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writingwithcolor · 6 months

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Conlanging Issues: A Compendium

NOTE: This question was submitted before the Nov 1, 2023 reopening and may not adhere to all rules and guidelines. The ask has been abridged for clarity.

Most of my questions are about linguistics. […] One of the major locations in my story is a massive empire with cultural inspirations ranging from North Africa in the far south to Mongolia/Russia in the far north […] The middle region is where the capital is and is the main root of culture, from which Ive been taking inspiration from Southwest Asia […], but most notably southern regions of India. I've tried to stick to the way cities are named in Sanskrit-based languages but added the names of stars to the front (because the prevalent religion of this region worships the stars [...]). So Ive ended up with names like Pavoprayag, Alyanaga, Alkaiduru, Alcorpura, Cygnapete, etc. Is this a consistent naming system or should I alter it in some way? The empire itself is named the Arcana Empire since [...] each act of my story is named after a tarot card [...]. Another region in my story is based more on parts of South China and North Vietnam, so I've tried to stick to names with a Chinese origin for that. I understand the significance of family names in southwest [sic] Asia, so I wanted to double check [...]. They have only two short given names. Based on the birth order of the child, the first half of the name comes from the fathers family and the second half from the mothers family. It is seen as disrespectful not to use both names because using only one is seen as denouncing that side of your family. Thus I have names like Su Yin, Dai Jun, and Yi Wen for some of the characters from this region, and the city itself that they are from is named Bei Fen. On the other hand, Im having further trouble naming characters. […] Ive been trying to give my human characters names from real human cultures to distinguish them from the website-generated names of say, orcs, elves, dwarves, etc, but I think I should change many of the names Ive used to be more original and avoid fracturing real world cultures for the sake of my worldbuilding. […] Im still very weak in the linguistics area (even after four years of French, sigh) and am having trouble finding where to read about naming patterns so I can make new ones up. I read your naming guides but am still having trouble on where to start for specific languages. […] Im trying to look into Sanskrit, Turkish, and Persian specifically.

You're Going Too Broad

In my opinion, you’re casting too wide a net. You mentioned looking into Sanskrit, Turkish, and Persian to develop fantasy names. These languages are very different from one another, so unless you’re using them separately for very different parts of your world, it will be hard to draw inspiration from them in a way that makes sense. You’re taking on a huge amount of research in order to worldbuild cultures that span a massive geographical area (basically all of North Africa and Asia?) and have very little in common. Are you sure you want to take on that task?

I could see it being more manageable if most of your story is set in a small region of this world, which you will then research in depth to make sure you’re being as specific as possible.

Taking Persian as an example, you’ll have to decide whether you want to use Old Persian, Middle Persian, or Modern Persian. Each of these comes with a different alphabet and historical influences. They’re also associated with different periods of time and corresponding cultural and social markers. Once you’ve decided exactly when and where you want to start from, you can then expand the borders of your area of focus. For example, if you’ve decided to draw inspiration from Achaemenid Persia, you can then look at the languages that were spoken in the Achaemenid Empire. A quick Google search tells me that while Old Persian was the empire’s official language, they also used Aramaic, Akkadian, Median, Greek, and Elamite (among, I’m sure, many many others and many more regional variations). Further research into each of these will give you ethnic groups and bordering nations that you can draw more inspiration from to expand out your worldbuilding.

Don’t forget to make sure you’re staying within the same time period in order to keep things consistent. It’s a lot of work, and this is only for a small portion of the continent-spanning worldbuilding you’re trying to do.

You can get away with painting the rest of the continent in broad strokes without too much depth if the story doesn’t go there and you don’t have any main characters from those parts of the world. Otherwise, you’ll need to put this same level of detail into your worldbuilding for the area with Turkish-inspired names, and again for the area with Sanskrit-inspired names, and so on.

I know this isn’t what you were asking, but I honestly have a hard time helping you figure out where to start because your ask is so broad I don’t quite know where I would start myself. So, this is my advice: focus down on one region and time period and go from there. Feel free to write back once you’ve picked a narrower focus that we could help you with.

- Niki

So there’s logistical issues in regards to your naming system for southern China-coded regions. One issue is history: mainly on how there is not simply one language in China but multiple due to having a lot of ethnic groups and the size of China. South China in particular has different dialects and languages than the North as seen in this map of Chinese languages and dialects. There’s also how historically Mandarin was not the official language until 1913 in China and historical China saw vast changes in territory dependent on the dynasty. Before then, Mandarin was primarily a northern Chinese language based in Beijing while southern China had its own languages, dialects, and dynamics. Not to mention, historical China saw an evolution of language just like English has Old English, Middle English, Early Modern English, and Modern English. For instance, Vietnam was once part of China during the Tang Dynasty and at another point, it was not part of China.

-Mod Sci

If You’re Borrowing Whole Words or Elements, Research More

The other issue is inconsistency with the cultures you’re deriving this conlang from. In regards to “two given names,” the Chinese name I was given was one syllable and then I would have a last name that was also one syllable. There’s also how not every family is perfect. Not every marriage is sanctioned and some children may come from single parents. Some families may not cooperate with marriage and sometimes children may be abandoned with unknown parents. There does not seem to be contingencies for these names under this conlang system.

The main problem with conlangs is that one needs to truly understand the languages one is drawing from. Tolkein managed to create conlangs due to training in linguistics. Mandarin is already a difficult language with multiple tones, and trying to use it for conlangs without knowledge of how Mandarin works or a good foundation in linguistics is just a Sisyphean endeavor.

-Mod Sci

Four years of French wouldn’t have taught you about linguistics as a science or anything about the language families you’ve listed - Indo-Iranian, Sino-Tibetan, and Turkic, nor any Asian naming conventions. I agree with Niki that you need to narrow down your research.

Pur/pura means city in Sanskrit (ex: Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur). Prayag is a place where pilgrimages are done. Naga isn’t a place name in Sanskrit (google says it means snake), nagar is and it means town. X Nagar is a very common name for places (Ex: Rajinder Nagar). Many cities in Karnataka have names ending in uru (Bengaluru, Mysuru, Mangaluru, Tumakuru, etc) but the language of Karnataka is Kannada - a Dravidian language and completely different family from Sanskrit (Indo-Aryan). I’m not sure where “pete” came from. “Bad” and “vaal” are common suffixes for places too (Ex: Faisalabad, Allahabad). A disclaimer that I do not speak Sanskrit, I speak Punjabi, which is a descendant of Sanskrit and in the same linguistic family (Indo-Aryan languages).

- SK

Also, This Is Not…Really Conlanging.

Hi OP. Linguistics refers to the science of studying how languages work, not the discipline of learning languages. And nothing shows that gap more than how you have thus far approached constructing fictional languages and toponyms.

The reason why Sci and SK have a lot to say about your place names is because they don't resonate—you have borrowed whole words into your toponyms (place names) from a variety of languages—without an accurate understanding of what these words mean, how they’re pronounced, where they’re derived from—and expected them to work together. I suggest you read the links below on why conlanging is not as simple as choosing some languages and mashing their IRL words together:

Why Using Random Languages Wholesale in your Fantasy is a Bad Idea

Pitfalls of Mashing Countries and Languages in Coding

In your city names, for example, you’re using star names from multiple languages that use different sets of sounds represented by different sets of historical spelling rules. “Cygn-” and “Arcana” stick out like a sore thumb—the fact that one “c” is /s/ and one is /k/ is an obvious flag that they are Latin-derived English borrowings. This is because spelling rules were created in Middle English to make sense of the mix of “c” pronunciations across words of Indo-European origin due to a historical split called the Centum-Satem division. This is a phenomenon that is very specific to our world history, and to the history of English at that. Ironically, in your attempt to avoid stock fantasy names (which also often fall into the Latin-derived English pit), you are taking the exact same approach to naming.

Like Niki said, your selections are far too broad to code under a single umbrella. Do you expect that whatever language that city name came from runs the full gamut of sound inventory & spelling variety that spans multiple continents and hundreds of languages? Because that’s not how languages work. (And yes, I mean hundreds. Indigenous languages and linguistic diversity are a thing. See Niki’s note about just the languages in Persia. And nation-states bulldozing over those languages and pretending it’s just one language is a thing. See Sci’s note about China.) I haven't even talked about the variation in morphology (how words are formed) or syntax (sentence structure).

Please just read or re-read my guide on “naming conlangs” in this post and start from there.

~ Rina

PSA ON CONLANGING AND FANTASY NAMES:

For fantasy language asks submitted after Nov 1, 2023, the asker must indicate that they have read Mod Rina’s conlanging posts linked in FAQ 2 (Guides and Posts by Topic) of the Masterpost under the question “How do I make a fictional language for my story?” While this is an older ask, we are posting it as an example to our followers.

Per our new rules, any questions that can be directly answered in or extrapolated from the FAQs, or questions that indicate that the relevant resources haven’t been read, will be deleted with a note in the Deletion Log explaining why.

As always, if this post was helpful or educational to you, please consider tipping the relevant mods: SK, Niki, Sci, and Rina.

Edited for terminology errors

#asks #naming #languages #linguistics #Persian #Chinese #South Asian #worldbuilding #coding

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thechaoticdruid · 4 months

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[The Spawn Vs The Ascendant] (2)

Astarion(s) x Tav

Plot: Tav has been kidnapped by The Vampire Ascendant. The Spawn rushes back to regroup with the rest of their band of weirdos in order to plan a rescue!

Content Warning: 18+, Ascended Astarion, sexual content, toxic relationships, violence, blood, physical abuse, death, AA is a bit of a yandere, but I mean you probably already knew that, characters may be ooc, grammar/spelling mistakes are possible, threats of harm, 2 Tavs, Male and female.

Part 1: Right here

Part 2: We're here

Part 3: This waaay!

[Savegame 2: About a month after the defeat of the Elderbrain.]

Tav walked into the brothel, hugging himself with his arms as his ruby colored eyes flicked back and forth around the room nervously. The robe he wore while indeed quite useful revealed far too much of his thighs for the young man’s liking.

“Something troubling you, little love?” His partner smiled, looping his arm around the shorter male’s waist.

“I’m fine…I just….feel a bit exposed…” Tav shivered a bit. Though it was his own idea to put on this accursed robe to delight his partner for their night out he was now realizing he maybe had been in over his head.

“Don’t you worry, my treasure. If anyone lays a hand on you without my permission I'll rip out their throat.” Astarion tugged the spawn against his form before planting a slightly aggressive kiss upon Tav’s cheek. Tav gave a small smile and leaned into Astarion's embrace before the two of them headed upstairs.

“Well aren't you a beautiful little lady.~” A tall and slightly drunk sounding half-orc stumbled across the room as he looked Tav over with a lustful gaze.

“LADY!?” All of Tav's bashfulness faded away as his expression turned to anger. His fangs were bared and his fists were clenched. “I'm a boy- er..man! I'm a man!” Tav huffed out with a wolf-like growl.

The half-orc blinked a bit, looking Tav over. Tav's androgynous looking appearance was confusing the brothel goer. His soft facial features and long eyelashes did make him look rather feminine. That along with his short stature and current attire definitely did not help.

“But you're so pretty," the half-orc said, his words slurring as he took a step closer towards the short vampire spawn. "You look like a woman to me.”

Astarion watched as his little spawn shook with rage.

“Oh dear.” He sighed, looking down at his nails for a moment as his pet proceeded to stomp towards the much larger male. Astarion's little love did have quite the vicious temper at times.

He raised one clawed finger after another counting.

One. Two. Three.

The sound of a scuffle could be heard, followed by crashing and wolf growls all the while the vampire lord started looking over his nails. A slightly off key hum leaving his lips as a few screams from the half-orc were heard.

After a few moments there was a thudd before Tav walked back over towards his lover.

“Sorry, I may have got a little distracted.” Tav rubbed the back of his head. An unconscious and severely bruised body laid behind him.

“I'm a little disappointed you left him alive, but I am eager to get on with tonight's main event so let's not waste anymore time.” Astarion held out his hand allowing his lover to take it before the two of them continued up another set of stairs. Tav's little scene had caused a few heads to turn though no one dared to get involved.

They entered a dark room on the top floor. The sweet scent of lavender hit Tav's senses as he and Astarion entered the room.

“Back again already?” A seductive voice rang out.

A female drow stepped out and wrapped her arms around Tav just as a second male drow moved in and did the same to Astarion. “Did you miss us that badly?” The male purred. Tav's shivered a bit before he looked down at his feet.

“How could we not? The service last time was….mouthwatering.~” Astarion turned to face the drow behind him, “wasn't it my treasure?”

“Ah….y-yes….it was really nice..” Tav stuttered, if he could still blush his face would be on fire right now. He bit his lip, his left fang drawing blood.

“Perhaps we should continue on from last time then?” The female drow said, lips dangerously close to Tav's ear.

~~~

Nearly thirty minutes had passed. Lustful cries and groans echoed throughout the room. Once everyone was spent, Tav found himself snuggled up in his master's lap, his head pressed against his chest as he listened to Astarion's heartbeat.

It was strange to think that not too long ago these roles had been reversed. The sound was comforting even if the person it came from became less and less so these days.

“Pet.” Astarion spoke quietly as he noticed the two courtesans had drifted off into a slumber.

“Yes?” Tav glanced upwards.

“You haven't fed in three days.”

“I'm not hungry…” Tav lied, he could feel the gaping maw deep inside him crying out as they spoke, but he did his damndest to ignore it. He'd only ever really allowed himself to feed from Astarion since his turning, which did not happen often. ‘Too much may drive you mad.’

His master would say. Perhaps that was possible, but he knew it was more likely that Astarion didn't want to risk giving him his freedom back.

“What have I said about lying to me?” Astarion gripped his spawn’s face, pinching Tav's cheeks between two fingers and making him return his gaze.

“I'm sorry.” Tav replied.

Astarion thought for a moment before glancing over at the sleeping bodies besides. Tav's eyes widened in surprise. “No, Astarion, please don't make me-”

“Feed,” was all his master said, glowing red eyes bore into his soul before his body began to react on its own. He moved over to the male drow slowly, his teeth grit together and deep inside feelings of utter disgust and pure delight waged war against one another. Shakily Tav placed a clawed hand over the male and turned him so that his neck was exposed. His eyes grew wide at the sight of the grey skinned male’s jugular, his tongue instinctively flicked over his fangs.

Finally he bit down, sinking his fangs into the mortal’s flesh. Warm blood dripped onto his tongue, sending a feeling of euphoria coursing through his body. Tav moaned barely even noticing his master petting his head before Astarion sank his own fangs into the female drow, not wasting a second to begin feasting upon her life force. It only took a few moments before both courtesans were sucked dry. Tav breathed out heavily, blood dripped down his chin, his hands shook as he looked down at the lifeless body in front of him. They didn't need to die. They had never done anything wrong to him. This was sickening.

“That's a good boy.” Astarion's voice rang out, breaking Tav from his trance. “Now come here.~”

The Vampire Lord pulled his spawn back into his lap, possessively draping his arms around him before locking their lips. Tav hesitantly returns the kiss allowing his master's tongue inside to claim and dominate his mouth. “Mmm…” Tav moaned, feeling Astarion pull him flush against his bare body, leaving no space between them as blood and saliva mixed. The spawn wrapped his arms around his master's neck feeling Astarion's nails dig into his back slightly. The vampire lord pulled back a bit, taking in a breath of air before forcing his tongue back into Tav's mouth, his hands gripping his ass as he began to grind against him.

Feelings of guilt and shame were forgotten for now as Tav allowed himself to become lost in his master.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~

[Savegame 1: Act 3, lower city.]

The silver haired vampire spawn jerked out of the way as his companion’s undead counterpart lunged at him quickly with her spear. Halsin dropped to all fours, quickly wild-shaping into a bear with glowing red eyes.

“Shit.” The high elf cursed. His arm was still bleeding badly so using his bow likely wouldn't do him any favors. He needed to get away and find his companions. Quickly he reached into his pack and tossed out a vial of acid onto the ground in front of the spawn versions of his friends before he turned and made a dash for it.

He needed to get back to the others, have Shadowheart heal his arm and then force Gale to come up with a plan on how to rescue Tav. Astarion didn't want to think about what his counterpart might do to her. It still made him sick thinking about what that other version of himself had become. Treating Tav like she was just some object he could take! And what had happened to the others. Turning them into tools to be used it all hit far too close to home for him. It reminded him too much of Cazador…

Astarion wasn't really sure when he stepped through the Elfsong’s doors, or if he had been able to successfully shake off the other spawn.

Everything had just kind of faded away for a while, leaving only his fears of what could possibly happen to Tav. He knew she was strong, but this was different. She'd be up against a foe with the power of seven thousand souls, all on her own.

“Astarion? Hells, what happened to you!?” Wyll’s voice brought him back to reality as he stumbled into the room where the others had been. Most of them were relaxing or fast asleep.

The blood from his wound dripped down onto the floor, building into a small puddle at his feet.

“Tav's gone!” Was all he needed to say to get everyone’s attention. Shadowheart swiftly healed his wound as Astarion began to catch everyone up on the current situation. He attempted to explain what had transpired to the best of his abilities, making sure not to leave out any important details.

“So you're saying Tav has been kidnapped by an another version of yourself from an alternate reality, who apparently went through the rite of profane ascension. Fascinating, but if what you say is true he must have immeasurable power. The ability to traverse time and space itself is no small feat.” Gale exclaimed, his face full of intrigue. “This is truly astonishing.”

Astarion glared at him slightly, a little annoyed the wizard seemed more concerned with how his counterpart got here than the fact that he fucking kidnapped Tav!

“Need I remind you that our leader has been taken!?” The vampire growled.

“How am I not surprised there's an evil version of you who turned us all into slaves.” Shadowheart sighed and crossed her arms.

“I think you mean eviler version.” Gale added.

“Arghh! Why are we sitting around talking!? We need to get out of here and go save Tav, damnit!!” Karlach shouted.

“Patience Karlach. We need to think of a plan first.” Wyll stepped in as he noticed the Tiefling was starting to heat up, steam coming off her body.

“If I remember my studies, true vampires can become alarmingly possessive of their paramours. He’ll likely be prepared to slaughter us all in order to keep Tav. That being said, it's also very likely he won't harm her.” Gale said, glancing over at Astarion who bore a very grim expression.

“You don't know that.” The silver haired elf replied with a fearful look in his eyes. An intense worry was practically eating him alive from the inside. It's like fear was gnawing and tearing at his innards.

“We will get her back, Astarion. I promise you.” Karlach said in an attempt to comfort him.

“Worry not my fanged friend. If we're lucky Tav will likely have rescued herself by the time we find her. She's very resourceful.” Wyll said, placing his hand on the elf's shoulder.

“Yes, our Tav does have a way of giving arrogant foes a run for their money. Still it would be best that we're there to back her up and to do that we need to find her.” Gale thought for a moment before looking back at the vampire spawn.

“Astarion, it's your counterpart we'll be looking for. Think carefully, where would you have taken Tav?”

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

[Savegame 1: Act 3, Crimson Palace]

The Vampire Ascendant looked down at the human female as she twiddled her finger and stared at her hands. He was looking at her with what she could assume was admiration? Lust? Hunger? Hard to tell honestly. This ‘living vampire’ somehow seemed even less alive than her undead partner.

“So uh…. What the hells is up with the collar? This some kind of kink?” Tav asked, tugging on the neck piece around her throat.

“How naughty,” Astarion chuckled. “No, my dear, this is simply a precaution. To keep you from hurting yourself.” A far too perfect smile spread across the Ascendant's face as he reached out to caress Tav's cheek with a clawed finger. She shivered though she wasn't sure if it was in disgust or not.

“More like keep me from hurting you…” Tav growled under her breath.

“Careful love,” Astarion gripped her chin and made her look up at him,”while I may adore you, I certainly have no qualms with punishing my precious pet.” Tav opened her mouth for a moment before soon closing it. He had this look in his eyes that frightened her. With this damn silencing collar she had barely any way of defending herself. So for now she had to be careful.

Satisfied with her submission the vampire lord placed a rough kiss on her forehead.

“Good girl.You'll come to love your place at my side in time, I'm sure.” Astarion ruffled her hair, petting her head as if she were a dog.

“Are you going to make me a spawn then?” Tav asked, glaring up at his hand as she contemplated biting off his fingers.

“In time…We are going to do things a little differently than before. For now I still have a few obstacles to handle. Disposing of any rivals and taking care of that pesky brain.” Astarion said, continuing to pet her head.

“Wait a minute. You're not going to take me back to your own timeline?” Tav asked in confusion. Astarion’s hand retreated from her hair, his face hardened a bit.

“There's nothing else left for us there now. Trust me.” He turned away before suddenly looking up and noticing a figure walk inside. Tav’s eyes quickly scanned the person recognizing them as her wizard companion Gale, but like Lae'zel his eyes were a bright glowing red.

Gods. Has he turned all of them?

Tav thought to herself, clenching her fists. It was hard to believe in another time, another life he'd done this. Enslaving the very people who helped him achieve his freedom. She wondered exactly what happened to her own counterpart. From how Astarion spoke about him it was quite clear to her that he was no longer alive. Possibly killed judging from how the vampire lord had mentioned that he was taken from him.

“My lord, Halsin and Shadowheart have returned. The sunrise drove them back to the palace.” Gale announced, quickly walking over and kneeling before the Ascendant.

“And what about my spawn self?”

“He escaped.” As Gale said that, a heavy weight left Tav’s chest. Her lover was alive at least. He'd likely have gone back to the others to plan a rescue. Hopefully they'd be able to find her location.

“Send them in here.” Astarion said coldly.

The room went silent as the wizard walked out. Tav glancing back and forth, her mind telling to run, sprint out of here and grab anything she could use as a weapon, but she knew either Astarion or Lae'zel would corner her in an instant and without her magic, without her blades, without her beastly form she was no match for them. She was helpless and absolutely despised it. Falling into the role of a captured damsel in distress made her blood boil.

The large doors to the ballroom swung open, Halsin and Shadowheart slowly walked, looking a little singed from the morning sun.

“Why the hells did you let him escape!?”

Both of them knelt down before him.

“Forgive us. We underestimated him, master.” Shadowheart said.

“You were supposed to finish him off then and there! Now he's likely to bring the others with him.”

“Let us wait it out until sunset. If you send the four of us next time we can dispatch all of them.”

“They could very well be here before then, you idiot!” Astarion took hold of Shadowheart’s throat, lifting his spawn off the ground and tightening his hand around her neck. Tav's face went pale, a look of utter shock and horror was in her eyes. The fact that this wasn't the same Shadowheart she'd been traveling with didn't even register. All she knew at this moment was that her friend was being choked to death.

“Shadowheart!”She shouted.

“Master please!” Halsin begged.

“Honestly I should just throw you both back outside to burn in the sun, but perhaps spending a few weeks impaled may be better motivation not to fail me next time.” Astarion spoke through gritted teeth, his claws now digging into the half-elf’s flesh, drawing blood.

“Astarion stop!” Tav suddenly ran over and grabbed his arm. The vampire lord almost immediately snapped his head around to look at her, brows furrowed and fangs bared. He looked absolutely feral, like he was ready to bite her head off. Literally. But before he had the chance to snarl out a response Tav dropped to her knees, clutching his shirt as she began to beg.

“Please. Don't hurt them. Please! I'll….I'll do whatever you want….” Tears slowly formed in the corners of her eyes as she stared up at him.

Slowly his eyes softened as he looked back at her. He released the cleric, dropping her to the ground. Shadowheart fell to her knees, hands immediately moving up to sooth her bruised and bleeding throat as she began coughing up a little blood.

Astarion sighed, “looks like I'll have to call some wolves to make up for your failure. In the meantime… Gale! Make sure all the entrances are magically barred. I don't want anyone interrupting me and my pet! We have some catching up to do.” Tav then felt herself be pulled up off the ground, immediately being wrapped up in the Ascendant's embrace.

~~~

He was rather unpredictable, this Vampire Ascendant. Tav felt as if she was walking on eggshells while she was within his presence.

However on the brightside he seemed carelessly arrogant. He'd summoned some wolves to patrol and guard his palace instead of simply going after the threat himself. Maybe deep down he didn't think he'd be able to defeat them alone? Or maybe he saw them as not worth his time? He’d most likely claim the job was beneath him anyway. Regardless, Tav's escape was still a priority. She needed to find some way to get this collar or arm herself with a weapon.

Tav sat beside him on a fine silk sofa. The study was warmed cozily by the flames of a fireplace. There were no windows, but plenty of candles were set to keep the room illuminated. Astarion’s arm was draped around her as his eyes trailed over her face. She couldn't help but squirm and recoil from his touch. This was not her lover, no matter how much he looked, sounded or even behaved like him at times.

“You don't need to be afraid of me, my treasure. I only want to keep you safe.” His tone was soft, gentle even, but Tav knew better. Most of what left his mouth had to be complete and utter horseshit!

Oh so that's why you kidnapped me, threatened me, and left me completely powerless? Yes! That makes soooo much sense!

Abigail walked into the room, carrying a large tray in her arms. She set it down on a table in front of them before slowly stepping away and exiting.

“Here, I made sure to get your favorite.” Astarion ran a hand over her shoulder affectionately as Tav looked over noticing a large bottle of port and and plate of fine cheeses.

Damnit. He knows my weakness.

Tav stared down at the tray, biting down on her lip as her mouth watered a bit. Tav grabbed hold of a piece of cheese and slowly nibbled away on it before downing it with some of the port.

Her eyes were still shooting daggers at the vampire. She then sighed before calming down a little.

“What do you plan on doing with me after all this is over, my lord?” She said, taking another swing of port.

“Hmm…While I do think that you would make a beautiful little spawn I intend to savor this…Warm body for a while yet.” He purred, running a hand over her thigh. Tav shivered, then something caught her eye. On an end table beside the sofa laid a peculiar looking comb. It appeared to be wooden with a rather sharp pointy end. An idea began to form in her mind, but she needed to be careful and wait for the right moment.

“Why wait on turning me? You have me right here…Right where you want me after all.” Tav took another drink. Perhaps if he were to believe she were a bit more careless due to drink this could work.

“Lets just say I have my reasons and leave it at that dear.” He said before taking the bottle from her hand and drinking some himself. Tav swung a leg over his lap, trying to appear a bit more relaxed. “You're still going to become my consort however, once we destroy the brain everything will be as it was. We'll be together for good this time. Forever.” Astarion smiled softly before placing a hand on Tav's cheek staring into her eyes longingly.

Star…..Please forgive me….

Tav leaned in slowly, placing her hands on his chest before closing the gap between him, planting a sweet kiss on his lips. His arms almost immediately wrapped around her caressing her form as his tongue snuck it's way into her mouth.

Tav fell back against the couch, allowing him to pin her down. His knee parted her legs as he slowly began to grind himself into her.

Tav pulled back a bit for air, immediately seeing the dazed look in his eyes.

“It's been far too long since I've tasted you.” He panted, a lustful grin on his face. Tav tilted her head baring her neck before him. Astarion didn't even hesitate before biting down into it.

“A-Ah….” Tav gasped, fingers clawing at his clothes as she felt the pain of his bite. She waited till he began to suckle on her neck, allowing him to be intoxicated by her blood before she made her move. Her hand quickly reached out for the wooden comb....

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Note from ChaoticDruid: PART TWO LETS GO!!!

Because part one did so well I decided to continue it. As of right now I can only see this going to maybe five parts max. Also sorry for the cliff hanger but I thought it would be a good spot to end on. I'm totally surprised some of y'all were actually feeling bad for AA last chapter, but I guess somehow I made him actually sympathetic.

I plan to dive more into AA and M!Tav’s past in the next chapter and also give a little insight to my original character Abigail.

Oh and in case anyone was wondering Savegame 2 Wyll and Karlach are not Vampire Spawns. They left to go to Hells and avoided it all together. Karlach canonly cannot be turned into a vampire so yeah….

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vintagerpg · 2 months

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After TSR died and was brought back to an undead half-life by Wizards of the Coast, there came a set of adventures that returned to classic 1e adventure sites. The first was 1998’s Return to the Tomb of Horrors box set (which I covered a while back). It was followed a trio of “silver anniversary” branded books and modules, first of which was Against the Giants: The Liberation of Geoff (1999). I know Geoff is a dutchy or whatever in Greyhawk, but I still have a hard time with the title because it sounds like it should be a novel about a guy named Geoff’s sexual awakening, possibly written by D. H. Lawrence.

Anyway, Geoff was invaded and subjugated by giants. You need to kick ‘em out. The first section of the book presents the original G-series modules, updated to 2E. That’s followed by a general sort of sourcebook on Geoff, which is further divided into a collection of adventure sites which are basically towns subjugated by various evil humanoids — orc town, ogre town, wererat town. The three main locales (each accompanied by a couple minor locations) form up three additions G-series modules, sorta. There’s G4: Mount Rungnirheim (more frost giants?), G5: Castle Thrasmotnir (more fire giants?) and G6: Cloud Islands of the Sakhut (cloud giants). It is odd to me that we got more frost and fire (god, just typing that out, I heard it sung by Cirith Ungol) when the stone giants and storm giants are out there, getting no love. The second batch of frost giants at least are prone to having multiple heads, which seems weird but also I like it.

And that’s…basically it. If you want more giants, you got more giants! The book mostly shrugs at the original G-series sub-plot involving the drow — if you finished G3, the plot’s been disrupted, the caves collapsed, the drow in retreat for however long it takes them to build up their nerve again. I’m OK with that!

Brom on the cover. Wayne Reynolds inside. It’s a good looking module.

#tabletop rpg #roleplaying game #dungeons & dragons #rpg #ttrpg #d&d #Against The Giants #Liberation Of Geoff

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geezmarty · 6 months

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ooo what inspired your tav design? like did you go in with a specific character in mind, or did it come from playing around with the character maker?

Oh boy ok. You’re about to find out just how insane I get over RPG character creation. “marty you don’t have to disclose it” I can’t believe you guys are forcing me to do this.

SO, I actually started bg3 with another character entirely, a ghityanki bard, which I thought would be fun and for a bit it was! But I wasn’t feeling crazy about her and when I play an RPG I love to turn my PC into a proper OC I can be obsessed with, so I restarted the game and before I went to character creation I literally sat down with a sketchbook and started brainstorming.

I wanted my pc to have an aesthetic of her own separate from the main companions but I also wanted her to blend in with the rest of the cast, I went for dark urge bc I heard that it gives you a personal quest and I landed for half drow and wild magic sorcerer, which is another class no major companion has (and also, I’ve always wanted to play wild magic even in regular dnd and this was a nice excuse to!)

Her aesthetic pretty much came up as I was sketching her and thinking about all the info above, what could set her apart but still feel like she could blend in? And most importantly, what would be fun for ME to draw? And so I went for witchy goth woman and luckily the design I sketched was very easy to reproduce in the character creator - and the rest came up organically as I drew more of her.

(I also named her after my very first dnd character Brigha, a half orc warlock, and it’s only after I finalized her design that I realized I’d borrowed some elements from hers eheh)

Witch goth was especially fun to play with bc I feel like most companions have a goth vibe about them but we’re missing the mean, spooky, feminine witch archetype (yes, morrigan from dao was part of the inspiration I love my wife <3). You could argue that Gale sort of fills the witch role already but I feel like they stand very nicely at opposite ends of the witch spectrum which is also fun considering their wizard-sorcerer one sided animosity.

#I think the only thing I didn’t manage to land on with her #is that as the supposed protagonist she doesn’t really feel like the “leader” of the group much.#But I kind of like that cause it matches the vibe of an IRL d&d party #anyway ty for the question!! I love talking about this sort of thing

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dunmeshi-darlings · 8 days

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Can i get uhhhhhhhhh laios (and maybe cute platonic stuff for the rest of the crew?) x an orc reader? blease?

oh this sounds delightful id love to do this! im going to do everyone else and THEN get to laios

You and Marcille had a rocky start to your friendship to say the least. The issues between the elves and the orcs still caused some bad blood between the two of you. Sure after senshi cooked for everyone it had gotten better, that issue was still there. Plus you already weren't the biggest fan of magic so this was just another point of contention between the two of you.

You two would argue back and forth and numerous times you two would end up getting annoyed at each other and bicker to the point chilchuck had to step in. Eventually though as you grew to know each other more you warmed up to each other.

You realize that despite her attitude, marcille is actually a genuinely kind person who cares about others and doesnt think she is better than anyone (unlike most elves). So you two eventually become good friends and even joke about how you two were at the start.

You already knew senshi since he had spent years among the orc tribe and so you two were already good friends at this point. In fact he was the one that promised to the orc chief that you would be ok and he would make sure of it on his word.

However when you joined the party a new issue between you and senshi started, What he made you eat. You were particular in what you are willing to eat, the problem being that in senshis eyes you werent getting proper nutrients and you two would argue back and forth about eating things like vegetables and other foods you didnt like.

Eventually you and him come to an agreement, you would eat the vegetables and other things he cooked up only if he made sure they were small enough that you wouldnt notice them or they were cooked in a way to hide things like flavor and texture.

You and chilchuck actually got around pretty well when you first joined the party. You respected his skills as a lockpick and how good he was at avoiding and disarming traps. you couldnt count how many orcs had been injured or worse from those damn dungeon traps. So having somebody who knew what to do around them was nice for a change.

You knew about half foots and so you didnt treat him like a child, in fact chilchuck was older than you so you treated him as such. This made him happy considering how senshi and marcille treated him. However when he revealed the fact that he had a three children and a divorce it caught you off guard.

Chilchuck and you would also share drinks some times. You and him being the only ones in the party that enjoyed alcohol. The two of you would enjoy drinks together and tell stories about each others lives. You wouldnt have expected a half foot to be able to keep up with an orc in terms with drinking, but the little guy was full of surprises.

You and izutsumi bonded immediately over your shared pickiness with eating. Both of you backing the other when refusing to eat certain foods.

Her care free lifestyle and looking out for herself as well as her physical prowess reminded you of a fellow orc and you began to see her as an honorary orc. She found you to be the least annoying and so would often stick around you more than anyone else.

Thanks to your body build, fur covering, and size izutsumi found you the most comfortable person to sleep with. She would curl up against you and enjoy how warm you were, you didnt mind as it reminded you of sleeping along side the wargs you and leed would raise and you both end up sleeping well next to each other.

Laios was the main reason you joined the party, the respect he showed to you and your fellow orcs was a surprise for a tallman. And the fact the chief and leed supported him made your decision to join him all the more firm.

Laios was more than excited to have you on the team! he was fascinated by the orcs and was so excited to hear you wanted to travel with them. This gave him the chance to ask you all kinds of questions. He asked you about life as a dwarf, about what it was like being a dwarf and any other question that could come to his head.

You answer them all, surprisingly happy to talk about being an orc and what that entailed. You were proud of what you were and to see a tallman respect that and show interest made you feel good. You made a passing comment about how you were sure things like your tusks and fur and tail made you ugly in his eyes. "actually i think there really cute." he comments causing you to stutter and look at him in confusion, expecting him to have been joking but the look of sincerity on his face caused you to get flustered, waving it off saying that a tallman like him wouldnt know about orc beauty. He simply shakes his head saying he does think your incredibly beautiful, that to him humans are boring and so having cool things like tusks and fur and a tail are so cool and he is almost jealous of you.

Ever since then the way you looked at laios was different, before you looked at him as just a rare tallman that respected you and your people...but now you started to view him in a different way. He was kind and caring and shown a genuine interest in you and what you did. You look at him and feel a warmth under the fur of your cheeks, you feel your tail wag excitedly when you see him, and you can feel your mind drifting to him whenever your alone. It is safe to say you had fallen in love with laios

But there was no way he could love you back right? you were an orc, and you could never imagine somebody like him loving an orc. Surely his fascination and comments about you are simply his weird obsession with monsters. That was it, it couldnt be anything else. You couldnt imagine a tallman would ever love an orc?

So imagine you shock when one night he presents you a necklace made out of the teeth and bones of the monster you all had killed earlier. "i was doing some reading and saw that Orc courtship involved creating jewelry and trinkets out of the bones of enemies you have killed. Y/N...i really like you, and i like you more than just because your an orc...even though that part is really cool! but i also do really like you and i wanted to make this necklace for you. If you would accept my courtship attempt." By the time he finished his sentence you had already pulled him into a hug kissing him, it was awkward at first as the two of you adjusted for your tusks and his lack of them but you found your comftorable zone as the two of you kissed. Eventually breaking the kiss he smiles wildly, his cheeks a rosy color "wow! im glad the information in my book was right!"

#dungeon meshi #dungeon meshi x reader #laios #laios touden #marcille #marcille donato #chilchuck #chilchuck tims #senshi #senshi of izganda #izutsumi #this was so delightful to work on!

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darklordsauron · 2 years

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I WATCHED THE FIRST EPISODE OF RINGS OF POWER (illegally) SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO:

I will list all the bad things and the good things of the first episode. Fair warning, I am right and those articles which calls this piece of steaming shit a masterpiece is wrong.

BAD THINGS-

The acting is sub par and so uncaring that it literally didn't feel like a real, just under a billion dollar, fantasy show based off of the legendary writing of J.R.R Tolkien.(Rest in peace, you deserve the world.)

Galadriel is a Mary-Sue (the perfect person. Everybody wants to be her, she is so 'cool' Rawr XD Uwu) and she is short despite being described in the books as taller than most elvish women and almost half of elvish men.

Elrond seems to have a crush on her and that just makes me nauseated.

Galadriel, if I should even call her that, wears the fëanorian star on every wardrobe item she owns it seems.

Actually, all the elves are the same height or even under it when compared to the humans.

The music sounds more like Game of Thrones than anything even remotely associated with LOTR.

The costume design in terrible. The material is cheap and plastic, they don't even try to conceal it. In one scene you can see that one of the background characters is wearing a black T-shirt underneath the clothes.

They barely say any of the characters' names (except Galadriel, which they repeat almost constantly). I had to google their names.

Brondir is the edgy warrior who is in love with the single mother (already forgot her name) who tries to help everyone around her.

The Harfoots, I also forgot all of their names, are the Hobbits of the second age and I hate the other main character whom comes from them. She is the relatable, clumsy character who is super curious. In other words, the most over used and predictable trope in all of film history.

They bring in new monsters/creatures that Tolkien never, ever wrote about. They probably needed these cliches to make the first episode more interesting.

The CGI sucks especially when Galadriel is climbing the glacier, icy, mounting thingy. The water is jelly and a piece of Valinor's sky literally clips out if you look really closely.

They jump locations every two minutes which gave me a headache and somehow the series is both fast and slow...AT THE SAME TIME!

There is really no heart in it. The entire thing was apathetic and simply lacked soul (because they sold their souls for money).

GOOD THINGS-

Gil-galad, his character actually looks canon and the actor is putting his heart into the performance thus making him the best.

The make-up of the orcs is simply beautiful. If only the rest of the series was.

Any scene with Sauron and the mentions of Morgoth is cool as it feels as if they have actual power in the otherwise boring show.

So far it sucks (no surprise there). I wanted to break my TV simply because their disrespect towards the source material is so obvious. Tomorrow my brain will have recovered enough to watch episode 2: Shit becomes shitier.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

#lord of the rings #the rings of power #lotr on prime #middle earth #tolkien #lotr #lotr amazon #fuck amazon #j.r.r. tolkien #i hate it thanks #amazon is a mosquito #the silm #galadriel #the mary-sue #the first episode was terrible #literally the worst #my brain is fucked #why

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thesummerestsolstice · 2 months

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Part four of my series on Rivendell's guards! Wherein I finally talk about why Hrivossa and Celecoll keep getting into arguments. You might want to read parts 1, 2, and 3 first for context.

So we pick up after the siege of Rivendell is broken by Gil-Galad's forces

Among those forces is Hrivossa and her Feanorian faction, who weren't in Eregion when it fell (they were supposed to go as reinforcements later, but never had a chance)

So Hrivossa is very relieved that her lord is alive, obviously, and fully approves of Elrond creating his own little haven in the valley

Anyway then she meets Celecoll

Let me be clear; it is absolute loathing from first sight for those two

Hrivossa is decked out in Feanorian stars, Celecoll is still wearing some old Iathrim armor, they know what they're dealing with, and they're not happy about it

They are both just sensitive enough not to start yelling obscenities at each other in the middle of Rivendell's main courtyard

Especially when Hrivossa finds out that Celecoll has been an impromptu guard for Elrond during the siege (and Celecoll finds out that Hrivossa is normally Elrond's guard)

As far as Hrivossa is concerned, Celecoll is a coward who hid behind the girdle and shamefully ran away when her kingdom needed her most, all while keeping the Silmarils from their rightful owners, and who has no business around Elrond, a good Feanorian lord

As far as Celecoll is concerned, Hrivossa is a remorseless murder who's probably still extremely dangerous, and definitely crass and improper, and who also maybe kept Elrond prisoner(?) and who has no business around Elrond, a good Sindar lord

(Sidenote: a lot of people had issues with Elrond's former jailers basically becoming the basis for his house as a lord but that's another post topic)

I want to be clear both of these people almost immediately made peace with the actual orcs they were now living with and they still hated each other

After a few loud arguments (because a few cups of elvish wine can easily overcome both their abilities to not start yelling at each other) Elrond decides he's had enough and separates them

Alternating schedules where they don't have to see each other, and now they live at opposite ends of the growing city

Problem solved, right?

Wrong!

Celecoll moves next to Hrivossa and they start fighting again

I feel like I should note that half the time they aren't even arguing in the same language

Subjects for discussion include: whether or not Thingol was bad, who the Silmarils rightfully belonged to, and most importantly, who gets to guard Elrond

Can you become a toxic divorced couple without ever being romantically involved? Local elves sure are trying

This cycle repeats several more times before Elrond decides that they clearly, like, need the enrichment from arguing or something

He gets their rooms soundproofed so that their fights don't wake anyone else up and just kind of lets it happen

For some ungodly reason yelling at each other a few times a month actually seems to help both of them be more calm and relaxed the rest of the time

Some things are unknowable, even to the wisest minds, and the reason why they're like this is one of them

#silmarillion #silm headcanons #silm oc #rivendell #imladris #elrond #elrond peredhel #feanorians #these two are just one example of all the weird problems Rivendell has #like it's a great place but Elrond has had to find many solutions for the problems #that happen when you shove a bunch of people who aren't fit for civil society in the same valley #honestly he's just glad they haven't like #had a duel for his honor or anything #glorfindel still usually ends up guarding Elrond #he's very smug about it

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annoyinglandmagazine · 5 days

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Elrond and Elros Series Ideas 2

For a framing devise, which maybe shouldn’t be revealed until maybe halfway through the first season, I think it’s probably Elrond explaining it to Bilbo as he tries to compile his songs and history extracts of the Old Tales and takes full advantage of any primary sources he can find. The story is interspersed with Elrond packing things away for his journey west, you see things like murials of ships coming to life at the start of an episode and rings being taken out of their boxes suddenly switching to a scene where you can see them on the hands of one of the characters of the show.

As a battle scene with Maedhros taking out an entire battalion of orcs single handedly (pun fully intended) fades out you can see the same sword carefully taken out of its intricate scabbard and despite the layer of dust it is sharp as ever as it is cradled in hands that clearly aren’t the scarred one’s from the scene. The finale absolutely has to end with Elrond balancing on the prow of the ship to Valinor with a soft smile on his face and one tear rolling down his cheek as he gazes at the horizon.

The framing will also serve to explain why most of the first half of the season or so, four or five episodes, are in a more broad strokes epic style with very few little details or casual dialogue, mostly it’s political and military discussions, it comes across as if it’s more a story that’s been passed down because it’s not from Elrond’s point of view. It’s mostly a large scale kind of story with big battle scenes and political drama.

This is juxtaposed with the clips of the twins and their relationship with the Feanorians in the camp and Maglor and Maedhros in which we see Elrond learning how to heal because he’s the only one there that can and there’s loads of really sweet emotional moments where it looks like Maedhros is finally starting to accept them and you get much more dialogue with little bits of humour as well because this is what Elrond remembers.

Basically it feels like an entirely different show about two feared war lords letting down their barriers in order to try and form a tentative bond with these scared children as they grow up and it’s a really moving subplot next to the main plot of armies fighting dragons and Balrogs and kings and lords trying to form stable alliances in the unnavigable situation that is elf politics (especially the Finarfin and Gil Galad High Kingship of The Noldor situation because there is a lot of mileage in that one.)

The first time we see the Third Kinslaying properly is a bit later in the season, there’s vague flashes that allude to it in the twin’s nightmares, is Oropher explaining to Thranduil that they mustn’t fully trust the Noldor which comes on the heels of intense political manoeuvring the entire episode between him and Gil Galad. He refers to how they destroyed two of their people’s cities and ended the line of their royal family in one brutal attack. The way this scene is done should definitely open up with warning bells ringing louder and louder as the camera cuts from Mirkwood to Sirion and the most menacing music possible plays over the Feanorians entering.

It absolutely has to be an intensely brutal scene, maybe not in the graphic violence sense but emotionally the destruction has to be devastating, buildings set on fire, maybe a toy in a child’s limp hand or something like that; it’s horrifying is the point. Elwing flings herself into the sea and it ends with Oropher looking over the burning wreckage from the distance, just a few hours too late, a thriving settlement reduced to nothingness in the space of a day.

The Sindar all believe the twins to be dead and no one ever speaks the name of Elwing’s child or children, it isn’t specified, because it’s such a dreadful tragedy; they don’t show Elrond and Elros as Elwing’s sons until the end of the first season when we see two six year olds hiding in a wardrobe in a burning building and suddenly there’s footsteps and the door is thrown open to reveal Maglor stained with blood.

It’s referenced previously that the twins guardians have a dark reputation and it may have already been said that they are the sons of Feanor who were responsible for the massacre so it’s not a leap for it to be confirmed that they found the twins through dubious means but this is the first time people who don’t have the background knowledge will see where the twins came from.

Elros might brandish a sword at him but Maglor slowly takes off his helmet off and tells him they won’t come to any harm. Eventually he manages to coax them out and takes them in his arms and just as the camera pans out over the wreckage of Sirion once more you can hear the hushed voices of a conversation something like this; Maedhros: Elwing’s sons? Truly Maglor? Maglor: Well who else will take them? We killed their mother after all.

#Silmarillion #tolkienfamilyweek #lotr #elrond peredhel #elros tar minyatur #kidnap fam #maedhros #maglor #bilbo baggins #first age #war of wrath #ereinion gil galad #finarfin #Oropher #thranduil

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