#then again the druid didn't cast any spells that i could remember

[raventherogue]

Please please dont tell me I was the only one confused on Edgin's class due to his lack of casting visible spells, I feel so silly. I also didn't pay attention to any promo highlighting that he was a bard; I only saw the trailers. For all I knew I thought he was a rogue that happened to have a lute proficiency. I mean, the Harpers were described as spies/thieves and everything.

[the-eldritch-it-gay]

26, 27, and 35 for majexatli!

What was your favorite enemy? Did your Character have any memorable fights or moments in combat that were ripe for headcanons and interpretation? (26)

I think the battle I remember most was the battle with Nere, I think in part because god to put it mildly it did not go well. The party comp was Wyll, Majexatli, Karlach, and Shadowheart. And for. Probably 2 rounds of combat both Wyll AND Majexatli were downed. This did happen a couple times, Shadowheart was on the other side of the battlefield so she could only do healing words to try and get them up and she did run out of those. And you know, since Majexatli is in a relationship with Wyll and Karlach, what a start to a relationship huh, where two of you are bleeding out next to each other over and over again while the other is decapitating people over your unconcious bodies ñlskdflñdflsññfld.

With regard for combat interpretations/hc... I think the most has happened in regards to Majexatli's wildshape and they're not all entirely from true combat. Which you know, makes sense, Circle of the Moon druids, their whole thing is fighting in wildshape. A side effect of wildshape is that if combat ends and you immediately go into a cutscene, obviously you can't be the one talking in the cutscene so it always switches to one of the companions and they have to talk or be the focus of the screen instead. So I think I kinda decided that actually, that kinda fits Majexatli, especially at first. For the entirity of act 1 and most of act 2 they have a +0 charisma. So like they are not the best person to be talking to someone, nor do they want to. So I imagine Majexatli avoiding conversations with npcs by just not dropping wildshape after battle. Similarly, Majexatli uses wildshape a lot out of combat. Sometimes just for fun (shout out to all the times I wildshaped a bunch just for fun and then forgot to long rest before a battle!). Do npcs freak out a little when there's like, a deep rothé or whole ass owlbear wandering around indoors? Yeah.

The other thing that came out of combat is, about you know. Just considering with Majexatli The Mental Toll that comes with tanking a lot of damage in wildshape and being forced out of wildshape because your wildshape form gets killed and then wildshaping again. Especially because. Majexatli has,,, lets just say some history with being killed in wildshaped before the whole tadpoling. So narratively I imagine part of Majexatli's transformation over the game has to do with the repeated dying in wildshape and its toll on their mental health. Cuz as I've said. To me these look like two different people.

Who ended up in your Character's most used party? (27)

Shadowheart I think is the one who Majexatli almost always brings along. Majexatli is a druid and can do healing and some support, but also they can´t do that when they´re too busy tearing people limb from limb with their teeth in wildshape.

As for the others, it generally tended to be a rotating cast. The usual makeup was something like

Majexatli (tanking damage and doing some spells)

Shadowheart (support)

Karlach/Lae'zel (general fighting. Tactics wise the lean towards Lae'zel because Lae'zel's jump distance and action surge can be really helpful. But they favor Karlach because Karlach does actually approve of Majexatli's decisions along with doing good damage and because she's their girlfriend.)

Wyll/Astation/Gale (this last spot was filled in depending on what seemed good to have and/or who Majexatli wanted to spend the most time with.)

Has your Character done anything that they regret in Act 1? (35)

I think there's probably a few things. The two biggest ones are that they failed to save Mayrina (they killed the Hag but didn't manage to get her from the cage in time), and also that the guy from Waukeen's Rest who they saved from the burning building did die while Majexatli was trying to help him search for his wife. (I guess I as the player had assumed npcs wouldn't willingly walk over fire but the guy had one hitpoint and stepped in one of the countless flames. and i didnt have a recent save so I just went forward with it.)

In general I also think they wished there had been a few less casualities at the goblin camp. While Majexatli used non-lethal damage and just rendered people unconcious for the most part on anyone temporarily hostile who wasn't one of the 3 leaders, there still were some deaths and while the goblins were trying to kill them, they still didn't feel great about it all. I think there were a couple times where Majexatli really questions their use of lethal force after the fact.

[veryhappyunbirthdaytoyoutoy-blog]

How the New Age Begins Part 2

Hey y 'all, it's been a minute... or twenty days....

Nevertheless, here's part 2 of How the New Age Begins! Enjoy!! Or don't!!! Whatever!!!! (Here's the first part)

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"Me! Why do you assume I was the one who got into trouble?!!"

Merlin had been having a relatively nice day so far. It had been two days since they had returned from the forest, having saved Elyan from the spirit of the druid boy. Arthur had promised to treat the druids with the respect they deserved, and Merlin could honestly say he was feeling more cheerful than he had in months.

But Merlin should have figured it out by now: his happiness can never last long.

Arthur looked at his manservant in bewilderment after his outburst. "Not you, Merlin. The other Merlin obviously annoyed the wrong sorcerer or something."

Young Merlin let out a little "hmph!" in response to that, but Arthur shook his head, turning to give the younger raven-haired boy a once over. Then with a playful (and very, very fond) smile, he asked, "Were you always such a weed, Merlin?"

Merlin's younger self gaped and then crossed his arms petulantly, not knowing well enough to sense the teasing tone. "I see you stay thick. Perhaps I should ask the kitchen for smaller meals for my Arth- Oh no, Arthur!"

Merlin wasn't surprised by his past self's change in focus, other than the fact that it had taken the young boy so long; if he had been attempting a spell powerful enough to cause him to accidentally go forward in time, he had likely been trying to protect Arthur in some way.

Merlin let out a sigh.

He could see this whole thing ending very badly.

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

"So, once again, Merlin, how did you get yourself in trouble this time?"

The younger Merlin let out a sheepish smile, shrugging slightly.

And sending him very desperate looks out of the corner of his eye.

Really, it was a good thing Arthur was thick because the boy was NOT being subtle.

Merlin had the increasing urge to throttle the boy.

Instead, he sighed.

"How about you tell us what happened before you got sent here? If we find out what happened, we might be able to undo whatever it is…."

The younger Merlin looked shaky and distressed as he rubbed his face with the heels of his palms. He took a deep breath before speaking.

"Okay… um, we were visited by the Lady Catrina…."

The older men made choked noises.

"Except it was NOT the lady Catrina, and she turned out to be a troll, and she and the king will be wed TOMORROW… or not tomorrow, oh I don't know…."

The king and his manservant struggled between amusement and horror as the young boy briefly lost himself to his panic. Arthur remembered how his father had INDEED married the troll, going so far as to give her Arthur's rightful place in line for the throne. Merlin, on the other hand...

He remembered what he had to go through to fix that mess.

He sighed.

"Okay, what happened that made you come here."

The younger Merlin looked up again, his gaze flickering between his present self and the king, clearly debating how much he could give away. Arthur started getting impatient.

"Any day now."

The boy sighed.

"So, uh, I found out that she was a troll, obviously, and so I tried to stop her fro- or, actually, I guess to prove that she was a troll to THEN stop her from marrying the king… but her evil servant tricked me… I think he has a tail? Anyway, not important, but then she trapped me under the castle! And uh, well, I was trying to get out, uh…"

As his younger self trailed off, Merlin rubbed his forehead tiredly. Clearly, this was the part he needed to step in. While he didn't remember casting any spells that could have sent him in the future -- much less succeeding -- it was apparent that the younger Merlin had been desperate enough to escape to attempt something risky.

Such as time travel.

Merlin cleared his throat.

"I think I remember this part."

Arthur shot him a look saying, 'Oh, NOW you remember?' but Merlin ignored it in favor of making eye contact with his younger self.

"When I was trapped underneath the castle, I desperately trying to get out -- really, Arthur had you believed me, this wouldn't have been an issue -- but it was clear that whatever she had done, there was some sort of magical barrier in the way." Not entirely true, but it DID seem like she had done something to re-enforce the wall of rocks from the mini avalanche she had used to trap him. "I must have accidentally triggered one of her spells which sent me -- him -- here."

With that and a thankful glance from his younger self, Merlin turned back to look at Arthur, who was looking at him with a strange mix of discomfort and awe.

"First the druid shrine a couple of days ago, now this… tell me, Merlin, when did you learn so much about magic?"

He started to whip up another lie, but for just a moment -- certainly not for the first time -- Arthur's blue-eyed inquiring gaze made him want to tell his king everything. Merlin found himself wanting to tell him and beg and plead and say, 'only for you, Arthur, always for you.'

And usually, Merlin could recover and lie anyway, ignoring the resulting painful clench in his heart.

Although, he usually wasn't in the presence of a younger, much less understanding version of himself.

"Well, you know, just a little here and there, you pick things up!"

The King turned back and looked at the younger manservant, who had somehow managed to say the exact WRONG thing instead of doing any help.

And it didn't help that he still looked terrified.

Arthur's eyebrows disappeared into his hairline. "You make it sound as if you've actually studied magic, Merlin. You sound like a sorcerer picking up new tricks."

Arthur had said that last part jokingly, but when the young Merlin's expression only filled with MORE terror, Arthur chose that moment to suddenly possess all the intelligence he seemed to usually be lacking.

Merlin tensed, grabbing his own wrist behind his back.

Gods, this was happening right now, wasn't it?

"Merlin," Arthur asked, all mirth slowly leaving his face, "you said you were trying to escape... what exactly were you doing?"

"Um," the younger Merlin said eloquently. "Well, you know... um, shouting? And stuff?"

Arthur began to stand and Merlin grew even more tense if that was possible. Gods, this was bad. This was so so bad; he should have been the one to tell Arthur, and now he...

God knows what Arthur will do.

"Tell me, Merlin," Arthur said. Then he paused.

"If that's even who you are."

The young raven-haired boy began trembling then, watching Arthur walk around his desk, picking up his sheathed sword from where it lay.

"How would you yelling disrupt whatever spells the troll had in place, hmm? Back at the shrine a couple of days ago, Elyan only broke the enchantment of the place by touching something there," Arthur was only three paces away now, pulling his sword from its sheath.

"And since there was a barrier, there's no way you could have touched anything. So you used magic, sorceror!"

Arthur lunged forward, and although it didn't look like Arthur was going to kill the younger boy, at least not right away, Merlin found himself stepping in front of his younger self, hands up in a pleading gesture.

"Arthur, wait."

The king froze. Then he pointed his sword to the floor.

"Merlin, what is the meaning of this-"

Merlin took a few steps forward, meeting Arthur's angry gaze. He tried to keep his expression calm, but when Arthur searched his face, he felt his resolve breaking.

"Arthur… I…"

Merlin would have been fascinated by how well he could map the feelings behind every micro-change in expression that crossed Arthur's face had they been in any other situation. Instead, he felt his own terror twist in his stomach as he watched Arthur's anger melt into confusion and turn into betrayal.

"Merlin, no."

He began to shake.

"No, you're not a sorceror. I would know."

Merlin felt his eyes water, and he began to take another step forward.

"Arth-"

"STOP!"

Arthur had raised his sword again, his own eyes watering.

"Gods, Merlin, you can't be a sorcerer, please, you…."

Arthur got choked up here, his breathing growing unsteady. He raised his fist to cover his mouth, looking absolutely crushed.

"Gods, I trusted you. When I trusted no one, I trusted you."

Merlin felt the tears escape his eyes. "Arthur, please-"

"Don't."

Arthur raised his sword with a shaking hand.

"Don't address me so familiarly, sorcerer."

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And there you go!! Sorry it took so long, promise it won't take so long on the next one. Have a good day (if you to choose do so)!!

Edit: Here's part 3!!

[empresskaze]

Reactions to RQG 174

Even though the episode has gone public I'm still putting everything under the cut because HOLY SHIT. Obviously MASSIVE spoilers under. Also cw cuz I describe death a bit.

Ok so before the episode aired, for a week everyone in EA on discord was speculating who was going to die. I mean it was evident based on the last few mins of 173 and because Alex is terrible.

Most of us considered none of the PCs would die because only Azu had been actively thrown over board and she has loadsa hitpoints™️. It's actually funny that they figured Helen hurt Azu more jumping out of the carriage voluntarily then Alex did throwing her off a crashing airship.

Also SO MANY DICE. JESUS. And the quiet while Alex was rolling all his NPCs, I mean it added to the already tense situation cuz obviously we can't see anything but hearing Ben/Lydia/Helen/Bryn reacting to Alex's facial expressions was hard.

When Alex started listing who was tossed I was like oh oh oh no oh no. Kobolds, Barnes, Carter AND WILDE MY EMOTIONAL SUPPORT BARD. Apparently Wilde rolled a nat 1...which meant he was thrown higher and farther than anyone. My heart sank but I held out hope...

THEN ALEX PUTS THEM IN INITATIVE ORDER BECAUSE HE'S HORRIBLE!

Azu seeing Barnes IMPALED IN A TREE and Carter unconscious with him. Hamid running to the kobold lumps in the snow. Zolf running to Wilde (shit I'm getting emotional again). Azu casting (I forgot the spell but basically healing) and Barnes coming too while Carter doesn't. Hamid digging for the kobolds (who have 8 hp...) finding Sassraa and Meerk dead.

Zolf...finding Wilde impaled on part of the ship, dead.

Fam, I'm not gonna lie, I started balling. I physically stopped the podcast and went into the bathroom to cry. Wilde is my fave character has been since Damascus and we had so many questions!!!!! And now thanks to the nat 1, he was dead.

I hadn't been liveblogging because I started the episode after it appeared on Patreon and when I got to that part mostly all of EA had finished it. I started saying how I'd gotten to Wilde's death and didn't know if I could continue the episode I was that upset. I couldn't even type. The RQ discord is so great, everyone in EA gave me hugs and said try to make it to the end of the episode so I said I would.

I'm not going to keep play by playing the episode because it would take too long but scenes that just wrecked me aside from Wilde dying.

Cel running to the deck, seeing all the chaos and saying "no no not again" to themself! CEL WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE???

Zolf telling Cel "I'm not strong enough" when Cel asks if Zolf can cast rez. BEN'S SOFT ZOLF VOICE MURDERED ME.

THE ENTIRE HAMID/AZU CONVERSION IN THE SNOW. HOW THEY'D BEEN THROUGH THIS BEFORE. BRYN HAVING HAMID CRY, MR MONROE HOW DARE YOU. Bryn admitted in chat he cried listening to himself in 174, his performance was amazing.

Carter dying, legit did not expect him. He's a pain in the ass but damnit he's still a fun character.

Ok. So I made it to the end of the episode and with Eagle Druid lady showing up, I trust Alex. Helen even said the 4 of them asked Alex specifically about Wilde because of the parallels to the real Oscar Wilde and Alex told them to trust him, so I do. I hope they all can come back but Wilde needs to because LORE.

I've never reacted this way to a podcast, not even TMA 170 made me cry, I only teared up. Hell I don't remember the last time any piece of media like this. This was uncontrollably sobbing over NPCs that I'm overly attached too. Beholding today was actually pretty cathartic because you got to see eveyone else react and you knew the ending was coming.

Sadly next week starts the Halloween specials so it'll be a MONTH before 175....

Fuck.

RQG is definitely a podcast.

[queercelticcronewitch]

Being an eclectic pagan my journey

. I grew up with one parent catholic the other atheist with very good reason but I cannot share their story and is not mine to tell. Nor have I had contact with this parent for the last 10 years for reasons known to them.

As a kid being forced to practice the Catholic religion until I made what was known as confirmation,@14 after that we could practice whenever we wanted. As liberal as my parents were however, I always had the feeling that if I brought a pentacle in the home as a minor my Catholic Parent would have flipped out and my very Catholic very sweet grandmother definitely would've lost it.

I was exposed to every path except paganism only because my parents didn't know anyone who is not because they would not allow us to know what it was. My belief is my parents had this liberal attitude because I was born with cerebral palsy began using a wheelchair full-time at 10 years old and knew I was going to face discrimination being a person with a disability so therefore they did not want to act critically towards different cultures when they knew I was going to be discriminated against. Little did they know later in life I would come out as both a fabulous lesbian and an eclectic pagan witch.

Even as a little girl, being forced to practice Catholicism I never grasp the concept of Jesus being a Savior because he chose to die and supposedly rose again this concept has never made sense to me.when I would question it as a little girl I got two answers one was not to question and just have faith which made me feel worse as if I was failing as a Christian , The other answer I got was well I must believe otherwise I was not getting into heaven and because I had a disability I already have a strike against me because God created my disability as a punishment. To that I say what a crock ! Not to mention as a minor I had hands laid on me because people thought they had the same power as God to heal me another crock , you can now see why I was atheist or agnostic for 14 years You will never be able to convince me ever that the resurrection was based on love or that it even really existed at all.

I remember being 15 or 16 in picking up Scott Cunningham's Wicca for solitary practitioners from my local library while much of it resonated with me, I like thousands of people didn't understand at the time that there is a huge difference between A pentacle (which is a five point star used in paganism and Wicca it symbolizes earth, air, fire, water, spirit the fifth and the most important point . Sadly, I like millions of people had the impression that a pentacle symbolized Satanism which nothing could be further from the truth.

For seven years I was a staunch atheist, another seven I was in agnostic I also was a student of metaphysics, then in 2006 I was invited by a friend to a church that had an openly gay Dean who is female . She was a phenomenal preacher and walk the walk. It was an incredible group of people(And still are) who believed in equality and social justice which resonated with me because I was a social worker at this time working with both people with disabilities and the GLBTQ community. For almost 9 years I was very active within this community and very grateful to them and honestly, fear of losing my connection with this group of people is why I waited so long to write this blog about my journey,however , coming out of the broom closet is exactly like coming out as a disabled lesbian fear is there, but ultimately , True authenticity becomes more important . I will always be grateful for their support and friendship but after six of the nine years I started questioning things such as "did I believe the bible was the word of God? Answer. No I consider the Bible to be something of a historical reference book if you will, did I believe a man named Jesus existed absolutely. Do I believe this same man was a Lord and Savior and was resurrected for my sin? This is a bit of a complex question that I will try to break down as simply as possible based on my both good and bad experiences with christians.

While I am on the subject the fact that some but not all Christians use hell and the fear of it as a way to recruit people to come to Christ. Fear has nothing to do w/love two very different very separate emotions I simply do not believe there is a Satan or a hell for me they are a man created figures & places nor do I believe there is a heaven I do however believe that there is an otherworld where spirits continue On;

I do not believe in sin original or otherwise, That is another concept created by man I do believe in taking 100% responsibility for your choices good or bad.

I do not believe there is such a thing as Christopaganism for me personally, you cannot believe Jesus is the end-all be-all and believe in paganism at the same time but I understand there are many who do. While I don't agree, I do respect it.

I believe in multiple deities, Magick, all of the elements, lunar cycles, candles, (,you can never have enough) The druid path,The power of intent good or bad, ancestors, The witches wheel of the year which celebrates eight sabbats if interested I encourage you to Google it, dragons, spell casting in partnership with the multiple or singular deities, intuition, smudging, crystals, using plants as part of wellness but never a substitute for medical intervention when needed, The path of the Druid , my chosen path of Celtic as that is also part of my heritage, and being eclectic witch. Defined by I find something useful in the majority of beliefs take things from different areas and use it to define my craft

Paganism existed before any of the Abrahamic faiths,see the meme I included in this blog about being pagan it explains my path and my views completely. I respect anyone beliefs with the hope that mine are respected in kind

When I was in my early 40s I began to realize that not only did I have the gift of incredible intuition , (Actually my intuition developed at age 10 looking back now as I write this) and when I walked into rooms I was able to pick up other peoples energy though it took me a little while to figure that out and how to best handle it also known as being an empath which is not the same thing as being empathetic. looking back , was given the gift of intuition as a very young child but I come from a generation where children were not encouraged to speak up and being a triple minority Woman did not make it easier but speaking up and finding my own voice was an absolute necessity

. Paganism for me is about empowerment. The same is also why I claim the title of witch it is empowering knowing I have partnerships with my multiple dieties ;withHaving a disability that doesn't allow your body to do what you want/need it to do The empowerment aspect along with the freedom of eclectic spirituality , Most importantly learning that The aspect of my craft is intention and I don't have to have a crap load of supplies to practice my path I knew this was the right path for me finally 💜💙❌⭕️❌⭕️🙂

Melissa