#you kill the matron and you kill the entire organization

[mak-1338]

Patia Por'co Past and Future

Alright, so I have not been able to stop thinking about the wonderful and complicated Patia Por'co, Keeper of Scrolls for the Library of Incantatum. Obviously I will never be able to ask Mathew Mercer and Marisha Ray in person. So this will have to do.

I know there is a theory about Patia, possibly being her daughter, but I've seen others pick plotholes in this and I agree there are some I can't explain away.

Personally, I fully believe it was a mentor/student bond the two shared, but was there something more? Not romantically. More like a pseudo motherly figure for Patia, because we know she lost the memory of her parents. It was also basically confirmed they were taken by Imyr Por'co and not the mind wiping of the previous god of death and the Matrons name.

I ask this question from the pov of the Matron. Because if I worked my entire life to do this one thing that could change the very fabric of Exandria. Why would I tell my random student about it? So there has to be more that only Matthew or Marisha could say. Right?

In my opinion and Travis has talked about this a little bit in talks about Fjord. But if you are missing a person in your life like a mom or dad or teacher or friend, etc. We sort of go looking for replacements to fill in those gaps. We can even see this a little bit with Imogen and Deanna. Trying to replicate what Liliana and Imogen could of possibly had. So it isn't out of the ballpark for Patia to go looking for the same connections.

All that being said, what is their Relationship? Depending on the answer, it could make Patia's view of the gods even more tragic. She cared greatly for this motherly mentor figure and just like everyone else in her life up to that point, she leaves as well.

My second question is about her orb she sent to Maya. I think we've all heard the theory at this point. It's very popular for a reason amongst the fans. If you haven't heard it basically Patia had a hand to play in creating the Cobalt Soul.

I love this theory because it's so Meta. Marisha has crafted a connection (possibly unknowingly) to all of her characters. If you don't beleive me, Patia had a hand to play in destroying the tree. As well as finding out the secret meetimg between the Gau Drashari. A group who would later be known as the Ashari aka our favorite Voice of the Tempest, Keyleth. She was there at the kick start of the Calamity which leads to many battles one of which Pelor plants a tree for Ioun after being very wounded. To people setting there aka Whitestone. (This one is more of a stretch I know, but it ties really well to the raven queen and the distint connection both Patia and Laudna has to their respective Death deities.) Sorry for the rant.

Getting back to the actual topic and connection Patia has to Beau. So my theory is that She gave the orb to Maya, but like previously stated. This theory also has several plotholes and it kind of unrealistic. The calamity was this massive century spanning war killing 3/4ths the population and Eisfuura do not live long. So maybe instead of Maya building the Cobalt Soul. The Agrupnin family seek out protection through the Prime deities. Ioun would be the most fitting for the family just because of Cerrit's views and skill set about knowledge. (Finding it and Protecting it.)

I also theorize Maya would learn to view the memories of Patia, making her push for the end of corruption for future generations. It was out of hand and hurt alot of people. Including a factor in starting the war. Still like I said, it's a little unrealistic because they don't live long. In spite of that Cerrit could still train a group possibly including the kids with his to go find information about any threats. Betrayer gods, their armies, etc. In hopes of one day ending the war. The techniques, the orb, the information, and overall message to stop corruption could have slowly passed down in time until someone could fully begin the organization.

I would even be fine with the orb not being with them currently. We saw a mysterious village in the mountains with the Wildmount group in C3 during the teleportation mishap. It could be there. As long as the message was passed down and Maya and Patia had a hand to play in the beginning of our favorite Expositor's story. That's all I ask.

I know this was a long read. I rambled a lot. So if you made it this far. Thank you for reading my Ted talk. Also please forgive any spelling/grammical errors. I would love to hear your opinions, because I've had this thought in my brain for as long as the calamity has been around.

P.S. any and all theories could/will very much likely be disproven by Matt and future CR. In fact I expect it too and will be ecstatic when we do find the canon explanations. Also sorry if this doesn't make any sense. This is my first time interacting on Tumblr.

[gear-project]

Okay, let me get this straight. In GG Strive, the USA president is... Anti war? Like, omg, WHAT, like, how did one of the most pro war countries in the entire world even voted for a president like that? Don't get me wrong, I would love to see that in real life, but it's honestly incredibly funny just thinking about that posibility even if it's just a fictional story LOL

It's a bit complicated, but in-context it was explained in the Butterfly and Her Gale novel.

Basically, the Assassins' Organization (yes, Venom's group) was hired to set up America to go to WAR with Zepp.

The details are kindof fuzzy about whom would stand to gain from a war between America and Zepp, but regardless, the Assassins basically intended on putting a "puppet President" in the White House.

That's where Erica comes in… she was an orphan who was essentially put in that role against her will.

The Assassins posed as Zepp Soldiers who would effectively attack and kill Erica, using her Death as the trigger for the War.

This makes even less sense when you consider the idea they CHOSE her to be President and THEN CHOSE to kill her.

It's not like the public were even remotely aware of her being installed in-office (nor was she elected normally).

But well… it makes a BIT more sense if you consider what the Conclave wanted to do: put America in its pocket.

The United Nations Members had a lot to do with placing Erica in her position as well, even giving her Presidential authority. And of course the Conclave controls who works for the U.N. (as if they didn't already control the Assassins directly on both sides).

Still, as stated, they wanted a "Profitable War" that could drum up conflict and weapon production, but what they DIDN'T count on was a certain heroic rogue NINJA.

So how does a single Ninja like Chipp Zanuff play in to all of this?

Well, in basic terms, he saved Erica's life BEFORE she was going to be assassinated, so regardless of what roles they planned for her, Chipp's interference basically nullified any plans the Conclave or even the Assassins had for the American Government at that time.

Not only that, but Chipp used his connections with ZEPP to broker a Treaty WITH Erica and basically turn the tables on anyone who would want a war between the nations.

Of course, Chipp also had to deal with his archnemesis Volf (the man who indirectly killed his master Tsuyoshi), but for the most part Chipp's involvement in the faux conspiracy nipped it in the bud.

Erica was saved (even despite getting nearly fatally wounded, which Dr. Faust promptly treated), her Foster Matron was saved as well, and anyone involved in the U.N. debacle that was connected with America, the Assassins, and the Conclave, were effectively neutralized (it was also a major bust thanks to Ky Kiske's efforts working as International Police Commissioner at that time).

So, Erica served her term as an "actual President", Chipp finished his training, and a few years later, Erica works in the White House alongside current President Vernon E. Grobitz.

Vernon's policies for Peace are very much the same as Erica's… of course, his predilection for Football might be his own personal tastes.

[sanguiresse-a]

eciled replied to your post: “For them, the greatest terror would be for...

but also i really like the idea that there IS something that can put them to rest for good - makes them seem less invincible than they’d like to think themselves

I think that one of the major threats is not just Mordekaiser’s sheer power, but what he knows. The Black Rose is entirely based around secrets and keeping those secrets, but then here comes an ancient reanimated hunk of armor who has absolutely no interest in maintaining that smoke-and-mirror reputation of the people who betrayed him. And he knows their past. He knows who they once were, and subsequently, who they are now. 

So it’s not only that he’s going to slowly rip them limb from limb--- the Black Rose can handle that, it’s happened before--- but he’s also going to reveal every secret they’ve been keeping for centuries. And that’s the real scary part, and a consequence of what happens when you decide to keep immortal allies, even for a short period of time. They learn about you, and of course no one knows better than the Black Rose that knowledge is power. 

[buckyssoldat]

Chapter 1: Becoming Forsaken

Warnings: mentions of blood, death, injuries, and abuse

A/N: This is part of my series, Forsaken - The Fallen Soldier. If you wanna be tagged in this, just send me an ask or a message. Feedback is always appreciated, don’t be shy to share your thoughts on this :)

I'm meaner than my demons, I'm bigger than these bones

November 23rd, 1999, New York 

Alice wandered around the busy streets of New York. School had ended nearly three hours ago, but she wasn't ready to return to the orphanage just yet. She craved a few more moments of freedom. Being an orphan was tough for her – just the thought of knowing that her family didn’t want her broke her heart. When she was 14, a social worker from Child Protective Services visited the orphanage and informed Alice that her only known relative, her mother, had passed away from cancer. However, her mother had left behind a letter. Alice was still angry at her mother for not wanting her and for not reaching out all those lonely years she spent alone.

Friends were something Alice didn’t have. Her classmates at school didn't want to be associated with the orphan who wore outdated, loose-fitting clothes and ate a peanut butter sandwich for lunch every day. The other girls at the orphanage were much younger than her, with the oldest being only 8 years old. Although Alice had no friends, she had made peace with that. As soon as she was 18, she was planning on getting a job somewhere and move to Los Angeles.

As the clock neared 6 PM and darkness settled over the city, Alice finally decided it was time to head back. Miss Davis, the matron of St. Louis Orphanage for Girls, would probably be waiting for her at the entrance door, ready to scold her for being so late without even warning her about her whereabouts.

Choosing a shortcut through a dimly lit alley, hoping to reach the orphanage as quickly as possible, Alice suddenly felt a forceful blow to the back of her head. That was the last thing she remembers from her past life: the excruciating pain of someone hitting her.

 September 14th, 2000, Sayan Mountains, Siberia, Russia 

The girl awoke in a dimly lit room, filled with beeping machines and individuals dressed in white lab coats. She did not remember her name, or where she was from, or even her age. All she could remember was being struck on the head. Alice had been at a Hydra hidden base in the Sayan Mountains, a mountain range in Siberia, Russia, for almost ten months. During that time, all that she remembered were light flashes and feeling cold and in constant pain, as if someone was constantly stabbing her with a knife.

“Welcome, soldier” a man in his late fifties addressed her. He had a name tag hung on the pocket of his white lab coat – Doctor Maxim Semenov. “Do you know your name?” Alice shook her head, tears forming in her eyes already. “Your name is soldier 34983. You work for Hydra, an organization which focuses on making the world a better place. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“Yes,” she replied softly, the tears having disappeared. Somehow, knowing who and where she was reassured her, as though was fine and she had been soldier 34983 for her entire life. Or at least, that's what she believed.

“Soldier 34983, you are the sole survivor of the new and improved Winter Soldier experiment. You should be very proud of yourself," the statement brought a smile to Alice's face. It felt as if she had won the lottery. She mattered to someone. “We have great plans for you.”

 October 29th, 2003, Sayan Mountains, Siberia, Russia

Soldier 34983 had undergone rigorous training at the Hydra base for over three years. Doctor Semenov would not let her go out in the field until she was fully prepared, transformed into an unstoppable killing machine.

“Soldier, you defeated every single one of my men in just under ten minutes” Semenov congratulated her. “I think you are ready to go out on the field.”

"Before that, I think we need to test her one more time..." A man with dishevelled dirty blonde hair entered the training area, accompanied by armed men. “Hello, soldier 34983. You don’t know me, but I’m one of your superiors here at Hydra. I have brought someone to test you one last time before we approve you as a field agent."

Alice just nodded. She was used to that by now – following orders and fighting people, leaving them incapacitated in just mere seconds. This was her life, and there was nothing she excelled at more.

“Soldier, you can come in,” a man with dark brown hair that touched his shoulders, piercing blue eyes, dressed entirely in black, and an arm made of some kind of metal on his left side. “You will face the Winter Soldier, and if you defeat him, you will go out on the field. Are we clear?”

“Yes, sir,” she answered loudly, certain that she would beat that man with ease. She could lift a plane without breaking a sweat and run as fast as a cheetah. Nothing could defeat her.

“One last detail,” the man with blonde hair interjected. “No strength or speed powers, Soldier 34983, only your fighting skills. Am I clear?”

The female soldier nodded in acknowledgment.

“Begin soldiers” Doctor Semenov ordered.

The Winter Soldier was the most skilled man she had ever fought, not even comparable to anyone. He was just like her - strong, fast, with more stamina and agility, but she was sure she could defeat him. The only advantage he had over her was his metal arm.

After engaging in a relentless battle for nearly thirty minutes, she finally managed to overpower him, pinning him to the ground with her legs on either side of his hips and her arms wrapped around his throat. Thinking she had won the fight, she began to loosen her grip. Yet, the other soldier swiftly regained his footing and hurled a knife at her, almost hitting her by a mere few inches. She was not used to losing, she could not lose. Losing was something she could not afford, not while working for Hydra. Failure was not an option when working for Hydra. If she made even a tiny mistake, she would be punished. It happened once before – she accidentally let one of the agents take the gun out of her holster while training -, this resulted in two hours of agonizing waterboarding. Since then, she made sure she would not make any mistakes. She understood that if she were to lose against the Winter Soldier, the consequences would be far worse than a mere two hours of waterboarding. It would be something much worse.

Grabbing a knife from the holster in her thigh, she skillfully launched it towards the soldier's metal arm. Throwing knives was the best thing she did, it was her speciality. She never missed, not even once. And she did not miss this time, as it was expected. The knife hit the metal arm just a few inches above his elbow, pinning him against a nearby wall.

“I’ve seen enough, soldiers,” the blonde man said, his gaze shifting between the two soldiers. “Soldier 34983, you are ready for your first mission. From now on, your new code name will be Forsaken. Clear?”

"Yes, sir," she replied without hesitation.

“I already have your first assignment, Forsaken” the man emphasized her new name, as if he was trying to get her accustomed to it. “You will be travelling to New York, more precisely to St. Louis Orphanage for Girls. There is a woman who works there named Pamela Davis. You must kill her and leave no trace. She possesses knowledge that must remain concealed from all others. Understood, Forsaken?”

“Understood. Do you have any preference about how she dies, sir?” She had never killed anyone before, only seriously hurt, nothing more.

“No. Do what you want, I don’t care about how she dies, I just want her dead as soon as possible” the man answered. “From now on, the Winter Soldier will remain stationed at this base between missions. I expect you two to start training together. Soon you’ll have to work on missions as a team. Is that clear, soldiers?”

"Yes," Forsaken and the Winter Soldier replied simultaneously.

Shortly after, the man, accompanied by his entourage and the Winter Soldier, left the room, leaving Forsaken alone with Doctor Semenov.

“Soldier, you performed exceptionally today. You will prove to be a valuable asset to Hydra,” Semenov patted her back, which caused her to flinch a bit. She was not used to any form of affection. The only instances she felt someone else’s touch was when the doctors took blood out of her or when she was being tortured.

"Thank you, Doctor Semenov," she responded in a subdued tone.

 October 31st, 2003, St. Louis Orphanage for Girls, New York

Having arrived in New York, Forsaken took up position in a building opposite St. Louis Orphanage, patiently awaiting the arrival of her target. Doctor Semenov had given her a new attire for the mission – a black ensemble consisting of skinny jeans, a sleeveless black t-shirt, a black leather jacket adorned with a red star on one of its pockets, sturdy black combat boots, and a black mask concealing her face up to her eyes. If she didn’t wear a flashy uniform, people who saw her would think she was just a random teenager roaming the streets of New York. Equipped with an array of weapons, she had two concealed guns strapped to her lower back, an ammunition belt, numerous hidden knives secured in various places on her body, and a few shuriken at her disposal. It was not as if she needed weapons at all, she could easily kill someone with her bare hands, but she preferred doing it without using her strength.

As soon as she saw Pamela Davis enter the orphanage, she made her way inside as well, entering through the back. Forsaken looked for her target inside of the orphanage, until she finally found her in a study, which should be Pamela Davis’ office. She stormed in, scaring the older woman.

"Who are you?" Pamela shrieked, visibly terrified of Forsaken. "I don't have any money! Please leave! Don't harm my girls, I beg you!"

“I’m not here to hurt your girls," Forsaken replied calmly, her gaze scanning the room. A sense of familiarity washed over her, but she dismissed it as her mind playing tricks. She had never set foot in this room until now, or so she believed. And the woman she was there to kill… she swore she had seen her before. “I’m here to kill you, Pamela Davis”

“Please, don’t!” Pamela pleaded, tears streaming down her face. “I have to take care of the girls. They need me. Please, don’t do this.” The matron approached Forsaken, in an attempt to plead for her life. In a split second, Pamela managed to grab her mask and remove it. “Alice?” she was shocked to see the girl who had been missing for almost four years. “Alice, is that you? Oh my god, I thought someone had killed you! I’m so relieved you’re alive!”

“My name is not Alice. My name is FORSAKEN!” the killer yelled. Pamela took a step closer, attempting to embrace the child she had lost, but in an instant, Forsaken put a knife in her heart. Pamela fell onto the floor, clutching her chest, her hands now stained with blood.  “My name is Forsaken, and I’m the one who killed you, Pamela Davis.”

November 1st, 2003, Sayan Mountains, Siberia, Russia 

“The target has been successfully neutralized,” Forsaken informed Doctor Semenov upon her return to the Sayan Mountains base.

“Good job, soldier. You did well,” the doctor congratulated her with a smile on his face and then started to see if her vitals were good.

“Doctor Semenov?” she called out, a hint of uncertainty in her voice. “My target… She—she called me Alice. And when I entered the orphanage, it all looked very familiar to me, like I had been there before. And Miss Davis… she was, um, she looked like someone I knew…”

Semenov's expression shifted to one of horror. Forsaken should not possess any recollection of her past life, not even the slightest fragment. Furthermore, she even referred to her target as Miss Davis, which was what she used to call her back at the orphanage. He quickly strapped her to the table where she was lying and put something hard between her teeth. Within moments, some kind of machine was around her head. Forsaken started to feel an incredible amount of pain, like her whole body was on fire. She screamed and screamed, but the pain did not stop for nearly fifteen agonizing minutes.

“Put her back on cryo, now!” Semenov yelled at two of his subordinates.

The last thing Forsaken remembers after that was feeling an intense coldness enveloping her before everything faded into darkness.

← agent onyx      next chapter →

masterlist

[matronoftheblackrose]

Excuse you? Excuse you??! (Re: Rell and Viego)

To say the Matron was a patient woman would be like stating the sky was blue, or water at room temperature was wet, or that the Matron of the Black Rose shadowy organization who has lived for centuries had a semblance of an idea for patience. To truly ‘surprise’ the Matron one could theorize it would be as difficult as to change the colour of the sky to the colour splurr, or converting water to plasma.

In a dark private room, at a desk, illuminated by the violet magical spiderweb thrumming with panic, sat the Matron of the Black Rose with a bottle of vintage Noxian wine and no glass.

“Alright, darling... Let us try this one more time...”

“Lukas was killed-”

“Let us try this one more time, from the beginning, so you can try in your mewling state to tell me why I should care about any of this,” LeBlanc interrupted. She tipped the mouth of the wine bottle to her lips and took a mouthful of the delicious, soothing crimson. The panicked thrum of her network underneath the desk cast a colourful array of neon reds and pinks into the void. “The Black Rose academy has lost its prized student, who discovered the truth, who knows who some of us are and is currently hunting down all those who wronged her, yes? Including the mentor Lukas who has been found dead? And, correct me if I am mistaken, and I rarely am, Rell is the product the Null project- the project that I said required more drastic measures of mind control, can now control the shards of Noxian steel that soldiers have died in battle to have the honor of looking upon such craftsmanship, and is killing the remnants of the Black Rose Null Academy?”

“...Yes, Matron...”

“Do you realize- do you realize how stupid this is? You must understand because you are not here, in person. You must understand because I have not summoned you here so I can weigh you down in a bathtub of milk and honey and let the maggots eat you.”

“Matron, please-”

“Please. What.” LeBlanc took another swig of her wine. Her web thrummed brighter and ever more panicked. “Please what? Mercy? You are not dead, are you. An explanation? I have heard your explanation and it is lacking. Another chance? Why do you think you are not dead?”

“...Matron? You- Are you serious?”

“And now you doubt me! Me!” LeBlanc let out a single giggle, like a nail swiftly dragged across metal. “Darling, what do you think is going to happen? This Rell is going to kill the rest of you idiots, then she will try to find the rest of us which she will not be able to do. She cannot because, as a precaution, I do not allow other Black Rose members to disclose other sectors locations else your hearts rupture as stated in our contract, and to quickly add it will be a memory you will quickly forget soon after we finish our discussion. And if she somehow does, if she somehow manages to discover where I am, bursts into my chamber and yells for my head, what shall she magnetize? My staff? My gold staff? My gold circlet? Perhaps she shall strip me of my silken dress but she is too young for me, and gods know what those writers and artists will conceive of. It is as though I approved of a project that had a hyper specialization in eliminating a specific target- Oh wait!”

The Matron took another long drink of wine, some of the placating crimson splashed down and marred her desk.

“So the one thing we wanted her to destroy, the Shadow Island wraiths and Mordekaiser, she is fully capable of doing so? And if Mordekaiser ever decides to march on Noxus, your imbecilic daughter will protect the people. So, why should I stop her? She will do her job no matter what. So, dearest Headmistress of the Black Rose Academy, who I shalt be considering to transfer to the sewage division, why. Should. I . Care.”

“I- Matron, my Matron, I-”

“I-I-I- I have not ripped your tongue out nor has the cat stolen it. Speak in full sentences. What do you wish, to redeem your mistake? Do so! If you are killed, then fine, we are in the same position. What is it you are looking from me, support? This is your sewage, this is your spawn, you will-”

The violet web shook as violently as it could, nearly striking the back of LeBlanc’s chair. With a sharp exhale, the Matron smiled and said, “I apologize, there is another call I must take.”

LeBlanc snapped her fingers, severing the thread with the ex-Headmistress of her school. What a terribly stupid idea that somehow still spawned the exact pawn they needed. Oh no people will discover the Black Rose runs academies that gives them superpowers how terrible. Oh it takes childrens’ souls then why does Rell not give those abilities up? Oh noooo.

Oh well, this one could not be any more stupid.

“Yes, darling- the Matron is here and available-”

“Greetings, Imposter.”

LeBlanc nearly spat her wine out. She glanced at her bottle, saw its year, and swallowed the contents to the best of her ability. With a gasp and a wheeze- That voice.

“Viego?”

“So you do remember me...” A soft chuckle that echoed and reverberated into itself a thousand sultry times. “I thought it to be fair to let you know that I shalt be coming for my Isolde...”

“By every dead god, a thousand years dumped in the ocean has not diluted your thirst,” LeBlanc snapped. “Have you heard the phrase ‘she is just not that into you’?”

“A thousand years ago perhaps we could have exchanged the witty quips, but alas- this is not an exchange between equals. I simply thought to give you one last chance. I am coming, you will die, and you will fulfill your side of the bargain. See you soon, Emilia.”

The line went dead, as the subordinate’s soul was torn asunder.

In the dead, dark room, with the light barely able to illuminate LeBlanc’s heels, the Matron laughed. She tapped the only green thread in her entire violet web, followed by a violet thread.

“Oh Headmistress, are you still there?” LeBlanc asked as she beckoned at the air. Another bottle of wine, a fine bottle of rosé this time, with two crystal glasses.

“Yes. Matron, something has gone terribly wrong. The Black Rose Academy has fallen, and I-”

“I know all of this, of course I do.”

“You...do? How?”

“Darling, you are asking how I, the Matron, would know?” LeBlanc uncorked the bottle and poured the wine into their glasses. They needed a bit of time to breathe, much like her subordinate.

“My apologies, Matron.”

“I have given it thorough, deep thought, and I have decided to not have the nape of your neck meat hooked so you could watch as you were slowly lowered into a pit of ravenous beasts that take the form of your daughter who would disembowel you.”

“I- Thank you, Matron.”

“No, rather, do figure out where your Rell is ‘about’. And let me know if there are any other students of your school that are still around. I need the appropriate bait.”

“Bait, Matron?”

“Oh yes. Bait. Rell still has her purpose. I assume you have no objections... Baroness?”

“Pardon, Matron?”

“How does the title of Baroness sound to you, rather than Headmistress? Along with all of the perks of nobility, along with all of the money, the wealth- the men, far greater than that meatstack of a husband you have.”

“What do you need me to do?”

Matron of the Black Rose Emilia LeBlanc looked at the green eyes approaching her from the darkness. A green, ephemeral hand reached out and picked up the glass of rosé. LeBlanc gave the Grand General a smirk.

“Rell just needs to fulfill her purpose...”

[itsbenedict]

Two-Faced Jewel: Session 5

A half-elf conwoman (and the moth tasked with keeping her out of trouble) travel the Jewel in search of, uh, whatever a fashionable accessory is pointing them at. [Campaign log]

Caught up in a blood feud between the villages of Wheat and Barley, Saelhen and Looseleaf are tasked with investigating a recent death. Their investigation takes them to a spooky tower owned by the local crazy torture wizard, which- hey, why was this guy not considered a suspect, huh? He's a crazy torture wizard!

Last time, the group was introduced to Malath Kanthalga, matron cleric of the village of Barley. She has no trust for outsiders- but she was willing to let Looseleaf lend a hand in proving once and for all that the scoundrels of Wheat were responsible for the recent murders.

To that end, the party is led a ways down the road to the farmstead of Roos and Gera Nicksickle, an elderly halfling couple which was recently slain.

En route, Looseleaf sizes up the farmers Malath has been arming, to see if any of them seem to have combat experience. There's one lizardfolk farmer who seems more comfortable with the armor, and holds his pitchfork like a spear. She makes a note of that.

They arrive, and are met by Lester Jawhold, a doughy-looking human man who's standing guard over the body out in the field, accompanied by a number of vicious-looking hounds. With permission to search the crime scene, some investigationing occurs.

Saelhen gets some basic details- the body was pierced through the chest with a four-pronged weapon, as described. Plus, there are the remains of hastily-erased footprints in the dusty soil- bootprints, it seems.

Looseleaf uses her animism magic to get a more direct picture of the incident. The corpse, recently dead, has a dead-corpse spirit that retains some information thanks to the emotionally volatile nature of recent events. The cause of death... being suddenly pierced through the heart, from the front, by a strange four-pointed weapon that induced extreme pain. It appeared to strike from out of thin air. Nothing about the corpse indicates a memory of seeing an assailant.

Indoors, the other victim, Gera, is found dead on the floor of the kitchen. It seems like the cause of death is the same, but... Looseleaf's animism reveals that her vital organs are intact, and she appears to have died of shock from the extreme pain.

All Saelhen finds from searching the house is... an empty cupboard with a recently-unlocked lock, and a mattress removed from its bed. Plus some of the same bootprints from outside.

Looseleaf has the idea to search the house for the victims' boots, to compare with the prints found outside. And what the search reveals is... there are no boots. They didn't own any. They were halflings. So their house being covered in dusty bootprints... well, it implies someone else was here and murdered them, which rules out the "a weird knife sort of inexplicably teleported into their chests" theory, at least.

The only real clue they have to go on is the extreme pain experienced by the victims. This suggests...

Malath gives a little exposition on the torture wizard- apparently he considers himself a savior, who through his experiments intends to vanquish pain itself- and surely torturing a few unwilling test subjects will be worth it, if he succeeds. Malath doesn't seem to consider it likely that Lumiere is the culprit, for the same reasons as Thalath- but jokingly suggests that perhaps Lumiere might have some information on who stole his torture tools to commit murder with.

Looseleaf: "So," Looseleaf asks, "if we're going to the tower wherein dwells a torture wizard, what can you tell us about what we might expect to face there? Ravenous horrific alchemical experiments ready to eat our faces? Traps? Magical servitors? A portal to another realm full of horrors?" Benedict I. (GM): She looks briefly surprised. "No, I... though I haven't been victim to him myself, I would warn strongly against confronting Lumiere, unless you're all much more seasoned than you look. None from our village have been able to resist him when he decided our consent was no longer worth trying to wrest from us." "Those who have been inside the tower might have more information for you, if you're fool enough to try." Looseleaf: "Well, team, you've heard the mission dossier, I guess. Do we think we're fool enough to try?" Saelhen du Fishercrown: Saelhen Fishercrown is not fool enough to try. Unfortunately, Saelhen isn't getting to be Saelhen right now. "...I imagine that we have no other recourse." Benedict I. (GM): Vayen looks... almost gleeful, insofar as his face betrays any expression. Looseleaf: Thanks for the vote of creepiness, edgelord.

Saelhen opts to kill annoying helicopters with one stone, and suggests that the team split up to gather information on the tower from the townspeople. She also suggests that Malath personally keep an eye on Vayen, as the least-trustworthy-seeming member of the group. Good persuasion means it works, and Vayen goes off to interrogate Lester Jawhold while the rest of the team heads into town to ask around about Lumiere's past victims.

First, on the way back to town, they speak with Chitch Ssarzar, the lizardfolk with the apparent military background. He's got one hell of a sob story for them!

Saelhen du Fishercrown: 24 PERSUASION (8) all i do is win Benedict I. (GM): That'll do it- Chitch is pretty horrified at the implication that you're actually trying this, but with sufficient reassurance, he'll spill his guts. He came to Grain back when it was just Grain, twenty-odd years ago, hoping to raise his infant daughter somewhere less dangerous than the Cutthroat Islands. Then, during the fire, his daughter was kidnapped by the wizard, and he tried storming the tower to get her back. He got captured, strapped to a rack, and had his flesh flensed and healed and flensed and healed repeatedly. At one point he thought he'd get a reprieve, when the wizard's teakettle went off and he went downstairs to get some tea- but the flensing knives just kept going, by themselves, without stopping. He never saw his daughter again. He was eventually released, and thanked for his service, and by that point he was too traumatized to ask Lumiere what happened to his daughter, in case it provoked him to torture him more. He's pretty wracked with guilt over the situation.

They get a rough description of the first few floors of the tower, up to the torture room. Plus, some exposition on the town's history:

Looseleaf: Okay. More questions: this time, asking about the town. It was called Grain, once? It split into two towns and now Barley hates Wheat? There was a fire? How did this all come to happen such that a single town turned in on itself? Benedict I. (GM): Yes- either 28 or 29 years ago, he forgets exactly, there was some feuding between farmers growing different crops. The ones with less fertile soil, sandier towards the southeast and closer to the mountains, had some kind of grudge against the landowners with more fertile soil, and it was this whole political infighting nightmare he didn't understand, as he was new in town. Then the dragon attacked, and... he's not entirely sure what happened, because accusations were flying left and right, but apparently some people tried to use the dragon attack as cover to commit arson against their enemies? Saelhen du Fishercrown: DRAGON Looseleaf: A FUCKING DRAGON Benedict I. (GM): And most of the town burned down, and when it came time to rebuild, nobody wanted to build near each other- and there was some sort of weird religious split between Family and Harmony so that most of the Harmony people decided to go grow wheat on the worse land, and the Family people went to go grow barley on the better land. He'd never been super involved with the split, as a newcomer, and spent the early rebuilding period being tortured- Barley was just the closest civilization after he was set free. Looseleaf: Mmmmm. A tragedy, all around, gods-damn. Saelhen du Fishercrown: caused by a dragon. a dragedy, if you will.

Then it's off to visit the innkeeper, Cassie Zeishus.

Benedict I. (GM): When you reach the inn, you meet Cassie Zeishus, the innkeeper. She tells you about the time she visited the torture wizard to see if her husband was there. Looseleaf: Oh, yeah, you know. Just, a conjugal visit. To the torture tower. Benedict I. (GM): Apparently her husband, kind of a good-for-nothing out-of-towner she married largely as a charity case, kept on gambling and trying to sleep around and doing general sleazy vice stuff, and was miserable in a town that didn't want to indulge him- and she's pretty sure he faked getting kidnapped by the torture wizard to escape it. Saelhen du Fishercrown: as one does definitely not victim-blaming Benedict I. (GM): This was corroborated by Lumiere quite pleasantly answering the door and telling her no, he hadn't seen hide nor hair of this Arnie fellow, and would she like to come in for tea? And her saying no, no thank you, and walking away. Looseleaf: Huh. Benedict I. (GM): She doesn't know why the guy let her leave, despite a propensity for forcing people inside and torturing them in the past. She chalks it up to having been very intimidating towards him.

Saelhen also tries to inquire about Kensa, Thalath's sister, who's apparently in some sort of dire straits here. She doesn't want to give away that she's asking about Kensa deliberately, so she takes something of a garden path of conversation, about Malath and why the townsfolk call her "Mother". Eventually she gets to Kensa, who apparently weaves cloth and sells it to the general store, where she can be found around this time of day. (She's apparently got something going on with the shopkeep's son.)

Looseleaf: these affairs might not be something we can intervene constructively in. Saelhen du Fishercrown: I mean, Saelhen's definitely abducting this child Looseleaf: gosh, well, when you put it that way, how could we not. Saelhen du Fishercrown: let's visit the general store! saelhen enjoys cloth.

At the general store, they find... not really any evidence that anything bad is going on with Kensa. She seems... fine? Also six feet tall and jacked as hell, because she's a goliath and their twelve-year-olds are just like that?

Kensa notices Lady Noeru de la Surplus' fancy silk dress, and fangirls over it immediately.

Benedict I. (GM): "Whoa, is that silk?" "I don't know if we have any silk in the back, but-" "Silk?" the girl by the window asks. "Ohmigosh, you have a silk dress? Ohmigosh, how much did it cost?" Saelhen du Fishercrown: "Ah." Saelhen expected a little more resistance than this! "15 gold, when I bought it." Benedict I. (GM): "Whooooaaaa..." She's looking the dress up and down with obvious envy. "Nnnnngh, but I don't have... fifteen gold..." Looseleaf: oh my gosh she wants to buy it

Benedict I. (GM): "It's- hang on, if I get ten, will you sell it?" "I can probably get ten! And I'll throw in a replacement!" "Not silk, but-" "Uh, Mr. Teller, do you still have last week's stuff in the back?" Looseleaf: this kid's great Benedict I. (GM):"It's good, I promise!"

Saelhen, being a con artist and kind of a jerk, turns down the offer, but skillfully reframes the issue by exploiting Kensa's love of textiles to get it repaired on the cheap in exchange for a swatch or two of the fabric. Great... job...?

After interrogating the townsfolk, Looseleaf has a bright idea- she wants to buy a climbing pack to scale the tower from the outside. It costs her extra, since new stuff has to be custom-forged overnight (a remote farming village like this doesn't have much call for climbing packs), but she gets it.

Vayen comes back, with testimony from Lester. It's not much they didn't get from Chitch- just a note that apparently vegetables were chopping themselves in Lumiere's kitchen.

Looseleaf: i should get some food too maybe! anyways all this is really pointing hard to 'the four-pronged stabby painblades move on their OWN'. it's not clear who's BEHIND it, but it's pretty obvious now that all the clues point towards the stabbies being the culprit.

-

The next morning, they head out to the tower. They notice a couple things: one is a sign that reads: " KEEP SHOUTING",

and the other is a bunch of broken glass and rubble strewn across the ground. Looking up, they notice the sixth floor seems to have had a large window smashed open. Weirdly, less glass on the ground than you'd expect if it'd been smashed open from the inside.

Looseleaf's Animist class can Detect Magic, sorta, and it's pretty clear to her that the front door is magic- so rather than fall for an obvious trap, she puts her plan into action. She can jump 30 feet up with the aid of her wings, so she's able to jump straight to the third floor and try to drive a piton into the stone to drop a rope for the rest of the party.

Here is a list of problems with that plan:

Looseleaf has tiny little sticklike moth arms, which exert insufficient force to drive pitons into stone with no leverage.

Breaking a window to attach the rope to instead results in a broken window.

Inside the broken window is a spindly suit of armor covered in nasty spikes, which immediately springs to life and turns to face whoever just broke a window next to it.

Also an alarm goes off.

Looseleaf is able to get the rope secured before the living armor attacks her, and jumps back out the window- as a moth, she essentially has Feather Fall on at all times. Still, going in through that window presents a problem.

They've noticed something, though- the automaton doesn't seem to be chasing them out the window. It's just standing there, staring down at them. This... gives Looseleaf a bright idea.

Orluthe has to make his grapple check with disadvantage, given that he's trying to snag this thing with his halberd with one hand while clinging to the side of a building by a rope, but luckily this thing botches its own roll thanks to its patented "stand perfectly still because there are no intruders in the building" maneuver.

It takes a bunch of fall damage from hitting the ground, is knocked prone, and the remainder of the party immediately unloads on it on a surprise round with crits for a bazillion damage, killing it before it can move.

This was a really good idea!

Too bad there was another one just inside, which Orluthe is now alone with!

...Wait, no, he's a giant wolfman in football armor and he suplexes the other one out the window, where the exact same thing proceeds to happen to it. Okay. Cool.

With that, the party makes their way inside. Whatever the alarm was, it seems to have died down, physically- whatever was powering it petered out. Plus, Looseleaf's magic detection means there's no way they could get caught in any traps!

Any magic traps!

Saelhen fails her perception check while walking across the room to a treasure chest and hits a tripwire and a net falls from the ceiling, trapping her and Oyobi! I bet this would be a really dangerous trap if there were, say, two menacing spiky robots bearing down on them trying to kill them while they were defenseless. As is, though... it's a minor inconvenience.

After this snafu, Saelhen tries to pick open the chest, only to find that the lock is a) quite well-made, and b) itself trapped, with a poison needle in the locking mechanism designed to go off if a lockpicking attempt fails. She just barely gets her fingers away in time, and opts to leave this treasure chest to loot later, after they're done here.

The stairs up from floor 3 seem to be blocked off by a translucent red magic barrier, so Looseleaf resumes the original plan. She stands on the windowsill of the third floor, and just flaps up to the fourth floor, looking inside and this time unlocking the window telekinetically from the inside, rather than breaking it and setting off an alarm.

When she opens the window (to the torture laboratory), some more very scary torture robots immediately go after her, as do a variety of flying knives that have quite a bit of movement speed and stab her repeatedly.

Maybe this idea had some flaws.

Next time: Looseleaf hopefully doesn't get turned into moth sashimi by animated torture implements! More dungeon is crawled! Some jerk falls down the stairs and it's hilarious!

[komatsunana]

The Chronicles of Exandria: The Mighty Nein I

And so I do what I did the last 2 times for the Vox Machina Chronicles of Exandria books, which you can read [here] and [here].

These posts by no means contain all of the information in these books, but plenty of what would most interest other fans.  This is by no means a replacement for actually seeing the book.

My best guess on up to where this book spoils is episode 46.  Anyone who has not watched passed 46 can read this without spoilers outside of vague references that don’t really matter.

First and foremost, as usual, the artistry is the most important part of the book. All of the lovely fan-created art work is even more beautiful in ink than on screen. This I promise you.

As has been noted by other people who have received the book, it is written as though it was transcribed by Beau’s journals by the Cobalt Soul.  Some unnamed writer(s) from the Cobalt Reserve from Tal’Dorei have written all parts that are not excerpts from Beau’s journals.  There are edits by Zeenoth, which indicate that the book is not a final draft.  Zeenoth is not impressed by their work.

The books’ foreword is a dedication to critters.  I won’t transcribe all of it but it ends, “As always, we are richer for your company.  For truly, what good are stories unless they can be shared?”

Unlike the Vox Machina ones, which started with pages dedicated to Vox Machina and their adventures first before branching out for guest and NPCs, this one’s table of contents shows that everything is scattered.

The first section is dedicated to the Storyteller - accompanied by art of Matt as “The Storyteller.”   An excerpt follows below:

“A story walks the land through the songs and tales of those who are touched by its heart.  And then one day, long after all the players within have met the Matron, a story will be told for the very last time.  Unless, by the Grace of the Storyteller, we are let to it. [...]  Through Ioun’s blessing we make his favorite children immortal.  You hold one of them in your hands even now.  Wake it carefully.”

Thoreau contacted the Cobalt Soul immediately after Beau’s first arrest - presumably the one with Tori.  As the monks took Beau away, Thoreau referred to her as “his misfortune.”  It is also noted in the margins that Thoreau is a good friend to the Archive.

Unlike the rest of the M9 and characters, there are no excerpts about Beau herself from her journal... Because obviously she doesn’t need to take notes in herself.  However the Cobalt Soul write their own notes about her and her reputation in the Cobalt Soul and note... more than a few times that Zeenoth thinks she is aggressive, stubborn, and quick to judge and anger and as a result they can’t put a lot of stock into her notes on other people.  However, Dairon was right to put their trust in her because her insight in invaluable and is quick to call out injustice.

Beau’s note taking is exceptional - and color-coded.

Beau’s first notes about Molly is that he is “not that bright, definitely drunk, completely full of shit, and not nearly as good of a liar as he thinks he is.  His outfit is loud, far louder than the man himself.”  His coat contains iconography from at least half a dozen gods.  Beau also noted that Molly’s swords were interesting to which the footnotes immediately made note that Molly’s swords were just swords.  Beau thought, in her first impression of him, that he might be on the run from a family of Warlocks.

The librarians decided to omit all of Molly’s earlier lies that he told Beau and the group about his background, and instead only described the climbing out of the grave and only able to say “Empty” story.  He had scars and 9 red eye tattoos on him at the time.  

There are sketches of the tattoo in full, after Molly had added to it, but it’s noted by Beau that part of the tattoo is covered by Molly’s hair.  Looking at the sketch, it is implied there are more tattoos on his scalp, rather than just the length covering it.

For Molly’s story of climbing out of the grave to be true, it means that Molly relearned to speak both Common and Infernal, learned to perform his skills and duties with the Carnival, covered his eye tattoos with additional, elaborate tattoos, befriended Yasha, and discovered his innate magic ability to use his blood to infuse his weapons with magic.

Beau had made a list of every book she knew Caleb had on his person or expressed interest in.  This includes the erotic books and the 2 spellbooks. 

On the spellbooks, Beau says she isn’t sure about them. One she knows is a spellbook, but she’s not sure on the other as he never opens it.  She wonders if it is a journal of some kind.

There is a page on Beau’s notes in the first arc with the Fletching and Moondrop Carnival - notes about the victim and all her possible suspects of which it is everyone that is part of the carnival.  All of them have a strike through their name, indicating she had eliminated each of them as a suspect at one point, including Kylre.  

Among the notes she has, my favorites are that Beau thinks that everyone in the circus hates each other, never trust a clown (about Desmond), and that everyone has a title such as Molly “The Ice-Spinner” and Yasha “The Brute.”  Beau also notes Yasha as being human.

Outside of Beau’s notes, the best information to be found about Shakästa “Hush” is from an anonymous book from Deastock titled “Heroic Deeds of the Golden Grin.”  It is because of Beau’s notes that Hush is confirmed to be real, not a myth, once and for all.

Because of how cool Shakästa was with his cool bird, Beau notes “I gotta get a bird.”  So we have him to thank for Professor Thaddeus.

Unknown what deity Shakästa draws power from.

Known members of the Tombtakers:

Lucien Nonagon (Molly)

Cree: currently employed by the Gentleman.  Blood powers like Molly’s.

[A name which as been severely crossed out but looks like it says Tyffinl]:  Currently said to be in Nogvurot.

Otis and Zoran:  Still at large, whereabouts unknown

Jurrell:  Deceased

Some lady spellcaster from Rexxentrum 

The Myriad is currently gaining footholds in Tal’dorei as well.  There is also a written notation by Zeenoth to cross reference the Myriad activity with the Tombtakers, indicating that he believes that the Tombtakers and the Myriad might be connected.

Cobalt Soul theorizes that the blood Cree claims the Gentleman took from the M9 to track them might be a new form of blood-based mutagenetic tracking.

Beau’s first impression of Nott and Caleb’s relationship was that Nott heaped praise on him and that there might be some sort of blood debt or magic going on.

Beau’s early theory on Caleb was that he was hiding from a criminal employer and had done a high-level theft.  She made note to watch if he attempted to side-step certain kinds of work.

Everything about Caleb sounded like bad news to Beau, but because he stuck around to get her out of jail Beau comes to the conclusion that that’s endearing.

Beau has made an observation that Caleb was searching for some kind of information in a book, related to transmutation.  She wonders if bartering to get him into the Cobalt Soul library will get her into his good graces, though she hopes he won’t find out that the library is technically open to all if you ask nicely.

There is an entry (in Beau’s second journal, it should be noted) were several pages were ripped out about Caleb.  This indicates that Beau had written down Caleb’s backstory of killing his parents but she, Caleb, or someone else had ripped it out before it got into the hands of the Cobalt Soul.  The Cobalt Soul draws the conclusion that Caleb is connected to organized crime.  They are also unable to find anyone born with the name Caleb Widogast in the Empire and they believe it to be an alias.

There are written notations that say that at least one of the ripped out pages were recovered, in which Beau describes the night Caleb told her and Nott about killing his parents.  Both mentions of Trent Ikathon’s name were crossed out until illegible.  Beau was unconvinced that Caleb’s memories after killing his parents aren’t still jumbled (rather than missing).

Fun fact!  All of the Caleb illustrations in his art section all either have fire or Frumpkin in them.  Because when you boil down Caleb to his essentials that’s all I’m saying.

The strangest thing about the M9, as far as the Cobalt Soul is concerned,  is that they have a goblin among their party.

Beau also wonders if Nott’s relationship with Caleb isn’t also out of love or blind loyalty.  Upon finding out that Nott feels like the parental figure (rather than the other way around, as Beau had assumed) Beau wonders what it is that Nott wants Caleb to be stronger for... Revenge? Or to change herself.

Beau notes that while Nott might have named herself so to call herself not brave, Beau thinks she is pretty brave.  She describes Nott diving into the water for Fjord’s arc twice (even if she complained the entire time) and Nott saving Jester from the blue dragon which “absolutely saved Jester’s life.”  Nott is very focused on everyone remaining together as a team.  Beau believes that while Nott’s loyalty to Caleb has not lessened, her loyalty to the rest of the party has extended to them all.

“I think we might all be her kids now.  It’s kind of sweet, in a really weird way.”

Zeenoth is extremely salty their junior drew lots of buttons instead of researching the crossbow Nott got from Hupperdook.

A list of all phrases that Beau noted in her journals that Kiri had learned in her time with them.

Welcome to the Mighty Nein!

I am Kiri!

Yes, I am very sweet.

It’s sharp.

Ooh, I’m a captain.

Where do babies come from?

Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire!

If it bleeds, we can kill it.

I killed people!

Get into trouble!

She’s probably a good egg.

Go fuck yourself.

Zeenoth is VERY upset about the word fuck and wants that entry removed.

Beau thinks Calianna is too polite.

Cobalt Soul believes there is at least one other bowl like the one Calianna destroyed with the M9.

Beau hopes they don’t pick up any more stragglers, as she thinks it is getting crowded.

Cobalt Soul theorizes about why Keg had a four o’clock shadow rather than a proper Dwarven beard, wondering if she wasn’t forced to shave.  This indicates that beards are normal on female dwarves.

Beau thinks Shady Creek Run is so called because it’s full of shady criminals, but the Cobalt Soul notes that Shady Creek Run has a creek that is in near constant shade in the abundant pine trees.

On Molly’s death Beau says:

“Fuck.   That went horribly.  We lost Molly, and I don’t know what to do. [This part is crossed out: Maybe if I had-] I’m trying my best to stay objective.”

Beau also crosses out “I’m starting to like her” about Keg, and replaces it with “She’s fine, I guess.”

On Nila Beau says: “She said something really nice about Molly.  How in her clan, someones spirit never leave you.  They return to nature, and are forever by your side.  I don’t know if I believe it, but I like the thought.”

Beau wants her own “lucky smell bag” that’ll make decisions for her.

The Blooming Grove was built post-Calamity.

Beau’s first impressions of Caduceus is that he is both grounded and flighty.

Because Caduceus hasn’t eaten meat or alcohol in the time she’s known him, she thinks he’s got to have some sort of vice.

Because of Beau’s talk with Caduceus after killing the blue dragon, Beau remarks that she likes her edge and doesn’t want to lose it and go soft. But maybe it is a better, more efficient way of doing things by being there for the M9. “Gross.”

There is a note in the margins telling the editor to contact Archivist Demid (AKA the guy studying the moons) for information on the Dust family.  This indicates that he may have some special information.

Because of Jester’s defacing every town she visits, the Cobalt Soul has been able to track the M9′s movements.

The Cobalt Soul’s 2 working theories on the Traveler is that he’s a smaller/younger deity either from folk tales about a cloaked figure that either rewards or punishes heroes with a ironic twist OR a god of vandalism.

Zeenoth notes that if the Traveler IS a god of vandalism... they may have a secret follower in their ranks because of all the smut doodles in their books lately. Which of course Jester probably drew.

Beau says that as Jester told the group about her prank causing her to have to flee from Nicodranas she was full of her usual bubbliness... But was starting to see that there was underlying sadness in Jester.

Beau has known Jester has had a thing for Fjord since they first met, but after she got Tusk Love it became full-blown infatuation.

“Fjord seems super oblivious, though, which isn’t surprising for a man who occasionally wakes up covered in seawater and confusion.”

Beau stands by her and Jester’s purchase of the owl and blink dog, but she wonders how long the weasel is going to last in their line of work.

Beau wonders if it’s weird to be attracted to your friend’s mom and comes to the conclusion it is so she’ll back off... But the Ruby is smoking hot.

Beau can also see why people who want to release and evil god for Avantika. Not that she would. “She’s hot, but come on.”

No really new information on The Plank King is revealed in his section, but quite a bit is crossed out until illegible.  This could detail what connection to the Cobalt Soul he has, but was redacted.

The Cobalt claims that while the M9 titled a leader, Fjord often took that position.

Beau is making direct reports on Fjord to the Cobalt Soul and his connection to Uk’otoa.  In her latest report, she says that they’ve bought some time until their next trip to the sea............

Waiting for the rest of the M9 to come out of the Happy Fun Ball, after fighting the blue dragon, are among the rest worst few minutes of Beau’s life.

Beau believed Twiggy that she killed the blue dragon, in part because Caduceus believed her.

Beau accidentally writes “cute and dry” instead of “cut and dried” about Yasha’s background.

“For someone dressed in greys, who carries herself like a dark cloud, Yasha sure seems drawn to color and light. I wonder where it stems from.”

On Yasha being tested by the Stormlord by the “man made of lightning” the Cobalt Soul says it is not uncommon for the Stormlord to test his disciples through acts of physical, mental, or spiritual exertion.

The final notes by Zeenoth indicates that whoever wrote the book (outside of edits from Zeenoth himself and excerpts from Beau’s journals) were by someone from Tal’dorei.  Who might it be? Someone we know?

[thedistantstorm]

Keep On Rising (Until The Sky Knows Your Name) 09

Found Family | Zavala is Tower Dad | Father-Daughter Relationship | Childhood Trauma and Recovery | Canon-Typical Violence | Amputation

A story about how an orphaned Amanda Holliday comes to belong in the Last Safe City and the family she finds along the way.

(Or, the story of how Commander Zavala finds himself responsible for one Amanda Holliday.)

Chapters: 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08

This time: Wants and needs and waking up.

-/

The Speaker chooses his words carefully, thus they sit in a momentary silence before he begins. The ambient noise of the room - puffs of air from the nasal cannula that helps her get enough oxygen, monitors that check blood pressure, gentle beeps of the monitors, the idle drip of medication into IV lines all blend together in a strange symphony. Zavala does not find it anything but anxiety inducing, though he keeps still and does not act in a way that would readily flag him as such.

Not that it matters, the Speaker knows him well. “I would presume,” He says, slow and quiet, mindful of the child sleeping in the bed an arm’s length away, “That you have spoken to your Ghost about this?”

“Shiori has made her opinions known,” Zavala admits, after a moment’s thought. Likely, also that he’s spoken to said partner, through the link that Guardians share with their Ghosts.

He hums in reply, leaning back in a gesture that isn’t quite relaxed, but appears more casual than official. “And your opinions do not line up?”

Amanda stirs beside them, a frown cutting through her features, but shifts and resettles without waking. Zavala sighs in relief, having been immediately distracted by it. “Wants and needs are two different things," He offers, instead of answering the question.

"Yes," The other man agrees. "Unless your want and her need aligns."

"It does not. My lifestyle is not conducive to raising a child, regardless of whether I would consider it or not," Zavala replies.

"And yet you're here," The Speaker answers. Though his expression is covered by a mask, the inflection of his voice gives away his feelings on the matter. He tips his head to the left, evaluating.

"She calls for me when she wakes," He tells the Speaker, just as he had Ikora, but it feels inadequate as a defense. Flimsy.

"Could the matron not fulfill her needs?" He asks gently, yet there's something blunt in his tone. "She could sit with the girl."

"Yes," Zavala agrees morosely, "I just-"

"But the matron cannot console the girl when she's in the throws of panic, certainly not when she's altered by medication and plagued by fever dreams. The trust is not intrinsic, subconscious." The Speaker crosses his arms. "Nor can she give the girl favor, even if she wanted to. She has other duties, other children she is responsible for." 

The child whines in her sleep from discomfort, and as if to prove his point, Zavala is at her side, gently adjusting the sheets tangled around her lower half, mindful of her injuries.

"I want to help her," The Commander admits, wistfully, looking down at the girl’s face.

Circling back, the Speaker reminds him, "And being at her bedside when she wakes, then withdrawing will help her how? The child trusts you. It would crush her."

"Then what do I do? I could not possibly forsake my duties."

"You could do both." Zavala stares, slack-jawed at the other man's masked face. "She will need therapies and treatments… A hospital stay like this requires rehabilitation, according to the matron. It will be months at least."

"It's impossible. There is no way I could take care of a child."

The Speaker ignores him. "Plenty of time to get your affairs in order, and this would not be easy, certainly not. This one hasn't hit her teenage years, and from what I've been told by others, it is rather taxing."

"I can't do this on my own," Zavala hedges. "There is no way. The Vanguard, my Titans, I-"

"Think, Zavala." The Speaker's voice cuts through his argument, firm and blunt, yet not unkind. "I never said you should raise her on your own." He rises. "I’m merely suggesting you consider that it may not be as impossible as you think." As he passes the Titan Vanguard, he squeezes his shoulder in a show of support, speaking softer. "A reminder of why we do what we do would not be remiss around here."

The Speaker leaves. Once alone, Zavala brings the chair he'd been sitting in to rest almost against the bed. Silently, he evaluates her: the wrinkle of her brow and nose while she sleeps, the way her fingers curls over the blankets before she pulls them against her chest. 

"He's right, you know."

"He always is," Zavala answers, watching his Ghost shimmer into being on the other side of the room.

She sighs. "You really want this, though."

"Yes," He admits, after a time.

"So we ask for help. Like he said, they don't plan on releasing her any time soon."

"Shiori-" 

His Ghost continues, speaking over him in that soothing mezzo-soprano of hers. "She hasn't been awake for more than twenty minutes and even that was debatable." Her white shell orbits her core slowly. "I don't think it's wrong to be happy, Zavala. And I don't think you're going to blow off your responsibilities to everyone and everything else because of her."

"But is it fair to her?"

That gives her pause. "Well, I would suspect she'd agree."

"That is not the question. She's a child. I have doubt that she knows what is best for herself."

"Well-"

He frowns. "She's been harmed because our efforts to keep the City safe failed her. I cannot tell if I feel guilty of if it's just that I somehow feel a connection-"

"You're doing it again, always overthinking," She tuts. "Listen to me, Zavala. You wanted to take Amanda home with us the first time we met her. You were beside yourself that you upset her." She drifts closer. "And when she came around, you spent an entire visit holding onto her. I teased you about it for a week. You remember what Karena called her?"

Zavala closes his eyes. Shiori takes it as a yes.

"You were furious with me when I told you we should at least consider taking her. You gave me every reason I'm sure you're thinking of now. But you forget: I know you, Guardian. I know you're going to make the right choice. You always do."

Scrubbing a hand down the side of his face, he regards his partner warily. "That transparent, am I?"

Shiori bumps his hand away from his face. "No. You just don't do things in half measures," She says fondly, her single eye meeting both of his. "You never have." 

“I just want to be sure,” He says in reply. “I need some time.”

-/

Amanda wakes when midnight and morning bleed into each other. Unlike other times, the muzzy fading feeling seems to burn off, leaving her licking her chapped lips and squirming. She feels uncomfortable. Something isn't right.

The only sound in the room is a not unpleasant timed click, an easy shuffle, and the muted sound of a monitor. She exhales long and loud, taking stock. Only three extremities respond to her. The fourth tingles in an angry buzz of pain and numbness. Trying to move it makes her whimper, the conscious thought put into moving her knee ends in a furious confusion of synapses that don't have anywhere to go.

With her muffled cry, the cadence of clack-shuffling stops. She takes a few more breaths, forcing them to stay even, her eyelashes beating against her cheeks as she tries to make sense of the strange new feelings she’s confronted with.

Instead of speaking, he watches as her stormy eyes open and clear, adjusting to the fluorescent lighting. She looks down and bites her lip, but does not make any more noise. Her eyes water but she doesn’t make any more sound, other than the tiny groan of adjusting herself. She’s already propped up between pillows and the angle of the hospital bed.

She almost topples over reaching for her bad leg, but her left arm manages to keep her upright while she regards the lumpy bed linens. It hurts, but she flips back one end of the covers to see what her leg looks like and immediately flinches back.

It’s a large bandage that starts almost where her leg meets her trunk, but it goes down to just short of where her knee should be - and stops. She closes her eyes, squeezing them shut and then braves another look. On the second inspection, she notes that there’s blood leaking through the dressings, faded and iron-brown. No knee. No foot. Gone.

The hand that touches her head makes her freeze, and only then does she realize Zavala’s watching her evaluate herself. She looks to him with something like panic twisted by despair.

"'m not dreaming, am I?" She asks softly.

The edge of the bed dips as he sits, perched on the edge facing toward her. "No," He answers.

She closes her eyes and leans back against the pillows. "E'ryone else's okay?"

"They are," He answers. "Do-" His voice catches on the prospect that perhaps she'd rather be consoled by her foster family, though they'd withdrawn rather easily - too easily, Karen's said, though she'd never been planning to allow Amanda to return to them. His stomach lurches at the thought that her calls for him were simply hallucinations, that maybe he has this completely wrong. "Do you want to see them?"

There is no hesitation in her reply. She shakes her head in the negative. "It had me by this leg," She points to the wrapped stump. "Did you get it?"

"The Guardian who found you killed it. It won't hurt you or anyone else."

"But you said they go through you." She doesn't look at him, still eyeing the bulge of gauze.

"I am the Commander. The Guardians answer to me." He sighs, trying to explain it in a way she’ll understand. "I was in command all night, making sure everyone that was in trouble was seen to." Selfish as it may be, he’s grateful he didn’t know. It would have ate away at him all night while he was trying to organize relief efforts, the way it had while he had sat with the matron what felt like the longest day he’d had in years.

"I thought it was you," She admits. "They - It was like lightnin' but… Th'same blue as yer eyes," She drawls. 

They sit quietly for a few moments.

Her resolve crumbles with a mumble of, "I really wanted t’see you." She reaches for him and he obliges, letting her press her face into his chest, feeling her lip curl and her shoulders shake through his sweater as she cries. It’s muffled against his sweater, but he hears her confessions. The fear of what she’d surely though was her death. That she should have tried harder to make them believe her, that she knew and it was all her fault.

That she didn’t want to die without seeing him again.

It felt like he’d never be able to walk out of the room. Part of that might have been the tiny fingers that threaded through his own with a surprising strength, but… There was more to it than that. It was like his bond with Ghost but not quite, a natural connection so wholly different from any he’d forged before and it was plain and obvious, terrifying and yet comforting all at once.

The morning comes too soon, and with it, the realization that he would have to leave. She seemed to know it too, her tiny grip growing exponentially.

“I’ll be okay,” She tells him, her voice faint against his side. Her fingers twitch and pull away from him. He doesn’t miss the way they wrap around herself as he rises. “It’s fine.”

He’s never been more certain that it is anything but. “Karena will come sit with you, or one of the houseparents,” He says. “Someone you know.”

“Would-” She squeezes her eyes shut, as if looking at him - seeing the truth on his face - would upset her. “Would you come back sometime?” She asks meekly.

It’s only after he rises, patting her head, that she sees the folded blanket in progress - a shade of red far brighter than the one she’d left behind at the Baumsol’s. He removes it carefully from the chair at her bedside and opens one of the drawers in the small half-dresser beside her bed, tucking it and the rest of his knitting supplies inside.

He smiles at her, she knows it not because of his lips - those are set in a firm line. His eyes spark, almost. Bright and good and true. “I’ll come back as soon as I am able,” He tells her. “You have my word.”

[daggerfall]

Hi! I'm wondering if you could talk a bit, if you want, about the Night Mother not being Mephala? Because where I am as a lore-beginner-ish, it seems not wholly implausible that she could have been Mephala at some points? I know she's a corpse with a voice in Skyrim, and she's depicted as a probs-living person in 2920 (though idk what that author's source is), so it seems like her ID varies. And given that the M. Tong worships Meph and the DB broke off the MT, could she never have been Mephala?

I’m gonna preface this with the fact that @the-greymarch wrote most of this word for word and I’m posting that instead of my own research since it’s so much better written and researched than what I could have come up with.

The TL/DR is that there’s only one book that says the Night Mother is Mephala, and it’s written by someone with an agenda against the Brotherhood. That’s the whole point of TES lore, that the narrators are unreliable and typically have biases. Looking an in game evidence, we still don’t come to the conclusion that the Night Mother is really just Mephala in a trenchcoat, even ultimately we don’t come to ANY singular conclusion on who the Night Mother is. 

Anyway here we go. 

The book that offers the explanation of the DarkBrotherhood’s Night Mother being Mephala is Fireand Darkness: The Brotherhoods of Death. This in-game text – written by aMorag Tong assassin - says that before the Morag Tong worshipped Mephala, theyrevered Sithis. The author claims that the Morag Tong STILL revere Sithis, inthe same way that the Brotherhood does. They claim that the schism lies in theNight Mother – when the False Gods of the Tribunal took over, the Morag Tongceased to worship Mephala and turned their sights to Vivec in order to continueoperating as they were.

“TheNight Mother, my dear friend, is Mephala. The Dark Brotherhood of the west,unfettered by the orders of the Tribunal, continue to worship Mephala. They maynot call her by her name, but the daedra of murder, sex, and secrets is theirleader still. And they did not, and still do not, to this day, forgive theirbrethren for casting her aside.”

So Fire and Darkness implies that Mephala is the NightMother and the split between the Tong and the Brotherhood was due to the Tong’sexchange of Mephala worship to Vivec, who was said to be her Anticipation.

One other crucial piece of information we get from Fire andDarkness is that 2920: The Last Year ofthe First Era is a piece of historical fiction. Well researched, accordingto the author, but still fiction.

2920 is a seriesof 12 books, one for each month of the year 1E 2920. In this series, the NightMother is shown as a living woman – a leader in the Morag Tong. Fire and Darkness disputes thisdirectly, saying that the Night Mother has never historically been associatedwith the Tong, only the Brotherhood.

There is on other text that claims that leaders of the MoragTong were known as a/the Night Mother is TheBrothers of Darkness. It claims that all leaders of the Tong, and thenafter that the Brotherhood, have been called Night Mother, as a title. Whetherit’s the same woman they’ve been commanded by since the second era is claimedto be unknown.

“What isbelieved is that the original Night Mother developed an important doctrine ofthe Morag Tong-the belief that, while Mephala does grow stronger with everymurder committed in her name, certain murders were better than others.”

However from my reading of this text, it seems to besuggesting that the Tong no longer exist.

“It is more difficult to date theEra when the Morag Tong re-emerged as the Dark Brotherhood, especially as otherguilds of assassins have sporadically appeared throughout the history ofTamriel.”

One other book that mentions the Night Mother is Sacred Witness, a supposedly trueaccount of the author meeting with someone who calls herself the Night Mother.In this one, the Night Mother supposedly claims she was a thief at the verybeginning of the thieves guild, and she claimed that she suggested a part ofthe guild be dedicated to “the arts and sciences of murder”.

“TheMorag Tong was around long before my time. I know I'm old, but I'm not thatold. I merely hired on some of their assassins when they began to fall apartafter the murder of the last Potentate. They did not want to be members of theTong anymore, and since I was the only other murder syndicate of any note, theyjust joined on.”

The assassination of the last potentate was in 2E 324 when Versidue-Shaiewas assassinated by a Morag Tong in its infancy and his position taken over byhis son who was assassinated along with all of his potential heirs in 2E 430[which ended the Second Empire].

Yet ANOTHER book, The Night Mother’s Truth, claims that theNight Mother was once a Dunmer woman who was a member of the Tong. Supposedly,after the murder of the Last Potentate, Sithis itself spoke to her and shebecame pregnant with five children, and two years later she killed her childrenas Sithis ordered. The townspeople were so horrified by her act that theykilled her one night. Then 30 years later she spoke to a man passing by and shenamed herself Night Mother and named him Listener.

“And sothe Unholy Matron set her servant on his path - he would found a neworganization, a guild of assassins known as the Dark Brotherhood, in servicenot to Mephala, but to the Dread Lord Sithis.”

So as you can see, the in-game books are extremelycontradictory to each other! And it’s no wonder – the series relies prettyheavily on the concept of “unreliable narrators” – that is, you can’tnecessarily trust what people are telling you in game OR reading in thesebooks! Think Holden Caulfield in Catcherin the Rye; you really shouldn’t believe much of what he’s saying.

So if the books aren’t reliable, where do we turn? Let’slook at the Night Mother(s) in the games!

There has been a character with the title of Night Mother inevery main series game since Daggerfall, where the title belonged to a Khajiitwoman (according to the game files). In Morrowind, the “Night Mother” title wasgiven to Severa Magia, the local Dark Brotherhood leader who became anassassination target for the Tong [who the Nerevarine must kill if they jointhe Tong]. In Oblivion she appears as a spectre who speaks only to theListener, which is similar to her appearance in Skyrim where she is a corpse ina sarcophagus and speaks only the Listener.

In ESO, the Night Mother is mentioned a few times – once byElam Drals, who gives you minor contracts in the brotherhood. He brings her upa couple of times in dialogue [“I'm sure the Night Mother feels the same way.You don't see us marching armies out for slaughter, after all." And “Aslave dies slowly, one arduous task at a time. It's enough to make the NightMother Weep!"] and there is also a book in ESO called The Black Hand that states the confusion around whether the NightMother/Dark Mother is a person or a deity or what. The author of this bookclaims that the leaders of the Brotherhood sanctuaries are called Matron ratherthan Night Mother themselves, as several other books claim and is true for Oblivion,Skyrim, and ESO.

Additionally, Speaker Terenus, who recruited you, brings herup at least 29 times based on UESP control-f “night mother”. The way he talksabout her is very similar to how Lucien Lachance, speaker who recruited you in Oblivion, did; Bride ofSithis, mother of all us assassins, being who whispers contracts to theListener, all that. And despite ESO taking place an entire era before all otherTES games, it is more similar in its representation of the Night Mother toSkyrim and Oblivion than Morrowind and Daggerfall. Probably a consequence of itbeing release more recently, but the point still stands. We don’t ever meet theNight Mother or Listener, since we only advance to Silencer, but all of thesigns point in that direction.

So! With all of this conflicting information, where do weend up? There isn’t really an overarching answer to be found on the identity ofthe Night Mother. In Daggerfall and Morrowind the title belongs to the leaderof a sanctuary, and in Oblivion, Skyrim, and (implied) ESO, she is a spirit ofsome kind that speaks only to the Listener.

I think at least one conclusion we can draw is that NightMother is not Mephala. There is exactly one piece of evidence in favor, and itis a book by a Morag Tong member who likely has a vested interest in saying so.Other accounts, though contradictory to one another, at least have more thanone confirmatory piece of evidence elsewhere.

I’m sure buried somewhere in this mess is the truth! But Ican’t tell you what it is, just a little of what it is really, really unlikelyto be.

Maybe we’ll get even more different info in TES6! Who knows?

[loversmercy]

LFRP & Contacts - Mhiha

The Basics ––– –

Age: “Not far from 30!”

Birthday: Celebrated on May 9th (9th sun, third astral moon)

Race: Miqo’te

Gender: Female

Marital Status: In a committed relationship

Alignment: Neutral good

Physical Appearance ––– –

--> Mhiha as drawn by various artists

Hair: Brown

Eyes: Green

Height: 5’1” / 1.56 m

Build: Slender and athletic

Distinguishing Marks: - Large burn mark across the right side of her face - Many scars all over her body

Common Accessories: - Chirurgeon’s satchel - Modified Centurio’s revolver - Simple crystal pendant

Personal ––– –

Profession: Healer; former Resistance medic

Likes: - Gyr Abanian martial arts - Drinking - La Noscean beaches and swimming

Dislikes: - Needless violence - Injustice - Overly nonchalant patients

Languages: Common Eorzean, Limsan/Ala Mhigan accent

Residence: Metaphysick’s Midnight Bastion

Birthplace: Unknown

Religion: Common Twelve worship

Patron Deity: None in particular

Fears: - Losing Camerin - Failing her duties as a healer - Voidsent; anything a well-placed bullet can’t kill

Relationships ––– -

Partner: Camerin Gilheart

Children: None

Parents: Lost all contact with

Siblings: If any, never knew them

Other Relatives: Arnvidar Swiftheart

Pets: None

Traits ––– -

Extroverted / In Between / Introverted

Disorganized / In Between / Organized

Close Minded / In Between / Open Minded

Calm / In Between / Anxious

Disagreeable / In Between / Agreeable

Cautious / In Between / Reckless

Patient / In Between /  Impatient

Outspoken / In Between / Reserved

Leader / In Between / Follower

Empathetic / In Between / Apathetic

Optimistic / In Between / Pessimistic

Traditional / In Between / Modern

Hard-working / In Between / Lazy

Cultured / In Between / Uncultured

Loyal / In Between / Disloyal 

Faithful / In Between / Unfaithful

Habits ––– –

Smoking: Never

Drugs: Never, but willing to try sometime

Alcohol: Frequently, but usually responsibly

RP Hooks ––– –

Healing. Mhiha volunteers at the Matron’s Reach clinics. You may see her there or be treated by her yourself (or have done so in the past*), especially at the Goblet clinic. Lacking magical talents, Mhiha offers conventional healing and general diagnostics, but is at her finest on the battlefield.

(Former) Resistance members. Mhiha served as a field medic connected to an Ala Mhigan Resistance scouts’ unit until the war’s end. You may have seen her around the Barber in Rhalgr’s Reach, been treated by her there or on the battlefield, or been part of the same unit.* She still checks in with her old comrades from time to time.

Sparring partners/self-defense teacher. Mhiha regularly practices Gyr Abanian martial arts, and seeks out sparring partners. She’s no monk, but has a solid grasp of, and skill in, the underlying techniques. The doctor enjoys a good spar, and has offered basic self-defense training to fellow healers in the past.

Voidsent. Aside from currently being attached to a voidsent hunters’ organization, Mhiha harbors a vicious hatred for all things of the Void. If you are such a being or associate with them, and reveal yourself as such, you may well have a fight on your hands.

For the cause! Mhiha generally has a strong desire to do good. From catching a thief in the streets to fighting in a full-blown revolution, you can count on her aid if you ask nicely enough.

* I’m open to discussing these kinds of pre-established connections!

What I’m not looking for ––– –

Romance, shipping or ERP. Mhiha has a single established partner, to whom she is entirely faithful.

Alternate universes. Mhiha exists in XIV, in the canon timeline, and nowhere else. “Flashback” scenes that fit established continuity are fine!

Low realism/lore strictness. I appreciate RP being firmly grounded in XIV's lore. Similarly, I apply a fair bit of realism to healing RP, so those looking to be magically and/or instantly cured of their ailments need not apply.

OOC / Contact Information ––– –

I prefer to RP ingame on the Balmung server, but am open to Discord threads depending on what works better.

I’m a full-time student and live in the CET timezone (GMT+1). Uni work and other existing responsibilities take up a fair amount of my time, though I try to always keep OOC communication quick and clear (and expect the same in return; no ghosting!).

Please don’t hesitate to send me a DM here on Tumblr if you’re interested! If things click and we go on to RP, I preferably communicate through Discord.

[mtraki]

Headcanon Request: 6 Headcanons of Accordo.

Oh boy, okay!

1. ‘Accor’

Real simple, here, but I call the native language ‘Accor’.  I’m considering calling the people ‘Accordaen’ (like ‘Tenebraen’ as opposed to ‘Galahdian’ or ‘Lucian’)

… As tempting as it is to call them ‘Accordian’ for lulz… I just cant take it seriously. XD

2. Leviathan

So I headcanon that Accordo was formed from refugees of Solheim sailing away during the fall– mostly wealthy artisans and merchants.  They escaped to the sea and threw themselves upon the mercy of the Hydraen.

She was, decidedly, less than merciful.

Still, enough of them survived and the waters calmed, and the people eventually found themselves blessed with the vast bounty the sea had to offer.  You’ll see the multi-identity effigies of Leviathan all around the city– particularly the beautiful humanoid goddess.  Leviathan is revered as the matron of Accordo, and especially Altissia.  Different parts of Accordo have their tailored rituals and myths about her, but in general, she’s regarded as the very. temperamental. mom. who is taking a long, well-deserved, nap, and should not be woken prematurely.

But they definitely also acknowledge that she also protects and provides, even in her slumber.

3. Altissia is Not Accordo

The game only really shows us Altissia, but Accordo is a rather large archipelago.  It’s not like Lucis, where everything else belongs to the Empire (though there are probably a few bases here and there on the islands, most-likely bare-bones set-ups for inter-continental troop movements and airship repairs).  There are a number of fishing and agricultural villages, as well as bigger hub towns for trade on the way to the big capital.  Most of these villages are owned and outsourced by wealthy merchants.  There are likely a number of rich marble and gem quarries in the larger islands which are a huge source of trade and wealth.

The local culture of all these places is somewhat different, but there is a very sharp contrast between Altissians and other Accordaens, especially in consideration of tourists.  Altissia obviously has a huge tourism industry, but the more rural areas and smaller towns don’t appreciate foreigners poking around– after all, they still remember the days when soldiers rampaged through their homes…

There is some bitterness when it comes to governance as well, or there would be, if not for the way power is arranged in the archipelago.  Altissia may not be the voice of all of Accordo, but the Market of Tides is.

4. Market of Tides

When these rich artisans and merchants fled, they took everything they could.  But obviously everyone didn’t have everything they needed.  While searching for a safe harbor, ships traded goods in a bartering system-- if goods were available for equal trade-- or on an honor system if they weren’t.  For example: a carpenter might need to feed his family, but he has no skill in ship repair, and so instead swears to help build another’s house once things get situated.  These deals were verbal contracts, and taken very seriously, establishing a business relationship of trust and eventually loyalty.  This system began the basic structure of governance that would transfer rather seamlessly onto Accordo.  The wealth and influence were fluid things out on the sea, and those who had racked up favors and loyalty with those who had not.  There was a brief period of history where the most influential and wealthiest family became royalty, but such an arrangement was eventually found distasteful after coming under Imperial control.

The government officially established afterwards-- the Parliament with it’s First Secretary-- is not the Market of Tides.  However, members of Parliament are often players in the MoT.

The Market of Tides controls wealth and influence through unofficial, often clandestine means, to support their supporters and increase their influence.  The Market of Tides is basically the dramatic but quiet chess game of various merchant dynastic families for honor and renown (those who play for wealth are not favored and generally do not last long).  It is a dangerous and sometimes bloody chess game, especially if verbal or written contracts are not honored-- and such debts and promises are often inherited through generations-- or rival groups feel drastic actions are required.  Assassinations amongst the wealthy and influential are common.  Most organized crime is theorized to be connected directly to the MoT.

The MoT is part of Accordaen heritage, and ultimately seen as a positive thing, though it is not spoken of openly.  The system provides overhead and protection for budding businesses and balances the trade market to keep competition lively.  The Market of Tides also often provides for those who are needy-- because of this, there are very few who are afflicted with homelessness, food insecurity, or unemployment.

5. Lovers Not Fighters

On the whole, Accordaen culture and philosophy do not embrace violence or martial might.  Disagreements are better settled through trade-- even if they originated in trade!  Criminal murder is very rare, as the Market of Tides will always see such a slight answered harshly. (MoT assassinations are not considered criminal murder unless someone other than the target is killed.)

Especially in the company of foreigners, an Accordaen is more likely to facilitate compromise, and make excellent mediators in disputes, ensuring that a fair trade of services or goods takes place.  History has demonstrated time and again that it benefits them to do everything they can to ingratiate themselves to others and make friends instead of enemies.

6. Little Cultural Things I’ve Invented

the ‘Altissian Kiss’

I dunno.  I thought it was clever or something.  Y’know how tongue-kissing is called ‘French Kissing’ by people?  That’s the kind of thing I was going for.  I’ve been asked exactly what an Altissian Kiss is, and I’m not sure (LET ME KNOW IF YOU HAVE SUGGESTIONS! :D) But I can tell you that the stereotype exists that Accordaens, and especially Altissians, are super passionate lovers and great kissers.  Altissian tourist shops have embraced this and feature novelty t-shirts and other items that state boldly ‘ALTISSIANS DO IT BETTER’.

They also have a word ‘bacia’ which is used as a insult that translates into ‘kiss off’ which is used like ‘F*** off’.  Memorabilia with either translation of this are also popular.

Kissing and PDA are not huge deals in Altissia, though somewhat more frowned on in more conservative rural villages.

“Never try to swindle an Altissian.” (This also applies to other Accordaens)

Being the descendants of merchants, it’s really difficult to pull one over on someone from the archipelago concerning a business arrangement.  They seem to have a good eye and ear for dishonest business and blackmail.  Trying will either get you laughed at or in serious trouble.  If you do manage to pull it off, watch out-- they’ll find a way to ruin you and your entire family while coming out looking completely innocent.

On the flip-side, an Accordaen can usually be honor-bound by their word-- unless they’ve made a clever loop-hole for themselves, or the other person has broken their end of the deal.

[whetstonefires]

d gray man liveblog part 4! (part 1)(part 2)(part 3)

No but seriously, Cyril Camelot is the English Foreign Minister and just staged an assassination attempt on himself for an excuse to declare war on the people he just spent a while negotiating an agreement with.

Why? In what way does this benefit the Noahs?

(...why is the name of the country censored, I feel like hoshino-san just didn’t want to try to come up with a plausible European country for England to go to war with in 18-mumblety.)

I mean Bookman says tragedy breeds akuma in his analysis, but they took Japan while it was so emphatically not at war that it had zero foreign relations at all; war is clearly not necessary for the Earl’s bargains to go through apace.

Cyril kind of looks like he just does this shit for fun.

...”the evil man who made the world his enemy” is a fascinating choice of words, Tykki Mik, I really wonder very hard about you.

And you’re right, when he’s not wearing his balloon costume, and talking normally, and buying flowers from little girls, he looks normal! Weird how that works.

Question: is that umbrella he declined so he could walk in the rain Lero? Does Lero have to share the Earl with other umbrellas outside of official monster business, or disguise himself as a normal bumpershoot when out in public? Is that servant another disguised akuma, or a normal person who has no idea?

...it’s probably an akuma.

YAY KRORY WAKE UP!

why so many chain. it’s not like he lost track of who his enemies were in that last fight, even when he was made of blood. rude to chain.

aw he cry. he cry! ;_; he cry for his friends!

this is the kind of sad boy i like. he can be annoying but not in, you know, a murdery way.

holy shit creepy ghost girl?! i...logically must have read this part before but i don’t remember it, damn i was bingeing like a mad thing.

where...where did the poison come from. why is Krory’s arm sticking out like that. what is going on.

Why Are The Order So Bad.

aaaaand cut to the kind of random hijinks that seem intended to lift the mood but tbh they’re kind of too grim in their own right.

lmao alternately this is an excuse to draw kanda and lavi as chibis and Allen with long hair.

If it’s not because of structural damage, why are they moving to a new base? No one’s said anything about the new headquarters being any more secure against frickin’ teleportation. Maybe the Pope just wants the Order distracted with moving chores?

(I like referring to the higher-ups at the Vatican as the Pope; I realize we have no actual evidence the actual Pope even knows any of this is happening, but if hoshino is gonna be having people shout that other people are ‘property of the Pope’ i’m gonna use the word Pope as often as I can get away with because

1) it makes the whole thing more ridiculous b) it emphasizes the European Gothic Via Japan vibe going on here which is at least 20% of the entertainment value and thirdly, ‘Pope’ is fun to say.)

Oh, right, Allen’s ongoing identity crisis! (it only gets worse from here, kid)

The bosses were logically correct to make Cross Marian do his ‘report to Vatican and be responsible’ part before giving him the pay-off of ‘allowed to talk to Allen’ because otherwise he’d just fuck off but damn it’s hard on the kid, being left hanging.

I absolutely do not believe for one second this business with Mana’s past and secret motives was planned before the series started, but that’s honestly for the best; it’s more wrenching when we didn’t have any more reason than Allen to suspect something was off.

...i like when nice clowns adopt people tho... :o(

not telling the brass or their stooge about your creepy extra reflection was a Good Call.

yes link really truly allen is a good kid who is not plotting evil shit. sheesh.

more Potion Accident gags, i’m sorry, i can’t keep up with your taste in mood whiplash and i never liked most slapstick anyway. the bunny ears are. strange.

...never mind who made the ‘talk like a cat’ potion, who packed that box Miranda spilled; that is such an absurd chaotic collection of items organize your shit people. eesh.

Lmao everyone’s #1 creepy ghost theory is, Komui Playing A Dumb Prank.

...okay, Allen’s reaction as the Matron gnaws on his arm, and the fact that everyone’s first assumption is that Allen has annoyed this very sensible woman to the point that she is communicating via teeth, manages to be funny but noooooo, why would you, not Awesome Shoes Lady after she made it through the Level 4 Akuma attack unscathed, come onnnnnn.

okay, uhhh...contagious vampirism zombie thing...lmao everyone gets worried about matron when she bites Miranda, everyone is super embarrassed when Miranda bites Noise, this is just some impressive Not Realizing Shit’s Fucked guys.

okay, zombie horde of various survivors of all the recent massacres.

uh, if this weren’t being dropped at a time of total emotional exhaustion, it would work better. it’s already working better the second time around for the fact that i took a break after the last arc.

considering it comes out monthly and we had a Noah interlude, it probably worked in the original context just fine, but daaaaaamn did this storyline piss me off the first time, all i even remember about it is the rage.

:D Lenalee rescued Tiny Kanda. Who for some reason can interpret her ‘nyah’ sounds.

...how is a stimulant drug contagious via biting.

i remember the first time i read this i naturally assumed the biting disease was derived from Krory. that still would have made more sense.

robot eats notebook, lol...bickering...”my pride won’t allow me to become a zombie” yes allen excellent logic you weirdo.

okay i’m done checking back in when slightly less stupid shit starts happening....

okay never mind the robot’s fireworks blew Allen through a wall, where Krory was suffering in chains, and then the blanket spontaneously combusted, and then there was somebody with an axe...

...and then Allen wakes up and is informed he was knocked out and concludes Krory’s situation was a dream oh come on.

krory is at the door! but being creepy! the robot refuses to open the door out of self-preservation! allen seduces the robot into risking its life!

...

‘this is nostalgic’ with the hero face on i can’t.

okay, so it was Krory, who apparently swallowed the entire bottle of poison, lid included? for some reason?

oh great there’s a parasitic zombie ghost thing riding Reever and sticking its face out his stomach. horror! nope, now played for laughs.

aaaand suddenly veering back into pathos. bonus info about evil human experiments!

...aaaaaand touching bonding moment for the Lees. Aww.

Not only is Komui protective and self-sacrificing, when he isn’t being psychopathic, he has absolved Lenalee of his having sacrificed his entire life to watch over her after she was kidnapped into this.

then a stupid gag! and the ghost does a creepy jealous possession thing! and meanwhile everything is on fire.

et cetera, mood whiplash back and forth at least once every other page...komui starts reciting from memory the names of every single person killed in the Order’s human experiments...

...i don’t think the names are intended as an additional gag, but most of them are fairly odd and many downright improbable, though none truly syllable-mashing outrageous. I’m rather fond of Asia Smet and Oona Boelyn.

a page and a half of heart-rending pathos, and then the robot falls off the ceiling with a huge syringe of ‘vaccine’ it synthesized from Krory’s blood because he was the first infected by the...stimulant...egad, that’s not how any of that works.

and then, and then...anyway then everyone was zombies and the boss from China came in off-panel and fixed everything, as you do.

i truly hate you hoshino katsura, all the more for the fact that i genuinely loved about 15% of that parade of neck-wrenching bullshit.

anyway! that’s all over and done with, we are now on a boat being cute, because allen is using the stolen teleportation Ark that only he can drive to open a door between the old Castle headquarters and this...uh...cave? that they’re moving into.

...oh hey Shadow Of Allen (XIV) is now sporting wings remarkably like the ones Krory had during his drugged vampire zombie freak-out. i bet that means nothing whatsoever.

man whenever Leverrierererererer turns up i hallucinate ominous music. smug assholish ominous music. slimier sounding than the Imperial March, you know?

that’s not just my biases, hoshino-san lights the panels very effectively to create that effect. egad, he’s going to be in command??? is that why the move, because it was easier to undermine komui’s authority if he was removed from his entrenched power base?

...we just covered last chapter that that castle was a leverrier family fortress originally tho. huh.

excessively creepy secret Pope police involved in isolating and depowering Allen.

also lol that is very Japanese-style religious magic going on, that is not what a Catholic ritual binding would look like at all. not that they have as much settled precedent, their demon-fighting standards run much more toward ‘make it go away.’

aw shit komui’s right there and he can’t do shit, best he can get is a promise that ‘if Allen is a good child’ he won’t die.

flashback! aw man allen the first lesson mana ever taught you was to make peace with the dead and let them lie. should’ve listened.

...man allen was a grouchy brat. i wonder what color his hair was, before it went white. haha apparently he acquired his adoptive dad by running away from the circus with him.

pfffffft little allen hated clowns, that achieves the level of actual irony...welp, suicide joke.

aw shit mana was too burned out on grief to cry for his dog but allen could, for the doggie that licked his hand once. imma cry now.

whoa actual conversation with Cross Marian! under the supervision of papal ninjas (known as Crow) within a magic cage of paper. and wow! an actual answer to a question! unprecedented!

...it isn’t labeled which of these kids was Mana and which was (the most recent incarnation of??) the Fourteenth but imma hazard a guess that the one with hair that matches little Allen’s is not Mana.

oh also Adam Puddinghead killed the 14th, i don’t think we officially knew that until now? or maybe it came up when he blew up Edo i don’t recall.

oh my god i was definitely bingeing too hard last time; by the time Cross Marian started referring to the 14th in the second person to Allen my capacity to be astonished or distressed was burned right the fuck out. i was just like ‘yeah yeah figured get on with it.’

it’s actually a pretty dramatic scene, but it’s weird to be getting this shit in straightforward exposition after all this absence of any information at all.

wait “the human implanted with” ... “the host for his revival” ... i can’t tell if Cross Marian is referring to whatever the normal noah transfer process is or some way 14 found of circumventing that.

ohhhhhh man this title page has tiny clown Allen and it is the cutest shit ever.

did i ever tell you guys one time when my mom was two and a half, she had her stage debut as the cutest little pigtailed clown? and she ran onstage toward her daddy just like they’d practiced and the whole audience burst into delighted laughter.

and Tiny!Mom turned to look at them in appalled horror, and u-turned right back around and ran offstage again.

no one had successfully communicated to her she was going to be laughed at by a bunch of strangers. possibly they didn’t expect a toddler to mind.

oh sure Cross Marian, tell the kid the horrifying truth about himself and his dad in the most overdramatic way possible, in front of witnesses, and then when he dissociates in horror just beat the shit out of him until he resets.

the amount of playing abuse for laughs in this series is one of the many emotional strains that led me to drop it the first time.

it’s honestly a contest sometimes who i currently hate most, Marian, you or Labradorito or the Earl. Ech.

‘no idea’ tch. but if you’re saying he implanted his memories into Allen before he died, then...the Earl caught up with the 14th really recently, then?! How long were he and Mana on the run? I totally forgot these details, wow. i suspect some of them will turn out to be false.

...why the fuck are you saying it like this? bastard.

wow CM you almost look spooked by the fact that allen cares more about the possibility that his dad never actually loved him than the prospect of having his mind eaten.

maybe he’d care more about the mind-eating if the 14th was the Earl’s ally instead of planning to use allen as a weapon to kill him? allen is already using himself as a weapon to kill the Earl.

oop, way to get him back on target! “what if i told you you’ll kill the people you care about?”

aaaand cut.

that was like ten chapters’ worth of blather, i need to get more efficient.

[sebeth]

Legion of Super-Heroes #3

Warning, Spoilers Ahead…

Legion of Super-Heroes #2 by Keith Giffen, Tom & Mary Bierbaum, and Al Gordon.

The issue opens with articles from the “Glitter” column in the Daily Planet from February – March 2991. The articles are written by Baretta West.  

The first article, titled “What Is Tinya Hiding??!” details the rumors of an earlier, secret wedding between Phantom Girl and Ultra Boy.  The couple had recently announced a wedding date of June 2991.

The second article is the official wedding announcement: “The bride is the daughter of Winema Tinya Wazzo, a prominent Bgtzlr attorney and leading authority on privacy law and step-daughter of attorney Khard Wlessey.  The groom is the son of Crav Nah and the late Mytra Nah, agri-engineers on Rimbor…Their secondary and advanced schooling was conducted primarily at the Legion Academy in its days as an exclusively academic institution…Both have regularly supported numerous charity drives.  Wazzo currently serves as honorary chair of the Friend In Need Foundation, which operates shelters for runaways, the Superboy Scholastic Foundation, and the Intergalactic Heart Fund.  Nah is spokesman for Straight Buddies of Rimbor.”

The third article contains more information on the upcoming wedding.  It’s set for June 9th at the Prism Cliff Chapel on Deltwan. It’s going to be an intimate wedding – family, close friends, and Legionnaires only.  It will be a traditional earth-style wedding with Tasmia Mallor serving as matron of honor and Reep Daggle as the best man.  Marla Latham will give Tinay away and the Ranzz boys will serve as ringbearers.

A few notes on the articles:

1)      The secret wedding.  The Legionnaire are known across the universe so they would be subject to gossip, rumors, and have to deal with the paparazzi.

2)      The Legion Academy.  I don’t think it was ever stated that it served as an education facility before the introduction of later characters like Dawnstar and Laurel Kent.  It makes sense though – the Legionnaires were young and would still need to receive a college education – especially in the earlier years with the age limit ending their Legionnaire activities in their early 20’s.

3)      Tinya seems to have been named after her mother.

4)      Jo and Tinya sponsor charities that reflect their past experiences.  Tinya, a previous runaway, chairs a foundation that assists runaways.  Jo, a former member of a Rimbor gang, works with an organization that aims to keep the youth of Rimbor off the streets.

5)      Tasmia is the obvious choice for Matron of Honor.  Mon-El or Superboy would have been the clears picks for Jo but both men are deceased at this point.  

Whittram’s Alley, Rimbor, present day:  The science police are pursuing a Sklarian woman named Kono.  The police are annoyed that Kono has snatched their badges.  A gleeful Kono thinks to herself: “Not if they’ll just send in two more badges, Jo’s record is done for.”  I’m assuming Jo set the badge-snatching record in his youth and not in his more mature years.  Kono escapes her pursuers by phasing into the Loose Caboose club.

The chairman of Silverale LTD, Rimbor’s most profitable corporation, complains to Kakiqik (a Khund) about Kono and Jo Nah.  Kakiqik perks up at the mention of Kono: “We would pay extremely well for the opportunity to eradicate her…Her pacific transgression need not concern you.  Kono has shamed the empire…She will pay the price.”

The officers pursue Kono into the club.  An officer is reprimanded for his wandering eye.  The officer claims “Well, what if that’s what our quarry looks like with her clothes off?”

The second officer states “Nah…she wouldn’t pull that trick again.”

Kakiqik sends Khunds to the club to apprehend Kono.  He assures his men “Unlimited force, no questions asked.  Silverale LTD guarantees it.”

The screen in Kakiqik’s office reveals more information about Kono: Brita An’Nan of Sklar. Ability to shift mass between herself and other objects/beings.

Shots break out in the club and several officers are caught in the line of fire.  Kono phases in the sewers and flees the area.  Kono is pursued by Algronsk and Kaston, a huge pair of bruisers.

Jo and Ginny are finishing up a romantic encounter as a commercial for Silverale plays on the screen. The ad briefly features Dartalon of the Wanderers.

Jo notes “The heat’s been on a little, that’s all.  May have to bunk elsewhere for a while, just to keep ahead of ‘em.”  Jo, in the process of shaving, is interrupted by Kono.

“What the Nykx are you doing?!”

“I’m shaving.  What’s it look like?”

“It looks like you’ve contracted rabies.  What’s that white junk?”

“I’m using an antique shaving set.  Gift from a friend.”

“So you figure you gotta use it?  Must be some friend.”

Ginny has left the apartment but is ambushed and murdered by Algronsk and Kaston.

We switch to Lydda and Loomis en route to Kathoon.  Loomis is uncomfortable with the cost of the meal: “It’s tough to enjoy a meal that costs enough to feed a family on Braal…for a month.”

Lydda advises Loomis to relax:  “Making yourself miserable isn’t going to help anyone on Braal, y’know.  That husband of mine’s been trying it for years. Hasn’t worked yet.”

Loomis wonders if it’s just him “or did everyone involved in this Legion thing turn out a little nutso.”

“People do crazy things for lots of reasons, Loomis.  Principle, honor, friendship…love.”

Algronsk and Kaston destroy Jo’s apartment building.  The duo celebrate but decide to check for survivors: “Our masters are such sticklers for survivors.”

An unhappy Jo emerges from the flames.  

“Jo Nah.  Then you did survive.”

“That’s why they call it invulnerability, pal.”

“But – but how did you know to use it?” “I don’t drop it needlessly.  Or didn’t you check into that before you went butchering god knows how many innocents?”

Kono phased into the sewer tunnels beneath the apartment building and are soon joined by the brawling trio.  Jo and Kono quickly destroy their Khundish attackers.

We head to earth where Shvaughn Erin returns to her apartment.  Dirk Morgna has sent her flowers accompanied by a note: “Shvaughn, I live for the day when you’re mine, my beauty.”

“Dream on, buddy.  I ought to give him a romp.  He could use the lesson…think’s he’s gonna get everything on a silver platter.”

Circe, a Science Police chief, orders her probe-droid to research Shvaughn: “We need something on her.” Shvaughn’s record is spotless so the droid is ordered to look into her aquaintances:  Feliz Alana, Leeman Allen, Hass An, Cat Anestopoulo, Suzi Apczynski, Brek Bannin, D. Spengler Benita, Ral Benem, Arad Bensam.

Ral Benem is the Chorlophyll Kid and Brek Bannin is Polar Boy.

Circe dresses up to look like Shvaughn and has a bedroom romp with Dirk.  Is Circe’s interest in Shvaughn due to jealousy?

Jo searches the wreckage of the apartment building and finds the remnant of his antique shaving set. It’s inscribed “Long Live the Legion, Rokk.” The set was given to Jo by Cosmic Boy which makes sense as Rokk is a huge history buff.

The issue ends with Roxxas leaving his prison cell.  Roxxas has had a clear break with reality as he argues with himself – with five different voices/personalities – for the entire page.

Roxxas and his pirates are the ones responsible for the annihilation of Element Lad’s race.

The issue ends with an article from the May 8, 2991 edition of the Daily Planet: “Search for Wazzo ends; Worlds Mourn for LSH vet”.

The article states “Wazzo was lost on April 12 while traveling alone from her other-dimensional home world, Bgtzl, to Earth.  Scientific observers believe the ‘fabric’ of the interdimensional gulf between Bgtzl and Earth was suddenly, inexplicably ripped apart during Wazzo’s journey, killing the Legionnaire.”  It’s noted “Among Legionnaires, Wazzo has served the longest consecutive term. Wazzo’s presumed death would mark the seventh passing of an active Legionnaire, but the first to occur outside of the line of duty.  Active Legionnaires who’ve been killed in action include Garth Ranzz of Winath (since revived), Andrew Nolan of Earth, Lyle Norgg of Earth, Condo Arlik of Phlon, Pol Krinn of Braal, and Lar Gand of Daxam.  Heroes killed after having resigned from the Legion include Kal-El of Krypton (the legendary other-dimensional hero Superboy) and Val Armorr of Earth”.

It’s mentioned in the article that “A high-ranking officer in the U.P.-wide SP confirmed that Wazzo’s fiancé, Jo Nah, insisted that the investigation be taken out of the hands of the SPE and turned over to the SP proper.”

The article informs us that Tinya joined the Legion at 15 years old and was 32 years old when she died. Tinya was the fifth individual to join the Legion following the founders and Luornu Durgo.

Notes on the article:

1)      “Presumed dead” is the classic comic book style death.

2)      Garth = Lightning Lad, Andrew = Ferro Lad, Lyle = Invisible Kid, Condo = Chemical King, Pol = Magnetic Kid, Lar = Mon-El, Kal-El = Superboy, Val = Karate Kid

3)      Jo’s insistence over the investigation being taken out of SPE’s control is an indication of the growing corruption of Earthgov.

4)      Tinya served 17 consecutive years without taking a leave of absence!

I love all the details and easter eggs in this issue and the entire run.  It’s a nice test of your Legion knowledge.  That said, you don’t need to know the obscure tidbits to enjoy the issue.  Maybe. I’m not the best judge here – the Legion was the first comic ever given to me – way back in the 1980’s.  I’ve devoured everything Legion-related since encountering that first reprint digest.

We’re definitely still in set-up mode – Reep and Rokk haven’t even made it to Rimbor yet. Lydda, my favorite female Legionnaire, receives more panel time.  Yay!  

Kono’s an interesting character – a bit obnoxious, reckless, but she showed concern over the innocent bystanders caught in the cross-fire during the club shooting.  Kono’s powers are similar to Phantom Girl but she has more offensive capabilities.

Jo’s in an interesting spot. He returns to Rimbor after Tinya’s death and seems to be running a gang.  It appears to be a “Robin Hood” style gang.  I’m assuming Jo’s no longer the spokesman for Straight Buddies for Rimbor. I like the nod to Jo’s cleverness. Why would you turn off invulnerability? Jo may have left the Legion but that doesn’t mean the numerous bad guys he’s helped imprison or going to adopt a “live and let live” philosophy.

Dirk’s on a slippery slope. His playful womanizing from previous runs is taking a creepy turn.

The release of Roxxas is an interesting choice. Roxxas wasn’t used often before this run – his first appearance detailed his role in the massacre of Trom.  He had a later appearance where he believes he’s haunted by the ghosts of Trom.  Present day Roxxas has no pirate fleet and no super powers – the only thing he has going for him is buckets of crazy!

[gaminghardware0]

The greatest moments in World of Warcraft history

Blizzard launched World of Warcraft all the way back in 2004. Despite being the second longest-running MMO in history, WoW still has the highest player count among its competitors – a phenomenal achievement. This month sees the release of its seventh expansion, Battle for Azeroth, just in time for the game’s 14th anniversary in November.

The reasons for WoW’s continuing success are numerous, but at its core sits a combination of welcoming gameplay, a huge range of activities, challenging endgame content, and organic social achievements. There’s nothing quite like defeating a difficult raid boss after weeks of failed attempts and then joining in with the cheers of victory from your fellow guild mates.

To help you celebrate the upcoming release of Battle for Azeroth – and the game at large – we’ve put together this list of the greatest moments in World of Warcraft’s long history. It’s hard to boil nearly a decade and a half of experiences down to just a few choice favourite bits, but damn it, we’re going to try.

January 2005 – Onyxia falls

She was the first great threat: Onyxia. The matron of the black dragonflight and master manipulator of the petty politics of humankind, brooding inside her fiery cavern in a dark corner of Dustwallow Marsh.

With her legion of faithful dragonkin and many, many whelps, Onyxia presented a substantial challenge for the great heroes of Azeroth. After many epic struggles, Onyxia was defeated for the first time, and the first ever WoW raid was completed.

For a long while, Onyxia’s Lair was the only raid available in WoW, and she went undefeated for a full 69 days. On January 28, 2005, Horde guild ‘The Chosen’ became the first to best her, in the process marking a seminal moment in WoW history – the first ever World First endboss kill.

September 2005 – the great blood plague

In September 2005, World of Warcraft heralded the arrival of a new raid: Zul’Gurub. In this den of danger, teams of 20 banded together to take down the blood god, Hakkar the Soulflayer. The brutal deity had, among its many other accursed abilities, the power to inflict a deadly disease – the Corrupted Blood Plague. Little did the brave adventurers know that the plague would escape the confines of the temple city of Zul’Gurub, and wreak havoc upon an unsuspecting Azeroth.

Carried out of the temple by adventurer’s animal companions, the plague spread rapidly throughout the world – sometimes by accident, sometimes deliberately through the actions of virtual biological terrorists. Skeletons lined the streets, large cities became no-go zones, and shopkeepers and guards were transformed into asymptomatic carriers of the deadly plague.

The powers that be at Blizzard came down hard to try and stop the plague, organising quarantines and running server hard resets. The plague ran rampant for almost a full month, finally coming to an end in October when a hotfix was issued that made player pets immune to the debuff. This finally prevented the infection from spreading outside the raid.

The Corrupted Blood plague was so accurate to the real-life patterns of epidemic, it’s been used in scientific studies of real-life disease outbreaks and the psychology of terrorism (no really, look it up).

January 2007 – the Dark Portal reopens

You can’t keep a game going for nearly 14 years without switching it up occasionally. Blizzard has achieved this through expansions, other big content updates that further the ongoing story of Warcraft, improvements to the graphics and mechanics, and by introducing new areas and endgame challenges.

Nowadays, expansions are routine for WoW players – there have been six so far (soon to become seven). But over a decade ago, when The Burning Crusade was released, it was a novelty – certainly, the opening of a whole new continent after three years of vanilla WoW was something worth getting excited about.

Naturally, when the Dark Portal to Outland was opened, there were some teething problems. Requiring every player to congregate in one area in the Blasted Lands may not have been the /best/ idea – it caused server instability as well as pitched battles between the Horde and the Alliance on PvP servers. Whoops.

March 2010 – a new king in the North

Wrath of the Lich King is easily one of WoW’s creative peaks – a flavourful expansion with interesting quests, tons of significant lore, and a great soundtrack to boot. Wrath of the Lich King’s raids were no different. From the atmospheric and difficult Ulduar to the epic scale of Icecrown Citadel, there were few missteps for endgame enthusiasts.

In March 2010, the The Lich King – one of WoW’s most iconic characters – was taken down for the first time by a Horde guild known as Paragon. It was a long and gruelling fight (over 20 minutes with a 25-person group) that culminated in an emotional cutscene wherein Arthas is confronted and defeated by the souls of those he murdered – including his father, Terenas Menethil II.

To prevent the undead hordes from swarming uncontrolled over the entire world, Bolvar Fordragon took on the helm of the fallen Arthas and became the new Lich King. That probably won’t come back to bite us, right?

September 2012 – new freedom

Up to this point, WoW had a small design flaw: all the cool loot you collected was bound to the character that acquired them. This seemed like a small issue but it did much to restrict player freedom.

You might want to play a Paladin instead of a Druid in the next expansion, but all of your cool gear is on your Paladin – darn. Some players resorted to repeating long grinds for rare items on multiple characters, just so they wouldn’t focus all of their time and effort on one character.

Mists of Pandaria changed all of this by making the rarest collectibles – including mounts, pets, items, and toys – shared by all characters on your account, even those on the opposite faction. It seems like a small change but it’s one players will likely notice when Blizzard launches the WoW Legacy servers it’s building.

November 2014 – a home of my own

WoW characters are basically murderous hobos. They drift from town to town, sleeping in taverns or sometimes just on the floor of a capital city, doing odd jobs for strangers and pilfering anything that isn’t nailed down. Until a legendary character from Warcraft history comes by to corral them together and throw them at the most recent cackling villain, that is.

Warlords of Draenor changed this state of affairs by introducing Garrisons, a personalised base that each player could build and customise. This was a popular feature and made it into the next expansion, Legion, in the form of Class Halls.

August 2018 – bigger and better

Ok, we’re cheating a bit here as we haven’t seen this play out yet, but that’s how excited we are for this upcoming feature. For Battle of Azeroth, a new social tool has been introduced: cross-realm, cross-faction groups for organising players.

Ever been frustrated that you can’t chat to your Horde-playing pal while leveling your Alliance character? Now you can. It’s basically Discord, but built into WoW’s interface, and potentially allows multiple guilds to stay connected without having to merge into one giant, unwieldy blob. This has the potential to revolutionise the social experience in World of Warcraft.

from https://www.pcgamesn.com/world-of-warcraft/world-of-warcraft-greatest-moments