#CW: debt slavery | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

bardic-tales · 2 years ago

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4.8.23

Good morning, my fellow authors, followers, and mutuals. I hope you have had a wonderful week.

From @oc-a-day What’s your OC’s immediately family like and their dynamic? Who do they get along with most? Least?

As I have mentioned various times on this blog, Cyras Covelli was originally a Glorendine street waif. Before her foster father offered her a place in his home, she was named Amelia.

Biological Father and Mother

Her mother and father passed on early in her life. When they were alive, Cyras was the closest to her mother. Her mother's friends would say that Cyras was her mini-me.

Her relationship with her father was strained. He was a man ruled by his addictions. For example, before he was murdered, Cyras would spend more time away from home. She blames her father for their murders, as it was over one of his shady dealings.

Children.

Cyras has two children: Camila and Francesco. Cyras adores her children and is proud of their accomplishments. She would say that her children are the only good thing that came from her arranged marriage. As per Olessan tradition, she hardly sees her children as they are respectively sent to an order of Knights and the household of a noble.

Camila was sent away to Avis to train to be a lady beneath in the Augustus household. She is a quiet, reserve young lady. Camila is full of ideas and believes in romantic love. During the events of Cold as Ice, Camila is traveling with Fletcher Augustus from Avis to Olessa. Fletcher is set to ask Cyras for permission to marry Camila. Camila is anxious that her mother will say no.

Francesco joined the Order of Agosto early in his life. He became a squire to a famous errant knight and quickly gain his master's favor. He is currently going through the Agostian trails to become a fullfledged knight.

As a knight, Francesco has little contact with his family, but when he is either in Lucci or Olessa, he will visit his mother. She is incredibly proud at the man he became.

The last time she seen her children was at her husband's funeral.

Foster Father

cw: death of an animal, abuse of a child. slavery.

When he came across her on the street, Cyras tried to pickpocket Niccolo Napoli, knowing that such a rich mark would have the coin to support her and her sister and pay the dues she owed to the Glorendine Shadow Council. He took pity upon Cyras and offered her and her sister a home in Glorendt. Niccolo, however, only needed one of the girls and noticed that Cyras held the traits that the other nobility -- especially the women -- desired.

Niccolo would proceed to sell her sister to one of his noble friends for a hefty sum and turned his attention to Cyras. He would send her away to a finish school, teach her all the mannerisms that she would need to succeed in the social hierarchy.

There was a dark side to Niccolo. He expected total obedience, and when she misbehaved, she was severely punished. There were times when she was locked in a closet in total darkness, a puppy she loved was killed, and restrained until she would behave in the manner Niccolo desired.

Her relationship with him is very strained. Even into her 30s, she is still very fearful of how he will act, so she agreed to his plan on overthrowing the Arturis family. Niccolo didn't count on one thing.

The Crowned Prince's memories of a blonde young lady treating his fever and wounds in Spacci. He loved that little girl so and even married Ambrosia thinking that she was that woman.

Husband

cw: arranged marriage. child bride. child prostitution. Hebephilia

Shortly after Cyras turned fourteen, she was betrothed to the Steward of the Olessan Empire. Chydem was in debt to Niccolo as he borrowed money from him to fuel his obsession with boys and girls. It was either take Cyras as a wife or Niccolo would contact the Shade in order to hire the Wraith to assassinate Chydem.

Chydem was a kind husband, but his addiction for the Olessan rent boys turned Cyras' stomach. He was unfaithful numerous times, often propositioning the male staff that they employed, often buying them expensive gifts. In exchange, Cyras was allowed to start the Covelli winery -- with no input from her husband.

Once Chydem started to resist Niccolo, the Wraith assassinated. This sent Cyras into mourning, but she knew that no great man died. She thinsk that Chydem brought about his own death.

Niece

Aria Vincente is the daughter of Cyras' best friend and her sister. She is part Glorendine and Drakl. Like her father, she has the ability to use her ven to shift into a more pleasing form, allowing her to hide her more Draklian features.

Her relationship with Cyras is a bit strained. She thinks that Vincento likes her mother more than he likes her. Cyras is harder on Aria than she has been on other women she took under her wing. While Cyras does this to prepare her for the Noble Court, Aria thinks it's because Cyras doesn't think Aria and her father are worthy of her presence. That's the furthest thing from Cyras' mind as Aria is the daughter of her best friend, and, later in Book Two she finds out, her sister.

Sister

cw: trafficking of a minor. slavery

Cyras and her sister, Decima, were very close. When their parents died, Cyras knew that the Glorendine orphanage wouldn't be kind to the little girl. Cyras was young, too, but she has always had a calculating mind.

They would eventually join a street gang full of children working for the Glorendine Shadow Council. Cyras would pickpocket adults, pay the dues for both her and her sister, and give a bigger portion of any food they were eating to her sister.

Cyras originally accepts Niccolo's offer as it was a means to get Decima off the streets. She didn't foresee Niccolo separating the girls by selling her to one of his friends and selling her fate as an indenture servant.

She and Decima wouldn't see each other until the events of Cold as Ice. During these events, the sisters try to reconnect and resume their relationship, and while Cyras feels there is something off about her sister, she ignores all the red flags and pursues a relationship with Decima.

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ryehouses · 2 years ago

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NOORA POV!! im aware that she is technically your OC but she is canon in my heart. shes more developed and interesting than half the side characters in canon anyways lol. i would love to see literally anything at all about noora but if you would like specifics, more noora and fennec? noora adjusting to the way boba and fennec run things in the very early days at the palace? how does noora feel about various tusken tribes? noora’s thoughts during one of their breakfast gossip sessions?

ahhh howdy!! i am always happy to talk about noora, lol. i do love her.

i really don't have a lot of noora povs from more recent ast chapters; most of the stuff i have for her is character-building stuff i wrote to flesh out the cast, but i hope you like it anyway!

this bit is set way back at the beginning of the fic, pre-din's arrival on tatooine, and is somewhat a continuation of this snippet. has been revised to include noora's sons, whom i mentioned like twice in ast and then forgot about entirely, and still feel somewhat guilty about.

also ft. noora and some of the other twi'leks in the ahra in mos eisley!

cw for the usual tatooine shit, including mentions of slavery and what it was like to live as a slave under bib fortuna.

in which noora olgkru organizes a small rebellion.

“You asked him for a job?” Ayya Blen asked, her eyes wide with shock. Her surprise – her fear – was mirrored on many of the faces gathered together in Shiri Teksa’s cool basement. A representative from each clan of Mos Eisley’s tatoo ryl had gathered here to hear what Noora had to say about Mos Eisley’s new lord, and she could tell from the looks on many of their faces that they didn’t believe what she was saying.

Noora sighed.

“I did,” she said.

“Why?” This question came from Imiri Rha, a slim, pretty Twi’Lek with pale pink skin and intricate tattoos that vined down her lekku. She looked fragile and frail, graceful, exactly the kind of dancer that Bib Fortuna had preferred, but Imiri had always had a special sort of steel in her spine that Noora’d liked. Fortuna had sold Imiri off to a businessman in Mos Eisley a few years back to cover a debt. Noora’d missed having her around the palace.

She’d missed being able to gather in Mos Eisley with her people, too. In the last years of his life, Bib Fortuna had preferred to keep Noora close by.

Not out of particular preference – Noora was not fragile, frail or even particularly graceful, though she knew the seeliya, the Rylish dances, that most of the Twi’Lekki women on Tatooine learned to survive – but out of necessity. Fortuna had known that if Noora’d managed to get free, she would have put a knife in Fortuna’s belly herself.

Fortuna had been an idiot, but he had had a sense of self-preservation, and he’d decided that the best way to keep Noora under control was to keep her close at hand.

I can come and go as I want, now, Noora thought. It was almost insurmountable to think about. She was free. She was, for the first time in her life, getting paid in credits She could buy a house here in Mos Eisley. She could get her boys back – for years they’d lived with the Teksas, while Noora’d been trapped in the palace. Noora could actually help her people, help the ahra, instead of just doing her meager and miserable best to keep Fortuna away from the younger girls.

And Fett made that possible.

That was also almost insurmountable to think about. Noora had known Boba Fett. Well, known of him. He’d served as Lord Jabba’s fist for years. For him to come back from the dead and set all of Jabba’s old slaves free –

It’s the stuff out of a desert tale, Noora thought, wryly. She didn’t blame Ayya or Imiri for their skepticism.

But Noora had already made her decision – hadn’t asked Shiri to host the clan heads in her basement to get advice or take council – so Noora looked Ayya in the face and shrugged, twitching a lekku carelessly.

“Why not?” Noora asked.

“Because he’s a slaver!” growled Elavo Anu. He was Ayya’s opposite in every way, bold and fierce and scarred where Ayya was shy and delicate, a lifetime of surviving Mos Eisley’s fighting pits carved across Elavo’s body like most other Twi’Leks wore tattoos.

Noora resisted the urge to run a self-soothing hand over her own lekku, tracing the tattooed patterns there. It had been Shiri who’d tattooed Noora’s lekku for her, years and years ago; Noora’d been taken too young to get them done by the eldest mother in the haweli, as tradition demanded, but Shiri’d done them for Noora in this very basement the year Noora had become a woman. She’d created the pattern just for Noora, for the clan she’d made herself here on Tatooine, and when Noora’s boys were ready to become men, they would get the same patterns tattooed down their arms.

“He’s not any more,” Noora said.

Elavo snorted. “He told you that, I’m sure.”

Noora conceded the point. “He did,” she said.

Fett had set everyone – the dancers and the guards, the pit fighters Fortuna kept around to entertain himself, the maids and the kitchen staff, everyone – free before Fortuna’s body had even finished cooling on the floor.

“You can’t trust a slaver,” Elavo growled, like Noora was a child freshly-sold down the sorrowlanes instead of a woman grown, a survivor of both Jabba and Bib Fortuna and many other masters aside.

“No,” Noora agreed. “But I can trust the man who cut my chip out, can’t I?” She lifted the hem of her shirt – a proper shirt, one that Fett’s assassin had loaned to Noora when Noora’d said that all she had to wear were a dancer’s scraps – to show Elavo her scar.

It wasn’t really a scar yet, not like some of the others that Noora had. The skin was still raw and dark, flushed with blood. Fett had given Noora a bacta patch, but Noora’d taken it off after a few hours.

She wanted the wound to scar. It was proof that she was free.

“He took out all of our chips,” said Noora, looking around the room. The tatoo ryl had been gathering in Shiri’s basement for as long as Noora could remember. They had no grand haweli here on Tatooine, but Shiri’s basement served them well enough.

“Every single one,” Noora continued. She let everyone look at her scar. “All of the dancers’. The guards’. The fighters’.”

“Why would he do that?” Elavo asked. He sounded dumbstruck.

Noora lifted her chin. “Because he meant what he said,” she replied.

“And what did he say?” Old Shiri asked, speaking for the first time since Noora had come back to Mos Eisley and asked her to talk for a gathering.

Noora took a deep breath. “That he doesn’t want to keep slaves,” she said. “That he means to do things differently here.”

The murmuring surged into a roar of conversation all at once. Shouts of disbelief, of fear; a rumble of anger from those like Elavo Anu, who’d lost sons to the sorrowlanes. No one believed Noora.

Kark, she thought. I barely believe it myself. A master, letting all of his slaves go? Fortuna’d sold away many of Noora’s friends, but he’d still sold them. Passed them from one master to the next.

But Boba Fett had set Noora free. He’d promised to pay her. His assassin, Fennec Shand, had given Noora a shirt out of her own kit. They were going to let Nooora see her sons.

It had been months, now, since Noora’d last convinced Fortuna to let her leave the palace and go see the boys. Passik was five, now; Noora’d missed his name-day. Ziveri was nearly eight.

And I’ll get to see them, she thought. I’ll get to live with them. She hadn’t lived with her sons since Passik was very small. She probably could have brought him to the palace, but that would’ve meant exposing them to Fortuna, and Fortuna had sold children from their mothers without a second thought. It had all been a matter of easy credits to him.

Only old Shiri Teksa was looking at Noora, her expression thoughtful. Wise. Shiri was the oldest of the tatoo ryl. She had been a dancer for Jabba a hundred years ago, the younger Twi’Leks said, and had won her freedom by dancing the seeli guze, the holy dances of Ryloth.

But when Shiri had won her freedom, she hadn’t left. She hadn’t returned to Ryloth. She had stayed here, on Tatooine, and helped her people. Opened her home to them. Shuttled escaping slaves off down the network. Had raised children for parents like Noora, who couldn’t raise their own.

“Noora Olgkru is no liar,” Shiri said, and as usual her flimsi-thin voice cut through the noise and jostle of a dozen clan heads. Everyone quieted.

Shiri'd been the one to give Noora a clan name. Olgkru, Noora Strong-Willed; Noora had lost her clan on Ryloth, but on Tatooine she had made her own. “And she is no fool, either,” said Shiri. “Tell me true, girl; Boba Fett set all of his slaves free?”

Noora met Shiri’s eyes. “Yes,” she said.

This time, no one gasped or shouted. The room was so quiet that Noora could hear her heartbeat in her chest. Her blood moving through her ears.

Shiri tapped her walking stick against the basement’s cool dirt floor. “And you asked him for a job?” she asked. “You are working for him now?”

Noora raised her chin again, defiant. “Yes,” she said.

Shiri’s eyes gleamed.

Noora had come to Tatooine with no parents. No clan. Her brothers and sisters here had been children like herself, who’d been ripped from their families, all of them brought to Shiri to raise, to care for, to teach.

And Shiri taught us all, Noora thought, that the community – the ahra, the people – look out for each other. We don’t leave each other behind.

“Why?” Shiri asked. The other clan heads listened with bated breath.

“Because,” said Noora, “Lord Fett is going to change things. And I want to help.”

#ast asks #ast 'verse pov tag #i just!!! love noora!!!

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whumpy-writings · 3 years ago

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Salvation

Whumptober 2021 No. 6 - TOUCH AND GO bruises | touch starved | hunger

Takes place 3 months before Aaron and Henri meet- Comfort

Whumptober 2021 Masterlist / Of Vampires and Men Masterlist

CW: Vampires, slavery, claustrophobia, fear, blood, corpses

Aaron pounded on the trap door, tears streaming down his face.

One of his masters had pushed him into the hidden space under the floor, locked him inside. Aaron had heard the sounds of struggle above him, screams that had curdled his blood. That was days ago.

He was flat on his back, barely an inch of space above his nose. It was pitch black, and the dirt floor sucked away the heat from his body. He could only assume that he would die here, body slowly wasting away to thirst and hunger, to cold. And the walls, the ceiling were so close, so close, pressing in, seeming to cut off his air. He would rather die at the fangs of a vampire than like this. Trapped. Forgotten. A sob ripped out of his throat.

Hunger twisted his stomach. After the first twelve hours, he had started pounding on the door, bruising his hands. He had screamed until his voice gave out, a painful rasp scratching his throat. Now he laid numbly on the floor. There were only a couple inches between him and freedom. But he couldn’t open the door. He had tried, raking his fingernails along the edges of the door until they bled, scratching at the wood. It did no good.

What was that? Aaron strained his ears, listening. There it was again. It sounded like… like footsteps. He brought his fists to the beaten wood above him. Maybe he was imagining things, maybe his mind had finally cracked. But he would rather try than surrender to the darkness.

“Help me! Please!” he screamed, voice hoarse. Gashes opened on his hands from where they hit the rough wood, blood running down his arms and dripping onto his face. Still he hit the door, arms weak with hunger, with exhaustion.

“Please..” he whispered. He didn’t hear any more footsteps. He must have imagined it. Aaron laid his head back against the dirt, tears tracking down his face.

He jumped as something moved right above him, the wood vibrating. Then the door was flung open and he gasped as cool, clean air hit his skin. Hands reached down and pulled him out of the cellar. He sobbed, relief flooding his body. He leaned against his rescuer the feeling of solidity, of another living creature, driving away the claustrophobia that had consumed him. The fear. The hopelessness. Slowly, he registered that their skin was cold, even compared to his. Of course. A vampire.

Aaron was sobbing, heart pounding in his chest. He was relieved to be out of the cellar, but at the same time… one never knew what to expect with vampires.

He suddenly became very aware of the blood dripping from his hands. The vampire gently took his left hand and brought it to his mouth, licking the wounds closed with his cold tongue. He did the same with the right.

And that was it. The vampire didn’t sink his fangs into Aaron’s neck, his arm. He let out a sob of relief. “Thank you sir, thank you,” he said, voice cracking.

The vampire didn’t respond at first. Finally, a strangely accented voice asked, “How long were you down there?”

“I’m not sure… probably at least three days?”

“Do you know what happened here?” the vampire asked.

Aaron brought his head up from where it rested around the vampire’s chest, looking around the room for the first time. His breath stopped when he saw the bodies. His masters, all dead.

“They-they said something about the Lucians coming to collect a debt. They seemed scared, one of them put me in that cellar, where they usually keep contraband. Then I heard screams…” Aaron shivered at the memory. “I’m sorry, that’s all I know.”

The vampire seemed to consider this information. “You’re lucky they put you down there. If the Lucians found you, they would have killed you straight away.” Aaron felt his stomach twist. He had heard horror stories about the Lucians.

“Sir… do you have any food or water? I haven’t had anything in days.” Aaron knew that it was insolent to ask, but his head was swimming and he needed something, anything to fill his stomach.

The vampire looked down on him, something like pity in his eyes. “There will be some back at camp. You belong to the Torin army now.”

Aaron nodded. He expected as much. “Yes sir. Thank you, sir.”

Tag list: @thecitythatdoesntsleep @whump-cravings @thecyrulik @neverthelass @michelleswhumpyreblogs @whumpsy-daisy @the-monarch-whumperfly @aswallowimprisoned @secretwhumplair @whumpzone @whots-a-tag-precious @just-a-whumping-racoon-with-wifi @nicolepascaline @susiequaz12

#whumptober2021 #no.6 #bruises #touch starved #hunger #oc #fic #slavery tw #vampires tw #blood tw #claustrophobia tw #corpses tw #fear tw #of vampires and men #aaron the human #vampire caretaker #emotional whump #psychological whump #vampire whump

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albino-whumpee · 3 years ago

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CW// branding, slavery, self harm, possesive whumper, knives, eye whump, blood, implied death.

A boy took a knife and held it up, pulling back their head so they didn´t stain the carpets that were worth more than himself with his blood. The boy was looking to plock their own eyes out and give it to them.

He was convinced that was exactly what he was supposed to do after his Master nursed him back to health.

It was their eyes what made his Master choose him, after all. The boy thought there was no greater way to repay his debt to his master.

But when he took a deep breath and gripped on the knife, a hand snatched his wrist so hard, the knife fell to the floor.

The boy stared into his master´s blue eyes, colored in the type of horror that shouldn´t belong to someone as kind. As guilt turned his guts around, his Master kicked the knife away and cupped the boy´s face.

“What were you thinking?” he whispered, the sound even more pitiful than the look he was giving the boy. Shame washed over the boy as he looked away.

“I´m alive thanks to you. Whatever I have, I will give you. My loyalty, my heart, my eyes.... Anything will belong to you”

The boy´s Master was at a loss of words, simply staring back into his slave´s honey colored eyes that showed not even a hint of a lie. When his Master realized he was in no way joking, he took a deep breath. Face softening, he cupped the slave´s face.

“You already belong to me” he said. The boy closed his eyes when his master´s fingertips passed over the boy´s eyelids “Your eyes,” his fingertips traced the boy´s straight nose “Your nose,” going down, his master passed his thumb over the slave´s lips, “Your mouth...You don´t need to give me anything. Everything that you are, and may be, all of you, belongs to me now”

The boy was still processing his master´s words when he rested his forehead against his.

“So, don´t damage my property”

That phrase was ingrained into his mind. Burnt into it like the hot iron that had branded him when he was bought. The slave had not trained to reach excellence only to make himself useful, but to keep the promise he made to his Master back then.

A strong feeling of shame drowned him any time he went back to his Master´s tent for him to patch him up during a campaign or a fight. Despite his Master´s silence, the slave knew better than to not keep his word.

His master´s wishes were his commands.

Even if they contradicted themselves when he was sent off to the battlefield, to slaughter those who went against his lord, even if it was his own family, he would swing his sword. Would obey without a question.

That was how it was and he was rewarded with his master´s praise.

It was the promise of his praise what kept him walking through the mud the rain created when it damped the earth surrounding the raided camp. His body was getting colder with each step he took, but he was not to give up on his final journey. Not when there were so little steps left.

So he forced his lungs to breath and kept walking, limping all the way until he stumbled inside the tent, where his Master stood with his back to him. Too busy planning strategies to win the next battle.

“I´m back, sir”

“Was it a successful campaign?” the man asked, not lifting his eyes from the map displayed over the large table.

“Yes, sir. We have successfully secured the north fort” His head throbbed as the corners of his sight went black. He pulled through regardless. “I´m afraid...The losses are at the level of our triumph, sir”

The man turned his head. “What do you mean?”

But when the man turned, he saw his general´s body damped in his own blood.

“I-I´m terribly sorry, sir. I´ve ended up damaging your property” he said with a forced smile before his legs gave out below him.

For a second, he could only see the ground and feel how the blood trickled down his chin into a puddle between his knees.

His ears rang before they finally caught his master´s scream and scattering to craddle him in his arms. Using his body to support him, the slave looked up to his master´s teary face. His face, caked in blood and mud, tracing a clear line wherever his master´s tears dripped down his cheeks.

“´m sorry” the slave apologized in a whisper as his master shushed him and cleaned his face, desperately pressing over the wound in his stomach tearing a whimper out of him. Writhing his teeth, the slave took his Master´s hand into his own, “I´m sorry, Master, I-” his heart throbbed painfully as his Master looked at him with pouring tears on his eyes “I´m sorry for breaking your property, Master.”

The man before him took a ragged breath in before pulling his slave, the captain of his army, his beloved friend. into his arms.

#whump #writing #this is a sleeping story #idk if i would like to elaborate mroe than that honestly #but meh #here you go #tw branding #tw slavery #tw self harm #tw blood #tw implied death #knives #tw eye whump #possesive whumper

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mirasmirages · 3 years ago

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Mira Masterpost

Hi, I'm Mira!

I've been a part of the whump community for about two years now, mostly on Discord. Sometimes I write or draw or make other stuff, and I've role played quite a bit.

I love talking to people, so don't be afraid to say hi! I can be a bit awkward, though, so I apologize in advance for anything I say.

I've made a couple of ask games, and sometimes I send asks to people who reblog them:

Let me ask you something

Character ask game: Dating

Character ask game: Careers

Character ask game: Relationships

You can find my OCs and writing under the cut.

Henry Baker

Henry was made for a role play with @starliight-musings.

His mother died when he was nine years old and his father raised him alone after that, while drowning his feelings in alcohol and trying to deal with the debt after his wife's stay in the hospital. When Henry was 18, a man named Charles Duncan came by and offered to let Henry pay off his father's debt, and made it seem like if Henry didn't accept, his father would be killed.

Tag: #OC Henry Baker

Whumper Henry (er!Henry):

Henry managed to negotiate with Charles so that Charles would pay for his education so that Henry would be able to make himself useful and pay off the debt. He went to college and was very cool for a few years, but thanks to Charles, that didn't last. Henry grew up and started a demolition company, and then a cleaning company. For the right price, he can make anything disappear.

While er!Henry is good at the core, that core has been beaten and bruised and covered in fear and anger issues, privilege and money.

Henry, dispose of your guns - Henry gets rid of all his guns.

Haunted house - Henry and his boyfriend flirting on Halloween.

You wanna taste? - Some little drawings.

Anniversary fic - It's the anniversary of Henry getting stabbed and James saving him!

Why can't you just be happy? - Henry and James have an argument.

Whumpee Henry (ee!Henry):

In this version, Henry agreed to pay off his father's debt - and accidentally sold himself into slavery. Oops? Charles uses ee!Henry to bribe and blackmail people as he sees fit. This story is very NSFM but I haven't written any of it down yet.

Choking - Whumpee!Henry trying to do his job. 1993 words.

NoCharles Henry (nC!Henry):

What if Henry mever met Charles and got to just be himself in his wonderful self? Well, he would go to college with the help of some scholarships and be very queer and do a lot of activism. Eventually he works for and then runs a shelter that focuses on helping homeless queer people and runaways.

I don't have any writing for this but it's relevant if you're planning on reading @starliight-whump's villain!James series.

Baby, if you were words on a page, you’d be what they call FINE PRINT! - Cheesy flirting with lots of pick-up lines. Not whump. 747 words. (This doesn't belong to any particular AU, but I had to put it somewhere)

villain!Henry

In a world where some people have superpowers, 19-year-old Henry was walking outside when some powered people were fighting. The fight caused a building to collapse over Henry, nearly killing him. He wakes up in a hospital bed, where he is told that Charles Duncan saved his life and that he now owed his life to Charles. Through a lot of experiments, Charles's team gave Henry superstrength, speed and enhanced healing. Henry became the supervillain Mass Destruction, and was forced to do whatever Charles told him to.

I forgot to title this - CW: mentions of rape. 678 words. Part 2 1249 words.

Fall In Line (updates mondays) - Part one - Heroes, Part two - Contract, Part three - Therapy, Part four - Friend

Charles Duncan

Charles is a man with a lot of money and power, and he wants more of both. He owns a pharmaceutical company.

Tag: #OC: Charles Duncan

Charlotte Duncan

Charles's wife. She is completely on board with what her husband is doing.

Girl/Valerie

When er!Henry's company is hired for a cleanup job, his employees finds a little girl who is barely alive amongst the bodies. Henry gets her the help she needs to survive, but then gives her back to her owners, and the guilt won't leave him after that.

Tag: #OC: Valerie/Girl

The Christmas Gift - Part one of Single Dad AU. Henry Baker, owner of too many guns, is tricked into adopting a traumatized 8-year-old. 2385 words.

Whumpmas In July day 3: Sleep - Val has a nightmare. 638 words.

Odd and Even

Even was er!Henry's boyfriend when Henry was an exchange student in Europe, and Odd is Even's twin. They are both doctors. Odd really likes performing lobotomies and doing less than ethical experiments.

Tags: #OC: Odd Gaustad and #OC: Even Gaustad

In the dark - Henry and Even’s first date. 1095 words.

Richard and Maria

An older couple who works for er!Henry and lives in his building. They are the closest he has to parents. They don't quite support the bad things he does, but they have accepted that that's how it is, and support him as well as they can.

Tag: #OC: Maria

Hailey

A runaway teen er!Henry found on the street and let stay in the empty apartment in his building. She really wants to get a job at Henry's company but he doesn't want her to get involved.

Nadir Khan

Nadir is a fireman who works in the city Henry lives in. He's a hero in Superhero AU.

Tag: #OC: Nadir Khan

Maya Campbell

Maya is er!Henry's best friend. Like Henry, she agreed to take on her parent's debts when Charles offered. She now runs a café that is mostly normal. You should try the special blend coffee, I hear it's great. The café has soundproof rooms if you prefer some privacy. Maya can get you pretty much anything you want, if you're willing to pay the price. If you don't have money, she might agree to let you owe her a favor instead.

Tag: #OC: Maya Campbell

Mind control (1414 words) A young Maya agrees to work for Charles. (Superhero AU)

Aaron

Aaron is Maya's husband and the father of their two children. He doesn't know what exactly Maya does at her job, but he does know that he doesn't want to know, and that it's better not to ask.

Tag: #OC: Aaron Campbell

Gavin

Maya and Aaron's oldest son, born in 2015. Talkative and affectionate.

Tag: #OC: Gavin Campbell

Leo

Maya and Aaron's youngest son, born in 2017. Careful and quiet, but sharp as a knife.

Tag: #OC: Leo Campbell

Liam

Liam is one of Maya's employees. His parents sold him when he was 14, and then he was sold again when he was 18. His new home gets gradually worse, until he makes a deal with Maya so that she'll help him get away.

Tag: #OC: Liam

Andrew

Another one of Maya's employees. Andrew feels like he deserves a better life than what he got, and is bitter about it. Instead of working on himself to improve his circumstances, he decides to get a human pet. He's tidy and systematic and likes cooking.

Tag: #OC: Andrew

✄ - Kay walks in on Andrew killing someone. A-K-verse.

Sky/Sarah

Sarah was a normal teenager about to go to college when she was kidnapped and sold to Andrew, who trains her to become a pet. He names her Sky, and after a few years, there's not much left of Sarah in her.

Tag: #OC: Sky/Sarah

After Alistair - part one (983 words), part two (1030 words), part three (663 words) (Andrew-Kay-verse)

Don’t touch me! - Caretaking with Sky. 438 words. (Andrew-Kay-verse)

“What would it take for you to murder Andrew?” - Drunk!Sky talks to a stranger. Short. (Gale AU)

Whumpmas in July 2021: Day 9 - “Look at me” (Gale AU)

Gale/Sarah Assassin Duo AU - In which I do not do what the prompt says. (Gale AU)

Giggly cuddles - Kind of fluff with Sky and Andrew.

What if Andrew never managed to break Sky? - Andrew gives up on his pet.

What if Andrew went to prison for what he did to Sky? - Meta talk.

What if Sky got the happiness she deserves? - One good day. Spoilers for the Sarah story.

Starvation - Sky, pet whumpee, is underfed to force her to beg for food. 218 words.

Falling through ice - Sky is on a trip to a cabin with her owner Andrew and his friend Rory. Mostly fluff. 1074 words.

Headache - Rory babysits Sky while she has a headache, before her old identity is completely erased. 1907 words.

The Sarah Story (pet whump, lady whump) (On hiatus) (Currently unavailable):

The Sarah Story was not written to be good, it was an attempt at publishing with a consistent schedule. It has it's moments, but it's not great. One day I'll finish it and post a better version.

Part 1 - Sarah wakes up in a new, unfamiliar place. 1803 words.

Part 2 - Sarah’s first day of being kidnapped. 2004 words.

Part 3 - Sarah finally eats. 1309 words.

Part 4 - An escape attempt. 1978 words.

Part 5 - Regaining Andrew’s trust and a new chance. 1485 words.

Part 6 - Birthday Party! 924 words.

Part 7 - Going outside. 1375 words.

Rory Cooper

In Andrew-Kay, a role play with @tcurniquet's character Kay, Rory was one of Andrew's friends, who became a caretaker and helped Kay escape.

Tag: #OC: Rory

If I can’t have you - Set in Andrew-Kay-verse. What if Kay(whumpee) tried to go back to Andrew (whumper), but Rory (caretaker) didn’t like it at all? 1136 words.

Hanae

Parker belongs to @greatandquestionablecontent

Tag: #OC: Hanae

This isn't Shakespeare

Hanae is a hacker who lives in a made-up European country. She's working with a journalist to investigate why people seem to be disappearing without the government caring at all. Her not-boyfriend Parker (they are dating but Parker is not a boy) works at the NIS (National Investigation Service). Hanae and Parker don't know what each other's real jobs are. There is drama, there is torture, and the relationship will be hard to save.

Good enough - A Halloween story, set after the role play This Isn’t Shakespeare. Dating the person who tortured you can be kinda difficult sometimes. 755 words.

This isn't Burglary (NSFM (kinda))

Hanae is a burglar who thinks she's breaking into an empty house, and is surprised when Parker pins her to the wall with a knife to her throat. They tie her to the bed until they decide she's scared enough to let her go (and also Parker is too tired to keep going). They meet again some weeks later at a BDSM conference. It's very awkward but they go get milkshakes and talk. Instead of asking Parker on a date like a normal person, Hanae decides to dress up and break in again - and that's when we stopped writing, so who knows what will happen.

This isn't Buffy

Prompt fill for Febuwhump where Hanae is a vampire hunter and Parker is a cop.

Impalement (1297 words)

Succubus!Hanae (NSFM)

In which Hanae is a half-succubus who feeds on people's sexual energy. She lives in her car and travels, never staying in one place too long.

A Strange Child - Backstory from her mother's POV. 1673 words.

Prompt fill - Set a short while after A Strange Child

Hugo

Hugo is an autistic boy who loves trees, nature, pop rocks and trees. He is the first character I role played, and the one that got me started writing whump. Ignore the bizarre shoe situation in the picture please.

Tag: #OC: Hugo

Landslide - Hugo experiences a landslide. 353 words.

Norina

Val belongs to @sableflynn

Tira was born in the kingdom of Auria. Her parents couldn't affort to keep her and gave her to an orphanage.

Adoption has an important role in the religion in Auria, and when Tira was eight, she was adopted by a noble family and given the name Norina. Norina works hard to fit in with her new family, to be as similar to her new family as she can in how she looks, acts and thinks, and she becomes deeply religious. When she is 20 she gets adopted again, this time into the royal family, so that she can marry the prince of a neighbouring country and prevent a war. Unfortunately, on the way to her new countries, she is kidnapped by pirates.

Tag: #OC: Norina

Norina - Opening to Norina’s story. Nori gets adopted into the royal family and is crowned princess. 1378 words.

Distracting kisses - Val Norina modern!AU in which they (don’t) build a table. 435 words.

Nori, give Butters a bath - Val Norina modern!AU - Norina gives the cat a bath.

What if Tira (Norina) recognized Val at the ball? - The opening of Val-Norina, slightly altered.

Imprisonment (308 words) - Norina remembers her time on the ship.

"Just play along. Please." - Modern!AU Valnori. 737 words.

Whumpmas in July 2020 (finished): Tira the Little Mermaid (Valnori AU) Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Niel

Norina's brother from when she is eight to when she is twenty. They love each other a lot and are each other's closest friend. Niel gets stabbed when he tries to stop the kidnapping.

Tag: #OC: Niel

Devin

The princess/Josephine belongs to @no-whump-on-main

Devin works as a stable boy in a medieval kingdom. One night when he's twelve, he meets the princess who is sneaking out of the castle, and they become friends. Years later, the princess discovers that Devin is being abused by the cruel Stable Master and decides to get him out of there, and they run away together.

Tag: #OC: Devin

Devin and Kelsea - Devin gets his first kiss a few days before his birthday. Pure fluff. 529 words.

Pyralis/Nix

Nix is a phoenix who is sometimes reborn with a new body and none of their old memories.

Tag: #OC: Pyralis

“I can’t take this any more!” (271 words)

A mob boss character for a pet story I might write in the future.

Tag: #OC: M

You know what I want

36 notes · View notes

octopus-reactivated · 3 years ago

Text

Werner and the trash - the argument

Tw/cw: Manipulative language, brief mention of abuse/suicide, accusing character of stupidity/bad intentions (tell me if i missed anything), the whole argument is about Pet whumpees

“I just don’t understand why you are so mean” said his roommate as soon as he entered the room

“I’m not mean I just think your whole worldview is wrong,” Werner replied, throwing the textbooks on the bed.

This argument was going on for so long and was so tiring. He missed his old roommates. They were annoying sometimes… most of the time, acting loudly and drinking alcohol in the room, but at least they were not Pet Trainers.

“It’s slavery”

“They consented to it, so i don’t see the problem”

“You don’t see a problem? You don’t see the problem??”

“Well yes, like I said. You don’t have to become a Pet or buy any if you don’t like the idea, but I would appreciate it if you didn’t try to force everyone to share your worldview.”

“But it’s wrong!”

“Now you’re acting like a jerk. It’s wrong for you and you don’t accept that someone can have a different opinion”

Werner sighted.

“Well, there might be places where we can’t allow ourselves to have a spectrum of opinions. Pets should be illegal”

“Oh, so you’re saying that if your gabinet would come to the injured Pet you would refuse to help them because it doesn’t fit with your ideas. That’s cruel, bro”

“I didn’t say…”

“Yeah, you didn’t say that but it implied that. But for real, it’s an opportunity for a lot of people.Or would you prefer them in abusive households, homeless or in debt for the rest of their life?”

“There are other options available”

“Yeah? How many people have you saved from a partner that beats them up? From living on the street? From suicide? Oh, none? That’s right, we’re actually doing something for those people. But you don’t care about that.”

“Is it a better life tho? Getting treated like an animal?”

“They knew their life better and apparently, yes. No one becomes Pet by accident” said Marven

“Well, I'm not sure about that…” Werner said more to himself, than to his roomate

“What do you mean by that?”

“Um… just… isn’t this suspicious how many people are willing to become one? You know what rumors say…”

Marven stopped for a while and then busted into laughter

“Oh my, I didn't know you were one of those people!” he giggled for a while “Next thing and you will say you’re against Pets because we make sure they’re vaccinated”

“We’re not talking about that”

“Huh, you didn’t deny that? I would expect more from a person who wants to be a doctor”

“We’re not talking about that”

“You know, we wouldn’t want our subject to start spreading black death, is that too much for you?”

“There is no vaccine for black death. And we’re not talking about that, we’re talking about morality of turning people into human-pets”

“You started the tinfoil hat stuff. Are you afraid we will push the disobedient ones from the edge of the Earth?”

“I’m not a conspiracy theorist”

“Do you believe we kidnap random people from the streets to make them Pets?”

“I might suspect that…”

“Then you’re a conspiracy theorist. I knew you were a jerk, but i thought you were reasonable jerk”

“Well, you can’t say for sure…”

“I CAN. I’m a Trainer”

“I’m sure you wouldn’t tell me if it were true”

“Oh yes ‘that’s what they want you to think’ card. Classic”

Werner sighted again. Looks like he lost this argument

#Werner <3 #i'm nervous with this one

17 notes · View notes

kalligfamilysoapopera · 4 years ago

Photo

CHARACTER PROFILE: Kirsi Solaan-Rayo

FULL NAME: Kirsi Mireya Solaan-Rayo AGE (As of 10 ATC): 18 GENDER: Nonbinary (They/Them) SPECIES: Human/Cyborg

CLASS: Sith Inquisitor COMBAT STYLE: Lightning Sorcerer (Through KOT** expansions), Seer Sage (Onslaught and onward)

LEGACY: Solaan-Jyoti SERVER: Star Forge

Full bio below the cut. cw for child abuse, human experimentation, slavery/human trafficking, parent death, cults, and brainwashing.

Early Life

Kirsi was born on Nar Shaddaa to Mico Solaan, an Engineering Chief at Deucalon Spaceport, and Alita Rayo Satara, a researcher working on a cure for the Rot. They spent their early childhood with their parents in a nice, upper-middle-class apartment, up until they were nearly seven years old.

Unbeknownst to the Solaan-Rayo family, Mico’s estranged brother, Tera Solaan, had accrued a massive gambling debt that he couldn’t pay off. Tera reached out to Mico, stating that he wished to reconcile, and Mico agreed to meet him, but did not return home from the meeting. The following day, armed thugs arrived at the Solaan-Rayo apartment, seizing Alita and Kirsi. Tera, unable to pay his debt, had sold his three remaining family members to get the credits he needed.

The three of them were brought to the Erolux Sentient Research Center, where they were placed in a small apartment. Various forms of psychological conditioning and drugs were used on Kirsi’s parents to manipulate their perception of the world around them, and their interactions with one another, as well as their child, were monitored as part of a twisted experiment.

Kirsi, who was still too young to fully understand what was going on, was thrown into a life of instability. One day, everything would be fine. The next, their parents would be yelling, fighting, or hurting one another or Kirsi. Then they would disappear, then be brought back, remembering nothing of what had happened before.

Kirsi spent three years in this unstable ‘household’, quickly growing to distrust their parents, unaware of what was making them behave that way. For all they knew, they had just moved to a smaller apartment, Then, one day, there was a miscalculation by the brainwashers-- Mico was made a little too aggressive, and struck Alita a little too hard. Kirsi watched their father kill their mother at the dinner table one night, turn on them, and then watched him be promptly struck down by a blaster bolt to the neck.

The ten-year-old was extracted from the apartment and, with the experiment effectively ended prematurely, and with the trauma of their parents’ deaths seared into their mind, Kirsi was deemed unsuitable as a specimen for further research.

Erolux sold Kirsi with a group of other “failed experiments,” where they were purchased by a small Imperial Laboratory that was working on a Super-Soldier Project. There, Kirsi was brutally trained in combat to use an arsenal of weapons, and underwent painful cybernetic augmentations, including the replacement of all four of their limbs. They spent eight years ‘in development’ at the laboratory. Where, with Erolux, Kirsi had had the illusion of living a normal life, here, they were treated like an object, a project-- less sentient than a droid.

Then, their Force Sensitivity was discovered when a Sith Lord overseeing the project came to inspect the subjects. The Sith, Lord Veratan, realised that Kirsi was surpassing the other subjects not only because of their augmentations, but also by using the Force. Veratan was, however, less than pleased with this-- Kirsi’s Force Sensitivity would skew the data-- and ordered that Kirsi be sent to Korriban, either to become Sith, or to die.

Sith Acolyte

GEAR Head: -- Chest: Neophyte Robe Wrists: -- Hands: Series 614 Cybernetic Hands Waist: -- Legs: Neophyte’s Lower Robe Feet: Neophyte Anklewraps - Dye: -- Weapon: Sith Practice Blade - Crystal: -- It was difficult for Kirsi to transition between research specimen and Sith acolyte. They spent the voyage aboard a small cruiser with a handful of others in a similar situation-- former slaves of the Empire sent to Korriban to become Sith with no say in the matter. Kirsi became rather close to one in particular, Kory, the first being to speak to them like a person in about as long as they could remember. By the time they reached Korriban, Kirsi had opened up a bit and gotten used to speaking and holding conversations again.

When Kirsi arrived on Korriban, they were assigned to Overseer Harkun, who took an instant dislike to them, and tried to get them killed at every possible opportunity. Though initially unenthusiastic about being forced to become Sith, Kirsi gained much more ambition simply because of the pushback from Harkun. They quickly developed a sharp tongue and haughty attitude in response. This infuriated Harkun more, which only stoked Kirsi’s own resolve. With Kory’s death and a budding rivalry with another acolyte, Ffon Althe, Kirsi was pushed to success, rather than beaten down.

Though Harkun hated them, Kirsi became the favorite of Lord Zash, their potential future master. Though distrustful of Zash, as they were of everyone, Kirsi enjoyed the respect that the Sith Lord offered them-- something nearly unheard of before now.

As a part of their final trial, Kirsi freed the Dashade, Khem Val, who begrudgingly vowed to serve them. Knowing how it feels to be seen as a tool, Kirsi felt a kinship with the Dashade, and vowed to treat Khem as a person-- hoping that eventually, Khem would warm up to them.

As the only successful Acolyte of the group, much to Harkun’s despair, Kirsi became the Apprentice of Lord Zash and left Korriban for Dromund Kaas.

Sith Apprentice

GEAR Head: Pragmatic Master’s Helmet Chest: Saber Marshal’s Robe Wrists: Covert Wrist Energy Armor Hands: Series 614 Cybernetic Hands Waist: Nathema Zealot’s Clasp Legs: Nathema Zealot’s Lower Robe Feet: Nathema Zealot’s Boots - Dye: -- Weapon: Sorcerer’s Lightsaber - Crystal: Imperial Crimson

Important Story Notes

Dromund Kaas

Completes the Revanite questline along with the class story, becomes a Revanite and does not betray them. As someone not particularly fond of the Sith Empire, they don’t mind undermining it.

As someone on a similar level to Darth Skotia in terms of cybernetics, they find the whole affair rather uncomfortable, and don’t particularly like knowing that Zash has the ability to cripple cyborgs to that degree.

Doesn’t much care about Lord Kallig’s claims of ancestry. Kirsi has long since given up caring about family.

Defends Zash from Kallig, and wants to be able to trust her, though in truth they remain wary and heed the warnings.

Balmorra

Completes the Planetary Series and Planetary Bonus Series with mostly Light Side choices. Kirsi is not particularly fond of Darth Lachris.

Frees Hiran Bessiker, not without trading a few insults though. Kirsi is not fond of Hiran, and doesn’t free him to be a good person-- they free him because they have grown a bit attached to Major Bessiker.

No stranger to being injected with strange substances, being given the Colicoid DNA Serum is uncomfortable, but not unordinary for them.

Kirsi leaves Balmorra quite fond of both Major Bessiker and Iannos Tyrek, and lets both of them live and allows Tyrek to leave the Empire.

Nar Shaddaa

Kirsi chooses to cure the Rot to gain support. During the process, they find out that the cure is the same one that their mother, Alita, had begun work on. It’s both bittersweet and traumatic, being so close to something from their early life.

They complete the second portion of the Nar Shaddaa Planetary, working with the Imperial Reclamation Service to enter Revan’s Vault. They spare the Ongree and take a piece of the Infinite Engine back to the Reclamation Service.

Kirsi kills Lord Paladius and gives the cult to Destris Veran and Rylee Dray before leaving Nar Shaddaa. They don’t have too much interest in it after their mission is complete.

They were incredibly uncomfortable with the way that Paladius managed to sever them from the Force, which is part of the reason they killed him. Otherwise, they just found his behaviour distasteful.

Kirsi then goes to Korriban at Kallig’s behest and duels Lord Khreusis for Kallig’s Countenance. They still don’t want to believe that Zash will betray them, but they are a bit concerned by Kallig’s news, so they want every advantage they can get. Khreusis is incredibly irritating, and they have no qualms killing him.

Tatooine

At first, Kirsi doesn’t get along very well with Andronikos Revel, but bonds with him while hunting the artefact and his crew. In the end, they’re very happy to have him.

Completes the Tatooine Planetary Arc. Is fond of Darth Silthar, and a little upset when he dies.

Is deeply upset by the Imprisoned One’s cybernecrotic soldiers and chooses to destroy the Mind Prison.

Goes to find Veshikk Ur with Khem Val.

Completes the Tatooine Bonus Series.

By the time they’re finally able to leave Tatooine, they are very tired of it and never want to go back. Each additional questline is yet another failed attempt to leave the planet.

The First Meeting

While working with the Imperial Reclamation Service, Kirsi’s search leads them to a vault in the Dune Sea. There, while attempting to infiltrate the abandoned vault, they run into Jedi Shadow Nairah Jyoti. The pair debate on fighting one another, neither really wanting to do so, but decide to team up on a spur of the moment when they are attacked by the Imprisoned One’s cybernecrotic minions. After the battle, Nairah and Kirsi both agree that the mind prison holding the Imprisoned One must be destroyed. A bit battered and tired from the fight and from wandering the desert, the pair accompany one another back through the Dune Sea. As they near civilisation, Sith and Jedi part ways peacefully-- deciding that, if they do have to fight, they will do it another day.

Alderaan

Kirsi is not fond of dealing with the political climate of Alderaan. They find themself rather ill-equipped for it.

Kirsi attempts to reconcile Nomar Organa and Rehanna Rist-- they don’t see a reason to kill Organa, as they have nothing in particular against the Jedi, and they find it a bit entertaining to subvert their expectations of a Sith.

They really thought that Organa was being genuine, but they didn’t mind killing him after he broke Rehanna’s heart again.

When Elana Thul asks for help stopping House Organa’s attack on House Thul, Kirsi agrees and fights them back.

When Kirsi goes to retrieve Kallig’s lightsaber, they spare Mia Escalus without any torture, allow Gyl Rosen’s mercenaries to flee, but kill Rosen himself.

Zash’s betrayal is not unexpected, but still deeply upsetting to Kirsi. Despite their wariness, they had wanted everything to turn out alright. Instead of a normal battle, Zash used the device that Kirsi used against Skotia to weaken them during the fight, an event that traumatised Kirsi even further. When Zash’s consciousness ends up inside of Khem Val, they vow to find a way to get her out.

Sith Lord

GEAR Head: Pragmatic Master’s Helmet Chest: Nathema Zealot’s Robe Wrists: Covert Wrist Energy Armor Hands: Series 614 Cybernetic Hands Waist: Nathema Zealot’s Clasp Legs: Nathema Zealot’s Lower Robe Feet: Nathema Zealot’s Boots - Dye: Black & Dark Red Weapon: Lord Kallig’s Scorching Lightsaber - Crystal: Imperial Crimson

Important Story Notes

After Zash’s betrayal Kirsi changes quite a bit, becoming more interested in gaining power for themself, so that they cannot be bested as they nearly were by Zash. They inherit Zash’s power base, including her apprentices Corrin and Kaal, and take on the mantle of Lord Kallig.

Unlike with Zash, Kirsi distrusts Darth Thanaton from the beginning, but sees no choice other than to follow his orders. Their true station within the Empire, despite being a Lord, becomes apparent. Kirsi is not surprised at Thanaton’s attempt to get them killed, just bitterly proven right.

After learning the Force Walking ritual and binding Darth Ergast, Kirsi creates a pact with Darth Andru, rather than binding him forcibly.

Taris

Though embittered now, Kirsi is not cruel or manipulative toward Ashara Zavros, and doesn’t seek out confrontation with her or her masters. Their bitterness is personal and not applied to everyone. There is still a degree of discomfort to their relationship, and Kirsi thinks that they are genuinely helping Ashara by teaching her to use the Dark Side.

Binds Kalatosh Zavros forcibly due to the way he spoke to Ashara.

Between Taris and Quesh, Kirsi becomes involved in an operation dealing with the escape of Revan from the Maelstrom Prison, working with three others in an Imperial Strike Team. They defeat Revan at the Foundry.

Quesh

Kirsi was extremely upset by the deaths of Corrin and Kaal. This became a tipping point-- they fly into a rage and kill Lord Cineratus, the first time they completely lose control in battle.

A Friendship Forms

In the aftermath of losing their apprentices to Thanaton’s machinations, Kirsi runs into an old acquaintance. Nairah Jyoti, now a Jedi Master at (by her own admission) far too soon, has been having some struggles of her own. Both struggling with recent events the two of them spend the night camping together, speaking freely this time about their struggles and offering one another some small comfort. Unknowingly, Kirsi in their despair encourages some of Nairah’s doubts about her place with the Jedi, while her seemingly steadfast commitment to the light doesn’t do much to soothe Kirsi’s rattled emotions. Still, they find that they enjoy one another’s company and, rather than putting off their fight further, decide to become friends. They generate a private frequency, and promise that, when talking or spending time with one another, they will not think about their allegiances.

Hoth

Initially, Kirsi is a little irritated and impatient with Talos Drellik, but Talos' prescence proved balancing to an increasingly-agitated Kirsi, and they quickly became fond of the lieutenant. So much so that they allowed Talos to take the time to make a record of the tomb they needed to desecrate.

Binds Horak-Mul forcibly because his requests caused Talos distress, and Kirsi isn't fond of people who make demands of them.

When the ghosts overtook Kirsi’s body, and they began deteriorating, they became extremely depressed, and considered giving up entirely. It took the encouragement of their crew, as well as Nairah, to keep going and find a way to control it and recover.

Belsavis

Kirsi chose to free the Mother Machine, Ashaa, and allowed her to eradicate the Rakata. They don’t have much sympathy for the species that wishes to enslave the galaxy. In addition to restructuring Kirsi’s body to be able to withstand Force-Walking, they also requested that their natural limbs be restored, a request that Ashaa granted. Though Kirsi kept their neural implants and monitoring systems, their body was no longer made up of a majority of outdated mechanical parts and, thus, would no longer be able to be targeted by attacks specifically meant to damage droids or cyborgs.

As a result of their rebuilding, Kirsi’s ability to channel Force Lightning was both reduced and enhanced-- as they had had a habit of using their cybernetic limbs to increase the strength of their lightning, but doing so also caused quite a bit of pain and damage to themself. Now, because they were able to use their abilities without simultaneously harming themself, though a bit weaker in the moment, they are able to sustain a fight for far longer.

While on Belsavis, Kirsi also completes the Planetary Series and frees the Dread Masters.

When attempting to contact Nairah after their mission is successful, Kirsi finds that they are unable to get through to the Jedi. They are rather concerned, but do not have the time to attempt again, as they are contacted by Moff Pyron.

They are initially very distrustful of Pyron, and keep their guard up, but eventually realise that they will need Pyron’s support to take down Thanaton and secure their position in the Empire. They obtain the CN 12 chip on Nar Shaddaa, while Force Persuading the members of the Veil to join them, rather than turning over control of the cult on Nar Shaddaa.

Voss

Kirsi binds the spirit of Mar-Da.

When leaving Voss with Hadrik, Kirsi Force-persuades Sor-Nak into believing that Hadrik is not there, wishing to fulfill their promise to the Gormak.

Kirsi leaves Voss with a very negative opinion on the Voss overall, based on the way they treated them, as well as the way they treated the Gormak.

While a little concerned about Xalek’s “unconventional methods”, Kirsi was quick to take the Kaleesh’s side over Harkun’s, and gladly took Xalek as an apprentice and killed Harkun.

When testing the Silencer weapon, Kirsi has Darth Achelon’s flagship destroyed along with the Republic Fleet. They eagerly accept Thanaton’s challenge to a Kaggath on Corellia.

Corellia

Not only does Kirsi complete the main story, but they also complete the Corellia Planetary Series and win Corellia for the Empire-- a suggestion made by their crew so that the public opinion of them in the Empire is improved, and thus turned in their favour.

Kirsi defeats Darth Thanaton for good on Korriban and gains the title of Darth Nox and a Dark Council seat as the head of the Sphere of Ancient Knowledge. Though they have achieved all they fought for, they refuse to free the ghosts they have bound-- a decision they will come to regret as time goes on.

Darth Nox

GEAR Head: -- Chest: Hallowed Gothic Vestments Wrists: Covert Wrist Energy Armor Hands: Covert Hand Energy Armor Waist: Hallowed Gothic Sash Legs: Hallowed Gothic Lower Robes Feet: Nathema Zealot’s Boots - Dye: -- Weapon: Lord Kallig’s Scorching Lightsaber - Crystal: Black-Red Striated

The first thing that Kirsi does as a Dark Lord of the Sith is to get rid of Zash for once and for all, trapping her inside of a mind prison and freeing Khem Val from her influence.

The Beginnings of a Change

No more than a few days later does Kirsi receive a message from Nairah-- after months of silence. Nairah is on Corellia, fighting a friend that is under the control of the Sith Emperor. She hadn’t contacted Kirsi for all this time due to their allegiances, but after hearing that Kirsi had succeeded in gaining control of the ghosts in their mind, Nairah turns to them, hoping that they might be able to help.

Kirsi travels to Corellia in secret to meet Nairah, who has changed greatly since they last met as she drifted closer to the Dark Side. Their discussion leads to a disagreement, which leads to a fight between them-- a fight that ends in a stalemate, in which Kirsi realises that for their friendship to remain, and for Nairah’s own sake, she must hold on to the light and save her friend. They end their battle, Nairah finds peace and a new resolve, and Kirsi tells her that they are her friend first, Sith second. Before they leave Nairah to complete her mission, she asks them, “what about you?”

Kirsi refuses to renounce the Dark Side for themself, claiming that it is the only way for them-- but insisting that, at least for Nairah, she can still hold onto her hope for the good in others.

The False Emperor

Kirsi and Nairah meet once again on Ilum, after Darth Malgus declares himself Emperor. Much to the surprise of everyone, Kirsi suggests a temporary alliance-- a strike team made up of both Imperial and Republic fighters-- and enlists Nairah’s help to create it and accomplish the mutual goal of defeating Malgus. Their statuses as members of their respective high councils aid them in gathering enough support for this, and Malgus is defeated.

Though the Dark Council is not entirely pleased, Kirsi defends their choices-- claiming that, if they are able to use the Republic’s resources to accomplish their goals, why not? They can always go back to spilling one another’s blood the very next day.

The Dread Masters

Not long after, the alliance continued as the Dread Masters went rogue and began terrorising the galaxy. Feeling somewhat responsible, Kirsi led the hunt for them. When Nairah was assigned to the campaign on the Republic’s side, the pair shared information, until they actually met up together on Oricon, working in tandem to stop the Dread War.

The Revanites & The Sith Emperor

With their reputation for forming unconventional alliances now more well-known, it isn’t surprising that another pair of unconventional allies would seek their aid. Sith Lord Lana Beniko and SIS Agent Theron Shan worked with Kirsi and Nairah to uncover and defeat the new Revanites-- a group that Kirsi was once a part of. The pair went undercover on Rishi and helped to spearhead the joint coalition on Yavin 4.

The coalition defeated the reborn Revan and stopped the Revanites’ plans, but not before the Emperor’s spirit escaped to Ziost. Despite their best efforts, Kirsi and Nairah were unable to stop the Emperor from destroying all life on the planet.

The Rise of Zakuul

After Ziost, the Emperor fled, and the Coalition’s forces went in search of them. While Nairah was on the flagship with Darth Marr, Kirsi was on another warship, commanding a portion of the Coalition’s forces. As the Eternal Fleet destroyed the Coalition’s fleet, Kirsi and their crew narrowly escaped death or capture by this strange new force. Nairah was lost-- presumed dead, but due to their Force Bond, Kirsi claimed otherwise. Still, they could not find her. As Zakuul’s forces descended upon the galaxy, conquering both Empire and Republic, Kirsi’s stubborn insistence that they search for Nairah set them at odds with the Dark Council, though this conflict was cut short as most of the Councillors were killed by Zakuul. Kirsi, for their part, abandoned the Empire entirely. In the chaos, they found themself alone, heading into Wild Space in search of anything that could lead them to Nairah.

The Outlander

GEAR Head: -- Chest: Remnant Yavin Inquisitor’s Chestpiece Wrists: Covert Wrist Energy Armor Hands: Covert Hand Energy Armor Waist: Hallowed Gothic Sash Legs: Nathema Zealot’s Lower Robes Feet: Nathema Zealot’s Boots - Dye: -- Weapon: Lord Kallig’s Scorching Lightsaber - Crystal: Black-Red Striated

While on Zakuul, Kirsi finds themself captured by the Eternal Empire. They spend several months in prison. Eventually, they were sprung from prison by Lana Beniko, and spent the next few years by her side, along with Koth Vortena, searching for information about Nairah and opposing Emperor Arcann and the Eternal Empire.

Once, during their time on Zakuul, Kirsi came into conflict with Vaylin. Though their battle was cut short before a victor could be decided, Vaylin divulged some information to Kirsi that would prove useful, referencing a “special prisoner” that Arcann kept frozen in carbonite in a vault. Kirsi took that information back to Lana, and their group looked into it.

Five years after the Eternal Empire’s first attack, Kirsi, Lana, and a Republic Droid that had joined their efforts, T7-01, mounted a rescue mission and extracted Nairah from her carbonite prison, escaping into the wilds of Zakuul. There, they found an ancient ship, the Gravestone, capable of taking on the Eternal Fleet.

Reunited with their long-time partner at last, Kirsi was overjoyed, but less so to learn that Nairah’s body was playing host to the consciousness of the former emperor Valkorion. They vowed, as someone with a lot of experience in the matter, to help Nairah to either control or expel him as needed.

The pair soon became very close-- even closer than they had been during their coalition days, and their force bond became even stronger, much to the mockery and concern of the spirits residing within both of their minds. As they fled from and fought the Eternal Empire side-by-side, they became highly attuned to one another, stronger together than alone.

The Alliance Commander

GEAR Head: -- Chest: Scion’s Vestments Wrists: Covert Wrist Energy Armor Hands: Covert Hand Energy Armor Waist: Scion’s Belt Legs: Scion’s Lower Robe Feet: Nathema Zealot’s Boots - Dye: -- Weapon: Odessen Lightsaber - Crystal: Frost White

As joint Commander of the Eternal Alliance, alongside Nairah, Kirsi’s outlook began to shift. Working to oppose the Eternal Empire, with old and new friends and allies by their side, as well as forming a new community on Odessen, caused them to finally begin to truly heal. Being able to be with Nairah openly, too, was refreshing.

With the Alliance, Kirsi began to turn away from the Dark Side, and with Nairah’s guidance and help, turned their focus fully away from a grab for power and to the betterment of the galaxy.

The pair spent some time in the wilderness of Odessen, where they were taught to find balance by Darth Marr and Satele Shan. They forged new lightsabers together.

When Arcann attacked Odessen, Kirsi and Nairah confronted him aboard his flagship and brought him down, but didn’t kill him. As they left, they learned that Senya Tirall had taken her son and fled. Kirsi, angered at Senya’s betrayal, wants to strike out at her, but Nairah convinces them that they don’t need to-- that even Arcann deserves a chance to heal.

Having been through a healing process themself, Kirsi relents, and allows them to escape.

Vaylin takes the Eternal Throne, and the Alliance continues their fight. While on Voss, they meet with Senya and Arcann once again-- where Senya uses her own life force to heal her son from the Darkness within him.

Kirsi is surprised by the arrival of the Empire to aid them, and somewhat mistrustful of Acina’s motivations, having known her while a part of the Empire themself. However, they agree to meet with Acina on Dromund Kaas to discuss an alliance. Nairah, meanwhile, has received a similar offer from her old allies in the Republic. The two split off to their former factions. Kirsi and Acina are betrayed, targeted by Republic Chancellor Saresh. After they survive the assassination attempt, Kirsi returns to Odessen to find that Saresh has been preparing to take control of the alliance. They kill Saresh, falling back into their former Dark Side ways before Nairah returns from what was a diversion meant to split the two commanders up, and hopefully to convince her to betray Kirsi. Nairah is displeased by Kirsi’s actions, but forgives them, though their relationship is a bit strained.

Later, the two travel to Nathema, where they learn of the horrifying conditioning that young Vaylin underwent and feel the desolation of the force-void planet. Though more so for Nairah than Kirsi, this journey fosters some sympathy for the Empress within them.

When Vaylin attacks Odessen, Kirsi and Nairah defend their Alliance from her, splitting up to save both of their allies that she’s pinned down. While aiding Torian Cadera, Vaylin arrives, and she and Kirsi begin to duel. Vaylin beats Kirsi back to the Alliance’s base, with Kirsi forced on defence but holding their own. At the base, they are joined by Nairah, Senya, and Arcann. With their partner by their side, Kirsi quickly defeats Vaylin and prepares to deal the killing blow as Vaylin’s power storms out of control, but Nairah stops them, and-- with great effort-- performs a modified version of her shielding ritual on Vaylin to contain-- but not bind-- her power.

With Vaylin shielded, her control over the Eternal Fleet lapsed, and the fleet began firing on planets across the galaxy. Nairah falls unconscious as a result of the ritual leaving a distraught Kirsi to travel to Zakuul to claim the Eternal Throne. After seating themself on the throne, Valkorion, who had jumped from Nairah’s mind to Kirsi’s through their force bond, attempts to seize control. Kirsi, shocked by the sudden development, has some difficulty fighting him off, but with the aid of Valkorion’s family, as well as Nairah’s consciousness having followed Valkorion into Kirsi’s mindscape, Valkorion is ultimately defeated.

The Eternal Fleet and the planets of Eternal Empire space became absorbed into the Alliance as a new galactic superpower alongside the Republic and the Sith Empire. While both sides prepare for war, the Alliance remains neutral, focusing on helping the galaxy to rebuild and creating a new government consisting of Odessen, Zakuul, and other Eternal Empire worlds in what was formerly Wild Space.

On Iokath, the Alliance comes into conflict with the Empire and the Republic, and Kirsi and Nairah deal with their former factions in order to prevent them from seizing a superweapon on the planet. They manage to prevent Jace Malcolm and Empress Acina from accessing the weapon, but in doing so revealed that they had been playing double-agent in trying to prevent both factions from gaining the superweapon. Nairah claimed that “such a thing doesn’t need to be unleashed upon the galaxy.” While none are too happy about it, Acina is particularly upset, and claims the Iokathi throne, awakening the Old Gods and being seriously wounded.

Kirsi, remembering that Acina had aided them against Zakuul, attempts to heal her-- and, surprising everyone, manages to save her life. Nairah convinces Malcolm that a temporary truce is advisable, and all three factions join forces to stop the Old Gods from decimating the galaxy.

The crisis averted and the temporary truce dissolved, the Alliance returns to its uneasy state in the galaxy-- a bit at odds with both other factions, but because of the Eternal Fleet, neither of them desire to attack.

This changes when the Order of Zildrog rises. Theron’s “betrayal” hits Kirsi hard. After things seemed to be getting better, another betrayal threatens to send them spiralling back, but Nairah tempers them with the thought that there might be more to it-- and when Theron proves to have only betrayed them in name, Kirsi is relieved, though a little wary of him for some time.

A far more pressing concern is the destruction of the Eternal Fleet, the Eternal Throne, and the Gravestone-- leaving the Eternal Alliance without its greatest power sources, and vulnerable.

Defector from the Empire

GEAR Head: -- Chest: Remnant Resurrected Consular’s chestpiece Wrists: Covert Wrist Energy Armor Hands: Covert Hand Energy Armor Waist: Scion’s Belt Legs: Scion’s Lower Robe Feet: Nathema Zealot’s Boots - Dye: -- Weapon: Odessen Lightsaber - Crystal: Frost White

No longer a Galactic Superpower, the leaders of the Eternal Alliance meet to discuss which faction to support-- as they can no longer remain neutral and trust that they will not be targeted.

Having seen both factions’ good and bad, Kirsi and Nairah decide to join the Republic. The decision is a bit difficult for Kirsi, but not too difficult-- and far better than joining the Empire that had tormented and enslaved them. While the Republic and the Jedi are initially wary of Kirsi’s path as a Dark Councillor, Nairah assures them that they have no need to worry.

Kirsi begins developing their Force Healing skills, something they are surprisingly good at. Though they work with Nairah and other Jedi to unlearn their reliance on the Dark Side, they elect not to become a Jedi yet.

When Vitiate/Valkorion/Tenebrae makes an appearance yet again, Kirsi and Nairah must confront him yet again, this time along with Kira Carsen, a Jedi and former Child of the Emperor (a fact that Nairah has some concern with) and Lord Scourge, the former Emperor’s Wrath. Joined by Arcann, Senya, and Vaylin, who has recovered substantially and begun to heal from her trauma and injuries. Initially skeptical of allowing Vaylin to come along, Kirsi vouches for her, as the two had been working together for some time to heal from their pasts.

Together they get rid of Tenebrae forever, and once he’s gone, the Alliance-- and their Republic allies-- turn their attention to dealing with the new threat that a rogue Darth Malgus poses to the galaxy.

#swtor #star wars the old republic #swtor oc #sith inquisitor #solaan jyoti legacy #kirsi solaan rayo #nairah jyoti #oc: kirsi solaan rayo #character profile #this was a doozy

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wh-wh-whu · 4 years ago

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Ooooh I have questions about Ni’s mark. How did he get it? What does it do? It he considered a lil more valuable because of his powers or is that more commonplace?

Hi, thank you for the ask! ^_^

CW: slavery, magical master/slave bond, mention of forced self-harm, dehumanization

Once upon a time in a different era, Jay’s ancestor and Ni’s ancestor did a sort of ritual to create this magic bond between them. Ni’s ancestor was a free man but he had a big debt to Jay’s ancestor, so to pay it he either had to give his life or a eternity of servitude. It was a more common thing back then, but as time passed this original ritual was lost. It was to last an eternity, but since all involved are mortal with regular human lifespans, this “debt” is passed to the descendants.

Ni was not born with the mark, but he got it in a secondary ritual (which has been passed through the generations in Jay’s family) when he was a child. Before getting the mark, he had more freedom to think whatever he wanted, but with both Jay’s father and his own father watching his every move and ready to punish every misstep, he didn’t really get to enjoy it.

The mark is like a tattoo on his chest and is basically a magic shock collar. It causes him pain when he disobeys his Master, intentionally or not, and also if he even thinks badly of Master or if he complains, out loud or not, about the orders or the punishments. Jay orders him to hurt himself knowing that he gets the physical pain if he obeys and the pain from the mark if he disobeys - also some extra pain from thinking “this hurts”. Also on a certain level the mark “knows” some things Ni doesn’t about Jay’s wishes and intentions - for example, Ni thinks that despite Jay ordering him to obey Jane too, he wouldn’t want his “beloved” spending so much time with another man, but Jay actually prioritizes Jane’s comfort (despite being awful at knowing what to do to help) and he knows she enjoys Ni’s company so he doesn’t mind. When Ni is around Jane, he feels guilty and afraid of when the pain will come but it doesn’t, not from only them spending time together at least.

I never stopped to think if this makes him more valuable or not, because I never thought of the possibility of Jay selling him or something. One thing is that the mark doesn’t accept a change of Master, so Jay would have to order Ni to obey his new owner, which would have kind of the same effect. Since the original ritual was lost, there aren’t new marks being made except on the descendants of people who already had it, so it is kinda rare. Some people find it fascinating, the possibility of having a perfectly obedient slave who gets punished without them having to lift a finger. Some people who have met Ni find him a bit disturbing to watch because of how good he is at not reacting when he is being hurt, as if he has lost some basic human instinct. No one, not even Jay, really knows how it feels for him to have the mark, so sometimes it seems to them that he lacks something that even other slaves have, if he is truly disconnected from his body or if he gets some sort of pleasure from obeying. Also since Ni has to obey Jay and Jay only, he is sometimes ruder to other free people than most slaves, specially if one tries to touch him since “no one is allowed to touch Master’s property”. This change of attitude, from quietly accepting whatever Jay does to him to snapping at a simple touch from anyone else is considered disturbing.

Also fun facts, completely speculative:

- If a descendant of someone who is marked (that is, went through the secondary ritual) was not marked, they would live normally for some years and then they would start getting really sick, until they either got marked or died. To pay the original debt.

- There is a different ritual that can be used to free one who is marked. The physical mark stays, but it has no power to cause pain anymore. This one too was lost with time.

#my series: ni and jay and jane

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gallowswhump · 3 years ago

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The End of Waiting For the Bad Times to Start

Cygnus has never found what he is looking for. He's only ever found trouble. This time the trouble is too much.

CW: Slavery, Fire, Burns, Abuse/Torture, Kidnapping, Hunting, Forced Captivity, Serious Injury, Swearing

Seven years eleven months twenty five days.

You have to do something about this. Cygnus swallows as he looks at the camp of slavers from his perching spot. They were preparing for a big auction during the day and Cygnus had been here for hours trying to figure out what to do. None of the slaves that he had observed were who he had come all the way out here for the simple rumor that they had a plethora of Tieflings. While that was true none of them were his brother. Ama had been whispering that he had to do something to get the people out. He agreed with it but he was trying to think of a way to do that. His skill set was very limited. He knew enough about stealth and pick pocketing to make his way out and get the cages at least unlocked. Every time that thought crossed his mind though Ama’s voice was heard in his head. You can’t steal.

You don’t want me to leave these people here but you also don’t want me hurting anyone or stealing. I swear to mom that you have to be the most unhelpful guide in existence. Can’t do anything wrong even if it’s for the right reason. What do you suggest that I walk down there and try and convince the slavers that what they’re doing is wrong? Silence rings in his head and he huffs, That’s what I thought. You don’t believe in your morality enough to think that it will convince these people. So we have a choice, we leave because it’s clear that Sneaky isn’t here or I have to do some sneaky things to help these people.

We didn’t have to be here in the first place.

Great, I'll take that as leaving. He gets up from his perch stretching.

No. He sighs because he knows where this lecture is going. You are the one who is obsessed with finding your brother.

Oh yes such a bad thing trying to find the only family that has ever cared about me,

Your brother is a bad person.

He’s not.

He’s a thief and clearly a bad influence on you.

You’ve been saying that since I was a kid. Dad is a bad person, Sneaky is a bad person. Come on Ama you already know where I stand on this.

Fine then we’re here. You should do something. Cygnus groans, afraid that she was going to say that.

Fine, fine. He takes a step down from his perch gracefully landing in one motion not making a sound as he touches the ground. He already has the plan mapped out in his head but it’s far from perfect. He knows he needs to run first time something goes wrong. He carefully circles the camp to where the cages and main cart was. The camp was quiet, most asleep and the few guards still up closer to the campfire to ward off the cold night air. Most of the slaves were also asleep, a couple of Elves and those who looked a little fresher as the exception. He moves to the set of keys hanging off the main cart keeping his back pressed up to keep out of sight of the campfire guards. Taking the keys he hugs them to his chest to stop them from moving and clanking together. He takes in a deep breath as he moves to the back row having already observed most of them were at least a race with natural magic and guessed that most here would be a caster of some sort. He makes his start with a drow woman who is laying down on the small amount of straw they had to act like a mat. He starts working through the keys to get the cage open. He doesn’t stop cycling through them as the drow rolls over and blinks at him in surprise.

“What are you doing?” She hisses.

“Getting you out of here.” Cygnus whispers looking back over his shoulder to make sure that no one has become aware of him yet.

The drow girl gets up quickly, “It’s the black key.” Cygnus quickly turns to that key and then puts it in and finally is able to turn the lock. He moves back away and starts on the next cage, losing sight of the Drow almost as soon as she walks out. The next person in line is a sun elf who was eyeing him suspiciously but Cygnus doesn’t have time to deal with that once his cage is open it moves onto the next one.

He is about ten in when a commotion is finally at large though those who were already released were doing a good job of being the problem and keeping them at bay from Cygnus. A fire had spread around the camp keeping the guards away from the cages so he kept moving through. His heart threatens to beat out of his chest but he keeps focused on getting those out.

He’s nearly done. Many have run to help open cages with magic or force and so things were limited but the fire at this point had spread around and as he is trying to open the cage to a young frightened half elf he feels flames llick at his back. He hisses knowing it was from a spell guards were finally getting to him. The cloak on his back has caught and he’s quick to pull it off and finally the cage in front of him is open. Another mote of fire is thrown at him and he cries out falling to his knees. Fire spreads over his white shirt and seeps into his back and wings under it. Flames lick and consume everything in their path and smoke chokes Cygnus’ lungs. He coughs trying to cover his mouth, rolling over desperately trying to get the flames out. He cries out when his wings and back hit the dirt and grass under him aggravating the fresh burn. He looks up when he sees motion and an angry man that he can identify as the second in command of the camp is next to him. The half angel desperately tries to scramble up but the sharp pain in his back grounds him again and he groans out. “Please.” The last thing his conscious mind is aware of is a black boot coming directly for his head.

Everything hurts, his head is pounding, his back feels like it’s still on fire, and that pain radiates everywhere like his body knows that danger is looming. Cygnus doesn’t want to be awake, he just wants to roll over and sleep off the pain but he can hear yelling. He groans slowly, opening his eyes hissing as sunlight hits his eyes. He keeps his eyes closed and tries to listen in on the yelling. “This conversation isn’t over!” The voice sounded like the proprietor of this whole thing.

“What did you want me to do? How was I supposed to know?”

“How about being a little careful with that magic of yours or you’re going to find yourself in the cage next!” Cygnus opens his eyes again letting them adjust to the light. “This could have ended in my favor but instead of a profitable venture you gave me a burnt chicken!” Panic sets in at that he quickly turns trying to move his wings to take a look at them but the smallest movement causes searing pain to shoot through him. He knows that something is wrong, he can’t feel most of his wings and what he can feel is nothing but burning pain. He feels Ama tighten around his arm. Thankful that she’s still with him.

It’s going to be okay. He pulls his arm close to him and nods. It doesn’t take long for him to drift back asleep.

Everything still hurts when he’s able to open his eyes again but the cooling air of night made it bearable at least. Maybe he had been out longer than one day though. His body healed fast but not usually this fast. He slowly lifts his head trying to get his eyes to adjust to the world around him. He groans, lowering his head again when he sees the second in command. Certainly the one who was being yelled at earlier. “Well, well looks like the oversized bird is finally waking up.” Cygnus turns trying to get a look at his wings now that the pain had slightly subsided and it was just like he feared. Previously pristine white wings had been burned into nothing. Charred into ash. While most of the burning had healed he wasn’t sure if his healing would be able to do anything about the state of his feathers. He sets his head down on his hands trying to come to terms with the loss of his wings. “Hey boss, he's finally awake!” The half angel watches as out from the main cart comes the leader of this whole thing. A large human man dressed in elaborate nice clothing clearly one size too small.

“Oh finally he decides to join us in the world of the waking.” Cygnus watches carefully as keys are pulled out. “Do you know how much trouble you cause for us little angel?” Cygnus feels his stomach fall out. He knew what he was worth in these parts. The keys make a click as the lock turns and the door is opened. In that second Cygnus tries to dart for the door. He manages to slip past the legs of the proprietor but the scarred face second in command was not so easy. Him getting caught easily around the waist. Cygnus cries out in pain as his body jerks. His hair is grabbed and he’s dragged back to the cage being thrown against the back of it. “Now, now, you owe us a debt.”

“I don’t owe you shit!”

“Tsk, what kind of language is that to come out of one of your kind. Wouldn’t want to ruin that holiness?” Cygnus' eyes dart to the exit again but he knew once was pushing it. The man grabs his neck and pushes him into the back bars. “Now you lost me a lot of money and you are going to make up for it big time. Every single part of you could be more valuable than what you lost me. Too bad the real money maker is gone.” The blonde shivers and whimpers. He struggles to get away as a hand just gently brushes over his wings. It felt like they were being burnt all over again. The man leans in smirking and Cygnus turns up his nose at the stench of cheap mead and sweet. “You better hope that they grow back soon or the most valuable part about you is your bones.” Fear settles in and the angle moves his hands up to the hand around his neck trying to pull it off.

“Please let me go!” He does manage to get a grip but he isn’t able to get the hand off of his neck but causes a decent scratch to come to the man’s hand.

The man swears out in some language that is harsh on the ears and causes Ama who is still around his wrist to bristle. He’s thrown to the side, the back of his head colliding with the bars. Cygnus groans as he collapses to the ground. His vision goes dark but he can feel blood welling on the back of his head. He’s not sure of what’s going on around him. He knows someone is speaking but can’t understand them. Then he hears the sound of the door closing and of the lock turning. He groans, curling his knees to his chest. Tears start flowing and a sob rakes through him. He didn’t want to be here. He just wanted to see his brother again. He just wanted to go back to traveling and singing with him. He wanted his father to be alive. He wanted off this continent and wanted to find a nice place to settle in where he wouldn’t be hunted.

#Slavery #Fire #Burns #Abuse/Torture #Kidnapping #Hunting #Forced Captivity #Serious Injury #wing whump #Cygnus Pre-Arc #OC: Cygnus #whump #swearing #there is more to come I promise #it is so good to finally be happy with something to put it out #Most of the other works I have going are almost done too #feel free to send me any asks or comments

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ashintheairlikesnow · 5 years ago

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Killan Josta: The Rabbit

Listen. Exactly one conversation with @wildfaewhump and this boy found himself nearly fully formed, and he wanted his backstory and who am I to deny an OC who technically doesn’t exist their moment?

Exists in the same world as @wildfaewhump‘s Iesin and Talvos, and this is in no way relevant and should definitely not fill you with hope for his future. He is a sad boy. No hope for him.

CW: Suicidal ideation (of the ‘would be better than this’ variety, is brief, happens twice), debt slavery, beating and violent abuse, kicking, blood, death threats, emotional and financial manipulation, referenced purposeful malnourishment

“Where d’you think you’re gonna go, Matti?”

Killan’s thin shoulders hunched up somewhere near his chin and he drew his knees up to his chest. He could see a bit of red soaking into the rough woven cloth in his pants where he’d hit the ground and scraped hard along a bit of tree root sticking up out of the dirt.

Under the hollow created by the lifted root, he could just see the glitter of an eye, some kind of bitty rabbit or chipmunk or other tiny prey animal hiding.

He wished he had somewhere to hide, too.

Show me how to escape, he thought to the creature. Teach me how to run or fly fast and far enough next time. Are there really woodgods like my mother used to say? Are there really monsters who sometimes save people like in the stories?

“Hey. Matti.” Ren snapped his fingers before Killan’s face.

“My name’s not Matti,” He said in a half-whisper, then flinched instinctively against the blow he knew was coming.

He threw his hands up just in time to take the brunt of Ren’s heavy-handed slap meant for his face.

“Your name’s what I say ‘tis,” Ren snarled down at him. He leaned over Killan like a great big tree giving off shade and Killan shrunk even more under the baleful look in his eyes. The other hunters and sometime bandits that worked with Ren had settled in a circle around the two of them, four more. Beron, Vanya, Tinch, and Pylko were all as broad and terrifying as Ren ever was, but they deferred to Ren - which made Ren, the holder of Killan’s debt and the one he was starting to think might never let it be paid, the scariest of them all.

“If I say you’re Matthias and call you Matti, that’s what you are. Isn’t that right?” The hand was threatening again, held high in the air and Killan kept his arms up to protect himself, curling them over his dirty brownish hair. They took baths once a week, the group did, and Killan always got last turn at the bathwater and he never felt clean unless he dipped into the river when sent to get water and took the time to scrub himself and took his punishment for dawdling when he returned.

Except this time, he’d tried not returning.

They hunted him down anyway, rubbed his head in the dirt to punish him for putting on airs of cleanliness, and worse was coming. He knew worse was coming. There was a sick pit of fear in his stomach marrying with the hunger that chased him through days and nights. He was worked too hard for little in return, but if he ate too much...

“Y-yes, Ren,” Killan tried from behind the dubious security of his own thin wrists and arms. “I-I’m Matti if you want, ‘til I pay off the money. When… when will I-”

“Not for you to know, debt-slave.” That wasn’t Ren but Beron, who aimed a kick to his side he wasn’t ready for, a crack into his ribs that sent Killan sprawling sidelong into the dirt with a cry.

Once that dam was opened, all their violence burst forth, and it was all he could do to curl into a ball and take the kicks from their good leather shoes. All five of them had their go, laughing and having fun with him, just like always.

Each cry, every whimper or whine, was a mark added to his debt. Ren counted cries as more he owed them for the inconvenience of having to hear ‘Matti’ be a weak little mess who couldn’t even take a hit like a man.

He counted all the food that Killan ate on a little list, marked the wine he drank from the wineskins on occasion, too. Killan owed him for the little tin cup and plate they let him keep, owed him the nights they made stew and let him have a spoon, owed him for the clothes on his back that had gone worn and threadbare, for the needle and thread Killan used to mend every bit torn open by their fists and their boots.

He owed them for the second set of clothes they’d gotten him so he might be clean, just for a day, now and then when he did the washing.

He owed and owed and owed.

He’d been thankful when they saved him. He was still thankful, but part of him had started wishing they had just let the other ones throw him in the river in town after they stole all his coins, just let them toss him like a pebble with weights tied to his feet force him down.

It would probably hurt less to be dead, at least. It would hurt less than this.

But… but there were beautiful days, too.

There were days when Killan walked beside the horses just so he could fall back a little and look around at the sun dappling through the trees along the path, or other days when they kept camp instead of moving on when Killan could race himself to the river for water, or dive into a deep forest pool and get himself clean, blessed blissful clean, and sun himself naked on a rock until he was dry, feeling like one of the wild beasts who could have come and gone as he pleased.

There were days when they were nice to him, cuffed him lightly instead of harsh, pulled him to sit with them around the fire to tell their old stories of fae stealing babies away until Killan shivered and went pale and they laughed, but it was good-natured laughing. Not mean, not really. Not the way they usually were.

There were days during his watch with Beron where Beron would show him how to make tiny little animals out of wood, carving this way or that until he made a tiny fox, a wolf, one time a bird that whistled if you blew into its beak.

They didn’t mark his debt up some days, when they were happy with him, and he could sing their drinking songs by heart and get rewarded with a grin and a clap to the back.

So there were good days, too, and he leaped desperately from good day to good day like a squirrel jumping between trees.

But after a few bad days, he’d had enough, and thought he could run even though they were hunters and bandits.

He’d been wrong.

“Y’know what this means, Matti,” Ren said heavily, as though Killan were a grand disappointment. “Don’t you?”

Killan’s whole body ached, and all he could do was groan on his side on the forest floor, feeling old leaves soft beneath him, smashed into his hair, dirt and mossy green smeared along his face. He throbbed with pain every place their boots had gotten him, and hated his own thin leather shoes cut badly and bought cheap that sometimes wore his skin raw and bloody along the sides of his feet.

He’d get boots when he earned them, he was told.

What else could he do to be worth good boots? What more was there that Killan had not already done?

“I-I’m sorry, Ren, I d-d-don’t-”

“It means we’ve got to tie you behind my horse again,” Ren said. The others clicked their tongues against their teeth, disappointed sounds. Killan slowly pushed himself up, hissing through his teeth at the flare of pain just about everywhere.

“You… you d-don’t, I didn’t-”

“No, we do. If you’re going to try and steal your debt from me, Matti, then you’re going to have to be kept close. Where would you be if I hadn’t saved you, Matti, huh?”

Killan looked back down at the ground. “Dead, Ren.”

“That’s right. You’d be dead if it weren’t for us taking pity on you. And what do you think it tells me when you try to run off and steal my bread?”

Killan’s chin jerked up at that, jaw set in a faded hint of stubbornness. “I baked the bread!”

Ren backhanded him, sending him back down to the dirt, like he lived there. Like he belonged in the decaying leaves where mushrooms sometimes came up in the spring and Killan would pick them by the basketful to cook in oil for dinner, back home, back before. “It’s my bread whether you bake it or not. Stealing bread’s a crime, ain’t it?”

Killan wiped at his mouth with his arm, spat into the dirt and ignored the blood in it. “Yes, Ren.”

“Right. And runnin’ from a debt is a crime, too. You’re lucky we caught you first - show your face in a town and they’d lock you up ‘til I came for you, wouldn’t they?”

Not if they didn’t know I was a debt-slave.

Killan wisely kept that to himself.

“Should’ve let him run,” Beron said, ruffling Killan’s hair as he cringed away from the unwanted touch. “Let the fae eat him.”

“They don’t come down from their stupid mountains,” Vanya drawled.

“Sure they do,” Beron said, but offered no detail or proof. “Where else would they get humans to eat?” He was the one who told the best stories about fae, stealing babies from mothers and taking the children in a village as thralls and leading them away with song, making men kill themselves in front of their horrified true love. They were spooky stories that left the hair on Killan’s arms standing up but kept him leaning forward towards the fire, waiting for more.

Killan liked Beron’s stories, even if he didn’t like Beron.

Even if Beron always kicked him hardest.

“Hey.” Ren hit him across the face again to get his attention, and Killan’s teeth came down too hard on his lower lip, a burst of salt-sweet coppery taste against his tongue as his lip busted and he coughed, gagging at the overwhelming taste. “You listening, Matti?”

My name's not-

“Yes, Ren,” Killan muttered, trying to speak around his lip, so it came out more like Yeh, -ehn. “I-... listenin’.”

“Good. Next time I catch you running from me, I’m going to tie half a raw deer to your back and have Beron use his fae whistle to call one down to tear you apart. And if a fae doesn’t make quick work of your scrawny arse, trust that everything else that smells it on you will.”

Killan shuddered. Beron’s stories made the fae monstrous, rows of sharp teeth and feathers that could cut like a blade, big claws on their hands instead of proper fingers. It wouldn’t be a good death, but at least it would be one. “Unner-... unnerstan’, Ren.”

“Good. And I don’t want any of your mopery no more, either. All you do is mope around actin’ like you don’t have a perfectly good lot in life compared to your bones restin’ in the river where we found you. I’ll take a happier face from here on out and anything less will make it worse for you. Now get on your feet.”

Killan swallowed blood, felt his stomach spin and lurch and threaten to make him bring up his meager breakfast all over the forest floor. He nodded and pushed himself to his feet, falling into line with the men who owned him as they headed back to camp, the occasional smack or kick or curse urging him on even as he limped and dragged one foot a little behind the other.

Ren owned his life until his debt was repaid, but the debt was higher with every breath he took, and he was starting to understand that Ren would never let him go.

He spat blood on the ground as he limped, and wondered if maybe a fae would eat him, if ever he could find one and politely ask it to.

Killan tried to take a breath and winced at the sharp spike of pain from his side. “I th-think you cracked my rib,” he mumbled to Beron, who had come up on his right. The tall, older man glanced sideways at him and shifted, elbowing him sharply right in the side.

Beron, who was sometimes the nicest of them all, right now grinned at Killan’s answering hoarse whimper.

“That’s another mark,” Ren said from up at the front, and Killan made another hopeless sound that only brought Beron’s smile wider.

“Don’t worry, cracked ribs heal fast enough,” Beron said, suddenly jovial and friendly, clapping Killan on the back just to watch him stumble and hiss through his teeth to hold back the sounds as he got his balance back. “I’ll cook tonight, lad. You can lie down early.”

Unsettled by the sudden switch from cruelty to kindness, Killan looked up, only to stumble over a tree root he would’ve seen if his eyes had still been down, falling to his hands and knees on the forest floor, palms scraping dirt and the just-closed cuts across his knee opening up to bleed again.

Killan sniffed back the heat that was building behind his eyes and set his jaw as he forced himself back to his feet, trying to ignore Beron’s booming laughter at his back as he hurried to catch up to Ren.

By the time the leader looked back at him, he had set an empty but vaguely cheerful expression on his face, despite the bloodied lower lip, despite the bruising already starting up across his face on both sides, despite cracked rib and hurting back and aching legs.

Ren didn’t want to see him being sad about his lot in life anymore, and Killan was so tired of getting hurt. Lying wasn’t all that hard. It would be easy enough to lie, with the right reasons, and if I look right they won’t hurt me so much seemed as good a reason to smile as any.

He set himself to look as happy as he could, and hoped that Beron had really meant it about letting him get into his bedroll early.

Ahead of them, the sun came down in dappled yellow through the canopies of the tallest trees, and Killan fixed his eyes on the sight, forced the slightest smile to stretch his split lip until he winced.

The smile wasn’t really all that hard to force, if he was honest with himself. He might be hurt, and bloody, and dirty and downtrodden, but… but you could live for the forest, if you really wanted to, not just live off of it.

Killan could’ve been happy in the woods forever, on his own. In the deeper woods like this he could almost swear the air felt like magic.

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