#i can't wait for Witchlight

[dark-giver]

How I imagine Baeseult's Heart-Thread:

[alliedn]

I KEEP FORGETTING TO POST SHIT AAAA

Another dnd oc, this time for a Wild Beyond the Witchlight campaign! I can't wait to play Gilda ;_;

[opheliajupiter99]

One Night in Agwe

(This idea had been germinating for a while, and as I've said before, I like drawing/detailing Gideon's wives, so here we go. Of course, disclaimer, most of this is headcannons and might be proved incorrect when his wives inevitably show up again)

The Witchlight carnival, as popular as it may be, was both quickly drawing to a close, and quickly growing dull for the Coal Trio, as they'd begun calling themselves. The Trio alternated between being waitresses and being 'entertainers' in the Pixie Kingdom section of the carnival, but as the closing date drew, and they had recently been introduced to both each other and a whole new world of possibilities thanks to their wedding, they decided to pack their things and venture onward.

Zaxi and Taxi were packing their things together in a backroom; while technically speaking it was the 'dressing room', the pixies regularly commented on the fact it was more of a glorified broom closet than anything else. As perhaps expected, the more adult-oriented joys of the Pixie Kingdom meant the faire, being focused mainly at children, didn't bother much with funding it; 'Besides,' Mr. Witch once said, 'the kinda men that'll be goin' down there won't give a fuck how the place looks, just the girls'.

Regardless, Taxi sat on a nearby couch, scratchy and with a faded, once vibrant pink color to it, putting on a pair of tan-colored flats while Zaxi stuffed some extra t-shirts into a ratty bag.

"Ya know," Zaxi began, trying with some effort to tie the bag closed, clearly overstuffed. "I get you must go through a lot of tops the way you are, but do we really need -this- many?"

Taxi, looking up past the mop of reddish blonde hair that dangled partially over her vision, shrugged, seeming unphased by the implication of Zaxi's words. "Never know. Besides, we're all roughly the same size, I figured we could all use them."

Zaxi scoffs out a chuckle. "Speak for yourself; these'll be more like tank tops on Bixi." Taxi chuckles in return, before both of their attentions are quickly turned to the door, as it clicks and flies open, revealing aforementioned Bixi.

Zaxi was rather quiet and reserved, at least compared to the others, and Taxi was confident and unapologetic, but Bixi was quite different from both. She joyfully skipped into the room and wrapped her arms excitedly around Zaxi, nearly knocking the bag out of her hands in the process. "Hi hi hi! I missed you guys! Sorry I took a while, I was saying goodbye to mama, you know how chatty she gets."

Taxi huffed, uncrossing her legs and standing up from the couch, dusting herself off a bit as Zaxi practically had to peel the especially gleeful brunette off of her. " Missed you too. We're mostly done anyways, it's fine. Is there anything else we needed?"

Bixi thought for a moment, then shrugged. "Well, we should probably know where we're going first..."

The three stood there thinking for a moment or two. Eventually, Taxi spoke up. "What was that place Kremy kept babbling about? Ag...something?"

Bixi perked up, beaming a wide smile, her hands cupped and put to her cheeks. "Right! Agwe! Oh let's go there, please please please! I think that's where they live anyways, so when hubby gets back, we'll all be there waiting for him!"

Zaxi smiled softly and nodded. "Alright. Where is it?" Bixi, who had been bouncing up and down in joy, abruptly stopped at the question, rubbing her chin. "Uh....I dunno. It can't be -that- far from the carnival though, right? We can fly, it'll be easy, I know it! We just keep going forward til we find it!"

Taxi shrugged. "Alright, I guess." Bixi clapped excitedly with a giggle, before moving beside Zaxi to help them finish up the last bits of packing.

Sometime later, after quite a bit of flying, pit-stops, and assorted annoyances of the swampy surroundings, the Trio saw the gleam of neon through the fog, the grimy yet glamorous shine of Agwe finally laid out before them.

Of course, before they even officially entered the town, there were some problems; the first major one being likely the most obvious, that being that everything was sized for large and medium races, not tiny ones, the Trio dodging things like lamps and signs that were at worst minor annoyances for most of the population.

The second problem that arose as they began to encounter civilians is that while nobody really -hated- pixies here, nobody was really used to them either, hell many they encountered had never even seen one more. The most prominent instance being when the Trio flew past a little fishing shack near the edge of the town, and Bixi was nearly swatted harshly to the ground by the old man sat upon the porch, as the man assumed she was a firefly - and was quite shocked when the 'firefly' swore at him as she dodged away.

Regardless, the Trio fluttered down towards the sidewalk, spotting a tucked-away entrance to a local tavern, the neon light hung over the door flickering awkwardly as the worn letters shined down upon the small crowd gathered below it. It was clearly the kind of place that, while it was technically speaking legal, nobody'd really be surprised if a body was found in the alley out back, with the crowd surrounding it reflecting a similar vibe, talking in hushed tones and most wearing some kind of covering to hide their faces.

While it was shady, it also looked to be a lot smaller and basic than many of the flashier, noisier places of the town, so the Trio decided after a bit of whispering that they'd be better off someplace where they didn't run the constant risk of being trampled or squashed.

So, the Trio flew through the small slot in the metal door, giving quite the fright to some of the crowd that just saw a brief blur of color dash past them, and over the heads of the various miscreants inside the rather cramped building, diving down towards the bartender, a stout Bullywug man who was stood upon a wooden box to be able to fully look over the bar.

"Excuuuuuse me!" Bixi squeaked out with her already quite high-pitched voice, quickly bringing the attention of both the bartender and those sat at the counter, some with wide eyes of surprise/confusion, some looking a tad -too- closely, and some, namely the bartender, looking briefly perplexed but quickly moving past it, the poor Bullywug likely having seen far weirded come in and out of his bar.

"Can we get whiskeys please?" Bixi said, flashing a sweet smile and paired with wide, innocent eyes. The bartender looked them over for a moment. "Uh...I think ya should just share one. I only got big cups and I'm pretty sure you all havin' one to yourself'd kill ya in no time flat." Bixi shrugged. "Okay! Just one then!"

The bartender pulled a glass from the tray and began to scrub it a bit after seeing a small stain. "So, who're ya girls? Don't think I've seen ya around before." The Trio sat upon the counter, dangling their legs over the side like it was a ledge. "Well," Bixi began. "I'm Bixi, this is Zaxi, and that's Taxi." Taxi did a lazy two-finger wave while Zaxi bowed her head slightly. "We're the Coals!" She announced proudly with a giggle.

The bartender quickly rose a metaphorical brow. "Coals, ya say?" He huffed. "Ah, not this shit again..." He grumbled, looking down from the brides to the cup in his hands. Taxi's own brow furrowed, hers in anger, glaring at the man. "Not what shit again?" He sighed, crossing his arms. "Ya girls aren't here lookin' for Gideon, are ya? Cause sorry to say, he ain't one to return favors, if ya catch my drift."

The Trio looks at each other confused, then back to the bartender. "Why would we be doing that?" Bixi began. "Yeah, we're just here to party and wait for him." Zaxi continued. "And he didn't fucking ditch us, we know where he is; that ain't ditching, it's a business trip."

The bartender tilts his head curiously. "Huh." He stated simply, before continuing. "Guess the fella grew some stones after all. Well, in that case, have fun; whatever he's up to, he probably won't be too long, they always end up back here in town, one way or another."

He slid the Trio's drink towards them, albeit carefully, and the Trio fluttered up to side on the rim of the glass, the bartender quickly supplying them with a straw, which while also too big, was a much better option than nearly falling into the glass.

The man wasn't kidding; the drink was stiff and would've been far too much for just one of them, and even sharing the Trio got hammered. None of them ended up recalling a whole lot of that night, Taxi spending most of it dancing and hitting on any guy within earshot, Zaxi partying a bit -too- hard and passing out fairly early in, and Bixi spending most of it giggling like a madwoman and being an annoyance.

Bixi did end up remembering one thing by the time she groggily woke up the next morning, though, albeit faintly. The bar was full of people, and the various lights cast all kinds of shadows and glimmers alike across the room, but even with that, she could've sworn she counted one extra shadow; a shadow that looked fairly normal, though oddly sharper than the others, but didn't seem to have anybody connected to it. She ultimately chalked it up to a bad case of double-vision, though.

[diana-bookfairchild]

But the Symbolism. . . (II)

This isn't exactly a continuation, more just me ranting about how amazing and perceptive Jace is.

Firstly, to add onto the previous post, another significant thing Jace gave someone was the toy soldier he gave Max. I'm fairly certain it was a relic from his own abusive childhood with Valentine, and he gave it to Max, his younger brother who - while his family certainly had its own troubles - had a happy and fairly idyllic childhood.

And Max died holding it. That's how much it meant to him.

Pretty sure I don't need to elaborate on that.

In City of Heavenly Fire, in Edom, when Simon feels the burst of pain in his chest from when Raphael was killed, Jace knew what it was instantly.

“Raphael,” Jace said finally, in a flat voice. “He’s your sire, the one whose blood made you a vampire.”

But he didn't tell. He kept it all to himself, instantly changing the subject and pretending the cause for Simon's discomfort was something else.

He knew that at this stage, Alec and Clary would absolutely fall to pieces if they thought Magnus and/or Luke and Jocelyn were dead.

And Jace cared for Magnus, if not for his own sake (though they were absolutely friends at this point) then for Alec's. We know he sought comfort from and confided in Luke in the past.

He kept this knowledge to himself. How much agony do you think this must have caused him? Keeping such a vital thing to himself - that the people they sought to rescue could already be dead. He mustn't even have known they were alive until he got there and Sebastian mentioned they would pay for that.

And sure, maybe it was a tad unfair to the others, but I'm not focusing on that right now. Jace's need to protect the people he loves, even at the cost of their own independence, is so obvious in every action he takes, in the tiniest details spread across the books. I love this.

“Clary,” Jace said, a warning in his voice.

Jace wants to stop Clary from giving too much information about his family to Mark, in the tunnels below Faerie to Edom. Why?

Because:

"—My family? Do they know—” “What’s happened to you? A little. And no, they’re not all right.” His eyes closed.

Jace knows the pain of knowing the people you care about, the people you love, are hurt because of you, and yet even knowing that you can't do anything about it.

Jace empathizes with Mark. Clary even thinks it:

Jace didn’t answer her; he looked stunned. She wondered if Mark, brittle and orphaned and alone, reminded him somehow of himself.

Jace was brusque at the beginning, demanding to know about Mark's time with the Fair Folk, but as soon as he realizes the torture and imprisonment and hopelessness of his family being somewhere he could no longer go Mark'd gone through he became sympathetic. He gave him a witchlight, one he'd always had, the symbolism which I talked about in Part I.

It was Mark's 'I'd rather die' that spurred him on. I think that also reminded him of himself, his impassioned speech to Clary as he went back under Sebastian's control.

“They took you because you have faerie blood, but also because you have Shadowhunter blood. They want to punish the Nephilim,” Jace said, his gaze intent. “Show them what a Shadowhunter is made of; show them you aren’t afraid. You can live through this.”

Mark wanted to feel and be useful. Jace gave him a purpose, something to do. Mark saved Idris and all the Shadowhunters there. A lot more would've died if the precautions against Faeries hadn't been put in place.

Jace was a war tactician and a friend at the same time: he gave Mark hope, was kind to him, and even then ruthlessly used his sense of being lost and the same kindness to make him do something for the war effort.

I can't stress how much I love this dichotomy, and how much it reminds me of Julian (also reading City of Lost Souls Julian - the troublemaking wax melting kid, knowing how much he goes through and how much pain is waiting for him, is just awful).

I could wax poetic about how awesome Jace was in the Blackthorns' interrogation. He wasn't as outwardly biased towards them as Magnus and Clary, but he was unequivocally on their side. His arguments were the ones that convinced Robert.

He agreed with Robert at first (and God, I love Julian's thought process about him):

“He has a point.” Jace smiled at Julian and Emma, and the smile was like gold melted over steel. You could see how the softness was a disguise, and how what lay under it had won Jace the title of best Shadowhunter of his generation.

But then, immediately next switched it around. You can see the way it changes Robert. For Jace, it became personal, and if it was personal for him - he would have done the same - it would be so for Robert, his adoptive father. He goes from stern to exasperated, more willing to be pliant.

He's the one who finally convinces Robert to let Julian speak. The final masterstroke. Robert complies immediately, despite reluctance. I doubt Jace planned how the entire thing went down, but this was a clear show of his loyalty and his brilliance. We see how Jace's strategizing mind works. He remains unreadable throughout, even to Julian - master liar and manipulator.

And when he spoke to Mark later on. He tries to put Mark at ease - doesn't succeed fully, of course, but it does sort of work. He reminds him of the witchlight. And of course, he's understood that Julian is the one running the Institute. I'm guessing it's half the official correspondence he gets from running the New York Institute, and half listening to Julian spinning his tale and helping him out there, but still. He guessed something which not even Emma, the love of Julian's life knew about him. It's kind of ridiculously OP, but also really amazing.

In Lord of Shadows, when he first met Kit, Jace knew exactly what to say. We, as readers, know that Jace would love meeting his blood family and as Alec put it, wanted Kit to like him, but to KIt, he seemed simultaneously someone impressive, and someone he wanted to be far away from.

And this:

-- "You’re fifteen years old. You might think you want to die, but trust me—you don’t.”

Am I the only one whose heart is breaking from the PARALLELS? And the certainty with which Jace says it? Jace-Death-Wish-The-SIze-of-Brooklyn-Lightwood-Herondale? This is as cathartic as seeing Jace finally calling Valentine abusive in The Lost Book of the White.

The 'Herondales Can't Resist a Challenge' thing is definitely part of the reason Kit decides to stay at the Institute. There's also, of course, Ty and Livvy and revenge.

Kit felt a sudden tightness through his body. Talking to Jace earlier had eased some of the anxiety he’d felt ever since his father had died. Jace had made everything seem like maybe it would be easy. That they were still in a world where you could give things chances and see how they worked out.

(The 'I didn't hear anything' at the kids' spying antics?? Jace totally did stuff like that with Alec and Izzy when he was younger).

(Also, like he's not the one who convinced Robert to listen to Julian and then present the testimony without involving the kids. This is canon to me.)

Clary leaves Jace alone in the room with Mark, when they're asking him for advice on Faerie. Playing on his prior connection to the Blackthorn. And Jace gets Mark to cooperate within a minute, revealing some information, but not all of it.

Also, the thing with the Herondale ring. Jace got it from Clary, who got it from Tessa, right when he was beginning to accept that he was a Herondale and took the name. To me, his giving it to Kit - and through Clary no less - was an expression of hope that Kit would be able to find the home and family and love and identity he had. And maybe a subconscious subtle manipulation on the fact that Kit never knew his mother and would therefore be vulnerable to Clary, whom everyone - from Emma to Julian - seems to regard as maternal.

And the way he intimidates Kit into not selling it just cracks me up.

(I love him making sure Emma and Julian have Magnus and Alec's numbers in case they run into trouble. He absolutely recognizes the 'chaos follows me around' tendency he has in them. And that he and Clary asked Magnus to help them. I could talk about that for days.)

Just - the way Jace's sarcasm, his charm, his ability to get people to talk and manipulate them, sweet-talking, humour, superhuman fighting abilities, kindness, emotional sensitivity and perception all meld together is genuinely breathtaking. I get why some people don't like his character - but I love him.

[feydstan]

People You'd Like to Know Better tag game!

got tagged by @spacepunksupreme thanks!

three ships:

first ship: The Dark Urge x Gortash from bg3 (yes, this is ofc durge specific, but let's think "typical" durge or pre-amnesia durge, whatever durge that's scratching and biting gortash and fucks him while doing so) second ship: Mizrak x Olrox from Castlevania Nocturne (gays, angst, I just want them to be together, they have me barking, also hail them for making Olrox this fucking pretty and making such a good chara (@kakimari we probably owe you our thanks)) third ship: Esen x Ouyang from She Who Became the Sun/He Who Drowned the World (very niche but I am crying, throwing up, dragging my teeth across concrete bc of these two) media: last film: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (let's say the title is very fitting because it could almost have been a musical if more people than Lucy would sing plus someone really turned out to be the biggest fucking snake to no one's surprise, but overall a good prequel, lots of references to the hunger games movies (obvi but u get it)) currently reading: He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker Chan (my favourite author and I honestly think that the second book of the duology is even better than the first, it's gay, angsty, humorous, exciting, I literally never got this attached to characters in a book, it's also super interesting even without much knowledge about China's history and Mongol invasions, you'll learn a lot, and luckily a map is provided in the beginning, I literally have to check it each time) and The Genesis of Misery by Neon Yang (Just started but the action in the book is amazing and I can't wait to read more, I love the main character) currently watching: Narcos (I never got around it up until now but I love it, it's super interesting, informative, and since I'm learning Spanish, I get to enjoy that part of it, too (Casa de Papel taught me the basics such as dinero and joder) and well another big plus is Pedro Pascal) and the Once Upon a Witchlight campaign from Legends of Avantris (a DnD campaign I very much love, peak entertainment, my fucking legs) currently consuming: anything Baldur's Gate 3 related, vampire-related stuff, Dune as always, Tolkien stuff currently craving: the will and strength to write my fucking book, to draw all I want to draw, manage to open commissions and stuff, and I'm also craving MORE ART and the SOULS OF ARTISTS tagging: @alex-goes-brrr @moryri @tripleyeeet @carrot--cube @volotramp @mr-oldman-appreciator @feylights

[theadventurersrespite]

(art by the ever talented @ladybugkisses)

Just some various faces of the bratty boy himself! He's recently found himself a friend in our band of children being chaperoned through the Feywild by a drunk satyr and is excited to share his notes with him! Too bad his writing can't be comprehended by anyone or anything besides himself (which, as a wizard makes his spellbook worthless to anyone who tries to read it).

So far I'm really enjoying this Witchlight campaign and I can't wait to explore more of this character!

[nahirdinboon]

An Ending...

From the journal of Ser Ollex Nahirdinboon:

We did it! We saved the queen, rescued Rubin, and Prismeer is left a little better than how we found it. Score another victory for the Knights of the Radiant Shield!

It’s strange, though. I had such a clear goal here in the Feywild, it kept me going and gave me a solid target to keep in my sights when everything else was so chaotic and temporary. Now that we’ve accomplished our goal here, I’m at a bit of a loss as to what’s next.

I mean, I do know what’s next. Sylkas invited us to join him on his spelljammer and take off to the Astral Sea, which was too good of an opportunity to pass up. My excitement over getting to explore other planes out there is as good an excuse as any to do some scouting and observing for our order, see what might be coming our way so we can prepare for whatever may come. Like I told Lady Cyn in my letter to her, this is maybe my best chance to make us proactive instead of reactionary and nip things like the Witchlight incident in the bud.

But that’s less a goal and more something I can do while in pursuit of a goal, which leaves me… a bit rudderless. (Sorry, my brain is already turning to sailing wordplay!) There is something, but I’m not sure if it’s a thing the others would be on board with since it’s sort of my own burden to bear.

I kind of want to see if I can find the divinity whose power is coursing through me out there among the planes of the Astral Sea.

It’s a selfish goal, but maybe it’ll finally answer once and for all who answered my moms’ prayers and brought me into the world. Mama T is certain it was the Fates, but Mama D isn’t as sure about that. Which, considering she’s an oracle for them, is kinda weird. I guess it doesn’t really matter, in the grand scheme of things, it’d just… I dunno, give me some measure of closure there to know for sure.

Anyway, I wish I could take you with me as we head out among the stars. I think you’d like the people I’m travelling with, and I can't wait to introduce you to them. Maybe someday. Until then, I’ll keep dreaming about our eventual reunion…

[shiftingsatyr]

🏖️ which DR is the most comforting when you think about going there?

🏰 what’s your favorite DR?

If you haven't already ^^

I actually haven't gotten any asks about this game so don't worry about asking a previously answered question Xander! :D

Which DR is the most comforting when you think about going there?:

Definitely my Witchlight DR, got a whole found family there and I love all of em alot. I love to think about the bonding moments that we'll all get to have and the late night talks that my bestie Torbek and I will do. I also can't wait to witness all the shenanigans that Gricko pulls and to have some good fashion ol father bonding moments with my Papa Kremy

What's your favorite DR?:

I don't really have a favorite because I love all my DRs but I do have four main ones that occupy alot of my brain right now and those are my Nerdy Prudes Must Die DR, my Witchlight DR, my Dear Evan Hansen DR and my Baldur's Gate 3 DR

[gust-jar-simulator]

I wrote this at ass o'clock in the morning, unedited, and immediately passed out. Please enjoy this look at the Links of Tool Gods AU and their utter nonsense.

Characters: TG Hibiscus, TG Wake

~🌙🌊🌺🌊🌙~

Hibiscus stared into the fog outside the ring of candles, hands fisted hard enough to feel her rings digging in, and the young man outside their glow slanted a cocky smile her way. She could see the trees through his chest.

Hundreds of miles inland, and she could smell the salty rot of the sea.

"Impressive." Rough leather boots paced the border of her circle, fire burning blue-green like driftwood wherever he passed closest. Seaweed clung to the back of her throat like shit to a shoe, but she ignored it, and let the ghost have his little moment. He didn't test the boundary, but he did whistle appreciatively. "You wasted a lot of candles on me, lady. What's the occasion?"

"I need answers." Better to get to the point, but she needed to know what she was working with first. "Who are you?"

"You didn't-? Oh sweetheart, oh no." The ghost pulled up short to look at her, brow furrowed, a weird sort of smile tugging at his lip. "I'm the Hero of the Winds. That's the important bit anyway. You?"

"The Hero of putting up with too much bullshit," she bit out, which earned her a salt-rough laugh. "I haven't heard of you, but at this point you could be my fairy fucking godmother for all I care. I need advice."

He rocked back on his heels, the shadow of his coat shifting around him. Short blond curls caught the witchlight like frozen waves, as much as his eyes drank it in like the swallowing grip of black ice. She probably could've guessed he was a hero- there was a reckless, ragged edge to him like he'd played with more than fire. Like he'd played with the burn of gods. It caught in the edge of his smile, the flash of blades under his coat. "I might have it, but your spell's on a time limit. Tick tock little witch."

She'd let that slide but only because he was right. Taking a breath, she stepped right up to the edge of the burning circle to watch him lean away, something intrigued in the arch of his brow. She carved the words out, bitter and sulfurous and smoldering, to spit into the dark. "My old man plans to marry me off for some sort of treaty or business deal or what the fuck ever, and nobody's listening to me. What do I do?"

"Kick him in the nads."

Hibiscus blinked. "What?"

The hero was looking much less impressed. "That's what you wanted to know? Not... forbidden magic or lost history or something?"

"Maybe I forgot to mention," she started slowly, "but my old man's the king of Hyrule. I needed someone that wouldn't tattle on me for a few coins. Plus, the royal family's been around- I figured a ghost might know about options I don't."

"Maybe I forgot to mention," the ghost parroted back, looking at her flatly, "but you should kick him in the nads."

This was a disaster.

Groaning, she turned around to grab a bucket to dump on the ceremonial incense and cut the entire shitshow off. Before she could get far, though, the ghost flailed at her. "Wait- wait hold on lady, I might have something, least I could do for a... cousin, or whatever you are."

She grunted in his general direction, and the ghost raked a hand through his salt-stiff hair, sighing brusquely. "Listen- it's your first time summoning ghosts, right?"

"Could be."

"Right, well." He shrugged, gestured at the fog around them, or maybe the sky. "We're the gods' favorite chew toys, so I think this really bad idea was a freebie. Most undirected summonings go to shit. You hooked me instead. I can't stay long enough to teach you much, not with this setup, but ghosts are my whole schtick and I can tell you who you really want."

Hibiscus stood bolt upright and swiveled to look at him, but thankfully he was already talking, hands gesturing a little rushed. "There's only one person you could reasonably grab with the authority to tell the King of Hyrule to go fuck himself."

"Hylia? She's not exactly chatty."

He snorted. "No. Her husband."

"Her what."

"Husband, keep up. First king of Hyrule? How do you think the goddess-blood got in the bloodline?" He grinned rakishly and did a little brow-wiggle, before bulldozing right into the details. "If he can catch a goddess, he can tell you how to unfuck this, probably. Or just summon him to kick your dad in the nads, I don't care. You'll need cucco feathers, a dragon's scale, lightning, and a harp. Also the blood of the royal family." He took a sniff of the air, considering. "If you want a ghost to stay, they need fuel. Give him soup. Soup's the food of the gods, I swear."

"I thought they ate my pain and suffering."

"Nah, that's tax collectors." He shot her a jaunty, terrible salute, and winked. "See you around, dollface."

"What the fuck did you just call me-"

But the fog was empty, pulling back to reveal the starry throat of night, and she was alone with a circle of sputtering candles and instructions to summon a ghost possibly older than dirt itself.

Well. What could go wrong?

[wearykatie]

Journey Into the Wild Beyond - Chapter 3: Thither (Part 2)

Cool, now we have a hag in a cottage in a forest kidnapping children, and the teenagers from another world are here to…wait, the book suggests pushing her into an oven? That’s a little too on the nose even for the references in this campaign. Well, I’m sure my players will think of a plan that is at least that strange. But hey, they need to infiltrate and rescue hostages first. 

Isekai-Yay, Mother Hubbard

Like Bavlorna, Skabatha had a weakness that could be exploited. She would forget the first creature she saw every day and they would remain invisible to her until they attacked her. But there's a catch in the book: she has a jar of moths beside her bed and she looks into that every morning to forget one of those and rid herself of the weakness.

That presented an annoyance, because unless the party found out about the moths, infiltrated Loomlurch undetected, stole the jar, then waited until the next dawn, Skabatha's weakness is entirely pointless because it can't be exploited.

I chose to ignore the jar and say that Skabatha had locked herself in her room bedroom and study because she had heard of Bavlorna's demise and was extremely paranoid. This positioned Skabatha where the party could use proper tactics if they wanted.

Oh, they wanted.

Seize the Means of Production

I did my best to avoid certain themes in the campaign. In our session zero, I asked about lines and veils. I have personal lines and veils that affect my DMing, and most are pretty reasonable things, but some are things that might be common in other settings. 

Communication between players and GMs is key. 

Luckily, The Wild Beyond the Witchlight is mostly tame. There are creatures that may trigger phobias or certain themes that may bother some, but those can easily be avoided. I mentioned before that I didn’t use a scarecrow that had a tormented child’s spirit in it, and it’s because I didn’t feel comfortable with children and animals being harmed. I’m okay with references to it, but dwelling on it is too much. That’s one of my veils.

Baked into the story is a clever way to avoid that sort of thing. See, Zybilna takes issue with children being hurt too, and she has magic in place that whisks kids off to safety if they’re in peril. There are limits to this, which is why Skabatha can have a workshop full of children working, but the moment she tries to physically harm any of them, they’re gone. 

But Loomlurch was going to be a pretty empty place if there weren’t any kids in there, so it became a rescue op. The party approached, talk to some goblin vendors on the outside, learned they could have an audience with the hag if they went in the front door and requested it, and then promptly ignored that to unlock the side door.

When the front door is an obvious trap, the clear answer is to walk the length of the building and sneak in through the kitchen. And once again we were presented with a problem. We didn’t have a rogue. I mean, we did, but she was an npc who showed up at random points when needed and “every locked door” was a little too convenient, so I let the players figure out how to proceed. 

They took the pins out of the hinges and took the whole damn door off the side of the building.

While they were patting themselves on the back, I described a young girl shackled to a table peeling potatoes, staring at them who then said, “Granny’s gonna be mad.”.

Yeah, they were stealthy, but the kid, Mishka, was working right across from the kitchen door. She was going to see what they were doing no matter how stealthy they were. Mishka told them how many other kids were in Loomlurch, and also introduced the party to Elkhorn, a dwarven fighter who had been captured by Skabatha and locked in the kitchen. With a little work, the party freed both. Elkhorn offered to help and Mishka was sent running outside to find Alice and the unicorn Lamorna who were waiting for any freed children. More on that later. 

Elkhorn is a member of Valor’s Call, a group of heroes who pursued their bitter enemies, the League of Malevolence to Prismeer. I have a lot to say about all of that nonsense in Chapter 5.

The party also discovered a fire elemental trapped in the hag’s oven as the heating element. Now, since Skabatha has a quirk where she forgets the first person she sees every morning, the book thinks the players will set up a trap where when Skabatha goes to check the oven, the character invisible to her will push her inside and shut it. 

My players freed the fire elemental and became friends with it.

They pushed the heavy table against the door to the hag’s study, instructed the fire elemental to wait for them to rescue the kids, then set off to do just that. This isn’t even the wackiest thing they did.

Chekhov’s Potato

Elora grabbed a potato on the way out of the kitchen. Trust me, this will be important.

In their search, they found more kids, a living doll who acted as a sort of factory foreman, a small zombie in a pig mask, and tin soldiers. But first, they found a room with portraits lined by thorns. There were five portraits: Baba Yaga, the three hags of the Hourglass Coven, and Natasha. 

They found that when one of them brushed the thorns, the portraits changed to show them and their closest family. For Elora, she saw herself, her brother, her sister, and her parents. Hakewood just saw himself and his parents. Artie saw himself, his parents, and the two elves from his vision. Early saw herself and members of a warband her family had been associated with. Rhin saw herself, her adoptive parents, and a goblin couple she didn’t recognize. She quickly sketched drawings of the goblins using her restored artistic creativity. 

They also found a rocking horse - the one Skabatha flew around on normally. The horse had an indentation on its forehead…about the size of a unicorn horn they had been given by Will of the Feywild. Before uniting the horn with the horse, Elora used her alchemy jug to cover the ground in the immediate area with mayonnaise to deter it from running off.

Y’all, D&D might be a little weird.

The unicorn came to life. It was Elidon, Lamorna’s mate.

The party got near the end of the children they were rescuing. They had sent all of them outside to where Alice was waiting with Lamorna. But there were tin soldiers (literal metal constructs) between them and the remaining kids. For the first batch, Artie turned into a goat and started chewing on one of them. Points for creativity. Double points for saying he was doing the screaming goat meme the whole time. 

For the second group of tin soldiers on the third floor, Elora used her Magical Tinkering feature to make the potato emit Rust Monster sounds, then threw it into the room with the tin soldiers. I can’t remember if she rolled an intimidation check or if I just rolled a wisdom save for the tin soldiers, but they ran out of the room, right off the balcony, crashed into the ground, and kept running into the woods. 

Technically, the tin soldiers are immune to fear effects, but you have to admit, that was a Rule of Cool moment. 

They found the last two kids, but one of them was deathly ill. Medicine checks were made to try to cure him, but the rolls weren’t there. Rather than this ending badly for the child, I used the failed rolls as an opportunity to reveal something. Alice called out to the party from outside, asking for an update. They told her about the poisoned kid. She knew the unicorn could help. She hesitated a moment at the threshold, and then ran into the building to get the kid. 

Up to this point, Alice had stressed that she couldn’t help the party fight the hags. She couldn’t even go into their lairs. The party was about to find out why. As soon as she entered Loomlurch, a scream of rage echoed through the building, coming from the direction Skabatha was in. Alice apologized to the party, said she would explain later, scooped up the sick kid, and ran back outside. 

Burn the Witch

Skabatha had been alerted to their presence, but hadn’t made her move yet, so the party returned to the kitchen. They set up a good plan, so I let them carry it out. They opened the door to the study and sent the fire elemental in first. Skabatha saw it, then immediately forgot it was there. This led to a surprise fire attack in the first round. See? Tactics.

The battle that followed was chaos. Partly because there were a lot of players and NPCs with turns, and partly because this was a pretty cramped room. But, they succeed, and Skabatha fell, but not before accusing them of working for Endelyn.

Hakewood and Artie recovered their missing items. Hakewood’s was a piece of a metal sign that read “& Son” and could reform into a bracer for his arm. In a vision, he saw the day he left for Magewood Academy. His parents had a surprise for him. They had the sign outside the shop updated to now read “Hakewoods & Son”, as a sign that he was ready to be an equal partner in the business. They were proud of him, and they said that one day he may even have a shop of his own. Then everyone would know the name Thomas Hakewood. Tom now had his item, “Forged Legacy”, and his name back. 

Artie picked up a compass and saw the same vision of the running wolves from before, only this time, he was leaving the other two in the dust with his speed and navigation skills. He made it back home before his cousins did, to the home of their grandparents in the Feywild. This whole time he had extended family in the Feywild, and it turned out, he was an expert tracker. He recovered the item “The Way Home” and his sense of direction.

Setting Things Up for a Bitter End

In the aftermath, Alice entered and explained herself. She was a construct. A creation of Endelyn. The other hags would be able to sense an agent created by their sister’s magic and would suspect treachery if Alice were to set foot in their homes, which might put the party at further risk. Surprisingly, the party wasn’t all that bothered by this since most had suspected as much already. 

What was surprising was when Early made Alice touch the thorns in the portrait room. Well, heck. What to do there? Portraits changed to show…Elora’s family? The party used this to convince Alice of her true allegiance - to her family (Elora) and not to her creator.

They stayed overnight in Loomlurch to rest and plan their next move. They had to go to Yon to defeat Endelyn, but they knew she was waiting for them, and by now, word of the other hags’ demise would have reached her. 

Dealing With Absent Friends

Before I conclude this chapter, I want to briefly touch on a problem we ran into at the end of Chapter 3. Artie’s player was dealing with a family tragedy outside of the game and that eventually led to him taking the rest of the campaign off. I repeatedly tell my players when things like this come up that as much fun as our game can be, real life comes first. 

I wanted to wait for Artie’s player. Especially because Artie was about to have a really cool moment between chapters. But after a few weeks of delays, we talked about it and he wasn’t sure when or if he could return, so with his blessing, the game moved on. I hated doing it. I wanted everyone to be there for the final two chapters and games are more fun when the whole group is there. Also, Artie’s player is a really good friend who I love dearly and enjoy spending time with. But the show must go on. 

In the interest of not playing Artie as an NPC and utterly failing to do that amazing character justice, I would find a way to write Artie out of the story for a little while with the hope of a triumphant return later. I kept the player updated on everything that was happening - not just with Artie but with the rest of the group. I hope I did right by the character in the end.

I’ll talk about Artie’s departure and the transition to Chapter 4 next time on this ever-growing blog.

[complete-idiot-in-love]

Once Upon a Witchlight: Episode 49 (SPOILERS AHEAD)

I'm not prepared for having to wait for these episodes, watching episode 50 will BREAK me fr fr because I love these goofy bitches so much

No Derek/Frosty in this episode :(

Kremy singing to the unicorn is so sweet!!

Mikey does a really good Frost impression

I feel really bad for the unicorn :(

The newest party “Grinko, Steve, Frank, Gideon and Kevin” /j

Please give Kremy a unicorn named Mia

“We’re all just pawns on the chess board of life” I love it when Torbek gets philosophical, its so funny fr fr

Gideon saying he's only accidentally killed five clowns is really funny lmao

THE SMART UNICORN DOESN'T KNOW WHO THE KING OF HEARTS IS, HE'S SO SUS!!!

ALSO THEY CONFIRMED MY THEORY THAT ZYBILNA IS TASHA FROM TASHA’S HIDEOUS LAUGHTER

KREMY STOP CURSING IN FRONT OF THE UNICORN, SHE ASKED YA NICELY

“I’m not a bard, you see me wearin fluffy pantaloons and a ridiculous instrument I strum around with and a crazy hat?” WOW, RUDE GIDEON! I’M LITERALLY RIGHT HERE AND YOU’RE INSULTING MY CLASS

I DON'T SAY HEYNINNY HEYNINNYHO EVER, STOP BULLYING ME >:( I'M JUST A BARD!!!

Gideon bullies his adopted satyr child (canon) /j

I swear to the gods, if Twig’s patron is the Baba Yaga I’m gonna scream. I love folktales and mythology

It makes sense cause they both have houses with feet and it would be so funny if Twig’s patron is the BBEG

Oil can named Squirt HAHAHAHA

The peter pan reference was hard to understand but funny

GUYS NIGHT!!! (With my S/I!!)

BUTTERFLY BARD!!!!! BARD BESTIES!!!!!!

I LOVE THE BUTTERFLY BARD

Mia and Jeff!!!

This butterfly bard is so weird, stop speaking in rhymes I can't understand anything you're saying!!

I love it when Torbek tries to be artistic or acts more artistically inclined than he actually is, makes me think that my S/I’s artistic nature is rubbing off on him uwu (Two a((r/u))tistic besties!!  /j)

Torbek being absolutely terrified of hippos is so damn funny

NO GIDEON, DON'T FIGHT A HIPPO!!

“Gricko, what the fuck is a lion king and a SNES???” - My S/I (Gricko breaking the fourth wall is so damn funny to me, bro is an eldritch god fr fr /j)

Grinko grimgrin :)

STOP RHYMING, YOU'RE CONFUSING THE HIMBOS!!

If Gricko multiclasses into Bard, I would be very happy fr fr. That dude is always singing or making song references

OH GODS THE BUTTERFLY GOT US LOST

My headcanon is the reason my S/I doesn’t participate in the conversations is cause they're busy knitting while riding on Hootsie

Nikkie’s goat plush is so cute!!

OH NO, AN OLD LADY HAS FALLEN!! SHE NEEDS LIFE ALERT!!

I bet she’s a hag tbh

Gricko has a foot fetish /j

I may have Baldur's Gate 3 on the brain but AUNTIE ETHEL??? LIKE THE FUCKIN HAG FROM THAT GAME????? WAS I RIGHT???

Aw, she’s a widow :(

KREMY NOOOOOO, DON’T GIVE THE OLD LADY CURSED FEY COINS!!!!

NIKKIE TOTALLY SHIPS GIDEON X KREMY “You look to Gideon and think about what you would do if Gideon were to pass away suddenly” “you don't have to call me out like that!” I LOVE MY DADS >:3

RUFIOH FEYWILD CHILD WITH A WOODEN SWORD, IS THIS WILL OF THE FEYWILD??

[obsidiancreates]

Ny newest fixation is the Once Upon A Witchlight campaign of the Legands of Avantris D&D group and my favorite guy is Kremy. I can't wait to find out how best to Angst this guy.

[khaleesiofalicante]

before I read the new chapter, have chp 21

OK OK IM HERE

LATE BUT HERE

She had come with a plan. An actual plan – with like diagrams and annotations and contingency measures and shit. Max had been immensely impressed.

these people are to be feared.

fear us

If he was doing a rescue mission, he would have simply walked into hell and unleashed chaos. It seemed like a proper plan to him.

I mean-

sure that works too

LEXI PLAYS FORTNITE

WAIT A SEC

IS MY BROTHER STUDYING FOR HIS EXAMS? YES BUT I NEED TO TELL HIM THEY PLAY HIS FAVORITE GAME

the reason teenagers get shit like this done is that they are reckless idiots who fear nothing and have zero self-preservation

adults have seen shit and they are responsible and care about their lives

they don't get shit like this done

that's why max, you guys should be the ones to do it

ALSO, THE "someone wakes up" IT'S SELENA RIGHT????

please be Selena

After he had…After he had talked to bapak. After he had made his decision.

nervous laughter max wtf you planning

let's not sacrifice

“How does Magnus Bane feel about this?” Jackson had asked.

Then Max had been the quiet one.

ALRIGHT, BITCH ARE YOU REALLY GIVING UP YOUR POWERS????

that one stupid bitch

what what what what what what what what

OH, HE PLANS TO SACRIFICE MAGNUS???

HELL NO SIT THE FUCK DOWN

“Are you suggesting we inherited the need to go to hell?” Georgia asked curiously.

“No, we inherited the need to do dumb shit,” Max corrected.

yes. yes, that is very accurate

kinda regretting cutting my hair.

I look weird

“And this isn’t even close to the dumb shit we have pulled,” Max managed a smile. “Lexi, you swallowed a witchlight once.”

“Georgia ate demon ichor!” Lexi nodded.

“Neither of us died though,” Georgia pointed out casually.

Max sighed fondly. The bar was extremely low among shadowhunters.

she's right. you're alive at least

“We are worried about losing our parents,” Lexi said. “But what if they lose their kids?”

well-

haha how about you NOT

“Well,” Max put on a grin and put away the pain. “They can always have more kids.”

“He has a point,” Georgia nodded. “They do have a lot of sex.”

JHDCSUIUIDFUH YOU GUYS-

OH, THEY ARE TAKING RAFAEL'S BODY TOO-

HJSDCGUYDFVHJDFVHJ YASS

honestly just tell Anjali and take them both with you

PLEASE THEY ARE ALL SO SCARED OF HER

QUEEN

wait wait wait

max you dumb shit

not only will this give you a very narrow time window, when Anjali realizes you lied she'll murder you but also malec will know that someone kidnapped their dead son's body again

so everyone will know what you guys are doing

“Was he like this when he was younger too?”

“Comatose?” Max asked.

“Cute,” Anjali corrected with a chuckle. “Was he cute?”

“He was an annoying piece of shit,” Max answered.

Anjali raised an eyebrow.

“He was very cute,” Max amended.

OH MY GOD, I CAN'T BREATHE THEM-

OH MY GOD HE DRESSED AS MARILYN MONROE

I HAVE NO CLUE WHO SHE IS BUT YOU GO RAFE

“Oh,” Max said, because talking to people wasn’t his strong suit.

SUCH A FUCKING MOOD

He wasn’t sure if he wanted to sit with her and talk about Rafael’s cuteness.

“We could shit talk Rafael,” Anjali offered with a grin. “You know, like the way he corrects your pronunciation when you talk about fashion brands.”

OH MY GOD HIM IM GONNA CRY I LOVE HIM SO MICH

HE'S COMING BACK TODAY IDC IDC

“He is a man. I shit talk about all men,” Anjali shrugged. “Except Magnus of course.”

nice

Anjali we have so much in common

ohh illusions of course

oh my god strong women

“Gotta uphold the Lunatic Lightwood name,” Georgia grinned and ran through the portal too.

AYYY

Max stared at the prince of hell incredulously. “God, you must be so fucking bored to come up with shit like this.”

IT'S SO COLD IM SHIVERING-LAUGHING I CANT-

im gonna go get a jacket

Phase one: Yeet the cup and the sword out of Idris

NOICE-

Max knew exactly what he was, and he wasn’t afraid of himself

He wasn’t afraid of his power. He wasn’t afraid of the chaos.

And he sure as hell wasn’t afraid of this piece of shit Belial.

Y'ALL IT'S MY BOY-

“Was anyone going to tell me that Max is a waterbender or was I supposed to find it out myself?”

LEXI SCHJBHUDYUGDFV

OH MY GOD THE PEN THING IS SO COOL

the battle is so cool

holy shit max

He looked like he could kill someone right now. But she knew. He was a cinnamon roll.

YES

OH, THIS WAS THE MEANING OF LEXI'S DREAM???

THEIR PARABATAI BOND IM GONNA CRY

holy shit he froze the lake

that's so cool

now he's creating whirlpools

genuinely this is so cool

“She had every opportunity to kill Rafael. But she didn’t. She found a loophole,” Georgia smiled. “She defied Belial, Lexi. Because she loves Rafael. She loved all of us. She is still in there. I know it.”

CRYING SHAKING SCREAMING

what hurts the most is that she was so close to David and Rafael

LEXI OK NOT THE TIME TO KYS-

WDYM JUMP??

AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO STILL DOESN'T KNOW WHAT THE FUCK SELENA'S DREAM MEANS??

LIKE WHAT IS HAPPENING

oh my god IS SHE FUCKING FLYING???

OH MY GOD WINGS

HOLY SHIT LEXI

OH MY GOD BECAUSE RAZIEL IS HIDING IN HER??

SO FUCKING COOL

Belial's just standing there please this is hilarious

SELENA

THE NECKLACE

OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD

RAZIEL'S OUT NOW??

WHAT IS HAPPENING

OH SHE'S REMEMBERING HIM SAYING THAT

OH MY GOD SHE'S USING THE HOLY FIRE

Selena oh my god she's back

SELENA CAN CONTROL THE SOULS

RAFAEL IS A SOUL

OH MY GOD SHE CAN BRING HIM BACK

WHY ISNT HE WAKING UP

I NEED TO EAT FUCK

DON'T MAKE ME CRY INTO MY RICE

WHY ISN'T HE WAKING UP OMG RAFE

RAFAEL GET BACK HERE

I MISS YOU

GET HERE

it hurts so much. knowing how much Selena trusted and loved Michael

OH FUCK HE CAN CONTROL IDRIS TOO??

WE'RE SCREWED

“Keep calling me little girl and I will blow you up like the Death Star,” Georgia growled at him.

QUEEN SHIT

istg did they forget about Rafael's body?

it's just chilling on the ground

“I am your way, Selena,” Belial said.

damn, that's the pick-up lines you use? no wonder you're single

gonna ignore my ringing phone

“I am just a little girl,” Selena whispered. “You should have remembered that before you possessed a fucking ten-year-old.”

THIS!

SHE WAS 10 YOU MOTHERFUCKER

The time she had broken into her father's car and poisoned a cup of coffee. The time she had shot an arrow at Uncle Kit. The one she had drowned David in a pond. The time she had stabbed Rafael right outside his apartment. The time she had choked Lexi in the greenhouse.

FUCK NO GET OFF HER

OH MY GOD WHAT NO

BELIAL TF NO

RAFAEL

NO, BECAUSE I SCREAMED

Y'ALL HE'S OK

RAFAEL YOU'RE BACK

OH MY GOD HE'S BACK

I WILL CRY

“No means no, you piece of shit,” Rafael growled and punched Belial in the face.

YES PUNCH HIM

“It’s okay,” he whispered gently. “Selena. You’re okay. It’s alright, love. Breathe. Come on.”

Selena let out a shaky breath and squeezed him tighter.

“It’s okay,” Rafael said again. “You’re safe now. I got you.”

A burst of shaky laughter escaped her then. “Rafael. I’m sorry I killed you.”

She felt him smile against her temple. “Those are words I never thought I’d hear you say, Selena.”

them omg im gonna cry-

their friendship just-

Is this avatar...?

I LOVE IT

“What in the avatar the last airbender hell is going on?” Rafael demanded incredulously.

EXACTLY WHAT I SAID

this is so cool

I love it so much

Selena kept shaking the ground beneath his feet, tying vine after vine around his ankles. Lexi assaulted him with heavenly fire, blowing one fireball at a time. Max sprayed him with water, water that crackled with electricity.

holy shit this is better than anything i have ever read

“But you know what else I like?”

Belial cocked his head.

“Girls with swords,”

same same same

Max laughed. “Aww. Is Big Bad Belial afraid of a shortsword?”

“No,” the prince of hell whispered.

JKHXCDUHIFVHIFVI HE'S SCARED

Max stared for a second and then shrugged. “I’m used to pissing off my parents.”

mood

“That’s for being a sexist, homophobic piece of shit,” Olivia hissed at him. “It’s the 21st century. Get woke, bitch.”

OMG YES YES MY LOVES

I LOVE THEM SO MUCH

Idris omg he's destroying it

SHE'S DROWNING

...but she can breathe and talk

OH MY GOD SHE'S GONNA ASK THE SOULS FOR HELP

It was the place they had met.

The place she had met Michael every night.

The place she had fallen in love.

The place she had been fooled and tricked and manipulated for years.

HURTS SO MUCH NO ONE TALK TO ME

“You will never touch a woman again,” Selena whispered to him and brought down the sword.

OH MY GOD YESSS

IM SO-

JKNDCSVUIHUIHDFUIDFGVUHIGFB

You were just like screaming the whole time and it was so funny (affectionate)

Also this is what Rafe would have looked like in that photo:

[mino2aur]

if you're gonna play witchlight with me do not read

this character design fucks so hard I can't wait for her bit

[complete-idiot-in-love]

Once Upon a Witchlight: Episode 41 (Spoilers Ahead!!)

shorter than normal cause I know this episode is ROUGH

TORBEK AND GRICKO ALMOST DYING PLUS TWIG ACTUALLY DYING OMFG NOOOO (T-T)

GIDEON IM SO SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS, NIKKI HOW COULD YOU KILL OFF TWIGSY????

Also I love how these episodes can be batshit crazy one second than SO DAMN SAD the next, great storytelling ya goofy bitches (ALSO TORBEK LORE??? DOES TORBEK HAVE AN ACTUAL FAMILY????)

"IT WAS ONLY HER FIRST ADVENTURE!" "Not everybody survives their first adventure."

My S/I would be in a WRECK after the events of this episode, losing a sister and almost losing your best friend would make them fall to the ground SOBBING (These dudes need better healing than banayas fr fr) Like maybe my S/I blames themselves for Torbek almost dying because "I should've healed more!" or blames themselves for Twig's death because "I should've been watching her!"

All n all, very sad episode and I can't wait to watch episode 42! I'm trying to speedrun watching the episodes so I can watch them live :)