dujour13

[dujour13]

Hey guys, an extremely fucked up new crab just dropped! Look at them beady ol’ eyes!

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it's true and you should say it.

[dujour13]

Below the Tavern

For @owlcatober 2024 day 6: Alone

Fandom: Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous

Relationships: Commander/Lann (pre-relationship)

Other: mentions of needles, rats

Also on AO3

Cassandra takes a moment to herself in the basement of Defender's Heart, but it turns out she's not alone down there…

-

Cassandra hugged her knees as she sat, bunched up behind a stack of barrels in the basement of Defender’s Heart. Now that Woljif was no longer “under guard,” few people came down here regularly, and it was one of the few places she could be alone.

She pulled her hood farther over her head as she tried to drown out the stomping feet upstairs. She wasn’t used to this many people. It was… hazy… how many people she would consider normal, but she did know that constantly being elbow to elbow, sharing beds squeezed into one room, was quickly driving her insane. Down here, she at least had some space to hear her own thoughts. Whether she would find anything good there…

Cass rolled up her sleeve to take another look at her arm, not quite believing what she had seen. And again was faced with an expanse of creamy pale skin, deceptively unblemished unless she tilted her arm in the correct light. Then she could make out the field of blemishes from armies of needles. She ran a thumb over a barely perceptible divot on her left wrist, where she had a strong memory of a tube stuffed in her veins that she could have sworn was recently.

And yet…

She rubbed at her chest, at the place where now and again the gaping, bleeding wound would appear. Thankfully for her borrowed clothing, it was not currently making an appearance. That Cassandra truly had no memory of, or explanation. Had her blood manipulation powers progressed to a point of self healing? It seemed unlikely given how much her powers had regressed after her… demon related injuries (that she also couldn’t remember), but she had no other answer.

Cass held her head in her hands, elbows perched on the knees drawn up to her chest as her deep red hair cascaded freely. No other answer. Not for her limbs that felt too long (but she could also move gracefully), for her waterfall of hair (when her mother always kept it chopped short), for her healed injuries (unless they spontaneously felt like bleeding). Time had passed that she could not remember. And for all the people who surrounded her, her fellow survivors of the demonic attack, she did not know how to confide her worries in anyone.

In some ways they felt trivial, when compared to the struggle of immediate survival in Kenabres. Still, even that was a blessing in disguise, for if she could not get out, then there was no way the Technic League could get in to grab her.

She sneezed thoughtlessly, then felt her heart jump into her throat as she heard footsteps down in the basement with her. Cass tried to talk herself down, she had just been thinking about how she was safe here, and she was doing nothing wrong sitting in the basement, but she could not shake the feeling of being hunted as soft footsteps padded in her direction.

Cass pushed herself to her feet and cleared her throat. “Mmh, hello–”

Her breath shot out of her lungs as she was pushed up against the wall and she felt cold metal against her throat. Lann loomed, glaring down at her with one arm holding her against the wall, while in the other hand he held a knife trained against her throat, a second of detached fury mirrored in his brown and yellow eyes.

Cassandra stood, unbreathing, staring at Lann, heat rushing to her ears. Lann stared at Cassandra. Realization slowly flooded his face and he nearly flung himself back from her.

“Oh, gods, Cassandra, I’m so sorry. I–” he ran a hand awkwardly through his mussed brown hair, “I thought you were a burglar skulking around down here.”

Cassandra cleared her throat, trying to find her voice again. Normally just being around Lann raised her heart rate, but now he was pushing it to new limits. “Oh, no, it’s just me…” She dropped her eyes from his and fiddled with the edge of her cloak. “There’s just… a lot of people. Everywhere, all the time…”

“Ah, yeah, I get it,” Lann seemed to be making a conscious effort to relax his body language. “Living in the tribe, everything was communal. It was sometimes nice to go off to a section of cave by myself. I can, uh, just go–”

“Wait,” Cassandra cut him off. Now that he was here, she didn’t want him to leave, but she thought she would die of embarrassment if he knew that. “Um, what brings you down here?” Cassandra asked. “Besides hunting for burglars.”

“Oh, you know,” Lann turned his face away, displaying his scaled side. “Just doing some light rat hunting. As in, actual rats,” he held up a string hanging from his belt. “Couldn’t believe my eyes when I got up here and all the uplanders were just letting perfectly good meat go to waste.”

Cassandra cast her mind back to the before times. Running through the streets of Chesed, she could remember small, skewered bodies at food carts. “Makes sense to me.”

Lann actually visibly relaxed now. “With provisions so stretched, it’s made me feel guilty about not hunting for my own food. I don’t want a kid here to go hungry if I can pull my own weight, you know?”

“Right,” said Cass, nodding.

“I was, uh, actually just about to roast these up.” Lann motioned to where he had made up a fire ring. If you’d like some…?”

“Oh! Yes! Thank you!” Cass ran the edges of her cloak through her fingers. “Though I will admit to having poor cooking skills…”

“I’d be a poor excuse for a man if I couldn’t cook up a juicy rat for a pretty girl,” said Lann as he moved over to his fire ring and struck up a spark.

“Oh, um…” Cass could feel the heat in her cheeks. “Did you cook up rats for Wenduag, too?”

Lann didn’t meet her eyes as he prepared the rats. “Yeah. Wendu… yeah.”

They had almost maybe been having a moment and Cass had ruined it with her big fat mouth. She moved over and sat down next to the fire, across from Lann. “I’m sorry your girlfriend turned out to be a cannibal.” That… probably wasn’t going to make it better.

Lann let out something between a laugh and a sigh. “Yeah, well, just your average day in the life in the Worldwound, right?”

Cassandra opened her mouth to respond, but before she could, loud feet clattered down the stairs.

“Is there a fire down here?” Anevia stopped up short. “What the–” She took in Lann and Cassandra sitting on the floor, the fire, and the spit of rats. “I’m probably going to stay more sane if I don’t ask questions, aren’t I?”

“We’re just having a snack,” Cass supplied.

“A… a snack.” Anevia threw her arms up in the air. “Great, now I get to be the one to tell Beth that her new strike team poisoned themselves from eating disease-ridden fleabags! A snack!”

“I don’t see what the big deal is,” said Lann, as he adjusted the sides of the rats on the heat. “Rats are practically a delicacy where I come from.”

“I can eat basically anything,” said Cassandra.

Anevia ran a hand down the side of her face. “Nope, nope, I’m done asking questions. I’m going to turn around and leave. Just don’t burn the tavern down. A… a snack.” She shook her head as she stomped back up the stairs.

“Sorry,” Lann was looking down again. “I’m not really used to surface customs. Or… surface women. You don’t have to eat my ‘disease-ridden fleabags.’”

“No!” Cass assured him. “I’d like to try. It’s like…” she struggled for words, “I don’t know how to be normal here, either. But with you, I don’t feel quite so alone against it all.”

Lann gave her a lopsided smile as he passed her a skewer of rat. “Well, one of us grew up in a cave and the other is blessed by heaven, so it doesn’t quite feel like an equal balance, but,” his voice softened, “I’m happy I can help you in some way.”

Cassandra looked down, smiling softly, before biting into her rat. She didn’t know what Anevia was on about, it was just meat.

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i explained the concept of freaking it to my 15,000 year old grandfather and he remained motionless within the glacier

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tagged by @dmagedgoods, so here's a moodboard for my knight commander Layla

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Thank you for the unexpected tag @hyenamiloska ! ✨ I'm not very good at doing something like this, but I'll give it a try~

Nine images that capture your OC's vibe:

Melissa Ebel. A stray cat. Tiefling. Daredevil of the River Kingdoms. A girl who hides regret and sadness behind a bright mask. She is a willing drowning in her sins.

While looking for pictures on Pinterest, I found that phrase about sin and fell in love. He-he 💖

Well... I tag: @nnibarrel @coffeewithacold @spluchen @ptkhnhnsbrt and anyone else who wants to, of course!

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9 Images that Capture Your OC's Vibe

I didn't get tagged but I immediately had to go overboard making one for Zell teehee

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Knight Commander Salvadore

I was tagged by @spyridonya. Thank you so much. 🥺❤

Tagging @wonda-ch and @three-of-crows and @mylittlechimera and @cassynite and @chaosteddybear and @yunessa and @amatres and @starlightcleric and whoever wasn't tagged yet and wants to do it. ❤

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Tagged by @dmagedgoods and @silversiren1101 for this oc aesthetic meme! It really made me think about Sparrow again...oh my baby

Tagging anyone who might be interested, I know I'm late doing this lol

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Nine images that capture your OC's vibe

I wasn't tagged but wanted to do this for Ariadne so...

I also deleted my Pinterest account recently so I pulled all of these from sites listed in this post.

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Nine images that Captures your OC's Vibe

Agria Lebeda

Tagged by @spyridonya and @dragonologist-phd tysm guys!!

I'm late to the party, so I'm tagging the girl reading this <333

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Nine images that capture your OC's vibe

tagged by @thelesbianoffrontiers! thanks for the tag!

went with Piper for this one, that azata aesthetic is just too good <3

tagging:

@fantastic-mr-corvid @imjustasadsong @forestdragoncat @thedragonagelesbian @risualto

@kaleido-scope-lady @jean-dieu @herearedragons @serenbach86 @milesmentis

@thefathersbride @undyingembers @adozentothedawn @rollofleaf @ampleappleamble

@thesolemnhour @vigilskept @starlightcleric @bezelusbubulez @big-cheesy-productions

@arainaizevran @miseryscrowned @dellamortethelesser @orime-stories @mordred9971

@dujour13 @bugdotpng

tag list here

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Knight-Commander as Companion Prompt

For all of your characterization and AU headcanon needs! Feel free to tag me in your answers for your Commander, I’d love to see what people come up with!

An example of answers with my own Knight Commander can be found here!

Name:

Race:

Class:

Appearance:

Favored Weapon/Equipment:

Top Skills:

Alignment:

General Personality:

What traits/values do they admire?

What traits/values do they disapprove of?

Are they affiliated with any deities?

What do they think of their role in the Crusades, and of sharing the Commander’s Mythic powers? What are their reasons for joining the commander’s party?

Who are their friends among the other party members?

What about rivals?

Are they on any councils? If so, what sort of advice do they give?

Where do they hang out in Drezen? In the Abyss?

What are their idle animations?

If they’re taken to Areelu’s lab, what is their dream?

Do they advise the commander to abandon or keep their mythic powers?

How/when do they join the Commander’s party?

Describe their companion quest:

Are they romanceable? Describe their romance quest/scenes if you want!

What would their ending slides be like?

Any other fun facts?

Provide some dialogue/bark examples!

Provide some examples of companion banters!

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Tagged by @dmagedgoods for the moodboard prompt! Tagging- @silversiren1101 @chaosteddybear @dujour13 and anyone else who'd like to do it!

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Nine images that capture your OC's vibe

Ty for the tag @dujour13 ! I think having a pintrest helps with this 😅 but I tried my best for Muro 🧡

no pressure tagging @loderlied @kaleido-scope-lady @sharks-r0ck and you if you wanna do it!