#neverwinter nights series | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

Visit Blog

Explore Tumblr blogs with no restrictions, modern design and the best experience.

Fun Fact

Tumblr has a 66 index score for customer satisfaction in the US.

#neverwinter nights series

lodgeofthecat · 4 months

Text

DOOR STUCK and Dragons https://twitch.tv/schoolofthecat

#fyp #neverwinter nights #a series of unfortunate events #stalker #counter strike #vtuber

0 notes

alteredphoenix · 1 year

Text

You know for what little reblogging I’ve done for DND, I’ve never actually played it nor read any of the books. Would love to know if there are any novels that feature dragonborn and tabaxi, at least (since there doesn’t seem to be an anthro wolf race like the worgen, and even then worgen are just Fantasy Victorian werewolves - I mean something that’s pure anthro, humanoid but not human).

#can't say i'm all that familiar with dnd tbh #although i have tangential knowledge of different series like forgotten realms eberron neverwinter nights etc #which sound like series neither of the races i'm interested in would show up in #i'll be shocked if the only story they have is in the sourcebooks

0 notes

bangpuddingmuffin · 2 years

Video

youtube

Neverwinter Nights: Tyrants of the Moonsea

I didn't enjoy this. It crashed several times, it softlocked sometimes, and the main quest was so tedious I cheated through part of it. The plot wasn't satisfying—there was one antagonist that you killed, everyone else escaped again and again. It felt like the most railroady of the modules I played. I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone.

Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMOeTsMoezKbfTLgVbKA5HjTBRM4kuyf-

#neverwinter nights: tyrants of the moonsea #playthrough #series #finished #neverwinter nights #crpg #1/5 #ossian studios

0 notes

shuunnico · 5 months

Note

You like rpgs. Do you recommend any games like baldurs gate 3?

Absolutely. I'll assume you mean CRPGs and not RPGs in general.

Computer Roleplaying Games (CRPGs) refers to a style and genre of game that BG3 follows. Some have started calling CRPGs "Classic RPGs" instead. CRPGs are typically identified by an isometric, top down view style, a heavy focus on story and exploration.

I'm going to split my list it three main categories based on accessibility factors. These factors include the amount of reading involved, the depth of mechanics and the level of abstraction/math required.

Easy Entry Level

Baldur's Gate 3 - 2023 - Larian Studios. The current gold star for easy entry CRPGs. Exceptional graphics, every character voice acted, very little reading and fairly straightforward mechanics and concepts.

Divinity: Original Sin 2 DE- 2017 - Larian Studios. This is basically a less polished, more complex version of BG3 and made by the same studio.

Disco Elysium, Final Cut - 2019 - ZA/UM. Disco Elysium is a detective/social focus game that dives into heavy narrative concepts. Failing rolls is just as viable for the story as succeeding them, making the game's mechanics take a backseat to story. However, there is a lot of reading and that may be a barrier to entry.

Tyranny - 2016 - Obsidian Entertainment. A game about being evil, it's mechanically pretty simple, but there's a fair bit of jank due to it's low budget, and the game ends on a cliffhanger, but it's story is very solid.

Mid Entry Level

Wasteland 3 - 2020 - inExile Entertainment. The long awaited third installment of the Wasteland franchise and significantly less complex than its predecessors. Post apocalyptic, frozen Colorado, grim reality and goofy ideas. This is the franchise that originally inspired Fallout.

Shadowrun: Dragonfall DC/ Shadowrun: Hong Kong EE - 2014/2015 - Harebrained Schemes. Set in the Fantasy/Cyberpunk hybrid setting of Shadowrun. Fair bit of reading, but the game's mechanics are relatively easy to grasp and don't require a lot of math. Always play Dragonfall before Hong Kong.

Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire - 2018 - Obsidian Entertainment. A unique setting, exploring a fictional parallel to the age of piracy. Very wordy (but a lot is voice acted), with a lot of world building, but well worth engaging with. The first game, Pillars of Eternity, is less accessible, but still good.

Kingmaker/Wrath of the Righteous/Rogue Trader - 2020/2022/2023 - Owlcat Games. Owlcat adapts existing systems into CRPGs, like how BG3 is an adaption of DnD 5e. Do not be fooled, these games are where you start hitting a lot of complexity, a lot of math and a lot potential to damage your playthroughs by accident. This is where things start to get difficult.

Difficult Entry Level

Baldur's Gate 1/2 - Bioware - 1998/2000. The prequels to BG3, these games use an older, much more complex version of DnD's rules. Be prepared for a lot of reading and complex mechanics, but you'll be rewarded with some amazing storytelling.

Planescape Torment - Interplay - 1999. Another game using DnD's older mechanics, Planescape is a completely different beast from BG3. Many consider this series mechanically inferior to the Baldur's Gate franchise, but with better storytelling and world building to compensate.

Fallout 1/2 - 1997/1998 - Interplay/Black Isle. One of the most widely known game franchises started as an isometric CRPG. Universally considered more complex, rewarding and deeper than the Bethesda portion of the franchise, you'll need some experience to get into them, but you'll be happy you did.

Games I haven't played but I've heard good things of:

Wasteland 2, DC - 2015 - inExile

Torment: Tides Of Numenera - 2017 - inExile

Neverwinter Nights - 2002 - Bioware

Arcanum - 2001 - Troika Games

Ultima 7 Part 1/Part 2 - 1992/1993 - Origin Systems

Icewind Dale - 2000 - Black Isle Studio

#Baldur's Gate 3 #Disco Elysium #DnD #Fallout #Rogue Trader #Warhammer 40k #Pathfinder #Baldur's Gate #Planescape #Bioware #pillars of eternity

222 notes · View notes

psyoni · 8 months

Text

Hi) I'm back! With new style and with increased abilities!

Agregor on DA and Tumblr, and Neuro Oni on other social networks.

I draw all my arts by myself (without artificial intelligence intervention) Currently I am in the process of playing through the game Baldur's Gate 3 (a cult series of games set in the world of Forgotten Realms and a system of rules and combat from Dungeons & Dragons) And I'm absolutely delighted!) In style, it is very reminiscent of the old game Neverwinter Nights 2 and the first Dragon Age. The whole thrill of these games is that the party members (or NPCs) you meet in the game’s plot behave as if they were alive - they interact with you and with other characters. They love, hate, tease each other. With them you can start and develop a love line (romance)! Of course, I started playing as a character - a tiefling - a cross between a demon and a human.) They are my favorite race since the days of Neverwinter! And, of course, my crush in BG3 was none other than Karlach. Despite the fact that she is also a tiefling, a barbarian, a berserker, with the appearance of a biker’s girlfriend and with a mover instead of a heart, she turned out to be very kind and humane) That's why my first BG3 art is dedicated to her!

Soon expect new art from me on BG3 and more)

COMMISSIONS ARE OPEN! PLEASE, NOTE ME, IF YOU ARE INTERESTED

#agregor #baldurs gate 3 #baldursgate3 #BG3 #fantasy #game #dragon age inquisition #karlach #gale of waterdeep #shadowheart #wyll #laezel #astarion

169 notes · View notes

commander-krios · 3 months

Text

BG3 Juniper/Rolan Masterlist

A masterlist of all fic, art, and headcanons/other stuff for Rolan x f!Tav (she/her, Juniper: afab tiefling bard/wild magic sorcerer).

Juniper's Main Tag Juniper x Rolan Tag Juniper x Rolan Playlist The Wizard of Ramazith's Tower AO3 Series

Fanfiction

Long Rest: G, 2k, Gifts/Flirting/Developing Relationships/Act 2 Spoilers

Nights Like This: T, 3k, Abuse/Healing/First Kiss/Act 3 Spoilers

Better Judgement: [ch1] [ch2] [ch3]; M, 10k, Post-Lorroakan/Fluff/Sexual Tension/Act 3 Spoilers

Juniper's Kitty Catastrophe: T, 8k, Pranks/Post-Canon/Friendship/Love/Cats

With Devotion And A Little Luck: T, 5k, Marriage Proposal/Fluff/Post-Canon

Headcanons/Asks

Neverwinter Headcanons (Juniper/Rolan)

Get to Know Your Tav

Amorous OC Asks 1

Amorous OC Asks 2

Juniper Romance Ask

Juniper Voice Ask

Juniper Tent Ask

Juniper Animal Ask

OC Questionnaire

Juniper Love Language Ask

Juniper Close Relationship Ask

BG3 Backstory Bash

Juniper Marriage Ask

Juniper Body Type Ask

Unusual OC Associations

5 Songs, 4 Outfits

Juniper Tav Worksheet

Commissioned/Gifted Art

Vicious Mockery (qwiqwiaqwi)

Rolan/Kitty Juniper (thegoblinwitchqueen)

WildThunderForge (mudd-art)

Juniper Portrait (jbnonsense)

Sleepy Time Rolan/Juniper (valkblue)

Juniper OC Kiss Week (finchmarie)

Valentine's Day Smoochy Juni/Rolan (nekrokatart)

Mistletoe Smooch (commander-sarahs-art)

Juni Headshot (catesbeeart)

Juni/Rolan (chaoticcomposition)

Juniper/Rolan Tower (riense)

Juniper Silly Portrait (antivanbrandy)

Juniper Bust Commission (thebunnybutts)

Juniper/Rolan Song (sacherali)

Rolan/Juniper cozy (redreart)

Rolan and Arabella (thegoblinwitchqueen)

Juni/Rolan Flushed Smooch (thegoblinwitchqueen)

Juniper sketch portrait (dilfbuck)

Juniper/Rolan NSFW (amouswolf)

Juniper Closeup Portrait (xanthouransong)

Juniper/Rolan Flower (artmadval)

Bard Juni Portrait (barbwillbrb)

Other Juni/Rolan

Bard Tav Text Posts 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8

Tav/Rolan Text Posts 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7

Rolan Text Posts 1 /

George Taylor cameo

Other Tiefling-centric Fics

Sweet Like Sugar: Bex/Danis, G, 2k, Celebrations/Post-Canon/Romance

A Divine Dream: Dammon/Rolan, T, 5k, Ballroom Dancing/Post-Canon/Romance

Everything: Dammon/Rolan, T, 3k, Romance/Fluff/Post-Canon

#my writing #art for me #tav: juniper #bg3 rolan #juniper x rolan #tav x rolan #i will update as more fic and stuff are added

48 notes · View notes

rpgchoices · 10 months

Note

would absolutely LOVE recs for cheaper rpgs with better endings 🙏

OF COURSE!!

These are all rpg games that have been out enough that discounts and cheaper prices are quite common. I think it might depends on the country and time, but they should be relatively easy to find (both on steam, or cdkeys or gog).

I put them in order of how satisfied I was with the ending! (no spoilers)

Okay, this is a maybe. Not sure if I would call this an rpg but Heaven's Vault allow you to make choices in your game so almost? the ending is SO GOOD. I was absolutely floored and satisfied. You know when a game peppers clues everywhere and then you realize THAT was it? Not only it is good, but not everything is explained, not in a bad sense, but in a "you can put together the history of the world". Dreamfall Chapters is another game that is not a classic rpg but I would absolutely recommend. Unavowed too!

Pathfinder Kingmaker. This game is so dear to me, and the endings, especially the companions endings and the romances endings are so detailed! Little changes in the game and you can get different ones! Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous too, but that is relatively new so it might be more expensive.

The whole Dragon Age series, from origins to Dragon Age II and Inquisition (if you consider the last DLC the ending) are just perfect!

Sorcery! not only I love this rpg to pieces, but it is pretty cheap (it is one story but divided in 4 games, so you can try the first part and see if you like it). The 4th game actually reminds me of BG3 act 3 but done well haha. You have to sneak in a certain place in a city, and it is beautiful. So many choices and the romance really works so well (I think it is kinda... part of the story, as in the game benefits from having the romance in it)

Enderal (which is actually a free game). NOW WAIT. If you played this game you are wondering why I would put it even here - the thing is... I think the endings are just perfect.

Divinity Original Sin 1, no companions or romances but I found the ending a nice and complete conclusion to the game.

Neverwinter Nights 2 if you play the Mask of the Betrayer as a perfect ending!

The original Baldur's Gate games do a good job with the ending if you play the Enhanced Edition! There are also some great mods (DORN ROMANCE MOD) that in my opinion fix some things!

Age of Decadence: no companions, and definitely different from an usual rpg, imagine it more as an exploratory rpg! The ending explained every strange little thing going on in the game.

Tides of Numenera. This game gets a lot of criticism, but I think the story (for how much chaos there is in the world of the game) has an interesting and surprising ending

#pathfinder kingmaker #mask of the betrayer #enderal #sorcery!#dragon age #etc

80 notes · View notes

likeyua · 9 months

Text

Neverwinter Nights 2 ⟶ Main menu

Official Campaign ⋄ Mask of the Betrayer ⋄ Storm of Zehir

#neverwinter nights 2 #nwn2 #neverwinter nights series #neverwinter nights #mynwn2 #myposts #the MotB main menu is my favourite together with its main theme #because of it I always spent a lot of time in character creation

40 notes · View notes

slothquisitor · 4 months

Text

A master list for my Astarion x Tav fic series, Bright Lost Things. The series itself is ongoing, but the individual fics are complete.

Read on AO3.

Contrivance - 4.5K - Mature - Bite night. Astarion wants to find out just how much freedom the tadpole has given him.

A Simple Act of Vanity - 2k - Teen - In which Astarion agrees to let Tav draw him thinking it'll be flirty and fun only to feel vulnerable instead.

Between The Lines - 2.5k - Teen - The three times that Liv left Astarion books, and the one time he gave her one.

The Secrets We Carry - 2.5k - Teen - Liv keeps Astarion's secrets, even when he's not aware he's telling her them.

A Different Sun - 2k - Mature - Liv agrees to meet Astarion after the tiefling party, but neither of them has that great of a time.

There for the Taking - 4.6k - Mature - Astarion is like...let's take over the cult and Liv is a little tempted but she's Good(tm) so she has a crisis.

Something Real - 3k - Mature - Astarion tries to figure out what his scars mean.

Full of Surprises - 2.8k - Mature - The Confession.

Some Credit in Trying - 3.5k - Mature - A first kiss after Moonrise.

Imperfect Gifts - 3k - Mature - Shadowheart and Astarion go shopping, and then Astarion gives Liv a gift.

Familiar Places - 3.2k - Mature - Liv and Astarion see their respective families for the first time back in Baldur's Gate.

Rattle - 2.8k - Mature - The other vampire spawn show up to take Astarion to the ritual. Liv calls Astarion out on his bullshit.

Haunted House - 7k - Mature - The gang goes to take on Cazador, and Astarion has to make a choice.

Dying Star - 4k - Explicit - In which Astarion decides to one-up Mary Shelley.

Family Ties - 3.7k - Mature - A member of Liv's family pays the group an unexpected visit.

Sever - 5.4k - Mature - In which Gortash dies, and Karlach rages, and everyone wonders if revenge is really the right answer.

Heroes and Villains - 4.7K - Mature - The gang rescues Minsc and everyone grapples with morality.

One Last Sunrise - 2k - Mature - Liv and Astarion spend one last sunrise together before taking on the elder brain.

I Know the End - 4.2k - Mature - Confronted with a final choice to defeat the Netherbrain, Astarion is sure he knows how this ends.

We're Not All Dying Here - 5k - Mature - The brain is defeated and the world is saved, but it doesn't fix everything.

The Trouble with Home - 6k - Mature - The Netherbrain is defeated, but Astarion struggles to adjust to this new life.

Enough For Now - 4.4k - Mature - Before setting off on their next adventure, Liv has a surprise for Astarion. They also have a very long overdue discussion.

Neverwinter - 4.5k - Mature - A collection of vignettes from Liv and Astarion's time in Neverwinter in which healing is not linear.

Candlekeep - 7.5k - Mature - Liv and Astarion go to Candlekeep.

#astarion #astarion x tav #astarion bg3 #bg3 astarion #baldur's gate iii #baldur's gate 3 fanfiction #astarion x liv #bright lost things #been meaning to do this forever #and i've been sick all weekend so this helped me be productive while requiring nothing of me #slothquisitorwrites

25 notes · View notes

tabletoptrinketsbyjj · 2 months

Text

Trinkets, Books, 13: An eclectic library of dusty tomes, fictional textbooks, pocketbooks, paperbacks, hardcovers, booklets, leaflets and magical manuals. Paper leaves and the binding surrounding them can help define a character, kick off a subplot, fuel a fetch quest or simply serve as a generic macguffin. Commonly seen in video games such as Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights, World of Warcraft and Skyrim, book items are a way to subtly world build while still handing out sellable loot. A wizard has a spellbook, a cleric has a holy text and now you have a trinket list.

A pulpy horror book filled with short stories made to terrify adolescents and thrill young adults. A creature who reads the book suffers from a Random Nightmare later the next time they sleep.

A large reference book on the subject of minted coinage within the realm. The top of each page has an illustration of both sides of a coin from a rubbing of the original, lovingly and delicately inked. Below is everything anyone could possibly want to know about the coin: number of dies in the designs, the date each went into service, the date each was taken out and destroyed, dates of repairs and re-engravings on each, quantities of each kind of coin struck. There is even a statement about whether or not there are known counterfeits. According the inside cover, the tome belongs to the Royal Assay of the city of TunFaire in the kingdom of Karenta.

A brand new copy of “Volo's Guide to What to Expect When You’re Expecting” with a couple of pages dog-eared in and “Congratulations!” written on the inside cover.

On the Sending Out of the Soul: An eight-page pamphlet on astral projection. The first seven pages of the pamphlet contain vague mystic writing; however, the eighth page details a formula for effecting astral travel. Among the required ingredients are a brazier and a mild hallucinogenic herb. The formula is always successful but has an unforeseen side effect: it invokes the horrid Outer God the Hydra. Knowledgeable PC’s are aware that the pamphlet first appeared a few generations ago and circulated among occult groups. Most copies were destroyed in the wake of a series of grisly murders.

Dictionnaire Infernal: A full description of the hierarchies of demons. This edition includes sixty-nine illustrations of demons by Louis Le Breton a skilled warlock, infamous for trading his soul for legendary artistic talent rather than arcane power or material wealth.

A journeyman’s guide to the proper practices of the guild who oversees the use of Random Artisan Tools. The travel volume includes how to care for your tools and how to interact with other crafters to seek replacement tools and have worn ones maintained. Other chapters detail acceptable prices for goods sold and services rendered along with advice on any specific ethical concerns the guild may have on trading. Most of the book contains descriptions and diagrams on how to perform basic tasks with the tools to the guild’s standards.

A small book, entitled "The Torrid Affair of Knight Gawain,". When placed on its spine it automatically falls open to particularly risqué page.

A personal journal owned by a psychiatrist who was studying the concept of nightmares and their metaphysical properties. The doctor recorded dozens of firsthand accounts of her patient’s slumbering terrors within this volume as well as notes on the patients themselves and how the dreams affected them. A person who peruses the journal for more than a few minutes suffers from a Random Nightmare the next time they sleep. Upon waking they feel compelled to document their experience on one of the blank pages left near the end of the book.

Alchemy of the Flesh: A dark green tome describing how to use a plethora of humanoid viscera and organs to enhance standard potion brewing techniques.

Tome Of The Endless Tale: A small, worn book with fanciful creatures or locales on battered leather covers, the tome’s pages fill with serialized stories that engage and distract the reader. The Tome focuses on a specific genre (See Note) but the stories crafted within the pages are unique to each reader, tailored by the magic from their own imagination and so vibrant that the book’s tales seem to come to life in the mind’s eye. Once per day, the reader can speak the command word written on the book's inside cover to fill its its pages with a serial story tailored to the speaker. This story typically takes 1 hour to read, continuing from where the last tale completed. ---Note: The DM can choose a genre or roll at random; 1, Adventure 2, Romance 3, Mystery / Crime 4, Horror 5, Thriller / Suspense 6, Fantasy 7, Science Fiction 8, Historical fiction.

—Click Here to be directed to the Hotlinks To All Tables post, which provides (As you might have guessed) convenient links to all of the loot and resource tables this blog has.

—Click Here for additional Book Descriptions to give these objects even more personality.

—Note: The previous 10 items are repeated for easier rolling on a d100.

A pulpy horror book filled with short stories made to terrify adolescents and thrill young adults. A creature who reads the book suffers from a Random Nightmare later the next time they sleep.

A brand new copy of “Volo's Guide to What to Expect When You’re Expecting” with a couple of pages dog-eared in and “Congratulations!” written on the inside cover.

A small book, entitled "The Torrid Affair of Knight Gawain,". When placed on its spine it automatically falls open to particularly risqué page.

Alchemy of the Flesh: A dark green tome describing how to use a plethora of humanoid viscera and organs to enhance standard potion brewing techniques.

A cloth-bound book of short stories by famous pulp novelist Cissifin Judeel. The volume is in excellent physical condition.

A bound section that includes chapters six, seven, and nine of some kind of book on mechanical engineering, seemingly torn from a larger work. They describe in enormous detail how to construct an intricate clockwork mechanism, but what it’s supposed to do is left unclear – and, besides, with chapter eight missing you wouldn’t know how to build one of the most important parts…

A cookbook, containing stunningly delicious recipes which, unfortunately, require extraordinarily rare and hard to find ingredients to make. It is no doubt someone's life’s ambition to cook and eat all of them at least once.

An anonymous epic poem about the Brass Spear Prince, full of stirring speeches and descriptions of battle scenes. For many noble travellers, this inspiring story is the reason why they became an adventurer in the first place.

An old bestiary, full of detailed information about monsters and magical beasts. Its sources appear to be approximately one-third hard evidence, one-third rumour or hearsay, and one-third the author's own fevered imagination, with no indication in the text as to which is which. It's information could easily save your life one day if you can only work out which parts of it are actually true...

A strange book whose pages are thin, blank stone tablets bound with knotted leather cords. Skeletons and zombies bow and grovel in the presence of the book.

Phoenix Breviary: A hand-size book bound in what appears to be black ostrich hide. Its pages are empty. Placed in a fire, the book will be unharmed and reveal the canonical hours of a banned cult for as long as it is surrounded by flame. Anything written in it will disappear until revealed similarly.

A joke book, full of genuinely hilarious (If rather mean-spirited) jokes. There are enough one liners alone for hours of belly-laughs and the text would be extremely valued to a jester or entertainer.

An anonymous journal, which records in obsessive detail the suspicious activities of a variety of seemingly-innocuous local citizens, whom the author seems to have been keeping under close observation. Either he was totally paranoid, or they are engaged in some kind of conspiracy. Maybe both.

An instruction manual, which describes in lunatic detail how to build a giant mechanical owl in order to further the cause of righteousness in the land. (The causal relationship between these two things is not made clear.) Chapters 3 through 9, which cover the construction of the owl’s internal mechanisms, have been ripped out.

A book of abstruse speculative philosophy, heavily annotated by some previous student. The annotations to the early chapters are detailed and lucid, but as the book goes on they grow increasingly incoherent, finally lapsing into ravings about a Beast and a City made of Red Steel. Due to the quantity of crazy annotations on its final pages, the last sections of the book are effectively illegible. You've never seen another copy.

An antiquarian manuscript whose author attempts, from the surviving literary and numismatic evidence, to deduce where the major strongholds of the local sorcerer-kings were back in the Age of Wonders. If she’s right, then there are at least three in the area which have been completely forgotten about, one of which is now buried under the streets of a major city…

The memoirs of a famous explorer, describing his many travels. The last chapter describes his plans for his final expedition, from which he never returned. But if the reader can work out where he went wrong, then maybe they'll have better luck…

A catalogue of birds found in this and adjacent kingdoms. Holding the book makes you want to obsessively tick off every species you manage to spot. A former owner of the book seems to have ticked off far more of the really rare ones than you, which causes oddly strong feeling of jealousy. One day, you will surpass him!

A child's sketchbook. On every page that isn't just unintelligible scribbling is a horrific monster.

A book of rather moving and helpfully non-specific love poetry. Memorize some of it for next time you need to persuade someone just how much you adore them!

A notebook in which someone has recorded, in great detail, the gastronomic preferences of a whole range of important and powerful people who live in a nearby large city. Very handy if you want to make a good impression - or to set someone else up to make a bad one!

An extremely spicy erotic novel about the life and loves of a famous courtesan. You keep it with you for, um, further research purposes.

A book of woodcut illustrations, more than a century old, depicting various fantastical monsters. One of them shows a particularly grotesque many-tentacled beastie fighting with a figure in spiked armour, who (Unlike every other figure in the book) has a string of nonsense words engraved beneath them. Disturbingly, these words form an anagram of one of the PC's names.

A book of heretical, politically seditious, and intermittently obscene drinking songs, complete with musical scores. Owning it is highly illegal, but you can’t bear to part with it: after all, it might well be the only copy which survived the purge…

A children's story book with a pressed faerie sprite between the pages...

An engrossing and well-written mystery novel: it's not very deep or clever, but pick it up and you'll soon be wondering where the last six hours went. Handy if you need someone to be distracted without realizing it.

Naga Naga Yo Fraga Blaga: A book whose cover is designed to look as if it was made from green scales, and its pages have golden edges. The volume talks at great length about an ancient race of serpentine creatures of great intellect and natural mastery of sorcery.

Of Gospels and Prophets: A stark white leather cover with gold filigree encompasses this religious reference book. The book does not delve deeply into any specific topic, rather approaches the “mile wide, inch deep” style with no more than 3-5 sentences on any of its entries.

Demozain: A book written by a dozen ur-priests. It makes no attempt to hide the ritual that would summon a sentient black hole to consume a world, but between the lines it reveals secrets of where the gods truly get their power.

A palm-sized notebook that always has at least one more blank page.

A blank spellbook bound in scarred wyvern hide.

Libro Venenum: A vile text filled with pages of aged papyrus and wrapped in dried lizard hide. Translated it proclaims to be the Book (of) Poisons and must be handled with absolute care. The reader is insight into the long-forgotten art of toxic magic, practised primarily by hags.

Folio Malevolence: A profane book whose spine is crafted from the bones of tormented fairies. The pages are all exposed with no actual cover and emit a foul odor. Upon close examination one can see skin has been stretched and matted onto the parchment. The runes on these pages make the reader feel uneasy and waves of hatred flow over them. Good aligned characters will feel immediate aversion to the text. The text itself orders the reader to let malevolence overwhelm then and to lead a life of malice and constant all-consuming rage at the world and everything in it.

A diary that begins quite normal, even boring, but becomes increasingly nonsensical, and the final few pages are indecipherable scrawlings.

A heavy book titled “The Many Faces of Perun”. Dozens of flowers are pressed between its pages.

Opuscule Covetous: A small notebook created with haphazard pieces of vellum tied together with gold wire. If the pages are spread out they appear to be covered in numbered pictures. Anyone who puts the pages in the correct order will see the drawings magically animate. The story they show will be capturing and include scenes of immense wealth and decadence. Those viewing will be intoxicated with avarice and immediately desire the treasures presented in the story. Unbeknownst to the cursed readers this is an elaborate trap set by a witch. What appear to be treasures are actually items the witch herself desires but cannot obtain. Examples would be a sacred holy relic, a newborn child or perhaps a lock of hair from a person pure of heart. No matter what the item they will always appear as something else to the afflicted character. The curse will cease once one or all of the items are obtained and presented to the witch.

A bound album of various portraits and sketches of individual local people and families. Someone went through and meticulously clipped out the heads of all the people in the pictures, leaving the rest of the scenes intact.

A ledger listing quantities and types of Random Humanoid Race bones and teeth along with dates, costs, and prices of sales and purchasing.

A book of anatomy with detailed drawings on xenomorphic creatures completely alien to this plane of existence.

A book of genealogical research of a prominent family in the nearby city, mostly consisting of a bound collection of public announcement posters and firsthand accounts of the local historical society.

The Parchments of Pnom: A manuscript written by Hyperborea's leading genealogist and soothsayer. It is written in the "Elder Script" of that land and contains a detailed account of the lineage of the Hyperborean gods, most notably Tsathoggua.

A beginner’s guide for people learning to play the Random Musical Instrument. The slim volume includes diagrams with all the parts of the instrument along with instructions for proper maintenance and care. Past the introduction the book contains the basics of how to play, along with a dozen simple songs that even someone who is unskilled in the performing arts could learn to play by reading the book and putting in a few weeks of regular practice.

A lengthy tome that boasts as its title “A complete history of the Random Humanoid Species”. The thick tome is dense with small, fine handwriting and goes into impressive (If dry) detail on the known origins of the people along with the high and lows of their past.

A military historical reference book focusing on the construction, maintenance and historical and modern use of the Random Weapon as it pertains to various forms of warfare.

Book of Dzyan: This work is an ancient text from a far away land, which contains “unwelcome truths”—cosmic revelations inimical to any human mind, which the Book tries to reconcile. As such, it describes accounts of mental and physical rites which are protective to mortals, as well as otherworldly threats and how to deal with them. Anyone who casts bard spells can research the spell contrary melody in this book to learn it in place of a 5th-level spell known.

A child’s sketchbook that features named stick figures of various people in a dozen different hands. The cover is marked with a surprisingly ornate rune, almost beautiful, though reading it makes one’s eyes droop.

De Vermis Mysteriis: An eldritch and bizarre spellbook, written by Ludvig Prinn, an ancient alchemist and necromancer who was burnt alive as punishments for his crimes against nature. Its pages are full of spells and rituals that summon strange entities, familiars, and creatures from beyond space and time. It also has a number of rituals for contacting and dealing with Great Old Ones, Outer Gods, and their minions.

A tiny leather bound book that contains a piece of writing such as a story, a poem, a manuscript, or a recipe. Each day, a new piece of writing magically replaces the previous one.

A cookbook, heavily bookmarked and written on, with pictures to accompany each recipe in the book. Licking the pictures allows you to find out how each dish tastes. Writing new ingredients in the recipes alters how the pictures taste. The back of the cookbook has empty pages to allow people to write down their own custom recipes. A few of the pages already have recipes written on them, some of which sound absolutely revolting.

A small novel, in which its 100 pages are used to describe a pebble. It consists of a single run-on sentence, and the description is often repeated throughout the book.

A leather bound book that bursts into flames when opened and extinguishes itself when closed. The book itself is completely fireproof.

A translation manual that teaches the basics for a long lost language. The guide assists the reader in translating basic words and phrases from the lost language into a commonly known language. This manual has significant values in archeological and research circles.

A bible that contains the founding texts of a now extinct religion that was wiped out long ago. This tome chronicles the origins of a murderous and wild sect that broke off from a popular, but now dead, religion. It gives notes on famous individuals this sect claims to have killed, their method in doing so and gives small insight into where more information about this sect may be.

A humble prayer-book bound in homespun cloth. Even with all your knowledge and sophistication, these simple hymns still have an almost supernatural power to soothe your troubled mind.

The Book of The Keeper of The World: A yellow book that is almost as bright as the sun itself. A bloody skeleton is on the cover with a text in an unreadable arcane language, presumably the title. Eating pages of this makes something in the world just disappear out of everyone's mind, a nothingness filling the place it used to be.

A reprint of a banned book, the last copy thought destroyed decades ago.

A ratty journal overflowing with loose sheets of yellowed paper. They are filled with maddened scrawl and diagrams and calculations and degenerate ranting.

A heavy book filled with Holy Scripture from the Loregiver and proclamations of Fate.

A holy text containing the sacred oaths of the first paladins from each paladin order in the multiverse, listing those of Good alignment as examples to strive for while warning against falling to the dark temptations of those who made their oaths for personal gain or other dark desires.

A book containing a list of artifacts designed for dark purposes, primarily those associated with Evil deities, as well as instructions on how to destroy these items. Several items on this list have already been crossed off, presumably destroyed by previous holders of this book.

A large tome that contains what is likely the largest repository of knowledge on healing salves in existence. It lists out materials, costs, where to find each ingredient, and how to combine these ingredients. There is virtually no ailment that cannot be cured by at least one of these restorative mixtures should the text prove accurate.

A small prayerbook that contains a single long incantation that can be used to contact a celestial who specializes in helping unfortunate souls tricked into a contract with a devil find a way out of their unfair bargains.

Book of Ashur: An arcane tome, bound in ancient dragon hide that contains much wisdom on the conjuring and subjugation of spells.

Liber Noctus: A decrepit tome that bristles with dark secrets and eldritch powers. Reading from the grimoire summons dark thoughts and grim deeds.

A blessed tome containing tales of ancient valour, glory, and self-sacrifice are bound to inspire those of noble heart to greater deeds.

A large book, bound in human skin according to the note tied to it, supposedly it was owned by an ancient necromancer during the age of thunder but its impossible to open as the spirits bound by it will lash out at the carrier. At the bottom it reads that it's currently on loan from Candlekeep.

A thick, heavy leather-bound book that contains illustrations and descriptions of over 3000 different kind of animals, plants, fungi, and minerals that can be used as alchemical ingredients, and how to safely collect, preserve, and store them. It was written by a renowned dark elf alchemist and explorer in the north lands. He spent decades studying and experimenting with the various creatures and plants that inhabit that environment, and compiled his findings and recipes in this book.

A worn-out leather book that has a map of the southern land on its cover. It contains detailed descriptions and directions on how to find and harvest rare and expensive alchemical ingredients that grow in remote, dangerous or hidden locations in the southern land.

A green book that has a dwarven hammer as symbol on its cover. It contains detailed secret information on how to use dwarven alchemy, with a specialized focus on creating oils and elixirs to mix into liquid metal alloys during the forging of weapons and armor.

An old yellowish book that has an elegant symbol on its cover. It was written by a legendary elven alchemist who mastered the art of creating healing potions, over the course of more than half a millennia of dedicated focus.

A collection of slim volumes on a variety of topics, including a registry of the nobility, City Watch commanders, and other notable citizens. Blank pages, a vial of ink, a pen. A number of interesting maps.

A single tome that is a combined multi-volumed summa of unified theory of arcane & divine magic, mechanical physics, psionics, and the cosmos.

An old, small, leather-bound, time-worn book with a goat’s head tooled into its cover. The leather is badly foxed and the pages are barely readable. If studied carefully it seems to be the journal of a fiendish cult.

A sketchbook half-filled with disturbingly accurate anatomical studies of various people, the copper plates that cover it etched with a pleasingly abstract rendering of a human heart.

A strange esoteric translation manual that teaches the basics for a long lost language. The guide assists the reader in translating basic words and phrases from the lost language into a commonly known language. This manual has significant values in archeological and research circles.

A hand-written guide by a purportedly self-taught monk on how to manifest and nurture ki powers. Although the information is not grounded in traditional aesthetic principals, anyone with knowledge of ki will recognize some validity to the methods being discussed. It is from an unknown author.

A religious text of an extinct cult that was wiped out long ago. This tome chronicles the origins of a murderous and wild sect that broke off from a popular, but now dead, religion. It gives notes on famous individuals this sect claims to have killed, their method in doing so and gives small insight into where more information about this sect may be.

A bound set of written texts, recording the beliefs of a famous lone wanderer and philosopher. The individual is well-known throughout the land for his beliefs and exploits but it was previously unknown that he had personally committed any of these things down on writing.

A book of spells with particularly elaborate verbal components written in an unknown but important-looking script. Arcane PC's can determine that only one or two minor spells actually work. Extremely close inspection will reveal that the rest of the "incantations" and "magic words" are actually disguised and encoded reports from a deep-cover spy

A worn, leather-bound journal filled with notes and sketches, offering insights into the daily life of its previous owner. There are many blank pages. Reading from the journal causes miniature illusions to appear for others showing the details of the event written, whether truthful or fanciful.

An alchemical codex containing the formulae for various poisons.

A dusty, ancient tome filled with arcane knowledge and forbidden secrets, written in a strange serpentine language and illuminated with intricate flowing illustrations.

A notebook that contains private notes from a psychiatrist about a patient. The first two pages are banal and clinical; by the fifth, they are inscrutable ramblings.

An identifiable book with a dozen assorted silver nails impaling it. The nails look disorderly and haphazardly hammered, with many bent in strange angles. The book is constantly wet, and the title is illegible.

An arcane spellbook that doesn’t seem to have belonged to a single wizard, bearing many different hands and styles across undoubtedly centuries. Many pages are damaged, arcane scribblings made illegible by time and deterioration. On the pages that remain, it seems that many of the spells appear modified in some way.

A well-worn and obviously fake booklet on how to talk to ghosts.

A bound journal filled with sketches of plants and animals.

A medical journal written in a dead language. It's filled with diagrams and drawings of medical dissections of inhuman alien creatures.

The Book of Fate's Mercies: A book that details incidents where people were saved from death by random chance. For example, a barking dog caused someone to walk just a little quicker down the street, which moved them out of the path of a stampeding horse. The last story in the book is about you, potentially causing you to be extremely aware and reactive but utterly paranoid and agoraphobic.

An inconspicuous diary of a young girl named Fyla. At a young age Fyla's talents allowed her to see into the abyss and corrupted her mind. She wrote in detail about the monsters under her bed and her fears of what awaited her when they would finally come for her on her 18th birthday.

The Book of Wisdom: A tome that contains a collection of sayings, stories, poems, and hymns from every known culture, religion, and philosophy. New entries appear at random, as new Wisdoms are collected and recorded by other disciples carrying a copy of the Book of Wisdom.

A spellbook made from high quality blank parchment is covered in tiny runes. When one of these small inscriptions is pressed the parchment changes color.

Tome Of The Spellblade: A soft-covered leather bound treatise containing writings describing, in the most basic terms possible, methods of magical fighting. Even so, the material is fairly dense and requires definition and reiteration of various terms and ideas. Fortunately, it also contains many detailed diagrams.

Fearful Codex of Ancient Wisdom: A weighty volume bound in pale, scaled leather of unknown origin. This magical tome contains a wealth of knowledge both mundane and esoteric, and is inhabited by an archival spirit that will direct the reader to their desired content on request. Unfortunately, the spirit has undergone a great deal of trauma over the millennia and the "fearful" part of the title is now literal. Attempting to simply open the codex and read normally will reveal nothing but blank pages, with perhaps a fleeting glimpse of text slithering away to pages deeper in the book. Only through persuasion can you access the codex. The book has definite dislikes, some of which follow: Being read by firelight is terrifying - paper burns! Natural light is better, but being read outside in the weather is undignified and risky. Magical illumination is best, preferably indoors and someplace quiet. Any kind of liquid nearby is alarming - ink runs and paper is ruined! Don't even think about eating while you peruse the codex. The book doesn't really like to travel either and would prefer to tucked away safely in a library somewhere when not in use. It enjoys the company of other books but isn't fond of other magical tomes, even non-sentient ones. It's also really, really phobic about the number eight, and invariably uses constructions like "two cubed" or "nine less one" in its own text when needed.

19 notes · View notes

nightingaletrash · 8 months

Text

With a Little Help From My Friends 2/2

aaaaaaand part 2 of the Karlach Fix-It fic!

AO3

There was an acrid stink of sulphur that filled the workshop as Dammon melted down the unfinished infernal armour. The parts had been studiously dismantled, the leather and cloth being set aside should they be needed for another project some day, while the iron was carefully checked for impurities that might meddle with the mechanisms or prove too brittle even for a prototype. And while Nemeia couldn’t boast any real knowledge on the subject, it had evidently passed the test as Thulla had immediately handed roughly two thirds of the iron off to the smiths with the rest being thrown to one side for disposal.

Meanwhile Zanner and Nickles worked on the parts that their people had salvaged from the Steel Watch. Their work was rhythmic in its own way; they would each pick up a piece or part, lift it to their ear, strike it delicately with a hammer and then lifted it to listen again. The difference was indiscernible to Nemeia, but it was enough for them to form a small series of piles - rejects to be discarded of, ones suitable for use in the prototype, ones to be melted down for later, and the ones they intended to save as they were for the final product.

Between the sweltering heat of the forge, the constant bustle, and the stink of rotten eggs, Nemeia and the others decided to wait outside until Dammon and the gnomes were done.

For some, the stink of fish and brine wouldn't be an improvement over the sulphur, and the sun still beat down with its warm summer rays, and while the cool sea breeze more than made up for it, the sudden relative calm left open air to think and the ghost of Karlach began to buzz in her ears once more.

What was the point? I’m still dying. I’m dying. I’m going to die!

The anguish burned in her ears as her chest tightened. She reached over her shoulder to grab her violin, as if tuning it would push the memory away. It was done. Gortash was dead, and now they were going to fix what he had done as best as they could. It wouldn’t be the same as getting her heart back, but it had to be better than dying.

You’ll just keep going, won’t you, Karlach accused. Watching the stars. Warming your hands on the campfire. Dancing, eating, making fucking love all night - all of it, all of it!

Her fingers trembled as she turned the pegs to tighten the strings, and she had to force away the crushing sensation in her chest because this wasn’t about her and her feelings. It was about Karlach. Karlach who had watched as Astarion struck down Cazador, saw Shadowheart reclaim her family from Viconia DeVir, and witnessed Wyll defy Hell itself to rescue his father from the Iron Throne and Mizora both. They all confronted the ones who had controlled and abused them, and they had all emerged from the other side a little less broken, a little more whole, with their lives finally back in their own hands after so many years at their mercy.

And now Karlach had finally faced her monster and had come away with nothing.

She had every right to be furious. They’d taken her heart. Taken everything. And as far as she knew, no one had any idea on how to get even a shred of it back.

What am I supposed to do now?

Live.

If Dammon and the gnomes did their job, all she’d ever have to do was live. Then she could watch the stars, warm her hands on the fire, sing and dance and eat and make love all night - she could do it all. Whatever she wanted, wherever she wanted. Even if she’d never have her heart back, she would have everything else.

The thought was enough to finally give her fingers their steadiness back, and she drew her bow and played a few notes to test her tuning. One string was much too tight, so she loosened it a little, and then began to play in earnest.

It was a tune she only vaguely recalled from her childhood. From a play when her mother took her on a trip to Neverwinter. It had been a story about a hero on a journey to try and stave off a sudden and inevitable death caused by a curse placed on them by a sorcerer. Of course, the hero had succeeded in the end, but had learned that there was much value in living life to the fullest instead of chasing tomorrow’s glory.

What had struck her as odd even then was the lack of a battle between the hero and the villain. Not five minutes after the curse was placed on the hero, their saviour arrived and abruptly killed off the villain altogether.

It had seemed an odd choice at the time. Why not give the hero the chance to be victorious over the one who had doomed them in the first place? Especially when it remained unclear as to how they were going to save themselves. At least, her young mind had thought, if the hero goes down, they know they’re taking their enemy with them.

Well she understood now. There was no satisfaction in destroying someone when you were just as doomed as they were. And that moment of understanding would have been a very hard sell for a show that was meant to be for children.

But the tune of the closing number had lurched into her mind unbidden, so that was what she chose to play. It was simple and catchy, and that was all it needed to be. Anything to stave off the idea that something might still go wrong and bring their plan crashing down around them.

As she played, the others took advantage of the brief chance to rest. In the sudden rush to try and get all the pieces for the new engine, that fight seemed so far away now. Like it had been days ago rather than hours, though the fact that his hand was still whole and intact in her pack rather than wasting away into sludge said otherwise.

Maybe once they’d dealt with this Murder Tribunal business, she’d let Karlach decide what to do with it and all of its gaudy jewellery. A final ‘fuck you’ to the bastard that had ruined her life.

Two hours were whiled away before Barcus emerged from the workshop, covered in soot and grease stains yet beaming broader than Nemeia had ever seen before.

“It’s perfect,” was all he said before beckoning them to come back inside.

They filed back into the workshop where Dammon and the gnomes were all admiring their hard work, and frankly, if Nemeia hadn’t known better, she might have thought that it was the real thing.

It was a contraption unlike any she had ever seen. The infernal casing was opened up to show the inner mechanisms that had been crafted as close to the shape of a real heart as was physically possible, the chambers all contracting and relaxing in rhythm with one another as the mechanisms whirred and the pistons pumped.

Yet as strange as it was, it was beautiful in its own way. Even though it was just a prototype, and even though she was no artificer, she could see the sheer amount of love that had gone into its creation. The perfection in the curves, the polished shine of the steel and iron, even its presentation on the table showed just how proud they all were of their work.

They had made this for Karlach. They did this to save her life. And they’d made it beautiful.

“We altered the design to make use of the existing framework that Karlach’s current engine uses,” Dammon explained. “If we ripped out everything that Zariel put in her, we’d have to rebuild her entire chest cavity, and that would leave her out of commission for months. So these-” He indicated to the pipes that tapered off and connected to nothing. “-will snap into place. It’ll be almost as fast as installing her upgrades, which puts much less stress on her body.”

“Dammon’s been vital to the process,” Barcus said brightly. “His understanding of infernal engineering allows us to account for everything this new engine will need to be capable of to cause as little disruption as possible.”

Dammon chuckled and shook his head. “You say that as if I didn’t nearly throw out all of your hard work for the sake of the infernal casing. If it weren’t for Thulla’s suggestion, it might have come to blows.”

“The heat build-up it could have caused was a very serious issue,” Zanner mused as he poured himself a cup of coffee - when was the last time he’d slept anyway?

“But it’s all been resolved now,” Barcus said reassuringly. “We need to run a couple of stress tests, but more for our own state of mind than anything.”

“Meaning you can go fetch the infernal iron,” Dammon added, “and Karlach. I’m sure she’ll want to see this for herself. Maybe make her own suggestions.” He added the last not with a cheeky grin and Nemeia giggled at the thought.

“I can imagine an engraving that says ‘Property of Karlach Cliffgate - fuck off Zariel’ would be her first thought.”

“If she doesn’t think to ask for that, I’ll definitely suggest it,” he laughed. “Go on now. We’ll get to work on the stress tests. Once we know for sure that it won’t burst into flames, and that Karlach is firmly on board, then we can get to work on putting the real thing together.”

[]

For all their talk of camping, the ‘camp’ that the party had set up in the city was actually just everyone cramming themselves into Nemeia and Kyreth’s family home and making do with the squeeze. But according to the message on the cabinet in the hallway, the others had all decided to clear out so that Karlach could have some space to herself.

It seemed that her dark mood had accompanied her home then.

While the others drifted off to tend to their own devices, Nemeia headed upstairs to her bedroom. Karlach was inside as predicted, sitting on the edge of the bed with a picture held gently by the tips of her fingers.

It was a small charcoal portrait of Nemeia and Kyreth when they were both much younger. Nemeia had been maybe five or six when she saw the artist on the corner of the street, being paid to draw passers-by, and she’d begged her mother for one.

He’d been delighted by her enthusiasm, and it had remained on her bedside table ever since.

Nemeia knocked on the door softly before stepping inside, and Karlach looked up.

“Hey soldier. You’re back.” She smiled though it didn’t quite meet her eyes, and she set the picture to one side.

“Still ‘soldier’ after all this time, huh?” Nemeia asked, only letting a small tease slip into her voice as she shut the door behind her. She noticed that Clive had moved from one end of the bed to the other but said nothing about it.

Karlach just shrugged. “Old habits. Did I miss anything while I was off having a sulk?”

“Oh if only you knew,” Nemeia laughed. “I did miss you though. It’s less fun without you around.”

“I missed you too,” Karlach sighed. She shook her head. “You know, I wouldn’t have bothered falling in love with you if I knew that saying goodbye was going to be so hard.”

Nemeia just smiled and moved to sit beside her.

“But what if you didn’t have to say goodbye? Not now, not tomorrow, not for a long, long time. What then?”

She sighed defeatedly.

“Don’t Nem. I’m trying to stay here, now, alive while I can. But it’s like my mind is being whittled down to the black hole that should’ve been our future.”

She ran a hand through her messy black and red mane, sparks flying off of her fingers as they brushed over the metal clasps in her braids. But Nemeia didn’t even flinch.

“But we have a future. A beautiful one,” she said firmly, unable to hold back her smile. “Maybe a short and violent one depending on how things go, but its there.”

And the smile caught Karlach’s eye. She frowned, her glowing amber eyes narrowing as if she was trying to figure out what the trick was.

“Alright… and why is that? Because if it turns out that you’re just that doppelganger freak Orin here to mess with me, I will literally split you in half with my axe,” she said sternly.

At that, Nemeia had to laugh and she shook her head.

“Karlach. You don’t have to die,” she said, unable to stop the smile spreading over her face at all. “After you left, one of the Gondians found us and said they’d found a way to help. Them, the Iron Hands, and even Dammon - they put their heads together and figured out a way.”

A beat passed as Karlach stared at her, utterly gobsmacked. Her eyes were wide and her jaw had gone slack. And then her engine threw off a telltale blue flare, like a heart skipping a beat. She was dumbstruck, unable to speak. Her mouth flapped a few times with effort, but no words came out. So Nemeia threaded her fingers through her’s and explained it all, from Lowa finding them at the bridge, to the prototype that Dammon and the others had built in just a few hours.

As she finished, there were tears pouring down Karlach’s face. Steam rolled off of the tracks, but the heat of her body couldn’t evaporate them fast enough as they raced down her cheeks and dripped onto their joined hands.

When she finally found her voice, she whispered, “...are you real? Or am I having a really cruel daydream right now?”

“I’m real, darling,” Nemeia pressed. “I’m real, it’s real, it’s happening. The only reason I didn’t come tell you straight away was because I had to be sure that it would work, or I’d never forgive myself for getting your hopes up just for them to get snatched away again. Not after what happened with Gortash.”

She disentangled one of her hands to cup Karlach’s face and thumbed away her tears.

“I know it’s not your real heart. If I could get that back and give it to you so that you’d never need another engine ever again, I would do it in a heartbeat. If I ever got a single Wish, it would be all I could ever wish for. But if I can’t do that, then the least I can do is make sure that you get to live on your terms. Not in Hell, but here, where you belong.”

At that, Karlach laughed wetly and shook her head.

“Are you actually sorry that you can’t just find my heart and put it back? Babe, it probably got eaten and shat out by imps years ago,” she said bluntly. “All I want is to live, and you and everyone else - you’re giving me that! Gods, I could kiss you, but if I do that now, I won’t be able to stop myself, and then what will Dammon and the others use to make my new engine? Besides, there’s gonna be so much time for kissing because… because I’m going to live…!”

And in a stark contrast to the utter despair and fury that had befallen her that afternoon, her face was now brimming with unbridled joy as she leapt to her feet and dragged Nemeia up with her.

“I’m going to live!” she shouted joyfully as she began to bounce and dance around the room. “I’m going to live, darling! We’ll get a house and a goat, and fuck it, you still want kids? I’m fucking down! Fuck yeah! We’ll get to travel! Oh man, we have to go to Athkatla, you missed out on so much when fuckface tried to possess you, and I can show you all the places we went, and hey, do you think Gale would let us stay at his place if we went to Waterdeep? I bet he’d let us stay, and he’d make us dinner and show us all the amazing stuff there is. I’ve always wanted to go to the Yawning Portal, and I’d love to get a proper cuddle with Tara too! And we can go on adventures with Wyll and kick some evil butt, I bet Minsc would love to come along for that! Ooh, and we can go on so many more dates!”

Laughter filled the room as they danced haphazardly together, the unbridled joy exploding out of them as Karlach’s eyes and chest glowed blue with excitement. The tears had all dried up. If there were more today, they would be tears of joy. But for now, there was only laughter and shouting and dancing.

And by the time they were done, Karlach was out of breath from shouting so much. Even as she giggled and spun around, clutching Nemeia to her chest, her voice was hoarse from use. But eventually she slowed down and pulled back, grinning from ear to ear.

“So, when do we get this new doo-hickey in my chest so we can put this Gortash bullshit behind us?”

“As soon as they’re done building it. Which they need infernal iron for.” Nemeia grinned. “So let’s grab what we have and head on down there, shall we?”

[]

As it turned out, the real engine was the ultimate test of patience for everyone involved. After Dammon performed a cursory check of Karlach’s engine, he determined that it would be a while longer before it gave out and recommended that the Gondians get some rest after their long ordeal under Gortash’s thumb - he and the Iron Hands would work together to get the parts and pieces made for assembly, and when everyone was rested and ready and at the peak of their ability, they’d bring it altogether to create the perfect engine for Karlach.

As it turned out, the best way to keep Karlach preoccupied until it was ready was to encourage her to write a list of all the things she would do once the Absolute was defeated.

To no one’s surprise, she wrote ‘Nem’ at the very top in bold letters.

“Do I need to cast Silence on your room tonight?” Gale jabbed when he glanced over at the list.

“Oh mate, every night,” Karlach laughed. “Probably wanna put one on them two as well while you’re at it.” She nodded in Kyreth and Halsin’s direction with a smirk. “I bet they’re just as bad.”

“Worse,” Kyreth said bluntly with a cat-like grin, and Nemeia pulled a face.

“Please do not make me confront the fact that those two have sex,” she groaned as she wrapped her arms around Karlach from behind. “Now what else do you want to do, besides me?”

Karlach tilted her head and made a pensive looking face as she tapped her pen against her chin. “Oi Shadowheart!”

The room burst into laughter as Nemeia slapped Karlach on the bicep playfully.

“Don’t even joke, you!” she said with a grin.

Shadowheart sprawled across her armchair with a dramatic sigh. “Ah, and to think I was this close to finally getting a piece of that big, beefy tiefling.”

“Dream on Princess, I was here first,” Nemeia laughed. “Now come on, seriously. You mentioned Athkatla yesterday. What do you want to do when we go there?”

“Whatever you do, don’t bring Lae’zel. She’ll murder your child before your very eyes,” Shadowheart interjected, earning an angry ‘chk’ from Lae’zel as she dragged a whetstone down her blade.

“The imp was returned to the Hells, not murdered,” she hissed derisively. “If you truly want it back so badly then by all means, delve into Avernus to rescue Bing Bong.”

“You set him on fire and splatted him on cobblestones.”

“He should have tried harder not to hit the cobblestones.”

“You threw him-!”

“Girls.”

Both of their mouths snapped shut as Kyreth eyed them with the imperious gaze of a mother and the argument came to an abrupt end. And just in time too, as there was a sudden rapping on the door. Kyreth stepped out into the hall to answer it.

“Ah, Lowa. This is about the engine?”

“Yes! Dammon’s doing some last stress tests, but its ready to go otherwise. We can do installation whenever Karlach’s ready-”

She barely finished the sentence before Karlach had leapt out of her chair and barged out to the front door with all the energy of an overexcited puppy.

“I’m ready now, let’s go, go, go!”

Everyone was up and moving without any instruction, doing their best to keep Karlach from immediately taking off without them while they locked up the house and shouldered their weapons. It was easier said than done because she just couldn’t seem to stop herself to the point that she started jogging in circles on the spot.

“Come on already, I’ll start carrying you all if it gets us there faster,” she groaned.

“It pays to be cautious when Shapechangers are on the loose, darling,” Astarion sighed. “Don’t want them rooting through our things while we’re gone. Imagine if they took Clive hostage next.”

“He’d fight them off, easy,” Karlach snorted, holding up her fists as if to demonstrate. “Now hurry up, let’s go!”

And they were off, heading down to the Gondian-Iron Hand workshop at the harbour. Karlach kept running ahead and having to wait for the rest to catch up, resulting in her bouncing on the balls of her feet impatiently. At least the passers-by seemed to find it amusing enough, judging from the bemused grins and giggles that followed them as they went.

When they reached the workshop, every last person who had pitched in on the engine was gathered in the main room with the fruit of their labour displayed on the table before them.

If Nemeia had thought the prototype was beautiful, then it was nothing compared to the real thing. It was sleek and compact, with the glowing infernal iron moulded into perfect shape for the casing. Everything was sleek and polished, and practically glowed in the lamp light, and everyone from engineer to alchemist to coffee-runner was beaming with pride as the party filed in.

Karlach was gobsmacked. With a quick glance for permission at Dammon - who nodded in assent - she stepped forwards to pick the engine up and examine it. It glittered from every angle. Everything fit together in a beautiful harmony, with so much love and care that nothing could be a more fitting tribute to its new owner. Then Dammon caught her attention and silently mimed opening it up with his hands. So she did so with an almost uncharacteristic care and gentleness, as if she was terrified to break it.

And there, on the heart inside, was an engraving that read:

Property of Karlach Cliffgate - fuck off Zariel.

“Well… fuck me,” she sniffed as tears welled up in her amber eyes.

“Do you like it?” Barcus asked tentatively, his mouth pressed into a thin line with nervousness.

“Like it? I love it,” she sobbed.

She set it back down tenderly, then strode around the table and scooped him up into her arms in a fierce hug. For a moment he was caught off-guard, but returned the hug with a brisk firmness and a wobbly smile on his face. Then once she released him, she turned to Dammon and pulled him into a hug next.

“Thank you,” she sobbed. “For everything.”

He grinned as he wrapped his arms around her back and squeezed hard.

“Don’t thank me. It was Zanner’s idea in the first place.” He pulled back. “I just chipped in.”

But Karlach just shook her head. “If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have lived long enough to meet Zanner. Hell, I wouldn’t be able to touch anyone. You gave me so much already, and now you’re giving me the rest.” Her lip wobbled and her voice grew thick as she continued, “you’re giving me my whole life back.”

He squeezed her again and patted her shoulder before pulling away to give her the chance to rub the tears from her eyes. And when that was done, she continued with her hug train, giving a hug to every last person who had worked on her engine. The gnomes all looked a bit flustered at first, but otherwise were glowing with pride as the tiefling thanked each and every one of them.

When she was done, Dammon clapped her on the shoulder.

“Ready to get to work?”

She beamed brighter than the sun.

“So fucking ready, mate.”

[]

The house was packed to bursting that night, and the drinks were flowing. Wyll and Halsin had returned from a trip to the tavern, having procured three whole barrels of ale, and no one wasted any time in cracking them open and pouring out the drinks.

Karlach was the centre of attention with her new engine, despite Dammon’s repeated pleas for her to take it easy for a few hours at least. While no longer aflame with a hot orange flame glowing in her chest, her spirit was by no means reduced. If anything, she was more boisterous than ever. She bounded from room to room, hugging everyone she saw and dragging people out for dances more than once, and it didn’t seem like she was going to be slowing down any time soon.

Right now, Wyll was on the floor with her, both of them smiling and laughing and having the time of their lives as the alcohol flowed. Some of the Iron Hands had broken out into drunken singing, and the Gondians were taking the chance to just relax and enjoy themselves. Meanwhile Gale was in the kitchen, trying to figure out how much food he’d need to make to accommodate for everyone, and it seemed that Astarion had decided to ‘help’ - meaning he was hanging around and drinking wine while offering commentary. Shadowheart was once again in her armchair by the window, though this time with her own glass of wine, and she seemed more content with observing the festivities over joining in. The same could be said for Lae’zel who had slunk off upstairs to engage with martial exercises over chatter, though she appeared soon enough when Gale finally called for dinner to be served.

Halsin and Kyreth busied themselves in helping Gale with serving, doing their best to make sure that everyone got a portion, and soon enough, the noise died down to a general chatter as everyone settled in to eat.

By the time Dammon and the gnomes all departed, it was past midnight and it didn’t take long for everyone to decide that they were ready to retire for the night. There was a queue for the bathroom as usual, and nightly routines were carried out in short order before everyone shuffled off to their bunks for the night. But as Nemeia passed Gale as he stepped out of the bathroom, he winked at her discreetly before disappearing downstairs.

For a moment she was baffled, but upon opening and closing her bedroom door, she suddenly understood. The house outside of the room had suddenly fallen silent. No shuffling footsteps from downstairs or loud coughs from the other rooms. Just Nemeia and Karlach, who was sat on the bed humming to herself.

Clive was perched on a chair in the corner with his back to the bed.

“Thinking of your boy as always,” Nemeia joked as she approached.

“Of course,” Karlach chuckled. “I would never forgive myself if he got scarred for life.”

She sat expectantly on the edge of the bed. Her whole face glowed with boundless delight as her lover cupped her face and tilted it back. Nemeia ran her thumbs along her jaw, taking in the beautiful sight of her love filled with joy and hope, with her whole life ahead of her.

Then, without warning, Karlach wrapped her arms around Nemeia’s waist, tipped back on the bed and pulled her down with her, cackling with glee as her lover squealed in surprise. She pressed her lips to the delicate pink neck, then to her jaw, up her cheek, over her nose, down the other side and finally reached her mouth.

They melted into each other, hands finding purchase on shoulders or in hair, tugging their bodies together into a tangled mess. They rolled over, with Karlach taking her usual place on top of Nemeia where they paused briefly to gaze at one another.

A beat passed before Nemeia broke the silence.

“I love you so much,” she said softly.

“Well that’s good,” Karlach replied cheekily before she leaned in, her lips just barely grazing over Nemeia’s as she added, “because I plan on loving you for the rest of my life.”

The rest of her life… that sounded beautiful indeed.

#nightingale writes #bg3 #bg3 spoilers #karlach cliffgate #nemeia #nemeia/karlach #karlach x tav #dammon #barcus wroot #zanner toobin #fix-it fic

22 notes · View notes

sjbattleangel · 1 year

Text

What to play instead of H**wa*ts Le**cy:

Want to enjoy a great open-world, fantasy-adventure video-game...but don’t want to give money to She-who-must-not-be-named?

Play these games instead:

If you want a game about school students who solve mysteries and/or challenge the status-quo:

Final Fantasy VIII

Persona (series)

Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Neverwinter Nights

GimGrimore

If you want an open-world adventure, filled with tons of fun and a few little hidden secrets:

The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild

The Witcher III: Wild Hunt

Super Mario Odyssey

Fable II

Xenoblade Chronicles (series)

Horizon: Zero Dawn AND Forbidden West

The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker

Elden Ring

If you want experience brilliant stories with unforgettable characters in fantastical worlds:

Final Fantasy VII

The Longest Journey

Planescape: Torment

Baldur’s Gate I and II

Beyond Good & Evil

Final Fantasy IX

Final Fantasy VI

Final Fantasy X and X-2

Chrono Trigger

Suikoden II

Odin Sphere

Divinity: Original Sin I and II

If you just want something a bit more cosy, laid-back:

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Stardew Valley

Spiritfarer

Kynseed

The Sims (series)

Witchbrook (upcoming)

Kitori Academy (upcoming)

I know there are few old games here but I promise you, they are absolutely worth playing. Plus, you won’t be giving your money to a hateful bigot.

Remember:

Isabelle says trans rights.

Aloy says trans rights.

Zelda says trans rights.

TRANS RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS.

DON’T SUPPORT SHE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED

#video games #trans #trans rights #trans rights are human rights #animal crossing #horizon zero dawn #horizon forbidden west #zelda #zelda breath of the wild #trans pride #lgbtq #pride #trans people are valid #i stand with trans people #anti-jkr #screw rowling #jkr stinks

104 notes · View notes

lunastrophe · 17 days

Note

Like many I wanted to thank you for this blog. Ever since playing BG3, I've grown fascinated with drow. Some of the lore I read about them feels cartoonishly monstrous, though, and I'm admittedly a little uncomfortable with all the slavery that I don't know how to play one in a proper D&D campaign. Is there a way to tackle this sensitively/better without watering down the drow (or the Underdark for that matter) and making them into something they're not?

Hello and thank you for reading! 🙂 I agree, in some sources - especially older ones - drow often seem over the top evil, although even in those older sourcebooks, it was already stated that not all the drow are evil and chaotic.

🕷️ Drow And Slavery - lore-wise, many Underdark societies - drow, duergar, illithids, aboleths, beholders - are slave-owning societies.

Lolth-sworn drow are typically focused on individual advancement at the expense of others - not only non-drow who they consider to be inferior, but also other drow. The concept of innate freedom and equality is utterly foreign to them. They are taught that the strong are meant to rule the weak, and that the weak exist to be exploited or to die. The presence of slavery in the Underdark drow societies is, in a way, a consequence of this grim worldview.

This worldview, on the other hand, is closely tied to the Way of Lolth - although it may be also connected to the fact that Underdark is an extremely dangerous, often deadly environment where survival of the strongest is usually a thing.

🕷️ Not all Lolth-sworn drow keep slaves, though, even if they do not oppose slavery. Many drow, especially commoners, cannot afford to buy and keep a slave. Groups of drow adventurers, mercenaries or small military squads also generally do not keep slaves or servants.

🕷️ There are also drow societies that do not support slavery and these are mainly Eilistraean. Followers of Eilistraee are forbidden to take slaves and they often actively oppose enslavement in its many forms, fighting the slavers and freeing the slaves.

🕷️ Also, I imagine that in the Underdark, there are drow who do not support slavery by matter of choice or alignment, not necessarily in connection to any particular culture or faith.

Such individuals could be outcasts, mercenaries, adventurers, scholars, artists, merchants - maybe even former slaves (to other denizens of the Underdark, like illithids, for example).

In the Underdark, there are - usually small and secluded - communities where freed slaves seek refuge. Drearing's Deep from Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark can be an example of such a community. They are often inhabited by surfacers or deep gnomes, but there can be also some drow among them.

🕷️ Not long ago, Aevendrow and Lorendrow were also introduced to the D&D universe, two factions of "good" drow who rejected Lolth. They do not live in the Underdark, though, but in secretive enclaves: Callidae in the North (Aevendrow) and Saekolath somewhere in the southern jungles (Lorendrow).

🕷️ So, to sum things up, it is totally possible to play drow who does not support slavery, or even a Lolth-sworn drow who simply does not rely on slaves and does not keep them.

There are several established drow-inhabited locations where slavery is not present at all - but if you want to, you can also create such locations and incorporate them into your game without straying too far from the established lore.

You are also free to use the existing lore only as inspiration and, for example, create a setting in which slavery does not exist (anymore). Underdark drow society in such setting could, for example, forbid slavery because in the past, series of slave rebellions nearly destroyed many drow cities - and in result, keeping slaves was deemed too dangerous.

Hope you will find at least some of this information helpful in some way 🙂

#drow #drow lore #dnd lore #lolth sworn drow #dark elves #drow culture

7 notes · View notes

Last Seen Blogs

hadesnumber1daughter

❤️‍🔥

rererewritten

Writings, Musings, And Thoughts

caloriesburninged

i just want to be skinny

sxns-peur

all alone again

meldelprete

melissa delprete