#tiny drow doomguide

[neranishin]

I borrowed a meme template from [this post] and threw my OCs in from a couple MMOs, cause it was fun

Neverwinter OCs: Eladyna, Ranthyr, Arizan Eymar, Angien, (free space, you think I make Straight Characters??) Angien(again), Juniper, William

GW2 OCs + one NPC: Ranthyr (except a plant), Xekken, Strix Barkir, Xolinn, (Logan Thackery, bc how could I compete re: Straight Character?) Alastroine, William, Ahraminta

and speaking of William Bryce, my disaster son:

between his three main AUs he just. owns this row. his home now.

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💖 for Arizan :p

Love Language Scores:

10 - Quality Time

8 - Physical Touch

6 - Receiving Gifts

3 - Acts of Service

3 - Words of Affirmation

I feel like Words of Affirmation could be higher, except that he finds it overwhelming and a little confusing (thanks, Daeghun’s a+ parenting) so his instinct kept being to choose the other option.

Acts of Service is accurately down at the bottom because APPARENTLY his reaction to “I did a nice thing for you c:” is “NO but I was supposed to do that! That was my job! Why did you do more work by doing my job for me! no! Let me do my job!” which.... Ari.... bby.... please... go take a nap and a break from being responsible....

but yeah “spend time w people while also physically leaning against them” sounds about right for his primary way of showing/comfortably receiving affection.

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♫ for Warlock! Will as well as one for Kash and Ari

Warlock!Will: Building a Mystery - Sarah McLachlan (You’re so beautiful, a beautiful fucked up man)

Kash: The Dream - The Birthday Massacre (Now she flies over clouds in twilight skies / Nothing to bind her, no one will find her this high / [...] And for the first time she feels just fine)

Bonus: I See Fire -  Zyrah (Inappropriately triumphant response to a fiery cataclysm)

Ari: Sanctuary - Paradise Fears (Pretend that you’re a ray of light when you’re a broken candle)

Bonus: Winter - Tori Amos (When you gonna make up your mind / when you gonna love you as much as I do)

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inhales deeply

SCREAMS INTO ETERNITY

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I like how you can tell Zhjaeve “But I don’t have enough shards to make it complete” when you’re going to reforge the Sword. As if your KC will just sit in their room sometimes and lay the shards out and try to make a sword from them. Shiny silver jigsaw puzzle

And then the Sword isn’t even shaped like a normal sword, so just imagine: Your knowledge of swords is trying to fit the pieces together one way, and that OBVIOUSLY isn’t working, and some part of your intuition (aka, the shard inside you) is trying to fit them together some OTHER way. and that one IS working, kind of, in that some of the shards actually seem to fit together along their fractures, but it doesn’t look very swordy at all. (especially with the missing bits)

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✗◌ ❃

✗  Lying: Ok I am obligated to say Kash is the best, because of That One Time in MotB where she successfully lied to a mind flayer. Also because she just has no shame. Rook also has no shame and actively practices lying. 

But they’re also both sketchy af, so in terms of Best At Lying To Normal People: Zoe. Who goes and lives a normal life after adventuring by pretending to be completely mundane, and gets away with it (until either Adventuring Friends show up and recognize her, or some sufficient threat comes to town and she just calmly whips out her hellmurder crossbow to take it out)

(Nara probably does something similar tbh.)

(also good at lying but sketchy af: Arizan’s mom the Leira-worshipping illusionist, who is lying at least half the time she speaks. And sorcerer!AU Arizan deserves a mention, because he’s not as much a Leiran as she was, but still definitely has bluff maxed out and Uses It)

◌ Cleaning Up: UMMM Let’s say Maina. Cause she had to keep a tiny room in Candlekeep well managed, and actually cared enough and liked order enough to DO that.

…clearly I don’t have enough domestic headcanons if this is all I came up with but w/e

❃ Dancing with a partner: William’s parents were nobles and decided that just because their city was a volcanic wasteland, that didn’t mean their son shouldn’t at least be Respectable at nobility things. So he’s had dancing lessons. Which puts him at a MASSIVE ADVANTAGE compared to most of my characters. He’s probably the best in a “You are at a ball and are expected to dance with lots of strangers” kind of sense.

Actually Hlifrun has also had dancing lessons, and is honestly probably better at it than William is, but it’s less surprising from her. Also, she’s usually the one playing the music.

Ela also knows how to dance, but probably thinks it’s funny to switch the lead with her partner in the middle of a song. Without warning them ahead of time. So she’s probably got like 1-3 people who know how to manage this and she’s INCREDIBLE at dancing with them, but otherwise she’s just going to troll the other person until they trip over her. And then she will laugh at them. William refuses to dance with her.

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Urchin for Arhyn, Hermit and Charlatan for Ari!

Urchin: Who had the most influence on Arhyn during her childhood? 

Gonna be predictable and say Gorion.  I mean, it’s his fault she got stuck in Candlekeep for over a decade and all. (I’m still trying to figure out how I feel about canon BG timelines and ToB’s depiction of your character’s mother and everything. so bhaalspawn childhoods need... some more fleshing out in general...)

Hermit: If Arizan were left alone on a deserted island with all his abilities but no supplies besides the clothes on his back, what measures would he take to leave the island? Or would he leave at all?

He would try to leave, yes. His immediate actions would depend on the circumstances? Like, is this a MotB case where he just. Wakes up on the island and has no idea how he got there? (in which case: Don’t move too far in case a Safiya is coming, but maybe set up a camp, find food, etc.) Or was there a shipwreck? (In which case: look for survivors, salvage, etc.)

His main plan for getting home is to cast Sending and tell Eladyna to come get him. Cause his holy symbol definitely counts as clothes. You’re not taking that away from him. (Less sure how spell components work, but after MotB I would THINK that’s one he’d just SEW INTO HIS HEMS or something) Anyway: Repeat Sending until his ex-pirate wizard friend has figured out where he is and how to get him, and then make a camp and live off local food/the Create Food and Water spell. 

...haha I went through the cleric spell list and found this thing so it SOUNDS like he would even be able to give Eladyna reverse-directions, provided he’s got some kind of divination thing in his spell components pocket. Which isn’t guaranteed. (Eladyna carries a set of runes everywhere. they waste several Sendings going “just divine the way to Neverwinter” “with WHAT” “Do you not carry divination tools with you everywhere WHAT KIND OF ANIMAL ARE YOU” “well EXCUSE ME why don’t YOU divine it if you’re so prepared” etc etc).

If all else fails he is an ABSURDLY POWERFUL CLERIC, and several absurdly powerful cleric spells need diamonds, so he could probably. just. Gate in a friendly celestial. He’s gotta know a few by New Neverwinter time. Or he could straight up Gate to the Feywild or the Shadowfell, and then Gate back to the Prime. I’m using Gate instead of Plane Shift because 1. he’s more likely to have a diamond in his pocket than a tuning fork and 2. he’s absurd and would probably immediately jump to the most powerful teleportation spell Kelemvor can give him.

But he’s not so absurd that his first thought isn’t still “I need a boat. I KNOW A WIZARD WHO KNOWS BOATS. Time to call her.”

...idek what pre MotB Arizan would do. Aside from make a sheltered camp and pray a lot. And eventually remember he can use Sending to call Sand, who does not know boats especially well, but still might have advice?

(pre nwn2 Arizan is. in trouble. and probably just ends up living on the island provided it has enough food and fresh water on it)

Charlatan: Who does your character wished to be, as opposed to who they are now?

Nah sorry he’s pretty much always wanted to be a cleric since he learned that clerics were a Thing. REALLY TINY Arizan probably wanted to grow up to be a Big Powerful Sorcerer like his mom, and was THRILLED the first time he managed to make sparks. But then shit happened and he got older and figured out that baby sorcerers are nearly useless against undead, while baby clerics can usually accomplish SOMETHING, and he devoted his time to making that happen.

Chances are he met Brother Merring before he met any Kelemvorites, so there might have been a phase of “I really hope I can figure out how to channel Lathander’s power without getting really bad headaches,” but he’s still where he wanted to be. And he likes Kelemvor better than Lathander anyway.

Now, I’m not sure he’s as connected to the Kelemvorite community as he hoped he would be (once he got out of West Harbor and to a place that had an actual temple), but I feel like. At any stage I could use for “now,” he feels like he could GET there. So it’s not a problem.

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♫ + Ophelia, ♫ + that odd sibling-like relation she has with Ari!

For Ophelia - I’m stealing from a Critical Role playlist here (sssshhh) but Pink Summer by Summer Camp. Because “Maybe this will kill us, but what a way to die!” sung with honest joy.

And I FINALLY discovered a song for them as siblings - Black Eye by Archis. There are lyrics [here]. It might work a bit better for the AUs where they grow up together, but it’s excellent.

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Esmerelle’s experience with Eilistraee upon reaching the surface

Eilistraeean: *holding her at swordpoint*  The Song or the Sword?

Esmerelle: Well SHIT, I came up here because I DIDN’T want to die, so the song?

Eilistraeean: :D Welcome, sister! Now, come hunt a spider with us to prove you don’t worship Lolth - 

Esmerelle: Haha, changed my mind, spiders are cute + I have one for a familiar, you uncultured surfacer, Esmerelle out *casts Shadow Door and runs the fuck away*

And then she got to spend the next few decades learning how to hide from Shevarash AND Eilistraee while ALSO not drawing too much attention from Vhaeraun! *throws confetti*

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Arizan

Tiny smol Arizan:

Dislikes Lolth and everything she stands for, still makes friends with all willing spiders

Pretends he is not at all a sorcerer, except when he has to light candles

Runs away in the middle of the night to hang out at the nearest temple of Kelemvor without telling anyone, terrifies his uncle and friends when he’s still missing in the morning

Sleeps in weird places

Chooses passive aggression over actually talking out problems with some of his party members (though in his defense, Elanee refuses to admit she’s being creepy, so. better part of valor, and all that.)

Got more offended by Torio disrespecting the dead than by her accusing him of a massacre 

Will rob the living for Neeshka as long as she leaves the dead alone

Did his best to rob the Academy of Shapers and Binders even though Neeshka wasn’t even there to ask him to do it

Let Ammon die rather than sacrifice bystanders to get his soul back from those pit fiends

Killed The Founder even though I’m p sure Safiya asks you not to, sides with Araman over Safiya in general

Opened the Betrayer’s Gate (which he didn’t really have a choice about, but he still considers a Bad Thing)

Gets grumpy if exposed to direct sunlight for too long

Older Arizan:

Now also sometimes gets grumpy if exposed to bright colors for too long

Lived in the City of Judgement for like a century, is entirely too casual about the idea of friendly-aggressive business relationships with devils, hangs out with the False when he can get away with it

Blames all of the Seldarine for tolerating Shevarash. Has at least once refused a quest in New Sharandar because “I was going to do that for you, but then you mentioned the Black Archer, and I am now going to make you find someone else out of spite.”

Has still done Well of Dragons quests for the vampire there, though

Still dislikes Lolth and everything she stands for, still makes friends with all willing spiders

Has been back on the Prime for several years and still has not looked for Clan Ironfist

Dislikes Bruenor and Neverember about equally

Is somehow friends with Eladyna (??? why do they get along), kind of views Olienne as a teenager even though she is NOT

Still steals things in Neeshka’s memory, sometimes

Are age differences Problematic when one of the characters is an elf, because Shearah is a little more than a century younger than him....

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So it’s... actually kind of underwhelming on my boys? I guess because I’m already used to seeing Ranthyr in metal, and Arizan isn’t exactly bulky. 

so many spikes though. Eat your heart out, Sarevok.

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aaaand the Duskwood also cuts off divine spells, Arizan is NOT having a good day

(He did meet a giant spider tho. That’s a positive. It’s just a very small positive being quickly overshadowed by notfun things.)

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1, 9, 25 for Arizan?

stg you are the fourth person to ask me what his voice is like. fine. FINE I will ATTEMPT TO DESCRIBE A VOICE (I have no idea how to do this)

1. His VOICE

It is none of the voice sets in ANY of the games I play. This is the first problem. The second problem is elven aging is sort of AMBIGUOUS so I have no idea if smol nwn2 Arizan should have his adult voice yet? Does he have to deal with it cracking during the Trial of Ember? I DON’T KNOW and it BOTHERS ME.

Anyway, it’s not that deep regardless. Wrong fandom, but the vocals at the beginning of this song are a good approximation of how I imagine his singing voice. He’s pretty quiet. Not one for shouting or yelling or screaming. Which is part of why none of the soundsets are any good at ALL (there’s one in one of the Baldur’s Gate games that has a sort of almost-giggly “Your wish?” as a selection sound, and that’s as close as I’ve gotten. But I think I decided nothing else in that set worked. Ari is troublesome.)

man idk. How do you describe voices when you don’t have a nice easy example to point to. I can say with confidence that he doesn’t have the Drow accent, though. If he did have something left over from before he was 5, it would have Ched Nasad’s inflections. Esmerelle dropped her names when she left, but I don’t think she bothered to switch to a different city’s dialect when she had reason to use her native language.

After the City of Judgement, his accent is all over the place. Araman’s influence left a pretty strong Thayan hint to it, though. and depending on how self indulgent I feel, Hallistra might have given him his Ched Nasad Ilythiiri back

9. his theme

Aesthetic wise: Generic doomguide. He latched onto Kelemvor’s faith with a WILL. I actually filled out an aesthetics meme for him, so here, a link.

Music wise: the link has a few songs on it. In the End is my go-to battle song for him post-City of Judgement. Sanctuary is on his playlist, but I go back-and-forth on how well it fits depending on the day. Someday I’ll go through the MotB soundtrack and chose a few that are his, but that’s hard, because Kash has claimed so much of that. Heroes and Thieves is good for nwn2.

25. Why you enjoy him:

He is small and accidentally cute and overly serious and ridiculous. I also like Kelemvor far too much, and he provides an outlet for that. 

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OH I forgot to add.

If anyone’s fought fiends with Arizan and come across one that recognized him and called him the Twice-Betrayer, then. They probably got a fair amount of the story.

Because “I got forced into a crusade against Kelemvor and then turned on the crusade at the first opportunity” really just raises more questions.

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Marshal Cormick: To be honest, the Watch probably has more experience than any Greycloak. Most of them are just boys still learning how to hold a sword.

Arizan: >.> ...okay...

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14. Something someone could say to hurt them?, for Arizan?

why would you want to hurt my priest child though Okay, let’s see.

Around nwn2 time, he’s probably insecure enough about being recognized as an Actual Doomguide that you could hurt him by implying he’s bad at it somehow/implying The Church wouldn’t approve of him. It would depend on the sort of day he’s having how much it hurts him, but it would sting.

MotB, ummm. He’s kind of too busy keeping himself from breaking down over the spirit eater thing to really care about words. It might have hurt if the Wychlaran hadn’t apologized after he healed the Wood Man. I’m going to have to replay it to get a better grasp on how he feels about Darovik. Kaelyn, Gann, and Safiya all have alien enough philosophies that they don’t really matter. Okku might be able to come up with something, but Okku wouldn’t do that, so I have no idea what it might be.

Fugue Plane: Well, I mean, Kelemvor rejecting him at any point would CRUSH him, but that’s a very specific someone. Akachi might be a weak spot somehow?

Okay, and 1480ish! Anyone who knew him before refusing to recognize him! That would hurt! I think he’s actually afraid of this happening, because it would certainly explain why he won’t work with me when I try to imagine him meeting back up with people! Similarly, other priests rejecting him because he doesn’t know how the modern church works, like. I want to know EVERYTHING about what Kelemvor’s faith grew into over the past century so I can know exactly what he would be hurt or confused by. Being blamed for disappearing. That would hurt too, because it’s not like he doesn’t already have that guilt buried down beneath Faith and Duty and such.

You probably didn’t want this many words, but he tries very hard not to care what the average person thinks. It’s possible I’m missing something that should be obvious.