#broken moonlantern

[bhaalbust]

bg3 pngs — items found on their respective wikis

[c0rvidbones]

Fem!Durge Paladin x Gale

When the Durge finds out what she once was, and an Oath that was unintentionally broken.

My Durge, Daekrana (Or Dana to those she cares for) did not handle the news of who she once was well. Not hours before, her Oath to the Raven Queen had been broken, and she was already unwell.

Contains: Angst, fluff, hurt/comfort, allusion/reference to animal death

Be gentle I have never posted anything on here for this before <3

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Dana felt sick to her stomach when her eyes fell over the letter she found. It was her own handwriting. And what it said was truly horrifying. Gale, Karlach, and Astarion kept a loose watch as she poked through the littered texts of the desk, but it was Gale who saw his lover's hands trembling. Moreso than they already had been when she had been overtaken by the Urge earlier and broke her oath. That gutted feeling already had her a bit compromised, but otherwise unharmed - Dana had said she would fix it that evening as there were far more important matters to deal with.

Gale leans slightly to peek over Dana's head - it isn't hard, his paladin is awfully short for an elf - but she crumpled the letter and shoved it in her bag before he could see Anything other than the hue of the ink. Red like blood. He was curious, but Dana's now Severe expression and more-pallid-than-usual complexion told him not to pry yet.

She would turn and motion for the others, the scale of her armour making sufficient noise for them to hear and turn to see the sign. They follow, and onward they proceeded through the colony. Dana stayed silent the entire fight, her expression hard, cold, a thick wall of defensive mask thrown up to shield herself from this mental strain.

Defeating Ketheric and then the avatar of Myrkul was quick work for her and Karlach, both dealing significantly heavy damage with their respective weapons and combined strengths of Rages and Smites.

It was immediately after the battle and evacuation with Aylin to the main halls of Moonrise that the elf would toss her hammer aside in an unusual outburst of emotion, quickly walking away from her party and Outside of the halls, her hands coming up and pulling her braids and ponytail out in an anxious Fit. She stayed within the light of the moonlanterns, but just barely. Just at the edges. She stared off into the shadow-cursed lands, her hair let down for the first time in a long time, her eyes glazed with a mix of tormented agonies and dejected acceptance. She drops into a crouch, her feet staying firmly planted but hugging her knees to her chest, her forehead pressed to her forearms.

She could Feel Gale standing nearby. He didn't pry, didn't speak. He instead knelt beside his lover and slid an arm around her, cautious in the event she shied away but warmed when he felt her shoulder lightly lean into him.

No tears fell, but she was grateful for the company. He didn't quite know what was going on, but he would be here all the same. He does know when to be quiet, contrary to popular belief, and he stays with her as she mentally processed whatever she was thinking of.

It had been a two-for-one. Hours before she found that letter, she had come across Steelclaw, she had tried to grasp at memories and instead had grasped the feline's head in her hands and... well. She felt sick thinking about it. And little would let her forget the ripping sensation of her oath being broken and the vision of the first Oathbreaker knight. A piece of her still feels missing, and now she can't even find the words to get her oath repaired.

After a few drawn moments, she forcibly takes a deep breath, lightly shrugging Gale's hand from her shoulder and standing, her back turning as she starts putting her hair back up into its ponytail and braids, already walking back into the towers. Gale frowns, a little hurt but willing to look past it for sake of knowing this just isn't what Dana usually acts like. He tails her inside, watching her fetch her hammer and stow it on her back where she always carries it, her expression carefully blank as she listens to Dame Aylin and Isobel's reuniting.

After returning to camp, Dana would approach the black knight that uptook residence not far from Gale's camp, and before the knight could speak, she had gently taken the armoured undead by the wrist - another surprise, as she seemed to loathe touch from anyone other than Gale, with the lone exception being a hug from Karlach when she had finally fixed her engine - and wordlessly lead the knight to the most isolated part of the camp. She was still in sight of everyone, and the knight's posture seemed as formal as ever. Yet nobody could hear the first words she spoke when her lips parted save for the knight himself.

"I will accept the title of oathbreaker. I... deserve. The fall."

The knight paused, aware that she was perhaps making the agreement as a self inflicted punishment, but he would nod and lift a hand, his firelight eyes dimming as he speaks the words to induct her.

Hours later, she still won't speak, even as she sets up her part of Gale's tent, and though her paladin auras are still active... one feels new. Like her allies are stronger when close to her.

She lies beside Gale, not initially seeking contact, but after a few breaths, she hesitantly slips her hand into his. Not mad at him, and trying her hardest to not let her emotions rip her away from him. Gale squeezes her hand, his voice soft and concerned, "Did you want to talk about it?" Dana shook her head, her blue-black eyes closing, her brows knitting. Gale tries a different tactic, "I can wait. But holding on to what troubles you is never healthy. I... just want you to remember I'm here for you, alright?" She nods, and after another moment, turns to her side and pull's Gale's arm around her before draping her arm around his waist, pushing her head into his chest. He kisses her forehead and folds her into his arms without another word, lacing his fingers through her hair. She sinks into a trance quickly, and Gale is quick to follow in sleep.

The next day is a horrible and gutwrenching series of events for Dana - the Emperor, Wyrm's Crossing's state, the poor blacksmith replaced by the changeling woman as well as the dryad, and the Circus of Last Days' whole fiasco. That night she chose to rest alone, and was awoken by her wretched little butler of a beast. She spoke with very few syllables and a bounty of irate glares, yet what broke her in full was the mention of what she was at last. Her eyes were wide with horror, and even after sending the butler away, she couldn't fall back into a rest. Her first reaction was to go to the knight again, this time her voice weak and watery, tears threatening to claim her. "How. How did I become a paladin. When I am this. Have I broken my Oath before? How many times have we met, knight?"

He answered calmly. "Who you are does not bar you from chosen paths in life. You have broken it before, and resworn it before. We have met plenty of times. It will always be up to you if it is the last."

Shaking her head, her heart splintering, she called off everything for that day to linger in camp, feeling like a ghost. She would find her way to Gale by nightfall, waiting for him to come into his own tent, standing with her slight and trembling frame looking like a mess, her symbol to the Raven Queen clutched desperately in her hands. Gale looked surprised and wary at first, hesitating before closing the tent flap behind himself and casting a security spell. To keep people from hearing Dana and himself, but prepared to break it should she lose control as she had all those nights ago.

Instead, he's greeted with - at last, once again - her voice. Though it's strained and weak, and barely holding back tears. "Gale," She's already shaking like a leaf, and his wariness shifts into genuine alarm. She sounds desperate, on the verge of a dangerous despair that she can't escape without help. He's in front of her in a heartbeat, his arms slipping around her waist, and hers slide under his to cling to him. Her strength feels returned at least, though it's so unnerving to see the usually calm and level headed paladin shattering like she has been. Gut-wrenching sobs escape her small frame as she presses her face into his chest, and he slowly sinks into a kneeling position with her in his arms, keeping her close

Even as she weeps, her words are a jumbled, mottled mess that Gale can blessedly understand. "Gale, I'm a much worse person than I thought I was, how did I ever swear an oath, how did I ever serve the Raven Queen, how did I ever end up with kind people on all sides while I'm a revolting monster?" He soothed a hand up and down her back, his voice gentle and as reassuring as he can muster.

"Dana, my love, you're not a monst—"

"I AM! GALE —" Her voice is far louder than she intends, pulling herself out of his arms with a reluctant force, her arms wrapping around her as she bows her head. Refusing comfort. Her voice crumbles, "I. I'm — a Bhaalspawn, Gale, and not just any Bhaalspawn, but the one that started the Absolute Cult. If the former was not enough to condemn me, then the latter would. I'm sickened by myself, I - I was horrible. I was a monster — AM, a monster, gods," She groans, burying her face in her hands, pressing the small raven skull to her skin, "I did so many terrible things, why would y—"

She gasps, as if the next touch burned, but Gale had pushed her hands from her face to force her to look him in the eye. Tear-stained cheeks flush as he presses a kiss to her lips to silence her fears and spiralling, and when he breaks it, he presses his forehead to hers with a fire in those soft brown eyes of his, her own still wide in shock. "Daekrana. You are a vastly different person from who you were then. You have fought and resisted every violent thought and impulse until you thought you were safe. You slipped, and you have mourned your mistake. Admittedly, you being a Bhaalspawn is a surprise, but you can't chase me away that easily. Who you were was a monster, sure, but is that who you are now? The woman who fought the goblins, convinced Khaga she was wrong, saved the myconids, the gnomes, the Harpers, the tieflings?Would you call those the actions of a monster?" His smile is genuine and sweet, her expression glassy with awe and a new wave of tears. She shakes her head just a little, and his smile softens a touch, though no less loving. "You've been terribly strong and brave, my love. I assume this is what was eating you alive for the past few days - please. Allow yourself to be weak with me. I can be strong enough for the both of us, at least for a little while."

A weak bubbled laugh escapes her, as she allows Gale to bring her back into his arms. "Strong in the mental sense. I can still carry you around. You hardly weigh anything to me." The fact she was able to tease him meant she believed it, and he chuckled, though a flush still found his face as she slid close enough to settle in his lap.

"True, though if you didn't wear the world's heaviest armour and carry an oversized hammer everywhere, I could still probably carry you. Your height makes you less cumbersome in my arms than I assumedly am in yours, love." He still sounds fond and sweet, and Dana sinks into him, relieved by his comforting embrace.

[lakemojave]

Tonight at 6pm Pacific: The Direct Actors, a BG3 "Adventure" pt. 11!

Well, the gang is back, and that means their interpersonal drama is too! We're making waves through the shadow-cursed lands, delving into each others' dark pasts, and growing ever stronger as we approach Moonrise Towers. Come see @radiofreederry play Dhudlei Durite, elf paladin, my friends Nana and April play Leviathan, Dragonborn Dark Urge Monk, @caputvulpinum play Micah Harper, Tiefling Cleric, and me play Delilah "Mama D" Harper, Halfling Bard!

Art by @terrafey, full recap under the cut

THE STORY SO FAR: On the way to a union rally, Delilah "Mama D" Harper and her grandson Micah were abducted and taken aboard an ilithid nautiloid, which they escaped with mysterious dancer Leviathan and self-proclaimed "Champion of Ilmater and Paladin of Good" Dhudlei Durite. Each infected by a mind flayer tadpole, but so far immune from transforming into mind flayers themselves, The Direct Actors, as the party have come to be known, now turn their attention to the Shadow-Cursed Lands, where Moonrise Towers, the lair of the Cult of the Absolute, awaits them...

LAST TIME: Regrouped at last, the Direct Actors made their way towards the Shadow-Cursed Lands, fighting a horde of undead along the way. After defeating the abominations, Micah discovered a letter which he gave to Dhudlei, which revealed a grim truth: Dhudlei's old enemy, Ketheric Thorm, was still alive. Dhudlei and Leviathan had an honest discussion about what lay ahead for the party, before the Direct Actors finally entered those cursed lands.

Huddling close to stay within the scant light they had within them, the Direct Actors stumbled upon the corpses of several tiefling refugees they had previously rescued, before attacking a group of Absolute cultists who bore a precious moonlantern. Micah released the pixie imprisoned in the lantern, granting the party immunity from the shadow curse.

After Dhudlei recalled an inn he and the Harpers had used as a base during the first war against Thorm, the party made their way to it, fighting some meazels and vine blights along the way, as well as dealing with a dissociative episode from Leviathan after his personalities switched. Meanwhile, at camp, Dhudlei confessed that he had been dishonest about some things, revealing that he was not 250 years old, but in fact well over three thousand, and that he was functionally immortal. Micah and Mama D had a tense conversation about Micah's feelings towards their companions, and Wyll's devilish benefactor Mizora ordered the party to rescue a demon from Moonrise Towers, while Astarion entreated Dhudlei to be on the lookout for the devil Raphael.

The party arrived at the Last Light Inn, where Dhudlei was reunited with his old companion Jaheira, although Leviathan cast doubt on both Dhudlei's age and connection to the Harper. Mama D discovered a wicked slime creature disguised as a cow, and the party quickly dispatched it. The Direct Actors settled in at the inn, knowing that the long darkness had only just begun...

Will more of Dhudlei's secrets be revealed? Will tensions between Mama D and Micah reach a fever pitch? Will Leviathan be able to hold it together? Can the Direct Actors be able to find a way to break the shadow curse? What awaits in these broken lands? Find out in another exciting instalment of Baldur's Gate 3!

[theskeletonprior]

This Tav Tale was commissioned by @quaintrix. Thank you for coming back, and entrusting me again with Solinore! Interested in a Tav Tale of your own? Look here for details. Kar’niss has developed a new fascination. Content Tags: Consensual blood-drinking, attempted cult deprogramming via tadpole Read it here on AO3!

Kar’niss has developed a new fascination. He does not forget his Queen, no, but she has sent this True Soul to him for a reason. Solinore. So much slips away into the dark, but the taste of her blood is emblazoned on his mind. A single bright spark in the shadows, too eye-catching to ignore. He has not been so drawn to anything since he first held his Moonlantern in his hand to light the way. It’s difficult to think of anything else. His hunger is sated. There are not yet new faithful to guide to Moonrise. So Kar’niss follows this fascination. In spite of his size, it’s easy for him to move relatively undetected. The True Souls are not all created equal, and most keep their eyes ahead. They don’t look up. Kar’niss moves in the rafters with a second nature he hadn’t had before Lolth had changed him. He hears Solinore before he sees her, and as he peers down over the broken stone, he understands why.

Araj Oblodra. Her name rings out as clear in his mind as his own. That blood thief. His lips pull back from his fangs, his stomach twisting at the wrongness inside her. The stink of it. The taste. She has his blood, too. Taken from him when the third day had come, and his body was weak, and his desperation had made him incapable of saying no, fighting back. The cut was swift, long healed, but he feels it still. That vampire spawn is with Solinore, the object of Araj’s interest. Kar’niss knows without having heard it, what Araj must have asked of them. The swift cut. The bite. Flood his mouth with the foul taste of her.

They must tell her no, Majesty, he thinks. Say it, True Soul. No. Kar’niss doesn’t realize it when his tadpole connects to Solinore’s, doesn’t realize that she hears him, and is gone before she can look up and answer him. Back to his web, where Araj will not come, for fear that he might fling her from the walls. She does not have enough of his blood to control him anymore, to make him recoil from the idea of harming her. She has not learned now to make it last. His Queen in all of Her great glory protects him. Still, he knows it’s best not to linger, to let Araj see him. She is cunning, and wicked. If she sees him, she will watch, wait for that third day, when he is weak, when he is fragile. Kar’niss scuttles back to his nest, up high, higher, close to his Majesty. He settles in the silks, amongst his threadbare cushions, clutching one to his chest. He breathes slowly, closes his many eyes. The darkness comforts him. He is alone with his Queen, enfolded in her grace that softens his great forgetting. He is not lost, shattered. Merely adrift in the soft shadows. They can be beautiful again, as they had been in the murky before. Sometimes he tries to reach for memory, to what was lost. He knows House Oblodra, the wicked things they’d done before Lolth had leant her aid to House Baenre to strike them down, he knows that the enemy of that spider bitch is his friend, but he knows just as well that Araj Oblodra is not so dear as that. She wants his teeth in her, to watch what her filthy blood does to him.

Kar’niss’ grip tightens on the cushion, the stuffing itching against his chest where it pokes through, but in time, he relaxes again. He is nearly asleep when he hears ascending footsteps. Not the quickstep of goblins, in a hurry to reach his nest so that they can summarily flee from it, not the brisk, soldierly footsteps of one of Z’rell’s minions.

“Who comes, my Queen?” he wonders aloud, moving up in his web, clinging to the outside of the tower. Perhaps he will be fortunate, and it will be some poor fool who doesn’t know better to stay out of the silks. His hunger is not so urgent, yet, but he feeds when he can. The dry bones littering the ground are evidence of this, cracked open so he can suck the marrow out too.

“Ugh, this place is filthy.” Kar’niss has heard this voice before, how it shifts nimbly from honey into venom, thick as blood in the air. A decadent voice. Another answers, and this one he knows, too. Feather-light, relaxed, but in a practiced way. Delicate as lace, and as intricate. He stays out of sight, listening to their banter. Perhaps they mean to go elsewhere, or they’ve become lost in Moonrise. But the voices grow louder. Closer.

“You could’ve stayed downstairs if you’re going to complain the whole time, Astarion.”

“Oh, not to worry, darling. I shan’t complain the whole time. Just most of it.” The heavy curtain draped over what amounts to the doorway leading into Kar’niss’ nest flaps aside. “Wonderful! Nobody home. I don’t suppose that means we can leave now, does it?” Solinore doesn’t bother to respond. Kar’niss can hear her footfalls clearly now, brisk, fearless. She calls to him. He wonders if she knows she’d barely have to speak to conjure him. It is a wonder that she has come back to him of her own accord. You bless us, Majesty.

“Kar’niss?” He hesitates, barely daring to whisper to his Queen for guidance. What if she has struck a bargain with Araj Oblodra? The thought makes him bare his fangs. He doesn’t show himself. “I just want to talk,” Solinore tells him. He can feel her mind, so she must feel his. He’ll be found. His Lady is a bridge between them. “I saw you watching us.”

“What did you tell the blood merchant?” he asks from his place on the wall. Solinore chuckles, and it’s such a bright, airy sound that it almost lures him closer.

“We told her to fuck herself, obviously.” It’s so vulgar that Kar’niss believes it and he moves into sight. He takes in his... Visitors? Solinore, bright and pretty as the first day he’d seen her, and Astarion, handsome in his way but with a lip that’s curled in disdain for his surroundings. Squeamish. “I’ve got a question for you,” Solinore says.

“Ask. We are listening.”

“Why’d you warn us?” Those mismatched eyes look up wonderingly, a curiosity that Kar’niss meets with his own. He hadn’t. Unless he had merely forgotten.

“Did the dark swallow up another piece of us, my Queen?” The vampire spawn scoffs at him.

“Nothing in his head but cobwebs and a wriggling tadpole, I’m afraid. Let’s go.” Solinore waves him off, a faint furrow in her brow.

“You were watching us. You wanted us to tell her no. Why’s that?” Kar’niss has to contain himself.

“Araj Oblodra has stolen blood from us,” he says. “Her House is wicked, and none of what she offers will do you any good. You were wise, spawn, to keep your fangs out of her neck. She would prey on you.”

“You don’t say.” Astarion rolls his eyes. Red like rubies, deep underground. Jealous, he remembers. Solinore had called him jealous, once. Make me patient, my Queen. Kar’niss inhales through his teeth. This man means something to Solinore, and what he knows for certain is that she has been blessed by the Absolute. He must be here for a reason. For the moment, Solinore pays him no mind.

“You helped us,” she says. “So now, I’m here to help you.” Kar’niss cocks his head. Another strange offer, and one made for nearly nothing.

“We did not help. I watched, nothing more.”

“Well, then this is a steal for you,” Astarion chimes in, dodging nimbly when Solinore elbows at him. Kar’niss descends from his web. See my faith in you, Majesty.

“There is nothing that I need that my Queen cannot provide,” he says, and the vampire spawn laughs at him. The mocking sound makes Kar’niss bare his teeth.

“Quite a boast, with an illithid tadpole curled up nice and snug inside your brain.”

“Lies!” Kar’niss nearly lunges. “They call you an abomination, Majesty! An intrusion.” The snarl reverberates deep in his chest, his hand itching for his sword before Solinore comes between them. He bends, snatching her face in his hand, long claws brushing against the delicate skin as he searches her eyes as though he could see the truth in their mismatched color. This is not enough to frighten her, though he sees it when Astarion reaches for his scimitars. Solinore’s hand closes gently around his wrist, and then her mind touches his. It isn’t the overwhelming force of the Absolute, but something gentler. She is only asking, and he yields. He lets her in, and she shows him a vision of true horror. The illithids, the nautiloid... All of it through her eyes. It is a torment that passes in an instant, crowding his mind with day after day of this infection. Kar’niss cannot believe it. He has been taken in. Deceived. When he recoils, it’s with force enough to send Solinore stumbling. “Blasphemy! Blasphemy!” This cannot be, my Queen. There is steel at his throat before he can rear back, before he can arm himself.

“I think that’s more than enough.” The vampire spawn is not so gentle, but Kar’niss sees it in his mind, too. There is a presence, enfolding them in its protection, and when it reaches him too, he can only cry out. His memories... His thoughts. They are shattered.

“What have you done to me?” Kar’niss growls out the question, almost heedless of the killing edge resting on his throat. How could even a moment’s fear live inside him now? He does not need his sword to gut Astarion, to cast Solinore down from the tower. She has raised her fists to defend herself, but in seeing her, he cannot believe that someone who would save his life, who would turn away the blood thief, would lie to him. Something has disconnected inside him, and the anguish is more than he can give utterance to; he wants to retreat into the embrace of his Queen. Speak to me now, show me the truth. Show me Your light again. But there comes no light. There comes no voice. None, but Solinore’s.

“I’m sorry. It was the only way to help you see what’s really happening here. Your lantern... It’s just a pixie, in there. You’ve been lied to, but not by us. I know you want something to believe in, Kar’niss, but you won’t find that in this place,” she says.

“So you can try to relax,” Astarion chimes in, “or I can kill you out of mercy.” The challenge makes him bristle, but he relents, his posture slackening. It’s only his pride that keeps him from collapsing outright. He hangs his head, feeling the powerful reflex to call out to his Queen. Is there truly nothing but an illithid scheme?

“My lantern...” he breathes. “My light...” He makes his way slowly to the only bright corner of his nest, taking the Moonlantern in hand. He has to see it, himself. It’s as plain to him, now, as the scent of fresh blood. A trick. An illusion. The thing inside curses his name when he drops it in a voice he has never heard before. He lowers his body, legs curling in as if he’d been hurt. He almost wishes it was something so simply mended as a wound. Kar’niss hangs his head, clutching the lank strands of his hair, shuddering with the sobs he struggles to keep behind his teeth. He is ruined, and ruined anew. If this is some new lie dressed up as salvation, he knows he will draw blood this time. He will take the revenge that is owed to him, or fight to the death in the effort of claiming it. Kar’niss winces when he feels the warmth of Solinore drawing near. Her hand rests softly between his shoulder blades. It’s that small touch which undoes him, and he crumples into her.

“Save me.” He’d pled for that before, so many times, it is the only thing he has left to want. Solinore gathers him up, and her voice is so close, so familiar. It feels as if it’s only the two of them. He can forget the curled lip and indifferent gaze of the vampire spawn, repulsed in his moment of fragility.

“You can save yourself.” She says it with the kind of certainty that only someone who’s done it can have. Kar’niss draws himself up, and Solinore takes his hands. “You just have to breathe.” He follows her lead, the strange breathing patterns, and for the first time in a long, long time, his mind begins to clear. The pits in his memory remain, long stretches of wreckage left from Lolth’s wicked sorceries.

“That’s better.” Solinore’s hands are soft, and Kar’niss leans into the touch. He lets out one more slow breath, his many eyes slipping closed. It is nearly clarity. This feeling has been so far away that it returns to newness. “See? Pulled yourself out of it. And now, if you want, we can look a bit deeper. Try to put our tadpoles together, pick up the pieces.”

“No.” Kar’niss rests his hands over hers.

“What d’you mean, ‘no?”” Astarion interjects.

“Were we unclear?” Kar’niss turns on him, scowling. “No. My mind is mine, barely mine... I want it to myself. This debt is too great.”

“So? Pay it! I’m sure we could conceive of a use for someone who is so terribly adept at scaling walls.” Astarion’s expression is hard to read; Kar’niss can see the layers of artifice at work. He is difficult to pay any attention to when Solinore is so close to him.

“Come with us.”

“And maybe, just maybe consider a bath.”

The requests come at once, and again Kar’niss whips around to look at Astarion. “It’s been a stressful day,” the spawn self-corrects. “Don’t you agree? Nothing like a nice soak to take the edge off.”

“You are just a bit muddy,” Solinore concedes with a chuckle. “A lot muddy. No mirrors up here, huh?”

“No,” Kar’niss bares his teeth at the thought. He has done well not to see what he’s become. He can’t bear to imagine the sight. The unfamiliar face.

“Well... No mirrors required. We do happen to know someone who can heat a tub in just a snap, though. I can think of a few other ways to sweeten the deal.” Kar’niss looks at Solinore questioningly and she beckons him close and whispers. “I still have blood to spare.”

“We will go with you,” he agrees, “but not for that. To honor our debt to you.” Astarion lets out an amused hum.

“More for me, then. Shall we go? Please?”

Kar’niss will have to spin a new web to dwell amongst these True Souls... No, not True Souls. He doesn’t know what they are, what protects them. Not really. He tries to stay present, to bear the scrutiny of the strange spotted woman who wishes to assess his combat capability, the fascination of the wizard. He rather likes the horned man, who seems to understand what it is to be altered by the monstrous hand of evil magic. And the burning woman, true to Solinore’s promise, makes the water in their makeshift tub steam just by sticking her hand in it.

“Old trick I picked up in Avernus,” she’d said, to Kar’niss’ incredible bewilderment. And he’d seen it, too, in glimpses. That horrid inferno, the dusty red skies. “Give you some privacy.” And Kar’niss is alone with the steaming tub, magicked large enough to accommodate him, and his mind is quiet. Only the old, dull whispers, but even these are blunted somehow. He controls his breathing, forcing himself into the moment, the particular difficulty of bathing.

“Brought you a bucket.” Solinore’s voice startles him, and she shows her palms, the bucket dangling from the crook of her elbow. “Easy. Thought you might need someone to get your back.” Kar’niss nods. This is better than being alone, than the silence of his Queen, the simmering rage he feels at her falsehoods. “Might as well get mine, too, if you’re not too shy.” Solinore smiles, tugging her shirt open. Kar’niss does not avert his eyes, though he doesn’t allow them to roam, either. She strips down, and despite himself, he catches a glimpse of a birthmark on her shapely behind, like a masterful blot of ink. Her beauty is composed of so many small details that he has no doubt that he has yet to find them all. Solinore sighs as she steps into the tub, filling up the bucket. “Give you a splash?” Kar’niss lowers his head, and Solinore spills the warm water down his back. It’s a delicious feeling.

“More, please.” Another rill of warm water, this time down his chest. Solinore reaches out, moving slowly, beginning to scrub away the dirt and mud. When she wrings out the rag outside the tub, it’s murkier than Kar’niss supposes. He hasn’t seen himself; he avoids his reflection in the tub, watching Solinore instead. A low, rumbling purr escapes him as she scrubs at his neck, leaning down so she can reach his scalp.

“There’s that sound again... Enjoying yourself?” Solinore smirks up at him, satisfied with her good work. He can see the marks on her neck from the last time he’d fed, and the hunger coils in his gut, entangled with something else that he dares not acknowledge. She’s so bright, so lovely.

“I am...” It comes out of him like a confession, like a forbidden thing. This body should never feel the way it does then. “Let us show you how it feels.” He leans down close, letting his breath chill her damp skin. “Turn around, Solinore.” She turns slowly and Kar’niss gathers some of the bathwater in his hands, pouring it down the cleft of her back. He smooths his hands over her shoulders, his talons lightly tracing over her skin.

“You going to bite me?” Kar’niss goes stiff, mechanically scooping up water to let it roll back down her back, gently scrubbing her clean even as he processes the question.

“It is not the third day,” he tells her. But a question rises in his mind, and he allows it to reach his lips. “Do you enjoy it?” It’s difficult to be sure if the flush that rises is from the warmth of the tub, or if he’s flustered her, but it’s a pleasant sight all the same.

“I--” He has not seen her stammer before. “It’s not like that.” She folds her arms over her chest, but she doesn’t recoil from him. “I just... It’s not like you can do without. And isn’t it... Isn’t it better, not to wait until the third day? I saw how you looked.” Kar’niss can see her pulse jumping in her throat. It’s beautiful. “Besides... Easy clean-up after, I’m already in the bath...” He bends his head and kisses the marks he’s left, following the impulse right to the edge.

“This is enough,” he says, breathing her in. “We are sated.” He waits, feeling the tension like a strand of spidersilk. “But in time,” he continues, “the hunger will return.” It is there, now, but he restrains himself. Carefully, so carefully. “If it would please you, Solinore, there is much I owe, already.” She shivers, but he knows she can’t be cold.

“Call it a need for mutual back-scratching?” She peers over her shoulder at him and then rolls her head, exposing more of her neck. Suddenly his need, that wretched appetite, is not as hideous as it has been, he feels no disgust for what he wants, for the curse that makes him want it. There’s only this moment. He nips lightly, slipping his arms around her, embracing the warmth. He reaches out with his forelegs, feeling her, holding her securely as he had done that first time. He’s heard the sound she makes when letting blood, and now he knows it for what it is. Pleasure. His purr rumbles low in his chest, but he never bites, lapping softly at the thin rivulet of blood that wells from where he’s nipped her, one delectable drop at a time. Solinore reaches up, one hand tangling in his hair, relaxing in his grip.

“What you ask of me, is yours,” Kar’niss says, applying pressure to the nick he’d made to stop what little bleeding he’d caused.

“You sure?” she asks, playfully. “I could ask for another ride on your back. Or...” He knows what that smirk implies.

“What you ask of me,” he says again, “is yours.” Solinore turns that delicious rosy color.

“Then let’s stay here a bit longer,” she says. “Just like this.” In this new clarity, he can see the color of his fascinations, how it shifts towards obsession. That part of him is not so eagerly severed, even with the illithid tadpole quietened, the Absolute shown for some new deceiver, he still craves something more than blood. He needs no light but this. He starves for it each day. Something to believe.

[alicelufenia]

Another week, another update on the Chosen of Eilistraee playthrough

We sneak through Grymforge picking off the wandering guards and the scrying eye (which is stupidly resistant to damage in tactiction, but vulnerable to thunder so Gale blows it up with a chromatic orb)

After all the stragglers are dealt with, we try to take some of the duergar in the main room with Nere, but aggroing them, even by drawing them away, aggros the rest of them. We manage to take out one, and then run away, with plans to long rest to reset their aggro and be fresh for the big battle (no negotiating with slavers this run)

Also backed off on my rule of using no gameplay mods and added UA6 Invoke Duplicity, 5E Mirror Image, and UA8 Healing Buffs, to make Shadowheart slightly more viable as a Trickery cleric. I gotta tell you, UA6 Invoke Duplicity ROCKS! It's basically a misty step that leaves a duplicate that you can opt to cast spells from, including melee ones if they're next to enemies. Moving it is a bit clunky, as it uses Tabletop rules for moving it on your turn with a bonus action, but the fact that Shadowheart can just rush into the midst of it, Fear everyone, then bonus action fuck off to a hidden corner, where she can cast spells with impunity from the duplicate (and enemies will occasionally try to attack it, but favors easier targets usually). The fact it now only grants advantage to the caster if she's next to it and the enemy isn't that big a deal, it's now so much more fun to use! Zero regrets with this one.

Dream Visitor is back, explaining how the True Souls are controlled. Finally the seed is planted that they may yet be saved, though visitor wants her to try to work with them by using the tadpole powers, which Tav doesn't wanna do.

Tavierra now has dual wield. The start of her main playstyle is coming together (just two more pieces needed to bring it online) For now she wields a rapier in the off hand, Phalar Aluve in the main. Which gives her pseudo extra attack at Character Level 5, not bad for an early multiclass.

Time to prepare everyone for the fight.

Karlach you're not yourself before you've had your medicine.

MUCH better! (we also throw in our 2nd to last soul coin, it's gonna be a long day)

Sadly I have no screenshots of the battle but, let's just say do you know what's better than a Hunger of Hadar cast on all the enemies grouped up by a Minor Illusion, from hiding, making everyone trapped in the HoH surprised for a round? Not much. We easily dispatched the duergar from a high point, Karlach happily chucking spears, javelins, chairs, at everyone while Wyll knocked them back into HoH with Eldritch Blasts. Did you know Warlock is a really good class?

The gnomes are understandably happy with this result (I very nearly got Laridda here caught in the Hunger of Hadar, but luckily she was just out of it, and all the duergar were too busy focusing on us and getting out of the pain zone to care about the gnomes.

Time to break Nere out with the Runepowder Vial. Now, here I tried two paths, and while one is arguably more interesting, I went with the one with the best in-game reward. However:

With the Duergar defeated, we have a way to negotiate with Nere, even influencing him to let the slaves free, and he's none the wiser.

He tells us about his mission to find an alternate route to Moonrise, but the cavein lead to failure. We tell him he can inform the General himself, but he's stuck here too with his moonlantern broken. So he gives us a spider lyre which we can use via the mountainpass route. So this is an alternative to working with Minthara that still lets you take the super shortcut to Moonrise at the start of Act 2.

More importantly, now that we've had him talking for some time, he's noticed something:

Damn wish it worked this fast with Minthara. We explain how the Absolute is a front for mind flayers, and that we're protected. Just spill the beans right away.

So here's where we diverge in how we can deal with Nere. We can either goad him to fight, or convince him that he should leave the Absolute. That latter option is the interesting part. This is basically doing what we do with Minthara but way earlier and easier. Which is probably due to Nere being not as motivated to stay with a religion—unlike Minthara who has an EXTREMELY devout personality.

Convincing him to leave nets us his gratitude, and a reward of... a +1 Dagger. An insult, really. This makes you miss out on his rapier which is decent at this level, and the BEST GENERAL BOOTS IN THE GAME. And this is before we've even MET the Myconids, so we've no motivation to take his head right now. It wouldn't be so bad if he did show up later like Minthara did, but nope, this is the last we see of "Twat Soul" Nere. Had he showed up later and gave his boots as a reward, this would probably be the best outcome.

All that being said, he DID kinda murder one of the gnomes in cold blood after being rescued. So I think, after getting threatened by him for our blasphemy, it's fair to say Tav is through trying to save this guy, and is ready to kill him instead, if only to give the one gnome whose sister is killed some closure and justice. She's been Chaotic Neutral for the most part, but she's trending more towards Chaotic Good as this crisis she's in starts to feel more like a pilgrimage on behalf of her goddess.

Tavierra equips the shoes she'll likely use for the rest of the game.

Also, Astarion is interested in the tadpole powers even if Tav isn't. I make sure he gets Luck of the Far Realms and make a mental note to find enough tadpoles to ensure Minthara can get the same later. Guaranteed crits on both of them are godsends.

After dealing with Nere and talking to the gnomes, I head back to the Emerald Grove cause I completely forgot to talk to Zevlor after killing Kagha! He gives me his gloves, which are going on Shadowheart at least until she starts getting the pieces for her future radiating orb build put together.

I also decide to just Item Spawn the ring of protection into my game. My justification is: it's my game and you have no power over me, also I did successfully steal the idol, I just didn't know that NOT accepting the quest from Mol locks you out of the reward, and giving her the idol later doesn't do anything. So lesson learned, but I still want it cause Tactician Mode.

Also got Wyll this absolutely stylish mid-tier armor! The dye is modded, but I think red and gold suits him well.

Next step: deal with the Goblins once and for all. Tav is fresh off failing to get anywhere with Nere, and is considering what other options she has with these True Souls now. She knows that they're not necessarily willingly serving, by virtue of being tadpoled, but that doesn't change the fact they're zealots right now. She'd ask for more guidance, but aside from a few days ago when she first met Minthara, and she was guided to a singing blade, there's been nothing else from Eilistraee, no obvious signs at least. What to do?? (also she really should go find Halsin, he's still locked up lol)

[whitegoldtower]

Who’s the messiest people in camp?

Coming in at number 10, Minthara. She’s neat af.

9 - Lae’zel. Her things are always kept neat aside from the odd pair of pants.

8 - Wyll. Everything has it’s proper place, except for when the wind blows and his papers and scrolls get blown everywhere.

7 - Halsin. Dude is surprisingly well kept… but there’s mud everywhere from him constantly repotting his plants.

6 - Gale. Starting to get good. Books fucking EVERYWHERE. Water barrels exploded. Mess. Hoarded magical items dumped haphazardly into a chest which is overflowing onto the ground.

5 - Karlach. Pookie I love you but your clothes are everywhere, and there’s a half eaten pie on the floor that is slowly going rancid. There are crumbs all over your blankets. Half your tent is falling down.

4 - Shadowheart. Gurl if you don’t tidy away those fucking wine bottles and chunder buckets you’re gonna catch not only Lae’zel’s hands but Minthara, Halsin and Wyll’s hands. Incense ash everywhere.

3 - Astarion. Blood. Blood. Blood. Clothes are tidy af, but everything else? Chaos.

2 + 1 - Vesz and Nere. Pure carnage. Bedrolls destroyed. Bloodstained and muddy clothes all over the floor. Dirty pants slung over a tent pole. Spiderwebs everywhere. Broken moonlantern dangling in the middle of the tent ceiling. Broken glass on the ground from said broken lantern, ‘neatly’ swept into a pile. The skull that Vesz buried to ‘clean’ got wet and now that area of the camp reeks. Nere left grapes out and now they’ve gone bad. If you thought Shart’s incense ash was bad, that’s nothing compared to the fucking TUNDRA of ash generated by these fuckers. Dirty bowls piled up next to the tent. For added effect, Nere and Vesz’s swords just rammed in the ground just outside the tent. If that’s not enough, empty bottles of Ashaban Dusk (some spilled) next to Vesz’ other bedroll near the campfire.

[th-ramblr]

@iron-hearts-ablaze

These truly were becoming strange times indeed. Not because of getting yanked up into an alien spacecraft, or finding a nasty little brain-worm behind his eye that let him telepathically connect with other infected hosts, or having some weird man talking in his head that visited his dreams, or dealing with a crazy cult let by an immortal war-General. He'd gotten used to all these things by now and taken them as par for the course, just another knot in a long string of shitty luck throughout life that naturally had to fall on him.

No, the strangest thing in all of this was the company he kept finding himself in. However terribly mundane of a thing it was, for him, he'd never really found what he would call 'good company' until all this, and he still hesitated to think of it as such, even when he'd found people singing his praises or speaking up to vouch for him that he was 'one of the good ones', whatever that meant in all this mess.

Off and on, he'd crossed the paths of others similarly bound for a cure to these stupid tadpoles. Each time, he'd been determined to go his own way regardless of insistence that he team up, but the roads left to walk were narrowing and converging on one major point ; Moonrise.

And while this little tavern in a bubble wasn't Moonrise, it was close enough that he didn't have much room to complain about paths crossing once again. Even less so with the shadow-curse hungrily waiting just outside, choking the road against anyone who didn't possess a moonlantern from moving forward.

Right now, that consisted of only him and the stupid spider, which made him a much more popular topic than he wanted to be right now, but it couldn't be helped.

At the very least, this little den of Harpers and refugees had one positive thing to offer him -- a weapons' supplier and that Tiefling blacksmith who could set him up with some rather potent explosives to deal with the more dangerous threats and thicker crowds of enemies.

That that flaming Tiefling woman also had an interest in the services of the blacksmith was of little concern to him. Or at least it should have been, but out of all the oddities, that one was the highest.

It had been no planning of his, that he just happened to be there when the news was broken to her. That her flames would be better under control... but that her engine, her 'heart', was still doomed to fail her at any given moment. A matter of when, not if.

Normally, he wouldn't care. The plights of others had never been any concern of his, just as no one else cared for his troubles, or at best, all they felt was distant pity.

This, though...

For once, this was a unique kind of suffering he could relate to, more than he was strictly comfortable with, but the situation was what it was. Most of his childhood, he'd heard and been told how his weak heart would sputter out and fail him, that he'd die a young and premature death and there was nothing to be done to change it. It was a miracle he'd made it this far in life, as he'd often been told he likely wouldn't even survive to adulthood, but each day he survived, that threat of it being his last day loomed ever larger in his mind, its shadow growing longer, knowing that his time was rapidly counting down.

It was... a lonely feeling, always having that knowledge in the back of his mind, and knowing that no one else around him could understand it even if he tried to speak of it. Even his dream visitor, much as Kytes had come to confide in him, couldn't really understand it.

Maybe that's what brought him drifting closer after she broke away from the rest to be alone, despite that he'd normally never entertain even the thought of her company, his steps phantom-light as he habitually approached from an angle of least visibility and came to stop in her blind spots.

For a few beats, he was silent, his face giving a small twitch, his fingers loosely fidgeting with uncertainty. He debated stepping away to disappear again before she could become aware of him, the thought of interaction still one that intimidated him, but his voice ultimately won out before he could make up his mind on leaving, spoken soft and tentative.

"Are you alrigh'?"

[ur-friendly-nbhd-cardassian]

Hello there!

a little "about me" post

my art

♡ My AO3 ♡ My Ko-fi ♡ My Cara ♡ My Pillowfort ♡ My Wattpad ♡

I'm a very long-winded person and when I like doing something, I like doing A LOT of it. I have a lot of fandoms, I like pretty art and cats, I write and muse about stuff - it's all a huge mess if I put it in one place. So that's why I decided to split my obsessions into several neat piles, so people could have an easier time deciding whether to follow, ignore or block my stuff according to their preferences.

Order an OC commission on my Ko-fi ♡

Here are my blogs which you're free to explore and follow as you like:

» ur-friendly-nbhd-cardassian

The main blog where I shout into nothingness. But where I also post lots of Star Trek, mainly about Cardassians (bc I love them). I do not do Garashir, tho, look for that particular bit elsewhere (not bc I don't ship them, but bc I'm severely overfed to the point of having an allergic rection). My focus Cardassian is Damar, followed by Dukat. I'm super open to reblogging your OCs, though. My other favorite fandoms you might come across on this blog (which I don't post enough about to make a separate blog): Mass Effect, Discworld, Tolkien, Detroit: Become Human, Apex Legends, Marvel/DC, Hunger Games. I also ramble, post about writing in general, reblog some fitting memes and pets/animals, share my own photography, reblog art etc.

» pixie-in-a-moonlantern

The initiated already know: Baldur's Gate 3 brainrot blog. I post my OC screenshots, my own and reblogged fanfiction, reblog A LOT of blorbos (Halsin, Gortash, Raphael,..), whether it's art or headcanons. I do not have any VP tools, so my screens are only lightly edited to be prettier, and that's it. I prefer to avoid posting negative stuff, so it's just batshit obsession and thoughts.

» shaved-wampa

Diehard fans surely got the joke: Star Wars brainrot, and that goes for every conceivable piece of the fandom, even the bits you might not agree with - I don't discriminate. My all-time favorites are: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Bode Akuna. Yes, just the two, because I also have a huge pile of characters I love, but don't really focus on: Padmé, Ahsoka, Ventress, Plo Koon, Kit Fisto, Din Djarin, lil Grogu, Cody, infinite number of other Clones, ... soooo many. My top two are just the guys I actually write about. Bode's and Obi-Wan's fics are unfortunately on hold right now (sigh).

» cyber-vianne-77

As the name suggests, this is my Cyberpunk 2077 blog. I used to do a lot of virtual photography in that one - and yes, this time I mean real VP, though still no paid tools, just vanilla and free mods. I love Goro Takemura and ship my fem V with him heavily - wrote a dope fanfiction about them called 'Broken' (and following parts 'Gimme Danger' and 'Last Caress'). I reblog other cp77 vp (especially of Goro) and fanart. I don't currently play the game or shoot photos, but I have a large collection I plan to drizzle over the next few months, until I maybe decide to go back to cp77 for a while again and finally play Phantom Liberty that's been waiting for me for a long time now xD.

» sergeant-sassy

A mix of obsessions with one man in common: John Hopkins, a British actor :). Seen in Midsomer Murders and lately heard in various games as a voice actor. I've fallen for him for the first time 20 years ago - and he returned to me as Erend in Horizon games (Zero Dawn & Forbidden West). I love the games and its characters and take a lot of screenshots, too :). So it's a weird dump of Ereloy, Kotaloy (because Noshir) and Midsomer Murders :3

» goodness-all-around

My "assorted dopeness" reblogs. It's getting 0 attention so I just usually post shit to cardassian or to my private collection to avoid overflowing my main.

I will update the list if I happen to change things or add/remove blogs. Thanks for your attention and see you in the activity notifs! 💛

Bits of trivia: I'm Czech, cis woman (bi & poly and, frankly, hyper), 32, in a relationship, mom to a 5yo boy, a writer struggling to finish and publish her first original novel, drowning her sorrows in fanfic instead :). I got to most of my fandoms quite late in life, because where I live this info only started to properly flow in with the coming of the internet. I'm usually a casual fan, though when I hit a gold vein I can get a bit obsessed. I love writing fanfiction, which is mostly why I'm here on this site. I self-insert a lot (therapy writing) and usually ship us, with the rare occasion of finding a couple where I can identify with one of them (or mold them to my image because I like or even fancy them). I've spent my life believing I was hetero and discovered I'm not only once I (finally) was in a hetero relationship and had a kid, so... my ships are also hetero. It's a habit, not hating, I don't discredit any gay ships (maybe quietly to myself when they don't make any sense to me character-wise, lol). My AO3 account: XindiChick I usually try to write even the most niche of my ships in a way that doesn't require much knowledge of the original, so you're welcome to browse and read to your heart's content if you happen to like my style. I welcome any interactions, especially comments, because I don't get many.

I think it's something everyone should always be aware of, but I've also seen many people ignoring this unsaid rule:

HATERS NEED NOT INTERACT

- lest they get blocked. I'm not here to argue with you about why I like certain characters and why you think I shouldn't. Go simp for your own top picks on your own blogs and leave me alone. Same goes for any of my personal trivia I shared.

Also:

DISCLAIMER: My blogs are a safe space for everyone who doesn't go around hating on everyone else. I will block indiscriminantly assholes of every shape, color, faith, gender, orientation etc., just as I will happily interact with good people of any kind. Idc what your deal is, I just wanna enjoy being on this platform, so if you plan to rain on it, don't expect me to indulge you.

Icons by: @rpschtuff

By the way, a fun fact known only to people aware of my main fanfic novel, The Casualty, the Cardassian in my username was actually born Bajoran, but raised Cardassian, which is why she's a Cardassian in heart and spirit. She's your friendly reminder that not all Cardies are the same and as a nation have the capacity to be much better than how they were presented in the DS9, which is what she's trying to achieve.

[blackjackkent]

Defeated Kar'niss. Rakha feels a little bit better having burned off a little bit of tension, although she is still tired and has a terrible headache. The beast urge, sated for the time being by this bloodlust, recedes a little, leaving her mind relatively clear and mercifully free of thoughts of Isobel's death.

One thing that has definitely changed since I ran through this area with Hector is that now the moonlantern shouts at you right from the beginning to make it easier for you to notice that you need to look inside it.

Rakha peers in absolute befuddlement at the lamp lying next to the drider's broken body. Its light still glows, driving back the darkness around them - but the voice is unexpected.

"Do you hear it as well?" she asks Wyll in a low voice.

His eyebrows knit with equal puzzlement. "Oh, good - I was wondering if this place was getting to me," he says with the hint of a grin.

-----

Narrator: The lantern gives off a chilly glow, protecting all in the vicinity from the surrounding shadows.

"Incredible magic," says the Harper who brought them here. "I can feel the light lifting the shadows, even those within me. Be safe and be brave - we expect no less."

Rakha doesn't really listen, barely even nods acknowledgement as the Harpers walk away. Her attention is now fixed on the lantern, drinking in its magic, the clean little bubble of safety it offers from the dark magic around them. And as she focuses on it, she begins to discern subtle movement within the half-blinding glimmer - the source of the voice they heard a moment ago.

Narrator: You notice a tiny pixie trapped within.

(A/N: Rakha definitely has no idea what a pixie is. Nor would she know the intelligence check she just got here - that pixies are mischievous fey creatures known for their trickery. Perhaps Wyll fills in this information.)

"Oh please, oh golly, me oh my," pipes up the tiny voice, high-pitched and pleading. "You must release me or I'll die. This lantern only lights the way when I am hurting night and day."

Rakha blinks several times slowly. The rhyme is... grating, and highly puzzling. And what does it mean, hurting?

"Why are you in here?"(*) she asks slowly.

"My pixie dust is bright as day," cries the pixie. "My injuries can light the way."

Ah, Rakha thinks. Yes. It's easy enough to put the pieces together here. The pixie's magic - like Isobel's back at Last Light - drives back the curse, and the cult has harnessed it by imprisoning the creature. This light comes from its "dust"... something like its blood?

The beast urge purrs in the back of her mind at this idea. And for a moment Rakha herself hesitates, unsure. They need this light to reach Moonrise, to wreak vengeance, to destroy the cult - surely that counts as pain with purpose.

But Wyll speaks up from behind her. "Poor thing," he says quietly. "A life of torture! We should let her go." A slight, uncertain pause. "Shouldn't we?"

Shouldn't we?

Rakha lets out a sudden low growl of abject frustration. Perhaps Wyll is right and thus to free the creature is right; certainly it would anger the beast. But it means opening them back up to the darkness, to the wrongness of this place...

With a sudden surge of irritation, she raises the lamp above her head.

Smash the lantern on the ground.

There's an explosion of white light around them that makes every one of Rakha's nerves yelp as if doused into ice water. Then it clears, and she finds herself looking at what she assumes must be the pixie - a tiny purplish winged humanoid hovering before her eyes.

"YOU RAT!" the pixie bellows, in nothing like her previous unassuming tone. "Now I've got glass stuck in my loaf!" She buzzes around Rakha's head, skidding close to her ear and making her flinch. "Least I'm out of that box," she continues grumpily. "I'd pin that pus-shitting drider's tongue to his nose if I didn't want to get out of here yesterday!"

Another buzzing dive and she comes to a halt only an inch from Rakha's nose. "I oughta sink my teeth into your softs for messing around, but all this fresh air has me in a good mood. What do I owe you?"

Rakha scowls, darting backwards a step from the irritating little creature. For a moment the beast rises, ready to lash out - it would be so easy to swat her like a fly before she knew what was happening, leave her a bright smear of glowing dust on the nearby rock...

Refuse to crush her. Ask her for help against the shadow curse.

It has been a long two days of fighting against herself. All her companions can hear it in her voice - it emerges halting, word by word, strained and exhausted. They can see her fingers flexing in and out of fists as she struggles to articulate their need. A light for Moonrise. A path in the dark.

"Sure, I *can*. But will I?" the pixie says impishly. Then she grins. "Yeah, sure, why not."

She plucks a small bell seemingly out of thin air, for it's almost bigger than she is, and tosses it through the air towards Wyll, who catches it deftly. "Here. Give this bell a shake, speak the magic words, and you'll get what you've earned. Protection from the shadow curse - what more could a dingus want."

She darts back a few inches and her grin widens. "And one more thing - you really oughta learn not to mess with the fey. We'll mess you right back. Enjoy, crack-cheese!"

She snaps her fingers. There's another sharp burst of magic that resonates through Rakha like a struck bell, and she feels heat flow over her face. Then the pixie is gone, and she comes back to herself finding all three of her companions staring at her with barely concealed amusement.

"What?" she snaps curtly. "What is it?"

"...Nothing," says Wyll, with a creditable attempt at a straight face. "Everything's fine."

[dvgsart]

Broken Moonlantern?

No problem! Pheona's on the job!

ref/og joke

[anderswasrightt]

some screenshots from my multiplayer session!

scratch and the owlbear cub told @nerdacious's gith monk Alt Tav that owlbear had a bad dream! 😭 in my main playthrough i didn't have speak with animals on so i missed the dialogue; i'm so glad i got to see it this time!

jhake investigating a broken moonlantern

it is too damn hot down here to be taking any shit from these slave-owning fucks today

and here's the main squad!

Jhake - the half-orc wizard, shadowheart, lae'zel, and Alt Tav - the gith monk.

[killerpancakeburger]

Game guide: Killing Nere gets you a moonlantern

Me, looking at the broken moonlantern I found on his corpse:

[lunawish]

the events (and order) of kira's "canon".

ACT 1 + PROLOGUE

frees us, does not mutilate it; frees shadowheart

recruits shadowheart first, then gale, astarion, and lae'zel

meets withers in the dank crypt

stops the aradin from punching zevlor; persuades rolan & siblings to stay

recruits wyll and offer to help him look into the "devil situation"

stops arka from killing sazza & helps free sazza; saves arabella

finds kagha's note in her chest when looking for some "valuables" to spirit away because they were broke and gonna go hungry

gets poisoned by nettie but doesn't kill her, offers to find halsin

learns how to play an instrument from alfira, saves mirkon from the harpies ; steals mattis' ring because it's amusing to her but is gentle with sylvie

on the way to the camp she rejects the tadpole, tells the siblings to spare the owlbears

ends up in the owlbear cave but managed to talk her way out

gets really lost whilst trying to find the goblin camp and ends up at the "sunlit wetlands"

helps ethel when she was confronted by mayrina's brothers

lets astarion kill gandrel because he deserves to feel safe

tells mayrina the truth, "kills" ethel, "revives" her husband

finds out about kagha's involvement with the shadow druids, proceeds to return to the grove for the confrontation (just to help buy the refugees more time)

at this point she begins to experience immense chest pains, unsure why. but they're bearable (think of it as a warning for her oath being on the border of being broken)

meets karlach, advocates hard on her behalf; kills the paladins of tyr

meets the dragonborn bard, quill and lets her stay only for her to wake up with blood all over her hands. cleans up the body because it was undignifying to be left that way, waits for the camp to wake up and confesses to all.

vows to never kill an innocent again : this is the moment when her oath breaks. it was the vow she made to herself that directly conflicted with bhaal's oath of conquest.

kills the gnolls, saving rugan and olly; follows them to waukeen's rest. but first, save florrick and the one man who really wants to find his dowry

finds scratch, lets him follow her scent

saves barcus, reads the necromancy of thay

goes into the goblin camp, works with the owlbear cub to earn him his freedom; bites off crusher's toe ... oops

kills priestess gut out of self defense, knocks out minthara (something felt familiar about her), kills dror ragzlin; frees halsin last.

at the party she hooks up with lae'zel (the only "romance" i'm gonna incorporate in this timeline since i don't wanna force relationships lmao)

makes their way to the mountain pass to find lae'zel's creche, stops lae'zel from going into the zai'thisk because it seems too experimental and if it fails, it means lae'zel dies so she insists on going in

takes the githyanki egg but DOES not give it to esther (they do murder esther later... as a treat)

does not kill her dream guardian, fights the entire creche, steals lathander's blood

they go back to find their way into the underdark because the mountain pass is no longer safe

helps the myconids, finds baelen. let's shadowheart eat the noblestalk, steals thulla's boots

convinces the spiders to betray the duergars, sides with elder brithvar against nere, save the gnomes

tried to steer shadowheart away from the grymforge but alas

gifts her the idol of shar and insert the kiss me like you hate me scene (ok sorry i gOTTA)

fights grym, agrees to help the monk in the sentient amulet

goes to the shadowcursed lands through the grymforge

ACT 2

sides with the jaheira, isobel, and the harpers & betrays marcus

helps barcus to find the ironhand gnomes & helps alfira to find the other tieflings

agrees to help astarion figure out the stories of his scars

confesses to isobel about her urges and has a breakdown over her undeserved kindness. isobel does not die.

convinces kar'niss to give them the moonlantern, frees dolly thrice

saves rolan before going into moonrise

convinces the three thorm siblings to die by their own hands (essentially)

goes to moonrise, kills the goblins with her own hands, frees minthara & the rest of the prisoners before returning to last light with them

plays the lute of art cullagh, helps halsin guard his portal

goes to play two rounds of hide n seek with oliver before "spoiling the fun", ultimately lets halsin convince oliver to join with thaniel for now

heads directly to the mausoleum aka the gauntlet of shar.

talks yurgir to death (basically), kills balthazar on site (before the shadowfell), lets shadowheart do the trials (even though she's getting the heebeejeebees here); shadowheart spares aylin

takes a rest here because they know better than to try and fight with barely enough energy. is given the task to kill her darling. (by default her fav person is shadowheart, platonic or romantic) does her best to resist and actually the 'shadowheart has faith in you' advantage let her say thank you

when confronted she starts crying and offers shadowheart a chance to off her

recruits jaheira, slaughter the first floor of moonrise, tries to offer ketheric mercy but instead he doesn't take it and myrkul emerges

after the battle, she tells minthara the throne suits her, tries to cheer up the kids with alfira, loots all the food in the kitchen, adoringly watches aylin and isobel reunite

lets aylin and isobel stay in camp, tells shadowheart her hair is the most beautiful thing she's seen the next day

when the emperor reveal happens, she's disgusted with the amount of deceit because she too, feels like a monster but she isn't hiding it like he is. however, she can't kill him so begrudgingly, she works with him

ACT 3

help the squatters , investigate the bombs in the toys, tells ferg drogher to fuck off, agree to help investigate the murders, agree to help find dribbles' body parts, and is visibly distraught by orin fucking with her head

was about to attack the steelwatchers by the cross point but her gnome terrorist pals came in with flashblinders ! so they snuck past

unravels that the murders were all a bhaalist plot, valeria gives her the pass

says no to raphael's deal but then promises to steal it from his house of hope (credit to jaheira for the idea!)

confronts the harpers in the safe house, advocates for geraldus

has a violent flashback the minute she senses gortash's presence. the bhaalspawn reveal happens here

attends his coronation, agrees to a temporary alliance with gortash because somewhere she feels a fondness towards him

lets wyll talk to ulder; they break florrick out of jail

tells wyll she thinks he should be free and no one deserves eternal damnation of their soul but its his choice (usually assumes wyll breaks his pact here)

convinces the elfsong tavern owner to let them stay there for free

finds dolor, and subsequently the tribunal; murders sarevok and frees valeria

orin kidnaps halsin, kira makes a beeline towards the temple (well, as much of a beeline as she could make given she has no idea where it is)

duels orin, wins by a bare margin against her slayer form. rejects bhaal. is literally exsanguinated, skewered, maimed, gored (point is, revivify wouldn't work in true dnd fashion). brought back to life by withers

is catatonic in bed for a few days (at this point i assume the other companions either take turns checking in on her or doing some of those quests lmao)

asks isobel and aylin if they could witness her take up a new oath with selune and this time for realsies. takes up the oath of vengeance.

[ any romance scenes will only happen after she takes up a new oath ]

( assuming at this point gale's done his sorceries sundries part of his quest and the audience with mystra )

makes a beeline towards the house of grief, does not betray shadowheart (obviously), lets shadowheart have her moment with nocturne. lets shadowheart make her own choice

finds cazador's mansion, brings astarion to confront him. talks astarion down from ascending

finds their way into the devil's fee, goes to the house of hope.

steals the hammer, saves hope, kills raphael

goes to the irone throne, saves omeluum, ulder, and the gondians

blows up gortash's foundry

has a heart wrenching confrontation with gortash and genuinely mourns him when he dies

finds ansur and has to kill an undead dragon. wyll becomes the blade of avernus

smashes the chains of orpheus free, (welcome to gany's self indulgent no one has to turn illithid ending), goes and fight the brain with their allies

commands the brain to destroy itself and all the tadpoles

cue epilogue !

[theatrevelyan]

Ok after looking it online I found that the moonlantern is needed to continue on with the main story so I caved and I reloaded the closest save I had to that encounter. I still lost a couple of hours of exploring but nothing too important and that I shouldn’t be able to get back easily, eventually .

However I had the same problem again, after the encounter with the spider guy the moonlantern just disappeared but fortunately I stared saving compulsively so I could reload easily this time around.

After some trial and errors I found out that the sorcerer only dialogue option automatically breaks the lantern even if in the next dialogue you decide to keep it… that should have been made more clearer tbh but fuck us I guess

On the other hand, Halsin is still broken, still stuck in my camp with old dialogues options and the quest icon active saying we should meet at the inn so fuck him I guess 🫡

I AM NOT GOING TO LOOSE SIX HOURS to reload a save that MIGHT fix it.

I’ll just move on and see if it fixes itself if not I guess we keep the shadow curse this run 🫡

[silksworn]

"You will live as you live in any world...with difficulty, and grief."

OH PATHETIC, UNSEEMLY THING —

The drow allows the creature its mad ramblings, studying it all the while with dispassionate eyes. The sight of it inspires thoughts of the only sort of mercy Iraestra knows: a swift death. She considers granting it such; it trembles before her, vulnerable and clearly injured already. Blackened blood gleams like jet underneath the glow of the Moonlantern it clutches. She wonders if it truly understands the gift of what it holds, or if, like an insect, it is simply drawn to the light. Instinct to crave that which will always elude it.

She would not be surprised if it was simply the latter. Who truly knows how much of their minds any drider still possesses? Lolth's vile rancor touches no two alike. They are only equal in the bitterness of their fates, curse giving mortal form to the deepest depths of the Spider Bitch's cruelty.

"They would kill you in Menzoberranzan, wretched one," voice uncharacteristically soft, velvet folded upon velvet. A call to a child seeking comfort, the tender cup of hands around a bird with a broken wing. She does not say this as a cruelty, but as kindness. A reminder of what it must already understand "They would tear your remaining limbs from their sockets so all that would be left to you is the ability to crawl. They would blind each of your eyes with fire, and then maybe, if they were kind, end your misery by slitting you open from belly to breast to harvest what little is still of you inside you that may be of value. You know this."

Mistress: does the beast remember subservience, or does it speak of idols she cannot see? What madness holds its ruined ear?

Either way, the title whispers of opportunity to Iraestra. Weakness to be carefully plucked, an unforeseen bond to be nurtured. Perhaps she could have use of such a creature in her service.

"Is this not the second time you have been forsaken by a goddess you could not see or touch?" she asks. "Such fickle things, their favor. They call from on-high and do not heed when you are in need. As you bleed out in their service, only ever a faithful servant. Do they see how you toil, how you suffer? I ask you, is that love, dothka?"

She dare not creep closer yet, aware both of the stunning speed of the monster and the capricious nature of their ruined minds. "They are not here, but I am. I see you. I hear you. Now hear my voice, as you would theirs. You will not die today because I do not will it. My word is my vow to you, creature. Let me aid you so that you may serve again."

@verecundiara

[radishleaf]

i keep doing things out of order in bg3, and it's funny how i would kill nere and do everything there to get the broken moonlantern, only to return to the myconid sovereign and have them request i bring them nere's head. like dude, i was just there. couldn't you have used your super cool spore powers to put it in a song request or something?