#~astral warrior~

[iron-hearts-ablaze]

"Don't." (From Lae'zel.)

Send "Don't" to grab my muse's wrist to prevent them from doing something dangerous

There he was... After all these years, there he was. Standing tall and proud like an inkblot peacock; flaunting and collusive as ever. Karlach could almost taste his blood from here... Oh, how badly she wanted to rip out that lying, smug tongue of his and chew on it- to make his rib cage stand upright like ivory towers as she ripped out his heart before his eyes-!

Just as she made one step forward - fangs bared and knuckles white as they clutched the handle of her axe - something firm tugged her back. For a moment, Karlach was snapped out of her bloodthirsty haze.

"What the fuck do you mean 'don't'!" Karlach hissed like a cornered beast at Lae'zel. "That's fucking Gortash! I'm going to kill him - I'm going to smear his guts across his God's face! How dare you get in my way!"

[thedeerus]

i'll post stellaron hunters if this doesn't flop

[iron-hearts-ablaze]

The sense of foolishness hadn't evaded Karlach completely. Lessening one's mental armour was a terrible mistake. It provided a crack large enough for an enemy to nestle in, as well as forming concern in confidants. Yes, she trusted this collection of eccentrics but Karlach needed to be strong for all of them - and this kind of misstep may have caused Lae'zel to lose faith in Karlach's abilities.

Just as she was about to feel ridiculous for showing such a weakness in front of a seasoned warrior - Lae'zel surprised her.

Karlach blinked, seemingly fascinated by the githyanki's soft approach. She hadn't expected it... Yet it was certainly a pleasant surprise. "Y'know... I think this realm is starting to rub off on you a little." Karlach smiled with a cocked eyebrow, arms folding. "I like it, it suits you." No doubt it would be taken as an insult but the tiefling could hardly keep things to herself.

Karlach took a more serious tone as she too gazed into the fire for a moment. The flames that - for once - were not her own seemed to brighten her eyes. As if they were small flares themselves. "I find soldiers fight better when there's comradery. I used to be part of a mercenary group before Avernus... A great team. Looked out for each other. I'm feeling the same thing here. We have each others back and keep each other going... Even when we slip up and fall." Karlach sighed, more of a huff of frustration at her own faults. "I should refocus...you're right-"

She was caught off guard again for Lae'zel of all people became sentimental. Declaring Karlach's value and even a rather tender gesture. "Thank you, Lae'zel... That means a lot to hear. Especially from someone as strong as you." A determined expression and nod followed. "You matter too, and I won't let you down. My axe won't dull again, I promise."

Lae’zel studies Karlach in silence for a long breath. The firelight dances across the tiefling’s skin—embers playing in the grooves of her scars. She should speak with scorn. She should sneer. She should call Karlach a fool for this show of vulnerability—for baring her throat like a lowly is’tark. But she doesn’t. Because Karlach still stands. Still breathes, and rages, and fights. And Lae’zel—gith of K’liir, disciple of Vlaakith, bearer of the silver blade—is beginning to suspect that this is what strength looks like, when it isn’t shined to a mirror sheen and held up for a queen to judge.

Her voice comes low, rough-edged as ever, but quieter now. As if she’s weighing each word in the hand before throwing it. ❛ I was trained to fight before I could even walk. Before my muscles had grown around my bones, I was tested. Broken. Rebuilt. It is our way. ❜ She straightens, the fire casting sharp lines across her face. ❛ From the moment we are hatched, we are blades in the forge. Every hour of every cycle—hrath ajak, psionics, pain endurance, mental warfare. And still, I say this to you: You have had half the training I have had, and you are the only one here who might best me in battle. ❜

There is no arrogance in her tone. Not a trace of boasting. Only certainty, like naming the shape of a wound. But then she pauses. And the pause lingers. Her gaze flicks toward the darkness beyond the campfire, toward the vast stretch of Faerûn she had once dismissed as mud and rot. Her voice is slower now, as if her own thoughts taste strange on her tongue. ❛ You… matter, ❜ she says, like the word offends her. ❛ You should not. And yet, when I fall in battle, you lift me. When I falter, you speak. We share meat, and fire, and moments that should be beneath a warrior of Vlaakith. ❜

She looks back to Karlach then, and the embers burn in her reflection. ❛ I fear it is softening me, ❜ she says, quiet now. As if confessing a heresy. ❛ I do not know if I like it, ❜ she admits. ❛ But I know that you—Karlach—are no monster. You are not weak. You are not lesser. You are like me—relentless, burning. We fight, even when the world has already written our graves. ❜

A beat. Her gaze lingers, hard and searching. ❛ So if you must rage, do it beside me. And if you must doubt yourself again…❜ She tilts her chin up. Her voice sharpens like a drawn blade. ❛ Don’t. ❜

[volkarine]

You are zhak vo'n'ash duj - source of my bruises.

[swallowtail-ageha]

Thing about maria is that she IS nurturing and kind. To an extent. She is kind in the way you dust a pill in honey, she will hold your hand and comfort you as she cuts your organs wide open

[iron-hearts-ablaze]

"Well I'll be damned!" Karlach scoffed with an accompanied chuckle. "Did I just get a compliment from the Lae'zel of crèche K'liir?" She teased, a grin exposing her teeth slightly. She wasn't entirely sure if jests like this would go over the githyanki's head... Perhaps it might be funnier if it did.

"Hey, I know I haven't long joined you guys, but could I perhaps have a minute with your whetstone?" Karlach gestured to the weapon sharpening tool close to Lae'zel's tent. "I haven't sharpened my axe for months, even before I got out of Avernus. I can feel it's not cutting goblin guts as well as it should."

@iron-hearts-ablaze asked: "giving up" isn't in my vocabulary.

"Of course it isn't Karlach, and that's what I like about you.. you always find ways to make the battle more.. 'interesting.'"

Lae'zel said as she was cleaning her sword and wiping the blood off from the goblin blood from it, it is true; ever since she has met the tiefling, things for her just got more interesting in some ways, and it's better to have a barbarian in the group.

[violadesdragons]

To be among the Tears.

[betomirandaart2]

What if Dragon Ball characters were in Dungeons & Dragons? That’s the idea behind Dungeons & Dragon Balls! First up, the universe’s strongest warrior—Son Goku, a perfect Astral Monk.

[throughdarkeningskies]

looking at all these moonpaw posts. they need to go the early yu gi oh zexal route with it. have moonpaw and mystery cat be like yuma and astral. yeah moonpaw talks to thin air and has entire arguments with someone we can't see but we love her anyway. and her imaginary friend. depending on the day we like the imaginary friend more actually

[iron-hearts-ablaze]

Karlach wasn't abashed with talking about what happened to her in Avernus, and certainly wasn't against people asking about it. She too was making her way through the meal Gale made enthusiastically. After dining on mostly meat in Avernus - it was so damn good to taste fresh vegetables again.

"Ten years," Karlach replied after she swallowed her mouthful. Though she paused with a furrowed brow, looking at Lae'zel increduously. "Wait, you'd want to go back?"

Then it clicked who Karlach was talking to...

"Right, I see- look, it may be fun to bash skulls in, but I'd make sure you had a surefire way in and out of that place if you did go back. It's not somewhere you'd want to stay in for long, no matter how good a fight you are."

@iron-hearts-ablaze

"Just how long did you spend down in the Hells, Karlach?" Lae'zel asked as they sat around the campfire, eating the latest meal that Gale had cooked for them with gusto.

The Githyanki might not have need to eat in the Astral Plane, but their appetites in the material world was voracious. Her metabolism was very high, so when she wasn't fighting, or training, she was likely eating. Mostly meat, as she needed the protein to maintain her muscles and strength.

"That was my first trek there. I must admit, I would like to return after this is all over, if only to train myself in the extremity of the heat there."

[iron-hearts-ablaze]

( @starbvund from Lae'zel ) "What are these wedding rings you speak of? Why does one need a ring for a wedding?"

Unprompted Ask || Always Accepting

"Alright, so, this isn't every race - but loads of people like to marry their partners. It's basically a promise they'll always be together. The rings are just that - rings. But it kinda displays that promise. Reminds each other, and tells others they're not available. Get what I mean?"

Marriage was up in the air with Karlach. Sometimes she wouldn't mind being someones wife, other times she thought it pointless - that she'd like to be free as a bird. But it didn't mean she didn't find the idea kind of endearing.

[astraldoesart]

Catte artdump (one of these isn't my OC) :))

The oc belongs to @blueheart3333

[demiboydemon]

Purah (as an adult), discovering the internet: So much information at my fingertips! This needs to be fully taken advantage of. To the lab!

Purah: Ooooh, first I’m going to search my name though! :D

Purah: …

Purah: what the hell is “rule 34”

[iron-hearts-ablaze]

Karlach rolled her eyes, but it was moreso out of banter than annoyance. She was very quickly catching onto the Githyanki's mannerisms - and it was easy to let the stern and almost belittling tone wash over her. It wasn't the first time she was spoken to like this, and certainly wouldn't be the last. At least Lae'zel had likeable qualities. Karlach found herself appreciating her ability to not beat around the bush and be blunt with her approach.

The Tiefling had only heard of Githyanki from the stories spun around the city. Which was not much at all. But it seemed the tales of them being cutthroat, ferocious fighters was on point. Though, going by Lae'zel's explanation of how they had to train all their lives to fight against Mindflayers, it certainly made sense - if a little cruel. But kindness meant death. Karlach learned that from being in the Hells for so long...but had quickly wished to step away from that life when she returned to Faerûn. It seemed Lae'zel didn't think the same.

Even if her ruthless attitude towards others clashed with Karlach's, at least they could understand each other's hard earned survival. It seemed that no matter where it comes from; stars or the Hells - war was war.

"Sounds damn familiar..." Karlach commented, though with a hint of hatred in her tone. Not towards Lae'zel, but rather directed at what she had learned from her time in Zariel's elite squad. Something Lae'zel would have seen as an honour if she compared Zariel to the likes of her Vlaakith.

"Anyway," Karlach moved swiftly on, not wanting to dwell on Zariel any more than she already had. "You said this creche would have a way to get rid of the brain worms, right? How, exactly? What does that Zait-...Zavisk- whatever it's called - do?"

The fires still flickering around Karlach don’t faze her; on the contrary, they hold her gaze like a spell. The ferocity of this istik is raw, untempered, and yet Lae’zel finds it . . . impressive.

She narrows her eyes, lips twisting into a slight sneer—not in mockery, but in something closer to reluctant approval. Her voice, when it comes, is clipped and stern, the syllables snapping like whip cracks. ❛ I do not give compliments, ❜ she says, a hint of scorn coloring her tone, as if the very notion is absurd. ❛ I speak only truth. You may consider it praise if that pleases you, but it changes nothing. Truth does not bend to flatter. ❜

She straightens, rolling her shoulders back with a disciplined ease, her stance shifting from battle-readiness to something more akin to pride. Her chin tilts up, a spark of defiance gleaming in her ochre eyes as she meets Karlach’s gaze. There is a fierce satisfaction in her expression, the look of one who has seen a weapon tested and found it worthy.

❛ Chk, ❜ she scoffs, a short, dismissive sound. ❛ I would not have assumed being called vicious as anything other than high praise. In crèche K’liir, to be anything less is to court death itself. ❜ Her voice sharpens, like the edge of a honed blade. ❛ The weak are culled. The undisciplined, discarded. We are shaped in battle and sharpened by loss, until all that remains is strength. Ruthless, unyielding strength. ❜

She lets her words linger, her gaze unwavering, as if daring Karlach to refute them. To a githyanki, there is no honor in mercy, no place for softness. And yet, in this moment, she sees in Karlach something of the same fire that burns in her own veins, something fierce and unbreakable. It is not a bond she expected to find, least of all with an istik, but the thought flickers in her mind like a spark catching kindling.

[pallotdip]

you’re telling me these stars have cats in them

[furryeaglebarbarian]

Bub-bell,reefvolt fighter

Appearence may change in the future.