#tide cleric

[dyzzythedemon]

Tide Sirenbreath! Sister to Courage.

#ndw #dnd #peace domain cleric #dungeons and dragons art #oc #original character #tide sirenbreath

[lalonderose]

d&d posting in tags. session ended less than an hour ago my brain go crazy

#txt it #personal #in tonight’s session my dm expected at LEAST a half party kill bc we were all below max hp with few resources #and going into an abyssal portal opening fighting potential cr8-9 enemies at party level 7 #SOMEHOW we did it in like 8 turns total winning with ONE party member knocked down and we picked him back up #but we fight a t-rex and someone almost gets one-shot if not for death ward 🙄 #anyway!! #last session was 3 mini sessions bc party was split so in mine my character went to a church in the city to seek help from the clergy #(she’s a cleric) #and they gave her this yellow milkweed and told her to channel her emotions into it then pray on this altar they set up freakily fast. #so she put her emotions into the flower then prayed and it was an intense experience. she relived transferring her divinity to her (cont) #(/cont) angelic guide and saw how he lived from the experience. she saved him from strahd. this is not curse of strahd. #then in this session she starts combat off by a pep speech in which she says if anyone can do this they can. then says a quick prayer #and the flower burns away #we kill most of the shits then a couple big baddies come from the rift and the tide is starting to turn against us #even though they’re all weakened #then time stops and all of a sudden my character and our paladin’s angelic guides descend from the sky #the paladin’s guide goes INTO the rift and my guide seals it behind him but it isn’t fully closed it just isn’t spitting more #then we finish killing shit and my guide asks for help. my character puts her hand on him and his wing which strahd cut off regrows #the portal seals. a second passes. my character hugs their guide and cries a little bit in relief and pent up fear #bc until about an hour earlier she didn’t know if he was alive!!! #he hugs her and cries too. when they pull away from the hug instead of her tiefling horns she has glowing white elk horns a white nose tip #and white freckles. the horns fade after a moment but the nose and freckles stay. and my dm says she is one step closer to becoming a patron #bc PREVIOUSLY her guide prayed TO HER #and she permanently sacrificed one charge of channel divinity #so endgame is looking like her becoming a god #ALSO we get TWO!!! levels from that session! #we were level 7 literally for over a year bc of friend group drama that lead to our dm needing a personal break #so next sesh we are level 9

[hup123hup123slapslap]

So a thought has been kicking around my head for a bit...what if Helio knew exactly what he was signing up for by making Kristen his chosen one?

It has always struck me as odd that when describing Doreen in Helioic heaven, Brennan mentioned her flirting with men and women. It also strikes me as odd that Kristen never got any pushback from Helio about turning her back on him. Even if he was similarly 'out of the picture' like sol was while Arthur was wrecking havoc, Kristen's powers should have faded when she fully committed to not worshipping him. You need to worship a god to get powers, and this is emphasized heavily in the latest episode. Kristen worshipping the vague idea of religion but Definitely Not Helio just doesn't cut it. Sure, taking away a PCs powers wasn't really in the cards in season one, but Brennan works very well and very caringly with what he has to establish as canon.

Kristen was looking for a reason to drop Helio from the get-go. His frat boy appearance and non-answer to a nearly impossible question didn't truly matter at the core of her feelings. She wanted an out from the prison she was trapped in with the Helioic faith, even if she didn't realize it fully. She had tension with her mom and her ideals from the scene one! She wanted to connect with people the church actively shunned. Helio was never the true problem.

Now, gods are shaped by their worshippers. So on some level Helio is shaped by people with shitty ideals. But there's still a foothold of good, especially if there are out and proud gays in heaven. Especially if Kristen Applebees of all people is the chosen one.

When you have worshippers misinterpreting your whole deal, going with Sol's shitty messaging and transferring it onto you and using it for bad things, what can you do as a god? Because you ARE what they say you are. So how can you fight back?

Well. You make your chosen one someone that embodies your true heart. Someone that can actually turn the tides of your worship.

There is an emphasis on tracker reinventing and revitalizing her religion. Changing it for the better. Taking the old and not tossing it out, but making it better.

Isn't that what Kristen struggles with the most? That's what she needs to learn how to do.

Tracker also established that she can worship multiple gods when she helped with Yes?. Kristen doesn't need to settle for one even if she (fingers crossed) brings Kassandra back.

Because the season opened with the slow apocalypse of endless night. Endless daytime would end similarly. There has to be a balance. They are two sides of the same coin. Day and night. The surety of the sun and the doubt of the shadows.

Kristen wants both. And she can fucking have it if she decides to.

Ally once said they appreciate that the enemy is always the church. Organized religion. Kristen is perfect for disorganized religion though. Chill frat boy vibes and anxious doubts and the ultimate message of 'just do your best'.

I think religious trauma is a compelling, close to the heart topic for a lot of people. And some turn away from religion entirely and wash their hands of it. But some people don't. Kristen is a cleric. She can't. She wants a god, she wants answers, and she just can't find them in the established community she was raised in. That doesn't mean the core of her religion was wrong. The church was. So you take the religion and you harness it in a way that means something to you.

Maybe Kristen being desperate enough to invite Helio back into her life is what this has all been leading to.

She can remake a god. She's done it before. Because Kassandra was good at the core. Maybe Helio can be too.

#dimension 20 #kristen applebees #junior year #fantasy high #fantasy high junior year #i come from a religious upbringing and am very much not religious as a result #but dang people from a traumatic religious upbringing that maintain belief in the god but not the toxic teachings are very cool and valid

[bonefall]

i know u dont rework arcs untill theyre complete but im very excited to see what you do with a starless clan, theres so much exciting things happening in this arc to work with. do you have any changes you already know for sure you’ll be incorporating?

No for-sures. I don't want to make any for-sures. I have ones I'm feeling but I don't want to call ANYTHING a for-sure yet. I need to find out what the ending is, WHERE this is all going, because I have a strong philosophy in my writing that a story is like a spear;

IT'S ALL ABOUT GETTING TO THE POINT.

But we are 4/6 of the way in, so I CAN start talking about thoughts!

I'm actually leaning pretty heavily towards axing Nightheart as a POV. There's still time for the books to turn around and justify it, BUT HEAR ME OUT

(Saying AS someone who is a Nightheart Enjoyer)

So far I'm really feeling that his character would benefit from us never being inside of his head, or seeing what he's been going through. As much as I WILL stand by that I enjoyed books 1 and 2 and liked his perspectives there, I'm starting to think that it would serve the story a lot better for Sunbeam and Frostpaw to be guessing just as much as we are.

We'd get introduced to Nightheart on the journey for catmint.

Sunbeam connects with him immediately, because she's tossed on this mission while she's in the middle of a swirling tide of drama. With nothing but Clerics and a hardened Rootspring to the left and her ex-bestie (exstie) to the right, he's really her only other choice for companionship. She's chronically unable to stop problems before they get out of hand, the sort of person who becomes frozen by indecision, and then here comes this Glorious Bastard

In her eyes, he's so caring, and bold, and fun! He's the first one to jump headlong into danger, to really be interested in her problems and just let her talk, and his story is so heartbreaking! A mother who's so hard on him... and his Clan is so mean all the time, but he wants to prove to all of them that he's more than just Firestar's descendant... but he was so brave to choose his own name.................

And then, when she follows him into ThunderClan, she learns he fucking lied. She changed Clans based on SOB STORIES

When she first comes, no one knows what he's been saying behind their back. Even if they did, they don't want to start trashing Nightheart right to his new mate's face. But then he LEAVES, and Sunbeam will bring up,

"Maybe it was because you were hard on him?"

And then Sparkpelt tries to agree, just to take blame onto herself and stop all this, but Finchlight's had eNOUGH and ends up setting the record straight;

"No this is DEFINITELY another tantrum. He already ran off once before."

"NO he didn't pick his own name, he stopped the whole ceremony to complain and Bramblestar gave him a compromise"

"MEAN to him?? I had to do HIS WORK because he couldn't STAY ON THE GROUND"

"Oh he's buckling under the weight of his legacy? that must be so hard. I was cat-fifteen when i punched my first fascist and he was wearing the face of my grandpa."

"His mom aba-WHAT?? ABANDONED???? OUR MOTHER WAS EXILED AND HE STAYED HOME!!!!! WE WERE CAT-FIFTEEN!!"

With this false hope shattered, Sunbeam is thrown into a devastating situation where... her mother was right. She was tricked. And now she's stuck in this new Clan without any of her old friends, without this mate who was too-good-to-be-true, the ONE impulsive choice she's made on her own in her WHOLE LIFE turns to ashes in her mouth. She can't go back, either, because Berryheart would NEVER let her live this down.

But... it's okay.

It's a slow shock, to make a choice SO impulsive and SO self-concerned, and find a safety net below her. It's going to be okay. The trials are fair. The cats of ThunderClan interrupt and speak over each other, but, that teaches her to be more assertive. Sparkpelt and Finchlight are not the mean assholes that Nightheart built them up to be, and they'll support her no matter what she chooses to do with her possible mate.

I want Nightheart TO get better, but, in order for that to happen, he has to face, and, more importantly, ACCEPT consequences. He needs to develop the maturity to say, "I acted like a brat and didn't appreciate what I had. and I'm sorry. you don't have to forgive me."

Bottom line being, Nightheart is striking me lately as a character that works best as unpredictable, because we have NO IDEA what's truly in his head. It would be interesting for him to have a novella later, but as it stands, his POV has consistently just been a duplicate since he joined ShadowClan. We gained NOTHING from splitting the Frostpaw Journey of the newest book in half POV, and VERY little from splitting the ShadowClan one into half POV.

I might reduce the POVs to 2, just Sunbeam and Frostpaw, or change Nightheart's to Lightleap. If I NEED 3 main characters, then they should all be a consistent camera on different parts of the conflict.

Again. I do not commit to changes until the arcs are done. Nothing in BB!ASC is set yet.

But here's some other little things I'm thinking,

Bramblestar is VOTED out.

He does not step down. The little "game" he played with Nightheart to create a situation to yell at Squilf, who hasn't been his mate in a long time in BB, was the LAST straw for ThunderClan.

They had sympathy for him before that point, because of what he went through with Ashfur, but his leadership was long and controversial even before the Impostor.

And there's a really strong sentiment that IF Bramblestar had been a good leader... they would have realized he was possessed sooner. So, there are those who partially blame him for the tyranny of the Impostor.

Basically; enough is enough.

Berryheart's hate group has ACTUAL consequences. Someone gets killed; probably Antfur, who survived the last arc to die here.

More fights. This arc has been too bloodless. Already planning SEVERAL sudden, random brawls in RiverClan as tensions boil.

Heartstar is going to be MORE controversial. Not controversial enough in canon imo. I don't like how Leaf and Squilf seem like they have "hypothetical" issues with the invasion instead of being able to point at REAL ones.

riverclan didn't forget how to do the chores they've done their WHOLE lives, no. I'm going to talk about POWER VACUUMS and create ACTUAL factions that begin to coagulate in RiverClan.

if we're going to have a brainless plot about how "Well Ackshually democracy has enough problems to make us reconsider not having unaccountable, tyrannical dictators, because a vote could maybe be called over One Single Issue" then I'll talk about shit like the spoiler effect, mob mentality, and factionalism. Get the hell out of my way ERIN I'll cook

No Smoky. Society has progressed past the need for Smoky. No Smokyng Area.

Whistlepaw should to try and take care of her ALONE, not trained enough to take care of SUCH bad wounds and barely able to keep her trembling paws straight, and Frostpaw realizes that she's making her watch her own friend die.

Is this how her life is going to end? slipping away under the paws of someone she loves, for what? pride? to do what her mother told her-- trust no cat?

As she TRUSTS Whistlepaw? Trusts her SO much, that Frostpaw will force her to be the only witness to her death?

FROSTPAW CALLS THE HUMAN

...which in BB, is a team of researchers. She drags herself to them, and collapses. This is why they just HAPPENED to have the proper equipment on them; they're WILDLIFE VETS.

Not sure how I'm going to handle Frostpaw's Journey though. In BB, the Park Cats are already a foundational part of Clan Culture.

In all honesty, while I HAVE to praise the fact that the Erins have FINALLY created ONE outsider group that isn't malicious or defenseless... I don't much care for them.

sending frostpaw on a side quest to what's essentially a big DOTC reference. Look! It's that group we introduced in the last 5 chapters of our latest glorified recap! cooool.

We're just going to get nothing but fucking founders in every dream from now on. I'm SURE of it.

As a consolation prize to myself though I will be writing cool angel scenes of the absolute BEING that Riverstar has become in heaven.

Riverstar (normal cat): "Elder Bones I'm going out!"

"not dressed like THAT you're not!!!"

Riverstar (the manifestation of the river, the rain in the sky above, and the abyss below, and how through water we are all truly connected as one being): "better?"

I will probably keep the Park Cats and rework them significantly, but I'm leaning pretty heavily towards Frostpaw visiting a LOT of places. A holy pilgrimage.

ESPECIALLY one of the Tribe's three wards; the River Ward. The Tribe of Rushing Water believes (it's even in the name) that water connects all things.

So I think it would be really fitting for Frostpaw to learn from MANY perspectives, starting with this philosophy put forth by the River Ward.

And she realizes-- that's what Riverstar is, as well. As a being. He is mentoring her on this pilgrimage, while barely saying a word. She can feel him wherever she is, because he isn't JUST the God of the River.

He is connection. He is peace. He's water. Too much and you'd drown, not enough and you'd thirst.

#BB!ASC #better bones au #Bone babble

[nana-glass-chillhop-radio-hour]

Look i know the Parish of Tides and Flesh is in no way meant to be an analog of like contemporary evangelical Christianity but imagine how unstoppable Faulkner would be if he could quote the Verses at people and just clobbertext his clerical rivals

#the silt verses #like he would 'well actually tHe sCrIpTuRe sAyS' the high katabasian so fucking hard if that option was available to him

[merovingian-marvels]

Terp/Thorp/Wierde/Warft/Værft

Most commonly known as “Terp”, by origin a Frisian word, Terps are actually known in a few places. Hang on tight, this is a long one.

The water rich lands of Dutch provinces Zeeland/Frisia (Terp) and Groningen (Wierde) - German regions Nordfriesland and Ostfriesland (Warft) and southern Denmark (Wærft) were in need of such constructions for basic quality of life.

Because the tides could freely enter the lower lands beyond the shoreline, life was to be lived intermittently. When the land was dry, sheep could graze the salt marsh. When water rose, people would retreat to the Terp.

A Terp can be made up out of a single church or farm/house to an entire small village. Concentrations of small Terps making up a village also exist. They are often surrounded by a salt marsh rampart (Kwelderwal).

Terps were made by plaggen. The top of sandy soils was taken out in little cubes, including the vegetation. The plag was then dried and compacted and stacked on top of each other, which causes an artificial hill allowing to build on.

Terp is also the Old-Frisian word which originates the Dutch word for village. Frisian culture allowed to spread because of their specialization in sheep’s wool. With most agricultural crops not being suited for salt marshes, and with the land flooded half of the day, lots of time was spent in producing high quality and highly sought after wool. This made the Frisians and especially the Terp people very rich, as seen in treasures, burials and clerical art.

Lots of Terps have been destroyed for peat mining or lost after abandonment.

Image above: Hogebeintum (Hegebeintum (Frisian), formerly known as Westerbintheim).

The largest known Terp in the Netherlands and Germany with 8,80 m above sea level.

Central is the church, on the right the historic village, the sheep pastures during floods and the encircling salt march rampart. Everything outside the rampart used to flood.

#frankish #merovingian #viking archaeology #archaeology #carolingian #charlemagne #field archaeology #viking mythology #merovingian archaeology #germanic mythology #norse mythology #anglo saxon #viking #field archaeologist #frisian #odin #vikings #germanic #germanic folklore #germanic archaeology #wodan #anglo saxon archaeology #history #jewelry #norse

[xthescarletbitch]

truth or dare || minthara x reader

18+, minors do NOT interact

cw: mentions of alcohol, pda (and astarion is here for it), minthara actually lets reader take the lead on something, and suggestive language at the end :)

word count: 1100+

author's note: okay, i could not help myself. i have been having some pretty bad minthy brainrot. i’m not even sure if truth or dare is a thing for them, but who cares? i can write whatever i want. this work is partially proofread, and contains some of my guesswork as to how the characters would act (i am only in act 2, and still learning). i’m also trying to practice intimate scenes, so bear with me! oh, and the campsite in mind for this fic is the one you go to in the ruined battlefield of act 2.

the fire crackled in front of you as you peered around at your surroundings. all your companions were sitting around the fire as well, raising chalices of alcoholic beverages and giggling at various anecdotes. it was a moment of pure relaxation; no screams of battle, blood dripping off your weapons, or dreaded enemies ready to turn the tides in their favour. you could chill for a moment and take the time to close your eyes without fear of being stabbed in the back. you were happily in your head, enjoying the warmth emitted by the flames against your skin. 

shadowheart, who was sitting next to you, tapped her fingers on your shoulder. you snapped out of your peace for a moment to see what was up.

“do you want to play truth or dare?” the cleric asked, taking a sip of her wine. 

you thought about it for a few seconds. you’ve only heard of the game once before but never played it. it seemed like fun, though. 

you nodded to shadowheart, who raised her chalice up to astarion, who must’ve been the one to suggest it. 

“alright, so everybody is in!” 

~

after a few random confessions and dares, it came to be your turn. 

“okay, truth or dare?” astarion questioned, a smirk splayed across his face, looking like he was ready to cause some chaos.  

“dare,” you expressed, feeling a bit confident in your choice—it couldn’t be too bad, right? 

“i dare you…,” astarion paused for a moment, studying your companions' faces, almost as if looking for a target. “i dare you to kiss our drow friend.”

that certainly got the attention of everybody, who lowered their cups and turned to you, eager to witness your reaction. you could have easily declined, but that would ruin the fun of the game, and you knew you wouldn’t live it down. 

still, you looked down at your lap and took a moment to consider your next words and actions. you looked up to meet minthara’s gaze to see if there were any objections, and as far as you could tell, there were none.  

you nodded, “alright.”

astarion’s eyes widened at your response, almost as if he didn’t actually expect you to accept. his shocked expression was quickly replaced by a shit-eating smirk, though, as he placed himself in a better position to see the next sequence of events. 

it felt like the whole camp was staring at you when you got up off your bottom and onto your knees, crawling slowly toward minthara, who was directly opposite of you. she sat on a cloth with her legs out in front of her and her hands holding her up as she leaned back. 

you kept your eyes fixated on hers, studying her face as you got closer. you couldn’t imagine her being nervous, but you sure were. and it’s not like you haven’t thought about this moment before, wondering how the drow’s lips tasted on your own. 

for a moment, it seemed like she had the same thought before. 

never one to make a bold move, you felt a surge of confidence when you reached minthara. she maintained her stance as you crawled over her, situating yourself to where you were sitting in her lap. not once did your eyes leave hers, either. her eyes held a certain lust, almost as if begging for you to get the deed done already. 

the sound of the gasps and chatter around the campfire sounded drowned out as you steadied yourself more comfortably on minthara’s lap. at that moment, your sole focus was her and those delicious-looking lips. 

it didn’t take long for you to lift your hands and place them behind her neck, intertwining them and pulling her slightly closer. as if teasing you both, you pulled slowly, and as your faces neared each other, minthara tried to speed up the process by leaning in. 

finally, you felt your lips make contact, and a fire started in your belly. her lips felt even softer and tasted even sweeter than you had expected for such a frigid exterior. 

pulling her closer, you wanted to taste her even more. you took the time to savour her lips and run your tongue over them. it just felt so right, addicting even, and better than all the scenarios in your head. you could absolutely get carried away with it. 

you were grounded back to reality when you felt her place her hands on your hips to hold you in place. the kiss grew even more heated, eliciting slight moans from both of you, who had definitely forgotten where you were and who you were surrounded by. it didn’t matter though, not now. 

“okay, okay,” a voice interrupted the moment. astarion. “you’ve done the dare beautifully. you can stop now.” 

you cursed the vampire under your breath as you pulled away from minthara’s lips. you shared one more moment of gazing into each other’s eyes before crawling back off her. 

everybody else went right back to chattering, but you couldn’t get over the insane moment that you had just experienced. you kept replaying the moment in your head as you made your way back to your spot. as you got settled, you noticed the game continue on, almost as if the kiss didn’t just happen.

you stared at the fire for a few moments, ignoring the other dares being thrown around. for a second, you wondered if minthara was feeling the rush you still were and thought about glancing up to see. 

your eyes wandered from the fire to the drow, and you were met with her eyes fixated on you. this made your cheeks even warmer. you had no idea if it happened to be a coincidence or if she had been staring at you all along. 

whatever confidence you felt before was now stripped away from her gaze, so you looked back to the fire for the remainder of the game.

~ 

later that night, when it was time to rest, you found that you were having some difficulties. you figured that you might as well do a few chores to tire yourself out, so you ventured to the decrepit house up the hill. 

before tidying things, the magic mirror in the corner caught your eye. you looked in it for a moment and positioned it in a way that made better sense for the layout of the room. as you finalised the repositioning, you saw in the reflection minthara, standing in the doorway of the place. 

no words were spoken, just minthara approaching you slowly and keeping her eyes locked onto yours. a small smirk came across her face as she got closer to you. you couldn’t bring yourself to move, so you just stayed still, curious about her motive. 

she only grabbed your hips and pushed you against the wall behind you, leaning closer to whisper in your ear: “i yearn to taste more of you.”

#minthara #minthara baenre #nightwarden minthara #minthara x reader #minthara baenre x reader #nightwarden minthara x reader #baldur's gate 3 x reader #bg3 x reader #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #minthara baldur's gate 3 #baldur's gate 3 minthara #minthara bg3 #bg3 minthara #my writing

[writeious-hand]

Holding Out for a Hero: Part 1

"Fine, I'll do it myself"

After watching the D&D movie yesterday, I have had *brain rot* for Xenk Yendar. And no fic has been posted. I want romance. And you know what they say - If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. Probably will be multiple parts if the writing bug bites again.

Please be kind, I haven't published fanfic in years, and never on Tumblr.

After defeating Sofina and saving Neverwinter from the Wizards of Thay, the Thieves did try to lead a normal life.

Honestly.

However, it wasn't a surprise when on more than one occasion, Thay assassins showed up to try and kill them. So often in fact, that they had to constantly travel in order to stay ahead of their hunters, who would reanimate within hours of being killed, no matter how bloody Holga or Doric made the scene. They had made an enemy of Szass Tam after all, and he was not the forgiving sort.

Finding a letter on the corpse of their last assassin (they had taken to "liberating" all of their would-be killers' belongings before they were able to revive, as it really delayed the next time they would meet) showed that the tide of undead assassins would not be slowing any time soon. By order of Szass Tam, they were to be killed in the most painful ways imaginable with a mighty prize to whoever was successful.

So Edgin and the troop once again tracked down the illustrious Xenk Yendar to find a way to put the assassins in the ground, permanently. You couldn't always count on an overfed dragon to do the job for you.

"What do you mean, a cleric? Clerics are healers!"

Xenk turned to face Edgin. "Clerics are the holy warriors of the gods. They can use the light to perform miracles, yes, but they also can harness the gifts they have been given against the undead in ways unparalleled by even the mightiest warrior or wizard."

"For the record," Simon spoke up from behind Edgin, "I also thought they just stayed in their temples healing people. So do we just stay at one until they catch up with us again?"

While it would offer the party safety, as temples are normally built or given hallowed ground and no undead can step foot there, it was decided (mainly by Edgin) that they would have to set a trap if they wanted these assassins gone for good. And they would need a cleric. The only connection they had to a holy order was the Emerald Enclave, who supposedly had dealings in the past with a traveling cleric.

There had been a small faction of the Church of Eternal Winter which had frozen a swath of land in their forest. This cleric had come through and removed the taint of Auril and in return was given a seedling of their largest oak tree and a promise of a place to rest whenever they passed through the area. According to Doric, the cleric was an elf, though she didn't know which god she was in service to. The last time they had passed through was before Doric was born.

Their journey brought them to Loudwater, the city of grottos. In searching and questioning in the section of the city populated by elves, they did not receive a warm welcome. Asking around at the many temples of Lathander and other woodland gods, there were no clerics who traveled or were willing to leave on such a dangerous quest. The party upon exiting was stopped by an orcish man.

"Sounds like Lyra. Why are you looking for her anyway?" He looked the party up and down with suspicion. "She hasn't done anything wrong."

Edgin served his role as face of the party. "No, of course not, it's just that-"

"We heard she can kill our enemies."

"HOLGA!"

After the misunderstanding was cleared, the orc who introduced himself as Zedroar Brittlebone brought them out to the Forestview Gate and into the town of tents and other less permanent structures where the orcs who labored in the fields had lived for a long time.

"Lyra's been here for a while now, keeps saying she'll leave soon but always finds a reason to stay. Says there are stories left to be told but I think she'll just miss us."

As they passed through the camp they could see the relaxed atmosphere of the community that had been built. Ahead on the path, there was a whole crowd of children orcish, human, and a few mixed in of other races and combinations. They were all sitting around on blankets or each other, listening to a woman tell a story.

"And the mighty warrior let out a fierce roar, saying You'll never get her, fiend!" The children squealed with excitement and laughed at her attempt at a deep heroic voice. She was elven, most likely a sun-elf with her golden complexion. At the sight of her, Xenk began slowly backtracking but was caught by Edgin.

"What are you doing?"

"I never should have come here." His eyes never left her.

"What are you talking about? Do you know her?"

Xenk was able to pull his eyes away, and look into Edgin's soul. "If she sees me with you, she will never agree to help."

"Now wait just a minute."

"It is high time for me to return to Mornbyrn's Shield"

"You are afraid of her." Edgin knew he was right, when Xenk stopped struggling to get away.

"i am not afraid," Now Xenk wouldn't look him in the eye, "I just don't wish to reopen old wounds."

"Come on, man. We need both of you if this is going to work. Take it from someone who has had to deal with their past catching up to them almost constantly for the past few years. The only way to get closure, for whatever happened, is to face it head-on." Edgin reached a hand to where Xenk had taken cover behind one of the wooden buildings. "I'm sure she's probably forgotten about it, since you both have been around for a long time."

Approaching the group, their other companions turned to face them.

"Where were you guys?" Holga looked them both up and down suspiciously.

"Good news," Simon smiled, "Lyra agreed to help us, right?"

The elven woman turned around from gathering her things and saying goodbye to some of the children. The casual smile on her face fell as she locked eyes with the paladin.

"Xenk"

"Alariel"

#xenk yendar #xenk the paladin #honor among thieves #dungons and dragons #fanfic #OC #dnd hat #non canon #szass tam #multiple parts? #delete later maybe #xenk x oc #hofah hat 1

[12pt-times-new-roman]

lore! lore! lore! (but first, some class updates)

Quay has at least 3 warlock levels, and at least 2 eldritch invocations. They took the Pact of the Talisman pact.

Laerryn is an abjuration wizard. In order for her to have a DC 20 spell save at this level, her all-purpose tool (usually reserved for artificers) has to be +2.

Zerxus has the Inspiring Leader feat.

Nydas has at least 9 bard levels.

Patia is an Order of Scribes wizard. (edit after the wrap-up: she's actually an enchantment wizard! but she does have access to effectively the entire wizard spell list.)

Laerryn wasn't trying to move Avalir to another plane permanently, she was trying to allow its arcane engines to transport it to another plane (and back) at will. This is fucking crazy, because leylines — which Avalir uses as roads, essentially — are the lifeblood of the universe, the veins of Exandria itself, the tides and streams of magic as it moves across the world. To take those paths and extend them into other planes is an astronomical feat that could only be achieved during an apogee solstice, which is fast approaching. She's essentially attempting to upgrade Avalir's hyperdrive.

There's a series of batteries in the city that stores 25% of its total arcane power. This is the energy used for the replenishment, as part of a deal made between the druidic founders of the unified city and the mages who wanted to split it in half and raise Avalir into the sky — they could raise the city, as long as they reserved 25% of their power and used it to replenish the land every 7 years. It's essentially their lighting bill. But the engine absorbed 8% of the city's total energy when Laerryn planeshited a small object to another plane. And when she did that, a surge of power cascaded across the city that felt like what happens when Avalir crosses over a convergence of leylines.

Apparently, planeshift wasn't really a thing at this time, I guess? Maybe the Calamity weakened the barriers between planes so much that it allowed that spell to be created, or maybe Laerryn's device is the reason that the barriers are weak enough to cast planeshift.

Today, one engine — the arboreal calyx — is taking over 50% of the city's reserves (about 13% of the city's total energy) and syphoning it somewhere. It was built almost immediately after the Raven Queen's ascension, when the druidic founders of the city amended the original agreement.

Avalir holds the "tree of names." This is a "central artifact of Avalir, something that the Eyes of Avalir must eternally guard... the tree of names doesn't get talked about as much anymore, because it was protected 120 years ago by the arboreal calyx." The engine surrounds and protects the tree, drawing power for something — and in Zerxus' dream, Evandrin walked towards a tree in Asmodeus' palm, so Zerxus believes that Evandrin was killed by the calyx in some way (he got sick, began to cough up incorporeal matter, and slowly faded away into nothingness over time). Evandrin had a file inside this box of records dealing with Chloras and the tree, and the file was empty.

(I think that the Tree of Names bears the true name of the Raven Queen, the previous god of death, and possibly the Luxon as well. There's got to be a reason why Luis' name was underneath the Luxon pendant in the intro, and Evandrin's death sounds very much like the cases of mages who attempted to move through time using the beacons.)

Whatever Vespin Chloras' ritual was 2 weeks ago, it succeeded at something. When the Betrayers were banished in the Founding, they were so far removed from the Prime Material Plane that they couldn't even grant spells to their followers — but whatever Chloras did, it allowed Asmodeus to create a puppet of a cleric with spellcasting capabilities. The Infernal word for puppet had not been spoken in Exandria since the founding, because it denoted someone who was driven to eldritch madness by a Betrayer, because when you have no need for your worshipers to survive, what limit is there to the amount of power you imbue within them?

"It against the greatest virtue of this age to believe that which is achievable by one is not achievable by all." It was Elaina Tuveras' belief that a future ritual would not dethrone a Prime Deity as the Raven Queen's did, but would instead dethrone a Betrayer God in order to remove a malevolent presence in the world. So maybe, just maybe, Vespin Chloras didn't have bad intentions, just hubris. Maybe he wasn't trying to release or become one, but to replace one with something "better." What better way would there be to drive home the theme of EXU:C, that hubris and complacency have devastating consequences?

"What's the biggest, dumbest statue in here? It's mine now. I cast Summon Construct." I fuckin' love Laerryn. Also, first initiative of the series!

They found a bunch of historical documents pertaining to the druidic founders of the city, who established the Tree of Names in Avalir. After the ascension of the Raven Queen, the druids came aboard the city and built the arboreal calyx around the tree to protect it; a letter sent by the druids to the magister essentially said that they could not trust the wizards of Avalir with the secrets of the tree's true nature, because they would see all that they could do with it, and not what they could do for it.

The head of the Hall of Prophecy broke her arcane focus, ended her ability to use arcane magic, and "renounced magic altogether" because she experienced visions of the Calamity. On the day that Vespin Chloras completed his ritual, oracles started going mad.

The devil that Zerxus saw in his dream was, in fact, Asmodeus. There is a lot here, and it's something that I can only call a confession. But if anything is to be trusted, if there is any shard of truth, I think it lies in this idea: the Betrayers gave gifts of lies, deceit, betrayal, and hunger, but when they did, they did believe that they were gifts. They are objectively evil creatures who have done objectively evil things, but their subjective intentions may have always been in line with those of the Prime Deities: to better their creations, in any way they knew how. That's another recurring theme in EXU:C that I'm seeing: the disconnect between intentions, consequences, and actions, and how they are obscured by confidence to the point of hubris.

The oracles' first prophecy of the Calamity, deemed false: The stars are leaving us. Our hands cannot reach. The limbs of the tree can no longer scribe the name of our deliverance. We will soon be as broken as our promises. Soon, Avalir shall fall, all shall fall, and from our folly the hands that forged the world will banish themselves from the broken things that they have made.

#critical role #critical role liveblog #critical role exu #exu #exu calamity #exu spoilers #note watches c3

[kiwianacats]

This blog’s not dead yet, hurruh! I’m back with a fleshed out map of Duskclan’s territory; I’m planning on making Dawnclan’s next and then piecing them together.

This was actually a lot of fun to make! Difficult to know where/how to start but I think I executed it the way I wanted to. I’ve left a long rambley guide of each landmark in the description below :)

(Quick disclaimer; this is likely not a realistic depiction of NZ geography/ecology, I did very little legitimate research outside of loosely referencing the environments I’m familiar with. This is very much a passion project based largely in fantasy lmao)

Duskclan’s territory is situated within temperate rainforest/native NZ bushland. It lies on the coast and has a significant portion of its border against the sea; in its eastern portion bordering Dawnclan the river splits as it meets the ocean creating wetlands known as the Riverlands by the clans. Duskclan has no western border, their territory extending out into the wild bush indefinitely (although they rarely, if ever, travel further west than the expanses of the map)

Duskclan’s Camp: Situated in a hollow in the crest of a hill that slopes towards the rivers and Duskclan’s territory (full post: https://www.tumblr.com/kiwianacats/682314420444151808/heres-a-revisit-of-duskclans-camp-or-at-least)

Moon’s Key: Duskclan’s sacred place of worship to Starclan, an island only accessible when the low tide reveals a sandbank that stretches towards it.

Training Hollow: Exactly what it says it is.

Other Landmarks:

- Farbridge (unlabelled): A human made motorbridge over the river in the furthest north of Duskclan’s territory; rarely patrolled to, avoided due to distrust of humans/vehicles.

- The Split (unlabelled, but circled): An island formed by the first fork of the river as it splits off into the branches that form the Riverlands. Neutral territory to both clans, used as a gathering place once per season.

- Marsh Banks: A hunting area where the bush transitions into the marsh, popular as its well populated by prey, but hunters can avoid getting their paws wet if desired.

- Riversroots: Where the rivers meets the sea, carving through the seaside cliffs. Dangerous during high tide due to the rocks and strong currents.

- Scarlet Lake: A lake higher in the hills north of Duskclan’s camp. Known to freeze over during the winter, seldomly visited due to superstitions of it being haunted/unprotected by Starclan.

- Sunset Bay: A sandy bay that curves inwards towards the Moon’s key, frequently travelled by the clan’s clerics.

- Starside Bluff: A bluff/cliff side that faces towards the sea; Duskclan’s dead are buried in the flower fields atop it so they can journey down along the bay to meet Starclan at the Moon’s Key.

You might notice that a lot of my place names are just two words mashed together; unnotice that thank you. It’s obviously an intentional reference to the clan’s two-name system rather than an inability to think of anything more original /j.

#duskclan #duskclan lore #warrior cats #warriors #warrior cats oc #warriors oc #warriors fanclan #warrior cats fanclan #my art

[monstersdownthepath]

Got a bit inspired by the WotR CRPG's Lich path, but what changes, if any, would you make to the Lich template to fit an Archlich, from DnD's older editions (Forgotten Realms wiki indicates they were first mentioned back in 2e, and last in 4e, not very common though)? It may not entirely fit Golarion's cosmology of Undead = Bad, but I find the idea of a spellcaster going into Lichdom for altruistic reasons (like, say, needing an emotionless, painless, nigh-inexhaustible army to stem the tides of the Abyss) fascinating. If nothing else, it might get the Church of Pharasma more interested in a particular cause to get this Lich to up and die peacefully and willingly. And I mention 'changes' since apparently the process of becoming an Archlich was both more difficult, but could yield greater power. Although I can't really find anything to support this claim otherwise, can't find any pages on stats on the topic and searching up 'Archlich' just makes Vecna show up.

-----

Oh wow that's bizarre, I had no idea there was a Good-aligned Lich equivalent in older editions! I'm a little baffled by the fact they didn't think to name themselves anything more creative than just "Better Lich," but the implications of their existence and their creation process sort of does make them Better Liches. If what I'm reading here is correct, the primary difference between becoming an Archlich and a normal Lich is that a normal Lich takes shortcuts in their paths to power, forcing other creatures to bear the brunt of the trauma of their transformation, draining life and soul from others away to sustain themselves. Meanwhile, the Archlich must undergo a quest to discover a 'secret spell' and must learn every single spell required in the ritual; they cannot skimp on any detail, their ascension cannot be done another way, and carries a very real and very intimidatingly large chance that all their preparations are rendered meaningless and the ritual fails by pure bad luck.

Interesting! There's something to be said about the rewards that come from rejecting the path of least resistance.

Also, I wouldn't say Undead are always Bad And Evil, but as we've discussed at length on this blog, in the Pathfinder universe it's very difficult to be an undead that's Good-aligned and especially difficult to STAY good once the transformation is finished. Becoming undead for altruistic and good reasons doesn't change the fact that your soul will now itch to cause destruction and entropy. The urge can certainly be steered in acceptable directions, and in fact in the very video game you've mentioned it's one of the more powerful and useful Mythic paths for doing exactly that in the way you've suggested... but in-game it doesn't stop Pharasma from leering at you, and to complete your transformation into a full-power Lich in WotR you do in fact have to purge Good from your soul. Even your mentor, Zacharius, became a lich for an ostensibly good reason, only for undeath to slowly warp him into something ruthless and pragmatic.

... anyway, that wasn't your question. You asked what I would do to make the Archlich! The good news is that I do happen to have the book their stats appear in (Monsters of Faerun), stats I apparently never read or never found interesting enough to retain, but the bad news is that they're not especially different from a regular Lich, with a few notable exceptions:

--Archliches cannot be Turned by Good-aligned Clerics and are immune to channeled positive energy.

--Archliches have a constant Water Walk effect on themselves.

--The Paralyzing Touch of an Archlich sets the victim in a death-like state of suspended animation, during which the creature does not need to eat, breathe, or drink.

--Archliches can send their spirit outwards from themselves 3/day in a manner akin to, but not quite, Astral Projection.

There's apparently some more details in even earlier books, such as the ability for an Archlich to destroy any Undead being they create with a touch (presumably to end their service), immunity to the attacks and spells of any creature with 6 or less Hit Dice, and perhaps most impressively the ability to passively regenerate spell slots, but I do not have access to that particular book (Lost Ships) at this time to confirm for certain.

#asks #arch-arsonist #answers this at 3am

[incorrect-mtg]

Flavor Text Hightligths - Torment

<- Previous Set | Next Set ->

Cool - Accelerate

“I’ve seen lightning move slower.” —Nomad sentry

Cool - Churning Eddy

“Magic is like the tide—both ebb, both flow, and both serve my whims.” —Empress Llawan

Funny - Cabal Surgeon

“Clerics give up when their patients die. Can I help it if I’m more compassionate?”.

Worldbuilding - Cabal Coffers

Deep within the Cabal’s vault, the Mirari pulsed like a dead sun—and its darkness radiated across Otaria.

<- Previous Set | Next Set ->

#magic the gathering #flavor text highlights #torment

[seidanguard]

While I sit here not being active because of bg3, I will tide everyone over with a short but true story from the original timeline

Hotaru: hey Havik

Havik: what

Hotaru: hear me out

Havik: no

Hotaru: you're a cleric

Havik: hadn't noticed

Hotaru: You belong to a religious order

Havik:

#Havik #Hotaru #Mortal Kombat #Og timeline #Krack #Garbage doodle not even putting in my art tag #Art

[backgroundgoblin-blog]

––SONIC & BLACK KNIGHT AU––

Down in the murky depths of the abyss, there is a heart that beats. It beats for a creature, too far down for the light of Gaia to reach. It feeds on the will of man, turning them to husks of what they once where. These heirs of darkness follow there master's command and spread their tainted nature throughout the world.

Here, in the murky depths of the world, lost in a maze of stone and moss, is a chamber of a forbidden spirit, locked away so that no man would ever find it.

Two holy servants, from the last few bastions of faith, the followers of Gaia, pace themselves in the shadows, with only their incantations of light guiding their eyes.

A young priestess follows behind her guardian paladin, and by the corner of her eyes, something catches the attention of the young shepherd.

Turning her head to the wall beside her, she found carving of a peculiar creature. A four armed dragon, encompassing all of the rough canvas. Bellow is a village, engulfed in a black flame. The sight of such imagery strikes at the core of the little rabbit’s heart.

• Crisma: Do you not feel it in your soul, the darkness slowly engulfing us.

Hearing such tainted words, pink hedgehog turns to the young one, who cradles her staff to her chest, looking down to the stone walkway. • Crisma: Is this place truly the domain of the old king? Or a prison for our weary souls.

The judge approaches the rabbit, kneeling down to reach her eyes. • Amelia: Steel yourself. Between these walls, such thoughts only cloud your judgment, corrupting your soul. Do what you must to strive forward. • Crisma: Forgive my weakness, the ever looming gaze of the dark is…overwhelming • Amelia: Yet here you are. The shepherd takes her eyes to her guardian • Amelia: Gaia stands beside those who embrace there vigor, and you have done so much in such a short about of time.

For a woman who has taken up the oath to smite and judge, her words brought such comfort to the young cleric. She couldn’t help but smile as her elder caressed her head. • Crisma: If the tides of faith bestows us a chance to ascend to the surface, and rejoice in Gaia’s warmth, would you continue your tales from your time as princess of this kingdom? • Amelia: If it inspires you so. Though I find your interest in those mundane matters perplexing.

Suddenly, a crack breaks the silence, the rabbit stutters, freezing in place. The hedgehog stands firm, holding her mallet with both hands.

An echo is heard, almost as silent as a whisper, as if the very walls where hissing, behind the silence, the dungeon speaks: • ???: Why do you resist?

The judge hides the the young one and readies her heavy mallet, while the shepherd turns her back and begins her incantation. • ???: In each walking day, you tire more, in each slumbering night, you sink deeper into compliance.

• ???: But fret not, if you were to just leave behind your burden, and allow yourself to become one with the dungeon, you would find that there is beauty in such darkness.

Suddenly another crack, the judge takes a look down and sees the stones they walk begin to break.

• Amelia: Crisma! The ground! • Crisma: What!?

Suddenly, the walkway gives in, leaving the two followers of Gaia, falling deeper into the abyss, Screaming into the void, to no avail, as the very darkness smothers their voice, leaving them unheard.

• ???: Let the tide of surrender immerse your soul, and take heed of this gift. For the weary souls who succumb to me, will find their place, and within it…peace.

To be continued…(eventually)

#cream the rabbit #amy rose #sonic au #sonic and the black knight #sonic fanfiction #medieval fantasy #experimenting #sonic the hedgehog #new artstyle

[nookclan]

The Three Colonies: Traditions and Differences

The Sands Colony:

The most aggressive of the three colonies, being very skeptical of other non-colony cats, they are quick to jump to conclusions and even quicker to a fight. They specialize in hunting on land, their paws are adapted to avoid getting burned, but they sometimes wear boots made from banana leaves for extra protection.

Belief and connection with the Ancients is low, they do not care about the opinions of the dead and prefer to forge their own future without interference from non-earthly spirits;

They use claws, scales and anything else they get from their prey with pride to show that they are great hunters;

Their dens are extremely weak, made with little wood and leaves, a sandstorm always destroys their camp. They are generally outdoors, with some dens being exposed to the air;

The cats in this colony generally have a lot of scars and appreciate those who have more, the more scars the more battles fought;

Their fur is rarely well cared for, they are usually tangled and messy;

Colony with more Guardhearts. I wonder what they are for..?

The Ocean Colony:

The normally diplomatic and spirituous of the three, they rarely accepted any cat from outside the colonies, they follow the Ancients blindly without thinking twice, they prefer to solve their problems with words instead of spilling blood unnecessarily, well lately this seems to be different with the new leader. They are splendid fishercats, accustomed to the waters and their shiny coats consider themselves one with the sea.

Has a high connection with the Ancients, they can talk to them more easily than any other colony;

Shells, algae and perhaps even a crab are used for decoration, they appreciate everything the ocean provides them, placing them both in their dens and in their own furs;

Their dens are reinforced and known as the most resistant, not even the strongest tide could destroy them completely, they are also the best decorated and beautiful, being an important part of having a good den;

The cats in this colony generally have longer and thicker fur due to their diet based solely on fish, in addition to being in the coldest part of the island;

Their fur comes above all else, have a well-groomed coat and you will be a great candidate;

There are usually more Moonwatchers than anywhere else, what's the point?

The Trees Colony:

The most balanced among the three colonies, they believe that they must solve problems with well-developed strategies and flawless plans, they are not afraid to spill blood, but only when necessary. They spend the whole day swinging from branch to branch while relaxing in this little corner that was created for them, generally peaceful.

They listen to the Ancients when necessary, they prefer not to take everything they say to the letter, trying to balance common sense with belief, at least most cats try to do that. They will not shy away from going against the spirits if something seems wrong;

Generally only leaves are used in their furs, it's not because they like it it's because it gets stuck there, they use flowers to decorate both the camp and their fur;

The safest dens from attacks and nature, some dens are located in trees, which makes an attack by outsiders extremely difficult and they are located where almost nothing can happen, no sandstorm, no high tide, but perhaps a storm will destroy their trees, but no problem! They have reinforced dens on the ground;

Their coats are varied, but they generally have glossy and hairy manes, it is not known exactly why this happens;

Everyone present in the colony knows how to climb trees and has basic strategy practices, not even a Cleric can be saved from this!

#wcrp #discord roleplay #discord rp #warrior cats #warrior cats roleplay #warrior cats rp #mod art #lore

[bonefall]

do you think Tigerstar’s fate would be different if he had become mates with Spottedleaf? not in a She Can Fix Him way cause that’s gross but I mean more in a butterfly effect kind of way. I hate how canon is just like “he was born evil! Pinestar, murder your child!!”

I like to interpret the Pinestar thing as being his own anxieties. StarClan tells him he needs to be present for his son because he will need his guidance, but Pinestar catastrophizes based on his unresolved trauma from Clan culture

Especially in my rewrite, where Pinepaw was forced to take part in Crusades and watched dozens of innocent people slaughtered. Murder in the name of StarClan-- how could he ever trust that these ancestors AREN'T cruel?

Tigerkit was doomed from the start. Not from inherent evil, but because of generations of history. The exile of SkyClan and Ripplestar's rot, the clan pride tide, the death of Mapleshade’s kittens, which caused Darkstar's Commandment, Oakstar's stubborn pride and desperation leading to the Crusades, Pinepaw's trauma with blood on his paws when he's barely more than 13, Adderfang's honor instilled in Thistleclaw, the ideology he described and the painful parable he made Tigerpaw live through.

Spottedleaf couldn't stop that. The dominoes were falling long before she loved him. His fate was a river too strong and too deep, and one he CHOSE to travel down.

The only person that could have "saved" Tigerclaw was Pinestar; he needed someone to protect him from Thistleclaw and all he represents.

Spotty's happiness always lay in the path of a Cleric. Becoming his mate would only be something that dragged her down too.

#Spottedtiger #Bonefall Rewrite #Pinestar’s Crusade #13 in cat years btw #6 months = 13 years