bim is so much more viscerally terrifying to me than any other d20 villain or entity like theyve faced threats that are actively tearing reality apart at the seams but one level 20 gnome warlock singlemindedly dedicated to (and optimized for) shitting in a 17 year olds mouth is so much higher stakes to me than anything else i could imagine. if every other character we love has to die in order for fabian to evade him then i think that price is worth paying

#death nor injury nor curse may stop him they need to trap him in some sort of time prison and pray #d20 #fantasy high #unsanitary #i guess

[dailyadventureprompts]

Dungeon: The Hole in the Hill

Of all places, a portal to the underdark has opened along a sleepy stretch of country road, drawing amature explorers and lookie-loos who all want to know the origin behind the mysterious purple glow. Those bravest to be first across the threshhold bring stories of glowing mushrooms and caverns full of odd animal life, a few even returning with souveniers in the form of carrot sized fingers of crystal. Naturally the party will be headed below next, going even deeper in search of greater treasures.

Adventure Hooks:

Diverted from his dayjob of selling snakeoil town to town when his cart and campsite fell into the original sinkhole, an enterprising merchant by the name of Canny Farwell has laid claim to the sinkhole and is charging admittance to its uppper levels at three silvers a head. He's got dreams of establishing a mine to exploit the riches of the seeminly bottomless cavern, and while he's more than happy to give the party a tour through the sinkhole's upper reaches ( full of facts he's made up), he's not going to let the party venture deeper and jump his claim without putting up a fuss.

However stubborn Canny might be, he's all to willing to drop his arguments and bolt for the surface when a pack of monsters from the world below show up hounding the party back to the surface. Forced to act quickly to protect the onlookers, the party will have to delve deep into the depths to force these creatures back into their original territory.

Somewhere in the depths the party can find the smashed remannts of the huckster's cart, being picked over by a gnomish waif with leaden skin. She speaks no common and is TERRIFIED of the party, but once they convince her they're no threat (food has a way of briding all cutural divides, especially when the hesitant party has been roughing it in a cavern for a fortnight) she'll use mud-doodles and pantomime to indicate that she was forced to flee her village when they were attacked by... somehing... that has enslaved her people and forced them to mine the great crystals in the cavern depths.. which might've been what set off the sinkhole in the first place.

The girl, Takta, is a svirfneblin, a deepgnome who lives along with her people in a hidden subterranian village, enjoying a humble existance while keeping themselves concieled from the underdark's major predators. That was until a few months ago, when a levitating duergar ironclad loomed its way into the network of caverns their community called home. The vessel known as The Esretnatzar and its crew of grey-dwarves are an exploratory expidition sent off to expand the borders of their autocratic homeland and to seek sites worthy of colonization. After nearly a year and a half evading perils of the world below they're delighted to have found a people to subjugate, useing psionics to expose and subdue Takta's people, forcing the Svirfneblin to act as laborers and servants as they dig themselves in.

Further Adventures

Its hard to oust an occupying army that can read your mind, and while the deepgnomes are no strangers to defending their home they have little defence against mind-censors, a fanatically dogmatic group of telepaths who kept order onboard the Esretnatzar during its long voyage and have now turned their attention to keeping the chattel in line. They've moved the troublemakers (including Takta's older brother) into a makeshift prison and while it doesn't compare to the reducation halls of their homeland it does keep the gnomes working for fear of their loved ones being hurt. Freeing these individuals from lockup is the first step to fighting back.

While the Esretnatzar's captian Fulgite Faultsaw is eager to return home bathed in the glory of expanding the hegemony, many in her crew do not feel the same. They're sick of the ship and sick of skimming dark caverns, and just want to keep their boots on the groud (even if it means pressing them into some deepgnome necks). Some others, careful to guard their thoughts from the ship mind-censors, imagine staying in the village, establishing a new clanhold and living like thanes. Perahaps this division can be exploited, convincing the recalictrant crew to surrender while pushing the hardliner faction back out into the dark.

After the party has done their thing and these cavernous conquistadors are defeated the village will be in rough shape, and while the deepgnomes will galdly put in the years of work to make it funcitonal again perhaps the party can suggest another option: moving the village to the far more defensible mouth of the sinkhole, allowing the svirfneblin to continue their subterranian agriculture in the upper reaches while having the whole of the upper world to fall back to if they need it. It'll be a hard sell, both to the traditionalist gnomes whos' lives have already been disrupted enough, and the authorities on the surface, but should the party succeed they'll get to see a new settlement blossom over the course of their adventures.

#underdark #dungeon #low level #mid level #svirfneblin #duergar #cave #d&d #dungeons and dragons #lowland #highlands #field

[aronarchy]

Introduction

In April 2023, a concerning trend emerged on TikTok called “gnome hunting.” While at face value, the trend depicted users harmlessly pretending to hunt for gnomes, the trend was steeped in antisemitism. In this context, gnomes served as coded references to Jewish people, and gnome hunting referred to hunting for Jews. Gnome hunting followed other contemporary trends of online antisemitic dog whistles such as #thenoticing and the echo. The coded meaning of gnome hunting allowed for its rapid growth, due to participation from TikTok users who were unaware of its violent, antisemitic connotations. We identified gnome hunting TikToks with over 1.7 million views, indicating that this hateful trend reached an audience far beyond niche extremist communities.

It is not unusual for TikTok users to collectively participate in an absurdist meme of the month. Millions of users partook in the “Woodchuck Revolution” trend in 2021, which manifested complicated plotlines and even accompanying musical compositions. In late 2022, the app was inundated with memes describing a made-up economic system using a currency called “doubloons.” Given this context, it is unsurprising that TikTok users jumped at the chance to participate in the gnome hunting meme without understanding its hateful message. Some creators have since removed their original gnome hunting videos and apologised for unwittingly participating in a hateful trend.

This Insight will explain how far-right groups adopt dog whistles to avoid content moderation efforts and obscure harmful meanings to both moderators and wider users. TikTok’s gnome hunting trend will serve as a case study for this tactic while demonstrating how seemingly benign trends may be based on virulently antisemitic and extremist ideologies.

Dog Whistles and Violent Extremist Content

A dog whistle is coded or suggestive language that is understood by a particular in-group while its meaning(s) remain opaque to the out-group. Dog whistles often build on or reference pre-existing ideological tenets that individuals in the in-group would understand. In October 2022, 4chan users utilised and popularised the #thenoticing hashtag, an antisemitic dog whistle, on Twitter. “The noticing” refers to the instance in which individuals allegedly “notice” the presence of a machiavellian Jewish conspiracy. Similarly, in 2014, online antisemites began using the “echo” or parentheses around Jewish names, for example “(((George Soros)))),” as a way to subtly whisper their antisemitic beliefs to other antisemites.

While dog whistles are useful for extremist attempts to evade content moderation efforts, with time, their true meaning often becomes known, as was the case with the echo parentheses, the noticing, and gnome hunting. As a result, different dog whistles and other examples of coded language are in a constant state of fluctuation online.

The Rise of TikTok’s Gnome Hunting

Although some instances of TikTok gnome hunting acted as coded antisemitic dog whistles, other gnome hunting content was overtly neo-Nazi and antisemitic in nature. Additionally, gnome hunting is a continuation of recent references to gnomes in extremist spaces on Telegram and TikTok. Prior manifestations of this gnome fascination include the “gnomecore” and “gnomepill” trends which utilise gnomes as coded references to extremist narratives that wish to return to or embrace tradition. Although this content originally emphasised a desire to “find the gnomes,” portrayed as benevolent creatures and symbols of pre-modern Europe, the current gnome hunting trend shows that gnomes have since been reconfigured as adversarial actors—specifically Jewish people. In this section, we will provide an overview of the most prominent antisemitic indicators identified in this trend, including the phrase “millions wear the hats,” far-right insignia, and antisemitic and neo-Nazi hashtags.

“Millions wear the hats”

The most prominent of these indicators is the frequent use of the phrase “millions wear the hats,” displayed either in the TikTok video or its caption. This phrase serves as a coded reference to yarmulkes traditionally worn by some Jewish people by highlighting the pointy caps most often donned by garden gnome statues. “Millions” refers to the global Jewish population and the perception of a global Jewish conspiracy of world domination involving millions of people. Other captions expand on the consequences of this conspiracy, stating “billions deny, trillions will suffer” and “billions must die,” conveying that genocidal violence will be levelled toward Jewish people as retribution for the conspiracy.

Neo-Nazi Insignia

Figure 1. TikToks showing users wearing Sonnenrads, skull masks, and two emoji lightning bolts, or the double Sig/Sowilo rune, communicating sympathies towards the Nazi SS

Other extremist indicators demonstrated by both gnome hunting focused TikToks and participating users include Sonnenrads, skull masks, and two emoji lightning bolts, or the double Sig/Sowilo rune, communicating sympathies towards the Nazi SS (Fig. 1). These symbols frequently appear in neo-fascist, eco-fascist, and militant accelerationist milieus to convey adherence to extremist ideologies while evading content moderation efforts. Similarly, the presence of pine tree emojis, often used to convey an allegiance to violent eco-fascist ideology, further illustrates the conflation of the gnome hunting meme with extremist trends.

Hashtags

Numerous gnome hunting TikToks were posted alongside overtly antisemitic and neo-Nazi hashtags, such as rhetoric about an “Aryan” race, nods to Adolf Hitler as an “artist,” or the names of other notable members of the Nazi party. The videos also featured notable Nazi villains from popular culture such as Hans Landa, the fictional SS officer in the film Inglorious Basterds and Karl Ruprect Kroenen, the fictional supervillain from the Hellboy comic series (Fig. 2).

Figure 2. Tiktok videos showing Nazi villains from popular culture such as Hans Landa, the fictional SS officer in the film Inglorious Basterds and Karl Ruprect Kroenen, the fictional supervillain from the Hellboy comic series.

Audio

The audios layered underneath gnome hunting videos on TikTok further demonstrate the trend’s antisemitic nature. We discovered TikToks set to recordings of Adolf Hitler’s speeches and containing imagery of Nazi Germany, such as German athletes lighting the Olympic Torch at the 1936 Olympics (Fig. 3).

Figure 3. The above TikTok screenshot shows Nazi imagery, and gnome hunting phrases. The audio paired with this footage was from a speech given by Adolf Hitler.

Other gnome hunting TikToks are overlaid with original songs created by overtly fascist users, identifiable through the use of double lightning bolts emojis or terms in their usernames (Fig. 4), and with titles such as “Third Strike.” Notably, a prior title for the song was “Third Rike,” reflecting other patterns in content moderation evasion tactics. The song is now not available to use on the platform.

Figure 4. User-created sound frequently used in gnome hunting TikToks, created by an overtly fascist user.

Schizowave

Gnome hunting has ties to other extremist social media trends on TikTok, including the “schizowave” aesthetic. In addition to antisemitic hashtags, gnome hunting TikToks were frequently posted alongside references to schizowave and schizoposting, a defined trend on social media whereby users hyperbolically or ironically assert that they are “insane” or “hearing voices.” The schizowave aesthetic is based on a false depiction of schizophrenia as a mood disorder that inherently valorises and leads to violence. As a result, schizoposting and schizowave content depicts an imagined experience of disconnecting from reality. On TikTok, this content typically features strobe lights, rapid cuts, and techno music. It is designed to convey chaos and incomprehensibility while being gripping and shareable. This aesthetic has been tied to previous instances of mass violence, including the July 2022 Highland Park shooting. While not all schizo-related content is violent or extremist in nature, its popularity on TikTok is still notable. The hashtag “schizoposting” alone has over 1 billion views. These hashtags signal a convergence of the two trends and the communities that utilise them.

Conclusion

The gnome hunting meme is a pertinent example of how subtle dog whistles can lead to widespread participation in hateful messaging, regardless of the participant’s intent. The gnome hunting trend is associated with overt hate symbols, such as SS bolts and skull masks, and should never have been allowed to spread as far as it has. Social media companies like TikTok should be aware of emerging trends in violent rhetoric on their platforms and prioritise the mitigation of these trends before they become mainstream.

—————

*note: I’ve seen many people who actually have schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, mainly on more left-leaning sites like Tumblr, use “schizoposting” as a hashtag to discuss their experience with their disorder or to advocate against saneism. Context matters; avoid assuming that it’s always appropriative or a bigoted dogwhistle unless that’s what’s actually going on.

#repost of someone else’s content #article #dogwhistles #antisemitism #Nazism #saneism

[the-mighty-dalob]

Ok the Gnome has been Evaded for now. @elemer-the-necromancer you are an actual Necromancer right? Can you teach me a little Necromancy while i stay here? I am mainly a Firemage but want to extend my Horizons a bit since only focusing on something i have Mastered has become pretty boring over the Ages...

#wizardposting #wizard posting #wizard #wizardblr #wizardblogging #wizard tumblr #wizards #wizard blogging

[raining-anonymously]

P&F except…

same concept of two creative boys spending their summer vacation. BUT. the boys are not step-brothers; they’re neighbors.

there’s one talkative idea man, one quiet man of action type from another country. BUT. the idea man is a young heinz doofenshmirtz and the quiet kid is perry the human being fostered in gimmelshtump.

a girl with a crush on idea man comes over. BUT. it’s grulinda. with a water bucket. “hey, heinz! watcha doin?” “oh, hi grulinda, we were just about to OW!”

a big bully guy comes over. BUT. it’s Big Black Boots Boris the Bully. the sand guy

an awkward nerd comes over. BUT. it’s the doofenshmirtzes’ neighbor kenny. why? because he has a name and i like his vibes.

the sibling tries to show big ideas to the parents. BUT. roger’s reasons aren’t the same as candace’s. first - if the inventions are revealed, perry is deemed a bad influence, banned from coming over, and heinz has to pay attention to roger again. second - roger the perfect five year old is not used to things not going his way. and lastly - heinz insists it will never happen.

and he’s right! the parents still never see. BUT. they think heinz is the one putting roger up to the busting. why else would roger lie? anyway, heinz is too lazy to do anything that unbelievable.

the family pet lives a bizarre double life. BUT. onlyson isn’t a secret agent; he’s just sneaking off to participate in drusselstein’s politics. he’s a dog politician. he’s involved in dark stuff. the royal family wants him gone.

and finally, the pet’s bizarre double life somehow leads to the inventions vanishing. BUT. it’s kind of heinz’s fault as he almost always insists on self-destruct-buttons. the buttons are hidden in increasingly secure places, but somehow onlyson’s shenanigans evading the drusselstein palace guard always lead to them being pushed.

like maybe-

building a galactic-travel-inator, or fighting doonkelberry bats, or climbing up the drusselstein palace! discovering something that doesn’t exist, or giving a goozim a shower! (bam bam bam!) surfing tidal waves, creating nanobots, or locating the kinderlumper’s brain! (it’s over here!) finding a lawn gnome, painting a continent, or driving your brother insane!

#pnf #heinz doofenshmirtz #perry the platypus #perry the human #dr doofenshmirtz #phineas and ferb #or rather- #heinz and perry #dr. doofenshmirtz #grulinda #big black boots boris the bully #my neighbor kenny #roger doofenshmirtz #doofenshmirtz family #pnf au #onlyson #doofenshmirtz #drusselstein #gimmelshtump #is this anything? maybe maybe not but i have to get it out of my head

[ceescedasticity]

A fairy-tale

[Some version of this is probably going to be the next Unforsaken chapter, but I'm not 100% sure on the details yet.]

Once upon a time in a faraway land there lived two little fairy-princes. The Fairy-King and Fairy-Queen were good and kind and fair and loved each other and their children very, very much. They lived happily in peace, until one day a band of wicked Gnomes came to steal the kingdom's treasures. They killed the King and Queen, and cast the little fairy-princes into the wilderness to die.

But so great was the Fairy-Queen's love for her sons that she did not pass into the land of the dead but followed after the children, and found them, and they knew her and begged her to save them. Being a ghost she could not carry them to safety, so she reminded them of the power of their grandmother, a sorceress who changed her shape and spoke with birds. If they could take up that power, they might turn into birds and fly far away.

So the princes thought, and they whispered together; and then all at once there were not two fairy-princes but two great grey swans. The swans and the ghost flew far away from the Gnomes and the darkening wood, across plains and forests and mountains, until at last they came to a fair land where they might dwell in safety.

But the fairy-princes were not sorcerers like their grandmother; they did not know how to turn back into fairies, and the ghost could not tell them.

The ghost meant to stay with the swans always, but no land is safe for a ghost. A Shadow came hunting, and while she evaded it for a time, she could not evade it forever.

And then they were left all alone.

They shunned the dwellings of Elves and Men alike, for they feared any might hunt them as game or prove their enemy if they somehow explained who they were. They wanted their mother, but she had forbidden them from seeking her or going near the Shadow, and they were afraid.

So even though they yet had kin who would have welcomed and protected them, the fairy-princes were all alone in the world save each other for a very long time.

****

Many years later, after kingdoms rose and fell and the world was changed, the fairy-princes came across a brown wizard. They had never met before, but he recognized them and called out to them, for he knew their great-grandmother long, long ago; and as he knew the speech of birds, he could well understand them.

The princes were wary, but they sensed nothing of Shadow about the wizard, and at last returned and agreed to speak to him.

The brown wizard knew many things. Since he was being a wizard and not a fairy he could not himself change his shape, but he told them how they might once more take on the shape of Elves, and they did so.

But the wizard had not known them long ago before their home was ruined, so though he knew their names he could not tell them which name belonged to which fairy-prince, and they found they themselves had long forgotten.

The fairy-princes were distraught, and took the shape of swans once more, and fled.

****

Some time later the brown wizard found the fairy-princes again. This time he told them that they had a great-uncle yet in Middle-earth, and a nephew, and either would be overjoyed to welcome them.

But the fairy-princes said, "We do not remember any uncle, and we are sure we never met any nephew. How could we approach them as kin when we do not remember who we are? We will not go."

So the brown wizard told them of ships which took the Straight Road to the Blessed Land. Not only was their great-grandmother there, and their sister, but their lost father had been reborn there. The Elves who sailed the ships would welcome them even as swans, if they wished to speak to no one before their father, who would rejoice to see them.

At this the fairy-princes wavered, for they did remember their father and miss him, and surely he would know them. But—

"You did not say our mother was there," said the fairy-princes.

The wizard bowed his head. "I will not lie to you. She is not. I do not know where she is."

"We will not leave these shores until our mother is freed from the Shadow," said the fairy-princes, and they flew away.

****

The next time the brown wizard found the fairy-princes, he told them how their nephew and their great-uncle and all their kin left in Middle-earth were fighting the Shadow. Would the princes not go and fight alongside them? The wizard would vouch for them so they need say nothing of who they were if they wished not to speak of it.

But the fairy-princes said: "We will not go among Elves while we do not remember who we are." And they flew away again.

****

When next the brown wizard found the fairy-princes, he spoke of his blue brothers, who lived far away to the South and the East and dealt mainly with Men. The fairy-princes could go to either of them, and live as wizard's-kin, and the Men would understand they were different and not demand they be Men or Elves.

"How is that better than how we live now?" asked the fairy-princes.

"You would be safe," the wizard said.

"We do not need your safety and we will not live with your blue wizards," said the fairy-princes, and they flew away.

****

The next time the brown wizard found the fairy-princes they flew away before he could speak to them.

****

The next time the fairy-princes saw the wizard, he was high in the sky alongside them, on the back of a giant goose.

"Speak a while with me, fairy-swans," said the goose.

So the fairy-princes flew down to the ground, to speak with the wizard and the Queen of the Geese.

"You are fine well-grown swans," said the Queen of the Geese. "And you have done very well all this time on your own."

"Do not speak as though you are our mother," said the fairy-princes.

"But if you are swans you are of my people, and I am as a mother to all my flock," said the Queen of the Geese. "Will you instead allow Aiwendil to bring you among Elves or Men?"

To that the fairy-princes said nothing.

"You are fine well-grown swans, and you have done very well all this time on your own," the Queen of the Geese said again. "But you know this world is beginning to weary you. You need not be on your own, and you should not be on your own. If you will not go among Elves or Men, then stay among my flock."

The fairy-princes looked at each other. They might fly away, but the Queen of the Geese would only fly after them. "Very well," they said finally. "For now."

So it was that the fairy-princes came to live among the Geese.

****

Some years passed this way.

****

One day the Queen of the Geese returned from a flight on her own to the lake where the flock awaited her. She said: "The one who calls himself Lord of the Sky has asked a favor of me, and I am inclined to grant it."

Many of the Geese gathered to listen, and the fairy-princes did, too.

She said: "The Shadow called Abhorred is gone now, but there are yet souls enslaved. The time has come to free them. The Lord of the Skies and the Lord of the Waters and the Lord of Doom ask that we stand ready to carry these lost souls to safety, as they may not know the way for themselves. They do not ask that we join the fight. We must decide that for ourselves."

"Our mother!" cried the fairy-princes.

"Yes," said the Queen of the Geese. "This is to free your mother, and others like her."

"We wish to fight," said the fairy-princes.

"If you wish to fight, you will have to go among Elves, for it is they who accepted this task," said the Queen.

"We still wish to fight," said the fairy-princes.

"If you wish to fight, you will have to learn to fight, from me or from the Elves, and neither would be easy," said the Queen.

"We still wish to fight," said the fairy-princes.

"If you wish to fight, you will have to be among those who are enslaved like your mother, who bear the marks of that enslavement clearly, and who may strike at your senses like poison, living long in isolation as you have," said the Queen.

"We can learn to endure it," said the fairy-princes. "We must, for our mother's sake. We wish to fight."

"If you wish to fight, you will have to fight in company with two very wicked Gnomes, and some others who never hurt your people but who are still very much Gnomes," said the Queen.

"We are not children anymore, and we are not afraid of them," said the fairy-princes. "If they fight to free our mother, we can fight in their company. We wish to fight."

"If you wish to fight, you must fight in company with your great-uncle and your great-nephews, who will surely know you without feathers and may well know you with," said the Queen.

It took longer for the fairy-princes to answer, this time. But: "We still wish to fight."

#orc bank unforsaken #orc bank #alternate title: #how Radagast came to owe Caraxitari the Goose Queen five favors to be specified #and still considers it worth it

[evesaintyves]

for @remadoramicrofics - it outgrew microfic status, almost 2000 words, but i'm submitting it anyway. combining October prompt guts and October 14th challenge triptych.

three acts of bravery, maybe. read it below or on AO3 🎖

Packing up sets the world back in order. He learned to do it before he learned to tie his own shoes. With his mother clucking get your things, Remus—hurry now and his father directing the flight of reference-books into a box, wand swaying, face of stone, it was clear that sentimentality was only a weight to be dragged. He learned very quickly to snip any string that might tug at him—he is nothing if not a quick learner—and, eventually, to evade those ties altogether: to harbor no love for the peaked attic bedroom with the view of the river, the back garden overrun with primrose and gnomes. Nor the blue-eyed neighbor girl who peeked through the fence-slats. 

It is a kind of art, to keep a life small enough to fit inside one suitcase, and it has saved him from more tight corners than any countercurse he might throw in a duel.

When Tonks put her hands to her belly, eyes all sparkling with some unrecognisable joy, and said now, don't freak out, I have to tell you something: it was a strangling feeling, like a dog snapping at the end of its lead. There had always been a way, until now, to walk off and start again. This miscalculation would be the end of that. Now he was chained to his regret, she was chained to him, and the thing inside her was chained to its brutal future.

He didn't freak out. He watched her lips move, her hands grab at him, and calmly, silently, he made the only conscionable decision.

Tonks made a mess of the house before she left; even the velveteen hippogriff she bought for the baby is lying on the floor, eyeless, disemboweled and spilling its batting-scrap guts. She screamed at him, she called him a bastard. And a liar. It doesn't matter, he's been called worse. He's been worse. It was satisfying, in the end, to see her finally understand: she took her hands off him like she'd touched something disgusting, her mouth quivered, she backed away as if in terror: how can you just stand there, she breathed, raspy from all her carrying-on, and look at me like a fucking stranger?

Easy, he might have said. I am a fucking stranger.

But he didn't say anything because he didn't have to. She was crying so hard when she apparated off to her mother's that he thought she might splinch herself—and a week ago, or maybe even this morning, that might have curdled his insides with terror and dread. 

But he has unhooked himself from his insides. That's an art, too, and he's well-practiced: it can be every bit as natural, he finds, to feel nothing as it is to feel something. Easier, even, once you've mastered it. 

He clicks shut the suitcase, knots the length of twine.

James, he says to himself, I'll find him. I'll give everything I have.

It isn't much. He's got hands that know how to kill and the will to do it. He's got a ruined body, still absurdly walking the earth while so many more deserving have returned to it. He's got the shame of all his generation's failures, the cans they've kicked down the road to their children. And he's got a monster inside: lusting, ravenous, insane, goading him to go after her, bury his face in her powder scent and beg, to confess that I want you, I want to live, I want to have what I want—

What higher calling, for someone like him, than to put all that between Harry and a curse?

 

Shh-shh-shh, Tonks whispers. She presses a kiss to the warm dry scalp, with its menthol smell of ointment, its tickling hairs. We're going to Nan's house.

Teddy, on a brief intermission from wailing, roots his red little nose and mouth against her shirt. He's always hungry, he's been on her sore tits all day—he was latched when the call came from Kingsley. It is never enough.

She can't just wait. She's not a keeper-of-the-home-fires. She's springloaded, a coil of taut potential straining for release—trained to fight three-on-one, to throw jets of wandless fire from her open hands, to keep her pulse rate seventy-steady all the while. They need her, they can't spare her, what is she doing here?

Waiting for death to come and find her, that's bloody what. They'll step over Remus's body ( he's a good fighter, not the best —these awful thoughts won't stop— he's distracted, scared, has too much to lose. His clicky old knees could betray him. He'll think of the baby, lose his focus, miss by a centimetre and that's the end. It could have already happened ), they'll swarm the castle like driver ants, and then they'll come for Teddy. She'll be in pieces before she lets them get to him, but once she's gone he'll be so helpless, swaddled in his bassinet. She won't have it. She won't sit and let it happen.

She stands there for a moment, in the dark house, with Teddy bundled to her chest. He's winding himself up for another cry, back spasming, a bubble of snot in his nose. It'd all be easier if she could just get him to sleep, but she's not good at that—it's hard not to let it feel like a failure. He's cried so much in this house she can hear it even when he's quiet, the sound has soaked into the walls. This, here, is the life these three have only just begun to make: the kitchen table permanently sticky with jam, the tousled bed: biscuit crumbs on her side, a stack of books on his. The baby's things everywhere, socks and sleepsuits, corduroy dragon, the cot overturned in her rush to get going. Blankets gushing out over the rug.

That's what she's got to go and fight for. This is only the start! They've got years, so many years, so much happiness and lost time to make up! So many knuckle-kisses, murmured sweetnesses under the duvet, Remus jiggling the baby through colic all night, giving her his worn-out smile from the doorway—God, fuck, she's never even told him about the time her dad took her to the zoo and she morphed herself a crest like the iguanas! The Obliviators had to come and zap everyone, Dad turned the colour of beetroot trying not to smile! He'll laugh himself sick!

She's got to go, so she can tell him. That and so many other things. He keeps appearing in her mind: sprawled across flagstone, hole burnt in his robes, face up and staring at the Great Hall's fake sky. Do you know what's up there, behind all the magic? he asked her once, years ago on a mission together, sitting hidden in the boughs of a tree. When she shook her head no, he said, Spiders. It's infested completely, there are a million. And cobwebs thick enough to swing on—don't ask me how I know. He waggled his eyebrows, charming in a way that was unlike him and perfectly fitting all the same. She was so taken by the thought of eight million eyes watching her little self perch on the stool at her sorting that she just grinned at him, gormless. He looked at her face like he was deciphering runes. And it's clear, now, that he was hers at that moment. Since that moment, he has been hers.

She won't let them have him. They've taken too much already: Dad, Mad-Eye, Sirius. The hope of every muggleborn kid who should have, this year, looked for the first time up into that indoor sky and felt the touch of wonder. She can't get it back, but she can make them pay for it. She's got enough revenge boiling down in her gut, it could power a thousand killing curses—she could explode with it, it could set her on fire—

C'mon, baby, she says. Teddy's shivering breath is so warm, so soft, on her chest. We've got to go.

 

When Nymphadora was a little girl, long before she got her wand, she used to break a stick off the sycamore tree and run about brandishing it, casting made-up hexes, making explosive sounds with her mouth. Halt! she'd shout at the imaginary enemy. Andromeda never knew where she'd gotten that. Ted's little black-and-white telly in his office, maybe. She'd jump off the garden wall, land on her face, pick herself up and announce, I'm okay! Even when she scraped up her elbows, even when she knocked out a tooth. She was always okay.

Andromeda has never asked—and who? Who would even tell her?—but she thinks that must have been how they found her. Faceplanted in the mud, wand out in front of her. Little warrior. When she handed the baby off that night she had that same look on her face: I'm okay, said through a mouth of blood.

Teddy is more of a dirt-digger, beetle-watcher, masher of rose hips into pretend potions. She has to stop him at the door and check his pockets lest he bring home a toad, a wriggling handful of earthworms. That's a bit of Ted coming through, she's pretty sure. This afternoon, she watched Teddy stop his potion-mashing, squint into the mess, and fish out a pill bug with his chubby little fingers. He held it up to show her: roly-poly, he said proudly. He's only just started pronouncing his Ls. He set the bug aside on the grass and recommenced his mashing.

Teddy's a lover, he doesn't like to kill things. That's the privilege of a peacetime child. For lunch he gets spaghetti hoops on toast, his grandfather's guilty favourite, and then a little kip upstairs. Andromeda cleans the mud off his dungarees, and off the carpet where he's tracked it in, and off the doorknob and the bathroom sink and his booster chair.

Nymphadora and Ted used to chuckle to each other at her arsenal of scrubbing charms, the shirts folded in squares. Like that sort of thing was her idea of fun. No. That was the daily fight against entropy. Her daughter, born under the standard of this potted aspidistra, raised in this tidy defiance of the mess outside, never understood. She went charging off with her wand out and left Andromeda to walk the floor all night for months with this little war on her shoulder, the baby that wouldn't stop screaming—and who could blame him? Andromeda understands that desperation, that longing for something impossible. The night they buried his parents, Teddy cried like he was begging God. 

Andromeda didn't. She doesn't beg.

I know what you think you're doing, Narcissa told her once, a week before she left with Ted forever. She'd cornered Andromeda in the upstairs hall, gripping her wrist and hissing so that Father in his study wouldn't hear. You think you're doing something brave. You're not, you're just running. Anyone can run.

Andromeda would never concede that she was right. She wasn't—not about Ted, not about leaving home. But still she thinks about it. There's an Order of Merlin upstairs, in the locked room that was Nymphadora's, gleaming in its velvet case. For her courage. Her sacrifice. There's no denying that she earned it. But days like this—when the house is silent and Andromeda is folding dungarees, rinsing tins of spaghetti hoops—she wants to take her long-gone daughter by the shoulders and say: my darling, you have no idea.

images by edward hopper: a room in brooklyn, sun in an empty room (detail), rooms by the sea (detail)

#remadora #remus lupin #tonks #andromeda tonks #teddy lupin #remadora microfics

[persephone-s-moon]

Taking you up on your dare/offer benji! Tell me all about your oc Than (I'm a sucker for necromancer things hehe.)

HELL YEAH!!!!!!!! Idk how much detail you want but here's the mildly chaotic sparknotes of their lore

Questions about anything or anyone mentioned in this post are welcome as well :)) this is a lot

Than (uses all pronouns) is a part of a homebrew campaign my friends and I started a month ago and they are everything to me

(Outfit redesign so far :3 face and hair redesign in progress, and I'm probably going to make their clothes less vibrant)

In life, Than (full name Thanatos Pyre) was an acolyte of Etrix, the goddess of death. (Etrix is HEAVILY based off of Kelemvor (because of my influence >:3c) if you're familiar with DND lore.) He provided funeral services and healing to those in need and lived in a temple with their family.

Acolyte robes featuring Anubis (eldest brother), Mors (Than's very large twin), and Hecate (little sister)

Both of Than's parents are priests and their older brother Anubis was trying to become one as well. (Their best friend/crush was about to be a priest too.) Etrixian priests are the only ones permitted to provide merciful death and they are also tasked with killing the undead :)

Indoor priests robes featuring Mother Maveth and outdoor priests robes featuring Fathet Hawthorn. Than is about Hawthorn's height (slightly shorter than Anubis)

For context Etrix has some beef with her brother Rhytar, the god of necromancy, because she HATES undeath, so of course their worshipers also have beef... :)

Than was murdered by a Rhytarian half-elf necromancer named Vallana Siannodel (during an attack on the Etrixian temple but that's a long story) and kept as essentially a pet for five years. As a reborn/undead, they've lost most of their memories and the memories they do have are vague. They know they were a worshiper of Someone but they don't know who, they know there was an attack on their temple and they feel responsible for it but they don't know why, and they know they had friends and family but faces/names elude them entirely.

Reborn under the control of necromancers very rarely regain autonomy, HOWEVER, Than was able to escape and they've essentially been on their own for a year prior to the story of the campaign. He's confined to the city of Nightborough (homebrew as well) because it's all they know, but they avoid the inner city to evade Vallana and mostly stick to the slums. They're compelled to recite prayer/provide funeral services for the dead without really knowing why. (The funeral prayer is ingrained into them, and they only recall pieces of other prayers.) In exchange for essentially free funeral services and healing, some people offer shelter. She became friends with the deep gnome Shortspark family, specifically the eldest son Bellpepper Jr., after attempting to heal and providing funeral services for the youngest Poppy Jr. Because of Bellpepper Jr., Than is able to escape Nightborough entirely and go on our adventure :)

Than functions as a bard but only because of Vallana's influence. If Rhytarian attack didn't happen, they would have been a cleric.

The party has hilariously only Very Recenty discovered Than's undead nature because they passed enough perception checks to realize she Doesn't Breathe Or Eat. It's a surprise they didn't notice earlier because she's SO clueless about most things but we've managed to have a firbolg who's even MORE clueless than Than.

Anyway that is the shortest version I could come up with without sacrificing comprehensiblity <33 Thank you for asking!!!!!!

#i feel like im going to regret not signing these references but hopefully no one reposts them LOL #benji's ted talks #than the reborn bard #dnd shifter #dnd character art #dnd bard #dnd character #dnd art #dnd #dnd oc art #dnd oc #dungeons and dragons

[constantly-variable]

This is the one reason I can't fucking stand gnome apps because if I'm using a computer at the fucking least I want a somewhat uniform experience which I know, using linux is basically countering that goal at every end, but i am willing to do stuff to get there you fucks and yet gnome evades every attempt to keep apps that have even a modicum of similarity whatsoever

#'consp

[mermaidsirennikita]

I saw your ranking of Kresley Cole's IAD women. Do you have a favorite male character?

Yeah, I have a few. I mean, it's cliche to say this because he's like... an obvious fan favorite... But if I was really being honest, Lothaire is likely my favorite. I mean, I think he's the most developed character in the series (and once Nix gets her book, God willing, maybe she'll junior or exceed him). But he's also just so funny, and so insane, and unfortunately, very hot. How can I not love a dude who, when his pseudo-girlfriend (at the time) gets mad at him for mercilessly beheading a bunch of shifters, says it's "not like I'm going around cockslapping gnomes"? How can you expect me to not love someone who describes skull-fucking randoms as his "mischievous youth"???

And while I do think his romance is INCREDIBLE and part of why I love Lothaire is that he loves Ellie so much and I also love Ellie so much... I mean. He's one of the best parts of Dreams of a Dark Warrior, an UNDERRATED CLASSIC. He gets tortured by Declan Chase and talks about how long it took someone to cut his dick off with whip lashes once, because it's sooooo big (and since regenerated). He kicks Thad off a cliff and then Thad becomes HIS ONLY FRIEND LMAO. He wears a Panama hat??? Like Stede in that episode of Our Flag Means Death??? He blackmails Declan Chase, a man who hates all monsters, into letting him tap his blood on demand and GETS A BONER WHILE DOING IT (bi Lothaire confirmed). Regin screams to Declan about how Lothaire drinking Declan's blood means he now has Declan's memories of Declan and Regin fucking, and he walks up like "Oh nO WORRIES, I have already WATCHED YOU TWO FUCK A MILLION TIMES IN REAL LIFE LIKE A CREEP". The entire WEIRD boy's club scene where Lothaire gives Declan advice about negging Regin into forgiving him and everyone goes "Oh shit, that's great advice actually" and iT WORKS.

(And then later he gives Trehan advice about Bettina... and it works. And he gives Munro advice about Kereny... and it works. The point is that Lothaire can not do his own relationship to save his life which is why he literally lets his lungs explode in order to win Ellie's favor back, he doesn't even know how to get Ellie to forgive him without near-death.)

But I mean. There are so many heroes I love in that series, just like I love so many heroines. Like I said, I haven't given an IAD book less than 4 stars. They really work for me.

Other standout heroes for me would be like... Garreth MacRieve who I think is probably one of the best boyfriends? Of the series? Like, does he hunt Lucia across the world for a year while she's desperately trying to evade him? Sure. Does he sorta try to seduce her into breaking her supernatural vow of chastity? Yes, he does. Does e not care about her god-given mission at all because women shouldn't have to have jobs? Yeah, and maybe HE WAS RIGHT. But he's also soooo sexy, and sooooo wolfy and sooooo loyal and sooooo romantic. The butterfly he named after her! Garreth SMELLING Lucia masturbating and having a freakout because he's in a cage and she's upstairs and SHE SHOULD NOT HAVE TO GET HERSELF OFF NO SHE IS PRINCESS! Him holding his werewolfitude back as long as possible until he's like "fuck it I can't deal" and runs howling through the jungle for her??? The ENTIRE VALKYRIE PLOT OF "OH WE'LL JUST HAVE LUCIA FEEL PAIN ON PURPOSE SO THE WOLF GUY COMES TO SAVE HER"??? "She was born to be found by me"??? "Werewolves are natural investigators" lOL I CAN'T. Child-free by choice, but would have Garreth MacRieve's 7 werewolf children.

Conrad Wroth, who I think is just like.... a ragged open wound of insanity and romantic longing and pent up sexual energy... Like, Conrad has one of theeee hottest biting scenes in the series, imo. And also, just the sad hilarity of him swearing his chastity to a cult of vampire hunters, then getting forcibly turned into a vampire by his brothers and doomed to centuries of virginity??? And then he does meet his Bride and she's a GHOST??? *Curb Your Enthusiasm theme plays*

Rydstrom Woede is.... really hot... I love a morally upright man driven to horrible crimes. The minute Rydstrom THE GOOD BROTHER showed up in Cade's book, shirtless, tired, scratches all over his chest, with a woman screaming in the background like "HELP!!!" while he goes "don't. ask." I was gone. Then he turned out to be a legit DADDY who's into spanking and punishing Sabine and he feels gross and weird about it? Please. Theeeeen his first real smile in his own book is when she flips him off? PLEEEEEEEASE.

And of course, Uilleam "Will" MacRieve, "MacRieve", The MacRieve, of the novel titled MacRieve. I mean, listen, he's hot. He has such rough animalistic sex CONSISTENTLY that they call him Bucket List. But he's soooo sad. And don't get me wrong, he does some fucked up shit and I won't deny it. But his backstory. Made me cry lol. His entire journey. Made me cry. Him on his knees crying into Chloe's stomach because he wants to be better and heal for her but he can't??? Made me cry. His journey isn't for everyone, but I found it gorgeous. And also, did I laugh so much when they were like "well MacRieve, your woman needs sex healing, and we can't trust you to do it, so I don't know man maybe she needs to be double-teamed by some incubi" and he literally flinched because his inner werewolf instinct went SCREAMING at him??? Yes I did. He had no thoughts for like a solid five minutes. Just static.

... so those are my top 5... I also very much love all the other Wroth brothers (my 1D), Lachlain MacRieve (crazy werewolf king turned "Mature Dad Friend"), Bowen MacRieve (the original fuckboy/BEAST FAMILIAR), Trehan Daciano ("babe look I got you this bag of... severed heads... oh.... that wasn't...... the request..."), Rune Darklight (cue the TWO STANDING OVATIONS HE GOT FROM BITCHES HE'D FUCKED LMAO), and uh......... Declan Chase (..... I won't be defending this choice). And THAD, even though Thad isn't a hero. YET!

#romance novel blogging #immortals after dark #here have a novel #and even the ones who aren't my favorites like.... i don't think i hate anyone? #my favorite things about the wroth brothers as a quartet is how you can sum them up tho #'5 year boner; winner of the amazing race on cbs; fucked a ghost; icicle dildo'

[bearmemesreviews]

FotW: SDMI - The Grasp of the Gnome

Today's Freak of the Week is a more serious take on a creature type seldom seen outside of Children's Fantasy, Gnomes!

Yep, for years the fair folk and their kin have been delegated to just tiny humans with magic - ignoring years of folklore and cautionary tales that describe these creatures as actual monsters born from the earth with all sorts of nasty plots in their minds.

We have since turned around once again, around the same time superheroes started to scoff at tights in their shows and movies to an annoying degree, and as we get more public domain horror movies expect ANOTHER switch back to sincere fairy tale fodder.

But until then, let's talk about this parkour elf and his blue cheese touch.

Backstory: Crystal Cove has a Reneissance Faire! Which the gang attends, displaying all their personalities in the costumes they chose to dress in. Notice how Shaggy and Scoob are dressed like pirates? Well that's plot relevant!

An Evil Gnome has been terrorizing the faire, attacking those who come as pirates despite the medieval themed dress code. I don't know why, I'm pretty sure by 2010 pirates as a fandom were already petrified by a certain Disney Franchise's later films.

Yep, Petrification! A really cool power that's seldom used, but when it is doesn't it look cool? I love the iridescent glowing blue veins that grow on the victims as they freeze in place. Neither freezing them in ice nor encasing them in stone, but still immobilizing them in a way that would be indistinguishable from "real" magic.

As for the rest of the plot, you may have started to notice that almost every gang member has been getting kidnapped at some point to give the gang something to act irrational over - Velma and Scooby fighting over the parrot from Shaggy's pirate costume when he's taken for example, giving Daphne some reprieve.

Mr. E offers his two cents on Shelma at the end of the episode, for reasons that'll become apparent later.

As the day goes on and the suspects, all dwarves or otherwise very short people, are dismissed, the gang finally trap the athletic Gnome with a good old pit. But not before Daphne actually gets to one up the gnome, using the one thing all fairies and other anklebiters fear - steel!

Design: The Gnome is a classic fairy tale creature, and I love how MI's version has been redesigned to keep all the goofy, fantastical elements in place without straying too far to make it scary. It wears tattered clothing barely held together by some stitches where the sleeves connect, consisting of a simple tunic with red pants. It has boots, though it could also just be black wrappings around its feet. It also wears black gloves, metal arm bracelets with large bolts attached to them, a buckled sash, and a large, stitched-up red gnome cap.

Its face is where it gets really good, with regular humanoid features exaggerated as they would be for a regular gnome - mostly a large nose and ears that stick out - but made extra freaky with beady yellow eyes with no irises, only red pupils. Its skin is also warty and a decrepit, green-tinged blue. Its eyes are even sunken in, making it look more like a corpse that's begun to mold.

Its powers include the ability to run and hop like a trained athlete, leaping around so fast he can't be captured or evaded, alongside a touch that paralyzes. This actually makes him one of the more physically threatening foes the gang's faced. And I like that the applies to a goofy man with a cowboy mustache and long beard tied into pigtails.

Reveal: Daphne evades the paralysis touch by hiding steel gauntlets under her dress, catching the gnome off guard. He then tries to escape but only ends up trapping himself in a previously failed spike pit. Once captured it's revealed that of the three main employees of the ren faire, it was actually the pirate-supporting jester Gill Littlefoot all along. He tried to frame his wife, the pirate-hating queen, in order to get control of her money.

I am not qualified to discuss any protentional ableism displayed by Patrick Warburton in Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated.

5/5 Really cool take on a classic archetype seldom used for Horror, and so well executed that I think it'd actually work well for its own folk horror movie like The VVitch. I am genuinely surprised by how much I like The Evil Gnome.

P.S. I love the explanation that the petrification was caused by the toxin of a made-up species of Jellyfish. I love when shows tries to explain away gimmicks by using an exaggeration of real-life biology, like how Pufferfish toxin can be used to create "zombies".

#bmoreviews #bmoreviewsmysteryinc #mystery incorporated #scooby doo mystery incorporated #scooby doo #gnome

[pathfinderunlocked]

Psychopix - CR16 Fey

Penny for your thoughts? No refunds!

Artwork by TheAxael on Deviantart.

A psychopix is a genius fey creature made of animated intelligence. Psychopices steal knowledge from humanoids, and occasionally other intelligent creatures, by asking them questions and then taking the answers for themselves, erasing the knowledge from the victim's mind. Instead of the classic fey trick of "Can I have your name?" it's more like "Can I have your thoughts on the Vorsean-Laforian war of 902 to 908 R.T.?"

When a psychopix acquires enough duplicate knowledge, it extracts that knowledge from itself and shapes it into a new psychopix; this is how they reproduce.

This creature has abilities similar to my two-phase boss template, but not quite the same.

Unlike the standard advice for most bosses, I don't recommend giving this creature minions; if you do, make sure they have at least 10 points of force damage resistance. When engaged in combat, or perhaps beforehand, the first thing this creature should do is cast etheric shards across the entire battlefield except for its own space. Its strategy thereafter involves forcing enemies to move through the etheric shards while it stands still. If it needs to escape, it waits until it's at low hit points and then moves through the ceiling or floor after turning ethereal with its Ethereal Escape ability.

Psychopix - CR 16

Iridescent energy makes up the form of this human-sized fairy, whose sharp crystalline wings spread out from her back. She wields a circular blade made of the same mesmerizing crystals as her wings.

XP 76,800 CN Medium fey Init +9 Senses low-light vision, see invisibility; Perception +32 Aura mental static (DC 24, 30 ft.) (only during phase two)

DEFENSE

AC 25, touch 25, flat-footed 20 (+5 Dex, +10 insight); +5 deflection during phase two hp 304 (24d6+120+100) Fort +13, Ref +19, Will +19 DR 10/cold iron Immune sleep Weaknesses intelligence formed Resist cold 10, electricity 10, force 30

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft., fly 40 ft. (perfect) Melee +4 starknife +23/+18/+13 (1d4+6/×3) plus mindshock Ranged +4 starknife +23 (1d4+6/×3) plus mindshock Melee (Phase Two) +4 starknife +28/+23/+18 (1d4+11/19–20/×3) plus mindshock Ranged (Phase Two) +4 starknife +28 (1d4+11/19–20/×3) plus mindshock Special Attacks ethereal escape, phase two, psychic starknife, studied combat

Psychic Magic (CL 16th; concentration +26)     32 PE—dancing lights (0 PE), detect mindscape (2 PE), etheric shards (4 PE, DC 24), greater create mindscape (5 PE, DC 25), hypercognition (3 PE), message (0 PE), mindscape door (3 PE), mindwipe (4 PE, DC 24), psychic crush (5 PE, DC 25), thought shield IV (6 PE)

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 16th; concentration +18)     Constant—detect thoughts (DC 15), mindshock, see invisibility

STATISTICS

Str 12, Dex 20, Con 20, Int 31, Wis 20, Cha 14 Base Atk +12; CMB +26; CMD 46 Feats Craft Magic Arms and Armor, Critical Focus (only during phase two), Deadly Aim, Improved Critical (starknife) (only during phase two), Improved Initiative, Piranha Strike, Point Blank Shot, Psychic Sensitivity, Spell Penetration, Staggering Critical (only during phase two), Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus (starknife) Skills Appraise +22, Bluff +17, Craft (any 9 types) +15, Diplomacy +17, Fly +28, Knowledge (all) +34, Linguistics +26, Perception +32, Spellcraft +34, Stealth +16, Use Magic Device +29 Languages Aboleth, Aklo, Abyssal, Aquan, Auran, Celestial, Common, Cyclops, Dark Folk, Draconic, Druidic, Dwarven, Elven, Giant, Gnoll, Gnome, Goblin, Halfling, Ignan, Infernal, Orc, Protean, Sylvan, Sphynx, Terran, Treant, Undercommon Gear +4 voidglass starknife

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Ethereal Escape (Su) Once per day as an immediate action, when subjected to an attack roll or forced to make a saving throw, a psychopix can evade the incoming attack or effect by escaping into the ethereal plane for 1 round.  This negates the incoming attack or effect unless it can hit ethereal creatures (such as a force effect).

Intelligence Formed (Ex) If a psychopix takes Intelligence damage, drain, or penalties, it also takes hit point damage equal to 10 times that amount. This hit point damage cannot be healed normally, but is healed if the Intelligence damage, drain, or penalty is removed.

Mental Static Aura (Su) While in phase two (see the Phase Two ability), a psychopix gains a mental static aura, described below.

A creature with the mental static aura ability creates a field around it that makes concentrating difficult for those without this ability. Living creatures within 30 feet must succeed at a concentration check (DC 24, Charisma-based) to cast a spell with a thought component. Failing this check causes the spell to be lost with no effect. In addition, all spellcasters within the aura must attempt this check at the start of their turns if they are concentrating on an active spell or effect. Failing it means that they cease concentrating on the spell or effect.

Creatures with the Mental Static Aura ability are immune to its effects and can cast spells normally.

Phase Two (Ex) A psychopix has 100 bonus hit points; this is already included in its statistics above.

Once per day, when a psychopix is reduced below half of its maximum hit points (usually 152), it can react by entering a mode called "phase two" for the next minute. When entering phase two, it automatically ends all negative conditions on itself that could be removed by the cleanse or heal spells, and attempts to end harmful magic effects on itself as if using the targeted dispel option of greater dispel magic with a caster level equal to its hit dice. This does not require an action, and can be done even while helpless.

When it enters phase two, the psychopix also releases a burst of energy that pushes enemies away and inhibits their spellcasting. Enemy creatures within 30 ft. of the psychopix are subjected to a cognitive block effect, as per the spell (caster level 16; DC 22 Will negates), and are pushed back 20 ft., to a maximum distance of 30 ft. from the psychopix, forcing them to release any grapples they are controlling. This counts as extremely violent motion for the purpose of concentration checks. A Fortitude save (DC 32) reduces the distance pushed to 10 ft. The save DCs are Intelligence-based.

While in phase two, a psychopix gains a +5 deflection bonus to AC, gains a +5 bonus to attack and weapon damage rolls (but not with its spiritual weapon), gains its Improved Critical, Critical Focus, and Staggering Critical feats, and gains the Mental Static Aura special ability.

Psychic Starknife (Su) After being used in a ranged attack, a psychopix's starknife turns into a spiritual weapon (as per the spell; caster level 16) and immediately continues to attack the same target (typically with a +22/+17/+12 bonus, dealing 1d8+5 force damage). A psychopix can teleport its starknife back to its hand as a move action, which ends this effect and negates the starknife's status as a spiritual weapon.

Slow-Homing Force Spike (Su) As a swift action, a psychopix can launch slow-moving spikes of force energy which slowly home in on up to three different targets within 20 ft.  If a target does not move at least 20 feet before the psychopix's next turn, the force spike hits that target unerringly, automatically dealing 4d4+4 force damage, causing the target to glow as if by faerie fire for 1 minute, confusing the target for 2d4 rounds unless it succeeds on a DC 24 Will save, and making a special trip check to knock the target prone, using its caster level plus Intelligence bonus in place of its CMB (typically +26).  Effects such as shield that block magic missile spells block a slow-homing force spike.  The save DC is Charisma-based.

#d&d #pathfinder 1e #fey

[terranlloyd]

Northward Bound Ch. 1

Arriving in Freyharbor's port, the Coalition found it in ruins. Piers torn to shreds and buildings in horrid shape. The Elemental storms had ravaged much of the port town's docks and left much to be desired. Slowly the Amarylis was maneuvered itself into the one pier that remained in good standing. As the crew began to disembark, the bitter winds of Northrend struck at the heart of Eastcrest's Crew, but there something else was off ... An energy in the air that couldn't be ignored or denied, something wasn't right. The the harbor was empty. Not a ship in sight, no dockworkers, sailors, nor any life to be seen. An odor overtook the crew, the smell of days old fish and moldy bread. Though a welcome was scheduled, Terran and other townsfolk was nowhere to be seen. In the silence all that could be heard is the sound of claw against stonework, and unnatural groaning ...

As the party took off down the pier shapes began to emerge from the shadows within the docks, the arched backs and lanky fur-covered figures of Worgen. Covered in snow-white fur,  three Worgen began to stalk towards the party slow as predators, claws poised to attack. Within their eyes was nothing but a feral madness, and their snarling maws drip with innocent blood. And so ensued a long and grueling battle. The Coalition dug in and held their ground against the onslaught of the Worgen, able to evade the brunt of their fangs and keep them at bay. Unfortunately the gnome Bixtink Wobblesprocket was ill prepared for combat and feinted as the battle began! Her valiant construct M.A.O.W. vehemently took a stand against the Worgen in her stead. As a fourth Worgen emerged from the waters below the docks the battle began to turn against the Coalition, claw after claw, fang after fang they fought pushed to their wits end. In time the Worgen saw an opening, charging after the lone Kurtis Radesbery, who had earlier charged off to engage a lone Worgen. Surrounded now Radesbery was forced on the defensive. Cohmnall Dempsey of Oldminster seized the opportunity as the Worgen surrounded Radesbery, Dempsey rallied the Coalition to counter attack the Worgen, putting the first of their number down in the process. Once Radesbery was given the chance to return to the offensive he struck out at the nearest Worgen, cracking its skull and sending it instantly into its death throes, it wildly struck out at all who approached. The remaining Worgen turned to flee but were put down by Velaensia Runereaver, and Cassandra Payne. The final Worgen, barely limping after Cassandra's clean shot to its leg, lunged for Araellion Songheart, taking him by surprise and holding the Mage hostage. Unfortunately, Lord Songheart is not one to be taken lightly, with a burst of abjurative magic the Worgen's head was impacted. 

Once free of the Worgen's assault the Coalition regrouped and tended to wounds, exploring the empty docks for clues as to the townsfolk, and Terran's, whereabouts. Within the docks little more was found aside from rotten fish and molded bread, even the Worgen were lonesome in their scavenging. Velaensia Runereaver's exploratory efforts at least bore fruit, discovering the corpse of a stray Ghoul, signifying what may have happened to the city. Once gathered Ms. Payne was called to cleanse what remained of the corpse, to ensure that no plague could emerge from it and cause trouble later. In the name of Elune Moonfire was called down upon the poor Ghoul's corpse, and in the wake of the Moon Mother's cleansing light all that remained was sanctified bone. From there, one path out of the docks remained for them atop a small set of stone stairs the entrance to Freyharbor town proper. 

The town itself lay in ruins with the groans growing louder with each step, unmistakable as wild undead. As the Coalition gazed inward to the city, the roads lay distraught, barren with only the occasional corpse of ghoul or townsfolk to be seen. Carts lay knocked over, their contents dispersed throughout the roads. A new scent emerges where the rotten fish once served, the smell of decay, of undeath, and faint Arcane Magic. Far off, barely visible past the buildings was the tell tale glow of Arcane magic, bouncing against the buildings as it lurched into sight. The Coalition set forth into the city, faced with countless wild undead who fell before the Coalition's armaments swiftly. All save one lone Abomination who bombarded towards the party on a warpath. Thanks to the quick action, and solitary fist, of Radesbery, the Abomination was put to rest and the path to the City Hall made clear. 

Ahead of the Coalition rounded the final corner and City Hall was brought into view, the clear shining shape of an Arcane barrier surrounded the building, protecting its walls from a Horde of wild undead, ghouls, and zombies, and yet another Abomination all bearing down against the magical bulwark. Once more, Radesbery's intuitive thinking led the Coalition to a unique solution. After a curt return trip to the Amarylis, Ms. Wobblesprocket's mechanical construct M.A.O.W. ferried one of the ship's cannons. With teamwork abound, Radesbery loaded himself into the cannon, Lord Songheart surrounded him in a barrier of Arcane magic, and Ms. Runereaver lit him aflame. Taking careful aim Mr. Dempsey looked towards the horde of undead and fired Radesbery into the crowd. Unfortunately ... the Arcane barrier and flame were unable to sustain themselves through the explosive force of the cannon, and Radesbery was launched directly into the Abomination, killing it, but suffering heavily in the process. Following in hot pursuit the Coalition's forces made swift work of the remaining undead mob, putting them down and protecting the town hall. With the undead defeated sounds of clamoring and shouting from inside city hall were heard ... moments later the Arcane barrier protecting the building began to fizzle, dispersing into the air and vanishing from sight. In the same breath a door swung wide and the clear shape of a living human guardsman waved towards the party, beckoning them inside. 

Once inside, Terran revealed that the city had been beset with undead a week prior. The undead forced their way through the city gates, tearing apart all that could be found. The town's local forces were insufficient for such a threat and they were forced back into the city hall with much of the remaining townsfolk. Terran used what magic he could to erect a barrier around the building and they have been trapped inside, surrounded with undead, ever since. Now that the Coalition has arrived they can rest within the Town Hall and lick their wounds before setting out to route the remaining undead, and sealing off the gates ...

(( Pulled from https://www.eastcrest.net ))

#Eastcrest Coalition #Guild Writing #Guild Storyline #mg rp #wow rp