#galefcrce

[apalestar]

@galefcrce from here

The fact Astarion wore them was a simple matter of seeing how flustered Gale would become over them. Truth be told the glasses made his eyesight worse. Perhaps the rogue had a bit of kleptomania as well. Astarion certainly wasn't going to psychoanalyze himself.

"Asking takes all the fun out of it." But this trinket wasn't one he was willing to fight over. "You know— a man can get the wrong idea if you come visit him in the middle of the evening at his bed."

He made an intentional long blink of his eyelids knowing exactly how the look appealed to others. He slid the frames off with a single hand. "Come take if you'd like." He didn't extend his arm out to aid Gale in their retrieval. The work fell on the wizard to close the distance.

[never-surrender]

@galefcrce cont:

"Trust me, Darling, it is absolutely necessary," Gale could pout all he wanted, but Astarion wasn't going to let the other wander around looking as disheveled as he was now. It was downright a crime to do so, and in some ways he did care for Gale...

This was his way of showing as such.

Why the man had left alone to go and do battle with somebody, Astarion couldn't for the life of him figure out. All he knew was it had the others quite worried for him ... while Astarion? Well ... he felt something akin to pride in the other for doing what needed to be done. He didn't think Gale had it in him, quite frankly.

"I assure you, if I need help because I decided to be a dirty little renegade and get my hands broken, I will let you be the first to do my hair for me," he can't help but tease Gale, fingers gliding through the man's longer locks, his actions are methodic if not downright sinfully pleasurable as he works Gale's hair into something more manageable...

And once he's done, he steps back, humming in content, "There. Much better, Darling."

[bloodyarn]

They all want to know their reputation.

You guys will be the death of me.

@undyingmedium @deaddoveadventures @galefcrce @windwithinmyveins

[chaoticbard]

Alaara sat with her back against a strong oak tree nestled next to her spot in camp, her head bent low over her journal as she stared at it. How many days had it been since she'd been infected by an illithid tadpole? How many days had it been since finding her companions? Surely the number she had ticked onto the cover page was wrong. A few weeks' time didn't seem long enough for many reasons, but it was truth regardless. She'd been meticulous in logging each and every night she survived. Alaara huffed and flipped the journal open to a set of blank pages. She needed to focus her mind on anything else but the ever-growing list of things that needed doing. She needed to take notes, she needed to write. She needed to compose.

If anything was her sanctuary, writing was it. Music, stories, it didn't matter which. Tonight, music felt appropriate. Melancholic notes flitted here and there in her mind and she threw them onto hastily-drawn bars as they came to her. But what she really needed were lyrics to put the stray notes to. A bard's song without lyrics held power aplenty, but one with them felt significantly more so, at least to her. A song with lyrics could be emotionally charged twice over, instrument and voice melding as partners, both yearning to get a message out to anyone willing to listen.

Something or someone would need to trigger the beginning of that melding. What that something was had yet to reveal itself, and so it was that Alaara looked up from her journal and watched and waited for it. As she did so, she jotted little notes here and there about her companions. Such tidbits could be returned to at a later date and woven into the fabric of her creations.

She first caught sight of Lae'zel arm wrestling with Karlach, her expression grim. Into her notebook went a little note about that. She then took notes about Wyll, who was telling a tale about his heroics as the Blade of Frontiers. Shadowheart, Astarion, and Halsin were all paying attention, but even from where she sat, Alaara could tell Astarion was smirking to himself, biting his tongue to keep from saying too many sassy remarks and halting the story's progress. Shadowheart's smile, Halsin's rapt attention, and Astarion's cheekiness were all documented. And Gale of Waterdeep. What was he doing during all of this? He was-

Alaara looked around. Where was Gale? His tent seemed vacant, he wasn't standing over the cook pot, and he certainly wasn't with the rest of the party. Maybe he was off doing secret wizard stuff in another dimension? Was that a thing wizards really did? Tavern patrons were hardly paragons of information when it came to, well, anything but food and drink, but their mutterings about wizards were all she had to go on. That, and the scant few fact books she'd come across in the realms. Volo had written a rather colorful account of wizards, but he was well known to over-embellish and change facts to better suit his narrative. Such had only been staunchly affirmed when she'd met him in the grove writing blatant falsehoods about a bear of all creatures.

She looked back down at her journal. If only Gale was around, she could spend the rest of the evening picking his brain. He could tell her all about himself and other wizards. What he told her would be truths too, not just tall tales and outright lies. He could tell her about lots of other things too if he wasn't being a braggart. Given his collection of tomes he refused to travel without, she was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

As she sat and thought so very hard to herself, she left a sea of black dots on her journal's pages without actively realizing it. So engrossed was she that she didn't realize she was no longer alone...

@galefcrce

[savingthrcw]

moved to its own post from here @galefcrce

❛ can’t sleep? ❜ from my Lex! @savingthrcw ¦ 𝐯𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬.

Sleep and Gale were not always the most harmonious companions, especially when the ceaseless worry of the orb and tadpole persisted in his mind. Rest, an intangible consideration in such trying times. Yet, Gale found a small refuge in the canvas of the sky above. Gale sat out near the burning embers of the campfire, face cast upwards as he traced the constellations in his mind. The stars above momentarily transported his thoughts to the Astral plane.

Yet, a voice brought him back to Faerûn. The words didn't instantly register, but the comforting voice of an ally kept him at ease. A slow, gradual lowering of his head tore his gaze from the stars above to Lex.

"I would have thought myself alone in such sentiments, yet you've proven me wrong," he offered a warm smile, a finger gesturing upward. "Though, I suppose the stars above provide adequate company too."

After a lifetime of loneliness, Lex had no idea of how to deal with the fact that suddenly she felt responsible and, worse, worried, about multiple people at the same time, who for no reason whatsoever had ended up following her lead most of the time. Weren't people like her supposed to become aggressive and wish ill fates on others? And yet there she was, worrying. And there she was, living what was supposed to be a nightmare, and yet deep down knowing that she wasn't hating it simply because she had people now. For a little. Didn't matter if they didn't feel the same, only that she had felt a part of something.

So, seeing that Gale was still awake, she had decided to check on him, because he was one of the people she worried for the most. He and Karlach, who could be gone in a moment. "Always loved them," she agreed softly, sitting down next to him so she could look up and watch the sky. "But I'll admit I never felt like I had company, just that I was lucky something so pretty was free." Not exactly poetic, she thought to herself, but they had been traveling together for a while now, and speaking up her thoughts was unfortunately becoming more and more natural to her. "Why can't you sleep?"

[lcftyambiticns]

𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓. ╱ @galefcrce

A brief pause, imperceptible to most, but enough for the Waterdhavian wizard to raise his eyebrow slightly in surprise. Though Gale would never grow tired of being told he was right, to hear it from the so-called self-proclaimed archmage of Baldur's Gate was a surprise nonetheless, especially considering the stories he had begun to hear of the other.

"May I have that in writing?" he jested, "Although I would recommend forgoing the latter; it doesn't tend to bode well when speaking with other fellow archmages."

Lorroakan's lip curled in contempt as he shot Gale a withering glare, then closed the book with a soft "thud."

"I must admit, I've been too preoccupied with matters of actual importance to concern myself with winged alley cats," he idly remarked, setting the book aside ( apparently, Tressyms could be summoned ).

"Perhaps if I ever find myself in need of a pet, I'll reconsider."

[championsofthegate]

@galefcrce asked: "This should be a wonderful opportunity for the two of us to get to know one another!" (to Elysia)

Elysia blinked, tilting her head at Gale. The tiefling party was well underway, and aince she'd already spoken to everyone, she had circled back around to Gale. He had seemed... lonely, earlier. She thought he was missing Tara, and while she was certain she couldn't fill the void of his lovely tressym, she could certainly be a friend.

"Oh? What part of being tadpoled and stuck in the wilderness hasn't been a wonderful opportunity to get to know each other?" she asked teasingly. "What more could you possibly want, Gale?"

[tryckthebard]

How That Kind Of Bard helps their cute Wizard teammate when he's down.

@clandekariios, @musezieren, @galefcrce

[rhapsodyandwoe]

@galefcrce is far too ambitious for his own good

Gale strolled slowly into the mansion, each step measured and deliberate. His head held high, he made sure to show no fear, no hesitation—he knew who awaited him beyond the shadows of these grand halls. The dimly lit space only added to the eerie sense of grandeur, but Gale had faced more than his share of danger, and this meeting was no different. "Ah," Gale's voice rang out smoothly, calm and controlled. "You must be Cazador. I've heard quite a lot about you."

Cazador stopped, looking at the intruder with a raised brow and an amused smirk on his lips. This must have been one of his lost little spawn's companions that his spies and hunters had told him about. By the looks and mannerisms, he could only guess that it is the wizard. A close companion to his spawn, indeed.

"And I've heard nothing of you, wizard, save that you seem to have a fatal attraction to the dangerous. Shacking up with a vampire spawn, really? Whatever would Mystra think?"

[apalestar]

@galefcrce plotted starter.

An eventful evening not for the soiree or clandestine deals Astarion had in store. No, tonight his palace played host to a friend of old. Admittedly, he and Gale had not ended off on the best of terms. A lover scorned and all. Already a small entourage of Baldur's Gate richest and finest had gathered. The palace had never been more livelier.

And many of Cazador's old clients and connections were all too eager to latch onto another influential person. The infamous moniker attached to his name: Hero of the Gate. Who could resist not coming to his social events? And how foolish Duke Ravengard had been to give him a noble's title! It made him respectable even if the eyes of those who knew him when he was but his slave.

This was the crux of why he even considered extending his lover of old an invitation. Gale wanted something from him; a deal. Something of import for him in exchange for magical tomes the late bastard Szarr kept in his collections. All were property of Lord Ancunín now, of course.

The musicians played a classical tune meant for partnered dancing. The wine and hors d'oeuvres flowed from the kitchens. A perfect evening for playing nobility's game.

Astarion's chamberlain, a slight thing of a woman, approached him. One of the few mortal servants in the household. Every vampire needed at least one for appearances. "My Lord, your guest of honor has arrived." She spoke quietly only once he signaled for her to do so.

"Splendid. The highlight of my evening barring any assassinations. Those always make for an entertaining affair." Astarion dismissed her. He weaved himself in and out of the crowd dodging conversations with a polite, well-practiced smile. His roguish tendencies hadn't diminished since the fall of the cult.

"Gale of Waterdeep." He greeted with the same fervor any good patriar would of an old friend; even one as estranged as him. "So pleased I am to—" A pause. "—see you. I'd fear you'd be half dead before you came to chat."

[never-surrender]

"Astarion?!" Gale called out from the front door of his tower. "By Elminster's long beard, what have you ordered?!"

Before him sat a large, strange metal device with panels that illuminated and a bizarre contraption at the front—a screen of some sort. Along the side were strange markings that, to those who spoke Common, spelled out "Hellbomb."

"Hm?" He calls back, nose buried deep in a book as Gale spotted whatever had been delivered to the front door. Hearing the additional words spoken, Astarion sighs and sets his book down, uncurling from the position he had been in to approach the contraption ...

And immediately felt confusion. "I didnt' order anything," he speaks, idly tapping on the illuminated screen. When it changes, he can't help but be intrigued, "Ooooh I wonder what this button does..." and there he goes... about to push it...

[bloodyarn]

Us

@galefcrce @deaddoveadventures @undyingmedium

[undyingmedium]

@steel-and-fire / @galefcrce / @melancoliefatale / @shdwtouch

Anika is going to manifest her patron to increase his size and climb on his back to try and find a safe spot. This was a mistake.

[wildskissed]

@galefcrce continued from here

It's something she has contemplated before: the nature of scars. With the two that mar her face and her neck, it's hard not to think about scars a good amount, and she's always been told similar things. Scars tell a story, and remind one of what they survived. It's a mantra she has to say over and over to remind herself that she's not in fact broken, but seasoned like a good meal.

"It's certainly something that we tell ourselves," Eve admitted, giving a gentle smile and then feeling it damper a little as she got a little more contemplative. "Do you ever wonder how much of it is for show though? Even if we know it's true, it feels like one of those things we say to stay positive--takes time to believe it."

[rubistella]

@galefcrce || waited 10 years for a proper thread and i come up w/ this nonsense

Indeed, the chances of the squad finding a dragonborn and an elf drowning were high if they assigned the rogue on that particular mission. But to say the notion didn't prod at his curiosity was to renounce curiosity altogether.

But since Gale so valiantly insisted to take on the initiative, who was Astarion to deny him that glory?

"Oh, before you go right on and jump, I would do away with those robes if I were you. They'll only hold you back from your swimming." Astarion gestured towards Gale's clothes, sweetening his voice after a pause. "I doubt anyone would complain if you got rid of the undergarments as well. The dragonborn most definitely wouldn't..." A once-over and an inhale. Sharp... Imaginative.

The dragonborn, of course.

[championsofthegate]

@galefcrce from here

Gale was perched on a ledge of a short cliff, legs dangling over the precipice as he spent the evening digesting his meal while still chewing on his thoughts. A bottle and glass of wine rested by the wizard, almost forgotten as he gazed out across the forest, wondering how long it would take him to return home to Waterdeep, if he would return home to Waterdeep.

He felt guilty, his thoughts meandering to his mother. Their last conversation brimmed with her endless concerns for his well-being, and then he just disappeared, leaving for the nearby city of Yartar to learn more of his condition and gain some magical artifacts on the way. He knew not to doubt her intelligence; word of the attack of a Mindflayer vessel in the city would be enough for her to connect the dots. Yet, he wished to reach out and let her know that he still lived, for the moment.

The sudden company of another surfaced Gale from the depths of his thoughts as he glanced up to Shadowheart and shook his head with a dry chuckle.

"Am I so transparent these days?" he mused. "I have the feeling we all contain plenty in our minds right now, and not all those visitors are welcome." He turned his gaze to the dipping sun. "In truth, I was just thinking of my mother back home. She's ought to be worried about me, I disappeared rather suddenly." Her thoughtfulness warmed his heart regardless; he could be considerably rude to dismiss her after she offered him a brush of kindness. With that, he lifted the bottle of wine to her while simultaneously gesturing to the vacant spot beside him.

"I may not be in the mood to divulge all of my complex thoughts, but I'm more than happy to share a good glass, or more accurately, a bottle of wine—Arabellan Dry. Most certainly, a valuable commodity in these parts."

-

"Well, I never say no to a bottle of wine." Shadowheart settled beside him, letting her legs dangle over the ledge.

"Are you and your mother close?" She can't help it as the words slip out of her mouth. Being an orphan has it's advantages of course, but... she'd often wondered what it would have been like. To be raised by a loving mother and father, instead of by the Mother Superior of her cloister. She can't remember much but... it doesn't feel like it was a pleasant upbringing.

If she never made it back... would there even be anyone to miss her?

The wound in her hand flared, and Shadowheart gasped, visions of half remembered punishments coming back to her. As the pain subsided, she steeled herself. What did it matter, if anyone missed her? Worrying about such trivial things would only make her weak. If she wanted to fulfill her mission, she couldn't afford to be weak.

Instead of acknowledging her hand, she continued on as if nothing had happened. "...if you want to talk about it, that is. We can always just sit in silence and get drunk in the moonlight."