#Duke Aventry

[kyuohki]

Chapters: 9/10 Fandom: Sea of Stars (Video Game) Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death Relationships: Garl & Valere & Zale (Sea of Stars), Original Character/Original Character Characters: Zale (Sea of Stars), Valere (Sea of Stars), Garl (Sea of Stars), LeJugg (Sea of Stars), Soul Curator (Sea of Stars), Original Female Character(s), Original Male Character(s), Fleshmancer Acolytes (Sea of Stars) Additional Tags: Torture, Aftermath of Torture, Psychological Trauma, Whump, Hurt No Comfort, Minor Character Death Series: Part 2 of Of Theories and Wild Imagination, Part 1 of Scorched Earth Summary:

Fate has a way of intertwining with itself, more of a tangled snarl of string than a straight path of one point to the next. When one Universe is given a chance with something as simple as an answered knock, that new string falls and twines with others as it is twisted into existence.

The consequences of these connections can be both necessary and devastating.

.

[goodshipskypirate]

There's a story here, I feel like. The way she tries harder to compensate and make herself look stronger, her often tsundere-ish behavior where she pushes people away...

Now I'm beginning to think she probably was misunderstood and neglected. Like keeping Duke Aventry under her wings wasn't a very good thing, but I can't help but think she grew up all her life with unfair labels and assumptions about her.

It probably didn't help that she had one sister who was destined for greatness as a Solstice Warrior and probably had heaps of praise and love from the greater public, and another sister who likely didn't bother to have her back (nor the other sister) and played Switzerland the whole time.

I kind of don't blame her for descending down the path the way she did. Maybe if she had a better support system, perhaps her power over the dead could have been beneficial.

[tobiasdrake]

If this asshole kicks me out again, I'm going to happen to this building in a way that makes the Dweller attack seem like a mild inconvenience.

Who even are your clientele? We barely even have a system of class and privilege. The only people of wealth I've ever met are Duke Aventry and the Watchmaker. "Duke" might be his name and the Watchmaker can't leave her castle.

Who are all these rich snooty assholes keeping this place in business!? How do you keep your nose so brown in a world suffering an intense anus shortage!?

...

I mean. Yes. We have a reservation. Because I am a lady of refinement and class. So you have to be nice to me.

The shit we had to go through to get that is beyond belief. I would demand a word with your manager but I just came from talking to him and he said you have to be nice to me. We are hosting a reverse funeral. No, I will not explain what that means.

SO HELP ME I WILL--

Oh. You're going to provide us with high-class luxury clothes. Please ignore the threats upon your life that I was in the process of making and, by all means, show me to your finest of garments.

Serai, I have seen you in Pirate, Ninja, and Robot, and you make everything work. This will be no different.

Better watch yourself, Malkomud. You call him out like that, he might just expect you to draw, pard'ner. Haha!

Oh, wow, we all look so good. Garl, absolutely dashing, that color looks so great on you. Zale, Yippie Ki Yay. Teaks, loving the suit, it's so refined. Valtraid, please don't muscle up and rip that suit because it makes you look like such refined gentry. Yolande, killing that blue dress, I love it. Keenathan, I know you can't see right now but very handsome.

Moraine... present. Sorry, the vest is very rugged but I'm not comfortable with complimenting you for attractiveness. You're like the deadbeat dad I never had.

Malkomud, I'm surprised they had Street Urchin available as an option but you're nailing the aesthetic. It's perfect. Could you do a cockney accent for me?

...I... guess... if the puppet's going to follow me around everywhere and not let me have a moment's peace then it makes sense to dress it up. Feels weird, though.

B'st, on the other hand, is easily the suavest gentleman in the room with his top hat and bow tie. It's not fair, B'st; You're giving Garl a run for his money on his own special day. ...hm. At a wedding, groomsmen aren't supposed to look better than the groom, but I don't think there are actually any social rules about outdressing the body in the casket at a funeral. You got lucky, B'st.

And... Serai. I was right, you make anything look good. The crown of spikes in particular is an amazing addition. It lends an air of elegance while still highlighting the strength underneath. Do you like my little moon brooch? I think it brings the whole look together.

I would like to say that the two of us are going to be the brightest lights in the constellation of Garl's reverse funeral but, alas, there's still one person here who has us beat. There's just no competing with Keenathan's squiddy over there. Just a top hat and tux jacket, and yet somehow they outshine even my great luster.

I guess you can't win them all. Congratulations, squiddy; You win this round.

I still don't think it will compare with Garl on quality but credit where it's due, I'm very impressed with the quantity.

Oh yeah, when we realized this poor kid was just neurodivergent and getting picked on for it, I was about ready to start chucking molekin off a cliff. I'm not saying blocking the wind tunnels was a good thing to do or anything, but it never should have come to that in the first place.

Malkomud got to witness Garl's bottomless kindness and compassion firsthand. And his people got to witness my, uh, incendiary temperament firsthand.

We all did it for Garl. ...well, okay, I was chomping at the bit to slay a legendary volcano monster. Which I did by myself, don't ya know. But in the big picture, it was still for Garl.

All of us except Morai-- OW. Serai, did you just kick me under the table?

Ugh. Fine. You're right. I won't start drama at Garl's reverse funeral.

I'll fucking drink to that. I would be so utterly confused if it weren't for her.

Odd sentiment given that I'm pretty sure he's like ten and the young have an easier time turning their lives around than the old, but okay.

*vibrates excitedly* Do me do me do me do me.

We'd be lost without our crew, to be sure. They've done so much for us, ever since that fateful day when they swindled us into an arrangement they could have just bartered for anyway.

That's a crock and a half, he-- OW. Fine, I'll bite my tongue.

And the second-sharpest-- Squiddy, goddammit.

The third-sharpest... no, there's B'st over there.

You look nice, is what I'm trying to say. I don't words good when I'm reverse grieving.

Could have happened sooner if anyone had communicated properly but, uh... *sweatdrop* We all make mistakes, let's not make a thing of who knew what and when.

In all honesty, we owe you far more than you could ever possibly owe us. You gave your eye for me. And then you did it again and gave your life for me. In the future, I am begging you, please just let me deal with the consequences of my bad choices.

Yeah. Okay. The Golden Pelican will be spared my fury. Their weirdass business practices are probably going to bankrupt them anyway.

This was a great event and I'm happy to have attended it. Welcome back, Garl. You have been dearly missed.

[freshmemes6669]

Went against Duke Aventry and Romaya (seperate boss fights btw), managed to make it out with only one individual KO, in part because I’m still getting used to timing blocks. This being a no death run is still on-going, thankfully. I do like how upset Romaya gets after you defeat her though.. this is as tame as her dialogue gets after that fight, she just gets more and more aggressive telling the party to leave, and I love it so much

[criticalhitgaming]

Duke Aventry - Sea of Stars (Boss #6)

[teefa85]

Well, I was able to finish the Duke Aventry sidequest so now both Zale and Valere have their best weapons and best armor. That'll help me so much in the final dungeon. Then spent the rest of the night trying to solve the Docarri Ruins puzzles. Did three, but didn't have time to go after the final one. So I saved in Mirth, which is the closest town to where it is, and will fly over to the light source tomorrow.

Also, the Romaya refight was pretty fun! Though I don't think she likes kicks to the solar plexus very much...

[tobiasdrake]

Courtesy of Duke Aventry, we seem to have one more Story Time.

Yeah, Aventry mentioned her. He seemed to have strong feelings for her.

But then the Dweller of Woe came, killed everyone in the mansion, and turned the town into a hellpit. I assume this is going to be the story of how that happened.

Sounds like Ewilda was the actual power on the throne while the Duke was just her enforcer. No wonder he slid so easily into that same position for Roro.

Does he have a name? Or is he just Duke Aventry?

Or. Wait. Is that his name? I've been taking it for a surname but is his name just... Aventry?

Or. Shit. Is Duke his actual name? I thought it was a title but a duchy would imply the existence of a larger kingdom to which it belongs and we don't have anything like that. There are no kings... pretty much anywhere, in fact. Ours is a world of isolated city-states with no significant form of large government of any kind.

I think Duke is his name.

Oh, they knew about that? Huh. I kinda figured the first impression anyone on Wraith Island had of the Fleshmancer was when the Dweller suddenly emerged and ruined everything.

But it sounds more like there was an actual war going on between the Fleshmancer's forces and Wraith Island for a while. Like they were leading the charge in keeping the horrors at bay or something.

Where were we while all of this was going on?

Oh. Wait. Dead, probably. This might have been in the decades between Moraine returning as sole survivor to Mooncradle and now.

Ominous. Arrival of the Dweller? Is that a thing they would have had warning of, or....

Okay, so that's where we were. Killing everyone. SURE. THAT'S FINE.

Solar warrior sealed away Torment and then forgot everything and couldn't be arsed to even write anything down. Solar warrior randomly killing everyone on Wraith Island. And. Just. Erlina.

Why do Solar Warriors suck so bad? No offense, Zale.

Okay but why tho. Like. Erlina, I get. She did the only thing that made sense given the hopeless situation she was in. But what could this guy possibly think he was accomplishing by scorching the island at random? Was he looking for Woe?

Uh. Yeah. We're awesome. I'm more impressed that Aventry was able to hold his own and not die horribly.

This does explain why he was able to offer those tips to Zale way back when, though. He had experience fighting a fully realized Solar Warrior in the past so he could see where the gaps in Zale's style lie.

I'm still impressed that he was able to hold his own like that. He really didn't seem that tough when Zale and I were double-teaming him. I mean, there were two of us plus Serai so that might not be fair. But also, we were very green at the time.

Two has a gender

I don't think any of them have had genders identified until now. Huh.

Also, that is clearly the, uh... the thing... the mabobber thing....

Fleshmancer plants these seeds and they grow into Dwellers. I don't remember what they're called, but that's it. That's the seed for Woe.

Oh, nope, it's crystallized curse mojo.

"One day" here having the definition of "for fucking ever hahahaha sucker". Unfortunately, this curse meant to shield Woe from solar magic ultimately peeled away like it was nothing when faced with the might of the Eclipse, because our bullshit > immortal alchemist bullshit.

Torment made the right decision by opting to use the goddamn earth as a physical obstruction instead.

Honestly, no blame for Duke Aventry. He was in a bad spot and the Acolytes preyed on that vulnerability. Seems to be their M.O. They did the same thing to Erlina.

Like proper cultists, they hunt among the disenfranchised and the hopeless.

That's how Roro's swamp came to be. And, presumably, where she got all those bodies for her workshop.

You know, I never thought too highly of the Acolytes but that's because my main interactions with them up to this point have been:

Acolyte: *whining noise* Don't do that thing! Me: LOL Stop me fucko. Acolyte: *body pile*

For me, my favorite punching bags have just been goobers who show up to offer me stress relief. This story's offering me a whole new side to them. These guys are pretty capable manipulators and effectors of political upheaval.

They just aren't very tough in a fight.

And now we've set his spirit free, destroyed the Dweller of Woe, and driven the Acolytes from Clockwork Castle for good measure. I'm glad that our Order was able to put right all of his hardships.

...that, uh... that we caused....

...

I don't feel good about this one.

[tobiasdrake]

Just about finished with the arena. Only one final trial to undergo. Then it's off to see what else we can find.

This one's serious. Come on, tell me who we're fighting. It's Valtraid, isn't it? It's gotta be Valtraid. Tell me it's Valtraid.

...the Hydralion? It better not be the Hydralion. Serai beat the Hydralion's ass singlehandedly. Well, Resh'an helped. A little.

...though I was disappointed that I didn't get to dole out retribution myself....

Crousta... What the hell is a croustalion?

It just....

It fucking lives right there in the arena?

Alright guys. Level with me. This whole arena shtick is just an elaborate way of trying to find people to remove a building-sized pest that laid claim to some of Brisk's territory while you were rebuilding, isn't it?

This is all theater for "Please someone come kill this fucking crab."

Which. By the way. Yes, I am pissed that the ultimate challenge is more fucking crabs okay. Brisk has crab fever.

Whatever. Let's attack its weak point for massive damage and make B'st happy. I like it when my friends are happy so I guess we'll be eating crab cakes on the Vespertine for a week.

Honestly, there's only one thing to do about a sea monster.

Hey, they said no party limit. No party limit means no party limit.

And now the Vespertine is in port, opening fire on the city of Brisk. We'll just, uh... we'll just hope, for the sake of my reputation, that everyone in town understands the context here.

And also that our cannoneers have really good accuracy.

...

<.< I might be doing a piracy right now. I guess we will just add that to the rap sheet.

Ha! I called it! This whole thing was a scheme just to get someone to deal with this fucking crab.

Just gonna throw this out there but curse, obviously. It was cursed. Then we broke the curse by hitting it really, really hard. The best way to break curses.

D'aww, B'st has a pet! Never mind, this is the best ending to an arena march ever.

SO FUCKING PRECIOUS. I can't deal with how cute that is.

Anyway, B'st and the puppet both seemed to want to go check these places out so I should probably talk to the others.

The Queen That Was, right? Yeah, we can go fuck her up. I told you: Plenty of space for shallow graves in the Cerulean Expanse.

Tactical Story Time.

Yeah, you guys have shared metaphysics. That's why things like Coin of Undeath Accord can work on any sort of undead entity.

...a super lonely ghostie? I suppose that makes sense. Waiting for a long-lost loved one or something is a classic way of becoming a ghost, forever haunting the place they never returned to.

Hold up, we're talking about Roro's arm candy? That Duke Aventry?

This just got way more interesting. Spill.

Looks like we're going to be breaking into Roro's Secret Passage after all. I have absolutely no idea how to do that.

It's fine, though. I'm sure she'll be thrilled to see us again. It's been quite a while. You think she remembers me? I hope she remembers me. I'm very memorable.

Been wondering about this thing from the very beginning. Time to find out what the fuck it is.

I like the sound of great power! How do we--

Oh, it's just you again. Sure, we'll kick your ass for weapons of great power.

I don't know how you were expecting this to go. We built that thing when we were fresh out of the academy. Croustalion was pretty tough, but this thing was a walk in the park.

[tobiasdrake]

One last task to take care of before we infiltrate Fort Fleshy.

I was twiddling them earlier when I was flying around the map just to see what I could find. This place is definitely an intricate combination lock.

Could be the key to releasing Duke Aventry. Might just be Roro's porn stash. Either way, we won't know until we've cracked it. Personally, I think we should forego the lock and just bring Yolande in to blow this support column to hell.

Sure, we can also do that. Yoyo knows everything and is loyal to no one, so there's no reason she wouldn't assist us but no guarantee that she would either. Worth a shot.

Your swamp is a maze and I hate it. Give me useful information or I'll make your other eye look like the one I'm wearing on this necklace.

...

I mean. Good afternoon, Yoyo. What a pleasant day we're having. Could you possibly help me break into your sister's porn stash?

Yep. Got it. Just like the Watchmaker. Not motivated enough to directly assist us but also not motivated enough to put up with the violence that's going to ensue if you don't. One whole "Not My Fucking Problem", served and delivered.

I've seen these runes before. I remember wondering what they were about. But the Roro Heist was so long ago, I'd forgotten.

Thanks, Yoyo. This was a fairly neutral level of non-assistance. Your cauldron didn't even tell me anything new; Just reminded me of answers I've already witnessed.

Here we go. The most closely-held secrets of the embodiment of evil incarnate....

...are a backdoor into this vault we've already been in. Okay but why tho.

What is even the point of this? The combination to the lock is written on the wall, and if you take that combination to an island off the coast and enter it into a secret crypt, it will open a passage to bring you right back here but now the treasure's unlocked.

This is the most roundabout key I've ever seen. Only a truly despicable mind would come up with something so needlesly convo-

...

Oh.

That's what the convoluted circuit loop lock is guarding? Roro makes this whole trip every single time she wants to write a new entry?

Well. We did not find her porn stash. Instead, we found her daily workout regimen. An awkward way to get your steps in but credit where it's due, it means she can't skip out on the routine.

Hold up, she repurposed your journal into her own? That is a whole new layer of domineering.

You need to get out of this relationship, my dude. Like. I think it's pretty clear at this point that she does not respect your personal space at all.

There is a vacancy. We butchered the creature that was occupying it, so if you want to go back, you can.

Oh cool, new Ferry ticket.

Honestly, not 100% sure why Aventry wanted us to come here. Unless this is the place he has fond memories of or something.

I dunno. We'll smash and grab first, then sift through the loot and figure out what we're supposed to do with it later.

Oh shit, it's Roro's private residence. That's what he gave us. I guess that other place was just her work office.

...do you think she'll be happy to see us? I guess there's really only one way to find out. *clears throat* HEY BESTIE--

How have you been? Raised any cool horrors lately? I saw your sister the other day, she seemed to be doing... adequately.

Anyway, we gotta talk about your boy. You're keeping the leash wound a little too tight and--

Okay, but was it really your journal? He had it first. How does that saying go? Two wrongs balance each other out and make everything ultimately fine.

But also that's lame and I prefer it when things are unbalanced in my favor, so now I need to rob you even more.

You heard her, team. We're looking for a locket. Fan out and--

Oh, yeah. We're old pals. It's just too bad she keeps her place in such a miserable state. Look at this place. Bones and flesh just lying strewn about.

I'd offer to help clean up but honestly, that sounds like too much work. Zale, you're pretty good with clutter, why don't you sweep the place.

There we go. Nice and spotless.

Ah, this brings back memories. There's something nostalgic about it. You never really forget your first armed robbery.

Pleasure doing business with you.

You know, we have to stop meeting like this. You going about your day. Me, beating the shit out of you and taking your things. It's getting stale. Why don't we do lunch sometime or something, just for a change of pace?

I think we hurt her feelings. Do... do you want to talk about it?

Uh, Roro says you're fired, by the way. Can't say I've ever been given a gift-with-purchase for a robbery before but she handed me the pink slip right along with the locket.

Yeah, I thought it was weird too.

Better luck in the next life, man. Hope the person waiting for you will treat you better.

[kyuohki]

🏅 What is something you recently felt proud of in regard to your writing (finished a fic, actually planned for once, etc).

🧠 What’s an idea you have that you can’t quite call a WIP yet?

🏅 What is something you recently felt proud of in regard to your writing (finished a fic, actually planned for once, etc):

I'm really proud that I actually planned out a fic for once, for Scorched Earth. I took a one off line from Duke Aventry (him saying that Zale's fighting style reminded him of his old rival), and managed to actually plot out beats that I needed to hit to make the idea work. It absolutely derailed in a couple of spots, but that's the nature of writing, no?

.

🧠 What’s an idea you have that you can’t quite call a WIP yet?

Idea of Ninja not only being Garl's descendant, but Valere's as well (Zale is Dad, too, but that kid and their descendants go off on different adventures. This isn't planned to touch on the Messenger side of things...maybe......damn it *goes off to scribble notes*)

[kyuohki]

F K L!

F: Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

I had posted one already, for Bloodlines, where Zale's family reacts to the fact that Zale (and Valere) have "Ascended". I love that one bc it made me cackle when I was writing it.

But there's also this one from Kintsugi, between Barma'thazël and Elysan'darëlle:

“It is…somewhat alluring. Though I do not see the point in lowering yourself to fuck it. It is vermin, and you are our Master’s General, Barma’thazël.” “Pet is useful to me. And proof that those ‘vermin’ can be tamed. Freed even,” Master murmured between his gentle kisses. “Is that not what our bases were? Failures for the Archivist, perhaps, but willing to sacrifice themselves to become something greater? To serve our Master willingly, instead of being a weapon to be tossed aside when their puppet master was through with them?” “You hate to be linked to that thing.” “As do you. But even as failures, they were smarter than the rest. And we benefited from it.”

I dunno, I love writing from the pov of the Bad Guys...trying to figure out their reasoning and desires; the excuses they use to justify their actions. What could've put them on the path they are, and how they intend to achieve their goals (one of the reasons I love writing Two).

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K: What’s the angstiest idea you’ve ever come up with?

...you know me too well. XD

Probably the whole concept of Scorched Earth. Just the idea that a version of Zale is stolen from his timeline, so he could fulfill the conditions that would lead to Lucent falling in the in-game verse. (And I could be wrong, but I swear there's in-game dialogue from Duke Aventry that Zale reminds him of his former adversary, but I haven't the time to replay to verify (and my brain tends to misremember a *lot* of stuff, and makes up shit that clearly wasn't there). And a lot of playthroughs don't take the time to go running around re-interacting with NPCs, which is understandable from a time perspective bc it would drag out the video and bore viewers to death).

.

L: How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting?

Uhhh...less than I should, tbh. I get very excited to post once I finish a chapter. I do try to force myself to sleep on it for at least a day. Once I even managed to keep myself from looking at it for a day before going through it on last time. That was an outlier, and have gotten more impatient since.

I do tend to re-read through a chapter a *lot* and edit on the fly as I'm writing the rest. It helps me when I get stuck on a scene.