#Lurking Shadows

[shiftgear-engineer]

WHAT DIDJA DO TO THEM! WHERE IS AXYL?!!!

Ahhh so this is what that little Rotom was poking around on before I found it~ I believe I know who this is, I've seen you before, but I'll play along my mysterious anonymous friend :)

They're completely fiiiine! I entrusted them into the care of the wonderful Dusknoir who raised me, so there's nothing to be alarmed about. Once I have what I want, things will go right back to normal~

[gearldinekuetherblog]

[silavut-the-wizard]

Silavut the Wizard, Chapter 72

Something strange is happening.

Lurking Shadows

Back in Genat Town, with the wraith disposed of, the party was back in full swing and seemed never-ending once again. Yet another presence lurked, biding its time, waiting for the right moment to reveal itself. There would soon be silence, and the party would be over.

There would be no saving the town or its people from what was to come. The wizard and his companions were now too far away to stop it. No one would know what happened until it was too late.

Shadows grew longer over time. Not like when the wraith had ruled. No. The shadows were subtle and preternatural. Something more sinister was at work.

Back in the passage, before surfacing to find what lay in wait, Silavut had a shiver as he felt a foreboding but couldn’t place it. Sehlan noticed and asked what was wrong. He shrugged and it was probably just nerves. Nara, Lothiren, and Hoish had their doubts but Silavut waved them off, again attributing it to nerves about what lay ahead.

The thing in Genat Town laughed low and wickedly to itself. It had felt the presence of the wizard. They would be dealing with other issues too much to worry about returning to Genat Town any time soon.

Just a bit longer and it would have its day. With no wraith and no wizard to stop it, Genat Town would soon be a ghost town, as would all others as it spread its havoc and desolation.

So it wasn’t really the wraith they had to worry about, they were just a small part of it; it was something else entirely. Though the wraith did use the town for their purposes, they were also keeping the presence at bay in their own way, at least for a time. Now that they were gone, there was no stopping the thing that would soon destroy everything in its path.

The scribes in Trefal’s library were scrambling to record all of this when they realized once Genat Town had fallen, they would soon be next, once it had its fill of the other towns in between. Could it be stopped, though? That was the question. If not, not only would the world be in shambles, Silavut and his companions would fail in their quest. Yet if that were the case, would not the sorceress also fail? Too many variables to calculate.

The future was now split. Which one would prevail?

(How, you may be wondering, did the scribes of Trefal know all of this? Remember, everything that happens is recorded, no matter how big or small. It was felt everywhere all at once. When it expanded, not only did it reach out to Silavut, but the whole world. Thus they knew it. Satisfied? No? Too bad. If so, good. Now on with it!)

“Are you sure you’re OK?” Sehlan asked, looking worried.

Silavut had nearly doubled over and was barely able to straighten up. “I… I think so… What was that?”

Whatever he felt, it was stronger and worse than originally thought. Once the initial feeling wore off, the shock suddenly hit, making him double over and stagger. Hoish had padded over and kept him from falling completely.

“Whatever it was, we’ll have to figure it out later. Right now, we need to get up there.” Nara pointed towards the surface.

“I felt it too, wizard. Not as strongly as you, but it certainly felt bad,” Lothiren said, comparing his smaller size to Hoish, who was two and a half times as big as the dragon in current form. The reason for the smaller size was due to the wings and tail. Silavut didn’t immediately account for those in the shrinking spell. Which was also why Lothiren was able to ride on Nara’s shoulder for a time.

Now the dragon was eager to be restored to original size. Hopefully there wasn’t anything up there to prevent Silavut from performing the restoration spell. Though none of them was sure what was up there, especially after Hoish’s warning and Silavut’s suggestion to be prepared.

It took Silavut a few more moments to finish recovering and fully straightened up. “Thanks, Hoish.”

“You’re welcome. Now, let us see what we may be dealing with. Get ready.” Hoish took point, ready to attack once they breached the surface.

Slowly and carefully they slinked up to the surface. Hoish’s face slowly emerged first, his keen eyes and ears on alert. Looking around, he didn’t notice anything. “Looks clear,” he said and started climbing out. Though once outside, things felt strange.

Silavut was next, followed by Anielle, Nara, Lothiren, and finally Sehlan. They all shuddered at the strange feeling.

“By the Powers, what is that?” Nara asked, trying to shake the feeling.

“I don’t know, but I really don’t like it. It’s not her doing, I know that. It’s not got her signature,” replied Silavut, looking around uneasily.

“Wizard, if you would, please,” Lothiren asked gently.

“Oh, yes, right, of course.” Silavut pulled out the spell book and turned to the enlargement spell. Luckily there was nothing else required to prepare, so he started the incantation. However, something didn’t feel right and stopped.

Lothiren looked at him curiously. “Why did you stop?”

“This doesn’t feel right.” Silavut looked around again. “Anyone else notice how it seems… less vibrant? Like something is taking the colors out of everything?”

“Yeah,” Anielle noted. “Now that you mention it, it does seem a little duller than it should be.” She shuddered again, making a “brr” noise. She wasn’t cold, but it was like trying to shake off a chill.

“Lothiren, I’m sorry, I think we’ll have to wait. I know how eager you are to be restored. It just doesn’t feel right doing it here.”

“I understand. We will find a more suitable location, without this… shadow… upon us. Let us hope there is someplace nearby.”

“Yeah… All right, everyone. No danger here, and no sign of the beasts or the Hangrolblest. We’ve evaded them for now. Just be on your guard.” Silavut stashed his bow and the others followed suit, putting away their weapons, except Nara.

“I think I’ll hold onto this for a while.” She raised her sword. “Right now, I just feel safer with it at the ready.”

Sehlan nodded. “Good idea.” She swapped her axe and strapped her sword for quick draw just in case.

As they made their way through the quiet village, they kept on alert, constantly watching and listening for any signs of trouble. There didn’t seem to be anyone around. Hoish had taken point so the large cat could alert them of anything ahead. Lothiren had opted for walking this time, so as not to distract anyone, taking position beside Hoish.

“Where is everyone?” Anielle whispered.

“I’m not sure,” Silavut whispered back. “It’s too quiet.”

Nara gasped.

“What’s wrong?”

“I thought… There was… That window over there.” She pointed to a small house. “I thought I saw someone behind the curtain, watching us.”

“Should we…?” Sehlan started to ask.

Silavut shook his head. “No. Too risky.”

Sehlan nodded and they continued. The odd feeling continued gnawing at their senses. Silavut knew something wasn’t right but couldn’t quite pin it down. Then he suddenly realized something.

“Wait.” He stopped and stood straight. “The weather… It’s supposed to be getting colder, but it’s warm here.”

Anielle gasped. “You’re right! I wasn’t shivering like I thought I would after that impromptu bath. In fact, I’m almost completely dry. Still want a proper bath, though.”

Sehlan looked around warily, still on guard. “So what do we do?”

“First, we find a safe place. Hopefully away from… whatever this thing is. Next, I restore Lothiren. If we can, find a place to clean up. Hopefully the beasts and Hangrolblest will be far behind us by then. Once we’ve done all that, we figure out our next plan of action. Come on, let’s get moving.”

“Right. Off we go, then.” Back in Genat Town, the thing smirked to itself. Its power was slowly starting to take hold. Once it has gained full power, nothing short of a miracle would be able to stop it. This was the moment it was waiting for.

[ducktracy]

there are a lot of evil people in the world and a lot of darkness in the world and so it’s very important for me to stress that now more than ever is the time to spread kindness and compassion. combat the evil by not only not partaking in it, but actively refuting it. destroy the notion that being compassionate or generous or kind to someone is uncool or embarrassing or even scary. be the change you want to see. start a chain reaction. positivity only breeds more positivity. do an act of kindness for someone so that that person who is too afraid to do it themselves can see you, realize that they’re not alone, and perhaps sheepishly follow your example. and then the next person who is too afraid but sees that person can do the same. when bad news comes out about bad people or horrible atrocities in the world it’s such an easy impulse to despair, and obviously it’s important to feel what you need to feel. grieve. be angry. be sorrowful. be empathetic. but dust off your pants and get up and be a part of a chain reaction that, no matter how small the scale, and spread compassion and love and care. all the reasons why you might not—“it’s hard! it’s scary! people will make fun of me! it’s useless because there’s too much evil!” are all grade A arguments as to why you should. you have no idea how many people you could inspire to do the same. even if it doesn’t get you anyway far, you can at least say you have the nobility of trying. please choose love and please choose life. you are worth loving and you are worth inspiring others to love

[bottlehawk]

no sburb beta earth au where dave "microcelebrity" strider suddenly gains a big following on the internet after a spike of people discover his sbahj comics online when a screenshot of one goes particularly viral and turns into a [top text/bottom text] meme and some hipsters are like "woah,, this is actually some really avant garde stuff". when he's churning these out sitting in the bathroom stall at school once a day during lunch period. so then he gets REALLY popular and then inevitably gets cancelled at some point when a communications/poli sci major reads one of his comics and then types up a whole memo board explaining how sbahj is actually neo-conservative propaganda written as part of a conspiracy to undermine the 2008 obama presidency. and there's a whole rage war since the memo board was written really convincingly with red arrows and circles drawn around sweet bro's head and everything and dave hasn't made any public statements about it and also no one actually understands what sbahj is about. so threads are being written up about this and people are like emailing death threats to each other over it and someone even tries to doxx him and then manages to find out he lives in texas and some people start actually taking the whole thing seriously because He's From Texas (never mind the fact it's houston). meanwhile dave just started his midterms and he has to focus because he actually cares about school and his future and so he takes a short "hiatus" which people freak out even more over because they take it as him backing away due to the allegations online. and then after winter break dave comes back and opens up a q&a for his 169th "bro wee ar doign it wee ar making it hapen" special and at some point after a barrage of questions in his inbox (q: was "swety bro and hela jeff crassh on the freway" inspired by a real car accident you were in? a: i don't own a car / q: what job do you have in real life? a: unemployed but i pick up roadkill off the street sometimes / q: who did you vote for in the 2008 primaries a: i didn't) someone finally has the bright idea to ask "hey how old are you" and he replies "i'm 13" and all hell breaks loose.

[httpsghostie]

simon riley

simon riley grabbing an item of the top shelf at the supermarket because you can't reach it

simon riley not leaving your mind through the aisles while you shop because obviously you just met hulk

simon riley bumping into you when you're getting a dozen of eggs and he's taking all the damn stock for himself because forgive him and his bulking diet

simon riley literally laughing when you two meet again by the chicken freezers, saying you're following him at this point

simon riley getting roughly 4kg of chicken breasts because a man needs to reach his protein goals

simon riley who says it's destiny that you two are literally parked across from each other and decides to ask you for your number

and finally simon riley who can't wait to get home and text you to ask if you got home safely but in reality he just wants to talk to the pretty lady he met at the supermarket that day

[karlydraws]

☎️"Hi. Can you guys investigate?"

Welcome to Trighost, a show where two investigators trying to prove the supernatural

Nick is a firm believer of ghosts and wants to capture the proof so that he can convince his skeptic friend, Vash

Season premiere: interview

Calling out for friends 😁

Hi can we get a word from you sir?

There are two types of players

BTS: meet the producers

[bluedeedeedoop]

i’m alive

and hi holy shit i’ve been slacking with providing for the barrissoka children but i swear i’m still alive and check the tag several times a day, i’m just slow with making art.

but enjoy Barriss and Ahsoka with their tooka kitty! (meila, based on @jedimasterbailey’s fic “The Padawans”)

[shiftgear-engineer]

Hm...on second thought...maybe poking around inside their head just a bit more isn't such a bad idea~

Oh titans, here we go again...

Come now, my friend, wouldn't getting our answers straight from the Rapidash's mouth speed up our investigation tenfold? We could continue our pursuit much sooner :)

...fine. Just leave me out of it. I don't wanna get involved.

[holyfreaks]

sorry but the "trying to get rid of us" part.... like we were here from literally day one. you came into OUR house and decided the show was about something that it's not. also, even if we weren't here from the beginning, we deserve to be here every bit as you do. why are you trying to gatekeep fandom, when it's always been for the freaks. especially on the incest family horror show

[orions-garden]

Shades of Magic Dashboard Simulator

🌊thatwatermage Follow

rhy maresh was 19??? he should’ve been at the club

✨themagic-ofmagic Follow

2,435 notes

🤔celebrity-smash-or-pass Follow

1,752 notes

🏰low-royal Follow

i’m going on vacation during the essen tasch but someone tells me how it goes

⛰️icanmovemountains Follow

THE DARKNESS

🏰low-royal Follow

huh?

🗺️mapmaker-mapmaker Follow

the darkness

🏰low-royal Follow

oh ok.

12,478 notes

🏴‍☠️piracy-enthusiast Follow

HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN THE SAROWS IS COMING IS COMING IS COMING IS COMING ABOARD WHEN THE WIND DIES AWAY BUT STILL SINGS IN YOUR EARS IN YOUR EARS IN YOUR HEAD IN YOUR BLOOD IN YOUR BONES

10,297 notes

⛵️faro-away Follow

arnesian sailors will be like i know a place and take you aboard their ship where their first mate (?) only speaks high royal and can use blood magic 🙄

724 notes

🦴no-bones-about-it Follow

what everyone thinks bone magic is:

what it actually is:

15,860 notes

[sazernac]

The scene where Rhaenyra finds Luke and Arrax’s remains is so monumental because it’s the physical evidence of the devastation she feels. She needed to search the sea banks to see the horror of it all, not just hear about it from people who weren’t even there. Syrax’s pain is evident here too because Arrax emerged from one of the eggs she had laid, so the losses suffered by both dragon and rider are dually felt and serves to bond the two even more than they were already.

[orangechickenpillow]

wwdits always feels like a comedy that's one minute away from turning into something horrifying to witness. Like, there's always just this vibe in the air of "you're laughing, but just wait..."

[haaaaaaaaaaaave-you-met-ted]

Lurking TIE Phantom by Ignacio Bazan Lazcano

[oldschoolfrp]

Wights, vampires, mummies, and an apparition are just a few of the undead haunting Empyrea, even before the party opens the Gates of Death and enters the Halls of the Undead (Keith Parkinson cover art for AD&D module I12: Egg of the Phoenix, TSR, 1987) Originally published in 1982 as R-3, a 32-page RPGA exclusive module by Frank Mentzer, the 1987 version was expanded to 100 pages by Mentzer and Jennell Jaquays.

[robo-dino-puppy]

horizon forbidden west | beta 7/?