#evil lair adjacent

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

trying to marie kondo the shit out of my belongings before this cross country move, even though i have slightly too much stuff for a carload and not quite enough stuff for a tiny shipping container so space is not really at a premium but like might as well yanno

ANYWAY i have been carting around an extremely heavy little box containing my mom’s coin collection since 2015 and it’s time to fish all the american stuff out and see if it’s worth more than face value. most of it is wheat pennies and bicentennial quarters so i don’t think so

[desceros]

oops you got something between your fingers there, let me get that for you real quick <3

evil evil evil evil evil evil strikes back out of self defense

It's not too uncommon that you wait for him to come home. Not only has his shitty apartment all but become a second home to you, but he's started making little jokes that you aren't completely sure are really jokes about you moving in with him instead.

As such, he doesn't say anything when he comes in through the door and finds you sitting at his kitchen table, scrolling through your phone looking at the cute dog pictures April's sending you from her latest venture to make ends meet as a dog walker. Not until you look up and smile as you see him, putting your phone down because he's infinitely more interesting.

"Why aren't you sitting on the couch where it's softer?" he asks, slowly stripping the outside world from himself as he gets close. His swords. His belt of medical supplies you keep stocked up nicely for him. A bag whose contents you don't know, but judging from the care with which he puts it down on the counter, you suspect is quite valuable.

"I thought you'd be hungry when you got back," you tell him, gesturing at a tupperware of food you'd brought over from the lair. Leo still doesn't have a decent set of pans, and you've forbidden him from buying any since you can cook just as well at the lair and bring things over. (You're surprised he's held out this long; though you suspect it may be because he has a not-too-incorrect mental image of Donnie's pissy face when he smells you cook something nice and learns it's for Leonardo, not him.)

Leo sits at the table adjacent to you, popping off the lid. It's still warm, thankfully, and his face gets a little softer when he starts to dig in like he's starving. He doesn't compliment it, but you don't need him to. The way he goes quiet, not even speaking in the interest of eating the stir fry you'd tossed together, is all the feedback you need.

Smiling fondly, you grab into the bag you'd brought and pull out an orange. Slowly, you start to peel it, piece by piece. The oil of the rind clings to your skin, making the air between you fragrant with citrus. All the way down to the juicy flesh, until you split it in half, then pluck out a single piece.

Reaching out between Leo's bites, you hold the piece between your fingers. He stares at it for a moment, glancing between it and your face, then opens his mouth so you can slide it inside.

"This was a really yummy batch," you tell him as he chews, eyes falling down to where you peel away another piece. It has a little string on it, which you pick away lovingly before holding out to him just like the one before. "Nice and juicy. I was surprised, considering the time of year."

Leo takes the second piece in his mouth, and the next time you look down to the orange to pull him away another piece, you feel the weight of his stare on the side of your face and the apartment falls silent. No longer do his chopsticks scratch away at the tupperware.

Still, you persist, relentless in your affectionate care. "I've been saving the peels to make a nice cleaning spray. Apparently, you can put them in a bottle with a bit of vinegar, and it smells really nice and works pretty well," you continue to ramble. You hold out another piece. He leans in, his teeth finding the soft flesh with a heavier purpose now. You avoid meeting his gaze, torn between enjoying this little dance and not wanting it to end too quickly.

Another piece hovers in the air, and this time, he wraps his fingers around your wrist and holds it in place. You look up, startled, only to stare with wide eyes as he slides your fingers and the orange slice into his mouth together. His tongue finds the fruit and brings it to his teeth, splitting it open and coating his mouth and your fingers with its sweet juice. Messily, it beads down your palm, to your wrist, tickling even as your breath catches in your throat when he glides his tongue along the webbing of your fingers to catch its origin. Hot, wet, he licks at your skin, suckling the love off of you like it's the waters of the fountain of life itself.

Your mouth falls open as his teeth scrape at your palm, the hitched breath coming out of your lungs on a jagged sound that sounds a bit like a whine in the dead air between you. Mouth curling into a smug smirk, he kisses down the line of the orange juice to your pulse, bending your hand back and sinking his teeth into your wrist hard enough to leave a mark.

It's then that you finally meet his gaze, and see in it the dangerous flame you'd stoked. You swallow thickly, pressing your thighs together beneath the table. Silly you to forget that it's always the little gestures that drive him the most mad.

Trailing his tongue up your hand to flick it between your fingers, Leo groans, squeezing his eyes shut like the taste of you wounds him. Maybe it does, in a way, you think, feeling the almost painful ache of your own arousal that he so easily calls to the surface.

Licking your lips, clumsy from the rushing blood beneath your skin when he slides your fingers into his mouth and begins to suck on them while bobbing his head slowly, you reach with shaking fingers to pull away another piece of the orange. When Leo looks at you—no doubt visibly affected, dilated pupils, bitten lips, chest rising with your accelerated breath—he chuckles before sinking his teeth into the flesh of your palm, lathing it with his tongue before he releases you.

"How many more do you think you'll be able to share before you break for me, mi corderita?" he asks slyly, taking the piece from you and resting it on your spit-soaked fingers, gliding them into his mouth to begin the process all over again to send you into a hazy, needy state.

The answer, you'll later bemoan as you stare, stunned, completely fucked out, at the ceiling of his bedroom with a familiar full-body ache and the smell of oranges strong in your nose, is one.

[pencildragons]

i keep thinking about norris and chester/jon and martin (assuming they ARE jon and martin, which is a whole different kettle of red canaries) and whether or not they'll end up Becoming Conscious and Manifesting As Characters and of course the easy way out is that their bodies are lying around in some web-adjacent lair in fucking . idk southern wales or something but what is INFINITELY FUNNIER is if their bodies are poof gone vanished and they have to be transferred into some sort of storage medium. can u imagine. there is already excellent fanart of them as furbies. put those boys into google glass and have them blurry and out of focus and telling sam he has 14 new emails and they're all evil. apologies jon i am a 7th generation ipod touch

[monstersdownthepath]

Monster Spotlight: Fuath

CR 1

Chaotic Evil Tiny Fey

Bestiary 3, pg. 142 (pic from 2e’s Bestiary 3, pg. 121)

One of many species of Gremlin, the Fuath are notoriously violent destroyers of ships and slayers of sailors, going above and beyond the chaos that normal gremlins cause and straight into unrepentant murder. Seemingly embodying the worst aspects of territorial sea life, Fuath make their homes in rocky shorelines, sharp reefs, beneath sandbars, and other such places where they can befriend local wildlife. Fuath are remarkably adept at taming even the most belligerent of sea beasts, including the normally homicidally territorial Reefclaws, perhaps because their Fey nature makes the most violent sea monsters see them as kindred.

Helping their animal magnetism is that Fuath are the opposite of whatever a pescatarian is. They’ll avoid eating sea life as much as they possibly can and will go out of their way to raid passing ships and nearby port towns for food, prizing the meat of land-dwelling beasts and especially the meat of sapients like humans and elves (because, as I’ve said before, what predator on Golarion doesn’t?). They take immense glee in slaying lonely sailors and dockworkers, taking their cuts and dragging whatever they can pack into waterlogged sacks back to their beast-laden dens to share with allied gremlins and monsters alike. Their primary method of murder is appropriately horrifying for creatures with such intense streaks of misanthropy as well; their twin claws have only a small chance to deal lethal damage (1d3-2 damage each), so they rely on their ability to Congeal Water around a creature within 30ft of them once per day.

This layer of magically viscous water clings tenaciously to any creature that fails a DC 10 Reflex save, entangling them and preventing them from being able to breathe. The victim (or someone adjacent to them) can, as a full-round action, attempt to claw the water away from their face and free themselves from the effect, but this doesn’t remove the effect instantly! Rather, it allows them to repeat the Reflex save with a +2 bonus, so an especially unlucky soul may waste their turn (or possibly waste multiple turns) and accomplish nothing. While DC 10 isn’t especially high, recall that being entangled imposes a -4 penalty to the victim’s Dexterity score, and thus a -2 to Reflex saves, so all the +2 really does is cancel out the penalty. All the while the victim drowns on dry land, the Fuath cackles with glee as they suffocate, prodding them with its claws or jabbing them with stolen weapons to hasten their end and make their last few moments miserable.

When unable to wreak their terrible fate upon a single sailor at a time, Fuath will cling to the bottoms of any boats that pass by their lairs and remain there until nightfall (sunlight harms them, dinging their Con by 1 every hour they’re exposed), sneaking aboard with their +13 to Stealth and looking for things to break. They sever ropes, snap anchor lines, punch holes in barrels containing precious rum or water, contaminate food, throw weapons and tools overboard, and generally make nuisances of themselves. In addition to what they can accomplish with their claws and improvised tools, they can use their at-will Create Water to destroy documents, ruin black powder, contaminate oils and potions, wreak havoc on dry food stores, and even slowly sink smaller vessels by calling gallon after gallon of water into their lower sections. Their power to freely create as much water as they feel like is especially dangerous combined with their 1/day Sleep, knocking out and potentially drowning a single target (if it doesn’t split their throat with a dagger or sharp piece of coral, of course), or simply putting the night watchman to sleep so it can ruin the ship unabated.

If they’re near enough to their own hovels, a Fuath may even take over a ship’s wheel and run it aground so its allies can swarm the ship and kill all aboard, leaving the wreckage out as a display for anyone else passing by. Not only does this allow the gremlins to expand their families and build nests into the wrecks, creating entire tiny towns of broken ships and driftwood, but all those destroyed boats make for attractive targets to sailors and pirates hoping for easy plunder or potentially salvageable material. Most end up joining the wreckage when even a single gremlin makes it aboard.

Getting rid of a Fuath once it’s there is actually fairly difficult for common sailors. The little Fey are protected by a disproportionately large DR 5/cold iron, material that’s difficult to justify keeping on a ship regularly exposed to salt water, and a decent AC of 15. Though their saving throws aren’t particularly impressive, they have Spell Resistance 12, causing low-level casters to have only a coin-flip of a chance to actually stick offensive magic to the little bastards as they scamper around the ship. Far from stupid beasts, Fuath know they cannot take on multiple creatures at once (especially since Congeal Water is 1/day), so if they cannot kill a victim when it’s helpless and asleep, they’ll typically flee back into the waves... where they cling to the bottom of the ship to try again in a few hours, or even next evening if need be. They can be patient, especially when slighted, and seeing the thing flee into the ocean is no guarantee the ship and crew is safe from its malice. Even if it doesn’t start killing people directly, all it needs to do is cut the right rope, ruin the hardtack, water down the rum... They’ll be killing each other for it in no time.

You can read more about them here.

[yellowhollyhock]

thinking about. When Hamato Yoshi becomes Master Splinter

Especially 1987 but I think this applies to 2012 as well. maybe not so much Rise, but idk it could in some ways

Extremely traumatic to have your humanity taken from you in that way.

But let's also talk about the fact that this was done to him... by humans. His experience with humanity has been that they are violent, greedy, corrupt. Okay so that was mostly Shredder, but he also spent some time just out in the streets. I mean the story is different and focuses on different things with each Splinter but, rat or human, the base of the story is usually that he fled Japan (where he experiened extreme violence) and landed in New York City where he had nothing. The Splinters who were rats, canon deals more explicitly with their view of humans as.. not evil exactly (except mutant mayhem), but not good. In need of protection and guidance, at best.

But what about Hamato Yoshi rejecting his humanity? It was taken from him unwillingly, and for someone who likes to be in control it would make sense for his coping mechanism to be reinterpreting his situation as an ascent to something purer. And this could explain in a way how he trains the turtles to be heroes. Their family is above humanity, almost like instead of beasts he thinks of them as spirits. There has to be a word, right, for that literary device where the nonhumans are less corruptible? like Smurfs. does what I'm saying make sense

Basically his mutation made him a rat, and in order to avoid the trauma of his body being involuntarily changed I think he chooses to see this as a sacred experience. Rat > Human. He will be more sly, more disconnected from earthly vice, more resourceful, less wasteful.

Now contrast this with the turtles mutation experience.

Generally we don't see them wanting to go back to being regular turtles; they want to become more human. The mutagen didn't even 'mix' them with a human, it enhanced their strength and intelligence and a lot of other random wonky things that made them seem humanoid. For them becoming human-adjacent was the same thing as becoming aware. Without the mutagen, they wouldn't know each other's names, wouldn't be able to enjoy pizza or video games, certainly couldn't learn martial arts. From their pov, humans are above them on the scale. Humanity is something they chase, try to understand and immerse themselves in, and rejection from that world hurts.

Master Splinter, then, to them, took a big fall for them. I could almost compare it to a parent giving up a career in order to be a parent. The older they get the more they realize, first that it happened, and then that it had to happen because of them. They have to give him another chance at that other life, because it's their fault he lost it (from the pov, at least).

And I just. Think about when he scolds them for those human vices he's made himself believe his more animal state will help him overcome. Laziness, gluttony, envy (hoo boy envy. whole other post), selfishness. He pushes them to train, and keep the lair clean, to protect them from becoming what he once was.

And it's really sad because what he once was. Was human. Just human.

And it's the wrong word for the turtles, but it's the same concept. Just let your kids be human. Let them be teenagers. And to his credit, he does try. He allows them their pizza and video games and human friends. But he also seems constantly on guard for their sakes. Not only will the human world reject them, something he experienced himself and doesn't want to face, but it also has the power to ruin them. Like where they are is the ideal and becoming more human-like could make them.. more inherently bad. He wants to keep them in his own little world because he's crafted one where being what they are is an honor, not a shame. But he can't comprehend how, living under his roof, the turtles are still experiencing an entirely different world.

They don't ever truly get it, either, that he doesn't see his mutation the ay they do. And it's not that I don't think he ever sees becoming a rat as a fall from grace. I'm sure those feelings also exist. But he cultivates and acts on this other idea because it's simply more useful to him than self-pity. And that's really cool of him on some level! Empowering to reject humans just as thoroughly as they rejected him; he deserves a story where what happened to him all worked out for the best and was his destiny all along. It's just... he also didn't take the time to heal (how could he, given circumstances?), and that does affect how he treats his children.

Does any of this make sense? It's just a very interesting dynamic

[hellworldprincess]

before i get a job do any evil women or women adjacent creatures want to kill me / keep me in their lair

[void-writing]

I've been reading up on Duke and he's such a great character!!

On CiM, I thought it'd be fun to speculate about some potential character interactions and reactions. To repeat, this is speculation going from by brain cinema! I don't expect you to use these! I just think it's fun and wanted to share them.

Duke and Sam. Duke is smart, he's a riddle dork, he got deeply invested in puzzles as a child when Riddler controlled Gotham. I imagine he saw the recording later after his section in chapter 5 and appreciates how Sam kicked Riddler's ass. They get into a competition who knows more riddles.

Duke could discover a pivotal clue or make a pivotal connection to the DP characters because of the same reason. He's so good at finding at finding all the tiny bits and making sense of them for the bigger picture.

Duke and Spirit Robin, because Duke started / led the We Are Robin movement. He recognized Robin as a symbol of hope - and Spirit Robin I think is glowing because the concept of Robin gives hope - and made it into a rallying symbol for other teenagers to work together and help Gotham. So there could be a special connection. Because Duke is THE Signal.

Duke and Team Phantom. I feel he'd be one of their most vocal and important partners in helping Gotham beyond redirecting the supervillains energy to constructive / safer avenues. He knows Gotham. "So, I've heard you want to help the city? Here's what you need to know, what to do, and how to do it."

From @gothamandamity .

ooooohhh yeah. I have honestly been sleeping on Duke a bit on account of not knowing much about him but I do have plans on Duke and Sam being pals because their vibes feel compatible to me XD

God, now I'm thinking of Duke, Steph, and Sam forming a coalition to give the Riddler the ultimate headache since it's canon (at least to me) that Steph is ALSO a riddle master (and that The Batman would have been over in 30 minutes if she were there XD).

Sometime in the future:

Bruce: "The Riddler is causing trouble again."

Duke: "Oh no. Anyway, I'll get the girls."

Bruce: "Wha--"

Steph and Sam appearing out of the ether with sunglasses and bludgeoning weapons: "Don't worry Mr. Bat. We got this one."

The Riddler *in his lair*: "Why do I hear boss music..?"

I honestly know very little about the We Are Robin (bum ba dum ba bum bum bum) movement but I do really like the idea that Spirit!Robin has a special fondness for those who took up the mantle during that conflict. I don't think they would be a part of Spirit!Robin's manifestation or whatever, but I do think they'd have bolstered him and protected him from a force that wanted to see him snuffed out. So they have the glowing bean's favor :3

(On an unrelated note, I imagine that during the Robin Wars, Spirit!Batman was extra prickly and scary because those owl jerks were messing with his son.)

Duke honestly might be the Bat that I can envision hanging out with Team Phantom the most on account of him (in CiM at least) being their age and also the most normal Bat who is also completely bonkers (like...his bio-dad is some secret evil god or smt? he can glimpse into the future and control the full spectrum of light and also shadow for some reason? my boy is op and I love him. He and Danny are both eldritch in different ways. Danny is like Cthulu-adjacent while Duke leans more biblically-accurrate-"be not afraid"-angel-adjacent and I love that for them).

[encryptedbread]

It was a normal day at the meat Bank, sun was shining, kids were playing at the nearby park, and the meat man just got done cooking 77,000 sausages for a strange looking man, wearing a pink night gown, and a gray wig. "Your total comes to $154,000 dollars, yeesh, how you plan on paying this?" The meat man said with a chuckle. "I don't." the strange man replied in an old woman voice, before taking off his wig, ripping off his gown, and revealing he was actually Mr.Conspicuous, the evil villain know for his many evil deeds. "I'll be taking these, to go!" Mr.Conspicuous said, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a device that looked like a gun, with a hand coming out of the barrel holding a large butterfly net, with it he swiped all the sausages, and attempted to make his grand escape, but suddenly, he was grabbed by a sausage link lassoe, who could've done this except, "Oh no you don't!" The meat man said, suddenly, it was clear to Mr.Conspicuous, this wasn't the meat man, it was The Meat Man, a known hero who works undercover in butcher shops. "You think this will stop me?" Mr.Conspicuous laughed, before whistling and calling for his evil dog, "bark, bark" yelped Evil Dog. "Quick, chew through this meat rope and set me free, I've got the goods!" Mr.Conspicuous said, before The Meat Man threw him against the adjacent wall, Mr.Conspicuous hit the will in a rather funny pose, before sliding off and hitting the floor. "Here doggy, doggy, PLAY FETCH!" The Meat Man shouted, as he threw a large bone out the window, and into the nearby dog park. "Nooo, evil dog's greatest weakness!" Mr.Conspicuous cried, before getting back on his feet. "I hope you you like flame grilled!" He shouted as he pulled out his infamous Flameball Gun. Mr.Conspicuous began blasting balls of fire towards The Meat Man, luckily The Meat Man has experience dodging projectiles so he was easily able to avoid his fire balls. "Blasted!" Mr.Conspicuous cried "How are you doing this?" Suddenly, The Meat Man reached into his trusty meatbelt, and pulled out his meatball launcher, "Here, have a taste!" The Meat Man said before firing a meatball into Mr.Conspicuous' mouth! "He's toying with me!" Mr.Conspicuous thought angrily, suddenly he shouted! "YOU HAVE A TASTE, MEAT SLUT!" He threw a sticky bomb, and before The Meat Man could even feel it touch him.

BOOM

Suddenly it went quiet. Shards of glass covered in blood flew into the street, along with a few of The Meat Man's body parts. Onlookers were astonished, traumatized, and all looked towards the now open window, paralyzed, afraid to move. The smoke cleared, and they saw the infamous Mr.Conspicuous, standing, his face was dreary, and his glasses were covered in smoke. "Oh deer." He whimpered, "What have I done." He mumbled.

After an eternity he began walking, walking past the counter toward the door, walking over rubble and body parts. He got on his Bicycle Powered Flying Machine, and slowly flew away. Nobody stopped him, they were all shocked. Mr.Conspicuous was always somewhat of a cartoon villain, he's never killed anyone before this, why did he do it now?

As Mr.Conspicuous landed at his Super Secret Evil Lair, he breathed, he sat down, and he began to argue with himself. "Why, why, why, why, why, why, why did I do that, I never hurt anyone, what came over me." He said, holding down vomit. "He pissed you off, he was toying with you, I'd argue he deserved it for not respecting you." He said to himself, "He had a family, a secret identity, not only did I just scar multiple bystander, whom also happen to be children, I also left a wife without a husband, children without a father, the city with one less man to protect them from someone like me, how can they possibly feel safe, if I'm around and there isn't a hero to stop me from killing all of them!" Suddenly his hands began twitching, "but there's other heros, there's other villains, people die all the time, why should you be surprised when you kill someone, afterall, you're a super villain." He went quiet, as if he was subconsciously thinking for justification, then he laughed, he laughed and he laughed and he laughed until his lungs ran out of air, then he took a deep breath, and then he screamed.

[mrallnight57-blog]

Chapter 41

Litias had use her psychic powers to hold back Jenny, but once they heard Sherrie scream. Litias gave Jenny back her free will. Suddenly everyone could feel the presence of a dark energy fill the room.

Jenny was the closest to the door, and could hear Billbo's voice outside the room. It was at this point she realized Billbo had saved Sherrie. Then Jenny looked toward the adjacent room and the remnants of the broken door. It was at that point she realized she was standing next to a bomb.

Jenny began glaring at Litias. Litias noticed this, and read Jenny's mind. That's when Litias said. "Everyone needs to get down."

Gothic Mirror, and Buzzsaw went to the adjacent room, and Jenny began to follow, but then she noticed Litias wasn't moving.

Jenny went over to Litias and began whispering. "What are you doing?"

Litias turned to her. "If I'm going to be destroyed by the Hero. He is going to have to do it directly. I'm not going to let him get to Willow Maker."

Jenny shoot her head. "We still don't know if that is going to harm you, or not."

Litias growled. "No Matter. This is a battle between good and evil. Only one can survive.

Jenny began to get frustrated. "Well I don't know which side is which!?!"

Litias gave Jenny a somber look. "Neither do I."

Jenny was taken a back by Litias's response. She looked at Litias one more time. Then she went to the adjacent room.

Litias watched as the door to the room she was in exploded. Pieces of the door went flying everywhere. Litias didn't flinch and stood her ground, and half a second later she was standing across the room from Billbo.

Litias began levitating a couple feet off the ground. "You have made a grave error Hero. For you have entered the lair of the all powerful goddess of the Drows. I am know as The Dark Witch, and tonight your soul will be mine!"

Billbo just stood there staring at Litias. He was unimpressed. Litias was waiting for Billbo to read her soul, but quickly realized he wasn't using that ability. So Litias began taunting him. "Go ahead Hero. Read my soul. So you can see the horrors I have done. Witness how I took the lands of the High Elves, and know me as the monster that ruled Mordokia!"

Billbo was still unimpressed, but finally he spoke. "Now why would I read your soul. I know what you are, and even though you may have lived on Mordokia. You are not from there. I also know your kind can manipulate your soul. Make me see what you want me to see. So there no point in reading your soul.

Litias was becoming frustrated. She used her psychic power to make the couch in the room hover and then she threw it at Billbo. Billbo quickly swatted away, smashing it against the wall, and it broke into several pieces.

Litias eyes widen as she began seeing just how powerful Billbo was. That's when Billbo spoke again. "Stand down Witch, your not ready to fight me yet. And when it comes to monster. I'm the only monster here."

Billbo words pissed Litias off. She began making a motion with her hands, as she screamed. "You have crossed the line Hero!!! Now prepare to die!"

Litias shot out a huge fire ball, but the dark magic around him quickly absorbed it. Litias was in utter shock. Then before she could make another move Billbo was right in front of her.

Billbo spoke. "You really need to stop using Drow magic. Next time we fight, use your own magic." Billbo then back handed Litias, which knocked her acrossed the room and into wall. The impact knocked her unconscious.

Jenny, Buzzsaw, and Gothic Mirror watched the battle from the door way. As soon as Litias hit the wall. Jenny ran to where she landing. Lucky for her Billbo ignored her.

Once Jenny got to Litias, she began looking for a pulse. She wasn't sure where to look though, because Litias wasn't human. She started rubbing Litias's back, that's when she realized Litias was still breathing. She then sat next to her and took sigh of relief. She left her hand on Litias's back. That's when she noticed Litias making a strange noise. It sounded like a small motor.

Jenny was puzzled. Then she looked at Litias and said. "Are you purring?"

As Jenny checked on Litias. Billbo made his way to the adjacent room. That's when Gothic Mirror turned to Buzzsaw and said. "Here is your chance my friend. It's time to get revenge on the man who killed most of the Punk Rockers.

Buzzsaw was shaking in fear. "Fuck that!!! I'm getting the hell out of here!!!" Then Buzzsaw turned around, and saw a window.

Buzzsaw tried running to the window, but Billbo's eyes turned red, and his staff appeared in his hand. Billbo launched his staff at Buzzsaw. The impact of the staff impaled Buzzsaw to the wall. The blade had gone through Buzzsaw's back and out of his chest, and into the wall.

Billbo raised his hand, making his staff dissappear and Buzzsaw body fell to the floor. Then Billbo's staff reappeared in his hand.

Billbo's eyes went back to normal, and his staff disappeared. He then turned his attention to Gothic Mirror.

Gothic Mirror saw the situation and had a plan. He knew that Litias didn't attack the hero's mind. So his plan was to make the Hero live out his worst fears.

Gothic Mirror stood his ground. "You may scare everyone else, but even the most powerful demons in the deepest, darkest parts of hell, have FEAR!" As Gothic Mirror said the word fear, he waved his hand to try and get a connection with Billbo's mind, but he couldn't get a connection. So he tried saying the word again. "FEAR!!!"

Billbo just stared at him. He watched as Gothic Mirror continued to wave his hand in front of him. Finally after watching Gothic Mirror failed attempts to get into his mind. He finally decided to speak. "Fear what? You?"

Gothic Mirror realized his power were not working and began to panic. He began slowly walking backwards aways from Billbo.

Billbo took a step towards Gothic Mirror. "There is no image you could put in my mind that would scare me. I'm already living my worst nightmare!"

Gothic Mirror realized at this point that he was completely outmatched, and began fearing for his life. Then he began to feel disoriented, and it felt as time was standing still.

Suddenly time began flowing normally again, and for the first time Gothic Mirror was fearing for his life. Sure his power didn't work on Litias, he knew Litias needed him. Billbo was a killer, and it seemed all he wanted to do was kill Gothic Mirror.

Gothic Mirror began to panic. He didn't want to die. So he decided to blame Litias for everything. "Look! This wasn't my idea! The witch made me do it! She's responsible for everything!!!"

Billbo knew Gothic Mirror was lying. "Really now? So at what point did the Witch tell you to sacrifice children? Hmm? Let me guess. It was when she was in hibernation."

Gothic Mirror tried to say something, but Billbo cut him off. "It doesn't matter what you say, because I already know everything. That's why I came looking for you, and it's also why I decided the Witch needed to take another nap."

Gothic Mirror was shaking nervously as Billbo took another step towards him. "I'm going to give you a chance to live. All you gotta do is gamble on a Demon. So go ahead, and summon the Demon. If it destroys me, you get to live. Unless you have a reason not to summon the Demon."

Gothic Mirror thought about it for a second. He knew if the Demon was destroyed. It could possibly kill Litias, but at the moment He was more concerned about himself. If the Demon could destroy the hero. He would be safe. So he told the hero. "No. There no reason not to summon the Demon."

Billbo shook his head. "Good. Just know when I'm finished Destroying the Demon. You're next."

*****************************************

Jenny was still sitting with Litias. She couldn't hear what Billbo and Gothic Mirror were saying, but she did hear Gothic Mirror say something about summoning the Demon.

Jenny began shaking Litias "Wake up!!! Gothic Mirror is summoning the Demon!" Litias wasn't waking. So Jenny decided to try and take off her hood, to see if she could tell how injured she was, but when she attempted to remove the hood. Her hand felt as if it was being set on fire.

Jenny screamed in pain. Then she looked down at Litias. "Hey witch!!! I'm trying to help you!" Jenny looked at her hand, and there was no sign of a burn. Jenny attempted to attempted to take off the hood again. This time nothing happen. She moved it a little. Then thought twice, and out of respect for Litias, she decided to leave it alone.

Gothic Mirror walked over to the blood vat, and began speaking in a language not known to humans, but Billbo recognized it as Drow language from his home world of Mordokia.

Billbo watched as Gothic Mirror moved his hands in a ritualistic fashion. Then the blood vat began to boil. He knew at this point the Demon was coming.

All the blood came together, and formed Widow Maker's new body. Widow Maker took a look around at his surroundings and saw Gothic Mirror. Widow Maker knew that Gothic Mirror was not in control of him, and thought if he could kill him now. Then Litias couldn't give him the contract, but before he could attack. Billbo called out to him. "Hey Demon! Look at me!"

Gothic Mirror breathed a sigh of relief. He saw Widow Maker eyeing him, and thought he was going to be attacked. After seeing his power fail on the Mordokia Hero. He wasn't sure if they would work on the Demon.

Widow Maker began walking towards Billbo, and Billbo began stepping back into the room where Litias and Jenny were. That's when Jenny noticed Billbo looking at her. He gave Jenny a brief nod. That's when Jenny thought. Did he just give me a signal? Jenny wasn't sure what Billbo wanted her to do, but he was expecting her to take some kind of action.

Widow Maker noticed Litias on the ground. That is when Billbo spoke. "She never saw it coming. I took her by surprise. If I hadn't, I would have never stood a chance. Now I see I made a huge mistake, because the most powerful demon in the Nether World will now seek to destroy me, and there is nothing I can do about it."

Jenny was confused, but noticed a few things. One, the orra that normally surrounded Billbo seemed to be gone. Two, he was speaking softly. Probably due to the fact Gothic Mirror was in the other room, and Billbo didn't want him to hear what he just said. Three, what Billbo said was a complete lie. Not only did he take Litias out with ease, but he went face to face with her, and none of Litias's powers worked on him. It was obvious to Jenny, he was bluffing. In attempt to give Widow Maker a false sense of security.

Widow Maker was enraged. "I don't know who you are, but I will destroy you in the name of my master, and I will make you my bitch in hell.

Widow Maker charged at Billbo, and hit him full force. The impact knocked Billbo out of the broken door way and into the hall. Widow Maker followed him out of the room.

After Widow Maker left the room. Gothic Mirror entered from the adjacent room. Jenny knew she had to act now.

As Gothic Mirror attempted to see what was going on in the hallway. Jenny called out to him. "Travis, hear my words now. The time has come to make a decision."

Gothic Mirror turned expected Litias, but was surprise to see Jenny standing there. "What is going on?"

Jenny did her best Litias impression. "I have taken over the Pretty One Travis, and it is I Litias who speaks to you. You have made a grand mistake by releasing Widow Maker without signing the contract. Widow Maker does not want to serve you, and now that you see his power first hand. You should know, once he destroys the Hero, he will destroy you. If you want to survive, you need to sign the contract! Now!!!"

Gothic Mirror wasn't sure if Jenny was really possessed by Litias, but he was reluctant to check it out with his powers. If Litias was taking Jenny over, and he attempted to read her mind. Litias might attack him. So for now he was just going to take Jenny's word for it. At this moment though, he was thinking about what Jenny had said, and if he should really sign the contract.

********************************************

Sherrie sat in the Hallway, looking at her dad's dead body. She sat by his head, wishing things could have worked out between them. She really wanted him in her life, but she realized now that the only way that would have worked is if she committed crimes for him. After tonight though, she realized that was not a path she wanted to take.

Sherrie was startled by a loud crashing noise. That's when Sherrie noticed Billbo being slammed into the wall down the hall. He was being man handled by the demon she saw in Litias's vision. Widow Maker was now standing over Billbo. Sherrie was in complete shock by what she was seeing.

Sherrie stood up, and watched as Widow Maker picked Billbo up and threw him down the hall. She moved as Billbo crashed into the wall in front of her.

Sherrie was confused. She didn't understand why Billbo wasn't fighting back. She watched as Widow Maker made his way down the hall, to where Billbo had landed but he stopped the moment he noticed Sherrie.

Widow Maker began walking towards Sherrie. At this moment Sherrie decided to stand her ground. She didn't know what was going to happen, but at this moment she didn't want to run. She was prepared to fight. Even if it meant her doom.

Widow Maker could see she was preparing herself to fight him, and began laughing at her. "Child. I am the literal face of Hell. I'm going to conquer your world. So I have to wonder child. What is going through your mind right now?"

Sherrie looked at Widow Maker, but then she noticed something, and a overwhelming sadness came over her. Tears began rolling down her cheeks as she continued looking in Widow Maker's direction.

Widow Maker began laughing at her again. "Well child, what do you have to say?"

Sherrie looked Widow Maker in the eyes and said. "You're about to get hurt really badly."

Suddenly Widow Maker could feel a dark presence all around him. It was an evil he had never felt before. Not even in the deepest parts of Hell. He began to feel disoriented, as if time had stopped, and his very soul was being invaded.

Widow Maker turned around to see the man he had been attacking was now on his feet, and had no sign of physical harm. Then Widow Maker could feel his power. It was equal, if not greater than the Red Woman. That when for the first time Widow Maker began feeling fear.

Widow Maker began to slowly back up. Then he began covering up to protect himself for the upcoming attack. Sherrie saw this, and shook her head. Then she screamed, "Run!!!" Afterwards she turned around and ran as fast as she could down the hallway.

Widow Maker attempted to follow, but Billbo snatched him up by his neck. It happened so quickly that Widow Maker never saw it coming. The Demon tried to fight out of Billbo's grip, but nothing he did harmed him, and Billbo just ignored him as he crushed his throat and held him against the wall.

Billbo watched as Sherrie turned the corner, on the other side of the hallway. Then he smiled. "She's learning." Then Billbo focused on Widow Maker. "Let's see if I can teach you something."

[thewebcomicsreview]

it's incredible how this sinfest new years is still from 2020 i think

Nah, it's 2021

This Time Storyline having the hero escape the bad guy's lair by walking on to a gaudy vehicle that's been turned into a flying car is probably not an intentional reference to Back To The Future 2, since I'm the only one on Earth who actually really likes that movie, but wow the Sinfest version is a much less exciting escape, isn't it? No one's actually chasing them and they and take their time. Look at Slick in that first panel there he's just kind of meandering to safety. Kind of a flat climax, innit?

But, of course, that's not the real important part of this climax, because if I'm the only one who loves BttF 2, I'm also the only one who remembers the plot of Sinfest.

Way way back in the 1980s, in 2013, Xanthe and Slick had this weird relationship where they weren't friends exactly but she was kind of trying to convert him to the Sisterhood, but there was an incident where a crowd attacked her and Slick didn't help (Assuming "Sleaze" is metaphorically Slick's evil side and not literally an evil clone, which to this day has not been made entirely clear).

This was actually a major event in Xanthe's life, and one of the very few plot beats in Sinfest to actually change the status quo, albeit slightly. It fucked her up so bad that she had an emotional reaction to something in Sinfest instead of it being immediately dropped. Xanthe no longer attempted to change anyone and hated men to the point where even the other members of the Sisterhood found it slightly weird.

Also she got her kewl sci-fi tricycle as a pick-me-up present out of the deal. But she never spoke about this with Slick because no one in Sinfest ever talks about anything because Tats keeps forgetting his plot points and after this Slick got a fembot and that whole deal got introduced.

But here we are, nearly eight years later, and there's a whole strip of Xanthe reacting to seeing Slick finally stand against The System because, um, he got banned from Facebook but whatever Slick is on Team Good Guy now and Xanthe is shown to be affected by this implying that Tats actually might remember a plot point. Like he planned for Slick and Xanthe to hook up back when he introduced her and then he went in a wildly different direction but that idea's been stuck in the back of his boomer brain.

And while it would be extremely funny for Slick to win a girlfriend as a prize for being feminist-adjacent, what's actually going to happen is what always happens in Sinfest, which is nothing. Slick finally coming to save Xanthe like he failed to seven years ago should be a major turning point in their relationship or at least a conversation and yet by next month it'll be dropped and there'll be no sign Tats even realized the import of his own plot.

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

the traditional new year planner post: 2023 L, 2022 R. great swathes of last year when i did not use my planner, and one of the years with the least sticker coverage by area

all together now

[orsuliya]

Just finished Emperor’s Conquest and I need a moment to process. We’ll be back to our regularly scheduled programming in a moment. First, some random thoughts. I may do an actual comparison after I get through the finale. Or I may not, we’ll see.

Is the book better than the drama? No, they’re both equally amazing. There are some things that I like much better in the book. Politcs, for one, world-construction, all military-adjacent scenes and okay, I will say it, book!XQ is the sexiest thing to ever exist, he only needs to appear in the distance and I’m gooone a really fascinating character. On the other hand TRP fleshed out many plotlines in a really solid way and gave us something that the book lacks - actual personal relationships between characters other that Awu and Xiao Qi. Sorry, but Emperor’s Conquest is guilty of a metric tonne of tell-not-show. We get informed that Awu feels this or that way about somebody for this or that reason, which sometimes gets coupled with a reference to past events and that’s it. And since she’s our only point-of-view character, other places and events only get reported on. The whole book narrative is very introspective, which is fine, but not everybody’s cup of tea.

How is TRP as an adaptation? Is it faithful? Well, some things got lifted from the book almost word-for-word, certainly the first half of Awu’s journey. Other events and especially characters are wildly different! Don’t worry, Zitan is still as useless as ever, even if less actively malicious. And seriously, thank you, dramagods, for our badass Ningshuo officer Hu Yao, for Best Bro Guanglie and especially for the hilariously magnificent and magnificently hilarious bastard Daddy Wang.

The most startling difference - for all that their relationship with each other remains mostly unchanged - can be seen in our main characters and it is closely related to how the main themes of the story have changed going from book to drama.

Book!Xiao Qi is a magnificent bastard with twice the army, four times the ruthlessness and twenty times the ambition of his drama counterpart. Oh, and he’s got STYLE, the showy, showy son of a bitch. There’s no quiet self-control there; if there’s self-control, then it will be pure mithril, cold smiles and chilling calculations included. Oh, he still goes soft with Awu, but it’s such a startling contrast to his usual coldness, that it’s much more noticeable than in the comparatively consistent drama!XQ. Oh, and he cries. A lot. Which... hnnnnng! In the book XQ switches back-and-forth, going from arctic gale to summer day in a matter of seconds; in the drama he goes from tiger to kitten, so at the end of the day still a cat, if of a different coat.

This whole Ningshuo-soldiers-as-a-family thing? Pure drama invention. Book!XQ has comrades and brothers-in-arms, not brothers-brothers. He still bankrupts himself for his soldiers, but there’s no sign that it’s because of any guilt or personal feelings; 100% feudal warlord, 0% humble fatherly figure, that guy. In fact this whole theme centered aroud family is largely a drama invention. Book!Awu goes ride-and-die for Xiao Qi very early; the only member of her family she ever goes against him for (although very spectacularly) is her brother.

Also, book!Xiao Qi is no beggar shepherd orphan. An orphan, yes, but not a completely lowborn one; his mother was not even a concubine, but he still comes from a noble if rather isolated clan of talented loners. He ran away at thirteen, true, but it’s not the same. For one, the book doesn’t really stress the class issue all that much. There’s absolutely a conflict between the old families and Xiao Qi’s new military elite, but there’s no hint of any kind of greater social change. Book!XQ wants to change the dynasty, that’s it. And that’s his goal from the very start, one which Awu fully supports; at one point she’s the one to urge him on, even as he leaves the choice to her. The issue of kneeling or not kneeling to the throne, so prevalent in the last arc of the drama, is not really an issue in the book - Xiao Qi has nothing against kneeling masses, as long as they kneel to him.

Awu... Oh, that was a surprise. Although it really shouldn’t have been. Guys, book!Awu is a cold magnificent bitch. I am not kidding. She makes for a perfect partner to book!XQ; it’s not that she’s completely ruthless, she will still save her aunt, if needed... It’s just that if she’s forced, she’ll stop at nothing. Her inner commentary is also absolutely callous in some situations; her reaction to Yuxiu’s suicide gave me chills, I kid you not. They really are a matching pair!

And you know what? I like both versions of our heroes. I am fascinated by this cunning, cold and ambitious book take; it’s very gritty and very daggers-under-magnificent-silks, very realistic at the end of the day. Drop book!Awu and XQ into TRP-world, they’ll have it conquered before lunch and even Daddy Wang in his evil lair will never see it coming.

But as a hopeless romantic, I can’t help but melt when faced with the much more fantastic drama take; a pair of truly noble characters who do not really want power, but are forced to take it up for the greated good? Sign me up! And let’s face it, as hot as this whole only-good-and-soft-for-you thing really is, sometimes you just need a man who is, in every single aspect of his life, undeniably Good with a capital G.

My advice? Go and read the book after you finish the drama, otherwise you risk getting serious whiplash. Also, be careful if you have ever experienced weird feelings when faced with magnificent ink-black horses, shiny swords, epic cavalry charges and unfurling standarts, it gets... intense.

[rainofaugustsith]

Rain Plays SWTOR: Solo Uprisings 2

Includes: Inferno, Divided We Fall, Trench Runner Please see part one for an intro to the solo Uprisings and necessary information; check the tags #rain plays swtor and #solo swtor.  Inferno - Set on Ord Mantell. 

IMHO this is another good choice for an easier Uprising if you want to just do one for the experience.  If you have played a Smuggler or Trooper you will immediately recognize this area; it's the Separatists' volcano base. I guess the Sith lords found out they had a vacancy. As Evil Lairs go, it’s top notch. You’ve got lava, you’ve got dramatic drops, what more could you want? You'll start with several waves of mobs. Lots and lots. And then more. There are several boxes of grenades around the room, so don't be afraid to use them as needed.  Lord Wraid - Kill the Sith in the room, especially the ones on the platform behind him - they heal him. Mobs of Imperial soldiers will periodically enter the area but just ignore them and keep hitting Wraid.  T9 - Isotope-5 style droid - Nothing to write home about. You’ll be fine. No special tricks. Just remember you're on a small platform so don't get too creative about where you jump.  Grapple over to the final set of platforms (look for the helpful green arrows), Look at this, we're almost done! Lord Adacin and Lord Zanisk - They will switch off, send in mobs, send in a battle droid, and basically be obnoxious, but they can be defeated. They have knockbacks, Force Storm and lots of colorful circles to avoid. Save your grenades for the mobs of Sith apprentices, not the troopers. Also take care when hitting the kolto stations - every single one is close to the edge of the platform, and since the floor is lava (and a long way down) you don't want to fall.      Divided We Fall -  Set on Coruscant If you have ever played any Republic character through their class story, you will immediately recognize where you are. It's the Works on Coruscant.  The bosses in this are challenging. There are a lot of silver NPCs in the mob, including the Savage Cthon. A bunch of them will greet you when you arrive. Find the grenades!

Beta Cthon - Has rakghoul energy, and will attack you the same way. The fight's not challenging until close to the end, when a mob of silver level Savage Cthon show up. Grenade time.  When you wade through more mobs and get to this room with this panel, go upstairs. Defeat the enemies you see (you can leave the yellow astromechs alone). Now familiarize yourself with those two big consoles where the yellow astromechs are. Why? As soon as you click this panel, the room will fill with gas. You need to get upstairs and click both consoles ASAP to stop it. Of course, more mobs will descend on you as you are trying to do this. Ignore them and let your companion handle things as you get to the consoles. Luckily there's a medical droid adjacent to this area so you can get patched up after the melee. 

When you reach this long corridor, take care to avoid stepping on the grates as much as possible. Why? Fire. Bad Red Circles. 

 Lt. Raena - After the mobs you just faced she's pretty simple. She doesn't move much. Stay off the grates and out of colorful circles on the floor. 

Alpha Cthon - Worst boss in this Uprising. Don't be surprised if he knocks down your health and your companion's health, too. You have a very narrow space to fight him, because those grates will light up with fire and hurt a lot. I try to get him near the entrance of the room, where there's a kolto station on each side. Save your grenades and Heroic Moment Orbital Strikes to deal with the mobs of cthons that descend on you during this fight.  Commander Kallin - After the Cthon you should be fine. Stay off the grates. 

Trench Runner - Set on Denova

You're in Denova, in a very run-down industrial area. Visually, this is probably the least interesting Uprising for me. It's also the only one I intensely dislike. It's kind of terrible. Don't do this to yourself unless you really want to get through all the Uprisings.  The mobs here are tough, and they're also relentless - they keep surging in on you. There are numerous gold enemies and several silver as well. There aren't very many grenade boxes, either. Despite the suggestion given by Alliance Support to use the consoles to bring in orbital strikes, if you're not in a group, you can't use the consoles. It'll say as much, too. Rude. So just keep hitting the mobs. Watch that they don't surround and overwhelm your companion, I nearly lost Lana in the fray once or twice.  After you've finally quelled the mobs, the Alliance personnel will run in and take over these little sheds. Even though you can't use the consoles here (again, RUDE), they can still act as safety/momentary rest zones, and they have medical droids. Given how much you need your AOEs and Heroic Moment here, you may wish to wait in the safe zone until they cool down. 

The first three bosses jump into the middle of the mobs you're already fighting, so you really won't have a moment to prepare for them.  Jom Shomo - Commando type. I think. He's not so difficult to defeat on his own. It's just the fact that you're attempting the fight in the midst of a huge mob.  Garnick - Really not that much different from Shomo. Lots of mobs make him difficult. The one advantage he has over the first boss is that he doesn't move much. I tried to get the mob close to him and then take them all out with Heroic Moment's Orbital Strike.   Boss #3: Look, I don't even know. She has a sword and not a blaster. But it's just as annoying and overwhelming to deal with her as it is the others.  Commander Rike: Okay. He's on a hovertank like the ones on Makeb. Like Makeb, your character has to...basically fling themselves on the tank and beat it up. But wait, there's more! See the purple button on your temporary ability bar? That's the key to getting through this. Periodically Rike will shield the tank and it will heal its HP. You need to keep an eye on that purple button and be prepared to SLAM it the moment it lights up. Once you do, it will call in an orbital strike that interrupts the heal and unshields the tank. It takes 2.7 seconds for the orbital strike to interrupt so the tank will heal at least a little no matter what you do. Just keep hitting it. Ignore the mobs unless you have AOEs to throw at them. You're undoubtedly out of grenades by now. 

But wait, there's more! Yes, really. I'm sorry. Once you destroy the tank, Rike will pop out. You'll have thirty seconds to kill him. If you don't, he will detonate a bomb and insta-kill you. And then you'll have to do the entire fight again. Surprise! Yeah, by now you'll really want to break something so take it out on Rike before he blows everything up. 

[chaniters]

Intervention, part two.

An Argent-Ortega fic, Soft is sometimes the best Sidestep. The title is a callback to an earlier fic that has nothing to do with this, and titles are just hard for me tonight. 

Cyrus decides to let the two rangers  visit his evil lair, and nobody knows what to expect, him least of all. 

WARNING, there are slight implications that might be spoilerous for the Alpha, so don’t read if you want to stay clear of those!!!

Enjoy!

________________________________________

“So… this is it” you state with little energy.

“I KNEW IT! I knew it was a sewer base!” Argent states as she walks through the security gate you installed. 

“We know. This is the fifth time you say it” You answer as she moves past you. 

“You didn’t even take anything out of the box?” Ortega asks appalled looking at the towers of piled state-of-the-art technological priceless junk you’ve been stealing from the biggest companies in town, all of them still in their original packaging.

“This is… quite the collection” Argent says looking at them with her special sight.

“I don’t really need any of that” 

“You… are a hoarder. I can’t believe you’re living like this again” he adds

“Again?” Argent asks.

“This isn’t the first time I’ve caught him living in a sewer ruin”

“I KNEW IT! You’re a mole-person!” 

“Yeah, that’s what Anathema used to say...” you say tiredly. Shit. Why is this all so familiar?

 “Cyrus, I can’t let you…”

“No!” you interrupt because you know where this is going. He’s pulled the same exact shit, using Argent to get him here “I’m staying here. This isn’t back then. This is now. I’m not going to stay with you or in your guest room or whatever. You know how dangerous this is, and we both know I won’t be safer in with you. You won’t be safer with me, you know that. I’m a criminal now”

“But you can’t…-”

“I said no,” you say looking at him, completely resolute. 

“I just…,” he says looking between you and Argent “... Mierda. Fine. Ok, I get it” he says. “But I don’t like it. You’re not well Cyrus, you shouldn’t be alone.”

“What’s new with that? Besides, you’re here now, right?” 

He groans, moving past piles of boxes that force you all to move sideways.  

“Do you even have any open space in here?” he asks, trying not to sound too passive-aggressive, and failing. 

“Yeah I do, further along... I wasn’t thinking of showing it to anyone, ok?” you say embarrassed. Why are you embarrassed? “This is a villain’s lair and not a fancy home, I’m a fugitive from literally everyone,  what did you expect?.”

“Well, you know, since you’ve been stealing so much, I thought that maybe you would have sold some of this shit…”

“I can’t take chances getting all of these in the market! You know what happens to criminals who act like big spenders, it’s a basic mistake. And you know I don’t care about cash, I just need to be in the news.”

“I don’t mean cash, I mean living space,” he says struggling to move past the narrow passage filled with boxes of neuro-chip parts from all the best brands in modding tech. “Sorry. I don’t generally get a guided tour trough evil lairs”

“It’s not an EVIL lair…” you say defensively.

“I think I’ll just shut up for a moment” 

Eventually, you all come out of the forest of boxes into the remaining open space on the old station.  The old ticket booths have been turned into storage for your suit’s parts, a number of weapons and a few computers. The adjacent security office is where you’re now assembling the skin regenerator. Ortega’s eyes lock up on your board, were your plans used to be. You removed everything before he got here, and he clearly notices. 

“It’s not dirty as the rest of the tunnels,” Argent says running a silver finger trough the surfaces.

“Well, I did take some stuff out of the box… I’ve got about a dozen Loombas sweeping the floors every two days.”

“So THAT’s why you were stealing cleaning supplies…” Ortega ponders as he moves on. 

“I’ve got… a sort of… living room?” you say nervously fiddling with the key of the old control room and administrative offices. This is so wrong, this place looks like a hoarder’s junkyard and you knew it. Why didn’t you just meet them someplace else? There’s plenty of locations to have secret meetings… but no. You had to let Ortega and Argent invite themselves into your secret base. You finally match the correct key with the lock, opening the door.

“So… uh… here it is,” you say motioning them into the old subway control-room that you refurbished into a living-room, hoping it will get better reception than your hoarder sea of unopened tech junk boxes. 

Sofa, TV set, mini bar, some magazines, and a perpetually running air conditioning device keeps it cool and dry. It doesn’t look too bad, right? You even have a few posters here. 

Shit. 

You rush to stand just in front of the Ranger’s old calendar,  open on Ortega’s issue, the one where he’s wearing the least. You turn to face them hoping Ortega didn’t see it… Double shit.  

He didn’t, but it’s somehow worse now, because Argent certainly did, in full colored detail. The resulting hyena laughter makes you die a little inside, as you blush beyond the red spectrum. 

“What is it?” Ortega asks, perplexed. 

“Nothing!” you say removing the cursed thing and rolling it into a tube keeping it behind your back. “It’s nothing!” He gives you that suspicious look… You can’t read his thoughts but he must be thinking it’s some part of your masterplan… ugh. You should probably burn it before he sees it.  Argent’s mocking smile is relentless as she walks past you...

“Oh it’s certainly not just ‘nothing’” Argent says taking the thing off your hands while you were distracted. “This… is everything!”

“No! Give it back!” you let out hopelessly

“Hey, I want to see it too!” she says keeping it a few inches above your reach. Shitshitshit. That’s what you get for being made too short. The farm ruins your life yet again.

The two of them gang up and move you out of the way… Ortega’s smugness as Argent shows him is so strong you have to look down to avoid his gaze. 

“You realize, of course, now I’m going to have to kill you,” you say trying to muster your villainous voice.

“Come here you little freak!” Ortega says pulling you into a hug that you don’t even try to dodge because what’s even the point now that he knows just how bad you had it all along. That thing is old,  from before your capture, and he can obviously tell you had to look for it. 

Sinking into his arms it with no shields, there is kissing, laughter and ruffling your hair and everything he knows infuriates you, with Argent just watching amusedly. 

This is a new low…

He finally released the hug, keeping just an arm wrapped around your shoulder, and Argent approaches to readjusts your wrinkled shirt. “Relax Cyrus! We’re just messing with you”

You almost lift a hand to stop her, but there is something soothing in the gesture, in having both of them so close… so warm. 

You can’t read Ortega’s thoughts but you can certainly feel hers. She thinks the two of you look cute, especially with the height difference, him looking so protective over you. It makes you feel small but in a new -good- way for a change. She’s the one that’s too cute, worrying about your clothes. You should probably tell her that at some point.

“I’m used to being messed with. Just … not this way”

“Not used to people going through your stuff huh?” she says handing you your calendar back as a peace offering “Really good picture by the way…” she adds to Ortega with an unexpectedly mischievous smile. The one she used to make you lose your grip on reality when you took that mask off.  

“Thanks,” you both say, you because you’re getting the calendar back, him because he’s falling into her world. 

“I’m not used to having stuff period”

“I can tell from what you did with all your stolen tech,” Ortega says rubbing your shoulder before pointing at the calendar. “Must say this is a real confidence booster… you know, I didn’t know if you were into me at all back in the day, it was always making out and you running, and then kissing… You always left me clueless. Good to know I still have it”

“You always had it,” you say with a nervous laugh without thinking…. which leads into him smiling back, and a kiss, and Argent rubbing your back gently because she *wants* this go further between you and...and it’s getting warm, too fucking warm, and you just can’t…

“Sooo do you want a drink maybe? I have a few things” you say untangling yourself from them in the gentlest -but swiftest- way possible.  

Ortega lets out a soft chuckle.  “See? It’s always like that Angie. One wrong step and you lose him” 

“It wasn’t ALWAYS like that,” you say bringing beer and a carbonated sugary drink that you know Argent will like because that’s a perk of telepathy, knowing everything that people want and choosing what to give them. 

For instance, you know she wants you, but this soda’s all she’s going to get right now. You brought them here to discuss serious matters, this isn’t a date or anything like that...

“Ooooh. So you didn’t escape him at some point? He finally got you, Cyrus?”

Why in the hell do you even have a mouth, you wonder. Why must you repeatedly shoot yourself in the foot? Are you doing this on purpose?

“You bet I did!” he snorts, making you tremble as you serve the drinks. You’ve never been so embarrassed without knowing why in your life. “I got him, and then I went and got him again, and he didn’t run away, I can tell you that”

“Wow,” she says with renewed interest. The thoughts in her head are undecipherable but too hot to handle. “...wait, so you told him about the tattoos already?”

“No, I turned off the lights, ok?” you interject quickly before Ortega can answer that.” … and can we… please not talk about it like that?” ” you plead wondering if this is the moment you die.

“What do you mea… oh shit, am I making you feel uncomfortable?” he says, now with true concern.

“YES. VERY!” 

“I didn’t mean to… I’m not bottom shaming you or anything…”

“There’s nothing wrong with bottoming Cyrus” Argent adds quickly. Oh, she’s now picturing, with a vivid imagination. That’s just great… just what you needed... 

“I know, but… I just don’t like people speaking about me like... that,” you say, realizing too late that you’re being too honest.

Argent gives you a puzzled look, Ortega’s expression shifting as he realizes what you meant.

“Hey! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean anything like that Cyrus, you know that right?”

“... yes,” you let out. “Yes, I do,” you add, to his relief. “This is just… all new to me. Talking about… sex.”

“Well I’ll be more careful from now on” he states looking directly into your eyes, Argent’s mind’s catching up, realizing there’s a story to be told there. She will ask later. Perhaps you’ll answer when she does. 

“It’s just … It was so great. And I couldn’t tell anyone up to this moment.?” he says looking at Argent.  “Do you know how many years I had been waiting for that? Back then I almost had to break my back again just to get your name. And then you died… and you came back… and you finally agreed to come to my place and It happened… and It … It was everything” 

“You can’t mean that,” you say looking away. “You’ve slept with plenty of people better than me”

“That’s not true Cyrus. I only really loved you”

This is too much… you can’t deal with this shit… you flee into Argent’s thoughts but Ortega’s words have turned them so soft that you feel like you’re sliding down a cascade of melted butter, her sharks falling freely not knowing what the fuck’s going on. 

Shit. Abort, abort!

You return swiftly, back to the space behind your eyes, having to deal with your stupid emotions. This is so unfair... 

“Ooooohhhh you two are in love? That’s so sweet” Argent says with a voice so soft and tiny that it can’t possibly belong to her. No. It definitely belongs to some girl 10 years younger that’s reading a romance book in secret with a flashlight under her bed’s covers… wait... was that a memory of hers?! 

Ortega doesn’t answer, he just smiles, knowing he’s pulled your strings far beyond the snapping point by now. He’s been winning these small battles for years and now he’s won the war. 

You want to punch him… kiss him… flee…

But Argent decides for you, kissing him instead before you can say anything else… and then she literally leaves you speechless, with a long kiss on your lips.

“You know… I do have… a … bedroom too… ” you say, almost breathless, as she finally parts. 

_______________some time later____________________

“Must say I wasn’t even sure you owned a bed,” Ortega says, his hand softly rubbing Argent’s silver fingers above you, as you lay in between them. 

“This is the coziest sewer lair I’ve ever been invited too” Argent adds. 

“Subway lair” you correct her absently still trying to process what just happened. What you all just did… And the way they didn’t judge you when you cried… 

And now you’re just here, having this calm chat while they roast you about your terrible lair. You could probably get used to this. Probably.  

“You know, I would like to be able to do this, the way it’s supposed to be felt” Argent comments. “If only SOMEONE would finally complete that regenerator…That would be so great”

“Is this your strategy to get me to work harder? Sex as a weapon?” you ask, being more calm and smooth about it than you ever thought you could be. 

“Well, I tried claws so I figured I could go for something new for a change. Is it working?”

“So very much” you confess with a broken voice, kissing their joined hands. “I’ll get it done… and… I just want to add… I fucking love you two” you let out, the final barriers being swept away, leaving you deep into the uncharted, very dangerous territory of openness about feelings, emotions, and all that awful stuff.  

_______________________________________

My fanfiction: https://chaniters.tumblr.com/post/181692759294/my-fanfiction-for-fallen-hero

DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fan fiction using characters and the setting of the Fallen Hero: Rebirth and upcoming Fallen Hero: Retribution games written by Malin Rydén. I do not claim ownership of any characters from the Fallen Hero wold. These stories are a work of my imagination, and I do not ascribe them to the official story canon. These works are intended for entertainment outside the official storyline owned by the author. I am not profiting financially from the creation of these stories, and thank the author for her wonderful game/s, without which these works would not exist.

[monstersdownthepath]

Monster Spotlight: Weaverworm

CR 8

Neutral Evil Huge Aberration

Adventure Path: Carrion Crown: Broken Moon pg. 86~87

The hideous, misbegotten creations of Urgathoa, formed in a moment of whimsy by the Goddess of Undeath and Disease only to be promptly abandoned. Despite their status as divine orphans, Weaverworms do not hate their goddess; in fact, they revere her in their own hideous ways, strumming sickening songs in her honor on instruments made from their own silk and mucus. In some rare cases, they may actually become Clerics or Oracles of her (or even strange Bards in her service), but only when Urgathoa deigns to acknowledge them. The vast majority of these aberrants, however, live quiet lives on the fringes of society, finding niches and burrows they can squeeze into and remaining sedentary for the majority of their existence.

Weaverworms are ambush predators by nature, scattering thin strands of alert silk in a wide area around them like alarm wires and hiding sheets of sticky webbing in hard-to-notice spots; in addition to these threads, they also have 30ft of Tremorsense to detect the smallest and lightest of footfalls, letting them know when substantial prey is near. More often than not, however, Weaverworms rely on their hypnotic songs to call prey to them rather than waiting for them to come close. The Weaver’s Song produced by their silken instruments has an enormous range of 300ft and affects any creature vulnerable to mind-affecting effects, be they bird, beast, lizard, or wanderer. Any creature that fails the DC 18 Will save is compelled to approach the worm’s lair as quickly as possible, only receiving a second save against the effect if their path takes them into clear and obvious danger. While the Weaver’s Song explicitly states that standing adjacent to the worm itself does not break the effect, it’s likely that any creature entering the masses of sticky Web that surround its lair does, allowing for a secondary save just before the victim gets stuck fast. That, however, is up to the DM and how hard they want the encounter to be!

The song will always draw in attention, and Weaverworms bask in it, ravenously attacking any and all creatures gathered around them like the world’s most repulsive Disney princesses once they finish playing (the fascination effect lasts for 1d4 rounds after the song concludes!). Adherents to a goddess of gluttony, Weaverworms will eat just about anything, gorging themselves to painful fullness before encasing the rest of their meals within slimy, silken cocoons for later. Their appetites don’t discriminate, and that’s a problem for any adventurer whose ally failed their save against the song, the fascination effect refusing to break right up until the worms sink their fangs into flesh.

Weaverworms have the standard CCB attack of most horrors without weapons, though their damage is much higher thanks to their massive 24 Str and surprising size. Their bite deals 2d6+7 damage, and their claws 1d8+7... but unlike many monsters relying on CCB, the true danger lays in the claws this time. The Paralytic Nails of a Weaverworm do exactly what they say on the tin, inflicting complete paralysis on a struck victim for 1 full round if they fail a DC 19 Fortitude save, which they must make twice a round if the worm is allowed a Full-Attack... And if they’re struck even once, the toxic spikes at the end of the worm’s fingers break off and lodge within their skin, pumping the potent poison into them forever until removed with either a DC 12 Strength check (which causes 1d6 damage to the victim) or a DC 14 Heal check (which doesn’t). The paralysis lasts for only one round, but the poison pings the victim every single round the nails remain embedded in their skin, making fighting back or even escaping the ravenous predators nearly impossible.

The webbing of the Weaverworms not only allows them to create swaths of difficult terrain, making their 15ft of reach more irritating to escape (and they can slither 30ft a round on it without being impeded), but they can shoot it with startling accuracy as long, grappling strands. Their Web is a ranged touch attack that, if it hits, entangles the victim and requires a DC 19 Strength or Escape Artist check to escape. Worse, if they fail to escape the web on their turn, they’re automatically dragged 20ft closer to the ravenous maggot without the creature wasting any actions on its part, usually pulling them right back into its reach so it can paralyze them and eat them alive.

You can read more about them here.

[darkelfshadow]

Session Summary - 87

AKA “The Birth Of Darkness”

Adventures in Taggriell

Session 87  (Date: 12th June 2020)

Players Present:

- Rob (Known as “Varis”) Elf Male.

- Bob (Known as “Sir Krondor) Dwarf Male.

- Travis (Known as “Trenchant”) Human Male.

- Arthur (Known as “Gim”) Dwarf Male.

- Paul (Known as “Labarett”) Elf Male.

Absent Players

- John (Known as “Ragnar”) Dwarf Male. <Played by Rob>

NPC

- (Known as “Naillae”) Elf Female. <Controlled by Travis>

Summary

- Oathday, 11th Gozran in the year 815 (Second Era). Early Summer.

- The party begin this session, once again in the underground lair of Throstulgrael, the Dragon the party slew last session. The large prone body of the Dragon rests unmoving on the wet floor.

- Immediately a large giant like figure emerges from behind a thick curtain from a lit side chamber. Before the curtain could fall back, Naillae observed four Red Wizards of Thay in the chamber. One of the wizards was holding an unknown glowing object, but before she could identity the object all four wizards teleported away.

- Emerging from the curtain was a large Half-Dragon Troll wearing armour and with a large sword slung over his back, speaking in a deep voice, “Praise Tiamat”

- Naillae quickly flew back to the party, as the sound of the Half-Dragon Troll splashing through the foot high water and his slow clapping could be heard. The troll rounded a corner, now in sight of the rest of the party, still clapping.

- Trenchant immediately began casting Detect Thoughts.

- The Troll spoke, “Well done, well done! You have killed Throstulgrael, my master would be most pleased.”

- Labarett, the closest to the approaching Troll, crouched back, his long sword raised high, “And who would be your master Troll?”

- The Troll stopped and smiled, “Why, my master is Throstulgrael of course. A most fitting death for my master, much more fitting than for me to have simply killed him. It is most fortuitous that you came now and not sooner, the ritual was only just completed, having taken a month. Had you not arrived today I would have had the honour to take my master’s life.”

- Varis, understanding what was about to happen, began to back away from the corpse of the Dragon.

- Trenchant, his Detect Thoughts spell now active, looked into the thoughts of the Half-Dragon Troll. The creature, its name Graxxygak, was thinking of the complex ritual performed by the Red Wizards of Thay, under command of the Cult Of The Dragon Queen. All the vast treasure of Throstulgrael, his coins, gems, jewellery, and powerful magic items, all given to the Cult for payment. The ritual of transformation, of a dragon into a creature of immense power and evil, the Dragon’s soul now confined within a phylactery and granting the creature immortality. Even if the skeletal body of the creature is killed, the soul continues and will return in a new body.

- Graxxygak’s voice became louder, passionate, “You all are privileged to witness the raise of my master, to true power and evil. You shall bare witness to the birth of darkness! Behold Throstulgrael, Dracolich!”

- As the party watch in horror, the scales and flesh on the prone body of the Dragon begin to crumble and fall off as black dust, exposing the bones underneath. The skeletal frame begins to move upwards, pushing itself off the watery floor, the bone wings extending outwards. The skull turns towards the party, and the two empty eye sockets erupt with two glowing points of light. The bone jaw opens and a deep, loud voice, cracked and rough, shouts out, “I am immortal!”

- Battle starts and the magical Dragon Fear washes over the party, but only Sir Krondor and Naillae succumb to it. The Dracolich opens its jaws and a stream of acid shoots outwards, directly towards the cowering pair of Sir Krondor and Naillae. Naillae manages to dive behind one of the detached doors and Sir Krondor kneels down using his shield to deflect all the stream away from himself.

- Graxxygak is walking towards his master, seemingly unconcerned with the party. The Half-Dragon Troll does not even unsheath its massive sword but instead just keeps pushing Labarett back into the large water pit, Throstulgrael’s escape tunnel, effortlessly with one hand. Labarett tries to trip the large giant creature into the pit but is unable to do so. The Barbarian keeps having to climb out the watery pit and reengage the giant over and over, pushing forward constantly, knowing that the powers granted to him by the Hero’s Heart will be over soon.

- Ragnar and Varis remain outside the main chamber, and from the adjacent room, fire spells and arrows towards the Dracolich. Gim has rushed into the room and is delivering a series of swings into the Dracolich with Narhethi, his enchanted great sword, and mage killer. The arcane frequency given off by the sword disrupts and interferes with the casting of magic and the effects are flowing into the Dracolich.

- Naillae, having overcome the Dragon Fear, is flying into striking distance with the Dracolich, plunging Urramach, her enchanted dagger, into the bones of the beast and then quickly flying back before she can be struck.

- Trenchant, having levitated himself to the ceiling is casting magics and inspiring the party.

- Sir Krondor is desperately trying to overcome the Dragon Fear but is unable to do so, forced to stay away.

- The Dracolich is pounding on Gim and the Dwarf is dropped to the ground repeatedly, deadly wounds appearing on him. Thanks to healing spells by Trenchant and Ragnar, Gim keeps avoiding death. The Dwarf never falters, never stops, and continues to attack.

- Large cracks are appearing all over the Dracolich but just as the party sense they are getting the upper hand, Graxxygak who has now reached his master, pulls out a flask from under his open cloak. The giant creature throws the contents of the flask over the Dracolich and most of the damage to the beast is healed.

- Naillae sees another flask under the coat and yells this information out to the rest of the party.

- Labarett roars in rage and frustration, “Kill the troll!”

- Gim continues his assault on the Dracolich, whilst everyone else now turns to attacking the Half-Dragon Troll. It does not take long and soon Graxxygak falls to the ground dead, the sound of braking glass indicating that the other flask has smashed. The Dracolich bellows out loudly in anger at seeing his servant fall.

- Trenchant begins to cast one of his most potent spells, but the Dracolich senses the powerful spell and begins to cast a Counter Spell. The arcane interference flowing through the Dracolich from the attacks of Gim’s great sword Narhethu stop the Counter Spell taking effect and Trenchant’s spell is cast. The Bard animates one of the large stone doors and the now dead Graxxygak, to raise up and begin to smash into the Dracolich. The rest of the party now turn their full assault onto the undead abomination, except for Sir Krondor who still is struggling to overcome his fear.

- Seeing two easy targets, the Dracolich snaps out to the animated door and smashes the object into oblivion. The party are relentless towards the undead foe and once again large cracks start to appear in the bones. Sir Krondor, having spent the entire fight struggling to overcome his fear finally does so and gives a loud battle cry.

- Throstulgrael realises that this current body of his is badly broken and now that his servant is dead he will not get another healing dose. Though his soul is immortal, he does not wish for this body to be destroyed, as he would need to wait for many, many months until he could claim another. He looks across at the escape tunnel, which the party have not blocked or closed.

- The Dracolich swings his tail about knocking Labarett and Gim to the ground and then lunches off the ground into the air. Labarett and Gim, still laying on the ground, uselessly swing at the beast but miss.

- Opening its jaws the Dracolich spews out a stream of acid towards Sir Krondor and Labarett, each getting hit. Sir Krondor, now no longer afraid, peers over his shield, acid vapours raising from it, “Now you will see what a Knight Of the Anvil can do!”

- Throstulgrael then speaks, “You are not worthy of my time. I will let you all live, and know that all the destruction and death that I wrought upon this land and its people shall be from your folly!”

- The Dracolich then dives directly into the large pool of water, his escape tunnel, and away. As the room and the party are drench by the massive wave of water that washes over them, Sir Krondor, looks at the undulating waves in confusion, “But … but I didn’t get to swing at the evil bastard!”

- Naillae flys down to the ground, “I don’t understand, did we win?”

- Trenchant looks at Varis and an unspoken understanding passes between them. The Bard turns to Naillae, “No, we lost. We,” and the Bard’s voice falters momentarily before he regains his composure and continues, “We need to search the rest of this place and return to Phlan. The War Duke in Crescent Moon and the rest of the alliance will need to know about what happened. The Cult now has a Dracolich doing their bidding.”

- The party search the remainder of the large cavern, Trenchant using the animated Troll to push over a couple of braziers that were emitting acid vapours. The Troll falls to the ground lifeless once again, as the spell ends. As Trenchant moves to the hanging curtain that blocks the lit side chamber, he is suddenly enveloped in a Cloud Of Daggers, triggered by an Arcane Ward. The Bard jumps back, small bleeding lacerations all over his body. The Cloud does not disappear.

- Naillae remembers that Graxxygak spoke words as he passed the curtain, and once again Trenchant moves forward but this time says out loudly, “Praise Tiamat” and the Cloud disappears as he speaks the words.

- In the next area, the party find a large well lit chamber with a single large cage with one human occupant. The rest of the large chamber is empty, though the scrap marks on the floor would indicate that it contained a large quantity of items that were dragged out. The prisoner, an adult male, is badly wounded and by his mannerism and speech appears to be simple of mind. It appears this person was being held separately and tortured as he broke out of his cell, and instead of fleeing, was caught stealing copper coins from the Dragon Hoard. It appears that this male, his name being Tevish is obsessed with collecting “shinnies”.

- The party also learn that this cavern was filled with treasure but it was all taken away, bit by bit, over many weeks. Taken by “men wearing red robes”.

- Through talking to him, and the use of Trenchant’s Detect Thoughts spell, they discover he has a small collection still, hidden under the hay pile in the cage. Most are worthless, some copper coins, some polished river rocks, a small rusty metal figurine of a bull and a small leather bound notebook with a shinny gold clasp.

- Trenchant releases the prisoner and Tevish agrees to give the book to him. Opening it up, Trenchant sees that it is the lost Harper code book he was tasked to recover. Trenchant walks Tevish to the opening of the temple and lets the simple minded man leave, to wander into the dangers of the Twilight Marsh alone.

- The party decide to camp in the ruined temple, and get some much needed sleep. Watches are set, but the party are not disturbed.

- Fireday, 12th Gozran in the year 815 (Second Era). Early Summer.

- The party awake and leave the ruined temple to continue back east through the Twilight Marsh. Coming across an area that Sir Krondor noticed on their initial travel, Varis confirms he can detect a Humanoid somewhere to the north.

- Taking a small detour they party came across a shallow river running through the muddy ground of the marsh. On the far side is a prone and struggling female Drow, her leg caught in a bear trap. A group of four crocodiles, one being gigantic, are approaching the struggling and bleeding Drow.

- Sir Krondor immediately moves forward, “I need that Drow alive!”

- The party spring into action. The muddy ground is proving a challenge and some of the party keep slipping or tripping and falling into the mud in their attempt at reaching the Drow.

- Arrows and spells fly. Three of the smaller crocodiles are trapped within a Stinking Cloud cast by Trenchant, whilst the other larger crocodile is slain by spell and arrow.

- The Drow prisoner, who was trying to reach her dropped scimitar, is secured and freed from the bear trap, as the final three crocodiles are slain.

- The Drow prisoner, the assassin known as Yustena Karas, is taken in custody by Sir Krondor.

- They party continue to travel through the Marsh, returning to the now deserted Lizardfolk village and then use the borrowed canoes to travel the rest of the way to the edge of the marsh and the Crossing Inn. The party return the canoes to Rhomsan Kal, the inn keeper, and then gathering their waiting horses start to make their way back to Phlan. Sir Krondor keeps the tied Yustena secured over the back of his horse.

- After a couple of hours, just after midday, the party see the silhouette of Phlan on the horizon.

<And as the party sit upon their horses looking at occupied city of Phlan, wondering what awaits them, that is the end of the session.>

XP Allocation

Group - Combined (This is equally divided by the number of players who were involved)

Quests (Only quests that are completed or rendered undoable, during this session, are shown here)

- “The Cost Of War” Secure Funds for the Alliance = FAIL

- “The Birth Of Darkness” Allow Dracolich to enter the lands = -9000 XP Penalty

Creatures Overcome

- Graxxygak (Half-Dragon Troll) = 1800 XP

- Throstulgrael (Dracolich) = 18000 XP

- Crocodiles = 300 XP

- Giant Crocodile = 1800 XP

Individual (This is only given to that person and is not divided amongst all players)

Special Bonus (Outstanding Role Playing)

Nil

XP Levels and Player Allocations

Player : Start +  Received = Total  (Notes)

Rob : 110596 + 2302 = 112898

Arthur : 88660 + 1842 = 90502

John : 82940 + 1381 = 84321

Travis : 101054 + 1842 = 102896

Paul : 89437 + 1842 = 91279

Bob : 98797 + 1842 = 100639 (Level up to Level 12)

NPC (Naillae) : + (921)