neepsandnettles

[neepsandnettles]

I struggled with the logo for our home campaign for a good minute. Logo design has never really been a strong point for me. I was determined on this one though, so I powered through my frustration and I’m very glad I did. I wanted the design to reflect the importance of both the Godling bones and Guardians of Ka’Rakas. Many of the major cities of the land are built within the fallen bones, and magic casters rely on their bone dust to be able to conjure.

We’re about two years into this campaign with still so very much to explore. As of last session, we’ve moved on to the next chapter in our adventure…which happens to be my character’s arch. I’m both excited and terrified. Poor Siobhan is not going to have a happy homecoming.

If you’d like to follow us through our mischief, we stream… somewhat regularly (oops)…and we have a Patreon:

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Until I can figure out how I want to print these on my own, I’ve put these designs up on my redbubble. Eventually, I’d love to set up a ‘buy me a coffee’ type situation where I have a bit more control over the process. In the meantime, this will do just fine. If you want stickers of any of these designs, they’ll be there waiting!

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[neepsandnettles]

Meet Little Hoof, Siobhan’s Canadian moose-sized familiar. Little Hoof is a Wyldestryder. They are known for their gentle temperament and steadfast loyalty. These gigantic fey beasts are known as nanny beasts, despite their intimidating size. Their mane and tail hairs are used for a multitude of things ranging from woven cloth to fiddle strings. The items created with their hair are magical and they hair changes color in moonlight like the Mo’Oglings, thanks to their shared diet staple of moon flowers. Wyldestryders move in one large herd and tend to keep to themselves. However, if they sense that a Mo’Ogling (the name for Siobhan’s community) is traumatized or in need of protection, they will approach them and the pair will become mutual stewards of one another. Once bonded, they remain bonded for life.

I am still exploring their design a bit. I’m not sure the horns are the shape I was aiming for. I think I want to try more of an elk antler.

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Now that I’ve introduced a figure that’s important to my character, Siobhan, how about I actually give them a proper introduction?

Meet Siobhan Goldenfield, also known as Siobhan Moonsinger to their fellow party members. One of their biggest hurdles that they have had to start to address is their fear of trusting anyone outside their community. In recent sessions, they’ve gingerly started to open up to their party members a bit more and they still have a long way to go. Another huge challenge for them is how they present themselves to the world. When they were five they lost their older sibling, Teryn, and it destroyed their family in a way. Siobhan’s way of coping with the loss at such a young age was to internalize every aspect they remember about Teryn as their own. That means they’ve become a bard like them, even though they’re terrified of having people’s undivided attention, they’ve adopted their clothing style right down to the color scheme, and they do things as they think Teryn would have done them. Siobhan truly does not know who they are outside of their unaddressed grief and longing for their sibling.

This is a particularly spicy moment from a couple sessions ago after a boss battle. Siobhan made a point of destroying an entire wall of ornate cathedral stained glass windows in absolute rage and disgust. There were many things that they had not had a chance to process that just compounded one on top of the next leading to their explosion. This was the moment they started to say, “fuck it. I’m tired of hiding”, and that’s very exciting for me as the person playing them. It gives me more chances to really open up and explore who they are as a person as well as who they are in relation to others.

Another fun thing about this is their headscarf. They wear this to cover both their hair and tail tuft when they enter into an unfamiliar city or village because no one knows about their clan’s color-changing hair or the moon flowers that cause that magical reaction to moon light. Siobhan is very slowly reaching a point where they no longer give a shit about keeping secrets or hiding who they are. The next few sessions are gonna be fuuuuuun.

[neepsandnettles]

Notice the owl theme I have going so far?

I’m in two DnD podcasts at the moment. How that happened *gestures wildly* I have no clue, yet here I am. This character is from the Tales of Wyrd podcast (which can be found on Spotify). For context, my name irl is Alora… and I was physically incapable of passing up the opportunity for an owl pun. Meet OWLora, the circle of brew druid owlin baker. They are a city bird who has been thrust into the path of adventure against their will and has no idea how to get home. I haven’t truly had an opportunity to share my writing until now. Without further ado… I present their backstory.

Gilded Bluebells

Best friends Owlora and Pennyfarthing, or Penny, were mentored under the same baking master. During their training, Owlora grew an interest in breads, herbs, and spices. They would spend hours pouring over apothecary textbooks, herbology tomes, and bread recipes both traditional and trending. Penny became devoted to the dream of a cozy bakery all her own. She was so passionate in her ideas and designs that Owlora decided they wanted to aid in bringing her dream into reality. They helped Penny build and open Penny Feathers Pastries. It took time and patience for the townsfolk to warm up to the notion of a new cafe run by two very green youngsters. Eventually, the combined expertise of Owlora and charisma of Penny won them over. The bakery was a success.

In the wee small hours of the morning on the one year anniversary of its grand opening, Owlora was helping to unload an extra large order of ingredients, fresh produce, party decorations, and special edible embellishments in preparation for the great celebration planned for later that day. As the last parcels were placed around the kitchen and empty barrels returned to the cart, Owlora went to check their invoice to ensure everything was in place. A small package of edible gold leaf was missing. The delivery drivers had gone to grab a bite of breakfast before they began their long trek back to a neighboring town. Owlora, being acutely aware of how little time they had before eager regulars and patrons alike gathered for the grand party, decided to check inside the cart for the missing item. After a fashion, they came upon it in a back corner.

As they bent down, something jostled the wagon suddenly and an inopportunely stacked heavy oak barrel teetered and came crashing down on top of Owlora. They were knocked unconscious and lay on the floor, covered by a cloth that had fallen over them. When they returned, the drivers assumed that since Owlora wasn’t waiting for them that the invoice was correct with all items accounted for, and they had gone to attend to preparations. They had no inclination to check the back of their cart before leaving. They drove off, and it was many hours before Owlora regained consciousness. The package of edible gold leaf was still clasped in their hand as they awoke dazed and confused. They wandered out of the cart into unfamiliar city streets. As they looked about, they couldn’t spot the delivery team. Panic set in and they began a frantic search, rushing to and fro trying to find the drivers or the depot they came from. It was still early afternoon. Not many were out in the streets, not in this part of the city at least. The few who were took an interest in the bewildered owlin, much to Owlora’s misfortune. A trio of local thieves guild members who had come into town for ale and to check the bulletin boards for work, perked up when they realized Owlora was a professional baker. They listened intently and nodded sympathetically as Owlora told them of their plight. At length, they offered to escort the owlin back to their home. Owlora, being too bewildered to think clearly or beyond their own anxiety, gratefully went with them. The trio had no intention of returning them to their home. They were tired of overcooked meat and stale bread; they wanted a proper camp cook.

Days crawled on. Home seemed farther and farther away. Owlora came to realize they had been kidnapped. Making an escape seem increasingly less feasible as the days crawled into months. They had no idea where they were as their companions made sure Owlora never saw a map. Owlora slowly reached a new resolve; they had to get away, directions be damned. For six months, they cooked the trio’s meals and observed everything. At last, their opportunity came. On this particular afternoon, the party stopped on the edge of the woods. There was a particularly lucrative job in a nearby town. The trio went off leaving Owlora to set up camp. As per usual, Owlora was left to start supper all on their own. As they cleared away brush to lay down the bed rolls, they came across a patch of bluebell flowers. An idea began to form. They plucked the flowers from the ground, crushing them up into a smooth paste. As the paste dried in the sunlight, Owlora found their bearings. As they scanned the horizon, they decided their best course was to head for the mountain range to the north. The trio often lamented their lack of skill with climbing. At the very least, it could buy Owlora time to make a run for it if it came to it. Once the bluebell paste became a powder, they added it to the main stew for that evening. A smaller portion was kept to the side without the addition of powder. That night, the trio returned triumphant. Owlora sat silently just outside the reach of the bonfire light as they always did, eating the safe portion of stew. The trio ate, paying no mind to their watchful cook.

By and by, the poison began to take effect and they all doubled over in pain. Enough to incapacitate, but not kill them. Summoning their courage and best acting they could muster, Owlora began to fuss over them. When the trio began to accuse Owlora of poisoning them, the owlin pointed to their own nearly empty bowl and reminded the three that they had eaten the stew as well and felt nothing. In a cunning and risky gamble, Owlora began to ask about their job. They had heard the trio talking days earlier of how other thieves guild members had it out for them for getting this job. There were some who thought the trio had overstepped their status in the guild… and did not look kindly on them for it. Owlora began to plant an idea in their heads of a rival guild member attempting to assassinate them and take their hard earned bounty. As the trio fumed between dry heaves and intense stomach cramps, Owlora suggested that they go to a farm they had passed earlier that day to get help from a healer or a doctor. The trio were in no position to object, let alone think. Owlora ran off into the darkness pretending to get help. Once well outside eyesight and ear shot, they flew off into the night for a couple miles to hide their trail. They had no idea where they landed and they didn’t care. Their main concern was to buy time for them to get a good distance away and closer to the mountains before the trio recovered from their food poisoning.

Wandering lost and alone, they made their way north all the while avoiding large towns for fear of running into members of the thieves guild who might alert the trio to their whereabouts. Their desperation to find their home and return to their friend grows exponentially day by day.

[neepsandnettles]

Hoot Daddy in an atypical color scheme for himself.

I changed his facial expression about a hundred times. I decided on something a bit more pensive for this. This piece was (and kinda still is) one that I struggled with. It’s one of those projects where I had to remind myself to be patient and trust the process.

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I adore my dnd owl boi. This was an older sketch where I was exploring his facial expressions as well as his personality. In the short stories I’ve written about my character, Siobhan, I have presented him as this calm stoic figure Siobhan finds immense comfort in. They haven’t really had a chance to see his other side, the side where he is incredibly easily flustered by compliments and flirting. His partner takes full advantage of this by making it her life’s mission to make him blush at least three times a day. You’d think she run out of owl-themed puns and pick up lines eventually, yet she continues to find new material with ease.

[neepsandnettles]

Switching from one owl daddy to another. My household runs a DnD campaign called Decay of the Divine (which we stream on twitch if anyone happens to be interested <.<) and I have fallen ass over tea kettle into world and lore building with my GM. I play a Firbolg named Siobhan, a non-binary Ace sex-repulsed bard with a fear of being perceived. They are from a place called Chimewind caves found within the Star Clutch forest at the foothills of the Serpent’s Spine Mountains. They… got a lot to process in this campaign.

This is someone they are very close to. Astraeus Noctûram is a middle-aged owlin who has been like an uncle to them for Siobhan’s entire life. I’ve talked to him once in campaign via sending spell, and I’m excited to interact with him more in the future. You may be asking why there are five different versions of him here. The people of Chimewind have color-changing hair thanks to the main staple of their diet, moonflowers. The remnants of magic within the flowers interacting with the fey blood of the Mo’Oglings (the people of Chimewind) causes their hair to react to moonlight. The world of Ka’Rakas has three moons. Under the light of the blue moon, Azuara, their hair glows purple. Under the green moon, Viridara, their hair is teal. The red moon, Crimsara, turns their hair black and when all three moons share the sky their hair is white.

[neepsandnettles]

I have some news for members of the united states armed forces who feel like they are pawns in a political game and their assignments being unnecessary.

[neepsandnettles]

A friendly reminder from your neighborhood owl-Dad, as shit continues to hit new and higher fans. Lock in, show up, and remember that in order to help others, you need to make sure you're not neglecting your own needs (i.e. drinking water, setting a timer for scrolling, taking a day of rest, b r e a t h i n g)

Don't ignore what's happening, and don't let it consume you. Find your communities and work together to protect each other.

If I have to make a deep cut with a certain Neverending Story reference, I'll do it *narrows eyes*

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I swear, I *do* know how to draw things besides Stolas... but when the hyperfixation locks in on a comfort character, I just kinda gotta hang on for the ride 😅

[neepsandnettles]

IIIIII was in a mood... in a very big mood. *stares around at e v e r y t h i n g h a p p e n i n g* A veeerrry big mood.

[neepsandnettles]

I just put an unGODly amount of pressure on myself trying to decide what my first post was going to be. It feels right that it should be this one.