#Bells Hells C2 Class Swap AU

[masterqwertster]

#31. "You came back for me" from the vague angst meme. For Ashton, naturally. ❤

Prompt Yeah. Figured someone would ask that one for Ashton "I have abandonment issues" Greymoore 😋 I'm gonna take this to the C2 Class Swap Resurrection, because I've been thinking about it on and off since I came up with it. 31 "You came back for me."

They all wait with baited breath after the offerings are made to see if Pike's resurrection spell will take.

Well, those of them that breathe. Fresh Cut Grass doesn't, and it's rather debatable if Laudna needs to or not with as far between breaths as she'll go at times.

Still, the feeling is there.

One second. Two sec-

Ashton's glass explodes with light and color as he gasps in a new breath, body bowing with the force of restored life. And everyone in the room can feel reality bend just the slightest bit from what the members of Bells Hells recognize as Ashton's strange and unique brand of magic.

That's as long as FCG waits to scoot forward to hover over Ashton's head so they can see a friend when they first open their eyes again. It's only a moment of waiting, watching their nostrils flare, catching their chest rise and fall out of the corner of his vision, alive alive alive, before Ashton's eyes flutter open.

"...Hey, Letters," Ashton softly says, voice raw from disuse in death.

"S-smiley day to ya, Ashton," Fresh Cut Grass replies, voice quavering with emotion. "I'm real glad you're back with us. Real glad."

Ashton hums in agreement as he sits up with a grunt. "Me too-"

He freezes, taking in that it's not just Fresh Cut Grass here. It's all of Bells Hells, standing around some magic circle he's in the middle of in what looks like a living room with happy smiles aimed at him. Maybe even for him.

And it seems that sitting up and getting eyes on them is all the waiting the rest of the Hells are willing to do, as Ashton finds himself buried under a pile of bodies all hugging him. Finds his ears filled with overlapping voices calling his name, expressing joy at his presence.

It's a lot.

A lot of good that Ashton never expected to have in their life, not after The Fall. They never expected to have people again, a family to call their own. Not when they'd been left behind again and again. They'd been shown how broken, how unwanted they are time after time. Then these chucklefucks fucking wormed their way into Ashton's life and just... didn't leave. And they didn't let him leave either. They fucking chased down his broken pieces, put him back together. They hadn't flinched, hadn't pulled away from what he was and is. How-? Why-?

What the fuck is up with these people?

"Oh! Don't cry! Is it too much? We can back off. Everyone-"

Ashton doesn't let them pull away. Instead he lets those overwhelming feelings fuel his tired body to shift and expand so he can hug all of his people at once. Hold them close.

Their laughing admonishments as he squeezes them tighter brings a pleased rumble out of his chest. Fuck, it's been so long since Ashton's had this.

What a fucking time to be alive.

[masterqwertster]

Got to thinking about it in this AU too, so...

Bells Hells C2 Class Swap AU and Titan Shit

Sometimes AUs walk slightly to the left of canon's path, and sometimes they run off into the bushes for a little while...

Also this is long, so it’s beneath the cut.

So, I don’t think Bells Hells ever even learns about the Spark of Rau'shan in this AU since Keyleth (and Pike) tag Ashton as titan-blooded about one month before the Apogee Solstice begins.

Because while Kiki is busy as fuck prepping for the Solstice and putting out Ludinus's Distractions For People of Importance and Power fires, I'm pretty sure she could put aside thirty minutes to Scry on Evontra'vir, Transport Via Plants through to him, and ask him "What the fuck did you tell/give to Efterin of the Hishari?" and get her answer before teleporting back to business. Or she could send a lackey to interrogate the tree, or Pike could go if she feels like it (get back to some of her sailing roots travelling the Shattered Teeth). Because there's no way they're letting a titan-blooded kid run around getting tangled up in Big World-Ending Problems without knowing what that means, if there's more titan blood to be found, and if more can be made any time soon because the last thing they need is another titan blood except they're batting for the other side.

Happily for Keyleth, the answer from Evontra'vir was "fulfilling Destiny" ...by sending Efterin after an artifact he knew the cultist would misuse and accidentally (but in accordance with Destiny) implant in his kid. Yeah, Keyleth's not impressed. But it is nice to know what exactly she sensed in Ashton: a Shard of Ka'Mort, Empress of Earth.

Also, no mention is made of the Spark of Rau'shan, as Evontra'vir is Destined to guide Ashton to that, so he's not telling anyone else. Though Keyleth suspects that if a fragment of Ka'Mort survived, there's also a piece of Rau'shan out there. But best to let sleeping dogs lie if it's gone unclaimed this long and getting the Shard of Ka'Mort took a Destiny Tree's instructions to retrieve.

Which is fine. There's a reason canon!Bells Hells found crispy skeletons in the spelunking nightmare but didn't get crisped themselves: the Spark wasn't willing to be moved without the Shard nearby. As evidenced by the roiling lava calming at Ashton's approach vs the Doompa Loompa report of Big Boom when someone upset the Spark (likely trying to take it away).

Anyways! What this means is that once Bells Hells has retrieved Blue-Butt Flowers (sorry, Matt) to help Keyleth recover, part of their Questions on What To Do Next is "Can we get Ashton more Titan Powers for their power-up? The [Hybrid Form] is cool and all, but kind of lame for a Titan Shard when you can go Earth Elemental better than him."

And Keyleth has been thinking about this. What she sensed in Ashton is immensely powerful, and the boi only seems to ever use an itty bitty fraction of that might, instead relying more on the strange other power that he's now religiously(?) tied to as well.

Her answer on the Titan Power-up front is two-fold:

1) Bells Hells can go to Vasselheim to see if the Stone Titan's corpse nudges anything, and potentially, probably, meet with Grog, who's still got the Titanstone Knuckles.

Keyleth kind of doubts the Stone Titan Corpse will do anything, being long dead and divorced of its elemental might beyond the continued existence of the body (otherwise the Whispered One was wasting a free Super Earthquake Machine). But it did make the Titanstone Knuckles react (because they were forged from that particular titan's heartstone), so it's not a 0% chance. Probably.

But Kiki does think the Titanstone Knuckles might do something for Ashton, since they are, in a way, an inanimate version of him.

...If Grog is still in town. Kiki may have lost track of her friend in all the Solstice hubbub.

2) Keyleth can send Bells Hells to Terrah, village of the Earth Ashari. The abundant elemental earth energy there might jumpstart Ashton's earth titan shit. And if that's not enough, they could try taking a few steps through the Rift to the Elemental Plane of Earth and see if that intensity of earth energies does the trick.

The problems with these ideas are:

Vasselheim will likely react poorly if they find out Keyleth sent a baby titan their way to do some teething on the titan corpse stuck in the middle of their city.

Keyleth definitely needs to talk to Pa'tice about sending a baby earth titan to Terrah for teething, because who knows what that will do to the energies and Elementals in the area and the Rift.

Now Chetney, FCG, and Imogen are all interested in going to Vasselheim, for different reasons. Chetney wants to check Issylra off his List of Continents He's Been To. FCG would like to visit a big Changebringer Temple for advice/guidance (yes, they still picked up religion. It just doesn't fuel his powers this time). And Imogen wants to visit the Stormlord's big temple to further pursue the challenge of following him that she started during the Party Split.

Of course, Team Issylra is wary of going to Vasselheim considering they helped kill part of a missionary group from Vasselheim.

Fearne is neutral and goes where Orym goes.

Well, since it's going to take Keyleth a little while to talk with Pa'tice and get the okay for Bells Hells to visit, she was thinking Maeve could take them to Vasselheim for a day or two while she does that.

...With a quick, initial detour to get Dancer (and crew) on fixing the Quintessence Array. Just in case Bells Hells finds anything of interest to slurp up. (Also because I'd like FCG and Dancer to find their closure still. And don't want to have to worry about the logistics of failing to stop Ratanish's Joe-assisted sabotage before they start making skyships drop out of the sky...)

So, Vasselheim!

Yeah, they can see the titan corpse from where they arrive in the Abundant Terrance. Which is a completely different district than where its feet are planted.

First stop though, ends up being the Changebringer Temple (which I don't see an official location for on the wiki, but think makes sense to be placed in the Quadroads as a crossroads of sorts for the goddess of roads). Partially because it's on the way and partially because FCG is getting a lot of looks of dislike from the locals, so Temple approval for the robit should help. Hopefully.

Keyleth did not think through sending a soul in an arcane machine to a city that severely distrusts the arcane. Thankfully, he's got friends to phalanx around him and stare down the glares. ...And Laudna may have to go inside the phalanx too, as undead.

So! FCG gets to talk to more holy people who follow the same goddess as him. And maybe gets to meet a therapist-type, to replace the meeting with Jirana, so they get that realization too.

Next stop: the Braving Grounds. Which has all of the other attractions Bells Hells is interested in.

Ashton, Chetney, and Fearne (as she is a barbarian in this AU) are all super interested in The Crucible fighting pit when they come across it. So probably some matches to roll there. ...Though Fearne may be more interested in picking gambler pockets than fighting herself. Laudna is welcome to try too as a monk/frontliner. And so is Imogen, as an attempt to further impress the Stormlord into being the new juice behind her cleric abilities.

When they drop by the Trial Forge (Stormlord's Temple), after talking with Groon's apprentice(? whatever you want to call the person being trained to take over after him because monks age super well but don't live forever and Groon is old. Also, for extra trouble, they could be a really buff older woman, to mess with Imogen's taste in women) who's currently running the place since the Earthbreaker himself is at the Red Center Resistance camp, the Stormlord does present Imogen with a challenge. But not his usual "Where does your strength come from?" question. Because let's be real: Imogen would immediately and without hesitation answer "Laudna," which is generally the correct answer, even if it's not the whole "My friends are my strength" answer he's usually searching for. So I think the Stormlord should challenge Imogen to not use her mindreading on others (or at least the party) for a while, to make her actually communicate with the group instead of brain-checking when she gets impatient. Make her learn that while her mind powers are a strength, there's more to be found in trusting her friends, in having faith in them.

Then it's off to actually get a close up look at the titan corpse. Which, hot damn is it huge. Like, they knew that already since they could see it the whole time they've walked around the city, but it's even more mind-boggling up close.

And then they have a moment of realization that what's inside Ashton was probably bigger and even more badass. After all, no one remembers this one's name or any titles it might have held, but Ashton's got a piece of Ka'Mort, Empress of Earth.

Also, like, what the fuck has Vasselheim done with the titan corpse parked in the middle of their city? Is it now a giant condo complex (that slowly drives people cambial insane like the dwarves of Thomara)? Is it a shopping mall? Is it a new skyport? A challenging free-climbing "mountain"? Just a tourist attraction? Seriously, what did they do with this giant obstruction in the middle of their city over the past thirty years? Tell us, Matt!

Anyways, they sidle on up to one of the titan's feet so Ashton can touch it (He touched the butt foot). This may include sneaking past guards to keep people from doing exactly that.

It doesn't awaken any powers in Ashton, but they do get a use of Grim Psychometry on it. Which Ashton technically shouldn't really have yet, as Bells Hells probably needs to go through one more big fight before reaching Level 11 (canon level up was after getting on the ghost ship), allowing for 2 Cleric/9 Blood Hunter, but I'm giving it to him just this once anyways for Titan Shit.

Ashton gets to see flashes of the Stone Titan living its life in the primordial chaos of early, early Exandria, and the death of the Stone Titan (which made a mountain range with the impact of its body being thrust into the ground). Maybe a bit of its zombie march on Vasselheim via the Whispered One's power. He just gains a bit of understanding of what the titans were.

That's about all I have planned for Vasselheim. Of course, there's room to get in trouble, visit the Slayer's Take, talk with Maeve (try to get childhood blackmail on Orym), let paladin Chet visit the All-Hammer Temple, have Delilah stir to cause trouble at the site of her most recent defeat (or close enough to it), and do other stuff for the day or two they're there.

I should also mention that Bells Hells has been asking about Grog while they've been running around, but they don't get anything recent or distinct enough to follow to find him. Mostly because I'd love to know where Grog is in canon ...and also really kind of love the moon-greeter Grog that came up on 4-Sided Dive ep18.

Or Bells Hells does locate the Grand Poobah, and have to bail Grog out of jail. And deal with Ashton trying to steal or fleece Grog out of the Titanstone Knuckles. The Knuckles call to them and seem so... tasty.

Adventures in Vasselheim done (or they can be skipped in exchange for hanging out in Zephrah, but I do like the opportunities it provides for other party members to achieve stuff), it's back to Zephrah to see if Keyleth has gotten Bells Hells the okay to go to Terrah.

She has, so off they go through a tree! ...to an hour or two out of town so that Bells Hells has the (escorted) hike towards Terrah and its Rift to see how Ashton reacts to that energy and that energy reacts to him. With plenty of time to back out or be sent away.

Ashton is definitely feeling more energetic the closer they get to town and the Rift. And having to fight off the growing urge to take on their Hybrid Form. Meanwhile, the local earth elementals/eidolons are clearly taking notice of the baby titan coming into town. They are not being terribly subtle about following Ashton around and/or wanting a bit of attention from him while doing whatever he asks of them.

Once they get to Terrah proper, Bells Hells spends some time helping around under Pa'tice's supervision (the place was recently in trouble with a cult trying to destabilize the Rift, I'm sure there's some cleanup Bells Hell can creatively help with) and poking at Ashton to see if his powers have upgraded yet. And while I'd say that the earth energy there gives an extension to Ashton's time in their Hybrid Form, it's just not quite enough to really wake up the Shard.

Which mean field trip time!

Bells Hells take what is meant to be a trip to loiter around the Rift until something happens for Ashton, but ends up being more of an adventure because Reasons.

Reasons could be Cult of the Dark Heart people still hanging around on the Earth Plane side of the Rift that Bells Hells chases down for potential info or because they kidnap someone (from the party or an Earth Ashari guide/guard). Could be a bunch of Earth Elementals cart Ashton away to be worshipped as the Empress returned and now Bells Hells has to get them back. Or it could be that Bells Hells thought they spotted something interesting and ended up running after it like they do (see rabbit with a Feywild Shard back in the Heartmoore).

Any which way Bells Hells gets dragged into exploring the Plane a little bit, they do manage to awaken Ashton's Shard. Which shifts his Hybrid Form to something closer to the canon Demi-titan Form, the differences being that it's crystal clusters/spikes instead of rock, they keep the crystal claw/fingers, and the light from the cracked cat's-eyes is purple-silver where if you stare deep enough into them, you see the dunamancy galaxy swirl inside, sort of like a geode.

Ashton also gets a Second-phase Form in place of the canon Demi-titan one which comes with the super awesome bells and whistles plus penalty costs. Second-phase is taller (10' instead of 8') and bulkier. And maybe gets a second set of arms? The Stone Titan had four arms and all, and it would further differentiate a full-on Titan Mode from his Hybrid Form. Also more punching power and being able to pick up and carry the whole party under his arms if the short kings are doubled up with other people. Also, Second-phase can be used separate from Hybrid Form.

I also think it would be fun for Bells Hells to pick up some treasures to slurp up with the Quintessence Array, or just use as is, possibly by trading with a Dao (earth genie) or raiding one's treasury. Or like, offerings/congratulatory gifts for "newborn" baby titan from the locals.

After getting back to Terrah, goals achieved, Bells Hells is off to Whitestone to pick up the Quintessence Array, possibly use it, and get their next assignment/mission.

They get to meet Allura, receive a dunamancy identification from her, maybe show off Ashton's new Hybrid Form (but not Second-phase because penalties) just to say "Look what we got!", and attend the war meeting where they volunteer for Moon Scouting.

Also squeeze in that visit to Nana Morri for Fearne's heritage because going to a different Plane made Fearne miss home and they didn't get anything interesting for her from the Earth Plane but surely Nana has something cool and powerful and useful for her granddaughter.

It would be kind of funny if Grovelthrash, an Arms of the Betrayers, is sitting in Nana's storage and she gives it to Fearne. The spirit of the hammer does like when its wielder claims treasures (Fearne is a consummate knickknack thief) and Fearne is so go with the flow that she'd breeze right past it liking to cause pain, warhammers work for barbarian aesthetic, and it allows her to be a little bit twinnie with Ashton since this weapon grants some earth-based abilities. Also, bringing in some Betrayer God stuff for funsies (and adding even more trouble besides Grazzt'char, assuming that it wasn't traded in the Earth Plane. ...Yeah, I forgot they lost it on the ghost ship they did not ride in this AU until this point).

But really, any sufficiently powerful weapon or (custom) Feat for Fearne is good enough.

Chetney makes his deal, of course.

Orym... most probably not. Wizards take the "slow" way to power by learning, and learning a lot, that allows them to bend the world to their will. And like, he can probably squeeze in a quick lesson from Allura while Fearne is dealing with her family instead of bargaining with Morri.

...Though I think Laudna might try to make canon!Orym's deal instead. Monks are great, but they're also more "normal" like Fighters, and she wants to be able to protect Imogen, no matter the cost. And the others to a less intense degree. Also, it is a chance to get rid of the threat of Delilah too, who is less relied on in this AU since she's not a Warlock Patron for Laudna and Laudna does have other people who care about her now. It's time to let go of her murderer who has kind of Stockholm Syndromed her with her possession.

All that done, and they're off to the Red Center for Moon Scouting Mission.

[masterqwertster]

Bells Hells C2 Class Swap AU

Basically just giving the Hells the same class as their player's Campaign 2 characters and getting a bit different approaches to the plot beats.

Orym: School of Divination Wizard

Divination goes with Orym's ridiculous perception

He specifically chose to learn divination magic in order try to foresee and forewarn if an attack against Zephrah is coming

He's also very upset that his divinations have had trouble turning up anything about Will and Derrig's killers

Fearne: Path of the Storm Herald Barbarian

Obviously her Storm Aura is desert, because that's the fire barbarian

She uses a great sickle like Deni$e since she does have a Moon Sickle in canon

Fearne is probably a bit more like Lionel in that she's a happy, excited barbarian most of the time. Of course her "always got for the kill" policy means she gets vicious when serious.

Probably also prone to a lot more headbutting as an attack given her goat-like nature as a faun and melee fighter class

Laudna: Way of Shadow Monk

She's always had an affinity for shadows and spookiness, so this subclass fits.

Also Witchy Bitches magic through ki ability

Delilah is still around, but definitely more as a haunting spirit and unwanted advisor, since there's no warlock multi-class. Maybe she grants Way of the Long Death abilities because of the whole necromancer patron thing, though a multi-subclass is probably overpowered

Imogen: Order Domain Cleric

Obviously, Imogen has no clue where her divine gifts come from (it's Predathos/being Ruidusborn)

Order Domain because it's whole deal is mind fuckery to bring people into your sense of order (which also matches with Ruby Vanguard cult shit)

Maybe a slight reflavor that it's not a sense of order she's imposing, but a sense of blackmail from mindreading

Chetney: Hexblade Warlock/Oath of the Ancients Paladin

Oath is about toymaking and bringing joy and light to children (so his god is the All Hammer since that's the crafting god)

Also not that great at Kindle the Light because he's a bitter, crotchety old man. Mercy and forgiveness have sort of fallen off the menu

Fighting Style is Dueling, 'cause he wants to shank a bitch with bonus damage

Definitely looking forward to the day he gets powerful enough to not suffer the drawbacks of old age (Level 15) 😝

Look, the little man uses carving tools as his weapon of choice, it had to be Hexblade

His patron is some sort of wolf-ish Krampus-equivalent, for punishing the Naughty. It just goes with his Christmas Special origins

Pact of the Chain for a wolf familiar. Though it's probably not a normal wolf...

FCG: Mastermind Rogue/School of Enchantment Wizard

Mastermind rogue could actually be used for therapy, if your intent is to manipulate someone into being their better self instead of doing whatever you want them to do

Also the mimic speech patterns is how FCG ended up with their accent in canon, so...

Plus ability to spam the Help action as a bonus action, and this bot wants to be helpful!

Honestly, School of Enchantment is more support and mind fuckery skills for them

This version is just very magic-enhanced therapy focused

Which also kind of lines up with the Care and the Culling background of manipulatively helpful to get in close before driving in the knife

Ashton: Order of the Lycan Blood Hunter (reflavor)/Forge Domain Cleric/ Phantom Rogue (reflavor)

Taliesin technically has 3 character from C2: Mollymauk, Caduceus, and Kingsley, bringing 3 different classes to the table between them, so options to mix and match for multi-class or just go straight

Order of the Lycan is the blood hunter subclass closest to barbarian. Though I'd give it the dunamancy reflavor of amplifying Ashton's elemental power/heritage/potential, so the hybrid form is basically going earth elemental, while the heightened senses maybe get replaced with a Blind Sight or an earth vibration Perception check ability with advantage

Fighting Style is Dueling, because their hybrid elemental form is big/strong enough to wield the hammer one-handed. Play whack-a-mole for bonus damage! 😂

Honestly considered War Domain because they're a fighter, but found I liked Forge Domain for being a bit more elemental. Dash of dunamancy is that he's an earth genasi with growing potential for fire magic, thus crossing an elemental boundary. Basically, they're going from pure earth to volcano.

Also, Forge Domain fits his love for punk handicrafts, and is definitely a domain that can be picked up in Bassuras

God would probably be the All-Hammer because he's the crafting god.

Though an argument could be made for unwitting Luxon follower, as it reaches through time for its galaxy brain chosen one. Ashton just thinks they believe in the light of the stars or some shit

Phantom rogues draw on the souls of the dead, so I reflavor this as drawing on their other possible lives in the galaxy brain. There's always a version that knows something relevant when they're infinite possibilities 😉

I recommend cleric and one of the other two classes if you want multi-class. Just rogue or blood hunter for a singular class as the cleric-dunamancy connection I cooked up is a bit weak

Some Events/Points of Interest

Chet actually was a werewolf, once upon a time. But he got cured of it, and that led him to one of his classes, depending on if it was a kind savior (paladin) or making deal to lift the curse (warlock). And he respects and remembers that time of his life with his Pact familiar

Thanks to his divination skills, Orym probably had a good feeling about what was coming the day he met the Crown Keepers, and the day he met the rest of Bells Hells. And a bad feeling the day Bertrand died, and the day he faced Otohan (both in Zephrah and Bassuras)

If Ashton is a blood hunter, Orym definitely has thoughts and extreme curiosity about their hybrid form. Which he can't be blamed for because he's Ashari

Imogen was considered a useful problem in Gelvaan, because her psychic/mindreading abilities were off-putting, but her healing abilities as a cleric are, well, "god-sent." Smaller towns are always grateful to have magic healing available and all

FCG is more pushy about his therapy attempts. And more subtle in execution, as they feel the need. He just really wants to help everyone's mental state, and is too inexperienced to quite understand when he needs to back off for a while

Laudna takes advantage of her oddly pliable body to move in strange ways for her dope monk shit. Like, she's very flexible to the point of accidental joint dislocation, so people aren't always ready for the ways she can move

And Laudna can fit herself into some tiny spaces because of the way she can fold herself up. Sometimes Imogen would sneak her into town in a large bag while it was just the two of them

Fearne takes protecting Orym very seriously (because he's a squishy wizard in this AU), but it can be tricky in a fight given her area-of-effect Storm Aura damage. There were definitely a few times Orym got singed pretty good at the beginning of their relationship

[masterqwertster]

Touch prompt #8 and/or #22 with Orym and Ashton

Well, I've already done Orym falling asleep on the other's shoulder, and his shoulders are a little small for Ashton to fall asleep on, so I'll do 8. And for kicks, I'll take it to the Bor'dor Betrayal in the C2 Class Swap AU. I've had some fun ideas for that. 8 Shielding the other with their body

Orym comes to with the taste of a healing potion in his mouth, the sting of acid burns on his skin, and a cavern-shaking earthen roar in his ears.

His eyes open to see Laudna's worried face hovering over him, a strained smile greeting him. A flash of greens and red passes over them, and it doesn't quite register until the ground trembles with impact that that's Ashton stepping over them, placing himself between them and Bor'dor. Well, Orym assumes it's between them and Bor'dor.

It's not Ashton's usual elemental form.

They're larger than normal. Nine, maybe even ten feet tall, rather than the usual not-quite seven feet. Several of the straps that allow their clothes to expand with their body have snapped from the increased bulk. The crystals that protrude from Ashton look sharper than normal, carved into natural weapons rather than simply growing from them. More concerning, Orym thinks, is the flickering glow of oranges and reds and yellows at the base of the semi-clear crystals, like there's a fire burning within Ashton that the crystals act as a window to.

Ashton roars again, arms spread wide in what any member of Bells Hells can recognize as a sign that their genasi-turned-elemental is about to charge. And the crystals fill with fiery light, shimmering heatwaves becoming visible around them.

Footsteps thunder as Ashton rushes after the fleeing Bor'dor, capped with the mighty crash of his enormous stone hand and crystal claws slamming the traitor to the ground with a burst of flames that banks the burning glow of the crystals. Quick movement ends in another heavy thud as Ashton pulls that first hand away to pound the other down onto Bor'dor.

Orym can hear coughing, and his eyes flicker to the sound, spotting Deni$e holding up Prism, an emptied potion bottle in the dwarven woman's hand.

A rumbling growl drags the halfling wizard's attention back to Ashton, just in time to see large claws swipe at a miniscule flicker of movement that pops back into Bor'dor, the half-elf falling flat onto the ground.

There's anger burning in Orym at Bor'dor too. If not quite so literal as what seems to be going on with Ashton. He gathers magic into his hands, fishing a straight piece of iron from his component pockets, as arcane words tumble off his tongue. There's a horrible and vicious satisfaction as Orym feels the arcane weave pin Bor'dor in place, leaving him wide open for further attacks.

Prism dashes past Orym and Laudna to where the halfling has paralyzed Bor'dor on the ground. Her slender and soft wizard's hands make a fist that slams into the downed sorcerer's face as she cries for the friendship shattered by his falsehoods.

Laudna's hands tremble as they stroke through Orym's hair one last time.

"Got to finish this," she murmurs before vanishing into the shadows and reappearing beside Prism and Bor'dor and Ashton's hulking form.

"I'm sorry, Bor'dor. I just can't stand having anyone else betray me," Laudna's quiet lament echoes through the cavern as she readies her staff.

Ashton's large trunk of an arm and hand scoop around Prism, turning the young elf away and blocking her view as the rapid-fire sharp cracks of Laudna wailing away with her staff on the paralyzed Bor'dor echo out.

Orym can feel his spell tremble as its target losses consciousness, becoming dead weight within the magical cage. Then shatter when there is no person to hold, just a corpse.

Laudna collapses to her knees trembling with the emotion of what has happened.

Ashton gently scoops her up in an enormous hand, moving her back next to Prism while softly rumbling comforts to them both. Then he squeezes his stony bulk between all of them and the corpse of Bor'dor, blocking it from view.

It's fascinating to Orym to watch Ashton cast in their elemental form. The incongruency of the large crystal finger-claws flowing through the delicate somantic motions. And the crystals flare once again with a fiery light as flames roar where Orym is fairly certain the corpse lies. A cremation so the rest of them won't have to deal with the body, so Bor'dor cannot be brought back easily.

Orym blows out a breath. The deed is done.

I played a little fast and loose with the D&D mechanics on this one, seeing as I gave Ashton two bonus actions that first round for the Hybrid Transformation and a Searing Smite from their Forge Domain. But it just wouldn't have been as cool without that. Also, the extra size in their hybrid form is because of the extra elemental energies of the Verdant Tomb and Ashton double dipping on Luxon juice for so much potential with their cleric and modified blood hunter stuff. Bor'dor got to pull off his Polymorph into a hummingbird here. It just didn't do him a lot of good when all it took was Ashton landing the Attack of Opportunity to pop him out of it plus some more damage. Then Laudna just pounded Bor'dor with the addition of a Flurry of Blows, and I think the math works out for her to knock him unconscious within the first two blows and then burn through the Death Saves with the Flurry. I seriously thought about giving Ashton the finishing blow, but decided to respect the clusterfuck of canon and leave it to Laudna.

[masterqwertster]

More AU thoughts:

BH C2 Class Swap and the Gods

Man religion and god thoughts get weird with the changed classes of this AU. Chet's a paladin, Imogen is an unwitting Predathos cleric, and Ashton quit being a cleric pre-campaign then retook the class shortly before "saving the gods" becomes a debate.

Some of the things that are happening:

Ashton takes a while to warm up to Chetney or really trust him at all. The old fucker is a paladin of the god that left them broken on the ground. So in the early days, Ashton is probably intentionally malicious in his assholery to Chet. Luckily, Chetney is old and has very few true fucks left to give, and is also as good at taking shit as giving it

Imogen's "divine" magic probably feels weird to anyone who's felt regular divine magic before. Mostly because Predathos is more anti-divine (it at least has resistance/immunity for god hunting). So cleric powering is probably the digested power of the two gods it did eat before being sealed, otherwise the anti-divine stuff might not do any healing at all...

Discovering Predathos the God-Eater

Imogen discovering that a god-eater is her god/patron is a mess. What does it mean to have divine gifts from something that will eat the other gods? What happens if she stands in opposition to releasing the one who grants her power? (can't answer that one until we get a better idea of Predathos, probably from the Reilora once we go to the moon) Is her status as a cleric a sign that she should be fighting for the Ruby Vanguard and not everyone else?

Like poor girl, all these existential questions from one reveal

Ashton really doesn't know how to feel about the "Release the God-Eater!" plan. On one hand, they're really not happy with the All-Hammer, but maybe not enough to kill him, just bloody his nose or something. On the other hand, is their new galaxy "god" even in danger? Ashton doesn't know what it is, the Luxon doesn't talk. All he knows is that it supports him and he's got faith in its chaos.

Chetney is solidly against the destruction of the gods. He's gotten good help out of the All-Hammer for years, decades, centuries(?). That's not folk deserving death, even if they fail people at times. No one and nothing is perfect. That's why you always need to be improving your craft

Side Note: Ashton and Chetney definitely had a sit down talk about the All-Hammer and what happened to Ashton after the Revival Quest given current and former worshipper statuses. Results: Chetney's maybe a bit more skeptical, Ashton a bit more accepting. They both got to each other at least a little bit

Split Teams

Definitely some odd vibes in Team Wildemount with Imogen's Predathos cleric deal when they explain the whole mess to Deanna and FRIDA. Once more bringing up the question "You're powered by a god-eater. Why do you care if the gods die?"

Which might lead Imogen to making a real effort to get in touch with the Stormlord, actually get out from under Predathos's full sway. Because she doesn't want to work with the Vanguard/Predathos when losing the gods might kill her Laudna. But she doesn't want to lose her magic either, so she needs a new god/patron. She's trying the Stormlord because she's got his symbol for her cover, and lightning is sort of her deal too

Gods don't really reject new believers. But Imogen is definitely going to be tested before the Stormlord gives her a drop of power. It's both his personality and a precaution in these trying times

Chetney probably thinks it's extra sexy that Deanna became a holy woman since he's a holy man, in as much as clerics and paladins are as such

Over in Team Issylra, Ashton gets to confound people with his belief in a nameless entity that doesn't even actually comprehensibly communicate with him. And somehow it works enough to produce cleric magic (I'm thinking 7 levels blood hunter/2 levels cleric for Ashton at this point)

This confusion is not helped by Ashton's Hybrid Form being obviously elemental in nature while Abbadina is spouting anti-god, pro-primordial rhetoric

Ashton has very little intention of being less confusing because they're getting their kicks where they can by being a little shit about it. Laudna supports because it is funny and strange and maybe takes her mind off of worrying about Imogen

Ashton also has a lot more rage at Bor'dor for the attack after his sob story. Ashton has fucking been there: left without family and not saved by the god they had faith in. But they didn't take it out on innocent, uninvolved people, people who had no part in the events that broke them. Didn't join a fucking doomsday cult over it either. Anger is supposed to have a specific target that is the only thing you hit, not just lash out at everything and think that's right and good

[masterqwertster]

🥇🥈💐 for the prompt list?

Prompt

🥇 As a Circle of Spores druid, Laudna loves being in the jungle-filled Oderan Wilds and Aeshanadoor. It's humid and there's an abundance of life detritus that all encourage fungal growth.

She also hates the Hellcatch Valley for its dry desert heat. It is not conducive to growing and tending her mushrooms.

🥈 Chetney likes to slap people when he uses Lay on Hands. Wake up slap, slap on the ass, the works.

Chetney's Blessed Healing Slaps™️

💐 Let’s have more Bells Hells parent reactions to the large soulmate group(s)

Ashton’s parents were ecstatic about his large soulmate group. Hishari was out to bring back the titans, change the world. What better sign of their imminent success was there than the child of one of the Lyth-priests having a number of soulmates congruent with what's seen with the the people who change history?

Imogen's large soulmate group further spurred Liliana into leaving to figure out and stop Ruidusborn powers. She didn't want her daughter caught up in some grand Destiny. Relvin didn't pay as much heed to the legends. But when Imogen's powers manifested, he took that as the final nail in the coffin of Imogen not having some big Destiny.

Dorian's parents are tentatively pleased. Leaving a mark on history is good. Probably. They only wish, just a little bit, that it was their firstborn and heir that was marked by Destiny to be important.

Fearne's parents aren't particularly aware of the Exandrian history of large soulmate groups, so they're just glad their daughter is going to be loved so much. Nana Morri is definitely aware of the implications of so many soulmates. This is why she taught Fearne druid magics and to always go for the kill in a fight. She wants her granddaughter to survive her Destiny.

Dancer was mostly too busy trying to figure out how an automaton could receive blooms to consider the implications of just how many different blooms FCG received. She thought about the numbers more after FCG flipped out, and really just felt bad that so many people were probably going to get murdered like her friends were thinking that machine was their soulmate.

[masterqwertster]

Realizing for my Bells Hells C2 Class Swap AU, Ashton's Hybrid Form would have a mouth big enough to fit the Spark of Rau'shan.

Guess they'd have swallowed it in that timeline. Cromch. Dunamantic Volcano Baby Titan.

Hope Ludinus is ready for more lava mwa-ha-ha-ha...

[masterqwertster]

Noticing trauma prompt #11. This one is just lighting up for Ashton with his chronic pain. So Bell's Hells letting their punk rock know much they care about him by helping to relieve his pain. Maybe using massage, heat, acupuncture, or something interesting with magic? Get creative it's D&D world after all.

11 "I can't make the pain go away. But I can at least try to make it more bearable for you." You know... I thought about this, and then realized I kind of already wrote it. There's two little stories to this flavor in my Ashton Character Study collection Rockin' It: Pain Yet Strength, and, to a lesser degree, Oil Can Do. So I think I'll fill this using one of my AU set-ups: Bells Hells C2 Class Swap. (Yes, I may/will write AU snippets. No, I'm not buckling down for more dedicated writing-out of any more of them currently. They are up for adoption though, if anyone's interested) Prompt

Ashton comes out of their elemental form, only to be bowled over by the feeling of wrong wrong wrong.

Fuck.

Somehow, despite how often he's used the elemental form since joining this group, he's managed to avoid one of these episodes. But the bill always comes fucking due.

They feel too big for their own skin, like there's not enough room to simply be. It tumbles into a driving need to shift, to let their form occupy a greater space to banish that uncomfortable tightness.

But Ashton knows that won't alleviate the feeling at all.

Whatever that fucking potion was, whatever it fucking did to him that allows him to take on that elemental form and add fucking magic to his attacks in exchange for fucking nasty headaches, it goes deeper, bigger. And he's only caught glimpses of that unknown immensity in hyper-realistic dreams. Is only subjected to the feeling of it in these fucking random episodes after reverting from elemental back to plain old genasi.

"Ashton?"

It's hard to drag their focus outward, away from the too tightly coiled shifting inside. Thankfully, Fresh Cut Grass is short and in their space, putting him perfectly in view of their hanging head as he gently tightens their shoulder straps to restore their vest to its smaller fit.

They manage a low grunt (too low, too rocky. fuck) and fumble for the cross-body straps with the hand that isn't holding them steady against the wall.

Letters gently bats his hand away, taking over that too. They're speaking as they work, but it's not directed at Ashton, so he can't really get himself to parse the words past the pounding in his head and body, the rush of blood and heavy pants echoing in his ears.

There's a vague awareness of more voices drawing closer (the instinct to lash out, he needs space. But also the possessive need for all of his people to be in easy reach). A notion of being gently guided by Letters with the rest of the group acting as a screen against the world. Then there's a bed that creaks and groans (not his bed) from his weight, but is soft enough and has a pillow he can bury his face in.

Ashton?

They groan and curl tighter on the bed. There is no room for Imogen to squeeze into their mind. There's not enough room for them in there by themself. Can't she tell?

Feels kind of opposite to that to me, Imogen's mind whispers into their own, pushing a feeling of sympathetic comfort. You've got too much space and you're hyperaware of it right now.

Well that's fucking new. What the fuck-?

A tremor runs through him and he has to concentrate on not shifting. Which isn't as successful as he'd like, given the creak of leather and the bed. Fucking fuck-!

Magic washes over Ashton, layering him in calm that tastes of lightning and metal. And fuck if it doesn't clear some space for him to think.

"Did that help?" comes the stereo question in twin accents but different tones and slightly off-beat.

"Yeah," Ashton croaks out, shifting so his good eye has a view of the room instead of the pillow. "Can think a bit now."

"Great!" FCG chirps. "You've got a minute to tell us how we can help make it stop, or at least make it easier on you. We're a bit tapped for magic to give you a second dose."

Ashton can see the ring of expectant faces spaced around the bed in an inn room that they've brought him to. Faces filled with concern and sympathy. None of them are rousing his hate of pity. How the fuck did that happen?

"Ashton, you need to focus, darling," Laudna sing-songs, gently poking an arm with her staff as she crouches down to be eye-level with them. "The clock's ticking."

She's right. They take a precious second to breathe and gather their thoughts.

"There's not much more to do," Ashton tiredly explains. "You've already brought me to a quiet space without distractions. All that's really left is to wait it out. Hope I don't shift and crush the fucking bed."

"Eh. We can afford to replace a bed," Chetney dismisses with a wave of his hand.

"That's it?" Orym asks, a little incredulous.

"I don't- It just happens then goes away after a while. Might all be in my fucking head for all I know," Ashton says with a sigh.

The little wizard frowns. "It's definitely not just in your head, Ash. The magic you do has a very particular flavor to it, and right now this room is filled with it."

"Cool. I don't know what the fuck to do with that," Ashton grumbles.

"I... could try a Dispel Magic?" Orym offers. "I'll need a while to marshal some magic to cast it. But it might help?"

"Oh, if it's things we can do with a bit of rest, I could cast Darkness or Silence, if you think that would help," Laudna offers, sinking into a meditative position on the ground.

"...Knock yourselves out, I fucking guess," Ashton permits, kind of bewildered by how much this crew is trying. "Uh, silence is probably more helpful. I can close my eyes for darkness."

As Laudna nods, Imogen and Fresh Cut Grass's spell unravels. The bubble of artificial calm bursts, letting back in the pain and worry and disconcerted feelings.

Yet through the haze he's aware of the other people in the room, how they don't leave. And that's a comfort he never asked for.

I suppose this is exploring the "elementals aren't going to be subject to feral episodes due to lunar cycles like actual werewolves." So instead this dunamancy/elemental "lycan" blood hunter Ashton gets to deal with the very specific alternate reality feedback of "titan unearthed in tiny mortal body." Like, that possibility is always there, but it's only felt during these episodes. And the cycle Ashton's failing to track is that he's used all four of his different Dunamantic Rites at least once since his last episode.

[masterqwertster]

For the Bells Hells C2 Class Swap AU:

Okay! I've figured out how I'd do the classes for Ashton in this AU: Order of the Lycan Blood Hunter(modified/reskinned)/Forge Domain Cleric

Ashton actually starts pre-campaign as a Forge Domain Cleric of the All-Hammer. They’re barely devote, though. It was more that Ashton found he could support his family (the Nobodies) with punk handicrafts. Either selling creations for coin, or making tools and shit for heists and jobs. And a little extra prayer to the god of handicrafts helped things out.

However, Ashton completely broke faith after the Hexum Job. If it had been literally anyone else in the group to fall like that, Ashton could have healed them (assuming no instant death on impact) and they'd all escape together. Instead, Ashton got left behind with a shitty patch job that leaves them in constant pain (he doesn’t hold anything against Milo for doing their best. He's aware they're not a healer or medically trained beyond first aid in the workshop). Everything they've built their life around is gone, and there's barely any pieces to pick up to try again. Anyways, no faith=no magic.

It's not long after that his modified/reskinned Order of the Lycan skills show up (basically earth elemental transformation instead of were-creature). Probably some sort of poetic Monster Within Unleashed thing (they are very angry about the shit hand they've just been dealt. Again) made possible by the galaxy brain since dunamancy is potential and the Luxon made the primordial titans. And Ashton is aware that this new skill is the strange potion's fault (though not aware of the galaxy brain) since he'd wrung the full details of Milo's work on him out of them, being an (ex)cleric and all wanting to know what healing he was put through.

So Ashton is pure blood hunter at the beginning of the campaign.

Ashton multi-classes back into cleric after Imogen reveals the galaxy brain, as they choose to believe in the infinite possibilities laying within them, and the thing that saved them and gave them new powers without needing to be asked (probably figure belief/devotion is kind of paying back that debt, at least a little bit). Which makes them an unwitting Forge Domain Cleric of the Luxon.

Now anyone who wants to play in this sandbox is free to swap in the Phantom Rogue (reskinned) class instead of the blood hunter, and/or not multi-class back to cleric.

However I think a cleric who quits believing and later finds new faith is a cool twist, and that the modified blood hunter is more interesting than the reskinned rogue when Ashton already has some rogue-like skills from their background.

[masterqwertster]

AU Ask Prompt

Hey, if anyone wants to drop some asks, I feel like talking/thinking/writing about the Bells Hells AUs I've made.

Or making some new ones, if you wanna broach ideas with me. I do love world-building and lore creation.

AU List:

Soul Bloom AU: soulmates bloom flowers where their soulmates bleed (Full-time Soulmates, Part-time Problems)

Bells Howls AU: everyone is a werewolf (except FCG)

Bells Hells C1 Class Swap AU: BH gets the same class as their VM counterparts

Bells Hells C2 Class Swap AU: BH gets the same class as their M9 counterparts

Ruby Hells AU: most of BH are escapees/work for the Ruby Vanguard

Accidental Ascension AU: stopping the release of Predathos ascends members of BH past mortal (but not actual gods) (Accidental Ascension with Your Friends Ch3)

You can check what I've already got for each by clicking the tags

[masterqwertster]

Fashion for the Bells Hells C2 Class Swap AU

Had some thoughts on appearance changes for everybody based on their "new" classes, so here we go!

Orym: School of Divination Wizard

Same base layers, but replace the armor with a happi (think haori/captain coat from Bleach, but butt-length instead of ankle-length). It gives that wizard robe vibe without actually being long enough to threaten to kite Orym around Zephrah

The happi is filled with pockets on the inside for components, including a few in the sleeves for quick access. The spellbook goes in a pocket over Orym's heart

The bottom and sleeve edges have a swirling clouds pattern, there's a vine and flowers pattern around the neckline, and an Ashari emblem on the back of the happi. He's also got a little lapel fastener-pin-chain where the pin parts are a Big Moon Little Moon

Orym still has Will's shield, and uses it as a casting focus. Or at the very least can finagle it into a scrying tool, either by filling the bowl of it with water or polishing it mirror bright. (Derrig's sword went to Lita since Orym has less use for it as a wizard)

Orym's spellbook is pocket notebook sized, as regular-sized books are a little hard to squirrel away on his person. Plus with his Perception, it's not like he needs a big font for his spells (though it's hell for others trying to copy his spells)

Fearne: Path of the Herald of Storms (Desert) Barbarian

Hair in a big braid, first of all. Her hair would look great in a braid with flowers tucked all through it. Plus it keeps her hair from going all over the place as she gets up close and physical

Corset like her Level 9 art, in leather, for a bit of protection

Same dress as Level 3 art, but knee-length all around for ease of movement

Detached sleeves are replaced with arm bands on the upper arms and leather bracers on the forearms

Long sickle for her weapon

Imogen: Order Domain Cleric

Honestly, there's no reason really to change her overall Level 3 look. The big difference would be no gloves.

Showing off the lightning marks as a "divine blessing"

Wears a Stormlord belt buckle as the lightning marks led people to believe he's the god that "blessed" her. She knows he's not, despite the storm dream and lightning, because she reached out to him once and it felt wrong. But she pretends to be a follower of his to not raise questions she doesn't have answers to

Also wears a lightning brooch Laudna made for her, and is her actual holy symbol (representing her new lease on life after meeting Laudna)

Has her dagger for a melee weapon, though vastly prefers spells

Laudna: Way of Shadow Monk

Blouse is the same, but wears a four-split "skirt". Think sort of like TLoVM Vex's long tunic, but there's dangling panels on sides as well. And when Laudna stands still, it looks like a full skirt

There are basically capris on beneath the skirt, so when she does dope monk shit she's not flashing bare thighs and shit

Flat shoes/slippers

She has a three-part collapsible staff for her weapon

Hair is either all cut short at shoulder-length to keep out of the way, or up in a full bun with tuck behind the ear bangs (and the bags can be let loose for her Ring Girl impressions)

Chetney: Oath of the Ancients Paladin/Hexblade Walock

Wood armor, because it's funny

The wood armor is either enchanted or made from a steel hard fantasy tree. And Chet has to roll to see if it catches on fire when he takes fire damage (weather conditions affect the DC)

His sharpest chisel became his pact weapon for Hexblade

FCG: Mastermind Rogue/School of Enchantment Wizard

The only difference for FCG is that the straps of their backpack double as a bandoleer for throwing knives/darts. Maybe a special side-pocket for his spellbook

Ashton: Order of the Lycan Blood Hunter (modified/reskinned)/Forge Domain Cleric

Regular pants, not a jump suit, but the sides of the pants are laced up, ankle to waist, with a fair bit of extra lacing tucked in special inner pockets

Instead of buckles, the vest has cinch straps across the torso and also over the shoulders

These modifications are because Ashton's clothes need to expand pretty fiercely to fit their elemental "lycanthrope" form. It's only a foot taller than normal Ashton, but easily twice as wide/thick

No sleeves if he even thinks he's going to go hybrid form. The arms are too thick and bottom heavy with huge crystal claws. Plus crystal spurs at the shoulders and elbows. Sleeves would just rip and explode

Pants get away with expanding trick because they're just tree trunk thick with no spikes to worry about

Holy symbol is a wireframe pin of the symbol on the pocket of the Ashton Pocket T-Shirt from the critrole shop. They pin it to their lapel. Might fill in the gaps later with colored glass or gems

[masterqwertster]

🫂💐🥈

Prompt

🫂 Imogen gets drawn to the rest of Bells Hells in a mix of hearing about a group of Problem Solvers (Surely they must be getting clout defending the city? Those Paragon's Call posters seem to make such claims) and, of course, Laudna's musical thoughts. Poor horse girl is immediately smitten with the Non-hurting Thoughts Lady. Laudna is probably a little bit warry at first due to mind reading/mental intrusion, given Opal's issues with the thieving, forced temporary removal of Ted and the mess with the Spider Queen. Plus a dose of "Will she find Delilah? And what happens if she does?"

💐 I'm thinking of doing a little chapter about when Orym gets his tattoo in memory of Will and Derrig. ...But I'm pretty sure a good tattoo artist isn't supposed to make you bleed (I've never gotten a tattoo and don't intend to, but it seems sensible), and bleeding is what would make it a chapter at all

🥈 As a Mastermind Rogue, FCG gets proficiency with a gaming set. They are proficient with playing cards, and love doing slight of hand magic tricks with their card deck. Ashton loves to watch FCG perform. Whether he successfully pulls off the trick or fails spectacularly, it's always a show

[masterqwertster]

Just a quick bit of tidying

Master List of my Bells Hells AUs

yes, I will be editing/updating this as new ones emerge

Soul Bloom AU: soulmates bloom flowers where the others bleed. Fic: Full-time Soulmates, Part-time Problems

Accidental Ascension AU: in stopping Ludinus's plans, Imogen, Ashton, and Fearne ascend. Fic: Accidental Ascension with Your Friends (chapter 1-2 debunked, chapter 3+ accurate)

Bells Howls AU: everyone's a werewolf except FCG

Bells Hells C1 Class Swap AU: Bells Hells have the D&D class of their Vox Machina counterparts

Bells Hells C2 Class Swap AU: Bells Hells have the D&D class of their Mighty Nein counterparts

Ruby Hells AU: most of the members of Bells Hells are/have been knowingly involved with the Ruby Vanguard

Ashton of the Ashari AU: Ashton is picked up from Bassuras and adopted by the Ashari

Bells Hells Secret Library AU: modern urban fantasy AU where Bells Hells works for the Secret Library to maintain the masquerade

Partner Swap AU: Bells Hells starting mini-groups are organized differently

Bells Hells Channel AU: Bells Hells are youtubers sharing a house

Bells Hells Stunts AU: Bells Hells are stunt performers

Consecution Quest AU: Ashton (and Essek) and the Quest to find the reborn members of Bells Hells

Dragon Marked AU: Some of the members of Bells Hells can turn into miniature dragons

High Seas Hells AU: Bells Hells has a boat and good luck getting them off of it

Bells Hells Pokémon AU: what it says on the tin, Bells Hells has Pokémon

Questions and further ideas about my AUs are always welcome in the ask box!

[masterqwertster]

Been thinking about the Otohan fight (more specifically the deaths and revivals) in the Class Swap AUs. So... (and this will be two separate posts because they're going to get a little long)

Result of the Otohan Fight in C2 Class Swap

The combat would be fairly different for this one.

Orym would probably use a Fly spell to get his squishy wizard self out of (easy) range of Otohan. Rain damage from above ( Or support after getting on a roof if it requires Concentration)

FCG is abusing their rogue ability to Attack and Hide or Help and Hide to keep out of Otohan's war path

Fearne becomes an anti-echo zone with her Storm Aura. Auto-damage in a zone one-shots echoes no problem since they only have 1 HP

Chetney's running Lay on Hands to bounce people up. So he's chasing after Otohan's bloody trail for that and probably slapping her with Eldritch Blasts when he can

Imogen is still on run and hide as the main target. Throwing out some heals and damage, but saving some magic for Revivify in case the worst happens

Laudna is a monk and thus frontlining. Which means that Otohan notices "Is she your favorite?" much sooner in this fight, as Imogen is having psychic flinches every time Laudna gets hit, with full on panic when she drops unconscious

Ashton is doing more tanking than running, since he doesn't have movement bonus abilities. They're also a big fucking target in their Hybrid Form

Deaths in the Party

There's only one kill besides Laudna because she can't keep out of range as well as a monk while still helping everyone. Which, as said above, leads to Otohan figuring out who to hit to make Imogen lose it faster, so Otohan only makes one kill before zeroing in on Laudna and causing Imogen to explode and end the fight.

Chetney and Fearne are greater annoyances in this fight, being a healer and someone who can (literally) burn through Otohan's echo backpack's charges. But Ashton is the frontliner who's going to be getting in the way more, like canon!Orym.

So Ashton is the kill that Otohan makes before going after Laudna. Also, I already did Nana Morri to revive Fearne for the C1 Swap and Chet's kind of iffy on a revival quest due to his age (could raise him just for old age to take him the next day) and lack of devoted starting partner in Bells Hells to press for it.

Imogen immediately Revivifies Laudna, no hesitation. That's her person, and while she couldn't be swayed anyways, she also doesn't give the others time to even try or point out that Ashton has been dead longer

That's also the only Revivify the party's got. It's a draining fight/day, and Imogen is the only one with access to it at this time

FCG is particularly miffed about Imogen prioritizing Laudna without group input since Ashton is their buddy (and they've been a bit more successful in teasing out his trauma for therapy since Mastermind rogue gives them the subtlety to get past his guard. So they're closer in this AU)

They have to put Ashton in the hole with Treshi. He's just too heavy for any of them to reasonably cart around for the escape

FCG might hang around in the hole with the body. Corpses don't need to breathe, FCG doesn't need to breathe. It works out

Revival Quest

Bells Hells calls on Keyleth again for access to someone with the power to revive. They're also smarter about the spell components (seeing as they have a wizard, which is the type of person to be very mindful about that sort of thing) and purchase those ahead of time in Jrusar so they only need a capable caster

Keyleth takes them straight to Pike instead of asking Lord and Lady de Rolo for assistance. Ashton has no ties to Whitestone and they don't need the bankroll from the old royal vaults, so why bother the very busy important people when they can go straight to the semi-retired cleric baker

Pike tries to revive Ashton, only to find their soul is some sort of mess that isn't fitting back into their body. Like it's too many souls trying to come back at once, but also in pieces that aren't making a full soul

This is, of course, weird dunamancy feedback (as a side note: how do revival magics work on consecuted souls? Because I headcanon the galaxy brain makes Ashton an untraditional, accidental first life of consecution). The flavor is along the lines of all the potential lives being separate people but also simultaneously pieces of Ashton

So Bells Hells has to do a Spirit Quest to make Ashton's soul a cohesive enough whole for Pike to revive him

Laudna leverages her past as a body on the Sun Tree for Vox Machina to get the materials for the Spirit Quest spell. VM didn't save her, but they can help save her friend (No mention of Delilah is made, and the necromancer is intelligent enough to hold her silence lest this connection be severed. She knows Laudna and herself aren't strong enough to survive VM)

Bells Hells finds themselves in the purple and silver galaxy in Ashton's glass (that they've never seen before because the second mind dive never happened). There they find an Outline Ashton that kind of blends in with the surroundings who only says "Who am I?"

They all clamor about who Ashton is to them, which makes the outline!Ashton clearer/more solid, but really doesn't seem to be enough to bring Ashton back

Then Fearne mentions that Ashton was soft once, and a door appears

With no better ideas, they go through the door and find a village at the base of a mountain range. They explore the village looking for Ashton, trying to avoid the people there because they just don't know what this is or what's safe

Eventually they find Hishari Child Ashton. As they talk with him, they realize his parents are members of a primordial/elemental cult, and Orym notices the Ascendent Bridge Mountain, put together with the helmet Ashton stole, to realize this place might be Hishari (this also gives them the info to chase that Ashton didn't get since he was dead for the brain blast)

Once they convince Hishari Child Ashton to come with them, they're sucked out of there back to the star-scape. The Outline waits with Hishari Child at their side, more solid than before

Given that venture, BH realizes they have to sort of delve through portions/milestones of Ashton's life to answer "Who am I?" to collect enough Ashtons to restore him

They collect Orphan Turning to Stone, Criminal Cleric, Broken and Faithless, and Elemental Monster by the time they're done

Orphan is a search through Greymoore/Bassuras

Cleric is a surprise as Ashton had never spoken of how they were a cleric once, though they did advise Imogen on her skills at times. The Cleric comes with a risk of encounter with lawful figures or rival criminals to fight

Broken is a timed attempt to convince him to come with them. Failure to meet the time deadline shatters the scene, causing damage, before resetting for another try

Elemental is the unavoidable encounter. It's basically a Chetney Unleashed fight to collect Ashton's Hybrid Form. They can either chip away at the super-sized angry elemental to get the usual friendly one out, or try to talk him down to friendly

Once the Ashtons are collected, he's whole enough for Pike to revive

Laudna and FCG definitely take part in the ritual. I'm not sure if Orym or Fearne would be the third person

Ashton's very much floored and emotional to be brought back to the whole crew waiting for him and happy to have him back

He's also aware of all the running around they did in his head/past. And that, in a way, it was a test set by himself to see if it was worth coming back, aided and abetted by whatever the Higher Power behind that star-scape is. Which saved his life the first time, and gave him his blood hunter skills

This is where Ashton retakes their first level in cleric as they've found a higher power they can believe in again

Journey Home

Keyleth stuck around for this resurrection, so BH filled her in while Pike was getting set up for the Spirit Quest. And once Ashton is revived, kindly sends them on their way back to Jrusar since they don't want to stick around in Whitestone or crowd Pike's house

Not sure if they make it back before Eshteross is killed, but they spend the night in the Krook House so Ashton can have a night at home

[masterqwertster]

Extra Notes for Ashton in the Class Swap AUs

Taliesin revealed in the SDCC panel that there are extra symbols on Ashton's jacket/vest (seen with position on the Dice Guardian figure and in general on the official t-shirt) that come from their alternate life dreams and this lovely post seems to have figured out what those symbols approximate.

So here's some additions (and a little change) to the Class Swap AUs:

C1 Class Swap

I think, given that heavier armor is more prone to small embellishments/etching, that paladin Orym would have the Ashari symbol on his armor somewhere. So Ashton would have the opportunity to figure that symbol out before Orym carved it as a marker on a tree at Tishtan for Keyleth and the calvary to target

And this one is sort of connected to the approximate Dynasty Beacon symbol, sort of not, but when they encounter Beau and Caleb at Tishtan, there's a decent chance once friendly relations are established that those two mistake Ashton for a Kryn Dynasty agent/citizen between the symbol and the echoes

C2 Class Swap

Ashton definitely figures out the Ashari symbol sooner, as wizard Orym has a big version of it on the back of his coat. Hell, the others might tag those two symbols being very similar

And the little change is that Ashton’s holy symbol when he retakes cleric would be the Beacon-like symbol, not the Ashari hourglass, since their god is the Luxon

[masterqwertster]

Decided to make a visual reference for the (elemental) Blood Hunter Ashton from the Bells Hells C2 Class Swap AU.

I put Ashton's official art in the middle for scale.

You'll notice that the Elemental Hunter is slightly hunched, so if he were to straighten up, they would be that one foot taller than normal. And, quite obviously, the Elemental Hunter is extra-wide, so there's a lot of extra cordage and strap tail to tuck away when he's not hulked out.

You have to put it to full size, but Ashton's eyes are the swirling purple galaxies of dunamancy.

The glass/crystal spines on the back can move/wiggle a little bit. Usually for a vibration sense. They're also kind of based on the Hunters from Halo.

Also, the glass/crystal claws and spines act like the glass in his head in that they'll spark and light up. Not with a battle rage since this Ashton doesn't have a barbarian class, but with their modified Blood Rites.

For the Blood Rites, the damage for the Rite activation is psychic feedback (cannot be resisted) from the galaxy brain as they draw up a dunamantic power. And the Rite activated is random, Ashton still can't pick what they get.

Gravity Rite: Adds force damage to attacks (gravitational crushing)

Time Rite: Adds necromantic damage to attacks (accelerated time flow withers and decays)

Space Rite: Adds slashing damage to attacks that cannot be resisted (clawing through the fabric of space cannot be mitigated when hit)

Possibility Rite: Adds random chromatic damage to attacks (rainbows of possibility, and each attack with this Rite roles individually for type of damage)