#and wyll is just gonna shrug and say something like 'the last time I checked it was I who was struggling to keep up with you'

[invinciblerodent]

i think i may have made a mistake writing anything at all for Wyll, because my mind is now full of nothing but him

well, him, and just how sweet, and gentle, and sweet, and kind, and careful, and SWEET he'll be to this game's version of my Ray, and his battered, weathered, widowed heart

like i just. immediately when I just sat down, I banged out a good 500 words on Ray telling Wyll about his late husband Dorian, apologizing for being a downer and a bore, and then I wrote the line "Even a melancholy tale you tell me is a joy, knowing that its ending is here, with you safe in my arms." for Wyll and guys...

whatever cheesy, romantic, cliché, or overly ornate line you want a protagonist to say, you can just. give it to Wyll. first of all, it's free, but second of all, he can pull it off. Like it'll actually sound like him, and it'll still sound pretty good.

That warlock charisma is just that powerful.

(I honestly can't wait to play that sweet May-September romance I have planned for them. i'll fucking eat my keyboard at that first kiss, i just know it.)

[blackjackkent]

OK, I was a good girl and I did some move prep stuff today; gonna try and squeeze in a bit more of Rakha's playthrough this afternoon. c:

Good news right off the bat - Rakha wakes up after the party and discovers she DIDN'T KILL ANYONE. \o/ Fantastic. Lae'zel is VERY tired after staying up all night keeping guard on her because she didn't want to let Wyll take a shift, but it didn't turn out to be necessary at all; Rakha slept like a rock.

And she did dream of Wyll, indeed. She dreamed of all the other usual things too - images of blood and death and gore - but occasionally a calmer image mixed in, just flashes of their conversation on the beach. And it was enough, for once, for her to sleep moderately soundly.

The next morning, Halsin has a big old reality check for everyone, of course - they have a lot more work ahead.

"I trust you enjoyed your evening? After all your efforts, it was well deserved. It may be some time before you are afforded another such night. There is much to be done, and I promised I would help you however I could. I'm certain a cure for you can be found at Moonrise Towers, but it's... complicated. The journey, specifically - it's extremely perilous. Though it seems you're well-accustomed to navigating danger."

"To Moonrise Towers, then," Wyll puts in earnestly at her side. "May the sun and stars guide us."

Rakha shoots him a look sidelong. The knowledge of their conversation last night is still hanging between them - a new bond forged with halting, fumbling words - and she feels a strange flicker of something like embarrassment. But he just looks back at her steadily, a light smile playing around his lips. So she just nods slowly and answers Halsin in her usual clipped manner, trying to focus on the task ahead.

"Moonrise Towers it is, then. I'd better make haste."

"Wait," Halsin says grimly. "There's more you need to know."

Rakha focuses attentively at once. Halsin does not know everything, certainly, but he is very free with the information he does have, something Rakha is rapidly coming to respect him for.

"To get to the Towers," he goes on, "you'll need to pass through a terrible place. A cursed place. This curse shrouds everything in shadow - you will not find life, light, or anything natural there. Any who linger are twisted by the curse; they become shadow beings - tormented, dangerous souls."

A disconcerted silence falls over the group. Rakha scowls pensively. "The Absolute's forces can tolerate such a place?"

Halsin shrugs. "So it seems - though I don't know how. You will have to choose your approach carefully."

He goes on to describe two paths - an overland route through the mountains, and another through a place called the Underdark, which Rakha gathers is some sort of underground tunnel network. He also mentions that this Underdark route is the location of a stronghold that once belonged to a man named Ketheric Thorm - a Shar worshiper, like Shadowheart.

He recommends the Underdark path - and moreover, he wants to come with her.

"I helped overthrow Ketheric Thorm and his Dark Justiciars years ago," he explains gravely. "But I failed to prevent him from unleashing darkness across the region before he was defeated. I spent years researching the curse, trying to put an end to it. Nothing has worked - yet. If I can join you and get close to Moonrise, perhaps I can lift this curse, same as you may find a cure for your infection."

She nods. She knows nothing of this curse - and little more of the Shar worshipers who were apparently behind it, beyond what little Shadowheart has told her. Her aim is to reach Moonrise and exact revenge for the chaos she and her companions have been put through.

But she does not mind Halsin's company. Like all those she most respects, he answers her questions in plain terms and is free with what information he has. And she is curious about his bear transformation - which he described almost as she describes the beast in her head, something violent within him over which he does not have complete control.

As for the journey itself...

It will keep. They still have other priorities before Moonrise. The githyanki creche is the first order of business - Lae'zel has said from the beginning that it was the only true solution to their infection, and regardless of Halsin's (or the Guardian's) assertions, Rakha still firmly believes her. Karlach, too, has unfinished business - the "Paladins" that chased her from the Hells.

When all that is done, and the worms are gone from their heads... the Underdark sounds promising. As Halsin describes it, it bypasses more of this "curse" that lines the land around Moonrise. And Shadowheart will know things of this Sharran stronghold, even if no Sharrans still linger there.

It's a plan - as straightforward as they come, like all her plans. One step after the next until she can wrap her fingers around the throats of those who have put her in this situation, and demand of them who she is.