#oh my nexus guild

[ragnar0c]

Map designers: "put a bunch of damage tiles on the shortest way to the stairs up. no one will wanna walk into them and they'll have to take a winding safe path instead."

*Guild Ragnarok stepping on all the damage tiles, torturing their healer*

"Wait a minute, stop-"

#ragna ramblings #its kind of a rule for me whenever a hazard is introduced to get a nullification skill when i can #if not i just run thru it anyway #EO NEXUS WATERFALL WOODS LMAO #i imagine Hana turning to the guild and just going when they get to the mud “run🏃🏼‍♀️💨” #oh my nexus guild #beebos

[sylvaridreams]

I'm going to try and word this better than I did at 1 am venting on cohost last night, and maybe slightly gentler. I haven't finished the SotO update from yesterday. I got home, played for a couple of hours, did some meta on the current map, triiiiied to get myself to go back to story... and I couldn't.

I was BORED. It was quite honestly boring. Any dialogue that matters is Peitha talking to her people. I am a stage prop that occasionally vocalizes expositional questions and fires arrows at grunt mobs.

I could physically feel myself losing any remaining interest in the story as I clicked "what does this mean? What do you think of Peitha's plan?" type questions (which offer a poor illusion of choice in conversation. Look! Dialogue options! You can click all of these in any order you like but you must click them all!)

Why should I care about this story? I'm being brought along as the muscle that Peitha doesn't really need. I'm not offering anything special I'm terms of skill. I'm not an invaluable resource. I'm not even being utilized as the leader that gw2 has ALWAYS made me! It's always been "You're out there leading the armies, commanding all the way from the front line to the supply chains!" Now I'm just kind of around. Run a few events and come back. Characters refer to me and I apparently have no in-game response. MY CHARACTER doesn't seem invested.

And so many new characters. Every drop, it's like, have a bunch more named people! I was learning names during drop 1, and know some of the Wizards off the top of my head, but honestly I’m not bothering anymore. Why should I? Even if Nexus isn't killed off in the next chapter I play, I'm never going to meet this character again after he stops serving the story.

And where IS the story? Where is the meat? Drop 1 was at least interesting to me. Secret society hiding demons from the Commander. Getting sucked into this strange and horrifying place. Getting the life beat out of Alba by a hulking, terrifying demon and crawling away in fear. Escaping into the arms of strangers and getting this unknown voice in Alba's head, talking to him, saying what he wanted to hear, teasing him. Him refusing to tell anyone she was in there, because he *trusted this unknown voice in his head over all these strangers.* The story lulled a lot and it wasn't like... prime gw2 content. But it had a few hooks. When in Amnytas, Alba GASPED "Peitha!" right outside of the next story step and said "I can *see* you," and I turned my camera and saw what I knew, what Alba had to have suspected, confirmed. That there was a demon using his mind as a lounge. THAT was a moment, it was SOMETHING!

At least it was fun at points, at least there was some small amount of intrigue and mystery. And from there it was all just, "take a backseat, Wayfinder. This isn't YOUR story." I'm getting nothingburger bites out of each new story drop. Oh we went into Nayos to take the fight to them and killed Peitha's model reskin cousin. Anything else that drop? Anything? No but next time we recruited some general to fight with us! Can I get a smidgen of story? Something to hang onto? The only thing this drop that hasn't been "Don't care didn't ask plus I've seen your character model elsewhere" was Alba being called "that ugly creature" by a kryptis.

That's all I've got. I'm not enjoying it. I don't like SotO. And it is not for lack of trying it, it's not because i just don't like change and don't wanna see something new and different! This expansion feels like an empty parody of Guild Wars 2, and it feels like a slap in the face to anyone who was invested in Tyria. Pre-release they really hyped up that "It's time for new places and new people! We're gonna get a new cast and explore a vast new world!" I CARED about that world, which we still had SO MUCH left to explore. Are the borders of the map even the ends of the world of Tyria or does it keep going? Who cares. There's shit going on above the clouds. I cared about those CHARACTERS. Does Alba get to see people that he loves and cares about ever again? Is he making it to the wedding? Does he get a chance to go home and see anyone? Like yes we are not chained up in the Tower between instances, we can still play the game in those old maps, but the characters have been written out of the story.

And frankly these new ones are shitty replacements. I don't care about these people. I maybe had some small amount of "OK cool its Zojja I know her!" but it's not like I had any deep care or feeling for her. Not personally. Peitha was interesting at first but being brought along as part of her nameless, faceless grunt entourage has made me lose a lot of interest. She's not going to be a core character post-SotO. She either dies at the end, or takes over as King, and at best becomes a very occasional callback. "Ah, King Peitha! It's been some time, how is Nayos!" She's not going to reclaim the throne and then ignore rebuilding her people's infrastructure to hang out in Commander’s brain all day or join them on quests. We are a temporary ally and a stepping stone for her story.

Which sucks.

In terms of the rest of the SotO cast, it again feels like a pale imitation of prior Gw2 content. Like they're saying "remember season 1, meeting all those people one by one who would become your best friends and allies in life? 🤔 " and then they didn't even do it that way. Season 1 was a gradual introduction to these characters that you were given time, story, and Reason to care about. If Braham, Rox, Marjory, Kasmeer, Taimi, Rytlock, and Canach had all shown up and said "oh we're the Best Friends Patrol. Come along with us stranger!" I would have felt like a tag along. Not an equal in the group. Instead we met on level ground. We became a team together, we became friends together, each of us a vital part.

Which is opposite to how it feels now. These characters have deep history going back AGES. I just showed up, no one respects me, I'm not privy to any information or details on who is who and why should I care, I don't Get story time to ACTUALLY hang out and meet these people and develop my OWN relationships with them. When I leave, they will not care. I'm just being brought along like a lost kid at this point, until we reach customer service and they can drop me off, or until I wander away and find another deep group to follow.

I don't like this story. I don't like the setting. I don't like the characters or the group dynamic. I don't feel like an EQUAL in this expansion, I don't feel like I matter. Anyone could stand here and ask supporting questions to drive the dialogue between the 2-3 characters that actually matter, which again, does not include me.

And FRANKLY I hate that no one can say anything that isn't glowing praise of GW2 and Anet and every little detail is just scrumptious don't worry I love it, without a bunch of vague posts filtering in about "so much Negativity, everyone is a HATER, you just don't support The Writers and want them to FAIL, well then stop playing the game and delete your account and blog and go away forever, REAL fans LOVE nothingburger" to shun whoever dared say "I didn't like some or all of it." I'm happy for you if you're liking SotO but I am not. I'm sorry if you don't understand that criticizing something that I've played for a decade doesn't mean I hate it. I'm sorry if you can't take the MILD CONFLICT of me or someone else saying "I love this thing that you love too but I don't like how the new part feels" but most of us learned about conflict in kindergarten or at least through children's picture books and TV, so idk. Maybe you just need to cope at that point.

As it stands I don't like the expac. I don't see Anet turning it around and blowing my mind with the ending. And I really don't even care how it ends. I was asked the other day "how are you going to handle Peitha?" (in terms of the canon that I write, which has already moved past the end of SotO.) And frankly I was like. I dunno. It doesn't matter to me. She's either dead or on the throne, I don't care much either way. We could get the huge plot twist at the end that Peitha was the big bad or Isgarren or WHOEVER THE FUCK, and I wouldn't care. None of this matters to me. I'm going back to Tyria with my writing. The rest is filler.

#soto spoilers #gw2 spoilers

[severalowls]

Got my latest Morrowind mod finished up!

Items in tombs will be identifiable as grave goods by most merchants, provided they're obvious/valuable enough. Some dried leaves or an old dagger? Unlikely to result in a second glance. Some nice gloves? Maybe if somebody gets a good look. Grandma's prize battleaxe? You monster!

Detailed trust system for how people react to your misdeeds. A total stranger shows up with something which might be stolen? And they're an outlander? Report them immediately! But the head of your guild just showed up, you're buddies, I think we can let that slide. They probably have a legitimate reason to be pawning your great uncle's belongings anyway, they do work for the temple after all.

Configurable elements. Adjustable value thresholds for what is considered identifiable as grave goods, what is obviously grave goods to the naked eye, and the criminal penalty associated with graverobbing. The additional taboo for attempting to sell bones taken from a tomb can also be disabled, as well as a reminder when entering a sacred tomb.

A wide variety of dialogue additions, including integration with NPCs during certain vanilla quests related to ancestral tombs. Surrender your grave goods to a guard for a reduced fine if you like, just note that some may react more strongly than others!

The immediate impact is relatively low, but it's one of those things you can leave on in the background and feel lightly immersed knowing that somebody out there might actually hate you for stealing grandma's good china.

This is a MWSE mod so it isn't compatible with OpenMW, but if you're doing a meaningfully modded, non-MP run then I really highly recommend not using OpenMW until there's lua script parity, MWSE is capable of too many cool things to turn down. Wink wink.

Spurred by a suggestion post by @profanetools about 3 weeks ago, followed by a few days of initial fiddling, a couple of weeks of "Oh, when will the fey mood kick in and make me work on this really hard" followed by a week of... The fey mood kicking in.

(Done as part of the Morrowind May Modathon, in which mods are mostly made in May)

OH ONE THING:

I didn't have time to do like, hours of play with this installed. If it does weird shit you don't expect it to, please let me know! I fully expect there be some tombs where you DON'T want things to be tagged, or where some SPECIFIC things should be left untagged. Please report them! Either on the nexus comments page or message me on here.

#morrowind

[imunbreakabledude]

Nice acc, what's your herb run strats? I'm neglectful. Any good show recs too? I'm out :(

ah thanks! been seriously playing the iron as my main acc for a bit over a year now and work from home at the moment so i have been able to make more concerted progress, and wanted to track it i guess lol

for show recs I am happy to give them but there are simply so many shows out there that some pointer of what you are looking for in tone/genre/topic (or other shows you like) would help narrow it!

as for herb runs i am not particularly on the forefront of efficiency but I guess some basic tips that you might already know?

I have all the patches unlocked besides harmony (mory elite are kinda high reqs) - definitely do the My Arm quests for the troll patches if you haven't

other unlocks if you don't already have them - lumby med diary for tele to falador patch (hard for unlimited), ardy med/hard diary for patch tele, hosidius favor for patch protection, one of the kandarin diaries (i forget if it starts at med or hard?) boosts catherby patch yield; i think one of the kourend diaries boosts the farming guild patch yield as well

for seeds just always be doing farming contracts. all the time. every login... just make the farming guild your home base and do contracts whenever you can. rush the 65/85 milestones as soon as you can, use a garden pie to boost from 82->85 for hard contracts, it's worth it

i'm assuming you already have magic secateurs... and probably already use ultracompost but if you don't... it is 100% worth it. always use ultracompost on everything it is more than worth the scant time it takes to make a big batch of it

For transportation to each patch, I do:

Catherby -> House portal (can boost from 83 magic with magic pot/mind bomb to make the portal in a regular portal chamber - i think you can't boost for a nexus tho). Camelot tele next best option

Falador -> Explorer's ring

Morytania -> Ectophial

Ardougne -> Ardy cloak 2

Hosidius -> xeric's talisman (i think POH at hosi also works but I like having mine in rimmington personally since there's no other good rimmington tele)

troll stronghold roof -> Get the salt/basalt tele in your POH portal chamber. it doesn't take that long to get the salts for the regular (non nexus) portal and is 100% worth it. if you have 73 agil and fremmy hard it puts you right on the roof, even without that it's much faster than trollheim tele

weiss -> ditto above. (personally I have a portal chamber with weiss/troll stronghold/catherby portals which is super convenient for clicking them on runs and also saves having to get the more salts/higher levels to get those in the nexus)

farming guild -> spirit tree. (skills necklace is also fine, but thinking back to the days when i used the fairy ring to get to the guild? oh god that sucked. this is another reason rushing 85 farm helps a lot - if you don't already have it, as soon as you get 82/83 plant a spirit tree in your POH and in the farming guild (can boost with garden pie to get into the top tier). the one in your POH doesn't count towards the limit so you can do both right at 83

again i'm assuming you know but i guess i'll type it anyway because there's always people who don't know this whenever it's mentioned on reddit... note your produce at the tool leprechauns lol

also if you get irrationally pissed off when weeds grow right after you harvest a patch ... autoweed from tithe farm only takes 30-40 mins tops to get and is super easy and while not necessary at all just feels NICE to not have to bring a rake or feel bad when you space out after harvesting

one purely superficial tip i took from another iron i think, who probably also did it while going mad doing herb runs, was i planted a different crop at each allotment patch and just left it so it looks nicer than empty/weed patches! cabbages at fally, potatoes at mory, strawberries at kourend... it makes it feel more like they are my little gardens when i walk up to them lmao (you may want to actually plant limpwurt roots tho and harvest those with every herb run until you build up a good stock of them) (snape grass I only plant in the farming guild for contracts and have gotten way more than enough that way, no need to plant it anywhere else) (also, plant potato cacti and harvest whenever you can to build up a good stock for using your lantadymes bc it's easier to gather those than blue dragon scales - personally I leave one always grown in the farm guild until i need to harvest it for a contract, and leave one in al kharid that i can pick from any time i pass by without having to regrow it)

other than that there aren't really any tricks but yeah. don't listen to anyone who says master farmers are the only way, honestly they're kinda shit for herb seeds in my experience (and i hate pickpocketing) - contracts + slayer (but mostly contracts) will keep you fed on herb seeds

wow i just wrote so much about herb runs after saying i had nothing to say about herb runs... this game is something.

#i be like oh there's no strats to herb runs (writes 1000 words on the topic) #no there really is no strat tho #but i guess finding the mini 'optimizations' can help with the motivation to DO them #also looking for each herb mini milestone helped me get thru it too #first 70 for sote #then 73 to boost for stams #then 77? or w/e to boost for brews #then 80 bc 80 is nice #then making brews unboosted #then 86 to boost for scb #there you go #dont listen to me about herblore tho because i'm an unefficient heathen who makes my own unf potions #osrs #ask #yourprincebrince-blog

[hog-zone]

so i started playing obscure Sony PSP RPG 7th dragon 2020 recently, and i'm very charmed by how you can straight up just pick your character's voices by VA. Did you know that Aoi Yuki did voicework for this game?? You know, Aoi yuki. She probably voiced like, ten of your big faves.

Anyway, I wanted to get screens of all of them so that i'd be able to go look up my blorbo's VA's later LMAO

haha uh oh idiot you've entered the BRIEF LORE ZONE. time for some FUN FACTS.

So my plan for the seventh dragon games was always to play them after I was done with EO, but I kinda got. very bored of nexus. and will probably come back to it in. 2024. that's not important tho, what IS important is that the way I had my fucked up little canon going, nexus would've resulted in the universe having been stretched so thin from having to compress all the timelines together so that all my guilds could meet that it'd cause sort of a hard reset situation where various new worlds were created, and one of them of course, would have been the 7D games.

All that explanation is to explain that I reused names from my old EO guilds for my party members LMAO. They're not so much capital R Reincarnations so much as they're echoes of the idea of those characters, carried thru time and space :>

... well except for G-KNIGHT over there. He's working as a proxy of sorts for Gawain, who was from EOV, and thus is Complicated.

Anyway if you stuck around and read all that rambling you deserve a kiss on the forehead. 💋💋💋💋

#fun fact! all the classes in this game have designated portraits! #and feeling it out based purely on vibes I assigned every class completely wrong ports! #further fun fact; if aidan's name looks a little scuffed on her nameplate there. It is! #I didn't have a screenshot where I got her name right so I edited it in GIMP!

[theshatteredrose]

Thinking about my Nexus series, it’s funny to me that my other boys won’t know Rahas as the ex-emo brat, but as the confident badass that he is now. They’ll see him as the rather chill if overly protective guy that keeps a close eye on his family. 

Him? A flighty emo brat that would bristle at the smallest sign of affection? Who didn’t know how to handle times of peace? They’ll find Hamza and Cedric’s stories hard to believe!

Rahas has come a long way indeed.

Still, at the beginning of the Gathering of Guardian series, he’ll try to stay aloof from the other guilds. He has his own family and people to look after. He’s only there because he wants Simmons and his family to experience exciting new opportunities and make new, happier memories. And he’s there to ensure they stay safe. That’s his purpose.

In spite of himself, however. certain individuals begin to make their way into his little world. And, of course, he’s like; “Ugh, fine. Someone needs to ensure these idiots stay safe, too.”

Oh Rahas, you’ve grown so much, yet some things haven’t changed :3c

#author ramblings

[morika]

i sleep 💤

#morikart #eo4 #etrian odyssey #logre #nap time while waiting for ur fav guild to come home from the maginian parade #i am weeping i NEED to beat nexus already oh my g

[jenniferrpovey]

ABC Test Explained

Okay, so apparently there are a lot of people who love the PRO Act.

For the most part, I love the PRO Act too. Unions are good. I’m not in a union (I’m in a guild, which is a different thing), but I could join two if I wanted to. In my specific situation, unions don’t benefit me.

But I want other people who DO need them to join them.

Unfortunately, something has been slipped into the PRO Act that is terrible in the same way SESTA/FOSTA was, except it’s not just for sex workers this time (not to diminish the impact on sex workers).

It’s called the ABC Test and there’s a move to make it the national standard for who is considered an independent contractor, across all industries.

It’s very simple. To pass the test, you have to meet all THREE of these criteria:

A. The worker is free from the employer’s control or direction in performing the work.

B. The work takes place outside the usual course of business of the company.

C. The worker is customarily engaged in an independent trade, occupation, profession, or business.

A. is pretty easy.

C. is mostly easy, but causes issues for publishing that I’ll explain later.

B. outlaws 90% of freelance work with NO workaround that I know of. (I have yet to consult a lawyer on this. Lawyers are expensive).

C primarily causes a problem for sensitivity readers. My last one was a college student who needed the extra money. Under this, I wouldn’t have been able to hire her. If you are looking for a very specific sensitivity reader, that will become illegal if this test is codified, because they will HAVE to be doing it regularly. That’s hard for if you want, say, an African-American asexual person. Multiple sensitivity readers probably won’t help. Also, if somebody has to be an employee, they also have to be a U.S. citizen or legal resident. So much for hiring a sensitivity reader in Finland to make sure your Finnish character acts like a Finn.

B. causes a problem for *everyone*. As an author-publisher, I would no longer be able to hire an editor or a cover artist. Which means I would no longer be able to produce quality books.

I would have to onboard my editor as an employee every time I needed her, pay her by the hour not by the word, then fire her when she was done.

I could get around cover art by purchasing pre-made art, which is buying IP.

It’s also possible that a court could rule that authors are employees of the publisher, which would be absolutely terrible because then the publisher owns the book. Publishers might have to get around this by not providing editing/feedback, and the author can’t hire an editor, and...

 Basically, this would absolutely destroy publishing. I can think of workarounds such as author’s cooperatives.

The point is that if you need somebody to run your business they must be an employee. Which makes absolute sense if that person is working for you 40 hours a week...or even 5 hours a week.

It’s an undue burden if they are working for you 30 hours a year. Or once ever for 5 hours.

The point is to make us hire people, but we can’t. Instead, the only option for me and other self publishers will be to let down our readers either by ceasing publication or by producing inferior work.

If you enjoy self published books, if you enjoy books by diverse authors, if you enjoy weird shit that the big publishers won’t take a risk on, then please contact your Representative and Senator.

Do not tell them to vote against the PRO Act unless there’s no other choice. Tell them to push for an amendment to either carve out exemptions to the ABC Test or replace it for a more sensible test.

Biden has already promised to sign this. (Consider contacting the White House too).

If you are an artist who ever does work for a publisher, if you are an author yourself, talk about how it will affect your business.

If you are a reader, talk about how it will affect publishing as a whole.

I realize this all sounds like a capitalist argument, but wouldn’t you rather have your favorite independent authors writing and not doing a ton of paperwork every time they release a new book...and wouldn’t you rather read books that had been edited by a person not the author?

To explain, if I have to onboard an editor as an employee, I have to:

1. Have them fill out a W-4 form.

2. Verify their immigration status.

3. Register them with the state. Brakes on! My editor is in a different state. I just got nexus in that state...which will last for years. Now I can’t sell books directly to people in that state without collecting sales tax. And I don’t even know HOW you do it when your employee is in a different state. This involves four different sets of paperwork.

4. Pay worker’s compensation, so if they get carpal tunnel working for me they’re covered. Given I can’t actually control their working conditions but am now liable for them.

5. Send them half a dozen OSHA and safety notices.

Then I have to have them track their time and bill me by the hour. Again, you can no longer charge by the word. I have to pay payroll taxes (which they normally do themselves for all of their projects at once).

Then when the project is DONE, I have to fire them, so I’m not paying worker’s comp until the next book is finished. Then do all of this AGAIN even if it’s the same editor.

This compares to one single tax form and a contract.

Then I have to do this all again for my cover artist.

Either my costs go up significantly, or I have to take workers’ comp out of the amount I’m paying them. So ONE of us loses a ton of money and BOTH of us waste a ton of time.

(My editor that I use will probably stop editing if this happens).

If I don’t do this, I could be fined $30,000...per violation...which would not just put me out of business but wipe out my savings.

If you value independent publishing, then please, again, tell your representative and senator how you feel about the ABC test.

Oh, and it also:

1. Destroys the owner-operator model of trucking. Prices on everything will go up and large companies that can employ their own drivers will benefit. I.e., straight into Bezos’ pocket.

2. May impact the ability of construction companies to hire subcontractors. It’s really murky at this point.

I’m going to have to consult a lawyer if this goes through and I may pay a few hundred dollars to find out I have to polish up my resume.

And how ridiculous this is has already been shown with AB5 in California. I want them to come up with a test which nails Uber, Door Dash, etc, but not entire industries.

#labor law #publishing

[vespertine-legacy]

I got to lead (most of) Gods today!

The Lazy Hutt Cantina group (the group that I once tanked Ravagers for and then more recently led ToS for) wanted to run it for today’s groupfinder. After ToS, I had told them to let me know if there were other things I could help them with and they had joked “want to lead us through Gods?”

There is someone in their guild who I guess is supposedly able to lead most ops and was supposed to be leading them today, but ended up not able to come. I didn’t realize that when I joined the group, and someone said “oh good, Kestrel is here, please pass lead to Kestrel since she’s in charge.” She’s what now? I told them I know most of the Gods fights, but only vaguely know the deflection droid puzzle since I’m usually in groups where folks are just like “if you don’t know the puzzle then sit down and shut up just let me do it” (which is cool, since it doesn’t give anyone else a chance to learn it), and I don’t really know the Izax fight (oops, never picked @yxo-the-forcewalker ‘s brain about that fight, thought the group might plan ahead when they wanted to run it, not just do it the next time it came up on groupfinder). They were fine with that, because one of them had a guide up for anything I couldn’t remember.

Realized walking in that we had three healers. Figured that might be a liiiiittle bit of a problem, but none of them were super comfortable swapping to a dps.

Tyth fight went fine, if a little long.

Aivela and Esne fight went a little weird, with the sisters and the Nexus all being immune for an odd amount of time at one point, but then it went back to normal after briefly making me think it was going to reset (we did lose a scoundrel dps to a hightail-it right off the platform though).

Nahut was a little bit rough. I didn’t explain the shift between the phases very well, so I was the only one who went to the right place for the second phase, and we ended up all getting spaghettified. So I took the time to explain it a little clearer, and on the next pull we did a lot better, though because we had three healers instead of four true dps, we ended up taking Nahut all the way around the room, with the entire floor electrified, and with about a toon’s width of safe space from the Red Line of Instant Death. Reminded everyone to pop raid buffs if they had them and we were able to get him down pretty much right before the line would have wiped us.

Scyva was going really well until it very suddenly wasn’t. Being down a dps made it so there wasn’t much hope of cheesing Extinction Protocol, so had to teach them the actual mechanics, which it’s been a while since I’ve actually done (lol, rip me). We made it past a round of Extinction Protocol okay, but then folks started getting picked off. Eventually got down to just a tank and two healers, but Scyva was down to 5%, so the rest of us cheered them on and I called out the Extinction Protocols and they were able to get her down.

We were able to figure out the deflector droid placements and get the puzzle done relatively quickly. Unfortunately, I had to leave for a development for my student staff, so I didn’t get to actually try Izax with them, but I did give them some of them important tips I could remember (told them I had to leave for a work thing in about five minutes, “can you explain the fight in those five minutes?”’; gave them the spots to avoid for cleave damage, enemies that needed to die first, how to survive the final phase), and told them to kick Izax’s ass for me.

#swtor #november plays swtor

[strosmkai-rum]

SKYRIM MOD LIST, enb included

have fun! 

note: some mods, though very few and for the most part insignificant, were found on the steam workshop. so if it doesn’t appear on the nexus, you’ll find it there.

some general advice for new modders/just reminders - 

- always check compatibility. some mods have patches to use in combination with other mods. always read the description too. 

- if you’re able, cleaning plugins is always good. i was never able to get a hang of it but that doesn’t mean you won’t have better luck.

- never, ever test mods with an actual playthrough. the chances of corruption are small, but there. start a new game; if you can’t bother with the helgen intro, use Quick Start to skip past it and begin at the cave exit instead. 

- load order. can’t go wrong with LOOT or Wrye Bash. imo LOOT is easier to install and use but it’s all up to preference.

OVERHAULS -

Noble Skyrim (a HUGE overhaul of basically all exterior textures. but, if you don’t like the look this gives, i’d suggest 2k Textures for a more vanilla feel but in higher res, or Tamriel Reloaded - Textures and Parallax.)

Realistic Water Two (get the enb textures, with the watercolor effect too. they have a non-enb version as well, if you don’t use enb.)

aMidianborn retextures (i use almost everything. weapons, armor, creatures, dragonborn dlc, except the terrain overhaul. i also use the differently ebony and glass variants plugins, which basically mean that there’s multiple variants of the armor with the different retextures. they’re so cool, it’s a must.)

RUSTIC ( i also use almost everything from this too. alchemy/enchanting tables, daedra, death hounds, dinnerware, east empire company signs (i really don’t know why), elder scroll, monuments/tombstones, nordic murals, pottery, silverware, standing stones, windows, and word walls.)

Immersive College of Winterhold

Book Covers Skyrim (best book cover retex ever.)

More Interesting Loot (adds in so many artifacts/ingredients/loot from previous games it’s unreal. love it.)

Realistic Room Rental Enhanced (a SERIOUS overhaul of inns and stuff. lets you rent rooms for followers, discounts for extended stays, and makes them look nicer! oh, washtubs too.)

Immersive Roads (amazing. beautiful. incredible.)

RSChildren (children remodel)

Moonlight Tales 

Breezehome Fully Upgradeable (okay this too. makes breezehome huge. like, now you can have a markarth style tub upstairs, and a decent room for lydia too. plus a secret library, and another way to enter/exit your home outside of whiterun. and a lot of other stuff i’m too lazy to list right now.)

SMIM (DEFINITELY use some sort of installer for this. killed me when i tried to manually install it. totally optional, though.)

Ruins Clutter Improved

Thane Weapons Reborn

GRAPHICS -

Unique Grasses and Groundcovers (Verdant does a great job too.)

Hybrid HD Plants and Herbs Retexture (Tamriel Reloaded flora are gorgeous as well, so are the ones from Skyrim Flora Overhaul.)

AOF Detailed Mountains (my pref, but honestly, almost all of the mountain retex mods are amazing. go wild.)

Designs of the Nords Banners (the sickest retex of banners. ever.)

Skyrim Landscape Overhaul - Stone Walls (the BEST thing you will ever see. note, if used with Immersive College of Winterhold you don’t need the corresponding patch. at least, if this is the only SLO mod you’ll use.)

SLOD Wine Cellar (y'ever have an in-game crippling alcohol addiction?)

SLOD Potions/Poisons

Gemling Queen Jewelry

Barenziah’s Glory (crown and jewel retexs)

Unique Uniques (the reworks are absolutely gorgeous. i can’t even describe them. at this point, unique is an understatement.)

Bellyache’s Dragon Retextures (they’re the hell spawn of akatosh, gotta make ‘em look cool somehow)

Apophysis Dragon Priest Masks (holy mother of god, these dragon priest retextures are beautiful. if you’re more into a horror theme, Unique Dragon Priest Masks will definitely satisfy you) 

Natural Eyes

Coverkhajiits Male/Female

Dawnguard Rewritten - Arvak (so many arvak retextures here, pick and choose what you want)

Makers Mark Ingots (an ingot retexture, with minting seals/stamps on them. beautiful.)

Better Shrouded Armor (okay, this. this. if you look at the vanilla armor and say, i hate this, then you’ll love this. the armor becomes more of an armored robe with black/brown touches, and the signature hand print on the front. it’s just cool.)

Stormcloak Revival (awesome retex of the armor)

Nightingale Prime and Nightingale Pride (a retexture for armor and blade/bow, respectively)

Windhelm - Legendary Kings

Alternate Summoning Visuals

Tenets Restored (so you can actually read the damn things)

Auriel’s Bow Retexture

HD Linens

QUESTS/NEW LANDS -

Falskaar

Shadow of Morrowind 

Summerset Isle 

Beyond Skyrim - Bruma

Beyond Reach

Voyage to the Dreamborne Isles 

VIGILANT (there’s an english voiceover and a guide as well in the files section of the voiceover)

Project AHO (you need this. you do. the quest, the npcs, the oh god, everything, is so amazing. download it.)

Carved Brink (from the makers of Project AHO, equally amazing.)

Wheels of Lull (this was the best existential crisis i’ve ever had. funny, immersive, challenging, and very, very real, i’ll be at your door in a fortnight if you don’t install this mod.)

Aethernautics (with Wheels of Lull integration patch)

Gray Cowl of Nocturnal (want some oblivion nostalgia? here you are.)

Spectraverse - Magic of the Magna Ge

Dwemertech - Magic of the Dwarves

Ravengate (underground pit fighting, hell yeah!!)

The Tools of Kagrenac (morrowind fans wya. i have never played morrowind.)

Moon and Star

The Forgotten City (gonna be getting its own game on Steam by the same name!)

Fight Against the Thalmor (all 4 parts linked) 

Sinister Seven

Konahrik’s Accountments

Blackreach Railroad (trains. that is all.)

Legends of Nchuak

The McMiller Chronicles

The Notice Board (ah, witcher fans might like this.)

The Paarthurnax Dilemma (for obvs reasons) 

Localized Guild Jobs (finally, choose the city you want to do a thiefy job in.)

Missing Apprentices (a college quests never implemented in-game. there’s also another mod for another cut quest called Research Thief, but i don’t use that one.)

Barenziah Quest Markers (am NOT using the wiki again to find those floaty bastards. there’s a mod that puts the stones in quest-locked areas in accessible ones instead, so if you plan on collecting them all and being done with it i suggest Non Quest Locations for Stones of Barenziah.)

Jiub’s Opus Quest Markers (not chasing these down either)

Arvak’s Skull Quest Marker (only available through steam workshop)

an addition, Wyrmstooth, though it’s no longer on the nexus and is known to corrupt save files and cause general issues (i found a version of it, though i’m not very keen on trying it after what i’ve heard. still, if you really want it, it’s not that hard to find.)

IMMERSION -

Timing is Everything (adds in delays between quests. just a little breather in between saving the world, if that even exists.)

Northern Encounters (if you love encounters and spent a lot of time in the snow for whatever reason, this is for you.)

Extra Encounters Reborn + DLC (when you love exploring skyrim, this’ll make your adventures super interesting.)

Citizens of Tamriel (on god this mod is so funny and immersive. if you download this, stop by the abandoned shack. you won’t regret it.)

Honed Metal (lets you hire a smith to temper/craft and enchant armor and weapons for you, so you don’t have to invest in the smithing tree.)

The Hunting Game (y’ever notice how pelts are like, worthless? yeah. this changes that.) 

Organized Bandits of Skyrim

Better Combat AI (there’s probably a better mod for combat out there, but this is what i use. also from steam workshop)

Increased Merchant Gold Count (plenty of dif mods for this, all of them should work just fine. also on steam workshop)

Black Horse Courier Reborn (hey, remember the uhh, couriers in oblivion? well, they’re back, babey! the more quests you complete, different editions will be released to talk about the amazing last dragonborn, and there’s a (expensive as hell) book that you can buy from a courier that had all the editions from oblivion in one tidy leather-bound book.)

Take Notes (a journal mod!)

Celtic Music in Skyrim (a music replacer. it’s so calming and atmospheric, but if you want individual tracks replaced with ones of your own choosing, you can download Skyrim Audio Converter.)

Book Covers of Skyrim - Lost Library (adds in books from other tes games too, along with the fancy covers.)

Books of Skyrim (a book store in solitude.)

Touring Carriages

The Thieves Guild: More Thieves (only on steam workshop)

Thieves Guild Former Glory Enhancement

Regifting Lycanthropy: Infinite (on steam workshop)

KJ Tattoos and Lore Tattoos (needs RaceMenu to work.)

Loading Screens with Extra Sarcasm (beautiful mod. doesn’t ruin your immersion at all, actually.)

We Are Legion (nice legion overhaul. workshop exclusive.)

Immersive Patrols

All Merchants Buy Stolen Items

Realistic Crime Radius

Beyond Skyrim: Wares of Tamriel

Morrowind Imports (makes it so dunmer vendors will sell stuff like ash yams and sujamma, just a bit more immersive.)

Morrowind Border Trading Shack (workshop exclusive)

Staves of Skyrim

College Students

Better College Application

Night Eye Overhaul (good regardless if you rp as a khajiit or not)

Enhanced Cities: Docks of Solitude (workshop exclusive)

Towns and Villages Enhanced: Riverwood

Project Populate Skyrim: Winterhold (workshop exclusive)

Raven Rock Expanded

MISCELLANEOUS -

SkyComplete (lets you keep track of basically everything, including quests, artifacts, undiscovered locations and read books. update, it looks like the original file has been taken down. i do have a copy of the file should anyone want it.)

The Choice is Yours (fewer forced quests! woohoo!)

Jaxonz Named Save and Positioner (lets you have named saves, and reposition objects. the best mod for home decorating.)

Unlimited Bookshelves (put anything you want on those bad boys now! coupled with Jaxonz Positioner, the sky’s the limit to home decorating now.)

Follower Map Markers Complete (so you don’t lose them. again. also works for mod added followers.)

Bandolier - Bags and Pouches (you look really cool, and get a bit of extra carry weight too!)

Insanitys Celtic Katana

Better Training (no more level req bs here)

No Required Perks (workshop exclusive)

Lightweight Potions and Poisons

Lightweight Scrolls (because half a point for a scroll?! it’s paper, not rocks, dammit)

Weightless Soul Gems

Telescope

Thieves' Guild Bounty Clearer

Scoped Bows 

Font Replacement (i use fertigo pro but you know, preference) 

City Forests (just adds a few trees in a few cities, this, combined with Noble Skyrim and the enb i use makes all of my screenshots.) 

Save the Dark Brotherhood (saves your tears, too.)

Hold Border Banners 

Lost Books of Voryn Dreleth (adds in a few books, scattered throughout skyrim. i don’t know, they’re nice to read i guess. totally optional.)

Halls of Dovahndor (an amazing house mod set in…sovngarde! that’s new!)

The Library of Paarthurnax (always thought this was mad cool)

Sacrificial Hunter (for the boethiah quest. also known as, when you’re too attached to your followers to kill them)

No Killmoves/Killcams/Killbites (totally optional, i just don’t like the animations.)

Big Leather Backpack (it looks cool. plus extra carry weight. bags are cool.)

Colovian Leather (just a lil extra set of armor) 

Elder Scroll on Back

More Salt

Open Face Guard Helmets

Faction Crossbows

INTERFACE -

SkyUI (the menu layout give me a headache though, you can use SkyUI Away to restore normal menus)

Immersive HUD

A Matter of Time (compatible with iHUD)

Warburg’s 3D Paper World Map (forget the old poorly rendered map. a new paper one, a lot more simplistic and minimalist. but, if you do want the normal skyrim map, A Quality World Map is the way to go.)

Main Menu Background Replacer (oh, there’s a lot of these. so choose your favorite. but i like this best.)

No Bethesda Intro Logo or a replacer, the one i use was taken down but went by Ironclad Bethesda. 

RaceMenu

Amazing Follower Tweaks

Follower Trap Safety (miiight be included in AFT, but not sure.)

FIXES/PATCHES -

USLEEP

Fuz Ro Doh (needed for some quest mods, something abt silent dialogue.)

No More Blinding Fog (if you have that issue)

Mindflux Particle Patch (if included)

Darker Dungeons for ENB (if included)

Revamped Exterior Fog

FOR ENB:

okay, here’s the thing. i’ve been modding skyrim nonstop for three years now. i’ve gone through, a lot of enbs. the big ones, the small ones. rudy, tetrachromatic, project enb, you name it. and here’s the one that i finally found that works great, lots of customizability, awesome fps, and looks fucking fantastic. 

it’s called seasons of skyrim. easy install, easy uninstall if you don’t like it. nothing else. includes further darker dungeons as well as revamped exterior fog.

my configuration’s here.

but let’s assume you don’t want to use an enb. that’s fine! there’s a lot of other ways to get dynamic lightning too. i used to use Climates of Tamriel, or ELFX, or Realistic Lighting Overhaul. note that i’m almost certain that RLO hand places light sources, so i don’t know how altered cells would go. you might be able to avoid conflict by loading the changing mod after RLO? but i don’t know for sure. 

if you want help with installing anything/with enbs or are new to it, i’m always down to help. 

other stuff i use -

SKSE is an obvs one. 

LOOT

Save Cleaner

7zip (it’s basically a free version of winzip. cause i’m not about to pay for anything, and i manually install everything.)

wow, you made it to the end? congrats! i spent longer on this than i did sleeping last night. 

#skyrim #modding #a lotta mods lmao #tes #still...modding...three years later...

[iwillhaveamoonbase]

The Long Game ch. 2

Rayla glared a bit at her reflection in the mirror.  How could she look just like herself and look nothing like she always did at the same time? Her horns were gone, her skin lacking the pink undertones, and she had the human pinkos.  No…pinkies.  They were called ‘pinkies.’  Her hair had yellow in it now and her lavender eyes were now a piercing blue.  She hated it.  Even her voice had lost it’s Silvergrove accent.  She had spent the whole six months trying to get rid of it only for the powerful illusion to take care of it for her.  Rayla quirked a lip as she remembered how she had reacted to that back at Lujanne’s.  Lujanne had taken the whole thing as a learning process, that she was capable of losing her accent, but Rayla had been frustrated with the situation.  

Rayla put a hand under her bare eye.  She was sorely missing the dye normally under her eyes.  She felt naked without it. The dye…she hadn’t been able to bring any with her and the design she chose….it had been a variant of the one her parents had put on her.  

Rayla wasn’t foolish. She knew why the Assassins Guild had approved Runaan’s plan so easily and why no one but Ethari had opposed the idea. It didn’t matter if she died in the process; she was here to make up for her parents’ disgrace.  “You two just had to run away…”

Rayla turned her head to look around the lavish room.  She had hoped that King Harrow would take her in and give her a place among the palace staff. Easy to hide, easy to maneuver. That’s not what was happening, apparently.  The room was right next to Prince Callum’s if she had heard correctly because she had asked for a view of the moon.  Rayla walked around the room.  It was too big, the balcony too ostentatious.  She needed the moonlight to continue to charge the talisman, but she didn’t need all this.  The dark purple stone had been created by all the mages of Silvergrove and crafted by Ethari. Lunjanne had added her own illusion magic and the power of the Moon Nexus had made it even stronger.  It had to be perfect.  She had to be perfect.

The moon was slowly rising, signaling the end of the day.  Dinner had been awkward to say the least.  They had done introductions and Viren had glared at her the whole time.  His son, Soren, had stared at her for most of the time.  Rayla was used to people staring at her, but this was different.  All she knew was she didn’t like it.  One of the princes, Callum, had also stared at her most of the night.  But, his look had been different than Viren’s suspicious one and Soren’s….whatever that was. Callum looked at her with pure confusion.  Did he see through the illusion?  Lujanne had warned her that incredibly magically sensitive beings would be able to see through it, but that shouldn’t count a human, right?  Right?  

As she stepped onto the balcony, she sighed at the cool breeze that came over her.  She heard a scritch-scatching to her right and turned her head to see Callum drawing the half moon.  The moonlight was hitting the planes of his face and his green eyes almost looked like they were glowing.  When he looked up again, she saw the emergence of a sharp jawline; something that would come as he grew older.  He was a lot more handsome than her initial perusal had indicated.  “Drawing the night sky, Your Highness?”

He yelped, startled out of his thoughts.  “Oh! Rayla, right?”

She quirked a brow.  “Yep.”

“Sorry.  I just…get into a groove, I guess.”

“Don’t let me keep you from your ‘groove.’”

Callum gave her a soft smile, before turning back to his sketchbook.  They sat in silence for a bit, Rayla perfectly content to stare at the stars.  After some time, Callum nervously coughed.  “Do you want to see?”

“Sure.”  Before Callum could hand the sketchbook over to her, Rayla got on the ledge of her balcony and jumped onto his.  He looked shocked for a moment, unsure.  “Everything OK?”

“Yeah.  I’ve just never done that before.  I don’t think I’d have the confidence to not fall to my death.”

Rayla shrugged.  “You need good control and balance.  It’s not that tricky once you get those two things.” Callum had a look of disbelief on his face, but showed her the sketchbook.  Rayla’s eyes went wide as she stared at the picture.  Callum had indeed drawn the moon, craters and all, but he had also drawn her.  There was a peaceful expression on her face.  “I didn’t realize you were drawing me.”

“Sorry.  I should have asked first.”

“No, it’s fine.  I’m amazed you would pick me to draw.”

“It was hard not to.  I have a feeling you don’t often feel as at peace as you did right then.”

“What makes you say that?”

Callum shrugged.  “Just a feeling.  Maybe I’m projecting.  I don’t feel at peace very often myself.”

“Really?”

Callum nodded.  “The king is my step-father and he’s been great, but our relationship isn’t really the parent-child one I want.”

“And your biological father?”

“Dead.  Has been since I was about a year old.  And my mom died about ten years ago.”

Rayla was quiet for a few moments.  “I don’t know where my parents are.  I was raised by their friends.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.  It’s for the best.”

Callum looked away for a bit.  “You said your village is gone?”

“Yeah.”

“And it was elves?”

Rayla shrugged her shoulders.  “Maybe. I don’t really know.  Everything’s a little fuzzy.”  Callum let it drop, but he turned his eyes back to her.  There was that look again.  “What?”

“What?”

“You’re looking at me like you’re confused.”

Callum flushed a bit. “Sorry.”  He apologized too easily, Rayla decided.  He tried to make himself small and unnoticed.  Why?  Weren’t humans supposed to be arrogant?  “I don’t know how to explain it, but when I look at you, something’s…off.”

“‘Off?’”

“I don’t know.  I asked Soren and Claudia and they both said you’re just really pretty and I’m not used to it.”

Rayla blinked twice.  “What do you think?”

The light flush on his cheeks became a dark red.  “I mean, you are quite pretty, but I don’t think that’s it.”

“What do you think it is, then?”

Callum stood up, so he was almost at her height.  He was about an inch shorter than her, their eyes almost meeting directly.  His lips were a lot fuller than she had thought.  He tilted his head, an intense look directed right at her.  “Do you dye your hair?  Claudia does.”

“No.”  Rayla gulped.  He was too close.  Could he hear her heart beating loudly?  Why was it beating so fast?  What was happening?  She had to get out of here!  “Sorry, but it’s late.  I think I’ll head to bed.”

“Of course.  Good night.”  Rayla quickly turned and got on the railing to jump back onto her balcony. She turned her head to see Callum still looking at her with that same intense look.  She gave him a quick wave and closed the balcony doors.  Rayla leaned against the door, putting a hand to her chest. Why was her heart threatening to beat out of her chest?  Was she almost caught?  No….That hadn’t been it.  Prince Callum was dangerous to her mission.  That she knew.

----------------------------------------------

“Harrow!  We can’t trust her!”

Harrow pinched the bridge of his nose as Viren continued to denounce his commitment to Rayla.  “We must care for all of our citizens.”

“Prove to me she’s one of our citizens!  There has been nothing about what she claims!  No villages have been attacked.  NOTHING!”

“Viren, there could be a million reasons why her story isn’t adding up.  What if she hit her head and this is the story her mind’s put together? We’ll help her find her home.  If there is no home, I’ll give her one until she’s ready to leave.”

“This is a mistake.  We can’t just take anyone in!  Do we want a repeat of Duren?  You don’t think things through enough when you’re trying to be compassionate.”

Harrow grit his teeth. “Let’s make something clear.  I take full responsibility for what we had to do in Xadia.  I lost my wife because I didn’t think ahead enough.  My sons have to grow up without their mother!  But I will not leave someone in need.  I am trying to build a world that will accept the love and compassion that is so strong in Ezran.”

“Ezran?”

“His heart is far purer than mine ever was.  He forgives easily and is incredibly understanding.  He’ll be a better king than I am.  But, I have to show compassion and understanding as well.”

“Harrow, listen to me-”

“The subject of Rayla is closed.  She stays unless she proves she cannot be trusted.”

Viren growled low in his throat, quickly leaving the room.  Harrow sighed as he leaned against his chair.  Pip began to sing, the melody almost cheerful.

---------------------------------------------

The next morning, Rayla followed Callum and Soren as they went to do their lessons.  Callum looked completely unenthused while Soren kept sending smirks her way.  What was with this blonde idiot?  She watched Soren basically not teach Callum much of anything, except to expect to fall down.  Which, would have been fine if he was also teaching Callum how to get up quickly.  “Can I interject?”

Soren gave her a cocky grin. “No offense, but what does someone from a farming village know about swords?”

Rayla wracked her brain for the excuse Lujanne and her had come up with.  “I’ve seen the military practice often enough.  Besides, you don’t think children pretend to play with swords?”

Soren shrugged, handing her his sword.  Rayla shook her head, taking Callum’s from the ground.  “You’re not teaching him right.”

“With all due respect, I’m teaching him fine.”

“You’re teaching him to expect to fail but not how to get back up.  In other words, you’re screwing with his confidence.  That’s not teaching.”  Rayla lunged forward, Soren barely able to block it.  “His mother used a lance.  Train him on that.”  Soren pushed back, shock on his face as Rayla spun and used his own force against him so that he leaned forward, almost losing his balance.  “Not everyone is made for the same thing.”  Soren spun to face her.  They traded blows, but it was obvious to all that Rayla was the superior swordsman.  She was too light on her feet and knew when to add the right amount of power.  She also knew when to back off, which was ultimately Soren’s downfall as she finally swept his legs out from under him, landing him on his back.

“You-You SWEPT THE LEG!” Callum exclaimed.  Rayla smirked over at him.   She wanted his attention on her, she realized.  She wanted his praise.

“That’s not a thing in sword fighting!”  Soren groaned from the ground.

“Apparently it is.”  Everyone looked up to see Harrow, Viren, and Opeli at the entrance to the courtyard.  “Rayla, you have a lot of talent in sword fighting.”

“I played a lot as a kid with fake weapons.”  Viren raised a brow as Opeli looked her up and down.

“Perhaps, you would be better suited to training Callum.”

More time with Callum? BAD IDEA.  He wasn’t suspicious of her, but he saw through the illusion, in some way he knew it was there.  Rayla turned to see Callum looking at her.  There was hope in his gaze instead of confusion.  How could she refuse him when he looked at her like that?  “I would be honored, Your Majesty.”  She briefly curtseyed, sighing when the adults moved on.  ‘I’m in trouble.’   “Alright, Prince Callum.  No more swords. You’re going to be learning how to use a battle lance.”

“Let’s do it!”  He looked so excited, his toothy smile and shining eyes hit her heart way too hard.  

As they moved through practice, every little touch sent lightning coursing through her body.  His laugh was infectious and his questions were actually incredibly insightful.  The hours passed so quickly, she had barely noticed when dinner time came and judging by his expression, he hadn’t either.  

As Rayla lay in bed that night, her heart still hadn’t slowed down.  Every time she closed her eyes, a pair of green ones haunted her. Was this a crush?  No, it was too intense for that.  Either way, she had to pack these feelings deep into the corners of her heart and forget about that.  There was no room for error.  She couldn’t…she couldn’t fall in love with someone she was going to leave without a family.  ‘Oh, gods…I’m falling for him….’      

---------------------------------------------

Callum went through his sketchbook.  It’d been several months since Rayla had come and his notebook was becoming filled to the brim with pictures of her.  The last time he had drawn Claudia had been the day Rayla had come.  That itch in the back of his mind was still strong, but he felt drawn to Rayla in a way he didn’t know was possible.  Every move she made had his immediate attention.  Her laugh was infectious and her snark and sarcasm showed an intelligent mind that was screaming for knowledge and also an eye for loopholes. She had taken to lessons with him and Ezran, devouring knowledge almost as soon as it was presented to her, though she preferred to be outside and moving about.  It was hard to keep her attention for long when the sun was shining and there were things to do outside.  

“Hey.”  Callum looked up to see the object of his thoughts smiling at him from her balcony.

“Hey.”

“The moon’s full.” Callum nodded, wondering where this was going.  “Back home, we sing and celebrate the passing of each cycle.  I haven’t been able to do it much since coming here.  Do you mind if I sing a bit?”

“Not at all.”  Callum had not expected the haunting voice that Rayla had when she sang.  He felt the gooseflesh on his skin as she vocalized for a bit.

There's an old familiar silence

When I'm lost inside my heart

I can't hear the voice inside me

So I look up to the stars

Oh

There is darkness ever waiting

I can feel it in the air

So I call upon my angels

Are you still there?

When the wind bends the branch to softly touch me

When the band plays your song

I feel strong enough to keep dreaming

Even when I'm all alone our love goes on and on

Oh

When the wind bends the branch to softly touch me

When the band plays your song

I feel strong enough to keep dreaming

Even when I'm all alone our love goes on and on

When she finished, she turned to him.  Callum was struck speechless.  The softness on her features as she sang compared with just how deep her song reached his soul…In the back of his mind, Callum remembered a conversation his mother and Viren’s ex-wife had once had when he was little.  That, sometimes, souls called out for each other in ways no one could run away from.  The light of the full moon hit her gaze and Callum wondered if that’s what was happening. Was his soul drawn to Rayla’s?  It felt like it.  “Thank you for sharing that,” he whispered.  Whatever spell had taken over the both of them, he didn’t want to break it.

“You’re welcome,” she whispered back.  When they parted for the night, Callum stared at her balcony for a few moments longer. He wasn’t quite sure when he had stopped liking Claudia, but he knew that what he was feeling for Rayla was far stronger and, most likely, not nearly as easy to let go of.

--------------------------

The song is Love Goes On and On by Lindsey Stirling and Amy Lee. If you have not seen the Older Rayllum AU content that is Lindsey Stirling's Between Twilight, go to YouTube and watch it!

#rayllum #rayllum fanfic #moonbase fanfics #tdp #the dragon prince #the long game

[5lazarus]

Anders in Autumn, Ch. 9: howling wind

Finished Ch. 9 of Anders in Autumn, posted on AO3 here. I am not tagging cozy-autumn-prompts because is a chapter with quite a lot of violence, but I do recommend you check out the account for what others have done with the prompts! It gets lighter after this. But this is Fenris and Anders we’re talking about, so a glance into the darkness is necessary. Ch. 9, howling wind: Negotiations break down, and the guards are tasked to break the strike. Anders cleans up the mess.

The Veil in Kirkwall is paper-thin. The wind howls and it shifts. An angry thought can thin the weave, and Justice is always angry. Anders struggles in the week up to the strike, hating the suspense as negotiations start and fall apart and begin again. Fenris keeps inviting him to the Hanged Man, ostensibly to keep an eye on him, and he is a rare beacon of sanity and reality. Anders struggles in the Hanged Man, watching Aveline and Varric in their complacency, and he struggles visiting Hawke in their mansion. Everywhere he goes he sees everyone besides them struggle: child pickpockets fingering threadbare pockets, Carta thugs shaking down already shuttered shops, and the cold. The wind howls and Anders feels himself screaming with it. It is all far too much. At least Fenris sees it too.

Only preparing poultices keeps him grounded. As that mid-autumnal gloom settles on Kirkwall, Anders grinds a new wear into his mortar and pestle and chops new scars into his favorite cutting board. He had brought them both from Amaranthine--gifts from the Hero of Ferelden, who still paid his warden pension. He has processed so much elfroot he stinks of it, and on his way back from the bar, he gets stopped by a guard who thinks he’s cutting it with lyrium dust. Luckily he manages to keep his cool through the indignity of it. “I’m a healer. I run a clinic,” he tells the guard testily. She is one of the newer, Kirkwall-born recruits. Aveline does not like her, but Aveline hates everyone in the guards, even as she thinks she can reform it. “I’ve treated your brother for gonorrhea. Leave me alone.” The guard lets him go after that, but still,  the anger burns. He wants the right to walk through this city unmolested. Lyrium addicts should be left alone, too--most of them are former templars Meredith threw out anyway, and it is so typical of this city and this chantry that they refuse to even clean up their own waste. Anders is left cleaning them up, literally sometimes--withdrawal is a mess, but it is only right to help, it is only justice. Burning with disgust, Anders wonders when Elthina will finally step into this muck, rather than quietly letting the guards “legislate” against it. When will justice come to Kirkwall? Spirits press against the Veil at that thought, and he winces as the whispering rises almost to a shout.

“Soon,” Anders mutters. “Soon.” The day the negotiations break down is gray but clear. Anders comes down to the docks to watch the speeches. The first one to go is a elvhen man, the same who visited his clinic, with a pronounced Orlesian accent. He stresses the righteousness of their cause, and the international nature of it. From the sheep-shearers of the Ferelden highlands to the weavers of Wycombe, to the tailors of Val Royeux, Kirkwall is a vital nexus for them all. Kirkwall facilitates the flow of cash through the whole of northern Thedas, so it is only right that they do not get killed for it, hurried along to pack and unpack ships. It is only right and fair that they earn their money’s worth. The next few speeches are less eloquent but rile up the crowd. Anders finds himself smiling, slouching in the shadows with his medic’s kit. These speeches have been said before, from the slaves’ rebellion and before, he knows so sharply that it is Justice who has watched this: and they will be said again, before my time is done. He blinks and rubs his head, unsure of whose thought that was, unsure of what that meant. Had Justice wanted to return to Kirkwall? Is that why he is here? How much of his life is at the mercy of these forces he thought were under his control? A Ferelden dockworker is leading the crowd in a rousing chorus of “Andraste’s Rebellion.” Anders tenses: they have included the verse about Shartan. He scans the crowd anxiously, looking for guards, and as the wind howl he notices Varric looking disgusted, at the other end of the embarkment. The dwarf is easily to spot, he is the only bit of bright color amongst the lot. When Varric leaves, Anders realizes: oh, it’s about to get bad. The guards come in, with clubs rather than swords. There are two for every protesters, and the speaker falls silent as the crowd turns. People begin clutching at each other. Others brace themselves. The mood is grim. Anders reaches for a knife, just in case. A high clear voice cuts over the murmuring crowd, the sloshing and creaking of the waves against the docks. “You have been given orders from the Viscount’s Office to disperse, else you will each be charged with vagrancy and suffered to surrender a week without pay. You have two minutes to disperse and return to your posts.” “Fuck that!” someone yells from the crowd. People begin booing. A hand touches his shoulder, and Anders whirls around to bat it away, but is restrained. Fenris stares back steadily, wrapped in a dark cloak, hood up. The lyrium branded on his skin glows softly. Fenris says hoarsely, “It is time to prepare. I will make sure you can do your duty.” “What?” he whispers back. “I don’t need a bodyguard.” Fenris looks grim. “There are templars about, so yes--you do. There are enchantments on one of those ships that the Knight-Commander wants. Be ready.” The wind howls as the guard charges the crowd, and Anders dodges blows and returns a few of them as the strikers scream as blood flows yet again on the streets of Kirkwall. Fenris tackles a guard who has left off his club and is just punching a man, and Anders flinches at his battered face. He checks his pulse: still there, thank the Maker. “We need to get him to the clinic,” he says. “So many of them. They need magic. More than this.” Then he feels it more than hears it: rage, hot and sudden cutting through the chilly day. A woman is screaming. It is that Dalish woman. Fenris says, “Fuck.” He rushes over and Anders follows, weaving through the melee. The people, somehow, are gaining ground, but of course most of them fought the Blight. You don’t survive the Blight, fending off slavers and bandits, and at least five years in Kirkwall just to let a guard beat the shit out of you. You don’t survive just to let the Merchants’ Guild cheat you out of your money. You don’t survive just to die. Fenris backhands a guard and Anders kicks him in the crotch to make sure he stays down--a trick he learned from escaping the Circle. He almost slips on a puddle, and then sees--that was blood. He understands why the woman was screaming. She is bent over the man, pressing on a gaping wound. A guard stares at her own hands, holding a blood-slickered sword. Justice pushes through Anders’ shock and then the sword is in his own hands. It is raining now. Fenris is yelling, “Get him to the clinic, you fucking fool!” Anders drops the sword and they begin the difficult process of carrying the wounded through Darktown. They have inflicted enough damage that the guards have retreated, but Anders wonders if this was enough. The Dalish woman is steady as she and Fenris carry the man, even as she is doused with his own blood. She notices Anders looking and grimaces. “Not the first time,” she says haltingly. “Not the last.” What sort of fucking life you live, Anders almost says, and then he realizes: the same as his. He looks down at his hands and sees them covered in drying blood. He scratches at them as they enter the clinic. Lirene greets them, already stressed. “We’ve got half the Ferelden population in here,” she says. The clinic reeks of blood and piss and shit. Fear does that to a person. “Work your magic, mage.”  So he begins, setting Fenris at the door to vett people as they come in. The last thing he needs is a Carta bomb going off as he treats all these head wounds. The Dalish woman helps, her magic flaring and heating up the room so much Lirene has to bank the fire. It is exhausting work. He stumbles into the back at some point, to get the lyrium potions, but to his disappointment the lock on the chest has been broken. Whoever broke into it left a turnip and two vials, and he and the Dalish mage split them. Lirene takes the turnip. Most of the strikers are in stable condition, and he expects almost all of them to recover within the next few days. Magic is meant to serve man, and how wondrously it does. The Dalish man pulls through after six blood replenishing potions, and Anders worries, because that is his entire stock, and tomorrow will find him entirely unprepared. That one trip to the Sundermount was not enough. Only one person dies: a woman from the alienage, one of the first elves to work with the Fereldens at the docks. The elves do not let him touch the body. Merrill comes with the hahren and wraps her in a beautifully-embroidered green shroud. He watches as they load her onto a cart drawn by the two of the last halla in Kirkwall, and a long procession follows them back to the alienage. Exhausted, he leans against Fenris as they stand at the entrance of the clinic. Fenris, cautiously, puts his arm around him. “She’s with the ancestors now,” he says. “Or the Maker. Whatever she believed.” Anders shifts. “Did you know her?” “A little. It doesn’t matter.” Fenris turns and pushes him gently back into the clinic. “You should rest. You’re no use to us like this.” Anders wavers on his feet. There is so much to do and  Justice is urging him on. He is afraid of what will happen if he blacks out and Justice takes it upon himself to do what must be done. “Right,” he says. “Rest. That sounds nice. What a concept. Love to try that sometimes.” “Mage,” Fenris growls, “get yourself in a bath before I have to scrub the blood and shit off you.” He really shouldn’t be turned on by that, but he is, and he laughs, and takes a bath, and falls asleep. When he wakes up he has been dressed and tucked into his own lonely bed.

#fenders #dragon age #dragon age 2 #fenris #anders #anders in autumn #dragon age fanfic #fenris/anders #anders/fenris #fanfic #5lazarus #hes5thlazarus

[thegreatpikminzx789]

Yggdrasil’s Nexus: Prologue - Chapter 8 (Etrian Odyssey Nexus Fanfiction)

Wattpad|A03

Summary: Three of the five guilds of Koreys arrive at their designated guildhouse, getting a proper look around the place. That, and the highlander spends a bit of time with his family as they look around the place.

Previous Chapter|Next Chapter (Not available yet) Lynus (Mentioned) @theshatteredrose​

There they were. Sitting on the porch of the guild house, waiting for a single sign of their guild members to arrive in the distance. Accompanied only by the sounds of the wind, and the chatter of people off in the distance, their voices carried by the wind.

Korey and Lola were recently ditched by Dezi to get his guild members, but they sat in front of the guild house, waiting for the elderly War Magus to return, or to see if the other guild members would arrive. Minutes have passed since the War Magus left, and there hasn't been a sign of Hilda, or any of the members of Korey's guild. The Highlander had to stretch his arms from leaning against the wall too long, sighing as he took a chair from underneath the nearby table and sat next to Lola.

"I know I'm usually patient, but maybe I should've sent you back to see how the others are doing... Waiting sucks." Korey complained, adjusting his hair so that it doesn't get in his eye.

The Yggdroid beside him  lets out a discontent sigh, with the only thing preoccupying her was one of her shurikens, tracing her metallic fingers on the tabletop before letting go of the shuriken. "I'm sick of waiting... I wanna see the guild house already!" Lola grunts, sitting back on her chair as she leaned her head back to look up at the sky.

Korey has never seen Lola this impatient since that incident back in Armoroad... It was a tough situation for her to go through, and even then, just seeing her bored out of her mind really makes one wish they'd regret their decision of being a robot. Not that he'd find comfort in not being able to sleep or eat, but it was weird to think back to how Yggdroids worked, even before he entered the labyrinth in Armoroad.

The Highlander lets out a sigh, knowing that whatever he might say may irk Lola a bit. "I know, Lola, I know," Korey began, pondering mid-sentence on what he wanted to say next. "I really wanna see my parents again..."

Lola turned her head to face Korey, her attention all on him. "Your...parents?" Lola inquired, finding interest in the sudden subject of Korey's parents. To her, it was something to pass the time with, but in doing so, she gets to know a bit more about her guild leader. A win-win situation for both participants, really.

"They live in Iorys, the place we're heading to next." Korey explained as simple as he can put it into words. He took a couple of seconds afterward pondering to himself, before looking away from Lola, though he couldn't, for the life of him, recollect if they were doing well before his disappearance. Although last he knew, they were alive and well since having married Hilda and having kids, so it wasn't far off to assume they're still waiting for his return...

Sure, it probably worried them, but whatever happened afterward probably wasn't too heartbreaking for them... Then again, Korey kept doubting himself, so he wasn't sure what happened that night in Iorys. With a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself down, he, too, tried to distract himself with scrolling through his journal entries from his recent journey in Tharsis.

"If...I must be honest," Lola commented after a short while, prompting the Highlander to stop and look back at Lola. "I...don't know much about Iorys, or the surrounding lands. Would you explain what it looks like?" She asked, her voice sounding as innocent as a child.

It was strange to hear such a request from Lola, especially when he just recovered from his amnesia. Was it even worth a shot trying to remember the land he grew up in...? The Highlander seemed to hesitate for what felt like forever, with the Yggdroid waiting oh-so-patiently for an answer.

"Well," Korey sighed, closing his journal and putting an arm on it to make sure the wind doesn't blow the book open. "I know that in Arcania, we had two moons. Not sure why or how we can see two moons from that particular part of the Earth, but we did never get an answer to that in the end..." He began, recollecting the strange twin moons the inhabitants of Arcania saw every night.

The Highlander took a quick glance at Lola, seeing her surprised that two moons existed, before seeing her shake off her surprised face. "That's sooooo strange! Did the ocean tides changed due to its influence? Was the gravity any different?!" Lola questioned, throwing Korey back in surprise.

"Whoa, calm down Lola," He exclaimed, telling her to quiet down, eventually responding to her questions after she stopped. "There were mythical rumors about the water reacting differently, but whoever made that rumor back then was likely only doing it for the hell of it."

Lola seemed a bit disappointed hearing what Korey had said. "There was a gravity changing device somewhere in Iorys' labyrinth, but that didn't really involve the moons... Apart from that, nobody really knows why we were only able to see two moons." Korey stopped himself, as if to self-reflect on what he had just spoken aloud.

For all he knew, it probably could've been another planet and the inhabitants of Arcania just labeled it as a moon; no one really knows for sure. Perhaps, if they had found one, a record from the people one thousand years ago; those from the Yggdrasil Project, to discern whether or not the second moon was a planet or not. They were far from Etria, however, and the Midgard Library probably didn't hold such a meaningless record as no such details exist, but perhaps an answer will never be found.

Even so, he was starting to remember key parts about his own homeland... Seemed like part of the pieces of his memories were starting to return to him, little by little. It wasn't much, but that was just enough for Korey; no need for an overwhelming swarm of memories--they'll come back to him when he gets his bearings in the environment he once grew up in.

"I see," Lola groaned, leaning back on her chair. "I had heard countless rumors from people on board the Maginia that Ms. Keiko, Revlis, and Ion were all alien-looking to them." She confessed, taking the shuriken off the table and putting it back in her bag of shurikens.

...He didn't know what to say. Were people really assuming that of his land's species that thrived in Arcania...? Korey almost felt assaulted with how the other humans treated them. Much like Visil was to the Forest Folk, and the Vessels to the humans, understanding sure makes things incredibly difficult for peace to strive anywhere in the world.

If anything...that potentially included his wife, who was a vastly different species than him or any of the inhabitants of Arcania. And they lived somewhere above Iorys' Yggdrasil before that Star Devourer came in and killed every last one of her kind, sans the one Arken that left their Yggdrasil after defeating the bloody monster. Korey couldn't stand for such backtalk behind his, or his wife's back. It was...bringing back terrible memories from when Hilda revealed herself to the general public on accident one day...

"M-Mr. Korey...? Are you...okay?" Lola spoke up, seeing Korey's fist clenched and hearing him growl under his breath. But not before that same expression shifted to one of a conflicted man who has no idea what to do; the same face the Yggdroid has seen at least several times before.

The Highlander heard faint voices that echoed of the confusion and anger about Hilda's Arken appearance. Though they bothered him then, it was something only he himself was quite aware of so well. A long, distant memory that felt so...wrong to bear witness to. Yet, he clung to that memory ever since...

His clenched hand loosened as he noticed the Yggdroid looking at him like a young girl wondering if her dad was alright. He placed a hand on her shoulder, reassuringly.

"I'm fine--just a distant memory, that's all," Korey began. "I can't really blame the other explorers for thinking that the Therian, Celestrian, and Brouni for being different; after all, Hilda came from an alien race who had a faction living near the planet we live on, and everyone in Iorys grew to enjoy her true form in time." He continued, taking a few short breaths afterward as if trying not to linger on the past.

After all, whose to say that the Forest Folk and the Vessels and Sentinels would be alien-like to the people in Iorys? Most of the races he has met has never met face-to-face, so imagining many of these races is quite an opportunity; yet somewhere deep in his heart, he had hoped that the near extinction of the Arken hadn't weighed so hard on him and his wife. Perhaps they could've learned more about being on Earth, growing to accept living life here instead of the stars above...

Alas, that would be a memory no one would be able to build, nor comprehend. That is all on Hilda, now...if she hadn't met Korey and the others...whose to say what would've happened then if she found out the news...

"Sir Korey!"

A familiar voice made the Highlander snap back to reality, seeing a purple-haired Sovereign approach him, along with a man who seemed like he was ready to lie down on the couch whenever possible, and a girl with pink hair and red glasses--her face almost deadpan in its entirety sans for a smile on her face after seeing the brown haired highlander.

"Nice to see you again." Chloe hummed as the highlander stood up and gave the little War Magus a fist bump, looking over at Arianna and Bertrand, the former of the two giving him a smile and a wave.

"Feels like forever since we last met," Bertrand sighed, putting his hand on his hip as he took a glance at the highlander. "Hell, you even gotten your memory back, right behind our backs. Aren't you a sneaky one?"

Korey chuckled nervously. "H-Hey, it's not my fault that I managed to lose my memories in the first place." He started, almost sounding like it was entirely his fault in the matter...if he could ever recall what had happened in the first place that got him into this position.

"Oh relax, will ya? We're just glad you finally managed to remember who you were in the first place." Another voice rang from behind Bertrand as the Protector moved aside as a familiar red haired Protector, a blonde Alchemist, the Fafnir Knight himself, a black haired Survivalist, and Simon and Frederica, the later two were walking slightly ahead of the trio. Seems like Arianna, Chloe and Bertrand just had a headstart when it came to meeting up with him.

The highlander's excitement could barely be contained, slowly but surely being reunited with his guildmates. It was like Christmas all over again, only with more family reunions--something Ayako definitely would blurt out if he was here right now. The group met up with the others not too long after Raquna shook Korey's hand with a gleaming smile on her face.

"Glad to see you again!" Raquna chirped, hardly noticing the Alchemist standing next to her. "Yeah, man--it's been boring without you around..." Arthur concurred, feeling a pat on his shoulder from Simon.

Korey couldn't help but chuckle upon hearing Arthur's enthusiasm on having him again. "I'm so glad to see you all again; it has been quite a while since we last spoke in person." The brown haired highlander hummed, seeing Fafnir and Flavio's reassuring smiles.

"We figured we'd come here first, since everyone else is taking a while to pack all their belongings. And we'd probably be there all day if we just waited for everyone..." Flavio spoke up, explaining why he and Simon's group wend ahead first from everyone else.

"I can't blame them, honestly; some of them had been there longer than we have." Lola concurred. "By my calculations, those of the Therian, Brouni, Celestrian--and by extension, other humans Korey proclaims as Earthlains, have only been here for at least two and a half months." She added, mostly educating a guess as to when Korey's first guild had been on here.

The highlander could only imagine what it must've been hard to leave Iorys like that, with the possibility of him returning home and his guild is off elsewhere searching for him... Though thankfully, the situation never came to pass all thanks to a coincedential run-in with his own son. Who knows what fate would've had in store if things went differently...

"Some of us weren't there as long as your original guild was; but we're glad you're still kicking strong; else we'd be searching for nothing." Fafnir added. Frederica glanced towards the guildhouse, taking a few steps towards it.

"Is this to be the guild house we're staying in?" She inquired, changing the subject to the large building itself.

A nod from Korey seemed to get the message across to the millenium girl. "Unfortunately, our original tour guide decided to dump the responsibility of the tour on me, so without any knowledge on what the inside looks like, I'm not sure what condition this guildhouse is in right now." Korey added, feeling like Dezi still should've at least waited until he did the tour once instead of just following Korey's suggestion that he just so happened to say at the time.

And waiting for everyone was starting to be a bore, even if it only had felt like mere minutes.

"Then I suppose the next choice is simple; we check it out so that the others will have the time to do so themselves." Simon suggested, approaching the door and opening it, before the others walked in behind him. Korey grabbed his journal on the table and placed it back into his backpack, taking it with him as he followed everyone else.

The announcement the highlander wished to make wouldn't take long, and if perchance he got to remembering it around dinnertime, that would be a most opportune moment to speak of it. After all, he'll need to prepare his speech for it--he was never good at improvising on the spot.

Walking into the guildhouse, the interior seemed quite fancy, almost akin to the building the Outland Count resided in. Soft rugs greeted his feet as he grazed it with his hand, a chandelier hanging high above the entrance where the group stood, and a couple of flowers to liven up the decor. The highlander could tell they were real plants upon closer inspection, seeing the soil beneath the bushy green leaves, along with a water bucket for those who wish to water the plants.

"Well, I'll give them this; whoever owned this last certainly made it well kept." Bertrand commented, glancing at the occasional shiny object in the entrance. "Don't quite get the fancy decor, though."

Simon walked near the plants, before observing the shiny objects Bertrand was looking at earlier. "It would seem like whoever owned this must have been a noble of sorts." The medic educated his best guess.

"I don't think Seyfried or Gutrune would have already decorated the place before us." Lola spoke aloud, trying to look around the corners of the side hallways for any sign of the people she mentioned. Korey followed her glance in the hallways, but didn't find anything else that'd support her theory. Besides, they surely would've been here before them, long past when Korey and Lola would've noticed them already.

"Well, I'm gonna check upstairs!" Arthur suddenly announced, as Simon tried to stop him. The Alchemist dashed past Korey, who wasn't expecting him to dash up towards the staircase, a groan from the gray haired medic soon following after the boy left everyone's vision. What was he going to do with him...?

"I'll keep an eye on him if you want me to." Bertrand offered, but the Medic seemed to dismiss his generous offer.  "I appreciate the offer, but I prefer to keep an eye on him myself." Simon responded, before glancing over at the others.

"If I spot the rooms where we can place our belongings in, I'll let everyone know. I'm sure they're almost always are on the second floor of these guildhouses." He added, soon following Arthur upstairs in an effort to keep an eye on him. It's almost like nothing's changed between those two.

"I guess if no one's gonna mind, I suppose we might as well check out the remaining floors." Raquna hummed, as she, Frederica, and Lola went up to the top floor of the guildhouse. After little encouraging from Chloe to check for a kitchen, Bertrand and Chloe soon searched the first floor for the room in question, leaving the Fafnir Knight and Flavio with Korey on the first floor.

With the upper floors currently being looked over, the three of them look around the first floor some more, exploring one of the hallways Lola peeked at. "So, how have you fared in your travels?" Fafnir inquired, wishing to stir conversation as they looked through the guildhouse.

"Honestly, it's a mixed bag. Some good, some bad," Korey began, trying to ignore his hair trying to cover his eyes. "Considering I've reunited with my family, and that my memory is slowly returning to me, I'd say the explorations up to this point was well worth it." Fafnir patted Korey's back upon him finishing that sentence, like he's proud to make an impact on the memories he made with them.

"Well, that's great news, bud! You managed to reach your goal, despite everything else happening taking a higher priority along the way." Flavio hummed, seeing the highlander starting to gaze partially at the ground, slightly embarassed at the compliment.

The conversation seemed to halt there for a time, as they reached a garden-like area, with a fountain in the middle. It seemed moreso for outside conversations and another eating area, seeing a few tables placed outside near the kitchen area. Stepping outside, Korey took a look around, taking a deep breath as he took out the lapis necklace Lynus gave him minutes earlier.

Lynus had told him not to worry too much, but even with that in mind, there's no stopping the highlander's mind from drifting towards wanting to find those memories. But he knew that being slow and patient has helped him so far with reuniting with his family; what's to stop those lost bits of memory to come back to him like that?

Flavio and Fafnir couldn't help but notice the highlander taking a moment to reflect on something. The survivalist made the move to get his attention, walking over to him and patting him on the shoulder. "Look, I don't know what else is going through your mind right now, but for what I know, you're reunited with your family and your friends; people that you've longed to be with for a very long time. Just don't bother with the past memories for now, and focus on spending time with your family and friends--and who knows, maybe those memories will come back quicker without a second thought." Flavio spoke, reassuring the highlander and smiling the biggiest grin on his face.

"Alright, Flavio; you made your point clear." Korey replied, placing the necklace back out of sight, but still around his neck. "I made it to my ultimate goal in the end; I suppose I do owe myself some time to spend with my family and friends after all that I've been through." He continued, hearing Flavio hum upon seeing the highlander renewed with determination.

"Thanks for cheering me up, Flavio. This recovery from my amnesia is so going to be worth it, but for now, I'll take whatever I can get at this point." The highlander finished, starting to make his way inside.

"Going back outside to wait for the others?" Fafnir inquired, the highlander nodding in response. "I don't like having to wait, but somebody's gotta do it. Feel free to continue looking around; I'll explore more of it myself later." Korey replied.

Seeing Fafnir nod and motion for him to go on, the highlander walked back to the front of the guildhouse, leaving the Fafnir Knight and the survivalist in the garden. Korey doubted the people of Iorys are going to recall the person who took him away from Iorys, but that wasn't a concern to him for now. If fate decites that such an encounter to happen, then he'll gladly accept the encounter without hesitation.

Maybe at some point he could ask some of his guild members to ask around while they're in Iorys. He's going to be focused on reuniting with his parents soon after they land, so having some people look around for him definitely is going to help, even if they may not find anything. After all; he was never alone throughout his journey--his friends are there for him, and he's there for them, no matter what happens. And that's just what they do; they help each other out.

...............................................................................................

Sitting back at the table on the porch, a few people have been going pass the guildhouse, not paying any heed to the highlander and moreso focusing on their own task at hand. There wasn't that many explorers out and about, since they wanted to be safe from the comfort of their home. Clouds passing by above the Maginia, one has to wonder how far the wait between each famous city was... It felt like an eternity, yet the thought of arriving home after being gone for so long was ever approaching like a finish line.

The highlander sighs as he places a hand on his cheek, tapping on the tabletop to pass some time, occasionally looking up and around to see if his guild members were here. "My parents must have been worried sick about me the moment they heard about my disappearance..." He sighed, thinking aloud to himself on how his parents must've feel to have their son vanish mysteriously.

"Surely they must not have had a moment's rest to find some answers about how I vanished... Or maybe they had confidence that Hilda and the others would find me--even my sister, too." If they did put their faith in the latter, it certainly worked out for them. Though surely once they depart for Lemuria, he's sure they'd be worried about his safety again; despite being proud of him for being an explorer in their footsteps...

Perhaps he could invite them onboard? There's bound to be a spare room, and it'd give them a sense of how far he had come just to try and reunite with his loved ones and his friends again. Although he probably wasn't thinking of the consequences, it certainly would beat having his parents worry for days on end with communications being way too far to even potentially reach them. Oh yeah, the idea definitely would stick around for some time. He would just have to find the right time to speak up about it-

"Hey man, you should stop looking at the clouds, you look like you're on cloud nine!"

Ayako's voice broke his concentration, seeing the black and yellow haired Pugilist grin at the highlander, with the rest of the Lux Guild coming behind him. "Ayako not good at making jokes." Ion argued, hardly finding the line the pugilist said moments ago to; in any amount of words, provoke laughter in the Celestrian's eyes.

The pugilist flinched upon hearing that remark. "Heeeey, I was trying, Ion, gimme a break..." He groaned, acting all innoncent like he was trying to prove a point.

Korey couldn't help but laugh a little, glancing over to see the rest of the Lux Guild approach the guildhouse. Karim and Shreya were walking beside Hilda, who was sure to keep a hold of their hands as Revlis, the white haired Necromancer floating behind her, carried the Arken's belongings. From the looks of it, almost every guild member of the Lux Guild seemed to have some luggage to ensure their belongings and clothes weren't a total pain to carry from the inn to the guildhouse. Which was good; because hardly anyone enjoys continuous back and forth trips from one place to another.

"Sorry for keeping you waiting." Kyo sighed, stretching her arms after putting down her luggage beside her. "Having to get everyone from the Lux Guild sorted took a bit longer than anticipated..." Hilda chimed in.

Korey kept a relaxed smile on his face, reassuring the Celestrian and Arken before him that it was all fine. "So, what's the progress on the others, if I may ask?" He inquired, waiting for anyone to answer his question.

Nio walked up front after nobody else seemed to want to speak up. "Well, that Deep City king and black haired Shogun went off to gather your Armoroad guild in its entirety. Meanwhile, that forest-lady-Hibiki, Riaels, and Akakio went off to see if they could get some supplies for the guildhouses' armory room before they meet up with members of the Orphelia guild." He reported, concluding without any further remarks.

"All right," Korey hummed. "I appreciate the heads up, Nio." The oni silently recieved the highlander's praise, hardly making a big fuss about it.

"Ooooh, fancy looking airship!" Charon's voice rang, getting the guild's attention as the male harbinger glanced at the airship before him. "From this point on, it shall be called the Light That Burns the-"

"No, we're not going with that name Charon." The highlander quickly intervened, stopping the harbinger as he groaned and turned to face his guildleader. "Oh come on! Are you telling me it already has a name?!" Charon questioned, soon seeing the highlander nod in response, before Charon himself groaned in defeat.

Atsuko couldn't help but laugh. "You have no idea how long he has been wanting to name that airship," He began. "Even your Tharsis guild kept telling him that it already has a name, yet he stops them before they can even tell him what it is."

"It's like he's not even trying like he did when he was a mercenary." Takara followed up, as the black haired Dragoon sighed in disappointment. "Hey, I tried to the best of my ability!" Chargon argued, almost ready to clash against the Dragoon in retaliation, though Nio quickly stopped the harbinger before it came to the worst outcome.

The floating Therian Necromancer, Shizuka, glanced at the building, seeing the many windows that adorned the upper floors. "I presume this is the place in which we'll be staying in?" She inquired.

"Yep, it is indeed," Korey answered. "Coincidentally, its across from a guild I'm familiar with, so I could introduce some of you guys to them later." The highlander added, pointing over to the guildhouse that Lynus' guild resided in.

"That might take an eternity, lad." Photina, the dark skinned Pugilist sighed aloud. "N-No worries, it's not like it's right now, Photina," Korey replied, stuttering a bit over his words. "There's always off days to meet them, and perhaps in the labyrinth of Lemuria."

Because it's not like occasionally passing by another guild didn't exist... As far as Korey knew, he ran into guilds in the labyrinths while almost rarely seeing them outside of town due to their schedules. So whether or not they'd do so by themselves or not is totally up to them--he wasn't gonna stop them.

"Right, well I suppose we might as well find ourselves some rooms to put our belongings in." A blue haired Masurao named Keith declared, boldly stepping past the highlander and entered the guildhouse, rushing immediately towards the stairs. Soon enough, everyone else started flooding in, while a green haired Dragoon waited until everyone else was inside.

"Sheez, no need to rush, people," Hiroki chuckled, grabbing his bag and looked at the highlander. "Korey... It's nice to have you back in our lives." The Dragoon hummed, seeing Korey smile before heading inside where the other members of the Iorys' famed Lux Guild went to.

While all that happened, Hilda happened to take a glance back behind her, spotting a boy with long white hair with a single strand of purple hair. Though she wasn't able to hear the boy gasp in surprise upon being seen, she did see him quickly hide in the crowd of people. Was he...spying on the guild? Or did he simply want to look from afar?

"What are you looking at, honey?" Korey's voice broke the near trance-like state the Arken found herself in trying to wonder who the boy she witnessed was, as she turned to her husband swiftly in response. "O-Oh, my apologies, dear." She replied, grabbing her bag and urged the kids to follow them inside.

As Korey closed the door, he caught a glance at Simon who took several steps away from the stairs. "Ah, Korey, there you are." The medic hummed, approaching the highlander and his family.

"As I suspected, the upper floors seem to have a ton of rooms, seeming to house at least fifteen rooms for a total of sixty." Simon continued, giving them a result of what he had found during the time that passed. "So unless there's any other couples or people who wish to accompany those they feel close to, we'd be near the full capacity for sixty explorers." He concluded, closing the blinds beside him before stray sunlight reflected off of anything from the wandering people outside and through the window and blindsighting him through the glasses.

Korey placed his hand on his waist as he hummed in relief, knowing there's enough room in the guildhouse. "Thanks, Simon. I'll assume you'll relay this news to everyone else once they arrive?" The highlander inquired.

"For everyone's sake, yes." Simon sighed, groaning as he placed his hand on his head, keeping it there for a bit before continuing on. "I had to stop your first guild from having to freely choose rooms at first since there'd be a whole ton of arguments going on that can be heard all the way down here if it got too loud. So why don't you take a break and get settled in?"

From the way Simon suggested that, he seemed like he needed a place to stay away from loud noises for a while. And really, Korey couldn't blame him for needing it. "I appreciate the offer, but if everyone was here, that'd be a different story." Korey responded, seeing Simon raise an eyebrow for several seconds before he sighed.

"Very well, if that's how it's going to be," Simon inhaled, taking a deep breath before exhaling. "I suppose you'll need someone to stand outside with. So just head back out when you're finished unpacking." He finished, moving pass the highlander and his family and leaving the building to the front porch.

With that, the Arken woman looked around part of the first floor, her husband and children right behind her. Seeing as she didn't seem to be in a rush to claim a room for him and their children, Korey didn't want to come off as rude to imply that they should pick a room. Hell, any amount of time he can make up with for being gone for so long, the better. There's always another day if they simply wished to be with friends for a day or two.

And that's just good enough for him, as understanding as Hilda can be. They wandered a bit through the halls and she briefly stopped to admire the garden behind the guildhouse for a time. Even though he had just been here before, Korey couldn't help but see himself spending some time with Hilda out in the garden, looking at the fountain before them, or even just looking at the sky from the safety of the Maginia.

Seeing Karim and Shreya run about the place like they're young certainly was starting to bring memories back to the highlander. "Not gonna lie, I could get used to this." Hilda hummed, seeing Shreya and Karim chase each other. Korey stepped towards the Arken woman, stopping beside her as they watched their children try and play tag around the fountain.

"Honestly...it feels like another home, now that I'm back here with you." Korey chirped, hearing his wife giggle with joy. "Couldn't have said it any better myself, dear." She hummed, grasping her left hand with her husband's right hand, intertwining her fingers with his as they glanced at each other with warm smiles on their faces.

It took only several seconds before the married couple took a few seconds out of their day to give each other a kiss on the lips. Each second that had passed in that kiss was like rekindling a long since unlit flame within the highlander's heart, even when it had been so long since he had this in his life. They separated from their kiss and simply held each other's hand, staring ever so into the other's eyes.

"If I can be grateful for one thing," Hilda began, breaking the silence that was going on between her and Korey. "Is that I'm glad you met with such kind people who helped you on your way back to us. Without them, I'm sure our lives would've been..." She stopped for a moment, almost as if she didn't want to finish that sentence so it could linger in her head.

Korey wrapped his arms around Hilda as she glanced up to meet his azure eyes. "Painful, wouldn't it?" He suggested, seeing more of the hesitation on Hilda's face as she nodded slowly, before leaning her head on his chest.

"I'm...glad the worst case scenario didn't occur." Hilda sighed, staying close to Korey for a while, hearing his heartbeat and just focused on that sound alone. With her husband by her side once more, she didn't need to feel stressed about worrying about his well being. Korey knew that he had to check in with his other guildmates soon, but he didn't care if he lost track of time just being by his family.

........................................

"...May I say something, Hilda?" Korey spoke up, as Hilda urged Shreya and Karim to head inside. "What's on your mind, dear? Certainly not trying to figure out your disappearance, still..." The least Hilda hoped was that he wasn't thinking too much about the cause of his disappearance--they just had a discussion about that a while ago.

"No, it's not that," He quickly reassured, as he began making his way towards the stairs with his wife and children following behind. "I'm just...glad I got to meet all these people. Despite the circumstances we've met each other in, and despite all the hardships and trials we got to do, and treasures to find..."

He paused for a moment as he waited for his family to catch up to him on the first floor. "I feel like I've become a hero to other people. And I'm...not sure how I'd feel if I were to undertake that class--or rather, responsibility of a hero." Korey finished his train of thought, seeing Hilda think to herself for a few seconds.

"Well, what can I say? Your a hero to those you meet, dear." She beamed, almost as if it was natural for her to do--despite not being able to do so in front of her husband for the last two years. "Heck, I'm sure if you asked Miriam, I'm sure she can teach you how her skills work." She added, as Korey kept that knowledge in the back of his mind.

After finishing that discussion, Korey and Hilda picked a room near the stairs, with Karim an Shreya being in the room next to them. They aren't explorers, but it's better to have them nearby since going up and down the stairs to get them probably would be rather tiring. Placing her bag on the table in the most right hand side of the room, Hilda began to unpack her belongings as Korey did the same.

As they did, Korey took a couple of glances around the room, seeing that the bed was at least a king size bed. It wasn't a usual size for a guild member's bed, though there's a possibility that whoever had this guild house before probably chose it for reasons he could only assume were likely because they had a significant other. So they just so happened to pick the master bedroom out of the sixty rooms to choose from.

Not like he was gonna complain if it wasn't the master bedroom. He was likely missing the feeling of resting in his own master bedroom in Iorys. They put their clothes in separate chest drawers, and placed their weapons somewhere safe within the small closet beside the desk. The closet feels like it would hold two people within it, but it has plenty of space within it for anything else should they find in Lemuria.

"All right, that should do it for now." Korey hummed once they finished settling in. "I'll head back out and get the remaining guildmembers in the guild house, then I suppose we'll wait until we reach Iorys." He explained to Hilda what was likely to be the rest of the plan for today.

"I'll go help the kids unpack in the meanwhile." She added, knowing they'll need help with how much stuff they packed. "Ok Hilda. I'll be back soon." Korey replied, as he and Hilda quickly exchanged a kiss on the lips before they both left the room and headed to their destinations, with the highlander heading downstairs and the Arken woman to the door on her left, where Karim and Shreya are in.

#Etrian Odyssey #etrianodyssey #etrian odysse nexus #EON #EO Nexus #writing

[pazvizslaplasmathrower]

Father of Hopes and Dreams - Chapter 14

Read here or on Ao3

Chapter 14: The Merchant

Summary: Your young master is gone, just at the birth of your bond, he has left you for many years, leaving you to survive the galaxy alone. After sustaining an injury from a drunken storm trooper, someone faces the decision to either leave or help you in your moment of need.

Chapter Summary:Thinking on your past proves to be more difficult than anticipated. On the search for star ship parts, Paz Vizsla encounters someone strange.

Word Count:2093

A/N:Sorry this took forever! I’ve been pretty overwhelmed, but I have more time on my hands so I will be updating with more regularity

***___***___***

“Finish your greens, A'dika.” Paz requested, coming back from the refresher.

 For a moment you clenched your jaw, looking down at the vegetables in your bowl that you had purposefully pushed to the side and avoided eating. It was not that you were purposefully being difficult, it was that more of such food tasted absolutely horrid, despite what your caretaker said. He insisted he had made it so they would have similar taste to the meat, but as soon as a mere bit entered your mouth, it was like Nexu bile.

 “Buir!” You cried half-heartedly. “I don't want to!”

 “And why not?” He asked, sitting back down in the pilot's seat. “They will help you grow soundly in mind, body and spirit.”

 “I don't want to so I'm not going to.”

 The Mandalorian shrugged, not bothering to look at you. “Fine then, nothing sweet after. Wash up before you go to bed. We will start flying to our next destination.”

 You stood to leave. “But I never remembered anything...Anything useful.”

 “Hm. I know but this ship still needs heavy work and I know a place where I can have it patched up without selling an organ.”

 You tensed.

 After doing away with your leftovers, you retreated to the fresher, making sure to securely lock the door behind you. First, you discarded your handmade bag finding that your wings had grown-

significantly. Reasonably, they should not have been able to fit inside the mere bag, but from your vantage point looking into the mirror, it seemed that the appendages would impossibly fold in on themselves. And to your shock, they had started feathering. Alone, each one was so delicate in design, almost like a thin sliver of obsidian, and when you turned the sheen certainly beautiful. Sighing, you flexed the new muscle before going about your adopted routine, feeling dazed with despair.

 ***___***___***

 Your sharp teeth dug into the freshly grilled meat, singing in and tearing away with ease. Jerba or meat in general was a rare treat, and the mere aroma was enough to make you light headed. Your master had told you that they would seize any opportunity to include it into your diet as it was necessary for your species; they seemed to know more than enough about you.

 “Have you been feeling any different?” Your master had asked casually.

 You shrugged, wistfully gnawing on the leftover bone. “Not really. I really should have worn something warmer when we went to Hoth, but my leg feels normal now.”

 “Hm, I wonder if that will stall the process...”

 The Jedi Master trailed off mumbling to themself as if you were suddenly not present.

 “Master. Master!” You called, from where you laid on the ground.

 “Perhaps a few more weeks, but then...Oh? Sorry, little Y/N. I was just thinking. Here give me your arm.”

 “Aw, c'mon do we have to do this every night? Can't I just miss it for once!”

 Your elder shook their head, gently taking your arm in hand, taking a small device from the folds of their dark robe. They had taken to checking your blood since you had started your adolescence, making sure your health was in pristine condition, on the chance it was anything less, they insisted on plenty of bed rest and mind healing.

 When their little device beeped, you could see their eyes scrutinizing the results, glancing down at your arm you could see the dark spot where the needle was used to entering. Though the little pricks were no longer painful, a few tears still ran down your face.

 “All signs are good. You should be progressing.”

 “Progressing with what?” You asked coldly.

 Your Master shook their head, tying up their pale hair. “And you've forgotten once again. Your wings, Y/N. Your wings. By this age, you should have started showing plumage...”

“Who cares?”

 With the loose sleeve of your tunic, you wiped your face clean, not noticing your Master's concerned stare. It was a dreadful habit, one that put you on edge knowing that those scrutinizing eyes were watching so carefully, seeing past your finite body and directly into the essence of the Force.

 “I do.” They put the device away.“And you should too. You need to know why I'm so worried about your wings!”

 “I'm dying to know, Master.”

 At this point, your sarcasm ricocheted off the Master Jedi.

 Their body stiffened and then relaxed, not even the most patient of Jedi could remain perfectly at ease when raising such a spirited young padawan.

 “Tell me, how many like you have you seen on our journey?”

 “None.”

 They nodded in agreement. “And in all of your studies, how many times have you heard of people like you?”

 “Not...Not once.”

 “Then come here and let me show you something.”

Sitting up you moved and crouched next to the other Jedi, still feeling their quiet, overwhelming desperation.

 “Here.” Those strong hands pulled a small tome from one of the many packs the both of you carried.

 “I haven't seen this book before.”

 “Because I've never found the right time to tell you all this.”

 Such words were not comforting in the least.

“This is a very, very old text, an ancient documentation of species from across the galaxy, compiled by early Jedi.” Your master flipped through a few pages, until one was reached. “Now doesn't that look familiar?”

 It was not an exact interpretation, but all the right features were there: the sharp teeth, facial markings, vertical pupils, longer ears that came to a soft point...it was all there, including the wings you master was far too keen on.

 “These people, your people have been gone for many years, young one”

 Your eyes followed their finger to the block of text  you could not bring yourself to read.

 “The plumage of the Shielae people are prized in nearly every culture known for their medicinal and restorative properties...Though, the aesthetic quality is favored as well.”

 “Stop reading.”

 “Y/N, it is-”

 “STOP!” You cried, crawling away. “I asked nicely, didn't I?”

 “Yes. Yes you did...”

 Nothing more was said that evening. You simply retreated back to your sleeping place in the cramped tent, curling in on yourself, unable to get the image of the mount out of your mind.

 ***___***___***

Even in sleep, the young one had worn their hand made bag to bed, keeping it just pressed against one side of the hammock so it could not be loosened for inspection. While he should not have made such a deal out of it to himself, Paz could not help but wonder what was inside that could warrant such close protection. There was little else to do on the ship until the morning when the merchant would arrive with the parts he needed, he had already spent a good handful of hours exercising, and when the child had fallen asleep Paz had been free to take off his helmet to eat. 

In his own quarters, he wondered if he should even bother putting his helmet back on, when going to peek in on the kid. Surely they would not wake, though on the off chance they did, his commitment to the Way would be shattered. Giving a heavy sigh, he slipped the beskar on his head, doing his best to tread lightly into the storage hangar and just as he suspected, (Y/N) was still curled up under blankets, clearly very much asleep. With a grunt, their body shifted so that their pack was exposed, but there was still the issue of how it was sealed. 

    Kark!

He was a grown man. Why the hell did he care so much about what a young child was keeping in their bag? The young ones from the guild often made trinkets and crafts that were greatly dear to them, though there was nothing to be concerned of. Still, something irked Paz Vizsla on, some sort of instinct telling him to worry and to act on those feelings. In spite of the unknown urgency, he stopped himself, opting to wait until there was a moment when he could earnestly approach the child. After all, he very much needed some rest. 

When morning came, the Mandalorian found his foundling had cleaned up their mess from the day prior and neatly folded each blanket, nestling them at the end of their hammock. And right out of the fresher came (Y/N), looking rather frazzled. 

    “Krif!” They yelped, nearly walking right into him. “Maker’s sake! How the hell do you move so quietly?”

    Under his helmet, Paz smiled. “Practice. Now if you’d grant me patience, I’ll have something ready for you to eat in a short while.”

Their eyes lit up, the bag moving just slightly. Odd, but the questions could wait. (Y/N) waited without complaint, playing some sort of game with old tools. Perhaps getting a hold of something safer was in order, after all Paz could not do with having the child accidentally prying off a finger. He placed the finishing touches on the child’s breakfast, knowing this time, that they would have to eat at least some of their vegetables. 

    “There is a merchant coming over soon with some parts that we need, I should have enough credits, so we won’t have to sell off anything on board.” Truthfully, there was not much to sell. “You are to stay in the ship, alright?”

    (Y/N) quickly grabbed the bowl, completely forgetting the utensil. “Yeah, sure!” They paused “How...How far are you going?”

“Worry not. They are coming to us, but just outside.” Paz Vizsla’s holo communicator buzzed. “And it looks like they’re here. It should only be a few minutes, but be good.”

    Satisfied with their intentions, Paz left the ship, leaving (Y/N) to devour everything he had made for them.

***___***___***

You had eaten far too fast, but it had been an absolutely delicious breakfast, so the blame could not have been entirely yours. Laying on the durasteel floor, you listened for the Mandalorian, strangely having to actually strain your ears to listen. Given your ears were larger than a human’s hearing Paz Vizsla’s bellowing tone should have been easy. But there were two low whispers, hissing almost, that were outside the bay doors. Since no one was yelling, that must have been a good sign. No one was fighting…

Sluggishly, you rose to your feet, flexing your shoulders uncomfortably. Overnight, those cursed wings had grown, surely by tomorrow the plumage would start to show. The pack was not going to be nearly big enough. That matter would have to wait, eavesdropping was of the utmost importance at the moment. Slinking over to the door, you pressed your ear to the cold durasteel. 

    “You are not who I was supposed to meet, I don’t care what your prices are!” The Mandalorian seethed. 

    “I am telling you the truth. I work for the man and he instructed me to come in his stead.” Another voice. Lighter in quality, feminine, and there was an absolutely firm air to it. 

    “The merchant told me no such thing, the deal is off. Now leave.”

Heavy steps traveled up the ramp, only to stop. 

    “Please!” the stranger pleaded. “I...I could truly use the money. 

Paz Vizsla was close, and hurriedly, you retreated to the storage room, climbing back into your hammock. The creak of the door rang in your ears as did the two sets of footsteps. 

“You can just leave the parts here, let me go grab your payment...There is no need to follow-”

“I want to make sure you don’t have any kriffing tricks up your sleeves, Mandalorian.”

You felt the smart decision was to hide under all the blankets and wait until the seller had let them be, but curiosity kept you where you were. Paz Vizsla’s disappointment was evident as his shoulders slumped upon seeing you were in fact visible. From behind his enormous frame came a woman who immediately locked eyes with you, refusing to look away. Those brown eyes took in every part of you in the few stolen seconds, scrutinizing each bit thoroughly. 

“You have a child.”

Wishing the woman would just vanish, you tucked yourself in your hammock. 

Paz Vizsla insisted that they both move along and so he could simply pay here and then she could leave, however, this woman seemed oddly intent on you. 

“Mandalorian, would you mind if I said hello to your young one?”

#sw #star wars #the mandalorian #the mandolorian #the mandalorian fic #the mandalorian imagine #paz #paz vizsla #paz visla #paz vizla #parental relationship #sw fic #star wars fic #Star Wars fanfic

[niqhtlord01]

Humans are weird: Super Villains

Humanity’s technological progress had increased steadily at the turn of the 21st century; some even arguing that more advancements were made in various fields within two decades than the last hundred years. That paled however to the first year after first contact with alien species.  Within roughly a year human technology was augmented by other species and skyrocketed to what was once thought of as science fiction. Power cores that could generate enough energy for a hundred story building the size of a lunchbox, cars that could fly with the push of a button, robotic prosthetics that could lift cargo containers, and the piece de resistance, a functional jetpack that didn’t singe your legs or mess up your hair.  The wonders now available and easily affordable allowed numerous human inventors exceed their wildest imaginations. For all the good that came with these new technological marvels, there were those that turned their eyes to darker prospects. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Far from the human core worlds lay the world of Vunus, a prosperous trading world that had become the center of intergalactic trade in the region as it rested on a nexus of three heavily populated systems.  Naturally many of the trading organizations, guilds, and corporations all wanted a stake on the planet to show their wealth and power to not only new clients but also their competitors. The most wealthy of these would base their headquarters on the planet and would house the vast wealth of their enterprise inside their vaults.  One such conglomerate was the Orion Foundation, arguably the most wealthy group on the planet. They had established certain monopoly's for ship building metals, through legal and questionable means. Now if anyone wanted to build a ship bigger than a fishing boat they had to make a deal with Orion, and the deals were always in their favor.  Their headquarters was in the capital city of Vunus, a monolith of polished steel so large that it took up roughly nine city blocks and reached all the way to the stratosphere with antigravity generators held at every other floor to keep the structure from tipping over.  The lobby alone was so richly decorated it was worth the sum of a mining colonies yearly revenue. Adorned with gem encrusted statues from all over the known galaxy, furniture made from the rarest of animals with the softest furs, with tiled floors made from solid ruby.  To a tourist or new client it must have looked like the pinnacle of society, but to Shlivek the front desk concierge it looked like gaudy taste. It may have been because he spent his entire work day looking at it, but to him it appeared as if it was rich people thought wealth looked like, regardless of actual taste.  Day in day out he would watch the same routine of clients walking in to be greeted by specialized handlers and be taken on a tour of the structure before being whisked away to one of the higher floors with a dynamic view of the surrounding area to sign the deal.  As he looked up from his terminal he saw yet another group approaching. Today the lobby was only populated by a few dozen individuals, mostly tourists, and some security personnel standing around the edges of the room. The approaching group navigated between the passing crowds as a representative exited a nearby elevator and went to meet with them.  As they got closer Shilvek began noticing some oddities about this new group. They were all wearing black robes that obscured their appearance. The one in the front was the smallest of the group, but from the manner of their stride and how none of the others outpaced them they were clearly the leader.  As the group approached the representative some of them broke away and began walking in different directions. The representative had reached the group and held out a hand for the leader to shake. The robed figure looked down at the hand then back up at the representative, an awkward silence descending before the representative withdrew their hand.  Shilvek couldn’t hear what they were saying but looking at the face of the company rep he could tell that they were uncomfortable for reasons he did not know. The reps were trained to handle different culture clients, but something in their demeanor made it obvious something was wrong.  As they ushered the group forward to the elevator, Shilvek noticed some of the guards begin moving towards the group. The moment the rep had turned their back to the group things flew into action. The leader shouted something and all of them aside from their leader dropped to the ground. The Short leader grabbed hold of their robe and flung it off their body revealing a strange sight to Shilvek.  The leader was wearing a body glove of intricate triangles with two massive gauntlets on their hands. His head was covered with a strange eyeless helmet with a black screen where the mouth would have been. As the guards began dashing forward to grab them the leader raised a gauntlet and pointed at them.  With a thunderous clap something invisible shot out from the gauntlet, pushing aside furniture and tourists like rag dolls, before hitting the guards. The guards were flung backwards violently and smashed into the gold walls, their bodies slumping to the ground leaving a crimson stain of blood on the wall.  One of the tourists screamed and things moved rapidly from there. The other robed figures threw off their robes revealing similar pattern body gloves with the addition of projectile weaponry. The remaining guards were cut down before they could react as the leader slowly began walking to Shilvek.  Shilvek reached under the counter and hit the panic button. Sirens began blaring and metal grates fell down over all the exits to the lobby sealing the room while a protective shell of reinforced glass fell around Shilvek’s counter.  He saw some of the tourists desperately grabbing the grate now blocking the front door before being dragged away by the armed thugs. All the guards were now dead, but the intruders were trapped in the room and a warning had been automatically sent to the police. Shilvek knew they’d be here in minutes as a private agreement had been set up ensuring their protection first and foremost.  A tap on the protective glass brought Shilvek back to the moment and he looked down to see the strange helmet leader tapping on the glass with their gauntlet. There black screen had a red line that was rising and falling like a wave and Shilvek assumed that this criminal was speaking, but there was no opening for him to hear what he was saying.  The criminal must’ve realized this as they began using hand movements gesturing that they wanted the glass shell to go back into the ceiling. Shilvek shook his head and the criminal once again motioned for it to be retracted. When he shook his head once again the criminal placed the gauntlet flat against the glass and gestured their men to stand back.  Shortly after placing their gauntlet on the glass Shilvek could hear a faint vibration sound growing in intensity. In his horror he saw the glass beginning to crack and break in an ever growing web from the point of contact and with a loud shattering roar the shell quickly crumbled and fell to the floor forcing Shilvek to duck under his desk.  “Much better. It’s hard to have a conversation when neither can hear the other.” Shilvek was cowering under his desk but could hear the voice clearly. It had a strange synthetic tone to it.  “It’s also hard when one party is hiding under a desk. Why don’t you stand up?”  Shilvek didn’t move.  “I just shattered reinforced glass meant to stop plasma rounds with the palm of my hand. You really think a wooden desk would protect you any better?”  At that Shilvek didn’t need anymore prompting and slowly rose.  “Now, why don’t you lift the security lockdown.”  Shilvek looked down at the leader then around at the rest of the lobby. The remaining tourists that had been unable to escape were now all huddled together in a corner and surrounded by armed thugs. The bodies of the guards had been dragged and placed in an opposite corner.  The leader tapped the desk and drew Shilvek’s attention. “It’s rude to look away when someones talking to you. Now, remove the lockdown. I won’t ask again.”  “I-I-I-I can’t do that.” Shilvek stuttered. “Once it’s engaged only the police can remove it.”  The leader craddled their chin with one of their hands and paced back and forth for a bit. They stopped and looked at Shilvek before outstretching a hand.  “It just occured to me that I haven’t introduced myself. You can call be Sound Byte, and you are?” Shilvek unsteadily reached out with his own hand and shooked Sound Byte’s. “Shilvek.” “Shilvek, what an interesting name; rolls off the tongue like a lyric.” Sound Byte remarked as he kept shaking his hand. Shilvek tried to let go but Sound Byte’s hand would not budge.  “Well Shilvek, I must say it’s rather disappointing that you can’t remove the lockdown for me.” “I told you,  I can’-” Sound Byte shook his head. “Oh no, I understand that you can’t do anything for an automated system. It’s just that I’m disappointed that a man such as you with your rhythmic name now no longer has a reason for me to keep you alive.”  Shilvek felt the gauntlet’s  grip dig deeper into his hand. “Tell me, did you know there’s a sound frequency that makes your species blood vessels violently explore like a popped balloon?”  Before Shilvek could utter a word he felt a tremor run through his clenched hand and radiate throughout his entire body. He tried to scream but his throat was now choking on his own blood. He vision became dark but he could see blood dripping from every pore in his body as if he was overflowing with it before he collapsed to the ground.  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sound Byte dialed down the frequency generator and let go of the dead man’s hand. He glanced down at his bloody hand and motioned for one of his henchmen to come forward. The thug quickly trotted over and stood at attention as Sound Byte used their uniform to wipe the blood off his hand.  He was in a bad mood now. He was telling the truth that he had hated killing someone with such a musical name, but the man had brought it upon himself by activating the security lockdown and impeding his robbery.  “Get the data spike setup. You’ve got two minutes.”  The same thug from before hopped over the counter and nudged the dying mans body aside as he inserted a strange device into the terminal as Sound Byte went over to the sealed elevator doors and placed a palm on them.  Golden doors, Sound Byte thought to himself and chuckled. Perfect example for the rich and powerful. Impressive to look at, but shatters if you know where to push. Altering his gauntlet’s frequency he began vibrating the doors until the gold began to fall away in chunks exposing an empty elevator shaft. Rather than attempting to climb up to the security vaults near the mid section of the building, something impossible for the time constraints, he sound blasted the opposite wall in the shaft creating a crater and revealing another elevator shaft.  Unlike the first one which was for clients and office workers, the second shaft was for freight to be carried between floors and was the key to the robbery. The main elevator would lockup during a lockdown, but Sound Byte had learned that the freight elevator, which was far less technical in design, had not such lockup features and was still operable.  Taking half his crew sound Byte jumped into the second shaft and continued with what was to be the greatest crime of the century.  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “We are deeply saddened by the loss of our employees. Here at Orion, our employees are our family and today our family has grown smaller and we will never get over this tragic loss.”  “That was Orion CEO Lusdiv giving a press statement shortly after the unknown criminals fled the Orion headquarters. Authorities are still searching for the wanted criminals as a planet wide alert has gone ou-” Lusdiv turned off the news monitor and took another swig of his drink.    “We will never get over this tragic loss.” He chuckled at his remarks. We’ll have those positions filled by the end of the week. His office sat at the very peak of the Orion headquarters building and as he turned around from behind his desk he saw the sun slowly fading over the horizon setting an end to this day.  While the criminals had been able to reach the vaults, they had only been able to grab hold of a small amount of the vast fortunes stored there before being forced to escape by approaching police forces. In truth the damage done today had already been recouped exactly half a minute after the criminals fled. Such was the income and power of Orion.  Lusdiv shook as his phone rang and startled him. He pushed down on the intercom and contacted his secretary.  “I thought I made it clear I was not to be disturbed.”  The intercom was silent save for the faint hissing of static.  “Volca, I said I made it clear I was not to be disturbed. I’m not taking any calls.” The silence continued.  “Volca, are you there? Volca”  No response. He sighed and finished his drink before picking up the phone.  “This is Lusdiv, CEO of Orion. Who am I speaking with?”  “The man that robbed you.”  Lusdiv pulled the phone away from his head at the sound of the synthetic voice.  Slowly, he pressed the phone back to his ear.  “If this is meant to be some sort of pranks I assure you you will be brought to the authorities and punished.”  “Tsk, tsk, tsk. Don’t believe me, eh? Would you like me to list the contents of your vault boxes we took? I’m sure you already have their records on your desk by now.”  Lusdiv looked down at his desk. There, strewn across it were the files detailing everything that had been taken. Calmly, he activated the security panels of his windows which instantly shut behind him.  “It’s adorable you think your security can still stop me.”  “I have no desire to be spied upon by criminal scum like you is all.” Lusdiv remarked as the shutters clanked shut behind him.  “No need to fret, I’m not watching you.” Sound Byte remarked, “I could hear them closing behind you through the phone. As for the documents, well, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out.” “One which you clearly are not.” Lusdiv retorted, “Otherwise you would have brought the proper gear to break into our more valuable vaults.” He leaned forward over his desk, his hand tightening around the phone. “So listen punk, because I’ll make what happens next very easy for you. I’m going to have you tracked down like a wild animal and brought back to me in chains so I can strangle the very life out of you with my bare han-” Lusdiv’s stopped talking mid conversation. His jaw was twitching up and down but the words would not leave his mouth.  Not just my mouth, Lusdiv thought, I can’t move my entire body!  “I hope I have your attention now,” Sound Byte’s voice came in through the phone still held to Lusdiv’s ear, “because now I will tell you how things will pan out.”  “Your mistake was that you thought we were after your material valuables when really we wanted your more.....questionable, documents.”  “When I arrived I had a data spike planted into your system which has been transmitting your dirty secrets to me this entire time. You were so busy going over the gold, jewels, and other contents of your vaults that none of you thought to check your firewalls.”  Lusdiv’s eyes went wide in horror.  “Imagine if the Vunus government found out how you really obtained Harlod & Co’s mining rights, or what really happened with the Jovian Merger deal. I’m sure the public would find your cave in resolution for miners owed several years worth of back pay after they threatened to unionize most interesting as well.”  Every dirty and illegal deed that had been done to get Orion where it is today ran through Lusdiv’s head and he began to sweat buckets.  “So here’s the deal. I have big plans, plans that will need a considerable investment of funds and materials which you will provide. In exchange these damaging files will stay safe in my pocket, far from prying eyes. I will send you a shopping list for your first set of generous donations to me in the coming days.”  Lusdiv shuddered realizing his blackmailer had left him no way out. He slowly felt the feeling returning to his limbs and he was able to move again.  “Oh, one more thing.” Sound Byte cut in before ending the call.  “If you ever speak to me in that tone again I will vibrate your brain until it drips through your eyes in a grey mush. I can paralyze you with sound even through a phone call, it’s not even a half step up to murder you.”  The line went dead and Lusdiv was finally able to move his limbs freely again. He sat gasping for air as he contemplated what nightmare he had just been dragged into. 

#HUMANS ARE WEIRD #humans are insane #humans are space orcs #humans are space oddities #scifi #story #super villain

[rhythmrally]

WAHOO!!! FINALLY, I HAVE 100% IN NEXUS ON HEROIC!!! those last 2 bosses can EAT MY ASS!!!!!!!

guild cards under the cut!! take a look at my kids!!!!!! IM VERY EXCITED RN!!!

Hero/Highlander, “Valkyrie!”

Pugilist/Protector, “Forticuffs”

OH i unfortunately had to change cordell’s subclass from farmer to protector for the last two fights...he used to have the epithet “Aggronomist” i was really happy about it ok 

Imperial/Zodiac, “Rune Architect”

Harbinger/War Magus, “Caduceus”

Protector/Gunner, “Divine Captain”

#joy plays eox #joy rambles #etrian odyssey nexus #HWHEHKJAHGH YEAHHHHHH