#NPC- OF STEEL WIT

[soulsbetrayed]

NPCs you'll see on my end (Assistant Librarians)

Kieran- One of Gebura's Assistant Librarians and the only one she thinks can keep it together when she's away. Acts as the impromptu leader of the Assistant Librarians on the floor. Argues with Tully and Richter consistently. Ends up getting the short end of the stick when put against Galatea. Hangs out with Netzach's group during downtime

Galatea- One of Yesod's Assistants. Her attitude is very reminiscent of her boss' 'Yesod the Viper' persona, stern rigid and unyielding . Downright despises Kieran for an incident neither want to elaborate on involving an Abnormality nearly killing them both. Is usually seen bumming around Chesed's floor during downtime between Receptions. Real name unknown, the name Galatea refers to her pale skin

Skuld, Verdandi, and Urdr- A trio of Assistant Librarians working under Netzach who answer to Durga. They have succumbed to resignation as they did before when they were still members of the Safety Team. Out of the three Skuld is the only male. When you put fire under them they can put as much work as they can. "Out of the fry pan and into the fire" is their general motto. May or may not be biologically related to each other. One of them is usually seen in the Floor of Philosophy trying to sober up with tea, very rarely all three of them are there at once

Richter- One of two apocryphal Assistant Librarians belonging to the Floor of Mythology and Lore the other being his partner Aetulia. His face is heavily scarred from the many corporate wars he participated in. Formerly a corporate headhunter working under the call sign of Yoshitsune. Hard of hearing for the most part. Very verbose and poetic. Tends to be around Tiphereth to aid her in any work she's short staffed for. Very fatherly to her and Tully. Tends to refer to the Patron Librarians as Lord or Lady respectively depending on who it is.

Dinah- One of the few Assistant Librarians from the Floor of Religion any one sees at any given moment. Has a glass half empty outlook on life. Tends to debate both Hokma and Yesod during down time. Comes off as smug and rather sure of themself much to the irritation of their peers. Cannot get along with either Kieran or Galatea and keeps away from them. Somehow is much more understanding than they let on

[janehaster]

On Barcus and his denial on admitting his feelings for his "friend" Wulbren

I just completed the gnomes' quest in BG3, up to the point where I've chosen to name Barcus the new leader of the Ironhand gnomes - and even though he doesn't see himself as a leader, in my heart I know he has the makings of one - and didn't kill Wulbren and by now, it's obvious Barcus doesn't consider Wulbren to be just a friend. He has a platonic love for him, following him everywhere - clinging to him like moss to a stone, as Wulbren describes it - and daring to travel all over Faerûn just to make sure his friend is alive and well.

There are other instances where the way Barcus calls him his "friend" - the not-so-subtle intonation in his voice when he uses that word - leaves no room for doubt that friend isn't the appropriate word to describe how Barcus sees him.

Now, BG3 is a world where heterosexuality isn't the norm. You're free to determine your gender and sexuality, and free to decide what kind of relationships you'll have with other people. So in my understanding, Barcus hasn't admitted to Wulbren the way he feels for possibly a couple of reasons:

On the hypothesis that he did confess his feelings for Wulbren, it's likely he was rejected. Taking Wulbren's harsh pesonality into account, he might've even given Barcus an ultimatum: we can only remain friends if you don't try "expressing your feelings" for me ever again. Given how Barcus genuinely loves him, he might've accepted those terms

Barcus never confessed to Wulbren, but witnessed what happened when Wulbren turned another male gnome down, and things didn't go well. Wulbren might even have physically assaulted them, or something equally bad, making Barcus decide to keep his feelings to himself

Wulbren is already commited or engaged to another unknown gnome, male or female (or any other gender, really) and Barcus can't get involved with him, not even as a lover

That said, I'm not assuming Wulbren is heterosexual. In fact, we can't really assume anything about him, since the matter of his sexuality isn't present in BG3. However, from the way he hates having Barcus following him around all the time and how he vehemently rejects their friendship - even going as far as to order the Ironhands to execute Barcus when he questions Wulbren's authority -, I'm taking the liberty to assume he either doesn't recognise the signs of homosexual love and affection or he does recognise them, but either doesn't want to admit Barcus is in love with him or is flat out rejecting him and hoping Barcus will give up his pursuit.

Now, what's really interesting is how their dynamic was thoroughly developed. They're NPCs and don't even have any major relevance to the main plot. You can simply leave Barcus to his fate in Act 1, not rescue Wulbren in Act 2 or forget about the Steel Watch Foundry in Act 3. However, choosing to not ignore the gnomes results in diving into this rich, complex world of theirs and being gifted with witnessing this tense relationship between Barcus and the ambitious and ruthless target of his affections. That's good writing and storytellling right there.

All things considered, I'm glad we get to be called an ally and a friend by Barcus at the end of the Steel Watch quest (if you talk to him after naming him leader of the gnomes, he has a couple of lines for you). To me, it means he finally put a stone over the whole Wulbren situation and is ready to move on, to leave this abusive unilateral relationship behind and find love and meaning with someone else. Gods know he deserves it.

[witchlingsandwyverns]

Hello friends, I am OBSESSED.

At a coworker's recommendation I picked up the Saint of Steel Series by @tkingfisher and I've now read 9 books in six days and am unable to put them down. I may even just start them all over again, I loved them that much.

Friends, these books were crack for my heart, catnip for my soul. They have earned a place on my library shelf next to my other comfort reads - the highest honor I can give them. I feel like I lived almost a week in this world and it was everything I crave in my fantasy, like going back to a beloved D&D game and your fav NPCs welcoming your return with a pint. The banter, the wit, the plot, the characters, the ocassional horror elements creeping in at the edges - all in an incredible package that speaks to the author's skill and genuine love of stories.

A quick note: I admittedly read them out of published order (Saint of Steel, Clocktaur Wars, then Swordheard) but found it not to be an issue as each series is self contained and provides context as it goes.

I cannot recommend them enough and hope those who love a good romantic fantasy romp find as much joy in the World of the White Rat as I did!

[17-noodlebird]

Meet

Princess Purity

Voice Actor: Jodi Benson

~~~~~

Princess Purity is the daughter of King Cloudbeard, ruler of Medievia, who at first glance is your stereotypical Disney Princess who wants more out of life. In truth, she's just a lazy bum who got everything handed to her on both a golden and silver platter, sometimes even a bronze one if she ever feels like it. She meets her love-at-first-sight sweetheart Prince Steele during her Sweet 16th birthday party, to which the latter whisks her away to some grand paradise where she can be free to... be an even bigger lazy bum, but on an island or whatever. She couldn't care less for her people, what her father does, the people she and her loved ones hurt to get what they want, or overall just being a decent human/NPC. She tries to get wed to Prince Steele, but ultimately, after witnessing daddy dearest get eaten by a dragon, she tries to sing herself out of the crossfire, and too gets eaten by the dragon, alongside her groom, Lord Spaniel and Lady Fowl. "Till death do us part" they said. Yeesh.

~~~~

01000001 01110011 01101000 01100001 00100000 01100110 01110010 01101111 01101101 00100000 01000100 01101001 01110011 01101110 01100101 01111001 00100111 01110011 00100000 01010111 01101001 01110011 01101000 00100000 01101000 01100001 01110011 00100000 01101110 01101111 01110100 01101000 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01101111 01101110 00100000 01110100 01101000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01101111 01101110 01100101 00111011 00100000 01101001 01110100 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01100001 01110011 01110100 01101111 01110101 01101110 01100100 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01101000 01101111 01110111 00100000 01101101 01110101 01100011 01101000 00100000 01100001 00100000 01101100 01100001 01100011 01101011 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01100011 01100001 01110010 01100101 00100000 01100011 01100101 01110010 01110100 01100001 01101001 01101110 00100000 01110000 01100101 01101111 01110000 01101100 01100101 00100000 01100011 01100001 01101110 00100000 01101111 01100010 01110100 01100001 01101001 01101110 00100000 01110100 01101000 01110010 01101111 01110101 01100111 01101000 00100000 01110011 01101000 01100101 01100101 01110010 00100000 01110111 01101001 01101100 01101100 01110000 01101111 01110111 01100101 01110010 00100000 01100001 01101100 01101111 01101110 01100101 00101110

~~~~

[brynnmclean]

Fargrímr Narration for Huldufólk (4/6)

Someone very helpfully posted a video on Youtube of comparisons between all the Narrators in Hellblade: Senua’s Saga. Last night, I finished writing down all the quotes for the Others / NPC Narrators, for reference. Hope it is interesting and useful to other people!

Spoilers for the game overall, but all the narration quotes for Chapter 4 Huldufólk under the cut:

Proof she had been chosen, I saw it.  She tried to hide it from us, but I saw the way she listened to the things I could not hear.  I knew they would take her.  The Hiddenfolk, our only chance, the only thing the giants fear.  This seiðkona, she could reach them, they would see.  I wasn’t sure, not quite, that she would survive.

-

Once she had shown her promise, they took her down into their world, into the depths where none of us had gone.  I was afraid for her, my last hope.  But if she could not survive their trials, she couldn’t help us.  

I sound callous.  I didn’t want to hurt her, but we were in such need.  I saw no other way.  It was worth a chance.

-

I feel the weight of the ones who died, lost to the giants, the earth that cracks and shivers.  I failed them, brought them here and didn’t know how to save them.  My people.  But most of all my wife and child.

-

Some time I will have to face them, the ones I lost.  Turn my face to them and open my eyes. I’m so sorry I let you down, my life, my love.

-

She had her demons, too, and now they gathered all around.  The time is now.

-

It’s not just a test of will, or wit.  They want to see your steel.

-

Sacrifices must have meaning.  And she was a warrior.  It was her pride, her strength, all she had to offer up.  She fought so hard to find it, find her sword.  It was everything.  Giving it up made her nothing again.

-

These creatures, they were sent to test her.  Nothing lives down here.  They’re made of darkness, and the ones she’s fought before—They’re her monsters, just her own.  But she has shown her wisdom and her strength.  And now the hidden ones call her onward.  She is close now.

-

They are here now, all around us.  You’ll never see them.  Just catching glimpses in the corner of your eyes.  We need them, the beautiful ones.  A world that’s free of worry, hunger, death.  How can we live without that promise?  

-

She was the one.  She could see through the mask, the terrible monster that all dark feelings make us.  She saw the truth of the giant, the things that loss can do to us, twist us, crucify us.  It might have been me.  I don’t know what held me back.  

-

We all have names.  Ours have two meanings.  We take our fathers’ on, a burden of expectation.  Mine means Wanderer’s Mask.  I have lived up to it.  I’ve wandered the world.  And I wear a mask.  Don’t we all?

-

She’s going to stop the Goði.  The hidden ones have opened up the way.  It’s not about blood, it’s showing them the truth.  No more giants means no more sacrifices.  

But I was uneasy, didn’t trust the Goði or Thórgestr’s confidence.  I wanted more assurance.  So I brought the light of Ástríðr.

Full List: 1) Reykjanestá [Thórgestr] | 2) Freyslaug [Thórgestr] | 3) Rauðhólar [Fargrímr] | 4) Huldufólk [Fargrímr] | 5) Bárðarvik [Ástríðr] | 6) Borgarvirki [The Goði / Thórgestr]

[the-blue-wraith]

I've finished BG3 last night and here are my thoughts: (BG3 MAJOR SPOILERS UP AHEAD)

The progress of Act 1 and 2 were so smooth, my only regret was I should've explored more the areas in both acts and I also missed a few cutscenes in the camp. I really enjoyed my stay in those acts, I didn't feel overwhelmed by the quests. What I love the most was the buildup of my relationships with my companions. Especially with Astarion, at first he distrusted me then when I learned about his tragic past and accepted who he truly was he became much closer with me. One of my fave scenes of him was his confession scene in Act 2, he sounded so sincere there

Act 3 was full of bugs. The game textures were rendering slowly, even the merchants' facial and clothing textures were slow to render everytime I talked to them. This also applies to my companions who are wearing heavy armor. The way they scattered all the quests in the areas was overwhelming unlike in Act 1 and 2.

Before I confronted the Netherbrain I wasn't able to find Voss during Lae'zel's quest, he literally disappeared in the sewers. However I managed to release Orpheus in the Astral Plane. I was so worried about the outcome of this, I thought I will never get to finish Lae'zel's quest.

When I was about to rescue Ulder Ravengard in the Iron Throne he was missing there as well. Before I went there I attended the coronation and was able to talk with him and Gortash. Wyll's quest was triggered afterwards and I chose to break his pact with Mizora. I went to the Steel Watch Foundry to trigger the quest of saving the Gondians and went straight to the Iron Throne. Wyll even said "Ulder Ravengard is here - he must be" yet he wasn't there. I went back to Wyrm's Rock Fortress only to find out he stayed there lol, I had no choice but to kill him.

The epilogue was full of bugs too. Some of the NPC's voices became inaudible and Orpheus (he became an Illithid in my playthrough) was not following me. My last romance scene with Astarion was bugged (I'm still pissed about this lol). I also heard some of the romance scenes with the other companions were bugged too.

I hope Larian will fix these bugs I've mentioned. Witnessing a buggy epilogue was disappointing.

Also!! I felt the ending was rushed. I was expecting we would be able to talk to all my companions before and after the battle. But the battle was very straightforward to the Netherbrain. During their last scene on the docks everything happened so fast. Tav killing Orpheus, Astarion running from the sun, Gale pursuing the stones in the Chionthar, Karlach saying her last word before dying and Wyll lending her a hand. It all happened so fast!

Do I still think BG3 deserves to be GOTY? Yes. Do I think Act 3 and the ending were rushed? Yes.

Sorry if I sounded pessimistic I really enjoyed the game!! The rushed ending and bugs were the only let-down to me.

[sketchygainedyoursoul]

MCD SUMMARY: Aphmau Fucks Around

MASTERPOST

This will consist of Episodes 1 to 7

It kicks off with Aphmau in a little world of her own, talking about "season one of minecraft diaries" and putting a journal with a summary of the og series into an empty bookshelf. It's almost as if she expected the second season not to last long. lmao.

Before Aph spawns into the world of Ru'an, a handmade cutscene of two unknown guards (later revealed to be Zenix and Garroth) talking about how, after the death of their lord, the village has been having trouble, until they are interrupted by a noise. The scene cuts to an unknown person running away from a clearing.

Aphmau spawns into the clearing. She talk about minecraft stuff, then sees the same guy who ran away chopping a tree. Aphmau chases after him, and you can see his nametag reads "Vylad". Vylad leads Aphmau to a village- the village of Phoenix Drop.

Aphmau talks to the villagers and guards, finding out that the village lacks a lord. She falls into a hole 3 times and decides to stay and become the lord.

Honorary babe house mention- Aphmau rescues all the "babes" from a well and shoves them into a 3x3 with dirt floor

We witness at least three people die as night comes- I was wondering where those people went in the later episodes. Aphmau jesus you are not doing a good job at lording. (It's okay though the villagers that die dont have any significance)

Aphmau tries to get Emmalyn into the babe house- this backfires, Emmalyn lives with Aphmau now. This is probably significant, considering it was a plot point in the reboot. I dunno.

Episode 2 starts with Vylad- the guy who brought Aphmau to the village- and another masked man observing the village. And- oh? What's that? Aphmau got someone to voice them! Anyway, there is an ominous shot of Vylad looking at Aphmau, while the unfamiliar guy says that Vylad was just supposed to scout tonmake sure the lord was dead- not stick around. "Our lord gives me your rations anyway." Okay that was surprisingly funny for the situation-

Aphmau spent time off screen fixing the paths in the villages. Aphmau days she will do some more stuff off screen, except talk with the NPCs because she pissed off Emmalyn.

Garroth points out that Aphmau fixed up the streets, Aphmau confirms it.

"I'm calling the guards if you bother me again" dear god Emmalyn chill.

None of the villagers like Aphmau, lmao.

Aphmau finds two villages on the horizon of an ocean. The first village is over water and has no paths. Aphmau kidnaps Donna and goes to the next village and finds it in the same condition as the first. Donna disappeared, but she comes back.

Episode 3 starts with a greyscale flashback to the old lord's home- You can see Vylad come into the clearing, holding a flint and steel. A closeup shot through the window reveals someone with long hair and elf-like ears. It's pretty clear what Vylad does next.

Aphmau, over a stream, fixed up the town and got a lot of resources. Nice.

Aphmau interacts with Garroth and the first... err... conversation screen pops up. Garroth asks if Aph has talked to Zenix, and she says no, so Garroth requests Aph talk to Zenix.

Donna lives! In the babe house.

Aphmau talks to Zenix, and he thanks her for the work she has done on the town. After Aph breaks the fourth wall a bit, Zenix warns her about how being seen as a Lord is bad. Upon further prompting, Zenix backs out and says some bull about the world moving in directions that might not be good. Zenix you little sh-

After a while, Aphmau returns to talk to Garroth who explains that he thinks its a good idea for the world to change. Apparently, "The more [Aph does] for villages things will start to change. Events might happen around the things [Aph] build, although it might take some time... people in the world will become more "aware" - and that doesn't always attract positive attention." He also makes a fourth wall joke. Garroth then directs Aphmau to the previous lord's home- in the forest - for mote answers. Aphmau ends the episode there.

No cutscene begins episode 4, but Aphmau heads over to the old home immediately. It's burnt to a crisp, the only things left are some piles of ashes, a crib, and a diary/journal.

It appears to be a diary reminiscent of someone who spawned in the world for a survival adventure- just like Aphmau. Pages 1 through 3 are normal looking diary entries, while pages 4 through 25 have been ripped out. The last page, page 26, is viewed only briefly until Aphmau gets knocked out. The text reads, "Why...? This is my world. NOT his. Milfina..."

A cutscene begins. The man from episode 3's cutscene is there with a dagger. An unfamiliar girl is there as well. The man begins with saying that Aphmau doesn't look like a replacement, and that he doesn't know why Vylad is hanging out around the village. The girl lets out a manic giggle, and says that "I don't think it's her he's interested in. Vylad has a history with this place, I wouldn't put it past him if he's just here to relive that victory." The man laments that with her here, Garroth and Zenix will start to regain their memories. The girl wants to leave her there for the funsies, something about a king, and the man just leaves.

Aph wakes up, doesn't realize someone knocked her out, and the diary is gone. She steals the desk. Slay, ig.

Zenix intercepts Aphmau as she returns to the village, and is worried about her. He asks if she found anything, then retracts his statement and commands she get some rest. Aphmau then goes to find Garroth, and finds him missing from his usual spot at the top of a 3x3.

She locates Garroth, and turns out he is talking to man named Paul. Garroth has bought a lot- enough to fund Paul's journey home and to feed his family, but still has Aphmau look at his goods. It's a diamond block for a strawberry seed, one for an orange sapling, and one for a rice seed.

Turning her attention to Garroth, who asks her to hold out her hand. After accidentally slapping Garroth, Aphmau receives on of each of Paul's goods.

Aphmau spawns in her first do- Thorgi. This is important. Why? Dog.

Aphmau starts off episode 5 with Emmalyn slander.

Aphmau talks to Zenix and finds he likes Paul, but doesn't trust him. Understandable. Aphmau tells Zenix about what she found- Zenix is concerned, and decides to investigate.

Paul is all out of goods, a "mysterious fellow" bought him out. Apparently, there are docks. Garroth tells Aphmau about this.

Omg Brendan built the dock OMG VISCHER

WHY WAS THERE A SEX JOKE-

Listening to Jess talk about all the ideas when I know what happens is so surreal lmao

Aphmau ends the episode with a promise of a house on the hill.

holy shit she moved the well- well well well boys, the phoenix drop we(i) know and love is beginning to take form

Aphmau moves into the house on the hill, falls asleep at night, and Vischer FUCKING EXPLODES DUDE The cutscene shifts to show the girl from the cutscene in episode four to be looking over the docks. It's implied she did it.

Aphmau pushes an old and creepy guy away from her house (I'm pretty sure he has some significance later-) and heads down to the destroyed docks after seeing them in the distance. Zenix is down there, says he wants to keep this under wraps, says bastard, and directs Aph to Garroth. Also Zenix memory ??? Aph talks to Paul, Paul reveals that Vischer fukcin died. Garroth further explains that the village is small so it can't handle big issues. Garroth requests that Aphmau take Paul and Vischer's body back to their village.

Aphmau talks to Brendan, and tells him about the docks blowing up, but not Vischer, so Brendan goes to work on fixing the docks. The episode ends.

Episode 7 begins with Aphmau going to the well and finding someone new there- Kiki. She has a "hamster party"- that's really just a hamster give-away. I do not think we ever learn Kiki's real name- Oh yeah her brother is Brendan- Zenix refers to the hamsters as "Strange, adorable creatures."

CUDDLEZILLA IS BRENDAN'S??? well tickle my nose and call me sketchy it's been far too long since i've seen anything before Malachi's arc.

I just want to say Aph's perpetually full inventory pisses me off sorry-

Aph proceeds to build the ugliest fucking boat i've ever seen with just a chest for Vischer's body. By god.

2015

That is the end of the episode- and the end of this first arc, as Aph heads to Vischer's village in the next. I'm ending the first part of the summary here- hopefully the next one won't take too long.

Next

[retrokid616]

Critical Role Campaign 3 episode 51 pre-game

so befor we start i wanna say happy 8 years CR!

never played that many smash games but i recognize hype track when i see one critters speaking of yeah every campaign 2 criiter said this all last week in the comments so if you don't mind HERE WE ARE LIVE AT THE APAGINE SOLSITCE AND WHAT THE BELLS HELLS OH BY THE WILDMOTHER IS THAT!

it is it's beau with a steel chair! oh no what she and caleb doing with that npc matt worked on!

as the changebringer as my witness this campaign is broken in half hopefully idk but more bad or hype wwe puns ahead on this weeks episode so until then see y'all in the live blogs.

[pajama-nerd]

So, my friends and I are playing an irregularly scheduled, episodic campaign of Fallout. Which is a setting designed to hurt your feelings.

I knew this. This is not a complaint post. I love this campaign so much, shoutout to my DM, who has an account but is like... never on here, lol.

Anyway, the cast:

Scarlett: a sociopathic Vault Dweller who experiments on people and animals to try to mutate them into something interesting and also bring back spiders for some reason. Also a sniper.

Roy: A Mr. Handy Medic bot. Two eyes, three limbs, one of which is a boxing glove. Played by my boyfriend.

Rev: a former Brotherhood of Steel member who is traumatized by the things he witnessed and took part in.

Bam: our Eight-Foot-Tall Supermutant, wielding a piece of a billboard as a weapon and wearing a pink apron with applique daisies on it. She is clearly the heart of the team, and also (technically) a DMPC. (Our DM is an experienced RPGer who knows how to handle his shit, and Bam is not a main character. We do love her tho. Hard not to)

And Alexis: my character. A survivor. I designed her to be the charismatic face of the group, and by that metric, it was decided that Alexis was the one who found everyone and brought them into the settlement, which Alexis had named Hopestead. She affects a southern drawl and a 'butter-wouldn't-melt' persona that's pretty effective in a lot of situations. She is not actually from Appalachia. Her name is not actually Alexis.

And now for our NPCs! Because we needed some of those:

Elizabeth Owens: Officially the Mayor, although the others made it a running gag that for anything really serious, everyone goes to Alexis. It's just that Alexis desperately hates paperwork. Still, Mayor Owens cares about her community and was the second person that Alexis collected on her way to building Hopestead.

Robert: Our Brain in a Jar Bartender with a Porky Pig affectation (we know it's an affectation because it disappears in serious situations). As far as we've uncovered, he used to be a part of the Enclave and (somehow) ended up as a brain in a jar 'as a last resort' (whatever the hell that means, DM!)

Wilbur: Rev's Supermutant assistant. Super unsure of himself. Recently kidnapped, and on our immediate to-do list to rescue. (Not super relevant to the story, but not...not relevant.)

Adam: a member of the cult of Atom who proselytizes on the street opposite--

Martha: a member of the Mothman cult.

They could not more obviously be in love and using their soap box hours to make eyes at each other. It's adorable. They're not in this story, but I couldn't not tell you about them.

Damian Wayne: Exactly who it sounds like. We took Batman's hardass ten-year-old son and made him our Quartermaster. He is delightfully ready to gut whoever he's talking to. We adore him.

So the context, then:

In the first adventure, someone was trying to wirelessly transfer our consciousness into synthetic bodies to live in a perfect replica of Hopestead in a Vault nearby. He had also sabotaged our GECK. We stopped him, which ended with the termination of every synth in town, which was horrifying, because some of those transfers had completed. Very sad. But we swapped our GECK with the one in the Vault, so yay. Clean water. Crops. woot.

Then we used our sabotaged GECK to blow up a nearby Brotherhood of Steel outpost because everyone in the settlement is constantly worried that they'll catch wind of our peaceful settlement and come in and wreck our shit. (And then it turned out they were part of the less xenophobic branch and I felt real bad, y'all, but consequences is the name of the game. (Actually, the name of the game is...Fallout RPG. I'll stop))

THEN a few months passed, and we got more people in town. Yay! But then we noticed that some of our citizens were going missing, and that it was all the ghouls and supermutants and some of the synths (but not Bob or Roy). Our settlement is very inclusive. Alexis was not down for any type of segregation. So we investigated and found that some of the people who flocked to Hopestead were spies for The Top of the World, and that they'd kidnapped all our ghouls, and all our Supermutants.

Including Bam.

And obviously, this was not to be borne, so we mounted up and sallied forth, and Alexis talked them in and then they split up, and Roy and Alexis went after Bam, and Scarlett went to go blow shit up (Damian had given us a nuclear grenade. Where did he get a nuclear grenade? Don't ask questions). Rev was unfortunately not with us, because his player went on a cruise with his family.

Anyway, it turned out that the Raiders had been traded a bunch of munitions for the ghouls and supermutants, including several nuclear armaments, so Scarlett set a mine and moved on.

We found Bam. We beat some ass. We fucked off. And then the bombs went off, and took out the whole tower, which fell on the arena and killed a mess of folks.

Also we received a message from the Enclave via some...floating radios (I admit I am not as well versed in Fallout terminology as I would like to be. I've yet to sit down and actually play through the series). But basically, 'The President' called us out for being a nuisance and told us to stand down and submit ourselves to Enclave rule or be destroyed.

After knocking down the killer radios, we were able to fashion ourselves a radio tower, and Alexis responded to this ultimatum by basically saying, 'stay out of our way or you're next, kay?'

They were not pleased with this, as you might imagine.

So, while the main cast was at an amusement park, celebrating Bam's birthday, the Enclave unleashed 2 Scorchbeasts on Hopestead.

...

Which sucked.

But anyway, one day I was craving some emotional devastation, so I asked our DM if I could write up the aftermath, and he said, 'sure, why not?'

So I asked him who died in the attack.

Apparently none of the established NPCs perished in the initial onslaught, so yay, but that's not the only way a Scorchbeast can get you, so then he told me who caught the Scorched Plague.

SO ANYWAY, I WROTE THAT.

If you don't want to hurt inside, don't read this.

Seriously:

Trigger Warnings: Eye Trauma, Death, Gore, Semi-Graphic Depiction of Death by Shotgun, Assisted Suicide, Blood, Descriptions of the Scorched Plague Victims' Conditions, Burning Bodies, Suffering, War Crimes (Probably)

The ending is only vaguely hopeful

Otherwise, off you go:

Three Deaths

The moments immediately following the fight are chaos.

Alexis, half-blind from staring one-eyed down a scope as the Fat-Boy went off, leans against a rock, hissing and cursing as tears spill into the palm cupped over her blinded eye. She hears scurried footsteps approach and doesn’t even look up as Rev’s heavy hand grabs her shoulder.

“I’m fine, go!” she snaps, accent slipping as pain and worry cloud her mind.

There’s a moment’s pause before Rev’s hand leaves her shoulder and his footsteps carry him away.

Alexis tries to breathe. Tries not to see the cloud of Scorch Spores drifting down from the mutated bat-dragon onto her town. Tries to take solace in the fact that there’s no wind; in the knowledge that the spores will drop on the settlement and not much further beyond its borders.

It doesn’t help much.

Who’s dead? Is a thought that rings loudly inside her head, above even her own pain. Who’s infected? Is a thought she tries to block out, and failing, her stomach churns.

Minutes later, she manages to lift her head and squint one eye towards Hopestead.

Rev paces a couple hundred yards away from the South Fence, anxiously waiting for Roy or Scarlett or someone to bring him a hazmat suit so he can help his community.

Alexis ducks her head again and spits a curse at the ground before slowly, painfully, making her way in the direction of Hopestead.

She gets to where Rev has given up pacing – where he is standing, shoulders moving visibly with each heavy breath – and leans on the gun she’d been given to fight with.

The cloud is still visible in the air, mostly concentrated over the central cul de sac that they’d designated the ‘Town Square’. It’s difficult to see through the gaps in the houses. They only have the one avenue of sight down the main street. Even from a hundred yards away, they can hear crying and screaming, and they stand there in silence, hearts thundering.

After an interminable number of moments, Rev turns to look at Alexis, zeroing in on her closed right eye and rolling his own in irritation.

“...Are you fucking blind, right now?”

“Just the one eye, Rev, calm down. Nuke Flash,” Alexis drawls. Rev sighs, but reaches into his pack and grabs a length of bandage.

“Sit down,” he orders gruffly, and at first, Alexis shrugs off his command, only to find herself roughly sat on a nearby boulder. Her hat is plucked from her head despite her protest, and she glares up at Rev with her good eye, an act that he takes advantage of to start wrapping a bandage around her bad eye.

Alexis suffers the attention with gritted teeth, but looks up into Rev’s own clenched jaw and says nothing.

Neither of them do well with inaction. They can do nothing for their little village, and it is tearing them both apart.

She sits and she suffers, and she hopes that it does something to ease the pain of her friend.

It is an agonizing eternity before Scarlett marches out of the cloud, making her way over to them. She waves them back, and they go, waiting impatiently as she sets out two hazmat suits. She treats them to a brief blast with the flame thrower each, flipping them over to give the backside an equally brief burst.

With a thumbs up to both of them, she turns and runs back into the town as they hurry over to the suits.

**

“We’ll need to burn the dead,” Scarlett says, and Alexis sighs as quietly as possible inside her hazmat helmet.

“Carefully. Bam and her new friends will have to do all the work to that end, bein’ that they’re immune to the plague,” Alexis says, arms folded over her chest in her suit as she looks away. “Speakin’ a which...”

“Roy’s w-w-way ahead of you on that one, Boss,” Bob interrupts gently. She nods. “So far, only a c-c-couple of people reported in to the infirmary with symptoms, b-b-but now that w-we’ve got most of the spores burned off, Roy’s goin’ door to door, making sure no one who’s g-g-got it is hiding,” he says. She nods again.

The silence descends and oppresses. No one says anything. They barely move, the slip of hazmat material a sharp hiss that cuts awkwardly.

“Well...” Alexis starts, and then clears her throat. “I’m gonna head that way,” she says. Her swallow is convulsive and pushes bile back into her stomach. “Rev can’t bandage worth a shit, so I gotta see Roy about this eye, anyway,” she aims for a joke and falls short, but Rev still huffs.

“Fuck you,” he spits half-heartedly. Her smile is just as weak.

“Scarlett, take whoever can fit a hazmat and do a burn around the perimeter. Anythin’ looks infected, kill it,” Alexis orders, and Scarlett nods, leaving without a word. “Rev, see what you can do about our fortifications. I know you’re down an assistant, but maybe one of Bam’s new friends’ll be willin’ to help you out,” she said.

“I’ll ask,” Rev says, before leaving.

Alone aside from Bob, Alexis takes a moment to just breathe. She stares down at the hardwood table that she’d eaten at with so many members of Hopestead, and touches the top of it, broken inside at the thought of how many people will never sit at this table again. She swallows hard and blinks to compose herself, as a subtle whirring draws nearer. A cold, metal appendage settles over her hand on the table.

“You don’t gotta do this, Boss,” Bob says, and she takes a deep breath, looking at Bob through one tearful eye.

“You gain a lot of responsibilities when you put a family together, Robert,” she tells him. Then she takes another breath, blinks back the tears, and sighs. “And this is one of them.”

She puts her arm on his shoulder servo as she passes on her way out of the bar.

**

The clinic is crowded when she arrives, but not as disorderly as expected, and she stares at the two hallways that branch off the main lobby, both a low buzz of sobbing and chatter. She straightens her spine as she prepares to see to the final moments of people that she knows intimately, only to jolt in shock at the sight of Elizabeth, who parts a screen and then folds it back into place before hurrying down the hall.

She pulls up short at the sight of Alexis in her hazmat gear and one bandaged eye, and for a moment, the two of them are frozen in place.

Alexis is staring at Elizabeth’s bare forearms, where the skin was already a blotchy gray that stretched up under the folded sleeves of her blouse, and down to parts of her fingers. There are other darkening splotches visible at the collar of Elizabeth’s shirt, and when she looks into Elizabeth’s face, Alexis can’t help the look of betrayal she feels forming on her own.

Elizabeth sighs, looks down, and then straightens.

She’s the mayor, and her town is in crisis.

“We’ve got sixteen infected so far. I’ve quarantined them as best I can, but even if we manage to contain the spread from person to person, you’re probably going to have to burn down this building,” she reports in a strained voice, and Alexis can’t speak; can’t move; can’t do anything but stare at the woman who helped her build Hopestead from the ground up – one of the two people that Alexis had known the longest out of everyone. “I’ve had everyone who came in with symptoms shower in the decontamination chambers, but I don’t know that that does anything. I’m just glad those pipes don’t feed into the main water lines.”

After saying all of this, Elizabeth looks at Alexis, chin up, lips pressed into a thin, tight line to keep them from trembling.

“The onset is fast. Everyone here is in steadily worsening pain, but I’ve given them the minimum dose of painkillers according to some notes that Roy made. Some people aren’t handling it as well as the others; I’ve already euthanized John Peters and Gretchen Turner. We don’t have much time. According to rumor and hearsay, this takes days to kill you but it damn near drives you crazy from the pain first. I was hoping Roy would be back by now with the rest,” she says, before stopping. She puts her hands on her hips and blows out a slow, uneasy breath while looking away.

Alexis moves then, taking a single step towards Elizabeth, who immediately takes a step away, putting up her blackening hands and shaking her head.

“Don’t,” she says, and Alexis chokes out a sob.

“What do you mean, ‘don’’?” she demands.

“I mean don’t, Alexis,” Elizabeth snaps, before cutting herself off. She puts a hand to her mouth and looks down one of the hallways, but everyone else is too preoccupied with their impending demise to worry about their equally doomed mayor raising her voice. She looked back at Alexis, shoulders dropping. “The one thing I know for sure about Scorch is that it’s hideously contagious. One scratch, one microscopic spore on a split lip or a papercut… A sneeze could...”

She trails off and shakes her head.

“I’m sorry,” she says, and Alexis flinches, her trembling lips pulling back from her gritted teeth. “We saw them coming and I tried to get everyone to shelter, but I couldn’t...” She stops and shakes her head again. “I’m sorry.”

Alexis looks away, but not for long. Time has never been her friend – there has always been so much to do and never enough time to do it in – but it is her enemy now, and she has to fight for every second.

“How long?”

“It’s manageable right now. Mostly, I ache, and I feel as though I’ve gotten a mild steam burn over most of my body. I probably have a few hours before it becomes difficult to think, at which point...” Elizabeth says.

She trails off with a defeated shrug and Alexis nods.

“I...”

What?

I’ll fix this? That’s not true, this is beyond her power and they both know it.

I’m sorry? What good would that do?

I’m here for you?

I’ll stay with you?

I love you?

“I’ll do it,” she says, and her voice breaks as her heart does.

Elizabeth stares at her, eyes red and starting to gather moisture.

And then the door opens behind Alexis.

She moves to the side, clearing the space for whoever it is, and is momentarily buoyed by the sight of Roy’s orbicular form. She hears Elizabeth’s sobbed, ‘oh my god,’ half a second before she registers that Roy is herding a scared, huddled, six-year-old Alice McGregor, whose hands are black past the wrist, already cracking at the fingers to reveal red, weeping sores.

She looks up at Alexis and Elizabeth with tear-stained, black-smeared cheeks and gives a little sob.

“My han’s huwt,” she whimpers.

Alexis’ hands tremble, and inside, despair turns to rage.

She watches Elizabeth scoop Alice up in her arms, watches them walk away, and looks at Roy.

“Where are her parents?” she asks.

“It appears they were killed in the attack. When I found her, she was trying to shake them awake,” Roy reports, and Alexis turns away, raising a hand reflexively to her mouth and stopping just short of bumping her helmet.

Her hand clenches into a fist and lowers to her side, shaking.

“I’m going to kill every last fucking one of them,” she tells him. Her voice is low, and carries no trace of Appalachia in it as she stares into the middle-distance, imagining her vengeance.

Roy observes her for a moment and then hums.

“I will help you,” he says, before floating down the hall after Elizabeth. “But first I must see to my patients.”

**

Damian’s hands shake as he finishes the note, and he clenches them into fists, staring at the jerky last few letters. He considers re-writing it, and then shakes his head, grabbing the letter and the note and shoving them into an envelope. He seals it, writes the robot’s name on the front, grabs his shotgun, and slips out the back.

Outside, everyone is busy with cleanup, too preoccupied to notice Damian as he slinks through a few backyards and then scoots across an empty stretch of street to the house he rarely sets foot in. It’s one of the smaller ones, barely more than a trailer, really, but it’s entirely his.

He runs a lighter over the doorknob after he’s touched it and does the same with the inside knob after he’s closed the door.

Inside, he looks around, hands clenching on the shotgun.

This is the only house he’s ever lived in.

His entire life before Hopestead had been lived on the run, first with his parents, and then by himself. He’d been a self-sufficient survivor before Alexis found him and tried to convince him that he could belong here.

He’d known even as he had accepted her offer of ‘giving it a trial run’ that he’d never belong in Hopestead. He’d also known that without him, it would probably fall to pieces, and they’d all die. Alexis had been nice to him, and that had been most of the problem, in his eyes. It had taken him weeks to see the hard edge under Alexis’ drawl.

He wears violence on his sleeve like a badge.

Alexis hides hers under a smile and an extended hand.

These are both means to the same end:

Protecting Hopestead.

Protecting Hope itself.

He respects her. He respects the others, too.

He’s learned things from Rev, even though the man never knew he was a teacher.

He’s appreciative of Scarlett’s dispassionate disregard for the notions of morality, because in the wasteland, there’s no time for second-guessing, and no time for regrets.

He loves Bam like a sister.

He wishes he’d died in the attack. That would have been preferable.

But it isn’t how it is, and so now he’s going to see to it that he doesn’t become an infection vector for the town he’s sworn to protect.

He swallows the lump in his throat and goes to his bedroom.

He slaps a biohazard sticker on the door before closing it.

He draws the blinds and closes the curtains and then gets to work.

It’s easy to set up the shotgun, and he tests his trigger assist before loading it.

He doesn’t say anything throughout this process.

What would be the point?

Finally, he stands in front of his loaded, mounted shotgun.

He wipes his face. They aren’t going to find tears on his body.

His hands still shake as they pull the string around the trigger. His eyes squeeze themselves shut, and a choked off whimper of fear is heard by no one under a sudden, final blast of noise.

The obliteration of his chest cavity is swift and violent.

He feels nothing.

**

Alexis hovers at the entrance of the small, partitioned space as Elizabeth comforts Alice, who sniffles occasionally, bandaged hands curled into her chest. Despite Roy’s protests, once Alice is showered off and in an oversized scrub shirt, Alexis removes her helmet. She wants to keep Alice as calm as possible, and she knows the helmet is scary. She also knows that she is going to see a child die in front of her, and that there is nothing she can do about that except to limit the distress Alice feels in the meantime.

“Mayor,” Roy starts, and Elizabeth gives a groan.

“I think that’s about done, don’t you, Roy?” she says. Roy hesitates.

“Miss Owens,” he says again. “If you could hold her arm, I can administer the shot.”

Alice whines in protest, and Alexis can’t stand it any longer.

“Hey, now,” she says, stepping into the room and ignoring the way Elizabeth freezes. She sits on the bed and puts a gloved hand on Alice’s head, giving her as big a smile as she can manage. “What’s with the frowny face?”

“Don’ wike sho’s,” Alice whines. Alexis gives a sympathetic whine in return before sighing.

“Don’ I know it. Painful. Scary,” she says with a nod. “But you know what? Doc’s gonna give you somethin’ to take the pain away from your hands,” she says, still nodding slightly. “It’s gonna make you a little sleepy,” she stops to take a breath before smiling again, briefly. “And then it won’ hurt no more. Doesn’ that sound better?” she asks.

Alice sniffles, but nods, and Alexis nods too.

“Good,” she says, running her hand over Alice’s head and hiding her alarm at the way several locks of hair pulled away in her hand. “And if you’re a good girl, I’ll get Roy to bust out his lollipop supply, and you can have as many as you want,” she tells the child, whose eyes light up a little at the mention of Roy’s secret trove of (sugar free) treats.

“Reawwy?” she asks, and Alexis nods.

“Really. Hold out your arm, sweetie, it’ll only sting for a second, I promise,” she says, gently taking the child’s hand. Elizabeth supports the little girl’s elbow, and the two of them exchange looks of quiet devastation as Roy quickly and efficiently delivers death to his patient.

Once the shot is administered, his metal appendage finds Alexis’ shoulder and pulls her away with undeniable strength.

“I’ll be back with lollipops, I just need to speak with Alexis for a moment,” he says, before shutting the curtain behind them and pushing Alexis down the hall. On the way, he snags her helmet.

“That was reckless, and as a medical professional, I do not approve,” he says, using one appendage to efficiently brush away any of Alice’s hair that stuck to Alexis’ glove and then sterilize the glove with a spray, before pushing the helmet into her chest. It forces her back a step, and her hands come up automatically to take it from him. “You are not infected. Congratulations. Put the helmet on and do not remove it until I – your medical authority – authorize it,” he says, before floating back down the hall, already producing several lollipops.

**

It doesn’t take long for Alice to succumb, and Alexis closes her eye as Roy carries her little body, wrapped in a sheet, away to the pyre being tended to outside.

There’s quiet for several minutes before Elizabeth’s breath hitches, and Alexis looks at her.

Her brow furrows for a few extended moments, and her blackened fingers curl as she fights the urge to scratch an unending itch. After a moment, she settles, but does not relax.

“I’m sorry,” Alexis says, and Elizabeth blinks at her lack of an accent. Alexis stands from where she’d been hovering and moves to the foot of the bed, setting her hands on the footrest to stop herself from reaching out. “I’m sorry.”

Elizabeth doesn’t react for a moment, and then just tilts her head.

“For what?”

“Bringing you here,” Alexis says, ducking her head and giving it a shake. “Hopestead was a mis—”

“Shut up,” Elizabeth snaps, and Alexis’ head jerks up. “Just shut the fuck up. Whatever you were thinking of saying, whatever pity party you were about to throw for yourself, you can just can it,” she adds, before hissing in a breath and looking at the curtain partition separating her from the others. She lowers her voice, and stares hard at Alexis. “Hopestead is the best thing that has ever happened to any of us,” she insists. “You took 100 lonely, wandering souls and turned us into a community – a family – and you don’t get to regret this now just because some asshole is so scared of our happiness that he tried to take it away from us. Tried, Alexis. Tried and failed.”

“Failed?” Alexis asks, looking around and gesturing helplessly with one hand.

“Yes,” Elizabeth snaps. “As long as Hopestead endures, they will have failed.”

“Liz,” Alexis starts, shaking her head. Her one visible eye closes and when it opens again, it is filled with tears. Elizabeth sighs at the sight of them.

“I know.” She folds her arms and shrugs. “People are dying today, and it’s not fair. But we would all have been dead a long time ago if we hadn’t come together and built this,” she says. She leans forward to impress upon Alexis the importance of her words. “We built this. And we built it to last. And you are going to see that it does, because you started it, so you’re going to finish it,” she says.

Alexis shakes her head but doesn’t argue, and they lapse into silence.

“I want...” Alexis starts after a while, clearing her throat when the tears choke her. “I want to hold you,” she says.

“You can’t.”

“I know.”

“I’m going to help Roy see to the others,” Elizabeth says after a while. “And then you’re going to tell me why you suddenly don’t have an accent,” she adds.

She leaves, and Alexis sits down on the bed.

It doesn’t take very long at all.

Most of the citizens of Hopestead, once they are given the facts, take a quick and relatively painless death over slow, torturous transformation into something they can barely understand. Some want to take their chances, and Elizabeth orders Roy to render them unconscious before administering the shot herself.

Before very much time has passed at all, Alexis looks up to find Elizabeth standing at the entrance of the partitioned space, emotionally drained, physically exhausted from fighting through the pain. Alexis moves to a bedside chair so she can lay down, and then looks up at Roy as he floats through the curtain, holding a needle.

“Roy,” Alexis says, and he pauses. “I’ll do this one,” she says. He looks between her and Elizabeth and lays the needle down on the sterile instrument tray.

“I need to make another sweep of the town, to ensure there are no more infected,” he says, turning to float away before stopping and turning back to Alexis. “Do not remove your helmet,” he orders, and she nods.

“Yes, Roy,” she says. He stares at her for a moment, and then leaves.

Alexis stares at the needle, and Elizabeth stares at the ceiling.

“Are you really from Huntsville?”

“Vegas.”

“Your parents?”

“Never knew Dad. Mom was a showgirl at the Ultra-Luxe. Pretty successful, but miserable all the time. OD’d on pills when I was twelve. They decided I needed to be trained to take her place. I didn’t want that, so I ran.”

“That...sucks.”

“It did, at that.”

“The stories?”

“True aside from locations,” Alexis says, finally looking away from the needle to turn her eye to the ceiling.

“I knew you had secrets,” Elizabeth says, and then doesn’t say anything else, occasionally wincing or moving restlessly in a futile effort to ease her own discomfort.

“I’m sorry I lied, but I didn’t want that life following me around. I did...Liz, I did horrible things to survive,” Alexis says, but cuts herself off at Elizabeth’s laugh.

“What, you think I’m some kind of saint?” she asks, and then frowns.

“You never left anyone to die,” Alexis says. Elizabeth closes her eyes.

“Al, I just killed...fourteen of my closest friends and neighbors, including my God-Daughter,” she says, turning her head to meet Alexis’ good eye. “Your secrets don’t define you. I know who you are.”

“Fuckin hell, Liz.” Alexis hangs her head and shakes it.

“It’s...well. It’s not okay. But it needs to be done,” Elizabeth said.

Alexis nods, rocks, nods again, but says nothing, reaching over with shaking hands to grab the needle.

She is hyperventilating as she slips the needle into Elizabeth’s vein and depresses the plunger.

The moment it’s done, she throws the needle away, pulling the chair closer and desperately clinging to Elizabeth’s hand as tears stream down her cheeks. Elizabeth’s other hand cups the glass around her face and she holds it there.

“My name’s Zoe,” she says between sobs.

Elizabeth, eyelids drooping slowly, smiles.

“That’s who you used to be. The you that ran. It’s not who you are now,” she says.

“Yeah? Who’s that?” Alexis asks. Elizabeth closes her eyes.

“You brought us all together. You don’t run...”

She trails off and does not speak again. Alexis whimpers as the hand she’s clutching relaxes and the hand cupping her helmet goes limp. She presses that hand to the glass with her own and breaks in the silence of the clinic, sobbing and burying her face in Elizabeth’s chest.

**

It’s Roy who finds Damian.

Picking up where he left off and finishing his sweep of the neighborhood, he realizes that on his internal registry of citizens of Hopestead that he has been steadily checking off in his first sweep, he has not encountered Damian at any point. He floats to the Supply Depot, where Damian spends most of his time, and scans the area. The exterior will need to be treated with anti-fungal agents to prevent the spores taking root, but he doesn’t have much on him at the moment, and so he treats the door handle only before entering.

Inside is mostly untouched by Scorch, although Roy’s sensors pick up a low concentration making a trail to the main desk, which has small traces of fungus in a few places.

Also on the desk is an envelope, bearing spore laden fingerprints belonging to Damian.

On the front, in small, neat, disciplined script, is written, ‘Roy’.

He opens the envelope, already floating away from the desk as he inspects the contents.

He has three hands and two eyes. He can multitask.

Inside is a short note, and a larger packet of three folded-together pieces of paper.

The note reads:

        Roy. You’re the only one who can and will properly

disinfect these papers. Make sure you do that

before you give the letter to Alexis. Then come to

my house. Alone. There’s going to be a lot of blood.

The note is not signed, but as Roy reads it, he can see the slip of ink as Damian’s hand grew unsteady. Perhaps it was from the pain growing in his small body, but it’s just as likely that despite his fierce demeanor, he was still a ten-year-old boy who has realized he will never reach eleven.

Roy changes direction from the bar (Damian’s second most likely location) as he disinfects each page of the letter carefully, front and back, before tucking them into his storage cavity. Despite Damian’s wishes, Alexis is currently occupied with the grief of little Alice McGregor’s death and the current passing of her friend and (apparently) lover. He will give the letter to her later. Damian would understand.

He finds Damian slumped against the wall of his bedroom where the shotgun blast had thrown him. There is blood and gore everywhere, and Roy is careful not to touch very much of that as he gathers a few supplies.

He packs the chest cavity with towels to soak up the majority of what remains of Damian’s lifeblood before carefully wrapping his body in a thick blanket. He does this quietly and efficiently and then takes an uncharacteristic moment of silence to consider the small man in a child’s body. He knows that Damian is dead and cannot hear him, but he considers his experiences with the boy and composes a sentiment that he thinks Damian would have liked to hear before his untimely end.

“This was undoubtedly a difficult execution of a simple and practical solution. Doing this has certainly saved many more lives. I commend your bravery and regret it’s necessity.”

Silence meets his words, as he expected, and he simply hovers there for a moment before gathering the small, shrouded body, and floating away out of the house.

**

Bam and Scarlett are the ones manning the pyre when the Clinic doors open and Alexis carries out the body of Elizabeth Owens, mayor of Hopestead. Bam makes a noise like a wounded rhino and takes a few steps forward, but can’t quite bring herself to do anything more than impotently reach for someone who’d been her friend nearly as long as Alexis had.

Alexis looks up at her with one bandaged and one red, cried out eye, and then walks past her to the pyre.

When she steps up to it is when Bam snaps out of her stupor, stopping her from getting too close to the fire and gently lifting Elizabeth out of her arms.

Bam sets her near the top, ignoring the way the fire licks at her arms as she makes sure that her friend has the best spot on the funeral pyre.

The other Supermutants have taken the responsibility of making sure the fire doesn’t spread to nearby structures, spraying water from a hose on the outskirts of the fire.

Once Bam has settled Elizabeth, and Scarlett has bullied her with the fire extinguisher, Bam goes to Alexis, stooping down to give her the gentlest hug that she can manage while her arms still have fire retardant foam on them.

Alexis puts her arms around Bam and stares over her shoulder at Elizabeth’s corpse as it catches fire.

There’s nothing but the heat and the sound and the smell for several long minutes before the sound of Roy’s hover motor draws their attention.

There’s no reaction to the sight of Roy carrying a corpse shrouded in blankets, just a sense of weariness that settles over everyone. Roy, unable to set the body directly on the pyre, sets it at Bam’s feet, and the Supermutant frowns, reaching down to pull back one corner of the blanket.

“Bam, I don’t think that’s—” is as far as Roy is able to get before Bam roars in protest at the sight of Damian’s blank, sightless eyes. The Supermutant picks up the little body and holds it close to her, wailing in protest as fat tears roll down her cheeks.

Alexis turns her head, closes her eye and sighs, but has no more tears to give.

Scarlett stares at Damian, frowning.

Roy waits, and lets his friend grieve loudly for several minutes before setting an appendage on her shoulder.

“I am sorry, Bam.”

“He-he…He was muh…my friend,” Bam sobs, lower lip trembling as she looked up at Roy.

“I know. But he did a brave thing. And now it’s time for you to do a brave thing,” he says. She whines, ducking her forehead into Damian’s little concave chest before standing and reluctantly turning to the fire.

They all huddle around Bam after, as she cries, and watches Damian’s blankets melt around him.

**

It’s nighttime before Alexis has judged the fire to have burned down enough that they can leave it with Bam’s new friends.

“I don’t know about y’all,” she rasps, not bothering to clear her throat. “But I could use a drink.”

“Alcohol will only dehydrate you further. May I suggest waters all around?” Roy says as Bam lurches to her feet and shuffles in the direction of Bob’s bar. “May I also suggest that before there are drinks, there are decontamination showers?” he suggests in a slightly firmer tone.

Thirty minutes later, they sit, hair wet, hazmat suits cleaned, around a table in Bob’s bar, drinking water in sullen silence. Roy has fitted Alexis with an eye patch.

“Hard Day,” Scarlett says, and though her eyes are dry, she frowns.

“And it started off so well,” Alexis quipped without much feeling. “Bam won an eating contest, got that...mascot suit…” She trails off and then looks at Bam. “Hey,” she says, and Bam slowly lifts her head. “Where’s your mascot suit?”

“Got dirty; washed it,” Bam mumbles, and then goes back to staring at the floor, occasionally sniffling and hiccoughing. Alexis nods and silence descends again.

After they’d drunk a few glasses of water each, Roy emulates the noise of clearing his throat.

“Alexis, I know that it’s possibly not the most opportune moment, but I sense that you are suffering from a level of emotional exhaustion that makes it less likely you’ll be able to cry about this,” Roy says.

Alexis snorts, closing her eye as she shakes her head.

“What is it, Roy?”

“Damian left a letter,” Roy tells her.

Everyone lifts their head, turning to look first at Roy, and then at Alexis, who stares at the robot, drinks the rest of her glass in one go, and then gestures for him to hand over the letter.

It’s only a few pages, but that’s far more than Damian has ever had to say unless he was ripping someone a new asshole for improper handling of a weapon or misplaced shipment of supplies.

Alexis,

Words are cheap, which is probably why they’re your weapon of choice.

Alexis huffs despite herself, smirking briefly at the kid’s cheek.

I don’t have much to say, but I know that you need words in order to move on. Know that I do this solely for that purpose, because the thought of you moping around after I’m dead is fucking irritating.

I always knew that I would die here.

The world has been at war with itself since before it was set on fire, and people who think like you act – who think that peace can be achieved with a smile and an open hand – are always going to be set upon first. They’re going to be set upon by people who are absolutely certain they are wrong and despise seeing them make any progress. They’re going to be set upon by people who crave power over others and see the peace they’re building as a threat. They’re going to be set upon by people who see kindness as a weakness.

And kindness is a weakness, Alexis. Most people who are kind are not going to want to hear that, but it’s true. Kindness by itself will result in people taking advantage of those who share it too freely.

But you know that already, because you’re not just kind, Alexis, you’re smart.

Smart enough to know that Hopestead would need someone like Bam to scare away small threats.

Someone like Rev to build defenses against bigger threats.

Someone like Scarlett to take care of insidious threats.

Someone like Bob to warn you about threats you can’t see or don’t already know about.

Someone like me and my big ass arsenal, to take care of the threats too big for Bam and Scarlett.

And Someone like Roy to put you all back together afterwards.

You’re not kind for Kindness’ sake. You have calculated your kindness into a weapon.

This is why they’re not going to win.

This is why it’s okay for me to go.

You are going to take your kindness and twist it like a knife into that old bastard’s heart.

Maybe twist a literal knife in there too, if you can manage.

I have a present for you. A precaution.

Bam helped me move my shit to the bunker a few weeks ago. We used those tunnels, the location of which I weaseled out of Bam when she let slip that they existed.

The same tunnels you’re going to use to get everyone out of town and down to the bunker, so that the next time they send their attack dogs, there’ll be nothing for them to find. It’s the smart thing to do to keep our community safe. I don’t have to tell you that.

Do not mourn for me. That is a waste of time you no longer have.

Keep bringing in new people.

Keep being kind.

Keep making people care enough that they’d die for you.

Every person you turn to your cause is a poison to their ideology.

Make him choke on it.

                                                        Damian.

Alexis finishes the letter and sighs, passing it around to Scarlett and the others. Bam takes it last, but just stares at Damian’s handwriting for a while before folding the paper as carefully as possible and pressing it against her chest over her heart. Her big brows furrow and she closes her eyes and rocks back and forth slightly in her chair.

“He’s right,” Scarlett says, and Alexis looks at her. Scarlett shrugs. “Tactically speaking, the bunker is the best bet. In fact, if that’s what we’re doing, I’m going to want to get a head start on moving my laboratory equipment. Tunnels?” she asks abruptly, and Alexis sighs again, rolling her eye.

“When I found this place, I wanted to make sure there’d be a safe egress in case of...”

She trails off, gritting her teeth for a moment and tapping the table top.

“We’ll start moving folks out tomorrow. Quietly. If someone’s watching, I don’t wan—”

She breaks off as the door opens and Rev, still wearing his hazmat suit, rushes in. He stops at the sight of them sitting there, but Scarlett and Alexis quickly don their helmets before looking up at him. Roy hovers over to Bam to take the letter and keep it safe in the storage compartment.

“I hate to break up the funeral,” Rev says, and Alexis doesn’t comment on his assumption. It’s a safe one, given the givens. “But we have a problem,” he tells them. Scarlett rolls her eyes as Alexis just stares for a moment before getting to her feet.

There’s never going to be enough time to do what needs doing.

She sets her grief aside.

She has work to do.

[tirsden]

| Chapter: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 |

The final chapter of the Skyrim "kill everyone" challenge begins with doing the lexicon quest, since I picked the lil' cube off someone at some point. Then we tried knocking on the High Hrothgar door but they're smarter than that. Damned quest locks anyways. Speaking of, Serana cannot be accessed without the relevant quest, which means the vampire castle is also a lost cause.

Cato may have had a vision of sorts, where he walked magically through the dungeon boulder, found Serana completely unresponsive (she would legit not wake up) and well, a non-moving target is an easy target. Then off to the vampire castle where the impenetrable gate was also somehow passed, and everyone beyond died as well. Then he snapped out of it, found himself still staring at the unmoving boulder, and decided to go try breaking into Goldenglow Estate instead.

Nope, that didn't work either. Shor's Stone died a miserable death instead, and then onwards to Solstheim which has been waiting for kitty wrath for a while now. Sadly, a lot of stuff there is also quest-locked, but the main town died along with the Telvanni shroom outpost and the Skaal village. The latter is a decent spot to make arrows if it wasn't so many loading-screens away from usefulness. Yep, we are Walking Death Incarnate and still stop to chop wood quite a bit. Arrows don't make themselves!

Well, there's only two major cities left… and Solitude bought its ticket to the abyss first. For once, I didn't sneak much, because I was trying to actually rack up a decent bounty. There were literally two master vampire attacks while working on that, partly because I went to go unload loot at Anise's Cabin a few times.

And finally… Whiterun. It's always been the endgame in my mind, for this challenge. And thus, endgame is achieved with the biggest hold bounty as is fitting. I have some quests I could do in my quest log that don't require people being alive, and I'm sure there are townlets and of course tons of exploration locations with things left to kill… but the challenge has worn thin and it's time to scrub the relevant code from ye olde skyrim.ini and back up this playthrough's final saves to Google Drive one last time.

Skyrim belongs to Cato now. All hail the murder-cat. Quietly and from afar, so he doesn't know you exist.

Notable stats at endgame:

Character Level 46 56 hours played 103 in-game days 150 health, 100 magicka, 500 stamina (500 carry weight)

39,134 gold 6 quests completed 12 spells learned 7 unusual gem pieces

Bow: Zephyr (302 damage, 30% faster fire rate) Gear: Aetherial Crown (Lover and Thief stones), Ebony Mail, crafted ebony gloves/boots, diamond jewelry, archery and sneak enchantments Misc: kept one of every major outfit type, especially from notable NPCs and rulers, plus a few unique weapons

Arrows: Ancient Nord - 139 Dwarven - 10,039 Ebony - 54 Elven - 354 Falmer - 61 Forsworn - 25 Glass - 358 Iron - 4,328 (default used) Nordic - 456 Orcish - 426 Steel - 6,431

Skills: Sneak 100 (12 perk points) Archery 87 (11 perk points) Lockpicking 90 Smithing 100 (8 perk points) Enchanting 95 (7 perk points) Alchemy 45 (legendaried once) Two-handed 45 Restoration 32 7 unspent perk points

Crime: Murders committed - 789 Total lifetime bounty - 155,328 Whiterun bounty - 19,508 Haafingar bounty - 10,409 The Rift bounty - 6,045 Falkreath bounty - 4,000 The Reach bounty - 2,085 Eastmarch bounty - 1,130 The Pale bounty - 1,040 Tribal Orcs bounty - 1,000 Hjaalmarch bounty - 5 Raven Rock bounty - 0 :( …it's really hard to get bounties to stay when all the witnesses die and/or kills are done sneakily enough.

[celebritydecks]

Aaron W Reed

Aaron W Reed

Aaron W Reed: The Towering Icon of Bodybuilding

Aaron Reed is a towering figure in the world of competitive bodybuilding, where sheer bulk and honed physiques rule. This giant of a man, who hails from the energetic city of Tampa, Florida, is a staggering 6 feet 7 inches (200 cm) tall. He is a legendary figure in the world of bodybuilding due to his incredible muscularity as well as his large size, which attracts attention.

Aaron W Reed’s Journey Begins

Aaron Reed’s journey is filled with difficulties, much like that of every great hero. His roots can be discovered in the small city of Minco, where he was raised in a family with a strong athletic heritage.

However, as fate would have it, young Aaron received a leukemia diagnosis when he was just a child. He was forced to endure painful chemotherapy treatments. But this is a tale of tenacity. Aaron triumphed despite all chances, eventually regaining his health and vitality. He started working out when he was 12 years old, motivated by none other than the legendary Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Early Life and Career

Following his early education, Aaron enrolled at Mesa State College to study business. Here, he underwent a metamorphosis, as he watched his physique evolve. The burning desire for competition ignited within him, leading him to the world of bodybuilding competitions.

In 2001, he clinched the prestigious NPC Mr. Teen Colorado title. With the goal of improving his physique, Aaron’s unwavering commitment pushed him to explore further into the worlds of diet and exercise. The year 2002 witnessed his triumphant victory in the NPC Rocky Mountain competition’s super heavyweight category.

From the Streets to Stardom

Arriving in Los Angeles without a concrete plan or a stable income, Aaron’s story took a cinematic turn. He found himself living in his car until a close friend extended a helping hand. His journey quickly led him to Gold’s Gym Venice, where he made friends and forged crucial connections.

Rising to the Pinnacle

Aaron’s ascent continued relentlessly. In 2005, he achieved the title of Super Heavyweight Champion after conquering the NPC Steele City show. His dominance knew no bounds as he claimed the NPC Florida State Super Heavyweight Champion title in 2010. His unparalleled commitment was further validated when he secured the overall title of NPC Greater Gainesville Champion in the same year.

A Year of Triumph and Transformation

2011 was a transformative year for Aaron Reed. He rose to the zenith by becoming the Men’s Physique Overall Champion at the NPC Orlando Metropolitan competition. His impeccable physique and stage presence spoke volumes. The same year, he engaged in a fierce battle at the NPC Europa Show of Champions, securing a commendable fourth-place finish which underscored his elite competitiveness.

A Journey to the National Stage

The highlight of Aaron’s career was a surprising tenth-place result at the 2011 NPC USA Championships. His victory demonstrated his ability to hold his own among the greatest athletes in the country.

[pokemoncreepypasta]

Forever Mine

[STORY SOURCE]

I live in one of those small towns with a big community. It feels like everyone knows each other, and parents would visit their friends and leave their kids to mess around with each other. Classes in school weren’t very large.

So when there’s news about a kid dying, it travels at god-speed. 

Everyone at school kept talking about the death of this girl who was probably a year behind me.

I didn’t know her personally. I wouldn’t have even been able to tell you her name if everyone wasn’t talking about her.

I didn’t want to pick up gossip about how she died. I decided to attend her funeral myself. Not because we were friends or anything, but I did want to show my respect for this girl and her family.

The local funeral home was within biking range of my house, so I set off.

I sat awkwardly as I noticed her parents. I’m not usually very good at picking up feelings from people, but I could tell that beyond their grief was disappointment and maybe even hostility.

They made me wonder what she was thinking about before she died.

After she was buried, I hung around the cemetery. I’d wished I brought flowers with me, but decided I’d give her some the next time I stopped by.

Around this time, I had been aiming to get a Sky Forme Shaymin, since it was one of my favorite Pokémon back then.

I had caught a wild Shaymin using the "Pokémon Modifier" cheat code. I was terrible at coming up with creative names. But then, I remembered the name of the girl and thought it would suit a Shaymin rather well.

“Skye.”

Little did I know that this would invite strange things to start happening to my game.

I wanted to keep this Shaymin in its Sky Forme whenever possible, so I planned on keeping it in my team 24/7, only playing during daytime, etc. I was a dirty cheater who liked putting illegal moves on my Pokémon, so I taught Skye to use Fly.

At the time, I didn’t know you needed to catch the Shaymin in Flower Paradise to receive the Gracidea Flower, so when I talked to the blonde girl NPC in Floaroma Town, I had no idea why she wouldn’t give it to me.

So I was stuck with a Shaymin that knew Fly. It was weird, and I never really grew all that attached to it. Eventually I boxed it, forgot I had it, and released it without thinking.

The next time I booted up the game, I got this message.

“The save file is corrupted. The previous save file will be loaded.”

My first instinct was panic. I didn’t have any time to think or process the initial message, because all my hours were gone. With nervous anticipation, I started up the save file to see what the damage was.

To my surprise, I found myself on an incomplete Seabreak Path. The south path to Route 224 was cut off, with a featureless Shaymin staring vacantly over the edge.

I checked my party, and found none of my team members.

Only a level 100 Dusknoir with the move Follow Me.

Very useful, I thought. I’d have to boot up my Action Replay to teach this thing Fly in order to get off the island later.

Checking my items, I noticed everything was gone, save for a single PokéBall and an Escape Rope. Neither of which seemed particularly helpful for getting me off this island.

Out of curiosity though, I decided to see if Shaymin would be at Flower Paradise. I started my trek north, lamenting the loss of my bike.

To my surprise, Shaymin was there, despite never having Oak’s Letter or triggering the cutscene with it. Its face was obstructed by flowers, but it seemed like its pink flowers were missing just like the one I saw before.

I spoke to the Shaymin, and a message appeared.

“I remember you.”

“But… You don’t remember me, do you?”

The wild Shaymin attacked, and my heart stopped at its name.

“Skye appeared!”

Featureless, like before.

I felt a knot in my stomach, not even caring about the game. Something was very clearly wrong with it, and I wanted to stop playing. But I decided I was already taking pictures of the weird stuff that was happening, and I wanted to document it in full.

Steeling my resolve, I went about my options.

Dusknoir only knew Follow Me, so it was useless to weaken the Shaymin.

Remembering the PokéBall I had, I tossed it at the Shaymin.

Most people would be ecstatic to catch a Shaymin with full HP in a PokéBall on their first try, but I got the feeling that the game was rigged. There wasn’t any triumphant music playing either, which didn’t help my feelings about it.

I tried checking my newly caught Shaymin, but my game froze upon checking my party.

Upon restarting the system and starting the game up, this message appeared.

“My heart is corrupted. Please save me.”

My save file was gone for real this time. The trainer’s name was “SINNER”.

I live in a pretty religious community, so reading this made me ill at ease.

Starting up the game again, I found myself in the Lost Tower, playing as a featureless Shaymin.

My only Pokémon was the same Shaymin, named SINNER, knowing Fly, Scary Face, Fake Tears, and Spite.

A text box appeared when I tried to leave the tower.

“Today’s the day.”

It pushed me back, preventing my exit. The only option I had was to ascend.

No random encounters happened, and all the trainers wouldn’t interact with me.

It went this way until I went to the top floor. I’m pretty sure there isn’t supposed to be a man and woman NPC standing in this spot.

"There’s nothing left to say.”

Interacting with them just prompted this text.

It was here that I noticed a staircase that wasn’t supposed to be there.

I found myself on the top of the tower. I stepped into a scripted event, and the Shaymin faced the edge without my prompt.

"It's a long way down... Are you ready?"

Hoping for some way out of this, I wanted to say “no”, so I could cheat my way out of the tower and get my game back to normal. However, upon selecting it, this text appeared.

"You've held back for long enough. It's time to go."

“SINNER used the Escape Rope.”

A battle started against the same Dusknoir as before. I was intimidated to go against a level 100 Dusknoir, but then I remembered its only move was Follow Me, so it was harmless.

I realized that if I let SINNER faint, I could go to the last Pokémon Center and escape the tower.

I used Spite, thinking that if I reduced Follow Me’s PP, the Dusknoir would use Struggle and OHKO my Shaymin.

“The wild DUSKNOIR used Follow Me!”

“SINNER used Spite!”

“But there was no target...”

Dang it.

Deciding to experiment, I came to the conclusion that there was no harm in screwing around with SINNER’s attacks until DUSKNOIR ran out of PP. I chose Fly.

“The wild DUSKNOIR used Follow Me!”

“SINNER used Fly!”

“The wild DUSKNOIR used Follow Me!”

“SINNER kept going and crashed!”

Not the KO I was expecting, but I took it nonetheless.

The game, of course, crashed as soon as my Shaymin’s cry played, leaving nothing but pleasantly ear-grating screeching sounds.

I decided to take a break from playing for a moment to process what I just witnessed. I had a lot to digest.

The only conclusion I came to was that ghosts are real and this was the same Skye as the girl who died. Which would sound insane if I didn’t have the pictures to prove it.

I choked back tears. I was afraid. Why did Skye want me to see this?

I wanted to put the game down and be done with it. But if she had a message to give me, then I felt like I had to see it through to the end.

I guess I vainly hoped she’d pass on and find peace if I listened to what she was trying to say.

Another message when I started the game up again.

“I can’t fly. I tried to.”

I found myself at Spear Pillar. The staircase to the Hall of Origin was in front of me.

My exit was gone, so I just went straight to Arceus.

A level 100 Arceus stood before me.  

Instead of sending out my Shaymin, it stayed in the field. It was now bleeding. Its status said it was fainted, but it was still able to battle somehow.

I felt cornered. There was no way a level 14 Shaymin could take on something like this. I tried to use Fly, hoping it would give me the same result as before.

“Can’t use that here.”

It wouldn’t let me use the move. Instead, I just outright try to flee.

“Can’t escape!”

“ARCEUS used Judgment!”

I braced for impact...

“The wild ARCEUS’s attack missed!”

...But was pleasantly surprised to see it miss.

“I’m not ready yet.”

The game made me flee automatically.

The screen faded to black.

“I’m not ready. I’m not ready.”

“I’m scared.”

When the screen faded back to the overworld, I found myself in the Distortion World. The portal that takes you back to the main world was gone, so the only thing I could do was explore.

I found another Escape Rope while looking around.

It was the only thing noteworthy I could find, so I started trying to think of ways to get out of here.

I tried using Fly, since SINNER still knew it.

“There’s nowhere to fly to.”

Figures.

Trying to test my other options, I went to my bag and tried using the Escape Rope.

Of course, the “There’s a time and place for everything” message still appeared.

Deciding to mess around until I got results, I went to give the Escape Rope to SINNER.

“Don’t suppose you know what to do with this?” I muttered.

The game crashed again, and it assaulted my eardrums once more. I sharply inhaled, wondering if I touched a nerve.

I took a deep breath and started the game again.

My character’s name was now Skye.

I started in Floaroma Town. The first thing I did was rush to the Pokémon Center to check on my Pokémon in the PC. Of course, they were all gone.

I’d grieve for them later, though. Maybe Skye would be nice to me and give them back.

While I was in the center, I figured it might’ve been good to heal the faint status off of the Shaymin.

Sure it is. Glad you can tell when something is suffering, nurse.

Heading outside, I talked to the blonde NPC.

“You should always give flowers to someone who has passed away.”

“It’s rude not to.”

“You got the Gracidea!”

I was suddenly feeling very guilty for not leaving flowers before.

Wondering if I could fix the poor Shaymin in my party if I used the flower on her, I went to try it.

“It won’t have any effect.” 

Of course not.

The blonde NPC turned into my Shaymin. I spoke to her.

“That won’t help me.” 

Yeah, I thought not.

At a loss of ideas on what to do next, I absentmindedly made my way to Valley Windworks and walked around in the grass.

A wild Sky Forme Shaymin appeared.

I sent out Skye, of course.

I chose the fight option, and the battle continued without me selecting a move.

“The wild SHAYMIN used Reflect!”

“Skye’s rage is building!”

“Skye used Cut!”

“She hurt herself in her confusion!”

The Sky Form Shaymin was knocked out in one hit, despite the game telling me Skye had hurt herself.

Back on the overworld, I found the mangled parts of the Sky Forme Shaymin lying in the grass. I inspected them.

“Please put me back together.”

It gave me another prompt, and I chose yes.

The screen faded to black.

And then Skye appeared again in a black abyss, with Skymin ears and flower. My trainer was nowhere to be seen.

I checked my party to see that Skye had changed again. Her cry sounded like a distorted mix of Shaymin’s two forms.

I went back to the overworld and was unable to move. Instead, a dialogue box appeared.

“Can you hear me?”

"Thank you for caring about me.”

"I can fly now.”

“Because...”

“I love you.”

My heart skipped a beat. My hands began to shake.

“You must care about me too, right?”

“So... I’m going to stay with you.”

“I won’t leave, not without someone who loves me.”

“Will you fly away with me?”

My shaky hands went to say no. I didn’t want to be like her.

"...”

“I’ll wait for you.”

“I’ll change your mind.”

“You’re mine now.”

“You’re mine forever.”

With that last line, the game froze.

The first thing I did was take the game out of the system. I decided to drop off all my Pokémon games at the nearest GameStop. I didn’t want her talking to me anymore.

So why do I feel like she’s still here?

[askdeeds]

To each of the main cast: who was your favorite NPC back when the game was still only a game?

Ace: "Bold of you to assume I knew any of the NPCs. Which one sold me my stupidest outfits? Yeah him." Alesha: "Diana Sophitia Desolar, The Contessa of Viacruz. No, I will not elaborate." Deedee: "Probably Ser Tristan, the Smartest Knight Of The Stone Table - so called because his first impulse when fighting a Divine Beast wasn't to charge it but to run away from it and towards the people who could wheel in siege weapons."

Hikaru: "The alchemy trainer, Lady Lesego Konte. No-nonsense, helpful, a wit you could etch steel with." Sekhmet: "Any time this game tries to do Egyptology it's hilarious, which is why everything about Princess Kleo of Khebulan is hysterically funny to me."

[dalishious]

if you could create a new companio or important NPC for next game,what they would be?

I made a couple up for fun a few years ago, actually. I don’t recall ever posting...

Name: Herodes Metellus

Race: Elf, Human

Class: Mage, primal magic

Description:

Herodes is in his late-forties. The uncountable amount of freckles on his naturally tan face makes it hard to focus on the forming wrinkles. He has light brown eyes and medium-length, curly brown hair. He is very tall and chubby, posing a seemingly frightful shadow, if not for him practically being afraid of it himself.

Background:

There are few elves who can claim to be as powerful and wealthy a Magister as Herodes can. It’s a position his family has been fortunate to hold for some time. His “great-great-something grandfather” was a Laetan, and became the apprentice of one of the most powerful mages in the Magisterium. Very shortly after this, said Magister died, and left absolutely everything to the grandfather, including his seat in the Magisterium. So the will dictated, at least. There were many who opposed, but that was quickly silenced with the family’s newfound money.

Growing up among the other children of Magisters with it being public knowledge that his mother was an elf, Herodes was the victim of constant bullying.

Herodes is the only one in his Circle and the Magisterium publicly known to have a human father and elven mother. Growing up, the other children of Magisters never held back in their bullying, and once entering adulthood, that turned into the need for Herodes to always remain on his toes for the next political move from his adversaries, looking to remove his “impurity” on their social class. He was taught from a young age that there would be a never-ending hostility to his very existence, and that he had to have a mind and tongue of steel in order to keep the family’s power. Unfortunately, Herodes has never felt talented in either of those regards, and instead resorted to making himself as invisible as possible.

After the death of his father, Herodes inherited his seat in the Magisterium as well as control of the family’s wealth. When he next witnessed the abuse of a group of slaves being sold, Herodes bought them all, then promptly took them to court and had them freed. He gave them each a small coin purse and away they went. It was something he couldn’t stop thinking about, and so it became a repeated occurrence whenever he could do so without drawing too much attention.

Herodes joined the rising yet obscure Lucerni faction, looking to change Tevinter. But with so many enemies already, there is only so much he is willing to do outright. He reasons that losing his position will benefit no one, but it is a frequent argument between him and Ari that he’s really just scared for himself.

Motivations/Goals:

Herodes would like to see reform in Tevinter, but is scared of people knowing that. He is much more comfortable being “behind the scenes”, where there are less risks. His personal character arc is about finding bravery in himself, especially in regards to publicly standing up for his people and for himself.

—————

Name: Zara

Race: Elf

Class: Rogue, daggers

Description:

Zara is in her early-thirties. She has warm brown skin and black eyes with sleepless dark bruises under them. Her black hair is straight and shoulder-length, with her bangs always pulled back around her head. Zara is average height for an elf, with a slight build.

Background: 

Both of Zara’s parents were enslaved, and as such she grew up never knowing anything different. When she was a young girl, she was separated from her family when sold to another Magister. She worked in his kitchens, first as a scullion, then with age, grew to be the cook’s assistant. She was taught how to read in order to understand recipe books and instructions.

When people ask Zara about the Magister, they don’t always understand that it doesn’t matter how “nice” he was to her. “Nice,” of course meaning, “not as bad as it could be.” No amount of “niceness” can make up for him owning her like property. If he was truly nice, he would have freed her.

One night, the Magister had Zara fill in as a waitress for his party. She was not treated well, much to the displeasure of one of the attendees, Herodes. He demanded she be sold to him at once. The Magister happily took his money, and Herodes took Zara, much to her fear and confusion. But as was his practice, he brought her to his house, and the next day, took her before a judge and had her freed. Zara didn’t really know what to do as a Liberati. She spent some time trying to track down her parents, but could not. So she returned to Herodes, and began working with him to help others who were formerly enslaved. They argue a fair bit, Zara insisting he should do more, Herodes insisting he can’t.

With Herodes’ anonymous investment, Zara founded the Liberati Collegium, where former slaves of all ages get together to teach one another life skills, from reading, to cooking, to self-defence. Zara herself gives reading lessons. It did not take long for people to take note of her “mockery of a Circle,” and try to shut things down. But that has yet to happen, and instead, things only continue to grow. And with the growing number of educated and working Liberati, comes a stronger voice.

Zara constantly fears the loss of her Collegium, and is so focussed on keeping it alive and thriving that she leaves no room for herself. Herodes fears that she is one spark away from her matchstick burning out, but Zara feels like the Collegium is all she has, and that she herself does not matter; only it does. She tries to fill the hole of complete lack in self-worth with her care for others.

Motivations/Goals: 

Zara strongly believes in the concept that ‘knowledge equals power’, and wants Liberati to have the chance to learn the skills they need to actually sustain themselves, to not wind up back in slavery. More than that, she wants so badly for Liberati to be considered citizens. Zara cares so much for everyone else and not at all for herself, and her personal character arc is about learning that she matters too, and more than that, it’s not sacrificing her goals to invest in self-care.

[linuxgamenews]

Project Haven takes cover in this new footage

Project Haven squad tactics game shows off fresh gameplay for Linux and Windows PC. Due to recent content being shared via developer Code Three Fifty One. Still due to make its way onto Steam in 2022. Project Haven developer Code Three Fifty One has released ten minutes of narrated, fresh gameplay. Offering a look into the tactical turn-based title. The fan favourite winner and NGDC grand finalist showcases fresh footage ahead of its major update in February. Due to bring big changes to the user interface. As well as the in-game mechanics, new playable characters, and skills. All due to arrive on Linux and Windows PC. Inspired by Jagged Alliance and developed by a team of two. The Epic Grant recipient’s latest video sees the Steel Dragons reach a key subway station. Only to find they’ve been ambushed by several Brotherhood goons. Shot to highlight the game’s tactical depth. Players also get to see the process behind its deep combat. As well as the depth of options available in how to approach each encounter.

Project Haven - First Look Gameplay (Linux, Windows PC)

Taking place in a grid free urban battlefield using an action point based movement system. Project Haven sees players needing to take cover using flexible stances. While aiming every shot exactly using over the shoulder manual targeting. Each and every bullet is accurately modeled. Also very capable of punching a hole clean through a body. Combat in Project Haven isn’t always about brute force. Disarm your enemies by shooting the gun from their hands. Then close the distance for a melee attack. Use an advanced stealth system to avoid enemy lines of sight. Then deliver a silent takedown from the rear. You can also use armor piercing rounds to punch through solid walls for the ultimate in surprise attacks. Develop your tactics, upgrade your squad and customize your arsenal. While you become the city’s deadliest, most efficient merc crew for hire.

Features:

Modern aesthetics married to classic squad tactics gameplay. While featuring action point based movement and deep ballistic simulation

A free aiming system that allows you to take control of your Project Havenmercs directly. So you can manually shoot from an over the shoulder point of view. Then pop behind cover to protect yourself from counterattacks.

Locational damage, letting you wing your enemies with a shot to the arm to reduce accuracy. Then slow their movement with a hit to the legs, or boost damage with a full headshot.

An advanced cover system lets you adjust the stance of each merc with just two clicks. So you can peek over cover or leaning around a wall exposes yourself. Project Haven also offers vital lines of sight.

Mature storytelling. Learn the harsh realities of a seething megacity. One full of fear and dark secrets. Witness the gritty lives of mercs and NPCs. Getting a view of the story driven campaign. Along with fully voiced and motion captured characters and cinematics.

RPG character progress. Command a group of Project Haven mercenaries, each with their own unique personality and attitude towards other characters. Improve their features and unlock new skills. All while they gain experience and level up.

Advanced weapon mechanics. Magazine management, chambered bullets, and different types of ammo for various settings. Calibers and ammunition types affect how far and how well projectiles hit and damage their target.

Skirmish, co-op & PvP. Play through the campaign mode with 1-4 players. You can also play skirmish in randomly generated maps. Then fight against friends or AI, alone or in co-op.

Launching this year, Project Haven will deliver a massive 45+ mission campaign. Expect a gritty sci-fi story to unravel and a cast of mismatched mercenary personalities to fill the roster. Every mission is hand crafted, with story design by Edwin McRae. Known to the likes of Lost Ember and Path Of Exile. Project Haven squad tactics demo will be available in February. The full game launches in 2022. You can also keep up with development on the game’s official Discord channel. Or via Code Three Fifty One’s development blog on Steam. Due to arrive with day one support for Linux and Windows PC. Be sure to Wishlist the game on Steam.

[faejilly]

Temperate

This was supposed to be for Day 12 of 7kpp fictober (yes, over two months ago) but it’s so short, and I kept wanting a little something more... only I think this is all there is, just the Dowager Countess from Arland in her chair, contemplating the Summit that’s about to begin. There’s just something really interesting for me in wondering what the NPCs think about each other beyond what they think of the PC. (Or how frustrating it must be, to be from Arland and smart enough to see everything the Royal Family is doing wrong, and not being able to do anything about it. I think my Sheltered Princess feels overflowed onto poor Yvette, too. *laughs*)

Yvette hates to admit it, even just to herself, but there’s not much to be said for the Arland Delegation this year. Too haughty, too self-important, too entrenched in their expectations, too unlikely to listen, or even take off their blinders to observe properly, and without that...

Katyia’s vision will never be realized, not with this lot of arrogant twits, and this, this is the year they need it, she’s seen too many signs of that to be able to pretend otherwise.

History always repeats itself, and she knows exactly what she’s looking at, exactly what’s coming.

The young Earl’s the best of the lot, bright enough to light up a room, both because of his smile and because he’s smarter than most people realize, but he wears his heart on his sleeve and then lets said sleeve dangle in his soup, and he’s a wretched politician.

She rather secretly adores him and the way he makes sure to talk with her instead of at her, but she’s not sure that gentle hands and a gentler heart will serve him well here.

She’s quite sure they won’t, in fact, but she doesn’t want to admit that, even to herself, doesn’t want to wish for such a bright young man to learn to be hard, even if... even if that’s what they need.

Maybe she’s wrong about him, maybe he’s got a spine of steel behind those soft eyes, maybe he’ll rise to the occasion, maybe...

Maybe someone else here will surprise her this year.

She can’t remember the last time someone surprised her.

She supposes it’s possible, supposes she can wish for...

Well.

That's a dangerous thought. Wishing for surprises, as if such a thing isn’t just as likely to be horrifying as helpful.

She knows better than that.

She can’t seem to stop it though, a bright fluttering of hope in her chest, hiding behind the small smile and polite nod she offers to those delegates who think to greet the chaperones before the Welcome Feast.

Maybe she’ll get a chance to witness something better than she expects, just this once, rather than worse.

Maybe...