#pillars of eternity meta

[herearedragons]

…so about the Saint’s War armor.

We don’t know how it got its magical properties, only that it happened at some point during the war. We also know that the enchantment on it is Second Chance, which brings the wearer back upon falling unconscious, which is suspiciously Eothas-themed (him being the god of rebirth and all).

But Edér was fighting against Eothas’ forces; why would he have that kind of magic just kind of… happen to him?

Well, there was a Teylecg fighting on Eothas’ side: Woden. And we know that he had an audience with Waidwen himself, though we never find out what they spoke about, and what convinced Woden to switch sides.

So, what if Woden asked Waidwen (Eothas) to protect his brother?

#pillars of eternity #poe #pillars of eternity meta #I guess #edér teylecg #woden teylecg

[stylishanachronism]

I’m still putting citations in like….. the actual essay portion of this thing but seriously is it reasonable to assume that the duc’s household is in charge of major road upkeep?

Like I am doing stupid math about the tax issue and obviously it’s not something that comes up in game but given that Caed Nua’s land grant is somehow both small and encompasses enough of the border/main trade routes that it’s also at least currently the roadwarden’s seat (I have……. Many questions about how that’s supposed to work given the rest of the lore But), so reasonably it’s in charge of that particular portion of roads, except that leaves us with either a. Caed Nua was not anywhere near as rundown as shown (which is better supported) or b. Somebody else is paying for that upkeep, and if it’s somebody else by process of elimination it’s the duc’s problem. Which yes would mean I have to redo all my math because I did all that before going wait hold on.

(The process of elimination is as follows: if it’s not a local expense, it’s not going to be the thayn’s problem either because that’s a really dumb way to break main road expenses down (and also if it were Raedric’s problem it wouldn’t be getting done based on the state of his portion of roads). If it’s not the thayn it probably also isn’t whatever’s above them in authority because at that point you’ve taken the honor away from the erl. It can’t be Bademar’s problem because, again, he wouldn’t be getting it done and also people would probably hate him less, which leaves it up to the Duc.)

Tbh my gut feeling is it’s subsidized by the Duc but it’s a local work, and there are probably fines for not doing your share, but on the third (fourth?) hand that would mean minimum splitting the tolls and I just can’t see that happening.

#pillars of eternity meta #yes I’m back on my bullshit you should see the point I’m trying to prove #in the main thing #but anyway it’s a puzzle especially since given there’s no inheritance of the ducal title #the duc’s private income is probably just the road tolls and defiance bay #……hold on did we ever find out where/what hadret actually owned #or what happened to it for that matter #p sure the line dies with him hence the soul requirement #so that might be it? but also it might not have been the end in which case ??????????? #why didn’t obsidian give me a real map with county lines :( #also it is very much canon that everybody hates Bademar because he doesn’t do his job #they cut a whole side quest about it #……………not that I can prove that except in abstract

[passionesolja]

I’ve been nothing but supportive and tryna put everybody on to cRPGs but it’s getting real irritating to hear people say “oh me and my friend/family member love BG3 but I could never show them [insert cRPG here] because of the graphics, and gameplay” or “oh a BG3 only player won’t want to try [insert cRPG here] because of the graphics and gameplay” dawg, people who have only played BG3 aren’t toddlers with aversion to every other food but chicken nuggets, you can show them other games in the genre. There’s this weird infantilization of BG3 Onlys and it’s just giving compassionate gatekeeping. A BG3 Only isn’t going to combust into flames or get an aneurism if they try BG1, Icewind Dale, Pillars of Eternity, Pathfinder, Neverwinter Nights, etc. There’s this weird ass notion going around that BG3 Only players are stupid and can’t handle other types of cRPGs, only BG3 and Divinity. Nah, that’s not true. I promise y’all, somebody’s who’s first experience with cRPGs is Baldur’s Gaye 3 can handle anything the genre throws at them. If you’re comfortable with Baldur’s Gate 3, you’re already well-versed in DnD rules enough to where you can play any cRPG that has a similar ruleset. I hate that mfs are tryna pin BG3 Onlies as stupid or “causals”. Yeah, they’ll have to read and not all the cutscenes will be voice acted, maybe have to do Real Time With Pause combat, but that’s not going to make them implode. Stop acting like BG3 Onlys need training wheels, half of y’all are recommending them Divinity: Original Sin 2 as if that game don’t whoop people’s ass even if they know their shit

#bg3 #video games #baldur's gate #baldur's gate iii #baldurs gate 3 #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 meta #bg3 fandom critical #crpgs #crpg #dnd #pathfinder #pillars of eternity

[bragganhyl]

The most unintentionally meta thing Obsidian did with the Pillars of Eternity series is establishing the tragic romance story of Ondra and her unreachable love: Beläfa (the moon, as in the big one), having a dlc centering around the event inspiring the story, giving the Sea and Her Love a strong presence in the soundtracks of both games, depicting alternate versions of the story that also served as a basis for at least one puzzle in Deadfire and also having it be a low-key parallel to a companion arc

Only for Beläfa to debut in Avowed. It only took two games and a complete shift in gameplay styles. Alas PoE can’t have the moon but Avowed can 😔

#hablaty #just musing it's a dumb thought anyway #something something maybe the real ondra was the game we played along the way #pillars of eternity

[melodioustear]

Hi friends - it's been a bit, here at least. Remember when we only had to manage one or two social media accounts to stay in contact with people because they hadn't dispersed to a dozen different places? That was nice.

If you're not aware, 2023 has not been kind to me, and I am presently living with my (very kind, very generous) grandmother whilst finalising my divorce. My health has been rough, managing my audhd has been rough, it's a rough year. But! I have taken a huge amount of joy and pride and gratitude in being able to continue my PhD and not having to take (another) intermission.

As such, it's been a teensy bit hard to maintain posting about how my research is going. But as I've recently come to find that asynchronous sharing is easier for me and more accessible for people than trying to maintain Twitch streaming, I want to try and post here a little more, even if it's very infrequent.

So, to give you a relatively swift update on where we are:

I had supervision last month and we did a lot of edit planning and nailing down of the issues with my chapter draft, which was just about complete before that meeting. A large amount of the problem was that I had separated my discussion about the survey results and my arguments for the chapter. I made my next target sorting this out, editing things together, finishing the chapter off and if possible doing this for the video games chapter too (spoiler alert: I will not be managing to do both).

One of the main issues that my supervisor highlighted was that in that draft, I had no fanfiction. In my fanfiction chapter. We'd discussed the ethical steps I wanted to take with citing fanfiction, such as not using archive-locked fanfiction, getting author consent to cite, and making sure I'm not citing a fandom with a history of abuse (to protect myself).

This is what I've spent this week fixing. I have found a fanfic which is, and I cannot stress this enough, utterly perfect as an example. It's in a fandom with canonical mental illness, the story is top 50 for kudos and top 10 for kudos-with-mental-illness-tags in its fandom, and it is complete at 225k words. The story is not only brilliantly written, but it has a meta-story within it that essentially makes fandom itself into a character, and then uses it as both metaphor and engine for the main character's healing. It doesn't present healing as linear, shows everything in shades of grey, and has spawned both its own fanfiction and fanart as well as so many comments from people explaining how the story helped them with their own situations. And best of all - the author (hi if you're reading this, you're wonderful) has given me permission to cite it. So this is now something I'm poised to start writing up.

The other side to what I'm working on to sort the chapter's issues comes from a workshop I did at the FSNNA conference this month. It was on a particular kind of data analysis called topic modelling and works as a really good jumping board for identifying connections within a large data set (which, if you take the write-in question text for my survey, I am working with). My hope is to use this to form a structure for my close-reading reflections, as well as potentially highlighting things I might've missed.

But, I am trying to be good and take this all slowly and steadily. Whilst I am behind where I wanted to be, it is only natural - as my mentor reminded me this week - that as my research progresses it'll deviate and transform in unexpected ways. This chapter may take a little longer, but others may be a little shorter - for example, my next chapter is on roleplaying and as my MA thesis was on that I have a lot more existing knowledge about the current work on it in academia.

And lastly, I had my first academic publication! I'm a real academic now! You can read my reflections on Madness, control and agency in video games at the Polyphony, where I talk specifically about the games Pillars of Eternity (& sequel) and Please Knock on My Door.

Thanks everyone so much for your continued interest in my work - I really appreciate it <3

#fan studies #fandom studies #fanfic #fanfiction #mad studies #fandom research #phdresearch #fandom #mental illness

[oathofmoonlight]

Meta - PKMN - Interpol.

Formally, the division Kaguya belongs to within the Interpol is named the Legendary Phenomenon Division. It was officially formed some time following the events of SwSh—after which it became abundantly clear that the standard divisions dealing with organized crime was simply not cutting it, and the manipulation, abuse, and sometimes even mere existence of certain Legendary Pokémon (cough Eternatus) posed a very real existential threat to the world. Their primary purpose is to keep tabs on known (and unknown, publically) Legendary Pokémon, the people (protagonists) who may or may not capture or otherwise interact with them, and potential threats posed to or by them. Most of this division is made up of an internal research team, but there are a small handful of special field agents, like Kaguya, who must fulfill a generally very high standard of fitness and, more critically, skill. Why?

Well, the fact that internally, it's been nicknamed the godkiller division probably gives you a hint. Field Agents, at least "special" field agents, like Kaguya, need to be equipped to be able to "handle" threats should they arise, even if that is sort of the worst-case scenario.

Unsurprisingly, there's significant overlap between Legendary Phenomenons and the UB divisions. Given Kaguya is, technically, a Faller, she likely would've been put on the UB division like Anabel if not for the fact that 1. UBs are considerably less of an active concern now that the Situation in Alola has had time to return to (semi) normal and 2. she's kind of the ideal candidate for the so-called godkiller division.

Likewise, they still work pretty closely with the Organized Crime division, as you would expect, though largely in the way of supplying information more than any direct interaction between agents. (Think of it like this: if Organized Crime shows up at the Galactic HQ, then Legendary Phenomenon would be the ones to go to Spear Pillar.)

As far as being in Interpol goes, Kaguya.... is ultimately pretty neutral on it. She wasn't really given much of a choice in the matter given she is, uh, a really weird Faller case. And weighing the options, the promise of a job and a proper introduction to this world was definitely a better option than winging it on her own when she didn't even know what the fuck an Altaria was. (Sidebar: she's still terrible at identifying most pokemon. Like, idk, it's some kind of fucken bird...........) She is a bit miffed on a more impersonal level about the circumstances just generally kind of sucking (she is doomed to an eternity of being a gd adventurer when all she wants is to RELAX for like FIVE FUCKING MINUTES), but she tries not to let it bother her that much.

#𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 ☆ meta. #kaguya is honestly kind of the equivalent of dropping a supersoldier in interpol's lap tbh

[holocene-sims]

2 20 and your favorite number for shannon :)

thank you for the ask!! ❤️

2. do you think you would get along with your oc if you could meet them? what things would you talk about?

tbh i would say yes for shannon! we're both neurodivergent and have an overlapping interest or two. we would have totally different personalities and i could see her thinking i was a bit of a bitch LMAO. but similar interests and both being socially awkward nerds would work just fine! i think there would be a ton of talking about literature, languages, history, and video games 😊

13. what is your oc's confidence like? are they self-confident to the point of being arrogant? are they terribly self-deprecating?

hear me out: shannon is one of those people who is perfectly confident but by her sheer lack of attention to it. you know what i mean? i think if you asked her if she was confident, she would say, "i don't know." i just don't see her as someone who has ever thought very much about self-esteem. shannon is on the clueless side in a way. she's very smart but not very tuned into the world. like she's a head in the clouds kind of person. she's always thinking about something but not always practical or realistic things. so i do not think she has ever once bothered to consider the extremes of self-esteem. she just exists and does her own thing and knows how she is...and that's that. there is no more thought there for her. she's just vibing. she's "no thoughts, head empty" except her head isn't empty LMAO

she definitely got bullied growing up since she was the shy kid at the back of the class who NEVER spoke and always had her nose in a book, but the logic of the bullying never checked out for her. in her mind, it's like, "i'm just existing, what's the big deal?" so that never tanked her confidence. and when she's been praised for her skills or intelligence or even her looks, her thought there is, "okay, thank you. i try my best." she's like incapable of being arrogant or taking herself too seriously

20. does your oc have any favorite games to pass the time? what other hobbies do they have?

shannon makes up one third of the "nerd trifecta" in her core family, so games are totally up her alley. she likes the sims (is this semi-meta? LMAO) and she loves anything to do with fantasy, so like skyrim & the other elder scrolls games, elden ring, pillars of eternity, etc. she's also dabbled in other genres like fallout and mass effect via grant's bidding. she's also into tabletop games like d&d. she definitely prefers d&d for the fantasy setting...but if she's playing with grant and chelsea, she'll happily play vampire: the masquerade or the fallout ttrpgs and other stuff like that.

her other main hobbies are just reading, writing, and listening to music. also collecting/thrifting shit because she's like a dragon who likes gold, except instead of gold, it's books, vinyls, and trinkets. and of course, she does enjoy her research, so she'll happily research her special interests/doctorate work on her on free time.

#asks #hlcn: oc info #hlcn: story extras #hlcn: shannon #i love shannon #she thinks too much to think...ironically

[sylveesmusasters]

ON VOLO AND HIKARI:

While we’re on Volo metas on the dash, I should define my Volo’s relationship with Hikari.

tldr: these two are the most fucked up pair of found family siblings who only saw each other for the mental image they made of them, and are in denial of the reality of each other’s natures. While their former bond has turned to enmity, they still want nothing more than to have the “real” versions of each other back, despite those versions being far, far from reality.

Volo thought of Hikari as like a little sister to him. Hikari was the first person outside of his immediate family to ever be kind to him, to be concerned for his welfare. And of course, he needed to protect her so she could gather the plates for him... and then get rid of her to get those plates. Hikari cared for him too, seeing him as a big brother, as he was one of her first friends in Hisui and he literally saved her life when she was exiled from Jubilife Village. However, they both only loved the mental images of each other they had in their heads. After the postgame plot? They still love these false versions of each other, and see their true natures as an impostor that stole their friend.

But? In Volo’s mind? She was so sweet. So smart. So cooperative. She didn’t deserve to suffer any more than necessary in his plans. As they were gathering the plates, playfully bantering like siblings, and exploring Hisui together, Volo was planning out how he would kill her as quickly and painlessly as possible; ideally taking her life before she could even know what was coming and feel the emotional distress. In his new world, he would recreate her as Artemis and himself as Apollo, the twin deities ruling Olympus. Of course, this still completely would have took away her agency in death and her ability to defend herself fairly, but... he did not care about her agency. He saw his little sister as essentially an NPC who should act the way he wants her to act: gentle, lovable, playful, and obedient.

Literally anyone else who has been around Hikari for more than five minutes knows that Volo’s idea of her is not what she is really like. Is she kind and playful? Yes. Sometimes too much so. But is she obedient or docile, especially to those with malevolent intentions? Hell no. And just as Volo saw what he wanted to see in Hikari, Hikari saw just the older brother figure she wanted to see in Volo: kindness, protection, mentorship, resourcefulness, and just a bit of a sibling rivalry. She thought his care for her was genuine - and while he did technically care for her, his "care” was selfish and far from having her wishes and agency in mind.

At the Spear Pillar, the two’s images of each other were shattered: Volo was a murderous manipulator, and Hikari would dare to fight against him. But even though they are destined to hate each other for eternity, they still want the “old” versions of each other back. Hikari, in particular, cries herself to sleep sometimes because she misses her sweet and loving big brother and wonders what she could have done to keep him from “changing”. Volo sees himself as the only person who will ever be allowed to harm Hikari, yet he would much rather just turn her back to the docile little sister he thought she was.

What each of them are in denial of is that their sibling was never “stolen” from them... because that sibling never existed to begin with.

#headcanons - volo #headcanons - hikari #i do not ship these two romantically #my intent is for them to be a found family that breaks spectacularly #so if i worded anything awkwardly or too ambiguously please tell me #because i will want to fix it

[gatherparty-old]

you must gather your party before venturing out. a multi-muse featuring original characters based in Dungeons and Dragons, Baldurs Gate 3, Pillars of Eternity, and Elder Scrolls lore. beloved by puffin. low activity & casual. NOTICE ! this is a sideblog ! I follow from @hegrowth !

// don't adventure off alone ! [temp rules + muse list below the cut]

GUIDELINES.

again, this is a sideblog, I will follow from @hegrowth. in general, I greatly prefer you also be following that blog as well to interact with me here.

some quick things... no godmodding, metagaming, or force shipping. I don't send passwords. please cut your posts & turns asks into new threads. do not reblog memes from me, please reblog them from the source. specify a muse when sending in an ask, otherwise I'll pick or won't respond. anon is off.

I don't write NSFW / smut, but I'm okay with discussing spicy things ooc. I will not ship with minors for this reason, but am okay with interacting otherwise.

I ask that you please do not softblock me. it causes me a lot of anxiety. I support blocking freely and do so myself, I just ask you please hardblock me instead of softblocking. I do not softblock, so if it appears you've been softblocked by me then it was a mistake / tumblr glitch, feel free to follow again !

I don't own nor am I affiliated with BG3, DnD, Elder Scrolls, or PoE. I'm just developing some kids in those universes and hope you enjoy my portrayals. don't steal my meta please !

I don't have many icons, and for some muses none, so I won't use them most likely, unless I find a faceclaim. I typically match length in responses.

please know I am currently very slowly playing through Baldurs Gate 3, so characters, meta, etc will all be updated as I get through the game. I personally find the exploration and route opportunities to be incredibly overwhelming, so please be patient with me. that said, this blog will contain spoilers and discussions of events and characters, as I play.

lastly, my discord is available. I match energy so if you talk with me and engage ooc then I will reciprocate, and I'll most likely have more inspiration and ideas for interactions. I like talking with my partners. the more we talk ooc the more I'll want to do things ic, honest to god. so just be friendly ! I don't bite.

MUSE LIST.

skyrim / elder scrolls based.

Lightfoot | Female Khajiit | Thief

Rnya | Female Bosmer | Herbalist

Wushaye | Genderfluid Argonian | Daedra Hunter

Hanvi | Genderfluid Nord/Altmer | Adventurer

Juniper Moth | Genderfluid Redguard/Imperial | Adventurer

Vailis | Male Dark Elf | Necromancer

Jasyra | Non-binary Khajiit | Dragonborn

Jasyk | Female Khajiit | Dragonborn

Sajviri | Non-Binary Khajiit | Adventurer [ESO based]

baldurs gate 3 / dungeons and dragons based.

Kryn | Female Tiefling | Fighter [Dark Urge]

Phin | Non-binary Drow | Monk

Erelrae | Female Drow | Cleric of Selune

(unnamed) | Female High Elf | Fighter + Rogue

(unnamed) | Female Forest Gnome | Druid + Bard

(unnamed) | Male Drow | -------

pillars of eternity based.

Qurae | Female Nature Godlike | Psion Cipher

Xleopatia | Genderfluid Wild Orlan | Ghost Heart Ranger

[herearedragons]

...okay this was supposed to be a tag rant on another post I was drafting, but this kind of makes a better point than what I was writing originally so let me try that again.

The thing about Edér Pillars Of Eternity and his theme of second chances is that not only that theme is everywhere for him (seriously. I did Not remember it being that present in his early dialogue but IT IS) but that his relationship with it changes over time.

At first, he's a worshipper of the god of second chances. Then, he is the one being offered a second chance, not by his god, but by a stranger who saves him from being hanged by literally just giving him something else to do with his life. Then, in Deadfire, he is the one delivering the Watcher's second chance, dragging them out of Caed Nua after it's been destroyed by Eothas. At that moment, he's closer to the embodiment of second chances than Eothas himself, which is kind of wild and exactly the kind of character arc I find fun, apparently.

#pillars of eternity #deadfire spoilers #edér teylecg #and like. I focus on him in particular because I'm making an active attempt to learn the character for Fanfiction Reasons #but I really hope that I find more stuff like this in other characters' dialogue/arcs #because I literally just found my first non-Gilded Vale party member in the new playthrough #and Aloth Does Not Talk Much at the beginning so I don't have a lot of dialogue to overthink yet #but it's definitely fun to come back to a game I just kinda played the first time and applying Analysis to it #pillars of eternity spoilers #herearedragons meta

[stylishanachronism]

It’s late, I’m having A Month, let’s talk about ghosts.

Except we’re not talking about ghosts, we’re talking about hauntings, which in pillars terms is a *completely* different kettle of fish. Like, not even related to each other different kettle of fish. A kettle of fish and white rats, even(1).

As souls move through the wheel, especially on the life-to-death end of the spectrum, but also at all other points, they shed ‘dust’, little bits of knowledge and experience that under ideal circumstances eventually stick together and gain enough critical mass to form a whole new soul. As those bits tend to be shed in kith-shaped places, like buildings, and around kith-made objects, like swords, sometimes they stick to those places and things instead, and, when they reach critical mass, get stuck in them, instead of forming a new soul and returning to the wheel. Not inhabiting something with a brain, and being ‘felted’ together, so to speak, instead of sloughing off the mortal coil fully formed, personality and all, they aren’t properly sentient, and don’t have thoughts in the way a cipher could read, though they can be and often are highly opinionated with goals and motives of their own, very much shaped by the circumstances that ‘birthed’ them(2).

Before the Engwithans built the gods, this was demonstrably a fairly quick process. Od Nua’s project, which lasted somewhere between ten and twenty years according to the very scant information we’re given(3), which in its latter half directly put time, effort, and soul-stuff into ‘strengthening the very rock and metal of the stronghold’ per the wiki, built Caed Nua’s fledgling personality solidly enough it lasted another two millennia despite being primarily undisturbed the entire time in a maximum of a decade. Less directed efforts probably took closer to fifty years, but given ‘modern’ construction (which, in the case of Defiance Bay is still over a century old(4)) is primarily not haunted, and haunted places are given quite a wide berth, which they wouldn’t necessarily be if they were common, it’s a much, much slower process in the present.

This is, of course, entirely thanks to the gods and whatever causes bîaŵacs(5), the former of whom eat up all the ‘beyond side’ dust, the latter collecting up anything not firmly stuck already on the ‘near side of the veil’ and packaging it into bights, which are more like ghosts than anything else, and slow down the haunting process exponentially(6). Places that are already haunted have enough critical mass to keep new ‘dust’ as it comes, but anything that isn’t is as likely to keep it as lose more than it gained, which is why objects, being smaller and requiring less critical mass in the first place, are more likely to host modern hauntings. Older places can also trap ‘bigger’ soul bits (Neketaka and Caed Nua have both been known to take whole souls entire), and tend to have stronger options for trapping them (Caed Nua can canonically teleport things (the Whispers of Yenwood, to be precise), and presumably uses that trick to get what it wants, and we’re shown that Neketaka sweet talks surface citizens into leaping into the depths on an irregular basis, at least) as well as broader definitions to what constitutes ‘themselves’. (Caed Nua fetches the sword from half a country away, and Neketaka is complete in itself from the very top of the mountain to the very bottom of the old city, even though the old city’s been abandoned since the Engwith cast it down.)

Interestingly, whatever the mechanics of unhaunting a place actually are, simply removing souls doesn’t cut it, as despite the downstairs residents of Caed Nua systematically eating the adra titan and the souls therein, Caed Nua itself got more haunted, not less(7). As we also have no evidence of exorcisms, and what graveyards we see are placed extremely far from civilization because they’re full of skeletons and it’s known they’ll eventually be bad news for the living, it may very well be the case that there is no means of unhaunting a place, which would explain why, most ‘modern’ hauntings being either pre-Gods and therefore very old and very strong, or perfectly placed to reach critical mass more recently, which tends to come as a shock to whatever community precipitated the thing, and to all appearances has them fleeing as soon as they realize(8), hauntings are considered a curse, rather than a natural step in the lifecycle of a thing.

Caed Nua, in particular, is unusual in how quickly it became haunted (almost immediately), not in that it was haunted at all, as I’m fairly sure everyone except the original Erl of Yenwood and his crew took one look at the idea and said ‘hmm, that seems like it won’t go well’, but given Breith Nua(9) had a couple of millennia to stew, the fact it stretched out as the walls went up isn’t really unexpected, much less a surprise, though given most Engwith ruins aren’t as well explored or as notably haunted it probably felt like one. It’s even likely that the first three or so rulers didn’t even realize it was haunted, as Breith Nua was built to safeguard the statue of Maros Nua (and ideally his soul, though that didn’t end up happening), and Caed Nua was built to safeguard the Erl’s interest in the place, so, as in the current time, most of the surface effects amounted to running the household more smoothly, and, as they installed the Steward into her chair in what’s indicated to be the first Erl’s lifetime(10), up until the keep got wiped it seems likely most people assumed the weirdness was her doing.

On the surface, Caed Nua’s weirdness is shown to be small, unsettling, but ultimately benign things; doors that open and shut by themselves, plants that grow both quickly and easily despite bad weather and pestilence in the surrounding landscape, and given the house’s reputation for hospitality, despite spending anywhere from weeks to months falling apart while Maerwald was ill, it seems likely that some of the more tedious chores do themselves when the house is happy, the rafters dusted without anyone needing to clamber up that high, the shutters closing at the first sign of inclement weather without assistance, and so on. The house is pleased to have visitors, and more pleased to keep its household close, safe and comfortable, but it doesn’t mind people traveling as long as they come home again. Below the surface, however, it gives itself major repairs, catalogues and organizes and preserves its household (and is very strict about them staying where it puts them), past and present(11), walls people in with barriers of pure will on at least a temporary basis, moves furniture and major architectural details around, and takes advantage of its residents’ plots to further its own aims, because the corpse of someone who wanted to leave is just as good as that person alive and well, and much preferable to their being gone at all.

Given the house’s predilections, it’s no surprise it prefers Watchers to all other possible options; it is, despite everything, very lonely much of the time, and having anyone who can even slightly understand its wants is an enormous benefit it would no doubt go to great lengths to get, if Watchers didn’t keep coming to beat down its doors. This is a house that doesn’t care if its masters live or die, as long as they stay; given what we’re told happened to all but two of his predecessors, however many of them there were, if it hadn’t exercised considerable restraint on the adragon’s plots, he and his household would not have survived even one decade, much less multiple, and he, himself, quite mad and locked in the basement, should have been easy prey for her, but survived long enough for another Watcher to show up and inherit his mantle instead. (Incidentally, it’s also obvious that it tried to keep his soul as well as his bones. Depending on the Watcher in question, it may even have succeeded.)

I’m not entirely sure why the house is more attached to the Watcher than Maerwald (and it was pretty damn attached to the dude), but, given you can get into the real underbelly of the place, it must be, but I, as I’ve said previously, would bet it has something to do with the fact they’re Awakened as well as a Watcher, and it’s an old Awakening at that; there’s a certain level of shared experience it will likely never see again, and that’s an irresistible combination for something with the house’s peculiarities, so it isn’t a surprise the lengths it goes to entice them to stay.

Which is just to say that if Gathbin had paid the fine and succeeded in taking the house, it would have dropped a brick on him, probably two, just to make sure its favorite came home.

—

1: Ghosts, which we are not talking about, are souls who aren’t well anchored enough to become some sort of bodied undead (probably mostly Death Guards, in this situation), but are angry/vengeful/stubborn enough to stay on this side of the veil. Depending on the strength of the soul in question, and the particular reason it’s hanging around, they can take a multitude of different forms, from the recognizable-as-kith cean gŵla, to the barely-even-dectectable shadows. Most, if not all of them, instinctively bolster themselves with loose soul-stuff from any source they can pry it away from. All of them are bad news.

2: A haunted battlefield, for example, probably wants to keep killing people, while a haunted sword used exclusively in the defense of a person, household, or place probably cannot be induced to harm that person, household or place, and woe betide the enemy that lays hands on it, even if the feud’s been over for centuries.

3: Let’s be honest, we know where he started (son’s soul, whole, loaded into what sounds like a protoanimat, a ‘small’ (realistic) statue the big one is based off of, presumably to bring the boy back to life in a much less fragile body) and where he ended (many many many souls that were not his son’s, loaded into a very very very big statue that??? was meant to keep him safe forever???? I have no idea how the end game was supposed to work it makes no sense), but we have basically nothing about what went down in the middle, which is wild considering it involves two rival cults and a horde of scientists who deliberately turned themselves into fampyrs.

4: Defiance Bay *is* haunted, but only a little bit, and it’s definitely helped along by the machine in Heritage Hill and the animancers in Brackenbury, though the latter aren’t doing it on purpose. Similarly aged places (the chapel in Gilded Vale, Raedric’s fort, whatever’s going on under Dyrford) are not at all haunted, though they are inhabited by ghosts (or ....worse) in some cases, which is not the same thing.

5: Leading theories include deliberate Leaden Key fuckery, ‘earthquakes’ (adraquakes?), where the adra, attempting to passively draw souls and getting nothing ‘breaks the tension’, causing weird backlash, and, ‘the wheel is less functional under Berath’s hand than optimal, and shit gets backed up’. (There were others but I unfortunately did not screenshot the groupchat and therefore am working from memory. Pick your favorite or remind me of it, dealer’s choice)

6: Bîaŵacs are not a regular happening in inhabited areas, obviously, requiring a quantity of unshielded adra most people find somewhat unsettling, but they do reduce the ‘current’ of soul-stuff that might otherwise bolster a haunting, given they’re being starved of half the usual supply. They also reduce the amount of ‘shedding’ by ripping souls out at the root and shredding them beyond recognition, and bights, like other ghosts, actively reduce the chances of a haunting.

7: Consuming souls whole is presumably something of a messy process, given that non-Caed Nua examples of fampyrs and the like mostly exist on the soul essence left in kith flesh, even when they kill the person immediately before. Since Caed Nua was built on soul scraps, it’s likely it nabbed those scraps as the residents dropped them, so to speak (which definitely didn’t help the ‘there are a finite amount of souls in the titan and we’re eating them faster than is sustainable’ situation), which helped strengthen the haunting even as the residents got weaker.

8: As an aside, I don’t think anyone (other than possibly the Leaden Key) has realized Defiance Bay is a smidge haunted? It certainly helps that the city hasn’t had a minute to breathe since it was built, basically, and that the city, being solely a city, and not repurposed from something else (even Heritage Hill isn’t actively using the space the machine takes up), is mostly haunted in a way that makes the city run better, which probably isn’t noticeable to the average joe. (If, for example, you’re the poor schmuck whose job it is to clean and maintain the sewers, and you’re avoiding going down there because it’s full of oozes and mushrooms and necromancers and gods know what else (cultists), you’re probably not going to notice that under all that, it’s actually maintaining itself very well, and if you aren’t that poor schmuck, well, you’re going to assume they’re just doing their job.)

9: Breith *probably* means court, as in household not of law, though we see it all of one time so I am definitely reaching here, but as I needed a term to separate the original structure from the new construction, without conflating it with the Endless Paths, this seemed like as good a solution as any.

10: I am making a couple of baseless assumptions about what the Steward was like when she was alive, and a couple more with only very very very scant justification, but given those assumptions, it seems very likely that Breith Nua looked at this woman, brilliant, driven, a strong cipher in her own right, and importantly (unlike the Erl) present as the place went up, the whole of it her vision realized, and went ‘oh dibs’. She had, even in her own eyes, a very weird attachment to the house once it was finished, first begging to stay and start an entirely new career she’d never been trained for instead of continuing on to even greater projects in her area of expertise, and then, at the end of her life, begging to have her soul loaded into the chair so she wouldn’t have to return to the wheel and leave it behind, and I don’t think any of that was entirely natural.

11: Look I’m just saying there’s *four and a half* levels of very nice, very full Aedyran catacombs (and, uh, it seems unlikely? anybody deliberately converted anything further than level two from the previous Engwith architecture, given level 6 is half converted, and only one adventuring party ever made it that deep), and not a lot of spare corpses. Do I think the house retains and catalogues the bones of everyone it’s ever loved? Well, a lot of them couldn’t have gotten where they were by more normal means (as, y’know, everyone was dead for quite a bit before the next person came and cleaned it out), so...

#pillars of eternity #pillars of eternity meta #fun fact death guards are associated with berath but aren't actually her thing per the first guidebook #I would put money on the fact that pre od nua people deliberately shaped hauntings to be useful #since his whole project pushed the borders of animancy but wasn't exactly original on any front #I lied presumably the best way to unhaunt a place is to level it and forget about it #but obviously that takes more time than we're given to examine #I originally had a point about ghosts and hauntings being symbiotic as long as the haunting was established first #but trying to explain it meant I had to talk about ghosts and that whole thing was a mess #soul bound objects are also haunted but like.... need friends (you) in order to reach their full potential #it's why you've got to tie them to your soul and then feed them weird shit #modwyr is basically an animat but like.... sane #not a true soul bound object #the timeline re: how many rulers is extremely confused but the answer is there were minimum six pre Maerwald #erl of yenwood 1 2 and 3 cafed eodhart and his successor and at least one more successor after that #then ???? then Maerwald then the Watcher #the timeline doesn't work but is that a surprise no #I don't think the steward is aware she's not like.... her own distinct entity any more??? #because heads up she is definitely not her own distinct entity any more #let's just say its extremely suspect they found the chair when and where they did especially since similar things show up ~level 15 #why didn't they build the keep over the fingers inquiring minds want to know #obviously like the place it was built was the Correct Place but it's also not the obvious place you dig #also look *we* know the keep getting wiped was the adragon not the house but nobody else knows that #I'm not saying I'm stretching the mechanic of 'open the doors without being near them' until it screams as evidence but like that's the deal #I.... did not really get into Neketaka sorry og draft did but then I culled 8k so it would make sense #I want to say when nobody's home the house sulks and doesn't clean up the dust etc but otherwise does a lot of the 'smaller' chores unasked #interestingly I've mostly been joking about 'watcher comes home from the deadfire to a rebuilt house' but like tbh I'm not wrong #removing the titan didn't even touch the haunting more than likely #I have more thoughts on ghosts and amount of soul proportionate to vessel size but that's why this was 10k and unreadable originally #Sorry this ends sort of abruptly I had another argument to sum it up but I can't make it make sense and I'm tired of it so here you go

[adozentothedawn]

Eora and Relics

So, since I typed this up already I thought I’d make a proper post out of it as well. A big thank you to @stylishanachronism, ruler of all that is Pillars of Eternity meta, for helping me with the lore and being an excellent sound board.

Now, I have a WIP on my list that is about Adaryc and my Watcher basically going on a treasure hunt for Waidwen’s corpse. And that is about the details I have right now. That idea brought on the question, what would they even do with it? And while I still don’t have a definite answer for that, @stylishanachronism mentioned rthat would have a real live relic of St. Waidwen on their hands. That in turn got me thinking what even qualifies as a relic in Eora, which then reminded me that in the Deadfire guide book there is a whole chapter exclusively about Saints and Relics. 

Curious as I was I looked through the chapter and found three notable relics.

1. The Boots of the Burnt General

The burnt general was a dyrwooden general in the Saint’s War and an Eothasian. He sent all his troops away and faced Waidwen on his own. Naturally he got incinerated, but Waidwen apparently hesitated and afterwards shed tears. All that was left of the general were his boots, which are now treated as a sacred relic. Or they would be if anyone knew which ones were the real ones, but that’s not the point.

2. Wael’s Cupboard

Wael’s Cupboard my be one of my favourite pieces of lore ever. Basically the idea is simple. Sometimes Wael likes to be a dick and when you open any kind of lid, door, or anything of the like, you won’t find what’s actually behind it, but instead an endless void and Wael’s loud giggeling. You’ll get door smashed back into your face and the world is normal again. That has lead to Wael priests basically having a fuck ton of boxes and door in their houses in the vague hop to someday also get visited by Wael the giggeling void ghost. Admittedly Wael’s cupboard isn’t one specific relic, but I stil think it counts for this purpose.

3. Abydon’s Haft

The haft of the hammer that Abydon threw to shatter the moon that Ondra had thrown onto Eora. Naturally the whole story isn’t actually known to people, but there are vague legends that alluded to it and they did correctly identify the shaft. It’s stuck somewhere in a desolate mountain range and is a sacred place for followers of Abydon.

Additionally @stylishanachronism made me aware of a few other relics.

4. Eye of Rymrgand

This one seems pretty self explanatory. An item from a god is about as much of a relic as something can be. The Watcher isn’t the first one to handle this thing by the way, it has its own full on legends. (Not known to us though. We only know that they exist, what they say I don’t know)

5. Betrayal

This one is the item you get in the engwithian part of BoW, and it’s a sword that sacred to Skaenites, because it has a reptutation as a deliverer of justice and freer of the condemnd.

6. Kaihoa

A sacred Huana trumpet, said to have been created by Ngati herself.

7. Waidwen’s Sundial

Again, pretty self-explanatory.

8. Tears of Saint Makawo

A criminally little explained necklace, said to contain the tears of martyr Saint Makawo from the moment of his death. As far as I’m aware it’s nowhere explained who that guy was.

-

All of the items on that list have one thing in commen: They are objects, either reverred for their own history or for their owner’s. None of these are body parts, such as bones, like is common in the real world. The one thing that comes close is the tears necklace, and that one is also not exactly something you would count as a body part.

This leads me to the conclusion that that might simply not be a thing in Eora, and it does make sense. In a world where souls are definitely and undisputably a thing, that might not be desirable. The soul of the Saint in question could very well turn up again, either as a disembodied soul or as an awakend rebirth, and object to the use of its former body. Or the soul could get stuck in the first place, which is also regarded as a terrible fate, at least when it happens accidentally. Admittedly just how opposed to the keeping of “biological relics” a faith is might vary, but especially Eothasians probably aren’t fans. 

Tears and blood might still be fine, as it can be seperated from the body without necessarily super weird, but bones are off the table.

-

Conclusion: Running around with a finger of Saint Waidwen would probably be considered bad taste at least. More likely blasphemy.

#pillars of eternity #pillars of eternity meta #relics #stylishanachronism #really a big thank you! #this is what happens when you start a joke conversation with me #also when I think about Waidwen too much #I still can't tell if that story is gonna be funny or really sad #but this really helps me get my world building down

[nnojave]

people who write extensive speculation/meta/tag essays on pillars of eternity that fill in gaps in lore: 1. thank you 2. did you know you’re the foundations of society (the…the pillars, if you will)

#pillars of eternity #posts on my main arent showing up in the tags so uhh test i guess? #anyway ill read meta posts for hours please keep writin em #i love pillars and i have a hundred mini fics written i just havent shared writing online in Literal Years maybe one day lol #im always like oh no what if my lores wrong #anyway ty pillars fans #also glad 2 see everyone is as fond of side npcs from dlcs as i am white march lives in my head rent free

[orokin-made]

Speaking of overthinking religion in the Pillars games, it’s interesting that both Skaen and Woedica, the two gods most directly associated with authority and like... society? government? civil offices? are the two gods portrayed as most directly in opposition to the player character. I don’t think they’re necessarily set up as antagonists, but out of all the gods their interactions with the Watcher seem the most negative.

I don’t know exactly what to make of it yet, or even if it was intentional or just a coincidence, I’m just having thoughts.

#poe #pillars of eternity secretly anarchist propaganda confirmed #religion meta

[dragonologist-phd]

Divinity

But Woedica is Queen over all, and when she decides the circumstances are right, she can catch a soul before it returns to the Wheel. She can remove it from this cycle and offer it something new.

Something more.

(in which there is no Watcher, the Leaden Key succeeds, and a newly restored Woedica rewards a loyal priestess. because there’s always room for another AU!)

thanks to @pillarsheadcanons for inspiring this with their question post, and thanks to @grumpy-jedi for encouraging the AU with some wonderful theories and headcanons!

(Also on AO3)

All kith are born, and all kith must die.

This is the most basic rule of the universe, the cycle that governs each and every soul. Birth, death, rebirth, on and on until the final end. The gods watch over this passage, doing their parts to preserve the order of existence.

But Woedica is Queen over all, and when she decides the circumstances are right, she can catch a soul before it returns to the Wheel. She can remove it from this cycle and offer it something new.

Something more.

 Faith is a peculiar thing.

Nona doesn’t need to be a god to know this, of course; she had spent much of her mortal life studying the concept. More than just studying. She’d spent her life full of faith, never wavering, serving the gods with every breath.

And it was a lie.

Nona does not remember the exact moment she learned the truth. In fact, she does not remember much of her actual transformation at all. What she remembers is Woedica’s voice resounding through her soul, clear and guiding, and suddenly she knows the truth- not through being told, not in words, but a simple sudden knowing.

She remembers a flurry of emotion, distant to her now- confusion, heartbreak, anger, all flooding over each other and overwhelming her soul. So many things fell into place at that moment, all the secrets and the manipulations and the lies.

She remembers the choice offered to her. There is the Wheel, and all of its relief and rebirth and re-forming, the promise of an unburdened soul in the next life. Or there is this- her Queen and her service and a new vow to be made.

And Nona remembers thinking back on her life, on the world and all of its mess and complications and hardships, and on the burning, blazing faith that pulled her through it. She is angry, yes, but would she have truly wanted it any differently? Would she have preferred to sink into corruption like her father, or to set herself adrift in the world with no purpose at all? Would she prefer now to forget it all, to let everything she has been through fade away into dust?

No. Her faith was the one thing they could never take from her, and it will not be taken now.

The moment the decision forms in her mind, Nona’s soul is seized by a bright, searing…not pain, a soul does not feel pain, not exactly. But there was a sensation, sharp and stinging and swelling within her. And then she is no longer a mere mortal- not quite a goddess of full power either, not like the others of the ancient pantheon. But she is closer than she ever has been.

The first thing she hears in her new existence is Woedica’s voice, welcoming her, ringing clear and strong as the oath that led her here.

The first thing she sees is the souls. The flickering flames of faith across all the kith of Eora. Some are low and barely burning, just ashes and kindling; some flicker and flare like candlelight; some burn fiercely, full of fire and heat. Nona sees them all, just as she sees the threads and connections that tie all of these souls together, bind them to the world and to each other and to the gods that they burn so brightly for.

And Nona knows she made the right choice.

 Thaos is waiting for her.

Nona shapes herself back into her mortal appearance- or rather, something similar to her mortal appearance. She is no longer quite as she was; a faint shimmer clings to her silhouette, and the delicate golden chains threaded around her arms and hands fill the air with a soft chime as she materializes. When she opens her eyes for the first time, they are the same green she has always had, and yet somehow darker, full of shadows . But she is still clearly Nona, and her physical vessel is more natural than she expects, like pulling on an old coat and being surprised when it still fits.

Thaos senses her a moment before she fully arrives. By the time she has formed, he is standing only a few feet away, looking at her with an expression of relief and guilt in equal measures.

But there is no surprise to be found in his face. He knows already what has happened; Woedica has told him. Nona can see that, and more. She can see the embers of his soul- nothing like the sparks and flames of other kith’s faith, but a low and steady burn, so close to dying out and yet still somehow clinging to life. She can see the threads around him- vows of heavy chains and promises of silk ribbons, linking him back to Woedica, to the Leaden Key, to the gods…to herself.

It is not that she is trying to peer into his soul; it’s not a conscious effort. She simply can.

Thaos takes a step forward, his searching eyes fixed on Nona’s face. “Now you understand.”

Nona meets his gaze. “You never told me.”

“I couldn’t.” Thaos almost moves toward her again, but halts himself. “I am sorry.”

The edges of Nona’s lips lift into a bitter smile. “Even if you could have told me, you wouldn’t have.”

“No,” he says, and his voice is heavy. “You always had so much hope. So much certainty. You deserved to keep it for as long as you could. I would not be the one to take that from you. Not if I could help it.”

This time it is Nona who steps forward, closing the distance between them. “Why? Why keep your secrets- your burden- why do it all alone, when you know I could have helped?”

“You have helped. More than you could ever know.” Thaos gives Nona a tired smile. “And I have told you before that you needn’t worry for me, Jewel.”

And in that moment Nona sees his soul once more, and all the lines and cracks and wear that time has left upon it. She sees Thaos in all of his reincarnations and all of his regrets, and she sees that he is so very tired.

Slowly, Nona lifts her hand and traces her fingers along Thaos’s cheek. “And I’ve told you that I will worry anyway.”

At her touch, Thaos leans into her hand, lifting his own to cover hers. He takes a ragged breath and closes his eyes. “Nona. You have given so much. I would not ask for more. I can only offer an apology for all I have put you through.”

“I understand, Thaos,” Nona says, and she does. Perhaps she would not have understood, had she learned the truth sooner; she cannot say for sure. But now she has seen for herself the flickering lights of faith in kiths’ souls, and she knows there is nothing she would not do to prevent them from being extinguished. “And I forgive you.”

A deep sigh escapes Thaos’s lips at those words, and Nona can sense some of the tension leave him, although the guilt is still there. She shakes her head at the feeling, and whispers, “And you must realize that you have given me so much more than just that.”

And Nona tilts her head up and kisses him, a kiss like so many they have had before and yet it could almost feel like their first. A part of Nona had been afraid of…she’s not sure of what, exactly. Afraid that it would all feel different. But this is still Thaos, still the man she loves, warm and real as he kisses her back, his hands shifting to run through her hair. Nona wraps her arms around his neck to pull him closer, and it is as if nothing at all has changed- save that she is vaguely aware that her faint shimmer has strengthened to a silvery glow, but she does not mind.

When they break away, Nona smiles, and for a moment she feels the low-burning embers of Thaos’s soul flare up just a little bit brighter.

#pillars of eternity #deity!au #ch: nona #thaos ix arkannon #thaos #woedica #otp: blessings #oof i have so many thoughts im gonna ramble a little in the tags now #this was gonna be a really short snippet but nona had SO much to say about this #and it turns out i really love the concept of a god whose domain is faith itself? so much meta #and i also love the concept of mortals who become gods and are still mostly themselves but also different #in a way thats not easily explained but really uncanny #like she's nona but a little to the left #and then all these revelations about the LK and Thaos #which i think are easier for her to process as a goddess #and i wish so badly i had any artisitc talent at all bc i would love to draw out my hc image of her #with the chains and threads draped around her #that would be Symbol i think #a tied thread to represent vows and connections #anyway her appearance is a weird intersection of creepy avatars from the magnus archives #and yvain's glowing in stardust #i dont why thats what came to mind but here we are #now im gonna go listen to 'take me to church' some more while i get actual chores done #sorry for the excessive tags

[dreamerinsilico]

⭐️

Okay!  I thought I was going to have a hard time picking a piece to work with, but it turns out it was pretty easy.  

This is for Chapter 4 of Relentless Splinters I Recall, my (slowly) ongoing Pillars of Eternity longfic.

–

I picked this chapter to talk about because it’s one of the more nonlinearly-developed chunks of my writing, and I think that makes the process interesting!  And also I’m proud of it.

Chapter summary: The Watcher (Acantha) and her party have returned to Gilded Vale after venturing out after a potion for Calisca’s pregnant sister.  Acantha and Eder chat in the tavern taproom, and Acantha takes an opportunity to perform.

This chapter started in my head not as a progression of events, but the knowledge that it would basically span one evening in the taproom with Acantha and Eder, and I had some notes/points I wanted to hit over the course of that evening, one of which was small and silly, the others less so:

Reference the fandom meme about Aloth hurting his ankle/generally getting injured

State the outcome/choice of Aufra’s quest (which happened “offscreen”), establishing some characterization details for Acantha in the process

Have Acantha and Eder discuss some philosophical and lifestyle differences between their cultures (which basically ended up being worldbuilding because we even now have very little info about the White that Wends)

Showcase the suspicion against Eothas/Eothasians that’s been steadily climbing in the area, and have Acantha react to it

3 and 4 are the meaty ones, here.  #4 ended up being what the chapter structure revolved around, and what took the most work to insert, because I wanted it to be a bit more subtle than someone giving Eder shit for being Eothasian, or similar.  

The game itself is rich with tavern songs, and the alteration of common cultural touchstones (from songs to superheros) can be a major way of tracking value shifts or efforts to effect such value shifts in the real world.  So!  …. Well, obviously I need to write some ballads.  When I’m reading about this kind of thing in novels, I always like/respect it more if the author made the effort to write the actual song/poem/story in this kind of situation.  

The line “and morning shall banish the night” just kind of popped into my head at some point along this brainstorming route as a conclusion line to a ballad that Lord Raedric would have ordered changed (given that it could be construed as a reference to Eothas).  I knew I wanted some rhyming involved, and an obvious rhyme for “night” is “light”, with bonus thematic opposition.  I decided that it made sense for the Dyrwood to have a popular song commemorating its secession and independence from the Aedyran empire, and that it would be particularly easy to incorporate the elements I’d already decided on because Magran, goddess of fire and war, is the dominant deity in the region.  

Then it basically came down to “I can’t find an overall rhyme scheme I like for all these other elements that ‘Dyrwoodan independence’ implies, so let’s do it in blank verse (non-rhyming iambic pentameter) and just rhyme the last line of each stanza.  I wrote the whole thing, and there’s a singer performing it throughout the first 2/3 or so of the chapter, with verses interspersed between bits of conversation between Acantha and Eder.

Eder points out the line change at the end, and then Acantha gets up to perform a translated ballad from her homeland, which she hopes might offer a thematic parable in opposition to what is, effectively, an on-going witch hunt in Gilded Vale.

I really, really didn’t want to write this whole thing because the story I came up with would have made for a long one - huntress leads an search-and-rescue mission that gradually fails to paranoia and suspicion sown by agents of Rymrgand, god of entropy/decay/the inevitable heat death of the universe/etc.  But I had a nice, rhyming idea for a refrain that came to mind fairly easily, and decided to write out one verse and justify its relatively free-form structure by pointing out that it’s a translation from the original, then paraphrase the rest.

All this gave me a very easy, natural framework for cultural exchange conversation between Acantha and Eder, and the chapter fell together pretty quickly after that!

#memes #on writing #relentless splinters i recall #pillars of eternity #fic meta #thanks for memeing me! #acantha