#hi ovega

[quetzalpapalotl]

"I can feel it— you admired Zeta Prime. He was your mentor. He made you what you are today."

Another commission from the lovely Ovega! Orion in the aftermath of killing Zeta in a fit of rage after finding some truths about his "friend".

[elliotwarren]

sarki quinn faarmore. druidic tiefling, circle of the underdark. all art by @rxryp. 

backstory; The unwanted child of a noble, Quinn spent the first two decades of their life largely within isolation, a shameful addition to their human family’s lineage. When even coming of age did not release them, the Tiefling made a break for it, running away into the Underdark. There, they nurtured their magic, spending time with other druids far below the surface. 

When their luck ran out and landed them time as a slave to Drow and Duergar, Quinn worked in secret to strengthen their magic and escape. Yet before they were given the chance, a hired group of mercenaries came on the scene, breaking them out and bringing Quinn back to their guild in a distant city. 

current wordcount: 4299

session cliff notes; good god so much has happened since February. Note that this all takes place within a West Marches server and while most of the sessions are run by the same DM, there are a few rogue unrelated sessions. this is a repost due to new additions. 

- Arrival: Quinn arrives in Eleria after convincing the mercenaries not to return them home to their mother. They take on an alias, and agree to join the guild, established as a ‘D Rank’ (Level 5). 

- Session 0: While exploring the woods near the city, Quinn stumbles upon a group of F Ranks (Level 2) struggling against bandits in the wood. They step in, assist in combat, and head back for home.

- Session 1: Quinn’s first official job, they are sent out to hunt down Orcs who are attacking travelers on the road. They discover a small camp of the creatures, as well as a young noble man named Theodore Caelum being held prisoner. A former prisoner themself, Quinn pretty much went feral and imprinted on Theodore, and the party escorted him back to his home in the city.

- Session 2: Hired by a funny man in a far away, frigid town, Quinn accompanied others in an escort job, delivering a felon from yet another far away town to a distant military outpost within the desert. Once again, Quinn’s past causes them to imprint on a total stranger. They almost get killed protecting the criminal from bandits, everything turns out okay, and the man turns out to have been a victim of a local corrupt official. The guild party agree to let him escape, and cover it up before heading home. 

- Session 3: To Quinn’s utter delight, they were hired by Theodore Caelum to seek out an artifact within a dungeon. The job itself was difficult, and led to knowledge of a bizarre cult of zombies who otherwise seemed fairly friendly. Also located within the dungeon was a Yakfolk priest conducting morbid rituals. Quinn agreed to send someone to help the Yakfolk with an alleged curse upon his people before continuing on in the dungeon. While attempting to access the artifact, the party was struck with awful visions of the death of their party and Theodore himself. The artifact was brought back. Quinn and Theodore begin to exchange letters. 

- Session 4: Quinn and a party investigate a bizarre dungeon of illusions and trouble - nothing is as it seems, and around every turn the danger grows. Within the dungeon, Quinn witnesses the first death of a guild mate, and is nearly killed. This is roughly the start of their friendship with the wizard Ovega, one of their teammates for the job.

- Session 5: The guild sends a party up north to investigate the bizarre, severe cold plaguing the mountains. In a cavern, the source is found to be a member of a cult called Niflheim, and the enormous frost salamander she controls. Quinn and their teammates manage to kill the both of them, and head back on home to the guild. 

- Out of Session: A group of F ranks went on a job for Theodore, and shortly after Theodore was placed on house arrest due to the appearance of a number of undead in town. The outbreak is believed to have been triggered by an item the F ranks brought back for Theodore. 

- Theodore’s Letters: Theo and Quinn continue to correspond in cryptic letters, with Theodore explaining the issues in town are caused by a cult signified by the crest of a White Dragon - the Niflheim cult. They are causing trouble for him, and he isn’t sure why. Quinn is skeptical but inclined to believe their friend. 

- Out of Session: Luvella’s Research: A friend of Quinn’s conducted research on their behalf, learning more of the cult of Niflheim and their attempts to bring forth a great white dragon named Y’thir. A noble house to the north claims to be blessed by ‘the great Niflheim’, a silver dragon who imbues power in the form of tattoos to their followers. The organization has settled into the Guildsman’s District within the city. Luvella moved on to meet with an eccentric wizard named Agna, who notes that while dragonmarks aren’t quite uncommon, these seem to be altered, and have adverse effects on those who get them. 

- Session 6: While investigating the unnatural activity at a nearby volcano, Quinn and their party found an elderly man being attacked by an assassin and a number of hell hounds. The older man turned out to be in disguise - this is Quinn’s first meeting with Agna Scorium, the same one who spoke with Luvella. A powerful wizard, the party learned from the assassin that a noble named Y’thir had put out a bounty on Agna. Agna himself quickly scattered to leave the group to handle a red dragon - and after doing so, a bizarre portal opened up within the volcano. Agna agreed to keep an eye on it, and contact us with further news. He is also familiar with Theodore Caelum, and chats with Quinn about the boy. 

- Session 7: A party from the guild investigate a strange Obelisk - the rooms seem to change, and inside are all number of nasty creatures. Also within is an elderly man and his young helper, a funny creature called Bailey. There seems to be much happening within, but little is uncovered. 

- Out of Session: An announcement goes out into the city - the manor belonging to Theodore Caelum is overwhelmed with fog, the plant life is dying, and the city has sealed off the manor. Quinn’s latest letter to Theodore goes unanswered. 

- Session 8: Agna hires the guild to investigate the portal within the volcano and to track down a Phoenix and bring back the ember that will be left behind once the Phoenix is dead. The portal turns out to be a door to the Fire Plane, and the group deal with several trials before tracking down the Phoenix and killing it. After returning the ember to Agna, Quinn asks if Agna has seen Theodore. With a reply of the negative, Agna remarks on vampires being the root of the fog, and in a panic, Quinn heads back to the guild to organize an investigation of the manor. 

- Session 9: Quinn and several higher rank members of the guild manage to secure an investigation permission of the Caelum Manor. Although Quinn has visited Theodore several times and is familiar with the layout of his home, the inside appears to have changed entirely. Within, Quinn found the dismembered body of Zari Clemente, Theodore’s servant and friend and the deliver of all of Theodore’s letters. Shortly after, Quinn’s close friend Ovega was killed and turned to dust by a spectral monster. Distraught, the remaining three members of the team agreed to go on and look for Theodore, eventually coming face to face with Astrid Borealis, the vampire of the manor. After ending up alone with the vampire, Quinn agreed to a magical contract, marking themself as Astrid’s servant, in exchange for Theodore’s body. Astrid says she will be in touch within the week for the details of her favor. Upon taking Zari’s remains and an unconscious, unresponsive Theodore to Agna’s house, Quinn learns the Astrid has turned Theodore into a vampire. Agna confirms that Quinn is super fucked as far as their deal with Astrid. (short story based on the session found here)

- Out of Session: Agna’s House: Quinn goes to visit Agna, learning that while Zari has been revived he is catatonic. Theodore is currently unresponsive, having not fed for the first time, and Agna explains that while vampirism isn’t curable, he may be able to reduce the issue and allow Theodore to live relatively normally. The wizard tasks Quinn with obtaining a mythical fruit, and the blood of a Celestial. He also informs Quinn that whatever Astrid wants, it will likely be of a gory, barbaric nature. Agna tells Quinn of their first meeting with Astrid in a city to the north, ruled by the Borealis family whose true nature is largely unknown, and how lovely he found her - up until he found her torturing a commoner. He managed to escape with his life, and vowed never to return to the city. In addition, Agna tells Quinn they ought to seek out a man called Hal Mirrus, who may be able to help with lessening Theodore’s curse. Hal is known as a monstrous man, and getting through his many horrific creations to get to him will likely be a challenge. 

- Astrid’s Favor: Quinn wakes within a memory, specifically that of Theodore’s, midst torture by the vampire Astrid. She taunts the Tiefling, and lays out her terms; Quinn must bring her Agna’s head, let vampires into the guild, or venture to a distant village to complete a ritual slaughter with items left behind there. 

- Session 10: With a team from the Guild, Quinn visits Agna to learn of a Celestial they can obtain blood from to assist Theodore’s condition. News of a Ki-rin and a worshiping cult near the city has spread through, and the party does some investigating with a couple of the local temples to learn the location. On a lake-side island, they find a group known as the The Shield-Bearers. The cult is ecstatic to have visitors, and invites all of them to join, eventually agreeing to allow them to meet the Ki-rin itself. Quinn attempts to persuade the creature for what they need, and enraged, the Ki-rin bids them to leave. The party in unison agrees that they’ll have to take it by force, and attack the Ki-rin. Combat unfortunately goes poorly, and Quinn calls off their teammates. In appreciation for the honor shown, the Ki-rin allows them to collect the blood from the grounds, and departs the island. Angered by the departure of their deity, the Shield-Bearers attack the party. After handling the cult, they begin to head for home but run into two Niflheim cult members on the road. Quinn’s companion Luvella catches up with the members called Dralla and Torric, chatting with them, and accompanies them to a nearby city. The cult members seem friendly enough, gifting Luvella was a minor magical object, and tag her with a magical mark that Agna later removes. Luvella investigates the temple within the city the two mentioned, and reports back. While Luvella investigates the temple, Quinn and the remaining two party members go on to Agna’s house, where Agna uses the Celestial Blood to wake Theodore, allowing Theo and Quinn to meet again for the first time in months. In aside, Quinn tells Agna of Astrid’s demands, and the two come to the conclusion that the only truly viable option is to either have someone eliminate Astrid, or conduct Astrid’s ritual sacrifice of the village. 

- Session 11: Quinn agrees to accompany Luvella and a couple others on a job to a nearby village, only realizing en route that the town is the very one Astrid has requested they conduct her favor in. The village is largely empty, excluding one native and a number of giants who have apparently attacked the village. The guild members deal with it, healing the native and questioning him on the location of the rest of the village who has evacuated. While their party is occupied, Quinn searches the village, uncovering a sacrificial dagger and a strange box marked with an eyeless ram. The team deals with all giants in the area and head home. 

- Out of  Session: Luvella questions Quinn about what they were doing in the village, having caught the Tiefling snooping, and bribes an exchange in a letter she found on one of the giant’s. Quinn finally caves and tells her about the dagger as well as Astrid’s demands, keeping the box a secret. Luvella’s letter implies a new team of giants will be coming to the area soon to retrieve one of the giants that is now dead. Oops. 

- Session 12: For the first time, Quinn accompanies Luvella and two other C ranks on a job for the local Thieves’ Guild. They are tasked with investigating an individual the guild wants to recruit, perhaps indulging in blackmail to do so. The party goes under-cover as nobles visiting the local opera, but are called up on stage as the performance begins - it appears someone ratted them out. In a fight staged as part of the show, Quinn is targeted and killed by some of the ‘actors’. Body left behind during the ensuing issues, Quinn is picked up by the local city guard. A cleric is summoned from the guild to revive Quinn so that they may be questioned,  and Quinn is placed under interrogation. They manage to avoid implicating the Thieves’ Guild as well as their own home guild and themselves in the murder of a local noble (which to be fair, none of those parties are at fault) and are released back to the guild to cope with the trauma of being murdered and abandoned and imprisoned.

- Out of Session: Quinn conducts research towards locating the fruit needed to cure Theodore, learning of corruption within the forest and that a Circle of the Moon is guarding over the fruit of a holy tree. None of the news is good. 

- Session 13: Finally delving into the forest, Quinn and the party deal with many strange creatures, including an enormous corrupted monster and several gnolls who appear to be under the control of an unseen other. The druids warn them out, but the party presses onward, establishing a camp within the woods and eventually locating an enormous tree and one of the druids. They manage to placate the on guard being, and speak with one of the treants there about the needed fruit. From a Redcap (RIP.) they learn there is a door nearby to the holy tree. The team come to the conclusion that being diplomatic might be the better route, and they agree to participate in a trial to deem their worthiness as well as seek out and destroy the source of the corruption within the wood. With flying colors the party complete the trial of combat, and agree to return soon to handle the corruption problem with the hopes of earning a fruit.

 - Out of Session: Quinn posts a listing to the guild, enticing members of the guild to assist them by eliminating the vampire Astrid. They spend time with several high ranks, giving as much information about the house and the vampire as they can, and several high ranks spend time researching the house. Eventually, they make their way to the manor, clearing it of monstrous sorrowsworn, an enormous shadow dragon, and the vampire Astrid herself. 

- Out of Session: Quinn meets with the wizard tortle Roshini, who shows Quinn a journal they’d found within the manor written by one Dylan Caedric. The note reveals that Dylan Caedric and his son are the last of a line of monster hunters, but his son is unaware of the family tradition. Dylan Caedric himself was apparently dying at the time of the letter. There is no other information. A second note Roshini uncovered is from someone implied to be living with Astrid, and, horrified by her actions, they remark they must speak to the Caedrics about handling it. Both notes appear to be old, perhaps from before Astrid took up residence within the Caelum Manor. 

- Out of Session: Neith and Ihsahn, two of the high ranks who dealt with Astrid, remark on what appears to be an angsty diary entry from Astrid herself where she professes her attraction to an unknown wizard, one with ‘bloodthirsty charm’. Quinn is, due to past learned information, almost positive the note speaks of Agna. Quinn contacts the wizard in attempt to learn who Theodore’s father is, and while Agna states he cannot elaborate, leads the Tiefling to believe that Dylan Caedric is actually Theodore Caelum’s grandfather.

- Session 14: Quinn joins a handful of the higher ranks as well as one of their fellow D-Ranks on a ship to the high seas. It’s a nice break from the usual drama, but the pirates they find are no joke. Somehow, Quinn is pushed to the forefront into making several goofy deals with a variety of apes on a tropical island.

- Out of Session: Quinn meets another tiefling within the guild, one allegedly brought back from ashes after being killed by a beholder many months ago. They run to inform their friend Alea of the news, and the Goliath agrees to look into it with the hopes that she will be able to have Ovega, Quinn’s wizard friend, brought back. Shortly after Alea informs Quinn that she tracked down the cleric with the power, who attempted to bring Ovega back on the spot with no success. This, he says, means that Ovega’s soul is unwilling to return. Quinn struggles, believing perhaps they did something to spur this. 

- Session 15: Agna hires the guild to interrupt a group of Niflheim cult members who are attempting to reach some sort of artifact. The group head out once again to the ocean, run into a few very grumpy but not altogether troublesome pirates, and narrowly escape a hydra. Out at sea, Quinn and others reach a ruined temple to Lolthe, a deity to drow, and scarcely survive a fight with an enormous turtle. Alea, Quinn’s close friend, is killed, and while the party hover over the aftermath the Niflheim cultists arrive. the following occurs. The party is unable to retrieve the artifact but cause enough of a headache for the cultists to satisfy Agna, and they head once more for home. 

- Out of Session: Quinn finally goes back to their own room to discover a note, asking the Tiefling to meet with the writer at a specific booth. They do so with some paranoia, finding a less than liked guild member waiting for them, and hesitantly agrees to follow the guild mate out into the guild’s grove. Shortly after, Ovega reveals themself to have been in disguise - revived and brought back from ash. Ovega swears Quinn to secrecy, and leaves to work with the Thieves’ guild within the city. Quinn struggles, relieved to have their friend back but disappointed to be left behind again. 

- Session 16: Quinn, with a group of guild members, heads back into the forest to begin working out the source of the blight so that they might earn a fruit from the holy tree within the wood. The party deals with a mess of giants in the mouth of a cave, have a brief misunderstanding with a merfolk that Quinn manages to sort out, and discover that within the cave is an entrance to the Underdark as well as home to a drider. After coming to the conclusion that the cave does not likely contain the source of the blight they’re all looking for, the party heads back out into the woods. Eventually, they do notice an increase in corruption in the forest, and as Quinn flies ahead as an owl, they discover a group of Yakfolk conducting some sort of ritual. One of them is familiar - the same Yakfolk priest within the long ago dungeon. As they watch, an enormous roc (bird) flies overhead, and the Yakfolk scatter. Quinn reports back to the group, and they opt to head back to camp and deal with the Yakfolk later.

- Session 17: On yet another journey to yet another forest, Quinn and several others discover what appears to be an entrance to the Feywild. They have a run-in with what looks to be a damsel in distress situation, but once the damsel is saved, she turns on the group. Quinn struggles with the aftermath of a dead hobgoblin and his grieving friend. The following occurs. 

- Out of Session: Back at the guild, they discover one of their friends conducting less than morally just experiments - resulting in an argument. Quinn begins to struggle with their morality and past decisions they have made - and decisions they almost made, namely the realization that they would have absolutely slaughtered an entire village for Astrid. As they harness more powerful magic but find themself listened to less and less by teammates, they begin to struggle with feelings of neglect and bitterness towards their guild companions. Shortly after, one of Quinn’s closest friends and closest confidant announces he is leaving the guild for a time to travel home. 

- Out of Session: Hal Mirrus. Agna posts a job listing, stating he believes that his old friend Hal may be conducting his own ‘research’ in a nearby town, and may have turned the village into his own personal graveyard. Quinn approaches the guild mates who have signed on to handle the situation, and attempt to convince them to bring back Hal Mirrus to Quinn and Agna for their own needs - namely, to help Theo, as Agna suggested Hal would be very useful. The guild mates are doubtful, and state that they will most likely be killing Hal if what is suspect proves to be true; that Hal Mirrus is conducting mass necromancy on an entire city. 

- Out of Session: Quinn contacts Agna days later to inquire, and the wizard replies with telepathy - and the image of an elven man using an orcish face as disguise; Hal. Although the man is not yet with Agna, the wizard has the means to contact his old friend. Hal agrees to help with Theodore, but at a cost of favors from Quinn. Agna states it probably won’t be as bad as anything Astrid asked for, but made no promises. Quinn comes to the cold realization that they don’t care. 

- Session 18: Quinn and a mostly new team return to the forest to seek out the blight. En route, they notice boot prints but think nothing of it, continuing on only to be attacked by drow. One they capture tells of their queen, and how a new gate from the Underdark has been opened and they will claim the forest for themselves. Quinn decides to bring the drow prisoner along as perhaps a gift to the Yakfolk, one who conducts sacrificial rituals. Unfortunately the Yakfolk also remembers Quinn, and is enraged that the Tiefling never upheld their bargain to help. Quinn attempts to apologize, explaining that the one they meant to ask for assistance had been killed (vampires are dead, right?), but to no avail. The Yakfolk advance, meaning to take Quinn and one of their teammates with them for unknown intentions, and the party end up attacking and killing the Yakfolk. Left behind, a portal opens shortly after, apparently to the ocean as water begins to fill the area. A kraken begins to emerge, and the party flee, nearly losing one of their teammates in the process. However, with the death of the Yakfolk, the blight on the forest has begun to fade. Quinn heads for the holy tree, only to find the Treants of before dead and the tree itself withered and scorched. One of the druids Quinn had met prior sits dying on the ground, and despite Quinn’s attempts to help, cannot be healed. The druid tells of an attack by drow, and fruit stolen from the tree - as well as his brother, perhaps for some monstrous creation. He pleads with Quinn to find his brother and slay him if he is now a monster, and to repair the damage to the forest. Quinn agrees, and rests with the man until his last breath. Within a bag the druid gives to Quinn is the last fruit of the holy tree. The party head home, Quinn bringing the fruit to Agna and finding that Hal Mirrus has arrived in the city. Only once on Agna’s couch does Quinn realize the boot prints in the woods were undoubtedly a sign of the drow’s pending attack on the holy tree, and that perhaps they could have done something had they not been so focused on finding the blight and the Yakfolk. 

- Out of Session: Quinn returns home from Agna’s, and receives news that yet another friend is leaving the guild. They give their goodbyes, and retreat into the grove to mull over their mistakes. Their doubts only grow, and Quinn is growing more and more hesitant to reach out to the few friends they have left. The following morning, Quinn returns to Agna’s to assist Hal with the fruit and with Theodore, resolved that little else matters. Agna, not quietly, reminds Quinn that there is still a chance for failure, even with Hal and the fruit. 

notes: please gods let something good happen to this poor baby. Alignment shift incoming. 

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[elliotwarren]

of fog & such

“What do you mean no?” Quinn blanched the moment the words were out of their mouth, plagued by the thought of how much they sounded like their own mother. That was something to mull over later. Stubbornly, Quinn tried once again to step past the guard, but he merely jabbed his spear in the Tiefling’s direction. 

“No one is allowed onto the property. The manor is sealed, and until we figure out what is going on, the public is barred.” 

Quinn looked past him to the manor. Theodore’s manor. The entire place was shrouded in fog, and the ivy that had crawled down the walls now looked withered and dying. All along the walls, the same could be said for the rest of the plants and flowers. Wasted. They turned desperate eyes up to the windows, seeking a familiar shape. 

Nothing. Almost blackness. 

“What about the Caelum fellow? Where is he?” 

The guard shrugged, setting the butt end of the spear back on the ground. “We haven’t seen hide nor hair of anyone living. I expect he might be behind whatever this is, after that stint of undead around here.” 

The Tiefling didn’t dare comment. Perhaps the same thought had occurred to them a dozen times, but ... no. Not Theodore. Maybe he was a little eccentric, but he was not malicious. 

Perhaps it was an accident. That Quinn could see. Theodore finding out about some strange artifact or another, sending the mercenary guild to fetch it, triggering some magic by accident. But Quinn knew for a fact - the last artifact Theodore had acquired had been a bracelet. Quinn had worn it on their own wrist all the way back from the dungeon, and it hadn’t caused fog or blight upon plants or .... 

Monsters. Visions. The guards spoke of strange hallucinations and stranger monsters. Quinn’s hands curled to fists at their side, and they swallowed down words of magic.

---

“Agna.” 

The wizard turned, pausing reluctantly in the process of fleeing the area. He’d gotten what he wanted, it seemed, and was keen to head on out, but as Quinn called after him Agna Scorium looked back to the Tiefling with a grimace. “What?”

Polite as always. Quinn’s claws tap against the carved snake head of their staff, trying not to let the anxiety show. “Have you seen Theo?”

“The Caelum boy? No, not since he gave me this.” Agna gestures with the contraption he holds now, the one used to pluck the phoenix ember safely off the ground. “It’s ... been a week or so, I suppose.” 

“Did you hear about the house?”

Agna frowned. “What house?” 

“Theo’s house, Agna,” Quinn replied, exasperated. “It’s sealed off, no one is allowed in. There’s fog everywhere, and the plants are dying.” 

The wizard scratched at the scruff on his chin and flattened his mustache. “Huh. No, I haven’t heard anything. I’ve been out here, working on ... that.” Again, he gestured with the contraption, this time at the fading portal to the fire plane Quinn had stepped through only minutes before. “You keep busy, don’t you? All that business with the cult, demons, vampires ...” 

“Stop.” Ozan stepped up to Quinn’s side - the warlock had been quiet all through, but now he held up a tired hand and blinked sleep from his eyes. “Vampires?” 

“Hm? Yes, vampires. You know, the fog.” Agna spoke as if everything were clear, as if stating the obvious. Quinn’s mouth gaped, shifting their gaze from Agna to Ozan, looking to see if the other Tiefling understood something Quinn didn’t. 

Ozan’s expression was just as befuddled. “What are you talking about?” 

“You know the stories about vampires, yes?” 

It was all Quinn could do not to strangle Agna, or rip the invention from his hands and beat him over the head with it. “No, Agna!! I don’t! What are you saying, that there’s a vampire - “

“In the Caelum house, yes,” Agna interrupted them, sounding vaguely annoyed. Where the hell did he get off, Quinn thought. “Vampires cause fog and all that. I can’t imagine what Theo could have done to get their attention, but that sounds like the issue.”

“I - I’ve got to go, I’ve got to go now - “ 

But Ozan’s hand caught the Tiefling by the arm, bringing Quinn to a jerking stop. “Hold on a minute. You’ve got to take a minute, breathe. You can’t just rush in there, you’ll get yourself killed. Besides, we’re days away.” 

“But Theo - “

“I know.” Ozan gave Quinn’s arm a small squeeze, shifting nervously in place. Perhaps comfort wasn’t his strong suit, but in the moment Quinn didn’t want comfort, so it didn’t matter. 

Quinn tore their gaze from Ozan to Ovega, finding their wizard friend a few feet back. They looked on to the Goliath with desperation, and Ovega strode forward to pull Quinn into a hug against their robes. Quinn had to struggle not to shove them away, heart slamming against their chest.  Why didn’t anyone understand, they had to go now, Theo could be - 

The Tiefling banished the thought from their mind. 

“Well, if you find him, I suppose you can bring him to my place. You know where to find me.” Agna waved them all off, taking a few steps forward and blinking and then he was gone in a rush of energy. 

[elliotwarren]

cause out here in the darkness and out of the light if you get to me too late just know that I tried

Quinn didn’t realize they were crying until the ink of the letter began to blot. Until it ran, staining against their already black-tipped fingers. The words across the page felt so hollow and yet they were crying about it. 

Good luck with everything.

For a moment, Quinn wished. Wished to step out into the guild hall and seize Luvella by the throat, dig their claws into her neck, and scream. Why had she brought them here? Why? There had been that idea, back then, that even in a place full of strangers at least they were free, at least they weren’t at home, at least they weren’t trapped in that damn house with expectations and interactions that left their skin crawling. But you can’t even do that. 

“And you let her go.”

The tiny voice nagged. They had. In the grove, out on the ground, Luvella had gone to Quinn and told them of her plans, of a deal. Of how she probably wasn’t coming back. 

And you let her go. 

“She’s gone, Quinn. I’m sorry.” Ozan’s voice was a whisper, scarcely more than a breath. The druid sucked in air and struggled to breathe, and listened to Ozan blame himself while holding the knowledge that no, it wasn’t Ozan’s fault.

It was Quinn’s. They had known, and they’d let Luvella go anyway, and now she was dead. Quinn’s heart ached, their stomach churning, their skin ice cold. The Tiefling leaned against the walls of Ozan’s room and tried to keep their composure, if only for the man in front of them. If nothing else, they would not cry in front of anyone else. Even if it was Ozan. Not now. 

Luvella was dead. Asta, gone, with only a letter to remember her by. Love, Asta. Did she? She at least left you with a letter. Brokk, gone. Thrax, gone, supposedly to return but who knew? What if he didn’t? Ovega, gone, as good as dead. Hunched against the headboard of their bed, Quinn looked up and took another shuddering breath. Quinn thought of Agna’s couch, one of the few places they found comfort lately, but then of Hal Mirrus and the unsettling look in his eye. Of his projects, of a favor Quinn had sworn to do but knew not the details of. Black-tipped fingers touched the mark against their collarbone - an eye, oozing, visceral. As if they hadn’t learned the first time, making deals with strange beings. Hal Mirrus hadn’t yet said what he wanted from Quinn, and Quinn didn’t want to ask. And maybe Quinn could have dealt with Hal Mirrus for Theodore, to see their friend, to fall asleep against his shoulder knowing at least something was okay.. 

But you fucked that up too. 

Theodore, who they hadn’t even said good bye to, now stuck in that state and all but dead to the world. Unreachable. Quinn’s hands curled, nails digging into their palms. There was that to deal with. Theodore, the forest. Quinn drew another ragged breath, feeling a druid’s skin cold against theirs, watched the blood drain from his face. 

They stood out on a beaten dirt road, watched a celestial being driven to the sky by a man with cruel words and harsh beatings, the man’s comrades dead and withered with blight at Quinn’s feet. They stood against a river side, looking out across the water at a body crumpled on the ground, a drow’s sword through a merman’s back. In a temple ruin, Quinn hugged Alea’s dead body to their chest, listening to footsteps above. In a thick forest rippling with magic, they watched a hobgoblin clutch his companion to him, watched the creature rock and cry. On yet another road, Quinn watched Luvella haul herself up onto a horse behind cultists, whispering soft prayers to gods they didn’t trust to keep her safe. 

Dralla. 

The stranger’s voice whispered at the edge of Quinn’s thoughts, almost crooning.  “There are many agendas, many ways to get things done.”

Quinn looked over to the sending stone, a carved rock with a screaming mouth, and considered. It was one more thing to worry about. One more thing to get killed over. Carefully, as if the stone may shatter, Quinn picked it up and held it to their lips to whisper a reply. 

“Let me help you, Dralla.”