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azeroth-and-beyond · 5 years ago

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The End of the Hunt

Athaea's entire body was aching. The last few months had been hell on Azeroth for her and the rest of the Watchers. They had chased Illidan and his followers from the coast of Azshara, through the Great Sea, into the Broken Isles, and then again into the Eastern Kingdoms. Athaea had never walked upon this continent, so far away from Kalimdor. The destruction she found here was eerily similar to that left behind by the Legion, after their attack on Mt. Hyjal.

She looked to her sides. She knew all of the faces around her, even those obscured by their Warden helmets. Most of her time in the Watchers was spent alone, patrolling the barrow deeps and the vault, or hunting criminals. But this hunt was unlike any other that had come before it. In this hunt, the Watchers worked together as a unit, trailing behind their ultimate target: Illidan Stormrage.

For every face she recognized, however, there was one more missing. Their losses had been severe, not only because of the treacherous naga and the Illidari, but because of the demons and lost souls of the Broken Isles, and the undead scourge that plagued Lordaeron. And despite their sudden alliance with Kael’thas, and the arrival of Malfurion and Tyrande, Athaea couldn’t shake the feeling of loss.

Even so, there was no regret in her mind. Illidan's imprisonment had given birth to the Watchers and the Wardens. Losing him wounded not only their pride, but their very souls as well. For this hunt, no price was too high to pay, and no distance was too far to walk.

Athaea shifted her weight, fighting off exhaustion. Her cloak was torn, her armor bent and scored from many recent battles. She had escaped death several times already, but she knew that their cause was just, and that Elune would see her through it. This was the Watchers' finest hour. Illidan was cornered within the ruins of Dalaran, and there was nowhere for him to escape. He was using his vile demonic magic for some kind of ritual. They had to act now, and stop the Betrayer from tearing Azeroth asunder once more.

“First Lieutenant Lonelight.” Just a few feet from her stood Anyndra, Maiev Shadowsong's lieutenant. Athaea snapped to attention, her back straight, and waited for her to continue.

“You’ll be leading the warden Silynna Lunarblade, and a small group of watchers. Follow the orders you were given earlier. This is your chance to prove yourself. Rise to the challenge, and Illidan will not escape us this day.” As soon as Anyndra had finished, she pointed toward her squad and walked away. This wasn’t a slight. The watchers were short on time and manpower, so every second was precious. Aware of this, Athaea swiftly approached her comrades-in-arms.

“Sister Lunarblade,” she began. “Watchers. Our orders are clear. We will be one of the spearheads piercing the ruins and breaking through the Illidari forces. We are to eliminate any Illidari we find, and forge a path for the rest of the watchers. They will rendezvous with us when the way is clear. If you are prepared, we will move out immediately.” Athaea tried to keep her voice firm and resolute. The entire plan had already crystallized in her mind, and she was eager to follow it.

“Sister Lonelight, if I may?” Lunarblade spoke up, and waited to be acknowledged. Athaea raised her eyebrows behind her helmet, gesturing for her to continue. “Are you sure that we should launch the attack before additional forces arrive with Malfurion and Kael'thas? With their reinforcements, such a mission would be far less risky.”

Athaea met the warden's eyes, remaining stern. “Our orders are clear, sister. Even a moment's hesitation will jeopardize this entire operation, allowing the Betrayer to grow closer to his vile objectives. We cannot rely on the so-called 'Sin'dorei', nor can we wait for Malfurion to swoop in and rescue us. Our mission here is to finally capture the Betrayer, no matter the risk. If we fail, we do not deserve to be called watchers. Understood?” She turned and began to make her way towards the battlefield, giving Lunarblade no time to voice an objection. The watchers in their squad dispersed, each ready to take part in the plan. Athaea held tightly to her umbra crescent, then made herself relax her grip, conscious of her body betraying any signs of weakness. The women under her command would be watching her closely, and she could not falter. This attack was the culmination of months of sleepless nights and dead ends.

Athaea and her squad used the shadows of the trees for cover as they moved into position, as soundlessly as they could. Several naga stood guard around the perimeter of the ruins, ready to defend their despicable master. Athaea counted two naga myrmidons, conspicuous in their armor, two naga sirens, and one snapdragon. She glanced back at her own squad, and saw that Lunarblade was already in position, along with a huntress and two archers. Though the naga matched them in numbers, the watchers had the element of surprise. And with two wardens among them, their opponents stood little chance.

Athaea signaled to her squad, communicating her plan. Each archer would take one myrmidon, luring them into the trees where the more agile elves could easily outmaneuver them. The huntress would rush the snapdragon, using superior mobility to counter the beast's crippling poison, and keep its attention away from the other kaldorei. Herself and the other warden would blink towards the sirens, and kill or disable them as quickly as possible. The casters were frail, but dangerous. It would only take them a few seconds to get a spell off, and that could prove disastrous. It was a simple plan: divide and conquer. It had worked exceptionally in the past.

Athaea gave the signal to hold, waiting for the ideal moment to strike. Their timing had to be perfect in order for the plan for the work. If one of them engaged the enemy too soon, it would give away their position, and the battlefield would dissolve into chaos. The archers notched their arrows, and the huntress eyed her target with a predatory, calculating expression.

Athaea took a deep breath, sparing a quick prayer to Elune, and then gave her signal. The archers drew and silently loosed their arrows, which made satisfying impacts in the torso of each myrmidon. The strikes were not fatal, but they should be sufficient to lure their targets away from their positions and into the trees.

As the lumbering naga started to slither away in pursuit of the archers, everything came together in a matter of seconds. The huntress pounced upon the snap dragon, the creature screeching in pain as her moonglaive tore through its flesh. The wardens seemed to blink out of existence, moving through time and space at incredible speeds, and reappeared a couple of feet away from the sirens. Athaea's umbra crescent dug past the naga's scales and buried into its neck, silencing it forever. Lunarblade pierced the other siren's chest with her glaive, and was rewarded with a gush of blood as her target fell.

It was all going according to plan-- but as Athaea turned back to the rest of her squad, she realized that was not the case at all. One of the myrmidons was ignoring the arrow in his chest and rushing for the huntress instead. Athaea immediately broke into a desperate sprint, attempting to intercept the brute. Just when it seemed that she might make it, the myrmidon took aim with its trident and hurled it at the huntress's nightsaber, pinning it to the ground. It struggled desperately, yowling, unable to move. The huntress was thrown from her mount, and before she could collect herself, the snapdragon was upon her, its poisoned fangs tearing her apart.

“Lunarblade! The snapdragon!” Athaea called desperately as she launched her attack against the myrmidon, drawing him away from the wounded saber. But before Lunarblade could reach the beast, it launched its deadly spit into the face of one of the elven archers, who collapsed, yelling in pain.

The plan was unraveling quickly, and Athaea knew there was little time. She took one of the poisoned daggers from her belt and thrust it directly into the myrmidon's arm. A small distance away, Lunarblade had managed to cleave through the skull of the snapdragon. The remaining archer was not so lucky. Trapped out in the open without her backup, she panicked. The second myrmidon threw a net at her, and she was too sluggish to move out of the way. She was thrown back against a tree, immobilized, her limbs tangled in the net. Before the wardens could react to save her, he crushed the elf's head with his massive trident, and then turned back to assist his fellow myrmidon.

Athaea was sweating, her arms trembling. She couldn’t fail, not here, not now. She drove the poisoned knife deeper into the arm of the naga brute, and her poison began to take effect. As the beast reacted to the burning sensation inside his veins, Athaea delivered the killing blow to its head with her weapon, slicing his jaw off and crushing his skull with her closed metal fist. She glanced at Lunarblade, who had already thrown several daggers at the approaching myrmidon. She took the chance and rushed into combat once again, striking at the beast's tail, just as Lunarblade flanked him, both the wardens delivering devastating blows to the beast, until he could no longer stand.

“The watchers, we need to help them!” Lunarblade proclaimed, moving toward the fallen huntress. Athaea glanced at the three lifeless elves, and then at the body of the nightsaber. She sighed, gritting her teeth. She approached Lunarblade and grabbed her shoulder.

“We don’t have time for this, Lunarblade. They knew the risks, and they died for the hunt. Their sacrifice will only be meaningless if we fail. Nothing else matters!” She rebuked the younger warden, pulling her back forcefully. Lunarblade's only response was an angry glare as she moved away from the body. Just as Athaea was about to take a deep breath, she felt a painful stab in her side. There was a sudden rush of cold around the impact, and she immediately looked in the direction from which the blow had come.

“Land-born ssscum!” A gigantic naga approached from the ruins, even larger than the myrmidon. It was a Royal Guard, entrusted to defend the pathways into the ruins. Athaea realized that she had been hit by a frost bolt, and she knelt in pain, the cold nearly unbearable. While her armor had absorbed most of the impact, she felt her body cooling down, her focus diverted.

“We need to take the royal guard down, now!” Athaea screamed, trying to get her heart pumping to warm up her body once more. She reached to her belt, grabbing and throwing several poisoned daggers at the approaching naga, but he hardly seemed to react, his approach not slowed in the slightest. Lunarblade attempted a direct assault, blinking through the distance between them and trying to intercept the beast, appearing behind him.

“I won’t let you kill any more kaldorei this day, foul beast!” Lunarblade cried, her glaive piercing the naga's tail. Athaea finally managed to recover, and dashed into the fight as quickly as she could. But before she could reach them, the Royal Guard and Lunarblade had already come to blows. The naga was much stronger than the warden, making parrying almost impossible. Instead, she gracefully dodged his every strike, piercing his flesh whenever she had the opportunity.

“Lonelight, stay back! You aren’t in fighting shape!” Lunarblade warned. But Athaea ignored her, swinging her umbra crescent and delivering a slash towards the naga. He still stood tall, barely seeming to be aware of his wounds. He instead delivered a lumbering strike at Athaea, hitting her with the blunt end of his trident and sending her flying back several feet. Her head rang as she landed on the hard ground, and she knew she had to get back to her feet at any cost. Lunarblade sprinted to the fallen warden, helping her get up.

“Lieutenant, you have to retreat! I’ll hold him ba-” Her words came to a sudden halt as the myrmidon's trident burst through her rib cage, through both sides of her armor. Athaea was covered with the warden's blood, only a few inches away as she watched everything unravel. Her first instinct was to vomit at the grotesque sight, but she knew she had to keep fighting. Instead, she pulled the trident to the side and thrust her umbra crescent forward, which crashed directly into the naga's chest between his ribs, forcing him to back away as he gasped for air.

As he let go of his trident, Lunarblade's body slumped slowly to the ground. With a swift movement, Athaea sliced the creature's head in half, finally defeating her foe. Her muscles were in agony, her mind exhausted. The realization that she was the last one alive of her squad slowly dawned upon her. She looked at the body of every kaldorei around her, coughing. She knew that the image would be seared into her memory forever. Her stomach churned as she regarded the state of Silynna Lunarblade's corpse. She felt like throwing up again, her lips trembling. Even if she had killed all the naga, she had lost everyone under her command. She closed her eyes, trying to gather her thoughts.

As she slowly opened her eyes and looked toward the ruins once more, she saw a sudden blur approaching, almost like a purple wraith. Before she could react, that wraith rushed toward her, slamming into her. As the blur gained a defined shape, Athaea saw a female kaldorei right in front of her, pressing a large blade against her armored chest. Glowing green tattoos, darkened horns on her head... Then it clicked; a demon hunter had found her. And she was there to finish the warden once and for all. The Illidari's warglaive dug into her armor, splitting it into pieces, and finally connected with her flesh. Those seconds felt like an eternity for Athaea, as she watched the warglaive dig into her flesh and through her rib cage, eventually shattering her sternum. She didn’t feel the pain right away, but instead a sort of numbness, as if she were watching it all happen to someone else.

Athaea was thrown back, collapsing. She desperately gasped for air, struggling to stay alive. A coughing fit set in, and she felt the warm, coppery taste of blood filling her mouth. Her consciousness was fading, and quickly. She looked up at the sky, trying to find guidance from Elune, but her vision soon became too blurry for her to make out the shining stars above.

As she came to grips with her situation, all she could feel was shame. Regret. She had failed her mission, and she had abandoned the watchers in their moment of greatest need. And now her hunt would be forever unfinished.

The warden then felt something grab her feet. She saw the sky moving above her, felt the ground moving beneath her. Someone was dragging her. Soon the sky was obscured by tree cover, and she finally lost consciousness.

Athaea's eyes snapped open, and her chest heaved for air. A lacerating pain spread through her torso like fire, but all she could do was whine in pain. She looked around and saw a kaldorei man just above her, administering his druidic magic to her open wound. The warden tried to form words, but all that came forth were coughs and groans.

“Stay quiet, warden. You have to preserve your strength. You came awfully close to dying. If we hadn’t found you hidden by the trees when we did, you would’ve surely perished like the rest of the watchers with you.” Athaea's head was flooded with thoughts, stabbing like daggers, accompanying the burning pain that had now spread through her entire body.

“You are safe now. We returned you to our main base. The bulk of our forces are assaulting Illidan's stronghold, and he’s fighting a losing battle. He should be defeated at any moment now.” Athaea could feel herself start to panic. She couldn’t afford to lay here, dying, as the rest of the watchers neared the end of their hunt. She reached for the druid with a battered arm, trying to grab him, but her vision grew blurry and she failed, instead snatching at the air next to him.

“You are not leaving my watch,” he said sternly. “Not under any circumstances. We were lucky to have found your body at all. The wardens passed right by you, and then entered the ruins moments before we arrived. They are deep into the battle now.” He paused, then added firmly, “You are in no shape to even stand on your own.” As he spoke, Athaea began to feel light-headed. All the effort she had just put forth had been ultimately fruitless, and in her fragile state, the thought seemed overwhelming. She coughed, trying to think of something to say, to plead with the druid, but her consciousness began fading.

It took several days for Athaea Lonelight to wake up again, and under far different circumstances. Illidan had escaped into Outland, and many of the watchers had chased him into the unknown world. But not Athaea. She was bed-bound, unable to move much more than her eyes and her mouth. Not long after, she returned to Kalimdor with Malfurion and Tyrande's forces. It would be several months before she even stood on her own feet again.

Lying awake in her bed, Athaea could no longer escape her own thoughts. She could not devote her focus to her next target, or distract herself with the need for vengeance, or justify the hate inside of her by focusing it on the hunt. She was forced to face herself and all the choices that led her to this point, silent and alone.

She was not aware at the time of the change that was coming over her, but it happened slowly and surely. After that hunt, Athaea would never be the same again.

((Many thanks to http://liettarosewood.tumblr.com/ for editing this story for me!))

#Athaea #Short Story #Kaldorei #BFA

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apprentice-althaea · 5 years ago

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Althaea Avyanna Blackwood : A Basic Bio

I will at some point make more detailed and plot specific information about her, feel free to ask any questions!!

The elegant sorceress with a desire for adventure and a necessity of power. ♈️

Favorite Food: Sushi

Favorite Drink: Tomato Juice

Favorite Flower: Poppy

Face Claim: TBD (taking suggestions)

MBTI: INTJ

Sexuality: Bisexual and Polyamorous

Gender: Cis Female

Height: 5 feet 10 inches

Age: Between 26-31 years

Zodiac Sign: Aries

Familiar: Nova the peacock

Magical Abilities: Black Magic, Elemental Manipulation (depending on source), deriving energy from others into her own magic, and Basic Spell Casting. She is quite bad at healing magic and potion brewing.

LI: Julian, Lucio, Valerius, and other MCs

Trinkets: Blue Stone Pin, Silver Dagger, Leather Notebook, Opal Ring

Magic Explaination and Backstory: Althaea came from an isolated island in the far north, an island virtually impossible to find, the island of what many call mythological creatures. As time passed, the humans and the beasts adapted to live together, learned off each other, they created a magical connection. The human which was connected to one of them was able to derive the power of said being, and convert it into their own ability. Their magic was used for good, to help make their lives easier and fruitful, to have fun, to help learn to control your power and your emotions. As hundreds of years passed, certain groups of people attempted to breed stronger creatures and use their souls to make their power even greater. Thus a civil war began, beast and person alike died. After many years of fighting, the war lost by the power seeking sorcerers. Hence, once these beasts began to die away, the people they were connected to lost these powers. Without their source of magic, they were forced to learn Black Magic, although some as powerful as Althaea were able to use basic spell casting. Althaea was about 16 years old when the war ended, her own dragon dying in the process, and she lost her elemental powers. Her family was granted titles and lands for their aid in the war, along with several other noble families. She was one of the few nobles who no longer were connected, and although she enjoyed learning Dark Magic, she began to notice the consequences it came with. She faced many challenges, arranged marriage, lost love, and a feeling of a hole in her heart. Thus Althaea decided to escape her life and go to Vesuvia when she was about 19 years old.

Pre-Plague Vesuvia: Althaea arrived in Vesuvia and tried to settle down in a quiet life, helping an older lady who became her ‘aunt’ run a magical shop. She took her in and cared for her. Althaea had been broken from previous events, and though she mourned each day, she vowed to stay strong and find her path in life. Her life then was simple, she was friendly and loved to see the new parts of Vesuvia, gladly hosting any travelers. She often told stories in the town square at night, using her magic to make colorful images float in the air. Everyone always came to her for advice, especially since she knew everything that went on. She was adored by all who knew her, but she never shared anything about her past. Although the attention may have been a bit much, especially from her close friend and countess, she didn’t mind since she was always distracted. At this time she was in a physical relationship with her LI. It was only ever to fill physical desire, since she didn’t want to have a relationship In which she will be possible for her to lose her loved one again (yep). Yet she always had a feeling that she might be falling for her partner, but she always denied it in attempt to stay strong

Plague Vesuvia: Althaea was close to Julian, helping him out and regularly spending time with him. Let’s just say that the two of them make a great rowdy pair! When the plague came, Althaea didn’t hesitate to join him and the other doctors in search for a cure at the palace. She was sure somehow her knowledge of Black Magic would come handy. Although she didn’t have any medical experience, she was able to bring peaceful dreams and stop hallucinations in patients whole experimenting with the other doctors. She regularly casted spells which would help ward off the disease from herself, she knew it wouldn’t last forever but she was prepared to take the risk to save was many people as she could. Each time she used this magic, her skin tainted black. At this time she found out her partner was strongly against this as they didn’t want to risk the chance of losing her to. She didn’t fall ill to the plague, but she knew her body was giving up from such an extensive use of magic. Her only goodbye was by letter, for she knew it would hurt more if they saw each other again. Althaea decided to travel to the island with the other plague victims. When she did die it was somewhat peacefully knowing that she did whatever she could for greater good. Sacrifices always had to made.

Main Story: when Althaea was brought back to life, she was changed. She still was the strong and willing woman she always was. She was strongly focused on recovering her abilities and was deeply focused on knowledge. She took much time to study and become an educated woman once again. At this time her desire to possess greater power grew, she took all the gossip she heard, she investigated people, she wanted to have all that she could. For her it was knowledge that was power. She didn’t have close relationships with anyone, they were always superficial, but many did count on her as a friend. When the countess came to her for aid, Althaea didn’t hesitate to follow. Although she knew she would gain a lot of insight, she was actually interested in solving the case in hopes that she would understand what caused her memory loss. Althaea was still very social, always willing to have a fulfilling chat with people, even though she does always need her time to recharge.

#the arcana #arcana mc #fan apprentice #arcana apprentice #althaea #apprentice althaea #althaea bio #bio #information #apprentice bio #athaea stuff

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rainbrights · 5 years ago

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hey wat's up everyone im back to post a secret santa WoW sketch art I did for a friend!!! 🌛✨

#world of warcraft #night elf #draenei #hunter #shaman #demon hunter #warden #athaea lonelight #seilas #quorala moonpetal #sketch #clip studio paint #darisper #art

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samtellstales · 8 years ago

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Chapter 3: The most important meal of the day

(Quick little note, I’ve changed the name of Melerin’s race from Dragonborn to Drake-Ul)

Athaea was roused by the sound of knocking and light shining in through the cracks in her little wooden home. It felt so familiar, but odd at the same time.

“Athaea, wake up, we’ve got work,” called a soft, lighthearted voice. “The chores won’t do themselves.”

“Lila, go away, let me sleep,” she grumbled, pulling the sheets over her head.

“Lila?” The voice began to change. It became deep, rough, and dark, “Do I sound like someone named Lila?”

“Wh-what?” Athaea rose from her pillow and rubbed her eyes. Her cozy wooden shack changed into a small inn room. More knocking came from the door to her room.

“Athaea, wake up, it’s nearly midday,” the Drake-Ul poked his head through the door. “Get ready to go; I’ll cook up some breakfast.”

“Spirits forgive!” She pulled herself from the covers and began tossing on her cloak.

The smell of cooking eggs and meat came wafting into Athaea’s room from the common area. The sizzling sound of a skillet was clear to her, even through the door. She fastened her cloak’s buckle around her neck and headed out the door, grabbing her staff as she walked out.

Melerin was sitting by the fire pit in the common room. He held the skillet and a wooden spoon and was cooking the eggs over the fire. Goat’s legs were roasting around the edge of the fire pit, it smelled as if Cuin, chef of the gods, had cooked it himself.

Athaea walked over to the fire pit and sat in the chair across the pit from Melerin. Neither of them said a word, they just sat without even exchanging a glance. The Drake-Ul’s silvery eyes sat glued to the sizzling eggs.

The elf girl opened her mouth, but he spoke first.

“I hope you don’t mind scrambled eggs,” his smile was as warm as the fire they were gathered around.

“Scrambled eggs are fine, it all smells amazing,” Athaea was starving, she hadn’t had a real meal in days.

“Good, that’s about the only way I know how to cook eggs,” he chuckled a bit, “I’m not so good at making breakfast meals. Dinner is more my thing.”

“I’m sure it’s fine, Melerin.” They both could feel the awkwardness of their horrific small talk.

“Since we’re going to be traveling and camping together, just Rin is fine.”

“Well then, thank you Rin.”

“Of course,” he scooped up some eggs and dropped them down on a plate, and he grabbed one of the goat’s legs as well. “Here, we need to leave once we’ve eaten. I’ve already packed what we need.”

Athaea grabbed the plate and started scarfing down the food. She was sure it was delicious, but she was eating too fast to really taste it.

“Alright,” Rin was savoring his food a bit more than she was. “For us to be a team, I need to know what you can do. So lemme hear it, how good are you as a fighter?”

“I’m a warlock, remember? I’m better with magic than a blade.”

“No,” he finished swallowing a hunk of goat’s leg. “No magic, I don’t trust it. Too dangerous. Too unpredictable.”

“You’re a paladin, right? You use magic too, that’s rather hypocritical.” Athaea raised her voice in a bit of shock.

“Only to protect,” Rin remained calm, almost stoic. “Never as an offensive measure, only to defend myself or my partners. And even then, it’s only used as a backup, I trust an arm more than a tome.”

Athaea collected her thoughts and took a deep breath.

“I’m decent with daggers, bows, and my staff. But I’d prefer not to use my staff as a bludgeon.”

Rin finished his food, stood up, and handed Athaea a leather backpack.

“Use a bow for now, I have a spare one. You’ll use magic if and when I tell you that you can.” He began walking to his room.

“That’s not fair, I’m much better with magic! We’ll be safer if-“

“There will be no magic unless I specifically say you can use it and you will have to deal with that if you want me to help you!” His voice raised slightly and his face hardened. There was silence for a moment, then his expression softened and he smiled at her. “Not for now, at least. With time, I may come to trust you and allow you the free use of magic.”

“Fine,” she huffed.

Rin walked into his room and shut the door behind him.

“I thought he said we were leaving,” Athaea whispered in confusion.

She looked around the common room, staring at the wood. It was quiet compared to last night. No singing drunks, only the crackle of the fire.

A large, portly dwarf in a roughly thrown together outfit walked up and grabbed the third goat’s leg. Athaea returned from her thoughts and remembered his name was Arthur. Grease from the meat collected in his long, braided, black beard. He glanced at her and she quickly averted her gaze to keep from looking like she was staring.

“Doncha worry lass,” Arthur said, his mouth full of meat. “Boss’ record is nearly perfect. Never lost a partner so long as I’ve known him.”

“That’s a comfort,” she sighed.

“He’s a good man, horrible jokes, but good none the less.”

Athaea and Arthur sat for a while, the dwarf pigging out on the leg of meat. Thoughts raced around through her head. She’d never really expected to leave the tribe, much less go on an adventure across the kingdom hunting a necromancer. Was it going to be fun? Was she going to be miserable? She didn’t know what to expect. Was she going to have enough to pay Melerin? What was she going to do if she didn’t have enough? Was she going to have to become a tavern wench? At least if she did, she’d have something to come back to after this adventure was over. She always thought that if she left the tribe, it would be to become a captain of one of the ships that they would occasionally trade with, maybe her crew would treat her with more respect than the elves did.

“Ready to go?” The rough voice of the Drake-Ul entered the room, tearing her away from her thoughts.

“Aye, I was just waiting on you,” she stood up and turned to face him. He was covered in the armor from his room, and he looked like a mountain that wouldn’t budge for the gods themselves. His shield rested on his back and on his hip hung a huge silver hammer that was accented with flecks of red. “You look prepared for a war.”

“I’d rather have it on and not need it, than not have it and need it.”

“Don’t you have scales? Armor seems unnecessary.”

“Ah yes, I’ll run headlong at a fireball throwing bastard in my skivvies, that’s a great plan.”

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”

“I do, but it was a funny concept.” Rin laughed as if he’d just told the best joke of the decade. As he laughed, she noticed a few of the red flecks floating gently to the ground. She realized that was dried blood, she suddenly realized this might be even less pleasant than she thought.

“I warned you miss, horrible jokes,” Arthur spoke up, twirling the bone in his fingers.

“Arthur, just the dwarf I wanted to see. I’m going on a job, same rules as usual, you get all the profits while I’m gone,” Rin said as he hoisted a backpack onto his left shoulder.

“Aye hoss, just leave it to me,” the dwarf saluted his boss lazily and headed down the hall to the tavern. Rin tossed Athaea a bow and quiver.

“That should be good for now, if we need more arrows, we’ll pick some up in the next town. Now let’s get going.”

“Alright,” Athaea tossed the quiver over her shoulders and walked over to him. He headed for a door on the opposite side of the room from the tavern hallway and opened it to let in the bright shining light of the day. “I haven’t told you where we’re going yet!”

“You can tell me when we get to the outskirts of town, there’s only one actual entrance and exit to the town.” He didn’t wait for her to say anything before stepping out into the street. “And Arthur! Save some alcohol for the patrons!” “I have to tell you the same thing every day!”

“You’ve got me there, you bearded bastard.” Rin chuckled as he shut the door.

#melerin #Rin & Athaea #athaea #Dead Hunt #chapter 3

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gruncle-sam · 3 years ago

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Chapters: 3/? Fandom: Original Work Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death Relationships: Original Character(s)/Original Character(s) Characters: Original Characters Additional Tags: High Fantasy, Action/Adventure, Religious Cults, Murder Mystery, Conspiracy Summary:

The threads that weave the tapestry of fate are beginning to snap and disappear, threatening to unravel the fate of the very world. On top of that problem, no one seems to care or notice except for four unlikely allies. Jax and Zyxx, rival educators at the College of Magical Synergy, Melerin, a mage hunter for hire and tavern owner, and Athaea, a woman displaced by unfortunate circumstances and looking for revenge. Maybe they'll be able to stop this catastrophe before even the gods themselves are consumed by it. Probably not, but they might.

#writing #original writing #high fantasy #i'd love feedback on this #The goal is to one day have this published

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dungeonqueering · 4 years ago

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So for a while I've wanted to run a character who was a street urchin type, who grew up to become a cop/guard, but the realized how corrupt the system is. She quit (probably dramatically) and then became a Noir-style Private Investigator.

In DnD terms (if that's the system I play her in) she would be a Rogue focused on Stealth and Lock picking and Persuasion and Deception.

Sort of a chaotic good vibe. "If I have to break the law to do the right thing, I'm fine with that."

Her name would be Athaea, and... I don't have a specific 5e race I'd want to make her. Maybe some kind of elf variant? Maybe a Tiefling? I'd be really tempted to look at the extra races in Volos and UAs.

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amilst · 4 years ago

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Kerria Japonica, Jew’s Mallow, Easter Rose, Japanese Rose. This is an unusual shrub in a number of ways. Most plants belong to a family with lots of relatives. But there is only one Kerria. It is named after the Scottish plantsman and collector, William Kerr, who returned from China with specimens for the Kew Gardens in 1805. I suppose because it was as plentiful in not-too-distant Japan as it was in China, Japonica sounded better and so the name stuck. The Japanese continue to call the plant “Yamabuki,” which means “Mountain Breeze,” a perfect name for a shrub whose long stems wave in the wind.

Apparently there are some scientists who call themselves Biogeographers who use sophisticated techniques to determine the date and place of origin of plants. Their surprising findings were that “K. japonica originated in North America during the mid‐Miocene,” which is about 15 million years ago, and arrived in Asia through “subsequent migration into East Asia via the Bering land bridge.”

So, the English name of this single species shrub is thousands of miles off. Then there is the common name, Jew’s Mallow, which prompted me to buy the plant in the first place and which I assumed had anti-Semitic origins. The source of that moniker I have theorized was confusion with the plant Corchorus olitorius, which has similar flowers and was a food staple in ancient Jewish circles.

While Corchorus sometimes is referred to as a “mallow,” that designation has been applied to a variety of plants across different species. One of the more famous mallows is Athaea officinalis which grows wild in marshes. The Egyptians squeezed sap from the plant and mixed it with honey and nuts to produce, you guessed it, the first marshmallows.

Kerria is what is called Monecious, meaning it has both male and female flowers. The male flowers form at the top of the shrub and are called tassles. The leaves actually contain small quantities of hydrogen cyanide, one of the world’s more deadly poisons.

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blaackbiird-archive · 3 years ago

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a little headcanon for Athaea from my twitter

When Althaea was a wee'un and the troupe had stopped somewhere just outside the Black Shroud, she'd gone playing down by a river with a few other members of the circus. While splashing about, she came upon a perfectly round stone, shaped by the water. It was fairly dull in color but it was speckled with flecks of gold. It was barely bigger than a gil piece, and she brought it back as a present for the Ringmaster. He took it with obvious gratitude and she never saw it again.

After the day of the Calamity, when Bahamut laid waste to the circus, Althaea took it upon herself to care for and bury all the bodies that hadn't been burned to ashes. Among them, she found the Ringmaster. And in his possession, tucked safely away in his breast pocket, was the stone. She took that with her, after it was all said and done, and now carries it around with her wherever she goes.

#ooc #muse facts #althaea ballard #fun fact she never actually learned the ringmaster's name #he was always just 'ringmaster' or 'ringmaster ballard' to her

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dinhthang · 6 years ago

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SÂM BỐ CHÍNH - Công dụng và liều dùng Sâm bố chính phối hợp với các vị thuốc khác để chữa các chứng ho, sốt nóng, trong người khô, táo, khát nước, gầy còm. Một số các ông lang cho rằng sâm bố chính là một vị thuốc bổ, thông tiểu tiện, điều kinh, chữa sốt, bệnh phổi và bạch đới. Liều lượng chưa xác định, thường dùng với liều 6-12g hay hơn. Chú thích: Tuy mang tên sâm vì vị thuốc có hình dạng giống người như nhân sâm, nhưng không nên nhầm với nhân sâm. Qua thành phần hoá học và công dụng sâm bố chính trong nhân dân, chúng tôi thấy có nhiều điểm giống vị thuốc Radix Athaeae - là rễ cây Althaea officinilis L. thuộc cùng họ Bông Malvaceae. Cây này chưa thấy ở nước ta, nhưng được nhiều nước trên thể giới công nhận là vị thuốc chính thức ghi trong các dược điển. Thành phần hoá học của cây này cũng gồm có 35% chất nhầy, nhiều tinh bột, asparagin, đường sacaroza. Người ta cho hoạt chất là chất nhầy. Cây này được nhân dân châu Âu dùng từ thể kỷ thứ IV. Hiện nay vẫn được dùng làm thuốc chữa ho, viêm phế quản, làm thuốc súc miệng chữa viêm cổ họng, viêm đường tiểu tiện, đi ỉa lỏng và dùng ngoài đắp mụn nhọt. Tác dụng của rễ Althaea là do chất pectin và chất nhầy. Theo Crapcov các chất này ở dạng keo làm giảm sự viêm tấy và sự kích thích ở các niêm mạc nhất là trong ống tiêu hoá, đồng thời làm chậm sự hấp thụ các vị thuốc khác cùng uống, kéo dài thời gian tác dụng của vị thuốc đó tại chỗ. Việc thu hái và chế biến vị thuốc đó cũng có thể giúp ta áp dụng vào việc chế sâm bố chính. Đào rễ cẩn thận để khỏi thương tổn rễ. Sau đó cắt bỏ thân và đầu rễ. Có khi cắt bỏ c�� rễ chính nếu xơ quá. Sấy hay phơi ngoài trời cho se, dùng dao cạo bỏ vỏ mỏng. Củ to và dày phải bổ dọc cho chóng khô, sau đó đem phơi hoặc sấy. Tất cả công việc trên phải tiến hành hết sức mau, nhất là thời gian chế biến không nên kéo dài để tránh các đốm đen do mốc, làm giảm giá trị của thuốc. Khi sấy không nên để nhiệt độ cao quá 40°C. Do việc cạo vỏ ngoài tốn nhiều công phu quá cho nên năm 1940, Viện nghiên cứu cây thuốc VILAR Liên Xô cũ có nghiên cứu so sánh và đi tới kết luân là không cần thiết cạo vỏ mỏng. Rễ Althaea đuợc dùng dưới dạng cao khô, cao lỏng, xirô (2 phần cao Althaea khô và 98 phần xirô). Vài đơn thuốc có rễ Althaea có thể áp dụng đối với sâm bố chính. Đơn 1: Thuốc pha rễ Althaea 6g trong 180g nước, xirô cam thảo 200g. Người lớn cách 2 giờ uống 1 thìa to. Đơn 2: Thuốc pha rễ Althaea 2g trong 100ml, xirô Althaea 30g. Trẻ con 2 tuổi ngày dùng 4-5 lần, mồi lần 1 thìa nhỏ.

#lamthuoc.net-Nguyên liệu làm thuốc #Thuốc Bổ-Thuốc Bồi Dưỡng

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cottageaesthetic · 2 years ago

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Favourite plant, animal, and ideal home?

I love jasmins and Athaea officinalis as flower and any tree with huge branches and leaves like a plane tree. But for indoor I actually prefer plants with lot of green leaves that dont have flowers🧐.

Favourite animal is bee!!! >:c 🐝🐝🐝

My ideal home definition is abstract. Any place that is clean, where I am at peace and have good neighbors.

#ask #questions

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azeroth-and-beyond · 5 years ago

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Broken Bonds

Athaea stood on a small balcony, overlooking the barracks grounds. She was wearing her warden armor, her hands on the railing. Below her, dozens, maybe even a couple of hundreds of kaldorei were standing at attention. In a normal day, those might’ve been watchers honing her skills. But it wasn’t a normal day. Today was the first day of bootcamp. It was the day where kaldorei who believed themselves to be warden material gave their shot at it. Athaea knew that most, if not all, of those present would be rejected. Wardens were the elite fighting group of the watchers after all, and they had very high standards.

She pushed herself off the railing, walking into the door behind her. As she moved through the corridors, a few watchers ran back and forth with supplies. Others were finishing the last minute preparations for the recruitment. Athaea didn’t pay them much attention; she was a warden herself, and the watchers were far below her rank. They had their own job to do, as did she. She moved downstairs, into the entrance and then to the field grounds. She saw Maiev standing tall ahead of the potential recruits, staring them down.

The scene reminded her of her own recruitment day; it had been almost two thousand years since it took place. Back then she was still a priestess of the moon, handpicked by a recruiter to become a full blown warden. Of course, that didn’t mean her training was any less demanding. If anything, that just meant more eyes were on her than for most wannabe recruits. This was her first year volunteering to take part of the warden boot camp, and she knew how it went.

“Sergeant Winterlance.”

“First Lieutenant Amberblade. I‘m ready for my assignment, ma’am.” Athaea responded after she turned around and saluted her superior. Amberblade looked up and down, inspecting Athaea armor and posture. She gave her a curt nod, giving the cue for the lower ranked officer to relax.

“Glad to have you helping us with this. Your assistance will be more than welcome. Also, speaking of which, I believe your sister is here. Lyeenya Winterlance, correct?” The lieutenant looked straight into Athaea eyes,

“My...sister?” A chill ran down the warden spine, her entire body tensing up. Athaea didn’t know her sister wanted to become a warden at all, much less that she would be here tonight. She felt her blood draining from her face as she tried to look away from her superior. Amberblade raised her eyebrow at Athaea, slowly crossing her arms.

“Well, either way, she’s in the third column, so go and send her your best wishes before she’s officially a recruit. She’s a priestess of the moon, correct? Like you were when you came to us. Well, I’m sure you know the rules and how you are expected to treat her then. Dismissed, Sergeant.” Amberblade nodded and left her vicinity, leaving her alone.

Athaea closed her fists, her metal gauntlets screeching as it scraped against itself . She turned her head toward where Lyeenya was. Her face was now growing hot, the paleness replaced by deep shade of purple as the blood rushed back in. She started moving toward the supposed location her sister was at, furious. Her movements were stiff, the warden doing everything she could to not explode. She moved across the field, barely acknowledging anyone around her,

“Sis! I’m here!” The voice rang in Athaea head as she looked to the side. She finally sighted Lyeenya, as she was a few feet away from her, coming in for a hug. But Athaea immediately put her hand forward, grabbing her shoulder and holding her in place. The younger sister looked at the hand holding her in disbelief, and then up to Athaea eyes. “A-Athaea?” Lyeenya yelped out, wide eyed.

“Look, I don’t know why you are here, especially after what I told you already. I don’t want you to come and besmirch my reputation like you did in the sisterhood. I’m not sure if I wasn’t clear enough the last time I talked to you, but I didn’t expect you to be stupid enough to actually do this.” Athaea immediately lashed out, her hand holding Lyeenya shoulder a bit too tight for comfort. Her brows were furrowed, a furious expression covering her entire face, even if she had managed to hide it in her voice.

“I…” It took a few seconds for Lyeenya to process everything she had heard. Her eyebrows trembled as she held back tears. “I’m not here to screw you over! What happened at the Sisterhood happened over a thousand years ago sis, and it was an accident!” She answered in a slight panic, taken by complete surprise by her sister's reaction. “I’m not copying you, I’m not stalking you! I… I just want to serve the Kaldorei as a warden!” Athaea squinted her eyes, giving her sister a light shove, enough to push her back a couple feet.

“If we are really doing this, then I’ll be straightforward. You’ll call me Sergeant, or ma’am. No ‘sister’, or ‘sis’, or ‘Athaea’ or anything else, got it? None of that shit. I’m not your sister here. I’m your sergeant, and you are nothing. Not even a recruit yet. Don’t you dream of receiving any kind of slack for being my sister. Preferably, don’t even look at my direction.” She spat out, pointing her finger toward Lyeenya face. “I’m done here and I’m done with you. Get in line, meat.” The warden turned around and walked away, leaving Lyeenya behind as she called for her.

Athaea muscles were sore due to how tense she was. But she couldn’t shake off what just happened from her mind. She walked to her position, watching over a group of the kaldorei waiting for the boot camp. Athaea barely heard anything of the speech. She only realized it was over when the other wardens broke off to leadthe prospects.

While most of the initiation day went well, Athaea couldn’t take her mind off of Lyeenya. She made sure to avoid her sister as much as possible, but she could still feel her hands trembling every so often. It was hard to contain her anger, especially in front of all other wardens and the recruits.

As the days went by during training week, it became harder to avoid her sister. Every once in a while, she caught a glimpse of Lyeenya’s training. In one of those times, she saw her sister sparring with a fellow hopeful recruit. It had been several years since she last saw her, but as she moved back and forth in her spar. Her memories rushed back into her mind. Instead of her recruit armor, she saw a younger Lyeenya, in her old priestess robes.

Athaea body froze for half a second, enough for her sister to land a decisive blow on her training partner. And as Lyeenya reached to help her partner get off the ground, that past image on Athaea head solidified. Her eyes saw the priestess kneeling to help a familiar kaldorei, a smile covering her lower face.

“I’m sorry, that was my fault.” Athaea could hear, but her sister’s mouth hadn’t moved at all, even as she helped her partner to get back on her feet. The warden shook her head, pulling herself out of this flashback. And as soon as she did so, she walked away from the recruits, not wanting her sister to see her.

The training was intense, and about half of the recruits that started it had already dropped out. She could hear some of her fellow wardens talking about her and her sister. But the topic was dropped whenever Athaea approached them.

“She left the last trials just a few minutes ago. I’m sure you’ll be able to track her down, Sergeant. Unless you have any questions, consider yourself dismissed.” Amberblade said before turning to a few other scrolls, stamping them with a few wax seals. Athaea finally managed to force her legs to work and leave the room after several seconds still. She pressed herself against the wall just to the right of the door, her hands sweating. Not wanting to make this last any more than it needed to, she rushed into the corridors, searching for her sister.

“Sergeant Winterlance, do you know why I’ve called you?” Warden Amberblade looked into her subordinate eyes, sitting on a wooden chair. Her stare was cold, her expression indecipherable. Athaea had no idea if she was about to get punished or lauded.

“I’m afraid not, ma’am. Was I supposed to?” She did her best to keep a neutral approach, even if she was somewhat suspicious of what was going on. She stayed on her feet, looking straight into Amberblade eyes, waiting for her to continue.

“Very well. I called you here to talk about your sister. As I’m sure you are aware, she’s currently undergoing the last part of the training. Staying until the very end of our warden recruitment process is already an achievement in and of itself. But there’s more to talk about, when it comes to Lyeenya and her performance.” Athaea ears perked up, the warden swallowing. She had tried her best to avoid her sister altogether this week, and she definitely didn’t want to deal with that situation now. “While going through the results of all the recruits, I inevitably ended up seeing her results as well.” The lieutenant touched a rolled up scroll laying on the table, just ahead of her.

“I remember we once had a conversation about your sister. You said you didn’t want her to become a warden. Which, to be completely honest, is understandable. Being a warden is not for most people, and only we can see that as clearly. Being a warden means, oftentimes, a life of solitude and service. I won’t preach to the choir here, Athaea. But I decided that, as a token of gratitude for your service, I should give you the chance to talk to your sister before presenting her the results.” She tapped the scroll with her fingers. The sergeant looked at the scroll for several seconds, silent. She did say those things to Amberblade some time ago, but for different reasons.

“Take the scroll to her, and give her your viewpoint before giving her the results. I think that way she’ll have a more neutral view of your personal opinion if you do it that way. We are not hurt for wardens badly right now, so I will not put any blame on you if she doesn’t end up joining us over it.” Amberblade pushed the scroll across the table, toward Athaea. “Ah, by the way, just to make it clear, she passed. Her scores weren’t as high as yours, but, well, very few are.” The lieutenant said with a playful smile, grabbing the scroll and offering it to Athaea. Her eyes were still locked, staring at the scroll. She slowly reached for it and then pulled it back to her, almost mechanically.

“Lyeenya.” The warden voice carried across the small field her sister was in, sitting against a tree. Lyeenya looked exhausted, in more ways than one. She took a few deep breaths as her older sister approached her, expecting the worse. Athaea held her sister scroll in her hands, but she had yet to hand it to her. “This here has your results, Lyeenya. And I’m supposed to present them to you.” The warden looked down at Lyeenya, not kneeling or sitting down with her.

“You are not going to become a warden, dear sister. And I’ll make this clear for you. I don’t care what got in your head for you to even try to become a warden. Especially after I left you behind in the Sisterhood. I don’t care if father and mother are telling you to reconnect with me.” The warden raised her finger, pointing it directly toward Lyeenya face.

“I don’t want to reconnect with you. And especially, I don’t want you following my footsteps, and I don’t want you copying me. I don’t care for the Winterlance name. If it were up to me, I would never see you again. You are an incompetent brat, and there’s nothing connecting us but a thin and meaningless bloodline. I’ll spare you the shame of receiving your results with all the other recruits around you. Instead, I'll let you leave on your own, so maybe they’ll just forget about you, Lyeenya. Just like you should do with me.” Athaea didn’t mince words. She kept the scroll close to herself, holding it against her waist as she lambasted her sisters.

“B-But… s-sis…” Tears starts to spring from Lyeenya eyes, immediately inundating her face. She pushed herself off the ground, sobbing and scrambling away from Athaea. She almost fell over on the ground as she ran, her cries filling the forest. Athaea sneered, shaking her head. Later that day, she returned the scroll to her superior for storage. She took the rest of the day to enjoy the feeling of knowing her sister wouldn’t bother her again, hopefully ever.

#Athaea #Short Story #Kaldorei #BFA

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