#and pallegina just stares at him

[ampleappleamble]

check it out it's the dungeon meshi/pillars of eternity mash up goofs you've all surely been eagerly waiting for

[bragganhyl]

What's an Ancient Monster to a Non-Believer

Behold: a little conversation between my Watcher and Hiravias, right at the end of level 8 of the Endless Paths

shoutout to @irrational-pie who suggested that I make something with them, thank you, I couldn't agree more

Word count: a little over 1200 words

It was said, that no one has ever ventured past the sixth floor of the Endless Paths of Od Nua. Gaura was now sitting on a step that was part of the master stairway spanning the ancient structure, on its eighth floor, exhausted and uneasy. There were still undead roaming the catacomb around them, and the only thing stopping them from attacking was an agreement the Watcher struck with the sole, sentient being controlling them – an Engwithan fampyr.

The Watcher’s companions were discussing if they felt up to venturing deeper into the Endless Paths. The progress they’ve made that day didn’t seem like much but the secrets they’ve revealed were… overwhelming in their monstrosity. Kana sat alone with the pieces of the Tanvii Ora Toha, Aloth was eyeing a machine – supposedly used for soul transference – with disgust, Edér and Pallegina were busy taking stock of their inventory, and Hiravias…

Hiravias approached Gaura without a sound. He stood in front of her, with his arms crossed and looked her dead in the eye. The eye of Wael on his eye patch looked like as if it was peering into the very depths of her soul, and leaving a scorching sign of its enraged passing through her.

‘Once we’re done here, you and I are going to have some language lessons,’ the druid stated matter-of-factly. His voice did not betray the rage that the Watcher glimpsed in his gaze, but as it echoed in the millennia old room, it’s ringing grew almost as oppressive as the stench of death filling the air.

‘You want to learn Engwithan?’ Gaura asked, mainly to just help herself process the sudden request. ‘It’s fine by me, I already promised Kana I would teach him, I’m sure he won’t mind if you joined.’

‘Fine,’ Hiravias sat beside the Watcher but kept as much distance from her as he could while sharing the tight space of the stairwell with her, ‘but you better not waste my time by indulging every last question he has. I want to be able to speak it as soon as possible.’

The druid’s frame seemed even smaller, wound up tight and angry. It wasn’t the first time the Watcher saw him get mad at something, but she couldn’t recall a time he looked so… vulnerable in his rage.

‘Wouldn’t a Waelite like you cherish the “pursuit” part of the pursuit of knowledge?’ She asked with a cautious, askew smile.

‘On a better day, yes,’ he replied without looking, ‘but Galawain teaches there is no reward in complacency.’

‘Ah, feeling unworthy, is that it?’ Gaura made a poor attempt at teasing him, but she only drew a bitter scoff out of Hiravias.

‘Your mother is unworthy.’

‘Which one?’ She pointed at the flames dancing around her face.

Hiravias turned to her at that. The Watcher raised an eyebrow at him, and held his frustrated and somewhat disappointed gaze, until he let out a sigh and turned away again. He found a dirty spot on his palm and became engrossed in it. He rubbed at it, but instead of getting rid of it, he just spread the filth on his hand and Gaura couldn’t help but wonder if that may have been intentional. If he wanted to hide from her somehow. He glanced at her from the corner of his healthy eye, only to find her still watching him. The grunt escaping him almost sounded like a quiet growl.

‘Are you trying to read my soul? Or you’re staring for a reason that warrants a punch?’

‘I’m waiting for you to tell me what’s wrong.’

Hiravias chuckled ruefully as an answer. He looked towards Kana for a moment, then towards the doorway leading to the rest of the floor. From their shared vantage point, the massive adra hand was visible, even if the throne in its center and the fampyr claiming it wasn’t.

‘Everything about this place is wrong,’ he spoke eventually.

‘You can say that again.’

‘And that’s in part on you.’

‘I suppose- wait what?’ Gaura blinked at him in confusion. When Hiravias looked at her, she saw that familiar sense of anger in him, the kind that revealed the smallest hint of the actual power he wielded.

‘You say that… thing out there is one of the Builders,’ he spat the words, all of them but the last one. There was pain mingling with his reverence as he uttered it. ‘You expect me to just take your word for it when… when it’s…’

The Watcher’s heart sank. No one respected the Engwithans more than Glanfathans. She was at a loss: she didn’t know how to make the truth hurt less and it was too late to spin a comfortable lie.

‘Hiravias, you heard him speak Engwithan. Trust me, when I tell you I translated everything he said as truthfully as I could.’

‘And he said he was a Builder who survived on sucking souls from giant adra fingers,’ he rolled his eye in disbelief but there was none of that ringing in his voice. ‘What do you think the anamenfath would say if I dragged his ass to them? Would they believe him, like you did? Would they kiss the ground he walks on for what he claims he is? Or would they kick him out for what he really is?’

‘And what do you think he is?’ Gaura cocked her head at him. She saw the kernel of his pain now but she wanted him to bare it himself, to have him face it as it was meant to be faced.

‘A soul-devouring beast,’ Hiravias spoke the words hesitantly, resigned. He scratched a spot by the edge of his eye patch, trying to distract from the anguish on his face that disappeared a moment later.

‘Do you see yourself in him?’

‘What?! No, don’t be ridiculous,’ the druid’s baffled exclamation echoed in the chamber. ‘But I guess the riow of my druid circle might. It doesn’t seem to matter much to them whether you are the autumn stelgaer or a mindless dargul,’ he scoffed. ‘Or some fampyr with delusions of grandeur.’ He once again noticed the dirt on his hand and this time he wiped it in his trousers, annoyed, but his back was a little straighter once his palm was clean enough by his standards.

Gaura exhaled a sigh of relief. Hiravias will be fine once his denial wears off. She raised a hand to give his shoulder a reassuring squeeze, but dropped it when he flashed a look of warning at her.

‘Well, once you’ve learned how to speak Engwithan, you can come down here and interrogate him yourself,’ she shrugged.

‘That’s the plan,’ he gave her a determined nod. ‘Wael will lead me to my own conclusions.’

‘And if the truth proves to be… not what you hoped for?’

Hiravias’ lips curled to a smug smirk. ‘I’ll still know more about the Builders than even the wisest sages of my tribe.’

‘Just don’t let it go to your head.’

The druid didn’t seem to hear her. He left her to join Kana instead and as he walked towards the scholar, his movements reflected the focus and confidence of a hunter who just figured out how to fell a challenging prey. Gaura stood up as well and joined the others. They still had some ways to go.

[vyrantium]

If you wanna do fluff: 11. Angst? 24. (For Aloth/Watcher) :3

both? both. both is good

from here: 11. “I’m just glad you’re safe. I wouldn’t know what to do if I lost you.” 24. “I thought I’d never see you again.”

this one got away from me a bit

also on ao3

Catriona’s blades clattered to the floor, their owner frozen in place. She stared at the unmoving form of Aloth at her feet, horror filling her mind before she could act.

It had all been fine moments ago. But the fampyr had wiggled his way into her mind, convinced her these people were the enemy. So she struck out at the one closest to her, using every advantage she could find to slip past his defenses and…

The spell had broken when the fampyr was struck down. But the sinister laugh as he died, seeing Aloth on the ground, told Catriona he still won.

“Aloth!” Catriona screamed, her senses coming back to her. She fell to her knees, wrapping her arms around Aloth and rolling him onto his back. She wracked her brain for knowledge she once had, years ago she knew she knew how to patch wounds. She remembered tenderly wrapping a severe burn on Aloth’s arm after a mishap with a spell. But the information just wasn’t there. Something taken by the other half of her soul inside Eothas, no doubt.

Catriona didn’t realize she was crying until a tear dripped from her onto Aloth’s cheek. He was still alive, but barely. His breaths were shallow and there was no doubt that the amount of blood he was losing would soon turn fatal.

“Pallegina!” Catriona yelled out, pressing her hand to Aloth’s wound, her head swiveling to locate the other godlike. She was helping Edér to his feet, who had sprawled out on the ground after a particularly nasty blow. At her cry, Pallegina looked up, face going grim as she rushed over.

“Show me where,” Pallegina said as she approached, her hands starting to glow softly. Catriona blinked at her. “Vielo, Watcher, where is the wound?”

“Oh,” Catriona breathed, looking down to Aloth and a sense of dread once again filling her. Was his breathing more ragged than it was before? With her free hand she motioned to her other, blood now seeping through her fingers. She must have hit something vital.

Pallegina gently eased Catriona’s hand away and pressed her own to the deep wound. The light from her hands dissipated… And nothing happened.

Aloth wasn’t breathing.

“Merla! We need Xoti,” Pallegina said as she stood.

“What?” Catriona asked, her voice barely a whisper. Everything was moving so fast, she could barely keep up.

“Stay with him, Watcher,” Pallegina replied, her voice soft, then walked away to find Xoti.

Catriona turned her attention back to Aloth, cradling his head in her lap. His face was twisted into an expression of pain and shock, sending a wave of guilt through her. This was her fault. She had sunk her blade into him as far as she could manage, intent to kill. It didn’t matter to her that her mind was not her own at the time, it was still her sword that dealt the final blow.

“Please,” Catriona begged to no one in particular. If she were of a better mind in that moment she would be looking up, searching for Aloth’s soul. But whether she didn’t think of it or didn’t want to face the reality, was a matter not even the gods knew the truth of. Another sob wracked her body, hugging Aloth close, pressing a kiss to his cheek. “Please. I love you. Don’t leave me. I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

Catriona was pulled from her thoughts as a heavy hand laid onto her shoulder, turning to see Edér looking down at the two of them. Xoti was a pace behind him, already starting to cast a spell. Catriona met her gaze, pleading. Xoti nodded.

The seconds felt like they stretched to hours as Xoti completed her spell, Catriona refusing to let go of Aloth. Xoti didn’t need him laid out for this. She held her breath as the magic flew from Xoti’s hands into Aloth, waiting for an eternity to see if the spell worked.

Aloth drew in a deep breath, a wet cough following short after. Everything hurt, especially his midsection, and he was vaguely aware of someone holding onto him. His mind raced, trying to remember what got him here. Above him, he heard Catriona led out a relieved sob.

“Aloth,” she whispered, and he looked up to smile at her. Her usual glow was dim—no, gone, and her cheeks were stained with tears. His heart shattered.

“What… happened?” Aloth asked, thoughts still swimming.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Catriona sobbed, her hand reaching for his. Her hands were slick with something, and as he glanced down he realized they were both covered in a frankly alarming amount of his own blood.

“I didn’t, the fampyr, I thought I was never going to see you again. I… I did this,” Catriona continued, squeezing Aloth’s hand so tight he thought she might break something. With a grimace he lifted his free hand, stroking her cheek. Her ramblings stopped, staring down at him.

“You didn’t do this,” Aloth managed, voice weak. Catriona started to protest but was cut off as another coughing fit came over Aloth, causing him to groan in pain. Once he steadied his breathing, he looked up to her with a weak smile and continued. “You said yourself, the fampyr, correct? You shouldn’t blame yourself. I’m alright.”

“You almost weren’t,” Catriona breathed, another tear spilling from her eyes. Aloth reached up and wiped it away, trying his best to smile up at her. Moving still hurt.

“But I am. And that is the important part. I… Will need a few days of rest, I imagine. But I’m here,” Aloth assured her, turning to look to the rest of the group. “Thank you.”

Pallegina and Xoti both mumbled something in response, already moving away to give Aloth and the Watcher space. Edér was still there, relief clear on his face.

“Glad to see ya alright,” Edér said, pulling out his pipe now that action was settling. Aloth gave him a pointed look, causing Edér to start. He was already moving away as he spoke next. “Sorry, you want me to give you two a moment?”

Now that it was just the two of them, Aloth turned his full attention back to Catriona. Her glow was starting to return, but it remained faint, barely perceptible. She was staring down at him, a guilty expression on her face. Aloth sighed—a mistake, given the pain—and squeezed her hand gently.

“Catriona. I am going to be alright. I need you to—don’t blame yourself,” Aloth spoke softly. “No matter what happened, I’m here now. And I-I… I love you, too.”

Catriona’s eyes went wide, and he could see the wheels turning in her mind. “You heard that?” she breathed, and if circumstances were different he might find her bewilderment endearing.

“Of course I did. And I…” he bit his lip, considering his words. His ears burned, but nowhere near as bad as was typical given the blood loss. “It’s something I’ve known about myself for a long time. But I wasn’t sure you felt the same.”

“I. Oh,” Catriona blinked. Realization hit her, how Aloth was able to hear her, needing to take a moment to steady herself from the harsh reality of what had just occurred.

“And what about you? Are you alright?” Aloth asked, moving to sit. He winced and Catriona carefully but firmly made him lay back down.

“I… Yeah. Yeah, I think so,” she responded, her hand trembling in his grip.

“Good. When I… I wasn’t sure what was going to happen, if the…” Aloth frowned, another confession bubbling to the surface. “I’m just glad you’re safe. I wouldn’t know what to do if I lost you.”

Catriona stared at him, amusement glowing in her eyes. “You really think, after all I’ve been through, a fampyr was what was going to do me in?” she asked, a smile slowly spreading across her face. Aloth’s blush deepened.

“Well, no, perhaps not. But there are things worse than death. If they saw fit they could have made you one of them, or. Worse things,” Aloth stammered, trying very hard to keep his mind from spiraling. Catriona pressed a finger to his lips, quieting him, the smile on her face spreading.

“Aloth. It’s alright,” she murmured. “Are you able to move? We should get out of this place, get you to my bed.”

Aloth’s eyebrows shot up, blush spreading to his cheeks. “This is hardly the time, don’t you think?” he asked weakly.

“What? Oh! No, no, I meant,” Catriona stammered. “To rest. You need it, and my bed is better than the bunks.”

Aloth relaxed, nodding in thanks.

“Though once you are rested up, I have plans to… make this up to you.”

Catriona gave him a wicked grin, and Aloth knew he was in for it.

[babineni]

Rings - part 2

(Part 1 here)

'Godsdammit, come off,' Gaura mumbled to herself as she tried to pull off a ring from her finger. She was staying at the Gréf's Rest with her company. Aloth and Kana left to warm up by the hearth, while she along with Hiravias and Pallegina took a table and waited for Edér to bring them some refreshments. That is when the druid glimpsed the Ring of Wonder on Gaura's hand. It was a tiny sapling, taking the shape of jewelry that she bought from a Vailian merchant back in Defiance Bay a few weeks before. However the merchant failed to mention that the ring was Glanfathan and as much as the Watcher grew to like the ring during that time, once Hiravias revealed its origins, it didn't feel right to keep it.

'Eir Glanfath and the Republics have been trade partners for quite some time now,' Pallegina explained. 'I assure you, if our merchant got hold of your products, it has been through fair trade.'

'Sorry, Pallegina, but I'm staying skeptical,' Hiravias retorted. 'You don't know our druidic orders like I do, and that ring looks like something the Ovates make.' He scoffed. 'Though come to think of it, they might've just handed it to your people to show off. They've always been snobbish.'

'It's fine, Pallegina,' Gaura said as she continued to struggle with the ring. 'If it's Glanfathan, Hiravias should have it. Fairly traded or no.'

'I appreciate that,' the druid answered, his lips curling to an amused smirk. 'Good luck trying to pry that thing off without losing a finger, though.'

The Watcher froze clutching her finger. She stared wide-eyed at him.

'What's that supposed to mean?'

'Rings of Wonder are made of living wood,' Hiravias explained. 'They're enchanted so they fit the hand of their wearer and eventually they bind to their flesh,' he crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat. 'Bet, the merchant didn't mention that in his sales pitch.'

Gaura returned the grin albeit in a forced and pained way. 'No, he did not,' she said, gritting her teeth and turned her attention to Pallegina, who pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration.

'Merla,' she grumbled under her breath, 'I suppose, I'll have a lengthy chat with that postenago.'

'Who's a postenago?' Edér showed up and handed a pint of ale to each of them. He sat down beside the Watcher close enough for her fire to warm him.

'Edér, help,' Gaura didn't bother to answer and showed him her hand with the ring stuck on it instead. 'I can't get this thing off.'

The farmer squinted at the ring. 'Huh, it's squeezing your hand real tight,' he took her hand and pulled at the wooden band gently first, then harder and harder until he nearly pulled her finger out of its place, but the ring didn't budge. 'Try using your mouth,' he said after he stopped trying.

'My mouth?' The Watcher blinked at him in confusion.

'Yeah, your mouth. Like...' Edér was about to lift her hand to his lips when he stopped to ask: 'Can I try?'

Gaura shrugged. 'I guess, why not?'

Edér took her finger in his mouth as a response. The Watcher's heart fluttered when she felt his tongue against her skin and his teeth closing around the ring. He tugged at it once, twice and on the third try the ring gave away and slipped right off Gaura's slickened finger. Edér dropped the ring in his palm and was about to offer it to her before he remembered to wipe it on his shirt sleeve. Then he offered it again with a warm half-smile, but Gaura was still only able to stare at him, stunned.

'Hiravias,' the Watcher's voice was hoarse as she called him once the shock wore off, 'if you'd like...' She gestured at the ring resting on the veteran's palm.

'Much obliged,' the druid reached across the table and took the round sapling. 'If you guys don't mind, I'll go see what the wilds around this place have to offer,' he winked with his good eye at the Watcher. 'Have fun you two.'

'If you excuse me, as well,' Pallegina's golden eyes flickered between Edér and the Watcher for a moment and in the dim light, Gaura could've sworn she was blushing, 'I should check what Kana and Aloth are up to.' She grabbed her pint and left for the hearth in the middle of the inn.

The Watcher shifted her weight a little uncomfortably and she stared at the ale in front of her, as if she could find something clever to say written in the drink. Edér followed her gaze and broke the silence.

'Innkeeper warned me that the ale might taste funny. It froze and had to be melted again,' he grimaced as he spoke but raised the pint towards the Watcher anyway. 'Cheers to you.'

Gaura lifted her own glass and touched it against Edér's. 'Cheers to you,' she took a sip and pretended that it was the watery ale that calmed her fluttering heart to a comfortable warmth.

[masterskywalkers]

For the prompts list - Faeluna + "No one is perfect" if you want more!

Thank you so much for the request!

This is an idea that’s been on my mind for a long time (since playing Pallegina’s quest in Deadfire last year), and seeing this prompt quote made me think it was the perfect time to try and tackle something for it (:

Prompt list can be found here, for those interested.

Aloth lets out a long put upon sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

“Faeluna …” he starts, his tone wary. 

Across from him Faeluna stops her pacing. Her back is turned from him, shoulders slightly hunched with the weight of her discomfort and unease weighing upon them. 

“It sounds ridiculous, I know,” she says, turning to face him. “But what if it worked? If we’re successful in finding this Giacolo Pallegina is looking for, perhaps his research would work for me too.”

Aloth drops his hand into his lap. He looks up, face pained in confusion. Even from where he sits on the stone bench across from her Aloth believes Faeluna to be the most beautiful thing he’s ever known. It’s not been unknown to him that she often feels uncomfortable in her own skin, but to realise just how far those feelings she carries against herself stem causes his heart to ache heavily.

“I just don’t understand. Why?” He asks. “What is it about being a godlike which would cause you to consider such a drastic - and, should I add, rather dangerous - measure?“

Faeluna shifts from one foot to the other, tugging at her sleeve nervously. Aloth watches as her attention darts around, trying to focus on something - anything that isn’t him. He swears he can feel the uneasiness radiating off of her fiercely.

Aloth thinks of how she shouldn’t have to feel any sense of unease around him. Not now. Not after everything they’ve been through together over the years, with how close they are. Not with how much she must know he loves her.

”… Pallegina was right, Aloth. Most don’t see our kind as people, but rather some exotic thing that must be shown off. When you walk into a room as a godlike people turn to stare at you, to look at the creature that is as close to mythical as they know. It would be nice to walk this world being seen as Faeluna, and not the god touched half elf.“

“Dear heart,” Aloth begins, brow furrowing as he tries his best to find the right words. He takes one of her hands, holding it tenderly between both his own. “I do not believe one has to be godlike alone to have the worlds’ eyes watching them. You are a changer of lands, and you’ve uncovered and brought to light much which the world has otherwise left forgotten. The word has its eyes on you regardless of what skin you wear.”

Faeluna shakes her head.

“It’s different though, Aloth,” she says. “People wonder if I am chosen by the gods not because of my actions alone but by the way I look. I do not know the answer to that question myself, but I also do not want to know. All I desire is a quiet life, and from the day I was born the world had made its mind up. If there is even a chance I could be … somewhere close to normal, should I not reach for it?”

“But what is normal, Faeluna?”

Gently lifting one hand away from hers, Aloth reaches out for her, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. His eyes finally meet her astonished ones, and he shows a small, saddened smile.

“No one is perfect. Everyone has an aspect of themselves they wish they could just … wish away. But then what becomes of the person they were if that wish is fulfilled?” He lowers his hand back onto where theirs meet once more, giving a reassuring squeeze. “I fell in love with you, Faeluna. All of you. The heart you carry, the compassion you share - and the part of you that is godlike.”

“Would it not be easier for you if I were half-elf?” Faeluna asks him uncertainly. Aloth breathes out a small huff of a laugh. 

“Easier perhaps if I were another man, but hardly necessary to me. I would not care if you were orlan or human - as far as I am concerned you are just Faeluna. And that is more than enough for me.”

Aloth rises to stand, gently guiding Faeluna close to him. He presses his forehead against hers in a tender gesture, his arms wrapping around her waist as he holds her. 

“I cannot make you love an aspect of yourself you are not happy with, but I can assure you that I would still love you no matter what. Do not feel you need to change for the world, dear heart. Especially not in a way so untested as this.”

[lunarowena]

An Abundance of Aloths

For @pillarspromptsweekly #0075: Double

Also posted on AO3

-

Aloth and Amaryllis stared up at the Engwithan machine built around an admittedly small adra pillar.

Aloth sighed. “Why were the Engwithans so enthusiastic about building temples on small islands in the middle of nowhere?”

“Going where the adra is, I’m guessing.” Amaryllis cocked her head, studying the contraption.

Aloth grabbed her arm and spun the pale elf to face him. “You’re not actually thinking about touching it, are you?”

“Well…” she grinned sheepishly, tugging at the end of her braid. “I at least want to know what it does.”

Aloth rolled his eyes. “What happened the last time we touched a strange machine?”

“Our souls have mostly recovered.” Amaryllis shook herself out of his grasp and took a few more steps closer to the machine.

Aloth stepped up after her. “You’re still missing a large portion of your soul to Eothas!”

Amaryllis squinted at the controls. “I’m pretty sure that’s not what this one does.”

“How sure is ‘pretty sure?’”

Amaryllis didn’t answer, walking closer to the machine. It hummed in what he chose to interpret as an ominous manner.

“Amaryllis!” he hurried up behind her.

“Aloth, if you’re worried, you can wait outside with the others.”

Aloth squeezed his eyes shut. “It’s not me I’m worried about.”

She turned and reached out to squeeze his hand. “I’d still feel better if–maybe you should stand back.”

He squeezed back. “I’ll only be a few steps behind you.”

Amaryllis stepped up to the controls and took in a big breath. “Some of the words are a bit rubbed out–probably the crumbling stone–but I think it’s some kind of transportation mechanism?”

Aloth grasped his hands together behind his back. “All the more reason not to touch it!”

“I wonder if it opens a portal like at Poko Kohara. We could at least peer through it.”

“I strongly object to this plan–”

But she had already turned the dial. The machine whirred to life, electricity sparking along the copper coils. A white light grew out of the center of the adra pillar.

Aloth rushed forward to try to pull her back, to do something, but the white light washed over them both.

Aloth collided into Amaryllis and they stumbled forward from the momentum. Aloth held tight to her and tried to blink back the light. He tripped over a loose brick on the uneven ground sending them both sprawling downward. Shaking his head, he looked up at their surroundings. They were on some kind of ruined platform but the horizon, the sky, it was all a white void. And–

“What? Hello!”

–and they weren’t alone.

The woman who had spoken, a pink orlan with long, wavy hair, jumped up from her perch on a ruined column. “Did you come through the ruin, too? Were any of our companions there? What were you doing out in the middle of nowhere? I guess that’s a stupid question because we were out in the middle of nowhere… what.” She turned to stare at Aloth, held up a finger, turned to the dark haired man with her, then turned back. “Huh.”

The dark haired man stared at Aloth. Aloth stared back. Except for the large poleaxe strapped across his back, he looked disturbingly like… himself.

Amaryllis stood up, brushing herself off. “So sorry for us to intrude like this. Lovely to meet you both. Amaryllis Alfwyn, and this is my compatriot, Aloth Corfiser.”

The orlan woman stared her down. “Really? Because this,” she gestured to the man beside her, “Is Aloth Corfiser.”

Aloth pulled himself to his feet, laughing nervously. “Well, I’m pretty certain that I’m Aloth Corfiser–” he cut off as he saw the scepter at the woman’s belt. He pulled up his own Keybreaker Scepter.

Her eyebrows raised as she pulled out her own to compare. “Well, I’ll be damned. Two Corfisers.” She turned to her own Aloth, swinging her arms open. “Do you know what we can do with that?”

The tips of other Aloth’s ears turned red. “Artemisia!”

“I was just gonna say we can throw three fireballs at once. Do you know how much fire that is? We could probably get temperatures up to–”

Amaryllis coughed politely. “It’s a lot of fire, yes. How did you two get here? Wherever here is?”

Artemisia swung back around to look at Amaryllis. “Don’t know where here is, but touched some Engwithan machine–”

“That I told you not to touch,” other Aloth interjected.

“–and we wound up here. It’s been a bit,” Artemisia finished.

“The same thing happened to us,” Amaryllis said.

Artemisia tugged on the tip of her ears. “So we’re probably in some alternate dimension and we’re crossing the streams of parallel universes.”

“Of course,” said Aloth.

“So how do we get back?” asked Amaryllis.

Artemisia shrugged. “I have no idea. Otherwise we wouldn’t still be here.” Her eyes narrowed and she looked back and forth between Aloths. “I wonder what would happen if you two touched each other.”

“With the potential for an explosive result from two universes colliding, I’d rather not find out,” said Aloth.

Artemisia opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a flash of bright light and two more people stumbling out.

A meadow folk woman with red hair dusted herself off. “Great.” She turned to her companion. “You alright, Aloth?”

“Wonderful,” Aloth, other Aloth, and third Aloth said in unison.

The woman looked up, her eyes rapidly glancing between everyone. “What’s going on here?”

“Collision of parallel universes,” Artemisia said.

“In Aedyran?” said the new woman.

“We all touched something we shouldn’t have, and now we seem to have… an abundance of Aloths,” said Amaryllis.

“And you all are…?”

“Artemisia Maiu.”

“Amaryllis Alfwyn.”

“Lillian Teylecg.”

“What?” Amaryllis blinked.

Artemisia stared “What.” She turned to third Aloth. “Edér’s a woman in your universe?”

“What? No,” said Lillian. “We’re married.”

“What?”

Artemisia turned to other Aloth. “I am so giving Edér a hard time about this when we get back.”

“How do we get back?” asked Lillian.

“We don’t know,” said Amaryllis.

There was another flash of light and a savannah folk woman in heavy armor and another Aloth fell through.

Aloth stared at the newest Aloth. They all wore the same armor, but this fourth Aloth was wearing a headdress that looked remarkably like Thaos’s.

“Okay what is happening here–” Lillian started, but in another flash of light she and her Aloth were gone.

“Is that good or bad?” asked Amaryllis.

“So… either someone on the other side pulled them back, or this place has a limit on how many it can hold,” said Artemisia.

“That’s good, right?” said Amaryllis.

“If it’s the second, we hope they got sent back instead of… elsewhere,” said other Aloth.

“Wouldn’t you,” Amaryllis gestured to Artemisia and her Aloth, “have been sent back if it was the second?”

“It could be a stack rather than a queue,” said Aloth. “Last in, first out instead of first in, first out.”

The savannah folk woman just stared back and forth between them all.

Artemisia tugged on her ears again. “We’re going to be here forever, then, if my alternate selves keep being stupid.”

“I don’t feel like I’m an alternate you,” said Amaryllis.

“Why else would you be with Aloth–” Another flash of bright light and Artemisia and her Aloth were gone.

Now it was just Amaryllis, Aloth, the savannah folk woman, and… Aloth was still going to think of him as “fourth Aloth.”

“Well,” Aloth said. “Since it’s just us now, and no one else has shown up, that seems to indicate that something else is pulling us away rather than a capacity limit.”

“So we hope the others come in and ‘find’ us,” said Amaryllis.

Another flash of bright light, and Aloth barely had enough time to make out a wood elf woman with brown, curly hair and another Aloth before light completely surrounded his vision. The world lurched, and next thing he knew they were back in the ruins, Pallegina, Xoti, and Tekēhu staring at them. He never thought he would be so glad to see Tekēhu.

“Thank you for the timely intervention.” Amaryllis straightened her vest.

“What happened?” Xoti asked.

“In all universes, Watchers have a habit of touching things they shouldn’t,” said Aloth.

Amaryllis reached out and squeezed his hand. “And in all universes, Watchers have a trusty Aloth to watch out for them.”

[queen-scribbles]

Hug Prompt

8-Group Hug for @risualto tumblr’s not letting me save changes to the draft, sooo here ya go 

Emiri had no gift for strategizing. Not surprising, given her background, and also usually not a major problem. Right now, though, it was turning into a major problem. For being a pirate, Brynlod and his crew were proving quite adept at fighting on dry land. And there were a lot of them. Having a plan beyond weeding out the weaker members first and working their way up would have been nice.

Ghosts of terrors from her past drifted through her mind’s eye, causing her strike to go wide, and Emiri glared at the Cipher-Captain even as her hands shook. She tightened her grip on hammer and dagger and forced the nascent terror from her mind.

Brynlod bared his teeth at his failure to overwhelm her and turned his attention to Pallegina and Kana, currently working in tandem to deal with a pair of pirate spellcasters; druids or wizards Emiri couldn’t tell from her vantage-

The sharp stinging draw of a blade against her arm gave her a painful reminder she needed to pay better attention. Emiri yelped and backhanded her hammer into the skull of the individual responsible. Worry about Kana later, yourself now. And she did need to worry about herself; in the time she’d been distracted, a trio of pirates had hemmed her off from the rest of the fray. Whether they thought she’d be easy pickings with no armor, or recognized her as a threat with abilities similar to their captain, the result was still three on one odds that cornered her against the broken-down wall of the mill behind her. It left her facing the uncomfortable reality she might have to use the abilities she didn’t like if she wanted to get out of this alive.

One of the pirates, armed with a pair of stilettos, made a feint at her injured side. Emiri moved to parry, and something electrical sparked from the hands of the second pirate as soon as her focus was committed.

She cried out in pain when the spell hit, arm spasming so badly she almost dropped her dagger.

“Emiri!”

I’m fine, Aloth. The fact she couldn’t even get the words out sort of belied them, but she still tried to press them into his mind. Surely he had his hands full even without swooping to her rescue. From somewhere around the other side of the ruined mill, Hiravias bellowed a curse, but it cut off in a way that made Emiri’s gut twist. Worry about him instead.

They needed to finish this. The longer it dragged on, the worse their odds would likely get. She shook off the lingering twitches from the lightning spell and swung her hammer at the pirate wizard. The third of the group, more heavily armored and wielding an estoc, stepped in between, and her hammer glanced off his pauldron. Emiri growled in frustration and followed through the motion to crank her elbow into the fighter’s jaw. She turned to handle the rogue first, at least remove one threat, just in time to see a pair of pinkish-orange bolts careen into his back.

Apparently Aloth hadn’t believed her.

He was already summoning another spell by the time his presence registered for the pirates and the fighter deviated from his focus on Emiri to deal with this new threat. He was faster that Emiri would have expected for a man his size, and had lunged close enough for his blade to reach while she was still grasping for a cipher trick to throw him off.

No, no, no! She settled for throwing a mental scream at him, but it wasn’t enough to deter him. Her throat closed up with terror as the gleaming estoc swung-

-And the blade cleaved through the double Aloth had just finished summoning rather than its intended target.

Emiri sighed in relief as the fighter stumbled through the empty space before her attention was reclaimed by a pair of magic bolts whistling past her head, one so close it grazed her halo. Right. She still had the rogue and the wizard to handle, so would have to trust Aloth knew what he was doing.

She could hear the wizard chanting another incantation, but the rogue had moved in too close for comfort, and Emiri cranked her hammer into his shoulder first. She heard and felt something break under the impact as the blow sent him stumbling to his knees. With a moment’s breathing room on that front, she could focus on the wizard.

Only, she didn’t need to–Edér had come to help at her pained cry as well. He slammed his shield into the wizard’s back, then as the pirate wheeled in surprise, slashed open his throat. The pirate dropped both spellbook and wand to instead grasp futilely at the gaping wound as he collapsed.

Alright, then, Emiri thought, and turned back to the rogue–

Just as Aloth–or was it Iselmyr, she couldn’t tell–hollered a warning and the rogue’s stiletto drove into the fleshy part of her already-injured bicep. His foot lodged behind her ankle, tumbling her to the ground. Emiri yelped as her wounded arm dragged against the rough stone wall on the way down. She tried to focus on making the man recall the pain of his likely-broken shoulder, but her own pain was too distracting, she couldn’t manage…

Edér charged past her as she struggled and ran the rogue through before Aloth could get a spell off, his sabre easily piercing the leather armor.

As she tried to regulate her breathing and fight through the pain in her arm, Emiri was dimly aware of the combat ruckus tapering off toward quiet. That was good; she was basically useless and Hiravias hadn’t sounded good and what about Pallegina and Kana–

“Miri.” Edér stood next to her, sabre sheathed and hand extended to help her up.

She took it gratefully and let him assist her undignified scramble back to her feet. “Thank you,” she murmured breathlessly, meaning for more than just the hand up, and pulled him into a hug with her good arm.

“‘S what I’m here for,” Edér chuckled, hugging her back. “You alright?”

“Thanks to you,” Emiri confirmed, glancing toward Aloth, who’d relaxed and moved closer to check on her with the battle winding down. “Both of you.” When the elven wizard was close enough, she dragged him into the hug with her other arm, muttering apologies for getting blood in his hair.

Careful of her injuries, Aloth circled an arm around her waist. “A small–and worthwhile–price to pay to be sure you’re alright,” he promised. “And not one I’d pay long, in any case, considering where we are.”

Emiri laughed and hugged the both of them tighter. “Good point.” Dyrford Crossing had no shortage of streams to choose from in the event you needed to wash out blood and grime. Which she was fairly certain all of them now did. She gave Aloth and Edér one final squeeze before letting go. “We should check on the others. And I need some sort of proof we killed Brynlod.”

“I’ll take care of that, Mir,” Edér offered with a wink. He headed for where Brynlod had fallen, leaving her free to make sure the rest of their group was alright, or at least alive.

Even that proved a near thing–Hiravias looked decidedly woozy when she’d circled enough of the wrecked mill to lay eyes on him, perched on a rock so Pallegina could examine the gash carved through the blood-matted fur over his good eye.

He grinned fiercely–if slightly dazed–when he saw her staring at him. “Watcher! One of these rot-brained thugs thought to relieve me of my other eye, but I showed her the folly of that decision-”

“Yes, by nearly skewering yourself on the same rocks that skewered her, and then promptly passing out from the effort,” Pallegina interrupted dryly, her hands moving from the gash to lightly grip his head. “Stop moving, postenago.”

“Don’t ruin my tale of heroism,” Hiravias groused good-naturedly. “And you try casting something that powerful with your face sliced open.”

“I stand corrected,” Pallegina deadpanned, then met Emiris gaze. “I am glad you are alright, Watcher”–her gaze drifted to the blood running down Emiri’s arm–”for the most part.”

“Oh, it would be much worse if not for Edér and Aloth’s intervention,” Emiri said. She glanced around, brow furrowing. “Where’s Kana?”

“He was worried for you, I believe,” Pallegina said, golden eyes gleaming with something that wasn’t quiet mirth before her attention returned to Hiravias. “We all heard you cry out, but were… occupied with the rest of the pirates, ac?”

“Oh.” Something in her chest squeezed. “Maybe I should-”

“Stay right here so the two of you don’t wind up chasing circles around what’s left of this mill,” Aloth finished for her as he joined them. “He’ll make it back here sooner or later. It’s not that big a building.”

“You’re right. Of course.” Of course that made more sense. Emiri wiped blood off her arm and examined the new slice through her sleeve. “If this keeps up, I’ll have to replace this shirt much sooner than planned.”

Aloth’s brow furrowed. “Usher’s scythe, Emiri, I didn’t realize…” He started to reach toward the bloody sleeve, then hesitated. “May I?”

“‘Course,” she nodded, and gingerly rolled up the sleeve, hissing when it stuck to her skin.

He winced at both the gash and the puncture just above it. “We should stop the bleeding, at least. Stitching these up may require a surgeon with more skill than any of us can claim.”

Edér appeared while they were in the process of using her ruined shirt to do just that, raised an eyebrow at Emiri in just her undershirt, and held out one hand toward her. “Only better proof’d be choppin’ off his head, an’ we have a little far to travel for me to wanna go that route.”

Emiri examined the sweat-stained leather cord hanging off his finger. The low end of its loop was weighted by an amateurly made pewter ring and decorated by a pair of feathers–cormorant or albatross if she remembered her sea birds.  “Lucky charm and his signet. I’d say that’ll do.” She held out her hand, palm up, and Edér lowered the talisman into her grasp. “Thank you.”

Just as her fingers closed around the leather cord and Aloth finished tying off the pressure bandages, there was a loud sigh of relief from back near the corner of the mill. “Hylea’s wings, there you are!”

Emiri half-twisted, her face heating a the fact she was sans shirt, and flashed him a smile. “Sorry, Kana. I came to check on you all, but Pallegina said you;d gone looking for me, and Aloth suggested staying here was better, ‘cause you would make your way back eventually-”

“And so I did,” Kana chuckled, his smile fading slightly when he caught sight of her shirt wrapped around her arm. “You’re hurt?”

“It looks worse than it is,” she assured him. “All this is just to make sure it stops bleeding until I can get it stitched up. I’m fine. Much better off than Hiravias, anyway.”

“Ah, if a stelgaer couldn’t do me in, a piddly little shit of a pirate sure won’t,” Hiravias retorted, squirming as Pallegina finished bandaging his wounds.

“You’re sure you’re alright?” Kana pressed, his gaze firmly on Emiri.

Her heart fluttered a little at the concern in his voice. “I am. Thanks to these two.” She pulled Aloth and Edér into another hug. The two of them hugged her back again their angles slightly awkward but still heartfelt.

“Just glad we were close enough to be a help,” Edér said, which Aloth seconded.

“And glad I am to hear it,” Kana smiled.

It didn’t take much longer to finish cleaning up, searching bodies for anything of value, and confirming all the pirates were, in fact, dead. Once everything was taken care of, they headed for Dyrford Village, in hopes of finding someone to stitch up Emiri and Hiravias, and certainty of a comfortable place to sleep.

Emiri’s gaze darted between her friends as they walked, silently thanking the gods for all of them, and that they’d all survived that fight, with how tough it had been. She knew sooner or later she’d lose them to adventures or duty, but for now, she was very grateful to have them around.

[dragonologist-phd]

If The Creeks Don’t Rise Ch 8- All Of My Attention

Aloth promised himself he would not muddle his already complicated life with any growing feelings towards Desta. At the time, it was an easy promise to make. There were even occasional moments when it was an easy promise to keep, when their time together was simple and natural and just like it was all those years ago.

And then there were moments when keeping that promise felt impossible.

(Read Below or on AO3)

Aloth promised himself he would not muddle his already complicated life with any growing feelings towards Desta. At the time, it was an easy promise to make. There were even occasional moments when it was an easy promise to keep, when their time together was simple and natural and just like it was all those years ago.

And then there were moments when keeping that promise felt impossible.

They were digging through the rubble of an old, dusty room in an old, dusty temple on an old, dusty island when Aloth heard Desta scream. Panic immediately rushed through him, and for a moment he was sure that there was a trap they had missed or an enemy that wasn’t quite dead.

Then Desta turned around and Aloth saw the large scaly creature in her arms, and he understood.

“Look who I found!” Desta cried, her voice still high with excitement. The wurm in her arms echoed with a cry of its own.

Across the room Pallegina gave a startled gasp, but Serafen just looked on in confusion. “That be a wurm, lass,” he said. “You see plenty of ‘em in these parts. Usually we kill ‘em.”

“Not the hatchlings!” Desta scolded. “They’re not hurting anybody, not if you train them right. And besides, don’t you recognize her?”

This last part was directed at a surprised Aloth. He frowned, and was about to protest that he couldn’t possibly recognize the random wurm they’d found in this out-of-the-way temple…until he took a closer look. “Is that a sky dragon wurm?”

“She certainly is.”

“Not the same-”

“It’s the same one,” Pallegina confirmed. “Don’t you remember Hylea’s Temple?”

Of course Aloth remembered Hylea’s Temple, and the sky dragon that lived within. He remembered every dragon that Desta had dragged him into meeting. This particular encounter had, thankfully, not ended in their team running in circles and trying to bring down the winged beast. Rather, it had ended with Desta letting the dragon and her hatchlings live in peace, certain that she could convince Hylea it was the right call.

And she did, because she was Desta, and of course she could persuade a god into letting a dragon raise its children in her temple.

“How in the world did she end up here?” Aloth asked, leaning closer to inspect the wurm.

Desta shrugged. “It seems a lot of things from the Dyrwood ended up here somehow. Do you think she remembers me?” Aloth couldn’t stop a smile from creeping onto his face as he watched Desta cradle the creature, beaming down at it with nothing but joy. The wurm wriggled happily in her arms as if in confirmation. Desta laughed and ran her hand soothingly over the smooth scales. “Oh, I can’t wait to show Eder-”

“Hold up a tic,” Serafen interrupted. “We’re not bringing that thing aboard, are we, Captain?”

“Well, why not?”

“It be a dragon, lass.”

“She’s just a little wurm!”

“Don’t try to argue with her,” Pallegina said in a tired tone. “Caed Nua was always full of strays she brought in against everyone’s better judgment.”

Serafen turned to Aloth beseechingly. “Am I outnumbered here? We’re bringing a dragon on board the ship?”

Aloth glanced at Desta. The wurm had settled itself across her shoulders. It made for a strange sight- the large, ungainly wings flapping behind her head, the long tail curled around her neck, the pale blue scales striking against dark green skin- but Desta looked absolutely delighted. Aloth looked helplessly back at Serafen. “We’re bringing a dragon on board the ship.”

As they left the temple, Desta walked next to Aloth, lifting the wurm up so it could get a good look at him. “I think she remembers you, too.” The wurm gave a shrill shriek, and Desta laughed. “She likes you.”

Aloth felt himself flush, and he could hear Iselmyr snickering inside his head. Ye never could say nae to the lass.

Stop it, he thought. This has nothing to do with Desta. We went through a lot of trouble for the wurm to live, we might as well take care of it.

 If ye say so, lad. I’ll be remindin ye’ of that when the wee beastie’s crawled into our bunk at night.

They were traversing the darker streets of Neketaka when the figures approached. The term shady applied here on multiple levels; the people wore cloaks that shrouded their features and beckoned suspiciously to Desta, promising rare goods.

Desta was curious, so despite Aloth’s misgivings (which were numerous) she approached the alley where they stood. Aloth trailed close behind and waited for things to go wrong. As soon as Desta crossed into the alley, one of the figures stepped forward, drawing a dagger from its cloak.

“Empty your pockets,” the figure croaked, and the look Desta gave him carried more disappointment than it did fear.

“Told you,” Aloth couldn’t resist saying, a small smirk flashing across his face.

“Fine, you were right,” Desta sighed. She gave the small dagger one more pitying look, then said casually to Aloth, “Close your eyes.”

Aloth knew immediately what she was planning and did as he was told- he had seen this move in battles before, and had no desire to bear the brunt of it. As soon as he looked away, Desta clasped her hands together and, in a flash of zeal, enveloped herself in a beam of blinding light.

The light was searing even from behind Aloth’s closed eyes- he could only imagine the painful surprise the would-be robbers must have been experiencing. His sympathy was interrupted when Desta’s hand, cool and grassy, took his in a strong grip, and before he had time to react she was pulling him down the streets toward the Gullet.

When they finally slowed, the light had faded enough for Aloth to dare try opening his eyes- and when he did, his breath caught in his throat. The magic Desta had cast still hung faintly around her, and she was laughing, completely unaware of the glow that still hung around her like a cloak.

He must have been staring, because she cast a worried glance in his direction. “What’s wrong? I didn’t blind you, did I?”

“No, I’m fine” he answered, and winced when his voice came high and nervous. He cleared his throat awkwardly, and hurriedly added, “Which is more than I can say for those robbers.”

Desta laughed again. “Oh, those poor fools. I almost feel bad.”

“You needn’t,” Aloth said. “They were thieves. Incompetent thieves, at that.”

“Exactly. It felt unfair.” The spell had faded completely now, but Desta’s eyes were still alight with amusement.  Aloth realized with a rush that his hand was still clutching hers. He hastily released her hand in what he hoped was a nonchalant manner and took a courteous step back, returning some space between them.

“Ye spineless spellspeaker,” Iselmyr muttered through his teeth, and Desta blinked in confusion.

“What-”

“Iselmyr wishes to hunt down the thieves,” Aloth explained quickly, biting sharply on his lip in an effort to prevent Iselmyr from following his words with her own retort.

Desta seemed to accept this. “Don’t worry, Iselmyr. We still have business in Delver’s Row, and I’m sure we’ll find someone there to give you a fight.”

Iselmyr simmered in frustration in the back of Aloth’s head, but didn’t try to speak aloud again as he followed Desta through the winding streets. I’m jes tryin’ to move ye along, she hissed at him internally.

That’s the problem, Aloth thought back. There’s nothing to move along. There’s no point in you continuing on like this.

Iselmyr’s reply, though still annoyed, was smug. Ach, we’ll be seein’ about that.

They’d barely made it a mile from the lagoon when the ship appeared. Aloth wasn’t concerned at first- their flag was emblazoned with the logo of the Royal Deadfire Company , and as far as he knew the Rauataians had no reason to be hunting them down.

Then the thundering sound of a cannon filled the air, followed by the splash of the warning shot that landed mere feet from their hull, and Aloth began to worry.

Desta was on the top deck, shouting for parley, and by the time Aloth reached her the other ship had drawn close enough for its captain, an angry-looking amaua man, to speak to her her face-to-face. Desta met his glare boldly. “What do you want? We have no quarrel with you!”

The man shook his head. “You wouldn’t be leaving Motare o Kozi unless you found what we both want. Hand over the map.”

Desta’s eyes narrowed, and Aloth could practically hear her thoughts just as clear as Iselmyr’s: she had promised the Ukaizo map to the prince and the queen and the Huana people, and she was not going back on her word. Perhaps the other captain saw this as well, for he began to draw his longsword.

“Wait!” Desta cried. She bit her lip, studying the other captain’s face, then glanced sideways at Aloth.

“Trust me?” she said to him a low voice.

Aloth frowned in confusion but gave her a tight nod. Desta grinned and whispered, “Bring me a barrel of gunpowder.” Then she turned her attention fully to the other ship and called loudly, “Is there no chance we can come up with a diplomatic solution?”

Aloth had a million questions for Desta, but their time was unfortunately limited, so he hurriedly did as she asked. As he dragged the barrel over to Desta, the other captain gave her a grim smile. “The only solution I see here is you giving me that map.”

Desta stared at him for a moment, then reached over the side of the ship and grabbed one of the lanterns that swung from the hull. She thrust her arm over the barrel, the lit lantern flickering mere feet above the pile of gunpowder. “You board this ship, nobody is walking away with that map!”

The startled cries of both crew filled the air, and despite his alarm Aloth had to work to stifle back a smile. Anyone who knew Desta would know she would never sacrifice her people. But looking at her determined expression, her hair and cape blowing wildly in the wind, the light of the lantern throwing shadows on her face… Aloth could see how a stranger might think differently.

The other captain’s mouth fell open. “You wouldn’t…”

“Aloth,” Desta said, loudly this time. “Bring me another barrel.”

“As you say,” he replied at the same volume, doing his best to inject some fear into his voice.

This, finally, was too much for the Rauataians. “You’re a madwoman!” the other captain cried, before turning to his crew and ordering a retreat.

Desta held her position until the ship sailed out of sight. Only then did she jerk into motion, leaping away from the barrels and hurling the lantern overboard.

Aloth couldn’t help the chuckles that escaped him at the sight, even as the rest of the crew let out exaggerated sighs of relief. Behind him, Engrim sagged against the helm. “No offense Captain,” he sighed, “but the longer I spend wit’ you, the more I question my choice o’ career.”

“I’m sorry!” Desta said earnestly. She was still resting against the railing, keeping her distance from the gunpowder even though the lantern had left her hand. “It was all I could think of! I never would have done it.”

“Of course not,” Aloth said. “That was some quick thinking, and it did the job well.”

“Although to be honest, I was terrified the entire time I’d lose my grip and drop the thing by accident.”

“Bloody hel, don’t tell me that!” Engrim exclaimed. Desta let out a burst of laughter that only got louder when she locked eyes with Aloth, who was barely holding back his own amusement.

“I’ll put this gunpowder back where it belongs now,” Aloth said, fighting to keep the smirk out of his voice.

“Please,” Engrim said. “Before the two of you kill us all.” Aloth didn’t respond, for he was suddenly far too preoccupied with the way the man had said the two of you, and the way it pleased him far more than it should.

That night Aloth lay awake in his bunk, unable to get the incident out of his head. Desta’s face kept flashing through his memories- her expression of conviction and righteousness as she held the lamp, which shifted so quickly to laughter and reassurance as she leaned over the railing with bright eyes and hair wild in the wind.

Ach, Iselmyr sighed in his head. This is hopeless.Yer gone and taken with the lass.

Aloth remembered the promise he’d made to himself and sighed. “Hopeless,” he repeated quietly. “Yes, I know.”

[rprambles]

PoE - Confidence

A/N - another for @badthingshappenbingo

prompt: body image issues

“Pallegina.”

She stops and turns her gaze to them. “Ac?”

Mayar tilts their head. “Does it bother you? When people stare.”

There’s a moment of quiet between the godlikes. Finally Pallegina nods. “Sometimes. I remind myself that they do not define me.”

“Not always easy to do.” They look down at their hands, at faint lines of light against blue-purple skin.

She looks at them for a moment. Then she steps forward and pulls the hood of their cloak away. Mayar swallows; it does little to hide the crystaline horns that curve around their crown but it does obscure their face in shadow somewhat. With it down they feel… exposed.

Pallegina puts her hands on their shoulders, golden eyes locked on pupil-less silver. “Listen well, amico. You are Mayar, Watcher and Lord of Cad Nua. You do not bow your head or hide from the ignorance of fools.” Her face softens just a little. “Your appearance has no bearing on your ability. Do not let anyone say otherwise.”

They feel something in their chest loosen. They knew it of course, but there was a power in hearing her say it. “… thank you.”

They leave the hood down the next day, hesitating before they descend to the kitchen. And there is some staring. They almost reach for their hood, but Pallegina gives them an approving nod. The Grieving Mother doesn’t give them a second look. Somehow Mayar finds that comforting too.

Hiravias recovers first, staring for only a second before grinning and focusing on his food. Aloth quickly gives himself a little shake. “Good morning, Mayar.”

Sagani makes room for them at the table and smiles almost motherly. “You look nice today.” She elbows Kana sharply and his mouth shuts with a click.

“Ah, yes.” He gives an all-teeth smile. “I didn’t know your hair was so curly.”

It sounds like an excuse, but Mayar lets it be. Eder blinks, gaze shifting slightly. “It looks soft. Is it soft?” Mayar takes his hand and places it on their head. Calloused fingers gently pet the pure white curls and Eder gasps. “Its so soft.”

Mayar can’t help a chuckle. Breakfast continues with the usual banter, Aloth reaching over to swat Eder’s hand and Kana asking a few questions, Sagani giving them a look that says she’ll hush him again if need be.

Their chest loosens that little bit again. A little more comfortable with these odd people that choose to follow them around Eora

[aedyre]

Alfaris blinked at at the ghostly figure slowly materializing in front of him. A woman, elven, with long dark hair, the left side of her face covered in one large burn -- ah. Yes. The woman from the trial -- Iovara. In the back of his mind he could feel his other incarnation’s unease turn into resignation. It seemed Caolan had expected to find her here.

“You’ve come back”, she said. “ I had thought to have set you on the right path ages ago. Or did I merely fail a second time?”

Anger bubbled up in him, vicious and terrible, almost overwhelming and not his own. Caolan, he said without speaking. Be calm. You don’t have to talk with her if you do not want to.

It was, perhaps, a bit ridiculous considering what Iovara had suffered through after Caolan had captured her for the inquisition, because Caolan had captured her, but even he had to admit that he was far from impartial when it came to his other half.

“You are so different now from who you were then, yet much remains the same--”

“I am not him”, Alfaris interrupted. “I am myself. Caolan is here”, he tapped his right index finger against his head, “but I don’t think he wants to talk to you.” He shrugged and gave her an apologetic look, though with everything she’d been through perhaps it was for the better, anyway.

“...I see”, Iovara said. “What is it that has brought you here, then?”

He smiled. “Caolan, of course. And… someone should really stop Thaos’s plans. I don’t think an empowered Woedica is what the world needs, right now or ever.”

Iovara shook her head. “That is what he collects these souls for? After all this time, he would still stand against the tide.”

Caolan mumbled something to himself that sounded suspiciously like he thought she was right, but didn’t want to agree with her on principle.

Alfaris sighed. “There’s something he -- that Caolan needs from him, but he doesn’t want to tell me what. Do you have any idea?”

That certainly garnered his other half’s attention, and he was none too pleased. No, he said. She doesn’t know anything. Stop wasting our time and go after Thaos already--

“I will tell you what I remember”, Iovara said. She studied him intently, like she was hoping to catch a glimpse of the incarnation she had known in his eyes. “I can see his influence, still hanging like a weight about your neck. So it always was. He had… inspired something in you. We spoke of him last time you were here also.”

Something!, Caolan scoffed. She doesn’t know what she’s talking about.

“It was just after the trial. You were… agitated. I think because you started to consider that what I was teaching may have been true.”

A sense of dread filled him, once again not his own. It seemed Iovara did know what she was talking about after all.

Her expression morphed into a look of pity and once again she studied his eyes, looking for something. Alfaris remained impassive. If his other half felt so volatile when faced with her, he would be the rock needed.

Eventually she sighed. “That the gods aren’t real.”

...Oh.

He blinked again and furrowed his brows in confusion. Caolan had suddenly gone quiet, like he was afraid of shattering something if he made even a single noise, let loose a mere wisp of emotion. Distantly, Alfaris could hear his friends’ reactions, but he barely listened.

No. It made no sense. He’d spoken and quarreled with the gods and even struck a deal to get down here in the first place.

When Iovara continued he snapped out of his thoughts. “What I taught was that the gods whose faith we had been spreading were not gods at all, but something else entirely. Something created by people.”

“Engwith”, he said quietly and she nodded.

And with that the memories suddenly came, and with them understanding, like this had been all that was needed to break Caolan's control over them, if he ever even had any in the first place.

Alfaris couldn’t help but laugh.

"That is what all this has been about? Whether or not gods are really gods if they were mortal once? Ridiculous!"

Iovara frowned. "Caring about the truth is ridiculous?"

"The truth I see is that we could argue about whether their apotheosis counts as one until the world ends and do nothing but waste our time."

Caolan perked up at this, and Alfaris could feel him getting increasingly excited, like this was what he had hoped for, but not dared expect. Silly. He knew Alfaris. What else could he think?

"The truth is that it doesn't matter what their origin is, but that they failed, be it as guides or as rulers."

This time, the anger he felt was all his own; at the purges of Eothasians and the events at the temple in Gilded Vale, at Raedric's actions in Berath's name, at the Skaenites in Dyrford, at the murder of the Pargrunen, at the Hollowborn curse and Thaos's foolishness in bringing it about.

"And I would stop them just the same were they born divine instead."

There was a moment of silence that seemed to stretch on forever, then Pallegina laughed. "Verus!", she said and clapped him on the shoulder. "I would expect nothing less."

Iovara stared at him, like this was the last reaction she had expected and maybe it was. Her truth had been important enough for her to die after all, important enough to face torture and eternal imprisonment. "How", she started, "how does he… How does Caolan feel about this?"

Alfaris cocked his head and reached out to his other half, but Caolan still steadfastly refused to face her. Very well. He’d play messenger then.

"He… doesn't care either."

She closed her eyes for a moment. "So… That is why he sided with the inquisition? Because he doesn't think the truth matters?"

Alfaris studied her. Where before there had been a slight stoop to her shoulders, now it was much more pronounced. "No", he said eventually. "He did that because he trusted Thaos more than you."

"Oh", she said.

"You could never have convinced him, Iovara. He cares about results, not philosophy. If the gods had kept their promise of making the world better, that would have been good enough for him."

She let out a long breath and it occurred to him how odd it was that a soul would breathe. "Then what is it you -- he needs from Thaos? If that is not what you are divided on?"

No, Caolan said.

You did cause her to be imprisoned here, Alfaris pointed out. The least we can do is answer her questions.

"Thaos never trusted him back enough to tell him about this. Not even… Not even when he asked, after the last time you talked to him."

Once again Iovara’s expression turned to pity and she shook her head. "He never will, no matter what you do. But… You are a Watcher in this life, I see. Perhaps when he can no longer defend himself against that…"

That was enough to cut away whatever excitement had built in Caolan earlier. He didn't want to fight Thaos, even now. He wanted things to go back to how they had been; impossible as that was, and not just because he had died and was sharing this body with someone else.

"We'll see", Alfaris said. He knew what to expect now, knew finally what questions he needed to answer so his other half could have peace and time was running out -- but. "What about you? I could free your soul from this prison."

"No", she answered immediately. "The gods need to be reminded that we have a spirit and that spirit is proof against their power. They have the power to manipulate and confuse and ruin us, but not to change our will. I will remain here until the world crumbles and fades from existence with joy in my heart, knowing I've shown them what they truly are."

Alfaris couldn't stop Caolan’s laughter that bubbled forth at that and if Caolan finally wanted to talk to her he wasn't going to stop him, not when she had looked at him like she’d rather speak to the person she had known instead.

"I'm sure they feel very humbled by you playing their powerless prisoner, Iovara", Caolan said, sarcasm dripping from every word. ""Oh, whatever shall we do! Iovara is still obediently submitting to our sentence! She won't even take the chance to defy us and truly free her soul when offered! Oh, woe is us, she really showed us.""

Iovara had blanched at the sudden outburst. "Caolan-", she started but he shook his head.

"You want to hear why I didn't side with you from me? This is it. Why would I ever put the fate of the world in the hands of an idiot like you?"

"Caolan!", Alfaris interjected. "Enough!"

His other half snorted. "She asked, didn't she?"

He sighed and pushed a wayward curl back behind his ear. What a terrible idea -- he should have known better than to let Caolan speak when he was this upset. "I… I apologize on his behalf. That was uncalled for." He frowned. "Though he's not… Entirely wrong. I very much doubt they care, as long as you don't cause them any more trouble."

Iovara tried to steady herself. "If I left, if I let you send me back to the wheel, I would forget everything I fought for. That would be admitting defeat."

Fool, Caolan said. For once, Alfaris shushed him.

He sighed once again. "It’s a pity, but… I suppose it's your decision to make. I… should go after Thaos, before he can complete his plan."

"...Yes", she agreed. "I… Hope you will find an end to your soul’s suffering."

Caolan's pithy retort died on their tongue when Alfaris did the soul equivalent of pinching him. He gave Iovara a polite bow and then turned towards the exit.

"Let's go."

[ampleappleamble]

In my opinion, Why is Axa like that is a trick question, we are all a little like that.👀

Anyway now that you've presented me with option, yes actually I would like to know about your feelings on the old man gets sex story. And also while we're at that, do you have plans for more such stories?👀👀👀👀👀

Axa is Like That in the way that I wish I had the strength to be Like That ♡

Funny thing is, I didn't originally intend for God's Children Bathe Free to end in Tekēhu and Vatnir hooking up! It just sorta ended up going that way, and who am I to deny my boys their fun? 😌

Originally, it was supposed to be more about the other Godlikes in Axa's crew– Pallegina and Tekēhu, mainly, and Handsome Eliam later on when they get back to the boat– sort of helping to induct Vatnir into the world at large after spending all his life being an object of worship in an insular cult. Like Stephen King wrote in Carrie about Carrie attending the prom with the most popular boy in school as her date after having been a social pariah since childhood (paraphrasing): "it was like welcoming someone back into the human race."

I was gonna have Pallegina approach Vatnir after he'd finally made it into the bath proper, to talk to him about how she knows it's hard being a Godlike and getting stared at and ridiculed while you're just trying to live your life, etc. but instead I ended up having Aloth visit him instead, to 1. provide a little closure for the previous scene by ensuring that Vatnir knew Axa really only meant well bringing him here, and 2. provide a vehicle for Vatnir to change his opinion of Aloth from "misotheist Sceltrfolc prettyboy who's banging the lady I have a huge crush on 😠" to "oh no he's actually really nice and also hot 😳👀🥵" Then I couldn't really figure out a way to get Aloth out of there and Pallegina in without it being an awkward "and then this happened" transition, so I had Tekēhu just go ahead and interrupt them with a little shameless flirting. Then I decided I just had to squeeze in the reference to my "Vatnir has a comically large dick" running joke, and, well, the rest just sort of came naturally! (...No pun intended.)

I definitely intend on writing more stories starring Vatnir (I am Very Fond of him in case anyone can't tell), but I don't know if any of them will be romantic or sexual in nature, considering that wasn't actually my initial intention with this story! I've been toying with a few story ideas– a two-parter wherein part one is about Axa tending to him while he's ill and part two is about him tending to Axa when she's ill; a story about the first time the ship gets boarded after he's joined up and he runs away to hide only to unexpectedly meet Vela and then he has to protect her, and a few other little ideas I haven't quite fleshed out in my head yet. Currently I'm trying to focus on Anthem Infinitum, my novelization of PoE1 starring Axa, but it's slow going due to being at a very difficult-to-write, boring part of the game/story (Defiance Bay, why) so I may take a break to knock out a Vatnir oneshot or two should the mood strike me. ♡

As thanks for your question, and because it's relevant, have this Extremely Cursed doodle I did a few months ago and never posted! ♡♡♡

[secretsfromwholecloth]

Deadfire, day 6.

That was a pretty firm nudge I just gave Tekēhu towards an artistic career. There’s a first time for everything, and this playthrough is clearly it for quite a few of them.

Whew, I finally got the box to start Seeker Slayer Survivor. I got the letter from Vatnir early on and the visit from Llengrath yesterday, so that’s all three DLCs ready to go when I get around to them.

Castol’s position has been secured. All considered, Pallegina would probably murder me if I did otherwise, and I did just enchant up her sword real nice.

And the quest to blow up the powderhouse has been accepted. But first, I think it’s DLC time. First up, Beast of Winter.

The Harbingers. Sure, why not. This is Aegen’s life now. They make about as much sense as anyone he’s met or anything that’s happened in the Deadfire.

I do not like Ydwin. At all. And could really do without her superciliousness. I don’t think Aegen minds her nearly as much, but fuck it, Rekke gets her spot next time..

Ydwin, stop being awful to Vatnir, what is wrong with you?!

That said, squirm more, Vatnir. You walked right into this.

Vatnir is not being recruited. Aegen has a party he trusts and relies on, and he’s not really the sort to browbeat Vatnir into coming along.

Also, this way I don’t have to worry about dropping anyone for him. Party management in this part of the game is hard enough as it is, and I’ve already seen his dialogue.

Bear cub found and equipped. I’ve still got some thinking to do as to whether I’m actually going to recruit Waidwen (or either of the other souls) to fight the dragon.

A promise to reinsert the souls into the Wheel rings rather hollow in light of Eothas being on his way to destroy it, so fuck it, Naxiva and Wingauro are helping with the dragon. I’m still undecided regarding Waidwen, though, since for him it’s more about talking to Eothas again. And while I’ve recruited him to fight before, I still haven’t gotten the cute version with the polar bear cub...You know what? I’m in the mood for some cute. That’s it, everyone’s fighting.

Ehrys has been successfully talked down. First time I’ve ever managed. Hope you appreciate this, Brythe.

Those whimpering noises you hear are me, buried under a pile of Waidwen feelings. Weh.

Wehhhhhh.

*hangs head* I’m so sorry, Waidwen, I’ll keep my adorable pets safer in the future.

Sorry, Tekēhu, it’s time for you to put some clothes on. It’s too dangerous here, you need armor. You can take it off and let Rekke stare at your chest again later.

Tekēhu, Aloth, and Rekke discussing the trilingual inscription in the Drowned Kingdom during a fight is a new one on me. Are these abominations so easy to defeat, boys?

[bragganhyl]

64 prompt ask: Snow being shoved down the back of your coat

Thank you, Anon, here is a quick Aloth x Watcher something something, that takes place during WM part 1.

Word count: about 1230 words.

Night has fallen on the Russetwood. Or it may as well have, as far as Aloth was concerned. All that time he has spent in the Dyrwood and yet it still had corners that threw him off balance, whether that meant being used to the weather, the seasons or simply time itself. Regardless, it's been an exhausting day and now he was sitting on a trunk by the campfire, focusing on whatever light and warmth it had to offer, not really listening to the sounds of the camp or the chatter of the companions around him.

Look behind you!

Iselmyr's warning came late, just as Aloth felt a light tug at the neck of his coat, followed immediately by the feeling of biting cold against the back of his neck. Every fiber in his body tensed up and he gasped, inhaling deeply of the chilling air and the thick smoke of the fire ahead of him.

'Fye, ye ass-nibbling maggot!' Iselmyr shrieked in his voice as she stood up in his body, coughing and turning back, only to lock gazes with Edér, who stared wide-eyed at the reaction. Then a hearty laugh bubbled up from the farmer and he turned to run off.

Only for him to get hit in the face by a snowball.

'You want a snow fight?' The Watcher's melodious voice drowned out everything else in Aloth's ears. A mischievous grin brightened her face as she picked up some snow. 'You'll get a snow fight.'

'You're gonna regret saying that,' Edér snickered as he reached towards the ground, only to get a pile of snow unleashed on him from the thin air above him. The veteran collapsed under the sudden weight, and cursed into the snow as his face got buried in it. He stood up a moment later, with surprisingly little difficulty just as another pile appeared above him. 'Aw, this ain't fair...' he groaned but his voice got muffled by the pile crashing down on him, leaving only Hiravias' laughter filling the air.

'Per complanca, could you entertain yourselves in a way that doesn't attract every night predator in these woods?' Pallegina approached the druid. But it was Maneha who gave her an answer. Which took the form of a snowball that hit her right in the chest, burying the five suns on her armor. The paladin gasped at her, feigning offense, then shook her head in disappointment but with a faint smile hiding in the corners of her lips. She muttered some Vailian curses as she gathered some snow and joined the fray.

Soon the camp was alive with the sounds of laughter and cold, playful assaults being launched. Aloth couldn't help but smile as he looked on, slowly overcoming his initial shock but still shivering. It took him a moment to notice: the Watcher wasn't playing. She stood a step away from the others, still holding on to a snowball. But Gaura's gaze was fixed on the wizard. She watched him, while her impish smile faded then she let the snow slip from her grasp and made her way to Aloth.

'Are you alright?' She asked, a look of concern now clearly visible on her face. 'I could hear your teeth clattering from way over there,' she inclined her head towards the spot she was standing at. The sound of their companions' play fight seemed overwhelmingly loud even from where Aloth was standing. 'If you want, you can have my coat,' Gaura continued, as a strange ripple ran through her fiery hair, that she hastily smoothed down. 'We're roughly the same height, it should fit, I think.'

Iselmyr stirred within Aloth. The feeling of her intense encouragement and their shared frustration was about to overcome him.

'That would be lovely,' he blurted out, trying to calm both himself and her. A moment later he processed the words he used, however, which only got the heat rising in his cheeks. 'I mean, it... it's very considerate of you to offer,' he let out a short sigh and hoped it didn't betray his relief. 'Thank you,' he added hastily.

Gaura blinked at him, surprised at his reaction, then a soft smile appeared on her face, that was rendered even gentler by flames slowly dancing around her face. She undid her coat a moment later, which snapped Aloth out of his musings. He quickly took off his now soaked coat, cringing at the cold air biting into his skin, then exchanged it for the Watcher's. He slipped into it with ease, the scent of her skin filling his nostrils.

The lass smells like a whole church.

Aloth agreed, to a degree. Iselmyr felt tense in the back of his skull, uncomfortable, clearly associating the smell with the Leaden Key. And it was true, that they inducted their gatherings like sermons, but Aloth didn't even think of them until she did. The coat just smelled like... Its owner.

'It's just incense,' he whispered as he wrapped the coat around himself tighter.

'Come again?' Gaura cocked her head at his comment.

'Iselmyr just noted that... you smell a bit like incense.'

'She's not the first to say that,' the Watcher shrugged with a smile, which guided Aloth's attention to her shoulders. Those beautiful, sculpted...

'Are you not going to put on the coat?' The wizard asked when he noticed that she stood there with only her sleeveless shirt on, lightly holding his coat against her chest.

'I don't feel cold the same way as most kith,' she waved off the question.

'Still...' Aloth wasn't quite sure what to say. The only thing on his mind was an image of him holding her close, wrapping her coat around both of them. A strange feeling welled up in him. He imagined it as Iselmyr rolling her eyes at him.

Effigy's nethers, she looks about as smitten with ye, as ye're with her.

Nonsense, Aloth thought. Gaura was just... like that: a little bit in love with everyone she met. Until they proved themselves unworthy of her love, that is. It would be very arrogant of him to think she'd feel any differently about him. It was a notion that was both comforting and terrifying.

Iselmyr didn't feel convinced. Aloth wasn't entirely convinced either. Deep down there was a part of him that couldn't help but... hope. For what, he didn't really know. The longer he thought on the answer, the longer the list got.

'You should keep yourself warm,' he said eventually. With a quick motion of his hand, he conjured a small flame and reached it out towards her. Gaura's eyes widened then a sweet and... fond laugh burst up from her. It was indeed foolish of the wizard to think he could outmatch the fire placed in her by a god. And yet... he felt there were a lot of foolish things he was willing to - at least - consider trying for her.

'Thank you, Aloth. That's very sweet of you,' the Watcher smiled at him. Then she moved past the wizard, sat down by the campfire and patted the spot beside her.

Aloth sat down, close enough to the Watcher for his shoulder to brush against hers. Obviously, he did it to keep his flame close to her. Evidently, Gaura didn't move away so she could stay close to the heat of his magic. The night was strangely warm and comfortable.

[weakzen]

Inexorable

The Watcher attempts to mitigate the effects of Vatnir's chime with a cipher spell. Rymrgand has opinions on her efforts.

Pairing: Aloth x Watcher Rating: T Spoilers: Beast of Winter DLC & Pallegina's Deadfire quest

AO3 version

She began to strip before the door latched shut behind her.

First, her jerkin and boots dropped to the floor. Then her tunic. Her trousers. Her socks and her smallclothes. All of them fell in a trail behind her as she shambled forward, until she stood nude before the bed.

He snapped his book shut as she approached, inhaling and leaning back as she climbed atop him, but even he didn't stop her momentum. She continued over him, rolling ungracefully to the side, and toppled facedown into the mattress.

A satisfied, muffled sigh escaped her lips as she lay there and finally closed her eyes.

The bed was comfortable, as was the cool air drifting in through the window. And the linen sheets were deliciously soft against her skin. Her body felt so… heavy, amidst it all. Every part of her. Like she could sink through the mattress, pierce the sheets, and fall into something wonderful, maybe—if it weren't for the headache pinning her in place.

Somewhere in the past half-decade, she'd actually acclimated to the dull and chronic malaise that came with focus deprivation, but she'd never experienced it this acutely. The throbbing ache, the fatigue, the vague dizziness and nausea, all of it felt more like the crash that followed ascension, except her crashes never lasted longer than a few moments.

Or, at least, they hadn't before.

She heard the book gently thump onto the side table, then felt Aloth shift next to her. His hand settled onto her back and rubbed circles in the curve of her lower spine.

“Busy evening again?”

“Not really,” she muttered into the sheets. After a moment, she summoned the strength to flop herself over and stretch out her limbs, yawning deeply as her joints cracked. She exhaled, then collapsed into a heap. “I'm just… tired.”

“So I've noticed.”

A weak grin pulled at her lips as she glanced at him.

“Oh yeah? What else have you been noticing?”

“Only the obvious,” he said flatly, giving her a ticklish pinch that made her squirm. The corners of his mouth curled upwards briefly before pressing into a frown. “This isn't the first time this week I've seen you like this. I'm becoming a bit concerned.”

“And here I always thought you liked it when I slept naked.”

“I was speaking of your exhaustion,” he said, rolling his eyes. He gave her a pointed look, though color still bloomed across his cheeks. “You've seemed… off, lately, ever since we set sail from the iceberg. When you're not above deck staring at the ocean for hours, you're collapsing into bed, too tired to talk or keep up with your meditations.”

“Amongst other things,” she added, her grin widening.

“Well, yes, but—” His flush deepened. “That's not really what I'm worried about.”

Seraphina chuckled and rolled on her side to face him. “Then what are you worried about? Besides my obvious exhaustion.”

He glanced away.

“Nothing really, just…” he began, then trailed off. A sigh of resignation sounded in his throat and he looked back to her. “Well, I've noticed you holding Vatnir's hands a lot lately, too.”

She raised her eyebrows, then her torso began to quiver with silent laughter.

“What, are you jealous, Aloth?”

“I'm not sure.” He gave her a lopsided smile. “Should I be?”

“I don't know. You tell me.” She smiled herself then, biting her lip as she slid her hand to his jaw and caressed his cheek with her thumb. “Who, exactly, am I in bed with again—even if I am too tired to show my appreciation and give him a proper tumble?”

He rolled his eyes again, this time in fondness, amusement pulling at his mouth and softening his features. Then, he cupped her face and pressed his lips to hers, rolling her onto her back as he leaned over her. Her arms curled around him and her hand twined in his hair. She pulled him closer and, for a long moment, they kissed each other softly, until he broke away to nuzzle his face against her own.

“…Is everything okay, at least?” he asked quietly.

“As okay as it ever is,” she whispered back, tugging at the sheet between them. “Would be better, though, if I were under there with you.”

He smiled against her, then pulled back, enough so that she could slip under the sheets and cuddle into him. To her delight and amusement, he wasn't wearing anything either.

“Feeling a little warm tonight or something?” she teased, offering him a mischievous grin as she ran her hands over him.

“Only when you're around.”

He gave her a sly, knowing smile and she chuckled, then settled her head in the crook of his shoulder. Her eyes fell shut and she sighed contentedly as they lay together.

“…Nothing's wrong, Aloth,” she said softly, after a few moments. “I've just been… trying something new. A cipher experiment, I guess.”

“Oh?” His breath tickled against her forehead.

“Yeah. Ever since we left the Void, I've been wondering if there was anything I could do about Vatnir's chime. Not removing it or severing it, I mean, but I thought it might be possible to mitigate its effects and give him some relief, at least.”

He inclined his head. “How so?”

“An extensive, modified pain block, essentially. I've been testing different variations on him almost every evening.” She pursed her lips, her mind briefly wandering to the variables she hadn't yet implemented. “…I'm still tweaking it right now, though. But, I figure once I get it just right, it'll be easy to apply when I'm ascended and it should last for quite a while from there, a few days if I can manage it. Long enough, anyway, that I shouldn't need to pull from my own reserves anymore to apply it.”

“Given the frequency of which we seem to find ourselves imperiled, I suspect that won't be an issue,” he said dryly. “Has it been effective, in any case?”

“I think so?” She shrugged. “His essence hasn't changed, unsurprisingly, but he says he can actually sleep through the night now, and that it hurts less when he coughs and moves around. He thinks some of his wounds might've begun to heal, too.”

Aloth hummed quietly. “He has seemed a bit livelier as of late, come to think of it. I even saw him eating at the table with everyone in the mess the other day, rather than sitting in the corner.”

She smiled. “That's good to hear.”

“Well, it's good of you to help him.”

Heat flushed across her face and she fidgeted uncomfortably.

“I suppose. I know I'm not really fixing anything, not permanently.” She paused for a moment, biting her lip. “…Pallegina and I also talked to him about what she did to her chime. And I've offered to take him to Giacolo's new lab, more than once, but… he's ambivalent about going that far. He said I shouldn't be pushing him to do it either, when I haven't even had it done myself.

“I know it wasn't kind of me,” she continued, “but I laughed in his face when he said that. I asked him why I would need to cut my chime before he does, when the worst thing I have to suffer is that stupid joke people make about whether or not I can actually see anything. I told him that my body wasn't the one decaying alive, that my chime wasn't causing me constant pain—and that he didn't have to accept or endure a lifetime of that either, regardless of what his so-called father said.”

She sighed again, long and wearily as her temples continued to throb.

“Rymrgand's 'gift' is nothing but abusive fucking cruelty.”

Aloth pressed his cheek against her head and rubbed her back. “I don't think there are many kith, alive or dead, who would disagree. But I doubt that would sway him from ensnaring any more mortals with his chime.”

“Yeah, well—why would it?” She huffed in disgust. “After all, we mortals are nothing more than pointless dust, right? Hard to care about dust, I guess, especially when it refuses to wipe away cleanly, and insists that it has an important purpose—”

A sharp crack whipped across the cabin from behind them.

They both startled upright, her lethargy and pain forgotten as she reached for the knife beneath her pillow. She turned to locate the source of the noise, only to find a few splintering, jagged lines spreading across a pane of glass, like something had struck the window. A second fracture snapped loudly a few panes over. Then a third, then more, until violent, sonorous crackling overwhelmed the cabin and the temperature began to rapidly plummet.

Pocks of frozen crystal burst from the walls and ceiling and floor. Rime surged from them, coating the timber and carpet in ice. Her knife burned frigidly hot in her hand and she tossed it away. Next to her, Aloth barely managed to abandon his grimoire before smoking frost encased it whole. She scrambled for the covers then, pulling them up and around her body. But even the blankets weren't spared the incessant freeze, and they soon became a prison of stiff, crusted folds trapping the both of them against an even colder mattress.

Across the room, she caught a glimpse of ghostly, sparkling hoar coating everything before their lantern, too, succumbed to the cold and guttered out.

In the darkness, she and Aloth gasped next to each other. His arms snaked around her and pulled her roughly against him, and hers followed in turn, wrapping around his waist and under the shelter of hair covering his neck. She twined her legs between his and he squeezed back tightly. Plumes of fleeting warmth billowed past their lips as they breathed heavily and shivered into one another.

The snap of ice slowed to intermittent popping and, beneath it, something rumbled almost imperceptibly. The vibration increased rapidly, intensifying to a shrill and piercing wail that lanced into her skull like a needle. Pain exploded across her temples and a burst of white flooded her vision. Distantly, she heard Aloth call her name as she cried out, but she couldn't form the words to speak in response. Her eyes scrunched shut around the feel of knife blades and her head pounded so violently even her teeth and horns hurt. Sweat began to prickle across her skin and her stomach lurched with sickness. In desperation, she scraped at her meager focus reserves and scrambled to subdue her panic, pushing her mind into a rough flatness to ready her powers.

But, to her horror, as she blinked open her mind's eye to use them, something overwhelming and impossibly sharp rushed forward to stab it shut.

Should I wipe you away now, Watcher?

Fresh agony seared her mind while Rymrgand's unmistakable voice cracked across her consciousness. It resonated deeply, shuddering and groaning like a colossal sheet of ice straining to keep its hold on a glacier. Aloth squeezed her tighter and she knew he heard it too. The noise rumbled through her for a long, excruciating moment until it eventually calved. As it splintered and fell away, so too did some of her pain, enough that she could speak again.

“Well,” she gasped, her heart thumping wildly. “Think I could probably clump into one of Eora's weirder-looking dust bunnies, if you let me roll around a while longer.” She briefly clenched her jaw to keep her teeth from chattering, then swallowed hard. “I meant what I said too. Your gift is cruelty.”

And your efforts with my progeny are a misguided act of futility. You expend your limited energy and hasten your decline in exchange for nothing, as you readily admit yourself. Yet, you persist, knowing the only place your exertion truly leads is to your own gradual destruction.

Your self-diminution in this regard is… exquisite.

Something shifted in her then, a sense of blinding sunlight on the snow mingled with pleasure.

She blinked.

“Uh, thanks?”

I will permit you to continue your endeavor, to your end or to those you would wrest essence from instead. But you will do so with the knowledge that I will reclaim what is mine from Vatnir should he ever attempt to sever my chime.

The pounding in her head increased, pressing into one continuous ache as the implication hit her.

“You'll kill him? Is that what you mean?”

No.

His death would only be an incidental effect.

Aloth exhaled against her neck. “So either Vatnir lives with the pain or somebody else does,” he mumbled.

Entropy is inexorable. Any fleeting reprieve from it demands a sacrifice. To stave off pain, you must invoke the suffering of something else.

That is your entire existence.

“What's your existence, then?” she rasped. “What are you staving off through his suffering? You're a god. Nothing forced you to put your chime in him. You could have spared him the pain you know it causes, but you didn't.”

I will spare him. Eventually. In the meantime, who will receive temporary reprieve and whose suffering will provide it is a concern I leave you to decide.

Ultimately, it matters not.

She whimpered as the pain cinched around her head and began to crush inward. Her eyes watered and every breath of dry, cold air she took scraped her throat and lungs. It was becoming hard to move, hard to speak, or even think, but it was more difficult than anything else to remain silent.

“…Okay, entropy will claim everything someday. Fine. So what? We're still here, until then, alive before the Wheel turns again. This flash of existence is all we'll ever have, all we'll ever know, and that makes what we choose to do during it the only thing that matters. On our scale, your ending is just as meaningless and unimportant to us as our mortal lives are to you.”

Something shifted in her again, vague contempt while a gale blasted at a mountainside.

You are, undoubtedly, Berath's spawn. Only one of their brats could possess such a shackled understanding of life and death.

“And only a god made from the souls of the most nihilistic Engwithans could think his view of impermanency is the only one that's valid.”

It is the only one that will endure, and even I can appreciate that irony.

An amused snort escaped her nose.

“Well, I hope your ending is the everything and the nothing you want it to be, when it finally comes.” She closed her eyes and buried her face in Aloth's neck. He hugged her tighter and she did her best to return it with her numbing hands. “I'm gonna use my scrap of time to keep helping the people around me,” she muttered. “I don't care if it doesn't last, or if I don't benefit from it myself—it's still always worth it to do right by others and slowly build towards a better world.”

Something shifted in her once more, an avalanche of laughter tumbling free to roar destructively down a slope.

Your better world is littered with the corpses of kith who professed similar sentiments, whose proud words failed to survive even the meager duration of their individual lives. I look forward to seeing how quickly time will erode those same lofty ideals in you as well, Watcher.

Until then, I will be keeping an eye on you.

Seraphina and Aloth flinched as a soul-piercing crack sliced across the room. Their lantern flickered back to life and the ice covering everything splintered, shattered, then disintegrated into powdery vapor, filling the cabin with a fine mist that smelled of ozone and decay. The temperature steadily climbed as it dissipated, until the air returned to that of balmy, tropical night. Cold still lingered in the sheets, however, and in their trembling bodies, the last, deteriorating evidence that something had ever been amiss.

Aloth sighed, then slumped against her. She absently rubbed his back while he shook his head and stroked hers in turn. As warmth prickled painfully back into her hands and feet, whatever sharpness had lodged into her mind's eye melted away too, rolling a sense of frigid wetness across the crown of her head. Only when she shivered from it, and let loose the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, did she notice that all of her pain and fatigue had vanished as well.

She wasn't quite sure what to make of that.

“So… just the one eye then, huh? Not all five?”

“Seraphina…”

“Bet he always will be watching, too,” she muttered. “You know, just to satisfy his obsession with length and duration, not 'cause he's a pervert or anything.”

“Please,” Aloth said against her skin. “What is the one thing I asked you not to do anymore?”

She sighed and leaned away to look at him.

“Sass the gods.”

“And what are you doing right now?”

“Sassing the gods, I know. I'm sorry. I'll stop.”

“Thank you.”

Aloth pulled her back to him and nuzzled his face into her neck as they held each other.

“…He's still a jerk, though,” she added a moment later. “And don't give me that look, 'cause even he admits—”

She yelped loudly and suddenly then, squirming against him while he trapped her with one of his arms.

“Admits what?” he asked innocently.

“Your hand is— So! Cold!”

“Not for long, it isn't.” He gave her a sly smile. “I'm only warm when you're around, remember?”

She laughed, shook her head, and kissed him.

Notes:

Thank you to @alwaysashroomsman for the idea of a cipher using the Pain Block spell on Vatnir <3

[acenettle]

Pillars Prompts Weekly prompt 0058: Birthday in the context of Deadfire

Features the Watcher, Edér, Bearn, Irrena and Engrim, with appearances by a number of other companions and sailors. Some background Aloth/Watcher shipping.

Rated T for mentions of suicide and of stuff blowing up.

Birthday Boy

Faith made kith do strange things.

Keeping the tenets of your faith even when you knew your god was a mere fabrication, for one. Going for a sea voyage and trying to end your own life in the middle of it, for another. Merely drinking in a cabin and fretting because there was nothing more you could do came a distant third.

Askildr squinted at Edér, who was staring at his tankard as if he might divine the future from the pattern of the foam.

"I just thought it would help, getting Elafa’s boy off that ship,” he muttered. “That he’d just need a couple of days to recover, and then he’d find some kind of normal to fall back to. But it’s been a fortnight, and I’m not seeing any improvement.”

Askildr shrugged. "He’s alive.”

"Yeah, but for how long? He’s barely eaten anything. I’d almost prefer his Hollowborn brother, at this point. At least with the Hollowborn, you knew where you stood.”

"It’s different,” Askildr said, "whether you believe something out of habit and tradition, or whether you believe because it’s your cause. So why, then, would it be the same when it all falls apart?"

Edér mulled her words over, but when he spoke he didn’t sound entirely convinced. "Yeah, I guess you’d know something about that. Me, I just know Elafa wouldn’t have wanted this for her kid.”

Askildr reached out to rest a hand on top of his, searching for the right words. She appreciated all he'd done for her, and felt his kindness had to be repaid, but he was not of the Land and saw things... differently.

She settled for the almost right. "He might still come around. And even if he doesn’t, perhaps in time another path will be made clear.”

Edér nodded and fell silent. She sat and kept him company.

Their reverie was broken by a knock on the cabin door. Before either of them could get up, the door swung open and Irrena poked her head in.

"Sorry to disturb you, casità, Edér, but with your permission Haema and I would like to throw a party.”

"Sure,” Askildr said, and gestured for the sailor to join them at the table. “Will you tell me what the occasion is?

Irrena leaned against the table conspiratorially. "Well, casità, rumour has it Eld Engrim is turning all of seventy tomorrow. Or at least, that’s the number he gives. And I have just the fruit pie recipe! Time to thank him for fixing my leg, ac?”

"I could use some pie, not gonna lie,” Edér mumbled. "And maybe another drink.”

"It would get everyone’s spirits up,” Askildr said. Irrena grinned and clapped her on the back.

"Agracima, casità! It is settled, then!”

And so it was. Next afternoon, the crew put together tables and hung extra lanterns on the deck, and as the sun began to set everyone not on watch duty gathered for as much of a feast as you could manage on aboard a sailing galleon miles from any land. It felt good, Askildr thought, to be in the midst of it all. This wasn’t Caed Nua, but it felt like a community – her community - all the same.

She took her seat at the main table next to Aloth, who gave her a knowing smile. The others sat as well - Edér on the other side of Aloth, Pallegina next to him, Serafen, Rekke, Tekēhu and Fassina on her other side, and their hired guide and  the sailors across the table, or at other tables further down the deck.

Only Bearn was missing. There were some things, it seemed, that simply could not be helped.

Eld Engrim observed the gathering and had to wipe his eyes. "Ye’ve all outdone yerselves,” he said, his voice thick. "Aye, Magran’s blessed me with so many trials I can hardly recall when there last was a feast just for me. Askildr, ye’re a fair captain, fair as the weather, and don’t ye ever let anyone tell ye otherwise.”

The sailors dug into the food; new barrels of rum and ale were opened, and several wine bottles uncorked. The pie was pleasantly moist, and the crust melted in the mouth. The fruit was delightfully sweet.

"This reminds me of home,” Pallegina said, and a rare smile graced her features. Irrena beamed.

"My old Grandma’s recipe, from Selona.”

"We used to have parties like this when I was a boy,” Edér said. "’Course, no one much felt like celebrating birthdays once the Hollowborn curse started. But before then, used to be the whole village would gather, any excuse they had. Heh, they knew how to celebrate.”

"Fye, ye call this a party?” Iselmyr interrupted, before Aloth managed to school his expression. "It may not be the Feast of Feasts,” he said in his own voice, “but under the circumstances it’s perfectly adequate.”

"Ekera, but it seems strange to lift someone on a pedestal just because they were born,” Tekēhu said, his expression thoughtful. "Certainly in a tribe, no one is more special than any other.”

"Postenago,” Fassina muttered. "I have seen plenty of birthday celebrations all over Neketaka’s streets. You should be no stranger to them.”

"I say, foreigners bring their customs with them, and some tribes are quicker to adopt them than others.”

"I thought they were all Kahanga now. Or are they only all Kahanga when it suits you?"

Tekēhu looked taken aback, either by Fassina’s words or her acrid tone. "Of course not, I merely meant –“

"Now now, let’s not allow this to get out of hand quite yet,” Serafen said, and downed the remainder of his mug of rum. Fassina looked away, chastised. "’Course, now that I be thinking on it," he added with a spark in his eyes, "the last time I saw yer cap at a party, she went and blew a man right off his boots. So maybe “out of hand” is just how she likes ‘em."

"He deserved it, though,” Edér said, and got a chorus of "ayes” and a few raised tankards from the gathered crew.

Askildr shrugged.

"It isn’t much of a party unless someone loses an eye.”

"An eye?” Rekke looked alarmed and put a hand over one of his.

"She doesn’t mean it literally,” Aloth said quickly, and then had to bite his lip. "It’s just a figure of speech. A saying.”

Rekke didn’t seem entirely reassured by that. "In Lipasalis -”

There was a creak from the door leading belowdecks. Edér looked over and froze; Rekke followed his gaze and abandoned whatever it was he had been about to say.

Bearn stood in the doorway, unkempt and unshaven, clothes hanging loosely from his thin frame.

"It was my birthday too,” he said quietly. "Two days ago.”

Eld Engrim grinned. "Well, there’s room enough at this table for two. Come and sit with us, birthday boy!”

Edér recovered quickly. He scooted closer to Aloth and patted the spot he’d vacated. "Here, I made room for you.”

Bearn hesitated. Then, with shoulders held stiff and eyes staring right ahead, he walked over and sat down next to Edér. Almost immediately, Irrena put a bowl in front of him, while Engrim handed the boy a tankard and waved at Haema, who came over and filled it with ale. Slowly, carefully, the boy took a small sip.

It was only because she was watching closely that Askildr noticed Edér letting out a sigh of relief.

A table over, Riggere pulled out a harmonica. As the first notes carried over the din of the diners, Engrim got up and offered Irrena his arm. "Care to test that leg of yers, fair maiden?"

Irrena laughed. "Just this once, old man,” she said, her eyes sparkling.

"A dance, I say!” Tekēhu’s eyes darted from Pallegina to Fassina before settling on Rekke. "Might I entertain you for a song or two?”

"Who? Me?” Rekke cast a quizzical glance at Askildr, but got up anyway.

As one pair after another moved away from the tables, Askildr turned to Aloth. "What do you think?”

"Everyone is watching,” he replied, keeping his voice down.

"It doesn’t look like that to me.” Most of the crew seemed preoccupied with food and conversation, or too busy trying not to trip over their own feet to pay them any heed.

"Still, I’d rather not draw attention to us.” His smile was almost apologetic, as if he didn’t quite believe she wasn’t expecting anything of him. "Not until I know what exactly to tell them, at least.” He nodded towards the dancers.  “I think you’d better ask someone else."

She squeezed his shoulder.

"As you wish. Pallegina?”

By the time she returned from a twirl on the dance floor, Bearn was sitting a little less stiffly, and while he’d not touched his bowl, his mug was almost empty. Edér had kept his place next to the boy, and was now turning his pipe over in his hands, deep in thought. Then, as if having reached some conclusion, he fished something from inside his shirt. Askildr recognised the glint of it - the Night Market amulet.

Edér clasped Bearn’s hand and dropped the amulet into his palm.

"Here. I don’t have much to give in the way of presents, but this… this has meant something to me. It’s about using your faith to kith, not just your god.”

The chain ran through Bearn’s fingers like golden sand. Then, just as the amulet itself was about to drop, Bearn’s hand twitched, catching the disc. Edér nodded.

"I hope it does you some good, as it has done me.”

Askildr smiled as she resumed her seat. Serafen cast her an inscrutable look.

"Well, ye be happy, cap,” he said, "and with everyone still in one piece.”

"Well, the party’s not over yet. More rum?”

"I’m always up for more rum, cap, as long as we be having more to spare."

"I wouldn’t worry about that. The gods could decide to finish us all off tomorrow, for all we know.”

Serafen raised his mug. "So let’s live a little, aye?”

“And wait to see if anything makes it worth it.”

This time, she received a raised eyebrow. “Ye be one strange lass, captain Watcher.”

She shrugged. "Faith makes kith do strange things.”

[youngster-monster]

As the last of his companions leave the ship — even his closest friends, with Aloth running after the Leaden Key, Edér settling with his nephew-slash-adopted son and Pallegina going back to her beloved country —, weeks after the end of Eothas, Renard sends his crew off with a year worth of pay, sell his ship, and buy one that a single man can easily sail alone. He packs it with as much supplies as it will hold, fill the gaps with what money he cares to bring with him, and takes to the water. Toward the ruins of his home.

Then, as Neketaka becomes but a pinprick of color in the distance, when there’s nothing around him but the endless sea, he finally takes a second to breathe.

The first day is calm, with an easy wind that requires very little of his attention to carry him to the Dyrwood. He spends it lying down in his boat in dazed silence, staring at the depth or at the reflection of the sun on the waves as his fingers dip lazily into the warm water. He drifts in and out of sleep, exhaustion still bearing down on him after his… adventure. His mind is empty.

The second day, he breaks down and cries.

It’s a long time coming. These have been some very stressful times, and the slow departure of every single one of his friends has left him shaken and lacking an anchor, a situation disturbingly similar to the times following Waidwen’s Legacy. And the gods know how he reacted to loneliness then.

But first he cries. He’s all alone on the uncaring sea, no one to witness the Watcher of Caed Nua at his lowest point; he curls up into a ball on the bottom of his boat and sobs like a child, fat, ugly tears rolling down his cheeks. He cries for the people he couldn’t save, for the friends who left him behind, for Eothas’ last sacrifice. mostly he cries for himself, because no one else will.

He wakes up in the middle of the night with a headache and a clear mind for the first time in too long. The sea is still, no wind coming to agitate it, just a gigantic mirror for the night sky.

Guess he’s stuck in the doldrums in more way than one, huh?

Time seems to stand still, all his doubts and troubles hanging in the air to be picked apart and analyzed. So, he does. He thinks about what he did. What he could have done better, or worse.

He never wanted to take decisions that would change the world… But he did, and now everyone will have to live with the consequences. The Deadfire is descending into chaos — this one isn’t his fault, he swore to never gets tangled into a faction war again — and the Wheel has fallen. The gods are silent. Eothas is dead, and— Well, a part of him died alongside the god. He did have a part of his soul, after all.

But Renard had a part of his, too.

Gods are a difficult, confusing subject, and one he hopes won’t be a problem for a good, long time, so he ignores it.

Instead he lays on his back, eyes cast to the starry sky above, and waits for the wind to pick up again. And while he waits, he rests his hand on his chest, above the shard of light pulsing like a heartbeat behind his ribs, warm and sharp like sunlight after a hangover.

Of course the gods will never leave him the fuck alone, will they? Nosy fuckers can’t help themselves from butting into his life. At least he can say that out of all of them, Eothas isn’t the worst to get saddled with, propensity to go on an accidental-ish murder sprays through the country notwithstanding.

With some luck, he won’t be too much trouble.

(Somewhere deep, deep within his mind, a familiar voice says, Don’t count on that. But he can still ignore it for a little while, and anyway, Eothas is patient. He understands. He’s tired, too.

The world will just have to go on without them for a while.)