#“Quest for the Djinn”

[fortunaestalta]

[renderalpha]

Artwork of game Titan Quest, the two djinn's are the bloodsisters Safiya and Sagira. Render using Cycles Engine.

[theacstories]

I am finally talking about a much anticipated ManaA one-shot called EnDjinn Quest by Seji-Bot! This may only be part one, yet I already have plenty to say and look forward to.

[cluescorner]

Oh my fucking god it's happeneing again

JEHT SWEEP!! AGAIN!!!

Short introduction:

Elynas - cosmic being, creator of Melusines

Jeht - Eremite who appears in the Golden Slumber world quest

[thedemonofcat]

They say meeting your soulmate is supposed to be the happiest day of your life, but for Jaskier, it was anything but. His soulmate turned out to be Geralt, who had never wanted one in the first place.

After the whole Djinn incident, Jaskier isn’t even sure they are soulmates anymore. Then came the confrontation on the mountain, and Jaskier thought Geralt made his feelings clear.

So, when Yennefer and Geralt show up at his door, Jaskier is taken aback. As it turns out, the Djinn’s wish didn’t exactly sever the bond between Jaskier and Geralt; instead, it tangled and merged with Yennefer's.

Now, the three of them are setting out on a quest to untangle the mess. But Jaskier believes the true goal is to break his bond with Geralt for good. Meanwhile, Geralt has a different plan—one that involves strengthening and reattaching their bond.

[cookinguptales]

*spins the meta wheel* yeah okay, let's talk about Nandor.

One of the things that's always fascinated me most about his character is the way he desperately wants change but also seems to be more terrified of it than all the other characters put together. He talks about wanting things to be different a lot, but he always sabotages anything that might really materially change his life.

Like -- this quest for love. He talks about how much he wants a partner, he wants his life to change, but what do we actually see? In s3 and the beginning of s4, he's just consistently going after women who don't really want him instead of spending time developing the relationships he already has. He dips into shallow relationship after shallow relationship because the real relationships, the ones that might actually change his life, terrify him. The best/worst of these is probably the cult dedicated to literally living in a fantasy version of the past, which like. Not really helping him beat those afraid-of-change allegations.

(You can learn all the 80s and 90s songs you want, Nandor, we both know only Guillermo is exposing you to modern pop culture! And yeah, there's more than one metaphor there...)

And then in s4, he decides he wants a wife, so he chooses one in the most haphazard way possible and makes both of their lives miserable. He is constantly changing her to make her easier for him to deal with without actually changing his life, and then he gets rid of her when he's fed up with the monster that he's created.

His whole thing with the Djinn is that he's constantly asking him to change things -- and then change them back. He wastes so many wishes on things like Marwa. I want this. No, that. No, that. No, put it all back to the way it was originally.

He does this over and over and over, and nothing seems to perturb him more than finding out that things have changed when he wasn't looking. (See: his difficulty accepting that Laszlo is creating relationships with other people, his spiraling over the big bang, etc.)

So... how does this pertain to Guillermo?

Guillermo's frustrated with Nandor at the end of s4 because Nandor likes the status quo. Things are different, are constantly changing, but Nandor refuses to acknowledge any of that. (He even mentions off-hand that he forgets Guillermo is a slayer sometimes.) Guillermo has always worked for them all under the promise of change, so you could see why this would freak him out a little. He's realizing that things will never change with Nandor because Nandor won't let them. He's so scared of change that he just straight-up ignores it and hopes it will go away -- when he's not actively trying to stop it.

Nandor, who has been making and breaking plans with an almost manic frenzy for the entire season, is finally calm at the end of s4. Why? Because he thinks that everything has gone back to normal. Marwa is gone. Freddie is gone. Guillermo is no longer talking about leaving. Those are the important ones for him, but then Colin Robinson also returns and the house is set to rights, too, so like... why should he worry?

He has no idea what he's already lost. That's what's making me crazy. He doesn't know that he's already lost everything that matters to him. But I think he suspects.

The thing is, Nandor throws himself into his books and his self-help and everything else because I think he can tell, at least on a subconscious level, that things have changed. Indelibly. He knows that Guillermo has changed, and that's probably the one kind of change that scares him more than anything else.

But despite the fact that Nandor can tell that something is up, he still keeps insisting that it's no big deal. It must be some small perceived slight or something. It can't be a huge change that Guillermo is keeping from him. No, no, he already figured that out. He managed to reel Guillermo back in with the wedding scheme. He doesn't have to worry about Guillermo straying again.

:')

He's afraid of losing Guillermo to change, so he prevents change and ignores what he can't prevent. He doesn't realize that that's exactly what's driving Guillermo away. That it's already driven Guillermo away. Nandor's put the idea of Guillermo's transformation up on a shelf, nice to look at occasionally but not a thing he really has to interact with. The theoretical option for change is there, but he doesn't have to worry about it actually affecting his life.

As always, he's attracted to it, but it also scares him. He'll make a glitter portrait of a vampiric Guillermo at his side, but he can't seem to fully get his head (and heart) around the reality of giving Guillermo that kind of power and freedom.

He's afraid that giving Guillermo that kind of power/freedom will change their relationship further, when he's finally gotten it the way he (thinks he) likes it, and he's even more afraid that if Guillermo's leash is taken off, he'll run. He spent all of s4 trying to keep Guillermo from running, but he still seems to believe down deep that he'll do it.

And... he wasn't wrong. Guillermo did go elsewhere to get his bite. But Nandor is very much the one who drove him to do it. I think that's the tragic thing, isn't it? He was so afraid of his relationship with Guillermo changing that he forced Guillermo's hand, which caused the exact kind of change that he was most afraid of. Guillermo distancing himself, Guillermo leaving, Guillermo -- well, cuckolding him, really.

I think it's fixable, but Guillermo's not the only person who's going to need to eat dirt here. He may have been the one who "cheated", from the vampires' POV, but Nandor wasn't upholding his end of the deal, either. And he's going to have to acknowledge the way Guillermo has grown and changed throughout the course of the series, stop regressing to calling him his familiar, and apologize for his own inaction. It may not be the vampiric way, but it certainly would not be the first time Nandor has thrown away vampiric customs for Guillermo.

Nandor, friend, you gotta sit back and learn to embrace change. You gotta enter the 21st century. You gotta allow your relationship with Guillermo to grow organically.

Because Guillermo's gonna change one way or another, and it's really your decision whether or not he leaves you behind. :')

[sahonithereadwolf]

Siyo! My name is Sahoni. I'm an indigenous and queer game designer and writer and my birthday is next month! I'd love to grab a couple things for myself so please consider checking out my shop below! 🎲 bramblewolfgames.itch.io 📚

Exceptionals is a game inspired by x-men about and for the communities and spaces marginalized folks make for themselves and the lenses through which we view the mutant metaphor. It's also been called "a better superhero rpg than the official marvel one"

Core: bramblewolfgames.itch.io/exceptionals Bundle: https://bramblewolfgames.itch.io/exceptionals-super-bundle

Like My Games? 🍓 Leave a tip and sponsor community copies at:  ko-fi.com/bramblewolf Support future development at: 📝https://www.patreon.com/bramblewolfgames

I'm currently developing Protect The Sacred, an anticolonial two-fisted pulp TTRPG in the style of Indiana Jones, Hellboy, or Jonny Quest where adventurers with folkloric powers work to protect, preserve, and reclaim a world of magic, monsters, and mystical artifacts on behalf of and on the terms of the peoples they belong to (and which they are often a part of). TLDR: Basically I made an rpg where a werewolf librarian can fight a robot eyeball tank, a mummy, and/or a grave robber selling human remains to private collectors then go do karaoke with a cynical demigod, the worlds best baker, a coffee-addicted wizard, and a person with a djinn in a ring.

[snazzilystoopid]

Hello there, fellow Ninjago fan....

I wonder, are you looking for Ninjago fics to read..?

WELL GOOD NEWS I'M HERE WITH A LIST OF AMAZING FICS FROM QUOTEV JUST FOR YOU!! <33

List is below heheh

Also just real quick: Some of these fics are not updated often/not updated anymore! These are all fem readers/ocs, but if they are gn or male I'll lyk. These are also catered to Cole lovers (ofc) but there are some other pretty good ones too!!

Dandelions~ Lloyd x Reader

https://www.quotev.com/story/15255742/dandelions-LloydG-x-reader

This is a reader insert, and I think is a gn reader if I recall. I haven't read it in a while, but I do remember really enjoying it! It's rarely updated, and has under 100 pages currently, but it's worth the read. Promise!

Element of Wishes~ OC

https://www.quotev.com/story/15032547/ELEMENT-OF-WISHES-LEGO-Ninjago

I LOVE THIS FIC SMM!! This is an OC fic, following the story of an elemental master of wishes, who also just so happens to be half-djinn! It currently has over 200 pages as well. You read through the events of Ninjago as normal, but also get to read interesting parts about the mc's own personal quest to find answers! SKYLOR ALSO PLAYS A BIG ROLE IN IT AND I LOVE THAT SM (Most of s1 has been skipped though). Cole is the current love interest, the author can sometimes leave updating for like 4 months lmao, but they have started updating regularly again! One of my all-time favourite fics! I'M CURRENTLY READING IT RN AND I LOVE ITTT

The Master of Wind~ OC

https://www.quotev.com/story/7985682/The-Master-of-Wind

I another one I haven't read for a bit, but let me tell you: I LOVED THIS BOOK WITH A BURNING PASSION OMG. Its also pretty long, with like 900 pages lol. I generally love the concept of a master of wind, more so because I love Morro, but anyways, this book is spectacular. The love interest is Lloyd, and its a bit of a slow burn, but its worth it. Sadly it hasn't been updated for 3 months now, but I am hopeful that the author will update it soon!

Just An Illusion~ Reader Insert

https://www.quotev.com/story/14405232/Just-an-Illusion

Another short-ish book with under 100 pages, but I really loved this one!! The fic begins at the Tournament of Elements, and I don't think there is a current love interest. But seriously the way I read and reread this book is acc insane 😭 The fic unfortunately has been left for 8 months as I think the author is taking a break, but I'm pretty confident that Just an Illusion will continue!

Stoneheart~ OC

https://www.quotev.com/story/14081498/Stoneheart-Ninjago-Masters-of-Spinjitzu

THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING. I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT. The fic follows the story of an OC, who isn't from Ninjago, and who ends up joining the Ninja. Another MASSIVE book with over 800 pages and chock-full with a bunch of amazing original characters, and you're in for a good ride, trust me! I don't think there is a definite love interest, but it does seem to be leaning towards a certain character hehe (and no its not Cole unfortunately). Its being updated regularly-ish and I promise you will NOT regret reading it!

The Infinite Series~ Reader Insert

https://www.quotev.com/story/14276031/Infinite-Serenity-INFINITE-SERIES-BOOK-1

Another fic I enjoyed, this tells the story of the reader who died and had been reincarnated into a show from their childhood, LEGO Ninjago (obviously lol). There are two books in the series, the first one is linked above and you should be able to find the second one from there. I don't remember if there was a love interest or not but I do remember that the mc's personal story is really cool and so so creative! Book 1 had around 400 words and book 2 has like 300, however it hasn't been updated in 7 months 💔 still worth the read!

The Last~ Reader Insert

https://www.quotev.com/story/10806407/The-Last-LEGO-Ninjago-Masters-of-Spinjitzu-X-Reader

THE LAST. I LOVED THE LAST SO MUCH OMG. IM JUST SO SAD IT HASN'T BEEN UPDATED SINCE 2021 😭💔. This book is a Reader insert, where the mc is the last of their species, and joins the Ninja team, though I don't remember if there was a love interest or not, you'll have to read to find out because I really don't remember haha. Though the book has just over 100 pages, there aren't many chapters, and I don't think it's past s1 yet. Its still a good read, however, and I think a lot of you guys would like it!

The Colour of Hope & The Race Against Time~ OC

https://www.quotev.com/story/15708101/Ninjago-The-Color-of-Hope

THIS FIC IS EPIC. ITS AMAZING. It follows the story of a girl who becomes a target for a mysterious gang, and ends up in the care and protection of none other than the Ninja! (The Colour of Hope takes place between Day of the Departed and s7). The love interest is Cole, and the writing as absolutely phenomenal! This is a series, and the first book is linked above. The next book has only recently been made, so I have the upmost confidence that it'll be regularly updated, since the first one was too! Book 1 had around 250 pages I think. I PROMISE. You will wanna read it.

The Indigo and Black Series~ OC(s)

https://www.quotev.com/story/11634295/Indigo-and-Black-Pilots-Rise-of-the-Snakes-and-Destiny-of-the-Green-Ninja

I ENJOYED THIS BOOK SO MUCH! This follows the tale of not 1, but 2 mcs who are both OCs! One is the master of Time, the other, the master of Forces + Shadows. A Three-part series with 3 books, and the love interests are Cole and Kai! (Sorry Kailor fans 😭) The last book was updated around 6 months ago, but I did some digging and turns out the authors are still working on the next book, so I hope it comes out soon!

Kiss Me Baby~ Reader Insert

https://www.quotev.com/story/14954138/Kiss-Me-Baby-Ninjago

Suprisingly, this is actually a fic based on the universe of the Ninjago Movie, and I really enjoyed it! The reader is a confident teen who joins Ninjago High, but is secretly the mystery person who managed to get Lord Garmadon into prison, putting a stop to all his attacks on Ninjago City. A short book with under 100 pages, but it is also going through a rewrite if I recall. No definite love interest, but there is an implied one (once again, *sigh* it isn't Cole). Also, just throwing it out there, I was awake at like 4am reading this 😭

The Truth~ OC

https://www.quotev.com/story/9767787/The-Truth

THIS BOOK WAS LEGENDARY. I REREAD IT ALL THE TIME OML I LOVED IT. This book is all about a girl who somehow knows every member of the Ninja, though they don't actually remember her themselves. It begins at the Tournament of Elements, and runs right up to March of the Oni, where it has stopped being updated for quite a few months now 💔. The love interest is Cole, and honestly can I just say, this book was written SO WELL. Like I wish I could write like that 😭😭

Aaaaand that is all! If I DID have to pick my top 3, it would be as follows:

1ST~The Truth

2ND~Element of Wishes

3RD~ The Colour of Hope & The Race Against Time

I personally think these ones were/are the most engaging and exciting! I'm not saying the others were bad though. You'll wanna read them all. Trust me.

I hope yall enjoy these fics! <33

[rs-hawk]

Just gonna say it: Guild Wars 2 has so many good monster bf/gf options

- race of plant people who are all born from a tree (sylvari)

- race of muscular cat people with horns and four ears that are essentially a mix of big cats and bulls/minotaurs (charr)

- race of tall humanoids that via communing with nature spirits become werecreatures (norn)

- race of 10-20 ft tall four armed desert dwelling elemental spirits known for disguising as humans and other creatures occasionally. their voices have an almost serpentine quality and are confirmed to live multiple centuries at least (djinn)

- race of 10+ ft tall interdimensional muscular humanoids known for their circular black wings and only ever seen with helmets covering their heads. both males and females look identical in body shape (mursaat)

- race of 10ish ft tall genderless four armed beings known for advanced magic abilities and likewise live exceptionally long lives (seers)

- race of four armed (seeing a trend yet?) serpentine interdimensional beings that are kinda like nagas but with snake heads (the forgotten)

- demons exist and come in a variety of body shapes but they all look like hodgepodges of flesh and teeth. also they can smell emotions and mentally communicate with others (some of them are friendly)

- there's multiple instances where you fight giant tentacles the size of trees. it's implied the tentacles are attached to a larger creature. whether any of those creatures are sentient is up for debate, but considering an entire map-wide event chain is focused on fighting tentacles, they deserve a mention

- the elder dragons that are the size of islands can corrupt people in different ways. sometimes the corruption is consensual (it depends on the dragon)

- a romance novelist (it's stated he writes smut) in game who's main gimmick is writing interspecies relationship romances. also he kinda looks like the Beast from Beauty and the Beast (Snargle Goldclaw)

- basically the entire repertoire of enemies if you really want to go through it

Also it's canon that queer relationships & people AND interspecies relationships are accepted in said universe! There's only a handful of blatantly obvious examples from the main story but a lot of side quests and ambient dialogue reveals a lot of other examples. Yes there's even agender characters with they/them pronouns and at least one trans person.

So what you’re saying is me and every other monster fucker needs to play this game

[herrscherofmagic]

i think i've just had another HoV revelation, this time about Captainverse HoV

paging @sacron1143, i feel like you'd like to see this and you might know enough about the captainverse to add any supporting or disproving evidence to this theory of mine!

so obvi many of the captainverse events were meant to be less serious and more silly, so I think that stuff like the recurring gag of NEET Water Djinn (the common Captainverse version of HoV) isn't meant to be analyzed too deeply. Water Djinn appears everywhere cause it's funny, that's it.

buuuuuut, if we were to try and analyze her as a character, then there's one thing that's always struck me as a bit odd, which is that she appears so often even in places that she seems totally foreign to. like in Odd Drifter we meet her in a desert despite being a "Water Djinn", or in Seele's dream in the Estival Seaside event. We even see the writers themselves poke fun at this in the 2nd-to-last Captainverse event when we meet a Water Djinn somewhere on Himeko's bubble world and Captain is just like "why r u everywhere, r you mass-produced lol" and she's all like "bro what's your problem, piss off"

however there IS one bubble world where the Water Djinn has a clear origin, where she actually seemed to belong and where there were other characters with a meaningful relationship with her... which was the Honkai Quest bubble world. In that bubble world Water Djinn was one of two spirits, the other being a blue-eyed version of her, and the orange-eyed one corresponded to HoV and the blue-eyed one w/ Kiana. But the two of them weren't identical copies per se; they were sisters. And then we had the forest spirit Bianka to boot, who didn't have an explicit connection back then but now with the revelation of Bianka being the real Kiana it's plausible that she was related to the two water spirits too.

The thing is that older Water Djinn (HoV) didn't "die" in the events of that story- she disappeared. Into a rift. We know how screwy the Sea of Quantum can get, so for someone like Water Djinn to get yoinked out of her world by a Quantum rift wouldn't be unusual at all. Water Djinn was established to be a powerful fighter at that time, and she only got pulled into the rift because she was weakened at that moment. It's possible, though not necessarily plausible, that she was still strong enough to survive after being taken by the rift even if she wasn't strong enough to avoid getting swallowed up by it. And we've seen plenty of times where healthy & powerful characters get yoinked by a rift without their consent, i.e. Misteln semi-accidentally kicking Kira out of the SSHC bubble world.

All that is to say- what if all the random Water Djinns we see in the Captainverse are somehow derived from the original Water Djinn of the Honkai Quest bubble world? I doubt they're all the same individual because of the varying circumstances we find them in, but they're always in a weird limbo where they're out-of-place in the world they're at and they don't seem to have a clear purpose or direction. Just like the Captain's mind apparently split from Kongming's portal shenanigans, maybe the Water Djinns throughout the SoQ are fragments of the original one, or maybe they're echoes of her wandering through the SoQ and the "real" one is still out there.

of course we'll never know because the Captainverse is over now, but i hope there's still an alive-and-well Water Djinn out there looking for a chance to be reunited with her younger sister, the younger sister who so desperately searched for even the smallest trace of her bigger sister after she disappeared from the world.

[qqueenofhades]

Do you have any other OT3 recs? Rook & Rose rewired my brain

Alas, my beloved Rook & Rose OT3 is the only one that I can think of in that exact configuration, but two other recs if you (like me) enjoy Big Fat Plotty Fun Fantasy Trilogies In Well-Drawn Worlds, which is the essence of the Rook and Rose series:

The Daevabad Trilogy (City of Brass, Kingdom of Copper, Empire of Gold) by S.A. Chakraborty. I have recommended this before, but I will continue in my dedicated quest to get more people to read it. Set both in 18th-century Cairo and the magical djinn city of Daevabad; politics, magic, intrigue, morally grey characters, sass, snark, Garbage Men (Muntadhir al-Qahtani, my beloved), and much more.

The Green Bone trilogy (Jade City, Jade War, Jade Legacy) by Fonda Lee. Set in a modern Asian fantasy world inspired by 80s Hong Kong gangster movies; tons of martial arts action and family drama; possibly one of THE best-built worlds in fantasy I have encountered; also Garbage Men Galore AND my Garbage Queens, Kaul Shae and Ayt Mada. (They hate each other but I still think they should have ended up together sshhhhhhh.)

[thedemonofcat]

Lord and Lady Pankratz, unable to conceive a child naturally, turned to the mystical Djinn for assistance. Together, they made a fervent wish for a son, someone to carry forward the esteemed Pankratz lineage. Thus, Juilan, who would later adopt the name Jaskier, came into existence through the enchanting power of the Djinn.

However, despite his magical origins, Jaskier was his own person, far from the flawless Viscount his parents had envisioned. They believed that since they had conjured him into being, he should embody perfection. Consequently, every time Jaskier erred, he faced harsh punishment, and his earliest memories were filled with his father's relentless criticisms. This upbringing left Jaskier deeply insecure, perpetually feeling unworthy and unloved, fostering a profound sense of isolation.

The weight of his situation became unbearable, prompting Jaskier to flee his home. In Oxenfurt, he discovered his passion for music and resolved to become a wandering bard. Although Jaskier gained popularity, particularly after earning the title of the witcher's bard, he harbored a secret about his origin – he had been born from a wish. He dreaded the prospect of those expectations resurfacing.

Then, atop a mountain, Geralt angrily uttered that life would be better without Jaskier. Unbeknownst to him, this was taken as a wish, and Jaskier vanished in an instant.

Jaskier's parents had wished him into existence, and Geralt, in a moment of anguish, had wished him out of the world.

Now, burdened with remorse, Geralt embarks on a quest to undo his ill-fated wish and restore Jaskier to the world.

[destiel-inpurgaytory]

I cannot be the only one who thinks of Jaskier as the most chaotic character they've ever loved, right? Man full on saw a man brooding in the corner, meaning to get railed, proceeded to invite himself on a bunch of different quests with said broody man, told broody man to protect him from lords that wanted him dead, got broody man a child surprise, found broody man once again, found a djinn, stole it from broody man, asked for a woman who didn't love him to love him again, and for all his enemies to die a horrible death, asked if he fucked a terrifying witch, meaning he would, hit on a fucking warrior woman who could easily snap him like a twig, went on a dragon hunt because broody man was going, and got dumped by broody man, and wrote the most epic break up song in history. That's only listing season one, don't even get me started on season two, I'm gonna start season two, gave Taylor Swift a run for her money with Burn Butcher Burn, helped elves get across the sea not caring what happened to him, helped Yennefer, got kidnapped, got saved by Yennefer, still cracking jokes even though he almost died, told a prison guard to go fuck himself, went to Kaer Morhen straight up started eating a bowl of god knows what in a Witcher lab, for all he could know could kill him, tried to give broody man a fancy rock, and instead almost died again, got captured again, and was fully prepared to fuck his clone?!?! I can't even believe he's an actual character, he's so fucking funny I can't

[violetlunette]

So, hear me out;

An Aladdin AU where Silver is an orphaned child dragged into a wicked plot to get a lost lamp. Silver enters the Cave of Wonders and finds a lamp which he discovers—after being betrayed—has a genie named Lilia. Silver’s only wish, however, is to have a family, so Lilia becomes Silver’s father. Because Silver is so young when the two first meet, Silver forgets how he found the genie or a time when Lilia wasn’t in his life, and the two start anew in a different kingdom. However, years later the villain rediscovers them and steals the lamp and—by using an amulet that gives him unlimited wishes—forces the father to fight against his son. Silver is then forced to go on a quest to get help from an even more powerful Djinn named Malleus to help him free his father. Before reaching Malleus, he has to fight Malleus’ guardian Sebek. Silver does so, but learns that Malleus’ magic has a high price as every wish he makes shortens his life. Silver takes the risk and together the two work to save Lilia. They gain their victory by wishing for Lilia’s freedom from the lamp. The wish renders Lilia without his powers and nearly kills Silver, but Lilia becomes Malleus’ master and wishes for Silver to live, saving him. The gang then punishes the villains by trapping them in a lamp and placing them in the Cave of Wonders. After this, the Diasomnia boys all live together as a family.

[krimsonkatt]

Oracle Garnet

Description copied from my old DeviantArt.

Garnet was one of the followers of the Chaos Maiden, a woman who appeared in Zutara from another time and place and through her actions directly caused the crimson calamity, an event that almost completely wiped out humanity and brought terrorkind to Zutara. Due to this she and her allies, Nadia, Aria, Azari, and numerous others became disrepute by society. However, in reality they were tricked by malevolent forces, both the "Voice of Elzakalas" Knull that dwelled within the chaos maiden's amulet and Natasha Nebros, one of the members of the original council of six who conspired to cause the crimson calamity in order to raise an immortal army of scions bent to her will. Her first step to accomplish this was uncovering the ancient forbidden magick once used by the seraphim to bound the false gods of chaos, scionify. This spell made the target immortal, but in the process took away their free will requiring them to become bound to the caster as their servant.

Once the caster perished, the scion was transformed into a stone called an "animus" until a person discovered their transformed state and spoke a simple incantation, awakening the scion and becoming their new master. The alfar who inhabited the lands at that time called these bound godlike beings "Djinn", though "scion" is the more widely used term. Natasha used this spell to her own ends, and once she learned of the prophecy of the crimson meteor she hatched a plan to gather powerful warriors and trick them into using the scionify spell on themselves, turning them into scions and bounding them to Natasha's will. Natasha would later go into stasis to restore her youth and gain true immortality through reverse-engineering the Spring of Death, a mystical pond that kills anything it touches including immortal beings, and by the time she awakened she would be truly immortal and with an army of scions at her side nothing could stop her. Rumors began spreading of a being called "Chili the Lich Queen" who dwelled within a secret shrine in Celice Ruins, and Natasha, sleeping in that same shrine and seeing the events outside unfolding from her dreams began to take on that identity. However, this plan was circumvented due to the actions of Baron Ozma as well as Koros and his allies.

A little less than 1000 years after the calamity 4 of chili's scions, the alfar Garnet, Nadia, Aria, and Azari were awakened by Baron Ozma, a warlord living on the border between the countries of Ferngulf and Morda Vael on the continent of Nogarde. Due to Ozma's extremely strong will, he caused an effect known as "scion resonance" where summoners could impact the personality of their scions upon awakening them. The "Oracles of Ozma" as they soon would be called changed personalities to nearly the exact opposites of their old ones. Garnet went from being calm and demure to feisty and energetic, Nadia went from being intelligent and graceful to a snotty brat obsessed with looks, Aria went from a quirky inventor to an overly confident master schemer, and Azari went from a food loving pacifist to a battle-hungry blood knight. The oracles new personalities were based on Ozma's character growth from an energetic child to his dysmorphic and troublesome adolescence to his adult life planning for his eventual takeover to his current self as a battle hungry warlord with an itch for conflict, even if he doesn't want to admit it, and that itch for combat and a "glorious death" eventually led to his downfall.

After Ozma's defeat by Koros and his allies Tayo, Zenith, and Stacy, the scions returned to their animus and were lost. However, Koros using the power of dreams was able to revisit his past fights with the oracles and obtain their "animus shards" which once combined with the help of the inventor Jeht were able to be reformed as the "Oracle" animus. However, the quest to return the Oracles to their original forms weren't over yet, as the heroes needed to travel to the Den of Memories in Ozma Keep in order to use the power stored in the cave's memory stones to restore the oracles original memories and personalities.

In battle Oracle Garnet wields claws and possesses multiple powerful force-elemental physical attacks. Her main two attacks are "Gio Claw" and "Elgio Claw", dealing major and massive physical force damage respectively to one or all foes. These skills only have a 75% hit rate but also possess a 25% crit rate, making them quite deadly. She also possesses the art "Expedite" to raise her HIT and CRI to deadly levels. Her most powerful attack that she uses regularly is "Nature's Wrath" which deals massive physical force damage to all foes 4 times. However, she only uses this attack when inflicted with the "Nature Dance+" status which raises the power of her force elemental attacks by 40% and grants her +5% HP/AP regen for 2 turns.

To obtain this status she uses her "Nature's Blessing" auto-art that is used automatically once whenever she lands a critical hit. She will also counter fire-elemental attacks, one of her primarily weaknesses, with "Power Charge", causing her next physical attack to do x2.5 damage. This combined with nature's blessing can be absolutely devastating. The key to this fight is raising your own evasion, which can be done with the evasion ring you can buy at the relic shop in Banna. Having high P.EVA as well as C.EVA will cause her Gio Claw attacks to hit less often as well as and therefore crit less often leading to her using Nature's Blessing and snowballing into your defeat. As an earlygame boss she is pretty tough, but she goes down fast as long as you have the right strategy. Her battle theme as well as the other oracles theme is "Oracles of Demise."

[theadventurerslog]

Quest For Glory II: Trial by Fire | Part 1

The Adventurer's Log

Release Date: 1990

Here we go! Spielburg was saved and Cinder Win was whisked off to Shapeir, the homeland of the Kattas--Shema and Shameen--and Abdulla Doo. Like the first game, I've watched this game played so overall it won't be a blind play, however the wizard-specific parts and puzzle solutions will be mostly new to me.

The intro opened with a djinn watching our crew riding Abdulla's magic carpet...

And he laughed at me. Rude. At the end of the first game there was a dragon. Hints at more to come? Just cool stuff?

After some swooping around and credits we landed in Shapeir where it was time to look the part of a desert hero because the previous outfit just wouldn't do according to Shema.

New game, new kingdom, new outfit! A hero should look the part!

With the intro complete it was time to get started with character creation or character import. Thankfully, importing your character is a very smooth easy experience at now. I suspect less so originally. You can rename your character, but Cinder Win is eternal.

We opened in the Katta's Tail Inn, chatting with Abdulla. The inn was only just set up but has become the centre of Shapeir's entertainment. "Where else can you watch Shema dance?"

This'll be my base. Free food and room! No more sleeping in the flowers for old Cinder.

And I got a bit of bad news hinting at the main plot point to come.

The Emir of Raseir, Arus Al-Din has gone missing...

I asked about the Emir. He said Arus 'was the kindest of men, quick to hug you and call you brother" but not very brave. Aw.

I also asked Abdulla about Shapeir to which he said the land of Shapeir may be plagued by Elementals and Djinns but would always stand as long as there are heroes. Like me!

And I asked about money and found out I'd need to find the money changer.

I checked out my character sheet and new portrait! Look at Cinder being all magic-y!

Ah yes the game introduces the communication skill which can be used for things like bargaining. I wonder how the stat is determined on import... That looks like a pretty darn good starting score to me.

Otherwise, it was time to check out Shapeir and enjoy the sights. Which means it was time to talk to everyone and look at all the things before setting out to explore and getting lost.

I asked Shameen about the Emir and the city of Raseir. Those who were driven from Raseir spoke highly of the Emir, but of his brother Ali Hasan (Sierra really really likes using the name Ali in Arab themed places...), they merely spit. Raseir was a city much like Shapeir "a mirror". Now it's said it's foreshadowing of what's to come.

Then I exited out into the plaza! And was immediately thrown sales pitches.

Map! Compass! Souvenirs!

I can't buy anything until I convert my money. I asked Alichica for directions to the money changer... he gave me directions. So many directions. Spoiler alert: they didn't help, though that was more my fault.

I went down first which is the city exit. There are riding-sauruses! Sauruses to ride! But the seller won't be here until tomorrow.

I went back up into the many alleyways of the city. So many...

I want that map.

I got very lost and confused. I lost track of my directions immediately so Alichica's were not helpful. After a lot of wandering hopelessly I stumbled out into another plaza though, the fountain plaza.

Baskets, lamps aaand magic shop!

The magic shop is owned by Keapon Laffin who is a gnome, so he is quite the character full of ridiculous wordplay, rhymes and puns down to his name as seems to be the gnomish way in QFG. I approve. He's great.

He has spells to sell but some of them I already have. The ones I need to get are Force Bolt and Levitate. He sells Erasmus' Razzle Dazzle, so if I had given up on Erasmus' game at least I could have gotten it here. I'm glad I didn't give up, but nice to know anyway.

I asked him about magic and learned of Aziza who lives off the east end of Shmali Tarik... if I can find that... And he talked about WIT -- the Wizard's Institute of Technocery. I learned of that in the first game, and now it's somewhere here in Shapeir. I'll need magic to find it.

There were plenty of silly things to examine. And a Rosella puppet!

(She was sort of being made into a puppet for Lolotte...)

With the map in the game manual I attempted to find my way to the money changer again... I still got confused and ended up going in a circle and landed back here at the fountain plaza. The map in relation to the game corridors is confusing! And I'm not very good at directions! And aaaa!

It took a few tries, but I made it! I looked up an image of the in-game map I don't have yet and found it a bit easier to follow.

I met Dinarzad (what a name... I'm guessing a play off of Scheherazade?). There was also her guard, Franc, full of money puns.

Clap clap clap. He's certainly not gonna Buck the pun trend in this game.

I had a 172 gold. I got 113 dinars in return... because of her fees. I got curious and looked that up which I don't want to do too much, but again, curiosity and I'd rather have fewer money woes this time around. Her rate is based on much you give at a time and is apparently best to do 50. So I tried that and ended up with 154 dinars by the end. Yay!

Then I made my way back to the fountain plaza which I discovered seems to be split into two screens? I was very confused for a moment. The second half has food sellers--Scoree and Sloree--named after Corey and Lori Ann Cole, the creators of Quest for Glory. There was also the apothecary. I avoided it all for the moment to keep going onward to the starting plaza because I wanted that map before anything else.

I successfully bargained for the map and compass bringing each down from one dinar to 50 centimes! Half-off!

Map and compass!

The really nice thing about the map is once you've found a location you can just click to go it automatically.

I went back to Keapon Laffin and bought my two spells. Bargained successfully there too knocking 10 dinars off each!

While I was there I remembered to try asking him about Erasmus and happily got an actual answer.

Fenrus too!

And I asked about Katta for an unsurprising pun.

I bought a brass lamp in the fountain plaza. I'm sure I'll want it at some point.

"The shiny brass lamp is engraved on the bottom: 'Aladdin Lamp Co.'"

Evening fell so I went back to the inn to eat.

I went back outside to practice some magic. I was successful for a time until a guard came and told me off for casting in town. He warned me. I thought he was gone, and tried again, or maybe I was hooped regardless after that initial warning, but I got arrested and agame over... And I forgot to save beforehand so I had to buy my lamp and eat again. Oops!

I tried dipping my toes into the desert and fired off a few force bolts and a fire bolt, but then a pack of jackalmen showed up... I ran and fled back to town. It also wouldn't let me use levitate out there.

Turns out run isn't the command to use here. It's escape. So I had a bit of a panicky moment thinking I couldn't run away at all.

It is pretty at night though. Look at that sky!

But this screen right outside town wouldn't let me use my spells at all. So, I took the risk and back to practicing carefully back in town until I ran out of MP.

Levitate!

I realized I didn't talk to Shameen all that much before so I did again. It turns out when the katta had been driven from Raseir, the Sultan here welcomed them in here. Raseir is just in a bad way.

Then while the night was young, I still decided to get Cinder to bed.

A productive first day for getting stuff. And I even managed to already flee from something.

Onward to Day 2 next time. I'd like to find Aziza and the Adventurer's Guild. Actually enter the apothecary. Maybe get a saurus? Generally explore more and gather more information. I want to get my map filled in with as many locations as possible. The less I have to wander those street corridors the better...