#oh our cleric went down? and so did one of our bards? not to worry we have another bard

[seawitchkaraoke]

Going from watching Crown of Candy and Neverafter to Fantasy High Junior year is such a trip I forgot that the Bad Kids are just fully immortal, half the party has healing spells, even Gorguk has spare the dying, two people have revivify and you know they always have diamonds baby (or if not, hey let's be in a magical forest that makes illusions real and just illusion some)

This is not a complaint, they should be unkillable, they're teenagers have you met teenagers?

[raineeskiesabove]

What about angsty Venlumi like Venti taking an arrow for Lumine?

Hi anon, I made this into a oneshot if that’s okay. I’m not sure what I wrote, since I did it while I’m feeling ill so uh;;; enjoy? eheh...

The Stars Will Not Take You | Venti x Lumine Oneshot

It was supposed to be a simple commission. Take out the hilichurl camp, remove any leftover structures, collect and go home. Venti had been there. He was supposed to protect her. So why, instead of singing and laughing with her that evening, he was holding onto her lifeless hand, with the fleeting hope that she would awaken?

As the walked along the road bordering the outskirts of Monstadt, Venti hummed playfully, practicing a new song as they walked. Despite being on their way to a potentially dangerous commission, Venti was as happy as ever. Lumine chuckled to herself, stealing glances at his cheerful smile. She increased her grip around his fingers slightly, relishing in the warmth of his skin against hers. It was moments like this that made her feel at ease. He made her feel like everything would be alright, which is something she desperately needed to stave off the flood of doubts and fears that plagued her mind.

“Venti,” she placed her index finger against her lips, emphasizing for him to quiet himself. They had reached the hilichurl camp.

Huddled in a nearby bush, Lumine’s eyes widened upon seeing the horde occupying the camp. The commission paper stated that the group would be small, not an entire tribe. Maybe more.

“Lumi I don’t know about this. There are too many for simply making a pretty penny. And there are only two of us,” he whispered, the singsong tone in his voice now gone.

Lumine shook her head, “No, we need this money. I’m running low from buying supplies and we must move forward soon. We can’t waste time, Venti,” she explained, face and voice steady as stone.

Venti sighed, his grip now tightening around her slightly smaller hand.

He shook his head, “I cannot allow this. What if something goes amiss?” His words rang in his ears, the realization that he trespassed on his own principles made him bite his tongue.

“We’ll be alright, I can take them. As long as you support me from the rear, that money is as good as ours.”

The bard looked away, his eyebrows knit in a slight scowl. Who was he to stop her? Lumine was free to make her own choices, even if it meant putting herself at risk.

“Fine. I shall support you. Please be careful,” he pleaded.

She brushed a hand against his cheek, kissing his forehead softly in reassurance. Offering him a small smile, she whispered that she would be careful, before standing to lead their small siege.

Initially, the attack went well. Venti used his winds to knock the hilichurls off their feet, giving Lumine more time to clear the way. She fought gracefully, her sword slicing through her enemies effortlessly, her footwork more akin to a dancer than a fighter. Venti consciously told himself to focus, for fear of growing lost in her performance, and yet, the windward god still failed.

“Venti, look out!”

He heard her, but it was much too late to react, the next moment bringing him back to a harsh reality. A sharp pain erupted at his shoulder, an arrow imbued with pyro had struck him. The bard let out a yelp in pain, the arrow burning him from the inside out. The chants of the hilichurls grew louder, now closing in on his vulnerable form. He used his other hand to channel Anemo to hold them off, but it proved difficult to cast with only one arm.

“Venti!” Lumine shouted through a crowd of hilichurls, the monsters falling at her hand as she drew closer to him.

“Lumi, don’t! There are too many! Retreat before- ” his sentence was cut off by another arrow, this time one imbued with electro, sunken deeply into his thigh. His leg twitched at the sensation, the jolts of electricity making his leg grow limp and numb.

“Venti, no!”

For the first time, Venti saw fear flash through Lumine’s golden eyes, her complexion growing pale from seeing her beloved being slowly chipped away. It was impossible for her to reach him, the hilichurls creating an impassable barrier between them. He offered a small smile, mouthing for her to go, praying that she would follow his orders. As he did so, yet another arrow struck his small frame, this time cryo against his side. The impact made him cough, blood spilling from the corners of his lips. She couldn’t stand it anymore. With a strangled cry, she used all of her power to summon a tornado, the sheer force causing many of the monsters to grow caught up in the storm. The larger mitachurls, however, remained unfazed, only growing irritated by the gusts of wind. In her worry, Lumine failed to notice this, ignoring them in favor of making a mad dash towards the staggered Venti.

As a seasoned archer, it was common knowledge that arrows should not be pulled out, for fear of excessive bleeding. But gods, did the added elemental damage hurt. Admittedly, he grew more hopeful as Lumine grew closer, happy that she had fought so hard to protect him.

His happiness quickly dissipated, however, upon seeing a mitachurl charging straight for her. Lost in her emotions, Lumine’s reaction was slowed, her sword only enough to reduce the severity of the major slice the monster inflicted across her midsection.

No. No, no, no. This wasn’t happening.

Immediately, Venti pulled all three arrows from his body, blood already soaking through his clothing as he drew his bow to fire. His shoulder burned as he released Wind’s Grand Ode, the force of the bowstring making him hiss in pain. With the mitachurl out of the way, Venti rushed to Lumine, her form now twisted and lifeless against the bloodstained grass.

“Lumi!”

Her entire chest and abdomen had been sliced open, blood pooling around her unconscious form. He placed his hands against the wound to curb the bleeding, but at this rate she didn’t have long to live.

“No, no. Celestia, no! Lumine, you can’t die on me!”

Already, his hands were dyed red with her blood, her breathing growing extremely shallow and faint. He felt tears begin to stream down his face as he wailed hopelessly. They were miles from the nearest statue or Monstadt, and he himself could barely walk, let alone carry her.

“It is unlike you to be bested so easily in battle, Lord Barbatos,” a voice thundered.

Venti looked up, finding himself face to face with Dvalin, a previous member of the Four Winds. A dear friend of his.

Venti sniffed, trying to wipe away the snot running down his face. “D-dvalin. My friend, I plead for your aid in this hour of need. Not for myself, but for her. Please, help me to protect what I hold most dear,” he sobbed.

Dvalin blinked. Never had he seen the archon so vulnerable. So devastated. The warm smile and bouts of laughter that typically sounded from him were nowhere to be seen, instead replaced by a look that made his heart grow heavy.

“A statue, or Monstadt, my lord?”

“Monstadt. This wound is too complex for the statue’s effects.”

He never left her side. Regrettably, he snapped at the clerics when they asked him to leave and return in the morning, to which he refused to do so. Now, alone with her sleeping form, Venti sighed, rubbing his thumb along her knuckles.

“I shouldn’t have lost my temper at them. They were only trying to help. Just like how you were back there. That’s something I love about you. But at the same time... it frightens me. Deeply. What would I do if you were to suddenly disappear?” he whispered to her, his voice trembling with fear from his own words.

As he held back another set of tears, he heard a faint whisper, “...not going anywhere,” she said. She moved her hand to hold his weakly, her eyes opened a crack to see his crying face.

“Lumi? Oh, I’m so sorry. I- I failed to protect you, and I should’ve pulled the arrows out sooner and gone to help and-“

She cut him off with a bandaged finger to his lips. “Venti, love, don’t blame yourself,” she assured, offering a small smile before attempting to sit up.

She winced from the movement, Venti feeling powerless in only holding onto her hand and the small of her back. He leaned in closer to take her in a gentle embrace, his tears now staining her white infirmary shirt. His free hand moved from her back to her hair, gripping it protectively.

“Lumine, promise me something,” he choked, ignoring her previous remark.

She combed her own hand through his hair, saying nothing.

“Promise me, please don’t disappear,” he whispered.

She didn’t say anything for a long time, and Venti began to wonder if she had fallen back asleep.

“Venti, look at me,” she said, pulling away. “Do you see me?”

He nodded, “Every beautiful bit.”

She smiled sheepishly, trying not to get sidetracked. “Yes, and thus, my promise is already fulfilled, my love,” she said.

“Huh?”

“Even if I am gone, you will always remember me. I will not be forgotten, and that’s enough for me.”

“But it isn’t for me! You need to live, Lumine!”

“Of course I will, I wouldn’t want to live a day apart from you. But someday, we will be forced apart. It will happen, Venti. But I promise, that somewhere among the stars, we will meet again,”

“Lumine...”

“People are separated, but never for forever, my dear,” she placed her forehead against his, looking into his eyes earnestly. “Do not worry, my archon,” she half joked, letting out a small chuckle.

He sighed, smiling from the influence of her laughter. “Your words indeed ring true, my disciple,” he replied, nuzzling against her soft cheek. “But I will protect you from harm’s way, so that the stars may claim you another day.”

[ds-ts-smut-fics]

Far From Home [Chapter One]

Read on Ao3

Synopsis: When Logan, a human monk, comes across an unconscious tiefling in the forest, he nurses him back to health and they decide to travel together. Logan quickly realizes there's a reason Remus is on the road, and not one easily fixed. 

Trigger warnings: NSFW, dnd typical violence, demonic possession, lmk if i missed anything! 

Words: 5,379

A/N: There's some sex scenes in this fic, fair warning. Feel free to give suggestions on what to do, events, loot, etc! This is a completely homebrew world so no limits. They're currently at level 5. Claire is playing Logan, I'm playing Remus. Remus is a bard rogue. 

Logan had never travelled so far between towns. 

He’d been going for several days. There was nothing but fields of dying grass and thick clumps of trees. If memory served well, he was close to the Jubilex Thicket, thus  not too far from a river he could wash up at. The sun was setting fast, though. If he didn’t find a place to camp soon, he’d be travelling in the dark. 

In between the clopping of Juniper’s hooves, something slithered to the right of him. A rustle of leaves, a grunt of pain, and a thud. 

The forest was too dark to see inside, but something rustled. Pulling up on the reins, he tries to see what's moving, hand sliding to his sword as he debates calling out to the dim area off to the side of the path. It could be an ambush, and that would not end well for me. On the other hand, it could be someone in need of aid. 

"Hello? Is someone there?" 

Something slithered away with a slorp sound, and the forest went still. Shivering, he pats Juniper's neck. 

"That's not creepy or foreboding AT ALL…. I think we should continue on our way, maybe there's a clearing ahead."

Juniper shakes her head, moving towards where the sound was, making a soft sound. Frowning, Logan slides off, trying to see what she does. 

"What is it, girl? You see something, hmm?"  

Logan stared hard at the ground, where Juniper sniffed at, but he couldn’t for the life of him find anything. That was, until moonlight glinted off something on the ground— a sickle. Logan trailed his eyes to the hand wrapped loosely around the handle, up to what he quickly realized was a tiefling laying in the dirt. Deep black skin, shoulder-length hair that faded from green to black. He was covered in black clothes, a trenchcoat, hood, and a mask. With Logan’s human vision, it was no wonder he couldn’t see him. 

"Oh dear heavens!" Dropping to his knees, he does a quick check for wounds, using some of his ki to heal him with a touch after moving the weapon as he doesn't want to get stabbed. 

The man’s eyes snapped open— stark white and pupil-less. He sat up with a rush, then dropped one of his sickles to grip his head with a groan. 

Shifting back a little to give space, he can't help but smile. "I promise, I mean no harm. My name is Logan, may I offer some water and rations? Once I make camp for the night I can attempt more healing. It is getting dark for me though, I nearly missed seeing you!" 

He blinked and looked around, his eyes nearly glowing. His voice came out gravelly, painful to even listen to. “Uh… That- That’s okay. I have some. Thanks for the help.” 

"You're welcome, I really must insist though, it wouldn't be right to leave you here. At least spend the night? I can build a fire for warmth, lend you a blanket?" Offering a hand, he hums softly, calloused fingers tan and marked with the practice of using the sword at his hip. "What do you say?"

The man hesitated. He grabbed Logan’s hand and hoisted himself up, then reached down to snatch his sickle. “I’m Remus. If you make a fire, I can set up a place to sleep.” 

Remus didn’t have much on him. He clearly lived out of his backpack, a bedroll stuffed messily on top. His hooves were rough and scratched. 

"Sounds like a deal, Remus! Oh, this here is Juniper, she led me to you." Helping him over, he looks Remus over. "Been out here for long?" 

Remus smiled at Juniper awkwardly, then set his bag on the ground to pull out his bedroll. “So-so. Do you have a bedroll or anything?” 

Tapping a bundle on Juniper, he nods, smiling a little as he turns to get a fire going for them. "I do. Want me to pass it over? I'll get her settled after I get a fire going." 

“Yeah. Here.” Remus dug around in his bag for a minute, before taking out a paper-wrapped box. He tossed it to Logan. “Some meat you can cook. Do you eat meat?” 

Catching it easily, he nods, the fire starting to crackle and glow merrily. "I'm not terribly picky so long as it's cooked. Did you hunt this?" 

He tossed out his bedroll then grabbed Logan’s. “Yeah, this morning. Just glad it’s not going to waste.” 

"Do you not eat meat then?" Tipping his head, he sets his pack down next to the box, turning to tend to Juniper.

“No, I just meant…” Remus laughed weakly and pulled off his trench coat, revealing a ripped up button-down in loose fabric. It hung off his shoulders and showed more of his chest than it covered. He pulled his mask down. He had delicate, round features, face covered in scars. “I almost died. It would’ve just rotted in my bag, you know?” 

"Oh!" Blushing softly, he lets his eyes wander a bit, 'assessing the damage' on Remus. "You were quite injured, but I don't think you would have passed on. Shall I do another healing?" I knew I was more attracted to delicate males, but I am in trouble. He's so lovely! 

He shook his head. “No, don’t waste it. I’ll feel better after getting some rest. Are you a cleric or something? How’d you… You know?” 

"How'd I heal you? I'm a monk, I follow the traditions of the way of mercy. I used some of my energy to give you a little boost in health, and I can do so several more times before I rest if you have need?" Brushing out Juniper a little, he slides off her harness so she can graze. 

“No, really, I’ll be fine. Thank you, though, that’s… Interesting.” He helped Logan skewer the meat over the fire, roasting it almost like he roasted marshmallows when he was younger. “Are you headed anywhere in particular?” 

"Thank you." Turning the meat occasionally, he smiles. "I'm not really headed anywhere specific, are you?" 

Remus hesitated, then nodded. “West. There’s a village on the coast I need to get to.” 

"Would you object to some company? I was simply instructed to leave the monastery and assist others." Looking over at Remus, he smiles a little. 

Remus pulled a sliver of meat from the fire and stuffed it into his mouth, showing off a row of sharp, fang-like teeth. Feral tiefling? Logan pondered. 

Stick your hand in the fire!

“No,” Remus mumbled. 

"Ah, excellent, then I shall accompany you to that village." Nodding, he hums. Feral or not, I did offer my assistance. He's dangerous but oddly cute.

Remus looked up in surprise, then bit back a curse. “I really don’t need any help,” he promised. “You don’t have to.” 

"I don't, that's true. However, I did offer, and I truly don't have anything else to do. It would be a pleasure to accompany you if you'd like a road companion."

What, scared you’ll have to find a quick way to get rid of him? I know a fun way!

“Shut up,” Remus mumbled, then said louder, “Okay. Sure. I’ll take first watch, you get some sleep.” 

He stood, then with a quick echo of fire? in his head, Remus swept his hand through the top of the flames and stepped away to find a good vantage place to take watch. 

"Remus, wait! You're still recovering… If you won't let me heal you, at least let me take the first watch so you can rest and heal?" Logan frowns lightly, worried by the sporadic behavior of his new companion. Is he really okay?

Remus turned to him, pressing his now slightly-burnt hand to his skirt made of rags. “If I go to bed now, I won’t wake up on time for my shift, and I won’t be able to protect us as well. Let me ride the rest of my energy, then I’ll get some sleep. Promise.” 

"Promise to wake me when your energy wanes?" Holding out his hand, he hums. "Let me heal you at least a little more as well, please?"

Remus hesitated, then sighed and took his hand. “It’s really a waste, but sure. And yes, I will wake you up.”

Taking his hand, he smiles softly, kissing the dark skin. "Mmm, thank you. It eases my mind to know you're more healed up to protect us." 

Remus’ face turned bright red. “Uh… Th-thank you. Go to sleep, alright?” 

Nodding, he winks, standing straight again and heading for where his bedroll is set up. "I will. I have some stretching to do first, but I'll be settling in. Thank you for watching the area, Remus." 

Remus climbed up to a low-hanging branch and settled against the trunk, watching their little area. 

You could always wait for him to sleep and take his stuff. His horse has taken a liking to you! She’d be easy to steal! 

“I’m not doing that,” he mumbled. 

Humming lowly as he works though some gentle stretches, Logan turns and clicks softly to Juniper, offering her a cube of sugar as he bids her goodnight. Remus went through his watch, enduring Adelaide’s taunts until he got tired, and finally let Remus settle into quiet. 

He waited until he was about to fall off the branch from nodding off before he got down and shook Logan awake. 

Waking easily, he smiles a little as it clicks who this is over him and he hums. "Remus… You waited a little longer than I thought. Did you want my warm bedroll? You look about ready to drop."

Remus blushed. “Uh… Sure. Let me just roll mine up.” 

He reached for his cold one, only to land hard on his hands. He laughed it off and settled back on his knees, starting to roll it up. 

Taking over the motion, Logan gently helps Remus onto his bedroll, settling his blanket around his shoulders. "Definite cue for you to rest. It'll help me wake up to get this all packed up." 

Remus hesitated, but he really couldn’t help it. Logan’s blanket was warm against the freezing night air and it smelled like him. “Yeah… Okay.” He crawled around Logan to flop down onto the bedroll, kicking off his skirt and burying his face in the pillow. 

Wrapping his cloak around himself more, Logan slides his hood up as he works, adding more wood to the fire. "You deserve a nice warm spot, Remus. Sleep well." 

He mumbled something into the pillow, voice tight with embarrassment, and went to sleep.  

Giving him a soft pat on the hair, Logan turns to making the camp set up organized, watching the edge of the light as the night passes. Hopefully he rests and heals up. I suppose I could try to sneak in another healing touch, but… He hasn't consented.

In the morning, the sun streamed through the trees and directly into Remus’ eyes, waking him up far earlier than he wanted. He pulled Logan’s blanket tighter around him and buried his face in the pillow. 

Reaching over, Logan hums softly, trying to ease him back to sleep. "Shhh…."  

Remus hummed at the hand in his hair and on his horns. “When d’you wanna get going?” He murmured. 

"Not for a bit. It's just barely starting to lighten up." Stroking more, he smiles softly. "Not light enough for human eyes just yet."

He nodded, and started to respond, only to trail off sleepily. “M’kay,” he managed. 

Rubbing over his horns, he smiles softly, getting out a little oil to rub into the chipped surface. "Sleep. I'm watching over you." 

“What is that?” He mumbled. 

"Oil made from pressed sunflower seeds. It helps skin and nails heal when they're dried out. I use it for when my hands are cracked from overwork. I. thought it might do your horns and hooves some good. May I?" 

He blushed and peeked at Logan. “Sure. Not sure how much good it’ll do, but… Sure.” He poked his hooves out from under the blanket and presented his horns, which towered above his head. “Have you been this close all night?”

"I made a small circuit to walk every so often. As it's gotten lighter I can see further though, and you seemed to appreciate it when I was close." Stoking gently, he starts working in the oil with a soft cloth. 

Remus hummed happily and stretched out his legs. “Was I talking in my sleep again?”

"A little… It wasn't a language that I know however. You did seem to settle more when I sat nearby. How are you feeling?" 

“I’m good,” he mumbled. He sat up and pulled the blanket tighter around his shoulders. “We should start packing up camp. We’ve got a long way to go.” 

Hand glowing a soft green, he hums. "Very well. So long as you're feeling okay." Finishing up the oiling, he nods. "As soon as we get a little food, sure."

“There should be a town about an hour from here, if you want to get something at a tavern.” He folded up the blanket and bedroll. “Otherwise I can hunt something.” 

"Ah, I haven't really been out this way. That tavern sounds lovely." Helping out, he starts putting the fire out. 

Remus pulled on his trench coat and mask, then shrugged on his backpack. “I can walk beside you and Juniper.” 

"You sure? She can carry us both." Getting the bedrolls attached to her saddle, he hums, sliding on her tack once more.

“I don’t want to impose,” he mumbled. 

Reaching over, Logan taps Remus on the nose softly. "It's not an imposition. I offered, if you're okay with either sitting behind me or in my arms in front, we can make faster time? She's faster than either of us."

“Faster sounds good,” he mumbled. “I can be in front if you can drive that way… I’ll keep a lookout for any threats.” 

"Sounds good to me, that way you can be warmer too. You could do with some more intact clothes." Offering his arms, he winks. "May I lift you up?" 

He blushed and hooked up his pack, then grabbed Logan’s arms. 

Settling his own supplies in place, he grins and lifts Remus with a little bounce as he overestimates his weight. "Oh my, you're so light!" 

He blushed. “Not- Not that light, no…” 

Flexing a little, he grins. "Mmm, toned, definitely. But to my strength, you're light, my dear." Settling Remus in place, he finds a tree and uses it to swing up into the saddle behind Remus safely.

Remus held onto Juniper’s neck, face bright red at Logan’s closeness and warmth. 

Grinning, he reaches over to take the reins. "You okay, Remus? You're clinging like… oh, what was that sea creature with all the arms?" 

“An octopus? I’m fine.”

"That's it!" Shifting Remus up a little, he hums, easing him to lean back on his chest as he guides Juniper in a slow walk back towards the path. "Just relax?" 

“Yeah… Not too much, though. I gotta keep a lookout.” 

Logan’s chest was burning warm against Remus’ back, his arms closing him in. When was the last time he was so close to someone? He didn’t think ever. 

"That's fair, but at least a little so you don't have to worry about tipping off like a wood plank?" Smiling a little, he chuckles. "Don't want to worry about you falling, hmm?" 

“I won’t fall,” he blushed. 

"Good…" Scanning the woods, he hums, clicking his tongue to guide Juniper into going a little faster. "Don't want to see you hurt again." 

Remus laughed weakly. “Right.”

Letting his fingers stroke over Remus a little in the guise of keeping him steady, he hums. "You're cuter without your blood staining your skin… at least to me."

Remus felt weak. He babbled out something unintelligible, before managing, “Do you save a lot of boys from the brink of death?”

"Not recently… and none quite as cute certainly!" Grinning, he hums, leaning in close to whisper in his ear. "It was nice to feel your pulse return under my fingers~!"

Remus leaned back against him, his heart racing. He was in the middle of trying to figure out how to respond when something caught his eye up ahead. 

He sat straight up. “Is that a barricade?”

"Hmm? Is it? I could redirect… Or try and jump it. I don't think she'd like that though." 

“Don’t. We need to turn around.”

“Stop the horse!” A man demanded from behind them. 

"I think that's out…" Kicking Juniper into a gallop, he swerves them to the left, not seeing anyone there even as two crossbow bolts strike the dirt behind them. "Got any ranged weapons, hun?" 

Remus snatched his short bow off his bag and knocked an arrow, watching carefully for any sign of movement. 

“STOP THE HORSE OR WE’LL SHOOT ITS LEGS!” 

"Shit!!" Trying to see where they are and if they're a threat, he leans back a little to give Remus room to shoot as he lets Juniper guide herself, eyes searching for any more bolts. "Where are they?!" 

Two more arrows shot off, one narrowly missing Juniper’s ankle and the other flying wide overhead. 

Remus’ eyes narrowed as he caught their hiding place. A breeze of fabric swept behind a boulder, a head poking above a dip of land. Two crossbows rested over the cliff. 

Remus snatched one of his sickles and dove off Juniper, rolling a bit sloppy but getting to his feet unscathed. Just as he landed, the arrows shot from the cliff. One landed in Logan’s upper arm, the other in Juniper’s side. 

Pulling up short with a curse, Logan slides off his horse, turning to place himself between the attackers and his horse. "We're stopped! Stop shooting!”

The bandits, four of them, jumped out of their hiding spots and came closer with their bows. They stood about twenty feet away. 

“Drop your bags and you can go,” one commanded. 

"What proof have I of that?" Logan frowns, straightening up and using himself as a distraction for Remus, one hand sliding towards his sword. 

They all glanced between each other. One of them jerked their bow. “Just drop it! Let’s get this over with!” 

“No.” Remus shot his bow and hit a bandit straight in the chest. 

He stumbled back with a groan. 

"Gary!" One of the bandits steps out 5 feet and shoots at Remus with a shout. Another sighs and decides to take a shot at Logan. "We gave you a chance…" 

Logan sidesteps the bolt, stepping in to draw his sword and swing. 

The blade sunk into the bandit’s neck, blood gushing forward. The bandit dropped dead. 

Remus kicked the second bandit down and brought his sickle through the bandit’s shoulder.  

"Very nice!" Whipping his sword to clear the blood, Logan grins. 

Seeing how the battle is going the last uninjured bandit turns to flee. 

Remus raised his bow and shot, one hoof planted on the bandit’s chest— it sunk into his back, and he fell. 

He pressed his sickle to the fallen bandit’s neck. “Are there more of you? Where’s your base?”

Stuttering and stammering, the bandit shakes his head, unable to get a clear sentence out. 

Remus pushed the sickle closer. “Answer me or I’ll kill you now and track down your base myself.” 

Setting a hand on Remus' shoulder, Logan hums. "Best answer, he means it!" 

Gulping, the bandit squeaks. "There's just two more! Up the…" He points up to where there's a clear view of the road coming towards the barricade.

Remus swung, digging the sickle halfway through the bandit’s neck. He turned and stormed forward, leaping over the barricade. There were some shouts, some slices, then Remus reappeared with blood marking his arms and chest. He stared at the ground carefully, walking slowly. 

Logan hums, looking up from where he's tending to Juniper, having healed her but only wrapped his own arm. He comes over to Remus, offering a hand. "All set? How are you doing?" 

“I’m fine. I’m going after their camp, though. I can meet you at the town.” 

Humming softly, he frowns. "I'm coming with, just in case you need backup, or you can meet me at the river. I think we both could use a scrub up."

“I’m not stopping for a bath,” he laughed, stopping to glance at Logan. “They could rob or kill someone else in the next five minutes. Tracks going this way, if you’re coming you’re coming.” 

Chuckling softly, he nods, leading Juniper along. "I'm coming, and I meant after the clean up we clean up, before we get to town, dear."

Remus took his other sickle from his bag and ran his hand through Juniper’s mane. “Alright,” he whispered as he followed the tracks. “Uh… Thanks. Sorry for the…” He gestured to himself. 

Reaching over, he taps Remus' nose, whispering back. "I'm just glad none of it's yours!"

He laughed quietly. “Really? You’d rather it be…?”

"Mercy where possible, but it should be acknowledged that it is not always possible. There's a reason that I carry a sword. I gave them an option, and they chose violence. I'd rather these few perish as opposed to however many they would harm or kill." 

He nodded slowly. “How long have you been out here?”

"I left the monastery, hmm… I believe it was 8 days ago?" Pointing to a fork in the path, he hums, gesturing up. 

Remus’ eyes widened. “Jesus. You… Do you have any adventuring experience?” Remus stopped and put a hand on Logan’s chest. “Are you sure you should be doing this?”

"I've been out on expeditions with my fellow monks. We are trained to be wanderers… and I have been on the road with my parents before I joined the order." Smiling, he takes Remus' hand, kissing it. "I am quite capable, my dear, but thank you."

Remus’ face turned bright red. He stumbled over his words for a moment, before taking his hand back and continuing along the tracks. 

Grinning, he follows, watching for clues to where the camp is. While Logan didn’t find any tracks, the path they were on was not intentional, made from years of kicking away and flattening foliage. They trudged deep into the woods, silent and crouching the entire way. 

Remus saw it before Logan did— Stilts of wood going between trees, a clear barrier. Remus narrowed his eyes and gestured for Logan to wait. Arching an eyebrow, Logan pauses, waiting to see how Remus procedes forward. 

Remus misses seeing a wire settled near the ground as he moves forward, only feeling it when it presses against his ankle before it shifts quickly, slicing a little as it pulls a rope around his ankles and a net scoops him up into the trees. 

“Fuck!” Remus hissed, scrambling around for his dagger. 

There's some rustling in the area where the stilts lead up to, the trap having set off a silent alarm there as well. 

Logan curses softly, heading to the area to see if there's a rope he can cut to help lower the net to the ground. "Calm yourself, don't thrash too much, you'll tangle yourself more!" 

Remus slashed a hole in the net and it dropped him towards the ground, Logan darting forward to catch him, with a small smile. 

"Got you, darling!" 

He sets him down carefully, letting Remus get settled with the knife now properly stowed and brandishing his sickles as footsteps raced towards them. 

Logan steps in front to shield him from the oncomers, sword out and ready to swing even as he's calling out to the people coming. "Prepare yourselves!" 

Remus fought back the blush to focus. A bandit jumped out of the foliage and slashed at Remus with a scimitar, digging into his shoulder and wetting his coat. 

Logan curses softly, touching Remus to heal him some with a ki. Stepping in prepares to attack the bandits at the next opportunity. One bandit with green hair kicked Remus away and took another slash, just barely missing. A half-orc stepped out of the foliage to Logan, bow held up. He shot, the arrow nicking Logan’s ear. 

A half elf slices out at Logan with his scimitar, slicing into his side and making Logan shout out in pain. Remus growled and snatched his dagger only to throw it, sinking it straight into the half-elf’s eye and taking him down. 

The last bandit pales a little, deciding to attack the taller human that they'd gotten a hit on rather than the scary looking black-horned demon, swinging wildly at Logan and missing terribly.

Logan turns, taking two swings at that cowardly bandit, hitting both times and making him choke on blood as he falls to the ground. 

The half-orc in the trees shoots another bolt off, and it stuck into the tree above Logan’s head. Remus snarled and whipped around, throwing his hand out. 

“You fucking coward!” He snapped, casting vicious mockery. 

The bandit flinched and dropped his bow to hold his head, groaning. 

"Want to do the honors of finishing the coward off, dear, or let him come down to face us?" 

The half-orc reached for his scimitar, stumbling forward with a red face and narrowed eyes. Remus stormed forward and decapitated him with his sickle. 

He sheathed them and groaned, holding his shoulder. “Fuck, that hurts.” 

Logan frowns softly, reaching over to examine him, using a ki to heal him when he sees the damage. 

“Goddamn,” Remus sighed, pressing his forehead to Logan’s shoulder. “How much of that do you got?” 

Smiling a little, he gives Remus a gentle hug. "I can do that twice more today." 

“I’ll try not to make you need it. I have a greater healing potion for emergencies, so don’t-” 

“HEY!” 

Remus froze. 

“You pieces of shit done yet?!” 

“Hide,” Remus snapped, crouching and diving into the foliage. 

Freezing a moment longer than Remus, Logan makes for some bushes on the other side of the oath, having to take a moment to find one big enough to hide his bulky frame. Big footsteps fell along the ground. 

A goliath bandit captain stepped around their camp, bushy eyebrows knitted into a deep frown. “Hello?” He grunted. 

Remus squeezed his eyes shut, breathing heavily, then snapped them open and sprinted out of hiding. 

The goliath whipped around but Remus was faster, slashing the sickle along the goliath’s waist. The goliath hissed in pain, turning to Remus in surprise. 

Stepping out, Logan attacks the goliath's back, slicing in deeply with a chuckle. The goliath stumbled away from them, face bright red. 

“You killed my men?” He roared. “YOU KILLED MY MEN?” 

He grabbed his great axe and charged Remus, his rage steering him wrong and missing wide. Remus jumped out of the way and brought the sickles down on his ankle, both missing. 

“Fuck me!” Remus snapped. 

"Maybe later, dear?" Logan can't help but quip as darts in to try a hit of his own, missing as well. 

The goliath let out an unearthly cackle. “You murder my men and you can’t even get a hit in? Pathetic.” 

He brought the greataxe down over Logan’s head. Logan ducked away but the axe still managed to slice through his robes and crack open his leg.

“Logan!” Remus narrowed his eyes, rage bubbling in his chest. He whispered menacing threats under his breath, Adelaide coming in with his own excitable suggestions. 

The goliath looked around in panic, his eyes watering. He almost dropped his great axe, then shook himself out of it. 

Grinning a little, Logan steadies himself, attacking once he's steady on his feet again with a wide grin, slicing into the goliath's arm. The goliath dripped blood, a steady trail along the ground. He was looking pretty beat up, but was still steady on his feet, grinning. 

“You really think you two will walk out of here alive? A human, and a little devil? Defeating me?” 

Remus braced his sickles. “I’ve killed more than you before.” 

"Together we are stronger than alone!" Logan grins as he watches Remus move.

He glanced around the camp, taking in the mountains of supplies, the barrels and crates that clearly held corpses. He yelled angrily as Adelaide helped him hit, slicing his sickles into the goliath’s midsection. The goliath groaned and gagged as his stomach dropped blood and skin, dropping down to one knee. 

Taking a step in, Logan swings twice, eyes hard. "You shall receive your just reward for the life you have lived here." 

He looked back at Logan, eyes hard. With the realization that the two unlikely martyrs weren’t going to leave without killing him, a second wind rushed through him. He pushed himself to his feet. He slashed at Logan, opening a large cut in his chest and ripping away some of his robes. 

Remus’ eyes landed on Logan, heaving for breath, limping. He rushed over and touched his face, black energy pooling around Remus’ hand and dispersing along Logan’s body. 

Leaning into the touch a little, Logan smiles slightly as he steadies, dripping less blood as some of his injuries heal up. "Thank you, dear." 

Turning back to the goliath, he frowns, stabbing him harshly. "I liked these robes. Blue is my favorite color." 

The goliath howled in pain. He kicked Logan’s weapon away and turned to Remus. The greataxe lodged into Remus’ side. He doubled over as fire erupted along his side, sucking in a breath of pain. 

“Fuck,” Remus choked out. 

Adelaide’s laughter echoed in Remus’ head. Remus’ eyes glowed red, and purple flames surrounded the goliath. 

When they melted away, the goliath laid on the ground, charred to a crisp. 

"Wow…" Letting himself sit heavily, Logan laughs softly, a bit dizzy and mesmerized by the colors now that the danger has gone away. 

Remus’ red, pupil-less eyes flicked to Logan. He grinned, blood staining his teeth. “You didn’t think I’d let him break my favourite toy, did you?” 

Logan's eyes widened and he frowned. That was not Remus. From everything he’d learned from the monks… A demon was speaking to him. "Remus is not a toy. Release him please." Please don't make me fight him.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. He knows, Logan knows. Don’t make things worse. Please don’t make things worse. 

“Don’t whine, darling, it’s unattractive.” Adelaide sighed and straightened up. That same black energy that healed Logan danced along Adelaide’s fingers, pressing it to his own forehead. Some of his wounds closed, but he still looked pretty beat up. 

"Frankly, I don't care about being attractive to you. Remus' reaction is my concern. Who are you and why are you here…" Slowly pushing up, he retrieves his sword, using a ki to heal himself in case he has to fight this creature possessing Remus. 

The demon laughed. He turned and headed back into the forest. 

Where are you taking us? 

“You were heading towards that village, weren’t you? We can have some fun. Don’t you miss it?” 

Reaching for Remus' hand, Logan hums, gently commanding. "No."

Adelaide turned to him in surprise. “Sorry, was I talking to you? Or would you like to join?” 

"I'm not sure what you're planning, but I have intuition that Remus doesn't agree with the plans. I'm standing up for his wishes. You can't just bully him like this." Keeping a firm grip on the dark arm, he straightens up to his full 6' 2" height and hardens his eyes. 

A smirk curled over Adelaide’s lips. “And what will you do to stop me?” His voice echoed. “Remus likes it here.”

Stepping in, he hums, other hand sliding over the dark cheek, smearing a little blood. "Well… I'm willing to give Remus a kiss if he comes back. We had planned to wash up after clearing the bandits. I'm sure they have some clothes he could better outfit in." 

Adelaide rested a hand on the side of Logan’s face. He pressed their foreheads together. “It’s cute how you think Remus has a choice in this,” he whispered. 

His eyes rolled back and he fell.

[lynndoublelegacy]

just a cool dnd meme i saw

Yook so it’s less a meme and more like. a big ol questionare but hey, might as well do it. originally saw it on @/probablyottrpgideas, go check them out

1. Game Master, Player, or both? Why?

Ok so technically I’ve DMed twice but I really don’t find it fun? and don’t ever want to do it again. so. Player. I like building characters and their connections with fellow PCs more than building worlds

2. When did you start roleplaying? How old were you?

oh god, if we’re talking about roleplaying in general? I’ve been doing it basically as long as I can remember. As a kid I would play House, and then once I got older in like 5th grade I actually started making characters and playing out their stories with friends. Google+ is what made me realize this was actually like, a THING, though, and I got into some roleplaying groups there, then on DevaintArt. Dungeons and Dragons is a newer development? I got into it in late 2018 when my sister’s friend invited us to a one-shot, and... well, yea, I got hooked lol

3. What was the first roleplaying book you ever owned?

dude, bold of you to assume I really own any. I don’t have that kind of money and literally only own the Guide to Wildemount, and that was a gift

4. Describe the first game you ever ran or played in.

I mean... it’s not a game but ima describe the one shot, bc my first campaign was a hot mess without a true storyline and I used the same character for it anyway. I played a tiefling bard called Aisling Kai (I didn’t know this was a cliche combo at this point, and I honestly played her like a rogue with a music motif but Whatever) and we were a little group tasked to figure out why the hell anyone who goes into this cave never comes out. So we go in, make our way through the dungeon, fight some frog people (I made one of their ears bleed just by getting a nat 20 on a performance check to play a high f# on flute, that was fun, FWEET), and turns out yep, theres a hill giant down here. We kicked his ass and collapsed the cave on top of us (dw I think we were fine but my memory is a little screwy)

5. What system did you grow up with? / 6. Which system do you play now?

i learned on and currently play dnd 5e. I don’t really know anything else, but I’m debating checking out Vampire of the Masquerade.

7. Longest campaign you’ve run or played in?

That would be my Tal’Dorei campaign group, aka The Fatefallen! Started in the Fall of 2019 and still going to this day, just played our 45th session last week. I play Ilia Liadon, the drow grave cleric, and the only member of our party who has been there for every single session since the beginning.

8. Where did you meet your current gaming group?

...well first I feel the need to mention that I have 3 different groups (2 of them are on hiatus now for pandemic related reasons but! we’re still groups). My first group (with Aisling) was formed slowly over time as friends adopted friends into the group, I think it started as a school club? but that didn’t last long. The other two started from a different school club as well, though one has since branched out into other people as well. 

9. Strategic combat or dramatic plotlines?

I am a roleplayer first and a gamer second. Give me all of the backstories and dramatic plotlines. Don’t get me wrong, I still like combat, but story takes precedent for me.

10. Favorite RPG genre?

I don’t tend to define myself by genre? But I tend to fall into more of a fantasy, at most arcanapunk style. Give me all of the magic, and magic powered tech.

11. Your first character.

I got into her a little bit earlier, but my first character was Aisling, aka Calypso Kai. She was a homebrew subclass bard with a criminal background, who honestly? should’ve been a rogue. I’ve since rebuilt her into an Assassin Rogue/College of Eloguence Bard multiclasser, but this iteration was like. Baby her, baby me new to dnd, I did not know what I was doing. She tried to be edgy, but my mom energy came through HARD and she just. Never really had a set characterization. She deserves better and I plan on playing her better sometime in the future.

12. Your favorite character.

You are making me choose between my children. BUT, if I had to pick, either Ilia Liadon, or! Ashe Wednesday, a protector aasimar drunken master monk and my profile picture. Ashe also deserved a lot better from their campaign, so I have a massive soft spot for them, they were made during a really tough time in my life (as was Ilia) and was going through an equally rough time in-game, since I made them for a Curse of Strahd campaign without understanding what I was getting into. They’re my little rebellious asshole and I love them dearly, someone get this kid therapy. Ilia, on the other hand, is just... she’s a comfort character for me at this point. mostly soft edges, such a mom- while Ashe was me yelling “come at me” at the world while crying, Ilia was just... embracing it. Making it better. basically, if they actually existed, I would die for both of them.

13. Your most ridiculous character.

I don’t usually play super ridiculous characters, but! I would say Keothi “Bookfinder” Vaimeil counts. She was basically me looking all of the goliath barbarian stereotypes in the eye, and going “nah. she’s a nerd.” She’s literally a massive puppy dog, just the sweetest big old thing, sitting in her house and reading all the books she can get her hands on in order to make up for her amnesia. Oh, and did I mention that she’s a zombie? ...yea. She’s wacky, but I love her.

14. The best in-character line you’ve ever had.

“I need sleep. I don’t even sleep and I need sleep.”

~Ilia, after a particularly tough fight and an emotionally draining day

15. Your most epic death.

Ok so... none of my characters in game have ever actually died during the storyline? Keothi obviously has in her backstory, and Ilia might have in hers as well, it was never explicitly stated, but during the game? Nope. Ashe got stupid close, but nope. Since Keothi is my only death period, and her death was pretty epic, I’m just gonna describe that. Her parents and siblings in her Goliath tribe had all fallen ill, so she decided to go searching for a possible cure, and ended up getting conned into helping this cult, since they said they would cure her family. Turns out, yea, they were lying, they just needed a goliath willing to sacrifice themselves with a cursed sword. They made the mistake of revealing this before Keothi was actually dead, so as she was dying, she brought the entire goddamn cultist temple down to the bottom of the sea and took the cultists with her. The sword was why she was undead, in the Shadowfell, and couldn’t remember anything.

16. Your most disappointing death. 

As mentioned, I’ve never died in campaign, but I feel like I have to mention this one that happened to our party in Curse of Strahd. We were in the death house, all 5 of us, still level 1, and our barbarian falls into a pit trap with spikes. None of us realize she’s actually dead, so we send out paladin down to get her... with the monk, the bard, and the warlock holding the rope. ....yea both of them died.

17. Something that shouldn’t have worked, but it did.

I’m stuck between two options for this one. First one was the time our water genasi paladin/rogue bloodbended our gnome cleric into a bridge to keep her from falling all the way down a ravine. The second time was when our party managed to defend a small seaside town from a pirate raid with just an NPC with Control Water, a ballista, ourselves, and some explosives. Neither should’ve worked, but both did. Having a triton in your party can really come in clutch in a seaside campaign.

18. Something that went hilariously awry.

I have one that’s hilarious and one that’s horrifying. Hilarious one: in my first ever campaign, someone from Aisling’s backstory popped up and our sorcerer went “that’s shady” (to be fair, he was) and then went to investigate BY HIMSELF. He obviously got kidnapped by the mafia, and then we went all stealth mission to break him out. Stealth was immediately abandoned after our other bard used a SCREAMING SWORD to break open the locks, then we proceeded to go out the way we came, setting everything on fire on the way out, and with our bard lying their way out the front door (with the rest of us in tow as “prisoners”) by pretending to be a fellow mafia member. It was great. Horrifying one: Ilia tries to Send to a member of the party who left in order to let him know that a fellow party member had died. Forgot that he left bc his mind was invaded by a previously dead, very evil old god, and ends up trapped there with him for a while. Ended up with all of our main spellcasters trapped in their own heads while the barbarian paced around worriedly and the rogue decided he was going to get smashed instead of worrying himself silly.

19. Your most memorable in-character moment.

There are a LOT in Ilia’s campaign, but! If I had to pick one, it would actually be a pretty recent one involving Ilia and our party’s wizard, Liara. They’re basically the embodiment of head vs heart? Anyway, Liara is currently suffering from something called magic corruption, though idk if suffering is the right word. Anyway! It basically resulted in her getting... possessed? by her own magic during the night during Ilia’s watch, and they had a really, really interesting conversation regarding guilt, death, and grief, and yea basically I love them. Honorable mention to our druid’s death (he’s back and better now, but that was my first long-time death in a game, we didn’t know he was coming back) and also the moment that Ilia realized that her childhood bff/crush had been revived in a new body and that this NPC was her best friend. That was a trip.

20. The coolest item you ever got and how you came to possess it.

I got this item in the revamp of my first ever campaign and nothing has topped it since which is Sad but hey. Anyway! I got this really cool, possibly cursed dagger after I threw a knife at an absolutely eldritch being and it got stuck in him as he transformed. It looked really badass, and allowed me to cast Inflict Wounds on occasion when I stabbed someone with it. So yea, we love that. Honorable mention to my paladin/bloodhunter’s Helm of the Aberrant Gladiator which allows you to basically do a bunch of fear based affects and psychic stuff.

Numbers 21 through 30 don’t apply to me but. yea. enjoy this summary of my dnd history I guess

[theworldbrewery]

A playlist for my current party: 4 idiots + their honorary cult grandma, four with new names and one with someone else’s--god I love them. they requested a playlist breakdown so i’ve placed it under a cut for brevity. I’m always soft for making fan content for the campaigns I’m in tbh.

Alice: an elf-turned half-orc after a reincarnate spell went awry, her wild magic caused her marriage to fall apart when she accidentally burned down her home. She’s looking for control over the magic that is ruining her life.

Remmy: a man of many names, Remmy is an aasimar cleric with more secrets than even the other party members are aware of. He’s untrusting and full of fear, but the party gets him to open up--against his better judgment.

Gadao: an earth genasi from an isolated monastery, he’s looking for an identity of his own after realizing he may not be an incarnation of an ancestral spirit after all. Looking for his place in the world, the party’s fast-paced life contrasts with his steady nature.

Leap: an elderly tiefling ranger, she grew up in a cult of pain and left it only by good fortune. Her taste for adventure--and a need for closure--keep her on the road, though she looks forward to seeing her family again.

Blue: an aarakocra bard, Blue awoke with no memory and promptly joined a shady merchant vessel as a good-luck musician. They’re always down to fight, curious, and ready to hoard as many items as they can get their hands on.

Anger | Sleeping at Last

I love the way this song opens, the energy it has. Favorite lyrics are “it all spills out/reckless but honest words leave my mouth,” which maybe speaks to my love of intra-party conflict… but I also have a soft spot for “and suddenly I’m someone that prays/last-minute man of faith” given the campaign’s attention to the divine. I’ve really loved leaning into that. It feels like this song has threads that connect to every character.

Hellfire | Barns Courtney

God, I love the chorus to this song. I feel that in this party, Leap and Remmy have the strongest links in these lyrics, between Leap’s simmering fury at her cult and Remmy’s...everything. There’s a period of the song that isn’t quite an instrumental, but has sort of mangled lyrics/rap, and though I can’t quite make it out, one bit sounds like “roll the dice” -- a fun nod to D&D as a whole and the risk-takers among the party.

Blood I Bled | The Staves

My favorite lyric here is “raise your banners and ride to war/throwing ‘round your name.” This song feels like a challenge to the world, suitable for a group of adventurers just forming a party. The singers and songwriters mention the song as one of “no, I won’t take this bullshit,” and that strong message really speaks to the PCs.

Hustler | Zayde Wølf

Hustler is all about coming out on top, and y’all are “turning up the heat” all the time. “Looking at the city like I already own it” feels like a foreshadowing moment to me; one day, when you all are level 10, 15, 20, you might reach an unmatchable power, if you live long enough to see it. 

Homemade Dynamite | Lorde

I chose this song for the absolute clusterfuck D&D parties can be. “Don’t know you super well/but I think that you might be the same as me/Behave abnormally” encapsulates something really funny about party members getting to know each other and start to trust each other, even when the rule might still be “I’ll give you my best side, tell you all my best lies,” and your secrets and private problems haven’t yet come to light.

Nervous | X Ambassadors

The chorus of foreboding in “cause what comes up must come down”  is, how do I put this? Iconique. I think this song especially fits Leap and Alice, both of whom are aware of how quickly things can go awry but put a cheerful face on their own worries. Even when nothing’s wrong (“and I can’t complain, it’s amazing”) they know things could go south quickly.

An Act of Kindness | Bastille

This song best fits Leap and Gadao’s relationship, especially when they met. “Oh I got a feeling this will shake me down/Oh I’m kind of hoping this will turn me round” seems to speak directly to Gadao pulling Leap away from the cult and giving her the opportunity to be better than she was. On another level, the party’s bonds are born from acts of kindness and friendship--Remmy buying lorebooks for Alice, Leap making tea, Gadao stepping in to defend the party from the mimic.

Everybody Wants to Rule the World | Lorde

Despite the name, this has something for everyone, I think. “Turn your back on Mother Nature” suits Alice’s vendetta against the Forest Father, “Help me make the most of freedom/and of pleasure” fits Blue’s brand of hedonism, “It’s my own remorse” echoes Leap’s regrets. Gadao alone doesn’t quite fit in here...unless… >:)

Kicks | Barns Courtney

This is a Blue song! “I’ll show you how to live for free” the artist sings, and Blue’s freewheeling lifestyle seeking “kicks” matches this energy really well. If Blue is “a wild one” “singing in the midnight street,” they’re getting their kicks with this party for sure. Blue lives without being tied down, theoretically limitless. 

Hail to the Victor | Thirty Seconds to Mars

This song is about Leap, no question. “Another life, another love/another kill, another drug” fits into Leap’s two lives, one in the cult and one out of it. And in this new mission against Babylon Lionel, she’s seeking a revenge of her own, though it’s one against her childhood more than her actual enemy.

I’m a Wanted Man | Royal Deluxe

Remmy “would kill again to keep from doing time,” without a doubt, so this one’s for him. Constantly warning he’s trouble for his friends, saying that “you should never ever trust my kind” isn’t too far off. Like Remmy, this song is edgy, but with a hesitant moment of emo-ness that makes the performance of darkness something a little more genuine.

Big God | Florence and the Machine

Alice is not a faithful woman, but she’s unfortunately entangled in some religious nonsense she hates. At the same time, I feel lyrics like “you’ll always be my favorite ghost” refer best to Alice’s fraught relationship with her wife. My favorite line here is “Sometimes I think it’s getting better/and then it gets much worse,” which is essentially Alice’s experience of her wild magic. Deep down, she might even be drawn to the magic’s chaos, but she can’t help but resent what it’s taking away from her.

Wisdom, Justice, and Love | Linkin Park

This one’s for Gadao. It starts off so peaceful and hopeful, the instrumentals overlaid with a speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. But as he starts to list the evils of the world, King’s voice, so steady and confident, is warped. Gadao’s own faith experience becomes warped by the power games of the people around him, and even as he’s seeking “wisdom, justice, and love,” he can’t escape the effects of materialism and violence around him.

Icarus | Bastille

Some folks live steady lives, but not these people. Adventurer’s lives tend to burn bright, hot, and short. From Leap’s perspective, most of the party is made of kids who don’t know the world yet. Are they “digging their own grave,” “too close to the sun?” Despite their ride-or-die commitments, Leap can see all of you risking yourselves--and for what? Who do you want to be, at the end of it all? A wife and mason? A sage and monk? Or do you want greater things than that?

Losing My Religion | Dia Frampton

I can hear so much of Remmy’s opinions in this song, saying “I’m choosing my confessions, trying to keep an eye on you” but realizing, over and over again: “Oh no, I’ve said too much.” As he tries to keep up his own facades, Gadao and Leap’s own faith collides with the beliefs of a cult leader and Alice struggles with a religion she doesn’t care for at all.

Start a War | Klergy and Valerie Broussard

Like Hail to the Victor, this song is all about Leap’s conflict with the cult of Loviatar and the Mother of Martyrs. Even though the Loviatar cult might be gone, the spirit lives on. My favorite line for Leap here is “bang, shots fired/pain is what you desire,” for the decision to challenge Babs to a one-on-one fight. But is it Babs who is starting this war, or Leap?

Friction | Imagine Dragons

This one kind of gives me Gadao vibes with the lyrics “when you’ve made it/won’t you tell me what to do?” After all that pressure to fulfill the expectations of other people, he has to get out of the middle and move on, maybe even become someone new. Key line is “why can’t you let go/like a bird in the snow/this is no place to build your home,” reminding Gadao that he doesn’t have a place in this world. Not yet.

Transcendental Youth | the mountain goats

“Sing, sing for ourselves alone,” sings John Darnielle, and maybe that’s what makes this feel so much like Blue. Maybe it’s the lyric, “cedar smudge our headbands/and take to the skies/soar ever upwards,” calling to Blue’s dislocation from time and place, flying away from their problems. Blue doesn’t remember their childhood, and has no idea how old they are. Even if they did know, their lifespan is short. They live every day like the halcyon days of youth, footloose and fancy-free indeed.

Champion | Barns Courtney

I swear this is the last Barns Courtney song. But this song is the resilience of coming through fights and perils and dangers. My favorite lyric is “Oh, Lord, save my soul/take my pain and turn it into gold” which, incidentally, is exactly what happens when you level up. The party’s struggles translate to strength, to influence, to skill, and even riches.

In the Woods Somewhere | Hozier

On the one hand, this could be about any combat in the dark woods at night (*cough*, Remmy killing that dragonborn, *cough*). But more importantly, this song is about Alice. She struggles with a power she doesn’t understand, with something’s eyes on her that she can’t fight. The best she can do is run from the danger and try to survive it. Whatever eyes are watching her now, Alice better take care. Favorite line? “I clutched my life/and wished it kept/my dearest love/I’m not done yet.”

Natural | Imagine Dragons

Natural tells the party one way of surviving. The line “you gotta be so cold/to make it in this world” suits Remmy’s outlook so well, the one he pushes at the rest of the party. The line “rather be the hunter than the prey” speaks well to Blue’s tactics--preferring to act from above. Alice and Leap know better than anyone that “nothing ever comes without a consequence or cost,” and Gadao may be the only one ‘holding the line’ against a harder heart. Another song with bits and pieces associated with everyone.

Dead Hearts | Stars

There isn’t a specific lyric here that jumps out at me, no line that tells me who this song is for. This is the song for the ones who die--those who have, and who will. We might not be there yet, but this is a song for acknowledging the sacrifice of your friends and allies. The knowledge that you knew them once, and in some ways, their ghost stays with you. Or maybe they’re revived, or reincarnated, but there’s always something a little different.

The Projectionist | Sleeping at Last

Eventually the session ends, and the story closes, and the lights come up. “We’re leaving our shadows behind us now/we’re leaving, we’re leaving it all behind for now,” Ryan O’Neill sings. We’re putting on costumes, telling a story for each other, and maybe the game ends every time, but maybe it makes us brave. I’d like to think so. 

The lyrics to all these songs can be found at Genius.com. Thanks xx

[cupcakecoterie]

Cupcake Coterie vs Cacti

@true0neutral - Hazel, half-elf cleric

@fauxfire76 - Darvin, human bard

@hyperewok1 - Remi, human paladin

@sfwarlock - Nai, elven warlock

@miaaoi as Froseth, dragonborn monk

Marion - Ava, human ranger

We ran a little long because of last-minute combat, but ... dude, that was epic.

First off, they all went shopping at the Flint Lock for arrows (they bought Ava a thousand arrows and are stashing them in Hazel’s Bag of Holding so they don’t have to worry about arrows again) and health potions. Except they ended up not spending their money on health potions (or a chestplate, despite Hazel’s continuous longing looks) because Hazel got a Sending message from Twilly: “I assume you’re at the Tipsy Pixie; before you spend too much money, go there.” Hazel almost left without the rest of the group, but Ava stopped her short and got the rest of them involved in this sudden bit of news. The only one who didn’t accompany Hazel in the end was Froseth, and that was because he’d spent eleven gold to be trained in the basics of potion-brewing and poison identification, as they suddenly realised that they wouldn’t be able to tell which of the heads of the amphisbaena had the poison they needed to collect.

When they got to the Tipsy Pixie, they found a care package, Gated there at great expense by Twilly. It was a care package: Jenna had included a chestplate for Hazel (resistance to poison damage); Twilly had included six greater potions of healing. The rest was treats, including replenishment of Hazel’s favourite apple and cranberry preserves, and drawings from the kids, as well as hand-knitted socks for Ava and Nai as sort of a ‘welcome to the family’. There was some question about how they knew, but they figured out quickly enough that clairvoyance-type spells plus an eye for detail plus a spy’s area knowledge probably equaled being able to identify the lost noble of House Vandear.

On the subject of nobility, Nai got a sort-of visit from his other Patron that night, while everyone else was sleeping (or, in the case of Darvin and Hazel, probably not really sleeping). The Archfey King wanted Nai to collect a dagger from a mausoleum not far out of their way for the amphisbaena hunt, and offered as a reward the name of his cousin. Nai finally figured out how much more his King and Queen knew of him than he’d realised, but honestly had agreed to it without even needing the incentive. Either way, he accepted the mission, and Froseth, who had only heard Nai speaking, still got enough to know that they were going on another retrieval mission for Nai’s Archfey patrons. They haven’t been able to tell the others yet. Shit has happened meantime.

For instance, when Nai went down to the common room after trance and conversation first with his King and then with Froseth, he found Lisa, the daughter of Baron Langerhan and rightful heir to the throne of Baronsvere, picking crab claw bits out of the carpet. He offered her help and she declined, but did talk to him a little. She asked what the Baronsvere natives wanted from her, and whether they were bad people. Nai was more than a little confused, but reassured her as best he could with a ‘they mean well’. That was not overly reassuring, but oh well.

The next morning, Nai brought up his conversation with Lisa (who Ava, who had been looking for the Langerhans’ heir as part of her mission in Equitas, knew as Constance), and they decided to get Ava to try to talk to her for some further reassurance. Ava ... decided to slip in past the kitchen staff to where Constance / Lisa was tidying up the storage area to find her for a private conversation. Given the fact that she said she wanted to talk to this poor twitchy noble-in-hiding ‘away from prying eyes’ and a bad Persuasion roll, it probably wasn’t a surprise when the poor woman started shouting for help and attracted the attention of the goliath cook, who stared Ava down until Ava took her leave. Filtty decided to try to reopen negotiations, and Constance / Lisa came back to the table with Emile backing her up. They ... didn’t do very well in reassuring her, given that they were more or less talking about putting her father on the Baronsvere throne where he belonged, which would make her heir to the throne for real, and pissing off Tiamat in the process. Remi, however, helped her understand that they were only flailing as badly as they were because they - the Cupcake Coterie, that is - were terribly new at this and treading water, and that they understood her reluctance. Constance promised to think about it and try to come to terms with what was about to be her new reality, and the Cupcake Coterie headed out for the Alama-Ver wastes with only one stop - picking up another bounty for the extra money it would bring them in. They went for the bounty on scorpion carapace (which suggested some fucking huge scorpions).

They only got to their lunchtime break before all hell broke loose. Hazel, hunting for a change of clothes, managed to find Darvin’s mother’s old dresses, which had been stuffed in Froseth’s Bag of Holding and forgotten about. Darvin was understandably freaked but at least had some distraction from it when Froseth and Remi both noticed sounds and movement around them. Which was when the local cacti attacked.

It ... was a miraculous recovery, really. Within the first round, four of them were stunned and Remi was unconscious and bleeding out owing to a very ill-timed crit. This was because the spine blights - the evil living cacti that roam the area - had a poison in their spines that caused such agony that it could cause people’s muscles to lock up. But Froseth made good use of one of the three charges on his Steel Wind Strike tattoo, taking out three at a go, and actually managed to use Missile Snare to catch a spine before it could pierce his skin and do the poison damage, though unfortunately he missed when he threw it back at the spine blight. Darvin recovered, used his Aura of Life tattoo to bring Remi back from one failed death save with 1HP to her name, gave Froseth the inspiration he needed to succeed a Con save against the one poison dart that actually hit him (with a crit, but if he hadn’t made the Con save, he probably would have been unconscious), and took out two of them with a judiciously placed Thunderwave. Nai didn’t actually make any of them explode but he made good use of Eldritch Blast to soften them up for other people regardless. Hazel cast Mass Cure Wounds with five charges of her Staff of Healing, patching up everyone who’d taken damage, and took out one with her spear. Ava was a bit too stunned and pained to do much, but did do some significant damage to one of the spine blights. In the end, Froseth was our MVP, and got our How Do You Want To Do This? moment; cutting the last spine blight in half like a melon with his ice kama. And that was where we ended it because we were already running long but hot damn was that fun.

Welcome to the Alama-Ver waste: We Make The Australian Outback Look Tame.

[capriswritingnartshenanigans]

I Remember You: Chapter 3, The Story of Carrie Anne-Mari Amell

Cullen Rutherford/Female Amell Inquisitor slow burn. SFW.

Prologue: https://capriswritingnartshenanigans.tumblr.com/post/172406242751/i-remember-you-prologue , Chapter 1: https://capriswritingnartshenanigans.tumblr.com/post/172434681636/i-remember-you-chapter-1-the-inquisition , Chapter 2: https://capriswritingnartshenanigans.tumblr.com/post/175821889166/i-remember-you-chapter-2-catching-up-and-some ,   Catch it on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14145420/chapters/35970945

Cullen wants the whole truth, and Carrie gives it to him. 

Carrie shuffled her feet as she finally gives the room she woke up in earlier that day a good search. As Cassandra had informed her that the small cabin was to be hers (for now, anyway), she wanted to be sure nothing... Odd was lurking therein. The dresser only held some casual clothes of her size and a few more sets of armors, and a crate on the desk had more weapons. As she moved things around where she wanted them, the raven in its cage on the floor cawed loudly, spooking her into dropping the dagger in her hand. Then, someone knocked; a soft, almost hesitant knock. Frowning, she picked the dagger up and set it in the dresser's bottom drawer, then closed it, before heading to the door. A chilly breeze and a dark night greeted her, as did the sight of a rather disheveled Cullen; he was in what seemed to be a clean set of training clothes (a rough-spun tunic and breeches) and his hair was damp and clinging to his face in some places. As he stepped closer to her, the smell of soap, pine, and moss strongly came to her nose.

“I... I wanted to ask. About earlier.” He wasn't looking at her; rather, he kept his eyes on anything but her it seemed. She felt her nerves stir as she remembered what he meant...

“I do not want to explain it now, as we have much more to discuss... But if you want to know more, we can talk later Cullen, and I'll do my best to tell you everything that I'm able to.” She remembered her offer she had stated before they all had to go about figuring out which scouting parties would be sent to the Hinterlands, as well as more in depth of their future plans with the mages and templars. After they dispersed, she'd somehow gotten drawn into a... disagreement between Lady Josephine and Marquis DuRellion; she still wasn't sure how they'd convinced him to agreeing to let the Inquisition stay in Haven...

“Oh, um...” She moved out the doorway, gesturing into the small cabin. “Come in, please... I'll try to answer your questions...” His amber gaze flickered up to her face for a second before he entered, wiping his snow-covered boots on the door mat. She quietly closed the door behind him as he began to speak.

“How? How... How are you alive? Or are you necessarily even alive, not just a body possessed by some spirit or something?” She turned to him, blue-grey eyes meeting amber ones, in a quiet but tense moment. She thought carefully of how to explain things to him, and then even more carefully of what she could and couldn't tell him.

“I am alive, truly alive, I promise. It's a very long story, please, have a seat. We'll be here a while.” He looked as though he wanted to argue but took a seat in the chair by the desk as she sat on the bed, across from him. Then, after taking a deep breath to try to calm her nerves, she began:

“It's a very long story, one that reaches well before we ever met in the Fereldan circle tower. You see, I originally come from a small town just outside of Val Royeaux; my mother was an apostate hiding as a bard for one of the noblewomen there, and my father was a chevelier. He hadn't wanted me to grow up around the court nonsense, so we lived in the small town... I always had trouble sleeping, even as a young child. I saw things, horrible things; sometimes murders, or plagues, or... most importantly, twisted monsters that raged upon villages and towns, destroying everything in their wake. They were darkspawn, you see... when I was only eight years old, I had a vision of the fifth Blight well before it truly spilled over into our world. My father, who's grandfather had become a Grey Warden after he had his family, recognized my descriptions of the 'monsters' from the tales he was told as a child and teen. He took me to the local chantry, and then I was off to meet the holy Beatrix III herself, and the other upper clerics. She was a smart woman, and always had been; she'd frequently spoken to the remaining Grey Wardens, and because of that, my dream deeply worried her. She sent for a few of the older Grey Wardens, ones who would likely be able to make some sense of my dreams... In the end, Beatrix wanted to keep me protected in case I had true seer powers, which would require me to be removed from my parents. When they tried to carry me away the first time, I accidentally set the curtains and the templars' hair on fire. That when we found out I was a mage, and it made it much easier to take me away...” She let out a shaky breath as these memories hit her hard, nearly rendering her to tears. She still had nightmares about when she was taken away, her mother screaming and pleading for them to not, and her father attempting to fight the templars pushing them back.

“Once the Grey Wardens came and gave their thoughts on my dreams, I was moved from circle to circle, more rapidly as my dreams became more clear; the Wardens advised seeing if the Blight's starting place could be predicted, you see. Once I came to the Fereldan circle, my dreams became utterly clear and understandable. I could even see the expressions and features of the beasts and persons within the dreams then, down to their eye color and the shape of their teeth. It's why I spent an entire year there, rather than only a month or so. It seems so very long ago, when I first met you and Irving, and later, the Warden...” She shook herself, trying to keep on track. “As for what happened... Do you remember the night I found you right as you were getting off duty, and I begged you to come with me so I could speak to you?” She peered at him, her fingers itching for a hood to pull over her face, though she was now in night wear, and it was impossible to do that. He nodded slowly, his hands gripping each other in front of him.  

“I remember. You looked sick with how pale you were, and your nightclothes stuck to your skin with sweat...” His lips pressed together into a line, taking most of the color out of them. She continued.

“Right. Earlier that night, I saw another vision in my dreams... I saw demons pouring out of somewhere within a circle tower, mages and templars alike being massacred or worse, forcibly turned into abominations. When I woke from it, I ran to Irving and told him of it... After, he went to get Knight-Commander Greagoir, and during his leave, I went to find you. When I returned, they had decided it wasn't safe there for me. Their plan was to send me to Lothering for some time, just to make sure nothing was going to happen, and to inform Beatrix on what had happened. The cover story was, of course, that I had died from sickness.” She looked up from the floor to him again. His face was utterly surprised; his eyes were wide and his mouth was slightly opened. Keeping her nerve, she went on.

“So, before dawn, I was dressed in merchant clothes (that really didn't fit me; they were made for a fully grown man, not a fourteen year old girl), and a few high-ranking templars were in mercenary armors, and off we went to Lothering. To think, only a few days before this, Duncan had come recruiting... It's why I had been absent for a few days before my quote-on-quote 'death'; to keep him from asking for me to come with him. But, anyway... On our way to Lothering, we were ambushed, by darkspawn no less. I only survived because I was suddenly able to use my magic to make myself stealthier; no smelling or seeing me. I tried to fight at first but... There were just too many. I... I don't want to talk about what happened to the templars... I'm sure you can guess.” She took another few shaky breathes. “A-After they were... dead... and the darkspawn had moved on, I took as much supplies as I could carry with me. I grabbed one of the dead's bow and arrows, and used a map to find my way. I practiced in the morning and evening with the bow, and once I reached the town, I spent days training myself. I wasn't sure where to go, to be honest... I was still there once that foul man Loghain came through, bad mouthing the Wardens, and even still when Caprica, or well, the Warden came. I hid from her, of course... I wouldn't have been able to answer her then why I was there...” She came to a full stop, chewing her lip. She was lost to her thoughts for some time, before Cullen brought her back to the real world.

“And then? What happened after that? How did you end up here? How in the blessed name of Andraste are you and Varric Tethras such good friends? Unless you were in Kirkwall, I don't see how you'd seem to know him so well... Or, better yet, why you seem so informal with the Divines and Leliana!” He stood up, his hands running through his hair rapidly and roughly. He seemed lost for words for a moment, and his lower lip quivered as he stared at the door. After some time, he looked back to her, an almost wild panic in his eyes, and asked once more: “What happened next?” And she told him.

She spent a few hours explaining how, once Lothering had fell, she went to Denerim for around half of a year, and spent much of her time trying to grasp her magic and practicing her archery... And stealth skills. She admitted to having been little more than a thief until she met up with the Warden, who had come there some time later. The Warden had convinced her to flee to Kirkwall, and, with one last thieving spree, she had the money to take a boat there that wouldn't take nearly as long as one of the refugee boats. Her fifteenth birthday had passed on that trip, which had lasted a little less than six weeks. Once she landed, she had snuck her way into Kirkwall... And met Bethany Hawke some time after. She told of how she slithered her way into making potions and poisons for the mercenaries there, and later took sneakier jobs that required a lot of stealth. After amassing some wealth, Carrie went back to Fereldan to help the Warden for some time, then returned to Kirkwall. In all, four years passed between her arrival and then return to Kirkwall; after returning, she fully met Hawke and was her help from the shadows. She was at the Conclave to report to Justinia about just how bad the mage-templar fights had become, as well as finally learn about the Inquisition and possibly help with it.

“I watched over you a lot more once I returned. I didn't try to approach you... Caprica warned me against it, saying 'after the Fereldan tower, he needs time', and I agreed. I just tried to add a little touch of help when you were abomination hunting, or when you were ganged up on in the alleyways. That's... Really all it is to my tale.” She paused for a moment, thinking. After a few moments, she continued. “I became friends with Leliana due to her being involved with Caprica, and friends with Varric after Hawke introduced me to her mates. As for the Divines... Beatrix tried to become friendlier with me, as she knew I'd never have a normal life; Justinia did the same, though I was closer with Justinia. She had my phylactery destroyed to keep templars or seekers who knew of me from tracking me down... When she took the throne, she asked me only once if I was going to give her trouble; I told her no, and she decided to trust me.” She laughed, snorting. “I mean, Leliana could have just tracked me down anyway.” She glanced at Cullen, who was quietly sitting still, staring at the floor. He didn't speak or move for some time after she fully stopped speaking; just simply kept his eyes on the floor, elbow on knee and chin in hand.

“Why didn't Cassandra recognize you?”

“Justinia... Knew of how her brother died. She was worried her old past grudges would cause her to deeply distrust me.” He looked up to her, chewing his lower lip. He slowly stood, but when she went to stand with him, he waved for her to stay seated.

“Thank you... Thank you for telling me this. I need to think about all of it, alright? Maybe... We can talk about it tomorrow? If there's time.” She hadn't noticed before, but now she saw just how dark the bags under his eyes were, and just how thin he was; he looked like a sickly man, a man that had lost quite a bit weight and muscle in a short time.

“Of course, Cullen. I would love to.” He bid her a soft farewell, and saw himself out of her cabin, closing the door behind him with a thud.

[dnd-vigilante]

Vigilante Game Five: "We Were Wrong! They Can Fight!"

The hope of being joined by the same party from last week was a lost cause. Tonight our party consisted of June, our nature loving monk, Martin, our fearless leader, Hilda, who returned after going to GenCon (Paladin), Oranoak the half-elven cleric, Ereden the quick speaking bard, and two new people: Rosdove, another bard who said she was a wizard and Sora, a Dragonborn Barbarian.

We set up camp outside of the forge building. Sora and Rosdove set up for the first watch while the rest of us got some sleep following our eventful encounter with the dog Automatons. Time passed, Sora slowly walking the perimeter of our camp thought she heard something. She walked over to Rosdove and asked if she heard anything odd. Sora continued to listen and tells Rosdove she was clearly imagining things (Rolled a 3 on perception). Rosdove listened, subtle whispering seemed to be coming from the passageway. She launched dancing lights down the passage and she heard someone say, “Hey they are still alive! Be quiet!”

Sora rushed over to the rest of us, tripping and falling on top of Hilda making all sorts of unnecessary noise. This does get everyone else’s attention, we jumped to our feet and grabbed our weapons. Six figures illuminated by the dancing lights carried heavy crossbows. They all fired, most going wide, Oranoak received one directly in his chest and one pierced June’s arm. June ran towards them jumping into the air with a kick, she completely missed them… one of the bandits said, “uh, they don’t look like fighters to me.” Ereden cast bane on two of them, and since it didn’t hurt them they continued to believe we were not fighters… Oranoak let out a blast of holy energy healing the party from our fight earlier in the day. Sora wanting to redeem herself ran forward and cleaved one of them open. He yelled as blood streamed down his chest, “We were wrong! They can fight!” Martin blurry eyed and annoyed he had been woken after such a short period walked forward cutting one man in half, and decapitating the next. “No, Steve and Steven!!” The other bandits looked at Martin and decided it was best to attack the others first. Apparently, Martin is just too scary. A crossbow bolt caught Martin in the shoulder but he shrugged it off. A second bolt caught June on the side of her head and she fell to the ground. A sudden pressure appeared around Martin as a robed figure emerged from the passage who looked kind of like a bard but was clearly a wizard. With an iron force of will, Martin shook the feeling off, “Nah man, that ain’t me.” Clearly annoying the Wizard that was not a bard. Rosdove pointed at the Wizard and yelled: “Don’t fuck with me, I’m a wizard!” (She was not. She was a bard.)

Oranoak let out a battle cry, “Screw Steve!” And blasted the robed figure with holy fire. The robed figure looked displeased but mostly unphased by what just happened. Ereden rushed over to June and stabilized her.

June: “I get knocked down! But I get up again!” (If only she knew how true that statement was about to be.)

June was then shot with another crossbow bolt and instantly passed out. Sora let out a sudden draconic roar and blasted three of the bandits with lightning. Quickly following the surprise of this, Martin ran two more of the men through on his glaive. “Couldn’t have let us sleep just a little bit?” Their names were Joe and Steve, wow another Steve… someone's parents weren't very inventive. The last few again yelled, “They can fight!” Another man fell, apparently named Roy. The last man ran for his life. Yelling, “this is not what we thought we were getting into! Get away from me!” The robed figure was out the door faster than the bandit. Clearly, things were not going as planned at all. As they retreated up the passageway Rosdove ran forward and yelled again, “See! Don’t fuck with the Wizard!”

We revived June once again... and walked back to our camp. Being even more exhausted, we decided to attempt to camp again knowing that they could easily come back.

Martin: “June, my kill count is now eleven. What are your kills to getting knocked out ratio now?”

June: “I’m dead even at three and three.”

Ereden: “Why does a kill count matter?”

Martin and June just looked at him… “Bragging rights.” As if this was the most obvious thing in the world. The party managed to take a full rest and felt a hell of a lot better for doing so. It was now day three of being inside this ruined tower and it was getting old. We gathered up our supplies and began our trek out of the tower, hoping we wouldn’t have any issues getting out.

Going through the passageways and caverns under the tower weren’t any issue, we appeared to have cleared out anything bad which could cause us any harm. We reached winding staircase which lead from the spider web covered eye room back to the entrance where we had struggled with the “OPEN TRAPDOOR” puzzle. Before reaching the top, June told us to stop. She heard something above us, she advanced slowly peeking out over the edge of the trapdoor. She looked around the room and saw the remaining bandit, the Wizard and the two Ogre we had tricked into running away from the tower. Her eyes locked with the Wizards. They stared at one another for less than a second before June was out of the trapdoor rushing towards the wizard, snapping his neck before anyone else could move.

This clearly alerted the guard and Ogres. The last of the bandits looked at June and ran out the door. The first Ogre raised his club above his head and swung at June, smashing her to the floor. Once again, June was knocked out… The second Ogre shuffled towards June’s body and clubbed her… apparently making sure she was down. Finally, the rest of the party acted! Ereden jumped out and used Tasha's hideous laughter on the first Ogre, it fell to the ground rolling over June laughing hysterically. The second Ogre turned to the first, “What funny? You laugh but no fun.” Ereden ran passed the Ogres and out the door, clearly, self-preservation was on his mind. Rosdove succeeded in distracting the second Ogre by scaring it, also running passed June and the Ogres out the door. The plan it seemed, was to run and fight another day. Sora and Hilda ran for the door completely ignoring the Ogres. Oranoak ran for June lifting her body over his shoulder and running for the door. Martin stood there for a second and thought about what to do… “I suppose I won’t be Ogre slaying today…” He headed for the door then hesitated and grabbed the body of the deceased wizard. You never know, maybe he has something important concerning these damn cultists we keep encountering.

The party sprinted across the field heading towards the nearby woods. Ahead of the group ran the last of the bandits, clearly terrified. Oranoak quickly revived June once again, supplying a theme song to June in the future, ‘I get knocked down… and I get up again!’ realizing the situation we were now in, June sprinted after the last bandit. She managed to pin the man a lot more quickly than we thought. Seeing as she had probably lost a lot of blood in the past day from collapsing three times. We tied him up and headed for the trees, those Ogre were not going to let us get away that easy. With our combined efforts we managed to hide, remove the parties tracks and set up several spike traps with caltrops and alchemist fire in the surrounding area. Martin switched from his plate armor to leather to reduce noise and we waited. After some time we heard the Ogres near us, they seemed to be confused and lost. They passed us by without any encounter.

Oranoak carried our captive. We asked him who he was and why he had attacked us. He told us his name was Stu of the Stevenson Brothers gang.

Oranoak: “Oh, I’ve heard of you. You’re from Bastion as well. Why are you working for that robed guy? Also, I have a crossbow bolt with your name on it.” Oranoak pulled out the crossbow bolt that had been stuck in his chest from our previous fight and twirled it in his fingers. Ereden asked Stu how on earth did he have Ogres helping him and his friends. Stu said the robed guy, he never got his name, threatened the Ogres with the wrath of the Sharpfeather Clan. Because of this, the Ogres went along with whatever the robe guy wanted. Oranoak then got a little too comfortable with Stu for the rest of the evening, the rest of us attempted to ignore it rather unsuccessfully.

Martin looked over the body of the robed figure, finding some gold, rations and other things. He also found a folded up piece of cloth, opening it Martin discovered the sketches of two keys. Pulling out the Key from the wizard tower he compared the three. He showed Ereden what he had found, Ereden pulled out his notes he had taken on the book. They determined the two other keys might have other properties concerning the anvil, just like the one they found. Clearly, this robed figure was after the book and key we had found. Rosdove walked over and looked at the body of the Wizard, “Shame someone else killed you, I wanted to show you that I was the better wizard.” She noticed something shiny on his finger, she pulled off a ring. Holding it she felt it have some kind of magic within it. It wasn’t clear what it did but she happily pocketed it. (Once we got back to the town she found a fellow adventurer in another group and had it identified. This was the first instance I had seen of the parties interacting apart from the Dream Council and I’ll get into that later.)

We slept without any disturbances and made it back to Bastion after two days of slow walking. We headed directly to the Guard House to report our findings to the Captain. He greeted us in his moody way, we finally found out his name! Roger the Guard Captain was pleased we made it back and very pleased that we had found a lead. The news that the Sharpfeather Clan and the Cultists were possibly working together worried him. The Sharpfeather Clan had been one of the leading forces that attacked Bastion during the battle for Bastion a few months ago. Several pockets of the destroyed city were still inhabited by the Goblins. If they are allied with the cultists then something needs to be done sooner rather than later. That is your next mission, search out the Sharpfeather Clan and continue to investigate the goings on of the cult. Bring any information you gain back to me and we will continue from there. For now, you will need to head to Lord Aethern’s guild office. There you will finalize your guild and receive an official adventuring charter.

So we found ourselves at the Guild office, we officially became the Multiplying Electrified Direbears. Martin was elected Guild Leader after a small discussion and some small insults towards Ereden from Rosdove. The office presented a Dream Stone to Martin, explaining that as long as he was within the range of an active dream tower he would be able to access the Council of dreams where all of Bastion’s Guild Masters meet and report to one another the findings and happenings of the region.

Dream Council Meeting: Martin arrived at his first Dream Council a little concerned since he had never experienced anything like this before. Looking around he was sitting at a long wooden table, every chair was filled by another guild leader. We went around the table filling each other in on what had been happening in the world. After Martin finished telling the tale of the Wizard Tower, two of the Members a brother and Sister named Jean-Ralphio and Mona-Lisa suddenly attacked each other. Apparently, it wasn’t normal and other members of the council stepped in and knocked them out, making them fade from the dream. The rest of the council looked around becoming aware of a dark aura permeating through the dream. A dark figure was at a distance, we approached carefully. Before us stood a humanoid body with an octopus-like head.

Martin: “That is an Illithid… I am way out of my element…”

The rest of the Council attacked and after a few strikes, the creature vanished from the dream. The Council seemed distressed. They believed that their meetings here were safe from prying eyes. Defenses would need to be set up in the future in case of further interference. We continued our updates. The most significant thing to happen was the discovery of a thieves guild called The Whisperers. They are apparently active in all three major cities in the area: Bastion, Aehra Hakesh (The Radiant Oasis), and Adorak (The City of Shadows). We also learned that Lord Aethern in Bastion was under investigation for the murder of the old Sultan of Aehra Hakesh… So these were things to consider going forward.

End of Game Five.

Thoughts on the game: We finally made it back from our quest to the wizard tower. Great, it’s always nice to finish a small adventure. It did only leave us with more questions that desperately need answers. Quests leading to bigger quests! Finalizing our guild contract opens us up to finally interacting with the other guilds. I don’t have all of their names yet but I know two of them are called Bardaritaville and Adventures AF. I’ll get the rest of them in time. The highlight of the night was the Dream Council. Getting insight into the larger story of Vigilante is awesome and really makes me want to keep at it. Oh! I’m level three now! Huzzah!

Again I’ll explain the game, the games at Vigilante are a combination of several D&D groups all active in the same world and all of them influence the events of the town of Bastion and surrounding area. I have a better idea of where this will lead but there are still a ton of things to do and uncover. The guilds allow everyone to exchange items and it also allows players to switch parties to pursue different quests and be part of events. Overall, I think it will continue to work out and I’ll keep posting updates of my weekly games!

[storylocke]

Crack Story So Meta it Hurts

[It had been a long day. A very long, and very tiring day, but Paul always expected Friday to be a rush at work. Still, on this particular evening there were few things that could dampen his spirits now as he made his way to Evan’s house. The weight of the books in his bag brought a sense of eagerness and determination not to let the day get to him.

Evan and Azure had apparently gone a bit overboard in their enthusiasm as Paul came in to find the bar had been loaded down with four different brands of Soda Pop and enough chips, dip, pretzels, and other snacks to last them for a week.]

Paul:

[amused as he makes his presence known.] Wow, you guys, I know it’s been over a month, but are we seriously celebrating a new session?

Nigel:

Hey, Paul! [Passing by with a plate resting on his binder like a tray.] Might as well for how rare it is we’re all here for the same night.

Azure:

That and we have a few extra mouths to feed! [Comes out of the kitchen with a stack of napkins to add to the buffet. Sing-song tone as she hurries over to Paul] Speeeaaking of! We need to talk to you.

Paul:

That’s never good. I just walked in.

Evan:

[Right behind her with a pickle jar he was in the process of trying to open, but this was more important] Nah, we won’t put you to work just yet. It’s just, I know I said I was totally free for tonight, but there was a last minute emergency, so we’re stuck babysitting. Cyan asked if she could watch, and I told her it’d be really boring, so I let her bring over a friend to keep her occupied while we’re playing.

Paul:

I’m fine if she wants to watch, but isn’t Cyan like thirteen now? Why does she need a babysitter?

Evan:

Because this is Lance we’re talking about.

Azure:

[overheard that and just starts snickering]

Paul:

[Ah yes, and that’s probably why neither of his friends were asked to help either as the dragon trainer sure did love to make things hard on himself.] Good point. So where’s everyone now?

Nigel:

Oh, Hau and Devin are out back with Cyan and… Peter, was it? Anyway, Cyan is teaching the boys how to make their own badges.

Paul:

Sounds like we’re all here then. I guess we better get everything set while it’s quiet.

[And indeed they did as the final touches were rushed together and the group could finally take their seats after loading their plates. Paul was surprised as Cyan brought her friend over to meet him personally before sitting down]

Cyan:

Hello~ We just wanted to thank you for letting us join you tonight.

Paul:

No need to thank me, it’s Evan’s house after all. Who’s your friend?

Pepe:

R-right! You w-weren’t here wh-when I met everyone else. [Gives a bit of a bow in greeting] I’m Giuseppe Philippe Quinnel of the Sinnoh region. It’s a p-pleasure to meet you, Mr. P-paul.

Paul:

[.... Just stares at him a moment as a few snickers can be heard from around the table.] Please don’t call me mister, I sure hope I don’t look that old. [Looks up at Cyan] Sinnoh though. How the heck did you two meet?

Cyan:

[smiles] My family travels a lot.

Pepe:

As do mine. I’m c-currently just visiting for the season s-since Sinnoh is really cold this time of year.

Paul:

I’ll let you in on a little secret: you seem like you have to deal with a lot of fancy formal gatherings and [motions to the table as he tries not to laugh] this ain’t one of them. And really, under normal circumstances, I’m the one who shouldn’t be here. Just relax, okay, Giuseppe?

Pepe:

[A bit of a sheepish grin comes out as he’s glad to hear that really.] You can just call me Pepe then. I p-prefer it anyway.

Devin:

Yeah, no offense, Paul, but considering your background, how the heck did you and Evan ever meet?

Evan:

[Swallows his bite and calls over] Paul and I met at summer camp several years ago.

Paul:

Not as a camper, I was working at the souvenir stand that year.

Azure:

And the year after that, it was the kitchen staff.

Evan:

And the year after that-

Paul:

[AHEM] I think they get it! Anyways, we’d seen each other around enough we just kind of got to talking. Things just kind of went on from there.

Evan:

[Amused] Especially after we found out he lived close enough to deliver.

Azure:

[teasingly] It was really like a friend’s with benefits thing, he came by and we got free food~!

Nigel:

[Honestly just choked on his drink] Azure, what?!

Paul:

[laughing] Gee thanks, Azure!

Hau:

[blinks at him in confusion while Devin is patting Nigel on the back to breath] … I don’t get it.

Evan:

And that’s okay. Total change of subject, are we going to start or not?

Nigel:

[Is actually somewhat red, but he’s fine] Yes, please I wasn’t even here last time.

[It was somewhat fascinating to Cyan to see all of the players pulling out their binders and dice as the plates were shifted around to make room for their notes. This was no ordinary board game. As Pepe goes to take his seat, she hesitates a moment at Paul’s side.]

Cyan:

Can Pepe and I play too?

Paul:

Uh… [looks around the table for a moment] Sure? We have temporary party members show up all the time for story purposes, so I guess we could work in a short arch? Guys?

Devin:

[amused] You’re the DM, we don’t know what you’ve got planned out.

Hau:

Do either of you guys know how to play?

Pepe:

[slightly bounces in his seat as he waves to get Hau’s attention.] Ooh! I do! My brother and I p-played these a lot before he thought he w-was too cool for all this fantasy stuff.

Cyan:

[pokes her fingers together] I… mostly know what Azure’s told me?

Nigel:

[Somewhat haughty] Oh really? And what exactly has she been telling you?

Azure:

[playfully chucks a piece of popcorn at him from across the table] Nothing bad, you jerk. Last time she had to stay over, she asked if I could tell her a story, and I told her some stuff from our last campaign. [turns to their leader] You know, Paul, as good as you are at making stories, why not write a book or something?

Paul:

[counting off the reasons on his fingers] Too tired, too lazy, not enough time… [flashes her a grin] and it’s really only good because of you guys.

Hau:

I think it’s a lot more fun this way too. [pulling out a couple of sheets to hand to Pepe] Which if you two are going to jump on in, we need to make you some characters.

Azure:

Don’t worry, Cyan, I’ll help you out.

Evan:

Yeah, if she’s already been filled in, that’ll save us some time trying to explain backstories.

Devin:

Well, we’re still at the start of a new campaign, so we’d only have to bring up the important plot points anyway.

Nigel:

[After helping to pass the book down to Pepe so Hau can help him with the stat distributions, he’s surprised to see how fast the kid is writing. Pepe must have known exactly what kind of character he wanted.] We still need to fill Pepe in on a few things, though. And it wouldn’t hurt for us all to do a quick review of our characters for the group since it has been a while…

Paul:

An excellent point. While they’re working out their characters, why don’t you all introduce yourselves? Evan?

Evan:

Me first? Alright. Paul, Azure and I started this a little over a year ago? Has it been that long? Anyway, I play as Abraham Boabab, a sorcerer who usually ends up also being the group’s navigator. After a near death experience where he lost control of his powers, he’s been a little uh… nervous about it.

Paul:

[Looking at his notes] Yeah, even though you guys won the last campaign, we all are currently split up to deal with the aftermath. Which, in the last session, it looks like Abe wandered off by himself to do some soul searching, you’re starting off in Johto?

Evan:

That is correct.

Paul:

So, Azure, you went to go find him, so that would lead us to you. Last time, Amber left off in Pallet Town hoping someone from Abe’s home had heard from him?

Azure:

Yup! My girl is Amber Hearn, and she’s a cleric from Gensokyo who managed to get to get to Kanto through… [as eager as Cyan seems to be, she knows it’s not important at the moment] It’s a long story. As Evan said, we’ve been doing this for a long time now, so there’d be a LOT to cover. As for now, Amber is a cleric under the goddess Sanae and since she doesn’t have a weapon, she has a set of enchanted servants in the form of puppets. A gift from Sanae, you could say.

Cyan:

Can I be your little sister?

Azure:

I’m not… sure how that’d work here. [starts to flip through some of her notes] Especially with Amber’s backstory, it might be hard to explain someone else from Gensokyo suddenly appearing… [gives her a smile] We can still be like sisters if you want.

Cyan:

Sure, that works too~!

Paul:

Alright then. Nigel, you weren’t here last time, so where are you at?

Nigel:

Okay, so I’m a bard named Nina Q-

Devin:

[Snorts while trying to stifle his laughter]

Nigel:

[Playfully] Would you just shut up? Look, we all know that Azure is terribly outnumbered here, and if you want me to keep protecting your sorry hide, you’ll stop making fun of my girl.

Devin:

[not even sorry] Not making fun of your girl, it’s just funny to hear you say “I’m Nina.”

Nigel:

[... Okay that was his fault.] ANYWAY! Nina’s home has been ravaged by monsters lately that may or may not have to do with the same incident that caused Abe to flip out. And since something similar seems to be happening to those two [thumbs over at Devin and Hau] the current plan is to try to get all three of our characters together to investigate. [flipping through his notes] Whiiiich it looks like I’m still in Slateport City where Amber and Nina split up.

Hau:

And since you pointed to us, I guess I’ll go first. My character is Alpha Avici, and he’s a monk from the far west of the Orre region. I just mention that because that place is a huge desert and he’s not really used to it since he lives just outside of it. [quite happily] Like Nigel said, Alpha is also looking into the weird shadowy creatures lately, so he’s finally braving the outside world to find out what’s up. [sarcastically] I left off passed out at creepy old mansion, so this is off to a great start!

Paul:

I promise nothing bad happened to him… yet. [grins as Hau is just giving him the “don’t you dare” look.] And that just leaves… [looks at his notes] Dev, I seriously don’t even know what we’re supposed to call you.

Devin:

[excitedly] But that’s the whole point~! [turns in his seat to face Pepe] So my guy is rogue, and he used to be part of highly well known crime gang. After turning on the group, he’s gotta try to stay in hiding while still having to rely on people for help; cause we’re in a wasteland. I thought it’d be really smart if he never gives his name to anyone, or at least not his real name, because if his old gang came looking for him, they’d be asking around, right?

Evan:

Yeah, I’ll give you props on thinking all that out, but what are WE supposed to call you?

Devin:

I don’t know… Seven?

Hau:

[Suddenly cracking up despite the rest of the group staring at him in confusion] Really, Devin? Really? Out of all the fake names you’ve given him, you can’t come up with ONE?

Devin:

[About to retort when he pauses to explain to the rest of the table] It’s an inside joke, just ignore him. [Back to Hau] And he asked what to call me and I blanked…

Hau:

So is it just “Seven” now? D-seven? D-seven-six…

Devin:

Like you’re one to talk-

Nigel:

[as the playful bickering goes on, he just leans on the table to holler down to Pepe just kind of staring at them in bewilderment. Warmly assuring him.] Did we mention these two are siblings? It might be hard to tell.

Paul:

[writing in his notes] I’m not going to ask, so Seven works for me. Alright, you two, let’s focus! Cyan, are you done?

Cyan:

Um… I think so?

Paul:

Pepe, what about you?

Pepe:

[taps the pages in hand to straighten his small stack] Yup! I’m p-playing as a half-elf ranger named Baba.

Azure:

“Baba”? That’s an unusual name.

Pepe:

W-well it’s a fantasy w-world, so um… it just seemed right? Baba’s a timid thing just leaving home b-because, um, her family is really poor. She’s w-working for their neighbor to make ends meet, but wh-what she really w-wants is to go on adventure like all the other kids!

Paul:

[writing this down] Sounds like a good starting point.

Nigel:

Oh hey, we got us another girl! [reaches over the other two to give Pepe a fist-bump. A bit haughtily at Devin] See, he understands.

Evan:

Huh, I think that actually makes us even now too, not counting anyone Paul shows up as.

Cyan:

[Looks up at Azure] What’s a half-elf?

Paul:

Elfs in this game are like shape-shifters that are often in hiding from humans. Some kind of war tore them apart, which made Elfs look at humans as some kind of lesser being. Half-elfs are when a human and an Elf in human form have a child, so the kid might get some physical features from the Pokemon, but also some of the abilities. It’s an odd trade-off depending on what abilities you want to learn later.

Cyan:

[Mixed concern and wonder as she timidly brings up] I turned into a Magicarp once, does that mean I’m an Elf?

Devin:

I don’t think Elfs are real. Did you just… wake up one morning as a fish? [half shrugs as he’s not denying it could happen, he’s seen some weird stuff before, but…] I mean, obviously you got better.

Pepe:

[writing in notes: Make Baba a Magicarp! Hums warmly to himself as he’s not sure if Cyan is going to laugh or punch him for that]

Cyan:

No, there was some weird old man who turned me into one.

Paul:

In that case, a wizard did it. I don’t think you have to worry about that again.

Cyan:

Good! … I still kind of want to play as a half-elf now. Can I?

Azure:

Sure! We haven’t started yet. Although since we made you a fighter, we’ll probably want something that specializes in attack.

Cyan:

Okay~! [while Azure is reformatting the stats for the new species] I guess since Amber and Athena are going to meet right at the start, Athena probably lives in Pallet Town. I bet she gets picked on a lot by the humans in town though, since you said they don’t like Elfs.

Paul:

That is actually a very good observation. You two seem to catch on quick. By the way, Pepe, where are you starting?

Pepe:

I guess…. I’ll start in Johto? Then I might run across Abe that w-way since w-we know no one else is there yet.

Paul:

Oooh, I like this idea already. [he slides his notes aside as to make room for the massive book he goes to set on the table. Holding it between his hands as the spine rests on the surface and he steadily eyes the group. To Cyan, Azure, and Evan on his left] You ready for this? [To Nigel, Devin and Hau on his right] Are you? [A bit of hesitation as he looks to Pepe far at the end across from him] …. You said you’ve done this before?

[As everyone agrees, Cyan glances around the table in wonderment to mixed excitement and uneasiness around the group as she can see them bracing themselves. Her attention is suddenly drawn as Azure wraps her arms her and pulls her surprisingly close. Paul opens the book before him and the golden pages start to flip by themselves at a rapid pace, generating a breeze that started to ruffle the folds on his shirt collar. Perhaps the room was growing dimmer, or the book was growing brighter, but either way the little girl could only stare in fascination as the pages from their notes started to swirl around the room. Paul could only grin to himself as the magic flowed, the last thing she’d see of him for quite some time.]

Paul:

Then let’s get started...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well that took a weird turn XD

I really have no explanation but none of this is supposed to be taken seriously. This is really weird, and breaks everything in my own headcanon, so I'm not even sure why it came up. Massive D&D AU?

This has been brewing for a long time, oddly enough. I guess I crack up at the image of Paul DM-ing considering the early lore for him as a wizard and his power with the books, and I'll admit the initial image WAAAY back when we he was the follow-up to AC and it turns out that basically all the crap the S2 hosts, or even Evan went through was because of Paul being the writer. He certainly had a way with the Glitches, didn't he? Unlike everyone else before him anyway. And here we see him in his super mundane world only to pick up a new book/mon somewhere along the way which probably gave some new inspiration to throw at his "characters." ... ... .. But I love Paul even more now the way he is, so it being more of a game seems fitting for the gang here <3